Quick update

[July 25, 2016 email]

Hey!!

This has been a good week! unfortunatly there isn`t really much to write about... Claudio is still loving the church and came this week, and also came to a baptism that the ward had, and he loved it! we also have a couple other investigators that started reading the book of mormon this week, but didn`t end up going to church, but we are really focusing as a mission right now in the book of mormon, President eddy has been talking a lot about it and we are really trying to use it as much as posible in contacts and in lessons that we teach.  and we are seeing that a lot of our investigators are starting to read, but now we have got to get them to church.  

But ya not much has happened this week, but life is going good here in Rio Branco! Thanks so much and see you next week! 

Elder Jensen

No Excuses!

[July 18, 2016 email]

Hey!! 

Well another great week out here in rio branco! we had areally great week and have honestly seen some straight up miracles! found several new investigators and we have s ome amazing investigators! one of the new investigators we found this week is called Claudio, and his is probably the most humble guy i have ever met! he is like 28 or something like that and for several years he was addicted to some severe drugs and to drinking, but he recently realized how much bad it has done in his life, and completely wants to change his way of life! he has already thrown away all his druggs and cigaretts and the second time we went to his house he had cleaned everything! all super organized and well kept and we can already see some of the differences in his life.  And some thing that he taught us was that there never are excuses.  he lifes about an hour away from the church (walking) and so saturday night he asked his neighbor to lend him a bike, and rode to the church by himself on one of the coldest days we have had, and he is just so willing to change his life that he is willing to sacrifice whatever it may be! i am positive that he is going to progress but he is going to need some time, to stop smoking and drinking and to also get married to his girlfriend, but he is going to progress.  

Any way the rest of our investigators are doing good, but nobody else came to church, so we are going to see how everything goes with them! Thansk for everything and i hope that you guys have a great week! 

Love 

Elder Jensen

ice cream and hamburgers to celebrate a baptism

zone selfie on the bus to noblia

I'm in the very back and dead center above president eddy

Stud of the Week!

[July 11, 2016 email]

Hola! 

This week was a fairly normal week, but we have been able to get a lot of work in, However unfortunately right now the majority of our investigators aren`t progressing because they won`t go to church Ugh!! but we are starting to teach a family that have some relatives in the church and they are really looking promising! their son Christofer went to church this week (and last week too) and yesterday he got tired of waiting for the member who was going to pick him up so he walked all the way to the church!! its like a 40 min walk and he is 13! he is such a stud! but he is going to be baptized the 23 and we are trying to get his family to get to church and the mom is going to go this week, and in about 4 weeks the fathers work schedule is going to change so he is going to start going to church as well! we are really excited to be working with this family and the ward is really helping us work with them!

Then this friday we had our district meetings in this small little city called Noblia and after the meeting we deep cleaned the entire church! because there used to be an entire ward of like 80 people there and right now there are 7 active members that go every sunday, so to help them out we came and cleaned up the church and we are probaly going to go again in 2 weeks to go and visit the members and less actives and do some proselyting in the whole city. just 14 missionaries in this little city of a couple thousand people, just to help out the members there.  It was a really humbiling and cool experience. 

Well that is a bout all that happened this week, i hope you guys enjoyed the 4th of july and have another great week.  

Love Elder Jensen

New Mission President!

[July 4, 2016 email]

Hey! 

Well this week was awesome! me and elder guerra have had a great week, and we are really hoping for a baptism in 2 weeks but nothing is set yet! but we have found several investigators and we just have to see who is willing to progress, but only one investigator came to church yesterday so we are going to see how this week goes! 

But the highlight of the week was the Conference that we had with President Eddy! on friday about half the mission traveled to Minas for the conference and we finally got to meet the whole Family! and they are so awesome! but its definitly going to be diferent having 4 young kids in the mission home! But it was a super simple conference and we just got to meet the family and then they sang a musical number and then President and Sister Eddy each gave a talk.  President talked about the expectations that he has of the mission and they are the following:

1 we are a mission that follows the saviors example

2 We work hard and we have charity as we work

3 We are a mission according to Teach My Gospel.

4 and "we teach Repentance and Baptize Converts"

and he really just got us all animated for everything and i really think he is going to be an amazing Mission President!

Oh and sorry for the lack of photos, today me and elder guerra are back in montevideo to sign his residency here in uruguay, and i forgot my cable! but i will send some photos of us next week! Thanks so much for everything and i hope that you guys have a great week! 

Love Elder Jensen

RIO BRANCO!!!!

[June 27, 2016 email]

This is the best area ever!!! 

Hey everybody! well i am officially out of the offices and back to normal full time mission work and its the best thing ever! and even though i am right next to brazil, nobody here talks portuguese :( so i am still going to learn with my comp and speak with him, but everyone here just speaks spanishl.  But the first couple days have been amazing! the people here are way more open and humble than the people that i have found in the main city, and people are just so nice here! in my 3 or 4  days here we have knocked doors and like 2 or 3 people just let us right in and we teach a quick lesson right then and there! that has never happened in any other moment in my first year here! we have several futures that we need to go visit and several investigatores that we are teaching, we have like 4 that are set and want to progress and 2 of them are going to try and get baptized the 16 or something like that im not exactly sure what day it is. and the ward is starting to get excited and it seems like that are really going to help us out! because we are 4 elderes here and the other 2 had a baptism this last saturday and it was the first baptism here in the ward in 2 years!!!  Its a ward of about 30 people and i am just soooo excited to be here! its going to be an amazing change!

okay but this saturday we had a small district meeting to get to know the zone, and Elder Carroll and Elder rollins gave a really cool lesson,  they talked about 2 groups.  the group of 90% and the group of 10%.  and the example that they gave was 100 preisthood holders were asked to do something like set up chairs or something like that, and they asked us of these 100 preisthood holders how many of them o to set up chairs?  10%... and its because these people understand their purpose and they want and look for oppurtunities to serve.  And then they shared the scripture "Many are called but few are chosen" and we have to be that 10 percent that want to serve and want to help other people and we need to be the 10% that share the gospel with everyone and are willing to make sacrifices to help other people.  It was such a good lesson! So that it what i want to do this last year of my mission, be one of the 10%.

 well i don`t have much time left but thanks for everything and i hope you guys have  a great week! 

Love Elder Jensen

Last time in the mission home an my farewell to the cooks :(

Cooking some meat for my last zone activity in the offices

This is how we clean dishes in the Mission Home! 

To Melo and Beyond!!!

[2016-06-18 email]

Well its official!!!  I am leaving the offices!! so that means no more saturday pdays!! that and i am leaving to a new area! So having been within 10 minutes of the mission home for the last 6 months, looks like president decided to send me as far away as possible! my new area is called Rio Branco and it is right on the border of brazil! and my new comp is going to be Elder Guerra who is also from brazil, so i am totally learning portuguese! this is going to be amazing! Literally of all the areas in the mission i think i would have picked this one, its having success, there are plenty of members, and the three missionaries that i am going to be living with are all super awesome and work super hard so i am really hoping to just jump back into the work! But i am going to be leaving for my area on wednesday and i am going to be taking about a 6 hour bus ride out to brazil! 

So this week has been nuts other than finding out where i am going.  Me and elder Peterson walked through the other mission for like an hour on monday when we went to change the oil and so i got a ton of photos! then on wednesday we had dinner with the cooks to say goodbye which was really sad, and this sunday we are going to have one final "dessert" and they are going to bear their testimony and its going to be awful! i have really grown to love them both in this time here! 

But we have got to get ready for more changes, and i have got to go, but thanks so much for the letters and i hope you guys have a great week! see you next monday!!! 

Love Elder Jensen

Elder Bio said that he could "milk" more alfajores than me... we both ate 12 and about died...it was a tie.

Celbrating Elder Petersons one year mark with the most unhealthy pizza there is! chicken fried steak with pizza coverings and french fries.... 

Google Street View

[Post from Elder Jensen's Dad]

Looks like Elder Jensen and one of the other office Elders made it onto Google Maps during a past transfer:

You can check him out at:

www.google.com/maps