Querida Familia,
Thank you for sending me those pictures! I was actually thinking about Mom Laura this week and especially during Elder Nelson's talk on the need for strong courageous women in our church. I love seeing all your faces; it always makes my day. Kids look like they're doing great but I'm sorry you've been having trouble with their friends. That's never fun to deal with. Brandon looks really well in the picture, I'm happy that he survived the marathon! Crazy kid he is, that's pretty fast for never having trained. It took my and Russ just over 5 hrs to run it, so he did great! Also, I had no idea that Cristian had a girlfriend! I hope things go well for them. I'm very happy that you guys are still doing missionary work in the home. Those seeds you're planting will be SO helpful to the missionaries that will contact those people in the future. Many people here have never heard of the church or have a very sour opinion of it, so it's been hard to find any people that will listen to us or have an interest. Members are so important in this work!
I've been plowing through the Book of Mormon lately, and I read about 120 pages in the last two weeks. My goal is to have it done by the end of this transfer, but I think I will have it done even sooner. I've never taken the time to read it like I would a normal book, so it's been a really interesting experience following the story this way. I love it and I feel so enlightened when I read it. I've also memorized almost all of the scripture-masteries in the BOM. Not word for word, but I'm trying to be prepared for teaching situations with scriptures that can back up my teaching and bring light and truth to the investigators. So far it's been working great! I love having my little cache of memorized scriptures. I'm for sure going to work on "ponderizing" them more in the future. I thought that talk in conference was really great. I chose DyC 121:45 for my scripture of the week; What's yours!?
As I study and learn more of the gospel, I am humbled by the amazing power and truth that I find. I see much more clearly now that this is a gospel of eternal progression and enduring to the end. I remember one of the Apostles in Conference committing us to pray and ask God what is holding me back from progressing. The spirit brought to my remembrance something that I had been thinking about and trying to work on over the previous few weeks. Integrity. I want to be perfectly upright before God and man, and have my foundation be on truth. That being said, I don't think I've always been 100% honest with myself and others in the past. I don't think anybody is, and I want to fix that at least for myself. My thoughts are drawn especially to school and work. I feel like I gave good effort to do what was required, but I didn't do my very best. I realize that all the times that I was unproductive at work or didn't use my time wisely, I was wasting the time and money of my employers which in turn affected my integrity.
I've also been trying my very best to follow through thoroughly and completely with commitments that are left from our leaders and from the scriptures. That has really been helping a lot, and I see a lot of progression in this. Many times at home when sunday school teachers or the missionaries asked us to do things, I said I would and then completely forgot about it. I am now it the reverse role asking others to do things for the Lord, and if I'm not willing to faithfully act on the commitments left for me; how can I expect others to do commitments I leave for them?
Overall, the mission is going absolutely great, and I'm loving the people and other missionaries here. I feel the spirit and learn a lot, but I want much more than to just learn now. I can study the scriptures all I want, but unless I apply the things I learn to my life then it really doesn't profit me or anyone anything. I want to progress day by day, and I have a hope that someday through Christ I can become like Heavenly Father. I love you guys a lot and continually pray for you. I'm glad I got to be raised in our family, and I can't wait to talk to you in a few months. Tengan una buena semana!
Con amor,
El Elder Jenson
Monday, October 5, 2015
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
September 28, 2015
Querida Familia,
Sounds like you all had a pretty crazy week! I love hearing about the kids, I miss seeing them and all you guys. There aren't too many little kids here on the bluff, so it's really special for me when I get to hear about them. Jacob, have a happy birthday tomorrow, and keep the family in check. I'm super excited for you to get the priesthood and I hope you are too. You are a very organized smart young man, and I know you'll understand the importance of working hard and serving your very best in the different priesthood callings you'll get. Keep up your good work with studying, and let me know how your nuclear reactor is coming along.
I did get to see the lunar eclipse and that made yesterday all that much greater! We had our first Baptism yesterday, and I like to call it the blood moon baptism because we saw the eclipse just after we got out of the Baptismal service. The guy that we baptized was a 66 yr old man named James Armstrong, and he is super awesome! He is the man that flagged us down on the side of the road and asked how he could become a Mormon. He is doing super awesome, and he told us this morning that he is excited for his new life and glad to be a Mormon. He already wants to serve a mission of his own in the future, and has been trying to help one of his friends, Margo, to learn about the gospel. I love visiting him, he is a super friendly old man, and he lives just down the street from us. His baptism was very special, and I'm really excited for him to get to know the people in the ward a little better.
I'm learning a lot about setting goals and making plans, and I'm really trying to implement those to things into my life right now. It's super important in making progress, and I want to make the best of this mission and my life. I feel like the Lord has blessed me with a good mind for organization, and I want to develop that in order to progress in all the other parts of my life and the work. Also, I'm using Brandon's workout program he left me for missionaries to help me grow physically. Thank him for me, it's been a huge help. I'm feeling very healthy and definitely getting stronger, and it's a lot easier to have motivation In the mornings when your workout is already planned for you. I will finish the set program in about 8 months, and then I will look like captain Moroni. More or less... After that, people will be too scared to refuse when we ask to teach them the gospel and get baptized. So yeah that's the plan! I also have a lot of other goals as far as my personal and language studies, as well as ways I can improve my obedience. So set goals. They're fun and you can see how you progress overtime.
I love you guys a lot, and I love seeing the pictures you sent with me in the folder. I was looking through them this morning and really wished I could come visit you for a week and then come back. Paciencia Elder Jenson. Paciencia. I hope you all have a great general conference this weekend and learn a lot! I'm more stoked for this conference than for any superbowl we ever had at the house. It's amazing that we can receive modern revelation from real prophets of God; especially when the world is going absolutely crazy. I'm very grateful for the gospel we have to keep our lives intact!
Con demasiado mucho amor...
El Elder Jenson
Sounds like you all had a pretty crazy week! I love hearing about the kids, I miss seeing them and all you guys. There aren't too many little kids here on the bluff, so it's really special for me when I get to hear about them. Jacob, have a happy birthday tomorrow, and keep the family in check. I'm super excited for you to get the priesthood and I hope you are too. You are a very organized smart young man, and I know you'll understand the importance of working hard and serving your very best in the different priesthood callings you'll get. Keep up your good work with studying, and let me know how your nuclear reactor is coming along.
I did get to see the lunar eclipse and that made yesterday all that much greater! We had our first Baptism yesterday, and I like to call it the blood moon baptism because we saw the eclipse just after we got out of the Baptismal service. The guy that we baptized was a 66 yr old man named James Armstrong, and he is super awesome! He is the man that flagged us down on the side of the road and asked how he could become a Mormon. He is doing super awesome, and he told us this morning that he is excited for his new life and glad to be a Mormon. He already wants to serve a mission of his own in the future, and has been trying to help one of his friends, Margo, to learn about the gospel. I love visiting him, he is a super friendly old man, and he lives just down the street from us. His baptism was very special, and I'm really excited for him to get to know the people in the ward a little better.
I'm learning a lot about setting goals and making plans, and I'm really trying to implement those to things into my life right now. It's super important in making progress, and I want to make the best of this mission and my life. I feel like the Lord has blessed me with a good mind for organization, and I want to develop that in order to progress in all the other parts of my life and the work. Also, I'm using Brandon's workout program he left me for missionaries to help me grow physically. Thank him for me, it's been a huge help. I'm feeling very healthy and definitely getting stronger, and it's a lot easier to have motivation In the mornings when your workout is already planned for you. I will finish the set program in about 8 months, and then I will look like captain Moroni. More or less... After that, people will be too scared to refuse when we ask to teach them the gospel and get baptized. So yeah that's the plan! I also have a lot of other goals as far as my personal and language studies, as well as ways I can improve my obedience. So set goals. They're fun and you can see how you progress overtime.
I love you guys a lot, and I love seeing the pictures you sent with me in the folder. I was looking through them this morning and really wished I could come visit you for a week and then come back. Paciencia Elder Jenson. Paciencia. I hope you all have a great general conference this weekend and learn a lot! I'm more stoked for this conference than for any superbowl we ever had at the house. It's amazing that we can receive modern revelation from real prophets of God; especially when the world is going absolutely crazy. I'm very grateful for the gospel we have to keep our lives intact!
Con demasiado mucho amor...
El Elder Jenson
Monday, September 21, 2015
Sept 21, 2015
Querida familia,
This week was super cool and super fun! We went to the aquarium last P-day and watched an amazing dolphin show. I also fed some sting rays, pet a shark, and chilled in the ocean breeze. It was absolutely beautiful. I'll send some pictures in separate emails. Also just wondering, do you get the emails I send from the camera? It says they go through but I'm still not sure if you're getting them. We have had a slow week with the missionary work, but we've done a lot of fun things with the other missionaries. There are a lot of amazing Elders and Hermanas in my area, I love them all! We got to eat with the new second councilor, Brother Hoffheins yesterday out on port Aransas. It was an absolutely beautiful area! It's about 40 mins away from the bluff, but it is an incredible area and the marina was full of cool boats and animals. We saw sea turtles and crabs, tons of fishermen, and even some dolphins. I hope we can all come visit as a family, it's a beautiful place.
We should have our real first baptism on the 27th of this month, so we hope everything goes well with him. He is an older man named James, about 65 yrs old, but he really wants to become a Mormon. He found us and called us out a few weeks ago asking how he could join our church. Sometimes you don't even have to search for the elect of God's children, they will find you! Right now he is our only investigator, but he's doing awesome and progressing well. He has some unique struggles that sometimes turn people away, but we love him a lot. I hope our ward will be good for him and fellowship him well. He deserves a good ward family, he's a super great guy.
We also had a super cool story about meeting a man named Robert this week. We were following street referrals having kind of a slow day and got to a nice blue house. A woman answered the door, her name was Jenny, and she was very kind, but uninterested. She had taken the lessons with the missionaries a little bit before and decided not to continue them. As we were leaving she asked us if we wanted the spare silverware she was getting rid of on her porch. It was a pretty nice looking set and we knew members who were in need of silverware, so we agreed to take it. She left to go pick her kids up from school and we packed up the silverware to take it home with us. After about a minute of her being gone, a shirtless man covered in tattoos come out on the front porch and started screaming at us. Apparently he had just woken up and was concerned at why we were on his porch. He was hardcore cussing at us, many F-words and the like to display is displeasure at us being there. We were surprised and quickly tried to get off his property. Just before we left he paused and asked," are y'all Mormons?" We stopped and said yes, and he then proceeded to invite us in for water and a donut. It the blink of an eye his demeanor changed and he apologized for treating us so harshly. After a few minutes of talking to him he just started to open up to us and tell us how he was having a lot of family problems at the time and was really trying to make changes in his life. He wanted to be a better husband and feel forgiven of his past. We explained to him about our church and what Christ can do to help him with his desires, and he accepted being baptized the 11th of that month.
It was a super crazy contrast from what we expected on the front porch. They are very sweet people, and right now we're waiting for them to contact us for lessons. I hope we will be able to keep teaching them and help them have the gospel in their lives. That was a super fun day. It's always nice to have those funny little moments when things don't go quite how you expect them to.
I'm super excited for Brandon's marathon, he will feel the pain! It's tons of fun, but no training=no Bueno. He's just lucky that he has mom to guide him through the race. That is the only thing that kept me and Russell going! I hope Brandon and Cristian are doing well. I haven't heard to much from them since I've gotten on the mission, but I'm sure they're living up the bachelor life!
Our first transfers are tomorrow, and we'll find out later tonight who's staying and who's leaving! It's going to be super exciting. We'll get a new zone leader because Elder Nielson just died(went home) this week, and we might lose a couple of the other Corpus elders and sisters. I'm pretty sure Elder Robinson and I will stay on the bluff this transfer, but who knows.
I heard about the flood from a member this week! The members we had menudo with also fed us cactus and eggs, and while we were eating with them the Colorado city story came on the news. I was worried about you guys a little bit, but it sounds like you guys missed the big brunt of it. Please stay safe please, I love you guys!
Con Amor, El Elder Jenson
This week was super cool and super fun! We went to the aquarium last P-day and watched an amazing dolphin show. I also fed some sting rays, pet a shark, and chilled in the ocean breeze. It was absolutely beautiful. I'll send some pictures in separate emails. Also just wondering, do you get the emails I send from the camera? It says they go through but I'm still not sure if you're getting them. We have had a slow week with the missionary work, but we've done a lot of fun things with the other missionaries. There are a lot of amazing Elders and Hermanas in my area, I love them all! We got to eat with the new second councilor, Brother Hoffheins yesterday out on port Aransas. It was an absolutely beautiful area! It's about 40 mins away from the bluff, but it is an incredible area and the marina was full of cool boats and animals. We saw sea turtles and crabs, tons of fishermen, and even some dolphins. I hope we can all come visit as a family, it's a beautiful place.
We should have our real first baptism on the 27th of this month, so we hope everything goes well with him. He is an older man named James, about 65 yrs old, but he really wants to become a Mormon. He found us and called us out a few weeks ago asking how he could join our church. Sometimes you don't even have to search for the elect of God's children, they will find you! Right now he is our only investigator, but he's doing awesome and progressing well. He has some unique struggles that sometimes turn people away, but we love him a lot. I hope our ward will be good for him and fellowship him well. He deserves a good ward family, he's a super great guy.
We also had a super cool story about meeting a man named Robert this week. We were following street referrals having kind of a slow day and got to a nice blue house. A woman answered the door, her name was Jenny, and she was very kind, but uninterested. She had taken the lessons with the missionaries a little bit before and decided not to continue them. As we were leaving she asked us if we wanted the spare silverware she was getting rid of on her porch. It was a pretty nice looking set and we knew members who were in need of silverware, so we agreed to take it. She left to go pick her kids up from school and we packed up the silverware to take it home with us. After about a minute of her being gone, a shirtless man covered in tattoos come out on the front porch and started screaming at us. Apparently he had just woken up and was concerned at why we were on his porch. He was hardcore cussing at us, many F-words and the like to display is displeasure at us being there. We were surprised and quickly tried to get off his property. Just before we left he paused and asked," are y'all Mormons?" We stopped and said yes, and he then proceeded to invite us in for water and a donut. It the blink of an eye his demeanor changed and he apologized for treating us so harshly. After a few minutes of talking to him he just started to open up to us and tell us how he was having a lot of family problems at the time and was really trying to make changes in his life. He wanted to be a better husband and feel forgiven of his past. We explained to him about our church and what Christ can do to help him with his desires, and he accepted being baptized the 11th of that month.
It was a super crazy contrast from what we expected on the front porch. They are very sweet people, and right now we're waiting for them to contact us for lessons. I hope we will be able to keep teaching them and help them have the gospel in their lives. That was a super fun day. It's always nice to have those funny little moments when things don't go quite how you expect them to.
I'm super excited for Brandon's marathon, he will feel the pain! It's tons of fun, but no training=no Bueno. He's just lucky that he has mom to guide him through the race. That is the only thing that kept me and Russell going! I hope Brandon and Cristian are doing well. I haven't heard to much from them since I've gotten on the mission, but I'm sure they're living up the bachelor life!
Our first transfers are tomorrow, and we'll find out later tonight who's staying and who's leaving! It's going to be super exciting. We'll get a new zone leader because Elder Nielson just died(went home) this week, and we might lose a couple of the other Corpus elders and sisters. I'm pretty sure Elder Robinson and I will stay on the bluff this transfer, but who knows.
I heard about the flood from a member this week! The members we had menudo with also fed us cactus and eggs, and while we were eating with them the Colorado city story came on the news. I was worried about you guys a little bit, but it sounds like you guys missed the big brunt of it. Please stay safe please, I love you guys!
Con Amor, El Elder Jenson
Monday, September 14, 2015
September 14, 2015
Also just wanted to let you know that I had my "baptism" in menudo this last week. It was a little strange, but it was acutally pretty good! That's all, I'm true mexican!
On Mon, Sep 14, 2015 at 12:07 PM, Derek Jenson <derek.jenson@myldsmail.net> wrote:
Querida familia,
Okay, sorry I wigged out on you last week. My computer was having some loading issues for the first little while, and I had a few extra people write me that I wanted to write back to. I hope Savannah had a very merry little birthday! I have a little letter/package I'll be sending home, but it'll be a few days before I get it out. I'm super glad to hear about Nate, I miss him a lot. I've been telling my companion all about you guys and about Nate too. I wish he could serve here on the bluff with us, everyone living here would be baptized if he was their missionary! Tell him I miss him please.
These past few weeks have been a little crazy. My baptism unfortunately didn't happen last week, it was the weirdest situation every. Our investigator, Wes, was completely prepared, as far as we knew, to be baptized. He passed his interview on Friday, and everything seemed fine...
(The investigator left town, not to return, kind of a tough story so we left out details at Elder Jenson's request)
It's been a pretty crazy deal, but things are getting back to normal. Anyway, we didn't get that baptism last week, and that's why. I was super sad about that. Our other super good investigator decided to drop us as well that week, so were trying to get things going again. We also got our bike lights stolen from us while we were in a lesson with one of the recent converts in one of the poorer parts of the bluff. We were frustrated at first, but that ended up being a pretty cool thing. I'll tell you the story another time, but it ended up being a great blessing for some people we met later that day.
Besides all that stuff, it has been super awesome here. I'd say that I've been very humbled, but I feel very close to my Savior. We had our first Zone Conference, and I learned a lot of things I am going to try and apply over the next few months. I'm starting to understand the importance of having good studies, and sincere prayers always. I'm really trying to give my spiritual preparation a lot of attention and be as obedient as I can. I've felt the spirit a lot this week, and I see the Lord's hand in everything a lot more. It's not that it wasn't there before, I'm just starting to be able to recognize it more. I'm reading the scriptures like I would a normal book right now because I've never really done that in the past. It's amazing how much better I can follow the stories, and it's actually very interesting when I read. I've always loved the book, but every time I read it my testimony grows a little bit more. The truthfulness of that book is something I can never deny. I feel like that is something I have always believed, but every new chapter I read I feel like the Lord gives me another little witness of it being his word. There are some things in the gospel I have a strong belief in, but I Know of a surety that the Book of Mormon is true and that Jesus Christ is real and is our Savior. God has given me countless personal witnesses and spiritual manifestations in those two things, and I cannot deny them.
I love you guys a lot. I miss seeing you and being able to talk to you, but I love it here as well. I hope you all have a wonderful week and will forgive me for missing last week. Also I just want to encourage you to have a food and water storage that will last a while. I don't know how much the prophets have recommended, but I feel it is very important, so please try to keep building one according to their teachings. Les amo mucho!
Con mucho amor, Elder Jenson
On Mon, Sep 14, 2015 at 12:07 PM, Derek Jenson <derek.jenson@myldsmail.net> wrote:
Querida familia,
Okay, sorry I wigged out on you last week. My computer was having some loading issues for the first little while, and I had a few extra people write me that I wanted to write back to. I hope Savannah had a very merry little birthday! I have a little letter/package I'll be sending home, but it'll be a few days before I get it out. I'm super glad to hear about Nate, I miss him a lot. I've been telling my companion all about you guys and about Nate too. I wish he could serve here on the bluff with us, everyone living here would be baptized if he was their missionary! Tell him I miss him please.
These past few weeks have been a little crazy. My baptism unfortunately didn't happen last week, it was the weirdest situation every. Our investigator, Wes, was completely prepared, as far as we knew, to be baptized. He passed his interview on Friday, and everything seemed fine...
(The investigator left town, not to return, kind of a tough story so we left out details at Elder Jenson's request)
It's been a pretty crazy deal, but things are getting back to normal. Anyway, we didn't get that baptism last week, and that's why. I was super sad about that. Our other super good investigator decided to drop us as well that week, so were trying to get things going again. We also got our bike lights stolen from us while we were in a lesson with one of the recent converts in one of the poorer parts of the bluff. We were frustrated at first, but that ended up being a pretty cool thing. I'll tell you the story another time, but it ended up being a great blessing for some people we met later that day.
Besides all that stuff, it has been super awesome here. I'd say that I've been very humbled, but I feel very close to my Savior. We had our first Zone Conference, and I learned a lot of things I am going to try and apply over the next few months. I'm starting to understand the importance of having good studies, and sincere prayers always. I'm really trying to give my spiritual preparation a lot of attention and be as obedient as I can. I've felt the spirit a lot this week, and I see the Lord's hand in everything a lot more. It's not that it wasn't there before, I'm just starting to be able to recognize it more. I'm reading the scriptures like I would a normal book right now because I've never really done that in the past. It's amazing how much better I can follow the stories, and it's actually very interesting when I read. I've always loved the book, but every time I read it my testimony grows a little bit more. The truthfulness of that book is something I can never deny. I feel like that is something I have always believed, but every new chapter I read I feel like the Lord gives me another little witness of it being his word. There are some things in the gospel I have a strong belief in, but I Know of a surety that the Book of Mormon is true and that Jesus Christ is real and is our Savior. God has given me countless personal witnesses and spiritual manifestations in those two things, and I cannot deny them.
I love you guys a lot. I miss seeing you and being able to talk to you, but I love it here as well. I hope you all have a wonderful week and will forgive me for missing last week. Also I just want to encourage you to have a food and water storage that will last a while. I don't know how much the prophets have recommended, but I feel it is very important, so please try to keep building one according to their teachings. Les amo mucho!
Con mucho amor, Elder Jenson
Monday, August 31, 2015
August 31, 2015
Querida familia,
Good luck with school starting everyone! The families here are all getting started, and life is super busy for them. I can only imagine how it is for you guys back home. I got a letter from the youngs the other day, please let them know how nice that was of them and how much I appreciated it. It really made my day a lot better; they're such awesome people!
Time seems to be going so fast right now. I feel like it was P-day yesterday. Great accomplishment of the week, I cut my own hair this morning! Well at least I tried... I got the scissors and tried to follow what I had learned from mom cutting my hair and ended up pretty much looking like Jim Carry from Dumb and Dummer. Luckily Elder Robinson is there to fix the problems I create and helped me buzz my head afterwards. Me and Elder Robinson have been having a lot of fun, we have a pet spider named Rosco outside of the house and he's huge! The spiders here are super aggressive and we feed him cockroaches everynight after we put the bikes away.He's an awesome little guy, I'll try to send pictures when I buy the chord.
I also got unofficially called as the ward pianist/organist last sunday. We are a pretty small ward, so there is no called organist for sacrament meeting. I'm super grateful I get to have that time to play and keep up on my piano a little bit, it's been a good experience so far. I'm going to try and start practicing the organ when I can on P days to start using that in sacrament meeting. I think it brings a little bit nicer feel to the meeting than the piano does.
We should be getting our first baptism next Sunday! I'm so excited for Wesley, he's going to be a great member. He has such a pure heart and is so faithful to the commitments he makes. He also participates a lot in church with the gospel discussions and it makes me so happy to see him progressing. If anything else comes of me serving in this area it will be great, but just teaching Wes has made it all worth it to me.
One of our investigators cancelled with us yesterday out of the blue after he was progressing so well! I was super frustrated, but everyone is allowed to have agency. Sometimes I wish it weren't that way, but in the end it really is a gift. Another of our investigators is moving to houston, so we won't be able to continue with her very much longer. However, there are still more people out there ready to hear the gospel, and we will continue to search for them diligently. I've seen the change it's been making in Wes's life, and I know it can help anyone who will just listen and act on the word to see for themselves the truthfulness of it.
I love you family and hope the best for you all. Have a great week and remember to read and pray every night together! Esta es la cosa mas importante que todos otros, les amo mucho!
Con mucho amor, Elder Jenson
Good luck with school starting everyone! The families here are all getting started, and life is super busy for them. I can only imagine how it is for you guys back home. I got a letter from the youngs the other day, please let them know how nice that was of them and how much I appreciated it. It really made my day a lot better; they're such awesome people!
Time seems to be going so fast right now. I feel like it was P-day yesterday. Great accomplishment of the week, I cut my own hair this morning! Well at least I tried... I got the scissors and tried to follow what I had learned from mom cutting my hair and ended up pretty much looking like Jim Carry from Dumb and Dummer. Luckily Elder Robinson is there to fix the problems I create and helped me buzz my head afterwards. Me and Elder Robinson have been having a lot of fun, we have a pet spider named Rosco outside of the house and he's huge! The spiders here are super aggressive and we feed him cockroaches everynight after we put the bikes away.He's an awesome little guy, I'll try to send pictures when I buy the chord.
I also got unofficially called as the ward pianist/organist last sunday. We are a pretty small ward, so there is no called organist for sacrament meeting. I'm super grateful I get to have that time to play and keep up on my piano a little bit, it's been a good experience so far. I'm going to try and start practicing the organ when I can on P days to start using that in sacrament meeting. I think it brings a little bit nicer feel to the meeting than the piano does.
We should be getting our first baptism next Sunday! I'm so excited for Wesley, he's going to be a great member. He has such a pure heart and is so faithful to the commitments he makes. He also participates a lot in church with the gospel discussions and it makes me so happy to see him progressing. If anything else comes of me serving in this area it will be great, but just teaching Wes has made it all worth it to me.
One of our investigators cancelled with us yesterday out of the blue after he was progressing so well! I was super frustrated, but everyone is allowed to have agency. Sometimes I wish it weren't that way, but in the end it really is a gift. Another of our investigators is moving to houston, so we won't be able to continue with her very much longer. However, there are still more people out there ready to hear the gospel, and we will continue to search for them diligently. I've seen the change it's been making in Wes's life, and I know it can help anyone who will just listen and act on the word to see for themselves the truthfulness of it.
I love you family and hope the best for you all. Have a great week and remember to read and pray every night together! Esta es la cosa mas importante que todos otros, les amo mucho!
Con mucho amor, Elder Jenson
Monday, August 24, 2015
Aug 24, 2015
Querida familia,
I'm so glad to hear things are good with the kids! Has school started there yet? It started here today, and it feels so nice to be working for the Lord rather than for A's... This week has been super fast, but I new it would. The same thing happened in the CCM. Time flies when you're having fun! We've had a lot of people that yell random things out of cars at us and bark at us like dogs. It makes me feel pretty special! Earlier this week a guy yelled from his front porch at us "Satan loves you!!". I'm pretty sure he meant it offensively, but it just made us laugh. Elder Robinson is a good companion and I learn a lot from his example and awesome attitude everyday; especially in situations that would regularly be difficult.
This week was a little bit humbling, but still very good. I learned how important it is to teach by the spirit. If we receive not the Spirit, we shall not teach. One of our investigators came across some anti-Mormon material in studying more about the church. All of the comments were inaccurate, but it made me nervous when he brought it up, and I didn't feel the spirit. I had a hard time teaching during that lesson because I was afraid of what could've happened. Everything was fine, but I was frustrated with myself for trying to teach out of fear rather than faith. I didn't feel the spirit, so I shouldn't have taught. My companion was wise though and made sure that he knew he could ask God and have faith to know what was true and false. It was so simple, but out of fear I let myself get worried. I stayed frustrated with myself and my imperfections with the work for the next few days, and that attitude was such that I couldn't progress. I realize now that dwelling on past mistakes inhibits our progress and stops us in our path of becoming like Jesus Christ. This is an enabling gospel, not a disabling one.
I would also like to say how much love I have for our investigators. We are teaching an awesome African-American man named Marion, and he has an amazing grasp on the concepts of the gospel. He doesn't know much about the church, but he is very smart and his thought processes follow completely accurately with the doctrines of the Gospel of Christ. He is very humble and I love teaching him. We have our things we need to help him with to prepare for baptism, but his heart is prepared. The field is truly all white and ready to harvest, and it makes me so happy when we can find and teach the people who's hearts are ready for this.
We're also teaching a guy named Wesley. He is absolutely rock solid. Every time we go over there I feel the Spirit, and he listens very humbly and intently to the word. He has a very honest heart, and does everything we ask him to do without hesitation. He has some tough situations that I won't write about, but it's so amazing to me to see his faithful righteousness. Not only does he listen and act on what we teach him, he is also feeling and having spiritual experiences on his own. He has already shared parts of the gospel and the book of mormon with some friends and relatives. He's not even baptized yet and he's already doing missionary work. It just amazes me to see the happiness people can feel through the gospel. It truly changes lives!
Thanks for writing me again, I love hearing about home and all that you guys are doing good in your lives. Happy birthday yesterday Jaxon, I hope you had a great day and a fun party! I love you all so much, and I brag about you to all the people we talk to. Many people ask how we are able to make it through all the muck and craziness of the world and be strong servants of God at such a young age. I just tell them it's because of the truthfulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and especially because of my great family who lived by and taught me the principles of the gospel growing up. I'm super grateful to have a family like you! Les amo muchisimo!
Con amor, Elder Jenson
P.S.--Mom, can I machine was those other pants you bought me or do I have to get them dry-cleaned. We sweat buckets here everyday riding our bikes, and I will end up spending a lot of money if I have to dry-clean all my stuff every week. I will borrow my companion's camera chord next week so I can send pics. Thanks, and love you lots!
I'm so glad to hear things are good with the kids! Has school started there yet? It started here today, and it feels so nice to be working for the Lord rather than for A's... This week has been super fast, but I new it would. The same thing happened in the CCM. Time flies when you're having fun! We've had a lot of people that yell random things out of cars at us and bark at us like dogs. It makes me feel pretty special! Earlier this week a guy yelled from his front porch at us "Satan loves you!!". I'm pretty sure he meant it offensively, but it just made us laugh. Elder Robinson is a good companion and I learn a lot from his example and awesome attitude everyday; especially in situations that would regularly be difficult.
This week was a little bit humbling, but still very good. I learned how important it is to teach by the spirit. If we receive not the Spirit, we shall not teach. One of our investigators came across some anti-Mormon material in studying more about the church. All of the comments were inaccurate, but it made me nervous when he brought it up, and I didn't feel the spirit. I had a hard time teaching during that lesson because I was afraid of what could've happened. Everything was fine, but I was frustrated with myself for trying to teach out of fear rather than faith. I didn't feel the spirit, so I shouldn't have taught. My companion was wise though and made sure that he knew he could ask God and have faith to know what was true and false. It was so simple, but out of fear I let myself get worried. I stayed frustrated with myself and my imperfections with the work for the next few days, and that attitude was such that I couldn't progress. I realize now that dwelling on past mistakes inhibits our progress and stops us in our path of becoming like Jesus Christ. This is an enabling gospel, not a disabling one.
I would also like to say how much love I have for our investigators. We are teaching an awesome African-American man named Marion, and he has an amazing grasp on the concepts of the gospel. He doesn't know much about the church, but he is very smart and his thought processes follow completely accurately with the doctrines of the Gospel of Christ. He is very humble and I love teaching him. We have our things we need to help him with to prepare for baptism, but his heart is prepared. The field is truly all white and ready to harvest, and it makes me so happy when we can find and teach the people who's hearts are ready for this.
We're also teaching a guy named Wesley. He is absolutely rock solid. Every time we go over there I feel the Spirit, and he listens very humbly and intently to the word. He has a very honest heart, and does everything we ask him to do without hesitation. He has some tough situations that I won't write about, but it's so amazing to me to see his faithful righteousness. Not only does he listen and act on what we teach him, he is also feeling and having spiritual experiences on his own. He has already shared parts of the gospel and the book of mormon with some friends and relatives. He's not even baptized yet and he's already doing missionary work. It just amazes me to see the happiness people can feel through the gospel. It truly changes lives!
Thanks for writing me again, I love hearing about home and all that you guys are doing good in your lives. Happy birthday yesterday Jaxon, I hope you had a great day and a fun party! I love you all so much, and I brag about you to all the people we talk to. Many people ask how we are able to make it through all the muck and craziness of the world and be strong servants of God at such a young age. I just tell them it's because of the truthfulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and especially because of my great family who lived by and taught me the principles of the gospel growing up. I'm super grateful to have a family like you! Les amo muchisimo!
Con amor, Elder Jenson
P.S.--Mom, can I machine was those other pants you bought me or do I have to get them dry-cleaned. We sweat buckets here everyday riding our bikes, and I will end up spending a lot of money if I have to dry-clean all my stuff every week. I will borrow my companion's camera chord next week so I can send pics. Thanks, and love you lots!
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
August 17, 2015 Arrived to Corpus Christi, Texas
Querida Familia,
Sorry about the masculine querido in past meses, I got that straightened out with my companion today. This first week has been the best week of my life. My companion is Elder Robinson, and He is from Ogden Utah. He has about 1.5 (year)s out here in the mission, and He is a great Dad! He served down by the border most of his mission, so he speaks Spanish pretty fluently. Oh, by the way, I am serving in "Drum roll please"... The Corpus Christi, Flour Bluff area of the mission. Corpus and the areas above called Sinton, are referred to as the great white north in this mission because there is absolutely no Spanish. At all. I lucked out for now, it will be a few months before I have to worry about depending on my Spanish. In the mean time, I will keep studying it hard and practicing with Elder Robinson as much as possible. I'm very lucky to have him as a companion. I was praying before I got to the field to get a Trainer that would help me learn how to love others more and be more selfless. He exemplifies this so much, and I learn from him every day. We get along pretty well, and I'm going to work hard to be loving and keep it that way.
This week was exciting and absolutely great in so many ways. It feels like I've been here for a month, but the same thing happened in the CCM for the first week, and then time flies after that. I'm prepared for it this time. Our little area is called Flour bluff and it's a little stretch of land just in from the coast and surrounded by lagoons. It is super hot and humid because it's so close to the ocean, so everytime you walk outside, mother nature gives you a great big warm watery hug. I love it! Since our area is so small and the sisters have the car, Elder Robinson and I have the great opportunity of riding out bikes. It is actually really fun! The kids in town always ask if they can ride our bikes or race us. Thanks so much for getting the bike here and ready for me. It works super well and got to the office just in time. I am eternally grateful to you guys!
Me and Elder are also whitewashing and reopening an area, so it's been a little crazy. We're still learning about the people here and the ward, but so far it's been fantastic. The people here are so nice and loving. I am especially grateful for the visits we've had with our investigators. The few hours I've spent with them have been the best few hours of my life. We've been meeting with a few different people, but our primary investigators this week were Wess, Kara, and Jessica. They all live together, so we can teach them together. The spirit has been so strong in those lessons, and I love them so much. I never feel so happy as when I see how the gospel is helping them live better, progress, and become happier. A lot of people reject us at the door and avoid us, but the Lord has prepared his elect to hear his word. Everyone will hear it eventually, but right now I just focus on finding those who are prepared. This morning was reading in DyC 13, and I have seen firsthand how true that promise is. If we bring other souls unto Christ then we will have great joy in the kingdom of God with them. That promise is true for heaven, but it is also true for life here on earth. Like I said, I've never felt so happy as when I am sharing the gospel with other people. It makes me really sad when things don't go as planned, but everyone has agency and dealing with that is part of becoming more like God. I love the people here, and all of my frustrations and hard times are worth it when I feel the Spirit with my investigators and companion. I love it here, and I love you guys. I hope you have a great week, and pray for opportunities to share the gospel as much as possible. The missionaries really need help and you guys can give it. Love you all so much, and have a great week!
Con Amor, Elder Jenson
Sorry about the masculine querido in past meses, I got that straightened out with my companion today. This first week has been the best week of my life. My companion is Elder Robinson, and He is from Ogden Utah. He has about 1.5 (year)s out here in the mission, and He is a great Dad! He served down by the border most of his mission, so he speaks Spanish pretty fluently. Oh, by the way, I am serving in "Drum roll please"... The Corpus Christi, Flour Bluff area of the mission. Corpus and the areas above called Sinton, are referred to as the great white north in this mission because there is absolutely no Spanish. At all. I lucked out for now, it will be a few months before I have to worry about depending on my Spanish. In the mean time, I will keep studying it hard and practicing with Elder Robinson as much as possible. I'm very lucky to have him as a companion. I was praying before I got to the field to get a Trainer that would help me learn how to love others more and be more selfless. He exemplifies this so much, and I learn from him every day. We get along pretty well, and I'm going to work hard to be loving and keep it that way.
This week was exciting and absolutely great in so many ways. It feels like I've been here for a month, but the same thing happened in the CCM for the first week, and then time flies after that. I'm prepared for it this time. Our little area is called Flour bluff and it's a little stretch of land just in from the coast and surrounded by lagoons. It is super hot and humid because it's so close to the ocean, so everytime you walk outside, mother nature gives you a great big warm watery hug. I love it! Since our area is so small and the sisters have the car, Elder Robinson and I have the great opportunity of riding out bikes. It is actually really fun! The kids in town always ask if they can ride our bikes or race us. Thanks so much for getting the bike here and ready for me. It works super well and got to the office just in time. I am eternally grateful to you guys!
Me and Elder are also whitewashing and reopening an area, so it's been a little crazy. We're still learning about the people here and the ward, but so far it's been fantastic. The people here are so nice and loving. I am especially grateful for the visits we've had with our investigators. The few hours I've spent with them have been the best few hours of my life. We've been meeting with a few different people, but our primary investigators this week were Wess, Kara, and Jessica. They all live together, so we can teach them together. The spirit has been so strong in those lessons, and I love them so much. I never feel so happy as when I see how the gospel is helping them live better, progress, and become happier. A lot of people reject us at the door and avoid us, but the Lord has prepared his elect to hear his word. Everyone will hear it eventually, but right now I just focus on finding those who are prepared. This morning was reading in DyC 13, and I have seen firsthand how true that promise is. If we bring other souls unto Christ then we will have great joy in the kingdom of God with them. That promise is true for heaven, but it is also true for life here on earth. Like I said, I've never felt so happy as when I am sharing the gospel with other people. It makes me really sad when things don't go as planned, but everyone has agency and dealing with that is part of becoming more like God. I love the people here, and all of my frustrations and hard times are worth it when I feel the Spirit with my investigators and companion. I love it here, and I love you guys. I hope you have a great week, and pray for opportunities to share the gospel as much as possible. The missionaries really need help and you guys can give it. Love you all so much, and have a great week!
Con Amor, Elder Jenson
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)