Monday, July 27, 2015

Almost 7 weeks

So I hope everyone got all of my pictures this week! I tried to break them up so it would work.. We'll see! 

First of all.. Thank you to everyone at the reunion that sent me letters! It was so fun to open all of them and hear from all of you! 

Elder Jackson is here! I have seen him a lot and it has been super great to catch up with him! He seems to be doing really well!! And I know more Chinese than him;) It is good to know I've really been progressing here. It is so good to have him around!

I guess I forgot to mention but like 2 weeks ago I had a temporary companion for Tuesday because his whole district left the day before him! His name was Elder Larsen and he was really cool! He was in the fast track and knew Chinese way better than me;) 

Last Sunday we went to Testaments in Mandarin! It was hard to understand most of it but I understood way more than I would have at the start! It was great! 

There is this game I have been playing a lot here called Spikeball! It is super fun! Everyone should look into it;) 

The weeks are still pretty much the exact same! Skype was good last Monday! We ended up skyping someone we had already taught that lives here in Provo.. It was still good though! Maybe tonight the person will be from Taiwan! 

This weeks devotionals were really really good! Yesterday's was super funny! The spirit is strong here! I love it here! But I am also looking forward to going to Taiwan more than ever! We will probably be getting travel plans on Friday!! We got mail from the mission president this week saying to be comfortable with lessons one and two and stuff! And he said there are 52 areas in Taipei and about 200 missionaries! 20 natives.. How hard/awesome would it be to have a native trainer?

One last thing..  Yesterday I was called to be the District Leader! This means I am in charge of getting mail and asking people to pray and stuff;) A few other things too! Kinda scary.. I hope I can do it well! I will do my best to keep the district on the right path.. I have big shoes to fill;) Elder Facer my companion has been it the last three weeks and he's awesome! 

I think that is all for this week! Have a wonderful week everyone! Remember the Lord and strive to grow and develop your faith constantly! 

Love Elder Jensen

One of the first few days.

Most of the disrtict.
Name tag
Haircut
Our room


Elder Jackson 
Elder Jackson and Elder Curtis
Lehi Mandarin Elders


Monday, July 20, 2015

3 Weeks To Go!

Time has really started to go by pretty fast here. I can't believe I only have 3 weeks left! I am super excited to go to Taiwan! But I also love the MTC more and more every week! 

So I don't think I'm ready to go as far as Chinese comes.. But I can teach most of the lessons kind of.. This week at TRC we taught two members that are from China and Taiwan. The Chinese woman kept correcting our chinese and didn't let us teach too much and she spoke super fast! It was a little frustrating.. But then we went and taught the Taiwanese man and he spoke slower and I could understand almost everything he said and we were able to share a good message with him about receiving revelation at church! 

Our week was pretty much the exact same as all of the others.. Things are super repetitive here! But there are great spiritual experiences everyday! And so many things that make you want to improve and be better and better! 

I think the theme of the MTC is definitely exact obedience and giving yourself 100% to the Lord and His work! As we focus on our purpose here all of the time He blesses us and the homesickness and stuff goes away! I am not perfect at that but I'm trying super hard to show Him my love by giving him everything I have on this mission. I have a lot to learn! 

I had a temporary companion on Tuesday! He was in the fast track and everyone left tuesday but he wasn't leaving until Wednesday! He was really nice! 

I'm sorry this is so short.. I don't know what to say! I will do better next week! 

Oh but the other missionaries are gone.. So weird! They are all in Taichung so we won't see them I don't think but cool that they're out there! I hope they are doing well! 

Tonight we are skyping a member in Taiwan for TRC that will be really cool! A little intimidating.. 

Love you all!! Have a great week!! Remember the Lord! He knows all of our concerns and needs and wants to bless and help us! 

Elder Jensen

Monday, July 13, 2015

Over Half Way

It's crazy to think Landon is in New York and I still have another 4 weeks here.. But It is going good! I'm getting really excited to get out to Taiwan though. Tomorrow the older Elders that have been here our whole time are leaving! I'm really going to miss them.. They made coming here a lot easier and have become some of my best friends here! But they'll do great! 

So this week we had a really good devotional on Tuesday! The guy was really funny and liked to talk like Gordon B. Hinckley! One thing he said is.. "If you want to know if God and Jesus Christ really appeared to Joseph Smith, ask God, He was there" I thought that was funny.. And true! He talked a lot about how powerful the first vision can be in our teaching! 

Other than that the week was pretty normal.. Friday we got to go to President Packers funeral though! He was an amazing man.. I learned a lot from the funeral.. I want to be like that. It impressed me that they said he gave the one thing the Lord would never ask for, his will. When he gave his will to Heavenly Father he was able to become an awesome instrument in the hands of the Lord. I love that. 

Thank you Family that sent the package! I loved all of your letters! It's so fun to here from all of you! 

The Chinese is hard.. I realized this week that I don't speak with the tones very well.. That's something I really need to fix and it will take a bit of work to go back over the things I know and get the tones.. but It will really help! 

My companions and I taught 4 lessons on saturday and all of them were the best lessons we'd ever had I think. We are learning how to work together and bring the spirit and keep stuff simple! It was really great to have some good lessons! 

I don't know if I said but Sundays are weird.. We have priesthood and then lunch and then sacrament meeting and then district meeting. Kinda strange! But I love Sundays.. I love when we get a break from Chinese;) but I love Chinese too.. I can't wait to be able to speak it well! 

Hmm.. There are lots of good friends here! It is fun! I love you all! Have a great week! Don't forget to read the Book of Mormon.. All weekend we learned and taught over and over how important and powerful the book is. No matter how many times you have read it, you will find power and help in reading it more. It will change your life! 

Still can't get pictures to work.. Next week I'll buy a card reader and get some pictures sent out! Sorry for the long wait! 

Much Love! 

Elder Jensen!

Monday, July 6, 2015

Three and a half weeks!

Okay so this week there were some exciting things! It flew by again and I'm getting really excited for the 22nd when the next group of people I know come in!

First of all, I forgot to mention my mission president said our mission has no senior couples and so they are trying to recruit people. If you know anyone that might want to come let them know! I have heard it's awesome! And they don't need to speak Chinese! 

Wednesday I hosted again and it was super hot! I had a good time though! Hmm.. Life is pretty much the same.. Every day I study and we teach lessons about every other day. They are starting to get a bit better! Chinese has definitely come a long way since getting here! Yesterday I was able to understand all of the testimonies for the most part. Two native speakers bore their testimonies and that was a little bit harder but I still got most of it I think.. At least the main idea. 

We had a special fireside Saturday night for the fourth of July and it was two hours long and then after we went out and watched fireworks. They weren't anything too exciting but it was fun! The fireside was good.. But guess what?? It just so happened that I got to sit right next to Elder Cuff for the whole two hours! It was awesome and we talked a lot. I don't know if I'll get to see him again before he leaves tomorrow morning but I was glad I got to do that!! He seemed good.. Said the first few days were hard! Good to talk about people we both know and home and stuff! 

Sunday we had a really good mission conference and a great devotional that night! Jenny Oaks Baker came and played some songs for us with her whole her family! They were really good! They played some of my favorite songs.. Love at home was one.. It reminded me of home a ton! 

Hmm.. I don't know what else! Oh!!! Cleaning the temple this morning was super cool! Looking out of the temple windows on the third floor I could see everything out to the point of the mountain! Super cool! Also the view out over the lake was awesome!! 

Love you all!!! 

Have a great week!! 

Love, Elder Jensen