Baptism!!

It was a really good week! 

Monday we went for a hike with Sunny and Elder Tan my last companion and it was quite nice! It's always great to see Sunny! 

Tuesday we had a nice District meeting and then did some finding! It was a pretty okay night! 

And then Wednesday things started getting crazy! So Elder Mueller and I teach the children's English class and we usually have between like 3 and 10 people come. Well out of nowhere 29 people showed up to the class and it was just insane trying to teach all of them! The kids are always pretty loud and crazy but the parents help keep them under control and it was really fun to have so many!

Then on Thursday we decided to go to Wulai a village up in the mountains of our area because all of our lessons canceled for that day and our bishop gave us an assignment to go and find a less active member up there! Well we got up there and had no idea where to go.. So we said a prayer and started knocking on doors! The first woman to answer let us have a lesson with her and then she took us around to all of her surrounding neighbors and asked them if we could share with them too! It was a huge miracle and we got to meet quite a few of the village people there! It is really interesting because they are all aboriginals and most aboriginals are Christian so it suddenly felt like a completely different part of the world and we were contacting Christians instead of Buddhists! After meeting a lot of neighbors she helped us find the less active man we were looking for! He was happy to see us and told us that he likes our church but there's a church right next to his house and it is a lot closer and he's been going there for 10 years. I think he has a lot of potential to come back though and hopefully bring a lot of the village with him!

After dinner we went to find the woman who took us around to meet her neighbors and thank her. She let us in to her home where we found one of the biggest surprises ever! A 19 year old boy from London who has been staying with them for 2 weeks because he met a guy named James whose family is all members of our church (James is a less active) and came over here to help him start a hostile in the village. It's hard to explain.. Any way he was really curious about our church and said he is definitely going to check it out when he goes back to London next week! It was so cool to sit down and talk with him and get to know him. He was a mechanic for a team of racers that drove ferraris and lamborginis before he got in an accident and lost use of one of his arms! But the fact that we went up there and were able to meet him and that family that day testify to me that the Lord really is organizing everything for us!

Then Yesterday evening the young boy we've been teaching passed his baptismal interview and he will be baptized on October 1st!! I'm really glad that we will be able to get a baptism during training! That is pretty important! 

It was a week full of miracles! We also had 3 people with really really great potential come to church. Two of them Darma and Allen have baptismal dates for October and are on track! It has been so cool to see this area grow and start to have people progress toward baptism! I love my mission and all of the amazing experiences I've been able to have here so far. 

I'm super excited for conference.. Have to wait an extra week but its going to be awesome! I invite everyone to watch it and go in with questions! It can change your life:) 

I love you all! Love Elder Jensen!

Pictures:

1 and 2 : the hike

3: The view from our dinner in Wulai! 

A couple more

Typhoons!!

Oh This last week was really great! I'll share a few quick highlights! 

Monday we had a lot of fun going to a trampoline park. They had some super bouncy trampolines and I was able to jump up and touch the ceiling like 30 feet up! Super fun!

The rest of the week we had a lot of rain and it was all great! Wednesday there was a typhoon in southern Taiwan and it was the strongest wind I've ever been in. It was really really fun! You could full on lean in to it and not fall over! This week was also the mid autumn festival so it felt like Saturday for like 4 days in a row because people had work and school off and were out barbecuing and stuff!

Thursday we started to see miracles despite all of the rain! We came and found George in the internet cafe and he told us that he found a job and then he told us that he loves the feeling that reading and praying and church gave him and he'll do anything he can to have that feeling! So he is still hanging on and progressing! Then we decided to bike up a mountain that we haven't biked up yet and when we got to the top we met a woman and her sister waiting at a bus stop! They were pretty cool and we were able to have a lesson with them then they said maybe they'd be willing to meet. Well that night we called them and they said "Hey can we go to church on Sunday?" Super big miracle! And they came and they really enjoyed it and will be coming back next Sunday! They are really awesome! 

Also Allen the man that met missionaries five years ago came to church on Sunday and is progressing really well!! 

Things are going really awesome here! I'm really bad at sharing details I'm sorry! But one more miracle! Last night we were out walking around and we ran into this couple and the woman started saying how her mom is Christian and wants her to learn. Then she said she loves Jesus but hasn't felt his love for her yet. We prayed for them and promised they'll be able to come to feel of that love and then we set them up for church and they were like we are so happy to have met you both! We hope you can help lead us to Christ. We want to be his lambs! 

That was by far the most prepared group of people I have ever contacted! I know that the Lord is preparing those around us! We just have to be prepared to find them! He loves them and He loves you! 

I love you too! Have a great week!

Love Elder Jensen!

Trampoline park 

Spider out our bathroom window!

Leaning in the wind!

A picture from the ward blog. 

Rain

This was another pretty sweet week! Things are really picking up here:)

So on Monday we went and made pottery with Sunny, Jerry, and some other missionaries. It was really fun. My pottery skills need some work!

Then on Tuesday I went on exchanges with Elder Hogge from Kansas! He's been here just about 2 weeks! We had a lot of fun and saw some nice miracles! Also we ran into these college students and I asked the man what his name was. He said it was Kevin.. Well then I asked his girlfriend what her name was and she said Shana.. Hahaha I don't know how that happened but I ran into a couple with the same names as my parents! I thought that was pretty exciting! 

We also met with a man found by Elder Hogge and his companion that lives in our area and he is super prepared. He met missionaries 5 years ago and then moved to China but he has continued to read the Book of Mormon and now he shares a lot of testimonies with us about how he knows the Lord has been preparing him! He currently works the night shift and can't come to church but his hours are going to be changing here soon and then he will come to church and then be baptized! Really awesome guy named Allen!

It rained pretty hard a few days this week and we got nice and soaked! It had been quite a while so it was nice to remember what it's like riding around all day feeling like you're swimming in your Sunday best;) I guess a Typhoon is supposed to be on the way this week! We'll see if we get to see it this time or not! 

Update on George.. We went to the internet cafe on our run Thursday morning and he was here! We found out a bit about what happened. His mom basically flipped out at him and won't let him come to church. He told us he still has a desire to be baptized though. But he started smoking again because of a lot of stress! Now our plan is to help him find a job so that his mom will be happier and then help him get baptized! He just needs a little extra push he's pretty close! 

Also the young guy with the same name as me who is the son of some less active members came to church again on Sunday for the second week in a row! He's a super cool little guy! He walks in with his mom and brother and then he comes and finds his seat in between me and my companion! We haven't talked to him a ton but I feel like we are best friends! 

Yesterday when we walked in to the church there was also a surprise waiting for us! Amber Chen who got baptized right after I left Tianmu came to visit us! It was super cool! I haven't seen her in 9 months so it was really fun to catch up with her a little bit! She is doing really well! 

Now to share a little testimony: I'd just like to share what I shared in fast Sunday last week. I was thinking that morning about my mission and some of the things that have happened. There have been a lot of things that we've gotten really excited about and then they've fallen through. We've seen people go from wanting to be baptized to blocking our number in a matter of seconds for no apparent reason.. Those things can be pretty hard. But as I reflected on those things I realized that each time something happens it is followed up by a miracle or a different experience giving us needed comfort from our Heavenly Father. I know that He is in the details of our lives and that He truly loves us! Because of Him those trials and challenges are swallowed up in joy and hope for the future! Never give up on that hope! I know as we continue faithfully we will be blessed and guided!

I love you all! Have a wonderful week! 

Love, Elder Jensen

Pictures:

1-5. Pottery Place

6.Giving myself a haircut

7.Finished haircut/ Our friend Cynthia in Ankang got baptized!

8. Amber!

Trees

This was a really really good week! I don't know if I'll be able to explain it to you through email but I'll try! 

We met awesome people all week long! Found some really really great new investigators and had a blast! Monday we went to a buffet with a lady that we met a month or so ago and it was pretty good!

Then on Tuesday we went and visited a less active member and he has a 9 year old son (turns 10 the Sixth of october same as Brinn!) Any way he was really nice and invited us to go back to meet his family on Saturday! So we went back and met them and they are all super awesome! His kids are super cool and we were able to set a baptismal date with his son for the first of October! Then they all came to church yesterday except for the dad! It was really really awesome! For sure my favorite miracle of the week:) 

Hmm.. Sunday was a really great day too! We had 6 investigators come to church! It was fun to see them all there! And then we went to the new member fireside with an investigator in the evening! It was fun to see a lot of friends there! I love seeing Elder Matua again! Also it's cool to meet some people I met a year ago and see how they are doing! Some are preparing to go on Missions and stuff! Really fun!

Also George has disappeared! He doesn't have a phone and we had been calling his mom but she got mad at us for trying to help him cause he doesn't have a job and she thinks he should be doing other stuff.. And then he didn't show up to church or our appointment.. And then he was here this morning but he was asleep and then we went to check on him and he was gone! So hopefully we can find another way to talk to him and figure out what's up! 

I learned a valuable lesson on Thursday! It was to always look up! Literally and figuratively! That morning for exercise we ran up to the badminton courts on the mountain by our house! Coming down I was running and looking at the stairs because they are kind of poorly spaced. Next thing I knew my face smashed into the fallen tree that lays across the path! Hahaha it hurt for a second but I have been really blessed my entire mission and it stopped hurting within an hour and I didn't even get a headache! That day we spent all day in Taibei at the mission office for Trainer Trainee follow up! It was a really great day!

I think that is all I've got! Just a wonderful week over all! Despite some struggles with George.. I am confident that the Lord loves each and everyone one of us! I know when we follow him we can rest assured that in the end all will be okay no matter what problems happen in between!

I love you all!! Have a wonderful week!

Love, Elder Jensen!

Pictures:

1. Elder Matua!

2.Made some good food this week.

3.Look out for trees;)

4.Elder Mueller wrapped me up nice and good.