Chinese New year

This past Monday we went and had lunch with Sunny and Jimmy from Xiangshan! It was really fun to see them again! It had been a while! Then we went to an indoor climbing place with Renee and Sunny and the Neihu Elders! It was a fun day!

Then the week got crazy! Tuesday we went to Luo Dong and helped them go on splits with their members! It was cold and rainy and I went with a 16 year old kid named Slide! It was so much fun! I was really impressed with him and how good of a missionary he already was! He was a lot of fun to serve with for the day and we met a couple of really cool people! Then he took us to meet with his friend this girl that he likes and she became the sisters new investigator! They asked her what goals she had and she said she's been thinking that when she gets older she wants to go on a mission and spread the word of God like us.. My jaw dropped! Hahaha she's not even a member but she wants to serve a mission and help people come to know God! 

Then we went to a worldwide broadcast for missionaries! It was really really good and in it they also changed our schedule! So now we choose when we do our companion and language study and get out earlier! It is a really flexible schedule to help us do what we need when we need to be more effective! Pretty exciting! 

Then the Chinese New Year started and so lunch and dinner for the last 3 days we have gone to members houses! It has been so much fun! I love getting to interact with members and get to know them! It is also cool to see the desire they have to share the gospel! 

Two things I forgot last week! I met Todd Peck's older brother! And I ate cooked frog leg! It was good! 

So because of the new year everyone here in Taibei went to their parents or grandparents homes in the south and the streets have had noticeably less people and it is quiet and more peaceful outside! It makes Taibei feel really big and nice! But it makes contacting people a little more difficult.. But not really! Everyone is together as families and not working so we have run into several families! It has been so cool! We have met a couple of great families that have set up to meet with us! Also yesterday someone drove by on their scooter and we waved and then a minute later they came up behind us on the side walk! They turned around and came to wish us a happy new year and give us some pineapple cakes! Then they said we could invite the missionaries where they live to get a hold of them! Yesterday we met 3 people that just stopped and were super interested to talk with us and set up! It was awesome!

Last but not least! Renee and Duo Duo were confirmed yesterday in church! It was awesome! 

The broadcast also talked about making the sacrament something that we prepare every week for by repenting and so I tried to do that better this week! I am so grateful to the Atonement and the chance it gives us to repent! 

I love you all! 

Love, Elder Jensen

Pictures:

1 and 2 climbing

3: a woman in our ward and her family who lives in my last ward Bitan! So fun to see them again! 

Miracles

This past week was super crazy and full of miracles! 

So on Wednesday we went to the temple and then we went and met an investigator at her coffee shop that is outside our area so we haven't ever been able to go! It was a lot of fun to see her again! I want so badly to meet with their family but they are so busy with their shop so it has been tricky! 

Then Friday we had a sweet activity in our area! We invited all of the missionaries in our zone to come over to our area and then we found several young men and young women in our ward to come and act as missionaries for one day! We had about 14 companionships in our area that day and all of the ward members had a really great time! They all came back and they had huge smiles and they were all like "wow I'm so tired! I don't know how you do it" But they had a good time! The youth in our ward here are all awesome. There are like 6 young men preparing to go on missions and they are so cool. Sometimes they help in my english class and I ask everyone what their favorite part of the week was and these young men always answer that their favorite part of their week was church. I think it is pretty impressive that teenage boys favorite part of the week is coming to church! 

Then Friday night I went on exchanges with the assistants and while I was there two of my previous wards had their temple day and so I got to see a ton of friends from previous areas and it was super awesome! I love running into people I have met while being here. It is always so good to see them again! 

Then Saturday things got crazy! So we had the baptismal interview for the Han Cheng Wen and he passed!! So we started preparing to have his baptism the next day. But Renee who was also scheduled to interview Saturday called and said she was not going to be able to make it back in time for her interview. So we rescheduled to do her interview Sunday night and do her baptism in a couple of days depending on when she decided she was ready. She was committed to interviewing but still not sure she wanted to be baptized. Well then we called her that night to confirm she would interview the next day and she said that she would and that she told her friend she might be baptized tomorrow! So then we rescheduled her interview so she could do it before the other baptism. After sacrament meeting I went to Neihu with her and took a member as my companion. She passed her interview and on the way back to the baptism that we were running late for we prayed together and she decided she wanted to be baptized as well! We got back to the chapel and everyone was waiting for us to start! They threw clothes at us had us change and minutes later Renee was baptized! It was a crazy little spur of events that I wasn't expecting! But the Lord has everything organized and it was time for Renee to get baptized! After she was baptized there was a pretty big change in her! She was so excited and happy and begged us to ask her come help us teach other people! I think she may decide to serve a mission in the future! She is so sweet!! The Miracles this week were insane.. We went into the week not expecting to have any baptisms and ended up having 2! We have been really blessed here the last few weeks! I've felt like things have been moving so fast and I've been doing everything I can to just keep up, but the Lord has taken care our investigators and they made it! 

I know Heavenly Father loves each of us! I know He is looking out for us! And I hope that we can all remember patience as we seek for Him! 

Have a great week! 

Love, Elder Jensen! 

Pictures:

1. Made this for members!

2/3 They did it! The young boy in the second picture is the one that was baptized!  

I love Taiwan

Well this week is temple week! I'm excited to go to the temple today! 

Last week we went on exchanges twice again! It was a lot of fun and we saw a lot of success! I really enjoy the opportunity to get to work with lots of other missionaries and to learn from them! I also really enjoy talking with everyone here and learning from them and most importantly sharing with them my testimony and the joy I know the gospel can bring everyone's life! I think that the people here are all so amazing and it is such a cool experience to go from strangers on the street to pretty good friends after a couple of minutes of talking with them and sharing about each others lives. 

We met with a boy named Han Chen Wen a few times. He is the son of a less active family in our ward. They moved from a different area and didn't come find the church here, but now they are coming back and we are looking at baptizing their son this week or next week! I'm so excited for him! 

Renee is also getting really close to being baptized. This last week she's really gotten in to the scriptures. There have been a couple days where she read like 20 chapters and I think she's at the point where her soul is hungering to know the truth! We invited her to think about doing her baptismal interview with Brother Han this weekend and I think it is very likely that she will do it! 

Yesterday we went on another exchange down to Luo Dong on the east coast! We got to attend district meeting down there and learn a lot! It is beautiful down there! I love Taiwan! And I love being a missionary and sharing my testimony with everyone! I am looking forward to giving all I've got these next couple of months. There is still a lot I would like to accomplish!

This week I've been thinking a lot about humility! I've been trying to humble myself and really rely on the Lord for everything. It is hard to explain because as a missionary I feel like I try to rely on Him for everything every day anyway.. But I've been feeling that I needed to step it up a notch and really just set aside any thought myself and trust that as long as I do things the Lords way it will work out for the best! I feel that things are already starting to change! 

Have a great week! I love you all!

Love, Elder Jensen

Pictures:

1.Went for a hike in the mist

2.Ward mission leaders family

3.Cool girl.. Shes in the lions club and a senior in highschool

4.Mountains in Luodong!

Time flies

This past week went by super fast!! We painted and cleaned our house all day on Monday and it looks super nice now! That day we also went to a wedding. It was fun! Different from other weddings I've been to. But not too different!

This week we went on exchanges Tuesday to Wednesday and Thursday to Friday! It was a lot of fun and really exhausting! But we saw a ton of success! I can't think of much that happened all week though! 

Oh but heres a story! We started teaching a 80 year old man and when we got there one day to teach him he had a friend sitting next to him that wasn't very nice to us and wouldn't let us talk with him. So we went and started talking to his wife and a minute later we saw him walking home and we were like "oh man.. I guess we won't get to meet with him" Then he came back a few minutes later and said "I can't stand that guy.. I went home really quick so that I could come back and talk to you guys!" I got a little laugh about that.. Just not what I feel being 80 would be like;) But he really seems pretty interested in the gospel and so that is exciting! 

Renee is continuing to progress slowly! She fasted yesterday and it was pretty sweet! She also cooked us dinner yesterday with a man in our ward! They are becoming great friends! Lots of fun! 

This week I've been pondering over Mosiah 4:12 a lot. Mosiah 4 has like a formula in it for how to always be happy and always keep a remission of your sins. I love it! I feel like it is a great pattern for lasting conversion! Just something to think about..:) 

I love you all! Have a great week! 

Love, Elder Jensen

Pictures:

clean house

cookie from the wedding

Happy New Year!

I'm so excited for this new year and all of the great things it will bring! 

This past week was crazy and busy and fun! I can't remember what happened at the beginning of the week! It was fun though I think! We hiked on Monday. That was a ton of fun! 

Then on Thursday I got a new companion! Elder Seamons moved to Hualian! He was really excited. I'm sure he'll love it down there. I'll miss him, but I love my new companion too! His name is Elder Zhuang and he is a native Taiwanese! It is super fun serving with him! 

Friday we went to Missionary Leadership Conference most of the day. It was a good meeting! I learned a lot about leading! And then the rest of the week went by pretty normally! Just lots of talking to everyone on the street and teaching lessons and I love it all! 

But the big thing that is happening is we have been deep cleaning our house and painting our walls! That is why this email is a lot shorter.. We have to hurry back and finish painting because later we are going to help someone move and then attending a wedding of a recent convert in our ward! It's going to be a super crazy day! But our house will be a lot nicer when it is done! I'm really excited for the next couple of weeks! They are going to be great!

Renee and her mom are still doing well! Everyone else is doing well too! I'll write more detail next week!

Also we can see the Taipei 101 from our home so we went to bed and then woke up at 12 to see the fireworks for a few minutes. They were pretty cool! 

Yesterday our lesson in Gospel Principles was on our Heavenly Father and I really loved it. Father stood out to me a lot. Then I started thinking about how I interact with my dad and it gave me a new perspective on how I can change the way I interact with my Heavenly Father to be closer with him.. And then last night we went to a new member fireside and I felt very strongly of His love for each of us! There was some awesome speakers baptized just weeks who spoke about how they are now preparing to serve missions! It's incredible to me that people can do that! This message really does change lives! 

I love you all! Have a great week! Don't forget to set some new year resolutions! 

Pictures: 

1. Our hike

2. Old district

3.New companion!

4. The 101

A couple more :)