Sunday, February 26, 2017

Exchanges

This week we went on 3 exchanges! It was a lot of fun! 

Monday we went and saw Sunny at Taibei 101! It was a lot of fun! She just came back from Hawaii! It was fun to hear about her trip there!

Then Monday night we started our exchange with the Neihu Elders! We had a really good time. Tuesday morning Elder Byers and I woke up early and went and ran the hike we did the monday before for our exercise time! It was a lot of fun! 

Then Tuesday night the Jilong Elders came over for our second exchange of the week. We had a lot of fun. Wednesday while we were out visiting members and finding along the way it started pouring rain and we got soaked! It was great:) It has been a really long time since we got absolutely drenched out working on the street so it was nice! 

Wednesday after our English class we started teaching a senior in high school who started coming to our class last week and it was super cool. He was really interested in the message we shared about the restoration and after he said a really really sincere prayer! Super cool! 

Friday we went on exchanges with the Assistants! It was a lot of fun! We got soaked there too! But I learned a lot! I was with Elder Hammond! He came out with me so it was fun to talk with him and catch up a bit too. 

Sunday we had a really enjoyable day of church!! I usually feel like church is pretty stressful because we invite people to come and often times they don't. But I felt that church on Sunday I was really at peace. We'd done all we could up to that point and then I just enjoyed the Sacrament and the talks. 

This last week I read a talk about the difference between doing everything we can and are supposed to because it is our duty as opposed to doing it because we want to. It is interesting.. Either way you do what is right and people are helped. But if we are just doing things because it is our duty we will be miserable and always looking for when we can finally do what we actually want. But if we decide serving the Lord is what we want to do and give him our will then we will find many moments of great peace and joy as we serve. Also the service we give will not only benefit others but we will grow from it as well. I thought that was really interesting! Attitude is important! I'm so grateful I can be here in Taiwan. 

I love you all! Have a good week! 

Love, Elder Jensen! 

I didn't get any pictures.. I'm sorry!

Sunday, February 19, 2017

Hiking

Last Monday we didn't know what to do.. In the end we decided to go to a place we had hiked before and go up a different way where there are some ropes you have to climb up. We didn't know how to find it so as we were going up we asked a lady who was also hiking and what followed was an awesome miracle. She didn't know either but she decided to help us find it so we walked together and talked for a long time just getting to know her! Then when we got there we invited her to go up with us and she agreed! We had a really really great time and after we finished she took us to see where she goes to play badminton also on the mountain and while we were there we found out that one of our members also goes there. And then we went down and the woman we met, her name is June, agreed to letting us meet with her and her sons! It was such a sweet experience. The Lord is always placing people in our path. It is so cool to see that time and time again as we open our mouths with everyone. 

The rest of the week was pretty normal! We are still just really working to find more people to teach! I had a little cold this week too, so that was fun! Hopefully I'll be better soon! 

The sisters had an investigator pass her baptismal interview so they will have a baptism this upcoming Friday! We are super excited for them! 

Then on Sunday our Sacrament meeting was pretty interesting! The General relief society president Sister Burton, her husband, and Elder David F. Evans all came to our ward to attend church. The Burtons spoke about the Sabbath and Sacrament and what things do we do and gifts do we give on the Sabbath to show Heavenly Father and Jesus that we love and remember them! They were really great talks! Then Elder Evans spoke about families and how husbands and wives should support each other and be equal partners! He said that their 26th grandchild was born on Saturday and his wife would really like to be there with her but she came with him to support him in his calling and talked about how wonderful it is to always have the support of his wife.

My favorite part of the day though was in Priesthood someone asked how we can help our children carry on as faithful members of the church. Most of the members here are the first generation. And Elder Evans response was really awesome. He said you have to tell them how you really feel! A lot of times we go to church together and do the things we should do, but how often do we tell our families how we really feel about the gospel. How often do we use those opportunities while we are together to share with them our testimony. Then he shared 2 Nephi 25:26 and said this is literal and we need to do these things with our children! It was really cool! 

I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and that he died for all of us. I love all of you! Have a great week! 

Love, Elder Jensen

Pictures: 
The hike!
Brother Burton






Monday, February 13, 2017

Transfers

I stayed in Songshan for a fourth transfer! I'm excited to be here still! We had a great week!

On Monday we went the the mission office and played basketball! Played with Elder Facer! We haven't played since being in the MTC so that was pretty fun! 

Then Tuesday we went back to the mission office to have interviews with President Jergensen. Before our interviews he gave all of us a little training from Helaman 10 about Nephi. It was really inspired and powerful! I really appreciated it a lot! Then we had awesome interviews! My interview was only about 4 minutes long but it was really good. He pretty much just told me to apply the things from Helaman 10 and keep everything will go awesome! Also in Elder Zhuangs interview President told him that I wouldn't be moving so I knew a day early! 

The rest of the week flew by. We taught a few investigators with a lot of potential. But today I will just share the story of one. He is a former from a year ago and we met him a few weeks ago after calling through formers. He and his 8 year old daughter and wife all came to English class after that and then we set up to meet with them. The wife told us that she hoped we could help her husband stop drinking.. Their relationship is pretty bad. They live together but don't talk and take turns going out with their daughter. Well after Guo nian he wasn't feeling good so went to the doctor and decided he needed to stop drinking. He then found out his liver is failing, maybe dead. He is completely committed to never drinking again now and has been really prepared to receive the gospel. We are excited to work with his family! I know this message can really help them! 

I really want to learn how to ponder.. If anyone has some suggestions please send them over! 

Elder Mueller who I trained in July is now training someone!! Pretty exciting! 

Yesterday I spoke in Sacrament meeting for my first time on my mission! They don't give us many chances to speak here! But it was pretty fun! I just shared a little bit about Alma and Almulek and how much we need the members and that as we work with them we will all be strengthened by the Holy Ghost like Alma and Almulek were! And peoples hearts will change and open up to this message! It is true.. We can find on the street all day and we will find people we can help to be baptized, but if we can work better with the members of the ward we will see the work progress at a much faster pace and people will have large support groups as they join the church! Keep looking for opportunities to help and love those around you! 

I love you all! Have a great week! 

Love, Elder Jensen

Another week with not many pictures.. 
This girl is in our ward and will be serving here for a few weeks before going to LA



~簡長老 

Monday, February 6, 2017

New Year Continues

This week went by super quickly! Every day we were fed at least one meal most two for the Chinese New Year! It was kinda crazy! But lots of fun! Now it is over! I love our ward! They are so good to us! 

This week we had a hard time setting up anyone to teach because everyone had work off and wanted to go out and play! Hahah time is a constant battle.. When people have work they are too busy to meet with us and when they have work off they want to go play or rest and so they're still too busy:) 

We did get to go and teach a members friend in his home on Wednesday night though! It was a really interesting lesson! He has a ton of questions about stuff like "do dogs go to heaven?" So we tried to work through those and help him learn! It went all over the place! But in the end he set a baptismal date and said if he gets an answer of course he'll be baptized! Now we just have to help him seriously seek that answer! 

Elder Zhuang has taught me a ton this last transfer! I hope that going forward I can bring a better balance to my missionary work of always going hard but also working effectively and having a high quality! 

I've been pondering a lot lately about how to more actively strive to become like Jesus Christ! So far I don't have a great go to method but something that has helped me is in every situation thinking to myself "What would Jesus do in this situation" and then do that! It seems pretty simple, but having that thought multiple times throughout the day has led me to act slightly differently and I'm hoping to see more change and improvement as I continue to do that! 

One cool experience we had this week was we went over by bishops house and asked his son to come out with us to meet some of their neighbors! He is a senior in high school and he was so nervous! I felt pretty bad.. But it was really cool to see him out being a missionary with us! And we had a lot of fun together! By the end he seemed to be feeling a lot better too! Also we asked one of his neighbors if we could pray for him and his answer was  "Could you pray for my family I've been fighting with my wife about our children" He enjoyed the prayer and I think he has a ton of potential! 

I love you all! Have a great week!

Love, Elder Jensen

Pictures.. Didn't take many this week! I got one though!