Sunday, June 11, 2017

What a great week!

This week was a wonderful one! 

Monday we went on a nice hike. One that we went on a few weeks ago! But this time it didn't rain. The weather was perfect! 

Then this week people continued to progress really really well! 

One funny story and one miracle from the week.

First on Monday night we met with this guy. It was our second time meeting with him and he had a baptismal date. He told us at our lesson that he was reading and praying daily and excited for his baptism. After the lesson we go down to our bikes and Elder Heaton says woah look at that spider by the gate. And I was looking and then I noticed there were 2 stickers that the church makes here. We were like holy cow what are these doing here? There must be a less active member that lives here! So we pulled out the ward list and find the address we are at. Well then it turns out the address is the same as the investigator we just visited. So we look at the name and it is the investigators name. Then we called him and were like "You were baptized before?" And he had no idea what we were talking about.. He completely forgot his baptism. But yeah.. It turns out he is already a member! Good thing we didn't baptize him again! 

Now on Thursday we were meeting with David! He was found like the week before I got here and we started teaching him the lessons then. He started out not very interested but happy to listen to us. Well his interest and excitement has grown over the past 2 months and as he has kept the commandments he's become super super happy! At the beginning of our lesson we explained that we were going to finish the last of the commandments and that he'd be ready as far as lessons go to be baptized. Then we asked how he was feeling about baptism, he had a baptismal date of July 8. He replied that he wants to do it! Then we asked how he felt about moving his baptism up to this week and he replied that he wants to do it as soon as possible and he had thought of that as well! So his baptism will be on Thursday! I'm super excited for him! 

Oh and the Sisters found someone a while ago and then we taught him cause he was a man and then it turned out he didn't live in our ward. But he go baptized on Saturday and we got to go! Super awesome!

I know that the church is true. I know that the gospel brings happiness and can change anyone if they let it! I know that Jesus Christ atoned for our sins and that through him we can find real peace. 

I love you all! Have a great week!

Love, Elder Jensen

Pictures:

Saw Aaron!

Baptism!





Monday, June 5, 2017

17 Miracles

This week was one of the best of my mission. 

On Monday we went camping with our ward. At least for the afternoon.. Then we had to go home! But  it was a ton of fun to get out of the city and go to the beach and a big field! While we were there we played a lot of frisbee and had a great time! 

Saturday night we watched 17 Miracles with a couple of our investigators! It was really great! But this week we had more than 17 miracles of our own. Every single day we went and met with 2 to 3 people which is a ton for here and each and every one of them made noticeable progress through the lessons! It was incredible! Everyone is reading the scriptures and starting to pray and learning how to repent and it has been a real blessing to be able to see it all happen. I can't explain how blessed I've felt this week.

We are teaching the commandments to several of our investigators now and they have been to church 2 or 3 times as well. It is looking like several of them will be prepared to be baptized in the coming weeks. 

Also we had one investigator pass his baptismal interview, but he is still not quite ready to be baptized. The last 2 times he did interviews in 2012 and 2013 his mom and daughter passed away. So now he is determined to wait until God tells him in a dream to be baptized to go through with it. We are doing our best to help him seek an answer through prayer and scripture study. He has already had some dreams that convinced him of the truthfulness of the church. He's so close!! 

I love it here. I shared my testimony in church yesterday of repentance, the Book of Mormon, and Jesus Christ and His Atonement and I'll share it here as well. A few weeks ago at a mission conference I learned something I hadn't ever realized before. When Joseph Smith went into the grove he wasn't just curious about which church was true. He  wanted to know because he wanted to repent and have a remission of his sins. I love that. It helps me understand why he could be so sincere and seek with such great intent. I know that the church restored by him does allow us to find that remission of our sins. My favorite scripture is Ether 12:27 "If men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness..." When I got to the MTC this scripture became real. I quickly realized many of my weaknesses and mistakes. As I studied the Book of Mormon it felt like everything I read was telling me I needed to repent and be better. It was a somewhat painful experience.. But after weeks of praying and seeking that remission of sins that Joseph was seeking there came a time when the pain, guilt, and inadequacies faded and an enormous sense of peace and joy replaced them. I know that Jesus Christ atoned and died for us. I know that He lives and leads His church. I know that as we turn to Him we can find peace, joy, and power to change. I love Him. 

Have a great week. I love you all! 

Love, Elder Jensen

Pictures:
The beach
We stood  up an egg at noon on the day of the dragon boat festival (Good luck for the rest  of the year)
Movie night