Another Good Week!

So going to the temple on Wednesday was really nice! We also got to go across the street to President's house and eat brownies after! And after the temple we had the temple tour with Wilson and it was really great! He was really excited about being able to do work for his dad who has passed away. We told him that in order to be baptized he'd need to come to church this Sunday and then the next day he said he'd met with his boss and quit his job because getting Sundays off wasn't going to work. He is super super awesome and has a ton of faith! 

This morning he texted us though and said he wasn't sure about being baptized on Saturday anymore. He said it has been really fast and he just got excited.. We are thinking maybe he didn't really want to leave work and was going to go back.. We aren't sure right now! But he's already passed his interview! We will continue to work with him and see what happens! 

The rest of the week was busy and fun and crazy! We had a lot of lessons this week! We visited a lot of less actives! Our lessons are still not turning into new investigators though! People here are so nice to us it is crazy! The other day we were contacting someone and this guy came up and said Elders happy halloween and handed us each a bag of m&ms and left.. I don't remember if I said that last week! Also we had a member give us a box full of hot chocolate and milk and bread! And everyone is just super nice and kind! 

I have been thinking about how much of a role the ward can play. We have these videos of wards that got excited about missionary work and really worked with the missionaries and they have a ton of baptisms and success and so I have been trying to think about how we can get a better relationship with the ward and get them excited! They are all super awesome and willing to help but they are also really busy! I don't know.. Hopefully we can do something with that!

Aaron is still doing awesome! He is our best friend! He also got the priesthood yesterday which was awesome! He is doing really well! 

Other crazy things from yesterday.. I saw President Deng my branch president in the MTC! His mom lives here in Shilin and they were in the ward that meets after us! It was cool to see them again! They were doing good! 

It is getting pretty weird.. Elder Marks is probably going to be moving next week! We don't have any idea yet but that is probably what it will be. It seems like I just got here and now we are coming up on the end of the second transfer. 

The weather has been perfect here the last few weeks! Super comfortable and just right! We had a bit of rain this last week though.. And the weirdest thing I ate this week was some noodle stuff with intestine in it! It was my second time and it was better than the first! Not bad.. 

I have been super blessed as far as all that food stuff goes! Things I didn't think I could eat or like I've eaten no problem and mostly liked them. And I haven't gotten sick or anything from any of the adjusting to food either! The Lord really takes care of us! My ponderize scripture last week was Mosiah 2:41. I know as we keep the commandments we really are blessed in all things both physical and spiritual! 

Sorry this has been all over.. I just write everything that pops into my head with no real order..

I love you all and hope that you have a great week!! 

Love Elder Jensen

With Wilson at the tour!

Wo Hai Huozhe (I'm still alive)

I don't know if anyone was worried, but the reason I'm not writing until today is that today we get to go to the temple and so our preparation day was moved to today! 

This last week was a good one! I can't remember it all too well.. But I remember some. Being a missionary is crazy! We go into meeting's with people we don't know all of the time. Last Monday we were going to meet a lady at her restaurant and we brought our recent convert Aaron to be a member present since she is a girl. Her restaurant ended up being super nice and she qinged us. Which means that she fed us for free! It was a really really tasty hot pot place and she gave us vegetables and a few types of meat and it was all really good! There was even some big cubes of ducks blood that tasted really good! She was a super nice lady and she ended up offering Aaron a job there on the spot as well. It was a lot of fun and she also seemed pretty interested in the gospel but she's been out of the country so we haven't been able to meet yet. 

The rest of the week went pretty normal I think. We found a new college student that we will be meeting on Saturday and hopefully that will go well! 

Our baptismal date investigators Wilson and Mark are both super awesome and we are hoping that they can both be baptized on the 31st. We are doing a temple tour with Wilson today after we go to the temple and then we are going to teach a lesson and then go to eat with him. He took the whole day off to meet with us and then our preparation day was switched so we get to spend a lot of time with him! 

I have been able to really see Mark change as he's been meeting with us from not understanding at all to starting to understand and he has changed a lot since we started meeting. It is amazing to see the gospel work in the lives of these people and to see the change. 

Yesterday we had our interviews with President Jergensen! It was really awesome! I love him. He got me really excited about the work and stuff and he's just a really great guy! 

Monday night I went on exchanges with Elder Anderton and we were in the Tianmu area. It was my first time in my area without Elder Marks. It helped me to see that I can do a lot more than I thought. Our lessons that night went really well and I was able to kind of get comfortable trying to speak more in the lessons. Elder Anderton is awesome and it's always fun to get to spend some time with him too. 

This week I have been reading in Alma about Ammon and his missionary work among the Lamanites! They were some pretty awesome missionaries. I love the story. Also something stood out to me as I read it so I would like to share that. 

When the people of Lamoni became converted they buried their weapons (sins). So that even if they had wanted to go back to them there was no way. I thought that was a powerful lesson. When we struggle with things we can take measures to make sure there's no way to go back. 

And then also Alma 26 is all about Ammon rejoicing in the greatness and goodness of God. And I really love that whole chapter as well! I want to be an instrument in helping people the way they did. 

I hope you all have a wonderful week! The work is getting better and better here in Tianmu. I am excited to see what the rest of this week brings. Love you and miss you all! 

Elder Jensen

Nice member and cool hat!

This came from a youzi it is super tasty fruit that tastes kind of like grapefruit but a lot better and you can make hats out of the peels;)
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Conference Weekend!!

This was a great week! I am having a hard time remembering what happened though.. I will do my best! 

Monday we went to the Chang Kaishek Memorial hall and saw some amazing things! There were all of these paintings and pictures and I thought they were awesome! Also Elder Marks friend  Jeffrey came with us again! I loved it.. He is the funniest guy ever! And he went to BYU for a while and speaks really good english! After the memorial hall he took us to a all you can eat pizza hut! It was a great end to a really fun preparation day! 

Tuesday we had zone meeting and it was really really good! We talked about doing what needs to happen to split our stake by the end of the year. It was really motivating! They also played a video with pictures of our baptisms from when we were little.. It was cool to remember that day! We have been asked to think about what baptism means to us and to study it a little bit everyday this transfer! It is awesome! 

We taught some lessons this week and a lot of them went very well! We have 3 people with dates for October and we are really hoping that they can make it. I'm not sure how committed any of them are right now.. But it will work out! 

Taiwan is a really amazing place! I love to just look around when there is a second to do that and appreciate all the things around me. It has started getting a bit cooler these last few days! Almost even cold at times! That will be interesting! But it is super comfortable most of the time and it is awesome!

One of my favorite parts of the week was conference! It was such a wonderful experience! We got to watch it in English which was super super nice! I couldn't believe how many great things there were from every talk! I felt the spirit strongly! I loved the "ponderize" challenge! It is super cool! So if anyone wants feel free to ask my verse through out the mission.. Also I loved the talk on mothers! Thanks for being such a great mom mom! And all of the talks.. So good..  But I really felt like the Atonement is powerful and if you just use faith it can help us overcome ever challenge, weakness, sin, or anything we face.. Anything at all! That was awesome.. 

Sorry this is short! I will try to make next week more interesting! But the work is progressing! We still need to find some solid new investigators! Wish us luck!

I love you all! Have a wonderful week! Stay tuned for some awesome pictures..

Love, Elder Jensen

These guys can't move for like an hour or two. 

Resting against Taipei 101 :)

Having some fun with the tower!

Typhoon!

Right after emailing last week it started raining.. We went and got some groceries and when we came back out it was really windy and raining! We ran home.. No bikes again cause Elder Marks was broken and then we sprinted over to a ladies house that said Monday was the only day she could have a lesson! We got soaked and it was a lot of fun! After that we went to get some pens at a store in shilin for Elder Marks and walking home from there it was about 4 o'clock and getting pretty windy and rainy! It was a lot of fun! Nothing too crazy! We got the call to stay inside for the night so we weren't able to go to the rest of our lessons but I got some good language study in! I could hear the wind in the house and it sounded pretty crazy! But still slept fine! And when we woke up the next day everything went back to normal! There were lots of leaves on the ground and some scooters and trees/branches that had fallen though! But we were all safe! 

Tuesday we went to the trainer/trainee halfway meeting! It was super awesome to see Elder Facer again! He seemed to be doing well! It was a really good meeting! Lots of fun to see friends.. I didn't take any pictures! 

Wednesday we had English class and district meeting and got Elder Marks bike fixed! It has been super nice to have that back! 

We met with that family we met forever ago and had a good lesson but they said they're really busy and didn't set up again! I will be back at calling them this week! 

Hmm.. It seemed like a lot of people didn't show up for their lessons this week. That was a little frustrating. I will tell you a miracle that came from it! So the sisters in Shilin set up a meeting for us with someone and we didn't have his number we just went to the place and we were hoping we'd be able to find him. That didn't work out and we didn't know what to do. It was about 8:30 and we had a half hour to do something before we needed to be home! There was this guy sitting on a bench and I kept feeling like we should just go teach him. We walked over and started and we were able to share a message and set him up again for this week! It was really great! Most people we don't just get a lesson with like that.. But it worked out perfect with him! Hopefully he is interested! 

So.. I won't be watching conference until this next weekend! But I have heard that it was really good and I can't wait for that!! 

I'll tell you about what we eat here.. Every morning I eat raw oatmeal with this runny yogurt stuff over it! It is super good:) Then we eat lunch and dinner on the street almost every day! We eat lots of noodles or rice with some sausage or duck or chicken and some vegetables! It is all pretty good! I don't love the chicken or duck though cause it is hard to eat around the bones;) Sometimes members have us over! It is great! Last night we went to a part member family house and shared a lesson and ate dinner! It was beef and fish and chicken and rice and vegetables! But they also made apple pie! It was super good! 

Also I forgot a few weeks ago there were 2 earthquakes I felt. It is so weird! Like rolling kind of! But pretty cool! 

I love study times every morning! I think I have already said that.. But it is so awesome what you can learn and what you can find in the scriptures! Starting with a prayer really helps focus you and you can ask questions and its great! Read the Book of Mormon!! It will bless your life! 

I love you all so much! Miss you all too! 

Oh also both the sisters in our district moved and we finally got a new zone leader! I haven't met any of them yet but they seem great! 

Have a wonderful blessed week!! 

Love, Elder Jensen

Last night at the members house she let us take home these Chinese pipes to practice! I'm not very good but it's fun.. And looks cool;) 

Zhong Qiu Jie Kuai Le

This weekend everyone has been celebrating the Mid autumn festival or moon festival. Which is Zhong Qiu Jie. It has been a lot of fun! Everyone does tiny barbecues out on the road and eats lots of moon cakes and stuff! They are super tasty! They have pineapple ones! 

So this week has been the best so far! For a few reasons!

 The first is that we had our baptism. I don't know if I said but his name is Aaron. He is super super awesome and hearing him bear his testimony after the baptism was one of the highlights of my mission so far. He is a great friend and he's just really cool! Also after the baptism he was asking me about how to go on a mission. He said he might like to go after he graduates! I hope he gets to! That would be so awesome!! Then Sunday Elder Marks and I got to help a member confirm him. It was great. Oh also a member that really helped with his lessons baptized him. 

The next thing was that we finally had some success finding new investigators!! We found 6 this week and a lot of other potentials! 3 of the 6 were the family we met knocking a few weeks ago! I have been calling them to try and get them to set up and they finally did! It was wonderful! Hopefully it goes well with all of them. The one really good one from last week didn't show up to our meeting and we haven't been able to get a hold of him. 

Saturday before the baptism a member took us to an all you can heat hot pot. You take vegetables and meat and throw them in the boiling soup stuff in front of you and cook it and you just go until you are full! I can't eat very much and get full pretty fast but I did have quite a bit of bacon, lamb, and beef.. It's all in these little strips so it cooks super fast! I also tried some fish some fish skin and a little purple squid. It was all really good except I didn't love the squid.. It was really rubbery and not too yummy. They also had ice cream and a lot of other desserts and I loved it! Oh there was like a flower petal thing and that was tasty too! 

I really love it here in Tianmu and I can feel my love for the people here growing every week! A scripture I have been thinking about a lot this week is Matthew 10:39. I started realizing I was a little focused on myself and how I am going to learn Chinese and how I am going to get better at spreading the gospel and stuff.. I realized that I wasn't turning out like the character of Christ so I have been working on that! And it works! I think more about the people and how I can help and serve them and I feel happier and less worried! I want to learn Chinese so that I can effectively share the gospel with the people here. Not just to know the language. I am getting better at helping in lessons and I have started talking and helping in the on the street contacting as well! We have phases for the language and I am hoping to finish up phase one which is all the lessons and gospel things within the next two weeks. 

Tomorrow we have our 6 week trainer trainee meeting thing so I will see everyone I came out with for the first time! I'm excited! 

Looking forward to another great week! I love and miss you all! Have a wonderful week!

Baptism!

His friend from home that brought him to church. 

After our Harry Potter party for English. 

Love Elder Jensen

Tianmu/Shilin

The This was a really good week!! It was super tough being over two areas at once. Just cause we lost a lot of time going back and forth and we weren't sure if we could set things up cause we didn't want to have conflicts with the other area! This week we spent 3 nights in the Shilin apartment and 4 in Tianmu! It is pretty fun going back and forth! But also a pain packing stuff around.. Especially with no backpack. 

I learned a lot from being with Elder Anderton this week and we have some things we can improve. It is hard cause I feel like theres so much to do and we are falling short. But I'm just trying to get better and better and hoping eventually it will come! 

So this week we had some miracles! The first is we found my first new investigator for our area since I've been here!! "New investigator" according to the mission requirements anyway.. It was super awesome! So we went back to that same area where we were able to knock and go in to the families house and share a lesson with them. (They haven't set up again by the way.. Say they are too busy) But we knocked some more doors and again someone let us come up and he let us come into his house and share a message with him and then he set up to meet with us this week!! He's in college at the exercise college pretty close to our house. Said he runs a 100 meter in like 11.2! Not faster than some of the kids from high school.. But pretty fast! He is really cool and I hope that goes somewhere!

Also Elder Anderton was out finding with a member one night while we were at a lesson and he found someone that lived in our area. They came to church! And before church he met with us and he was another really awesome guy! He set a baptismal date for the end of October! Hopefully he keeps that desire! 

And last! We have a baptism on Saturday!! Our awesome investigator that just moved here passed his interview! His name is Aaron. Well english name. He is studying english and french so he speaks pretty good English! I like talking to him because if I don't know how to say something I can just say it in english most of the time! He is the best! I can't wait for his baptism this weekend! We are going to work with him this week to make sure he's ready and is going to stay active and have a strong testimony! I'll send pictures of the baptism next week! 

Other than those things this last week was just pretty crazy and fun and hard and happy! 

Elder Anderton has a member coming to help be his companion until the transfer meeting on Friday so he won't be with us this week. Also the other Elders that were in the MTC the same time as me will be coming! And that means so will Elder Hawkes!! Super excited for that! And I can't believe I'll have already been here a whole transfer.. That is crazy! I love it here in Tianmu! The weather has been a bit more comfortable these last few weeks and it's great! So many wonderful people. 

Thank you all for the prayers and support. I love and miss you all! Have a wonderful week! Remember the Lord! He loves each and everyone of us! Until next week! 

Elder Jensen

There are nice cars everywhere;) and I got my new tags!

Crazy News!

So this week was the best week yet! Each week gets a little bit better and I think I get a little bit more adjusted! 

The 18 year old we were meeting with last Monday set up and we will be baptizing him on the 26th if everything goes according to plan. He is really awesome! I like him! 

So this week was mostly the same stuff.. Really searching for new investigators but we still didn't find any. We did have a few miracles though! We were getting no where and then prayed that someone would be willing to meet with us and the next man we talked to said he would be and gave us his number! He still hasn't set up.. But that was enough to get us excited again and then we found two college students from Hong Kong that just moved here and they were really interested and awesome! They don't live in our area though! 

Also this weekend we were looking for some less actives and we decided to knock the apartments in one area. We had no luck and were about to leave when I realized we hadn't knocked the rest of the apartment that the Less active lived in. And felt like we should do that before we left. Like the second person we rang let us come up and then they gave us water and crackers and let us teach a whole lesson! It was awesome!! Also they had been to our english class a long time ago.. Like a couple of years! So that was really cool!

Then on Friday we had an outdoor zone conference. We went to a mountain called Yang ming shan and hiked and had a lot of training on being positive and overcoming fear and being bold and it was all super awesome and motivating! We now say our favorite thing about each day before we got to bed! It might be worth trying! 

Now for the crazy news.. Our Zone Leader Elder Ure is moving into the office as the recorder so he has to leave today for training. So his companion Elder Anderton will be joining us in a tripanionship and we will be over TIanmu and Shilin for the next two weeks until he gets a new companion! It is going to be really interesting to see how we will work it out and where we will live and how we will keep up both areas at once! I'm really excited though! I really like Elder Anderton and it will be really great! Wish us luck;) Also Elder Anderton is like a brand new Zone Leader and now he'll be training one.. Crazy! 

That's all for this week! We had a lot of great things happen! We've had 4 people attending at least part of church and then a couple other less actives as well! I love them all! I'll let you know how things are going here next week! 

Have a great Week! Love you all! 

Elder Jensen

Officially a resident!

A really awesome lady from the ward made us an awesome lunch at her store today!

Sunset over Tianmu

And the hike.

Our zone