Week 43-March 21, 2016

Week 43-March 21, 2016

Sup fambam?! (lydia i like that- im gunna steal that from you)

This week was great! some of the highlights probably include meeting a girl from South Africa named Lisa and teaching her twice this week. Another highlight was Christianas confirmation! A member of the ward that has participated in her teaching since the very beginning confirmed her and right when he started, her little 2 year old boy in her lap started crying and screaming. I prayed that he would be calm and stop screaming and soon after, he was quiet and stayed completely quiet for the rest of the confirmation. It was neat. another HUGE highlight is that Vladamir said he wants to be baptised!!!! I know its probably confusing to hear all the different reports about him and his family each week but he has made huge progress and seems to have turned a corner. He says he will pick a week in April, and we are so excited for him and the kids. Nagaret said the most beautiful prayer in our lesson with her and Vladamir this week. She prayed that Vladamir and Leo and Andrea would be baptised and join the church with her because she knows how much them and their family would be blessed if they did. It touched me so much to hear a mother pray for her husband and kids with so much confidence and faith that they would be blessed for following her example. you could feel how sincerely she meant every word. being able to witness her conversion and now her family's is a blessing that i will forever be grateful for. so hopeful ill have some good news to report about that situation by next week. they came to church as well this week. another highlight was interviewing a hungarian girl in her 20's for baptism just yesterday in Southend. Her testimony was amazing. She repeatedly told him how much she could feel that this church was true and that joseph smith really restored the church of Jesus Christ. As she told me how much happier she has been since she has been coming, i couldnt help but agree and realise how happy i am when i come to church as well. the love and the spirit that is everywhere on a sunday morning in the chapels is the same everywhere you go and is such a good way to spiritually and emotionally just recharge after a long week. she is so ready to be baptised and she invited us to go so on saturday we will hopefully see that happen. Also, another huge highlight was a miracle that occurred in Ilford (east east london.. an area that is part of our zone) this past week. To cut a long story short, a portugese speaking woman and her 12 year old son who the sisters have been teaching decided she wanted to be baptised (with her son) this saturday through a miracle and as an answer to so many prayers from me and my companion and the sisters teaching her and the members of the Ilford ward who know her. Elder Silva will interview her and her son tonight and possibly will be baptising her as well this saturday so this weekend will be an amazing one as long as everything goes well. 

other than that, things are good in Bas Vegas. (what we lovingly refer to Basildon as). dad, we find people in the town centre street contacting (where we met Lisa) and also by tracting, you are right it is far less densely populated so we do some of that as well. to be honest, the amount of time i spend finding now has dropped dramatically since leaving london though. partly because of responsibilities as zone leaders but also because of the different style of missionary work in a town with houses and neighborhoods. we visit less actives and members and try to do some finding through that as well and so we dont street contact nearly as much as i used to. I think my time in london was a bit of a refiners fire and now that i have passed through the flames things are very different. By the way, be careful with that hedging job i know what you mean. just hire someone- as my economics teacher taught me, the marginal benefit outweighs the marginal cost of you having a bad accident. Hahaha but thats up to you of course. i just dont want to come home to find you in a cast. also, i loved the story of the three students who are your fans and wanted to take a pic and thank you for your online lectures. and mom, i laughed at your statement about politics and how passionate you are yet that you are hesitant to become contentious if you engage yourself too much in them. man... i can remember mitt romney and obama's election like it was yesterday and how much i would hear about it everyday in the car as you gave me rides to my different things. also, lydia, yes that was really impromptu and i only got to practice with them 2 times right before the meeting but it was super fun. i cant wait to hear your singing when i get home.

so good to hear that everyone is doing well! this is the last week of the transfer so my time in basildon may be coming to an end or i may stay one more transfer... we will see. i would be heartbroken if i left but it is up to the Lord and HIs servants so Hakuna Matata as i like to say. i know that prayers can be answered and are answered- i also know that when we pray, we are aligning our will with God's will and putting ourselves in a position to see things as He sees them. it helps us so much, just as it helps those we are praying for. it helps us become who He wants us to be, so keep praying. and pray sincerely and earnestly and with all sincerity of heart and all the energy of your heart and as the scriptures say, they will be heard and answered too. that i know to be true. I love you all so very much and i pray always for you! Mom, I got the package and i LOVE it so much. i havent looked through the basket yet though dont worry... i just wore the green light up st patricks day glasses and put them on whenever i am driving around. i think my companion probably thinks im the biggest goober alive but i think theyre so awesome.ill attach some sweet selfies for you mom. also, thanks for the pics from facebook.

Love,

Elder TJ drizzles

Week 42-March 14, 2016

Week 42-March 14, 2016

Hi guys! Sorry no time. Just enough to update super quick and answer your questions. I read and loved all of your emails though! Jsquad is the best. I get so happy reading what you all did and how amazing my family members are. I may be proud but I have the best fam. 

First off though, YES Christiana got baptised. It was memorable and special. A wonderful experience.

Now for your questions super quick.

Ashley:

how was your week? hope it was fantastic, can't wait to hear all about
it! how cold is it there? are you still in a car? thats
nice...definitely beats walking around in wet boots all day :P how are
your investigators? any exciting new ones?

My week was good! Lots of crazy ups and downs but it all turned out great. It's pretty cold- usually between 3-10 degrees celcius. It's on the rise though! It was sunny today for the first time in ages! Yup still in a car. Investigators are alright: not that great but doing ok. No exciting new ones this week but we are hoping to find some this week.

Mom:

Has it been pretty rainy?

This week we actually had a bunch of rain again!! Yay!  I love the rain!  Maybe you are not so happy about it there?

Did Christiana get baptized?? How is Lee and Vladamir and kids? 

I sent you a package yesterday...hope you get it soon...what day of the month do you have MLC or meetings where you can get packages?

No not that rainy lately- however, it does rain pretty frequently but just drizzles on and off. Yea at first the rain was fun but now it sucks hahaha. Still kind of like it though as long as we aren't walking around a ton. Lee is ok: he is waiting to "feel something" so teaching him is helping me learn loads about the Spirit and how I have actually felt things and what I did to feel it. Any ideas? Vlad and his kids are alright, but I don't do much teaching anymore cause my comp does it all in Portugese. Nagaret is the only one in the family working so th ey are having a tough time financially. Thank you so so so much for sending a package! I go into London in the first week of each month for MLC typically. Always the beginning of the month. Sometimes other hints bringn us into London for other reasons though.

Dad:

I really miss you, Taylor, for many reasons, but one is that without you cutting the lawn, I can’t keep up with all the other stuff.

Not really a question but just wanted to respond. I miss cutting the lawn and I miss you tons  too Dad. Hahahaha Benjamin is getting old enough to start, isn't he? 

Photos/ videos:

Christianas baptism!!! That's my companion Elder Silva by the way I don't think I have sent a pic with him yet. 

A guy from Zambia! From Very close to where Alli started her mission!

Incriminating evidence: Me asleep during studies on a pday (hence the t-shirt) . Shame on me. 

Me and some members of my zone singing for our easter zone conference. (Elder Chronister is the guy in the left facing the camera sitting down by the way) 

Week 41-March 7, 2016

Week 41-March 7, 2016

English Mother's Day

Quick updates: vladamir and his kids didnt come to church and we are a little worried about them but their date has been moved to the 26th of march instead of this upcoming sunday. christiana is looking really solid for sunday! i am so excited... Please pray for her! Lee is doing well and he came to church again, (the member's boyfriend) and we will teach him again this wednesday! he made us.... BROWNIES!!!!!! so good. i told him my moms brownies are the best and then he made us some and apologized in advance that they wouldnt be as good as my moms cause moms brownies are always the best (he was right) but they were still amazing. and amen dad! life is short! eat lots of chocolate! in the resurection we will have a "perfect form" (alma 11:43) so hakuna matata just enjoy moms cooking as much as possible! i miss it so bad.

Mom, can you send me a journal? i finished mine 3 months ago and havent written since. i cant really find a good one to buy and we never really have much time to go buy a nice one somewhere cause i dont know what shops will have one.. also, could you put some of my savings onto my chip and pin card? i think its still at like 3 dollars or something and i need that for emergencies. other than that, i dont think i need anything else. thank you though! 

glad to hear you guys didnt get shot in south central LA. that would suck. next time, just go shop at the BMW dealership . i wouldnt mind coming home to a beamer in the driveway! hahahahaah and YO A HONDA CIVIC?!?! Sick!!!!!!!!! send me some pics ash!!!!!!! do you remember taking pics with brother cutler's corvette that day he took me out to let me drive it?! thanks for the prayers and love everyone. It makes all the difference. I love you so much! and i have a testimony that this is indeed the Lord's work. 

Elder Jensen

p.s. i played 3 hymns and a primary song for the primary this week in sacrament meeting cause they didnt have a pianist again. im expanding my hymn repertoire exponentially from where it was before i left (come follow me #116)  

p.p.s what the heck is going on with our country?!????? donald trump!????? english people give me so much abuse about our presidency and i dont even know what to say.. how is he actually getting so many votes? dad... whats going on? is he actually legit?

Week 40-February 29, 2016

Week 40-February 29, 2016

9 Month Mark

Heeeeeeelllllllllllllllloooooooooo J squad!

Wow, Ashleys in provo?! thats awesome! hows emily and her hubby Jason? that guy is so chill. tell them i said hi if you get the chance! Im so jealous you went to a byu basketball game ash. Thanks for the pictures mom!!!!! it was really weird but also made me really happy to see them. wow- is grandpa schramm getting a new heart? is that what a pacemaker is? or is the pacemaker just something that helps keep the heart running well? I will be praying for him. Also, I am glad to hear that grandpa Jensen is happy and well. lydia, to respond to your email, i mostly just never know what to say so i just ask about you guys.. hahaha. Theres always too much to say so i dont know where to start.

That being said, saturday i hit my 9 month mark which was a really weird feeling. I am scared that the rest of the time will go by as quickly as these first 9 months have- as if i had already reached the hump. Certainly time seems to go faster and faster so logically that would be the case and so i realized that and i think it really scared me. I want to do so much more- it doesnt seem like so much time has passed. i could have already delivered a baby in this much time!

vladamir, leonardo, and andrea came to church and are doing well! christiana also came and is also doing well. I want to share a really cool miracle though- on sunday, a couple i have never seen walked in and sat in front of us and then the woman kept making what seemed like intentional eye contact with me.. didnt think much of it but then after sacrament meetting ended i leaned forward and started talking to them and it turned out the man was not a member and they were dating but she had brought him to church with her. she pretty quickly stood up and said she needed to use the toilet and as she walked away raised her eyebrows at me and gave me a sort of smile which made me want to laugh so hard but instead i did the mature missionary thing and we started to really get to know this guy, Lee. long story short, he said he would like to meet with us during the week and we got his number and he came to gospel principles and priesthood with us. it was so neat- what a great lady and what an example of faith. she invited him to come to church with her! elder silva told me thats the only way to get to an english man- through the women. otherwise they are too hard shelled and wont open up or be willing to try. anyways to top it off, hes a chef and makes really good brownies supposedly so there may be a hidden blessing within this situation. we will see him tomorrow evening and we are really looking forward to it. if every member was more missionary minded the church would be so much stronger. the testimony of both parties will skyrocket when a member refers a friend. Makes me wish i had actually done some of that... Lol

We had a super MLC this past week where all the district and zone leaders and sister traning leaders met in london and it was awesome. my old mtc companion and byu friend elder Withers is now a zone leader and we saw each other for the first time in ages!!! it was quite the reuinion and im excited to see him every month now. He is a stud. we also had an exchange this week and i was with a brand new missionary for the day. it was fun- i learned so much about how little i really knew when i was a new missionary myself. his faith was so strong and i learned so much frm the short time we were together. we had a really powerful lesson with christiana- we spoke about her upcoming baptism and elder silva and i bore our testimonies and so did the member we were with. The Spirit was very strong and i realised what an important decision it is to believe and then act. sometimes we believe... but dont act. thats not smart. you gotta do something about it! then it can grow and become part of you.

another thing i learned this week was about prophets- and the priesthood. We need prophets and we need the priesthood so badly. God has to have order in the way he does things if He truly is God. none of this rubbish about going to university or seminary can qualify you to act in God's name. and to pretend that authority from God isnt a real thing is ridiculous- so how can anyone else claim to be a true church unless they figure out a reasonable answer to these questions? i know that most people dont even believe in god in the first place and obviously thats the first hurdle to cross but after that, it seems pretty clear. either our church is the one true restored church with the fulness of the gospel or there isnt one. so for me i guess my only options are to be a faithful mormon or to give up on Christianity in general and become a Hindu or spiritualist or something or just become an atheist but that isnt a good option at all so yup looks like im gunna stick around and im pretty happy with that cause i know that the Book of Mormon is true and there is a God and a purpose to our lives. 

quick question though- when a prophet passes away, does the president of the quorum of the twelve (the most senior apostle) automatically  become the next prophet or is there a process of fasting and prayer and then decision amongst the apostles before the new one is called? and if so, has there ever been an instance where the most senior apostle didnt become the next prophet?

Elder Silva and I are doing well- we have MLC in London this week again and there are many new zone leaders so it will be a very exciting one with lots of new faces and fresh ideas. Elder Hesen has sent me a few emails and he is doing well back in california and provo. He sorta did the exact same thing as Ashley! Elder Leite is also home now and emailed me  to say he is also doing well. I cant beleive many of my dear missionary friends are home and i am no longer a really young missionary! Its CRAZY!!!!

Well,  I love you all! Thank you so much for your love and your support. I am always praying for you each. one of the prophets is quoted in preach my gospel and he says "the most important of the Lord's work you will ever do will be within the walls of your own homes." i am very grateful that Mom and Dad and each of you kids taught me the gospel and showed me what it meant to live it. I would not be here on a mission if it wasnt for that! Elder Silva's life and experiences are teaching me so much about how much of a blessing it is to be raised in a family with the gospel. That is the best thing to do to move the Lord's work forward- so thanks mom and dad.  i love you so much. Have a wonderful week all of you!

Love,

Elder Jensen