Sunday, March 6, 2016

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

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