Week 72-October 10, 2016

Week 72-October 10, 2016

guess who's back!

Hey guys sorry i didnt email last week! But all is well- it was really funny though to receive a phone call from elder gale one morning and hear him ask me how long it had been since i emailed my mother. sorry mom i wont let it happen again!

i guess theres a ton to say so i dont really know where to start. 

Pawel passed his baptismal interview and as long as all goes well and nothing comes up he will be baptised this sunday. please keep him in your prayers! He doesnt understand much english; only polish so we teach him with polish people to help translate but its hard on to go to church cause he doesnt understand much.that is a concern on his mind but he will be alright. He has a stronger testimony than anyone i have taught. 

fernando and his family are not progressing much because its difficult to teach them well. he has a weird work schedule and we need more spanish speakers to translate. they are also busy with lots of things having to do with moving to a new country and cant find a school for camilo still. we played football recently with camilo though one day in the park and it was good fun and we feel it will help the family as well. 

koffi is a young man from ghana who we have been teaching for a few weeks now. he came to church last week with his whole family (mom dad and sister) and again this week alone and is progressing pretty well also. he understands the gospel well and has a lot of faith. we had to pull the blankets off of him the sunday morning of GC though cause he wasnt getting out of bed.. reminded me of my seminary days hahaha so at times he's a little low on commitment but his intentions are really good. my only fear is that he leaves to ghana soon after his baptismal date (the 29th of october) so we wont be able to meet with him after that. 

we had a miracle saturday night- during pawel's baptismal interview, i took the district leader's (conducting the interview) companion and we went out on the main street and were street contacting when Elder Marin stopped a man who spoke no english but told us he was christian. we took him to the church and showed him around and used google translate a bit to have a short lesson with him. he liked it and said he'd come to church the next morning and he did! but the crazy part is that he speaks farsee- the language of persia and theres only one person in the ward who speaks that as well but it turns out they knew each other but hadnt seen each other for 10 years. we will be teaching him soon with the man in the ward. what a miracle. 

another miracle this week. while on exchange with on e of the elders in our flat, we got on a bus and i sat in the back next to a young woman and started talking to her. then anotehr woman who was more middle aged got on and sat nearby. the young woman wasnt interested so i started talking to the other woman across the aisle and she eventually said she would be happy for us to visit and share our message but warned me that she wouldnt want to make any commitments. so that saturday we went and taught her and her 2 sons; Agupe and Cass (9 and 11). it was a wonderful lesson. the woman; whose name is Angela funny enough, said she didnt like the church she used to go to and wanted to find one centered on jesus and that her family could go to and stay with. then she also said she had dreams often of running away from commitment with God but that she felt she was just waiting for the right place to commit. so sunday morning we went to her house and travelled with them to church and they loved it! they even stayed for a baptism after church. i asked cass what he thought of the baptism and he said he liked it; then said he wanted to be baptised too! hahahaha i just smiled and told him we'd talk to his mom about it this week. what a stud. 

which brings me to the last thing because this is super long. alex boye's mother has been getting taught here in lea valley for a month or two now by the sister missionaries and she got baptised on sunday- alex boye flew in and performed the baptism! so we had him in our lessons and classes that day at church and then elder Mthombeni joined him in the font to help lift his mother out of the water because she had a stroke and doesnt have full control over some parts of her body. So we got to hang out a bit with him and he is hilarious. a really great guy as well- he did a devotional at hyde park that evening which was packed and everyone loved it except for Pawel. Hahahahaha pawel didnt like it that much. 

My love for the gospel has just continued to grow these past couple of weeks. i am amazed at how everything has just increased my faith and love for the Saviour as well. everything we have and do in the church is because of and about Him and I am so grateful I'm learning that here on my mission. What a blessing it is to have His gospel. I know Jesus Christ is our Saviour and friend and i treasure every day i have to serve Him.

I love you all and hope you have amazing weeks! 

Elder Jensen

Post zone meeting with the sick Maserati 

The London North Zone 

Koffi and his family. He's the one to the left of Elder Mthombeni 

No explanation needed :) 

Camilo (Fernando's son) after playing some football! (Soccer) 

Dinner with Pawel and sister Dabrowska (the polish sister in our zone who helps us teach Pawel) at a polish restaraunt in town.

Alex Boye!

Week 71-October 3, 2016

Week 71-October 3, 2016

No email

Week 70-September 26, 2016

Week 70-September 26, 2016

The city that never sleeps

the city that never sleeps. I thought that was funny cause sometimes it feels like as missionaries we never sleep... there you go thats my best attempt at being witty and clever with that dang subject line! itll probably be a while before i try doing another one

We had a crazy busy week and got so much done and it seemed as if we never stopped. we were just going and going the entire week. It was great- we saw a lot of great success! Fernando (a guy who referred himself a few weeks ago online) had left last week to go back to spain and get his family and he came back this week and came to church with them! i have never spoke so much spanish in my life than the past few weeks. His family is Columbian and they are a fantastic family.. fernando is a funny guy but also a great father and he is very hard working. His wife and son are so cool too. His son is 12, about the same age as mandy! They came to church and it was fast and testimony meeting so i got up and sat behind the father of another columbian family in the ward and asked him to bear his testimony for Fernando and his family in spanish. he did, and it was great. it was the first time he stood up at the pulpit for 25 years he said. Then after sacrament meeting, the father of the columbian family and a byu study abroad student who served her mission in guatemala took fernandos family into some little room and started teaching them L1 while we were busy with the other investigators who came to church. LOL. we joined them later on and it went great.

another family from bulgaria that asked us for directions during the week came to church after we invited them.. it was sweet! they didnt understand a word but they speak a tiny bit of spanish so we communicated with that. 

pawel progressed a ton this week. we saw him 3 times in the polish members home and he has finished the book of mormon for his 2nd time now. what a stud. he says he'll probably finish it again before his baptism. love that guy. came to church and spent the 2nd and 3rd hour in nursery with the polish members son cause they showed the womens GC and her son loves pawel. what a champ!

it was an exciting week! we had 3 exchanges last week and they all went well. 2 of them were with greenies and that was a blast :) the other was with someone in his 2nd transfer; he is from spain and to improve my spanish we spoke only spanish the whole day together (tried.) i even prayed in spanish! hahaha im just practicing for fernando and his family.

Dad: Kwaku is doing well. we taught him on tuesday and he cut me short in the middle of something i was saying and asked us if he could be baptised. he said that he is tired ofh is church cause its run like a business and he could feel the difference as he walked into ours last sunday. he said his spirit recognized that Jesus is in this church. Hallelujah! but he didnt come this sunday and we didnt see him since cause his wifes sister is in the hospital and they are with her.

the ward here is great- i love them! they are so friendly and welcoming to all the people we bring. they just reach out and treat them as part of the family like i havent seen any other ward do before. its such a great feeling as a missionary to see members reach out and make your investigators feel welcome at church. 

we didnt do so hot as a zone this week. we have some good plans though. 

a couple of funny moments- this week i started talking to some young girl about our age who was really dressed up and had lots of make up on while we walked out of the tube and she gave me a really weird look and then ignored me and walked towards some guy standing against the wall waiting for her who gave me this weird look and then kissed the girl and they walked away together. Elder Mthombeni and i laughed pretty hard... poor guy thought i was trying to steal his girl

overall though this week a couple things stood out to me as key lessons. one of which me and elder Mthombeni deliberated about and thought long and hard about. it was that people progress and get baptised when the missionaries teaching them arent afraid to be themselves. too many missionaries (including ourselves for most of our missions) just turn into a robot. at some point, conversion has to first be to the missionaries before it will be to the gospel. 

my comparison is this: early 19th century americans needed to believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet in order to become converted to what he was claiming and teaching. in a similar way, missionaries are the carriers of the message and as such people need to be converted to a certain extent to them before they will believe what we teach. interesting huh? brings up a lot of questions but i think its true.

Anyways, i love this gospel. I couldnt be happier and I know that i definitely couldnt work this hard and learn so much without divine help and i know the Saviour is strengthening me to fulfill this calling. I love Him and Im proud to be His representative.

Have a great week!!

Love you

Elder Jensen

Week 69- September 19, 2016

Week 69- September 19, 2016

Lea Valley Brotha!

Lea Valley is SICK! 

sorry- the white handbook says no slang and im still working on cutting all the slang i use out but i cuoldnt resist. this ward is super cool i already love it. its unique- some things are kind of crazy but the ward is full of great characters and the area is amazing. we live in a nice flat with one other companionship of elders and we have a great time. The ward is mostly african with a columbian family philiphino family and a few other middle eastern and british families here and there. the area is really diverse. (london is a melting pot) my companions name is Elder Mthombeni- he's an absolute champ. He's from south africa and he was in the mtc with me and elder withers; he's such a funny guy and a great missionary too. Hes an excellent teacher and is very spiritual but also a great people person. hes good at dancing too. we work hard together and well too- i think we compliment one another's strengths pretty well. 

A couple of cool experiences: first of all my birthday was great. we had zone conference on friday so i was with lots of missionaries i knew and who have become my friends so it was a great way to spend it. Also, thanks to your package i felt the love from you all! an african family in the ward also made us african food for my birthday and thats always a plus.

mom: i love the shoes and the tie and the byu shirt and everything else! thank you to you and everyone else who helped out with the gifts. i loved them!

so, theres a polish man named Pavel and this is his story in a nutshell. he read the book of mormon cover to cover in one night, stopped smoking cause of the Spirit he felt as he read, and now wants to be baptised. he went to church a few times in poland. we got a text this week from him and set up an appointment- he lives in our area. theres a polish missionary in the zone so we had her skype with us for the lesson and he chose to be baptised on the 16th of october. he went to church yesterday and we just feel so blessed to be able to teach him.

another cool experience: there was a baptism of a woman named Diana on sunday after church and the member who was baptising her brought his little brother along to church and the baptism. we pounced of course and got to know him and he loved church and said we can come teach him this tuesday and he has a family! Best of all, his brother will be coming with us to teach him. so exciting. his name is Kwaku and hes from ghana. 

third cool experience: i found a suit in the flat that fits me! i had it tailored a bit so the trousers fit better but other than that its all good in the hood. as my friend Isaac Swagshaw used to say, "its better to look good than to feel good." HAHAHA the suit is a bit tight around the waist but it looks good so i just gotta lose some lbs and then itll be perfect! 

anyways, im happy to be back in London. its a place where you can always talk to someone; you are hardly ever alone. we are always on buses, tubes, trains, or walking and there are people everywhere to talk to. I just love this work and love Jesus Christ the more i understand the gospel and the plan of salvation. Have a great week! youre the best family a person could ask for.

love,

Elder Jensen

Our zone Skype conference call this past week! 

Sorry not many pics this week. Maybe more next week! I've got a nice video of us dancing for you though. 

China town on pday!with the new shoes from mom!

Week 68-September 12, 2016

Week 68-September 12, 2016

Hey! Sorry I didn't have time today to email, we were running all over
London and really busy with a few lessons.... Thanks for the emails
though, And the pictures! Love you!!!

-soon to be 20 year old son,
Elder Jensen

Week 67-September 5, 2016

Week 67-September 5, 2016

Back to London

Dear fam,

First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY ASH!!! I hope it was a great day. Love you tons sis.

The big news! I'm moving, and im going back into London! I'll be serving in the London North zone as zone leader, in a ward called Lea Valley. Ill be serving with Elder Mthombeni who I was in the MTC with and Im really excited. It's going to be sad to leave Colchester and Elder Burgess but change is good and I am ready to move on. 

This past week we had a bit of a miracle happen to us at church- we had been expecting quite a few people until on Saturday they all cancelled. One of our investigators, Edward, hadn't confirmed or not and we hadn't spoken to him all week cause he was camping. He has never been to church yet so we didn't even think to expect him to be there. We shot him a text late saturday night though just in case and then as we sat there in sacrament meeting, really really dissappointed that nobody had come, i had a feeling to just turn around and so i did and saw edward grinning at me from the back row, giving me a peace sign. It was awesome. 

All in all, it has been really sad saying goodbye to this ward. Many of the members have helped us a lot with teaching, meals, and other random acts of service. i will always be grateful to them! also, i feel like i have grown a lot here in this area. serving from my 9 month mark to my year and 3 month mark bridges a long period of time and a lot of ups and downs which i hope have taught me some important lessons. My testimony has really grown, and I feel as if I was able to teach a lot of people who (although most didnt progress) shaped my testimony of the things we taught them and helped me see the truth of what we taught. My understanding of the gospel has also gotten deeper, although i still have miles to go. 

Elder Burgess has been a fantastic companion. Ive learned loads from him and i will miss him, but luckily ill probably still see him quite often so its not so bad.

Thanks for all the emails this past week! its good to hear that school and seminary and everything has all kicked back into gear and youre all doing well. and dad, good luck with your dilema. I know you'll do whatevers right. And mom, don't thank us, thank YOU. I don't know who or where I'd be without you and this past week i reflected on just how much I love being your son. you are the best.

I know that Jesus Christ is our Saviour and the Son of God. God lives and He is our Father and He loves us and for that, I am so grateful. That's all we really need to know.. well not quite but almost! 

have a great week!

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY IN ADVANCE MANDY!!!!!!!!! i wish i could give you a big hug but this will have to do for now. I love you very much! You are a great younger sister. 

Love,

Elder Jensen

The one and only joe Johnson! A less active we visit. He has Taught me a lot about life and choices and the blessings of living the commandments. Gunna miss him!

MLC September 2016

Hahaha...

Zone training meeting September 2016 for Ipswich Zone! Last one here in Ipswich for me. Love these missionaries.

Remember how I ran a squirrel over a few months ago? We found him...

Just some old church

The Horrigans; they do a ton for us and I've grown to love them. Another sad goodbye! Peter (on the right) joined the church 30 years ago and is now such a pillar of the ward. He serves everyone all the time- including us by polishing our shoes 

Our last morning playing football for exercise... Our Romanian friend Vascili who I have gotten to know over my time here finally came to play with us at 6:30 am! It was a blast. I love football! 🇬🇧⚽️

Week 66-August 29, 2016

Week 66-August 29, 2016

No time...

Sorry!

We had a few things come up last minute today and I don't have time to
write. But thank you for the emails. As always. Big update: Jeffrey
moved back to America. I hope he joins the church.

I'm doing just fine. Learning lots as always. Missing you all as
always but love being here.

Lots of love,
Elder Jensen

Next week is transfers so I won't email until Tuesday. I'll probably
be moving- almost without a doubt.

P.s. Thanks for the package mom! I'm excited to get it. :) you're the best!

A senior couple in Cambridge I have grown to love- the Jackmans! 

Cambridge DM

Jeffrey! In the middle. He's back in Philadelphia for college. Sad goodbye- love this guy!

Bowling! Pday today

Ward picnic! Our friend James (an investigator) next to me