Week 48-April 25, 2016

Week 48-April 25, 2016

another week in colchizzie

Hey hey hey!!! 

Sayonara to Ashley!!!! good luck back in Provo! what an exciting moment. going back to the REAL real life! it was so cool to hear about the goodbye party you guys had and i was also really happy to hear that you all enjoyed having ashley with you the past month or two so much. 

Let me just say how excited i am as well to skype you guys in 2 weeks.. i cant wait. just to see pictures and hear you all talk about your weeks blows my mind because i feel as if you have all grown so much ( mom and dad excluded youre pretty consistent) since i left. 

This week was full of a lot lot lot of stuff and i can just say a few highlights cause i sometimes dont remember everything that happened even though there was a lot- first cool highlight. I spent a large portion of my day on wednesday in Cambridge!!! it was my first time being there- its a ward/area in our zone/stake and we had district meeting in a senior couple's home and then went finding with the sisters and elders serving there for a while that afternooon after lunch. it was a blast. and man...... it is a BEAUTIFUL place. and the colleges are just incredilbe!!!!!! i absolutely love the green feilds and trees everywhere and streams that are everywhere here in the Ipswich zone. I have fallen in love with the green everywhere so much. often times i feel such an urge to pull the car over and walk around in the trees by the road. 

another highlight: elder withers and i spent our friday taking the train into london to have an exchange and work with the assistants to the president (elder chronister and elder williams) which was a blast. it was fun to be with elder chronister as always. that guy is going home in the beginning of june!!! which is exactly when we were companions last year. we taught a nigerian university student and after inviting him to be baptised about 4 times he finally accepted to work towards the 28 of may. it was a crazy lesson. oh and i also got to see Augusto!!! we ran into him in the chapel and he is doing really well. still active and helping the missionaries a lot and doing well. 

another highlight: me and elder withers had a lot of funny experiences this week but to name a few, we squirted a bunch of cars with our windscreen wipers while we drove around, we got our hair cut by turkish barbers this morning (world famous) and they burned all the hair on my ears off with this special technique they are famous for (basically consisting of lighting a big q-tip on fire and getting in really close to your ears really quickly and pulling it back and then doing it over and over again really fast and skillfully), and we also had a lot of funny and really strange meetings with people in the streets of town center this week. some very negative and some very positive. it made for a good week. the zone is doing fairly well but we still have some really struggling companionships and they are on our minds a lot. 

oh  by the way! im not sick anymore. got healthy and now im doing just fine! Thanks so much for all your prayers and emails and support. You guys mean the world to me. have a great week this week and know that ill be praying for you.

love,

Elder Jensen

p.s. ill send pics from my ipad

p.p.s. mom i dont know the details for skype in 2 weeks but ill figure them out asap so we can sort it out next pray

Couldn't help but grab a pic with this sign! This is a sneak peek of how beautiful Colchester is. Grass and trees everywhere..

This is a random picture we took in Russell Square after trying to contact university students in the AP's area on Friday. It was raining. That's elder Williams (elder chronisters companion) I'm next to. 

Just good old Elder Withers and I.

Week 47-April 18, 2016

Week 47-April 18, 2016

Sick week

 I don't have much time at all this week so I'll be brief! It's okay though because i don't have too many big things to report. I was sick since tuesday last week and it was pretty bad. First time getting sick my whole mission and it wasnt fun having to sleep instead of being able to work. It felt really strange actually- i realised i hadnt just rested for about a year! as a missionary its just go go go always busy, at least it has been for me. anyways, we still did a lot of work in the afternoons and evenings we went and taught some people and thursday we had interviews with president stevens. he gave me a blessing after everyone else had gone and he had talked to us about hte zone. it was a very special and memorable experience. elder withers and i have been thinking and talking a lot about how fast our missions have gone as we approach mother's day (woohoo!!!) and our one year marks. funny that we may get to pass our one year marks together after starting together as well. anyways besides what i already mentioned, i spoke in sacrament meeting and we taught the priests quorum and those went fine and yea thats about all i can think of right now. obviously a lot happened inbetween and all week but i dont have much time and its not really coming to me right now but the big news is that i was really sick. oh! youre probably wondering what i was sick with- it was a bad fever and sore throat. 

Quick comments: Lydia- you look beautiful in those pictures! wow. im glad to hear you had a lot of fun. also congrats on SMW round 2! natalie- can you make me some oatmeal chocolate no bake cookies????? those sound so good.. mandy- nice job on getting the game ball and hitting the winning score for softball!!!! benjamin- good to hear you found some fish. cook them and eat them.

Ashley- youre going back to provo next week? to study? spring semester?

Mom the boutineer and corsage on lydia look beautiful. cant believe you made so many of them.

Dad good luck with those calories this week. mind > matter. and wow thats a ton of taxes. 

love you all so much! im almost better now so im really really glad to go back to working 100%. the church is true- Im grateful to be a missionary. 

Love,

Elder Jensen

p.s. i cant wait for mothers day!

Week 46-April 11, 2016

Week 46-April 11, 2016

Hello family! 

This week Vladamir, Leonardo, and Andrea were baptised. I can't describe how happy it makes me, because I know how happy it makes them and I love them so much. No, I wasn't allowed to go but President allowed me to Skype Elder Silva and congratulate them and it was a special moment. It almost made it even more heartbreaking that I could not be there though. I am just so happy that it happened though. and Mom, i am praying that I do get to see them be sealed next year! It may be just in time before I leave to the States.

Elder Withers and I don't really have anyone to teach at the moment so we spent a lot of time this week in the town center trying to find people. We also had MLC and then our ZTM this past week as well, so we spent a lot of time in meetings too. It was a good week but the cherry on top was definitely Vladamir and his kids being baptised in Basildon on Sunday. 

It was exciting to hear about the vacation to Lake Havasu and the Grand Canyon! sounds like everyone had a blast. You guys rented a boat and everything?! awesome. cant lie and say im not jealous of that trip. 

We found quite a few people who looked like they had good potential this week but none of them have turned out to be very promising. We will continue working. I got to meet a lot of the ward this week though and they are great. The Bishop here is great. Speaking of which, how is Bishop Daines? 

Glad to hear the report on Yiwei and Amanda! and glad to hear Josh and Nicole came to Arcadia over the weekend for their break. Youth are the life of every ward i think i have learned and looking back, now i realise why everyone constantly would brag about our youth and get emotional and say how much they loved the youth in our ward because however small in numbers we were, we really did have a fantastic crew. it would probably be hard to find a group of fun, good (not to mention active) girls and guys like we had anywhere else- including utah. 

Life has been very busy and nonstop work the past week. I think we need to take some time to relax and think of things other than worrying about missionary work. other than that i was so happy about Nagaret's family that it was a good week. Had 3 people at church even though none of them are really progressing! In hindsight, it was an enormous and undeserved blessing to have been a part of Nagaret and her family's conversion in Basildon. i will always be grateful for that. Elder Silva says that Christiana is doing well too, although she has been working a lot lately and been stressed. thats good news as well. 

meeting the ward here made me think of what incredible sisters and brother I have- i would kill to be in the same ward as a family like ours. a few families like ours and the coles and the coltons are what can make a ward and give it life! Also, i got some letters from the Coltons this week and I am hoping to respond but i rarely have any time so let them know i got the letters and really enjoyed reading them all.. and that i will respond as soon as i can but until then i send my thanks and love!!! 

I really learned this week that nothing can be done if not in the Lord's way. Love is really the essence of what Christ taught and if we dont strive to always be in accordance with His teachings and do things out of love, this work goes nowhere. Elder Withers and I feel as if a lot is on our plate and we feel a lot of responsibility and weight and it takes a toll on me at times but i know that if I just trust the Lord things will work out in the end. we also talk a lot about how fast our missions have gone by and how close we are to our year mark. crazy.

Love you all so so so much and wish you the best of weeks going back to school and work! 

-Elder Jensen

p.s. mom ill attach some pics as well from my iPad!

Blurry but my friend from Basildon is trying to send me a higher quality photo soon! That's me on the phone screen!!!!!!! I LOVE THEM!!!

Our new zone! Great group of missionaries. The sister in pink in the middle was in the same MTC district as elder withers and I! She had to go home for medical reasons but just came back and came into our zone it was super cool. 

The view by our study desk.

MLC

Taylor court. Good street to live on. 

Week 45-April 4, 2016

Week 45-April 4, 2016

Colchezzie with Withers

Hi fam! 

thanks for all the emails! and wow i cant believe you spoke with Bishop Nicholls for that long. he called me right after and told me and Elder Silva all about it while i was trying to drive. so i was a bit distracted but it sounded like he really enjoyed the conversation as well. 

We didnt get to watch the sunday afternoon session cause thats too late in the night but all the others we watched! it was great. i loved it so much- i look up to those men (the apostles and prophet) so much and i am grateful for their worthiness to serve in the ways that they do in those callings.

yea i dont know much of the ward yet but i did meet quite a few of them over conference weekend. the bishop is super cool we played football (soccer) saturday morning with him and some youth and it was fun. they were all shocked that an american knew how to play football! 

yes dad me and elder withers are the zone leaders here. tough job cause the zone (equivalent of a stake; its the same actually) is geographically massive and there are 14 companionships as opposed to the prior 8 in basildon. doesnt seem like that much but its just a lot more work to know everything thats going on. man- its good though. and yes i am now a veteran i suppose. still clueless though- a clueless veteran. 

Lydia, send me a video of you and kyara and kylies song! i want to hear it! and believe it or not i had the same thought while watching GC! and yes knowing elder withers has made the transition much smoother. its like moving in with a friend. 

natalie- are you playing on a boys indoor soccer team? im confused... thats exciting that you are learning violin though! 

mandy- hope youre doing well! how are the braces? are they painful? and were your legs super sore after all that softball? 

ben- sorry about your finger man. glad it feels better now. also, midfeild is what i used to play as well- thats the best position cause you get to go wherever the ball is anywhere on the feild basically! 

ash- iagree about praying all the time. "counsel with the lord in all thy doings and he will direct thee for good." thank you for praying for me. i love you! 

WOW YOU GUYS WENT TO HAVASU AND TAHOE?!?! 

love you all tons! colchester is BEAUTIFUL. i love this town- its very old and very green. the oldest recorded town in all of england! this is where Humpty Dumpty and Twinkle Twinkle Little star comes from! those both came from this town. 

Vladamir, Leonardo, and Andrea are getting baptised this Sunday!!! Pray for them!

Elder Jensen

Week 44-March 28, 2016

Week 44-March 28, 2016

Hey fam! 

I got transferred. heartbreaking news but I am happy to do what the Lord wants. And guess who my next companion is going to be? 

ELDER WITHERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My MTC companion! we have been dreaming and praying and joking about serving together sometime in our missions since we met at BYU and now here we are not even a year out and we will be together. crazy!

But i am so sad to leave Basildon- this week was insane and now Vladamir and his kids have decided on the 10th of April as the day they will be baptised which means i will miss it but i am so incredibly happy for this huge step. i will be praying for the rest of my mission that they will go to the temple in a years time and be sealed! 

So basically this week was non stop travelling all over our zone for baptisms, helping other missionaries with different things, easter devotionals and dinner appointments. It went by in a blur but it was full of miracles. Yes Dad, we attended the Hungarian girl's baptism and that was beautiful. it amazes me how simple the ordinances of the gospel are- yet powerful too. Then we also went to ilford on the other side of our zone that evening for the Portugese woman and her son's baptism which was WILD! the font broke and it was only knee deep and freezing water- Elder Silva was baptising them in portugese and on the 3rd try the son was successfully baptised but it just wasnt going to work for the mother so they postponed the baptism to the following day right after church in the romford building instead. so we left early on sunday from our church and they finished the baptism for her and their confirmations in romford on sunday. Which means that as a zone, we reached our goal of 5 baptisms in the stake this month. which is something i have been praying so hard for all month. i honestly was afraid for most of the month that we werent going to reach our goal but somehow the Lord provided.and now april is looking to be full of baptisms across the zone! i am so happy for the work that is happening. i learned that without goals, missionaries would be almost useless to the Lord. We dont work hard enough or trust in the Lord enough without a goal to strive for- its the same in life as well. So set goals and work for them- and we will accomplish much more than without them. #lessonlearned

Thank you all so much for the love i felt on easter from you all! the basket was so appreciated. I will miss elder Silva and i will miss Basildon ward with so much of my heart but the work of the Lord goes on. I will be in Colchester ward- part of the Ipswich zone. Elder WIthers and i have something like 28 missionaries in our zone (its one of the biggest) and a MASSIVE stake- probably 10 or 15 romford stakes could fit inside of it. We will have lots of work to do! hahahahaha i cant wait! i will tell you all about the new area and ward next week. Love you lots!

Elder Jensen

Taylor's Bishop Nicholls from Basildon called us on Easter and sent us this short video from Taylor.  He expressed his love and appreciation for the great missionary Taylor has been.

Pic of video from Taylor and companion Elder Silva, who speaks portuguese and has been teaching Vladimir and kids.

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)