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 

Week 65-August 22, 2016

Week 65-August 22, 2016

what am i supposed to put here?

Ashley, you read my mind, i can't figure out what to put in the subject line. I feel so boring but i dont have time to sit here and come up with something funny... sorry!

Well, its crazy to think that everyone is back at school. And i can't believe Lydia is a senior. and Natalie is in highschool! and mandy is in middle school. good luck you all! LYDIA I KNOW MR SCHULTZ SO WELL!!! youve gotta tell him youre my little sister! hahahaha I had him for both freshman english and then senior year half a semester for british literature.. Love that goofball. He's a tough one and he can be a bit out there sometimes but just see him for the softie he is deep down. Is he still single and bald? and is he still coaching the track team?

Thanks for all the pictures of Josh's wedding, it was so nice to see them. He sent me a letter and a wedding invitation and said that he is proud of me for being here and that meant a lot to me. I thought it would be really difficult to miss it, but I felt at peace and I know this is where I should be. He knows I love him and we will always be brothers- regardless of whether I got to be at his wedding. I am so glad it went well though!

This week was a sad one but also a great one. Jeffrey will be moving back to philadelphia this upcoming sunday so he won't be baptised here. We gave him a blessing with Bishop Leydon this past week because he wasn't feeling well and then he had a lot of questions about the priesthood so we taught him very in depth about the priesthood. Then he came with us to a family in the ward's home for dinner the next evening and we taught word of wisdom and then about Thomas S Monson. It was a very memorable lesson- i gained a stronger conviction that we are indeed led by a prophet of God. As we watched his last GC address I prayed in my head to know whether he was a prophet, and I looked at him differently then I ever have before and felt a lot of love for him as he spoke. Jeffrey felt the Spirit- after I asked him what he had learned in that short 5 minutes he spoke a little more softly and with more feeling and was visibly different- I am confident he felt something as he watched that video. Funny story: we were on an exchange so I was with a different missionary that day and the new missionary started explaining what baptism was to Jeffrey but he answered his first question and explained what a covenant was perfectly and then looked at me and gave a little half smile and winked and the missionary and the members were surprised and laughed.. He's a smart one! he came to church and still isn't one hundred percent confident this is the one true church but I am confident he will join the church soon. We will have to say goodbye this week and then send him off. i dont look forward to it but I am grateful for Facebook so I can keep in touch with him once that happens and throughout my life.

another quick funny story i was contacting on the street with an Ethiopian sister in our zone and we were talking to an older Carribean lady who said she knew everything about the book of mormon already. I could tell she didn't and i was in a bit of a playful mood so i flipped open the picture of Jesus visitng the Americas and asked her, 'did you know Jesus went to America then?' to which she was shocked and confused and angry that she had been exposed- she started walking away and then a few feet away stopped, turned around, and with plenty of people all around us, shouted 'America?!?! why does it have to be America of all places?!!!' then with everyone watching she walked off angrily and everyone looked at us. As we walked the other direction, i said to myself and the sister i was with 'I dont know, ask Him! He's the one who decided to go there!' we did a lot of laughing that afternoon. 

Elder Burgess hit his one year mark this past friday!!! we had an exchange that day and so me and the elder i was with got him a cake and some chocolate and fashioned a nice '1' on the cake and we all enjoyed it. later that day we went to a restaurant with the 4 sisters in our ward and Elder Burgess had a great hump day all in all I hope.  we definitely gained some weight so if nothing else that was acheived

We played football saturday morning as well and that was a blast!

with edwards family this week we had a family prayer again and this time Henry (his 5 year old) prayed and since he was next to me and holding my hand, he had me help him by telling him what to say and then repeating it. It reminded me of Benjamin! Miss having my little brother around. 

Hope you guys enjoyed Sam's email about the banoffe pie at Margarets this week. That was a real struggle finishing it... I was worried it was going to come back up while we were washing her dishes. 

This week I learned again the importance of charity. We are nothing without it! Also, Jeffrey asked me some more questions about who is a "saint" and why when we are baptised we are joining the church not only receiving a remission of sins. As i studied the scriptures I once again realized how TRUE THE CHURCH IS! Everything in the New Testament supports our church's beliefs and practices; the other christian churches out there go so clearly against many of the original practices of the Early christian church. The church is true- it is Christ's church; and we are members of it and are so blessed by the church. We can't take it for granted fam! I know that Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God and that now so is Thomas S Monson. what a blessing it is to have them.

I love you all! Have a fantastic week. Take care!

love,

Elder Jensen

ill send pics separately!

Selfie for you mom!

Colchester District Meeting 

From a kid in the ward- love him. He calls me Bob cause Bob the minion has a green eye and a brown eye. He drew this of us during sacrament meeting yesterday and came up to me after to show us so I asked him if I could keep it! Looks like I was a bit emberassed during sacrament meeting cause my face came out kinda red lol

Ipswich DIstrict Meeting- the sister next to a Elder Burgess was the one I was with for the Carribean lady who didn't like he idea of Jesus going to America. And the elder next to her (the black one) was with me on exchange when we taught Jeffrey! 

Congrats to big dog Elder Burgess. Love this guy.

Elder Sharp- a greenie from Utah who I had an exchange with last week. A real stud! A baller too! Had a great time and learned a lot. Love him already. Turns out he followed me and Elder Withers' blogs for a while after getting his mission call and recognised who I was the first day and on the phone asked me "is this the Elder Jensen who ran over a squirrel?" How crazy is It that he's in my zone for his first area?!

Ball is life! We were supposed to make a pose I think but I was the only one who did. 

Week 64-August 15, 2016

Week 64-August 15, 2016

hey fam!!!

i dont have tons of time this week because our pdays are always mad busy.. but a couple of big updates are in order.

jeffrey didnt come to church this week cause he was in London but he's making great progress and we taught him a few times this week. i had a huge testimony building experience this weekend. he is very smart and logical and studies math so he's that kind of thinker and this week he realized that all of his questions boiled down to whether or not this was the one true church and that boils down to joseph smith and the book of mormon clearly so he rededicated himself to reading and praying to know if it was true. we decided to fast this sunday that he would get an answer and on sunday evening we had a fireside at a members home and they taught about the apostasy and restoration from a little different perspective. after the fireside i was talking to jeffrey in the members kitchen and i asked him how he had been feeling as he'd read the book of mormon lately. he said that he had been reading in moroni just for fun and that day he had read moroni 7 and where it spoke about charity he recognized the parallels to the bible and he said that he felt love in his heart which we had spoken about and agreed came from the Spirit for the first time whilst reading the book of mormon. I almost teared up when he said that and i realized that the chances of him reading moroni 7 randomly on his own and feeling that on the day we decided to fast is so slim. God lives! and he answers our prayers. 

one more spiritual experience this week was during a lesson we had with a man named Edward. A little background: elder withers called edward's number from the area book while i was sick about 5 months ago, and we taught him once before passing him to the neighboring ward's missionaries upon realizing he lived across the boundaries. they taught him once or twice but they eventually lost contact with him. Fast forward a month or two, and elder burgess and i are sitting at the colchester train station on monday evening to go into london for an exchange with the AP's. the train comes and as we stand up to get on, edward walks up and sees us and remembers me and we sit on the train altogether and ride into london, some of the very few people taking a train at 730 monday evening into london. he had moved with his family recently back into our area and was happy for us to come around and visit him and his family. he even said he would love to come to church. the odds of me being in this area still and running into him at the train station at a time when hardly anyone takes the train after he had moved back into our area is so small. God really wants this man! while teaching him and his family (wife and 2 young boys) saturday evening, we invited his family to say a prayer together to finish the lesson. i asked them if they would kneel and kneel in a cicle on the ground- then had a thought pop into my mind and told them that we would always hold hands in my family when we prayed. So me and an italian elder who was on an exchange knelt with their family and held hands and edward said a beautiful prayer, and it was a touching experience as i remembered thousands of times doing that as a family myself. 

one other cool update! we taught a philipino girl who just graduated university this week and had a great lesson. Her name is Geninne and what is cool about her is that we had given her a plan of salvation pamphlet when we met her on the street and she had read the beginning and loved the part about the pre earth life. she had been raised catholic but didnt really believe in all of its teachings, and she said the pre earth life made so much sense and she instantly believed it. it made me realize that jeffrey was very interested in the same exact thing and that we are so lucky to know about where we come from- ive always taken it for granted but without knowing that truth everything is so confusing and it just doesnt make sense anymore! the church is so true.

We went into london twice this week- so we had a lot of travelling but it was a good week. i love this gospel! and i love you guys! glad to hear oceanside was fun. thanks for the emails and the pictures, i love them!!! hahaha the cat tower looks sweet too. good work.

Love always,

Elder Jensen

Thought I'd send this little pic of what I started in my study journal.. Just cause me and elder Burgess thought my sketch of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ was funny... Hope you enjoy! Just imagine that cloud as a celestial surfboard and they look like a couple of surfers 😂

There's 2 cause we wanted one in her garden and one in her living room where we always have the spiritual thought.

This is a locust bean... Apparently what John the Baptist ate in the wilderness. He didn't eat actual bugs he ate these beans! Super healthy. Super disgusting too but I ate half of it before my willpower gave.

Football on Saturday morning, Jeffrey and Jason's bday. Shoutout to Graham Bourne for my shirt.. He left it at our house and I took it with me and I don't think he's gunna want it back hahaha 

Week 63-August 8, 2016

Week 63-August 8, 2016

Colchester in August

Hey fam!

This week was a really good week, for a couple of reasons. First of
all, we had MLC and I got to see all my buddies and old companions and
then we had Zone meeting and although we gave a 3 hour long training
basically that the Missionary department in salt lake wanted us to
give it was good to see the whole zone. The Brethren have changed some
things in about 15 missions worldwide and we got selected as one of
them so we had a huge training and were introduced to new planning
guidelines and they're basically just trying to upgrade missionary
work so some other changes. It's pretty exciting- everything is
focused on people and their spiritual progression rather than filling
your days with activities that make you feel busy but don't produce
much in the way of results. I feel the work hastening! It's exciting
to see the good positive changes that have been made. At MLC they
needed a musical number so Elder Murri, Elder Skinner, Elder Withers
and I sang "the armies of Heleman" or whatever that song is called and
elder murri played along on the guitar. It was good- we have done a
couple of musical items together now and I really enjoy singing with
them- they're really good singers!

We taught Jeffrey about baptism after preparing so much. I learned so
much from my preparations to teach him- he thinks the same way Dad and
what I feel like is the same way I think too - very logically and
thoroughly. He is so sincere- as we showed him scriptures and taught
simply and bore testimony about the ordinance of baptism and receiving
the gift of the Holy Ghost I felt the spirit and I could see it
testifying to him as well. By the end of the lesson he said he
believed what we had taught and it made sense to him. Then later in
the week (Sunday evening) we took a brand new RM from the ward to
teach him and Jason with us and we had a powerful lesson again after
watching the 20 minute restoration film. They accepted a baptismal
date for the 27/8 but they still are searching for an answer from God
whether it is all true or not. Jeffrey said he already believes the
Book of Mormon is true from what he is read and thus that Joseph Smith
is a prophet but now is struggling to believe that we are the only
church that has authority from God. Jason on the other hand has never
been a religious guy but since he has been praying he said that he
felt something. He thinks it makes perfect sense for there to be one
true church but struggles to picture himself changing and becoming a
religious person since he never has been. So it is always an
incredible experience to teach them because they have such different
needs and personalities. Yet, they are both so committed and genuine.
I have already grown to love them. Please keep them in your prayers! I
know God will give them the answers they are looking for.

Other than that, it's been a great week and although a lot happened
that'll have to be all for this week. I love this gospel and this
church! And I love my Saviour and Heavenly Father. And I love you
guys! Thanks for all the support and the love you give me.

Love,
Elder Jensen

Zone Training Meeting Ipswich August 2016- got some new faces!!! But a lot of old ones too.

Our exchange with Elder Coon and Elder Chong from Singapore

Margaret Randall's cakes... We were trying to get our friend to take a picture with the cake but he ran away.. But I thought I'd send this one just to prove why it's hard not to gain weight when members feed you delicious food like this. Love them so much though! This ward is amazing.

Dad- I need you to show this to Bishop Daines, I got his letter and thought I'd take a selfie with sister Daines (his niece) while holding the letter to send to him.. How cool is that! 

MLC August 2016!

Gettin air with Elder Withers!