July 17

Der Mom,     Since i am here in the field there are not as many people using the computers and i have more time to be on the computer so i can upload now. I would love it if you sent me a bunch of pictures. The people here absoloutly love pictures. They have pretty much everything here as far as ingredients go. The only thing they are really lacking is spices. I actually dont know about the yeast but i will look. The members here are awesome. We have lunch with somebody every day except Pday. They have a ward but we are still meeting in a house that has been converted to a church. If we baptize someone here in Candeias then we use a pool that this house has. But if we baptize someone in São Fransisco do Conde ,Which is my primary proselyting area, then we could use the ocean which i think would be really cool. I am still working on the lesson thing with my comp. He is a little different than i expected. He cant deal with things that he doesnt expect. He told me that he was expecting to train a Brazilian and had geared up his mind for that. Then he gets me and it threw him off. I know the doctrine pretty well and he wasnt expecting that. The only difficulty i have is with the language. So I will have to compromise with him on our teaching styles and get him to understand that when i teach people actually understand me. Oh well it will work somehow. Any way i got a letter from Sabrina today. Its good to know that one of my friends misses me. ;) I hope that i get more mail soon but if i dont its not really that big of a deal. Any way I love you and wish you the best. Love Elder Jensen

To Aunt Aubrey

No i have not eaten any pizza yet. I will look it up. It sounds interesting.

July 10

Hello Father,

It was kind of wierd to have a fourth of July and have nothing happen. Of course because fireworks are legal to buy and explode all year round there have been plenty of them. Thats cool that you got to go and help Kenny again. Im doing well. The teaching is going well. People generally accept our message. Some of them dont believe it but everyone is willing to listen. We hear all the time that anybody talking about Jesus is worth hearing. The real trouble is to get them to do stuff. Bahians are interesting. They are a completely different culture from the rest of Brazil. Everybody is so lazy here. They literally just throw all of their trash on the street. They have a holiday every other week and sometimes two in a week. They find every excuse to party and have no problem just sitting around. We had an appointment with this guy one day and we went to his house and found him celebrating his kids 3 month old birthday. So he told us to come back later.
I really am feeling the Lords influence in my life. Its interesting to be at the sensitivity that i am at.
Yes my companion and i get along just fine. We are pretty different but we are working on finding what way works best for us. I am still trying to learn Português so its difficult to help with stuff. But i am at a point where i can understand what people are saying so now i just have to expand my vocab. He is from Washington state and he has been out a year and a month.
As far as my needs are i dont really have any. But if you could send me a recipe on how to make good food out of nothing that would help ;) Oh actually if you could send me like a little magic trick thing that would be awesome. They love to see that stuff here.
I am glad you are all doing well and i appreciate all you have done for me.
Love Elder Jensen

July 10

Dear Mom,

I figured out today that i dont need to send my cards to you. I can just stick my sd card into the computer and upload them. My apartment is a lot cleaner. Last pday we all pitched in and cleaned the whole place. Well except that there is mold in a lot of places. Its weird im doing most of the cooking here in our house. Yea i know that its gonna get hotter. But it should be ok. At the CTM we had somebody talk to us and he said that if we live right the Lord will make it so that the "Alaskans" wont be as hot. I thought that was kind of cool.
Marty has moved back down to the lower 48 with his wife so you will never see him again.
Is Frank still working at the movie theater?
I have gained quite a bit of weight. But i have made it a goal now that the house is clean to get up and excercise everyday. I also need to stop eating as much. That one is going to be hard for me because  they love people who eat a lot of food here. Always we hear "Come mais Elder" Which means eat more food elder. But i will just have to be careful.
 That squirrel sounds awesome :)
I only have a few minutes left so i will just say a little.
The people here in Bahia are completely different from the rest of Brazil. For one thing they are all black here. They were all still slaves 200 years ago so they eat really poor food and they think that it is good. When you are talking to one of them they almost always touch you on the arm or shoulder. They are complete slobs all of their garbage they just throw on the ground. They also just sit around sometimes. All of them believe in God and most of them have no problem listening to us even if they dont beleive us.
Its very different but its really cool at the same time.
Anyway goodbye for now


Love Elder Jensen

July 3rd letter

Here was at the mission home in Salvador. I sent that email from the presidents computer. The flight from São Paulo to Salvador was almost three hours so it wasnt bad. My companion is called Elder Moody. He is from washington. The apartment is this small little house that was absoloutley disgusting. The dishes hadnt been done for a week at least and there is mold and dirt and bugs everywhere. I have spent all my excercise time in the morning cleaning things. None of the other elders will do much about it. This city is called Candeias. It is very hilly and humid but i think its awesome. The houses here look really broken down and not so good on the outside but on the inside most of them are fairly nice. The reason for this is that everyone builds their own house. The bugs are ok. I have gotten a little chewed on by mosquitos but its fine. I have not seen any snakes. The weather stays around 75 degrees most of the time and it rains occasionally without warning. The clouds move super fast here. It will be bright sunny skies one minute and then literally five minutes later you could be getting rained on. But it is the winter time and it doesnt rain very hard or long.

I am glad that Colby and Trevor are haveing a good time. Yes Dad is pretty awesome. That is a lot of chickens! Im not at all suprised that Emma Has named them all.

I am glad that Derek has his papers in and yes i heard about Joe. I have no doubt that he will go back out. Tell them both that i love them and i support them. The food here is good but its not very varied. They eat rice and noodles and beans and meat and fruit. Thats pretty much it. They have this sauce called pimento and its kind of spicy but not a lot of people like it. I already have a ton of stories but it would take to long to tell. I am writing in my journal every day so i wont forget.

I will keep everyone in my prayers.

Love Elder Jensen

Elder Jensen at the mission home

Picture of Elder Jensen

Dear Jensen Family,   We were delighted to welcome your son, Elder Jensen, to the Brazil Salvador Mission on Tuesday, June 26. We can report that he looked great and had a big smile on his face as we greeted him at the airport. We spent a wonderful afternoon with him and the other new missionaries at the mission home and shared a delicious Bahian lunch together. We took some time to get to know one another, had some important mission training, and finally President Hart paired them up with their excited new trainers. Then they were off to their new areas to begin their great missionary adventure. (See attached photos) We’re excited to work with your son in this important calling to share the gospel and appreciate the sacrifice you have made to send him to our mission. We have already felt of his great love and desire to serve the Lord and the people of Brazil. We are so excited to welcome him to the “best mission in the world.” We will do our best to help him remain healthy and safe while he is in our care for these next two years. Should you have any concerns about your son, you are welcome to call us any time at the mission home:  801-683-7177. Packages and letters to your son should be mailed to the mission office: Av. Antonio C. Magalhaes, 3247 sala 402 Pituba 40275-000 Salvador – BA Brazil   With love and appreciation, President and Sister Hart