August 24,2013

Dear Pops,

According to my knees i deffinitely am old. Every time i get up they creak and pop. Of course that is because of all the walking. This week was good but stressful. There are a lot of people wanting my attention and a lot to remember. I forget things every once in a while and leave somebody upset. However it´s a good position to be in. We have a much closer relationship with the President and we learn a whole new skill set. I am expected to resolve peoples problems and help them with their needs. It is difficult but the Lord prepares who he chooses. I am grateful for the opportunity to work here and learn all these things. 

Mom told me about the conference. I am very happy that you could see and hear an apostle. That is one thing that is not frequently seen here in Brazil. I am glad that he is putting emphasis on the member missionary thing. That is one of the things that i have learned on the mission. Without help from the members it becomes very difficult for a missionary to have success and for the kingdom to grow.

I will not get an opportunity to go to the temple. Here in Brazil we have 6 functioning temples with one being built and another that was announced. The closest temple to me is 12 hours away by bus. So i will just have to see the new video when i get back.

I am glad that they could experience release time seminary. I always prefered that to early morning. Emma is a very friendly individual she will make friends soon.

In the office we have to be very flexible. That is probably the biggest lesson we have. Also the need to make decisions. We need to quickley analyze a situation and quickly act to get it resolved. It is good to learn these things. As you know i wasnt the biggest decision maker before hand. I feel much more confident in what i want in life and am ready to make decisions that need to be made. I will try my best to get into BYU when i get back to furthur my education.

Anyway I love you Dad

August 24,2013

Dearest Mother,

First off i would like to state how jealous i am that you got to listen to an apostle. We dont get those kinds of opportunities that often here in Brazil. Second off i would like to state that you are buying a lot of cool toys and i hope that they are all still there when i get back.

I really do hope that Colby speaks longer than i did. However i doubt he will. Its kind of a family trait ;) 

I agree with you about the whole temple prayer thing. If you dont listen to what is being communicated to you it doesnt mean anything. You can decide pretty much whatever you want and feel good about it. Oh well it is his decision. He will almost certaintly regret it. These two years really are the best of our lives. As Cache and I return home along with others he will realize that he lost the best opportunity to learn and grow that ever existed for him.

Dont worry about Emma getting to Hawaii before you Mom. When your son becomes rich he will take both of his parents there along with his incredible future wife to just spend a three days doing nothing but relaxing ;)

I can relate to you as far as the office work goes. That is basically my job now. Oddly enough i like it. Granted it is really stressful and tiring. I get to the office at about 9 am and then leave there at 5 ish. We have to suffer through horrible traffic for another hour and a half or so and then we work until nine thirty and then take another bus ride home. We end up getting home at ten and still we need to plan and get ready for bed. Its really incredible that here with the assistents ,who are supposed to be the examples of the mission, I have gotten to sleep on time once this whole transfer. Its ridiculous that these guys have no respect for somebodys sleep. They stay out late and wake up early. I honestly dont know how they do it. Today im pretty sure i slept in till nine. Oh well it is a very good area and we do recieve many blessings for having to do so much work. 

So they want me to hurry up with this because they are silly to work. Thank you for your support. Love you mom :)

August 16,2013

Dear Mom,

Congratulations on your book of mormon place!  Its an amazing feeling to do missionary work isnt it? 

As far as that list goes everything is necessary except the passport holder. The mission office keeps the passport so he will never have to worry about it. The rain jacket is completely necessary. Where he is going is going to have a lot of water. Look up weather patterns in Brazil and you will see that that area rains just about every day. 

As far as the finger thing with the sisters i dont know what you are talking about.

Im very glad that Trevor has the opportunity to at least play on the scrimmages. I think what the coaches might be putting him there to incite him to work harder and become an excellent player. When you cant achieve something that you really want the motivation becomes even greater. Its really easy to lose sight of that perspective and think that we are just not able to do the things that we want to. I hope that Trevor can see that its probably a test and not a punishment.

I got that picture thank you. Its a sweet moose.

Emma started High school? Dad gummit that means she is like growing up. Thats a crazy thought.

So Brett went home huh? Where was he serving again? I really hope he does gain a testimony. The first thing you need ,as I have discovered, Is a testimony. The second is attitude and the third motivation. Granted i am still learning the second two things. Fortunately the Lord is the best teacher there is. The mission is the best place for young people. I am convinced that this is why the Lord called the young people to do missionary work in these last days. I feel that we are here principally to learn and grow. When i started to do this i began to feel a lot better about when i was teaching. I could honestly tell people that living the gospel was a good choice that changes lives.

As far as my new calling i have a lot to learn. After this first two weeks it has been difficult and rewarding. We baptized a young boy this past sunday. I will send a picture in when i have more time. Mom i love you. Have a blessed week :)

August 9

Dear Dad,

So i just got a bomb dropped on my mind. I will be transfered tomorrow. I will be the new financial secretary of the mission for the next six months. My mind is still reeling. I dont really know what to write. Congratulate my sister for me. Mom has told me that you are getting good work done. Keep it up old man :) Love Elder Jensen

August 9

Im a little dissapointed.  I just got this ward to start walking on its own. I called out the young men. My ward is actually starting to do missionary work after a lot of pushing and shoving. This week i went to visit the young men in our ward and i found three of the five active ones in a house playing video games. I asked for their help finding less actives and they blew me off. When i was leaving i talked to the young girl who lives there about another less active we are working with. One of the young men left as i was talking to her and she asked him when he would help us. He said he wasnt interested and i asked him why and he said because. Then i said well im glad you think that salvation is a joke. He said yep thats right. I got mad at that. Its rather frustrating when the people who should help you the most dont do anything at all. Other than that my week was great. The members are actually starting to fill the lunch calender and they are doing their best to help us.

However the Lord knows what he wants and i wont argue it. This means that i only have two more areas left. Sectretaries always stay for six months. We always leave the mission three weeks before our visa runs out so i only have 8 months left. Crazy thought huh?

August 9,2013

Dear Pops,

My Pdays are now on saturdays. I just re read the email i sent to you on monday and counted 12 different times i used a pronoun refering to myself. That is incorrect. Thank you for the concern about my egoism. It seemed to me with my companion who didnt speak portuguese that i was doing it alone. However the truth is i can think of several times when he made excellent suggestions even when he couldnt speak what he wanted to. Then thinking about the Lord´s side it wouldnt be possible without him. I have thought much about your email and have tried hard to remove the word i out of my vocab. 

The work here in the office is much different than that of normal missionary work. It is crucial that we are accurate in our doings here or the money is all messed up. We usually get here at 9 in the morning and leave at 5 to go to our area and proselyte. Then we rush around trying to make up for lost time with our investigators. Fortunately our ward is amazing and are extremely willing to help us. We eat lunch with a member only two days a week and the rest of the time we either eat something from the store or go to a restaurant. We get an extra supply of money for this. Along with the phone that has unlimited minutes and texting we have a close place to the president and his wife. Today we went to the zoo and lunch with him and his sons family that are visiting.  I had asked him why he made me secretary when there were so many other missionaries that could fill the spot. He told me that i have the qualities that it takes to work here. He says he needs good missionaries here because of the limited time in the field we have.

I still dont understand why he chose me to fill this position but i am honored that he thinks that highly of me. I am very grateful for the opportunity to serve here and to learn all these things. I was thinking about this and some words of my patriarcal blessing came to mind. That i will be able to decide what was needed and wanted. Along with a few other similar lines. It was interesting to have the impression that i have the opportunity to develop and refine this gift. 

I hope that you are all well my father. I love you so much and wish you well.

Love your firstborn

Elder Jensen

August 5,2013

Dear Mother,

I have not heard your book of mormon placing story just mention of it. Your new job deffinitly sounds like it would have a story or two. That is so crazy that Emma will be driving when i get back. Not to mention the fact that she will be in High school. Trevor sounds like he is doing well. They both sent me emails this week so that should be good to hear from them. Its nice to hear from them. Im glad things are going well at home even though things might be stressful.

This week we have done lots of walking. We have been imploring the members to help us. They are used to typical thoughts that the missionries are the ones who do the missionary work. As we all think at one moment or the other. We have been working our tails off to try and make some sense out of this ward. We were rewarded with a semi productive ward council meeting yesterday and a baptism. We had been teaching this lady who had depression for a long time. She stopped smoking and drinking coffee and was really excited to be baptized. Then she went traveling for a month. She had originally told us tat it would be fifteen days. So when she didnt come back we got worried. When she returned however she looked happier she had lost weight and was even more excited about the church. So this sunday we had the opportunity to help her come closer to Christ. It is always a pleasure to do so.

So as far as the me getting sick all the time its going to get better. It always happens this time of year in brazil. Everybody gets sick. Because its so dirty here when it rains all the nastiness gets thrown up into the air when it rains. So everybody gets sick. I have decided to do something that has helped all aspects of my life. The only food that i buy is fruits and vegetables. I have lost weight and i feel great about it. Granted its only been about three pounds but its still good to feel light again. Transfers are tomorrow and we are still waiting to see if i will go or not but i dont think i will. Any way whatever happens know that i am well and am serving the Lord the best i can. :)

Love Elder Jensen

July 29,2013

Dear Mom,

The visa waiting has become a problem but you are correct the Lords time is different. Many times the missionaries need to learn something or they need to help somebody in that particular area. It could be a good thing that he goes to a states mission for a while. I am super excited for Colby and cant wait until he gets to brazil. The name is Nova Esperança. (Esperansa) The weather has continued to be the same thing and its been good. I got sick again though. A virus came through and got me with it. Im feeling better now. My Short term missionary went home today. We went yesterday to a special training in Feira de Santana and then left him there to catch a bus to his home this morning early. Me and my companion were sad and glad to see him go. Things will be easier now but it was fun to have him with us. After the meeting we hitched a ride into Salvador to renew my visa and to register my companion. So we got home at like seven at night that´s why the email is so late. This past week has been good. We were starting to get the rythym down and the work was better. Now we should be able to go full speed and get this ward into action. Other than that no real news. Thanks mom i love you :)

July 22, 2013

Dear Pops,

I am so very glad that you are being blessed. It must be a difficult thing to have so many projects and so little time. I´m sure you can handle it though you are the man :) this week has been good and i will tell the story to you. Thank goodness for copy paste.

So my zone leaders came to do a division but i was already decided that i would stay home. So one of them took my companion to work. They wandered around trying to find the people i had planned to visit. They called me all the time asking for directions. So as they arrive at our first appointment they started talking to the kids and asked some questions about who had been to church etc. So then one of the girls said that she had been and that she had liked it. He asked her what stopped her from being baptized. She said her Dad. So they got permission interviewed her and that was that. There was also another girl there her sister i think who always really liked us and is very innocent. I didnt think she needed to be baptized but she expressed interest and was interviewed as well. She passed she understands the difference between good and bad. So as the day wore on they called me more times and told me that the baptism would be that night at seven. When the hour came i got dressed and went over. I let my companion batptize even though he was kind of nervous about it since he doesnt speak very well yet. The first one ,Carla who is completely normal, was like a dream. She went down and came up with no complaints at all. Jessica ,the other one, was another story. Haha poor girl was afraid of the water. She descended the steps ever so slowly holding onto the walls. One step at a time she came. We offered her much encouragement and nice words. Finally she grabbed onto the railing and wouldnt let go. She stepped into the water determined to be baptized but afraid of falling. So after some contemplation on our part we decided that she would have to hold onto my companions shoulders and he would have to go in with her. We got her to do that after some fussing and my companion said the prayer. He grabbed her by the shoulders kicked her legs out from under her and fell into the water. Sploosh! We all thought that she would kick and scream like no other. However contrary to all our beliefs she arose with the biggest smile on her face like she had recieved the best present ever. The meeting was very good we had a few members there for support. My companion unfortunately did not have a change of garments and was soaking wet for the rest of the meeting. We visited them at home. Their grandmother who attended the baptism and signed the form said that Jessica used to get really mad and would hit things all the time. Since she was baptized she apparently has been an angel. It really was a cool thing to hear. Sunday they were confirmed and Carla sang with the young women in a special music number.

I feel good about our ward now. I am starting to really get the ball rolling on my end and am trying to show the ward that i am doing my part. Thank you very much for your prayers. My greenie is doing well. He is a very apt learner and has a lot of potential. Since he served in the states with a former AP as a companion he has lots of great ideas and a very good perspective as to what the mission should be like. He has helped me get out of the relaxed rut i was in since my last companion lost the drive to work because he knew he was leaving. Thank you so much for you prayers and God bless your work.

Love Elder Jensen

Jully 22,2013

Dear Mom,

Congratulations on your new job. I knew that things would work out. Its just a trial of patience. When things look down you really just have to wait. For example this week was bad and really good. I got hit with a virus last week and it took me out. I am still a little bit stuffy and have a little bit of a cough but i am doing much better. We baptized two young girls this week and the story is a good one. So my zone leaders came to do a division but i was already decided that i would stay home. So one of them took my companion to work. They wandered around trying to find the people i had planned to visit. They called me all the time asking for directions. So as they arrive at our first appointment they started talking to the kids and asked some questions about who had been to church etc. So then one of the girls said that she had been and that she had liked it. He asked her what stopped her from being baptized. She said her Dad. So they got permission interviewed her and that was that. There was also another girl there her sister i think who always really liked us and is very innocent. I didnt think she needed to be baptized but she expressed interest and was interviewed as well. She passed she understands the difference between good and bad. So as the day wore on they called me more times and told me that the baptism would be that night at seven. When the hour came i got dressed and went over. I let my companion batptize even though he was kind of nervous about it since he doesnt speak very well yet. The first one ,Carla who is completely normal, was like a dream. She went down and came up with no complaints at all. Jessica ,the other one, was another story. Haha poor girl was afraid of the water. She descended the steps ever so slowly holding onto the walls. One step at a time she came. We offered her much encouragement and nice words. Finally she grabbed onto the railing and wouldnt let go. She stepped into the water determined to be baptized but afraid of falling. So after some contemplation on our part we decided that she would have to hold onto my companions shoulders and he would have to go in with her. We got her to do that after some fussing and my companion said the prayer. He grabbed her by the shoulders kicked her legs out from under her and fell into the water. Sploosh! We all thought that she would kick and scream like no other. However contrary to all our beliefs she arose with the biggest smile on her face like she had recieved the best present ever. The meeting was very good we had a few members there for support. My companion unfortunately did not have a change of garments and was soaking wet for the rest of the meeting. We visited them at home. Their grandmother who attended the baptism and signed the form said that Jessica used to get really mad and would hit things all the time. Since she was baptized she apparently has been an angel. It really was a cool thing to hear. Sunday they were confirmed and Carla sang with the young women in a special music number.

So that´s my story this week. I will talk to Trevor about the whole football thing. Why is Emma always sick or hurt? Anyway have a good week :) 

Love Elder Jensen