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April 21.2013

Dear Mom,

 

Colby didnt tell me the story but he did tell me about his call. I got very excited :)

I know a guy in his mission. He says that he will take care of him and will even ask his president to be his trainer. He will be well taken care of the first few months of his mission. I cant believe that i have been out a year. I dont know where the time has gone.

That is a very cool experience you had.  I dont have a lot of time this week to write you. I received a lot of emails this week. So i will tell you a story that happend this week.

 

I was walking to an appointment the other day and there was this teenage kid about fifteen feet in front of me. I hear sombody yell and then look to my left and see three armed police men with their guns drawn. They shoot at the guy while they run across the street dodging traffic. I duck into a bikini shop and watch the kid run. I wait for about a minute and then keep walking. As i walk by i see the police standing over the guy. He had run into a dirt road area behind a wall so i couldnt see much but im pretty sure he lived. The police dont know how to shoot here.

 

The same day we were walking in an area that we see drug dealers all the time. I went into a members house to use the bathroom. As i come out onto the road my companion who arrived in the area two weeks ago tells me that a bunch of armed thugs walked past and were guarding a nearby alley. A few minutes later they yelled police and all ran into the same house i had just left. The funny part was i recognized one of our investigators holding a big pistol. I said hi to him and he waved back. The really funny part is that i saw one of our investigators there. I said hi to him :)

Love Elder Jensen

April 1

Hey mom,

So this week was productive in more ways than one. Last night at eleven o´clock we baptized a lady making 101 baptisms for the mission for the month of march. With this baptism we completed the family of the kids i baptized. I have also discovered what i will study at college. I have received personal revelation that i will be a writer/author. So now i have to figure out how to get into byu. Joe told me that hes getting married in June. That took a little longer than i thought haha :)

Umm not a whole lot else happened. Transfers are next week. I will probably stay in the area im at but who knows there is a possibility that i train. We received two sisters this transfer that are 19 years old. President is way excited to get more sisters. Did the whole family go to Utah or was it just you? Anyway i love you guys :

March 18

Dear Ma,

I got the pictures but not the story on how emma cut her thumb? Of course dad got an ipad. I new that just you having one wouldnt last long :) So how is your face? 

Hahaha Rabbit undies that sounds like my bros :) I miss you guys. Can you believe its almost been a year? Its passed by so fast. They tell me after a year it just flies by. I cant imagine that it could go any faster. Colby has told me that he is reading the BOM and trevor asked me for advice on what he can do to prepare for his mission. Its good to see them get ahead of where i was. That sounds like a good technique to get people working out. You told me about andrews call. I didnt know that there were that many french speakers in DC. Interesting stuff. So you dont need to send me my camera cord any more i bought an adaptor so i just plug my card in and go. Oh before you send the box the mission address changed here is the new numbers CEP 41830-355  and for boxes 6946

Anyway i will get to uploading those pictures for you

March 25

Hey Pops,

Well i kinda talked to you this morning. So im not really sure what to say. My companion has undergone a change this week. He was just going for the numbers this whole time. I was able to convince him to actually try and teach by the spirit. It was a great joy to hear the difference in his prayers. Things are going to get a lot better now. I feel much more happy that i have decided to study more effectively. I was thinking in sacrament meeting about how i can have the spirit with me more and then it hit me. I need to obey the word of wisdom to a fuller extent. It all started when i drank some soured coconut milk. I had the runs for a couple of days and my urge to eat diminished. I am eating way less now. I started to ponder about the word of wisdom and the promise that it holds. If we obey the word we will have the spirit with us more. Thats why the baptismal questions are about the word of wisdom. If you are addicted to something you wont feel the spirit as strongly. I have decided to buy more fruits and vegetables. My desire to eat really has gone down. I feel lighter and more energetic. Other than that nothing really to report. Love you Pops

March 11

Hey mom,

So i already have a story for you. We were all sleeping the other night and apparently there were two gun shots outside our window. I slept through the whole thing of course so i got told the next morning. The police arrested three people handcuffed them and they got away. They shot one of them twice once in the arm the other in the belly. Last i heard he was in the hospital. 

Those pictures Dad sent were sweet! Im really missing the snow right now. Now that im next to the ocean its getting in the nineties with like 80 % humidity. Its really hot!!!!! Im gonna die when i get home.

Im glad you could enjoy the blessings of the Priesthood. Since ive been in my new area we have used the priesthood quite a bit. We baptized yesterday and have three more lined up for next week. I have given 4 blessings to the sick in two weeks. Its been a lot different than my other areas.

I really like that shirt you got colby i laughed at that. Im glad Colby is getting excited to serve a mission. Ive really been hounding him about praying to know its the right thing to do. He hasnt emailed me back for a while now. Its exciting to see where everybody is going. Thats awesome to see andy and amy serving missions. My president is really excited to get more sisters. This is the first im hearing about new missions in Brazil. Do you know what cities they area being based out of? As far as the weather its hot as ever and not getting cooler. Its been forever since it really rained. They are worried about fires. Anyway im really out of time today. I love you and wish you luck

March 4

Dear Mom,

Football family is back huh? Sweet that sounds like it should be good times. Im glad you got Colbys papers started. Im excited to see where he will go. Of course you are going to disneyland thats something you cant live without. It seems like every other year you are headed there haha. That sounds fun im glad you have the chance to go and do that. The new car is sweet i liked the plates. Where are amy and andi going?

 This emails a little late but i got transfered to a new area. Im actually in Salvador now. Im in a very poor part of the city. So i get to see drug deals going on around me and stuff. There is a neighborhood called Babylonia thats the official name and that just happens to be a drug lord paradise. Its at the bottom of these two hills and there are favelas all over the place. So the police never go down there. Salvador has got to be the hilliest city on the planet. My legs are deffinetly not used to it. Today we rode on the bus to go somewhere and there were about three times the people that the bus can handle on there. Personal boundries dont exist on the bus down here. Any way nothing else to report see you later. :)

Love Coulson