Only two more weeks...

Hola Everyone!

I can't believe that time is moving so quickly.  It's an interesting thought to know that I only have 2 weeks longer before I go home and my time as a full-time missionary comes to an end.  It's been a crazy adventure and I'm excited to see what happens in the next 2 weeks.  Lot's of things are starting to happen here, so hopefully we can keep things rolling.

Angel and Banica are continuing to progress.  They've continued struggling in their relationship, but they seem to be doing better and working toward their goals.  I still think it will be a little while until they get married and she can get baptized, but they're progressing and that is what is important.

Olga is continuing to make progress as well.  She's more and more happier everytime that we see her.  She found out that I'm leaving in a couple weeks, so she's been giving us a hard time about that one.  But, luckily she gets along with Elder Gothard too so she's not too bummed.  Plus, she knows that's the mission way of things too.

We're continuing trying to work with the members, however, they can't seem to get into gear.  Our new goal is to visit them and try to invite them to act in some way.  Visit a less-active, talk to their friends, stuff like that.  Guess we'll see if it works.  I sure hope so, because I want to live this area with alot of work for Elder Gothard and his new companion.  However, I can't complain because we've seen the blessing of the lord alot here and he's been very good to us during the last 3 months.  It sure hasn't been easy, but he's made it possible.

So, things continue forward.  I'm grateful for this gospel.  I'm grateful I'm able to share it with the Dominican people.  I know that Christ lives.  He loves us and wants us to succeed.  I've been reading along in Romans and I really like something Paul said to them.  He said, "Be not overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good." (Romans 12:21)  If we follow Christ and all that is good, we can overcome evil and receive eternal life.  I know that light always defeats the darkness.  So I hope that we can all fill our lives with the life of Christ.  En el nombre de Jesucristo, Amen.

Que vaya con Dios!  Buena suerte en esta semana.

Con mucho amor,

Elder Jensen

Hola...

Hola a todos,

Wow!  If Utah can get rain like Nagua gets rain, I don't think we'd ever have a problem with water again, haha.  Last weekend, we had so much rain!  It poured all night Friday and pretty much all day Sunday.  Seriously, it was alot of rain.  However, I didn't get too wet because I was stuck in my apartment all day Friday because my companion has been having some stomach problems.  But, he's doing alot better and I'm happy to be out and about sweating like a horse again (minus the sweating part, haha).

Well, things have been really slow for us in Nagua this past week.  We've encountered alot of difficulties with Angel and Banica.  They've seem to have hit a rough patch in their relationship and it's been a struggle trying to do a lot with them right now.  I was really hoping to see them get married and Banica get baptized before I went home, but I think they are going to need alot more time to get everything worked out.  I have faith that she'll get baptized one day, but I don't think right now is the right moment.  However, we continue to teach and pray that they can resolve their problems.

Olga continues to progress and is reading alot more and is really gaining a strong testimony of the gospel again.  I'm very happy that we've been working with her!

Juan is too busy right now with work, school, and life to meet with us anymore.  I'm sad that he chose to not take time to meet with us, but it's his decision to listen or not.  We can invite, but we can't force people to change.

The work of salvation continues forward.  Nagua is a difficult area, but I have confidence that with the lord's help things will improve.  I'm probably not going to see many fruits of my labors, but I'm going to try to plant as many seeds as possible these next 3 weeks.  I know that this gospel is true.  Jesus Christ is our savior and redeemer.  He loves us and wants us to be happy and follow his example.  I'm grateful I can continue to share that message for a short 3 weeks longer.  This is his work.  I've seen his hand in the Dominican Republic helping the message roll forward.  En el nombre de Jesucristo, Amen.

Que vaya bien a todos.  Espero que tengan una buena semana!

Con mucho amor,

Elder Jensen

Happy Independence Day...

Hola everyone!

Happy Dominican Independence Day!  (Well tomorrow anyways)  It's one of the biggest days in the Dom. Rep. because it's the last day of the annual "Carnival" which is the 2nd largest in the world (next to Brazil).  So, it should be an interesting day tomorrow.  Lot's of music, and lots of beer.  But, we've planned a big inter-ward activity too, so hopefully that will help the members come and stay out of "Babyolon" as we say in the mission.

Wow.  I can't believe that I'm officially a real deal adult now.  Yesterday was a good day, but a normal day too!  I had cake and icecream at a members house last night, but other then that it was a normal day.  It's weird how the older you get, the less exciting birthdays are.  But, hey!  It's still fun to "birthday boy!"

So, this past week went by really quickly.  We've still struggled finding investigators, but we're having tons of success with the less-active members.  We've begun teaching a in-active sister named Olga.  She's 26 years old, single mother, and has been struggled with life.  She was baptized about 5 years ago, but went in-active over some things the missionaries said/done.  She's been making alot of progress and has started accepting more invitations to visit with us.  The best thing though was that she even attended Church last Sunday!  And the best part was she even showed up early!!  I was really happy!  Then, last night she told us that when she went in-active she told herself that she would never come back, but when my companion and I ran into her on the street and stopped by her house a few days later, she felt important again.  She said that our visits have helped her find her lost testimony and have a desire to feel "the song of redeeming love" as (Alma puts it) again.  So, I'm really happy that I'm living my life in a way that she can feel the savior's love through me and know that the missionaries can be trustworthy representatives of Christ.  It's a really good feeling.

So, things are continue to push forward in Nagua.  The church attendance is going up, and my companion and I are starting to receive more referrals from the members.  I'm hoping that the activity planned for tomorrow can help the members realize that helping with missionary work doesn't mean leaving with the missionaries from 3pm to 9pm, but it is something as simple as inviting a friend to an activity or mentioning one of our beliefs.  When it comes right down to it, being a "member-missionary" isn't rocket science.  I know that alot of times we're a little nervous to say something, but the lord promises us he'll fill our months with what we need to say.  I know that missionary is important.  The world is full of wickedness and the powers of darkness.  We've been blessed to find the light and it's our responsibility to share that light with others.  I know that Christ is the light of the world.  He's our savior and he's always ready to carry our burdens and lighten our world.  This gospel is true and this is the lord's work.  I hope that we can all do our part in building his holy kingdom.  Full-time missions only last 2 years, but sharing the light of Christ lasts a lifetime.  En el nombre de Jesucristo, Amen.

Que vaya con Dios a todo!

Con mucho amor,

Elder Jensen