Hello...

Hola everyone,

It sounds like after a few busy weeks things have finally slowed down for a couple days.  I think it's the calm before another big storm of school, football games, work, and a new season of the year.  Things seem to be changing lots, but I feel like I'm just in my "caribbean world."

So this past week was a very slow week for me as well.  Noelia continues to progress, but she's having pregnancy troubles.  So, that is putting a big rock block in the way on her progression.  She's been put on bed rest and can't attend church.  And to be baptized into the church, you kind of need to attend it, so we've pushed her date down the ward a little so it won't be so pressured to make it.

We've struggled alot trying to find people the teach during my time here in Hato Mayor.  The people just don't seem to want to progress.  Some people listen, but they can't seem to keep commitments and follow their path to Christ's gospel.  People have their agency to choose and act for themselves, but it's sad to see them choose in a way contrary to the will of our Heavenly Father!  As missionaries we are charged to preach the gospel.   We invite all people to follow Christ.  If the people don't want to, well, that's up to them.  I hope that people will starting and continuing listening to this wonderful message missionaries bring to the world.

The Hato Mayor ward is a great ward!  I've never seen a Ward Mission Leader work as hard as the one we've got.  He leaves with us, reports on the progress of investigators, and really tries to magnify his calling.  Our bishop is great person too, and wants to see this ward grow during his time as bishop.  The members are great, and alot are very strong members of the church.  Overall, I enjoy serving in this ward.  I hope we can all try to fulfill our callings and strive to help build our wards and the kingdom of god.

I'm doing well and love missionary work!  My training in the office is going good and I'll officially "take-over" in exactly two weeks.  I'm learning how to drive here and continuing to learn how everything works.  I'm excited to serve in this assignment and look forward to working in "colder weather" for a time, haha.  

I know this church is true and god lives!

Have a great week everyone!

Love,

Elder Jensen

P.S.  Next Wednesday the Mission a Special Zone Conference with The Area President, Elder Anderson.  So, I won't have my P-Day next Wednesday.  So, I'll email next Thursday.....entonces, esperamos el próximo jueves

Happy August...

Hola mi familia,

Well, things continue to get busier and busier for me.  I'm continuing my training in the office and will "officially" take over my position at the end of August (when transfer rolls around).  I'm continuing learning the ropes and getting the hang of my assignments.  I made a mistake last week in my email.  I said that I was in charge of 220 cell phones, but actually it's only 130-ish.  My math is getting a little rusty, so sorry.  But, things are going great, and I'm loving the A/C.  It's been especially hot lately and I'm liking the "cooler" climate.

So my new area is alot different then Fantino.  The ward has about 90-120 people attend church every week and the church runs fairly well in this ward.  We have some awesome members who enjoy leaving with us and really care about doing the work of the lord.  I'm enjoying my time here, and I hope to see Noelia get baptized at the end of the month.  We've been teaching a few other people, but no one but her is really progressing.  We've started visiting the members asking for referrals, and tried to help some of the less-actives be spiritual fed again.  So overall, we've got alot of work going in this area, it's just been a little difficult finding good people to teach.  But, I know the lord has something in the works for us.

My reading of the Book of Mormon has continued going great!  I've just finished up the Book of the prophet Mormon and it just eats my heart out.  I don't understand how a converted people of the lord who had been blessed beyond measure fall into the woes of sin.  I mean, eventually the whole Nephite race was whipped off the face of the earth for their wickedness.  It's sad to see a great, god-worshipping people fall into the depths of sin and suffer the consequences.  It makes me worry about what can happen to us.  If a civilization who saw the lord Jesus Christ can fall and suffer, it makes me wonder what can happen to us!  We've been warned of the wickedness that is continuing to enter the world.  If we decide to enter the world and participate in the wickedness, we'll not come back in very good shape.  We might not be whipped off the earth physically, but I know that we'll be whipped off spiritually.  But, I do know that if we always acknowledge our faults and rely on the lord for help, we can move forward with faith.  The lord gave the Nephites many chances to repent.  We continually receive chances as well.  If we heed those calls and strive to do better, we'll be blessed.

I know that god lives and he loves us.  If we do as he asks and try our best, we will be happy.  Jesus Christ is our savior and is always ready to help us, but first we need to ask.  This church is true and I'm a real missionary of Jesus Christ.  I know it, I love it, and I'm living it!  In the name of Jesucristo, Amen.

Love you guys!  Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Jensen

Weekly email...

Hola everyone,

This past week has been quite an interesting week.  Last Thursday and Friday I started my training in the office, Saturday I was at the hospital with my companion, and the last couple of days just kind of blurred by.  It seems like I've been busy doing everything but missionary work, haha.

So the office......I'm going to be one busy person!!  I've only trained 3 days and I've already had to do so much.  I'm in charge of all the missionaries' cell phones (which is about 220), all the mission mail (pamphets, BOMs, letters, packages, etc), and all the other random office work involved in the "material" things of the missionaries.  Its really fun and there's A/C in the office, but I'm going to be a very, very busy missionary in a couple of weeks.  However, I look forward to the experience and working a little closer to Pres. Douglas and seeing how that man does things.  So overall, it's been great!

So my companion got bit by a tiny, little spider a week ago.  We both thought is was no big deal.  Well, we were kind of wrong.  On Saturday afternoon he shows me his hand and asked, "Is this normal?"  His hand was pretty big and swollen.  So, Sister Douglas sent us to the hospital to figure out what was wrong.  After all was said and done, it turned out that he had an allergic reaction to this spider bite.  I was hoping he'd start shooting out webs and climbing walls, but I was a little disappointed.  Oh well, that's life sometimes.

So I'm starting to know the area and some of the investigators are really cool!  We have started meeting with this women who married a returned missionary.  She's really open to the gospel and wants to continue learning.  I mean, Noelia (this lady) and her husband already have plans to head to the temple to be sealed in a little over a year.  She's a great person and I can see her desire to join the church.  However, she's working Sunday mornings and can't really attend church.  But, she's already on top of that and is trying to trade shifts with her other co-workers.  I'm very excited we've met this nice couple and I hope I can see Noelia get baptized too!

I've been studying alot in 3 Nephi and Christ's visit to the Americas.  Wow, so much happened in just 3 days; it's just amazing!  I really love how much faith the Nephites and surviving  lamanites had in their savior and redeemer.  The miracles, and the events that passed in these few chapters of the Book of Mormon are filled with some of Christ's greatest miracles among the children of men.  I wonder what the world would be like if the Latter-Day Saints of God had the kind of faith like these ancient saints of god! had  What do you think we could do?  How would our faith and example effect our neighbors, friends, and family?  I think we'd see a whole new world and life centered in our master Jesus Christ.  I know that it's not easy, but if we continue doing the little things in life like reading our scriptures, trusting in the prophet's words, attending church, and having a sincere prayer to our Heavenly Father, I know that eventually the time will come in our existence that we'll have a great faith in our Savior and see miracles in our lives.  

I still have a lot to work on, but I know that Christ lives and he is our savior.  He is God's son and he atoned for our sins!  God is our Father-in-heaven and wants to bless us.  We can always turn to him with our problems and questions.  This is the true church and I'm a real missionary.  I love sharing my testimony with the people of the Dominican Republic and I'm grateful for this opportunity to serve in his Royal Army.  Missionary work rocks!  En el nombre de Jesucristo, amen.

Have a great week everyone!

Love, 

Elder Jensen

Happy Random Thursday...

Sorry for the delay in the post...

Hola everyone,

So I'm writing today, since yesterday my companion and I spent the day translating for some American doctors.  It was really fun and I enjoyed translating for them.  I guess what happened was that Sister Douglas talked to one of her friends who works at St. Mark's hospital and a group of doctors came down and are giving free clinics to the poorest parts of the area.  It was a really good experience to help these people get some health care and see them leave happier and healthier too!  I would definitely do it again if they asked me to!

So this past week has been a big week of learning for me.  I've been busy trying to learn the area, get to know the investigators and the members, and I'm trying to learn my new position.  I got called about a week ago from President Douglas telling me that he would like me to be the new office Elder in charge of cell phones, mail, vehicles, and church materials.  I was not expecting that!  I'm excited to serve in this assignment, but its a really big job and alot of work.  I've started training today and I'm excited to serve in this new position and work with some really neat people.  I'm going to be training this whole transfer, so I'll officially become the "real deal" at the beginning of next transfer in about 5 weeks.

So as I've continued to serve in different areas around the country, I've noticed an overall commandment that the Dominican people have trouble keeping.  The law of Tithing.  It seems that the saints in this part of the world can't put their trust in god and give 10% (mind you, only 10% of what we earn) to the lord.  There's a scripture is Malachi that promises that the windows of heaven will be opened and there won't be enough room to receive them.  I recently received a letter from a member who told me about her blessings of paying tithing.  She commented that the trouble still comes around, but it is settled down much cheaper, smoother, and calm matter.  As I've seen people sacrifice almost all they have to pay the lord 10%, I've seen miracles and the blessings of the lord poor into their lives.  I know that the law of tithing isn't always easy.  Nothing in life ever is all the time, but I know that receiving the blessings of the lord is always worth it.  Without tithing, we wouldn't have temples, buildings, missionary work, and loads of other stuff.  We've all been blessed by tithing money, so I hope we can always put our trust in the lord and receive all the blessings of heaven.  The Dominican people still haven't learned that, but I hope we can all be examples of the believers and be full-tithe payers!  I know we will be blessed more then we can imagine.  En el nombre de Jesucristo, amen.

Have a great week everyone!!

Love,

Elder Jensen

Hello...

Hola,

So transfers today.....and I'm now in a place called Hato Mayor.  It's a neighborhood in Santiago so I'm back in the big city!  My new companion is named Elder Cabelacavo (something like that).  He's from California, but his parents are Mexican.  Therefore, he speaks really good Spanish and English, haha.  He only has 3 months in the mission, so hopefully we can learn alot from each other.  I'm looking forward to serving in this area.

So Libby got baptized last Saturday!!  It was a really good day.  However, the generator for the church broke half-way through the baptismal service, so I essentially baptized her in the dark with people using their cell-phones and flashlights.  It was very spiritual and I think Libby was very happy and excited. Definitely an excellent way to finish off my time in Fantino!!

Well, not much more is exciting this week.  So hopefully I can send a couple of pictures of members and my area.  The mission is great and I love serving the lord!  

Have a great week everyone!

Love,

Elder Jensen

Happy Wednesday...

Hola Everyone,

 

So this past week was pretty good!  We didn't really have too many exciting things happen, but I feel we made some progress.  Late Saturday night, I got a call from a member telling us not to announce Libby's baptism.  So of course, my companion and I both starting freaking out.  We kept saying, "not again, not again!"  So church rolls around the next day and Libby comes in and we go and talk with her with President Castano in his office.  She told us she was not feeling sure about her decision anymore.  I was really, really sad.  I've worked so hard and was sad that she started questioning herself again.  Well, what happened next was a complete miracle.  President Castano started talking about the adversary and how much he wants to destroy us and our salvation.  He explained to Libby that the adversary doesn't want her to get baptized and that if she keeps on pushing it further and further ahead, he'll always make it harder to take a stand and follow Christ.  She completely agreed and felt she needs to get baptized on Saturday.  She says she feels prepared, but at times she feels unsure.  So, we gave her a blessing that all would work out and that she could feel completely sure of her answer. So today is Wednesday, and Libby's baptism is still planned for Saturday and she's very, very excited for it now!!  I'm happy.

So on Thursday we received an awesome referral of a family in my area.  They are super legit!  This family will get baptized eventually I'm pretty sure.  Its a family of 6 and they are really interested in the gospel.  They even came to church last Sunday too!  I hope they progress and all get baptized soon!

Missionary work is pretty great and I love teaching people about the gospel of Jesus Christ.  I know this church is true and that Christ lives.  Heavenly Father loves each one of us and wants us to succeed!  We should never stop telling the world of that message!  In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Have an excellent week everyone!

Love,

Elder Jensen

 

Happy Independence Day...

So things in Fantino are hot!  I understand that it's been blazing hot (Or what you guys believe means hot) in Utah right now; we've also seen some heat, but also lot's of rain.  I walked through a couple rivers the other day.  Maybe I'll see my swimming skills put to use, haha.  But, the church has A/C so I'm happy.

This past week has been filled with a couple of interesting things.  We had Branch conference last Sunday and President Douglas came and spoke to us.  He shared different stories of the success and miracles that the mission is seeing in different area throughout the mission and that now is the time for Fantino.  He talked about how this church really is different from all the different churches and that we have a responsibility to share it with our friends and neighbors.  It was actually really, really good!  And Sister Douglas's Spanish is getting better!  After church, my companion and I invited them over to our house to eat Hamburgers and Potatoes.  They really were excited and had a really good time.  They said they were surprised that we had the courage to cook for our Mission President.  My companion and I thought that it was something we could do since they're always cooking for us missionaries.  It was really enjoyable!! We had a good time having lunch with President and Sister Douglas.

So things are really doing good with Libby!!  She told us last Sunday that she's feeling ready to be baptized again!  YEAH!!!  And we asked her how she felt about the 13th of July.  She felt that this is the day for her!!  I really have faith is will be the day this time!!  I've been working with her for over 5 months and I want to see here get baptized before I leave this area!  So hopefully is two weeks we'll see another baptism here in Fantino.

So life in the mission is continuing forward.  I'm grateful for the opportunity I have to serve a mission the the Dominican Republic.  I'm learning alot about the world, the importance of the church structure, and alot about myself personally.  I'm grateful for this church and I know that my savior lives.  I wouldn't trade this experience of serving as one of his missionaries for anything.  The gospel is true and my testimony continues to get stronger.  Thanks for all the prayers and support everyone!  Missionary service is awesome!!  

Have a great week everyone!

Love,
Elder Jensen