Monday, May 13, 2013

"Oren y Sabrán" (Pray and Know)

May 13, 2013

Hey Everyone!


Elder Jenson's sector El Salto Chile

This week has been a great week in El Salto even though Elder Rodriguez and I were left with nothing to work with. We've gotten to know a lot of members this week that are willing to help us with missionary work. Elder Rodriguez and I will be working with the members in all we do....we can't do it alone! The Contreras family, the Reyes family and a few others will be our "go to" families to have lessons with and fellowshipping. Both of these families are really awesome.

 
Picture of Elder Jenson and Elder Rodriguez's sector map. "The red outline is our sector and the other part of our ward boundaries is El Salto 2 with Elder Xavier who's from Uruguay and Elder Shelley who's from Utah."

INVESTIGATORS

CAMILA AND PALOMA: So Camila was the one investigator on the board when Elder Rodriguez and I got to El Salto. The previous missionaries had been teaching her for 6 months. Camila hasn't gotten baptized because she didn't want to take out her body piercings. Elder Rodriguez and I talked with her the whole week and during a prayer at the end of a family night we had this week with the Contreras family Camila took the last piercing out!!! After the prayer when I noticed what Camila had done, I was so excited I started to jump up and down and probably looked a lot like mom when Tay makes a 3 in a bball game...ha! ha! Just look at the pic of mom during the Final 4 when Tay made a three and that was me in this lesson....haha! Paloma took out her one piercing as well in her nose and both Camila and Paloma are preparing to be baptized the 26th of May. Camila and Paloma said that they were really committed and agreed to Elder Rodriguez and I coming over to teach them a little bit every day so they can be ready for baptism. YESSSSSSSSS!

LEONARDO: He's 70 yrs old and has a great heart. Elder Rodriguez and I found him this week and taught him about the Restoration and the Book of Mormon. Leonardo then proceeded to read and pray the next day and said that he received his answer that this is the true church. So sweet! Leonardo said that he got all scared when the spirit made him feel the way he did since he's never felt that way before. Leonardo wasn't able to come to church yesterday unfortunately.

Elder Rodriguez and I have a few more investigators but they're just in the beginning stages. We have faith that our investigators will progress and be baptized soon!

Highlights/Thoughts for the week:

Here's our living room in El Salto....Haha!....four beds (I'm the bottom left) with a tiny balcony



 
Elder Xavier and Elder Shelley in their study area. The four of us have fun together with the little time we have in the night.


I've got lots of responsibilites as a Zone Leader....my phone rings off the hook with questions. I've got to motivate all the other Elders, I tally numbers on Sunday nights til like 12, keep in touch with the two DL's, teach a lesson in district class, set the baptisms goal for our zone, do exchanges with other missionaries to help them in their work, give a zone conference every 3 months, do baptismal interviews, go to leadership counsel every month, help with divisions of a sector if two new missionaries arrive in the zone and most importantly be an example in everything (teaching, lessons, baptisms, obedience...everything) that I do.

Elder Rodriguez and I do service during the week in the mornings.

No packages or letters this week...there's no mail on change week. Mail comes on Tuesdays!:)


Elder Rodriguez and I walking on Zapadores Street in El Salto on the way to skype the family for Mother's Day (I took this picture hiding my camera so that the flaites wouldn't see it!)
 
 


Elder Rodriguez at the entrance to the Valdez family home

The week was topped off by a sweet video call on skype. It was so awesome seeing the family and being able to talk to them for a little while! Happy Mother's Day again to Mom!! You definitely deserve it! Best mom ever!
 

Congrats to Tay for his huge achievement committing to SUU and getting to play on a D1 team.  Good job Tay for all your hard work. It all payed off! Be a star! Don't settle for average.


I want to end my letter by bearing my testimony in Spanish:

Yo se que esta es la iglesia verdadera porque aca en la mision yo me he podido dar cuenta de eso por medio de los tantos milagros que un misionero ve cada dia Dia tras dia encontramos personas que estan listas papa escuchar este maravilloso evangelio y no puedo estar mas feliz que cuando las encontramos. En la Iglesia se siente el espiritu tan fuerte si uno escucha y presta atencion a sus pensamientos. Yo se sin ninguna duda que Jose Smith fue un profeta de Dios. No me cae ninguna duda. El tradujo el Libro de Mormon y a causa de eso, tenemos la evidencia de esa experiencia sorprendente que Jose Smith tuvo en la arboleda sagrada al ver a Dios y a Jesucristo. Se que por las cosas pequenas, se realizan las cosas grandes. Uno no tiene que caminar horas para ir a la iglesia o leer el Libro de Mormon. Esas cosas son tan simples como el hecho de levantarse en la manada, subir su auto y manejar 5 minutos a la iglesia, o tomar el Libro de Mormon y abrir  sus paginas. Despues de leer y/o asistir a la iglesia, hacer una oracion de su corazon por unos minutos y sentir en su corazon que esto es verdad. Les invito a TODAS las personas que lo hagan para tener un testimonio propio de la verdad. Jesucristo no es el autor de todas las iglesias en la tierra. Hay una sola. Es La Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Ultimos Dias. Oren y sabran. Esto comparto en el nombre de Jesucristo, mi Salvador, amen.

Hope you all have a great week! Thanks for all your support and prayers!

Love,

Tan



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