Thursday, April 24, 2014

"If only they knew..."

April 24, 2014

(*P-day is today because this whole week our mission is going to the temple. Our day was today! :) )



Elder Jenson at the Chile SantiagoTemple April 24, 2014


Wow!!!

I was able to go to the temple today and it was AMAZING! I loved the new session that was presented and the Spirit is always so strong in the House of The Lord. It was so peaceful and the spirit illuminated my mind throughout the whole session reminding me of the incredible teachings I had learned about the temple before my mission and also learning many new things as I paid close attention to all that was said. It was cool to hear it in Spanish as I understood everything. There were a few parts in the session that were tear jerkers for me. The peace felt in the temple is indescribable. I know why The Lord specifically told me in my patriarchal blessing that I would love my experiences in the temple. I have already had quite a few memorable ones and know that there will be a constant flow of them throughout my life.


Hna Stanger, Elder Norton, Elder Rhees, Elder Jenson, Elder Egg, Elder Gomez and Elder Richardson at the Santiago Temple April 24, 2014

There is something that I always think about though each time I feel the Spirit in such a great amount and then walk outside into the world again and see people smoking, drinking, women with little clothing on and swear words flyin all over the place. There are so many people out there that are wondering what they have to do in this life and have NO vision of how things really are, revealed by the Spirit of God. I then move on to my next thought that is "If only they knew..." If only they knew the incredible message that I have dedicated these past two years to declare. If only they knew about the Spirit so strongly felt in this temple this day. If only they knew what I know now. I testify to each of you that I know that God lives and that He has a plan for each and every one of us. There is a purpose to this life and He has blessed us with that knowledge TODAY through the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. My testimony is my biggest treasure. I wouldn't trade it for gold, silver, plasma screen TV's, millions of dollars, iPads or a Ferrari. Not a chance! I am incredibly grateful for this knowledge that my Father in Heaven has blessed me with and thank Him for it often. I love Him.


Companions Elder Jenson and Elder Richardson at the Santiago Temple April 24, 2014

On to the next subject.....Rudy is doing so well. He is progressing tons. Rudy went to church again this past Sunday and has been reading the Book of Mormon daily. He is now in Jacob 6. Rudy's baptismal date stands as the 4 th of May. Please pray for Rudy so he will be able to make it to this day and make his first covenant with our Heavenly Father to serve Him forever.

Thoughts/ Highlights of the week

Tal and Dad good to see you two working together in the office.

Love you tons Tar!

I'm happy to take room #4!

Treating ourselves to McDonalds after our temple session. It was sweet!



Getting a few letters from my converts! :)

Hearing from the Morales Family and getting a baptismal picture. I don't know if you remember Tamera from Lo Prado. She is part of the Morales Family that got baptized in Lo Prado just before I left. So I got a letter from her and the Fam Morales saying that they have loved getting my letters (I've written them 2-3 times) and are doing awsome. They testified to me once again of the incredible blessings they have received and how the gospel has changed their lives forever. With the letter, Tamera sent me a photo of her baptism that happened three weeks after I left. Elder Anderson and Elder Hicks were the missionaries in the sector. Elder Anderson was one of my comps in Lo Prado if you remember. SO AWESOME!



Thanks for all your support and prayers!

Going to the temple and seeing a really good missionary friend Elder Bennett from Morgan, Utah.




I hope you all have a great week and can feel of the Spirit and His guidance.



Love,
Elder Jenson


Sunday, April 20, 2014

Always put God first!

April 19, 2014

Hey Everyone!

So I've been meaning to tell you the past 5 weeks about something so sweet!!! It's about the Morales family that got baptized in Lo Prado right before I left! So, Tamera, Patricia's daughter, got baptized on her original date we had set with her! That was less than three weeks after I left Lo Prado. I was so excited when I saw that in our mission news! That means that Gabriel (Gabriel's dad and Miriam's wife) is the only one that's left to get baptized in the family! The missionaries are still working with Gabriel. Gabriel (son 15 yr old) received the Priesthood a few weeks ago as well!!!! Gabriel is really excited and goes to seminary now every day. He's gonna be one stellar missionary one day. The Bishop is working on callings and assignments for each member of the family right now and continues to help them with their progression. The whole family is also opening their mouths and inviting others to come and see what they have seen and experienced. The missionaries are teaching the Morales's neighbors now as well about this incredible gospel. The Morales Family is really on fire!!! I'm so proud of them I can't even see straight!!

I also got a letter from Sergio about 2 weeks ago. He said he's doing really well and is still the Young Men's President in Vespucio. According to the missionaries in the sector, Sergio and Danitza are taking the temple classes. Danitza is active and is teaching a class but I can't remember what her calling in the church is at this moment. Susana, the other sister who was baptized 6 days after I left Vespucio, has written me several times since Elder Cambroni and I taught her all of the lessons for baptism. Susanna says that she is doing well but has been a little less active in attending church. Susanna tells me she has a huge testimony of the gospel and keeps participating in FHE and other activities. Susana promises that soon she will be back on track and attending every Sunday. I send her motivational letters often to help her.

I have been in contact with the Elders in El Salto as well and was told by the missionaries that Paloma hasn't gone to church for awhile due to health reasons and has been in the hospital a lot. Paloma got out of the hospital and is now ok. After a few weeks of recovery, Paloma has been to church and the Young Women are helping her with her transition into activity in the church. I don't think I told you this but Esteban hasn't been attending church regularly because his mom Katherine doesn't want him to. Katherine is learning about the importance of the Law of Chastity as well as Tithing. Esteban is totally in agreement with the Law of Chastity and Tithing and continues to study the scriptures. It's extremely saddening to me when people choose the worlds teachings before God. I'm praying for Esteban so he can be strong through these years. When we come back to Chile, we need to pass by their home and visit them! Viviana is doing so well. She is serving as the Primary Secretary in El Salto and loving it. I'm so proud of her and her progress.

Erika from Simon Bolivar is doing really well. She goes to church with Crystal, her 19 year old daughter, that got baptized 2 months after I left that ward. They love going to church and are strong.


Thoughts/ Highlights of the week

Thanks for the help with my classes. I'm sure all will be fine.

As far as new investigators go we have a sweet one  that is really progressing now and his name is Rudy. The missionaries taught him not long ago. Rudy has a firm testimony of the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. Rudy's main doubt was that he wanted to read the whole Book of Mormon before getting baptized so he could know everything first. Well, Elder Richardson and I have made great friends with Rudy and have gained his trust and he now has a baptismal date for the 4 th of May. Rudy's going to go to church with us again tomorrow and continue his progress towards baptism.

The first few days I get back are going to be chaos. Let's do doctor and license stuff after we get back from Chile in June.

Mom touch base with Brennan on apartment and my thoughts

Great to see Tay taking down 23rd month flag! Nice. You know who's taking down the last flag right? me :)  Love u!

Thanks for your support and love throughout my mission. 1 month to go!


That's all I have time for! Hope you all have a great week! Happy Easter!

Love,
Elder Jenson

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

The Lord will provide!

April 12, 2014

This weeks letter is gonna be a little shorter since I have a huge headache and I just want to lay down and take a nap.

This week was a really crazy week going and picking up the new missionaries from the CCM and then training them, teaching the new missionaries again on Friday and then on Thursday teaching the second group of newest missionaries a little more. It was hectic just like my first week here in the office. Today is a much needed P-day!

Wasn't General Conference awesome! I love the spirit I felt. That's one of the best things about General Conference for me. Just to be able to take a huge break from the whole week and feel the Spirit really strong to help you gain the vision again to be able to work really hard the next week. I really loved Elder Holland (as always) and Elder Oaks talks. They were really powerful.

We had 3 investigators that came to Conference and every one of them were progressing! That was really awesome for Elder Richardson and I because we have so much to do we can't dedicate all of our time to our investigators but they still came! Our three investigators that came are Natalia, Esteban and Susana. All three said they could feel something special while they were at Conference. Hopefully this catapults them to salvation!!!!

Highlights/Thoughts of the week

My new companion is Elder Richardson. I'm now Assistant number 1. It's going to be a really fun change!! Elder Richardson goes home a month after me. He's from Arizona.

Thanks Tal for your letter! I love you so much!

Elder Rodriguez left at 4pm our time on Monday. We had missionaries in Los Andes send us rootbeer cuz there's one supermarket that carries rootbeer up there. We had rootbeer floats for Elder Rodriguez's going away party!! It was pretty intense.

I received mom's handwritten letter today! Thanks for that. I also got Nana's package from Hawaii. Those treats were gone within a couple of hours...haha

I have like 5 phone cards mom...haha. I think you sent me like 4 too many :)

Say congrats to Uncle Mike and his family for me for the good news ( baby girl)!

We can just plan on bringing stuff back to Chile when we come back to give to friends, converts, members etc.

Tell Dad we receive talks from the General Authority's already translated in Spanish.The translator for the General Conference talks is built in. The speaker just reads and says their talk as it goes on.

Sick 63 for Seokwon. Atta kid takin it low!

Mama can you change my dental appt to a little later please. I'm going to need some rest after you take me home on a stretcher from the airport after such hard work for 2 years.


This week will be a little more calm with more time for Elder Richardson and I to work in our sector  with our converts and investigators. I'm excited to get back in our sector and teach. I miss that. I hope you all have a great week. Talk to you next week!

The Lord will provide!

Love,
Elder Jenson












Monday, April 7, 2014

"The Lord needs YOU!"

April 3, 2014

I thought Elder Rodriguez and I were going to write tomorrow but Elder Rodriguez is going to the temple tomorrow with the group of missionaries who are going home on Monday. Elder Rodriguez won't get back til later so we couldn't take our P-day tomorrow. Hope all is well! Love you!

Yo!

 

Elder Jenson and Kevin, his very first convert, see eachother after 18 months on an exchange Elder Jenson had this week with Elder Bruna. "We went nuts when we saw eachother!"

This week was a little bit more chill but life is always crazy in the office. Elder Rodriguez and I were able to do 3 exchanges this week. I was able to be with Elder Bruna in Valle de Azapa 2 (the old Jose Miguel Infante 3) and Elder Munoz and Elder Egg in Gambino. It was fun to work with them and help them out in their sectors. The best part of my week was with Elder Bruna in Valle de Azapa. I was able to see and teach my old convert Kevin and his family and see a few members there. The members I was able to spend time with were the Caballero's, Hermano Toro (the new Bishop) and Stanley. I told the Caballero family that I was coming back to Chile and they got pretty excited. The Caballero's want us to come back to their house when we pass by the ward together next month. I'm excited! Susanna and Jose Luis (Kevin's parents) are going to have a serious conversation about getting married so they can be baptized soon! Kevin will be 16 next month so he will be able to baptize the rest of his family.What a day that will be!! Another forever family in the church! Nothing better than that!

Elder Rodriguez and I should have a few investigators attend General Conference this week. Susana and Esteban are doing really well and are progressing. Great lesson with them this week. Susana and Esteban have a baptismal date set for the 27 of April. They will need to get married first to make that date but we believe they will make it! Susana and Esteban committed themselves to go to church and attend General Conference. That will be powerful for them to listen to the prophets voice and hear his council. I'll put my money on the prophet :) Natalia will also be going to Conference this weekend. I know if she goes with the right mentality, Natalia will receive her answer that this is the true church of Christ.

Highlights/Thoughts of the week

SEEING KEVIN AND HIS FAMILY and visiting Jose Miguel Infante my first sector in my mission! We all went nuts when we saw eachother :) Kevin has grown a ton and is my height now. So cool that Kevin will be able to baptize his little sister Kata who turns 8 next month!


Kevin's Family from L to R: Jose Luis (father), Elder Bruna, Susana (mother), Elder Jenson, Kevin and sister Kata. 

For P-day today we went to Cerro Santa Lucia. It's this hill that's smack dab in the center of Santiago. There's a sweet cannon there so we took a picture of us with Santiago as the backdrop. It was niceeeee!


Elder Rodriguez, Elder Rhees (Mission Historian), Elder Gomez (Mission Financier) and Elder Jenson April 3, 2014

Elder Rodriguez leaves to go home on Monday. We will probably have a "party" for him. Still figuring that out.

Elder Rodriguez and I are going to the Stake Center in Independencia to watch General Conference this weekend. I'm not sure where President and Sister Essig are going.

Thanks for the Florida pictures. Tarryn and Tallyn are growing up soooo fast!

There was a really big earthquake that happened a few days ago....there was a tsunami as well that made a pretty big mess. All food is like 10 times the original amount in the areas hit...it's nuts.

Transfers are this next Monday! I'm excited to see who my new companion will be. It will be interesting.

I got a personal letter from Mom this week that was really awesome! Thanks for the letters and support :)

In my personal scripture study I've been studying Jesus the Christ and the Doctrine and Covenants. The scriptures are so awesome!

Elder Rodriguez and I finished Zone Conferences last week so this week was a little more "free"!

The Flores family is excited to meet you. They were like...we want you to stay with us for the whole week you're here!! Haha that was cool.

I'm adjusting to the AP schedule. I'm pretty used to it now.


 I'm lovin every moment of this work! There's nothing better than serving the Lord....like literally nothing! Sometimes I wish I could do this forever! The millennium is gonna be sweet! Tay, you gotta get goin on your papers man. The sooner the better brotha!! Your testimony is going to explode!

I hope you all have a great week. The Lord needs YOU!! Suit up for Him this week!

Love,
Elder Jenson





"Don't give up! Success will come!"

March 29, 2014

Hey All!

 
Countryside of Los Andes coming home from Zone Conferences March 28, 2014


We just had Zone Conferences this whole week from Monday to Friday and it was nuts! I got to get to know the entire mission and it was pretty awesome. I had never gotten to know the country part of our mission (there are 9 zones and 2 are in the country)....wha da ya know I have served in all 7 zones  in Santiago and never once in the country. The country was so sweet. I recorded all kinds if videos and took tons of pictures. On our way home and since we were in the truck and it was stick, Elder Rodriguez and I pulled off the side of the road in a little town called "Huertos"  where Elder Rodriguez taught me how to drive stick. At first I struggled quite a bit hahahaha! I would kill it every time I tried to get it in first gear. I finally got the hang of it after about 15-20 minutes. Once I could get the truck in first gear, the rest was easy getting it into 2nd and 3rd and up to 5 th gear. When I finally had enough confidence in my driving we headed back home with me in the drivers seat (about a 30 minute drive back to the mission office from where we were). I drove pretty smooth all the way home, in traffic and everything (probably from the prayer I had in my heart...haha). I made it all the way to the office no prob! I was pretty proud of myself.....I'm still going to have to practice a lot so I can drive in busier places, but I got the hang of driving stick pretty quick.

The Zone Conferences were pretty awesome! President taught about the one word that he considers the thing that makes us more and more like Christ, repentance. President also taught about the importance of opening our mouths and how to find people to teach (Cap 9 in PMG). Elder Rodriguez and I taught about how to become ONE, the missionaries and members. We made a few changes to the Powerpoint I sent you two weeks ago and then knocked it out of the park! There's a sweet video that Elder Rodriguez and I showed in all the conferences as well that's called "We Are One". Here's the link: https://www.lds.org/training/wwlt/2013/hastening/members-and-missionaries#media= (It's the bottom left video). One of the Sister Training Leaders that's serving in Los Andes actually told us of an experience she had this past week applying this lesson to her current ward she's serving in. This Sister missionary had already listened to what Elder Rodriguez and I were going to teach since she is a leader and attended Leadership Council last week. This Sister said she had thought about our lesson, studied the talk given by President Eyring that's called SED UNO to get even more ideas and then in her missionary coordination meeting, the mission leader in her current ward asked her what she and her companion thought they could do to unite the ward more. This Sister missionary said she couldn't believe that the mission leader had asked her this and then took a few minutes to explain what Elder Rodriguez and I had taught as well as what she had studied and found in President Eyring's talk. I thought that was so cool that a missionary was already putting in practice our teachings and having success. That just makes you feel good!

The health video Elder Rodrigues and I put together was a huge hit! Everyone thought it was so funny. President was busting up more and more every conference it seemed like! Haha. It just doesn't get old!!

As dad probably knows, in a missionary's last Zone Conference he gives his testimony and is basically telling his mission goodbye. President let me choose which Zone Conference I wanted to do this in. I chose to do it in The Sanlen/San Pablo Zone Conference on Wednesday. I got pretty emotional as I testified of the huge change in my life the mission has had on me. I literally didn't know anything before my mission. I had no clue. I testified of the knowledge I've gained as a missionary and shared an experience I had in my third change about 5 months into my mission. I don't think any of you know this but I remember a really tough day out in the field after some really tough months as a missionary not being able to baptize even one person. The Zone Leaders were in my same branch and they were baptizing. My trainer and I weren't. On this particular day, every visit my trainer and I had planned fell through. I remember sitting on the ground with a scowl on my face just frustrated and angry because of the little "success" I was having on my mission. That night, those thoughts continued and even worse, I thought to myself, "What am I doing here? I can't baptize anyone anyway! Might as well go home!" A few days later, one of the biggest, if not THE biggest miracle happened in my entire mission. After another long day, it was 9:50pm and I was on my way to our house with my companion. My companion and I walked by a mother and son and said hi and kept walking. After we passed them about 50 feet, they hollered at my companion and I and told us to come back. We went back to them and they told us that they wanted to listen to our lessons. Kevin, Susana's 15 year old son, was baptized on my last Sunday in that sector. Kevin is now going to seminary every morning and preparing for a mission. I told everyone that The Lord has called us to have success on our missions. We can't give up! Success will come!

After Elder Rodriguez and I finished all of our Zone Conferences, we got a really awesome call from President. He called to tell Elder Rodriguez and I how grateful he was for us and our lessons we taught in each Zone Conference. President told us that he thought Zone Conference week was really a success and thanked us both for all of our hard work. Right before President hung up he said, " I love you both!" That was so awesome to hear. President Essig is really a special man and really does everything and anything to come closer to Jesus Christ. I love that.


Highlights/Thoughts of the week

Hearing from my family and friends. Thanks for your support and love.

You made a sweet choice with the hotel! It's right next to the airport and pretty close to all the sectors I've served in on my mission. I'm excited!

 
Map of Santiago with sectors I want to visit when I return. This is a photo I took off of google earth (benefit from being in the office is you can use google earth :) ) You can see ward limits and the hotel for our stay in Chile! I'm excited.

Seeing Los Andes. It was so fun. I loved it!


Driving home from a successful Zone Conference in Los Andes March 28, 2014. It's about a 1 hr and 15 min drive by car to go to downtown Los Andes from the mission home.

Mastering driving stick!

A sweet week of Zone Conferences!

Bearing my testimony

Well, I don't have any more time! I hope you all have a really great week! I think we're going to have P-day on Friday since it's General Conference on Saturday :) We'll see!

Love,
Elder Jenson

"Just open your mouth!"

March 22, 2014

Hey All!

Elder Rodriguez and I have just been going nuts this whole week! There is literally no time to rest. We've gone to bed between 1230-2am this whole week because we have so much to do. Elder Rodriguez and  I have made a few changes with the lesson we will teach at our Zone Conferences we have this whole next week, filming this really awesome and funny video about health to show to the mission and figuring out all the games we are going to play during Zone Conferences as a break. Yesterday at Leadership Council we taught our lesson to all the leaders in the mission ( ZL, DL, Trainers and Sister Training Leaders) so they could see it and then help in practices we will be doing (an efficient missionary coordination meeting) and so much more!


Chile Santiago North Mission Office celebrating Elder Rhees birthday March 2014
(L to R: Elder Gomez, Elder Salguero (he was in the office today because his knees were killing him, he's not a part of the office), Elder Rhees, Elder Rodriguez and Elder Jenson

I'm really grateful for this incredible experience to be in the Office. It's pretty stressful with a lot to do, but it's really good for me. I've really felt like I've needed to be in the Office since I've been here. The Lord knows all things and I think this will be good preparation for something to come in the future.

Thoughts/Highlights of the week

Dad if you want you can figure out tournament stuff and just sign me up! I've gone to the driving range like 5-6 times here in Chile and haven't lost my swing much. Obviously I will need to practice a lot and get my swing really consistent again. I think it will come back fast after maybe a week of practice :)

To answer dads questions, I will talk with Hermana Stanger (Mission Secretary) who knows a lot about the hotels and which is the best one to stay at. Hermana Stanger will know because parents ask her this a lot I'm sure.

I already got the box from the Canterberry Relief Society! One week! It got here yesterday! Since I'm in the Office, my packages get to be a lot faster. Our Finance Elder and Historian go and get the mail every other day. Tell the Relief Society thanks so much for all the hard work that went into the box. It meant a lot, truly! My companion and everyone from the office were like..."Wow, your home ward made that package for you???? My ward has never done anything like that for me." We have a really great ward!!! Canterberry Relief Society is awesome!

I've got the Easter package all ready to open...don't you worry about it :)

I do know Hermana Thomas!! That's so crazy that you told me this story! Hermana Thomas just told me her version of the story yesterday at Leadership Council. That's cool to know that other missionaries have learned a thing or two from me and my service to our Lord and Savior in His work. Awhile ago Hermana Thomas came up to me and said she knew Chase and Grandpa and Grandma Jenson. Hermana Thomas said Chase had told her about me and that I was in this mission. It's a small world!

I think a dental check-up would be good when I get back. Do it in the morning.

Yutaka looks sooooo good!

Wow, that's pretty cool that Tarryn sang with The House Jacks :)

Wow, that's crazy Tarryn held a real brain!

Love you Tar!! Thanks for sending me Dabne's note. They are an awesome family in Lo Prado.

Hope you had a great flight :) Enjoy Spring Break


Elder Rodriguez and I haven't had much time to get with any of our investigators this week. We will try and get with them tonight but I have to finish editing the health video for Zone Conferences. I've put so many hours into that thing! You'll have to see it when I get home. It's still a long ways away so don't get too excited. I'm not even thinking about that yet. There's not any time to do so.

I hope you all have a great week this week and can share the gospel with at least ONE person! Just open your mouth :)

Love you so much,

Elder Jenson