"The Field is White Already to Harvest!"

One more day of studying before I leave the Provo MTC and head to Santiago Chile!

Hey Fam!!

My P-Day was changed to Saturday this week due to in-field Orientation all day Friday! This past week has been great!! It seemed to go kinda slow because of the fact that I had my travel plans and I was thinking about the field a lot and what it's going to be like. I didn't let up and definately finished strong. I'll tell you about my week and some of my experiences.

This past Saturday just followed the normal schedule. During TRC, I wasn't able to talk to Jonathan for some reason, but I did step in to say Hi. Jonathan said he would have a few things for me tonight and that we'd be able to meet for a little while which was good. On Saturday night after TRC, there was a video shown to our District by Elder Holland. Some of the highlights from the video are: Elder Holland said,"Don't miss a day, a month, an hour of your mission." That was really inspirational and motivated me to really focus hard on my purpose as a missionary which is to bring others Unto Christ. Elder Holland said that everything that will happen in my life will be because I served my mission. Elder Holland said that about himself as well. Elder Holland said that missions are God's greatest gift to 19 yr olds. He also said that "you can't guarantee success, but you can guarantee hard work." Salvation is not cheap! It's hard work in the mission field and that's how it's supposed to be. The last thing that I put down in my notes was that my goal should be to get up on my Homecoming Sunday and say that I suffered the will of the Father. Wow, what a really powerful talk. I'm so grateful for it.

On Sunday the Devitional was given by Steven B. Allen:Director of the MTC. He talked about the pioneers at first (Pioneer Day is July 24th). We sang "Come Come Ye Saints" and paid attention to the lyrics while we sang. It was pretty powerful.

Tuesday nights Devotional was given by Gary J. Coleman:Emeritus Seventy. Elder Coleman talked a little bit about how we can be pioneers. Then he got into his talk and why he really came to address us.  Elder Coleman said that the 4 pillars to use on our mission are: 1. Temple recommend 2. Authority:nametag and ministerial certificate 3. Scriptures (and prayer) 4. Preach My Gospel and white handbook. These are things we as missionaries should definately use and know a lot about being representatives of Jesus Christ. Elder Coleman then shared a quote by Steven Webb that says,"Mormonism is obsessed with Christ." I like that a lot because it is so true. We love Christ and are here to testify of Him on our missions. Elder Coleman then gave a long list of scriptures that talk about Coming Unto Christ. We need to come Unto Him and be converted. Elder Coleman also shared his conversion story with us from when he was 21 years old. He said that he read 87 verses in the Book of Mormon (including Moroni 10:3-5), took the challenge it states in there to read and pray, and when he was praying, he felt the Spirit of the Lord and joined the Church 2 weeks later.  As I was listening to this incredible conversion story, I thought to myself about how powerful the Book of Mormon is and the influence it can have on other people's lives. If I can just get my Investigators to take the challenge in Moroni 10, then I will have a lot of success.  It was a great talk that I was grateful I could hear.

On Wednesday I was actually able to Host new missionaries again! I hosted for about 3 hours helping and showing new missionaries around the MTC. It was really fun to spend my afternoon doing that.We had our substitute teacher Hermana Casares come and teach us Wednesday night. We actually had the chance to teach her right from the beginning just like how we will begin teaching with our Investigators. Definately a really helpful thing.

The last highlight I want to share is about in-field Orientation yesterday, Friday! It was so fun. The schedule went like this: We showed up at 815am and the Orientation was the entire day. We had 2 breaks throughout the day for our lunch and dinner. In in-field we had different points that we talked about during the day. They were...

1. The Doctrine of Christ-the Missionary Purpose: In this section I learned that we are really trying to focus on baptizing. One of the quotes was "your success as a missionary is measured primarily by your commitment to find, teach, baptize and confirm people and to help them become faithful members of the Church who enjoy the presence of the Holy Ghost. Pretty informative topic. We also talked about how our expectations need to be set high and that if they are set high, your success will increase. If you listen to all of the other people around you and you lower your expectations, your success rate will drop. Stay focused!

2. Finding people. The Lord is already preparing specific people to receive you in every area you will serve in throughout your mission. The field is white already to harvest! Finding the people is hard work. People are rarely going to be given to you and be the "golden" Investigator. We talked about how to contact people and this is found in Preach My Gospel pg. 157.

3. Goals and Planning. Planning is really important for us. We need to set goals before we do any planning!

I don't have any more time. I need to go to the temple right now for the last time. I will finish this letter and send it home.

I love you all so much and hope you have a wonderful week!!!

Love,

Tan

Elder Jenson and Elder Nelson's Last SHARE Experiences Together as Companions

July 27, 2012

Every week Elder Jenson has the opportunity to teach volunteer investigators in what is known as SHARE. The following are the comments Elder Jenson and Elder Nelson received this past week from their two volunteer investigators as they taught them a discussion in the Provo MTC. Notice one investigator Elder Jenson taught is Jonathan Faria!

Investigator: Clark

What new things did you learn today?

"I learned to follow the priorities of God as revealed in my prayers and that my Savior will always be there and help me do this."

Was you faith in Jesus Christ strengthened? How?

"I felt the sincerity of Elder Jenson and Elder Nelson's testimonies. I felt their teachings were true and not guided by any selfish interest or pride."

What do you want to do as a result of this experience?

"I want to be a better husband and Father and to follow the advice I was given by Elder Jenson and Elder Nelson."


Investigator: Jonathan Faria


How did you feel during your time with the miissionaries?

"I felt very comfortable."

Was your faith in Jesus Christ strengthened? How?

"Yes, Elder Jenson and Elder Nelson have a desire to be obedient to everything and I want to follow their example."

What do you want to do as a result of this experience?

"I want to be more like Jesus."

"Small Things Can Lead To Great Things"

Elder Jenson "Hosting" the new Missionary's Wednesday arrivals!



Elder Jenson had the privilege of "Hosting" Elder Baum who's going to Ukraine on his mission and will be speaking Russian.

July 20, 2012

Hey Fam and friends!

How is everyone? I've been so good here. Thank you so much for all of your letters and love! I love reading every single night about the days you are having traveling the US with Taylor and his successes he's having.

Highlights of my week:

Hearing that people love hearing from me. Please thank Paul Redd, Nana, Grandpa and Grandma etc for all their thoughts they said about the blog and that you forwarded on to me.

Getting a letter from Coburn (Elder Jenson's USU golf teammate who's entering the MTC August 1, 2012 for the Boston, Mass Mission) asking me advice on how he can prepare for his MTC experience.

Tarryn's letter!

Yutaka drawning by Tarryn, Tallyn, Lauren and Will!

Seeing my friends and roommates from USU-Kimoto, Doug, Devin Wright, Andrew Paulson, Sam Merril etc.


Usually I go day by day and tell you about my week. I think you now have a feel of what I do every single day. This week I want to share my feelings about everything because I don't know if I share enough of that in my letters home. This weeks letter will be a little different and I hope you like it!

Saturday I met up with Jonathan in the TRC like I usually do. We talked about his week and how he was doing for awhile. He said that he was able to talk to his brother and his mom in Santiago! Jonathan told me that they know I'm coming. Jonathan informed them of our conversations and they are excited for my arrival. They want to make it a whole fiesta with food and the whole deal! Jonathan's mom doesn't live in the city of Santiago but said she could come over to the mission boundaries to listen to the message we have for them! Jonathan's brother gave him the address of where they are going to be. I just need to call Jonathan's brother when I get to Santiago and he will know everything and share with me the information. It seems like everything is falling into place. This story has such potential to be a great converion story! After Jonathan shared this with me, I felt full of the Spirit and felt prompted to share my testimony with him that in missionary work, there are no coincidences. I also felt promted to share with him that I know I met him for a reason. I started to get pretty emotional as I was sharing my testimony with him. I know that Jonathan was feeling the Spirit and confirmed to him that what I was saying was true. Now, I know that that doesn't necessarily mean that Jonathan's family is going to get baptized, but I know that it was for a reason Jonathan and I met and I'm excited. I told Jonathan that I would do everything in my power to help his family to Come Unto Christ and take the necessary steps that they need to take to be able to return to live with their Father in Heaven and be an eternal family.  Jonathan doesn't want anything more than to have an eternal family and he told me that he knows that it will happen someday. Jonathan has really been praying to have his family receive the gospel. I can't even wait to get to Santiago and hopfully President Essig (my Mission President) will let me go into the area of the Farias family!

Tuesday night we had a great Devotional given by Vaughn J. Featherstone: Emeritus Seventy. I just love all of these Devotionals because they are such spiritual feasts! He talked about how he has traveled around the world being with missionaries in over a hundred missions. He is a very experienced person, that's for sure. I'm grateful for the promptings that I was able to receive during his talk. One of the great promptings that I received was when he shared a story about when something so small turned into something so great.I just felt like I needed to write down that it's the little things that you do on your mission that are going to make a huge impact. Knocking on that last door, never missing appointments no matter what the weather is, always having a smile on my face and never taking no for an answer because I know how great this gospel is in our lives and I want everyone to know that too.  The person that you're talking to could be the one that is looking for the gospel. I need to put some effort into it and just share how important the gospel really is! If I knock on that last door when I'm dead tired, that could be the family that is ready to hear my message. If  I wasn't feeling on knocking on that last door that day, that family would not be able to hear the message we had for them that woud have changed their lives forever. I wrote down that I need to always be worthy of the Spirit even though Elder Featherstone didn't say that. Without the Spirit, I can't teach anyone. You might be able to convert people to you, but not to the Lord. One great quote that Elder Featherstone said was that "no amount of talent exceeds spirituality"-Bruce R. McConkie. I think that's great. Elder Featherstone said that I need to bear my testimony wherever I go, even if others are not wanting to hear my message. My testimony can make an impact on everyone. After our Devotional, we had our District meeting like usual. I shared my testimony with my District about how small things can lead to great things. I felt the Spirit so strong! I am so glad for these experiences here in the MTC. They are strengthening my testimony of this gospel that's on the earth today. I know that the gospel is true and I want everyone to know that. There's not a day that goes by that I don't thank Heavenly Father for all that I have and for the knowledge and blessing that I have the gospel in my life.

So let's talk about my travel plans!!!!! I just got them last night. My plane leaves on July 30th at 12:50pm. I have to meet at the travel office in the MTC at 8am and then they will drive me to the airport. I have a layover in another airport before I board my final plane for a direct 14 hour flight to Santiago. I get to Sanitago Chile the next day at 8:10 in the morning! Crazy! I'm excited to be able to call you during my layovers and to hear everyone's voices and catch up live on how everyone's doing. In my travel group there are 6 people in my first District I had in the MTC before I moved up to Intermediate and then me! So we have 7 total in our flight plan. It should be a pretty exhausting but fun trip! I'm so excited to get to Sanitago I can't even see straight! I know I have 10 more days in the MTC so I'm going to focus on those ten days and finish strong. This is such an exciting time for me!

That concludes my weekly email for this week. I hope all is well and that Tay plays well!!!!

Love you Worlds!

Tan

"I've Never Had Such A Desire to Read My Scriptures in My Entire Life!"

 Elder Jenson during language learning time using a program called TALL

Elder Hermosilla and Elder Jenson

Hey!

Here are a few more days I need to tell you about from my week....

WEDNESDAY: For the past two weeks, Elder Nelson and I have been in a room all by ourselves! It's been sweet! On Wednesday, we got 2 new roommates. Their names are Elder Jesperson and Elder Riches. Elder Jesperson is from Orem and actually lived in Mexico for a few years because his dad was a Mission President. Elder Riches is from San Diego. They're both in Advanced Spanish and will be leaving the same time I do, July 30th! They're also going to my same mission in Chile! How cool is that? They both went to BYU for a year before their missions. We taught Bruno and Jordan (Elder McIlwain and Elder Smith), our investigators. Our whole lesson was focused on their doubts about the Church and baptism. We resolved a lot of their issues, but there's still lots to teach. 

THURSDAY: Effective day! We taught Jorge the whole class time just on two points. They were the Trinity and the Priesthood. There were two questions Jorge had from the past lesson we taught. We told Jorge we would study his questions and come to the next lesson with a solid answers to them. I taught Jorge about the Trinity and how we believe that there are 3 separate Beings. I opened my scriptures to Matthew 3 and showed Jorge Jesus' baptism at the end of the chapter where it says that when Jesus was baptized, a voice from the heavens was heard (God), and that the Holy Spirit descended like a dove. It shows 3 personages very clearly. Jorge finally got it and said that that made sense to him. Elder Nelson and I taught about the Priesthood and told the story of how Joseph Smith received the Aaronic from John the Baptist and the Melchezidek from Peter, James and John in 1829. Jorge said that also made a lot of sense and that it was very logical. At the end of our lesson, I extended an invitation to be baptized..."Seguira el ejemplo de Jesucristo y ser bautizado por alguin que posea la antoridad del Sacerdocio de Dios?" Jorge said that he would accept my invitation! Then we set a date for July 28th and he said he would prepare for that date! In our night class Elder Nelson and I taught Luis for the 2nd time. He's moving along very well and has lots of interest and is engaged in what we are teaching him. Luis also accepted a baptismal date for 7/28! Wow, that's really cool. 

I've never had such a desire to read my scriptures in my entire life! The doctrine is really intriguing to me! I want to be the best missionary I can be. I hope all is well! Travel safe these next few weeks! I love you all!

Love,

Tan

How do I write Elder Jenson when he's in Santiago Chile?

Elder Jenson will leaving for Santiago Chile on Monday, July 30, 2012. The last day Elder Jenson can receive DearElder.com letters sent to the Provo MTC is Friday, July 27, 2012. If you are mailing Elder Jenson a package using the US Postal Service, remember the last date he can receive packages is Saturday, July 28, 2012. Starting July 30, 2012 you can send a letter via DearElder.com to Elder Jenson for FREE. If you want Elder Jenson to receive a letter from you when he arrives in Santiago (JULY 31, 2012) you will need to send a letter by midnight SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012 using the POUCH (FREE) link. Below you will find helpful information about the POUCH system and how it works. Thank-you for your continued love and support of Elder Jenson.

What is the pouch mail program?

The Church has established the Pouch mail program to help families and friends communicate better with their missionaries in countries with poor mail systems. When you mail your letters to the Pouch Mail Department in Salt Lake City, the Church places all the letters bound for one mission in a big package and ships them to the mission through an express carrier service.  When the letters arrive at the mission office in the destination country, the office Elders open the package of letters and distribute them to the Elders and Sisters throughout the mission.

How does DearElder.com work with the pouch mail department to get letters to Elder Jenson?

The Pouch Department only sends one package per week to each mission. The deadline on the DearElder.com website to submit a pouch letter is 12 midnight (MST) on Sundays, which is technically 12am on Monday morning. They print, process and deliver your letters to the Pouch Mail center in Salt Lake by 9am on Monday. The letters are sorted by mission and mailed out on Tuesdays to Elder Jenson.

What advantages are there to using DearElder.com to write Elder Jenson?

There are two great advantages to using DearElder.com to write Elder Jenson. First, Elder Jenson will always get your letters and second, it's FREE!

How do I get started?

The process for writing a letter to a pouch country (Chile Santiago North) is very simple. First go to the Home page. In the drop-down menu, select the Chile Santiago North Mission and click, "Write Letter". Fill in the required information and write your letter. When you are finished, click send. It's that easy!

http://www.dearelder.com/

The Chile Santiago North Mission is part of the Pouch Mail Program. Cost: Free Shipping Method: Pouch Mail System

"A Testimony is an Earned Legacy"

Learning and studying all I can before I leave for Santiago Chile on July 30th!

July 13, 2012

FRIDAY: The temple is actually closed! It doesn't re-open for another couple of weeks so my comp and I haven't had the opportunity to go to the temple these last few weeks which is kind of a bummer. There's a lot more time to write letters and relax though which is kind of nice. Friday night, my comp and I taught Edwin for the last time before his baptism. Then we had an Entrevista Bautismal just as a class to make sure that he was ready to be baptized. He passed! Not a lot of stuff happened on Friday, mainly just that.


SATURDAY: This was a crazy day, but in a good way! The main things that I want to share are the TRC and Edwin's baptism! We'll start with the TRC since that was first. A few days before Saturday I had actually sent Jonathan a few texts through my teacher's phone to make sure that he was going to be at the TRC on Saturday at the same time my District was. The purpose of the TRC visit was to get the address of Jonathan's family in Chile and then write it down so that I could contact them when I arrive. It didn't go according to plan, but it was actually really great! Jonathan couldn't get the direct address of his family yet. He's working on it. What he did give me was 3 more referrals! Two of them are his sisters who are inactive in the Church and the other referral is his cousin that lives with one of his sisters! He gave me their telephone numbers. Wow! I cant believe I have 4 referrals even before I get to the field. Jonathan said that we would meet up again this next Saturday (Tomorrow) so he can find the addresses and also write his brother Isaac a letter. He wants to send it with me so I can give it to him when I arrive in Chile. Maybe that will be another thing that can break the ice. Right after the TRC was Edwin's baptism! I was one of Edwin's friends, so I didn't have anything to do with the program really, but I was an Investigator of the Church. I was able to sit right next to Edwin the whole time as his baptism was happening. Cool feeling. The Spirit was incredibly strong. You wouldn't think that the Spirit would be so strong at a pretend baptism, but it was! This made me really want to strive hard to fulfill my purpose and invite as many people as I can to be baptized and reap the benefits and blessings that I have as a member of the Church.


SUNDAY: This was a really laid back day. There was a lot of studying going on. I wrote a talk on "Recognizing the Spirit" and I think I did pretty well on it! I'm starting to be able to say pretty much anything I want to say. If there's a word I don't know, I can work around it. I used a scripture in D&C 88:11 and it says "I will enlighten thy mind and quicken thine understanding" What a great fruit of the Spirit. I learned that I always need to be worthy of the Spirit so that I can partake of the fruits therein. The Sunday Devotional was given by Richard I. Heaton: MTC Administrating Director. He made a lot of references to 2 Nephi 31 which is one of my favorite chapters in the Book of Mormon. He talked a lot about the doctrine of Christ which is in that chapter. This is a perfect chapter for the Investigators we are teaching to read. Brother Heaton talked about the success as a missionary and that success is not measured by baptisms, but your commitment to your purpose. I thought that was great.


MONDAY: We got a new investigator! His name is Luis, just like the last one (Hno Johnston is playing him. This is a real person from his mission). We taught Luis for the first time. His story is that his sister was just baptized in the Church and now he's very interested in it. Luis has one daughter who is 6 yrs old I think, but his wife and he separated about a year ago. Luis is a great person and is really receptive to our teachings. Another cool experience I had was getting 10 letters on Monday night from family and friends! Wow... As I read all of the letters that night, it was incredible the amount of love I felt from my family and friends and also my Heavenly Father. One of the letters was from Logan. As I laid in my bed thinking about his letter, I got pretty emotional just thinking of his great example to me and the way that he has set for me to follow. I thought of all the examples in my life and the righteous decisions that I must follow. I felt Heavenly Father's love for me literally pouring out on me. What an experience that was.


TUESDAY: We taught Jorge for the third time! He has so many questions with every single visit that we have. It seems like we spend all our time answering all of his questions he has about the Church, which is good, but it's a little hard to get anywhere in the lessons. We just have to make sure that we stay focused. My comp and I are now learning to teach people, not lessons. It's really good for us to do that. Tuesday night there was a great Devotional given by Robert R. Steuer: Emeritus Seventy. He made a lot of great points and quoted a lot of General Authorities. I liked the quotes the best, so I'll just share those with you. Dallin H. Oaks said that "Powerful words influence our behavior." I just thought of what a Priesthood holder should say and how he should act, one holding the Priesthood of God. He also talked about the powerfulness in the scriptures with the words said in them. James E. Faust said that "a testimony is an earned legacy." There's no way that we can ever inherit a testimony and we don't gain one because our ancestors came across the Plains. A testimony has to be earned. The first way that you gain a testimony is with the reading of the scriptures. We need to make that clear to our investigators. M. Russell Ballard said that, "The Lord gets to know you on your mission." If you fall or triumph is up to you. If I can remember this quote, I will be a very successful missionary. President Kimball said that, "Any excuse, no matter how valid, always weakens character." I know Dad'll love that one. In 1 Peter 3 it says that the "eyes are upon the righteous." If I can be righteous, I will be looked after.


***HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK***

Letters from Friends and Family!

Gift from Linda Hansen and family with some of her cookies! Thank-you so much!

Logan Smith's letter from Russia!!!! It was really thoughtful of him! I received it on Monday and he sent the letter on June 11th! Took a whole month to get to me. I'm writing him back today.

I saw Brett Thawley on Wednesday! We talked for a little bit (about 2 min). He said that he was liking his first day in the MTC. Cool to see him!



Well that's all the time that I have! I will send the rest today with pictures! Love you all! Hope you have a great week...


Love,

Tan

Here are 2 recent videos of Elder Jenson and his life in the MTC!

Elder Jenson's First Testimony In Spanish!

Elder Jenson Is Ready!

Luis Will Be Baptized in Mexico!

President Tyler and Elder Jenson

Continuing with the July 6, 2012 letter home....

Thursday: The day started off as normal. We played basketball for gym like usual and then we had class at 1:45 right after lunch which was followed by an hour of additional study time. The first part of class my comp and I headed to the TRC to teach my progressing investigator, Jorge. He is progressing very well and committed to reading and praying about the Book of Mormon to see if it is true by the next time we meet. Elder Nelson and I backtracked a little bit to start off our lesson and talked about the importance of the Book of Mormon and the Restoration of the Church before going any further into Jorge's questions he had about Joseph Smith and Prophets which took awhile. My comp and I also were taught by Elder Wasden and Elder Andersen. I am playing one of my friends from home and acting as he would act in the lessons with the missionaries. Elder Nelson is playing one of his friends in this appointment as well. We are also teaching Elder Smith and Elder McIlwain who are acting like their friends from back home. It's pretty difficult and challenging to answer some of their questions. So, including the 3 new investigators, this week, Elder Nelson and I now have 5 investigators. Pretty Crazy! Edwin, Luis, Jorge, Smith and McIlwain. Later in the day we taught Luis for the last time. He said that his classes are ending and that he's going back to Mexico. Luis said that he really wants to get baptized, but that he needs to speak with his parents face-to-face. Luis said that after he does this, he'll be baptized in Mexico. We are now down to 4 investigators.

Thank-you to my family and friends for their letters, packages and support. Thank-you to Uncle Mike and Aunt Kristen for the story they shared with me and to Lolo and Will for their pictures they sent me this week. Thank-you to Grandpa and Grandma Jenson for your letters and words. Thank-you Aunt Jeanna for your sacrament talk and letters you sent me. Thank-you to the Hansen's for their gift and card. I feel so supported and loved.

Love you!

Tan

"I KNOW Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God!"

Picture of the Book of Mormon sent to Elder Jenson from his 6 year old cousin Avery.

Hey!

Wow I can't believe that I've already completed over 5 weeks in the MTC. It feels like I was just dropped off last week. So crazy. I'm loving receiving all of your letters and hopefully everyone is doing well. Tell Tay good luck for me in Nebraska. I know he'll do great. There's been a lot that happened this week! I know I seem to say that every week, but it's true! There's so much going on. There's no way that I can mention it all but here's the highlights of the week:

Saturday the 30th: The biggest highlight on Saturday was at night with TRC. TRC is short for Training Resource Center. It's when members from around the area in Provo come to the MTC. They  volunteer to talk with the missionaries in their language of the mission. There are two 20 minute interactions with 2 different members. You just get to know them for the first little while and then you share a brief message. This last Saturday I had an incredible experience. The first member that Elder Nelson and I visited with was a man named Jhonathan. We started talking about where he was from and he said he was from Chile!! I was like no way where? He said, the capital, Santiago. I'm like that's exactly where I am going on my mission in just a few weeks! He couldn't believe it. He said that he lived in the northern part of the city of Santiago. I couldn't believe that he was from exactly where I am going on my mission. I was really excited and I asked him how Chile was. He said that right now it's winter and a lot of people are at the resorts snowboarding and skiing. He said that he had just barely moved to the States 3 and a half years ago to study at UVU. He is now wanting to transfer to BYU. I asked him if he had been a member of the church his whole life and he said that he hadn't. He  joined the church about 10 years ago and is the only one in his family that is LDS. I asked him where his family lived and he said that his whole family is still living in Santiago, in my mission and that they are all Catholic. I asked him if it would be alright to get their information so that I can contact them when I get to Chile! He said ya definitely! He gave me his Brother's information. His name is Isaac Farias. I couldn't believe that this was happening.  Jhonathan didn't know his Family's address but he gave me the phone number of his brother.  Jhonathan also gave me his phone number. I actually used Hno Toledo's phone to text Jhonathan and tell him that we are going to be at the TRC on the 7th around 6. Jhonathan wanted to come give me the address of his family! I can't wait to get to Santiago and contact this family. I know that Jhonathan was put in my path for a reason to further the work of the Lord. What an experience.

Sunday: Today was a great day full of the Spirit. Since it was Fast Sunday, the whole mission got together for a mission conference from 10-12. The highlights of the meeting were:

President Roach: District President- If you want to increase your golf game, you practice it... if you want to increase your faith, you must practice it as well.

President Nally: Counselor in the MTC Presidency- In Revelations 3:20-21 it talks about how Christ has been standing and waiting for us to open the door and Come Unto Him. Christ can only invite us to do so, but we have to open the door ourselves.

President Brown: MTC President- D&C 33: 8-10 Open your mouths and let the Spirit radiate from your heart to theirs. He gave multiple scripture references for subjects such as Faith, Holy Ghost, Atonement, Baptism, Enduring to the End. I don't have time to write them all down. I have lots of studying to do on these topics and can't wait to learn more about these subjects.

After the Mission Conference we had our Sacrament meeting. I actually got up and bore my testimony and told the story from the TRC and Jhonathan and how it had strengthened my testimony. It was a great experience for me. The Sunday Night Fireside was also very good. It was given by Brother Ted Gibbons (a brother of someone in the Seventy). He did a reinactment of the Joseph Smith story through another person's eyes: Willard Richards, Brigham Young's cousin and also Joseph Smith's secretary. It was a very powerful talk, but the most spiritual part for me was the closing song. We sang "Praise to the Man" and about halfway through the first verse, people started to stand up in respect for Joseph Smith and what he did for us. This happened until everyone was standing. The Spirit was so strong that I started to get emotional singing the words in the song. I had to take breaks throughout the song, because at times I just couldn't sing any of it.... I don't believe Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God... I KNOW Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God.

Monday: My comp and I were able to teach Luis. It was a great lesson given about Prophets in the olden days with Moses and the 10 Commandments, Joseph Smith and part of his revelation about the Word of Wisdom, and then also our Prophet today, Thomas S. Monson. The lesson flowed very well and our plan was followed nicely.  Luis said that he would live the 10 Commandments, the Word of Wisdom, and also follow the modern day Prophet, Thomas S. Monson. Luis said it all made sense to him since God is the same Yesterday, Today, and Forever.

Tuesday: We got a new investigator! It's actually someone from the TRC. His name is Jorge. He's from Mexico City and he's been a Baptist for about 20 years now. He had 5 kids. Jorge told us that 9 years ago, one of his children passed away. We were able to teach Jorge for 50 minutes about the Plan of Salvation. He is really depressed about his son and believes God is punishing him for something that he had done. We simply told him that that was not the case and shared what God's plan was for each one of us.  Jorge's faith has really been down the last while because of his son's death. Jorge wants to know how he can increase his faith. We also told Jorge that he will be able to see his son again after this life.  Jorge's face lit up as he heard us say that.  Jorge brought up a scripture in Matthew 7 that talks about the way to Christ. He said that if your church is the way, then I will follow it. I said it is Christ's church and that He wants you to follow Him. After our lesson with Jorge, there was a Devotional given by Yoshihiko Kakuchi: Emeritus Seventy. He was a lively person. Some of the highlights are as follows:

After you have your morning activities and you have your shower, it is imperitive that you find your "Sacred Grove". He said that you need to find your quiet place and have a sacred prayer with God.  He said, "I promise you in the sacred name of Jesus Christ that your lives will be changed." Very powerful. He also had all of the Elders and Sisters stand up. He said: Make an "O" with your arms above your head!, Then make a "Y"!, then breathe out and make an "M". He then told us to do it a second time and said OPEN YOUR MOUTH! That was a great demonstration that showed the importance of this. Our personal study should be 30 minutes reading the scriptures and 30 minutes studying Preach My Gospel. It was a great talk and I really felt the Spirit. I am implementing these things into my life and it is helping me greatly.

Wednesday: Happy Fourth of July!! This was a special day for me and also for the whole MTC. In the morning, my comp and I were able to teach Edwin and his wife, Diana! It was so great to talk to them again. Our main focus today was on the Word of Wisdom and The Law of the Tithe. Diana has some trouble with the Word of Wisdom. She really likes tea. We told her the blessings promised her if she would obey the Word of Wisdom. Diana finally said that she would obey the Word of Wisdom. I testified that she would really be blessed if she did so. Tithing was also a little difficult for Edwin and Diana to do because they don't have a lot of money. We told them about the Law of Tithing and they said that they didn't have any money for that. I said that Jesus Christ gave his whole life for us so that we can repent of our sins and have the opportunity to live with God again. I said that this tenth of your money was all that Jesus Christ was asking of them. It's just a small sacrifice for them to make compared to what the Savior did for us.  Edwin and Diana both agreed and said that they would keep the Law of the Tithe. The night of the fourth, there was a special Fireside for the whole MTC. A nearby Judge came and talked to us. He had just finished serving for 4 years as a Branch President in the MTC. He talked about how the Joseph Smith story could have only happened if this country was able to have freedom of religion. After that, we enjoyed a flag ceremony with all of the flags of people in the MTC. Someone played the bagpipes.. it was pretty sweet. Then after that, we sang "Praise to the Man" again. I really love that song now. President Brown said that there was going to be a fireworks show and that we were not to return to the dorms until the show was over. Well it didn't start until about 10:15 and we didn't get to our dorms until about 11pm. Usually we have to be back to our dorms by 9:30. We didn't get to bed until after 11:30! Yesterday was a tough day on little sleep but it was really fun. We watched the fireworks show from the Stadium of Fire. Im so grateful that I live in a country with religious freedom and can worship what I want. What a great blessing.

Well my time has come and gone. I will answer your questions in another letter and send it today. I am getting your letters and packages and I thank you for them!! It's really nice to read letters on how everyone is doing. I only have 3 weeks and 3 days left until I leave for Santiago! It's so crazy to me but I am so excited to be out serving the Lord.

A special thank-you to my cousins Avery and Connor for sending me pictures in the MTC.  Love you!

Have a great week! I love you worlds.

Love,

Tan

9 Apostles Visit Provo MTC!

Elder Smith, Elder Jenson and Elder Wasden singing with their sombreros!

Hey Fam!



Continuing on with my week:

Tuesday: Kind of a bummer morning, but then an incredible night. I noticed that after I got out of the shower in the morning that my feet were starting to sting in between my toes. I immediately took off my shoes and socks and looked at my toes. It looked like I had a bunch of open blisters in between my pinky and ring toes. My comp and I went to the doctor to figure out what it was and he said it was athlete's foot. I've been wearing my sandals every single time I shower to make sure that I didn't get something like this. The doctor said that it's probably the socks I have don't repel moisture. He gave me a permission slip that allowed me to walk down the street to get a prescription for athlete's foot cream. I've been putting the cream on the infected area as prescribed. The medicine was $10, so not very expensive. I also got a permission slip to be taken to Joseph A. Banks to get socks that will help with the moisture problem and athlete's feet. I purchased 2 pair of socks and tried them out. They seem to be working well. I probably need to go get another 10 pairs. They gave me 1/2 off at Joseph A. Banks, but it still was $9 per pair, so pretty expensive.  Tuesday night was the Devotional as I was talking about in the email. There was alot of buzz around the MTC that there would be a special Devotional by a General Authority since the Mission Presidents are here with their wives. Here's what I wrote in my notebook: "We all stood up as the 9 Apostles entered the room for our special Devotional. The room went dead silent as they entered. I was overcome by the Spirit. The Apostles present are: Anderson, Cook, Bednar, Oaks, Holland, Scott, Christopherson, Perry and Ballard. What an incredible opportunity to hear from these men called of God. All of the Apostles wives were present as well. L. Tom Perry is addressing us tonight. I'm so excited to hear from him and hear his words to me as a missionary." The Spirit was so strong that during the Opening Song, "Called To Serve", I could hardly sing the words because of my emotional state. It was a confirmation to me that these men are called of God and that they receive direct revelation from God. This was a pretty diffrerent talk that Elder Perry gave. He talked about a lot of the physical blessings received from being Mormon. It was cool to listen to some of the statistics he gave like: 1. LDS life expentancy for a male is 10+ years and for LDS females life expectancy is 5+ years more than the average life expectancy. 2. 80% of missionaries that have come home from their missions think they have gained useful skills and 92% of them said that because of their missions, their faith grew. 3. Members who fast have a 40% less chance of having clogged arteries. He also talked about becoming "Preach My Gospel" missionaries. When others invite you to come into their home, invite them to come into the Lord's home. He said that doctrine will always be the same, but focus on the new doctrine that we have received-The Book of Mormon. Also focus on Joseph Smith and the revelation he received for us. Elder Perry talked about service. I've noticed that in almost every talk given, no matter what the subject, I've prayed for strength to become better. I've learned we can't do everything on our own, but with the Savior, we can do anything! Elder Perry said to pray for service opportunities in our daily lives. Elder Perry's last comment he made was in his testimony. He said,"God Lives" in a booming voice. That was very powerful.

Wednesday: In the morning I had gym time at 1025am. Since I shouldn't play hard (basketball), I played the frisbee golf course at the field. It was actually a lot of fun. I got a hole in one! It was so awesome! I couldn't believe it. Then we went to class and continued learning Spanish. Spanish is coming along great. One of my good friends that I think I talked about before, Elder Hermosilla, is from the Santiago East part of Chile! I've talked to him alot the past few days. He speaks incredibly fast. I can probably understand 80% of what he says without asking him to repeat what he said.

Thursday: My comp and I both taught Edwin and Luis today! We set a date for his wedding on the 30th like I said before. It's so awesome that Luis read the Book fo Mormon and prayed about it! He told us he knows it's true! He also knows that Sunday is the Sabbath Day. What a relief. Luis also committed to baptism when I was prompted to ask him if he would be baptized! So cool. The investigators are doing so well. I'm happy for their decisions to Come Unto Christ and be baptized.

***Answers to Questions You've Asked Me and Things I Want To Mention:

I went up and introduced myself to President Brown (President of the Provo MTC). I told him about Nana and Papa and he remembered Papa. President Brown said Papa was his hero! He also asked how Nana and Papa are doing. He told me to tell Papa and Nana that he's doing really well, but is busy. Anything I should tell him?

Glad you love the letters. Trying to be as detailed as possible.

My Zone attends my Sacrament meeting.

Law of Chastity went good with Edwin, obviously he's getting married!

For Sacrament: Talks, hymns and prayers are in Spanish but some Counselors don't know Spanish so intro is in English.

I pray for Heavenly Father to bless you and help you with your needs.

There's a drycleaner at the MTC.

So great to hear about the Smith's. I'd love to hear from Logan.

I like to hear what you learn in your meetings as well.

I heard you can watch the Tuesday night MTC Devotionals on BYU TV! They're at 7pm. Check it out and tell me if you can! I'll be in the Choir because Elder Nelson wants to do that and I have to be with him. Maybe you'll see me!

It was so nice of Aunt Mary to write.

The two pieces of paper I included in my letter were for TRC. It's where volunteers come into the MTC to be taught by the missionaries for 20 minutes. There's 2 lessons with 2 different members every Friday. Two weeks ago was my first one. Last week's was cancelled due to the General Authorities being here. These 2 pieces of paper are the thoughts and feedback on the lessons Elder Nelson and I taught. We taught all our lessons in Spanish. Paper #1-Volunteer-Janna. How did you feel during your time with the missionaries? Great, I felt the Spirit. What new things did you learn today? It was a good reminder for missionary work for members. Was your faith in Jesus Christ strengthened? How? That through His help, all things can be done. What do you want to do as a result of this experience? I want to volunteer my time to the Sister Missionaries to help them with lessons in my area. Paper#2- Volunteer-Kaylee Turley. How did you feel during your time with the missionaries? I felt great! I felt the Spirit and felt comfortable and peaceful. What new things did you learn today? I learned more about the Lord's love as our Shepherd. Was your faith in Jesus Christ strengthened? How? Yes, I felt my testimony reaffirmed that God lives and is aware of each of His children. What do you want to do as a result of this experience? I want to actively be a part of missionary work.

*The "Haz lo justo" rings are for the girls. Tar and Tal. Hope they fit. Thought they'd like them. HLJ means CTR in Spanish.

Love you!

Tan

Life in the Provo MTC!