Christmas Present Times Two!

December 23, 2013

WASSUP!

So President Essig challenged us at the beginning of this month that for Christmas we were to give Christ a present of one person being baptized. I've really been focused on that goal personally and have been thinking about how I could accomplish it. My companions and I were able to give Jesus Christ two presents in two people being baptized!!!

Matias (Priest), Francisco, Benjamin and Sebastian (Priest) at baptism in Lo Prado 2 on December 22, 2013

BENJAMIN AND FRANCISCO GOT BAPTIZED YESTERDAY!!! It was an incredible and very spritual service for me personally. I'm so excited for Benjamin and Francisco for all they have done and the strides that they've made to be able to be baptized by water. Next week is baptism by fire baby!!!

Boy did we REALLY have to work for Francisco's baptism though. This is the experience that I want to share in my letter home this week. TONS of miracles happened in a short lapse of time so that Francisco could get baptized, that's for sure...

My companions and I had taught everything to Francisco and it just came down to his interview on Saturday and baptism on Sunday. We had planned everthing out with him so that he could be at his house at 4pm on Saturday for the interview and obviously go to church on Sunday morning and be baptized after church. Well, what we had planned definitely didn't work that way. On Saturday, Elder Richardson came and did the first interview for us and everything went smoothly. We then went to Francisco's house and when we got there, he wasn't there. We talked with his Grandpa and he said that Francisco had gone to Estacion Central to his cousins house since it was his birthday and they were going to celebrate it. The Grandpa's like don't worry though because Francisco will be home a little later. Elder Richardson returned to his sector. We planned to go to Elder Richardson's sector with Francisco and do the interview in the evening. We kept calling almost every hour and Francisco never came home! It came to 9pm and Francisco still hadn't gotten home from the birthday party that he was at, so we asked Francisco's dad for the number where he was so we could talk with him and basically tell him to get home as fast as he could so that we could do the interview. Francisco's dad first gave us a wrong number...after trying and trying to call Francisco over and over again, I was praying in my heart that Francisco's dad would answer and give us the right number (this was at like 1030pm and Francisco's dad had already told us that he was going to come home on Sunday!) Francisco's dad finally answered the phone and gave us the right number! We called Francisco at his cousins home at like 1120pm and they were up just playing video games and I was just like...Francisco, you have to come home tonight or there's no way that you're gong to be able to be baptized the next day! Francisco's like ya I'm going to talk to my uncle right now so he can bring me home and I can get right to bed so that I can get up bright and early and go to church tomorrow! I was like ya and we need to do your interview as well in the morning before church starts!! Francisco's like ya that's fine don't worry about it Elder. We got up a little earlier and called Francisco so that he could be ready in the morning for his interview and he was like...Elder, I can't get baptized today. My dad said that I can't. (We had already taught the mom a few times and she had understood the importance of baptism by authority and immersion and had signed the form for Francisco already. I thought that the mom had talked to the dad and everything was ok, but apparently not.) We hung up the phone and I'm like we've got to pray for a miracle to happen. We gathered around and knelt down and pleaded to our Heavenly Father that he would help Francisco's dad understand and soften his heart. When we were done, we headed over to Francisco's house in faith that he would let Francisco get baptized. My companions and I arrived and Dabne (Francisco's mom) had just gotten home from her night shift. We were like so your husband doesn't want Francisco to be baptized?? She's like...no, he's gonna be baptized! I just talked to him and he's going to let Francisco be baptized today. I literally started jumping up and down in excitement. I didn't even know what to do!! We called a member from the ward so he could take all of us to Huelen since Elder Richardson had already turned around since we told him that Francisco's dad said he couldn't get baptized. The member said he could take us to Huelen so we hustled over there. Francisco had his interview and we arrived at 957am with three minutes to spare before Sacrament started!!! The person that was going to baptize Francisco never came to church so we talked to another Priest in our ward and he said that he would be happy to baptize Francisco. That was probably the craziest morning of my mission, but I thanked Heavenly Father soooo much for those miracles that he was able to do for us. He is so merciful and I was so lucky to be able to see them all happen. That was a huge testimony builder for me that Satan puts tons of obstacles in the way but our Heavenly Father is much more powerful and nothing is impossible with Him on our side. Basically the Lord is awesome!

 

Elder Jenson, Dabne (Francisco's mom), Francisco, Matias (Priest in Lo Prado 2) and Elder Jenson's companions at the baptism December 22, 2013

Thoughts/Highlights of the week:

1. We never had a ward Christmas party...we had our Ward Conference yesterday and the theme was "venid a mi todos los que estais trabajados y cagados y yo os hare descansar...porque mi yugo es facil y ligera mi carga." It was pretty sweet!

2. I got the Rafie's package!! Tell them thank-you and I love them so much!!! :) I also got alot of letters. Thanks for the support and prayers.

3. My camera died. I have a few more picts of the baptism and 12 Days of Christmas but you'll have to wait a little longer. Sorry!

4. I love serving the Lord "a full" like it's said here during Christmas time in Chile. Like I said a few weeks ago, there's nothing that brings greater satisfaction than serving the Lord. There's not a better present to give Him than doing His work.

I'm REALLY excited to see my family on Christmas day! It's gonna be great to see you guys again. I love you with all my heart. I hope you can feel it!!!!! Best Christmas day present! :)

Don't have any more time left. I hope you ALL have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year this year. Serve someone!

Love,

Elder Jenson

Miracles and Seeing the Lord's hand in ALL things!

December 17, 2013

What's up?!

Santiago Chile Temple December 15, 2013

This week was sooooooo awesome!!! We literally had so much success. I'm so grateful for the blessings that the Lord has given me and continues to give me here in Lo Prado 2! Since I'm in a trio, we have been able to do a bunch of divisions. We did three this last week...divisions are when a member accompanies us and we split in two groups of two and do double the work. I've been going with the members and am having so much success teaching with them. The two that accompany us a lot now are Leo and Ricardo. They're both priests that are 18 yrs old and are preparing themselves to go on missions. Their stories are pretty awesome. This week because Leo and Ricardo were able to accompany us, we were able to teach 32 lessons! 18 with a member and 14 others. That was pretty awesome.

The most incredible part was because of all of our hard work and obviously with the Lord's help, 6 investigators came to church and 5 of them are progressing towards baptism!! The 6 investigators are:

Benjamin: Basically a stud. He's going to be baptized this Sunday!!!! We're so excited for him. All we have to do is finish teaching the lessons this week which we are planning on. Benjamin's been to church 4 weeks in a row. Veronica, his mom, is now an active member in the church again after being less active. Pretty sweet.

Francisco: Should be baptized this Sunday as well!! Were still working on his dad though because his mom says he can be baptized but his dad doesn't really like the idea. We're trying to really work with the whole family...but its a little bit hard. Francisco is so awesome and faithful!!

Jabiera: Sooooo awesome. She's going to be baptized not this Sunday but the next! She's now been to church two times in a row. Jabiera needs to come this Sunday and the next to be baptized. She is definitely gonna do it. Jabiera really had a great time on Sunday night with the Christmas presentation on the Chilean Temple Square!!

Silvana (16 yrs old): A newer investigator that we found through a less active member. She's golden!!! We've taught her about the Restoration and also a lot about the Book of Mormon. She's really making some progress and has her baptismal date for the 5th of January. This was her first time to attend church Sunday and since she loved it so much she came to the Christmas presentation at the temple Sunday night and had a blast. Silvana told her mom, Beti, about it all and Beti was like, dang I should've gone!! We have had some really sweet lessons with Silvana lately....just when I think about her I get this huge smile on my face. Last night we had a sick lesson. Ricardo and I went to Silvana's house to teach her and all of a sudden Luis showed up (her neighbor that's the ward secretary). Luis accompanied us to the lesson with Silvana even though he was getting home from a long day at work. Silvana told us during the lesson after Luis and Ricardo shared their stories about how they found out that this was the true church that she had asked God if it was true and she has felt her answer!!! That's the best when investigators feel the Spirit and know that this gospel is true!!!!! Love it.

Joan: Went to church and is progressing towards a baptismal date of the 29th of this month. We're praying that Joan's moms heart will soften. Joan was also given permission to go to the presentation on Sunday so he came with us and loved it...he's gonna be a stud missionary someday!

Amaro: Been workin extra hard with him lately and fiiiiiinally he was given permission to go to church again with his gma. Workin on permission so Amaro can be baptized now. Ricardo has shared his powerful story with the family. The spirit was felt really strong. Ricardo was baptized at the same age as Amaro, 10.

Thoughts/Highlights of the week:

Opening a few days of the 12 Days of Christmas!! Thanks for sending me this!!! It's been great to share everything especially the candy with the people here in Chile...they literally love it all!!!

No Stewart or Thanksgiving package but lots of letters :) Thank you so much!

We had our mission Christmas party with President and Sister Essig yesterday. It was great to see everyone.

Our sector board is filled! Here's a picture of our sector board. Everyone is always like...Whoa! you guys have so many people to teach! How??

 

Being at the Santiago temple to see the special Christmas presentation. Everyone was invited to attend including members. We got there by riding the Metro and then the bus. Took an hour or so.

 

 

Special Chilean Christmas Presentation at the Santiago Temple December 15, 2013

 

 

 

Chilean dancers and singers at the Santiago Temple December 15, 2013

Missionaries were invited but could only attend if they brought at least 1 investigator....we brought 3! :)

Our investigators on the Metro headed to the Santiago Temple Christmas Presentation on December 15, 2013 (left to right) Jace, Joan, Silvana (sitting down) and Jabiera

Seeing the PINO FAMILY!

 

When we went to the Christmas Presentaion at the temple on Sunday night I saw the PINO FAMILY! Carla is now married and Javier leaves on his mission to Argentina in just 3 months! Maca is doing well and Tomas is so big now! Hna Juana Pino is doing great as well!!

Going to the Santiago Temple Christmas Presentation with investigators on Sunday was incredible!

Hearing David Archuleta sing at the temple. He was awesome!

Tell Tay I'm proud of him and I love him!!! I'm really glad he got some PT and the coaches are beginning to see his potential. He's a sniper!!!

It's really hard to just put one thing I love while being a missionary, but I think I'm going to have to say the miracles that happen on the mission and seeing the Lords hand in ALL things!

Excited to see and talk to the family on Christmas...5pm Chilean time! :)



I don't have any more time!! There's so much to tell you. I guess next week we'll be able to talk a little more :)

Love you all tons!

Elder Jenson

Happiest I've Ever Been In My Entire Life!

December 9, 2013

Hey all!!!!

 

Elder Paiva, Elder Jenson and Elder Jorge's first week as companions in Lo Prado 2!

My companions and I had tons of success this week, but man am I beat tired!! I'm sure giving all I've got here on the mission. There's nothing else that brings more satisfaction than working for the Lord. Like literally every single night we get home between 10:00-10:30pm and my body burns from the days work. That's when my companions and I plan for the next day and on top of that, we then take the time to write down all that we did in the area book and make all kinds of calls to motivate the district leaders and companionships in the zone to give it their all. So basically after we do all of this it's always like 11:15pm and there's no time to do anything but brush your teeth and go to bed! But all of that work makes me the happiest I've ever been in my enire life. Who ever knew that this happiness even existed! I love the Lord so much for all that He has given me. I feel that He is always blessing me with incredible miracles and seeing His hand in this work. I can't ask for anything more than that!

I was able to do two exchanges this week with Elder Bennett and Elder Lund. I did my exchange with Elder Lund on his fourth day in the mission and felt like that was going to help him a lot to have the vision to baptize right at the beginning of his mission so that he can have that planted in his mind. Well, it definitely worked a lot. Elder Lund came to the sector and we talked about different ideas all day long, about different goals he has and also how I can help him with those. Elder Lund is a great missionary! Elder Bennett was well trained from the beginning. He's in his 4th change and had already learned a lot of things which was really good. He actually taught me a lot of things!! I'm literally always learning. It's so awesome. We had a very successful day.

Ok so Javiera, Benjamin and Joan all came to church yesterday!! They all have a baptismal date which is really good as well so that they can be progressing! It's always important to give investigators the vision to be baptized!

Javiera is doing so well!! She has her date for the 29th of December. Javiera came to church yesterday and loved it. There were actually a lot of people in church that knew her because of her mom, gma and great gma. They had all gone to church many times in the ward and Javiera had come with them many years ago. It was great to see the connection made and the fellowship of the ward. Javiera is reading and praying every day and has found her answer!! Javiera said that before she started reading the Book of Mormon she had lots of nightmares at night where she would wake up crying and really afraid. Since she has read the Book of Mormon she hasn't had even one! Javiera realized the sign from Heavenly Father that this is the true gospel.

Benjamin-I'm pretty sure I've talked to you about Benjamin and his mom (Veronica) that WAS a less active member but now she's active!!! They've come to church now three Sundays in a row and Benjamin has his baptismal date for the 22nd of December, right before Christmas! Benjamin is so excited to be baptized and literally waits for my companions and I to come over to his house with the Book of Mormon, hymn book and the pamphlets that we have given him. I'm really excited for Benjamin's progress.

Joan is such a stud. We did his pre-interview for his baptism and he knew absolutely everything. Literally ALL we need is his mom's signature and he can be baptized a member of the church. Joan's mom has really softened up lately actually talking to us and since it was her bday yesterday I bought her a chocolate bar to maybe gain some trust there :) I'm pretty sure it worked! We just need Joan to pass his school classes!!

HIGHLIGHTS AND COMMENTS:

1. Tell Sister Clinger I don't know an Elder Calder and hello for me.

2. Elder Paiva has been on his mission for 14 mo. and Elder Jorge for 5 mo.

3. We have exchanges two or three times a week so different missionaries can see our sector and what we're doing to have success

4. Surprise me for my bday :)

5. There's 16 other Elders in our zone that I have to train

6. Totally cool that John and Mary had a new baby boy...tell them congrats for me and thank them for their prayers and love!

7. Lookin pretty sweet at Fisherman's Wharf and the Tower

8. This week there were no packages/letters because of the changes...I'm sure there's a few in the office that are waiting for me. Thank-you so much for all your doing to support me.

9. Highlight: Putting up my "Christmas Tree" this week! THANKS FOR ALL THAT YOU DO MOM AND FAMILY!!!

Hope you all have a great week! Don't have any more time left. I love you all!

Love,

Elder Jenson

PS. Here's two videos that are pretty cool. You gotta check em out!

https://www.lds.org/youth/video/an-instrument-in-his-hands?lang=eng
(I thought of Tar watchin this one!)

https://www.lds.org/youth/video/a-secure-anchor?lang=eng

"Baptizer" in Zone Sanlen

December 2, 2013

Hey everyone!!!

 

Elder Jenson with members in Lo Prado 2. "I'm so excited that I'm saying here in Lo Prado!"

President has made quite a few changes here in our mission. He changed the leadership again in the mission. President is making a pretty big emphasis now on baptizing and because of that, he called 10 Elders to be "Baptizers" with the responsibility to train a whole Zone on how to baptize. President said that the Elders selected were the ones that have had the most success in the past 3-6 months. Here's the new structure...

assistants
baptizers (zone leader 1)
trainers
zone leader number 2
distict leaders who have never been trainers
senior companion


President called me yesterday and told me that he wanted me to be a "Baptizer" and lead the Zone Sanlen! He said that in 6 weeks (one change), I would need to do an exchange for 24 hours with every single Elder in my Zone and that for every exchange, I will be staying in my sector, LO PRADO 2, to show the missionaries in my Zone my sector and how I am having so much success. That's quite a responsibility President Essig and the Lord have put on my shoulders. It's gonna be tons of work, but I'm excited to serve and show missionaries how they can have even more success in their sectors and bring more souls unto Him!!

I am now with Elder Paiva from Argentina. He is the other Zone Leader with me (Zone Leader 2). I am also with Elder Jorge from Peru. I'm pretty excited for this change! It's gonna take all I've got!

Two of the new investigators from the week are children of a less active member (Francisca) that Elder Breed and I found. Basically everyone in that house is a member except for Javiera and Diego (the new investigator). Francisca's mom and Grandma also live in that house and they are members as well...yep, 4 generations living in the same house. Tight family! Javiera is so excited. In one of our visits this week Francisca told us about her time in the church and that she liked it a lot and that she is happy she got baptized...right after that, Javiera's like...Mom, I wanna get baptized too!! We're like sweet!!!!! Javiera has a date for the 29th of December. That's gonna be awesome!


Highlights/Thoughts for the week

I never got the Thanksgiving package....not sure if it's gonna come? Haven't gotten the Stewart's package either...

Interviews with President went really well. He just talked to me about what I'm doing to have success, how I'm doing in my sector, how my companion is doing, what I can do to be a better missionary etc.

Leo baptized Rafaella and our Bishop confirmed her

Stephen Horsley's are getting so big!

Right now I'm in Doctrine and Covenants 47. I also study information for our investigators during the week

Haha Dad only wishes he could be a missionary now!

Chileans don't celebrate Thanksgivng at all. I actually forgot it was Thanksgiving on Thanksgiving...working hard!

That's pretty sweet the picture Tarryn drew at the Church History museum for me

Both Tar and Tal have T-bird shirts on! GO AGGIES!

Good job Mama on being on top of my scholarship :)

Soooooo sick you saw the Jabbawockeez. I loved them!

Susana said she "talked" with you this week! Alejandra had a baby girl named Scarlett.

 

 

Baby Scarlett at church for the first time December 1, 2013

Seeing my 2 "sons" I trained at the Mission Home this week!

 

Elder Breed, Elder Jenson and Elder Diaz at the Mission Home December 2, 2013

Ya, so basically we've been able to change our sector in Lo Prado 2 to a gold mine!! We've been able to find so many people and it's so awesome. I'm so excited that I'm staying here in Lo Prado so I can see more and more of the fruits of all the hard work I've put in to this sector! I'm glad President can see it as well and he's not changing me around like crazy.

Elder Jenson and Elder Breed on their last day in Lo Prado 2 together as companions (December 1, 2013). "Elder Breed and I were able to turn Lo Prado 2 into a gold mine!"

Hope you all have a great week. Thanks for all your love, prayers and support. I don't have any more time left! So much to write, so little time.

Love,

Elder Jenson

RAFAELLA GOT BAPTIZED!

November 25, 2013

Hey Everyone!!!

 

Elder Jenson getting ready for the Open House in Lo Prado 2 Ward November 23, 2013

Ok, so I'm literally sooooo beat tired from so much work that Elder Breed and I did this week to get this sweet Open House activity ready, had interviews with Pres Essig, going and renewing my visa to be legal here in Chile (getting up at 6am instead of 730am like usual two days in a row), and also RAFAELLA GOT BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY!!!!! There was so much that happened this week!!

All I could think about this week was the activity and just hoping that the Lord would help us and we could just kill it. I think I used 150 minutes this week just calling everyone to plan and confirm everything for the activity. It was literally insane. I would lay in bed at night just planning and thinking about new or better ideas and then write them down so I wouldn't forget. Elder Breed and I had our Open House activity where we did tours of our church from 4-7pm! It was so awesome cuz every organization made a stand and display and presented what their organization was about for 2-3 minutes each. We had footsteps going from each organization room to another with different colors which was pretty entertaining. After that part of the tour we finished with a video of the Old Testament about the prophets which ended with the story of Joseph Smith. After the video, we took the groups to the cultural hall to show them all about the lesson pamphlets, mormon.org cards, family history, photos, reference table and obviously the food :) We were literally in the church from 8am til 11am cleaning so that it was all organized and presentable. From 11-1pm we put up all the stands and spent time finishing up odds and ends with the members. From 1-2pm we had a nice hour break to eat lunch. From 2-4pm we finished setting up everything with all the organizations, projector for the video on the stage, footprints etc. From 4-7pm was the activity. 25 NON-MEMBERS came to our activity and took the tour!!The members were pumped up because they said that an Open House had been done twice already but there had only been 4 or 5 visitors. This time it was 5 times that with 25 visitors. Hno Facondi (Bishop's 1st Counselor) told Elder Breed and I that there hadn't been a really well done activity from the missionaries in a really long time and thanked us for all our hard work. That was great!! After the Open House we cleaned up everything and got the baptism all ready to go. It went great and Rafaella was beaming!!! Elder Breed and  I stayed til 915 cleaning up everything and then we went to Rafaella's house to celebrate!! Amaro (Rafaella's cousin) took our tour at the Open House and saw the baptism and told us that because of the activity and baptism, he wants to be baptized as well!!! There's only two weeks left til Amaro's baptism!!!! Elder Breed and I are excited for him.

 

Elder Jenson, Rafaella, Leo and Elder Breed at Rafaella's baptism in Lo Prado 2 on November 23, 2013

On Sunday the Lord blessed us even more!!! Rafaella got confirmed and then there was the Primary presentation. When Sacrament was over I realized there was a mom (Veronica) and son (Benjamin) behind us that I didn't know. I went up to them and introduced myself. Veronica told me that she was a less active member but wanted to come back to church again. Benjamin really loved the Primary presentation and told me he was 9 years old. I asked him if he had been baptized a member of the church and he said that he hadn't yet...a few moments later in silence he was like...when can I get baptized?!?! I was like well we're going to pass by your house tonight to talk about that!! We did and Benjamin was literally waiting for Elder Breed and I on the couch. We talked about how baptism works and Benjamin accepted the 22nd of Dec. as his date for baptism!!! So sweet!!

 

 

Rafaella and her family support at her baptism on November 23, 2013 in Lo Prado 2

Thoughts/Highlights of the week:

Not sure if this is my last week in Lo Prado 2! Transfer week

Got my Christmas packages but still no Thanksgiving package :(

Good job Tar and Tal for your Young Women's talks :)

Love being a missionary!

Thanks for your prayers and support. I'm lovin life!


Hope you all have a great week. I love you all!!!

Elder Jenson