DH Alert

Elder Jensen to the home base,

Good talking to you familia. You all sounded good, especially Jake ;) That is the first and last time you'll ever see a smiley face in one of my emails. Merry Christmas everyone else. I'm doing great and I'm grateful for all your prayers. The work is soaring, probably in good measure due to your prayers. I love serving in the the land of the man and orc. I know that God lives. He loves you! Remember to "live today for eternity." Make sure your decisions today coincide with your desired eternal destination. Helaman 10:1-5 is wonderful. Love you guys. Arohanui! (Much love in Maori).

Elder Jensen

Christmas

Dear home bound people,

Elder Jensen here. Hi. Last week was a great one. Due to lack of time, I will quickly write many scattered thoughts.

Weekend before last: Funny as Kiribati boy, Tebuti Toareti, was baptized! He's 14 and loves fish and rice. Sarah Russell got baptized! That was a huge miracle, since she tried to back out the last week, but she felt the Spirit too strongly with a blessing and some lessons. I was so happy when she got in the font, I almost cried. Nah, not really, but it was powerful. She's 24, Maori, funny as, loves dogs. Solid convert! Matira Maney was baptized as well, just two hours after Sarah! Another crazy miracle, as the weeks before this she had been in Auckland for ages, even though she was set for last weekend for nearly a month. In a massive miracle moment, she decided drop smoking and other issues and get baptized. She is 48, Maori hard, and has a slightly insane son who tried to kill his brother last Monday evening (we witnessed attempted murder and called the cops! Cool -- he sat in on FHE the next night...). Our Punjabi Miracle Man, Gurpreet Dhoat, is getting baptized on Christmas Eve. It's going to be a white Christmas! This will be the first Christmas he ever celebrates. He's looking forward to it. He rode the bus with the ward for and hour and half to see the temple lights in Hamilton last weekend and when I asked him about it he said, in his choppy Indian accent and with a smile on his face, "Very good -- Holy Ghost." Score one for the republic! The wards are loving all the baptisms. It's a good feeling coming to church and seeing that a good portion of the congregation is made up of recent converts. We've had some pretty big trials this last week, but it doesn't really matter, because when we have a determination to do something, the Lord tests us to see if we're serious about it. In one or two days this weekend, we had two or three huge miracles finds and sets (for baptism) text us and say things like, "please delete my number" and "don't come around again" but then on Sunday we had members bringing four new people to church! Two of them are going to be getting the lessons within the week. Ether 12:6 very accurately describes my mission experience and I love it. What better way to grow.

I love you guys and I'm excited for Christmas to see everyone thinking even more about the Savior. Don't forget what it's really about and remember how much He loves you. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Love,
Elder Jensen

Windstorm Mania!

Hey Family and Friends,

Whoa! I love this windstorm business I'm hearing all about. I didn't even know you could have a "wind day" to get school off.... Were there any small children mistaken for birds in all the confusion? I've got to admit, I'm a bit jealous. We don't really have psycho wind like that here in Tauranga. Oh, and this is weird: Elder Walker's hometown also had a crazy windstorm. About the same kind of damage and wind speeds. Very cool.

So this week (technically it's a new week for me, but it's the end of the week for you guys so I will refer to my "last week" as "this week") has been miracle central. The Lord has worked some mighty miracles this week that we might be able to help more of our brothers and sisters to come home. There's so much I could talk about but I'll just mention a couple of things. Earlier in the week, we decided to try some former investigators that we found in our area book. We went to visit one named Ti, out  in Welcome Bay, whom neither Elder Walker nor myself had ever met (excellent grammar if I do say so myself). At the home we met this Tongan guy and asked if his name was Ti (we pronounced it "tie," since we weren't sure). He said yes, starting talking to us a bit, wasn't too keen (interested), then someone pulled up in a car and he told us to talk to her. She said the man's name wasn't Ti -- but he had a son named Ty. Turns out the lady in the car was a member who just moved in with this Tongan guy (her brother-in-law). We set up a time to come back, met the 11-year-old boy, Ty, taught him about baptism, and he accepted the invitation to be baptized on Christmas Eve! The best Christmas present in the world! We had been praying all day that day for someone to set for baptism and the Lord provided! And I don't know if you noticed, but the name in the area book was a woman -- a completely different person with no relation to these Tongan Maoris. We go to visit a former, the former doesn't live there anymore but someone else named Ty does, and members just moved into the household.... Coincidences like this don't just happen. I'll tell you why it did happen. Because Heavenly Father loves His children and wants them to be able to come back to Him and find the most happiness in this life. Of this I have no doubt. Countless times on my mission has He led me to those who are prepared for the gospel. And Ty is definitely prepared. He had great questions, picked it up quickly, prayed that night, read from the Book of Mormon, reminded his auntie to pray, then came to church the next day, despite his nan coming over that morning and talking trash on the church! I love that boy and I love the Lord.

I know I said a couple of miracles, so now let me show you another evidence of God's existence and His Hand in the salvation of souls. The Lord has definitely led me to people throughout my mission, but never has one been led to us like this: yesterday we were talking to heaps of people at a mall during our short break between church meetings, and these two young Punjabi (Punjab is in India) guys walked up to Elder Walker. He was talking to someone else, so they just waited for him to be done. I knew he had already talked to one of them a few minutes before so I didn't say anything. I was waiting for Elder Walker as well since we were going to be late for church -- five minutes till the Welcome Bay ward started. When he finished talking to the lady, the Punjabi man that Elder Walker had talked to before said, "My friend has a question for you." His friend, Gurpreet, then said, "Can I adopt Christianity?" Elder Walker and I thought about it for a bit and, after some private discussion, came to the conclusion that it would be acceptable for this young Indian to adopt Christianity. Not really -- we said of course and asked him what he was doing in five minutes. So he followed us to church, stayed for all three hours, loved it, and... accepted the invitation to be baptized on the 24th of December! Just so you know, Indians very, very rarely are baptized, in part due to the fact that some of them will be killed for doing so. As if this whole event wasn't a miracle enough.

I do know that God is real and that He cares for each of us. Each person matters to Him. Everyone has the potential to become like Him and so everyone needs to be treated as such. Why else would he go to such lengths to bring these people to us? I am grateful beyond explanation to be a missionary for Jesus Christ. I love Him more than anything and I will serve Him until there's nothing left of me. Seriously, I love this work. Thanks for all your support. I love you guys heaps. It's great to know that I have a whole army of support back home to reinforce me with prayers, letters, and packages. If I could ask just a little bit more, it would be that you strive to put the Lord first in your life and become like the Savior. For anyone lacking faith, I've got a million more stories I could tell you to try to prove to you that He's there and He loves you (write me about it and I swear on my little sister's black belt championship medal that I will write you back), but to really build your faith, go to church, study and ponder the Book of Mormon, pray with faith, and BE OBEDIENT to the commandments, "and [you] shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself."

Have a merry month! Talk to you next week.

Love,
Elder Jensen

Thanksgiving

Nov. 21

Dear Mum, Dad, Bro, Sis, Sista, aunties, uncles, cuzzies, Nan, Grandad, best mates, mates, malfactors, and others,

Good morning. It's another beautiful day in the Bay of Plenty. At the moment I'm sitting in an office in Papamoa, a couple of minutes from the beach, in a short-sleeved shirt with the door open, blowing a light breeze my way. The temperature is a lovely not-too-hot not-too-cold 75 degrees or so and the sun is shining. The plans for the day: do some shopping for the necessities, then do some golfing by Mount Maunganui and hopefully write some letters. Paradise? I think so.

But the best part is the rest of the week when I get to teach and preach as missionaries do.

Just went golfing and ate at Subway and now I'm back.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nov. 28

Ho ho holy cow, it's almost Christmas.

Can anyone believe I've been gone for almost a year? I can't. It's hot as here. It's not like Christmas back there.

Today we did a spring cleaning mission-wide and while Elder Walker and I were rearranging our flat, we found a "mould monster" under my bed. There have been some pretty fishy things going on the past few nights and we now know why. In our cleaning we also discovered that with the clothes left behind in the flat by missionaries finishing their missions, we dress an army of missionaries. We will burning them, the flat and the monster tonight. Nah, just kidding. But I've got a miracle for you! On Saturday, Kataraina Matiu was baptized. She was such a miracle and a testament that the Atonement works. She repented for her smoking, she fasted, and she quit! I know that my Redeemer lives! He lives!

I love you guys. Have a good week and forgive me for my short emails.

Love, Elder Jensen

Kia Ora

I was trying to think of a way to start this email, but I couldn't think of anything creative, so I'm just going to get into it.

I love being a missionary! It's the best. I got the Halloween package on Wednesday and it was mean. I like reading Lee's emails because they're so negative. He never says anything good. As far as I'm concerned, Portland is a terrible place. If this letter makes it to Elder Peterson, I hope you can find some success over there buddy.

I've got some pretty great news though: we saved a soul this weekend! Maya Rakatau received the Holy Ghost yesterday and it was awesome! She is the daughter of Layla Maungatai, our ward mission leader's wife. They're all baptized now! The whole family. Layla and Maya have been coming to church for three or four years now, but missionaries in the past just didn't ask them to be baptized. The Lord is preparing everyone around us and sometimes all we need to do is ask! We've already noticed a difference in Maya as she has prepared to baptized. It's amazing. True doctrine changes people. Really.

The other day Elder Walker was walking with someone on the sidewalk, talking to them about the gospel, when out of nowhere comes a pole! And he ran straight into it! It was funny as. I was talking  to someone else a little ways away, but I saw his head go backward, kind of like when someone throws their head back to laugh -- but I didn't realize he'd run into a pole till he told me later. Crack up.

I've had some powerful experiences this week as I've used the Book of Mormon to resolve concerns (mine and investigators') and borne testimony of the divinity of Jesus Christ. Heavenly Father knows His children and He really does understand all that we go through. As we read the Book of Mormon with a question in mind, the Lord will tell you "in your mind and in your heart" "all things what ye should do." I know that's true. I love the power of the Spirit. We had a lesson yesterday with the some recent converts' parents. It was funny because we usually go over there and teach the kids, but the parents had come to church to see the primary program, so we decided this is it -- we're gonna get 'em! So we went over to their house and asked Shari, Patsy, and Mike to join us in the lesson. They were a bit suspicious, asking what's going on. I'm sure there are some missionaries or RMs reading this right now thinking, "you dummies, why didn't you teach them earlier?" but it all works out. So anyway, we started teaching them about the Atonement using Alma 7:11-14 and they had great questions about all kinds of things. Haha, Shari is a crack up. She kept saying these words don't make any sense and that she got the hard verse! We explained it all and testified of Christ many times and talked about the Spirit and they were all saying things like, "Sometimes I just know things even though I can't explain why -- it just feels right" and "Is it ever a tingly feeling?" (that one was Shari haha). So yes, we smashed them with the Spirit and even though they had concerns they are all for praying and asking God if it's all true. Patsy was saying all these things like how her church was wrong making her get baptized as a baby without any choice (excellent), and Shari was excited as to pray -- she's never prayed before; crazy. She was asking all about exactly how you start the prayer and was writing it down. The moral of this jumbled story is that the Savior lives and has power to bring peace into our lives as we remember Him and keep His commandments! Nothing brings the Spirit more than the Book of Mormon testifying of Him and backing it up with our own testimonies. I love these Maori people and all the islanders and Indians that we teach! (White people not so good...). I love Jesus Christ and know that He will bring us happiness. I know this church is His and that it is the path back to His feet!

I love you guys too, and I want you to know that you all mean a lot to me. I'm grateful for the good examples that so many of you have been for me. Don't ever give up when times get hard! Even considering it makes things way too hard! Like a good friend once told me in a letter, the Savior is the only one who knows true loneliness, and He knew it for us.

My companion is awesome, I love the area, we're having some beautiful weather, the birds are chirping, and a new investigator from Fiji gave us 45 kiwifruits the other day! Life is good. Sabo!

Yours Truly,

Jelder Ensen

P.S. It's really Elder Jensen.

P.P.S. It took me ages to write all this. My companion has written a novel in the same amount of time. Fa!

Beautiful Sunny Days...

Hey people,

How's it? I'm doing great. Today I don't have any time so I pretty much won't write anything, the reason being that we helped Jared Reid -- a guy in one of our wards -- get everything together to head to the airport... for his mission! Mean! It was crazy because I could just picture it all almost a year ago when I was packing and going to the MTC and then to the airport and all the tears and the goodbyes and you all stayed in America while I headed to New Zealand... suckers! Haha nah, but it was cool seeing him say goodbye to his family and throw a few measly items in his one suitcase. He's the only member in his family and was baptized less than two years ago -- my third zone leader was the missionary that baptized him. I gave him a couple of shirts and other stuff and Elder Walker gave him some ties. Jared's the man! His testimony is solid as and he is going to work miracles. Missionary work = the best. P.S. He is serving in Singapore, so he'll be in the Provo MTC. Write him on dear elder if anyone has time!

This last week we had a trade-off with the assistants and I learned heaps. This work really is the Lord's work and success comes through Him. A.K.A. revelation. So Elder Walker and I have been focusing on seeking the promptings of the Spirit in literally everything we do. We had a powerful lesson just yesterday where the Spirit was annihilating this man, because of our listening to him and to the Spirit. My thought from that trade-off is this from Preach My Gospel: "Salvation cannot come without revelation." The Spirit will direct us in every aspect of our lives if we ask (pray), seek (study), and knock (act!).

Love you guys. Thanks for everything and I'm sorry again that I never write. I haven't had a normal P-day in ages. By the way, anybody who I now quickly write an email to, know that time is short and that's why I won't say much. Hugs and kisses. Fa! (See you in Samoan)

Love,

Elder Jensen

300 DaYs!

Elder Jensen has officially been out for 300 DaYs! 

(Thanks Ashley!)

Mine Eyes Have Seen The Glory of The Lord!

Dear Family and Friends,

It's amazing how much the Lord loves us! I think it was during my study today that I was thinking about how much He cares for just me. For just me, He would have nails thrust through His hands and feet over and over and over. For me, He bled from every pore. He sees the potential that I have, even when I don't understand at all. When I think of myself as just another person, like a grain of sand on the beach, He reminds me that I'm meant to become like Him. There is so much more than what we perceive. We just don't get it. I love the quote by President Uchtdorf I think:"The Lord of the Universe knows you." What's the best part of the gospel? To know that you are worth more than all the riches of the world.

This last weekend, I had the privilege of seeing another person get baptized. Layla said after the confirmation, "I feel clean." Six others in the zone were also baptized. A highlight was a family of three, Simeon and Charlene, and their daughter Nova. They're choice. I met them once on trade-off and I love them! The mission saved 149 souls in the month of october! Mean as. I love this work. Makes me feel really neat.

Lots of good stuff happened this week, but I can't remember very well because I still stink at writing in my journal. Elder Walker sang a nice version of "I Feel My Savior's Love" at the baptism. It was heart-warming. We retrieved a broken mirror in a room full of junk in the flat to write our investigators and potentials on (with markers), and while trying to mount it on the wall, I sliced my finger off... oh, I mean open, I sliced it open. It only took 14 stitches. Nah, it really didn't take any stitches. But it did hurt a little and I was laugh-screaming so I went to wash it off a little in the kitchen sink. Elder Walker thought it would be funny if salt got in the wound so he started chucking salt at me. Another day, he made me pancakes in the morning, then got in the shower, So I tried to make him pancakes, but I made them too thin, so he made fun of me. He told me I probably shouldn't try to make pancakes any more. I'm not a Canadian after all. We started something up in the zone called "BOMing our Preach By The Ways," which means to flip to random verses in the Book of Mormon when we talk to people on the street or when we knock a door. It's funny as! Sometimes you flip to some crazy scripture that you think is hopeless, but then somehow you relate it to the investigator and they ask for a Book of Mormon on the spot! This is true. I've had more people ask for Book of Mormons on the street in the past three days than in the three weeks before. The Book of Mormon is powerful! I hope everyone has read this book and is reading every day. I can promise you an increase of faith and greater satisfaction with your life if you do take time to seriously study this heaven-sent book each day.

We've got another investigator being baptized on the 12th of November! Her name is Maya. She is Layla's daughter. And Layla is our ward mission leader's wife. Which means... temple! In a year. Oh baby. Exciting. Also, Thomas and Roylene should be getting sealed in a year as well. He's the one who got baptized on the 22nd. I will still be in New Zealand for these, as well as the two or three others I've had on my mission so far! That means I will probably be able to go the sealings. Hope so anyway. By the way, I say "two or three" not because I can't remember, but because I'm worried about the faithfulness of one of the couples... I think I will write them and see how they are doing. I know I need to write many of you as well.....................

It's pretty green here. Lots of sun, and soon to be many scantily dressed girls as well with the ocean right by. We will just have to teach them the Law of Chastity, eh? The ocean is beautiful, but has some oil in it, due to some dummy who somehow crashed into the reef. "He is so dumb. D-U-M. Dumb." -Ashley Easton (Hi Ashley!)

Has it snowed in Utah yet?! It's wild that you get snow there. What's it like? It's the white stuff, right? Someone send me some...

I love you guys and hope you're all doing great! Thanks for reading.

Love with a passion,

Elder Jensen

I confess

Dear Family,

Yep, haha, I was called as a zone leader a couple of weeks ago. It wasn't that I cared if you knew; I just thought it would be funny to wait till you got the letter. It's a whole new experience. All missionaries in the mission have weekly planning on Friday mornings, where you plan for all of your investigators and evaluate each other and your teaching and relationship and stuff... blah blah blah. But now I don't have time for any of that because we have to plan for each of the missionaries in the zone and the districts and how we can improve things and reach our goals for the month, etc. It's really fun! The best. My companion is also a zone leader, unlike the district leader calling where you're all alone. It makes it a little more enjoyable, working together and trying to find ways to better the zone.

There are 14 missionaries in the Taurua zone, including myself and Elder Walker. Two districts with three companionships each. It's actually a smaller zone and in the past hasn't had heaps of success. Recently though, it's been on fire! I'm sure there will be many miracles to sure in the near future.

I should probably tell you a little about the week, eh? On Friday, we were preaching by the way and we saw a big group of people sitting in a garage. We went to talk to them and then out of nowhere someone brings a plate of food up to Elder Walker, followed by two chairs and my plate of food! We tried to deny it, but they didn't really listen. Partially, I think, because half of them spoke very little English -- they're from Nepal. I call them Nepalesians, but I don't know if that's right. Anyway, it was mean because they had these ring-lookin' things that were like donuts, called roti... maybe. Those were pretty good. But the potato dish was spicy as! It burned my tongue off. Really. It's not funny. I've been in the hospital for the past three days because of all the surgery to try to save my tongue. I'm typing this e-mail from my bed in room 105C. Someone is trying to pull the plug! --^---^------^-------------^------------------^------------------------------------------------------

            ---------------------------------------------                                         ... .- --       .... . .-.. .-.. ---

I'm typing the rest of this from the Spirit World. It's nice here. The prison foods is classy as.

We taught four guys from Punjab (that's in India) last night. We taught them some of the Plan of Salvation, they offered us tea, we said we don't drink it, they were confounded, we told them why, one of them said, "teach us more about Jesus!" and we said next time. It was really fun. It's not very often that we get to teach people without a Christian background. The Spirit was strong as we testified of Christ.

Two more people were baptized this week! Thomas and Roylene were married and Thomas was baptized right afterwards. I was a witness for marriage! I signed the papers and everything. We got them some cheap rings to use for the ceremony too. Haha. It was precious. Thomas is the man and they have both been really fulfilling to teach. This 12-year-old girl was the other one baptized. Her name is Braxton. She's off the walls and not shy at all. She's funny.

We helped paint a fence this morning. Now I have paint on me. It was nice. And sunny! I was roasting to a tender crisp. Mmm...

I love this work. I know it's the Lord's and He is there for us. I know my Father lives. This is where happiness is (John 13:17). Love you guys. Have a good week. Stay out of trouble.

Yours truly, unless your name is Elder Eric Pande,

Elder Jensen

Taurua!

Dear someone,

Hi. It's Elder Jensen again. Last week was a mean week. Lots of good stuff. Chakira Watts and Jayden Rawiri were baptized yesterday. I confirmed Jayden. It was great. Today we had this miracle lesson with this young couple who are supposed to get married this weekend, followed by the man's baptism. They have been fighting heaps and wanted to call off the wedding, so we went over to do some good ol' missionary marriage counseling! Of course the answer is Christ! Like always. It all started this morning when the woman called us at 5:00 am, then 5:30, then 6:04. By the third phone call, we were aware that someone was trying to make contact with us, so I was able to make it out of the room and answer the phone. She said that they had just gotten in a big fight and that the marriage was probably off. Flip. So we told her to read and pray, then went back to sleep for 20 minutes. That morning we prepared a good lesson for them about marriage and stuff, then had a powerhouse lesson! The Spirit smashed them and we got everything resolved. They will be getting married and the man getting baptized this Saturday at 10 am (the woman is a member). The gospel is the ultimate relationship fixer.

I love you guys. You're so good to me. There are heaps of other people who I could tell you about but I don't have too much time. I watch over a lot more missionaries now, so my weeks have been very preoccupied with how to help them. I've come to a very real understanding that life is about others. If you want to be happy in life, you need to figure out how to serve. Serve your butts off. Seriously, whenever I think about myself, I get depressed in no time, but when I rely on Heavenly Father and use my time to improve the lives of others, I am so much happier. Like with the lesson today -- I would easily give up P-days to have lessons like that every hour of the day! Thanks everyone for all your prayers and caring about me. I couldn't do this without you. This is true.

This is God's church. Really.

Regards,

Elder Jensen

P.S. JK that's so lame. "Regards..." See ya! Ofa atu!

Country!

Dear other humans,

I've finally been transferred into "the bush." Yes! First time out of the city. It's beautiful. I had forgotten that the landscape could rise and fall in various shapes and sizes known as "hills." And they're not made of concrete....

But yes, surprise, surprise. The transfer of the ages. I was not expecting it in the slightest. With the new training program, trainers are technically supposed to stay with their new missionaries for two transfers, a solid 12 weeks. Looks like the Lord has other things in mind. My new companion is Elder Walker, from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He's funny as. He's crazy. We get along pretty well. Finally someone who understands and correctly responds to sarcasm. He has been out for quite a while and I have learned a lot from him already. Should be a mean transfer. We're pretty pumped. The name of the zone I have been moved to is Tauranga/Rotorua, because there are two stakes. Fortunately, to accommodate the dyslexic, the name has been adeptly modified to Taurua. "There's no fear here in TAURUA!" We cover two wards: Mt. Maunganui and Welcome Bay. I have been very blessed, coming into the area with 13 people set with a date. A few of those need to have their date moved -- get things all worked out -- but there are still quite a few solid ones. This weekend there will be anywhere from six to nine people making that awesome first step through baptism.

I don't know too much about them yet. Sherie Dobson is getting baptized this weekend with her three kids, Trimane, Destiny, and Janae. They're 15, 13, and 11, I think. They're a great family who have made some huge changes in their lives. Chakira and Jayden, 9 and 11, are getting baptized this weekend. Chakira is annoying as. Haha, we were going over the baptismal interview questions with them and she just kept asking things like "Well, what if I WANT to drink iced coffee?" "What if I WANT to have kids before I get married?" Then when I finally got past that, she just "Yeah, duh, of course I won't do those things. They're dumb." Yeah. This 19-year-old, Thomas, might also get baptized this weekend, if he can get all the marriage papers worked out in time. Unlikely, but we'll see. He'll be marrying his less-active girlfriend, Roylene, who apparently refuses to pray with the missionaries. But she's cool. There's also one or two others for this weekend, but I haven't met them yet.

What else? Oh yeah, the weather is nice here. In Auckland it rains almost every day, especially during the winter, but down south in Tauranga it rains very little. One elder said it only rained once in the past six weeks. I might have heard that wrong, so don't quote me. Yesterday we were driving to contact a referral (I'm in a car now! Syck as. That's for you Megan.), but we saw a dude, so we halted and engaged in foot pursuit to proclaim the gospel. He wasn't keen on listening and unfortunately we walked with him for ages at a brisk pace. By the time our conversation came to an end, we were several hundred miles from the car... oh, no, sorry, that's meters... dang metric... just kidding metric is good.... So then we jogged back to the car and I was so sweaty! It was "hot as sin," as Elder Walker would say. It didn't help that I'm so fat now. I gained even more weight in South Auckland. Maybe the bushmen can straighten me out here Tauranga. Just kidding, there are no bushmen (but really, I suspect that they are amassing in hiding, waiting for the perfect time to strike -- I would guess Christmas day).

I love the dessert here. And the kumara. Excellent.

The work is great. And it shall press forward. General Conference was amazing. I loved all the talks about this great work and the huge role that each of us, young and not-so-young, play in expanding the Kingdom of God. Each calling is full of sacred responsibility and trust that our Father in Heaven has given us. Don't ever take it lightly. Remember, as President Eyring said, "I need your help." We all need each other's help. And Christ needs our help to strengthen our brothers and sisters. I love the Saviour and His gospel. Thomas Monson is a prophet of God. Your God knows you. He loves you. And so do I! Have a good week, and thank you for all you do. Thank you for your prayers!

Love,

Your friend, brother, nephew, cousin, fiancé (haha JK), compatriot in crime (haha not JK) (JK),

Elder Zachary Jensen.

Haven't Seen General Conference Yet

Dear Whoever is Reading,

This is Elder Jensen.

Copy.

Jensen to Utah.

Anyone there...?

Do you read?

Over.

Last week, aliens inva--- South Auckland.

Breaking up ---- does --- where ----

Good afternoon! This week has been a good one. Elder Hoffman and I focused on receiving revelation, especially through prayer. It's been very humbling to see the Lord's hand in the work. Both of our sets we ready to come to church, but after a half hour, they both weren't there. After much prayer, they showed up! It was a miracle.

I've been chastised a lot by the Spirit this last week. I've learned that I need to be a better leader and focus on the needs of each individual missionary in the district, just as much as I need to work on my own area. The district is doing better now than a couple of weeks ago. Sister Auva'a is finishing strong and Sister Leu wants to start the area off well. One elder is struggling, training a half deaf Tongan who speaks no English and feels discouraged from recent converts not coming to church. He's doing all he can, so I've been trying to encourage him. This work is hard!

That's part of my letter to President.

Good week. Love you guys. Bye.

I'm sorry if I'm the worst... JK LOL

Love,
Elder Jensen

Almost General Conference

Dear People,

 

It's almost October! I'm excited as for General Conference. We're so lucky to get to hear prophets of God speak to us. Lots of people hear are really surprised when we tell them that God has a prophet on earth today. They say, "I wish someone would've told me about that." Haha that reminds me of other times when we talk to people on the street and they say they have been praying for direction in their lives. And we tell them we have this wonderful message, and they "No thanks, I'll just wait for God to answer me."

 

This last week was very good. So spiritual. This morning our P-day was interrupted by an investigator -- Tuati -- needing a blessing for gout in his knee (yes, gout, again). His less-active partner, Maryann, asked if we could come give him one. Of course, Heavenly Father, with His sense of humor, gave us this opportunity along with another one last week because we had been talking about it a lot. It made me think of a quote from a dude: "Power is in the area of focus." Also, "that which holds your attention, determines your actions." Heavenly Father gives to us according to our desires, whether it be "unto life or unto death." That's just something I have found really amazing. The things that we focus on will be granted unto us. Another example: we focused a lot last week on inviting the Spirit more into the day, and then the week was filled with powerful lessons where we were able to help people with their concerns through the Holy Ghost.

 

Anyways, though, we went to give this blessing this morning. It was Elder Hoffman's first time! With the sealing part at least. It was awesome. He really followed the Spirit. After the blessing, Tuati (Cook Islander) said he felt warmth around his head, which left right after he finished the blessing. It was powerful. We're really close to helping him commit to a baptismal date, too. He's funny. Heaps of Cook Islanders seem to be funny. Not sure what that is all about. One of the counselors to the bishop in Chapel Downs ward -- his name is Brother Tamatoa -- is this funny as Cook Islander who is so hard to read. You can never tell what he's thinking, but he always seems to be laughing about something. Crazy islander laugh. No offense to islanders -- ofa atu, alofa atu, I love you!

 

Emmily Marsters (another Cook Islander) was baptized this last weekend in Chapel Downs ward! It was good. She has a powerful testimony. And I'm sorry I didn't write a mass e-mail last week, but a 9-year-old named Angel Kiro was baptized the week before, on the 17th. She really is an Angel. She's so smart, and funny. Love her haha. For her baptism, we had to throw the whole thing together really quickly because our Ward Mission Leader disappeared. Good Stuff. Sorry, I would love to write more, but I'm pretty much outof time. I need to write my mission president.

 

I eat heaps of taro, if anyone ever wants to look that up. And chicken. Love you guys. Have a good week.

 

Love,

Elder Jensen

 

P.S. It's getting warmer. Also, Mom, Thanks so much for the package! The best! The trail mix is almost gone after only five days...And what's this about the Darth Vader mug? And the Packers jumper is mean! I've been wearing it like all the time I can. Thank. You. Love. You.

.

Dear Family and Friends,

Hello!

I have been a little depressed for the past couple of days. I don't know why. It is just so hard to think that I'm supposed to be the example for all these missionaries, and it seems like I'm constantly messing up and doing everything wrong. Then I realized something: the Lord was still blessing me with so many good things. Ivory was baptized just over a week ago, two others in the district were baptized on Saturday, and one investigator (named Tawera; that's Ta-wa-duh) we are teaching just stopped smoking cold turkey on Friday -- the longest he has ever gone without a smoke, I think. He's also planning on getting married on the day of his baptism on the 24th and felt the Spirit for the first time last week and is consistently reading the Book of Mormon. We also got a call from a member this week around 9 pm, asking us to come baptize her niece! My realization was that the Lord does what is best for us. He lets us go through trials and rough times to "test the cords of our faithfulness." So often we just have to endure. When we don't quit and have conscious faith that the Lord willalways provide something better, we can make it through the hard times and be happy. There is so much good in life. We must look at how much we have, and then more frequently turn to the Lord in prayer, "that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul" (2 Nephi 32:9). The Lord does hear our prayers and that prayer quite literally can "turn the [spiritual] night to day." Also, lots of the time our prayers need to be focused on understanding what Heavenly Father wants us to pray for, not what we want. When we do that, we are happy. I had been praying for revelation to understand why I felt so terrible and why I felt like my investigators were all being "lost to the wayside," then this morning, in comp study, just as we were about to study something to fill the time, we listened to the Spirit and instead felt a need to study the chapter of Preach My Gospel about the Book of Mormon. In fifteen minutes, we thoroughly smashed a section of the chapter and I felt confirmation that this is what my investigators need: more Book of Mormon! Revelation comes through all sorts of channels, but we should certainly be seeking it every day.

I'm happier now. Sort of haha. I just had the wonderful opportunity of correcting the behavior of several of the missionaries I serve, which is tough. But I know that I'm doing the Lord's work and that He wants me to help my brothers and sisters.

I've also been thinking about 9/11. That was actually yesterday for me, but today for America. In the past couple of days, I ran into this one scripture several times in the scriptures and kind of wondered what the Lord was trying to tell me. After coming to understand that it was partially for the district, I also see that it applies to this day. The scripture is "inasmuch as ye will keep my commandments, ye will prosper in the land." That's America! Yep. It is going to continue to go donwhill if it soesn't get its morals straight, but that's exactly why we need to be examples to those around us. I love America and I love all you guys and I'm grateful for all your prayers and letters! Thank you!

Love you heaps.

Elder Jensen

P.S. All-Blacks! Hoorah.

On a side note from his sister, Whitney, today in my student ward I met a kid who served in the mission with Zach and had great things to say about him! It was so great and I was excited! I really wanted to just give him a huge hug, but I did not! :)

Another week

Dear everyone,

 

Good morning. Or evening or whatever. I hope everyone is doing well. I'm doing alright. We had this miracle last week. I can't remember if I told you about this 17-year-old Maori girl named Ivory. We started teaching her over a month ago -- Elder Naicker and me -- and set her to be baptized the first lesson. Then Word of Wisdom issues got in the way. But at the beginning of last week, she texted us and told us she was done smoking because she wanted to do the right thing and be baptized that weekend. Then she was baptized on 3 September! It was amazing. She's a really happy girl, full of the Spirit.

 

The rest of the week was tough, as we have had some sets fall through or bring up big concerns. I honestly have no idea what to do for some of them, but we'll figure it out with the help of the Lord and the members.

 

The district that I watch over -- Manurewa District -- is doing amazing. Last night, two additional sets were reported, as well as over twenty new investigators for two companionships. I'm so blessed to be the district leader of such capable and humble missionaries. Haha the funny thing is that I don't really do anything. They just tell me about all these miracles and I just get really excited.

 

Elder Hoffman, my new companion, is doing great. He loves the work and we were able to witness many miracles the first week he came in. He's pumped and expects a lot from the Lord and himself. We've got some good goals to work with the wards more and save more souls.

 

Last night I left the keys in the flat so we had to break in. Haha. It's okay though, since people broke into it a couple of months ago -- I had the way prepared for me.

 

I love this work, but it's so hard. So often I just want to give up. That would be so much easier. But I guess that's exactly what we're teaching our investigators and the less-actives and the recent converts -- life is about enduring in faith and optimism. Haha, wow, I just got an email from my dear brother right as I typed that last sentence and he quoted Alfred: "Endure." The Lord's kingdom is one of second and third witnesses, so to those that feel like life is too tough, follow the admonition of Paul: we hope to be able to endure all things. Thanks for that, Jake.

 

The work will not be stopped. Love you guys heaps. More and more every day. I am so thankful for all your prayers. Please keep them coming!

 

Love,

Elder Zach

Almost September. Back in school. Fall looming ahead. Already?

Dear Family and Friends,

Hey, it's Elder Jensen. In New Zealand. On my mission. What are you guys up to? I'm exhausted. All that I keep thinking is endure till it gets better. If there's any pattern I have noticed on my mission, it's that Heavenly Father tries and tests us then He blesses us. The challenge is to not give up or lose faith until it gets better. It will. It always does.

So I'm training now. It's pretty ridiculous. On his first day, my new missionary, Elder Hoffman, from Layton, Utah, invited two people to be baptized! I didn't do that till probably my third transfer. He has a girl that is writing him and he talks about her quite regularly. Haha. It's funny. We're pretty different, Elder Hoffman and me, but it just gives me heaps of room to grow.

The next lesson that we had with one of the guys Elder Hoffman invited to be baptized -- his name is Tawera -- was mean. We had asked him to pray about the date that we set for baptism -- the 24th of September -- so we followed up in this lesson. He said he prayed three times, once sitting down, once on his knees, then once on his knees out loud... and nothing! He said he prayed for some kind of sign that that was the date he was supposed to get baptized and he didn't get or feel anything. But then he started to smile and kind of laugh and said that he did, however, randomly turn to a scripture right after praying: Alma 32:17 (and some other verses before and after verse 17). You should all go read that one haha. It was funny. We helped him recognize that as his answer and now he's planning on being baptized on that date. It was a miracle. God answers.

Elder Hoffman said he is loving things so far -- we've had some powerful lessons and I've been blessed to have acted on the promptings from the Spirit to find people in need. I'm glad I've been able to help him establish great expectations for his mission and I hope to continue the learning. I've also learned heaps. When we study the things the Spirit directs us to study and do so by the Spirit, diligently, Heavenly Father rewards us with the opportunity to apply our studies throughout the day or week. This isn't just for missionaries. It's why it is so important to study the Gospel every day.

Since I have been on my mission, Auckland has had a tornado, snow, and an earthquake (a small one), none of which have ever happened or at least haven't happened for decades. The summers are getting hotter and the winters colder. Something big is going to happen soon, and I'm excited! Haha I love this work and I'm grateful for everyone's support. I want to apologize to anyone that I have let down or said something stupid to. I'm really trying my best to be all that I can and to be more like Christ. I'm sorry for times when I've been prideful or appeared to look down on others. You can slap me around when I get home.

I love you guys. Thanks for everything. School's back in! Have fun! Use this time while you have it to learn and grow. Don't take for granted the amazing opportunities you've been blessed with.

Lastly, everyone is a child of God. Really. Try to look at people like that. You knew these people before this life. And you knew there would be challenges. Try to understand each other. Be patient. Open your heart to those around you. Love ya. Bye.

Elder Jensen

Monday Again

Bula family and friends!

 

That's hi in Fijian. This week, I experienced the coldest day in the history of Auckland. About 33 degrees Fahrenheit. Crazy hail during personal study. Even though I know that 33 degrees is not too impressive, it was cold! In my defense, we were biking around in it, and it started to rain. And I lost one glove a few weeks ago, so I stuck that hand in my pocket. It's really good I learned how to ride with no hands. It's quite useful. Sorry for not writing last week. I was short on time. The Rugby World Cup is coming to New Zealand in just a couple of weeks. I'm not entirely sure what is going to happen with the missionary work considering that the population of New Zealand is estimated to double for the momentous occasion. Heaps of referrals for other countries I guess.

 

This was probably one of the best weeks of my mission. I was witness to so many miracles. We found Rose, Cheryl, and Jason, taught them, and committed them all to be baptized in September. The real miracle was the fact that they really warmed up quickly to us, they knew from high school some of the fellowship we brought over, and they came to church just a few days later! They loved it. On Saturday, some of their family was teasing them for preparing to be baptized and said (in a nasty kind of way), "You're gonna be a Mormon? How do you even know the Mormon book is true?" To which our new investigators answered, "Because we prayed and God told us." Yeah.

 

We also taught this 19-year-old girl named Emmily for the first time and on Saturday and she told us she has been reading the Book of Mormon every day for two weeks and loves it. She talked about how so many people think they know God, but they don't, and when you read this book, you really come to know God and understand His plan for you. When we asked if she had tested Moroni's promise to pray and ask God if the book is ture, she said she had and she just felt this amazing feeling going through her -- like a shiver, but really warm. She knows it's true. We committed her for the same day as Rose, Cheryl, and Jason. She's golden.

 

And Leeanne Epiha was baptized! She went through so many trials, but by the power of the Holy Ghost we were able to discern all her concerns and teach according to them and help her to enter into the covenant of baptism on the 19th of August. She's really an inspiration. She loves the Gospel and will go so far. She has given up everything to make it where she is now. She has got great fellowship and should remain active. I'm so happy for her. I was privileged to baptize her and felt the power of the priesthood flowing through me as I raised my arm to the square, then baptized her. Seriously, it is so cool to baptize these repentant people! You can feel God's power as you speak His words.

 

Finally, I have some interesting news. I found out a week and two days before transfers (this Thursday) that I will be training a new missionary! I will be among the first to train according to a new 12-week program instituted by the First Presidency. I'll admit, I'm so nervous. I couldn't believe it when President told me over the phone. Being a district leader has already been stretching me to what I thought was my max. It's surprisingly difficult to help others become better missionaries. Now I get to train a brand new missionary. I'll be the one he looks to for obedience, teaching, finding, following the Spirit, everything. If you can't tell, I've been stressed. But I know that as we rely on Heavenly Father, He'll increase our capacity to handle anything that is thrown our way. It's amazing actually -- I don't think I ever mentioned this, but a few months ago, when I was struggling to become the missionary that Heavenly Father wants me to be, I prayed fervently several times that He would help me to become whatever He wants me to be and that He would trust me enough to put me in any position in this mission. I asked Him to make me more. In a few short months, He has changed me. I love this work and the Gospel and I know that as we just try to magnify our callings and strive to understand His will, we can become powerful tools in His hands.

 

I love you guys. I'm thankful for everything you've done for me and for the examples you've been. This email took me ages to write. Haha. I'm tired. I hope someone takes something from this email that will help them in their lives. Have a good week.

 

From the land next to the land down under, and with love,

Elder Zachary Jensen

Trunked out of your minds. And the priesthood.

Hello Family,

Do you know what trunky means? Let me fill you in. It's a missionary term, meaning looking forward to going home, or thinking about home, etc. You guys are so trunky! I'll come home when my mission is over, and then I will think about home-related things, but right now I'm busy serving the Lord. A couple of people said see you in 17 months! I didn't even know that's how much time I had left! I love getting letters and packages and emails, but you don't need to be trunky! I miss all of you, like you miss me. We all know how much we miss each other. So let's just leave that out of correspondence. Deal? Okay, thanks.

In other news, I want to tell you all a story about a young 25-year-old girl named Leeanne who I am pretty sure I told you about last week. She has made amazing progress. She came to church yesterday for the second time. She is really excited to be baptized, but has problems with the Word of Wisdom. At first she had some pretty strong addictions to smoking and drinking. So we taught her about the Atonement and faith and all this other good stuff. And she hasn't had a drink in two weeks! That's what we in the New Zealand Auckland like to call a miracle. The smoking, however, is still a problem. She has cut down heaps, but is still having trouble with it. She understands that smoking -- even if only just a little -- will keep her out of the Celestial Kingdom, so she is doing her very best to quit. She has made goals and plans to stop and is sticking to them. Her little girl, maybe five years old, is always there for the lessons, and one day, as she was getting out of the car to go to school, Rangi (the daughter) asked Leeanne, "Mommy, when are you going to stop smoking?" The influence of a child is powerful. Leeanne asked if she wanted her to stop and Rangi said yes. A couple of days ago, I went on tradeoff with a zone leader and President Lekias (he wanted to come see our teaching -- sweet haha) to a lesson with Leeanne. She was crying because she had just been in a fight with her sister, so we taught her about the power of faith in Jesus Christ to heal all kinds of pains and afflictions. We then talked about the Priesthood and its ability to heal addictions (using Matthew 10:1), and offered her a priesthood blessing for the smoking. The Spirit was so powerful in the room as I asked her who she would like to give her the blessing. With this look in her eyes, like, "duh, who do you think?" she pointed at me and said, "you." With the mission president and Elder Nipko, I gave a spirit-filled blessing. As I finished, President asked Leeanne how she felt, and she said she felt some kind of shiver going down her spine and felt amazing. I know she will make it to the waters of baptism. She and her daughter will be sealed together someday, with a worthy priesthood holder. And they will have the opportunity to live forever in the presence of their God.

I testify that the priesthood is real. It can heal and comfort and bless. Coupled with faith, the priesthood works miracles. The Atonement is for us. No addiction, temptation, or mistake can stand against the power of the Atonement to heal us and give us strength to resist and become stronger and move forward every day. Jesus Christ has felt it all. Please don't let the priesthood go to waste. Most -- if not all -- of you who will read this email have the amazing privilege of knowing many priesthood holders. If you need help, with anything, please ask for a blessing. And it will "heal the wounded soul!" I can promise you that, out of experience.

I love the gospel. I have been healed so many times before. It hurts me when I hear people say, "I need to get my life in order first, then I'll go back to church" or "I don't feel good enough to go to church." Heavenly Father is there to help us and get us back on the path to eternal life! Ignoring that help is a manifestation of pride at its greatest. Please don't "rely on the arm of flesh." I love you. Each of you. Don't be trunky!

Love,
Elder Jensen

P.S. Leeanne was texting me, asking me about words from the Book of Mormon, as I was writing to you about her! Solid!

Tarzan Part 2

Hey,

 

I'm back. We had to sign up for more computers and wait. We went and got some fish and chips and burgers while we waited. Fish and chips shops riddle this country. They're everywhere. It's good though, and unhealthy. They deep-fry pretty much everything. We had deep-fried candy bars the other day. Haha. Those feel they're going straight to your arteries.

 

I was talking about Alex and Ivory. Yeah, they're amazing. And I love them. Alex just seems like she's been through a lot of hard times with her partner. She almost looks wounded all the time. But the Spirit is healing her. I can see the hope on her face. They came to church yesterday and had a meeting with bishop at Anaru's request (he wanted to repent). After the meeting, we asked them how it went and Alex said, "Good... ... ...I think it's all going to happen. We're going to get married." Beauty, eh? We're excited for them. And I think Alex is really excited for Anaru to give up smoking and drinking and whatever else. I'll keep you posted on them. Oh and they have this cute little three-year-old girl named Persaeus. Haha during Prophet of the Restoration she kept yelling "BOO!" from behind me, then laughing heaps. She's funny. I so badly want them to be sealed as a family.

 

There were other miracles, too, like the fact this one girl we're teaching, Sally (15), has been coming to church for a while now with her friend and is now so involved that they ask her to give talks and stuff in young womens. She sent us a mass text once with the steps of repentance in it.... The only thing stopping her from being baptized is parental permission. Flip, Elder. That's what I think about parents who won't let their kids partake of the blessings that come from making your first covenant with Heavenly Father.

 

We taught this girl named Leeanne (22, I think) for the first time about a week and a half ago while on tradeoff with the zone leaders. She accipted the invitation to be baptized, but was very hesitant. In the next lesson with Elder Naicker and a fellowship that our Ward Mission Leader recommended, we read Moroni 10:3-5 with her, and asked her what she thought she lacked to receive an answer. She said probably a sincere heart and real intent. Since then, our fellowship has taken her to activities and institute, read 1 Nephi 1 with her, and, most importantly, helped her get to church! Leeanne is now progressing like crazy! She loved church, she has been reading the Book of Mormon every day, and she strongly desires to be forgiven of her sins though repentance and baptism. Don't ever underestimate the ability that each one of you has to help instill desire and faith in your friends and family. Use it or lose it. Use the gifts that God has given you to bless others, or He will take it away. That's a promise.

 

I love all of you so much. It's so good to hear from you, and I'm sorry for my failure to respond to many of you. Please don't think I care about you any less.

 

Because I think some of you have been using the address that you are supposed to send only packages to, I'm including the mission address for letters:

Elder Z. Jensen

New Zealand Auckland Mission

PO-Box 33-840

Takapuna, North Shore City 0622

New Zealand

 

Thanks for all the letters! I got a few just this week from our Finnish hero Vahnin Pope and the wily Mac. Thank you!

 

You should be growing closer to the Savior every day. That's something that I can't stress enough. Never let a day go by where you don't act on a prompting of the Spirit. Keep enduring cheerfully and in faith and the Lord will bless you and your families!

 

Love,

Elder Zachary Jensen

 

Tarzan

Dear Megan, Lil' Jake, Brother Jacob, Whitney, Mother, Father, and other family and friends,
 
Good afternoon! Almost evening for you. It's a nice sunny day in South Auckland. This morning, as we were about to leave the flat, Elder Naicker pointed out to me that I had a couple of small holes in my pants, in the back. I honestly don't know how long I've been proselyting with those.... I got them all patched up though, thanks to Elder Naicker's iron-on patches. You want to know the beauty of missionary work? Everything you own seems to fall apart relatively quickly, and you don't get clothes dry cleaned for one to two years (still haven't). It's enjoyable. No really, it's good fun.
 
This week has been one of many miracles, especially the end of the week. The first half seemed to be going very slowly with not much happening, but I realized as I accounted to one of my leaders in mid-week accountability that I hadn't been doing what I'm supposed to. I was teaching and talking to everyone, but I wasn't inviting with as much boldness and faith as I should. The next day, Elder Naicker and I invited six people to be baptized! Heavenly Father then blessed us with all six accepting the invitation -- two set with a date -- and many investigators at church. In one of our wards (we cover two), there were many new faces, some of them our investigators and some visitors. Some people in the ward even approached us, excited about all the new people, and we think that this will really help the ward to get moving and help us with the work. They've had relatively few baptisms this year, so we think they were just discouraged. The work moves forward without the help of the members, but only at a fraction of the pace that it could with member involvement. Help out the missionaries! It brings blessings to them, to you, and to those you help to share the gospel with.
 
Earlier this week we found this part member family while talking to everyone on the street. They invited us over because the less-active guy, Anaru, wanted to get back into church, and his nonmember partner, Alex, was really interested in eternal families. We went and taught them and their niece, Ivory, on Friday and had a powerful Restoration lesson! As we were talking to them at the beginning, Ivory (17) said, "I want to get baptized!" Haha yes! We taught from the scriptures and testified of the truthfulness of Moroni's promise in chapter ten. You could see Alex and Ivory just glowing with the Spirit. We trusted in Heavenly Father and invited them to be bapized on the 20th of August. Ivory eagerly accepted with a huge smile, and Alex accepted more hesitantly, saying she'll have to pray and come to church and see how it is. The next day, we watched the Prophet of the Restoration (amazing movie!) and the Spirit was so thick I nearly passed out. Nah, but it was another powerful lesson. We taught nearly everything in the missionary lessons -- Restoration again, temples and the Spirit World, faith, repentance, baptism, the Holy Ghost, Word of Wisdom, and Law of Chastity. Haha, I know, crazy huh? No way, because we followed the Spirit and did everything we could to prepare them for the trials ahead. Ivory just loved everything. Alex said she believed Joseph Smith was a prophet because she felt it. She described her feelings as warm and tingly. The Holy Ghost! We committed them for baptism again and they full-heartedly accepted. It was just a testimony strengthener.
 
Out of time. I'll be back soon in a few minutes to tell you the rest.
 
Elder Jensen
Much love

I dunno

Oh Darling, I love you so. Where are you? Post this on the blog!
Hey Family,
 
Sorry, four minutes today. This week we had a wedding and a baptism of a guy named Willy who has been investigating the church for seven years. He has heaps of faith and is an inspiration. We have another guy set to be baptized this Saturday. He received a blessing from the missionary before me to help him quit smoking about three weeks ago and he hasn't felt an urge to smoke since. So we taught him about the power of God and how this church is the only one to have it and helped him to see how anything is possible with faith. At the end of that lesson, he was very excited to be baptized.
 
I Love the Gospel and more than anything I know that God answers prayers. Love you all!
 
Love Elder

Ps. Also just a little small fact, because of one of Zach's friends, Ashley who is waiting for Zach's other friend Lee, and because Lee and Zach left on the same day, we know that Zach has been gone exactly 200 days and there is only 530 days left to go. A small dent in the process, but a dent nonetheless!

New Stuff. Heaps of it.

Hey!

 

So quite a lot has happened since last week. It's pretty exciting and I'm doing a lot better in terms of back and sickness. Mother, if my back was bad, you know I would have told you more about it. A physio is like a doctor's clinic -- sort of -- and she basically just massaged my back, gave me exercises to do, occasionally did acupuncture, and once did this other thing that I have some pictures of (which I should send today, given I have time). Cool though, huh? Acupuncture. Sweet as. Oh, and I just pulled a muscle or something playing basketball. And about being sick, I did take the antibiotics, and it worked well (unless time just healed it... which is what I'm pretty sure happened... medicine... psh).

 

I got transferred! Already! On Thursday. Elder Cunniffe and I were saying how it would be funny if I moved across the road to this other area in another zone called Chapel Downs/Clover Park. But we were thinking that's unlikely because he had already been in Tangaroa for four and a half months, so he'd probably be the one to be transferred. Tuesday night, talking to President Lekias about interviews for some investigators, and at the end of the call he says, "One more thing Elder Jensen." Uh oh... (just kidding, I'm a good boy!) "We are calling you to be a district leader in the Manurewa District" (across the road haha). So now I'm a district leader. It's so time-consuming. I have no time to write in my journal, barely have time to eat, and my prayers now include four other elders AND their investigators. It's awesome though! I love it. It's giving me a greater appreciation for leaders in the church and mission and for Christlike attributes. I have also been double-shifted with Elder Naicker into this new area with two wards (double-shift is where both missionaries are new to the area, so neither knows it already). So the latter half of this week has been a huge challenge and such a blessing! I have already felt inadequate, which has caused me to rely more on the Lord. Life is good right now! I love this work and these missionaries and these people of New Zealand.

 

Because my three investigators were being baptized across the road in Tangaroa, I got permission to go to the baptisms. John and Neashia got married right before, then John and Moe got baptized! It was awesome, even though I didn't actually get to see them go in the water (too many people). Unfortunately, Neashia didn't get baptized because her mom decided to go psycho, telling her essentially, "you were born a Catholic, you're going to die a Catholic." It was one of the saddest things I have ever seen. So I took Elder Naicker with me into a side room and asked if I could pray for her. Awesome Fijian Indian that he is, he said of course (he's already my favorite companion). I prayed for Neashia and for understanding. All I can tell you is that the power of God is real. He comforted me beyond what any person could have done. He did help me understand and the calming influence of the Spirit overwhelmed me. He's there. He listens. HE ANSWERS. Of this I testify, my wonderful friends and family.

 

Elder Naicker and I are excited nearly out of our minds to work in this area. This is his first time in the city (been out nine months -- first comp to be out less than a year and a half...) and he likes it a lot. We have already been privileged to invite two souls to be baptized and look forward to inviting more. We came into the area with one already set for this Friday (22 July). His name is Willy and he is keen as. He has a powerful testimony and I'm so blessed to be able to witness his marriage and baptism and help him with his final preparations for baptism. I love him already. We also have a guy named Pui set for the 30th of July. He will take some work, but he has a testimony of priesthood blessings and the reality of this work. One more guy Steven, set for the 13th of August, is awesome and keen to be baptized. I love them all!

 

The gospel is amazing and saves and changes lives. I'm so grateful to be His servant. I love you guys and thank you Lee and Heather for the inspiration! Bye!

 

Love, Elder Jensen

New Mission President

Hey everyone,

 

How are you all doing? I'm doing pretty well. I'm kind of sick again. It's really annoying. So yeah, I'm kind of just dealing with that today.

 

I wish I could have heard Matt's homecoming talk. Sounds like it was amazing. I wish I could talk to him and get some advice or something. It's really incredible how much I have learned since I have been out and yet so often I still feel like I don't know anything, so any help I can get is much appreciated. Yesterday we had a pretty terrible first lesson with this Filipino woman, and our member freely chastised us for it. So I'm working on my "How to Begin Teaching" skills. Man, Preach My Gospel is probably one of the best tools on the planet.

 

Holy guacamole, I think I am falling asleep.... I took some medicine this morning and it seems to be knocking me out, while at the same time not getting rid of the cold. It's okay though, because I am now better understanding that every trial or challenge we face in life is just a means of Heavenly Father blessing us more. Every time something threatens to impede our progress here in Tangaroa, shortly thereafter miracles bombard us. For example, we pretty much had only three investigators for the past two or three weeks, so we just kept talking to everyone and doing our best to find more. Honestly nothing seemed to be happening. Then this week, we hit a nice goldmine of 12 new investigators and two new sets, one for this month and one for August. I'm so tired.... It was a great week. I'm dying here.... Probably one of the highlights of the week was something that happened yesterday.

 

I've been trying to convert the physio that I see for my back, but not having much success.

 

This lady who hates us with a passion told us how wrong we are partly because of this: she proceeded to show us a picture of an egg she once found with another egg inside of it. "See?! It's an egg inside of an egg! Don't you get it?" I still don't get it....

 

Yesterday we called Moe's wife (Moe is set for this coming Saturday) to see if Moe needed a ride to church. He has been suffering from gout, some kind of condition that apparently feels like a screwdriver is being wedged into your bones, and Alisha (his wife) was doubting that he'd be able to come to church. So, starting Saturday night, we fasted that his foot would be healed. When we called in the morning, Alisha said he wasn't coming to church (devastation!), and -- to make matters worse -- she said he wasn't interested in learning anymore. To be frank, this blew our minds. So, tying to ward off discouragement, I prayed for nearly the whole five-minute walk to his house that I would receive understanding and peace. We knock on the door, and guess what -- he's standing there in his church clothes and a half-grin plastered across his Cook Island face! Wait, are you coming to church? Yeah, of course. What about your foot? It feels fine. Barely hurts at all. But Alisha said.... (jovial laughter) Yeah, I was messing with you guys. Miracle! Haha, Alisha wouldn't even turn around from her breakfast to face us.

 

The moral of that story is that Moe is hilarious and that fasting works! The fast was answered light speed! His foot was healed that morning! My testimony of fasting has just exploded from this experience. If you fast in specifics and with faith, you will be able to accomplish so much more than is possible with just prayer. Just like when the twelve apostles asked Christ why they couldn't cast out a certain unclean Spirit and He told his them that some evil spirits can only be cast out with "much fasting and prayer." I can see this to be true.

 

I love being a missionary. No where else can your faith grow like it does in the mission field. To anyone who is considering a mission, please search the words of the prophets, ponder them, and pray about it. Make sure you're doing the right thing. If you should go on a mission, He will tell you.

 

Nothing in this world is more important than living the Gospel of our Lord right now. Please don't put it off. If you don't have the testimony to live it, then read and pray until you do. I promise it will come. If it doesn't, feel free to beat me to a pulp in a year and a half. I'm so grateful for all your support -- your letters and especially your prayers. I love my Savior. He lives. He knows me. He knows you. He's waiting for you. You will have to stand before Him someday sooner than you think. I believe that with all my heart. I hope I come back (in a couple of years) to valiant soldiers in His army, who "can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth [them]" (Philippians 4:13).

 

Love you family and friends. Sorry if this e-mail was lame or didn't make sense -- I think i'm partly under from the meds. See ya soon.

 

Your NZAM Elder,

Jensen

I forgot to mention that there is a new mission president, named President Lekias. Good man.

 

And I have three baptisms and a marriage this weekend: John and Neashia (married and baptized), and Moe (baptized).

 

Okay, I think that's all. Well... bye.

 

Edler Nesnej

Independence day

Fellowcitizens,

 

It's a good day here in Auckland. It's kind of freezing and I almost forgot it was the Fourth of July. The only reason I remembered was because an American member in our ward mentioned something about rootbeer yesterday. Okay, is that a thing? To have rootbeer on the Fourth of July? I can't remember that ever being a big thing. I mean, I know we have rootbeer floats sometimes, but I didn't think that was an American thing. Apparently it is. I haven't had rootbeer since the MTC. How sad is that? Not that sad. But still.

 

To be honest, some people overuse the phrase, "to be honest." I sometimes feeling like saying to them, I do not think that phrase means what you think it means.

 

This week wasn't too bad. We have been meeting with our sets for the 16th of July -- John; Neashia, John's partner (I know, it's a disgusting word and the plague of NZ); and Moe. They're pretty much our only investigators. We've got one other guy named Bucks set for the 30th, but we have only seen him once, unfortunately. Moe is doing great. He reads heaps of the Book of Mormon every day. He's somewhere in 2 Nephi after a couple weeks of teaching him. His less active wife, Alisha, is now planning on coming back to church, and they hope to be sealed as a family in a year. They both have strong testimonies of all that we teach them. Their kids are just crazy. Haha, just a few days ago, Elder Cunniffe taught the parents and the more mature kids while I looked at pictures with three younguns; just like we had done the day before with John and his kid, just flip-flopped -- I taught John and Neashia while Elder Cunniffe looked at pictures with Ioane (that's an "i" -- pronounced yo-on-eh).

 

So I was just trying to think of something else to tell all yous guys. Haha just kidding. Nah, but then I remembered... my our bikes were stolen last night while we were in a members home! We walked outside and there was Elder Cunniffe's helmet just sitting on the ground. Haha, funny huh? The zone leaders weren't too happy with us, but since we had just reported some good stats, they couldn't rebuke us too much.

 

So we were sitting in sacrament meeting, listening to one of the last testimonies, when this little (I think five-year-old) kid comes up and sits down right in between us, squeezing on in. He sat with us till the end of the meeting, copying everything I did. I helped him follow along with the song, then, after the prayer, he got up and left with a handshake and a salute, followed by a "Yes sir!" which he always says. Haha, he's a funny little kid. His name is Siosaia Takataka. That really cheered me up. I had having a hard week. We talked to over 200 hundred people on the street, had a lot of lessons, and set one more for baptism, but for some reason it was just hard.... All of our appointments with new people fell through, except one on Monday -- probably 15 to 20 lessons. Little Siosaia made my day. Seriously, sometimes in this work you find solace in the smallest things.

 

The New Zealand name for ground beef is mince. Is that the same in America and I just didn't know it? And bell peppers are called capsicums. Here in South Auckland, the people are not nearly as anti-American as they seemed to be in Hamilton. The people here are so humble -- lots of islanders who are way nice. I have developed a strong distaste for white people. This will surely be a problem post-mission, but we won't worry about that now.

 

One thing I learned this morning as I studied is that it is so important to study the scriptures every day to the point that we feel the Spirit and He gives us a greater hunger and thirst for righteuosness. That is what keeps us strong and healthy members of the church. That, and diligent prayer -- really talking to your Heavenly Father -- and going to church with the right mindset. I promise that your faith will grow and your concerns and doubts will be resolved as you do these things. Test it. Love you guys. Have a good week. Thanks for all your prayers and emails and love.

 

Love, or in Elder Whiting's terms, bitterly,

Elder Jensen

America, America...! <--- This is even worse, Jake. What does that even mean...?

Dear Young and Old and In Between,

 

This week has been one of interesting circumstances. I was sorely afflicted with an upset tummy, to the point of much trembling and vomiting. However, it may be inferred that such tribulation is only a means of our Heavenly Father to bless us, testing us to reward even further than He already has. I really think that's what it was. It came out of nowhere, bombarded me for approximately 24 hours, than dissipated almost entirely -- still have a cough. It made me realize how much I missed my investigators, how much I wanted to be able to go and teach them and make sure that they were still on track. There are all kinds of problems (Satan... tricky devil...) that can beset investigators in the short time between our daily visits. So yeah, basically I was a little sad that we could not go out and work. It was a good growing experience though, seeing as just a few months before I would have been glad for the opportunity to take a rest. I'm loving the work more and more! The sickness also gave me a greater appreciation for the Atonement. Throwing up was almost too much for me to handle. I was and am so grateful that He went through that specific trial for me. I was in lots of pain, but still happy haha. Our Saviour has been through it all -- He knows how it feels. Please remember that, okay? So ask for help. Think of Him in times of hurt.

 

Man, I am such I slow typer, it's not funny. It doesn't help that I have to read all my e-mails (actually it does, because they make me happy, they make me laugh, and they make me so proud to be the brother and son of such incredible people -- but it doesn't help you guys because then I don't say as much here...). Thus, this e-mail shall proceed to go forth in much shortness of content.

 

This week... Kofe and Te-ehu Tia were baptized! They are amazing people with powerful testimonies of the Gospel, with kids that I swear were raised in the presence of angels (seriously, they probably were). Their kids are recent converts of about two months. Not sure if I mentioned that before. Anyways, a member did the baptisms on Saturday and Elder Cunniffe and I did the confirmations yesterday. They are going to the temple on the 9th of July with the ward to do baptisms for the dead with two of their kids -- first time in the temple for all of them. Someone try to tell me that is not the most fulfilling thing in the whole world. Actually, they plan to be sealed in one year (which I will be able to go to!). So that's better.

 

John and Moe are doing better than ever. We set John's partner for the 16th as well, and she is coming along.

 

The message of the Restoration is true and changes lives. I love it. I love you all. Talk to you next week.

 

Love,

Elder Jensen

 

P.S. Family, please don't give up on me -- I want so badly to answer your e-mails... I loved them so, so much! You are so amazing to me and I am so happy to see how many blessings each one of you is recieving.

 

P.P.S. Thanks Dad. Love you.

Tamaki: The land of milk and honey

Hey everyone,

 

Happy Father's Day! I actually had no idea it was Father's day yesterday. I don't think they celebrate it here. But Dad, I love you! You are the CFO -- Chief Father of Oysters.

 

I don't know if I'll have time to reply to anyone's emails individually, but I just want to say thank you so much. Really, you don't know how much all those meant to me. The past couple of days I have had a really hard time. I've been getting sick (you don't have to send anything Mom!), but I don't think that's it. I still don't really know why it's been so hard, but your emails gave me a lot of strength. Meg, you made me cry again. Miracles do occur. You're right. Don't ever forget that. On Thursday, on a tradeoff, we saw one of our sets (set for the 16th of July) on the street -- John -- and set up a time to meet with him the next day. He was with a friend who was walking ahead of him -- apparently not interested in talking with us -- so we asked John if his friend would like to join us on Friday. He said, "I dunno," so we asked his friend, Moe (pronounced Moy -- Cook Island), and he said sure. So we came over on Friday, read 1 Nephi 2 with them, discussing how Lehi was willing to leave behind everything for God and how Nephi had to pray to know his father was a prophet, then asked them how much they would give up for God. They said, "Everything." We asked them to read and pray to know this is true, then set Moe for baptism, same day as John. It was a miracle! At the beginning of the lesson, Moe was hardly paying attention. By the end, he was engrossed. We came back Saturday and he had read and prayed and said he felt so good after he prayed. He told us it's true. John said he had read and prayed, too -- a couple of times actually -- but he hasn't really felt that it's true. Then we talked about the Plan of Salvation using Alma 22 (I think... just in case you look that up and think, "what were they thinking -- that hardly talks about the Plan," just know that we weren't planning on teaching the Plan -- we followed the Spirit, which is amazing), and at the end John said that while we were talking about it, he came to know it's all true. He just felt it. The power of the doctrine. Then yesterday, they both came to church -- miraculously, since we had to wake John up at 8:10, and Moe's wife told us he said he was sick, but I guess John went and persuaded him to come. Then they came to a fireside in the evening, where our member fellowship told them about the Word of Wisdom... good thing they already had the spiritual witness. Someone mentioned drinking later and Moe said, "Nah, we don't do that anymore." Awesome!

 

I love this work, so much! It's really challenging, but worth it! I love you family! And I love all you great friends. Thanks so much for the package Mom! Loved everything!

 

The church is true!

 

Love, Elder Jensen

It's me...again. Sorry

Family and Friends,

 

I don't have much time today, so sorry. I have a question for all of you. What more do you all want me to include in this big e-mail? I just kinda write stuff and hope you care. Do you want to hear about more investigators, about my preparation days, about my companion, about my area, I don't know...? Please send your ideas and suggestions to the family of Elder Zachary Jensen and they will fill me in. Also, family, you don't have to send your ideas and suggestions to yourselves. That's dumb. Just tell me if you have anything.

 

It was cool because we talked to this guy this morning before we came to e-mails and he is less active and he knows three or four keen people. Pretty sweet eh? It was a miracle because usually we don't proselyte on P-days.

 

Okay, sorry, love you all, thanks for everything. Bye!

 

Elder Jensen

 

P.S. Take your complaints about the lack of longevity of this e-mail to anywhere other than me. Thank you.

 

P.P.S. Emergency! Kelsi Foutz, I need your address! Someone hunt her down please. Kelsi, Send me a letter. Hope everything is great.

Mir-a-cles

Hey everyone,

 

Ah, I was going to tell you about some miracles right away but you probably want to know if I got transferred. I did, to Auckland. South Auckland. Otara, to be exact. The stake is called Tamaki. My ward is Tangaroa. It is a mean ward. I'm loving it already. The name of my new companion is Elder Cunniffe (Australian). He's been great. Since I've been with him, I've been reminded of an e-mail that Elder Samuel Whiting sent from the MTC ages ago. He said he and his companion have pretty much nothing in common, except the Gospel, which is fine, since the Gospel is their life. That almost exactly describes Elder Cunniffe and me. Thanks Sam. Elder Cunniffe is humble and willing to make changes, not stubborn and stuck in his ways like other companions I've had who shall go unnamed.

 

Father, this new flat is tiny. You were talking about Bridger's flat. Yeah this is more like his. And it's a wreck. Completely disgusting. Mom would honestly faint if she had to live in it. Nasty smell. Sticky surfaces pretty much everywhere. Ants. Fleas. Rubbish all over the place. Crusty bathroom surfaces. Shower curtain falling off. And more. Don't worry, we're cleaning it today. There's only so much I can handle.

 

On another note, this area is pumping! Actually, that's not exactly true. Check this out: a missionary in this area did a very, very bad thing. A thing which will cause him to be sent home, if he hasn't been already. And we found out about this terrible occurence because we went to visit a less active member on Friday and basically helped her to decide to talk to Bishop about something she did. Yeah, we later found out from her what this missionary did. It still feels surreal to me. I think wild stuff is understatement.

 

Anyways, Tamaki Stake is supposedly the promised land for saving souls. And we're pretty sure that it was because of this rogue missionary that numbers bombed last month. A few missionaries before him didn't help the area either I hear. Still, none of this matters because my companion and I set some goals for the area that have allowed us to accomplish heaps. We have invited someone to be baptized every day of this new transfer (only three days, but still). I swear to you all that nothing we have been able to accomplish would have been possible if not for our very specific prayers of faith. We have set the parents of three recent converts for baptism on the 25th of June because we prayed to have the opportunity. We prayed for referrals and received five today from Elder Cunniffe's mom. A sister missionary from here is serving in his home ward. We prayed for a family to teach. I think two of these referrals -- plus another from a member in church -- are families. I don't even know how to describe how much my testimony of prayer has grown in the past three days. We have followed the Spirit as closely as we could and miracles have risen from the dust. This has probably been the best half-week of my mission.

 

I'll tell you about one miracle that we had no control over. We invited Kofe and Teehu to be baptized and they accepted (in large part due to our brilliantly inspired member fellowship -- by the way, we prayed that he would be inspired). We invited them to church and they were very apprehensive. Next week, they said. We weren't able to resolve their concern. We prayed hard that night that they would come and guess what! they didn't come.... Just kidding! They did, and the ward was so incredibly welcoming, it blew my mind. We talked to them later last night and they said they had been talking about church all day. They also read and prayed as a family. Their kids are so happy to see their parents accepting the Gospel.

 

I love this work so much. We've been so incredibly blessed to see literally every one of our prayers answered. God lives. He knows what we need. But He wants us to ASK. He who is clean, whatsoever he asketh in the name of Christ, if it be right, it shall be given him. It's true. But don't take my word for it. Try it. The Gospel is amazing! Share it! Mosiah 4:26 -- the Gospel is that thing which you must impart, if you have it.

 

Thanks for everything! Love you guys.

Elder Jensen

 

P.S. Happy birthday soon SJ! Hopefully we'll have a baptism on your day. That would be a mean present, huh? I'll let you know.

Transfers are this week, Not last week

Hey.

This week was a good one because we saved two souls. Oceanna was baptized by Elder Purdon and Legacy by Elder "Stud" Jensen. The confirmations were swapped. It was my first time doing a confirmation (took me long enough, I know). Man, I was scared out of my mind. I know that's a little ridiculous but I have just been really trying to say what the Spirit wants me to say, so I prayed like mad several times before the confirmation. And it went great! The Spirit just took control and I was just chillin there waiting for Him to be done. Nah, but it was really cool and I'm glad I was spiritually prepared to do it. Makes a huge difference. I did realize something though. When the Spirit has nothing more for you to say, just end the blessing. I went just a bit too long and ended up saying pretty much the same sentence twice. Goofy, huh? That's the priesthood for you. The strength of the ocean of God.

Hey, I was wondering, how is Gates doing?

Also, will someone please return Hailey's "Preparation Precedes Power" book that I was borrowing before I left? I can't remember if I already asked someone to do that months ago, but I just remembered about it again, so yeah.... Shout out to Hay, since I'm talking about you!

Good luck Ryan Checketts! I heard the farewell was powerful. Doesn't surprise me. You'll do awesome. Hopefully we can stay in touch throughout our missions -- annual letters maybe, since I don't write much. So, yeah. See you soon (it feels soon -- five months already? Still not sure that's accurate. Time may be faster in the Southern Hemisphere -- someone please confirm)!

Happy birthday in a few days Mekenzie! Love you!

And C-Pain, happy birthday my friend.

So I'm fairly sure I'll be headed to Auckland this week, but we'll see. I'll let you know next week.

I could actually probably write heaps about cool stuff if I really think hard, but I don't have time today. I'm going shopping! For nearly expiring food that is way cheap! Sweet huh?

My last thought: prayer is powerful. So, so powerful. Don't ever think that your prayers are ignored. If you ask in FAITH, you will receive. I promise. I prayed the other day for it to stop raining -- we were caught unawares -- and it stopped immediately. I know this church is true. I know it. I know Heavenly Father wants us to pray specifically for righteous desires, and according to our obedience, he rewards! NZAM saved 194 souls this month. Through faith, diligence, and hard work. And PRAYER.

Bye! Love you guys! Thanks for everything!

Still Alive?

Zach at his Zone Conference

Oh Canada,

That's for Alana. She better read this.

Isn't it crazy that we're all still alive?! Man, we were scared out of our minds Saturday night. May 21st! I wonder what happened. Did the prophet man and his people get caught up in the rapture? Are we in our five months of torture now? I'm sure it will all come to light soon.

So you all remember the Catholic lady I told you about? Who I was really excited for? Yeah, she dropped us. Again. We'll try again to help her realize that the most happiness comes from the message we share, but who knows if it will work this time. I'll let you know. It made me sad. I was so excited for her, especially because we have been working with her forever. But you can't get upset about every single person who drops you because then a mission would be impossible.

Our two kids set for baptism -- Oceanna and Legacy -- are awesome! Last lesson, they really started warming up to us. They were going crazy and laughing and talking and everything, when the day before they were too shy to say anything. They're excited to get baptized. Remember how I said their great-nan, Lucy, is also unbaptized? Yeah, she and Paula (kids' mom/auntie -- confusing relationships; I won't go into it) came to our Gospel Principles class, where we stressed authority to baptize, because Lucy thinks her other baptism is good. Finally Paula caught on to what we were saying and afterwards asked if Lucy needed to get baptized into our church. Now she's on our side, wanting to get Lucy baptized. So she should get dunked pretty soon too. Maybe this weekend. That would be cool.

This week was pretty dang good. We talked to tons of people on the street, got a couple of investigators interested again through the power of the BOM (we seriously did nothing, just started reading it with them), had lots of investigators at church (more than last week), set a lady for baptism next month (Elder Purdon set her on a tradeoff, so I've yet to teach her, but she sounds solid), had an amazing zone conference, found out recent convert Hoby is related to soon-to-be-converts and family, and got cookies on sale. What more can you ask for? More miracles! Through obedience and diligence and faith. That's where it all comes from. We did really well in all three of those this week. Not perfect of course, but better. The challenge is doing even better this next week. Our mission has a thing called PB -- Personal Best. Always work on doing better than you've done. That works in all aspects of life. I'd encourage everyone to take a look at themselves and see what they can improve on. Then just focus on one thing. Try it!

Hey family, I know you're sending a package soon -- will you include one of those scripture mastery cards with all one hundred SMs on it? Just the one, not the four separate books. Thanks. Mother, I'm fine. Everything is great. If I need anything, I will let you know. Thanks for worrying yourself to death.

Well, love you all. I love getting letters and hearing how everyone is doing. I try to respond, but you know how busy things are.... Maybe when I go to some place in the bush I'll do nothing on preparation days and have tons of time to write. But don't count on it. More likely than not, I will be transferred to Auckland next week. We'll see in a couple of weeks.

This work is always rewarding, but especially so when you see the members change their mindset to focus more on missionary work. Please, everyone do some missionary work! Most of you live in Utah, the highest baptizing missions in the world! Guess where all those baptisms come from? Yep, members. Preach My Gospel chapter 9 has great stuff about how you can do missionaries. I'd love to hear about my friends and family bringing the Gospel to people. That would be the coolest thing ever.

Anyways, thanks for everything! See you guys soon (or at least it feels soon because it's already been four and a half months!). Love you.

Your favorite New Zealand missionary,
Elder Zachary Jensen