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.