Weekly Report

Dear Family,

Another day come and gone in the wind chill of adversity, a week bathed in the warming sunlight of joy, sickness and health, hate and love. President Monson is so good at talking in analogies. It really helps you to understand what he is talking about. Look for it next time you are reading or listening to one of his talks. He is a good prophet.

Last week was one of the greatest growing experiences on my mission, I reckon. I'll have you know that "reckon" is not the same here as it is for the Texans. It's a nice word. Elder Espino and I had a great new group of missionaries to drive around all week. You would think that we would really have to take care of them, but the missionaries now-a-days are coming into the field ever prepared. 25 missionaries just came in. Loved it.

We had the opportunity to train the ward yesterday (big ward, nearly everyone was there) on missionary work. Elder Hamula, Area President, was there, along with one of his counselors, Elder Pearson. We got to train the area presidency! We loved it though. Really enjoyable experience. I think more of the ward members see the potential they have to save souls. You know, if you know anyone, it is really easy to have them over for something (dinner, FHE, etc) and then have the missionaries over at the same time! The blessings are infinitely worth the slight discomfort. There is nothing better than watching someone you know and care about progress in the gospel. Nothing is better.

Well, I don't think I covered much in this letter, but it was a great week. I learned so much, especially from my mistakes, and I can testify that this work is in God's hands. As Elder Kaufusi always used to say, you can't mess up so bad that it can't be fixed. That is true. Somehow the Lord got everyone where they needed to be in the transfers. It was then a blessing that in the riot and thick of it, Heavenly Father answered my prayers and blessed me with the words I needed to share with the hundred missionaries gathered for transfers. The Savior will hold us up--He will sustain us--when we give it our all and pray with our heart, might, mind, and strength. Somehow we wonder how it will all work out, but it will. It most definitely will, if we exercise faith in the Lord and put our trust in Him. Life is never too hard. If you think it is, stop looking down so much and look upward (to heaven) and outward (to serve others). I know the Lord will bless each of you as you strive to live the gospel.

Love you so much family and friends,

Elder Jensen

P.S. Chandler Brown is getting married! My trainer! Congratulations, Brother Brown. Love you heaps.

Saving Souls

Hi Family,

It's Elder Jensen here. Hey I just wanted to say thank you for your emails. I really love it when everyone writes. It's always good to hear how everyone is doing. Megan, it sounds like you are having a lot of fun. I'm really proud of you for how hard you are working. Jake, I heard you're picking up the P90X again... that's the way! We do the ab ripper sometimes for our exercise! It's a good one. Whitney, word has it that you are doing great. The southern winds whisper that UVU has grown exponentially in terms of whitty jokes. Mom, you sound like you're a mother--not busy at all, just lounging around, nothing to handle. Nah, just kidding. Thanks for those quotes. They are great! And Father, here in New Zealand they use the term "crack-up" to describe something funny. You are crack-up. The ward can really count on you to give a great spiritual opening prayer!

I will quickly sum up what happened last week so that you can see how great it was. Here you go: We had transfer planning preparation, then transfer planning, went to a district meeting in South Auckland, visited a district leader council out west; in one day we drove down to Cambridge (two hours away), picked up some missionaries, drove back up to Auckland and dropped them off, then drove up to Whangarei (another two hours) and picked up a couple more missionaries along with a car that was in the panelbeaters (repair place), then drove back down to North Shore and had dinner with President. The next day we picked up the new assistant, Elder Espino! The same one who I was in the MTC with. We're kicking out Elder Kaufusi tomorrow and Elder Espino and I will be continue on. Elder Espino is a spiritual giant and it is very good to have him with us. I am so grateful for Elder Kaufusi and probably will never be able to express the impact that he has had on my life. The day following the pick-up, we baptized a nine-year-old girl named Jadelynn. She is so smart and pretty funny. She is Niuean. We also got to see an investigator named Alumita get baptized in a different stake (we taught her the first time and she has made a huge change--her whole countenance is brighter!).

Well, I love you! Bye!

Love,
Elder Jensen

In the spirit of Thanksgiving

Dear Family,

I had an amazing opportunity a couple of weeks ago to go with a struggling missionary on an exchange, down in Rotorua, the stinky tourist hotspot of the mission. On this exchange, we watched as the Spirit touched the hearts of many of the souls we met on the street. One lady was so excited to get baptized (she accepted a date on the doorstep) and to come to church and have a lesson at a member's home the next day. The missionary I went with is now doing great! The Lord really knows his children and what they need to see and hear to begin to stretch to reach their potential. That missionary really learned by the Spirit that he needs to listen better to people! He realized how to make others' feelings important to him and he's really running now. He's also helping his companion quite a bit, who has been a very quiet individual for a while now. I love the change!

This last week we had a lot of trade-offs again. My favourite thing that I'm learning right now is how to learn by the Spirit and how to help others recognize the Spirit so that they can learn as well. It is a very fulfilling work and you see the results in their faces. It makes me very grateful. I have learned SO much from Elder Kaufusi about many Christlike attributes, teaching skills, organization, and how to develop them all. He is a powerful disciple of Jesus Christ. You will get to meet him someday and you'll see what I mean. You can't not love him.

We just had our first day of transfer planning today, to start off the week. Next week is transfers. It will be a massive shift, which is always fun. There are 25 missionaries coming in and 18 going out! It is amazing how the Spirit guides where missionaries are supposed to be and who they are supposed to be with. One very interesting thing is that a missionary or member or nonmember is never, ever placed in a position that they cannot handle. You'll never be set up for failure. In fact, the opposite is true. Every situation in which we find ourselves in this life sets us up for growth and progression. I love the talk that Whit sent me a couple of weeks ago, called Trust in the Lord. Perfect timing at this time in my mission! Thank you, Whit. In this talk, Elder Scott mentions how whenever we are faced with adversity, we can always ask ourselves two types of questions: one type opposes the will of God, i.e. What did I do to deserve this? Why me? etc.; the other type helps us discover what we are to learn, how we are to grow, and whom we are to help. This has changed my mission and my life! The Saviour will always teach you if you listen and if you let Him.

I love all of you and am grateful especially for your prayers!

Love,

Elder Jensen

P.S. Thanks Mom, for your daschund letter. That was massive! And thanks Lily and Isabel, for those awesome pictures and letters. That was one of the greatest letters I ever received! Seriously! I loved it.

Happy Birthday Elder Kaufusi!

Hi Family,

It was Elder Kaufusi's birthday on the 6th of July, last Friday. Everyone gave him cake! They were all chocolate. It was really nice. I love cake. The office couples bought us lunch and at the cafe we got to know the waitress, Fiona, from Vietnam. She taught us some Vietnamese. We plan to bring a Vietnamese Book of Mormon to her sometime today, bring a Chinese Book of Mormon to a lady at a local laundromat, and invite an older man who works at a music store near the chapel to have us over to teach. We're looking forward to all that.

The mission has been putting a much bigger focus on talking with everyone and listening with love while we're talking. It's interesting how quickly the natural man will put his own agenda ahead of others'. There is a great promise in Preach My Gospel that "if we listen with love, we won't need to wonder what to say. It will be given to us--by the Spirit and by our friends." I have definitely seen that this promise is true, and it applies for all walks of life as well--rock stars, drug lords, mothers, and rugby players (we've had several spiritual experiences with each of them). This is how you help others. You listen. People just warm right up when they know their thoughts and feelings are important you!

We had a bunch of trade-offs. Those were neat. Lots of miracles. I am always very impressed with the missionaries here. The bar keeps raising. Our group of zone leaders are so sharp. Not much slips by them. We also had Zone Leader Council on the Fourth of July. We sang the Star-Spangled Banner and had more cake and it was also the wedding anniversary of President and Sister Lekias! Happy anniversary! We had a guest from the missionary department, Brother Lusvardi, who gave some great training.

Dad, you asked if I would rather stay as an assistant to President or go back to the field in a different assignment. I wouldn't mind either way! They both have their benefits. Either way, I will love all that I learn. That's my favourite. There is nothing quite so profound as learning by the Holy Ghost and I understand how it works more each day (which really helps me see that I know nothing--genuinely a good feeling).

I am doing great! You sound like you are all doing well, too! Mission life just gets better and better. And you're all just living the pool/barbecue life. Bring some non-church-goers to swim with you! Have a great week.

Love,

Elder Jensen

P.S. I almost wrote "Love, Elders Kaufusi and Jensen." Haha. Ha....