Transfer Week (A.K.A. Zombie Week)

Dear Family,

In a short time, I will be immersed into the week of all weeks (except
for zone conference week, which is in two weeks from now) with no time
for sleep, lots of time for scrutiny from fellow missionaries, and
some time for nice food -- TRANSFER WEEK. From picking up new
missionaries to letting go of the old ones to speaking at transfer
meeting to making huge changes with documents and such, this week is
killer, to speak casually. I love it though. I'm excited. I love
meeting the new missionaries. There could be a future general
authority in the midst of them. It will be great.

This morning we played basketball with President Lekias and Gary
Wilkinson, who plays for New Zealand's professional basketball team,
the Breakers. He is also a member of the ward in which I serve, not to
mention that he is also a convert with quite the story and played for
the Utah State team just a few years ago. It was great. They're all
better than me, but soon I'll beat them all. They won't know what hit
them. We got to play in the Breakers training facility. That was
pretty amazing. Good experience.

We started teaching this guy named Brother Low. He's an honest seeker
of the truth who knows he needs to make some changes, especially when
it comes to anger and judging others. He asked us to come by. He came
to church on Sunday and is doing well. He's from South Africa.

Some missionaries told us of a miracle they had down in my old area,
Manurewa. They were biking past the house of an investigator that my
companion and I had found when I was there. They had a prompting to
see if he was home, found that he was, came in on some serious family
problems, then boldly invited the husband to be baptized the next day
-- he was baptized on Saturday and the family is doing much better!
Miracles everywhere.

I love this work and the people and the missionaries. It is Jesus
Christ's work! Love you guys. Thanks for all you do.

Love,
Elder Jensen

Baptism!

Hey Family,

On Saturday, an 18-year-old man named Turanga Shelford-Morrell was
baptized! It was a very spiritual baptism. He asked me if I could
baptize him and I was happy to oblige! It was the first time I've
personally done the ordinance in a while. It's an amazing feeling when
you know that the priesthood is working through you. It was also a
good experience for the brother of Brother Shelford's girlfriend.
Brother Shelford originally asked him to baptize him but for some
reason or another he couldn't do it. Instead he participated by
conducting the music. I know that Brother Shelford's baptism wasn't
just for Brother Shelford, but a reminder for the other guy that he
needs to clear up some things in his life so that, when called upon,
he can use his priesthood to save souls.

By the way, Brother Shelford had come to church a couple of weeks ago
and told us about how he had been taught before and was set for
baptism, but didn't feel ready. When we came to teach him the
following Wednesday, we invited him to be baptized on the next
weekend. He then told us that he had been washing his hair in the
shower when the thought came to him that he should be baptized! Then
he just knew. He's so humble -- it's his humility that has allowed him
to have such powerful witnesses. Then we didn't see him till Monday.
When we saw him again, his girlfriend was with him and she told us
that she had flown in from Australia for the week to see Brother
Shelford get baptized! So crazy!

Miracles, miracles....

Elder Kaufusi and I were down in South Auckland on Saturday to see
some of the baptisms throughout the mission. After one great baptism,
we went to have lunch at Jester's Pies -- New Zealanders love their
meat pies and Jester's Pies is the best, but Elder Kaufusi had never
been so I had to show him. It turns out that Elder Kaufusi agreed and
declared that Jester's Pies has the best pies he's ever had (I think I
should be getting some kind of payment for promoting their business --
you owe me Jester's). We walked out of the shop and were about to get
in the car, and I saw a family sitting in their car outside of
Smoko's, New Zealand's greatest tobacco shop (no, just kidding, I
don't know). I went to talk to the dad, a Samoan I think. I was
friendly, asked him where they were from, and then started to explain
who we were when he stops me and says, "I know who you are. I don't
like you. I don't like you guys." I asked why he doesn't like us and
he said, "You believe the Joseph Smith, not Jesus." I then told him of
my belief in the Savior, to which he responded, "You want a smoke?"
Me: "No, thank you, I don't smoke."
Him: "Jesus Christ smokes! So why do you not smoke? He plant the
smokes on the earth, so he smokes, but you don't! Why not?"
Me: "----" (no chance, cut off!)
Him: "I am a minister! I went to school! I know Jesus! You are only
young. You have to know Jesus to tell people about Him. You don't even
know Jesus."
Then I tried to ask for a referral, but for some reason he didn't want
to give me anyone to visit. This is my story. Hopefully that man will
think about what he said and decide to get baptized someday.

I am probably going to do some dry cleaning today, my first time in
New Zealand. We have a big zone conference coming up where one of the
area presidents is coming to train us. He'll also sit in on Zone
Leader Council, so I figure I ought to have a clean suit.

My shoes are still intact.

We went with the Nelsons last week to have lunch at a Thai restaurant.
It was great. Saw another senior couple there that works in the area
office.

Corned beef being fried in the morning, cold soup from a can, and
made-up Tongan hymns will forever remind me of my half-Tongan
companion.

I conducted a fireside last night with several hundred people,
including many investigators. Elder Kaususi had to bribe some crazy
three-year-olds with nursery toys to get them to sit still and not
distract everyone. Gary Wilkinson, who graduated from Utah State
University and currently plays on the New Zealand Breakers (a
basketball team) and is in my ward in North Shore, spoke at the
fireside. It was awesome.

Love you guys. I'm doing great by the way. Bye!

Love,
Elder Jensen

Important People in the Mission

Dear family,

I wanted to tell you about a few of the key people in my mission right now.

The Nelsons. Elder Nelson is the Fleet and Flat Manager -- he takes
care of all the cars and the flats in the mission and lays down the
law when a landlord isn't cooperating or something. No one can beat
Elder Nelson when it comes bargaining. Sister Nelson handles all of
the supply orders and baptismal records that come in across the
mission every month (which is a lot). If there are any mistakes, she
calls up the missionaries and gets all the details from them. Without
Sister Nelson, we'd never have any real baptisms -- it is recorded in
heaven only if it is recorded on earth. They're from California,
Central Coast, and don't have too long to go on their mission. They're
great. I love them. They always want to serve us and are very grateful
for the service we render, always letting us know of their thanks.
Sister Nelson likes Gladys Knight's (Night? I don't know...)
renditions of LDS songs -- great stuff.

The Passehls. Elder Passehl watches over the financial side of things.
He's always busy with holding someone accountable for their speeding
tickets. Always funny stuff. He is hilarious. He heard we got lost one
time returning from another one of our expeditions south of North
Shore to help someone with something (I think we were picking up new
missionaries). He thought that was great, so he proceeded to mock us
by asking us if we needed a GPS on our way to the motel where the
missionaries would stay. The motel is literally two minutes away.
Sister Passehl is great, too. She is President Lekias's secretary. She
likes to mock us with her husband but always expresses her gratitude
for us. She made us some great apple cinnamon muffins the other --
wow. That's all I can say about those muffins.

Both the ofice couples always make us feel very appreciated and are
great examples of gospel living. I know that those who decide to serve
senior couple missions make a great impact on many missionaries with
their examples and the Spirit that accompanies them. The Lord needs
everyone that is able to come and serve Him to bring about the
salvation of His children.

I love this work. No experiences for today. I hope the email is good
still. I will tell about miracles next week. Love you all! Buh bye.

Love,
Elder Jensen

Conference Weekend

Dear Father Bryan,

I am getting used to it! It's pretty crazy, but I'm loving it. We get sleep every now and then. One thing that I have realized is that I never knew what it means to have bags under your eyes. They're fairly annoying, as it gives away to other missionaries that I'm a zombie.... We do get to pick up the new missionaries from the airport usually, but there's a problem with visas right now -- no American missionaries can get in unless they can prove that they've been in the ministry for two years already. Therefore, no Americans have come in for a few months now. We still get to pick up missionaries from the MTC in Auckland though. It's great! I got to drive the big mission van last time while Elder Kaufusi drove the Corolla. I had seven missionaries with me and we almost died going around this roundabout! A bus on our left tried to flatten us, but we survived. Then we got lost... Haha it was the first time I had driven in over a month. And I'd never driven in that area before.

We take some of the departing missionaries to the airport as well. Depending on where they're flying to, they leave on Wednesday instead of Tuesday, so then certain zone leaders will take them. Elder Kaufusi and I were privileged to take our companion, Elder Ward, to the airport on the 20th. He didn't want to go. But he was ready, too. After he and a sister missionary boarded their flight around 9 pm, we had to stick around till 12:30 am for another sister who was going home to Thailand. She was loads of trouble! Not really -- the airlines just weren't happy with her bags. We just barely got her on the plane in time and almost had to pay 300 dollars extra and then some. But of course, the Lord was watching over us, because this YSA girl happened to be at the airport and decided to stay till Sister Sitthidamrong departed. We kept telling her to leave because she would have to walk home at midnight in South Auckland (bad idea). The miracle came when one of the sympathizing check-in ladies told us that she could get the bags through if one of us just showed her a student I.D. The YSA girl then whipped one out and saved us 300 bucks (and then some). Sister Sitti made it on time, the girl walked home by herself safely, and we went to sleep at 2:30 am, only to wake up three hours later for new missionary pick-up.  It was a massive miracle.

Yesterday at church, we had a host of new faces. This one guy, Teina, came to church for the second time (loved it last week), but decided to bring three friends, including one less active! Can you believe that? It was great because Elder Kaufusi and I had very little time this whole last week to teach, let alone get people to church. We called a few people Saturday and Sunday before church, then were blessed with five or six non-members showing up! The Lord knows our desire to save souls. Teaching is great, really. I love it when someone just feels the Spirit as you teach. You don't quite appreciate things until you lose it (or have much less of it).

By the way, Dad, I'm holding you responsible to send this to the other familia members. Thanks much.

Last week was the temple trip! That's why it was so busy. Tuesday and Wednesday, we bused down to Hamilton (1 hr 45 mins) with different groups of zones, then Thursday we drove down in our car, meeting three country zones who had to drive themselves. It was an amazing experience, especially when I finally realized just how much doctrine is actually contained within the temple. Amazing. Elder Kaufusi and I were so excited as we talked in the Celestial room. I'm guessing you already knew, but what a blessing it is that we have five temples within a half hour drive! I brought several questions to ponder and it was interesting how the Lord answered them. One thing I have been thinking a lot about is how important it is to do exactly what the Lord asks of us and to do it immediately. He can then bless us with more instructions and commandments. Line upon line -- if we don't follow what we have, we won't be given more. Anyway, after the temple we had a conference and President told everyone in the second and third conferences about something that had happened in his bus the on Tuesday. In the first bus of missionaries driving down to Hamilton, some of the elders and sisters were talking about things that didn't quite reflect the greatness of their callings, if you know what I mean, and about 20 minutes from Hamilton there was a train wreck or something that stopped the buses. We sat there for quite a long time. Interestingly, everyone in that first bus (with President and Sister Lekias in it) began to sing "Praise to the Man" at the same time. And then the train that was holding us up split in two and moved to the sides, making the way clear! The Lord shows us that He needs us to treat this as His work and not just a joy ride. Once the missionaries remembered their purpose, Heavenly Father let them go to the temple!

I love this work, Dad. I am really forever grateful for the time I've already had to serve. thank you for your great example. I love you! I remember some of the best feelings I ever had back home was when I saw you pleased with something I did. Thanks for your diligence and prayers. Have a great week. Let me know if I missed anything that you'd like me to talk about next time. I'm off to Hamilton again today to go on trade-off with some zone leaders!

Love,

Elder Jensen

P.S. Thanks for the emails! I love hearing how everything is going. Sounds great!

Endure to the End

Hey Family,

Sounds like you're all doing well. that's great to hear. I am jealous that you got to go to the Bear Paw. That's my favorite you know. Breakfast on a mission plus breakfast in New Zealand equals pretty lame. I would love to have a Belgian waffle. But I can't! And I wouldn't even if I could because President destroyed me in basketball last week and has been making jokes about it all week. So I've been eating better. I'll show him today.

We had transfers this last week. Elder Ward went home to La Canada, California. It was an interesting experience being a missionary's last companion. He was good. Not too trunky. Elder Kaufusi and I made a gift for him to open on the plane that was funny as! Full of inside jokes. We stuck a bunch of stuff in this old as All Blacks sock that we found in the flat -- there were some dating ensigns that Elder Kaufusi's family sent to him for some reason, several references to finding his "next companion," and other great stuff. But enough of that. I learned a lot from Elder Ward. He was a great missionary and a great example of using the Atonement and being humble enough to change into what the Lord needs you to become.

The mission temple trip is this week. It's always split up into three days of different zones, and Elder Kaufusi get to go to all three! Yes! The temple. The best. I'm so excited. Half the questions I ask President Lekias, the answer is, "Well, if you'll pay attention to certain keywords or symbolism in the temple, you'll find the answer to your question." Then I'm always gutted because I have to wait for the temple trip... but now it's here! I'll definitely be pondering some things.

Rueben Paparoa got baptized on Saturday! It was amazing! He is choice as. Ever since the first lesson we had with him, he just been keen as to get baptized because he knew that it was all true. "As you come to feel what you are learning is true, you will desire to learn all you can about the message of the Restoration" (Preach My Gospel Ch. 3). That's the secret behind a lot of difficulties in life I think. In times of pain, heartache, grief, sorrow, frustration, and confusion, we need to do the things that will bring the Spirit into our lives. 

My testimony of the gospel principle, "endure to the end," has grown a lot in the past few weeks. Enduring to the end means having hope that everything will work out for your good. Whether it's a disease, a wayward child, a friend making bad choices, or our own mistakes, God will never put you through something you can't handle. "Whom God calls, God qualifies" (President Thomas S. Monson). You think of all the experiences in the Book of Mormon and you begin to understand that opposition is the Lord's way of making us like Him -- the refiner's fire. Jared and his brother and their families only made it to the promised land because of the fierce winds and rough waters. Without the pain and discomfort, they would have gone nowhere. I'm grateful that Heavenly Father gives me trials and humbling experiences -- it teaches me to trust Him. He knows what He is doing. He loves me. He loves each of you. Whatever we go through in this life, we can always look to the Savior, who says to us, "I finished my mission. I endured to the end. You can, too." He knows us. He understands our struggles. I promise you He does. We just need to learn to trust Him.

I love you guys heaps. Remember that! I am completely confident that the Lord will bless each of you as I do my best here. Let me know if there's ever anything I can do for anyone. Have a great week.

Love,

Elder Jensen

Weekly Report

1022 hours -- Elder Jensen reporting.

Dear Family,

Hello. How are you all doing? I'm doing neat as (this is one combination of
words you do not hear here; nor swell as). Time is like lightning right
now! It's ridiculous. I didn't even know time could go so fast. I was sure
while I was in Manurewa that things were moving as fast as possible. I was
just so busy, I thought, "This is crazy!" Now I just think, "Congrats Elder
Jensen, you've officially hit warp speed. Way to go."

Congratulations Megan! Way to go with the tumbling thing! That's mean
as. I'm so proud of you. It's great to hear how hard you are working.
I love you!

So the computer just rebooted and destroyed my email.... Therefore I
am just going to say have a great week! Love you guys. We've been
having heaps of miracles and soon we're going to be covering some
extra wards. One of them has heaps of Kiribati people. I love them.
And they love it when you speak the language. Okay I'm scared the
computer is going to turn off, so see ya later. Well, bye.

Ofa atu.

Love,
Elder Jensen

Zombie

Dear whoever wants to listen,

Hey, it's Elder Jensen again. Surprise! I bet you didn't even know I
was going to write. We had a mean as week! It was sweet. Lots of good
things happening. We've been finding heaps of new keen people. Miracle
after miracle, the Lord led us to the elect. We had quite a few souls
committed to come to church, and then the test of faith.... We cover
three wards, so yesterday we went to our Samoan ward (no, I don't
speak Samoan, but yes, I do sing in Samoan... oh yeah) at 9 am,
proselyted for the next couple of hours and then had to choose between
our two other wards that both start at 1. So we went to Takapuna for
sacrament meeting then left a bit early to make it to Aeroview and see
who made it to sacrament in that ward. It was gutting! Because the
important ones didn't show up! So we were just sitting there,
wondering what we did wrong and why Isaiah (getting baptized this
weekend) didn't show. As we talked about it, we figured that obviously
the Lord was trying to tell us something, but continued to be hopeful,
knowing that there was method to this madness. When we went to see
Saia later that night, he and his recently baptized sister, Kennedy,
said they were at church! We said, "No you were not," and they accused
us of not being at church. They got us! So apparently they just left
before we made it to Aeroview ward, which means Saia's still getting
baptized this weekend! What a miracle, eh? It may sound small, but the
Lord really does test your faith -- you can't let something small get
to you and weaken your expectations. When you stand firm, knowing the
Lord will provide, He delivers!

Lots of other great things as well. This guy, Fuz, wants to change his
life after his 22-year-old friend died in an accident. This lady,
Sister Cocker, is tired of her life and wants a change. This young
woman named Sherise read the whole intro and Joseph Smith account at
the front of the Book of Mormon and said she couldn't put the book
down! It is very inspiring to be a part of the Saviour's work. I know
He wants everyone home. As you read the Book of Mormon, pay attention
to the word joy and what it means -- joy always comes with EVERYONE
returning home.

My companions are great. Elder Ward from Los Angeles and Elder Kaufusi
from Provo. They're funny as to be with. We don't have heaps of time
to proselyte -- generally limited to evenings -- but when we do I
learn a lot from them.

We had two big meetings this week. We had a council with the zone
leaders and a conference with about a hundred missionaries. The
council was held at a historical site where there are some "Big Guns"
that protect the harbour of North Shore City. It's awesome. The city
conference was attended by a couple of general authorities. That was
amazing of course. Great stuff!

I love this work! The Saviour lifts us when we can't lift ourselves.
Love you guys. Ofa atu!

Love,
Elder Jensen