Dear Family,
Hi, how are you? I'm doing great. Nicola Pieterse was baptized on Saturday and confirmed yesterday. She's 15 years old and most of her immediate family are not members. It was a powerful service. Her cousins, the Parkers, are members and they arranged the whole thing. They had prelude singers, good speakers, Brother Parker the baptist, and other musical items. And fancy baptismal programs. Very fancy. The Spirit was really strong. Some of the family members were crying, others were asking questions. It was so good to see. I love this ward--Torbay. We actually adopted the ward not too long ago--it's not our main ward--but they have a great love of missionary work. Before a convert baptism in March in their ward, they hadn't had a convert baptism in two years. Two years. So when we came into the ward (we received Torbay just before the March baptism--her name is Fana), we told them that we wouldn't have time to work the ward except to teach referrals from them. So what did they do? They started loading us up with referrals! We've started teaching a few now and Nicola was one of them. There is another man we're teaching in the ward named Brother Low, but he has been tied up with family issues. I know he'll come around though, then get baptized. He wants the peace too bad to leave it now. The members in Torbay love us and we love them. It's great going to their ward and talking with bishop, and they recently called a new ward mission leader named Brother Rapata, so things are going great on that front. Missionary work is amazing when the members are involved.
Last week was miraculous one. We had splits with different missionaries every day of the week except Saturday and Sunday, so Elder Kaufusi and I didn't even teach a lesson together, but that's not why it was miraculous. The first night I was with Elder Williams in Massey (25 minutes west of our area) and we taught a lady named Koa. She is a bit hesitant about going to church, but after a lesson where the words were given to us to speak, she was full of courage and ready to come to church. Faith is like driving a car at night....
Then we picked up a new missionary on Tuesday who is waiting for a visa to Papa New Guinea. He went with Elder MacRae and Elder Atalifo (Elder Atalifo, whose trainer's trainer's trainer's trainer is me!).
Then we went back to both Elder Kaufusi's and my old area, Clendon, Manurewa to trade off with Elder Alder and Elder Barney. Elder Alder and I had a great time, especially when some of the sisters in the zone found out that their baptismal set for the 26th of May (three days off) was in fact not married to his partner (even the investigator thought he was married). The sisters rounded up a member for a ride and the lot of us took off to Internal Affairs (to get a marriage license); the officials told us that there was not enough time to make the marriage happen in three days, but Elder Alder didn't give up. We explained about the baptism and everything and how they thought they were married(!), and this heroic Korean lady told us of that she could make it happen if we filled out some other papers, came in the next day before 10am, and some other stuff that I tuned out (she was really nice but I got a phone call from another missionary telling me about a miracle in their area). I asked about the whole situation yesterday and the elders said that it all went through and they got married and baptized on Saturday! What a nice surprise.
We then went down to my old stomping grounds--Hamilton--to trade off with Elder Byam and Elder Smith. Near the end of a good split and while digging up some dirt in an investigator's backyard (service is good, especially in a suit), Elder Byam and I had a great talk that I know will help the both of us in our missions and our lives. It was an amazing experience and my testimony of the power and authority of this calling grew a lot.
Last, but not least, President Lekias, Elder Kaufusi, and I hopped on an airplane and flew down to Gisborne! About a 50 minute flight. It's the most remote part of the mission and it is awesome. We went to a district meeting with the small zone and then I went out with Elder Lamb and Elder Allred. They loved having us there. We finished with dinner (President's shout) at Sunshine Thai and shared the miracles of the day. One of our miracles was teaching this less active man named Brother Madden. He told us it had been ten years and one month since he had spoken to God. We listened and we asked questions. The miracle: the Lord allowed us to see right through his rugged sailor and soldier attitude. We were prompted to share Alma the younger's conversion story with him. As we read, his attention was fixed on the story. He told us that he actually felt hope that he too could overcome his anger towards God that originated when, ten years ago, his mom and grandmother were taken suddenly from this life. He also felt that he could overcome the chains of smoking and drinking and whatever else he's doing. He asked how he was supposed to do it, and the answer came when we watched the Mormon Message "Choose This Day" from President Eyring (thank you so much for sending those!). He knew he had to pray. He knew he had to pray that day. So he committed to doing it that night (he wouldn't pray with us). It was so incredible. I loved it.
I love this work. It is the best! Other work is just boring or you don't get paid enough. But here you get paid daily in blessings (they don't use the word cheesy here, but if they did I would). I love you guys and I am very grateful for you and your prayers! Have a great week.
Love,
Elder Jensen
P.S. Congratulations Bree! Getting married? Wow. What is his name? Also, did you get my letter? I sent it your school address. Okay, love you bye!
Then he sent this a couple hours later:
Dear fellows,
I forgot to mention that here in New Zealand you are hard-pressed to find a good donut, but after we landed back in Auckland (flying from Gisborne), President bought us some donuts from Dunkin' Donuts at the airport! They were nice. I love donuts...
Love,
Elder Jensen
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