Sky Full of Spiders - September 15th 2014

      So the sky full of spiders thing is just they were attached to a tree and a powerline and it looked kinda like they were just floating there. The biggest one is like the size of the palm of my hand. Those spiders are really common here but I have no idea what they are called. 

      Well we have been working away the days around here. Things pass sooo fast sometimes. I cant believe it. 

We have been looking for and finding people that really need the atonement in their lives. We have really found some people that are in desperate need of the gospel, and that say that they really want it, but they are struggling a little bit to show it. As missionaries, we invite and help. We can come and try to bring people to church, but if they wont get out of bed, we have to respect that. We can come and read the book of mormon with them but we can't make them read it every night. We can give them assignments and commitments and invitations and reminders forever, but we cannot do it for them. We all have agency.

      But how wonderful agency really is. We chose to come to earth, commiting to endure and follow. We decide here on earth also. Have faith, follow Christ, keep following. Do the little but important things too. I can seriously see here in the mission how much of a difference agency makes.

      We choose to to good, but sometimes we mess up. That is why we need the Atonement. The Atonement already happened. Christ bled from every poor so that we could be free from misery, but we have to accept it. We have countless testimonies of the love that it brings and the reality of repentance, but we still have to make the choice. We have to open the door, or Christ can never come in.

     "For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent. But if they would not repent, they must suffer even as I; which suffering caused m
yself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed from every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit--and would that I might not drink the bitter cup and shrink-- Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men" DyC 19:15-19

      But because of Christ, we can feel free. We can live again. We can be with our families. We can feel free from sin. We can overcome sickness. But we also can have peace in the middle of Chaos. I love you all. Decide to do good. Decide to follow Christ.

Love, 

Hermana Jensen

September 8th 2014

Mis queridos,

   

     This week was crazy town. We are all nice and settled in our new house (did I tell you I moved) and trying to work hard to find those people that need the gospel. 

Jessica and her companion

      Something that I really have been realizing that helps a ton with everything is goals. I was super good at making goals before. I would make all kinds of goals. But let me just tell you, I didn´t follow through with them. These days, me and my companion are working hard to make goals and follow through with them. You really can see your growth when you measure it. It makes perfect sense now, I am not sure why i never applied it before. To get where you want to be, there has to be a pathway. 

     We are working with some people that have all kinds of different challenges. With their families, emotionally, physically, things that are really out of their control along with things that are perfectly in their control that they are unwilling to face. We all have different things to go through, but I really can testify that God is the answer. It is found in the gospel of Jesus Christ, and especially, in His Atonement. We can be free. We just have to believe, trust, accept, change, promise and continue. 

      We are all children of God. That means that he is our father, that we are all siblings. I want to see all of my brothers and sisters in heaven someday. A grand eternal family.

     My companion and I had to give the relief society class without any warning- talk about how different giving a class is from giving a lesson to a few people. I was like wooo no fear, and then holy wow. Talk about blank faces when you ask questions. But the point that we ended up talking about was living your baptismal covenants and enduring to the end. In Spanish, it is perseverar hasta el fin, which literally translates to persevere. We have to move progressively forward until we are with God. I love you all and invite you to persevere to the end, making goals an plans and following through, knowing that there is a way.:)

Hermana Jensen

September 1st 2014

     Welp, I actually still don't have any pictures of me and Hermana Jones. Things have been a little crazy around here, but I am working on it. 

     We moved houses today! I have officially done that in mexico (I actually don't think I ever really did that in Utah completely) We now don't live on the 4th floor, just in a little house. I like it, it is nice. 

     Remember Ana? Welp, she is doing great EXCEPT SHE DIDN'T GO TO CHURCH. Because of all the crazy oposition in her life, she has only been once! She is all ready to get baptized, but she can't for 4 weeks because of the rule that there is here in Mexico. She stopped drinking coffee, she is reading and not to mention remembering the Book of Mormon. Her husband, Oscar, is also great, but works on sundays. So one week, she went to Jalapa to visit her family, the next week, she went (to church)! Then her baby had diarrhea, and then the next Sunday, her sister in law randomly dropped her little girl off for her to baby sit. Ana already has 2 little girls. This little girl is a little monster though, to the point that Ana and her husband ended up sleeping on the floor in the living room. Crazy town. Ana was so frustrated. But the good thing is, she is holding strong. We are working hard on teaching her how to handle these things, and that God gives us a way to keep his commandments. 

     Then there is Ivan. They say he has cancer, but they can't find it. But regardless, he has to go through many medical things, including Chemo every 15 days. But he still lets us come teach him even when he feels terrible. A few weeks ago, Hermana Terry said she would bring his sofa if he came to church. He went. Even though we found out that he had a terrible night the night before. Since then, he has come every week. He is showing us little acts of faith all the time, and this is amazing to see. He is so faithful and strong, he just thinks that he has to have perfect faith before he is baptized. But we love him, and we know he is going to reach eternity- with his family. His wife is already a member, and she was inactive, but she has been going with him.

I love you all! thanks for being there for me! Remember that love that God has for you.

Hermana Jensen