Same Area But New Companion!

April 28, 2009

Well here we go with the letter of the week:
I really appreciated your letters this week... I love what Jason said about, "savor every minute with your Savior" and I was super impressed that Nata read the Book of Mormon in 3 weeks, and mom... studying Preach My Gospel like a good missionary mom! Daddy... I thought NC won. I hope you have a ton of success on the business trip and that it brings you a lot of growth as a company.

A mini missionary serves for a transfer and doesn´t have to pay a thing. She is thinking about serving a full time mission, but hasn´t gotten an answer yet. Boy do I remember that feeling. She would be an incredible missionary and I told her that frequently. I hope she chooses to serve, but I understand her desire to get married and have a family. It sounds so familiar and then I remember that they are the exact same words that I said for so many months. She now returns to her normal life of work and studying... she has a bunch of tests to take in July and after that she said she might put in her papers.

Mommy, I am pleased to announce that my Granuloma Ammulary is almost gone. I can´t see any on my ankles or feet and there is just a tiny bit on my left knee. It just gradually went away and I didn´t even notice it until you asked me about it and I examined my feet and thought "hmmph... it went away!"

Random stories:
For Easter the whole world here began revolving around chocolate eggs. All the Elders and Hermanas talk about them and buying them and how much they cost and every store offers chocolate eggs in all sizes. And I mean ALL sizes. I saw eggs as small as - well all the chocolate eggs in the states, but get this... I saw chocolate eggs as big as the tire on my (your) car. Not kidding. There are chocolate eggs so big that I couldn´t wrap my arms around it without putting pressure on it and crushing it. I swear - they take this chocolate egg thing to the EXTREME. And then they keep selling them after Easter - with no notable discount. I´m perplexed.

There is one sound that I will not miss after the mission and that is the deafening sound of a motorcycle that has one of those trumped up mufflers that makes so much noise that you can hear it 8 blocks away and all the while as it gets closer to you and the 8 blocks after it passes you. I swear... the teenagers and young men here will all be deaf before their time because of their motorcycles.

We live like 10 blocks away from the "comisería" and I can´t quite explain what that is. It´s not the court and it´s not juvenile detention, but it´s where a bunch of stuff happens and people go when they get robbed and they also bring the thieves there and they stay the night sometimes. It´s like a mini-jail. Kinda. It´s one block away from the chapel... funny, huh? We always invite people and say it´s a block away from the comisería and then they say "then I don´t want to go." Anyways... every once in a while we hear helicopters above us and in the area and we know that that means that a thief escaped the comisería and they´re searching for him. It´s a not-so-comforting sound, but it makes me laugh because I hear it and think "oh, another thief got away." But don´t worry... I tell you this so that you have another story to tell about all the adventures we face in Argentina.

It´s the norm: want to know what is normal here? Fanny packs. Yep... because people know that it´s harder for someone to rob your fanny pack. They look just as dorky when worn by Argentines but no one makes fun. Also they wear their backpacks in front like those pretend you´re pregnant packs. They also do this so that they don´t get attacked or robbed from behind. Again... it looks ridiculous, but you get used to it. Walking around looking like you are insanely paranoid... but hey, so is everyone else. I have yet to be robbed--that is robbed in person... they rob the packages you send me, but that just happens.

So I sent home my middle sized suitcase with a doctor named Thomas who lives in Arizona. His son, Chase, will be heading to BYU Provo in June and when he drives down - you will meet him somewhere and pick up my suitcase. Open it and remove the white shoe box which contains presents for you to have now...but don't touch anything else! It would totally spoil the surprise of it all. I´m sure you were already going to do this, but could you send him a thank-you card (and maybe a gift certificate to the Olive Garden or something for the gesture)? He was way nice and it was really cool for me to be able to get a bunch of stuff sent off. That will make the return home a little bit easier. Of course the day after he flew out with my suitcase I found in my closet the way worn out pair of Sketcher shoes that I wanted to bring home just to show you the soles of. I blew it... a perfect opportunity to send them off and I didn´t think of it. So... I´m going to keep carting them around and in 6 months if there is room in my suitcases, I will bring them home!

So I now need to buy another suitcase - but a soft one. Would you mind telling me what the girth is that is allowed for the middle suit case?

This week I got "bit" - nipped really, by a dog! It belongs to a less active we were visiting and it followed me nipping at my ankles and I thought to myself - "this dog is going to bite me. No, really, this dog is going to bite me" and then yep, "this dog bit me!" I yelled at it in "vos" (Spanish slang) and it left me alone. It didn´t penetrate the skin - thanks to the thick knee highs I was wearing. But did turn the skin white. I quickly washed it with my handy hand sanitizer and there was no harm done. I really barely felt it, but I can now say - " a dog bit me on the mission."

I kid you not... 20 minutes later we were walking down the street and from out of nowhere came this big dog charging at full speed right for us. With the sole motive of attacking us. I heard my companion scream and then she grabbed me and we were like hugging as it instantly was 3 feet away from us. I started yelling at it in "vos" again and the miracle that resulted was the obedience that the dog had, because in that second the owner called it and it left us alone and returned to the other side of the street and into the house. We were infinitely grateful! We were unharmed, but by now quite shaken by dogs. It was almost funny to me.

There is a law here that prohibits bread bakeries from selling bread on Monday because the bread-makers deserve a day off. It amazes me that they opted for Monday over Sunday. There really is very little respect for the Sabbath day here. All the panaderías (bread stores) and many of the heladerías (ice cream stores) are closed on Monday but work all Sunday long.

Well then... on Monday we had the transfer meeting and I waited quite anxiously to see what lie in store for me. We had 140 converts mission-wide this transfer which is great considering that it is the 2nd highest number the mission has ever had (last transfer we beat it with 179 – which is now the current mission record). I was glad to know that we are learning to maintain that kind of number and not just hit it once in a while. You may be thinking that we were 39 short and yes, that is significantly lower, but lots of times what happens is you have a transfer like 179 followed by a transfer of 63. So trust me, we were happy with 140.

As I said in the title – I´m still in Haedo 1 which was to be expected. My new companion is Hermana Mara DiStefano from Neuquen (now ken) Argentina and is about to hit 8 months. She came at the same time as Hermana Roy. I on the other hand will hit my year mark and 13 months this transfer and.... get to call home on Mother´s day! We don´t have any instructions about that yet, but I´ll keep you posted. You may expect basically the same deal – a conference call with the 4 of you for 40 minutes. I´m super excited for said phone call.

Hermana DiStefano is going to teach me a lot. Not only with Castellano and culture and stuff, but she is going to help me develop many other social skills. We both have really strong personalities and it was a surprise for everyone that we were put together because of that very reason. But I am determined to show everybody that 2 strong people can work together and get along and have a ton of success too. I´m excited and feel like we will do quite well together as long as we both go into this understanding this and how we need to compromise and stuff. We already had a talk about this and are determined to rock! It´s going to take some getting used to because I´m so “lights out at 10:30” and she´s a little more laid back. But she is willing to improve and I am willing to not demand perfection from her. However I need to continue to demand the most from myself. That is the key... that I don´t fall into pushing the rules. I´ll let you know how it goes. But I think that we will do quite well together. And even if it´s tough... it´s just 1 transfer because I´ll be hitting 6 months here and the President basically promised me that then I´m going elsewhere.

Pablo – didn´t show up to church this week and that was a big shock because he is a true man of his word. When he says he´s going to be there, he is... even when he is super sick. We will be finding out what happened soon. We tried to commit him to be baptized last Tuesday night, but he rejected the date.

Jose – we had kind of a charla franca ( frank talk... it doesn´t translate right. I know there´s a way to say this, but it´s not coming to me. It´s kind of like a DTR – define the relationship – but with investigating the church.) Anyways. He could be so close to getting it that I don´t want to give up on him. But at the same time, maybe he´ll just never see. It kills me because I have worked and struggled with him for 4 and a half months now and he has come so far.

Hugo and Carmen – are a couple we found the other day trying to visit their less active son. We are now teaching them. I feel really good about them. They came to the second and third hour of church on Sunday and we have an appointment with them tonight. Pray for them too.

We also found a great guy named Angel when I decided to knock a random door that had a no smoking sticker on it. He let us in, let us teach him and we are going to visit him and give him a Book of Mormon the next visit. He said that no book has ever filled the emptiness in him... this book will! I feel like he is a man that the Lord has sincerely prepared and that he led us to find. When I saw the sticker, I crossed the fence, went straight to the door and felt like the Spirit was pushing me to do it. It was cool. We have set a baptismal goal of 3 converts this transfer and I really want to reach it... and surpass it!

The Lotierzo boys aren´t progressing like I want them to. The youngest sat down in the Family Home Evening last night and listened... he had even read his pamphlet, but didn´t pray to know if it´s true. We challenged him to do that. The thing is that the gospel just doesn´t quite call them enough.

Anyways. Gotta run. We have nothing to eat and I´m hungry. I love you tons. Thanks for putting more money on my card. I bought you guys presents that you´re going to LOVE but I can´t tell you about them... it´s going to be a surprise for when I get back. I miss you, but know that we will be together again soon.

Oh what I have is called Rosasha (I have no idea how to spell it), but the mission doctor was at the meeting on Monday and he told me what it is and what cream I need to treat it with. He said I might have to do that for the rest of my life, but whatever... they said that about Granuloma too. I´m happy and I´ll get the cream today.

I love you sooo much.
Keep up all the great study and take care of your testimonies!

Hermana Jensen

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1 COMMENTS:

ajohns37 said...
Dear Familia Jensen, We love her fun descriptions. It helps bring Argentina and the mission alive. She has an amazing spirit and testimony. Hope all is well with you. Our favorite PMG chapter is #6 about developing Christlike attributes. We love and appreciate you and your little Hermana. Take care.
All our love, Familia Johns
APRIL 30, 2009 9:43 PM

Closin´The Transfer With The Mini

April 21, 2009

What a week. What a day, I am literally exhausted. We had a zone activity playing ultimate Frisbee, soccer and eating lunch and I am beat.

First of all... I tried to use Strawberries Romanoff as a tactic to get the teenage Lotierzo boys to stick around a sec for FHE last night. It didn´t work too well, but just a 'little part' of a maybe they´ll start giving us the time of day. It´s a drag to have to think of how you can bribe someone into listening to you....but it's part of the job. By the way, everyone loved the strawberries... it was a big hit in Argentina!

I´m super sad to see the mini go. She was a dream companion and I learned so much from her. Not only in Castellano and culture about Argentina, but we clicked so well. We have laughed so hard we cried. One such story represents just what happens to the mind when one thinks, breathes, eats, and sleeps missionary work:

The other day we were walking down the street and there was this way jungle-like tree with a bunch of vines and branches and stuff. She turned to me and asked "is this the kind of tree that Tarzan swung by?" And I said "no, I think they were softer." And then we looked at each other and burst out laughing because of the conversation we had just had! It was hilarious...maybe you just had to be there!

Then the other day I was helping her put a band-aid on her neck and I jokingly said "it doesn´t stick" and she said " you have to take the little papers off." and I said "no.... really?" It was so funny we laughed until we cried. We were pretty tired too.

Another thing she does that makes me laugh is ask me if certain things exist in the states. But they are always things that ARE FROM the states. For example, "Do you have McDonald´s in the states?" or "do you have Snickers in the states?" I always respond proud fully-- declaring that all of those things in fact come from the states.

News:
Dengue Fever is here... and in the very area where I am serving. I am being extra cautious with mosquitoes these days. I have no idea what the symptoms of Dengue are, but I can´t imagine that it would be any fun to get it.

I have had 2 dreams now that the President has sent me to some new and mysterious area in some “uncharted by Hermanas” territory. We´ll see what happens. After this next transfer... I´m outta here for sure!

Nata Jasa,
There was this little boy the other day in church that is about the same age and size as I imagine Davy is now and I almost cried as I watched him take the sacrament and manage his little cup of water with his little hands. I thought about how much I miss Davy and how it makes me sad to think that I am missing this stage of discovery and accomplishment in his little world. But, alas, this is where I need to be, and where I want to be.

Do you realize just how blessed we are to have the topical guide and bible dictionary at our disposal? Those don´t exist in any other language yet. They are just about to finish (in September) a new version of the Bible in Castellano with the chapter headings and foot notes and everything. It will be so cool for all the Spanish-speaking saints and missionaries. I can´t wait. Too bad I´ll get my hands on one just as I´m finishing the mission, but still. Anyways... the next time you are trying to find a scripture that says something about that one subject... and you look up the key word in the topical guide and find the reference in 24 seconds... think about just how great it is to have those amazingly helpful tools. Thank heavens I brought my English quad because I use the topical guide a ton.

We stopped by the chapel the other night when it was dark, cold, and no one wanted to let us in and we did service hours cleaning our church building. Let me just say that there was something in the bottom cupboard of the kitchen that smelled WORSE than the dead dogs here. We were both almost sick as we got it out and threw it away. It continued to reek for the next hour that we were there. You would have died if you had smelled it. I almost did.

Mom- could you put some money on my debit card for me? Thanks. It just so happens that I finally found an awesome store with a bunch of souvenirs and did a good part of my shopping last p-day. I will be communicating with the family going to the states soon and we´ll see if this suitcase thing is going to work out. I hope so, but if not, life goes on.

I shouldn´t have told you that my eye psoriasis went away because that very day it came back. It´s not nearly as bad as before because I keep using the cream, but it´s not completely cured yet. Í bought a multi-vitamin per instruction of Hermana Benton and she says that it is a deficiency of something. She is investigating what so that I can add it to my diet, but let me just say it.... what are the odds?

Random things that you see here that you would never see in the states:

A young teen-aged couple where the boy is riding a bike and his poor girlfriend is sitting on the handlebar reclining and resting her head against his body and her legs and feet are flying in the air in front of them. It´s ridiculous looking and I am always certain that she is going to fall and break her head open.

Also - you can fit a family of 4 on a moped... did you know?

One more... the stray dogs love to chase motorcycles, bikes, cars, and trains. They usually don´t mess with colectivos, but they sure love to bite at the tires of all the moving vehicles. I am always waiting to see one get run over, but so far it hasn´t happened. What really gets me is when they chase a train on the platform... like do they really think they are going to win against a train?

Speaking of trains... Hermana Barrera told me a true story the other day that has made me develop a fear of trains. Last year in Ramos Mejia (where we go every Monday for district meeting) she was on the platform of the train and like 30 meters away a woman was crossing the street (and the train tracks) and wasn´t paying attention. She was reading or something and must have been wearing headphones because she was hit by the speeding train headed her way and her body was suctioned up to her waist into the bottom part of the train. It dragged her along for the length of 2 or 3 train cars until it came to a stop. Hermana Barrera said she didn´t get a good look at her but said that it was incredibly horrible. I didn´t know trains could pull you down like the Titanic did. I would have thought it would have hit her and sent her flying in the opposite direction to land 20 yards away. So now every time a train comes I stand even further behind the yellow line. Don´t let that story scare you... I am way too paranoid to get hit by a train. And besides, we never wear headphones.... haha!

Story about the mini:
Her name is Barbara (Barbie) and since my name is Stacey we dressed up two of Yamila´s Barbies (like we would dress) and took pictures of the Barbie missionaries. We are the companionship of Barbies! It´s funny to us….so some day when I send home pictures of Barbies... you´ll understand why!

Mom and Nata - do "banana" hair clips exist in the states. They are plastic and you put your hair in there and close the tail part and it stays all nice and crimp free but out of your face-- and isn´t so tight that you get a headache either. You´ve got to give them a try. If they don´t exist tell me, and I´ll buy you a bunch and send them home. I´m totally hooked on them. That is another one of the wonderful things the mini taught me!

It´s cold enough again that I sleep in my sleeping bag every night with blankets on top. It´s like going camping in your own house. It´s nice because making your bed in the morning consists of straightening the sleeping bag and folding the loose blankets on top. You can´t go wrong. I am fond of it.

I am re-exploring the possibility that I just might, might have a parasite because I am eternally hungry and that is one of the things parasites do... they eat your food before your body can so you are starving again. Example. Yesterday we ate a very satisfying lunch at 1:30 pm. Then in the FHE at 7:45 pm I ate 3 pieces of pizza and a ton of strawberries Romanoff. At 2:30 am I woke up in utter pain - starving. I ate crackers and went back to bed. At 6:30 when the alarm went off... I was again... DYING of hunger pains. I couldn´t eat enough fast enough. What do you think?

I am super tired... I´m always like this the last week of the transfer. It´s truly a mystery that when you finish one you somehow find this new source of energy to start another one. It is astounding to me that I can crash onto the mattress one Sunday night and hop out of it Monday morning to find out who my next companion is and where I'm headed.

For the first time in over a month we finally found someone to teach. She is married and her husband is a member but inactive. She wants to be baptized, but not without his support and he doesn't want her to be. We are also teaching an agnostic man and I hope that he gets an answer soon that God exists and that this is His church. He has come to Sacrament Meeting for the last 2 Sundays and we are going to try and commit him to accept a baptismal date tonight... pray for us!

Another man we are teaching has read every strong and powerful chapter in the BOM about baptism but says that he just doesn´t feel that it is his destiny to become a member of the Church. He is a lot like the other guy we were teaching in October and November and December who was never baptized-- even though he had received a confirmation that the Church is true a bajillion times. The thing is he says that he´d have too many family problems if he joined the church. His wife is Catholic. We are working so hard with him hand in hand with the members and he always feels the spirit so strong and believes the BOM and Joseph Smith and everything but just doesn´t get how it all works together. He just needs to see for himself. I really have a feeling that he is close to getting there... he just needs to take a leap of faith. It´s just something that only he can do.

I miss you a bunch... I´m not too trunky, but every once in a while I think about how cool it would be to be able to take a nap and not think about how many contacts we have to do in the evening of p-day. And it would be cool to be able to go exploring in a mountain and dip my feet in some stream. I miss mountains.

I´m super happy and anxious to see what the next transfer holds. I am holding out my hopes that my next companion will be Hermana Pruner - because 2 days in the MTC just wasn´t enough. We want to be companions so much! I just hope I don´t train again (at least not for this coming transfer... I need a break) It´s demanding and it takes the energy right out of ya! But it is a great experience and a privilege to serve.

Daddy,
Who won March Madness? I think you told me who was in the final two... but who took it?

I love you tons and hope that you are super, super happy. Please keep our investigators in your prayers...

Love ya more than Abachoc ice cream!


Hermana Jensen

Motivational posters to discourage smoking

placques!

Ranch Dressing from home--a hot commodity

A daily planner-- where every 15 minutes is scheduled

Stake Activity

Representing the Telestial Kingdom

Something is definitely growing...

A take home meal

A Kiosco (front window of a home)

Representing the Celestial Kingdom

Pin the Angel Moroni on the Temple

Eating lunch in between sessions of General Conference

Napping in the house of a member

The last care package from home!

Fruit and Vegetable Market

11 Months out!

Service

Hermana Johns y Barrera

We ROCK!!

Happy Easter!

Andrea's Baptism

4

The Lotierzo Family

The Stacey Barbie (left)

The Barbara Barbie (right)

Dressed as they would choose!

These are all mine

Look at my cool hat

Souvenir shop

Now you see 'em ...

Now you don't!

Strawberries Romanoff--yumm!

Oeste Zone

Too tired to brush...

Cereal sold by the gram

2nd Sisters Conference

a cool tree

I'm not bossy!

The Centurion family

There are holes in my socks!!

The Zone Leaders with Stacey and Hermana Barrera

Presidente y Hermana Benton with Stacey and her companion

An abandoned... earlier robbed car