Hermana Jensen: Mission Updates: Aug 25, 2009

Thanks for the awesome birthday wishes! It made me quite happy.

Grandma Olson - I loved hearing that you are a temple worker in the Oquirrh temple. Way to go Grandma! You make me so proud. You are a great example for your posterity.

Grandparents Jensen – thanks for keeping me in your thoughts and prayers. I really feel the power of the prayers offered on my behalf and am grateful for them. I can´t wait to see you all again!

Nata – I´m so pumped to see you all in December. It will be here before we know it. I hope Davy takes to me quickly. I´m so anxious to hold him in my arms and teach him Spanish nursery rhymes. I know some pretty cute ones!

Speaking of things I have learned. Allow me to teach you all how to play “hay un perro muerto” (there is a dead dog)

You are all in a circle and the one who has “it” starts singing

“debajo de mi cama hay un perro muerto y el que diga ____ y _____ se lo comerá”

THERE´S A DEAD DOG UNDER MY BED AND WHOMEVER SAYS --- OR --- HAS TO EAT IT!

In this example I will use “even numbers or multiples of 3”

Then you start counting number by number around the circle. And if you mess up, you´re out and the game starts over with a new set of requirements.

Here w ego “debajo de mi cama, hay un perro muerto, y el que diga números par o multiples de 3, se lo comerá”

1,5,7,11,13,17,19,23,25,29,31,37,41,43,47,49,53

Do you get it? I hope so. We´ll have to play it when I get home.

There´s also this game you play with pennies. You let them roll off your nose and make them bounce into a cake dish. The team that gets the most pennies in while the other team is trying to find the key scripture wins. You go back and forth and it´s fun. I learned it in a “workshop” taught by my district leader. PS my team won!

Remember that way elect family with the 6 year old son that cried in the first lesson? We lost them after the second. It was an awesome lesson with the three of them and the husband and we had a member accompany us that bore testimony after we watched "The Restoration" DVD, but it didn´t take. They are Catholic and they don´t want their kids to be confused. It was tough to lose them. I tried to convince her to pray and think it over, but I hope they get another chance and that they take advantage of it. They would be a lovely family in the gospel.

We had this awesome lesson with ________ - a reference from the family Elder Pollock baptized and he said that he wanted to go to church that Sunday and that he had prayed, but couldn´t understand the answer. He is so sincere during the lessons, but come Sunday morning he is tired and doesn´t come. He will never gain a testimony until he can produce the actions that reflect his faith. We´re going to keep working and find a better way. The problem is that he just switched jobs and now he is almost never available for us to teach him. But we´ll find a way.

I realized how much I had been missing Hermana Benton when she came for interviews (she doesn´t attend those) and I walked into the church and saw her and screamed for joy and ran to give her a big hug. It´s the closest you can come to seeing your real mom, so you take advantage of it! I miss her and that must clue you in on how much I too miss you all!

My interview with the president was a special one. He taught me how to develop charity. He said these things:

The foundation of the atonement is love.

Never let anyone else dictate how you act. How you think or act should not be dictated by someone else´s actions.

Keep your focus on where you´re going on a daily basis (to not get trunky)

Charity is a muscle – exercise it and it will grow.

And my favorite:

You´re better than you think you are. Remember that.

He is so good and is such a great teacher. In my next interview I will teach him for 10 minutes about charity and then I will have finished my study program for the whole mission. I will be presented a pin in front of the mission and it´s a big deal for us.

Thanks to hundreds and hundreds of prayers and tons of ours… Santiago was baptized on Sunday! It was technically my best bautismal service yet because almost nothing went wrong. There was hot water in the font, the witnesses and baptizer showed up, he didn´t have to be baptized twice… it was great.

There has got to be a way to cure my nails. The hangnails are killing me. I perform my own surgery cutting them out every few months and then can´t wash my hair or really use my hands for a few days because of the pain. There has got to be some vitamin I can take to fix this.

Mom - can you do me a favor and send an email to the CLAM (LA mission) and say this:

Sister Jensen mentioned that when she was serving there in a zone conference her picture was taken so that she would be a part of a mission directory that was being made. Is there any way to get a copy of that mission directory?

They said they were going to give me one, but they never did and I want to be able to look up mission buddies from that mission. Thanks!

I hear Hermana Johns about being just worn out. I´m not trunky, trunky, but tired yes. I have days where I´m just like, “do we really have to go out and walk all day again?” Yep! Once you get out in the street, it´s not that bad, but at times I really have to push myself out the door in the morning--that´s where Satan tries to get you. “Just stay home during the morning and go out after lunch…” NO!

We saw Alejo 2 today and he is all injured and has a huge open wound on his side. It´s sad. I wish he could just be put out of his misery, but I don´t know how to get it done. I don´t know if he got in a fight or what, but he´s pretty beaten up.

Don't worry about me....things will get better, every trial makes us stronger. I´m tough and I will accept whatever comes on Monday in transfer meeting. The most important thing is that I can testify that Heavenly Father answers prayers.

I love you all so much and will think of you on Saturday as I am working hard in the heat that is already upon us.

I know the gospel is true. It sustains me. Let it sustain you now and forever!

PS – I get to go to Rolando´s temple sealing! WAHOO!

Wubba,