Happy Baptism Day

Rolando Destito (2nd from left)

Azucena Rodriguez (center)

100 Days Has Come And Gone!

In this letter it sounds like Stacey is doing well and getting a little more comfortable and settled in. I was weary with changing all of the different ways her keyboard punctuates, so I finally just stopped, plus it gives it that Argentine flare!

(By the way, when Stacey refers to "heaven on Salinas" she is talking about her 'memory foam' mattress back in Riverton!)

Thanks again for tuning in, tomorrow she will have been out for 100 days--only 448 more, but then whose counting haha!





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August 12, 2008
Hola,

Sister Benton was so sweet to call you for me. I was just suddenly really worried that you were less than ok with what went down with my kidney stone and all... I couldńt bear the thought that you might be sad or worried or feeling alone and so I called her. She said she'd love to check on you and I felt so much better.

I did not get anything from Daddy or you actually... the thing is we didn't get mail yesterday like normal because tomorrow is zone conference, so we'll get mail tomorrow which may or may not have dearelder mail for me. I LOVE hearing from everybody, and especially the words from Daddy because he served a mission so I feel like he understands maybe a little bit better what I'm going through... not to say that you don't, but you know, it' always great to get advice from someone who's had a similar experience. I really relish in getting messages from both of you through dearelder and hope that it isn't a pain or anything. I love them so much... it's like heaven to read your words and feel close to you.
In fact, every time I see a sign for the church... like on the chapel, I hear in my mind Daddy saying, "La Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos do los Ultimos Dias," the way I used to ask him and he'd say it really fast and all. Who would have ever thought that one day I'd be the one saying that all the time!
It has been raining here in Buenos Aires. The first day I was caught without my umbrella, rain coat, or boots. We saught refuge under a covering and waited for it to lighten up a bit then kept on working. My hair went curly, but I like it!
The second time I was a little more prepared. I had my umbrella - just the little one, not the really good one... I didńt want to use it... - and my rain coat. It poured! I wished I had been wearing my boots because instantly there were puddles flooding 5-6 feet into the street on both sides meaning 5-6 feet towards the center of the road where the cars drive. I have no idea why when we left the apartment it didn't dawn on me to put them on. But it wasn't too bad because again we saught refuge and were well covered by my umbrella. And we took good pictures so you'll see those soon !
The funny thing is my companion ran out in the rain when I was hiding carefully under the umbrella and I told her to come back because I didńt want a sick companion and she said she wouldńt get sick and then the next morning (today) I woke up with a sore throat!
Before I forget, people here keep asking me about wards and stakes in Utah. How many people are on the list in your ward? How many are active? How many are in attendance in church on an average Sunday? How many wards are in a stake? People really want to know how many blocks are in a ward boundary... I guessed like 4 or 5 but told them Íd find out. Can you give me the low down about wards and numbers in ̈la fabricä that's what people say when I tell them I'm from SLC, Utah - I think it translates about the same ... ̈the 'fabric' meaning... where all the missionaries or LDS people come from.
Here is a little story for you:
So yesterday before the awful rain storm, I lost my coin purse with about $10 (in pesos, not US money... from here on out Íll just always use pesos as default and Íll specify if I mean US money) It fell out of my coat pocket... which I wasńt wearing, because it was hot and I just had it draped over my scripture bag which is on my shoulder... we were walking back to the apartment and I literally cannot believe that I did not hear it fall to the ground because I had tons of change in it that would obviously make a sound... I was sad because I really liked the little coin purse... I bought it my first p-day here and it made me happy. We retraced our steps after lunch when I noticed it was gone and of course we didńt find it. I tried to have a good attitude and say that maybe we had to go back and retrace our steps because we were going to find some family on the way that would get baptized but we didńt pass like a single person the entire time we walked back to where I know I last had it and all... lame. I lost my money and my change purse and we spent time looking for it. But I really cańt complain, if I had lost a glove, now that would be tragic, because good gloves here would cost way more than 10 pesos. Or my camera... can you imagine if I lost that. It is a hard chore to keep track of my gloves, my scarf, my coat, my scripture bag, my agenda, my 2 wallets, my camera, my chapstick... everywhere we go.
But Íll live and Íll buy another coin purse, hopefully right after email.
I had my first split in Argentina. I went to"campo" which means the country... where we couldńt even drink the water and so we had to buy water for the day. I really enjoyed myself there because this area called "Las Heras" is like a fourth the size of my area. I liked it because it just felt so much more manageable and possible. I could actually feel comfortable there because they use the grid system and numbers and my area is more skeewampus (spelling ?) and oh... I want to serve there super bad, except for the fact that you have to buy water, and one more thing... therés no chapel. The "church" is a room. There is a sign on the door and it fits about 30 people, which means there are obviously not that many members. Another difficulty about this area is that you have to have your baptisms in another city... you have to take a train there... I cańt even imagine having the stress of making sure my baptisms made it to the train and then to wherever there is a font! I really enjoyed the split because I was with a sister from the states, who went to BYU, we had a ton in common and even though wére not supposed to, we broke down and spoke English a little bit. It just does a lot of good to the soul to be able to speak without restraint and without having to think about everything and KNOW that you will be perfectly understood.
That is something I'm having a hard time with here because Íll say something to my companion and Íll translate it exactly how I want the message to be conveyed and Íll say it with the tone I want, but because of the cultural difference and possibly the language difference... it just isńt received right. For this reason is was great to be with an English speaker for 24 blissful hours, plus she helped me out a ton with my Spanish because finally I could ask "how do you say this" and get an answer. That is something people dońt realize about having a native speaker... yes it's great because you can mimic them a lot, but in this case at least... she can almost never answer a question or tell me how to say what I want to say... and it's not her fault, but it is just a language gap.
So, I know you already know this, but we had a baptismal service on Saturday and then they were confirmed in church on Sunday. Azucena Rodriguez is a single mom with 4 kids... who may someday come around and listen to us, but as of yet doesn’t really let us teach them. Shs is great though. The other is Rolando Destito who is in his 30s, and is dating a RM who is also in her 30s. He is so awesome and is way more on top of things - meaning I dońt worry about him making his way to church on Sunday, because he has a car, and he goes, he even went in Cordovan when he was out of town... we just dońt have to worry about him, Azucena though... it is still like you have to really push her to get her to come to all 3 hours of church, and wear a dress. Rolando though, hés more comfortable, commenting, praying of his own volition and all. Azucena wońt pray in front of us... it is so hard because the people here just for the most part are too embarrassed to pray, they dońt know how, we teach them, they still wońt do it in front of us, who knows how to conquer that. Anyways, 2 baptisms and also the daughter of the bishop was baptized.
Ready for this... 110 people came! Which is like a way huge number. It was great. But therés more... this part though is sad... remember the situation about the water here... yeah, well I dońt know why or what happened because I was in Las Heras when my companion came to the chapel to fill the font and all, but all I know is the water was more like lukewarm than warm. The little daughter of the bishop started crying before her baptism because she stepped into the cold water. Our 2 baptisms were more adult about it... because they actually are adults, but Azucena had to be baptized twice because shés afraid of water and the coldness made her tense up even more and she didńt go all the way under. It was pretty sad that the bishop's daughter started crying at her own baptism. I felt horrible, especially when the Bishop told us the water was ̈heladö which means ice cream.
Oh, also right before the baptism... that was the day that I was in Las Heras, and me and Sister Greenland missed the train back to my area for the baptism, so we had to talk a remis and pay $45 pesos instead of $1.05. We missed the train because we were visiting a less active older lady. She was crying because she has cancer and family problems and we sat there talking with her as I watched the hands on my watch indicate that the train would leave in 4 minutes. We couldńt just leave... she was crying. Anyway, we took a remis, caught the second train in Merlo and made it to Castelar in plenty of time for the baptism, but with significantly less dinero!
These past few days everybody has been breaking down in tears and telling us about their trials, work problems, poverty and family problems. It is so hard because a lot of the time I dońt know what they are upset about... my vocabulary does not really cover people cheating on each other, or the details of dying of cancer, or the process of getting a legal marriage certificate in this country so that they can be baptized. I just have to sit there and listen. Luckily my companion understands and can answer, but it is frustrating to watch people cry and not really be able to do much but be there for them. I feel like I have such a handle on the language until someone starts talking to me....imagine that!! :)
After the zone activity we all went to an all you can eat restaurant for $24 pesos each (8 dollars) It was super fun. 14 elders and 2 sisters. It was cool to have free reign on different food. And the ice cream here is great. I ate too much and regret it right now, but how often do we get to all go eat together in a restaurant as a zone in the center of Merlo? Exactly, not very often. So I had fun. It reminded me of family trips to Vegas and I wished that I could zap you there to enjoy it with me.
I love you so very much and I want you to know I think about you and pray for you every single day.
I miss you tons, but I know that wéll be together again someday and that it will be as though we were never apart! That's the beauty of family... we are close even when we have to be far away.
I love you more than a hot bath followed by a nap on 'heaven' in Salinas...

Con Carino, (with affection)
Hermana Jensen

An Update From Hermana Benton

August 11, 2008 10:04 AM

Hi Sister Jensen!This is Hermana Benton. I just wanted to let you know that I talked to your daughter this a.m. on the phone and she is doing fine.As a matter of fact, she and her companion are doing so fine that they held a baptism last Saturday for two of their investigators, where they had 100 plus people in attendance!Sister Jensen is a great missionary, and it's obvious she has "the gift of tongues" too, because she's communicating and working so well with Sister Torres, her native speaking companion.

What an amazing amount of comfort we received as parents, from this letter. It is so good to know that missionaries serving all over the world have such loving and caring people to support them, watch over them, and encourage them as they strive to teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

A Flashback To Stacey's Mission Call!

The Tea Cup

There was a couple who used to go to England to shop in the beautiful stores. They both liked antiques and pottery and especially teacups. This was their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary and the shop they visited had a beautiful teacup.
They said to the shop assistant, "May we see that? We've never seen one quite so beautiful." As the lady handed it over to them,the teacup spoke suddenly.
"You don't understand," it said. "I haven't always been a teacup.There was a time when I was red and I was clay. My master took me, rolled me, patted me over and over and I yelled out,'Let me alone' but he only smiled, 'Not yet.'
"Then I was placed on a spinning wheel," the teacup said,"and suddenly I was spun around. 'Stop it! I'm getting dizzy!'I screamed. But the master only nodded and said, 'Not yet.'
Then he put me in the oven. I never felt such heat. I wondered why he wanted to burn me, and I yelled and knocked at the door.I could see him through the opening and I could read his lips as he shook his head, 'Not yet.'
Finally the door opened, he put me on the shelf, and I began to cool. 'There, that's better', I said. And he brushed and painted me all over. The fumes were horrible. I thought I would gag.'Stop it, stop it!' I cried. He only nodded, 'Not yet.'
Then suddenly he put me back into the oven, not like the first one. This was twice as hot and I knew I would suffocate.I begged. I pleaded. I screamed. I cried. All the time I could see him through the opening nodding his head saying, 'Not yet.'
Then I knew there wasn't any hope. I would never make it.I was ready to give up. But the door opened and he took me out and placed me on the shelf. One hour later he handed me a mirror and I couldn't believe it was me. 'It's beautiful. I'm beautiful.'
'I want you to remember, then,' he said, 'I know it hurts to be rolled and patted, but if I had left you alone, you would have dried up.
I know it made you dizzy to spin around on the wheel, but if I had stopped, you would have crumbled.
I knew it hurt and was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but if I hadn't put you there, you would have cracked.
I know the fumes were bad when I brushed and painted you all over, but if I hadn't done that, you never would have hardened; you would not have had any color in your life.
And if I hadn't put you back in that second oven, you wouldn't survive for very long because the hardness would not have held.
Now you are a finished product.
You are what I had in mind when I first began with you.
Moral: God knows what He's doing for all of us. He is the potter and we are His clay. He will mold us so that we may be made into a flawless piece of work to fulfill His good, pleasing, and perfect will.
Let this story remind you that God has a perfect plan for your life. He may need to place or allow some obstacles in your life to strengthen your character, so that you may be strong in the days of greater adversity. Don't get discouraged when you feel like the heat of the struggle is going to burn you. God knows exactly when to pull you out and deliver you from that problem and when He does you will be much wiser and stronger than you were before.
God knows your inner strength and ability to be strong even in the midst of a problem.
~Author Unknown~

And It Came To PASS

...a kidney stone that is.

What we prayed wouldn't happen--happened. :(
Stacey awoke in the middle of the night last Friday with the now familiar pain that some of us are unfortunately too familiar with. Another kidney stone, her third or is it the fourth? I can't remember, they all start to blur together. :) The mission doctor told her she could go to the hospital of course, but she didn't want to add the stress of trying to communicate and explain her history to them. She decided to tough it out and finally got through it after a blessing from the Zone Leaders and then another one from the Mission President, her kind and caring companion, and the much needed "motherly" care from the Mission President's sweet wife. She said many, many prayers and pleadings, received blessings of peace which were much needed being so far from the conveniences and comforts of home, and luckily had the appropriate meds (packed before leaving home) with her in case such an event occurred. She was sad to miss Church on Sunday, here is a little of what she wrote:

When I finally came out of the coma I was in from the drugs, the Zone Leaders came over and gave us the Sacrament. Argentina is very facilitative of this, and we ate the meal the Bishop provided, and at 4 pm on Sunday, we went out to work. We had goals to meet and believe it or not, we did 40 contacts (usually 20 a day) and taught 8 lessons. We reached all our goals, we got back just after 9 and I crashed. I know that I wasn’t supposed to run faster and all that jazz, but I was well enough to work, and there was certainly work to be done. It was such a terrible Sunday to miss church because a new convert had her baby blessed and tons of family and friends (many of which are our investigators) went, plus Rolando who is getting baptized this Saturday! bore his testimony and we missed it. Plus, our other baptism for this Saturday, Azucena came with one of her sons... I was upset to miss such a Sunday, plus we had made fliers and handouts to remind everybody about the baptism that we couldńt hang up or give out. UGH!

As you can see she is a fighter. It is always amazing to see how Heavenly Father uses the events and circumstances in our lives to help stretch us so that we can progress and grow. He wisely knows that it is through heart wrenching and painful adversity that we have the opportunity to reach upwards and develop a closer relationship with the Savior. It is after submitting to all things that we see more clearly how it truly helped us, and recognize that we are so much better for having gone through it.

Sister Benton, the Mission President's wife just called me to say that Stacey doesn't want us to worry about her. She said that she is doing well, that she is strong and back to work!

I am sure there are many out there that already know this, but this is super good stretching material for the mommy too!

Here are some FYI’s Stacey shared:

Skippy peanut butter cost 24 pesos - about 8 dollars for a regular sized thing like we have in food storage. A package of Ramen Noodles costs $2.40. It is an outrage, but I bought some for the next time I need comfort soup to get through something. :)

And A BLOG WORTHY STORY to end on something more upbeat:

We were walking somewhere and had to cross the street. Well, I've told you about the millions of wild dogs here, right? Well one such dog, stopped beside me, looked both ways (as we were doing) and started to cross right when we did... HE KNEW! He stopped, looked both ways, and crossed the street... just like a person! I was astonished.

Life is good...make the most of it, take care and enjoy!

From the Mission President's Blog:

STARS
Stars, in your multitudes

Scarce to be counted ,

Filling the darkness

With order and light

You are the sentinels,

Silent and sure,

Keeping watch in the night

Keeping watch in the night

You know your place in the sky,

You hold your course and your aim

And each in your season

Returns and returns

And is always the same.

(A song the character Javert sings, from"Les Miserables")

This is just a memory of traveling late last Sunday night, from General Villegas to Buenos Aires, with the APS. We were on a very long, dark, two lane highway, and suddenly, we noticed the brilliance of the stars above and the hugeness of the "Milky Way." Evrett commented that this was the first time he and I had been able to see the stars in the "Southern Hemisphere" sky. We pulled off the highway, and drove a little ways down a dirt road. Then, we all got out of the car and gazed at the bright stars for a few moments. We talked about the scriptures that refer to the Lord creating "worlds without number", and the scriptures in the Book of Moses that tell about Moses' reaction, when he saw all the inhabitants of the earth and the vastness of the Lord's creations. Moses realized then that "man is nothing." On Monday, the verses from the song "Stars" popped into my mind, and I have been humming that song all week as we've worked with our missionaries in various ways.

Last night, I realized that the words from "Stars" remind me of our missionaries and our wonderful family and friends. It's a dark and cold winter in Buenos Aires right now, and it seems like we've been encouraging our missionaries all week to do their best to stay out on the streets day and night, even when faced with illness and danger, proclaiming the Gospel to the people. A few missionaries have told us that some of the people here call them "angels"and want to serve and help them in their work. Yes, they are angels, and when they are out among the people, they are "filling the darkness with order and light". They are the "sentinels" who "keep watch in the night" and "hold their course and their aim, and are "always the same", because they are proclaiming a Gospel that is always the same. The missionaries give comfort and hope to the people of Buenos Aires.

We want our dear family and friends to know that you are all the "Stars" in our lives, who give us strength and direction. Because you are our own personal "Stars", we send a big hug and a big kiss and "Thank You" to you all. We love you all and we miss you all!

A Great Welcome

These next 2 pictures, and the post after them are from

the blog of Stacey's new Mission President and his wife.

http://www.bentonsmission.blogspot.com/

This is the sign they made to welcome incoming missionaries:

We waited at the airport with Sister Torres and Sister Petty

as they prepared to greet their two new companions who were arriving

from the United States. The two new Sisters arrived, and we welcomed

them to the "Best Mission in the World"! The two new Sisters are

Sister Jensen, from Utah,and Sister Pruner, from Canada.

Remember the previous blog photo of me and Sister Pruner

in the MTC cafeteria? Well, we're both in Argentina now!
I love these Sister Missionaries!
(Posted by Cheryl & Evrett )

A much welcomed update from the Mission President's wife about Stacey's recent kidney stone and baptism :

Hi Sister Jensen!This is Hermana Benton. I just wanted to let you know that I talked to your daughter this a.m. on the phone and she is doing fine. As a matter of fact, she and her companion are doing so fine that they held a baptism last Saturday for two of their investigators, where they had 100 plus people in attendance! Sister Jensen is a great missionary, and it's obvious she has "the gift of tongues" too, because she's communicating and working so well with Sister Torres, her native speaking companion.
August 11, 2008 10:04 AM

A Descriptive and Emotional Hello From Argentina!

This is Stacey's first letter and I decided to post it as she sent it, without making many corrections (just a few for ease in reading) and let it stand mostly as written. =) Through this honest and "full on" Stacey communicae, you will get a good idea of the complete culture shock she is in! She is a trouper and doing well despite the newness of everything, and we are grateful for your continued love, support and prayers.

Karen

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hi everyone, get ready to read!

i'm going to do my best typing. the keys are DIFFERENT here. so i´m not goin to edit at all. enjoy.
the flight was long, but the Lord blessed me with a row to myself so i was able to lie down and sleep well sort of.
jet lag is so much more than i can even explain. 5 hours is a lot to overcome when we are working insanely hard and walking about 10 miles a day. speaking of that, i have this sore on my heel that kills all day long and i have no idea why because i´m wearing the same shoes i´ve been wearing all my mission and its only on my right heel. it hurts and makes walking all day such a joy. the jet lag has been really exhausting, so much so in fact that i almost fall alseep in studies and in church and almost in lessons and i was so bothered and stressed by it that i asked the zls for a blessing after district meeting on monday. i was promised the energy "in this minute" and told to smile and work hard and remember that i have brothers and sisters waiting for me.
by the way, i can´t figure out how to capitalize yet... so don´t think i´m not lazy, i´m not, just dumb.
allow me one second to whine and say that you cannot really know the meaning of the word homesick until you have left your homeland. the littlest things like grocery shopping are a panic attack. not only is the money different, but the food... you don´t know if you´re buying what you think you are or if you´re getting a good deal or if ... i can´t even explain.
it´s different to have lunch with members and then no dinner. we work about 7 hours straight every evening and it's a lot on your feet. plus about three of those hours are in the dark and it's even more cold. i love my coat, my gloves, and my scarf... they go everywhere i go!
i don´t think the water spins the opposite way here... everybody lied.
it´s such a pain to change missions. everything i learned there is pretty much not how we do it here. for example, here instead of tracting, we street contact, 20 a day per companionship. and if they let us pull out a pamphlet and talk for a bit, we have to challenge them to be baptized. can you believe that... but we do it.
when we got off the plane, the aps, the president and his wife, and our two trainers were waiting for us in the airport with a huge sign that said welcome to the baw mission the best mission in the world. we took pictures. it was really cool, what a welcome! we went to the temple just to take pictures,then for interviews and training, then my companion and i took a remis - taxi to our apartment where i had to unpack in the dark because our light blew.
alfajores are delicious - special argentine cookie treats. i´ll send some home sometime in the future. empanadas are divine. i´ll have to learn how to cook them. milanesa are... well, the time we had it my comp said it wasn´t very good... and i agree, but i hear it can be amazing.
our area is called castelar.
everybody calls me a yankee and i don´t really like it. they don´t know about the war, they just know about baseball.
here instead of opening the gate and walking to the door to knock it, you just stand outside the gate and clap... strange, then they come to the door. can you believe that?
there are more stray dogs on the street than there are birds in the sky. everywhere i look there are dogs, but none of them give us any trouble. the ones that are gated are more scary than those that roam free.
also there is a cart pulled by a horse that this guy rides and gathers plastic bottles off the streets all day long. so you hear a horse behind you and that´s what that is.
we ordered a pizza one day when we didn´t have a lunch and it was 19 pesos - so really only like 7 bucks in america, but it still felt like a million dollars because we are so poor. we get 450 pesos to live on for the month and don´t forget that we have to pay for the colectivo - bus - and the train whenever we want to ride them. they don´t cost that much, but trust me, we have no money!
the water here is ok, it kinda tastes like dirt or sweat or i don´t know, but i drink it because it´s potable and i can´t afford to buy water. one night i was so thirsty, so we stopped by the bishop´s for water and they didn´t have any... they gave us soda water which i couldn´t stomach for the life of me. so we went to a less actives and they didn´t have any either... i was so thirsty i wanted to cry because i couldn´t believe that i literally couldn´t find water to drink!
i hear the phrase 'ni idea' about 1000 times a day. that is what people say here for i don´t know or i´m not sure. i´m sure i´ll get used to it, but it´s a really frustrating thing to hear when you ask where to find something and all you hear is i don't know.

check out bentonsmission.blogspot.com - it´s the site the president´s wife keeps ... you´ll find pictures of me on it

there aren´t stop signs here at the intersections... there are in the cities, but not where we live. so i haven´t figured out the system yet, but one of the cars always stops, usually they honk too, but someone always stops. pedestrians have no rights here, and it´s tough because i´m used to being a little bold as a pedestrian... not here
you have to keep your eyes on the ground while you walk because the "side walk" if you wanna call it that is so uneven, it can change about a foot with no notice and my comp took a fall my first day. not only do we look down for that but also because often its little brick stones like a cobble stone path but like i said really uneven, so you have to look down so you place your weight correctly on the stones or else you could seriously roll your ankle. also, i am always scouring for money... i found 10 centavos one night right after i thought to myself "man i really wish we could find 2 pesos so we could buy some water" that was the night i was dying of thirst... just so you know the 10 centavos i found isn´t much. there are 100 centavos in 1 peso and 3 pesos in a dollar, so i found about a tenth of 33 cents... about 3 cents, but i was still happy and i taped it in my journal.
by the way, in los angeles, if i had been able to write last week i would have told you that we got a baptismal date with 9 year old Melissa... obviously i won´t be there to witness it, but it was my first.
then I came here and we have 2 baptisims for the 9th of august... Azucena and Rolando. I´ve only met the former so far, but yeah, pretty cool, huh?
oh, i wear these tight black pants under my skirt and i even wore a turtle neck the other day and today i´m wearing one of the sweater vests on top of a jodi dress. so far i´ve used lots that we bought to keep me warm... and yes, my sleeping bag is my best friend. i sleep so well and cannot imagine how we would survive without it, because our apartment obviously has no heat. but we do have a little plug in heater that keeps our feet warm while we study in the morning and plan in the evenings.
so since we layer up and walk out in the cold all day and stuff i always feel like it´s halloween... or that I´m getting ready to go to a byu football game. i also remember this when we wash our hands in freezing cold water after using the bathroom because there isn´t warm water at lavell edwards stadium... so that´s what i think of... halloween and football games! does that really surprise anybody?
one day when i felt particularly overwhelmed with my life as a missionary in a far away foreign land, i asked my comp which way was north and then with all my might looked in that direction and tried to picture my family. it was a heavy thought to realize that even if i wanted to run to you, i literally couldn´t. we are separated by what 7000 miles is it? and oh yeah AN OCEAN. it made me sad to think that if i really needed to get to you, it was beyond my power to do so.
don´t worry though, yes, i´m not going to lie, i´m a little homesick, but that´s to be expected and i´m handling it the best i know how. i pray and plead with the Lord to bless me and carry me. and He does, day by day, I get through one more and learn one more investigator´s name and one more days work... oh speaking of the language... feel more than free to pray for me to get the gift of tongues again... i cannot express the frustration i have to hide when i cannot talk to my companion.... all my latin companions that i´ve ever had have always spoken english too so they understood what i was trying to say and then taught me how to say it. well with hermana torres, she doesn´t know what i´m trying to say, so she can´t teach me how, so i feel like I'm not getting any better.
Just so you know, hermana Torres is such an angel, she is patient, she is supportive, she is strong, she loves me, she encourages me, she teaches me, she congratulates me, she helps me, she is so amazing and I love her with all of my heart. She has a rock solid testimony and is teaching me to be bold and take rejection in stride. She is an incredible trainer and only has 6 months herself. I love her completely, but sometimes I feel like we´re at the tower of babel and the Lord just confounded our language... we look at each other and feel trapped. Pray for us to stay patient and to help each other.
I love you more than I can explain. Thank you for supporting me and letting me live this dream.
We get mail on Mondays now and write on Tuesdays... I´m sending you a paper letter too, who knows, you might get it in two weeks. Look forward to it!
We went shopping today and I bought this big crazy ring just because i´m in Argentina and I couldn´t resist. I also bought a coin purse for all our bus coins and a little wallet.
I have to go, but I love you so much!

Hermana Jensen

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Goodbye California

These are the last of the photos from the C.L. A. M. I didn't add any
captions because I don't have any solid idea of what they are--that's
the only bad thing about getting a CD with 200 photos on it! A lot of
them are probably self explanatory except for the dirt devil one...

(although I'm sure we could figure that one out too)

I'll have to ask about it and update it one day.