Advice To Live By - Elder Busche

"Unleashing the Dormant Spirit"
by F. Enzio Busche, who was a member of the First Quorum
of the Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
when this devotional address was given at
Brigham Young University on May 14, 1996

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I want to share with you a vehicle, an instrument, which I have developed some time ago for myself and for my family. It can assist us to reach our focus as we read the suggested vision of true discipleship as a Latter-day Saint. It helps when we from time to time, ponder and seek identification with the following thoughts:
* Embrace this day with an enthusiastic welcome, no matter how it looks. The covenant with God to which you are true, enables you to become enlightened by him, and nothing is impossible for you.
* When you are physically sick, tired, or in despair, steer your thoughts away from yourself and direct them, in gratitude and love, towards God.
* In your life, there have to be challenges. They will either bring you closer to God and therefore make you stronger, or they can destroy you. But you make the decision of which road you take.
* First and foremost, you are a spirit child of God. If you neglect to feed your spirit, you will reap unhappiness. Don't permit anything to detract you from this awareness.
* You cannot communicate with God unless you have first sacrificed your self-oriented natural man, and have brought yourself into the lower levels of meekness, to become acceptable for the Light of Christ.
* Put all frustrations, hurt feelings, and grumblings into the perspective of your eternal hope. Light will flow into your soul.
* Pause to ponder the suffering Christ felt in the Garden of Gethsemane. In the awareness of the depth of gratitude for him, you appreciate every opportunity to show your love for him by diligently serving in his Church.
* God knows that you are not perfect. As you suffer about your imperfections, he will give you comfort and suggestions of where to improve.
* God knows better than you what you need. He always attempts to speak to you. Listen, and follow the uncomfortable suggestions that he makes to us and everything will fall into its place.
* Avoid any fear like your worst enemy, but magnify your fear about the consequences of sin.
* When you cannot love someone, look into that person's eyes long enough to find the hidden rudiments of the child of God in him.
* Never judge anyone. When you accept this, you will be freed. In the case of your own children or subordinates, where you have the responsibility to judge, help them to become their own judges.
* If someone hurts you so much that your feelings seem to choke you, forgive, and you will be free again.
* Avoid at all cost any pessimistic, negative, or criticizing thoughts. If you cannot cut them out, they will do you harm. On the road toward salvation, let questions arise but never doubts. If something is wrong, God will give you clarity but never doubts.
* Avoid rush and haste and uncontrolled words. Divine light develops in places of peace and quiet. Be aware of that as you enter places of worship.
* Be not so much concerned about what you do, but what you do, do with all your heart, might, and strength. In thoroughness is satisfaction.
* You want to be good and to do good. That is commendable. But the greatest achievement that can be reached in our lives is to be under the complete influence of the Holy Ghost. Then he will teach us what is really good and necessary to do.
* The pain of sacrifice lasts only one moment. It is the fear of the pain of sacrifice that makes you hesitate to do it.
* Be grateful for every opportunity to serve. It helps you more than those you serve.
* And finally, when you are compelled to give up something or when things that are dear to you are withdrawn from you, know that this is your lesson to be learned right now. But know also that, as you are learning this lesson, God wants to give you something better.
I think at this time it seems appropriate to ask the question "Do I really think it's possible for us, as human beings, to be always, in a complete way, under the influence of the Holy Spirit?" My answer is without hesitation, "No, it is not." It is not given to us to live in this world and to be without sin. Created by God in a spiritual body, but living with a body of flesh and bone in this un-exalted and fallen state, we become polluted. We will not always be able to understand and comprehend the sinister plans of the adversary in his fight to destroy us and to make us as miserable as he is. But when we are constantly aware of this fight and we let the Light of Christ help us stand in our responsibilities, we may be able to stay on this narrow path where we will see, with clarity, that we are lost without the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. Although it is not possible to be perfect as long as we are in this earthly state, we still have to be perfect in keeping the commandments of our covenants. We are assisted in this situation by our living prophets, who suggest to us to have, at least once a year, an interview with our bishop. During this interview we can establish that we are in harmony with the covenants we have made with the living God. When we are in such a way perfected and are eligible to go in his holy house, the temple, we have the promise that Jesus Christ will take upon him the rest and we can rejoice in being cleansed through his redeeming blood every day of our lives. Our soul will sing to the praise of his name, and our hearts will be so full that we cannot be quiet but will share and testify of the reality of this work and the power in it.
Thus, we prepare all the days of our lives, and, as we grow, death loses its sting, hell loses its power, and we look forward to that day with anticipation and joy when he will come in his glory.

Hermanas: Torres and Jensen

Buenos Aires Temple

Rocio and Ayelen (center)

Sept 16 Tenny sent me a dearelder letter and likened the time of a mission to how many Fast Sundays I have left. I liked it--I think I have 13! It is so weird to think of the mission in that way...like how many more; trips to the temple, transfers, interviews with the president, areas, companions... and of course, baptisms. Speaking of BAPTISMS... Rocio and Ayelen were baptized and confirmed this past weekend and it was a really great experience.
The transfer ends on the 28th and there is talk that I might get a mini missionary companion-- which means a 20 year old Argentine woman who would serve with me, but not as a real missionary. In case you were wondering, that prospect scares me to death. Ím so not ready to be senior companion and definitely not ready to more or less train. Holy Cow, Ím hoping for an American senior companion so that I can enjoy 6 blessed weeks of being understood, there is just nothing like being able to default to your native language when you need to resolve something important like who is going to confirm somebody, in what ward, and who is going to fill out all the paper work and to whom they have to be turned in to and stuff like that.

I have the hardest time navigating in this country because there are no mountains. I would give anything to have, like this perfect inner compass that would direct me like the Liahona-- not only to where our appointments are, but to the elect at the same time!
Ím grinning because Air Supply, "Ím all our of love" is playing in the Locutorio here and it reminds me of being in Monticello belting Air Supply with Shauna. I miss her, but I got a letter from her this week!

The people here dońt know what gravy is. But my companion got a packet in a care package from one of her earlier American companions and today we are going to have mashed potatoes and gravy! She is excited to taste it, but I wouldńt be one bit surprised if she doesńt like it... hehe, more for me...

I eat lots of mandarinas (I guess that would be mandarin oranges) and theýre dirt cheap here. I can get about four and a half pounds of mandarinas for a little over a U.S. dollar. Can you believe that?

Ziploc bags are super hard to find here and so expensive! Daddy - VAMOS PUMAS! (Go Cougs!) I cannot even explain how proud I am that we shut out the Bruins (or whatever, my sports lingo is slipping... much to my chagrin) I would have given my Coco Alfajor to have seen that game. I cańt believe that this is the same team that I drove all the was to CA to watch the Cougars lose to last summer. But what matters is that this time we got it done. 59- zip... MAN! That is my team!

We can only listen to hymns, primary songs, and the mission cds. The mission has 3 cds now with EFY (Especially for Youth) songs that have been approved and Motab (Mormon Tabernacle Choir). So about 8 of the 35 albums I have on my ipod are kosher, but it is way better than nothing!
This is funny: when we stop by to teach people instead of saying they have company they say "estoy con gente" which translates to "Ím with people" it just makes me laugh because it sounds so brazen to me, but to them it's nothing. But every time I hear them say this I almost laugh.

We have a new investigator, but this time hés for real! He reminds me of Grandpa Olson and I think he's great. His name is Raul. He looks and talks just like him. He has read the entire Book of Mormon and said that this is the last religion he had to investigate. We contacted him in his yard and he tried to reject us, but my companion persisted and before you know it we were teaching the restoration, we came back two days later, taught again, committed him to come to church the next day, he showed up in a suit with a tie and stayed for all 3 hours and commented in classes. I almost cried during Sacrament. We taught him again the next day and committed him to be baptized on the 18th of October. His wife is depressed and kind of bed-ridden, but wére going back tomorrow and hopefully we will teach her too. He was so ready, he said he knew we were going to ask him to be baptized and he said "yeah, therés no problem with that" meaning getting baptized! Can you believe that? Finally... I can see the vision. I came to find these people. Where are all the Rauls in the world? Ím here to find them! He is so awesome, for our last appointment he was waiting for us in his front yard with the dogs already locked up, the keys in his hand, and the chairs placed in the living room for us! He is incredible and I cannot wait to watch him progress week by week until he is baptized and then continue progressing. He is a doctrinal connoisseur... and reminds me so much of my dear Grandpa Olson. I just know that they will be friends in the eternities! Íll introduce them!

Gotta go, I cańt believe how quickly an hour of internet flies by. Pray for me to always have the Spirit, it is what I want more than anything!
Hermana Jensen
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Sept 23, 2008

I was almost run over by a colectivo today… literally, not hit, run over. I was standing in the street right next to the curb because we were going to cross, but then we didn´t. Suddenly my comp said “careful!” and I stepped back up onto the curb and continued backing up onto the sidewalk as I watched a giant colectivo whose back tires jumped the curb and turned right and drove exactly over the place I had just been standing! Wow…

We have transfer meeting next Monday, so you´ll find out in the next email who my new comp is and all that jazz. Please pray for me to accept whatever comes. I sure am!

Raul is amazing! We gave him a March Ensign… the one with Christ and the velum cover and he read the entire thing in 24 hours and even looked up the scripture references! He´s so excited to get his triplet that we already bought him and he´s just going to love the D&C (Doctrine and Covenants), also he was progressing so much that we moved his baptismal date forward a week, so now he´s getting baptized the 11th of October. The Mission President changed the rule about assistance for baptism and now it´s 3 times minimum for everybody (before it was 4 times for individuals and 2 times for families) I´m way happy and hope that we can bring more people to baptism!

I love you and miss you and pray for you every day. Ím glad you all are studying within your companionships every day and I promise you that you will be blessed for doing so!
I love you tons!

Hermana Jensen

Hermana Jensen's Testimony

LA IGLESIA DE

JESUCRISTO

DE LOS SANTOS

DE LOS ULTIMOS DIAS

MISION ARGENTINA

BUENOS AIRES OESTE

Ballesteros 1076

1704 Ramos Mejia

Buenos Aires - Argentina

1 agosto 2008

Mis Queridos Padres,

I simply cannot find the words in English or in Spanish to express the joy that I feel. I am so blessed to have the incredible opportunity to serve as a missionary. There is such power in this work. We need help, we pray for guidance, and we literally see miracles. The Lord loves His missionaries and I feel His love more so now than I have ever felt in my entire life.

I could try to tell you how happy I am, but for the most beautiful gifts and blessings we receive sometimes words just aren't enough. Please remember now and always that I know my Savior lives. He lifts me up and carries me when I feel like I can't take one more step. He is here, right by my side - even though I can't see Him...I can feel His love.

My love for my family is more than I can contain. Every time I see something new, every time I taste something delicious, I wish that I could share it with you. I feel like this must be how Lehi felt when he saw the tree of life. I want to share this mission with you. I know that I am here because of the things you taught me and because of the example you set for me. It's easy to choose the right when you know it's what your parents would do.

My goal is to make you proud...my earthly parents, and also my Heavenly Parents...to make them proud so that one day I will be able to return and live with Them and you forever!

I know with all my heart and soul that Jesus is the Christ. He redeemed me and you. He is the way, the truth, and the life. I will serve Him all my days!

Love,

Hermana Stacey Jensen

Argentine Commuters Torch Trains

Here is Stacey's response to my question of whether she ever feels unsafe. The timing was great in light of the recent riot in Castelar:

Do I ever feel unsafe? Actually yes, but never to the point that Ím really scared. I know the Lord will protect us and warn us if we need to get out of where we are. As a matter of fact He did this week. Íll explain in a sec, but as far as when I feel unsafe... it's when we run into or pass by men who are drinking, but dońt worry, we are really careful and walk with a purpose... meaning we try not to look like targets.
As far as the adventure and us being "warned" this week, you should see if you can find some info in English on the internet about the riot that took place in my area! Riot in Castellano is alboroto and what happened was that there was a problem with the train either in Merlo or somewhere, but by the time it arrived to Castelar (where we board), the people were so angry because they were all 2 hours late for work, and they started throwing rocks at the train and broke all the windows and then they set it on fire! That will surely accomplish something... now we have one fewer train to take! Anyway, what happened was, I was waiting ever so patiently for Hermana Munos (we were on divisions and I stayed in Castelar with another companion) and she had to gather her stuff and it was taking a long time. I was worried because we were supposed to have walked out the door about 7 minutes earlier, but it turned out to be a miracle because at 10:40 ish we got an urgent call from our Zone Leaders exclaiming, "dońt leave the pension!" We thought they were joking, but then Elder Lopez told us that there was a riot at the train station about 8 or 10 blocks from where we live. The funny thing is if we had left when we were supposed to - we wouldńt have known NOT to go to the train station as planned to switch back to our regular companionships in Haedo and we would have been caught up in it. The Lord protected us and we did get the call, rearranged the division and walked to Moron where we reunited with our companions. If you can find anything about the riot, I would actually be interested to know, because we just got bits and pieces of details... I think some teenagers cut the wires of the train or set a pretend bomb off or something... Íd probably know more if I spoke the language, but all I know is that something went wrong and they burned the train.

BBC News - Commuters in Argentina have set fire to two trains amid anger over delays.
Passengers torched the trains at stations outside Buenos Aires, saying the delay was costing them a day's pay. Police used tear gas and rubber bullets to break up the protests, which the government said had been planned by militant members of the Workers Party.
The party rejected this, saying officials were trying to minimise legitimate protests over problems with public transport. The trouble erupted after a train broke down on the line.
Angry commuters at the station of Merlo, in the western outskirts of the capital, set fire to several train carriages. At another station, Castelar, a crowd set fire to another train, damaging a carriage. Protesters also threw stones at the ticket office and blocked the lines.
Justice Minister Anibal Fernandez said the faulty train had been sabotaged and left-wing activists had started the violence. "This was planned, it was premeditated," Mr Fernandez said.
About a dozen people were arrested. Argentina's railway network suffers frequent delays and commuters' anger has led to violence before.

Baptismal Program

It's a party!

Life is so good!

"Called to Serve" video link

This is very touching to all and especially to those with missionaries who have served or are serving at this time...

http://www.byub.org/calledtoserve/

Featuring the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and

Orchestra at Temple Square

Umbrellas and Cracked Heels

Family!

First off, thanks for answering all my questions and sending me the conversion charts for Celsius vs. Fahrenheit and kilos vs. pounds.

No I have not gotten the package... you´d know if I had! I´d be thanking you left and right. I´ll let you know when it arrives.

Go BYU, but for heaven´s sake, make me proud--winning isn´t so grand if it wasn´t a victory that we earned by playing hard.

Nata - remember all those clapping contests we had? Well, it´s finally paying off because I can clap so loud! It´s great because that´s how you "knock doors" here. Everything is gated and fenced and locked and so the way you get people to come to the door is to stand outside it and clap. I think I already explained all of this , but yeah, it´s great that my big sis motivated me to learn to clap well!

Also, thanks for the dearelder letter you sent me about my birthday and being in a different country. You´re right... I´m beginning to feel so proud to be bi-cultural, but I haven´t got it down just right yet. I almost had a panic attack buying food today because I didn´t understand that "para llevar" meant "to go" ... luckily my companion helped me out. LOL!

I would like to let you all know that my heels are becoming what seems to be permanently black. They started out kind of bloody and red, but now they are definitely black. The skin is hard and almost calloused and cracked and not that pretty, but it proves that I walk a lot! Also the soles of my feet are so hard... they don´t crack, but I feel like I´m wearing shoes when I´m walking around our pension barefoot. It´s trippy.

Sadly, Lorenzo is struggling. His current church told him that there couldn´t be any more scripture, so he threw his Book of Mormon away! I was so sad. When he told us about it during a lesson my companion was well prepared. First she had him read 6 different scriptures in the Bible that talk about scriptures and books and other things the Bible doesn't have to help him see that there have been many scriptures lost and that more was written. Then we went to 2 Nephi 29 and read the entire chapter out loud and explained the point about, "a bible, we´ve already got a bible and we need no more Bible", and how it isn't true because we are still His children and He remembers all of the nations of the earth. Because of this we will receive more of His word, and that just because He has spoken one word doesn't mean He cannot speak another, that His work with us isn't done. I was so grateful that she was so quick and ready. Then we told him about "other sheep" just like in John and I found the same reference that clarifies that the other sheep are the people in the Book of Mormon, and we read 3 Nephi 15:17,21. It felt good that we were able to help him understand. It ended with him being quite open to the idea that the Book of Mormon could also be the word of God and he told us that he wanted another one and that he wouldn´t throw it away.

And, we do have hope of finding a family to teach! One day we did a street contact with an 18 year old girl while we were waiting for the colective in the rain. We talked to her on the colective and we all got off at the same station and her umbrella wouldn´t open. So we all huddled under my giant umbrella (which I LOVE), and finally got hers opened. We stopped by her house a few days later and taught her, her mom, and her 2 little sisters. We set up a return appointment for 2 days later and taught her, her mom, and her older sister (her 2 younger sisters were at school), we set up another appointment for tomorrow and we hope to set up a Noche de Hogar (Family Home Evening) in which we can meet the dad and teach the entire family! They had already been contacted by the sister missionaries here about 9 months ago. They already had a Book of Mormon, but hadn´t ever progressed. Hopefully now is their time. Family Sandes... I´d love to tell the story of the family that we found because we were doing contacts in the rain and her umbrella wouldn't open!

I carry one of the BYU family pictures, and the one you sent me that you took on the grass the day Davy was blessed and show them to members whenever they ask about my family. They are all way impressed with the thick and beautiful grass in the latter picture... the grass here is not like that at all. You can´t even sit on it because you´d get dirt all over your clothes because the grass it is so thin!

Okay, gotta run...I love you all so much!

Chao,

Hermana Jensen

The Five M’s of Missionary Work

Thomas S. Monson

16th President of the Church of

Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

New Era, March 2007, 42–45

Understanding these aspects of missionary life will contribute to a missionary’s success.

I’d like to speak about “Five M’s of Missionary Work.”

1. The Message
The message is divine. I think our keynote was sounded by our Lord and our Savior, who stands at the head of the great army of missionaries worldwide. After His Resurrection, He appeared to His 11 disciples. He could have given them any counsel, any expression, any warning that He chose to give. But what did He say? It’s recorded in Matthew 28:18–20. He said as follows:
“All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
“Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”
What a promise! If we respond affirmatively to that sacred call, that binding authority, “I will be with you always, even unto the end of the world.” I can’t think of a greater promise.
The Prophet Joseph Smith said simply this:
“After all that has been said, the greatest and most important duty is to preach the Gospel” (History of the Church, 2:478).
What is the gospel? It is the message we take, a message that declares that an angel flew in the midst of heaven and that the gospel of Jesus Christ was restored. If we’ll remember that and the other elements of the message missionaries bear, we’ll be effective. In that message is the Book of Mormon, which is part and parcel of every missionary’s library—internal, what he knows, and external, what he teaches.
The Book of Mormon, the true nature of the Godhead—the world hungers for this message. It’s part of that which missionaries will take to the people.
Another element that I have found very important is that the Church is based on a foundation of Apostles and prophets, with Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone (see Ephesians 2:20). And we emphasize a “living” prophet today. I testify that President Hinckley is such a living prophet—the prophet, seer, and revelator of the Church.
If I could put my finger on that portion of the gospel which seems to penetrate a broader range of people and penetrate more deeply their hearts and their souls and move them to action, it’s the plan of salvation, or our Heavenly Father’s plan—where we came from, why we’re here, where we go when we leave mortality.
It’s been my observation that the stumbling block for investigators is not the Word of Wisdom. It isn’t Sabbath day observance. It’s a testimony that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God. It’s very important that we declare that message. The message is divine. Remember that.

2. The Missionary
The second M: the missionary, the desire of a lifetime.
One of the Brethren went to a conference and brought back to me a very simple note from a missionary.
“Dear President Monson, You shook hands with me when I was 17. You told me to go on a mission. I’m here in Seattle on my mission. Thank you.” Think of it—the influence of a handshake.
Missionaries are marvelous. They’re called of God by prophecy. Only those who are sustained as prophets, seers, and revelators make the suggested call to a missionary, and they’re called by the prophet of God. They represent the fruits of all that is good within the Latter-day Saint family.

3. The Member
Let’s talk just a little bit about the member.
When I was a mission president in Toronto, Canada, we knew that investigators worry about the changes that are going to come into their lives. We had a practice of supplying teams of members to help the missionaries. For example, the missionaries were working with a Catholic family (and that was the majority faith in our area). About midway through the set of discussions they could call on Brother and Sister Anthony Belfiglio. They had been Catholics. They’d joined the Church and were a great help to the missionaries. When the missionaries had borne their testimony, Brother and Sister Belfiglio would say, “We know what you’re going through. We were in the same position, but when we heard the truth and realized that a prophet was on the earth at this time, there was no question what we must do, and we never looked back and we’ve never been sorry.” It buttressed the testimony of the missionaries.
Brother Stoneman from up in the north area had been a member of the United Church of Canada. He’d been employed by the United Church of Canada. He was their printer. He lost his job. He found another, better one. He and his wife would go to the investigator who has been a member of the United Church of Canada and bear their testimony. He said, “I lost my job. I lost many of my friends, but I found a wealth of new friends, and I found the truth. You will not regret it.”
We had others who had been members of the Anglican Church. In fact, we had three teams in every area where missionaries were laboring. And what did it do for those new members? It strengthened them. What did it do for the investigator? It helped convince him. It was a proselyting method; it was a fellowshipping method. It worked both ways.

4. The Mission
Now, a word about the mission itself. Build an esprit de corps in your mission. It doesn’t matter which one it is or where it is. We were in Canada. I didn’t know anything about Canada, but I did a little reading. I found out that Canada was the only place the Prophet Joseph Smith ever went outside of his own country. That’s also where the early elders of the Church went to prepare for their mission to Great Britain. I let our missionaries know that. Sister Monson pointed out that Brigham Young went to Kingston, Ontario, and labored 30 days, walking through snow hip deep, and converted and baptized 40 people. I made sure our missionaries knew that. Parley P. Pratt, in answer to a referral, finding a man from England named John Taylor no more than 20 miles from Toronto, brought him into the Church, and he became the third President of the Church. All of those things we would weave into the history, the goals and the objectives of our missionaries.

5. The Mission President
Now, a word about mission presidents. Their philosophy is that of a teacher who says, “No one fails in my class.” They’re responsible for the missionaries’ success. Every missionary wants success, and the mission president shows him how to achieve success.
He helps each missionary to work, but more significant yet, he helps each one to work effectively so that the kingdom of God will grow under his inspired direction.
Remember: “I am with you always,” said the Lord (Matthew 28:20). In addition, the great promise found in the 84th section of the Doctrine and Covenants is yours: “I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up” (v. 88).
See True to the Faith, pp. 104–6, or online at the Gospel Library on http://www.lds.org/.

[photo] Photograph by Welden Andersen

Elder Ballard Encourages Use of Internet to Share the Gospel

Elder Ballard spoke at the BYU-Hawaii graduation (12/15/07) and urged graduates to use the Internet to share the Gospel. He mentioned blogging, podcasts, Facebook, video-sharing sites, and “people using … search engines to hunt for topics about the Church.” Here are selected portions:

The emergence of New Media is facilitating a world-wide conversation on almost every subject including religion, and nearly everyone can participate.…Conversations will continue whether or not we choose to participate in them. But we cannot stand on the sidelines while others, including our critics, attempt to define what the Church teaches.…The challenge is that there are too many people participating in conversation about the Church for our Church personnel to converse with and respond to individually. We cannot answer every question, satisfy every inquiry, and respond to every inaccuracy that exists. …some who seek answers want them to come directly from a member of the Church, like each one of you.…May I ask that you join the conversation by participating on the Internet, particularly the New Media, to share the gospel and to explain in simple and clear terms the message of the Restoration. Most of you already know that if you have access to the Internet you can start a blog in minutes and begin sharing what you know to be true. You can download videos from Church and other appropriate sites, including Newsroom at LDS.org, and send them to your friends. You can write to media sites on the Internet that report on the Church, and voice your views as to the accuracy of the reports.…Others have recorded and posted their testimonies of the Restoration, the teachings of the Book of Mormon, and other gospel subjects on popular video-sharing sites. You, too, can tell your story to nonmembers in this way.…Use stories and words that they will understand.

Folletos = Pamphlets!

We give out folletos that are invitations to church with the schedule and directions written on the back when we do our 20 a day street contacts. Since I've arrived wéve done about 600 together and this past Sunday someone we gave one to came! His name is Lorenzo and he came for the last 40 minutes of church. We saw him come in out of the corner of our eyes and went over to talk to him. He is awesome, we went to his house that afternoon after church and taught him the first lesson and committed him to pray and if he gets an answer, he will be baptized on the 27th of September! I have a testimony of folletos and street contacts. All we did was say, "Hi, if you ever want to get to know about our church, here is an invitation with the address," and someone came, someone ready, someone prepared and elect. And get this... he asked if he can start paying his tithing because he believes in tithing! And he said he was going to pray and FAST to ask if this is the true church. He's golden, shining brighter than anything in the world!
This week my comp and I had a special fast for our investigators with baptismal dates to progress and for us to find a family to baptize. That is the second time wéve included "find a family" in our fasts here. We really want to baptize a family because it is one of our transfer goals. A week is already gone leaving 5 weeks to find, teach, and baptize... they have to attend church at least 2 times to be baptized... families only have to attend twice, whereas Lorenzo who is just by himself has to attend 4 times before he can be baptized. It looks like we are going to reach our goal of 3 baptisms this transfer, and surprisingly... all the dates we had last week are now barely progressing and probably wońt make it within this transfer: Coco, Tomas, and Santina didńt come to church. In addition to Lorenzo, we have two daughters of an inactive single mom who is starting to come back to church. Ayelen is 13 and Rocio is 11 and they both are committed for the 13th of September! The transfer ends on the 28th by the way. At first we were having problems with Ayelen because she doesńt want to be baptized on the same day as her kid sister, and so she wouldńt accept that date, but her mom told her that she pretty much had to because theýre moving on the 15th and may not be staying in Castelar. Wherever they find a place, theýre are moving, so we are obviously searching for a place for them where they could stay in the ward even after their baptism. But luckily, when her mom said that, she came around, but insists on going last... I guess she wants some glory, but she deserves it-- she is getting baptized!
Remember Rolando Destito that was baptized last transfer? He just received the Aaronic Priesthood last Sunday! It was so cool and he also got a calling... he is a Counselor in Young Men's!
Azucena Rodriguez... our other baptism from last transfer is also progressing incredibly. Every morning she sits down at her kitchen table, sings a hymn, says a prayer, and reads either the Book of Mormon or the Gospel Principles manual for the upcoming lesson! She rocks! Her youngest son came to church last Sunday and we had a lesson with him last week but he doesńt want to be baptized. He didńt give us a reason, just doesńt want to. But maybe with more time, héll come around.
Story... remember the low-hanging fruit talk the President gave at the transfer meeting? Well, I was looking through the "former investigators" tab in our area book searching for people that might have become elect since they were dropped. I wrote down 6 names of people I wanted to revisit. My comp went through old progress reports and wrote down about 4 names. We compared lists and had 3 in common. We went to visit one such former investigator last week. Santina Trillo... shés a sweet older lady that talks when we want to teach, but we committed her to be baptized. The reason the other missionaries dropped her is because she stood them up a few times and didńt answer phone calls. But we picked her up again and hopefully it will work out that she can be baptized on the 27th with Lorenzo!

Well, I love you so much, I feel like this email has been not that good. I dońt know what else to say, we had lots of great miracles and experiences this week, but I think I hit on the most miraculous of them. I think of you all every day and pray for you all every day. I love you so much and cannot express the immense gratitude I have for you all. I know how blessed I am to have such a supportive family. I feel so privileged and I fear the day that I will sit across from the Stake President and he will tell me I have to take off my name mag... I almost cry thinking that I will one day have to get up and get dressed without being able to put on my name tag. It is completely a part of me!
Love you tons! Hermana Jensen

Richard G. Scott in Argentina

From left: Elder Richard G. Scott, Cheryl Benton, Evrett Benton

Elder Scott greeting members

Area Mission President and Sister Bowen (left) President and Sister Benton (right)

We spent 3 wonderful days last Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday with one of our Church's 12 Apostles, Richard C. Scott. Elder Scott counseled and taught the 15 Mission Presidents from South America and their wives the whole time, and then we all attended a temple session with him. Our Area Presidency was there the whole time too, along with their wives, and Elder Walter Gonzalez, one of the 7 Presidents of the Seventy was there too, with his wife.
My favorite moments with Elder Scott were when he gave the Mission President's wives two separate "Apostolic Blessings". His Blessings strengthened me a whole lot.
The photos are of us posing with Elder Scott outside the temple on a windy, blustery day, and of us with President and Sister Bowen.
My favorite photo of these three is the one where Elder Scott is walking across the temple grass with the Bowens to shake the hands of some members of the Church who were sticking their hands through the bars of the temple fence, and, after he shook their hands, he reached through the bars with both his arms and embraced them.

Miracles Through Hard Work and Obedience

Here are a few snippets from Stacey's last letter:

Transfer meeting was really cool. All the missionaries go to the mission office where there is a chapel and we watch a movie with music and pix of the successes of the mission - there were 3 pictures from our baptism! I cried. Then we watch a power point with all the new leadership and companionships by area and everyone finds out at that exact moment where theýre going to serve and with whom for the transfer that begins the next day! It is a rush. Luckily me and Sis Torres are staying together in Castelar! FEW! I was not ready to be leaving the area... I still cańt figure out how the colectivos work.

Chapels in Argentina all have 2 or 3 ping pong tables. I dońt know why, but I thought it was interesting. Hna Torres says it is the same in Chile too. Why dońt we have ping pong tables in the chapels in the states?

The biggest lamest most frustrating thing about this country, well there are 2... one is that it takes like an eternity to get a divorce finalized. We have 3 couples that could be baptized and want to be, but cańt be because one or both of them are married to other people.. not the people they are living with... and they are waiting for their divorces so they can marry each other and get baptized. One couple has been waiting 10 years. Wére going to fast with them next week for their divorce to come through.
The other thing is that this country lives and dies by having change (coin money), because it is the only way to take the colectivos and often times the only way to ride the train because sometimes for no apparent reason there just wońt be attendants manning the stations so you have to buy your tickets for the train with the machines which ONLY take change. If you dońt have change and there isńt someone manning the station... you dońt ride the train... so no big deal right, go to the bank and get a bunch of change. NOT SO. The bank will only give you 5 pesos in change each time you go to the bank. Which lasts about 3 days. Yesterday we walked 3 miles to an appointment because we didńt have change to take the colectivo and if we bought something, we would have to waste like 2 or 3 pesos just to get change. They should just make a bajillion more coins and flush them into the system so that everyone doesńt have to hoard them the way we do.
We have 2 focuses as a mission. One is "low-hanging fruit" which means, work with people who are already married to each other and actually could get baptized, or friends of recent converts, or part-member families where a lot of the work is already done. It is a great focus and I hope that we can really tap into it in our area.

I loved the quotes you sent. The one that I have been reciting in my mind all week long is "yoúre gonna miss this" it is so true! I even thought it to myself the other day when my companion sat down on a curb in the street and started crying... she had just gotten in a fight with a t. j. (testigo de jehovah... jehovah's witness) and it got pretty intense. I didńt fight because I am not smart enough to bible bash, nor do I see a point in it, so I just stood there while they debated in the street for like 10 minutes. It was uncomfortable and the spirit was not there. After we walked away and she sat down to cry, I let her cry, comforted her and then I said a prayer to re-invite the spirit and we went back to work.

The other is that we will see miracles through hard work and obedience. It is great to know that when we have faith and are obedient and set good examples and work on the things 'we do have control over', that everything will work out-- and that is all we need to worry about.

This transfer my comp and I have a baptismal goal of 3, last time it was 2. The mission has a goal of 162... this past transfer we got 103. They showed us the numbers since March and they have been in the 120 130 range... and our goal is 162... Ím nervous, but we can do it.

I would like to end this email explaining something that I have come to see to be incredibly true. Every day counts. Endure to the end. Imagine if Christ had "almost" endured to the end. What if He had endured all but the last 2 hours of the atonement... we would all be lost. He did not give up and neither can we. We must serve Him ALL our days, not just until we get old and it is too much of a hassle to make it to church. Every day...Christ gave every moment...He suffered every pain, not just most of them. I know that this is important, it is salvation and no excuse is going to be good enough for why we didn't push on and endure to the end.

I love you all so very much.

Hermana Jensen