Feliz Navidad

Merry Christmas everyone

Well its been an awesome week this week! Hope everyone had a great christmas day!

We caroled in the rain last night for christmas which was super ufn actually. Dont have much time but just wanted to write and say merry christmas to everyone!

welp let’s see what can I say.  Some good experiences in the mish.

Well I guess I can say that miracles do happen in the work of the Lord.

Like I shared with you guys  yesterday one of the coolest things that happened to me in the mission so far was in el Coca.  After a change of having 0 baptisma and really no one progressing, we received a call from an old inv that I had taught 2 times before in my first change en el coca. He was a really cool guy and his wife is a member, but out of the blue he got sick and was in Quito for like 2 changes, or 3 months. I had honestly thought something bad happened because he was in the hospital for a while. I had forgotten about him but when he got back, he called us up and said he was ok and wanted us to visit him again. We went over to the military base and the first thing he does is show us the wedding ring on his finger.  He had gotten married with his wife like 8 days earlier and he was already for baptism.  We gave him a baptismal date and he got baptized. The hermano had changed a lot and was really ready at that time. He had listened for a long time to missionaries, but this was the right time for him. I know that the lord directs this work and that everything works in his time. Sometimes we reap and sometimes we sow. The work of the Lord is filled with miracles! 

Another great experience we had was through sharing the BoM with others teaching the members how to do it. We talked about the BoM with them and watched a video called How rare a possession (watch it, its awesome!) then we referenced a little bit the talk by Pres Benson about the BoM. He said the BoM is the greatest gift that all mankind has ever received, greater than anything. Than we gave a BoM to everyone and we wrapped it up in wrapping paper with a list of the questions of the soul that are in Preach my Gospel. Then each member told us who they were going to give it to and we planned to visit with them and teach them. I know that there is joy in sharing the BoM. Dont worry about what people say. They may accept or they may reject. (and if they reject you, they are rejecting Christ :) But there will be success in every invitation if we do it with love and the purpose of helping others to come unto Christ. 

My testimony.   Welp I know this is the true church and more than anything I have come to know it through the BoM. Honestly I can't deny it and I'm so glad to be apart of it.  The BoM has helped me through so many difficult parts of my mission. I love what Pres. Nelson said about the BoM in this last general conf. he made the questions to us, what would our live be without the BoM. What would I not know and what would I not have.  I can honestly say that without the BoM I would not be able to grasp the importance of the Saviors Atonement nor would I be able to understand how great his love is for me. I would not have this testimony and would not be able to preach this news to the people here. I'm so grateful for it. I Know Christ lives and that he loves each and everyone one us. Thanks to His atonement, we can truly repent and sins can be washed away.  I love this work even though it's hard sometimes and that it's sometimes scary to share with others, but like I said before it's a joyful work and there are miracles in it.  In the name of Jesus Christ amen

 

Chao

Elder Jensen

Elders in my ward on Christmas PDay playing good ole stratego and drinking coca cola floats.

Surrounded by volcanoes here,  Kinda cool. 

 

 

Ecuador Quito North Mission

Christmas Card 2018

 



Desafios..

Hey everyone,

Well it's been another good week here in the good ole mish.  Welllll mas o menos.  haha

Kinda a tough one.  Not as good as the last week.  Last week we had a great week in the work but this week the challenges have been big.  More than anything it's just been a little discouraging in finding people who want change.  or finding people in general.  To be honest this week has been one of the slowest weeks in the mission. We found 1 new inv.  Probably the low of the mission. But we kept working. We worked hard this week, knocked on a lot of doors, but nothing. I think it was just time to have a really tough week and learn to trust more in the Lord and in His time. This Sunday we had a long day of contacting and at 8:50 we had a little #FourthFloorLastDoor experience like Pres Uchtdorf talked about last year in his conference address. We found a young man at night and really that was amazing.  It had been a tough week but then I realized that we needed to have some challenges.  Nothing is easy in the mission or in Life. But something that has really helped me is a quote that Elder Holland gave in a talk like 17 years ago.  He said basically that some blessings come quick, some blessings take more time, and some blessings don't come until heaven, but for faithful and diligent members of the church, blessings always come. (An High Priest of Good Things to Come- 1999 Oct Elder Holland)  Look it up! 

But ya, that was our week. Despite the challenges, I'm still loving the mission and I'm loving this time of year!  My trainee is learning a lot and progressing a little more everyday.  Kind a sucks that it hit us to have a tough sector for the beginning of his mission, but then I remember back to my training which was also tough.  It will make him better later on. I know there are people waiting for this message though. I know that the Lord will have His hand in this work!

But ya, today for pday we got permission from president murphy to watch a Disney movie for Christmas soo we watched Moana as a zone.   It was pretty good!   Probably will be better in English.   but ya also I found a store that has American things, but super overpriced.  Soo I bought a highly overpriced Dr. Pepper, but it was super worth it ;)  haha.. welp that's it, life is good, have a good week #IluminaelMundo

 

Elder Jensen

 

 

Photos from Ecuador Quito North Facebook Page

 

Area Conference with Ipiales and Imbaya Zones

 

December 13, 2018

 



Christmas! ya mismo

Wow, good week.  

Welp we had a super good week to be honest.  We found 17 new inv this week and almost all of them were old inv from the area book, so we're working a lot with that.  Lots of little miracles this week!  But ya this week was way faster than the last one.. We now know like our whole sector and have probably hit almost every door but hey it's going good. 

My comp is doing good and is adjusting well.  He has the desire to be out here and we're getting along.  No one with baptism potential for now or with date I mean, but little by little.  Que mas puedo decir.   Just has been a pretty normal week tbh.  Getting all hyped for Christmas.  Should be a fun one!  Getting to know the members a little more so it will be fun.  The zone I'm in is cool and we always hang out in Otavalo for pday.  

My comp and I have been getting up early to go over to the house of the other elders in our district to work out every morning.  They have a bench bar in their house made of cement that weighs probably 65 pounds.  So we're doing full reps!  We did 100 this Saturday and then did a service proj to help build a house soo my arms are dead,  haven't done anything for like a year, sooo time to get back into it.. but ya, all good. hope all of you are having  a good Christmas. 

Left my camera home..  I'll send pics next week for sure..   

ya pues cuidaranse no mas 

Elder Jensen

Quichua

Hey guys, 

well I'm in my new sector with my trainee..   He's a Peruvian and his name is Elder Chiroque.  He's cool, should be a fun time here.  Welp, the sector I'm in is super farm lands.. it's basically a giant hill and has a pretty active ward.  The ward has like 200 attending regularly so that's cool.. bad news that we have taken over the sector of 2 Hermanas who fell into a really bad rut.. I mean we got here and there were 0 investigators.. so we're starting from scratch.. from nothin tbh. Soo it's gonna be a little interesting but ya, for some reason president trusts in me and Elder Chiroque so we're going to work hard and I know we will see miracles.   We found 6 new investigators this week and are hoping to find a lot more this full week! Also everyone speaks Quichua, an indigenous language and I don't understand anything.. Sooo that's gonna be super fun!  Well don't have much time today but have a great week! #LighttheWorld  #IluminaelMundo     

 

Make the most of this Christmas season and keep lighting the world in everyway you can!

Love you all

Elder Jensen

fotos next week

Orellana: EL Ultimo Paraiso

Hey everyone,

Well my time here in el Coca has come to an end! It's been super fun here and I've met a ton of great people but now I'm on to the next chapter of the mission. I received changes to a sector in Otavalo, full farm land!!!!  I'm going to be opening it and I will be training un nuevito!  I'm super excited for this!  Gonna be super fun and I feel super ready!  Buttttt in my new sector I'm going to be around tons of good ole indigenous Otavalan people, sooo quichua me va a tocar! Hope I can learn a little of that. But ya this will be a completely different experience than Cayambe.  Cayambe was like city, here is pure farm land. Soo I'll meet a lot of potatoes and pigs and not so many people.  But should be fun..

Sad to leave all of my great friends here in the rama orellana but the mission always continues to move.. My comp Elder Platt also has some unexpected changes and is going to Colombia again!  Soo 2 new missionaries are coming to open up my sector again, hope we left everything good for them. Oh ya and my good ole comp got that patada china! haha, We left for exchanges to Lago Agrio and when we got off the bus he's like, hey Elder do I have something in my eye, and it was suuuuuper red! kinda gross..   but ya, that's been fun..    

Thanksgiving was a good one, ish..  My comp woke up with pink eye in both eyes, when the night before it was just in the one and ya.. ate some rice and chorizo this time..  also went out with the elders to celebrate for a sec with some burgers..  Nothin like the states, but hey it was something.  So Happy Thanksgiving to all of you.. again.  Hope it was a good one!

After that, it was a normal week.. 

Sunday was spent saying bye to everyone! Really is hard to leave this place and the people.

Well I hope everyone can start prepping for the Light the World worldwide initiative.. Here in Otavalo it's gonna get lit...  get it, lit.. umm haha, but ya, I'm excited to work hard and serve people.. I know this will be an amazing Christmas Season!!

Love you all, have a good one

Elder Jensen

Ate some super good lasagna, better than the states. 

I ate soo much food on Sunday!

That's how people share here, with tons of food!

La Patada China?? (The Chinese Kick) y Happy Thanksgiving

Hey everyone

Welp, this has been a pretty interesting week, filled with cosas.  First off that chinese kick is in full swing here in the orient, it's an epidemic spreading called la patada china(the chinese kick) or as we know it back home, pink eye.  Never have seen something like this before, and its kind of gross, probably cause no one washes their hands here or idk, butt I haven't gotten it yet so we're good for now. but ya, fun.

Que mas, welp this week we got hit by a crazy storm!!!  Well it was at night luckily.  We were sleeping and at like midnight I heard this super loud thunder blast thing and my comp and I looked outside into what seemed world war 3.  The skies were like lit up constantly and the sound of the thunder was super close! Every 2 seconds it seemed a lighting bolt shot across the sky and the rain was crazy too..  That was pretty cool to see. Then the next night at like 10:30 the power went out in the whole city.  It was super dark, couldn't see like anything!  2 weird nights in a row.  

But ya this week was a pretty good one.  We found a lot of new investigators and ya we just worked hard.  Fun week.  We were going to have a baptism this Saturday but it'll have to be postponed because the kid didn't come to church with his mom.  Alexis the son of Mayra our recent convert didn't come.. actually neither of them did, which was super weird, so we couldn't announce a baptism and ya. But hopefully my comp will be able to get that done in the coming weeks.  Coca has done me good.  I'll miss it for sure and I'll definately have to come back to visit cause its the amazon jungle and I can't do anything cool here as a missionary with that.. but someday ;) Ya the work here has been fun,. ready for the cold. Hoping they send me to Ipiales, Colombia! We'll see this Saturday.

Well I hope all of you have a good Thanksgiving.  There's nothing like that here but I'll be imagining that turkey in my mind..  And probably will be eating chicken.. and rice, of course there isn't a meal without rice here in Ecuador, but ya.  I'm thankful for this gospel and for this opportunity to be sharing it as a missionary.  Even though there are challenges here, I really have been able to grow a deeper love for my Savior here.  Yo sé que vive mi Señor, y sé que él nos ama bastante! As we get closer to Christmas time once again we'll be ¨Lighting the World¨ with service, look for ways to serve others around you. Don't do it out of obligation but out of love. 

Love you guys and have a great thanksgiving!   

Cuidaránse vecinitos y comerán mucho pavo!

Elder Jensen

The missionaries here hosted a cool activity for the branch where we wrapped

Books of Mormon in wrapping paper to give out as gifts to friends. 

It was super cool.  Una idea no mas!

Interesting Week

Hey everyone!

Well this has been an interesting week.

To start off we have started like a new program thing to work with the members that the area presidency came out with and as a mission we received like 6,500 references from members, recent converts, and investigators!

 I know it sounds like a lot and maybe it worked in some parts of the area but for here, or at least in my sector, the references we received were like less actives, investigators that we are already teaching or people with 0 info to contact them.. Buttt a few of them have been working out and it's been amazing to see the support from the members.   Every Member a Missionary!  But ya hoping to see some good results from this!

Well time is winding down for me here in the orient.  Changes  are in 2 weeks and I'm grateful for the time I have had.  We celebrated a baptism this Saturday hno Jose Cuvi got baptized and it was a really awesome service! The hno is super excited to progress and learn more about the church and I'm super grateful to have been able to visit with him and help him along this path. His wife is a member since her childhood so I'm hoping they will progress and get sealed in the temple in a year.   My other converts here are doing great as well! The Lopez Sanchez family are still strong and goin to church every week and are trying to invite their family members to listen to us as well. Mayra Cabrera, who is the mom of our investigator with a baptismal date Alexis Garcia, is also doing well.. They've had some problems but she's been finding her way back to church and is progressing well with her son.  Blanca Jacome and her son Matias  have had some challenges, especially with the WoW. We taught them this principle quite a few times but they need help with it.. Please prey for them! But ya overall I've enjoyed my time here and am hoping to have one more baptism before I go. 

On the other side, we've been looking a lot recently for new investigators.. The other day we hit a block that was filled with die hard members of other churches who were kind of rude..  I had to keep my head cause I didn't want to say something rude back.  But I know that the lord directs this work and that if we work hard and sacrifice some things we'll find blessings.

Welp this week I ate crab for the first  time in my mission,  and well before the mish, I didn't like seafood and now I really do like it. But I saw the crab and was a little sketched out.. But I ate it.. they eat it super weird here, you have the whole body and just bite the leg and suck out the meat, spitting out crab shell like every 2 seconds.  Well that's at least what I did, let's just say a lil gringo from gilbert AZ doesn't know much about seafood, and lot of people stared and laughed at me while I ate.. haha but ya. Not gonna lie, I'm not a fan of this crab and it didn't do me well afterwards..  got pretty sick, sooo let's just leave it at that.

Everything is going well and I'm enjoying my time in Ecudaor, excited to see where the next few weeks will take me.  Have a good week and keep reading the BoM! Share a copy with your friends to show them how much it really means to you..  There's a gen conf talk from the 80s by President Benson who says the Book of Mormon is the greatest gift that we have received, so what better thing can you do than to gift it to someone that you care about. I know it is true and I know there are blessing for those who read it daily just like Pres Monson said back in April!

Love you guys!

y que le vaya muy bien, cuidaránse !

Elder Jensen