Last Full Week

Well, here it is the beginning of the end. Today starts the beginning of my last full week of being a missionary of the Lord Jesus Christ. The time has passed so fast and I dont quite understand how it is possible, but here we are.

First, Happy Birthday to Eric yesterday. I was thinking about you all day. The members that we live with invited us to un asado. Since I am here on the border of Argentina and Bolivia, they bring the beef from Argentina. So, yesterday, in your honor, I ate the best beef in the world, with some toasted bread, and some tomatos. So great.

Yesterday were the elections here in Bolivia. As missionaries we weren´t allowed to leave our houses yesterday, so I just sat there with my books, and studied Jesus the Christ and the scriptures. I love that book- if anyone hasnt read it, I fully recommend that you read it. I am halfway through, and this time through I am understanding so much more than I did the first time I read it. My testimony of the supremecy of the Lord has grown so much. He knew so much and was such an amazing example of being 100% obedient, even to the laws and customs of the times. It just amazes me when, before the mission, I thought He acted and did things without a special purpose, but now I know that He did everything with a purpose- to fulfill a prophecy or to bear testimony of His Father or to show us exactly how to be in this life. He is the most perfect example of love and of humility that there is and I know He lives. I know He truly is waiting for us to come to Him in humility and to obey Him. He is my savior and my friend. I may not have seen Him, but I have learned how to listen and recognize when He speaks to me through the Holy Ghost. I know He answers prayers, today I recieved revelation and I heard and felt what the Lord wants of me in the future. I love this relationship that I have with Christ and with my Heavenly Father. It is a relationship that I cherish. The happiness that it brings is like nothing else in this world.

Friday was the birthday of an 11 year old girl named Morena. She and her family (the Jerez family) got baptized about 8 months ago. They are a very big family and they are very poor. They dont have anything, but they continue strong in the church. Their kids are all small and some days go without food, so my companion and I wanted to do something special. Using some of the money that you sent me, we sent a member to go buy ingredients and things to make pizza. We used the oven of a member that makes bread. And we made 4 pizzas- ham and cheese pizzas. Pizza here in Bermejo/Bolivia is really gross, just tasteless cheese and one little aceituna (dont know the word in english) and plus, it is really expensive to buy pizza- 70 bolivianos ($10) for a small pizza. So, we made our own and we took the pizzas to the family´s house and we surprised them. We also bought other things that the family needed too, shampoos and other food. They were so happy. The kids just kept eating and their parents had to stop them from eating so they wouldnt get sick. The parents - Ramiro and Sonia - were just so happy and grateful that they started crying. They didnt have words to thank us, and we didnt have words to tell them it was okay, and that we wanted to do this for them. I loved that experience.

I love you my family and friends. You are all the best. Keep on going on and we´ll see each other next week.

I love you. 

See you soon. 

Elder Jensen