Last Letter!

Sorry, we had a storm here in Bermejo last night and it knocked out all internet connection here in Bermejo, so we were walking all up and down the city looking for an internet place that worked. Finally we found a place. 

I love you all so much!! I cant wait to see you all and hug you! 

Tomorrow morning I leave Bermejo and I go to Santa Cruz, I will be there until Friday early morning then I get on a plane for almost the entire day. Then I get to see you!!!! 

I cant wait! 

Nos vemos esta semana!!! Les amo!!!

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

Monday After General Conference

Good morning to everyone where ever they are!

This week was great. We got to hear the words of the Lord through His authorized servants. I absolutely loved general conference and the feelings that I felt. This was, obviously, my 4th and last general conference as a missionary, and I had a lot of questions that I wanted answered about my future and about my life and as I sat there listening with a couple other american missionaries, I felt the power of the Spirit of the Lord testify to me that Thomas S. Monson is the prophet of the Lord in these days. The Lord, through the inspired talks that we heard, answered all of my questions, and that is another amazing miracle that I saw this week as a missionary of the Lord.

I loved the talks by Elders David A. Bednar and Dieter F. Uchtdorf. They are my two favorite apostles.

I think that was my main highlight of my week. Listening to General Conference in a tiny room in a chapel here in Bermejo with 2 other American Missionaries and 2 American Sister Missionaries. We got to watch all the sessions in English and I loved it. Honestly, the fact that we are members of the only true church of the Lord Jesus Christ just blows my mind. I know this is true and I know the Lord lives and He speaks with His prophet and I know He is guiding the church and us all.

I loved the 3 talks that talked about the prophet and how we need not to worry whether or not the prophet is going to lead us in the right way, because it´s the Lord´s church and if the prophet tries to lead us away from the truth, he will be removed from the position and someone else will be put as prophet. I know this to be true.

I also really liked the 2 talks on helping the poor and needy, giving and serving them, as well as through the law of the fast. I know the Lord wants us to serve these people, and that we have the obligation to help them. I know this to be true.

I love you all so much. I know that the Lord lives and that He is truly aware of us in every moment and every day.

Talk to you next week!

Love, 

Elder Jensen

This Week In Bermejo and Itinerary HOME!

This week here in Bermejo.

I am doing really well. I am finishing the best I can. I am focused and I am giving everything. My comp and I were seriously discouraged because it seems like we give so much and the members/the youth just keep doing the same things, last week we kind of gave up hope in the members, but we had my last zone conference on Friday with President Willard and we just got super excited. Then after the best Weekly Planning session of my mission, we are doing everything we can to finally work united with the members. We have had meetings with each of the presidencies of the branch, and now we have so much work to do... My goal these last three weeks is to help and strengthen my companion and the branch so the work will continue full speed after I leave. 

Here in Bermejo, I am helping the Branch President organize everything and now he’s asked me to train his newly called Executive Secretary (recent convert) and his new Ward Clerk (a recently activated member that just received the Melchizedek Priesthood.) I am seriously just so excited to work with the members. It is great. 

This week, we had a baptism. Brother Basilio Mamani got baptized. I baptized him. Everything was so great. The sister missionaries sang a great musical number and I just felt so good. 

Sunday was my last Fast and Testimony meeting here in Bolivia. It was a great meeting. A few recent converts got up and testified. I felt so happy to see them and to hear their first testimonies. 

I know I already sent you all my flight info. But, I officially come home on October 24th, at 7:50 at night. I can’t wait to see you all! 

I love you all so much.

-Elder Jensen

SERVICE               DATE  FROM           TO             DEPART  ARRIVE

_____________________ _____ ______________ ______________ _______ ______

COPA AIRLINES         24OCT SANTA CRUZ     PANAMA CITY    223A    614A

CM 126               FRIDAY VIRU VIRU INTL TOCUMEN INTL

V ECONOMY

                            MEAL                          NON STOP

                            RESERVATION CONFIRMED         4:51 DURATION

                  AIRCRAFT: BOEING 737-800

                  NO SEATS ARE AVAILABLE TO PRE-ASSIGN

    PLEASE ARRIVE EARLY AND REQUEST YOUR PREFERRED SEATS AT CHECK-IN

UNITED AIRLINES       24OCT PANAMA CITY    HOUSTON TX     955A    210P    

UA 1031              FRIDAY TOCUMEN INTL   G.BUSH INTERCO

E ECONOMY                                  TERMINAL E

                            FOOD FOR PURCHASE             NON STOP

                            RESERVATION CONFIRMED         4:15 DURATION

                  AIRCRAFT: BOEING 737-900

                            SEAT 30C NO SMOKING CONFIRMED

UNITED AIRLINES       24OCT HOUSTON TX     SALT LAKE C UT 540P    750P

UA 1080              FRIDAY G.BUSH INTERCO SALT LAKE CITY

E ECONOMY                   TERMINAL C     TERMINAL 1

                            FOOD FOR PURCHASE             NON STOP

                            RESERVATION CONFIRMED         3:10 DURATION

One Month!

Good morning family! I hope you are already doing super well. 

This week was great! 

 President  Flores and his family made it back here. President is super excited to get to work after his little vacation. They gave me my package with food in it, thanks for that... I´ve been munching on the snacks since I got them, I feel fat. Haha 

They all had wonderful things to say about you all. They tell me that I am exactly like dad, and that mom cried and they told me that you are so excited to see your little boy. When they talked about you, I couldnt stop smiling, I was so happy to hear news from you all and stuff. 

Basilio Mamani is progressing well. He had his baptismal interview yesterday and everything went great! So, he will be baptized this Saturday!

We really dont know what happened to Abraham Arce. He was so excited to get baptized and to go to church, but I think he went on a trip and wasnt able to make it back on time to go to church. So, we´ll have to wait a couple more weeks until he can get baptized. 

We are seeing so many good things now in the area. More people are coming to church, more people are willing to serve in their callings. I have noticed that there is more excitement in the branch than when I got here. Things are going great... Now to just continue on until the end!

I love you all so much . You are all great and I cant wait to see you all in a months time! 

Talk to you next week!

-Elder Jensen

Five Weeks!

Hey there!

This week, like I said last week, we had transfers... And I am still here in Bermejo, still in Miraflores.  Still with my companion, Elder Santos. Here I will finish my mission. I am super happy because I didn’t want to leave here, so I am doing great.

This week in Bermejo.

- Abraham Arce and his wife Raquel are progressing, finally. They are doing great and they got super excited for his baptism here in 2 weeks. We have an appointment with them tonight at 7 and we are going to talk about eternal families and the temple, so they can get sealed in one year! I am so happy for them.

- Bacilio Mamani is also progressing nicely and will also get baptized on the 27 of this month. 

 I am just happy. I am happy with everything. My study of the gospel. My testimony. My mission. My family and friends that I love so much.  I am happy with our new pension (We had to change because of new rules from the Area Presidency- we cant eat lunch with families that have teenage daughters). We are now eating with the Morales family. They are recent converts and have the goal to go to the temple here in a couple months. We are helping their teenage son, Vicente, be less rebellious and more serious about the gospel so he can go on his mission next year.

I love you all so much. I hope you have a great week.

Love.

Elder Jensen

Forty Six Days Left!

Hey there family!

It´s true what Elder Bednar told us when he came to Bolivia about a year and a half ago, ¨Time doesnt exist in the eternities. So, when we are closer to the Lord and we have His spirit, the faster time seems to go.¨

This week, I experimented that. The time is flying past so fast. Just 6 more weeks until i see you guys. How is that even possible? Wow.

This week I start my last transfer in the mission. tomorrow the Zone Leaders will call and tell me where I will finish my mission. The end is coming. But, with the end of my mission, my new life will start, with all the things I have experienced in the mission and all the things I have learned. A new Chandler. A new disciple of Jesús Christ. A new start and a new life. I am excited to go home and see everyone, and a bit sad to leave Bolivia. But, it´s fine because with technology and Facebook and everything, I can still talk with the people I love here.

This past week, I started to read more church books. I started to read the Teachings of the Presidents books. In our house there are a bunch. Last week, I read Spencer W. Kimball´s book and now I am reading Wilford Woodruff. They are great books, and I love their teachings and their words. So full of power and of the spirit. I am learning a lot and I am taking advantage of the time I have left here.

This week we worked super hard to find new people and to teach the doctrine of the Lord. We found new people... A great family... But, they dont live in my área, they live in the área of the sister missionaries. So, we passed the reference along. We are still working with Abraham Arce, but he is having problems with leaving behind the virgins and the saints of the Catholic church. Even though we taught him and we read the scriptures together that explain it clearly, it´s not that easy for him to leave something behind that he has always done. So, we´ll continue to pray for him and help him with that.

I love this mission. I love my mission, because I have the opportunity to stand shoulder to shoulder with the greatest men the world has ever known... As I bear testimony of the living Lord and Savior, I stand with Paul from the New Testament, Isaiah from the Old Testament, Joseph Smith, Thomas S. Spencer and the modern day apostles of the Lord. And even, I stand with the Lord himself. I know He is there. I know He lives and that He loves us. I know this and so much more. My mouth, and well, right now- my fingers can´t describe what I truly feel inside. It´s the best feeling I have ever felt and I truly love these Bolivian people and I love the Lord. I want to follow Him in all things, and in all ways. I wish I could be even better from him.

I love you all and I hope you have a great week!

Until next week,

Elder Jensen