Weekly Report #3 (02.23.16 - 02.29.16)

Hola Mis Amigos!

This week has been so great! Seriously! I have learned so much that God answers prayers with exactness as we are obedient and trust in Him! (Doctrine and Covenants 82:10). We went tracting this week and asked for some specific things to happen, and they did! We found someone who spoke Spanish (which doesn't often happen while we tract) and they agreed to learn more! I have been continually relying on the Lord during lessons, and its been amazing! 

I have gone from setting a goal to bear testimony in at least one lesson every day we have in Spanish, to setting a goal to bear testimony in every lesson each day. The miraculous thing is that it's possible. I have been learning how to teach the "First Lesson" in Spanish this week, and God has helped me with every step! The first time I tried practicing with my companion, it took me 45 minutes to relay the simple message that God loves us and has sent prophets to teach us what we should do in this life to return to live with him again. Not those exact words, but really just the basics of the lesson. The next time, I relayed similar information in 15 minutes. I want to testify that God truly answers prayers!

Something that has been pretty ironic is actually the Scripture I picked for my Mission Plaque: Alma 26:16. It reads at the end "Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his mercy, and of his long-suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel." I loved this scripture before because I felt like I could never express how much I appreciated God's miracles, but now, I love it because I truly CANNOT express even a tenth of what I feel in Spanish. Pero, estas cosas yo se: Yo se que Dios es nuestro Padre Celestial y que El tiene un plan para todas Su hijos. Yo se que esta iglesia es verdadera y que Jose Smith (that is how they say it in Spanish) fue un profeta de Dios. Yo se que cuando oramos a Dios, El conteste nuestro preguntas y podemos recibir respuestas. That is my simple testimony in broken Spanish. I love this gospel, and I love the Peace that God can bring into our lives!

Other favorite scriptures of the week include:

John 7:16-17

Doctrine and Covenants 88:80-81

Luke 1:37

Ether 12:27

Alma 39-43

1 Ne 3:7

Funny Story:

I had a slight cold this week, just a stuffed nose, but during a lesson, a little girl was looking at me again and again as I sniffled, so I said: "Tengo un elefante en mi nariz! Porque, mi nariz es un rio, y cuando (made the motion for blowing my nose) es un elefante!" (I have an elephant in my nose! Because my nose is a river and when I blow it, its an elephant!) She didn't believe me, but she did think it was pretty funny! 

Keep your chin up, and don't give up! I know that if it's God's will, He will help you find a way!

Con Amor,

Hermana Jensen

Weekly Report #3 (02.23.16 - 02.29.16)

Hola Mis Amigos!

This week has been so great! Seriously! I have learned so much that God answers prayers with exactness as we are obedient and trust in Him! (Doctrine and Covenants 82:10). We went tracting this week and asked for some specific things to happen, and they did! We found someone who spoke Spanish (which doesn't often happen while we tract) and they agreed to learn more! I have been continually relying on the Lord during lessons, and its been amazing! 

I have gone from setting a goal to bear testimony in at least one lesson every day we have in Spanish, to setting a goal to bear testimony in every lesson each day. The miraculous thing is that it's possible. I have been learning how to teach the "First Lesson" in Spanish this week, and God has helped me with every step! The first time I tried practicing with my companion, it took me 45 minutes to relay the simple message that God loves us and has sent prophets to teach us what we should do in this life to return to live with him again. Not those exact words, but really just the basics of the lesson. The next time, I relayed similar information in 15 minutes. I want to testify that God truly answers prayers!

Something that has been pretty ironic is actually the Scripture I picked for my Mission Plaque: Alma 26:16. It reads at the end "Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his mercy, and of his long-suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel." I loved this scripture before because I felt like I could never express how much I appreciated God's miracles, but now, I love it because I truly CANNOT express even a tenth of what I feel in Spanish. Pero, estas cosas yo se: Yo se que Dios es nuestro Padre Celestial y que El tiene un plan para todas Su hijos. Yo se que esta iglesia es verdadera y que Jose Smith (that is how they say it in Spanish) fue un profeta de Dios. Yo se que cuando oramos a Dios, El conteste nuestro preguntas y podemos recibir respuestas. That is my simple testimony in broken Spanish. I love this gospel, and I love the Peace that God can bring into our lives!

Other favorite scriptures of the week include:

John 7:16-17

Doctrine and Covenants 88:80-81

Luke 1:37

Ether 12:27

Alma 39-43

1 Ne 3:7

Funny Story:

I had a slight cold this week, just a stuffed nose, but during a lesson, a little girl was looking at me again and again as I sniffled, so I said: "Tengo un elefante en mi nariz! Porque, mi nariz es un rio, y cuando (made the motion for blowing my nose) es un elefante!" (I have an elephant in my nose! Because my nose is a river and when I blow it, its an elephant!) She didn't believe me, but she did think it was pretty funny! 

Keep your chin up, and don't give up! I know that if it's God's will, He will help you find a way!

Con Amor,

Hermana Jensen

--

Sister Jensen

Hello Everyone!

These past ten days have been CRAZY!! But awesome (as always)! I left the MTC last week on a great note! I watched a talk by Jeffrey R. Holland called "Open Your Mouth," in the which, he talked about the importance of Preach My Gospel: by the spirit. That last part doesn't get said much, but it's the most important part! He talked about how PMG came to be, which was AWESOME because it was because of a missionary who served in Czech Slovakia during the 1930's (not my dad, but someone just as cool!). His name was Elder Wallace Toronto and he truly put his foot in the door and held his ground. He shared the Gospel with this woman, but it wasn't anything they had memorized or something they would have known to talk about by themselves. It was something the Spirit prompted him to say. That, and other experiences like it started what would come to be known as Preach My Gospel By the Spirit. The purpose of which is to convert the missionaries, so they can help convert others. That resonated with me then, and continues to resonate with me now.

When I arrived in Tampa, my Mission President asked me to accept a proposal from the Lord. He asked me to pray about whether or not I should start training with a Spanish Sister to prepare to teach in the Spanish language, instead of English. I told him that I had felt that proposal was something I was expecting and was ready to take on. When I read my call letter the first time, the phrase that stuck out to me was that my mission could change according to my Mission President's needs. I had felt that I would be learning Spanish every day since, and could not wrap my head around why. On February 16, 2016, my wonderment and prayers were answered. The Lord had been anxiously awaiting my arrival, because not two weeks prior, an Hermana (Spanish Sister) had gone home. I was her replacement, but if I had gone to the MTC to learn Spanish, I would not have gotten here in time. I am now training with Hermana Gibson, and it also happens to be her last transfer. It's crazy because if things had not worked out precisely the way they had, she would be in a trio with two other Hermanas and their wouldn't be enough Spanish Missionaries in the area to cover the needs here in the mission. I know that these next 18 months are going to be hard, but they will be SO worth it! A scripture that has recently given me strength is Alma 17 and Alma 26:11-16. I am so excited for the opportunity to keep learning Spanish and to serve the Lord!

This is my 6th day of Spanish, and so far it is going extremely well! I have learned to pray, testify, and recite JSH 1:16-17 in Spanish! The amount of work that the Lord is willing to go through to help me learn is AMAZING. My goal for this transfer is to learn all the lessons in Spanish, because at the end of this transfer, I may be training a new Hermana and I will need to know how to teach and understand. Every day I pray for the Gift of Tongues, and Every Day my prayers are answered. I am truly teaching 100% by the spirit and cannot express my love for Him enough. I am sorry that I didn't have time to answer everyone back individually, but I love you all! Thank you for your continued prayers! 

Here is a picture of my trainer and I, she is the absolute best! (I will have to figure out a way to send more pictures next time, these computers need SD card readers! :/) 

Hasta proximo semana!

--

Hermana Jensen

Weekly Report #1 (02.03.16 - 02.11.16)

Hello all! 

It's been a wild and crazy week! Honestly, it feels like it has been a month, and I don't know how to begin to describe the feelings and progress and growth that I've had! I will try to write as much as I can, but I'm short on time, because, well yeah, life of a Missionary ha! (:

First off, my district is AMAZING. Honestly, I don't think I have ever been around such spiritual giants before! They surprise and teach me wonderful things everyday! I can't believe the amount of growth we have all had! 

This is my District and my companion! Yes my eyes are closed, it was super bright outside! X)

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​We have been teaching 4 investigators while I've been at the MTC, and it's a really cool experience. Seriously, I have felt God's love for them. I don't know how to describe it. I was praying to know how to help the spirit help them and how to know what to say to allow the spirit to testify to them, and I felt an overwhelming feeling of love engulf me. I didn't even think that was possible. I just hope I have been able to convey that same love to them. They are honestly the coolest, and I hope that the spirit will testify to them this last time that we meet so they can take the act of faith to be baptized. They all want it so bad, there are just a few things holding them back.

On Tuesday, Elder Dube of the Seventy came and spoke to us. WOW. Seriously, just wow. I needed his talk so badly. And so did my District. Afterwards, we had a district review and everyone bore their testimonies and just filled the room with the light of Christ. The spirit was tangible and it was the most amazing feeling. I don't have the words to describe the amount of love I felt since putting on this name tag. Christ loves us so much. His wife bore testimony that there were souls in Florida waiting for me, and that is something I have known ever since President Samuelian spoke to us my Junior year. 

I would say that what I have learned since being here, is that we are instruments in the hands of the Lord truly, and that the music people hear, is the spirit. In order to play the melodies and harmonies correctly, we must be in tune with the spirit and that takes a lot. Think of how you tune a guitar. The strings are tightened and loosed according to how out of pitch the instrument is, that has been my time at the MTC. I have been stretched and come to be in tune with the spirit so that others can "feel to sing the song of redeeming love" (Alma 5:26). I know that it is only through Christ that I can be the best missionary possible. 

Love always,

 

Sister Jensen