Weekly Update #10 Como los Profetas comen su comida!

Hola mi familia y amigos! Como estan??

Esta semana fue muy bien! Tuvimos una noche de talentos y hacemos un esketch! We decided to present to our ward, "How the Prophets eat their food" in various different ways! We had everything from Adam and Eve to Moses and it was a blast! The ward loved it and everyone has been talking to us about our investigators nonstop since! We only had one family of investigators who came to the activity, but they all welcomed them with open arms! It has been such a neat experience to work with this ward! I wouldn't trade it for the world! I absolutely love it here in Florida and I am so excited to have this amazing opportunity to share the Gospel with everyone here! 

The culture here is so fun! Everyone is so willing to be open and friendly and have fun! It is truly one big family out here in Tampa!

I have been studying a lot about the Restoration of the Gospel and Church of Jesus Christ this week, and everytime I read about everything that happened, I am reminded of the hand of the Lord in our lives. There has been so much put in to this restoration, so many lives, so many tears, so many worn down shoes... I can't describe the work that has been put in to bring this hope to others, nor the impact, but I have already seen lives change. I have seen people go from wanting to separate their family to doing everything they can to strengthen it. It truly is an amazing change that transpires when our lives are touched by the Spirit. Se que es medio de nuestro Salvador, Jesucristo, que podemos hacer todo. Se que esta iglesia es la iglesia de Jesucristo hoy dia y que podemos recibir respuestas a nuestras oraciones cuando preguntamos a Dios. 

If you get the chance this week, read through 4 Nefi, it's an amazing book about the difference in our lives when we live the teachings of Christ, and when we don't.

May the Lord carry you through your trials, and your burdens be ever lifted with the Hope that comes from our Savior. 

Con amor,

Hermanita Jensen

Weekly Report #9 Training and Elder Anderson!

Hola mis amigos! 

If you can't tell below, that's basically the Missionaries in Tampa with Elder Anderson! He came for a fireside last night and it was AMAZING. I found answers to questions I didn't even know I had! 

Unfortunately, I have to make it short tonight, but Elder Anderson emphasized the importance of simplicity in sharing our testimonies and the need we all have of reading over President Thomas S. Monson's talk again and again. He could have elaborated so much more on his short simple statements, but he left that for us. We have a great need of gaining our own testimonies about this gospel. Elder Anderson's wife told us that often, the Apostles go through 15 or more drafts of their talk before they give it, and that it is not enough for us to simply listen to it once! Since I'm short on time, but you have more, go check out the talks from General Conference and these other scriptures! 

3 Ne 26: 9, 11, 16

3 Ne 27

Joshua 3:5

I love you all and can't express enough the appreciation for all of your continued support!  

Con mucho amor, como siempre,

Hermana Jensen

Weekly Update #8 Transfers and Training!

Hola mis amigos! Como estan??

Alright, so I've heard that everyone knows already thanks to the book of face, but I am training! My new companion is Hermana Gucake (pronounced New-Tha-Kay). She is from California and her parents are from Fiji. She is pretty cool and willing to apply herself to learning Spanish which is awesome! Yes, she is fresh out of the CCM (Mexico MTC) and it's going to be fun to learn together! I am still a little nervous about training her, but I know that everything is going to be fine, because the Lord is on our side! 

So yes, for those of you that are wondering, it does mean that I am the Trainer and am both training her how to be a Missionary here in Tampa and how to speak Spanish. Some of you are probably a little more than worried about that, so hopefully this next bit will help alleviate that feeling a bit. 

On Monday, we dropped off Hermana Gibson and Hermana Smith and I spent PDay together! We taught 3 lessons that night, after getting all of our chores, and other things that we had to do to prepare for our week, out of the way. They went really well! It was actually super fun and really amazing. I was under the impression that Hermana Smith would lead all the lessons, because she has been on her mission for almost 5 months now, but she told me that I knew my investigators and that I was leading, so I did. Y sabe que? I could understand everything! I found that I was listening more to the Spirit than ever before and I knew what I needed to say to each investigator to help them learn and progress. It was truly amazing. There was one lesson actually where I felt like I had talked too much, but it helped me see that I know more about this whole Spanish speaking thing than I have been telling myself. I'm sure there are pictures all over Facebook, I've been pretty busy this week and haven't taken a picture of all three of us together, but next week I'll be sure to have one ready! 

Scriptures This Week:

Moroni 7:12-19

Doctrine and Covenants 6:32-37

Mosiah 4:10-13

Joshua 3:5

James 2:17-26

Thank you so much for all of your love and support! I hope you are all doing well! :)

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Jensen

Fwd:

Nametag! :D

Weekly Update #7 (03.21.16 - 04.04.16)

Hola mis amigos!

It's happening, this week is transfers, and right now, it looks like, I MIGHT be training! (Still a might be, because my Companion, Hermana Gibson, is staying for another week and a half, and it says "Stay and train" next to her name, but only "stay" next to mine. So, I will let you all know next week what has become of me! 

Right now, I am on a temporary exchange with Hermana Smith, she also has a companion who is going home, and had to say goodbye today, and I left Hermana Gibson with the rest of the soon to be returned Missionaries. It wasn't hard today, because I know I get to pick her up tonight, but by next Saturday, I may be a little downhearted... 

On the bright side, my Spanish tag came!!! :D I'm officially a Spanish Sister ;) It really was a little personal sign from my Heavenly Father, that I will be ready to train, because the day after I got it, I had an experience very similar to one that is shared in PMG. We were having dinner with some Recent Converts, and were getting ready to leave with a spiritual thought. I had been informed by my companion that I was to give it myself, and had been feeling apprehensive, but comforted and excited at the same time. I was trying to find a way to steer the conversation towards what I had wanted to say, but was having trouble understanding what was going on. I heard a still voice whisper, "listen." So I did. They were all discussing their conversion stories. I then heard "wait, and listen, you will know what to say." So I did, they each told what had changed, why they had decided to be baptized, and eventually I heard, "it's your turn." I then began to speak in Spanish about how this gospel brings us a joy, a joy that we want to share with others every single day, and shared that I was on my mission to share of the same joy. I related Alma 26:16 to them, and explained that I can't even begin to explain the smallest part of my testimony, but that God has given, and continues to give me the words I need to share what others need to hear. I bore my testimony to them about the power of God and how he will guide us if we are willing to let Him. It was amazing. I had not planned on doing more than sharing the scripture and bearing a small testimony, but God filled my mouth, because I was willing to open it. His tender mercies bring me so much peace.

This General Conference was incredible. I felt, this conference, that many of the talks, were  specifically for me, and that God has been trying to tell me to "Act in Faith" because "there is nothing good, unless you do it" and if we "believe it" we need to act on it. I hope each of you had a chance to listen to Conference, and if you didn't, know that you still can! lds.org has a link to watch conference still, and the talks will be posted soon in the Gospel Library App! Don't miss out on this wonderful opportunity we have to hear from our beloved Prophet and Apostles! 

Miracle of the week was definitely yesterday. One of our investigators, Pablo, has been praying for an answer about baptism, and we told him that if he came to General Conference, he would receive one. He called us early Sunday morning, and told us that he would be unable to make it to Conference, because he could not find his keys, and couldn't leave the house unlocked. We told him to pray and think of a place to look, and then hung up, asking him to call us back when he found his keys. After hanging up, we prayed that he would receive an answer, and called him 45 minutes later, asking about his keys. He related that he had prayed and still couldn't find them, but that he had decided to read his Book of Mormon to try and feel the spirit better. He opened his Book of Mormon, and the keys were there; he had used them as a bookmark and forgotten that they were there. It was not only an answer to his prayers, but to ours as well, because he was able to attend the Conference and listen to the spirit, and we ended up setting a date with him later that night! God works in mysterious ways. 

Scriptures/Talks:

John 14:27

"The Divine Call of a Missionary" - Elder Rasband

"Facing the Future with Faith" - Elder Nelson

The "Face to Face" with Elder Holland

Isaiah 1:18

I hope everyone is doing well! 

Love always,

Hermana Jensen