Week #14 Gladys Knight.. nuff said!

Hola mis amigos y mis queridos!! Como estan?!

So, this week was AWESOME. Do I use that word too much? Probably, but I don't get to use it too often in Spanish, so I have to use it sometime, right?! 

Gladys Knight put together a choir and decided to bring them to Florida and it was one of the most Spiritually Uplifting experiences I've ever had. For those of you who don't know, Gladys Knight is an amazing singer with a truly angelic voice. I'm not talking about one of the background "ooh's" in a Nativity reenactment, but one that "trumphs forth" with all the spirit she's got! She was baptized awhile back into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and has been going around the country with her choir testifying of her Savior through music in ever state she visits. They are called the Saints Unified Voices, and if they ever come to Oregon, do everything you can to get your seat in one of the seats at the show! They are made up of people from ALL walks of life, and present music from different cultures and perspectives. One of the opening songs was led by an elderly man strumming his bass guitar and singing about his love for God, while one of the last was led by two young teens who sang of their need for Jesus and their desire to follow Him. So many cultures were represented as well, and it was quite the experience to feel the Spirit in so many different ways throughout the night. There were points where I was literally laughing with tears running down my cheeks. 

In the morning, before the event, we tracted for almost 4 hours just inviting people to come! It was a free event and we wanted to get as many people there as humanly possible. It was interesting to see the reactions of different people and I often wondered if we had been airing it as a commercial on tv, they would have been more receptive. As it turns out, we don't know if anyone that we invited came, but we have been told that out of the four different performances, 600 people have requested that the Missionaries bring by a "gift basket" that contains a sampler CD of the SUV choir, a DVD about the Restoration, and a Book of Mormon. Currently, we are working on contacting them and helping them feel of that same spirit they felt Saturday night. 

The one thing that stuck out to me, more than anything else was something Gladys said at one point before a song. She said "some people are still out there living like God's a liar." For some reason, that clicked and resounded in my mind louder than any song I had heard that night. I have often wondered while reading through the scriptures, at the response to prophets who merely say "Lord, I believe, for I know that thou canst not lie" and how blessed they are for it. That to me seems like such a silly thing to doubt, but I have realized that many of us still live that way. Many of us still think that miracles aren't possible, that God is dead, that He doesn't speak to us today, that there is nothing more to this life than dying and nailing the coffin shut. But that isn't what God has told us. He has told us that He is the SAME, "today, tomorrow and forever," that "miracles are wrought by faith," and that "He lives." This life is merely a preparation for Eternity. 

I can't express the love that I have for my Savior Jesus Christ enough, for His sacrifice, for His life, and for the life that is possible through Him. I love my Father in Heaven, I know I am His daughter, and I know that HE CAN'T LIE. I know that He has a magnificient plan for all of his children, and that NONE of His sheep are ever truly lost. I have felt His love, His power, and His might throughout my life, and seen the miracles that are possible for those who truly believe. 

It is my plea that we as Children of Him will believe and trust on His word, in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, Amen. 

Con el amor de su Hermana,

Hermanita Jensen

Weekly Update #12 - Mother's Day and Glowing Rocks

Hola mis amigos!!

Como estan??? Feliz dia de las Madres! I am so grateful to have been able to talk to my family yesterday and see their wonderful faces! I snapped this right at the end and decided to include it! It was really a boost to talk to them and it is always a joy to hear from all of you! 

This week we also had an activity for El Dia de Las Madres in our Ward and it was amazing! Someone carved this Watermelon and I couldn't not take a picture! Everyone had a wonderful time and we brought some nonmembers as well as a few less actives who really enjoyed the activity! It was great for people to come out and see that Mormons can have fun too! I love the ward here and how energized everyone is! There is always dancing at the end of every activity and it really shows family in a whole new way out here in Florida! 

I have also been studying the book of Ether in the Book of Mormon this week, and it has really opened my eyes to just how much Pride can ruin a group of Faithful people. Ether is a record of an ancient people who lived during the time of the confounding of the languages at the Tower of Babel and they are descendants of the brother of Jared (His name is really long, so that's what everyone calls him). He has so much faith, and his people prospered because of it! There is one story in chapter 6 that talks about how he prayed to know how to give light and the breath of life to his people so that they could survive the crossing of the Ocean to the promised lands. He asked God for help and then molted rocks out of a mountain and brought them to the Lord, asking Him to give them light. One by one, The Lord touched the rocks and caused them to glow, and they stayed glowing all the way across the ocean. These people had the faith to work miracles and they used it! It is a stark contrast to the people that lived last, Coriantumr and Shiz. They had grown so  much in the pride of their own hearts that they couldn't feel the Spirit of the Lord any longer. Satan had complete control over the hearts of the children of men at this time, and the battles that followed were terrible. It really taught me how humble we have to be in order to receive the blessings of the Lord and how faithful we must remain in order to work miracles. I think that the rocks are symbolic, and that just as there were two rocks for every vessel, there are two things we must keep in our hearts in order to be kept safe from the temptations of the Devil: Faith and Humility. These two seem to go hand in hand more than once throughout the scriptures and I have seen the power they hold in my own life already. 

Keep your rocks of Faith and Hope lit this week, and let God work miracles in your life! 

I love you all, keep being the wonderful people I know you all to be! 

Con amor,

Hermanita Jensen

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