Miracles

¡Hola mis amigos!

Hey friends!

No sé dónde empezar, este última semana ha sido un milagro de verdad. Primero, recibimos la llamada de traslados, y averiguamos que ambas de la hermana Greenberg y yo tuvimos que salir. Fue triste, pero recibimos buenos nuevos también. Entonces, dije adiós a muchos queridos amigos en Lakeland:

I don't know where to start, this last week has honestly been a miracle. First, we received the transfer call and found out that both Hermana Greenberg and I had to leave. It was sad, but we also received some good news. So, I said goodbye to a lot of good friends in Lakeland:

Y tuvimos una reunión mundial para la misión! (Este era los buenos nuevos)

And we had a Worldwide Mission Reunion! (That was the good news) 

Nos encontramos con las otras hermanas misioneras en la misión: hermana Smith, hermana Chávez, hermana Gucake, hermana Anderson, hermana Greenberg, hermana Whitlock, y yo! Tuvimos un poco divertido cambiando cosas entre carros después de la reunión. 

We found ourselves with the other Spanish Sister Missionaries in the Mission. We had some fun changing everything around between our cars after the meeting. 

De verdad, ¡la reunión era lo mejor! Hablamos sobre la importancia de seguir la doctrina de Cristo y bautizar a los que realmente se han arrepentido. Yo recibí mucha inspiración en cómo debo hacer la Obra aquí y estoy aplicándola. 

The meeting was the best! We talked about the importance of following the Doctrine of Christ and baptizing those who really have repented. I received a lot of inspiration in how to do the Work here and I am applying it.

Entonces, ¡el miércoles empezamos de trabajar juntas! 

So, Wednesday we started working together! (Otros buenos nuevos)

Y cada día hemos visto milagros. Realmente no tengo espacio ni tiempo para escribir sobre todos, pero lo mejor probablemente era anoche. Hablamos con alguien que nos dijo que no quería ser bautizado hasta que se haya arrepentido de sus pescados y estuviera listo de empezar su vida nuevamente en Cristo. Lo invitamos a seguir el ejemplo de Jesucristo y dejar sus pecados atrás, y la aceptó. Vamos a reunirnos con él otra vez hoy. He sido escribiendo mucho en mi diario recientemente y estoy agradecida que tengo tiempo para hacerlo, porque sin la habilidad de escribir, perderé muchas memorias. 

And everyday we have seen miracles. Honestly, I don't have time or space to write about everything, but the best thing was probably last night. We talked to someone that told us they didn't want to be baptized until they had repented of all their sins and were ready to start their life anew in Christ. We invited him to follow the example of Jesus Christ and leave his sins behind, and he accepted. We are going to meet with him again today. I have been writing a lot in my journal recently and I am grateful that I have time to do so, because without the ability to write, I would lose a lot of memories.

Algunos discursos y escrituras:

"It is a Privelege" Liahona Oct 1988, A. Lynn Scoresby

1 Nefi 3

"Safety for the Soul" por elder Jeffrey R Holland en la Liahona de Oct 2013

También, ¡las hermanas tienen más música de Nashville Tribute Band! Estamos escuchando su álbum "Redeemer" ahora. (: 

Also, the Hermanas have more Nashville Tribute Band CDs! We are listening to Redeemer right now. (:

Espero que tengan una semana feliz! 

Hermanita Jensen

PS

This work is the best thing in the whole world! I would not trade the experiences I am having for anything in the whole world! 

¡Este Obra es lo mejor en el mundo entero! ¡No intercambiaría las experiencias que estoy teniendo por ninguna cosa en este mundo!

4th times a charm!

Hola mis amigos y mi familia!

So, transfers are this week! And we are both leaving! It's going to be crazy! I am going to Cortez! And I will be in a TRIO AGAIN! (This will be my fourth time) I am going to be joining Hermana Anderson and Hermana Gucake! Familiar name? Yes! I am excited to be her companion once again! Hermana Greenberg will be joining Hermana Smith and Hermana Chavez in Tampa 5!! It is going to be a wild ride! I am super excited for her to experience all the wonderful things in Tampa and to be able to spread her wings out there! I'm also excited to see what Cortez holds!

It is sad to leave here though. I have met a lot of wonderful people and we just found a bunch of families here that are ready to learn. Luckily, the Elders in the neighboring Spanish area will be covering for us a little, so everything will work out. I think that this area needs Elders because we have found a lot of men recently who we haven't really been able to connect with. There are also a few prospective Missionaries that we can't just go on splits with, and it will be better for them to be with Elders.

So, we are leaving, but looking forward with faith! 

Here are some pictures from the week:

The Lopez family, former members of Elder Foster's Ward in Ft Lauderdale! We are excited they will be in the branch! 

We went to the Lake Hamilton District on Tuesday before an exchange!

So Wednesday is a special day! Hermana Greenberg turns 20! We have been celebrating today because we won't get to on Wednesday! 

This week has been amazing and I have seen the Lord's hands in every moment. They released some new Spanish Youth songs that have really helped both of us to catch the Spirit this week! My favorite, and one that is especially fitting for this week is this one:

NADA VA A SEPARARNOS

1. Siempre ̮estuvimos unidos aquí.

Peleas, perdones, llorar y reír.

Por malas y buenas vivencias pasar

y ̮a todo ̮ese tiempo jamás renunciar.

Es lo que tenemos, unión familiar.

Lo ̮hicimos y nada nos va ̮a separar.

Nada va ̮a separar nos. Oh. Oh.

Intentarán lograrlo. Oh. Oh.

Y venga lo que venga,

nada va ̮a separar nos ya.

2. No ̮importa qué ̮ocurra, estamos ahí.

Luchamos a muerte y ̮así hasta ̮el fin.

Un nuevo camino la ̮edad nos dará.

Seguimos unidos y no cambiará.

Es lo que tenemos, unión familiar.

Lo ̮hicimos y nada nos va ̮a separar.

Nada va ̮a separar nos. Oh. Oh.

Intentarán lograrlo. Oh. Oh.

Y venga lo que venga,

nada va ̮a separar nos ya.

3. Lazos así no se rompen.

Ni la muerte podrá.

Este amor durará para siempre;

no tiene fin.

Nada va ̮a separar nos. Oh. Oh.

Intentarán lograrlo. Oh. Oh.

Y venga lo que venga,

nada va ̮a separar nos ya.

Que tengan una semana feliz!!

Hermanas Jensen y Greenberg

863-669-5330

Doubt Not Fear Not

This is a picture from our Weekly Planning Session. It was my third time doing a weekly planning session that week and we had to take a giggle break in order to be productive and focus!

This is all the Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders in the Mission! Elder Casperson and Sister Myers are going home this transfer, so it was a bittersweet meeting, but the spirit was really strong and I learned a lot!

On Sunday last it was pretty cold here in Florida!

Our Zone Training Meeting on Tuesday (:

We don't act like this all the time, I promise!

Some crafty things my Mom and Sister made me for Christmas (:

Okay! I think that's all the fun things that have happened....

Just kidding, on Tuesday we went to Institute with Jose to translate and it was awesome! We talked about the Family: a Proclamation to the World and President Morgan really opened my eyes to some neat things! Apparently, it took 8 months to draft that document, imagine how much thought must have been put into each sentence and word! We examined parts of it (I felt like I was back in Mrs. Howell's Composition Class or Mr. Willards Literature Class) and talked about why they used specific words. He challenged us to continue studying it and to put thought into it! We went through some of it with Jose on Saturday and it was really cool! We actually found the document in Sign Language, so he could watch it instead of just reading it!

We met some cool people this week too and I am excited to start teaching them!

Cool note, I was on an exchange in Lake Wales two weeks ago and met a man named Jerry, turns out he has since been to church and wants to be baptized by the end of February! How neat is that?! (Name that video;)

I found this Mormon add and really like it a lot. Sometimes I think we feel like this life is a lot bigger and crazier than it needs to be and we forget that in the grand scheme of things, God is so much bigger than everything here on earth. I know that as we look to him, we need not fear and have no reason to doubt.

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Love
Hermana Jensen



Hola mis amigos!

These past two weeks have been really crazy!

Remember Jose? Well, we convinced him to come to church again after
his old friends told him not to, and then to a Devotional that night
for Young Single Adults. That along with the member support he has
received has really helped him feel the spirit and recognize the
guidance he has received from God. He has really been doing a lot
better and has felt the spirit guiding him home! He is going to start
an ASL class to help others learn how to communicate with him and we
are super excited for it!

Happy New Year!

On Tuesday we had an exchange! I got to spend some time with Sister Na'a from Tonga, and my companion went with Sister Anderson (my Sister Training Leader companion). We had a lot of fun and it was absolutely amazing!

It's pretty fun spending time with Missionaries! Sister Na'a and I visited a woman named Fany and were able to help her feel the spirit and we invited her to come to church this Sunday! It was a super powerful lesson!

On Wednesday, we met back up and visited some members we haven't seen in a long time, as well as our dear brother Luis. He is so funny. We are still working with him on changing his life for the better, but he has really grown on me since coming to Lakeland. We decided we can call him Tio Luis after our missions.

On Thursday we went on another exchange! It was a blast! I ran a 400m again and realized how out of shape I've become 😅so that was a needed wake up call! It actually wasn't that bad for not having ran one in almost a year, so I just need to make some time during my exercise time to sprint more so I can beat my brother when I get home. ;)

I was with Sister Briggs and Sister Anderson was with Sister Zinck! It was fun because Sister Briggs was companions with my trainer the week before I got to Florida, so we shared some fun stories! (Cough cough, Sister Gibson!!)

On Friday we visited Jose and actually got some really sad news... he used to be a member of another church and his friends basically said he had to choose them or the mormons. Well, because he is deaf, it would mean losing all the people he can communicate with... he is trying to have faith, but they have been tearing it down. We are trying to help him be strong and recognize the new friends he has made. Please keep him in your prayers this week, he is such a great guy and has such potential as a son of God!

This was a candid shot we got of him during a lesson. We need to get one of him all dressed up for church too!

Saturday was crazy! We ate pig, like someone killed a pig that morning and cooked it all day, spent some time with an Angel, and saw fireworks!

This is Angel! We couldn't make it over to his house for dinner that night because of some other things that came up, but we made it to the church and FaceTimed him!

Sunday Fany came to church and Angel got the Gift of the Holy Ghost and it was just fantastic! We visited them after church and Barbies mom made Tamales! Except for they were special, made as if they were from Nicaragua, so they were literally the best Tamales I've ever eaten!

It has been a pretty full week!

Some things worth Reading:
"Meeting the Challenges of Today's World" by Elder Robert D Hales from October 2015 Gen Conf.
2 Nephi 31-33
Enos
Philippians 4

Next week is going to be even more crazy!

I hope everyone has a great week and that your New Years Resolutions can be a little more Resolute this year!

Love you all!


Hermana JensenWow! It's 2017! Can you believe it?!

This week has been awesome! We had a Zone Activity Day that was
probably one of the most fun to date! We had a white elephant sock
exchange and then played Mafia, but with a Book of Mormon twist! It
was fun to see everyone interact and their personalities come out. We
ended the night with District Meetings (where an assigned group of
missionaries get together and have scripture study) and it was super
insightful. We talked about Christ's doctrine and how it applies to
us.

Mine Eyes Have Seen The Tender Mercies

Hola mis amigos! 

So, this week has been crazy, full of stress but also the Tender Mercies of the Lord. Just saying, God is good.

So, Monday! We had our Zone Activity! We started off playing Angry Birds and practiced our hand at destroying cardboard boxes with nothing but brute strength and some random balls from the church. After that we improvised with some other balls we found and played Four Square! Sister Anderson, my Sister Training Leader companion, and I prepared dinner and then joined in later but it was still a blast! We ended the games with something I hadn't played since being at school last year, signs! I had forgotten how much fun that game was, but it really brought us together as a Zone! 

After the games we had dinner and then broke into a Zone Training Meeting. I think it went super well, as we had to discuss a lot of changes that the Mission is going through right now. We basically talked about the change in our focus with Obedience and moving back to the White Handbook and how we have to take ourselves out of our box of exact obedience and focus on consecrated obedience. It was a really good discussion and everyone was in tune with the Spirit.

Tuesday was pretty calm, we rode bikes everywhere in an effort to make up for lost miles.. I accidentally stole the keys when we went to Tampa and left Sister Greenberg stranded, so we had to make an extra trip that has been hard to make up... Wednesday also was not too stressful, until we got home and realized that we had no where to go on Thanksgiving. Everyone basically assumed we were taken care of and no one offered to have us over, which is crazy seeing as it is one of the ONLY days of the year when the members here get to feed us.. Well, the Elders that we share a building with found out and called the Stake President and just like that,

Thursday we found ourselves at the Stake Presidents table for lunch. WOW. It was absolutely crazy from this day forward. We went and ate and talked and invited the Hales to come to the baptism that we would be having that Saturday. They had heard the Elders were holding a service, but didn't know that two people would be getting baptized. The Hales put it on their calendar, we thanked the Baileys for having us, and we headed back home to finish weekly planning. We were enjoying Moms pumpkin chocolate chip cookies(heaven sent!!) when we got a call from our Branch Mission Leader about correlation. He said, "just come over to eat with us at 7! See you then!!" I hung up the phone in shock, because we went from 0 to 2 in the space of 3 hours, none of which we had planned for, but Hno Herrera happens to have a soon to be son in law that is taking the discussions from us, so we headed over at 7! It was absolutely amazing to feel the spirit in both of these members homes. English or Spanish, the spirit is the same. The food may be different, the circumstances could be no further apart, but they both were grateful for what they had, and there was a special spirit of being home that day. We invited Angel to come to Jose's baptism and he said that he had been wanting to and promised us he would be there. Our stomachs were full that day, but not as full as our hearts were of gratitude.

Friday morning I woke up and was going through Moms package again and saw the things to make turkeys. It was like a lightbulb turned on in my brain because I remembered that Hna Vazquez had told us no one would be making center pieces for the tables at the Activity we were supposed to have. So, while Sister Greenberg made our tinfoil and cardboard oven, I made turkeys. They were so cute and everyone was so happy! We went about our business that day, discussed last minute baptismal things with Jose, and went to the party! When we got there to set up, half the branch was already there helping! We added our turkeys to what Hna Vazquez had made and it all came together! There were a bunch of people that came too! Four members brought friends and the skits were awesome! Jose came and actually enjoyed everything, even though we had to translate from Spanish to ASL for him! It was a great night and I just felt like God was lifting the Branch up with love, everyone chipped in to help and it was awesome! 

Saturday, the big day! We Road our bikes around and visited a couple referrals before heading over to the church to set up for Joses baptism. When we got there, we started helping the Elders, but realized the font wasn't being filled. We started filling it up, and we soon found out why Florida is the often thought to be a swamp...

 the water was an interesting hue of yellowish green... we emptied it out and filled it again, to no avail. It looked even worse! We discussed options and were considering postponing it another week, or going to a member's pool. He lived a ways from the church, but they said it would be better than nothing, so we discussed it with the Ward Mission Leader. Well, as we were relaying the information, the Hales walked in. They said, "oh, we live just down the street from here, not even a mile, and we have a covered pool! We can do the baptism at our house!" So, we started with a prayer and song and then headed to the Hales family's house for the baptism!

 Brother Weggeland was already in the pool with Gerry when we got there with out carpool, and soon enough Jose was in the water too. It was the most special moment, ever. Brother Weggeland had taken the time to learn the baptismal prayer in ASL and did it perfectly. Jose was baptized and afterwards he related that he felt free and light. Like he had truly been forgiven and started his life anew. It was amazing. After the baptism, I turned to Angel and felt promoted to share with him our idea to have a White Christmas this year. I invited him to be baptized on Christmas Day, and I tell you what, I have never seen a bigger grin on  anyone's face before in my life! He felt the spirit witness to him that it was what God wanted, and we are setting out to help him accomplish it! The spirit was just so amazing. Please keep him in your prayers this December!

Sunday Jose was confirmed a member of the church and Amber translated his confirmation prayer. It was beautiful and the support of the Ward was amazing. The Lord just blessed us so much. After church, the Spanish Branch had another baptism for a young boy and the font worked fine. We still don't know what happened on Saturday, but I was so grateful that the Hales were at the Baileys and that we were invited to invite them to the baptism. I am so grateful that Angel got his answer at Joses baptism, and that  we were invited to invite him to the baptism as well. 

It was so amazing to see the Lord work through so many different people to bring about His work. I cannot express even the smallest part of the gratitude I feel. Having been able to learn how to communicate with the Spanish culture here is Florida and with Jose in ASL has truly been a blessing. I never would have imagined learning a new language, let alone two. It has been crazy. I love the Lord and His Tender Mercies!

If you haven't already, watch the new Christmas video this week!! It is absolutely amazing! I will be sending home pictures of what we do to share Christ's light this month and I hope to receive news from all of you as well! #LightTheWorld!

Love

Hermanita Jensen

The Fellowship of the Unashamed

Hola mi familia y mis amigos!! Hoy es un dia loco, entonces solo voy a escribir un poco!

Saturday and Sunday was our Stake Conference here in Lakeland and it was amazing! There was so much talk about the new christmas video and the reason behind it and it just gets me so excited to celebrate the life and birth of our Savior Jesus Christ! 

The video (#lighttheworld) focuses on two scriptures:

"I am the light of the world" John 8:12

"Ye are the light of the world" Matt 5:14

It is so crucial that we understand that as we shine our light, we shine the light of Christ! I am so excited to show everyone this video and help them shine their own lights! for more information about the video, go to https://www.mormon.org/christmas/light-the-world?play=hero

On Nov 25, the video will be available to watch and the website with a Service Advent Calendar will open up! We are encouraged to show our light "In 25 ways in 25 days!" I will be emailing what we do for each day and hope to see what everyone else is doing too! 

As we light the world this Christmas, we will show the world that we are unashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There was a wonderful talk given by Elder Alba in the which he shared a poem entitled "The Fellowship of the Unashamed." It made me wonder what I do to show that I am unashamed of following my Savior, and I was reminded that I literally carry His name on my chest every single day! I hope that I can live in such a way that people won't need to see my nametag to know whose name it is I carry. 

I invite all of you to jump on board this Christmas and bring others to Christ as you spread your light! I promise that as you do, your testimony of the love of the Savior will increase, and the outpouring of love you give will change hearts of stone. I have seen the power God has and know that His love works miracles among us. 

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

Amor,

 Hermana Jensen <3

I Love to See the Temple!

Hola mis amigos!!!

So this week I went to the Temple! Since the Orlando Temple is outside of our mission boundaries, we only get to go once a mission, so this was an amazing thing!! It was so peaceful and I could just feels God's love wash over us as we entered. I got to be there with a bunch of Sisters, most that I have known since day 1 in the Mission (:









It was probably the best day of the week.

Since Wednesday, life has been pretty crazy! We have been trying to get into contact with all the members out here and invite them to an amazing party we will be having to celebrate Thanksgiving! (No, I won't be starving on Thanksgiving;) We have had really good luck in tracking everyone down and it has been great! It's exciting because we have been inviting them to Stake Conference, the activity, and a BAPTISM!!!

I am super excited for this baptism because the whole thing is just completely unexplainable. It's been a miracle. So, Jose, the deaf young man I talked about last week? He is getting baptized! It's so cool because I was called originally to serve in English, changed to serve in Spanish, and God has now been blessing me with the ability to communicate with Jose in Sign Language! It's so amazing to see the Love of God manifested in things like this!

Believe in miracles!

A few favorite readings from the week:

President Russell M Nelson "A Plea to My Sisters" October 2015 - "fulfill the measure of your creation"

2 Nephi 2:26 - Men are that they might have JOY!

President Russell M Nelson "Joy and Spiritual Survival" October 2016 - "we can feel joy regardless of what is happening-or not happening-in our lives."

Que tengan una semana feliz y llena de gozo! (:

Hermanita Jensen