Wowzers!!!!!!!

Aaaaaaand . . . We are off!!!!

Well, let’s just get down to the nitty gritty, shall we?  So, last Tuesday we headed to Maceió for transfers.  Of course I was suuuuper anxious.  Where am I going?  Who will be my new companion?  All that good stuff . . . Sooooooo. I don’t know how to say this in an interesting way, so I will just say it . . . Haha!  WELL . . . I am officially TRAINING!  Do not know who decided that that was a good idea . . . I just ended my training last week and now I am supposed to train someone else!?  And we are opening an area.  We are in Maceió in a ward called Bebedouro.  The ward originally had only two Elders but they just changed it to four.  So we split the area and all that good stuff with Elders Hemingway and Barbosa.  And the elders before us had basically done nothing so we just knocked A LOT of doors . . . Hahaha.  Opening an area . . . Remind me to never do that again!  

My companion’s name is Elder Pereira and he is from Belém.  I believe it is the northern part of Brazil.  He is . . . Small, haha, but really cool.  ALSO . . . Little fun fact . . . He is 26 years old.  Yep. I’m training a man who is 7 years older than me.  When people say that God has a sense of humor . . . They mean it!  I was so beyond nervous to start training and to be in a brand new area for the first time.  Just a lot of changes that I have never been through before.  Once again, the Lord is putting me in positions to make me learn FAST.  Slightly terrifying but good in an eternal perspective I suppose!

Our ward is awesome!  And . . . Get this . . . Our Bishop is the brother of my last Bishop!  Haha!  Bbut WAY different.  This guy looooves to work.  We had a meeting with the Ward leadership last night and we have tooooons of plans for this Ward and how we are going to get more members and reactive the less actives.  This area has tons of less actives so a lot of our work will be with them.  We even are making a calendar of members who will go with us to lessons and all that.  GOSH!  I was ready to explode with excitement.  It’s SO nice to have a ward that reeeeeally wants to make changes!  That wants to improve and progress!

I learned a lot this last week about the importance of the Ward and of friends in the Ward.  It truly does make ALL the difference to have strong members who want to help.  We can knock 200 doors and get 1 person to Church.  But if we get references or members with ideas, just one reference or idea will come to Church.  That kind of work is so much more productive and efficient!!!!!

It’s funny how the Lord works . . . Especially on the mission.  The moment you start feeling really comfortable with something, He just switches it up on you.  #Progress!  At first this was really annoying to me.  But it’s made me realize and remember more about the Pride Cycle in the Book of Mormon.  We receive blessings and remember God but we become arrogant and ignorant after a time period of really great success.  So then the Lord has to bring us back to earth and humble us.  Make us feel a little uncomfortable.  Make us remember just HOW we receive blessings.  I think sometimes I get really lazy with prayers and really trying to feel the Spirit.  So this transfer for me is really good.  I am remembering once again just how I can have success.  By conversing with the Lord and allowing His ideas to become mine, I am so lost.  But when I trust in the Lord, that He is going to guide me, everything goes super smoothly.  It’s just when everything goes smoothly for a while, I get a little cocky.  I think I’ve got it all down and that this mission is ALL ME.  And . . . It’s just not.  This last week really taught me that.  Rough week but I’m sooooo happy I can learn lessons like that! Progress is hard, but it feels SO good afterwards!!!!!!!   #ProgressIsStinkyButSmellsNiceAsWell

The language is also really coming along.  I say that because I can hold conversations on the phone now and that has been almost impossible for me in the past.  SO LEGIT.  The Gift of Tongues really does work!  Shout out to Derek right there.  Thanks, brah.

Well other than all that, ya know, just . . . Yep!  Haha!  I dont really have much else to say.  Our area is gorgeous and we work every day right by a huge lake and we get to watch the sunset if we time it just right.  We live literally on the top floor of the Bishop’s house which is going to be GREAT when it comes to food!  I had my first REAL dinner here the other night and I was in Heaven.  Haha!  We eat fine during the day, but at night it’s just kind of whatever we have left over from lunch or what we bought that day.  Needless to say, I was extremely excited =)

I love you all so much!!!!  Be good, be safe!  And do keep writing.  My area is pretty close to the office now so there is a chance I will get mail faster.  Keep writing please!  The Church is true.  If you don’t know it, pray about it!  Really, really try to know. When God sees you have the desire to know, He will tell you.  But first you gotta try =)  I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love, Elder Dylan Miles Jensen

And to his Momma . . .

I cannot BELIEVE that 50% of new Missionary Applications were from girls!  Gosh!  That’s going to be crazy.  We are going to have waaaaaay more Sisters in a few months.  I’ll bet these people applying are going to have to wait foreeeeever to get their calls with how many applications are going in . . . That’s crazy!  The Lord has some big plans!!!!

All the instructions for the Christmas box . . . Got it.  Totally going to open everything the first day though =)

Everything is great here, Ma!  Kind of a rough week but this next one is going to be reeeeeally good.  I can’t believe I have five months of the mission.  And next month I’ll be a fourth of the way through!  I feel like when I hit January time is just going to FLY!  It’s already fast right now.  But everyone says that after six months it just zoooooms!!!  Excited!!!

I love you so much!!!!!  Keep sending me fun photos to put into my photo album will ya?  Love you Momma.  You have no idea how much you prepared me for this mission.  Yesterday some guy just wanted to be loud and obnoxious with us in the street.  I think he kept expecting me to argue and I just kept thinking about you . . . Haha.  When people want to argue about stupid stuff I just let them talk.  When they want to act like adults and talk maturely about what we believe, I talk.  But arguing . . . Not how I roll.  Can’t teach that way!  And I know I learned that from you =)  I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PARABÉNS GIANTS!!!!!!

And thanks Mom . . . I get dizzy sometimes when the Spirit gets really strong I don’t know why . . .  Like when we giving a blessing out at Ashley’s house, or when I had my interview with President Merrell . . . I can’t explain it, but it just happened again.  I don’t know what God has planned for me here, but I think you are right.  I think something big is going to happen.  Love you, Ma =)