Fotos!!!!!

Killa Zone!!!!!

Bob Marley and Michael Jackson came to our District Meeting!

Men Working!!!!!

No Reason . . . Just Cuz . . .

Rafson . . . Still goin' strong . . . Stud . . .

View going to Aracaju from Maceio

So close!!!!!

We were short on investigators, okay?

DANG IT!!!!

 
Family and friends and all you beautiful people out there,
 
This week was really crappy!  Hahahaha . . . But it ended really well, so it’s all good  =)
 
First of all . . . Investigators.  Izabel is still difficult but went to church!  Jaiane FINALLY got confirmed!  We actually had about nine people at church who are investigating!!!  It was pretty legit.  Some are new and we even had one that doesn’t live in our area (dang it!!) but it really made our Sacrament Meeting and Gospel Principles class look LEGIT!!!  Maria and Manoel and their son Gabriel all came to church and loved it!  Monice said she wasn’t gonna come because her little sister is a troublemaker, but we told her to call us if anything changed.  She called RIGHT when we got to church and said she wanted to go.  Apparently she was super sad when we left, so her dad just said to take her sister and go  #AttaBoyYouGoDad.  Edla also showed up again!  She brought her two daughters-in-law as well  =)  And a girl named Maria Fatima came as well with Maria and Manoel!  So the week was pretty crappy, but ended REALLY well  =) Unfortunately, we weren’t able to follow up with anyone because we had to go to the Stake Center to set stuff up for our Zone Conference on Tuesday . . . So we will try to follow up with everyone tonight!!!
       
This week, we taught a new sister.   Basically she is super sad and doesn’t want to believe that life continues because she doesn’t really want it to continue.  She told us every problem she has and man . . . I cried my eyes out.  Not gonna lie.  I just . . . WANT her to be happy.  I want people to be as happy as we are and when they won’t accept the Gospel it’s . . . Crappy.  I know she needs the Gospel.  SHE knows she needs it.  It was a very, very, very powerful lesson and very spiritual.  But . . . I just want her to be happy.  I want my investigators to understand the eternal joy that they could and should have.  I guess that in itself is a blessing from the Lord, huh?  Just to have love for others . . . Just to love random people seems like it would be really hard.  But the Lord is helping me a ton.  I know she will be Baptized  =)  Not sure when, but I know she will!
       
Our Zone finished this month with fifteen Baptisms!!!  We are definitely improving, but we still have weak links.  I heard the most this Zone has Baptized is sixteen.  GAH!  DO YOU KNOW HOW CRAZY THAT MADE ME TO BE SO CLOSE AND NOT BEAT THAT!!!!!!!!!!!  GOSH DANG IT!!!!!!!!!!!  I’m still kinda goin crazy.  Competitive?  Of course not.  Don’t be ridiculous.  Our Zone is getting a lot better, but we have lots more little adjustments to do.  Like Dad said, little adjustments make all the difference.  That helped a lot.  Thanks!  #ShoutOutToMyPops
      
Well, things are goin well here!!!!!  Elder Scofield only has three more weeks, but I know he is gonna stay in it with me.  He´s the man.

I love you all!!!!!!!!  Thanks for your prayers, love and support.  Y’all make a huge difference  =)  I get letters tomorrow!  Can’t wait to hear from y’all!!!  I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!! 

Love, Elder Dylan Miles Jensen

 

Howdy Hey!

"Catchy Quote"  

Hey!!!

Well . . . This week, really, not too terribly much happened.  Izabel?  I don’t really know.  That whole family just got kinda hard to read.   Like when we go there, the lessons have no Spirit.  We can’t get them to really understand the messages I think.  I don’t think Izabel really understands the importance of Baptism, so she just keeps saying she wants more time . . . I don’t know exactly what the plan is with her . . . I don’t know exactly what she wants from US. -______- I hope we can figure that all out soon . . .

This week was kinda a weird one.  I never felt really in a rhythm which was really weird.  I don’t know.  Something was like holding us back this week.  I think we were a bit tired and stressed and we kinda let the carnal mind take over which is totally 100% lame of us.  We had much more to give this week that we didn’t give.  Always improving right?

         

We did however meet a woman that is WAY into the message and is actually really smart so teaching her is much easier.  Her name is Edna!  She went to church and all that good stuff and is already reading the Book of Mormon so we will see how it goes!

         

We also met a girl named Milena who is the neighbor of a member!  She went to church as well and is super legit.  Most important thing with her is to get permission from the parents to Baptize her. 

         

And Monice!  Didn’t show up to church, but was progressing throughout the week . . . Dunno why she didn’t go but we will pass by this week  =/

           

Our Zone Baptized six people this last week!  Up until now, we have ten this month which is better but just still not what it could and should be . . . But improvements and small adjustments will make all the difference  =)

         

Really not too terribly much!  Sorry!  But I sure love you all!!!!  Be good, be safe!!!!!  Write lots!!!

Love, Elder Dylan Miles Jensen

Fast Week!

MERMAN!!!

Howdy!!!

Well this letter is going to be pretty dang short because our week was SUPER short!!!

     

On Tuesday we had transfers!!!  Two of the Sisters who were in the middle of their training got called to trained!  One of them was crying . . . Haha . . . I don’t know if she was nervous or excited or what.  But in any form, they will be great.  Our Sisters are AWESOME  =)  We also got a kid who took the District Leader place in Grageru 2.  He served in Japan for fourteen months and then got sick, stayed home for a year and a half and is now at a year and seven months out here.  His name is Elder Mechaileh and he is SUPER legit.  Just calm and down to earth.  It’s really easy to see that he is more mature and has a better grip on the work than a lot of people.  I would imagine serving in Japan really humbled him.  Anyways, I absolutely love the kid  =)

     

After Tuesday, we had two normal days to work which was good and then on Friday morning we got a call from the Mission Secretary telling us to go to the Stake Center.  Turns out that the church has this Humanitarian Program teaching doctors and nurses how to do Neonatal Resuscitation (I don’t think I spelled that correctly) and they needed help.  Not teaching but just setting stuff up and organizing . . . Haha.  It was fun and they had two Americans there from Utah - Elder and Sister Wilcox who were absolutely awesome.  It was also nice to just speak some solid English for once!!!!  But we basically lost all of our time to work on Friday and Saturday because of that.  But it’s all good cuz Elder and Sister Wilcox took us out to a Churrascaria afterwards!!!! WOOHOO!!!!!!!

     

Izabel wasn’t Baptized  =(  She says she wants more time but I really don’t know what else she is waiting for!  She is sooooo ready!!!  We will see what happens.

     

We also met a girl this week named Monice.  We had felt like we needed to knock doors on her street for quite some time.  So we finally did and then had to leave.  Then the next day, I felt the same thing so we went back and met her and her mom.  Turns out they have family that are members so they thought that they were referrals! Haha!  But Monice came to church super late and stayed for like five minutes.  The bus took forever and then because of how late she got there she had to leave like right away.  We asked her why she came if it was so difficult (because people normally don’t do that, not because we were sad she did it) and she just said, "Because I promised I would! So here I am!"  She is legit and already reading the Book of Mormon and all that good stuff  =)

       

The church is true!!!!!  I sure do love you all!!!  Be good, be safe, please keep writing!  I LOVE YOU!!!

Love, Elder Dylan Miles Jensen

Dearingest Darlingest Family and Friends

WELCOME ATLANTA WHERE DA PLAYAS PLAY AND WE RIDE ON THEM THANGS LIKE EVERYDAY. BIG BEATS HIT STREETS SEE GANGSTAS ROAMIN. AND PARTIES DONT STOP TIL 8 IN THE MORNING. 

Whuddup!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well well well.  Where to begin.  This week we met with our Stake President which was kinda cool . . . I don’t know . . . He basically just let us know that we need to Baptize more . . . I was hoping to be able to organize some stuff more but what are ya gonna do?  Bar Mitsvahs.

       

We Baptized Jaiane this week! 

Our Zone finished July with five Baptisms -________- #Crap.  Better than last month but still super frustrating.  People just kinda died at the end of the Transfer too which is SUPER annoying for me.  I think to die at the end of a transfer or your Mission is one of the most hypocritical things you can do.  But life goes on =)

         

The other Elders in our Ward pulled out three Baptisms this week which was for sure just the hand of God . . . Haha.  And we pulled one out so we started off the month with four Baptisms...  Now we have four more weeks to do MUCH better.  COME ON!  WHERE’S THE EXCITEMENT PEOPLE!?!?!??!?!

         

But all in all, a very good solid week.  Izabel and her daughter-in-law and less active son went to church.  Izabel is a freaking angel.  She works at home where she has like her own hamburger place.  But every time we go there she just puts out tons of food for us to eat.  Even if we aren’t hungry . . . She still makes us eat.  Hahaha.  She is super ready for Baptism and probably  this week.  We are going to Maceió for Transfers tomorrow (Elder Scofield and I stayed here BTW =)), so we are gonna get a for sure answer from her on Wednesday =)

         

This transfer FLEW BY!!!!!!  No one lied when they said that the second year passes faster than the first!  I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!  Be good, be safe, write me lots  =)

Love, Elder Dylan Miles Jensen

HEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WORST WEEK EVER

Just kidding I just like to give Mom stomach aches =)

This week definitely had some trials but in all was an awesome week!  The Spirit is guiding us so much more in our work as we try to pray more and pay more attention . . . During the week, we didn’t know where to go so we sat on the sidewalk and said a prayer real fast.  I got the feeling that we needed to visit some lady that we passed by almost every day, but it was really far away.  Well . . . When the Spirit tells you to go somewhere you should definitely do it or He won’t respond again!  So off we went.  We finally got there and . . . !!!!  The lady wanted absolutely nothing to do with us . . . Hahahaha.  She is like a die hard Catholic.  She wouldn’t stop saying, "I can never abandon my Mary.  She means everything to me.  My Mary does everything for me."  I was like uhhhhhh yeahhhhhh . . . You need to read the commandments but alright!  So she DID say that some guy had been at her house that talked really well about our church so of course we had to investigate.  She gave us his business card and we went off hunting him down.  It was already really late but the Spirit was tellin’ us what to do so I couldn’t let tired feet make me stop.  Anyways, we finally found his house andddd . . . It was the house of Luis Eduardo!  The Baptism I had right when I got here in Atalaia.  The guy’s name was Jair but we were way confused because he was a major drunk and he and his wife had separated.  Anyways, he came back and the family is complete again.  We invited him to church and explained how the Spirit had less us there.  The whole family said they would go to church again but no one showed up on Sunday -______- I don’t know.  I just know that, once again, the Lord held up his end of the deal to help them.  He sent us there.  It is so cool to be a tool in the hand of God like that.  To know He really does watch over us and take care of us. I  hope the whole family gets their butts back to church . . . The Lord is calling!!

       

This month was nutty for our Zone.  We were set up to have so much success.  Our Zone was set out to do so well and Satan just FOUGHT against us.  It was crazy.  That dude is so scared of us!!!!!!  I love my Zone!!!!  We are totallly gonna crush the serpents head in August!!!!!!  Gonna be LEGIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  #MormonSwag   #SatanSucks

       

 We have a meeting with our Stake President tomorrow morning to see what he would like from us and how we can work better with him.  I don’t think Missionaries here EVER have meetings with leadership other than with our Ward Mission Leader.  That needs to change.  We can’t grow without some sort of larger unity.  The Missionaries are meant to support stakes and wards not just knock doors and walk around all day.  So we are gonna see what we can accomplish at this meeting.

         

Meetings with our Ward Mission Leader are awesome.  He just got back from his Mission a few months back and helps a lot when we bring people to church.  It’s kinda complicated in our area because we don’t have many members but we are going to try better to utilize the members we DO have.  Our Mission Leader is pretty busy with work and school so for him to get to our area to help doesn’t go very well.  Especially because he can’t drive . . . But he helps in every way he CAN which is really nice.

           

We are trying to get Rafson the Priesthood and Bishop said that that could happen in like two weeks.  I would like to have more meetings with Bishop.  He is AWESOME.  But we don’t have much of an idea of what his plans or visions are . . . I think we just need to Baptize . . . Hahaha  =)

         

Well this letter was long!  I sure love you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Be good, be safe, write lots!!!!!!!!!  I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love, Elder Dylan Miles Jensen

Nobody Said It Was Easy

Well,

Before I make Mom extremely nervous, I would like to say that this week did end well and that I am extremely happy, okay!?!?  =)

       

This week I gained my testimony of . . . The Atonement of Jesus Christ.

       

This week something was just off . . . Elder Scofield and I couldn’t really get a rhythm going this week and that was really weird because last week was so incredibly natural to work.  It was like nothing went quite how we expected it to go.  The people that we met all fell through really quickly this week and just didn’t want anything to do with anything.  We worked a ton with Jaiane to try to Baptize her on Sunday but it just didn’t happen  L

         

We went to another area to do two interviews and one lady was just SUPER ready to be Baptized but didn’t want to yet which was really more saddening than anything.  And the other guy didn’t pass because he won’t repent yet . . . President didn’t let him be Baptized.

       

We met a guy when we went to that area for interviews who gave us a ride cuz it was raining like crazy and we were one hundred percent soaked . . . Turns out he served a Mission in Japan and fell away from the church . . . The dude's testimony is incredible . . . He gave up everything he had to serve a Mission but I don’t know . . . Just won’t go back to church right now.  He still believes everything and knows everything but says he has things going on his life right now that he needs more time to fix . . . It was so hard for me to hear his story and know how much the Lord trusts him but he just won’t put his heart back where it needs to be . . .

Two companionships in our Zone are STRUUUUUGGLING and it’s all just a thing of pride . . . Other companionships had Baptisms that fell through because the parents didn’t let them which was . . . Crappy.  Because the parents had been totally cool with everything up until that point.

       

Anyways, this week was the first time I ever reeeeeally truly felt PAIN for the decisions and neglect of others.  It was the first time I think I started to understand what Jesus Christ went through for us.  The first time I ever cried just because people refuse to accept Jesus Christ and do what they know is right.  The first time I felt pain for others because I know how much better they can be . . .

I obviously don’t want to make anyone depressed.  But I want everyone to know just what the Atonement means.  Elder Holland said we could never understand what Jesus went through until we had felt a little bit of that pain.  The Atonement, honestly, is EVERYTHING we got here.  Nothing we do makes any sense or has any purpose without the Atonement.  If we can’t be faithful, if we can’t fulfill our callings, if we don’t do what we know Jesus Christ expects us to do the MOMENT He expects us to do it, we are denying Him as our Savior and showing that we do not care what pain He suffered for us.  But when we truly accept Jesus as the Christ, we can know with a surety that we have taken away at least a little bit of the pain He suffered.  We can know that what He did for us was not in vain.  And we can know that we can be happier and have a better life.  So much better of a life.  Better than we can imagine.  But only we truly do what Christ would do if he were by our side.

           

 I am so grateful for the Atonement.  I am grateful for the difficulties I had this week and the love that my Father in Heaven has for me.  So much love that He felt I was ready to improve and learn such a huge lesson.  I am so glad that He loves me and trusts me and sees me as something that can be much greater. 

         

This week my Spirit feels bigger.  I feel more ready to serve.  I feel stronger.  Like something has changed inside of me.  That I have a new purpose.  To help people REALLY understand the light of Christ and what He did for them.

         

I love you all so so so much.  I would encourage everyone to pray tonight to understand better the Atonement of Christ.  It is not as simple as we always think it is.  I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

Love, Elder Dylan Miles Jensen