Let Us All Press On!

FAMILY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  FRIENDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   OTHER PEOPLE WHO I DONT KNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How are you guys?  Doin’ good?  Always fly?  That’s what I‘m talkin’ about.

Elder Jung and I at the airport.
President Gonzaga didn't like the glasses we found  :-(

This week was good!  It was my last week that had lots of work inside of it.  We basically had every single day to be able to work other than Tuesday.  This week has been to prove my endurance.  Basically everything I was doing was setting up for things after I leave, so I had to really focus on not being selfish.  It was actually very difficult because I was super tired.  We walked SO MUCH this week!!!!  We had days where everything was all planned out and everything fell through so we ended up walking a great deal more than we had planned.  But it’s all good  =)

   

It was also raining men out here this week . . . Literally.  Not literally.  But it rained SO MUCH.  I haven’t seen this much rain my whole Mission.  This whole week was just . . . Rain.  It was exhausting!  And, of course, I’m too stubborn to buy an umbrella at this point so we basically just got soaking wet.  No sun for a few days sucks the energy out of you too.  Funny how much I complain about the sun here and when it finally goes away and . . . I’m beggin’ for it to come back!

   

This week we followed up on Bruno who is the grandson of a member, Clarice.  He is set for this week, we believe, but we had trouble meeting up with him more than once or twice last week so we aren’t sure.  Same situation with his cousin, Yara.  But we have faith it will happen!

   

We taught a kid named Adson as well that was almost Baptized a few months back but his mom didn’t let him.  Apparently now she will let him, so we will see what happens.  He was all set to go to church but for some reason didn’t show up.  We aren’t sure why.

   

Two of the kids we Baptized, Noemy and Marcos, have a brother who didn’t want to be Baptized with them just because he thinks he has to leave everything behind and change completely.  BUT the President of our Relief Society has been working a ton with him and he started rethinking it this week.  We are trying to get him in the water this Saturday with Bruno, Yara and Adson.  Pray lots for them!

   

We also had one man at church name Alisson.  He loved it and felt really good.  It would appear that his biggest problem at the moment is going to be The Word of Wisdom.  He said he would obey it if he knew it was really a commandment from God.  So we told him to know that the Word of Wisdom is true, he needs to read the Book of Mormon (which he hasn’t been doing) and know that it is the word of God.  He said he will read, so I will be sure to fill you all in  =)

   

This last week is going to be lots of craziness!  I only really have two days this week to work - Wednesday and Thursday.  Tuesday is Leadership Council.  Friday is stuff for Transfers.  Saturday is the Baptism and the Ward is going to do something for me to say goodbye.  Sunday is church and then I come straight to Farol to do more stuff for Transfers and . . . That’s it  =(

   

God be with you 'til we meet again!  I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love, Elder Dylan Miles Jensen

That Awkward Moment When . . .

Waiting for the font to fill

Your Bishop sings EXACTLY like Will Ferrell doing Robert Goulet on SNL!  WHAAAAAA!?!??!

Family!

Man, this week was really good.  Elder Wigginton and I were totally wiped out . . . Our area has a lot more hills than my last . . . Every area.  So we are kind of tired of that.  Plus we are working like crazy these days!  Gotta get stuff done!

Let’s get down to the nitty gritty (Nacho Libre accent).  We had three Baptisms this week!  Noemy (I spelled her name wrong last week), Marcos and Yago.  Our Bishop was super happy that we had Baptisms . . .That Ward has had four Baptisms in the last six months or so . . . That doesn’t really make any sense at all but it happened!  It seems like our Ward is more worried about reactivating people than anything else.  But any Baptisms that come along the way they are in to help.

 

Baptism! Noemy, Yago, Marcos

This was our first Sunday at our own chapel.  Man . . . Our Ward is extremely small!  Bishop was not lying to when he said that we need to treat and take care of our Ward like a baby . . . We had an attendance of probably between 30 and 45 . . . And most of the members we have are very new and inexperienced . . . Just to give you an idea - Our lunch for that day gave us money for lunch DURING church.  Hahahahahaha!!!!  So . . . We ate bread and cheese for lunch!  And an apple.  And an orange.  It was a really tasty lunch.

Baptism of Noemy, Yago, and Marcos

Bishop also asked me and Elder Wigginton to speak at church on Sunday.  I gave a fifteen minute talk on "Joy In Sharing the Gospel With Heavenly Father's Children".  I still can’t believe how easy it is to give fifteen minute talks now . . .  I wrote out some ideas on a small piece of paper and used like half of them.  I think I looked at that paper like three times . . . Hhaha.  Sometimes the words just come out really easily . . . .I got very blessed in not getting way too nervous to speak in public.  It was very fun!

We met a 22 year old named Alisson this week.  We were actually searching for a less-active when we found him.  He recently broke up with his girlfriend and is living alone now.  He is SUPER interested and was SET to go to church but . . . Slept in -________- That was a total bummer!!!!!  But we are going to go back this week and see what’s up.  We have only taught him the Restoration with The Book of Mormon up until now this week. 

I called some old friends from my Ward in Aracaju this last week to see how they are . . . One family that helped us a ton while we were there recently fell away from the church and started going to another . . . They live a little bit farther away than most members and rarely received visits from other members.  When I was there they started going through some very difficult situations with their family members.  It took a while but they DID fall away and they DID start going to another church that they say is "the true church" and that "God revealed it" to them. 

I would just like to bear my testimony of the importance of TRUE home teachers and TRUE members of the Church of Jesus Christ.  That family fell away from the church NOT because of belief, but because they were tired.  They say this new church they are attending relieved them.  We all know that because our church is true, we will be attacked and persecuted our whole lives.  We will go through difficulties that others will not.  That makes us different.  They found rest in the other church because the enemy no longer was worried about them.  They fell away because they did not have strong support from the other members.  They can say whatever they want, but they fell away because their spirits were tired and no one helped.

We don’t comprehend very well the importance of supporting one another.  We are the Church of Jesus Christ.  We are in this together.  We have to help each other!  We have to love each other!  How much more can we give to help others?  I am positive we can still give much more.  How many people fell away from the Gospel because they were tired?  Very, very many.  Who comes into mind thinking about these things?  Make a goal!  Help that person!

I love you all so much.  I hope we can always serve one another with the love that Jesus has for us.

 

Love, Elder Dylan Miles Jensen

 I got to go to Antares today to say good-bye to some people.
This is Anderson, Tayná and Amon =)

CANADÁ!!!

You know you’re on a Mission when . . . You go to a Churrascaria and eat a 45 buck lunch and then walk a mile and a half back to your house because you don’t want to pay for the bus.

Family!

Today, we decided to eat lunch at a Churrascaria because Elder Wigginton had never eaten there.  SO GOOD.  But my wallet still hurts . . . Its’ a good thing I had extra!  He looked so dang happy.  Every time someone came by offering the next meat he just got this huge smile on his face . . . Hahaha.  LUNCH WAS SO GOOD!
 

View from Apartment in Canada

 

 

This week was good!  Canadá is a pretty cool area.  SUPER poor but cool.  We live right on a hill in front of the ocean.  We aren’t super close to the water, but we can see the better part of the city and the super green ocean water.  Seriously.  I have never seen water this green in my life.  It’s incredible.  I’m just happy I don’t work in the area that has the beach because it is a ton of tourism and rich people.    

Our Ward seems super excited.  Our Bishop had complained to our Mission President a little while back that he needed more Baptisms in the Ward . . . Which I think is funny because I got sent here in response to the complaint, but I really don’t Baptize very much.  Anyways, we had a meeting with our Bishop and some other Ward leaders yesterday and we drew out a bunch of plans.  Bishop says our Ward is "Like a baby".  Most of the members are super young and their testimonies are still a little shaky.  It’s much different working here than in our last area because the members have very little experience.  BUT desire is all we need to start!  We can work with that!

Our Relief Society President, Lucia, helped us out a TON this week.  She gave us a ton of referrals and showed the whole area to us.  She showed us three kids that she has been taking to church . . .  João Vitor, Marcos and Noemir.  They are all very young so we are happy that Lucia is helping them because they wouldn’t really have a chance to get Baptized without her.  They would have no way of getting to church and their parents don’t want anything to do with the church . . . These three are marked for this week so wish us luck!

This weekend was Stake Conference for us.  Elder Cruz, an Area Seventy, came and talked which was LEGIT.  He was SUPER funny and excited.  We got lucky because we heard from Elder Grau a few weeks back and then we got transferred to a Zone that got another Area Authority!  Man, they are amazing.  I always leave feeling so much more excited.  Elder Cruz said something I LOVED - "It’s better to do what the Lord asked than to not do it and feel remorse for the rest of your life".  He said that is terms of young men serving a Mission.  I loved it because he was really blunt that serving a Mission isn’t just an idea or a thought, but an EXTREMELY important COMMANDMENT.  Elder Cruz left it very obvious for us that serving a Mission really isn’t an option . . . You have to do it!

 

All in all, the week was good!  We are still getting used to the area and all that but I’m confident that it will all start rolling along nicely.  This was the first week in a loooong time that we didn’t have an investigator at church and that was utterly frustrating.  I don’t like that feeling.  We can do better.

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!! Until next week!

Love, Elder Dylan Miles Jensen



These cookies were a total lie.
They were nothing like what they said
they would be!  Come on!

 

If the moon were made of cream cheese... Would ya eat it?

Whuddup, yall!!!!!

Wowzers.  This week was a blessing!  Rough!  But a blessing  =)

We started off the week going to Arapiraca which is an inland city.  We did splits there with the Zone Leaders which was super fun.  I think I already said this in the past but splits are what make me most nervous on the Mission.  I always get really stressed and want to do well so that I can be a good example and really help out the other Missionary.  I always work my faith a lot more on those days . . . Made me wonder why I don’t do that more often to be totally honest . . . We wait until the tough moments to really exercise our faith.  How lame is that!?!?!? 

I also forgot our keys on that Split . . . Our keys to our house, the office and the other house in Farol . . . So I had to call a guy to open up our door and make new keys for us.  The dude just used a hair clip to open the door and then made the key.  Making a copy of the key is like 4 Reais . . . Ya know how much he charged???  60 REAIS.  WHAT.  I was so frustrated because that is a total rip-off.  He can only charge that because he knows how to do it and other people don’t.  Normally, I would get a reimbursment from the church, but I already had an emergency fund and I didn’t see why the church should have to pay for my mistake . . . But, dang!  60 REAIS!  Come on!

Other than that this week was extremely fast again.  Friday, we came to the Office to check out the Transfers.  Once again . . . We tried to guess Transfers and we just never even get CLOSE!  BUT . . . Elder Wigginton and I were transferred together to an area called Canadá.  I’m pretty dang sad to leave Aeroclube . . . Aeroclube is probably the best Ward that I passed in on my whole Mission and I was really hoping that I would finish up there.  Canadá is supposed to be a very poor area and other than that I don’t know much . . . Haha.  I only know that the Lord said I have to go there, so I’m goin’!  Only four weeks there . . . Nuts.  Scary too.

Saying good-bye to Members in Aeroclube

We had a lot of cool miracles this week with new investigators.  All of our Baptisms from last week were confirmed as well which was a huge blessing  =)  I was feeling pretty lazy after Friday because I knew that I was going to leave the area, but I knew we had to work hard up until the end as well.  Happy to say in the end of it all that we left two Baptisms all ready for this Saturday for the next Missionaries that are going there.  That was a really good feeling . . . Just to know that the next Missionaries can be a little less stressed by knowing that the area is already ready for them and that they have investigators already.  I hope we find the same thing in Canadá!!!!

I would fill you all in on the new investigators but seeing as I won’t be following up much on them anymore I don’t think it would make much sense!

This week is Transfers and that means . . . LUNCH AT PRESIDENTS HOUSE!!!!!!!!!  WOO HOO!!!!!!  I love seeing all the newbies get here . . . It’s my favorite part of the Transfer now (Other than Baptisms).  Some Americans are going to get here in two weeks too which means . . . ANOTHER LUNCH AT PRESIDENTS HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!  YES!!!!!  #DoubleWIn

The church is true! I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 
Love, Elder Dylan Miles Jensen

 

Whuddup!!!!!

Quote of the week:  "I don’t have a girlfriend.  I just know a girl who would be really mad if she heard me say that." - Elder Wigginton

How’s it goin’ everybody!?!?!  Man, this week was SUUUUPER fast.  Extremely fast.  I’ll give y’all the summary really quick.
 
Monday we went to Farol and ran around to finish stuff up for our Leadership Council.  We managed to get everything done but, as always, we got back to the house a little behind.  I feel like I never have time to do everything that I need to do now a days!
 
Tuesday was our Leadership Council.  It was weird because President wasn’t there, but it was still good!  We gave a huge training on faith and enduring.  Our Mission had a good month so our biggest worry was that they would relax and stop working as hard.  We totally used the part of Star Wars where Luke tries to lift up the X-Wing and couldn’t because he didn’t believe and then Yoda totally burns him.  It was awesome.  Everyone wanted the video afterwards . . . Hhahahaha.
 
That afternoon, we headed off to Aracaju to go on splits with the Zone Leaders there.  Awesome splits and really great to be able to see how other people work and help them out.  Funny that they were nervous to have us there . . . I’m just a kid too!  I also ate Açaí two times while I was there because . . . It is the best food in the world.
 
Thursday morning, I had to wake up at 4:20 to be able to get the bus.  We got there on time but the other ZLs that were with Elder Wigginton were behind.  We thought our bus left 6:30, so the plan was to get there at 6 to be sure everything went alright.  Well they got there at like 6:15 and then we discovered that our bus LEFT at 6:15 -_______-  That’s why you always need to be EARLY to stuff!!!!  So we had to change our bus to 12:30 . . . We just sat around that whole day basically . . . Haha.

Friday was our ONLY day to work.  So we just did everything we could to follow up on Lucas, Samara and Wedja.
 
Saturday!  General Conference!  AWESOME.  I miss watching in English because I miss hearing the tones of their voice.  It’s pretty hard for me to focus in Portuguese because their mouths don’t match up and they talk with zero emotion . . . But all in all it was good.  I loved the talk (Don’t remember who) that talked about "Selective Obedience".  SO TRUE.  We do that a lot . . . Haha.  And the other talk that he said, "This is how I am".  SO TRUE TOO!  We just have to change.  Loved it, loved it, loved it.
 
Between the first and second sessions on Saturday we Baptized Wedja, Samara and Lucas.  Super fun!  I loved it!  Saturday was perfect.

Baptism of Lucas, Wedja, and Samara  :-)

 
Sunday also was amazing.  General Conference is always the best.
 
Soooo . . . I don’t know if you all realized but they announced it in the Conference.  President Gonzaga was called to be an Area Seventy!!!!  He didn’t even tell us he was going . . . Haha.  We just found out when they said his name.  All the Missionaries went nuts!!!  My head almost exploded I was so dang excited!  There were a bunch of Missionaries at the conference that got to see him which made me pretty jealous. But apparently he has to go out there AT LEAST every April now soooo . . . I will get to see him and Sister still!  YES!  My new goal is to get married in April so that they can be there!  Hahahahha
 
Great week!  Next week is gonna be nuts too!  LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!

Love, Elder Dylan Miles Jensen

You gotta put your behind in the past!

Ranielly's Baptism

Whuddup, family!!!!!!

Well, well, well . . .  This week!  First off . . . Ranielly was Baptized!!!  WOO HOO!!!!!!  The Baptism started about an hour and a half late because people here are kinda . . . Slow to arrive.  But the important part is that the Baptism DID happen!  Her husband, Rafael, Baptized her as well which was really cool.  I think that they were both extremely nervous so it was super fun  =)

Wedja . . . Well, she got super sick  =(  So she wasn’t Baptized.  "Ya hear that!?  Bears!  Now ya put the whole station in jeopardy!"  That was a total bummer, but she says she is going to be Baptized this next week between the General Conference sessions on Saturday!

A girl named Samara (I don’t remember if I talked about her last week?) also went to church again!  She has nothing stopping her up until now.  The only thing that is being difficult is that the woman that takes her to church with her isn’t obeying the rules of which Ward she is supposed to go to.  So Samara is being a little difficult with wanting to go to the other Ward.  This week she went to our Ward half of the time and to the other Ward the other half -____-  Almoooooost.  She will understand.  It’s the member that is causing the problem.  If the member told her what’s up, all of this would be extremely simple!

We also starting teaching a kid named Lucas this week.  We also had gone to the other Ward for two weeks but the Missionaries there passed the referral to us.  Lucas lives with his Grandma and is starting to make some bad decisions with friends and stuff like that.  Basically . . . If he gets Baptized and stays strong it could save his life because the kid is headed in a reeeeeally bad direction.  He is only 14 and already started smoking and all that stuff . . . He WANTS to be Baptized.  I just hope that he also learns to make new friends, which he has already started doing at church.  The hardest thing for him is going to be leaving past relationships in the past so that he can have better influences.  Pray lots for him!  Him and Samara are both marked to be Baptized with Wedja this Saturday  =)

This week we had to do quite a bit of planning for Leadership Council tomorrow . . . We are going to talk a lot about the Atonement and enduring when things get difficult.  Our Mission had a good month this month and we saw some serious progress.  Our fear is that the Missionaries are going to relax after having done well.  So we hope we can help with that tomorrow.  President isn’t going to be at our Meeting so . . . I’m presiding tomorrow!  Hahaha!  That’s gonna be funny to me I think.

Really though, I’m so grateful for the Atonement.  What more could I do that the Savior paid the price for me to be able to do?  I’m trying to make that the theme of the end of my Mission . . . I want to finish really strong.   

This next week is going to be SUPER fast.  We have a meeting tomorrow and then we are going to travel to Aracaju.  Wednesday we are going to do divisions with Aracaju North and Aracaju South.  I’m going to stay in the north and Elder Wigginton is going to stay in the South.  Then on Thursday we have to get the bus at 6:30 AM (DANG IT!).  We get back to Maceió that afternoon and then the rest of the day is following up on our investigators and Baptismal Interviews on Friday.  Then Saturday is General Conference and the Baptism, the Sunday is General Conference.  We are excited!

I love you all!!!! Be good, be safe! 

Love, Elder Dylan Miles Jensen

     

Nature . . . Goulet . . .

We have been quoting Saturday Night Live a looooot in our house these days. Specifically Robert Goulet...

How’s it goin’ y’all!?!?!?

Dang this week was super exhausting.  Elder Wigginton and I were both wiped out by the time Sunday came around.  It was an interesting week too though.  I always remember in basketball when dad would say, "Trying your hardest isn’t enough.  You have to have stats.”  I try to use that out here.  There is always something that can be done.  If you aren’t doing well, it’s because you have to change something.  So we decided to change our tactics!  We had been doing lots of contacts and what not and it just wasn’t going right . . . So this last week we tried really hard to work with the members and dang!  It went really well!  We got like 11 referrals last week and marked Baptisms of the majority of them.  Unfortunately, not everyone showed up to church but that always happens . . . Haha. 

     

Raielly went to church with her husband Rafael on Sunday.  Bishop also taught a lesson with us on Saturday night with them which was awesome.  I love our Bishop.  He is an absolute NUT and he works suuuuper hard.  He had an interview with Rafael right after church to tell Rafael that he needs to step up, help his wife be Baptized this Saturday and that he needs to be worthy to Baptize her.  LOVED IT.  When we taught them last night, Rafael was all over it.  He cleaned up the house and kept tellin’ her all kinds of stuff to encourage her.  Anyways, she is all set for this Saturday  =D

     

Wedja also went to church this week and is all set for this Saturday.  There really isn’t anything too complicated with her.  She is totally ready and obeys all the commandments already.  She was just a blessing from Heaven . . .

When I was in Tabuleiro, there was a woman there who helped us Baptize seven people in a month . . . Anyway, she moved to our area so we started working with her and taught a girl close to where she lives.  Her name is Samara and she is 17.  Super chill and relaxed and is lovin’ everything up until now.  She is marked for April 5^th, which is General Conference but we will get it all sorted out.  Maybe we will have to do it on the 4th.  But the important thing is that it will happen!

     

We are here in the office right now and there is a girl that is a member that works here . . . Basically I am totally not ready to date.  She is venting about like everything in her life and I feel really bad because I just . . . Don’t care that bad . . . Hahahaha.  It’s like all these super little things about fights in her life . . . Come on!  I’m tryin’ to write to my family!!!!  Oh well.  Life goes on.

     

This next week is gonna be really nuts again but I’m excited  =)  I love you all!!!!!!!!!!  Be good, be safe!!!!!  LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!

Love, Elder Dylan Miles Jensen