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

Woo Hoo!!!!!!

Zone Meeting!!!!!

That awkward moment when a teen icon dies of an overdose . . . #GoodExample

Whuddup!!!!!!!!!

This week was really, really, really legit!!!  After Elder Torgan’s training, we had a Zone Meeting to speak more specifically about what we learned.  It was really cool to see the Lord's hand in every part of that meeting and our whole week . . . It’s crazy how we can start to plan a meeting and have no idea what to do and just out of nowhere all of these ideas come out and go together perfectly . . . And then to see and feel the Spirit so strong in that meeting.  We talked a lot about our duty of being lighthouses and lifting up the Light of Christ to others . . . Helping others understand better why we are there.  But especially we talked about listening better to the Spirit.  New rule in the Zone is: When you finish Companionship study in the morning you say a prayer and present EVERY plan you have for the day and ask to know that it is right – That your  plan is what Christ wants it to be.  Then when you get home you pray and tell God everything you did that day . . . Who you met or taught and ask what you need to do to help them and to know if they are the people that Jesus wants us to teach.  Then you plan with your companion, listening very carefully to the Spirit and when you finish you pray to know that the plans you made for the next day are Christ's plans for your area  =)

     

Rafson's Baptism

Even cooler to see how that really worked.  The Lord showed us right where to go this week.  Showed us exactly what needed to be done and what our area needed.  We met sooooo many people.  We made over a hundred contacts and nothing ever ever ever felt forced.  It was just all super normal and natural.  #FREAKINGLEGIT

       

Even cooler to see how it changed our Zone . . . GOSH the church is so true.  Once everyone started doing these prayers, they started meeting tons of new people!  We even have five Baptisms for our Zone this next week  =)  Still not good enough . . . But definitely an improvement!!!  #TheChurchIsTrue

         

Super fast-paced week and lots of following-up to do!!!  I love you all!!!!!!!!  Be good, be safe!  Write me lots!!! LOVE YOU!!!!!

Love, Elder Dylan Miles Jensen

This week I thought someone left oil in the pan in the fridge so I put it on the stove so that it would come off easier... Well two things went very wrong. . . . First of all it wasn't oil. it was maple syrup . . . Second, I forgot it was there and it filled up our entire house with smoke . . . #IDontCook

WOWWWWW

Mission Meeting with Elder Moroni Torgan

“We are gonna do up-downs until Blue here is no longer tired!!!”

WHUDDUP ERRRRRBODY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This week was absolute insanityyyyy for us . . . For sure one of the busier weeks on my Mission. 

       

We weren’t exactly sure how everything was gonna turn out with Rafson on Monday, but we had a Family Home Evening at a member's house that helps us to teach him and, by some miracle, he decided that Baptism was for sure what he needed to do!  He said, "I just know that I need to be Baptized and afterwards I will grow more and learn more."  RIGHT YOU ARE, MY FRIEND.  RIGHT YOU ARE. 

         

Tuesday was a pretty fast day but didn’t really give much success . . .

Wednesday is when things starting getting crazy.  We taught Rafson the Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chastity in the morning (we were kinda nervous he might be gay but he wasnt!!! WOO HOO!!!!), had splits with another companionship, and went to their house a ways away that night to sleep there because . . .

On Thursday, we woke up at 4:45 to get a bus close by to go to Maceió.  We got there around 12 in the afternoon, ate and had a leadership meeting with Elder Moroni Torgan . . . #HOLYSTUD  That meeting was absolutely incredible.  I have never met someone who knows the scriptures so well.  He just threw out all these scriptures right off the top of his head and everything made so much sense!!!  SO LEGIT!!!!  That night we slept in Maceió and the next day . . .

           

Woke up at 4:45 (again -_____-) and got another bus at 6 -_____- and went back to Aracaju.  We got here, went to our area and ate lunch, went to the Stake Center and got all the chairs and tables set up for our Mission Tour with Elder Torgan with all the missionaries in Sergipe, went back to our area, did Rafson´s Baptismal Interview, worked a liiiiiittle bit, filled up the Baptismal Font and . . .  #SLEPT.

           

Saturday we had our meeting again with Elder Moroni Torgan which was absolutely legit again. Also nerve racking that . . . Elder Scofield and I had an interview with him afterwards because our Zone ate dirt last month.  Every time we heard from him it was amazing, but what he said in that interview hit me really hard...

             

We had heard him talk lots about Personal Revelation and listening better to the Spirit and when he asked what we had learned in our meetings with him we said just that.  He just kinda looked at us and said, "Exactly.  I feel like that's what your Zone is lacking.  And it starts with you two."  Yeah that hit really hard.  Every time I feel like I am doing so well, I realize I am soooooo far from where I would like to be.  I thought I was doing good with strong prayers and listening to the Spirit but I realized . . . I’m not.  I have a LLLLLOOOOOOTTTTT to improve on.  And I’m glad that he was there to tell us what we need to do.  It was actually an answer to our fast because Elder Scofield and I were both looking for an answer to help our Zone  =)  But it was also cool to see how Elder Torgan didn’t just try to burn us, but really showed how much he believes in us that we can turn this Zone around . . . We will do it  =)

             

After all that we went back annnnnd Baptized Rafson!  A perfect way to end an extremely fast week.  A very spiritually edifying week really.  I learned a LOT.  And I am pumped to put it all into practice =)

         

I sure love you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Write me lots, be good, be safe.  #BATISMOS!

Love, Elder Dylan Miles Jensen

PS - When Elder Scofield confirmed Rafson he wanted to say "que você possa ser um ferramento nas mãos de Deus" which is like "that you can be a tool in the hands of God" . . . But he said "que você possa ser fermenta nas mãos de Deus" which is like "that you can be yeast in the hands of God".  #WIN

RIIIIIIGHT

BRASIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

WORLD CHAMPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

WOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Family and Friends,

Brasil kicked butt against Spain.  I couldn’t watch, but I for sure heard everything happening in the street.  YES!  #WIN!

       

This week we worked . . . A LOT . . . As usual . . . Haha.  We are working an area right now where like no one has ever met the Missionaries or even heard of the Church.  Everyone is Catholic which can makes things difficult but the majority of them don’t even go to church . . . Haha.  They just say, "I’m Catholic" and then when you ask how much they go to church they just say, "Ahhhh . . .  every once in a while".  Hahahaha.

       

We met a couple this week named Noel and Marilene.  They are having some serious problems in their marriage (at least they are actually married for once!!!!!) and I get a bad feeling that they want to separate.  Gosh . . . I felt like a marriage counselor at their house!  It’s just one of those pride problems it seems like.  Neither wants to back down a little bit to try to fix the problem together.  They both just kinda wanna blame each other . . . Luckily, Noel really wants help and wants to go to church and he did!  Marilene seems super discouraged.  She said that she wanted to go a lot but that morning they woke up and started arguing and she lost the desire to go . . . They just both need to be Baptized.  They need the Spirit.  They need this Gospel to unite them.  I hope that we can help them to understand that.

         

We got lots of new Missionaries in our Zone this Transfer!   Our new District Leaders seem to be  motivated and excited.  One companionship of Sisters got split up and they were both called to train and divide that area.  Apparently their Ward is going to divide in just a few weeks!  Those four Sisters work really hard.  Just need to mark more Baptisms.

       

We have six Sisters in our Zone that all work lots and our District Leaders are kinda new but excited.  I love Missionaries who don’t know anything but want to work!   June was a terrible month for our Zone.  We Baptized four people which is completely unacceptable.  I know we have the toughest Zone in our Mission, but four Baptisms is absolutely ridiculous and just due to laziness and lack of love for our Savior.  Time to get this olive tree going  =)

           

Monkeys living near Elder Jensen's apartment in Aracaju

Rafson is still progressing and went to church with us even over his mom’s church which was really cool.  We really want to Baptize him this week but . . . I’m not positive what is going to happen.  He seems really nervous and this week is going to be hard to follow up lots because we are going to Maceió and we have to do splits and all kinds of stuff . . . We will see!

           

That’s about it!  I love you all so much!  Be good, be safe.  Hit me up soon!  I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!  VIVA BRASIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love, Elder Dylan Miles Jensen