The Day After the Day After Tomorrow

Alegrante dias familia y amigos!

Who knew that in one day Houston, Texas could go from a warm subtropical climate, to a cold bitter frozen snow-less tundra that reminds me of a scene from one of the greatest disaster movies of all time? Evidently, the answer is: everyone but Elder Jensen. This week was marked by the first freeze, which was evident in the 50 degree drop in temperature between Saturday afternoon and Sunday afternoon. This made for a couple of under-dressed missionary Popsicles. It is now cold in Texas. Finally, after more than a month of waiting, we have entered the Texan "fall season" -which really only lasts until next week and the start of winter. 

I learned a lot of things this week! Firstly, that waking up early for service makes Elder Jensen tired and second, that putting foil in the microwave does actually light it on fire. One smoke alarm and burning pile of cream cheese later, I have learned that valuable lesson.

Also, I learned how awesome service can be. Yesterday, the local food bank that has been the scene of oh so many funny stories and odd experiences had their annual Thanksgiving meal for the homeless! It of course featured lots of food, lots of games, and the local 92.0 radio DJ and Pastor participating in an "off-the-chain" rap battle. 8 hours and more than a thousand plates of food later, we all left feeling so grateful for everything we have. 

Service is hard sometimes! It typically involves getting up early, maybe burning some cream cheese to a crisp in the microwave, and working...hard. Yet, it remains to me personally as one of the most rewarding experiences we can have. The chance to set aside all that we have and help others is one that is truly special. As we serve we come closer to Christ and closer to who we want to be, it brings out the best in us! 

Now. As we draw nearer to the Thanksgiving and Christmas season I issue to all of you that read this far down into my letters a challenge, to go and serve someone. It can be something easy, something like helping a neighbor with groceries, or sending a thank you text to someone you care about, or helping your local food bank, whatever it is...go and do it. I promise that as you go out and serve others and lose yourself in service, the more that you'll discover about yourself. Then, I want to hear about it! Send pictures, stories, I'd love to hear about all the great things you all have the capacity to do! 

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf gave a great talk called "Be Grateful in Any Circumstance" and there's a quote I really like. It reads: 

"Some might say, 'What do I have to be grateful for when my world is falling apart?...Could I suggest we see gratitude as a disposition, a way of life that stands independent of our current situation? In other words I’m suggesting that instead of being thankful for things, we focus on being thankful in our circumstances—whatever they may be...True gratitude is an expression of hope and testimony. It comes from acknowledging that we do not always understand the trials of life but trusting that one day we will." 

I know that as we serve others, we can find the hope to conquer life's challenges and keep moving forward. So get our there and do it!

"Don't be a turkey...get out there, serve,  and go ham" -Elder Jensen and McKinley

CSI: Houston (Elder Jensen edition)

Buenas felices dias!

Another week has passed in the strangest, most redneck, and happiest place on Earth! Another week of clear skies and rain (those happen at the same time here) and quite a plethora of oddly entertaining stories. The highlight of this week was the one time that Elder Montierth and Elder Jensen discovered the apartment we were living in had an "Ultimate Juicer" and we decided to play a few rounds of "Will it juice?"- which ended with a lot of laughs and a huge mess of Cran-apple-grapefruit-lemon-lime juice all over the kitchen. 

That or the handful times we hung out with the Houston Police department this week. 

Before anyone starts filling out bail forms don't worry it wasn't anything we did, they just happen to always show up at places we are! Every Wednesday we have the opportunity to work at the local  food bank and this week was definitely interesting. We had a couple fights, a couple of people get angry because we ran out of peaches (which necessitated restraining orders), and a lady fake death twice too...in a matter of 4 hours we talked with the Houston Police departments 4 times or so...just another day in Houston,Texas! It's a lot of fun to work at the Food Bank, we always have interesting stories afterwards.

Elder Jensen and his companions have also gone full swing detective mode this week. We've been working hard to narrow down our 600-strong list of members to figure out who still lives in this area and who doesn't. We've had a lot of success and actually ran into old investigators that wanted to get the lessons again! Other than that, this week was full of meetings, lessons, and a lot of new investigators. Our area is finally picking up speed and having success, and we're all really excited about that! 

The absolute best part of this week though was yesterday. This is A: (sorry A and her brother are super super cute but I am always uneasy posting pics of other people's kids without permission!!)

A is one of the first friends I met here and is also the newest member of our ward! 

Typically, in our church we baptize kids when they turn 8 years old. However, A's family was inactive a year ago and missed her baptism...so the Sister Missionaries have been teaching her and she finally had the chance to be baptized! When asked she claimed that she wanted "Elder Gigante" (Giant) to do it so I had the privilege to be the one to baptize her yesterday. It was such an neat experience and to see her afterwards, smiling from ear-to-ear and the happiest I've ever seen her was so awesome. 

 I love my mission and love the people I've been called to serve and I can't imagine life any better. I know that I was called here right now for a specific purpose and every time I get sad or down that thought pushes me forward. Whenever you just want to give up, remember that nothing is impossible, don't look backward, and just keep moving forward!

Con amor,

Elder Jensen

So you think you can play soccer? (Formerly "So you think you're better at soccer than a 5th grader?" - which was changed because it would involve Elder Jensen telling an embarrassing story about himself)

If you're Elder Jensen and playing against a bunch of tiny Guatemalan mini-Messi's who can simultaneously scorpion kick the ball and score a goal before you can even turn around, the answer to both of those questions is a resounding no. Let's just say that Elder Jensen tripped over himself more times then he kicked the ball and that he landed on his face more times then he scored a goal. Story of this week: Guatemalans are good at soccer and Elder Jensen is not. 

One of the really cool events we've started doing during the week is investigator soccer, where all 10 missionaries in the ward bring investigators and proceed to get our butts kicked by a bunch of Fifa All-Stars. 

Our goal this week was to get more people to church and we noticed that weirdly enough more people were available when we said the word "futbol" as opposed to "leccion". So thus our "that one time our investigator and ward member soccer team demolished 10 gringo missionaries" program was born. 

And it worked! Though it's STILL raining (two weeks later) and freezing cold, we had nearly 200 people show up to church on Sunday, about quadruple what we had last week! It was such a neat experience to see all the families we visited and invited to church, show up and stay for all 3 hours! Another neat thing was that we actually had more investigators than missionaries for the first time in this area in a long time. All 10 of us are working as hard as we can and we're definitely seeing the blessing from that. We've had so many opportunities to serve.  We work at the food bank every Tuesday and every other Friday help to do vision tests for kids that can't afford them. We're seeing really awesome miracles in this community and it's so amazing. 

Spiritual experience of the week: we have the opportunity to teach a member of our ward that was excommunicated. It's a delicate and often difficult situation, but overall it's been a life-changing one. He has a testimony and knows the church is true, just has problems in his life that we're working to get over. But the lesson I've learned most of all through this process is that the Atonement and love of Jesus Christ are available to all who seek it. It doesn't matter what our past is, what experiences we've had- Jesus Christ is always there to help, lead, and guide us. My favorite scripture in the Book of Mormon is in Alma 7:11-12.  It talks about how Christ suffered for each of our sins, but also our pains, afflictions, and infirmities...and the reason he did that was so that he would know "by the flesh how to succor (or help) his people".

"11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.

 12 And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities."

More than anything, I've come to such a realization of that this week that Christ loves each of us, knows exactly what we go through and in times of sadness, loneliness, and hopelessness he is there for us. In fact, that's when he's closest with us. I know that's true and that he only asks that we turn to him and we'll receive happiness, love, and hope. "And no matter what you do...keep moving forward!" 

Con mucho amor,

Elder "Coach" Jensen

(Andrew's mom here....I asked him what missionaries do on Halloween and this was his reply:)

Also for Halloween I dressed up as a self proclaimed "tall missionary" (I had a nametag!) because according to a kid at the trunk or treat that how I am distinguished :) 

(Imagine that...he's known as the "tall missionary" :) )

The Quantum Mechanics of Houston Texas Weather

NOVA or Bill Nye should really do an exposition on the only place in the world where one can simultaneously stand in the sun and be rained on.... or where I can kick around some dirt in the sun and then trudge ankle-deep in flood waters in the rain on the same day. Yes, this place is exists people. It's real, it's free, it's called Texas, and in a sentence: I love it.

 The story of the week: I arrived in Houston! After six-weeks in the Missionary Training Center and waking up at 4 AM for a 3-hour plane ride I arrived in my home for the next 1.9 years, the great Lone Star State. First thoughts: it's green, humid, and really stinky...but I already love it! After a much needed home-cooked meal and a good nights rest, we were whisked into a church building and given our areas. For the next six weeks I've been assigned to be in the Houston 1st Ward, right smack dab in the middle of the city! 

It's an awesome ward, with 10 missionaries and a ward list of over 600 members. Needless to say I was so excited and a little overwhelmed at the prospect of trying to learn the names of 600 people. But when Sunday rolled around, my companions Elder Fails, Elder Valentine and I were excited to meet everyone, only to find 3 families and the bishop present. It turns out this area has an active ward of only about 50 people, which means there's a lot of work to be done :) 

The area is pretty great as well, I take in almost all of the Southern part of downtown and extend down to the Guatemalan and Hispanic areas on the outskirts of the city. We go from teaching in skyscraper apartments to teaching in run-down shacks in the same day. The only difficult part has been the rain. It rains a lot here...today was my FIRST time seeing sunshine since arriving in Houston! With that much rain, the streets were quickly flooded and my companions and I have spent the last three days trudging through ankle deep water. 

I have to admit that when I was called on my mission to the United States I didn't think that someday I would be sitting in a powerless church building, next to a Honduran family I met only moments before, trying to sing louder then the sirens outside, with flood water seeping into the building as we sang. That was a surprise to me on Sunday. I never expected it, but I also never expected to love it so much. I know that though it's hard, every footstep is absolutely worth it. When I get sad because I'm tired, wet, and homesick, I remember the people that we're doing this for. Those people that have nothing of physical value and need help, to teach to those that feel they have no purpose in life, and to be a friend to those who need a friend. No matter how alone you feel, you are never alone, you just have to keep moving forward. 

Con mucho amor, 

Elder Jensen

Here's that one time I was supposed to be taking a selfie with my companions but they got in the car and I had no idea. Yeah funny joke guys....

Saying Adios to the MTC and Bienvenudos to Houston Texas South Mission!

Saying goodbye to District 21-F and to super fun Sister Doman

Arrived to Houston Texas South Mission with President and Sister Hall

The Hunt for a Red-leafed October

¡Buenas Dias!

Hello family and friends! Reporting live from sunny Provo (where the weather is actually so cold I had to wear multiple layers of clothing more than I care to admit this week, welcome to Elder Jensen's weekly email podcast! The first story of this week...ITS FALL! For those who don't know me (yet somehow ended up on my email list) I am from Arizona. And Arizona and Utah have about a -50 degree difference. (That's an exaggeration, but still its so cold). Yet also, Utah is so cool because the leaves are all changing color! So yesterday of course the only thing Elder Babbel and I could think of was to have a cute leaf photo shoot. Here's the result:

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(We'll be back in two years for any one that wants to hire us as professional models)

Anyway, so this is my last week in the MTC! It's been 6 weeks of fun, tons of spiritual moments, and just an amazing experience. My next email will be live from Houston, Texas next next Monday. Thank you so much to everyone that's emailed, helped, and supported me through the MTC I love you all muchos!

Funny story of the week: So our teacher (the one that suffers 6 hours a day with us) served in California and met a friend that used to live in the Districto Federal in Mexico. For those of you that don't know Spanish, D.F. is weird. Anyway, some of the things they say don't make sense. So anyway he's teaching me one on one and tells me in D.F. they say "Que estufas?" which in D.F. means "What's up?". It makes no sense to anyone except people in D.F. So ANYWAY, Elder Jensen likes this phrase and starts to use it literally ALL THE TIME. My favorite is "Que estufas con ese?" or "What's up with that?". One day though I walk down the hall to chat with our Zone Resource Trainer (aka Hefe) and he only speaks Spanish. So he tries to explain Passive Voice in Spanish and I'm not really understanding so I blurt out "Que estufas con ese?!" really loud and kind angrily. Hermano Hefe just looks and me oddly for a solid minute and then starts laughing harder then I've ever seen a human laugh. As it turns out he's not from D.F. Mexico and when you translate the sentence directly it means "How stoves is that?!". So now he thinks when things get hard for me, my first response is to curse stoves. Moral of the story: Elder Jensen's Spanish skills still need work. 

Other than that it was a fun week, not too many crazy stunts but we did have some really neat spiritual experiences. One that happened last week was with our first investigator, Maribel. We had our last lesson with her and we were all really sad, walking in though Maribel was in tears too. As it turns out her best friend's son had been kidnapped in Texas that afternoon and she had just heard about it. Elder Babbel and I had a lesson prepared on the Word of Wisdom, but we looked over at each other and immediately dropped everything we had planned and began talking about how she was feeling. It was awesome! We had no lesson planned, no scriptures ready, yet somehow we were able to comfort her with words in Spanish I didn't even know. I would be talking and not have any idea what I was saying but she understood perfectly! Our lesson was centered around Jesus Christ and how though we're simply 18 year old kids wearing white shirts and ties and we don't understand exactly what she's going through, there is someone that does. He's the One that's always with us no matter what and the One that suffered the pains of the world to save us. We testified that Jesus Christ is our Savior and understands and comprehends everything we go through in our lives. In Alma 7:11-12 count how many times the words "sins" is mentioned. I know that Jesus Christ suffered for our sins but also for all of our experiences, pain, weakness, illness, everything. He is the only person that truly knows everything we go though.

Yo se que Jesucristo es mi Salvador y sufrio por todos personas en el mundo porque El tiene amor por todos. Yo se que mediante y porque Jesuscristo es posible que nosotros podemos vulver a vivir con Deus. Yo tengo amor para mi Salvador y por todos las personas en mi vida. Muchos amor,

Elder Jeñseñ

A Brief History of Sync'N: The Story of the MTC's First Boy-Band (formally known as "A funny thing happened on the way to the BYU Health Center")

¡Buenas días amigos y familia!

Once upon a time, there was an MTC and a group of 5 Elder and 2 Sisters. One day, after a 2 sessions of General Conference it was announced that the famous BYU a cappella group "Vocal Point" would be the stars of Sunday devotional. As Sister missionaries tried their best to "fan-girl" within missionary and Sunday reverence standards, Elder Jensen and the boys began to talk. What if WE made our OWN a capella group? We could begin as missionaries and reach One-Direction status by the time we were home. Brilliant eh?! We thought it was, and we were dedicated to making our group, dubbed "Sync'N" (any relation to any band, living or dead, is purely coincidental and should be taken as such) the best mission approved boy band a capella group in the history of the world! The rest of Conference weekend was filled with amazing messages and much excitement for the future of Sync'N. However, as all good things must eventually come to an end so had the end of Sync'N come about by the end of the weekend. So as they were walking back from the bathroom Elder Babbel and Elder Jensen were engaged in a particularly rousing chorus of "We Are All Enlisted" in Spanish, we turned the corner only to find that the devotional that we were supposed to be attending had already begun and that it was engaged in a particularly rousing prayer. Quite embarrassed, we took our seats amidst giggles and laughter from all the Elder and Sister missionaries around us. After the prayer, Elder Babbel and I agreed that an end to Sync'N (Also known as "Quarter Elder" for all you Psych fans out there) was dead. So moral of the week: before you walk into a crowded group of your peers singing Spanish hymns at the top of your lungs, ensure that it is not completely silent and reverent before rounding the corner :) Here's our band: 

Anyway! This week was absolutely fantastic, we had so many great experiences with General Conference and had the pleasure of hearing the Relief Society General President speak to us on Sunday. Spanish gets easier every day and this place becomes more like my home everyday. 4 weeks has FLOWN by and I'm so grateful that I got to have such an amazing experience at the MTC. 4 weeks down 100 to go :) 

Crazy and spiritual story of this week: so Elder Babbel, Fullmer and I got to take a field trip off the MTC campus and were headed down to the BYU Health Center to fill a prescription for Elder Fullmer. The trip went perfectly, no accidents, not very much wait time, and it was relatively painless. As were walking our of the Health Center though I turn to the left just in time to see a minivan drive straight into a large garbage collector. My ears hadn't even had time to hear the crash before I was heading at full sprint towards the accident. A terrified mother pulled herself from the driver's side obviously hurt and started trying to yank the door open. Horrified, I realized she was hysterical because her young daughter was trapped in the car. Fearing the worst we yanked the door open to find the girl perfectly safe, only crying because she was obviously scared. The dazed driver of the garbage truck walked over and started yelling about her not looking where she was going, and in that moment we realized the whole time she hadn't been speaking English. The woman it turns out, was from Chile and had only arrived in the U.S. six months ago. She spoke zero English and could only speak Spanish. Suddenly I realized we had been speaking fluent Spanish the whole time, and after a moment of dumb-strucked-ness, quickly told her we were there to help. We talked, made sure she wasn't hurt, calmed her down, and eventually got her story of what had happened. The Police showed up and we were acted as translators until a Police officer that spoke Spanish showed up. In the end, everything was fine. The garbage truck wasn't even dented and though the car was missing it's front half, the woman and child were perfectly fine. It was a neat experience though, because we knew that we had been walking down that tiny street at just the right time to be able to help some people in need. I have no doubt that we had all been prompted to go to the Health Center at the time so that we would be in the right place at the right time to help that woman. Moral of the story: if we put our trust in Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost, we will always be at the right place at the right time. I loved the conference talk about putting Jesus Christ at the center of our lives, I know that sometimes in life when were buffeted by the tempests and whirlwinds of life it easy to lose our foundation and focus but if we are built upon a foundation of faith that Jesus is our Savior we will can never fail. We can fall yes, but the most important thing is that after we fall, we get back up and keep moving forward :)

Muchos amor por todos,

Elder Jensen