Week #72

Brody told us today that he is almost to his sexy six. That means he has 6 months to get his body back before he gets home. I don't think three Thanksgiving meals helped that out much. He is getting a new companion. He wasn't sure yet who it is going to be. He is however pretty sure he is staying in Atwater. One of his good friends, Elder Guereco is coming home this week. He is from Mexico but his family moved to spanish fork while he was out. Brody asked us to go look him up this week. That ought to make for some interesting stories. Thanks for your prayers and support in Brody's behalf. 
                                                                                                                                               
Well Hello Everyone,
how are you all doing? how was everyone's Thanksgiving? my thanksgiving here was pretty crazy. so we were almost like normal people on thanksgiving haha. we weren't suppose to go and teach people, we were only allowed to be with people that invited us to do stuff with them. so we played in a "Turkey Bowl" early in the morning! it was a lot of fun! after that we saw some kids playing basketball outside so we played them. it was 5 Elders vs 5 high school kids on the basketball team. We beat them! it was a lot of fun. after that we went with a Samoan family to a party and played some more basketball and ultimate Frisbee. then we went and had lunch with a family and ate Lobster, fish, and shrimp. it wasn't the typical thanksgiving meal but it was way good! then we went to a couple of other houses and ate more! we ate so much that day! this past week we also had an activity and watched 17 miracles! we had a pretty good turnout and it was a fun night as well!we set a solid baptismal date for the 13th of december with a woman named Gloria! so we got transfer calls this week and Elder Olsen is leaving and is going to be a Zone Leader! we are pretty bummed because we wanted to stay together. the way we do transfers now are different. so i won't know who my companion is until tomorrow! it will be interesting. well i hope you are all doing good! have a great week! i love and miss you all! Elder Jensen

Week #71

Brody emailed us this morning. He usually emails late in the afternoon. He claims it was because the internet was down in Atwater and so they had to get a ride over to Merced to send an email. He claims that this morning was the only time he would have to email us. I think he had another Pday all planned out. Brody seems to be doing good up in Atwater. Transfer calls will be coming this week. It seems like he just barely arrived in Atwater and already transfers are here. He seemed to be in good spirits today. Thanks for your support. On to week 72.
                                                                                                                                                                                                         
Hello Everyone, so this past week was pretty good. we found a couple new investigators that seem pretty solid. so one of them is named Noberto, he was a referral and we went by his house and right from the start he was joking around with us. he invited back yesterday for carnitas! it was a birthday party as well, so we met all of his family and got to know them. they are awesome and hopefully solid! he told us he wants to be a missionary haha so we asked him if he wanted to go on teammups with us and he told us yes! he is not even a member and he wants to go out teaching with the missionaries. he is really cool, we are excited to work with him. another lady we found is a part member family, her name is Elizabeth she is from porta rico and has only been in the states for like 2 months. she seems really cool as well. this last week i also went on exchanges again, i went with an Elder that has only been out for about 2 months or so. it was my last exchange for the transfer. this week is actually transfer calls, i can't believe that the call is already here again! i really hope i get to stay with Elder Olsen for another transfer. so something crazy that happened this past week is we were sitting in dinner and then we heard like 10 gunshots. there was a driveby like right next door. it was crazy!  yesterday at church i gave a talk in spanish on the holy ghost for about 15 minutes. that is about all that has happened lately. i hope you are all doing well. have a great thanksgiving! i love and miss you all! Elder Jensen

Week #70

Brody hit the 2/3 mark this week. Time seems to be cruising along. As you can see, Brody is really busy. He emails two days late and only sends a few sentences. He was on for a very short time today. He mentioned that things were still going really good. He had a lesson to get to today and explained that is why he was in a hurry. He also sent several pictures of him at Yosemite. You can check them out on his blog. Thanks for you prayers in Brodys behalf. 

Hello everyone, 

so this past week has been really crazy. I don't have too much time so I will just summarize it real quick. so I went on like 3 exchanges this past week so that was nuts. I went on one with the Zone Leaders. we also had zone conference this last week. we are still working hard with our investigators. 

this last Monday we actually went to Yosemite with a member. it was really cold and there was snow! I can say that I do not really miss the cold weather in Utah!! haha I will send plenty of pictures.

so I have been hearing a lot about things in the news lately from everyone! it sounds like the world is pretty dang crazy! I know it can be pretty scary. I only have 3 words of advice.... "FOLLOW THE PROPHET!" the prophet knows what to do.

well that is about it from this week, sorry it is so short. I love and miss you all! have a great week.

Elder Jensen

Yosemite! 

Week #69

Well, I lost a bet today. Brody used the word "love" while describing his feelings for his mission. I didn't expect that statement until at least week 81. His mom is pretty happy about that. It is good to see him so happy and involved in the work. He was very brief once aging today. He had a trip to the mall and a basketball game planned today. He looks good and seems to be in good spirits. I can't believe that he only has a little over 7 months left. Hopefully things continue to be positive for him. He sent a few more pictures that will be posted on his blog. Thanks for all of your support. On to week 70.

                                                                                                                                                                    

Hello to all!
So not too much has happened since last Thursday. So this is going to be a pretty short email probably. but last week we found another family! We found a family of 9! Teaching and finding families is the best!! We also did our sports night again and played basketball and volleyball! We had zone meeting this last week and Elder Mo'o came to it! it was good to see him! he is now an assistant. It was good to catch up with him. This next sunday we are going to be having a baptism! her name is ashley and she is 17 years old! 
I am loving Atwater and being with Elder Olsen! We have so much fun! I haven't been this happy in a long time!! My mission is going great right now, I am loving it! Yesterday we gave the class in priesthood and i got asked to speak in two weeks in sacrament meeting. One thing I love is being around the rest of the elders in the district, we have so much fun! one day this last week we went over and have mexican bread (pan dulce), mexican hot chocolate and some other stuff! I went on an exchange last week and I was with an Elder in an english area. after that, i am so glad that I am in spanish work. i love eating mexican food and i missed it when i was in the english area. that is about all that happened this past week! Sorry it is so short... I love and miss you all! have a great week! Elder Jensen

Week #68

It seems like Brody has very little time for us these days. We only had a few minutes last week and about the same today. He wasn't able to talk to us for very long. We are not sure why. I think it was because he has found something to do on his Pday other than laundry and talk to us. He sent several pictures this week they will be posted to his blog. Hopefully he has another great week and we will be able to talk with him next week. Thanks for your support. 

Hello everyone, 

how is everything going back at home? this last week and a half has been pretty eventful and crazy! today we went to the temple, it was kind of last minute notice so that is why i didn't email this monday. but all is well here in Atwater! a lot has happened....

so Elder Olsen and I have been finding families like crazy!! we are teaching a couple of families right  now, we found  like 4 in the last week! so we are excited for that. we have a lot of investigators with potential right now! so we are super excited about that. one family we found was sweet! so we went over and taught him the restoration and had a super powerful lesson. he told us that he felt like he was gonna find his church that day when he woke up! he felt the spirit so strong and told us how amazing it felt! i believe that the Lord is blessing us with all of these families because of our companionship unity and our obedience! i have never got along with my companions as much as i do with Elder Olsen!!

this last week i went on exchanges with Elder Guereca! he is from monterey mexico and goes home this transfer! he is awesome and we had a lot of fun together!

we set up a sports night for every friday night and we play volleyball! a lot of less actives and non members come so it is really fun and effective!

on halloween night we had to be inside by 6 so we got some movies and all of our district came over to our apartment and we watched saratov approach! it was really fun, we took one of the tv's from the church and watched it! that is about all that happened here! i am really enjoying my mission right now and being here with Elder Olsen! i hope you all  have a great week. i love and miss you all! take care!

Elder Jensen