The Gospel will give us the values we need and the foundation we need to live happy and successful lives.

April, 11, 2016

First of all I need to correct our address. It is:

14142 Victory Blvd. #224
Van Nuys, Ca 91401

The mail lady was getting confused because the area codes were wrong on all our packages and letters, so just a heads up on that! Also some sad news. Elder Silva's passport was stamped wrong at the airport when he left Canada so he has to go back in July and get it re-stamped...that means we will only be comps for 2 transfers. I love this guy. He was baptized by missionaries about 3 years ago, so he has a huge appreciation for missionary work and loves to work hard just like I do which is a nice bonus!

Also, Anne LaVad was baptized this Sunday by Elder Horito! I got to see my old ward and got to see Anne as she came out of the water. Such an amazing experience to see her finally accomplish her goal of baptism that she has had for so long. Her testimony was amazing and so funny because she referred to Elder Horito and I as her grandsons and everyone was so confused, but that's what she actually calls us! She's the cutest! I also get to go back to Encino and confirm her next week in sacrament meeting, which is gonna be so cool!

We talked to Gustavo's (our investigator) wife Christina the other night and she had so many questions! She asked what the Spirit felt like and why we have the Word of Wisdom and I guess she liked our answers and felt the Spirit because she is now super interested in the Gospel and our church! She has been to many church's over the past year and she said she's fed up with every Pastor teaching something different. She said she prayed and said that she was done looking for a church and that if God wanted her to join a church he would have to bring it to her. LOL...that's exactly what he did. We are meeting with her again tonight and she can't wait to learn more and get answers to her questions.

We have been working with the Mata's. They are recent converts and Sister Mata is a single parent. Their 13 year old daughter is crazy around Silva and I. She literally can't stay still. During our lesson 8 year old Michael wouldn't come sit down for the lesson so I told him I'd give him a dollar if he came and sat by me. He did, and after the lesson I pulled out the dollar and he said "No I don't need a dollar. I like you guys!" Then he hugged us and took off haha. He's a homie now! But anyways, it's cool to see how the Gospel has given their family so much strength to work through their current situation and it has united them. It's just awesome how essential the Gospel is.

Losi Ikahihifo from the Encino ward is moving to the Van Nuys ward! He's our Costco hook up so I'm pretty stoked! Plus he's awesome in lessons so it'll be sick having him.

We have been having a lot of success this week and we're really happy about that. Hard work really does pay off. We have lots of people to follow up with and have tons of lessons set up. We have already picked up 3 new investigators in only one week. The Lord is really helping us out! We seriously cant do anything without His help.

Message of the week: Elder Zaballos, a General Authority, visited our mission this week and gave us a really cool training. He told us that the best way to prepare ourselves for our futures is through studying the Gospel. The Gospel will give us the values we need and the foundation we need to live happy and successful lives. So If you're struggling with finding your way I would encourage you to study the Gospel diligently and I promise you'll find guidance.

Well I love you all so much!! I hope you all have great weeks!

Elder Horito, Anne and I

Elder Jensen

Elder Silva, Anne and I

Elder Silva and I

First week in Van Nuys

April 4, 2016

Well It's my first week in Van Nuys! The Straight Hood of the Valley. My Trainee is Elder Silva from Langley British Colombia, Canada! He's such a sick guy and we get along so well because we are honestly so similar. We both joke around so much so there's hardly ever a span of more than 5 minutes where we aren't dying laughing about something. When someone slams a door on us one of us will just crack a joke and lighten the mood!  I also got super sick this week and couldn't stop coughing. We thought it was bronchitis or something but we didn't go to the doctor because we needed to do work! You have to do work when you are white washing! Anyway it got super bad and I lost my voice from all the coughing. I cant think of a better way to train your trainee than to physically not be able to talk to anyone so they have to talk to EVERYONE hahaha! He's been getting some good practice.

Anyway, we have been working with a few people already. We are really focusing on a less active named Marius. (He said we could share this with our friends and family) He grew up in the Mexican Mafia and honestly just had the hardest life. He's covered with tattoos all over his body and you would think he would be a really hardened guy but he's the total opposite. He has the biggest heart ever and has the strongest testimony. He spent most of his life as a big time drug dealer for a lot of celebrities here in California and thought life was great because he had all the money he could ever dream of. But then he found the Gospel. That was the only thing that could get him to change his ways and turn his life in a different direction. He had to make sacrifices though. No more dealing...which meant no more money. So he acted in faith and joined the church and the Lord blessed him by showing him talents he had that he never knew about. He is now a producer in the music industry and he is SO good at what he does! That was a huge testimony builder that the Lord always blesses us when we make sacrifices to be righteous. We have regular meetings scheduled with Marius now and I can't wait to work with him.

We are also working with Brother Solis, another less active. He also has such a strong testimony. He reads the scriptures frequently, listens to conference talks and reads church magazines all the time, but he will not come to church. He was offended by a Bishop over 10 years ago and will not let it go so we are trying to work with him on that. I just hope we help him see that he needs to let the Atonement work for him.

We currently have no investigators and that's why they are white washing the area. It's kinda disappointing to leave an area that you get to thrive finally, for an area with not much there. But I know the Lord will help Elder Silva and I get this area bumpin. We've just gotta work our hardest and have faith. We have already seen miracles this week with the referrals we have been contacting. There are a few lessons set up for next week already which is awesome progress!

Message of the week: Conference was sick! How awesome is it that we have a living Prophet and Apostles on the earth to lead and guide us. If you listened to Conference for even 5 minutes you know that their messages are inspired and from God. I had so many favorite talks but the Prophets short Message on Sunday morning was amazing. He talked a lot about choices and how they have an affect on everything we do. He said, "Decisions determine destiny." That is so true. We all need to weigh out our decisions on an eternal level.

Well I love you all so much and hope you have a great week!

Elder Jensen

Elder Silva and I at General Conference. I am deathly ill.

Which new Elder from the MTC will be Andrew's new companion?

 March 30, 2016

One of these Elders that just arrived today will be Andrew's new companion.  Which one will it be?!

UPDATE:  It is Elder Silva on the far right on the back row.  He is from British Colombia, Canada!

The Spirit has no language and can touch anyone's heart

March 28,2016

Well it's official, I'm getting transferred to Van Nuys! I don't know my new companion yet because he's gonna be straight off the airplane. So I'm white washing (when they put two missionaries in an area and basically start fresh) and training. It's going to be an adventure but I'm excited to see how it goes! It's sad leaving all these people I have grown close to but I know I'll meet new members and investigators in Van Nuys too.

We committed Sarabjeet to baptism this week! He loves the gospel and wants to follow Christ so badly! His English is improving so much and I know Elder Horito will be able to help him progress towards baptism better than anyone! He's a great missionary.

We taught the Russians one last time. (Ruben and Tatiana) They were my favorites. They are doing so well and we see miracles every time we teach them. Super sad that I won't be able to meet with them any more but I'm so glad that I got to meet them and prepare the way for the next missionary to come in and teach them. Hopefully he speaks Russian! They have taught me that the Spirit has no language and that it can touch anyone's heart.

Marlon called us this week and was having doubts about coming to church again. He felt like he wasn't good enough to become a member because of his living situation. We were so scared we were going to lose him so we drove straight to his apartment and cleared everything up. We told him that our Heavenly Father takes us however we are and all we have to do is follow His example! He felt a lot better after we shared that with him. We also told him an analogy that he really liked. We said that he is trying to push his car back home and he's on a huge hill right now, but Christ is in the driver seat and all he needs to do is get in and let Christ start the car and let him do it all for him. He's a really independent guy and that hit home for him. He needs to trust in the Lord and not take on everything alone. He's back on track for his baptismal date now!

Anne is the coolest! She gave me a huge hug at our last lesson. She made sure that I would be there for her baptism and I promised I would be there! She's gonna get baptized on the 10th of April and I'm so excited for her and I hope her decisions rub off on her Daughter and Grandchildren.

We taught sandy for my last time this week. We did a cool thing that showed the power of the atonement. We put a bunch of water in a Tupperware container and dumped salt into it to represent all our good deeds. Then we put pepper in it to show all our bad ones. When the pepper is put in you can't see the salt at the bottom. Then we put a drop of soap in the water and all the pepper spread out to the sides so you could see all the salt at the bottom. That's what the atonement does for us. It pushes all the sins to the side and lets us only see the good. He loved it because he said he has made a lot of mistakes and spent his whole life in prison. He wants to come to church now!  

We had dinner with Michael Jackson's sister, Latoya this week! Hahaha nah just kidding but we did eat dinner right next to her at this cool Thai restaurant on Ventura Blvd. She pulled up in her Rolls Royce and our member freaked out haha!  Kinda cool

Message of the week: Our experiences we have are definitely there to shape us into the person Heavenly Father wants us to be. I have been shaped so much these past 7 months or so and It hasn't been easy but it's been awesome. It's really hard to trust that challenges are there for your own good but they always are there to benefit us in the long run.

Well I hope you all have a great week!! Love you all so much!

Elder Jensen

Morning hikes for our workout.

Sister Tripp, my favorite Grandma in the ward.

The Treu family. Less actives we worked with and spent part of Easter with. 

The District

Droppin an album soon.

Morning hikes for our workout

Hiking

The spirit is essential to missionary work!

March 21, 2016

Another busy week!

We picked up a family this week! I've never taught an entire family before so this has been a pretty cool experience! We found Luis (the dad) during knockout a week ago and he invited us to come back and share a message. We talked to him and his family about the Restoration and Luis knew quite a bit because he had a lot of Mormon friends growing up. But he thought that The Book of Mormon was written by Joseph Smith so he would never read it. Once we cleared up what The Book of Mormon actually is he said..."I'll do something for you guys....I'll read the book from cover to cover. I want to know if it's true." It was so cool!  We are going to teach them again this week so I'll keep you posted on that.

We met up with Brian at the Sherman Oaks Chapel and cut his hair! Elder Horito has taught me a lot of things and one of those things is how to give a good line up! Sadly we have to pass Brian off to the Sherman Oaks or North Hollywood Elders because he is moving. It's been awesome teaching him and I wish the best for him.

We got to teach Marlin a few times this week! He's awesome!! He came to church on Sunday and loved it! He started crying a few times because he felt the Spirit so strong. The talks were super good which was also a bonus! He's on date for April 3rd but we might need to have him come to church a few more times before we can baptize him so we'll see...it might get pushed back.

The Akopov's are still doing great as well! They said "we know you're sent by God" because their dogs got out and they usually would attack people but they were super friendly with us and didn't even bark. That was a sign to them that this message we share is a big deal. They have so many questions and sometimes answers will come out of our mouths that we couldn't have come up with ourselves. The spirit is essential to missionary work!  I have a strong feeling that they'll get baptized sometime soon because they're both willing to put in the effort to find out for themselves if this is true. Tatiana is getting deep into the Book of Mormon and she's loving it!

Anne is still coming to Church every week! She refuses to miss! We taught her the Gospel of Jesus Christ and that hit home for her. She wants to live her life right so that she can honor what Christ did for her. Pretty cool goal if you ask me!

We also picked up Noel this week. He's been in prison most of his life and he needs to change his life. He wants to be different but he needs help. We told him about the Atonement and told him how through Jesus Christ he could change. He invited us back and then we taught him the Restoration. He's committed to read the Book of Mormon.

Encino is bumpin right now! We have 16 investigators and so many less actives we are working with. Sadly transfers are next week so I could be leaving. I guess that's part of the mission though...you build up and area and have to let others finish what you started. All part of the Lords plan!

Eddy also got the Priesthood this Sunday!! Such an awesome thing to see. He's come a long way and he is such a bonus to the ward! I love that guy so much.

Well that's it for this week! I hope you all have a great Easter next Sunday!

Message of the week: followhim.mormon.org   Check it out.

Giving Brian a line up.

Up in the hills knocking crazy million dollar homes. 

The Gospel can seriously fix everything if you just have faith and are obedient

March 14, 2016

Hey everyone! This week was such a busy and hectic week in Encino. We taught 12 lessons and were absolutely swamped with things we had to do. But being busy is a missionaries dream so we're pretty happy about it!

Anyway, we met with Anne again this week and taught her about Sabbath day observance. Her church attendance is on point! She has come to church every week for the past month and we just wanted to reinforce her testimony about the Sabbath day so that she would continue coming. She's a quarter way through The Book or Mormon for her second time now and she's so excited for her baptism on the 10th of April. We pray every day that she will go through with it this time, and we are really trying to build her testimony to help prepare her. So far so good!

We taught our Indian friend Sarabjeet again this week! Something kind of funny happened! We brought him some Hindi pamphlets to teach him the Gospel this time and he said "Oh I have some of those! Lets study from both pamphlets!" So he pulled out some other pamphlets that weren't from the church and Horito and I were like oh no...what are we gonna do. So when no one was looking we both just grabbed them and put them in our pockets. They were so confused where the other literature went! But it worked out. He just used a Restoration pamphlet instead and loved what we taught him! We are going back today to teach more!

I went on an exchange with Elder Shaw this week to the Sherman Oaks area. He is a total cowboy from Utah! I love that kid.  We taught Kristen Wilson (the woman who plays the mom in Dr. Dolittle) and she has a baptismal date for April 10th as well!  She has gone through so much in her life and she knows that she has been guided by the Holy Ghost the whole way. Kinda cool to teach someone whose sort of famous. But anyway, she's super solid!  It's awesome to see someone come to the realization that this is what they've been looking for all their life!

We took Hikmat on a church tour which was awesome! I don't know how interested he actually is but he keeps meeting with us. We taught the Akopov's as well! We answered their questions about the Restoration and talked about why The Book of Mormon was needed. While Tatiana was praying she said "Thank you for helping us see our happy futures when we learn about your Gospel." So cool!! We also got asked to teach Ruben English so we will be over there about 3 times a week working with them. They're one of my favorite families we teach!

We taught the Beauregards and it was awesome to see how far they have come in the last 4 months. They're awesome. The Gospel can seriously fix everything if you just have faith and are obedient.

We had a huge miracle this week! We were knocking this huge complex and knocked into a man named Marlin. We asked if we could share a video with him and he said no because he didn't have his phone with him. So we took that as "OK he wants us to leave."  So we started to leave and he said "Hey don't you wanna come in and share the word?"  We were caught of guard on that one because no one ever says that! So we went in and he told us how he had prayed a few weeks ago that Mormon missionaries would knock on his door and come teach him how to follow Christ. I was smiling so big and was just thanking God the whole time for guiding us to Marlin. He's a golden investigator. We don't even need to push him to meet with us he just calls us all the time and sets it up himself! So that was a miracle this week!!  He is committed to baptism already as well!

Eddy is doing awesome. We met with him this week and he has had a few people challenge him about his beliefs but he has been awesome at standing up for what he believes. He knows it's true and can't deny it. The Bishop has already given him a calling as the Ward Missionary! He is going to be awesome at that because he basically already did that before he was called to do it!

Message of the week:  Heavenly help is real! And it comes through prayer.  Marlin prayed in faith that missionaries would come and teach him the gospel.  Missionaries, Elder Horito and I, showed up a few weeks later as an answer to his prayers. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was restored through heavenly help received through Joseph Smiths prayer...so obviously prayer works. Pray whenever you need help and I promise it will come.

Well I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Elder Jensen

Sarabjeet, his wife and I learning English

Feast on the words in the scriptures and do good continually

March 7, 2016

Another busy week in Encino! The work here never stops and we are so blessed! So many people need the gospel!

We did service for Brother Austin this week. Four years ago missionaries built a pond for him and messed up the drainage system so we had to fix it. We jack-hammered through a foot of concrete and we are going back tomorrow to finish it. It was fun though! It's nice to change things up and  do some manual labor every once in a while! It's been so cool to work with him. He hasn't let missionaries come by in a long time but we made a good first impression a little while back so he's chill with us. We actually got him back into helping with scouting and he's really stoked about that. Scouting is going to be what reactivates him into the church.
   
We picked up a new investigator named Christian. He's a security specialist and has every gun you could imagine. He's such a cool guy. He recently found out he was diabetic and has been having a really hard time with it but he said his faith in Christ is getting him through it. We brought Eddy to our lesson and he bore his testimony to him of the blessings of the Holy Ghost and how it would help him through his trials and comfort him. Such a cool thing to watch because Eddy was in Christian's shoes less than a month ago and now he's the missionary helping someone else find their way.

Anne LeVad has come to church 2 weeks in a row now! We are so excited about that! She has progressed so much since we went to the Temple and I know it's because she felt the spirit so strong while we were there. She is still wanting to be baptized soon and now we are trying to get permission to teach her grand daughter Michaela! We are praying that her parents will soften their hearts and let her learn more.

We are also teaching a woman named Faith who's from Lebanon. She has a huge problem with the Book of Mormon and only likes to bash us. She is definitely a project. Also we found Fatima again! Our Farsi investigator! She got caught up in some bad stuff (gang related stuff) and has been spending a lot of time at the police station for protection. We are trying not to get too involved but we're still trying to help her find somewhere safe to live in the area.

Funny story of the week: Last P-day we went to the park with the Sherman Oaks Elders and started playing basketball. The next thing we know we have 8 elementary school kids challenging us! We let them play and balled for a while. They were so young and had the worst mouths so we cleaned them up a bit. They asked us to come back next Monday so we'll see what we decide to do. Pretty funny experience!

Message of the week: There are two wolves inside all of us. A good wolf and a bad wolf. The wolf that will win is the one that we feed the most. I encourage all of you to feast on the words in the scriptures and do good continually so that you feed the good wolf inside you.

Love you all! Have a great week!

Elder Jensen

Elder Horito, Wade, Me, and Shaw jack hammering the pond.

Elder Horito and I jamming in our free time. He's teaching me how to play the ukulele.

Keep yourself anchored

 February 29, 2016

This week flew by because we were so busy! We have so many people to fit into our schedule and not enough time in the day so we sometimes have to skip lunch. It stinks but as missionaries we have to sacrifice our own comforts and wants for the good of others.

We took Anne to the Los Angeles Temple visitors center on Saturday. We called in advance and asked the tour guides to put an emphasis on church attendance because she is really struggling with that. She hadn't been back to church in over a year since she canceled her baptism. The spirit at the Visitors Center is so strong and Anne could feel it. It brought her to tears a few times and as we walked around the temple we told her how one day she can have baptisms for the dead done for her husband and that they could be sealed together! She wants that more than anything. We set that as a goal for her to reach and I think it'll help her get ready for baptism faster. The next day Anne was at church! I guess the Temple trip worked! We were so excited to see her and so was the ward. And a miracle has happened since we started teaching her...now her little 7 year old grand daughter wants to come to church with her and learn! She asked if she could get baptized and I told her she could when she's 8. Then I told her how I got to baptize my little sister and bore my testimony about how good it feels to be baptized. It's amazing how Christlike little children are. We definitely need to become more like them in order to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.

We met with Pamela again and man she's killing me! She said "I have no doubt that this is true! I know it's true. But I don't know if this is the path that I need to be on right now." AHH Pamela!!! This is the only path for you! We have tried to emphasize that the Lord gave us the Gospel as His plan for all of us to follow but it's not getting through yet. We're gonna keep working on helping her see this as the path for all of us. We also met with Janelle and she's doing good still. She's not progressing too much but she keeps inviting us back to teach her more and it seems to make her happy. Also she's become really good friends with the member we bring with to the lessons. Members are the key to missionary work. Without them making commitments is so much scarier for investigators.

We have been teaching a man named Hikmat and his family from Afghanistan. We feel like we enter a different country every time we meet with them.  It's pretty cool! LA is so diverse! He and his family are the most kind and friendly people I have ever met. He's a project for sure but I understand how hard it would be for him to change his religion from Muslin to Christian.

We have been teaching English to a few people. We teach Bahrahm (a member in our ward) who is from Iran. We are possibly going to start teaching our Russian investigator, and maybe Hikmat's family too. We found this man named Sarabjeed, he is from India. We gave him a card and he told us he spoke little English, but he loves God, and he knows there is only one God. We told him we could order him a Hindi Book of Mormon and teaching pamphlets. He wants to meet with us and we are also going to start teaching him English! I'm so excited for all these teaching opportunities.  You might be thinking, how are we going to teach these people when we don't speak all their languages? Ammon taught Lamoni and converted his Kingdom, with the Lord, and in His strength, we can do all things.

The Akopov family is awesome! She is from Ukraine and he's from Russia. We taught her the Restoration this week and told her about how we have a living Prophet on the earth. She said she felt "happiness" inside her as we taught her and she also said that all her life she had yearned to feel happy after church...but every church she ever went to made her feel sad. She told us that this might be what she has been looking for her whole life. We are so excited to bring her and her husband to our church!! Eddy is still doing great and we have a few other Recent converts and less actives that we are working with.

Message of the week: This is a really cool analogy that Elder Horito told me: When you surf you always try and stay in the shallow water where it's safer. There are no sharks and you can still find good waves but...there are always tempting waves in the deeper waters that seem much much better. Sometimes you find yourself drifting out to the deeper waters to catch bigger waves, the waves may be better, but the risk is higher as well because deep water is where the sharks are. Satan always tries to pull us deeper out to sea by tempting us with bigger and better waves. At the time it seems enticing and safe so we start to drift further out where the sharks can get us. It's not worth the risk. Keep yourself anchored, and don't drift out to the deeper waters because there are always sharks waiting to pull us under.

Love you guys and I hope you all have a great week!

Elder Jensen

We took Anne to the Los Angeles temple visitors center on Saturday.

Hikmat from Afganistan

Service in Chatsworth California

Elder Jensen and Elder Horito serving at the Operation Gratitude project in the new facility in Chatsworth, California.

We need to have broken in hearts so the lord can use us and work through us

February 22, 2016

Hey!
Another week down in California! This week flew by because we were just so busy. Every night we just came home and fell asleep instantly.  That's a good thing though...it means we're putting in work.

We met with Anne Lavad again this week and she committed herself to a baptismal date without us even having to ask her which was pretty cool! It would be nice if it was like that every time. She wants to get baptized in three weeks on the 13th of March. The only thing holding her back at this point is her recent heart surgery. The doctors haven't cleared her to go into water yet and she's meeting with them in a few weeks to try and get cleared. We are going to give her a blessing before she goes to the doctor to help out.

We ran into a bunch of less actives this week that we never even knew about. We found Lynne and Sandy. We actually knocked into Sandy and found out that he had just gotten out of prison, he was baptized as a child, but fell away from the church. He wants to meet with us and come back to church now. It was a straight miracle that we found him!

We got a referral from the Spanish sisters, her name is Susan. She is from Lebanon and she is blind. She learned a little about the church 30 years ago from her neighbors who were LDS, but they moved away and she never got back into it. Then the sisters knocked on her door, and she told us that she took that as a sign she needs to learn more about this church. She is super interested and I'm so excited to start teaching her. It just goes to show that one good experience or memory about the church can impact people later down the road when they are ready to learn. Also I get to give out the first braille Book of Mormon on my mission!

Pamela Spencer is doing good. She think she'll be ready to get baptized soon. We are just focusing on building her testimony of Joseph Smith and The Book of Mormon because that's what she is still a little skeptical of. She's been reading a little here and there and it's been cool to watch her testimony grow over the past few weeks because of that.

We did some service for a less active member in the Sherman Oaks ward this week. We took out a bunch of grass in his yard and filled an entire trailer. As the Sherman Oaks elders were driving us back to our car we drove through a NCIS Los Angeles set and got in trouble hahaha! It was kinda cool because we saw all the actors and stuff.

Message of the week: We had Elder Echo-Hawk and Elder Pimentel come speak during stake conference this week. Elder Pimentel had an awesome analogy that I'm gonna share with you. When you get a new baseball glove it's all shiny and new but it's practically worthless. The ball get's thrown to you and it's so stiff that you can't close it to catch the ball. You have to break it in and loosen it up a bit so that you can catch the ball when the time comes. We need to have broken in hearts so the lord can use us and work through us. We are the baseball glove on his hand and it's our job to break ourselves in. We can't be stiff vessels or else when the time comes...he won't be able to use us the way he needs.

Well have a great week and remember that it's good to have a broken in heart!

Elder Jensen

Elder Shaw, Elder Wade, Elder Horito and Myslef doing service for Gary in the Sherman Oaks ward.

Working at Gary's with Elder Wade, Elder Horito, Elder Shaw and Myself.

Thank you so much for all the decorations and treats Annalisa!! I loved them so much!!

I miss you Annalisa, but the picture was awesome cuz it was like you were giving me a hug!!! Thank you for being the best sister ever!

We have been so blessed by the Lord

Hey Guys! This week was amazing! So much happened and we have been so blessed by the Lord.

We had our last lesson with Eddy this week and he's already being a missionary! As we were walking to his door a woman came up to us and started telling us her life story in Spanish. We had no idea what she was saying and she thought we were being rude by not replying but then Eddy came to the rescue and translated for us! She had read the entire Book of Mormon by herself and wanted to take the lessons. She had just come from Honduras and really had an amazing life story. Eddy bore his testimony and told her how the gospel could mend her broken heart and give her new direction and purpose in life. The woman started crying and the Spirit was so strong even though we were on a busy street corner. We knew right then that Eddy was going to be an awesome addition to the ward! We also had his Baptism this week! He asked me to baptize him and it was such an awesome experience. I was a little worried at first because they only filled the fount up to my knees but I got him under. After I brought him up out of the water he just hugged me and couldn't stop crying. He was so happy!! He bore his testimony after the Baptism and said he is no longer his old self...he is now Saint Eddy. I love that guy so much!!! He is going to be an amazing member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints! He was so prepared and we just came into the picture at the right time. We are so blessed here in Encino.

We met with Pamela Spencer again this week and taught her the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She liked it a ton and is still skeptical but we told her that the Gospel is like a relationship. If you don't put in any effort it won't work! So She promised to read her scriptures (which she hasn't done yet) and pray about them. Hopefully she puts in the effort to sincerely investigate the church so that the Holy Ghost can get through to her.

Funny story of the week: Sister Tripp is my favorite old lady in the ward!! She is 80 and has had a stroke recently so she has really had a rough time lately. We visit her and we've really gotten close to her. Anyway, she won't stop hugging us every time we see her! She hugs us at church at Baptisms literally everywhere. And we keep telling her that's not allowed but she has a really bad memory so she never remembers anything...so we just let it go and take all the hugs we can get! I have a soft spot for oldies.

Another Funny Story: Pamela Called us and told us she needed help moving something that she said was "a little heavy".....when we showed up we found out it was a 200 pound stone that was once in an Abbey and she wanted it carried up 3 flights of stairs to her apartment. We did it!   Not gonna lie, we've been working out over here.

We taught Janelle about the plan of salvation this week. Her mom is going to pass away soon because she recently had a lung transplant and it's not going well. She's been having a hard time accepting that and it was amazing to be able to bare my testimony on eternal families and how I know through this Gospel we can be together forever. She's found comfort in our message and hopefully she'll keep meeting with us.

Message of the week: The Holy ghost is a straight G. It guided us to Eddy and now it's going to guide him throughout his entire life. Elder Horito and I were talking after the confirmation about how right when they said "Receive the Holy Ghost" we felt something rush out of our hands. It was such a cool feeling and I'll never forget that power I felt.

Well I love you all and hope you have a great week!!

Elder Jensen

The Baptism of Eddy Felix on Valentines Day, 2016

Eddy Felix Baptism Day

Eddy Felix

Hauling a stone up to Pamela Spencer's apartment.

Keep the Commandments!

 February 8, 2016

Hey Everyone! We were busy as usual this week which is so nice! There is so much happening in the Encino area. Transfer calls came this Saturday and Elder Horito and I are both staying another transfer. We're super happy about that because we have grown really close with the ward members and our investigators. Plus we work really well together and know how to get things done. It's going to be an awesome transfer!

We taught Eddy again this week and man...he's golden. We taught him about the commandments and how many people view them as restrictions but in reality they are protection from the real restrictions in life. You could see the Holy Ghost just hit him and his whole perspective changed from questioning what we said to completely understanding why a loving heavenly father would give us these rules to protect us and guide us throughout our lives. It was such a cool experience. We also brought him to church this week. He hasn't gone to our ward every time but he has been to an LDS church every week since we started teaching him. It's really helped him progress and grow spiritually and it's shown me the importance of church. We learn so much every Sunday. Anyway, this week was fast and testimony meeting and Eddy walked right up to the stand and bore his testimony! He talked about the power of prayer and how he was praying for guidance and missionaries stopped by his house and how he is a witness that miracles do happen and prayers are answered...all we have to do is ask. He's not even a member yet and he is already a huge benefit to the ward! We also took him to a baptism in the Spanish stake next to us to get him excited for his baptism. Elder Horito and I didn't understand a single word but Eddy did and that's all that mattered. He said he felt the spirit so strong and even though I couldn't understand anything I did too.

Elder Horito got sick this week. He got a nasty cold and couldn't stop coughing so we had to stay in the apartment Tuesday and Wednesday. I made him soup and cleaned. It was sooo boring! I just wanted to go out and work! Luckily he got better quick and we were able to still teach all our investigators.

We're working on a new less active member in the ward right now, Bryan Scklarsky. He was baptized 4 years ago and then went inactive 2 months later. We started teaching him 3 weeks ago and he's been to church twice since then! Hopefully we can get him completely reactivated soon. We are basically teaching him like a brand new investigator because he doesn't remember a whole bunch. But he does remember all his spiritual experiences with the missionaries who baptized him so I think deep down he knows it's true. We started the lessons from the beginning and he's really regaining his testimony.

Message of the week: Keep the stinkin Commandments! They may seem like restrictions or barriers that get in the way of your happiness but I promise you that's not how it is. I've seen too many people go through some of the hardest trials in their lives because they thought certain things would make them happy. And it all could have been avoided by just keeping the commandments. I know that our Father in Heaven gave us these rules to protect us from ourselves and the dangers in the world that could harm us.

 “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31–32)

I love you guys and hope you have a great week! I have a strong testimony that keeping the Commandments will "make us free" and help us live a happy life.

Elder Jensen

This life is the time for us to make changes

February 1, 2016

Hey Everyone! Another week down and I'm almost to the 6 month mark...weird. I can honestly say that I've learned more about myself and the gospel in these 6 months than I did in the 18 years before my mission. It's crazy how you learn more by focusing your time on others than by focusing it on yourself.

We taught Anne Lavad again this week. She is now committed to baptism! We're deciding a date next lesson. She has already heard the lessons once before and was so prepared to join the church but it didn't work out so hopefully this time she will be ready. She has a few things holding her back still but we are here to help her get past that. She has a strong testimony of Joseph Smith and tears up every time we read the first vision so I know she knows it's true...we just need to work on her faith.

Brian Hernandez has been making awesome progress this week. He came to sacrament meeting and was all cleaned up and looked so fresh! I know the Lord sent us his way for a reason. His life has never been good and now he has a chance to make a 180 degree change thanks to the gospel. He's battling a bad addiction to drugs right now and we didn't know how to help him so we prayed and prayed for help. We felt inspired to introduce him to Brother Beauregard (a member we recently reactivated). We trusted in the Lord and introduced the two and it was perfect. Brother Beauregard had had similar trials in the past and they connected on a whole other level! Brian may be going into a rehab program that Brother Beauregard knows about which will be sad because I won't get to see my boy Brian till probably after my mission but it's the best thing for him. Brian was so worried about finding a job after he came out of rehab and Brother Beauregard offered him a job at his company right there. I was shocked and so was Elder Horito. After the lesson we asked Brother Beauregard why he did what he did and he said that he has been blessed with so much that it would be selfish for him to not give back a little of what God has blessed him with. He's a great man and he is an example to me.

Eddy Felix is excited for the 14th! He's been reading and praying a ton and he has come to the conclusion that this is the path he needs to be on for the rest of his life. He lost his mom when he was little and the plan of salvation has given him a new found hope of being with his family again. He's also been reading a church book called "Our Search For Happiness" That we gave him. He's a very logical guy and this book really mixes the logical with the spiritual. It's strengthened my testimony and if anyone is having trouble understanding or accepting the gospel I recommend you check it out.

We have been taking Lyric and Byron Garcia from the ward with us to lessons. They are 18 and 19 years old.   They were both unsure about going on a mission but now Byron is getting ready to submit his papers in the next few months and Lyric is actually considering on going which he wasn't before. That's been a cool experience to be a part of.

Pamela Spencer finally got back to us! She came to church and we introduced her to the relief society presidency which was awesome! She got along great with all of them and loves the "sisterhood" in the church. We have another lesson with her this week.

Funny story of the week: Elder Horito and I were going by some less actives in the ward and decided to stop by the Archibeques. We knocked on their door and they let us in which surprised us because they don't usually do that. Well they took us into the back yard and they were having a HUGE birthday party. There were bounce houses everywhere and I swear there were at least 30 little girls in frozen costumes. Plus they had all their family and friends there. We felt so out of place. Elder Horito sad "Well Elder it looks like we have successfully crashed a family event." We got weird looks the whole time (we're used to that but this time was more extreme than usual) We got good tacos and cupcakes out of it though!

Message of the week: Don't worry so much about making yourself comfortable in this life. That's not what this life is for. This life is the time for us to make changes and decisions that will lead us to where we want to be for the eternities after we die. Don't get caught up in the here and now. Brian has really taught me this. Changes are hard to make but they're necessary and essential.

Love you all.

Elder Jensen

Brian Hernandez

Brian Hernandez

It's such a privilege to be able to help people grow spiritually for two years.

January 25, 2016

Hey everyone!! We've been staying busy here in Encino. So much has happened in just one week.

We met with Eddy Felix again this week and taught him The Gospel of Jesus Christ. We focused on faith in Christ, repentance, and how they both lead to Baptism. He has been struggling with feeling worthy to be baptized but we helped him realize that through repentance and faith in Christ's atonement he can feel ready to make that sacred covenant with his Heavenly Father. Elder Horito and I had both been praying for a date to set as a goal for him to be baptized, and during the lesson I was prompted to ask him to be baptized on February 14th. He said that us choosing the 14th was a sign that he needed to do this because the 14th of February is his Grandfathers birthday who he was very close with. He also said that this Church isn't just a part time thing...it's a way of life that he knows will bring him more happiness than anything else and that when he's baptized he wants to be a strong member for the rest of his life. That was pretty cool to hear him say. He's going to keep reading and praying to prepare himself for the 14th. It's such a privilege to be able to help people grow spiritually for two years.

We also taught Brian again! I love that guy! He calls us his "angels", sent to help him find the path he has been looking for his whole life. He's known since day one that this is what he needs to do. We also taught him the Gospel Of Jesus Christ and talked a lot about baptism. He said that he was baptized in prison but that it wasn't a "real baptism", there was no change in him. And he feels guilty for that. He wants this baptism to be "real". So we set a baptismal date with him for the 28th of February. He is so determined to follow Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, so determined that he has started making lifestyle changes without us even having to ask him to. The trials he has to overcome to be baptized won't be easy but we will be with him every step of the way to give him that spirit he needs to keep going. I know the Lord put him in our path for a reason and Elder Horito and I are going to do all we can to be his "angels". We will continue to show him how much his Savior and Father in Heaven love him every chance we get. We gave him a Priesthood blessing this Sunday to help him have strength to overcome his trials and withdrawals. He has a strong testimony of the power of the priesthood now and can feel God by his side. Keep him in your prayers.

We ran into a former investigator that almost got baptized last year which was a miracle! Her name is Anne Levad and she's from Haiti. She told us she wanted to take the lessons again and that she only stopped taking the lessons last year because she had to go take care of her sister in Florida. It's awesome how we've been blessed with a steady flow of investigators. When one person drops us the Lord puts another person in our path!

We picked up a new investigator named Ian this week as well. He was a referral from the sister missionaries and he's solid! He told us that he's been studying religion for a long time but none of them seem to fit for him spiritually. We brought him a Book of Mormon and he was so excited. It kinda shocked me because I wasn't that excited the first time I read the Book of Mormon...I should have been but I wasn't. It's so exciting for investigators because they know how much this book has to offer them and they can't wait to find out what's inside.

Message of the week: I heard a cool story in a mission conference we had this week that I want to share with you guys.

- A rich man took his son on a road trip to a village. He wanted his son to see how poor some people can be so they spent time on the farm of a poor family.  After the trip the boys dad asked him "Did you see how poor they are? What did you learn?" The boy replied " We have a pool, they have a river. We have walls to protect us, they have friends. We have lights at night, they have the stars. We have pets to love, they have each other. We have encyclopedias, they have the Bible."

It isn't the money that makes us rich, It's the simplicity of having God in our lives that has the true value. Everything we ever receive is a blessing.

Well I love you all so much and hope you have a great week!

The Lord truly has blessed us and we're not going to take that for-granted.

January 19, 2016

Sorry for the late email. Yesterday was a holiday and all of the libraries were closed so we had to email today. We have been so busy! Elder Horito and I have worked the area super hard and now we have 10 investigators! That's a miracle considering we had 0 when I first arrived. The Lord truly has blessed us and we're not going to take that for-granted.

We had another lesson with Pamela Spencer this week. This time we brought President Kekauoha from the ward. We taught her the Plan of Salvation and she seemed really receptive. She is having trouble with praying though. She said she doesn't like to demand answers from God. It was so nice to have a member at our lesson because he was able to explain why she needed to pray and ask God and it didn't have to come from us. It came from a friend. And I'm not saying we aren't her friends because we are...it just has a different feel to it coming from others sometimes. She said she would definitely read and pray for an answer. Members are such a big help at lessons!!

We also taught Eddy Felix this week. We taught him the Plan of Salvation as well. The whole time he was saying how familiar this all sounded and I explained to him that it was because he already learned it once when we were all in the spirit world before we came to earth! The lesson was amazing!! We all knelt down and he prayed after for an answer if this was the path God wanted him to take. He stood up and said "I'm like a day away from baptism!" We were all so stoked! He's an awesome guy and has so much potential! We know that Satan is gonna work hard on him these next few weeks so any prayers for him would be awesome!

We picked up Ruben Akopov as a new investigator last week. He only speaks Russian so his wife has to translate! It's so cool because the spirit still hits him even though he can't understand anything we say. We gave him a Russian Book of Mormon and he said he would read it! So we will see how he liked it tonight at our lesson!

We are teaching a man named Brian now. He's a former gang member and has had a really rough life. He was in and out of prison most of his teenage years and early twenties and has just recently turned his life around in the last couple of years. We found him while we were walking on the street a few weeks ago and gave him a card. He ended up calling us and is super interested in the message we share! He is looking for direction and purpose in this life and the Gospel of Jesus Christ helps with that on so many levels! He loved the fact that we have Prophets to lead and guide us and he has already read a few chapters in the Book of Mormon! I'll keep you updated on him next week!

We are short on time so I'll give you a super good message next time because I don't have time to send one this week.

Well I love you all so much and hope you have a great week!

Elder Jensen

 

The Lord is always there to help us out, we just have to use our agency and ask.

January 11, 2016

Another busy week in the mission field. We're getting a consistent flow of investigators which is a huge blessing. God is blessing us with so many prepared people!

We taught Eddie Felix this week. He is a really spiritual guy but has never really found a church that corresponded with his personal values...until now. We told him about our beliefs and our values and he loved it. He said he's always had a feeling inside that there should be Prophets and Apostles on the earth today because God is the same yesterday today and tomorrow. So when we told him we had a Prophet and Apostles he was stoked! When we teach people the Gospel we're not telling them any new information...we are really just reminding them of everything they new before they came to earth. That's why the gospel rings so true to people. He also came to church on Sunday! We're making progress with him...it's slow but that's how it goes. He said he will be done with The Book of Mormon in 2 weeks. He's cruised through it! I'll update you all next week on how the next lesson goes.

We also picked up a new investigator named Pamela Spencer. Her member friend asked us to help her move so we helped her move a bunch of stuff into her storage unit on Saturday night. We pulled our car inside the gates and went to leave at 9:00 but the gates lock after 9....so our car and her U-haul got stuck inside all night. We called the Sherman Oaks Elders and asked them to come bail us out so while we were waiting for them we talked about her life and ended up teaching her the first lesson! We have a return appointment for tomorrow evening! I guess the Lord wanted her to hear the gospel so bad that he made sure we would get stuck in there! We picked up our car the next morning at 6:00am.

Sam has been coming to church as well. We thought he was ignoring us all week but I guess he just got a new phone number. He gave us his new number and asked us to stay in touch so he sounds like he is still interested! We picked up Richard as an investigator this week too. He seemed more curious than sincerely interested but we'll see what happens. Hopefully the spirit will touch his heart and draw him in.

My favorite family in the ward, the Beauregard's, are coming to church again! We have been working with them a lot and they finally realize how much stronger their family is when they live the gospel and come to church. They love Elder Horito and I! They're one of the families I'll always stay in touch with after my mission. Brother Beauregard also wants to come to lessons with us which is really cool.

Funny moment of the week: Elder Horito sleep walks a lot! He wakes up about twice a week and teaches lessons to imaginary people. On Tuesday I woke up to him teaching the restoration to our closet door hahahaha! On Thursday I woke up to him explaining how happy he is to be serving the lord to his bed poll. Hahah and every time I get him to come to he says "Elder help me I have a problem!" Hahahahaha it's so funny and I just die laughing even though it's like 3:00am.

Message of the week: We had Zone Training Meeting this week and we got trained on a lot of different things but one that stuck out to me was that the Lord is always there to help us in regular life and in missionary life. Often we rely too much on ourselves and our capabilities and don't rely enough on heavenly help. The Lord is always there to help us out we just have to use our agency and ask. I've learned that over and over on my mission. We prayed every day for a new investigator when we had none...and now we have a lot of people we are teaching! Prayers are always answered...we just have to be humble enough to ask for help.

Love you all so much!!

Elder Jensen

We are truly being directed to people who want to listen!

January 4, 2016

Happy new year! Transfers were this week and Elder Horito and I are still together just as expected! We're pretty stoked about that! I've been out for almost 5 months now...kinda weird? Months take days and days take months it feels like.

We had an awesome lesson with our Farsi investigator Fatima this week. We taught her the restoration and things were coming out of Elder Horito's mouth and my mouth that we definitely didn't come up with ourselves. The spirit took over and helped us teach her simply but so powerfully. We asked her to read The Book of Mormon and pray about it and the things we had told her. She said she would but that she had such a good feeling inside when we taught her and that she knew it was the Holy Ghost telling her it was true. Now here's the bad news....she has to move soon and she won't be in our area anymore. We were so sad when we heard that!! That's part of a mission though...sometimes you're just there to start the process not finish it.

We also had an awesome lesson with Sam who walked into church last week! We had him over for dinner at Brother Giron's home for dinner. We taught the restoration to him as well and he was digging it! Brother Giron also shared his conversion story and that helped Sam a lot because he still has lots of questions and is worried about the switch but he's solid and hopefully the next lesson will help him really see how much he wants the gospel in his life.

We had another miracle this week. We Got a referral for Edward Felix and when we got to the address it was once again an apartment complex. We didn't have his apartment number so we figured we would just start knocking and try to find him. Second door we knocked on was his. He said his sister was a member and that he was actually really interested! We invited him to church and set up a lesson for this week. He actually came to church! And he stayed all three hours! He was participating in lessons and really enjoyed himself! We'll keep you updated on how the lesson goes!!

We gave away 4 Book of Mormon's this week! We are truly being directed to people who want to listen! Yesterday during knockout we ran into a man named Jose. He liked our message so much that he invited us over today at 4 to teach him! We're pretty excited to see how it goes! Also while we were emailing today a woman named Ogo from Africa came and talked to us about religion for a while. She said she got off at the wrong bus stop for s
ome reason so she just decided to come here and that when she saw us she felt like she needed to talk to us! She doesn't live in our area but she gave us all her info so we could send missionaries to her and we also gave her a Book of Mormon. We have really been focusing on prophets lately and the importance of having a living prophet today. People really cling to that message because they hear about the guidance we have and they want that for themselves! We are so blessed!

Message of the week: In Alma chapter 20 Ammon is sent to Middoni to deliver his brethren. He runs into king Lamoni's father and has a chance to kill him. King Lamoni's father offers half of his kingdom for his life to be spared. Two chapters later King Lamoni's father is taught about the gospel and is willing to give his entire kingdom to enter into the kingdom of god. He was willing to give more to enter into the kingdom of god than he was willing to give for his own life.A new year means new changes in our lives...are we willing to give up all of our bad, habits and worldly ways just like King Lamoni's father?

Love you all and hope you have a fantastic week!!

Elder Jensen

Elder Horito and I

Don't live life with a fishbowl on your head!

December 28, 2015

Hey Everyone! Merry Late Christmas!! I hope you all had an awesome time with your families and friends. We had an awesome week here in Encino...it was full of miracles! We picked up three new investigators this week which is so sick!

We got a referral for an Iranian couple named Fatima and Patrick. We went to their address and found out that they lived in an apartment complex with 209 apartments and  we had no idea which one they lived in. We checked the mailbox's for names but they didn't have any so we decided to leave. As we were walking out we turned a corner and literally ran into this woman who had just walked out of her apartment. We asked if she knew a Fatima or Patrick and she said "I'm Fatima". We couldn't believe it! A few seconds sooner or a few seconds later and we would have missed her! We ended up teaching her and her boyfriend and they were both super excited to talk with us! We have a return appointment this week and hopefully they want to keep meeting with us! The Lord knew we wouldn't be able to find them on our own so he provided a way...he's always got our backs.

On Wednesday night we decided to stop by a referral, John Kim, who was totally out of our way but it felt right. It was 8:00 and we hadn't eaten dinner yet so we were both like what the heck are we doing. We pulled up to his apartment complex and he ended up not being home so we were so confused as to why we felt like we needed to go there. We got in our car and started looking for somewhere to eat on our GPS when a lady carrying two big bags of groceries knocked on our window. She said she was diabetic and that she had been walking back from the store and that she felt like she was going to pass out if she walked any farther. She told us she had said a prayer that she would be led to someone who would drive her home and help her get her insulin asap. We were the only ones on this deserted street...so even though you're not supposed to drive anyone in your mission car how can you say no to that?! We told her to get in and we drove her home. Her name is Sandra and we are teaching her next week. She feels like it's a sign from God that he sent missionaries to help her so hopefully she feels the spirit when we teach her and will invite us back for another lesson!

Christmas as a missionary is a lot different than I'm used to! Not a bad kind of different though. It's pretty awesome because you get to focus on Christ and testify of him to others. Christmas time is also a time of softened hearts because we celebrate the saviors birth, so sharing the message of the gospel is a lot easier. People are more willing to listen and learn. On Christmas morning we woke up and opened presents. Then we meet up with the Sherman Oaks Elders and got breakfast at a bagel shop. We bought a lot of extra food though because there are a lot of homeless people around here. We took breakfast to a few of them and they were all so thankful. That was a pretty cool experience. Nothing makes you feel better inside than helping out someone in need. After that we went to a care center and visited with some of the people there that didn't have any family or friends to visit them. We stayed and chatted for a while and then left a Christmas message to help them all know that the Savior was born to help them with these exact trials they are going through. Then we went and Skyped our families!! That was SOOO weird but way fun! My siblings were both wearing all my clothes just like I expected! It was nice to catch up and remind them all how blessed we were to have a strong supportive family because not many people here have that. Then we visited some people Bishop Deakins asked us to check on. Overall a great Christmas! Hard being away from home though.

This Sunday we had another awesome miracle happen! We had a random guy walk in and ask to investigate the church!! His name is Sam Smith...not the Singer Sam Smith though. He's 37, Turkish and has lived here for about a year. He converted from Muslim to Christianity when he moved here and he wants to follow Christ. He went to all three hours of church and said he'll be back next week too! He loved how friendly the ward was and how we follow Christs teachings just like the Bible says. He told us he wants to be baptized because that's what Christ did.....we were pretty mind blown after that. We got his number and address and have an appointment to teach him tomorrow! So many people have been directed to us and it's all thanks to God. We don't give any of the credit to ourselves.

Message of the week: Don't live life with a fishbowl on your head. I heard a story this week about a certain type of coy fish. If you put the fish in a fishbowl it will grow to about 2 inches long. If you put the same fish in a bathtub it will grow to about 6 inches long. If you put it in a pond it will grow to about a foot long. If you put it in a pool it will grow up to 2 feet long. If you put the same exact fish in a lake it can grow to be 5 or 6 feet long. It's growth all depends on the conditions it is in. Sometimes we go through life with a fishbowl on our head. It restricts us from personal and spiritual growth. When we face trials or challenges in our life, or are given callings that we feel inadequate for it's usually our heavenly father throwing us in the lake so we can reach our full potential. Trust in him and let the saviors plan for you help you reach your full potential. Fishbowls are bad!

Well I love you all and hope you have a wonderful new year!
Elder Jensen

Christmas gifts from home!

Ugly sweater Christmas party in Encino 2015

Ugly sweater Christmas party with my new companion Elder Horito, My mission companion from the MTC Elder Phillips, and my first companion and Trainer in the mission field Elder Anderson.

What a great day!

December 25, 2015

We were able to Facetime with Elder Jensen today!  He is so happy.  Best part of our day!!