This week has been a rough one!

September 14, 2015

This week has been a rough one!

We didn't have much luck with many of our investigators, everyone was either busy or out of town so we only taught a few lessons. It's really disappointing when you work super hard and not much comes from it. It's definitely taught me to be patient and humble! I'm loving it out here and continue to learn so much!! I'm really growing as a person which is awesome. I miss home a ton but it's just something you have to deal with and try to ignore.

So here's a little about our week. We taught three lessons, our first one was to Carla Salinas. She hasn't been making a ton of progress and has been having a hard time understanding the Book of Mormon because the wording is a little tricky. We just taught her a Book of Mormon Lesson, which is where we just read a chapter with her and explain the things she doesn't understand. This has really helped her better understand the wording and has made her more confidant that she can continue reading on her own. She's still set on being baptized on October 11th which is awesome!! I just hope Elder Anderson doesn't get transferred out before then! Also Carla's  younger sister has started to sit in on the lessons. Before we started coming over she wasn't interested at all but now she's showing interest and said she wants to learn more!! It really goes to show how important big siblings examples are...they have such an impact through their actions.

Our next lesson was with Aaron (the Jewish man). He was really set on being baptized last week but then his sister came and visited with him. We don't know exactly what she said but he did a complete 180. He no longer thinks he needs to be baptized and doesn't think he needs to quit smoking (even though he coughs up a lung every time we go over there). We taught him more about the word of wisdom and he just pushed it aside and said he was doing ok. We left and we were both just crushed because we tried our best but it wasn't enough...he still wants us to come back though so I guess it could be worse. He's had a really rough life and has struggles with drug addiction, war injuries, and deaths in his family. I have so much Christ like love for him and just wish he could see how happy the gospel could make him, how it could fix all the problems in his life, and how it could reunite him with his family some day. We're not giving up so we'll see how the next few weeks go.
Our last lesson was with Danial. He's 14 and loves golf and soccer and is really shy so it's nice that we have common interests to talk about to relieve some of his stress. He's always wondered about religion and kind of has a Joseph smith story of his own. He checked out a lot of churches and none of them felt right, something was missing. They always told him not to look into the Mormons so he decided he would. He referred himself to the missionaries and now we're teaching him! He loves it and even at 14 he can recognize all the truths of the gospel have been restored to the earth. He has a baptismal date of October 25th.

Stake conference was also this week!! On our way there we pulled up next to a big Samoan in a Subaru WRX and started revving our engine and he did the same. We were going to have a little drag race 😎 which probably wasn't a good idea but missionaries need to have fun too! He looked over at us and got a super scared look on his face which really confused us We didn't know people were that scared of Mormon missionaries!! The light turned green and we peeled off the line and he didn't even move. Elder Anderson and I just looked at each other and then it hit us...he thought we were cops!!! We're driving a ford fusion and we're both in suits, white shirts, and ties hahaha. It's a common mistake here in California!

Knock out was good this week! We knocked about 600 doors, 120 answered, and 6 were interested. I know that sounds depressing but the worth of every soul is great in the eyes of god. Thanks for all the prayers coming our way!

Also my companions parents are hanging out with my parents?  They went to dinner last week and talk all the time apparently! I thought that was kind of cool! I miss you all and hope everything is going good for all of you!!

Elder Jensen

Some crazy stuff happened this week!

September 7, 2015

Hey Everyone!!

Some crazy stuff happened this week!! We met with our Jewish investigator Aaron this week and taught him the word of wisdom. He said he's going to quit smoking so that he can be baptized by the 25th of October!! It's been hard for him so far but we're working with him and introducing members of the ward to him so that he has a support system. We picked him up some Sunday clothes from the thrift store we do our service at every week so now he has everything he needs! He was really worried about coming last week because he wants people to see him in his best so I hope this takes some of the pressure off!

We had a huge mission training this week and It was all focused on the Book of Esther! I really learned so much about my purpose out here. For those of you that don't know about Esther she was a woman from biblical times that saved her people from being killed because of her faith, courage, and loyalty to the Lord. I related that to my mission. As a missionary we're asked to be faithful to the promptings of the spirit all the time and I learned that if we do so we can bless so many peoples lives and many lives to come. I also learned that we need to be courageous. If we're not courageous and talk to that guy walking his dog or the woman getting her mail just because we're afraid to get rejected or yelled at again we could miss out on potential opportunities to bless people. That's definitely something I need to work on this week because I hate getting yelled. One thing my trainer taught me to do is just walk away and laugh because they have no idea what they're missing out on. I think it's crazy how people can overlook the fact that we took two years out of our lives to help them and get mad at us for caring about them. I've been really struggling to love the people here because they definitely don't love us but I know that every night when I get home I have a proud family at home, proud friends, and a proud savior. That's all that matters. I also learned that when I was in heaven I promised certain people that I would find them and teach them. I know for a fact that I'm out here for a reason and that there are people waiting for me. I'm going to be loyal to that promise I made and I'm going to work my butt off to be a blessing to those people.

I also learned about the three emotions of missionary work but it really applies to everything in life. The three emotions are
1. Feeling like you have to do something
2. Feeling like you need to do something
3. Wanting to do something.
In order to serve at our full potential we really need to want to serve others out of love and charity. That's been my goal this week is to really want to be charitable towards others even when they reject you.

FUN FACT!!! We found maggots in one our kitchen drawers this weekend! We were led to them by the terrible smell in our apartment. The missionaries from two transfers ago left potatoes in a drawer and they were all rotten and nasty. So naturally, Elder Anderson and I being Eagle Scouts, made a flamethrower and torched them.

​Elder Anderson was a fire fighter before he came on his mission so we were totally fine!! There was a pitcher of water near by. We spent the next hour cleaning all the bugs out and dumped bleach all over so we could feel sort of safe from disease and tapeworms.

That's pretty much our week so far!! We're working hard! Thanks for all the support !!!

Quote of the week "Nothing easy is good and nothing good is easy"-anonymous
-Elder Jensen

​Also I found a golf club in the apartment!!! Super blessed for that haha!

Flight to California and First week in San Fernando

September 2, 2015

Hey Fam!!!

Just a few important things real quick. P-days are on Mondays but this week got switched because we had a mission wide conference. My address is

17346 Chatsworth #104
Granada Hills, CA 91344

Send packages to the mission home because they'll get stolen from our area (super sketchy area) But you can send letters straight to me!

    Ok here's how my week went.
Tuesday Morning we woke up at 2:00 am and got ready to leave by three. We took trax to the airport and  got on the plane at 8 which made me so mad because we could have slept for at least another 2 hours hahaha. They flight wasn't bad but we had a connection flight in Tacoma Seattle. On the Flight from Seattle I sat next to a 69 year old woman named Marissa who had an abusive childhood and blamed it all on god. She said that she's tried to understand why those things happened to her so I started to explain the concept of agency and how God couldn't take that away from us even if he wanted to step in and stop what was happening to her. Then I went into the atonement and explained how Christ suffered every pain and sorrow she ever experienced when he was in the garden. I told her that he did that for her on a very personal level and that because of that sacrifice he made she could find peace of mind and feel healed emotionally. She really grabbed onto that and then started asking tons of questions about our church and why I felt like I needed to go teach people about it for two years. I told her it was for reasons just like this. I wanted people to feel the happiness and comfort that I felt through living the gospel. I wrote a note to her in the front of a Book of Mormon I had in my bag and told her that this book is full of answers to life's questions and would bring her peace. She said she would read it and email me with any questions. I don't know if she'll join the church but I hope I comforted her and I know I planted a seed .
    When we got to the airport and stepped off the plane it was 114 degrees outside!! Everyone was sweating a ton except me because I don't really have much to sweat off hahahahaha. They took us to a hotel and told us to sleep for 12 hours so we could go to work the next day. I was so excited!!! It was my last time sleeping in for two years and man it felt nice!

    The next day we got assigned to our trainers. Everyone said you want Elder Anderson to train you because he's a hard worker but is still so much fun to be with. Well I got Elder Anderson and they were right he is awesome!! We have so much fun together but get a ton of work done out here! We went to meet with a potential investigator named Carla. She's 18 and is really interested in the church! We taught her about the restoration and she loved it so I just straight up asked her if she would get baptized and she said yes! My companions jaw just dropped because it was my first day, first lesson, and I already had a baptismal commitment haha. Now I'm known around the mission as the guy who got a baptism on his first day. Crazy things happen when you listen to the spirit!

    Thursday sucked! We had weekly planning which took up most of our morning followed by knock out. Knock out is a mission wide thing where we knock doors every day from 4-6. It sucks extremely bad in this heat but we pick up investigators this way so its worth is. At 3:55 we pray that we'll find people to teach and be safe so if anyone else wants to join in at 3:55 feel free to!

    The ward is super good to us! Not as good as my home ward though! We are usually get fed around 5 times a week which is awesome! On Sunday I got to meet all of them and they all offered to help us with anything we need!

      On Friday we meet with a 60 year old man named Aaron. He's Jewish and Didn't believe that Christ was the Messiah so we showed him prophesies of Christ in the old testament coming true in the new testament. By the end of the lesson he believed that Christ was the Messiah and asked for a Book of Mormon and invited us to come back. Well we met with him again yesterday and he was already half way through the Book of Mormon! He  said that he felt the spirit as he read and believes that the church is true. So I asked him if he would commit to be baptized by October 25th and he said yes!! It was such a cool experience but there was one thing he was worried about and it's quitting smoking. He smokes a lot...we leave our lessons reeking of smoke because he smokes during our lessons. He knows that he'll be able to get through it with the lords help so pray for him and pray that we'll be able to help him!. He also committed to come to church but didn't have any church clothes so we're picking some up for him when we do our service at the thrift store.

Well I'm out of time! There's so much more I wish I could tell you guys but It'll have to twait till next week. The mission is hard but it's already shaping me into a better person! Thanks so much for all of the support and love that I have felt!! Miss you all and hope all is well back in SLC!

Elder Jensen

Flying into Washington then on to California.

Drew's first night in California with Elder Phillips from the MTC, August 25, 2015.  This photo was sent by a woman in the hotel who happened to see these two Elders at breakfast.  She is a missionary mom and has a daughter on a mission in Florida.  She asked them if she could send their moms a picture!  I was so greatful!!

New missionaries in the San Fernando mission today August 26, 2015

Meeting President and Sister Henrie

August 27, 2017

Dear Brother and Sister Jensen,

Elder Jensen arrived this week in the Great California San Fernando Mission.  President Henrie and I are excited he is here.  Elder Jensen has received his companion and has been assigned to his first area.  All is well.  We look forward to serving with your son as we join with him in the great purpose of inviting others to come unto Christ.

In addition, we would invite you to follow the Great California San Fernando Mission on our Facebook page.  You can find us on Facebook at CASF Mission 2015-2018.  Check in often to see pictures of our mission activities.

Thank you for raising a righteous son who is willing to consecrate himself to serving the Lord.  We will take good care of him.

Love,

Sister Henrie

Week Two in the MTC

August 21, 2015

Hey everyone!!

 This week started off pretty normal! We had our usual 5 hour classes and averaged about 6 hours of sleep so It's not too bad. We've been doing a ton of role playing and practice teaching, and me and my companion aren't too bad at it! We got our first real investigator this week and we have taught her 3 of the discussions so far! She really wants to know about where we came from and where we are going so we've been teaching her a lot about the plan of salvation! In our second lesson I brought up the Priesthood and told her that I would get blessings before school and that they always brought me comfort! At the end of the lesson she said that when she came to BYU her family disowned her because they hate Mormons and that she was working 3 jobs so she could try and pay for college and she was super nervous that her grades would fall through because of all the time she spent at work. She had never heard of the Priesthood but she said something about how I talked about it made it sound so right and she knew she needed a blessing. So me and Elder Castillo told her that we would give her a blessing of council and comfort next lesson (These blessings don't need consecrated oil for those of you that don't know). We fasted all day and tried to make sure that we would say everything the spirit would tell us to. The next day before we left to meet with Miranda Elder Castillo left his Scripture case on his desk (with his oil in it) because we didn't need oil for our blessing, and I left my mission hand book on my desk (with the blessings in it) because we knew the blessing that we were going to give by heart. As we were leaving the class we both just stopped and looked at each other...and at the same time we said, "We meed to bring oil and the handbook. We didn't know why but we grabbed them just kind of forgot about it! We got to the lesson and Miranda told us that she had been getting really bad migraines and sometimes couldn't pronounce words properly. Elder Castillo pulled out his oil, I pulled out my handbook, and we just stared at each other for a sec. We asked if we could give her a blessing to heal her instead and she said that it was an answer to her prayers because she couldn't afford to go to a specialist and get checked out. We quickly looked at what we were supposed to say in the handbook and gave her the blessing. Now I was freaking out because I had never given a bless before, but after the blessing she said that I said things in there that were exactly what she was praying to hear and just started bawling. I don't remember anything I said but I do remember using super big words that aren't in my vocabulary because I'm a pretty simple speaker. I know that the spirit spoke through me yesterday during that blessing and I know that this church is true. God knew that she needed a healing blessing before we went to the lesson and he made sure we were prepared to help her through the nudging of the holy ghost. I never thought I would see miracles happen here in the MTC but it just goes to show you that when you listen to the spirit and make sure you are doing what is right you'll be able to help others when you least expect it.

Now for some funny stuff!
I have been drinking orange juice for every meal because its my favorite. At home I'd have orange juice a couple times a day but I took it to a whole new level here. I'm not 100% sure if its super hydrating but my urine's a healthy color so I think I'm ok...wish me luck though. I also got my first haircut here in the MTC.......lets just say I could have done a better job with a butter knife....that's not a joke. Not super happy with it but I'll live with it. Just hope my mission President doesn't think I'm crazy when I get to San Fernando next Tuesday!

Everyone in my district loves my family and my girlfriend so much because I've gotten four packages full of food, (answer to our prayers). You know you're lucky to have people in your life when people who have never met them before love them so much. Thanks to everyone who has sent me packages and letters!! They help more than you know!

I have come to realize that this mission might not be the best two years of my life, but it will be the best two years for my life. And because of that it will be the best two years of my life. I miss you all and hope everything is going great in Salt Lake! Keep me updated on what's happening!

-Elder Jensen

First week in the MTC

August 14, 2015

Hey everyone!! 

It's been a long week so far! But I'm glad it's finally P-Day!!

Day 1: It sucks soooo bad!!! I got my companion... His name is Elder Castillo and he's from Chandler Arizona. He's a really cool guy and I'm lucky he's my companion because our district is rough! They threw us in a classroom for 6 hour but it felt like a year I'm serious. One of the Elders in our district is semi autistic but we work with him and are super patient with him. He has the strongest testimony and it's so cool that he's serving a mission still. I feel like it's kind of pointless for me to be here because I know everything we're learning because of my wonderful parents, ward, mission prep classes, and seminary but its ok I'm still learning how to better connect and teach with the spirit! The showers are freezing cold which is awful because I basically get hypothermia every time because we all know I need to put on a few pounds. The food is good though so hopefully that will help a little bit. Our trainers are awesome and really know how to work with us teenage kids. It's a huge change and sacrifice but other peoples eternal happiness is more important than my temporary happiness and comfort.

Day 2: I MISS HOME!!!! I wanted to come home today more than ever because I miss my family, friends, and girlfriend all sooo much. But in district meeting we all shared a  little bit about ourselves and realized how much easier my journey here and in life has been than others in my district. Two of the sister Missionaries are the only members in their families and got disowned before they came to the MTC. One Elder is partially autistic and and struggles but we are really patient and work with him. Another Elder only has one arm and struggles to function every day and another Sister worked 3 jobs to help pay for college at the Y and then come on a mission. After hearing all that I realized how selfish and ungrateful I have been for such a wonderful life! I am so blessed to have made it here with perfect health and a supportive family. I got to see Dallin today and I guess he has an appointment at the barbershop here to shave his head?  Anyway he told me it gets easier and that you've just gotta make it to Sunday. 6 of the 10 kids in my district are going to Salt Lake so they just all ask me what places are fun and where to eat so I'm glad I can help them realize that Utah isn't as bad as they all think.

Day 3: We had an amazing lesson today on teaching the people not the lesson. You can't just force information down their throats you have to teach them stories and principles that they can relate to and help them better feel the Spirit that way. It was new to some of the Sisters and Elders but I've always been able to relate to people and hold good conversations so it's easy to me. I've seen the power of prayer a ton lately! I've been missing you all so much and I've been praying for comfort and reassurance. It's crazy how often I'll find the perfect scripture to calm my nerves or motivate me right after I pray. But today something pretty cool happened...I was going to lunch and really needed some motivation so I prayed for some help. No Joke one minute later Brig walks around the corner and said exactly what I needed to hear! Seeing a familiar face made it seem less foreign and more like home! P-days are great!! Less classes and free time from 1:00-5:00 pm so look for emails from me around then. If you catch me at the right time we can probably chat back and forth for a while.

Well guys I'm signing off for the day but I want you all to know that the Gospel is great and that true happiness is found through living its teachings. I've experienced that first hand. My testimony has Grown soo much and I'm so blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life! I miss you guys and appreciate everything everyone did for me. Thanks for your support!! We got the mail for the first time today because we just got our district leaders so sorry if I haven't gotten back to you! Love you all and if you ever get tired of hearing from me just let me know and I'll take you off the list! I promise it wont offend me.  I know how repetitive these emails can get! Also I'd love to hear from all of you!

Elder Jensen

The Provo Temple on the day I entered the MTC, August 12, 2015.

At the MTC with my family, being welcomed by Brigham Jackson.

Dallin Holding and I at the MTC