Dear Family and Friends,
Well, it's been a very tiring week! But the Lord is blessing us. We've been doing so much finding, which in this area is just tracting. We've had a couple of miracles! Last week we tracted this street and we GQ-ed a kid called Jago. He wasn't interested at the time but we gave him a mormon.org card and invited him to check it out. Well, later this week, we got a headquarter referral with the name of Jago and he had requested a BOM. So, we went to the address, knocked the door and his Mum answers. She told us she was really busy and was about the close the door when we said we were looking for her son. Then she just opened up to us and was really nice and kept apologizing for turning us away. Haha. Well, she then called her son's phone and we got to talk to him. He told us to call him in a couple weeks after school finished then we could come by.
Well, we continued knocking in that area and we met a girl called Christy. She wasn't very interested at first but the more we got talking she started opening up and told her about a friend she has that's a mormon. She said she always seems happy so maybe it has something to do with her faith. Her friend lives only about 20 minutes away so we got a return appointment with Christy and she said she would call her friend to see if she wanted to come for the appt as well! Well, later in the week, we were talking with one of the members and he asked us if we had met a girl called Christy. We said yes, and he told us that his sister is her friend and that Christy had gotten in contact with her and she is planning to come to the appt! Talk about planting seeds and being a good example! :)
Yesterday we were knocking around this little village called Pantside. We me a family on the way home who have two little kids and just got married about 10 weeks ago. They are super nice and said we could come back so we will be going round this evening.
We're also working with a LA lady called Lynn. She is really bitter at the moment about some things that happened in the past with some of the members and she struggles to read and pray and come to church. We visited her this week and she is going to be really tough! But the good news is that she came to church this week and we'll be going to see her tonight as well.
Saturday we were asked to come and present a little class about missionary work to the Young Women for their personal progress. Most of the YW in this ward are converts and the only members in their family! It's so different than what it's like in the states and it's so challenging for these girls. There were only three that showed up. Well, we stuck around afterwards for lunch and the YW president pulled us aside. She told us about some of these challenges these girls are facing and how horrible it has been for them. I definitely feel that the world is more wicked here than it is in Idaho/Utah, and it is becoming more and more apparent that these are the last days. My heart breaks for this girls and I feel we are here largely to help them and be an example to them. Many of them have never even seen Sister Missionaries before! It is heartbreaking to see where they are and all they have to go through and know that if they just kept the commandments they would be happy. But of course everyone has to go through their own learning experiences.
In many of our interactions with people, we get the same question: If there is a God, why do all the bad things happen in the world? Wouldn't he stop it? It's frustrating because we hear that question probably twenty times every day and it's difficult to give someone an answer that will make sense in a short conversation. It seems that everyone wants the answers but not badly enough to get down on their knees in humility and ask God. No one can know of spiritual truths without prayer. I can feel the influence of the adversary more here than I have before in any of my previous areas. Satan has a great hold on the hearts of the people and it is always linked to pride. It is only when we're humble that we can learn. The thing that keeps me going is knowing that my hope and faith is centered on Jesus Christ. The end is near and everything that is unfair in life CAN be made right through the atonement. I feel very strongly that angels surround us and protect us every day and that this is the most important work any of us will every do! I plead with each of you to stand up and defend your beliefs. Stay in Lord's territory and stand up for truth. Be in the world but not of the world, because as soon as you step onto the devil's territory, you no longer have the spirit and you are under his influence. I testify that you will be protected and strengthened as you choose to do what's right and follow in the Saviour's footsteps.
I love you all dearly and pray for you daily! All my love,
Sister Jensen
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