Missions, Marriage and Drunk People- May 30, 2016

So, this week was great. It was literally just great. Everything about it was great. Tuesday went great, we taught a bunch of times and had some way awesome lessons. Wednesday was kind of poopy if I'm being truly honest. Most of the programs we had set up dogged us and it was just very meh. Thursday however was great. Mahala and Elvine got married!! He has been off of cigarettes for about 2 or 3 weeks now. Friday we taught them for the last time as members of the church, and on Saturday they were baptized. We actually had 6 baptisms on Saturday, so it was a really great day. Then Sunday was great! We didn't have quite so many investigators at church, mostly because they were all members at that point. Then on Sunday we went out tracking and it was way fun. You see Sunday was mother's day here (Love you momma). I don't know if I've told you yet, but Malagasies look for any and all excuses to throw a party and get hammered drunk. I'm talking multiple people passed out in the street drunk, and that's on every street. Anyways included in all of those parties is Mother’s Day. I got in a big shouting match with this drunk lady in the street because she just blamed us for all of the problems with Madagascar. People tend to do that a lot, just because we're white. Anyways it was all in good fun and a bunch of people were laughing and stuff because she was way drunk. We did find some way cool families on Sunday though, and I'm really excited to see where they go. So that's Madagascar for the week! Love you all, Happy Birthday Bryken,
Elder Jensen

 

The Church Rocks!

Dear everybody,

I just thought I would let you know, in case you didn't already, that our church rocks. This week was great, also a little weird. We had a lot of splits and things, so I only actually worked with Elder Coleman twice this whole week. We worked together on Tuesday, which was fun. We had a wedding for a couple of investigators!! They moved into the jungle on Wednesday and won't be back for like 2 months... Bummer. Wednesday started off good. Then right about the time we went to leave we ran into a problem. Elder Ulrich had an ingrown toenail which has slowly been getting worse. I don't know if you remember him but he was one of my comps in the MTC. Anyways, me and my other MTC comp Elder Nelson performed surgery and just amputated his foot. Not really, but we fixed it as best as we could. Anyways he took the day for some rest but we went on half day splits  so that their area didn't die completely. Then Thursday was the same but they split with the other elders down here instead. Friday I was on a split with Elder Maluleka because we had BAP INTERVIEWS!! 5  of them!!! Mahala finally got over his cigarettes and Elvine is in the jungle right now getting her birth certificate so that they can get married and baptized this week!! Way stoked for that one. They all passed and are really really excited. Saturday we had another split for another bap interview, this one for Selmans' sister. Their parents still aren't married yet but she doesn't want to wait any more so she is going to go ahead and get baptized on Saturday. Sunday was good, we had a lot of investigators at church, but Elder Coleman was really sick, so I went on a split with Elder Koplin, my trainer, and we worked half days in both areas. All in all, it was a great week and I am way too excited for these baptisms coming up. Life is great, love you all,

Elder Jensen

May 16, 2016

Well everybody, it was just another week in paradise. It actually started out a little rough. Tuesday ended real poopy. Wednesday I started to feel really sick towards the end of the day. We got up Thursday and weren't sure if I was going to be able to work, but I dragged my but out the door anyways. Boy am I glad I did. We found a way awesome family that is already reading the Book of Mormon every day and are just way awesome. The the week continued and we just kept finding way awesome people. We found 3 or 4 new investigator families that are way cool and taught some really awesome lessons. I think my favorite was a guy named Naina and his family. He is literally one of the all around best people that I have met since being in country. He just cares so much about other people and it's really, really cool to see. He is a teacher here and also coaches a club soccer team. He is just a great guy and really interested in the church. The only problem is that he is on like the high council of his Lutheran church, but I think that it will work out. He says he will come to church next week he was just busy yesterday. There were so many other cool people but he was just a way cool guy. Also, a little bit of bad news. There was a fire here in Fort D last Tuesday at about 3 am. 106 Homes were burned down to absolutely nothing. Literally all that is left is a couple of cement pads that We’re underneath some of the houses. The houses of 2 recent converts were burned, and one's sister died in the fire. They were both from the other branch, but it's been really great to see the other members here come together to help out. We actually went this morning and helped with the cleanup so that they can rebuild. So very grateful for the gospel. Love you all so much,

Elder Jensen

Mother's Day May 9, 2016

Happy mother's day!!! Love you momma. I just skyped home last night so I'm probably going to keep this email short. Nobody reads this thing anyways right? Haha things are going great here. We had a good solid week of work and life goes on. There should be baptisms coming up here in about 3 weeks. A few of our families should be getting married this week as well! Love you all.

Elder Jensen

May 2, 2016- President Foote Visit

Dear everybody,

Things are still going good here in Mada. Check that. Things are going great here, we had an amazing week. As far as work goes we kinda got pooped on, but it was a way uplifting week just the same. You know why? President Foote came down!! He was here for a few days and just left this morning. The church here in Fort D is still just 2 branches, not even a district yet. Because of that, President Foote has all the keys to the Melchizedek priesthood here and basically has to run the church here. He usually tries to come down once a transfer. This transfer we had interviews with him. It was just great to have a sit down conversation with such an amazing man. I learned a lot about a lot of things and it was just a great time. Then we had a baptism on Saturday!! And on top of that, President brought a mission call with him for a sister here! They get mailed to him because it is such a remote place so he just brought it down with him. She has been called to serve in the coolest mission in the world. Right here in Madagascar!! It was just a great day. Church went great, we had 24 investigators show up, most of whom were fairly new people. Then to top it all off, we spent the morning at a lemur park with president. Just a way great all around week. I will make sure to include some pictures next week, but my computer is being dumb right now. Love you all,

Elder Jensen