MTC Week 4: The Lumberjack

This week was a little tougher than the last few, mainly because my stomach hurt the entire week, and still does a little bit today. I don't know whether my body was just adjusting to the food or I caught a bug, but it was kind of hard to focus because of the pain. It didn't hurt the entire time, but it acted up a lot after meals and in the morning and night. I think it's starting to go away, so hopefully I'll feel better soon. There was also a sickness that went around this week that wasn't Covid, but I don't think it's what I got because I had mine before all of them as well as after, and I didn't throw up like the rest of them.


A new batch of missionaries arrived this week, a group of Latinos and about 26 Americans. I thought I was a somewhat tall guy, (I'm 6' and a half inch), but these new elders are huge! Almost all of them have a good 1-2 inches on me at least. It doesn't help that most of them, including the new Hermanas, already seem pretty fluent in Spanish. Many of them bore their testimonies in sacrament meeting in Spanish. The one who opted to speak in English also said that she chose to speak in English for everyone to understand her message. I'm not worrying too much about this though, because I know I'm learning the language and will be able to speak it well.

In addition to the stomach bug, everyone in my district is getting pretty drained everyday. It's pretty hard to focus, especially for the last two and a half hours of classes after dinner. I guess we're all just done with 10 hours of class a day and then having to complete assignments and memorize phrases that keep stacking up in the short amount of personal time we get each day. We're so drained that we just want to get directly to bed after class even though we have work to do. I'm also getting a few bug bites when I exercise in the morning which I don't feel until later. That's just another thing I'll have to get used to down here.

Despite the days seeming to take forever, the weeks are starting to go by pretty quickly. I can only wonder what being in the field will be like when I get swept away in the work. I'm also doing pretty well with memorizing. So far I've memorized the mission purpose, the first vision, all the phrases in our Spanish vocabulary book that were assigned, and Moroni 10:4-5. One of my teachers actually challenged me to see who could memorize that one faster, me in Spanish and her in English while everyone else memorized the first vision. I had it memorized in 3 days and she hadn't even started yet, so I guess you can say I destroyed my teacher at this competition. I also memorized 2 Nephi 9:34, which is "Ay del embustero, por que sera arrojado al infierno." Just a little fun one that my teacher laughed at when I recited it to her.

Nothing new with the food because it was just chicken and rice. Pretty much everyday. It was still delicious though. Although we did have a bowl of jello cubes inside some sweet and condensed milk that was pretty good. I had my first bottle of Inca Kola this week. It tastes line bubble gum, just like everyone said. I think it was pretty good. Elder Tobler also showed me how to tie a new knot for my tie since I was tired of mine being lopsided. I've been loving it now that I have it memorized.

I was also able to go to the Lima Temple this week. It was a wonderful experience. We got headphones that translated the endowment for us from Spanish to English. The temple was beautiful and looks exactly like the Boise temple with the main building and the spires. Upon seeing how big Lima actually is, I'm so glad the city is getting another temple soon. I'm glad that more people will be able to experience the temple closer to their home in this large and bustling city.

My companionship was assigned to teach Priesthood meeting this past Sunday. Our topic was on Preach my Gospel chapter 2, which is about improving your studying skills in preparation to teach others. We prepared a great lesson that included a lot of discussion time. A lot of great insight was shared. We got a lot of handshakes afterward and were complimented on our lesson quite a bit. I think the most important thing to know about our personal study is that we really need to go in with a purpose in mind. If we don't do that, we won't remember anything we read and our ability to teach people will diminish. If we put in the effort and research with a purpose, whether it be to research a certain topic or story, we will have the spirit with us and we'll be able to use what we learned in our lessons. I'm going to do better with this so I can have an arsenal of scriptures and stories ready to share for whatever and whomever I'm teaching. "Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do," (2 Nephi 32:3).

That was my week! It was a little tougher to get through than the last ones, but I'm hoping this week will begin to perk up a bit. It's pretty warm down here so I hope you don't freeze back in the US. I hope you have a great week!

Elder Jensen

1. Inca Kola
2. The Lima Temple
3. New tie knot
4. The hammock bed
5. The CCM
6. Flowers







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