MTC Overtime: Week 12 - Missionary Miracle

 Well this was a very exciting week! We had conference, had a day trip to immigrations in Lima, and have some news on the visa situation. I hope you had a great weekend feeling the spirit during conference and found something that you can work on or apply into your life!


I honestly can't remember what happened on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday last week, so I'll begin with Thursday. My entire zone, about 23 of us, loaded onto a bus and drove about an hour into Lima to go to immigrations to work on our visas. The fate of pretty much every missionary at the CCM depended on this appointment going well. If we wouldn't have made progress and gotten photos taken, it's very likely most people here would be reassigned. It's possibly the last group still could, but things are looking up. We all got our photos after waiting around for 4 or 5 hours. About 7 or 8 of us, not me, however, were called up saying they were going to go back to Lima on Friday to do the final part of their visas. They must've been pre-approved because it was completely random. My companion Elder Haymond was one of them. It's very likely they'll get their visas sometime this week. However, Elder Zaitzeff, Elder Whitehead, and I apparently had a mistake in the dates with some of our forms so we have to get those fixed before we can get our visas. It's very possible us three will be here a little while longer than everyone else in our zone. This is honestly a miracle. Just a week ago we thought there was a big possibility we could all be reassigned in the states. Presidente and Provo were thinking it was the only option. We were told that the entire Mexico MTC was fasting for our appointment to go well on Thursday. Hearing Quentin L. Cook choke up about missionaries in conference also hit us all super hard. Since he's head of the mission department, if anyone knows about our situation, it's him. We know that our situation was part of his talk, even if he didn't mention it directly and that his message was meant for us. I'm so thankful for all the fasting and prayers that have been given for me and the rest of the Peru CCM so we can serve our missions in our original callings.

Lima is crazy! As we were standing in line a little boy with an afro came up and gave us all handshakes and some dude set up a knife-sharpening tool in the middle of the street and started sharpening knives. We were told not to speak any Spanish at immigrations because they would put us with a person who only spoke Spanish, which would have made it even harder because it's already hard to understand English through those microphones. It's such a busy city with seemingly no traffic laws. People cross whenever they want and just cut in all the time. I'm surprised I didn't see some sort of wreck. Many of the old buildings here look so cool, almost castle-like. I didn't get to see the president's house, but the group who went on Friday did and they showed me pictures and it does look like a castle. Morris took us all to a restaurant called Villa Chicken. While we were waiting outside the restaurant, I was looking out towards the street and Elder Sorensen was looking into the restaurant. A man in a black and red jacket caught my eye that was walking on the street. I don't know what exactly came over me, but I had the feeling that he meant trouble and was about to do something bad. I thought he was going to try to take someone's bag, but instead he just came up and shoved Elder Sorensen! He stumbled into me. The guy just walked off. I guess Sorensen can say he's been attacked on his mission now! It was really crazy and I guess I should expect stuff like this to happen a lot more in a country like this.

Anyway, Villa Chicken was so good! It's definitely the best food I've had since I've gotten here. The inside of the restaurant is so cool. It had slits in the roof and had so much vegetation. It was quite spacious too. There was a mural of the Creation of Adam right above where we sat. Everyone gets the same thing there. They cut a rotisserie chicken into four parts and we each grabbed a part. It was served with french fries and a spicy sauce we mixed with mayo. We also had frozen lemonade as the drink, which was very refreshing. I was honestly still hungry after we finished, but it was absolutely delicious. 

This week I experienced my first earthquake while in Peru. It was at about 8 or so and I felt a rumbling beneath me. It was quite small, but an earthquake nonetheless. It only lasted about 8 seconds. The next night I felt another one at about 11:10. It was smaller than the previous one, but lasted a bit longer. Everyone else was asleep, so I experienced that one solo.

For general conference we all gathered in the auditorium. Last week we watched a devotional from Elder Bednar about a way to take notes and continue to study conference talks after they've been given. I used his method which involved recording each principle, invitation, and promised blessings each speaker gave. As I expected, conference is so much better now. Not because it changed, but because I did. I'm no longer lying down with a blanket and an excessive amount of snacks, (although some people still had both). I was up and ready to take notes. Seeing the connections between all the talks and how they mostly spoke in relation to about 5 or 6 broad topics was amazing and shows that the Lord speaks to us through his prophets. I loved the emphasis on staying on the covenant path, missionary work, what the church is and what it stands for, and maintaining spirituality and positive qualities. Being a missionary at the time these talks were given was extraordinary. Elder Cook's, Nelson's, and Ballard's all spoke to me as a missionary. I hope that everyone of you currently preparing to serve or thinking about serving chooses to do so. The Lord needs you on His side and you will bring about so much good, no matter where you are called.

Also, Elder Sorensen compiled a list of about 76 locations where temples could be built, based on the research of others online. He only got about half of them right, because who was expecting Montpelier, Idaho? We had a strong feeling one would be called in Peru, whether it be Iquitos, Piura, or Cusco. There was quite a loud cheer when Cusco was announced, and a lot of head turning when the Barcelona Spain temple was called because Presidente Jackson and Hermana Jackson served as the mission president of the Madrid mission a while ago. It's so exciting that the work is moving forward and so many more people can make and keep sacred covenants with God in his holy temples! The emphasis put on that was also great.

Update: A few things just changed as I was writing this. 13 missionaries here just got their visas, 10 of which being from my zone. Both of my companions got theirs. Haymond is leaving tomorrow morning and Sorensen is leaving on Wednesday. The other hermana going to my mission, hermana Baird, is leaving with him. It seems like those who got approved were somewhat random. Some people who went to immigrations on Friday got theirs while others didn't, and plenty who didn't go in that group got theirs. The others who went on Friday should be getting theirs in a few days. I didn't get mine because of the messed up dates, but apparently that's the reason the rest of us didn't, not just me, Whitehead, and Zaitzeff. We've been told that it should take about 10 days give or take to get it fixed. That means I'll probably have only one more week here! It seems so strange and surreal because this has honestly become my home. Going to immigrations felt like a simple day trip of vacation. It'll also be so weird having a new companion(s) for a week. I don't know what's going to happen, and I don't think I'm going to be prepared for the tears, even though I'm not much of a crier.

Update to an update: All remaining members of the older group and the remaining 4 who were in that friday group have gotten their visas. That leaves 8 of my district that will still be here on Wednesday. Also sone of the younger group had a surprise visit to immigrations today and some should be getting there's very soon, probably even before me.

This was quite the week! Congrats to those who can actually read through all of my emails. Everyone at the CCM comments on how I write essays every single week. I hope you continue to listen and read to conference talks and make these primary focuses in our lives for the next six months! Hopefully I'll be writing to you from Trujillo very soon!

Elder Jensen

1. Me at the temple
2. On the streets
3. A cool building I needed a selfie with
4. Villa Chicken
5. My conference stash compared to Sorensen's
6./8. On the bus
7. The January Zone
9. The rainbow houses on the mountain
10. Pulled out my shades












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