Week 36: Unsalted Saltines

 Well this week was a jumble of some pretty great moments and a little disappointment. But of course next week is going to be great and I trust in the Lord and the spirit!


On Wednesday we had our multizone conference. They had it split so half the zones met on Tuesday and the rest met on Wednesday. We listened to some great talks from President and Hermana Hiatt about the atonement of Jesus Christ. As representatives of Jesus Christ, we should be testifying of Him all the time. This is something I've been trying to do more in all of my interactions. The APs are suggesting we try to ask 2 people each week to be baptized. Planting seeds one week and then harvesting them over the next few. We got some kebabs for lunch and some rice pudding for dessert. I got to talk a lot to the Americans in our district, Elder Gerber and Elder Barlow, because we naturally seem to segregate when we're all together. We rode the bus home and got ready for our big family home evening with 3 investigators. When we called Leydi she said she was sick and couldn't come. She actually sounded sick so we gave her a pass. We go to the house of Hermana Veronica and it turns out she had left earlier in the day and wasn't coming back until late. Fantastic. And with that hermana Sheila was still at work so we ended up teaching hermano Dante about the restoration in a ward member's home without the member when he showed up 40 minutes late and a sleeping Hugo in the corner. Well that was a failure but we'll probably try to do another one in the future because it would be a big help. Then we'll make sure that everyone can come.

On Thursday we went to hermana Agripina's house with the intent to ask her and Pamela to be baptized. We talk about the gospel of Jesus Christ with an emphasis on baptism. She told us she was baptized as a baby by receiving a drop of water on her forehead and even asked us if that was the right manner of baptism. They both were already reading the Book of Mormon so we were pretty excited. After showing them some videos we popped the question if they wanted to be baptized. Both of them said yes! We set up a goal for them to be baptized on the 15th of October. They're going to talk about it Agripina's son in law who's a member and we're going to find a date for them sometime this week. Your prayers would really help them understand and progress even more! We felt the spirit and are excited to see them be baptized. Now we just need them to come to church.

For dinner this week we had a variation of two different meals: empanadas and soda crackers. We had empanadas twice, filled with chicken, beef, and tuna. But then five times this week we were given a single pack of soda crackers with some caramel and jam to put on top. Interesting. When the caramel was gone we got some yogurt to dip it in. It was actually good, but it was just a little weird that we got it that many times. Maybe our pensionista didn't feel like cooking this week. We do get the same breakfast pretty much everyday actually so this isn't really something out of the ordinary. I forgot to write in my email last week that one of the pienses of bread I got had a one and a half foot long piece of string baked into it. I didn't get a picture with it which I regret.

On Thursday we were walking down the street and I saw the shape of the mountain in the distance and it looked like the knuckles on my right hand. It reminded me of the one mountain in Utah my dad would also point out when we drove past it that looked like knuckles.

On Friday we went on exchanges with the Indoamerica elders. I stayed in Pueblo Libre with Elder Macedo. He kept asking me if I listened to all these modern pop singers even though I told him I don't really care for pop music. He also tried to steal my candy and kept trying to get me to buy him stuff, which isn't out of the ordinary for many latinos. We taught the restoration to hermana Sheila and gave her a Book of Mormon. She has doubts, but we both testified of the truth of it and promised she would receive an answer if she studied and prayed with faith. But I guess that's one thing that kind of bugs me that I've been thinking about recently. Most of the latinos here really don't like to use the Book of Mormon in lessons. They think the Bible is better for teaching and just try to brush the BoM off to the side. And when they do introduce it they do it quietly, as if the book is going to offend them. I've tried explaining to them that the BoM is the thing that converts, not the Bible, because the restoration is what sets us apart from other Christian churches. I know there's a cultura difference, but it's still really confusing to me why these converts who felt the spirit reading the Book of Mormon only want to teach with the Bible and even try to brush it off when I use a verse from the BoM. I talked with Elder Peterson, my old ZL when I was in Central, at the zone conference and he's had the same thoughts as me. There's a reason why there's a whole chapter in PMG to using the BoM and not the Bible. I love using the Bible, but we should focus on the BoM because that is what the general authoritied themselves have told us to use. This is something I'm definitely going to try to fix, because often our district council turn into mini "best way to teach" ward with 3 Americans for the BoM and 3 latinos for the Bible.

Sunday was pretty disappointing because none of our investigators came, apart from these 2 weird sisters who aren't members and come every week but don't want to talk to the missionaries. We got a message saying that Agripina and Pamela couldn't come and then Sheila called us saying she couldn't come, even though we were planning on walking with her to the chapel. Hermano Dante usually comes but we got a call from him too saying that he found a house in a different ward, (he was only living in a room), and will probably be moving soon. Hermano Díaz was called as the new ward mission leader, and he can talk for hours. But he seems very active and has a strong desire to help us. The young women of the ward love to hear me speak in English so I spoke some phrases and they get mesmerized. We went up to hermana Elva's house again to share a message. Perolita was so excited to show me the new baby bunnies that Bunnicula had. They are tiny little things and are kept under a blanket. I don't know anything about animals but she told me that the bunnies can only eat cold or chilled food because warm food doesn't sit well with them and could possibly kill them. I don't know if that's true but I guess I learned something interesting about bunnies yesterday. We also found a new family. Last week we knocked on the wrong door of a reference but we got a lesson set up for this week. The manos name is Walter and he has a daughter named Valeria. We taught them the restoration and gave them a Book of Mormon. They seem interested and we have another lesson with them next week!

Welp we just got transfer news and I guess I spoke too soon because Elder Macedo will be my comp here in Pueblo Libre. so we'll see how this goes. Elder Cabrera is going to Bella Vista in estaca Primavera. Other than that the district is stayimg the same except Elder Gerber is going to be training a new missionary. Still haven't had a comp for more than a transfer so I haven't been able to really Connecticut with any of them yet. But we'll see how this one goes.

That was my week! Hopefully this week can be great and I know your prayers for our investigators will help! Thank and have a great week!

Elder Jensen

1. Knuckle mountain
2. Don't mind how pale I am
3/4. Baby bunny






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