Week 2 in the New City

November 10, 2014

"Hallo Familie,

So week two in Wiener Neustadt went by a lot faster then the first week.  We had an eating appointment every day but Saturday, we made sure to share a really good spiritual thought at all of them and left behind a commitment too.  That is something huge that I think many missionaries seem to forget!

A little funny story, last Monday night we were at a members and I said the prayer and she asked me afterwards if my last area was Augsburg, and I said yeahhh...she said she could tell by my accent on how I pronounced words, haha.  I guess I really did become one of them!

The highlight of the week was that we met with someone during the week, that's a step!  He is from Iraq, he speaks really good German, comes to church often I hear but has never been met with.  He is really busy with his work, but when I called him he said he's willing to find time to meet.  He is really nice and a cool guy - I know that when he truly feels the spirit and "recognizes" the spirit, he'll make progress.

So we have a lot of members from Spain in our ward - I've had a lot of Spanish food.  It's pretty good, way different than German and Austria food, and NOTHING like Mexican food.  Our GML (ward mission leader) also is from Spain.  He is awesome and speaks his mind! He speaks English with us, easier for him than German.  We meet with him every week and they've cooked us Spanish food.  His wife is from Austria but grew up in Australia and served her mission in England, so they speak English together; but then he speaks Spanish with their kids...then the kids speak German in school and at church, so they know 3 languages!  Pretty legit.

The other highlight I would say is we taught the investigator class at church on Sunday.  There was this guy there who is a 'dry mormon' (meaning his wife and son are members but he is not, but he comes to church every week and takes part - so you would think he was if you didn't know otherwise).  Anyways, it just so happens the topic was Die Taufe and it went really well.  I think it got to him, because he made a comment and then after class he walked up to the Elders and asked when they could meet that week (sadly the other Elders are already technically 'working' with him but they haven't met with him yet).

There was this other member that shared a story how he contacted the missionary who baptized him...he said how the missionary was discouraged because he was his only baptism on his mission, but this guy thought it through and realized that over 600 people were brought the Gospel through this missionary.  So cool!  

Please keep me updated family, I love you all and pray for you all!  Don't forget the daily blessings and the hand of the Lord in our day to day lives.  It's easy to go unseen, but DO NOT LET IT!

Love Elder Jensen"

Enjoying some Spanish food

Welcome to Austria!

November 3, 2014

"Well Fam,

I'm still alive after literally traveling ALL day by train last Tuesday to my present area, Wiener Neustadt, Austria!  Yes the culture is different, yes the language is different and yes it's a different experience.  You wouldn't probably be able to notice it, but being in Germany was my home for over a year, I just became a part of it!  I love Germany and miss it, not going to lie, but Austria is also great.

Last Monday night was awfully sad.  Saying goodbye to my new life long best friends - M&A.  It was a great night, we ate dinner, told stories, laughed, but then it came to the drive home.  It hit me for the first time that from now on I will rarely be able to see them.  None the less we will always have contact and keep in touch.  It was a hard, emotional goodbye..I love them.

Then I came here to Wiener Neustadt.  I talked to this one new Elder at the bahnhoff and he was going all the way to Wien.  I tried to make him feel comfortable.  After we arrived in Wien we drove to Wiener Neustadt, got there around 9ish.  The next day we ended up on the streets for 4 hours..with no direction..just choosing random places to walk too.  Tried talking to everyone, the dialect is different here.  

The next day we were out on the streets again.  This area has so much potential!  The members here are really nice and are just waiting to get involved and help.  We just need to get the work going!  We had a service project we helped at and we went to a birthday party too.

Sunday was awesome, I love the ward.  First Sunday there, they ask me to translate for sacrament meeting (there is a few 'only English speakers' in the ward so I translated everyones testimonies for them).  I also bore my testimony and introduced myself.  We need to become one with the members, use them a lot more and work together, gain their trust and find out what the Lord wants us to do, then strive to do our best to do it.  Most importantly as missionaries, we need to be 100 percent obedient.  That's key.  

I love you all and hope you have a great week.  Remember to always be positive, see the light amidst the darkness, and shine it for others. My favorite scripture that I share so often with people is Ether 12:4 - stay anchored in the gospel and YOUR faith, then nothing can break you down.

Love Elder Jensen" 

Wiener Neustadt, Austria

Another Transfer...Another Mission

October 27, 2014

"Hallo Family,

I think that it's a rule that I have to get a bit of a cold whenever I'm going to get transferred.  I have only gotten sick 2 times on my mission...and it was when I was going to be transferred both times, haha.  But transfers came and I am headed to AUSTRIA!  I've heard it's pretty different compared to Deutschland (even the language) but I'm excited!  I could stay here in Augsburg my whole mission but duty comes and calls and I follow.

My new companion will be Elder Durrant - from St. George, Utah.  Small world huh?!  I think it'll be good working with him.  It's a 7 hour train ride through the alps so it's going to be beautiful!

This last week was rather strange, I was pretty sure it was going to be my last week in Augsburg, so we were busy with members and tausches and what not.  I tausched with Elder Harvey (from St. George also) in Kaufbeuren.  We had a good time.

The 'highlight' of this week was definitely on Sunday regarding Markus!  We had Stake Priesthood session and they had asked Markus before hand, to give his testimony in front of everyone.  I had no idea but he got up there and bore one of the best testimonies I've heard!!

He shared how he always had the idea that there was a God, explained how he found Christ, talked about the Book of Mormon and Bible and Joseph Smith.  He shared how happy he is that he has the gospel in his life and it has changed him.  He thanked us missionaries and the Bishoff...ahh it was so cool!  I gave a talk on Sunday and accidentally went a little over, haha oops!  It was practically my farewell in Augsburg, what were they expecting :)  Lots of people came up and said their goodbyes and thanks!  It's cool to see how little things we do have a bigger impact on people than we think!

Back up to Saturday, Sonja's taufe (baptism) was this weekend too!  It was awesome!  Right after baptizing her (in a font all the way full this time, haha) she jumped up and said YEAAA with a huge smile on her face!  It was really cool to see how happy she was, she also shared her testimony with everyone afterwards too.
Well...I still have a bunch to do, like finish packing...I hate packing!  We are meeting with M&A tonight to say our goodbyes, which is going to be tough.  Not much time in receiving these transfers and then leaving, so I didn't get to say goodbye to a lot of people.  My time in Augsburg has been a time I will never forget.  I've seen huge changes - in the members, strangers and myself.  I've been able to see about all aspects of the work take place here, between bringing back less aktives, serving the ward and bringing 'sheep unto the fold.'  It's been a treat to see!  The time here was great and I'm hoping to make it as great in my new city as well.

Love Elder Jensen"

 Sonja's Baptism!

The Lord is Preparing People...

October 20, 2014

"Hallo Family.

Another week behind us.  Life is still great being on a mission!  I will focus on the positive things that have happened this week..

The Alps in the fall were so beautiful - leaves changing colors, fog and waterfalls!  It was a lot of fun and I sure love this part of the world, beauty everywhere to be found.

Skipping to Friday, Friday was a busy day!  We had Ward Mission Leader meeting in the morning and got to enjoy a typical bavarish breakfast, weißwurst und suße senf!  I like it a lot but it's a required taste I guess.  That night we had a HUGE eating appointment at this really good all you can eat Mongolian & Asian buffet.  It was Schw. Günter who we helped move this last month and her daughter plus another Schwester.  I tried kangaroo meat, not bad.

Saturday was also a busy day.  We helped a member pick up a piano in Munich, which took a couple hours.  Afterwards we did some studies and planning, then went to eat with another member - Br. Lidner.  He took us out to this really good pizza restaurant, HUGE pizza! That night we played some ball at the church with the group of boys we have played with before.  We showed them a video after we played and shared a spiritual thought and talked about prayer and living our faith.

On Sunday we watched the last session of General Konferenz in German.  This random member from Hungary showed up to Church and brought a friend who lives in our area, and the friend wants a Hungarian Book of Mormon and is going to come to church next week!  We met with our investigator Donkara ("D") and set a baptismal date with her for the 29 of November!  She is really cool.  Later that night we went to the Kerns familie for dinner and Familie Home Evening.  We gave a spiritual thought and they loved it.  We wanted to make it fun for the kids so we thought hard..we picked out some famous stories from the Book of Mormon and wrote them down on pieces of paper, then in teams we drew out a paper and had to act it out.  We ended with how great the Book of Mormon is and how we learn from it, we gave them all a German Book of Mormon and told them to write their testimonies in it and give it to a friend or bring back to us and we will give it out.  It was fun and Sonja was there also!  Her taufe (baptism) is this next Saturday!  She wrote me a nice letter and told me what led up to me finding her on the street - House of Prayers.  It was really cool!

Love you all and hope you have a great week.

Elder Jensen"

The BEAUTY of the Alps during the Fall!

           

Off to the Alps!

October 13, 2014

"Hey Fam,

Sorry got to be quick, we are headed to the Alps again with a member to go hiking!

So this last Monday, we had a family home evening with M&A.  We went out to eat together and talked about families.

Tuesday (Wednesday) we had Distrikt meeting and then tausched with the Zone Leaders.  I went to München with Elder Spencer.  It was fun and he is a cool kid.  I got to go running with the office Elders the next morning while I was there too.  It was beautiful and I haven't ran in forever!!!

On Thursday we had Zone Konferenz, it was really good.  We have a goal of 68 baptisms before the end of the year, so please pray for it!

Friday we met with an investigator who has been searching for the truth.  We taught her the restoration.

Then comes Sunday, the highlight of the week!!  I took the sacrament from Markus, he passed it!!!  He was in his suit, white shirt and tie and it was so cool.  I also bore my testimony.

I love you all and have a great week!

Elder Jensen"

Seek And Ye Shall Find

October 6, 2014

"Hallo Family!

Yes transfers are coming up, but in 3 weeks.  This transfer is a 7 week transfer.

This week went by as fast as the last, they just don't slow down.  Even when you pray they will ;)  I just love Augsburg and the members, but you already know that.

We had a few member appointments this last week and talked about General Konfernz.  We were able to watch it all, Elder Griffey and I woke up early and went to the Church to watch the Sunday afternoon session this morning.

Last Monday was fun.  We had a good time at the Oktoberfest.  Got to spend some good quality time with M&A!

I tausched this last week with Elder Deleeuw in Kaufbeuren, he is a cool guy.  We drove through the fields of Germany stopping by to see people.  I had a good time with him.

We met with M&A later in the week and had a lesson with them while they took us out to get their favorite döner in the neighboring village. It was a really small beautiful village with trees all around and brightly colored houses and old structure.  We got our döner and ate it at the castle looking over the village.  Awesome!

Going back a couple months...a couple transfers ago on a tausch here in Augsburg after visiting the House of Prayers, I found this 23 year old girl named Sonja ("S").  She was awesome and I remember saying 'oh she will be baptized.'  Well she showed up to Church a couple weeks later and I was so excited, she asked where Sister Smith was (it was Sister Smith's last Sunday).  Turns out that Sister Smith found her 2 months before I did, didn't have much contact with her but invited her to come to church.  Anyways, kind of confusing, but the Sisters began teaching her and we kind of have all been involved with it.  They had a taufe date with her on Oktober 11 but she moved it back to late November for some reason.  Which is far off...so we talked about it and I told the Sisters to talk to each other and pray about it and find an earlier date.  Back to now, so they called me last Sunday to say they set up an appointment with "S" on Wednesday at this Italian restaurant in Augsburg and asked us (Elders) to come.  They said they prayed and thought that Oktober 26 should be her baptism.  We talked more about how to confront it and discuss it with "S."  Wednesday came around, we were all there talking and enjoying our food...the night was getting late and I thought 'okay the topic hasn't been brought up' ha.  So I started making huge lead ins and long story short, the Sisters said we think you should get baptized on the 26th of Oktober.  Sonja was totally excited and agreed absolutely!  The next day she met with the Sisters again and they told her to start thinking about her Taufe and how she wants it.  She told them she has already prayed about who she wants to baptize her and she wants ME to do it.  I feel honored and it makes me so happy!  Pretty cool.

I love you all and hope you all enjoyed General Konferenz as much as I did.  I can't wait to share with you all my spiritual notes and notebook I've been keeping after the Mission.  I can't explain how much I have learned on my mission and how much I have grown.  I have never felt so in line with the Spirit and Christ and our Father in Heaven more in my life!  This is the Lord's work, and when the faith is there, your attitude is right and the actions are there to prove it..his hand WILL be stretched out and you will see the Mighty fisherman himself catch his own Fish.  Doesn't matter where you are or who you are with, see it in the people, as Pres. Monson has said.  Seek to see the potential in them, because I promise you that the Lord can see it.

Again love you all and I have never had this type of "happiness" or been more content with what I am doing in my whole life.  I wish I could remain this way forever.

Love, Elder Jensen"

 OKTOBERFEST

           

      

Quick Note

September 29, 2014

"Hey Fam,

We are on our way to catch a train to München to go to Oktober Fest with M&A and some other missionaries.  This week sure went by fast, as always :( but the week ended strong.  We asked a less active that we've been meeting with for a referral and he brought him on Sunday, which was really cool.  We also found another investigator from Africa who is searching for the truth.

Markus got the Priesthood last Sunday!  It's crazy how much M&A's lives have changed.  It's amazing how present the Holy Ghost has been and I like to think back to the first time I met them and how it all began!

I love my ward and have become a part of it literally.  We can all joke and tease and the kids are so loving and write me notes.  We got to teach the youth last Sunday which was a blast.  I love them all!

Anyways, sorry so quick..love you guys.  Schöne Woche

Elder Jensen"

 Posing with Markus

Playing with some kids from the ward

Beauftagt von Jesus Christus...

September 22, 2014

"Familie,

Well...what a week.

The week was pretty focused on the Taufe (baptism)!  Our GML (mission leader) is in the hospital so we were in charge of putting the whole Taufe together - cleaning, organizing it, ect.. it was a lot of fun though!  Oh M&A, I shed a few tears today reading their emails, little do they know that they have changed my life as well.  I've never felt more comfortable with inspiration and promptings from the Holy Ghost as I have felt with them.  This whole process has truly strengthened the team and companionship between God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Ghost and me.  It's all just been inspired and truly the Lord's work, I can honestly say I know how it feels and what it's like to be made an instrument in the Lord's hands.  So much prayer, fasting, and STUDY for M&A and to see it all come to this is just unexplainable.  I love them!

So the day before the Taufe we cleaned the church and did some setting up, then we all went to go eat afterwards.  The Zone leaders stayed the night at our place and also Elder Sponseller and his companion.  

The next morning we went to the church early and filled the font!!  What a great sound!  We started greeting people as they came.  The font was all the way full and perfectly warm, then someone lifted the lever thing without us knowing 15 minutes before the baptism.  I just happened to randomly check it and the font was less than half empty!  Oh joy.  I hurried and flipped the faucet to start filling it up again, told Bishoff, but we continued on.  By the time Markus and I got into the font it was half way full.  It was all good though.  It was weird because I didn't know what to expect, but it all just felt natural.  I was really excited but super calm.  But when I put my arm to the square, looked up and saw everyone looking down on Markus and I in the font, then saying the words "beauftragt von Jesus Christus" that is a memory I will never forget!  After the baptisms we all ate at the church and had a great time.  

Sunday was really cool too, to see them get confirmed and be given the Holy Ghost.  They are awesome!  I could speak for hours about them.

The rest of the week went well.  A couple weeks ago we were asked to use an "alternate finding technique" when a lesson falls out.  So we tried it and decided to look for opportunities to play basketball.  We found a couple guys a couple weeks ago and asked to play ball with them, afterwards we told them to call us next time and we will play again and then share a message about Christ.  Well they agreed and they called us this week all excited and we set up a game for Saturday.  They gathered up 10 people and it was really cool.  We played a couple games and then we talked about the Gospel after we played.  They were cool guys and we made plans to meet up and shoot hoops then order pizza and then share our message about Christ.  Be creative when finding!  After Church on Sunday (sorry going back and forth through the week) we went over to the Kern familie, a new family in our ward.  They are awesome.  We did FHE with them and carved pumpkins.  They have 3 kids and the youngest is a little boy who is about 4, we were best friends within an hour and the parents said I already won his heart!  He stuck by my side the whole night, ha!  They were awesome and we had a lot of fun.

Overall...a great week!  Thanks for all that you guys do.  Love you all!

Elder Jensen"

Cleaning the font 

Out to eat the night before the baptism!

Reunited with Elder Sponseller

Elder Jensen, Markus, Alexis and Elder Sponseller on Baptism Day!

 

Church on Sunday

F.H.E. with the Kern Familie 

Preparing for Baptism!

September 15, 2014

"Hallo Fam,

This last week was a good week.

Tuesday we had zone training in München which about took the whole day, it was really good though!

Wednesday we had a goodbye party for Sister Regnier.  M&A cooked and taught us how to make pfannkuchen.  It is going to be hard to say goodbye to them when I leave this area.

Jumping to Saturday, we met with M&A again.  We made pizza together for dinner.  That morning we made a list for them of all the things they should know before the Taufe (baptism), because they want to make sure they flip over every rock before they do this.

Then that Sunday we met with Bishoff, he has been out of town so we updated him on M&A.  We discussed and made arrangements for everything we will need for the baptism next week.  Since the beginning we have really strived to have a member at every lesson with M&A, and we've had a member at just about everything really...because it's so important to have member involvement and for them to be comfortable with the ward and all the members.  They all get along great and have become good friends!  

This week we also picked out our taufe clothes at the church with the help of the members, and M&A have their interview tomorrow with the Zone leaders.  This next week will fly by us!  Continue praying for them and pray that we can find more people to teach.  

Love you all and have a great week!

Elder Jensen"

Crazy Week!!!

September 8, 2014

"Hallo,

YES I am staying another transfer here in Augsburg!!  I love the ward so much and all my Augsburg friends.  

This week went well, rather fast as always.  Tuesday we had a good "last" distrikt meeting all together before transfers and everyone goes different ways.  Afterward I tausched with Elder Harvey in Kaufbeuren.  

On Wednesday we met with Markus & Alexa, we went through the taufe interview questions with a member present.  The member was a big help, also a convert.  

Thursday we met with our 'brothers' in Höchstädt, then we visited Alexa in the hospital (she just had knee surgery).  After the visit we had Sportabend and played volleyball.  

Then came Friday morning...so we thought that is when we were going to get transfer calls.  We are the first ones on the list so if we don't get called by 7:30, then something is 'for sure' happening.  Well no call was coming and I was freaking out (long story short, transfer calls came Saturday morning).  Friday night we also met with a referral, gave him a tour of the Church and answered all of his questions.  

Saturday night was our fireside at the Church.  So that day we were all over the place.  Elder Griffey wasn't feeling well either so he ended up laying down inside the church while I was trying to set things up.  We had a good turn out, over 5 investigators came between the Sisters and us, 2 less actives came too, and our brothers from Höchstädt.  Lots of people to talk too, not enough time!

Then came Sunday.  We are helping M&A get started with family history work and family search, a member is helping us too.  They are so awesome!  During fast and testimony meeting, Markus (M) bore his testimony and told the ward about their baptismal date and invited them all to it! It was awesome.  Then I got up and bore my testimony and told everyone that I have either good news or bad news...and that I'm staying in Augsburg another transfer!  Got a few laughs out of it.  We had 2 eating appointments also (in one day)!  It was a good week.  

Please continue to pray for the people of Augsburg and our investigators.  Love you all and hope you have a great week.

Elder Jensen"

The Anticipation

September 1, 2014

"Hey Familie,

This last week flew by.  Tuesday we had a great distrikt meeting, then I had a tausch like every week.  I left Augsburg for my tausch.  I've been here for about 6 months and have only left the city 3 times.  I went to Ingolstad and worked with another Golden.  

This week we helped so many people move it seemed like, one was the Döring family, I'll miss them.  We had a lesson with M&A on Wednesday, we taught the Gospel of Christ with a member present who is actually a convert.  It went REALLY well.  Then at the end came the Baptism...Markus asked about baptism.  He told us his story and it confirmed not only was his prayer answered but also mine.  He shared how he had said a prayer before Church on Sunday hoping to receive an answer while at Church on whether he should get baptized or not.  I was also praying 'that' Sunday during Church that they would receive their answer to help them make their next big step!  He got his answer but had a little bit of doubt, but later that evening it was confirmed to him!  So...after sharing that with us, he looked me in the eyes and said, "I'm here tonight to ask YOU.  Will you baptize me?"  I don't think a smile has shot across my face that fast in who knows how long, and just the biggest twinkle in my eyes.  Then I said GERNE! (meaning gladly) and we set a date and it worked great!  They realize that this is just the beginning.  There goal is the Temple, they want to get married in the Temple in a year from their baptism.  Gosh, they just make me happy.

On Saturday, we had this huge mission zone/stake choir thing for our München Stake.  It was in Augsburg.  Anyways this choir thing took awhile because we have never practiced together with all us missionaries, then we get together one day and are trying to record a CD! ha. They are trying to earn money for something within one of the wards.  Afterwards we met with M&A at the Church with Elder Sponseller and his companion.  That was great!  

Sunday went well, we taught Sunday school.  It went alright.  It was out of the Old Testament, which is hard enough in English.  We tied the lesson into missionary work and afterwards M&A said they want to bring a friend to our lesson on Wednesday.  We got a less active brother to come to church too!

Overall it was a pretty great week!

I received a text from Markus...I just have to say, their faith is so strong, and it's so cool to see the changes take place in their lives when the Gospel enters it line by line precept by precept.  The Lord's work is great and I'm so happy to take a part in it.  The gospel changes lives, never for the worst, always for the better.  Sometimes it may not make sense, especially when sacrifices are made, but the truth is we all have to be polished and made into what the Lord wants of us.  Again sometimes it makes no sense to us, but that's the miracle of the Gospel.  Then before we know it we take a look back and couldn't be more thankful for all that is has given us and all that it has shaped us into.  

Love you all,

Elder Jensen"

Markus

Alexis

Ich bin immer noch am Leben, bitte KEINE SORGE!!!

August 25, 2014

*TRANSLATION:  I'M STILL ALIVE, PLEASE DO NOT WORRY!!!

"Hallo Familie,

It's your long lost son.  Wow, I can tell you I really don't want to leave Augsburg yet.

So these last couple weeks have been hectic.  Being a trainer = no free time + having a distrikt with 4 Goldens = absolutely no free time!  

Two weeks ago:

So two Mondays ago we went with the Geigers on our P-day.  It was a blast.  They are so nice and will get baptized some day.  The weather was bad, so we went go-carting.  It was a lot of fun.

The rest of the week went well.  I tausched with Elder Vital, the new Zone Leader from Romania.  We worked really well together, we went and taught our Romania family and they loved it!  We met with a less active too.  That week we also set a baptismal date with a "brother." We need to continue to have faith and keep meeting with him, we will see what happens.  That Saturday we also had a picnic with M&A and were able to answer a lot more of their questions.  Now on too this 'last' week...

On Monday we went to the castles again as a distrikt, all in our lederhosens of course.  A member came with us too.  We ended up running late due to miscommunication so we had no time for emails. 

Tuesday we had Distrikt meeting and another tausch.  Tausch was crazy!  Long story short, there was this group of people doing sort of race and they asked to stay overnight at the church.  Anyways after talking with several people (and I know it's a rule that we aren't allowed to stay the night in the churches) I told them No and they weren't too happy with me.  It was just a crazy tausch that week.

The main part of this week...is M&A.

We met with them Friday night at the church with Br. Döring as a joint teach.  His wife showed up later and ended up staying too.  She was able to really explain the temple to M&A and she did it beautifully.  Afterwards we talked about the Plan of Salvation.  I did my homework, I drew and colored the Plan of Salvation on a paper with all these scriptures listed.  We went through it step by step.  The lesson was PERFECT!  They had a lot of questions about the spirit world but we answered them all.  I bore my testimony on our Savior and his atonement for us and how we have no need to fear thanks to him and our loving Father in Heaven.  The spirit was so strong!  I gave them the copy of the Plan of Salvation I had drawn with all the scripture references.  It was a pretty emotional lesson.

Sunday went well, we taught sunday school to the young mens.  Our topic was "temple marriage and why it's so important" to a bunch of 14 year olds.  It went well though.  Lena gave her mission talk in sacrament and it was just what M&A needed to hear.  She told her conversion story and it really seemed to help them.  Another person shared their conversion story too.  I know they want to get baptized!  It could be soon!

Pray that all will continue to work out, pray for M&A too.  Love you all and have a great week!

Elder Jensen"

 companions (Elder Griffey)

What's Free Time?

August 4, 2014

"Hey Family,

I can't remember the last time I had free time...mensch so so so busy!  But hallo family!!!  Hope you are all doing good.

So yes I am training.  It's weird because it literally feels like it was yesterday that I was with Elder Peterson, and now he is emailing me from home as a lost returned missionary.  My son's name is Elder Griffey, he is from Tennessee.  He is really smart, 18 years old and just graduated high school this last year.  I hope he is enjoying the mission because our ward here in Augsburg is so awesome!

On Tuesday we had a killer Distrikt get together/meeting, one of the best.  Afterwards Br. Dobmann and Stutz made us German pancakes!

Then on Thursday, after picking up my new companion (son) at the München bahnhoff, we had a couple lessons and sportabend.  That night we met one of our less actives (the one that actually came to church because his neighbor told us we stopped by to see him and he wasn't there).  He was having a rough time so we shared a few scriptures with him about Christ's love for all of us.  We got him to commit to come to church on Sunday and he ended up coming on Sunday!!!  I found a couple members and asked them if they could befriend him and sit next to him through out church, and they did of course.  

Anyways, back up to Saturday, we helped this new member move into our ward.  She lives in the middle of no where, about an hour and half away from Augsburg.  But we got to bond with some ward members so it was awesome.  I seriously love our ward, we get a long so great!

Sunday was great, it was fast Sunday.  i got up and bore my testimony about Christ and thanked the ward for everything.  Sister Smith and her family showed up to Church, that was cool and they were really nice!  M&A came to church, asked lots of questions and answered lots of questions.  We set up a termin with them and our Bishop this Friday at Bishop's house, so we will pray that goes well.  We also had a huge BBQ after Church at Dörings with the Smith family and a few other members, that was fun.

This next week should be good, we have interviews with President.  We also have distrikt meeting this Tuesday in München.  I have absolutely NO free time, between training and distrikt stuff but I believe this is when I will grow the most!  I know prayers are answered. Love you all and hope you all are doing well.

Love, Elder Jensen 

(starting to grow gray hair, spaß (joke) haha!  It's cool I really have no stress, mission miracles!)" 

Meet Elder Griffey

Becoming a Golden (Trainer)

July 28, 2014

"What up Family,

Another great week...and full of eating appointments!  Elder Sponseller is leaving, it was a quick 3 transfers with the 4 of us in Augsburg (2 Elders and 2 Sisters).  Our ward has called us the dream team.  They have done so much for us and I think we have helped the ward as a whole too!  From simple little things they have changed.  They go on splits with the missionaries and have invited us over for eating appointments (some who haven't had the missionaries over for who knows how long!)  They even bring us little treats!  It's been so cool to see.  It's sad to see the "dream team" split up but I hope we can keep the member excitement up with bringing in new missionaries.

This last week went well.  Monday was full of spontanious little moments that I wouldn't be able to experience anywhere else.

Tuesday we met M&A for breakfast - weißwurst, bretzles and weißbier, an original Byrish breakfast.  We had a good conversation with them, they are awesome!

Wednesday we had a good Distrikt meeting.  It was about how we are all leaders out here on the mission.  It was fun and I think it went well!  Then we tausched with the Zone Leaders for my "year mark," I was here in Augsburg with Elder Spencer and it was cool.

Thursday, M&A came to sportabend - that we hold weekly.  It was cool having them there.  Alexa (A) injured her knee though and showed up to Church on Sunday with a big ol' knee brace, we felt so bad.

On Friday we were with members all day.  We went to Donäuworth for some eating appointments and some more 'garden work'.  That evening we went on splits with some members to less actives, I went with Br. Grünnbichler.  He was baptized by Elder Bedner when he was a missionary here, pretty cool!

Saturday we visited some families and then went through the member list.  On our list we have about 400 members...but we only have close to 30% activation.  It's a story.  Plus so many members that no one knows anything about, it's really sad.

Then comes Sunday, M&A continue progressing like crazy!  They showed up to all 3 hours of church again, they get involved and speak up even.   After church we went to Bishop's house, we had to take a train and there ended up being this huge deal on the way there.  We were stuck on the train for over 2 hours, and firefighters, police and ambulances all showed up and we could see them through the windows doing something to the train car ahead of us.  Then two doctors walked through our car and asked us if we were okay...still have no clue what happened.  Anyways after Bishop's we went to another members and ate some more!

So transfers are this Thursday.  Elder Sponseller is going to the neighboring area, München and I'm becoming a Golden (training a new missionary), I'm pretty excited.  Sister Regnier is becoming a golden too!  So we will have 2 brand new missionaries in our ward now. Please pray for our investigators and pray for my new companion.  I have no clue who he is but I pick him up on Thursday!  Love you all.

Elder Jensen"

Some surrounding scenery from going on splits with a member

Zu Schnell! One Year Mark this Week!

July 21, 2014

"Hey Family,

Wow the time goes too fast.  This week I will be hitting my year mark!  I will be on a tausch here in Augsburg with Elder Spencer on my "hump day," the zone leader here in München.

Monday, we did our splits with members and I was with Br. Stutz and Br. Dobmann and we walked a ton!

Tuesday, we had zone training and we all wore black in our Distrikt because Sister Smith is dying (on her mission = going home). Afterwards we had a tausch and I went with Elder Hoggan to Kaufbeuren, it is beautiful and right next to the German Alps.  They have an auto down there too so it was weird driving around in a car.  It was cool though, we had a lesson with a family (mainly the dad and son). The son, Jakob, is 18 and was a foreign exchange student in Las Vegas two years ago, with a member family.  He went to Shadow Ridge Mustangs High School and played on their football team while he was there.  Well...Snow Canyon played football against Shadow Ridge High in 2012 at Snow Canyon...yeah small world!  I ended up playing against him while he was in The U.S. and here we are meeting 2 years later in a random dorf in Germany and we are teaching him the Gospel!  He became interested when he was staying with this family in Vegas who were members (believe it or not, that is how MANY strong youth members of Germany get baptized).  It was really cool, we ended up playing football in the backyard after the lesson.  The dad and son are the main ones investigating the church but the mom warmed up a little bit.  They got all my information and want to keep in contact.  They said they visit America quite often too!  I'm sad I won't be able to meet and teach them, but I'll make sure to tausch there when we are in the area and get the chance.

Wednesday, we went with Br. Herber to visit some less actives in random dorfs.  He is awesome and we had some good visits.

Thursday, what a busy day.  We went to the church in the morning and were taught how to make knoodle by Oma Kaehn - a member. Afterwards we met with M&A, with a member present.  I got to know this couple a lot better.  We need to figure out how to have them find the "truth" of our church.  They came to church though, all 3 hours, and they were excited about it!  After that lesson, we met with our Romanian family that we had found on a previous tausch.  We didn't have our translator with us and they speak zero German, so that was tough!  But we gave them a Romanian Book of Mormon and assigned a chapter to read.

Friday we ate with the Dörings and visited about St. George!

Saturday was really hot here, it reminded me of back home.  Elder Sponseller and I did vorbeis the entire day - went by various less actives on our list and a couple former investigators.  It was a good day.

Sunday, all our vorbeis paid off!  The Sisters and us had 8 new visitors at Church!  There were 4 less actives and 4 investigators.  One of the less actives was one we didn't even make contact with, we dropped by his place and he wasn't there but we talked to someone that lives by him and they told him we had stopped by.  Anyway he had the feeling he should come to church on Sunday, it was so cool.  It shows that when you just give your all and do what the Lord asks of you, he will do his part!  After Church we went to a younger family's for dinner.  They have such cute kids!  They invited a friend over too who is not a member, so that was cool.

Transfer calls are this week, we will see what happens.  Love you all and hope you all are doing great.

Love, Elder Jensen"

The Augsburg missionaries enjoying lunch on the train

Wir Sind Weltmeister!!! (We are World Champions)

July 14, 2014

"Hey Fam,

Well you could say Deutschland is pretty happy about being Weltmeisters!!! (World Cup Champs)  

Today, we are going on splits with some members, going to go by some less aktives.  This week was really cool with a lot of miracles!  

Distrikt meeting went good this week, right after that we ate Pfannkuchen, a member cooks it for us once a month after distrikt meeting. My tausch with Elder Harvey was awesome!  He is a cool kid, we talked about St. George a lot and he updated me on new stuff happening there.  Then I had another tausch with Elder Morrey and it went well too!  We get along great!  We had a lot of appointments fall through but then we went to "Haus des Gebets" odor House of Prayers with a potential investigator we found the other week.  It was awesome, haha. Long story but we got lost while trying to find this House of Prayers and ended up finding ourselves wandering through the  wilderness "shrubs" next to the train tracks in the pouring rain.  But we found it and had a good time, he saved us 2 seats on the second row.  Before hand he told us we should take off our name tags before we go in because we will attract attention, so of course we kept them ON! Everyone was nice, it's a place where all different Christians come and simply pray together however they pray, and they have a Christian band up front singing prayers and gospel songs.  It was something to experience!  Lots of people asked us who we were...and we said how we were disciples of Jesus Christ and on the Lord's errand for two years.  They loved us!  I could go on for a while about the House of Prayers, but it's a place practically preparing people to meet with us!  It's a bunch of people who love Christ and want to come nearer to him.  We met a college girl after walking out who is just starting to 'believe' again, so we got her email and will be excited to meet with her.

Tausches take awhile - especially the Tausch backs.  It's an hour there by train and an hour back, so I traveled quite a bit this last week with tausches.

Saturday we went hiking with Bishoff, his two sons and Lena (a member who got baptized a year ago and goes on her mission in a month). We didn't have a P-day last Monday, just time to do emails, so our P-day was with them on Saturday.  We went hiking in Allgäu - google it, it is beautiful beyond description!  I love our Bishoff and his family.

Now Sunday, miracle Sunday.  We met Markus and Alexa (M&A).  We went outside and a member followed and after a minute of just standing in front of the church, M&A come walking around the corner.  We greet them, talk for a bit and gave them a little tour of the Church.  We took them in for the last little bit of Sunday class, we are learning from the Old Testament so that was great!  Then we went to sacrament.  After I asked them how it went and at first he said 'different'...(they just came from visiting the Baptist church).  So we talked a little more with them and they asked some questions, said how they were visiting all these churches and in search for the Truth.  In the end we got their emails and info and gave them our number and they text us later and want to meet again during the week!  This is the Lord's work.  We just have to have the faith that they will find out for themselves that this is the TRUE church, because it has the whole Gospel. The Gospel of Christ.

Truth can be found in every church, and every church is good, but only THIS church has the full and pure Gospel of Christ.  Please pray for M&A and pray that our members can fellowship them.  Another guy has been coming to church the last two weeks, he is from Romania. He told me after Church that this is the BEST Church, the true church, the church for him and his heart.  Found out that he has met with the missionaries before a long time ago, and next Sunday he is bringing his Book of Mormon and we can talk more then!  Pray for him too!  

Overall a good week, love you all and stay strong!

ACHSOO!  Deutschland...so that was hard not being able to watch the game, I'm a sport nut!  Deutschland loves their Fußball so of course the whole city was going crazy for it!  The game started at 9 o'clock here, I kind of saw it from our neighboring apartments window but not really, we could hear their reactions though.  We were in bed by 10:30 and I was so confused because it was so quiet - usually it's pretty loud.  Then finally close to midnight I start to hear the horns and shouts in the streets, the loud booms from blanks, yelling and drunks singing, the whole bam!  A few ambulances here and there, haha, oh Deutschland! I love it!

Elder Jensen"

Hiking in Allgüa

Selfie with an alpen cow!

Celebrating the Red, White and Blue in the Schwarz, Rot und Gold!

July 7, 2014

"Hi Family,

Hope you all showed your American pride this last week and had a fun 4th of July because mine was pretty awesome!

But first let us go through the week, it was a fast week as always, but a fun week.

Tuesday: We had a good distrikt meeting with our focus being on Christ and his part in all that we do.  That truly is the main purpose of all missionary work, he is the center of all that we do.  That night we were suppose to go on splits with members and have 5 lessons between the Sisters and us in Augsburg.  I went on splits with Br. Dobmann and we visited some less actives.  He is pretty funny and I got to hear all his jokes.  

Wednesday:  We did "garten work" a.k.a. moved 250-300 pound old stones.  We had to dig up the ground to find them then dig them out and move them.  It was fun and good hard manual work.  We were doing it for a member in a neighboring city, their whole house is surrounded by gardens and fields.  Funny story = the member cooked us lunch/dinner before we left and it was a pasta dish.  Anyways my companion and I swear she said the sauce was a tuna sauce, and I am not a huge fan of tuna, so I just told myself it was chicken the whole time and tried adding lots of noodles to it.  She saw me doing that and insisted I needed more sauce with all my noodles, so she flooded my plate with the sauce, haha.  Some fun times with eating at people's houses!

Thursday:  We went up to Höchstadt to visit our 'brothers', had a good lesson.  Our other appointment fell through.  That evening we had sportabend, and I was the reigning racketball champ, no biggie :) ha.

Friday:  We were ALL over town running errands for the 4th of July party that night, it was kind of hectic.  That night all the Elders in our distrikt were staying over at our place too.  They are all so awesome!  Now...the 4th of July party was AWESOME!  We had water activities, horses, volleyball, so much food and I made lots of homemade rootbeer and they all loved it!  Elder Sponseller and I were throwing water bombs at the kids and they were chasing us around.  Our whole distrikt was there and it was just a lot of fun!  Some were watching the Deutschland Fußball game inside the church too!  Great time!!

Saturday:  Went to München and met President Kohler and his wife and their two kids.  They are really cool!  He is a cool guy and has some great ideas.  They have a son who is 17, a daughter that is 14 and then another daughter on a mission in Japan.

Sunday:  Was our abendteur/adventure with Herr Gerblinger, our Grandpa for the day.  He was a former investigator and I called him Saturday night and he remembered us and said we could meet the following day.  We rode with him on the train to a small dorf called Oberschönerfeld.  They were having a markt that day and it just so happened to be fast Sunday so Elder Sponseller and I were so-o-o thirsty and hungry and we were walking all over the place.  It was fun and hopefully we will meet with him again later.

So, following up, I'm still waiting for all of your conversion stories through letter.  I know we all have one, and I know it's SO important now more than ever that we have a personal conversion.  Times are changing and things are going to get scarier soon and we already know that the church will be targeted.  It's so important that all of us are personally as well with our families rooted deep with our testimonies.  If anything write and think of how the gospel has impacted your life and the thankfulness you have.  Love you all and have a good week.

Elder Jensen"

A Fast Transfer..

June 30, 2014

"Familie!!

So I can already tell that this transfer is going to go by so-o-o fast.  We have at least one to two tausches lined up every week this next transfer, besides this next week because we have our HUGE 4th of July party, and then the next day our zone meets our new mission President.

This last week went well!  I tausched with Elder Monson, which is Elder Morrey's new son or golden.  This will be Elder Sponsellers and my third transfer together, I guess Pres. likes me to stay with my comps for awhile, ha.

I feel like our Distrikt is becoming united and that makes me happy.  It was a finding week in Munich, so it was fun!  We had a goal to find over 100 potential investigators as a zone and we crushed it!  We also had a finding day here in Augsburg too after our Distrikt meeting, and I thought it went pretty well too.  I worked with Elder Monson and together we found 5 new potentials!!  I was talking to EVERYONE!! That night I bought Elder Monson his first Döner.  I hope his first tausch treated him well because I remember how big of an impact my first one had on me with Elder Morrill.

We are continuing to meet with a couple investigators, but they haven't made a whole lot of progress sadly.  Real missionary work is "member" work...members need to realize that the main purpose of a missionary is simply to support the members.  If you want to see real progress and real success it has to be done with or by the members!  It's one thing to realize it and sit on the sidelines and support the drive of member work OR you could actually step in and make an action.  There is no such thing as a bad action or approach to missionary work, just simply give the Lord something to work with and he will work WONDERS!

Anyways, I love you all and hope you all have an amazing week!  

P.S. I got to watch the German v. USA Fußball game with a less active, I was sad USA lost when watching it but then I left and walked the streets with my German face paint and scarf and saw everyone celebrating and going crazy!  They live for it!  I also met a member from South Korea on the train this last week, small world.  I tried doing missionary work with her at first and she managed to tell me in broken English that she is already a member, so we talked about the church in South Korea which was really cool!

Love you all and have a great week.

Love Elder Jensen"

Ich bin immer noch am Leben! Keine Sorge

June 23, 2014

Translation: I'm still alive!  Do not worry :)

"Familie!!!

Hey fam, I'm still alive.  Deutschland is sure beautiful!!!!  The castle was beautiful, then the mountains were breath-taking, with the blue blue glacier lakes and rivers going through the valleys of green hills and mountains covered in trees!  It is so hard to explain and pictures do not do it justice.

This 4th of July party we are planning is going to be HAMMER!!!  We are going all out, and us missionaries are planning just about everything for our gemeinde (we are trying to show them how much fun it is and hope they will start doing it themselves).  For the fourth we will have water activities, sports, grilling and lots of other food, horses, floating lanterns, and sparklers.  I'm so excited!  We met with a less active to get the horses.  He is a real cowboy from Wyoming and has lived here for a while because he married a German.  He is really cool.  He cooked us some spicy mexican food - how I miss that, and we just talked for hours.  He still has an awesome testimony and was just way cool!

So Fußball is  HUGE down here.  The fans go crazy, that is all the people talk about, members included.  I have learned a lot about it since being here.  We get to watch 2 games in the World Cup, if they are missionary work related.  I'm not lying that during the games it is IMPOSSIBLE to find anyone to talk too.  We saw a 70 year old grandma the other day with German face paint and a flag, haha.  So needless to say, we are going to find a missionary opportunity to watch the game this Thursday = Deutschland v. America.  I'm kind of cheering for both teams!  I want Deutschland to win it because I'm here and it's so exciting, but at the same time Red, White and Blue!

Cool 'miracle' story...this last week we had a distrikt leader meeting in München, and I being an idiot lost my wallet somehow.  Well I didn't realize it until we were in innercity Munich and I check my back pocket and find nothing!  I instantly panicked because I had a lot of valuable stuff.  Like I said we were in the innercity and we were actually watching the Utah Chamber Choir in an old huge Evangelish church. Anyways so we are sitting there watching and listening and I'm just panicking that I had lost my wallet.  But as soon as it was over, the AP came up to me with my wallet!!  I was so excited and thankful.  I guess a Munich policeman found it and called them because I had their numbers in there.  So lucky!  On a better note, I got to see President and Sister Miles one last time at the choir thing.  They are sure awesome and I am going to miss them.  The new President comes in on the 27th.  I also got to talk to a lot of other Utah members at this Choir performance which was cool.

I sure do love you all and are thankful for all that you do!  It is crucial to remain with a positive attitude, especially since I'm about at my year mark.  No worries, I never doubt and have never got down, every mission is so different.  Please continue to pray for Augsburg and that we can find people to share this message with!!  Love you all.

LG

Elder Jensen" 

Here are some more pics from previous P-Day!

 Highest point of Deutschland

 

                                                                                  Found the year round Christmas store

Pictures!

June 2014

*Here are some more pictures from the Castle one P-Day and a few other misc. ones!!  We sure love seeing pictures of this happy Elder!