Morôni é o cara!

We have a new chapel!  Not "our" chapel, but the Sisteres of Buritis have a new chapel and we had the dedication last night with Presidente Klein.  It was so awesome.  At the start of the dedication the chapel was well-filled, but as it continued on the chapel was over flowing!  All the missionaries gave up their seats and we were squeezing chairs into every open space we could find.  Everyone wanted to see the new chapel.  It was really beautiful and it was exciting to see what our chapel will look like when it's finished.  We are thinking it will be ready by December and I hope that's true!  When we drove past it Saturday they were planting and putting in lights.  It is so big and beautiful and not like any other chapel in all of our area (and there are many chapels).  A lot of people here call it a temple.  If they only knew what the temple is like!!

Presidente Klein passed through a few days here this week.  The first day we had interviews in the morning and a special musical fireside at night.  We attracted a lot of non-members to the musical fireside.  Everyone really liked it and in our area alone we received 4 referrals.  An Elder in our zone and I started the fireside with the song "Vinde a Mim" or in English "Come Follow Me".  I may or may not have forgotten the words a little during the performance, but can ya blame me?  It's not my first language!  Saturday night we had a special fireside with Presidente Klein and the adult members of the stake.  I'm sure you can only imagine what this was about...members and missionaries of course!  I really liked something that one member said in her talk.  She said, the main thing that is frustrating this work is thinking that we've already arrived.  Although we are doing a lot, we are capable of doing far more.  

This thought has really stuck with me this week.  And I've been thinking a lot about how I can help our members get excited about doing missionary work.  One thing I noticed is that members get excited when we are excited and likewise, missionaries get excited when members are excited.  I was talking with one Irmã about her neighbors this week and all of a sudden she was thinking of all kinds of people to introduce us to.

Sunday we had a District Conference.  (Like a Stake Conference, but we are not a stake yet.)  It was really well attended and one of our investigators came!  Her name is Solange.  Sister Crane and I found her one transfer ago but never had an opportunity to go back.  We finally went back and had a really good lesson with her.  She has a lot of questions about the church and religion in general.  At first I think she was excited to talk with us because we were Americans but now I think she is really thirsty to learn more.  During our lesson with her this week she asked many questions and every question ended in a follow up question, "Is that right?"  This leads me to believe that she is open and ready to believe in our message.

Another investigator is Wendel.  He is 19 years old and is the grandson of one our members.  He is a really good kid and wants to be baptized.  We taught him the commandments last week and he was willing to live all of them!  The only thing that has been difficult for us is marking a date for baptism.  We will be meeting with him tonight to do just that.

This week I made a cool discovery while studying the scriptures.  I LOVE Alma 48 where it talks about Moroni:  

 11 And Moroni was a ^astrong and a mighty man; he was a man of a perfect ^bunderstanding; yea, a man that did not delight in bloodshed; a man whose soul did joy in the liberty and the freedom of his country, and his brethren from bondage and slavery;

 12 Yea, a man whose heart did swell with thanksgiving to his God, for the many privileges and blessings which he bestowed upon his people; a man who did labor exceedingly for the ^awelfare and safety of his people.

 13 Yea, and he was a man who was firm in the faith of Christ, and he had ^asworn with an oath to defend his people, his rights, and his country, and his religion, even to the loss of his blood.

17 Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto ^aMoroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the ^bdevilwould never have power over the hearts of the children of men.

I love these scriptures!!!  Then my discovery in verse 19.  He makes a comparison between Moroni and other righteous men in the scriptures:

 19 Now behold, Helaman and his brethren were no less^aserviceable unto the people than was Moroni; for they did preach the word of God, and they did baptize unto repentance all men whosoever would hearken unto their words.

Helaman and his brethren were like Moroni because they preached and they baptized unto repentance.  Then I realized, hey that's what I'm doing!  Don't we all want to be like Moroni?  Don't we want to be firm in the faith and defend righteousness?  Do our hearts swell for joy in the freedom from sin for our brothers and sisters on the earth?  This scripture is telling us that we can be comparable when we are preaching the gospel and helping our brothers and sisters receive a remission of their sins.  

I have a testimony of the importance of this work.  I have the wonderful opportunity to wear a name tag everyday, but all of us can truely have a name tag written on our hearts.  In fact, it is already there.  When we were baptized we took His name upon us.  As Latter-day Saints, we are is representatives.  Share the gospel.

Com amor e carinho,

Sister Jensen