This week was a really good one. I feel like I'm
starting to know the area better and we are teaching some awesome
people. This week we focused in on 3 people to be baptized and
everything went well. As we were on our way to the chapel with one of
our investigators to be baptized, we passed a little boy we had been
teaching and his mom. This little boy already has a sister who is a
member of the church, but the mom didn't want to let him be baptized.
We stopped to talk to them and I was shocked when she said he could be
baptized that very night. Our 3 baptisms turned into 4! It was really
special to see the fruits of our labor that night as everyone of them
had their sins washed away and started a new life to follow Jesus
Christ.
We also were able to bring several
investigators to church to support the confirmations of the recently
baptized members. We are also teaching another family that we found
when we were searching for an ex-investigator. A woman named Carla and
her boyfriend Lorencio. Carla was already baptized many years ago and
to this day has a firm testimony, but feels guilty for the errors she
has made since she was less active. She wants to repent and wants to
have an eternal family with Lorencio. Lorencio is a miracle also
because he is really humble and wants to learn. He has a desire to get
married and be baptized. Our only challenge will be Carla's mom. They
said that she doesn't want them to get married, but we are praying and
fasting this week so that her heart will change. We planned to talk to
her with them when we get back from our trip. I just have a good
feeling that she will support them. They are a really special family
and I feel that Heavenly Father has a special plan and purpose for them.
This week we confirmed Marcelly. She told her mom
the night before that they needed to go home early so they could wake up
for church the next day. Marcelly started to talk about a mission to
her mom and how she would like to be a missionary one day like us. She
told her mom that she only wants long skirts from now on so that she can
be more modest. This little girl is only 10 years old, but she already
has a very firm testimony of the gospel. We also had a Family Home
Evening with her less active family and taught the Plan of Salvation.
After wards I taught them that game we play with 2 dice when you roll
7s, 11s, or doubles and you write numbers on a paper until you reach one
hundred. Remember that game?
They had a lot of fun with that. Laughing and playing that game
reminded me of playing and laughing with my own family. I always
thought it was interresting that The Family a Proclamation to the World
talks about wholesome recreational activities.
Happiness
in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the
teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families
are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer,
repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome
recreational activities.
To
have successful families, we need to have fun...while living the gospel
of Jesus Christ. In that moment I thought back to the fun times with
my own family. It is so important to have family home evenings every
week to strengthen the family and to teach. I know that Heavenly Father
has a special love and extra care for families. I understand also,
more profondly than ever, just how much He loves the little children.
We are constantly attacked by little children hugging us on the street.
Many of these children have nothing. The house of 2 little girls that
we baptized sits in the middle of swampy black water on stilts. The
house is the size of a shed. There is a beat up dirty mattress inside,
an old stove and a hammock. The house is made of wood and between every
block of wood there is a little crack. A family of 7 lives there. My
heart aches to see people living like this, especially little children,
but what makes me happy is the love the children have for the gospel. I
know the church is true. We can have nothing in this life, yet with
the gospel, we have everything. I love this church. I know it is the
true church of Christ. That is something I will always be thankful for.
The little girl that lives in that house sat with me sunday. she is
only 4 years old and really sweet. She asked permission to sit on my
lap and even though we can't really do that as missionaries, I could not
say no. I feel like I felt for a minute how the Savior feels for the
little children. They are pure in heart. We need to be more like them.
More submissive, humble and loving. It is something I strive to do
everyday. I love you all.
Sister Jensen
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