Baptisms for the 26th!!

Mon, 20 Aug 2012 11:30:05 -0300
From: adj1991@myldsmail.net


Hello everyone!!

So this past week...

In my area we have some awesome members. They love to go out and work with us, and there is a guy here who really reminds me of Gary Gascoigne, but a lot shorter. But yeah, with members help and some references we were able to have 4 marked baptisms for the 26th of this month and so far it seems like we are going to have all 4 baptized. It is going to be sweet. What I think I meant to say last week in my email is that the North East is different than any other area in Brazil because in Mossoró people here are more educated, actually understanding that at least finishing high school is a really good thing!

So I decided to do a new study....it’s for 30 minutes of personal study and it’s continue reading in the Book of Mormon in Portuguese, and for the next 30 minutes read Isaiah and try to understand it. I figured I had to read Isaiah because there are moments in the Book of Mormon when Jesus says that the book of Isaiah has everything in it that pertain to past, present, and future of this world. But also I have come to know that the principles of the gospel, like the things we teach for people is only the milk of the gospel or doctrine. And the more in depth or deep doctrine is the meat. I have read lately that I cannot take the meat in huge chunks, but I have to learn piece by piece. It’s hard, but I am enjoying it and believing everything that I am coming to find out. Especially about other planets and the world outside of the earth. It is so interesting! BTW I am reading Isaiah in English. 

This upcoming Friday is the one year mark for my companion and he is pretty excited! He wants to throw some sort of party thing. Mainly a small BBQ food that we will do in our crappy backyard for lunch. The backyard is like the dead portion of a desert. We don’t usually eat at night here either, sometimes, but not that much. The lunches are the same as always, beans, rice, noodles and some meat - every day and still the biggest meal of the day! We never do service projects here either because there is nothing here to do service on. It’s sad especially when you see an old woman drink something and then when she is finished she just throws it in the street. There are basically is not that much of "manners" here.

I am pretty much adjusted to Brazil now. It’s mainly the same thing every single day. The only thing I will continue to hate is watching the kids run around during sacramental meeting and the Counselors to the Bishop when they speak they say everything like a question because they literally ask the Bishop after each announcement if it was right. but yeah I am in a pretty good mood and I am happy I got transferred because I started to get super bored in Sousa. But all is sweet! The package from the Petrie’s though I probably won’t get it till October but that’s not a big deal. It’s so nice of them to agree to bring me anything!

Oh and mail...I received the other package that had some candy and the Cabelas t-shirt. All the t-shirts fit!! Oh and I received the other pictures as well. Thank you so much for all the things you have sent me. I know they are sent with love.

Anyways, that was my week.

Ok well I have to go now. I love you with all my heart. and a little message... “In every moment of the time we have on this earth, if we only look with love, then our whole entire outlook on life and life after this life will be a major blessing and we will never want to be without the ones we love.” 

with love,
elder adam jensen

You can contact Elder Adam Jensen at:
Brazil Joao Pessoa Mission
Rua Deputado Jose Mariz, #515
Tambauzinho 58042 - 020
Joao Pessoa - PB Brazil

(Please include your physical address)
 

Referrals, referrals and referrals

August 13th, 2012

So this past week,

We arrived here on Wednesday, and the zone leaders took us to a member’s house, so that he could show us our area and people we could work with. It was kind of nice because he showed us other members, and how to get around in our area, and on top of that he showed us where lunch was for the whole week. He was a cool guy. But the only thing that sucked about that day was that we basically did no work, so one of the days to find new people was basically lost.

Hmmm, the Zone leaders also told us that there was a man ready to be baptized this Sunday, but they lied. We went and taught this guy and he is married to a member and the rest of the family is members except for him, but the thing was about this guy is that he is – well, kind of lies a lot. We showed up there and asked him why he wasn’t baptized the Sunday before when he had his interview and he said that he had a problem with coffee. The next day we went and taught him and we asked if he drank coffee yesterday? You know what he said?? He was like...I don’t even like coffee. I only said that because during the interview I was hearing things that I didn’t know before, like the Word of Wisdom and The Law of Chastity, so I just lied and said I have a problem with coffee so I couldn’t be baptized. So basically we were like um ok then. But after that we also found out that the missionaries before never taught about Prophets, so we had to explain that and also to read and pray about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The guy never read or prayed and he has questions like is the Book of Mormon true and was Joseph Smith truly a prophet? But he decides he doesn’t want to ask these questions because he doesn’t want to be baptized. So unfortunately this guy is now cut from our investigators and when he finally decides to be baptized and then maybe we will still be here.

Also we worked with more members and I like them all. The lunch is VERY good and we have a lot of people to teach already, like 10 new people that are all just references!! I think I will be in Mossoró until December. There is transference before Christmas and I think that will be when I leave here. The people in Mossoro are so fantastic and most have already gone to school so I probably will not run into anyone that says they can’t read. The people here understand a lot more. Oh and the Ward is awesome. Giving references all the time. I am pretty sure I’ll never have to do street contacts again here in Mosorro. It is the only place in Brasil that is nothing like the rest, it is nearer to the Temple but unfortunately I still won’t go to the temple. Yeah it is hot and humid here. Kind of sucks, but I will be totally fine, and I still am lol.

The other missionaries inside the house are zone leaders, and their names are Elder O´Very who is from Utah, and Elder Galvez who is from Oregon. My new companion is Elder Collins and he is from Arizona, in Mesa. And my companion is pretty cool he does live near the Petrie's, but he doesn’t know them. And none of them have served in Sousa except for Elder O´Very, he started in that area like me. And Mom, no, it does not feel like college!! LOL.

Hmm and the zone leaders were being nice by giving us an investigator, and they obviously wouldn’t say bad things about the investigator because they want to motivate us to get a baptism. I understand why they did that. Oh, and in Sousa with the wife that is cheating on her husband she is still in another city and I don’t think the husband has seen her yet from the last time I talked with them or saw them. Pretty sad!

With the mail, I received everything except for the sunglasses, and I only received one of the two shirts so far. I have the dr. pepper one. Thank you!

If you or anyone else was to send one thing or maybe two...can it be a dr.pepper soda and taco bell hot sauce????????? I think the dr pepper will be ok, because someone here already received a soda in a bottle and it was ok the whole way!! One other thing too is that I do need Gillett fusion blades, 68 reals here are very expensive, technically it is around 34 dollars, but for 4 blades. Putting money into my account is crazy to buy them here. Costco is cheaper. Totally ridiculous!!! If those are still too expensive, then don’t worry about it. We can’t go inside malls, and for four blades it is 68 reals. Hopefully Santa brings me some more Gillett blades too! Lol

I already have the Petrie’s emails. My time on the mission has gone by extremely fast. I figured out that I will be coming home in Jan 2014. I think but maybe it will still be the beginning of Feb. I will just have to figure it out with the schedule of transfers.
But I have to go now. I love you and I miss you guys.

I love you a lot and I will talk to you next week.

with love
elder adam jensen

Transferred...Mosorro!

August 8th, 2012

Hey everyone,

So this past week....

We still didn’t have any baptisms Sunday, but the positive news is that two people came to church. It was two 16 year olds. Actually they passed by the church and I think they have gone to church before in the past, but we caught them on the street and brought them to church. It was actually pretty cool.

Oh and something happened to a member this past week which is actually pretty sad. So the guy’s wife never came home one night and he was really worried, so the next day he went to the hospitals and she wasn’t at any of them, and then he went to where she works, and she never went to work the day before. He was checking things around his house, and he noticed the 100 Reals were missing, along with some clothes and her documents. He was freaking out, so we gave him a blessing and tried to calm him down. well, later that day he received a call from his wife.....and she says that she is in another city, and that she was kidnapped and raped. It was horrible, but she said to the husband to not worry, because her brother lives in this city she happened to be dropped off at. She also said not to come see her because she didn’t want him to see her like whatever she looked like. I feel so bad the member, because all of this happened. He is a great guy, but I know there are missing parts to the story, I mean someone is not telling the whole truth, but still I was sad to hear that this happened and we all prayed and wished him the best and her.

Also since I emailed to you last I have been transferred to Mossoro. It is more hot than Sousa, but good news is that there is some wind. Also here inside the new house, are all American missionaries. So a lot of English and on top of that an American who married a Brazilian lives here in Mossoro and he is an English teacher. The funny thing about it is that he chooses to speak English to us. He seems like a really cool guy. I also learned about this new area is that there are great people and we receive a lot of references, and we have a lot of baptisms here. I am excited in my new area and this will be a whole new experience.

In Sousa, the area that we were in was basically a made up area until President could figure out the areas for us because the other missionaries that came with me, the group was huge. But my old area is closed. Elder Rinaldi went to a place close to Campinas Grande it is another branch. My area before me and Elder Rinaldi were there, was Sousa area and Estação area, and when we arrived we created an area called Sousa/Estação 2. The Sousa/Estação area is now closed and the areas are back to normal. The Petries' will still be there. Hopefully the package you will send for them can get there soon. I will take pictures of this area as well. I wasn’t shocked I was moved, but I didn’t expect Mossoro.

I am about 4 hours NE from Sousa, mainly north though. And for me, I am not sad, all is actuallypretty good.

P-day will be back to Monday next week. I have to go now.

I love you

elder adam jensen

Meeting our Zone Goal...!

July 31^st, 2012

Hey so this past week, 

This past week I was sick until Thursday morning so the work was actually horrible. We met with a young guy that was supposed to be baptized, but when we talked to him about it he said no again. I don’t know why, but to be honest I think it is because he wants to do things before baptism, especially because I saw two hickies on his neck from his new girlfriend. He is only 16, but I can’t judge, especially according to my life lol. He is a good kid and I hope he eventually understands the importance of becoming closer to God and Jesus. Elder Rinaldi and I didn’t have any baptisms this past week, and I don’t think we have any for next week because no one came to church....again! But yeah we have a lot of families to see in the week. I am excited to get them marked for a date for baptism.

Also this week we had our normal 8 men we have to have each week,  3 of them are really strong or firm, and want to know so much more. We found them just outside the church looking, and then they came up to us and asked who we were and our purpose. It was really awesome!! We ended up giving them a tour of the church and told them a lot of what we believe, and they enjoyed it a lot. Except the funny thing is that one of the guys had a little daughter with him, and she ended up peeing on the floor because her dad wasn’t paying attention, but that’s ok. It was funny, and come on; children are here to embarrass parents anyways! 

Also this week, we ended up reaching our zone goal of 18 baptisms for the month. The zone had 19 baptisms total. That is why we had a zone p-day today. We can only have a zone p-day if we reach the goal for the zone. Zone p-day means that all the missionaries in the zone, which is 14 missionaries, come to our area and we all hang out and have fun. Oh, but the whole mission had 194 baptisms this month. A little less than the goal already set, which is a bummer. The goal was 203 baptisms. Maybe next month we will reach the goal. 

So about mail, I will receive mail tomorrow night when the zone leaders return from João Pessoa. But so far a have received the package that had 100 name cards and the one thumb drive. Not more than this, but maybe tomorrow night I will have more. I am actually hoping. Because the last time I was hoping a little too much and all I received was the card from Gavin. I love Gavin but it sucks only getting that when expecting so much more. Maybe I will get more mail. 

Yeah I am missing the Petrie's,  they are my family away from home.  Sister Petrie goes in for her hand surgery tomorrow,  hopefully she does fine as they told me that the recovery time is very fast. Anyway, I did call Sister Hall, and I went to the doctor. He thought it was a viral infection  and Sister Hall told me to stay home take medicine and rest. I did that on Tuesday but Wednesday night I took some medicine and had a blessing and the next morning I felt totally fine. It was actually awesome!! (except Sister Hall thought I might have had dengue fever,  maybe or maybe not but either way it is all gone.) BTW, the doctor didn’t do any blood work and I decided not to even do blood work at the lab,  but I am better.

I will send the whole SD card home when I receive an SD card lol. The food is still the same as before, rice, beans, noodles, and chicken every day. It is never different unless we make the food. I did see that the girls’ soccer team won in the Olympics and Brazil did too.

Ok well I have got to go now. I love you a lot and I will talk to you next week. I forgot to tell you. next week is transfer week, so I don’t know exactly what time I will email. Sorry. Transfer week is always crazy, but it will happen on Wednesday the 8th of August. so I won’t speak again until that day. I love you a lot and I will talk to you soon. P-day will be on Wednesday instead of Monday and we will email later in the day again. Email will happen again from 2-4 p.m. my time so like today. But always I love you and stay safe and be grateful for the blessings, I mean pray a lot!

with love

elder adam jensen