Itapororoca - A blessed Area

Date: Mon, 23 Sep 2013 10:53:38 -0300
Subject: Re: Good Morning my number one son!!!
From: adj1991@myldsmail.net

 

Hello Everyone,


So this past week....


We worked pretty hard…haha! We found new people to baptize, and 10 people went to church!!!  6 of the 10 will be baptized next week!!! I am excited!! This area is a very blessed area and has so much work and so much to do. The members really like doing missionary work and they love the missionaries. I hope I don’t fatten up here, I am trying to eat less but the only problem about eating less is that everyone thinks that you don’t like their food they made - it’s like a win- lose situation!  I will buy another suit with my birthday money, but I will never buy a big suit again, they are ugly and they never fit right. I love the slim fit suits and I will always buy slim fit suits - I will lose more weight when I get home. I am still very fat as my normal weight should be 175-180, I am back up to 196lb's!


WE BAPTIZED TWO MORE! I forgot one of the young men’s names, because we call him Tata and the other is Mikaew. They were so excited, but so embarrassed to show everyone what they looked like in their white jumpsuits. The two young men were baptized and it went very well, but it was so loud because everyone was talking - it was so loud and a spiritual experience. I was surprised the Spirit stayed but it was awesome!! Two weeks and already four people! But, during that baptism, it was such a mess but in the end everyone was happy to see them get in the water and truly follow Jesus Christ. The weeks are just getting better and better here.


Last night I decided to have a meeting with the Branch President about callings because almost nobody here has callings and no one knows how to call people or which ones to call, so I told him that I will give a training meeting for everyone and what callings still need to happen or which ones they need in the branch. Like yesterday in church the missionaries, or well me and Elder Loveland teach the Young Men, Gospel Principles and give talks, play the piano and be the conductor - Ridiculous!! Elder Loveland and I are basically running the whole show, but it’s worth it and very tiring on Sundays.

 
From the package that I got, some of the pop tarts....like half of them were crumbled but I end up eating the pop tarts very fast and got a little sick from them because I ate them way too fast! You don’t need to send pop tarts again or smoked salmon…actually what things are you planning on sending?  I only have four months left so just think of things you think I would like for the last little bit of my mission. :D I would very much be grateful for the package. I will not need any more hot sauce either and in this Christmas package, will the Reese’s Puffs be inside? You might want to send the package soon if it takes too long, then it might be better to not send it.

 
It’s a great day today! I bought a present for the family and I hope you guys don’t break it when you use it- haha but they are tough. Oh and today I made snickerdoodle cake - it’s delicious, but man does Elder Loveland eat cake!! He has already eaten like a whole fourth of the cake and its only 10 in the morning here, but I have to admit it is delicious! lol!!


Oh and the people that have friended you on FB from here - be Facebook friends with them. I know these people, they are people from the branch here in Itapororoca. But I have to go now. I am sorry that when the internet is a little slow. I love you a lot and I don’t think I need more salmon! :D


love,



elder adam jensen

 

My new area, Itapororoca, Brazil

September 16th, 2013

So this past week....

New area is called Itapororoca, my new apartment is small but has a huge deck area  - I like it a lot actually and we have a washing machine that works and is quiet!

We baptized two girls! Adneide and Adileine. One is 12 and the other is 9. The girl who is 12 has no arms and no legs. She was so excited to be baptized and it was so awesome!! Elder Loveland had to slowly put her in the water and plug her nose at the same time, her sister Adileine, on the first day I was here, looked at me and said she wanted to be baptized as well. I looked at her, and said, of course you can! They are both sweet little girls and are always outside joking around and getting dirty - like two boys ha-ha!

Church is cool here, but way different, about 50 people were there. On Sunday’s we go to lunch. Get our investigators and then get the bus at 2 p.m. Church starts at 3 p.m. and finishes at 6 p.m. and then the baptisms happen!! So we get back home or back in Itapororoca at about 7:30 p.m. It didn’t feel like Sunday, but it was really funny! About 50-60 people were at church, mostly children. We, the missionaries teach the Young Men and we teach Gospel Principles, it’s really just like a big race on Sunday, and it makes it a little difficult because we can’t miss the bus!!!! We take a bus because they don’t have a chapel here in Itapororoca, so we have to go to Mamanguape.

My companion Elder Loveland went to Provo BYU for a year he has a girlfriend and she is serving in the Phillipines as a sister.

I got the money and I have only spent $30 of it and I used it on food. If you do want to buy me another suit for my birthday, depending on where I buy it, it will be about $50-$100. The suit that I have which I bought here is doing great and still looks good on me. Here in Itapororoca I can buy some clothes before I come home. But yes, I will need new garments, these ones don’t last as long as there. 

Sorry I missed you and the internet is not working because of the storm last night.I will talk to you next week. I love you and have a great week. Don’t foget to do wonderful things!!!

 

If anyone wants to write to me my address is still the same:

 

Elder Adam Jensen

Missao Joao Pessoa

Rua Depuatado Jose Mariz # 515

Tambauzinho

Joao Pessoa

P.B. 58042-020

BRAZIL

 

 

Well that’s all,

love
 

 

elder adam jensen

 

 

New Area and a New Companion

Date: Wed, 11 Sep 2013 11:15:05 -0300
Subject: weekly email
From: adj1991@myldsmail.net

Hello Everyone


So this past week....nothing much happened! I was sick, only with the cold, but even the cold can be very annoying. Elder Guzman and I were working to have three baptisms this Sunday, Claudia, Jaína, and Priscila. Well it looks like someone else will have the baptisms, because I was transferred along with Elder Guzman. I went to Mamamguape, a city north of João Pessoa. Elder Guzman stayed in Campina Grande, but a different area. My new companion is Elder Loveland who is from Georgia, it seems pretty good so far to be with an American. Elder Loveland has only three months on the mission but at least he understands a good portion of Portuguese. He seems to be about 6´1" and a little slower being new, but that’s ok… because you really don’t need to be very fast to do this work and plus by the Spirit, things can go very slowly. But, at this point, I really have no idea where I am at. Our house is blue and crappy, but it’s great for just two people - and yeah it was nice to leave Campina Grande because I needed a change!!!!! The only good thing about Campina Grande was that it was a little colder than this city. I had to take a bus to João Pessoa and then another bus to Mamamguape, and then a taxi to the city that I am working in. Next week I can give you a lot more details and the actual name of the city I am in - and maybe the address so you can look on Google Earth, well a city close to that one. I don’t really know the name of the little city I am in. There is no chapel in our area, so we take a bus with the members to another chapel about 40 minutes away – it’s a little weird, but it doesn’t bother me at all. But it looks like the area I am in has a lot of baptisms, so that makes me happy. Well nothing else new for me though!!

Yes I think this will be my last area, and I am still a DL but Elder Loveland is new to the mission, but he has been in this area for only 6 weeks. Mamamguape seems a lot like my first area, Sousa, it is an actual city, but very poor and easy to work. But yep, Sunday’s look great with this type of situation, Bus = Meeting = Baptisms = Bus = It works out perfectly!!!

Well that’s about all that happened actually but yesterday was Elder Mantle´s birthday in Campina Grande. We went out and bought 100 little fried things and some soda. He seemed to enjoy it!! 

Hey, but I need a really big and bad favor. I literally have no money or food until the 15th. If you could put just 20 dollars in the account I would be eternally grateful. With the traveling and with random bills and water running out, I have no more money. Sorry!! It is only until the 15th, I will only need 20 dollars. But it was in the last house, the water pump broke in the apartment building, so we had to waste a little more money than we wanted to. Well if you could do it quickly or maybe electronically that would be amazing because I have to eat soon - I am dying - haha :D I just enough money to go to meetings and have food in the house, the church will pay for the water heater, but I will have to wait for reimbursements.

It’s almost time to get off the internet, but I literally have no money to go to the meetings tomorrow, or eat lunch today. I also have no money until the 15th, when we get our allowance. Please!!!

 Oh BTW, the girl - it looks like it might not work out. Oh well, not a big deal. I am no longer really worried anymore about my future spouse. I will find her or able to have her when the time is right. It only took me a little time to realize it but at least it wasn’t like years to realize. But I have to go now and I will talk to you on Monday. I love you a lot and I am sorry that we didn’t have much time.

Oh and Dad told me about the lawnmower, and I liked the shirt and the journal, the package was GREAT!!!!! I only have 4 months now. Wowowowowow: D

Thank you!

love, 

elder adam jensen

Farmer's and guns...

Date: Mon, 2 Sep 2013 10:49:34 -0300
Subject: Re: The Magic Number today is 137
From: adj1991@myldsmail.net

Hello Everyone

So this past week...

Not much happened actually. Well, come to think about it a lot happened!! But I don’t know how to explain all of it - maybe in a bulleted list.

• We found 8 more people to be baptized. Luciano, Adriano,Clemerson, Socorro, Fagner, Joselio, Claudia and Jefferson.
• Fagner´s dad won’t let him go to church to be baptized.
• Adriano, Socorro, and Luciano are all family and the man in their house that isn’t even the dad said that we couldn’t go back there, which is ridiculous because this man is like 35 years old and isn’t a parent of any of them, he is living there because he is dating or living with Socorro’s daughter which is 13 years old. Yeah I know it’s a horrible situation where we work!
• Joselio, Clemerson, and Claudia are all a family as well, but only Joselio went to church. the others either had other plans or just plainly didn’t want to go this past Sunday. We try and teach that Sunday is a commandment, but people still don’t understand.
• Jefferson is a friend of Joselio that went to church with him, they both accepted baptism for the 15th that we are hoping to do with the rest of their families.

If all these people eventually get baptized, then they will be the first baptisms for Elder Guzman when I am no longer here in this area. Next Wednesday (the 11^th) it is the transfer, so most likely I will leave and go somewhere a little hotter, but with less apostasy and law breaking. I think I will be transferred to be a Zone Leader in an area called Rangel or Mamanguape. My favorite area so far has been Mossoró. and I don’t think it’s very possible to return to the same area you have already stayed at. The other areas are just like mine, but without a huge farm area, or as many weird relationship situations!!!  Right now, well most of my area is the city, but Elder Guzman and I are walking about 45 minutes out of our way to go to the farming area that has all of our baptisms. Here in Campina Grande we are in Winter, but it’s already starting to end. It’s getting hotter around here and really annoying.
I am not too happy when I sweat more and more - but yeah this week was kind of sucky, but with a great outcome.  In the farming area, the men have come together to make sure we can’t bring any of their families to church. I don’t really know why, but we are not going to give up that easy. Two good things happened....two young men went to church that want to be baptized on the 15^th, so we marked the 15th because we want the rest of their families to be baptized as well!

Another lady, Fabricia, has been an investigator for about a year, or well since she has been married, she has finally been baptized. I have worked with her so much, and wasted so much time trying to teach her, but finally she decided and it happened. The baptism really happened!! Fabricia, has been going to church this whole time, she just one day said that she wanted to get baptized. I think it was when her husband got a calling and she saw him as a different man - he is the one that baptized her!  Oh what a relief. but that’s about it!

Oh and on Saturday Elder Guzman and I were almost robbed on the street. I was surprised that we weren’t, but we were pretty stupid at this moment. We were trying to hitch a ride on the freeway, this has a speed bump on the other side of the two lane freeway. While waiting, we saw two men robbing other men with a gun. We weren’t sure if it was a gun but I thought I saw one. Anyways, after they robbed the people on the other side of the street, we watched them as they crossed the freeway onto our side. (that was the stupid part).  I don’t know why we watched them crossing the street but we did and there were 4 people about 12 feet from us talking and we watched as one of the men pull out the gun and point it at one of them. Once we finally saw this, we started walking very fast to an area that these men wouldn’t of seen us or even try to rob us.  It WAS ridiculous that we watched this whole thing, but it’s the first time on my mission that it came that close. Elder Guzman and I and the four people who were robbed were the only people on our side of the freeway, and before they were crossing I was on the phone trying to call people.  It was a miracle we weren’t robbed, but I am very grateful that I am looked out for.  Yeah, it was close, but at least I am doing great and nothing bad has happened to me.

I am thinking that I am truly going to try and move my tracks at BYUi because it would be so much easier not going in the fall and just going January-July. Oh and I have been thinking about a child development classes. I realized that I am great with children and I love children, so why not? But then again I am only thinking about the good side of children, and not the dirty nasty consequences, and to be honest I have no idea what I meant by the child development classes. We will see.

Oh yeah, I wrote back to Sean and he can use my shoes. I thought Nic was using them anyways and I saw all of Sean's pictures too.

Ok well I have to go now. I will talk with you next Wednesday. It will probably be later than usual, I say that because as I said I think I am going to be transferred.

I love you and I pray for all of you always.  Thank you so much for everything!

Oh and I am still thinking about coming back to Brasil and of course I write to Emily every week about where we are going to live as a couple when we finish our missions!! LOL!

Well that’s all,

 

love,

 

elder adam jensen

 

p.s. It’s less than 137 days. it’s like 132 days now!!  Don’t use the calculator to actually count the days. I am saying the 15^th of January because that is the day I am counting until, and of course I don’t count today!