week full of service

G'day everyone! Hope you are all doing good! I am doing solid and I have had a good week here! Here is the update!

Tuesday- We had P day and just did the usual stuff. We went to a beach and just admired the view for a little after all the normal activities and then we went to the Shoobridge's house! Josh made us a good shepherds pie and then we shared a message with him and the two boys because the girls were gone for the night! 

Wednesday- We went to the Family History Center for a little bit and did some indexing! After that we went to Debbie's house to do some service for her! We dug up some grass and levelled the ground out to be ready for concreting! Before we did the service though we went with them to the wharf and fished with some of the Parker family! We got to talk to a lot of people there and interact so that was fun! Then we had dinner at their house and shared a message! 

Thursday- A lady that lives next door came running over to our flat and asked us to get a live rat out of her house so we went over and tried to catch it. After a lot of failed attempts to catch it, I bashed it with a broom and killed it, all while I was still brushing my teeth haha! Then we went to the Shoobridges house to help them set up a home made obstacle course! I drilled all the holes into the ground for the poles to go into and we cemented the poles in. We worked on this for about 8 hours with them and then we stayed and had dinner with them! That was our day haha! 

Friday- We called into DTM and then after that we went to Ben and Cymmon's house to help drill some holes for their fence they were putting up to keep the roos out! Then we went to Debbie's house and helped to rake leaves and dig up more grass! After that we went home for dinner and called it a night! 

Saturday- Ah man this day was full on! We helped Hannah and Mitch with a burn pile at 8 and helped them with that until10:30 and then we went and helped Tom and Robbie move some wood/trees! Then after that a senior couple from Canberra came down to inspect our flat and bring us some supplies we needed. Then they took us out to a really nice Italian place for lunch and the waiter was from Milan so those who know my life will understand why that was pretty cool for me hahaha! After that we went back to help Tom and Robbie. Then we went to Sam and Mandy's house to help them with some service at their house as well! Then we had dinner with them and shared a message with them! I slept great this night! 

Sunday- We had normal church and then we took the Sacrament to an elderly couple. After that we had lunch and then we went to take the Sacrament to the two ladies in Bega! After that we came home and Elder Plata made us the best home made chicken wings ever!! They were so bomb like wow!! Good solid Sabbath day! 

Monday- We went and did some more service at Debbies. We dug up the rest of the grass and then we helped unload it at Ben and Cymmon's house! After that Debbie made us lunch and we helped out with some more things around her yard and house! After that we went fishing with them again and it was a lot of fun! I had to set up my comps poles and then I had to reset Elder Laga'aia's pole a couple more times hahaha it helped prepare me to be ready for when I take my future kids fishing hahaha! I didn't catch anything but my comps both caught some and so that was cool for them! Then we went to the Shoobridge's house for dinner and a lesson! It was a solid day!

My spiritual thought today is an analogy. When we go fishing we will rig up our poles in many different ways with a lot of different bate to see what the fish are biting on. This is how Satan works with is as well. He tries everything he can and pulls out all the tricks and different baits that he can to get us to make the wrong choice but we must stay strong and resist these temptations.The prophet Mormon taught us a great principle to remember, But behold, that which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good continually; wherefore, every thing which inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to love God, and to serve him, is inspired of God.

Good thoughts and feelings are from God, so act on them and not the temptations from Satan! 

Have a good week! 

-Elder Jenson

Looks like he's doing a lot of work (eye roll)

.... always at the beach.. such a bum

looks like somebody got a selfie stick.... 

selfie game on point

Dom's clown fish

they built an obstacle course.. Cam calls it "log world"

FYYYYAAAAA

SELFIE 

Dinner is served.. mmm gimme it

TRANSFERS

Well the long transfer is finally over!! I am staying in Merimbula with Elder Laga'aia and our new comp Elder Plata! He is from the Philippines and he is a professional chef, SCORE! He is way awesome and I think we are going to all have a good transfer together! 

Monday- We went and played squash with the Shoobridges and it was so much fun! I got killed by Naomi and Josh! Naomi is pregnant too and she still destroyed me haha! Squash is a lot like racquet ball just with a smaller ball and racquet! I had a lot of fun though and I got better as the day went on haha! Then we went on a hike with them and some more of the Parker family! It was really fun with everyone there! After that we went back to the Shoobridge's home for dinner and a lesson! Sam and Mandy came over too with their kids because they are their visiting teachers and so Sam gave the lesson it was awesome! 

Tuesday- We had a full day of service for Debbie Parker! We went over there really early in the day and we dug up some dirt for her, burned more stuff, and we destroyed one of the old bird cages! That part was a lot of fun! Then they made us the biggest breakfast dinner I have ever had!!! IT was so good! I felt like I needed to roll myself out of there after that! Then we shared Moroni 7:16-17 it was really good! Pretty basic day haha!

Wednesday- We went to the Family history center to do some indexing and to see Norma Wright who is the family history consultant! We talked with her and her husband and one of their friends that were there so that was good! Indexing is a lot of fun too haha it was the first time I have done it! Go try it out! Then we went to game night that night and we got to see Tom and Ian and more people that were there! We watched Josh get beaten  by a 5 year old in the game he was playing so that was pretty funny haha!

Thursday- We had another day full of service! We went to Norma and Maurice Wright's house to help them with some stuff around their yard! We got there at 10 and stayed there all day helping! We trimmed bushes and helped to split some wood! Norma and Maurice are originally from England and she makes the best food ever!! She made us Breakfast, lunch and dinner haha it was so awesome! They have a friend over that just got back from the states and he showed us pics from when he was in Utah and one was from on the freeway right by boondocks in Draper! It was right by the old exit that you take to get to my grandparents house so that was awesome to see haha man I miss Utah! Then he showed us all the other photos he takes because he is a photographer! He is a non member so it was good to be able to plant some seeds with him! It was a fun overall day out in the bush doing yard work haha!

Friday- We had to call in for DTM and that went well! Then we went to Sam and Mandy Parker's house to do some service for them and then we stayed there for dinner with them and the Shoobridges! Mandy made some delicious Chicken Enchiladas! Then we had a lesson with them and it was good! 

Saturday- We got to go play squash in the morning with the Shoobridges and that was way fun! Then we went to Emmets Birthday party at the park and that was a ton of fun! We got to talk to a lady from another faith and it was a good chat about our religions we are apart of! Then after that we had to deep clean the flat! After we deep cleaned that we got permission from president to go to a trivia night thing with the Shoobridges! It was at a pub so you can just imagine all the heads that turned when we walked in with our white shirts and ties on hahaha it was so funny! We got to talk to a lot of people and most of them were drunk but the Shoobridges friend that was on our team for the trivia night is a non member and she asked a lot of questions about our faith so that was the best thing about the whole night! We didn't win the trivia night... we lost to a bunch of drunk people lol!

Sunday- We went to church and then we drove straight to Canberra for Transfers! We drove the 3 hours then we got to go to the Clarks house for dinner! they are a senior couple from Arizona! The food was delicious!! Then we went to the Belconnen flat to stay the night and I got to see my boy Elder Yardley so that was fetching awesome! It was good to see other missionaries haha we have been isolated for so long!

Monday- We went to an investigators home gym in the morning to work out which was way sick! Then we went to the flat and got ready. I had Elder Yardley touch up my hair and fix it a little haha! Then we went to the chapel to get our new comps! We got Elder Plata and then we went to lunch with all the Elders leaving Canberra before they drove up to Sydney and us down to Merimbula! We drove home and when we got back we went to the Shoobridges house for FHE! It was way fun but we were a little worn out from driving for some reason haha! 

My spiritual thought for the week comes from John 15:12,  This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

Love our neighbors like our savior loves us! We will be happy as we extend love to others and being happy is pretty great :) Love you all!

-Elder Jenson

Something borrowed, something new, and something blue... look at that tongue... Wonder what he ate?

The kiddos 

The walk to the beach... doesn't look THAT scary

Thugs

Sunrise is pretty cool at the beach

isn't that the cutest closed mouth smile you've ever seen?

so hard... all the time.

all smiles

Sunrise... not that pretty

He's got the whole worl....SUN in his hand...

Yardley is pretty fancy.. look at the matching jacket and tie.. Whistle whistle

Out with the old

In with the new... the chef. Maybe he will teach Cam a thing or two about how to cook...

Kangaroo curry

Man so the transfer is almost over haha this has been a long and a fast 10 weeks.. hard to explain but its how time goes on the mission! We have had a pretty good week! Here is the recap!

Monday- We went golfing again for our P day! We golfed 9 holes at a course in our area! I beat my comps but it isn't that impressive because they both struggled haha I did too but it was a lot of fun! Elder Cherrington drilled a kangaroo in the chest when he drove the ball haha it was so funny! It was a massive male kangaroo and it didn't even flinch when it hit him! Then he just hopped off like nothing happened haha! Then we went on a nice bush walk with Josh and his family again and we saw another beautiful part of our area! After that we went to their house for dinner and we helped the kids to teach their parents about the Restoration! It was a lot of fun!

Tuesday- We went to work on the shed at Josh's house because we wanted to finish it by this Friday! We got one side of the roof put up and it was a long process! My shoulders were dead from drilling in screws! Then after we did that we went home and showered then we headed to Ben and Cymmon's for some dinner! She made us kangaroo curry! It was my first time to have Kangaroo on the mission and it was so good! It tastes like beef haha but it was weird to think that I was eating kangaroo:) Then we played some games with the kids and we shared a message with them! 

Wednesday- We went to go and help out on Josh's shed again. Then we got a call while we were there from Tom to see if we could go and help out to remove some trees! So we went to go and do that and it was a lot of fun! I felt like a bunch of rednecks haha we had a truck with a big rope tied around a tree to pull it out and it had America's Funniest Home Videos written all over it!! hahahaha luckily the truck didn't get ruined and the tree came out nice and clean after we dug around it and took a chainsaw to it a little! We had to leave that early to go to Debbie and Mark's house! We went there and helped to burn some of their burn piles and rake up some leaves! Then we had dinner with them and we shared a message with them! They showed us the parody video of the missionaries singing Adele's hello song and it was pretty dang funny haha look it up!

Thursday- We had another full day of service! We went back to Josh's house and we finished the roof on the shed finally!! It felt so good to finally finish it haha! Then I got to mow the lawn with their ride on lawn mower and I put it in 5th gear while I did it and boy was I flying around the yard hahaha it was awesome! Then we had dinner at their house and we played a game with them! We got to help make some cupcakes too so that was a lot of fun! 

Friday- We called into DTM and it went well! Then we went to finish the shed at the Shoobridge's house! We finally got it done and it was so nice! Then we helped to set up for their son's B day party and we got to stay for the party and be with the whole Parker Family! It was fun to get to play games with the kids and to interact with all the great members of that family! 

Saturday- Got to finally watch General Conference! It was so AMAZING!!!! I loved it! We watched the morning and afternoon sessions then we left to go get lunch and do service for a less active member! Then we went and we watched the priesthood session! After that we had helped Sam Parker clean the chapel then we went to his house for dinner and we shared a good message with them after! 

Sunday- We watched morning session of conference with the Branch! After that we went with some of the branch and sang some Hymns to people in an old folks home! It was so much fun to sing to them and they loved it! Then we went and had a quick lunch then it was back to watch the afternoon session of conference! After that we got to go to the Parker's house for their family dinner! We had a delicious meal and we got to share a great short and powerful message with them to end the night! 

I truly wish I could share with you guys all of the spiritual impressions that I received from conference but there were too many for me to write them all down! I felt my Savior's love for me and I felt the love that my Heavenly Father has for me unlike any other time in my life! We are all Children of God and he loves us so much! He is always there for us and He is cheering us on all the time! We need to follow the impressions that we got from conference and act on them! We received them for  a reason so do not ignore them! Don't get down on yourself ever! We all mess up and The Lord knew we would, that is why we have the Atonement! We are rewarded for trying to do our best, and we receive so many blessings from our Heavenly Father for our true desires of our hearts! I know that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God and that this Church is the only true church on the Earth today! I love being a missionary for this Church and I love the happiness this Gospel brings me! 

Have a good week! Love you all! 

-Elder Jenson

golf course

doin work

woah.. what a hike.

cute little alex

probably saw a shark or something

werk it.. werk it.

just a hole in a rock.. he thought it was "sick"

he caught a crab... 

pulled down a tree

I. AM. IRON MAN.. 

They finally finished... only took about 5 weeks... we're still proud

Choir crew.

he had a normal haircut

Hi everyone  my week has been pretty darn good! Here is the rundown!

Tuesday- We had our P day and we went golfing! I beat my comps and I had so much fun playing again! There were some roos all over the course too so that was sweet haha a little scary but they were harmless! So the course closed at like 5 but the owner let us stay after hours to finish our game, he said he would close the gate and leave the lock unlocked so we could get out and he said to just lock the gate after we left, well we got to the gate and it was locked hahaha we don't know how! So we drove around trying to find a way out but we couldn't so we called Sam Parker who knows the owner and got his number and he came and let us out! Hahaha it was pretty funny! Then we went to the Parker's house and we had dinner and a message it was great! 

Wednesday- We met Kylie at the Family History Center to watch the Prophet of the Restoration movie with her! She loved it and she learned a lot from it! Then we did some family history with her and talked with the other people there. After that we went and had some late lunch and then drove to Bega! We went over the baptismal questions with Atika for her interview the next day and then Sister Walker gave us more food haha I was so stuffed after that! Then we went to nerd night and played a cool card game with Josh, and a non member guy there! We let the non member win so that he would convert.. lol. just kidding he won fair and square!

Thursday- We went out and did some good ole' tracting! I knocked on this one door and after the guy opened it before I could even finish my sentence asking him how he was he said F*** off and slammed the door hahahahaha I didn't know whether to laugh or be pissed so I just laughed and was pissed at the same time haha! Then we knocked for an hour more and nothing came from it, but on the last door we had success with a 73 year old lady named Jilly! She started off saying that she wasn't interested at all and then she started talking to Elder Laga'aia while Elder Cherrington and I went and knocked one of the other appartments in the complex. We went over and joined the conversation and she told us how she has a brain tumor and that her husband left her 2 days after they found out. She said that she doesn't know why she is still here and why God is still keeping her here and so I got to bear testimony to her that God has a plan for her and that she is here for a reason and I told her that I know that our message we share is true and that it can bless her life and help her situation! She agreed to take the lessons in a couple of weeks after she is done with some more doctor appointments. The Spirit really worked through her, it went from not interested, to sad and depressing, to a happy fun conversation with laughing! She said she had been praying to God to know what she should do with her life and then she met us! That just testified to me that I am truly on the Lord's errand and that he leads and directs His work! Jilly lives right across the street from us so we are going to walk her dog for her and help her out when she needs it! It was a solid first contact and she was awesome! She really needed friends so it was great to reach out to her and show her that she has friends in the missionaries! Then we went to the interviews of Kylie and Atika and they both passed with flying colors! Then The senior couple the Jensens who came down to do the interview took us to Maccas for dinner! We got to do a create your own burger and it was so good!! Then we went home and gave each other hair cuts... I gave myself one and just had Elder Cherrington cut the back for me and it looked solid! Then I cut his hair and Elder Laga'aia's hair! Then after I got out of the shower I thought I needed to take it up higher on the left side of my head, so I did. Long story short, I messed it up and now I have a #1 buzz cut hahahahahaha so I look great for the baptisms!:) Hahaha we had a good laugh about it and we still do every time someone looks at me and when I look in the mirror I can't help but crack up:) This was a fun filled day with a lot of cool stuff that happened!

Friday- Pretty basic and boring day haha we called in for DTM and then we went to Josh's house to do some service for them for the rest of the day and we had dinner with them! We got to light a massive pile of old wood and tree branches on fire so that was pretty sick because I love fire haha!

Saturday- Today was dunking day! Atika and Kylie were baptised at the Wrights swimming pool and it went great! They were both really happy and they knew they were making the right choices! After they got out of the water they said that they weren't even cold like they thought they would be and I told them because they were feeling the Spirit so strong and it was keeping them warm haha. So Atika is a foster child and her case worker came to the baptism and she read the scripture we put on the back of the program from 2 Nephi 31:12-13 and she really liked it and asked where it came from so we were able to give her a Book of Mormon! The Spirit was working through everyone haha it was awesome! Then we had a little luncheon after the baptisms and it was great! Then we had a little of a baptismal hangover and we went and had a nice Maccas meal to celebrate the baptisms haha Elder Laga'aia dropped 24 bones on his meal hahaha it was pretty funny. 

Sunday- I had the privilege of confirming both Atika and Kylie! It was an awesome opportunity and it went really well! I was a little worried that I didn't do that well but then Debbie Parker complimented me on how thoughtful and meaningful my blessings were that I gave and she said she really appreciated them and she said she was sure that they did too, so that was a tender mercy from the Lord, and I appreciated it! Then after church we went to see Jilly but she wasn't home or she was sleeping haha so we went and did some door knocking. Tracting sucks on its own but on fast Sunday it is even worse! We walked past the house of the guy that told me to F*** off the other day when we tracted his house and I waved to him and he flipped us off hahaha it was pretty funny hahaha Then the first door we knocked a lady accepted to hear our message right away which is a first for me on the mission so I was caught off guard and didn't really know what to say haha so we taught the second half of the Restoration and gave her a pamphlet and got her number to hopefully go back and teach her again! Then we just had zero success the rest of the time tracting haha met like one or two nice people and the rest are just typical mean people! we knocked on a door that had signs that said no knocking if you are a sales person so I was like stuff it knock it anyways haha we aren't selling anything! The lady told us to leave then her husband yelled at us from their balcony and told us that we had no right to knock on their door and I was like we just wanted to see if we could offer you some free service sometime and he just kept yelling so I was like we were wrong to knock on your door please forgive us and he just was like your going to heaven we're not and he just waved his hand at us to leave haha so it was pretty funny but at the same time I just want to yell at the guy! Then we went and did some sacrament visits in Bega and came home and had dinner! With daylight  savings it is now dark outside by 6:00 so it sucks haha! 

My spiritual message this week is from the book of Helaman Chapter 5,  And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo,because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.

If we build our foundation on a rock (Christ) then we will be able to have strength through trials, temptations and adversity! I know it is true I have felt it in my life! 

 Love you all have a good week!

Elder Jenson

instead of deer.... there are kangaroos

good form...

nice tie...

during his hair cut

after.... #noshirtsunday

 DISCLAIMER:I had a normal hair cut but then I decided to take it up a little higher on the left side and I went too high... that is why the end result is my bald head hahaha 

cutest little boy ever

the burn pile

The font

Atika's baptism 

Kylie's baptism

beachin'