loooong hot week

Monday- Did the usual Pday activities, just having so much fun that you can barely handle it ya know? We played some sports at the chapel with the zone again and it was a good time! To end the night we went to the Newland's house for a FHE with them and some dinner! It was a really good lesson and their 8 year old son did great at answering all the questions we had.

Tuesday- We went to follow up on a potential in the morning and she wasn't there so we just ended up tracting! After that we had some lunch and then we went out and did some more tracting. Then we went and did some contacting at the train station haha and after that we went to the Ah Mu's house for dinner and that made the whole day worth it!

Wednesday- We literally had a repeat of the day before. We just contacted at the train station, tracted and then went and did some more contacting at the train station. After a full day of finding we just went and did some ward listing to end the night!

Thursday- Today wasn't as boring as the day before haha! We did some service in the morning with another set of Elders in the zone and we just removed a bunch of trees and bushes and what not! While we were there I felt prompted to ask the lady across the street if she needed help with blowing the leaves off her driveway! I almost ignored it because I assumed she was just going to say no anyways, but I asked and she said yes! She told me that no one has ever asked her if she needs help before so it was a wonderful feeling to act on a prompting and have it go so well! After service we went and had some lunch and then got showered and did weekly planning! After weekly planning we went to play basketball again with everyone and one of the big name rugby players here named Sam Parrot is in our stake so he came and played and I was on his team.. It was fetching sick! After ball we went and had a good dinner with the Ormsby family and I got to do some magic tricks for their kids haha so it was fun!

Friday- We had our usual DTM and we didn't have to clean the chapel afterwards for once so that was nice! After DTM we went and got some lunch with our flat mates and then went and followed up on some potentials and what not. We didn't have too much luck but we have one guy who is still keen we just gotta catch him at a better time! then after that we went and finished our weekly planning and then just did some stop bys to end the night!

Saturday- Boy we walked a lot this day and it was fun! We had a lesson with the Archers in the morning which was really good! Then we went and followed up on potentials again and less actives with no luck. Then we went and tried some stop bys at some people on the ward list and we got to meet one family but they aren't really members anymore haha they are not too keen! The dad was nice though and I got to talk some American sports with him so that was nice! To end the night we hosted a sports night at the chapel to have people bring their friends and stuff so that we could get to meet them in a non threatening way and it went good! We had a good turn out and played some mean games of volleyball!

Sunday- The Rondo's came to church (our recent converts here) and so it was good to see them! Church was really good and Bro. Ormsby gave a great talk about parenting and the importance of families! After church we went and did our studies and had lunch. Then we went and did contacting at the train station for the rest of the night! The Rondo's made us dinner and dropped it off for us so that was super nice of them!

I just want to share a little bit of an email that my recent convert from Dapto sent me.

"Church has been going good and I keep blessing the sacrament. I think I've mastered it now haha. I've done some more teaching and have home teaching now.

Man the gospel is so good, my health has improved heaps. I've been doing some running and swimming and shooting hoops. I saw my doctor for the first time in 4-5 months. He said 'don't say anything, I bet you're feeling better! I can tell!' I told him I was and he went on to say 'there's something different about you, there's light in your eyes' that was so good to hear! I've seen that light in the eyes of members :)"

It just is so rewarding to serve a mission and getting to meet such amazing people! It is a humbling experience to be out here and I just love it! Getting to bring people into the Gospel out weighs all the bad that happens. I know this church is true and it is amazing when you get to see others come to have that same knowledge! Have a good week :)

Elder Jenson

Elder Davis

heyooo

cute hats

looks more like "do not claw"

great... he's behind the wheel again

Fryin' eggs on the asphalt

Monday- Had a solid as P day man! We did the usual in the morning and then to end the day we met up with the zone at the chapel and played some volleyball, and basketball! Everyone participated so that made it way fun! Then after P day we took the train to Mortdale to do tradeoffs with the AP's!

Tuesday- I was on tradeoffs with Elder Tuitubo from Fiji! He is the fetching man! He converted to the church like 5 years ago or something like that and now he is on a mission and is also an AP! I learned a lot from him! In the morning we went to follow up on some potentials but they weren't there so we just did some tracting. After that we went and had some lunch and after that we went and did some contacting at the train station and we found some potentials! Then we went to go and follow up on another potential and right as we were driving away she walked up so it was a miracle! After that we went and had some dinner and then went to splits with their ward. Then they drove us back down to our flat!

Wednesday- Boy it was hot this day! We had to travel up to Central because my comp lost his wallet on the train over the weekend and that is where it got found so it was in the lost and found there! After we got his wallet we trained back down to Mortdale to get my cleats that I left at the AP's flat! Then we trained home and did some GQing! Then we went to the Paki's house for dinner and a lesson!

Thursday- We were supposed to have service in the morning but it cancelled so we went and did some ward listing instead to see if the people on the ward list still live there. Then we went and did some tracting. After tracting we went and did some of our weekly planning! After that we went and played basketball at the chapel with some members, less actives, and non members! It was good to get to interact with people in a non threatening way haha! After that we went home and had some dinner!

Friday- DTM was good as usual! After DTM we had to clean the chapel and there was fetching maggots all in the kitchen because someone left out a chicken in one of the cupboards! Holy heck did it stink!! I almost threw up hahaha but we got it cleaned and it still had some what of a stench to it haha! After that we went and did some tracting in the 44 degree heat! Holy heck that was the hottest day I have ever experienced in my life hahaha and it was the first time on my mission that I actually put sunscreen... don't be mad mom! After tracting we went and finished our weekly planning and then we went to get dinner with our flat mates and a member ended up buying our dinner for us... miracles!

Saturday- We went and mowed Francis's lawn in the morning! Then we had lunch and a lesson with him afterwards! Then we went and gave the Tongan elders a ride to our flat so they could have some lunch. Then we went out and took a map to the Tongan sisters because they don't have a car and they need a map haha! Then we went and saw Bobby and Vera! It was a good visit with them and hopefully they will come to church here soon! Then we got food dropped off from Sister Matamua and so we ate that and then went and did contacting at the station for the rest of the night.

Sunday- We had ward council before church at 7 am so that was good to get to discuss the goals of the ward. Then we had church which was good and we had some less actives come and even the Rondos were there as well! After church we did our studies and had some lunch. Following that we did some more ward listing and finding at the station. Then we went to the Pikula's house for a feed and a message! We did a lesson on missionary work with them and now they are going to be having people over for us to teach! They are a solid missionary work family!

“God cares a lot more about who we are, and who we are becoming, than about who we once were.”—Elder Dale G. Renlund

I have really seen this in my mission and it is amazing to me how loving and merciful the Lord is. He truly does love us so much and through His grace we are able to become more than we could ever imagine! It is never too late to change and we are never too far gone. We can not sink lower than the light of Christ shines.

Elder Jenson

after ballin' it up

pics of Central

They found a deep fryer in their flat

Trying to cook breakfast...

How many Elders does it take to cook an egg?

(44 x 9)/5 + 32...... You do the math... 

Looks like he's getting some sun

bowling for pee day

Tuesday- We had a lovely pday this day! We went and did our emailing and shopping like usual and then we went bowling! I beat everyone so don't worry ya boy still has his skills! After that we went and got some mean charcoal chicken and it was so delicious! Then for the rest of the night we got numbers for the zone and we did some finding at the station!

Wednesday- We had interviews with President and Sister Back! It went really well and I just am beyond grateful for them! I honestly have the best mission president and mission mom that I could ever ask for. After interviews we went and gave some Elder's a ride and then we got lunch for pres and sis. Back. Then we went and had lunch ourselves and after that we went back to the chapel to talk to President about some stuff for the zone! After that we went and saw Francis and he was so glad we came! He said every time we come by its right when he needs us! After Francis we went and had dinner and a lesson with the Newlands and bishop Mahanga! His sister is sister Newland so it makes fellowship easy haha!

Thursday-  Elder Laga'aia and Elder Gregory moved out to a different flat so we helped them move out and we helped our new flat mates move in! Our new flat mates are Elders Davis and Anderson! They are both awesome and so we are happy to have them. After moving people in and re arranging/cleaning the flat we went and had MCM with the sisters in the ward at the chapel so that we could discuss the work here and see what we can do to help each other. Then we went home and got out training for ZTM all figured out!

Friday- We had ZTM and we trained on changing for the better in 2017! It was a good training and we had good participation from the zone. After ZTM we cleaned the chapel really nice and then went home and had lunch! After that we did our weekly planning and then did some GQing before dinner at the Standrings. Dinner at the Standrings was really good they are an awesome family in the ward and they love American football so ya know I had plenty to talk about with them!

Saturday- We walked all day long in the heat man!! We went and saw the Archers in the morning and had a good lesson with them! Then after that we went and followed up on potentials for awhile! No luck with any of them but that's all good, glad we did it haha! After that we did some tracting and 2nd door in we got stuck in some born again Christian's house for over an hour!! He was from Serbia so his English was pretty rough and he talked the whole time!! I don't think he took a breath the whole time! My companion and I probably spoke for 5 of the 80 minutes that we were there. The guy was a lunatic hahaha! I was going to fake a phone call to get us out of there but then our flat mates called us at that exact moment!! MIRACLES!!! They came and picked us up and we got to leave finally! We went back and had dinner and then started our fast. Then we went to visit a member real quick and then we GQ'd the rest of the night. My comp lost his wallet on the train though so that sucked. Someone found it luckily and so we will pick it up this week!

Sunday- We had church in the morning and fast and testimony meeting! It went good as usual! After church we got to meet with the stake president and discuss what we can do to help him out and help the stake out! It was a good meeting! After that we went home and did our studies and then followed up on a referral with no luck. So then we scouted out good places to do finding during the week. After that we went and ended our fast! Then we went to a return missionary welcome home fireside! It was super good and it made me grateful to be on a mission! We sang a good song with other missionaries for it and we even did a verse of it in Tongan.. we are that cool man. Then we had a good feed with everyone haha I ate too much!!!!

 Ether 2:22-25

 22 And he cried again unto the Lord saying: O Lord, behold I have done even as thou hast commanded me; and I have prepared the vessels for my people, and behold there is no light in them. Behold, O Lord, wilt thou suffer that we shall cross this great water in darkness?

 23 And the Lord said unto the brother of Jared: What will ye that I should do that ye may have light in your vessels? For behold, ye cannot have windows, for they will be dashed in pieces; neither shall ye take fire with you, for ye shall not go by the light of fire.

 24 For behold, ye shall be as a whale in the midst of the sea; for the mountain waves shall dash upon you. Nevertheless, I will bring you up again out of the depths of the sea; for the winds have gone forth out of my mouth, and also the rains and the floods have I sent forth.

 25 And behold, I prepare you against these things; for ye cannot cross this great deep save I prepare you against the waves of the sea, and the winds which have gone forth, and the floods which shall come. Therefore what will ye that I should prepare for you that ye may have light when ye are swallowed up in the depths of the sea?

The Brother of Jared needed help to light their vessels and so he went to the Lord and asked what they should do. The Lord's answer was ya know you have a brain for a reason so think about some ideas first and then come to me when you have some ideas and ask if it is the right way. If it is right I will let you know, if not then I will let you know as well. The Lord is always there to help us but we must put in the work to receive answers. The brother of Jared had the faith that the Lord could do anything for them and that he knew the right way. He just needed to put in the work to receive the help and answers. The answers and help did come in a miraculous way for him and I know that these miracles have not ceased! We can receive all sorts of help and miracles from the Lord as we rely on him and put in effort! Love you all!

Elder Jenson

bowling king

the green balls are the fastest

zone

zone

He was SOOOOO hot.

looks a little sunburned dont ya think?

at least he's watching the road. No more accidents in 2017

new year, same old Cam

Man so transfers happened this week and I got a new companion! I am still in Macarthur but I am with Elder Kenworthy! He is the other zone leader in the zone so it makes doing our duties as ZL's a lot easier haha! He is from Spokane Washington and he is the man!! We have had so much fun already and we work really well together! The area is still struggling right now and we have no investigators but we are finding like crazy every day haha! We have a lot of good ideas that we are ready to try out to see if we can find more success in the area and get some people to teach!

Monday- We had pday and we just spent it at the chapel all day playing volleyball with the Samoan ward and other missionaries! After that we got to go and say bye to people for Elder Schwalger! Oh yeah and in the morning I got to Skype my wonderful family which was awesome! It was fun to catch up and actually talk to them instead of emailing haha! We got to have breakfast with the Ah Mus after I skyped too so that was great!

Tuesday- I got my new comp and we went to work! We spent the day tracting and getting stuff in order for the zone! Then we just did some ward listing and tried to drive around and see if people on the ward list still live where it says they do, or if they are interested in coming back to church haha. Pretty basic day!

Wednesday- We did tracting in the morning and a recent convert in the ward picked us up and drove us to where we were going and then we got his cell number and he got our new number, which he had been needing for awhile because he wanted to set up an appointment with us so that was a little miracle for the day! During tracting we got kissed on the cheek by on older mom lady (keep in mind our cheeks were all full of our sweat haha) then we got nerf guns shot at us through a screen door and people yelled out "that's what we think of Jehovahs witnesses around here!!" Hahaha and then just the normal people that weren't interested! After tracting we were able to see Francis and the Newlands which was really cool because its hard to catch them both home sometimes!

Thursday- We literally did finding all day haha! We did some GQing in the morning followed by some tracting and then the tracting was followed b GQing! After the GQing we got to go to the temple with some other elders to sing carols at the Christmas lights haha! No one really came so we just sang to the grass pretty much! But it was fun to get to see the temple!

Friday- We had DTM in the morning which was one of the better trainings we have had! We cleaned the chapel afterwards with the zone and then got some lunch! Then we went and did some finding at the train station! After that we introduced my comp to Bishop and also got to see Bobby and Vera! We had a good lesson with them about Hope and Faith!

Saturday- So we spent all of the day doing finding! We did tracting in the morning before lunch and then after lunch we did finding at the train station. We had to be in our flats by 6 because of new years eve so before we went in the flat we got some dinner and then also some sparkling apple cider to celebrate the new year lol.

Sunday- We got moved to church at 9 o clock for the new year. A missionary just got home from his mission in our ward so we got to hear him give his testimony and everything which was really good! After church we went and got our zone goals and stuff in order and also did a little more planning! Then we went and did some GQing until we had dinner at the Pikula's house!

Monday- I had MLC all day which was really good! Apparently there are some big changes happening worldwide in the missionary schedule and what not so we will find those out towards the end of the month! Looking forward to seeing what they are haha! When we got back from MLC we just did some GQing at the train station! We are going to try and use the members to help us and hopefully get some referrals so that we don't have to do so much finding any more haha but it's all good I like tracting and what not... kinda fun!

I was thinking about the new year and it reminded me of the story of Alma the Younger in the Book of Mormon! He spent majority of his younger life persecuting the church and drawing people away from it. Then he had a life changing experience when an angel of the Lord appeared to him and rebuked him! Alma the Younger was tormented with his past and couldn't stand the thought of standing before God.

Alma 36:17-20

 17 And it came to pass that as I was thus racked with torment, while I was harrowed up by the memory of my many sins, behold, I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world.

 18 Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death.

 19 And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more.

 20 And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!

What I am getting at is that with the new year it allows us to become better and a new person, but what really enables us to make that change and become a new person is Jesus Christ and His Atonement. I hope that we will all exercise our faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement and strive to become a new creature in Christ this year! I know He lives and that His Atonement is for everyone! Love you guys have a good week!

Elder Jenson

Out with the old.

in with the new

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