fast week

Man this week was really good for us! Here are some highlights from the week!

- Had a really good FHE at Brett's house with a few of the ysa boys in the Belconnen ward. WE were able to talk to them about being "all in" instead of being one foot in and the other out. Twas a good powerful lesson and I really love those guys so its fun to spend time with them and teach them.

- Had my final zone conference with President and Sister Back. We learned a lot on the Atonement and repenting. It was a powerful conference and I love President and Sister Back so dang much! I could not have asked for better mission parents! 

- Did some good finding at the Unis this week. We got kicked off one day so we just went back the next day! It is finals time right now for the students so they are all stressed to the max haha but luckily we are still able to have some good conversations with them and a few are keen to meet up again! 

- We met with Kono and his family and they have a non member cousin that was there who lives tight by us actually, so we are going to hopefully start teaching him because he was pretty keen! We had a good lesson at the house though about goals. 

- We finally got to see Jarom again and see how he is doing. He is a semi active 18 year old and he is really in need of friends and good pick me ups so that is what we are trying to give him. It went well during our visit though.

-We went to one of the less active YSA guys footy game and he was injured so he just sat by us and talked to us so that was sick! There were two other ysa guys who were on the other team too which was sick! We always find some good success at those games because all the boys play or come watch haha.

- We sang in sacrament meeting which was fun, it was a Tongan hymn and it is really beautiful when sung right.. we did pretty good.. I think haha

- We had dinner and watched the CES devotional last night at the chapel with the YSA and we had a decent turn out so we were happy about that! 

Man I have been studying a lot about the Atonement and how it is truly infinite and eternal! These verses from the Book or Mormon really struck me when I read them,

Mosiah 4:6-7

" 6 I say unto you, if ye have come to a knowledge of the goodness of God, and his matchless power, and his wisdom, and his patience, and his long-suffering towards the children of men; and also, the atonement which has been prepared from the foundation of the world, that thereby salvation might come to him that should put his trust in the Lord, and should be diligent in keeping his commandments, and continue in the faith even unto the end of his life, I mean the life of the mortal body—

7 I say, that this is the man who receiveth salvation, through the atonement which was prepared from the foundation of the world for all mankind, which ever were since the fall of Adam, or who are, or who ever shall be, even unto the end of the world."

The Atonement was prepared from the beginning of the world because it is our only hope of Salvation! Without it we would never be able to make it back to live with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Luckily for us we do have the Atonement though and as we use it and apply it in our lives it lifts us to heights we never could have imagined. I know this is true! Love you all! 

Elder Jenson

caving and waterfallin

Man so we went caving this morning with Brett Baker and we don't have heaps of time to email so I will just hit ya with the same format as my past few weekly emails.

- We had a solid lesson with Jack about the life of Christ and we were able to really connect with him. Later in the week we went to his footy game as well to support him and he killed it! He was stoked that we came too so it was a good way to build his trust.

- There was a big 50th anniversary of the building and dedication of one of the chapels here in Canberra. It was a big celebration with heaps of food and lots of members came around for it! It was a big feed and celebration on Saturday and then Sunday there was a big stake sacrament meeting which was sick!! 

- We got to meet with David Dwyer and have a good catch up with him and share a lesson

- We had a lesson with a potential we found on the bus one day named Jimmy. He is from China and is super cool and interested in how the Atonement can change his life.

- We had a good week working with all the less actives that we have been seeing. They are all making some progress and we have a good connection with all of them. 

-We had two sick Pdays in a row! Last week we went to a sweet Waterfall and today we went and did some caving with Brett Baker which was one of the coolest experiences ever! At one point in the cave we just turned off our head lamps and sat in complete darkness and sang some hymns. It was a really powerful experience and one I will never forget! 

I am just loving the work down here and every week is just so good! I love my comps and everything is going good :) sorry for the shortness of this email haha I will do better next week! 

I think I have sent this scripture before but I love it so much and I just read it again this week because this is where I am in the Book of Mormon. It is in 3 Nephi 9:14 and it is the words of Christ. He says,

"Yea, verily I say unto you, if ye will come unto me ye shall have eternal life. Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me."

I know that the Savior is always there for us. His arms are always extended towards us. Love you guys have a good week! 

Elder Jenson

no pics this week

Well I don't have heaps of time to email this week due to skype, so it will just be a short quick one haha. The week was really good! My family knows most the deets from skype so there isn't much to tell! Here are a few quick moments of the week.

- Got dropped by Alex (our investigator) We found out she is gay so she isn't too keen on the church's stance on gays..

- We did some service at Vinnies and also down at brother Amosa's house.

- We made some good contacts with our LA's this week and had some of them at church

- Had a good sport night at the chapel and had a lot of non members come to it.

- Did a lot of finding at the Unis.. a lot! With all the evil in the world going on the best thing we can do is not be overcome by it but to be the best we can and let the light of Christ shine through is to overcome the evil around us. God is great and He loves us. He is there and He always will be. Be the light that shines in the dark! Have a good week and stay safe! Love you all! 

- Had interviews with Pres and Sis Back which was our final ones before they go home on July 1st! 

Nothing too crazy this week haha just the basics and I am way too lazy to look back on my week and write everything out haha sorry bout it! 

Romans 12:21

"Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good."

With all the evil in the world going on the best thing we can do is not be overcome by it but to be the best we can and let the light of Christ shine through is to overcome the evil around us. God is great and He loves us. He is there and He always will be. Be the light that shines in the dark! Have a good week and stay safe! Love you all! 

Elder Jenson 

p.s. forgot my camera in the car so no pics this week... sorry :) 

found my 2$ coin.

This week has been good for us! We have been having some fun as a companionship and we are seeing some good success here! I will give a few highlights of the week again to save us all some time haha :) 

- We had a solid lesson with a less active ysa! I got prompted to suggest that we go visit him and I was pretty doubtful in the prompting but I followed it anyways and it turns out he was home and the lesson was so good with him! We never catch him home so it was pretty cool haha

- I lost a 2 dollar coin at the mall on pday so I prayed that I would find it and boom my eyes were taken right to it haha so God really does care about us even with little silly things like that haha.

- We did some volunteer work at a place called Vinnies, it is basically a D.I. haha. We just were in the back sorting through clothes and we always put on the girl clothes and it gives all the old ladies a good laugh! 

- Had a good catch up/lesson with Ezra. He is preparing to go on his mission to Cebu Philippines! 

- We had a lesson with Alex about the Plan of Salvation and she had some concerns about the fall of Adam and Eve, so we had a good discussion on that and we were really able to gauge where she was at as we had that lesson so we feel like we know what our next steps will be with the lessons we teach and what not. We are hoping to set a baptismal date with her soon! 

- We got to have a good lesson with Jack about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I think it was pretty eye opening for him as we discussed what Christ actually went through. We set a new baptismal date with him for the 3rd of June. 

- Went to one of the less active boys footy game this weekend and it really helped us gain his trust. He came to church the next day for the full 3 hours too which was solid! He also mentioned how he has a friend who is keen to learn and get baptized so we will keep you updated on that haha! 

Other than all that the week has been pretty good! We are seeing good progress with the people that we are working with and we are enjoying ourselves while we do it haha. I am loving my mission, my area, my comps, and just everything! Life is going good! 

My spiritual thought for the week comes from Alma 61:9. So Pahoran just got rebuked by Moroni via letter about being a lousy leader and what not. The only bad thing is that Moroni doesn't know the full story of what is going on in the land where Pahoran is. Instead of getting offended and telling Moroni off and telling him how he should get to know the facts before he blows up on him. He says this,

"And now, in your epistle you have censured me, but it mattereth not; I am not angry, but do rejoice in the greatness of your heart. I, Pahoran, do not seek for power, save only to retain my judgment-seat that I may preserve the rights and the liberty of my people. My soul standeth fast in that liberty in the which God hath made us free."

We choose to be offended... so the biggest thing I learn from this is that we must be quick to forgive, and forget. Forgive others and move on from it. Do not look back. The quicker we can get good at doing these things the better off we will be! Remember the Savior Himself as he was hanging on the cross told Heavenly Father to, "forgive them for they know not what they do" This is a Christlike attribute that isn't easy to obtain, but boy does it make life easier! Love you all have a good week!

Elder Jenson