Fw:

 

Hey all!!

 

Hola from down south!! This week has been a bit eventful. I now have the responsibility of doing basically all the missionary work in my area and to teach spanish! its going to be pretty tough. My new comp, elder Cox of American Fork Utah, doesnt speak much. at all. Its going to be a challenge because i myself feel like im still being trained, you know? So far i have been managing really well speaking and understanding. Sometimes i get a bit overwhelmed too. Its a real tough time right now, but the work must go on!

 

Matias was baptized on Saturday. It was a great meeting. his brothers all came and so did some of their friends, so there were about 15 of his family and friends there, so that was great. We had a great turn out from the ward. We had a priesthood activity right before where we played soccer and pingpong, so they all stayed and then a whole bunch of ward members showed up. It was great! He was really happy, and the ward was happy to welcome him in. We now start the work with the rest of his family-- noche de hogar tonight! after the baptism he was like hey elder jensen. You are coming over to my house and having a noche de hogar with my family when? 730 monday? perfect. Mom- Noche de hogar. We are excited... we are still working on what we are going to share with them.

 

Today we are going off to teh Beach in Rawson to throw a baseball and eat sandwiches. Its going to be a blast! i cant wait. we have a lot of fun guys in our zone, so itll be a fun activity.

 

Not too too much is going on. i had to go up to Neuquen to pick up my new companion, so there really hasnt been a whole ton of work going on in my area this week. Next week we´ll get started and start getting some more good new investigators going. We dont have any fechas right now, so its a bit discouraging, but we are going to get the work going soon. Its going to be a tough tough 3 or 4 weeks coming, but i konw that as i put my faith in Christ, He will help me through it and guide my limited spanish in what to say and do. My new comp is a good guy. He will learn to love the people. He is whiter than me! blond blond hair, blue eyes, my height, and a ton more muscle than me. Its going to be an adventure together, but we have set some good goals and are going to push real hard to get them. Im going to push real hard on his spanish too because i dont want to feel like im working alone for very long. Missionary work is 2 by 2, so well get him doing the things he can and learning to say the things he cant.

 

Hope all is well back home. Its always fun to hear from you and get letters and such!

 

Take care!

 

Elder Jensen

Fw: THREE ENORMOUS PIECES OF NEWS!!

 

I have 3 ENORMOUS pieces of news. Ready? here we go.

 

1. I TOUCHED A PENQUIN last week at Punta Tombo. It was so cool!!!!!! there were little penguins walking around hanging out EVERYWHERE! they made little nests in the little hedgebrush bushes that were there. It was so fun. I tried contacting a few of them. Luckily i had a word of wisdom pamphlet with me... they werent too interested though. It was such a fun trip. We played rook in the car the whole way, then were there walking around, seeing the penguins and llamas and sheep and then we came back. Oh what fun. I wish i could show you all the pictures and video of us there. That leads to number 2.

 

2. I WAS ROBBED!!!!! i have been debating all week about the story i was going to tell about this, like some guy had a gun at my companions head and i had to give him my camera to save his life or something, but nope. We were having a baptismal interview and set our bags in a pile in the church and we were in the chapel playing the piano and someone came in and stole my camera and the bag of our zone leader. I am devastated. it stinks because i lost all my penguin pictures. luckily, ive got all the other ones on usb.

 

3. I AM GOING TO BE A FATHER! in a figurative sense, not literal. But i am training starting tomorrow!!!!!!!!! i am starting tomorrow. Its kinda strange... elder valencia said he has seen this 3 times in his 22 months here-- 2 of them became A.P.s and the other one trained someone that came in with me. Im really excited for this chance because i am going to have to grow, but also i am not going to lie i am a bit terrified as well. its back to that feeling running onto the field my first varsity soccer game. or if you like the pool analogy, i just got out of the pool for a bit to get a snack and have to jump back in the freezing cold water. Im basically on my own now... i still dont know who i am training. could be a native, could be a gringo. We told the members yesterday at church and they were all kinda like oh. Blind leading the blind? you cant train! haha. Well see about that. But i go up to neuquen tomorrow night to pick up my kid. I am still a bit over my head right now about it. Its a quick jump! haha last night we were with people from the zone and they were all like oooooh!! elder jensen! capo (stud)!!! at least the missionaries have my back and dont say blind leading the blind! luckily ive been diligent about keeping a list about good leader bad leader qualities in my 2.5 months here, so that will come in handy in training.

 

Other news, Elder Valencia is going off to neuquen to end his mission as a Zone leader. we spent the morning packing all his stuff up and cleaning up the apartment. Its sad seeing him go, and knowing my lifeline and support are gone. Its time to step up!! im really excited. I actually wanted to train, so this is perfect.

 

What else is going on... Matias is getting baptized this coming saturday. I think im doing it. Lucky new missionary gets a baptism his first weekend! Matias´s parents didnt wand him to get baptised, but with the help of his sister and us and Matias, we helped them realize matias is so ready for it. Were excited. im just sad elder valencia couldnt be here for it!

 

All of our other recent converts are doing well. Vanesa and ariel are so great! they are dating adn going to church and our baptisms together and everything is just so nice with them. Brian and Ivan get back from Buenos aires tomorrow and im excited to see them again. I missed those two kids!

 

Carlos is still reading and loving everything about the church. He is such a pleasure to talk to every week.

 

The work has been a bit tough this week with elder valencia leaving. hes been here for 6 months so we had to go say our goodbyes and such and the members are going to miss him. Hes been a great missionary here. Now the two new kids get to see what we can do!! haha. It still hasnt sunk in yet that i am training. But it will on wednesday!

 

All is well here. i am still loving missionary work and loving serving people and loving learning and loving speaking spanish and just everything about being a missionary. Sometimes a get cheesy and just look at myself in teh mirror with my missionary tag on. I only have 24 months to wear it, and then an eternity to think about what i did while i was wearing it! Onwards and upwards!

 

Love always,

 

Elder Taylor Alan Jensen, the same who touched a penguin, was robbed, and became a father in the same week.