Still in Hesperia!

So this week was awesome... cuz well.... CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

so monday we did regular p-day stuff.... but then we had a Zone gift exchange, which was awesome!! I got a 6 pack of seven up. tuesday we had district meeting which was interesting becuase we had another district added to ours... while some companionships were figured out. But it was awesome becuase a few more heads means a few more brains right? Then in the evening we went caroling as a zone. Caroling in California is a lot different than caroling in Canada. In california there is no ice to slip on, or snow to fall in / be pushed in, a lot less wind to make things even more cold and most people don't like people coming over/ knocking on doors after dark.... wierd eh? However the people we visited were still very grateful for what we did and wanted us to " come in and get warm"..... cuz ya know it was all the way down to 5 celsius. wednesday was interesting. the morning was slow... becuase of christmas eve. We had some members drop off  some gifts( mine was curiously round)... but then in the atfernoon we had a ward correlation with our ward mission leader and then we had dinner with him and went caroling again. as well as some ding dong ditching... during which i lost my first name tag :( how ever it was still tons of fun! then we made cookies to give away... Yes we bake!

THURSDAY!!- aka CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So we woke up and went for a run...( life of a missionary running on christmas)...... then we opened some gift and had our regular studies....( again life of a missionary) BUT! then we went to this super nice families super nice house for breakfast it was AMAZING! they were very kind and very brave to offer to feed 20 missionaries! after that we delivered some cookies. then we went to the Uphams. they are the very generous couple who agreed to feed us and allow us to skype at their house! so we get there and the sister missoinaries in our ward are still there and still skyping so we decided that we would skype after dinner instead of before. Dinner was not even close to  what i know to be christmas dinner.... but it was still amazing! Ham and funeral potatoes or cheesy potatoes as they are called down here (i cant tell much difference) were really good! Then i got to skype with my fam jam! it was AMAZING! we finished off the evening by delivering the rest of the cookies and  creeping around a yard trying to find my name tag.... which we did!

friday was slow but we still did our best to do work! Saturday i finally got my bike in to be fixed! so that will be nice to have back!We recieved our transfer doctrine too... so that made the day exciting. I also found what will be my addition to Forsyth tradtional christmas dinner on saturday!! before i come home i will perfect tamales! Sunday was slow... but church is always wonderful. in the new year we switch to 130 church. 

Today is transfers and that means that it is a  crazy day... there are missionaries all over and all sorts of weird shinanigans going on today. I am staying in the ward i am in with the same companion...no big surprise as this is his last transfer and i am not done training...

so yeah crazy week!

hope you are all good and doing well. love hearing from you!

love Elder Jensen!

Playing what the Jensen family calls 'the chocolate bar game'

So good to see his smile!

Looks like they had a great time stealing from one another!

Alrighty... so slower week again...

On Tuesday we did service for the Salvation Army. We packaged probably close to 5 thousand toys... so like 1000 total gifts ( there were a lot of separate pieces)... it was a good thing we had the whole zone there. 20 young Mormons make that kind of work go by way too fast and way too fun. hahahah It was crazy. The people there said that what took us like 3 hours would have taken them all day and all night! HAHAH too funny! 

Wednesday was the high desert christmas devo-( PARTY!)-tional. It was super fun. so all of the missionaries in the high desert got together and had fun. we were given toques and scarves... which I don't really know what to do with... I guess save them for 2 years. But it was very nice of the Relief Society sisters who made them for us!

Thursday I got to go on an exchange with one of the zone leaders, as my companion is a district leader, so that was super cool! Got some really good advice and learned a lot about how mission leadership works....

Friday was just the usual.. try and find new investigators and talk to less actives...

Saturday morning was slow...we did some more service for a family that recently got new carpet and needed furniture moved. But the evening was busy. we went out with Bishop delivering packages to less well off families... it was a lot like back home except there was a lot less ice to slip on.

Sunday church as per usual... then our dinner appointment took us out carolling. Again a lot like back home but i couldn't see my breath as we sang, we sang Feliz Navidad just as much as any other song... and at the end i could still feel my fingers.

That is my week! I hope you are all doing well

Love hearing from you!!!

Love 

elder jensen!

PS. OH and on tuesday we were able to set a baptismal date with a new investigator we found! that was momentous and exciting for our area!

oh i also got the package from the young women so that was awesome!

anyway...i am dong fine. we have wonderful ward members that take wonderful care of us. The work is slowly progressing... but i still like it out here.

Polar Express goes all the way to California!

K so this week was way busy but in a good way ... I actually have stuff to talk about. Monday was P-day.  Nothing exciting.  Tuesday was Zone meeting and we talked about working with members and ward leadership. It was really good!! On Wednesday we met with a less active lady who we had contacted earlier...  We shared the He is the Gift video with her and challenged her to share the gift with someone.  She said she would try and share it with her nonmember husband and said that the day before we knocked on her door she had been thinking about families and praying that there would be a way for her family to be sealed in the temple! It was so cool! Then, like, right after we met with her we had to head down the hill for a trainer/trainee meeting. Which was also super sweet!!! I love Pres Hobbs and Sis Hobbs! They are the best!! Thursday we had a lesson with one of our investigators and we taught the restoration. We had the first counselor to the bishop and his wife there with us. His wife is a convert and so she was able to add her testimony of how she came to know of the Book of Mormon's truth. It was a really good lesson! Also I got a flat on Thursday... that sucked. Friday was weekly planning so we didn't leave the house till like lunch and then after that we had our Ward Christmas party. Which was awesome! Saturday we did a lot of service and got my tires fixed.  Sunday was church and an interfaith christmas festival! Also I guarantee y'all ain't doing enough missionary work! So get on it!!!

Love Elder Jensen


PS.

typical day: wake up exercise... just sit ups and push ups...then studies till 11 the proselyte till 5 or 6... then supper( or dinner as they call it here) then proselyte till 9/930

we probably bike like 70 or 80 miles in a week... so I am still in decent shape

the members feed us pretty good here... we eat out for lunch maybe once a week...the only mexican i have had yet is at del taco ... so nope no really good mexican.... actually we had good tacos at our bishops house once ... but he's white so I dont think it counts.

 we tract alot ... i wish we had member referrals... that would mean the member did missionary work on their own... please try to be better than that!!! 

thank you for keeping our house clean... thank you for teaching me how to work (met some lazy missionaries... not my trainer though). Also I always knew that we were good enough off ... but compared to some down here we are wealthy... so wow. be thankful for a basement they don't exist down here.

tell Corinne Bonsteel that I found Sister Ellis.

Are we related to the Steele's down the campbell line? I would ask gpa but i don't have time.

YOU NEED TO DO MORE MISSIONARY WORK!!!

California missionary work

Sorry if this is the first letter you have received from me... but I have been busy. Unfortunately even though I have been busy that does not mean I have a lot to say. I am in a ward of about 280 but the attending population is 85-95 every week... so we are trying to work with the less actives. we have grown our teaching pool from 0 to 4 since I have been here. And 3 of those investigators we found in the last week so the work is progressing slowly. We have had more success with the less actives tho. This week we even got a less active convert to come to church again. we take every win we can! The active people in our ward are great tho! MOM what is this blasphemy I hear about no christmas tree hunting????? Good to know that traditions went with me right out the door!!! Life is good and I am happy!! We have been chased by a few dogs and such but its all in the name of missionary work hahah anyway that is all for this week. Hopefully I have more to say next week.

Love 

Elder Jensen