Transfers

Boa tarde y'alls,

It's transfer week, and me and my companion are being transferred! We're reopening an area that was closed after missionaries were sent home early because of the pandemic. We're pretty excited for the opportunity, it should be great.

Food Section: Brazil's brand of ramen is better than America's, I kinda miss it.

I know that our Heavenly Father listens to our prayers. He is there, and waiting for us to reach out to Him. He loves us, knows all of our concerns, and wants to bless us. If you are having a bad time, if you're having a good time, He wants to hear from you.

Have an amazing week!

1) Service at a local food bank

2) Socially distant district council

Bom dia y'all

Week one done in the Texas Fort Worth Mission! It's gone by really fast, it's been awesome.

Food Section: I tried Whataburger for the first time...and I'm sorry Texas but it didn't live up to the hype, In-n-out is still the fast food burger winner.

People Section: My companion's name is Elder Cabarcus! He's from Herriman, Utah, and has been in the mission for almost 5 months and this area for about 4 weeks. He's a total stud and is helping me kinda transfer over to being an English speaking missionary.

I want to talk this week about how much our Heavenly Father loves us. He knows each one of us, and wants what's best for us. As we join our will with His, we can experience the peace that comes from knowing he will guide us. I love all of you, and hope that you are all doing well during quarantine!

Have a great week!

1) All of the reassigned missionaries that got here this week

2) Elder Cabarcus and I helping out at a food bank

The Office

Bom dia! 

Good morning everybody from rainy Fortaleza, I've finished my first week in the office. I'm figuring out that I really don't have a specific job description, just that when problems come up, I solve them. I got to see all of the new missionaries that got here this week and I had a ton of flashbacks, these 8 1/2 months have gone by so fast. 

Elder Hoffmann is my new companion, he's from Texas, played football, and he's showing me the ropes of how to get everything done that has to get done. Mainly, we work with foreign relations. Visas, passports, and basically making sure the foreigners don't get thrown in jail.

The Coronavirus has caused the Church to cancel all meetings, including the Sunday services, so as missionaries we're going to have to adjust to this change until it gets resolved. We have to have faith and help the people we're teaching have faith so that we can all get through this complicated time and be strengthened and stronger when it's over.

I hope you guys have a great and safe week!

New Transfer

Today we have transfers, I'm being transferred to an area called Aldeota in downtown Fortaleza. I'm going to be trained as the new Executive Secretary of the mission, so I'm excited to see what I can learn.

Happy International Women's Day to all of the women out there, you all are the best. In our district meeting this week we surprised the sisters with a bunch of candy and chocolate, and it was the last district meeting of our Zone Leader before he goes home, it was a really fun meeting.

I'll miss this area, my companion Elder Leite, and the other Elders in the are too, it's always weird to move on.

I want to share a scripture today that's found in Proverbs 3:5-6. It says 

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight"

I love this scripture, because as we experience changes in our lives, we can trust in the Lord and in His plan for us. We may not know why something happens, but we need to know that we don't need to understand, just follow the will of the Lord.

Have a great week everybody!

1) Some of the best members around (2) District Jardim Iracema!!

Carnival = Prison

Hey everybody, a lot happened this week, so here we go.

Food Section: A member invited us over for a family home evening last week, and we got to eat some of the best carrot cake we've ever had, it was so good.

New Elder: We're not in a trio anymore, Elder Bento got a new companion from Mexico on Tuesday, so now we have 4 Elders in the area again. His name is Elder Santamaria, he's from Mexico City, he played American Football in high school, and he can play the piano, he's totally chill and excited to work.

Carnaval: So, Carnaval is the biggest party Brazil has, over the whole country. It started on Friday and it will end on Wednesday. We were going to try and work through it, but we received a call from the mission president on Thursday night that the police were going on strike for better wages, and that we had to be in our house by six o'clock every night because it was going to be dangerous. So basically, we're super excited for Carnaval to be over so we can get out of the house more haha.

We had our Zone Conference this last week, and the message I want to share with everybody today is the training that we received about goals. With the time that we have here on our Earth, we need to practice and exercise our control of mind and spirit over body. If we want to do something, whether it be to learn Portuguese or pass the math test, we need to be prepared to make sacrifices right now to have a bigger reward later. Something I really liked was what one Elder said, which was "Don't let anyone work harder than you." And it's so true, if you're working the hardest you will receive blessings for your effort. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Have an awesome week everybody! Work on your goals!

-Elder Jensen

1) Elder Santamaria and us 2) Zona Litoral, Missão Brasil Fortaleza💪

Sometimes, life is like an oval pizza...

Hey everyone, this week by pretty quick and not much happened, so I'm going to share a gospel principle by telling a story about the pizza we got this week.

 So we ordered pizza, and when it got to our house, it was obvious something was up. One of the pizzas arrived completely normal, round, and full of pepperoni. The other arrived ovalish, a little bit mangled, and with just cheese. Unexpectedly, the perfectly round and normal pizza didn't taste very good, and the oval, misshapen pizza was delicious. In life, sometimes we look at the oval pizza, and think that something bad happened to it and that it can't possibly be good or worth anything. But underneath, it really is the better choice for us.

Have a great week everybody!

Brazilian Weight Loss Program: 8 pounds in 2 days!!

Hey everybody, we have transfers this week! Elder Leite and I are staying together and we're getting another companion, his name is Elder Bento! We're super excited for this next transfer, #2 in Jardim Iracema.

Brazilian Weight Loss Program: As a personal testimony, I can say that this program works. All you have to do is go to Brazil, get a headache, a fever, sore throat, and feel like you're going to vomit for a couple days, and you lose 8 pounds! It's really effective, I highly recommend it...

This week went by fast, we taught a lot of people and we should have some baptisms coming up! I'll make sure to keep you guys updated.

Our Savior lives. His life was and is the greatest example that ever was for us. He wants to help us return to Him, to become like Him. He loves us, and wants nothing more than for us to turn to Him and submit ourselves to the will of the Father. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Love you all, keep the emails coming, I'll try to respond as fast as I can.