12-26-11/Christmas

Dear Family,
Well these are some of the things that I received for Christmas. I bought a new coat, a new fountain pen (yes, I like them haha), a new wallet and a new watch. It was a good Christmas haha. On Christmas Eve we ate at our recent convert´s house and we ate turkey, ham, bucalau (cod fish), otopus (I didn´t eat it) and rice and stuffing kinda stuff. But it was really good and I almost exploded cuz I ate so much haha. Then on Christmas Day our branch had a lunch thingy at one of the members´ house and that was pretty good, pretty much the same food. But all in all it was a good year. I can´t believe I have been gone this long, the time has flown. It seems like I was just in the MTC and listening to Elder Russell M. Nelson haha. But it has been a good year. I hope all of you had an awesome Christmas and got lots of awesome presents from Santa Claus haha. Write me and tell me what you guys got.
The rest of the week was pretty good. On Christmas Eve we found 11 new investigators in one day, which is my new record. The standard of excellence is 14 in a week and we almost got that in one day. So, it was a good week and we got a lot done.
I only have one more week left in the transfer and then I might be going to another area. So, don´t send any letters til I know so they don´t get lost or have a hard time getting to me.
I lvoe all of you so much and thanks for all that you guys do for me.
Love,
Elder Spencer Jensen

12-19-11

Dear Family,
This week we had a couple cool experiences. We found a girl walking down this road at night and Elder Evans stopped her and contacted her and then asked if she was happy because she didn´t look very happy. Well, then she started to cry and we said a prayer with her and she let us come to her house and teach her, but when we showed up they didn´t have too much time so we have an appointment to meet with them tomorrow. It was a really cool experience.
And now the reason why we don´t like to take members with us to lessons. So, we brought our ward mission leader with us to a lesson with an investigator that we were going to mark with a baptismal date. So, we get there and she had been reading 3 Nephi 11 and then some into 12. Well, in there the Savior says that a divorced person who is gets married again in commiting adultery. Well, she had a question about that because she is divorced. Well, our ward mission leader goes off on temple marriage and sealing and all that good stuff, then he says, because his first wife died that he will have two wives in heaven :/ I wanted to kill him!!! You don´t talk about stuff like that!!! EVER!!! I just hope he didn´t ruin it for us, but I don´t think so, I saved it and turned it into priesthood authority/baptism. But we won´t be bringing him to many more lessons.
We also went caroling with the Brazilian family in our ward, which was pretty fun.
I hope that all of you have an awesome Christmas and Mom and Dad will tell you how I am doing haha. Thanks for all the love ands support.
Love,
Elder Spencer Jensen

FELIZ NATAL!!!!!!!!!!!

12-12-11

Dear Family,
This week was pretty fun. We went down to Lisbon and had our Mission Christmas Party. It was a lot of fun. We had to catch a bus at 6 am to get from Porto to Lisbon and then we had to do that back, plus all the time that we had on the metro and train. But it was a lot of fun. We had Elder Texeira the Seventy of the Area came and talked to us. Also, we had a big dinner with turkey and rice and stuff like that. But it was really good. And we also had a lot of deserts, so let´s just say that I stuffed myself haha. Also, we sang a Christmas hymn which was really funny. But that was about it. Things here are good and I hope you guys have an awesome Christmas season. Thanks for everything you guys are doing for me and all the support.
Love,
Elder Spencer Jensen

Ola

Dearest Elder Paco,
Just wanted you to know we do read your blog-even if we don't post comments. Hope you're having a good time and happy almost Christmas!!!
love ya!

Marissa

11-28-11

Dear Family,
Things here are good. We are working really hard to find people to baptize. We have two people that we are working with. One is Carla, she was a member reference. She had a lot of potential and she wanted to be baptized. Well, the members that she is friends with was having a wedding and she was invited and she is very poor and lives with a man and he doesn´t get paid that much and so she went out and bought dresses for her and her niece to go to the wedding and then at the last minute the member who was going to give her a ride said he couldn´t go and so she got all mad and now she doesn´t wanna talk to us anymore. If half the people who get offended didn´t get offended the world wouldn´t have nearly as many problems. And the other girl is Rita. She is a member reference also, she is way cool and she is 20. She wants to be baptized too, and she will be baptized on Dec 10. So, please pray for her. But her dad heard bad stuff about the Church from some of his friends and now he is making it very difficult for us to meet with her and she hasn´t had her phone on for awhile. But I still have hope that she will be baptized.
But other than that not much has gone on. I love and miss you guys and keep the emails and letters coming. And sorry if I haven´t responded to all of them. I am trying my best. I love and miss you guys a lot.
Love,
Elder Spencer Jensen

Scripture Study

Dear Everyone,
Well, in my mission we are very lucky to have a Gospel genius in our mission. His name is Elder McConckie, yes the son of the famous Apostle. And he is always full of cool Gospel tricks and whatnot. Well, he gave us a bunch of cool tips to help us study the scriptures better.
1. All scripture is sacred and of great worth.
1 Nephi 6:4-6, 1 Nephi 19:6
2. All temporal things have a spiritual meaning.
1 Nephi 15:32, 1 Nephi 22:1-3
3. Liken all scripture to yourselves.
1 Nephi 19:23, 2 Nephi 6:5; 11:8
Keys to Interpreting Scripture.
1. All scripture is in harmony with all other scripture (as long as it is translated correctly.)
2. When there is a conflict between ancient and modern scripture, modern scripture wins.
3. Practices of the Church today take precedence over scripture. Such as during the sacrament prayers when it says everyone should kneel, but only the priests kneel because they are saying the prayer.
So, here are some cool hints for scripture study.
Love,
Elder Spencer Jensen

11-21-11

Dear Family,
How is everything going? Thanks for all the letter and everything. I really appreciate them. Well, here is the story from this week. so, we got a member reference and she lives below some members that moved into the branch recently. Her name is Carla, so we prayed and we thought that we should mark her for baptism with a date on the very first appointment. So, we go there and her boyfriend whom she is living with is there but he doesn´t want anything because he says he already has listened to the elders before. So, we mark her and it turns out that the date that we picked was the date that her members friends are going to be married. Well, we said we would talk to them and decide what to do. Well, we go to a branch activity that night and her member friends come and talk to us and they tell us that she is actually still married to her ex-husband and that she needs to still finalize the divorce but he doesn´t wanna sign the papers. We also found out her boyfriends is a member of the Church, he was baptized about 10 years ago because he just wanted to experiment and see how it was. And he even told this to the elders who baptized him. And he was baptized and never returned to Church. So, that was a big shock. But her biggest problem is that she needs to get divorced from her husband and then she needs to get married to her boyfriend now or leave him. But I think that she will have the strength to overcome all her problems and be batized. She has a real desire to better her life and everything.
Well, thanks for all you guys do for me and all the love. I will be staying her in Vila Real for another 6 weeks.
Love,
Elder Spencer Jensen

11-7-11

Hey everyone,
Things here are going pretty good this week. We have taught António two times almost every day. He is really progressing and overcoming all of his addictions (and trust me he has a lot haha). But he is progressing a lot and he can´t put the Book of Mormon down. He has difficulty with reading but he has been improving and he is already in 2 Nephi. It is amazing to actually find someone who God as prepared to meet us. His faith in the Savior grows and we can see the difference whenever we go there. He is even praying that his family and friends can receive the Gospel too. He is actually being converted by the Spirit. And I am so glad that the Lord has the confidence in me to help him. We have had so many cool experiences with him. We´ve eaten dinner with him a few times and we are really best friends now. He is a really cool guy who is putting forth an honest effort to overcome the things that have controlled him for the majority of his life. When we first started teaching him, he didn´t even believe in God. But now he has a testimony and is recognizing the love that God has for him.
But things here are doing great. We are making progress everyday in helping the people here. Just like "Preach My Gospel" says, "You will find greater happiness than you have ever experienced as you labor among the Lord´s Children." And that has really come true. I have never been happier in my life. I have never felt this concern for complete strangers and it is awesome.
I love and miss you guys so much, and thanks for all the thinks that you guys do for me.
Love,
Elder Spencer Jensen
ps, I will have been out a year this Thursday the 10!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

31-10-11

(Huge road construction project in Vila Real.)
Dear Family,
I hope that everything is going awesome overthere. So, this week Elder Lefevre and I, we decided to pray and to ask where the Lord wanted us to go knock. So, we prayed and Elder Lefevre saw this building that we had passed by a hundred times. So, we went there and we knocked it and we found a man named António. So, we said a prayer with him and then we set up another appointment to come back in a couple days. So, we came back and he let us in and we said a prayer and then he tells us a little about his life. He is unemployed (normal for Portugal) and he lives with his sick mom. He smokes and he is about 32 years old. He had worked in Holland on the tulips farms but he had lost his job and on the way here he and his girlfriend got in a car crash and she was killed. He then told us that 5 months ago he had tried to commit suicide but that one of his friends had found him and took him to the hospital, and he was in a coma for a week. And that just nothing in his life was going well. So, we testified about the power of the Atonement and that if he did the things that the Savior wanted him to do, he could be releaved from all the pain that he has in his life and then we invited him to be baptized and he accepted. So, that was a really cool experience. Then, the next day Elder Lefevre and I prayed over a date for him to be baptized and we chose two dates to pray over the 13 and 20. So we prayed and we both came to the conclusion that he should be baptized on the 12. But that would require that he comes to stake conference (yesterday), in Porto, which is 2 hours away, which would be hard for a smoker to do. But we felt that that was the day it should be. So, we went to his house at 9 pm that day and we watched Finding Faith in Christ and he really liked it and then we said that we had prayed and the we think he should be baptized on the 12. And he said yes!!! It was way cool haha. But wait it gets better. So, then we asked if he wanted to come to stake conference, and he said yeah, where is it? and we asid Porto. And he said that´s cool, what time do I need to be ready and where do I need to be? So, told him everything and then we left. (By the way we invited him to stake conference on Saturday night.) So, we went the next morning and picked him up and then we went to stkae conference. It was really cool. President Torgan gave an awesome talk where he proves the Church true with the Bible and then he says but that isn´t a good reason to join the Church, the only reason should be because you pray and receive a witness from the Holy Ghost. But it was a really powerful talk and António loved it and then we left so that he could smoke and he says that we have a lot of work to do for him to be ready on the 12 but that he really wants to do this and that he knows it will change his life for the better. And he bonded a lot with the members and he heard their testimonies and he really liked it and it strengthened his will to be baptized. And we have another appointment with him today. But please pray for him, he needs all the help he can get to be protected from Satan.
I love and thank you guys for all that you do for me. I am sorry if I am slacking on letters, not much time to write haha. I hope you guys have an awesome Halloween.
Love,
Elder Spencer Jensen

10-17-11

Dear Family,
Well, this week was pretty normal. As you can see from this photo that Vila Real this week was covered in smoke from wildfires and it was like this all week. Well, a lot of our appointments fell through, so not much to say. We are still finding and teaching people to baptize. It is a lot of fun and a great challenge to find the elect of God. but once you find them you know it haha. I will put in a cool little scripture thing that was shown to us in a training about the Book of Mormon and how important it is in the last days. First, to 2 Nephi 29:2

2 And also, that I may remember the promises which I have made unto thee, Nephi, and also unto thy father, that I would remember your seed;and that the words of your seed should proceed forth out of my mouth unto your seed; and my words shall hiss forth unto the ends of the earth,

So, here is something really cool. The Book of Mormon will leave the mouth of God or in other words is the voice of the Lord. Now, go to D&C29:7

7 And ye are called to bring to pass the gathering of mine elect; for mine elect hear my voice and harden not their hearts;

So, when the elect of God hear/read the Book of Mormon they are hearing the voice of God and they will recognize and respond to that voice. There was a lot more to the training, but that is the part that I like the best. And it shows how important the Book of Mormon is to us and to the world. Oh, and one more scripture, D&C 20:8,13

8 And gave him power from on high, by the means which were before prepared, to translate the Book of Mormon;
13 Therefore, having so great witnesses, by them shall the world be judged, even as many as shall hereafter come to a knowledge of this work.

So, we will be judged by how we use the Book of Mormon and how we accepted it. And we don´t even have all the Book of Mormon because we can´t live up to the part that we do have. But once we do Heavenly Father will reveal the rest to us.

Thanks for all you guys do for me and for all the support.
Love,
Elder Spencer Jensen

10-10-11

Dear Family,
Well, this week i had one of the most amazing experiences of my mission. It all starts with General Conference, and a talk by Elder Scott. The talk was about memorizing scriptures and the strength that comes from that. Well, he used a scripture that I really like now Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” This scripture became to mean a lot to me, because it is exactly what a missionary needs to do to be successful. And I liked it so much that I memorized it in Portuguese.
So, the week went on and the baptism that we had marked for this weekend fell through. She didn´t want to be baptized and basically ran away from us. So, Saturday morning my companion and I were feeling pretty down because we had worked so hard this transfer and nothing seemed to be working out and we hadn´t had any baptisms. So, we were knew that the Lord had given us the goal of 2 people to baptize and that there were at least 2 people in our huge area that the Lord had prepared to be baptized. We prayed to know what we should do and then we remembered this list we had gotten from our branch president on children ages 9-30, whose parents are baptized but they never were. So, we prayed to chose who we would call. And we felt 2 names, Claudia, 15 and Paulo, 11, and they are siblings. But the problem is, is that they live in Bragança which is two and a half hours away from Vila Real. And we called the dad, José Carlos and he said we could pass by his work and talk for ten or fifteen minutes if we wanted to, but that his wife doesn’t like the Church at all. So, that is a long way to travel and a lot of money if they aren´t going to accept anything. But we felt that the Lord had told us that they were the children whom we should visit, so we prayed one more time to see if this is what we should do and it was.
So, we really didn’t know what we were going to say or how we were going to say it, because we were going to a stranger to ask his family to be baptized the next day. But we had faith that the Lord would help us and we put our confidence in him.
Next, we bought out tickets for the bus and two and a half hours later we arrived in Bragança, Portugal. We took a taxi and got to his work and he was nice and respectful. But he had a lot of fear of his wife and her getting mad at him; because every time he talks about the Church he said she gets mad at her. But we told him why we were here and that there will be a temple in Portugal soon and he felt the Spirit and gave us his address and we went to his house. But we had to act as if he hadn’t sent us there, like we just had been doing this without him knowing.
So, we knocked in the door and his wife, Paula answered the door and she was really nice, and we offered to say a prayer with her in the doorway, but she said that her husband was a member and that we should pass by when he was home. So, we said ok and she said he would be back at six thirty pm. Well, that put us in a conundrum because the last bus to leave for Vila Real leaves at seven pm, which would mean we would be stranded in Bragança overnight. But we both had resolved that we wouldn´t leave without talking to the family and inviting them to be baptized. And the Lord had guided us that far so we called President Torgan and he said if our branch president will agree with what we were doing then we could stay. So, we called our branch president and he said that we could.
So, we knocked on José Carlos´s door again but we had no idea what we were going to say or how we were going to say it, but again we had trust that the Lord would help us. José was there and he was very apprehensive because he didn´t want to make his wife mad. But we told him we just wanted to talk to her and say a prayer with the family. So, he let us come in and we talked for a second and helped her with a few things around the house and then we asked to say a prayer and the whole family agreed and we said it. Well, we were still there to baptize the family so we sat down and started to talk to the family. We tried everything we could to get a Gospel conversation started, but they have a little boy named Simão (Simon). And he is the biggest, spoiled brat that I have every met in my entire life. He is one year old and basically rules the family. If he doesn’t get what he wants he just sits in the floor and starts to scream and the family immediately gives him whatever he wants and then he stops his fake crying.
Well, Simão was proving to be our greatest obstacle to getting a conversation started. Until finally after about forty minutes we just said that we were praying this morning and we felt that the Spirit was telling us that we should come to your family, because it is the time for them to be baptized and join the father in the Church and be sealed for eternity in the temple. And we bore witness of the Gospel and invited them to pray with us, each person says a prayer and ask Heavenly Father if the Church is true or not. Well, I started and then my companion and then Paulo said his prayer. He was a little nervous and shy because most people don´t pray like we do and it is a little strange for them. But we showed him what he had to say and then he got the courage and said his prayer. His prayer was this, “Dear Heavenly Father, please bless me to know if this Church is true or not, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.” I have never in my entire life heard a prayer so powerful and so sincere. When he said it the Spirit filled the room like I had never felt Him before. And everyone in that room knew that the Church was true. And then José, Claudia and then Paula said their prayers and every single person received a personal witness that the Church was true, even I did. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life.
And then my companion invited Paulo to be baptized and he said yes, then Claudia and then Paula, and all three of them said yes!!! It was such a wonderful feeling. To actually know that you had been guided by the Spirit like Nephi had, “And I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do.” It was the most amazing experience of my mission so far.
Then we invited them to be baptized the next day and then immediately José said that it would be extremely difficult because they were having family coming for dinner and that they didn´t have a way to get to Vila Real to be baptized. Well, we said that the Lord will provide a way for them to be baptized. But they said not the next day and so I suggested Monday and they said they had work so that they couldn´t. So, we said ok next weekend. And they accepted.
We then left and found a hotel room to stay the night. And we were so happy that we had found this family that was so ready to be baptized and that they had all accepted so easily and that the Lord had prepared a way for us to accomplish our desire. But we also felt that the Lord had sent us there for them to be baptized the next day and not next weekend. So, we prayed again and felt that we needed to do all we could for them to be baptized the following day. So, we called the zone leaders and told them and they said it was an awesome experience and that we needed to do whatever we could to get them to be baptized that next day, because transfers would happen on Monday and that if one of us were to be transferred that might take away the combination of the companionship so that family wouldn’t be baptized.
So, we did everything we could. First, we decided well, it would be easier to baptize them here and so we found a river that went through town but it wasn’t deep enough to baptize someone in. So, then we asked a few locals where a lake or pool or anything was, and they told us that there was one about thirty minutes south. So, we called someone in the branch in Vila Real, named Wener. He is a Brazilian that had moved to our ward recently and was really nice and always willing to help us missionaries. And he was willing to come up the next morning on Sunday to bring clothes and do the baptismal interview. But he didn’t have any money because he lost everything in the tsunami in Japan and had been living in Italy for a little while with some relatives. And he had gone back to Italy to sell some things to get more money for his family that he left in Vila Real and on the return journey he was robbed and all the money he had was taken. But after about two hours or so we worked everything out that he would have money and come up the next day and then we would have the mission reimburse everything.
That night we stayed in the Tic-Tac Hotel in Bragança haha. It was actually a really nice hotel and pretty cheap. So, we woke up the next morning at six thirty am and we decided and prayed that they should come to church in Vila Real and be baptized there because the stake presidency would be there and also the area seventy, Elder Rocha. We went down to the lobby to check out. Well, there was a problem…. We were locked in the hotel and there was no one at the front desk to let us out. And there we needed to leave because we had to go back to that family and tell them that they needed to be baptized that day. Well. Finally after about thirty minutes someone came out and helped us and let us out of the hotel. We took another taxi back to his house at like eight am. And we waited there in their little village that is about ten kilometers from Bragança. And while we were waiting to knock on the door because it was still a little early we saw José drive by in his car. Well, we called him and said we were close to his house and that we wanted to pass by and he said we could but that he was going to ride his bike with some friends and wasn’t going to come back until twelve thirty pm. Well, that put us in another pickle, church starts at two in the afternoon and we wanted to get them there at church before sacrament starts at four in the afternoon.
So, we knocked on their door anyways and the Paulo the boy opens and says that his mom in still asleep and to pass by in like half an hour. So, we called the dad again and told him basically that we thought that his gamily needed to be baptized and he started giving excuses that his family is coming and that his wife and kids never really accepted to be baptized and that these kinds of things can´t be forced and they have to accept. Finally, after a few minutes of talking on the phone he said we could do whatever we wanted and if his wife accepts baptism then he will go along with it. Well, we waited a little but then we get another call from him saying that his wife is really annoyed with us because we keep knocking on the door and everything. But we said we came here for a reason and we are going to finish it. We knocked on the door again and she let us in and we talked to her and Paulo for awhile and she was really nice to us and everything. Then we said that we didn´t feel good that we changed the date and that we were just following the Spirit and that we think that they should be baptized that day. Well, Paula started giving excuses about that they had family coming and other things. We said that this was an opportunity that might never come again in her entire life and that her and her family could be sealed forever. So, we prayed with her and Paulo again and they both received an answer that that day was the day they needed to be baptized. But again Paula was giving excuses and everything. But we said this is what you have been waiting for your entire life. And she basically said yes, so we stopped pursuing it for a little bit.
Well, the José shows up at home and him and his wife leave the room and then he comes back and says that his wife was really annoyed with us and that we had slowed everything down that day and that she didn´t want to be baptized. And he said that these things need to be slower and they really need to know everything about the Church and hear all the lessons and stuff like that. We said that we received revelation that his family needed to be baptized. We had left Vila Real not knowing why or what would happen and that this entire time we were just trying to follow the best we could what the Spirit was telling us to do. But he said that his wife didn´t want to, then we said what about Paulo, he wants to be baptized. And the dad said that he doesn’t know what he wants and that he needs time to learn and to repent, to which we said, he´s eleven years old he barely had anything to repent of. But he said that he wouldn´t give permission for him to be baptized and that neither would the mom. So, we said fine if Paula, the mom, doesn’t want to be baptized have her come and tell it to us in person and we will leave. So, José called her in and she said that she didn´t want to be baptized. So, we left but José wanted to give us a lift to the bus station, so we let him.
But during the car ride he started making excuses again. The most important thing a person has to have to be baptized in to receive a witness from the Holy Ghost that the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that the Church is true. But he still wouldn´t listen and kept giving excuses. And we said this is the day that he has been waiting for sixteen years and he is giving it up because he is too scared to change his way of life and the way his family is. But nothing worked and we left Bragança.
But I still have hope for their son Paulo. He really had a desire to be baptized and to have a better life and more blessings, but his parents are keeping him from that. During those two days I have never followed the Spirit so much. I have never trusted in the Lord so much. And even though they weren’t baptized I still consider it s success because now, Paulo has a better chance at accepting the Gospel because he knows what the Spirit feels like and knows that the Church is true. But it is just his parents that were keeping him from baptism.
I learned from this experience to really trust in the Lord with all my heart and that he will direct my paths. Because during this entire thing I had no idea what we were doing or how we were going to do it, but we trusted that God would guide us every step of the way, and He did. Everything we said and everything we did was guided by Him and I really believe that we made a huge difference in at least the life of Paulo.
I know that God and Jesus Christ live and that they love us. I know that this Church is true and that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that he translated the Book of Mormon by the power of God. I know that if we put all of our trust in Heavenly Father that he will guide us to those who will accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
I love and miss all you guys so much. I might get transferred today but I don´t know yet, but when I do, I will tell you guys.
Love,
Elder Spencer Jensen

10-3-11

Dear Family,
Well, I hope everything is going well at home. This week was good. We are teaching these 4 college girls, Bárbara, Anabela, Luciana and Diana. They are all pretty..... interested in the message haha. But it is hard to teach them because they have a very busy schedule with school and everything. Also. Natércia is coming along. She has been feeling down lately because her daughter has been... well let´s just say that she has wandered off the Path a little bit. But it was good because Natércia watched conference and all the talks that she was able to see talked about dealing with stuff like that and how we all have trials and so I think that helped. She is still marked for baptism for this weekend, so please pray for her because the devil is trying all he can to stop the Work. Also, are still trying to teach Manel, but it is hard to meet with him and he is supposed to be baptized this weekend too, but he doesn´t have any time to meet. But other than that we have a lot of potentials, the hrd part is just getting appointments with them haha everyone thinks that they have a busy schedule and so they say no, but once they know how important this is and how much it can help them, then they suddenly have time to meet haha. But it´s worth it and the challenge is good too haha.
I love and miss you guys so much and thanks for all that you guys do for me.
Love,
Elder Spencer Jensen

9-26-11

Dear Family,
Well, I hope that things are going well back at home. Here are some of the things that have been going on for the past couple weeks here in Vila Real.

Last night we went knocking and we found a girl named Márcia that is going to college her and she was really interested and also we found 3 guys that are 20 and are studying also and we are going to meet with them this Wednesday. And when we were heading back to the house a man named Paulo stopped us. He is a lawyer and he had a lot of questions about what we believe and we answered a few and we got his number so we are going to call him.

Also, one of our other investigators is Natércia. She is about 50 and is evangelical. She just walked into church a couple weeks ago and we got her number and she came to church two weeks later and then we had a lesson with her in a park. She had questions about why we never ask for money and why we use the Book of Mormon. But it was a really good lesson and she accepted the baptismal invite. So, we just need to meet with her again to give her a date for baptism.

Also, we found 3 college girls named Barbara, Luciana and Anabela that are studying here is Vila Real. But they go and see their families in the weekends and so that makes it difficult for them to come to church. But we taught the Restoration and the whole time they were really quiet and were basically awestruck by the message and so they said that they wold let us come back and we have an appointment tomorrow.

Also Manel, he is 15 and friends with our recent converts and some of the members. He is way cool and funny. His mom died when he was younger and now he lives with foster parents I think. And he already accepted the baptismal invite and we just need to give him a date. But it is difficult to meet with him because of school and he does track after school. And school here is weird. They start at 8, go til 12 and have about a 2-3 hour lunch break, come back and have school til 6. And then any other stuff after that. And each day is different length for the hours of school. And some students even get money from the school to study there, our recent convert Bruna get 100 euros a month to study at her school.

But things here are going good. The work is coming a long and we are going to have lots of baptisms here is Portugal. And there are a lot of profesies that Portugal will be like Brazil with baptisms.

In the fall of 1981 Elder Boyd K. Packer visited Portugal. During his stay he said to the mission President Harold G. Hillam, "It is going to be in Portugal as it has been in South America, where there has been so much growth and advancement in the Church. The growth in Portugal will be slow at first, but then there will be an explosion."

During a visit by Elder Theodore Tuttle in February of 1983 he said, "Portugal will be the key that will open Europe, and will help the Church grow here in this part of the world."

In 1986, Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said, "Portugal will be covered from north to south and from east to west with stakes of Zion. Chapels will be built in cities and towns throughout the whole land. And as a consequence of the growth of the kingdom of God, this nation will be exceedingly blessed and will become again a great nation as it was in times of old."

I love you guys so much and thanks for all the letters and support.
Love,
Elder Spencer Jensen

9-12-11

Dear Family,
Thanks so much for all the bday wishes and everything. Thanks for the support that you guys have given me through out the years. And also the support that you guys have given me during me mission. And also for all the letters. You don´t know how much hey make the day better haha. And I hope all the nieces and nephews still remember who I am haha. I hope all is well at home.
Things here in Portugal are really good. We are working with e kid named Manel. He is 15 and he is friends with basically every youth in our ward. So, he already has that support system. And also he has a real desire to follow the Savior in his life. I will tell you how things go with him.
Sorry, I haven´t written in the last couple weeks. Nothing too exciting has been going on. I am in Vila Real still and things are going great. I haven´t spoken hardly any English for almost a month now. It is hard sometimes but it is really improving my language. And my vocabulary is starting to become better and also my grammar. I wanna be fluent by the time I leave the mission. And I am going to try to keep speaking until the end of my mission.
It is weird to thing that I have been gone for 10 months already. But I still have a long time left. But 3 weeks are taken off because of the difference in transfers of the two Portugal missions. So, I have 13 months left, I think.
Thanks for all you guys do for me and all the help and support.
Love,
Elder Spencer Jensen

Baptism of Erven 08-20-2011

Dear Family,
Well, this week was another good one. Erven, the little brother of Bruna, Felipe and Vanessa, was baptized!!! He was a lot easier to batize than his siblings haha. Plus, he doens´t have any problems with drugs, drinking or girls because he is only 11 haha. But he is a way cool little kid that likes to play soccer and goof around like any other little boy. During his baptism he was playing around with these two little girls that we at the baptism haha. But he is also very smart and reembers everything that we teach him. He was so nervous when we asked his mom if he could get baptized that he couldn´t even ask her haha and eventually his sister Bruna asked for him and then his mom got annoyed because we were interrupting her soup opera that she took the paper and signed it haha. And then right after that the mom invited her two friends that were over at their house to the baptism.
But he was baptized and it was a very cool day. His older brother Felipe, who was just baptized, baptized him.
Then his confirmation the next day was equally as cool.
But that is about the story of Erven. The funny thing is, is that we ddn´t even know he existed until a couple of days before his siblings were baptized haha. And we didn´t even talk to him until after their baptism.
All we need to do now is baptize the mom, Fátima haha.
Thanks for all the prayers and love and letters. I love and miss you guys a lot.
Love,
Elder Spencer Jensen

More Photos From the Baptisms of Felipe, Bruna and Vanessa

Baptisms of Felipe, Bruna and Vanessa 8-6-2011

Dear Family,
This is the story of Felipe, Bruna and Vanessa. The newest members of the Church.

So, the elders who were here before us made a list of all the people who had already been to church at least once. Well, when we got there those are the people that we started with. So, we came across the teaching record of their mom Fátima and it has her childrens names on there. And the other elders had visited them once before they left saying that there would be new missionaries coming. And they live right across the street from us. And they are Brazilian and they have lived in Vile Real for about 6 or 7 years.

So, we showed up to their house on the 21 of July and we taught Bruna (16) and Vanessa (12) the General Lesson, basically what we believe, and we gave them the pre-baptismal invite, which they accepted. And then we came back another day and taught them the Restoration with two member girls named Ana and Nicole, and gave them the date for the 6 of August, and they accepted it. And they had become best friends with Ana and Nicole and they hang out almost everyday now haha. And Ana and Nicole had invited them to some ward activities. In the meantime we had been trying to get Felipe to come but he was always busy. So, on our third lesson, when we gave the girls their baptismal calenders (a way for them to see and get excited for their bapisms), Felipe was there and we gave him the same date too. And then we taught them the Plan of Salvation and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

So, we told them since Bruna and Vanessa were under the age of 18 they had to get the permission of their mom before they got baptized (we don´t know who or where the father is and the mom has never been married). So, they did and we had another lesson with them alone and we watched the Restoration because Felipe wasn´t there to hear it when we taught it first. And we found out that their mom had said no because she thought they were too young to make this decison and that they really didn´t want it. And they were all a little wishy washy about it too. So, we prayed, each of us, right there to receive an answer. And all of them did, and Elder Lefevre described what they Spriti felt like and Brun started laughing because it was exactly what she was feeling and each of them acknowledged they had received an answer. And we promised that we would try to talk to their mom.

And Saturday the stake had a picnic in Vila Real and all three of them came and had a fun time and got to know a lot of members. But Vanessa had been expressing doubts about baptism and it seems like members in Portugal can only talk to investigators about baptism.

Then, Sunday came around and they came to church and everything, seemed to like it and all. So, then we have a lesson with them after that. And as soon as we sit down all three of them say that they don´t wanna say the prayer or anything. And so one of us said it and then we started talking about baptism and Felipe said he was re-thinking it and the Bruna and Vanessa straight up refused to do it. But Felipe then said he would still work with us, so we basically dropped Bruna and Vanessa. (SideNote: We had up to this time spent a lot of time with this family and eaten with them and done tons of stuff trying to build a relationship with them. And it worked, we had pretty much become family and everything.) And whe we left their house it felt like we had been kicked out of my best friends house.

So, we got home and we were really discouraged and everything and we were just ready to leave and go knocking when we got a call from Ana (the member) telling us to come downstairs and they wanted to talk to us. So, we went down and they gave us cookies and said that Bruna and Vanessa had said they didn´t wanna be baptized because they were afraid of their mom. And that they still wanted to be baptized, and that we just needed to talk with their mom.

And Monday or Tuesday we had another appoinment with them and Felipe pretty much asked to move his date until September when he would come back from holidays. Well, by this time we were a little tired of arguing with them. So, Elder Lefevre was like ok we reprayed about this date but we will have you pray and chose what day you want. So, Felipe prayed and the whole time I could feel in my heart that this wasn´t the right thing to do. So, I opened up the Book of Mormon and read about Alma and him baptizing people in the Waters of Mormon and that how the people braved all kinds of danger to hear the word and be baptized. And then I layed in on them with the Spirit. I told them that each time we come over their desire to learn and particpate falls. That their desire to be baptized is falling and that they are destroying their oppourtunity to live together as a family. And that I came to Vila Real with the purpose of helping them personally. That is probably the most guided I have ever been by the Spirit. And then Elder Lefevre basically said that they oly reason that they are turning this down is because of fear and that we loved them a lot and that we pray and think about them a lot. And how by them delaying their baptism that their are only delaying the blessings and the guidance of the Holy Ghost. And then we re-invited Felipe to be baptized and he said yes and then Bruna and Vanessa said that we just had to get permission from their mom for baptism.

I think it was on Wed or Thurs that we went over to their house and Ana walks out and says that their mom in home and that we should go get her dad so he can help us get permission for baptism. (Her and Nicole´s dad is the branch president, and he is probably the best branch president in all of Portugal). So, we did that. And we came back and started talking to her. And she works at a butchers and it just so happens that Pres. Castro owned a butcher shop in another city. And then using his Brazilian smooth talking, Pres. basically just said that permission for baptism is just a side thing, but that we really just want her there so she can particaipate in her childrens decision to be baptized. Well, I don´t know how but that Brazilian smooth talk worked and she just said ok when and where will the baptisms be. So, we set up a time and then we got her to sign the papers for Bruna and Vanessa. And during the lesson all of her kids were so nervous because they wanted her to say yes so bad haha.

So, we finished up all the lessons and everything and prepared them for the interview. And we got permission from our mission president for our branch president to do the baptismal interviews. So, Saturday, the day for the baptisms came. We had the interviews in the morning and they all passed. We had the font all ready and clothes and everything. And I was going to baptize Bruna and Elder Lefevere was going to baptize Vanessa and Pres. Castro was going to baptize Felipe. So, we took pictures and all that jazz. Then, we started the program and then the baptisms came. Felipe went first and then me and Bruna. She was so nervous that she like ran into the font haha and then when I was about to start she almost squeezed my arm off haha. And then I baptized her and then Elder Lefevre and Vanessa. After that Elder Lefevre and I sang during the program "Careço de Jesus" which is the Portuguse version of "I Need Thee Every Hour".

Then, on Sunday we got them all to church and they were all confirmed and given the gift of the Holy Ghost. And the Spirit was so strong. And now they are the newest members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Dy Saints here in Vila Real.

And basically that is the whole story. Found and baptized within 2.5 weeks. And Vila Real hasn´t batized in almost a year and probably hasn´t had three people be baptized at once in a long long time. And don´t let anyone ever use the excuse the Europe is a hard mission. Because it is not. It is all about the mindset that you have and how intune you are with the Spirit. One of the assistants to the president had baptized over 100 people on his mission. They baptize every single week. Our mission is on track to break 1000 baptisms this year, which would be 3x more than any other European mission.

But I really bonded and love this family. I would consider them family now haha. And it will suck when I have to leave Vila Real. But now I know the true meaning of D&C 18:10-16

10Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God;

11For, behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh; wherefore he suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent and come unto him.

12And he hath risen again from the dead, that he might bring all men unto him, on conditions of repentance.

13And how great is his joy in the soul that repenteth!

14Wherefore, you are called to cry repentance unto this people.

15And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!

16And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!

I love and miss you guys so much. And thanks for all the prayers and support. And SHARE THE GOSPEL!!!
Love,
Elder Spencer Jensen

8-1-11

Dear Family,
Well, this week has been quite the roller coster. Well we found these three investigators. They are brother and sisters. The oldest is Felipe the boy, he´s 20. His sister Bruna, who´s 16 and their younger sister Vanessa who is 12. They are Brazilian and they have known the elders for awhile, and they live right across the street from us. And they are a really cool family. So, we found them from the area book. And we have been teaching them from scratch. So, that is what we have been doing. And we marked them for batism on the 6 of August, so this coming weekend. And they accepted. And we have been teaching them with two member girls in our branch that are really cool and they have become really good friends and their names are Ana and Nicole. But the problem is is that Bruna and Vanessa are under the age of 18 so, they have to have the permission of their mom to be baptized. So, they asked and she said no because she thinks things are going to fast. So, we said we will talk to her but we still haven´t had the chance to yet. But they came to church and everything and then we had a lesson with them about baptism and the blessings that they will be getting because they have been a little nervous about it. And we had a lesson where we taught the Restoration and then we had each of them pray and they all three received a witness of the truth and all of them even said that. So, during the lesson we watched a little video and and during the video Vanessa walked out and the other two weren´t paying too much attention. So, we asked them what was going on and Felipe said that he still wanted to be baptized but that he though it was a little too early and Bruna said she didn´t wanna be baptized at all and Vanessa said the same thing too. So, we pretty much said that we would just be working with Felipe. Then we left their house, now over this past week we have been with this family everyday trying to help them be prepared for baptism and we formed a really strong relationship and they feel like family now. And when we left their house it felt like we had been kicked out of my best friends house. Now, we were feeling pretty discouraged after this and we were just ready to go out and find some new investigators. But we get a call to come outside of our apartment and Ana and Bruna were there and Bruna apologized and said she said that stuff because she was afraid of her mom and didn´t wanna displease her. And that she knew all of what we taught was true. So, we are still trying to get in to talk with the mom. But please pray for this family. They need all the help they can get to make it to batism this weekend. And when they are baptized I will tell you guys all about it. These will be the first baptism Vila Real has seen in almost a year. So, this is a vey special week for me and for Vila Real.
Thanks for everything you do for me.
Love,
Elder Spencer Jensen

View of Guimarães from Penha

7-18-11

Hello Family,
Well, we got transfer calls today and I am going to another area called Vila Real. It is still in the north of the country. Which is weird because I thought I was going to go south. But I will be serving with Elder Lefevre. He just got off a transfer on the Madeira Islands and we will be going to Vila Real. So, you all know what that means!!!!! We will be WHITEWASHING Vila Real. I have never whitewashed before because President Walton didn´t like doing them but President Torgan loves doind them and does two or three every transfer. But it will be an adventure, that´s for sure. And I have know Elder Lefrevre ever since I got here and he is a good worker and we should get a lot of work done.
But anyways that is pretty much all the news from this week. Just another week of finding. We worked a lot and got 40 hours of proselyting and only found a couple new investigators. And all the ones we found last week have gone away. But we did have one ray of hope named Gabi and his little boy Samuel. They are immigrants from Romania. Which would seem weird but it´s not. There are tons here and they are called gypsies or siganos in Portuguese. They have darker skin and usually are beggars and what ever else you would think about a gypsie. But Gabi is a good guy and knows the Bible really well adn has a desire to learn about the truth. Too bad that I will never be able to see his progress.
But I am really excited to go to Vila Real and do some work. That area has the reputation of being really over worked and I am excited for the challenge.
Well, thanks for all you guys do for me.
Love,
Elder Spencer Jensen


PS: my new address

Elder Spencer Jensen
Avenida Cidade Ourense
Lot 4, Ent 1, 7ºDtº
Vila Real 5000

7-11-11

Hello Family,
We have been starting to do this thing called revelados or revealed. Where we have the names of everyone that has been to church at least one time and we pray over their names and choose the ones that we feel need to be baptized that week. Then, we pray over a date. So one of those is named Maria José. She is the mom of a returned missionary here named Claudia. So, we called Wed and they said they weren´t there so we went by Thurs and found her sitting on someones stairs. Well, we proceeded to talk to her and it went on for about an hour. We told her that we had received revelation that she needed to be baptized. But man she did not want anything to do with us. And we even prayed with her to feel what we were feeling and she did feel it. She just kept saying over and over that she didn´t wanna be baptized again because she already was in the Catholic church. So, we explained authority and then she goes on to say "My padre has just as much if not more power than you do." Well, that didn´t make me or Elder Nielsen happy so Elder Nielsen basically says the Pope is wrong and a liar hahahaha. She didn´t like that too much. So, we just told her to pray about it and that we would come back the next day. So, we did and she wasn´t home and so we called her and her and her husband yelled at us over the phone saying to leave them alone and then they told us their RM daughter told them to just tell us to never come back to their house. Wow! what kind of RM, and then we found out that Claudia was dating a nonmember and that she didn´t have a job but yet she was still moving out of the house. So, how does someone move out without a job??? So, we think she moved in with her boyfriend.
Then our other one that we had was the mom of a recent convert that we have. Her name is Maria (of course). And we were dead certain that she would be baptized that week. So, we set up an appointment go over and talk and it was a good lesson we taught the Restoration and all that stuff and did that same thing, we invited her to be baptized and she actually gave us a good reason. That she hadn´t read the BoM and that she needed time to read it. And dang it that is one of the best excuses I have ever heard. And she said that we can come back anytime but she just needs time to read.
So, then we do the name choosing again and it is like 9 at night and I get this impression that we need to go over to this one woman´s house. So, we walk about 20 min there and knock on her door. She opens tell us she doens´t want anything and then slams the door in our faces.
We have starting doing guided tours of the chapel in Guimarães. The chapel is right on one of the main roads in Guimarães. So, we just stand out there and as people walk by we ask them if they want a tour. Most people say no but we have a lot of people that say yes. So, we take them in, have a prayer and then watch "Finding Happiness", which is a really good movie. Talk about the BoM, and how it proves our message. And then we take then next to the baptismal font, talk about that for a second and then ask them that is they receive and answer from God if they will be baptized into Christ´s Church. Most of the time people say sure or that they were already baptized and then we go from there. But usually they work really well.
Well, that is all for this week. I love and miss you guys.
Love,
Elder Spencer Jensen

7-6-11

Dear Family,

Well, things have changed here in my mission a lot. The two missions in Portugal combined into one and now we have a new mission president named Presidente Torgan. He is from Brazil and he is a famous politician in Brazil. And he is also famous for being really tough on crime and all the criminals fear him haha. He is a pretty big guy too probably 6´5" and 300 lbs. But he is a really nice guy and he is really stright forward and direct. And he has a very forceful leadership style but since he has been in Portugal he has helped baptize over 1000 people. Which is pretty dang good for Europe. We had a two day training about how things worked in the Lisbon mission. And we learned a lot of good ways to help people be baptized. He really focuses on goals and achieving them.

So we did a couple activities where we re made our goals.

And he gave us a challenge this week to find someone that has already been to church at least once (to be baptized you have to go to church twice) and get them to be baptized sometime this week or after church on Sunday. It is a really daunting task and will be really hard to do, but me and Elder Nielsen have prayed and we have a couple people that we think would be good to help be baptized this Sunday. Our goal is for two people to be baptized. And we also made a goal for 10 people to be baptized this month is Guimarães, which will also take a lot of work to achieve. But I know that it was revelation that I received to make this goal and that there is a way that I can achieve this goal that we made.

I didn´t get to do anything for the 4 of July because we had trainings and my mission president is Brazilian, but he did let us sing the national anthem during the training but nothing else. And no one in Portugal cares about the US so nothing else went on. Just a normal day.

Well, that is all for me today. I love and miss all you guys.

Love,

Elder Spencer Jensen

6-27-11

Dear Family,
Sorry I have been bad at writing lately and I hope you can forgive me. We have been wroking really hard here in spite of allt eh bad happendings lately haha. We have a couple investigators that we are working with. One is Lurdes. She is about 35 or 40 and she walked into church yesterday. She thought our church was a different one but she decided to stay and see what we had to offer. So she was there for a little of sacrament and then since our gospel principles teacher didn´t show up (another story) we just taught her a lesson with a RM that is in our ward. It was a good lesson until a member decided to come in. Now, I love to have members help, but only when I can control what they say. This member got everything off track and it was really hard to keep the lesson going in a smooth direction. But Lurdes liked it and we gave her the baptismal invite and she said if she finds an answer she will be baptized.
Another one is Tiago. We are going to meet with him today. Elder Nielsen found im when he was on a division and I was in a different town. So, Idk all about the lesson. But he really liked it and he read 3 Nephi 11 and said he really like it and read the next 2 chapters after that. He is in his early thirties and looking for a family and kids. But today we are going to teach him the Restoration and give him a baptismal invite.
But yesterday was like going to the swim pool. It was so gosh dang humid. There was literally fog in the middle of the day and I could not stop sweating and even now I am still sweating. It is really humid and probably not even that hot. haha But I guess that´s what happens with a costal country.
Things here in Guimarães are going good. And I am really enjoying it. My Portuguese is pretty good. I still have problems understanding some words but I am learning slowly but surely. It is a pretty difficult language.
On Saturday the branch had a picnic and they served pork and sardines. The sardines were ok, I only had two and the pork wasn´t the best I have ever had.
But this morning I made some amazing banana bread that tastes better than any sardine ever could haha.
I love and miss you guys. Have your kids write letters and send photos.
Love,
Elder Spencer Jensen

Funny Story

So, this week was fun. As you can see I have sores all over my face. Well, about two weeks ago we went over to the Branch PRes house for dinner. Well, his little boy had chicken pox. Well, as you guys should know is that I have never had chicken pox in my life. But I had had the vaccine. Well, this past monday I had little red dots on my scalp and face. I thought they were flea bites because they are a problem here in Portugal. So, I washed my sheets and sprayed everything with BIo Kill. And tuesday I wake up and I have dozens of little red dots all over my body. Well, I got the chicken pox. So, I was stuck inside the house for an entire week. It was torture and I was so bored and I was so itchy. But now I am better. And that, I hope, was my mission health crisis.
Love,
Elder Spencer Jensen

New Address for Mission

This is not my mailing address, but when the missions combine this will be the main mailing address for the whole mission. But not my address!

Missão Portugal Lisboa
Apartado 40054
1500 Lisboa
Portugal

Photos

5-30-11

Olá,
Well this week wasn´t too bad. We worked our butts of and found 4 new investigators and we have two investigators marked for June 11. But things here are pretty good. Nothing too exciting happened just a regular ole week of missionary work. My Portuguese is good. I can understand most of what people say and I can express myself pretty well. There are the few grammatical errors but nothing too bad. The gift of tounges is real and I can testify to that fact. But thanks for all you guys do for me and keep the letters and photos coming.
Love,
Elder Spencer Jensen

5-23-11

Hello,
Well this week was very busy. We had two traingings and tranfers. I got a new comp named Elder Nielsen from Price originally, but he lives in Idaho now.
I am still in Guimarães. And we are working very hard. We already have a bunch of potentials and one guy with a baptismal date marked named Hugo. But it has been a good week. We had stake conference too. So i have been down to Porto almost everyday this week. And man am I tired now haha. But it is worth it. I lvoe it here and i have fun everyday doing missionary work. It is really rewarding to see how the Gospel makes a difference in people´s lives. Especially the Book of Mormon. Many members don´t realize how powerful the Book of Mormon is. But we use it all the time and there is always a scripture in the Book of Mormon to explain anything. So make sure you read the thing!!! I can promise that it well make your life better. Because since I have studied it here it has made a huge change in my life. So everyone read!!!
And thank you guys for all you do and keep the letters and pictures coming.
I love and miss you all so much.
Love
Elder Spencer Jensen