1-30-12 Baptism of Maria Jesus aka Nelly

Dear Family,
Well, this week was a very hectic week. We were getting Nelly ready for baptism but we also felt that this other girl should be baptized too. She had already made it to the date of her baptism in the past but the day of her mom said no. So, we went to her house and talked to her and she wants to be baptized but you have to be 18 to choose for yourself. So, she talked to her mom and her mom said no because she is Catholic. So, we decided to go talk to her and she said no and we kinda got into an argument her and I haha, but we smoothed it over but she wouldn't sign the form, so that girl wasn't baptized. But the good news is Nelly was baptized and confirmed and also we got Mena and Diogo confirmed too. So, it was a good week. Nelly was excited to be baptized. She had gone to Church for two years in Cape Verde but the Sisters there said she wasn't ready and wouldn't baptize her, so we did. It was a very cool experience and she chose me to baptize her. So, this week was a pretty good week and we did a lot of work.
Thanks for all the help and support that you guys are. I love and miss you all.
Love,
Elder Spencer Jensen

1-23-12 Baptism of Diogo and Filomena

Dear Family,
How are things going? Sorry, I have been slacking on letters, but I will be sending some today. Things here this week were pretty good. First of all we baptized Mena and Diogo!!! It was way cool but it was a fought til the very end with Diogo´s mom, but she finally realized that it was for the best of Diogo. It was way cool and I am glad that I got to help them. So, Mena had a stroke and it paralized the left side of her body a little bit, so when we were baptizing her her leg kept coming outta the water. And it turns out that she has a fear of water and whenever her head would get near the water she would panic. And she isn´t the smallest woman in the world and I had to baptize her. So after three tries the fourth one was the winner and all of her went into the water haha. It was pretty funny and she will have a funny story to tell. This week was just spent helping them get ready for baptism and teaching them the things they need to know. And we have a woman named Nelly marked for next weekend, so pray for her. But things here are good. Thanks for all you guys do for me and the support.
Love,
Elder Spencer Jensen

1-16-11 Baptism of Ivanilson (Jaúl)

Dear Family,
So, here´s the story for this week. We had that investigator named Jaúl that was supposed to be baptized this weekend. Well, we found out that he had to go back to Cape Verde to wait for his surgery. But what we didn´t find out until last Wednesday, was that he would be going back to Cape Verde on Saturday morning! Well, this caused some problems because he wanted to be baptized before he went back to Cape Verde. So, we went down to the Cape Verde Consulate and talked to them. And in the meantime we had everything planned out for him to be baptized that night, which was Thursday night. And we had called President Torgan and he said that if the bishop said that it was ok then he could be baptized that night, but Pres. Torgan was a little nervous and just didn´t feel right about it because it seemed so out of the blue. So, Jaúl talked to the people about the flight he had back home, which would leave at 9 am the next day. So, he talked to them for a long time and then he came out and guess what happened. THEY GAVE HIM ONE MORE WEEK TO STAY HERE IN PORTUGAL!!! So, he could be baptized normally on Saturday like we had planned. So, that was an awesome miracle that Heavenly Father gave to us. And on Saturady Jaúl was baptized and on Sunday he was confirmed!
Also, this next coming week we will be having two more baptisms. Mena and a little boy named Diogo. So, a lot of good things are happening here.
Thanks for all you guys do for me and I love and miss you a lot.
Elder Spencer Jensen

1-9-12

Dear Family,
So, I will tell a few stories that happened to us this week. So, on Saturday we were waiting at the bus stop to go up to this one neighborhood that is known for drugs and stuff like that, but we needed to talk to a former investigator. So, we were waiting and this man in his 30´s walks up and just stares at me for like 3 seconds, which kinds weirded me out. Then, he walked away and leaned against the wall and kept looking at me. So, the he asks me why am I here. Well, I told him that I am here to preach about the Church of Jesus Christ. And then he asks me, "Are you happy?" and I said yes that I am. But he said that I didn´t look happy but I said I was and I asked if we could leave our card with him and he said no, so I started to walk back to where I was, and he said stop and asked me to come back, so I did. Then he asked, "Why are you happy? Because I can´t find happiness in my life." and I said because I know that I have a Heavenly Father that loves in in spite of all my weaknesses and imperfections and that He is always there to help me. So, he explained that he was going to go up to that neighborhood to buy drugs t try to find happiness and that all he did was just waste money and time on women, alcohol and drugs trying to find happiness. So, then we explained that those things don´t bring happiness, they bring temporary satisfaction and leave you worse than when you started. And the only way to find real happiness is throught the Savior. He then said that once he was happy and he read the Bible and knew it from cover to cover but then something happened where he fell into a hola and couldn´t get out. So, we said that we would like to talk to him again but he wouldn´t give us his number but that he would give us a call, which he won´t because satan will do whatever it takes so that he doesn´t call us. But it was a cool and a sad moment.
Also, we have this woman named Mena from Cape Verde too. And we found her because we went over to a less active´s house and she told us that we should go over ther because Mena was looking for the truth and would be baptized if she found the truth. So, she is about late 40 and is a Seventh-Day Adventist, but she has been going to their church for over 7 years and hasn´t ever been baptized in their church. But she is really nice but quiet. So, we talked to her a couple times and she is looking for the true Church of God. And so, we taught her about the Book of Mormon and read it with her and explained it to her so she could understand, because before with the other elders she wasn´t understanding the Book of Mormon. So, we leave something for her to read and to pray about it. So, we come back and she had read it and she really liked it and understood it and prayed and felt good about it. So, we talked some more and then we ended and asked if she had any questions. She said that she didn´t understand why the Sabbath day was moved from Saturday to Sunday. So, Elder Brito explains because it is in memory of the Ressurection of the Savior and that happened on a Sunday. And he explained it really well, and then she said, "Wow! I have never had any one explain it to me in that way and that is the only way that has has ever made sense to me. Not even the minister and the 7thday church could answer." So, then we asked if she would like to come to church with us on Sunday and see how the Church of Christ is and she said that she would like that very much. And she came to church and she said that she liked it a lot and we are going to go back and mark her for baptism.
One more story. So, we were walking around last night and we found a kid of a less active and we started talking to him and told him to show us where he lives because we wanted to talk to his mom, so he showed us. Well, on the way there we were talking and it turns out that he is 9 years old but not baptized and we asked if he wanted to be baptized and he said yes. So, we went to his house and talked to his mom and said she needs to come back to church and that we wanted permission to teach her son so that he could be baptized. And she said that would be fine haha.
We, have seen many, many miracles this week and the Lord has been blessing us by finding those that are ready to be baptized.
Well, thanks for all you guys do for me. I love and miss you.
Elder Spencer Jensen

2-1-12

Dear Family,
This week we were trying to help Paula quit smoking. So, we made her this tea that is made out of tabacco. So, it should be terrible and not taste good at all. We brought it over to her and we didn´t tell her what it is and she tasted it and she said it tasted kinda gross but not too bad. And she kept drinking it through out the lesson. I repeat, SHE WAS DRINKING TABACCO JUICE AND SHE LIKED IT!!!! And she actually kept the rest of it that we made.
And we went and saw this woman named Maria Pinto whose door we had knocked. And she was having a really hard time. She doesn´treally believe in God and her exhusband used to beat her but he is in jail now, but she had known the elders for about 15 years. She let us come back because she wanted us to help her daughter who is doing drugs and hanging out with the wrong people. So, she invited us to come back so that we could teach her daughter. But her daughter wasn´t there and so we just taught her and she is having a really hard time. She isn´t handling the situation very well, she has depression and she has passed out a couple of times because of the stress. So, we told her that her being baptized and receiving the Holy Ghost will help her handle the situtation better and that we would come back and teach her daughter. So, we have an appointment to go back tonight. I am excited to see how it goes.
And we had a new years eve party at a members house and it was pretty fun and I ate a lot and made Aimee´s banana bread for it haha.
Well, thanks for everything you guys have done for me and I love and miss you all.
Love,
Elder Spencer Jensen

PS: New address

Elder Spencer Jensen
Missão Portugal Lisboa
Rua Jorge Barradas Nº14C
1500-370 Lisboa
Portugal