Attack of the attention hog cat

A week of things, and exchanges

Haircut #2.  I think I cut it too short this time. I really need to figure out which numbers are used on my head. I used a 2 on the sides, which I think worked, but the 3 on top was a little short. 

So, Memorial day was interesting. We had a guy freak out at us because we gave him a pass along card that had Jesus on it. We just kind of smiled and nodded as he told us off and recited the titles of all the books in the Bible at us. Not sure what that was about. We talked to a lot of people that day, mostly because they were all out walking around. We also found a couple of new investigators this week. One of them we just stopped by and had a great conversation on how the Bible and the Book of Mormon support each other.

Speaking of that, that was what our District Meetings was on this week, and that was cool! What we did was write our testimonies in a copy of the Book of Mormon, then on the next page, wrote a series of topics, and put a Book of Mormon and a Bible Reference to each one. It was really cool to go in and look for those. So, to whoever wants to do it, here is the list we came up with:

If you do decide to do this, tell me about it! I would love to hear your stories. Also, do not feel limited to just these references or topics. Find your own to share, or add to the list here. For those who have not yet read the Book of Mormon, here a a great place to start.

Topic                          Book of Mormon                   Bible
Prophets:                 Jacob 4:4-6(pg.124)            Amos 3:7
Chastity:                  Jacob 2:27-28(pg.121)        Matthew 5:28
Prayer:                     Alma 34:19-27(pg.294)        James 1:5-6
Agency:                   2 Nephi 2:27(pg.59)              Galatians 5:1
The Atonement:     Alma 7:11-13(pg.225)          Isaiah 53:3-5
Faith:                        Ether 12:17(pg.510)             Hebrews 11:1
Baptism:                  Mosiah 18:8-10(pg.181)      John 3:5
Sabbath Day:          Mosiah 18:23, 25 (pg.182)  Exodus 20:8-11

So, back to Becky (who was the investigator who had this question), that was something she was confused about, but it made sense to her after we finished. We also talked to a new investigator yesterday. That was kind of interesting. He just kind of called us up and told us to come over Sunday morning. So, we did, and when we got there, he was going to another church, and told us to come back in the evening. When we came back, we talked to him about the Restoration and he was alright with it. We are going back to teach him later this week.

We also started to talk to a less-active this week, and he is a cool guy. We actually committed him to come back to church, and he said he would, but his ride canceled on him and he didn't tell us until after church. We will get him there next week though.

Now for our investigators that we have been teaching. Nick has not responded to us this entire week, and he has not been around/able to meet with us when we stop by. I really hope we can talk to him again, but also, it may be time to move on. It is sad, but we really don't have a lot of time, and we can't waste any of it. For Sylvester and Sessie, we continue to have great lessons with them! Our most recent one was talking about 2 Nephi 31, and how important it is for us to be baptized. We don't have them on date yet, but we should very soon. We have another investigator, but I will speak on him in a second

You will note in the title that I mentioned exchanges. That is because I went on exchanges two days in a row. The first one was with Elder Riggins, which is one of the Assistants. Now, Elder Wells had a "great" idea. Instead of me going over to the Assistants area, as per normal, he had me stay in our area to lead it out. That was kind of scary. But, it was good for me, since i do need to learn the area better. I only got us lost 10 times. We had a really good time together though. He helped me to see how easy it is to contact people. That is something that I have been trying to work on doing better at.

We also taught our other investigator, Peter. He is actually living in the same unit as the less-active that we taught, so we taught them both the Restoration that night. Let me tell you though, Peter is a talker, and gets off topic really easy. If  you let him, he will talk for 30 minutes straight without you getting an word in (speaking from experience there). There was also this attention hog cat that came from across the street and kept rubbing against everyone's legs and demanding to be pet. There was a ton of orange hair on my pants from that. We had a really good time though, and Peter is very engaged in the lessons,and has even agreed to be baptized! We will set a date next lesson.

The second exchange that I went on was with Elder Rogers, who was in my district at the MTC. That was a cool exchange. I got to drive the car on that one, and let me tell you, after about two months of not driving, I was a little shaky, but we really enjoyed it, so that is all that matters. What we did for most of the morning was just walk around outside and talked to people. Then, for the afternoon, we went to one for his investigator's home and prepared a section of her yard for planting. Basically, 4 hours of digging around in the dirt, which was fun, but would have been better if it was not so hot and humid. Then, after we cleaned up a little, we visited a less-active, and man, was that a spiritual experience. Elder Rogers is an awesome Elder! He really gave this guy the talk, and got him to commit to come to church the next Sunday (I was informed that he did indeed go to church, which is awesome!).

Ok, and let me tell you that Saturday was a really cool day. So, we got up, studied like normal, then drove out to Rockford for a baptism. Elder Wells has an investigator up there who the Elders that were teaching her got her  commit to baptism. It was a really cool thing to experience, since about 80% of it was spoken in Swahili. You didn't really need to understand what they were saying though to get what was going on. It got me excited to get a few of my investigators into to waters of baptism though. And yesterday, I again got up and bore my testimony, so I am 2 for 2 right now. Only 22 more to Go! Well, that is about it for this week. Thank you for all of your prayers, and I can't wait to tell you all about next week!

Elder Jensen

PS: Elder Wells is going home soon. I believe next Monday is his last preparation day, and then he goes back to Vegas soon after. He is going to leave a lot of stuff for me, so that is exciting!


 So, I do not have very many pictures for this week. I will try to get better, but it is hard, when you are told to not look like a tourist and can't take a ton of pictures.

The dinner I made while on exchanges with Elder Rogers (he helped a little). It is Talapia, stuffing, and a carrot steamed in honey water.

Elder Rogers enjoying the meal