Hermana Jensen in Peru: Week 10 & 11, Huancayo, Peru

November 21st, 2016

Another week down! They are really starting to go fast now. I can't believe I only have two weeks left in this transfer, and Christmas is barely a month away.
I am pretty much 100% sure that Hermana Spitale will be leaving me this transfer and I will be getting another trainer. The first two transfers are training, and your trainer is known as your "mom" haha. I have no idea who it is going to be but I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little nervous. Did I mention that our area is the biggest in the entire mission?? I will be getting a companion who does not know the area and that means I will have to know it. Luckily there is a map but the streets are kind of just jumbled here and I don't know the ward super well. But I really think I have learned more than I give myself credit for.

We had a mission night on Friday and we watched "Meet the mormons and our investigator Wendy came! She is the best and will probably be baptized in December! Yesterday was the primary program and I played the piano for the entire thing, and it was a total surprise haha. Luckily it was just simple hymns, nothing too crazy.

This week, we got caught in a gnarly rain storm!! haha it was kind of awesome! The storms here are so awesome and my umbrella kept blowing away, so we ran to dinner and I was SOAKED! haha Last Thursday we made chocolate chip cookies. I was worried about using the recipe from home, because the ingredients are just different here but they actually ended up being way good! Hermana Spitale ended up eating like 10 and then was sick all of Friday. So we ended up having to chill inside most of the day. Those darn cookies were worth it though.

I have noticed an interesting pattern here. The mornings for me are always hard. We sit and study in our apartment until the afternoon, and I think a lot about home and get homesick. But then we go out, teach, and work our butts off and I forget about being homesick! When I come home at night, I am so exhausted and happy, and I tell myself I willl never forget that feeling, and then the next morning I am kind of homesick all over again. But it is just proof that missions are the happiest when you "forget yourself and go to work." I know that that is so important and I am so much happier when I am not thinking about myself. I think this week to I have started to realize how we really are making a difference here. I think it is because I am starting to understand people more when they open up to us about all the struggles that they are going through. I can see the hope that they feel when we share the gospel. I know that there is no way I would be able to do this alone. God has helped me so much, and I have been able to do and say things in a different language that I never knew I was capable of.

Some random facts about the mission are that there are 4 or 5 areas in the mission. They include Huancayo, Huanuco, Cerro De Pasco, La Selva(the jungle) and I think Tarma. I'm in Hunacayo right now in Mariscal Castilla. I think hermana Spitale is off to Cerro de pasco next transfer. People are scared to go to that place haha. No oxygen, no water sometimes, no heat...haha. But I heard the people there are super great!

Anyways love you all lots!!

Hermana Jensen

p.s There is a guy that lives by us who walks his cows in the streets sometimes. Also there was a guy peeing in the street the other day haha. Every time something like that happens hermana Spitale turns to me and says "Welcome to the mission"

homemade cookies

our cook Hermana Blanca

Map of my area

November 28th, 2016

Hello!!!

Love you and love the pictures you sent for thanksgiving. That food looks so darn good! Last p-day our zone got a turkey and some mashed potatoes and we had a little feast! It was super awesome. Afterwards we went out in the middle of nowhere to this place called Cochas to a park. The park was really cool and had some really cute shops where I bought a few things. I am trying not to buy too much though because I still have like over a year left haha.

I think I am finally starting to get a little more situated here. Yesterday we planned an activity with the Los Andes ward for Friday with Hermana Pliler and Hermana Cadena. Hermana Cadena is from Colombia and she talks pretty fast. But it was one of the first times where I felt like I really was understanding what she was saying and able to respond and be part of the conversation. It was great! I think the improvement has been very slow so I haven't noticed that I am progressing but really I am! I feel like it has opened up my relationship with Hermana Spitale more now. I can ask her more about her life, and we end up talking and joking around so much more now. I have realized how important it is to confide and be close with your companions. I have also realized that the most helpful thing to do when I am sad is to talk to her. It is always nice to have somebody who is there to comfort you and to understand. I am going to miss her! A little bit about her is she is from Cordoba Argentina. She is the only girl and has 4 brothers and her dad is a convert. He served as a mission president in Argentina when she was around 12 which is super cool. She is a super hard working missionary and a really great example of charity to me.

Yesterday at church my stomach hurt way bad. The first hour I played the piano but kept thinking about my stomach and totally screwed up on one of the hymns, There were repeats in it and I totally blanked out on them and I think I confused everyone singing, but eh it's ok! haha. After the second hour I needed to go home and rest, which helped me a lot and I felt better.

Contacting has actually been pretty fun for me. Before coming out here, I thought it would be super scary, but it is fun because you just come across all types of different people, and the rejection is actually kind of funny. Yesterday we came across this guy with a basset hound, and the dog had RED EYES! it was soooooo freakin scary!! I was so disturbed. I don't like most of the dogs here. Hermana Blanca has a dog named Paloma which I just realized means dove and it made me laugh because when I think of a dove I think of peace and tranquility, and that is the opposite of her dog. He literally attacks us every time we come to eat. One of my favorite things to share while teaching is the first vision. Every time we tell the account of the first vision, I just feel so incredibly peaceful. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that this is the true Church.

I love you all so much!

Love, Hermana Jensen

ps. mom I brought the luggage receipt to the office, but it said it was overweight?? I told them it wasn't so they are trying to figure it out and hopefully I will get the money back. Also I got your letter on Thursday!! I loved it thank you!