December 12th, 2016
Helllooo!! First week into my second transfer down! Tomorrow I have been out 3 whole months! I think the time has been going by pretty fast, but I think it has been going especially fast because this transfer is Christmas. My new companion is Hermana Torres. She is from Riverside California. She grew up speaking spanish because her parents are Mexican. She also speaks perfect English. We have tried to speak spanish to each other, but we usually just end up talking in English. We still talk in spanish in lessons and stuff but it has been nice to be able to communicate. She is 24 and only has two transfers left. She is hilarious and we have a ton of fun! Also, I was really worried about not knowing the area when Hermana Spitale left, but turns out I was completely fine! I have been able to remember everyone we need to visit, what to teach them and how to get there.
Our area is really big and lately when we go and contact, we like to go exploring! We have found some pretty areas this week that I will send pictures of. I have also learned how to call taxis in spanish to get places and then barter for cheaper prices haha! On Sundays, we have ward counsel with the leaders of the ward, and I actually spoke! Usually I am totally silent, because it is nerve wracking talking about our investigators in front of all the leaders of our ward, but I did it! It turns out I have learned a lot in my first transfer. The hardest part now is just the teaching. I need to practice teaching because I still get really tripped up in lessons.
The nights here usually are pretty cold and rainy. Most nights we walk to our pensionista for dinner and I am wet and frozen but honestly it doesn't bother me anymore. It's like I just don't notice it at all anymore. For Christmas here, there is this thing called "paneton" that is super popular here. I have had it a couple times, it is pretty good, but I don't quite get the hype.
The other night we had a ward mission night, and our investigator Maria Isabel came. She was sitting next to me, and telling me some things she was struggling with while I listened to her. A little later she told me thank you. And I was like why? And with tears in her eyes, she told me she was grateful that I was there to listen to her, and for teaching her about the gospel. It was so sweet! That was the first night, The thought of leaving Mariscal Castilla broke my heart a little. But being here has been super tough and exhausting. The other day I was praying and asking if it was worth it. Is all this effort really doing anything? Yesterday we went and taught this lady named Rosie. She has been in a wheelchair since she was 15 and we taught her about the Plan of Salvation. Her eyes just LIT UP. She was so so excited!! And she starts crying and tells us how relieved she felt, and how she had no idea God knew her and had a specific plan for her. She said she understood now why she had gone through so many hard trials and felt so much peace. That experience just affirmed to me how truly worth it is being here. I literally watched the gospel change Rosie's life right in front of me. The gospel is like one big amazing puzzle that just fits together so perfectly. Sometimes I think I take it for granted because I have always had it, but I know that it really is the way to find true happiness and peace in this life.
Love you all, only 2 weeks until Christmas!! :)
Love, Hermana Jensen
p.s Just a little about Peru, we met a girl whose daughter was named milagros de Jesus, or miracles of Jesus. That name is pretty normal here haha
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| Our room |
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| Hermana Torres |
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| a parade in the streets |
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| My new companion, Hermana Torres |
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| A Christmas card to you all. |
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| Kind a creepy. haha |
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| Our laundry lady loses my socks, so I wash them by hand and dry them. |
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| Some homes are behind gates and you have to really stretch to the doorbell. |
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| I love to walk along the tracks near our area. |
We had transfers this week and it is crazy so not much of a letter. Will send more next week. New companion - Hermana Torres. She only has two transfers left and speaks spanish as well as english, so it will be kind of nice to be able to speak english again. President Silva mentioned to me today that he likes it when people have two different trainers, that way I can learn from both and then develop my own theories on how I want to teach.
I read my Book of Mormon in spanish sometimes, because it is a promise from Gordon B. Hinckley that if you read the book of mormon in your mission language you will be able to speak. I met a hermana today from Uruguay and she thought I had three transfers because of my spanish, and I only have one! I can speak pretty well one on one but when people start going off in random conversation I am super lost.
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| I made this ornament for our pensionista (cook) |
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