Chapter 4: First Contacts

Hello everyone!

 It's been a great week!

We've been learning a lot and practicing our Spanish day in and out. My district has recently implemented punishments for speaking English excessively and it's been awesome. My dear companion has had to do a lot of push ups because of 1. How often he accidentally speaks English and 2. His impeccable integrity. My arms are fairly sore, but I've been working hard to only speak Spanish and it's been great.

Last week we got a little surprise from our afternoon teacher. He said our district has been given special permission to leave the CCM grounds and do some real-life contacting on the sidewalks that run by the temple grounds. It was awesome! We've gone out twice now and we're not sure how many more times we'll get to do it again before we leave, but we're so grateful for the opportunity to get some early practice in!

The first time we went out, Elder Kirkby and I greeted a couple guys walking down the sidewalk and we started talking about religion. These guys were pretty devout Evangelicals and they knew (certain parts of) the Bible pretty darn well. They assured us that anything we could find in the Book of Mormon could be found in the Bible so there isn't any need for it, so we invited them to take the book and read 3 Nephi 11. We got their contact info and sent it to the missionaries in their area, so who knows what will come of it.

We also met some really nice ladies who took a Book of Mormon but wouldn't give us any of their information to meet with them again. I told Elder Kirkby that that was just like throwing seeds into the wind and hoping they grow somewhere haha.

Anyway I've only got 2 more weeks left in the CCM de Guatemala and I couldn't be more excited to go out into the field! I know I'll meet challenges there, but I also know the Lord will sustain me in my times of need. This week my testimony of the power of prayer has grown. I've learned that through prayer we can find answers to even the simplest of Gospel questions, and the Lord is eager to bless us with His Spirit as we humbly ask for it. So keep praying and make sure to read your scriptures to find answers!

Love you all!

Elder Jensen