Travis's Email Sept 28, 2009

Hey Mom,

The mission president wants to know if our parents can send an additional package for Christmas so missionaries who wouldn't have received anything can have a present for Christmas. You can send something simple like a tie or some candy it doesn't need to be big. I´ll let you know what I want for christmas in another email later. Maybe next week.

I loved the pictures. The house looks really good, Benson looks huge, and Grace looks cute. Hey, I'm out of time....This week was awesome. We baptized a family that will definitely be sealed in the temple! We´re going to keep working hard and baptizing. I know this is God´s work. If it wasn´t, we wouldnt have so much success. Sorry about the short email.

-Elder Jenson

Questions:

1. The hardest thing this week was?

Finding new investigators. We taught bunch of people but very few of them accepted the commitments.

2. Where do you watch Conf.?

We watch conference in downtown Joao Pessoa in the stake center.

3. When are transfers?

October 15th

4. Who is your favorite member of the ward and why?

The president of the relief society is willing to do anything to help anyone. This week when we needed a cake for the wedding she made a beautiful wedding cake without thinking twice. And she cooks better than any other Brasilian I´ve ever seen.

5. Tell about when you felt closest to the Savior this week.

I always feel close to the Savior when I´m studying and when he answers my prayers. Yesterday a teenage girl went to church with a girl that I baptized and after the meetings asked us if she could be baptized. Of course we said that she could next Sunday. We passed by her house in the afternoon and when we arrived she looked sad and told us her mom won´t let her be baptized. I said a silent prayer and then asked if we could talk to her mom. She didnt want to let us talk to her but I insisted and then with a friendly smile on my face I explained to her mom that we wanted to help her daughter follow Jesus Christ and be a better person. Next Sunday Beatriz will be baptized.

Mr B & Ms Grace

Little Princess Grace

Mr B and his hat.

Travis's Email Sept 21, 2009

Hey Mom,
Whoa, 10 grand-kids looks like the Abrahamic covenant is being fulfilled. I really liked the pictures of Grace I'm really starting to like the name too. I have a question. Did Derek stay in the room while Rachel was giving birth? I don't think I would be able to handle it. She´ll be ten months old when I get back; that really seems like such little time. This week I had a dream that I returned home with a year and two months and the feeling of not having served a complete mission was the worst. I'm hoping to see many more miracles and baptisms in the future.

Hey people,

I´m way excited for this week. This week is Monica and Ivan´s wedding!! They´re already doing family home evening and they´re more than willing to pay their tithing. It´s so good to teach people like that. The other day one of Ivan´s brother´s from the baptist church started to bad talk the church and Ivan asked if he had ever read the book of Mormon. he said no and Ivan said he would loan him a book so he could read and know how it really is. My other companion Elder Nielson taught their kids how to give a high five so now every time we show up at their house their 2 and 5 year old kids shout `high five!!` We´re teaching a lot of people but one of the coolest people is a 70 year old widow who when we taught him about baptism he said let´s do it. If he doesn't smoke again then he´ll be baptized this week. My companion is.....doing good. Sometimes he tests my patience always trying to one-up my life experiences but its alright I guess. He doesn't miss his mom so much anymore so that's good. Well my times up. It feels like Christmas is coming up really fast. Congratulations Rachel and Derek! Give Grace a big hug for me.

Elder Jenson

Questions:
1. Did you get the pictures of Grace?
Yeah. Whats her full name? Grace Kelly Jenson?
2. Was it hard to play soccer across the street from the beach?
Yes, very.
3. What was the beach like?
You're trying to make me get trunky aren't you? It was beautiful of course.
4. Do you do your own laundry?
Yeah.
5. The funniest thing this week was?
Ivan´s(a man we are going to baptize) family calls him Macgyver. I thought that was pretty funny.

Grace is finally here! Happy Birthday Grace!

Happy, Proud, & Relieved Grandma! She worried about Rachel and Grace but everything went great! Her prayers were answered.


The proud Papa! He is already super protective. I feel sorry for any young man who wants to date Grace. But that's many years down the road.

Rachel, tired but very happy! She is also copying Grace's expression ;)

Travis's Email Sept 14, 2009

I cant believe Grace hasn't been born yet! tell Rachel to jump on the
trampoline or watch a scary movie or something. Yeah I heard about
the tornado but it didn't affect us here in the northeast. Have a great
week Mom! 
 
Hellooo, 
This week was good. On Thursday we took a family, Monica and Ivan,
to the cartório (I don't know the name for this in English) and we got
their papers ready for their wedding that will be on September 26th at
the church. Sunday 27 will be the baptism. Its a really cool family,
their kids get really excited when they see us and they always want
to sit next to us in sacrament meeting. 

We baptized a teen-aged girl named Eduarda this week. Her parents
are getting married Wednesday and her mom will be baptized Sunday.
for now, the Dad can't be baptized because he has some problems
with the law but when that's resolved I'm sure he´ll be baptized. 

My new companion Elder Aquino is doing pretty good. Every once in
a while he starts talking about his mom and cries at the member´s
houses or the investigator´s houses but other than that he´s fine. I´m
helping him understand lots of things about the mission. for example
there are a lot of people that think that 2 weeks is too little time for
someone to be baptized in the church. My companion was thinking
this too but I helped him understand that we don't determine the time
limit, its the Lord and if he says that someone can be converted and
baptized in 2 weeks then I believe him. 

We´re working in a part of the area that is close to the railroad tracks
and there are people there that live in mud houses and live off the
land, it's pretty cool. There are people that live there that never went
to school, don't know their full name or birthday. It's pretty nuts. we
ran into a family that has Indian ancestors so its looks like we might
baptizing some Lamanites pretty soon here. 

This week 2 elders were transferred from our district and 2 sister
missionaries went to their area. its always a different experience working
with sister missionaries but its good. That's all I've got for now. things
are good and it seems like I've been in this area forever but its OK
because its a good area. 
 
-Elder Jenson 

Questions:
1. What is the school system like there? 
It´s pretty much the same thing as the u.s. except they have holidays for a 
bunch of catholic saints so it seems like the kids have holidays every week. 

2. Would you say that you are pretty fluent in the language, not just church 
language? Do you have study time just for language? 
We have 30 min to study the language everyday. I´d say that I´m pretty fluent in 
the language I can say pretty much whatever I want except when someone starts 
talk about legal terms or car repair or other complicated things like that. 
 
3. The funniest thing that happened this week was ? 
I don't know if this is funny or not but out of nowhere in the middle of a 
lesson my companion starting talking about his mom and started to cry and then 
the investigators started to cry too. 
 
4.  Tell us three things about your companion. 
1. He reminds me of Ryan from the office 
2. He was the stake secretary before the mission. 
3. He likes to talk about Sao Paulo, a lot. 

Travis's Email Sept 9, 2009

Hi,

So I don't have time to write because this week we only have 30 minutes
to write email. To describe my new companion Elder Aquino one of the
songs from Mulan comes to mind, ´Somehow I´ll, make a man, out of
you!`

He´s having a little trouble being separated from his Mom but I'm helping
him out. Sunday he baptized his first 3 people. Monday we played soccer
all day with President Fernandes on a soccer field on the other side of the
street from the beach.I scored a goal against the president´s team. It was
awesome!

I´m happy, my companion´s getting happy, and everything's good.

My prediction is that Grace will be born this Sunday at 12:30 Brazilian
time. Goodbye everyone, I love you guys. Sorry about the short email I'll
give more details next week.

-Elder Jenson

Travis's Email August 31, 2009

Hey Dad/Mom,

That´s pretty funny that Dad backed the truck into the house. I´m sure being
there wasn´t really funny but from my point of view it seems pretty
funny. I still don't know where the new house is or what it looks like.....I`m
sure you guys are having a good time in the new ward with the lamerouxesxes. I
don't know how to spell their name. You can tell brother lamerozxeus that I still
remember the music that he sang at a youth conference. ´my feet are planted on
the rock, no evil wind can knock me off, from here its clear, etc.´
It sounds like everybody is way busy with work and school but that's good. I got
the pictures of Derek and Rachel, very cool. Good thing that someone is getting
good use out of my clothes, just tell him to stay away from my stunner jacket!
Stewart Hamblin will be going home tomorrow. He is going home a little early to
start school and I´m sure his girlfriend isn't upset about it.

So they surprised us with the transfer this week. They told us that it would be
on Wednesday but last night I was walking down the street and received a phone
call. It was the zone leaders telling me that I would be staying in the area and
training a new Brazilian missionary! So I´m here at the bus station, my old
companion Elder Nielson went to the highest baptizing area in the mission. The
mission is baptizing a ton lately, just for you guys to have an idea, one
companionship this week baptized 21 people!

The new missionaries will arrive Wednesday so I haven't met my new companion yet.
For now I will be with a missionary from my district that is also waiting for
his companion to arrive. So I´m here in my 9th transfer in the mission and my
6th transfer in this area. No, that´s not normal but its OK, we´re working in a
part of the area that I hadn't worked in very much and we´re starting to have
success.

This week a family that we are teaching is going to get all the papers ready for
their wedding and they will be getting married and then baptized in 2 weeks. The
parents, Ivan and Monica, have 3 kids that love the church and always get really
excited when we go to their house.

So everything is going good here, I´ll have to take pictures of my new companion
and send them to you guys next week.

tchau!

Elder Jenson