Increíble!

Dear Family,

Wow!  We had some really incredible experiences this week. I wish I could just tell you guys all the awesome stuff that happens in a week but I´ll give it a try right now.

First of all, we had 2 really cool baptisms this last Saturday. We have been teaching the oldest brother in the G. family for a couple of weeks and it was so amazing how prepared he was and how strong of a testimony he gained by the Spirit. He prayed sincerely after our first visit with him and the next time we met he explained a very powerful answer from the Spirit and since then he has just progressed in the gospel and was baptized this past Saturday. Also we were blessed because his neighbor, Je. (who is a young girl), decided that she was going to be baptized this Saturday and nobody was going to stop her. She told us that she had prayed to know if she should be baptized.  She has read each day in the Book of Mormon and was so happy to be baptized and confirmed. She told us she will be a missionary when she grows up.

It really has been a blessing to work with the G. family because they really are a chosen family. Ever since C. was baptized a couple months ago 5 more of his siblings have been baptized and this past Saturday he got to go to the Xela temple for the first time with his friend that introduced him to the church. It will also be exciting to see F. progress in the gospel because it could be a possibility for him to serve a mission. We will just have to see!

Another one of the people we are teaching had a great experience this week. A., who we have been teaching for about a month, has been reading the Book of Mormon for almost a month and has read almost to Alma and really gained a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon (her copy is more marked than mine). We have talked to her a lot about baptism but there were some doubts that were bugging her. We had the impression to give her a copy of the book ´Our Search for Happiness´ by Elder Ballard. I think she almost read the whole book in a day because when that Sunday came we found that she was seated in the church even before us (even though she told us she wouldn´t be attending this week). I was really surprised to see her there and I sat near her and the first thing she told me is ´ I am going to be baptized´. I wasn´t sure what to say! I was just so glad we had followed the prompting to give her that book and let an apostle of the Lord explain the importance of the restored gospel! Afterwards she told us ´Now I finally understand the need for priesthood authority´. I guess the apostles are called for a reason. We will be working with her so that she can be baptized this week. 

Also, this past Sunday as we were walking a long we passed someone who was seated outside his house and as we walked past him I felt the need to talk to him. We kind of walked back to him after passing him (which always kind of scares people but oh well) and started to talk a little bit. We found out that he had actually lived in Utah for like 3 years.  After about a couple hours of talking (because people love to talk here!) we found out that his name was G. and he had joined the church in Utah and had actually helped to build a few temples there (from the outside) and just went on and on about how great Utah is and how great the church is. It was kind of surreal to talk to him because I never would have guessed that. We talked and found that he was just waiting for someone to invite him because he felt a little scared to come back to church. We also found out that his little brothers, who are twins, are active members here in Santo Domingo. I´m looking forward to see if he gets the courage to come back to the church and maybe help us out in Santo Domingo.

I feel just so lucky to get to serve with so many amazing people that really love the Savior Jesus Christ. I think the more that I love the culture and the people here I grow to love the work here and see these people´s lives be blessed by the restored gospel. 

Love,

Elder Jensen