Week 16  Speaking Spanish!

Happy Birthday Mom! I love you and miss you much!!!

This week has been awesome! I really think I am getting closer to being able to understand and speak good Spanish. I have learned so much from my trainer and the people I talk to everyday. I will probably not learn to speak really good Spanish, like a latino, until about 8 months into my mission. But, its pretty cool so far. We had one baptism this week to a little girl named Fany. She just turned nine and so we were able to baptize her.

This week was Reunion de Nuevos and I got to see my homies from the CCM again. They are doing alright and I am glad that they are blessing the lives of many. 

Tomorrow is my Mom´s Birthday and I have a little surprise for her. I have attached a picture of it. I hope you like it MOM. I love and miss you so much and I am so excited for this Dia de los Madres (Mother’s Day) to see you and the rest of my family, via Skype! Only 2 more weeks!

We have 4 fechas lined up and wow they are awesome. One of them is named Yeefry. Oooh, muy bonisimo (really great). He has such an interesting background. He was in a Mata (a gang), for killing, he smokes and has some pretty cool looking tatoos. But, we have taught him the gospel and he wants to change his life and base it on Jesus Christ.  He is muy buen hombre (very good man).

Thanks everyone for your kind and loving support. Keep on writing me and keep on praying for me! 

Love,

Elder Jensen

You can find donuts just about anywhere if you look hard enough.

CCM Homies

Fany's baptism

Week 15 34 Nuevos

This week has been one heck of a week. On Monday we went to Tegucigalpa to get my foot treated. It sucked and it hurt a lot, but I was able to get through it. I have a picture below of it.

This week our whole mission put out a goal to get 50 Nuevos (new contacts) this week. It was hard and it was so hot this week. Unfortunately, we did not meet our goal. Some companionship´s did. But, hey we got 34 Nuevos this week. Thanks to the Spirit, we were able to find and teach 34 new people! Boo-YAH! 

I also had a lesson with the Melendez family, we talked about love. I cried the whole lesson because I remembered you guys and my friends. But, I told them that a mission will change me for the better and I will grow from it. 

We had a baptism this week and it was so heart warming. She is going to remember it and we are going to remember her baptism forever. It will change her life and it has changed my life too. 

We are ready to put fechas (baptismal dates) with our nuevos and we are ready to make even more fechas this upcoming week. So, please put us in your prayers please!

Love you all and thanks for the support and encouragement. Keep writing and keep praying for me! 

Elder Jensen

2nd Email about Mother's Day Call:

I have been thinking about when I get to Skype you guys a lot. It will be May 10, 2015 and I was thinking about around 4 or 5. It will be on skype. It will probably be 4 or 5 for us, so it will be between 2 to 3 for you guys. So, I would suggest being on Skype from the time you get back from church to 8 at night. Also, I wish mom and you a happy happy anniversary. Love you guys alot. And do not forget to send picutres next week of you guys. I want ot see more of you guys!!!! Oh, I also shaved my legs! (mom AND dad note: why in the world did you shave your legs Alec?)

Elder Jensen

Lempira, Honduras currency

San Rafael sunset

Another ingrown toenail surgery, oh and my shaved legs

Week 14 Intercambios in Villa Cristina

Another week has come and gone! This week has been pretty weird. Spanish has been coming along real slowly. I still need to work on my pronunciation and I do not know how to vibrate my tongue to do that double rr sound. I am working on that everyday, so yah. One of our investigators starting drinking again, he went 21 days without drinking and he just drank once and yah. His fecha (baptism date) was for this Saturday too. So, that sucks. Tambien Paola (Also, Paola ) too. She is having problems with the Ley de Castidad (law of chasity). She is doing things with an hombre of 26 years old and she is only 13! Disgusting! So, 2 fechas went down the drain. We have 2 more, one we interviewed and is ready for this Saturday and also a muchacha is also ready for bautismal this Saturday! So, we are so happy for them.

This week I had intercambios con Elder Gonzalez in Las Villas. Now, Las Villas can be really dangerous for gringos. There are 2 places in Las Villas, Villa Cristina and Villa Franca. Villa Cristina is todo tranquilo, but Villa Franca is not. Gringos have died there. So, I could not go there. So, I was safe in Villa Cristina. But, enserio (seriously), I said like 5 or 6 prayers before I went just to be safe. But, the view is fantastic. I have a foto attached. Hahaha

Right now my dedo de pie (basically "toe") really hurts and I am going to Tegucigalpa today to get it fixed. So please put me in your prayers. So, that is going to happen. 

Let me tell you everything here is so flippin cheap. I bought tres barriletes (candy, so good), uno Mandarina bebida ( like fanta), uno cheweenes ( pan con azúcar con piña) (mom note: Alec discribes what a uno Cheweenes is in Spanish...that doesn't help me very much. Luckily, Steve speaks Spanish. Steve translate: sweet bread with pineapple in it) y dos cemitas ( pan con azúcar, really good) (sweet bread) all for the equivalent of 1 dollar in the US. In Honduras it costs a total 20 lempiras (Honduras currency). So, I like that. I have a picture below of it. 

I have some pictures of PDay of my district, Las Villas, and San Rafael.

Thanks everyone for all your support. You are so kind. Keep sending me emails and put me in your prayers!

Elder Jensen

(Mom note: As you can see, Alec's Spanish is getting better even though he doesn't think so. Each email there is more and more Spanish instead of English. Steve thinks he might not even realize he is doing it. Which is a good thing. I will translate when needed.)

Week 13 "Semana Santa"

This week has been both really awesome and very relaxing. This week was Semana Santa (Holy Week) here in Honduras. It is a one week memorial of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection for all of us. We celebrate for only one day, they celebrate it for one week. Very hectic. Spanish is coming along as I pray daily for the gift of tongues and learning new words everyday. But, I know that once my training is done, I will know pretty good Spanish. 

General Conference was awesome. The only session I did not watch in English was Priesthood, so that was cool. My favorite talk was on Saturday afternoon given by Dale G. Renlund of the Seventy. He talked about never giving up and to just keep on trying. I liked when he said ¨A Saint is a sinner, who keeps on trying! ¨ That is so true. So, I encourage all of you to read or listen to that talk. There were a lot of talks on Saturday that either talked about the family or eternal marriage. But, this general conference did really help me!

I found out last Saturday that I have lost 13 pounds in the mission! I started out at almost 200 pounds before I left for Honduras and know I am 187. So, that was pretty good news.

I want to let all of you know, thanks for your emails. I read them repeatedly throughout the week and they truly help me! 3 months down, 21 to go!

Cooling off with an Inca Cola on top of our casa after a long hot day contracting.
MOM NOTE: Both Alec and Rachel fell in love with Inca Cola when we were in Peru last summer. They are much like a cream soda.  

Week 12  It Finally Rained!

This week has been crazy. It finally RAINED! Can you believe it? I was so excited! It actually rained 3 times this week and it felt so good because usually it is so hot. When it rained I didn't even care I got wet, I just enjoyed it.

This week I went on intercambios (splits) with my zone leader and that was a great day. We found a new family while we were contacting. It was amazing. The next day after we dropped off the zone leader at his casa, we started  back to San Rafael, but on accident week took the wrong bus and it took us to Tegucigalpa!  I told my companion, Are you serious? But, I guess it was alright, we got to eat at Wendy's for the first time. So that happened.

This week has been really hard. Spanish is going really slow. I felt like I improved last week but now I'm struggling again. So, please put me in your prayers always, I could use the help. I talked to Mission President this week and we are going to meet every once in a while so he can help me through this. I pray everyday for the gift of tongues. But, it does not seem to be coming. So, I keep praying and studying.

I will tell you real quick about one of my investigators. About, one month ago we got a referral from a member. His name is Miguel Matamotos. Pretty cool name, huh. Anyway, we only met with once  because after that he started drinking again. But these past two weeks, he has been coming to church just out of the blue. He told us he wants to change and get baptized. I was like, what? It is a miracle. Now he hasn't drank any alcohol in 18 days! I am so happy for him. We are preparing him for baptism on the 18th of April.

Thanks for your support and letters. They really help me. Keep me your prayers. Love you all.

Elder Jensen

Intercambio with my zone leader.

Wendy's...mmm american food.

Answers to "MQs" and now "DQs" He's writing in Spanglish, he's getting more than he thinks.

Week 11 Speaking Spanish

Hello everyone! This week has been great! We now have 6 people with a fecha (date, baptism date) and we had 1 bautismal (baptism). It is so great! I am learning a lot of Spanish. You guys are my inspiration. You are really helping me when you guys put me in your prayers. For at least half of this week I was speaking really good Spanish. Hearing is mas or menos (so-so), not poco, but mas or menos. It is really progressing though. I am so happy with myself and with the Lord for blessing me! Thank you.

We had intercambios (missionary splits) again this week, it was awesome! I learned so much! I really am progressing and I know that Heavenly Father is watching over me and I know that this is where I need to be. I know I am strong and can do hard things now. Cooking is fun. I have now made french toast and spaghetti this week for me and my companion. Cooking is a lot of work, but I can manage it. 

We went to McDonald's this week! Wow, that was good. I am sorry I did not write as much. Nothing special happened, other than what I have told you. Hope you like my pictures. Just letting you know I am doing fine and well! Love you all!

Elder Jensen

Trip to McDonald's 

Nicest kitchen  he will have his whole mission, hope he appreciates it! (actually, nicer that what he had at BYUI)

I have a "closet". See it behind me?

My view from my casa.

Mom Note: I have sent Alec a list of “mom questions” I call them “MQs” since week one.  I have mentioned this before. For the most part I haven’t really received answers to most of  the questions. Once in a while I find an answer to one of my “MQs”, as I did last week when he talked about making French toast for him and his companion. But, for the most part…nothing. I figured it was more a time issue than anything. The missionaries have limited time on the computer (I've heard, at most an hour).  So, this makes it really hard to read the emails he receives, write a blurb for his blog, download pictures, reply to everyone’s email , or send emails to anyone he wants. This week Alec became resourceful. He wrote down my questions last Monday and then during the week answered them in a notebook.  On the following Monday he took a picture of his answers in his notebook and sent the picture to me. (see below) Good job Alec…now your thinking!  He also wrote down Elder Questions, which he calls “EQs” (imagine that), during the week then sent me a photo of them for me to answer. I think this system will work very nicely. (anything to get the answers I'm looking for)

answers to some "MQS"

"EQs"

Week 10 - 1 Month in Honduras

This week has been so awesome! I have done so much this week! One thing I did this week is show my companion, Elder Rodas, how to make french toast!  It was so good! He usually makes it with just bread. I am like no way man! You have to dip into a batter first! You mix eggs, milk, and cinnamon. He is like what? He was so confused! But, after tasting it he realized that it is way better with it! (mom note: He can cook! This made me so happy. This information also answered a month long question I have asked with no answer. I call my questions MQs…Mom Questions. He usually never answers them, so I look for hidden answers in his post.)

This week was Reunion de Nuevos! I got to see all of them for the first time in 3 weeks! They are all doing so well! I am so happy for them and for their decision to serve the lord! No pictures though! That sucked, I forgot to do take some!

This week I received an answer from Heavenly Father that I had been praying for. In my prayers, I have been asking why am I here in Honduras?  I don’t know why I am so curious about this.  That answer finally came during my estudiar, my personal study time last Tuesday. I was reading in the Bible in Romans chapter 8. It is now my favorite chapter in the Bible now! It talks about the Holy Ghost. When I read this it felt like an answer to my prayer, I am here to feel the Holy Ghost and then testify of it to other people, the people in Honduras. I was so excited when I got this answer! Please read it and when you do think of me and how it can help you!

Spanish continues coming along really smoothly. It is hard at times but, through the Holy Ghost, I can just tell them how I really feel! Oh, we had 15 investigadores asistia the iglesia this week! (translation: 15 investigators at church)

Hope you like the photos this week (mom note: loved the photos, but no explanations or names for each photo, ugh!) ! Keep writing to me and keep me in your prayers always. The photos are of last week and this week!

Elder Jensen