June 15, 2015 FINAL LETTER of the MISSION

Welll its been a graet ride these last few weeks have been really interesting as i have reflected in all of the things i have lived through over the last few years, i still remember leaving you guys July 10, 2013 and thinking im not gonna cry im going to take the bull by the horns. I didnt cry that day and i could probably count the times i have in my mission these two years have been filled with so much joy. I use the word joy because i have come to learn that joy comes from obedience, it has to do with the peace that we feel when we do what we should and dont have regrets. Now im not saying i was a perfect missionary there has only been one of those in the whole existence of this world. What i have done is learned why I´m here which is something even more valuable to me.

As missionaries we are called to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them recieve the restored gospel of Jesus Christ through his Atonement, and it is through that atonement that we are able to acomplish this amazing work. Dad, Cristian , and Mom i feel as though you will understand this very clearly and it might have a different deeper meaning because of the service you have given. Derek, you are about to learn what this really means I can honestly say that the concept of an atoning sacrifice has a lot more meaning after being here for two years, I have seen how it has helped me maybe more than the people i was supposed to be helping. and i know you will too as you learn to trust in him. When you have to learn spanish i think you will understand alot of what i mean.

I love Mexico so much and I have mixed feelings about going home right now, yesterday we met a new investigator and put an appointment on saturday, I went from being really excited to being slightly depressed in a matter of about half a second. but i just keep pushing on right now trying to share about Christ.

Dad last week you invited me to talk about Christ and help others to know about him. this last week we went and contacted in one of the sisters areas. it was going alright and we didnt have much luck to be completly  honest but we were determined to talk with someone. so we contacted a woman in the street and she didnt seem all that interested, but we kept talking, and in the middle of the mini lesson a short bald man interupted our conversation and asked us how he could find peace in his life. he told us he had cancer and an open wound on his leg, he had lived through just about everything good and bad in this life and talked with just about every religion that exists in Mexico. And he just looked at me and said do you know what its like to have gone through kimo 4 times and to know that your cancer is terminal. he was almost yelling as he asked me. and i responded no. i have never had cancer nor could i feel the pains that you have felt but someone has and that someone is Jesus Christ. he has felt all of your pains and knows all of the suffering you have felt here. so he asked if he would ever get over the pains that he has felt here on earth. i told him rather frankly that he would feel pain as long as he was on this earth we have an imperfect body. it gets sick and eventually has to die, but if we really trust in the atonement then it will heal us and give us peace, after that we talked about how the resurection would work, he said great so i will never be happy until after i die, the best way i could responde to that was to explain the words of king benjamin about service, the truth of the matter is that when we serve others and forget our problems we seem to find that joy and peace that we want, and so to conclude we invited him to be a better father husband and friend in the time he had left. he teared up a little and said thanks for your words of confort,

while i was walking away after that talk i looked at my companion and said i dont think i could have had that conversation two years ago. he responded and said no you couldnt have you didnt speak spanish;P it was funny but a great moment to think about how valuable the last two years have been.

I loved the mission, the last two years were awesome, extremely taxing mentally, physically emotionally and especially spiritually but i wouldnt have changed these two years for could have lost as a result of these two years of service! I know my savior lives he atoned for our inperfections, and i know that his church and his gospel were restored by jose smith and are here on the earth so that we can be together forever as a family. im so greatful for all of your support over these years the letters and emails and packages at christmas.

Con mucho amor

Elder Jenson