Feb. 14, 2022-Oi gente!!!

 Ooolllooo everybody!! 

Wow two emails, in a row that's new haha 

Well this week was awesome! Lots of visits from other sisters which was so fun but also lots of goodbyes thanks to transfers so a mix of emotions.... BUT MY CHILD HAS ARRIVED AND I ABSOLUTELY LOVE HER! Sister Schoen is an absolute queen and born to be a missionary. I am going to learn so much this transfer and I'm so excited. She's already fluent in Portuguese and has the cutest brasilian accent so I'm gonna try to adopt that to my strange array of languages and vocabulary! Its the best! Haha 

Well this week we said goodbye to the beast Sister Webb as she headed off to the island of beautiful beaches where Satan is gonna tempt her to swim more than ever, we already know. But she's strong so I'm not worried. Just some of the mission jokes since we see the beach every week if not everyday. Haha literally love terra branca and already love working with my new comp so I'm excited for this transfer. 

So a new goal I made is to look for a miracle everyday so I'm gonna share a couple little miracles this week. To start, two of our friends surprised us and showed up at church before we even got there, and we were early! We walked in and they were already sitting down inside the Chapel. Sunday made! Love them to pieces. Also, we found the coolest family that literally chatted with us off their balcony for like 30 minutes and then offered to make us cous-cous which is like a staple food here that is soo good but actually hard to make. 

Then we also had a solid lesson about the temple and families with our friend Jaci who was so cute and admitted to how awesome that is. She was studying with jehovah witness's so it was awesome to testify of these truths we have that make so much sense. And with the temple almost ready to open its an appliable truth to teach, helpin prep the world here for the future. Cause its gonna be amazing! We also got to teach that lesson with the sisters from Assomada so she taught a part in kriole which is my favorite thing. I'm telling ya, kriole is the coolest language and so fun! Just want to be fluent already.. haha so far I've learned portokriole, a mixture of both haha :) 

But the coolest part is that here on the mission the most important language to learn is the language of the spirit. Being able to teach and testify with the spirit is the best language you could learn. So that's been my goal, to learn the language of the spirit and try my best to use this to testify with power. 

Anyways, thanks so much for reading and love you all! Hope you all have the bestest week! 

Sister Jensen ♡

Feb. 7, 2022-Praia Party!!

Hey everybodddyyy!!!! Tudo bom? 

Another week, another transfer. And the news is.... IM STAYING IN TERRA BRANCA here in Praia but I will now be training.. that's right I'm actually gravida (pregnant). Hahah but I am so pumped! She's a brasileira so already fluent in Portuguese and I'm about to learn some sick brasilian Portuguese now!!!! My dream has come true. But definitely gonna miss sister Webb... she's a party, and these transfers together have been some of the best! but she's gonna do awesome! 

So these past couple weeks have been exciting since we usually share our ward with elders but they had to leave earlier so we had about 2 weeks with the whole ward boundaries in our area which was not gonna lie a blast. We got to walk a little more than usual and teach some super cool people that the elders were teaching. We also got a ton of references from our poppin Facebook page. They put up an ad and we were getting like 200 messages everyday from people responding. Yeah so responding became a task of every missionary here in Praia. But its so fun to get to chat with the funniest people online and try to understand their kriole which doesn't have a written form or any type of rules for spelling so lots if time you try to read it out loud and make sense of the convo before responding hahah. We've got a lot of trust in the Lords help with the language thing here. Haha but I've already had some amazing experiences that made sure I understand God is at the helm and theres nothing we've got to worry about. 

MARIA MADALENA GOT BAPTIZED!!!! yeah that happened and she is the cutest. And bonus we have officially fallen in love with her fam. They are officially our best friends now. All her siblings are so fun and the mom just treats us like her kids so we feel just at home. We had a family night at their house after the baptism and her older sister Loide wanted to do our hair so we had some sick hairdos for church the next day! But definitely lost another good fraction of my hair.. they don't braid super gentil but its all good, my heads gonna get stronger 

Had another sick split with my bestie Sister Teare again, love how we knew each other before and now we're serving in Cabo Verde together. How crazy. And that hits me every time. 

Also the other day we had the funniest encounter with a man named dollar99. Yep no joke that was his name and he spoke English with a thick Boston accent. Apparently he lived there for a while and all his fam lives there now, but he got deported here a couple years ago because some of his choices but now he wants to change and turned to God and showed up at church one Sunday. So that was a good convo on the street. We also get the funniest comments from everyone that sees us and just says the little English they know. I think my self esteem is gonna plumet when I get home and don't get called beautiful about 5 times a day. Got a couple proposals in there and lots of cat calls. But God's watching out for us, and today a group of teenage boys told us we were even a little bit pretty. So its evening out dont worry. 

Also funny story, our friend Inácia, that the other sisters before us were teaching. So this week we decided to invite her to be baptized since she said she still had interest and was talking about salvation during our lessons. Definitely felt she was ready and already wanting to, but boy we were hit by a curveball. She responded with the good old, "no not yet sisters the water is still too cold. Wait till April." Almost started laughing during the lesson, but held it in til we had left. Love her to death! Cutest old lady that will show up to church an hour and 15 min late but still love it. So honest, I need to be more like her. 

Well this is already pretty long so I'll stop here but LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!! AND GOD DOES TOO!!! I know this church is true with all my heart, and I love getting to teach and testify of Christ DAILY!! Missionaries have the greatest callings, its true. Let me know if you ever need anything! Tchau tchau!!! 

Sister Jensen ♡

Pics from our baptism and little party after! And Trip to Tarrafal for zone activity!! 

Jan. 17, 2022-20 years old!! #bedju

 Yes, yes I am now 20 years old and I do feel older actually. The teenage title has been taken away from me, but no promises that my actions will demonstrate this quite yet. But yes, and the best birthday present was getting to chat with my fam and on the day of my sister's wedding the day after! And gained another brother! YESSSS i love more family, and so happy for my sister! Love her so much! Congrats!!! 

So, this week was quite exciting! We keep finding new people to teach so we're getting pretty busy now haha my favorite problem on the mission :) But I'll try to mention some of the highlights. Well this week we got to meet the whole family of a couple of my friends from Fogo and it was super fun to see them again and their like whole family is golden because the mom is looking for a religion, and two of their kids are already members and the dad is super cool and already loves us hhehehe and a couple of them showed up at the church yesturday! Anyways super excited to start teaching them. 

Also met an Italian here who came up to us and started asking us all the classic questions to missionaries.. why are you guys here kinda thing. And I love this question so much! Anyways, and we met with him yesturday and it was my first lesson I have taught here in Cabo Verde in ENGLISH! definitely so strange, and I said the opening prayer and definitely had to concentrate a little harder than normal. Funny story, when he called us on the phone he definitely called me out half way through and literally said, "Sister Jensen speak english" hahaha yep whoops but hes hilarious and super interesting so im exciting to keep answering his questions. 

Sunday was amazing! We had a miraculous number of our friends at church which also fills my heart with so my heart with so much joy. Cant explain it but its awesome. And that morning we walked with one of them but we had also agreed to pick up another girl so Sister Webb and I ended up running up the dirt mountain next to the road to her house to find out she had already gone on her own! Then we ran back down quickly and were barely late for church! haha But everyone in Cabo Verde is always just a little late so the first 10-15 minutes of church everyones still walking in. Yep, feels just like home hahahha :) But I feel an incredible amount of happiness with every little step of progress our friends make. Can't describe it, but helping others find this happiness is my dream! ♡ 

Okay, a couple fun stories... 

I have now officially worn a durag. Yes, a less active had two and decided to try them out on us. Im not complaining, was definitely a highlight. That same night we also ended up eating cow intestine soup... cow heart, lung, and i honestly dont know what else hahah :) but my companhion and I didnt even get sick! Grateful for my steal stomach sometimes! 

BEST PART! TODAY WE GOT TO PLAY PAINTBALL and it was a blast! ohh my, not only do they actually have a place to play paintball here, it was actually legit and super fun. We played with our zone and another companhionship of sisters. And now i can say ive been paintballing was on the mish and in Cabo Verde. What a flex im sorry. 

Anyways this was quite long sorry! Love you all and thanks for reading! God loves you and nothing can separate us from that love! One of my favorite scriptures is now Romans 8:38-39! Go give it a read :) 

Hope you all have a great week! 

Sister Jensen ♡

Jan. 15, 2021-Lydia's wedding Rap

Jan. 5, 2022--Fatten us up and cat call us on the street

 Oi gente! Feliz Ano Novo!!! 

This week was amazing, maybe one of the funniest and busiest weeks making it one of my favorites like always. Sister Webb and I are super pumped to stay in Terra Branca together for another transfer cause white washing isnt always easy and by the end we were really getting in our grove so Im sooo happy we get to stay together and have a "normal" transfer together hahha and boy it is already running!

Couple fun stories... everyone and their moms make cake for christmas so in pretty much EVERY single lesson from christmas until now we were given a piece of cake. Yeah, and one day we were leaving a house with cake in our hands cause we didnt have time to eat it there but that didnt stop them giving us a slice, and some guy on the street was biking slowing and as we passed him he greeted us like normal then continued to say how we was in love... so sister webb and i were laughing how our life is eating cake at every house then getting complimented on the street by strange men. gotta love it. well thats the explanation behind my title 

also we got to visit a ton of people this week and it was so awesome to get to celebrate New Years here! Dont know if i already said this but our ward is literally the best so every holiday is a party and a half. Yeah I love the mission life so much. Everyone here is so nice and welcoming and just want to spend time with us its amazing. Yesturday we passed by a house of a member and her friends were over and we were just chatting but after he invited us to his house to spend an entire day cooking, playing cards, chatting... and he was going to buy all the ingredients to make 25 liters of our favorite juice. Its called bsap and its made from hibiscus leaves. Awh best drink ever. And luckily lots of people make it so we get to taste all different types of homemade bsap. so yeah dont know how were gonna fit that into our schedule but theyre amazing. And he offered our closing prayer, and my companhion said he was jamming during it. Awh classic.. pray with real intent right? 

anyways, dont have much more time but love you all and hope you enjoy the photos :) Love this gospel and my Savior! 

Sister Jensen ♡

Dec. 27, 2021-BOAS FESTAS!!

 Wow this week was so busy but such a party! Think my companhion and I set a record for how many parties we went to this week. Ward parties, mission parties, dinners and lunches with members, and district parties. Awh the best week of my mission i think! 

For Christmas we cleaned up trash on the beach and went to a baptism, dinner with member, party with our district. Also fun fact, in Cabo Verde they stay up till midnight on Christmas Eve and shoot off fireworks and party lateeeee, so Christmas day was really quiet haha everyone was sleeping! Yeah our neighbor invited us to party with him but we passed by and they hadnt started yet so we decided to head to bed and he came and knocked on our door at like 11:30 haha whoops.. missionaries do love their sleep 

Dont have a ton of time, classic phrase in missionaries emails, but ill send pics that hopefully make up for it haha 

So grateful for everything and hope you l have a great week and ending of 2021! Love you all! 

Dec. 20, 2021-It's the best time of the year!

Olá gente! It sure do be the best time of the year ♡ Gotta love that Christmas spirit. Sorry, didn't write last week so we'll try to include only the highlights to keep this email from being a novel ;) 

So last week was great once again. Couple funny stories... first we tried to make simple chocolate chip cookies for a family we absolutely love (they get peanut butter from america from their family there but dont use it so we basically get free peanut butter with every visit and let me tell ya, best thing evaa)... dont know if its our cooking skills or the ingredients here but they did not work out. Could be that we were using replacments for butter and sugar because the mini market next to us didn't have white sugar. hahah beautiful cookies that we are now trying to figure out how to use the dough but was a funny cooking experiment 

Other funny story, last Saturday was quite exciting for me because I was feeling a little sick but didnt think much of it until we were at a members house and my stomach was not happy, luckily she had a bathroom so I ran to the bathroom and threw up after being there about a half hour... then that specific day we had agreed to eat katxupa with her which was amazing, just not what my stomach wanted at that exact moment, but I ate it and added pig feet to my list of cool things Ive eaten :) But once we got home, threw up again... and felt better! so decided to try to teach one of our lessons that afternoon but on the way up the hill, guess what..  yea threw up again and on the side of the road!!! WHO AM I?! awhh yeah not one of my proudest moments but luckily it was just water and 7up hahah but was all good, because after this, I didnt feel bad staying at home that night haha don't worry, seriously Im doing great. Just a weird 24 hour flu thing and a good laugh the next day 

Anywhoooo another blessing (for real) is our ward. Literally think the best ward in Cabo Verde! We got to teach a couple lessons with a returned missionary in our ward who is amazing. I was learning tons during our lessons. We also had a couple family nights which were amazing as well. The people here have the strongest testimonies and are the most selfless, humble people ever. 

Lastly, on Sunday we had a christmas devotional and I think it was one of the best Christmas concerts I've ever seen. A couple of the songs were sung in english which was way impressive and fun to hear and then they asked all us missionaries to sing Jingle Bells and We Wish you a merry christmas in english at the end too. Dont worry, we definitely brought the spirit. :) Haha included jazz hands and everything, and as you could guess we had phones galore recording hahahhaha but the end they sang a caboverdian style christmas song and we got to sing along and waved our arms back and forth at the end! One of the moments I'll never forget of my mission. 

Anyways, SUPER EXCITED FOR CHRISTMAS and have loved this time of year to focus and teach of Christ everyday!!! I gave a talk in church about knowing our Savior and how it is the best christmas present. Having a relationship and understanding the role He plays in each of our lives is the most valuable thing. I invite you all to go watch or read the talk by Elder Renlund from this years Christmas Devotional called, "And You Can Know It Too" and devote a little more time to getting to know your Savior this week of celebrating! 

LOVE YOU ALL AND MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! hope you all have an amazing week full of family and food ;) 

Sister Jensen ♡

pics:

our cookies that failed

wedding! 

reunited with Sister Teare! in Cabo Verde!!!

Dec 6, 2021-Praia do be poppin!

Oiii tudo mundo! Hope you all had a fantastic week and believe it or not you are here again reading the updates from the islands in Africa. Just want to say Cabe Verde is amazing. Ya girl is now in Praia where we are way closer to everything. Its definitely a different life that I am still adjusting to after living in the countryside of Fogo for 4 months. 

Our white washing efforts are starting to pay off and this week was a little better with finding houses without addresses and talking on the phone which is always a challenge in itself. So progress in my book. But the good thing is, Webb and I are killing it. Continuing to party it up when everything seems to be falling apart. haha a blessing about missions, ya always got a companhion to experience it all with ya. And Sister Webb has an amazing attitude and a sense of humor! So, luckily we're still laughing when we get lost and still partying at night. 

Yeah, this transfer has definitely been a wake up call for me of the small difficulties and miscommunications you can have in life, but were growing and learning a ton everyday so we can only go up. But its also fun to white wash because we'll find or get in contact with old friends of the sisters here and its always so fun to hear what they remember and get to get to know them at the same time as your companhion. But yeah it has its difficulties too dont get me wrong. 

BUT GUESS WHAT! this week we had a member of the seventy here in Cabooo Verdeee! woohooo you heard me right, here in the middle of the ocean we had our first viewing of a general authority and it was awesome. I cried multiple times because of the spirit that was there. Amazing. Elder and Sister Alliaud came for a mission tour and visited 3 of the islands here and the other missionaries gathered in those islands to get to shake their hands and hear them in person. Was awesome and I definitely felt famous after. hahah He talked about the roots of the gospel and how the doctine is the roots, the trunk are the principles, laws, and ordinances, and the leaves are the behavior or conduct. When we are trying to help people come closer to Christ and strengthen their relationship with Christ we need to not just look at the leaves or truck of the tree but dig deeper for the why. I loved this analogy because especially with our testimonies, there is a difference between our testimony and conversion. Conversion is acting on what we believe and demonstrating this love and dedication to the Lord. Elder Bednar taught, "Knowing that the gospel is true is the essence of a testimony. Consistently being true to the gospel is the essence of conversion. We should know the gospel is true and be true to the gospel." I never thought about this distinction before but have thought about this more and more as I have tried to become more converted to the gospel in my everyday life. And I challenge you all to try a little harder this week to show your conversion to the Lord. Especially since CHRISTMAS IS COMING! awh what a time to focus on others and the example of our Savior. :) Literally love Christmas! 

Anyways, love you all! Hope you all have a fantastic week of December! Enjoy the cold for me! :) 

Sister Jensen ♡

picsssss 

last pday adventure! 

tis the season! 

including our lollipops outside the temple 

a random boat in the street, we felt like tourists but we always look like toursits... and a little kid exposed us after and said "selfie" with a huge grin and a thumbs up hahahah funniest thing ever