Conference

Isn`t it ironic that the first BYU loss to Utah State in over a decade has to happen when I`m obligated to live within sight and sound of a cougar hating aggie fan 24 hours a day 7 days a week? Gary Crowton... I mean Bronco Mendenhall needs to "rebuild" his coaching approach and "raise the bar" a little higher than "The Quest for 2 Wins on the Season"

You can imagine that the emails received alongside my gleeful aggie companion have heavily influenced the start of this email. But in the words of President Uchtdorf "all of God`s children wear the same jersey." It`ll be a good chance for me to put some prophetic council in practice and tear down my pride.

Speaking of general conference, it`s always a chance for me to think a little about home. Not in a trunky way. More of an impressed way. Impressed at the miracle that general conference is. We`re thousands of miles apart, yet we`re watching the same transmission at the same time. We had a good turnout of investigators at the conference so I was watching most of the sessions in Spanish translating back to English. It was amazing how much I understood. They use unfamiliar words, and some of the translators were from Central America, and one from Spain. That darn lisp sure trips up my translation.

Saturday afternoon we had Diego Yesica and their entire family there. They marveled at the counsel received by living prophets. They were astounded by the angelic music, and couldn`t believe that every one of the members of the choir was from the same church, as they still assumed that the church we had was the only one. As the final note sounded on the closing hymn Diego shook his head with a big thumbs up and said the Spanish equivalent of "wow, good call Jensen." They left much edified.

My personal testimony of the modern prophets and apostles was increased as well. As I looked at all those men who I had testified of so much, I couldn`t help but think of it as the difference between our church and the rest. It`s one fantastic display of modern revelation. How blessed we are to sit at the feet of a modern day prophet. This conference more than ever I saw a special unity between the talks. So many focused on the strategies of the devil, the dangers of the natural man, the essential nature of agency and the consequences of our choices.

On Saturday night we got a rare treat. Missionaries from our mission never see the priesthood session live, let alone in English. But with special permission from the mission president, and Elder Jones, the senior couple accompanying us, we were able to stay up and watch it live in English in the offices. When Elder Nelson asked the full time missionaries to stand up, we all stood up with the whole body of the Lord, knowing that thousands of others across the world were shoulder to shoulder with us. I felt the camaraderie of my missionary brothers across the globe and a greater sense of appreciation for those who are making this sacrifice. I know this is the Lord`s work. Elder Jones drove us home that night, and we all felt like it had decisively been the best priesthood session we had ever witnessed. (The seventy from South Africa sounded like Bear Grylls from Man vs. Wild. He even talked about scorpions and stuff ha-ha! Amazing talk!!!)

Earlier this week, we had training for all the mission leaders. District Leaders, Zone Leaders, and Trainers. It was a great opportunity to learn from President Stapley. From Tuesday to Friday we had lessons from 10:30 to 4:00 in the afternoon. We`re learning the 8 new missionary lessons. They basically help us take PMG and simplify the basic principles for application in our work. Like President Uchtdorf explained in the Saturday session, we have to master the basics before we can master the complicated stuff. I felt renewed as a missionary, and a greater desire to apply all these principles.

Unfortunately my time is gone. It was a lot of info this week. Luis and Veronica were left to cool down a little bit, but we got them by the end of the week and things are back to normal. Maria Eva, our baptismal date, was able to attend conference. She loved it. `We`re very excited for her.

Well, yet again, gotta run. Time just went out from under me. I love you all, and hope to hear from you soon. I know the church has been restored. Thomas S. Monson is a true Prophet along with his counselors and the twelve apostles. They are all men of God. Jesus Christ is the head of this church. He is our Savior and Redeemer.

Les amo a todos!