What's a Cartagena?

June 4, 2018

Hey there! As I mentioned last week, I spent a total of two full days in Cartagena this week! Isn't that just wonderful?

Sarcasm aside, this was a really good week, even if pretty much all of it was spent not where I'm supposed to be. Monday was pretty chill. During our P-day we played soccer, tossed a football around, and played card games in the chapel with the Cartagena zone. Our evening was rather slow, full of walking around and looking for people interested in the gospel.

On Tuesday, I packed in the morning and did a couple other things, then got picked up by the zone leaders and headed up to Alicante for a district leader training meeting. Elder Clark was left behind with the companion of the district leader in the other district in the C-Zone. It was a good meeting; I learned lots. I stayed the night in Elche in Elder Newman's apartment there, so it was a familiar town, a familiar apartment, and a well-known face to along with it.

Five of us were staying in that apartment that night, and we were all able to get up, get ready, and load up in the car, and drive back to Alicante on time with very little difficulty, which was probably some kind of miracle. We arrived at the chapel and shortly after, the first last zone conference of the Spain Málaga Mission began. It was a very good conference that was very driven by the Spirit. You could really feel the love that President and Hermana Andersen have for their missionaries as they addressed us for the last time. An amazing musical number and a huge amount of testimonies from missionaries going home definitely added even more to the environment. 

On Thursday we had interviews with President Andersen and we began a companionship exchange with the zone leaders. To start the evening, all four of us drove out to La Manga to help someone with a move, and then we went our separate ways, Elder Clark with Elder Bodily, and me with Elder De La Rosa. He's from the Dominican Republic, was a branch president in Galicia before the mission, was in the mission office forever, and is just an all around good guy. We had a Family Home Evening at a member's home with a family that is investigating the Church. It went over very well. The member has a really strong testimony and probably one of the biggest hearts in all of Ecuador. It went over well.

Exchange pics

In the morning on Friday, Elder De La Rosa and I went on a run for our morning exercise, aaand we ran the entire time. It was by far the farthest I've run without stopping in a long time. He has just informed me that we ran 6 kilometers which means we ran...just under 4 miles. I have never run that distance consecutively....ever before. It was pretty nice. You just think about your breathing and try to take in the view without plowing over old people walking their dogs. Granted, it got a little boring about two thirds of the way through without music or anything, but my body appreciated it. It was also cool running along a walkway right next to the beach. Our morning was spent in a pueblo of their area where we set up an appointment to meet with someone later, got a couple people's phone numbers, and knocked a couple doors. For lunch we had a little barbecue, then Elder Clark and I bussed back over to Cartagena.

On Saturday Elder Clark and I cleaned the second floor of the chapel. We were then invited by some YSA members to eat some buffet pizza at Dominos. We also ate dinner with Andrea and Jesús. I ate a lot of food that day. When we were with Andrea and Jesús (member and investigator) we read a quote about the First Vision and the Restoration, then asked Jesús some questions about his own testimony. He came to the conclusion that he really does believe that this is God's true church. This lead to us asking if he has a desire be baptized and if he would follow that desire. He said yes. We didn't go around setting up a date just yet, because he's in an interesting scenario at the moment. But this was a good step! Because he's been involved with the Church for a good minute now, but nobody has entered anything about him in our Area Book in regards to his spiritual progress. A lot of missionaries have just treated him like a friend that they visit on a weekly basis. It's a little disappointing when that happens, but oh well! 

Pizza Hut getting all inspirational and whatnot.

Yeesh! This has been a really long email! Anywho, on Sunday we watched a broadcast for the Europe Area which made me think we were going to have some big announcements or changes or something, but it was just a couple of good talks on discipleship and personal testimony by some General Authorities of the Church with Elder Uchtdorf presiding. There isn't too much I can say about the ward at the moment. There are two wards in Cartagena: one for the city of Cartagena, and one for the surrounding pueblos. Both are pretty large. I still don't really know too many people.

Spiritual Thought: Never before has the scripture Ether 12: 27 so heavily applied to my life as it has in the mission. For those of you who aren't familiar with this scripture, here it is:

27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.

I am sure that just about every missionary in the world has written about this passage, but I believe that is simply because it is such a solid and powerful insight that applies to a myriad of diverse scenarios and events. In regards to a more personal account, I was recently impacted heavily by this scripture. I was becoming increasingly aware of my weaknesses and faults and had a great desire to know how to overcome them. I felt a little lost, and I needed personal revelation. As I read this scripture, I realized that I needed to do exactly what the Lord prescribes. I went to my knees in faithful and humble prayer and asked to know exactly where my weaknesses reside, and what plans and principles would properly treat them.

In the weeks to follow I would fall short in one way or another, as an imperfect child of God often does. Every knockdown was followed by an immediate and enlightened knowledge of what went wrong, what needs to change, and how I could be better prepared the next time. Bit by bit, my weak places began to be made strong. Day by day, frail fortifications were discovered or attacked then quickly reinforced and strengthened. Heaps of earth were dug up around my borders, a work of timbers was added to those ridges of earth, pickets were added to the timbers, and towers were erected to watch over the lands round about (see Alma 50:1-6). This process continues forward, ever-building me up and strengthening my soul.

I can testify that if we humble ourselves, accept our imperfections, and faithfully ask, God will show us our weakness; but more than that, he will support us and build us up until our debilities are made strong. His grace is sufficient for all who humble themselves. As our weaker points become fortified, there is then more room and opportunity to expand and become strengthened in every other aspect of our lives. Through this continual process of building up, and divine grace, we can be allowed to progress in this mortal period of God's plan.

Life on earth is progression. If we continue in humility and obedience, diligently rooting out weakness and being strengthened in the Lord, we will be more than prepared for our judgement and reunion with our Father in Heaven.

And to finish up this epistle, I'm just going to talk about Elder Clark for a bit for the sake of my parents' sanity. As I previously stated, Elder Clark is from Moses Lake, Washington. He graduated a year after me and we get along pretty well. He has a little over 6 months in the mission now and is trucking right along. He played soccer in high school, so he knows what he's doing out there on the court. He's pretty laid back and has a good taste in music, so that's nice.

It was a good and full week, just not in Cartagena, haha!

Elder Jensen :)