January 9, 2017

*Before this e-mail I did reach out to Cam and share with him my thoughts and feelings about him struggling with homesickness.  I had a friend share a letter someone they knew wrote their son along with a story when he was struggling. Long story short there were these settlers in search of a new land to settle. They found this territory and had packed all of their belongings to be able to make a home. One of the settlers went and burnt all their boats.  The other men asked why he would do that and now they were stranded there.  He told them they weren't stranded unless they thought of it that way; yet if they would leave everything they knew before behind and give all of one's self to settling here they would have success. The letter went on to tell the Elder that if we don't burn our boats on a mission and eliminate all possible retreat, we will always have something to fall back on in the back of our minds...

I shared some other words and things people had shared with me.  It has humbled me to see how many people truly want these missionaries to be successful and will do anything to help them.  So many friends that have recently returned from missions and even return missionaries that are parents to Cam's friends.  They let me know that it is hard, very hard, but that Cameron can do hard things.  I found comfort in everybody's words.

I asked family and friends to fast on Sunday that Cameron may find the strength to find where he was lacking happiness and/or comfort.  Today's e-mail was sooo much better.  Don't get me wrong, Cam has some work to do but he is convinced to do it.  I have been so proud this whole 4+ months with the determination my son has had even when he has felt low.  As I had some of those return missionaries share words and thoughts with me, it truly made me realize that unless you have done it you don't realize how leaving your family, friends, country, language, and anything you know is so difficult!

Thank you everyone!  Continue to pray for Elder Jensen and all of those who are serving missions.  It is such a selfless act of service and it takes an enormous amount of strength and courage.  I do believe our Heavenly Father wants all of his missionaries to succeed and grow.  I am so thankful at this time for my faith and testimony.  I am also very thankful for an awesome support system!

As a mom I felt the vibe that though he isn't totally himself, he is going to be ok and he is where he belongs...

The e-mails...

Mom:  I sure wish I was in Brazil.  This place is a  mess with beautiful snow but now rain that is freezing everything. This is our second snow day which is fun but then they also sent a notice saying they'd let us know when to make these snow days up...  Poor dad in all of this.  They even sent out emergency calls saying to get the snow off your roof.  Some spots measure 20 inches.

Church was good yesterday.  I loved fasting and focusing on you.  Everything from Jed's opening prayer praying for missionaries to Sharon's testimony on faith through trials with missionaries... It is as if the testimonies and messages were meant for me.

So tell me about your companion, ward members, and investigators.

Cam: We have a family of 4 that we contacted in the street who want to be baptized.  A family of two and his mom is a member and she took us there yesterday.  Then we also had two separate men from a contact.

Mom:  Awesome!  Tell me the names and approximate ages of the families so we can include them in our prayers. Also, tell me about the mom that took you to the family to be taught.  Is she in your ward or how did she hookup with you?

Cam:  There is Luis and Christina that are 35ish, Lillian 15, and Myuni that is 12. Luis is out of work right now and we have asked the ward for some food donations for them.  Agugsto is 26, liked church and we teach him tomorrow. Cicero 45, Edivaldo and his wife 25.  I know the mom from my ward.

Mom:  There are some reasons right there why you got transferred.  What about your house and ward?

Cam:  The house is nicer than my other one and the ward is good, they help more.  But, I still like the Colina Ward more.

Mom: You will grow to love them too.  You just got attached to Colina Ward and are now in a new place.  I don't know maybe Colina will end up always being your favorite in the end?!?!

I am excited for the Earnest, Travis, Jaxon, and Bayleigh to get their mission calls.  It seems so far away but then again close.

Are the homes and economy the same as Colina War?

Cam:  It is nicer here but close to the same.

Mom:  Tell me about Natan and his family etc.

Cam: He is ok.  He is better than I thought but still a little weird.  His family isn't members just him and his sister.

Mom: Wow!  He may be a little weird but he's brave...How did he and his sister get to be members? How are his parents with him serving a mission?

Cam:  They were taught by the missionaries and he said they are fine with it.

Mom: How old was he when he was converted?  What religion was he before?

Cam: He was 15 and he was Catholic.

Mom: It amazes me that he was converted not too long ago and his family members are not members yet; he devotes two years of his life to being a missionary.  I think you're lucky to have him as a companion (weird or not).  Heavenly Father is there for me, you and everyone that has the faith.  I have always been jealous of those that have served missions and had that extra experience to contribute to their faith.  Now I have a son that is a missionary and I see the huge sacrifice for the elder and his family but I believe in the blessings that will come.  I'm going to record Earnests opening their calls and anyone else that invites me. I love having Cam and Bayleigh come to the school.  They look up to you a lot and it makes me proud.

Cam:  Yeah, for sure record them and whoever else.  I would love to hear them open their calls.

Mom:  Ok, tell me about some of the members.  Whose house have you eaten at? What is the bishopric like?

Cam; The bishop is way good.  He is young and wants to help us a lot but he works all the time.  The members are all old.  There is this one kid named Gostavo.  He was baptized a year ago and is preparing to go on a mission this year.  He helps us a lot.

Mom: What is the bishop's name?  It is nice to know the bishop and ward are so helpful.

Cam: His name is Bruno and he is like 27.

Mom:  Remind me what the names of the other missionaries in your house are.  Were you able to take take your Christmas tree or at least some of the pictures?

Cam:  I kept the whole tree.  Elder Natan (my companion) and Elder Cruz and Gorsegner. You know how I told you I met my future wife that one Sunday?  This is a picture of her.

Mom: Grandpa John and Grammy are going on a two week cruise with the Grovers to the Southern Caribbean. It is to places we have never been.  Tell me something you haven't told me.

Cam:  That sounds like a lot of fun! So Luis (the dad of the family of four) wants to get baptized.  He wants his family to also.  He isn't married to Christian the mom of his kids so first off they need to get married. Well Luis was drunker than a skunk Saturday and kept hugging me and kissing my hand saying thanks for bringing this spirit to his home. Unfortunately he didn't come to church the next day because he had a hangover and she was sick too.

Mom; I love you!

Cam:  I love you!  I will talk to you next week.  Have a good week.  Love you!!!

Mom:  I love you so much Bubba!  Have an awesome week. I will continue to pray for you.

Cam: Thanks!

Mom: Thank you...

Cameron's group e-mail:

Hello everyone hope that everyone is doing good, staying warm and safe with this cold weather and snow. It is crazy to think how cold it is there and I am sweating to death here. This week was good we found a lot of investigators. There was Luis and Christian and their kids. They want to be baptized but aren't married so we will have to get them married first. There is Cicero he is a good guy and he is 45 and pretty receptive. The hard thing is that he usually works Sundays. Then, Augusto was a contact Saturday night and we invited him to church the next day and he came and said he liked it. We have an appointment with him Tuesday. Edivaldo and his wife were a reference from his mom who is a member in our ward. They are really good and interested but not married. So once again more work to get them married.

Photos:

 We walked through a farm and took pictures with the Book of Mormon.

Here are some pictures of mine and Elder Natan's area.  There are horses everywhere in random places doing random things such as eating garbage...

We were at the stake presidents house visiting people with him and his son was playing volleyball so we played to get trust and to talk to his friends. 

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