hello!
this week we had zone conference, and I always get so amped after conference. we are really blessed because President Clark is insane at speaking. and he uses scriptures so well. its just, it's like listening to a conference talk especially for you at this moment in your life, whenever ZC comes around. there was a few thoughts that I thought were particularly cool. he taught about the doctrine of "rememberance" remember is in the scriptures 522 times. way more than a lot of other terms. but he spoke on things we really need to "remember" one being the reality of satan. he quoted a bit of elder...hollands? talk this last conference, I think it was a priesthood talk. but about how there is a literal battle every day against satan. that he is real, and he is always fighting us. so president said the same thing to us, satan is real. and he 100% is trying to stop what we are doing here. we are literally God's army, and we are fighting for His purpose. to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. that is what we fight for every day when we go out, we talk to people, we teach we testify, we try to bring people to Christ. it's not a year and a halfish vacation, not some EFY thing where we build our testimonies, we're in a battle against satan and we fight for God and for souls every day. it hit home very hard. I've thought a lot about that since then. what a calling, right? and it's not just me and the other missionaries. every church member is part of it. so lets get out and fight, yeah?
one other thing that reaaaallllyyyyy hit home that president said was that we needed to "remember" who we are and who we represent. he told us to look at our tags, and of course Jesus Christ is etched in very big letters. we are literally representing Jesus Christ. so that requires a very serious effort to not do or say anything contrary to what Jesus Christ would do. but I will admit, that I also looked at my name tag and saw the name JENSEN written quite large as well. in malaysia, they do names different, and there is no such thing as a last name. if I was malaysian, my name would be (translated) lisa child of paul. lisa anak paul. so when people see my name tag, they always say I have a boys name. and then I explain that that is my fathers name. and they understand. so in the same thought process of "remembering who I represent" I also know that I am representing dad. and all the jensens. and my jensen ancestors that may periodically be checking up on me and taking a peak at what I'm doing. anyway, I got a new charge to be better and to represent my Savior and my Dad and family better.
oh! before I forget. I got Christina's letter from singapore:) replies will be semi soon.
we have been teaching this grandma and her daughter and her grandkids for a few weeks, and then finally grandpa came home and we got to meet him for the first time. I don't know his name, because when there are old people around it's almost more polite, or maybe just more normal, to call them datuk or nenek. grandpa or grandma. so anyway, datuk walks in, and he's ancient. he looks like he's 85. and he is sooooo funny. very sharp and whitty. so he asks me how old I am, and I say 21, and he goes "oh of course. still young and so beautiful" (brown noser) and then I go datuk, how old are you? he looks me square in the eye, and replies, "55." and I immediately start laughing, because hello, he's like 90. and I look up again, and he's not laughing. he's dead serious. so then I go, "wow! my dad is not too much younger than you! look at this picture!" so I show him a picture of dad and nenek goes, looking at datuk, "if he's your age too, you look horrible!!" and then we all laughed. even though he obviously was not 55, I still give him points for being young at heart. and being so belligerent that he was only 55.
oh! something fun! and a milestone for me! sister lowe and the other senior couples put on a workshop thing where they shared information about emergency prepareness, parenting tips, and health issues. lowe was in charge of the health issue. she asked me to help her and to be her interpreter. it was SO FUN! we were so busy so we didn't prepare, I drew a bunch of pictures and made the whiteboard look cute 20 minutes before everyone came in, and then we taught about water safety, dehydration, burns, dental hygiene...it was so fun to be back in the swing of what I love to do again. and also, I was able to translate everything straight in to malay! with the help of sister rinet a few times with one or two random words I didn't know. but we did it! sister lowe and I pulled it off with basically no preparation! we were so happy we went to eat lunch after.
oh, and here is a miracle story. so we have been teaching about 6 people that all live in this one little house. the "leader" is named Lenny, and I absolutely adore her. everyone in that house. they're like family. so anyway, before they started learning from us, they were Iban tradition, so didn't know God. no idea who Jesus Christ was. and as we teach them, they are so active in the lessons. they ask so many questions. and it's all new, so we have to do the lessons very very slow so they understand. and they read the Book of Mormon and they pray and they are amazing. but they won't come to church. they're too scared too. and they actually have about 85 concerns that we are in the process of trying to help them overcome so they will just come to church. anyway, the last lesson we had (before the one I want to tell you about) they asked about doing the pagan thing, offering sacrifices and things like that. they asked if they could still do that after they were baptized. oh my gosh, I prayed for the Spirit so hard at that moment. and sister rinet answered their concern with a very beautiful testimony of the priesthood and of God, while telling them they of course shouldn't still do the pagan things if they want to follow Christ. so anyway. they took it kindof hard. it's very much a part of them. and the lesson got kindof awkward, and we were devastated after we left. they wouldn't tell us when we could come back again (so weird) and we thought it was over. but then we go over a few days later to see them, and Lenny looked at us and said she believed "100%" in God now. she knew He was there. and then she told this story that right after we left, they all got into a huge fight. especially her and her husband. her husband was going to divorce her, and everyone was yelling, and it had been like this for a few days and she was just dying. so she said she left her house at like 10 at night (dangerous) sobbing, and just wandering around, not knowing what to do. she said she was hopeless. and then she decided to pray. so she said in the middle of her sobs, she said a prayer like this: "Heavenly Father. I want to know if you exist and you love me and you look at me and listen to me like the sisters have been telling me. I want to know if that is true, because if it is, I need your help. I can't handle this anymore, my heart is going to explode. if you're there, take this pain from me." and then she said she finished by saying "in the name of Jesus Christ" and she said the second she finished saying Jesus Christ's name, all of the sudden, her sobs stopped. she said they just very abruptly stopped. no tears in her eyes and she wasn't crying. at all. and she said her mind was so clear. and she almost didn't believe that two seconds earlier she had been hysterical. so she walked home, found her family, told them she loved them and that everything was gonna be okay. and then they went to bed. so now, she says, she knows it. God is there and He loves them. it was an incredible incredible experience for me to be able to sit there and listen to her testimony. you grow to love these people more than you can say. more than I can express. and then to be able to sit there and watch them get to know God. and to get answers. and to see the miracles that occur in their lives. it is just the most insane blessing in my life that I will forever be grateful for. so grateful to get to see it and feel it with them.
wow, what a long email! not so many funny stories this week because I think the spiritual ones were better. :) although rest assured that there of course was a lot of laughing. hope all is well back home with all the people I love. 
keep being strong!