Always Remember
Shared from a Missionary Mother's Perspective
Laura Jensen, Missionary Mother of Elder Zach Jensen
On June 19, 2013 Elder Zach Jensen
opened his mission call. A mission call
that was foreordained and received by revelation from modern day prophets. Not
one single person guessed where Elder Jensen would be serving for the next two
years, only the Lord knew. Dear Elder Jensen: "You are hereby called to
serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. You
are assigned to labor in the Arizona Phoenix Mission."
Elder Jensen
knew right away that Phoenix
was the mission for him, he received confirmation after confirmation!
We only had 6 weeks before he entered the MTC on July 31.
 |
| Trainer - Elder Rigby |
Elder
Jensen loved his first area,
the North Mountain Ward in North Phoenix.
He loved the members, the families, his investigators, and his
companions, Elder Rigby and Elder McFarland, with all of his heart. At
Six months, we all thought for sure it was
transfer time, but the Lord had a different plan.
 |
Gilbert Open House - Day before auto accident
With Elder McFarland |
On the evening of February 13
I had fallen asleep while watching the Winter Olympics. The phone rang and I looked at the caller ID
“Phoenix, AZ.” My heart skipped a beat,
there was only one person I knew in Phoenix and that was my Elder Jensen. The phone call was from an ER doctor and he
was trying to explain to me that Elder Jensen had been in a serious auto
accident. I immediately went into shock
and denial. I actually argued with the
ER doctor that, “Elder Jensen doesn't drive; he is on a bike mission.” Then I remembered they had driven to the
Gilbert Temple Open House, but that had been the day before, so I asked the
doctor if they had been driving to Gilbert and he said, “No.” The ER doctor then explained that Elder
Jensen had two skull fractures, frontal and temporal, and that he had suffered
an epidermal hematoma and that emergency surgery would most likely be necessary
to remove the blood clot that was placing pressure on his brain. At this point I was seriously in shock and
the doctor could no longer communicate with me so he handed the phone to dear
Sister Taylor, wife to President Taylor.
Sister Taylor explained that President Taylor was getting ready to give
Elder Jensen a blessing and that Elder Jensen was coherent and she let me say a
quick “I love you” to my son. Sister
Taylor and I exchanged cell phone numbers and she said she would txt me after
his blessing. I naturally and
automatically went into meltdown and fear mode with questions racing through my
exploding brain, “How was I going to survive this nightmare? I've never been away from my children when
they were sick, let alone an auto accident!
I’m not with him! I’m not with
him! I’m not with him! He doesn't have his mom and dad with him! How am I going to be able to wait and wait
and wait and wait for updates? Will he
be able to stay and continue serving the Phoenix people that he loves with all
of his heart? Will he be sent home? Will
I be strong enough for him?”
President Taylor and Elder Rodgers gave
Elder Jensen a beautiful blessing that night. At almost the same time, I received my own
priesthood blessing of peace and comfort from my husband and my bishop. My heart and mind calmed down from racing and
the power of my priesthood blessing immediately took effect. Sister Taylor shared that Elder Jensen was
blessed and promised with a full and quick recovery. I have always been present for every single
priesthood blessing for my two children. Even though I was in Utah and my son was in Phoenix,
I still felt the power and peace of his priesthood blessing with all of my
heart. I was no longer in shock and we
started listing our blessings; our son was alive and talking, the other
missionary who was on splits with our son, Elder Linkogle, was not critically
injured – he suffered a concussion with short term memory loss, the other
drivers were not injured, and most of all our Elder was promised with a full
and quick recovery. President and Sister
Taylor were spending the night with our son in ICU. We did not know any details of the cause of
the auto accident that night and were hoping that surgery would not be
necessary.
Valentine’s
Day & Surgery
After reading my
son’s patriarchal blessing & crying myself to sleep, Sister Taylor
sent me updates throughout the night. Her updates were always positive
and looking back now, her positive reassurances really helped me to
remain as calm as possible.“He’s doing great,
remembers everything, which is incredible, had a beautiful blessing!” Love Sis
Taylor. “Elder Jensen is doing very
well. His midnight scan showed bleeding
still, which is normal. The one at 7 am
will be more critical. Will keep you
posted” Love Sis. Taylor.
After a
restless night, I awoke to the most beautiful tender mercy. I had received a message from a member of the
Phoenix North Mountain Ward, “Sister Jensen, my name is Tim Gooch, and I am in
the ward Elder Jensen is serving in. Right now I am sitting with him in his
hospital room, and I want to let you know that he is doing well. He was
coherent when I arrived so we had a chance to chat, but he has dozed off now.
He is a wonderful young man, and it's a pleasure to have him here. He dozed
off, and as I sit here, I considered leaving, but I didn't want to leave him
alone and without a companion, but the impression came over me that he is not
alone here, and he is being watched over, and has other capable
"companions" standing watch as well. Your son is genuine, he
loves the people, and they feel that and respond to him. What a blessing it is
to witness The Lord work through his worthy and effective servants, of which
your son is, to carry out His purposes through the small daily miracles that
may get overlooked by the world, but personally crafted for the people your son
serves. Thank you for raising this young man who is an example to my young
boys.” I truly believe that Heavenly
Father sends comfort through others and I would be receiving a lot of comfort
from Arizona angels.
 |
Receiving this 1st picture of Elder Jensen from Sister Taylor
was a huge tender mercy, we were imagining so much more.
Elder Jensen looked so good - but the injury was inside. |
As
a family and extended family we began our family fast and prayer for our Elder
Jensen. We still didn’t know any details
of the accident or if surgery would be necessary. We were praying that the
bleeding would stop and that surgery would not be necessary. So I decided to call the mission office, and
spoke with Elder Rogers who happened to be over all of the vehicles in the
Phoenix Mission and also a retired policeman.
He explained that Elder Jensen and Elder Linkogle had been on splits
because both of their companions were not feeling well and were unable to leave
their apartment.
 |
This was the busy street that
they were trying to left on. |
Since Elder Jensen
was
the designated driver, he was driving the Spanish speaking Elder’s car
to the
Spanish Elder’s area. The accident happened right as they exited their
apartment complex on to 7th Street. After Elder Jensen looked left
and right while turning left on 7th and attempting to crossing 4 lanes
of heavy traffic with no stop light, they were first t-boned
on the driver’s side by a Nissan Frontier that they did not see due to
the hill on the left. I didn't realize until I received the police
report that a Nissan Frontier is a mid-size truck. This collision
caused their Toyota Corolla to spin three times, and then getting
broadsided again on the
passenger side by a 3/4 ton pickup truck before landing in a ravine next
to the road. The police officer on the scene explained
that the missionary’s Toyota Corolla was totaled and that these 2 young
men shouldn't have been able to walk away from the accident. So now we
knew that their accident had been
more serious than what we had imagined and that it was a miracle they
were even
alive.
 |
There is a hill on the left & difficult to see
on coming traffic. |
Sister Taylor explained, “I know that these Elders had angels bearing them up
at the scene of the accident and that all the right people were in place to
care for them that night and during their stay.
There are not that many LDS people in Phoenix that the odds would have
an LDS Doctor, 2 LDS nurses and an LDS EMT from the ward that Elder Jensen is
serving in right there helping our Elders.”
The
first response team was led by a member in Elder Jensen’s ward, Brother Wayde
Kline, who recognized Elder Jensen right away.
Brother Kline found the Elder’s cell phone and let a message for
President and Sister Taylor to meet them at John C. Lincoln Hospital. When Elder Jensen did not recognize Brother
Kline, he knew that Elder Jensen had a closed head injury.
The
Lord was in charge that night, from the very beginning. Through his
infinite power, he orchestrated the evening of the accident and the days
to follow. It was not a coincidence that Brother Kline was the captain
of the emergency response team and first on the scene to call the
Elder’s mission president.
 |
Weeks later - this is Elder Linkogle walking down
the ravine where their car ended up. |
It was not a coincidence that the ER doctor was LDS along with the other
LDS nurses. It also was not a
coincidence that Elder Jensen was taken to John C. Lincoln Hospital. Elder Jensen along with his companions had
been called on many times to offer blessings to patients at this hospital; many
of the medical staff recognized him from his service at the hospital.
On Valentine’s morning,
the neurosurgeon determined the blood clot in Elder Jensen’s skull was
increasing in size and placing too much pressure on his brain. The neurosurgeon actually couldn’t believe
that Elder Jensen wasn’t in more pain due to the size of the clot. Brain surgery would be required to remove the
clot and to cauterize the bleeding around his brain. We soon realized that surgery was a huge
blessing, many people pass away or suffer from a stroke from undetected blood
clots that place pressure on their brains. It also was not a coincidence that the best
neurosurgeon at John C. Lincoln Hospital hadn’t left yet for his planned
vacation for President’s weekend but agreed to stay for Elder Jensen’s surgery. On his
way to surgery, Elder Jensen wished all the medical staff, “Happy Valentine’s
Day.” Elder Jensen had his head shaved prior
to brain surgery to remove his blood clot and received 25 staples during the
surgery. This is what he wrote later,
“The nurse asked if I wanted half of my head shaved, or all of it. I told them
to take it all off. In fact, I remember really needing a haircut because my
hair was getting long. So this was the perfect opportunity!”
Meanwhile,
Elder Linkogle recovered from his concussion and memory loss, and was released
from the hospital on Valentine’s Day.
Sister Taylor explained, “Elder Linkogle’s brain was jostled so
seriously that he could not remember anything that he had just talked about
seconds earlier. His long term memory
was fine, but he had no idea what had happened or how anything was really going. We teased Elder Linkogle about his memory. The
first night when he kept asking us the same questions over and over, we would
just smile and tell him ‘It's all OK. ‘ What was sweet was that he was so
concerned about everyone else! He
constantly asked if there were other injuries in the other cars...and how Elder
Jensen was doing. Really, he only cared
about others! Elder Rodgers finally wrote on a cup ‘IT'S ALL OK.’
Elder Linkogle with his "It's All Ok" cup
with his companion Elder Sharon (blond)
Elder McFarland - Elder Jensen's Comp
Obedience
On Valentine’s morning President
Taylor requested that we as parents not travel to Phoenix to be with Elder
Jensen. We had already received our
answer from Elder Jensen’s priesthood blessing – our son would be blessed with a
full and quick recovery. We knew we
had to be supportive of our son’s mission president and be obedient. By being obedient, we would be blessed and
more importantly, Elder Jensen would be blessed. In looking back, I was prepared as a mother
for this difficult time by learning about two different groups of missionary
parents who are my heroes. The first
being the parents of the Saratov Russian Missionaries, I was greatly impacted
by their faith and their example by placing all of their trust in the hands of
their Heavenly Father when their sons had been kidnapped. The second being the parents of the
Philippine Tacloban missionaries during the typhoon disaster, where so many
missionaries were displaced for days. My Bishop revisited this typhoon tragedy in a
talk that he gave the Sunday before Elder Jensen’s accident. He specifically talked about how these
 |
After surgery pictures sent by a member,
were very difficult. However, without these
pictures we wouldn't have understood the
following: The small indent is where the
small piece of skull was removed, to get to
the blood clot. The tubing was like a
suction that caused the small indent. Once
the tubing was removed, the small indent
filled in. This area is a soft spot until the
skull reattaches, which can take up to a year. |
missionaries handled their trial on their own with only each other, with the
help of their Heavenly Father, and without their parents being right there with
them. I know that Bishop Ward was
inspired to give his talk for me so that I could remember the obedient and
faithful example of other missionary parents. I knew that Elder Jensen would
never be kidnapped in Phoenix and I knew that he would never experience a
typhoon in Arizona. However, I have
learned that our missionaries face many other difficult situations and we as
parents need to be prepared to be faithful and strong for them. In the
beginning, we didn’t know if we would be able to be obedient by not traveling
to Phoenix to be with Elder Jensen. Many family members and friends did not
agree with our decision in staying home and offered to pay for our air fare,
which we were grateful. However, if
we had chosen to travel to Phoenix, we would have denied our testimonies of the
power of the priesthood. We had to take
a giant leap of faith and let our Phoenix friends in the gospel love and serve
our son. We only felt out of control for a short period of time, because
the flood of tender mercies soon replaced our fears. We were able to go to
sleep with hearts full of gratitude & wake up with hearts full of hope.
 |
24 staples and the 25th was added
after the tubing was taken out.
|
Also, President
and Sister Taylor were truly our son’s dad and mom away from home. They loved him through this difficult time,
like he was one of their own sons. The
Taylors will always have a special place in our hearts. The auto accident took place right during
their Zone Conference week. So with very
little sleep they went back and forth from Zone Conferences to visiting Elder
Jensen and Elder Linkogle. We were also
blessed to have family close by in Gilbert.
Elder Jensen’s aunt and uncle were given permission to visit before and
after surgery.
After surgery, Elder
Jensen was able to call home and talk with all of us, he sounded upbeat but
exhausted. Elder Jensen was even joking with us that he had broken two mission
rules, having his head shaved for surgery and having facial hair.
Missionary Work and the Pure Love of
Christ
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Brother & Sister Havea from North Mountain Ward
Elder Jensen loves the Haveas! |
We
soon received confirmation that the Lord’s plan is always the best plan and the best plan was not
for Elder Jensen’s mom and dad to be in the way of missionary work that still
took place for 6 days in his ICU room. Elder Jensen shared the gospel with every nurse
and hospital staff that he came in contact with. Later Elder Jensen wrote, “I
was still a missionary in ICU and invited all of the medical staff to go to
Mormon.org and learn more about our faith. Even a couple of them seemed really
interested. So I am glad to say that I used my time to the 'best' as I could
while in the hospital doing missionary work.” As a missionary, he shared his
spiritual experiences from his accident with his visitors. His ICU room became a spiritual and sacred
haven with angels attending. Elder Jensen wrote,
"Anyone that comes by and visits can feel the presents of angels that are in my room." Elder
Jensen remembered many details of his accident and just before the first car
hit them he had a sacred moment, he calls his “White Out.”
 |
Sister Hickman from Buckeye Arizona,
The Hickmans lived down the street from us in Utah and
moved to Buckeye last summer. |
We will always connect Elder Jensen’s accident
with charity, the pure love of Christ.The
North Mountain Ward served and loved our Elder like he was one of their very
own. We will always remember brothers and sisters in the gospel in Phoenix who
adjusted their schedules in this busy world and made the time to visit and take
care of Elder Jensen’s needs. We simply
couldn't have made it without knowing he had family in the gospel away from
home. Receiving email, text, and Facebook updates eased
our concerns and painted a picture of ward and stake members visiting and
attending to Elder Jensen’s needs when we could not be there.
 |
Uncle Mark & Aunt Jody with cousin Allie
Visiting from Gilbert |
One of the ICU
nurses explained to me, “The average Phoenix 20 year
old male is in the ICU due to gang violence.
A clean cut young man who was happy, courteous, and who wasn’t even
watching any of the Winter Olympics on T.V. was a patient that left a huge
impression on the ICU staff.” On some days, there was a line of visitors out
his door. His ICU room was covered with his favorite snacks of blue Powerade,
Pringles, and milkshakes. Many of Elder Jensen’s visitors were complete
strangers and had heard of his story and took time out of their busy schedules
to visit and drop off treats. One of these special visitors was Marcy Black who
lived in the same stake that Elder Jensen was serving in but had never met him
before. Marcy visited Elder Jensen
several times and sent me beautiful messages of hope. All I could think of was, if I knew of a
missionary away from home at our local hospital, would I take the time to go
and visit and would I have the courage to do so? Marcy would send
 |
| Brother Hickman - filling Elder Jensen up with shakes |
messages like, “If they
don’t let Elder Jensen go home soon, he will convert the hospital.” Also, “We
took our 18 year old daughter last night and she couldn’t stop talking about
the feeling in the room. She wanted to
go again tonight just to feel that same feeling.” If we had traveled to be with
our son, I know that we would have detracted from the missionary Spirit and it
would have been so difficult to leave.
Even
the nurses wanted a shift to work in Elder Jensen's ICU room.
Jeffrey R.
Holland has taught, “That not all angels are from the other side of the veil.
Some of them we walk with and talk with every day.” We would like to add that
earthly angels are found right in Phoenix in the North Mountain Ward and stake.
 |
Mia Palmer - My BYU college roommate!
Living in Gilbert with her family. I sent Mia
with a mission - to shave Elder Jensen!
He was so uncomfortable with
his facial hair, but he wouldn't go for it. |
The Jensen family is also grateful for the many who prayed in behalf of Elder Jensen. Elder Jensen wrote, “All I know
is that a lot of people are praying for me, and I feel your prayers. I believe
my name has even been through 15 temples already.” Elder
Jensen's cousins and friends who were serving missions around the world
and hundreds of other world wide missionaries were all praying for
Elder Jensen and he could feel this world wide power of prayer.
Marcy Black, who visited Elder Jensen several times - "Our
missionaries Elder Dobson and Young were blown away by the Spirit that
was in the room & the experience that Elder Jensen told them. We
were so lucky to be in room with 3 amazing servants of the Lord.
Sister
Tamara Larsen is another Arizona Angel. Sister Larsen heard of Elder
Jensen's story and traveled from Mesa the day after his surgery to visit
and take this video clip for me. In one of Elder Jensen's Emails,
Elder Jensen referred to Sister Larsen as "Missionary Mom for the State
of Arizona." I thought this kind of cute and sounded like "Miss
Arizona." I don't think Elder Jensen ever fully understood how
missionary mom's network together through email and Facebook groups, he
was amazed and humbled that complete strangers would take the time to
visit him"
Quick Recovery
 |
Three days after surgery - huge improvement!
Have you noticed what's common in almost everyone of
Elder Jensen's pictures - the "Shaka"
The Shaka is a reminder that everything is
all right & don't worry.
This was Elder Jensen's sign to me,
"Mom don't worry, I'm OK!" |
Elder Jensen’s priesthood blessing
of a full and quick recovery was fulfilled.
His appetite came back with a vengeance and he felt like his pain was
only a 4 out of a 10. Three days after
his surgery, President Taylor called me with the following update, "Elder
Jensen is sitting up reading his emails and working on an email himself. He no longer experiences head pain and pain
medicine will be reduced to Tylenol. His hair has started to grow back already
and it's still red. He is walking around, eating up a storm!” The promises from
his priesthood blessing were coming to pass, only three days after surgery and
he was sitting up reading his own emails and typing his own email on
p-day.
In
his very first email after only 3 days after his accident he wrote, “I am so
thankful for this accident, because it has helped me become more converted to
Him and His gospel. If everything goes well, I will be able to remain on my
mission and serve a full time honorable mission. Thank you so much for all of
your prayers, it really has been helping me. I am getting stronger and I am healing."
After
six
days at John C. Lincoln Hospital, Elder Jensen was released the evening
of February 18 the Taylors took him to recover at the mission home for a
couple days. On the way to the
mission office, the Taylors and Elder Jensen stopped for medication at
Walgreens. This is what Elder Jensen
wrote, “I had my proselyting clothes on, that looked really raggedy from the
accident and I didn't have a hat on, so everyone could see my big scar and
staples in my head and also my bloodshot right eye. So I basically kind of look
like a UFC fighter with my eye, my scar, and having a buzzed head, haha. So I
am sure I got some interesting looks while at Walgreens." Elder Jensen
basically did not sleep well during his ICU stay and enjoyed a couple of full
night night’s rest without being woken up by nurses or patients screaming out
in pain.
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First Day in Phoenix Mission with President and Sister Taylor
Elder Jensen loved the Taylors from the very first day!
August 13, 2013 |
After Elder
Jensen was released from the hospital, my updates soon came to an end. I had a difficult time transitioning from
having the freedom to calling the nurses station for updates to going back to
waiting for Monday’s P-day emails. At
the hospital everything was controlled for Elder Jensen, I was concerned about
the details of his recovery. During surgery, a piece of his skull was removed
to reach the blood clot, that small skull piece is now floating and will take
about a year to firmly reattach. The
neurosurgeon explained that it is very important that Elder Jensen not re-injure this soft spot in his skull – no bike riding, contact sports, or running for 6 months to a year. In the beginning, it
was difficult to not constantly worry about the possibility of re-injuring his
skull fractures or his soft spot. As an
answer to prayer, I received the following update from Sister Taylor the
morning after Elder Jensen was released "Elder Jensen is doing great! This
AM he walked a short walk with President Taylor while I jogged.
 |
Maricopa/Buckeye/Goodyear Zone Conference
Elder Jensen with Elder Linkogle - day after being released.
One of a kind picture - an Elder with a ski cap on
during Zone Conference. |
He is fully
functional. He is with us today in Zone Conference since he missed his day.
Elder Linkogle is with us as well. Elder Jensen is really doing better than you
may imagine. If he were at school, he would be back in class, just has to avoid
running, biking, etc. We anticipate he
will be back in his area by Saturday with members assisting in driving them
everywhere and coming in for him to nap as needed. With Elder Linkogle also
needing to keep things relaxed, those two can walk together in the AM and nap
as needed. Elder Jensen will either be with President Taylor or myself at all
times. If we need to be away, he can be with office couples. He will ease into
the modified daily schedule with us Thu and Fri this week. He is just doing
incredible! His blessing promised quick recovery and it is absolutely coming to
pass!"
Receiving Sister Taylor’s
email was another tender mercy that gave me enough peace and hope so that I
could wait till next P-day's email. Elder
Jensen spent three nights and four days at the mission home with the
Taylors. Elder Jensen rested, took naps,
wrote in his journal, and read his scriptures. The first day after being
released he was at Zone Conference and was able to take a nap in a side classroom in
the afternoon on a mattress that the Taylors had brought for him. His recovery
time at the mission home was a very special and
 |
While at the mission home, Elder Jensen found his name
on the APM flag - written on the first day
that he arrived in Phoenix. |
time for Elder Jensen
that allowed him one on one time with both President and Sister Taylor. He walked in the morning with President
Taylor. He even had “Companion Study”
with Sister Taylor. President &
Sister Taylor really tried to make his recovery time at the mission home fun
for Elder Jensen after everything that he had been through. Elder Jensen wrote,
“The Taylor's have done so much for me! I am so grateful for them, and all they
have done. I really can't find any words to describe my gratitude for them
because there are no words that are up with their charity. Sister Taylor totally reminds me of you mom.
She did all she could to help me, made me lunch and dinner when I was at the
mission home. They are wonderful. Also, the only female that any missionary can
be alone with is with Sister Taylor. President Taylor would be out visiting
people, and Sister Taylor and I would be in the home relaxing and talking. We
even did some personal and companionship studies.”
 |
My Favorite Hat
from the "Hat Parade"
|
Sister Taylor even had a “Hat Parade” for Elder
Jensen to find the perfect hat that would
cover his
staples and scar until his
hair would grow back in. She was so clever with this "Hat Parade" post
on her blog and compared the different hats that Elder Jensen tried on
to the different hats of life that we need to wear. Click here for the Hat Parade Link Here is also the link to Sister
Taylor’s blog Post "Tender Mercies" her perspective and thoughts about the
accident.
 |
A smiling Elder Jensen back with his comp -
Best picture a missionary mom could ever receive! |
 |
| Friends for Life! |
Elder Jensen was
blessed to return to his missionary apartment on February 21, eight days after
his accident. Elder Jensen resumed his
missionary work, with a modified schedule for a month which included a nap time and earlier bedtime.
“I am doing
really good right now, and don’t really have any pain,” said Elder Jensen. “I
just get tired easily and can feel the fractures in my head. I can tell that I
have been healing because my head was puffed up from the surgery, but now it
looks normal, so everyone’s prayers have helped me with a speedy recovery.
I
think my hair is starting to growing back in more red, and everyone keeps
telling me that the girls are going to love my scar after the mission.”
Scar Transformation
A Giant "C" to always remember to CTR
Elder Jensen is very proud of his scar!
 |
Milestone for Elder Jensen - Climbed a Phoenix mountain
with new companion, Elder Smith, and felt like he was
"King of the Mountain!" |
Since
Elder Jensen could
no longer ride his bike, the Priesthood members of North Mountain Ward
continued to serve Elder Jensen & Elder McFarland by driving them
everywhere they needed to go. This
opportunity resulted in many spiritual experiences for brethren in the
North
Mountain Ward as they participated in many teaching splits with these
Elders.
 |
"It feels like I'm in Heaven right now,
because the Williams area is so awesome!
I'm going to cherish everyday that I'm up here!" |
 |
Enjoying P-day lunch with Elder Albrecht
at the famous Flannery Kitchen! |
Elder Jensen
served two more months in the North Mountain Ward after his accident and
received his first transfer of his mission, almost 9 months, to Williams,
Arizona – Flagstaff Zone. Before Elder
Jensen found out the location of where he would be transferred to he wrote,
“President Taylor told me that he is excited for me of where I am transferring.
He said that he has been thinking of me going to this area for the last 5-6
weeks and feels that it is the right place for me."
Elder Jensen is currently
serving with Elder Albrecht in the Williams area. Williams, Arizona is 20-30 degrees cooler than
Phoenix and best of all, the Elders ride around in a truck. Elder Jensen has
been blessed with a full recovery, no headaches, no fatigue, with his full
level of energy restored.
Missionary Opportunities Still Continue
I was blessed with many opportunities to share Elder Jensen’s
story, as I spoke with many auto and medical insurance agents, hospital
billing departments, driver license division employees across the country. These opportunities led to conversations
about LDS Missionaries and why they serve.
Many responded, “I’m so happy that I received your call today, your son's story has inspired me.” I
remember talking for a long time with a Jewish lady back East, she had never
heard of the LDS Church or our missionaries, so it was a great opportunity to
give her an introduction to the Mormons.
Many were pleasantly surprised that Elder Jensen was not receiving any
physical therapy or rehab services and that he was back to serving as a full
time missionary. My medical &
insurance conversations were huge tender mercies, due to the Privacy Hipaa Law,
I was surprised that medical personal would even talk to me but they all
did. Once they heard Elder Jensen’s
story, their hearts were softened and we were able to exchange insurance information.
 |
You would never think that Elder Jensen is
serving in the Phoenix mission by this picture -
in the woods of Williams with a jacket on. |
Elder Jensen wrote in April, “So,
when I was a patient in the ICU room, President & Sister Taylor
talked to a man named Daniel that was next to me in ICU. Daniel was in a
motorcycle accident. President &
Sister Taylor also gave Daniel a Book of Mormon, and suggested he meet with the
missionaries. As of now, Daniel is now getting the lessons from the
missionaries! So, if it wasn't for the accident, Daniel in the ICU would have
never talked with the missionaries. So that is a really cool missionary
experience happening from the accident."
Also
President Taylor added to this story, In a recent weekly email from one of our
missionaries serving in the Deer Valley Zone, it read: "We have a new
investigator, Louise Juliano, who came to church yesterday and loved it! We
found her by way of contacting a media referral, her grandson Daniel was
referred by Elder Jensen and his companion a couple months ago when those
elders got into their serious car accident. Daniel happened to be in the same
hospital room with one of the missionaries because of a recent motorcycle
accident and was interested in learning more. Now we're teaching him and his
Grandmother!"
A
month after the accident, Elder Jensen and Elder McFarland were also called
upon to return to John C. Lincoln Hospital to give a priesthood blessing. When
they arrived, Elder Jensen couldn’t believe that they were sent to the very
same ICU room that he had stayed in! This
is a full circle of Priesthood blessings. To receive a priesthood blessing and
then to be blessed to recover from his accident and then return and give a
blessing at the same hospital and same room is not a coincidence - it is a
testament of the power of the priesthood.
Elder Jensen wrote, “After a day or 2 from giving the blessing, I was
told that Larry was taken out of the ICU room and has been getting a lot
better! Now that is power of the priesthood working right there! It is neat and
humbling to me that I am now physically able to give Priesthood blessings,
after I was given a blessing from my accident. I know for a fact that the
Priesthood blessing President Taylor gave me really helped. I also know and
have the faith that giving blessings to others is real and can help others
physically and spiritually.”
Then
a few weeks later Elder Jensen wrote, “We had a lesson with Larry, he is doing
a lot better and is walking. His wife is a member who is less active. Larry
even told his wife that he wanted to go to our LDS Church on Easter. So we saw
Larry and his wife at church on Easter Sunday. In the lesson we had with Larry
yesterday, the Spirit was very strong. Larry even told us that he had a
spiritual near death experience after I gave him a blessing in the ICU. Even
sometimes during the lesson, Larry came to tears because of how strong the Spirit
was. In the next lesson, Elder Smith and his companion better invite Larry to
be baptized. Because I believe Larry is golden! (Elder Jensen was transferred to
Williams after the first lesson.) Elder
Jensen received an update on Larry, “Larry is on fire right now with the
gospel, he comes to church every week and has been baptized!”
Always Remember
Before the accident I shared an idea with
Elder Jensen that our Stake President had shared. To place a penny in your shoe
to help you Always Remember..... and if you can't remember what to remember
then think about it until you can. So I guess Elder Jensen liked that idea and
put a penny in his shoe weeks before the accident. When he left the hospital,
the penny was still in his shoe!! The same penny had made it through the accident,
through the ride in the ambulance, through the ER, and through his 6 days in
ICU. Elder Jensen will "Always Remember" that he was never alone on
that night, that angels were protecting and watching over him, that his
Heavenly Father loves him deeply and knows him personally and is involved in
the details of his life.
A couple of weeks after the accident, Elder Jensen and Elder Linkogle returned to
the scene of the accident. There in the
debris of the accident they found one of their missionary pass along cards, marking
the place where tender mercies and miracles took place.
#Becauseofhim, Elder Jensen was blessed with power to do hard things. Because
of Him, Elder Jensen was blessed with Priesthood Blessings and blessed with the
power of prayer from many. Because of Him, Elder Jensen never felt alone but
felt the love of His Savior and Heavenly Father. Because of Him, the North
Mountain Ward & Phoenix members served Elder Jensen with Christlike love
during and after his hospital stay. Because of Him missionary work continued
for 6 days in ICU. Because of Him his parents back in a Utah were blessed with
peace and comfort. Because of Him, Elder Jensen was grateful for his accident
and his testimony of his loving Savior grew.
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Elder Jensen is my Stripling Warrior Hero! Elder Jensen did not doubt that
God would deliver him and he put his trust in God continually. He faced
his auto accident and surgery with courage and The Lord blessed him
with peace and great faith.
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Thank you all for reading Elder Jensen's story. As a missionary, Elder Jensen freely
shared his spiritual experiences of his accident with all who visited him in
the ICU and wrote about them so that others could feel the Spirit and love of their
Heavenly Father and Savior. Here is a link to his blog -
elderzachjensen.blogspot.com. It has been important for me to share Elder
Jensen’s story so that his story can continue to inspire others and be used as
a missionary tool.
Please
Note – Every missionary accident is unique and handled
differently by mission presidents around the world. Some missionaries
are sent home from third
world countries for medical treatment in the states. Many mission
presidents also request that parents travel to be with their injured
missionary, in
stateside and foreign missions.
