Family Pictures!

Hello!!

My week- it wasn't too eventful, but a few things happened! We had Zone conference on Tuesday which was pretty fun(: The messages were all centered on Charity, which is something I've been think about a lot anyways, so I really enjoyed it. I feel like we run into all sorts of people out here and it's really easy to look at someone and start to make a judgement. I enjoyed the reminder to look past our snap judgement, and understanding more about charity. There was also a talent show that I participated in, I sang "away in a manger" and played my uke. I took a video at home so I'll send that today.

That evening we got to go to a Christmas party and sang with the Young Women at an assisted living home. We sang a song that the yw have been practicing, and then did come more Christmas carols that the ladies requested. It was a fun night, and I enjoyed getting to do some caroling this year. Hopefully we'll get more caroling in before Christmas, I feel like I haven't gotten my fill in.

We got to go on exchanges this Friday, which meant I DROVE IN THE SNOW! Sister Thomas joined Sister Zeigler in Afton and Sister Loring joined me in Grover. Which meant, I drove the car. I've missed driving. And I did pretty good on the snow, Sister Loring only screamed twice. (jk we were fine, im fine) It was a good time, Sister Loring is a new STL, and new to Star Valley so she was fun to get to meet. We took a family portrait while we were together, modeled after a photo we found at the Reinharts. (i'll include it)

Last highlight, Sister Thomas and I gave talks this Sunday. I was pretty calm going into it, We were given a pretty comfortable subject. Bishop asked us to talk about ourselves, our families, our decision to serve, and missionary work. So I felt pretty comfy. Then, when I was siting on the stand, I started panicking because it felt like i wasn't tying my decision to serve into missionary work very well. And/or there were just sudden nerves in general. Well I got up, talked a bit about my family, shared who's been on missions and then talked about my decision to serve. I was actually quite glad to get to share this, because I feel like most people look at missionaries and just assume they're perfect and that we're basically raised to serve, but that's not the case. I feel like people especially thought this of me when I shared that my mom and dad both served, and then that my older sister served. It was nice to get to explain how I really made this decision for myself, and whats more, that I originally decided not to go, but later realized I was letting my fears control me. After explaining that, the Spirit kicked in and took me on a different course than I had planned, but I was grateful for it. I talked about how many of us, like myself, let our fears keep us from doing missionary work, and how we need to set those aside and share the knowledge we have. I felt like I connected with a lot of people, and like I had followed the spirit so it felt good.

I hope you all have a good week and look for ways to share the gospel(:

I love you!!
Sister Jensen

Christmas for dayssss

Hello all!

My week... So on Tuesday Sister Thomas and I were asked to come over and do service for an older lady in the world....and do some Christmas decorating! Not sure if it really counted as service, but she really appreciated it. She can't stand very long without getting exhausted, so we put up her tree for her and set out her nativities. Surprisingly, fake trees are very common here. Because it's so cold and dry, they tend to die super fast so a lot of people do fake trees. Makes me sad because the smell of pine really makes it feel like Christmas, but this isn't my first year without a real Christmas tree. (nor would we have a place to put one) We helped her get her house ready for Christmas though, for which she was really thankful. We were also able to do something with the single banana bread that made it safely out of the oven. An older lady in the ward recently passed away, and we had stopped by to see how her husband was doing. We offered to bake him cookies, but he got a ton of cookies lately, so i suggested bread instead. He was super excited. I felt a little sheepish stopping by with just one small loaf, (i had planned to give him 2 at least), but when he saw us and i offered it to him he was so happy and excited. He's a sweet man, and we're hoping he follows his wife's request and comes back to church. (she had health issues so they couldn't attend, he'd stay home to care for her)

The next day we were so many places. We had a list of like 20 people that we needed to hand invitations to for Christmas parties, and holy cow we got them all out. More than half the people weren't home, so that was a little sad, but it felt productive because we were stopping by so many places. Half of the invitations were for a relief society party that was happening the next night, so we just left those ones by the door. We got to talk with a few people, and then had a lesson with the Kenningtons later that night. They're warming up to us more, and the dad was actually home and participating this time so that was good. We went over the first part of the plan of salvation, and it just felt like a good lesson.

Transfers happened this week, and as expected, Sister Thomas and I stayed put. We got a new Elder in our district, which was cool. He wasn't super talkative, but then again, not many of the elders seem to know how to act around sisters so he'll adjust. Lets see...not a ton of excitement in my week. Tomorrow we have Zone conference, and there will be a talent show. I signed up to do something, but forgot to record myself doing it so you'll all have to wait till next week to see what I did.

I love you all and I hope you have a fantastic week!!

Love,
Sister Jensen

Raw Eggs and Wreaths

Hello all!

It is crazy to think Thanksgiving was just last week! It seems like so long ago alreadyx) My week has been good! It's seemed to go by really quick, it felt like we had half the week scheduled by Monday night. To start, on Monday evening we taught the Titenser family again, and I'm just really excited about them. They're such a sweet family, and Brandon, the dad, seems to have a very sincere desire to come back to church. The boys have warmed up to us, and I really look forward to their lessons. They all seem to be excited about the gospel again, and it's so sweet to see.

On Sunday, we got a new ward mission leader! This was a little bittersweet, as Brother Porter is a great ward mission leader and such a sweet man. We had our first meeting with Brother Call on Tuesday, and he seems excited and ready to delve back into missionary work! On Wednesday, Sister Thomas and I made wreaths!! Oh my word, I had so much fun!! The lady we met last week, Andy, invited us to come to her annual wreath making party. Every year she makes 20+ wreaths and invites people to come and make their own. This all started back when she was young. She and her dad would go out into the woods around November and make wreath after wreath from the branches they found or could cut. Then when she was going through college, she would make 300 wreaths each Christmas to pay for her tuition. Now she does it for fun, because Christmas wouldn't be the same without wreath making. It was such a fun activity! I'll include pictures, but Sister Thomas and I both did a pretty good job for the first time!

That night, we had our first successful Book of Mormon class for the Grover ward! At first it was just Sister Thomas and I and two wonderful ward members, but then a truck speeds into the church parking lot and in comes TINA!! She is a less active member who we have been trying and trying with. She knows the gospel is true, but can't seem to bring herself to do much of the commitments we leave. But she came to our Book of Mormon class!!! We had stopped by her house earlier that day, and she basically told us a very wishy washy maybe when we reminded her about it. So we were shocked when she showed up, and SO HAPPY!!! It was such a great little class.

The highlight of my week was Friday though. Sister Thomas and I, although we loved our wreaths, decided to give them away. We gave one to Tina, who really appreciated it, and one to a lady named Shelly, who works at the Grover Post office. Earlier in the week, Shelly had opened up to us, and told us about some struggles her family has faced that makes Christmas time really hard for her. We decided to give our other wreath to her and wow. Heavenly Father knows each of us so well and loves us so much. We gave her the wreath and she cried. She told us that she had an absolutely awful day. She was really touched and it was such a sweet moment to have with her.

Also this weekend, we had stake conference. Adam and Emily (my aunt and uncle) spoke at the adult evening session, and they talked about raising your kids in righteousness. They did a really good job, and I loved what they had to say. They outlined some of the ways they have tried to teach and protect their kids with the guidance of the prophet and apostles. I think it's wonderful to have a temple so close, and they definitely help their kids understand the importance of the temple. While they were speaking, I was thinking most about those that we've met that don't have the gospel in their homes. The gospel can bring much needed guidance to parents. I feel like the most important and fundamental truth the gospel can instill in a child though, is their divine worth. I feel like so many children would have had much better lives if they had just been taught that they are a divine son or daughter of God. That knowledge alone could protect them from damaging insecurities and help them keep higher standards for themselves, that could keep them out of trouble later on.

Sister Thomas and I were also in awe as the stake president spoke, because he included the two stories from the Bible and Book of Mormon that we had just gone over in companion study. He talked about the parable of the good Samaritan, and then they story of Moroni and Pahoran in the Book of Mormon. The good Samaritan teaches us to love everyone, regardless of class or race. The story of Moroni and Pahoran teaches us not to take offense and focus on the bigger picture. President Daniels admonished us all to more actively love EVERYONE and be careful not to take offense, but continue to love as the Savior would. It was an amazing talk and a great message.

On a side note, Sister Thomas and I ate at a members house last night, and they both seem to take pleasure in making missionaries squirm. They fed us a Japanese dish, which altogether wasn't that bad at all. If you took away the tofu, and raw egg, i might actually say I liked it. Would eat it again even. But yes, to begin we cracked a raw egg into a bowl (each of us) and proceeded to dip everything in this raw egg. I'm not sure what flavor it was meant to add other than slime...not a fan. I apologize to those who enjoy this sort of dish, but it was not my fav.

It was a good week though and I hope everyone has begun the light the world challenge that the church has put out! If you haven't go onto mormon.org and you'll find a calendar of service ideas, and videos for each day. It's a simple way to focus on whats really important this time of year, and spread love to those around us. Have a great week!!

Love,
Sister Jensen