On Monday we went to Family Home Evening activity with our 6th and 7th wards. It was a combined activity. We were put into groups and we made cheesy funeral potatoes! Gabriel, our investigator, came and totally enjoyed himself! It was awesome!! Our potatoes were swimming in butter and grease so they weren't fantastic, but we had a good time making them and Gabriel enjoyed himself.
On Tuesday Sister Ziegler had the departing missionaries temple trip out in Star Valley. We rode out to Montpelier with the Hancock's and from there I went out to Paris with Sister Whitmer. So I served in Paris for a day! Woohoo! It reminded me of Star Valley, so I loved it haha. We contacted a few people and though I went back to Pocatello with a few bug bites it was a good time(:
When we finally get to Pocatello, Sister Ziegler and I head straight to softball. Activities are actually one if the most effective ways to find people in the ysa. It's been a wonderful fellow shipping opportunity for the members and a great way for us to meet investigators or less actives in a way that isn't as threatening as knocking on their door. Lots of ysa don't want to do lessons with us because they feel singled out and this way they come to know us more casually. It has it's pros and cons, but it's been good(: I did get to bat, and I did hit the ball and I did make it home! (i made it home mostly because the guy following me hit it almost over the fence but I mean it counts still and I didn't get out lol) That night, one of our ward mission leaders organized things so that the ward missionaries and us could go on splits and visit people in the ward. I went out with a girl named Ruth and we talked to everyone! It was fantastic! We spoke with 5 people in 45 minutes and I felt the more effective than I ever have my whole mission. Members do wonders and bring miracles. Go out with the missionaries, it makes a difference.
Wednesday we did the finding booth on ISU campus! It's amazing how many people we were able to see and invite to church and activites:) That evening we saw Nathan, a less active guy we are working with. Were were chatting on his doorstep and he randomly brought out his iguana and fed it spaghetti. I was pretty funny, iguanas like cooked plain spaghetti I guess.
Thursday...Special Zone conference in Soda Springs! It was basically a chance for President and Sister Hancock to share their testimony with us one last time and any last advice/words of wisdom and a great time to take pics and eat ice cream. One of the elders who served in this mission (but is now home) had each companionship make a video and say something about President and Sister Hancock. He then compiled all of our videos and added music. It was amazing and so sweet. Some of it was pretty funny but it really was a fun way to get to review their mission with them and think about our times with them. It was bittersweet, and I am going to miss them.
Friday was pretty successful, we met Madison! She graduated relatively recently and has been feeling lonely so it was pretty neat getting to finally see her and invite her out to activities. We had dinner with the Keners, and they are basically celestial beings. We also finally contacted a referral we have tried multiple times! His roommate invited us to come back for dinner and a lesson! Miracles. We met 2 guys both named Caleb. The first Caleb introduced himself and asked us if we had something we wanted to talk about, which of course we did! We were pretty excited and told him about the Book of Mormon. He was super chill with us coming back. That night we had a lesson with Gabriel! The Spirit was super strong and Gabriel really opened up about some of his concerns and his time table for baptism. (still in about a year, but he's making progress)
Saturday....we got Transfer calls! Sister Wilson is coming to be my companion!! It'll be fun(: This week is lining up to be pretty weird though with all the switching of comps going on. From Monday afternoon until Wednesday (transfer day) Sister Whitmer will be here with me in Pocatello. Then I'll get Sister Wilson. And then we'll get a new mission President! Craziness.
Anyways... Saturday afternoon we had a fantastic lesson with Alma! He's so close to going on a mission. The fellowshippers we brought with us really connected well with him and it was awesome to see! Super cool miracle that happened right after the lesson: Sister Ziegler has been pretty stressed about housing and lining things up for BYU-I. Well the sister that came to the lesson with us (she's awesome) is going to BYU-I and she has 3 people in her apartment and needed one more roommate and thought of Sister Ziegler! So things are getting all sorted out. Such a testimony builder of how aware Heavenly Father is of each of us. He literally dropped an apartment with good roommates in her lap. MIRACLES. So naturally we went and had celebratory McFlurries at McDonald's.
On Sunday Gabriel W came to church again! He sat by us and then Kailey, Ethan R, Ethan D, and Travis all came up to Gabriel and chatted with him. They sat in the row in front of us. Gabriel randomly turns to us and says, "Stare at Travis's head for a second...k Now look at this". Then he shows us a hedgehog emoji. We about died laughing. It was really random but so funny. Sister Mansfield (the bishop's wife) spoke in sacrament meeting and shared a lot of things i really appreciated. She said something that struck me, "if you feel like the Lord isn't answering your prayers, look back at the ones he has." I think we often forget the prayers God has answered once we're in the heat of another trial. It was a good reminder for me and caused me to reflect. At ward prayer that evening, every one wrote their name on a piece of paper and then the papers were passed around. We each wrote something nice about the person whose paper we had and kept passing. It was really sweet. It reminded every one of how we all need love and positivity in our life. Even though we joke and tease a ton, loving, uplifting words can do wonders for a person's day.
And last but not least, I dropped Sister Ziegler off at the mission home today. I've really appreciated the time we've had to be companions and I know she's made heavenly Father happy with her service. I know Heaven;y Father is watching over her, just as he is watching over each of us. I love you all, have a great week.
Love,
Sister Jensen
Monday, June 25, 2018
Monday, June 18, 2018
Happy Father's Day!!
Hello all!
Happy Father's day to all the dads out there! I want to say how thankful I am for the wonderful dad I have been blessed with and his example to me. Luckily we weren't asked to speak on father's day, (like we were for mother's day) but I still got time to think about the example my dad is to me. I know my life would look very different if he had chosen not to follow the gospel. I love my Dad and I hope everyone got a minute to share their appreciation for their fathers.
So last Monday, after we finished emails and everything our district went on a hike! We planned to go hike to the Pocatello "P" on some hill.. Well it was a pretty easy hike getting to the top of the hill, but the P wasn't there. Our district leader said it was just over some ridge, right off the trail. So we went. Nothing bad happened, but we did go a surprise 3 miles and holy cow I was dying by the end because I am not that in shape and was not prepared. An obvious gospel analogy here, but stay on the path. Even if you think it's worth it to wander, you'll be kicking yourself by the time you're too far to turn back. It's not worth it.
That evening we went on exchanges!! Sister Stott came here to Poky with me and Sister Ziegler went out to Inkom again! I promise we prayed about it. It was great to have another day with Sister Stott, I think we both needed it. She joined me for FHE, which was fun, we played kickball(: We're both soccer players so we enjoyed that haha. And what was better, a member brought his friend Mark, who is wanting to investigate! I say wanting because he's sort of at odds with his parents about it right now and we really don't want to do anything to create tension between his family and him. So it's sort of a waiting game, but he has a Book of Mormon and he loves how well it fits with the Bible. He's been reading it a lot and he really is ready for the gospel, eventually he'll find a way to meet with us.
On Tuesday we did a booth on the ISU campus and invited people to an activity that one of our wards is putting on. We were out in the sun for an hour...and then another half an hour because the Elders were super late. It was pretty tragic, but I didn't think to put on Sunscreen and then by the time the elders were supposed to be there I thought about it but was like "nah, they'll be here soon so we'll be leaving..not worth it." My poor skin, I burned BAD. I was wearing a coral dress I have and when I asked Sister Stott if I burned, she was like "nope I don't see anything." Then about an hour later I asked again and moved my dress a little and she was like "oh...yeah you did...it just blended in with your dress..." So you could say i got a little pink.
That evening we exchanged back and Sister Ziegler was back in Poky(: We definitely had a good exchange and learned from our sisters(:
We made some chocolate frogs with a member on Wednesday, that was super fun haha. Apparently she's made like 200-300 for Halloween before. Which blew my mind but it was fun. That evening we went out to institute in Arimo. It was a good lesson, we talked about the restoration and how the Book of Mormon and the Bible work together.
Thursday we had interviews with President Hancock. It was bittersweet, this was my last interview with President Hancock. We talked about the YSA and what it's like to serve there. It's hard to imagine having interviews with anyone else, so it'll be weird to have interviews with President Southward from now on. That evening we had institute and we went with one of our less actives. I think she's definitely doing better, she was already planning on going when we asked her about it(:
On Friday we had our last district meeting for this transfer. It was Sister Ziegler, Elder Cepeda, and Elder Rodriguez's last district meeting for their mission. I was feeling a little discouraged about our area, as were the other Elders in our district. Our district leader noticed and we had an awesome discussion about what we want to see happen in our area and made goals to accomplish it by next Friday. I walked away feeling very motivated and uplifted, and I think it was a great last district meeting for Sister Ziegler and the Elders to have.
Saturday we had a lesson with Alma, the young man preparing for a mission. He is definitely more set to go now and we talked about the Plan of Salvation section of Preach My Gospel. He recognized the opposition he faced this past week in trying to finish his papers and identified what Satan was trying to do to keep him from going on a mission. It was great to see his resolve to go solidifying and I can't wait to see where he gets called too. That evening we also finally met this girl we've been trying to get into contact with! We've been trying to stop by so we could invite her to the YSA and when we talked with her about it, she already had plans to start coming! SO that was great, hopefully we start to see her more(:
Sunday was great as well. Again, Happy Father's day to all the Father's out there. Unfortunately for the 7th ward bishopric, they still had to go to ward council in the morning...(it was their choice to do it, I'm not sure why it wasn't cancelled, but oh well) The meetings were all good, everyone was a little confused that Sister Ziegler was still with me because of exchanges earlier that week. We took a lot of pictures and assured many that she still had one more Sunday. That evening we attended a fireside at which Elder Foster and his wife spoke. Something his wife said really resonated with me, she spoke briefly about God's love and said "you are probably doing just fine in your Heavenly Father's eyes and if you don't believe me, get down on your knees."
I hope you all had a fantastic week, and if you aren't sure of God's love for you, do as Sister Foster directed and ask.
Love,
Sister Jensen
Happy Father's day to all the dads out there! I want to say how thankful I am for the wonderful dad I have been blessed with and his example to me. Luckily we weren't asked to speak on father's day, (like we were for mother's day) but I still got time to think about the example my dad is to me. I know my life would look very different if he had chosen not to follow the gospel. I love my Dad and I hope everyone got a minute to share their appreciation for their fathers.
So last Monday, after we finished emails and everything our district went on a hike! We planned to go hike to the Pocatello "P" on some hill.. Well it was a pretty easy hike getting to the top of the hill, but the P wasn't there. Our district leader said it was just over some ridge, right off the trail. So we went. Nothing bad happened, but we did go a surprise 3 miles and holy cow I was dying by the end because I am not that in shape and was not prepared. An obvious gospel analogy here, but stay on the path. Even if you think it's worth it to wander, you'll be kicking yourself by the time you're too far to turn back. It's not worth it.
That evening we went on exchanges!! Sister Stott came here to Poky with me and Sister Ziegler went out to Inkom again! I promise we prayed about it. It was great to have another day with Sister Stott, I think we both needed it. She joined me for FHE, which was fun, we played kickball(: We're both soccer players so we enjoyed that haha. And what was better, a member brought his friend Mark, who is wanting to investigate! I say wanting because he's sort of at odds with his parents about it right now and we really don't want to do anything to create tension between his family and him. So it's sort of a waiting game, but he has a Book of Mormon and he loves how well it fits with the Bible. He's been reading it a lot and he really is ready for the gospel, eventually he'll find a way to meet with us.
On Tuesday we did a booth on the ISU campus and invited people to an activity that one of our wards is putting on. We were out in the sun for an hour...and then another half an hour because the Elders were super late. It was pretty tragic, but I didn't think to put on Sunscreen and then by the time the elders were supposed to be there I thought about it but was like "nah, they'll be here soon so we'll be leaving..not worth it." My poor skin, I burned BAD. I was wearing a coral dress I have and when I asked Sister Stott if I burned, she was like "nope I don't see anything." Then about an hour later I asked again and moved my dress a little and she was like "oh...yeah you did...it just blended in with your dress..." So you could say i got a little pink.
That evening we exchanged back and Sister Ziegler was back in Poky(: We definitely had a good exchange and learned from our sisters(:
We made some chocolate frogs with a member on Wednesday, that was super fun haha. Apparently she's made like 200-300 for Halloween before. Which blew my mind but it was fun. That evening we went out to institute in Arimo. It was a good lesson, we talked about the restoration and how the Book of Mormon and the Bible work together.
Thursday we had interviews with President Hancock. It was bittersweet, this was my last interview with President Hancock. We talked about the YSA and what it's like to serve there. It's hard to imagine having interviews with anyone else, so it'll be weird to have interviews with President Southward from now on. That evening we had institute and we went with one of our less actives. I think she's definitely doing better, she was already planning on going when we asked her about it(:
On Friday we had our last district meeting for this transfer. It was Sister Ziegler, Elder Cepeda, and Elder Rodriguez's last district meeting for their mission. I was feeling a little discouraged about our area, as were the other Elders in our district. Our district leader noticed and we had an awesome discussion about what we want to see happen in our area and made goals to accomplish it by next Friday. I walked away feeling very motivated and uplifted, and I think it was a great last district meeting for Sister Ziegler and the Elders to have.
Saturday we had a lesson with Alma, the young man preparing for a mission. He is definitely more set to go now and we talked about the Plan of Salvation section of Preach My Gospel. He recognized the opposition he faced this past week in trying to finish his papers and identified what Satan was trying to do to keep him from going on a mission. It was great to see his resolve to go solidifying and I can't wait to see where he gets called too. That evening we also finally met this girl we've been trying to get into contact with! We've been trying to stop by so we could invite her to the YSA and when we talked with her about it, she already had plans to start coming! SO that was great, hopefully we start to see her more(:
Sunday was great as well. Again, Happy Father's day to all the Father's out there. Unfortunately for the 7th ward bishopric, they still had to go to ward council in the morning...(it was their choice to do it, I'm not sure why it wasn't cancelled, but oh well) The meetings were all good, everyone was a little confused that Sister Ziegler was still with me because of exchanges earlier that week. We took a lot of pictures and assured many that she still had one more Sunday. That evening we attended a fireside at which Elder Foster and his wife spoke. Something his wife said really resonated with me, she spoke briefly about God's love and said "you are probably doing just fine in your Heavenly Father's eyes and if you don't believe me, get down on your knees."
I hope you all had a fantastic week, and if you aren't sure of God's love for you, do as Sister Foster directed and ask.
Love,
Sister Jensen
Monday, June 11, 2018
Developing Charity
Hello hello everyone!
Just a short rundown of some things that happened this week, and then some thoughts I've had all week(:
On Tuesday we got a call that we would be moving into an apartment in Chubbuck, and that we needed to pack ourselves up! So Tuesday got a little eaten up, but we did get to invite a few people to a Softball game that the ysa was having....and 2 came!! On of our less actives came, (and actually played!!) And one of our potential investigators came!! It was awesome!
We moved Wednesday morning into the new apartment and it's much better than where they had us before hah. Only problem is, it is out in Chubbuck which is a few miles out of our area, but it's still great. We'll be there for a few weeks, until July. They're arranging a more permanent place for us closer to our area that we'll move into then. So for now, if you're sending mail, I'll include the mission office address at the end of my email(:
That evening we went out to softball again and a guy we met and invited that day came!! It was cool meeting him, but also made me a little sad and disappointed at first. It's the most frustrating thing getting a referral for someone who is less active, but also a returned missionary. Already it's sad to see people fall away from the church, but it just makes me a little mad seeing a missionary who has fallen away because you know they sacrificed a portion of their life to go teach what they knew to be true, and now they aren't living it for whatever reason. It does however, allow us to be quite bold with the questions we ask which I needed. As we met this guy, he was being pretty meh and wishy washy about church and coming back and doing everything he knows he needs to be doing. Which honestly really frustrated me. So I finally asked a question that has come to mind many times and would definitely make me stop and think. I asked what he would say if one of his investigators on his mission had answered him the same way. He gave a little "oooh.." and sat back thinking a bit. He tried to avoid the question a little but we just sat and waited. Finally he got quiet and said he knew he needed to be coming to church. We talked more and set some goals with him and then invited him to softball that night, which he did come too(:
On Friday we had District meeting, which really focused on Charity. I'll touch more on that later(:
Saturday got interesting, basically our day was scheduled and looking good, but then got totally flipped around and it was a mess, but an inspired mess I guess. Main things that happened that day- we had a lesson with a guy preparing for a Mission, which was really good(: we went over a bit more of Preach My Gospel and helped answer some questions he had. That evening we went and helped out with a service project hauling tree limbs. It was really fun and I felt pretty gpod after, had a few scratches but oh well.
And Sunday. What a mess. Again an inspired mess, but a mess. There was a lot but what I prepared my talk on struck me the most. (We spoke in the Marsh Valley YSA ward) I felt like I needed to speak on Charity and developing Christ-Like attributes, and based my talk out of Mosiah chapter 21 (the story of Limhi and his people getting out of bondage) and a few Conference talks. (Pure Love: The True Sign of Every True Disciple of Jesus Christ, and Tomorrow the Lord Will Work Wonders Among You)
Preparing for my talk I learned a lot about Charity and letting people change. I think I understood the personal part of charity pretty well and the concept of loving those around you and being patient with others. That's what I would think of when charity came to mind anyways. I never thought a whole lot about the flip-side of charity. With wanting to develop charity, you yourself are looking to change and become better. With that, if others around you are trying to change and become better, you need to let them change as well. I think an essential part of having charity is putting away past judgments and opinions and letting someone become better if they are trying to as well.
(small storytime) The Elder that is currently my district leader has now spent four transfers serving around me, and in my district. It has been interesting. I will admit, when he was in my district the first transfer I didn't really care for him. He didn't strike me as arrogant or annoying or anything, I just didn't understand him so he wasn't my favorite. It didn't really feel like he cared about us all that much, or was very sincere. It felt like he was looking to call us out. But I knew I needed to love him, so I would try to keep an open mind to him. The next transfer came and he became a different person. Not necessarily better, but different and I didn't understand him even more. As transfer calls came I was a little relieved to think I'd be getting away from him and wouldn't have to try to figure him out anymore...and then we got the calls and I just had to laugh. Obviously the Lord wasn't going to let me run from all my problems.
It's been amazing to get to serve two more transfers around him though. I can tell that he has recognized things he needs to improve on, and has placed a heavy emphasis on charity. I can tell you now, he is one of my favorite Elders I've served with. It was interesting at first though, seeing his desire to change. Just a few weeks into the first transfer here I could tell he wanted to do things differently, and I had to remind myself to let him change and love him for whomever he decided to be.
Hopefully this made sense, but with developing ourselves, we also need to let others change and grow.
Anyways, I love you all, have a great week!
Love,
Sister Jensen
Just a short rundown of some things that happened this week, and then some thoughts I've had all week(:
On Tuesday we got a call that we would be moving into an apartment in Chubbuck, and that we needed to pack ourselves up! So Tuesday got a little eaten up, but we did get to invite a few people to a Softball game that the ysa was having....and 2 came!! On of our less actives came, (and actually played!!) And one of our potential investigators came!! It was awesome!
We moved Wednesday morning into the new apartment and it's much better than where they had us before hah. Only problem is, it is out in Chubbuck which is a few miles out of our area, but it's still great. We'll be there for a few weeks, until July. They're arranging a more permanent place for us closer to our area that we'll move into then. So for now, if you're sending mail, I'll include the mission office address at the end of my email(:
That evening we went out to softball again and a guy we met and invited that day came!! It was cool meeting him, but also made me a little sad and disappointed at first. It's the most frustrating thing getting a referral for someone who is less active, but also a returned missionary. Already it's sad to see people fall away from the church, but it just makes me a little mad seeing a missionary who has fallen away because you know they sacrificed a portion of their life to go teach what they knew to be true, and now they aren't living it for whatever reason. It does however, allow us to be quite bold with the questions we ask which I needed. As we met this guy, he was being pretty meh and wishy washy about church and coming back and doing everything he knows he needs to be doing. Which honestly really frustrated me. So I finally asked a question that has come to mind many times and would definitely make me stop and think. I asked what he would say if one of his investigators on his mission had answered him the same way. He gave a little "oooh.." and sat back thinking a bit. He tried to avoid the question a little but we just sat and waited. Finally he got quiet and said he knew he needed to be coming to church. We talked more and set some goals with him and then invited him to softball that night, which he did come too(:
On Friday we had District meeting, which really focused on Charity. I'll touch more on that later(:
Saturday got interesting, basically our day was scheduled and looking good, but then got totally flipped around and it was a mess, but an inspired mess I guess. Main things that happened that day- we had a lesson with a guy preparing for a Mission, which was really good(: we went over a bit more of Preach My Gospel and helped answer some questions he had. That evening we went and helped out with a service project hauling tree limbs. It was really fun and I felt pretty gpod after, had a few scratches but oh well.
And Sunday. What a mess. Again an inspired mess, but a mess. There was a lot but what I prepared my talk on struck me the most. (We spoke in the Marsh Valley YSA ward) I felt like I needed to speak on Charity and developing Christ-Like attributes, and based my talk out of Mosiah chapter 21 (the story of Limhi and his people getting out of bondage) and a few Conference talks. (Pure Love: The True Sign of Every True Disciple of Jesus Christ, and Tomorrow the Lord Will Work Wonders Among You)
Preparing for my talk I learned a lot about Charity and letting people change. I think I understood the personal part of charity pretty well and the concept of loving those around you and being patient with others. That's what I would think of when charity came to mind anyways. I never thought a whole lot about the flip-side of charity. With wanting to develop charity, you yourself are looking to change and become better. With that, if others around you are trying to change and become better, you need to let them change as well. I think an essential part of having charity is putting away past judgments and opinions and letting someone become better if they are trying to as well.
(small storytime) The Elder that is currently my district leader has now spent four transfers serving around me, and in my district. It has been interesting. I will admit, when he was in my district the first transfer I didn't really care for him. He didn't strike me as arrogant or annoying or anything, I just didn't understand him so he wasn't my favorite. It didn't really feel like he cared about us all that much, or was very sincere. It felt like he was looking to call us out. But I knew I needed to love him, so I would try to keep an open mind to him. The next transfer came and he became a different person. Not necessarily better, but different and I didn't understand him even more. As transfer calls came I was a little relieved to think I'd be getting away from him and wouldn't have to try to figure him out anymore...and then we got the calls and I just had to laugh. Obviously the Lord wasn't going to let me run from all my problems.
It's been amazing to get to serve two more transfers around him though. I can tell that he has recognized things he needs to improve on, and has placed a heavy emphasis on charity. I can tell you now, he is one of my favorite Elders I've served with. It was interesting at first though, seeing his desire to change. Just a few weeks into the first transfer here I could tell he wanted to do things differently, and I had to remind myself to let him change and love him for whomever he decided to be.
Hopefully this made sense, but with developing ourselves, we also need to let others change and grow.
Anyways, I love you all, have a great week!
Love,
Sister Jensen
Monday, June 4, 2018
Pink Lemonade & Dirt Holes
Hello hello! We had a super busy week, so as a result, I wrote a novel. Love you all!!!
During pday activities on Monday I got to know one of our elders better, Elder Calhoun. Neither of us like basketball, (which is what the activity was) so we ended up passing a soccer ball amidst the basketball games. He surprised me, and told me he was a convert of a year and a few months, and was previously a solid baptist who hated mormons. It was really neat to hear his testimony and strengthened mine.
Also, Gabriel came to FHE Monday night!! The activity was super chill, for which we were very thankful. At first there weren't a ton of people, (like 5) but by mormon standard time we had a pretty good turnout. We played some games with him and other ward members and then actually ducked out a little quick. He stayed when we left so pretty sure he enjoyed himself!
On Tuesday we had our last (normal) Zone Conference with President and Sister Hancock. We will have another special Zone Conference, mainly to say our goodbyes and hear their testimonies one last time. The spirit was very strong as we met together to recieve council from them for the last time.
Thier testimonies were both very sweet. I felt very torn the whole conference, the spirit was present and I couldn't tell if I was on the verge of tears for the better part of our time because of it, or because of the love they expressed for us and how much I will miss them when they are released. President Hancock spoke about waiting for the golden nuggets vs. patiently collecting golden flecks. He compared it to waiting for some miraculous sign to base our testimonies off of, or collecting the small tender mercies the Lord sends to strengthen and solidify our testimonies. Sister Hancock spoke of our vision and focused on seeing ourselves clearly and fortifying our testimonies. She stressed how we need to look inward at our own flaws before criticizing others and evaluate what we are lacking.
Both of them spoke with love and concern and I wish I could convey the spirit felt there. So many wonderful principles were taught and discussed, and I could feel the imlortance of what they were trying to teach us in preparation for a new mission president to come in.
One thing that really struck me powerfully was when Elder Rasmussen bore his testimony. He has seen the transition of 4 mission presidents in different periods of his life and touched on what would make this one different. He spoke about how the Southward's have young children who will be excited and watchful of us as missionaries. He talked about the impact we will have on these children and how seriously we should be taking this responsibility. It made me think of my own younger siblings, and brought me back to thoughts I've had often of them. I hope they can see the testimony I have of this gospel through my service as a missionary. And if nothing else, even if I didn't get to see anyone return or find the gospel through my efforts as a missionary, I'd hope my example to them was enough to help strengthen their testimonies. I hope we as missionaries will be able to have positive impact on the Southward's children and help them recognize the importance of the gospel at a young age.
On Wednesday we headed back out to Soda Springs to help with a service project. As a mission, we all had the opportunity to participate in the building of a play ground in Soda(: It was pretty funny actually, I ended up digging out a hole filled too deep, then helping to fill some other holes, and then had to unfill those holes because we were told wrong and should not have filled them. Many lessons can be taken away from the whole experience.
It was interesting to start out unfilling holes because as we started, I had the small thought "what idiots, they filled this 3ft hole all the way instead of halfway, and now I'm here cleaning their mess out with a garden trowel." I was slightly annoyed, and it sort of felt like they were abusing our free labor, but oh well. (It was still fun, service always is) That part reminded me of the atonement though. Jesus Christ sees the messes we've made of ourselves from having too much of whatever, and not enough of the solidifying gospel principles and small commandments he asks us to keep. (Filling the hole completely with dirt vs. Half dirt and half concrete). He sees our mess and helps us, without complaint, because of the love he has for us.
After unfilling that hole we started helping build the entrance buy getting some poles straightened and helping them stand exactly where they needed to be. After getting all the poles in place, the guy instructing us told us to fill the holes a small bit with dirt to stabilize the poles. While this was a good idea, after doing so the architect came by later and said we needed to unfill them because the holes were to be filled completely with concrete. Again, we had to get out our little garden trowels and dig what we had just poured.
This part reminded me of false prophets and correct ordinances. While people may have good intent and truly want to help us come closer to Christ, certain things, (such as baptism, sacrament, blessings, sealings, etc) need to be done by proper authority and direction from God. Such important ordinances cannot be done wrong, otherwise we jeopardize our entrance to God's kingdom. I didn't think to question the construction guy's instructions, but perhaps I should have. I also gained compassion and empathy for those who's holes we had fixed before because I could see how easy it was to be deceived and to mess up. Lots of life lessons from digging holes.
(Sorry the novel continues)
Thursday we had MLC, (Mission Leadership Council), which was also President and Sister Hancock's last MLC. So as you can imagine, many a emotions were felt. It was all a very wonderful Council and I walked away with a better understanding of how important our example as missionaries will be in this transition for our mission president. We got to sing a special version of "We Are All Enlisted" to President and Sister Hancock, as this is their favorite hymn. I'll have to include the lyrics, it was a very bittersweet moment and I definitely teared up.
More tender moments in MLC- two of out AP's (we have four right now to help prepare for the new mission president) decided to compliment each member of MLC. They very thoughtfully came up with a way to increase the love and charity in our mission, which was to feed each other verbally, with compliments. So prayerfully, they thought of what examples we all are to them and went around the whole circle telling each of us individually, what stood out to them. It was very touching and impactful. I challenge you all to verbalize the kind thoughts you have about others, and tell them how they are christlike examples to you. You'll find greater christ-like love and care for them.
Last thing holy cow, I apologize for the length. Sister Ziegler and I saw many miracles on Saturday when our afternoon completely fell apart, but was reconstructed by Heavenly Father. We had 3 appointments planned, and members excited to with us to each of them. Come Saturday morning all but one had cancelled. By the time our afternoon emptied out, we had to get to the one lesson still intact so had no time to plan the rest of our day. Somehow though, Heavenly Father organized it for us and we ended up getting to know the campus housing, correlating with 2 ward mission leaders, contacting people out in McCammon, and getting lists of referrals. It was amazing, and we even got Pink Lemonade on the way home! (Pics included)
My week was full of lessons and miracles as I hope yours all were too. Love you all!
Love,
Sister Jensen
During pday activities on Monday I got to know one of our elders better, Elder Calhoun. Neither of us like basketball, (which is what the activity was) so we ended up passing a soccer ball amidst the basketball games. He surprised me, and told me he was a convert of a year and a few months, and was previously a solid baptist who hated mormons. It was really neat to hear his testimony and strengthened mine.
Also, Gabriel came to FHE Monday night!! The activity was super chill, for which we were very thankful. At first there weren't a ton of people, (like 5) but by mormon standard time we had a pretty good turnout. We played some games with him and other ward members and then actually ducked out a little quick. He stayed when we left so pretty sure he enjoyed himself!
On Tuesday we had our last (normal) Zone Conference with President and Sister Hancock. We will have another special Zone Conference, mainly to say our goodbyes and hear their testimonies one last time. The spirit was very strong as we met together to recieve council from them for the last time.
Thier testimonies were both very sweet. I felt very torn the whole conference, the spirit was present and I couldn't tell if I was on the verge of tears for the better part of our time because of it, or because of the love they expressed for us and how much I will miss them when they are released. President Hancock spoke about waiting for the golden nuggets vs. patiently collecting golden flecks. He compared it to waiting for some miraculous sign to base our testimonies off of, or collecting the small tender mercies the Lord sends to strengthen and solidify our testimonies. Sister Hancock spoke of our vision and focused on seeing ourselves clearly and fortifying our testimonies. She stressed how we need to look inward at our own flaws before criticizing others and evaluate what we are lacking.
Both of them spoke with love and concern and I wish I could convey the spirit felt there. So many wonderful principles were taught and discussed, and I could feel the imlortance of what they were trying to teach us in preparation for a new mission president to come in.
One thing that really struck me powerfully was when Elder Rasmussen bore his testimony. He has seen the transition of 4 mission presidents in different periods of his life and touched on what would make this one different. He spoke about how the Southward's have young children who will be excited and watchful of us as missionaries. He talked about the impact we will have on these children and how seriously we should be taking this responsibility. It made me think of my own younger siblings, and brought me back to thoughts I've had often of them. I hope they can see the testimony I have of this gospel through my service as a missionary. And if nothing else, even if I didn't get to see anyone return or find the gospel through my efforts as a missionary, I'd hope my example to them was enough to help strengthen their testimonies. I hope we as missionaries will be able to have positive impact on the Southward's children and help them recognize the importance of the gospel at a young age.
On Wednesday we headed back out to Soda Springs to help with a service project. As a mission, we all had the opportunity to participate in the building of a play ground in Soda(: It was pretty funny actually, I ended up digging out a hole filled too deep, then helping to fill some other holes, and then had to unfill those holes because we were told wrong and should not have filled them. Many lessons can be taken away from the whole experience.
It was interesting to start out unfilling holes because as we started, I had the small thought "what idiots, they filled this 3ft hole all the way instead of halfway, and now I'm here cleaning their mess out with a garden trowel." I was slightly annoyed, and it sort of felt like they were abusing our free labor, but oh well. (It was still fun, service always is) That part reminded me of the atonement though. Jesus Christ sees the messes we've made of ourselves from having too much of whatever, and not enough of the solidifying gospel principles and small commandments he asks us to keep. (Filling the hole completely with dirt vs. Half dirt and half concrete). He sees our mess and helps us, without complaint, because of the love he has for us.
After unfilling that hole we started helping build the entrance buy getting some poles straightened and helping them stand exactly where they needed to be. After getting all the poles in place, the guy instructing us told us to fill the holes a small bit with dirt to stabilize the poles. While this was a good idea, after doing so the architect came by later and said we needed to unfill them because the holes were to be filled completely with concrete. Again, we had to get out our little garden trowels and dig what we had just poured.
This part reminded me of false prophets and correct ordinances. While people may have good intent and truly want to help us come closer to Christ, certain things, (such as baptism, sacrament, blessings, sealings, etc) need to be done by proper authority and direction from God. Such important ordinances cannot be done wrong, otherwise we jeopardize our entrance to God's kingdom. I didn't think to question the construction guy's instructions, but perhaps I should have. I also gained compassion and empathy for those who's holes we had fixed before because I could see how easy it was to be deceived and to mess up. Lots of life lessons from digging holes.
(Sorry the novel continues)
Thursday we had MLC, (Mission Leadership Council), which was also President and Sister Hancock's last MLC. So as you can imagine, many a emotions were felt. It was all a very wonderful Council and I walked away with a better understanding of how important our example as missionaries will be in this transition for our mission president. We got to sing a special version of "We Are All Enlisted" to President and Sister Hancock, as this is their favorite hymn. I'll have to include the lyrics, it was a very bittersweet moment and I definitely teared up.
More tender moments in MLC- two of out AP's (we have four right now to help prepare for the new mission president) decided to compliment each member of MLC. They very thoughtfully came up with a way to increase the love and charity in our mission, which was to feed each other verbally, with compliments. So prayerfully, they thought of what examples we all are to them and went around the whole circle telling each of us individually, what stood out to them. It was very touching and impactful. I challenge you all to verbalize the kind thoughts you have about others, and tell them how they are christlike examples to you. You'll find greater christ-like love and care for them.
Last thing holy cow, I apologize for the length. Sister Ziegler and I saw many miracles on Saturday when our afternoon completely fell apart, but was reconstructed by Heavenly Father. We had 3 appointments planned, and members excited to with us to each of them. Come Saturday morning all but one had cancelled. By the time our afternoon emptied out, we had to get to the one lesson still intact so had no time to plan the rest of our day. Somehow though, Heavenly Father organized it for us and we ended up getting to know the campus housing, correlating with 2 ward mission leaders, contacting people out in McCammon, and getting lists of referrals. It was amazing, and we even got Pink Lemonade on the way home! (Pics included)
My week was full of lessons and miracles as I hope yours all were too. Love you all!
Love,
Sister Jensen
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)