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