Hello hello!!!
This week was CRAZY, so buckle up, my email may get long....(er than normal)
We'll start breifly with Monday, we had 4 non members there at the family home evening activity!! So that was fantastic!! People are coming up everywhere for us to teach, it's great!
Tuesday was nuts. President Southward called us late morning and to summarize, asked us to prepare a musical number to record for Friday. President had this idea he's mentioned a few times, to make this music video to send out in the mission. Basically the video is supposed to help members be more aware of missionary work and have something nice to watch to keep it on their minds. So he wanted us to sing for it and gave us 4 days to be ready to record. President seems to be testing how well I do under pressure. A good chunk of the remainder of that day was taken up looking for music and figuring out what we wanted to do. President had named off 3 songs he liked or wanted in there or something. (We weren't exactly sure what he was looking for at first) Well those songs definitely didn't go together so we chose one of them and mashed it up with another song we knew & had found music for.
We also had 2 lessons that day! One with Mary, the girl we found through the fireside out in Chubbuck, and one with a guy out in Inkom. Our lesson with Mary was great, she is so ready to be baptized!!! She's honestly just figuring out when. We had an awesome lesson with her and talked all about prophets. It was so refreshing to hear her testimony and excitement about prophets. She saw the need we have for a modern day prophet and since downloading gospel library on her phone, has been listening to talks nonstop! She's been so prepared(:
The guy we met with is named Zach, and he grew up a member when he was younger, but wasn't taught much at home. He's had a pretty rough life because of some choices he's made but he has taken steps to move on from all that and is looking for God in his life now. We had a lesson with him on prophets and priesthood as well, and he definitely has questions, but is very accepting.
Wednesday we had an appointment with a guy named Ricky, who i had actually met when I was first in the area! He went home for the summer, but now he's back and open to meeting with us again!! We had a good lesson with him, but he didn't come to church this Sunday so we'll see what came up when we meet with him next.
(We also got Cafe Rio that night which was soooo good. Definitely my fav spot in Poky)
I gotta skip because I'm running out of time. Friday we recorded the video and holy cow that was a lot. It was a little overwhelming because this guy had mics & lights & the whole deal. And it was only after we did a few takes that President really explained what it was for. Like afterwards he explained that this video would be in each home in the mission, and we were like "woahhhh pressure" and then he was like "nah, you just gotta worry about Elder Cook & Elder Anderson of the 12 watching it" and we were like "waaaaaaat" I think it'll turn out good though...i'll send it when it's all put together!!
Also, title explanation. Transfers are on Thursday (sad, I know, I already cried) and I will be moving out to Chubbuck! I'll be opening a new area and training a new missionary! Also, we will be walking. So that will be fun. Lots of tights. Hopefully she comes prepared.
Oh and also, another reason this week was stressful, we sang in church yesterday! Sorry, i totally forgot to record it, maybe we'll be able to before I leave. But it was fun! Sister Wilson and I sang with a girl from 6th ward. We sang a medley of "Come Thou Fount" and "If You Could Hie to Kolob". It went well!!
Anyways, I love you all!!! I hope y'all have a great week!!
Love,
Sister Jensen
Monday, September 24, 2018
Monday, September 17, 2018
Getting Set Up in McCammon
Hola!!
This week we did the light presentation 2 more times! I'm not quite sure if we'll ever stop with that one, but I really do love that song now. It was awesome though, we gained a new investigator though it!!! We helped with a youth fireside out in Chubbuck and there was a non member girl there that will be going to ISU! She is so solid! Her name is Mary and she said as she watched the presentation she could feel the spirit and loved all of it.
We got to have dinner with her and the family fellowshipping her the next evening, and had a little lesson afterwards. She is so incredibly open to the gospel. She has questions, but is very open and accepting of our answers and sees how the gospel answers the questions she has. I am seriously so excited to teach her though, I feel like she is incredibly ready. Her family isn't very supportive of her interest in the church, so that will be a challenge. But she seems really sensitive to the spirit so she'll get an answer soon.
On Wednesday and Thursday we helped out with institute lunches and holy cow that wiped us out. It was fun though and the lunches they serve at the institute building helps us find some people to talk to so it's been good for us.
Friday and Saturday we had exchanges with our sisters. We exchanged Friday after district meeting and actually blitzed their area for a few hours. A blitz is where a bunch of missionary companionships all go out in one area and each take a part of the missionaries area to go and knock doors. We saw some success from it, there was at least one person openly interested in having the sisters come back, and quite a few for them to stop by again. After that I continued to stay with Sister Worth, while Sister Wilson took Sister Stott back to Pocatello. This was big because it's been at least 4 transfers since I've gone out of my area for exchanges. It was a nice break haha. Not that I don't love being in Pocatello with the YSAs, but sometimes you need a break. It was super fun to be with Sister Worth for a while. We had a lesson with a young man named Nate, and he asked some deep questions so YSA prepared me for that.
Sunday was great, and came up SO FAST! Exchanges mess with your mind a little. (Can't believe it's already Monday) We had an investigator in church on Sunday...Mary!!! She came with her boyfriend, (he's active and going on a mission soon) and stayed the whole 3 hours of church! We went to relief society with her and the lesson was all about prophets, which left her with questions, but we'll be meeting tomorrow so she said she'll wait to discus them then. Later that evening we went out to Blackfoot for a Stake Conference and sang again, must be at least the 6th time now? Not sure, I've lot count, but it's been fun travelling around the mission to sing and help with the fireside. The spirit was felt and I think lots of referrals were given.
That sums up my week, I hope y'all had a good one. If I could just encourage you all to do one thing this week, it would be to strive to be attentive to those around you. e find the most joy through service, and can be an answer to someone's prayer if we are looking for opportunities to serve.
A funny experience before I sign off... Sister Wilson and I were in McCammon, (this town with nothing but a family dollar in it) attempting to contact some YSAs. We were knocking this house that looked deserted and were just coming down the steps when these two older guys pull up in their car. The driver, yells to us, "Hey! Are you girls Jehovah Witness or Sisters...? SISTERS!" (He noticed our tags pretty quick.) His friend immediately muttered, "he's gonna try to set you up with his son." The driver protested for a sec, told us some stories about the High School Class reunion they were headed back from, gave us $20 for dinner, and proceeded to try and set us up with his son lol. It was pretty hilarious.
Anyway, love you all!!!
Love ya,
Sister Jensen
This week we did the light presentation 2 more times! I'm not quite sure if we'll ever stop with that one, but I really do love that song now. It was awesome though, we gained a new investigator though it!!! We helped with a youth fireside out in Chubbuck and there was a non member girl there that will be going to ISU! She is so solid! Her name is Mary and she said as she watched the presentation she could feel the spirit and loved all of it.
We got to have dinner with her and the family fellowshipping her the next evening, and had a little lesson afterwards. She is so incredibly open to the gospel. She has questions, but is very open and accepting of our answers and sees how the gospel answers the questions she has. I am seriously so excited to teach her though, I feel like she is incredibly ready. Her family isn't very supportive of her interest in the church, so that will be a challenge. But she seems really sensitive to the spirit so she'll get an answer soon.
On Wednesday and Thursday we helped out with institute lunches and holy cow that wiped us out. It was fun though and the lunches they serve at the institute building helps us find some people to talk to so it's been good for us.
Friday and Saturday we had exchanges with our sisters. We exchanged Friday after district meeting and actually blitzed their area for a few hours. A blitz is where a bunch of missionary companionships all go out in one area and each take a part of the missionaries area to go and knock doors. We saw some success from it, there was at least one person openly interested in having the sisters come back, and quite a few for them to stop by again. After that I continued to stay with Sister Worth, while Sister Wilson took Sister Stott back to Pocatello. This was big because it's been at least 4 transfers since I've gone out of my area for exchanges. It was a nice break haha. Not that I don't love being in Pocatello with the YSAs, but sometimes you need a break. It was super fun to be with Sister Worth for a while. We had a lesson with a young man named Nate, and he asked some deep questions so YSA prepared me for that.
Sunday was great, and came up SO FAST! Exchanges mess with your mind a little. (Can't believe it's already Monday) We had an investigator in church on Sunday...Mary!!! She came with her boyfriend, (he's active and going on a mission soon) and stayed the whole 3 hours of church! We went to relief society with her and the lesson was all about prophets, which left her with questions, but we'll be meeting tomorrow so she said she'll wait to discus them then. Later that evening we went out to Blackfoot for a Stake Conference and sang again, must be at least the 6th time now? Not sure, I've lot count, but it's been fun travelling around the mission to sing and help with the fireside. The spirit was felt and I think lots of referrals were given.
That sums up my week, I hope y'all had a good one. If I could just encourage you all to do one thing this week, it would be to strive to be attentive to those around you. e find the most joy through service, and can be an answer to someone's prayer if we are looking for opportunities to serve.
A funny experience before I sign off... Sister Wilson and I were in McCammon, (this town with nothing but a family dollar in it) attempting to contact some YSAs. We were knocking this house that looked deserted and were just coming down the steps when these two older guys pull up in their car. The driver, yells to us, "Hey! Are you girls Jehovah Witness or Sisters...? SISTERS!" (He noticed our tags pretty quick.) His friend immediately muttered, "he's gonna try to set you up with his son." The driver protested for a sec, told us some stories about the High School Class reunion they were headed back from, gave us $20 for dinner, and proceeded to try and set us up with his son lol. It was pretty hilarious.
Anyway, love you all!!!
Love ya,
Sister Jensen
Pleasedon'tfreakout!!
I hope y'all got that Tangled reference. It's been a while, but I can still definitely throw out some movie quotes.
That probably made you freak out, but I really was saying that more to mom because I know I didn't send y'all much of an update. So I was saying "pleasedon'tfreakoutiwillipdateyounow"
So I hope you didn't freak too badly. Last Monday we had to leave quick (as always) because we had a lesson scheduled with a guy President found. President Southward doesn't have the same "pdays are sacred" approach that President Hancock has, but this was also the only time this guy was gonna be available. Well he actually wasn't and missed the appointment. I felt worse for our WML because he had taken off work to be there...but oh well. Can't do much about it when the investigator is on his way to work.
As far as updates go, transfers are coming up on September 27th. President counseled with me a bit in interviews and seems to want to have me open a new area and train a new missionary. We'll see what happens though, it's not set in stone yet. I'm nervous for that, but also excited. Training would be hard, but I also want that experience. White washing/opening an area would be hard too, but I have experience with that now so I'm not as intimidated for that. It'll be interesting to see what happens. Last transfers everything seemed to get shaken up, so I'm interested to see what will go down. (I'll also hit my year mark on transfer day woot woot!!)
Things have been good in YSA, we seem to be finding a lot of potential investigators. It's been hard to schedule appointments due to their classes & work schedules, but I think it'll pick up soon. It has been hard not seeing a baptsim yet, that's been tough. I guess I did get to go back and see someone I found baptized, (the star valley trip) but I mean like someone I taught most of the lessons too and helped plan the baptism for and was there to watch. I have yet to really read through and study PMG Chapter 12. (Preparing people for baptism) They'll come though, I know that. And if they don't, I know it's not about that either. I'm learning faith and patience.
You'll read some more updates in my weekly, but I wanted to at least include a funny encounter Sister Wilson and I had this week with y'all because I'm not sure i"ll include all of it in my email.
Sister Wilson and I were in a far part of our area (McCammon) attempting to contact some YSAs. We were knocking this house that looked deserted and were just coming down the steps when these two older guys pull up in their car. The driver, yells to us, "Hey! Are you girls Jehovah Witness or Sisters...? SISTERS!" (He noticed our tags pretty quick.) His friend immediately muttered, "he's gonna try to set you up with his son." The driver protested for a sec, told us some stories about the High School Class reunion they were headed back from, gave us $20 for dinner, and proceeded to try and set us up with his son. It was pretty hilarious. (also answered a small food prayer and now I might be able to get some groceries lol)
Anyway, he kept challenging us to email his son, so I did. I basically just told him "if you aren't aware, this is what you're dad has been up too." It was funny and I couldn't say no when his dad kept saying "I bet y'all don't have the guts to email him." So you know I basically had too. Moral of the story- Dad please don't follow suit.
I hope y'all are doin great, I love you!!!!
Love,
Sister Jensen
That probably made you freak out, but I really was saying that more to mom because I know I didn't send y'all much of an update. So I was saying "pleasedon'tfreakoutiwillipdateyounow"
So I hope you didn't freak too badly. Last Monday we had to leave quick (as always) because we had a lesson scheduled with a guy President found. President Southward doesn't have the same "pdays are sacred" approach that President Hancock has, but this was also the only time this guy was gonna be available. Well he actually wasn't and missed the appointment. I felt worse for our WML because he had taken off work to be there...but oh well. Can't do much about it when the investigator is on his way to work.
As far as updates go, transfers are coming up on September 27th. President counseled with me a bit in interviews and seems to want to have me open a new area and train a new missionary. We'll see what happens though, it's not set in stone yet. I'm nervous for that, but also excited. Training would be hard, but I also want that experience. White washing/opening an area would be hard too, but I have experience with that now so I'm not as intimidated for that. It'll be interesting to see what happens. Last transfers everything seemed to get shaken up, so I'm interested to see what will go down. (I'll also hit my year mark on transfer day woot woot!!)
Things have been good in YSA, we seem to be finding a lot of potential investigators. It's been hard to schedule appointments due to their classes & work schedules, but I think it'll pick up soon. It has been hard not seeing a baptsim yet, that's been tough. I guess I did get to go back and see someone I found baptized, (the star valley trip) but I mean like someone I taught most of the lessons too and helped plan the baptism for and was there to watch. I have yet to really read through and study PMG Chapter 12. (Preparing people for baptism) They'll come though, I know that. And if they don't, I know it's not about that either. I'm learning faith and patience.
You'll read some more updates in my weekly, but I wanted to at least include a funny encounter Sister Wilson and I had this week with y'all because I'm not sure i"ll include all of it in my email.
Sister Wilson and I were in a far part of our area (McCammon) attempting to contact some YSAs. We were knocking this house that looked deserted and were just coming down the steps when these two older guys pull up in their car. The driver, yells to us, "Hey! Are you girls Jehovah Witness or Sisters...? SISTERS!" (He noticed our tags pretty quick.) His friend immediately muttered, "he's gonna try to set you up with his son." The driver protested for a sec, told us some stories about the High School Class reunion they were headed back from, gave us $20 for dinner, and proceeded to try and set us up with his son. It was pretty hilarious. (also answered a small food prayer and now I might be able to get some groceries lol)
Anyway, he kept challenging us to email his son, so I did. I basically just told him "if you aren't aware, this is what you're dad has been up too." It was funny and I couldn't say no when his dad kept saying "I bet y'all don't have the guts to email him." So you know I basically had too. Moral of the story- Dad please don't follow suit.
I hope y'all are doin great, I love you!!!!
Love,
Sister Jensen
Monday, September 10, 2018
Pocatello Temple Site Announced!!!
Hello hello all!!
We had a pretty exciting week! Like it says in the heading, the temple site has been announced and a drawing of the soon to be Pocatello Temple has been released!!!! I'll include it in my pictures(:
To start our week, we did what we call a finding booth on ISU campus, and invited a ton of people to an opening social the institute was putting on. A few people were open to learning more about the gospel, and I saw some people I knew from my first few weeks here, so it was great to reconnect and find some new people to meet with!! We'll probably continue doing the booth every week or so.
We had another lesson with Gabriel this week and he brought up baptism all by himself. We talked about repentance and whats been keeping him from baptism. We discussed how to repent and the need of repentance. He seems to be taking our lessons more seriously now and really looking for them to apply to himself. I think he sees himself being baptized, but definitely on his own time line, which is good. We invited him to a baptism the Elders had set for Saturday and after a lot of convincing...he came!!! He said he "felt some sort of way" when James, (the person being baptized), came out of the water. He feels the spirit, but won't always let himself recognize it. We're working on it though haha.
Also on Saturday, the guy from my high school that I talked to over facebook, got baptized!!!!:D Pretty amazing. Still pretty shocked a simple facebook invite resulted in a baptism, but this is the Lord's work and people are truly being prepared!!
We got to have Mission Leadership Council this past Friday at President's home and that was great(: We actually started out at the church building closest to where the temple will be. (panorama pic in my drive is the temple site pre-temple haha) We took a break for lunch and continued the meeting at President's home. He did a little activity with us uncovering masterpieces hidden inside some soap & wax. He then related it to us and the people we're working with. A little cheesy, but it was fun(:
Lastly, Sister Wilson and I headed out to Grace Idaho last night with President to sing at a Stake Fireside! He has been getting requests all over the mission to give his "light presentation" and we're part of it! Haha, we went and sang Brightly Beams again. It was pretty fun to get to drive out with him and talk on the way there and back. The fireside went pretty well, there was an odd mike mix up as we sang, but oh well. He's having us follow him to Chubbuck later this week to do it again so maybe we'll redeem ourselves haha. It was great though, I've really come to love that song, and the meaning behind it. If y'all haven't already, give it a listen.
Well, I love you all!! I hope you all notice the blessings Heavenly Father sending, have a great week!!
Love ya,
Sister Jensen
We had a pretty exciting week! Like it says in the heading, the temple site has been announced and a drawing of the soon to be Pocatello Temple has been released!!!! I'll include it in my pictures(:
To start our week, we did what we call a finding booth on ISU campus, and invited a ton of people to an opening social the institute was putting on. A few people were open to learning more about the gospel, and I saw some people I knew from my first few weeks here, so it was great to reconnect and find some new people to meet with!! We'll probably continue doing the booth every week or so.
We had another lesson with Gabriel this week and he brought up baptism all by himself. We talked about repentance and whats been keeping him from baptism. We discussed how to repent and the need of repentance. He seems to be taking our lessons more seriously now and really looking for them to apply to himself. I think he sees himself being baptized, but definitely on his own time line, which is good. We invited him to a baptism the Elders had set for Saturday and after a lot of convincing...he came!!! He said he "felt some sort of way" when James, (the person being baptized), came out of the water. He feels the spirit, but won't always let himself recognize it. We're working on it though haha.
Also on Saturday, the guy from my high school that I talked to over facebook, got baptized!!!!:D Pretty amazing. Still pretty shocked a simple facebook invite resulted in a baptism, but this is the Lord's work and people are truly being prepared!!
We got to have Mission Leadership Council this past Friday at President's home and that was great(: We actually started out at the church building closest to where the temple will be. (panorama pic in my drive is the temple site pre-temple haha) We took a break for lunch and continued the meeting at President's home. He did a little activity with us uncovering masterpieces hidden inside some soap & wax. He then related it to us and the people we're working with. A little cheesy, but it was fun(:
Lastly, Sister Wilson and I headed out to Grace Idaho last night with President to sing at a Stake Fireside! He has been getting requests all over the mission to give his "light presentation" and we're part of it! Haha, we went and sang Brightly Beams again. It was pretty fun to get to drive out with him and talk on the way there and back. The fireside went pretty well, there was an odd mike mix up as we sang, but oh well. He's having us follow him to Chubbuck later this week to do it again so maybe we'll redeem ourselves haha. It was great though, I've really come to love that song, and the meaning behind it. If y'all haven't already, give it a listen.
Well, I love you all!! I hope you all notice the blessings Heavenly Father sending, have a great week!!
Love ya,
Sister Jensen
Monday, September 3, 2018
Fall is Here!
Hello hello everyone!!!
To start, happy Fall! I can't believe it's September! I'll be hitting my year mark by the end of this month!!! Crazy how fast it seems to go..
This week has been pretty good, we started off our week by grabbing some awesome food from a mexican food truck in the area. We went with our investigator Fernando, we finally were able to get a hold of that guy again! Holy cow, he has been busy. Honestly, all of our investigators have been busy. It's been a struggle this past week to get return appointments. Most of our investigators have to wait to get their schedules, so setting an appointment before we leave has been hard. But we were finally able to set up dinner with Fernando! It was great to catch up with him, and he seemed to really enjoy grabbing dinner with us. Hopefully his schedule will free up soon.
Tuesday night we had a lesson with Gabriel and it was so good! The two fellow-shippers that came were perfect! Aaron, (one of the members) talked with Gabriel for the first 20 minutes all about trucks and bikes and driving and stuff I didn't understand, but I didn't care because they were actually connecting and it was awesome!!!! The lesson was really good and we talked about Gabriel's goals and baptism a bit more. by the end I had cried and bore my testimony so I think it went alright haha. I hope I get to see him baptized.
Lets see, Thursday we had lunch with Michael at the institute. Kinda. He was late and as we were sitting down, this guy who didn't look like a member was looking for a spot to sit so we invited him over...and he talked...and talked...for like an hour and half. So Michael joined us, but we didn't really get to talk with him. He dropped us again this week, I'm really at a loss of what do to for him now, it's kinda up to the ward to reach out and be his friend at the moment.
We met with Stanton again this week, but found he isn't living in our area like we thought, so we'll have to pass him on to another set of elders. Unfortunate because he's pretty cool and super fun to teach, but he'll do good with the elders too.
We've had some great progress with Ken though! We had a lesson with him on Friday and he came in so incredibly confused. He told us later his plan was to listen and if we didn't say anything that caused questions, he was going to stop meeting with us. Well that lasted about 2 minutes because Ken has way to many questions to ever just listen haha. He left the lesson feeling better and the next evening we had dinner with him in President Packer's home, the YSA Stake President. After eating we basically had a Q&A with President Packer, which Ken loved. He got some questions answered and President Packer challenged him to live the next 4 months like the best active member of the church eh could be, and to do everything he could to get his answers. Ken seemed intimidated, but excited for the challenge. I'm excited for it, I know he'll get his questions answered!(:
We had a pretty great week, I hope everyone had a good one as well! I love you all!
Love,
Sister Jensen
To start, happy Fall! I can't believe it's September! I'll be hitting my year mark by the end of this month!!! Crazy how fast it seems to go..
This week has been pretty good, we started off our week by grabbing some awesome food from a mexican food truck in the area. We went with our investigator Fernando, we finally were able to get a hold of that guy again! Holy cow, he has been busy. Honestly, all of our investigators have been busy. It's been a struggle this past week to get return appointments. Most of our investigators have to wait to get their schedules, so setting an appointment before we leave has been hard. But we were finally able to set up dinner with Fernando! It was great to catch up with him, and he seemed to really enjoy grabbing dinner with us. Hopefully his schedule will free up soon.
Tuesday night we had a lesson with Gabriel and it was so good! The two fellow-shippers that came were perfect! Aaron, (one of the members) talked with Gabriel for the first 20 minutes all about trucks and bikes and driving and stuff I didn't understand, but I didn't care because they were actually connecting and it was awesome!!!! The lesson was really good and we talked about Gabriel's goals and baptism a bit more. by the end I had cried and bore my testimony so I think it went alright haha. I hope I get to see him baptized.
Lets see, Thursday we had lunch with Michael at the institute. Kinda. He was late and as we were sitting down, this guy who didn't look like a member was looking for a spot to sit so we invited him over...and he talked...and talked...for like an hour and half. So Michael joined us, but we didn't really get to talk with him. He dropped us again this week, I'm really at a loss of what do to for him now, it's kinda up to the ward to reach out and be his friend at the moment.
We met with Stanton again this week, but found he isn't living in our area like we thought, so we'll have to pass him on to another set of elders. Unfortunate because he's pretty cool and super fun to teach, but he'll do good with the elders too.
We've had some great progress with Ken though! We had a lesson with him on Friday and he came in so incredibly confused. He told us later his plan was to listen and if we didn't say anything that caused questions, he was going to stop meeting with us. Well that lasted about 2 minutes because Ken has way to many questions to ever just listen haha. He left the lesson feeling better and the next evening we had dinner with him in President Packer's home, the YSA Stake President. After eating we basically had a Q&A with President Packer, which Ken loved. He got some questions answered and President Packer challenged him to live the next 4 months like the best active member of the church eh could be, and to do everything he could to get his answers. Ken seemed intimidated, but excited for the challenge. I'm excited for it, I know he'll get his questions answered!(:
We had a pretty great week, I hope everyone had a good one as well! I love you all!
Love,
Sister Jensen
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