What up people! Comin at ya again from Raccoon River, Iowa. I just
have to begin by giving a couple more shoutouts since I was put in my
place by someone for not giving these. ;) HAPPY (late) BIRTHDAY to my Aunt Michelle and to her daughter Elle. Michelle is an amazing person
because she just is. Michelle and I have grown really close over the
past couple years and I have loved it. I know that I can always go to
her with anything and she will give great advice. My mom always joked
and called her my "other mother Michelle" and it's true! She is an amazing person
with the funnest personality. And Elle. Oh my Elle. She is a sassy,
funny, darling girl. Elle can be cuddly and sweet and then 5 minutes
later be screaming bloody murder, but I love it. :) She always told me
she loved me (even if I had to coax it out of her.) I love my little
Elle. And HAPPY BIRTHDAY this week to my other cousins Josh Brown and
Luke. They are such studs and are just funny. Josh returned home from
his mission to Anaheim, California about a year ago and I just want to
let him know how great of an example he is. Seeing him come home a changed person with a great love of the Gospel makes me excited for the
changes I hope to see in myself. And Luke, ask that kid to tell you a joke
and he will have you laughin in 5 seconds flat. He is fantastic. :)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you all!
Well, things here in Iowa are goin good. Here's the day to day layout you have all been desperately dying to hear: Haha
Monday:
P-days are always good. I get to hear from my family and I get a nap.
Does it get better than that? Especially since my sleep deprivation is
now kicking in. The whole "wake up at 6:30 am every
morning" thing is catching up with me. Big time. So I cherish my
naps greatly.Haha We also had dinner with a darling family in the ward, and
of course they have a 5 month old son. Not being able to hold de' babies
gets harder and harder every day, but I am staying obedient
people. No worries.
Tuesday: Tuesday
was great! We were able to go have zone training with President Jensen.
He is such an amazing man and always knows just the right thing to say!
We have been talking a lot lately about how to get the members of our
ward involved in missionary work and he gave some great tips. We are
excited to start implementing them and seeing the progress. :) After
that we all went to lunch. Mom, you will appreciate this... I GOT
CHIPOTLE! Haha for those of you who know me well, you know that Cafe Rio
is my thing. Well, Chipotle is the closest thing out here and it was
fantastic. I ate it and just thought of home the entire time. Especially
you mom. :) Also, it sprinkled all day long and I LOVE rain. Like a
little too much. I did just
want to stay home in my pjs and watch movies all day, and then I
remembered I am a missionary so we went out and did work. Haha, .
Wednesday: Remember that rain I talked about from yesterday? Yea. We walked out Wednesday
morning and it was like it never happened. We were back to the heat and
humidity like it was the middle of July! I guess I should be used to it
since Utah has bipolar weather as well, but I was hopeful. It was still
a good day though! We did a lot of walking which was just great! I
actually do love just walking around here because everyone is so
friendly and it's like a picture perfect town. Like the one you see in
the movies. When we walk, we pick out or favorite houses so it makes it
kind of fun. :)
Thursday:
What a day. It started out like any other day... we headed into
Earlham to do some work. At about 2ish, we were in a home teaching a
lesson when all the sudden the dads phone starts going off. He looks at
it and tells us it's an alert saying that a storm was coming. We
all looked outside and it was sunny as can be so we just kind of brushed
it off. We ended the lesson, and left to start walking back to our car.
Literally 2 seconds after we left their house... rain, lighting,
thunder, branches from trees falling everywhere. It was a full on rain
storm. We booked it as fast as 2 Sister missionaries in skirts
could. It was one of the scariest but funniest moments of my life.
We loved it! Just imagine us running down the street skirts and
hair flying everywhere and try not to laugh. Haha It's not possible.
Once we got to our car, we decided we had just endured a really scary
situation and deserved a treat. Our next stop was the gas station for
some hot chocolate and a donut. Totally worth it. We wished we
could have stayed in our car all day, but we had dinner planned with
some members so we headed over to their house. They fed us Thai food.
And mom, if you can believe it... I ate it! I am learning how
to eat things other than chicken fingers! ;) It was actually pretty
good. :) I also got a letter from my auntie Tracie! Thanks Auntie Trac!
:)
Friday: Friday
was just a normal missionary day. Wake up, eat, study, eat, tract, eat,
teach. It was great! Sometimes it is just refreshing to have a normal
day. We did get a little crazy that night though. Sometimes we sit downstairs with Ashton (the 16 year old girl, our "little sister")
and laugh till we are all curled up on the floor in pain. Haha we love
it!
Saturday: Winterset is so fun because every Saturday
they have a farmers market in town and we go and meet people and it is
always so fun! We went to Frostees for lunch again because Sister
Barker's click day was on Sunday. That's our place. We love our walking tacos! After lunch we came to the library and did some lds.org time. I want to encourage you all, if you haven't already, to go there and watch the work of salvation videos. They are absolutely
incredible! So uplifting and they really just enlighten you. So, please
take a couple minutes and watch some. You will be so happy you did!
Sunday: Sunday
was a little hard for us. NONE of our investigators or the less actives
we have been working with showed up for church. That was really hard... Sunday
is always game time and this week we lost. Heavenly Father definitely
humbled me. I am learning I can teach people lessons, but if I am
not helping them build their faith, I am not fulfilling my purpose. I am
learning how to be an effective missionary through the Atonement of
Jesus Christ. And it is wonderful. He is molding me into and instrument
to use in His hands. It is hard, but it is glorious. We also were able
to have our Sister Training Leaders train us on how to do a church tour.
What an incredible experience. The church tour basically outlines the
Plan of Salvation and it was wonderful. Since being on my mission, I
have gained a new outlook on life. I am looking at it from an eternal
perspective. The Plan of Happiness means more to me now than it ever
has. It is a wonderful thing!
Well, that is my week in a nutshell. I also wanted to share some
great quotes I heard this week. "Wicked men obey because of fear. Good
men obey because of love." "Become the person you were designed to be." I
absolutely love being a missionary. It has been the hardest thing I
have ever done, but also the most amazing thing. My testimony of this
Gospel is growing more than I ever thought possible. My faith in prayer,
scripture study, repentance, the atonement, and the power of God is
growing. I can feel my Saviors love more than I ever had before and it
is a feeling I cherish with all of my heart. I KNOW that my Redeemer
lives and that this is his work and his glory. I know that he is guiding
me through this
to lead me to the people here in Raccoon River
East who are prepared. It is a comforting feeling knowing and feeling
that I am a daughter of a loving Heavenly Father. I love this Gospel
with everything that I am and this is my time to prove that to Him.
Please remember that I love you all, and more importantly that your
Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ love you. This is a glorious
time to live in. Always remember to be an example of the believers in
word and in deed. Never be ashamed to share the light of Christ that
each and every one of you have. Never be ashamed to bear your testimony.
You never know who needs to hear yours personally. I love you all and
keep you in every prayer. Stay faithful! Stay Awesome!
-Sister Jensen
"Is this Heaven? No, it's Iowa."
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| After our 6 block "brisk walk" in the pouring rain to our car. We were SOAKED, but we loved every minute of it. At one point, I was on the sidewalk in fetal position laughing hysterically cause I had to pee and Sister Barker's skirt kept flying up. It was a sight to see I'll tell ya that. :) |
