Hello to you all again! It feels like I haven't
emailed home in weeks, and at the same time it feels like no time at
all. Haha mission time... so weird. This week was was
transfers so the whole week was kind of weird and off, but still a good week! I
am very happy that I am still serving in Raccoon River. WOOOO!
Haha not a shocker, but still exciting. :) Although, they did rename the
area. I am now serving in the Winterset, Iowa area. So cool! Alrighty,
on with my day to day synopsis:
Monday: Because of transfers, our real p-day was Wednesday, but they still allowed us to come and email on Monday. So, Monday
was a work day. We visited some of our investigators and some members
and it was kind of just chill. We did a lot of walking that's for sure.
Tuesday: Tuesday was a fantastic day! The Elders serving in
the ward with us had met a lady last week who lived in our area so they
referred her to us. So we met with her this day. No joke, 5 minutes into
our lesson she was asking when she could be baptized. Can you believe
that?? We were jumping for joy! She is so prepared. The work is
definitely being hastened! That night, us and the Elders went to a less
active's apartment building to help her paint. Oh Elders... haha bless
their hearts. We just laughed the entire time. It was quite fun. :)
Wednesday:
P-DAY!!! WOOO! I love p-days. Especially today. Our "momma" Sister Price
took us into West Des Moines for the day so that I could get all my
winter stuff! It was so weird to go shopping in Kohl's and the mall...
haha I just felt like I was back in Utah doin some shopping. It was
great. :) She took us out to lunch after (Chipotle again. I am a little
addicted), and then to Costco, and then to the most
darling cupcake shop ever. Can you say spoiled?? Seriously though,
Sister Price is the best! She really is like my mom away from my mom...
haha. I don't quite know what I will do when I am transferred. I just
have to put this in here for my mom cause I know that she will be soooo
proud... for dinner that night we ate with a member and she made stuffed
tomatoes. That's right.. stuffed tomatoes. If you know me, you know
that I absolutely despise tomatoes. But, I ate every last bit.
Haha it wasn't too bad. Wouldn't eat it again probably, but I
am pretty proud of my self. :)
Thursday:
Today was just emotionally draining... haha but in a good way. We had
set up a church tour with one of our investigators and it went
great! Seriously could not have gone better... she accepted a baptismal
date and we are just thrilled. Once again, the Lord is hastening his
work. And I get to be a part of it. How lucky am I?? We decided to have our traditional celebration at Frostees. We walked up to the window and started
to order and they literally stopped us and said, "We got this." Haha
they know our orders! That was our goal
and it happened. Success. :) One crazy thing that happened though was as
we were eating, Sister Price called and told me that a woman named
Becky was in their house to see me. I freaked! Becky is an amazing
Sister from my home ward in Utah. The company she works for has an
office in Urbandale so she is here this week and came and stopped by!
Telling Sister Price that I couldn't come see her was really hard,
but obedience brings blessings. :) She did however leave me the cutest
box of cupcakes I have ever seen! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU Becky! They
were absolutely delicious. :)
Friday:
Today was weird... we had weekly planning but ended up staying inside
to do that allllll day. Literally we didn't leave the house till 5:30.
NOT GOOD! We got some good planning done though... haha We had to head
out to get to our appointment with the Scotts. Seriously, I love
them. On our way home, we decided to stop and see one of our
investigators. Well who knew that would take a year to get there! Every year in Winterset, they do this thing called the Covered Bridge festival. Google
it. It is massive. So basically, like every road in Winterset was shut
down because they were setting up. It was so fun to see, but
definitely not fun to drive through. haha
Saturday:
Today we spent most of the day in Des Moines installing fire alarms in
peoples homes. Haha let me explain... the red cross approached the
Mormon helping hands to help them launch this project of installing
the detectors in peoples home. Hundreds of members from around our area
showed up to help. It was wonderful! We are convinced we will be in the
ensign or Mormon newsroom or something. Keep and eye out for me. :) Then
we had district meeting. It was so fun to meet at the new Elders in our
district! They are awesome! And now, I'm not the youngest. WOO! :)
Because they were new, we played a get to know you game where we
basically got to throw wadded up socks at each other. Haha it was great.
:)
Sunday:
I was so excited for today. I definitely needed church... I just
needed to be spiritually uplifted! And I was!! Church was absolutely
amazing! They whole focus for the day was missionary work. Could it have
been a better topic?? Our Bishop spoke in sacrament and it was just
incredible. In relief society, the lesson was on missionary work as well
and the teacher asked me and Sister Barker to each get up and tell the
Sisters what things we sacrificed to be here, how we decided to come,
and what blessings we have seen because we are here. What an amazing
experience. Testifying to those Sisters was an amazing experience and
one I will never forget. And something crazy happened this last transfer
too... we got ANOTHER set of Elders in our ward! Can you believe that??
6 Missionaries!!! It is crazy! There is a lot of work to be done in the
Raccoon River ward. :) They are awesome Elders! Elder Kay has been out 3
months and Elder Van Leeuwen is fresh out of the MTC. They are
hilarious. They fit into our missionary group perfectly. It was fun
meeting them and kind of giving them the low down of the area. :) That
night, the ward members invited us to attend Young Women in Excellence.
That was so special for me cause it has been years since I have been
to one of those. The young women in our ward are just amazing and it was
fun to see the progress they have made through out the year. It was just a wonderful night.
Well, there is my week! It was good! :) I still just can't
believe I am on a mission.Haha Sometimes, it just hits me and I freak out a
little. But, I am so glad I am here. This truly is so hard. Being away
from my family is still something I struggle with daily, but I am
growing. I am being molded into the instrument that My Heavenly Father
needs me to be so that I can find the people here in Iowa that I
promised to find. It is a wonderful feeling to know that I will go home
better than when I got here.
I say this every week, but I love you all and I miss you sooooooo
much! I am constantly praying for all of you. Everyday I feel so blessed
to be part of such and amazing family. You are all wonderful and I love
you!!!
Until next week,
-Sister Jensen
"Is this Heaven? No, it's Iowa."
 |
| My new winter coat. Haha I kind of love it. :) |
 | |
| The aftermath of our awesome painting party part 2. :) Haha like 2 seconds after I got there I leaned up against the wall and painted my bum. No shame. |
 |
| My yummy "Nutella" cupcake. This one is for you Mom! :) |
 |
| Iowas "mommy and me" toilets. Haha makes me laugh so hard... |
