Wednesday, December 31, 2014

HAPPY CHRISTMAS HARRY!!!! (Yes. My companion has brought out my inner Harry Potter nerd.)

WOWZA. Another week bites the dust. I'm glad to know that I am not crazy because even Sister Romero says the time is just flying. It was a really great week here in Boone though! Lots of miracles, tears, uncontrollable laughter, and love of the Savior Jesus Christ. Doesn't get better than that. :)
Monday: Today was much needed. We just got to sit in our apartment and write letters. P-days like that are nice sometimes. Um... it also rained today. ITS THE MIDDLE OF DECEMBER!!! I think Iowa is just a  little confused. We also got to do a photo shoot and do some Christmas cards with the Elders and just us two. Haha that was great. We got to have dinner with Fern tonight who is a recent convert. She is so cute! We definitely walked away from that meal a couple pounds heavier. Best part of the day though was meeting with our investigator Jay. It was such a good lesson about the Book of Mormon and we invited him to be baptized on February 14!!!! (18 month click day, say what?!?) We are stoked though. He is still trying to recognize his answer, but he will get there.
Tuesday: It was a crazy day full of so many drop bys. We were just trying to see as many people as we could to wish them a happy Christmas! We did some service and some finding too. We had another lesson with Jay. Guys. He is the best. Haha he surprised us with homemade Chicken Noodle soup and Cheesecake. It was a night full of physical and spiritual feasting. :)
Wednesday: Happy Christmas eve!!! Such a crazy day, but good. We did some service and then had a lunch date. Then we just got to visit some more people. We also picked up a new entertainment center off the side of the road. SCORE! The Higgs invited us and the Elders over for dinner and some games so we spent the rest of the night there. So much fun. Haha we laughed way too much... psych. That's not possible.
Thursday: MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!! Okay. Christmas as a missionary is LITERALLY the best thing in the world. I can't believe that this was my second Christmas in the field already... my how time flies. We spent the morning at our place just opening presents and singing Christmas hymns and watching Bible Videos. Then, we spent the rest of the day at the Ballard's with the Elders. That was so much fun! Haha again... so much laughter. The Ballard's are big board game people, so I fit right in. :) One of the best parts of the day though was definitely skyping my family. It was so good and such a sweet experience. It made me pretty excited to come home in 2 months which I think is a good thing... we will see. :) But it was just a really good day! I am so grateful that my mission had taught me to keep Christ in Christmas. That is the most important part of it all.
Friday: Christmas hang over is a real thing. I was EXHAUSTED today. We had district meeting in Carroll which was about an hour away and I almost had to ask Sister Romero to drive cause I was just struggling. Haha that's what a messed up sleeping schedule will do to ya. :) It was a good meeting though. We brought a box of treats with us and so that keep the Elders pretty happy the whole time. Especially the jelly bean game. :) SO funny!
Saturday: Okay. Coolest experience ever today. We got to teach Matt and his family again and it was one of the sweetest experiences I have had on my mission. We started teaching the Restoration and quickly realized that we were teaching a lesson and not a person so we started asking him questions about his relationship with the Savior. Our lesson then turned into understanding the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I felt really inspired to show him one of my favorite videos, "Reflections of Christ" and it was a tender experience. After we watched it, we of course asked him how he felt. He talked about a couple emotions and ended with a "tingly feeling" in his back. People. Matt felt AND recognized the spirit for the first time in 8 years. At the end of the lesson we invited their family to kneel and after a little bit of stubbornness on our part, Matt offered his first out loud prayer in 14 years. I don't even know how to begin explaining how God is changing ME through these experiences. It made me very grateful that I have such a close relationship with the Spirit and feel His presence so much in my life.
Sunday: The Sacrament. I love the Sacrament. There is such a difference in my week when I have a good experience with the Sacrament. Today was one of those days. I am SO grateful that I get to partake of it weekly. It was a good Sunday though. Pretty slow, but that is nice sometimes. We did studies, had dinner at Sister Robinettes, and then came home and bagged up all our clothes. Productive day I would say. :)
Well... there is my week. I cannot believe that 2015 is almost here... It makes me excited though. I think this video explains how I feel better than I could...
http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=910930409001
"Look not behind thee." What a true principle. A new year is a time to reflect on the last year, but not to dwell on it. A new year is a time to make GOALS on how we want to do better. Some make physical goals. Some make emotional or social goals. I want to focus today on spiritual goals though. When was the last time you made a spiritual goal? That is my invitation to each of you. Make some SPIRITUAL goals for 2015. Do you want to go to the Temple more? Do you want to have 100% visiting teaching or home teaching? Do you want to read the Book of Mormon all the way through? THESE are SPIRITUAL goals. Each one of us can and should strive to draw nearer to our Savior in the upcoming year. I firmly believe that it is through these goals that we will achieve that.
I am so grateful to be a missionary. I am so grateful that my Father in Heaven and Savior Jesus Christ chose me, and have qualified me each day to do their work. If we let it, their work CAN and WILL humble and purify us.
I am so grateful for each of you and your example. I hope that each of you had a wonderful Christmas and pray that you will have a wonderful start to 2015. I LOVE YOU ALL!
-Sister Jensen
"Is this Heaven? No, it's Iowa."
Only in Iowa.

7 am run to Walmart for laundry detergent? Sure. Why not.
President Jensen approved us to sleep in till 8. Where we up at 6:30? Yes we were. Did we stay in bed till 8? Yes we did. SO NICE!!!
SO spoiled. Because I am a mom, I felt it my duty to make my baby's first Christmas morning in the field special. When we woke up, I made her sit in the bathroom for like 20 minutes while I arranged the presents and stockings. (I am my mothers daughter.) The pic with both of us depicts her reaction when I took the blind fold off. Priceless moment. :)


Super awesome Christmas with the Ballards and the Elders. This was after their kids went to bed. :)

The Boone ward takes care of their missionaries... by trying to fatten us up.
Well. We officially found a bed bug. His name is Stephen. He is taped to our wall currently.


Our Christmas Eve lunch date (with Stephen) :)
This is how we protect ourselves from bedbugs. :) Say hello to Sister Squidward.
We don't even know.


Haha ALL of our clothes and bedding. Oh. The joys of bed bugs.