Well. I would just like to start out by saying this
was the longest week of my mission so far. SOOOO LONG! Sister Barker
said it was for her as well. It just seemed to go on forever! I felt
like I haven't emailed home in weeks! Time is so crazy on the mission...
I have just one shout out this week, but it's a pretty important
one. This one goes out to my amazing brother Taylor. He submitted his
mission papers and should be getting his call this week or next I think.
How awesome is that?? My mom wrote that in her letter, and my heart
just rejoiced! A little selfish thought came to mind too... I get to
serve a mission at the same time as my brother. How blessed are we Tay??
:) He is an amazing example to me and Tay, I know that this will be one
of the greatest things you will ever do. I always say this... but a
mission is hard. really hard, but it is worth it. Make sure you all give
him a hug for me when you see him and tell him I am proud of him!
Time for my usual week in a nutshell:
Monday: Monday
is always good. I get to talk to my family, do my wash, take a nap, and
play air hockey. So, life is usually pretty sweet. We
switched it up a little this week though and got haircuts! Our sweet
Bishop's wife has a salon in her house and does free missionary haircuts.
Haha it was awesome. She even washed it and mom, you know how much I
love that. :)
Tuesday: If I had to pick a day on my mission where there were so
many ups and downs.. today would be that day. It started out fantastic
with a trainers meeting with President and Sister Jensen and the AP's.
They gave some awesome instruction and really just got us pumped up to
get out and work. Afterwards we went to lunch and of course, it was Chipotle again. Haha I have an addiction people. No shame. That was when
my homesickness hit me. I have been feeling so much better these last
couple weeks and this week for some reason was just hard. Especially
Tuesday. Of course though, we still had to go out and work. Well,
because I have a loving Heavenly Father who loves to humble me, we found
a new investigator. Our first one in 3 weeks! We are blessed here in
Iowa! I also got a package from my mom that night. I just have to say
that all moms are great, but I am pretty sure mine is the best. She
always seems to know when to send letters and packages so they arrive just at the right time. :) There was one thing I heard on Tuesday that
really stuck out to me, and something I really want to apply to
everyday. YOMO. You're only a missionary once. YOMO!
Wednesday: Very slow day. Nothing too exciting. But, I heard a quote that I wanted to share. "We don't know who is on the other side
of that door, but the Lord does." Cool right??
Thursday: Every Thursday
is district meeting which is always great! For reals, the best Elders
are in my district. We can laugh hysterically together and then also
have some amazing spiritual experiences together. Since I was still
feeling homesick, I asked my district leader Elder Leavitt for a
blessing. It was awesome because one of my zone leaders Elder Maughn,
and then Elder Van Woerkam (AP) particaipated in it. How cool is that??
Definitely a blessing I will never forget. On fun thing was that this
week it is homecoming at the high school in Winterset. Well, this is
such a small town that everyone and their dog gets involved in high
school stuff. So Thursday
night literally everyone in town got toilet papered by somebody....including us! Haha the house was destroyed by toilet paper! Even our
car! It was so fun, even though we had to maintain the dignity of our
calling and not participate. Haha it took some restraint people. I just
remembered my glory days of toilet papering the Burr family... life was
good. :)
Friday: Slow
day... again. The town was just dead cause people were getting ready
for the big game that night! Our dinner appointment fell through so a
sister in our ward was so darling and took us out to eat at Panda
Express. Aren't our ward members awesome?!? When we got back to town,
the game had started so there was literally NO ONE around. Haha we kind
of just walked around aimlessly. We could hear the drums from miles
away. So sweet! I also got a letter from my Uncle Kyle that night.
Thank you so much Kyle for the amazing talk! I read it and just
love it.
Saturday: Lots
of ups and downs today. One of our investigators who we thought was
doing so well, asked us to not contact her for a while. My heart was
literally crushed. She said she just needed some time to figure out if
this was what she wanted. Missionary work is so great and at times so
heart breaking at others. Gotta find a balance I guess. Because it was kind
of a rough morning, Frostees
for lunch again. Haha I am pretty sure they know us
by name there. Once again, no shame. :) That night we got to
watch the General Relief Society Broadcast meeting. How amazing was
that?!?! The messages that were shared inspired me so deeply. And just
seeing the choir full of missionaries was overwhelming. Every once in a
while it just hits me that I am a missionary. It's cool. :) If you
didn't watch the broadcast.. DO! So uplifting and inspiring! This was
also the day I received the letter from my mom telling me Taylor had
submitted his papers. Lets just say, it was a great night. :)
Sunday:
Fast Sundays are always fantastic! Especially in my ward! The
testimonies that people share are just incredible! I used quite a couple
tissues during that sacrament meeting. Shocker, I know. We also were
asked to work in the nursery for second hour. What a hard thing to
do when you can't hold children! Haha Sister Barker and I didn't quite
know what to do. Quite the experience. Since it is the end of the month,
we were running a little low on miles so we ended up doing our studies
at the pavilion by our church. Haha we got some weird looks for sure.
We always just seem to laugh a little louder and smile a little bigger
when people who are not members walk by... I wonder why... ;) We had
dinner a little early since we were starving. The family who had us join them is
just darling! They are an older couple who are taking care of their 5
year old granddaughter. Dinner was exceptionally good! I guess though on
fast Sunday,
it usually is. Haha! On our way home, we stopped at our neighbors
house. They are a wonderful family! They are not members of the
church but we stop by about once a week to just say hi. They
aren't quite ready to hear our lessons yet, so we are just going to love
and friendship them into the church. Great plan I know!
Well, exciting week right?? We have better plans for this week so hopefully I will have more to tell you next Monday.
Man, I miss all of you! I am so blessed to have a family that loves and
supports me in all that I do. Heavenly Father must love me a lot because
he sent me to be apart of the best family ever! Just know that I am
constantly praying for you all! Remember to always thank your Father in
Heaven for the things that you are privileged to have. Remember to
thank him for the hard times as well. That sounds weird I know, but he
is giving you the chance to draw nearer to him and to your Savior. What a
blessing! I love you all and am so grateful for each and every one of
you!
-Sister Jensen
"Is this Heaven? No, it's Iowa."
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| First day wearin the rain coat. I absolutely love the rain so it was awesome! Luckily, we had a store in town that had a good sale. That is the court house behind me. Gorgeous right?? |
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How I like to do weekly planning. I like to keep things fresh here in Iowa. :)
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| Our pet bird Oscar came and stayed with us again this week. We love him. :) Haha there is a couple in our ward and whenever they go out of town, the Price family birdsits for them. We love it. |
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The wise words from our panda excursion. They are taped to our car dashboard so we never forget them. :)
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| Me and Sister Barker with the AP's (assistants to the President) Elder Saunders (right) and Elder Van Woerkam (left). Elder Van Woerkam actually goes home in 2 weeks which is super weird. They are both just amazing people and missionaries! |
