Mon, December 6, 2010

Hello Family,

How goes it? This week once again has been slow. I mean slow, but we did get Leon to commit to pray about whether he needs to be baptized again. So we found out the best time to go and see him which is in the morning. Other than that he falls asleep in the middle of him talking to us. But no worries we will get him baptized.

Tomorrow is our Zone Conference and that is pretty exciting. I love Zone Conference because you learn so much also it is great to see all the different missionaries. Once again we got assigned to sing but this time it is the whole zone and not a duet.

Pretty much all of our investigators are avoiding us. They don't answer our phone calls and they don't keep their appointments but no worry I am not going to give up on them. I am just going to believe that they are busy with the holiday season.

Transfers are coming up and I kind of have mixed feelings about it. Part of me wants to be transfered and then part of me doesn't. Well it is more than part that doesn't. I just feel like there is more for me to do in this area. Hopefully the Lord and President agrees and I don't get transfered. Also it would not be fun to be transfered right before Christmas.

Yesterday in Relief Society we had a really good lesson on charity and of President Monson's talk in the Relief Society general broadcast. I wasn't able to watch it in the MTC and I haven't read it yet so I really enjoyed this lesson. It kind of ties in with this Christmas season. It seems that when Christmas rolls around that everyone becomes more friendly and charitable. What a better time to recommit ourselves to truly being more Christlike than the time that we celebrate His birth. I think that the greatest gift we can give our Lord is love. Love for Him and love for our fellowmen. If we truly love the Lord and love our fellowmen then we don't have time to commit any type of sin. If we truly loved I guess we would be perfect but I know that it is something that we can all be working on all the time.

Alright sorry that this letter is so short but I know that this week will be better.

Love you lots

Sister Jensen

Mon, November 29, 2010

Dear Family

I just want to start off by saying how much I love you guys. I was looking through the pictures that Mom and Amber sent me of Savannah and this morning I was looking at the picture of us at Amber's wedding and I was hit with how much I love and miss you. Thank you for your emails and letters they really do brighten my day. Holidays are a hard time to be away from home but I can just imagine how hard it is for Heavenly Father to send us here to earth our stay here is much longer than my stay here in Montana. I hope all is going well and that your Thanksgiving was good.

This week Trevor and Alyssa dropped us. Alyssa said that they were comfortable in their church and while they enjoy our visits they are fine where they are.

We committed Leon to baptism this week and he told us he was already baptized. We then taught him about how we need to be baptized by someone holding the priesthood authority of God. We also asked him if he thought the church was true and he said he didn't know so we committed him to pray about it and on Wednesday when we see him again we will talk about the answer he received. I hope that he recognizes the answer he receives and decides to be baptized. That would be so amazing. We found the best time to catch him is in the mornings because he doesn't fall asleep on us then.

Also an interesting thing happened this week. A former investigator from last year called us randomly one day. She must have kept the missionaries phone number from when the elders were in this area. So we went over there and visited her. She didn't necessarily want to take the lessons again but were wondering if some of the church members could help her around her house. The reason she called us was because she felt that out of all the people on the world she could trust Mormons coming in her house. Carol is a very interesting character but she is very nice.

This past week the temperature got to -14. It was very very cold and Sister Nielson and I were privileged to not have the car that day. We were lucky to have some really good members that gave us some rides but we did walk a lot too. It was very cold. I was thinking how whenever I go back down to St. George and I complain that I am going to have a heat stroke and die I think that I would still take the -14 to the 114. We received a lot of snow this week and I very grateful that I have boots and the lizard coat.

Our Thanksgiving went well. In the morning we ate breakfast and played games with the elders and then for the Thanksgiving feast we went to Bishop's Stott's house. Now in the Lake Hills ward there are like a billion Stotts and they were all there so it was a pretty good get together. The only thing that was sad was they didn't have any pie. Now I know I am not the biggest pie lover but Thanksgiving without pie is almost as bad as having Thanksgiving with no turkey. We played on game that I think our family would love. It is called, "In a pickle" and pretty much you just make things up the whole game. It is pretty ridiculous but I think perfect for our family.

Sister Nielson is pretty cool. It is strange to think that it has already been three weeks into the transfer and that it is half way over. I hope that President doesn't transfer either one of us at the end of this transfer. I would love to be able to serve with her again.

Oh yeah I may or may not have cut my hair.

Well I hope you all have a wonderful week and that you don't get into too much trouble.

Love you lots,

Sister Jense

Mon, November 15, 2010

Hola

Big news of the week, I have survived my first transfer! Also I have two months under my belt. It is crazy to think that I have been out here this long because it seems like it has gone by so fast.

My new companion is great her name is Sister Nielson. We get along really well. I think that it might help that we both have red hair, even though somebody told us yesterday that we don't. She is from Oak City Utah which is by Delta which is in the center of the state. She has been out for 9 months and it is really nice having a companion that isn't going home soon.

At the beginning of the transfer I was really nervous because I didn't feel like I knew the area well enough. I kind of felt like I was starting my mission all over again because I had to re adapt to a new companion. So I will say that the first couple of days were not my favorite. But then we just started to get used to each other and it was less awkward then I realized that I did know the area. Everything is going really well now. She is a lot more bold than Sister Smith was and I am really grateful for that because I wanted to be bold last transfer but I didn't want to skonk my trainer. Now I don't have to worry about being bold because Sister Nielson is bold too. I also think that this is what the area needs right now. We have a lot of investigators that just aren't progressing and they need someone to be bold with them and ask them straight up what is going on.

We are still teaching Trevor and Alyssa. We went by this week and just Alyssa was home. We talked about the Book of Mormon and kind of touched on our purpose here on earth. All of her questions can be answered with the gospel. It is hard to teach them though because they have two really rambunctious children and when mom and dad aren't paying attention to them the demand it. But no worries we will just teach them slowly but surely.

The other day when we were trying some potentials and we had one for a Crystal and a certain address. So we go to that address and it turns out that a Crystal doesn't live there and that the people that lived there before didn't have a Crystal. While we were talking to the guy, Jim, that lived there we found out that he is a less active member. We talked to him for a while and we committed him to read the Book of Mormon and he says that he will come to church on Sunday. Later that night I looked over the records to see if I had written Crystal's address down wrong but nope it was what I had wrote. I think that God had us go there at that time to help Jim. Sister Smith and I had gone there before but no one had answered and when Sister Nielson and I went he had gotten off work early. With the Lord there are no coincidences and he has us go places where the people are ready. They may not know it yet but the Lord will never led us astray.

Ok so now I am going to ask you guys for a favor. Being on a mission really helps you see how important member missionary work is. It is through the members that we get the best referrals. It is through the members that the investigators and converts can make lasting friendships. So this week will each one of you make a list of everyone you know who isn't a member and then pray about who you can help bring into the gospel. If you do this sincerely I know that the Lord will prompt you of who you can help. D&C 18:10-17 The blessings of the gospel are too great for us to keep to ourselves. Reach out and share. Also help out the missionaries in your area as much as possible. If you are a male and there are elders in your area volunteer to go out with them and the same goes for sisters and females. Just by going with them and bearing your testimony will be a great blessing and you will see your own testimony grow.

I love you all and hope you are all doing well.

Love

Sister Jensen

November 8, 2010

Hello

So this week my trainer, my mother, leaves to go home. I am very sad that she is leaving. She has been a great companion and I will miss her terribly. I have learned so much from her and she is a lot of fun. Sister Smith will always have a place in my heart. She is from California so she will be going there. In January she will go back up to BYU-Idaho for her last semester. She says that she will come and visit the mission so I will most likely be able to see her again soon.

My new companion's name is Sister Nielson. I haven't met her yet but Sister Smith has served with her before and says that she is really amazing. I sure hope so. Also she has red curly hair and I am not going to lie I am kind of envious. Can you imagine how cute her kids are going to be?

This week we have done a lot of tracting and contacting. We had one person who said that we could come back when his wife gets back in 5 days. He probably thinks we won't come back but we are. We are kind of low on people that we are teaching because all of our progressing investigators got baptized. Some of the investigators that are in the area book I haven't even met this transfer so we will see how that goes with the next transfer coming up.

The other day we went over to Trevor's house to set up another appointment. His wife, Alyssa we finally got her name, answered the door and told us on Sunday Olivia had asked her, "Are the girls coming over today?" I thought that was so cute. So we have an appointment with them on Wednesday. I think that perhaps this is a good sign that she was very open to us coming back another time. I have faith that this family will see the truth of the message we bring them.

Aubrey was baptized on Saturday. It was really good and Sister Smith and I were happy that we could go even though the Gallegos moved out of our area. Aubrey was pretty nervous but she went through and you could really feel the Spirit there. I am so proud of her and for her family. They are going through a really hard time right now and they could just turn away from God and the church but instead they are turning to God. I know that that will make the biggest difference because God will help them through their trial. We also went to their Sacrament meeting yesterday to witness her receiving the Holy Ghost. Again the Spirit was very strong.

This transfer I have been able to witness 4 baptisms in my area and also Aubrey's and the amazing thing is that all of those except for one were youth baptisms. The power and strength of the youth is so strong. It is amazing to see their strong testimonies at a young age. It is helpful to see because if they can be so strong and choose to follow the Lord at a young age then I see that I can make sure that my testimony is rock solid as well.

So the weather here is very interesting. For the most part it has been really warm and not at all the norm for October and November. It makes walking outside really nice because we don't freeze out. Some people have told us that this week or this coming up weekend that it is going to snow. I finally go some boots so I might be prepared but I don't know. The lady that we live with has already put up her Christmas decorations.

We had one elder that was transfered into our area about three weeks ago and now is being transfered to another area. At first he was kind of a sister hater because the person who trained him was a sister hater. I think that being in a car share with Sister Smith and I really helped to fix that because he says that he is no longer a sister hater. I can understand why some elders don't like some sisters but just because I don't like some elders doesn't mean that I am going to dislike all the elders.

Well I hope you all have a good week and that everything is going well.

Love

Sister Jense

November 1, 2010

Hello!

This week we started to teach a new family. It is a family that we tracted into a couple of weeks ago and the father, Trevor, said we could come back. We tried back a couple of times and we finally made an appointment with both of them home. We taught them the first lesson up to prophets. We have to keep our lessons short because they have two small kids. Trevor and Alyssa are Methodists and so the idea of prophets was rather new to them and they didn't know how to take it. Alyssa brought up that anyone could claim they are a prophet and she could see why people wouldn't believe that. Sister Smith then brought up how no one believe that Noah was a prophet and they didn't believe what he said. That made Alyssa think and I think that she was a little more open to the idea of prophets. We left them a Restoration pamphlet and they said we could come back this week. So I hope that it will all go well because they are a pretty cool family.

This week was our wards Halloween party and one of the girls in the Skyview ward dressed up as Sister Smith. I am not going to lie I was pretty jealous.

Dillon received the Holy Ghost yesterday! After Sacrament meeting his teacher walked up and asked him if he was ready to go to primary and Dillon said he didn't know he was going and then the teacher, Brother Smith, just said, "Sure you are," and took him a long. I am so happy because Dillon received the Holy Ghost and he went to primary. Dillon is so amazing. I am just so happy for that kid.

Yesterday for Halloween we had to be in at dark so Sister Smith and I dragged our mattresses down stairs and made a fort. It was totally legit.

Sorry this email is short. We don't have a lot of time to email today because we are getting a new car!

Love

Sister Jensen

ps. Pray for Trevor and Alyssa. I just know that the gospel will bless their lives. I just hope they are ready.

Monday October 25,2010

Hola

This week was our zone conference. It wasn't a normal conference because Elder Packer from the Seventies was there so there were only two zone conferences in the whole mission with 5 zones at each conference. It was really good and Elder Packer looks like his father. We talked about different ways to be a better missionary. One of the ones that I really need to work on is asking better questions. I have noticed in our lessons that both Sister Smith and I talk to much while teaching and don't really involve the investigator enough. So to fix that we just need to ask questions more to see if they understand or what they think about what we are teaching them.

We also were taught about how the little things can ruin all our work. President Gardner showed us pictures of bark beetles. Now bark beetles are really a big problem here in Montana and they are destroying forrests. What they do is the burrow in a tree and then they just eat all the nutrients from around the inside of the bark and slowly cut off the tree from all their nutrients. These beetles are the size of a grain of rice and they are able to take down a huge tree. This can happen to us to. If we slowly are doing the small things that we aren't supposed to they can build up and ruin all of our efforts. We always have to be on watch because Satan knows how to trick us slowly and slowly to follow him. Where at first it may not seem to be a big deal eventually we are so far in we don't know how to get out.

Also at zone conference I met an elder that I had an American Sign Language class with in High School. At first he just started to talk to me because he heard I was from St. George. Well he looked kind of familiar to me so I asked him if he went to Dixie and then I thought perhaps he was in my ASL class and he was. Yeah I don't really remember him and he doesn't really remember me but it was still cool. I asked him if he knew Rashelle and he said he did and that we looked a like. Pretty small world.

The Gallegos moved this week. We were kind of sad that they moved but the elders in that area will take care of them. While we were teaching our last lesson to Aubrey before they moved I really wanted to make sure that she is involved in the lesson. It is kind of hard to do this because no matter what question you ask she always mumbles, "I don't know." But I was very determined. We started teaching her the third lesson, which is on the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we started off with faith and she really wasn't responsive and wasn't even looking at us but just straight in front of her. As the lesson went on and we asked her more and more questions she started to look at us and then I even saw interest in her eyes. I don't like that she had really seemed interested before but this time she did. I know that the Holy Spirit was really touching her because you could just tell the difference. It was really an amazing experiences to see someone change from almost not caring to being interested and I know it was because she was feeling the Holy Ghost.

Dillon was baptized yesterday! I am just so excited for him because this was his choice. Really it was. His mom never makes him want to do anything religious that he doesn't want to do. I love how he choice and wanted to do this because it shows the power of the youth and how no matter what age you are you can choose to follow the Lord. We were able to get Dillon in a different primary class away from those that bully him and we had is new primary teacher baptize him. It was such a great experience and you could just see his spirit radiating. We first had a talk by Brother Thad Smith about baptism and it was really good and very appropriate for Dillon's age. While Brother Smith was speaking you could just see Dillon listening so intently. He really knew how special this occasion was. Then was his baptism and instead of the water being to cold appariantly it was really really hot. When we came up out of the water I looked over at his mother and could just see how proud she was of him. Hopefully this will start the path of her coming back to church as well. Then Sister Smith talked about the Holy Ghost, another good talk. Bishop Smith welcomed him to the ward and Sister Despain welcomed him to the primary. Even though Jaime's baptism was wonderful I think I enjoyed and really felt the Spirit more at this one because I know Dillon better and have actually taught him and seen how much he wants this. I just hope that he will always remember this experience and what he felt last night and always strive to follow the Savior. Next sunday he is going to receive the Holy Ghost and I just know that that will be an even more wonderful experience for him.

Next Sunday I have to give a talk in Sacrament meeting in one of our wards. I don't know the topic yet but hopefully it will go well. Pray for me.

Thanks for all your letters and support. I love you all.

Love,

Sister Jense

Mon, October 18, 2010

Hello!

So fall weather has finally arrived here in Montana and it is starting to get a little nippy. Even though it is getting cold I love the crispness in the air. I really think that fall and spring are my favorite seasons because they are neither to hot nor to cold. Just right.

This coming up weekend we are going to have three baptisms. Daniel and Isabel Amato are going to be baptized on Saturday. I haven't met these two yet but Sister Smith says they are really amazing. They go to church every week and Sister Smith says they already knew all the information. The only reason why they had to take the missionary lessons is because their parents didn't get them baptized at eight. Yeah I think it is pretty interesting.

The other person being baptized is Dillon Maroncelli. He is 10 and is the smartest kid ever. He is really excited to be baptized and although his mom is a member she is not pushing him into this at all. She is leaving it all up to him which it is wonderful that he is getting baptized. The only thing that is sad is that in primary there is a boy his age that is really mean to him and so Dillon doesn't want to go. I really hope that we can figure out something so he can go to primary because that is the best part of church. I think we are going to ask the Primary teacher if he can go to a different class or something. That would be really good.

This week is zone conference but Elder Packer of the Seventy is going to be there so it is going to be like a mega zone conference with 5 zones. So Sister Smith has a beautiful voice. The assistants to the president know this and asked if we would sing. I said no but Sister Smith felt bad and now we are singing. I am not very excited about this. Zone conference will hopefully be really good.

This week Ryan and Alyssa came to church. They have been saying this for a couple of weeks but never showing. So when we saw them on Sunday we were all sorts of stoked. Now all we need to do if find a time to teach them when his parents aren't home.

Also another cool thing. There is a lady named Gayle who was baptized in May. Well her husband is all sorts of anti-mormon. He even left her for a while after she was baptized. Usually he is nice to the missionaries as long as they don't bring up religion to him which I totally understand. When missionaries usually go over he leaves the room but this time he stayed for the whole thing and only made one negative comment. I think that is progress somewhat. At least that might help with the tension in their home.

Ashley has stopped dodging us. We were able to have family home evening with her and a member in the ward. She really liked it and I think it rekindled her desire to learn. We have an appointment with her tomorrow and I really hope that she will start reading her scriptures again.

So Sister Smith and I are trying to be more bold and trying to talk to everyone. We have a game of sorts going on. Everyone time one of us talks to someone, not knocking on their door, we get a point and whoever has the least amount of points has to clean a toilet. Now this isn't just any ordinary toilet. It is a toilet in a house where elders have been living for the last 20 years and it probably hasn't been cleaned in a while. It is really grody. So the other day we were walking down the street and we saw a guy working on a car and Sister Smith goes up and starts talking to him. He told us he was a Baptist minister. I was a little scared because I thought he was going to start bashing on us. Well we had a really good conversation about the Holy Ghost or the Comforter. He thought because we don't believe in the trinity that we don't believe in the Holy Ghost. By the end of the conversation we were able to teach him that we do believe in the Holy Ghost. Over all it was a really good conversation. I just need to be more brave when it goes to talking to people on the street. Sister Smith is amazing at it.

Well I hope you all are having a good week and that it is spectacular!

Love

Sister Jensen

October 11, 2010

Howdy,

This week has been a good week. The weather has started to turn cold and it rained 3 days this week. We heard a rumor that it is supposed to snow in the next week. My companion doesn't really like the sound of that and I don't really care. I say that it is about time.

This week we started to teach an older lady named Barbara. Her and her husband like to sit outside and watch the construction that is happening on their road. She is one of those ladies that like to talk and talk and so when we go see her we always have to make sure that we have a couple of hours blocked off because once she gets going she doesn't really stop.

We are also teaching a 98 year old man. He is still there in the brain and you can have conversations with him. I sort of think that he is letting us teach him for the company and not the message but that is ok. He is in a senior citizen place so I don't really blame him. Sister Smith was telling me that he has a girlfriend in another senior home and sometimes they visit each other. I think that is cute. He really is cool and he is almost always wearing a cowboy hat.

Dillon and the Gallegos came to church yesterday and that was really exciting. Dillon is 11 years old and his mom is a member but less active and now she is coming back to church and she wants her son to be baptized. He is a really smart kid and really nice. His school has a tutor system where older kids can tutor the younger kids and he signed up to be a tutor all by himself. He is way awesome.

We have done a lot more tracting this week. It is hard for me because I never liked going to doors before. Like when I was in cheerleading or national honors when we had to sell things I always dreaded it. Really it was the worst. So tracting is hard but I am trying to stay positive about it. I haven't had any funny experiences with that yet but I am sure by the end of my mission I will.

Also I got a free coat this week. It was a coat left by another sister so President Gardner asked me if I would like it. It is almost exactly like Mom's old green coat but it is black and has disgusting fur on the hood. But a coat is a coat and a free coat is even better. Now all I need to do is get some boots and I am golden.

My district is really cool. The only downside that one of our elders finally got his visa and finally can go to Brazil. We are very sad that he has to leave but he is excited to go. Also in our mission as a trial experiment the zone leaders and district leaders can go on facebook! Ok I think that this is really weird and I don't know how I feel about it yet. What they do is they make a new profile and pretty much they just do missionary stuff on there. Like their status always has to be religious based and their post have to be about the gospel. Also they have to have a blog where they share spiritual experiences. I am still skeptical about this. They say that if it turns out to be a good thing that everyone in about 9 months will be able to get on. If you want to check them out and see how obedient they are their names are Elder Daffer and Elder Morgan Wells. So yeah it is weird. Also check out their blogs and their wonderful movies because they are very spiritually uplifting.

I hope that you all will have a great week and that God blesses you. Until next week

Love
Sister Crikette Jensen

Monday October 4, 2010

---

Hello all,

I am now in Montana and it is so nice. The first day that I got here the temperature was actually in the 90s! The weather definitely shocked me because I was expecting really cold weather. I don't think that this is normal but it is definitely weird.

My companion's name is Sister Smith and she is from Sacramento. This is her last transfer so in November she is going home and I am getting a new companion again. Usually though a missionary gets to stay with their trainer for two transfers. Hopefully I can get to know the area well enough so that when she leaves I don't get lost. We are serving in part of Billings called the Heights, it is on the eastern end of Billings. The people here are very nice and everything is going well. Being on the field is different then how I imagined it would be though. Overall I would say that I am getting the hang of it and I am become less nervous.

This weekend there was a baptism. Her name is Jaime Kollars and she is eight and half months pregnant. She is so amazing though and her testimony is so strong. I hope that everyone could have a testimony like hers because she is so strong and steadfast. Her husband was already a member but an inactive one and now they are planing to go to the temple in a year to get married. They are both so excited for that. The Spirit at her baptism was so strong and everyone so happy and that is why I decided to serve a mission to help bring people that happiness. The Lord truly blesses us when we turn to Him and He has definitely blessed Jaime and Royce.

We have started to teach this one family where everyone is baptized except the 13 year old daughter, Aubrey. She was supposed to get baptized last year with her sister but backed out because the crowd scared her. The family is really amazing. They didn't know what church to go to and what time so somehow they got the zone leaders phone number and called them. When we went over to visit them there attitude was they just wanted to come back to church so bad. It is great to see when people realize how important attending church is and how much it blesses their lives. We taught them, or Aubrey, the first lesson yesterday and set a baptismal date for November 6. Hopefully she goes through with it this time because everyone need the Holy Ghost especially at that age.

We share our car with an elder companionship in our district. This means that we have the car Friday-Monday and we walk or get rides from Tuesday-Thursday. Also something that is really interesting here is that there is antelope everywhere. I mean everywhere. You just drive down the street and there they are eating the grass in someones lawn. I will have to talk a picture and send it to you guys because it is crazy. Also there are no sidewalks anywhere. Even down one of the main streets they aren't there.

So far I would say that this has been a great experience and the Lord has truly blessed me. Also General Conference was amazing this weekend. I would have to say that Elder Holland's was one of my favorites. He is an amazing speaking. Also President Monson's on having more gratitude was amazing as well. Whenever he speaks the Spirit always testifies to me that he truly is a prophet of the Lord. So by following the prophet I want to thank you all for all your supoort. It really has meant a lot to me and I truly love you all. I hope everything is going well and that God is blessing your lives. I now have more time to email so email away.

I love you all!

Sister Jense

Wednesday September 22, 2010

Dear Family,

It is crazy but my time here at the MTC is almost over. I leave on tuesday to the great Montana. Really I am nervous because I don't really feel that ready. I mean I have learned a lot while I have been here but it doesn't feel like I have learned enough. The classes are all amazing and our teachers are the best.The Spirit here is so amazing and everyday I feel so inspired.

Of course it isn't always easy and somedays I really do question if I can really do this. One day after a TE I just felt horrible. I felt like the teacher was attacking me and that I was a bad missionary. After the TE Sister Mace and I went to a bench outside and I just started to cry. As we sat there another sister missionary walked up and asked if everything was ok. I told her how I was feeling and then she shared the most wonderful message with me. She told me that if I wasn't meant to be here that the Lord wouldn't have called me. He knows I can do this and I need to just put my trust in him. Then she shared with me that her whole family are converts and if it hadn't been for the elders she wouldn't have learned about the gospel and that me being a missionary I would be able to help so many families come unto Christ. She also reminded me not to focus on myself too much and my weaknesses but to think about those I am about to go teach and to trust in the Lord. Finally she shared with my three scriptures. The one that really helped me was Ether 12:27 which says, "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness taht they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong." That scripture really has helped me because the Lord will make my weak things strong if I put my trust and faith in Him.

On a happier note I love our TRC's. In them we have an opportunity to actually teach. What it is is a member comes and acts like an investigator but they do it so well that you really wouldn't know that they are members. They are kind of hard because I get nervous but they have really allowed me to feel the love that God has for all His children. Everytime I go in there I just want to help those that we teach so much. I want them to accept the gospel because I know how much it will bless them in their lives. I honestly can say that I really do love them and I want what is best for them.

Today we get to go to the temple and am so excited. The temple has always been a place of peace for me and my soul craves the spirit that is there.

The missionaries here are so wonderful even the elders. The elders just have a certain spirit about them and you can really see the love they have for the gospel. Yes sometimes they are just 19 year old boys but for the most part you can tell that they are servants of the Lord. Their testimonies are so strong and I can truly testify that they are called of God.

The Lord has blessed me so much while I have been here and I am so greatful for this experience. I have learned so much and the most important thing I have learned is to grow closer to the Lord so that I can have a better connection with the Holy Spirit. I know that if we truly ask the Lord anything in faith that He will really give us the answer. It may not be right after you pray but He will answer. Most of my prayers are answered by other people when the are sharing their testimonies to me. We truly have angels all around us and it just reminds me of how much the Lord loves and cares for each one of us.

Keep me and all the other missionaries in your prayers and look for opportunities where you can be a missionary yourself.

Love

Sister Jensen

Empty

My room is empty.

But my soul is full. I love my Savior!

August

Accomplishments

I have earned my Associates degree. This is great but I only have one year left till my bachelors. The only reason I got this is because of silly academic changes. But I still have a degree from college so yipee.

Freshman year

Sophomore year

Junior year

I have climbed Angel's Landing in Zion's finally.

I am surviving another brutal St. George summer. I am so grateful that I don't have to come back here during the summer for another year or two and when I do maybe it will look like this again.

My heartburn issues finally seem like that are under control. Hopefully this will last because health issues aren't fun. Also another reason I am glad they are under control is that this certain problem has made me loss 15 pounds in 4 months. This may not seem like a lot but that is about 12% of my body weight. I just don't think that is healthy. No way jose.

Last but certainly not least I am going on a mission to Montana!

Turdbird

Today my little sister leaves for college. She is going to Southern Utah University in Cedar City. My little sister is going to be a freshman in college. It is really crazy to even think about that.

The thing is that her going to college makes me think of my own college experience. I loved it. I loved everything about it. I have met so many people and have made so many new friends, some I hope to keep for a long time.

College= Amazingness

Touched by an Angel

For the longest time I have wanted to hike Angel's Landing in Zions National Park. So far I have either not gone at the right time or no one wants to go with me and this is one of those hikes you can't go to by yourself. Well tomorrow is one of the few free days at the park. I have convinced my sister that we are going tomorrow! The only downside is is that I am still sort of sick and they, meaning my mom, dad, and sister, probably won't let me go if I am still sick. So here is the thing do I fake that I feel better and still go or do I miss out yet again? I guess I will just have to see how I feel tomorrow.

I mean just look at that hike. It calls to me.

Shirley Temple

These past few weeks we have had two of my nieces and one nephew staying with us while my sister in law heals from a surgery. Well last night we decided to put rag curls in our hair Shirley Temple style. Of course non of our hair turned out very pretty like Shirley but I still think it was a cute activity nonetheless.

Mekenzie

Mom doing LibertyAnn's hair

Rashelle

Mom and Jacob

And me looking just dreadful

The next morning we took them out and we had crazy hair. Miss Mekenzie took hers out in the middle of the night. LibertyAnn's hair was a tad to short and thin to hold the curls well. Shelle has too much hair and she thought we shouldn't have left the rags in so long. Mom's hair looked like it did when she used to do the poodle perm. Overall I think we looked gorgeous though. We truly did have a fun time or at least I did and really that is all the matters.

Oh yeah, earlier in the night us girls painted our finger and toe nails. Well Jacob felt like he was missing out in all the fun and kept begging and begging us to paint his nails so we caved in. We painted his toenails a blue color and his fingernails clear. I figure that since he is so young it isn't going to harm him. Hopefully my brother won't kill us when he sees it.

Mission Call!!!!

So you know the song I hope they call me on a mission? The one line that I really do hope applies to me is that I will grow an inch or two. That would be extremely nice. Then possibly petite clothing could actually fit me. Beyond the point.

The main point is I have received my mission call!!!!!!

I am going to Billings Montana on September 8th.

This is a very interesting place to go I think because I am from Idaho and Utah and this mission covers Montana and Wyoming. Maybe it is the Lord's way of telling me I have to stay in this area of the USA forever. But I really am excited/nervous to go. I am excited because I know it is what is right for me and it is where the Lord wants me to go but I am nervous because what if I am not a good missionary. I am sure everything will work out for the best and I have faith and trust in my Savior Jesus Christ.

The only sad thing about serving a mission is leaving college. I have made so many wonderful friends up here at college and by the time I get back from my mission they will all be gone. It really does make me quite sad. Whenever I think about it I almost start to cry. So far I have been able to hold them back but I know that they will sneak out eventually. I have grown so much from my experience at college and from all the people that I have met. It will be hard not being able to call people up or just going to visit them. Hopefully my true friends will write to me. Really all I expect out of people is to write to me at least once on my mission. I don't really think that is asking too much is it?

Anyways, so I am extremely sad to leave BYU-Idaho but extremely excited to serve a mission.

When I have grown a foot or two

Ok, so I have been working on my mission papers since February. Yes, I am going on a mission. All that I have left to do is my dental exam, which is this thursday, and then an interview with the Bishop and Stake President. So pretty much I could have my papers in by either this sunday or next sunday! Then after three weeks I will get my mission call. It seems so soon and yet not soon enough. Since I have been working on my papers for so long it doesn't really seem real yet. I don't think everything will really set in until I either send off my papers or I receive my call.

The thing that I am most excited for is that once I receive my mission call I will be able to go to the temple. I am pretty sure that I am looking forward to going through the temple more than I am to going on a mission. Don't get me wrong I am very excited to go on a mission but, it is the temple. I don't think that anything could beat the temple.

Words really can't explain how I feel about this. To try to some it up, it feels 100% right and I feel the approval of my Heavenly Father. I can't say that I have felt this way about one of my decisions before, not even with Brock. This is how I know this is what I am supposed to be doing. I feel no hesitation, no second guessing. I feel peace and pure happiness when I think about serving a mission.

I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior. That He atoned for my sins and that without Him I would be nothing. I know that Joseph Smith was called of God and that he restored the church for the world today. Without him we wouldn't have the Book of Mormon, the restoration, temples, and so much more. I am so privileged to be a member of this church for it is a privilege that no one should take lightly. I know that I am a daughter of God and that I have a high potential. I love my Savior and my Heavenly Father.

My favorite song is I Stand All Amazed. I love this song because I feel that it bears my testimony perfectly.

I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me
Confused at the grace that so fully he proffers me
I tremble to know that for me he was crucified
That for me, a sinner, he suffered, he bled and died

Chorus:
Oh, it is wonderful that he should care for me enough to die for me
Oh, it is wonderful
Wonderful to me

I marvel that he would descend from his throne divine
To rescue a soul so rebellious and proud as mine
That he should extend his great love unto such as I
Sufficient to own, to redeem and to justify

(Repeat chorus)

I think of his hands, pierced and bleeding to pay my debt
Such mercy, such love and devotion can I forget?
No, no, I will praise and adore at the mercy seat
Until at the glorified throne I kneel at his feet

I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me
Secure in the promise of life in his victory
Thus ransomed from death I will live to my Savior's praise
And sing of his goodness and mercy through endless days

The gospel is amazing. The love of God is amazing. I hope that as a missionary I will be able to help the Holy Spirit touch the hearts of those seeking for the truth.

Goals

I am not very good with goals. I plan things but I usually don't do them or I finish them at the last moment. It isn't that I don't like the feeling that I accomplished something, because I do, it is just that sometimes those goals just seem like to much effort and the reward isn't worth the effort.

This being said, I accomplished a goal today. It's not something anyone else would think is very grand or productive but for me it was life changing. I did something that I don't like to do. I did something that was extremely needed. I did something for me. I don't know if anything will come out of this act but I know that because I did it I am in charge of my life again.