Expired...

Dear Family,

Guess what?!? I am now expired...at least my ministerial certificate is. Sad day is what that is. They are working on getting me an updated one, but who knows how quickly that will come.

Also with this new area, we are slowly building up a teaching pool. Our schedule is looking more full this week, also we actually have dinner appointments this week. I don't necessarily love the food that comes with them but it really is more efficient as a missionary since we do get to know the members and help them trust us and we get to teach. It will be good to teach more with Sister Bogar she is really good at making people feel really good about themselves. She cut hair for 7 years and has had to listen to a lot of people talk and she is good at it.

Cloud: He came to church last week we were able to give him a copy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ pamphlet. We talked about it at our meeting this week. He came with it all read and he said that he had questions last week but after reading the pamphlet and praying everything made sense. We also taught the Word of Wisdom and he was a little concerned about tea, as we were talking more about it, he stopped us and said it doesn't matter I just won't drink it. What a blessing he is to us. He will be coming to hear Elder Nash speak on Thursday.

Danny: Is doing great, still reading, still praying. He knows the church is true, he knows that Joseph Smith is a true prophet, he just wants to be absolutely sure before baptism. He keeps talking about it as if it will be soon, every lesson we talk about setting a date, yet he still does not have one. He hasn't missed a week of church since we met him.

Ryan and Lilly are also amazing. We were able to teach them the Plan of Salvation. They had a lot of sincere questions and they really liked how the gospel answered them. Lilly had planned to come to the gratitude dinner and they both wanted to come to church but Lilly is pregnant and is experiencing quite a bit of nausea associated with that. They are reading from the Book of Mormon and progressing well.

Branjal and Pratibha: are a couple from India, we have met with them twice now. They have a lot of good questions about God and have spent a lot of time thinking about Him. The Spirit was really strong at our last lesson where we talked more about the Plan of Salvation and our purpose here on earth.

We are still feeling our way around our new area looking for those married couples. Also we finally have ward boundaries and ward directories so this week we are going to set up appointments with the younger couples in the ward and get to know them better. This will help us better understand how we are going to use them as fellowshippers and also ask for referrals!

In the Book of Mormon today there was a scripture that really hit me, it talks about in the resurrection those who were wicked will be wicked still, and those who were righteous will be righteous still, and those who were happy will be happy still, and unhappy, unhappy still. What hit me was that happiness is a choice, not just now. Just as we choose to keep the commandments, we choose our attitude. This week has been really difficult for me, it was my original release date and with it came a lot of feelings about going home early and all that came with that. It has been a struggle to put on a smile and go forward but everyday I have tried to smile and be happy and go find souls to save. I know there is a purpose to all things, there is a reason God called me here, I know that He will never let me go through anything alone. What a comfort that is to know. I can and will choose to be happy for it is my choice!

I will be doing exchanges with Sister Ricks Tuesday in Portland, and the following week I am planning on going to Owosso and working with Sister Thackerary. We are using members to drive us to the areas to save miles on the car and are just going to follow the Spirit and hope that I can be of some help and support and guidance to these wonderful sisters. I love them all so much and am grateful that I can help them in any way that I can.

What else...we walk and walk and walk and walk and walk and run to catch buses and walk. I don't remember feeling this tired, but that is good it means that we are busy. Please still pray that we work well with our 3 wards. Sometimes I still feel quite confused as to the vision of what we are specifically trying to do in the area. Again Find, teach, baptize...yet I understand that, but what about all the hundreds of members that we now get to work with. That is this week's task to understand, we now have ward maps and directories and off we go! We are starting by visiting all of the recently married couples and those who are between 18-mid 30's.
Also Elder Nash from the 70 is doing a mission tour this week and we we get to go up to Mt Pleasant to hear him speak on Saturday. I am quite excited, it is Mt Pleasant and a general authority, couldn't get better!!

I love you all, thank you for all of your support.
Mahal ko po kayo,
Ingat,
Sister Rebecca Jensen

What an Adventure Life is...‏

Family,

Can I just say that I have the coolest companion ever!!! Her name is Sister Bogar and she is from Mesa Arizona, she is half African American. She graduated from U of A in Life Sciences with a focus in forestry and wants to go back to Med school but do some homeopathic something. She is my tallest companion to date and still not as tall as me...we do walk super fast together, well we again when my ankle stops being silly and swollen-I don't know what happened I just woke up a few days ago and there is was (yes I am "RICE"-ing it). She is already working as my equal in finding, teaching, and keeping track of everything. No freak out moments!! What a blessing, we will see many miracles. She, like sister keys, is also a vegetarian. :)

Danny is doing great! He canceled our appointment this past week but was at church on Sunday. He has not missed a week at church since we met him. I was able to talk to him after church and he was inspired by Archie's faith and his desire to be baptized. Danny said that he is thinking that he will soon follow. He was asking a lot of questions about what will his responsibilities be after he is a baptized member of the church. I was so excited to hear this, we have been praying that he would finally get some spark to his faith and get baptized. We meet with him again on Tuesday.
Ryan and Liddy are an amazing married couple that Elder DeHart and Ransley found. We had a transition lesson that was about the Spirit and answers to prayers. They have been praying together as husband and wife and say they feel more courage, happiness, and closer together. They also announced that they are starting a family!!!! (Ryan- totally thought his name was Lion until yesterday-said that with a huge smile on his face. I think that was my favorite way I have ever heard that news stated. "We are starting a family." Happiness!!) Libby is due in June! They came to the Lansing ward yesterday and loved ever minute of it. Sunday school was about the responsibilities of husbands and wives in the home! Julia and Brandon Carlson are their fellowshippers who sat with them through the meetings and Julia will be at our lesson on Wednesday, she will also be driving Liddy to the Relief Society Gratitude dinner on Saturday. They accepted a baptismal commitment, we will extend a date this week.
Cloud has been reading the Book of Mormon and said that it is incredible. He loved church and was asking a lot of questions about what will his baptism be like on December 10th. Grace was there to help answer what her baptism was like, she gave a beautiful testimony of baptism and confirmation. We are meeting again with Cloud on Saturday. He works next Sunday so he will not be attending Church but I am hoping that we can get him involved in the ward and surrounded with good friends as he doesn't have many friends now and is looking for a good group of people to be around.
We were able to meet with the Bishops of the Lansing and Williamston wards yesterday and help them better understand our role in their wards. They are very excited to have Sisters in their wards.They are willing to support us in any way that we need. The Relief Society in the Lansing ward practically cheered when we announced that we will be working with their ward. It is wonderful to feel so welcomed and loved. It makes the desire to serve them come easily. We were at church for 12 hours yesterday. Between our 3 wards and attending all of their sacrament meetings and some of their Sunday school and one relief society. Teaching investigators from the university ward during part of Williamston's Sunday School and then attending Archie's baptism at 5:30. We just had a totally spiritual fast Sunday. I heard a ton of testimonies and felt the Spirit very strongly.
President Hess called Sister Keys and I last Tuesday and talked to us for quite some time. He was able to clarify what my area is and why the Elders talked to us. There was quite a bit of miscommunication between us and clearing that up brought the Spirit back and has made life much more beautiful. I am seeing more and more over my mission just how important clear communication really is, I suppose this is one of those lessons that I will use for the rest of my life. Clearly let people know what you expect, clearly let them know what you are doing and why. If there is confusion ask questions and clear things up before they are taken the wrong way or blown out of proportion.
There is still no snow here but the weather today is warm and windy, so according to my experience in the past we will have snow soon. That is fine, we moved upstairs in the living center so that Sister Keys and her trainee Sister Topchiyska (she is from Bulgaria but has lived in the US for 7 years, she speaks 5 languages fluently and is amazing.) still live down stairs. We eat lunch together and if we don't have a dinner appointment we also eat with them. Cooking for 4 is much more fun than just for 2. Sister Keys and I do love to cook as well so that makes it more convenient.
It is good to hear that even though life has had quite a few bumps lately that everyone is still strong in the faith and continuing onward. This gospel is true, what a joy it is to share it with others. I pass my "I should be going home today mark" on Thursday. There is a little bit of trepidation about it to be honest. I know I need to be here, but at the same time that pull and twang of the heart is hard to ignore. I will work through it. Sister Keys' Birthday is this Saturday, that should help to keep me distracted. Plus we are getting quite busy, working with 3 wards and wards who have not had sisters in a while-we have had quite a few referrals come in to us from members in the past few days. They are wonderful tender mercies.
I love you all. Please let me know if there is anything more I can be doing for any of you. I just keep praying for you and hoping that all is going well.

Mahal ko po kayo!!
Ingat,
Sister Rebecca Jensen

What?!?!!?!?‏

Dear Family,
What a week. I am not really in the greatest of moods, we were rebuked last night and I am still struggling with what was addressed. I don't feel like I was ever acting the way they say we were. It just doesn't seem consistent to who I have ever been or who I have ever tried to be and it hurts to have it come from the elders and to have them skip away from it like everything was okay. I don't get it. We have tried so hard to be their friends, even when they never invited us to anything or included us in anything, we still tried and now to get this...oh the frustrations.
As for transfer calls I am opening a bran new area. It is working with recently married couples in the Lansing, Holt, and Williamston wards. As to how I will find married people to teach, that is beyond me. Also I will be training again. Sister Keys is also training, she will be staying in the university ward. I am moving to the apartment next door in the living center. It should prove to be an interesting transfer. Sister Thackerary is going with Sister Scheffer (this is her last transfer) to Owosso and Martin to Portland with Sister Ricks (she came out with Sister Keys). There are 9 sisters in our district and we have a new district leader. There will be 5 elders. It is going to be interesting. I have a lot of questions but don't feel like there is anyone that I really want to ask.
Hiva: has been looking at wikipedia and other cites again. This week he read to us from wikipedia about Joseph Smith. We testified about the prophet and why he did some of the things he did. By the end of the lesson Hiva's attitude had changed and his closing prayer was very humble.
Danny: brought a friend to his lesson and taught her the restoration while we sat there. It was impressive to hear him talk about the importance of feeling the Spirit. He still has not picked a date but while talking about baptism he said it would be before the end of January.
Cloud is amazing!! He has so much faith and in our last lesson he talked about not fully understanding about God but how he wanted to follow the example of Jesus Christ. With that intro we extended a baptismal commitment and a date!! He is excited to come to church on Sunday.
Hiokei is still debating with himself if there is a God. He came to church on Sunday and at the end said that he felt good and he will come back but he things that all that we teach is just opinion. He is feeling the Spirit, praying and reading the Book of Mormon and coming to church the rest will come in time.
Al and Xiao we have not been about to contact this week. That is a little concerning.
The weather has been cold and windy but nothing too bad. My umbrella is dead, but I will try and sew it up later today. No time I tell you there is just no personal time.
The work is going well, everyone is alive. There have been a lot of driving to Doctors for hearing and dental problems. Thank heavens I have been fine but my companions have struggled. No snow yet. I hope it does not snow. Remember I have a phobia of driving in the snow...yup its still there. Our mission vehicles were vandolized after MSU lost the game on saturday. Windows were smashed in and the front of our malibu was dented.
The leaves here are beautiful and falling off the trees at a rapid pace as well. The seasons are changing quickly. I am going to miss the university ward, it is giong to be weird to be living there but not interacting with the people. The Gospel is perfect the members are not, the work we do is a marvelous work and a wonder hard as it may be it is marvelous.
Well I only have one more of these transfer calls left...can I just say that I am so ready for that.
I love you all.
Mahal ko po kayo.
ingat,
Sister Rebecca Jensen

You Should Never Lift a Grand Piano on Your Own

Dear Family,
GRACE is now a baptized and confirmed member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and oh what joy fills my soul being able to say that. Her baptism was beautiful once it finally started. This was my first baptism in America that I had to plan and prepare so there were many things that I learned this weekend. Can I just say that I have never wanted a Bishopric more than I have this past week. Ours is non existent and so trying to coordinate this baptism was like trying to lift and move a grand piano alone. Luckily God prevailed and everything worked out in the end. We went to go fill the font Saturday morning since we couldn't find anyone who would help us, we were standing there in the men's bathroom staring at the silver box that has no key going how in the world do we open it. We tried a penny for about 15 min until we were frustrated and sick of being in the bathroom. We called the Assistants and there response was we are on our way. My response "what so we can't do it ourselves" their response, it is in the men's bathroom, you have to open up the box and turn it on. "Yes I know we have to open the BOX but HOW" them We are on our way, plus did you know it takes 3 hours to fill the font. At that point I hung up because of just sheer frustration and called the Zone Leaders. I had Sister Keys call because I was hugging my knees trying to calm down. They told us how to use the back of a key to open it (really?!??!?) and that it only takes 90 min to fill the font. It was just a whole week full of things like that. I fell like I was trying to spin plates and every time I accidentally dropped one that is when someone would come talk to me about it and tell me that I had dropped and broken this plate. We had 4 investigators at church on Sunday and 3 of them pulled me aside after sacrament meeting and told me of the plates that I had dropped. Then they went over to Sister Keys and just chatted happily. I got to Sunday School just trying to smile and hold back the tears. YARG!!!
Hiva finally set a baptismal date!! He came to our last lesson and while sitting calm as could be just said "I got my answer, baptism is right for me, I will be baptized." Sister Keys and I wanted to dance we were so happy but we stayed calm and extended a date and explained what would happen in the coming weeks to help prepare him. At church yesterday he pulled me aside and said that he had been doing some research online and he had some off the wall questions about Joseph Smith running for president of the USA and others like that. I was able to resolve his concerns and told him that if he had any more questions to look atmormon.org.
Danny is still trying to learn everything before he commits to a baptismal date. He is progressing well and the Spirit is always very strong in our lessons he is just afraid to use his faith and be baptized without knowing everything first. We are trying to help him see the importance of having the Spirit to help us learn as a confirmed member of the Church. He has a lot of pride and that is his stumbling block.
Xiao and Al were able to come to church this week. They attended a baptism last week. We met with them on Friday and it was a rough lesson. They have also been doing research online and it just has made them confused to the point that they didn't even remember how to pray. It saddened me greatly. But we are taking it slowly and we started over with the three basics of gaining faith: prayer, scripture study, and church attendance. We are having Tristan come to our lesson this week, that will help the language barrier and hopefully we will be able to really help.
Elders Ransley and DeHart had 9 investigators at church on Sunday, it was incredible!
We also had interviews this week with President Hess. My interview took over 30 min. It was awesome. We talked about all of my companions and how the work was going. We also talked about what they have envisioned for me in the coming transfer. He said that if he could call sisters as district leaders he would call me as one. That just brought my soul joy to hear Pres. Hess say that. :D He said that they want me doing companion exchanges to help with the training process, I am not sure the logistics for those but he used the phrase "the assistants and you" quite a bit. It was quite an amusing interview.
We toured the MSU Dairy this week with our ward mission leader. We saw how they make cheese and ice cream. They were making sweet corn ice cream because the have flavors for every school in the pac 10. Also we were able to see the shiny crystal football trophies they have won. Insane!!
We get to go tour the capitol today!! I am super excited I have been asking to go the entire 3 months I have been here. Crazy how time flies.
I love this gospel, I love how it makes sense and it makes life easier. God lives and loves us so much.
Well my time is up. I love you all.
Mahal ko po kayo!!!
Ingat,
Sister Rebecca Jensen

May it be...

Dear Family,
What a week. MSU beat UofM it was one insane crowd of people going to parties and drinking for breakfast. MSU won!! We have had a lot of cold weather, still beautiful fall leaves but now it is accompanied with the cold gray skies. All of the companions are doing well. Sister Keys can now hear, Sister Martin had a broken filling and got that replaced this morning, so hopefully life will be less painful for her. I am done shopping for at least a week. I have been very blessed not to have to go shopping/clothes shopping a lot on my mission and today...well it made be grateful that we don't do this weekly.
GRACE!! Is being baptized this Saturday. She is just fantastic and so excited to be baptized. We are making sure that we are in contact with her daily to make sure that she is doing well. She went home for the weekend and her parents are still willing to let her choose to be baptized. Still not thrilled with it like she is but they are willing. Our ward is very excited to see her baptized many of the members have said that she just fits right in to the ward.
Hiva and Danny are still just about the same. We taught them both the plan of salvation with Bro. Cody as a member present. It went well, I think that it finally clicked for both of them why we keep bringing up the importance of baptism in helping them prepare to return to Heavenly Father. Hiva said that he would pray about it and that we would talk about his decision on Wednesday. Danny is still loving church and our lessons and has started to make connections from church to our lessons, he still says that he lacks the faith to be baptized.
We were able to do service this week at the Golf Course laying sod. I love service, the feeling that comes from it is priceless. Also for laying sod it was really fun to get to know the Elders in our District, last transfer we didn't get to know any of them and this transfer they have been a little friendlier and working with them this week helped break that barrier. Also I got really dirty. The other sisters raked leaves but we didn't have that many rakes so I joined the Elders and we went to work. Talk about awesome! We were also able to do service for Sister Hatch and Cheryl in the Williamston ward. They were fantastic. It was so much fun to help them out raking leaves and scrubbing showers and kitchens to help stave off their mental and emotional break downs. It felt good to help them and to see how grateful they were for what we did.
I am in the ward chapters of Alma and there is still so much to learn. Moroni is a master planner, the thought and preparation that went into the battles that he waged is very impressive. Many times his army won because of the strength of the Lord and his preparation. It reminded me that as I plan then I too can "win this battle" or have success in this work because the Lord will be with us as we stay worthy and do our part.
With the cold can I just say thank heavens for crock pots and warm food. We have not had a single dinner appointment this week so we have been making a lot of soups. Also I made some awesome apple sauce in the crock pot. Just michigan apples and cinnamon, the house smelled amazing.
I hope that everyone in the family is doing well. Thank you for the card. I don't really know Sage but I keep hearing a ton about her, she sounds like an interesting addition to the family.
We have transfer calls on the 28th I cannot believe how quickly the time has flown past, it feels like yesterday I was boarding the plane to come here and that was 6 months ago.
That is about it for the week. We are just plugging along. I know that this church is true. What a blessing it is to be serving as a missionary at this time in the world.
Well the time is far spent!
Mahal ko po kayo!
ingat,
Sister Rebecca Jensen

Sorry it is kind of long this week...

Hello Family,
How are you this week? I heard that is has been snowing in Utah, I think that is crazy since we are having a slight heat wave of sorts here in Michigan. It is lovely but crazy.
Sister Keys is still being amazing, she has the ability to make work fun for all involved. We are still working on the desire to go up and talk to people. In lessons she is teaching simply and powerfully and understanding a lot more. Since we have a few investigators preparing for baptism we have been teaching the commandment lessons together so that she will have taught through all of the lessons before the end of her training. We are also doing a lot of short practices in our companion study, those have proved to be fruitful in understanding where everyone is on their teaching and comprehension levels and trying to help them understand and apply what we are learning from Preach My Gospel.
Sister Martin is doing a lot better than she was. It turns out that she does not like Sister Keys more than me, the issue was that she was intimidated by me thinking that I was too perfect. CRAZY!! We were able to talk it out and we have come up with ways that I can help her understand what is going on and see that I am just trying to be obedient and help in any way I can. She is feeling less homesick and has started to participate in studies and activities more often. Elder Ransley gave them a challenge to read the Book of Mormon for 30 min each morning for personal study and mark every time it talks about Christ, this challenge has completely changed the way they study and the Spirit has increased and so has companionship unity. I am very grateful!!
Sister Thackerary is doing well. She is talking less about home. She really has a desire to become a great missionary sometimes there is a desire for her to jump straight to perfect and then to not reach that and feel frustrated but that is happening less and less. I think that she is starting to understand that only through consistent dedicated study and application of the Gospel will bring about the desired result of an effective and obedient missionary.
Hiva and Danny are both doing well. When we met with them this week they both had similar concerns. They both believe that Joseph Smith is a true prophet and that the Book of Mormon is true. They are struggling to accept Thomas S Monson as a prophet. They believe that he is an apostle but not a prophet. It was an answer to prayer to have them both at Stake Conference where they could hear about how that mantle of authority is passed when they released the old stake president and sustained a new one. (Elder Olsen and Baxter from the seventy came. I got to talk to Elder Baxter, one of his quotes is my all time favorite, it saved me in Mt Pleasant and I actually got to meet him. Surreal!!) Also they have social concerns saying that they love the way they feel they just don't know how their friends will accept them if they do join and become a "mormon." They both have fantastic fellowshippers and not only that but friends in the ward that have been inviting them to do activities with them and help them make friends here. We extended a baptismal commitment to both of them Danny said yes, but he wants to learn more before he will set a date, and Hiva brought up his social concerns we told him to pray about it and we will follow up with him in this weeks lesson.
Stephanie who is 17 and from China has talked to her parents and they are okay with her joining and being baptized but she would like to wait until she is 18 years old so that we don't have to deal with paperwork doing to and from the Chinese embassy. She was talking about her brother who is almost 3 yrs old right now and saying that when he comes to America to study here that she will have us teach him about the God and make him one of us. I love Asians!!
Grace was also able to come to Stake Conference. She is SO excited to be baptized! Her lessons are going well and she is still very open and receptive. She accepted the word of wisdom without a flinch and gave up coffee on the spot. What faith she has. Her parents are not supportive of her being baptized into this church but they are letting her choose what she wants to do. She looked sad but determined to follow the answers that she has received from God and be baptized even if her parents don't support it. She will be interviewed next week and then baptized on the 22nd! We are so excited for her!!!!!
I know my emails are long but I hope they help you all better understand what I am doing and who I am working with. Also for the guys reading. Last Tuesday we were walking up to Spartan Village and we were walking past a guy with headphones in and somehow we got talking, I don't know how. We talked about why we were there and about missionary work and we asked what he was studying and about him. Well turns out that he was Isaiah Lewis, he is #9 on the football team. Ya he offered us a ride to spartan village. Don't worry we said no, but he still offered.
We also have a car to drive. After squashing in the truck the Assistants said "that's it the sisters get a car" and by the next day we had a car. We only have 350 miles of which our district leader drove 50 before he gave it back to us....grrr...but atleast it is a car.
Also for the past 2 preparation days we have been playing Quiddich. Our Zone Leaders Elders Hill and Clawson play with us. We do ride on brooms or sticks and have a quaffel, 2 bludgers and a snitch which is still hidden so the game is still on. We don't get that many people to come actually just Catherine, Ashley, Austin, the 4 sisters and our zone leaders. Its pretty awesome. We tried to get the Assistants to come, but they have been acting super weird and detached lately, we rarely see them or talk to them. Sad day.
Well that will conclude this weeks email. Not much more left to say, things are starting to flow easier. I still spend my nights trying to figure out logistics of who is where for which appointment making sure that everyone gets to teach with each other, but God helps. This is not my work I am only an instrument in His hands and I have felt that ever greater these past few weeks.

Mahal ko po Kayo!!
Ingat,
Sister Rebecca Jensen

What a Beautiful Morning!

Dear Family,
What a week it has been. We had zone conference, the musical number went well thank heavens. We learned a lot. The chicken we were supposed to eat for lunch wasn't cooked so that was interesting. The assistants have been crazy this week doing all of the zone conferences all around and they didn't really tell us the plans for shopping this morning. Lets just say that Sister Jensen was very frustrated and not the happiest person. Sigh. Life goes on. We had 6 investigators and Conference! What a blessing it is to have them be able to come and feel of the Spirit so strong. Many of them said that they finally felt what we have been trying to describe!
Danny is amazing. We met with him this week and taught him the restoration. He told us that he didn't know everything but that he trusted God to tell him when he was ready. When we closed we said a kneeling closing prayer and he said it, he paused after it was over and after a few seconds I asked him what he was feeling, he responded that he was feeling empty, not a bad empty, just clear, good. He was able to come to conference and he loved the talks about the importance of families and the management of time. Our ward already loves him and is taking great care of him.
Riu Le is a new investigator that came via referral. Sister Keys and I went to contact him one night, it was dark and rainy and cold. Blessed by the Lord we got off on the right buss stop and were able to walk there while only getting soaked. He was not home so we called the Elders for a ride, when they came we were convinced it must be after 9pm it was so dark and cold. Yup, when they dropped us off it was only a little past 8:30...awesome. We were able to meet with him later this week and teach him the restoration. He toured SLC temple square last week and they gave him a Chinese copy of the Book of Momon. We were able to give him an English copy and explain what the difference between our church and others is. The spirit was strong and we have a return appointment.
Xiao, Al, and Dexter all came to their lesson on Friday. We showed them the Restoration dvd in Chinese and afterwards talked about it. They were the ones who brought up baptism. So we talked about it and reset baptismal dates and talked to them about the process that would need to happen in order for them to be ready to be baptized November 12th. We went into that lesson thinking we were going to drop them and came away with solid baptismal dates and happiness. They were also able to come to Conference and they talked about how they felt the Spirit. For the first time they actually connected what we were talking about the Spirit to the actual feeling of the Spirit!!!
Hiva went to priesthood session and Sunday morning session of General Conference. He loved the talk by Tad Callister about the Book of Mormon and when we asked him what he thought about that he replied "Its true." Last week we showed him the Restoration DVD and talked about why Joseph Smith is so important.. He said that he was still waiting for those strong feelings that he gets when he feel really sad/bad and prays, he wants those strong feelings as his answer. We talked about the Spirit and how it works and the different ways we feel it, on Sunday he said that he was feeling the Spirit more! HUZZAH!!!!
Grace is doing so well. She is so excited for her baptism her energy is contagious. She went home for the weekend and when I called and talked to her last night she sounded just as excited! Catherine and Ashley have been fantastic fellowshippers and friends to Grace. It has been a great help to know that they are calling and talking to Grace out of love and a desire to see her progress. We taught her about prophets last week and she seemed to teach us, she is just fantastic, what a blessing to be teaching her.
Training 3 companions is going well. A little stressful at times when appointments change or cancel and then we have no clue what to do with that companionship. Thankfully we have been very blessed last week to have many appointments and many new investigators which are making this week look a little more full. We are having trouble finding appointments for the new sisters to go to at night and we have 1 dinner appointment all week. I think that our members are feeling a little drained. I hope that something will work out and we will be able set up appointments for the night. Nights are the hardest since we can't go contacting after dark and it really is not safe to walk to apartments to door knock. I am just at a loss of what to do, but that is what prayer is for. I know that things will come up, we will be able to find the right things to do.
We were able to watch all the sessions of conference! It was beautiful. Actually I was not homesick for this one, last October I cried through the entire thing, this time I was a little more occupied with investigators and trainees to even notice really that the days are flying past and that I am not at home. I do miss you all, don't get me wrong, I am just a little busy. Thank you for the conference package, it was lovely.
We have a new morning schedule to make sure that everyone is up and doing exercise. It is inspired really. We get up at 5:53 and pray until 6 then we exercise until 6:30 after that we get exactly 10 min in the shower and have breakfast at 7:30. Those who are not getting ready get time for extra study, which is lovely since our personal study is now 30 min BOM and 30 min PMG scripture chains. It has helped unify the companionship. Also I got to lead everyone in sun salutations, Sister Keys lead us in random stretches with a promise of Richard Simmons type exercise next turn. The person who leads the exercise is the person to shower first. I tell you inspired.
Well I think that concludes this weeks activities. The church is still true! Please continue to pray for me and my companions...we need all the prayer that we can get.
I finally figured out how the apostles and prophets and mission presidents and leaders are able to work so hard for so long and still keep going. Its called LOVE! Amazingly simple yet so profound isn't it. With love and charity that desire to help others becomes the priority and when our priorities are in line we are given power from God and with that power and love comes the energy to do the work that needs to be done. Fantastic!!!!!!
Enjoy the fall weather.
Mahal ko po kayo!
ingat,
Sister Rebecca Jensen


P.S. we were told this week the the Mission Office had our address wrong on a page of forwarding stickers, that has since been corrected. If you sent a letter and it was returned, please try again it has been corrected. I am hoping this is why there has been a great dearth of letters. If not, know I love you anyway and that with or without letters the work goes on.