Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Dear Family, 
   HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!
   It is a clear and freezing cold day. We had a very long appointment this morning and her house there was not a lot of heat and we froze, that is when I think I officially realized that we are in Michigan during an official winter. It has been very mild this year but we have been getting a little snow everyday for the past few days and it is finally cold enough that it is sticking.  
     Eryun told us last week that he would like to be baptized January 7th and we are going forward with that. His questions have been amazing lately, very detailed about what is happening in the Book of Mormon. Some of them are amazing. We have been reflecting lately on how the Gospel has helped him progress and to see how his English has improved so drastically in just 2 months is a testimony to me that God has great things in store for Eryun. When we met him neither of us could understand each other and now he is coming to church weekly and reading from the Book of Mormon and doing so many things that without the help of God would have been impossible. 
   Ryan and Lily had us over for dinner this past week. We talked about missionary work and they asked if they would need to go knock doors like we do. It was sweet. We talked to them about sharing the gospel with their friends and relatives and Ryan is very excited to share what he knows with others especially those in China one day. Ryan was able to recieve the Aaronic Priesthood on Sunday and be ordained to the office of Priest. He will do great things with that! They were also excited to hear that if they do serve a mission when they are older they are each others’ companions, they are very in love and it has been a blessing to be around such a wonderful couple. They left this week for Virginia with a promise that they will be in contact when they get there and that they will keep us updated when big events happen. Also when they are sealed I will be traveling to whichever temple they are sealed in. I love them so much, what a blessing it has been to watch them grow in the Gospel. 
  Steaven came to church this Sunday. We were not expecting him to come so when he walked in we were both very happy. He stayed for all three hours and called later Sunday night to tell us he enjoyed the service and that he would be coming again. We are going to pass him to the elders in the University ward this week. He is doing well and sincerely desires to learn more and to become better.
  Sister Bogar and Sister Baker went and taught Pedro while I was in Owosso, it went well. They started off talking about the Gospel of Jesus Christ but he had a lot of questions about the fall of Adam and Eve and so they covered part of the Plan of Salvation. We meet again with him this afternoon to pass him to the elders in the University ward we know that he will be well taken care of and his needs met. 
  Exchanges went well with Sister Thackeray last week. She was feeling a little overwhelmed at all the responsibility that she has had placed upon her. We spend a few hours out finding and we practiced in companion study. It was a lot of fun to be around her again and to see how far she has come in such a short time. It is amazing how much we grow then there is a need for it. 
  It is Sister Bogar's Birthday today. I feel a little bad since I won't even be here to help her celebrate, I leave for WMU this afternoon and don't get back until mid Thursday. It should be an adventure. I am just grateful that I don't have to drive. :D 
  New Years Eve was an adventure. We cleaned the baptismal font. It was embarrassing the last baptisms to have floaties...those are gone. The rest of the evening was not how I wanted it...I am glad that I only had one of those on my mission. 
  I made gingerbread bread yesterday and it turned out dry...it still tastes good but was super dry. I am wondering if it was our oven or what? I don't make it enough to know what happened to make it that way. When I get home I am going to experiment with a full kitchen...be warned. I also made banana bread for Sister Bogar's Birthday. Not quite cake but the Elders keep giving us bananas and I want to use them up before I leave and to my time is ticking. 
  I cannot believe how quickly January has come; it feels like it was just April. Time just moves faster and faster for me, Sister Bogar still says that it is agonizingly slow for her...oh the days of being new. We are still working on being better. The quote on the back of this planner is "In the search for our best selves, several questions will guide our thinking; Am I what I want to be? Am I closer to the Savor today than I was yesterday? Will I be closer yet tomorrow? Do I have the courage to change for the better?" -President Thomas S Monson 
  How true that is. 
I love you all.

Mahal ko po kayo

Sister Rebecca Jensen 

Snow and a change of plans‏

Dear Family,
   Sorry this email is coming late. There is some crazy snow outside and there has been all day, also we found out that Sister Bogar doesn't get driving privileges for quite sometime so we had to cancel our trade offs with Caro and we are trading off with Owosso tomorrow instead. It turns out well because when I called Sister Thackeray she sounded all too happy to spend some time with me. She said that she needs some help. So once again God moves in mysterious ways and I am supposed to be in Owosso tomorrow.
   I got a new temple recommend on Saturday. Hooray I don't have be expired there as well. [Hers expired in the Philippines, too.] Seriously a big relief to have a current recommend. I can't wait to use it again!
  It was great to talk to you on Sunday. Amazing to think of how different that phone call was from the last Christmas phone call I made. I am much happier here and now. As for those we are working with, they are all blessings to have and to teach.   
Ryan and Lily (Recent Converts) are just amazing. We were able to meet with them and talk to them about the Priesthood and preparing for it. Also preparing to enter into the temple and enduring to the end. The Spirit at our lesson was so strong it strengthened my testimony in the power of families and the importance of a strong father and mother. What a blessing it has been to teach them. They read the Gospel Principles manual and the Book of Mormon together. I love how their spiritual journey is only strengthened and enhanced by their relationship and love for one another and for God. I see now why we focus on teaching families.
   Eryun is coming to church now regularly and feeling right at home. He also came to our Christmas Eve activity and loved being around the other investigators and missionaries. He told us that this Wednesday he will tell us what he has decided about being baptized. He knows he wants to be baptized he is just not sure if he wants to wait for his wife or if he wants to go ahead first and then be there to baptize her when she finally comes in America in February. It is a big decision but Eryun loves to pray and he is sensitive to the Spirit, I know that he will make the right decision for him and his family.
   Branjal and Pratibha are doing well. Pratibha has completed reading the Book of Mormon and loves it, she wants to come to church. Branjal keeps forgetting to read the Book of Mormon and pray so we have been reading with him the past two visits. They planned on coming to church but didn't realize that the bus did not work on Christmas. We are working on coordinating a ride for them and hope that the Evan's family can fellowship them.
   Pedro was born in Texas but raised in Mexico. He meet the missionaries in Mexico and talked with them. He is 17 but already in college at MSU. He is super smart and grew up very religious. Pedro would spend extra time with his ministers growing up and they would have him teach classes to kids his age and go with them to pray for people. As we were sharing the restoration with him, he really enjoyed it and had a lot of insights. He also came to our Christmas Eve party and his truck was broken down so he walked all the way from Spartan Village just to come (that is over 2 miles). We are hoping to pass him off to Elders DeHart and Ransley, we think that both he and Elder DeHart are too smart for their own good so they should be able to connect and hopefully they can help Pedro put his spiritual and intellectual side together in the form of an awesome testimony.
     Today has been very interesting. A lot of snow, boots that would not have traction today. Teaching a lesson on the bus on the way to the bus terminal in Lansing. Being asked for money three times and once for this man's funeral because he was shot outside the bus terminal we were standing in and realizing that I sat next to that man a few weeks ago on the bus. Small world. Having my companion hit on by just about every man in the room. Feeling like we wanted to tesseract out of there because of the unwanted attention and iffy people surrounding us. Surprisingly having a guy named Steavan come up to us and ask what Church we belonged to and wanted to learn more. He had studied a little about Latter Day Saints in College and wanted to read the Book of Mormon. We taught him a brief Restoration while standing there and gave him a copy to read. He emailed Sister Bogar tonight and said that he has read the introduction and wants to learn more. Also when this slightly questionable man came and talked to us he stood there all tall and ominous in the back, his presence was very reassuring. I am grateful that God does protect us and that he is always sending people who are prepared into our paths. We have been praying for those who have been prepared to be placed in our path and to help them recognize us or to us recognize them, and lately we have seen those prayers answered in so many ways. What blessings!!
   I love you all very much. Happy New Year. Happy Birthday Mom!!!
Mahal ko po Kayo!
Ingat,
Sister Becky Jensen 

Note on the Last Transfer

I am happy to announce (or remind you) that Sister Jensen will return with honor on January 25, 2012. She is in the final weeks of her mission, and is enjoying (most) every minute of it. In order to avoid becoming distracted from the work of the Lord, she has asked that those of us at home please refrain from talking about her impending release in our notes and letters to her. She is excited to see all of you again, and LOVES to hear from you, but also doesn't want to deal with feeling "trunky".

We anticipate that her homecoming* will be Sunday, January 29.
(*Er- speaking as a returned missionary.)

I will provide more details as I learn them.

Thanks,
Emily Jensen
The PageMaster

" 'Tis the singing of a street corner choir, going home and getting warm by the fire"

Dear Family,
What a week it has been. Ryan and Lily Wong are now baptized and confirmed and they are happy as can be. It was a joyous baptism that was full of the Spirit. After Elder Ransley baptized Lily she waited on the stairs so that she could see Ryan baptized and after he was baptized they hugged. Talk about awesome. The Spirit was so strong, baptizing families is amazing!! We had a good showing of support from the ward and a lot of the young couples have really stepped up to be their friends. Eryun and Cloud came. My 4 favorite Asians all together for a baptism...I was exceedingly happy. I will have to send you that picture soon. I forgot my camera cord or you would be getting it now. It is one I will always cherish.
Eryun is doing really well. He came to Ryan and Lily's baptism. He wants to be baptized and when he found out that if he is baptized that if he is worthy when his wife comes to America he could baptize her I don't think he could have smiled bigger. We met with him and Brother McIntosh from the Williamston ward at the MSU library last week and talked about the 10 commandments. Eryun prayed at the close for help in keeping the commandments, it was a beautiful prayer.
Cloud is doing great! He came to support Ryan and Lily as they were baptized this Saturday. Also while waiting for the baptism he explained to Eryun about Baptism and confirmation and showed him the font and described what it felt like. He is such a wonderful teacher and fellow-shipper. I know that the university ward will take good care of him but it is still hard to leave the ward. We talked to him about going and doing baptisms for the dead with the ward on January 7th and after church yesterday he went by himself and talked to the bishop about getting a temple recommend!!! He is fantastic and strong and his testimony is amazing. He talks to his family often and they completely support him joining the church! It is great to see that our recent converts are self sufficient, the are converted to the gospel and not Sister Bogar or I, they don't need us anymore, yes they love us around but they also have friends and know that they can do things themselves. It is great. Also some of our Asian converts have been getting letters from members of the 70 and I guess that the church is really interested in them! How exciting!
Mary is a new investigator we picked up this week. We met her door knocking with Sister Thackeray and when we came back on Friday she had an entire spread of food, hot cinnamon rolls and crackers, cookies, chips and salsa...and much more!!! She is in her late 20's and works as an EMT. Mary grew up Christian but was very interested to learn more about what we believe. We taught her the restoration and at the end she asked if she could come to church. She said that she will be off work for Christmas Sunday and will come. We are super excited to be teaching her, her prayer was also beautiful thanking God for sending sisters with the truth and friendship.
I have been super tired this week. Sister Thackeray came to stay with us while she was waiting for her trainee and I slept on the floor. No one should start training exhausted so I let her have my bed. Yesterday was rough I was all kinds of emotional, just feeling drained then some people said some very unkind things to us about missing some meetings that we tried to go to. We were told it was at 11 and it was not and we were not made aware and we got chastised for not coming. I had to leave Williamston ward because I couldn't stop crying. Needless to say I am SO TIRED. Don't worry I am taking this week off from exchanges which means that I get to be in my area the entire week! I am super excited since this is the last time I can say that. I will be in Caro next week then I am going to Kalamazoo, then Portland then Owosso and then I will be going home. Weird to have it planned out until the end.
I cannot believe that there is less than a week until Christmas. How quickly time passes.
I got to see Elder Clawson and Sister Scheffer before they left. It was so weird to see them and to not be going away with them. It feels right though. There is not a single doubt in my mind, I am needed here one more transfer. We had a good week this week. We got a car, it is shiny and new and smells new car esk.
Thank you all for your prayers and your letters. I got my big card from the Ward yesterday. It is awesome and I have no clue once again to do with a card that big. But I am grateful for all the support from the ward. It is such a joy to get letters in the mail. I don't think that joy will ever go away.
I love you all. Have a Merry Christmas. Family I will talk to you Sunday night.
Merry Christmas.
Mahal ko po kayo,
Ingat,
Sister Rebecca Jensen

The Sweet and Tender Mercies of the Lord

Dear Family,
We had the most amazing baptism this past Saturday. It was his birthday on Wednesday and Rachel and Roy, the fellowshippers we invited to our lesson with him, made him a cake and wrote a card for him, it was just great to see that support. We called Cloud on Friday to make sure that everything was okay and he said he was preparing, when we asked what he said that it was his testimony. He is amazing!!! After Cloud, Shutian and Zhong were baptized and welcomed into the ward Cloud hopped up and shared his testimony. He started really sad talking about how he came to America to study but was so lonely; how he would walk the streets alone and just feel empty and homesick. Then one day he was walking alone on campus and "an angel stopped me and shared a message with me, she lead me to my new family and my new home." He looked right at me and said thank you. I could not stop smiling. I remember being out contacting with Sister Thackeray and stopping Cloud, he was alone and looking at the leaves changing color. It is amazing to think of the small things that we do, and how big of a difference they make for others. It was the most beautiful testimony. After the baptism a lot of the other missionaries and even President and Sister Hess came to talk with me about finding Cloud and teaching him, his knowledge of the Gospel is quite impressive, but honestly I didn't do anything. It was all the Lord; I was just an instrument in His hand. Cloud was prepared; I just had the blessing of opening my mouth.
Ryan and Lilly are doing so well. They have been planning out their baptism and are so excited for it. They came to the baptism on Saturday and after the service Lilly leaned over and said happily "that will be us next week." It was a tender moment. The ward loves them and is sad to see them leave to quickly after they are baptized. Bishop Rivers said that he would help us in contacting their new ward over in Virginia so that this transition goes as smoothly as possible.
Eryun is also doing great. He came to church this week in a suit. We extended a baptismal invitation last week and he was hesitating because of his family, but now that Cloud and Ryan and Lilly are all taking that step he has been talking about it. Not if he will be baptized but when. That makes us happy. He is coming to Ryan and Lilly's Baptism, he was really nervous about Cloud's saying it was like a rehearsal for his own baptism and he was not ready for that, but on Sunday he asked if he could come to their baptism. Oh course YES!
I was on exchanges in Owosso this past week with Sister Thackeray. It was quite fun to be serving with her again. She had a lot of questions about training and about how I do/did things. It was quite flattering to have her ask me all of these questions. To be honest the answers were really simple, be obedient, pray often and pray specifically, speak openly and honestly with your companion and others and be happy. That is the key to successful missionary work. After I got back Sister Bogar and I felt some tension. I didn't want to address it since we were both feeling ill...but on Saturday we talked it out. Turns out this mission has drastically changed since I got here. The rules have gotten a lot stricter and the way they do things has changed. Turns out my leaders actually listened as I talked. The other sisters call me the "White Handbook Nazi" or Mary Poppins, I thought it was just a funny joke but they don't like it. I never understood why, I am just trying to help the work go forward. Sister Scheffer was here before I came and has been able to see the change and she talked about that with my companion. We decided that we are okay that it has changed because it has changed for the better. It hurt a little that the others sisters talk about me, and I don't understand why it would be a bad thing to be so obedient and to help the mission become better. I am serving because I love the Lord and that is all that matters. All of my companionship's have been happy and successful and I think that is what matters.
We had the Williamston ward Christmas party on Saturday night. It was amazing. The decorations were between wedding reception-meets-Santa. The food was buffet and those always scare me but the program was great. We asked Sister Schlosher if she needed help and she said that she needed help with the curtains and moving things on and off the stage. I didn't do stage crew for nothing. I was able to do the curtains and help move stuff on and off stage and everything went without a hitch. It was great to be able to useful.
I will be staying in the MSU 3 Lansing Stake Sisters Area with Sister Bogar for my last transfer. All of the sisters are staying the 2 new ones that are coming out, one will go with Sister Thackeray to replace Sister Scheffer and the other with be a triad with the Mt Pleasant Sisters. Good times I tell you. Also President asked me to add Western Michigan University Sisters to my list of exchanges. That one will be a 36 hour exchange since we are going with the Assistants when they exchange with the Zone Leaders in the area. Both Elder Ransley and Elder DeHart are staying as Assistants again, Elder Ransley has been an Assistant now for the past 7 months...yup.........
Thank you for all of the letters it sounds like everyone is doing well. I hope that you all enjoy the holiday season. This is the season beloved of the year, sing a rhyme Christmas time soon will be here. I love this season, we get to be so open about talk Christ with so many people. I wish that everyone was so open about Christ all year round.
I love you all very much.
Mahal ko po kayo,
Ingat,
Sister Becca Jensen

Change of Address

For those of you who want to send Sister Jensen a Christmas note or package, both the mission home address and Sister Jensen's apartment address have changed in the last few weeks.

Please send your letters, packages, goodies, and love to the following addresses.

Apartment address:

Sister Rebecca Jensen

Apt. 4912 South Hagadorn #205

East Lansing, MI 48823

Mission home address:

Michigan Lansing Mission

1400 Abbott Road, Suite 330

East Lansing, MI 48823

A Lighthouse and a Car Ride from Caro

Dearest Family,

I am glad to hear that everyone is okay even with all of the wind and craziness that has been going on in Northern Utah.

What a week it has been. It feels like more than that since I last wrote. I did exchanges in Caro last Monday-Wednesday morning. Oh Monday we had the Sisters P-day we went to a lighthouse and then we came back and we made ginger bread houses and decorated the mission home. I got to put the garland up on the banister, what was way too much fun. Then everyone else watched Muppet Christmas Carol...it just made me too homesick so my companionship went and helped Elder Ransley and Elder DeHart put the lights up on the roof. It was a lot better than getting trunky.

I drove back to Caro on Monday night after the Sisters p-day, we dropped off the Mt Pleasant sisters so it took us 3 hours to get there. Talk about a long drive! While there we did a lot more driving. It is the thumb of Michigan and there are a lot of unique people there. The work was difficult but we were still able to pick up a new investigator and 3 return appointments. When we got in the car after finding Sister Froisland turned to me and said that she has never in her life had such a good day finding and we did all of that in an hour. What a blessing it is to be able to come to these sisters areas and work with them and strengthen them. Every single area I have been to we have found great success while working there. It is a miracle that I can go and give them a spiritual boost and some advice of how to become better. I love it! It is amazing what love can come for these sisters as we pray for them. I have been amazed at the love that has come from kneeling many times a day and pleading for each sister to feel the spirit and work together in unity and love. The Caro apartment was not up to Sister Jensen clean and with the extreme snow warning and really bad tires we came in at 7:30 and I was able to Pinesol until the floors sparkled and vacuumed until the room felt clean. It was great to go to bed and just sigh feeling quite accomplished. The Assistants were going to come pick us up and with all the snow they were not sure if they were going to be able to come. They called on Tuesday night and said Snow or Shine we are coming to get you. It was fantastic. We also got permission to drive the shortest and safest way home which was surprisingly through Flint. That was an amazing car ride with all the fresh snow outside and all of the fields it was beautiful. Also it was great because I didn't freak out being driven on the really snowy icy roads, I didn't even have to reach for the Tums! Happiness.

Sister Bogar is doing well. She is absolutely amazing, a hard worker, and willing to learn and grow and take on so much responsibility while I am gone on exchanges. I am so blessed to have Sister Bogar as a companion. I love her so much!!!!

Danny met with us after two weeks of being out of town and doing group work. When we met with him we knew something was up because he was pacing out front of the institute. We came in and he sat down and looked straight ahead and told us that he no longer wants to meet with us he just wants to study the Bible alone. He had such a strong testimony before he went to visit his family in San Fransisco we think that he was Antied while there. We tried to help him feel the Spirit to recall that testimony that he once had but he would not let it in. It was heart breaking to see. We have been blessed to see him on the bus every day since that happened, the ward is also stepping up to call him and see how he is doing. It was his birthday yesterday so a perfect opportunity to call and say hello. We are not giving up on him yet.
Cloud is absolutely amazing. We met with him twice last week. We taught him about tithing and fasting and also about the Law of Chastity. It was great to hear him come up with examples from what he has seen, "they are so stupid" he would say over and over again. His simple and pure faith is amazing. What a blessing it is to be able to teach him. He will be baptized this Saturday at 10am and we are all so excited!

Ryan and Lilly are set for baptism on December 17. They told us at the ward Christmas party that they want to be baptized before the move. It was a tender mercy to have them come together as a couple and pray about this decision. There is a power in teaching couples like Ryan and Lilly, it has taught me so much about how a real companionship should work. You can feel the love they have for each other and the Lord just by standing around them, it is in their smile and the way the look at each other. I love it! It is an honor to be learning so much from them while we try and teach them the Gospel. They were able to come to all of Church and all of the Stake Christmas activity and the broadcast and they loved all of it. They were also able to give Eryun another investigator of ours a ride to and from the activity. What a beautiful couple.
Eryun is doing well. He came to the activity yesterday night in a suit!! He said that he noticed that he was different than the other men while in pants and a jacket. He is also emulating the men in the ward, his prayers have become more specific. He is always smiling when we talk with him and teach him. We invited him to be baptized and he is praying about January 7th. He said that he needs to talk to his wife in China before he can accept. He is reading a lot from the Book of Mormon and says that he doesn't understand it all but he likes how he feels and the story it tells. He was also able to come to church and the activity last night.

Branjal and Pratibha are doing well. Pratibha has read in the Book of Mormon up to Mosiah and she radiates while she talks about it. Branjal has been quite busy and has not had a chance to read much of it, so our appointments lately we have been spending in the Book of Mormon. We talked about baptism and the importance of Church. We had planned on inviting them to be baptized but Pratibha was quite nauseated (she is also pregnant) and kept running in and out of the room so we kept our visit short and didn't want them to make that big decision while feeling that way.

The Lansing ward is amazing, they have been so great to fellowship our investigators and to help them feel loved and at home. We are still struggling to work with the Williamston ward, it is quite difficult for us to go finding in their boundaries because of the distance and the time that is involved. Also we tried to go finding in Nob Hill and were asked to leave. We are still trying to work hard and find people to teach in that ward. We talked to Bishop Rawson and he is still trying to work with us and his members to help us find people to teach in his ward boundaries.

The Christmas Devotional was fantastic last night. We had 3 investigators there so it was even better!! I love our Prophet and his counselors they are so full of the Spirit and wisdom.
This week looks good. I will be doing 2 exchanges, tonight until Wednesday morning in Owosso with Sister Thackerary and then on Friday with Sister Topchiyska. Please pray they go well.
I think that is about it.

If anyone is wondering what to give me for Christmas here it is: I want handwritten letters with details about their lives. I just want to know how everyone is doing.

That is all.

I love you all so much. Thank you for all of your prayers and support, it does make a difference.
Ingat,
Mahal ko po kayo.
Sister Rebecca Jensen