My Last Email as Sister Jensen

FAMILY!!!!
  I don't know what to say or how to even start this last email. What started out as a normal mission to the Philippines has expanded into a life changing event that has taken through every emotion and a few countries. I have gone from; English to Tagalog to English again, from trainee to trainer, from shy to bold, and from old me to an older more knowledgeable me. My testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ has expanded and strengthened. I have been able to teach the Gospel to those who had no idea there was even a God, to those who have needed more guidance and direction in their life, or just more peace and comfort. This Gospel is applicable to every person everywhere all around the world. That is the wonderful thing about this message is that it can effect everyone, it has that power to change the world if people would just listen and follow Christ's example. Thankfully there is always agency involved so not everyone will listen but everyone gets that chance to listen, that chance to change.

We were able to go to a baptism in the Williamston ward this past Friday, the Mason family was a part member family the mom was a less active but now their daughter who is 17 and the dad are members of the ward and their mom is active again. There were so many people that attended the service that it had to be moved into the chapel for the opening program. The ward has begun to catch the missionary fire and are starting to realize that there are others all around them that could use the gospel. There have been so many leaders of the church come and tour the area and make the promise that if these people will just reach out in fellowship and bring others into the church that this stake would have to be divided within the next 5 years. We are still struggling, it is quite difficult to share the gospel with those we know, we are afraid of losing friendships or not knowing what to say. As missionaries we have the responsibility to teach the Restored Gospel, we take care of the doctrinal conversion, as members we have an obligation to help with the social conversion. So many of our investigators are baptized because when they came to church they were befriended and they were able to feel comfortable and the Spirit was then able to work. Those who did not have many friends or people come up and say hello...it is quite a bit more difficult to get them to come back to church. When we weekly plan we are taught to think about each of our investigators and how we can get them to church, whether they had a negative experience in the past or how we can help them continue to have a positive experience in the future. Solid members that are always reaching out in friendship and love are the best.
  One family like this is the Evans family in the Lansing ward. They are great fellowshippers. We mentioned that we needed help with Bronjal and Pratibha and last night over dinner we were talking about how we can help them and Brother Evans suggested they go on a double date with them. They are becoming their friends not just their fellowshippers. I love that! As Elder Snow and Collins have been teaching to members and dinner appointments "We need to first become their friends before we share the gospel with them."  They are asking the families in the area to find a friend and invite the over for dinner or a social activity. Then after that invite them over for FHE, then invite them to a church activity, then to church, then to meet the missionaries. We have reach out in love and befriend others that is the only way this Gospel is going to spread throughout the world.

Well enough of my soap box, you will hear enough of me on Sunday. I am still having the hardest time comprehending that I will be home in just a few days. I  have tried so hard to work so hard that I haven't even noticed that the time has been passing. I always said that I just want to look up one day to have someone tell me that it is my time to leave and I have been blessed with that desire. We have appointments all of tonight and tomorrow morning. We are staying busy up until the last moment. I hope that my entire life that I can continue to be an instrument in the hands of the Lord. I have loved being a missionary, it has been the best decision I have ever had to make...twice. :)
Thank you for all of your support. I could not have made it to where

I am with out all of your support and love.

See you soon.

Mahal ko po kayo!

Ingat,

Sister Rebecca Jensen

"I know the Book of Mormon is true and will make a lifetime study of it." - Eryun‏

JENSEN FAMILY!!!!
        Eryun is baptized and confirmed!! HORRAY!! It was a wonderful and powerful experience for all those involved. He asked us if he could share his testimony after he was baptized and I was not expecting the power and strength of his testimony of the Book of Mormon and his knowledge that he is a son of God. It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever heard on my mission. I love to hear the testimonies of those that were recently baptized; their testimony comes with such power and simplicity. He will receive the Aaronic Priesthood next Sunday, when he came out of his interview he looked so excited he could hardly stand still. He is so excited for his wife to come join him and to learn about the gospel as well. She finally has her visa and they are looking at plane tickets for mid February. This is going to be one amazing baptism, where he gets to baptize her......I am super jealous of the missionaries that get to teach her. In his testimony he called us angels, it was amazing the Spirit that came while he testified. He is going to do great things!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Yes there are a lot of exclamation points, I happen to be very excited!) 
   Bronjal and Pratibha came to church this Sunday. We finally asked Jodi Evans to come with us to a lesson and they connected so well. They and the Evans family have a lot of similarities and they have become friends quickly. They came to church with the Evans and sat with them and loved church. We were also able to teach the 10 commandments with Sister Evans and she added a lot of insight and strength to the lesson, it was beautiful! We are excited to see them again tonight and see how they felt about church and what questions they have. (Brother Evans reminds me a lot of Clark, it is quite fun!) 
  Joy is an amazing woman, she is very strong in her faith and is struggling with a need for the Book of Mormon. We brought Sister Hatch with us to our lesson this morning and it was an intense lesson. Sister Hatch was able to connect the Bible with the Book of Mormon in a way that was revelatory to all present and how they do go hand in hand. It was amazing! With time and love Joy will come to see the fullness of the Gospel, at the moment she is too comfortable where she is at, we are still planning on meeting with her and helping her do service at her house next Saturday the 21st. 
    Sister Jones in Kalamazoo is amazing. I was very impressed by her sincerity to do this work and her desire to love and serve the people. It was a blast to go and serve with her. We tracted apartments for 3 hours solid and were still laughing and having fun at the end. Missionary work should be like that, it is about having fun and enjoying life because you are being blessed with the Spirit and with happiness. 
   Hiva is finally being baptized this Saturday. After about 6 months of meeting with us he has finally committed to a date and time!!! I get to say the opening prayer, how sweet of him to ask. I love being included in even a small way at these baptisms. We have had so many of them lately it is quite a boost to the Spirit. 
  Study has lately been a haven of peace and rest and I love it and look forward to it daily. It is one thing that I have a goal to keep throughout my life, a solid time to spend in the scriptures feasting upon the words of Christ. I have been so grateful to read the words of Alma to his sons talking about his own conversion. There is so much power in his testimony because he has felt the power of the atonement. He truly understood what it was like to feel such pain and sorrow and then to feel such light. Reading it has given me a greater desire to share this light and freedom with others. Just like Alma we too can help others find that peace, find that clarity in their lives. It is a beautiful and a wonderful thing.
  My time here is winding to a close. You only get a few more of these letters before I will be home. Don't worry I am still sprinting hard towards the finish line. 

I will be in Caro Thursday night until Saturday morning, please pray that it is good weather. Elder DeHart and Ransley happily volunteered to drive us...hallelujah!...so that will help greatly. What a blessing it is to go and do trade-offs and be able to help these sisters. 
  I love you all so much. I know that this Gospel is true, the more I teach it the more I feel of its power and the great and glorious plan of our Heavenly Father. We are so blessed to be doing what we are doing. 
 Mahal ko po kayo.
Ingat,
Sister Jensen 

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