Light the world!!

Hello my dear family and friends!! 

This week was really amazing. I am so thankful for a lot of things. First off my family. Even though I wasnt able to spend Thanksgiving with my family this year, I got to spend it with the people that feels like family here in Lebanon. I just wanted to say thank you so much for all of the support you guys give me and the love that you guys share! Well, I'm sure you guys are dying to hear about what went down for my Thanksgiving week so here it goes! 

Monday moring the Elders in our district and Sister Erickson and I had a chalk war which went on for about 45 minutes. It was really fun. haha I wish  I took pictures of the mess afterwords but I didnt. haha We cleaned it up and everything was just fine:). Monday night we didnt have FHE because Mama Tay and Brother Westbrook were out of town. So they had asked us to feed their cats this week while they were gone. We really enjoyed it. 

On Tuesday we voleenterd at the Help Center here in Lebanon. It was really cool. I was orginizing the shelves and Sister Erickson helped in the clothes section. It was good to help the people there. We also went tracting that morning and we met this one kid named Jack (he was probably like 19 or 20.) when we were walking to a house and he gave us his address and wanted to learn more about our church so we set up an appointment to meet with him the next day. Later that day we had dinner with a family in our ward snd they have  a pet chicken. Sis. Erickson wanted to hold it so they put a diper on it. The little boy asked if sis. Erickson can put it on and his mom was like, "Guests don't diper chickens! You know better than that!" ,it was so funny!  

Wednesday we went to try to visit Jack  we found the house and knocked on the door and it was a little boy that answered. We just figured that it was his little brother so we asked for jack and he went and got him but sure enough a older man came to the door so that really took us by suprise he said his name was Jacky not Jack. So, we scheduled a time to go back and teach him next week. after that we went to Judy and Sam's to help them make some diserts for Thanksgiving. we learned how to make yummy pumkin rolls and magic pie (pumpkin pie with no crust). haha we had a lesson with them and everything went well. They are doing amazing. Grandma and Grandpa Jensen  they remind me so much of you guys.Its crazy. haha then after Sam and Judy's we went to a members house in our ward for dinner and we played Catch Phrase and shared a message with them. So fun! 

Thanksgiving day/ Sister Knegts Bday!Happpy Birthday!!!  The morning started out a little bit rough since I fell down the stairs but I am so thankful that I didnt get hurt or get a concussion. We had not 1 but 2  thanksgiving dinners! The people in our ward spoil us. It was fun to just talk with them and hang out with their family and everything. By the end of the second one I was stuffed. After dinner another member in our ward wanted some of the elders  over to bless there house because they didnt really feel safe. Even though it was late we went with them and helped them out. After that we all were just super happy that we went and helped them out. Elder Fillingim said he felt like he can concure anything! haha 

On Friday the Elders gave us this wonderful referral they tracted into her and called us up right away. Since the Elders are spanish speaking they couldnt give her any lessons since she wasnt hispanic. She was super sweet. That night we put up our chirstmas tree and decorated our apartment with lights and I got to talk to my trainer on the phone for about 20 minutes  which  really made my day.:) 

Saturday was another great day! We helped this non member move. We had no idea who she was but her friend asked us if we can help her out since she is moving here to  Lebanon. We said of corse! She really apprieciated our help and wanted us to come back and teach her some stuff about our church. It was amazing. Then we went on a team up with a member from our ward. She came with us tracting that night and we found one new investigator. She was so sweet her name is Miss Delma. We introduced light the world to her and he loved it. We explained a little bit about general confrence was too and she quickly got onto her computer to look up what it was we were talking about and she said she would listen to it. It was just a good day over all!

Sunday was good. We were late to ward council because we had woken up late and then the windsheld was covered in ice and we couldnt find a scraper for our car. But later we found it in the glove box right after church. We were like "really? Haha" I know things happen for a reason though. So it was all good. Later that day we went tracting and found a couple more people to teach so it ended good in the end!

well, thats it for this weeks email! Hope y'll have a great week! 

love you all!

~Sister Jensen 

Quotes of the week: 

"If you mess with my cheese cake somethings going down!!"-Elder Fillingim 

"I love cowboys!"- Sister Erickson says while listing to amazing grace

"There's a grocery store called piggly wiggily?!"- Sister Erickson
"Geusts don't dipper chickens, you know better than that!"-Sister Chambers 

Scripture of the week:

Helaman 15:5-8

Elder Lopez trying on those goggle things. haha 

beautiful sunset!

horses!! 

Thanksgiving day!

We put up our christmas tree!! 

 Elder Lopez tied his tie backwards. 

 light the world cookies!!

um... don't even ask.. lol

us by the Lebanon sign :) 

Group email for week 19

Hey Y'all!!
This week was really good! We had so many amazing things happen this week. So, I bet y'all are dying to hear what went down! So, let's get this started:)!

On monday, we went to FHE again with Boogie and the Westbrooks. For FHE we played the card game idiot and I won 2 times in a row but lost the third round.  beginners luck I geuss;)! It was also Elder Fillingim's birthday. So, Elder Lopez, Sister Erickson and I decided that we were going to suprise him with a birthday banner and bake him a cake. Sense we couldn't hang up the banner in our apt. because the Elders are not allowed inside sisters apartments. We took the banner and the cake and hid behind a big tall truck thinking that they won't be able to see us there but sure enough they did. Haha  We decided to call the Elders to tell them that we had a mouse in our apt. (to get them to come outside) and that we needed "help" getting it out. They came out but it took them a while to come. While we were waiting for them to come out of their apt. the owner of the vehicle that we were hiding behind saw us hiding and said, "oh, are you guys hiding?Okay, I'll leave it there for a couple more minutes." Haha. So nice of him. Finally the elders walked around the truck and we jumped out and yelled happy birthday to him! What a great day!

On Tuesday, we met a lady named Latoya she was having a bad day but she let us come in anyways to share a message with her. We shared the mountains to climb video with her and talked about how prayer is super important and we gave her a copy of the BOM. She said that she would read it. We felt the spirit so strongly during that meeting. Later that day the Elders asked us to sit in for a lesson with this one hispanic lady sense they wernt aloud inside by themselves sense she was a single lady. Although we couldnt understand a thing they were saying sense it was all in spanish but  we were able to feel the spirit so much. Crazy how the spirit works. Haha.

On Thursday we had interviews with President Pickett. It was fun to be able to see President Pickett again. Later that day we had a relief society activity. The message that the relief socitey president shared was about thanking others for everything that they do. I was able to feel the spirit so strongly.

Saturday, we had 2 baptisms for some 8 year olds in our ward. I was so blessed to be able to go to both of them. I have always loved baptisms because the spirit is always so strong during them!

On Sunday, we were asked to sit in for primary because their theme for this month is missionary work. We were able to help keep the kids entertained. The primary had a lesson on meeting with the missionaries and they were trying to memorize the articles of faith. It was awesome going tto primary again. Haha so fun!

Well, thats it for this weeks email!

Love y'all and hope you all have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving!!

Love,
~ Sister Jensen

Quote of the week:
"I know we just met, but can I use your bathroom?"- Sister Erickson
"Just chew I'll say the prayer!"-Sister Erickson
"I feel like I'm flying!"- Elder Fellingim says with a hanger sideways on his head.
"I thought your sweater had dimonds on it!" 5 year old Allie.

Scripture of the week:
D&C 6:36 "Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not!"

Ps. Sorry I lacked on picture taking thia week!

Sister Rock took us out to lunch:)!! 

Trista's baptism! 

All bundled up:)!! and is that Luna??

Ups & downs & in-betweens of missionary life

Hey everyone!!!

I can't believe that I hit my 4 month mark yesterday. Yes, it's been that long!! Haha. This week we had a lot of amazing things happen, so I'm just going to get streight into it.

This week has been rough but it was good. We had zone confrence this week and it was really amazing. We talked alot about the Christmas initiative #lighttheworld. They told us that last year when they did the #lighttheworld the missionaries got 37,000 referrals. They are hoping we will get even more this year! We also, talked alot about facebook because it is now approved in our mission:)!!

On Monday we went to FHE (like always:)!) This week was different because we had 11 people there when it is normally just the missionaries, the westbrooks and Boogie. The Elders came and braught 2 of their recent converts, our ward mission leader Kaleb, and we braught Cynthia! It was so funny to watch Cynthia and Boogie together! After FHE Cynthia got a blessing from Brother Westbrook. It was really cool to see that. Cynthia had asked Brother Westbrook if she can come back next monday and he told her "of course!!" So, we are hoping she is going to come again tonight:)!

This weekend was rough because Sister Erickson got sick so we had to stay inside all day Friday and Saturday. Everybody was really nice about it though.

On Sunday we were asked to bear our testimonies last minute and I think it went really well. At church we had like 3 or 4 different things going on at once so it was really really stressfull. After church I had asked Brother Westbrook if he can give me a blessing. It was crazy because I didnt tell him anything about what was going on and I still got the blessing that I needed to hear. That evening we had a really cool tracting experience. It was really difficult because not a lot of people wanted to hear what we wanted to say so we decided to say a prayer. Right after our prayer we meet this women named Anne and she willingly let us in and we taught her the full restoration lesson. She seemed to agree with everything that we said. We set up a return appointment to teach her the Plan of Salvation! We invited her to be baptized but she didnt accept the invitation because she wants to know if this is the right church for her.  We are excited for her to learn and progress and keep commitments.

This week we got a text from Alisha. She told us that she appreciates everything that we have done and she doesnt feel like this is the right path her her to take. We asked her if Addison was still intrested and she said she still wants to go to the church that she goes too. We were both super sad because we felt like our last lesson went really well. We know everything happens for a reason though. Some doors close so others can open.

I hope everyone has a safe and awesome week! I love and miss you all!!

Love,
Sister Jensen.

Scripture of the week:
Mosiah 2:41

Elder Fillingim playing with the westbrooks cat! 

  Zone confrence!! 

 Me!!! 

 Sister Erickson, me and Boogie! 

 Funny faces!!

 Me and Sister Erickson being goofballs

Death by lady bug (jk.. asian bug) (week 16)

Hey my dear family and friends!

I hope you all had a wonderful and safe Halloween! I had a great week and  I can't wait to tell y'all what went down! Haha so I'm going to just get straight into it:)!

 Cory-
On Halloween (Tuesday) Sister Erickson and I were doing some Contacting and as we were headed to our car a group of kids waved at us and said hello. We went over to talk to them and when asked if they would like to learn more about the gospel of Jesus Christ they all said "yes ma'am" *in a southern drawl of course. We got their contact information and came back that following Thursday. Most of the kids had forgotten or were unavailable, exept for Cory. Cory had told all his friends about it on the bus and was waiting for us when we showed up. He took us over to his house so we could meet his family and we ended up teaching Cory and his mom about the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Cory was so excited! When we gave him a pamphlet he said he would read it that night and take it to school for his 20 minutes of reading time. We gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon and he was just as excited- he ran inside to put it by his bed right away. We invited both Cory and his mom to be baptized. Chrissy (Cory's mom) said she would have to talk to her husband, BUT Cory happily accepted the invitation and is now anticipating being baptized on December 16th! On our way out we met Cory's dad, he asked if we were coming back and when we said we were planning on it he said, "good because I want you to teach all four of my sons!". Sister Erickson and I were practically bouncing with excitment at this point. We are so excited to serve with the Bess family!

Lady bugs and Chickens
Here in Lebanon, Tennessee is practically surrounded by lady bugs AKA asian bugs as we later learned what they were called. There are an insane amount of ladybugs in our apartment. So me and sister Erickson were joking about having ladybugs crawl in our mouth at night while we are sleeping. yuk! Funny story. When we went to go visit a less active family who was clear out in the boonies of Tennessee had a yard full of chickens and roosters. We got out of the car and the chickens and roosters were over there minding there own business and so we walked up to the door. Later we found ourselves pinned up against the corner of the door surrounded by chickens, roosters and cats. We were terrified about getting pecked as we were leaving the porch but luckily Sister Erickson found a stick and was able to shoo the chickens away with a stick. She stated "You know, some people have guard dogs and other people have guard Chickens!" haha I laughed so hard at this!

Here is an update on how our investigators and recent converts are doing this week.
 Cynthia- is the same as the following weeks. Her manager is STILL thinking about letting her off for church on Sunday! We were hoping that she would be able to make it to church on sunday because her baptism date is next week. but she wasn't able to make it sadly! We're still praying for her to be able to make it to church and her baptismal date.
Alisha and Addison:
We wern't able to meet with them this week because they were out of town but they seem to be doing good!

This week I have been studying a lot about faith. I have learned so much. It takes just a simple amount of faith to hand out a book of mormon and other words do anything! I am loving being a missionary and I love this gospel so much!
Well that's it for this weeks email!
Love and miss you all!

~Sister Jensen

Scripture of the week:
Helaman 5:47 "Peace, peace be unto you, because of your faith in my well beloved, who was from the foundation of the world."

Quotes of the week:
"I look like a cupcake!"-Sister Erickson
"Nachos and Tacos!"- our "goodbye to the spanish Elders.
"I wanna be a missionary!" Illianna

Our district on pday!!

 Sis. Erickson and I at FHE

Just a picture with sone of the cutest kids ever  

  Cute! 

Making funny faces 

It's Finally Fall y'all!

Hello everyone! This week has been really good! We had a busy week because of transfers and everything else! But I'm pretty sure you are dying to know how my week has been who my new Companion is etc. So, lets get to my week! 

CARVING PUMPKINS: 

FHE on Monday was so fun. We carved pumkins and talked about loads of stuff haha. I love this time of year because of Halloween and the color changes on the tree and everything like that.

TRANSFERS: 

On Wednesday I had to say goodbye to my trainor and say hello to my trainor breaker Sister Erickson! I can now understand why they call trainor breaker a trainor breaker:)! Sister Erickson is awesome! She is from Van Coover Washington and loves Harry Potter as much as I do! So, you can tell that we clicked right away! She is so great and an amazing missionary I am so excited that we are able to spend these 6 weeks with each other. 

MOVING APARTMENTS:

On Wednesday we also had to move apartments. I will miss the last apartments because they are so much nicer than the ones we live in now. We had to move into the apartments that the Elders lived in. It was discusting but we are fixng it up slowely but surely! lol. 

YOUTH CONFRENCE: 

President Pickett asked our whole district to teach the Restoration at Youth confrence on Saturday. It went really well. I recited the first vision and didn't forget any of it. We felt the spirit so strongly and it was great to see President and his wife and of course meet their daughter Hannah!

We found out that one of the less active members that Sister Knegt and I would go and see almost every week past away on Thursday. It was really hard for me to believe because we had just seen her the following week. Sister Griffin was an older lady but was the most sweetest lady I have ever met. I will miss going over there and visiting with her. 

INVESTIGATORS: 

Cynthia: We pushed Cynthia's Baptism date up to November 18th. She still is trying super hard to get work off for church. She asked her manager if she could get at least 3 hours off for church but she declined that offer. Then she asked if she could get maybe 2 hours off for church and of course she declined that as well. She asked if she could get just an hour off and her manager said that she will think about it! I have never prayed so hard in my life for  someone to come to church. You can tell that She really wants to come but it is so hard for her to get off! 

Addison & Alisha: We went to a lesson with Addison and Alisha on Sunday. We read 1 Nephi 8 with them and it went really well. We set both Alisha and Addison on date for baptism for December 9th! A member in our ward came with us and she was really amazing! She gave incredible incite and we were able to feel the spirit so much! 

RECENT CONVERTS :

Sam and Judy: These past couple of weeks Sam Hasn't been feeling that great. The doctors found a mass on Sam's liver and they still havnt gotten the results yet if it is cancerous or not. Im hoping and praying that it is not! Sam and Judy are doing great spiritually though! 

Angel and Lucas: we have not meet or taled to them sense they dropped us a couple of weeks ago. We were realky sad because they just hot baptised and were doing so good until Angels co workers kept telling her false things. All we can do though is keep praying for her and Lucas. 

Well that is it for this weeks group email! Love y`all and hope all of you have a safe Halloween!!:) 

Love, Sister Jensen 

SCRIPTURE OF THE WEEK:

1 nephi 3:7

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

"I want to be a patato!"-Stake president