Week 16-Sept. 25, 2108

CUTE!

Hey fambam!

Ahhhh! It's so hard to describe everything in an email! but Taiwan is wonderful and I feel like I fit in a lot better with the faster paced mission culture and work here! It's amazing how much I feel like I truly was called here by inspiration just from meeting President and some of the missionaries and being here a couple days! I'm definitely feeling a little lost and overwhelmed with the language, but that was expected ;) My trainer said I'm doing great because I didn't cry at all in church yesterday. lol I felt like it tho ;) I somehow managed to introduce myself and share my favorite scripture in sacrament meeting but that was all I understood from church. Haha

My trainer is legit the best! She says "that's so happy!" all the time and its hilarious! We laugh a lot together which is fantastic ;) She also sings so we are going to do some sweet musical numbers! 

Today we went to Taipei 101 and the mall next to it for preparation day! I'll attach some pics :) we got some amazing boba in milk with brown sugar drink! Theres so many weird but good fruits here and we eat out for lunch and dinner cuz it's so cheap. Luckily all the apartments have AC machines and filters on the taps and washing machines, but we still get some cockroaches and ants coming to visit. I surprisingly dont really mind tho. We are sweaty like all the time but it rains all the time too Haha so we're just kinda always wet. but we got some cool rain poncho things today! 

Here's some stuff I wrote in my weekly:

If I had to describe Taiwan in one word it would be CUTE! The language, the people, the streets, the culture, everything is so cute!

President Peterson and his wife are so awesome and have welcomed us into the mission family with open arms! I have the best trainer in the world and we are serving in Songshan where Taipei 101 is! The nightlife here is so fun so we work till 9:30, bed by 11, and wake up at 7! I love biking so much! We get to talk to all the cute motorcyclists at the stoplights for 90 seconds! It's a struggle though with the humidity, my hair is always the size of Alaska! I'm learning to manage the sweat, frizz and helmet hair all at once! ;) My bike is already like my baby, I love it so much! It's fun doing all our studies in 7-11s and Starbucks because we talk to so many people! 

Funny story: Yesterday my trainer said "In gospel principles class today we talked about..." and I just started laughing because it was so funny how she said it like I wasn't sitting next to her the whole time but I had no idea what we talked about, so it made sense she would say that! 

Also, there's a random muscle in my forearm that's sore from eating with chopsticks 25/8!

Scripture of the week :

Alma 36:24 "Yea, and from that time even until now, I have labored without ceasing, that I might bring souls unto repentance; that I might bring them to taste of the exceeding joy of which I did taste; that they might also be born of God, and be filled with the Holy Ghost." I know this gospel can bring so much peace and joy to our lives and I love sharing it with others. After three hours of church in Chinese, I just felt so much relief and comfort as I opened the Book of Mormon and read the first chapter again. It felt like coming home and I felt at peace despite the overwhelming amount of Chinese that morning. I just read it like a novel and paid attention to how I felt as opposed to the details of each verse separately and it was so good. I invite you all to text your favorite Book of Mormon verse to a friend this week! Spread the joy!

saying goodbye to Ft. Collins

Missionaries leaving Ft. Collins, CO mission

Ft. Collins mission pres. -Pres and Sister McMurray

pics from mission Facebook page of airport and flight

Arrives in Taiwan!!

Lydia and Trainer

pic from Facebook-ward member

Add caption

pic from ward member on Facebook page-ward activity

Boba!!

Taipei 101

Week 15-Sept.18, 2018

Wyoming sunset 🌄 Colorado sunrise

Hey fam and friends!!!

BREAKING NEWS: I GOT MY VISA!!!! 

So it's been a crazy week. Lemme start at the beginning. 

Wednesday: Just a regular day of missionary work, did some service, taught some people, etc. Good stuff. We also saw the most gorgeous wyoming sunset ever and I said "I never wanna leave Wyoming!" 

Thursday: Last district counsel together cuz transfers are this week. So of course we made zucchini bread and the elders ate it before we could blink haha. But the Sister training leaders call us in the middle of the meeting and then text us and say call us back! Its urgent! So we step out for a sec, call them back, and they said "Sister Jensen needs to be in Laramie tonight! President wants her to go to the departing missionary temple trip tomorrow!" I asked them if my visa was even here yet and they said no, but president is confident you are leaving next week! And so the (awesome) craziness began. My comps and i went to the only slightly asian restaurant in town, Chopstix, to celebrate and have our last supper together. Then we packed, went to the post office so I could send some stuff home, and said goodbye to couple people then hit the road! So bittersweet. We drove a couple hours, then I said goodbye to my amazing comps: Sis Fuge and Penrod, and shed a few tears, and got in the STLs car and they took me another couple hours to Cheyenne where we all stayed the night. The next day I drove another couple hours to the mission home with the Cheyenne STLs and got to see the other departing missionaries, including my visa waiting friends! President took us to lunch, then we went to the temple. It was one of the coolest experiences I've ever had! The Fort Collins temple is breathtaking and we got to do some sealings for deceased families! There was a family with 8 kids and we got to seal them all together forever! 8 of us missionaries were proxy for the kids and President and his wife were proxy for the parents! So special! 

Friday evening I got picked up by the Greeley YSA sisters: Sis. Lewis and Barlow. They are awesome and it has been a blast spending the past couple days with them!

Saturday: President sent out the Transfer document which shows where everyone is going this week at 9:30ishpm so we ran over to the church across the street to get better WiFi but there was a wedding going on in the gym, so we stayed outside on the grass, but then the sprinklers turned on all of a sudden right where we were sitting so we booked it to the parking lot! Fun times haha. It was kinda weird seeing all the names of the missionaries I have grown to love so much and knowing that my name wasn't on there because I'm leaving and that I'm gonna have to start all over again getting to know everyone but it's of course very bittersweet. 

Sunday and Monday were pretty chill.

Today! Sis. Barlow got her visa to Jamaica so we dropped her off way early this morning by the temple and saw a stunningly pink sunrise!!! It was sad to see her go, but I'm so excited for her!

Random fact: I have now had like 9 companions (that I was with for more than 24 hours) in the last 7 or so weeks. Trios for the win! ;) I sat in the front seat for the first time today! Haha

As for the future, I fly to San Fran around 10 tomorrow then it's second star from the left and straight on til morning! Just kidding, but basically haha from there i fly to Taiwan! So excited and nervous and everything all at once!!! Its a sunset time of my mission leaving Fort Collins CO and a sunrise heading to Taiwan. Both so beautiful- sad but exciting. The sunset and sunrise have reminded me that God is in control and is watching out for each of us and brings me peace in the midst of this craziness. :)

Scripture of the week! Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him and He shall direct thy paths." I know God has a plan for all of us and that His plan is perfect and as we trust in Him, He will support us and help us accomplish whatever He needs us to do!

Sending hugs and prayers!!!!

Love you lots!

Sister Jensen

Week 14-Sept 11, 2018

Faith+Diligence=Miracles

Hey fam and friends!!!

Hope you all had an awesome labor day weekend and following week!!!

Stuff we did:

Campus contacting: Last preparation day we spent a couple hours on the Central Wyoming College campus at a table for the LDS Student Association because it was club day. We made a survey that morning that just had some basic questions about their religious background and then asked if they would like to learn more about Jesus Christ and 14 students gave us their contact info! It was awesome!

This preparation day we went hiking in Sinks Canyon with two girls from the YSA ward who are heading off the BYUI tomorrow! We'll miss them! 

We challenged Dominic to quit coffee and Sis. Fuge said we would give up sugar to help him, but we have been terrible about it. We are determined to do better this week though! Dominic, on the other hand, has been such a champ and it has been so inspiring to watch his faith in action as he pushes through this. He has been drinking coffee almost all day for 25 years, but he has made so much progress in the last couple days! He's amazing! 

We had a lesson with a guy on the reservation and it was so great! He was so kind-hearted and listened so intently. He said such a simple, sincere prayer at the end. I know He was talking to God. Afterwards he showed us his collection of restored antique cars! They looked so cool and new, but old! (You know what I mean)

We met an angel while contacting! Her name was Angela and she was such a gem! She was so kind to us (even though it was late and dark) when we knocked on her door, and she insisted on praying for us and holding hands (even though she's not a member). She said the sweetest prayer and blessed us, our families, and Riverton. Her house was just full of the Spirit and she gave us all hugs! #miraclemondays 

Funny stories!

Antelope: No, we didn't hit an antelope, don't worry...we just ate one!!!! The mom told us after dinner that if the meat tasted different, its because it was antelope! I wasn't really sure if she was joking (cuz she's sarcastic at least 90% of the time) so i didnt really react but apparently my no reaction face looks a lot like my dumbfounded face cuz they all started laughing (Yes, even my loyal companions) and asking me if I was gonna be okay. I was like "Yes! Of course!" but they just laughed and teased me about being from California and the dad asked if I was gonna need a blessing! Needless to say, I'm fine and lived to tell the tale! ;)

We saw another funny church sign but forgot to take a pic. It said: 

"Get your daily exercise: Walk with God. Run from Satan."

Andy's jokes (Justin's dad): 

What did the shark say when he ate a clown fish? (Yep, you guessed it) That tasted funny! 

What are Santa's helpers called? Us: elves? Andy: Subordinate clauses! 

Assisted living home: One of the ladies forgot we were talking about books we liked and when i said Percy Jackson she asked me if i was in love with him... uh awkward...i didn't really know how to answer that one. 

Scripture of the week:

Enos 1:12 "And it came to pass that after I had prayed and labored with all diligence, the Lord said unto me: I will grant unto thee according to thy desires, because of thy faith."

I know that prayer works! God will truly help us out and as long as we do our best, He will answer our sincere prayers and bless us more than we deserve for our efforts to be diligent and our faith. Believe in miracles! They do truly still happen! :)

Have a FANTASTIC week!!!

Sending love and prayers!

Sister Jensen 

Week 13-Sept. 4, 2108

Aerial yoga, Mariah Carey, and bingo

Nihao fam and friends!

Another week in Wyoming has come and gone! 

This week we had a really awesome lesson with Dominic and our Elders Quorum president had a BBQ at his house to help him feel more comfortable and make friends with more of the ward members! It went so well and the next day we had a great lesson with him and he recommitted to a baptismal date! (Sept 22) We love him so much and have seen how happy he has become since applying simple gospel principles like prayer and reading the scriptures! 

We also had a great chapel tour with Justin, another person we are teaching. He really opened up about his past and also an incredible experience he had with prayer over the weekend. It was truly a sacred experience to sit with him in the chapel and bear testimony of our Savior, Jesus Christ. My relationship with my Savior is one of the most important things to me in my life. I am so grateful for all He did for us and for His Atonement which makes it possible for us all to return to our Heavenly Father's presence after this life and live with our families forever. It gives me so much hope and peace!

Fun stuffz:

1. Last preparation day we got to do what is called Anti-gravity and it's like aerial silks and yoga at the same time! It was so cool! The member that runs the gym we volunteer at did a free session for just us! Shes the best! The attached pic is what is called "the vampire"! We practically felt like Zendaya herself. Greatest Showman here we come! ;)

2. We did service for a lady we are teaching on Saturday and just helped clean her house, etc. One of my companions and I ended up wiping off 250 CDs of music!!! It took a while but she had SUCH a variety! She had Taylor Swift CDs, Backstreet Boys, Jack Johnson, the Lumineers, and more! Once we had finished and put them all in the player, Kim tried playing a random song and Mariah Carey came on and Kim started dancing with her dog. It was so cute!!! Oh the joys of service! :) (also WOW I forgot how crazy Mariah Carey's voice is! That girl has PIPES!) 

3. We also do service at an assisted living home which is THE BEST!!! The elderly ladies are absolutely hilarious and I love them all so much! We paint their nails on Wednesdays and play bingo with them Fridays! One of the ladies always says "Amen!" after everything she says and it's so funny! Another lady always tells us about her secret admirers and her "boyfriends" that she dumps because she doesn't have time for them. Sometimes they ask us if we are nuns ;) it makes sense because we introduce ourselves as "Sister ..." but it's still kinda funny. They get pretty intense about bingo (they get a quarter if they win) and some of the ladies at my table were getting sassy about the table with the two men who kept winning like four times in a row! It was hilarious. I love them so much. 

Scripture of the week:

Mosiah 4:9 "Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend." I know God is watching over all of us and that His plan for us is perfect, we just have to trust in Him and in His timing. He loves us more than we could ever imagine!

Sending love and prayers!

Have a FABULOUS week!

God loves you!

Keep smiling!

Sis Jensen 

Week 12-Aug 28, 2018

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!

Nihao fam and friends! 

Another awesome week here in Wyoming! 

We got to take another mini road trip down to Casper for Zone Conference Friday and stayed with the Sister Training leaders there thursday night and Friday night. It was so weird to be in such a real town with like more than three houses in a row and a Subway down the street (a super nice Indian man paid for our lunch there)! I didn't realize how accustomed I had become to the wide open spaces of Riverton until we left ;) 

So unfortunately we did not see any lions or tigers or bears this week haha but we did see a lot of dogs (everybody and their dog's dog has a dog) and a couple mice in our house (EEP! don't worry though, the elders took care of it by giving it to our neighbor's cat...). We have plenty of miles this month so we got to go to the reservation a couple times! If you thought there were wide open spaces in Riverton, the rez is like... HUGE!!! Some parts are much more sketchy then others so we've eaten with members and visited some of the nicer parts there, but we were trying to contact a less active in an area we've never been Monday and we just got this feeling we should leave so we booked it outta there. Apparently it's the most dangerous native American reservation in the US bc of the two fighting tribes and members tell us all the time to never go alone and we aren't allowed to tract there. It's really sad though to see the poverty they live in and see how their lives are so stuck. If children try to get an education, they're shunned because they are converting to the white peoples' ways. They call them apples: red on the outside, white on the inside. But there's so many awesome people who have amazing testimonies and love their families and I love them so much! We got to teach some adorable native girls this week off the rez and they are pictured below. So sweet!!! <3

One of the people we are teaching came to church this week!!! We were so so happy!!!! I spent the whole time praying so hard that he would feel comfortable and recognize the Spirit! The members here are the best and took him under their wing right away! 

Funny story: In Casper we taught this older lady and she was having trouble with women not having the priesthood, so my companion tried to explain that God gave women the gift of bearing children and she was like, "Girlies, that no ain't gift! Try it some time! You'll know!" .....we just laughed. 

The natives have awesome last names like Yellowplume and Littlewhiteman (ironic...). 

Also, for the first time, we got a hug from this super sweet Methodist lady while knocking on doors! And a little 2 year old gave us a flower! Tender mercies :)

Scripture of the week: Mosiah 2:21 "I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another- I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants." I am so far from being a perfect missionary and every day I make mistakes (yes, even English mistakes ;) ), but the Lord truly supports us and makes our best efforts enough. He has sent us so many miracles this week that we in no way earned or deserved. I love the saying, "Reach for the highest, strive for the best, always be happy and let God do the rest!"

Have a fantastic week!!!

Sending love and prayers!

Sis Jensen

Week 11- Aug 21, 2018

Sweet, Sweetwater

Hey fam!

Unfortunately I don't have much this to write this week, but we had the opportunity to go to Martin's Cove today! It was one of the greatest experiences of my mission so far! Martin's Cove is where the Willy handcart company stayed for four days and five nights during their trek to Salt Lake City. It's where the famous Sweetwater crossing happened as well. 56 saints died there from cold and starvation and it is truly a sacred place. We got to here about some amazing people who sacrificed so much for their faith and those they loved and for God. The Spirit there was so strong, it was like being in the temple. President Hinckley dedicated the hallowed grounds. Such a humbling and testimony building experience- it's hard to describe.

The rest of this week was pretty normal. Everyone keeps telling me to tell California to cut it out with the fires because the smoke has really effected wyoming. 

Funny story: I learned this week that Jesus likes coloring. Jackie (7) said so, and I believe her. ;)

Also sis Fuge hit her one year Mark! (Hence the cupcake face pic ;) ) and a road trip to trainers meeting! (5 hours away)

Have a fantastic week!!!

Sis Jensen