Week 37-Feb. 20, 2019

This week I often caught myself humming to myself "I know they've called me on a mission, cuz I have gained a pound or two. I know I still do not feel ready, but I'll teach and preach and work as missionaries do!" Chinese New Year has got us all feeling a little extra heavy lately and Sis Peterson has gotten a couple calls from missionaries throwing up this week purely from eating too much Haha I am grateful we have elders in our ward that help us eat because Sis Hayden is allergic to gluten and dairy and if it was just her and I....hmm....  

My first and last Chinese New Year in Taiwan has come and gone! It has been awesome! Full of good food and even better members! So many awesome, faithful people just following the Lord the best they can~ so strong and so enduring and just inspiring saints!

We also made some good contact with a couple returning members (less actives) this week! Your story, mom, is really encouraging and also reminds me the importance of members who can develop years of relationships while we move about every few months.

My birthday was awesome due to moms amazing package and some sweet texts from Sister Training leaders and my district! 

Today we went running, then hiking with the district at elephant mountain then played some board games at the church, ran some errands, got dinner, etc. 

Scripture of the week:

1 Nephi 21:16

"Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me."

The Lord chose to keep His scars when He was resurrected because they are a testament to His incredible Atonement and that shows how much He loves each one of us~ each one of you! We are engraven on His hands and our "walls" He knows and understands. They may seem like walls to us, but He has overcome them and through His power, so can we. Keep trusting and keep trying! Set goals, work hard, and pray always! 

Love you all!

Have a fantastic week! 

Sister Jensen 

Lots of qingkes this week with Songshan members! 

Week 36-Feb. 11, 2019

This week I often caught myself humming to myself "I know they've called me on a mission, cuz I have gained a pound or two. I know I still do not feel ready, but I'll teach and preach and work as missionaries do!" Chinese New Year has got us all feeling a little extra heavy lately and Sis Peterson has gotten a couple calls from missionaries throwing up this week purely from eating too much Haha I am grateful we have elders in our ward that help us eat because Sis Hayden is allergic to gluten and dairy and if it was just her and I....hmm....  

My first and last Chinese New Year in Taiwan has come and gone! It has been awesome! Full of good food and even better members! So many awesome, faithful people just following the Lord the best they can~ so strong and so enduring and just inspiring saints!

We also made some good contact with a couple returning members (less actives) this week! Your story, mom, is really encouraging and also reminds me the importance of members who can develop years of relationships while we move about every few months.

My birthday was awesome due to moms amazing package and some sweet texts from Sister Training leaders and my district! 

Today we went running, then hiking with the district at elephant mountain then played some board games at the church, ran some errands, got dinner, etc. 

Scripture of the week:

1 Nephi 21:16

"Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me."

The Lord chose to keep His scars when He was resurrected because they are a testament to His incredible Atonement and that shows how much He loves each one of us~ each one of you! We are engraven on His hands and our "walls" He knows and understands. They may seem like walls to us, but He has overcome them and through His power, so can we. Keep trusting and keep trying! Set goals, work hard, and pray always! 

Love you all!

Have a fantastic week! 

Sister Jensen 

Lots of qingkes this week with Songshan members! 

Week 35-Feb. 4, 2019

Congrats! Get rich! 🎉

Hey fam and friends!

Happy Chinese New Year!!!

This week we also went to Yonghe for a midday exchange because the Sister training leaders had too many lunch appointments so we went on splits for a little. Sunday was interesting because we met with a new friend who ended up insisting on taking us to the night market and we accidentally walked with her outside of our area, and then she bought food at a restaurant, made us eat it, while we taught the first lesson to the beat of some really loud party music. Also her dog was in a little suitcase thing that she pushed along with us. It was one of those moments when you just think to yourself "how did I get here?"....I love those moments! Haha 

This week we are getting fed almost every lunch and dinner because of Chinese New Year! Most of the outside shops are closed, so it's super nice to get to eat with members every day! Taipei feels a little bit like the movie Walle after the earth is deserted... Everyone goes back to their hometowns to be with their families and most people in Taipei just moved here for work. Because of culture, we bring fruit (preferably oranges and apples or pineapple) and cards to every meal and we get to stay with them for 90 minutes for Chinese New Year. New things I've learned: Dont flip the fish! it's bad luck~ and dont say "how are you today?", say "gongxi facai!" (congratulations! get rich! ;) )

I'm pumped! 

Also all the missionaries in the mission are deep cleaning their apartments today because during Chinese New Year everyone cleans and sweeps out all the bad spirits! It honestly feels great~ these apartments can get pretty gross...

Scripture of the week: 2 Nephi 32:3

"Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do."  As we feast upon delicious Chinese food this week, we will also be feasting about the words of Christ, specifically the Book of Mormon. What a powerful book~ it has brought me so much peace while in the midst of fears and doubts. If you feel like you aren't getting anything out of your study of the Book of Mormon - dont give up! Keep reading, keep praying, keep pressing forward! God is aware of you and loves you and has a plan! 

Invite: This week, when you feel stressed, anxious, or overwhelmed, open the Book of Mormon, take a few deep breaths, say a prayer in your heart, and let the Spirit comfort you. 

Love you all!

Sending love and prayers!

Sister Jensen 

Our attempts at taking a good picture to give members this week...

Lunch with Zhou jiating

Read the BOM with our RC Wendy, her friend and her mom

Matching/cleaning pic 

More pics from a lady in the mission, Evelyn Liu:

Week 34-Jan. 28, 2019

Elephant mountain! 🤸‍♀️ 

Hey friends and family!

This week was another awesome week in Songshan! Sister Hayden and I are going one more transfer together and I am so happy about that! 

Today we went hiking up elephant mountain and got to look out over the beautiful city of Taipei! It reminded me just how many people live it our area~its insane! Its probably one of the most dense areas in the mission! Unlimited possibilities and precious souls to find every day! Some things I love about Taiwan that I was reminded of this week are: super nice people that give you free stuff for saying hi!, the trash trucks that draw the whole neighborhood out of their houses and sound like ice cream trucks and make you sort everything, tons of massage shops and drink shops on every street, delicious fruit, generous members, buses that pass inches from your bike like huge whales, breakfast shops on every corner, old people exercising and slapping themselves in the parks, Costco food=sushi and salad, fires and fruit in front of every house on special Buddhist/baibai days and more! Taiwan is so great, I love it so much.

This week we got to sing at the Stake young women's new beginnings event and it was such a special throw back to our years in young women's doing personal progress, earning ribbons, etc. What a beautiful, universal program. We also got to do a spiritual share at a ward Relief Society chicken soup making activity which went super well! They enjoyed our little game and then we applied it to ministering and helping others and ourselves find peace.

Prayers are answered! story: English class is always a gamble of who and how many people will show up and if our peike (member present) will show up, etc. But this week before English class (because last week wasnt so great) I said a prayer in my heart that we would have at least 4 people show up, and we had like 10! And almost all of them were new! and my peike was awesome and participated the whole time! The spiritual share went super well and a new friend shook my hand and thanked me for the lesson at the end! Miracles! 

Scripture of the week:

Mormon 9:19 Short and Sweet:

"And if there were miracles wrought then, why has God ceased to be a God of miracles and yet be an unchangeable Being? And behold, I say unto you he changeth not; if so he would cease to be God; and he ceaseth not to be God, and is a God of miracles."  

Look for a miracle or two in your lives this week! 

Hope you all have a FANTASTIC week!

Sending prayers and hugs!

Sister Jensen 

Blurry pic cuz we were biking along the river, but the lights were beautiful 

Elephant mountain with Sister Hayden