Week 12!!

Area: Chanute, KS
Companion: Elder Hansen

My Week
So this week we stayed in Chanute for P-day and we pretty much just were lazy all day and took naps - it was awesome. Elder Hansen ironed a hole through one of his pants so we went to a JCPennys to look for some new ones. We didnt find any dress pants but we found some sweet joggers for super cheap so Elder Hansen convinced me to buy a pair with him. They are amazingly comfortable. So thats what I look forward to at night time.
 

So there is this family - the Smiths (the first week we were here they asked us to help dig up their sewer line) cut down 4 humongous trees in their yard. So we went and helped them move the wood. We thought it would take like 3 hours or so but it turned into another pretty much all day service project. That actually was pretty fun.
 

We also helped the Pattons who just bought a really dirty house, gutted it out and are now refurbishing it. We hung insulation, painted some rooms, cut wood for baseboards and a whole bunch of other stuff. That was pretty fun too. I am learning lots of new skills out here. And now it sounds like we get to run Pex line underneath his house this week... fun!
 

We helped the Finches, a family from Fruitland, ID pour concrete underneath their sidewalk. It was cool. All we really did for him was mix concrete together.
 

We had a couple lessons with Nathan and Matt but nothing really

 

(a few hours later I got the following)

 

Matt is a guy the Sisters tracted into and he is way into cars. We have been helping him with his sick BMW. He is replacing the Engine in his 323 I  and putting in a 5.3 L V-8  and he is twin turbo-ing it with a 10 lb tank of NOs... Holy crap it's awesome. And he is totally interested and knows the bible super well. So we have been teaching him and he has been teaching us about cars at the same time.

 

Nathan is on date for baptism April 9th. He is doing really well - still needs some work - but he will get there. He is a super cool kid.

 

We have a dinner appointment with the Giles family tonight (part member family).

 

So the Pattons and the Finches both gave us a ton of candy and Easter stuff which was awesome. When the Pattons came over their 4 year old son Landon was just looking at the puddles outside. So his mom took off his socks and let him just jump and play in the puddles. I don't think I have seen the amount of joy that a crazy hyper 4 year old with Lightning McQueen Crocs on the wrong feet can have - it was really funny and probably something I will definitely remember for a long time.

 

I am doing really well. Thank you for all the support you guys give me. I miss you but I know this is where I am supposed to be

 

Elder Jensen

 

It snowed on Sunday and people were freaking out that it snowed in March.

Mission Life - Week 11

Area: Chanute, KS
Companion: Elder Hansen

Answers to questions

-I have gotten over the cold from last week. It was really weird both Elder Hansen and I got over it in like 2 days.
 

-Elder Hansen does all the driving.  Apparently they want new missionaries who are still in training to focus on learning and not worry about driving. So next transfer I will probably get my tests done and then they next transfer I can drive.
 

- My journal is still going well. I think I almost have everyday, and there are plenty of blank spaces left.
 

-Our District leader calls us almost every day but thats just because he wants to talk to us. Normally we would talk with him maybe 2 times a week and he reports to the Zone Leaders who we talk to maybe once a week.
 

- Since the MTC is going back to 3 weeks it does push us around a little bit. So this transfer is going to be 7 weeks instead of 6 weeks.
 

My Week

So this week we were able to catch a less active who joined the church about 10 years ago and has since fallen away. We asked if we could teach him the discussions and he said yes so we are going back there later today.
 

We also meet up with a less active who wants his 8 year old son to be baptized. So we set up an appointment on Sunday.
 

Then Sunday comes around and President Boyaka and Brother Knight ( the stake president and a high councilmen) come down to Iola and we went on splits with them. I was able to go with President Boyaka, who is like a legend  in the mission. So we went and taught Nathan and then we went and taught the Giles who is the part member family I was talking about (he is also the chef from a few weeks ago). So we went over there and it was awesome. It went super good taught part of lesson 3 and they are still really excited to learn more.
 

But then on the way back from our appointments President Boyaka was just able to pour out wisdom to me. It was sweet.
 

Then Elder Hansen took Brother Knight down to Chanute and they got stood up by all of their appointments. So I think I probably had the better experience.
 

We had a referral in Erie which is even further south. Its like 5 ish miles from the mission border. So we went down there and we were scared about leaving the mission because if you leave the mission area you get sent home... so that's always good when you know you are close but not sure how close to the border.
 

We were able to help some members with yard work this week. Two different families cut down humungous trees and we were able to move them and split the wood and stuff. Then the other family was moving dirt around which wasn't all that fun but it definitely beat tracting.
 

We also meet this really cool guy at sonic. We were going through the drive through and he was taking our order and we joked around with him. We didnt have time really to talk but we gave him a card and he said he would call us.
 

Thank you for the packages for Easter. They are awesome. Hopefully the pictures send because I literally covered our entire table with candy and now we are both going to be very fat. Elder Hansen has been making fun of me because I have gotten 3 packages this week. Although I just barely got the Trojans blanket and it is super fluffy so not mad about that. Thank you for all the support. It is so much fun to get packages.

 

 

This trip that Dad and Grandpa/ma Jensen and Grandpa Roy definitely sounds like it will be a fun drive. How are you all getting there? will you just ride in Jensen's Truck? It will be cool though. It will be fun to see some of the country side. Good luck.
 

That play looks sweet. I wish I could have been there. I bet it was a lot of fun. And I Legit had absolutely no idea who that kid was and it didnt even cross my mind that it could be Taylor Davis. It still messes with me a little. But it looks like it was a good time. I guess you will just have to keep doing them until I get back so I can see one, Rose.
 

Thank you all for everything you do for me. It is really a big help when you write. My week was kinda boring so sorry about that but i am enjoying it out here. It has been probably the hardest thing to do but I have been so extremely blessed for it and it was change the way I live my life when I get back.
 

Also if you havent seen the new Easter video the church has put out watch it. It is super good. The first time I watched I thought Meh.. its alright but now that I have seen it 3 or 4 times it is one of the most spiritually moving videos that I have seen it is called Hallelujah. Thanks have a great week!!

Elder Jensen

 

Kansas does have some cool sunsets.



St. Patrick's day with green ties in front of St. Patrick's Catholic School.

 

This is what the wall above my bed looks like. 

 

Week 10

Area: Chanute, KS
Companion: Elder Hansen

 

Answers to Questions

- So yes we were able to meet with Gary again, he is part of the Seventh day Adventist church. So we talked about religious views and things like that. It sounds like they are very similar beliefs, but he wasn't interested so there's nothing really we can do there.
-Nathan is still doing awesome and going strong. He is awesome. You can tell how much the Lord prepares people.
- Probably the weirdest thing that I have eaten out here, which is apparently a Kansas thing because Elder Hansen hasn't ever had it either, is chicken noodle soup on top of mashed potatoes. But not like Campbells soup, like home made noodles and everything chicken noodle soup. If its done right it is actually pretty good but still a little weird.
-We have both kinda been on this kick to eat healthier. So I usually make sure I eat a carrot an apple a banana everyday and then just stay away from junk food as I can. We have both been buying Naked juice which is a 100% veggie and fruit juice. Its expensive but its really good.
-I am doing good on money. Apparently I save a lot more than other missionaries because I havent even got close to the money they gave me for this month.
- A lot of my ties are starting to fray and fall apart, and idk if I am already growing or if my pants are shrinking but some of my pants are getting shorter...
 

My Week
So I think the cold everyone has is staring to hit Kansas because Elder Hansen was out for Wed then I was out for Thurs. Then we left for Gardner on Thursday evening because we had a Zone Conference on Friday then Elder Stevenson came on Saturday. So we had like 4 hours of working on Monday then Tuesday and then we were out of our area the rest of the week. So we really didnt get very much done.

But we did have an awesome lesson with a part member family and they want us to come back for dinner and the second lesson. So it will be good hopefully. Again you can just see how much the Lord can prepare people to receive the gospel.
 

So Elder Gary E. Stevenson came to the mission this week... that was cool. He is awesome, he gave a really good talk to us and we were able to go up and shake his hand and say our name and where we were from. Then when speaking to us he said that he got to interview us each for ten seconds while we talked with him. So I was just interviewed by one of the 12 apostles of the Lord so that was fun. He did a really good job though he  was super funny and he bore one of the most powerful testimonies that I have heard. He talked about how when we obey any commandment we are blessed and so we as missionaries (probably the members of the church with the most rules) when we follow any of the guidelines set for us we are blessed and the more rules we have the more opportunities to keep them and then be blessed because of them.

He also talked about how we are serving in the Alpha and Omega mission, on the world that Christ actually walked and lived his mortal life and that he actually performed the atonement on our Earth. How lucky are we! He said that this mission is very special and that God had a special assignment for us. It was really cool to see him receive revelation on what to talk about in the moment and to see him just in general. There are only like 200 missionaries and we sat on like the third row (it was just in a church chapel) so we were really close the whole time.
 

Another interesting thing he said is that when assigning missionaries more often than not the assignment is based heavily on who the mission president is not necessarily where in the world it is.
 

So we also went on exchanges with my district leader in Gardner and of course some crazy things happen when you get more than two missionaries in one house together... for two nights... hopefully the video will send, it was pretty great.

 

Also one of the girls from a family in the ward said that we were "cool" after dinner apparently... So my purpose as a missionary is fulfilled and I am happy to go home now :)
 

Thank you so much for the emails you send me. It is like our only life line to the outside world. Thank you all for everything you do for me and the support you show me.
 

I liked my Pie day and the Ark day packages. Thank you very much

Elder Jensen

Week 9

Area: Chanute, KS
Companion: Elder Hansen

Answers to Questions
-For transfers me and Elder Hansen are still in Chanute so that didn't change. One of the sisters in Iola (who is in our ward) did get transferred.

-Nathan is still doing really well he could make it to church on Sunday but he totally remembers the Joseph Smith story so that's awesome.

-We found 3 new investigators this week so that's good. That's more than we usually find.

-On exchanges what most missionaries do is put everything you need on your bed then take off the sheet and kinda wrap it up like a burrito. Then when you get to where ever you are going  you just lay down your sheet on a bed and just put it straight on the bed.

-For the 12 week training there is a 12 week training book you can find it on the gospel library app and it just kinda tells you what you need to do.

-So the chef guys made really good cheesy potatoes and chicken and it was really good and we have another appointment to go back for dinner this week mmm :) 

- The guy we did all that plumbing for we didn't really see a lot of potential so we weren't going to go back. But then a member lives like two doors down and was apparently asking some questions so maybe we will and see if he is up for it.

-Yes I received Melissa, Ray, and Janeys package. It was super funny and I really like all the candy. So you guys did a really good job thank you :) 

My Week

So this week honestly was really boring. So we have been having car problems, our car has not been starting in the morning and we have had to call a ward member who can jump start us. So we went to the Chevy dealer and they said like an hour to change the battery so we were like "ok I guess we will just wait for a little bit" so then we sat there for an hour... And then another 4 hours. We were there for a long time for them to change a battery.

 

Then we mostly just walked around Chanute for the remainder of the week. We found Gary who is an older man who said he would read the BOM and we have an appointment to go back this week so that will be cool.

 

We had a really good appointment with Nathan (one of our investigators). It went really well and he remembered the first lesson really well and he committed to live the Word of Wisdom. The Bishop was our member present and he was really awesome and had some really good views.

 

Thank you for all of your emails. It's awesome to hear about your lives. Thank you for all of your support. It really gets me from day to day.

 

And thank you for the packages. It's literally like Christmas when we get to open them. Thank you for everything.

 

Elder Jensen