Week 29

Area: Leavenworth, KS
Companion: Elder Staheli

This week has been pretty awesome. We had a couple lessons with Herb who is 87 and awesome. He loves to talk and so it is always interesting to go to his house and see what kind of stories we get. He is really caring though and he tries to help his community. There is a woman who has become his friend who had her son taken away because of her living conditions. So we offered service and we went over and helped her clean her house, which still needs a lot of help. But we got quite a bit done, then the next day we went back because Herb got a carpet cleaner company to come for free. So we had to wake up at 5 am to get all that we needed to get done. We had to take almost everything out of the house and put it outside. It was an interesting experience but it was really nice to help her out.

We also had a family invite Harlan to come have dinner with them at the same time we were coming over. They were awesome and we had a super good lesson afterwards and he really wants to be baptized. We told him that he could be ready by Aug 20. So he will be preparing for that, he is super cool.

We also helped the Leavenworth 1st Ward Elders help a family move in their ward. We showed up, they turned off the TV, then they gave us trash bags and we literally one armed cleared off the shelves and dumped into the bags. Not very organized but pretty quick. We also helped a member in our ward. His house was over taken by mice and he had to move out - so that was fun.

This week has been fun. I am thankful for the success that we have been seeing. Thank you so much for all the support you guys have given me, it is really awesome to hear form you - thanks!

Elder Jensen

Week 28

Area: Leavenworth, KS
Companion: Elder Staheli

This week has been pretty interesting. Monday we drove up to Olathe for our last P-day of the transfer. Then we had dinner with the Pattons and said goodbye to them. They are an awesome family. Then we had another really great lesson with Matt about repentance.

Tuesday we had another lesson with Matt and he helped us tie a mattress and box spring to the top of a mini van and drive it over to the Hannons. Then we had dinner with the Hannons. They were my first meal in Chanute so they fed us the same thing as they did the first time. Matt has decided to give every missionary a car part when they leave, so he gave me a waste gate which apparently controls the turbo so that was cool I put it on my study desk. We also learned for sure that I was getting transferred that night.

Wednesday was fun, it was my last day in Chanute so naturally I have a redneck story. There was a less active family that asked us to help them move, which was interesting because I had to pack as well, but we went over to help and we walked in and literally everything was covered in cockroaches and ants. They asked us to move two fridges that were still full of food and covered in bugs as well. They didn't have a dolly or anything and said "just pick it up" so we put them in the back of the truck and it started pouring super hard. Which fridges become a lot slicker when they are wet, which was fun. Then we drove across town and put them in their new house and watched the cockroaches leave the fridges and run away into the new house which will probably be interesting in the future for them.
But then I spent the rest of the day packing and then we said goodbye to a couple families. Then we stopped by the Gile/Womelsdorfs family and said goodbye to them. They are awesome and we got some good pictures.

Thursday we went to transfers and I got transferred to Leavenworth 2nd ward with Elder Staheli (stay-lee). He is awesome. He is from Pleasant Grove, UT. He has been out for 1 year now.  He is 5ft 5in so we look like quite the pair. We had a lesson with an excommunicated member who wants to come back, but he is 87 and loves to talk and tell stories - old people are really funny. We had dinner with a member family who is awesome as well.

Friday we had a really good lesson with a referral from the 1st ward and he is awesome. His name is Harlan and he is really interested and wants to keep learning more. We took a member on a team up to a lesson, and the member is an old war vet who is probably a little unstable. It was a very interesting lesson. When he picked us up he came to our apartment and just laid on his horn for like 2 minutes straight until we came out. Then our neighbor came out and yelled at us for a little bit. And Elder Staheli said brother(XXX) I think that guy is kinda mad that you honked for so long, and the first words I heard him say were "Well that's what the blacks do so that's what I'm gonna do!"  So you can imagine how our lesson went. He does have a very big heart and good intentions though.

Saturday we walked most of the day, we are on a car rotation so this week was walk week. We walked about 10 miles and just tried different people and got inside with a couple of people but nothing really to report on.

Sunday I met a lot of new people and don't remember a whole lot of names, but the ward seems really great.

We found this little box on a bench that overlooks the Missouri River and it had a couple little things in it. I really liked the note, it was cool so we left it there so someone else could find it.

Thank you for all the support you have given me. Thank You! You guys are awesome.

Elder Jensen

Week 27

Area: Chanute, KS
Companion: Elder Christensen

So this week has been pretty cool and kinda strange. Monday we took Nathan, our recent convert, out to play frisbee golf. The sisters came with us but they only had two Frisbees. So we went to Walmart and I bought a pack of three. Then we get out to the course and first throw Elder Christensen throws my driver into the bushes. And the bushes are a lot thicker out here than they are back home, so after like 15 minutes of looking we finally found it. Then the very next throw he chucks it into the canopy of the trees and it was lost  forever. :( It was still fun though. Then we were invited to a BBQ for the fourth and got to see some cool fireworks and have some really good food

 

 

Tuesday we drove around the country for most of the day and tried some less active people. Then all of the sudden we realized that we were in a town called Earlton which has like 50 people. So we tracted like half of the town and only got chased off by a couple of dogs.

Wednesday we were able to go over and visit the Gile/ Womelsdorfs for one of their daughters birthdays. It was fun to finally catch up with them and to reconnect. Then we spent most of the day working in Iola and Gas.

Thursday we had a really cool lesson. There is this house that we knocked on and had a good lesson with the mom. They weren't there for our return appointment, then we stopped by and had a good lesson with the dad and again no show for the return appointment. So I felt like we needed to go over there and we had another good lesson but with one of their sons, who we had actually street contacted a few weeks ago, but again didn't show up for our appointment. :( Eventually we will just teach the whole family, even if it is one member at a time.

Then we had dinner with the Stolls who are super old. It is so amazing because their children are already kinda old and they come over for dinner as well. So we just kinda sit back and watch them do their old together and it makes for some hilarious conversations some times. This time Brother Stoll was talking about a monkey in the zoo that likes him and he said "Ya, I seem to get along with most animals all right. Except for one." Then his family all kinda said "The lamas" and
he said " Those dang Lamas! They'd run a quarter mile just to spit on me." Me and Elder Christensen were dying and we had to contain it because the family just kinda carried on normally with life. Elder Christensen almost lost his dinner because he was laughing so hard.

Friday we went to Paola to Zone Training. On our way back we got a call from the APs that Elder Christensen was being called to train a new missionary. We needed to be in Independence at 8:00 in the morning for the trainers meeting, so we drove all the way back to Paola to spend the night so we didn't have to wake up at like 3:00 in the morning.

Saturday we split up into trios so I was with an elder from Olathe 3rd ward and another from the Mound City branch and we went and played bingo in a retirement home while our companions were in the trainers meeting.  That was quite the experience as well. Old people are awesome.

Sunday was probably my last Sunday in the Iola ward so that was sad. I have grown attached to the people here and it will definitely be a big change where ever I go. We will find out for sure tomorrow if I am actually leaving, although it will be pretty crazy if I do stay since I have been here for 6 months.

Thank you for all the support you guys have given me. This week has been a lot of fun and the next few weeks are going to bring a lot of new experiences. Thank you!


Elder Jensen