(BEFORE I BEGIN MY LETTER THIS WEEK I HAVE AN IMPORTANT
ANNOUNCEMENT MOSTLY TO MY FAMILY BUT STILL IMPORTANT)
So the new missionaries came this transfer! And we
definitely welcomed two more Elder Jensens into this mission. There are
literally 5 Elder Jensens and one Sister Jensen in this mission. And yes one of
them is named Jared.
There are TWO Jared Jensens in this mission, so if you
ever send any letters or packages you have to put Jared D. Jensen or Jared
Daniel Jensen on them because I already got a call from the mission office and
they told me to send this out. I know it's weird that there is another
missionary with my exact name! Just a different middle name. :)
I am in a trio as the subject declares and it is so awesome.
Watch out Chicago. There's three of them on the streets now. Elder Jensen,
Elder Bolton and Elder Dorminey are their names. I have loved every second of
the trio life so far it has been so fun! I've heard trios can be annoying, and
I thought that it might be inefficient because there could be a missionary not
doing something and wasting time. But as we are in an area that could have two
companionships for one ward, the trio has already proved to be extremely
effective!
This week was again super super busy, and it was really
nice to be able to have three minds on the work. But it's been really useful
when other missionaries are passing off YSA's to us because then we can split
up with different companions so that we can get to know more people. I have no
idea if that made sense but yeah. Another cool thing about it is college campus
finding. There are three of us just walking around the campus and we split up
and talk to a lot of different people. It's super fun! I am always a little
stressed I'm going to lose my companions but it hasn't happened yet. There are
some times where it's annoying because not one of us can be left alone so like
if one of us wants to go to the fitness room in the morning all of us have to.
And yes, I am the one who wants to go to the fitness room in the morning and
all of us have to. But they don't mind. It's good times.
So let me tell all you about my new companion. His name
is Elder Dorminey. He's actually been here longer than Elder Bolton. He's
AWESOME! I love him already and Elder Bolton still of course. They're two very
different people and one them occasionally gets annoyed by the other. But they
get over it haha. He takes a lot more pictures though so now I don't need to
take any! Yay!
Our new district is a little different than last time.
Just like two missionaries are different though and the district leader
changed. He's a funny dude.
We had a baptism this week! Her name was Grayson. We
didn't really teach her until the very end of her missionary lessons because
she was taught in the area that she lived. She wanted to be baptized in the YSA
though so we planned out her baptism and it was super crazy but it all worked
out!
Church yesterday was probably like one of the wildest days
though so far. We are constantly like trying to get people to church on Sundays
so lots of like texting and calling and sitting with people were teaching at
church. So it's very nice to have three people especially at church. Oh yeah,
and I had to give a talk in church. And I actually literally didn't even have
time to prepare a talk. And it might sound like I'm a lazy but I swear. The
only way I could've had time is if I did it during my personal study, which now
I'm thinking might have actually been a good Idea... Anyways I went up there
with a couple scriptures of quotes talking about faith and I literally spoke
for 15 minutes! I'm proud of myself because I gave a 15 minute talk with no
preparation and people said "good job on your talk" and it wasn't even
good but I don't care it was crazy. This is missionary life. Because of my
mission I feel like I'll be more confident in throwing together lessons and
talks in the future. So thanks mission :)
We got pizza with our favorite member, Andrew Pearson, this
week. He's moving from Chicago soon! I'm so sad but also happy for him. We'll
probably only be able to eat dinner with him one more time. So that was really
fun but it was probably the unhealthiest meal I've literally ever had in my
life. I went to bed that night feeling bloated and forced my companions to go
to bed but still managed to go running the next day.
This week has been good for some of the people were
teaching and bad for others. We've had a couple of ups and downs for many of
these people. Some people slip into old habits. But we're trying to do our best
to help them out. The only way to truly help others is to invite them towards
Jesus Christ. He is the only one who can help them. I've enjoyed being a
missionary because I've been able to see how we can teach them how to do that.
The power doesn't really come from missionaries; it comes from the Atonement of
Jesus Christ. Miracles can happen because of him and what He has done
for us.
Oh we did have one crazy lesson this week where it was a
pass off and there were five missionaries and one member present -- two sisters
and us. It was super crazy and not your average missionary lesson. So also
something I noticed is that sisters might just be a lot better than elders. The
sisters with us taught with so much better power than we did I felt and I kind
of questioned why the church just doesn't send out sisters. So to all those
girls who are questioning if they should go on a mission or not: Maybe think
about it a little more because trust me sisters are really good at what they
do.
One more thing I want to share is the power of priesthood
blessings. I've been trying my best to learn how to listen to the spirit lately
because I feel that is something that I don't completely understand. But being
able to give a priesthood blessing this week helped me know that the spirit
speaks simply and quietly. You just need to be ready to recognize it. And
sometimes it comes through ways that we would have never guessed like through
simple positive thoughts. I've learned that every positive thought should be
followed, because often it is the spirit that we just struggle to recognize.
Being able to give priesthood blessings has helped me recognize that. If you
have a good thought to do something that could help another just do it, because
it might be coming from God, even if it's like a simple smile. You'll never
know what effect you can have on someone else's life.
That about sums up my week I think. I hope all of you are
doing awesome and I wish you the best!
Love,
Elder Jared Daniel Jensen -- the one that has fluffy
hair.
(Good heavens next thing I'm going to have to do is put
my social security number for someone to be able to recognize which Elder
Jensen I am.)
Pictures:
1. The Chicago Trio (sounds like a band)
2. Us with Andrew
Pearson. Love that dude.
3. J groove made me this shirt.
4. Grayson's baptism with the other elders who taught her
photo-shopped in the pic
5. This is called a coat rack! They don't have them in
St. George :)
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