Bikin' is Bangin'

Now I really hate to say this, but not a whole lot happened this week. I know many grandma type people who love journals and memories would say, "Oh Jared, it is your mission! Surely you have memories from this week!? After all it is only two valuable years of your life!? You would be foolish not to have plenty of memories even in this one week! You should have a novel written just about this one week! FOOLISH YOUNG BOY! YOU SHOULD.... etc." You get the point. This week we did things like teach, find people to teach by knocking doors and other such ways, and this is actually pretty cool, we started riding bikes. 

So our area is huge. It's pretty crazy because the ward boundaries are about 9 cities. The one we live in called Crown Point is the biggest with a population of like probably 25,000. And then there is Hebron that has like 3,000 people and Kouts that probably has like 1,500 people and Lowell that has like 6,000 people. (I looked at a population map one time hehe that's why I know this) but all these cities are pretty far apart and we only have a limited amount of miles that we can drive our mission vehicle each month. So there is one city that we still haven't even touched and I've been here over 4 months now. It's pretty crazy! There's still a whole lot of fun to have!

So the amount of miles we have is definitely not enough and we've gone over every month except for February, where we barely made it because it's a short month. So because the weather has started to get a little better and because I finally got a little less lazy we got our bikes fixed and have started biking when possible. Obviously we can't only bike because it would be a 6 hour bike ride to get from one side of the area to the other haha. But when we stay in Crown Point we've started to ride our bikes around from place to place.

Wow, are my legs sore! Like I'm literally getting destroyed, but all is well, because it's actually pretty fun. Of course I do really struggle to keep up with my extremely fit companion who was in a biking area before this one. But there is this bike that some missionary left in our apartment and it has one of those super cushioned seats and I might steal it because oh my goodness the soreness is getting to me. Elder Jensen said everyone will make fun of me for being soft and for having a cushioned seat but why would I care! I'd be a whole lot more comfortable then them! 

Also I got really sick again (which is the worst because I got sick like 3 weeks ago and it shook me for like a whole week and this one feels the exact same) and I wonder if it's because we were riding and I got hot so I took off my jacket and then it felt freezing, but better than hot right? And I think that might be why. But it's worth it because we are saving on our miles like wizardry. So the first day I was sick it was super windy and biking in the wind is SO HARD. Or maybe I'm just super soft. But I kid you not that day I was riding probably even slower than someone would walk just trying to keep up with Elder Jensen and when I made it to him I told him I felt like the people in Mormon 2:14 who did curse God and wish to die.

So Elder Jensen was making fun of me and told me to drink an energy drink. I refused naturally because I don't even drink soda, and literally just a mountain dew makes me hype. But after riding like 2 more feet there was a family express (that's like a gas station that's only in Indiana) and I succumbed, went in and bought a bang. (that's an energy drink that I'm pretty sure is also only in Indiana) so these are some of the most powerful energy drinks and apparently it's advised to drink them overtime….but I definitely drank the whole thing in less than a minute and we biked home and I still felt weak and all it did was make me burp like none other!

Then we got back to the apartment to eat lunch and It was the weirdest feeling! We did weekly planning right after that and this was probably the most memorable weekly planning session I've ever had! I was still sick so I had the chills and my legs were super sore and dead, but my mind and my blood felt like they were going like a billion miles an hour! After weekly planning we did some tracting and Elder Jensen said I was so energized and a little nuts that he's never laughed harder in his mission. And then that night I felt like straight trash because I was still super sick so I took a NyQuil and probably combined two things in my body and woke up the next morning feeling like a zombie. So from this experience I probably will never drink an energy drink ever again, however, I did not feel sick that day so that was pretty cool. 

I feel like the only other thing that really happened this week is that we taught this non-denominational Christian dude who really just kinda wanted to bash, which was lame. But as we were having the discussion, I couldn't help but think of how grateful I am for my religion! This is the true church of Jesus Christ that has been restored to the fullness! We taught this friend of ours the plan of salvation and he disagreed with every single part of it.

Some of the parts that hit me the hardest are that he disagreed with the spirit world and said that those who have never heard of Jesus Christ will go to hell! (Lame) He also said that there is no point in progressing in this life. He said who cares about being with family forever because we'll be in the presence of God so that it'll be like the most intense church meeting ever for eternity. Sounds lame and like the terrestrial kingdom to me. I want to be with God and Jesus Christ and my family forever and I know that is possible through the gospel of Jesus Christ. The doctrine of this gospel is beautiful. There is no other gospel doctrine as wonderful as this one. There is no other thing better to believe in. I'm so grateful for the belief and knowledge that I have about this gospel. 

That's about it for my week! The church is true, and even if it wasn't, the lifestyle of living this gospel is the best and is life changing which proves that it is true. Have a legendary week! 

Elder Jensen 

Pics

1: Trump's place 

2: The promised land

3: Literally the only time I've been in front of Elder Jensen on the bikes so I had to capture the moment

4: Right after we went running with a member of the ward on p-day one time  

Good Tidings of Great Joy in the Form of a Potato

Good afternoon everyone! It’s that time of week again where I stressfully look through my journal and camera roll and try to think of cool things that happened this week! Of course cool things did happen, because they always do as a missionary! But I am starting to get a little weaker and remembering all of them! But I will do my best. 

First off, this week we had a straight up power lesson. Like have you ever had those people who have been looking in the church for over like 3 years and then finally you and some power members help bring that good ol power spirit and then bam! All of the sudden they say they want to be baptized!? Yeah that happened this week!

We had a lesson with some members and someone who has been looking into the church for quite a while. Elder Jensen and I turned to each other in this lesson and looked at each other with shock and happiness and excitement on our face. Shout out to the Dumas family in our ward for knowing how to bring the spirit like no one else. The person we were teaching is now on date for baptism in like 3 weeks! (cause she has to go out of town booo) but it was seriously the coolest experience ever! 

Also this week we had zone conference which was actually a legend as usual, President Bingham probably only has like 2-3 zone conferences left before he finishes up his mission and so they'll probably be legendarily powerful until he leaves. We learned some straight doctrinal fire of course and the Holy Ghost likes to make your heart feel on fire like the whole conference but then you gotta act on what you learned.

We learned a lot about how we can improve our studies and so we've been trying to do that. I learned that I am actually not a very good teacher and have basically everywhere to improve so hopefully I can do that haha. President Bingham is an amazing teacher, sometimes I wish we could just have like an army of President Binghams because then they would be missionary animals. But a small army of two Elder Jensens is pretty good too I guess. 

So also I got a cool package from my wonderful sister Janika and her wonderful husband Brandon, except it wasn't really a package it was more of a potato with the address written on it, which is actually quite impressive I didn't know that was possible and all the missionaries were very impressed. It even had a shipping cost of like 5 dollars and 40 cents! Now that is about the cost of a Little Caesar’s pizza in Indiana (not St. George, they are abominable and make them 6 dollars and 43 cents) but I could just tell that this simple "Happy Birthday" potato had so much thought into it and I couldn't have asked for a better birthday present, and now I think it would be wise to send many happy birthday potatoes for their birthdays! 

Ok so this week we had stake conference and we were able to go to both sessions because we had some people were teaching at the adult session. Actually it was pretty interesting they had a dinner for the mission president and his wife, the stake president and his wife, the 70 who was visiting and his wife, and then the people we are teaching. So we still don't know how that dinner went but we are very curious haha. It was probably a pretty cool experience for this family we are teaching. That's like me having dinner with the pope. Except if I had dinner with the pope I'd probably "accidentally" quote some Bruce R. McConkie. No just kidding that's a joke. 

So stake conference was awesome and President Bingham spoke there too and gave some super awesome challenges and the whole thing was focused on the gathering of Israel so we're hoping the Valparaiso stake is going to get missionary hype. It'll be super grand. 

We also had lunch with this family in our ward, the Smoots, and I know I was going to mention the legendary Brother Smoot because he is one of a kind, and probably one of my most favorite people in this ward. So how do I explain this man? He is probably almost 7 ft. tall, like 300 pounds, and is the biggest teddy bear ever. Also, Elder Jensen calls him a unicorn, because you'll never find one like him. Brother Smoot says he wants to be himself, so he wears a sweat suit to church and a fanny pack, and also he ties a skunk tail and another tail of some black creature around his waist so that it hangs off of him. Sometimes he even has his toenails painted; sometimes he wears those skirt things that the islanders wear because he thought it was cool.

Like every time I see this man I always know I'll never find one like him. Something awesome though, he is a spiritual powerhouse. He bears his testimony every single fast Sunday and it always has some interesting story about him and then he brings the spirit at the end every time. There has not been a fast Sunday that has passed where he hasn't born his testimony. We invited him to a lesson and he is an animal (and not just because he rocks the animal tails) but he is awesome. I took a picture with one of his tails because it's pretty funny haha. Apparently he goes to the gym for like 6 hours every single day because he's retired. He said he does the stair master like a super human. What a legend. 

Oh yeah, also it was St. Patrick's Day and apparently that's like a huge holiday here? Like everyone is hyping up this corned beef and cabbage? I thought that we were only supposed to wear green?! It’s way more hype here than Utah. Thank goodness it's pday today because if we went knocking now everyone would probably be super hung over just like on New Year’s day. 

Well anyway, this week was great. I know the church is true. Goodbye until next week! 

Pics:

1. What a lovely potato

2. Birthday pt. 2 thanks Dumas's

3. Me and my boy Ron 

4. Me wearing Bro. Smoot’s tail

5. Me and Bro Smoot

6. They spelled John wrong, but it's the thought that counts.  

TEMPLE WEEK

This week was an awesome week! Now that we only have elders in our district I was able to go on an exchange down in Rensselaer Indiana. It's like 45 minutes away from Hebron and it's even smaller than Hebron is! In the Hebron ward we have other cities though other than just Hebron that we cover, the largest one is called Crown Point and that's where we live. But Rensselaer just has a bunch of baby cities that are all smaller than Hebron and the area is HUGE. So I got to go there for a day with Elder case, he's a missionary who has been out for 20 months and we went and knocked with much glory. Some people complain about knocking doors but hey it's starting to get exciting to knock doors! You find people to teach! There are people out there! It’s pretty cool how the lord really does prepare people for us to teach. 

This week I turned 19 too so that was pretty cool. Thanks for all the birthday wishes! It couldn't have been a grander birthday. On my birthday we were able to go to the temple with our recent convert, Catelynn, for her first time. She just got baptized last Saturday and within a week we were able to set up a ride with some of the best members in the world, the Updikes, and we were able to share the experience of her first time in the temple. It was way cool. One of the members, Chase Updike, baptized Catelynn and then Elder Jensen baptized Chase and then I did some of the confirmations. It was awesome and Catelynn was able to bring her own names and said she felt the spirit especially strong for the names that she brought and for those who she was related to. So basically it was the best birthday present ever to be able to go to the temple with her for the first time and some of the greatest people in the ward and with the greatest companion ever. 

Also there are some people here in Indiana who are one of a kind. There's a man named Brother Smoot who is literally a legend. I just have to take a picture with him because I can't even describe this man but I'll just say he's one of a kind. 

Also there is a Sister Phillips. So sister Phillips in the ward sings Happy Birthday over the phone to like 6000 people a year and it's funny, when she meets you she'll run up to you and get your phone number and your birthday and your name and shows you a newspaper article that says something like "lady makes people happy and sings happy birthday to a ton of people." And it's super funny like she does it for like 2 hours every day probably. So she got me and Elder Jensen on his birthday and whenever investigators come to church she tracks them down and gets their birthday. It's the funniest thing. So I got sang to by the legendary birthday lady. 

On Saturday it was raining like crazy! It was awesome! We didn't get totally soaked because of rain jackets but it's kinda funny because when it rains and you knock on people's doors, people are extra revolted because you look like a disgusting wet creature who probably smells like nature, so it's not AS effective as usual, but we still found some potential people that day. 

Sunday we had daylight savings, which I was not at all excited for because we'd lose an hour of sleep! But whatever, we pushed through it and woke up in the morning and were like aw man it's dark! But then it doesn't get dark until 7:00 PM now! It’s like every missionaries dream. When it got dark at like 4:30 back in December... That was the most horrible thing ever but now it is light and I'm so grateful we can now find at a time when more people will be home! 

Also we got a call from Catelynn yesterday saying that she had gotten her patriarchal blessing and she said she wants to serve a mission. How cool is that!? She is so awesome. And then she also brought a friend to church. Like why can't we all be like Catelynn, then missionary work would be a lot easier! 

Yesterday we also had a dinner appointment with two families! So there was like 15 kids and we got to teach them all a lesson and it was so so so fun but we didn't have time to do a study that morning so we were like oh man what should we do so we decided to do the thing where you take the can and slam it on your finger on the Book of Mormon and talk about how to hold to the word of God and read Helaman 3: 29-30 (for you missionaries reading this this is like a pretty great lesson to do with kids haha) but literally like half the kids afterwards wanted a turn putting their finger on the Book of Mormon and then smashing the can on it. Literally I thought that lesson had been used a ton and everyone had already seen it but these kids were amazed haha. It was super fun. 

So spiritual thought: I read 3 Nephi 18 this week and really got into studying the sacrament! It is so important and awesome! The sacrament is a sacred ordinance and a great blessing and is truly the most important part about going to church! There is no better way and time to repent and improve our lives then now, and each week when we take the sacrament we get to reflect about how we're going to do that. I'm super grateful to be able to partake of the sacrament by the proper priesthood authority. 

Last thing this week we were knocking some doors finding some elect and there was this one house with this horrifying mean looking dog and I was like heck no I hate big dogs that can generally bite your neck off so I decided to not knock but Elder Jensen is like "no I'm bold" so he walked up there anyway and the dog was literally trying to attack him but every time he would turn around and look at it, it would just jump back and then he'd turn his back on it and it'd go after him again. This thing was like stinkin boo from Mario. And nobody understood that reference here so I hope somebody does. Long story short nobody was home and Elder Jensen is alive but only because he used to hunt bears with a bow and arrow so he is scary to large dogs I guess. 

Anyway, have a great week everyone! The church is true, and that means that the Lord’s kingdom is once again established on the earth which is kind of a big deal, so it's great to let people know! 

Elder Jensen 

Pics:

Me being me in front of the temple

Us with Chase Updike

Us and Catelynn

Us 

The most meaningful birthday wish! I love my brother! 

 

 

 

Elder Jensen thinking about his little sister back home...

The Most Superior Month is Here and a Baptism!!!

This week was a fantastic week! To start off Catelynn was baptized! Catelynn blew through the discussions like none other! We met her and she had come with a huge list of questions that she wanted answered about the church. Like I kid you not this list of questions was like 65 questions long of the most random deep doctrine and so we sat down and said "Catelynn, when you build a house you build the foundation first. You don't put the final roof shingles on first. So all of your questions will be answered over time." Then we taught her the restoration, put her on date for the 9th of March and then set up a return appointment. So we taught her and she liked it so much that she wanted to be baptized on the 2nd instead!

It has been truly such a privilege to teach her. She's the most prepared person to receive the gospel so far that I've taught. Catelynn had been looking for a church that worked for her for the past 4 years. All of her searching has led up to this moment and it's been so awesome to be a part of it! As soon as she got confirmed at church right after church she set up a temple recommend interview and a patriarchal interview with the bishop and we're going to try and plan a temple trip with her this week and with some members of the ward! It'll be awesome.

It hasn't been easy though the last week before baptisms are always so stressful and its just another testimony to me that these people are doing the right thing because Satan likes to play some games. Catelynn said she had temptations that week but she stayed strong and after she was baptized and confirmed she said that while she was confirmed the spirit "hit her like a spiritual brick." It was super awesome.

This week church was super awesome because it was fast and testimony meeting and we had Catelynn's confirmation so everyone who had played a part and had attended some of her lessons went up and bore their testimony and it was super hype and missionary work excitement is cool. Right after a member came to us and told us that his daughter had invited a friend to church the past 5 weeks and that she was prepared to take the discussions with her family. It was super awesome! I'm so excited to be a part of the work here it's truly so exciting! So we taught Alijah and his mom this week and invited Alijah to bear his testimony this Sunday and he said he would. So on Sunday I sat down by him in church and whispered, "so are you going to go up there?" and he says "NO! I'm scared!" and I was like "yeah same here, let's go do it together." so we went up together and bore our testimonies together. He is such a stud, it was awesome. Also he is perfecting his juggling skills and I feel like a proud older brother haha. 

At church we had 6 people were teaching come and Elder Jensen and I were so happy because we hit our church goal for the week, but we realized we still needed one new person to teach to hit our new person taught goal. We hate not hitting our goals as missionaries, it tends to be kinda the worst and so we texted all of our potential people that we knocked on this week, stopped by some of them in fear of not hitting our goal. And then I turn to elder Jensen and say... "well there's always ______" I'm not going to say her name because she's a little nuts and we dropped her because she's not ready for the gospel at this time. So we went and visited her. She's still crazy. We couldn't bring ourselves to make her a new person taught because she clearly still wasn't ready for the changes she had to make haha. 

 

We said "so _____, how have you been?" she says "well I've been good! I've pretty much given up smoking!" when we walked in her house there was clearly a smoking smell so we asked, "congratulations! when was the last time you had a smoke?" and she says "well, I had one today at about 11." We visited her at 4 people. She had successfully "given up smoking" for a total of like 5 hours. So we said, "_______, you still want to follow Jesus Christ and be baptized a member of the church of Jesus Christ right?" and of course she says yes. So we said "will you throw away those cigarettes right now?" and she said "well I can't! they are grape flavored! Really you should lick one and taste it for yourself!" I can't say that this was a temptation for me to lick this grape flavored cigarette haha. So we learned our friend here wasn't exactly ready for the change yet, but we'll get her haha. Indiana people love their smoking and their soda. 

So frantically Elder Jensen and I turn to each other and still need a new person to teach this week! And one of our potential people texted us saying that he had some time open up and that we could meet him at Starbucks so we rushed there, taught a restoration, made a new friend because he's super awesome and he even invited us to go see captain marvel with him haha. And we hit our goals for this week. Yay! 

So this week we taught this guy the restoration and he was Muslim and didn't really believe Jesus Christ was the son of God and we were going to teach him again and so we went to his house and instead he invited us to his church! so the Jensen twins might check out this church with our boy Rafi this week. Funny story, as we were looking where this church was catelynn had told us that was one of the churches that she had attended in the past. It was crazy she's literally searched everywhere before she found the church of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints. 

This week I've finished Helaman and started 3 Nephi. And I've learned be humble by Kendrick Lamar. Like that seems to be the main theme of the whole thing. I got so excited about these gnarly chapters that I started to write another back up talk on them. It'll be fun. 

So in the end we learned the Hebron is the promised land, and the Elder Jensen the blonde is a great guy, and that after this week I won't be able to sing 8TEEN by Khalid anymore. It's OK haven't been able to listen to it for a hot minute anyways, but have a fantastic week everybody! 

Elder Jensen

Pics

Catelynn's baptism and Elder Jensen and I trying so hard to take majestic pictures by this water tower and sunset.