Week 4 (Turkey day!)

Good afternoon!

It is a beautiful bright, cold day in Provo! The sky is blue and the mountains are covered with snow (although the ground is clear down here).

It's a little strange to be in the MTC on Thanksgiving day, but also wonderful. To explain why it has been wonderful, so far, I will share a quote with you from this morning's devotional:

"We are here to be your family today. We don't want anyone to be homesick. Today, the Holland's are your family." ~ Jeffrey R. Holland

Yes, we were privaledged to be visited by Jeffrey R. Holland this morning! His whole family came, actually! Including his wife, children, and all 13 of his grandchildren! We never know who the devotional speakers are going to be until they walk in, but we had heard a rumor that it might be Elder Holland today, and he holds such a special place in my heart. So, even though it was freeeeeezing outside, I went wiht some of the other elders/sisters in my zone and waited outside in line for two hours just on the off-chance that it actually was him speaking today. And it was! We actually had a lot of fun. My feet were soooo numb, but we spent the whole time singing hymns and by the end we had the whole line singing. So anyway, I was sitting three rows back, dead center! Not 10 feet away from an apostle of the Lord! He gave the most wonderful talk, too. And there were a couple of times he stared straight at me and smiled! :) :) :) :) :)

Anyway, Elder and Sister Holland wanted us to feel like they were being our families today, and so they both talked (and it was really sweet. I could honestly write this whole email just about the devotional! Aaaagh maybe I'll photocopy my notes and mail them home). So in going with the Holland family theme, they had their grandchildren get up and sing a primary song, and they were sooooooo cute! Seriously adorable. It was funny because all the elders were laughing by the end and all the sister were tearing up haha. It was so wonderful. I have felt so blessed every time we have a devotional, because it feels like I'm getting extra general conference, only better, because they're saying things directly aimed at the 2,000-3,000 of us here at the MTC. I love Elder Holland!

I still did miss you all a lot, though. It was expecially hard last night, because as I was falling asleep all I could think about was how if I was still at school, I'd be waking up the next morning to Grandma already working on the rolls, and I'd go help Grandpa get the folding chairs from the attic and then I'd chat with Grandma while I washed dishes and set the table. I've spent the last 3 Thanksgivings with Grandma! (maybe 4? I can't remember.) Speaking of which, can you make sure to forward this to her? She sent me her email address but I keep forgetting to bring it with me to the computer lab. And tell her I like nuts, but I'm not picky either way (she was asking about Christmas fudge).

Hmmm.... what else... well, this was my schedule today:

6:00 am - Laundry

7:30 am - Breakfast

8:00 - 10:00 am - waiting in line

10:00 - 12:00 pm - Spiritually FEASTING on Elder Hollands words!

12:00 - 1:30 on - Literally FEASTING on Thanksgiving lunch*

NOW - Emailing! (and having MDT/study time)

2:30 - 4:00 - Service project**

4:00 - 5:00 - Sack dinner in our room

5:00 - 6:00 - Thanksgiving program***

6:00 - 8:00 - [Project?]****

*Thanksgiving lunch was awesome! All day yesterday all I was driving people crazy with my talk of yams. ("Do you think they'll have yams? They'd better have yams. I reeeeally hope they have yams. Hey, you, do YOU think they'll have yams? I think they'll have yams. What if they don't have yams?!?! I think I"ll start a mutiny if they don't have yams.") For some reason I just really strongly desired yams. And guess what? THEY HAD YAMS!!!!!!! :) :) :) :) Hahahahahaha. We had turkey and mashed potatoes/gravy/cranberry sauce, green beans, and pumpkin pie. Granted, it was cafeteria style, and not necesarily the most delicious, but I was impressed! The food here isn't super good, usually, probably because they have to feed so many people, but it was decent today!

**We're not sure what the service project is. Probably putting together first aid kits for kids in Africa or something.

***We also don't know what the Thanksgiving program is going to be. My guess is some musical number and some speakers.

****Yet another mystery! the greatest mystery of all is what we'll do after 8:00 pm. A missionary's day usually goes until 9:30 pm and then you go back to your room and get ready for bed. If we have actual free time, it'll be like an unprecidented miracle hahahahah. (they keep us super busy here.)



Oooookay, I need to hurry because I only have 6 minutes left on the clock. I love you all! So much! I hope you had lots to eat today. Thank you all for the letters! Oh, that's another thing. I didn't have much time to write letters today. Normally Thursday is my p-day, but since it's also Thanksgiving I don't really get p-day this week. So, everyone, if you don't get a letter from me, it's not because I don't love you! Especially you, Matt and Melinda. I keep meaning to write you back and I keep running out of time! But I'll write you letters soon. I really enjoyed your letters.

I LOVE YOU! SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Happy Thanksgiving!

With lots of love and hugs,

Sister Jensen