Hello everyone,
Well, we had a great first week of this cycle! I don't have a lot of time to email today, but I'll tell you some quick highlights:
- Sister Thaden and I made homemade pretzels, and they were SO GOOD. Our ward has a potluck every fast Sunday, which was yesterday (because of conference this weekend), and we brought delicious baked goods.
- I took my mission driving test and passed (woo hoo! Actually it was really easy. Mostly just learning what German road signs mean). Getting a license in Germany is really ridiculously hard and expensive if you're a German. It costs thousands of dollars and driving school is pretty hard. Luckily, with an American license it's pretty easy to translate over, and way cheaper.
- We had a good lesson with Falko this week. He's a newly baptized member, but we have a hard time getting him to church. Anyway, he loves to study the scriptures and conference talks, so we gave him a bunch of our favorites for him to read, and afterward he promised he'd come to church next week to watch General Conference.
- Everyone here has these weird pink rocks in their house, so we finally asked what they were, and apparently they're made from Himalayan salt, and when you have lamps or candles in them, they give off all this healthy salt air or something. I've come to discover that Germans are really into weird health things. Especially when it comes to food. Some of it is pretty cool, but a lot of it is just out there, haha.
- We gave a temple tour on Saturday to a bunch of younger kids, which was fun. My favorite part, though, was when we were talking about the Angel Moroni statue on temple. I asked, 'Why was Moroni important?' and a little kid up front said, 'Because he was a really good trumpet player!' Of course. Why didn't I think of that?
Anyway, I'd better get going. Hope all is well back home! Love you all!
Sincerely,
Sister Jensen
Monday, March 28, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
Sis. Thaden's Birthday
Hello, all!
It's a beautiful day in Germany! So beautiful that Sis. Thaden and I are going out picture-taking. So I'll make this brief.
Highlight of the week: Sister Thaden's Birthday!
It was awesome. I made french toast for breakfast and decorated the apartment while she was still sleeping, which was fun. I also organized a surprise birthday party at the church. By the way, it is super hard to plan a surprise party for someone who is with you 24/7, haha. I had to make all of our plans while she was in the shower. And then later we went up to Usingen and had a barbecue with the elders in our district. It was really fun!
Also, we got transfer calls on Saturday, and Sister Thaden and I are both staying together, which is really good news! When we told Karin that we were both staying, she got really excited and hugged us and said, 'I have been praying and praying so hard that you would both stay!' It made me feel really good to know that the Lord is aware of his people and watches out for them. Also, it is Sis. Thaden's last cycle on her mission, so in 6 weeks she'll go home to the states. In mission terms, this means she is going to 'die' in this area, and I am going to be the one to 'kill' her. :)
Oh man, a ridiculous eating appointment from this week: Friday we went to Sis. Vollath's, and she gave us the most DISGUSTING food ever. it was a mixture of different cold salads. Potato and tuna, egg and mushroom with curry, feld salat with rancid olive oil on it, and a side of ASPIC cubes. Do you know what aspic is? I only knew from watching 'Julie&Julia'. It is beef jello, basically. Nasty, cold, beef jello. Hahahaha. It was an experience I'll never forget.
Well, that's about it! It's a beautiful day, things are going great, our mission had 6 baptisms last week, and we're getting a lot of good work done here!
Hope all is well back home!
Love,
Sister Jensen
P.S. Grandma Jones - Yes, we're allowed to read Church News articles. Thank you for the one you sent! I'll write more in a letter.
It's a beautiful day in Germany! So beautiful that Sis. Thaden and I are going out picture-taking. So I'll make this brief.
Highlight of the week: Sister Thaden's Birthday!
It was awesome. I made french toast for breakfast and decorated the apartment while she was still sleeping, which was fun. I also organized a surprise birthday party at the church. By the way, it is super hard to plan a surprise party for someone who is with you 24/7, haha. I had to make all of our plans while she was in the shower. And then later we went up to Usingen and had a barbecue with the elders in our district. It was really fun!
Also, we got transfer calls on Saturday, and Sister Thaden and I are both staying together, which is really good news! When we told Karin that we were both staying, she got really excited and hugged us and said, 'I have been praying and praying so hard that you would both stay!' It made me feel really good to know that the Lord is aware of his people and watches out for them. Also, it is Sis. Thaden's last cycle on her mission, so in 6 weeks she'll go home to the states. In mission terms, this means she is going to 'die' in this area, and I am going to be the one to 'kill' her. :)
Oh man, a ridiculous eating appointment from this week: Friday we went to Sis. Vollath's, and she gave us the most DISGUSTING food ever. it was a mixture of different cold salads. Potato and tuna, egg and mushroom with curry, feld salat with rancid olive oil on it, and a side of ASPIC cubes. Do you know what aspic is? I only knew from watching 'Julie&Julia'. It is beef jello, basically. Nasty, cold, beef jello. Hahahaha. It was an experience I'll never forget.
Well, that's about it! It's a beautiful day, things are going great, our mission had 6 baptisms last week, and we're getting a lot of good work done here!
Hope all is well back home!
Love,
Sister Jensen
P.S. Grandma Jones - Yes, we're allowed to read Church News articles. Thank you for the one you sent! I'll write more in a letter.
Marburg
Hi everyone!
Highlight of the week: Marburg!
Sis. Thaden and I visited Marburg last week with a couple of elders. Marburg is BEAUTIFUL. It has a really pretty river running through it and lots of old cathedrals and a gorgeous castle on the hill. The best part, though, was that I got to visit Sabine and Rahel Garsche, a family that Matt taught when he was here! I guess Rahel was only like a year old when Matt served here, but she's now 9 years old and baptized, and Sis. Garscha is still strong and active in the church. She had lots of awesome pictures of Matt as a missionary and of Mom when she came to visit. I brought photos of Matt, Melinda and Adelaide, and she was really excited to see them. I don't know if she already knew you were married, but she was really excited and said that Adelaide is soooo cute. :)
Also, I heard about Japan on Friday. So sad. We were down in a subway station and they have these big news screens and they kept showing pictures of the water pouring over the country and sweeping stuff away, and the earthquake shaking buildings apart. We heard something interesting, though. In one of the cities that got hit really bad, there were 8 missionaries living there, and all 8 are now accounted for and okay and everything. In that same city, there are thousands of people still unaccounted for, but all 8 missionaries are okay.
This week is the last week of this cycle, so transfers happen next week. We should get transfer calls on Saturday to find out if we're staying or going. Sister Thaden doesn't have a lot of time left, only 7 weeks! I kind of hope we stay together until she leaves.
We had a couple of really good lessons with Karin this week! She is getting an operation today, and on Saturday she asked for a priesthood blessing, and she said that she felt really comfortable and not so scared anymore. She has a lot of health problems, but she is the funniest, most feisty woman ever. She used to be Catholic, but she said that she always struggled with the teachings, because she didn't believe a lot of what the Catholic church taught. So about 10 years ago, she was sitting in the church listening to the preacher, and I guess she had just had enough, and so she stood up, called them all hypocrites who were perverting the bible, and stormed out, haha. Then she decided on her own to stop smoking and drinking, and a shortly thereafter the missionaries found her! It's so cool to see how the Lord prepares people.
We're also still working with Estael Said, the lady from Afghanistan whose son we're teaching English to. She has really been struggling with the Book of Mormon because they don't have the whole thing translated into Persian/Farsi, so the stories don't make a lot of sense, and although she speaks German pretty well, reading the German Book of Mormon is really hard for her. So this week, we started reading the Book of Mormon with her out of the kids version, the one with the pictures and the simplified language. It was so cool, because the stories finally clicked for her! She didn't understand, for example, why it was okay for Nephi to kill Laban. But when we read the story with her, she finally understood the reason and it all made sense for her. It was really cool! We're thinking of buying her a children's copy so she can read it at home.
Oh, speaking of which, a couple things that I'm really excited about. At the temple store here, they now have a Doctrine and Covenants DVD (well, a set of like 3 DVD's) that has some cool stuff on it, like the full length Joseph Smith movie! The one in the Legacy theater! It also has Legacy and Mountain of the Lord on it! It's so sweet, though, because it only costs 3€! Like $4.50! For all three movies plus a bunch of other cool stuff! You should check and see if they have it at Deseret Book, too. We've been waiting for the Joseph Smith movie to come out on DVD, but we thought it would be $7-10, maybe more here in Europe. Also, the Carinessa II tops will arrive to our temple store in about a month, which should be awesome. You'll probably get them back home before they make their way here. Maybe you already have them?
It sounds like Grandpa had a beautiful funeral. Give my love to everyone, especially Grandma Donna.
Anyway, that's about it for this week. Love you all! Write when you can, and don't forget to send recipes! :)
Love,
Sister Jensen
Highlight of the week: Marburg!
Sis. Thaden and I visited Marburg last week with a couple of elders. Marburg is BEAUTIFUL. It has a really pretty river running through it and lots of old cathedrals and a gorgeous castle on the hill. The best part, though, was that I got to visit Sabine and Rahel Garsche, a family that Matt taught when he was here! I guess Rahel was only like a year old when Matt served here, but she's now 9 years old and baptized, and Sis. Garscha is still strong and active in the church. She had lots of awesome pictures of Matt as a missionary and of Mom when she came to visit. I brought photos of Matt, Melinda and Adelaide, and she was really excited to see them. I don't know if she already knew you were married, but she was really excited and said that Adelaide is soooo cute. :)
Also, I heard about Japan on Friday. So sad. We were down in a subway station and they have these big news screens and they kept showing pictures of the water pouring over the country and sweeping stuff away, and the earthquake shaking buildings apart. We heard something interesting, though. In one of the cities that got hit really bad, there were 8 missionaries living there, and all 8 are now accounted for and okay and everything. In that same city, there are thousands of people still unaccounted for, but all 8 missionaries are okay.
This week is the last week of this cycle, so transfers happen next week. We should get transfer calls on Saturday to find out if we're staying or going. Sister Thaden doesn't have a lot of time left, only 7 weeks! I kind of hope we stay together until she leaves.
We had a couple of really good lessons with Karin this week! She is getting an operation today, and on Saturday she asked for a priesthood blessing, and she said that she felt really comfortable and not so scared anymore. She has a lot of health problems, but she is the funniest, most feisty woman ever. She used to be Catholic, but she said that she always struggled with the teachings, because she didn't believe a lot of what the Catholic church taught. So about 10 years ago, she was sitting in the church listening to the preacher, and I guess she had just had enough, and so she stood up, called them all hypocrites who were perverting the bible, and stormed out, haha. Then she decided on her own to stop smoking and drinking, and a shortly thereafter the missionaries found her! It's so cool to see how the Lord prepares people.
We're also still working with Estael Said, the lady from Afghanistan whose son we're teaching English to. She has really been struggling with the Book of Mormon because they don't have the whole thing translated into Persian/Farsi, so the stories don't make a lot of sense, and although she speaks German pretty well, reading the German Book of Mormon is really hard for her. So this week, we started reading the Book of Mormon with her out of the kids version, the one with the pictures and the simplified language. It was so cool, because the stories finally clicked for her! She didn't understand, for example, why it was okay for Nephi to kill Laban. But when we read the story with her, she finally understood the reason and it all made sense for her. It was really cool! We're thinking of buying her a children's copy so she can read it at home.
Oh, speaking of which, a couple things that I'm really excited about. At the temple store here, they now have a Doctrine and Covenants DVD (well, a set of like 3 DVD's) that has some cool stuff on it, like the full length Joseph Smith movie! The one in the Legacy theater! It also has Legacy and Mountain of the Lord on it! It's so sweet, though, because it only costs 3€! Like $4.50! For all three movies plus a bunch of other cool stuff! You should check and see if they have it at Deseret Book, too. We've been waiting for the Joseph Smith movie to come out on DVD, but we thought it would be $7-10, maybe more here in Europe. Also, the Carinessa II tops will arrive to our temple store in about a month, which should be awesome. You'll probably get them back home before they make their way here. Maybe you already have them?
It sounds like Grandpa had a beautiful funeral. Give my love to everyone, especially Grandma Donna.
Anyway, that's about it for this week. Love you all! Write when you can, and don't forget to send recipes! :)
Love,
Sister Jensen
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Weaponized ice cream
Hello everyone,
Sorry I didn't write yesterday. P-day was pushed back because yesterday was Rosenmontag (Germany's equivalent of Mardi Gras) and all the stores were closed. It's carnival season, so we see a lot of people in costumes, but other than that it's been pretty quiet! It looks a bit like Halloween, actually.
I was sorry to hear about Grandpa. I sent a note to Mom to be read at the funeral. I love you all, and my prayers are with you. At least Grandpa is reunited with Dad, and they can keep each other company. I hope Grandma Jensen is doing okay. Give her my love.
Highlight of the week: Weaponized ice cream
So this was pretty embarrassing at the time, but in retrospect kind of funny. So Sis. Thaden and I were getting ice cream, and I was trying to tell the guy to put it in a waffle cone, and he gave me a weird look like he didn't know what I was talking about. So I pointed to the stack of waffle cones and he finally got what I meant, and he started laughing really hard, and so did Sis. Thaden. I guess instead of saying 'eine Waffel' (a waffle), I had been emphatically telling him to put it in 'eine Waffe' (a weapon). Hahahahahaha So that's the joke that Sis. Thaden has been holding over me the past few days. 'Can you put that in a weapon, please?'
Oh, another great moment this week was on Friday: we were waiting at a bus stop, just the two of us and another lady, and the bus was taking forever. Apparently it was taking too long, because the other lady walked a few feet away, crouched down, and started peeing on the sidewalk, haha. Like, through her pants. We were trying SO HARD not to bust up laughing, haha. The she got up, totally unfazed, and put on her coat (luckily a long one), and walked off confidently.
Something else I keep forgetting to mention is that fanny packs are considered pretty in style here. Not kidding. We spot at least ten a day. Like the cool-looking guys, who you can tell think they're hot stuff, wear fanny packs. It's funny because Kelsey sent me a fanny pack for Christmas, as a joke. But now I can totally wear it and be cool! Hahaha. (Don't worry, I won't really.)
Also, we went up to Wetzlar yesterday for a housewarming for the Elders, who got a new apartment. It is really pretty up there. A lot of gorgeous countryside and cool old-looking towers. We're going up again on Friday to visit a member in Marburg who wants to meet me (because she knew Matt). Should be cool!
Well, that's all I've got time for. I love you all. Again, give my love to everyone at Grandpa's funeral. It really is a comfort to know about the Plan of Salvation, and that we'll see him again. I had an interview with President on Sunday and he gave me some really beautiful words of comfort.
Lots of love,
Sister Jensen
Sorry I didn't write yesterday. P-day was pushed back because yesterday was Rosenmontag (Germany's equivalent of Mardi Gras) and all the stores were closed. It's carnival season, so we see a lot of people in costumes, but other than that it's been pretty quiet! It looks a bit like Halloween, actually.
I was sorry to hear about Grandpa. I sent a note to Mom to be read at the funeral. I love you all, and my prayers are with you. At least Grandpa is reunited with Dad, and they can keep each other company. I hope Grandma Jensen is doing okay. Give her my love.
Highlight of the week: Weaponized ice cream
So this was pretty embarrassing at the time, but in retrospect kind of funny. So Sis. Thaden and I were getting ice cream, and I was trying to tell the guy to put it in a waffle cone, and he gave me a weird look like he didn't know what I was talking about. So I pointed to the stack of waffle cones and he finally got what I meant, and he started laughing really hard, and so did Sis. Thaden. I guess instead of saying 'eine Waffel' (a waffle), I had been emphatically telling him to put it in 'eine Waffe' (a weapon). Hahahahahaha So that's the joke that Sis. Thaden has been holding over me the past few days. 'Can you put that in a weapon, please?'
Oh, another great moment this week was on Friday: we were waiting at a bus stop, just the two of us and another lady, and the bus was taking forever. Apparently it was taking too long, because the other lady walked a few feet away, crouched down, and started peeing on the sidewalk, haha. Like, through her pants. We were trying SO HARD not to bust up laughing, haha. The she got up, totally unfazed, and put on her coat (luckily a long one), and walked off confidently.
Something else I keep forgetting to mention is that fanny packs are considered pretty in style here. Not kidding. We spot at least ten a day. Like the cool-looking guys, who you can tell think they're hot stuff, wear fanny packs. It's funny because Kelsey sent me a fanny pack for Christmas, as a joke. But now I can totally wear it and be cool! Hahaha. (Don't worry, I won't really.)
Also, we went up to Wetzlar yesterday for a housewarming for the Elders, who got a new apartment. It is really pretty up there. A lot of gorgeous countryside and cool old-looking towers. We're going up again on Friday to visit a member in Marburg who wants to meet me (because she knew Matt). Should be cool!
Well, that's all I've got time for. I love you all. Again, give my love to everyone at Grandpa's funeral. It really is a comfort to know about the Plan of Salvation, and that we'll see him again. I had an interview with President on Sunday and he gave me some really beautiful words of comfort.
Lots of love,
Sister Jensen
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Carnival Season
Sorry this is so ridiculously late! We've been stealing internet from the neighbors, and for some reason they had it shut off this last week. Anyway, here it is! -Jess
Hi everyone,
It's a gorgeous day today! Sister Thaden and I just got back from Frankfurt, where we played soccer with our zone. It was lot's of fun! I'm already sore, though, haha.
Highlight of the Week: The Restoration DVD
If you haven't seen the 20 min. Restoration movie yet, the one that came out a few years back, you should watch it! It's a great depiction of Joseph Smith's vision and the early history of the church. We ran out of copies a while ago, but we got a box at Zone Conference. We have now watched it with two investigators, and both times it really invited the spirit and helped them understand the Joseph Smith story. We watched it yesterday with our investigator Peter, and he LOVED it. He was taught by missionaries a while back but lost contact with them, and he was really struggling with Joseph Smith and understanding why he was important. I think the video really helped him. It's a great movie!
Also, Germany is heading into Carnival season, which is pretty intense here. In some areas of the mission they actually pull missionaries out and have them stay somewhere else around Carnival time, because the festivities get really intense, and some cities aren't safe/good for missionaries to be in while the parades are going on. Luckily, it should be pretty quite in Friedrichsdorf. On Thursday they have a funny holiday called Altweiberfasnacht, where girls go around with scissors, and anyone they find wearing a tie, they chop the tie off and give the guy a kiss. They warned us about it at ZoKo, and advised the elders to wear a scarf to hide their ties, haha.
Also, at ZoKo, I won an award! Just a small thing. They have this missionary development program in our mission, where you can earn different levels based on tasks you accomplish (study topics, Book of Mormon reading, german study, etc.). I earned the 'Basic' level, and I got a little certificate and a Toblerone :)
Well, that's about it, nothing too exciting! Pretty slow week. We had some really good lessons, though, and a few really nice eating appointments with members. We're trying to get more people excited about missionary work.
Hope all is going well back home! Love you all,
Sis. Jensen
Hi everyone,
It's a gorgeous day today! Sister Thaden and I just got back from Frankfurt, where we played soccer with our zone. It was lot's of fun! I'm already sore, though, haha.
Highlight of the Week: The Restoration DVD
If you haven't seen the 20 min. Restoration movie yet, the one that came out a few years back, you should watch it! It's a great depiction of Joseph Smith's vision and the early history of the church. We ran out of copies a while ago, but we got a box at Zone Conference. We have now watched it with two investigators, and both times it really invited the spirit and helped them understand the Joseph Smith story. We watched it yesterday with our investigator Peter, and he LOVED it. He was taught by missionaries a while back but lost contact with them, and he was really struggling with Joseph Smith and understanding why he was important. I think the video really helped him. It's a great movie!
Also, Germany is heading into Carnival season, which is pretty intense here. In some areas of the mission they actually pull missionaries out and have them stay somewhere else around Carnival time, because the festivities get really intense, and some cities aren't safe/good for missionaries to be in while the parades are going on. Luckily, it should be pretty quite in Friedrichsdorf. On Thursday they have a funny holiday called Altweiberfasnacht, where girls go around with scissors, and anyone they find wearing a tie, they chop the tie off and give the guy a kiss. They warned us about it at ZoKo, and advised the elders to wear a scarf to hide their ties, haha.
Also, at ZoKo, I won an award! Just a small thing. They have this missionary development program in our mission, where you can earn different levels based on tasks you accomplish (study topics, Book of Mormon reading, german study, etc.). I earned the 'Basic' level, and I got a little certificate and a Toblerone :)
Well, that's about it, nothing too exciting! Pretty slow week. We had some really good lessons, though, and a few really nice eating appointments with members. We're trying to get more people excited about missionary work.
Hope all is going well back home! Love you all,
Sis. Jensen
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