Hello,
Highlight of the week: The Pinewood Derby!
Pinewood Derbies are not common in Germany. In fact, I think this may have been the first one ever. It turned out to be such a cool activity, though! Sister Römer and I even made a car (we got permission from Präsident Schwartz). We also brought two of our investigators, and there were tons of other non-members there, and everyone had a great time. I'm coming to realize that the spiritual conversion is the most important part of missionary work, but we're also responsible for a certain amount of social conversion to keep people strong in the church. :)
We also had Zone Conference this week, and we went all the way to Heidelberg. We didn't get to see much of the city, but what I saw from the train was beautiful. We had a mental health doctor at the meeting who told us all how to avoid discouragement and avoid negative thoughts. It's called, "Learning the language of faith and hope," And it's a whole mental process, that basically means changing all negative thoughts to positive thoughts. For example, when someone corrects my German (which Germans are shameless about doing, by the way. Like... interrupting while you're bearing testimony to correct your grammar), instead of feeling embarrassed or belligerent, you think, "I like learning new things" or "I take correction well." Or, for example, if you're getting annoyed at your companion (which, *ahem* never happens... of course...) you make it positive, like "it's not that important" or "our differences make us a good team". And in the morning, you look in the mirror and say positive, uplifting things, like, "I'm unique" or "I do many things very well" or "My companion and I are going to have a great day!". It's all a little cheesy, but it actually helps a lot. I recommend it!
Also, something that just made my day, I just wrote my email to President about ten minutes ago, and he just called me to say thank you, to answer my questions, and wish me a great day. He's such a wonderful, sweet man. He even gave me a HUG at Zone Conference because of my birthday in August!
Well, I love you all. Coming on the mission was the best decision I ever made. When it comes right down to it, the purpose of life is to have joy and prepare to meet God. I'm always touched by scriptures that say we'll stand before God someday. I often try to think how I want to feel at that time. I don't want to feel exposed or ashamed of anything. I want to feel totally confident. I want to smile and feel comfortable in God's presence. And my job at the moment is to help other people prepare to meet God, too. I spend every day trying to find people who are humble and open-hearted enough to change their lives so that they can feel confident in the presence of God when they meet him some day. What a cool job description!
Lots of love,
Sister Jensen
P.S. I am attatching some photos of our AWESOME pinewood derby car. Our investigator Peter helped us make it, and he
