Hello Everyone

Hello everyone!

I have a crazy story for you today. We gave Iwona a conference talk about temples, and she called us and said, "We're going to have to talk very seriously next time we meet." We were a little nervous, but figured she just had questions about temples. Then, the day of our next appointment, she called us and said, "We can't meet at my house today. Instead, I want to meet you in the Altstadt" (Altstadt is the middle of the city, where all of the bars are, and it's always really packed). We had a really weird feeling, and so we asked her if everything was okay, and she said, "Yes, everything's fine, but today I'm going to be talking, and you're going to be listening."
*GULP*
We thought for sure she was going to tell us she doesn't want to meet with us anymore. Well, we went to the Altstadt, and Iwona was acting really mysterious. The only place where we could find a little peace and quiet was in the St. Andreus Kirche (a Catholic cathedral). We sat down on the steps, and said, "So... what did you want to talk about, Iwona?"
"Yes. My baptism?"
"What about your baptism?"
"When is it? And what else do I have to do?"
And then we set a baptismal date with her, right there, on the steps of the cathedral! I think it was one of the happiest days on my mission! She is so cool, she has such strong faith, and she is ready! But man, she really gave us a heart attack, haha. We had been panicking the whole afternoon.
She'll be baptized on the 14th of April, so I'll be here for it!

Another cool thing is that I got a letter that same day from Grandma Jones, where she said she had been praying for Iwona. After we set the baptismal date, I pulled out the letter and read that part to her. She got a little teary-eyed and said, "Oh, I like your grandmother." I know a lot of you prayed for Iwona. Thank you so much. I know it made a difference.

That was definitely the highlight of the week, but we also found some really cool people and had some amazing, faith-building experiences. This week we really saw how fasting and prayer works. I've been studying about the Holy Ghost, and I'm learning so much. There's always something new to learn. I'm also trying to read the Book of Mormon again before I come home, and this time I'm reading it backwards (starting in Moroni 10).

I love you all!
Sister Jensen

Sister Bogner and I are staying together!

Hello, everyone!

It's a beautiful day, and I have marvelous news: Sister Bognár and I are staying together!
We had totally given up on the idea; in our mission it's really rare to stay together for so long, especially when both of us are so 'old'. It's about the best gift I could ever have! I'm ridiculously happy, and we both have the feeling that something great is going to happen this transfer. We're full of a lot of hope and faith!

This means I will end my mission here in Düsseldorf, with Sister Bognár. My hungarian vocabulary is growing every day. I'm a little bit weirded out to think that I'm in my last transfer, but I'm not trunky, and I'm working hard right up to the end. There's a really great quote from C.S. Lewis that describes how I feel:
“We shall of course be very muddy and tattered children by the time we reach home. But the bathrooms are all ready, the towels put out, and the clean clothes in the airing cupboard.”

Anyway, enough of that topic. I may have mentioned it last week, but Iwona finished reading the Book of Mormon (in less than two weeks! How many of us do that?) and she said it was like she was hungry for more. She told us that she's ready for baptism, but that she's really scared at the same time, because her best friend stopped talked to her entirely because she's meeting with us. On one hand, it's easy to say, "Well, she wasn't a very good friend, then," but either way it's really hard on Iwona, and she's lost a huge source of friendship and support. She's afraid of what others will say -- especially her family -- if she gets baptized. Please pray for her!

Lots of miracles are happening in our mission right now. We had a conference call with our mission president and he told us some stories that blew my mind. There's a promise for Germany that there will one day be 100's of stakes and dozens of temples. Right now, you can count the number of stakes in Germany on one hand, and there are two temples. That means that something is going to change in the next few years, and we're already starting to feel it!

I love you all, thank you for your love and support.
Sister Jensen

P.S. I'm attatching a picture of me with Iwona and her kids, as well as a picture from the cathedrals we looked at last p-day. The last one is of Sister Bognar and I in a confessional. (we had some things to talk about). :)

Kelsey

Quick question for you Kelsey. If you are checking what I post to Kristin's blog and see this, could you please send me your e-mail address at barbaraellenjensen@gmail.com. Hope you are doing well.
Kristin's mutter

A few good quotes

Hello!

I hope you're all enjoying the change in weather as much as we are! I have heard a lot of people sneezing around here, and to me that is a beautiful sign of good things to come.

Mostly, today, I wanted to share a few of my new favorite quotes:
"And it is my duty to say to you that the need was never greater of new revelation than now. ... Men have come to speak of revelation as somewhat long ago given and done, as if God were dead. It is the office of a true teacher to show us that God is, not was; that He speaketh, not spake. "
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good. A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. After all, you find out the strength of the German army by fighting against it, not by giving in. You find out the strength of a wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down. A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness -- they have lived a sheltered life by always giving in. We never find out the strenth of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it: and Christ, because He was the only man who never yielded to temptation, is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation means -- the only complete realist."
- C.S. Lewis

So those are my thoughts for today: 1) That God lives, and that we have revelations today, and 2) to encourage all of you to 'walk against the wind' this week, and by doing so find out how strong you truly are. A good tip for that is to "stop doing today one thing you know you shouldn't do, and never do it again!"

Some other quick notes:
- Elder D. Todd Christofferson is coming to Düsseldorf this week! We'll have Zone Conference with him on Thursday. He is also holding a meeting for members and investigators, and Iwona is going to come, along with a few other people we're working with. Speaking of which...
- Iwona called us this morning to tell us that she read the Book of Mormon until 2:00 AM this morning becuase she couldn't put it down. She is now in 3rd Nephi! Please pray for her.

Lots of love,
Sister Jensen