Hello everyone!
I have an amazing story to tell you! First off, let me preface it with this: Sundays, as a missionary, are the most stressful days of the week. None of this 'day of rest' stuff. It's a normal workday, where we have appointments and go out tracting and such. Also, you never know which investigators are going to show up for church, and sometimes you have to leave during the meetings to pick people up, and then you have to make sure your investigator's kids are in the right primary class and having a good time and not having separation anxiety. Then, inevitably, we end up teaching one class or another. And every other Sunday, one of us gives a talk. Plus, we're always trying to catch members before they go home. So basically the only time we get to relax is during the sacrament. And even then, you usually have to keep investigator's children quiet and occupied by drawing with them or showing them pictures.
So yesterday was yet another normal Sunday. We hadn't reached anyone Saturday night or Sunday morning, so we were pretty sure no one was going to be at church, which is always sad. But then last minute, right before Relief Society, we managed to get a hold of two people, and we arranged to have one investigator pick up the other. We quickly threw a Sunday School class together for them, and then later when we walked into Sacrament, our investigator Tim was just sitting there, too! It was awesome! But the best part was that halfway through the meeting, two strangers walked into the meeting. We talked to them afterwards, and they said they were just looking for a church to attend. They had already tried two churches that Sunday but they didn't feel comfortable there, so they were about to go home when they saw our building. It was awesome! We told them a little bit and set up an appointment to teach them this Wednesday. Then we broke our fast at a member's house and did doors in their area, and had some really cool contacts there, too. Then we were able to reach an inactive lady who we've never caught at home before. By the end of the day, we were so tired, but so happy. It was one of those days when I just LOVE being a missionary.
We also taught an English class on Wednesday. I teach the 'Intermediate' level, and my class consists of four really old, adorable ladies who love America.
Today for P-day we went to IKEA! I felt like I was back at home. A really cool lady in our ward took us to look through the showrooms and get Swedish meatballs.
For Halloween we carved pumpkins. It was awesome.
This coming Saturday is transfer call day. I think all three of us are in denial. We know that one of us will get transferred, because next transfer there's an even number of Sisters in the mission, so there won't be a need for a set of three. Nonetheless, we are sort of pretending that we'll all be together for Christmas. This transfer with Sister Gardner and Sister Jackson has been my favorite on the mission, I think! The work is going so well, and we get along, and this area is awesome.
I love you all so much! I looked back through old photos a few days ago and got a little wave of missing my family and friends. But I love being here! I actually wrote a song about missionary work :) I don't really have a way to attach it though. Maybe later. Love you all!
~Sister Jensen
P.S. The guy doing emails right next to me has the most ridiculous mullet I have ever seen. I think I'll slip a pass along card into his bag secretly.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Monday, October 31, 2011
Back in Hamm
Hello, all of you wonderful people!
Sorry that the past few weeks have been so crazy. I have been seriously neglecting my letter writing and emails! They have been piling up and piling up. One of these days I am going to sit down and write you all back, I promise.
Highlight of the week: I'm back in Hamm!
Düsseldorf is a beautiful city, and I had lots of fun with Sister Hansen (Sister Schenk's golden). But man, am I glad to be home! The whole week was pretty stressful. I had packed really random stuff into my suitcase, it turned out, and so I had like three coats, and my first aid kit, but no skirts and shirts, haha. Bad planning. And because Düsseldorf is so enormous, we were always running after trains and getting lost. It also didn't help that Sister Hansen had only been there for three weeks, so she didn't really know her way around, either. But we miraculously made it to all of our appointments, and we so some really cool miracles along the way. I was able to commit an investigator to baptism, and to bond with a less-active girl who felt totally lonely in the ward.
Sister Schenk is now out of the hospital. We worked together in a Drit for a couple of days, but now she's doing okay, so I was able to come back home! I'm really glad to be back here. I would love to serve in Düsseldorf, or to serve with Sister Hansen again, but maybe under more normal circumstances next time, haha. It was frankly pretty weird to serve with Sister Schenk again. I kann tell that I've changed a LOT since we last served together.
Oh, also, while I was in Düsseldorf, I got to go to a meeting in Frankfurt with Elder Gonzales from the presidency of the 70. It was such an inspiring meeting! I have a lot of new ideas for missionary work now, and I'm stoked to start putting them in practice! It occurred to me that missionary work is basically PR. I thought, 'Why haven't I been treating this like a PR campaign all along?' After all, the messaging is already set up, we just have to target it to the right audience and put it in the appropriate channels.
Thank you all again for the love! You are all so wonderful. I pray for my family often. :) You're in my heart.
Lots of love,
Sister Jensen
P.S.
Mom - What is this about you getting marriage proposals from Laotian men? :)
Jessica - I got your letters, both the one sent to Friedrichsdorf and the one to Hamm! Thank you for the totoros ^_^
Grandma Jones - I got your letter, too! Thank you so much. My companions love your elegant handwriting.
James, Kelsey, and Zoe - I laughed so hard at the package! I can't decide which part was my favorite. Probably the glow-in-the-dark dinosaurs. You are such amazing people. Also, Sister Hansen saw the picture of Lauren Watt and totally knows her! Hope your enjoying Florida, Kels!
Love you all!
~Sis.J
Sorry that the past few weeks have been so crazy. I have been seriously neglecting my letter writing and emails! They have been piling up and piling up. One of these days I am going to sit down and write you all back, I promise.
Highlight of the week: I'm back in Hamm!
Düsseldorf is a beautiful city, and I had lots of fun with Sister Hansen (Sister Schenk's golden). But man, am I glad to be home! The whole week was pretty stressful. I had packed really random stuff into my suitcase, it turned out, and so I had like three coats, and my first aid kit, but no skirts and shirts, haha. Bad planning. And because Düsseldorf is so enormous, we were always running after trains and getting lost. It also didn't help that Sister Hansen had only been there for three weeks, so she didn't really know her way around, either. But we miraculously made it to all of our appointments, and we so some really cool miracles along the way. I was able to commit an investigator to baptism, and to bond with a less-active girl who felt totally lonely in the ward.
Sister Schenk is now out of the hospital. We worked together in a Drit for a couple of days, but now she's doing okay, so I was able to come back home! I'm really glad to be back here. I would love to serve in Düsseldorf, or to serve with Sister Hansen again, but maybe under more normal circumstances next time, haha. It was frankly pretty weird to serve with Sister Schenk again. I kann tell that I've changed a LOT since we last served together.
Oh, also, while I was in Düsseldorf, I got to go to a meeting in Frankfurt with Elder Gonzales from the presidency of the 70. It was such an inspiring meeting! I have a lot of new ideas for missionary work now, and I'm stoked to start putting them in practice! It occurred to me that missionary work is basically PR. I thought, 'Why haven't I been treating this like a PR campaign all along?' After all, the messaging is already set up, we just have to target it to the right audience and put it in the appropriate channels.
Thank you all again for the love! You are all so wonderful. I pray for my family often. :) You're in my heart.
Lots of love,
Sister Jensen
P.S.
Mom - What is this about you getting marriage proposals from Laotian men? :)
Jessica - I got your letters, both the one sent to Friedrichsdorf and the one to Hamm! Thank you for the totoros ^_^
Grandma Jones - I got your letter, too! Thank you so much. My companions love your elegant handwriting.
James, Kelsey, and Zoe - I laughed so hard at the package! I can't decide which part was my favorite. Probably the glow-in-the-dark dinosaurs. You are such amazing people. Also, Sister Hansen saw the picture of Lauren Watt and totally knows her! Hope your enjoying Florida, Kels!
Love you all!
~Sis.J
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Temporarily transferred
Hello everyone,
Not much time to write today, I'm getting sent to Düsseldorf today! Random adventure. Not sure how long I'll be there, but probably no longer than a week. President called last night and told me to pack ALL of my stuff, which I did (faster than I've ever packed in my life) and then this morning he told me I only need a week or so of clothes.
I don't know hardly anything about Düsseldorf, except that it's huge, and that's where the fat kid in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is from. Sister Schenk had a medical issue so that's why I'm going, to take her spot for a week, and stay with her companion (who is a golden -- only been here for 3 weeks, so it's like I'm mini-training! Haha)
I'll write more detail next week. This week was really amazing and I wish I had time to tell you some of the awesome stories! Aaaaahhh being a missionary is the best ever!
Love you all,
Sister Jensen
Not much time to write today, I'm getting sent to Düsseldorf today! Random adventure. Not sure how long I'll be there, but probably no longer than a week. President called last night and told me to pack ALL of my stuff, which I did (faster than I've ever packed in my life) and then this morning he told me I only need a week or so of clothes.
I don't know hardly anything about Düsseldorf, except that it's huge, and that's where the fat kid in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is from. Sister Schenk had a medical issue so that's why I'm going, to take her spot for a week, and stay with her companion (who is a golden -- only been here for 3 weeks, so it's like I'm mini-training! Haha)
I'll write more detail next week. This week was really amazing and I wish I had time to tell you some of the awesome stories! Aaaaahhh being a missionary is the best ever!
Love you all,
Sister Jensen
Monday, October 17, 2011
Mormon.org
Okay, I already sent off the family email, but then I discovered the coolest video on Mormon.org! So maybe you can add this as a post-script, mom or Jess, whoever posts the email to the blog.
http://mormon.org/me/5233/Brandon/
It's the lead singer of the Killers (artists of "Mr. Brightside," "When You Were Young," and "Human"), one of my favorite bands! He uploaded an "I'm a Mormon" video about himself. All of those videos are cool, because they're about real people, but this was especially cool, because Brandon Flowers is such an awesome musician, and the Killers are such a great band!
Love,
Kristin
http://mormon.org/me/5233/Brandon/
It's the lead singer of the Killers (artists of "Mr. Brightside," "When You Were Young," and "Human"), one of my favorite bands! He uploaded an "I'm a Mormon" video about himself. All of those videos are cool, because they're about real people, but this was especially cool, because Brandon Flowers is such an awesome musician, and the Killers are such a great band!
Love,
Kristin
Nicole coming to church
Hallo!
The highlight of the week: Nicole coming to church
We had a really good lesson with our investigator Nicole, and at the end we invited her to come to church. She's never come before, even though missionaries have been meeting with her for a while. So this time we looked up the bus times for her and arranged to meet her at the bus stop and walk in together. We also planned out a "greeter" and a "caretaker" (a member to meet her at the door and say hello, and another one to sit next to her through the classes). On Sunday, the bus came... and went. No Nicole. At first we thought she had just bailed, or slept in, but just in case we started walking in the direction of her house. A few minutes later we realized we had no idea where we were going (because we've never gone to her house from the direction of the church), so Sister Gardner said, "Let's just say a prayer to know where to go, and then we'll keep going." We said a prayer, kept walking for a bit, turned a corner and about 30 seconds after turning the corner we ran into Nicole! She had missed her bus and had started walking, but she was sort of lost, so it was really good that we had met her halfway! She had a really good time at church, and a lot of members came up to her afterward to get to know her. Everyone was super friendly, and one person even invited her over for Family Home Evening tonight, and she's totally going!
Other notable events:
- We went up to Münster for a district meeting, and afterward we were all starving, so we went to this Döner Kebab place, and I was really excited because I was craving Falafel, and Sister Gardner had never had them before, so we shared this HUGE plate of Falafel, and by the end we both felt pretty gross, and so neither of us wanted to eat the last one, and Sister Gardner said, "I don't want the last falafel! They make me feelawful!" hahaha I laughed SO HARD, hahahah. Maybe you just had to be there.
- I went and anmelded (registered) myself as a citizen of Hamm, and they had a bunch of old license plates in a scrap heap, and I asked if I could have one, and they gave one to me! Coolest souvenier ever, and also free. The coolest part is that in Germany, license plates have the first 1-3 letters of the city on it, and then the license plate number, and so for Hamm it says HAM in big capital letters.
- I called Sister Römer and got an update on our investigators, and oddly enough it made me homesick for Friedrichsdorf. I miss my investigators and I worry about them all the time, or I think of things I want to teach them, but they're not my investigators any more. Plus, I was in the Friedrichsdorf ward longer than any other ward since I was 17. At school I was always moving back and forth, never staying in a ward for more than a few months, or moving somewhere else for the summer. The Beavercreek ward was always my "Home" ward, but I hadn't been there in a long time, either. Friedrichsdorf was the longest I've stayed in one place for years. I kind of miss it. But Hamm is amazing, too, and I love my companions.
- We biked through the most epic rainstorm the other day, but it was worth it because we had a really good experience doing doors, and we were able to visit an inactive member. I think they took pity on us because we look so pathetically soaked. I was glad for that big black raincoat mom bought me for the mission.
- We had something called "Dedicated Zone Finding," where everyone in our zone does finding time (doors or street contacting) at the same time, each in their respective areas, for an hour, and starts and ends with a prayer. We went to the fußgängerzone (like... pedestrian shopping area) and at the end of the hour we had two new contacts and an appointment for this week! It was so amazing. We could really fell the faith of the whole zone working together. It made me realize that, on a much larger scale, that's what we do as a church. When we're all pulling our faith and resources together all at once, and working towards the same thing, we can accomplish so much more, even if it's just by supporting/encouraging. Just like the prophesy in Daniel says, this gospel WILL one day roll forth and fill the whole earth. Nothing can stop it. We can either be a part of it, or we can miss out! I'd rather be part of it.
Well, those are the highlights. I love you all! Hope all is well at home!
Alles gute,
Sister Jensen
The highlight of the week: Nicole coming to church
We had a really good lesson with our investigator Nicole, and at the end we invited her to come to church. She's never come before, even though missionaries have been meeting with her for a while. So this time we looked up the bus times for her and arranged to meet her at the bus stop and walk in together. We also planned out a "greeter" and a "caretaker" (a member to meet her at the door and say hello, and another one to sit next to her through the classes). On Sunday, the bus came... and went. No Nicole. At first we thought she had just bailed, or slept in, but just in case we started walking in the direction of her house. A few minutes later we realized we had no idea where we were going (because we've never gone to her house from the direction of the church), so Sister Gardner said, "Let's just say a prayer to know where to go, and then we'll keep going." We said a prayer, kept walking for a bit, turned a corner and about 30 seconds after turning the corner we ran into Nicole! She had missed her bus and had started walking, but she was sort of lost, so it was really good that we had met her halfway! She had a really good time at church, and a lot of members came up to her afterward to get to know her. Everyone was super friendly, and one person even invited her over for Family Home Evening tonight, and she's totally going!
Other notable events:
- We went up to Münster for a district meeting, and afterward we were all starving, so we went to this Döner Kebab place, and I was really excited because I was craving Falafel, and Sister Gardner had never had them before, so we shared this HUGE plate of Falafel, and by the end we both felt pretty gross, and so neither of us wanted to eat the last one, and Sister Gardner said, "I don't want the last falafel! They make me feelawful!" hahaha I laughed SO HARD, hahahah. Maybe you just had to be there.
- I went and anmelded (registered) myself as a citizen of Hamm, and they had a bunch of old license plates in a scrap heap, and I asked if I could have one, and they gave one to me! Coolest souvenier ever, and also free. The coolest part is that in Germany, license plates have the first 1-3 letters of the city on it, and then the license plate number, and so for Hamm it says HAM in big capital letters.
- I called Sister Römer and got an update on our investigators, and oddly enough it made me homesick for Friedrichsdorf. I miss my investigators and I worry about them all the time, or I think of things I want to teach them, but they're not my investigators any more. Plus, I was in the Friedrichsdorf ward longer than any other ward since I was 17. At school I was always moving back and forth, never staying in a ward for more than a few months, or moving somewhere else for the summer. The Beavercreek ward was always my "Home" ward, but I hadn't been there in a long time, either. Friedrichsdorf was the longest I've stayed in one place for years. I kind of miss it. But Hamm is amazing, too, and I love my companions.
- We biked through the most epic rainstorm the other day, but it was worth it because we had a really good experience doing doors, and we were able to visit an inactive member. I think they took pity on us because we look so pathetically soaked. I was glad for that big black raincoat mom bought me for the mission.
- We had something called "Dedicated Zone Finding," where everyone in our zone does finding time (doors or street contacting) at the same time, each in their respective areas, for an hour, and starts and ends with a prayer. We went to the fußgängerzone (like... pedestrian shopping area) and at the end of the hour we had two new contacts and an appointment for this week! It was so amazing. We could really fell the faith of the whole zone working together. It made me realize that, on a much larger scale, that's what we do as a church. When we're all pulling our faith and resources together all at once, and working towards the same thing, we can accomplish so much more, even if it's just by supporting/encouraging. Just like the prophesy in Daniel says, this gospel WILL one day roll forth and fill the whole earth. Nothing can stop it. We can either be a part of it, or we can miss out! I'd rather be part of it.
Well, those are the highlights. I love you all! Hope all is well at home!
Alles gute,
Sister Jensen
Monday, October 10, 2011
Hamm
Greetings from Hamm!
It was a crazy week, but I LOVE my new area! My new companions are awesome, and it's actually kinda fun being in a Drit (trio) again.
Really quick, for everyone who asked, here is my new address:
Sister Kristin Jensen
Kirche Jesu Christi (<<-- Must be included)
Bokumerweg 210
59065 Hamm
Germany
(And don't worry, letters sent to my old address will find their way to me. Sister Römer said she'd forward them on.)
I really like Hamm. It's a bigger city, and there are no contacting restrictions! I didn't even realize how awesome it is to be allowed to walk out your door and immediately start contacting. Because of the weird proselyting restrictions in Friedrichsdorf, I've never really experienced that. Another benefit is that the apartment is enormous! It actually has multiple rooms! Haha. And it is decorated with very 70's decor. Like... olive green paisley, fringed lamps, lace curtains, and a burnt orange couch. It reminds me of Harold and Maude. We even have an ORGAN in the apartment. I'll have to send pictures. :)
So, a little detail on my new companions:
Sister Jackson - She's 2 cycles younger than me on the mission, and a lot of fun. She's from Oregon, actually! Medford. But she grew up in Heidelberg on the military base, and then lived for a while in Nevada. She's still struggling with German a little, but she's fearless!
Sister Gardner - 2 cycles older than me on the mission. We get along really well and have a lot in common. She's actually one of the sisters that I've always thought I'd like working with eventually. She is 23, and a nurse. She's from Logan, UT.
Oh, another really cool thing about Hamm is that the whole city is obsessed with elephants. Jessica would love it here. There are elephant sculptures everywhere! I guess Hamm is home to the largest glass elephant in the world, and because of that the city has made elephants it's symbol. So far I've seen at least 20 elephant statues around the city. And quite a bit of elephant graffiti.
We've been crazy busy since I got here. There's lots to do. A lot of it is working with less-actives. This area doesn't have a lot of investigators, but we'll change that soon. We have a lot of really cool ideas. For example, next week we're starting up an English class and running an article about it in the newspaper (with a picture of us! :) ). We're also going to start attending bible study groups in local churches. Not to crash the party, but just to get to know people who are already interested in religion. Stuff like that. I'm excited!
I loved General Conference, particularly the talk from President Uchtdorf from the first session. It helps me to think that God loves each of us, he knows our worth, and no matter where we are, he can find us just fine. No matter where we are, the people around us are God's children and all have the same goal (whether they know it or not) to return to live with Heavenly Father. Nothing is worth getting in the way of that.
I love you all! Thanks for the support.
Love,
Sister Jensen
P.S. If any of you RMs have good, creative ideas for finding people -- things that worked in your missions -- please email or mail them to me, and we'll try them out!
It was a crazy week, but I LOVE my new area! My new companions are awesome, and it's actually kinda fun being in a Drit (trio) again.
Really quick, for everyone who asked, here is my new address:
Sister Kristin Jensen
Kirche Jesu Christi (<<-- Must be included)
Bokumerweg 210
59065 Hamm
Germany
(And don't worry, letters sent to my old address will find their way to me. Sister Römer said she'd forward them on.)
I really like Hamm. It's a bigger city, and there are no contacting restrictions! I didn't even realize how awesome it is to be allowed to walk out your door and immediately start contacting. Because of the weird proselyting restrictions in Friedrichsdorf, I've never really experienced that. Another benefit is that the apartment is enormous! It actually has multiple rooms! Haha. And it is decorated with very 70's decor. Like... olive green paisley, fringed lamps, lace curtains, and a burnt orange couch. It reminds me of Harold and Maude. We even have an ORGAN in the apartment. I'll have to send pictures. :)
So, a little detail on my new companions:
Sister Jackson - She's 2 cycles younger than me on the mission, and a lot of fun. She's from Oregon, actually! Medford. But she grew up in Heidelberg on the military base, and then lived for a while in Nevada. She's still struggling with German a little, but she's fearless!
Sister Gardner - 2 cycles older than me on the mission. We get along really well and have a lot in common. She's actually one of the sisters that I've always thought I'd like working with eventually. She is 23, and a nurse. She's from Logan, UT.
Oh, another really cool thing about Hamm is that the whole city is obsessed with elephants. Jessica would love it here. There are elephant sculptures everywhere! I guess Hamm is home to the largest glass elephant in the world, and because of that the city has made elephants it's symbol. So far I've seen at least 20 elephant statues around the city. And quite a bit of elephant graffiti.
We've been crazy busy since I got here. There's lots to do. A lot of it is working with less-actives. This area doesn't have a lot of investigators, but we'll change that soon. We have a lot of really cool ideas. For example, next week we're starting up an English class and running an article about it in the newspaper (with a picture of us! :) ). We're also going to start attending bible study groups in local churches. Not to crash the party, but just to get to know people who are already interested in religion. Stuff like that. I'm excited!
I loved General Conference, particularly the talk from President Uchtdorf from the first session. It helps me to think that God loves each of us, he knows our worth, and no matter where we are, he can find us just fine. No matter where we are, the people around us are God's children and all have the same goal (whether they know it or not) to return to live with Heavenly Father. Nothing is worth getting in the way of that.
I love you all! Thanks for the support.
Love,
Sister Jensen
P.S. If any of you RMs have good, creative ideas for finding people -- things that worked in your missions -- please email or mail them to me, and we'll try them out!
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Being Transferred
Hello everyon,
I have very little time today, but I'm getting TRANSFERRED! For the first time! I'm going to a place called Hamm, near Dortmund, Germany. Sister Römer served there and says it's realy nice. I'll be in a Drit (two companions instead of one). We're heading to Frankfurt in a few minutes.
Conference was amazing! The whole ward got a kick out of the Frankfurt Tempel story, especially because there is NO WAY anyone could get from Portstraße to Friedrichsdorf in 10 minutes, haha.
It was pretty emotional for me to pack my bags. I am going to miss the ward and our investigators a lot. And Inge is going to get baptized in a couple of weeks and I wont be here!
Well, have togo. Love you0 all!
Kristin
I have very little time today, but I'm getting TRANSFERRED! For the first time! I'm going to a place called Hamm, near Dortmund, Germany. Sister Römer served there and says it's realy nice. I'll be in a Drit (two companions instead of one). We're heading to Frankfurt in a few minutes.
Conference was amazing! The whole ward got a kick out of the Frankfurt Tempel story, especially because there is NO WAY anyone could get from Portstraße to Friedrichsdorf in 10 minutes, haha.
It was pretty emotional for me to pack my bags. I am going to miss the ward and our investigators a lot. And Inge is going to get baptized in a couple of weeks and I wont be here!
Well, have togo. Love you0 all!
Kristin
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