Hello!
Highlight of the week: Sister Baird's Sons (let the auction begin)
This was so funny to me. So we were at the temple, just having finished a temple tour, and started chatting with a lady in the visitors center. She was talking about how her sons, Ryan and Johnny, had fallen away from the church, and she wanted advice on how to help him. We weren't sure exactly what to say, but we gave some suggestions, and she just kept shaking her head and saying, 'No, no...' and then she got all excited and said, 'I know, I just need to get them MARRIED to a nice Mormon girl!' and we kind of laughed a little and she said, 'Seriously! Do either of you know anyone who could marry my sons?' Sis. Thaden and I just looked at each other, going 'Uhhh....' and she said, 'She would need to be a nice girl, and speak a little German, and she doesn't have to be really pretty, but it would be nice if she was sort of pretty. In fact, if she wanted to come to Germany and get to know my sons, I have a nice apartment she could stay in. And then she could pick which son she wanted to marry!' hahahah. We were trying so hard not to laugh, but she was totally serious! Then she was talking about how great her sons were, and attractive, and had good jobs and stuff. I jokingly said that maybe I could email my family and see if anyone was interested, and she said, 'Do that! I just need to get them married. Here's my phone number...'
Anyway, so here's the classified ad:
For sale: Sister Baird's sons (Ryan or Johnny)
Age: 31 and 33
Location: Karlsruhe, Germany
Looking for:
A nice mormon girl (or two!) willing to come live with Sister Baird and pick one of her sons to marry.
Oh, man. Awkward. Anyway, that's about the most exciting thing that happened this week. There's not a lot of news to tell, since I just emailed a few days ago, but we did have a couple of awesome temple tours, and a great lesson with Karin! (pray for us, we're teaching her the law of chastity tomorrow). It is ridiculously cold here this week. I've gone back to three pairs of tights and two scarves.
Another funny thing, there's a song that just got really popular here (maybe it is there, too?) and we hear it everywhere. In fact, it just played here in the Internet cafe a second ago. It's a sort of catchy techno song, and the only words are 'Barbara Streisand', which are repeated once every ten seconds or so, haha. At least, we think it's saying Barbara Streisand. Maybe it's actually a random German phrase that means cucumber sandwich or something ridiculous.
OH!!!! I forgot! We did do something really cool last P-day! We went to this awesome museum called the 'Dialog Museum' in Frankfurt. It's a museum all about blindness. We met up with the elders in our distrikt and we did this tour called 'Dialog im Dunkel (conversation in the dark)', where they take you through this maze/obstacle course in pitch black. You seriously can't see a thing. And they give you blind-people canes to feel your way around with. They take you through normal things like buying fruit (and you have to feel/smell everything to know what it is), crossing a street (having to listen for the different clicking sounds from the traffic signals) and ordering stuff at a bar (good thing euro bills are different sizes!). It was so much fun! Plus our district is hilarious, so it was fun to hang out with them. Anyway, they have Dialog museums all over the world. Google it!
Well, I think that's it. We're doing pretty well here. We could still use recipes, though. :) Especially a recipe for Chocolate Chip cookies that doesn't use brown sugar, if such a thing exists. There's like... no such thing as brown sugar here.
Love you all! Hope all is well at home!
Sincerely,
Sis. Jensen
Monday, February 21, 2011
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Week 16 (I think... Right?)
Hello everyone!
Highlight for the week: I got to see Sis. Cannon again! YAY!!!!!!
So on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week, we had our training meeting, which was actually really awesome, but also exhausting, haha. It went from 8 am - 6 pm all three days, and we did TONS of roleplays and practices, and my brain was exploding with German by the end, haha. But I learned a ton! It was really cool that I got to be there, actually. They invited all of the sisters in the mission, but not all the elders. Only the zone leaders, district leaders, A.P.s, etc. But anyway, since all the sisters were there, I got to see Sis. Cannon (one of my MTC companions) again! I missed her so much.
Also, all of the missionaries at the training meeting got to go to the temple on Tuesday, which was so wonderful. The whole day was a little stressful, and cramming information into our brains, and then at the temple it's just so calm and relaxing and uplifting. Also, I did everything in German this time! I totally botched it, but the german lady helping me was really nice, haha.
Oh, hope you all had a happy Valentine's day, by the way!
Okay, I have to tell you about our investigator, Karin. She is making so much progress! She has now been to church three times and stayed for the whole thing last time. She loves sunday school. Last week, she also asked for a blessing (she's having an operation in March), and she said she felt really good afterward. But man, we had a huge scare last Sunday! So, Karin was investigating the church a few years ago, but she stopped because she came to church and some random lady hugged her, and it was too much. She's just a little skittish. So we've been really careful. But on Sunday, we were sitting in sacrament meeting and the bishop was giving a talk, and he said, 'Karin Breda, will you come up here for a moment?' I think my heart actually stopped. All the blood went out of my face. But yeah, he called her up, in front of our ward of like 200 people, and had her GIVE A FIVE-MINUTE TALK. I almost died. I was praying the whole time that she wouldn't like... stop meeting with us after. But it went okay. The worst part, actually, was afterward, because everyone like... swarmed on her. She looked a little shellßshocked. The whole way home she kept saying, 'That was a little to much.'
We saw her again today, though, and she seemed fine! We were just glad she made a return appointment with us. Anyway, we taught about the word of wisdom, and the only problem she has is that she still drinks cappucinos. She stopped drinking and smoking a long time ago. She said she just likes the taste of cappuccinos and it's part of her morning ritual and stuff, but we taught about the blessings that come from living the word of wisdom, and she committed to live it! We were pretty excited. We gave her a bunch of hot chocolate packets so she could drink that instead. :)
Well, that's about it. We'll have P-day again on Monday, so I'll probably email again then. I also have Zone Conference next week, which is cool. This cycle has been really weird, schedule-wise, what with the 3-day meeting and then now ZoKo. Kind of fun, though!
Love you all,
Sis. Jensen
Highlight for the week: I got to see Sis. Cannon again! YAY!!!!!!
So on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week, we had our training meeting, which was actually really awesome, but also exhausting, haha. It went from 8 am - 6 pm all three days, and we did TONS of roleplays and practices, and my brain was exploding with German by the end, haha. But I learned a ton! It was really cool that I got to be there, actually. They invited all of the sisters in the mission, but not all the elders. Only the zone leaders, district leaders, A.P.s, etc. But anyway, since all the sisters were there, I got to see Sis. Cannon (one of my MTC companions) again! I missed her so much.
Also, all of the missionaries at the training meeting got to go to the temple on Tuesday, which was so wonderful. The whole day was a little stressful, and cramming information into our brains, and then at the temple it's just so calm and relaxing and uplifting. Also, I did everything in German this time! I totally botched it, but the german lady helping me was really nice, haha.
Oh, hope you all had a happy Valentine's day, by the way!
Okay, I have to tell you about our investigator, Karin. She is making so much progress! She has now been to church three times and stayed for the whole thing last time. She loves sunday school. Last week, she also asked for a blessing (she's having an operation in March), and she said she felt really good afterward. But man, we had a huge scare last Sunday! So, Karin was investigating the church a few years ago, but she stopped because she came to church and some random lady hugged her, and it was too much. She's just a little skittish. So we've been really careful. But on Sunday, we were sitting in sacrament meeting and the bishop was giving a talk, and he said, 'Karin Breda, will you come up here for a moment?' I think my heart actually stopped. All the blood went out of my face. But yeah, he called her up, in front of our ward of like 200 people, and had her GIVE A FIVE-MINUTE TALK. I almost died. I was praying the whole time that she wouldn't like... stop meeting with us after. But it went okay. The worst part, actually, was afterward, because everyone like... swarmed on her. She looked a little shellßshocked. The whole way home she kept saying, 'That was a little to much.'
We saw her again today, though, and she seemed fine! We were just glad she made a return appointment with us. Anyway, we taught about the word of wisdom, and the only problem she has is that she still drinks cappucinos. She stopped drinking and smoking a long time ago. She said she just likes the taste of cappuccinos and it's part of her morning ritual and stuff, but we taught about the blessings that come from living the word of wisdom, and she committed to live it! We were pretty excited. We gave her a bunch of hot chocolate packets so she could drink that instead. :)
Well, that's about it. We'll have P-day again on Monday, so I'll probably email again then. I also have Zone Conference next week, which is cool. This cycle has been really weird, schedule-wise, what with the 3-day meeting and then now ZoKo. Kind of fun, though!
Love you all,
Sis. Jensen
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Training Meeting
Hello!
It's not my p-day, but I got permission to email home quickly and let you know that I won't be emailing on Monday. I'm going to a three-day training meeting! Should be fun. Actually, I hear they're pretty grueling, but I should learn a lot! Anyway, my p-day next week will be on Thursday or Friday, so expect my actual long email then.
(I guess in the past, when they've postponed p-days, concerned parents have freaked out and called the mission office to see why missionaries didn't email home, haha. Don't worry, I'm not dead!)
Things are going great up here!
Love you all,
Sis. Jensen
It's not my p-day, but I got permission to email home quickly and let you know that I won't be emailing on Monday. I'm going to a three-day training meeting! Should be fun. Actually, I hear they're pretty grueling, but I should learn a lot! Anyway, my p-day next week will be on Thursday or Friday, so expect my actual long email then.
(I guess in the past, when they've postponed p-days, concerned parents have freaked out and called the mission office to see why missionaries didn't email home, haha. Don't worry, I'm not dead!)
Things are going great up here!
Love you all,
Sis. Jensen
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Beer Shoes
And the highlight for this week is....... SISTER THADEN AND I ARE STAYING TOGETHER!!!!!!!!
We got the call this morning, and we're staying here, together, in Friedrichsdorf. I had a panic attack this morning thinking, 'crap, what if I get transferred?' Luckily, though, we're staying. So all's clear with sending letters to my same address (Hugenottenstrasse 4-A). I'm really stoked. Sis. Thaden and I have so much fun together. Also, I get the feeling like there's something we still have to do together. Maybe there is someone we're supposed to find and teach.
Things are still going well with investigators. In fact, we had three investigators at church yesterday! (A new record for us). It was wonderful. Yesterday was Fast and Testimony meeting, which we were a little nervous about, because you know how there are always a few people who get up and share a really weird testimony? Or they share false doctrine from the pulpit? Well, we have a few of those in our ward, haha. But everything went well, and the testimonies were beautiful, and the spirit was really strong!
Oh, so a couple interesting stories from this week:
1) I went to my first ever German funeral.
It was pretty much like a normal funeral in the church building. It was really small, though. Only about 12 people came. A man in our ward recently lost his daughter. He gave the eulogy. It was pretty intense, actually. Apparently his daughter had fallen away from the church, gotten into drugs and alcohol, and totally alienated everyone from her, which was why the funeral was so small. He ended his eulogy with, 'And THAT is why you ALWAYS listen to your parents. Amen.' There was quite the awkward silence afterward. The graveside part was interesting, though, because his daughter was cremated, but they still buried the urn. We were glad we were there to support the family, though, and we helped with the food/dishes afterward.
2) Beer shoes
So we have been visiting this inactive lady once every couple of weeks, but every now and then she starts acting very strange. This past week, she apparently made a huge meal for us, because she thought we were coming (though we hadn't made an appointment or anything) and then flipped out when we didn't come. We went to her house yesterday to see if she was okay and apologize, and her husband told us that she was mentally ill and had secretly stopped taking her medication. He was pretty frazzled. Midway through our appointment he was like, 'Oh, I'm sorry, would you like something to drink?' and he went in the entry way to get us some soda and knocked a bunch of glass bottles of beer off a shelf, which shattered on the floor near where we'd taken our shoes off, and soaked our shoes in BEER hahaha. Sis. Thaden got the worst of it. She picked up her shoe, poured beer out of it, and gave me this horrified look haha. Her shoes still smell like beer. We went to church right after, smelling like beer, I'm sure. Pretty funny. Well, more funny in retrospect than it was at the time, haha.
3) Transfer calls
So in addition to finding out I'm staying, we also found out that we're getting a new district leader! Our old one, Elder Collins, goes home on Wednesday. Our new district leader is Elder Hoffbauer, a native Austrian. I'm stoked because now we'll probably get to do district finding in MARBURG!!!!!!! (I've been looking for an excuse to go there ever since I found out how close it was). Our old district leader was opposed to going there, but Elder Hoffbauer loves Marburg, so my chances has improved. I'll take some pictures for you, Matt!
4) My new daring haircut
Actually, it's not that daring. But the daring part is that I cut my hair myself! I bought some haircutting scissors last week and gave myself a trim. Sis. Thaden helped. I was actually terrified to cut my own hair but it turned out to be quite cathartic.
Well, that's pretty much it. I hope all is well back home! Sounds like some crazy stuff is going down in Egypt? I got your email, mom, I'm printing it out to read later.
Love you all!
Sis. Jensen
We got the call this morning, and we're staying here, together, in Friedrichsdorf. I had a panic attack this morning thinking, 'crap, what if I get transferred?' Luckily, though, we're staying. So all's clear with sending letters to my same address (Hugenottenstrasse 4-A). I'm really stoked. Sis. Thaden and I have so much fun together. Also, I get the feeling like there's something we still have to do together. Maybe there is someone we're supposed to find and teach.
Things are still going well with investigators. In fact, we had three investigators at church yesterday! (A new record for us). It was wonderful. Yesterday was Fast and Testimony meeting, which we were a little nervous about, because you know how there are always a few people who get up and share a really weird testimony? Or they share false doctrine from the pulpit? Well, we have a few of those in our ward, haha. But everything went well, and the testimonies were beautiful, and the spirit was really strong!
Oh, so a couple interesting stories from this week:
1) I went to my first ever German funeral.
It was pretty much like a normal funeral in the church building. It was really small, though. Only about 12 people came. A man in our ward recently lost his daughter. He gave the eulogy. It was pretty intense, actually. Apparently his daughter had fallen away from the church, gotten into drugs and alcohol, and totally alienated everyone from her, which was why the funeral was so small. He ended his eulogy with, 'And THAT is why you ALWAYS listen to your parents. Amen.' There was quite the awkward silence afterward. The graveside part was interesting, though, because his daughter was cremated, but they still buried the urn. We were glad we were there to support the family, though, and we helped with the food/dishes afterward.
2) Beer shoes
So we have been visiting this inactive lady once every couple of weeks, but every now and then she starts acting very strange. This past week, she apparently made a huge meal for us, because she thought we were coming (though we hadn't made an appointment or anything) and then flipped out when we didn't come. We went to her house yesterday to see if she was okay and apologize, and her husband told us that she was mentally ill and had secretly stopped taking her medication. He was pretty frazzled. Midway through our appointment he was like, 'Oh, I'm sorry, would you like something to drink?' and he went in the entry way to get us some soda and knocked a bunch of glass bottles of beer off a shelf, which shattered on the floor near where we'd taken our shoes off, and soaked our shoes in BEER hahaha. Sis. Thaden got the worst of it. She picked up her shoe, poured beer out of it, and gave me this horrified look haha. Her shoes still smell like beer. We went to church right after, smelling like beer, I'm sure. Pretty funny. Well, more funny in retrospect than it was at the time, haha.
3) Transfer calls
So in addition to finding out I'm staying, we also found out that we're getting a new district leader! Our old one, Elder Collins, goes home on Wednesday. Our new district leader is Elder Hoffbauer, a native Austrian. I'm stoked because now we'll probably get to do district finding in MARBURG!!!!!!! (I've been looking for an excuse to go there ever since I found out how close it was). Our old district leader was opposed to going there, but Elder Hoffbauer loves Marburg, so my chances has improved. I'll take some pictures for you, Matt!
4) My new daring haircut
Actually, it's not that daring. But the daring part is that I cut my hair myself! I bought some haircutting scissors last week and gave myself a trim. Sis. Thaden helped. I was actually terrified to cut my own hair but it turned out to be quite cathartic.
Well, that's pretty much it. I hope all is well back home! Sounds like some crazy stuff is going down in Egypt? I got your email, mom, I'm printing it out to read later.
Love you all!
Sis. Jensen
Monday, January 31, 2011
7 missionaries stuck in an elevator.
Hello everyone!
Just a heads up, it's the last week of the cycle so starting tomorrow if you have letters to send, hold on to them until I find out if I'm getting transferred or not. It's not likely, but just in case! We get transfer calls on Saturday or Sunday, so next time I email I'll know if I'm staying in Friedrichsdorf or moving. I hope I stay, because we have a couple of awesome investigators and I don't want to hand them off to someone else!
Highlight from this week: 7 missionaries stuck in an elevator.
This was hilarious. So our district was all together in Gießen, doing district finding / getting dinner. They have this big main street that you take a bridge to cross, and we were like, 'Hey, let's just take the elevator.' So we all got in, and right about halfway between floors, the elevator got stuck. Also, it was an outdoor, glass elevator, and the stairs wrapped around it, so everyone going up and down the stairs was like staring in at us hahaha. 7 people, all dressed up in suits/skirts, stuck in an elevator. We were laughing so hard. I have some great pictures. Anyway, so we used the emergency phone thing, and they were like, 'KEIN PANIK!!!' (Don't panic) which was hilarious because we were just sitting there cracking up. Maybe through the emergency phone it sounded like screaming. It was a little embarassing when fire department came down the street with lights and sirens and had to break us out haha. We had one native German with us, Elder Hoffbauer, and we just had him talk for us. It was bad enough without everyone thinking we were American tourists or something.
What else... oh, so I officially anmelded (registered) today. In Germany, every time you move to a new city you have to anmeld as a citizen of that city. So I'm now a legit citizen of Friedrichsdorf, and I finally got my passport back from the office, too. Cool stuff!
Well, today is P-day, so we did some of the normal stuff, grocery shopping and such. After emails we're going to get some Wurst for lunch and do some shopping. Then tonight we have a cool route planned through Ober-Ursel, one of the cities in our area, where we're going to go by on former investigators and do a little door-to-door proselyting. This week has been a tough one for proselyting. It's been so cold and gets dark so early that we've been lacking in motivation a little. However, we know this is the Lord's work and that we're where we need to be! Sometimes when I think about what we have, I feel an urgency to share it. Think about all the things we know, as Latter-day Saints: we know there's a life after death, we know that God is our father and loves us, we know how to communicate with him through prayer, we know that we can repent and change no matter how many mistakes we've made, we know that we existed and had personalities before we were born, and we know that this life has a point and a purpose. Basically, we know everything we need to know to have hope, happiness and confidence! How can we not share that?
Oh, another thing, I am seriously lacking in recipes. I didn't think to bring any! When we're not eating with members, we end up making the same food over and over. So if you happen to write me a letter, grab one of your favorite recipes and stick it in :) Particularly, Mom, if you could send me the biscuit recipe from your cookbook, the big, red, plaid-looking one (or I think mine is still at home, except mine is pink. better homes and gardens? I think?). Also, your cornish pasty recipe. I know, I've asked you for it so many times I should have it memorized by now, haha. But anyways. Recipes are appreciated!
I think that's everything. Again, sorry I've been slow about responding to letters. The past couple of P-days we've had appointments during the day and had to end our P-day early (p-day normally ends at 6:00 pm, but if we have a lesson or a dinner appointment we have to get back to Friedrichsdorf early and don't get much time for writing.) But know that I love you all so much! Thank you so much for the letters and pictures and everything!
Lots of love,
Sis. Jensen
A couple people-specific notes:
Grandma Jones - I got both your letters this week, thanks! They're averaging 5-6 days to get to me. Not bad.
Jessica - I hear you found an awesome apartment! Hope all goes well with that. Send me pictures when you move in.
Kelsey & Co. - Thank you for the pictures. I died laughing at some of them. Good luck with grad school apps.!
Hailey - Thank you for the Friedrichsdorf weather report. It helped us greatly!
Mom - Thanks for the emails! I especially enjoy the bits of German you include :)
Just a heads up, it's the last week of the cycle so starting tomorrow if you have letters to send, hold on to them until I find out if I'm getting transferred or not. It's not likely, but just in case! We get transfer calls on Saturday or Sunday, so next time I email I'll know if I'm staying in Friedrichsdorf or moving. I hope I stay, because we have a couple of awesome investigators and I don't want to hand them off to someone else!
Highlight from this week: 7 missionaries stuck in an elevator.
This was hilarious. So our district was all together in Gießen, doing district finding / getting dinner. They have this big main street that you take a bridge to cross, and we were like, 'Hey, let's just take the elevator.' So we all got in, and right about halfway between floors, the elevator got stuck. Also, it was an outdoor, glass elevator, and the stairs wrapped around it, so everyone going up and down the stairs was like staring in at us hahaha. 7 people, all dressed up in suits/skirts, stuck in an elevator. We were laughing so hard. I have some great pictures. Anyway, so we used the emergency phone thing, and they were like, 'KEIN PANIK!!!' (Don't panic) which was hilarious because we were just sitting there cracking up. Maybe through the emergency phone it sounded like screaming. It was a little embarassing when fire department came down the street with lights and sirens and had to break us out haha. We had one native German with us, Elder Hoffbauer, and we just had him talk for us. It was bad enough without everyone thinking we were American tourists or something.
What else... oh, so I officially anmelded (registered) today. In Germany, every time you move to a new city you have to anmeld as a citizen of that city. So I'm now a legit citizen of Friedrichsdorf, and I finally got my passport back from the office, too. Cool stuff!
Well, today is P-day, so we did some of the normal stuff, grocery shopping and such. After emails we're going to get some Wurst for lunch and do some shopping. Then tonight we have a cool route planned through Ober-Ursel, one of the cities in our area, where we're going to go by on former investigators and do a little door-to-door proselyting. This week has been a tough one for proselyting. It's been so cold and gets dark so early that we've been lacking in motivation a little. However, we know this is the Lord's work and that we're where we need to be! Sometimes when I think about what we have, I feel an urgency to share it. Think about all the things we know, as Latter-day Saints: we know there's a life after death, we know that God is our father and loves us, we know how to communicate with him through prayer, we know that we can repent and change no matter how many mistakes we've made, we know that we existed and had personalities before we were born, and we know that this life has a point and a purpose. Basically, we know everything we need to know to have hope, happiness and confidence! How can we not share that?
Oh, another thing, I am seriously lacking in recipes. I didn't think to bring any! When we're not eating with members, we end up making the same food over and over. So if you happen to write me a letter, grab one of your favorite recipes and stick it in :) Particularly, Mom, if you could send me the biscuit recipe from your cookbook, the big, red, plaid-looking one (or I think mine is still at home, except mine is pink. better homes and gardens? I think?). Also, your cornish pasty recipe. I know, I've asked you for it so many times I should have it memorized by now, haha. But anyways. Recipes are appreciated!
I think that's everything. Again, sorry I've been slow about responding to letters. The past couple of P-days we've had appointments during the day and had to end our P-day early (p-day normally ends at 6:00 pm, but if we have a lesson or a dinner appointment we have to get back to Friedrichsdorf early and don't get much time for writing.) But know that I love you all so much! Thank you so much for the letters and pictures and everything!
Lots of love,
Sis. Jensen
A couple people-specific notes:
Grandma Jones - I got both your letters this week, thanks! They're averaging 5-6 days to get to me. Not bad.
Jessica - I hear you found an awesome apartment! Hope all goes well with that. Send me pictures when you move in.
Kelsey & Co. - Thank you for the pictures. I died laughing at some of them. Good luck with grad school apps.!
Hailey - Thank you for the Friedrichsdorf weather report. It helped us greatly!
Mom - Thanks for the emails! I especially enjoy the bits of German you include :)
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Temple Tours
Hello everyone!
I've decided to start doing a highlight for every week. This week's highlight: Temple Tours! We did 4 of them!
So a little bit about temple tours:
We take the investigator around the temple grounds and show them some of the symbolism (sun, moon and stars; the stained glass window; etc). Then we go to where there's a good view of Moroni and we talk about him a little bit, and who he was and such. Then we take them into our ward meetinghouse, which is on the same property, and we show them the baptisimal font and the chapel and such, and talk about baptism and the sacrament. Then we show them this really cool villa, also on the temple grounds, which has some historical significance. Then we show them a film that was made before the temple was dedicated, so they can see what the inside of the temple looks like, and the celestial room, and all. The film was made in the 80's, so it is super old, but it's good. We pause it at parts to explain what goes on in the temple. Then afterward we talk about it. They are some of the most spiritual lessons we have. I love doing temple tours. We gave our investigator Karin a temple tour and she said that she likes the idea of being baptized for her mother and father, who weren't really religious.
Anyway, so temple tours are awesome.
Oh, another funny thing: Everyone here thinks we're Nuns. Hopefully they at least think we're trendy nuns. Or maybe some kind of nun hybrid that's allowed to wear color. But nuns here go by Sister, too, and they're not uncommon to see.
Something really hard this week was that another investigator, Herr Kohlmann, totally rejected us on Wednesday. He's an older guy, and pretty cool, but he read a lot of anti-Mormon stuff online about how Joseph Smith was like... basically a Cassanova. Then he went on about how he was meeting with the Jehovah's Wittnesses now. I was really down about it. We asked him if he had prayed about it, and he got right up in my face and yelled at me, saying, 'Why should I?' and stuff. Sis. Thaden gave me a really good pep-talk afterward, though, and I feel better. Still sad that he didn't accept our message, though.
Oh, so if you get the chance, re-read President Uchtdorf's talk, 'Of the Things that Matter Most'. It's so good. It talks about the four most important relationships in our life, and just has some really good advice. Also, everyone here LOVES President Uchtdorf. I mean, they love all the apostles, obviously, but Uchtdorf is like a rockstar here. Also, everyone seems to have met him or is related to him or something. There is a Sister Uchtdorf in my ward, actually. Not sure how she's related. Everyone also loves Arnold Schwarzenegger (not sure if I spelled that right). Everyone asks us if we think he'll be the next president. They're really sad when we tell them he can't because he wasn't born in America. Maybe they'll change the law before then haha.
Mom and Jess, I got your letters! All three on the same day, actually. Thank you for that.
What else... oh, so my trainer, Sis. Thaden, comes from a huge family (5 sisters and 1 brother, all older, and all married. She has about half a million nieces and nephews) and she mentioned once that she missed peanut butter (they don't really have it here. If you ever find it, it's super expensive), and her mom and two of her sisters sent her huge packages for Christmas with tons of peanut butter things in them. Reices pieces and peanut butter cups, peanut butter cookie mix, Butterfingers, and a total of three huge jars of peanut butter hahaha. It's extreme. We're set up for life, I think.
Sis. Thaden only has a little while left, so we had thought we'd just stay together until the end of her mission, but Sis. Curtis (who I think I mentioned before? She's the wife of my old branch president at the MTC) emailed me saying that there are two sisters who got fast tracked at the MTC, because they already speak German, which means they'll probably come in this transfer, and there are only so many trainers here in the field, so it's possible that that could scramble things up. For all we know, we might get transferred at the end of this cycle and someone else would finish my training. I kind of hope not... Sis. Thaden and I are having so much fun together! But it will all work out no matter what. I'll keep you posted.
This week, I have learned the joy of ACHIEVING GOALS!!!!!!!!! (Yes, I'm that excited about it hahah). We broke a couple of records this week, for contacted referrals, inactives taught, and total lessons taught. I've also set some goals for personal and German study, and it's satisfying to meet them.
So, your assignment this week, set a goal, write it down, and then make it happen!
I love you all so much. Thank you for your support!
Love,
Sis. Jensen
I've decided to start doing a highlight for every week. This week's highlight: Temple Tours! We did 4 of them!
So a little bit about temple tours:
We take the investigator around the temple grounds and show them some of the symbolism (sun, moon and stars; the stained glass window; etc). Then we go to where there's a good view of Moroni and we talk about him a little bit, and who he was and such. Then we take them into our ward meetinghouse, which is on the same property, and we show them the baptisimal font and the chapel and such, and talk about baptism and the sacrament. Then we show them this really cool villa, also on the temple grounds, which has some historical significance. Then we show them a film that was made before the temple was dedicated, so they can see what the inside of the temple looks like, and the celestial room, and all. The film was made in the 80's, so it is super old, but it's good. We pause it at parts to explain what goes on in the temple. Then afterward we talk about it. They are some of the most spiritual lessons we have. I love doing temple tours. We gave our investigator Karin a temple tour and she said that she likes the idea of being baptized for her mother and father, who weren't really religious.
Anyway, so temple tours are awesome.
Oh, another funny thing: Everyone here thinks we're Nuns. Hopefully they at least think we're trendy nuns. Or maybe some kind of nun hybrid that's allowed to wear color. But nuns here go by Sister, too, and they're not uncommon to see.
Something really hard this week was that another investigator, Herr Kohlmann, totally rejected us on Wednesday. He's an older guy, and pretty cool, but he read a lot of anti-Mormon stuff online about how Joseph Smith was like... basically a Cassanova. Then he went on about how he was meeting with the Jehovah's Wittnesses now. I was really down about it. We asked him if he had prayed about it, and he got right up in my face and yelled at me, saying, 'Why should I?' and stuff. Sis. Thaden gave me a really good pep-talk afterward, though, and I feel better. Still sad that he didn't accept our message, though.
Oh, so if you get the chance, re-read President Uchtdorf's talk, 'Of the Things that Matter Most'. It's so good. It talks about the four most important relationships in our life, and just has some really good advice. Also, everyone here LOVES President Uchtdorf. I mean, they love all the apostles, obviously, but Uchtdorf is like a rockstar here. Also, everyone seems to have met him or is related to him or something. There is a Sister Uchtdorf in my ward, actually. Not sure how she's related. Everyone also loves Arnold Schwarzenegger (not sure if I spelled that right). Everyone asks us if we think he'll be the next president. They're really sad when we tell them he can't because he wasn't born in America. Maybe they'll change the law before then haha.
Mom and Jess, I got your letters! All three on the same day, actually. Thank you for that.
What else... oh, so my trainer, Sis. Thaden, comes from a huge family (5 sisters and 1 brother, all older, and all married. She has about half a million nieces and nephews) and she mentioned once that she missed peanut butter (they don't really have it here. If you ever find it, it's super expensive), and her mom and two of her sisters sent her huge packages for Christmas with tons of peanut butter things in them. Reices pieces and peanut butter cups, peanut butter cookie mix, Butterfingers, and a total of three huge jars of peanut butter hahaha. It's extreme. We're set up for life, I think.
Sis. Thaden only has a little while left, so we had thought we'd just stay together until the end of her mission, but Sis. Curtis (who I think I mentioned before? She's the wife of my old branch president at the MTC) emailed me saying that there are two sisters who got fast tracked at the MTC, because they already speak German, which means they'll probably come in this transfer, and there are only so many trainers here in the field, so it's possible that that could scramble things up. For all we know, we might get transferred at the end of this cycle and someone else would finish my training. I kind of hope not... Sis. Thaden and I are having so much fun together! But it will all work out no matter what. I'll keep you posted.
This week, I have learned the joy of ACHIEVING GOALS!!!!!!!!! (Yes, I'm that excited about it hahah). We broke a couple of records this week, for contacted referrals, inactives taught, and total lessons taught. I've also set some goals for personal and German study, and it's satisfying to meet them.
So, your assignment this week, set a goal, write it down, and then make it happen!
I love you all so much. Thank you for your support!
Love,
Sis. Jensen
Week 11
Sorry this one is a week late. I didn't have internet for a while. -Jess
Hello family!
I'll preface this by saying that I have very little time for email today, so it's going to be short (sorry). We are in Frankfurt today to do a little shopping, and we met up with the sisters from Offenbach, who are awesome.
So a couple quick notes:
- Germany is awesome.
- My German is getting way better already!
- I apparently giggle in my sleep.
- I have already eaten my weight in sauerkraut.
- I gave my first temple tour a couple of days ago, and it went really well!
- I am having such a blast with Sis. Thaden!
- We made pizza last night with fococcia bread as the crust and sauteed mushrooms, onions, cherry tomatoes, and gouda.
um, so that's all, actually.............. But I love you!
Love love love,
Sis. Jensen
Hello family!
I'll preface this by saying that I have very little time for email today, so it's going to be short (sorry). We are in Frankfurt today to do a little shopping, and we met up with the sisters from Offenbach, who are awesome.
So a couple quick notes:
- Germany is awesome.
- My German is getting way better already!
- I apparently giggle in my sleep.
- I have already eaten my weight in sauerkraut.
- I gave my first temple tour a couple of days ago, and it went really well!
- I am having such a blast with Sis. Thaden!
- We made pizza last night with fococcia bread as the crust and sauteed mushrooms, onions, cherry tomatoes, and gouda.
um, so that's all, actually.............. But I love you!
Love love love,
Sis. Jensen
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