Forget Yourself and Go to Work

Dearest friends and family!

I survived my first week at the Missionary Training Center! What we do is called missionary WORK for a reason. They keep us impossibly busy here, and there is so much to do and learn every single moment of the day! Being a missionary is undoubtedly HARD, and yet somehow we are all still here, and somehow we are finding so much joy in the work! There is no way that hundreds of young adults would give up their lives, their families, and their education, to work really hard without pay, unless the work was of God. 

My companion is Sister Bloom, and she's from Arizona but her family recently moved to California. She also went to three semesters at BYU Provo, and she's basically famous (She has run into approximately 25 zillion people she knows here at the MTC haha). She is a perfect companion for me, and we balance each other out well. On our second day in the MTC, we were assigned to be the new sister training leaders. If that's not entirely overwhelming and humbling than I don't know what is. But we are learning, and praying, and slooowly figuring it all out. Our district has two companionships of Elders and two companionships of sisters (one is a trio because sadly one sister is on medical leave to get her tonsils out). All of us will be going to Kennewick Washington together! We all taught our first lessons on Saturday to people who volunteer from the community. Some are members of the church, some inactive members, some not members, but they don't tell us which so we just teach them the best that we can! And hope they realize that we are still very fresh and make so so soooo many mistakes.

Many people have asked how the food is here in the MTC. If you value quantity over quality, then the food is amazing and wonderful and perfect. Basically it works out since we are all too hungry and tired to care much about what we're eating so long as it's food. Also I have now lived in Utah for almost 10 years, but I swear it's never been this cold in Utah before. Okay, maybe it's just because now we're always outside, and walking around everywhere, but it has been so cold! Or "tis brisk" as Sister Bloom likes to say. Let's just say that Sister Jensen is glad that she's not headed to Russia.

Random things I've learned
          It is, in fact, possible to get "lost" on the MTC campus
          Every lesson you teach is catered to the individual. No two lessons are the same
          MTC choir is the BEST. If you're headed to the MTC, DO IT
          There is a cat that likes to hang around the MTC campus.
          The "missionary cat" provides some much needed cuteness and stress relief
          Hard is not bad. Hard is just hard
          Sometimes you just have to STOP WORRYING. Worrying is exhausting
          Sacrifice sanctifies
          Do not be casual about missionary work. Because these are real people,
          real SOULS that need to be SAVED
       
I am so very grateful for this opportunity I have to be a full time missionary! It is hard, but some of the greatest advice I've received is to just take this journey one little step at a time. Often, thinking about doing this for a year and a half seems impossible. But as I focus on just doing my best day by day, class by class, things are doable. It truly is just like eating an elephant! We listened to a talk by Elder Bednar, and he spoke of how to be like Christ, we must turn outwards when the natural man would turn inwards. Imagine Elder Bednar calling from the pulpit, "Get over yourself! It's not about you, and it's not about what you want! You will never be happy if you're focusing on yourself." Turning outwards is how we can learn OF Christ, rather than just ABOUT Him. I hope that I can begin a lifelong pursuit of looking outwards rather than in, at increasing my capacity to help others, and changing my first instinctive concern to be for others rather than for myself. And, my dearest friends and family, I invite you all to join me in this pursuit!

Love,
Sister Jensen