Dearest Friends and Family,
The time has come to say goodbye to Walla Walla! On Wednesday I will be transferring to...Pasco YSA!!! I guess Heavenly Father has a work for me to do among the young single adults of this mission! I will be finishing the training for a sister in Pasco, so it will be her second transfer. I couldn't be more excited!
This week we also had our final zone conference with President and Sister White. I have learned so much from them, and it is sad to let them leave. President White is the most Christ-like man I have ever met, and I will not soon forget the spirit that he carries with him. Our new mission president is President Rasmussen, and he and Sister Rasmussen are in the MTC right now. We are excited to welcome them to the mission!
This past Tuesday I started to feel a bit off, and by Wednesday I was definitely feeling sick. We decided to stay in and I slept a LOT but was still not feeling very good. Our district leader offered a priesthood blessing, and to be honest, my first reaction was to decline. I was sick, but I didn't think I was sick enough to warrant a priesthood blessing, I didn't want to be a bother, and I figured I would feel better soon enough. However, my wise companion encouraged me to accept ("Why would you ever think that the Lord wouldn't want to talk to you?"), so I did. The blessing was brief but powerful, and I was given very clear instruction that if I had faith, I would be well in the morning. I woke up the next morning, and was well. I have been able to work to my full capacity every day since then. I want you each to know that I know that the priesthood power is truly the power of God. It is a marvelous gift that God has given to His children, and it is a gift available to each of us. Heavenly Father wants to help us in every way that He can, but we have to let Him! Never turn down a priesthood blessing.
On Saturday the Walla Walla zone sang the National Anthem for a minor league baseball game! The manager of the Walla Walla Sweet Onions is a member of the church, and he somehow arranged for us to sing. It was pretty exciting. I can't tell you how many times we were told "NOT to step on the white line" as we were preparing to go on to the field (it's bad luck for the home team to step on the line before the game starts) and we must have done okay because we were later told that the game ended with an incredible home run from the Sweets, breaking a tie.
A few other adventures: We had the chance to play some music at a senior living facility this week! We also got to teach a lady and her husband who live out in the orchards of Milton with their 60 rabbits (she spins their hair into "yarn" and also takes them to shows). She let us hold a couple of the babies, so that was pretty fun.
I hope you all have a wonderful week!!
Love,
Sister Jensen
P.S. Irreantum means land of many waters in the Book of Mormon, and since Walla Walla also means many waters, "Irreantum" = "Walla Walla"
Dearest Friends and Family,
This week we found two new awesome people to teach!! Both were actually referrals from other missionaries, and both are awesome. Roman lives with his uncle and has had a rough life. We were able to teach him the plan of salvation on his front porch. He said that he hoped God loved him, and that he could find peace, but he wasn't really sure. We assured him of God's love, and of the peace that he could surely find through the Book of Mormon. As we testify of God's love to the people we meet, I feel blessed to be able to feel a small portion of that love! I love the people of Walla Walla! I know that God loves Roman, just as he loves each of you.
We also met Ruby. She just graduated from High School and is looking for God. Her family is religious, and they were sitting with us as we were teaching Ruby. We asked their permission to teach Ruby (although technically she's an adult and can choose for herself) and they both were like (in broken english), "oh yeah, sure, if she wants!" I am so appreciative of those parents who are allowing their daughter to exercise her agency!
We were looking for another person this week (another referral actually...I guess I should just call this"referral week") but when we knocked his mom answered. We began to explain that we were looking for her son, or nephew, or grandson, or step-son, or actually anyone who lived there who was between the ages of 18 and 30, someone the elders had just called "Spanish Man" in our records. The woman gave us a very blank look, and we quickly realized that she spoke approximately NO English. Sister Tateoka and I quickly scrambled together what high school Spanish we know and, with a little help from our English/Spanish dictionary, body language, and of course the Spirit, we were able to get the contact information for her son, Steven. I don't think that it was a coincidence that I had decided to study chapter 7 in Preach My Gospel that day (it's the chapter on Language Study, and I was studying and applying it to learning to speak by the spirit). I am so grateful that the Lord was able to multiply our meager language skills and help the woman understand enough to get us the information we needed! I am also grateful that the woman was kind enough to help us out, even though we spent probably ten minutes trying to figure out what verb meant "to look".
It was another good, busy, week here in Walla Walla! I was blessed with a very special experience this week. In my first transfer here, I knocked on the door of Natalie! She was taught by the Elders and baptized just a couple of months ago, you may remember me speaking of her before. Sister Tateoka and I were able to visit her this week to help her be involved in some activities the YSA is doing (she is young and single, she just has a little girl so she will go to the family ward). Sitting and talking with Natalie was an incredible experience. She was a different person than the one that I met only a few months ago. She glowed! The spirit was in her home, and in the experiences that she shared with us. The words she spoke testified of God's love, and of the ability that we each have to receive personal revelation. She was a new person, made new in Christ. I know that conversion to the Savior and His gospel is the most amazing miracle we can witness! I feel so blessed that I was able to speak with her again, and see the miracle of her heart being changed.
Love,
Sister Jensen
Dearest Friends and Family,
It has been a busy week! Last Tuesday we were blessed to get to go to the Columbia River temple. I love the temple! I am so grateful that Heavenly Father has given us temples--a refuge from the things of the world, a place where we can find answers to our questions and feel peace in our souls.
This week we...
-continued to help paint the inside of someone's house blue. Mostly we were just painting the walls, but a few other things ended up blue too...
-got sooo many bug bites (a number comparable to when I was in Nauvoo, which is really saying something--don't worry I bought some bugspray)
-had a man show up out of nowhere at the church on the night we happened to be there for home evening! We grabbed our branch mission leader (because he's a big scary looking guy) and another woman and taught him the restoration, because that's what missionaries do!
-when the same man failed to show up for his lesson the next day, we all got in a car and drove to his house. Just as we were knocking, his dad pulled up in a pick-up and said that he was walking around nearby in a black hoodie. We found him!! And taught him a lesson standing on the side of the road under an overpass. Don't worry, we brought our branch mission leader. Because that's what missionaries do!
-we went looking for an address...it turned out to be in, like, a campground, where it appears that some people have parked their trailers and never left (I mean, the campground had a great view of the Blues, so who can blame them?)! People had set up fences, and chairs, and gardens around their little trailers. We knocked around, and it was pretty fun.
So yeah, it was just another ordinary week here in Walla Walla! There are roses blooming everywhere here, and it reminds me not to forget to stop and smell the roses. Heavenly Father wants us to be happy! Enjoying the little things in life--like smelling roses, or really good burritos--makes me happier, and helps me in my quest to "endure to the end".
