One Hundred Days of Quarantine

Dearest Friends and Family,

This week went by like the blink of an eye. We reconnected with Zayne this week over text and he was able to have his apartment dedicated and receive a priesthood blessing of comfort. We couldn't go in of course, but we introduced the members on the doorstep and met them after. They were awesome and were able to teach him a bit about the Holy Ghost and invited him to read from the Book of Mormon.

A couple days ago we were walking into our apartment, juggling Tupperware from our dinner, books, water bottles etc. when we saw a man. We waved, and he ran over to us and said "My girlfriend wants to join you!" We got some contact information and sent her off as an awesome referral. The situation reminded us of Richard!

This week we also had zone conferences. I had the opportunity to do a training about finding people during quarantine and it was super fun, if super scary and pretty spiritually draining. It was fun to be in the mission home for a couple of days though!

COVID-19 updates: Washington is opening up by "phases" depending on the county. The counties that make up most of our mission are still in phase 1, meaning we still can't gather and businesses can't open. The state of Washington just made it illegal to be in public without a mask. On Wednesday we will celebrate 100 days of quarantine! It's pretty hard to believe we are now as busy as ever when I could barely stand being stuck inside for a couple weeks at the beginning. I am so grateful Heavenly Father has given us so much work to do despite the circumstances!

Love,
Sister Jensen

Member Work!

Dearest Friends and Family,

RICHARD GOT BAPTIZED! He is the guy that we found digging a hole at our apartment complex. His children were able to be there, and he seemed very happy (we were able to watch over a live video).

So since we can now meet with members in yards, we can also have dinners as long as they are outside. We had a dinner scheduled with members, and they told us to come on around to the backyard when we got there. We pulled up to the house, double checked the address, and went around to go in the back. When we opened the gate, two German Shepard's greeted us and tried to get out, so we were kind of pushing them, trying to squeeze through without letting them out. We made it a little ways in before questioning if maybe we were coming in the wrong side. We decided to call the members and mention their dogs, and they just say..."uh, so we don't have any dogs..." Yep, we were at the wrong house. At least the dogs didn't escape.

We had a dinner with the Wall family! They first met missionaries when the Tanos, their neighbors and an AWESOME member family, invited the neighborhood to a barbeque about a year ago. When I asked at the end of the meal if we can teach their family, they said yes! They are going out of town for a week but we are really excited for July when we can teach them. They have a lot of member family and friends, and recently have gone through some hard things. The gospel will bless their lives so much! Apparently their biggest concern is just the word of wisdom, nothing a little bit of the Spirit can't change. Also, the youngest girl just turned 8 and she loves the church sooo...

We have been focusing our efforts on member work, and we have been rewarded with lots of leads on new people to teach! We texted a less active member this week out of the blue about her son who used to want to be baptized and she said that they still are interested. We also were asked by a part member family to help prepare their 8 year old for baptism. Yay! I will include the guide we created to help members make their own family mission plans. I hope it can give all of you some good ideas of simple ways to do missionary work in your own lives. I know that even doing something small allows the Lord to work through us. 

Love,

Sister Jensen

My Family Mission Plan

At baptism, we covenant to take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ, which includes sharing His gospel. This can sometimes feel like a daunting task, but the reassuring truth is that “when we are on the Lord’s errand, we are entitled to the Lord’s help.” But how do we call down the powers of heaven to help us do His work? Preach My Gospel teaches us that “Meaningful goals and careful planning will help you accomplish what the Lord requires of you.” We invite you to put this principle into action by making a family mission plan! A family mission plan does not need to be complicated or fancy, it can be as simple as a goal written on a sticky note. We have compiled a list of ideas to help you brainstorm and create your family mission plan.

Before looking over these ideas, start with a prayer. Ask Heavenly Father who He is preparing in your life, who needs your love, and what you need to do to hasten His work. You could also ask yourself the following questions:

• When I hear or think about missionary work, who comes to my mind? What is “the next step” on their path to receiving the gospel?
• What talents or experiences has Heavenly Father given me that need to be shared with my friends, family, or acquaintances?
• What am I already doing to share the gospel that I can build on?

63 ways I can be a missionary

1. Like and follow the “Church of Jesus Christ in Tri-Cities” Facebook page
2. Volunteer at a local organization
3. Leave gospel related reading material around your home
4. Study Preach My Gospel
5. Invite your friends to church at home or in a meeting house
6. Share your testimony with members about missionary work
7. Fast and pray for a missionary experience
8. Talk to your friends about the things that bring you peace and joy
9. Invite a friend over for dinner
10. Join a club
11. Ask your friends to join you on a double date
12. Write a letter thanking your current or past neighbors
13. Share how you #HearHim on social media
14. Do something in public with the missionaries
15. sign up for inspiring missionary emails and ideas at churchofjesus

christ.org/share/sharelight 

16. Go to comeuntochrist.org and study the common questions section
17. Send an uplifting text to a friend
18. Hold a family home evening about missionary work
19. Study the articles on the “Become” section of comeuntochrist.org and share one you liked with a friend
20. Reach out to somebody that has had a major change in their life
21. Send letters to recent converts welcoming them to the ward
22. Invite a recent convert into your home for a meal or home evening
23. Help your neighbors with home projects or yard work
24. Next time to are going to invite a member friend to do something, reach out to a non-member instead
25. Give a church DVD or CD as a gift
26. Donate to the ward mission fund
27. Purchase copies of the Book of Mormon to leave in hotel rooms
28. Pray for the missionaries serving in and from your ward
29. Call the missionaries and ask them who and what you can pray for
30. Put a missionary’s name on the temple prayer roll
31. Ask a friend to teach you a talent
32. Take your neighbors treats
33. Have your friends in mind as you study the scriptures
34. Study answers to questions you might not be comfortable answering 
35. Offer to study the Book of Mormon with a recent convert
36. Support youth in your ward at school or community activities
37. Invite the missionaries over
38. Invite friends over to a home evening
39. Do random acts of kindness
40. Role play gospel conversations with your family or the missionaries
41. Attend baptismal services
42. Include a gospel theme on your social media account
43. Learn more about what is important in your friends lives
44. Encourage others to serve a full-time mission
45. Try and have a cheerful countenance
46. Share a passion or hobby with your friends
47. Research and read conference talks about missionary work
48. Sit by someone new
49. Start a conversation with a stranger 
50. Reach out to friends you haven’t seen in a long time
51. Invite your friends to get involved with family history work
52. Give a teacher a thank you card
53. Carry pass-along cards with you
54. Pray about who you could invite to meet with missionaries
55. Have a gathering with neighbors and invite the missionaries
56. Ask those you know about their belief systems
57. Make sure everybody knows you are a member of the church
58. Share faith promoting experiences with friends
59. Attend your friend’s church
60. Give somebody a Come Follow Me manual
61. Host a bible study
62. Be active on the ward FB group
63. Write a letter to your elected leaders encouraging them to vote for family values
    
    
    
    

Facebook Missionary Work

Dearest Friends and Family,

What a crazy week. I am grateful to be a missionary at such interesting times. We have found ourselves in the middle of some protesting that has been going on in Kennewick, but fortunately it all is pretty peaceful for now. We were told to be in by 8pm to avoid the worst of the protests, which was funny to hear since at the time we were still pretty much home bound anyways. As of this last week though we can meet with people for lessons in yards, so long as we keep social distancing! That has been a breath of fresh air for us. 

There are some big things happening with Facebook. After a couple meetings with our representative in Salt Lake (who also happens to have been my first AP!) we decided to do lots of merging of our pages. We started out with about 14 for the mission, and we decided we should try narrowing it down to 3 (based off population and what will be sustainable for our mission). So we spent hours downloading the content off all our pages (we just took over the family history library and did a page on each computer) and merging them in to "The Church of Jesus Christ in Tri-Cities" and in "Walla Walla and Hermiston" as well as a Spanish page. We are really excited about the change since we know it will help make advertising more effective and also help unify our missions efforts. We will be doing a mission wide training tonight to discuss the changes and to talk about how to apply Preach my Gospel to Facebook. 

Have a wonderful week! The work of the Lord is progressing. We can now meet with people for lessons in their yards/garages, and we are pretty excited about it!

Love,
Sister Jensen

Meetings Galore!

Dearest Friends and Family,

Sister Lowe is incredible! I am honored to serve as her companion. She is from Texas! I think I have entered my busiest time as a missionary. Yes we are still quarantined, but we have SO MUCH to do! We have had numerous meetings between our responsibilities as Sister training leaders and technology specialists. We trained all of the new reassigned missionaries and have made plans to make this transfer awesome for our zone. The days have never felt so short. I feel like I don't have enough time!

I am so grateful to be a missionary right now. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else!

Love,
Sister Jensen

Transfers and Sweet Potato Pie

Dearest friends and family,

It was a great last week of the transfer! I am so grateful for all who helped make my birthday something special. We received our transfer information yesterday, and Sister Bogle is being moved to West Richland. I will be receiving Sister Lowe (who was trained by my trainer!) tomorrow. We have been assigned as "social media specialists" for the mission. I don't really know what that means yet but I know it will take some faith and some hard work. I think we work with the social media people in Salt Lake and help figure out adds and things like that. I will keep you posted on that. I am happy to be staying in my area! I know there is a reason I've been here so long and I intend to work my hardest. 

Tender mercy of the week came in the form of a sweet potato pie! We had just received transfer news and were feeling a bit sad. We got a call out of the blue from Brother Crary! Their family is from South Carolina and they have always wanted to bring Sister Bogle southern food. So they brought us a sweet potato pie and it was delicious! Sometimes it's the little things that remind us that God truly is looking out for us.

Love,
Sister Jensen