Adios, Kennewick

 Dearest Friends and Family,

I love being a missionary! I can't believe the time has come for me to return home. It truly is bittersweet to think of the wonderful people I will be leaving, but also the wonderful people I am returning to. I will miss all the amazing corn and watermelon! 

I think it would be impossible to sum up everything I've learned throughout my mission in one email. I am so grateful for the experiences I've had--the good as well as the hard--that have taught me to be bold and to trust God, experiences that have helped me build my faith in the Savior. I'm grateful for all the people that listened to the message, and for all the people that didn't. I am so grateful that the Lord has chastened me and taught me humility, and filled me with an indescribable love for the people of this tiny place. Moving forwards I am determined and excited to accept and fulfill whatever assignments the Lord gives me. 

It has been an honor to serve as a missionary, to serve the true and living God. I am humbled to think He let me work in this small corner of His vineyard, and that He allowed me to witness so many miracles. Looking back, my mission doesn't look like a sacrifice, but rather the most amazing opportunity I've had in my entire life. It has brought me closer to God, and closer to my Savior, and I wouldn't trade that for anything. 

I love you all! Thank you for your support and love these 18 months. I know that the Savior lives! His Atonement matters; it will literally save your life. Allow Him to make your life better and easier. Life is hard, but He makes it doable. There was a moment on my mission where I came to the realization that I couldn't do it. Eighteen months loomed before me like an impossibly high wall, and I knew that I, alone, was completely incapable of doing it. I was tired, and discouraged, and hopeless. BUT, with His help, and ONLY with His help, I knew that I would be made strong. HE, Jesus Christ, our Savior and our Redeemer, is what makes us capable of enduring hard things. Nothing else. Trust Him! And trust in His Atonement! Allow it to carry you through to the moment where you can fall at His feet, and He will lift you by the hand, as a good and faithful servant.

Love,

Sister Jensen

P.S. We got in contact with Angela this week! She referred herself to us through the Come Unto Christ website, and she is incredible. She is super humble, and has loved the lessons! We gave her a Book of Mormon and will be teaching her on Tuesday! 

Another Good Week

Dearest Friends and Family,

It has been nice and HOT this past week. We had a finding party with our district (we all got together and called people), which was fun except we had to do it outside and it was 108 degrees! It was still fun. We had some other good adventures this week too! I went on an exchange with Sister Dustin and Sister Anderson (who is reassigned from Brasil) and it was super fun. We helped a family replace their porch light. After installing it we tested it out and it worked so we basically are all professional electricians now. That being said, I don't recommend that you trust missionaries to do all your electrical work...

This week we had dinner with Elder Stapleton, and his family shared their mission plan with us! He is such an incredible example of being a good member missionary. He of all people has a lot of church responsibilities, and it is inspiring to see how he makes time to have us over and to do his own ministering. He and President Rassmussen sent a letter out to every member in our mission encouraging and inviting them to get involved in missionary work. We have already had several members reach out to us! We are excited to help them figure out ways that they can be involved in this great work. 

This week we received a referral from a woman Angela who requested to meet with missionaries through the church website! We are so excited to meet with her later tonight. We have had a good week filled with lots of tender mercies and blessings. We have made lots of good progress with Zayne and Joan. We also had dinner with the Wall family, and we asked them if they wanted to learn more about what our church believes. They said yes, with no hesitation! Lexi (the eight year old) started to read us stories from her illustrated bible, saying "I like reading these stories because they make my heart feel good". Nichoelle even turned to her husband and said, "sometimes I wonder why we aren't members of your church already!" We are so excited to teach them this coming week! They have their own share of concerns, but the Lord truly does prepare people for us to teach.

I love you! And I love being a missionary. I hope you have a fantastic week!

Love,

Sister Jensen