Dear Family & Friends!
It is finally springtime! We're starting to get a bit more sunshine
but still some rain. I won't complain though! The sunshine brings out
the best in people so it makes our work a little easier.
Monday: So we had the regular Pday... shopping and napping and writing
letters! We had a lesson at 6:15 with our investigator Leevoy. He's
doing SO well!! I am so impressed with him. We taught him the
restoration and he totally GOT it, which like never happens. Haha we
usually have to teach that lesson two or three times before it really
sinks in. But he's a clever one. After the lesson we had to run back
to our car and pick up the Elders to take our poor District Leader,
Elder Packer to the doctor's.
Tuesday: We had a lesson in the morning with Artu! He's doing really
well and his english is improving! We went over the Introduction to
the BOM and tried to explain that to him. He is slowly understanding
but the language barrier is making it difficult. We are still waiting
to get Polish pamphlets so we can teach him properly. Until then, he
is keeping his committments by reading the assigned chapters we give
him so that is a great sign! We then had lunch, and a lesson with a
new guy, Nick. He's chinese and a buddhist. It was a difficult lesson.
It felt more like a discussion as he kept just telling us what
buddhists believe. We'll probably try to teach him once more and see
how it goes. After that we had a lesson with Kristina. She's doing
alright... she was previously a muslim and she still believes in parts
of it so she's kinda having a hard time combining her faiths. We just
invited her to pray and ask God what to do! After that, we did some
street contacting in city center, then had a lesson with Agus! He is
so great. We taught him Word of Wisdom and he committed to live it!
Then we came home for dinner and planning.
Wednesday:We had to have district meeting this day because there was a
funeral at the chapel on thursday. So we had district meeting and it
was all about using the scriptures more in lessons. After that we were
supposed to have some lessons and they all flogged :/ So we did some
finding in city centre and then had a Dinner appointment, then ward
coordination! After coordination, we taught Gaspar, who is a friend of
Agus'. His engish is VERY minimal so we tried to teach the Plan of
Salvation and invited him to read the pamphlet on his own.
Thursday: We had a lesson in the morning with Artu! We went over 3 ne
11 and tried to answer his questions. We had to hurry to the chapel
after that to go to a funeral. We only got the end of it and then
helped them to set up for lunch. We had to leave straight after to
Loughborough for exchanges. I stayed in coventry with Sister Sassenus.
We came back and taught Leevoy. Sister Sassensus is a great teacher
and also really good at getting people to commit to things! So by some
miracle we were able to put Leevoy on a baptismal date! It's way far
away... May 17th, but it's the only one he would commit to. Haha so
hopefully we'll be able to move it up. It was a really good lesson. We
taught the gospel of Jesus Christ and tried to teach it using
analogies from sports. We had a dinner appointment after that. She had
forgotten about the dinner, but she told us to stay and she made
something. We went with her after to see an old widow in the ward.
Friday: We started off the morning with some street contacting and
found a couple cool people to teach! So that was really good. Then we
were invited to have some food that was leftover from the funeral. It
was proper indian food and it was WAY spicy but delicious! After that
we had to leave for Loughborough again to end the exchange. It took
about an hour to drive there. We exchanged back and then attempted to
come back to coventry... I say attempt because we got stuck in
stand-still traffic for FOUR hours. What was meant to be a 40 minute
drive turned into a four hour drive. Sister Hanks and I were SO bored.
We both have forgotten what it's like to have that much of free
time!!! We went through our phone and texted everyone in it to see if
anyone would meet with us. We got 3 responses and return appointments
so in a way it turned out alright! Haha. We finally made it back to
coventry at 6:40 and then had dinner and a lesson with Sarah! She's
doing SOOOO well! She's all ready for her baptism. We taught her the
law of tithing and she agreed to live it. Before we had taught her she
had already gone through her finances to see if she could make it work
and she said she could! :) She's awesome. She told us that she knows
when she is baptised she will die a mormon. haha. LOVE HER.
Saturday: We played football in the morning! One of our investigators
was supposed to come but didn't show up. So that was a bummer. We had
lunch after that and then went to city centre to fill out our progress
record online and then we had a lesson with Artu. He had been 5
minutes late to our lesson on Thursday so he showed up with two
boquets of flowers for me and sister Hanks!! haha he is the nicest
guy. He said, "I hate late so this is my apology." haha. We taught him
then had another lesson at 4 with Carol! She is doing so well and
seeing a difference in her life since her baptism. We did some finding
after that and then came home for dinner and weekly planning.
Sunday:Church! Sarah and Leevoy came so that was great! I love sundays
on the mission! We went to service after church and then had a lesson
with one of the people that responded to our text when we were stuck
in traffic! His name is Taylor. He's chinese and he has already met
some of the elders through people they were teaching. We found out he
is in our area though so we taught him! We taught about God and prayer
and baptism. He asked, "Will God really listen to me even though i've
never spoken to him before, and I'm Asian?" hahah it sounds really
funny but he was totally sincere when he said it! We testified that
God would really hear him and that he loves ALL his children despite
their race. It was a powerful lesson and we really look forward to
seeing Taylor again! After that, we had a dinner appointment and then
went to a bit of ward choir.
It was a great week! I am still learning so much every day. I love it.
Today I had I really cool personal study. I was reading in the Ensign
from the april 2010 General conference. It was a lot about teaching
our children. I read one talk that really stood out about mothers
teaching their children. I started to read in Preach my gospel, the
introduction. I replaced the work "missionary" for "mother" and
"investigator" for "children". WOW! It totally changed everything and
made me realize that one of the biggest reasons I am here on a mission
is so that I can learn the skills to be able to teach my children the
gospel and also to gain the testimony so that I am fully converted. I
have such a testimony of Preach my Gospel and the amazing tool that it
is, not only in missionary work but in all aspects of my life. I will
study this book for the rest of my life and teach from it when I am a
parent. I am so thankful for my mission and all that I am learning. I
would encourage everyone to study from Preach my Gospel every day! I
know that as you do you, your understanding of the gospel will
increase, your desire to share it will increase, and your testimony
will be deepened! I love you all so much. Thanks for all your love and
support!
Love,
Sister Jensen <3