Way out West! 1.19.15

With the WMU Bronco

Dear Family,

"The purpose and central blessing of life is change." (Elder Lawrence E. Corbridge). I've had to remind myself of this quote A LOT this week. Change! And a lot of it!

Wyoming is wonderful. It's almost a 180 degree difference from Kalamazoo.Yesterday we had over 200 people at church! I think the past couple weeks at the KUB we had an average of 20 people. Everyone is extremely nice and there's definitely a warm and inviting Spirit in the Wyoming Ward. I had forgotten how loud family wards are and also how wonderful it is to hear the Primary sing. Hearing the primary sing brought tears to my eyes, mostly because I was laughing so hard. The children were singing "A Child's Prayer" and the girls were singing the first verse while the boys sang the second. You can tell who felt comfortable up there because the girls were strung out in a row along the front of the wall while the boys all clumped together for strength and support. Hearing the boys sing was like listening to a bag pipe warming up. It was THE BEST. I love that song and I tried to be reverent but my thoughts were making me laugh so hard. Hopefully it came across as the new sister being overcome with emotion. I had to wipe away some tears that were leaking out so that may have convinced some people. I know that I will love this ward.

Wyoming is also a door knocking area which has been a pretty big adjustment. I felt lost for the first couple of days. I had totally forgotten how to talk to people with families! Sister Morrison has been so patient with me and I really appreciate it because it's been a bumpy ride on the struggle bus. Heavenly Father has so graciously reminded me of how weak I am and how much more I need to rely on Him. He's definitely not letting me get comfortable haha. I've been praying more earnestly for charity and love for these people as well. It's so hard not to get frustrated with people when you've been as clear with them as you can be and they still choose to reject the truth. Sometimes I ponder the quote by Elder Holland as I door knock:

 "Anyone who does any kind of missionary work will have occasion to ask, Why is this so hard? Why doesn’t it 

go better? Why can’t our success be more rapid? Why aren’t there more people joining the Church?... I am 

convinced that missionary work is not easy because salvation is not a cheap experience. Salvation never was 

easy. We are The Church of JesusChrist, this is the truth, and He is our Great Eternal Head. How could we 

believe it would be easy for us when it was never, ever easy forHim? It seems to me that missionaries and 

mission leaders have to spend at least a few moments in Gethsemane. Missionaries andmission leaders have to take at least a step or two toward the summit of Calvary." I have tried to do as the apostles did and "[rejoice] that [I am] counted worthy to suffer shame for His name." It is a special experience to represent the Savior.

Sis. Jensen and Sis. Carter

Although finding has been rough, there are a lot of things to be happy for: we have someone on date!! His name is Ian and he's pretty awesome. He has had a pretty rough life but ran into the Spanish Branch elders back in August and has been learning ever since. Ian is on date to be baptized on the 21st of February and we're doing all we can to prepare him!

Also, the BEST NEWS EVER came last Saturday: BIN IS GETTING BAPTIZED!!!! Sister Carter and Sister Chatman called me on Saturday to tell me that two of the people we were teaching at WMU are on date!! It was the happiest moment of my mission probably. I was bouncing up and down in the slush squealling. Yup, squealing. Bin asked the sisters what more he needed to do to be baptized and their mouths just about dropped open. I am so so so so so happy!!!!! Also, Taylor set her date!!! We felt really impressed that she needed to set her own date so we invited her to pray about it and she told them that she wanted to be baptized on February 21st! Looks like I'll be making a couple trips to Kalamazoo this transfer!! Seriously, I could not be more happy. It's one of the greatest feelings/experiences to watch people grow and progress in the Gospel. :)

But that's about that. Funny experience real quick. My first dinner appointment in Wyoming was probably the best one ever. Sister Morrison is allergic to almost every food except meat, rice and potatoes, so we had "Meat Treat" for dinner: Chicken wrapped in bacon and covered in gobs of barbeque sauce. My arteries exploded just looking at it. It was so good though and I don't regret eating it. About halfway through the dinner the nine year old boy gets a serious look on his face and asks us, "Do you ever wonder how Mexicans get to Africa?" Why yes, I've been contemplating that very thing. I just about died laughing. I know I'm going to love it here. ;)

Trailblazing

The Church is true and Christ is at its head. Remember that.

Love you!

Sister Jensen