Now I'm Lyin' on the Cold Hard Ground...

Me, Elder Kish and Elder King (rocking his sister's shirt) and Elder Bolton in the background

Hello everyone!

This week honestly was one that not much happened in. It almost felt like kind of a break (compared to last week though with our move, oh yeah did it feel easy). It started out with another trip to Golden Corral, courtesy of Caption Mike once again. That was as good as it always has been.

We also had interviews with President Griffen this week, and that was pretty enlightening. Something that came up in that was that we were having trouble finding new people to teach, and he suggested that we really need to use our members more in finding new investigators. What he asked us to do was have each member family write down a list of names of those that come to their mind when they think of people that might be ready to hear the gospel, and then give a really sincere prayer over that list, and see who in that list sticks out to them. They should then work with that person, and really prepare them to be taught by the missionaries, whether it is having gospel discussions with them, or just being that good example to that person and creating a positive environment for them so that they can really feel the Spirit while they are around them. That is something that we are going to do with our member lessons, and in fact, we just did it this Sunday. A follow up for that is set for a month from now, but I will probably not be around here for. Oh well.

I also went on exchanges this week. It was alright, but not much happened on that exchange. I did learn a valuable lesson from that though, and that is the time that we have for daily planning should be taken very seriously. The Elder that I was with did not really plan out the day very well, and I couldn't help all that much because I was not familiar with the area we were working in and had no knowledge of the people that need to be taught, and he ended up changing our plans 3 or 4 times while we were out, and we did not get a lot done. Yeah, I decided that I need to make sure that planning is taken very seriously.

Also, I wasn't that productive because I was up until 4 am because their floor was not a very comfortable place to sleep, and they had a freezing apartment, which I would normally be okay with, but my blanket is not big enough to cover my body, and I was playing a shifty game with the blanket all night, until I finally wised up and put some socks on (I was too stubborn because I did not want to get up, but I should really have just gotten up). I was very tired that day.

The day after that though was a much better day. Elder Faimalo and I went with our Zone Leaders and another companionship to help a nonmember move her stuff to her new apartment.....on the 12th floor. What was really funny was she also got 6 or 7 other young adults out there to help, and it was super funny to see 8 of us pack into and elevator with a bunch of stuff, then move it out, go down, and see the crowd of people waiting at the bottom to watch us all pile out of the elevator (there was this grumpy old lady that was sitting there the whole time and kept telling everyone who passed by the story of all these people who kept making all of this noise and were leaving a mess in her entryway). I had a super fun time at the move though, and the other people there bought like 15 pizzas for us, and we just ate them all and talked with them for like an hour. It was great!

The next days after that though was just a bunch of lessons falling through, so not much happened. Sunday was a nice day though. We just had a really fun time at church, and we got in with some investigators that we have been trying to get in with because they have a busy schedule. They have decided that they like to meet with us on Sunday evenings, which is great because I love them so much. They are just so humble, and we have great discussions whenever we go over there. We might even see the at church soon, which would be fantastic! Well, I guess that is about all for this week. I hope that y'all are having a good one!

Elder Jensen

From his letter to mom:

Mom: Why the heck did you have to sleep on the floor in a cold apartment??  That doesn't sound right. Do you always have to sleep on the floor when you go on exchanges?

Elder Jensen:  I slept on the floor because usually on exchanges the missionaries usually offer up a bed for you to sleep on since you are visiting, but they did not do that this time. I honestly would have been fine if my blanket had fit me, but It did not. I have fixed that problem though, and have bought a blanket that actually fits. I will make sure to hold on to it for as long as I can.

Mom: What kind of things happen in a President Griffen interview?  Are you being transferred next week?

Elder Jensen: Not much happened in my interview. President just came by to see our new apartment and to check up on us. He does that once every 6 weeks. It does not happen in our apartment all the time though. We usually go to his office or do it at a church building. I do not know yet if I am going to be transferred. I don't want to because a lot of stuff just happened in this area that I want to be around for, but I will more than likely be transferred because President tries to make sure that trainers and trainees are not together after training is done. Transfer calls are on Saturday though, so I at least have another week.

Mom: What is your favorite thing about your companion?

Elder Jensen: He is always  positive and happy. It takes a lot to get him down or mad, and he always keeps going (even if he is a bit of a chilled out Elder.)

Mom: What is something we can specifically pray about for you, for this week?

Elder Jensen: If you would like to pray for something, I think it would be that we can find more people that are willing to listen to us. Specifically in Naperville area, because over there, the attitude is "We have money so we don't need Jesus." 

This photo is from Wednesday morning. It was raining so bad. It sounded like the roof was going to fall in from how hard and how much rain was falling. And a couple hours after this, it looked like nothing had ever happened. Illinois is weird.

Not too many pictures this week.  I didn't have my camera with me most of the week.  One of the Elders "stole" my camera last week on P-day and took these pictures.  (They didn't keep it, just took pictures and put it back in my bag.  I didn't see these until today!)

Elder King

Elder Faimalo looking fabulous and Elder Rogers looking annoyed

A blurry Elder Rawlings