Service With A Splatter.

My arm after service on Friday

Hello everyone!

This week has been alright. Tuesday we had to go and get our car fixed in the morning because there was a screw in the back tire. That was only gonna take about an hour, but the power in the shop went out, so it ended up taking around 3 hours. Thank goodness the mall was right across the way. We went over there and tried talking to some people, and we actually met this pretty cool guy that is trying to share out his religion too. We talked to each other about ways that we use and people we meet, and he enjoyed the talk. We did not end up setting up a lesson with him, but that was still a cool experience.

The next day, Elder Lund set District Meeting on fire with a super powerful training on how we should approach missionary work, and how we can help members really get more involved in it. Something that he mentioned that I liked was that really, if there is no motivation to do work, no one is going to do it, which is so true. We must approach the members that we teach in a way that gets them motivated about missionary work, otherwise they will not see a point to it. That is not good, because we all made a covenant (promise with God) at baptism to share this gospel with others around us, so that to me is some pretty good motivation to do it.

Thursday was a pretty big day. We had our interviews with President Griffen that day, and that was some good stuff. He gave me some good advice on how I can try and get better sleep (I am still getting very little sleep for who knows what reason, but I really don't like it) and he told me to try and get a blessing soon, which I will do today. He also talked to me about my companion, and how I need to make sure he stays focused through his last transfer. Though, he kind of countered that by basically telling me that I am getting transferred to a new area. So, this week could possibly be my last in the Naperville 4th ward, which I am really going to miss if it does happen, but hey, if the Lord needs me somewhere else, then I am needed somewhere else. I will not officially know until Saturday though, so I have another week.

Man, it is weird how time can fly by like it does. I still feel like I haven't been here that long,but it is already coming up to 5 months here in a few weeks. That is crazy! The main thing of Friday was more service for Sister Williams. I finished painting all the white on her shed, and I painted her garage and brought that back to life. I also learned a valuable lesson. You really have to get as much paint out of the roller as you can before you spray it off, because that stuff gets everywhere. I turned my arms and a good portion of my face white from that. We are going to go back again next week to do some more work for her (I think we are going to be cleaning up the outside of her house, but I am not a hundred percent sure on that).

Saturday was not that exciting of a day, unless you think the word "No" is the best thing in the work to hear. I will say, trying to find people to teach this week has been a real struggle. Elder Faimalo and I are trying our hardest, but our words just keep falling on deaf ears. It is a little disheartening, but everyone goes through it, so we use have to put on the Big Boy Pants and keep on going.

And Sunday was really cool, because the Bishop kind of called out the Ward a little because they had a  goal this year to baptize 12 people, and they are still at 0. He did it in a super nice way though, and basically just asked everyone to fast this Sunday for opportunities to share the gospel, and to know who they need to share it to. It was a really cool little speech.

Elder Faimalo and I also sang in the impromptu ward choir. Every couple of weeks, they just put in a song for the rest hymn, and they put "impromptu choir" before it, meaning that anyone in the congregation can get up and sing the hymn up front on the stand, which is pretty cool. We went up for two reasons. One, not a lot of people were coming up this week for some reason so we helped out and two, both of us were knocking out in our pew, and we needed a few minutes to stand up. It worked.

And for today, not much has happened yet, but we are about to go and get our shopping done, and then probably lots of basketball later. So, that is all for now I suppose. I hope that y'all are having a most blessed week, and are being awesome where ever you are. Have fun y'all!

Elder Jensen

PS from Mom's letter:  Something that they stress a lot out here on the mission, is to always listen for the Spirit, and act on any promoting immediately. I am still trying to work on that, but I am getting a little better at it as I go along. Keep those Spiritual ears open, because you never know when the Lord is going to call you to do something for Him.

{Insert from Mom's letter to Elder Jensen for clarification: I read the mission letter for August this week. I guess the new lady forgot to send it to the parents, but anyway, she finally did. I didn't know your mission had a blog (by Sister Griffin), and I read it and  got to see so many pictures of you at zone conference and new missionary training, and the baseball game!!  It was a happy day to see you just being a missionary! The letter said that they have 20!! new missionaries coming to your mission this transfer and 30!!! new missionaries next transfer and that everyone needed to be ready and willing to train them!  That is a ton of new missionaries! That also might mean you will be back to riding a bike soon...  How are you preparing to be a leader and not a learner?  I think you have a ton of awesome leadership qualities and would be an awesome trainer...but hopefully if they transfer you to a new area, they don't also whitewash it with you and a greenie, so hopefully you can wait to be a trainer until next transfer. 😊}


And yeah, there are a ton of new missionaries coming out theses next couple of transfers. If I do get transferred to train, I am going to be whitewashing an area because there really just isn't enough missionaries out here right now to take new missionaries into their areas. That is going to be fun if that happens, but I think I can do it. I think I am mostly just looking back on how my trainers have been, to help me out and seeing what worked and what did not, and seeing what things where necessary.

Also, I think that the best thing that I can do to help a new missionary out is to just be myself. A new missionary does need someone that will make sure they stay in line with the rules, but they also need a friend will be there to support them and help them out when things get rough. So, I need to be on that fine medium so that I can help this kid be the best missionary that he can be. I am going to get a blessing today from a couple of Elders (when they get here) so that is going to get settled pretty quick.

They have a huge carousel in the Mall we were walking around in on Tuesday while we waited for our car tire to be fixed.

My face covered in paint splatter

My other arm and jeans after service on Friday.

We saw this in someone's yard when we were walking in a neighborhood and thought it was pretty cool.