Man, teaching Seminary was interesting.

May 14, 2018

Man, teaching Seminary was interesting.

I recognize why Seminary teachers have such a hard job!

Hello Everyone!

Well well, we had ourselves a pretty good week here in Bloomingdale. We started off with Exchanges with the Schaumburg 2nd Elders, Elder Lake and Elder Scoresby. We had a good time. I worked with Elder Lake for the whole day, though we tried really hard to get a switch in there somewhere. In the morning, I took Elder Lake to a park, and we had a really good heart-to-heart conversation. He has been struggling in his mission for a really long time, and I felt like he just needed someone to talk about it for a bit, especially since he wasn't getting along with his current companion very well.

After that, we were slammed with lessons. The first one that we went to was Geraldine, and we just had a pretty good time taking about the Plan of Salvation with her. She really enjoyed the video that we showed er called "Our Eternal Life". It is a most excellent one. After that we taught another Plan of Salvation to Joenil and Jia. They were both very receptive of it, though Joenil was trying harder than ever to get us to become nurses. She is a little crazy that way. We also got them to commit to a very soft commitment to baptism too, so we are going to work with that. After that, we drove up to Schaumburg because President wanted to interview Elder Lake, but we hit a bit of traffic so we had to reschedule that. Instead of heading straight back for dinner though, we decide to go and see a referral who was close by. His name is Rollie, and man, is he golden. We went to get him his Bible, and we just asked if we could come in and share a message, and he was down with. We proceeded to have a most excellent Restoration lesson with him. The Spirit was super strong in that room. It was amazing! Then, we drove back to Schaumburg to visit an investigator of Schaumburg 2nds who was in the hospital. He was a funny guy.

Wednesday, was my older sister Brooklin's birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BROOKLIN!!!! We had an excellent District Meeting that morning as well. A lot of talk about staying positive and working in unison with your companion. It was cool. Then there were some studies, and then we tried to have a pass off lesson with the Hermana's, but it felt through. We ran a few stop-by's after that. We then threw on some service cloths, and we helped Brother Calderon load up a bunch of bricks into his truck. That took a good minute because we had to drive a long time to get them, and drop them off. We had a good time with him though. We also got dinner with him afterwards, and that was great.

Thursday, we got up super early and we went to teach Seminary. Man, teaching Seminary was interesting. I recognize why Seminary teachers have such a hard job. I have more respect for them now. We had to teach about Moroni 8, which takes about infant baptisms, and that was interesting to try and make interesting to a group of tired teenagers. We managed though.
(By the way, in this church, we do not practice infant baptisms. We believe that no one is born into sin, for man will be punished for the own sins, and not for Adam's transgression. Little children are saved through the Atonement of Christ, and they are not accountable for their sins until they reach the age of 8 years old. Want to learn more? Here are a few links that can help you out, and you can always message me!)

Doctrin&Covenants 68(specifically verses 25-28):

An article that I found that is helpful:

After that, we came back to do studies, but I kind of zonked for 3 hours. I was a little tired. We just did a few morning stop bys after that, and then did lunch. We then went and helped Barbara finally get a family history account set up. It isn't a perfect one, but it will get her going. We helped her put in her parents information, and then we had to go(we were there for at least two hours trying to figure out how to get the dumb thing set up!). Then, we did Weekly Planning, and we had a pretty decent session of that. We then moved some furniture around for Brother Filio, and then we went to the Korbel's for dinner. Brother Korbel's wife isn't a member, and after eating we talked with her about it, to see if she wanted to learn. She basically has learned the whole Restoration already though, and she has been reading the Book of Mormon for awhile on own, so yes, she does want to learn. She is going to be fun to teach. To finish of the day, we went to the Calderon's, and we talked with them about Family Home Evening, and the importance of strengthening family relationships. It was a pretty cool talk.

Friday was decent. We started off worth some neighborhood finding, and we ended up at Brother Carr house. We had a long talk with him because he was struggling with some stuff. He was doing a lot better after that. After that and some lunch, we did a little bit more Weekly Planning because we had just a few more things to work through. We then hit up Addison, and wandered around there for awhile. We got to meet up with Sam again, which was great! We finally got his actual phone number, which is super helpful. We also got over to Sister Crippen's, as we helped her to move a dresser into her apartment. We then got together with Brother Filio for some dinner, and then we got more family history done for Barbara.

Saturday, we got to go to a baptism. Meka's kids, Dimond and Jay, were baptized. That was really awesome to be there for that. The Spirit was super strong there. And I think this has helped Meka a lot in her decision to be baptized. Well, we were there for a really long time, and eventually we got dropped back off at our apartment. We did a little bit of studying there, and made a few phone calls. We then walked to Geraldine to see her, but she had a death in the family, and there were a ton of people there. So, we left them to themselves, and we walked back(it is an hour walk each way by the way). That took us right into a late dinner with Brother Flio, and then we came back to await transfer calls. Yes, we did get one this time. Elder Parkinson will be leaving me, which stinks. He is a really good missionary, and I can see him doing many great things in his mission. He is going to Naperville 1st funny enough. He is taking my spot there. I know he is really going to do some good for that area. My new companion is actually someone that Elder Parkinson trained, which is pretty cool. His name is Elder Hollist, and he is from Shelly, Idaho. Elder Parkinson says that he is an awesome missionary, so I am excited to work with him!

Sunday, two great events happened. First, HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY MOMMA! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!! And second, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD! YOU ARE THE BEST, AND I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!! Sunday was a good day. We had a great Sacrament meeting about mothers, and how much of a blessing they are to or lives. After church, I went to Brother Filio house, and I got to call my family. Oh, it was so wonderful to see them, and to really be able to talk with them again. I love them so much! They are some of the best people that I know on this Earth, and I am grateful that I am sealed to them for time and eternity. I am so grateful that the Lord is blessing them as I am away from them, and I know the He will continue to do so. We had an MCM with Brother Filio after that, with a late lunch. After that, we went to dinner with the Medrano's, and that was fun. It was a house filled with Phillipino's. Just a little crazy, but still really fun.

So, that is about all for me. Man, I have had such a blast here this transfer. I just want to say though, that I would not be out here if it wasn't for my family. They have loved me and helped all throughout my life, and because of that, I was able to find the strength to come out here. I am so grateful for them, and all that they do for me! I hope that y'all have a great week wherever you are at!

Elder Jensen