So Long Chicago!

July 23, 2018

So Long Chicago!

Elder Hollist and I visited downtown Chicago today!

Hello Everyone!

    Yes, I am saying good bye to Chicago. I will explain more about that at the end of this letter though. First, this week!

    Tuesday was a bunch of finding for awhile. Nothing too special happened with that. We ended up at Brother Carr house that afternoon, and we had a much better lesson than we had last time. That was nice. We then meandered our way over to see Jeremy. We went more in on the Word of Wisdom with him. He does understand what it can do for him, and he wants to do it. It is just that initial try in order to get off of the stuff that he is doing that is holding him back. The last lesson that day was with Matt Moenkamp, and we had a good talk with him about how the environments that we are in, and the people that we hang out with, can really influence what we do and how we act. It got him thinking a bit.

    Wednesday was my last District Meeting out here, and a bunch of the missionaries were shocked to hear that I was going. (again, I will get to that) I am really going to miss these Elders. I have made a lot of good friends out here. But, I got to give a training on how to invite people to be baptized, and I think that it was probably one of the best trainings that I have ever done. I was very satisfied with it. The rest of the day after studies though was spent in Bartlett. We had 2 really good stop by while we were up there (as in, the actually talked with us). The first was Douglas. He likes and respects what we do. He is a less active member, but he does not claim to be a member anymore, and he goes to another church. The second was a Polish member that lived two doors down, and we had a really good talk with him. He just hasn't been coming to church because of his health. We are going to try and get him set up with some Ministers. The night ended over at Barbara's place, where we are getting her more into studying the Book of Mormon. It is really cool to see what it has done for her already. She really likes to read it now, and it has brought a lot more focus to her conversations, and her life really.

    Thursday was good. Started out looking for people in Carol Stream, and then we came back to start Weekly Planning. We had to end it early though to make another trip down into Naperville, and the Mission Office. Missionaries always need supplies. When we came back, we got to eat with Elder Hollist's Bishop, who was in town for business. He is a pretty cool guy. Then we rallied at the apartment to do Splits. I went with Brother Filio to go and see Brother Carr first. We had a really good time with him, as we discussed the talk "Until Seventy Times Seven" from this past Conference with him. He really enjoyed that one. We also went to see the Scott family that night. That is an interesting family. They are less active because of something Brother Scott's dad did. I can kind of understand where they are coming from, but they are really holding on to the past hard here. We had a good talk though. It will take some time with them, but I am sure that they will make it back to church one day.

    Friday, we had a really good time finiding out in Wood Dale. I think the best one was an older lady, that basically asked us what time church was before we could say anything. As we got along in our conversation, another angry old lady came up, and tried to tell us off for soliciting, which we weren't. The lady we were contacting though started defending us hard core, and that made me super happy! We did lunch after that, and then we taught Ollienna and Kalea. They are doing alright. The are actually considering baptism a lot more now, which is awesome! They could be baptized next month is everything goes alright. We then went and finally met Richard Brogran. I have only ever talked with him over the phone. His health is pretty bad, but he is a wonderful man to talk with. We taught him a really good Restoration lesson, and we got a soft commitment to baptism from him. Yay! We then did dinner, and finished up Weekly Planning to end our night.

    On Saturday, we once again went to the Food Pantry. I am really going to miss that place. We even got in one more football game, which we won because we are awesome! We then did our studies and lunch, and went to see Sister Wells. We have started to teach her granddaughter, Ava, who is 7. She is a really sweet girl, and will be fun to teach. We tried some stop by with Brother Filio, but unfortunately, no one was home. So, we had some dinner, and then we did a little planning together.

    Sunday was a nice day. I said a lot of good byes at church. I am going to miss a lot of people here. But, Brother Filio was super nice, and he set up a lunch with a bunch of members, and I got to talk to a lot of them there. We then did a few studies, and we went to dinner with the Werner's. They are my new favorite. They made Katsu Chicken for me! Oh, it was so good! Dinner went for a bit, and after that, we went to MCM with Brother Filio to plan out the week.

    And now, to explain the title of this email. Yes, I am headed back to Washington. But I am not going home to regular life. Three weeks ago in an interview with my mission president, President Bingham told me that he feels that the work that I had to do out here in Illinois has been completed, and the Lord wants me back home to serve there. So, I have been reassigned by the 12 to serve the rest of my mission back to Washington, and I will finish my mission as a church service missionary. It will be a little different, but not much different than what I am doing now. I think the biggest difference is that I will get to work as an ordinance worker in the temple, which I am super excited about. I will be doing my Weekly Emails still, so don't worry about that. And I still would love to here how all of y'all are doing, so don't forget to keep in touch with me! Remember a few weeks ago when I talked about the Lord's timing? I have a firm testimony that this is how He is working now, and am ready for the challenge that is ahead of me. Thank y'all so much for all that you do! I hope y'all have a most excellent week wherever you are at!

Elder Jensen