Walking around in the fountain at the temple

I planted these flowers

Hello Everyone!

I AM SO SORRY!!!! last week on the day that I usually write, I got hung up with some other things, and I never had time to come back in and get this sent out. But, here we are, and for an extra special one at that. That will be later on though.

So, last week Wednesday was the last day that the temple was closed for, so I spent that day doing a lot of little detail clean ups around the grounds, which mostly included blowing leaves around, a bit of mowing, and then getting some nice dark mulch spread in the new bed that we put in over the closure period. You would be surprised at how much a difference mulch makes for the look of a flower bed!

Thursday was Thanksgiving, and I spent the day with an Aunt and Uncle out in Yelm, and we all had a most excellent time together. Friday was a short day for me at the temple. Only Jordan and I showed up, because everyone else had the day off. We again just cleaned up a few little things, since everything was looking pretty good anyway. I'll tell you what though, that was the first day that I had been there with the temple reopened, and that was pretty weird, with all the people just walking around it.

Saturday I spent some time at the Discovery Center, and we actually had some decent traffic through there. What was really cool was some Russian Sisters came in with one of the people they are teaching(we call them "Friends" up here instead of "investigators")and we got to walk them all through, and their friend had a really good time learning about family history. He said that he is going to make himself an account, and then come back in. 

On Sunday, my Dad gave a really awesome lesson in Elders Quorum about scripture study and how we can make it more meaningful to ourselves and our families. I think that my biggest takeaway from that was to really see how the scriptures can connect to each other. Not just the stuff you see in the margins, but really trying to go through and link other things together that you find, and to get the Revelation that you need form them.

On Monday, Jordan and I started off going to the fountain at the front of the temple, and cleaning it out. There were a ton of leaves in it, and a bunch of dirt, since it hadn't really been used for three months. Don't worry, I wasn't breaking any mission rules walking around in it. I am not allowed to swim, but it didn't say anything about walking around in fountains. Then it was just more clean up.

Cleaning the fountain

I promise I'm not swimming...

So, now we get to this past week, so the reason That I did not write last week Tuesday, was because I was out with the Elders for a long time. I went to District Meeting like normal, but afterwards, I ended up going to help out with a move with the Elders from my ward, and another set. We had a good time there. Then I ended up driving around for a bit, because I had to take both sets of Elders to different places, and that took up some time. I was happy to help out though.

Wednesday I was a little late to getting the temple, but I still got a bit done. That day we blew more leaves out of the way, went to one of the beds and raked it smooth, and I went over and attacked a bunch of weeds that were growing in another bed. It was a small bed, so you wouldn't think that it would take any time, but man, I just kept finding weeds everywhere in there!

Thursday was great! I went in the temple for the first time in a long time, and I had such a wonderful and peaceful time. It just felt so good to be back in there. And guess what? While I was in there, I ran into a General Authority who was visiting. His name was Elder Jörg Klebingat of the Seventy. I actually didn't know that it was him until after I left the temple. That was pretty cool. Remember him though. After that, I went home to change, and then I went to the Discovery Center. Again, we had a few more people come in than normal. It is nice to have the temple open and right next to the Center, because people usually wander in from up there.

Friday, I became a professional flower planter at the temple. I went up to the President's house and put some stuff in the pots up there, and then I spent a bit of time at the traffic circle planting a couple of flowers in there. That was pretty fun.

Saturday was amazing! I went to the Discover Center as per usual, and had a good time in there. I then went out to Kirkland, where I, along with 11 other YSA's in the area, were invited to attend a dinner with Elder Klebingat and Elder Godoy of the Seventy, before attending a Devotional that the were going to be the speakers at. Man, that was freaking awesome, to dine with General Authorities, and to talk with them. We had a pretty cool talk about how we can love the people around us who may not be doing the right things. I really liked it, and the Devotional afterwards was awesome!

On Sunday, we had Stake Conference, and I once again got to hear from Elder Klebingat. That man is a great speaker, and I like him. He really hit it on point then he was talking about the Atonement in his talk, and it really showed me how much of a gift the Atonement of Jesus Christ is.

And finally on Monday, I spent the entire day spreading more mulch in two of the front beds at the temple. I got really good at the shovel and throw method of spreading much. I think I am quite the pro actually.

But, that is about it for me. I do hope that y'all have a most excellent week wherever you are at!

Elder Jensen

More flowers at the temple 

This nativity is made from a 2000 year old olive tree in Israel

This nativity is made out of recycled soda cans!

My mom and I at the temple.  It has been closed for three months for maintenance and repairs.