Hello Everyone,
I dearly hope that your New Years
was safe and that you are spending the first weeks of it gearing up for another
great year!!! I hope that everyone has set their New Years’ resolutions!! My
mission president said this in his last letter to us "A
new year brings about a desire in our lives to make changes. We all make
resolutions about getting healthier, losing weight, being better in some way
and unfortunately, most of the time we are only diligent with that resolution
for a week or so. While many of us may take our New Year’s resolutions
seriously, some of us may not have made any because of our prior problems in
keeping them. However, we must not overlook the power that making good
resolutions to conform our lives more closely to what we know about the gospel
can bring in helping us make our lives happier and more successful – regardless
of our past performance in keeping our resolutions." - President Nicholas.
I know that I certainly fell into this trap last year, and I can say that I
haven't been doing the best with my goals yet this year, but I know that
Heavenly Father know each of us, and that when we work towards our goals, he
will give us the means and strength to accomplish that which is within his
will.
As I said last week, we got snow the day after
Christmas on Boxing Day. And of course it hasn't been that much better weather
wise since the week has gone on. Yesterday it was a "bitter cold" of
-19 with a wind-chill of -31... I don't know how cold that is in Fahrenheit... but
enough with the weather. As far as the work has gone we have had a pretty good
week. Every one before the New Year was telling us that we could come back in
the New Year. It being the New Year, no one really has an excuse anymore!
On Tuesday, we stopped by Marriana, our 16
year old investigator from Venezuela and had a very spiritual experience
reading with her out of the Book of Mormon. She reads from a Spanish copy and
we read from our English copies... I must say that sometimes I wish that I
could understand Spanish. We read Alma 32 with her, and she enjoyed talking
about it and even brought up her own points as we read along. She told us that
she was going to come to church with us this week (EVEN AFTER SHE KNEW THAT IT
STARTED AT 9AM), and we told her that we would pray for her as she went off to
her job interview. She did try to come to church. We offered to get her a ride,
but her and her friend said that they would take the train and when they tried
their phones wouldn't work when they tried to find the bus station they needed
to go to. It was sad not to have her at church, but the good part is that she
tried and that is half the battle.
We also did quite a bit of less active work on
Tuesday, and we hope to be able to strengthen those in our ward even more that
they will desire to come back to church.
Wednesday we had quite the experience downtown.
At about the end of our time downtown time (we go from 1:30-4), we were talking
to this older couple when an older Muslim gentleman came by and wanted to talk
religion with us. We told him sure but that it would be a nice conversation and
that we wouldn't bash with him. Because it was cold outside, we went into one
of the buildings around the park we were at (Where they actually freeze it over
and ice skate on) and there was a Muslim Mosk in it. We went inside and talked
to him about beliefs and he said that he lived in the NE and had been to the
Calgary temple and was given a Book of Mormon…Kind of a cool experience.
Actually everyone we met downtown this week was from a different country. We
met two from the Czech Republic, two from Croatia, one from the Congo, two
Russian, an Irish, two from Hungary, and two from India. Come to think of
it, I don't think that I actually met anyone downtown that day that was from
Canada. Hmm.
Thursday and Saturday where really good days for
our investigator Janet. We decided on Thursday (Thursday is weekly planning
day) that we needed to help her to see the big picture. She has been taught all
of the lesson at least once since she started learning in June, be we thought
that going over the Plan of Salvation with her would be a great way to help her
keep the "end in mind" as our mission President likes to say. We
shared the first half with her on Thursday at our Ward Mission Leader's house,
and when we asked her if she remembered what the Plan of Salvation was, she
said no! Sister Gardner always says that she loves it when people have
questions because that means that we get to start teaching. The first half went
pretty well. Sister Gardner has a cute but simple cut out for the Plan of
Salvation, so it was nice to be able to use. On Saturday we gave the second
half of the lesson over at Sister Palmer and Sister Unique's house. This part
of the lesson went really well. Before we went in I prayed that we would be
able to teach simply and to Janet's needs and by the end she was asking
questions and participating in the lesson. She seemed really excited about the
Plan of Salvation and said that it made a lot of sense to her. At the end she prayed
(which she only does if it is a good lesson), and she said that she appreciated
that we taught "simply"!!! She came to church on Sunday, even though
it was 9 am. Also on Saturday we had 3 new investigators that we picked up!!
The work is moving forward.
This being my mission year, my focus has been
trying to understand and come closer to my savior Jesus Christ. Sister Gardner
yesterday said something that I didn't understand, so I tried to apply it in my
studies this morning. She said "without the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we
could not do anything". As I studied about the Atonement this morning, I
came across a scripture in the Doctrine and Covenants that said the He is the
light by which all things are govern. This statement made a lot of sense to me
as I pondered over it and learned that it is by Christ that we have all things
in this world. It is by Him that we know how to be happy and what will bring us
happiness. It is by Him that we can find the strength that we need to become
more like Him, where we can accomplish the goals that we have set for this New Year.
I am learning more and more every day of the need for my Savior, and as I am
learning, my desire to share that with others has grown. I love all of you very
much and hope again that the first week of 2015 has treated you kindly. Thank
you for all of your love and support.
Love Always,
Sister
Kelliann Jensen
Hi Mommy!!
I did get pretty cold around here yesterday and the day before.
It was about -19 with a wind chill of -31, which I am not sure how that
converts in Fahrenheit. Thank you for the packages that will be wonderful to
have some extra layers to put on underneath. I must say that I am a little
afraid for when I have to pack to leave Evergreen. I might not be able to fit
my clothing in my suitcases again.... Our New Years was pretty good :) We
didn't really do much because we have to be in by 6 pm but Sister Gardner did
wax my eyebrows and we had a facial, other than that nothing really all that
exciting. We went to bed at 10:30 like usual, and the next day went on as
planned.
Sister Peters took down most of her decorations this week too,
so I can understand that feeling that the New Year brings. It is hard to stop
listening to the Christmas music and to take down the tree, but it is also nice
to get the New Year rolling. Poor O'Malley...there must be a way that we can get him
to eat slower…ha-ha. However I don't think that we will never get him
to lick himself less. Willow, the Peter's dog has been having problems this
week as well with a bladder infection. That is the second one since I have been
here. Poor dog! Things have been going pretty well here. Saturday we had 3 new
investigators picked up, but I will tell you more in the family letter. I love
you lots mom and hope that the beginning of your new year has been full of fun
and relaxation.
Love you lots,
Kelliann (Sister Jensen)
Dad,
Happy 2015! New Years was pretty relaxed here in Calgary. We had
to be inside by 6 o'clock, so after downtown, Sister Gardner and I went to a
Vietnamese place for dinner and then went home. The Peters went to a movie and
Britney went to a couple of parties, so we basically enjoyed some time at home
getting our eyebrows waxed and doing facials. We went to bed at the normal
10:30, and then got up at the normal 6:30. So nothing all too exciting, but hey
it was nice to relax and enjoy the time that we had. Do you have a New Years’
resolutions this year? I must say that I haven't been doing the best on the
ones that I set for myself ha-ha... maybe I should work on them. Yesterday was
"bitterly cold" in the words of Sister Gardner. We were out from 7 at
night to 9 and it was -19 with a wind chill of -31. That is about cold in
Fahrenheit. Luckily we have our car. We had a pretty great week as far as the
work went, but I will expound more on that when I send my family letter. I love
you!! I am sure that your organ playing was wonderful and that you are just
being hard on yourself like usual. Have a great week!!
Kelliann
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