Hoppy Easter

Hello all;

This week has been full of many wonderful miracles and exciting times!! Let me start off with some updates!!!

Unfortunately Morgan will not be getting baptized this week. We had to push back her date due to some difficulties with permission. Please keep her in your prayers that she will be able to stay strong in this time of trial....

Okay bad news over! Our investigators are actually doing really well!! We have had some really awesome opportunities this week to build and share our testimonies with the people that we have come to really love. The Lord has really been helping Sister Kendrick and I to figure out what we need to do in this area and we are working to find ways to help our ward to come closer together as well as closer to our investigators and less-actives!!

We were talking on Friday that we needed to talk in the ward!! On Saturday, Brother Mediano called us and asked us to speak...on SUNDAY. So happily we accepted and prepared our talks on How to build trust in the Lord. I talked about how the Plan of Salvation or God's plan for us helps us to know the way back to Him. It is clear, simple, and has been and continues to be tried and tested by many people. However, this doesn't mean that we don't have to learn to trust that plan for ourselves. The Savior set His example, but that also means that we have to learn to follow that example. As a missionary I have learned to be very grateful for every trial and experience that I have. Each on strengthens me, allows me to grow, and also helps me to know with an utmost faith that God's way is the best way. I love my Heavenly Father who allows us to have agency so that we can learn. grow, and then learn from our mistakes. I am also grateful that he allows us to have the Plan set out, that we might learn in that way. Sister Kendrick did amazing on her talk as well!! I am so proud of her and the progress that she has made. She is great with all of our investigators, and I love seeing the evidence that she is needed here.

Yesterday our ward had a linger longer for the 5th Sunday. Kirsten and Lochlan came and the food was GONE by the time that we were done. We had a few technical difficulties when we wanted to show the #BecauseHeLives video, but we invited every one to watch it and to share it. Last night, we were trying to figure out what to do so we called Kirsten and asked her if we could teach Lochlan (her 17 year old autistic). She said that she and him were just headed out for a walk, and we asked if we could go with her. We ended up going to the park, Sister Kendrick and Kirsten walked behind us while Lochlan and I had the first discussion. Things are going well in the Northeast!! Sister Kendrick and I are going to the Calgary Tower with the STLs and a few other Sisters!! We will have to let you know how it is!!! Pictures to come!! I love you all... Have a fantastic Easter week. Also don't forget about General Conference this Saturday AND Sunday!!!

Love,

Sister Kelliann Jensen

Hi Dad!!

Thank you for the wonderful update on the family! I am not surprised about Josh and his promotion!! I hope that he is doing well and that he is enjoying his time in Cali!!! This week has been full of lots of tender mercies, hard times for some of our investigators and wonderful times too. Sister Kendrick and I both had the opportunity to talk in church on Sunday after being called about it the day before!! You will be proud to know that the two times that I have spoken on my mission, I have only used notes, and not written it out!! I feel like my mission has helped me become a must more confident person! I am starting a spiritual prompting book this week and a tender mercies book!! I will be using these to help me to draw closer to my father in Heaven!! I can't believe that March will be over tomorrow and that Easter is already here. I feel like just yesterday I was talking to you on the computer over Skype!

Sister Kendrick and I want to do a musical number in our ward. She plays that Violin and I told her that we have lots of pieces that we could choose from at home... do you think that you could scan in a couple to look at??? I love you lots. I continue my streak of not wearing shoes when I talk in church... I always end up playing the organ!! I love you! Have a great week! EASTER IS FANTASTIC AND I AM EXCITED FOR GENERAL CONFERENCE!!

Sister Jensen!!

Welcome to Spring...ish!

Hello Everyone!!! 

Happy First Week of Spring! Sorry for the late email. Our library seems to not like us to email because whenever we go, we either have to wait for a long time, or it is closed... this week it was closed so we are emailing in the family history center. Can I just tell you that I love serving in the North East!! I also love serving with Sister Kendrick. This week I think that the theme has been work. Work and diligence...and Courage to do the work. As missionaries we teach people every day about the gospel. We share our testimonies, we teach about the commandments and about the restoration, we ultimately teach about the atonement... but do we recognize and apply the Atonement ourselves. I absolutely love that when I am going through a rough patch, that Heavenly Father places in my day little themes that I seem to learn the best from. I really enjoy these themes because it helps me to recognize the things that my Father in Heaven wants me to learn. This week has been working to develop our spiritual strength. The key word here is work. We cannot just sit back and pray and expect for Heavenly Father to grant us our wish. Instead it is about making goals, striving to live according to the will of our Father, and doing our best to do our best. THIS DOESN'T MEAN THAT WE WILL BE PERFECT. In fact, I have learned this week that sometimes Heavenly Father allows us to go down a path a little wrong so that we can learn. That is the point of mortality. To learn for ourselves that we are and can do the will of the Lord. I love the fact that my Father in Heaven really and truly knows who I am and what I need. Now it is just having the courage to do those things. My mission president sent this quote in his weekly email this week... 

"Courage becomes a living and attractive virtue when it is regarded not as a willingness to die manfully, but the determination to live decently.” (Ensign May, 1972).

Okay so now on to the details of this week!! 

As you know I am now on Facebook!! This has been a great yet at the same time slow process to get used to. Sister Kendrick and I have been making plans on how we can use Facebook as an effective missionary tool. We have decided because of the new initiative that the church is putting out called Because He Lives! we are inviting everyone in the ward to hand out one pass-along card. Then we are going to follow up on Facebook and possibly start finding and teach through those experiences that the members have had. This is also helping us to get to know the members so that we can increase the trust between us and them. Our ward has had 6 new missionaries in the past 6 months, which can make it difficult for the ward to really get to know missionaries well enough to trust us with their friends. We have also been doing a lot of personal finding. We have been going through the area book and looking at all of the potential or past investigators for our areas and focusing on a few a day, this also means that we have been doing a lot of tracting and street contacting. I am happy to report that I have finally gotten over most of my fear of talking to people. Sister Kendrick and I have made a goal to talk to everyone, and we have been doing really well on this. Yesterday we walked all the way around an area called Taradale contacting Less-actives and potentials, as well as street contacting any one we can across. We got a few new potentials and some Facebook potentials that we hope to pick up and teach. Things are going well here in the North East. Morgan gets baptized in 2 weeks. She is nervous because Bishop is getting baptismal permission from her parents today. We are fasting for her, but we know that everything will work out. Jasleen, our 14 year old investigator came to church yesterday and is going to continue to come!! She has been having a really hard time with her testimony recently, but things seem to have worked out. I love this gospel. I love being on a mission. If you have time on Saturday or on look at the website Helives.mormon.org. I invite everyone to watch it, and to share it with someone, whether on Facebook or in person. This gospel has become a part of who I am and helps me to know that you have a loving Heavenly Father that has brought forth His plan through His Son Jesus Christ and His Atonement. If you have any cool stories about sharing this video (it comes out on Saturday)... Please email me and or let me know on Facebook!!! If you haven't added me to Facebook yet I am under Sister-Kelliann Jensen. I love you all have a great week!!

Sister Kelliann Jensen 

Hi Mom!! 

Oh do I know this feeling oh so well!! This is something that I have been learning this week too. Having faith enough and courage enough to become and be the person that your Father in Heaven wants you to be, and then working to become that person, know that Christ and His Atonement will make up the difference that you can't do for yourself. https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1997/04/endure-and-be-lifted-up?lang=eng&query=Faith+to+Endure

This is a talk that I read a while back... 

I am excited to get to work with Adelina over Facebook. Hopefully what I say can make a difference in her life. I don't have a lot of time this week, but I am going to try to write you a letter this week with more detail!! I love you. I did get your package!! I LOVE THE DRESS!!!!! I am going to wear it to our baptism on the 3rd and then to Conference on the 5th. You should take Mandy and Leah to the General Relief Society Conference this Saturday at 6!!! It should be really good. Have a great week!!!  

Sister Kelliann 

Thank you Daddy,

I am learning a lot about having the courage to do and become the person that God wants you to be. I think that is something that I have always had a hard time with, know that Heavenly Father sees me for who I can become, but also being able to except that. It is a work in process, but I am loving my mission more and more. I love you so much. We have a baptism on April 3rd!! We are really excited about it. I have been getting money from Grandma almost monthly, so I used it to get Morgan a nice quad. She is 13 and doesn't have the money or means to buy one herself. Thank you so much for the example that you are to me and others!!! 

Love Sister Kelliann 

Feels like Spring... and then of course it Snows.

Hello Family!!!

What a crazy week!! Spring felt like it had come this week!! It was upwards to like 10 degrees Celsius most days and the sun was shining! Of course this is Calgary, so the beautiful weather only seems to be able to last for a little while. On Saturday it was windy as all get out!!! We almost where blown away and the wind was a whistling through the windows! Then of course by today it had snowed. Gotta love Calgary!!

I REALLY LOVE THE NORTH EAST!!!

So first news of the week!! KOUL GOT BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY!!! He is our child of record that got to be baptized by his older brother!! What a sweet moment. Unfortunately he is little and his brother is really tall so they had a bit of trouble getting him dunked, but all is well and Koul and Emanuel (his older brother) where both good sports about it.

We had mine and Sister Kendrick's first apartment inspection this week!! We got a 9 out of 10 (apparently they don't give 10s). They kept commenting on how we did a great job with the limited space that we have... really it is quite tiny. I got to take Sister Kendrick downtown this week!! It is always fun to go downtown. We seem to always find a member that we can invite to give a book of Mormon out. We also met a past investigator of the Mandarin Elders in EVERGREEN on the train!!! She said that her name was Ellen (totally recognized the name), and we got to have a short lesson with her before we got to our street contacting. She is going to be picked back up by the Elders in the area soon!! So exciting!! God works in mysterious ways!

We had a really cold miracle this week that we went to go talk to a potential investigator and she wasn't home. When we turned to go, a boy named Chris came outside to smoke. We said hi and talked to him and he said that we could talk to him for a while. Sister Kendrick and I shared a totally by the spirit 10 minute version of the Restoration, gave him a Book of Mormon, and got his contact information. Because he is 20 we decided that it would be best to hand him off to the Young Single Adults elders who should have had a lesson with him last night. Speaking of YSA, about 3 months ago Sister Gardner and I found a man downtown named Nana Sabiti. He was interesting in learning more, so we got his contact information and gave it to the Mission Office to hand off to the missionaries in his area. Turns out that his area was actually the North East and on my first day here I was like "what he lives here and I was just transferred here???". Well apparently the sisters before me went to contact him and could never find him, so Sister Kendrick and I decided to go back because I knew he was interested. He was home, but we thought we would go back a couple of days later. Fast forward to Saturday, our Sister Training Leaders Sister Murphy and Condie came and went on splits with us. Sister Murphy and I went to Coral Springs and Sister Kendrick and Sister Condie stayed in Taradale. Sister Murphy and I went to go contact Nana Sabiti again and we had a lesson with him, and then the next day Sister Kendrick and I went and had another lesson with him. He has a lot to learn, but he has a love of Christ and we were totally excited about him. We did pass him off to the YSA elders because he is 18, but we hope that he will be able to be taught and learn more about the gospel.

It has been a pretty great week. My rash went away after 5 days, and I am slowly getting over my cold. We have a lot of work to do in Prairie Winds and we are really excited!! Have a great week!! I love you all. Pictures to come!

Love Sister Kelliann Jensen

Hello Mommy!!!

My rash finally went away after about 5 days of really annoying itching and trying not to scratch. I am not sure what the rash was from... apparently Danny got one in his second area too... they never found out what it was either. Weird. Maybe I am more like Danny after all and need some of the same things to grow that Danny did on his mission? How has your week end been? I am not going to lie this week has been one of the harder weeks, however that doesn't mean that I am going to give up. :) It really is fitting that the quote that I picked to put on my planner for this transfer is "God loves us. He is good, He is our Father, and He expects us to pray, and trust and be believing, and not give up, and not panic, and not retreat, when something doesn't seem to be going just right." This seems to be my transfer or at least week of my trial of faith. Sometimes it is hard to keep going. Sometimes it is hard to get up at 6:30 every morning and get through the day. Sometimes it is hard to go to an appointment because you are not sure that you are good enough to teach, however you keep going. You keep getting up at 6:30. You keep trying to be exactly obedient. You keep having faith that this trial will pass one day. Sometimes you have to just sit for a while and try not to cry. Sometimes you do. But most of the time I just try not to be and feel overwhelmed. Knowing myself I feel like I have so much to do and I am trying to accomplish all that I can, but I don't ever seem to be doing everything. I still fall short and I ALWAYS feel like I am not doing enough. I am not very good at letting myself see that I am doing enough, or what I can. That it is okay, that I am one person and that I don't have to carry all of the weight, but I don't seem to know how to change that. So I keep praying, I keep trying, and I keep going. Trying to help Sister Kendrick the best I can.

What I learned by the spirit on Sunday is that sometimes we just have to ask Heavenly Father what we can do and then try our best to do those little things. The little things add up to the big things, and even though I am only one person I can make a difference. I know that God looks out for me and answers my prayers even when I cannot always see them. This week was a little rough, but it was probably mostly all in my head. We had wonderful weather. Got 2 new investigators (both of whom we passed off to the YSA elders), and we got introduced to a wonderful new initiative that the church is doing called "Because He Lives". I love you so much. It is in the hard times that I miss you, but I am very thankful to know that you are my mom and that you have done so much for me and I wanted you to know that you truly have accomplished your divine role as a mother and specifically as my Mother. I will be getting Facebook this week so if you see me on facebook don't be alarmed. We also had a baptism for a little boy named Koul!! He is a child of record and is soooo cute. I felt a little bad for him though because we had to be dunked 4 times, but he was a good sport about it. I will send more information about the week in the mass letter. I love you!!!

Watching the fruit

Hello Everyone!!!

First, don't get too alarmed by my title. Second, this week was pretty fantastic. Now of course things have been interesting, as they always are for a missionary. And in the North East of Calgary :). I am growing to love this area more and more. The people that I meet, the love of the gospel that the members have, and the amazing area, just bring a smile to my face more and more. So, I did start off this week still getting over my cold. It is basically gone now, however, I did wake up yesterday with a new surprise. I woke up with a rash on my arms and legs that seemed to be allergy related but we weren't really sure. We watched it all day, got some semi-professional help (Moms in the Ward are the best), and went to bed. However when I woke up today the allergic reaction had spread to my torso as well as more of my arms and legs, so we called Sister Nicholas and set up an appointment to see a doctor. He said that it is just an allergic reaction, and that I should take Benadryl 3 times a day until it goes away... however the annoying part is that we are not sure what is causing the reaction... Boo. Nothing has changed in the last 6 weeks with my product... the only thing that I can think of is that the detergent we used was scented... however I have been using that same bottle of detergent since I got into Prairie Winds... so I am rather confused on what is going on. I did find out that I am allergic to Rabbits. One of our members has one, but that was a small reaction. Weird.

Okay enough with the health updates... Now to the real stuff. Things in the NE are really going well. We had our investigator Shem come over to a members house yesterday for dinner and a message!!! We had a lesson on the Book of Mormon, and about how it can help us to really gain a testimony and know that Priesthood Authority has once again been restored to the Earth. I have really enjoyed teaching my investigators, as well as finding new people to teach, and teaching the old. Morgan is still on date for the 3rd of April!!! And we have an 8 year old boy named Koul getting baptized this Saturday!!! He is so cute and is the son of a less-active family that we have been teaching the lessons to. He is so excited that he said that he wants EVERYONE in the ward to be there.

This week we had Ward Conference. Poor Sister Kendrick has not been to a normal church service yet in the Prairie Winds ward. However, she is quite the trooper, and is doing really well with the members in the area and the lessons. I realized this week just how grateful I am for the ability to serve a mission. I am able to recognize every day just how much God loves everyone, as well as what the Atonement of Christ can do. And once I get home from my mission, I have this knowledge for the rest of my life. I am truly grateful for the people that I have met, for the things that I have learned, for the miracles that I have seen, and for the knowledge and testimony that I have gained of the Atonement of Christ. I hope everyone is having a wonderful week and that the time change has not affected anyone too bad. Really, I don't get day light savings time, and I am grateful Arizona's lack of it. It looks like spring is a coming... however that doesn't mean that that couldn't change. I love you all. Have a great week!!!

 Love, Sister Kelliann Jensen!!!

Hello Mom!!!

I must say that I am really starting to be thankful and loving my mission!! I am realizing everything that I am learning, gaining, and growing in... and I am grateful. If I really think about it, if I was at home I would still be watching Doctor Who, still be going to church and really only thinking about the gospel on Sundays, still be working at Target and probably doing some sort of schooling... things would be the same, and I would not be who I am today without these last 6 months. I still love cats, still love Doctor Who, still love Target, still am shy to talk to people sometimes, but now I am more believing, more excepting, more faithful more steadfast. I have a more deep testimony of the gospel, not just a surface level that helped me when I was young to see miracles and be believing, but a firm testimony that when life tries to push me over, I feel like I can keep standing. I am so excited for you and Dad, and Mandy. I am grateful that this mission blesses you all as well when I am out here. I am grateful that I can know that you are doing well. I am grateful for the packages that you send me. I am grateful that I know that this gospel has been placed on this earth to protect us. To guide us, to give us strength. That is what the Atonement means. That we can be strengthened through Christ, and I know that we are when we follow and apply HIS gospel. I know that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, that the Book of Mormon is true and because it is true Joseph Smith is a Prophet. I love you so much...... sorry for the weird testimony email... I just needed to say it!!!

P.S - I love and miss Bobbie Q's.... I hate daylight savings time... Fall forward is great spring back is the worst invention of my life. Things are definitely thawing here. It has been about 50 all week. OH and I got my package!!! And my new bank card!!!! LOVE YOU!!!

Sister Kelliann !!!

Wow, that is a good check!!!!!!!! Can I just say that I am proud of you... is that weird to say that you are proud of your Dad?? I don't know but I am saying it anyway!!! I was wondering when Kayla's homecoming was!!! I can't believe that she is already back... when she left I was just thinking about going, and now she is back and I am 6 months out. Tell her I say Hi!!!! I put Mandy's name in the temple two weeks ago. I know that she will find the best job for her and that this move is really making a difference in her life. She just sent me an email about prayer that made me cry. I really enjoyed the testimony of my great, great, great grandfather. I also really enjoy all of the stories that you send. Do you have any stories about your life that I don't know about....??? I love you so much. Sister Kendrick and I had a whole conversation about how to pronounce Hooper... have you ever been there or to Antelope Island??? I had never even heard of it.

Love,

Sister Kelliann

New Missionary Companion

Hello Every One!!!!!

 What a week!!! I think it will be easiest for me just to go day by day!! 

Monday: This past Monday was crazy. We thought at the beginning of this week that we were not going to have a P-day because in used to be on Transfer week, Tuesday was our P-day... however President surprised us and told us that P-day is now always going to be on Mondays, whether it is a transfer week or not. Of Course this was difficult because we had already planned our week. So we went to the Mission Office for Sister Bullock's last interview and Employment seminar. While we were there I got to see Sister Waller and Sister Hassan (both of my past STLs) and Sister Egbert and Sister Condie and I all went out and went to do service and email. Sorry that I didn't send any personal emails last week, I only had about 50 minutes. We then went to pick up Sister Bullock, went to P-day, and the rest of that day was pretty normal.

 Tuesday: Tuesday was probably one of the longest days I have ever had on my mission!!! It started off at 6:30 as normal, and because this was the day that Sister Bullock was leaving, Sister Waller, Sister Condie, Sister Calder, and Sister Perrero, all came over to surprise Sister Bullock with breakfast. It is hard to keep secrets from your companion... I am very glad that I do not have to do that again. After studies, Sister Waller and Condie took Sister Bullock to the mission office and I went with Sister Calder and Perrero for the day. We spent half of the day in my area and half in theirs. We actually had a really cool miracle in my area. The other day when Sister Bullock and I had been to visit a less-active in the ward, a group of people behind our car asked us if we had just been to visit the lady in the house we were parked in front of. We told them no, but they told us that the lady had just had a new baby. Right away, I put that in the back of my mind to remember to stop by and say hello!! Well on Tuesday we stopped by and it turns out that her dad is a member and her mom is taking the lessons. She didn't seem interested, but we planted another seed that hopefully will be sowed in the future!!! I spent the night in the Lynnwood branch.

Wednesday: Wednesday was kind of a nerve racking day!!! From the morning until 1:30 I was in the Lynnwood branch, but by 1:00 Sister Perrero and Sister Calder took me to go pick up my new companion!!! 5 new sisters and 6 new elders joined us in the Great Calgary Canada Mission this week!!! So cool experience!! All last week as soon as I found out that I was going to be training, I started praying for my new companion and asking Heavenly Father that He might help me love her from the very start. As we went to the new missionary meeting, President always does this thing where all of the new missionaries go up and bear their testimonies. It is really cool to watch, because you get to see how much they love the gospel and how much they will grow. As I watched the Sister go up, one by one I would look at them and try to figure out who my new companion would be. As the last one got up, I was immediately filled with joy and love for this sister.... and because of my prayers I took that as an answer. Of course after that President always has all of his trainers get up, says that we should be more experienced at discerning by now, and lets us pick who we think our new companion will be. When He got to me I said Sister Kendrick (the last sister who went up). When we were all done we sat down and the new area assignments begin. When Sister Kendrick got called up, there had already been 2 other sisters given their assignments and when she read the area of Prairie Winds on her call and said my name I was filled with happiness and love!!! My new companion is now Sister Kendrick. She is from Hooper, Utah!! She was in color guard and loves marching band just as much as I do. She plays the Violin. She loves Doctor Who and Sherlock and Merlin and Chuck and just about everything else that I do. She told me later that after I picked her she knew that I was her companion!!! SOOOO COOOOOLLLL!!!!! I love this gospel and the spirit! That night we jumped right into things and we got unpacked, had a quick 15 minute dinner, and left for our very first lesson together with Morgan!! After that we had our very 2nd lesson together with Kirsten (who got a new place)!!! Such a crazy day full of miracles and wonderfulness!!

Thursday: Transfer day!!! Thursday was transfer day for the rest of the missionaries. President asked for us to come back with our new companions so that they could be introduced into the mission. It was so nice to see so many people that I missed and love from my last area as well as get updates about my investigators!! I also learned that the Mandarin elders in that area are teaching on of the potentials that Sister Martin and I found named Franklin!!! ANOTHER MIRACLE!!! We found him on a whim of knocking doors after an appointment fell through!!! The only bad part about Thursday was that I seemed to be getting a super bad cold... :(. Sister Perrero ended up having to come with us for the day because her companion was coming up from the south and when we went back to drop her off I got to see more wonderful people including SISTER MARTIN (my trainer) and not only that but Sister Perrero's new companion is............ SISTER MARTIN!!! It will be so cool to have my trainer in my zone for her last transfer, especially because she served in Prairie Winds before she served in Evergreen.

Friday: Well Friday was the day of no voice for Sister Jensen. However, we helped Kirsten to move into her new place and had another miracle about prayer. Somehow in the move the keys to everything for Kirsten got lost. She was kind of sacred and so we suggested that we take 10 minutes, say a prayer, and then search. I went out with Sister Kendrick to talk to her son Lochlan and asked him if he would say a prayer. After he did, we went inside to try a few ideas, and then found the keys!!! We all said a prayer of thanks and talked to Kirsten. Both Sister Kendrick and I feel like that was a very powerful and important experience for her and Lochlan to have together.

Saturday: Pretty normal day. Still no voice and my cold got worse.

Sunday: Most interesting Sunday ever. I felt much better by Sunday which was really nice. Because it was the 1st sunday of the month, we had fast and testimony meeting, but this time it was a four ward meeting. We all got together at the Stake Center, and it was a really powerful meeting. After the first hour was over, all of the Primary and Nursery kids went to their classes, and all of the adults and youth stayed. We had a really cool presentation from a man name Jordan Harvey. He travels all over the states and Canada giving classes, seminars, and church meetings about the Truth About Pornography. It was really interesting and not as awkward as I felt it would be.

 Well that is my week in a nutshell. Sorry about the length but so much happened this week that I really happened this week that I wanted to share. Sister Kendrick is amazing. She is really pushing me to be the best missionary that I can be!!! I feel like she is training me more than I am training her. I am excited for the week to come. Thank you all for your wonderful emails!! I love you lots. I know that Heavenly Father hears and Answers our prayers and that He is aware of us. You are all amazing!!!

Sister Kelliann Jensen