I'm gonna to fart on you.

While we were at a members house her little 3 year old son came up to us and said that he was gonna fart on us. He never did so I am grateful for that! He did take my phone and took some lovely photos of himself! 

This week was really weird! We had so many appointments set up and almost all of them fell through. I was pretty mad! I had saw what these people had felt and I saw them understand what we had taught, but then they just didn’t show up or even send us a text. I just sit there and I feel myself get all salty but we don't stop trying because they will have that “Wow” moment and we will be there to see it! 

Last Monday we had a lesson with our new investigator “L” She is so cool! She just wants peace and we told her about how the Book of Mormon can bring that peace that she is looking for and she is ready for it! A crazy miracle that happened while we were trying to get to her house, our app called Area Book shut down on every missionaries phone. This app is super important and it has everyone's address, phone number, our calendar, so pretty much everything we need to function as a missionary! We knew that she lived in Branchville, so we drove there. When we got there we started saying I think its this way and I think its that way but we realized that we were not getting anywhere. So we pulled over and said a prayer and started to drive. We ended up at this road and Sister Sanders started to turn and I kinda yelled at her to go straight and right after I did that I apologized for being rude, but “L’s” house was the last house on this road. She was sitting on her porch, waiting for us! It was the COOLEST thing that has happened on my mission, so far! 

We also have a new investigator named “DeA”! We found him when we knocked on who we thought was a member of our ward’s door but they had moved. He is so chill and just a quite, reserved guy. We went over and taught him about the restoration and he understood the Great Apostasy and why there are so many different churches. It was really, really cool! He also said he will be coming to church on Sunday and wanted to have our next lesson at the church, so that is another cool thing!

The flea market is a weekly thing and it is so cool! We have met some great people and people seem to love to come and ask us questions! We have questions that people have asked that the Book of Mormon can answer on a poster and I had one lady come and she asked me a question. I went to grab the Book of Mormon and she said no she wanted to know what I knew. So, I answered the questions with my testimony and with what the scriptures say but in my own way. She said that what I was saying was true and that she was just there to test me. Super weird but, hey I passed! We also had a ton of people ask us about the soap and butter in Blacksville, made by us “Mormons”. We think they were thinking Amish, but we really don't know! 

Sunday I gave a talk in church about myself, which was an odd topic, but nevertheless I cried like a baby. I don't know why but as soon as I get up to the pulpit I just get super emotional so it’s so much fun (not). 

A good read for the week is a conference talk called Yellow Canaries with Gray on their wings by President Monson in the olden days! One of my favs! 

Well, I love y'all and hope y'all have a blessed week!

Love, 

Sister Jensen  

 Matching shirts from South Carolina State University 

 Matching nightgowns that Sister Sanders' Mom sent :)

 They seriously make me giggle with their photos!!!

Exchanges and Transfers

This week seemed to fly by. It was a lot of fun and I learned so much! Friday we went over to the bishop’s house and we did a new thing called “Member Madness- a Bracket That's Sure to Win”. It is just a new way to get members more involved and super excited about ministering and about being a member missionary! It went so well. We watched “The music of the Gospel” and the video is such a good one! I highly recommend watching and seeing what ways you can work on the dance steps! The bishop fed us and it was so good! Butterbeans are really weird and I don't know if I like them but the broccoli salad was so so good! I even ate mashed potatoes, so see Dad, I don't have a disorder. 

We had exchanges. This is where Sister Sanders and I split up for 24 hours and go with a Sister Training Leader. We just learn new ways to progress the work in Orangeburg and find new ways that we can find more people to teach! I stayed in Orangeburg with Sister Lowe and had to drive. The car has Tiwi. It is a little car thing that informs you when you are speeding, not wearing a seatbelt, stop to fast, and things like that. So it was hard but I managed to get through! Sister Lowe and I went finding and found an abandoned train station. It was so cool that we decided to take pictures by it! We even saw a hawk by the side of the road it was so cool! We had a miracle happen too! We found a new investigator and he seems like a super nice guy! His name is “T” and he has had a lot of trials of his faith but he has seen how his faith has grown when he is relying on the Lord. So we introduced the Book of Mormon and shared Alma 32 ( such a classic chapter), we related it to him! He liked it and kept the Book of Mormon and we are starting to teach him! 

We have been getting a lot of Book of Mormon and Bible referrals and I know that it is the Lord helping us to find the people who are more ready to hear what we have to teach! We did the flea market again and focused again on family history! So many people that we meet used to come to church so we kept inviting them but no one has came yet. That’s okay though, we are planting seeds! We also talk to a lot of Jehovah Witnesses'. I have a goal to start teaching them. 

On Saturday we discovered what the prophet said about the term "Mormon" and "LDS" and I think that is so cool! It will be a big change but we do need to remember what our church is focused on and that is Jesus Christ! 

Transfer calls were today and this tells you if you are leaving the area you have been in and where you will be going! I didn't get a call so another 6 weeks in Orangeburg and I am excited! There is so much that we can do to change this area and make it the best! Our elders are getting white washed out so on Thursday we will get 2 new elders who are not familiar with Orangeburg. It should be fun! 

We explored South Carolina State University and went to a museum about a massacre that happened and then we just walked around! It is an old but really pretty campus but nothing beats USU campus! 

A good read for the week is in Mosiah. It’s the story of Abinadi. He has the best testimony and he was not afraid to stand up for what he believed in! His faith is so strong and it is so cool to read! Well, I love y'all and have a blessed week! 

Love, 

Sister Jensen 

Women do not get our figures from bread and water alone

This week was so good! We were only without our car for half of the week! It is so nice to have it back because there are so many random 10 minute storms that come out of no where, so it is nice to have that constant protection and the ac in this heat and humidity is a real plus! 

We had interviews on Tuesday. Sister Sanders and I went last and after we were finished, they took us out to lunch! I love President and sister Innes!

The Thompson’s fed us again and it felt like a Sunday dinner at home!!! I am so super grateful that I could have that feeling on my mission!

WE GOT A NEW INVESTIGATOR!!!! She is the coolest person ever! (Y) is so prepared and so ready to hear the gospel and see the blessings that it can bring in her life! We found her from a Bible and Book of Mormon referral! She said she ordered both of the books because she knew it was time to grow closer to God!! How stinkin' cool is that?! She also wants her sons to grow closer to God so hopefully we can teach the whole family! 

We taught E again using Facebook video call and it is so cool to see him want to grow closer to our Heavenly Father! I hope he knows and feels that what we are teaching is true! He started reading the Book of Mormon on his phone but the font was too small so we had to teach him how to make it bigger. That was a fun conversation! This week we had like 4 other Book of Mormon and Bible referrals so the work is moving along here in the big O! 

We did some service at the soup kitchen this week and gave out a Book of Mormon to a kid from Portland Oregon! Hopefully the other missionaries there can find him since he was only visiting!

We  also had a relief society activity this week. We learned how to make bread and all sorts of jam! One of the sisters said that we women do not get our figures from bread and water alone. It was a really cool activity and members brought some non-members and they want to come back, so that will be super cool! 

Saturday we went to the flea market and we did a family history and lemonade booth. Everyone was super into it and hopefully they call us for any problems they may run into! 

Can I talk about Belmont for a minute. It is a brand of ice cream here and it is the best ice cream I have ever had! Peanut Butter S’mores is so so good! 

We went over to Brother and Sisters Blacks and they are just the cutest old couple ever! They have a dog named Diggity after the Mickey Mouse Club House song... this dog is so cute! They just sit around and do family history together so they helped us get started and they know a lot so hopefully I can continue to find people and add them to my tree! 

My challenge of the week is to have everyone fill out a 4 generation chart and add it to family search! 

Well, I love y'all so much and I hope y'all have blessed weeks! 

Love, 

Sister Jensen  

Same ol' Bailee with the silly faces (seems like she has met her match lol)

A week of walking

Well this week seemed super slow just because we walked everywhere! Our car was supposed to be done on Friday but it wasn’t and now they say it will not be ready until this Friday, so pray for us! Walking makes it so much easier to not have much energy by the end of the day, so major props to all the missionaries who do that!

I guess I'll start off by saying the things I've learned from a week (so far) of being a missionary that needs to walk everywhere.  

1-Everyone one in the South will wave to you as you walk past or honk at you. 

2-People who are already outside will ask if you have water to make sure you that you don't die in the humidity while you are walking. 

3-People will cat call at us and I don’t like it, AT ALL. It's actually pretty gross! 

4-On Sunday, you can tell who is driving to church because they are dressed super fancy and all the ladies are wearing big hats! It is pretty cool to see! 

5-Just like in Utah, there are not a lot of people on the roads on Sunday, so it's a lot safer to walk. South Carolina doesn't have sidewalks so it's just us walking in grass or on the road.

This week we have 2 new people we are teaching! One (S) is the sweetest old lady who just serves everyone she meets! We normally teach her out on her porch and it's so fun! 

Then we still have E. We are doing Facebook video call lessons with him and he is super open to hearing what we have to teach. He just wants to continue to have the happy feeling that he feels when he talks to us. I love that! We also received two Bible and one Book of Mormon referrals. The people seem super cool and I cannot wait to meet them! 

We went over to a member house and they let us teach them a lesson. And…they fed us! The food was so good and I ate like a teenage boy because it was so delicious! 

The Lord will magnify anything you do and make it ten times better than what you could've imagined it to be!

A good read for this week is 2 Nephi 27. It is probably my favorite chapter so far in the book of Mormon! 

Well, I love y'all so much and I hope y'all have a blessed week! 

Love,

Sister Jensen