Last week in the MTC!

Dear family and friends,
Well, the MTC has been fun but it's almost time to leave! The visas and flight plans are here and bright and early Monday morning we'll be setting out on our journey to the Netherlands! Time sure flies, but as I look back at my MTC experiences I can see how much I've grown and learned even in just a few weeks. Although it is work, it is confirmed to me every day that this is where I'm supposed to be, and sometimes I can see how the things I am learning and becoming now will bless and benefit my in the future.
I'm afraid this will be a bit of a short email, as I don't have much time and I don't have many events to report. Just the usual classes and teaching and devotionals and singing and studying and learning and helping and all that sort of thing that goes on here! :) My next email will be from the mission field, so I'm sure I'll have a few more things to talk about then!
I would like to share some thoughts I had after last night's devotional, though. The speaker was Elder Godoy, the same who spoke in the last General Conference. He had some great advice about the "formula for a successful missionary" in Alma 26:22, which was to repent, exercise faith, bring forth good works, and pray continually. All of the points were good, but I was especially enlightened when he told us to "make no excuses for a lack of faith." He talked about how often missionaries will hear that certain areas, missions, companions, etc are hard and difficult to work with. However, if we have faith we can also have miracles. His advice reminded me of the story in Mark 9: 23-24, where a man brings his child afflicted by an evil spirit to Jesus. The man's words, "Lord, I believe; help thou my unbelief" always kind of confused me. Did he have faith, or did he not? I think this question was answered for me last night as I compared it to my own life. Sometimes we say we have faith in the Lord, but when we think about the blessings we are promised or the things we are told we can become (especially in Patriarchal blessings), we doubt that we could ever actually accomplish that. We make excuses! But if are willing to have true faith, to trust the Lord to fix our weaknesses, and to believe miracles can happen in a mission, a family, an individual's life or whatever it may be, the Lord is then able to grant us that miracle. So, no more excuses!
Know that I love you all and appreciate your support and encouragement so much. Cant wait to write you from the mission field!

Hi ho, Hi ho, its off to work we go! :D

Love, Zuster Jensen

District and teachers. Leaving for the Netherlands TOMORROW!

MTC week 4!

Dear family and friends,

So I realized last night that my mission is already 1/18 over. Time flies, and I'm sure it will increase in speed as it goes on! I've already learned so much, and although it's crazy to think of the time gone, I'm so glad that I have another 17 months to look forward to!
Last Wednesday we did in fact have a little celebration, since our time in the MTC was half over. That's what the included pictures are- we wanted to have a pinata, but resources are limited in availability when you're in the MTC, so we ended up filling a (clean) trash bag with candy we have been sent from home, decorating it when sharpies and stickers, and then Sister Manning (a sister in my district) went at it with a hairbrush. :) The "party" only lasted a few minutes, but it was fun to have a second to relax, enjoy each other's company, and think about the things we've already learned and the experiences we've shared together. Missions are awesome!
I don't have a whole lot to report as far as events this week- MTC life is pretty much learn, teach, learn, teach, freak out about learning, freak out about teaching, have amazing spiritual experience, learn, teach, etc. :D However, I did want to share my notes from the devotional we had last night because I think they can apply to everyone, not just missionaries.
The devotional was by Larry R Lawrence, of the seventy. He talked about 4 tactics of Satan and how we can resist them. Here are my notes:
Tactic #1: Direct temptation. To fight this we must simply send Satan away and replace him with things of God. It is amazing that we have the power to do that; to say, "Satan, get thee hence," and he must go. As we replace his influence with scriptures, hymns, or other spiritual things, he will have no hold over us.
Tactic #2: Lies and deception. We must remember that Satan has counterfeits for all good things, and they are not always direct opposites. Where God has given us white, Satan gives us black, gray or off-white instead. While this is sometimes hard to recognize, we can always rely on God through the Holy Ghost to find the truth.
Tactic #3: Contention. Often this begins with fault-finding. We must remember that all contention is of the devil, as the scriptures say, and that we must avoid it whenever possible. One interesting thing with this that I hadn't thought of before is that Satan cannot know our thoughts; God is the only one with that privilege. Satan can't know what you're thinking unless you tell him. This is why we're told to not murmur, gossip, or otherwise speak evil of one another. Bite your tongue if necessary, but always let kind words be the ones that come out of your mouth.
Tactic #4: Discouragement. This is a huge one, I think especially for those who are trying their best to live the gospel. We must remember that discouragement is not from God, and that we do not and should not surrender to it. Cheer up even if it's just to spite the devil! ;) The speaker mentioned a talk by Ezra Taft Benson called "Do Not Despair," which gives some awesome practical advice for fighting discouragement. He also shared the quote, "Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees." Prayer is such an amazing privilege; every person on earth can have direct communication with an all-powerful being, who loves each individual more than we can comprehend. Don't take this privilege for granted!
I'm afraid I'm now out of time, but know that I love you all. I appreciate your prayers in my behalf and know that I'm sending them your way as well!

Love, Zuster Jensen

The obligatory "point at your mission" picture :)

Halfway to the real deal!

My dear family and friends,

I now bear my solemn testimony that time flies like no other. I can't believe my time in the MTC is already half gone! While there have been hard times as I've jumped into the missionary schedule and language learning, it's overall been a wonderful experience.
Speaking of wonderful experiences, how about that conference! I look forward to conference so much now, and this conference didn't disappoint. We watched all the general sessions as well as a rebroadcast of the General Women's meeting this weekend, so I was very spiritually fed. I wish I could share all of my thoughts with you, but for sake of time, I'll stick with just a few. Elder Uchdorf's talks are always wonderful, and his thoughts about revelation and understanding were particularly poignant to us as missionaries because this is what we want for our investigators. It was the same with Elder Bednar's talk- he really hit a home run in describing why it is that we want to share the gospel. That is why I'm here right now. I especially loved when Elder Bednar said, "Absolute truth exists in a world that increasingly disdains and resists absolutes." What an amazing fact that is! Absolute truth, which will never change and will always be there for us to find when we seek it. Another awesome moment was from Jorg Kieblingat said that we must acknowledge and face our weaknesses, but not be immobilized by them, because some of them will be our companions throughout this life. That definitely caused me to ponder a bit, since as missionaries with high expectations we are definitely exposed to our own weaknesses, and that can be disheartening. Of course we are told in Ether than those can become strengths, but we don't always see how we are improving, and some weaknesses feel like they just never go away. This thought that they may be our companions throughout this life was, in a strange way, a bit encouraging, because I could remove a little of the frustration I feel over them. Yes I should still work on turning my weaknesses into strengths, but it won't happen all at once and maybe not even until after death, so I just need to be patient with myself. There are so many other great talks, but I will refrain from rehashing them all for you. I would encourage everyone to read and reread Elder Holland's talk, though; we can all afford to show a little more kindness and charity in our lives.
So, one other thing about conference. Most of you males out there will probably have noticed that there was a small solo in the last song of the Priesthood session? Well, that was Elder Hunter, who is one of the two elders in my district. I feel sort of like I know a celebrity. This same Elder Hunter is also the kid playing the piano in the 2014 "Come Unto Christ" song that was produced for the youth, and he had a small part in helping to write that song. Crazy! Seriously though, everyone in my district is so amazing. We all work really well together and support each other, which is wonderful.
I'm afraid I don't have a ton of personal things to report, just working onward and upward here in the MTC! Not much changes as far as the schedule from day to day, although we did have our first TRC session this week! Basically, that means that we get to talk with people who actually speak Dutch in a simulated home/visiting teaching sort of thing, in that we share a spiritual thought and converse with them in Dutch. I was a little nervous, but they were all these sweet older people from the Netherlands who were so happy to talk with us. So fun!
Well, I'm out of time for today. Hopefully I'll have more to write about next week, and I love you all!

-Zuster Jensen

Zusters Jensen and Fleming

Week 2... already?

My dear family and friends,
Can it be the end of week 2 already? Some people say that when you first enter the MTC you just need to make it to Sunday, while others say that the second week is the hardest. Honestly, it's all good and hard and every day is so different, I think the best advice for new missionaries coming in is to just enjoy every moment for what it's worth. With that being said, here were some moments from this week!
This Sunday was fast Sunday, so we had a ton of personal study time where we would normally have meals, in addition to the regular extra study time on Sundays. I used the time to read a lot in Our Heritage as well as a talk called "The Fourth Missionary," by Lawrence E. Corbridge. Both of these, as well as other seemingly little experiences throughout the week, culminated into a coherent reminder that I need to give my will to God. As missionaries, we sacrifice a lot; but the only thing we can truly sacrifice that wasn't God's to begin with is our willing hearts. During our missions we need to put all of our own dreams and desires on a shelf, to be picked up again in a couple of years, while we now work to do what He would have us do. In reading Our Heritage I have seen examples of faithful saints who did this. They felt the truth of the message, and in response they were obedient to the commands of the Lord in going and doing what they needed to do to keep the church alive. They faced persecution, doubts, internal disputes, illness, harsh living conditions, and more with complete faith in the restored gospel. As I was thinking about their example, an analogy came to me. We are like the parts of a building; as it is built and settles, different stresses are placed on different parts of the building. However, the strongest beams in the structure are the ones that do not groan. As we go about our lives following His will with a cheerful mind and a willing heart, we will be blessed for our faith and made stronger.
Another great moment was this Monday, when our district was an example class for new MTC teachers to observe. The brother who taught the example class was so great- he showed us how in teaching the restoration, we can teach every point as relating back to the gospel of Jesus Christ. In fact, this is vital, because this gospel contains those simple things which are necessary for our salvation. Faith, repentance, baptisms, receiving the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end are the most important things we will teach because every point in the church relates back to them. I don't know if I'm explaining this adequately, but it was just a reminder to be of how wonderful those things are and how much our lives are blessed by living that gospel.
So, per the request of my mother I will give a quick synopsis of what my days are like. Most days we get up, have breakfast, and go to the gym, where we run, use workout machines, play volleyball, that sort of thing. Two morning in the week we have service as well, where we help clean buildings around campus. After getting cleaned up we have 3 hours of personal, companionship, and language study, followed by lunch. After lunch we have class where we talk about how to teach and how to be a good missionary and learn Dutch. After that is dinner, then usually teaching "investigators," who are actually our teachers. On Sunday and Tuesday evenings there's a devotional, which is always awesome. On Sunday and Wednesday (p-day) afternoons we get to go up to the temple (but if you're in Provo don't try to see me there, or I'll have to duck into a bush; we're not really supposed to meet up with citizens). Soon we'll start doing TRC, which is basically practicing teaching, sharing spiritual thoughts, and just talking with Dutch speakers. Should be fun!
Well I'm out of time for today, but know that I love you all and appreciate every letter! The church is true!

-Zuster Jensen

P.S. apparently there's this website called Dear Elder, where you can type a letter that the MTC will print out and I can pick up that night. So if anyone needs or wants to contact me other than Wednesdays while I'm in the MTC, try out that website! :)