Well, hello!

Dear friends and family,
This week has been quite wonderful, although once again I seem to have very little time to tell you about it. Luckily for my mother she got to talk to me on Christmas, so hopefully she's not too mad at a short letter. ;)
Let me just say that the members in this ward are wonderful, and have been so welcoming in letting the missionaries join in their Christmas celebrations! I am so grateful for this season and for the generosity of the people in the Church and in general.
As a bonus Christmas present, one of our investigators who has been struggling with an addiction and medical problems received some much needed help this week, and it was so wonderful to see him almost himself again when we visited yesterday! I testify that the prayer and fasting can work miracles if we simply have faith.
Speaking of miracles, as a quick thought for the week I want to further testify that God knows every details of our lives. On Christmas Eve we were knocking doors early in the afternoon, and someone let us in. He was nice and let us teach a short lesson, and then at the end he gave us a nice Bible in Dutch that he said was a gift for his son but his son didn't want it. The man didn't want the Bible to be wasted, and seeing that we were representatives of a Christian church, he gave it to us. Not 3 hours later, we were standing at a bus stop waiting to go to a member's house for dinner when a man waiting with us saw our badges and asked if we were "ministers." We explained that we were Christian missionaries, and he asked if we had a Bible. It was completely random, but we were able to say yes, we just happen to have an extra Bible with us and that he could have it! Crazy random things separately, but God knew that someone needed a Bible, so he influenced the first man to give one to us and put us in the right place to give it to the second man. Miracles! :)
Never forget to look for the small miracles in your lives. :)

-Zuster Jensen

Christmas Eve w/ the VanderPluijms :)

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Christmas Day- thanks and love you all! :)

Our missionary :) (from Mom)

(Meant to send this last night, but forgot to finish it off. Hope you all had a Merry Christmas!)

We enjoyed a brief, but wonderful Skype call with our girl early, but thankfully not too early, this morning. She had originally told us it might be as early as 5:30 am, but she ended up calling around 8:00. However, we set our alarms to go off every 20 minutes beginning at 5:30, watching for her email :). Not a lot of sleep was had in this household last night, but it was totally worth it to talk with this cute missionary!

She looks and sounds just as wonderful as she appears in the picture! She's having a wonderful experience & gaining a lot of confidence in herself. No problems with the language it appears, and she absolutely loves the country & people.

It makes us so happy to see & feel the joy she is experiencing in missionary work & in sharing her testimony of the Savior!

Week 13, in which abnormal events occur :)

Hello everyone! I´m afraid this will be a short letter, since we had to email a day late this week. However, here´s my week in a nutshell:
We met some awesome people this week! One of them we met on the train a couple weeks ago, and last week we were able to go teach him a restoration lesson, before which he showed us around the small opera house he is apparently in charge of. Fun! We also met some awesome students from Germany, Poland, England and other places who are all going home for the holidays but we are excited to teach in January! :)
This Tuesday was Zone Training, which was great! We had reminders of how we can improve ourselves and uplifting thoughts on missionary work and related topics. We also got Christmas packages on that day, thank you to everyone who sent letters in it! I loved reading them!
On Saterday there was a couple of musical devotionals put on by the stake which they asked the missionaries to participate in, so we spent the day in Antwerpen (where the stake center is). Since there was a practice run through and two performances, we just listened to beautiful Christmas music all day and sang a little part ourselves. The theme was Stille Nacht (Silent Night), and it was a sort of tribute to the story from WWI where the opposing armies made a truce for Christmas and showed kindness to each other. If you have time, look up the whole story, it is very beautiful.
Sunday is when the craziness went down! Church was nice, lovely musical numbers and such for Sacrament and then we taught the relief society lesson and it went well. However, that night we were biking to an appointment when Zuster Reeder crashed on her bike. It wouldn't have been such a big deal, except that she briefly went unconscious and we weren't sure if anything was seriously wrong. Luckily, a bunch of bystanders helped us call the Dutch equivalent of 911 and an ambulance came. These people are SO NICE! They stayed with us the whole time, directed traffic around us, and helped Zr. Manning and I with our limited Dutch explain to the paramedics that we both had to stay with Zr. Reeder when they took her to the hospital. To make a long story short, Zr. Reeder fainted a couple other times that night but the x-rays and CT scan they took showed no fractures or other injuries, so she is fine. They kept her at the hospital overnight because she was not recovering from the fainting spells very quickly, but they think it was just her body responding to the traumatic even and not actual serious injury. We all stayed home on Monday to let her rest and everything, which is why we couldn't email yesterday- but she feels pretty much back to normal today and all is well!
Well, I must go. But as I've been thinking over what happened and the kindness that was shown to us- by strangers, nurses, doctors, members, other missionaries, etc.- I wanted to share with you my testimony that the light of Christ really is in everyone, and it influences us all to do good. As we share the good news that Christ was born and, through His death and resurrection now lives again, especially at this Christmas time, we are connecting with that light that is in everyone. We build upon the spiritual truths they already and cherish in order to bring them more knowledge and happiness, empowering them to more fully embrace and follow Christ. What a beautiful work! Merry Christmas!

-Zuster Jensen

Maastricht from a ferris wheel :)

My first district

tripanionship fun

building a snowman :)

Transfer 2 - here we go! :)

Dear family and friends,
What an exciting week! As I wrap up my first transfer it is interesting to think about the things that I still need to learn, but also the things I have learned and how live in the Netherlands and as a missionary has become more normal.
Last preparation day we went to Valkenburg, a little town in our area that has Christmas markets inside these cool caves. It was super fun! Not everyone here decorates or anything, but the things the cities do are so fun! Maastricht is such a beautiful city, and the centrum is all decked out with lights and garland everywhere. Gezellig! :)
Transfer news (drumroll please): I'm still in Maastricht with Zuster Reeder! However, we are now joined by Zuster Manning to make an awesome tri-panionship! :D Zuster Manning was in my MTC district and I am so excited to work with her! Even in just the last few days I have seen how fun it is to work with two other sisters and how miracles can happen when you are all putting your energy and faith into the work. :)
This week was also the ward Christmas party, which was super fun! One of our investigators came and it was wonderful to see him making friends with ward members. I heard the most rousing rendition of "The 12 Days of Christmas" I think I've ever heard in my life, and I even got to shake Santa's hand. ;) Also, all you people who said my piano skills would be used on my mission? That definitely came true this week, and they were put to the test! I was asked to accompany someone in the ward singing "O Holy Night." I got the music on Tuesday and ran through it a couple of times then, had no time to practice as a missionary, then ran through it a few more times on Friday before the party where it was being performed. Oh, and did I mention it was in the key of B Major (which has 5 sharps)?! However, miracles do occur and there were only a few hardly noticeable mistakes. Missionaries are so blessed!
I'm sorry I must make like a present and wrap up. :D However, in the spirit of the Christmas season I hope you are all having a wonderful December and remembering the reason for the season! I'm sure you are all aware, there is a wonderful new video out called "He is the Gift." You can find it here: http://www.mormon.org/christmas?cid=HPFR112814529 . Please watch it and share it with your family, friends, and fellow men. Christ really is our Savior, and He is the Way, the Truth and the Light. We will find true joy and peace through Him, and this is the message we as missionaries and as Christians share with the world. Joy to the world!

-Zuster Jensen

Valkenburg Christmas caves- complete with Indiana Jones Santa ;)

So little time, so much to do!

Dear family and friends,
I will apologize in advance, because there is almost no time again this week! Missionaries have no problem staying busy. :)
This week was great! On Tuesday we had dinner with some members who live in Germany, and they took us to a kerstmarkt (Christmas market) which was so wonderful! It was in the shadow of this beautiful church that we went inside of for a bit. It is in the town of Aachen, Germany - look it up if you have a second, the history was fascinating! Supposedly it contains some amazing historical artifacts, including the bones of Charlemagne as well as other cool stuff. And the market was so fun, and it even snowed on us! Magical!
In other news, I finally have a bike again! It is secondhand and in good condition, and I am so happy I don't even mind traveling outside in the cold. :)
On Friday another member took us to the military base nearby for lunch, so I had a proper American hamburger and even got to buy some eggnog. :) I love the Christmas season!
A quick thought for this week: I was feeling just a bit down one day this week since, despite all that we try to do for them, several of our investigators are facing setbacks and difficulties which are hard for them to work through. It is hard as a missionary, because you care so much for these people and want them to make good choices and see blessings in their lives. However, I was reading in John 15:16 where it says, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you." That was so comforting. Even if we can't see all the consequences of our actions, both good and bad, we influence everywhere and everyone we come in contact with. If we work to make that influence good, and we humbly ask for help as we do so, God can use us in our imperfections to accomplish his work. So, do good! :)

-Zuster Jensen

Aachen kerstmarkt :)

The Cold Never Bothered Me Anyway ;)

Hello hello from Nederland!
Things are still going well here, although it got COLD this week! Luckily the Holy Ghost always brings warm fuzzies. :)
So, some fun things this week! First, I did not in fact die in the Turkey Bowl on Monday, and I actually caught the ball a couple times! I forgot to run with it once I caught it, but there is hope for me! ;) Afterward we all went and got boschebollen, these treats that you can only find in Den Bosch where we met for the Turkey Bowl. Basically they're giant cream puffs (like, the size of a large grapefuit) filled very slagroom (this heavy, rich cream stuff) and covered in dark chocolate. After you eat it you kind of want to consign yourself to life as a couch potato or run a marathon to work off the calories you just consumed at the same time, but it was worth it. :)
On Thursday we had an awesome zone conference! We had taco salad for lunch (the perfect Thanksgiving feast, haha) and I got to meet a lot of the other missionaries in the mission, as well as see some of my MTC district. The main speaker was a Seventy, Elder Moriera from Portugal. He had some wonderful things to say and it was very uplifting, even if we had to get up at 4:00 am to get to the conference in Zoetermeer on time. :)
Not to worry, I did get a Thanksgiving dinner! It was at a members house on Friday. They are actually part Filipino, so it a little different as far as side dishes go from the turkey dinner I'm used to, but it was all delicious!
So for a little something spiritual to share this week, in the attitude of gratitude I want to express my thanks for the commandments! Often the perception of the commandments and other principles we are asked to live in the church is that they are restrictive and not necessary. However, they give us so much freedom! Sometimes I hear people say that they wish we had a guidebook for this life. Well, we do! The scriptures are a literal book full of everything we need for success and happiness in this life, and even for eternal life! What a blessing it is to know what it is we need to do! Not only that, but God has promised us blessings for keeping the commandments, and has even promised that as we try He will help us to keep them (1 Nephi 3:7)! There really is no downside. I am so grateful for God, for His love for us in giving us the commandments, and for Jesus Christ and the perfect example of living them He is for us. CTR, everyone!

Love, Zuster Jensen

My first boschebolle