My dear family and friends,
I can't believe that I've been out 6 months already! As of tomorrow I will have exactly 1 year left in my mission. Home and college seem like a faraway dream, and yet the time has still flown by fast. As I stand 1/3 of the way through my mission there are things I can see I want to improve on and achieve and change, but I wouldn't change my experiences so far for anything. I've already learned so much in every way, and I'm excited for the year ahead of me! :)
My first full week in Assen was interesting, with several appointments falling through but also several tender mercies. Assen has quite a variety of people to help. We teach several investigators, including a man whom we just taught the Restoration to this week and it was positively received. We also teach a part-member family, a couple of recent converts, and less-active members. Everyone is so different and has different challenges, from mental illness to physical illness to lack of commitment to language barriers. However it is wonderful to see the Spirit blessing each one with the things they need as they work to come closer to Christ. I was particularly impressed by Bernadette; she is a 44 year old woman who was baptized about 5 years ago, but she suffers from some sort of mental illness where her mentality is still quite childlike. We visit her twice a week and recently she asked to missionaries to teach her the lessons again because she couldn't remember or understand a lot of it. We have been doing that, and this week she bore her testimony in Relief Society. It was very simple and not the most focused, but it was so sweet to hear to expressing the truths she could. She is so sweet and loving to everyone, and although I wish she didn't have to deal with this mental illness it is a wonderful example to me of what it truly means to be childlike and humble in the gospel.
Something funny for the week, I got a flat tire on Friday the 13th while we were in a neighborhood far from our home and didn't have tire patches with us. That was unfortunate. But, luckily it wasn't raining at the time! So the walk back wasn't too bad, and we got it fixed that night. :)
Something wonderful: I heard from the Maastricht zusters last night that Diana has a baptismal date for April 25!! Diana is a woman in Maastricht who has been investigating the church for about a year. She has been through some very hard things in her life and has her own set of challenges now, but I really grew to love her during my time in Maastricht and I am so excited that she is finally taking this step. I know what a blessing it will be to her and I can't wait for her to see that in her life. Also, I heard that Dudley is continuing to make progress with stopping smoking and drinking and is still on track for his baptismal date in April! Happy news from my first city. :)
Well, that's about all I have for this week, but I would like to take a couple sentences to exress just how grateful I am for Christ and His church. I know Heavenly Father has not just a plan but a vision for me, and that He knows my potential and has provided the Atonement so that I can reach that potential. He has done this out of love for me and I know He has done it for each and every person on earth. We can't fully comprehend this great love and see can't see every particular of the plan, but we can "press forward with a steadfastness inChrist, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men" (2 Nephi 31:20). Take a moment this week to consider God's plan for you, and how you can work to let Christ's Atonement work in you so you can reach that plan and help others along the way! :)
-Zuster Jensen
I can't believe that I've been out 6 months already! As of tomorrow I will have exactly 1 year left in my mission. Home and college seem like a faraway dream, and yet the time has still flown by fast. As I stand 1/3 of the way through my mission there are things I can see I want to improve on and achieve and change, but I wouldn't change my experiences so far for anything. I've already learned so much in every way, and I'm excited for the year ahead of me! :)
My first full week in Assen was interesting, with several appointments falling through but also several tender mercies. Assen has quite a variety of people to help. We teach several investigators, including a man whom we just taught the Restoration to this week and it was positively received. We also teach a part-member family, a couple of recent converts, and less-active members. Everyone is so different and has different challenges, from mental illness to physical illness to lack of commitment to language barriers. However it is wonderful to see the Spirit blessing each one with the things they need as they work to come closer to Christ. I was particularly impressed by Bernadette; she is a 44 year old woman who was baptized about 5 years ago, but she suffers from some sort of mental illness where her mentality is still quite childlike. We visit her twice a week and recently she asked to missionaries to teach her the lessons again because she couldn't remember or understand a lot of it. We have been doing that, and this week she bore her testimony in Relief Society. It was very simple and not the most focused, but it was so sweet to hear to expressing the truths she could. She is so sweet and loving to everyone, and although I wish she didn't have to deal with this mental illness it is a wonderful example to me of what it truly means to be childlike and humble in the gospel.
Something funny for the week, I got a flat tire on Friday the 13th while we were in a neighborhood far from our home and didn't have tire patches with us. That was unfortunate. But, luckily it wasn't raining at the time! So the walk back wasn't too bad, and we got it fixed that night. :)
Something wonderful: I heard from the Maastricht zusters last night that Diana has a baptismal date for April 25!! Diana is a woman in Maastricht who has been investigating the church for about a year. She has been through some very hard things in her life and has her own set of challenges now, but I really grew to love her during my time in Maastricht and I am so excited that she is finally taking this step. I know what a blessing it will be to her and I can't wait for her to see that in her life. Also, I heard that Dudley is continuing to make progress with stopping smoking and drinking and is still on track for his baptismal date in April! Happy news from my first city. :)
Well, that's about all I have for this week, but I would like to take a couple sentences to exress just how grateful I am for Christ and His church. I know Heavenly Father has not just a plan but a vision for me, and that He knows my potential and has provided the Atonement so that I can reach that potential. He has done this out of love for me and I know He has done it for each and every person on earth. We can't fully comprehend this great love and see can't see every particular of the plan, but we can "press forward with a steadfastness inChrist, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men" (2 Nephi 31:20). Take a moment this week to consider God's plan for you, and how you can work to let Christ's Atonement work in you so you can reach that plan and help others along the way! :)
-Zuster Jensen
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