Short and Sweet

My dear friends and family,
It has been a short and relatively uneventful week! Our p-day was moved to Saturday this week, since Monday is Koningsdag (King's Day)! I'll have more to tell you about that next time I'm sure. In the meantime I only have 4 days to report on, so enjoy the following brief update!
The first part of the week was pretty normal, teaching some good lessons and looking up some people. On Thursday we randomly had about 5 hours with no scheduled appointments, which meant looking up people and lots of contacting. However, the weather was lovely that day and we were able to get in contact with a couple people who had been MIA for a while, so that was wonderful! It's funny how just a few minutes of success can make hours of drudgery worth it. :)
A bit of awkwardness from that day: at the end of looking up/contacting all those people our brains were a little fried, so as we were biking home for the night and we saw a pretty airplane contrail next to the rising moon we got a little overenthusiastic about taking a picture of it. That's about when we noticed the guy sitting on his balcony 20 feet away from us... awkward. :P Haha, if nothing else hopefully we added a little humor to his evening! As missionaries we are blessed with an extra measure of strength and the Spirit to do what we need to do. However, it only goes so far! In fact, I've decided that missionaries must really be "good eggs," because by the end of each day we feel whipped, beated, scrambled and fried! :D
Some exciting news from the week: in President's letter this week he mentioned that our mission will be getting iPads sometime in 2015! I imagine it will still be a few months at least before they come, but that will be an interesting change to be a part of. The Lord truly is hastening His work in every way, in every location in its own time!
And now, a little something I've been pondering recently. As a little kid, I always thought missionaries were perfect. As a missionary now, I know that that is very far from the truth! We make so many mistakes, I sometimes wonder how the work ever gets done. I think sometimes in normal life everyone wonders at times if they are really progressing or whether we can still be good, confident people despite our many mistakes. The Book of Mormon has really helped me to understand how we can, in the passage just after King Benjamin finishes his sermon:
"1 And now, it came to pass that when king Benjamin had thus spoken to his people, he sent among them, desiring to know of his peopleif they believed the words which he had spoken unto them.
2 And they all cried with one voice, saying: Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of theirsurety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have nomore disposition to do evil, but to do good continually" (Mosiah 5:1-2)
First, it begins with faith. We must believe in what we have been taught about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the possibility of progression. As we do so, the faith turns into knowledge through the confirming witness of the Holy Ghost. This process produces that "might change of heart."
Second, see how that change is manifested in our thoughts and actions. This is the part where I often got confused. I always thought that having "no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually" meant that these people basically became perfect, because they couldn't be tempted anymore. I know think that's not quite right. The word "disposition" doesn't mean that you can only do something a certain way, but that you have a tendency or preference to do it a certain way. In other words, they definitely still had temptation, and probably succumbed to it from time to time - but, overall, their primary desire and tendency was to do good, to choose the right, and to avoid sin. If we also desire these things, if we want to serve God and strive to be worthy of the companionship of the Holy Ghost, then it could also be said of us that we "have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continally."
Perhaps many of you already knew all that, but it was a little reminder to me (and I hope it will be to you) that we are not perfect people, but progressing people part of God's perfect plan. So put on a confident smile, savor the beautiful feeling of desiring the ways of God that the Holy Ghost has put into your heart, and go out and "do good continually." :)

-Zuster Jensen

National Holiday!

By the way-next p day is this saterday. This pic is a hint why:)

From Mom:

"Koningsdag or King's Day is a national holiday in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Celebrated on 27 April (26 April if the 27th is a Sunday), the date marks the birth of King Willem-Alexander.

The Netherlands turned out in orange on Monday and the famed national football team wasn't even playing. Monarch Willem-Alexander turned 48 and the whole country celebrated King's Day.

The national holiday brought the king to Dordrecht, a city close to the port of Rotterdam, to set off a full day of celebrations under sunny skies among thousands of well-wishers in orange-colored outfits.

The celebrations will end with hundreds of evening parties across the nation of 16.8 million. The highlight of the daytime celebrations was an armada of pleasure boats going down the river as Willem-Alexander, Queen Maxima and their three daughters were taken around in a vessel turned out with orange flowers.

Celebrating the monarch's anniversary has been a tradition for several generations in the Netherlands.

In Amsterdam boats crammed the famed canals to join the party to honor the king."

Transfers and Other Things

My dear family and friends,
This week was simultaneously relatively uneventful and also filled was many little strange occurences. I don't know if I can adequately describe them to you. But in general the week was great - here goes!
I guess I could begin with the highlight of the week - transfers! We took the train to Utrecht on Wednesday morning. I had a joyful reunion with Zuster Manning and Zuster Whittington, then said goodbye to them both along with Zuster Dobler as they all headed down south. Then I met Zuster Harris and we got ourselves back to Assen - all by 2:30 pm! Which is kind of amazing, considering that the train ride from here to Utrecht is 2 hours (one way) and transfer day is crazy, what with 150 missionaries riding trains with all their luggage and bikes, meeting new companions in central stations, sometimes needing to travel in groups to other central stations, and then getting all those people and suitcases and bikes back to their various cities. Fun times! :)
Zuster Harris is great, and I look forward to working with her. We're both pretty quiet, and we both have our awkward moments (more often than we'd like to admit), and we're both pretty new. :) She's two transfers behind me, having served 3 months in Gouda. She's very positive and hard-working, so we hope to see good things from this transfer!
On Saturday we participated in a volleyball tournament that the church in the Netherlands does every year here. They had teams from all over, and the women's team to Assen needed a couple more people so they asked if we could play. As missionaries we're supposed to help the ward/branch members however we can, so we said sure! Unfortunately we lost all of our games, but it was super fun! I was glad for the volleyball practice I got in the MTC, haha... even if I still have no idea what I'm doing. :) It was great to get Zuster Harris introduced to several of the members here, and there were also less-actives and even non-member friends of people there that we were able to have some great conversations with! Missionary work can happen anywhere, people. Keep your eyes open! :D
Which brings me to my thought for this week - people need you! As a missionary, we are pulled in so many directions by the needs of investigators, members, less-actives, other missionaries, leaders, people on the street, and even people we've never met. However, our circle of influence is still relatively limited. We try to talk to and teach people all day, but we don't have a job, go to school, participate in clubs or sports teams, or stay in one place long enough to form very strong bonds with neighbors. But you guys can do all that! Take a moment to think about all the people you see in one day. One week. One month. Think about all the people you are friends with, or even just aquantainces. Your circle of influence is huge!! So many people need you for who you are, and especially for your testimony and knowledge of eternity! Pray for and look for opportunities to help, to lift, and to bless. They will be there, because the people who need you are there! In the words of President Hinckley, "don't muff your opportunities!" :)

-Zuster Jensen

Not the best picture, but Zuster Harris and I :)

More beautiful flowers from the Netherlands!

Flowers everywhere!

Keukenhof Gardens

Keukenhof fun! :)

Temple Pictures from Kirsten

Temple :)

Temple, Tulips, and Transfer Calls!

My dear friends and family,

What a wonderful week! We begun with a trip to the Den Haag temple, which is extremely exciting since as missionaries we can only go every 6 months, and the temple is such a wonderful place! We slept over in Den Haag and then woke up bright and early to be in the temple by 8:00 AM. It was an interesting experience doing a session in Dutch, but I was reminded that the ordinances and covenants are exactly the same. It was beautiful to be there with so many other young adults and to think about the way our lives are heading - the path the Lord has prepared for us only goes to better places!

After the temple we all piled on a bus and went to the Keukenhof! It's basically a giant garden with hundreds of varieties of flowers, especially tulips, and other fun things. We had a great time taking pictures, admiring the beauty of God's creations, and spending time with missionaries I haven't seen for a while. :)

On Wednesday we had a lesson with Saad, a recently baptized member who is from Iraq. He knows very little Dutch, but he is so sincere and sweet. He works very hard to communicate with us, despite needing google translate to help our with our lessons, and we gave him an Arabic bible which made him so happy! He indicated to us through google translate that, despite the language barrier and a busy work shedule, he wants to be a more active member and to better serve the Lord. His testimony was a reminder to me that the Spirit has no language barriers, and God knows each and every one of us! Saad was ordained to the Aaronic priesthood yesterday and we are excited to see his continued progress!

On Friday we had a great enrichment activity with the relief society where we had dinner together and then watched the Women's session of General Conference. It was in Dutch, but from what I understood there were some wonderful messages! I spoke a lot last week about how much I love conference, but I'll just say it again. I love conference! :)

I'm running out of time so I need to wrap up, but there were other wonderful things in this week as well! Being a missionary is hard, but rewarding in every way. To finish of the news of the week, let me just tell you about transfer calls! Crazy stuff - I'm staying in Assen, but Zuster Dobler is actually going back to my wonderful first city of Maastricht to work with Zuster Manning, who is still there! It feels a little weird to be sending her there and not going with here, but I'm extremely excited for her and the great time she will have there. Meanwhile, Zuster Harris will be coming to work with me! She is two transfers newer than I, and I have only met her once, but I've heard great things about her and look forward to another great transfer!

To end, I would like to again express my gratitude for the covenants we make at baptism and in the temple. I have heard the sad news from the Judson side of the family this week, and I express my love to everyone involved. How beautiful it is to know that Jesus Christ has completed the Atonement for us, so that the promises made from before the world began are sure! As we simply choose to come to Him, we are comforted, changed, and glorified through His mercy and sacrifice. As was reiterated during the last conference, there is absolutely nothing in this life or ever that cannot be made right through Jesus Christ. Please take a moment to watch the clip "Because He Lives," which testifies of the truth and power of the resurrection (website below). I add my own simple testimony to it. He lives! Come unto Him, be healed, be perfected, be home.
http://www.mormon.org/easter

-Zuster Jensen

(Kirsten is front and center)

Crazy weather & Happy Easter! :)

He is Risen - and we are so blessed!!

My dear family and friends,
First, I must apologize for being lame and forgetting to include a title with my last email. Luckily repentance is a true principle. ;)
Second, happy Easter! What a wonderful holiday and what a wonderful way to celebrate by listening to the living apostles and prophets of Christ's church here on earth! More on that in a minute.
To recap the week:
Monday we had an awesome lesson with a man who has met the missionaries before, back when there were elders here in Assen. I'm not sure why they stopped meeting but he is very nice and open to learning more. When we taught him the Restoration he had awesome questions and totally understood the need for the priesthood and how it is here through a direct line from Jesus Christ through His apostles and Joseph Smith to our prophet today! Such a blessing - that concept is super hard for a lot of people for some reason. He accepted a Book of Mormon and the challenge to read and pray about it. We're super excited to teach him the Plan of Salvation this week! :)
Tuesday was exciting! It was extremely windy all day. After a great district meeting, we had transportation issues getting home because the wind had blown over a tree, which broke the cables that guide the train from above the tracks. We had to step out in a little city halfway home and take a bus from there. Fun times!
Wednesday continued the crazy weather with hail storms off and on all day... maybe the weather's idea of an April Fool's prank? But no matter, Wind nor snow nor sleet nor hail can stop the mail, and if the mails going the missionaries certainly are! We've got the best message of all time to deliver! ;) If nothing else, Zuster Dobler and I have decided that with all the rain here, it must mean these missionaries are doing something right. We don't need the refiner's fire, we're already polished and just need a rinse off - the refiner's shower, if you will! :D Haha just kidding. Luckily there's plenty of trials to keep us in that refining process here. :)
Thursday and Friday were relatively uneventful, so I'll just move on to Saturday- General Conference!!!! YES!!! I just love conference, guys. It's seriously two of the best weekends of the year. We've actually only seen the first three sessions so far due to the time difference, but we will watch the last session when we're done emailing today and the women's session later this week. I wish I could just give you all of my notes and thoughts, there were so many wonderful messages! I found Sunday morning to be particularly powerful with the amazing testimonies of Christ's Atonement. I can only echo Elder Holland's testimony that ALL things, no matter or great or small or (to our mortal minds) mysterious, have been done in the wisdom of Him who knoweth all things. No matter how great our concerns or doubts, if we believe in God and believe that He is all-powerful and loves us, nothing else matters. Those truths allows to have perfect trust in Him and His plan, perfect faith in His Son and His sacrifice, and eventually a perfect peace in His presence. Listen to, reread, and ponder the general conference talks and the scriptures, the writings of His prophets who have gone before. Take a moment to stand still, feel His spirit and bask in His love. When I do, I truly stand all amazed- amazed at the perfect and wonderful love he offers freely to us! Never lose sight of the magnitude and magnificence of this precious gift!

-Zuster Jensen