Medford 17: I've Been Here Forever!

Things have been going well, but still super slow. We're walking and talking and knocking all day long, but not a lot is happening. We haven't found a lot of new investigators and no one is really getting ready to get baptized, so I'm not sure if they'll keep us around here. It's a bummer because Phoenix is a great place! The people down here are so great and there's so much good, but its a small area and not a lot of people are interested.

It's started to get really hot. Like upper nineties hot. In May! Our central AC doesn't work too well either, so we huddle around the swamp cooler thing we have whenever possible. We're back to running between shady spots to keep cool.

We also stop in at the local Jack in the Box to get water. We're like regulars, it's really funny.

We've gotten back in contact with some of the people we've been teaching lately! Patrick and Southern are doing well! They've both been reading and praying, now we've just got to get them to church. We also got back to seeing Chris! He's another that, once he's at church, he'll be hooked. The poor man just lost his job on top of all his medical baloney, so we're really hoping to help him out however we can.

A man in a pirate costume rode by on his bike and shouted "You boys from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints? GOD BLESS YOU." It was fantastic.

I've been doing a lot of reflecting on the mission lately and I'm just so grateful and happy that I decided to serve. There have been so many blessings that I've seen and the growth I've felt both spiritually (and pretty much all other 'allys) has been amazing. I wouldn't trade this experience for the world, even if it's hard sometimes. The church is super true. There really isn't a way that it isn't!

Love,
Elder Jensen

This is pretty much the entirety of Phoenix for you

R-L: Patrick, Southern (asleep we think), Bruce the dog, and Shai. 

Medford 16

Hey there everyone. It's Elder Jensen.

Things have really been heating up down here in Oregon (not the work though, the weather. It's gotten up to like 95 already.) But really, things are going great.

We've been really getting after it lately and even if results aren't raining in, we're still working hard! 

Thank you all for the birthday wishes! It was a great day. It's weird to think that 2 decades have already passed. I couldn't think of a better place to celebrate than in the service of The Lord! We spent a lot of the day acquiring free food and doing normal missionary stuff, so nothing too exciting.

On Wednesday, we wandered for MILES out in the sticks of our area looking for people to teach. That kind of thing happens when you've pretty much talked to everyone in your area already. We traversed up this dirt road looking for this lady who was a former investigator. We found her house, but didn't find her. Instead we found her daughter, a professional artist. We taught her about the Book of Mormon and set up a time to come back! When we came back on Monday, she wasn't there. But her mom, who we originally went out to see, was! So now we've got a family to teach.

On Friday after district meeting, we went on exchanges with the Elders in 6th Ward. I got to go out with my main man Elder Zilles again. From day one we've been chugging along and it's been great to be around him this much. We got Sonic shakes at the end of the day, so it was a blast!

On Saturday and Sunday we busted our buns looking for people to teach without too much success. We received a list of members to visit from the ward and that's been really great to go through. We've found a lot of people who want to get back in to the swing of the gospel which is great!

On Monday, we had Zone Conference. We had the Klamath Falls Zone come up and we were very spiritually uplifted. It was a sweet meeting, even if it did take 8 hours to get through all of it.

Other than that, not too much to report on. Transfers are in two weeks, so we'll see what gets shaken up and where. Then only one more six week stint! Time sure flies.

Have a great week everyone. Be safe and love one another and Jesus loves you.

Until next time,
Elder Jensen

Springfield reunion 

The Medford Zone in red 

Medford 15

Hey there everyone, it's your old pal Elder Jensen coming at you live from Phoenix!

Things have been going well the past few days. I've started to feel the effects of being in an area for a while, so we're shaking it up a bit and getting out into places we usually don't get to all too often. And as always, we've been walking a ton. It wouldn't be a week in Oregon without walking a few dozen miles every few days!

But first, let me take a second and give a shoutout to my Mom on this the day after Mother's Day. My mom is the best, plain and simple. I'm so grateful for her and all the selfless devoted service and sacrifices that she makes for me and for everyone around her. You rock Mom! Thank you, and I love you so much!

We also had the opportunity to give the lesson in Relief Society this week, which made me think of all the wonderful women in my life growing up. Thank you for all you do too!

Ok back in it. We started the week off with interviews with the mission President. He's getting to the end of his mission too, so it's been really evident of the love that he has for all his missionaries. We had a really good chat and the training beforehand was great too. It set the mood for the rest of the week.

We did a lot of work for the cemetery this week. The guy who runs the service, Stan, is the man. We were able to have ten Elders come and work on Friday morning and that graveyard is looking fresh. Just in time for Memorial Day!

We did a lot of finding and contacting this week, but everyone disappeared? Maybe it's just Phoenix, but NO ONE answers their doors. We hear people all the time behind doors say "Oh (darn it), it's those (lovely) Missionaries again." And then they won't open. Such is the life.

We ventured out in to the east side of Phoenix this week which was an adventure. Both of us really, really had to go to the bathroom, so we wandered for a while attempting to find the proper facilities to do so. After a miracle that is a random gas station, we knocked around and found a new investigator! Inspired bathroom search = Success in proselyting?

On Saturday, Phoenix did a city wide garage sale.  We spent a lot of the day walking around talking to people as they perused the neighborhoods. Note: people like you a lot more when they're selling you things and not when you're knocking on their doors. It was really fun though!

This pday, we finally did the hike I wanted to. It's a big old peak called Roxy Anne. You could see the whole valley from the top. It was marvelous!

That's about it for me. I hope all of you have a great week and remember just how much Heavenly Father loves you! Talk to you next week.

Look both ways when you cross the street,
Elder Jensen

Oregon is very adamant about dogs and their bathroom habits

Phoenix isn't all too bad ;)

In case we forgot which state we were in 

Golly I love this place 

Medford 14: Spring? Summer? Both?

These last few days have been good. There's plenty of walking to do and lots of people we're talking to. I've been doing my best to try to break up the monotony and keep looking for ways to keep my head up. I've had a lot of really good experiences that have helped me as things have been winding down. I'm kinda understanding the whole "Enduring to the End" thing for sure 😉 But things have been good.

We've been really getting after it and seeing a lot of success. We've been trying to sort through our investigators and seeing who's really invested in, well, investigating! While it's been sad to let some people go, I know that it's for the benefit of the work.

We had good lessons with a few of our investigators like Ben and Anthony and a less active man named Tom who's SUPER great. He bought us lunch one day. It's been great to see as we've been getting out and about, there have been blessings coming from it.

Speaking of which, we found some swell new people to teach. We were walking around and we were both just DEAD tired, but we decided to make a final push before dinner. We were able to find two really solid investigators in about 2 minutes! Diligence pays off!

Small talk: the weather. The weather in Oregon has been just ridiculous lately. We went from 92 degrees one day to 35 a day later. One day drowning in sweat, the next, drowning in a torrential downpour. I've never experienced all four season in a week until I've been here. It was nutso.

I need to mention this before I forget again. This happened a week or two ago, but it's vital information. We saw a high school girl fight in the cemetery. I looked over and all of these teenagers congregated in a circle, phones out, and WHAMO. Hair pulling. Cut foreheads. I was completely in disbelief! I walked over there, weedwacker in hand, and told them all to break it up. We didn't really know what to do after that, so we went and got pizza.

Ok back to the week. This Sunday was incredible! The spirit was just super strong and the classes were great. It was just a really positive way to end a less than exciting week.

And last but not least, crazy Oregon story of the week! So we were walking down the street Sunday night and we see this couple hanging out of the side of the road. To paint a picture, this guy has no shoes, a big floppy hat, and is holding an vapor cigarette, so your typical Oregonian. He says something like "I want the two of you to feel the energy out in this situation and give me just one sentence. That's all I want. Huddle up!" So, we huddle up and talk amongst ourselves trying to figure out what the heck is going on. We decided on a quick message and said proudly: "Men are that they might have joy!" The man thinks for a second and says: "That's beautiful man. Bring it in." We proceed to hug it out. It was a good time.

Love, Elder Jensen

What season is it?

Zone Hike

Medford 13: Biking on the Sun

Hey there everyone!

This has been a good week. It's been getting hot over here in Oregon and we're feeling it. Walking and biking around in this weather has been quite the experience.

Speaking of, on Saturday (who needs chronological order anyway) we went biking eeeevvvveeerrryyywhere. Xavier, one of the people people that I was teaching in Springfield got baptized this weekend. In order to Skype in, we had to bike the whole six miles in the heat of the day through busy Medford traffic to the church so we could see it. It was quite the trip. We got a bit sunburned and Elder Green almost fell into a river. Good times.

We've been visiting Patrick and Southern a lot lately and they're doing really well. We've been reading from the Book of Mormon with them and they're coming out of their shell. We're hoping to get them comfortable enough to come to church. They're going to be a little bit of a project, but we're making lots of progress!

We also taught a few new people that we found and had a really good lesson with this lady named Cecilia. We taught her the Restoration for about 45 minutes and then she had a TON of questions for us afterwards. It was great. We feel like she could really make some progress.

Other than hifiving homeless guys, getting cussed out by a part member family, holding pigeons, and going on a hike in Ashland, not too much else has happened. We're just out and doing the work.

Have a great week everyone! Don't feed the wildlife.

Elder Jensen

Secret Passageways 

Don't worry, we looked out for trains

We found President Monson's pigeons

Splashland

Take a hike!

Medford 12: Walk This Way

This week was pretty good. It was super long. Definitely one of the longest weeks ever. But it was still good!

We did a ton of walking. So much walking. My feet are super done and my brown shoes are super full of holes. Good thing I've only got a few weeks left! 😅 BUT everything's still good.

My new companion is named Elder Green from Dallas Texas. He's actually from the Ward that Hailee Hendricks is serving in right now. Funny how things work huh? He's a good guy and we're getting along pretty well.

Things are really really slow. All is well though. Honestly, there isn't too much to write about.

We had some good lessons with a few of our investigators. We sat down with Patrick and Southern and read from the Book of Mormon with them. The spirit was really there and we're going to be working with them a lot.

We also went out to lunch with Tom our less active friend! It was super sweet. He's such a good guy. We're going to hopefully start teaching his non member wife here soon.

That's really about it. Man, emailing is super hard. Sorry for being lame. I love you guys so much!

Have an awesome week!

Elder Jensen

A couple of Oregon sunsets this week....

Medford 11: Easter 2K17

Hey everyone.

I hope you all had a Happy Easter. I know that we did here in Phoenix!

This week was pretty mellow. We did a lot of service and attempting to contact people that we were working with. It wasn't all too successful, but we still had a good time walking ourselves all over creation.

We were able to have some good lessons this week. We've been getting to know Patrick and Southern, the part member family we're teaching. They're super cool. We mowed their lawn with an old school rotating lawnmower. It was intense.

We had Zone Conference this week too. It was a great meeting and the spirit was super there! It was combined with the Klamath Falls and Central Point zones. It was really great to see so many friends from around the mission all the while being super spiritually uplifted.

Easter was so fantastic! This past week, I really did a lot of in depth study about the last week of the mortal life of the Savior. Study coupled with pondering really helped me to grow my testimony and appreciation for Him and the Easter season. I'm filled with so much gratitude for the sacrifice that He has made for us and for me. I really love Easter and wish that it was as big of a deal as other holidays, because it celebrates the most important event to ever happen. I'm so grateful for this gospel and all the blessings it's brought in to my life.

In other news, transfers have happened here in the good old OEM. Elder Davis is going up to Santa Clara, and my new companion is named Elder Green from Dallas Texas! He's fantastic and I love him already. This is going to be a great transfer and I'm super excited for the next few weeks here!

Thank you all for the love and support. Keep up the good work. Talk to you all soon!

Smooth Sailing,

Elder Jensen

The last pic of the First Ward Gang