Adventures in FLMTH Week 5: Missionaries AKA Moving Company, Log Splitters and Guidance Counselors

We interrupt your daily schedule for this important news bulletin.

Hey there! I'm sorry that it's late getting to you, things were pretty busy today.

My week was pretty good. We did a TON of service for people throughout the week. We've been helping our next door neighbors, the Couvrettes, move pretty much all week. I learned through that experience that; 1. Moving sucks and 2. Don't accumulate a ton of stuff. It makes for difficulty. We also worked in their garden for a long time too, and allergies decided to make a comeback. I'm all good though.

Another service opportunity we had was log splitting for someone that a ward member knows. Now, this wasn't your average everyday log splitting project, this was Advanced Log Splitting. We cut what I was told was about nine chords, whatever that means. All I know was that it was a HECKALOT TON OF WOOD. Pretty much going to be a lumberjack now. When in Oregon, cut the trees as they do.

We also helped another family in the ward move. In doing so,we procured yet ANOTHER COUCH HOLLA AT YOUR BOY! It's a 10/10 couch. Anyway moving on...

ZTM was pretty good. It was nice to be able to just sit back and relax while others were in charge of the teaching. I enjoyed it. We learned a lot about the principle of repentance, which is being pushed in from the missionary department very strongly. Lots of good stuff to put into our teaching library. 

Other than that, we've just been working super hard to finish the transfer out. I know that as we put our efforts out there, the Lord will bless us with being able to find and teach those who are prepared.

Transfer calls go out this week so we will know what's going on and who's going where very soon.

Talk to you next time.

Chase out

This place makes me very very happy 

Corvallis Zone represent

Adventures in FLMTH Week 4: Road Trips? Road Trips.

Heidi Heidi Ho!

So, we had some awesome stuff go on this week. We had another lesson with Debbie at the Corvallis Manor where she's recovering. We taught her the Plan of Salvation and the spirit was very strong in that meeting. Even though she's not at her full physical capacity, and likely won't ever be again, she expressed a strong desire to come to church and learn for herself the things we were teaching to be true.

We had a chance to actually sit down with Clifford as well this week. He told us about his entire life up to that point, full of drugs, prison, alcohol, and all other types of debauchery. He told us a story of how he was about ready to give up everything and heard from the sprit to give up everything to God. From then on, he's been working on getting his life back on track. Like Debbie, some of the decisions in his past might hinder his learning a bit, but we told him that we're here to help him and that anyone can overcome anything through Christ and his infinite sacrifice for us. I'm very excited to see where he goes from here.

This week's lesson learned is that, even while on a mission, you're still stuck going on road trips during the summer. This week we did a TON of driving around different places. Elder Spencer had his going away temple trip on Wednesday, so we had to drive all the way into Albany (outside of our mission mind you) to take him to a gas station so the mission president could grab him and take him to Portland. Confusing? I thought so too. But I got to hang out with the zone leaders and a few other missionaries for a few hours, so that was awesome!

Yesterday we went to the coast with Jake from the ward (not from State Farm). We traveled around Newport and the surrounding area for the entirety of the day. We went to shops, saw the sights, saw some seals, dipped our digits into the ocean, ate some clam chowder, and had just a ball of a time. It was a nice and relaxing PDay in one of my favorite places on the planet, so who can be bummed about that?

The most extensive of our road tripping experiences happened on Thursday. We had a Multi-Zone conference in Eugene with special speaker Elder Daniel L. Johnson of the Seventy. It was refreshing to be able to see so many familiar faces all at once; you tend to miss it when you're in an outlying area. Elder Johnson gave a great address about the nature of Heavenly Father and why it's so critical for us to correctly teach and emphasize the doctrine of God being our literally father in heaven. He actually told us to not take any notes and to pay attention to what the spirit impressed on us. A different approach to teaching, but it was cool to have an open discussion with a general authority.

That about wraps up the week for me so far. Only a little less than two weeks until we figure out the information for transfers. This next week we don't have too much lined up expect for ZTM on Friday. It'll be nice to just listen to others teach rather than teach others for a change.

I love you all so so so much. Stay hydrated, stay humble, stay something else that starts with an H that I can't think of off the top of my head. And have a great week!

Love,
Elder Jensen

That fine grizzled friend is Jake. He's da bomb.

I have now decided that seals are my spirit animal

Chase vs 60 mph car speeds + wind

Adventures in FLMTH Week 3: Elder ...... Jenkins, right?

My week was ok. Again, it was really slow, so there was that. At least I'm not super hot and full of allergens.

We went up to Corvallis to contact a referral named Debbie. She lives in Philomath but had a stroke, so she's staying up at a rehabilitation center in Corvallis. We were able to teach her and her boyfriend about the restoration and she invited us back! We'll be swinging by tomorrow to follow up with her and hopefully keep teaching. We also taught this dude name Clifford who came to church last week. He's been in and out of jail for most of his life, so we're hoping to be able to help him come closer to Christ. That was about the extent of the missionary-ing we did this week.

So, I've been here for almost a month now, and no one here knows my name. In Ward Council, at dinners, in lessons, everywhere. We were at dinner with the bishop of all people and during the bishop's prayer he said "We're thankful to have Elder Spencer and Elder.....................*silence*................... *wife whispering* "Jensen" ........... AHH Elder Jensen! So, that's how well known I am here. But of course, missionary work isn't for recognition, but for saving them souls. So, hopefully people will start recognizing me soon. The ward is super awesome though. It's a lot like the wards back home. Everyone is really nice and seems to like us a lot. We've had people refer us to others or at lest support us in the shtuff we do.

Other fun things this week: We made pineapple A1 burgers for a less active family. We crashed a member in the ward's back to school party - there were inflatables and fun stuff that were pretty tempting, but we restrained ourselves and talked with the members about the temple. We gave a Book of Mormon to a lady straight chilling in the church parking lot - apparently the police weren't too happy with her. Good times!

That's about it. This next week should be super duper fun. We've got Zone Conference and exchanges. So, stay tuned.

Love you all so so much. Hope to here from you soon!

Elder Jensen

email: jensen.chase@myldsmail.net
address: PO BOX 765 Philomath, OR 97370

Graffiti in the church parking lot 

no explanation given....use your imagination

Adventures in FLMTH Week 2: It's Hot Holy Crap

This week was hot. That's it. That's my email. Talk to you all later.

Just kidding, we actually did things. Well, sorta. You're right when you said that things are a lot less busy. It feels kinda weird not having as much responsibility, I feel a little lost for things to do. It will be good to just relax a bit more and not have such a load to carry.

On Wednesday we went to the Portland temple for the first time. It was SWEEEEEEET! We had our session combined with the Springfield and Northern Coos Bay zones, so there were a ton of missionaries that showed up. It was cool to see a lot of mission friends for a while, especially when we're out stuck in Philomath isolation. Plus, the temple there is GORGEOUS. Seeing it in person was something that was really nifty.

On Thursday, we were able to help out in the most traditional Oregonian thing that you could possibly imagine, sheep wrangling. We helped a member corral their sheep, take them to the fairgrounds, weigh them, attempt to get them to back to the trailer, and take them home. I swear, sheep are the most stubborn flippin things in the entire world. The one I was parading around was a little broken; he decided to casually forget how to use his legs, so I had to drag him around the fairgrounds. He looked like he didnt want to go to school. It required him to be carried by me. It was something else.

On Saturday, we had a service opportunity at the Scout-a-Rama. We made snow cones. It was fantastic.

With things being slower, it's been nice to get back to the basics. Studying the things that I feel that I need and have the Spirit work through me in its own due time. It's been really pleasant, even if sometimes it feels really slow. That's honestly been the better part of our week besides looking for people and the usual stuff.

Love,
Elder Chase

Portland Temple trip

Portland Temple

National Doughnut Day haul

Sister Gregory 4'1" vs Elder Jensen 6'2"

Adventures in FLMTH: Chase vs Histamines

Let me start by saying that Philomath is a great place to be. It's right on the outskirts of Corvallis so we're close enough to a big city but Philomath itself has a great small town feel to it. There's only about four thousand people, so the community is really tight knit. Speaking of the community, the people here are SO nice. The members and non members alike are all extremely friendly and willing to talk which is a nice change from some other people in Oregon.

Since we've been here, we've been doing a ton of service around the community. It was during service that I learned that I'm allergic to the greater Corvallis area, but that's a different story. We worked at the Habitat for Humanity, the local food bank, and helping some members move out of their place. It was a great way to get ourselves out there and help others out.

I've been able to meet a lot of really cool people that missionaries have been working with in the past. We have quite a few investigators that could be baptized here pretty soon, but for the most part, it looks like we'll be doing a lot of finding new people to teach. We do spend a lot of time with some less active members of the ward who are just fantastic.

Some of the highlights of this week include destroying an entertainment center with sledgehammers, teaching sharing time in primary (note, primary children don't know anything about architecture, so don't try and explain it to them), eating at Chipotle for lunch one day, and having interviews with the mission president where we got to hang out as a whole zone for a while which was a blast.

I'm really looking forward to the experiences that I'll have up here in Philomath over the next few weeks. Until then, stay tuned.


Elder Chase

Hello Philomath

The booming metropolis that is Philomath, Oregon 

OSU

The snake wanted to learn about the Gospel