Dear Mother,
I can hardly believe how the weeks fly
by as a missionary. Sister Johnson and I couldn't help but notice all of
the Christmas decorations in Wal-Mart as we did our grocery shopping
today. Occasionally, during the day, I'll just stop and think to
myself: "I wonder what my family is up to right now." :) It sounds like
everything is going well as normal at home though. It's amazing how
quickly things can be turned from going really well to going terribly
wrong however. For example, there's a part member family in the other
Waycross ward and the wife drove in front of a train this last week and
is now in critical care in Jacksonville. She broke an ankle, wrist,
ribs, back, and neck. There are so many trains here in Waycross, you
just have to be really careful.
Shanna (investigator progressing to baptism) has had
a terrible last few weeks. After we talked to her about baptism, it
seems like everything has been thrown in her direction to stop her. We
talked about the 23rd of November
for her baptism, but her son Tyson is eight and Emma and Isabel are
turning eight the beginning of December. The baptism date may change to
December so the whole family can be baptized on the same day. I think
that would be really special. I hope I will be here and not get
transferred, but wherever the Lord needs me I'll go. So pray for Shanna
and her ex-husband, Loren, to allow the kids to get baptized if you will
:) In the last couple weeks Shanna's dog got hit and killed by a car,
her mom's room mate had a heart attack, her credit card identity got
stolen and someone wiped her account, and then she got a fever before
church and couldn't come. The joys of preparing someone for baptism!!
I don't know if I've talked about this before but
our mission president has asked all of the missionaries to set aside one
hour during our "prime-pros" time (5pm-9pm)
to leave our cars and go out and just work hard to find people to
teach. Sometimes it is really hard to get a good golden hour in when it
gets dark outside. It seems that most people go to bed around eight
around here, or so they say. Anyway, this week during one of our golden
hours we were walking in an area, out in the country. There were houses
pretty close together in this certain area so we decided to do our work
there. When it gets really dark, we look for places with the most lights
on to knock. This particular trailer looked pretty lit up so we went up
and started talking to the man of the house. After a while of talking
he had mentioned how he had been to the Mormon church for two or three
weeks in a row one time, but he affiliates himself with the Baptist
church. His girlfriend said that her foster parents are Mormon and her
foster dad is the branch president in Alma (city close to Waycross).
They invited us in and we shared the message of the restoration with
them. As we taught it was clear that Johnny was feeling the spirit. We
invited him to be baptized and he accepted (Tish said that she has been
baptized). We left them with a chapter to read and that night he texted
us saying that he read it. They weren't able to come to church this Sunday,
but we hope to help them progress toward baptism. The spirit is truly
the teacher as a missionary. One of my favorite parts of being a
missionary is feeling completely led by the spirit to teach. Sometimes
it comes easier than other times, but I continue to work to always teach
by it.
Oh! Mom, the package came! I laugh every time I look
at it thinking of me carrying that big thing around if I get
transferred ;) And, yes, transfers are still the day before thanksgiving
from what I've heard. Sister Johnson and I work out in our apartment,
or (what I like most) Sister Johnson and I will go outside and I'll jump
rope (smart thing to bring!) or do some sprints back and forth in front
of our place. There are CD players in the car and a DVD player in the
apartment that I can play music on. I hope that answers your questions!
Love you tons!
Sister Jensen
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