Week 82

Area: Tiffany Springs, MOCompanion: Elder Nielsen
 
Email address:  kenneth.jensen@myldsmail.net  
 
Mailing Address:
Elder Kenneth Jensen
Missouri Independence Mission
517 W Walnut St
Independence, MO 64050

This week was transfers and we found out that both Elder Nielsen and I will be staying in the Tiffany Springs ward!

We went to the Doctor and found out for sure Elder Nielsen's ankle was not broken and no torn ligaments. So we went to a chiropractor who is a member and adjusts missionaries for free and they but him under a "Cold Laser", adjusted the bones in his ankle, and then did acupuncture. Kinda weird but it seems to be helping, so we will go with it.

The Cold Laser

Acupuncture

 

So we have resumed normal work for the most part. That being said not a whole lot happened this week. We went out and talked to a lot of people and had some pretty cool experiences, but we didn't find any new investigators.

One nice experience: we were walking down the road and there was a lady outside with 3 kids running around. We said Hello and then something just prompted me to say "We come sharing messages about how families can be together forever. Would you allow us to share that message with you?" And she looked at us and said "Yes, I would like that" we talked a little about the restoration and how we may live together after this life as a family. We will be contacting her this week.

Sorry for such a short one this week. We worked hard and are trying to bring people closer to Christ!  Thank you for all the support!

Elder Jensen

We had a HUGE rainstorm, my coat worked but my legs were soaked.

Week 81

Area: Tiffany Springs, MOCompanion: Elder Nielsen
 
Email address:  kenneth.jensen@myldsmail.net  
 
Mailing Address:
Elder Kenneth Jensen
Missouri Independence Mission
517 W Walnut St
Independence, MO 64050

So this week has been a lot of the same. Elder Nielsen's ankle is doing much better, he is starting to walk on it and the bruising has gone down a lot. The doctor still wants him to stay off the foot. We are going for a check up appointment tomorrow so we will see what the next week has in store for us. 

Although we haven't been able to go out proselytizing very much we have still seen some amazing miracles. We went to go help a family weed their garden so we were in service clothes and a lady pulled over and stopped my companion as he was backing me out of our parking spot. She asked if we were the Mormon Missionaries. He said yes and she told him that she was a less active member of the church and asked where the building was at and wanted us to come by and visit her sometime. She said "but if my husband answers the door say that you're suppose to be there, he doesn't like you very much." We have knocked a couple of times but we have not caught them at home yet.

We had a good lesson with Peter again this week. He is having a lot of health issues and is going through a lot so he has been struggling. But he has been reading the Book of Mormon, which is amazing!

I went on exchanges with two Elders this week who are both going home next week. It was an awesome opportunity to see the growth in people and hear the advice from a "seasoned" missionary.

This week has kinda been a weird week and we haven't been able to get out as much because of Elder Nielsen's ankle, but it's alright. We have talked a lot, watched probably every video/movie the church has made, and studied the gospel.

Thank you for the love and support!

Elder Jensen

Week 80

Area: Tiffany Springs, MOCompanion: Elder Nielsen
 
Email address:  kenneth.jensen@myldsmail.net  
 
Mailing Address:
Elder Kenneth Jensen
Missouri Independence Mission
517 W Walnut St
Independence, MO 64050

Well to start of the week, about 2 hours after I sent out my last email, my companion was playing basketball and sprained his ankle super bad. It seriously swelled up big enough it looked like an orange was just attached to the side of his foot. The mission nurse told him no walking for the next 3 days. The next day we went to a foot doctor and he gave him a big clunky boot and said no walking for 2 -3 weeks! So basically we can leave the house for dinner and teaching appointments, but not much else.... so this week we have done a lot of nothing and sitting at home.

 

Although two 20 year olds stuck in an apartment get some crazy ideas. Lesson learned: don't try to share a hammock with an exercise ball. Yes, we set up a hammock in our apartment, it's pretty nice. We also built a fort out of our couch cushions and blankets and had a movie night watching the Restoration. Then we slept in the fort, because we are still children on the inside.

 

Elder Nielsen had a pretty cool coloring book for grown ups and since we had nothing to do this week I went and bought one, so I have been drawing a lot this week as well.

I found out on Tuesday that one of my recent converts in Leavenworth passed away this week. Its alright though at the spry age of 88 he was still going strong, but I suppose that he was needed on the other side of the veil. You will be missed Herbert but I know that we will see you again.

The church is true! I have had a great amount of time to read the scriptures and study the Savior. I know He lives and that He loves us so much He was willing to sacrifice all. Stay strong in the faith and "be ambitious for Christ!"

Elder Jensen

We went to Five Guys and apparently they got the potatoes from Rexburd :)

Week 79

Area: Tiffany Springs, MOCompanion: Elder Nielsen

Email address:  kenneth.jensen@myldsmail.net  

Mailing Address:
Elder Kenneth Jensen
Missouri Independence Mission
517 W Walnut St
Independence, MO 64050

This week was a lot of walking and talking with people. We honestly didn't see much success this week, but we went out and invited all we could to learn more. That's all we really can do.

On Thursday we got to meet our new mission President. His name is President Love. He and his wife are really good people and are super funny.

Later that night we had a lesson set up with a former investigator. We called him and he invited us over. He sent us his address but it wasn't the one that we had on record. So we went anyway and we ended up in the same apartment complex that our Zone Leaders live in. So we had a good lesson and he had recently moved there so we transferred the records to them.

While we were walking one day we were standing on a street corner and a lady pulled up, totally blocking traffic, and said "Elders, you look like you could use some chicken nuggets" and she handed us a thing of chicken nuggets from Chick-Fil-a. Tender mercies of the Lord.

Another miracle we saw - we were walking down the street and we didn't have enough time to go see the people we were planning to go see but we both felt like we should keep going. As we walked, a lady who was holding a big business sign saying "liquidation sale" stopped us and said that she had been baptized into the church a few years ago but since then had fallen away. Her husband had been shot in a gang shooting just a few weeks before and she was left on her own. She said that she had prayed that day for the first time in a long time for simple peace of mind. We were able to talk with her for a while and she gave us water. It is amazing to be the answer to someone's prayers. I encourage you to look around and seek out the spiritual sensitivity to be the answer to someone's prayers. I promise that the Lord will use you to stand in His place and be His servant.

Thank you all for the love and support!

Elder Jensen

Week 78

Area: Tiffany Springs, MOCompanion: Elder Nielsen

Email address:  kenneth.jensen@myldsmail.net  

Mailing Address:
Elder Kenneth Jensen
Missouri Independence Mission
517 W Walnut St
Independence, MO 64050

So to start off, last week there were some technical problems with the internet. I wrote up and sent all of my emails then about 30 mins later I looked and it said that none of my emails sent and they were not saved. So I had to rewrite all the letters, I am sorry if I did not respond to your email last week. It got really confusing what emails actually got sent and which ones did not.

Well, on Monday we had a good day and we headed home. As we pulled up the people that live across the hall from us all came out and invited us to come into their apartment and "hang out for a little". We only had about 15 minutes before we had to be in our apartment but we went in. It was interesting. There were about 7 people who most of them had had a few beers. They were super nice though, they were really respectful of what we could and couldn't do. Although they really wanted to see which one of us would win in a match of street fighter. Ever since that night we have been pretty good friends with them.

On Wednesday we had probably one of the best lessons I have ever had. We were on exchanges with our Zone Leaders. Elder Lancaster and I had an appointment with a man that had been tracted into a few months ago. We showed up and he had a quad scripture set on his table with 3 pads of paper and a pencil. He is a huge religionist and loves learning. He had some LDS friends growing up and met with missionaries back in 2007. But he had a ton questions and in 1 hour we taught him the first 3 lessons and a few of the commandments. It was really incredible for me to see how all the lessons are interconnected.

Elder Nielsen got bit by a pretty nasty bug. It started out looking just like a mosquito bite on his had, but a day and a half later you could not see his knuckles anymore because his hand was so swollen. So we went to an urgent care and they gave him steroids, Yay! 

The biggest news of the week - Shane got Baptized! It was an awesome service and Elder Nielsen confirmed him a member of the church on Sunday. 

This week our bishop got an email from the temple in Kansas City saying a man called wanting to meet the missionaries. So we went over and met Peter. He is 82 years old and back in the 80s he joined the church and was active for a while but eventually through some things he decided to take his name off the records. Fast forward a while and he recently moved to Kansas City and said that he wants to come back and check it out. So we met him on Saturday and he came to church on Sunday! He is super awesome, it reminds me a lot of teaching Herbert from Leavenworth.

It has been a good week. The days sometimes seem to go slow but then I look back on the week and it seems that it has gone by so fast.

Thank you all for the birthday wishes again. I know the church is true!

Elder Jensen

Week 77

Area: Tiffany Springs, MOCompanion: Elder Nielsen

Email address:  kenneth.jensen@myldsmail.net  

Mailing Address:
Elder Kenneth Jensen
Missouri Independence Mission
517 W Walnut St
Independence, MO 64050

This week was pretty fun, Tuesday was my birthday. Thank you to everyone who helped make it a memorable day.  We had a dinner appointment way out at the other side of our area with a single mom and her kids. We tried almost every priesthood holder in the ward to come with us and nobody answered until like 1 hour before we were supposed to leave. Finally a brother answered and was able to take us. The family didn't know it was my birthday but they fed us steak, so I was ok with that.  Afterwards on our way home the brother who took us out stopped at Sonic and bought us cream slushies. I had never had one before but they are pretty good.

We received a media referral this week for a man named Michael. It just said that he had requested a Book of Mormon. So we called and set up an appointment. We asked how he found the church or why he wanted a Book of Mormon. He said that he had an app on his phone that gave him bible verses each day and he saw an add pop up for a free Bible so he clicked on it and ordered a bible. Soon the missionary department called him and then soon we called him and came over.  We were able to give him a Book of Mormon and a Bible, he was grateful to receive both. We were able to testify of the Savior and of eternal families. It struck a deep cord with him because he is extremely religious and loves his children and grandchildren very much. I love to see the Lord reach out to his children through us. It is incredible.

The young men of the ward (there's only about 4 of them) had a fundraiser to help them go to scout camp this year. It was a spaghetti dinner and an auction. Families brought things like tents, stained glass, and lots of desserts. The ward members also offered many of their own services to be auctioned out. It was amazing to see the ward support as they came to support the boys and donate some of their time and talents. One of the items was the movie "Finding Dory" and Elder Nielsen thought it would be a great idea to help raise the bid some. So he bid at $15 and nobody took it... so he paid the $15 and now we have Finding Dory in his bag. I think he is planning on giving it to a family in our ward who has a lot of kids.

Thank you all for the letters and support that I got this week. It is amazing to hear from you.

Thanks!

Elder Jensen