Week 101

Area: Gallatin, MO

Companion: Elder Wolfley

Email address:  kenneth.jensen@myldsmail.net 

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

This week was so amazing. Things are really starting to get going here in Gallatin and we are so excited.

Mon was awesome. We went fishing at a member's pond and we built ourselves a little fire and roasted hotdogs. Man, it definitely is not the city.

Tuesday we met with the Baldwins, a part member family. The wife and kids are active but the husband is not a member. They had been working with them for a while, but they had their next door neighbor over and we were able to have a short spiritual lesson and ask for a return appointment. They offered to feed us dinner later this week.

Wednesday we helped out at a food pantry run by the Seventh Day Adventists, it was pretty cool and fun. We went on exchanges so we had to drive about an hour to meet the other elders half way, eat lunch, then drive an hour back to our area. But we were able to meet with a few members and get to know the ward a little bit more. I wish my IPad would take better pictures of the stars. The skies at night time are amazing. I will try to use my actual camera and see if I can get a picture for next week.

Thursday we had Zone Training and then interviews with President Love.

 

We met with an active couple who have inactive children and unbaptized grandchildren... so we went and met those people and they want us to come back and teach the lessons!! It was perfect.  We also started teaching another part member family, the Ellingtons. The wife joined the church a few years ago and now has a new boyfriend and 3 kids who are not baptized, but would like to be. :)

Friday we met with the Baldwins again and their neighbor, LaWanda. We had a very spiritual lesson with them about the doctrine of Christ and they both committed to be baptized at the beginning of January.

Saturday we spent most of the day getting in contact with a few potential investigators and meeting with members. We were supposed to meet with the Ellingtons. It was a very good day and I feel like we are getting to know the ward better and building those relationships.

Sunday - Church was really good, it was all about tithing. Elder Wolfley and I got to teach a mission prep class. It was way fun to answer questions they had and then to help them teach the restoration to each other. We were able to see more members and have another lesson with the Baldwins. We read 2 Nephi 31 with them.

I love it out here in Gallatin, it’s been a crazy ride so far but it has been fun. Thank you for all your support and prayers. Keep going strong, the Lord Loves you.

 

Elder Jensen

Our new car... I like it.

Week 100

Area: Raytown & Gallatin

Companion: Elder Martinez & Elder Wolfley

Email address:  kenneth.jensen@myldsmail.net 

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

Alright this week has been crazy, but it has been awesome!

Mon - was a solid P-day. Sports, a little shopping and emailing.

Tuesday was pretty fun. We went to a cool restaurant named Jazz. Apparently a member owns the place and so we just had to tip the waiter and we ate for free. It was really awesome.
 

 

While we were there we were called to give a blessing at a hospital which was perfect because the restaurant was literally across the street from the hospital. The Lord never ceases to amaze me. The blessing went very well. Later that night Brother Rogers “kidnapped” us, meaning he knows that we aren't allowed to leave the zone but he wanted to take us to a good restaurant. So he just didn’t tell us where we were going and all of the sudden we ended up in Kansas... but he took us to a place call Cocabolas. It was a pretty nice place but Taco Tuesday meant $2  tacos that are usually like $13. Later he took us to the only WW I museum in the country. We just got to look out over downtown KC, it was beautiful. Shout out to Elder Martinez who sat on the wall at the overlook and all of the sudden a voice over an intercom said “Please no sitting or laying seductively on the wall”. It was pretty great. Then we stopped in and saw Union Station. Also amazing and pretty breath taking.
 

  

Wed - I pretty much packed and said goodbye to some people that I have grown very close to here in Raytown.

Thursday was transfers. I picked up my son (Elder Wolfley) and found out that we are going to GALLATIN Missouri! Adam-Ondi-Ahman is literally in our area. It is a pretty sweet area. Gallatin has about 1,700 people and is by far the biggest town in the area. But we get to drive a TRUCK! I was so happy when I found that out. And I’m glad we did because day 2 we had to drive through a corn field. Elder Wolfley is sweet. He is from Moapa Valley, Nevada likes to hunt and shoot guns.

Fri - We traveled around and got to know some of the members here. 

Saturday - We got to do a lot of service. We helped a few people move, we moved some metal beams, and painted a deck. Then the ward had their Christmas party. It was a lot of fun and they had us be the cupcake judges. 

Sunday was really good. Gallatin has one of the largest chapels in the church. It is kinda funny looking but imagine literally two chapels worth of benches, one put in front of the other. So from the podium to the last row is a solid 150 ft. The ward is awesome though and a surprising amount of members live here. A lot of them have moved from out of state because they had a spiritual impression that led them here.

Being a missionary is awesome and so much fun. This week has been nuts but a blast. #gooutwithabang

Love ya all,

Elder Jensen

 

Week 99

Area: Raytown Ward

Companion: Elder Martinez

Email address:  kenneth.jensen@myldsmail.net  

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

Hope your turkeys had a good Thanksgiving!

Monday- The Zoo! It was so awesome! I love all the animals, so I'm always torn because I feel like they need to be freed but they're so cute and have life pretty good there. But it was a blast! Personal favorites were the penguins, elephants and cheetahs.

Tuesday- Had a couple meetings in the morning then for dinner we hit up a Mexican restaurant with a member and had some fried ice cream.. it was super good. Then we went to more meetings and saw Kim McBroom to finish off the night. He is a good guy but you never know what’s going to happen when you go over.

Wednesday- Helped a member hulk a fridge from one house to another. It was kinda cold, I guess you could say it was pretty "frigid". Then had some stellar district meetings. Later on I got to go to the ASL class since my companion teaches it. It was pretty fun. I really enjoy learning

Thursday- Thanksgiving was awesome as ever. We had a really awesome lunch with the Maupin family. Elder Martinez told them that he was the favorite child in his family and they doubted so they called his mom right then and there and his mom totally supported the statement... I didn’t say whether or not I was the favorite, but we all know 

Friday- We hit up a Chinese buffet and guess who was there? The Inde 4th Elders! (Who is one of my past companions) Then right when we were almost done the lady told us someone paid for us! We're not even in Utah! Is this what it's like to serve in Utah? Later that evening we did some baptismal interviews, I got to interview the father of a family and it was so awesome to see someone with a strong testimony like his!

Saturday- Exciting stuff! I got a training call so I’m going to be a Dad my last transfer! Four other elders and I drove up to Liberty, Missouri to the mission home where the mission president and the assistants trained us on how to train. Later that night we went to the Christmas devotional and watched the lighting of the visitor's center. It made for a fun night.

Sunday- We had an amazing breakfast for dinner, it was super good. It was a pretty stellar way to end the week.

It was a really good week, but because of the holiday nobody was home or they didn’t really want to talk to us. So not much happened missionary work wise. Either way it was a fun week. This weekis transfers and I am more than likely leaving. I’m sad to leave Raytown but I will go where I am called.

 

Week 98

Area: Raytown Ward 

Companion: Elder Martinez

Email address:  kenneth.jensen@myldsmail.net 

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

We are going to the zoo today, so sorry if I don't get back to anyone.

Tuesday- Got to go on an exchange with Elder Smith! We have served around each other before, but we had a blast with each other and got to teach a lot of really cool people in the Inde 3rd Ward!

Wednesday- Had dinner with some really spunky old people, they're what I hope my wife and I become eventually. Finally made it back to the ASL class! I hadn't really gotten to go in a while since Elder Martinez got moved in but everything lined up so I got to go. We ended the night with good ole Kim McBroom, we stop by every week to check on him. He's a cool guy who used to investigate the church but now we just visit with him and he reads scriptures with us and plays the guitar so it's always refreshing. He always says the craziest stuff and it’s awesome.

Thursday- Went on another exchange but with Elder Martinson. He was my companion last transfer for two weeks so it was awesome to spend some time with him again. He is an awesome missionary who loves the work! We got to take out a young man, Dion, who just put his mission papers in. We didn't snag any pics though... but a day with Martinson in Raytown was good enough memory for me. 

Fri - Not a whole lot happened as far as proselyting. Right as we started our comp study we got a call from an investigator that we hadn’t been able to get a hold of for a while. He talked at us for a whole hour. And the long and short of it was he wanted to know when church was. Then we got connected on Facebook and he, while speaking to me on the phone, sent all sorts of pictures. Stuff from his trips and vacations to family photos and all sorts of different things. Then he asked for a picture of me and I didn’t exactly feel comfortable doing that so I told him he can just see my picture on my profile. So he found it and said "You know you're a pretty good looking young man. Alright I saved that picture to my phone now so I will always have it." Kinda weird, kinda creepy but whatever, it’s all a part of the mission life. 

Saturday- Got "kidnapped" by a member who always takes us out for lunch and dinner but he had to "kidnap" us because he wanted to take us to an amazing Italian buffet way far away and he knew we wouldn't let him go there if we knew.. but it was well worth it! I'm still stuffed! Later on we went back to the Church of God.. it was definitely interesting and we learned quite a bit more about what they believe. Then I’m pretty sure he asked us to be baptized and join their church. We told him our stance and we would stay in the church and he pretty much told us we were wrong, but all is well. We left on really good terms and gave him a restoration pamphlet.

Our zone had a new plan this week to do a "Miracle Power Hour". So every companionship between the hour of 3-4 would pray for miracles and work with everything they had in a specific finding activity. It was truly awesome to see how much the Lord blesses His children, we had so many little and big miracles. The missionaries loved it. Definitely something we will do again.

It was a great week. We got to share the gospel, knock a few doors, teach a couple lessons, and feel the outpouring of the spirit. Thank you for all you do to support and uplift others and myself! See ya later!

 

Me Shaving a GBBM (Good-looking Bald-headed Black Man) aka Patrick Murphy

Elder Jensen

Week 97

Area: Raytown Ward

Companion: Elder Martinez

Email address:  kenneth.jensen@myldsmail.net 

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

This week has been crazy busy, but it has been a blast. 

On Monday we had dinner with a super cool family. The father is from the Cook Islands and is a master carpenter so he made the actual fish hook from Moana but with real tribal carving. It was awesome looking. I wasn’t able to get a picture with it but he is going to be making us fish hooks soon so I will get a picture with it.

Tuesday was craziness, we were just running around the zone trying to get things done and working on administrative stuff. We had another lesson with Diamond, the guy from the other church who is teaching us basically what they believe. They believe that God the mother is here on the earth and that she is in Korea. They have pictures of Her all over. To some that would sound crazy but hey so does God the Father and Jesus Christ appearing to the boy Joseph. The lesson he taught was basically why they believe in the Trinity. We stated our views and it was amazing how the spirit guided the lesson. We asked if he believed that God will answer prayers through the Holy Ghost. He said “yes” so we read Moroni chapter 10: 4-5 with him and basically told him that if he wants the truth from God he could pray about it.

We were also able to catch up with a few people we have been trying to work with. We also got fed venison, it was a good day.

Wednesday we got to go help do car inspections, it was petty fun but took up our whole morning. It was alright because we drove right by the only Costa Vida in the mission so we stopped by and had lunch.  

Thursday we went and helped with car inspections again but in Olathe. It was weird but fun to be in Olathe again since I spent a year of my mission there. But as we were leaving lunch we ran into a deaf member of the Olathe 3rd ward where E Martinez served for 6 months. So it was definitely a “Divine Coincidence”.

We had another lesson with Kayla this week. As we were pulling up, a girl who was probably 17 knocked on the door we were knocking on. We debated what to do and we decided to go and talk to her anyway. The girl said that she was looking for Kayla as well. Then Kayla's mom poked her head out the door and said “Kayla will be here in a few minutes” so we just kinda sat there on her front porch waiting for Kayla. The girl really didn’t want to talk with us so we just stood in awkward silence for 4 ish minutes... it was great. But then Kayla did show up and we had a great lesson with her and it sounded like she had actually invited her friend to come listen to the message. The friend still was very disinterested but it was great to see Kayla still excited about being baptized! 

We had our Book of Mormon study class that we have every Thursday night. It was awesome more people showed up! And we get to spend the night with brother Murphy.

Fri we had Zone Conference. All the missionaries got smart phones and are now authorized to use Facebook. So it was a lot of training on how to use the technology. Elder Martinez and I gave a training as well. We pretty much made phone calls the rest of the day trying to collect information from the zone.

 

Saturday we cooked brother Murphy breakfast, that is always fun. He just makes everyone laugh and he roasted Elder Martinez. It was super funny. We found a few people knocking around. We even accidentally knocked into a member of the ward.  We did service last week for a family in the Independence 1st ward so today they took us to an old diner that serves chili. But they also do all you can eat tacos. :) We had a little eating competition and we ate 12 tacos, it was a good day. Later, Brother Rogers took us to an original KC BBQ joint that was super good as well.

Sunday - Brother Bruce, a less active we have really been working with, gave a talk in sacrament meeting and brought his girlfriend to church! It was awesome. Then another member brought his non-member girlfriend to church. We visited with both of them and we are going to start teaching them the lessons! 

It was a great week here in Independence. Thank you all so much. I love it here and I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve here.

Elder Jensen