5th Letter "Final Week at the MTC"

Hello!!!

Thank you to everyone who wrote me/sent packages to me this week.  Alli, Mom, Dad, Sandi, Susan, Jean...sorry if I'm forgetting anyone!  And Dana and mom especially for the packages.  It's the best.  Thanks again for the shoes mom!  They are so nice.

First you must know, that I'm very proud of this watch tan line.  I've never felt tan before, but now I have an efficient way to track my progress.  Ok fine, so I'm not tan...but I'm definitely a darker shade of pale. :)  This week is my final week in the MTC!!!  I don't know why, but they changed our entire schedule.  (Probably to accommodate the influx of missionaries this week).  Just so you know, Brazil bound missionaries totally get the shaft schedule around here, but tudo bem! :)  I'm sad to leave, but very very excited to start teaching for real!  Thursday evening I will know my reassignment and travel plans.  Hopefully I will fly to my reassignment so I can call home at the airport.

It's only been a few days since I last spoke with you, but it feels like forever!  The days are so long here, but they go by way too fast.  Since we last spoke, I met the newly called  General Young Women President.  She spoke in Relief Society to all the Sisters, then we got to meet her after.  So that was really cool.  She talked about Jacob 5 (The allegory of the olive tree).  I have a new found love for this chapter.  I especially love verse 72 where it says,

"And it came to pass that the servants did go and labor with their mights; and the Lord of the vineyard labored also with them..."

I'm not alone in this great cause of spreading the gospel.  The Lord is laboring with me.  And it makes us happy!  I've never been happier or more excited about what I'm doing.  There are many trying to decide whether a mission is right for them.  This can be a difficult decision that may require a lot of prayer, but my answer is always "YES!"  Go serve!  You will love it and it will alter the outcome of eternity.  I know this to be true.  I'm so grateful for my decision to serve.  That is Hayley's opinion.  Let's see what the scriptures say about those deciding whether or not to serve a mission...in D&C 4 (classic missionary section) verse 3,

"Therefore, if ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work"

There you have it!  The scriptures say yes too.

 I also have enjoyed the opportunity this week to reflect on the role of the Spirit on my mission.  I have often thought that I'm not very good at recognizing the Spirit.  I often think that when I feel the Spirit, I should immediately recognize that it is a spiritual prompting.  This is not true.  Usually it comes in a good thought.  And that thought makes you squirm in your seat until you act on it.  This has happened since I've been here.  A couple weeks ago I saw an old Relief Society President from my BYU student ward.  We were only together 2 and 1/2 months, so I knew she wouldn't remember me, but I couldn't shake the thought "Go say hi!"  I squirmed in my seat for a minute trying to talk myself out of it until I couldn't take it anymore.  I walked clear across the room to say hi and reintroduce myself.  I didn't know why, but I had to do it.

Read Nephi 4:6 (We don't often know beforehand the things that the Spirit wants us to do)

Sister Decker on far left

I got her attention, reintroduced myself, and told her how great I thought she was when she was my relief society president.  Then I returned to my seat.  A week later, I ran into her again and she stopped me and thanked me for saying hi.  She said that week she had been thinking a lot about her time as RS president and how she wished she could've done better.  She said that my compliment was inspired.  It was so simple, but it meant a lot to her.  I'm grateful that Heavenly Father was able to use me as an instrument in helping one of His children gain a little confidence in herself.  It was a neat experience.

Music is also a great way to invite the Spirit.  Have you ever felt the chills while listening to something beautiful?  That is the Spirit.  This week Sister Decker and I have been singing a lot.  To our investigators, roommates, and in sacrament meeting.  I love the way music invites the Spirit and I hope to use this a lot on the mission.

I wish I could write more!!!  We have to go to choir practice now.  Eu amo voces! xoxo


Love,


Sister Jensen