Hola

So, I learned some fun things this week! I learned that if you go on an adventure in -6 degree weather with a mask on, then your breath condensates on your eyelashes and your eyelashes freeze! Pretty fun :) This has been a good week! Lots of lessons, some were definitely more effective than others, there were a few lessons where we could barely get a word in :) it's all an adventure though! We had a baptism for the Alexander family on Saturday! They are so awesome and such a great addition to the ward. Both parents and two of the kids got to be baptized, and I got to witness (which I found out from the program :) ). It was really great!

Our car is still in the shop and will be for probably another week and a half or so, so we're usually just stuck in the apartment, but it's been good! Lots of Facebook finding and messaging, and I've discovered a really good card to utilize is "I'm brand new and need practice teaching...can I practice on you?" We haven't had any lessons with this approach yet but have had people agree to let us teach them so hopefully it gets beyond practicing :) We have this cute lady named Dorothy who they tried to drop a long time ago, but she didn't want to stop meeting with them, so she calls us for approximately one minute every week. Pretty fun :) But yeah things are good! Busy! I'm so sorry for not responding to emails but I promise I love you and read all of the ones you send. Keep me posted! Today we were able to meet with some other missionaries and play games with them and that was nice. Anyway, have a fantastic week!

Spiritual thought for the week: Sorry I'm short on time but I'll make this quick, everyone read the BYU devotional "In the Strength of The Lord" by Bednar! I think I've talked about this before but READ IT AGAIN. We always need it. I read it and then after it was made known to me that BYU devotionals aren't allowed...so whoops...but it's so good! The Atonement of Christ is not just there for redemption, it is also there to strengthen us! It is not only there for sinners, but also for saints. Christ not only makes us clean, He gives us the ability to deal with hard things. I know this is true. Sorry, that was all over the place I'm trying to go fast! Love you all!!!

-江姐妹 (aka Jiang Jiemei) (aka Sister Jensen)

很大下雪

So, I tried to hold some snow here, it wasn't a good idea. No actually Minnesota is great! It's cold but we're usually inside so it's not bad. I'm in an area called Duluth, it's super pretty but also known for being colder :) my trainer's name is Sister Martinez and she's awesome! She is very good at being productive and sticking to the schedule which is exactly what I need! Also, fun fact we have the same birthday! We're whitewashing in this area which means we're both brand new to the area and have no idea what we're doing... but it's fun! Also, our car was broken when we came so we currently are lacking a car.

We actually have 4 baptisms this week that were already on date so that's awesome! Things have been fun. One thing that's sad is that they actually don't have Mandarin missionaries here, but there are weekly zoom calls with the reassigned Mandarin missionaries so that's nice. Also, everything is online, so it's been a bit of an adjustment, but hopefully we'll see the fruits of our labors soon! On the plus side we met with a member my first full day and she said I didn't look like a deer in headlights so that's a good sign! :) I really don't know what else happened, we mostly just contact lots of people and message them and they usually don't respond but we've had a few lessons so far with more to come! 

Spiritual thought for the week:

As missionaries and as people we are asked to be obedient. You always hear that we should be obedient because we love God, rather than just for the sake of obedience. But recently I have been thinking about people who keep the rules but push them and walk on the edge of breaking them. What does that show God about our love for Him? What does that show Him about our trust in His rules and His plan? John 8:29 says, "And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him." When we obey God because we love Him and because we trust Him, He will be with us, and we will be with Him. His way is the only way to true happiness. 

Anyway, I love you and miss you all! Please email me :)

面壁思过

Hello everyone! This week has been a little wild! On Tuesday we were able to do a devotional with Elder Soares! It wasn't in person, but it was live, so he was able to see us. It was super good! Wednesday we hosted new missionaries again (for the fourth time, I mean it's fun but I don't know why they have had us doing it so many times :) ) Thursday morning we all got covid tests and Elder Pyne and Sister Conder (my comp) both tested positive which is really sad, because some people are leaving this week and won't be able to say goodbye to them. This week we have also had several more additions to our district because of flight or covid reasons, so we had Sister Longi for a day, and we have had Sister Haltom the past few days.

Our district has gone through so many changes with people coming and going and getting quarantined and other people getting put with us. Number wise, it goes like this...(Credit to Sister Booth) 7+2-4+2-2+3-2-2+1-1+1-1=4. AAHHHHH. It's actually been a lot of fun though, we've gotten to meet so many new people and I have had 5 companions at this point :) This was also our last week of classes, so on Saturday night we had a testimony meeting and did a whole bunch of other really cool stuff. It was really great. We have the most incredible teachers. I'm so excited to be going to the field but it doesn't really feel real yet! I leave on Wednesday at 5 am. Our first original member to leave for the mission (Elder Chan) left early this morning. Ahh my district is the best and I'm going to miss them all so much but I'm so excited to get to work! This week has honestly felt so long, and it's mostly been a blur so sorry that my email is all over the place! 

 Anyway, spiritual thought:

The faith section in the Bible Dictionary states, "To have faith is to have confidence in something or someone. The Lord has revealed Himself and His perfect character, possessing in their fullness all the attributes of love, knowledge, justice, mercy, unchangeableness, power, and every other needful thing, so as to enable the mind of man to place confidence in Him without reservation." I just love this. The Lord gives us all of the resources we need to have full faith in Him without reservation. Sometimes it may not feel that way, because we don't know, but that is exactly what faith is. Faith is a belief of things not seen, and faith in Jesus Christ is a principle of power!

Confidence in Jesus Christ and His healing and forgiving power is what drives us to repent. Confidence in Jesus Christ and His promises are what drive us to follow Him. Confidence in Jesus Christ and His perfect plan are what drive us to keep His commandments and follow His promptings, even when we don't understand why. And this faith in Jesus Christ, this confidence that He will prevail in all things, and everything will turn out okay, brings miracles. But oftentimes we have to act on our faith before those miracles come, and in this way, we build more faith! Sorry, tangent. I just love this gospel so much, it's really incredible. Anyway, I love you all and would love to hear from you! 

江姐妹 (aka Jiang Jiemei) (aka Sister Jensen)

Just Pretend This is a Good Title

So, this week was pretty chaotic and had some rough patches, but it's coming back together now so we're good! Last Monday night we found out that one of the elders who was temporarily in our district tested positive for covid, so we all got tested too and found out that one of our sisters and one of our elders were positive. So that was really sad, they had to be moved into solitary confinement. We got some more temporary missionaries (Sister Winder and Elder Giles) from the older mandarin district moved into our district because of flight and covid issues, so it was fun to have them there! Wednesday we were hosting new missionaries again, and during that one of our Sisters (Sister Kirton) told us that she was going home. Most of that day was spent helping her pack up, it was really sad. We'll all really miss her.

With everything from covid and this stacked on each other, this week felt a little fake not gonna lie. Our district has gone through a lot of changes recently cause originally it grew and then shrank and then we got replacements and then it shrank really small and...you get the gist, it's been pretty wild. Sister Winder had had like 3 flights canceled, but we were finally able to send her off on Friday! Sister Booth got out of quarantine Saturday and it's been good to have her back, the sisters are all in a trio now. I think the Lord was figuring we were getting too comfortable, so He decided to mix things up for us. It's all good :) Today we were able to go to the temple and that was nice! I really don't know what else happened. Last night the sisters put our mattresses on the floor and slept on the floor just for funsies :) This week has been chaotic, but the Lord's hand has been in it so much! I can promise you that if you look for the Lord's hand you will find it. 

Spiritual thought for the week: I don't think any of us fully realize the impact that this gospel can have on people. I still don't. But I have lately been thinking a lot about the knowledge that we have a God who is not just an unseen, unfeeling force, but a Father who loves us. That knowledge gives purpose in life. It gives hope, and motivation for us to be the best people we can be. I think if we recognize the power that this message has to bring so much joy to people, it takes away all hesitation in sharing it. He will give you what you need to say. 

I would invite you all to check out the website: churchofjesuschrist.org/share and think of people who might need the gospel! (Hint hint, literally everyone) And then share it with them! Anyway, I've got one more week here and I'm so pumped to be a part of God's work. Love you all! Email me back :) Also you should all watch this Elder Bednar video. It is hilarious and very inspiring at the same time.

-江姐妹 (aka Jiang Jiemei) (aka Sister Jensen)

为什么我没有头脑

It's 2022!!! That's so wild. Anyway, this was a good week! Things have been a tad chaotic because of covid and such, and a lot of the districts around us were quarantined so that's kind of nerve racking but it's good! Everyone in the MTC got tested but so far so good for my district. 

Some fun adventures were that we got two temporary Elders in our district because their flights were pushed back for some reason or another. Elder Lott is an English missionary who is super fun, he will be serving in Kenya. Elder Sligting is also super fun, and such a trooper because he's been in the MTC for like 11 weeks now. He is a Mandarin missionary too, so he's been able to come to class with us.

On Wednesday we got to be hosts for the new missionaries again! It was good but the number of new missionaries coming in this week was a lot lower than last time, so a lot of people didn't get a chance to host :/ It was still fun though! Every time new missionaries come in Elder Otto is like "Wow all of these missionaries have such light in their eyes...they must be new." It's so funny.

New Years was good, except we didn't actually do anything, which was kind of a bummer. I guess that can be expected though. I saw maybe two fireworks from my window :) This week has also been so COLD. It was like 5 degrees a few days ago. and then Minnesota was just casually negative 19 and I'm going to straight up pass away. What a way to go out though, am I right? Actually, I'd much rather go out popping grapes in my mouth :) Shout out to my cute comp who had a BIRTHDAY yesterday! Happy birthday Sister Conder you're the best! 

Spiritual thought for this week: Peter was a fisherman. He was a regular person, but through Jesus Christ he became more. And just like Peter, we may all falter in our faith at times and begin sinking. But Christ will always catch us. Even when we mess up, if we continue to move forward in faith, we can learn how to be effective servants and bold teachers just like Peter was! As our faith grows, our fear diminishes. I would invite you all to study Peter and think about how he relates to you! He often has a bad rep because of his weaknesses, but that makes him human. We have all been guilty of turning away from Christ, but that doesn't mean we can’t repent and continue moving forward in faith! 

Other fun stuff from this week: 

• I sharpened a THICK candy cane because I was challenged
• We had the big boss of the MTC come in during one of the devotionals...we gave him cake
• We had a debate on if "Love, share, or invite" is the most important. It was wild.
• Big hymnbooks=bacon bits
• Anyway, I love you all! Please email me back :)
• Also, we still gotta get pics with Sligting and Lott so I can send those later.