Clumsy

Hi! Really fast, here are some pictures of my leg. I realized I never told you all the story of me falling down and dying..... 

Basically, I was standing on an ottoman in our apartment, and it wasn't very stable. So, being myself, I let it flip with me on top of it! My legs went one way, my head went the other, and my left leg hit and slid against the corner of the ottoman. 

Picture evidence:

So.....I have kind of a gash on my leg now. But It's been a good conversation starter with the ward, so that's always good!

I love and pray for you all. I hope you have a great week!

Love,

Hermana Katherine Jensen :)

Kat in Valencia

Hello, all! I love you very much, and I'm excited to be talking with you again! 

I'll send pictures in a little, but picture me in a trench coat that's slightly damp, sitting in a fancy apple store that's owned by a member. We get spoiled here..... Like, a lot. :) I'll tell you all about it soon!

Note from Mom: We didn't end up hearing very much from Katherine last week. We did find out through the mission Facebook page that Ana and Jose were baptized! We also found pictures of Katherine helping with Operation Gratitude. She sent me a private message that talks a little bit about her experiences as a missionary. We were talking about what it means to be able to reach out and help others:

I know just from what we see as missionaries that there are people in this world who go through so much. It's so hard to see, especially because you just love them so much. My old district leader, Elder Smith, had a saying that he would pull out whenever we were overwhelmed by All the Hard Things. He would say, "We're the ones who fight back. We see so much suffering and pain in the world, and there are so many people who need help. And we have the absolutely humbling privilege of fighting back. We're fighting for them, to help them. We're on their side, and Jesus Christ is giving us strength. And we can change this. We can change lives."

I think of that a lot when I'm discouraged or worried about others. It hurts to see them in pain, but it's so worth the heartache to be able to help them, even just a little bit. :)

Project gratitude: Missionaries gave valuable logistical and sorting services, enabling Operation Gratitude to further their mission to: "send 200,000+ care packages, this new year, filled with food, entertainment, hygiene, and handmade items, plus personal letters of appreciation to Veterans, First Responders, New Recruits, Wounded Heroes, their Care Givers, and to individually named U.S. service members deployed overseas and their families waiting at home." 

Katherine's companion (Hermana Hadley) is the cute sister on her left with the glasses.

Hermana Starke at Ana and Jose's baptism

Baptism Pictures!

Hi!!!!! It's been a crazy day, so I don't have much time, but Kimberly got baptized!!!!! Thank you so much for all of your prayers and love!

Hermana Starke put makeup on me.... awkward. :/ And we went on a walking adventure with Kimberly! (AKA she lives a five minute walk from the church. :) )

Classic baptism photos :)

Partying with the ward afterwards :)

It was an awesome day, and the Spirit was so strong. :) I was so grateful to be part of i!!!!

Sorry, a lot happened this week. :) We took Ana and Jose to the temple visitor's center! They absolutely LOVED it. :) They're getting baptized this Saturday, and I'm so excited!!!

And..... I'm getting transferred. Boo. :( But, I know that Valencia is where I need to be. :) Here's a selfie for you with Elder Jensen (my primo) before we got split up!

Selfie with Elder Mahlum, district leader extraordinaire. He's saved our lives so many times this transfer. I'll miss him a lot!

Last and most important, Hermana Starke. I love her so much, and it's been great getting to be her companion! I know she'll take good care of the area, and I'll see her soon for the baptisms we have coming up! She's amazing!!!!

I love you all, and I hope you have a great week!

Hermana Jensen :) 

Crazy Week, Crazy Miracles

Hello, all! Happy New Year!!!!! This week has been all over the place, so I think my best bet is just to use bullet points. Bear with me. :)

Alright, things that have happened in the last 7 days:

• 2017! That's a thing, and I'm really excited for another year in this amazing and sometimes crazy world. :) We celebrated by going to bed early and trying to ignore the wild party upstairs. Our walls are kinda thin, though.... ;) I hope it's a good year for all of you!

• Fire! Like, the telephone pole outside of our apartment caught on fire. At maybe 6:30 in the morning. I called 911, and the fire department came, and it was all just one big adventure. :) Everyone's fine, though, and the only bad thing was that our power went out for a few hours. We went and did our morning studies in another sister's apartment, which was kinda fun. :) 

• Ana and Jose committed to baptism! They're honestly the sweetest people ever, and I'm so, so excited for them. :) It will be the 21st, so send prayers their way and watch for pictures!

• We got food at this Thai place, and they gave us free coconut ice cream. It was SO GOOD. We will definitely be heading back. :)

• A sewage line in our apartment broke, so our whole complex smells like a portapotty.... It is disgusting. We will be raiding the febreeze aisle today for sure. :)

• We have everything set up for Kimberly's baptism on the 14th! Her parents just need to get married, and then they should be following close behind. Prayers for them would be appreciated, too. :)

• Last but not least... I hit my halfway mark! I am officially over the hill, and to be honest, I'm kind of bummed. I love my mission, and I never want it to end. I still have 9 amazing months, though, and I'll be sure to make the most of them by serving with all my heart, might, mind, and strength. :)

Love and prayers to all! I miss you!
Love,
Hermana Jensen :)

Katherine told us that the Bishop (her pastor) has basically adopted them. We met him via Facebook Live on Christmas and he told us (en espanol) that "His family grew when Hermana Jensen arrived." 

Hermana Starke, Hermana Jensen, Bishop and his family

Merry Christmas!!!!

Things are still just keeping on in the Great San Fernando Valley, and I hope you've all had a Merry Christmas, and soon a happy new year! It definitely doesn't feel like Christmas here, since we can comfortably walk outside without a jacket… I'm still bundled up but that's because I'm me. :)

Us + la familia Calderon!

So, Christmas Eve, we got together with half the mission and had a big Christmas devotional. Hermana Starke sang a solo of "Oh Holy Night", and absolutely killed it! We also sang "Silent Night" with Elder Mahlum and Elder Smith, two of the elders in our district, but their voices cracked at the same time about halfway through..... Everyone died laughing. :)

In honor of the Christmas devotional, my companion forced me to wear makeup. It was kind of hilarious to see everyone's face when they saw me.... The missionaries all said it looked good, but the members just said it was weird. ;) I'll definitely leave that one on the shelf for a while.... :)

​Christmas in the mission was a little different, to say the least. :) It definitely still feels like early fall here, but everyone was wishing us merry Christmas and being pretty friendly, so that was good fun. :)

We got to go caroling with the missionaries in our district, too, and it was so great! People absolutely loved it. :) It happened to be raining, though, and by the end Hermana Starke and I were soaked.... We just kind of shivered and shot dirty looks at the elders in their warm shoes and long pants. ;) They had to bike home, though, so we ended up about even. :)

We've been dealing with a lot of drama right now, which is kind of par for the course for a Spanish ward... I love these people a lot, and it keeps life exciting. :) And we've been blessed with some really incredible people to teach, which is really humbling. :)

I know that this church is true, and I know that God really does direct us. He loves each one of us, and He will always be here to catch us when we fall. He is in command, and He loves us, so we never have a reason to fear. :) I love you all, and I hope you have a happy new year!

Love,
Hermana Jensen :)

​Christmas pajamas ft. my feet :)

Temple Pictures and Christmas Devotional

​I love you all! Going to the temple was our Christmas present from President and Sister Henrie. :) It was so great. :) I love you!!!!

San Fernando Zone- Katherine and her companion, Hermana Starke are twinning. 

Surprise Baptism!

This week has been full of miracles. :) I love you all!

Transfer news and present from Gilberto!

I'll be here for Christmas. :) (Van Nuys) Hermana Penaranda is going up to North Hollywood. I'm getting a companion who I think is just out of training, which will be an adventure. I don't know why people trust me with responsibilities. ;)

I love it here, but it's way sketch. The thing is, the people here are amazing. We have these three families that are really progressing, and they're just so humble and grateful to have the gospel in their lives. My goal for this transfer is to get them all baptized. :) So.... stay tuned. :)

I also got sick this week. So fun....

Gilberto made us a Christmas present! They are adorable rocking horses that make galloping noises when you rock them. Gilberto is the man. :)

Thanksgiving!

Happy thanksgiving, all! We taught our members how to make hand turkeys to celebrate, so now they're basically integrated into American culture. :) We love the familia Cortez!

We ended up having two Thanksgiving dinners, but neither of them were traditional. Some of the missionaries were sad because the food we eat here is so different than Thanksgiving with their families. But to me it felt normal to eat something exciting and different. :) One of our members did try to make turkey, but she felt like it would be dry so she covered it in chile. :) It was really good. :)

I missed being with all of you on Thanksgiving. But honestly, for me, time is flying. I hit my halfway mark at the end of December, and I still feel like I just started! Missions go by so fast. :)

I want to be a missionary Now

Katherine had some pretty hard weeks but she wrote to me that she knows that being a on mission is the right thing for her right now. 

She wrote "Lots of missionaries do go home from my mission, but even with all the (hard things) I've never even thought about that as a possibility. I know anything can happen, but I really do trust the Lord. :) And I know that Heavenly Father will help me to do this, because it's His will for me to serve a mission. :) And even when things are hard, I'm happier here than I would be anywhere else, because this is where Heavenly Father wants me to be. :) (Also, it turns out that the missionary schedule helps me a lot. Sleep and exercise are pretty helpful, it seems. :) )

I know that all of us truly are known to God. :) He knows us, and He is so aware of us. :) He is doing everything He can to help us. :)

Speaking of wonderful weeks, we had 7 investigators come to church yesterday!!!! That was an absolute miracle. :) The work is amazing in this area, and I'm so grateful to be a part of it. :)"

   

Hermana Jensen making missionary name tags for little friends.

It's getting chilly in the Valley. We get lots of photos of Hermana Jensen eating soup.

Some pictures

Hermana Jensen hasn't written a general letter in the past few weeks so I thought I'd send some pictures. 

​It's getting dark earlier: fall is coming!

Hermana Penaranda, Bishop, and Hermana Jensen

Cozy fall afternoons, missionary style. :)

Knock Out

Every day in the Great California San Fernando Mission, the missionaries participate in something called "Knock Out". For two hours, all of the missionaries in the entire mission knock on doors to try to find people who are seeking to find the truth. Before they start, wherever they are in the mission, the missionaries say a prayer. It's powerful to think of all of these faithful missionaries united in prayer each and every day.

Hermana Jensen invited us to pray with her at Knock Out time. We set a timer on my phone and now we stop to pray at that time as well. We have witnessed our faith grow and missionary opportunities expand as we participate in Knock Out with our Hermana. Here is an excerpt of a letter she sent us about Knock Out:

Thank you for always praying for us during knock out. :) We've been having a lot of success during Knock Out lately, and I know that it's because of the faith and prayers of everyone around us. :) Just this week, we had an absolutely incredible experience. I think it was Thursday- we started knocking doors at a specific intersection we had planned, and it just kept feeling wrong. We tried going in several different directions, and finally we walked towards an apartment complex that we had tried opening, but was locked. Just as we got there, someone came out, and we were able to go in! We taught the message of the Restoration to every person we talked to except for one, and we set several return appointments with interested people. The most amazing thing, though, is that at the very last door, we found a family! First, we were just talking with them, and the mom was asking us questions about how our church is different from the Catholic church. We asked if we could come in and explain it, and we sat down with her and taught her the restoration, and committed her to read and pray about it and to learn more! At the end, she gathered all of her kids together, and we had a family prayer with them. :) We're teaching them tonight, and I'll tell you how it goes!

I love you all! 

Love,
Hermana Jensen :)

Faith to conquer fear

This letter is from October 3rd. We were gone so I wasn't able to update.

Hello, again! I love you all!

This week, following our pattern of knocking like Paul, Hermana and I found 6 new investigators! The ones we're most excited about, however, are actually a referral from a ward member.

He invited his sister-in-law to church, and the next week, we set an appointment with him to go teach her. When we got there, we found out that his wife isn't a member, either! We taught them all the message of the restoration, and invited them to be baptized. They're not ready to commit yet, but they will keep meeting with us to try to learn more!

As I testified to them of the restored gospel, I felt such a strong witness of the Spirit. I knew, then, that all of this is absolutely true. More than true, it's the most important thing anyone can ever know or participate in. This gospel is real, and it changes lives.

I love you all!

Knocking like Paul

Hello, all! My trainee, Hermana Penaranda (Pen-ya-ran-da), is amazing. :) We're working hard, and loving life, and seeing so many miracles in this area!

​We love this little walkway. :)

Last week, we felt a bit discouraged about our finding efforts. It felt that we were struggling to testify boldly of the restored gospel, and as a result, we were just turned down at every door.

I read in the book of Acts this week, about the bravery and diligence of Paul. Truly, he's an amazing missionary, and as I read I though about what he would do as he knocked doors. Hermana and I set a goal to knock doors like the apostle Paul!

It was a little scary at first, but as we testified boldly and talked to everyone, we were able to find 4 new people to teach! I know that God's hand truly is in this work! I love all of you!

Gilberto's Baptism!!!

Hello, all! I have the most exciting news ever for this week:

Gilberto was baptized!!!!!!!!

He's an incredible person, with so much faith. The hermanas before me found him during Knock Out, and he wasn't interested, so they gave him a pass-along card and left. But a few weeks later, he called the number on the back asking for a Book of Mormon! He's been reading the Book of Mormon ever since, and actually finished it two weeks ago. And he comes to church every week, even though the first week the missionaries didn't know who he was. :) 

They committed him to be baptized before I came, but when I got here he still felt very unsure about it. He just wanted to make sure he know enough before making this decision. :) We prayed for him a lot, and talked a lot with each other and with him about how to know if he's ready to be baptized. And just two weeks ago, after so many times of telling us he wasn't ready, he told us that he thought he was ready to be baptized on the 10th!!!!!

Next, the biggest obstacle was the water. He's deathly afraid of water, but he knew it was necessary to be baptized by immersion, so he had the faith to go through with it. :) To make matters worse, though, he had surgery on his foot a few weeks ago and it still isn't healed. He's not allowed to get it wet at all, or it'll be infected. :/

So.... we called our mission president, and made sure it was alright, and then made preparations to wrap his foot with a bag for the baptism. We had a pretty exciting trial run: 

But.... It worked! And on Saturday, he had the faith to wrap his foot in a bag and go down into the waters of baptism. :)

He's pretty nervous in these pictures, but afterwards he just couldn't stop smiling. :) 

I'm so, so grateful for the opportunity to be a part of this. :) I love this gospel, and I love being able to help other people receive the wonderful joy it brings into our lives. :) I know that this is the true church, and I'm so excited to continue sharing it with the people here! I love you all!!!

Love,

Hermana Jensen :)

Ps. Exciting news: I'm going to be a trainer!!!!! I meet my new companion tomorrow, so I'll send pictures next week. :) Until then!

Cyber Pictures

This has not been a good month for technology in the Jensen family. Katherine lost her camera memory card (with all of her pictures) and our computer died. We are all finally back up and running. Here are a few pictures:

Katherine is the driver in her companionship! We all laugh because she couldn't find her way around our small city and here she is driving in LA traffic! According to Katherine, her companion, Hermana Velasquez is apparently an excellent co-pilot and has really helped her to navigate the city.

Someone sent me this photo of Katherine with her first two companions- Hermana Barfuss and Hermana Warren.

Crazy huge bugs!

Hermana Velasquez convinced Katherine to get her eyebrows threaded at a Flea Market.

Katherine's Mission District

Behind the Wheel

Hi! I love my new area, and it turns out I'm driving! It's been a fun week of trying to remember how that works. :) I don't have a ton of time, but here are some pictures of families from our last ward!

Hermana Ponce :)

Elisa and family :)

Behind the Wheel

Hi! I love my new area, and it turns out I'm driving! It's been a fun week of trying to remember how that works. :) I don't have a ton of time, but here are some pictures of families from our last ward!

Hermana Ponce :)

Elisa and family :)

Transfers!!!

Hello, all! So.... this is the week! I'm being transferred to Van Nuys! I'm excited to meet my new companion, Hermana Valasquez, and get started working there. :)

I'll be sad to say goodbye to the ward; we have a lot of really great members! I'll miss them a lot. :(

​Hermana and Hermano Enciso. :) The absolute sweetest couple ever! Basically my mission grandparents. :)

​La familia Gonzalez! Super nice. :)

​Hermana Leiva! She's an incredible person. :) She does so much to help the ward members, and the missionaries, and everyone around her! She's always telling us stories about times that she shares the gospel with her friends, family, and everyone around her! I'll miss her so much!

I'm sad to be leaving, but I have a real testimony of the principle that God directs this work. He knows His children, and He is in the details of our lives. He's sending me to where I need to go, and He'll do the same for each one of you. :) He knows us, and He loves us, and He wants nothing more than to help us grow. I testify that He lives, and He will answer you if you reach out to Him in prayer. 

I love you all! Have a great week! :)