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. :)