Dear Friends and Family,
Guess what! There were five people that came to church on Sunday!
We are consistently finding about 3 new investigators a week which is excellent because many of them don't progress so we have to keep finding more. But we found 2 awesome investigators this week! One is a 60ish African American lady that we tracted into on Friday. She's very typical Christian lady and one of the members was kind enough to give her a ride. We also found a 28 year old guy from New York. We tracted into him at about 4pm on Saturday and he said he'd come to church and then he did! We taught him last night and invited him to be baptized which he said he would if the spirit confirmed that is was true. He was raised Roman Catholic and is a super smart well-read person. He seemed to really like church and we are excited to teach him more.
The work is going really well here in Lawton and I really hope I stay here the rest of my mission. We had an excellent conference on Thursday with all the Sisters in the mission and President and Sister Taylor. We talked about missionary work but it was mostly focused on how to be a leader in the church as a women and a leader in the mission as a sister. I learned a lot of amazing things. President Taylor keeps telling us how our mission is going to prepare us to serve the Lord so much better. He said that we are learning things here on a mission that it would be hard to learn other ways (especially in the short period of 18 months). We had an amazing testimony meeting with all the Sisters and I could feel the Spirit so strong. In the past I haven't had the best opinions about some of these sisters. But I felt such a great love for all of them. It was a testimony for me that the closer we grow to the Lord the closer we will grow to other people.
This week we also met a "prophet" while we were tracting. She seemed like a nice lady. But she was telling us all this stuff about how we needed to stop teaching about Christ and teach people about how they can defeat Satan using the "word of God" like Jesus did. I've never had a Christian lady tell me to stop talking about Jesus Christ before; that was pretty crazy. She pretty much talked at us for over an hour and wouldn't let us get in a word. So not a very productive experience, but very interesting.
This week an 8 year old of a less active family got baptized. We have been teaching this family and they have started coming back to church! The dad even got to baptize his son it was awesome! I gave the talk on the Holy Ghost which was fun. I basically used a few analogies to describe the Holy Ghost. I told them: "Heavenly Father wants you to be a Prince in his Kingdom and he's giving you the HG to teach you how to become that person. And so we should listen to the Holy Ghost because it's going to help us be a prince or princess with God." And I drew a crown on the chalk board :) And used the phrase "Be loyal to the royal within!" I love that phrase! I felt the Spirit so much at that baptism. I just felt like these people truly had changed and that they really saw the consequences of their actions.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love
Sister Lila Jenson
Monday, November 28, 2011
Monday, November 14, 2011
Can I solve this problem if I'm a little less selfish?
Hello All! This week has been an amazing week!
Guess what! We set baptismal dates with 6 people this week! So we've got a lot of work ahead of us to get them to the point where they are worthy and prepared to be baptized. But it's super exciting. We have several part member families that we are teaching and lots of less active members. I love being able to invite people to come unto Christ. Recently we taught a lady who is battling cancer and her 11 year old daughter. It's amazing to get the chance to be a small part of someone else's life and be able to be an influence for good.
It was an amazing week. We had a zone training meeting on Monday after P-day. For Preperation day we got together and went bowling and it was super fun! I got a 103 the first time and 109 the second time. So I kept my record of being a average but not bad bowler. Then we met together in the church and were really motivated to do better. One lady told us of her struggles and I realized I have absolutely nothing to be discouraged by. I have not faced the sin and temptations that this lady has worked and is still working to overcome. Then on Wednesday we had a meeting with all the new missionaries and the trainers and President Taylor and the AP's. Then on Saturday and Sunday we had stake conference! We had a lady we are teaching and her member husband come to the Adult session Saturday evening and it was awesome! I had such a feeling of love for her!
One thing I learned at stake conference was about not being selfish. The man was talking about marriage but it applies to all relationships. He shared that he started asking himself the question, "Can I solve this problem if I am a little less selfish?" when faced with disagreements or situations. I love that question. I am going to ask myself that question a lot from now on!
I have learned that Love is the huge motivating factor for everything. At a missionary meeting recently we discussed the topic of feeling "burn out" when we feel we've given all we can give and are just tired and don't want to work anymore. Later in another meeting we were talking about Love and how it really is what keeps everything going. When love is the motivation for what we do we are energized by the work and feel happy and do not get burned out. When we are motivated by simply duty or fear of justice or something like that, then all the work we do drains us.
I started a grateful collage on my wall in front of my desk. Everyday I am writing six things I am grateful for on a mormon.org card and taping it up on my wall. So far I have serious things and silly things: leggings, pens, the Holy Spirit, Sister Fraire (my current companion), etc. Hopefully this collage will build me up whenever I am feeling ungrateful and I will be able to visually see all the amazing blessings in my life.
Love you all!!!!!
Sister Lila Jenson
Guess what! We set baptismal dates with 6 people this week! So we've got a lot of work ahead of us to get them to the point where they are worthy and prepared to be baptized. But it's super exciting. We have several part member families that we are teaching and lots of less active members. I love being able to invite people to come unto Christ. Recently we taught a lady who is battling cancer and her 11 year old daughter. It's amazing to get the chance to be a small part of someone else's life and be able to be an influence for good.
It was an amazing week. We had a zone training meeting on Monday after P-day. For Preperation day we got together and went bowling and it was super fun! I got a 103 the first time and 109 the second time. So I kept my record of being a average but not bad bowler. Then we met together in the church and were really motivated to do better. One lady told us of her struggles and I realized I have absolutely nothing to be discouraged by. I have not faced the sin and temptations that this lady has worked and is still working to overcome. Then on Wednesday we had a meeting with all the new missionaries and the trainers and President Taylor and the AP's. Then on Saturday and Sunday we had stake conference! We had a lady we are teaching and her member husband come to the Adult session Saturday evening and it was awesome! I had such a feeling of love for her!
One thing I learned at stake conference was about not being selfish. The man was talking about marriage but it applies to all relationships. He shared that he started asking himself the question, "Can I solve this problem if I am a little less selfish?" when faced with disagreements or situations. I love that question. I am going to ask myself that question a lot from now on!
I have learned that Love is the huge motivating factor for everything. At a missionary meeting recently we discussed the topic of feeling "burn out" when we feel we've given all we can give and are just tired and don't want to work anymore. Later in another meeting we were talking about Love and how it really is what keeps everything going. When love is the motivation for what we do we are energized by the work and feel happy and do not get burned out. When we are motivated by simply duty or fear of justice or something like that, then all the work we do drains us.
I started a grateful collage on my wall in front of my desk. Everyday I am writing six things I am grateful for on a mormon.org card and taping it up on my wall. So far I have serious things and silly things: leggings, pens, the Holy Spirit, Sister Fraire (my current companion), etc. Hopefully this collage will build me up whenever I am feeling ungrateful and I will be able to visually see all the amazing blessings in my life.
Love you all!!!!!
Sister Lila Jenson
Monday, November 7, 2011
The Blessing of a Grateful Heart
Happy Fall Ya'll!!!
I had a great experience at Fast and Testimony meetings this week. I was fasting for a less active member, and that I would have the ability and power to become a better missionary. I was pondering what Christ had done for us and I realized how amazing it was that we are able to repent and receive forgiveness. I had this wave of gratitude wash over me for Heavenly Father's forgiveness for both me and all the people that were sitting in sacrament meeting. I know that God loves us and wants to forgive us. Isn't it amazing how repentance works!? And the less-active member that I was fasting for came to church with her two kids for the first time in a long time! She's had bad experiences with people at church before and I was so glad that many people came up to her and said hi and were talking with her. She has been going through a lot of health issues but I think this good experience will help her come in the future!
In Relief Society there was another less-active sister that got up and bore her testimony and said that it was because of the sister missionaries that she was there that day. She has been coming for the last three weeks and I am so happy to see her there. We were going through a list of part member families and we knocked on her door and she let us right in! We talked with her and she is just wonderful. She was raised in the Church, but married a man of another faith and stopped coming to church. But she's coming again! In her testimony she said that her grandma had recently died and that made her see how fragile this life is. We were definitely there at the right time to help her come back! We are eating dinner with her tomorrow and she has 3 kids who haven't been baptized and her husband, who hopefully we will be able to teach!
I recently finished The Book of Mormon and before I started it again and wanted to pick out several specific things to look for as I read it. After a few days of pondering I came up with 4 topics.
• Why we need The Book of Mormon?
• Why do we need a Savior?
• How do we overcome challenges and problems?
• What are the strategies and philosophies of Satan?
I am marking each of these in different colors and I am seeing so much more of it apply to my life and the lives of those I am teaching. There are so many verses in even just 1 Nephi that talk about the Lord helping people to overcome challenges!
We had a great lesson on Thanksgiving in RS this week and I am so grateful for gratitude. That may sound a little repetitive, but it's not. I know having an attitude of gratitude makes life so much happier. What if we didn't know how to be grateful, that would be just so sad! May you all experience the joy of a grateful heart as we come close to celebrating Thanksgiving Day.
Gratefully ;)
Sister Lila Jenson
P.S. Sorry for all the letters I haven't responded to yet. You will get letters this week!
I had a great experience at Fast and Testimony meetings this week. I was fasting for a less active member, and that I would have the ability and power to become a better missionary. I was pondering what Christ had done for us and I realized how amazing it was that we are able to repent and receive forgiveness. I had this wave of gratitude wash over me for Heavenly Father's forgiveness for both me and all the people that were sitting in sacrament meeting. I know that God loves us and wants to forgive us. Isn't it amazing how repentance works!? And the less-active member that I was fasting for came to church with her two kids for the first time in a long time! She's had bad experiences with people at church before and I was so glad that many people came up to her and said hi and were talking with her. She has been going through a lot of health issues but I think this good experience will help her come in the future!
In Relief Society there was another less-active sister that got up and bore her testimony and said that it was because of the sister missionaries that she was there that day. She has been coming for the last three weeks and I am so happy to see her there. We were going through a list of part member families and we knocked on her door and she let us right in! We talked with her and she is just wonderful. She was raised in the Church, but married a man of another faith and stopped coming to church. But she's coming again! In her testimony she said that her grandma had recently died and that made her see how fragile this life is. We were definitely there at the right time to help her come back! We are eating dinner with her tomorrow and she has 3 kids who haven't been baptized and her husband, who hopefully we will be able to teach!
I recently finished The Book of Mormon and before I started it again and wanted to pick out several specific things to look for as I read it. After a few days of pondering I came up with 4 topics.
• Why we need The Book of Mormon?
• Why do we need a Savior?
• How do we overcome challenges and problems?
• What are the strategies and philosophies of Satan?
I am marking each of these in different colors and I am seeing so much more of it apply to my life and the lives of those I am teaching. There are so many verses in even just 1 Nephi that talk about the Lord helping people to overcome challenges!
We had a great lesson on Thanksgiving in RS this week and I am so grateful for gratitude. That may sound a little repetitive, but it's not. I know having an attitude of gratitude makes life so much happier. What if we didn't know how to be grateful, that would be just so sad! May you all experience the joy of a grateful heart as we come close to celebrating Thanksgiving Day.
Gratefully ;)
Sister Lila Jenson
P.S. Sorry for all the letters I haven't responded to yet. You will get letters this week!
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Carving Pumpkins New Experience for Lila's Companion
Lila didn't write a "blog letter" this week, so I will fill you in on the latest:
Lila got a new companion named Sister Fraire. She is originally from Mexico but moved to Georgia with her family 7 years ago. She speaks English well and is excited to work hard. Apparently, carving pumpkins was new to her. Lila loves holiday traditions so I'm not surprised that they carved pumpkins on their P-day which just happened to fall on Halloween. No members had them over for dinner so they had extra study time. Lila carved the mission logo on her pumpkin. It has arrows leading from Faith to Repentance to Baptism to the Holy Ghost to Endure to the End. So like Lila...!
Lila bought a new inexpensive digital camera and she's very excited that it's purple!
Lila and Sister Fraire are reading the Book of Mormon together in both Spanish and English--Lila is excited to get a little practice with her Spanish, though she says that she can understand most of what she reads.
Lila and Sister Fraire have several people they are teaching. Lila asks us to pray for her increased ability to contact each of them daily (usaually by texting or calling).
Lila loves where she is serving right now (Lawton) and would enjoy finishing her mission there. There are three more transfers before she comes home on March 1st so we'll see what happens.
That's all folks!
Kristen
Lila got a new companion named Sister Fraire. She is originally from Mexico but moved to Georgia with her family 7 years ago. She speaks English well and is excited to work hard. Apparently, carving pumpkins was new to her. Lila loves holiday traditions so I'm not surprised that they carved pumpkins on their P-day which just happened to fall on Halloween. No members had them over for dinner so they had extra study time. Lila carved the mission logo on her pumpkin. It has arrows leading from Faith to Repentance to Baptism to the Holy Ghost to Endure to the End. So like Lila...!
Lila bought a new inexpensive digital camera and she's very excited that it's purple!
Lila and Sister Fraire are reading the Book of Mormon together in both Spanish and English--Lila is excited to get a little practice with her Spanish, though she says that she can understand most of what she reads.
Lila and Sister Fraire have several people they are teaching. Lila asks us to pray for her increased ability to contact each of them daily (usaually by texting or calling).
Lila loves where she is serving right now (Lawton) and would enjoy finishing her mission there. There are three more transfers before she comes home on March 1st so we'll see what happens.
That's all folks!
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