Hey! This is Sister Shaela Jensen's Little sister. she wanted me to let you all know that she is doing great! She left the MTC today and should be in Rapid City by now! (Crazy I know!)
Her E-Mail Address is:
shaela.jensen@myldsmail.net
She can recieve E-Mails but she can respond to them so be sure to include a Mailing Address and she will write you back ASAP
Also Her Permanant Mailing Address is:
Sister Shaela Jensen
2525 W. Main ST. # 311
Rapid City, SD
57702

That's the mission home address and whenever she gets mail they forward it to her wherever she is. So you can send mail to her for her whole mission at that address.

"We are here because we want to be"

This is my last post before I leave for the MTC.

I struggled the past few days with going on a mission. Not because I don't want to,

but because I'm just nervous I guess. But last night I went to a fireside in Vernal that helped

clear things up for me.

Elder Brimhall spoke to us about, you guessed it! Missionary work. He and his wife just got back from a mission of their own and had a lot of things to say that I really needed to hear.

He brought up a question, Why are we all here tonight?

The answer.."We are here because we want to be"

I have a testimony that has given me a desire to serve the Lord. He told us that a testimony is made up of 3 basic things; things we know, things we have faith in, and things we hope for. Our experiences become layers through time that add to the measure of our faith and testimony.

He said another thing that was very profound. Faith is as good as knowledge. Because I'm going to do what's right either way.

I just want to close with some more of his words of wisdom

"Go forth with great innocence and faith"

Thanks for all your help and support, you all mean so much to me and have shaped who I am today.

LOVE YOU!!

Small and Simple things

Big changes are coming in my life. I am about to serve a mission, and leave everything I know behind. But I realized today that every time I have a major change in my life approach, the Lord has given me little blessings to help me know how to handle the change. This month has been FULL of those.

Today I had a conversation with a couple of the students in the Summer Program that I'm a councilor for approach me about my religion. They flat out told me that they are interested in the LDS church. They had very good points too. For example: They felt as if their religion was just there for them. It is only as tangible as their gender, or their hair color. It's there, but they don't pay a whole lot of attention to it. I have noticed this with a lot of people. They claim to be Catholic, Jewish, Methodist, etc. but never go to church, or don't live by the actual standards of their religion. It only goes skin deep.

But these specific students really want something more than that! I respect them so much for coming up to me and expressing their interest. I hope that I said the right things, and had a good impact on them. But I think it had more of an impact on me.

I walked away from that conversation feeling SO good about my decision to serve a mission. I've been a little nervous about talking to people about something that is as dear to my heart as my faith. But it was actually strengthening! I was able to express my love for the LDS religion and how important it is to me. They could see that and I hope it sparked something new inside them.

I am so lucky that the Lord cares enough about me and my confidence about serving a mission, to offer me experiences like these to strengthen me. I know that everything will work out just fine, and that the Lord really follows through with his promises: "As you serve with all your heart, might and strength, the Lord will lead you to those who are prepared to be baptized." (this is in my mission call letter)

I can't wait to have experiences like this all the time for the next 18 months! I am so blessed!

Body Image

I recently had a conversation with my girls that gave me a little insight to something of my own.

One of them was feeling particularly bad about her appearance that day, and started telling me about her life and family and why she has such a hard time. Keep in mind, she is a beautiful girl! I never would have thought she had self-esteem issues. When she finished venting about all this, words came into my mouth that I KNOW aren't my own. This is basically what was said:

The feeling of being ugly, or too fat, or too tall or too short, or too skinny all come from the Devil. He can't have a body, and NEVER will. He is so completely jealous of this great gift that the Lord has given us. And if he can get us to hate it, and wish that we had something else, then he feels like he has won.

The instant those words left my lips, I felt like it was a slap in the face! How many times have I said those very words: I'm too tall (compared to most girls), I'm too heavy, my hair's too thin, etc.? But after hearing these words come out of my mouth, I gained a resolve to think more positively about my looks.

I hope this is as inspirational to you as it is to me. It was pretty life changing for us that day.

June

So for this whole month I am living in Orem an am a councilor for a summer camp at UVU. It's such a stressful job. But seriously the most rewarding job I've ever had. I feel like I'm really making a difference and helping these amazing students. (not like they need much help though, they're seriously awesome)

I basically work all day long though. I take them to school at 6:50(ish) am

we are there untill about 9pm or later. It's hard having no free time. But I get free room and board, so I get to pocket everything I make so I can pay for a mission.

We're on week 3 of a 4 week program. It's crazy that it's half way over! The time really has flown by so fast!

This is Lupi, one of my girls. I'm in charge of 9 girls in 2 different apartments. It's awesome! I love them all! I'll work on getting more pictures!

Also, I purchased a dress for my mission. I got really excited Friday because it was the 2 month mark from when I enter the MTC! So I got a dress :) It's way cute... See!!

I like it a lot!!

My grandparents are amazing and are going to help me get some more clothes because lets face it! I'm really broke.

I got in touch with a girl who served in the Rapid City mission, and she's been helping me prepare for it SO much! She's been such a blessing to me :)

I really can't wait to get out there and "Serve the WORLD!!"- Emily Houston

Well, that's about it with my life so far this month! I just am super happy and can't wait to spend all my time for 18 months doing what the Lord wants me to do; Bring them closer to Him.

P.S this is a really great album! If you like more indie Rock, you should check it out!

http://hello-somebody.com/music/

Mission Call!

I got my mission call on Thursday!! But since I am a camp councilor at UVU for Upward Bound, I couldn't open it till Saturday. So my wonderful aunt Maria offered to drive me 2 hours one way to take me home and open it, then come back a couple of hours later.
I am going to the South Dakota, Rapid City mission. This is a HUGE area spanning across All of north and South Dakota, parts of Montana, Wyoming, Iowa, Nebraska, and Minnesota. So there is a TON of work to be done and I'm so honored that the Lord has given me this opportunity to get the work moving along in the mid-west United States. It's only an hour and a half plane ride away from home so I will be able to visit as often as I can afford. A one way ticket there costs around $300 so I'm so lucky! Plus my Grandpa's sister and her family lives in that mission. I had the distinct feeling that wherever I go I will have a family connection to the place.

There is a Facebook group for this mission and I looked it up and joined it. The description is: The place we never thought we would go.

But I have to disagree with that. I had North Dakota and Montana in mind all week long. I know the Lord was preparing me to be called to a "not so glamorous" mission. But I am not sad in the least!! I know that I will be a tool in his hands no matter where I go.

My dad's comment after I opened my call was "well, It might as well be Siberia!" Because it's so cold there. I looked up their weather trends online and it never gets above 85 or something like that! Kind of crazy, but Still I'm way excited!

My mom called it when she said I will be serving the Native Americans. Because the Sioux tribe is in South Dakota. One of my girls in Upward Bound belongs to that tribe and was excited when I told her I was called there.

I am so ready for this new chapter of my life!

PS I leave August 17th! I won't get home from summer camp till July 1 so I will only have a month to prepare!! but I will love every minute of it!!

My life rocks.

My mission papers are officially in. I found out that they went in about a week ago. So I hope to get my call next week so I can have it before I move out to Orem for June/first part of July.

Life in Roosevelt is SUPER boring compared to Logan, but I have a job temporarily at Rockies Place.(just a local restaurant) It worked out perfectly. They needed someone to take over while one of their workers is in Tonga, and they are totally okay with me leaving for a month or so for my summer camp job at UVU, and then taking me back on after it's over.

I went to Provo at the beginning of this week for training and I'm getting really stoked about it all. It's going to be way fun. All but one of the councilors went to the camp with me when I was in school, and that one who's new is awesome. we have so much in common and I'm excited to get to know her better.

Caleb flew out to Florida Monday and got to call home at like 6 am! It was really good to hear from him. He told me that he was praying for me and REALLY wants me to go on a mission. He motivates me so well. It's awesome. The Lord really knows what he's doing with my life, it's quite amazing really. I stopped believing in coincidences a few weeks ago.

I went to the drive in with some friends tonight and I didn't know they don't accept debit cards(really echo drive in? it's 2011, what place doesn't have a card machine?) After the lady realizes this, she just let me and another friend in for free, even though she had cash. I was just whyning the other day about how I never win anything or get free stuff. well here's a list of free stuff I've gotten in the past little while:

1-Drive in ticket

2-A new acoustic album from my ALL TIME FAVORITE band THE ROCKET SUMMER. And it's amazing.

3-my parents got me some custom orthodics for my feet because i have such flat feet and it will help me be in less pain on a mission

4-free food at my job training in Orem on Tuesday and Wednesday, this included really good free sushi.

5-free gas-my mom knew I didn't have money to pay for my trip to Provo/Orem so she gave me $30 for gas, this may not seem like a lot, but when you're as broke as I am, it's awesome.

6-a free phone and a cheaper plan. my parents realized how much I have been paying the past 2 years for my phone (about $80/month) and let me get onto their family plan, I will only be paying $15/month.

7-LOTS of free time! I have had a ton of time this summer to read books. watch movies, and talk to my family.

8-Laundry. after paying just under $10 every time i needed to wash my clothes for the past 8 months, I finally don't have to pay anything.

9-Food. I don't have to buy all my food anymore. I still buy a few things just to take the load off my family as much as possible, but that's not much because I'm so broke. The other day amber bought me 32 eggs as a joke because the's pretty much all I eat every day. haha

10-Siddartha... I'm not sure if I'm happy about this book, we have to read it for my job this summer, I have to read it to the kids every night, but I want to read it first so I can understand it enough to help them get it. It's really deep and the hardest thing I've ever read! it's 400x harder to get than the bible, or Book of Mormon too! but I feel like it will be very inspiring. It's all about self progression and spiritual enlightenment.

well this ended up being WAY longer than intended. I just have a much easier time expressing myself in words than I do talking lately... weird.