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.

Answered Prayers

I've been praying for a while now to get back the desire that I once had about a mission. I know that I want to serve and that it will be one of the best things that I could ever do, but I've been in a real funk for the past week or so in regards to serving a mission and feeling like I am good enough for it. Also I've been praying for him to send me someone who I can talk to about all this stuff. I was sitting in sacrament meeting on Sunday and got the distinct impression that He has already sent me someone to help me through all this. Last night after the crazy busy day that I had, I finally sat down and talked to my room mate Emily Houston. She is so amazing!! I didn't even want to talk about all that garbage, then finally I just spewed it out. She was so good to listen to me about it. I feel as though I talk to her too much about this one subject, but she's so willing to offer up advice and love to me. She's just a gem!

I had my last round of physical therapy. (Okay that makes it sound like chemotherapy..oops) But it was so good because after I got done I just ran! I felt physically better than I have in a long time! I have been working hard though to get to this point. I really wanted to do all it took to get better. I have been given workouts to do to keep my knee feeling great.

Anyway, I have a meeting with my Sake President this Wednesday about getting my papers FINALLY shipped off. I started them in March, and it's May... Uhg. But it's all in the Lords time and Heaven knows I can't control that.

Because He Lives, Farewell, Easter, Testimony, Mission Papers, and Progress

This Easter was full of firsts and lasts.

For starters, Caleb, my younger brother spoke for the last time in his ward before going on a mission. He is leaving in a week to the Jacksonville, Fl mission. There he will serve the Lord, and learn so much about life, the gospel, and himself. He is going to be one LEGIT missionary! His talk was amazing. My other little brother Jacob spoke too that day and it was SO good! It was his first time speaking. So you see one of the first, and lasts we went through.

The other speaker that day was Ben Mitchell. He is marrying my friend Meri in a few months, and his talk was so inspiring.

He shared a story about a woman he used to work with at a retail/grocery store. She wanted to put up crosses around the store to decorate for Easter. They said that it wasn't a good idea since the predominant religion was LDS, and as we all know, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints doesn't encourage the use of crosses in worship, decoration, or other rituals. This lady was curious as to why and asked "Do you think that crosses are evil or something?" hmmm. let me think. You want to know if a tool used to inflict the ultimate pain, humiliation, and suffering and individual can endure is evil? need I say more?

He went on to share another reason why we don't include crosses in our worship, or daily life. Because we focus on a LIVING CHRIST. Yes we realize He died for us, paid the ultimate sacrifice, (his life for ours) and ultimately redeemed the world from sin, but that is only part of it. If he did that and only that, we would still be held captive of the grave. He rose on the third day to break the bands of death, and ensure our return to our loving Father in Heaven. We don't try to minimize any of the pain he went through, but the fact that He LIVES is greater than any suffering that he went through. Because He lives, so can we. Because He lives, we can make it back to our eternal Father and Mother in Heaven. Our souls literally are saved BECAUSE HE LIVES.

So there's another first I experienced this weekend. I have never thought about this for so long. But it totally makes sense. I felt so inspired to do better and focus on the LIFE of Christ.

I drove down from Logan to Roosevelt with my Cousin and it was a blast! We are probably the closest of any of the grandkids/cousins in our family. We are the same age, well, she's about 8 months younger than me, but we were in the same grade in school.We are also both at Utah State University now. We both played the clarinet in band, and the piano. But she's so much better at both of those than I am. We have gone through a lot of similar things in our lives. It's crazy because we never talk about it while we are going through it. We always have the same kind of story later though. Sadly she's had to go through things about 10 times more/worse than I had to, but we share a lot of similarities. It's crazy. She asked me if I think that any of the other cousins will be as close as we are... I realized that we are tight. That was cool.

I LOVE this life that I live. Sure it's hard, and sure I make mistakes, quite often actually. But He doesn't expect me to be perfect in this life. Just as long as I am constantly trying to do MY best and follow his footsteps. I know that true happiness comes from obedience to the commandments He gives us. I know that when He promises blessings from our obedience, He gives them freely. If I have faith in Him, He will bless me.

Sorry this is so long, I just have so much to write about.

last few things.

I turned my medical papers into my Bishop tonight. He said he's going to finish his part/probably already finished it tonight. Then tomorrow the Stake Offices will have them, and make sure that everything is in order. If all is good, then they will call me this week to set up an interview. Then they will be sent off to the first presidency of the Church. I could possibly have a call in a matter of a few more weeks!!! (SO INTIMIDATING!!!) I'm way excited though to serve a mission and change my life forever. I need something new, and a kick start to the rest of my life. I hope this is it!

Okay, definitely the last thing... I lost 3 more pounds this week, so that's a total of 17 pounds in 8 weeks! I feel awesome. :) The Lord truly is blessing me with the good health promised me in blessings. I love the Lord!

Success!!

I just wanted to post a quick blog about my weight loss success over the past few months. I have lost a total of (as of Friday) 14 pounds in 7 weeks :) I fit into my jeans that were too small for me for the past year and a half. I feel amazing and I will continue to loose weight. My goal is to loose 15 more pounds before I go on a mission.

My sister noticed the minute she saw me that my face was thinner and my stomach too! I hope that I can keep shrinking so that my risks of heart disease, diabetes, and obesity are lowered. That is the ultimate goal. Not to be skinny persay, but to be healthy! :)

that's all. I just feel really great and wanted to share that.

Best days of our lives!

I love my friends so much! We do amazing, funny, random things all the time.

Friday we made kites out of newspaper, wooden dowels and glue, it was so much fun!

We also made a "bomb" out of fireworks and blew up a teddy bear. My friends ex-girlfriend gave it to him and he wanted to blow it up. haha It was so much fun! The bear didn't completely blow up so we are going to try it again later.

The other day thing we did that was so funny was we had a "Assorted" party

We went to Smiths and had a hunt for foods that had the word assorted on them. We ended up with pudding, jello, fruit by the foot, tootsie pops and Popsicles. It was so fun! I love doing random things.

Another thing we do when we get frustrated is burn our feelings. HAHA we write a list of all the things we hate or wish would be different, and then we set the paper on FIRE!! :) haha It's actually very therapeutic!

Also, AGGIE basket ball. We had so much fun watching basketball, and playing it. I'm a true Aggie fan! :) We went to a ton of games. I have only missed 2 games since I started going.

Last but not least, I want to share what I did for a lady I work with. She is old, and lives a lone. She's never been married and her parents are both dead. Her mother got really mean in her old age as she developed dementia. I feel bad for her because she's always alone, and she gets treated like garbage at work. My room mate and I decided to "Heart Attack" her. We made paper hearts and cookies (that ended up burning) And put them all over her door. It was so much fun and I felt so good about it! She told a lady that we work with that it made her day :)

Well that is it for now. I am loving life lately and I'm so glad that I decided to change some things up in my life. I just heard a quote, "everybody is looking for change, they just want it to come from someone else." I moved to a different city 7 months ago and it was one of the best things I could do, and it didn't involve anyone else. I did it for me. Obviously I recognize the Lord's hand in my life, but I didn't put my trust in anyone else.

Dreams and their meaning

For those of you who know me well, you know that I have strange dreams all the time. Nearly every night, I had an exceptionally crazy dream last night

My roommate told me that she would love to have someone analyze my dreams, so I did just that. I looked stuff up on line and this is what I came up with. I'll put the interpretation in italics after the significant parts.

The Dream:

(I'm not going to tell you every aspect of my dream, just the bits and pieces)

I dreamed that I was helping a little girl(who I don't know yet) learn how to swim. Swimming Pool To see a swimming pool suggests that you need to acknowledge and understand your feelings. It is time to dive in and deal with those emotions. You need to cleanse yourself and wash away those past hurts.

Also there was a HUGE lady there, she was fatter than any person I've ever seen! Kind of like Aunt Marge from the Harry Potter 2 Book/movie (which I recently watched) Fat: To dream that others are fat, signifies prosperity. Consider also the phrase "it ain't over till the fat lady sings" and how you need to wait for the final result and not assume the outcome

The scene changes and I am at a party with my Family and close family friends.

I looked down at my right arm and I had blisters all over it. I could literally see my skin bubbling up and forming nasty sores. Blister: To dream that you have a blister, indicates that some minor annoyance or problem is draining your energy and time. Consider how you may have gotten the blister.

I went to the hospital to see if they could fix it, while on my way there I developed Meningitis and couldn't get in to see a doctor. Illness: To dream that you have an illness, denotes despair, unpleasant changes, or some emotional breakdown. The illness may be symbolic of your inability to cope with a situation. You see that being ill is an easy way out. On a more direct note, this dream may signal you to pay closer attention to your health especially to the areas of body revealed in the dream. While at the hospital I saw some people in my student ward playing the piano, and a few of them I know don't play in reality. Piano: to dream about someone playing a piano, indicates a quest for harmony in your life. Consider where the piano is placed as a clue as to what aspect of your life needs accordance.

My friends were concerned about me and asked if I was going to be okay. I answered no because I was dying of "skin cancer and meningitis" Illness: To dream that you have an illness, denotes despair, unpleasant changes, or some emotional breakdown. The illness may be symbolic of your inability to cope with a situation. You see that being ill is an easy way out. On a more direct note, this dream may signal you to pay closer attention to your health especially to the areas of body revealed in the dream.

They were also playing with a container full of smooth stones, Rocks: To see a rock in your dream, symbolizes strength, permanence, stability and integrity, as conveyed in the common phrase "as solid as a rock". The dream may also indicate that you are making a commitment to a relationship or that you are contemplating some changes in your life that will lay the groundwork for a more solid foundation. Alternatively, a rock represents stubbornness, disharmony and unhappiness. For some odd reason I poured strawberry milk in with them. Milk: To spill milk in your dream, symbolizes a loss of faith, opportunity, and trust

One last scene, it seems to be a repeat of another dream I had, I was standing on a residential street in a poor part of town, and I was running with a person I have recently started getting to know more. I dream about running a lot.

Running: To dream that you are running with someone, signifies cooperation

I normally don't buy into things like this, but all of these things were so evident to the things I've been concerned about lately. I have been worried about my health, and the piano in the hospital shows that I am trying to find harmony in my health. The here are a lot of other significant parts to this dream that if I were to share them all it would be way too long. It's just crazy to see how things play a part to my dreams. I need to let go of hurt feelings, loss of love, and accept that I am not the one in control. I have been struggling with people lately and am so upset that I am "undesirable" to men. I need to just go on a mission and forget all of them for a while. That was kind of pointed out by the rock analogy. I am doing things now that will lay the groundwork for my future, and I just need to accept that.

Well, this is significantly long enough, but I just wanted to post that I am going to start mission papers this month :) I'm so excited to serve the Lord and work harder than I ever have before. I look forward to the blessings that my family will have because of my willingness to serve the Lord in what seems to be the "prime of my life"

Colin Hay - I Just Don't Think I'll Ever Get Over You

One never gets over the loss of a true love, they merely are forced to cope with the memories and void that remains in the heart and soul. This song captures the essence of this dilemma that is not without anguish and seems to go on without end.

This is probably my new favorite song of all time. It describes perfectly the way I feel about what went down with my (cheesy as it may be) first love. It was hard to let go of the feelings I had for him. But totally worth it. I love the line where he sings "Even though I may soon feel the touch of love, I just don't think that I'll ever get over you" This is how I feel lately. I know that one day I will find someone, but that day is just not today.