Letter from Mission President of Camri's Arrival

Dear Missionary Family,

We are delighted to report that your missionary has arrived safely to the Washington Yakima Mission.  We already love them and are excited to serve with them.  We are confident that they will become an effective instrument in the hands of the Lord in sharing the gospel with the people of Washington and Oregon.

We have assigned them a companion who is an experienced, devoted, and motivated missionary.  All of our missionaries understand that one of the greatest privileges available in the mission is to train a new missionary.  This first companion will be a special person in your missionary’s life and will help give them a great start here.

We feel that our greatest responsibility is the care and welfare of your child.  We want to assure you that we will be in regular contact with them and will be observant of their physical health, happiness and spiritual well-being.  We will work closely with them throughout their mission to help them succeed and fulfill their calling as a representative of the Church and as an ambassador of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Please be assured that we will be in contact with you if we encounter any concerns that would call for your attention.  You are a great asset to the success of your missionary while they are serving here and we will work closely with you if the need arises.  Please keep us apprised of any changes to the address, phone number or email for you, your bishop or your stake president.  We want to keep our records current so that we can contact you whenever necessary.

Attached is a photograph of your missionary taken with us at the welcome dinner at the mission home.  Please feel free to contact us at the mission office with any questions that you may have.

Thank you for the sacrifices you are making at home to have your missionary in the field.  We have seen the Lord bless the families of missionaries who are serving in untold ways.  We know that His blessings will be upon you as well.

With love and appreciation,

President John C. Lewis and Sister Ann Lewis

Sister Jensen with President and Sister Lewis

Sister Jensen at the Yakima Mission orientation 

Airport - Yakima Bound

Week 3 - Prepare for Take Off

We were able to chat back and forth with Camri tonight for a minute. She was even able to send us a quick video or two. She looks and acts really happy. She also had some of her friends in the videos with her. We are excited that in just a few hours, she will be on a plane to Washington. 

She expressed to me how strong the spirit has been while she has been there. She said that she felt she was able to remain herself while growing spiritually. Yakima is in for a surprise. 

---

Yes.... I've cried a few times today. Probably more than when I said
goodbye to my family to be honest... haha oops.
I HAVE LOVED THE MTC! It has been one of the greatest experiences ever
and I'm so scared to leave this place hahah. But I'm excited too.
Tonight's the night! I have to turn in the iPad soon so that sucks :(
All of us sisters, and some elders, got blessings today. I asked Elder
Lewis to give me mine and then all of the Elders from the district
stood in the circle. It was fantastic and the spirit was there fo
show. Unbelievable. I'm tellin ya. This stuff is all TRUE.
Oh! Coolest thing last night hahah. So me and my roommates decided to
start an acapella shower band. We decided that we'd all go shower at
the same time (separate stalls no worries) and just sing hymns at the
top of our lungs until everyone in there sang with us. The best was
when we sang "A Child's Prayer" and the last verse, one side of the
showers sang the first verse and the other side of the showers sang
the second verse. If that made any sense... anyways. I didn't think
you could feel the spirit in the shower. But it happens lol.
Ummm I don't have a ton of time sooo idk what to say. I bought two
book of mormons today at the bookstore and I'm going to try and give
them away at the airport. Kinda freaks me out to do that kinda thing
out in the real world. But that's what I'm ordained to do right? Share
the love.
My district enjoyed playing volleyball together here at the MTC. It
was definitely a highlight of all of our days. So I'll include a pic.
Make sure to check out the shirt I'm wearing. Representing the mish ya
know?
The food here hasn't agreed with some of us... and Elder Lewis killed
me when he told me this story:  he was in the bathroom and I guess in
the stall next to him a kid was making a racket.. ya know? He said it
didn't sound too good. So calmly Elder Lewis asks out loud "hey, would
you like a priesthood blessing?" He didn't get a response.....
hahahahaha I could not stop laughing.  I don't know why the heck he
felt like sharing that story. Pretty disgusting actually. But way
funny.
And brother Kaanapu. Oh that man. Changed my life. Taught me oh so
much. I wish y'all could meet the man.
Gotta go it's getting late! One thing I've learned this week. Don't
eat the beans at the MTC. jk jk. But seriously.
I've learned that the gospel is for everybody. The atonement is not
just for sinners. It is for everybody and can help in any situation in
life. I love it so much.

With love, Sister Jensen 

living our glory days on the volleyball court. Check the shirt out.

the one and only Brother Kaanapu

Sunday Temple walk with the gang

Selfie with my best friends here at the MTC :')

Week 2 - I'm Moving to Yakima!

Camri is still doing great. she is really enjoying herself at the MTC. She will be in her mission next week when we hear from her. she asked us to smuggle some illegal substance (caffeine) into the MTC. She is such a rule breaker. There may or may not be some Pepsi en route to unit 291. She also broke the rules and her picture taken with Elder Colby(attached). hahaha.
Camri had a rough day this past week. Doubt started to set in and she was questioning her qualifications on being a missionary. She had a little cry(not the full blown melt down that her mother has been waiting for) . She talked with her companion only to find out that she has those same thoughts every day. They consoled each other went and played a volleyball game. They eventually worked through it together and moved on. Camri has her travel itinerary as you will see. She reported that there are 21 missionaries on her flight. She pointed out the odd number and said yes, I am the odd ball without a companion. We all know why. Anyway, the next letter will be from Yakima. Thanks for your support.

---

Sup y'all?
Another week down! Gosh it went by so so quick! I'm getting so sad
that I'll have to say goodbye to my district soon. They're my best
friends :')  I'm gonna bawl like a baby when I have to say goodbye to
Sister Facey.... oh! I got my travel plans for going to Yakima! I
leave the MTC on August 29th at 2:30 in the morning. I was like holy
crap are they trying to kill me?! I was about to go home just because
that's too early for me. Lol nah I'm just kidding. I'm sure I'll be
fiiiiiiine.
So last Tuesday Elder Anderson came and gave a devotional! He spoke
about not letting our flame of faith burn out even when people reject
our message. He was just the sweetest and took so much time shaking
missionaries hands. He brought his grandkids with him and made them go
walk around shaking hands too! I didn't shake Elder Andersons hand,
but I shook his little grandsons hand. So that's pretty cool right??

I got to help out with the MTC tour on Wednesday so that was fun! Kind
of. I just stood for 4 hours and directed people as they walked by. I
got really good at saying Yakima Washington because I had to tell
people over and over where I'll be serving haha. The tours are over
though and the MTC will be dedicated soon. That will be neat!
I had to say goodbye to two of my TRC investigators and I got two new
ones. I was so sad to leave my old ones :/ they taught me a lot! My
new ones are cute though. Haha they're both older ladies. One of them,
sydney, looks like the old man from the movie "UP"  in woman version.
She has the cute square glasses and everything! She's gone to a ton of
different churches and learned about a lot of religions. But she said
none of them are consistent and they just don't make sense with the
teachings of the Bible. Something my last TRC said was that our church
just makes sense. From Joseph Smith to the priesthood to baptism, it
all just makes sense. Even when we may not understand all of the
details.
Here's a funny story for ya. One of the Elders in my district will be
serving in Utah. He's really worried about gaining weight because the
members here take such good care of the missionaries. Haha so he went
to the gym and he was getting pretty intense I guess with the weights.
A couple days later, he was still sore and was getting pretty worried.
He made an appointment to see the doctor here. And he like paid for
the appointment and stuff.  And I asked him what the doctor said. And
the doctor said "you're sore." He just wasn't use to the feeling I
guess   oh my gosh I love these people so much hahahah. He's the
same Elder that when we went to the field, they made us take our
jewelry off. And I looked at Elder Merrick and said "hey Elder Merrick
make sure you take out your belly button ring". Hahaha it was so funny
because he looked at me like I was such a disgusting creature. He's
the sweetest I just don't think he understands my humor. Maybe he'll
catch on 🤷🏼‍♀️
Sister Facey and I had the best TRC visit this week! Sister Facey bore
her testimony of the Book of Mormon and the spirit was literally
shaking me to the soul. Her testimony was so simple: that God lives.
And it was a huge reminder to me of why I'm here.  Because he lives.
On Sunday night we had a devotional and Kenneth Cope came and sang.
He's like a popular LDS singer I guess. It wasn't really my thing....
but it was good I guess. He kept telling us how beautiful we are and
it kinda got weird.... buuut he meant well. Then we went and watched a
film. It was Elder Holland giving the talk "Missions are Forever".
He's the man. This part was cool- he said, I often get asked "why is
this so hard?" And the answer is. Because SALVATION IS NOT A CHEAP
EXPERIENCE.  Why should it be easy for us if it was not easy for him?
(Christ). It will cost a lot of us but it cost a whole lot more for
him. So always remember that when life gets tough. It's not suppose to
be easy all the time and that's okay. The good things in life are
always worth the cost.
Elder Lewis, the southern accent elder, came up to me the other day
and said "Sister Jensen I have to compliment your shoes." And I was
like "ok?" Ya know like waiting for the compliment. And he says, "that
was it. That's the compliment". Hahaha it killed me. I seriously never
stop laughing at this place. Me and Sister Facey lose it at least 3
times a day.
The third day I was in here I was looking out the window across the
street and saw two Elders and I said "Sister Facey, look
missionaries!" Hahahaha I had to remind myself that I'm in the MTC and
I'm a missionary now too. It was the weirdest thing to experience. I
was so excited to see missionaries and yet I've been surrounded by
them for a while now.
My teacher Brother Kaanapu came into class the other day in a sad
mood... he started crying to us. He told us that he struggles with
anxiety and depression and he was having a really hard time with it.
He wanted to know if we could help him in any way because we are Gods
anointed. (He keeps telling us that).   He felt inadequate. And that
he wasn't good enough for God or for the church. It was so strange to
me. Here was this man that I look up to soooo much! Seriously he's
taught me tons of things. His testimony is so strong. And here he was
feeling unworthy to be a child of God. An Elder in the class offered
to give him a blessing and then all of the Elders went into the
circle. It was so amazing. It reminded me that everyone struggles.
Even the people with the strongest of testimonies go through hard
times. And even though we don't always know how to help them, God
knows how. It was such a good day.
Elder Colby is here!!! He's in my zone so I see him every day ️ it's
so nice seeing familiar faces.
I have learned two big things from being here these last two weeks:
1.  I don't know as much as I thought I did
2. I know more than I thought I did
It's weird because those are opposites. So hopefully that makes some
sort of sense haha.
My district had to have an intervention with each other because one of
the Elders just got called as Zone Leader and he already has a big ego
so it kinda went straight to his head. We've all learned patience with
him. But we love him so we set things straight in the most kind way.
And things have been better.
Ummm that's about it. Well there's a ton more actually. But I already
wrote a lot. And it's so hard to summarize seven days into one email
lol! Being a Sister is great. The people here are lovely. Oh except
one time on a packed elevator someone farted. How rude!!! Am I right??
That wasn't so lovely.
Oh another thing. I joined the MTC choir. Hahaha it's the best. They
practically begged me to join. ;) nahhhh jk. But it's fun. And I'm
learning a lot about singing. I think I'm soprano whatever that means.
Next time I write, I'll be in Yakima. I can hardly believe it. ️  I
love you guys!
The church is true. The priesthood is real. God lives. Oh and p.s.
All the questions that One investigator had that she wanted backed up
with doctrine, we found it. It's all in there in the scriptures! Just
gotta search for it :)

 Remember when Alma prayed in the woods? I was there.

Ya know when Joseph was in jail? I was there.

That one time that Joseph was pondering the thoughts of his soul. I
was there.

 This was our last TRC visit with Katilyn. She's the one that I knew
was a member haha. She's a sweetie.

Travel Itinerary! (Did I mention. 2:30. In the a.m.  )

These are all of the sisters in my zone on our temple walk. They
stuck me behind the weed.. haha

This is one of our districts teachers! Her name is sister Johnson
but she's getting married Friday so we won't see her again :(

The Dreaded First Week.... Week 1

Well, we finally heard from Camri. She is doing great. I asked her how her knee was and what were some of her other challenges. Here is her response, "My knees doing good. I haven't noticed it too much. My branch president asked me about it and he seemed concerned but I assured him that I would take care of myself. I played volleyball yesterday and just tried to stand in one spot. It's good though. Hmmmm my biggest challenge has probably been getting up early. If I go to sleep at exactly 10:30 I get 8 hours of sleep. And after sitting in class, my brain just gets tired."
Here is the group email she wanted us to send out this week. Notice the subject line. hahaha. We also received a few other emails throughout the day. She had me laughing out loud several times. She told me at the end of the day that she had to go to choir practice. She wanted us to know that she joined the MTC Choir. She also said it may be the only choir she ever gets in. she told me that she sleeps in the top bunk and it "sucks". She is going to be a tour guide tomorrow (Wednesday) at the MTC open house. Her shift is from 2:30-6:30. She told me that we were not allowed. However, if any of you are going, make sure to get some pics. We have attached a few pictures in this email. We will also have some on her blog (thanks Rachel). http://sisterjenseninyakima.blogspot.com/

Thank you all for your support in getting Camri on her mission.

                                                                                                                                                
Hey fam! 
Hope everything's going great in life. The MTC is such a unique place! I'm busy like all the time. And everyday feels like Sunday! The spirit is so strong here though and I love it! After getting to the MTC I got my name tag and was super stoked!!! Then I met my companion, sister Facey. She's incredible and I love her so much! She's from California and she's going to be serving in the Orem Utah mission (poor girl). Lol. I wish I could take her to Yakima with me so bad! It's strange that we got put together and are going different places because most companionships aren't like that. But I'm so blessed that I ended up with her. :') hahahah so funny story.... she's Polynesian. And I asked her if she was. And she was like yeah I'm Samoan. Did you guys know Tongans and Samoans are both Polynesians!? Hahahah I'm the dumbest. I thought they were all separate things. So I was like... wait so you're a Samoan Polynesian? She got a good laugh out of it. And I came to the conclusion that I'm English Caucasian. Oh the things I've learned. She also told me how to tell the difference between Tongan and Samoan. It has to do with their noses. So when we pass one, she quizzes me. And I've gotten good at telling the difference 😂 Here's a recap of my week: everyday I sit in class for 6 hours. But
it's split in half. I get an hour of exercise time a day and so we usually go play volleyball or spikeball with our district. I teach TRC's twice a day. Which is actually teaching investigators. Some of them are just members acting though. I know one of mine is a member cause I saw her G's. lol. But the other lady, I'm almost positive she's really an investigator. But it's tough because she wants doctrine to back up everything we say. For example "god knows us individually" or "Jesus Christ suffered for more than just your sins" she wants us to have doctrine from the Book of Mormon to prove it. Or, another thing, when she read the first Vision, she pointed out that Joseph smith didn't say he saw god. He says he saw two personages and one spake to the other saying this is my beloved son. So she was like, is this what your basing your knowledge off of saying that he saw god? I never noticed that Joseph smith never says he saw god. And I was like uhhhhhh. But she's super sweet and I love her lots. And she's teaching me things by me teaching her things. I've been studying my butt off though trying to find doctrine for her hahah. My district is great! They're who I have class with everyday. Most of them are serving in the Orem mission or Salt Lake City. Me and the two other sisters are going to Yakima. Sister fox and sister Tenney. The other Yakima missionaries are in my zone but a different district. I'll post a pic of my district. There's been a little contention between the elders last night though because they all want to be the alpha male. So that's annoying. Buuuut it's okay. We love each other. It's so weird how easy it is to love people here. I've realized that

when we are loving Heavenly Father and our savior Jesus Christ, loving others becomes easy.

I saw Sister Stephens a few times! (Liza) and I've also seen Kenton boothe and Tyler Batty. It's so fun seeing people I know. Oh! And I've seen some friends going through the MTC tour. Haha those people all

look at us like we're zoo animals it's so great. I get to guide the tour tomorrow and I'm so super excited to talk to all the people that aren't missionaries! I saw Bailey Jensen going through the tour. I started jumping up and down waving my arms I was so excited! What a cutie she is :')

GUESS WHAT. Elder M. Russel Ballard came and gave a devotional on Sunday night. Hes so cute. His message was pretty much: don't flirt while on the mission. Because it's a big problem I guess. So we gotta

lock our hearts up. And then! We watched a video of Elder Bednars talk "The Character of Christ". The talk hasn't been released to the public so only missionaries watch it. ITS AMAZING. Something that stuck out

to me was "learn of Christ- not about him- but of him". And that's something I've been pondering since then. Christ always turned outwards to others when the natural man turns inwards. There are so many examples in the scriptures that show him doing that. Here's been some of the hardest parts of my mission: waking up at 6:30

everyday. The first morning when my alarm clock went off I was like what the freak am I doing with my life?! But it's getting easier everyday. Haha I've had blisters on my heels since day 2. The other sisters in my district do too. I ripped a little hole in one of my dresses when I got stuck on a bathroom door hinge. I've hit my head on

this shelf in my room like 3 times but it gets funnier every time! Oh I didn't wash one of my towels before using it. So the towel lint sticks to me and it stays on me like all day long ugh. The food here isn't bad. But I think I'm already gaining weight because I eat a ton and then just sit in a classroom haha it's not a good thing for your

health. Ummmm another thing is that one of my roommates... I won't name names.... likes to sing in a super high pitched Snow White voice late at night. And I just can't deal. But it's fine because I love her so I guess I'll get over it. But that's all the things I can think of that haven't been great. Everything else here is awesome! There's an Elder in my district named Elder Lewis. He's from Alabama and his southern accent is hard core! Hahahaha it absolutely kills me. He says a bunch of really funny junk. So I'd just like to share some of it. He likes to use the phrase "that's just silly" or "that's goofy" or "that's absurd" but say those in a southern accent and you'll understand why it's funny. He keeps telling me "Sister Jensen I'm not a very spiritual man. They keep trying to change what's in here (pointing at his head) but that's just silly and it ain't gonna happen" when he says "I'm not a very spiritual man" it reminds me of Forest Gump for some reason.... anyways. He just keeps all of us entertained. Wish you could all here his accent. Oh that reminds me. Sister Facey told me I have an accent... and I wasn't even trying to do one of my accents! She said it's a Utahn accent whatever the freak that means. I'm so sorry this email is so long! Thanks to whoever actually reaches the end of it :') So much happens here and I wish I could share all of these experiences with everyone. And I wish you could all meet these amazing people that

I've met! Here's a scripture that I loved from this week! It's 3 Nephi 13:31-34. I ain't gonna type it so look it up. But it basically says Heavenly Father knows your needs. He's aware of us. And so if we are righteous, we have no reason to worry. He will take care of us :) I love all of you and would love to hear from you! I have an iPad while in the MTC so I can get emails any day of the week! Just can't reply until Tuesday. Also, if you go to dearelder.com you can write a letter that will be delivered that same day! I know y'all are busy. But if you get bored, think of me :')  have a good week! Be good.

-Sister Jensen  ❤️❤️❤️

This is my district. I'll go from left to right. Elder Merrick (doesn't talk too much and doesn't get my sarcasm. I think I freak him out), Elder Johnson (he's a recent convert and is the only member in his family. His family hates the church. When he bears his testimony... Holy. He's awesome), Elder Franchino (his first name is

Luigi which I enjoy haha), Elder Lewis (funniest kid ever! "One thing I do know is that you can't make chicken soup out of chicken poop. No matter how hard you try."), Elder Holland (District leader. He accidentally shaved his mole off because he didn't use shaving cream or a mirror... everyone has their hobbies I guess), Elder Clarke

(Talks a lot and talks loud), Elder Dow (Mr Sassy pants but you'd never know it until he starts feeling comfortable around you), and Elder Anderson (The quiet one. Probably one of the most mature. But is particular about his hair I've noticed). And then there's me, sister Facey, Sister Fox (She's allergic to perfume so I can't spray it in our room :/  ) and Sister Tenney (Sweetest little thing ever. She apologizes for anything and everything Haha)

Doing some good ol laundry

I'm pointing to Washington ❤️

They got the goods 😏 #CaffeineFree

Here's one of the murals in the new building. I was trying to look like I was surfing

And here's me and Sister Facey at the temple walk on Sunday

MTC

Wednesday, August 9th - Sister Jensen entered the Provo MTC to begin her experience as a full time missionary.