7-12 Email

On Mon, Jul 13, 2015 at 2:05 AM, CRAIG JENSEN <jensencraig1@msn.com> wrote:

Hello Bro

Summer seems to be flying by, hard to believe we are half way thru July. Monday was a good FHE activity tie dying shirts, then a trip to chic fila. Tuesday we had Matt and Jakob over for home teaching, great message on families then we went for a run up the canyon, mom is totally into fitness these days... Wednesday we did a Costco run and some cafe rio,  Thursday another fitness day as we ran around the new Springville reservoir 10 times (3+ miles) we saw Russell Keele there with his girl friend fishing.. He seems to be doing OK. Friday we had June and Marlie for the night, jake and kar were out celebrating their 5 year anniversary Saturday I tinkered on the boat a bit and replaced the garbage disposal. This week was kinda crazy with house fixes, the upstairs AC went out last weekend, we ended up replacing the whole system, Blake Cook did a good job-finished Thursday, hopefully this new unit will work for 20+ years like the last one. 

So you asked my reasons for serving a mission, obviously there are many reasons, some better than others.. Here are a few: 

A goal that I wanted to accomplish 

It's what Mormon boys do..

Make my parents and others proud of me

Set an example for others including my future family

Help me be a better person

Serve others in some capacity (even in the 80's we did cool service)

Have an adventure (honestly I wanted to go foreign and learn a language) but Peoria and Effingham were cool and adventurous  

I know that Increasing my understanding and testimony of the gospel was a reason, hopefully towards the top of the list.

I'm very glad I chose to serve, it was difficult and not exactly what I expected, but I'm a stronger and better person because of it. I also know that through me and the other missionaries I served with, people's lives were changed for the better.  

As far as testimony builders, depends on what topic or foundation.. The Book of Mormon is pretty Awesome! The Atonement is Crazy Cool. The plan of salvation makes total sense. The importance and focus on the family makes us somewhat unique, And the fruits of our religion scream the benefits of living the gospel. I'm soooo happy that we live when and where we do we have it pretty good, right! But you know the saying.. Where much is given much is expected! So I try to always bring our "A" game! 

Love ya Bro. Thanks for helping us all be better people, have a great week!

Dad

 Elder Jensen, 

Holy moly, one year down and one to go. If you had asked me this time last year I never would never have thought it was going to go this fast, crazy right. Every mom I talk to says the second year goes even faster so to get everything done I want done before you get home cause I will blink and you will be home. I'm so happy of your choice to serve, your example says a lot about the kind of person you are and want to continue to be, and that you love your savior and appreciate the sacrifice he has made for all of us. You serving has made us all better people so, thank you for your sacrifice and putting everything on hold for two years to better us all. Crazy week things just seem to get busier. Last night we had the smith family party, no more Christmas parties, they are now replaced with a summer party. Everyone likes it better in the summer cause of the good weather and more can come. Great turn out and grandma and grandpa rocked it. It was our families year in charge and gma and gpa nailed it as usual. Everyone asked about you and how you are doing and couldn't believe a year had gone by. Today we are going to Jake Biesingers farewell and then to Sundetts farewell right after. Next week is cordons and burns I think, then the next week two more but I think they are welcome homes, anyway you get the idea, crazy busy Sundays, I'm sure you remember this time last year! How are you? Do you feel time is just flying by? How is the work going? Good question you asked, How do you help the sisters?  In our YSA ward I don't know if it's because they don't like others or if it's cause they feel they don't know people but we try to not let people sit alone. We try and meet everyone new, every week there are new peeps and we try to be an example of patients and kindness towards everyone. I know everyone doesn't love everyone but sometimes you only get one chance to help and be kind to someone so you always need to try your best no matter what, set being offended or whatever the issue may be aside and forgive and move on. Hope that helped a little. It's hard cause everyone is so different! I sure do love you son.  Keep positive and smilin and you will change lives. You are the best son ever. Do you need anything and can we help you in anyway? Take care of yourself please, physically, spiritually and mentally and in every other way."one of the secrets of life is to make a stepping stones out of stumbling stones." Love you much, love mom️

From:	Caden Jensen (cadenj@myldsmail.net) This sender is in your contact list.
Sent:	Sun 7/12/15 10:51 PM
To:	CRAIG JENSEN (jensencraig1@msn.com)

first off I need to tell you next week is temple week so I will email wednesday and also there is a new website that the Jergensens will post stuff on it is taiwantaipeimission.com so that is cool! ok now onward! tiedying! so fun! solid home teaching! and mom is into fitness so that she can beat me when I come home haha! are you guys still climbing? costco! thank you for your card info we got to go last week! they let us in yay! home russell is doing good, tell him I love him! he is a good kid! that is fun to have the girls! hope that went well! new garbage disposal wow! and oh man that stinks the whole ac sorry man! that is nice though this one will last awhile! and the reason I asked is because I know these are experiences I want to share, so I want to hear yours too! thank you man! those are all part of my reason too! that is awesome, and it is a little different then expected it is still awesome! I have loved it! and I have thought about how hard it would be to tell others about it it if it stunk, so I realized that if I dont work hard, I will regret that a lot! those are all awesome! I love those thoughts and the whole family focus, touches a ton of people here! it is nuts! keep sharing experiences I love hearing them thank you big guy! love ya mankeep up the great work!

mama! holy cow! so fast right! me and elder griffin were talking about it last night, life is coming fast, and this has been a great time to just clear our heads so we can make good choices when we get back! according to the Spirit! I dont ever want this to stop man, it is awesome! haha I havent done much, I have just kinda let Him do it all haha! that is cool I bet the summer party was fun! both jakes are headed out tell them good luck! that is nuts that all of it goes so fast tell them all I love them! that time is nuts！ life it great here time is hauling and the work is going great me and Elder Griffin are just working our butts off! so fun! and that is perfect! we will be sure to get the bishoprics wives on that! thank you very much that is perfect! thank you very much! and yeah there are great talks about offended members! it is hard, that is how life is out here haha trying to figure out everyones needs haha! super fun though! haha the anxiety was fun yesterday, i dont know why but yesterday it was super strong, but it is good, me and Elder Griffin talked out both of our little challenges and we are both super happy today! this is so fun! just keep being happy and being great! and dont worry I am surviving great out here! I really like that quote that one is solid! well here is my week! what a great time to be in Taiwan!!! The week has been great out here in Taoyuan! it was also great to get to know the Jergensen family a little better, we are so excited to have them all here in Taiwan, and we are also excited for the work to keep progressing! This week, although at times very tiring, biking between exchanges, has been great! we had the opportunity to go on two exchanges this week! one with the LongTan Elders, I was with Elder Lindahl, he is a great missionary and district leader, and we saw miracles, after a long and confusing trip back to LongTan, we had the opportunity to eat with a member and do a baptismal interview, and then as we were going home there was a teenage boy sitting out front of our apartment complex, he was either asleep or crying we weren't sure, so we figured we should go talk to him, we walked up and he looked up with soaking wet cheeks from crying so much, we got the opportunity to pray with him and then we got to talk about his situation, he pointed at his two parents, who were obviously fighting, then they called him over, and talked with him, then they finished talking, and his dad walked off, just left, we totally understood, but he even told us that us coming and putting our arm around him made him feel a little better, we gave him the Book of Mormon, the Lord will help that kid out a lot, it was super eye opening to actually watch a father just walk away, maybe never coming back, just leaving. This gospel is so necessary! then on a happier note, we had the opportunity to go on an exchange with Bade, Elder Jacobsen came up to Taoyuan, and we had the opportunity to set two baptismal dates, and get 6 lessons in 4 hours, time flew it was incredible! there was a man that say hey guys, and then we turned around and ran after him, we caught up to him, and found out his mother just passed away and he was very ready for the gospel! miracles out here! we had our first Typhoon that night at about one o clock, it was funny everyone was freaking out the day before but it was fun to have some rain! I love you all and I love this! keep up the good work fam! keep being happy love you all and thank you for all you do! see you soon!