The flight to Switzerland was long, longer than I
had expected. While in Atlanta we had met up with a member who bought
the four of us lunch. His son was on a mission and he hoped someone was
doing the same for him somewhere. Now sitting
on the plan I was grateful for that meal but also wishing I had gone
with something a little lighter.
The plane was huge. It had three rows of three
seats. The three Elders with me Elder Bond, Elder Peterson, and Elder
Schmidt were lucky enough to get seats together. I was at least 10 rows
in front of them feeling completely alone. However
with that said there was only one other person in my row so the middle
seat was open.
The women I sat next to on the plane was from
Geneva Switzerland. A big black women with a joyful disposition about
her, she helped in calming my nerves just a bit. She wanted to know what
I was doing and why I was going to Germany. When
I told her I was going as a missionary. We talked about religion for an
hour or so and then she went to sleep. While she slept I pulled out
the Book of Mormon I had with me and wrote my testimony in it. Later as
we prepared to land in Zurich I worked up my
courage and gave her the Book. Thankfully she spoke English so I bore
my testimony to her and promised that if she read the Book of Mormon the
Lord would bless her. She wished me luck on my mission and she was
gone. It was the first Book of Mormon of many
that I would give out on my mission.
I tried to sleep on the flight but there was way
too much going on. Lights flickering, people getting up and down to use
the bathroom, plus once you added my excitement into the mix of things
there was no way I was going to sleep. I kept
on thinking of what the Mission President would look like, who my
companion would be, where we would be going, and if I’d be a good
missionary. As I said the flight to Switzerland was extremely long.
Getting through customs was actually a bit
exciting. There are a few booths more like ticket counters you would
find at a movie theater or at a train station. Everyone stands in line
and once you arrive at the counter you provide your passport,
ID, and a customs form you were given on the plan. They look at you the
passport ask a few questions and then you are done. Well that’s how it
is for most people. The Elders and I were all split up but got to the
counters at about the same time. They all went
through with no problems however the man I talked with was not so
convinced. When asked why I was here I gladly said to be a missionary.
He gave me one of those looks like ‘oh really, you a missionary’. It
could have been the dark circles under my eyes or
that I hadn’t showered now in over 36 hours. Finally he handed me my
passport back and in a deep German accent said ‘Good Luck, you’re going
to need it’. If I wasn’t already terrified about being there and not
being able to speak a lick of German I now was.
There is a distinct smell in Germany. The air is
filled with the smell of smoke, hot bread, chocolate, flowers, and
something else you can’t describe. It’s a smell that you will never
forget. As we walked out into the terminals that smell
hit us like a wave hitting the sand it was wonderful and strange all at
the same time. Once we picked up our luggage we waited, and waited, and
waited. We were told we would be met once we arrived, however it had
been an hour since we landed and we hadn’t
seen anyone.
Finally coming out of a crowd of people we saw two
missionaries smiling from ear to ear and looking so happy to see us. The
assistants to the Mission President were very friendly. They wanted to
know how our flight went and if we were hungry.
Then the Mission President and his wife arrived. They were short and
stocky – exactly what you would expect the Germans to look like. They
welcomed us in Germany and continued to speak German, apparently asking
about our flight. My first thought was ‘oh my
heavens maybe my mission president doesn’t speak any English.’ The
elders seemed to understand but I was so lost and very worried. I left
the MTC knowing how to say my prayers in Germany and to say that I was a
missionary. That was it.
As we were assigned to cars I drove with the
Mission President and his wife and the elder got to drive with the
assistants. I was more than jealous I was scared. It was the longest
drive of my life. They spoke only German and asked many
questions which I could only answer with I don’t understand and I don’t
know. Upon arrival at the mission home each of us were taken into the
office to meet with the Mission President. There he spoke his first
English words to me and said ‘Sister Jensen, everything
is going to be ok’. I burst in to tears just thankful he knew some
English. He continued his interview in English and told me I was getting
assigned to a great companion and that if I worked hard the Lord would
bless me. As I was leaving his office he looked
at me as if debating wither or not to tell me this next bit, finally he
said, ‘and the language will come eventually, just work hard.’
We had finally arrived, this was it. As I sat there
waiting for everyone else to finish their interview I could only wonder
how I was every going to survive this.
mit freundlichen Grüßen
Jenessa Jensen
