10 Book of Mormons

From the very first day we arrived in Freiburg, Sister Christopher and I were determined to do our best. To give our all to the Lord. There was never any other option. So when we decided to do something, we did it – No option.

One particular day within the first month of our arrive in Freiburg we decided that we were going to give 10 Book of Mormons out that day. And we couldn’t just give them out like candy but we had to feel like it was the right thing to do. We wrote our testimonies in the front and packed our bags ready for a very long day.

The day went great. We had made some new contacts and had a few potential investigators. By the end of the day we were tired but excited about the progress we had made. We arrived at our apartment complex with 10 minutes left in our day. Missionaries have to be home by 9:00pm. So here we are at 8:50 and Sister Christopher had 1 more Book of Mormon to place. As I mentioned when we decide to do something, we did it – No option.

There was/is a park located right next to our apartment so we started walking. We stopped a few people and gave them pass along cards but no one was really interested. Each of us praying fervently that we would find the one ready to receive this Book of Mormon. Without any warning Sister Christopher said, “We need to stop them” and off she went. She had stopped this middle aged couple, very cute. Who were taking their nightly stroll. We talked for what seemed like an eternity with them and shared our testimonies of the Book of Mormon. The man said he was interested in reading a book like that and asked if we had a copy. We sure did. After saying our goodbyes and exchanging numbers they left.

I don’t know how it works but the Lord is all powerful and I am 100% positive that he slowed down time during this experience. When we finished and looked down at our watches it was 8:58pm. We ran the entire way home and made it before 9:00pm. It shouldn’t have been possible. We had stopped a few people before this couple and we had pretty much taught a lesson to this couple on the street but there it was the longest 10 minutes ever. The experience taught me two great lessons I lived by during my mission. First I learned that if our desires are in line with the Lords that there is nothing we can’t do. Second I learned that sometimes the Lord waits until the last hour to provide, and that we need to endure to the end.

How grateful I am for a companion that wasn’t ok with giving up. A companion who said we have 10 minutes, so we will work for 10 minutes. While together we never went home early. In fact we rarely ever saw the apartment. We ate lunch on the go and never stopped back at the house for dinner. If we hadn’t eaten we’d wait until after we returned home at 9:00 and had planned and then we would eat. I was truly blessed to get a companion who knew the meaning of work. Who knew that we only had 18 months and we were not about to waste 1 minute.

mit freundlichen Grüßen

Jenessa Jensen

The Italian Bag

Unlike today where missionaries carry around an ipad with all their books at a touch of a button, we carried around the actual book with us. We were also walking missionaries which means we didn’t have a car to hold extra Books of Mormon in. We had to carry what we needed around with us. Sometimes this meant carrying all day long just to give out at the end of the day. The usual backpack included your person scriptures (and for us new bees that meant both the English set and the German set), at least 2 German Book of Mormons to give out, 1 English Book of Mormon, along with any other items like your Preach My Gospel, Lunch, Wallets, Umbrellas, Maps, and so on that you might need during the day. In short your bag weighed a lot before you ever left the house.

One particular morning while we were packing our bags we felt that we not only needed the regular English, and German Book of Mormons we carried but that we needed something else. I added a Spanish Book of Mormon to my bag only to take it out right before we left and put an Italian one in my bag instead. Italian what was I thinking. We had a better chance of placing a Chinese Book of Mormon than an Italian one, but there it was going into my bag.

We headed to the church for our appointment. We stopped everyone we saw (like we always did) sharing the gospel with all that would listen. We met some amazing people but no one in need of an Italian Book of Mormon. Our appointment fell through so we headed off to our next appointment, planning to do some door to door contacting in that town before our appointment.

We were sitting on a bench waiting for our bus when a young man came and sat next to us. Sister Christopher quickly turned to me and said. “Sister Jensen, look at his bag”. As I looked I was a surprised as she was. This young man’s bag had the Italian flag on the front of it. We quickly engaged in conversation with him. He German was awful – worse than mine. His English was ok, but his Italian was perfect. He was so excited when we shared the Italian Book of Mormon with him. He was here for school and missing home. We gave him the web address to the Church site and invited him to read the Book of Mormon and visit the site. He promised he would.

I don’t remember if he got on the bus or not but I do remember quietly thanking the Lord for inspiration that morning. Thanking him for working through us to help the life of someone in need.  

mit freundlichen Grüßen

Jenessa Jensen

I Don't Understand You

German would be the death of me. I couldn’t understand anyone and it was hard for anyone to understand me. On one particular afternoon while me and Sister Christopher were street contacting I once again was reminded how much German I didn’t speak.

We had stopped this lovely lady, very elegant looking. We had been talking about prayer with her and it came for me to bear testimony of prayer. I gave my all, and butchered every word. I couldn’t even get every word out. I was stumbling over every syllable and  had to ask Sister Christopher multiple times for the translation of a work. When we finally ended the women just stood there looking at us. Finally she said, in very broken English, ‘I don’t understand you, but I know here (touching her heart) what you are saying.

I had cried and thanked the women. Giving her the Book of Mormon I had written my testimony in. She probably will never know how much she did for me that day. How she changed the way I served my mission. My German wasn’t good for many months after this experience but I knew that it wasn’t was I was saying that was important but what the spirit was testifying to their hearts that was important.

mit freundlichen Grüßen

Jenessa Jensen

Linda

Name tags are great things. First off they let people know who you are before you ever come into contact with them. Sometimes this worked against us as people would look at us and quickly cross the street to avoid any contact or conversation with us. Other times having a name tag proved a world of good for us and others.

We didn’t know a single person when we arrived in Freiburg. Most of the time this isn’t the case. Usually you come into an area where one of you has been for a few weeks. So at least one of you will know a few people. In our case, Sister Christopher and I didn’t know anyone at all.

We had just gotten off the train when this enthusiastic young lady came running up to us yelling, ‘Sisters, Sisters’.(see, name tags can come in handy) Before we could take it in she had us each in a hug and was smiling and chatting away. Her name was Linda and she was amazing. She was tall (everyone is tall to me so don’t take this to literally), and had black hair. She had a striking look to her. She was so excited to see us and wanted to know where we lived, what we were up to, how long we had been here and so on. We found out she was a member, a bit less active but she loved the missionaries. Her family was in our ward and she told us she would be sure to have us over for dinner sometime. What a blessing, our first week and we were getting a dinner appointment.

The Berg family was amazing. Sister Berg is one of those ladies would give you the shoes off her feet if she thought it would help. Linda was friendly and willing to help us in whatever way she could. We loved visiting them. They both where greatly involved in missionary work and would feed us anytime they could.

Linda loved to bake. Once we went and baked with her all afternoon. We had so much fun and talked about life. With my German she was always willing to slow things down and to ask constantly if I understood.

She struggled often and as Sister Christopher will testify, we prayed hard and often for her. There was something about her, she wanted to know and believe it all yet her testimony wavered from time to time. We saw her potential and she became not only someone we would visit and teach but she became a friend.

              

 

mit freundlichen Grüßen

Jenessa Jensen