My Mission President had promised me that if I did my very best and was exactly obedient that the Lord would help and bless me. As I didn’t speak a lick of German I really needed the Lords help so I was determined from day one to give my all and to be the best that I could be. I should have warned the Elders I would work with on my mission that this was the case, because I don’t think a lot of them were prepared for what was coming.
As we arrived in Europe that first day one of the thing planned for us to do was to go street contacting. This is when you go into the middle of town and with a group of missionaries you start talking to everyone there, preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was one of my favorite things to do later on in my mission but this first time around was a bit daunting.
Here we were Me, the three Elders I had flown out with (Elder Bond, Elder Peterson, and Elder Schmidt) and the two Assistants in Zurich, Switzerland. Let me just point out here that in Switzerland they don’t speak German they speak a Swiss-German which is not a written language so it can’t be learned from a book. In the MTC we were taught High German which is probably the furthest German away from what Swiss-German is. So we are taken to the town square in Zurich and split up. It was myself, Elder Schmidt, and Elder 'P' (one of the assistants) in one group and the others in another group. We were given some Book of Mormons, a few pamphlets, and some pass along cards. In total I believe we had about 12 items. Elder 'P' gave us a quick lesson on how to street contact and then we were off.
I was so happy when I stopped my first person and they actually stopped to listen to me. I asked a question and they answer back……………I just stood there. I had NO idea what they had just said. I looked back at Elder 'P', who was standing a ways off, for some type of help but he just smiled at me. That person quickly left. I told Elder Pine I needed help and he just encouraged me to keep on going and I would get it. So, I stopped the next person (remember my German at this point is nonexistent to say the least) and I got the same result. Again and again I did this, just praying that as the Mission President said, If I did my best the Lord would help. This went on for about 30 minutes. At this point both Elders were watching me in amusement. Frustrated, tired, and a bit humiliated, I turned and faced the Elders. With all the courage I could muster I stomped my foot and looked Elder 'P' right in the eyes. Yes I did stomp my foot, not one of my brighter moments, but I wanted to make my point clear. Then in the most firm and direct voice I have I said, “You [Elder 'P'] need to help me. I am doing the best I can but I don’t understand what they are saying. I am not returning to the Mission Home until we have handed out everything we have with us. Even if that means we are late for dinner. And you Elder 'P' will then have to explain to the Mission President why we are late. But I am not leaving until every item is gone.” I then quickly turned on my heels and stopped the next person. I asked my question and they answered. Turning for support from Elder 'P' who was still just standing there, I went over grabbed the lapel of his jacket and brought him over to where this person was standing, waiting for my response. I then asked my question again, and they answered. I looked at Elder Pine and I will never forget the look on his face, it was between amusement and complete shook. Finally pulling himself together he started talking to this individual who ended up taking a pamphlet.
In the end we were just a few minutes late for dinner, however we did hand out every single item we had with us. From that point on the Assistants started calling my trainer and I the “Dream Team”. My companion who I would meet the next day was said to have as much spunk and fire about the work as I did. It was true and we worked hard every day while we were together, but that’s another story for next time.
mit freundlichen Grüßen
Jenessa Jensen
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