Smoking Kills

Did you know the following:

·         Smoking in the U.S. cause 1 in every 5 deaths

·         Every cigarette smoked reduces the individuals life expectancy by 11 minutes

·         A single cigarette contains over 4,800 chemicals, 69 of which are known to cause cancer

·         Every day, nearly 4000 teens in the U.S. smoke their first cigarette, while 1000 start smoking on a daily basis

·         Exposure to Secondhand smoke causes nearly 50,000 deaths each year in the U.S. alone

·         15 billion cigarettes are smoked worldwide every day

You may be wondering why on my German blog I would be discussing the facts of smoking. While I was in Germany I saw something that shocked me.

Sister Christopher and I was getting off of a train at the outskirts of town. A block down the road was a high school. There were a lot of teenagers and some teachers standing out of the sidewalk in front of the school. Obviously this was in-between class or a break, nothing very unusual. What was unusual was the cloud of smoke directly above them.

Now I know you all are familiar with comic strips. You know how they make that little smoke bubble above people heads when they are swearing. I know what you mean. Well this looked exactly like it. The smoke was thick and dark. It was shocking. I couldn’t believe it, there were teachers out there smoking with the kids. It was like nothing I had ever seen before.

In Germany on the corners you can find Cigarette dispensers. They are like candy machines but bigger. It’s one of the saddest sights to see. However on every pack of cigarettes in big letters it say “Smoking Can Kill”.

Some of the investigators we taught were chain smokers. Some of our members were recovering smokers. It was fantastic to see the change the gospel had in their lives. We saw investigators go completely cold turkey because they wanted to follow the Savior and be baptized.

To this day as I pass by people smoking the smell sends me right back to my mission. I will ever be grateful for loving parents who taught me the Word of Wisdom (see Doctrine and Covenants 89). They taught me the consequences of smoking and how it destroys lives. Not just our own but those around us as well.

  

 

       

mit freundlichen Grüßen

Jenessa Jensen