Sister C.

An email from one of Jasmine's MTC teachers:

GRABE!!! Namimiss ko kayo ngayon kahit nasa Utah pa kayo. You haven't even left the state, but I know I won't see you all again for a long time!! (And you won't see this until your first P-day in the field!!!) 

Pero sobrang masaya ako para sa inyo. I know you will perform miracles for the people in the Philippines. I can sense it in your countenances, the way you teach, and the way you sing! Salamat talaga para sa card na ibinigay kayo sa akin at maraming salamat for the song. i wish i had recorded it!! it was very touching. i looked up the song online, but it's not the same as when you all sang it.

Thank you for being Christ-centered missionaries. Alam ko na mahal kayo ni Heavenly Father and that He will take care of you if you give your heart and will to Him. We read this in Sunday School and I wanted to share....

D&C 101

35 And all they who suffer ^apersecution for my name, and endure in faith, though they are called to lay down their lives for my^bsake yet shall they partake of all this glory.

 36 Wherefore, ^afear not even unto death; for in this world your joy is not full, but in me your ^bjoy is full.

 37 Therefore, care not for the body, neither the life of the body; but care for the ^asoul, and for the life of the soul.

 38 And ^aseek the face of the Lord always, that in ^bpatience ye may possess your souls, and ye shall have eternal life.

I know His promised blessings are true and real, and that only through Christ and His gospel can we receive a fullness of joy and return to live with our Heavenly Father.

Mahal ko po kayo. Ingat po kayo!!!

Sister C.

District 16E

Picture overload from the last emails Jasmine sent from the MTC.

Sister Jensen

TALL

The Sisters.

The Elders.

MTC week 6

Kumusta pamilya at mga kaibigan!

I've added a couple of you this week to my big e-mail to everyone. I hope you don't mind. Next week I will have wonderful things to tell you about the Philippines. This week I just have a funny fact. In the Philippines there is in F in the alphabet, but if they use F they usually mix it up with the P. So they say Pilipino not Filipino and when they mix it up apparently a common one is fart instead of part. Hey, it's the truth. Just laugh about it because you know it is funny :). Anyways, this week I got to host the new missionaries! Which means I got to welcome all the new missionaries at the MTC, and settle them into there apartments, and get them their stuff, and take them to their classes so they didn't get lost. It was great! A lot of fun, even though I only got to host one person, it was still amazing. She was from Utah and she is going to Chicago where she used to live! Crazy huh? Her parents felt at ease leaving her because they knew she would be in a place that she knew with lots of friends. She was super nice and I know she will be great! It was sad to see people say goodbye to their kids for 2 or 1 1/2 years, but it was fun to help them. One Polynesian sister had two cars filled with family hahaha. It was great! I love the Polynesian people! On Saturday we have a devotional (which is like a talk) from Jolene Alphin. She has compiled hundreds of pioneer stories! She was a historical consultant for Ephraim's rescue and 17 Miracles. She talked about the pioneer men that just got back from missions  and went back to help the struggling handcart companies. The people spoke of them as if they were angels. It was so much fun to learn about the pioneers! Their stories are inspiring and always cause me to want to be a better person. So I am so excited to be going to the Philippines this week! I am so ready to serve the people there. I am ready to feel Christ's love for them! I leave in two days!! Wahoo! Today is my last day for mail at the MTC. Well, Mahal Kita! Salamat sa panalangin! Take care! Write you soon!

Love,

Sister Jensen (Jasmine)

Emmettites Unite!

A few of the Sisters and Elders from the Emmett Idaho Stake at the Missionary Training Center.

Sister Jensen, Elder Craig, Elder Atwood. 

Sister Jensen and Sister Helms.

Jasmine and Stewart (Elder Craig) have known each other their whole lives, they were in the same nursery class, sunday school class, and now they are so excited to be serving in the mission field.

The First of Many Mission Good-byes (MTC week 5)

Hello Everyone! 

This week flew by! It seems like all the weeks here do. I got my flight plans yesterday!!!! I will be going to the SLC airport, from there I will go to San Fransisco CA, then Tokyo Japan, and lastly Manila Philippines! From there we will probably be shipped on a bus or something to my mission! I am SUPER excited, but at the same time I do not feel completely prepared. I have confidence that the Lord wouldn't send me out if He didn't think I was ready though, so I am sure I will figure it all out and be able to share the Gospel with the people of the Philippines! I hear they are really nice and try to help you out a lot if you are learning Tagalog. One of our teachers said that he only got the door slammed in his face once and that was because it was a drunken drag queen. I can't say I want a similar experience, well, besides not getting doors slammed in my face. Richard G. Hinkley was our Tuesday night Devo. He is an emeritus General Authority. Afterwards we took a big picture and he said we are the best missionaries on this earth. I thought that was pretty cool. He said some other things as well, but I don't have my notes right now. Anyways, one of our teachers said goodbye to us this week. The day before we left Sister Shrack and I had a lesson with him. We started in Tagalog, but he stopped us and we continued in English saying what we really wanted to say and teaching according to his needs. He told us that even an awesome scripture or lesson can be bad if it is in the wrong place and time. I had to agree with him. He then addressed my concern of being able to teach in Tagalog and I learned all that I have to do is try because if I am not trying to teach according to the people's needs then it is irrelevant to them. Afterwards he said a prayer. It was so powerful to me because it came from someone that I have grown to love and respect. He blessed our families and our teaching efforts and much more. He has been like my big brother here and I miss him already. It feels like just yesterday that I walked into the MTC for the first day and he was there speaking gibberish to me. After the prayer we were all kind of holding back tears. I realized this would be the first of many goodbyes on my mission. I hope that all of them are this sweet because then I know that I am doing what I need to do. I think that leaving the MTC might be like leaving home all over again. Well, I love you all! Thank you for your prayers and your thoughts. I am learning Tagalog. It's coming, but I know it will take much more effort and struggling on my part before I really get it all down. I can't wait to be fluent hahaha! I will have one more week to write you all in the USA. I leave the 29th of this month! Alam ko po totoo ang ebanhelyo! 

Love, 

Sister Jensen

Our Guro, Brother W.

Sister S. and MTC District

Sister Jensen and her companion Sister S.

Many missionaries take pictures next to this map.

June 30, 2013

Jasmine's district.

July 7, 2013

In front of the Provo Temple.

July 7, 2013

July 9, 2013 with her district.

Kumusta! (MTC week 4)

Kamusta pamilya at mga kaibigan!

It is good to hear from all of you. I would like to tell you all thank you for your prayers. I am learning a lot and I think the language is coming along. I still have a long ways to go, but I am thankful for all the support and love. This last Sunday we had Brother and Sister Hackey talk to us. Sister Dianne Hackey is a scriptorean that just retired from BYU. She met the prophet when she was young and it scared her. She said she felt like he could see right through her and from that point on she wanted the kind of person that could look the prophet in the eye, so she did her homework and became a scriptorean. She was hilarious! Brother Hackey talked about riding a horse they had named Bimbo and his mother telling him to do something and he got upset. He went inside and threw one of his spurs somewhere. After a while he decided he wanted to go ride his horse again, but he couldn't find his spur. He looked and looked. He prayed and immediately afterwards found it underneath the bed right by where he was kneeling and right where he had looked several times. This story reminded me of home.  He also told us that the Lord cannot drive a parked car. We have to be willing to take action to recieve revelation in our life. We cannot pray about something half-heartedly not expecting an answer or to not be willing to act on that answer, or no answer will come to us. We have to be ready and willing to do what the Lord asks of us. Both of them were funny people. Then on Tuesday We had another devotional By Mytris Kendrick and L. Lionel Kendrick an Emeritus General Authority. He spoke with power. I could feel that he was an appostle of the Lord. He said that in the morning we can ask one of two questions: "What am I doing today" or "How am I ever going to get it all done today." He said that these two questions will tell whether or not we are serving the Lord or just serving time. The second one is how we can determine if we are serving the Lord. Then he talked about prayer and personal revelation. He said that God reveals himself to those that are ready.  He said, " Heavenly Father never uses a flood light when a flashlight is acceptable" and that is the way it is with personal revelation. He gently prompts us and if we are not ready for it he waits for us to come seeking it. He said that "Revelation comes to the heart and mind. It comes as thoughts and feelings. If you have both you know that it is personal revelation." I never thought about personal revelation in that way, an dso I found that very interesting.  At the end of his talk he blessed all of us missionaries. I could feel the power of that blessing. He blessed us to have the spririt, help us master the languages we are learning, and to have a fond remembrand of the truth. I have already seen the power of that blessing in my life. Well, it has been great here! The MTC is a wonderful place. I have learned so much already. My companion and I had a couple of wonderful lessons this week. Just yesterday we didn't teach our investigators any of the messages we had prepared for them, but because of the Lord we were able to answer their needs and teach them accordingly. I know I could not have done it without him because, I am weak in the language, but as I put my trust more and more in the Lord and seek to learn the language as best as I can, I know he blesses me. He wants his children to feel his love and I am just the mouth piece. There are times of discouragement and doubt, and I know that I might feel overwhelmed when I get there, but I am looking forward to it and relying on the Lord. Thank you  all for your support and love!

Binasbasan po ang ebanhelyo ng mga pamilya! The Gospel blesses families!

Mahal Kita!

Sister Jensen (Jasmine)

Feeling like a flight attendant in TALL.

Temple Stroll and More

Provo, Utah Temple

The Elders of District 16E

Laundry Day!

Kamusta po Kayo? (MTC week 3)

Dear Family and Friends,

This week was an exciting week as a missionary. My favorite day was the fourth of July of course! We got to watch 17 Miracles! It was the best... Even if they did cut off the Sarah and George story at the end haha. I was so happy to get to watch it, it is such a great movie about the pioneers. My companion and I tried to count all the miracles in it. Afterwards they let us go outside, gave us icecream treats, and we watched the fireworks! It was great! I loved it! They were the stadium of fire fireworks and were probably the best fireworks I have seen. We were all so excited. It was great! Our bedtime got extened, but unfortunately our wake up time did not haha, but it was a lot of fun! Before we started our movie a Brother Laney talked about his son bringing back a fallen airforceman to Mtn. Home.. Idaho! It was touching to hear about because it was so close to home. The airforceman was unable to eject from his aircraft. He left behind a wife and children. He was a man who previously gathered all the airforce children for a fathers day and now his children wouldn't have a father. The escort was given a wedding ring and was told to decide what to do with it because they weren't sure if it was the fallen airforceman's or not. The escort prayed to know what to do. When he came to deliver the body to his neighbor's wife she asked to talk to him. He felt impressed to give her the ring. She was touched. She had been praying that that would be the one thing that was returned to her, and it was. Then Brother Laney went on to talk about how our message, the message of the restored gospel, is a message of freedom. I agree with him, it truly is. It can free us from doubt, worry, sorrow, and pain. All things can be made right through Christ. For this weeks devotional we had Mathe O Richardon talk to us about his mission and doubts as a missionary. He talked about David O'McKay and a stone he saw in a building with the words above some pictures that said "What e're thou art, act well thy part". The symbols in the square are actually math symbols and no matter what way you add up the numers in a line (diagonal, rows, etc) they add up to 18. The point is that even though all the numbers are different, they are all doing their part so that the sum is 18. No matter what we may be in our lives, whether is is a 5 or a 10, a father or mother, a sister or brother, or whatever we are we all have our part and purpose in this life. I realized I may not be the best missionary, or the best Tagalog speaker, but I am a missionary and that is was God has called me to do and so that is what I will be.  My Kasama and I had a hard time with a lesson this week... It was disastrous! But! I did learn from it and I am determined to work harder and to get the language down better. They encourage you to try and speak your language here and it if very hard because it is frustrated to find the words. There is actually a sign that I saw that had a cartoon. It said, "I'm concerned about your companion. He hasn't talked for three days now."  the other one said," He's trying to SYL (Speak your Language)." It went something like that. It was hilarious! Because sometimes I do that.... And somethimes.. WELL, way more than I should I use English. hahaha. Thank you all so much for your replies and your letters and your love. It has been great to hear from you, I don't have too much time on the computer, but I am thankful for you all! Whatever you are, act well your part!

Love,
Sister Jensen

Fourth of July Festivities:

Aren't all the Sisters so beautiful from the inside out?!