Les Hommes en Noir
Fraaaaaaance
Plant trying to eat a building? Not sure exactly
Funny ad :)
Monday, April 24, 2017
Monday, April 17, 2017
The Master's Son
Bonjour à tous!
Man, this has been a crazy past week. First, you should know that in the past week, I've had Domino's pizza three times, kebabs twice, Chinese buffet once, and KFC once. Bleh. I want a fresh salad with some olive oil and raspberry vinaigrette.
So yeah, I have a fresh, shiny, new comp straight outta Utah! Sort of, he's actually from Southern California ☀️ His name is Elder Masterson (hence the title of this email, hehehe) and he's a great guy. One of the first things I noticed about him was his slim suit and European-style shoes, both of which he got in the US of A. A lot of missionaries leave the mission looking like that, but not many come in that way! Hashtag swaggiest blue in the mission 🕶
After meeting Elder Masterson on Wednesday afternoon, we all went to the Parc de la Tête d'Or to go contacting! It was interesting, our last contact was these two girls from Paris who had heard about a temple being built in Versailles and were actually interested! They didn't want to give us a phone number, but hopefully they'll get in contact with the missionaries là-bas.
Thursday morning we went porting :) we went to Dardilly, this super nice neighborhood in Ecully sector, and had a blast. Elder Masterson never studied French before the mission, but he did great and continues to do so! They grow up so fast.
We got back to Grenoble around 20h00 Thursday night, so we didn't have time to do anything but dinner. Friday, we went over to a member's place for lunch and watched a conference talk with him, so that was fun. Then we saw a 78-year-old recent convert whom we see practically every week. It's hard for her to come to church because of health problems, but she's really funny and individual (best word I can find to describe her). Elder Masterson didn't understand a word she said, bless his heart. However, it's not entirely his fault, I blame it at least partially on her severe lack of teeth.
Seeing Elder Masterson go through so many "firsts" reminds me of me being a blue. His first Sunday was kinda rough, just like mine. Feeling lost, still jet lagged, trying to understand but failing and getting tireder because of that, etc. Things get better!
Also relating to the title of the email, here's a little thought for you: often the word Master in the scriptures refers to Christ, but I'd like to use it this once to refer to Heavenly Father, unequivocal Master of the Universe and all things past, present, and future. In that case, the Master's Son refers to Jesus Christ, who was sent by His Father to Earth to redeem us all. Christ was born like all of us are and was pretty normal at first. However, as He grew He learned who He really was and eventually realized what His duty was. Instead of backing down, He "drank the bitter cup" and suffered beyond anything we can imagine. To top it all off, He was crucified. His apostles were ready to let it go at that, accept that Christ had suffered all things for all people, be grateful for it, and then "go a fishing." God had other plans. The message we hold and the reason that we don't display the symbol of the cross is this: Christ was resurrected! He conquered death! No one had ever done that before! It was impossible, which is why the apostles didn't understand when Christ told them that He would be crucified and then rise on the third day. Rise he did, and because He lives we too will live again. Resurrection is a free gift given to everyone, no restrictions. Without that, we wouldn't be able to inherit "all that the Father hath." Without the gift of His own life, we would have zero hope at ever achieving any degree of joy after this life. Everything was weighing on Christ, and He won. Happy Easter :)
Tonight, make sure you say a little prayer of gratitude for Him :) then do it again the next night. And the next. And so on and so forth. Gratitude and Humility are godly virtues, you know!
I love you all! Christ loves you more!
Elder Jensen
江长老
Man, this has been a crazy past week. First, you should know that in the past week, I've had Domino's pizza three times, kebabs twice, Chinese buffet once, and KFC once. Bleh. I want a fresh salad with some olive oil and raspberry vinaigrette.
So yeah, I have a fresh, shiny, new comp straight outta Utah! Sort of, he's actually from Southern California ☀️ His name is Elder Masterson (hence the title of this email, hehehe) and he's a great guy. One of the first things I noticed about him was his slim suit and European-style shoes, both of which he got in the US of A. A lot of missionaries leave the mission looking like that, but not many come in that way! Hashtag swaggiest blue in the mission 🕶
After meeting Elder Masterson on Wednesday afternoon, we all went to the Parc de la Tête d'Or to go contacting! It was interesting, our last contact was these two girls from Paris who had heard about a temple being built in Versailles and were actually interested! They didn't want to give us a phone number, but hopefully they'll get in contact with the missionaries là-bas.
Thursday morning we went porting :) we went to Dardilly, this super nice neighborhood in Ecully sector, and had a blast. Elder Masterson never studied French before the mission, but he did great and continues to do so! They grow up so fast.
We got back to Grenoble around 20h00 Thursday night, so we didn't have time to do anything but dinner. Friday, we went over to a member's place for lunch and watched a conference talk with him, so that was fun. Then we saw a 78-year-old recent convert whom we see practically every week. It's hard for her to come to church because of health problems, but she's really funny and individual (best word I can find to describe her). Elder Masterson didn't understand a word she said, bless his heart. However, it's not entirely his fault, I blame it at least partially on her severe lack of teeth.
Seeing Elder Masterson go through so many "firsts" reminds me of me being a blue. His first Sunday was kinda rough, just like mine. Feeling lost, still jet lagged, trying to understand but failing and getting tireder because of that, etc. Things get better!
Also relating to the title of the email, here's a little thought for you: often the word Master in the scriptures refers to Christ, but I'd like to use it this once to refer to Heavenly Father, unequivocal Master of the Universe and all things past, present, and future. In that case, the Master's Son refers to Jesus Christ, who was sent by His Father to Earth to redeem us all. Christ was born like all of us are and was pretty normal at first. However, as He grew He learned who He really was and eventually realized what His duty was. Instead of backing down, He "drank the bitter cup" and suffered beyond anything we can imagine. To top it all off, He was crucified. His apostles were ready to let it go at that, accept that Christ had suffered all things for all people, be grateful for it, and then "go a fishing." God had other plans. The message we hold and the reason that we don't display the symbol of the cross is this: Christ was resurrected! He conquered death! No one had ever done that before! It was impossible, which is why the apostles didn't understand when Christ told them that He would be crucified and then rise on the third day. Rise he did, and because He lives we too will live again. Resurrection is a free gift given to everyone, no restrictions. Without that, we wouldn't be able to inherit "all that the Father hath." Without the gift of His own life, we would have zero hope at ever achieving any degree of joy after this life. Everything was weighing on Christ, and He won. Happy Easter :)
Tonight, make sure you say a little prayer of gratitude for Him :) then do it again the next night. And the next. And so on and so forth. Gratitude and Humility are godly virtues, you know!
I love you all! Christ loves you more!
Elder Jensen
江长老
Monday, April 10, 2017
Mr. Grenoble
To one and all,
When I first started the mission, I was told that it's normal to stay two or three transfers in a ville. Staying four gives you bragging rights, but staying five or more gives you the coveted title of "Mr. (name of the ville)."
So voilà :) I'm staying a fifth transfer in Grenoble! At the end of this transfer it'll be about 7 months total that I've been here. 鏖长老 has departed into a faraway land of wonder known to all the world as Marseille, one of the most dangerous cities in Europe. Needless to say, it was his dream ville. Hashtag no fear.
So what about my new comp? Truth is, I don't know who it is yet. I'm training again! I'm sitting in the Lyon young adult center right now, after sitting at the gare all day and helping put heavy suitcases on trains, take them off trains, and eating at Burger King ;) There aren't a lot of blues coming in, just five Elders and one Sœur. Nice cozy little group.
Saying goodbye to Elder Alvarenga was weird, we've spent the last five and a half months together. It was time to change though, we both knew it. This past week was cool, the Grenoble sœurs had a baptism! It's a woman who's been taking the lessons for about six months and is the friend of a member family. Member work works! :) it was a really good baptism, some other amis came to see how it worked and they interacted well with members and Elder Abney sang as always. He, by the way, left to St. Raphaël today. I was in Grenoble before he arrived and I'm staying when he leaves. Weird.
When I first started the mission, I was told that it's normal to stay two or three transfers in a ville. Staying four gives you bragging rights, but staying five or more gives you the coveted title of "Mr. (name of the ville)."
So voilà :) I'm staying a fifth transfer in Grenoble! At the end of this transfer it'll be about 7 months total that I've been here. 鏖长老 has departed into a faraway land of wonder known to all the world as Marseille, one of the most dangerous cities in Europe. Needless to say, it was his dream ville. Hashtag no fear.
So what about my new comp? Truth is, I don't know who it is yet. I'm training again! I'm sitting in the Lyon young adult center right now, after sitting at the gare all day and helping put heavy suitcases on trains, take them off trains, and eating at Burger King ;) There aren't a lot of blues coming in, just five Elders and one Sœur. Nice cozy little group.
Saying goodbye to Elder Alvarenga was weird, we've spent the last five and a half months together. It was time to change though, we both knew it. This past week was cool, the Grenoble sœurs had a baptism! It's a woman who's been taking the lessons for about six months and is the friend of a member family. Member work works! :) it was a really good baptism, some other amis came to see how it worked and they interacted well with members and Elder Abney sang as always. He, by the way, left to St. Raphaël today. I was in Grenoble before he arrived and I'm staying when he leaves. Weird.
Something I've learned a lot out here (that I'm always trying to apply to myself) is the important of constant effort. Yeah sometimes a lot of force is useful, but most often I think slight pressure over a longer period of time brings the change you want! I'll give you some examples: teaching Chinese amis! You can't just force someone to believe in God. It comes little by little, over a period of months or years, as you point out times that God manifests himself in our lives. Through simple, sincere prayer and regular scripture study, subtle feelings or just snippets of thoughts (which come from the Holy Spirit) eventually all snowball into a solid testimony.
Example number two: we have a recently reactivated member in Grenoble who has been in a rough situation for a really long time. We've been working with them for a little while, and sometimes this member is really happy about coming back and is full of hope! Other times they'll shy away and express negative feelings that don't come from God. Still, we've never given up and we've prayed a lot that God will help this member solve their problems. Today I found out this person's life just went through a major development that will allow their spiritual progress to skyrocket! We didn't do a single big, important, grandiose thing, but through just little things God worked a miracle :) Never give up! Even if you think nothing is changing, keep it up and you'll see the light :)
江长老
Our reaction to transfer calls
We walked a recent convert's dog
This adorable French-Mexican baby was eating Elder Graff's plaque :)
Homemade poutine!
Poisson cru! With Heiva from Bora Bora
Example number two: we have a recently reactivated member in Grenoble who has been in a rough situation for a really long time. We've been working with them for a little while, and sometimes this member is really happy about coming back and is full of hope! Other times they'll shy away and express negative feelings that don't come from God. Still, we've never given up and we've prayed a lot that God will help this member solve their problems. Today I found out this person's life just went through a major development that will allow their spiritual progress to skyrocket! We didn't do a single big, important, grandiose thing, but through just little things God worked a miracle :) Never give up! Even if you think nothing is changing, keep it up and you'll see the light :)
江长老
Our reaction to transfer calls
We walked a recent convert's dog
This adorable French-Mexican baby was eating Elder Graff's plaque :)
Homemade poutine!
Poisson cru! With Heiva from Bora Bora
Monday, April 3, 2017
Pics
The crew
Gregory lives in that (it's basically an apartment building)
A sign on the way up the Bastille warning me to watch my heart rate and take deep breaths
Horchata in a bag
Things is heating up...
...in a number of ways. First of all, the weather itself is a lot warmer! I've gone without a sweater a few days lately, spring really has sprung here in Grenoble! I was looking at some pictures from when we first got here and I'd forgotten that the trees were all still green and leafy back then, but winter came fairly quick after that. Almost 5 1/2 months later and the trees are nice and green again :)
Secondly, the Paris temple! The stake youth are all going to Lyon to practice for the cultural assembly, as are youth in other stakes from all over the country. We've been trying to prepare people to go to the temple since before I got in the mission and the time is nearly here! Aaaahhhh
Thirdly, transfers! Calls are coming this Friday, and given that Elder Alvarenga and I have been together for 4 transfers we're expecting a change. What that change will be I just don't know, but it'll be interesting for sure!
Last week we hiked up to the Bastille, the fort overlooking the city of Grenoble. We hiked it once in the morning 3 transfers ago along a trail and last transfer we took the bubbles (cable cars) up, but this time we took the stairs. Be ye warned, it's not for the faint of heart, faint of lung, or faint of quadriceps. About halfway up I was dying, due to the severe lack of cardio from which I've been suffering for a long time. Exercising at 6h30 in the morning is hard. I stopped to rest for a few minutes and took it easier on the way up and ended up being fine, but all 6 of us were mighty sore the next day!
This past week we went to drop a letter at our recent convert's house in the hills down south of Grenoble. We hadn't been able to find it last time, but we did this time! It would've been a lot easier if he'd told us he lived in a massive château. I couldn't get a real decent picture of it, but I'll send you what I have.
Thursday was district meeting! We had a suivi on Zone Conference and Hope and how we're going to help our amis have this hope for the future. Something that I really liked from the meeting (I don't remember who brought this up) was that we don't just wear a plastic nametag with Christ's name on it. We have been called by God himself and set apart by the power of His priesthood to represent His Son Jesus Christ! It follows that we should have the ability to promise blessings to people with the assurance that they will come true. For example, "If you pray sincerely to know if the Book of Mormon is true and promise God that once you receive that answer you'll do your best to follow His will, I promise that you'll receive and recognize an answer." Or another example: "I promise that after your baptism, as you keep reading the Book of Mormon, praying daily, and attending church regularly, your marriage will become more stable than it's ever been." These are big, important promises! However, God wants to bless His children with the truth and He has called us to help bring it to them.
This brings me to a scripture I really like:
"Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not." (D&C 6:36)
It was quoted in General Conference too :) I should have more to say about General Conference later, but the initial thought is this: it was really good! I watched most of the Conference in French with Elder Graff, it was good motivation to keep me alert since if I even start to zone out I immediately don't understand. Funny how foreign languages work sometimes. There were a lot of good talks, I don't think I could choose a favorite right now. I'll be watching the Sunday Afternoon Session this week sometime, it's the only one we haven't seen yet.
I hope that spiritual thought is enough for y'all today! Love you lots! If you have questions feel free to email me!
Elder Jensen out
江长老
Secondly, the Paris temple! The stake youth are all going to Lyon to practice for the cultural assembly, as are youth in other stakes from all over the country. We've been trying to prepare people to go to the temple since before I got in the mission and the time is nearly here! Aaaahhhh
Thirdly, transfers! Calls are coming this Friday, and given that Elder Alvarenga and I have been together for 4 transfers we're expecting a change. What that change will be I just don't know, but it'll be interesting for sure!
Last week we hiked up to the Bastille, the fort overlooking the city of Grenoble. We hiked it once in the morning 3 transfers ago along a trail and last transfer we took the bubbles (cable cars) up, but this time we took the stairs. Be ye warned, it's not for the faint of heart, faint of lung, or faint of quadriceps. About halfway up I was dying, due to the severe lack of cardio from which I've been suffering for a long time. Exercising at 6h30 in the morning is hard. I stopped to rest for a few minutes and took it easier on the way up and ended up being fine, but all 6 of us were mighty sore the next day!
This past week we went to drop a letter at our recent convert's house in the hills down south of Grenoble. We hadn't been able to find it last time, but we did this time! It would've been a lot easier if he'd told us he lived in a massive château. I couldn't get a real decent picture of it, but I'll send you what I have.
Thursday was district meeting! We had a suivi on Zone Conference and Hope and how we're going to help our amis have this hope for the future. Something that I really liked from the meeting (I don't remember who brought this up) was that we don't just wear a plastic nametag with Christ's name on it. We have been called by God himself and set apart by the power of His priesthood to represent His Son Jesus Christ! It follows that we should have the ability to promise blessings to people with the assurance that they will come true. For example, "If you pray sincerely to know if the Book of Mormon is true and promise God that once you receive that answer you'll do your best to follow His will, I promise that you'll receive and recognize an answer." Or another example: "I promise that after your baptism, as you keep reading the Book of Mormon, praying daily, and attending church regularly, your marriage will become more stable than it's ever been." These are big, important promises! However, God wants to bless His children with the truth and He has called us to help bring it to them.
This brings me to a scripture I really like:
"Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not." (D&C 6:36)
It was quoted in General Conference too :) I should have more to say about General Conference later, but the initial thought is this: it was really good! I watched most of the Conference in French with Elder Graff, it was good motivation to keep me alert since if I even start to zone out I immediately don't understand. Funny how foreign languages work sometimes. There were a lot of good talks, I don't think I could choose a favorite right now. I'll be watching the Sunday Afternoon Session this week sometime, it's the only one we haven't seen yet.
I hope that spiritual thought is enough for y'all today! Love you lots! If you have questions feel free to email me!
Elder Jensen out
江长老
Monday, March 27, 2017
"You can't eat rice for 3 meals a day." -Elder Abney
Howdy everybody! I hope you're doing well. If you're not doing well...
1) Take a deep breath.
2) Smile slightly.
3) Get out a piece of paper and write down all the things you have to do in order to feel better, whether it be physical, emotional, spiritual, etc.
4) Rank them in order of importance.
5) Do the most important one first.
6) Once it's done, reward yourself with something delicious, like tiramisu.
7) Continue down the list in like manner until your life is figured out.
8) Thank me later ;)
We had a good week! It really flew by just like the week before, and the week before that, and the week before that, and so on and so forth. Mission life is crazy. Did you know that?
There's something I forgot to mention that happened to us last week or the week before: we were to our way to the museum in centre ville and Elder Abney and I, like the obnoxious Americans we are, were speaking to each other in English. A woman standing a couple feet away leans over and says with a sly smile, "Vous êtes en France, parlez français." ("You're in France, speak French.") Before either of us could get a word out, Elder Alvarenga stepped directly between us and the woman and proved to her (very politely) that he was a native French speaker. He finds lots of opportunities to do that! Turns out she had been visited for a while by sister missionaries a long time ago, and she was fairly nice.
This week was Zone Conference! Lyon and Ecully Zones got together, it was really fun :) We had a great conference about hope. President asked for a show of hands on how many équipes were teaching amis who are ready for baptism, but don't want to get baptized. Too many hands went up, as they've been doing in other zone conferences. We discussed how we can help our amis see that the commandments and commitment to Christ and new responsibilities are nothing compared to the joy that is set before them. The restored Gospel of Jesus Christ brings sooooo many blessings, and too many of our amis haven't internalized that. This foundation of faith and hope starts with our example as missionaries (read: guides), so we discussed what a hopeful, repentant missionary looks like. Now we just have to go out and be that missionary :)
Other things we did this week: Pass out flyers and set up/take down for a blood drive they held here at the chapel. It was kinda fun and we got free food :)
We went to a single sœur's house and got sooooo full on couscous. I thought Elder Alvarenga might throw up, but he's a tough cookie.
On Saurday I had an exchange with Elder Graff whom I met at Camp Helaman back in 2014! Small world :) We did some passes up in the hills of Northeastern Grenoble and it rained all day and we walked up a huge hill and got soaked and then a very kind Muslim/Jewish/Christian man offered us a ride down. More blessings for him :)
Something else from Zone Conference that I loved was a quote from Elder Battezzato, currently Lyon zone leader: "There is no way that a loving Dad sent us far away from home without a way to come back." It's so true! I love the simplicity of the Gospel. Either Christ lived or He didn't. He did! Either He was the Son of God, or He wasn't. He was! Either He atoned for our sins, or He didn't. He did! God loves you. He always has and always will. He answers prayers, even when we think He doesn't. I've had times in my life when I was discouraged and had doubts, but I've already had too much evidence of the truthfulness of the Gospel to deny it. Count your blessings :)
Love you mucho!
Ciiaaaoooo
江长老
1) Take a deep breath.
2) Smile slightly.
3) Get out a piece of paper and write down all the things you have to do in order to feel better, whether it be physical, emotional, spiritual, etc.
4) Rank them in order of importance.
5) Do the most important one first.
6) Once it's done, reward yourself with something delicious, like tiramisu.
7) Continue down the list in like manner until your life is figured out.
8) Thank me later ;)
We had a good week! It really flew by just like the week before, and the week before that, and the week before that, and so on and so forth. Mission life is crazy. Did you know that?
There's something I forgot to mention that happened to us last week or the week before: we were to our way to the museum in centre ville and Elder Abney and I, like the obnoxious Americans we are, were speaking to each other in English. A woman standing a couple feet away leans over and says with a sly smile, "Vous êtes en France, parlez français." ("You're in France, speak French.") Before either of us could get a word out, Elder Alvarenga stepped directly between us and the woman and proved to her (very politely) that he was a native French speaker. He finds lots of opportunities to do that! Turns out she had been visited for a while by sister missionaries a long time ago, and she was fairly nice.
This week was Zone Conference! Lyon and Ecully Zones got together, it was really fun :) We had a great conference about hope. President asked for a show of hands on how many équipes were teaching amis who are ready for baptism, but don't want to get baptized. Too many hands went up, as they've been doing in other zone conferences. We discussed how we can help our amis see that the commandments and commitment to Christ and new responsibilities are nothing compared to the joy that is set before them. The restored Gospel of Jesus Christ brings sooooo many blessings, and too many of our amis haven't internalized that. This foundation of faith and hope starts with our example as missionaries (read: guides), so we discussed what a hopeful, repentant missionary looks like. Now we just have to go out and be that missionary :)
Other things we did this week: Pass out flyers and set up/take down for a blood drive they held here at the chapel. It was kinda fun and we got free food :)
We went to a single sœur's house and got sooooo full on couscous. I thought Elder Alvarenga might throw up, but he's a tough cookie.
On Saurday I had an exchange with Elder Graff whom I met at Camp Helaman back in 2014! Small world :) We did some passes up in the hills of Northeastern Grenoble and it rained all day and we walked up a huge hill and got soaked and then a very kind Muslim/Jewish/Christian man offered us a ride down. More blessings for him :)
Something else from Zone Conference that I loved was a quote from Elder Battezzato, currently Lyon zone leader: "There is no way that a loving Dad sent us far away from home without a way to come back." It's so true! I love the simplicity of the Gospel. Either Christ lived or He didn't. He did! Either He was the Son of God, or He wasn't. He was! Either He atoned for our sins, or He didn't. He did! God loves you. He always has and always will. He answers prayers, even when we think He doesn't. I've had times in my life when I was discouraged and had doubts, but I've already had too much evidence of the truthfulness of the Gospel to deny it. Count your blessings :)
Love you mucho!
Ciiaaaoooo
江长老
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