Jensen, Emma

Aloha! Writing emails every week is so hard haha. It's like the biggest workout for my brain trying to figure out what to write about. On Saturday me and all the new missionaries got to walk through the islands at the Polynesian Culture Center. My favorite island was Aotearoa, or it's modern name is New Zealand. They did the Haka for us and it was really cool to watch, and I loved listening to all there accents haha. I went to angels with some of my cousins that live Kahuku and then also some cousins from the mainland. Its always fun to see family and to catch up:) I did exchanges with my STL Sister Roden. It was really nice to get to know her better and to ask her questions about the mission. We went to dinner after and got Tacos at North Shore Tacos and they were sooo FIRE!!! In Zone Conference this week my favorite thing that was said was "It's not about the words that are said in the Book of Mormon, it's about the spirit you feel while reading it." I have ...

Aloha family! This has felt like a very long week haha. It started out with me being asked to speak in church 10 minutes before sacrament meeting started, if you know me you know that I HATE speaking and have terrible stage fright! It goes without saying that that experience got me WAY out of my comfort zone and was a good experience for me even if I did have a small panic attack right before. I have talked about it alot in my emails but I have been feeling very homesick and felt very alone, last Sunday especially. I have been praying asking God for something that would bring me some comfort but felt like my prayers weren't being answered. While I was sitting in sacrament waiting to speak I felt very stressed and very inadequate. Right before I was supposed to go up and speak I saw my cousin who lives here in Hawaii walk by the chapel doors. I hadn't seen her yet since I got to Hawaii and have been wanting to run into her. It turns out her ward is right before my ward. I was ab...

Aloha Everyone! I would love to say I have new things to talk to you about but my week has basically been the same as it was last week. I've been working shifts at the Visitors Center and the Teaching Center everyday. To be honest I have been super homesick and feel like I don't belong here but I've heard the first few transfers are the worst and that it will get better so I am just pushing through. I gave a virtual tour to a non member earlier this week. She was a referral from some elders in Maine that we had talk to previously. At the beginning of the tour she was really quiet and wasn't saying much but when we showed her the Celestial room in our temple model her face lit up! She got so excited and started telling us that she had seen this room in a dream and God was there and he was telling her its time to come home. She was so excited and was asking us how she could be able to go in the temple. She basically put herself on date because when we told her that she ne...

Aloha Everyone! I am finally in HAWAII and let me just say it is BEAUTIFUL here! The view is crazy and I feel so lucky that I get to live here in Laie for the next 18 months:))  I left the MTC Monday morning to fly out to Hawaii. I had to say goodbye to the best roomies EVER!! Bawled my eyes out when I left but I know that Sister Sorenson and sister Montague are going to do absolutely AMAZING things at the Mormon Battalion. To be honest I can't remember much of what I have done this week. Its all kinda a blur haha. I started shifts at the temple visitors center, the teaching center, and yesterday we did our first tram tour at the Polynesian Culture Center. Still trying to get the hang of it but my trainer, Sister Mickelsen is amazing and has taught me so much already. I'm serving in a YSA ward so I am not being fed every night by the members, which is probably a good thing, but there has still been lots of nice people buying us our food or having us join there family dinners wh...