Here it is- my penultimate weekly email. I'm glad that my second-to-last email is VERY different from my second email out in the field- it didn't send! I felt so bad that none of my emails sent that week. I wonder what my past self would think if I were to go back to him now and tell him that that would be the least of his heartbreaks he would endure on the mission. He would probably say something like this: "Holy cow! Time travel is real?!!" After that though, I'm not sure that he would have believed me. I felt so prepared coming out into the mission field- I had the lessons memorized forwards and backward, I could find any scripture in less than twenty seconds (as well as recite many useful ones), I felt relatively comfortable talking to people, and I wasn't afraid of anything (except for the harsh Texas sunlight on my extremely white skin). However, I could never have prepared for all the things that have happened to me on my mission. In a way, I'm glad that I wasn't prepared for many of those experiences- if I was, they wouldn't be as shocking or life-changing as they were! My mission has definitely been the best two years of my life, and I don't think anything will happen in the next week to change that.
One of the highlights of this week was definitely all of the interviews that we had. Normally, most people wouldn't think of interviews as something particularly engrossing, but for us it definitely was. As a District Leader in the mission field, it was my privilege to interview several people missionaries had taught so that they could be baptized. The baptismal interview isn't a test of knowledge so that only those who know everything about the Gospel can be baptized; rather, it's an opportunity to gauge somebody's worthiness, willingness, and testimony. They really are special events, because you're able to see the end result of what we do as missionaries. People begin talking to us, and as time goes on they change from the worldly person they were to the godly person that they have the potential to be. Another interview this week that happened that I was initially less than thrilled about was my exit interview with my mission president. I was pleasantly surprised when it wasn't that bad. In fact, it wasn't bad at all! My mission president didn't really grill me on what I was going to do when I was at home because that would have taken my mind too much off of being a missionary. Instead, he and I spoke about how prepared I was to go home and the various things that I've seen and done over the course of my mission. Overall, it was a good week with WAY too many reminders about going home- but, then again, I do go home in ten days. :)
Hope y'all have a great week!
Elder Jensen.
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