Bipolar days in Massena-and Easter

So much has happened this past week, but first..
Good News! IT'S WARMING UP!! we are so excited! We don't have to wear coats or hats or Thermals! But now there is mud.... EVERYWHERE. Some days it will be really warm, then freezing and raining just like that. Ugh just like the people the weather is so Bipolar! haha We have been riding bikes everywhere and we get mud ALL over.. haha It's hard to maintain a clean cut appearance when you have mud all over the back of your head...but I digress.

Elder Neus and I had the Opportunity to go down to Potsdam with the Huffs, Our awesome senior couple up here, to eat at one of our Investigators restaurants he works at in S.U.N.Y Potsdam (state university of New York). While we were there I got to tour their Archaeology Dept. and it was super SUPER cool! haha it got me pretty pumped for college!

After that, the Huffs asked if we had ever been to Canada and we said... "Nooo..." so they took us! haha There is an Island on the Reservation that is technically Canada. So we went to CANADA! Elder Neus and I were super excited. I don't know why but we were... AND we saw a Drug Boss's house up there! and I'm pretty sure a drug deal too... so that was crazy!

And if you were wondering what ever happened to that lady we helped with cleaning her house... Yeah nothing too amazing. I asked her when we could come and tell her about that pamphlet we left her, and she said, "Oh my week is pretty crazy" so the i asked her, well is there anything we can do for ya? Lo and Behold she said "oh i have a closet that could really use some cleaning out..." I was just about to back hand that lady when Elder Neus said SURE we would love to! So hesitantly, we cleaned that dang Closet. LET ME TELL YOU right now. NEVER! clean out another persons closet. But, if you really want to know somebodies secrets.. by all means. YUCK! haha But.. we did get an appointment from it so it did pay off... haha.

The last couple days have been somewhat of a struggle for us up here though... Now that the weather is warming up all the Jerks are coming out and making our lives up here... frustrating haha. People Looove to honk and swear at us as we walk by. It kind of took a toll on us for a little bit there. But we read a scripture Sunday morning in D&C 24:15 that seemed to boost our confidence. It reads:

" And in whatsoever place ye shall ^aenter, and they receive you not in my name, ye shall leave a cursing instead of a blessing, by casting off the ^bdust of your feet against them as a testimony, and cleansing your feet by the 

wayside." Kind of harsh, I know, but its the truth. haha

As representatives of Jesus Christ, we are here to share his gospel and do what he would do. HE knows all of us and Loves all of us. "As I have loved you, love one another". It may be hard to "love everyone" but if we strive to do so, the Lord will continue to bless you. This Sunday gives us an overall reminder of the importance of the Savior. And his role in everything we do. Just as it says in everyones "favorite scripture" John 3;16,17
 16 ¶For ^aGod so ^bloved the ^cworld, that he ^dgave his ^eonly begotten ^fSon, that whosoever ^gbelieveth in him should not perish, but have ^heverlasting ⁱlife.
 17 For God ^asent not his Son into the world to ^bcondemn the world; but that the world through him might be ^csaved.
Christ is central in Gods plan. Through him everything is possible, I know that.

I pray you all have an amazing Easter Sunday and remember the True meaning of Easter!

And Be happy!:)

-Elder Jepsen

p.s. The first picture is of a 39 Ford that is this SUPER SICK! the guy who owns it is a WW2 bomber. and the funniest old guy I've ever met.

 39 Ford that is this SUPER SICK!

The second picture is of Elder Neus and I with a member named Brother Stevens in our District haha he's so weird haha

Massena, the Backwoods of New York

Well, The first "official week" in Messena went great! kind of slow but great!

Elder Mecham and I have been trying really hard to catch up with the Less actives in the North country. We do really well with hunting them down and talking to them! the new trick is finding ways to re-teach them the Discussions ha. 

Through this week i have slowly but surely gotten used to the COLD!!! ...granted it warmed up to 50 and melted the snow but im getting there!
Lately the downtown Messena Elders and elder mecham and I have been doing all we can to reach out to the people of Messena, by helping all the churches in the area with service projects and meals as well as helping out with the Boys and Girls club! We were also invited to come sing in the Northern New york Methodist Choir. Elder Tollefson (the oldest missionary) thought it would be a great way to meet more people, so he and I made our way to the giant church they have in Downtown Messena. It was Very interesting! But Naturally they loved our "great Mormon Boy Voices"...(more like amazing Mormon Men Voices) they want us to sing to the Nursing homes with them, and later to their congregation... ha so we'll see how that goes...
We have also had the pleasure of putting on Church socials, to start bringing back Less active Members. We are starting to see great success, so we are super excited. The best of which was last night, we had a get together Before the Christmas devotional (which was amazing by the way, Go watch it!) we made cookies and cider for many people. And what better way to end the night, then By a Christmas devotional given by the church! I also had the pleasure of giving a talk in church this last sunday, It was great, there isn't too many people in the branch, so it wasn't as nerve racking as giving a talk in front of 200 people back at home! haha but it went well i talked about missionary work. As well as member missionary work. I told the the story of how i was bit by a black widow... then somehow tied it into missionary work. I don't know how, but all i know is i made people cry/feel the spirit so that's all that matters!
So as i've been up here in the North Country I've come to a realization that people are very interesting up here... They are very stubborn and they cling to the old ways. There are a lot of ... interesting.. *cough cough crazy* people up this way. (it must be all the snow) We met with a man name John Sterling, He is a peculiar man. We tried to teach him a discussion but he never let us get a word in. He LOVES to talk, especially how he claims he see's Jesus and Satan fighting and going at it in the woods behind his house. And thats how the lightning is created haha He's a character.
I also came to learn that there are alot of dear here, But they are much smaller than our Utah dear. and much more dumb... They always run into the road. So the natives here make a sport out of it and try to kill them with theyre cars. That way they can pick them up and have Venison for dinner. GREAT FUN...? witnessed that the other night.. haha
I love the people up here! they are so grumpy, stubborn, dirty and smelly, It's amazing how funny they are! I love it!
But other than that everything is going very well! just remember to Pray for missionaries, cause they definitely need it. And also, pray for the Messena Branch. We need to become a ward already!!!
I hope everyone is doing great and everything back home is great!
Love you all
Elder Jepsen

" And The view from our front door. over that road is the St. Lawrence River, The Canada."