Crazy times in humid NY

First off I'm sorry my Email might be a little short today. The library is SUPER busy and people are beginning to get hostile over computers so i might have to make this quick...

We had a CRAZY week here!

Elder Hutchinson got to say goodbye to as many of the people as he could before he left. He seemed a little nervous and didn't want to leave, but I know he will do so well in his new area. 

On transfers day we drove down to Gloversville NY to Exchange so Elders Hutchinson and Longwill could go to transfers. Elder Garberg and I both worked in Gloversville and LET ME TELL YOU! It was soooooooo Hot and humid! I thought i was going to Swell up like a sponge and DIE!! But then a tender Mercy occurred and we reached our apartment right before 7 inches of rain came down in 15 minutes! Granted we were wet... but not 7 inches of soaking!

It ended up raining the whole ride to Schenectady then to Albany and Cohoes.

Where i Met My new Companion Elder Davis! He is really cool. He is from California and is 22 years old and NEVER BEEN ON A DATE! still blows my mind! haha HE is a very Diligent and Obedient Missionary and our District leader so we get along well. We have been walking everywhere trying many people, Updating our records the whole 9 yards to get this area the Pick-me-up it needs! Elder Davis isn't used to all this walking so he's pretty sore. haha I'm just glad its not me anymore! We have also done A lot of service lately! we helped 2 families move in 2 days and helped with our Ward mission leaders yardwork. Our boy Reptar the Rooster Helped us out alot haha. 

This sunday we talked a lot about Geneology and why it is so important. So my Commitment for all is to get lost in the addicting fun of Genealogy and find those super sweet stories of your ancestors with funky hair! You'll Love it!!

I hope You all have a wonderful spirit filled week!

Love,

Elder Jepsen

ps. This glorious picture below is of this she-bear/Hellhound that wanted my farmers tan flesh so bad it tried to eat through the fence.

This is probably the "Koolest" graffiti ever seen in NY!!

SHOCKED!

What a Crazy week!!

We got our transfer calls on Saturday, and found out Elder Hutchinson is being transferred!!!! He is Reopening the area in Owego. I was so Surprised.. haha I was sure we were going to be together for 2 but president had other plans haha.

So an Elder Davis is coming to take his place and be the District leader here. I was so re leaved when I heard he was going to be the district leader haha everyone said it was going to be me...WHEW! safe:)

But besides the crazy news, we had a pretty good week here!

WE KILLED A MOUSE THAT HAS BEEN TERRORIZING OUR APARTMENT! haha No worries ill post pictures;)

We also had a good meeting with the Bishop to update the Ward Roster, we went through all the names and contributed our info on all the people we have contacted and who has moved and whatnot. That was really good. I had been bugging our ward clerk and the bishopric about getting together and updating this HUGE roster as of late and they finally gave in haha. YES!;)

Then on Thursday we had our Zone Meeting. Which went really well, All the districts in our zone gave training's, it went really well. We have been pounding this new teaching method into our brains every Zone meeting and We are seeing great results from it.

We had many opportunities to go on splits a couple times this week and further the work in the area! Which i was more than happy about. We tried to contact one of our investigators with a baptismal date all week, but she wouldn't answer her phone so we drove to her house to behold a disappointing sight... All her windows and doors were covered and there were no trespassing signs all over and when we knocked on the door we saw someone peek through the blinds then slowly close them again.. Our investigator finally snapped.. we knew she was borderline crazy but, she lost it. The lord works in marvelous ways and does it all for a reason. We may not see this greater purpose, but he does.

Also we have been helping at a soup kitchen lately in a Protestant church. And it has been going so well, Everyone is always asking us questions and is curious about what we do. Granted half of them are Legitly CRAZY but eh, what do ya do. But after A Man named Ted a Bible thumper and a minister and I were talking about the times and about the bible (as well as this weird guy who always ties things back to the government). And Eventually i look up around us and there were people standing all around us just listening and nodding their heads in amazement. They couldnt believe such young men could talk about God in such a Mature, Sophisticated manor with such wise old men! hahaha IT was really interesting, Because i didnt think twice about it. It's what we do. As missionaries its our Duty to invite others unto Christ and to talk of Christ. 

It got me thinking though, About 200 years ago talking about God on a intellectual level was the social norm. But overtime people have put worldly things before god. They worship False gods. Too caught up in the Philosophies of men.

So It is all of our duties, as disciples of Christ to share that knowledge we have attained through Gods Good Grace to all men. As it says in Isaiah 61:1

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hathanointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to thecaptives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound. 

I Pray that we will proclaim liberty to those who are captive, and spread the Gospel abroad!

I hope you all have an amazing week!

I love you all!

Elder Jepsen

This is the Erie canal! we snuck onto! 

And the DREADED MOUSE!... its not the ROUS but its close... (WARNING- a bit disturbing. ) 

....sorry for posting the picture. Jake would kill me if I didn't....

Rain...Rain and More Rain!

.... It's rained a lot here... Many a time have we been drenched in it's glory! haha We call it wife points. The longer we work in the rain, the hotter our wife gets! hahahahaaaa we walk everywhere... I feel 10x older than i actually am. I never thought i would ever have to complain about my Hips, knees, and ankles aching. But, its a daily occurrence haha

This past week was a good week! Just an ordinary missionary week! We worked hard taught some lessons, we have a new investigator with a baptismal date and also had to drop one of our other dates with an investigator. 

Oh Elder Hutchinsons birthday was Saturday so we got to celebrate it at a members house with Chinese food and good times! I made him cake which consisted of a Granola Bar and A Match(for a candle) It was pretty memorable! Hahaha 

After all the rain it flooded here! It was crazy! we walked by the Cohoes Falls, the second largest fall in the U.S. A (they pride themselves with that) And it was massive! I have some pictures i'll post! We also had an awesome Missionary man grillout at a members house and their random Rooster we name "Reptar" Shared some good times with us! haha Pictures to come! 

You  make the greatest memories when serving a mission and i wouldn't trade that with anything!:) My wish for all of you would be, To be full of gratitude! Never take what you have and the family and friends you have for granted! Count your blessings:) 

• Be ye thankful:Col. 3:15;
• I Hope you all have a wonderful week and Take care! HAPPY BELATED FATHERS DAYYYY!!!!! btw... LOVE YOU DAD!!!
• Love ya Byyyyyyyye now!
• Elder Jepsen

 Cohoes Falls, the second largest fall in the U.S.A

This is Reptar and his "ha right..."  face! haha 

He also puked when i fed him an angus burger... i thought it best if i didnt upload that.

The second picture is of FINN!!!! One of the many Troy chalk drawings. I just love the Message he shares. Couldn't have said it better..

Exchanges,Bullet holes,gay guys and Fun!

This week was so great!

We were so busy! We picked up 3 new investigators and our number of lessons doubled we tracked down many of our Less actives and some good times along the way in the Hot Humid climate of the Capitol land.

Earlier in the week i went on exchange with Elder Ledford in Downtown Albany. That was amazing! The architecture the sculptures the people it's crazy! I wanted to take pictures so bad but my camera died! uuughhh I was so bummed. But we had an awesome dinner with Janaro a member who cant speak English. That was hilarious. we couldn't understand each other but we had a good time! Then a giant storm hit and we had to walk from his house to the chapel about1.5 miles in the rain. I honestly couldnt tell if it was the rain or my own sweat, it's that humid...

Anyways after the exchange i was finally back with Elder Hutchinson and we taught lessons found new people and met a really cool guy named damain on the bus. He just couldnt stop praising the work we do. He talked super loud and openly just shared his secrets of why he doesnt go to church and his addiction to sex and whatnot. Then he begins to lift up his shirt and show all of his bullet holes ... he ad like 9 bullet hole sand a giant scar!!! I was like... geez man take a hint! stop breaking the law of CHASTITY! haha

Later in the week we were teaching a lesson with one of our new investigators on her porch, when her neighbor come out and and says... "oh yesssss.. The lord answered my prayersss" This guy had NOOOO problem showing off his sexuality as he passes back and forth saying "mmmmm" MMyou best get them off our porch before i do... as he smiles creepily... He said some other very inappropriate things i wont divulge. Satan works in some weird freakin ways... hahaha

So overall a good week:)

Anyways my computer is about to shut down... But i hope you all have a great week! and READ THE SCRIPTURES!

Love,

Elder Jepsen

This is actually where i email. an old church that is now a super SICK library with a Mastodon and terrible computers!

WHEW! This week flew by!

IT'S JUNE!! That's crazy! 

I hope you ALL had a great week this past week!:)

I know we did! We had a bunch of great stuff happen this last week, and let me just tell you first off the Lord DOES answer are prayers! haha Cause wow did he answer ours!

We Finally got a hold of All our investigators and scheduled appointments with all of them. We also had Some great lessons which was definitely a breath of fresh air.

One of our Investigators Ann, she is somewhat of an elderly lady. Loves it when we come over and Share the gospel with her. Besides her Vendetta with her neighbor across the street, (she thinks that her neighbor has it out for her, So she thinks because he is a judge he is power hungry)  She is pretty solid! She came to church this Sunday. and with it being fast and testimony meeting, She heard all the amazing testimonies of our members and she started to cry and cry! Then after the meeting i explained to her it was the Holy Ghost testifying to her that what she was hearing was the truth! Then she said " i absolutely love it here" She has committed to be baptized June 21st. We are so exited for her!

As the weeks go on the more and more I fall in love with the ward here! They are so good to all the missionaries here! We have 3 sets of Elders and 1 set of Sisters, And they spoil us all:)

We had an awesome meal appointment with these members the Alexanders. They have an Amazing house in the middle of the woods I was in heaven! We had so much fun. I just told them a bunch of my stupid stories which they thought were hilarious... I've been fed Mexican food after Mexican food! which i am so grateful for!! I have tried Rhubarb pie and Japanese Curry! 

AHHH it was sooo amazing! There is a reason we walk 10 miles a day now....

A little bit about my area, We live in Cohoes On historical Van Shaick Island In an old Factory. On the west side of our area we have Cohoes and to the North There is Waterford and to the East there is North troy (lansingburgh). The Burg is where we play alot of Basket ball and see alot of weird stuff... haha it's great! Annnnnd we don't go there after dark. There are shooting's and stabbing's there often. BUT we run fast so it's okay;)

There is a book i have been reading lately that i just can't put down! Its called The Highly Effective missionary by Dave c Covey.

And it has changed my idea of missionary work! IT just got me so pumped to just go out and work! It correlates  with Preach my Gospel and Helps with thinking outside the box. I love it! 

There is this ...Bold... Door approach that i want to implament soon so i will let you all know how it goes! ... haha

I hope you all have an amazing week! and Always strive to be Bold and Share your beliefs with others!:) 

Love ya all!

-Elder Jepsen

 Cohoes! a view from the Island!:)

Sweet Sweet Elder Hutchinson and I taking a selfie...

Planning...what's planning?

Happy belated Memorial day United States citizens! :)

Good news! its no longer freezing Btw!.... It's now terribly hot and Humid.. hahaha The irony..

Sorry my email is so late.. all the libraries were closed and i have been waiting for this creeper guy to stop watching "how to" videos on holes in socks...  So i can EMAIL!!! haha

Anyways... We had a crazy crazy week this past week. 

First, Everything we had planned had either fallen through or had to change due to spontaneous service opportunities. We helped a super nice lady with her yard work, Then help a couple move in, Elder Hutchenson said "wow i have never done so much service on my mission. i feel like a crippled old man" hahaha He is Hilarious! I work that guy so hard... I feel bad sometimes. But he is always willing to work its so great! The next step is just getting him to speak up more often! he is very quiet and shy, So we all try to get him out of his shell.

But whenever he goes to the "courts" in Troy he just opens up! he talks to everyone. I guess he is just a thug, who knows. Everyone who plays basketball there is Amazing! We usually play one game with them when we walk by. They call us CHURCH SHOES! haha 

We also had our service hour at the nursing home, We usually ride the bus because its too long of a walk, BUT we missed the bus due to watching a family of Asians fighting outside of a restaurant. So we walked.... and walked.... and WALKED! Then finally realized we weren't even walking in the right direction!! we walked 3 miles in the WRONG DIRECTION! haha so we had to walk another 3 miles to a bus stop to go home and it went the wrong way... hahahaha We quickly learned more about the bus system that day. 

I am slowly but surly learning more names of the AWESOME members in our ward. They are so great they feed us and tell us such great stories! haha I find the best question to ask is What is the craziest thing you ever saw on your mission? Never fails to amuse me! haha

The work here has abruptly ceased for some crazy reason! all our investigators are just no where to be found so we Tract and talk to people almost all day everyday!  But almost always after an appointment falls through. Things have been just crazy lately, One of our Zone leaders Elder Gemienart Became very sick overnight, So Elder Lords the other ZL asked us to go on exchange with them Because they had things that needed to be done that day. So elder hutchenson so Eagerly volunteered himself to be a Zone leader for a day! haha OH was I so happy he did that! haha once i heard what they had to do all day i definitely counted my blessings. They had to move all these things into all the sisters apartments and do all these training's, while I stayed in their super nice apartment and took a nice Jacuzzi bath and played mini golf. Hahaha it was .. uh.. ineffective haha

On memorial day our stake had a HUGE BBQ with an amazing turnout! We had burgers, investigators, slips and falls it was great! we all got super sun-burnt! 

I definitely learned that, even if things don't go according to plans, It happened for a reason. You might not ever know why god put you in the path of a lady who smells like dead cats, but he does it for a reason! and the best thing to do is to put your faith in him and listen to the spirit and just let it guide ya!:)

I hope you all have an amazing week! and start enjoying this summer!

And I promise i will post more pictures next week.. totes forgot my camera...

:)

Love Elder NY Jepsen

Culture Shock!

Well Good Mormon Everyone!:)

Allow me to expound on my CRAZY CRAZY week.

So Monday and Tuesday completely consisted of Packing all my junk i have accumulated in Massena, Then saying my goodbyes to everyone. Which was kind of hard, I had grown so close to everyone up there.

Then on Wednesday we had transfers! What a long and spiritual day! Many great missionaries in this mission went home last week... it was super weird to see them go. 

It took us 3 and a half hours to get to Utica from Massena, Then took us 2 hours to get to Albany. The van we came up in was the Zone leaders van in Albany. We had 5 missionaries and their MASSIVE LUGGAGE!! And guess who had to be squished in the back seat with all of it because no one else would speak up? .... Yes, yours Truly! haha .... blessings.

Anyways, Albany is HUGE! the buildings are amazing. we drove right through it... then straight to troy which is the epitome of Ghetto. haha its so great! Elder Pettit and I got to troy and met Elder stoddard and Elder Hutchenson. There they drove us to our apartment. And by this time i was VERY nervous because i just saw Troys apartment and... it didnt look so hot. So we get to Cohoes then proceed to the "Island" which is between the Hudson river. Right below a State park. Then, we go in the apartment and... its SO SICK! It's like a Super old penthouse! haha 

..Tender Mercy... 

Elder Hutchenson is from Rose Hill Utah and a studly soccer player. He is Hilarious!! every little thing he does. He reminds me of mr. bean! He has been out for about 2 transfers. And these last four days he is taking over an area for the first time and EVERYONE canceled or bailed on him. He was so discouraged he thought it was him!:( I told him that is missionary life and you will Always have some of those days! haha He is great. 

Cohoes Troy and Lansingburgh are completely different from my last Area! Did i mention it is ghetto? haha People come up and talk to us and ask us questions! we can talk to people all day its so nice! Now the next step is getting the Hutch to doing it by himself:)

The first Full day i was here, A strange guy named Dan came up to us and asked us If we like the German flute or Hermonica better then proceeded to play very loudly and sporadically.... Then he gave me some of his drawing and poetry. I wont go into too much detail on the poetry but let me tell you its just.... Great . The last one ends like "so ends the prickly  life of Larry the French Fry" hahaha But i digress.

THIS WARD IS AMAZING!! they are willing to teach with us and help spread the gospel. They are just eager to work! ah i love it. PEOPLE FEED US!!! i cant believe it. I have never just wanted to hug everyone in sight before in my life. haha

We had a great discussion in Elders Quorum yesterday, about secular things and spiritual things... which turned into a Debate. Then I pulled out a scripture i LOVE in Collesians 2:8. I urge you all to read it! IT reminds me not to believe in the deceit of men and of sciences. But to believe in Christ!:)

I hope you all have a great week!

And i look forward to telling you more zany stories of Albany next week!

Love always,

Elder Jepsen

 this is the bridge between Cohoes and Waterford- probably the least ghetto view you can find:)

our apartment!