The Fun Continues!

Wow, another awesome week here in the Scho. Val! 

This ward still continues to amaze me.

The crazy backwoods people continue to amaze me.

And the Corn still continues to amaze me! (best corn in the world btw)

Elder Richins and i met some awesome families this week we really hope we can begin to teach! Some new families and some part member families.

We picked up a new Investigator named Brian! HE'S A SUPER COOL COWBOY GUY with a gnarly beard! We taught the restoration and we asked him to pray at the end. And after the prayer we try to make sure there is a silence so you can look witthin for an answer and feel the spirit. So while he is doing this... His Rottweiler lets out this high pitched FART! Inevitably we tried so hard not to laugh... annnnnnd hahaha Needless to say the spirit was gone. But a great lesson none the less.

I have also began to realize How Hilarious the members of this ward are! And its not just eh yeah he cracks jokes.. NO! They are Gut busting funny members! Most of the members in the Schoharie valley ward are Converts and have great stories.

One of them, Brother Roberts, Is so funny he came teaching with us yesterday and told us his conversion story. He told us he was really into devil worshipping and as he was looking for a goat head to put on his left wall and ran into the Missionaries! haha Now he's a member. But after our appointment, A Very distressed woman called us ranting about her son and how she needed help. So we met this lady at a ball park. Then she proceeded to tell us her life story and how she gave her sone the "silver spoon his whole life" and now he is just a wreck. This Whole time Elder Richins and i were  in a complete stupor of thought and could in NO WAY relate or help this woman one bit. But Brother Roberts came to the rescue! He being an EX cop and correctional officer gave her some great advice!....Then told us to think twice before meeting with her again! hahaha But the Point is, If he hadn't been there and he hadn't raised his hand to come teach with us in priesthood meeting, We would have never helped a woman change her heart and look to god, and would never had bonded as bros! hahaha

So as a missionary and Disciple of Jesus Christ, I am SOOOOOOOO Thankful for members Who come teaching with us and stand as a 3rd witness. It is so awesome! It is also great to get referrals:)

I hope you all strive to participate in some kind of missionary work this week! and if you get the chance, TEACH with the missionaries. WE LOVE IT!!<3

I Hope you all have an NY STELLAR Week!:)

Love ya Byyyyyyye NOW!

Elder Jepsen

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The first picture is of SECRET CAVERNS! A super cheesy cavelike place we went today! IT has a 100 foot waterfall. So naturally we had to take pictures and then get soaked by it:)

Whaddup! REBEL!... nah...

FACEBOOK! What what??

What a crazy week! So many great momentous things happened. I'll just list them there are so many!

- We found an amazing family to teach who are so unbelievably nice!

- I had the Best corn of my life!

- I got tackled by a dog.

- Taught a family of atheists.

- and so many great memories.

-oh... and we got... FACEBOOK!!

YEs! The New York Utica mission can now use Facebook to proselyte. It is such an amazing tool. Since we have such a large area we can use it to keep in touch with people on the very corners of our area! We can use it yo uplift and inspire our investigators in active families and in active friends and family back home. It was announced at Our Zone meeting on Thursday. Everyone was so excited. We were told to edit and modify our accounts. We have many rules and can only be on for an hour. SO if there is anyone you feel could use some help or you could refer us to please let us know! ADD ME!:)))))...or i'll Inevitably add you ha!

Besides that great news things are going very well here! Elder Richins and i have alot of fun but work very hard. We knock on doors a lot! And missionaries have been here for ages. So at one point or another almost everyone has talked to missionaries. Which get kind of annoying... "Have You ever seen missionaries before?" Person: "Yes...everyday...." hahahaha Sucha small town. 

But we love it! The ward here is amazing. And everyone is Hilarious!! ....I think its something in the water....

Anyway, I hope you all had a great week and Continue to have a great week this week! 

I Love you all! Til we write again..

Love

Elder Jepsen

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P.s Sorry my email was late... the computers at the church were MEGA slow. And the Libraries are never open because they hate God!...nah i don't know why haha

Picture: We went Cray fishing Yesterday!:)

Farms, Rednecks, Scooters and Mayhem!

HAPPY PLAY DAY EVERYONE! I hope you all had a great week.

We Sure did out here in Backwoods New York!

This place is so awesome!!! We live in the largest town in Schoharie county called Cobleskill Pop.~5000! It is so different from the city! People drive Tractors and really loud ford trucks with deer stickers everywhere here!

I am With, probably the Funniest Elder In this mission! Elder Richins. Hhaha Elder Richins and I came out of the MTC together and halfheartedly made a pact we would serve together, and here we are! It is so fun out here with him. 

We knock on doors almost the whole day but it never becomes too tedious because we are having so much fun doing it! haha Our first day together as a companionship we saw and experienced some pretty funny redneck crap up here! haha There are like super white redneck guys walking around spitting tobacco talking about tractors and barns. ITs AMAZING! 

haha Just Yesterday we ran into the funniest Redneck guy in a Roll-a-Round Scooter on a farm and talked to him for a while. Telling us how his 150 pound German shepherd scared off 2 70 year old Jehovahs witnesses. He said " I ain't never seen 2 70 Year old women run that fast in my life. They straight up dropped their bibles and ran into the car, while I tried to call back Winston (the dog) But instead of saying HEY WINSTON GIT BACK HERE I said HEY JEHOVAHS GIT BACK HERE!" hahaha we all laughed so hard. I then began to ask about the battery operated scooter thing he was riding. He Turns to me real fast and says YOU WANNA RIDE?! I laughed then he says No take it! He then MIraculously (i thought) gets up and goes into the shed and gets 2 more, One for him and The Richins. HE then proceeds to say LETS RACE! and takes off down the driveway. hahaha Man i love that guy. ( i'll post pictures don't you worry)

Our area We cover is very large. And most of it has been devastated by Hurricane Irene. You cant go a day here without someone bringing up the "Flood" This whole valley way covered in 4-6 feet of water. We helped clean out a members law office that had been completely underwater. and had just recently got the last of it out!

The ward here is amazing. There are so many funny/dedicated members here. On sunday we had to give the lesson on Eternal Marriage of all things... It went... pretty well...ish... There were some elders there who had some interesting views on it, and Spared no cost in sharing it haha. It was very contentious at the end. But, I got the last word in and Bore My testimony on how it all comes back to the basic principle of Faith in our savior Jesus Christ. Because it is through him that ALL things that were and are possible. 

I know that, that is so true! I urge you all the continue to pray and search the scriptures to further strengthen your faith! In turn it will help resolve all your concerns:)

I Love you all and Pray you all have an amazing safe week full of ways to practice your faith!:)

Love, Elder Jepsen

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 Good Ol Chuck and I bonding over a good laugh and Scooters! haha

 this is of our AWESOME investigator is cohoes! Esther is so funny! haha

This is a family in cohoes who are freakin dope! lovem

Cleaning out the Attorneys office in Schoharie from the flood!

Ps.The view from the car all day almost everyday

TRANSFERS!!!

Okay...This was by far the most Surprising/Shocking transfer calls I have ever heard! There are sooo many New Exciting things happening throughout the mission! President Wirthlin Told Us they are beginning to test the online proselytizing in our mission. And it will soon trickle down to the rest of us "lowly missionaries" hahaha. Also we now have traveling missionaries. Who travel across the mission helping and strengthen and help missionaries by going on 3 day exchanges. SUPER COOL! Much of our leadership across the mission is changing. And turns out im..

 BEING TRANSFERRED!!!!

But not too far.. I am being transferred to Schoharie. With my main man Elder Richins! We were in the same district in the MTC! What a stud. 

But Elder Davis is taking over this area and training. He will be such a sick trainer! This is the place to train. I am going to miss this ward so much! Every time we went to church or top a members house it served as a safe haven. They are so great. 

I am so grateful for all the wonderful examples i met here and all the great experiences i had; with  tripping in front of girls, getting rained on, being threatened by black people all that fun stuff. i'll miss it. BUT! Everyone has been talking up schoharie for me! and i'm super Exited! 

"i'll go where you want me to go dear lord.... i'll be what you want me to be."

BUt other than that this last week flew by! We had another Exchange with Troy that went very well! We had some sweet trainings on the temple, which actually Helped us with one of our Investigators... But no other crazy stories.. OH! Brother Peterson asked me if i could be in the circle when he Blessed his baby Jarom. I was so honored! The whole time i just couldn't hold in my excitement that i just got to hold a baby! haha (We're not aloud to hold babies on our mission)

A scripture that i have been using in EVERY situation lately in Ecclesiastes 3:1

To every thing there is a season , and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

I challenge all you beautiful children of our Heavenly Father to apply it to Every aspect of Life!

You Will see a change I promise!:)

I hope you all have a great week full of adventure! 

Love Always 

Elder NY Jepsen

MMMMbbbbbbyyye NOW!

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The First Picture is of Bro. Staples the funniest/ sickest magician in the ward! Such a sweet  guy!

The Second is of the wallers! The funniest Straight forward sickest example of what marriage should be!! haha

                                    

The Week of Weeks.

Library computer Nazis on the Prowl!

I may not have a computer for very much longer so i will try to make this brief.

We had a pretty good week this week, The highlight was Elder Dutson (in troy) and I were able to go on exchange. But we were bombarded with a sudden surprise when we heard A missionary had to go home because his Father was very sick... So Elder NEUS was sent to work in Troy until Saturday. We had A lot of fun in troy Reminiscing on the good days and talking to Ministers of church's and crazy people on the street. It was a good time. haha The work is going pretty well, still had many of our appointments cancel on us and one of our solid investigators dropped us but the work is what you make of it. And There were miracles. 

The ward spoiled us with dinner appointments this last week and one of them the Alexanders went down in history. Brother Alexander is a Dentist in Albany and was planning on picking us up and taking us to his place for dinner. But, by the time he got to troy.. A kidney stone hit. So we hop in the car and he is groaning and clenching in pain while driving 30 minutes to his place, trying to pass this stone. So in the midst of this pain he wails "ALWAYS DRINK WATER! if you don't you will get these. Promise me!"  We quickly responded we PROMISE! haha. Then inthe middle of the awkward drive i jokingly ask if he would like a traveling blessing and he says... Please.. THe i was like "oh okay"... so we proceed to annoint then I give him a blessing while he drove home.. It was.... Interesting.. But after the fact I think we were all pondering to ourselves, how great it is to have the authority to act in gods name with us at all times. So we finally get there and he lays himself on the garage floor and told us not to move him. So we ate! haha It was very good. We all go back safely and He ended up passing the stone!

I am so grateful for this restored gospel, and The miracles of the priesthood!

Our investigator Queen Esther from Ghuna finally came to church with her daughter!!!! Ah we were so excited. The ward did sucha great job of fellowshipping her! Her daughter loves and wants to go to all the mutual activities now! I love it!

Other than that it rained A LOT! This week and yes... We did get drenched. ANd another freakin car splashed me and ruined all my stuff! haha missionary work.

I hope you all have a great week! It will be what you make it to be:)

We have transfer callzzzz this week! We are super anxious! I will keep ya updated!

Love ya mmmmmmmBYE NOW!

ELder Jepsen

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P.s This is a picture of the Alexanders Pond! its amazing! we caught 3 fish!! :o

Water in places you didn't know existed...

Yo! Goodmorninwit-chu! - How they say Good Morning in troy.... even though its the afternoon.. 

But Hey! How's it goin?! 

We had a somewhat semi Eventful week this past week! Although Our Numbers had nothing to show for it.. some cool things happened. :)

First off, ALL of our appointments fell through. And most of our investigators wre no where to be found. Which honestly sucked, but didn't phase me until Sunday.. 

It has been raining on and off here like CRAZY!! And of course in the east this means.... HUMIDITY! ugh. ON Wednesday we plan this awesome day of Finding in North troy. The sun is out, it feels great outside. When all the sudden these massive Storm clouds come out of no where. By this time we had walked about 3 miles away from our apartment so the minute we see these clouds we turn around, and... IT POURS! I'm not talking a bunch of rain falls down and gets us wet. I'm Talking MASSIVE TROPICAL BEHEMOTH STORM! With rain coming from all directions. The water accumulated around us so fast there were rivers all over just dumping into the Hudson. Also the masses of cars splashing us didnt help much either haha. So we finally make it across the bridge to our apartment as we are bombarded by billions of Freakin Water Bullets! and the second we get inside.. it abruptly stops. The sun comes out. The birds chirp. Rainbows galore. And we both just SCREAM! WHAT THE CRAP?! haha It gets better;)

So with every inch of our body being completely drenched we struggle to change our clothes, and through them in the dryer. We put on fresh shirts and ties and put on Raincoats this time (because we've learned our lesson). And Head out to meet with this very interesting man we had previously met at a soup kitchen we volunteer with. So we arrive at our destination, A burger king. We shake his hand and apologize for our tardiness. Then we sort of start to have a Bible study, Jumping from topic to topic. He being very Impressed with us. After a while i feel prompted to tie the restoration into this study. And over time i break out the Book of Mormon and Testify of its truthfulness and Divine nature, Expecting him to come to this conclusion that this must be another Testament of Jesus Christ. But, When I pull it out of my bag and place it on the table..... No Joke... Clouds formed. The Lightning crashed, The rain pounded against the glass and His face was one of complete FEAR! hahaha Then he proceeded to bash with us. The spirit was gone. And The weather outside was getting worse. Elder Davis turned to me and said, We NEED to go.. NOW! Right when he said that the Lights went out. The Power went down in Cohoes. We took it as a sign and told him we needed to leave. So after Shaking his hand and taking his keys and grabbing his umbrella for him, we left. Having a great appreciation for the Tender Mercies of the Lord. Then a member came and picked us up and we helped someone push their car out of 2 feet of water... what a mess! haha WHATA DAY!

 I learned many a lesson that day! haha But other than that we had a pretty slow week. We participated in a lot of service this week, which i wouldn't trade for anything! We also had Zone Conference. WHich was great! Saw some familiar faces and great friends! We found out more about the ipads, soon to come to the NYUM! Which is great. I wish i could tell you more but... no time! Other than that a typical week in good ol Upstate New York! 

I hope you all have a Great Hopefully less wet than NY week!

Until next week! 

mmmmmmmBYE NOW!

-Elder Jepsen

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P.s This picture is a Of a picture of a members son on their fridge which i laugh at every time i go over. So i had to take a picture of it!

And last but not least is a terrible picture Elder Davis took of me being Miserable...

Gotta love it

"I've Never been in such a dark room with sister missionaries before.." -Me

We are Emailing in the dark family History center wit the sisters and another pair of Elders and i said that quote as we sat down aaaaand made things super awkward... I was embarrassed haha i was thinking out loud.... 

ANYWAYS, We had a pretty good week in our Albany North Area! we walked a lot (as usual), saw alot of crazies and beer cans!! haha Other than that we helped with many service opportunities this week. The first at city hall where we did a lot of weeding and met a typical Italian Guido! haha Then we helped out with the Soup kitchen. FUNNY STORY! 

So during the Prepping period of the meal, We decided to venture out of the smoking kitchen and upstairs into this massive protestant chapel to ease our curiosity. when we got up there we saw this glass container, and within it laid an old wood covered Cohoes Bible from the 1700's. we were so in awe we put our hands on the glass when... The Fire Alarm went off! Of coarse we jumped and with our adrenaline pumping we ran down the stairs. As we reached the bottom the whole kitchen had ran TO THE STAIRS... so we awkwardly stared at each other for a couple seconds when someone yells "Grab the fans!" So we all proceeded to grab fans, because the smoke had gotten up to the fire alarms up stairs at just the Right time! haha We ended up switching off all the breakers to get it to shut off! hahaha I thought it was hilarious.

We had a a great 4th of July! We helped a member pull some nasty weeds and KILLER VINES! Then had an amazing BBQ for Lunch, Then after that we changed and went to another BBQ with the Elders Quorum President. Where all the New move in families were invited to! It was so much fun! It was like a home away from home. I am so thankful for this ward!:)

Earlier in the week on a thursday, Elder Davis and I had been walking around in Cohoes trying Potentials and Former Investigators, as well as updating our records in the hottest day (as well as the most humid day) Thus far this summer. We came upon a potential Inv. Whose address was wrong so we decided to head up the other end of the street. Where we saw an older lady smoking on her porch., And as we walked by sweating like 2 cats in a microwave she said "Could you boys use some water?" I didnt even hesitate, I said "Ofcoarse we would love some!" Soon after we begin to tell her our purpose as missionaries and how this gospel can bless her life. She then proceeded to tell us how that day had been the worse day of her life. And she was debating to take her own life right before we got there. She took this as a sign and we taught her the Restoration. Then she began to pray, and the spirit was so strong. We set her with a baptismal date in August. 

I know the Lord knows all of us Personally. And is always aware of our trails and tribulations. He will ALWAYS help us in our Hour of need, if we Always put our unwavering faith in him. I know this to be true!

I pray we will all help others to come to this conclusion as well.

I love you all. God bless!!:)

Elder Jepsen