Massena, NY: 'I CAN SEE CANADA FROM MY APARTMENT!'

So I'm finally here in New York! and.... IT'S SO COLD!! wow...After we hopped off the plane we drove to Utica and to the Mission home where we stayed the night. Then that morning we were given the rundown and then we were assigned to new companions and new Area's. My new area is... Massena new york. One of the most Northern parts of the mission!! haha I should never have told the president i was from St. George. I think he just really wanted to humble me! ha Massensa NY is an amazing place! cold.... but amazing. It is right next the the St. Lawrence River and the Canadian Border. No joke, i can see Canada from my Apartment! Masseena is a small village/town and everyone in it knows eachother. Its a very poor part of new york. A lot of the houses here have been retro fitted to be apartments because people cant afford houses.The people here are very hard,  Burly and independent. There is a mohawk Reservation up here also, so there is alot of gambling, but not alot of people go up there because a lot of trouble goes on up there. Okay! The NATIVES here... They are like brick walls THEY'RE HUGE! haa so cool
    But anyways There are Many different types of churches here, SO MANY! so there are A lot of Church hoppers around Massenna its very interesting, the seem to go to the church that is the most popular that week...im slowl starting to understand the ways of the Massennans haha. They just barley re-opened the Branch up here in June. We have alot of less actives up here, around 150 members. but an average of 25 come to church. It was a real eye opener for me. These people Have such strong testimonies for having so little! AND THEY STILL LOVE TO FEED THE MISSIONARIES! haha ! They are amazing. So alot of our work here is Re- activation. its very interesting, Some people love to have the missionaries and some want nothing to do with the church anymore. Whether it be past experiences with the church, or just caught in some bad habits. But we'll get'em back Don't Worry!

Oh my New Companion/Trainers Name is Elder Mecham. He's been out for almost a Year now, and he Is really cool! We are slowly getting to know one another better as the days go by. But we get along really well. He's from South Jordan so he likes me to fill him in on whats he's missed! ha
I'm so Grateful to have someone so encouraging and inspired to train me! He's Taught me so much just in the first week. like i said, we try to focus alot on reactivation, so we do alot of service! On my first "real day" we helped at a baptist church on Thanksgiving day to feed the homeless or less fortunate dinner, it was amazing! We shovel walkways, we build things, we actually just moved This Homeless guy across town, (for a homeless guy he had alot of stuff) He also had 2 HUGE dogs that I had to Hold and sit with the whole car ride, Who had never been brushed they're whole lives! ha they smelt so bad! But it turns out that where he moved to is a less active members home! so that was amazing. we had a chance to talk to them. The lord works in Mysterious ways. im starting to learn that now! I'm so grateful to be here and to serve the Lord here in Massenna! i already love the people and im almost learning to love the Cold... but i will soon. Dont worry!

I love you all I hope you had an amazing Thanksgiving!

Hope everything is going well back home!

Love always 

Elder Jepsen

Elder Mecham and Elder Jepsen, ready to serve!

First day in New York!

President Worthlin, Elder Mecham, Elder Jepsen, Sister Worthlin