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...

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

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

What the...

Okay, I'm just going to list off some of the weird Crap I have seen this last week! 

1. One eyed man sings to us and shows us his inner thigh scars.

2. Got to pet a Turkeys Stomach.

3. Drug deals left and right.

4. SO MANY BUTT CRACKS!

5. Lawn mower races.

6. Goose fights.

7. St. Lawrence Beavers.

8..Someone put me in their will!

9. Funny Pranks.

10.Prostitutes whatever, You name it we've seen it!

 hahaha SO WEIRD! weirdest week of my mission by far!

So besides all that weird stuff that's been going down in Massena, A lot of good things have been happening up here. We still have a couple of our Investigators progressing to Baptism. One of them, Debbie is getting baptized May 3rd! she is so ready. We are so excited for her! 

We were also able to help out a lot in the Community this week, with helping with the Monthly Food distribution. They love our help there! haha they freak out when we arent there. We also helped out with the community Meal at the Methodist church. Haha right before We went to help with the community dinner I found some Laxatives in a drawer and put it in Elder Neus' Peeps and gave it to him... Yeah he wasn't a very happy camper.. hahaha.

We also Pulled a really funny prank on the Other Elders But i cant Disclose the specifics on that hilarious night... I promised... ;)

On a more serious note, In the Branch we had a monthly fast on Friday for Missionary work. We didnt really see the effects immediately, Probably because we were so focused on how hungry we were, But later in the week we saw MIRACLES! A former investigator we have never seen before showed up to church on Sunday, We found new potentials, and FINALLY were able to schedule appointments with some of our investigators. IT was amazing. It will always be in the Lords time and in the Lords way!

This Easter Sunday was one i will never forget. My first Easter on my mission. We had great speakers in church, Talking about the Importance of the Resurrection. 

Then The Huffs fed us an AMAZING Easter meal. Followed by a warm afternoon in a park with our investigators. Then, We met a Super sick guy outside of a bar! We have come to find that up here, the Easiest people to talk to are the Ones smoking. hahaha 

After that we tracted in an apartment building and saw some really weird stuff.. .. bleh. 

So overall a Great Easter:)

Everyday out here is never the same. Some times you have some really good days, then you have some really terrible days. But the Love for my Savior and the love i have of these people, and the support of my family gets me through it!

I hope you all have an amazing week! and HAVE FUN! and BE HAPPY!:)
Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yea, happy is that people, whose God is the Lord.  -Psalms 144:15

Love always 

Elder Jepsen

Oh By the way... that one Eyed guy is sitting right next to us as we are writing these emails....  ._.

This First picture is of one of the Cargo ships that go through the St. Lawrence, They are HUGE!  and we tried to get a picture of the Geese fighting in the backround so you get the full effect:)

Cargo ships that go through the St. Lawrence

 ST. Lawrence Beaver! IT was GIANT!  I had to take a picture of it

St. Patrick's Day, The only time you see green in the North country

Well, Happy St. Patricks day! 

This past week up  here in Massena has been a pretty EVENTFUL one!  Elder Neus and I had a pretty good week teaching wise, and VERY blessed with many many opportunities to serve. 

So on Tuesday we had our Zone meeting, which was alright. I honestly cant say i learned anything i didn't know. BUT we have a new sister in our zone from Italy that Laughs like a zebra... so that's cool..

After Zone meeting we helped a family in our Branch move out of their home. Kind of sad to see the leave. But hey, I'll see them again. ( they actually just moved next to us in Utah .. haha) 

On Wednesday We were able to go to the Reservation to eat at the Buffet in the Awkwesasne Casino! That was super good. But while we were there a storm rolled in and just DUMPED snow nonstop for 2 days! So the rest of the day we were stuck inside... Which is never fun.

Eventually Thursday rolled around, and while we were weekly planning we get a call from the Zone leaders saying "this is the only day we're free  so we are coming up to move your apartments. So pack up you have an hour and a half" 

So there we were running around with our heads cut off trying to pack up our apartment! This later turned into a 2 day task. So we eventually move all our things to the new Apartment where the other Elders live, And it turns out the landlord never turned the heat on so we have to wait until Tuesday to move them out of our apartment. So now, there are 4 missionaries living in a One bedroom apartment... It got old fast.. hahaha

Oh here's a funny story. (if you'd think this is funny) After helping out with the Massena food distribution services downtown in Massena, We got a call from a former Investigator Asking us if we could help her friend move. Ofcoarse we said Yes! we were pumped! So we get to this house she leads us to this back room, and we look in and.... TORNADO! crap everywhere!! literally.. stuff all over and POOP on the ground. She asks us if we could help her organize and move all this stuff upstairs. then eventually paint it so her parents could move in... Reluctantly we said suuuure we can do that. THEN she says "thank you" and goes and takes a nap!! haha Elder Neus was sooo mad.

But we manned up and did it. granted it took us 4 hours but we got it done. And we have to go back and paint...

Luckily to Conclude that stressful day we had the Adult session of District conference in Malone. It was so good! The spirit was definitely there. they talked about Hastening the work in all that we do.

That was the overall topic on Sunday as well in District Conference. 

This past week i was Very humbled to see the blessings that come from service. Even if they are smelly and weird and awkward... haha 

We need always strive to follow Christs example and strive to serve our fellow men!

I hope you all have a great WARM week, wherever you are!

-Elder Jepsen

Killer Week in Massena!

Well Neus and I had a pretty GREAT week up here in Massena! We stayed very busy all week, teaching a bunch of lessons and trying to find new investigators. Our numbers have almost tripled now that the foolish traditions of previous Elders have gone. The harder we work, the more results we see. I LOVE IT!

We picked up a new family this past week. They are super solid! we met them at the Methodist meal we voulenteer at, and they are so funny. So this last Thursday we finally had a lesson with them, and the spirit was SO strong! i have never felt the spirit so prominent in a lesson until then. We were so stoked! haha

Later in the week we helped the family with their genealogy, and we found out that their youngest daughter has a huge crush on one of us (yours truly)... so that made things pretty awkward... Her sister showed me the texts between her and her sister and She wrote a poem about my face and my glasses....
So now we have to tread very lightly when teaching this family. haha

Then on Saturday one of our investigators invited us to her robotics competitions at Clarkson University in Potsdam. That was super cool! I GOT A SHIRT. That pumped me up haha. She ended up getting 4th place overall!  She is so smart and talented for only being 10! we think she might be the key to the whole Farm family. (they are so cool btw, the father of the fam let E. Neus taze him and in turn he had to taze me! ...it was crazy...felt weird)

But overall we had a really great week! From all the people we are meeting to being able to go to the gym every morning. 

OH! we got a sweet gym membership at this super GHETTO gym downtown! i love it. While i get jacked i get filled with asbestos! haha Whenever we workout this little Bulldog/pittbull chills with us every time we lift weights! ITS SO COOL!

I hope you all are Enjoying the weather back home! cause its still FREEZING HERE! 

And i also hope you are all helping out the Missionaries back home. Whether it be referrals or feeding em. It makes all the difference i promise! Missionary work is essential! It just isnt the Missionaries responsibility, but ALL MEMBERS:)

we push that so much up here.

I really hope you all have an amazing week!

And pray for a missionary experience! ;)

Much Love

Elder Jepsen

TRIO!!!

By far one of the most interesting weeks of my mission! But a great one! 

The day of transfers i worked with elder black in Downtown massena. We discussed the area...and our companions.. haha. This month we are most likely moving downtown and the Other Massena elder are moving across the river on the other side of massena. Then we will most likely be doing a car share, so we split the area and made many MANY pros and cons lists haha. Later that night Elder Neus and Elder Davis came up to massena!

Elder Neus is just the best! We get along really well, he is not afraid to work and already LOVES the area! he is just what massena needs! So after showing elder Neus the ropes we were out tracting on Friday when we get a call from elder black saying he needs to go to the hospital. Then after we take him to the urgent care, then the Hospital we find out the he has walking Pneumonia.... That was a surprise. So president wirthlin came up and took E. Black to the mission home so he can Sack out and hopefully get better so they can send him up her again!

SO now Elder Neus and Elder Davis and I are now in a TRIO! ...Which is super different... haha everything takes just a little longer now but its still really fun! hah Teaching is now a little different but we do well. We keep getting stuck in door ways but we'll get over that soon as well haha. Elder Davis is a very Obedient and Diligent Missionary. He used to be a zone leader In Rome before he came here. He keeps us both in line. 

It is really different leading the Area here since no one else has knowledge of massena. It's kind of like training! haha it was a little hard at first because they kept forgetting where we were and who we just saw but i was patient with them and they are now getting the hang of it!

I have a really good feeling things are going to turn around out here! We have new missionaries that are much more obedient than the last, they have an outside view of things which is just what we need! I know that if we just put our faith in the lord and strive to be perfectly obedient we will see ourselves and this area Progress!!

Thank you all for your love a support! I hope all of you have a great week! 

Much Love from Massena

-Elder Jepsen

TRANSFERS.......

This past week has just been a blur! So much has happened. 

We had a really crazy week full of random service opportunities, and A LOT of traveling. We tried many potentials this week but to no avail... But there's always next week. A lot of our appointments fell through...but not many of our Dinner appointments which is good! haha 

We also had the opportunity to travel down to Potsdam many times this week. Potsdam is where the zone leaders live, it is a fairly big town. Mostly because Clarkson University and State university of New York is there. We play basketball there, We also had our Zone meeting there on Friday. It was a great meeting! But since transfer calls were the next day President wirthlin kind of spilled the beans and told most of the missionaries where they were going. Turns out Elder Mecham is going to Elmira to be a zone leader (Never would have guessed that one) and Elder Nouse is coming up here to Massena with me. I am actually really excited to take over the area up here. Things seem like they have been in a stand still since Elder Mecham has been here. But president is taking a so called "leap of faith" with elder nouse and I since we are such new missionaries. He feels we can jump start this area AND I AM SO DOWN! haha I'm ready!

But anyway, after our meeting we had our Valentines day party. Which we ended up having to cancel because of the terrible weather... It was tough  because all of us had put so much into this party and tried to reach out to so many many people, AND EVERYONE WAS SO EXCITED... but everything happens for a reason. Oh well!

Then on Saturday, The downtown Massena elders had a Baptism in Potsdam for one of their investigators. It went really well. It was such a good baptism. (they showed the Brandon Flowers I'm a Mormon video i was super happy) Then after the baptism  we went to her fathers Funeral. He had died earlier that week and it put us all in a weird mood BUT SHE STILL WENT THROUGH WITH THE BAPTISM! i was so proud of her. It must have been so hard. That was a very interesting day. Really made me think... You cant help but to think  about the plan of salvation when art a funeral. The Deacon from the Catholic church really bothered me... He didnt really make it special he just did the prayers and whatnot... AND HE DIDN'T EVEN KNOW HIM! ah! we all just wanted to get up and teach the plan of salvation haha

 I digress...

But that Sunday we had a great turnout! Mostly because we had a potluck afterwards...but they were there! haha But most of our Sunday and Monday consisted of Elder Mecham saying goodbye to people and packing. Wednesday is our Transfers, its going to be weird not being with Elder Mecham now but that's just the mission life i guess. I've learned a lot from him. Honestly, mostly how to not do things but i learned from it, But i learned from it that all that matters.

I have a really good feeling about this next transfer and i am super excited! 

I hope you all have a great week!

Love always

Elder Jepsen

p.s I've received word that i never post pictures anymore sooooo GET READY! haha

The First picture is me holding a newborn KID named Solo. (like han solo) he was so cute

The second picture is of our district.
 I am banished to the back and Elder Mecham is the one in the middle pulling the face haha