August 11, 2014



Dear Family and Friends,         Monday, August 11, 2014 at 11:14 a.m. (EDT)

Curb Stomping in New England... thats gotta hurt.
Ive been meaning to mention this for a while. New Hampshire is the Granite state. 2 things grow like weeds out of the ground here in New Hampshire, Hardwood trees and granite. Granite is used for literally everything, lampposts, front steps,

Are you gonna pray about it?
If there is one thing that I can't stand is missionaries that over evaluate the rules. I have nothing against being exactly obedient to a rule. In fact I think that its a great idea. But sometimes it leads to missionaries wanting a rule for everything. Missionaries often want to be commanded in all things. 

In the White Handbook it says to finish dinner preferably before 6:00, because evening is the best time to find people home. This causes a lot of missionaries to have dinner at 5:00. Most people in New England go to bed before 8:00. I have been in companionships where we have dinner at 5:00 when everyone is home, and then we end up working until 9:00, walking on the streets when no one is out. I am a big fan of having dinner at 8:00. This allows us to be out working during the 5:00 hour when everyone is out. This is something that President has said is okay. 

Well one Elder said: "I hate it when Missionaries think they can have an 8:00 dinner hour. It clearly says in the White Handbook that dinner should be finished by 6:00. I dont want to risk disobedience." 

We were trying to decide whether we were gonna stay the night in Saco, Maine or Winthrop, Maine.  An Elder said to us, "Are you gonna pray about it?"

Stay the night in Saco
We drove up to Maine to drop all the missionaries off. We got to drive through Yarmouth. It was pretty cool. We stayed the night in Saco, Maine.


Brother Nelson from Provo took us to Panera Bread
A member from Provo, Utah pulled off the side of the road and asked if we wanted dinner. He was here in New England for an antique fair. It is so great to see members from close to home.

One Lightbulb Per House
We taught a lesson with a family. We had talked to the wife on the street a little while ago. We came back and taught a lesson. The whole family was there. They were super into the lesson. When we got to their apartment it was pretty dark. I asked if they were gonna turn on the light and they said we are getting the light bulb from the other room. They have one light bulb in the apartment and they move it from room to room wherever they need it. They all committed to be baptized. We are gonna teach them tonight.

Free Olive Garden? Sounds good to me...
We went to Olive Garden with our investigator and his parents.  His mom seems really interested. We are gonna visit her when we go on exchange to Concord.

Elder CWJensen