Tuesday, December 1, 2015

I deserve this....

Entitlement is so sneaky. It creeps up on you when you least expect it. It some how finds a place in your heart and twists your thinking. All the sudden your thoughts go from : "That is such an greedy way of thinking" to "ya, I totally deserve that!" I have found over the last few months that entitlement comes easier when  you do the right things in your life. Let me explain...
When we follow Gods commandments Satan loses power. We literally bind his ability to tempt us to commit sin... Now some may ask "but isn't entitlement a sin?" To this I will say... Most definitely and I feel that it is one of the most dangerous. When we follow Gods commandments we tend to see and feel the Good word of Christ filling our lives... All the sudden abstaining from the larger sins in life is a no brainier; stealing, killing, cheating, breaking the Sabbath, etc... We avoid the larger sins at all cost because they speak danger to us from miles away. But what about the smaller but no less important sins like lying, entitlement, jealousy, and judgement? Do these not matter? No, in fact I feel that they sometimes matter more because they can be the gateway to bigger sins ("oh what's a little lie now and again going to do?")
In my life I have done everything right... (cliche saying I know... but really) I worked hard all through high school, I went to college, I never slept around, I never partied, I went to church every Sunday, I went on a mission, and I continually try and better myself.... so now comes the tricky "staying away from entitlement part"... with all of these life events in mind it has been soooo easy for me to look at myself and say: "what did I do to deserve this? I don't deserve to not know where I am headed in life, I don't deserve to be single at almost 25, I don't deserve to have a little sister that I love choose drugs over her family, I don't deserve to have my perfect and wonderful family fall apart for reasons I don't know ." Is this true though... do I really not deserve all these things?
Did Christ our Lord and Savior deserve to have nails driven through his hands and feet? Did he deserve to have his best friend that was like a brother to him deny him?  Did he deserve to be betrayed by another he loved? Did he deserve to die...

I emphatically declare no! He did not deserve these things... because He is the son of God and he is perfect! Now I am a daughter of God and he loves me... but am I perfect? Far from it.... so how in the world can I think "I don't deserve this" when the most amazing man to walk this earth didn't deserve what he endured. How can I think "I don't deserve this" when my challenges don't even scratch the surface of what the savior went through? I completely deserve this...I signed up for this... I welcomed the possibility of challenges in the pre-mortal world. So where does my woe and forelornement fit in?...
Not only is entitlement tricky and sneaky... But it is also suffocating. When we get into a spirit of I deserve this we come up empty. We struggle for air to breathe and we feel so lost. I've been there. We all have. It doesn't have to be this way though. Instead of seeing our trials as unfair and cruel we can change our perspective. President Uctdorf gave a talk this last general conference that beautifully outlines how we can change our perspectives and find happiness in trials:

“There is enough that doesn’t go right in life, so anyone can work themselves into a puddle of pessimism and a mess of melancholy. But I know people who, even when things don’t work out, focus on the wonders and miracles of life. These folks are the happiest people I know.”
“But,” Eva said, “you can’t just flip a switch and go from sad to happy.”
“No, perhaps not,” Aunt Rose smiled gently, “but God didn’t design us to be sad. He created us to have joy!3 So if we trust Him, He will help us to notice the good, bright, hopeful things of life. And sure enough, the world will become brighter. No, it doesn’t happen instantly, but honestly, how many good things do? Seems to me that the best things, like homemade bread or orange marmalade, take patience and work.”

God created us to have JOY! Hold on to that promise! Now that is something that we deserve... no entitlement involved. 
An orange water color texture paired with a quote by Dieter F. Uchtdorf that reads, "God didn’t design us to be sad. He created us to have joy!".

Sunday, November 15, 2015

The storm

The waves pound.
Wind howls
All are wet with despair.
Though one stands at the helm
Declaring we are all heirs.
He is surrounded by light.
Peace flows to our souls
as he declares with his might:
"Peace, be still."
The waves fall
the storm has passed
for Christ is at the helm.

The Carpenter

Rough, Coarse, Hard
Stubborn, Dull, Lifeless.
In his hands everything changes.

Shaping, sweating, suffering

He places all his strength to the task.
Never losing sight of the potential he sees.

Rough, Coarse, Hard
Learning, Listening, Living.
In his hands everything changes.

Lifting and loving each piece.

He places all his strength to the task.
Never losing sight of the potential he sees.

Rough, Coarse, Hearing
Learning, Loving, Laughing.
In his hands everything changes.

In his hands perfection is set in motion.
In his hands all are safe.
In his hands everything changes. 

The Artist

The whole world is his canvas.
He paints pain in red,
Joy in yellow,
and confusion in darkness.
The canvas is alight with colors and patterns,
Continually changing at his hand. 
My pain... my red
He lovingly covers with his own crimson. 
While my red is pain his is blood.
Crimson becomes hope.
A chance to see beauty. 
He has covered my canvas. 
I am crimson. 
I am beauty.
 

Monday, April 20, 2015

The life of a returned missionary...

My time as a  missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints has come to an end, but 
the impact it has made on my life is far from over. I can honestly say that my mission opened my eyes, and helped me to recognize my role in our Father in Heaven's work. In the Doctrine in Covenants section four it states: "Therefore, if ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work;" I recognized over the course of my mission that I have been called to be an instrument in our Father's hands... not just for 18 months, but for my whole life. This has led to a lot of reflection over the last couple of weeks since I have returned home. As a missionary I spent 24/7 walking on the streets and talking to people about our savior Jesus Christ. It was the most demanding work of my life and I loved it. It tore me down, it brought me to the point that I was raw. It was the most vulnerable I have ever been, and yet it was a good thing. I was raw in a way that allowed me to overlook myself and turn to my savior in order to see the need of those around me. I allowed our savior to guide me, mold me, and use me in whatever way he needed in order to reach out to those around me. The Lord truly protected me in my travels, and He led me to those that needed Him most at that time. Since coming home, I have been struggling to find a way to continue to see how I can be apart of this work that I have been called to. 
A few nights ago, when I was calling upon the Lord I felt very strongly that my mission has not ended, but the method in which the Lord will use me has changed. I felt that I needed to continue using this blog as a way to share the Good word of our Lord and Savior. I hope that my inner thoughts and feelings can help someone else on their journey with Christ. Here was some of my thoughts from a personal study a few days ago..."I have been feeling as though very few impactful things have been happening in my life since I returned from my mission. I want to follow the Lord's will and I want more than anything to be married... but How am I ever to do that If I am not allowing my high expectations to increase?How am I to continue to have a rock solid foundation if I am not feeding it? I need to find the time to read more than a few verses of scripture a day. I spent 18 months studying extensively... that is all for nothing if I don't continue to do so now. I know that life will find more meaning as I continue to put the Lord first. I need to hold myself accountable and start making goals/expectations for myself. This is NOT the time for me to slack up. I prayed to have my questions answered through General Conference and they were! (LDS church meeting that happens 2 times a year. Learn more here: https://www.lds.org/general-conference?lang=engL. Whitney Clayton talked in conference about choosing to believe. Each week that I partake of the sacrament (communion) I am CHOOSING to believe. That is the most important use of my agency I can ever have. This choice cannot be idle though. President Uctchdorf of the First Presidency had a talk about two brothers jumping off a cliff into a pool of water. One was getting scared and the other said: "Brother I'm Committed"... and jumped. If we follow the council in Joshua 24:15 ad we "choose" to follow Christ we must choose NOW to be commuted to continue to be a truth seeker, a light seeker.  I choose today and everyday to believe. I choose today to try each day to increase my testimony and to stand as a daughter of my Father in Heaven. I choose... to Believe. "

Thanks for listening...
Jenn

Sunday, April 19, 2015

Week Ending March 3rd, 2015



Dear Family and Friends,
I cannot believe that 18 months has come and gone... It feels like I left my home yesterday... and yet sometimes it feels like I left a millennia ago. So much happened in this last week, but as this in my last chance to email all of you as "Sister Franzen" I would like to take the chance to share my testimony with all of you.
I would like to steal some words from another dear Sister Missionary:
"I found a quote to perfectly explain my mission this week
"If you are on the right path, it will always be uphill. The Lord is anxious to lead us to higher grounds"

My mission has been the hardest thing in my entire life. But it has been such a special thing that I would never trade for the world."
I too feel the same way about my mission... 4 areas, 13 companions, having to wear a boot, kidney stones for over 10 months of my mission, having to go gluten free, horrible car crash, having 2 companions get sick and have to go home... Missions are tough... but I would not have it any other way. My mission has truly been the best preparation I could possibly have for my future.

I love my savior. I know that He was born to save me, He lived to save me, He died to save me, and He was resurrected to save me. He is and will always be my everything. I cannot go through life without my savior… it is too hard, too heavy. But that is the beautiful thing about this gospel… we don’t HAVE to do it on our own… ever. Christ is there for us every single step of the way…. He is standing at the door knocking… WAITING to rescue us. If we will but open the door to him, he can enter in.
I know with all my heart that God is STILL a God of miracles. I have 18 months worth of a daily journal full of them if you ever need proof that he lives and loves us. I saw him change lives every day… It was the most amazing and powerful feeling to be able to see him close the mouths of those that tried to tear down our faith and desecrate the name of the Savior… I saw this again last night. God is so loving and so amazing.

I have seen Satan and his minions try with all their might to tear others down. Whether my making them think that they are not good enough, or by making things around them fall apart… but I have seen what “Just one small seed” can do. Just ONE seed of faith changes people’s lives and gives them hope. I saw this in the lives of the families I was able to teach J Satan cannot have power over us as we turn to the savior and give him our life… we are protected, blessed, safe.

I know with all my heart that the Atonement of Jesus Christ is real and that it truly does carry us. I know that God is reaching out to us still as he has in times of old through a prophet on the earth once again. True, prophets are just men and they make mistakes too, but I know that God is still leading and guiding us just as he has in times past… with a foundation set upon apostles and prophets with Jesus Christ as the chief cornerstone. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God just as the Bible is. I love the feeling of peace and comfort I get as I read both books of Scripture. I love that I can turn to my Father in Heaven at any time and ask him with a sincere heart if what I am reading is true, and I KNOW he will answer me! I know He will answer anyone that goes and asks with a sincere heart because he is Truth and light and He cannot be deceived. I know that this is the Church of Jesus Christ once again on the earth. I know this because I have 1. Studied, 2. Fasted, 3. Prayed to get my answer directly from My Father in Heaven. I know that God hears and answers us. I know that He loves us.

I have loved my mission... I have not wanted to leave but I have been praying and thinking a lot about what my mission president told me in my last interview and I am now ending with the beginning in mind. I have created an action plan on how I will continue to be a missionary in my home ward. I still do not want my mission to end... but I know that it does not have too. I am simply receiving a permanent outside of mission boundaries transfer ;) I will forever and always be a missionary... I love the Lord and I know that I cannot deny it, he has changed me and made me whole and I have seen him do that for others over and over. I love this gospel.
I leave this testimony with all of you in the name of our Dear and sweet savior and redeemer, even Jesus Christ, Amen.
Love,
Sister Jenn Franzen

Week Ending February 23rd, 2015

This week was so great! It was full of Miracles... and some disappointments... but what would missionary work be like without the ups and downs?

On monday of this last week our new investigator dan dropped us... but no worries... we found two more "dans" to teach during the week... Not sure why we are only teaching dans but we will go with it :)
Highlights of this week that I will touch on:
1. I taught another Dance Class
2. We had a "gun pulled on us" 
3. We had not one... not two... but three people come up to us and tell us they were praying for us to find the poeple we are meant to teach
4. My companion and I went to dinner and... more later on that one. 
5. We had another high lesson week
6. I got to see Jill this week :) 

Okay... so the Primary president of the Duvall ward has a friend that has no interest in the church what soever but loves to come to fun activities... So out of an effort to help this friend have more friends we help a dance class. I got to teach ballet to 8 young moms... oh they were hilarious. They were hard to teach because they were ALL chatty Kathy's... but they had fun and that is what matters :) 

So my companion and I were tracting out in the "boonies" and we met a man named Dan. We talked to him for a time, we sang and then we had a prayer with him. As we went to shake his hand he pulled a hand from behind his back and he was holding a hand gun. My companion and I didn't even notice until he said "sorry... we get some scary folk out here sometimes and I wasn't sure who was at my door so I came prepared... sorry ladies not trying to scare you." then he set the gun on a table so we could shake hands... Ha even though he was nice, we ran and got out of the boonies after that ha ha 

Right after that we were walking back to our car and a car pulled by us stopped, turned around and came back. At first we were nervous but then a nice man named cory stopped and told us that he felt like he needed to come back and tell us that we were about a good work. He let us know that while he doesn't agree with all of our beliefs he supports what we are doing and he prays for our success daily. (This happened two more time during the week!)

We went to a thai place for dinner one night because we did not want to cook ha ha... well a lady came in and sat behind us... we ended up talking to her for over 40 min. about God, families, faith, hope, health, and life. It turns out that her Husband is very ill and the only break she gets as his caregiver is when she goes out to get food... she bore her heart to us and we listened... She needed it... we were not expecting anything out of it... but in the end it turns out she covered our bill when we got ready to leave. Such a kind and amazing woman.. That was a really sweet experience :)

We had 43 lessons this week! Duvall is doing great! Not a lot of investigators right now, but we are working on it :)

We had a member and missionary fireside this week (my last one :'(... ) and i got to see Jill! oh that made me sooooo happy! 

God is so good and he made extra sure that we felt loved here in Duvall! Miracles are everywhere :) I love being a missionary! I hope you all have an amazing week. 

Love,
Sister Jenn Franzen

2

Jill Webb :)
 Sister Choi :)

Week Ending February 16th, 2015

This was another amazing week in Duvall! There is so much to tell you, and so little time in which to do so... So our mission has this new rule... where we keep our apts. spotless... We  have had a big push on cleanliness in the past, but more so now. Now we have to have our apts. be at the same rating as the Temple.... Nothing can be out or on counters. All our study stuff has to be put away each day. (We can't even keep blenders and toasters on our counters) it's crazy... but super duper clean :) Anyways... on P-days we have to stay in our apt now until the whole zone has an apt. rating of 2.0 on a 1-5 scale... so We did not get out until noon today... Really eats at our day, but our apt. is very clean :) So in order to get everything else we need to done today I will have to make this quick... So I will just touch on the highlights of our week.... 
#1 I don't know how... but this last week we exceeded my all time high of lessons taught on my mission. We taught 44 different people this last week... I don't even remember teaching that many people... time is flying by ;)
#2 We were able to invite one of our inv. to be baptized, and she accepted ;) I love helping people make commitments to the Lord. 
#3 We were able to get so much done this week! I am really finishing on a strong note... We had interviews with President Choi this week, and he told me that he is proud of me and thankful for the work that I have done :) 
okay two stories that I just have to share... Not so spiritual but this was our week... 
#4 It was BEAUTIFUL out this week and we got to help a lady in our ward work on her garden. (Her daughter is handicapped and she cannot get much done while also watching her... so we helped out... in skirts;) oh yeah)
A sister that was serving from the Duvall ward came home from her mission this week. She served in the Philippines and it turns out that she and I were in the MTC together and never knew it! Anyways she got home this last Wednesday... and she was engaged by Friday! WOAH! That is crazy crazy fast... but she is super happy and she was a big help to us this week. She is going to go out with us a lot this week. Her and her fiance went tracting with us last night and we were having no success! Thankfully there were no door slams ha ha but no one was really interested in talking with us. (maybe because there were four random strangers standing on their porch ha ha ha)  But then... there was a man walking on the opposite side of the street so I told our "group" we were going to cross the street so we could talk to him. We did and you should have seen the look on this mans face! He looked like a mob was coming after him... poor guy... thankfully we began talking and things got better. His name is Dan. He has a belief in God but he said that it is not an active faith. We asked if he wanted to strengthen his relationship with God and he said YES! so We invited him to keep meeting with us and learn more and he accepted! Miracles!!!
Another night we were tracting and we have about 30 min. left to knock on doors. we knocked on this door and a young man named kyle answered. Kyle is super duper nice. He is a physics major at UW. He talked to us for a long time. he told us that he does not believe in God, but he does want to build on his faith and he is interested in meeting with us to learn more! It was awesome! He is super open minded... He asked if we were in school and we explained that we take a break from school and stuff while we are on our missions. I told him that I was done with school... so he asked what I studied. I told him that I got a BA in Dance and focused on Modern and Ballet... BAM This guy started doing the ballet positions on his doorstep and asked how he was doing ha ha ha ha turns out he took ballet when he was in Elementary school at PNB. He has since quit but he does still have nice turn out... That was a funny moment for me. He then asked if he could take a dance class from me if I taught sometime...ha I said we would have to see and we went on our way ha ha it was super funny and weird at the same time. 
On to the best story of all... disclaimer... missionaries... yes missionaries can make poor judgment choices sometimes...  
So We have a ward member that really loves cats and her cat recently died. She is super lonely and we were trying to cheer her up. We were driving in the middle of no where in our area (boonies) and we saw a kitten on the side of the road. We both decided instantly that we needed to "catch the kitten" for our member... nevermind the fact that A. the kitten could have been feral... of B. it Could have belonged to someone.... anyways we decided to turn around and go back for the kitten. We did so (this road has turn around about every 2-3 miles just for an idea of how dedicated we were to this task) and Sister Thinn pulled over I opened the door and the kitten ran... so we decided that we needed to turn around and not park so close to the kitten. We did so and got back to the same spot after driving another 5 miles or so round trip. Sister Thinn then said "okay I am going to pull over, you will hop out and grab it and then we will be on our way" to which I instantly agreed (why you ask? I still have no clue....) So she pulled over and I hopped out... well at that exact same moment a car came around the corner about 100 ft away so I told her there was a car... but instead of jumping back into the car she drove about 30 feet in front of me leaving me standing on the edge of a ditch ha ha... realizing I was too close to the road I made a quick decision. instead of running back to the car where sister thinn was I saw the ditch and decided to jump it... (stupid I know...) anyways.. I jumped the ditch... it was mudd from all of the rain and instead of landing on hard ground I slid into the ditch and landed in water... thankfully only to my shins.. ha ha but I was covered in Mudd... The car that was coming started to slow down to see if I was okay... realizing that they would ask questions I decided to get out of the ditch and run back to the car... We did so and the minute I got back inside sister thinn and I looked at each other and both said "what are we doing?!?!?" We could not stop laughing but we realized how dumb we were being and stopped trying to get the kitten... bad thing... I landed in stinging nettle ha ha so we had to go back into town and we went to the family grocer.... where... miracles we ran into our investigator Erika that we have not seen in a while.... So considering that neither of us have any clue what got into us... we figure that we needed a reason to go to the store so stinging nettle was that reason for us... weird but sooooooo funny.
So I don't share this because it was dumb ha ha because it was... but wanted to show that miracles are found in EVERY situation! cool huh? It was an amazing week and we cannot wait for this upcoming week! Don't worry no catnapping will be involved in our week :) 
I love seeing miracles in God's work and I love being a missionary!
I hope you all have an amazing week! 
I love you all soooooo much!
Love always, 
Sister Jenn Franzen

Week Ending February 9th, 2015

Dear Family and Friends
This week was so amazing! I LOVE working with Sister Thinn. She is such a hard worker and she loves the Lord so much. We saw so many miracles this week. We worked hard and saw miracles while tracting every night. We still had the usual "not interested" and door slams that I have gotten the last 7 weeks here in Duvall, but this week was different! We taught 35 lessons and 16 were other lessons! We got 4 new investigators and two of which accepted a baptism invite. Only one is on date currently and we put her on date this morning in an apt. Duvall is on fire! We received 6 referrals from members and this morning another member asked us if we may come have dinner sometime soon with her and her non member Father. The ward is trusting us and the work is moving forward. 
Training is going great! I feel like Sister Thinn came pre-trained. Before we would even discuss training and her focus areas she would bring them up and ask questions. She is so eager to learn and she has such a love for missionary work. I love hearing her testimony of the Book of Mormon and baptism. She is so powerful. I learned so much about the importance of keeping and extending commitments this week. We have people to teach and I have been brought to tears of Joy more then once this week.  Miracles are happening and I know it is the hand of the Lord.  I love serving here in Duvall. Here is some insight into some of our miracles this week:
Katherine- So while we were out tracting this week we knocked a street with no sucess... We had about 30 min. left of our finding time and we were finishing up the street we were on. We talked to a lady and she told us she was not interested in learning about a church but she gladly accepted the offer to pray with her and let us pray for her sick mother. While we were praying with her her neighbors came home. So after we left her house we decided to go and talk to her neighbors as well. I am SO glad we did! We met this amazing woman named katherine. She is so sweet and so prepared. She told us that she has many LDS friends, one of which has a son on a mission right now. She talked to us about how the family is so important to her and she has noticed a huge focus on families within our church. We shared the Family: a Proclamation to the world with her. https://www.lds.org/topics/family-proclamation She agreed to read it. We also talked about church and she let us knkow that she is searching for a church right now! PERFECT! We invited her to church and then we sang for her. We sang "Nearer my God to thee" She teared up and told us that her brother in Law had been diagnosed with brain cancer that day and she wasn't sure how they were going to get through and we  just happened to bring a good message. We said a prayer with her and then she asked us to keep her Brother in Law in our prayers. We were able to go a step further and help her put her Brother in Law's name in the temple. It was so good to be able to help her to know and feel that people care, God cares, and prayers will be said for their family!
Collinwood Family- so a good half of our area is in the "boonies". Sister Thinn and I have decided as a companionship that when we go finding at 5, we spend the first lit hour in the boonies and when it gets dark we go to lit streets. At first we were scared of this prospect because dang some of those houses look like a man is going to run out after us with a rifle... not to mention there are no trespassing signs and mudd up to our ankles... everywhere... oh ya duvall is an ADVENTURE! Anyways we were tracting and we walked up to this house with a super long driveway... and before we can knock on the door a man answers and he is straight hippie.... first thing out of his mouth: "girls come in, get out of the rain!" Next thing we know his wife is rushing forward with handmade lotions and soaps and telling us "Here is a gift from one christian to another" So not what we expected. We started talking to them, and low and behold... they are looking for a church to go to! They are starting out a farm and building it and we are going back this week to help them build a pen for sheep ha ha awesome... never a dull moment here.
Temple names- Mom gave me names to take to the temple a few months ago and to be honest,.... I lost them. I have been searching for weeks for them with no luck. I really felt pressed to find them today. I searched everything I could think of. I said a prayer and continued to search. Finally I decided to go back to my personal study and search after. I opened the Book of Mormon and started reading about a war of all things and instantly knew where to look for the temple names! Talk about revelation through the Book of Mormon! Booyah! (I will get you the names soon mom ;) )
Mcbride Family- So there is a family in the ward here that I have been praying so hard to see. The mom died suddenly of a heart attack in september and she was in her early early 40's... devastating... anyways, in order to visit them we needed to take a woman over 16 and things have just not been working out for that. Last night we were at a different members for Sunday dinner, and who should join us, but the MCBRIDES!!!! I instantly knew my prayers had been answered and we got to share a message with the McBride family ;) God is so good!
Kassi, Robyn, Gail- These are 3 of our new investigators!!! Best part? They all three met with missionaries before. We knocked on their doors to see how they were doing and without saying hardly anything they all three ASKED for us to come back and teach them more! GOD IS PREPARING PEOPLE FOR US TO TEACH! P.s. we had an apt. with Gail this morning and she accepted a baptismal invite... WAHOO!!!!! Miracles ;)
Ukrainian Family-So this miracle is sort of bitter sweet. Sister Miller is originally from Ukraine and speaks fluent Ukrainian as well as Russian... We knocked on a door and got a 15 year old girl. We introduced the Book of Mormon to hear and we sang her "I am a child of God" We asked if we could come back and she hesitated and then told us her dad was a pastor of a "church of Jesus Christ". Her dad then came down and invited us in.... to tell us that we were drinking posion and damnation to our souls. Mind you all of this was being translated to us because he did not speak english.He said he was a prophet and if we read just the new testament (no old testament) then God would tell us who our husbands would be, and we would not need to wonder... um.... hmmm.... He told us that we don't read the bible and that we did not know what we read.... I tried to explain our Love for the Bible AND the Book of Mormon, but he did not understand. He kept saying that when we read the Book of Mormon "mormon's spirit is behind it and telling us what to do, not God. We tried to share scriptures that talk about how truth comes from God and that He will not ever deceive us... but he would not listen. He finally asked us to leave the Book of Mormon and never pick it up again. Sister Thinn and I realized that trying to explain things to him did not work, and he would not let us share anything from the Book of Mormon... The miracle you ask? We turned to the only thing we had left... our Testimony. We both bore powerful testimony of the Book of Mormon and how it has blessed our lives and our family. We talked of how it testifies of our savior and Brother Jesus Christ. We were able to testify that because of the Book of Mormon we know that our families can be together forever and we know that God's plan is for his children. When we bore testimony it was the only time he looked us straight in the eye and did not need translation from his daughter. I can't explain it but he understood. He thanked us. He then sang us a song and had a prayer with us asked our Father to watch over us and keep us safe. It was a very sweet testimony to me that the spirit it the best teacher. My explanations and historical knowledge of the scriptures can do nothing... but my testimony can. The spirit helped him to know that we do know our Savior and that we love him. He  understood that we were not there to tear down his faith but that we wanted to remind him that he is a beloved son of God and that God  has a plan for him. It was a very sweet experience. 
Dan Vann- Dan vann is an awesome man that we met tracting. We had another night with no success... We  had 10 min. left of finding and a dark street. We decided to knock on the doors anyways. Got one door slam and then kept moving. We knocked on one and no answer... so we rang the door bell... Dan answered and he was one of the most pleasant and prepared people I have met. Right before knocking on his door we asked our Father in Heaven to guide us to someone that was prepared and we asked him to fill our mouths with his words. As we talked to Dan we were able to ask him about what Christ's atonement means to him and we had an amazing conversation with him. This led to introducing him to the Book of Mormon, The restoration of the gospel, we talked about the doctrine of Christ and we invited him to be baptized... and... he accepted! He is reading the Book of Mormon and He and his wife plan to come to church this next week! MIRACLES! 
AH DUVALL IS NOT DEAD! 6 weeks of door slams has finally paid off! We are teaching and miracles are everywhere! 
I have this joke that I have been telling myself and it is coming true... I love it... "I want to finish my mission like abinadi...on fire" ;) 

I love my mission and I cannot wait for what the next 4 weeks bring! 
I love you all so much! May God bless you all and keep you safe!

Love Sister Jenn Franzen

Week Ending February 2nd, 2015

Hello Everyone!
So it was the weirdest thing last night... It was silent... EVERYWHERE! Clearly... we lost. DANG IT! The seahawks pride is still alive and well though! From colored hair to everyone wearing seahawks attire.... Seattle is still blue and green. So bummed we lost... ha ha I really hope that people don't stay too grumpy for too long this week... We need to find people to teach ;)
So as I mentioned this last week transfers came and Sister Miller and I were going to have another transfer together!!! Well God is good and he had other plans. Sister Miller has been dealing with some health concerns over the past 6 weeks and she has been working hard to fight them and stay on her mission. They have been weighing on her though and God knew that. On Friday night we got a phone call from President Choi saying that Sister Miller was going home the next day. I was absolutely devastated! I know that it is what is best for her. Earlier in the week Sister Miller and I had a really awesome spiritual experience where we wrote "letters to God" and we waited and listened to the spirit and wrote his response back to us. We each wrote our own letters but after that exercise we both knew that God had a plan in store and that he was taking care of Sister Miller. Sister Miller felt strongly that she was supposed to go home, but she was very torn because she loves Duvall and wanted to finish the transfer out with me since it is my last. When she told me this I prayed and asked Heavenly Father how I can help and I felt very strongly that I needed to support her. We worked hard all week long. Her health just kept getting worse though. So we were both shocked to get the call unexpectedly from President Choi, but it truly was for the best. God truly does have a plan, and He took action. She is home now and doing well. I have a new companion named Sister Thinn. She is from a small town in Arizona called Kayenta. It is on the Navajo reservation. Yup she is Native American.... Ready for the next surprise... I'm Training again! Sister Thinn has been out for 7 weeks... so I am finishing up her training. God sure does have a sense of humor and a plan to keep me motivated to the end. 
This last week Sister Miller and I got to do a lot of service for people here in Duvall. We helped out at Acres of Diamonds (The womens center) and we LOVED it! That is one of our highlights to our weeks. We also got to help sort seeds into small packets for a local farmers seed convention coming up! Ha the helpers got me to eat the seeds to "taste if they were good"... They kind of all tasted like dirt to me... ha ha. 
Sister Miller introduced me to two Ukrainian specialties this week... A Ukrainian Poppyseed bread, and a Ukrainian sausage.... oh they were so so so good! I LOVED IT. 
Sister Thinn and I are working to find some people to teach this week. We could use lot of prayers in that regard... 
I am extremely sad to have lost Sister Miller out here I really love her and we got along great! Sister Thinn is very sweet though and I look forward to getting to know her and learning from her. On to another great week in Duvall!

I Hope you all have an amazing week and I will write more next week!
Love always, 
Sis. Jenn Franzen

p.s. This is one of my fav. scriptures from the week! D&C105:14
14 For behold, I do not require at their hands to fight the battles of Zion; for, as I said in a former commandment, even so will I fulfil—I will fight your battles.
The Lord is on our side and if we trust in Him and call on His name, He will fight our battles. He loves us and desires our happiness! Of this I testify in the name of our Savior, Jesus Chrsit, Amen. 


 Saying Goodbye to Ssiter Miller
 My new companion and I... we went shopping ha ha 

Week Ending January 27th, 2015

Well Transfer Calls came in last night... I never have to go to a transfer meeting again.... weird.... And, we didn't get transfer calls! Sister Miller and I are both staying in Duvall! Wahoo! Another awesome transfer. By the end of my mission I am going to be So good at tracting and talking to people that have heard of missionaries SO many times.... Ha I am learning and growing  A LOT here. Sister Miller and I had a good week getting members involved in missionary work, and visiting people that have not been to church in a long time. Weird to think that I will Die in Duvall... But there are AWESOME members here and a lot of work to be done. 
We got to help Sister Centeno a lot this week and as always she taught us more then we taught her. It was such a good week of learning and growing. She taught us a lot about helping everyone around us. 
Here is a miracle that we saw in Duvall this week:

Miracles!!! We have been praying all week to know who to take to the member and missionary fireside. We have a 
less active woman in our ward that we really wanted to take and we knew she would benefit greatly from going... The 
Catch is... She didn’t identify herself as being less active... We prayed so hard things would work out but at 540 on 
Sunday night we had not heard back from her... But lo and behold miracles do exist!!! Not only did this less active get 
back to us at 6:05 and say she wanted to come, but her best friend who is another member of our ward pitched in and 
decided to drive all of us last minute... We made it on time and those two women felt the spirit big time. On the way 
home we had an amazing spiritual conversation and the less active realized that she needs to come to church! She 
acknowledged that she has not been going and that she needs too! Yahoo! :D 
–Redmond, Duvall

I am so sorry this weeks email is so short. I was helping my companion earlier to type a letter... and I lost track of time. More next week I promise. 
 This is Dominque Centeno. We get to help take care of her during the week. She has such a sweet spirit and I learn so much from her. She died as a baby and was brought back, but due to the lack of oxygen after dying she lives very similar to a cerebral palsy child. She cannot speak and has no control of her body.... She can gesture to things with her eyes and wave her right hand. She is such a sweet girl though. Her mother gave us two of her necklaces this week so we can always remember her. I love being able to grow close to those around me and I love that Dominque is able to connect with us spiritually! It was a great week!
Love Sister Franzen

Week Ending January 19th, 2015

So I have decided that I am a good luck charm.... The two super bowl seasons that I have been here, the sea hawks have gone to the Superbowl. Apparently that has not happened in a super long time... so naturally it's me... I am just their "good luck". ;) In honor of the Seahawks this email will be blue and green ha ha yup... I've become a fan... (only because they win ;) ) ha ha ha 
So Many good things happened this week! To start off with.. Erika. Okay so about a week ago there was a really nice lady that we met in the grocery store named Erika. She told us that she loved missionaries and that she wanted to meet with us sometime. Well another customer came up and interrupted us so we did not get her address... We went back almost every night trying to catch her... and NOTHING! So fast forward three days later and we were planning for the night. Sister Miller said something about trying a potential named Erika the next day.. to which I asked... "Erika? as in THE Erika?" Sister Miller then said: " I don't know lets try..." So that is what we did. We went and knocked on this door and prayed so hard that Erika would be the one to answer.. And.... when the door opened..... It wasn't Erika... So sorry I just got you all hooked and then to let you down like that... ha imagine us... we were standing face to face with not Ericka but Jared.... A red headed, single father man.... so not Erika... It's okay we did not let that get us down we talked to Jared and we offered to share a message about Jesus Christ with him. He was not interested but we did hold a conversation with him for a bit about Duvall and how it was a quaint little community... Then he told us that he has lived here is whole life, and he lived here even before Safeway existed. So naturally we asked if he went to Redmond to get food before then and he told us that a small grocery store called Family Grocer has been around for years (The grocery store where we met Erika.) He then went on to tell us that his mother happens to work there!!! We were getting really excited by that point. So we asked him if his mom happened to be named Erika... He then said "Oh no Colt (Name of his little boy) They found us... they know grandma!" AH MIRACLE!!! So after we left and said goodbye to Jared and Colt we raced to Family Grocer to catch Erika! We even found something to buy so we would have "a purpose" to be there... but alas she was not working that night. And she will not be working until this next Friday... but we know her schedule now ha ha (creepy?) and we will be able to get in touch with her again!
We helped a lady in our ward a lot this week named Sister Centeno. I absolutely love this women. She has such a deep love of the savior and she is an amazing example of how the atonement changed us... She left the church years ago and didn't want anything to do with God for 30 something years... but then her heart was softened and she came back and she is one of the strongest people I know. We go to serve her each week and I swear that when we go she helps us spiritually more then we help her. This week she bore the most sincere and powerful testimony of how God still speaks to us and provides healing to those around us. She told us about her sister that passed away a few years ago that led a rough life full of drugs and alcohol. Sister Centeno told us that she lived in fear every day of losing her sister to those vices... but she didn't unfortunately one night when her sister was drunk she was hit by a car and left in a wheel chair after being in a coma for a year. Sister Centeno had the opportunity to care for her sister, to feed her, bath her, take her tot he doctors, etc for the rest of her life. She was still sound in mind but stuck in a body that did not respond anymore. The nurses that cared for her sister told her after she passed away from MRSA, pneumonia, and her organs slowly shutting down.... :( That Sister Centeno's sister who had never believed and God, and never felt bad about how she treated her kids, or her family... found forgiveness and change. For the last month of her life she would talk in her sleep to God and plead for forgiveness of her sins. And only when she had found that healing did she leave this world. This was such an amazing example to me of how change is possible for all, and it is never to late. We cannot force anyone to change... that would be against their agency. All we can do is love them, let them live the way they want to and be there for them when they decided to seek forgiveness, healing, and family. It was a good lesson.. I loved that Sister Centeno also had the opportunity to see a different side of her sister. She ended with a sincere testimony of the Resurrection and how her sister will be whole. Her kids will not have a mother that is a drug and alochol addict. She found forgiveness here and the addictions will not follow.  That was such a sweet testimony to hear. 
So Tracting this week was quite interesting... We got almost every door slammed in our face ha ha.... one door a 9 year old answered said "oh!" closed the door and locked it and then stood in the window looking at us until we left ha ha apparently we are scary and everyone should run from the Mormons ;) It was funny.... It was super hard on my companion though. :/ I know that many people here in this area are very familiar with the church and are tired of missionaries knocking on their doors... but I can't and I won't stop until I know that every single person has the opportunity to learn about Jesus Christ. He makes the entire difference and He changes us. I want everyone to know that and have that chance. We sand for a lady and her little boy and he ran away while we sang... ha ha I thought we did a good job though. We sing in English and Russian and I think it sounds really pretty together :)
A less active lady in our ward refilled all my essential oils this week! HALLELUJAH! and ah she is so sweet she made me a special blend for kidney stones, and she gave me every form of on guard there is since I get sick a lot. She hooked my companion and I up! I have never had so many oils in my life! I am in heaven ;) 
We had a stake relief society fireside last night where a motivational speaker came. I learned so much from her. She has had cancer twice and she is so positive. I wanted to include some things that she said:
"Extraordinary people survive extraordinary circumstances... and they become even more extraordinary because of it!"
 "Your future is as bright as your faith" Thomas S. Monson
"We never have to carry our burden on our own. We can ask our Father for his help and protection"
"My Faith will ALWAYS be more contagious then any disease we can have"
"We all need a little more: 1. Faith, 2. Hope, 3. prospective, 4. Humor, 5. Good judgement, 6. Service. "
"It's not what they take away form you that counts... it's what you have left."
"A change of understanding can bring a change of behavior"
She was such an amazing speaker! 
Well that is all I had to share with all of you! I love you all so much and I hope that you have an amazing week. I will talk to you all next week! 
Love Sister Jenn Franzen

Week Ending January 12th, 2015

Hello Everyone! So This last week was... Slow... Ha Duvall could use some prayers.. We arn't really teaching anyone right now... but we WILL BE! We did some fun things this last week though.... 
On Tuesday morning we had a meeting in Bellevue. We woke up early to beat the morning traffic... but Duvall was COMPLETELY backed up.. That is strange since it is "off the beaten path" But it was so dark and foggy that we didn't think anything of it and we tried to get out of the back roads... They were all blocked off.... So we turned around and sat in traffic for almost 2 hrs for what would normally be a 40 min drive... Here's why: Duvall floods.... Not just one street and not just a little flooding... The whole valley... appx. 5 ish miles were complexly submerged in water! The back roads were blocked off because they were all under water. Our apt. is on a hill so we had not clue! Oh it was an adventure getting out of town. Apparently this is a common occurrence here in Duvall. So that was fun... Anyways after our conference we got to help a family in our ward lay tile! oh ya I am getting to do construction ;)
We got a new investigator on Wednesday. Her name is Donna. We have been doing service for her for a few weeks and finally asked if we can teach her more about the gospel and she accepted! wahoo! We provided some service at the womens shelter this week as well. (shelter for abused and battered women.) I really enjoy doing that. There is a lady in our ward that has a special needs daughter and we got to go and help her mom make dinner and we sang for her daughter. She reminds me a lot of Britney wilson. The Daughters name is Dominique. She has CP and she is such a sweet person... I think she is the closest we can get to Heaven... Not a bad bone in her body. Anyways we got to spend a lot of time with her and that was really special. We have started arranging some hymns to sing for people here in Duvall. I sing in English and my comp. sings in Russian! IT sounds really cool. I am learning a lot about different cultures. My companion and I are similar in a lot of ways but culturally we are different. It is cool to learn about the traditions and things that she has grown up with. ;) 
We got a surprise visit from president Choi to our Apartment this week. That was nerve racking ha ha thankfully our apartment was spotless! proud mom? Cleaning skills have paid off ;)
The Binghams (Senior couple I served with back in Overlake Bellevue) came to Duvall for a visit. We got to give them a tour of Duvall! That was a blast. 
This morning we went on a mission walk. As a mission we walked about Green lake in seattle. It was a 2.5 mile walk and we did it as a group in 50 min all wearing our mission shirts. I am sure it was quite the sight! It was fun. 
Excited for a new week and new adventures! 
 I saw this video on Lds.org and thought it was SO cute! Enjoy!
 I love you all! Have a great week!
Sister Jenn Franzen

Week Ending January 5th, 2015

hello Family and Friends!
I am so sorry this weeks email will be sooo short! My companion had a doctors appointment in Seattle today and so we don't have as much time to email...  But I do want to share something with all of you... 
So I know this will be short but stay with me... This week I really thought a lot about the Atonement of Jesus Christ.. We always talk about how because of Jesus Christ we can be cleansed from our sins... but I could not help but think that there was more to it then that. 
I had a companion that told me that Christ suffered so we could know Joy too. I thought about that a lot this week and it finally made sense. If Christ had not gone through the Atonement that We would not know what it means to be happy because we would be stuck in sin and misery all the time. But because of our savior we not only can be cleansed of sin but we can also feel true and everlasting Joy. We NEVER have to go through anything on our own, and we should not have to either. Accept the sacrifice of Christ.. embrace it and share your love for him with others... He truly is the best thing that has ever happened to us...
So sorry this is so short. more next week. 
I love you all with all my heart! 
Love Sister Franzen

Week ending December 29th, 2014

Dear Family and Friends, 
okay there is SO much to catch up on... so bear with me.. I hope I do a good job... 
To start off with our first Sunday here in duvall was CRAZY! We spoke in sacrament, and We were asked to teach relief society as well. It was a hectic day and quite a welcome to the ward... We were asked to teach in RS about how we keep Christ the center of Christmas... Mom we stole the star box idea that you used while we were growing up and we made a square box ha ha... but it was covered in pictures of Christ... We passed it around RS and had all the women "given a gift to Christ" for the year 2015 :) It was really awesome to hear what all the women want to give to our savior this year. 
So a member gave us a baby Christmas tree... that thing was very full of ornaments ha ha it was fun to decorate it though... i attached a picture (actually you all get a lot of pictures this week ;) ) So it turns out that Sister Miller has a tradition of getting Christmas oranges in her stocking just like we do! For her, an orange was the only present they got in the Ukrainian orphanage. It really meant a lot to her. they got a big orange and a few small candies in a box. As she grew up the big orange made her think of Christ and how he does so much to "fill us" and how little he asks of us (little candy surrounding) She shared this in her talk... and said that Christ was her big orange... Our ward cannot get over that... they bring it up in every conversation now ha ha. 
Oh another fun thing that happened this week... We made sushi! I had Sushi for the very first time. Salmon California rolls (No shellfish)... honestly they were good... but bland. It was weird to think that I was eating raw fish... but I didn't get sick... so oh well ;) It was a fun adventure. 
I taught Sister Miller to Crochet this last week. She and I made two small lap blankets for the people we had Christmas eve dinner, and Christmas dinner with. It was fun but stressful... I don't recommend 48 hrs. to make two lap blankets.... 
Oh we got to make cookies with a family in the ward to deliver around town. While we were there they showed us their sons Christmas present... A tiny turtle! Their son loves turtles but the Mom did not want a big one so they researched and found the smallest turtle they could.. It was TINY! That was fun. 
Christmas Eve we went caroling with missionaries and had a good time. We found a house that reminded me of Chevy Chase's Christmas... basically it looked like it had been thrown up on by lights.... and blow up figures.... 
Christmas eve was sooooo much fun! We had dinner with a family called the seamons. They made us a "traditional" English Breakfast with Yorkshire pudding and all.. IT WAS SOOOOOO GOOD! Not gluten free... but SO GOOD! It is on my list to find a way to make gluten free yorkshire pudding! That night we got to do a live nativity with them... but it was different. They had us draw a story out of a hat from the Bible and Book of Mormon that had to do with the birth of the savior... so not just Luke ch.2 My companion and I pulled 3 Nephi Ch. 1 out of the hat. This is where Non Believers doubt the coming of Christ and set a day and time in which all the believers would be killed if the signs of Christ's birth did not come to pass. A prophet named Nephi prays mightily to the Lord and asks him to save his people. The Lord comes to him and tells him to fear not, and that his son will be born that evening. As the sun went down sure enough it did not get dark, and a new star appeared in the sky! The sign was fulfilled and the believers lived! So to act it out we read the story in a little script we wrote.. and then at the end of the story we talked about how Angels rejoiced at the coming of the savior. Sister Seamons (Womens house we were at) turned on a cello and violin Silent Night piece and I got to Dance... REALLY DANCE! It felt so good... I am sure that I was still rusty but I didn't care... It felt so good to dance again and to dance as though I were one of the Angels that witnessed the birth of our Savior. It felt so good.. 
After the Nativity... Elves came and brought our Christmas eve present of... PAJAMAS! ha ha Even though I celebrated Christmas eve with a different family, I still got my pajamas... but these pajamas are farm pants... ha ha Sister Seamons made us farm pajamas so we could always remember Duvall Washington! ha ha Oh and we go mission shirts that Say High Expectations and Washington Seattle mission on the back, and have WSM on the front in the shape of the temple! so cool
So I was spoiled this Christmas! Thank you all for the cards, gifts, and love! It was an awesome Christmas! Apparently it's obvious that I get super cold ha ha I was given two blankets for Christmas... One was a crochet blanket that I admired at a ladies house. She is not a member of the church and we went over to provide service for her. I told her that her work was beautiful. We dropped a plate of cookies by for some Christmas cheer, and she told us to wait a second... she went inside and came back with the blanket and told me that after I left she kept thinking that she wanted me to have it and was hoping we would come by again! So SWEET! 
Christmas day was great! We got to skype our families and my companion even got to skype her family in Ukraine! We played games, ate food, and then visited members! It was a great day! 
The day after Christmas my companion decided we should rag curl our hair... oh big mistake I looked like Shirley temple! I tried to brush it out.... oh bigger mistake... my hair was HUGE!!! I attached pics. Never Doing that again ha ha
So i attached some pics of duvall... there is a broken down wagon as the welcome sign to duvall ha ha... boonies....
oh fun/not so fun adventure of the week... my companion and I did not get to go to church this week. She woke up on Saturday with an allergic reaction to something but decided that it was not too bad and did not worry about it... Well Sunday morning she woke up and her mouth was three times the normal size, she could not close it, and she had hives all over her body. So... We went to urgent care... She had to get Epinephrine, benadryll, prednizone. Oh my poor companion.. She was NOT a happy camper... but now everything is back to normal and she is fine. She let me attach a picture ha ha so no worries... i had permission. 
So we had a member and missionary fireside last night and I got to see JILL! and BLANCA and TIFFANY! Oh I was so happy i almost cried! I love those women so much! i can't wait to see them again in January!
Oh it was a good week! can't wait for 2015!!! Good things to come!
I love you all!
Love always
Sister Jenn Franzen