Had a fun night with the Young Women last night.

The value for March is Individual worth and I wanted the girls to do something that would help them think about what wonderful young women they are, so I found this idea of making a journal jar. It was all questions about them that told their young life history.

It turned out to be pretty fun. We would pick one of the questions, then go around and have all the girls answer what they thought about it. I think they enjoyed telling a little bit about their selves and got to know each other a little better.

It was neat to hear what the girls hopes and dreams are. Each one of the girls is so unique and different from the others. It was cool to hear them respond to each others answers. They were really supportive of each other and gave lots of positive feed back. "Wow you really are a good singer...I heard you at the school performance doing a solo" "I think that's neat that you are good at so many different sports" "I bet that is so fun to get to work with animals every day!" "I think that's cool that your learning how to cook and cater parties" "I've seen your modeling pictures...they are really great!" "You taught yourself to play that piano? that's really cool!" "You're good at the guitar and the piano!"

I was so impressed with each one of the girls and the sweet spirit that was there as they lifted each other up.

Caitlin doing her ROTC moves. So glad she came...she doesn't make it very often so I was thrilled when she showed up. She is always so much fun and is a good leader to the other girls.

Jenny is so good with the girls. She always makes sure each one feels welcome. The girls love her because she is so fun and cares about each one of them.
It was so funny when the girls were showing me the text message Jenny had sent them to remind them about last night's activity. She has texting skills that are about like mine. She said she was trying to be hip and use all the abbreviations the kids use but it didn't turn out quite right. We all had a good laugh over that. The girls told us it would probably be better if we didn't even try! HA! What ever!


I took these cookies to YW on Sunday and they all said they wanted to learn how to make them so we did that too. Just a funfetti cake mix, but always a winner. The rainbow chip frosting is the key. If I could put that on everything I eat, I think I would be very happy.

Faith is such a doll. I could tell she was feeling kind of sad last night, so I got talking to her and found out that Leslie had just been told that the store was closing the day before. I think she probably had an idea because she does their books, but Faith said it was really hard on her. She has worked there for a long time. She said she feels like they were blessed though because Harold came home that same day and said that he had gotten a raise!

Anyway, Faith is a pretty special person. So glad to have her for my friend and next door neighbor. She always has a smile and a hug for me and tells me that she loves me. I love her too! I so enjoy serving with these special young women!

I Got to spend this last weekend with mom. I always love driving into Cache Valley...it's such a pretty place...it looks like something that should be in a painting hanging on the wall.

Even before the springtime turns the mountains green, they are so beautiful. From a distance, the bare trees look like they would feel like a soft brush if you ran your hand along the top of them. (I guess you would have to be a giant or God to do that, but that's what it reminds me of)

It's still pretty cold up there...they must not have gotten the memo that it's the first day of spring! Mom still has quite a bit of snow around her house, mostly just where the sun doesn't shine. Her rock garden is still sleeping. I didn't see any bulbs coming up, but they might be buried under the dead stuff. ( or it could be because it's still 25 degrees up there!) We didn't get the garden cleaned out very well last fall, so there's a lot of work to do.

We had a real nice relaxing few days together. Just a few minutes after I got to her house, her visiting teachers came by. They are really sweet and are good to look in on mom. We visited for a while, then the younger sister gave the message. It was on strengthening our faith through personal scripture study. She told us that her and her husband were preparing to go to the temple and this was one thing her bishop has asked them to do. She said she was having a hard time doing this until she read a certain part of this lesson. They have a little girl and the lesson tells that our children are growing up surrounded by temptations that will urge them to abandon what is right and follow the pleasures of the world, unless they have a firm foundation in the gospel and testimony of the truth. It says that it is our responsibility to teach our children and give them this foundation. It really struck her that she needed to learn herself and gain a testimony of it so she would be able to teach her daughter.

It was a good message and I am glad I was there to hear it!

Mom seemed pretty good most of the time I was there. There were a few times when she was pretty confused...would forget how to do simple tasks, but for the most part, her mind was pretty clear. She is really shaky on her feet though. When she first stands up, her legs start to give out and she has to sit down again. One time as I was helping her to the bathroom, she was just barely moving, and getting more and more bent over till I was afraid she would go right over on her head, she just stopped completely and just stood there. I said "are you ok mom?" she said "I'm just no good anymore" Oh that about broke my heart. I tried to assure her that she was still very good, but her legs were just getting tired. She doesn't get down on herself very often, and can usually laugh about things like that, but this time I could see that she was feeling pretty sad. I went in the east room to wait for her to get done in the bathroom, and saw this book of old songs sitting on the piano. I sat down and started to play some of them and a few minutes later, mom came walking into the room singing the song I was playing. "I love you most of all because you're you!" She sang and I played everything I could find that we knew. It seemed to lift her spirits and her tired legs were forgotten for a while.

I tried to get a little cleaning done around the house. The bathroom carpet is pretty bad again. I wish we had taken it out and put in something easier to clean. I cleaned off mom's dresser in her room and dusted and vacuumed everything. I don't think that had been done for a while.

Her poor house is in pretty bad shape. There's just a lot of little things that need to be repaired... it's missing my dad. He kept the house and yard in perfect repair. I don't think there was anything he couldn't fix. I don't ever remember a repair man coming to our house....he just tried to figure things out for himself and worked at it till he got it done himself. He wasn't one to put things off either. He would always be doing something...it drove him crazy in the winter when he couldn't work outside. When he got older, he even took up latch hook to keep busy.

Anyway, the house needs a man's touch...I'm hoping Kelley will come with me next time and work on a few things.

Mom even sang me a little song about it:

This old house is getting feeble

This old house is getting old

This old house lets in the wind

This old house lets in the cold!

Later that night, Phil came over with his fiance'. Yes I said fiance'! Brenda had told me a few days before that Phil had been dating this girl for a little while, and had talked about marriage, but then her parents were called on a mission and were leaving in May, so they decided to get married before they left. They set the date for May 7.

She is a real cute girl and seems really nice too. I think she will fit right into the family.

Phil is so funny. He reminds me of K.C. the way he is with girls. He said she lives in the same building as he does and he actually was her home teacher. He said he had wanted to date her but was afraid to ask for fear that if it didn't work out he would still have to see her all the time, being her home teacher. I think she set him straight on that!

Mom was really impressed with her (she knew their family because her dad was mom's old stake president) and was real happy for Phil. So was I. He is such a good guy and deserves a real special girl. I think he found her.

We watched lots of Lawrence Welk and went to bed early cause I had to get up early to make it home for church. I got mom her Fosamax as soon as she got up cause she can't eat for a half hour after she takes it. I got her hair done, then asked her what she wanted for breakfast. "Oh I don't need to eat today" What?? "Why don't you need to eat today mom?" "Well what day is it today?" "It's Sunday...don't you eat on Sundays?" "NO, I don't need to eat anything" "It's not fast Sunday mom" "Oh well, ok. I guess I will have to eat then." Oh dear.

She didn't eat very much at all while I was there. I fixed things she said she liked, but she would only pick at them. I know she just doesn't have any appetite at all, so if someone isn't there with her, she doesn't eat.

So I fixed her some toast, an orange and some pero. I had to leave so it's probably still sitting there. It's hard to leave her like that. I'm grateful for the home health ladies that come in to help her out. She has got to where she likes them too and looks forward to their visits, which means so much to all of us girls.

Got home, threw on a dress and made it in time to teach my lesson in Young Women.

It was kind of cool because the lesson was on Patriarchal Blessings and Maggie had just got her's this morning. It was her birthday today too so that made it extra special.

I got the cutest letter in the mail from Olivia yesterday.

She had written one to Grampa and Chewy too.

Candice got a picture of a cat..it was really good! She loved it!

She can write her name really well!

Besides her being a young genius, I give a lot of credit to her mom and dad.

They spend a lot of time reading to her, playing with her, and just talking to her about what ever is going on. I think being the first child, you get a lot of attention and one on one time
that maybe the other kids don't, but I have a feeling Camille will be like this with all of her kids. She is such a good mom. She is forever patient with Olivia. It's pretty amazing to watch.

Totally made my day!

Sweet little family!

Tuesday night, Kelley and I went with the Young Women and Young Men to Temple square.

Here's a few pictures...bad phone camera pictures, but you get the idea.

One of the girls had never been to Temple Square before so it was a neat experience for her. I think we all enjoyed our time there.

I always enjoy visiting this room. There is a reverent, sacred feeling in the room and everyone feels it and is quieted as soon as they enter here. When you look up at the Savior's face and his outstretched hands, it's amazing! You can truly feel His love!

These two sister missionaries were our tour guides.

One from Arizona, and the other from Japan.

They were really sweet with the girls and bore powerful testimonies of the restoration of the gospel, Joseph Smith, and missionary work.

They took us in the tabernacle and talked about all the things that went on there. They asked the girls if they had a favorite talk that they remember from last General Conference. We were not in Utah for the last conference and I sure missed hearing them speak. I read the talks later, but it's not like hearing their words and guidance right from their mouths!

I love Conference time . We usually try to be at mom's for that weekend so we can watch with her. We try to get a little yard work done between sessions on Saturday too if weather permits.

I love the feeling of sitting there watching conference with my family, I don't know what it is, but it feels warm, secure, peaceful and happy.

We went into the theater in the visitors center and all the sister missionaries put on a real neat program for us. There were sisters from all over the world and they bore sweet testimonies of how they had heard about the church and had been converted. Then they had us all sing "Called to Serve" with them. (can't do it without bawling!) They finished with a verse they had made up talking about all the different countries they had come from...but the gospel was still the same where ever you go!




The Temple looked so beautiful!

Last night, the sister missionaries from our stake had dinner with us. It was a great experience for us to be with them.

One was from Mongolia...had just been out 3 months, so she is still working on the English.

The other one is from California. They have done some great work in our stake. There is a family in our ward that they have been working with that has agreed to be baptized and they had an appointment with them last night, so they couldn't stay too long.
They left us with a great message about faith.

I so admire the faith of these young sisters. The light of Christ shines in their faces as they confidently testify of this most important principle....with faith, miracles happen!

---------- Forwarded message ----------From: Kelley Carson Jensen <kelley.jensen@myldsmail.net>Date: Wed, Mar 17, 2010 at 7:26 AMSubject: Re: pictures from temple square and HaitiTo: Paula Jensen <paulajensen99@gmail.com>
Hey guys,
This was a really quick week, I can’t believe its Wednesday again. We had a really neat week. We had a good meeting with our Branch President and an investigator who has a wife and 3 kids, I really hope we can help him find the truth. And we had another meeting with this really neat investigator family. They all speak English, so we had a family home evening at one of our senior couple’s homes. In the family there is a woman and a son who is 19 and one who is 8. The 8 year old stood up and told us the story of David and goliath all in English, he’s way smart. And then the other son played the guitar, he was incredible. The best I’ve ever seen. Then the little boy played the violin and the older one played the guitar and the Mom sang a little and it was so great. I’m hoping we can help them find the truth too. We have been meeting with Aleksei almost every day, and he is just loving the gospel. He really wanted the teachings of Joseph Smith book so I talked to the mission leader and he got him a whole bunch of those books, he was excited. He just loves the truth and can tell when he hears it or reads it. I really want him to be baptized and he does to, but he is moving back to Moldova to a city where there is no branch right now. So that’s kind of scary to have him baptized and then just leave him on his own. I don’t know what to do. But we will figure it out with the Lords help. I found out yesterday that I am going to be with Elder Grover for another 6 weeks. I am going to Kieve on Monday too, can’t believe it’s already been 3 months. Last night we went to the theater. It was really interesting; the show was way funny even though I understood only in little parts. And Aleksei came with us so that was way cool. We wanted to do something nice for him because he has no money and all he does is meet with us and work and read the Church stuff...and maybe some Kung Fu some times. All good stuff of course, but it was good to give him something fun to do.
Love you guys, I really am doing great and I know that this is truly the Lords work.
Love Elder Jensen

It's over

My love affair with Walmart is officially over. I have been a huge fan for years...it was always my go to place for getting groceries, paper products, cleaning supplies, drugs, beauty and hair stuff. Everything is considerably less expensive than other stores, which is the main reason I go there.(Not to mention the fabulous people watching!...that place is like no other!)
I have to admit I am quite the tight wad. I always look at everything and try to get the best price I can. Kelley can get the shopping done in a fraction of the time I spend because he will just go in...find what he needs (regardless of the price) and buy it!
The kids used to hate shopping with me for these reasons:
1. I really like to get a good parking spot,(mental problem # 247) and will drive around for as long as it takes to get one.
2. I take kind of a long time deciding what to buy...I have to find the best price! I have anxiety attacks right there in the store if I can't find what I need for a good price. Lots of times, I just leave the store without getting what I came for if I think it costs too much. Oh boy I'll show them! Heaven help me
3. I like to use coupons and I'm not that organized, so it adds considerable time to my grocery shopping.
4. I would usually forget something, then have to leave the kids in the line with the cart while I would go and find it...(they can't go find it...they won't pick the best price!) O.K. I may need help.
5. Picking a line is another problem I have. I think it must be a curse or maybe I just have really bad luck that way, but what ever line I get in, something mysteriously happens that either slows the checker down to a snails pace or shuts her down completely. The silliest things have happened that slow the checker down, I just have to laugh. I've started telling people that get in line behind me that they might want to choose another line because the way my odds are, it's not going to be the speediest route.
6. Then there was the time I left Candice in the shopping cart. That's a story for another day.
I'm sorry Candice! Ok?
Anyway, I usually end up going to Walmart because they always have the best prices...even though many times, it is just pure madness in there. If it's really bad, or I don't have the strength, patience or time, I will go to Harmons and pay the price. Sometimes it's worth it to save my sanity.
Well back to my story. I went to Walmart on Saturday to get a few groceries. I got some turkey from the deli. I love their sun dried tomato turkey!
Well I went home and made myself a sandwich and as soon as I finished it, my stomach started to hurt. I mean the kind of pain that makes you want to curl up in a ball and cry. We were supposed to be going to the Temple to do sealings that afternoon, so I was hoping it would just pass. I knew I needed to stay close to the bathroom. After sitting there for about a half hour, with no action, I thought,, we might as well just go...it was going to hurt as bad at the Temple as it did at home. So we went. We were late (from waiting for me to get off the pot!) so they put us in with a different sealing group that was missing some people. I kept having pretty bad pains in my stomach, (kind of like childbirth, where they would come and go) I was sure hoping I could hold myself together till they were finished. Luckily, they finished a little bit early and I bee-lined it for the bathroom. Just in time! That's all I will say about that.
So on Monday, I took the turkey back to walmart. The greeter at the doors had to check my return and I told him how the turkey had made me sick. He said "Well you're not the only one! There have been several that have brought that turkey back." Then he went on to tell me that he would never buy anything from there unless it was pre-packaged. He said they don't keep it very clean back there and if something drops on the floor, they just pick it up and use it! Wow! I couldn't believe he was saying that to me! I had noticed when the guy was slicing the turkey, that he looked in the cooler, then didn't see the one I asked for and he turned around and it was sitting on the back counter. I don't know how long it had been out of the refrigerated area, but that should have been my first red flag.
So anyhow, I don't think I will be buying so much food stuff from Walmart anymore unless it's packaged. I can't give you up completely... but I'll be cutting way back... I sure had my eyes opened!

Kelley and I drove down to Orem Saturday night to have dinner with some of the men that went to Haiti and their wives. I can see now why he thinks so much of them.

One of the couples is working on adopting one of the little kids there. Another is already planning their next trip...trying to think of ways to raise funds to start their own foundation to help that specific orphanage. They all want to go back and at least put a roof over these kids head. With the rainy season starting, they are going to be in a bad way with just those tents.

You could tell they all had grown to love these people in the short time they were there.

It was great to hear their stories (lots of laughing!) and get to see more pictures from their trip.

I liked what Gail said when we were leaving the restaurant..."How great to be able to make new friends, that will probably be friends for life after the experiences they have shared together"

These were some pictures a young woman from Colorado had taken. She had gone to Haiti to work with a different foundation, but was kind of deserted by them, so the woman in charge of this orphanage (Rebecca) took her back to the orphanage with the group Kelley was with.

How could you not fall in love with these kids?

Good and Plenty

That pretty much sums up my life.

Yesterday, I came home to this nice surprise from my sweetheart...two of my favorite things!

He is so thoughtful and good to me.

Love my husband, love my life.