Rick worked hard on Jaiden's welcome video and I love the way it turned out! It contains some things that are definitely non-traditional and unique, but Mongolia is not your traditional mission!
Monday, February 17, 2025
Podcast of Sister Jaiden Jensen's Experiences in Mongolia!
Listen or download HERE!!
https://familystorypodcast.com/returned-missionary-podcasts
Scroll to Jaiden's picture (right now it is at the top) and then click on the "play" or "download" button!
Sunday, February 16, 2025
Jaiden's Missionary Homecoming
Sunday, February 16: Jaiden had been asked to report on her mission to the high council at 7:30 this morning. That was kind of stressful since we have 9:00 church and were trying to get ourselves ready, plus get everything ready for the luncheon (brunch) afterwards. So Rick, Jaiden, and I had to get up a little after 6:00 to get ready. Branson Averett got home from his mission last Thursday and so he reported to the high council also, and Brother and Sister Bryner, a senior couple who just returned from their mission in Maryland.
I could feel a cough attack coming on during Jaiden’s report and so
that was really stressful. I hadn’t brought water with me and vigorously sucked
on my cough drop and kept praying that I wouldn’t start coughing. My throat
finally calmed down, but I was too stressed to enjoy the rest of the meeting.
Thankfully I was okay during sacrament meeting!
We hurried home and Jaiden changed into her blue Mongolian
Deel for sacrament meeting. She did a great job on her talk and shared four
meaningful stories. I really enjoyed it! Jaiden's best friend, Emily Williams, sang Rick’s arrangement of “Go
Forth With Faith,” that Rick arranged and it was such a nice touch to the
meeting! Then Branson spoke and did well too. We actually ended about 8 minutes
early, but better early than late!!
I hurried home so that I could pull out the breakfast casseroles that
were warming in the oven. I cooked them yesterday, but then just put them in
the oven during church on 225 degrees. It didn’t feel warm enough to me and so
I turned the oven up to 350 and cooked them a little longer. It took 10-15
minutes for everyone to arrive anyway and so it worked out fine. When I pulled
those two casseroles out I cooked another one (that I hadn’t cooked yesterday). We had about 30 people and so 3 casseroles were about right.
The only ones I invited to the house after were family members and our good friends, the Williams. I told Jaiden that she could invite whoever she wanted. A senior couple, Berkeley and Erica Price, who served with
Jaiden in Mongolia came to her homecoming. That was nice of them! As we got
talking we realized that Berkeley is cousins with my former missionary
companion, Juliette Landsom Holdaway! So fun! We sent Juliette a picture of us
together with a little message.
Jaiden’s former SUU roommates did a re-creation of the photo
that they took on our front porch for Jaiden’s missionary farewell, which was
fun.
After everyone left we cleaned up and took naps and then I fixed Bambido Salad for dinner. Josh was able to talk to Jaiden over messenger for about an hour while I fixed dinner and then after dinner we had our zoom call with Josh. It was a wonderful day!!
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| Sister Price, Sister Jensen, Sister Udy (Jaiden's MTC Companion) |
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| Brother and Sister Price (Berkeley and Erica), Jaiden, Lille Bell |
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| Former SUU roommates: Jaiden, Alexis Avila, Josie Ballard, Emily Williams |
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| SUU Roommates: Jaiden, Alexis Avila, Josie Ballard, Emily Williams (Jaiden's Farewell 2023) |
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| Mongolian Nativity |
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| Brother Price (Juliette's cousin), Wendy |
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| Grandma Jensen, Jaiden, Julie Yearsley |
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| My brother, Shane's family with Jaiden: Calder, Shane, Alicia, Rella (Adria is not pictured since she is currently serving a mission in Oklahoma) |
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| Cute Everett wearing Jaiden's shoes |
Friday, February 14, 2025
Happy Valentine's Day!
Normally Rick does a big breakfast for Valentine's Day, but his flight from Reno was delayed (he was there interpreting for a conference earlier this week) and he would have gotten home at 3:00 a.m. or something. So I told him to stay over in Vegas and come home today. Jenna had Madrigals anyway (she did singing valentines with the Madrigals today) and Jaiden and I didn't really want to get up that early, ha ha. But he emailed me all of the love letters and I put them out with some candy!
I have had a cold this week and it is always worse in the morning. I was glad that my regular job was cancelled and that I only had one short appointment. I went to Costco and got a couple rotisserie chickens and some fruit and then came home and fixed a chicken and broccoli casserole for dinner.
Janika and Brandon arrived just in time for dinner. We then just cleaned up and visited. Jaiden went to the Red Cliffs Temple with Emily and out to Chick-fil-a. Jenna went out with Ethan, swing dancing, dinner, and hot-tubbing. They all had a nice time!
Saturday, February 8, 2025
Jaiden is home!!!
Today we finished making posters and cleaned the house (as much as we could family visiting and grandkids around). Then we headed to the airport! Jaiden's flight was due to come at 4:30 and so we left at 3:30 so that we would be there a half hour early. Rick had everyone practice “the chant” and we took some pictures and videos. We had invited our good friends, the Williams, to meet us at the airport and so waited with them. Emily Williams (Jaiden’s best friend) made a really clever newspaper article about Jaiden which was really fun! All of our kids were able to come, except for Josh of course, since he is on a mission, and Janika and Brandon's family. They are coming next week for her homecoming.
We waited for a few minutes and then she came! Right on
time! She walked out and then started running and I ran towards her and gave
her a big hug. We were both crying!! I have waited 18 months for that wonderful hug!! Then everyone came and hugged her and then
she hugged her dad and then got to hug the grandkids. It was so great seeing her
again!
Thankfully her luggage arrived and wasn’t delayed
for two days like Janelle’s was. Then we did the traditional “run through the
finish line.” This was a tradition (started by Rick, of course) that we did
with all of our kids (except for Janika. Janika was relieved and grateful that
this tradition didn’t pop up until after her mission, ha ha). Rick’s chant for
this year was “J-A-I-D-E-N finish the mission to the end!!” Janika had sent a marco polo a few days ago asking
if Jared and Janelle had warned their spouses about the “humiliation at the
airport.” Rick was aghast that she would
label it as such. Then Jared got on MP and chanted, “Jaiden Jaiden We’ve Been
Waiting!” Apparently Josh said that on his last family video chat as a possible
option. Then Rick said, “No, this is the way it is done…” and then showed a
marco polo of an entire seminary class (that he happened to be visiting) chanting
“J-A-I-D-E-N, finish the mission to the end!!” It was so funny. He was maybe
going to include it on her missionary video, but forgot, ha ha.
After we left the airport, Rick and I brought Jaiden over to the Stake President’s house for her release. It was our stake conference this weekend and so this quick release happened between the leadership meeting and adult session. President Nadauld discussed goals with Jaiden in three areas: spiritual, physical, and social. He encouraged Jaiden to become an ordinance worker in the temple, take an institute class, go to the YSA ward, continue with her education and graduate – and date.
We had a really nice discussion, and he had Jaiden share a special, meaningful experience from her mission and shared her testimony in Mongolian. He also had Rick and I share some of our thoughts. It was really nice. He didn’t have her remove her tag right there like the stake presidents did with the other kids. He said that she could take it off when she was ready. Maybe he allowed her a little extra time since she didn't get to wear her badge for most of her mission in Mongolia (except at zone conference). Missionaries in Mongolia are not allowed to wear their tags (unless they are from Mongolia) since they are there on a work visa. So sadly she didn’t have the same emotional attachment to her tag that some of her siblings did. He told her to put her missionary badge somewhere she could see it everyday to remind her of everything she experienced and learned on her mission.
When we came home Jaiden looked around the house and said, "Our house is SO big!! Many of the Mongolian homes are the same size as our garage!" I think she will be excited for consistent hot water and power!! While we were meeting with the stake president Jared picked up the Costa Vida order. Jaiden had requested Costa Vida for her first meal. It was a little expensive, but also took a lot of stress off not having to worry about preparing a big meal for everyone.
After a delicious meal we had Jaiden teach us a lesson. This is another tradition that Rick started years ago and I love it! I love hearing a beautiful lesson and testimony from our missionaries! She shared a really nice lesson on faith and shared her testimony in Mongolian. Then Jaiden shared some Mongolian “treats” with everyone. She gave us Mongolian chocolate, a Max fun bar (Janelle described this as a “a party in your mouth”), some aarts (curd from sour milk), powdered packets of various flavors that you put in a cup of hot water (not sure what those are called), and Aaruul (dried curd). It was fun to see everyone’s reactions – especially Evan and Eli’s, ha ha! I was surprised that Jaiden stayed up as later as everyone else. In Mongolia she had a 12 hour train ride to the city and then went from there to the airport and then traveled from Mongolia to South Korea (3 hour 20 minutes). She thought, "I am in the same country as Josh!" Then Korea to LA (11 hours) and LA to St. George (1 hour 30 minutes). So 16 hours total in the air, plus lots of hours in layovers! They are a day ahead of us and so it shows her leaving and arriving on the 8th, but she was really traveling for two days.
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The next day Jaiden showed us the game, Shagai, that is played with sheep ankle bones. She had a whole bag of them! We are grateful that Jaiden had an amazing experience in Mongolia and are thrilled that she is safely home!
Thursday, February 6, 2025
Goodbye Sister Jensen (Video)!
(From Jaiden): One of my new members made this. And she got all the youth of the ward together and they threw me a surprise party it wad the best thing ever.
I'll send all the pictures when I get them, but here's the video she made (a lot of it is in mongolian haha but yea)So sweet!!! I sent it to my kids and Jared said, "I didn't know they added 1D to the missionary approved music. 😍" Let's just say that things are a little different in Mongolia, ha ha.
The Last One🛩 (Jaiden's last letter)
A year and a half
6 areas
8 apartments
11 companions
100's of friends
1000's of miracles
10000's of memories.
Whenever I read the scriptures and pondered a mission as a
kid, one of the goals I had in mind was to have the same experience as Ammon in
saying:
"Yea, I desire to dwell among this people for a time;
yea, and perhaps until the day I die."
To say I was terrified to come to Mongolia is an
understatement. It's easily the bravest thing I've done in my whole life haha.
But this place, these people, and their culture have stolen my heart. I will
forever be grateful for every day I was blessed with to be here serving them,
loving them, walking with them, teaching them, and learning from them. The
unconditional kindness they've shown to a stranger like me is amazing. They've
welcomed me into their homes, they feed me when I'm hungry, they warm me when
I'm cold, they support me when I'm tired, they comfort me when I'm sad.
As I look back on all the things the Mongolians have done
for me, I realize that every day that I spent with them, I was truly walking
with the savior. Every person I met has shown me an attribute of Christ. And
now that I take a step back and look at the big picture, the scripture Mosiah
2:17 sinks deeper in my heart. "When ye are in the service of your fellow
being, ye are only in the service of your God." That really was my goal
all along. To serve God. To teach his people. To share the joy that the gospel
brings to me in my life. And now as I take a step back I see that I was serving
God all along, through helping these Christlike amazing people recognize his
love and awareness of them and of their lives. This opportunity is a blessing
that I will forever be grateful for.
A few things I did:
Ate weirder foods than I ever have
Learned a new language воав
Was able to teach so many incredible people how to pray for
the first time
Spent hundreds of hours on busses and trains
Taught about 200 English classes
Got rides from strangers almost daily since everyone here is
a taxi driver
Learned how to navigate dirt paths of ger districts at
night
Called 600,000,000 referrals probs
Finished the Book of Mormon 4 times
Survived in sub -30° temperatures
Saw enough dead animals and bones on the ground to recognize
the bone and the animal it came from
Got sick so so so many times
To members I was Sister Jensen, Sister Jaiden, or Jensen Egch
To English students and kids, I was Jaiden, Bagsh, Anai, Bagshaa,
or just Jaiden
To Hulan I was Jaisen
To referrals on the phone, I was Jantsan
To Dambaa ah I was Anuhatan
To Elder Turbat I was Janet
To the drunk men on the streets, I was either a Russian,
German, Australian, Korean, Chinese, or American girl who when they saw me they
yelled "Jesus Amen Amen"
Saw wild horses, cows, pigs, and camels
Learned how to make buuz and tsoivan and boortsog and
sheep's head
Taught some Mongolians how to make cookies, sing, and dance
Celebrated Tsagaan Sar and Naadam dressed up in
traditional clothes
Ate so much food and got interviewed on the news 4
times
Now I would like to share a special experience that happened
tonight. Enkhuulei got baptized. As I'm sure some of you remember I few emails
back, I was really pretty down on myself because we had a lot of people
preparing for baptism this transfer, and it just wasn't working out and it was
making me pretty dang sad. But Enkhuulei was our miracle. Our new member
brought her to us and sat in every single lesson with us helping us teach.
Enkhuulei has a heart of gold, and an understanding of the gospel that is so
incredibly deep and amazing. Her baptism would've happened like a week after I
left, but she really wanted to get baptized before I went home. I wasn't sure
if it would happen, but we prayed for it every day. And tonight, I watched her
get baptized. The spirit was so strong as she shared her incredible testimony
that left me in tears. I'm so lucky to have been blessed with the chance
to teach her!
To all of you who made it this far into the email, thank you for all of the support. Now I understand the meaning of, "This show is made possible by viewers like you" Thank you for all of your letters, emails, prayers, and kind words. They meant the world to me.
My Homecoming is February 16th at 9:00 am at 3040 Santa Clara
Drive
All of you are welcome and I'd love to see you there
See you all so soon
bayrlalaa, bayrtai, hairtai shuu
систэр
жэнсэн
- made boortsog
- taught oyuntsetseg how to make cookies (she licked the raw
egg off her finger fr)
- dissy face mask night
- the nroth face guggi
- cow skull and a dog
- English class
- shagai️
- meetings
- enkhuuleis baptism
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| MTC District |
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| Sister Jensen and Sister Udy |
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| Sister Jensen and Sister Gearhart |
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| Sister Allen and Sister Jensen |
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| Teaching at the orphanage: Anna Home |
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| Tsagaan Sar |
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| Sister Jensen and Sister Boyle |
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| Sister Jensen and Sister Janyeguli |
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| MTC District reunited nine months in! |
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| Sister Bethers and Sister Jensen |
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| Nadaam |
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| Sister Jensen and Sister Swenson |
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| Sister Jensen and Sister Loosle |
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| Sister Jensen and Sister Burmingham |
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| Sister Jensen and Sister Bell |
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| Sister Stewart and Sister Jensen |
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| Sisters: Stewart, Boyle, Jensen, Swenson, Loosli |
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