5-30-12 I Absolutely Love it Here

DAD MOM RYAN RACHELLE LIZA EMMA AND MY TRUSTY STEAD!!! ...and guest (name that movie.... The Incredibles duh)

Hello my dearest and most wonderful family that I love so much. For starters, let me just say - I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT OUT HERE!!! It is so incredible. I love my mission, I love President Albright, I love my companion, I love the people. I love my WHOLE HOUSE!!! My whole house is great, I can do anything good - ya ya ya. (This is from the cutest youtube ever...Jessica's Daily Affirmation).  So my companion is Sister Rozsa. She's from California - LA area - and she is the cutest thing in the whole world. So much energy, so positive, and an incredible missionary. She loves to talk, loves people, and she ran marathons pre mission. And guess what. President Albright assigned us to a BIKING MISSION!!!! HOOOORAY!!!!! OOODALALLY!!!!! What a tender mercy. Heavenly Father has been pourin down the blessings, I couldn't possibly tell you everything. We are over two areas, Shirnglington and Alexandria 1 in the Mount Vernon Zone - so basically we bike a ton. We're whitewashing (or in other words, we're both brand new to the area) so thats exciting. I love our area. It is incredibly diverse. SOOOOOO many different cultures. So far - I've met people from El Salvador, Sudan, Ethiopia, Honduras, Liberia, Ecuador, Brazil, Russia, Bolgaria, Nigeria, Mexico, Moracco, Italy, India, Sierr Leon, Iran, Pakistan, Peru, Jordan, Roqanda, Jamaica, Afganastan, Serbia, France, Napal, Dubai (UAE), Guatemala, Thailand, Zambia, Vietnam, Japan, Ghana, Aritria, Venezuela, Bangledesh, Camaroon, Trinidad, and couting. And those are only the people that I asked where they are from. Its insane! I love it. And I'm learning how to speak a little bit of Twee - which is the Ghanaian language. SOO COOL!! The people are so incredible. Each culture is so unique and so cool.

So guess who's in my mission! Elder Earnshaw - Stuart's cousin!!! HOORAY FOR FAMBLY! And Elder Fraizer is in my zone too. His mom had told him to keep a lookout for me, so I didn't seem creepy knowing who he was haha. And Brian Fonts - such a small world. So we were going to visit this online referral, but no one answered the door - and his neighbors (Alessandra and Rich) were sitting out on the porch. They holllered at us and we went over and started talkin to them. Met both of their families and ended up teaching them the first lesson and it was just incredible. The only member Alessandra's daughters knew was this guy named Brian Fonts, and he's a really close friend - they call him Uncle. Well next day, after that little heaven sent miracle of meeting them, we go to the Bishop's house for dinner, and some man sees my name tag and he's like - is your dad John Jeppsen?!?! Its Brian Fonts! Such a small world. He was uncle Robs roommate and buddy. I can't believe it!

You guys, there have been so many miracles. I wish I could write them all. One after another. Its incredible. I don't even know where to begin, which person to describe, which tender mercy to try to explain. Well I'll tell you bout Mubarak. He's from Saudi Arabia and is going to school for pharmacology somewhere around here. We just knocked on his door one day and he was so eager, so ready to learn more. After we left he even called us to make sure the number was right haha. Set up an appointment and went to teach him, and when we got there, he had 4 fellow Saudi Arabian friends with him. Since they're all Muslim, it was interesting to see the difference between some of his friends (one in partciular) and Mubarak as they were more so trying to teach us what they believe rather than listening to what we had to say. But Mubarak, he wanted to know for himself. His heart is so willing, so contrite, he wants to know if its true. I'm so excited for him! Goddness, he is so wonderful.

Soooooo many people! Pat, Kevin, and Pam. Alpha. Pete. Sharma and Shakshi. Jim. Richard. Bectesh and Baki. Ramadan. Ray and Ike. SOOOO many wonderful people. Each so different, and each so precious to Heavenly Father. I love each and every one of them so much.

Its so incredible here. We talk to whoever we can, we work as hard as hard as we are able, we are obedient to all the mission rules, we give all our heart, might mind, and strength - and then the spirit just does all the work! God truly is with us, in our planning, in our finding, in our travels, in our teaching, an in our hearts. It is such a sacred opportunity to be His mouthpiece, to speak the words that He wants His precious and beloved children to hear. I'm the instrument He uses, and I am so honored and so humbled to have been chosen to do so. There is so much for me to improve, but the Lord is helping me. He is with me and He will not fail me.

Here's something I studied the other day... Alma 29:9-16 "And this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance... and behold, when I see many of my brethren truly penitent and coming to the Lord their God, then is my soul filled with joy... yea and that same God hath called me by a holy calling to preach the word unto this people, and hath given me much success in the which my joy is full"

This is what my heart longs for! To help one child (and many many more) of our Heavenly Father to experience the joy and peace of repentance, of following our Savior to baptisim and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. I trust my Father, He has called me to do just that. Countless miracles lie before me that I so mercifully will get to be part of. My joy will be full, my soul will be filled, for I trust that God has gone before me. He is with me. I am His instrument and He will give me much success. I don't earn success. I don't deserve success, but God blesses me with success.

I love you guys with all my heart. Here's my theme song/scripture. I absolutely love it. Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong and of a good courage. Fear not, nor be afraid of them. For the Lord, thy God, He it is that doth go with thee, He will not fail thee nor forsake thee

LOVE Sister Jeppsen

MTC Pictures

Companion Sister Diamond Evans

from Detroit, baby of 16 children

Only member of her family

Convert of 3 years!!

Her mother has lung cancer.  

What a sacrifice to go on a mission.

She is indeed willing to do what Heavenly Father wants her to do!!

My Great District:
Elder, McGoffin, Elder Bergman, Elder Case, Sister Owens, Elder Hodgson,
Sister Evans, Sister Goates, Sister Jeppsen, Elder Riggs

5-20-12 Blessed to Get Voice Back

I CALL ON WEDNESDAY!!!!!!!!!!! BLOOODALOOODALOOOP!!!!! K. So plan on 7:30-9:30 oclockish utah time... so that's 6:30 vegas time!
Happy Birthday EMMA DONG!!!! I LOVE YOU!!!! you're FOUR TEE TEEEN YEARS!!!! Write me a letter you shtoopid kid! its my birthday gift to me! I'm so.. happay!!

So my voice has been going in and out this past week, and Saturday night - my voice gave out completely. I was a mute. Consider me little mermaid. But I knew that God would restore in in time and I wasn't really worried about it. That night we were practicing our song for sacrament meeting that we were assigned to sing cuz we're leaving.  We sang it to our teacher Bro Widtfeldt, and of course - since I had no voice, i couldn't really sing. But it was beautiful. We sang the words of "O My Father" to the tune of "Come Thou Fount", with the last verse of Come tho fount. The spirit was so strong and tears just streamed down my face. After, with tears in his eyes, Bro Widtfeldt turned to me and said "I heard your voice, Sister Jeppsen." It was so powerful. 

Well the district was praying for my voice that it would return and before sacrament meeting, Elders McGoffin and Bergman gave me a blessing. It was still gone by the time sacrament meeting started. After we sang,  the bishop called me to give a talk. It was incredible. I stood up and started speaking! I bore testimony about the power of the priesthood. It is God's authority, God's power given to man! What an incredible gift! Without it, there would be no church. God surely does bless, seal, and heal us with this magnificent gift.

The Stevens sent me a present!!! They are so sweet. And as did Lexi and Melniff :) What wonderful friends I have. I got to hang out with Lex all day yesterday at lunch and dinner and then I saw Melissa as we were both leaving the temple this morning! What tender mercies. I love them so much and I'm so excited for them

Our district is so united in love.

OK I feel like my hand can never write as fast as I'd like. We had so many incredible devotionals yesterday. We watched Elder Bednar's Christmas MTC devotional on the Character of Christ. Oh how I wish these devotionals were available to the public. It was soooo amazing. He talked about how if we learn the character (moral qualities strongly developed, strictly displayed and consistently lived) of Christ, if we, through His Atonement become like him, we will truly become like Him. The one character attribute he focused on was the Christ always turns OUT in compassion and love, while the natural man would turn IN. You never once find the Savior turning inward. He always turns out. He went through example after example in the New Testament. Here's some: when Christ had fasted 40 days, imagine just how weak He was, and Satan came to tempt Him - which all temptations were to betray His divine nature and character, to turn inward. But Christ didn't and Matthew 4:11 JST footnote, in the midst of His own adversity, the angels didn't come to the Savior, but He sent angels to minister to John because He knew he was in prison!! Or even the after suffering in the garden, after being left alone by Peter James and John, after being betrayed with a kiss, what does He do? He heals the man whose ear is chopped off! And there are so many more. So how do we put off the natural man? How do we become a saint? Through the Atonment of Christ. In the strength of the Lord, testimony becomes coversion, the natural man becomes a saint, we turn from inward to outward. 

So really cool experience - Bro Widtfeldt has been pretending to be his friend Joe (a nonmember with whom he's never shared the gospel with). We were reading 1 Nephi 4 together as a district, specifically to meet the needs of Bro W. Oh how strong the Spirit was. We committed him to invite Joe (whom we have come to love and truly and deeply care about) to have the missionary discussion by August 31st. I also committed everyone to pray and to fast for Joe, to pool our faith together, that he might accept the gospel. Really powerful experiecne. One after another.

Cool thing Bro Bush taught us, that I really like, is that whenever you are praying with more than one person, as a congregation as a family or whatever, it is easy to zone out or get distracted when you're not the one saying the prayer.  But instead - focus on the prayer and imagine adding all your faith into the pool that whatever it is that they are praying for, that God will answer, will bless us. Cool thought.

I love you guys!!! With all my heart.

Love love love!

God Speed

Sister Jeppsen

5-14-12 Without the Spirit Ye Shall Not Teach

MOM DAD RYAN RACHELLE ELIZA EMMA AND MY TRUSTY STEED

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!! WOOHOOO!! and HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMMA DONG!!! HOORAY FOR BEING BORNED!!! (expect a letter my dear) I love you guys so very much. This week flew by and yet sooooo much happened it seems like its lasted forever. Elder D. Todd Christofferson spoke at our devotional Tuesday and man was it cool. He went through 2 Nephi 31, 3 Nephi 11, and 3 Nephi 27 and talked about the role of the Godhead in the doctrine of Christ. Pretty cool. He also talked about how our commission as missionaries is the same as the Prophet, Apostles, and Quorums of 70! Its such an honor to be here, to be the Lórd's missionary. But what I absolutely loved was yesterday, Sunday's, fireside by some man in the MTC administration. He talked about the symbol in medicine of a snake wrapped around a stake. It represents healing and Christ. When the people of Israel were wicked and complained about the mana God was supplying them, God sent snakes to bite those who rebeled. Because people were dying left and right, they finally went to Moses and begged for forgiveness, asking for a way to be healed from the snake bites. He told them to put this symbol on a cross and they only needed to look to it to be healed. Its talked about over and over in the scriptures, john 3:14-16, 1 Nephi 17:41, Alma 33:19-22, Helaman 8:14-15. Read these. They're amazing. Just like how in junior high, if one kid starts looking at the ceiling, eventually the whole classroom is looking up at the cieling to see what he's looking at. If we are looking to the Savior, If He is the center of our teaching , the center of our hearts, then others will look to Him as well. It was such an incredible talk. I wish I had time to write more.

It has been so humbling to be here. Without God, without His spirit, no man can teach. One night, we had a guest teacher join Brother Bush and I found myself getting a little annoyed with him. I could feel the spirit leave immediately. Then when we were supposed to practice teaching, it was awful. My words seemed so empty and worthless. It was terrible. And of course, I cried. Once I repented, once I cried unto God asking for forgiveness and for His Spirit to return, and once I talked with and got to know this teacher, I realized how beloved he is of our Savior. The Spirit was with me again and as we taught a lesson, it was like black and white. God could again use me as a vessel to teach, to speak the words that He would have His precious child here. I can't do this on my own, and I don't have to! I trust in my Lord, I trust Him with all my heart, and I dedicate all that I am, all that I have to Him.

I am learning so much and I am so happy! Know that you are always in my heart and always in my prayers. Oh how grateful I am for our Savior. He has made it possible for us to return to our Eternal Father together, as a family, forever!!!

I got a PRESENT!!! YAY!!! I'M POPULAR!!! Thank you for the package of shirts and things. Gma's watch works!! Thank you!! And you guys have no idea how much your letters mean. They mean so much, so thank you thank you thank. 

Ok flight info -  my flight departs at 9:41 am (Utah time) on 5/23/12 and I arrive in DC 3:50 pm. I've got my phone card ready and I'm so excited to talk to you guys! I don't really know how much time we'll have. But everyone, be ready!!! Can i call the girls cell phones too while they're in school? Everyone be ready. Or you guys should just delay/ditch seminary and spanish and work that morning for me... ya?! if not. I'm calling each of you. Is rachelle still a receptionist. I'll send my photo card at the end of this weekish. Can't wait to see pictures of you guys.

Out of time! I'll send a letter. Love you with all my heart, might, mind, and strength!

God speed - Sister Julia Jeppsen

5-7-12 I Love the MTC-The Spirit is So Strong

MOM DAD RYAN RACHELLE ELIZA EMMA!!!! oh and my trusty stead.

I miss you guys so much. But I'm doing great. The MTC is absolutely incredible. The spirit is so strong, and not a minute of the day goes without it! So I told you about Sister Evans - she is wonderful. She's so faithful and so willing to sacrifice all that she has to be here. I love her so much. So we've already taught two discussions - its all role play, but it is so inspired. Even tho its our teachers, they transform into a completely different person, someone that God cares about. We truly are directed and lead by the Spirit for the investigator, and as we teach, we become the mouthpiece of our Heavenly Father, speaking the words that He wants His precious child to know. Without the Spirit, this work would be nothing.

Here's something really incredible that we've learned and that I've been thinking a lot about. Our purpose as missionaries are to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the Gift of the HG, and enduring to the end. Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost's purpose is to "bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of Man" (moses 1:39), which is acheived by faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the HG, and enduring to the end. As His missionaries we have the same purpose of the Godhead!! What an honor. As I was thinking about it, it reminded me of Genesis 2:24 "Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh." I have left my family, my father and mother, I have left behind all that I have and all that I know, and now, I am cleaving to God, with all my strength. And as I do, as I cleave to God, to my Savior, and to the Spirit, I will become one with them! What a sacred opportunity. I am so honored to be here. To be an instrument in His hands.

So you guys would be proud to know, I've tried to have a little bit of chicken each day, to get my protein for the day. Gym time isn't enough, of course. But its ok. They have these early morning classes (pilates, yoga, turbo kick, etc) at 6 am for a half hour, exclusively for Sisters. Its really nice. And you don't have to be with you companion for it since no Elders are out and about at that hour.

RYAN!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! BLOODALLOODALOOP!!! I love you and may your day be absolutely splendid! I wish I were with you to celebrate and to spoil you as much as I possibly could... but you'll just get triple treatment once I return.

And HAPPY MOTHERS DAY MOMMA!!! I twill try to write you a letter today. Know that I love you and cherish you.

So I suppose its not too unexpected, but I've been absolutely frozen since I've got here! So I've had to pull out the tights and the long cardigans haha. My body is so silly. But I love it and appreciate it so very much.

I saw Lexi in the cafeteria yesterday!! It felt so unreal. It was hard saying goodbye again.

So leaving home was obviously a big concern of mine before leaving the for the mission, and whenever I thought about it, I'd well up in tears. It started to happen Thursday night and I couldn't get myself to stop crying. But I prayed in my heart with all my might, that I might be able to lose myself in the work. That I would be able to be the most useful tool in His hands as I could be, that I could leave without looking back like Lot and not like His wife - and He blessed me. Ever since, I've been happy, filled with His spirit, and energized to do His work.

You guys. Try youtubing a video about a man and a woman stuck on an escalator. We watched it... not sure if its youtube. But its pretty funny.

We got to go to the temple today and we did endowments! Only my second time doing them. It was really incredible. And being in the celestial room, I felt at peace. I knew that I would be with you guys again, and for eternity, and that one day we'll be in the celestial kingdom together. And I felt grandpa's presence. I know that he'll be with me, and Julie, working right along side me the whole way. What a tender mercy that was to be able to experience that. I love each and every one of you, with all my heart, all my might, and my mind, and all my strength. I miss you.

SISTER JEPPSEN

Missionary: Someone who leaves her family for a short time so others can be with theirs for eternity. 

Julia's first companion

MTC ADDRESS:
Sister Julia Ann Jeppsen
MTC Mailbox # 146
DC-SOUTH 0523
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604-1793

MISSION FIELD:
Washington DC South Mission
5242 Lyngate Ct
Burke, VA 22015
United States