9-23-13 "Launching Leaders" Class And the Ritchies Are So Empowering!!

DAD MOM RYAN RASH LIZA EMMA and my dear friends

 

Great week! Dayana T is baptized and fully converted unto the Lord. I thank our Father in Heaven for the privilege to witness and be part of this unfolding miracle. Nghia, our recent convert, baptized her. And Chunyu, our darling investigator from China, said the closing prayer. It was beautiful. Dayana is remarkable. With Bishop Leonard, the stake Relief Society President, and many others, we marvel at Dayana's incredible faith. She must have developed the gift of leadership in our premortal home, for she already has been the means of doing much good in the community at only 19 years of age. And now that she has made this sacred covenant with God, I can only imagine but a part of the great work the Lord will perform through her hands.

 

Have I ever mentioned Elder and Sister Ritchie before? They are sooo great. (AND they knew Grandpa Jeppsen). They've served as mission president in Africa and multiple missions throughout the world in teaching a 'Launching Leaders' class of which I am at a loss of words to describe how empowering it is.

 

Oh how I thank our Father in Heaven for the commandments! For every commandment, if we live it long enough, we develop an attribute of Christ. We would never become great missionaries if we never did the things great missionaries do. We would never become like Him if we didn't do the things He does. That is the very purpose and design of His holy commandments. He wants us to return home to Him, so through Christ, He has provided the way. I love the commandments and I love  helping our brothers and sisters live them, that they might become incrementally more like Him with every small act of obedience.

 

I love going on exchanges with the sisters. This week, I had the opportunity to serve with Sister Randquist in Mt Vernon for a blessed 24 hours. She was baptized precisely 1 year and 1 month ago. It was so much fun. Through Sister Borland and I, the Lord has ever so persistently been encouraging all our recent converts to serve missions, and being with Sister Randquist made it that much more of a reality. I loved it. I love her.

 

Scott's baptism was moved to this upcoming Friday in Utah. 7 pm :) Liza, you're going yes? Irvin has been assigned to make sure you have some sort of transportation there. It's going to be great!

 

LOVE SISTER JEPPSEN

The Ritchie's

Dayana's baptism!

I love her!

P.S.  This is a cool article that is about Julia's area, before she arrived, and about the Ritchies teaching the "Launching Leaders" that she loves! What a small world... Las Vegas and Virginia!!!!   

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765638411/Miss-Nevada-Teen-2010-now-serving-Mormon-mission-shares-LDS-conversion-story.html?pg=all

 

9-9-13 Yeah YSA Wards! Look for Us Missionaries at the Nationals Baseball Game Friday

DAD MOM RYAN RASHELLE LIZA EMMA and my dear friends

Its almost Dad's birthday!! Hooray! I'm so excited :D AND you are in the YSA Bishopric now!! YES!!! Young Single Adult wards are of lasting worth. I thank and praise our God for such a divine opportunity for our family! I'm so happy.

I love the Braddock ward. My heart is full to the brim with joy to serve and love these people. I will try to draw out for you a few of the priceless moments we experience at church: Jeff dressed in his pressed Sunday best, hair slicked back and glasses on top his nose. Dayana encircled by friends, inviting people to attend her baptism. Marcela and Allison together at church for the very first time, enveloped by their good friend Kim. Scott freshly rolled out of bed and into his jeans, waltzing in to the meeting minutes late. Ryan bringing Anderson and Rafael to church, a newly formed friendship flourishing. Nghia reading from the words of the living Apostles as a spiritual thought at the beginning of class. Isaiah, present and content - grateful to be keeping the Sabbath Day holy. Brian teaching and engaging the class in Gospel Essentials - hair surprisingly contained. Ayumi, ever observant to the needs of those around her. Bishop Leonard lovingly empowering those he ministers to with his infinite words of wisdom. I cherish these moments. I love this ward. I love these people. I love my mission.

I adore Sister Borland. We have shared so many precious and sacred moments together. I cannot even begin to express a portion of how I feel. How divine are these companionships! Sister Rozsa, Meier, Carter,  Evans, Smith, Bell, Crockett, and now Sister Borland. Surely they were prepared and designed by our loving Father and Savior in our premortal home.

Oh ya! Guess what our mission is doing for the end of our 40 day fast  -- We are going to the Washington Nationals Baseball game on Friday!!! Woohoo!! Virginia has an annual "Day of Service" where basically everyone serves everyone. And we are attending the baseball game to kick off the season of service. You guys have to record it and look for us! We'll be the giant group of missionaries. It'll be hard to miss us. Both the DC South and DC North missions will be there.

LOVE SISTER JEPPSEN

Fellow servants

 Jimena!! She is such a miracle.

9-2-13 Melissa Stewart Look Alike! Jeff's Miraculous Baptism Clothes!

DAD MOM RYAN RACHELLE LIZA EMMA and my beloved friends

I am so happy for the Carusos!  I'm excited to meet them and love them one day too!

We are still doing 12 exchanges a transfer, but with the increase of sisters - we're up to 8 companionships that we care for! Its incredible, and so sacred. I truly cherish each exchange. What a privilege it is to serve, love, and learn with these good good sisters. 

Our dear friend and brother Jeff is baptized! It has been such an adventure. 

Let me explain. So because of Jeff's largeness is stature, we were in search for a baptismal suit that would fit him. He told us he was a size 50 and none of the buildings had pants even close to his size - so we called the temple and asked if we could borrow some of their white clothing. We weren't allowed to loan out any of their clothing, but God so graciously inspired a good soul to bring a size 50 pant to the distribution center moments after we called. We miraculously purchased them and brought them to Jeff to try on.. but it turns out he's more accurately a size 60. The next morning I was with Sister Roper on an exchange and the Lord expanded my understanding of the Creation. We are heirs of a Creator and we are learning to be like Him. Our Heavenly Father so mercifully provided us with a pair of size 50 pants, and He did so in the most creative of ways. And then He gave us the opportunity to develop in our creativity - just as He did the Brother of Jared in the Book of Mormon. We found a white dress, a needle and some thread and began sewing away! Oh, to develop in creativity! I was doing so well until I found that I had sewed my skirt to the fabric haha. We finished our makeshift pant extension, complete with safety pins, and brought it to Jeff to try on... again to no avail. Time was running short and after collaborating with both President Riggs and Bishop Leonard, we discovered it is a requirement that Jeff wear white. So, white he would wear. I love Jeff so very much. He is important to our Father in Heaven and Savior Jesus Christ, he is of infinite value and worth. We would find some white clothes for him.  Sister Borland and I were privileged to feel and experience such a love for him as we worked to provide the white clothing required for his baptism. The Lord, in His mercy, inspired us to turn to the Cromptons who were guided to find a 3XL jumpsuit. We brought it to Jeff and to our rejoicing, it fit!! Though it wouldn't zip over his chest, it was sufficient and he slipped a white shirt to top it off. It was perfect. I thank our kind Father in Heaven for letting me stand in the place of our Savior for His beloved son Jeff.  Jeff was so pleased!  Jesus is fighting for us. He continually is working to provide us with opportunities to accept Him and to become more like Him. 

I love you each so dearly. I rejoice in His mercy for sending me to you. 

LOVE SISTER JEPPSEN

 

 Sister Henry is related to Melissa Stewart and Sister Schramm is Melissa's exact look-alike! I LOVED it! 

 Such a miraculous lesson. It was Anderson's first lesson as a ward missionary and it is was very

 Jeff's Baptism!!

 Dayana is such a miracle :)

8-26-13 Julia Gets Another Great Companion- the Road Trip Test Proves Successful!

DAD MOM RYAN RACHELLE LIZA EMMDONG and my dearly beloved friends

KK's goin to Mexico City! That's where Nick served.. right? I love you all so much. You are so precious and dear to me. 

WOohoo!! I love the Carusos!! I can't wait to meet them!  Surely, as Elder Anderson said, we are ALL an important part of this unfolding miracle.

My dear Sister Crockett is now home in California. I thank our gracious and kind Father in Heaven for her - He has taught me so very much through her Christ-like example. I love her so dearly. And now He has so mercifully given me Sister Borland for my companion. She is incredible! I love her with all my heart!

So it is said that one should go on a road trip with your companion before you can know if your relationship will be one of lasting joy. Sister Borland and I have successfully done so and have passed with flying colors! ha ha Glory be to God! We went on a venture to Woodbridge and the traffic was crazy and wonderful. We loved it. We had fun doing sit ups and telling stories and enjoying each other's company while we sat on highways. What joy and love fills our hearts as we serve the Lord and remember His goodness and His righteousness. He so abundantly blesses us, and our hearts rejoice as we praise our Redeemer for all that we have received. As we drove from place to place, far and wide in our humongous Braddock YSA area, we saw miracle after miracle!

I thank our kind Savior for helping you get a copy of the talk: Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ by Robert E Millet. Thanks Joni! The Spirit taught me so much as I read his words. As Aaron of the Book of Mormon described, "Since man had fallen he could not merit anything of himself" (Alma 22:14). It is only by HIS merits that we are saved. Jesus is perfect. Because of His righteousness, His power, His love, His sacrifice, His grace - we can return home to our Father in Heaven. Because of His suffering in the garden of Gethsemane, His death on the cross, and His glorious resurrection, we will return to the presence of God, leaving mortality to immortality, standing before Him to be judged. He has made possible the condition of repentance. We can "[put] off the natural man and [become] a saint" through His holy name (Mosiah 3:10). How great are the reasons have we to rejoice!

Jeff's getting baptized this weekend!! Woohoo! I thank the Lord for allowing me to feel a portion of His perfect love for him. He's so sweet. When we asked him how he was feeling about everything, he said: "Amazing.. I can't believe someone would care enough to baptize me." He is so precious and beloved by our Father in Heaven and our Savior Jesus Christ. What a privilege to love him as He does.

LOVE SISTER JEPPSEN

 SISTER BORLAND!!

 Bishop Leonard :) I am so grateful to serve with such a consecrated man. He is so invested in missionary work and loves the Lord so passionately.

 Isaiah finally got a watch haha

 Such a miracle! The Lord led us to find this incredible girl named Courtney while I was on exchange in Shirlington.

8-19-13 The Lord Speaks to Us With a Love We Comprehend! He Loves Us So Perfectly!

DAD MOM RYAN RACHELLE LIZA EMMA and my dearly beloved friends

 

Bishop Stewart, Dad, and Brother Goodfellow. What a wonderful bishopric you have made as you've relied on the Lord in all that you do. I love you all! And I'm so excited for Bishop Dunn, Brother Tober, and Brother Lyon! Surely it is by divine design. Though I wasn't there to sustain you... I sustain you now! Love you all!

 

I remember how Mom would gather our family together on several occasions to administer a variety of different tests, some of which measured our personality 'color', others our social interaction status, and another our language of love. I remember how amusing it was to see Dad's test results - because he would rarely answer the questions the way mom knew he ought to. But regardless of whether Dad's results were accurate or not, Mom taught us that there are many different ways in which people communicate, express, and feel love. Some people's love language is expressed more poignantly through verbal communication, some through gifts, others through acts of service and others through physical touch. It's pretty obvious that our family is one that expresses our love especially through physical touch. Some of us anyway, like to hug people, touch their arm and like their backs tickled.  Growing up, I remember always feeling loved in such a fashion. Mom would "tickle" my back as I fell asleep, Dad would embrace me in a hug when he returned home, I would cuddle up close to Emma and Liza during church,  I would lounge on Ryan's shoulder as we watched movies, we would give back massages and foot rubs as gifts for Father's Day, and even with extended family - personal space was never much of a concern. When I moved to Boulder City, my dear friends quickly discovered I was a "hugger" and adapted quickly to me. It wasn't until I left for college that I really learned how much I had appreciated this expression of love through physical touch. Not many of whom I affiliated expressed themselves in such a manner as we did and I missed it. It is all good that we are all different and that makes life interesting!  When I would return home for the weekend, I would feel the warmth and closeness of my precious siblings and parents whom I cherished. And I would love and appreciate every moment. 

 

While I have been away on my sacred and priceless mission, I've come to accept and learn how to live without it. With some of my companions I'd sense it was okay to hug and sit close to at times, but with others I knew it would be completely strange and foreign to them.  So, for their sakes - I did not hug them haha.  

 

In John 13:5-9 we can observe that Peter was not one for physical touch. When Christ came to wash his feet, he repulsed the thought of Jesus, the Savior of all mankind, performing such an act. But Christ, knowing Peter so perfectly, knew that he would understand by way of verbal communication, said to him: "If I wash thee not, thou has no part with me." It was then that Peter understood and plead for him to wash his head and hands also.

 

Likewise, we can observe and see that, unlike Peter, John the Beloved better understood love by way of physical touch. In John 13:23-25 we see that the he lay on the bosom of Jesus as they spoke. John knew and understood for himself because Jesus communicated it to him in a manner that he would understand. John felt Christ's love so strongly that the name by which he referred himself was: "the disciple whom Jesus loved." 

 

Nephi teaches us that "the Lord God.. speaketh unto men according to their language, unto their understanding" (2 Nephi 31:3). I testify that Jesus knows each of us perfectly. He has experienced and endured our every pain, affliction, temptation, sickness, and sin. He has felt and made possible our every joy, triumph, victory, and success. He has descended below all, that He might empower us to rise above anything that stands before us. I love Him and thank Him. The Holy Ghost is the messenger of Him and our Heavenly Father. He speaks to each of us with a love deeper than we comprehend. And I know that He does so in a manner each of us will understand. This work is magnificent and I thank Him for allowing me to show love to these people. I thank Him for teaching and showing me how.  

 

LOVE SISTER JEPPSEN

 

We Do Believe We Can Do Incredible Things Here!

 

 Sister Crockett is going home to California this week! Oh how I am going to miss her!
  I have watched and learned much from her Christ-like example.  She's a heaven-sent best friend (as they all are)!

So beautiful!

 I LOVE HER!

8-12-13 I Can Do All Things Through Christ Which Strengtheneth Me!!! Be Content, Happy and Grateful!!

DAD MOM RYAN RACHELLE LIZA EMMA and my beloved brethren

What a glorious birthday mom! 50 years old and flying!!! WOOHO!

The Lord in His mercy has allowed Sister Crockett and I to start teaching Jorge  as well as Scott  this week - two young singles that I had the privilege of teaching a year ago while I served with Sister Carter and Meier in Centreville!!!! Both are such miracles and it is such an honor to speak in behalf of Jesus, in helping them receive His glorious restored gospel. God found Jorge last year when we were at a loss of things to do. We prayed and asked Him where we should go. Not knowing before hand where we were going, we followed the Spirit. The Lord told us to walk. So walk we did. Eventually, we made our way to a beautiful pond. Along the banks sat Jorge, sitting in deep and contemplative study of the Bible. It was surely designed by Divinity. We would meet him periodically after work and teach him by the pond. Eventually we passed him to the elders who served in the Annandale area in which he lived. But with the combination of transfers and vacation, the missionaries lost contact with him. 8 months later, the voice of the Lord came unto me, bringing Jorge to my remembrance. And with His grace, we are teaching him again! Oh how I thank our Beloved Father and Redeemer. 

It's interesting to see the Lord teach us specific things at certain times of our lives, according to His infinite and loving wisdom. If we humbly and diligently seek His help, believing that we will receive, He will teach us the things we need to know for the callings we are called to bear. This is something Jesus has taught me while serving as a Sister Trainer Leader, of which has been a great experience! Oh how I love the sisters. Paul went to the Philippians to teach the members there. From speculation, we can assume that there must have been several people experiencing feelings of inadequacy and weakness. Paul, having felt that same way once before, shares with them what the Lord had taught him. He said: "Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do ALL things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (Philippians 4:11-13). The purpose of this life is to have joy as we prepare to return home to Heavenly Father; to be happy and content. It is easy to look ahead and be overwhelmed with all that we need to improve, do, and become. True - we are far from that glorious and divine potential of which we work toward, but we must learn to look back and be grateful for the tremendous progress we have made. In whatsoever state we are, we must learn to be content, happy, and grateful. I am grateful for who I am, for who you are. I am grateful for all we know and have so graciously received. I thank Him for leading, guiding, refining, and enabling us to become all that we are right now, in this moment. We are full and we abound in His grace and goodness. And oh how we ought to be full of gratitude and thanksgiving. At the same time, Paul teaches us to be grateful for all that we are going to learn, all that we are going to receive, and all that we are going to become. We must be hungry for that which He has in store. We must diligently search, reach, seek, and strive for more, both in understanding and in character. "Great and marvelous are the works of the Lord. How unsearchable are the depths of the mysteries of him" (Jacob 4:8). How infinite is His wisdom, His love, and His power. We have so much that lies ahead and we can press forward with faith and joy. Imagine a young toddler who recently learned how to walk. He rejoices in his newly developed capacity, having advanced from the mode of crawling. Though he may not yet fully comprehend all that lies ahead, he can look forward to the day he learns to run and bike and swim. Likewise, we too must be grateful for how far we've come - thanking the Lord with gratitude for all that we are and all that we will become. Jesus Christ is the perfect example. He is my life and my light and I thank Him for all that I am.

LOVE SISTER JEPPSEN

Jorge!

Nghia loves ice cream cones and Mike loves the Book of Mormon

Sister Crockett loves ice cream cones

Allison and Marcela and their bushel of mangos

The "bug boys" (Scott, Irvin, and Logan)

8-5-13 McDonald's Ice Cream Miracles!!!

DAD MOM RYAN RACHELLE LIZA EMMA and my beloved friends

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!! WOOHOOO! in 5 days! I am so profoundly grateful you were born. I love you with all my heart. How grateful I am to strive to be like you, for you have woven into your very character, the attributes of Christ. Thank you mom.

 

I've come to the realization that I have not shared any McDonalds ice cream cone miracles for a while! For the purpose of bringing us to a remembrance of the great goodness and mercy of our God, I wish to share with you one of the mysterious ways in which He has worked to bring to pass His marvelous works this week. While driving home for dinner one blessed evening, the voice of the Lord came unto me, enlightening my mind with the idea to go to McDonalds for an ice cream cone. I began to excuse such an idea as a thing of naught and thought: 'That's silly. Sister Crockett will not want to go, we had ice cream cones yesterday!' So I continued to pursue the course way home. Again, the Spirit spoke to my mind and I recognized the assuring peace that gentley filled my heart. Realizing whose voice it was, even the voice of my Shepherd, I then had the confidence to suggest such an idea to my dear companion. She quickly accepted the offer with gladness and we rerouted our destination to McDonalds. It is interesting and marvelous to open our eyes and see how Heavenly Father knows us so perfectly amd loves us so completely. He is all knowing and he is a so merciful. After having enjoyed our ice cream cones, we drove back to the apartment. Because of the detour to McDonalds, we came home from a different direction. Along our drive home, the Spirit opened my eyes and I saw two people sitting on the steps of a building. It was Jubilee (Isaiah's little sister) and a friend. For the last month, we have been striving to find one of Jubilee's friends, named Nick Jones. He has ran into several elders who live around the complex and has expressed to them his LOVE for the Book of Mormon. He's been reading it and absolutely loves it. And in God's infinite power and wisdom, the friend with whom Jubilee sat was the very Nick Jones whom we had been prayerfully searching for. Because we chose to listen to the voice of Jesus, we were led to find Nick Jones. It was quite miraculous and continues to be so. I love this work. Oh how I love Him. May the glory be God's forever.

 

LOVE SISTER JEPPSEN

 

Miracles at McDonalds

 Mike is sooo great! His best friend just left on a mission a month ago so he referred himself online through mormon.org. We love him

 TJ :)