CRAZY 48 HOURS!

Grandpa got sick so I got to sub in and eat lunch with Alyza at school while she was star student then I thought since I brought her Chick fil a - I better kidnap the twins from school and take them - so then I grabbed them afterwards and took them to Chick fil a. The twins signed up for a Perry football camp with a bunch of their friends from school, church and basketball. They had the best time. Their favorite part was probably the best day when they came home with Perry swag. They also wanted this picture of the Hatch boy who now plays for ASU but went to Perry and is a returned missionary and talked to the boys about goal setting. Eli had a one day tournament. Unfortuantely it was the same time as Emma's state champship so we couldn't go, but we followed it all day long on game changer. When we finished at Chase field with Emma we rushed home, grabbed the boys, ate for 5 minutes and then raced out the door to catch Eli's last game while we listened to the one he was in while driving. I dropped the boys off at the gate and went to park and as I was hurrying in we got a text from Tanya telling us that was the championship game they just won and there wasn't another one. Well...."A" for effort on trying to make it, but "F" for making it! At least we got to be there to see him get his ring! And he was a super good sport about knowing we needed to be with Emma!

SICK AND LONELY TWINNIE!

Tyson didn't feel good so he stayed home from school today. Usually if one is sick, they are both sick. Not today though. I texted Tyson to check on him and this is the response I got (I think he doesn't quite no what to do without his other half - ha ha! Good thing Jared was home and they cleaned the fish tank together and threw the football together for a bit)

STAKE CONFERENCE TALK PART 2!

Emma has truly been blessed from her talk in Stake Conference. She got many, many texts telling her how great it was, then the night she found out she didn't get into Utah and Jolley took her out to DQ to cheer her up - some high school girl she didn't know came up and told her what a great talk she gave, she got a thank you card in the mail thanking her for her talk, two weeks later I am still getting people telling me how amazing it was and then she got to add to her talk which is below and then the President Hansen forwarded me what Libby and Bishop Cardon said about her and the pictures that went to Elder Piper. I really do wish we could know the outcome of all of it. I wish I could sit in the room and see how he presents it. Really I wish Emma could meet  President Nelson that would be amazing for her (and bonus if he wanted to pay for her schooling since he went to Utah as well - ha ha). Every time I have to talk about this experience or read the letters from Libby - I still get emotional. It is crazy to think the timing of everything, how it all played out, how Heavenly Father is guiding her life and watching out for her and reminding her how much he loves her! (oh yes, even the stake patriarch loved her talk and his wife and commented on how much it could relate to her daughter - they might be partial to us though since its the Freestones - ha!)

Good morning brothers and sisters. For those of you who don’t know me, my 

name is Emma Jensen, I am a senior at Perry High School, and as of this morning I am 

from Appleby Ward, we’ll see if that’s true by the end of the day. 

A little over a week ago, President Jones called me and asked me to speak 

about something I have worked on in the past year to spiritually better myself. As soon 

as I heard the topic, my mind went to one specific experience that changed me. In 

March of 2018, I joined the laurel class. All the girls were so sweet. I had no issues with 

anyone, but I also knew only 3 of the 10-15 girls. If I saw them in the hall at school I 

would know their name and say hi, but if someone were to ask me to describe them, I 

wouldn’t know what to say. This kind of bothered me as I never felt like I had a real 

place in the class. 

This feeling stuck with me until December 2018 when I was called to be laurel 

class president. I was overwhelmed, but excited. I couldn’t wait to start. As soon as I 

was called, I was asked to pick my counselors. I asked for a class roster because I 

wanted to pray to make sure I considered each and every laurel, including the ones that 

would be joining us in the new year. Turns out there was 26 of us, not 10-15. 

So I called my counselors, they happened to be the 3 girls I knew. Initially I 

prayed every night to keep an open heart to revelation about what I needed to do to 

help my laurel class. My main goal was to create unity amongst us. I would occasionally 

ask my counselors to pray too. Despite my efforts, nothing changed until I went to this 

one fireside a little while later. 

I am awful with names so I don’t remember who exactly was speaking, but I do 

remember what he spoke about. 

One of the things he spoke about was a young man who was in his ward growing 

up. One summer they were all at camp and there was a mile long swim. I’m not sure 

how many boys attempted the swim, but none made it as far as this young man. As he 

was finishing up the swim, all his fellow young men were standing on the shore, calling 

out his name, encouraging him to finish, and reassuring him that he could. Later in his 

life, this man fell away from the church and he passed away without ever coming back. I 

distinctly remember the speaker asking where all of the support had gone when this 

young man started drifting away. 

He warned us not to let this happen to anyone we knew, and as soon as he said 

that, I couldn’t shake the feeling that we had someone straying on my watch. I asked my 

counselor, who was also there, about it. She couldn’t figure it out either and assured me 

there wasn’t one individual. I refused to accept this answer, so I made her come out to 

my car with me and pray. I told her we were not leaving until I had an answer. I asked 

who the person was, I went through each name in my head, I asked a million questions 

that were all similar in meaning but different in wording until eventually I just sat there 

and listened. Like a wave crashing into me, the answer hit me. My counselor was right. 

There was not 1 individual, there were 26 individuals. 

This whole time I was praying for the need of the class as a whole and I never 

stopped to consider that maybe we were all different in our own ways and would need 

our own form of help to feel included. 

From then on out my counselors and I prayed for each girl individually. What 

does this person need to feel loved and like they have a place amongst the Appleby 

laurels? It became so simple from there, all we had to do was act on our promptings. 

We started changing what activities we had scheduled for mutual so everyone 

got to do something they loved, or share something they loved. We would have a 

brunch once a month on Sunday so as to make sure more people could come to 

activities since some people are busy on Wednesday nights. We started texting girls 

invitations to class or activities individually and let the spirit guide our texts so that each 

girl would feel like her presence was genuinely wanted, not just for a head count, but 

because we loved her. The results were unreal. 

I am proud to report that we reactivated 2 girls and they are some of the most 

amazing girls I know. One of their names is Meredith. We all remember when Meridith 

moved in. She had such a gentle, quiet, and sweet spirit. Eventually she stopped 

showing up, stopped eating lunch with some of our laurels at school, and completely fell 

off the radar. In January of 2019, she started coming to activities again and a few 

months into 2019, she started coming back to church consistently. What worked for 

Meridith was the unique and individual texts. Whenever inviting her to an activity, I 

would reach out to the laurels who I knew were friends with her first and ask them if they 

could go. After everyone would respond, I would ask the girls who could go if they were 

ok being put in a group chat with Meridith to invite her. I would ask them to respond with 

a yes and hopefully some enthusiasm and excitement to be going. I felt as though an 

individual text to Meridith from me would not be as meaningful because I had yet to 

make a real connection with her, so the Spirit prompted me to take this approach, and 

clearly, it worked! She even came to girl’s camp with us and I wish you all could have 

seen the impact she had on the girl’s she was over as a YCL. They all left camp happier 

and more outgoing and it was very apparent. Meridith brings such a positive attitude 

and uplifting energy to our laurel class and young women’s as a whole and I am 

eternally grateful for her and can confidently say, I am not the only one who feels this 

way. 

As for the other girl, no one knew her. A few girls said her name sounded 

familiar, but no one could put a face to the name. My roster had no contact information 

on her and no one had anything further to provide me with other than the fact that she 

had never really been active. The story of her reactivation is pretty much a miracle. 

Turns out she had been in my seminary class since August 2018, but she kept to 

herself so I never noticed her. Around February, we sat next to each other in class and 

started talking and becoming friends, but I didn’t know how to ask her so late into the 

school year what her name was, until one miraculous day, it was her turn to pray. As 

she was walking up, I knew this was my chance to learn her name, as it would be 

written behind her on the board with all the other assignments for the day. There it was, 

opening prayer, Camryn, C-a-m-r-y-n. The image of my roster came flooding into my 

head and I nearly fainted. As soon as she finished her prayer and came back to her 

seat, I eagerly asked her if her last name was Sloan. She seemed a bit creeped out by 

me, but said yes, her name is Camryn Sloan. 

I am not sure I have ever felt so much joy and excitement in my entire life. I 

explained to her that I was in her ward and was her laurel class president. I had been 

trying to get in contact with her for 2 months and was over the moon that the girl I had 

been looking for all along was one of my favorite classmates. I will never forget the way 

she looked at me when I said this. Her face sunk into a smile of relief. She explained 

that she hadn’t really been to church in awhile because she wasn’t sure she would have 

a place there because it had been so long since she went. I reassured her that no 

matter what, she had a place there with me. I offered to pick her up and she politely 

turned me down, but I made her promise she would come hang out with me at church 

the following Sunday so I had someone to sit with. I made sure she knew that I didn’t 

want her there so I could check her off for attendance, but that I wanted her there 

because we needed her there. She provided our class a quiet reassurance. Something 

about her presence was so comforting and she always made our class laugh. Our class 

of 26 would not have been the same without the one. 

In addition to the reactivations, I got to watch these beautiful young women come 

out of their comfort zones and express themselves. Paige used to timidly whisper 

answers to questions and now she confidently bears her testimony everytime she 

speaks, whether explicitly or implicitly and I hope to be as knowledgeable as her 

someday. Autumn started smiling and laughing more, and might I just say that the 

radiance of her smile comes from her Christlike light within. Her light is truly shining 

from atop the mountain. 

Some of these stories are still a work in progress and some we didn’t get to see 

through to the end. I got released in July, but I still try to continue my work everywhere I 

can because you don’t need a calling to love your neighbor. I say hi to Makae everytime 

I see her and am slowly seeing a rise in her attendance. I always give Breanna a hug 

and tell her I love her as much as possible and now when she strays, she knows she 

can turn to me for support. Unfortunately, Darcey is at college now, but I still try to text 

her and keep up with her and the Spirit planted a tiny mustard seed of faith before she 

moved out. 

I can’t speak for the girls on the other end of all this, but I know that I have never 

felt so close to any group of young women before. As we kept our efforts up, I 

developed a love so real and intense for these girls, that the only way I know how to 

describe it, is an infinite love and appreciation. I was blessed to see these girls through 

the Lord’s eyes and still to this day I can tell you why each girl was needed in our class 

and what she specifically brought to our activities. 

To my Appleby laurels of 2019, I love you girls more than you can understand, 

because I can barely understand it. To my 2020 laurels after these new realignments, I 

can’t wait to get to know you. I promise these changes will be for the better. Last time I 

was asked to give a talk, it was about the Come Follow Me changes, and now I feel the 

need to talk about the new ward and youth changes. I have loved every change the 

Lord has put in my life... eventually. It may stink at first, it may rub you the wrong way or 

make you want to push away, but I promise it is all for the better. I cannot wait to see 

the youth become more united with all these new changes in our programs and I cannot 

wait to make all these new friends in our new wards. If you ever need help feeling 

included or making a place for yourself, ask the Lord what you can bring to your new 

classes or what you can do for others. I hope you all come to love your new wards and I 

hope you’re as excited as I am, and with this I say these things in the name of Jesus 

Christ, amen. 

From Libby:

President Hansen,

Here you go! It truly was a pleasure to serve with her!

I was lucky enough to work with Emma for 7 months as she served as Laurel Class President. During that time, I watched her grow from a loving, thoughtful friend, concerned about her class, to an inspired, devoted leader, seeking out the One. Emma sought to use personal revelation and personal connection to increase a love for the Savior in our Laurel class. Each month as we met, I was humbled at the energy and effort she put into daily prayers about individual class members. Her commitment was contagious, and I soon saw that behavior modeled by each member of her presidency. She put a plan in motion to visit each class member individually (we had 26 Laurels at the time!) and learn more about them, so they could plan activities that better fit the needs of the girls. This led to activities on alternate days, locations and times, which allowed more people to attend and build unity within our class. It should be mentioned that Emma carved this time out of a very full schedule. She is a member of her high school cheer team, a high achieving student in very demanding classes, an active member of National Honors Society, and a dedicated employee at an after school job. Yet, she prioritized her calling as a member of the Lord’s kingdom in a way that led to love and unity like we hadn’t previously experienced. I learned so much from watching her work, and consider it a great privilege to have learned at her feet. 

On a separate note, I want to express thanks for a tender mercy that was given to Emma recently. On the Wednesday following the Stake Conference where Emma spoke, she got into her dream school, University of Utah. The following day, after much celebration, they found out the scholarship she received wasn’t as much as they expected her to receive. Her mom was faced with telling her daughter that she didn’t get to attend her dream school. As I sat on the phone with her mom, she literally couldn’t speak because her throat was choked with emotion. Suddenly, she cut the call short. I spent the next little while brain storming ways I could help both Emma and her mom on such a hard day. She called back a few minutes later to tell me she received a call from President Hansen explaining that Elder Pieper wanted to share Emma’s words in his biannual report. I was overcome with emotion, and said, “I’ve been trying to think of a single thing I could do for you today, and Heavenly Father already had you in mind. He already knew what you needed today.” It didn’t just feel like a tender mercy, it felt like a small miracle. On that day, one that was sure to go down as a major trial in Emma’s life, there was a buffer already in motion to soften the blow. Heavenly Father knows and seeks after The One, and we are so blessed to be able to learn from that perfect example. Thanks for all you do! 

Libby Jones, Layton Lakes 1st Ward Young Women’s President.

From Bishop Cardon: 

What a blessing it is to serve alongside this generation of youth and watch as they grow in the gospel. While Sister Jensen served as the Laurel Class President here are a few observations I noticed:

- She frequently made the young women in her class a topic of prayer and would pray specifically to know what they needed and act on impressions she received. There were several times where she would come in my office to share feelings she was having about the class after she made them a topic prayer. 

- She was instrumental in helping re-activate some of the young women in the ward. Her relationship with them both at church but probably more so outside of church contributed to an environment where friendship and genuine concern could be developed and felt. She also worked well with the other young women's leaders to plan specific activities that would appeal to sisters that need a little more care and concern. 

- She was an active participant in BYC and had detailed notes about things we discussed, and would report back on assignments that were made for specific young women in her class. 

TYLER THE FIXER MAN!

Also known as Jared's favorite kid right here! I tell Jared the batteries in the automatic door lock need to be replaced, he tells Tyler Man and Tyler grabs the tools, takes it apart, replaces the batteries, puts it back together, thorws the dead batteries away and cleans up the tools! What the what!! he would be Grandpa Mason's favorite too I think!

UNIVERSITY OF UTAH!

The last 3 days have been filled with highs and lows. Moments of holding our breath, eyes glued to the phone, crossing our fingers, praying so hard, etc. We have been waiting for January 15, 2020 to come for several months now. It is the day that Utah is going to let everyone know who got accepted into their school It is the day that Emma has worked so hard for. She is the girl with a zero hour PLUS an online class every year just so she can graduate in the STEM program, be in National Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society and Rho Kappa Honor Society, took all the AP classes, honor classes, etc. We toured University of Utah in September and that sealed the deal for her - she knew she wanted to be a Ute. She met with them when they came to Perry, she would email them every time she got another award, etc.

But, every once in a while her and I would talk and we would say, "if it's meant to be, you will get the Presidental Scholarship from there and then we can afford it and we will know and if you don't get it, we will know you are meant to go some place else." It's very easy to say that in October, November, December and beginning of January. It's very different January 15th.

Emma knew on Tuesday night, January 14th, she was going to have to give her cell phone to me that night. She knew that she would be phoneless all day at school because I was not going to get a text or call from her telling me she got accepted. She agreed. Tuesday as she was driving to Perry to cheer for the game Utah sent her a freaking text and told her Congratulations you've been accepted. I was pissed. I used some colorful language. I couldn't even really congratulate her. They robbed me of that moment with my girl. We even had a plan in place with cheer on Wednesday that the coach would read her letter out loud and surprise her and then we would give her the cookies and balloons, etc. Did I mention I was mad at Utah?!

I tried to think of a back up plan, but I didn't have much time because I had to run out the door to a cheer booster meeting I was in charge of. I asked Jared to run to Bashas and grab balloons and then we would give her the red hoodie we had for her. The Coach texted me when the basketball game was almost over so I could end the meeting and beat her home. When she walked in we cheered for her and surprised her with balloons and a hoodie.

Wednesday the actual day we let her take her phone since it was all ruined anyways. Later I discovered on Instagram that they announced they would be sending out that night who got into the Honors College. So I took her phone. I carried 2 phones around with me. I kept checking. Nothing. That night in bed I was complaining to Jared how frustrating this all was. He couldn't figure out why didn't have any email or anything. Finally he thought to check her spam folder. It was in there. She had been accepted into the Honors College. We decided to wait it out and see if we could figure out something with her scholarships and what they were doing about that.

This morning when I woke up I noticed on Utah's instagram page that they said that scholarship offers had been sent out. Emma had had an offer sitting in her account since Tuesday, but Jared didn't think that was her scholarship. He thought it was a generic one.

I got the boys all off to school and then called Utah. The jerk on the other end of the scholarship phone number didn't even want to know my name or my student's name, he assured me whatever was in there was what it was. I bawled. I cried. I called Jared and I cried some more. Then I called Megan and asked her how to be a dream crusher like she was. She gave me some helpful tips. It still sucks. I decided that I needed to frost the damn sugar cookies and present them to her today with her Honors College letter. I frosted. I cried. I was still frustrated with how could all this happen to Emma after how hard she had worked to get there only to not be able to go based on finances.

Then I got a call from Libby and she needed to talk about the mutual activity we were doing next week and how now the men wanted to join us. She could tell I was grumpy and asked what was going on and I broke into tears and told her. While crying my other phone rang and it was the Stake President calling. I told Libby I would call her back.

I tried to hide my bawling but I couldn't. Finally President Hansen realized I was crying and asked what had happened. I told him how I had to crush Emma's dreams when she got home from school. Then he asked if he could tell me something that would cheer me up. I obliged.

On Sunday when Emma spoke in Stake Conference and a member of the Seventy was there, he was really impressed with Emma. Well last night as President Hansen was leaving the church his phone rang and it was Elder Piper. He wanted to thank Hansen for the lovely stake conference again and how much he enjoyed the youth speakers. How much he loved Emma's talk. He was so impressed with her. He has to report back to the Quorum of the 12 and the Prophet himself in a few weeks about how his territory is doing - he is over the whole SW USA. He really wants to tell them about Emma. He wants to put together a presentation about Emma's talk, he wants her to fill in the blanks she didn't get to fill in because she had to cut it down to 5 minutes. He wants pictures of her. He wants a quote about her from our Bishop and a quote about her from Libby the YW President. He is putting together a presentation on Emma and her talk and showing it to those great leaders of our church.

Through all the tears, heartache, anger and sadness and wondering how this could happen to Emma who has worked so hard...30 minutes before she is to arrive home, I get this call from our Stake President. Heavenly Father truly is looking out for us. He knows Emma. He knows her desires. And he wants to make sure we know he knows by all this going down at this very moment.

I don't think I fully understand all of that until after I hung up the phone with President Hansen and called Libby back and I told her and she started sobbing Target and reminding me of all of this and how loved Emma is. Then I was sobbing again.

Jared got people to cover his work meetings in the afternoon because we needed to rip the band-aid off and let Emma know and the best time was now while no one was home and no distractions. She came home, walked in and saw the cookies on the counter and her letter. She picked it up and read it and jumped up and down and let out some screams. We smiled at her. Then she asked about scholarships. Then I had to tell her. She looked at me with a quivering lip. I told her, "it's ok to cry girl, I have been crying all day"  And the belly sobs began. She couldn't believe this. Her dream was gone.

I talked to her for a bit and then it was Jared's turn. He started to speak but the words couldn't come out. He sobbed. He gathered himself and talked to her. Then we got to tell her about the presentation to the Prophet about her, we got to talk about other options, the love we have for her, the love Heavenly Father has for her and the love all the people around her have for her.

While today was full of tears and heartache....It was also full of reminders of how much Heavenly Father loves us. I had 2 friends who I had been crying with remind me of this. I had friends texting to see what happened yesterday because they knew it was the big day, we have a guy friend coming over tonight to surprise Emma and take her on a date, I ran into Natalie at Costco and she randomly had things to say, Brynn who has been our Utah connection has been trying to help us and checking on us.

Emma is amazing. She knows she will end up where she belongs. Big things are in store for this lady and some day we will realize Heavenly Father's hand in all of this and why the things worked out the way they worked out.

STAKE CONFERENCE TALK!

A week ago the home phone rang and I answered it and it was President Jones asking for Emma - I knew in that moment he was asking her to speak in Stake Conference. I panicked because I was supposed to work, so I called right away and Shannon made sure to get me coverage so I could off in time and was so supportive of Emma and Me. That was awesome. Emma and I spent 2 days shopping for the perfect dress. Cute, stylish and modest. Couldn't find it. Then I ordered her tights to wear under her new dress from Christmas and then this morning I received a funny text from her so we went without tights. The Jensen grandparents came and Grandpa Rodgers came, but Grandma Rodgers had to go to RJ's stake conference and sit with Alyza while RJ was on security detail for Elder Soares. We sat right in the front row and I made sure to sit in front of Emma hoping I could smile at her and help calm her nerves and let her know she did a good job. Poor youth speakers had to speak in the middle of it and so I am sure their nerves were building and building. Emma got up there and was amazing! She spoke so calmly and slowly, got choked up a little during it and even made the audience giggle for a second. She is so brave. She did better than Jared or I could have ever done. Since this is our family blog - I can brag as much as I want on here. As soon as it ended, President Hansen gathered the 4 youth speakers and pulled them together in a tight circle and let them know how well they did and how much they brought the spirit in. Then they all got to shake Elder Piper's hand from the quorum of the 70. During his talk her referred back to Emma's talk by her name and made reference to it a couple of different times. Emma got compliments after compliments on how well she did. My phone blew up with text messages, a couple of ladies told me they want their sons to marry Emma, a couple of sisters said they were crying during it and its just what they needed to hear and then Brother and Sister Freestone stopped her and told her how great she did as well. A sister had to serve the luncheon to the Stake Presidency afterwards and Elder Piper and when they were talking about the youth speakers he commented how he was blown away by Emma and appreciated her example. She really did do an amazing job. Brother Freestone told me his favorite part was when Emma finished watching me exhale and being able to breathe again. I love this girl. She is so brave. She is so strong. She is so beautiful. I hope as she spreads her wings next year and fly's the coop she continues to be this person. She will be a light unto others.