travel coping

thats me, taking a picture in austria. i looked through some pictures from my trip last summer and had that aching feeling come back immediately. i wanted to re-shoot every single thing i had shot before and shoot even more pictures because i was baffled at little i had taken and how much i was already starting to forget.  so it makes me want to go back again. 

did i tell you about hallstatt? the most wonderful little town in austria? i felt like i entered a completely untouched piece of the country where tourists hadn't maimed it yet, and i was just discovering it. there were salt mine tours that were ridiculously boring while completely hysterical at the same time. and the town itself, with its architecture and little shops made me want to stay there for a few more days and eat brautwursts. so i think i'll start telling you more about this trip too, because i want to remember them too. 

african stories

have you ever had a moment when you knew things with such exactness and precise knowledge that it moved you to your very core?  a knowledge so sure and so powerful that it seems as if every single thing in your life all connects to that point, because that one thing that you know is so strong, it must have everything to do with it all. have you ever felt that?

i distinctly remember feeling that one day. it overtook me like a wave of emotion and power mixed and sent clarity through my heart.

there was a girl in africa. she was young, probably in her early teens. and she was sick. very sick. one day as we closed the clinic for the day, turning away patients, her father dragged her in by her arms, and gently set her by us, not saying a word.

the rest all happened so quickly, its sometimes hard for me to remember it all.  but throughout seizure after seizure, and several episodes of passing out, our small little group of clinic helpers became very worried about this girl. we knew she must go to the hospital, because it was beyond our nurse's help. but making it there - even making it home - was what troubled us all. i thought it was sure she wouldn't make it back. she could barely stay conscious, let alone sit up straight on the back of a little moped scooter for more than 10 miles on the dirt road.

"can you go get the other men to give her a blessing?" the sweet nurse asked her husband, believing in a power far greater than what we had, putting aside religious prejudices (her family was not from the same church) and calling upon something she knew to be an answer.

and in the middle of that barren land in kenya, africa, she was given a blessing.  and just as simple as it was given, she left with her father again.

through the next few days as the nurse and her husband spent time with the girl at the hospital, they discovered malaria that had traveled to her brain, and treated it. and with more kindness, they decided to sponsor her education at the school we had worked at, and give her a better life there.

that moment comes to me time and again. the moment when i realized of the intricate plan we all have.  things have been set in motion for us, that we may not even comprehend. things that are hard and burdensome, that we would rather live without.  but then those things can bring us blessings that would have never come about without those hard things.  and to look back at all those things, i couldn't help but know with such preciseness that there is a God, and He is in our lives. and that moment - that powerful moment - was so simple, that it brought me the clarity that i know could have only come from Him.

that trip of a lifetime

remember that trip i took this summer? the one that i still fawn over when i think about it (which is almost every day) and tell stories of? my grandma talks about it more than i do, and seeing how much she loved it moved me to make a video of the trip for her and my grandpa to watch and remember it by. after all, the trip was for them. i'm still learning all this video stuff, but its fun to see it all over again. i want to always travel, but this trip will always be one that i remember.



Europe from Elsa Jensen on Vimeo.

just in case you missed it on other social media platforms ;)

african stories.

i had never been somewhere that was far worse than i had imagined. but here i was, and it was staring me in the face. i had been to a third world country before, and for some reason i had thought that this gave me an advantage, but i was not off to a good start. it may have been the 27 hours of straight travel or it may have been the bed i had slept on that looked like it was covered in diseases, but either way, starting off my first full day in africa was not as easy as i had thought it might be. we were told several times that today we would be in the poorest of the poor, and all that experience i had mentioned before left me to think that it would not be much harder than what i had experienced. but the barren dirt land that was inhabited by far too many shelters, that could hardly be considered homes because they were made of garbage bags with sticks for framing, left me with a feeling i still can't describe. i could not process what was in front of me.  i did not know how i would face the day. i didn't know how i would make it and let alone smile, and i instantly wanted to go home. but i was the first seat on the bus. the one they were all waiting for to get off first, to lead the way through what was just as terrifying to them. i pulled my sunglasses down, and walked out into the sun with the most sincere prayer in my heart. and the biggest blessing i could have ever asked for followed. the instant my foot hit that ground, i was fine. i was more than fine. i was the most kind and outreaching i had ever been in my life. and that was when i knew i wanted to always do this. i wanted to always travel, no matter where in the world it may be. because it was a gift to be there and i left more blessed than those that i was intending to bless.

i know i always post this picture, but it was my moment and i love that it was captured. 

guatemala

i find myself forgetting this trip and these experiences from time to time and it makes me panic.

because when i was 17 and went on this kind of a trip for the first time, i never really turned back.

in more ways than one, i had tasted the world and with it, came the unquenchable need to keep experiencing it. and also, with it, came the desire to always explore those that i could learn from. because that is the truth of these kinds of trips-the benefit always returns to you greater than you gave. of all the things, i remembered this today. when we had first interacted with the people of the cloud forest region in the mountains of guatemala, i was drenched with sweat and then caked in dust. while we had a short hour with a small branch for church, we had to leave and continue our way up the mountains to our mayan like destination. one little girl followed me. and all she could say was my name. the barrier of languages didn't keep the message of her want for friendship. it was the sweetest and simplest thing that opened up my possibilities for the entire trip.

she is my friend that knew my name and thats all i really needed. 

this one time, in africa

i kissed a giraffe. 

and i got some pretty bad rug burn from it. 

friends and weddings

last weekend i got to go to a little town in california, where four of my best friends are from. 

after having heard so much about it and its people, it was so much fun to actually go and see it.

i loved loved loved meeting all the family and friends and soaking it all in.

and on top of it all, going to the first of the weddings for the six of us, was the best part of it all.

lovely candice and ian looked so beautiful together and it was a day of celebration and happiness. 

i love weddings because they're so full of happiness. 

i also hate them, because they make me want to have a wedding, 

but this one only made me more and more excited for 

the weddings that will keep coming for all of my friends.

and this girl-she's the real gem. 

we ventured through the beginning years of adulthood and college together

and i couldn't have done it without her. 

i owe her a lot, and knowing how happy she is makes the fall without her a whole lot easier. 

thanks for showing me your town-i'll be back next summer!

i love god. african stories.

i once said earlier this summer, that i would share more about my travels because they bring me alive. so here is a story that i still love the most.

there was one girl i met that was more of a heavenly teacher than a little girl to me.  as a 10 year old from the local town of naivasha, we were very different.  but she told me of  her life so proudly and excitedly. i asked her, "what is your favorite thing to learn about in school?" she quickly and boldly answered with a subject that to them meant religion and church.  as i was surprised by her boldness to share something that may have seemed more private so easily with someone so much older and different than her, she continued on. "do you know why? because I love God." it was so simply stated that her firm conviction shook me to immediate tears.  she continued even more, not even frazzled by my emotion, "and He loves you. i know He does. because He loves me." she taught me the simplicity of a relationship with God and a love for a faith that she knew to be true. a courage to share what you know to simply share your happiness of it.

I am Danish

My grandmother's adventure was German, 

but as for my grandfather, it was all Danish.

i am obsessed with danish poppy fields. 

as you will notice throughout this post.

i have cute parents

my grandpa searches for family in a cemetary

this is where his family lived and farmed.

copenhagen docks

My Grandpa's family came from Denmark. 

The prophet Brigham Young asked his grandparents to immigrate

over to the states so that they could bring the Danes in the gospel here. 

(family mentioned in this church talk here)

His father was then called as a missionary to go back to Denmark

and start the work there. 

We are heavily Danish, as you can tell by the blonde haired blue eyed Jensen's,

and it was such a good experience to see all of the exact places 

that my great grandparents had lived and served and been.

I love my family and the sacrifices and great measures they took

so that I could be here today and have the wonderful blessings that I have.

København

my parents are tourists

look like narnia to anyone else?

Copenhagen is a dream. It's like a European New York City, 

but way better because of the history. And the danishes. 

City: København, or Copenhagen

Favorite place: Definitely the Frederiksborg castle. I could have stayed there all day.

New found interest: Photographing interiors. At least I could have all day at the castle.

Best art: The original Christus statue in the official church of Denmark.

Funniest occurrence: Running into LDS members from other parts of the world 

on 3 different occasions. It was even funnier when one couple was from 

small college town and taught at my school. 

Traveler's advice: Be prepared to go bankrupt in Denmark. 

It is literally 3 times as much as any other European country. 

I only wish that was a joke. And learning Danish isn't essential. 

Most people speak English and very well. 

This day deserves a story. Hamburg.

And I hope that at least a few of you stick around to read it.

Because this was a day that was altering and beautiful to me 

and I wish to share that with those that will listen.

this much i had always known of my family before me:

they were full blooded german (on my grandmother's side)

her father (my great grandfather Karl) had been involved in the wrong efforts by accident 

during WWII and was captured by Nazis, 

and eventually the entire family immigrated to America to stay.

I ama named after Karl's wife, my great grandma Elsa,

and that has always been of at least a small significance to me.

as i have grown older and learned more, i've had specific and spiritual moments 

in which i have felt my grandma Elsa.

and this day in particular is one in which i learned the great importance of her 

and my special responsibility of the name that i hold that is hers.

the purpose of this entire trip was to take my father's parents back 

to the countries that they had come from.

my grandpa to denmark, and my grandma to germany. 

neither had been and it was a big ordeal that almost all 

of their children and some of their grandchildren joined in on

and i heard of stories of my ancestors that i had never heard before.

this is as much as i know.

my great grandpa had worked in the government at the time of hitler's take over

and did not like the direction that he was taking the country in.

while he resisted, he was found and taken to a concentration camp.

he escaped and spent several months on the run.

i'm unsure as to the timing of the events, but i know that Elsa was left to her own with her children.

Hamburg was put under massive bombings because of its status as a port town,

and because of that the women and children were evacuated to live 

in an evacuated work camp on the outskirts of the city.

It was there that Elsa gave birth to my grandma during the middle of an air raid, in a bomb shelter.

there were so many stories, but the message was still the same to me.

they greatly sacrificed so that we could be here today.

so that i could carry a message as a namesake.

we spent that day trying to find where the work camp had been that my grandma was born in.

while it was a bit of a goose chase, we were surrounded and helped 

by the most wonderful germans that were so pleased to have been a part of it.

we finally found the street next to that which the camp had been

and a sweet old german man told us that he had lived there his whole life

 and we were in the right place.

with a few of the old bunkers left, we knew it too.

it was an incredible experience, and one that i am quite proud to have been a part of.

we spent the rest of the day at the harbor and saw in person 

what we had seen in paintings of my great grandfather so many times.

i was grateful for that day and the lesson it gave me of family and heritage

and of the strong witness of the importance of my name

and the person that bore it.

my great grandparents, grandmother, and great uncle in Salt Lake.