Monday, January 28, 2013


HOLA MI FAMILIA!


OH MY GOODNESS ASHY I am so excited for you! This whole last week I have been having dreams about you opening your call and I got to be there! So although I wasn't able to be there (which killed me), I got to cry and hug you in my dreams so it felt okay. For some reason, I kept dreaming that you were going to Brazil and I was convinced that you were but I just wanted you to speak SPANISH and you are :) I'm thinkin we are a stateside spanish kinda family! I am sersiously so proud of you! I can't wait for you to come! It is going to be incredible to be able to share this experience together and speak spanish! Although we are in different parts of the country, we will be teaching the same people. I opened your letter on Tuesday night at dinner and tears streamed down my face as I read where you are going. I looked like a complete idiot! Ashy, I know that whom the Lord calls He qualifies if we humble ourselves and realize it isn't our mission but His. I know that we are called to specific places for a reason, and although I don't know exactly who I am going to meet yet, I know that I promised these people I would find them in the preexistance. My heart is full of love for these people I haven't even met yet! I just can't wait for you to be here!

Well, this week has honestly been quite hard and long. I was pretty surprised the first two weeks at how capable I was to keep it all together. Everyone was emotional the first week or so and I really hadn't cried once. This week was definitely different than the other two. I feel like the first two weeks I was just trying to take it all in and there were so many new changes, I wasn't thinking about home or you guys too much. I have been so homesick this week! I think it was a mixture of knowing that Ashy was getting her call and I was missing it and we didn't get mail on Sat. through Mon., which sounds pathetic that that made a difference, but it did. I guess it just kind of hit me this week that this mission is going to be for a while. But, don't think that I'm not enjoying the journey! I am loving it here. It's a good hard, the kind of hard that pushes you and makes you grow. I have realized as a missionary you will never feel completely adequete even if I learn the language. I am on the Lord's time and I am doing His work and because of this I need to never get comfortable with my efforts but I need to always be striving to be better.

 One of our investigators isn't really progressing much. I was completely frustrated because she hasn't been keeping any of her commitments. I've been learning a lot from this experience though. Each investigator is different and so our approach to teach them needs to be individualized and personalized to their needs. It is forcing my companion and I to really rely on the Lord to know what will touch her heart and what she really needs. We have been fasting and praying for her to know how best we can help her. Missionary work is a truly humbling experience. Just when you think you are sort of getting it down, the Lord helps to show you that He needs you to try harder. Although she is just my teacher, it is amazing the lessons we are learning from teaching her. I can not wait to get out in the field and meet the people that I have been called to serve. I know that the Lord is in the details of our lives and He will go to great lengths to help His children. I am so grateful for the temple. 

My heart has been heavy this week, and as I went to the temple I was able to feel this sweet peace and spirit. This week Elder Evans of the seventy came to talk to us. He talked about having faith and the miracles each of us will see on our missions. He shared Mosiah 18:30 with us and he said each time it says Mormon put in your mission. " And now it came to pass that all this was in (Independence)......how beautiful are they to the eyes of them who there came to the knowledge of their Redeemer, and how blessed are they, for they shall sing to his praise forever." He talked about how it wasn't so much about where we were going that would make that place so special to us, but what happened there. He said our missions will forever be dear to us because it is there that will come to know our Savior. I loved this! I just want you guys to know that I know this church is true with all my heart. I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to share this good news with others. Yo se que Jesucristo es mi Salvador. I know that He lives and that this is His work. I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH!
You guys can share what you want of this to others. I didn't want to lie and not tell you how I was truly feeling, but don't worry I am doing good! We wouldn't grow if we didn't struggle a little bit right! I miss you guys like crazy! WRITE ME!!!!!!! 



Love
Hermana Jorgensen





This is like an hour after I got Ashy's letter! I found Trev in our Tuesday night devotional and we got a picture with the letter! AHHHHH I'm so excited for you Ashboy! 

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Fire Alarm Calls Again


HELLOOO MY WONDERFUL FAMILY!

Gosh, I love you guys so much! As I'm writing this I can't help but think that you guys are probably enjoying yourselves in LONDON right now! Lucky ducks! Who all went??? I thought it was just going to be dad, Ashy, and Preston but mom keeps writing me letters and it sounds like she might have gone too. I'm sure Aubs definitely didn't go but who knows with her new phone now she's all grown up! Just one year away from dating! hahaha (kill us all!) Aubsy, my baby, how are you liking MY phone? Everyone keeps telling me that you're a texting maniac. I'm sure you use it more than I did! Preston, thanks so much for your letters bud! You have no idea how much they mean to me! I love seeing that they're from you each time I open them! Okay, so let's talk about Ashy's call!!! Is it here???? You guys better dear elder me the day she gets it because I don't want to wait until next thursday! Also, you guys should send me some pics of London and Ashy with her call/ possibly a video! I can't believe I'm missing it!

Anyways, it wouldn't be a fun week at the MTC if we didn't have to wake up in the middle of the night and evacuate to the gym in the FREEZING cold! Yes, this happened again! Two weeks in a row! Apparently, the pipes in the basement are freezing or something and somehow that sets off the alarms. 

As I'm sure you saw a picture, I got to see JEFF this week! It was no mere coincidence! It was such a tender mercy! I was caught kind of off guard but that day was just kind of a hard day and seeing him made me so happy! I love you JEFF! 

This week has just been more spanish and more learning the lessons from Preach My Gospel. I think that slowly but surely my spanish is improving (or at least I sure hope so!). We finished teaching our first "investigator" this week and have gotten two more. Their names are Cristina y Fernando (our teachers are playing people that they taught on their mission). Fernando is from Ecuador so it has been fun to connect with him on that level! This is random, but speaking of Ecuador, my teacher Hermana Powell (who I adore) went with OSSO to Cuenca before her mission! How neat is that! It's such a small world! Back to the investigators..... This time around, we are going to try different approaches to how and what we teach them so that we can find a way that works best for them.  I love our "investigators" so much and I can't imagine how it feels to be out in the field with real people. After we finished teaching Andrea (our first investigator) last week, our teacher showed us pictures of the real Andrea with her family at the temple and I nearly broke down in tears. I grew to love her and care about her in a way that I have never exactly felt before. It is amazing how much your love can grow for someone as you pray for charity. It makes me think of a talk that was given in this past General Conference by President Monson about seeing people as they may become. He talked about a missionary seeing his investigators all in white and about to enter into the waters of baptism. The missionary said once he thought about them in this way, his love for them changed. He saw them as God and Christ saw them. I know I haven't experienced this yet, but I have had glimpse of what it must be like and I know this is the reason missionaries say, although it was a hard year and a half, I have never felt so happy. 

Here at the MTC, we had a really special treat at our Tuesday night devotional. ELDER HOLLAND came! As he entered into the room, we all stood up in silence, and the spirit was so powerful. He is my favorite apostle (I don't know if that's allowed), but I love him. He is truly an apostle of the Lord and he brought such a strong and bold message to us. He said, "there could be a better time to be involved in missionary work, but I don't know when  that would be.". He said that we need to be the best missionaries the church has had because the world, the church, and the heavens are counting on us. He also said we need to be a better missionary than he was. WHAT! How is that even possible?! It is a scary overwhelming thought but also exciting and motivating. 

I'm running of time! I just want you guys to know that I love you so much and I couldn't ask for a better support system. Ashy, I'll be there in spirit this week as you open your call! Mom and Dad, thanks for your constant support and comfort in your letters. You have no idea how much they help me. I know that this church is true with all my heart, if I didn't I wouldn't be out here doing this. I am so excited to serve the Lord. It is such a privilege and honor to wear His name under mine. Yo se que Jesucristo es mi Salvador y mi amigo y hermano. Yo se que esta es Su Evangelio. Yo se que Dios ama todos sus hijos. LES AMO MUCHO MUCHO! LOVE YOU GUYS!

Hermana Jorgensen




1. Yes, the fire alarm went off again this week! Wasn't as funny this time! It started at 12:30 so we evacuated to the gym and this time I was smart and brought my pillow so that I could sleep for the hour we had to wait in there. Oh, the good times we have at the MTC! hahah



2. We got to escape to the real world for the first time (besides our temple walks)! This week I had a really bad head cold and so my teacher made us go to the BYU Health Center. Don't worry Mama, nothing serious at all, this is just protocol because there are so many missionaries here and they don't want things like that to spread.





 

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Our First Letter from the MTC


Hermana Jorgensen's first email from the MTC


HELLO MI FAMILIA!!!

Seriously, thank you so much for all the letters this week! Our district leaders get our mail each week and you have no idea how great it feels to get a letter. So, the first few days I was here were extremely hard. I honestly kept questioning why I was here and what I was doing (don't worry, these were normal thoughts because I talked to other people and they said everyone feels this way). I just kept thinking this is going to be the longest 18 months ever! Ever since Sunday though it has felt totally different. Each day feels like it is never going to end but then I look back at this week and it hasn't felt too long. Time here is really weird!
 I also thought it was going to be hard being so close to BYU and all my friends but not getting to see them but I don't even feel like I'm in Provo. Anyways, my district has 6 hermanas and 2 elders. Everyone keeps walking by our classroom and then they stop to comment about how they have never seen so many girls in a district. I guess districts are usually all boys or maybe a few sisters. The masses of sisters are coming in! We have two girls in my district who are 19. Which reminds me..... ASHY YOUR PAPERS ARE IN!!! YAY! I'm so excited for you! Do we know when your call will be here or what day you are thinking of opening it??? 
The MTC is so neat because there are almost 2500 people here unified in one purpose. One of my favorite things here is when all of the missionaries are in one room singing Called to Serve. The spirit is so strong! In my district, I am the only one going to Independence. Two girls are going to L.A., three girls and one elder are going to Argentina, and then another boy is going to Sacramento. My companion is going to Bahia Blanca, Argentina. I love her! I seriously am so lucky! We are pretty similar and in areas that we aren't the same, we compliment each other. So far, we haven't had any problems and I really don't anticipate any in the future. She's from Buffulo, NY and is a senior at BYU. Her spanish is definitely better than mine because she's been taking it since 5th grade, but it's great because we are able to come up with sentences in spanish when we teach our lessons.
 So far we have taught five thirty minute lessons ALL IN SPANISH. Can you believe it?! We started teaching on friday and our first lesson was pretty much a train wreck! Our "investigator" is actually a teacher here but is pretending to be someone that she taught on her mission. Our lessons got progressively better not necessarily because of our Spanish, but because we have learned how to bring, listen, and teach by the spirit. Our first day here, our teacher kept stressing to us how important it was to teach by the spirit. Before our first lesson I was really stressed about the Spanish so I tried to memorize phrases and made a strict lesson plan. Through these five teaching experiences, I have really come to know what they mean when they say that the spirit is the true teacher. It is more important to listen to your investigator and with the spirit, create your lesson to their needs. I have stopped memorizing exact lines and have just began to study vocab that may be used in the lesson.  Although I know some of my sentences don't always make sense, I focus more on listening to the spirit and speaking from my heart. We learned how to pray and bear our testimonies in Spanish this past week and are continuing to learn much espanol cada dia. (has Rossetta Stone taught you those words mama?! haha). 
Each hour of your day is planned out here. I have learned how much I can get done in a day. There is seriously NO TIME to even read letters some days and now I am beginning to understand why it would take my friends who are on missions so long to write back. Bummer, my time is running out! Just know that I love you guys so much and that I am adjusting well to being a missionary!
Love Always:
             Hermana Lexi Annmarie Jorgensen



1. So I know this is terrible quality, but Trev(Elder  Montgomery) and I wanted to show you guys that we sat a row a part in a huge room full of new missionaries on the first day at it was a complete accident! So great to see him!




2. The girls in my district! We all share a room together and they are all so sweet and fun! I got so lucky to be with such incredible people!



 3. I seriously see Joe(Elder Woodbury) everywhere! (we run into each other at least twice a day) And I've seen Trevor about three times this past week as well. Love seeing people from home! It's the best!


                                                   4. My whole district at the temple. 

5. My companion (Hermana Miner) and I at the temple during our Sunday walk. It was FREEZING cold!


Sunday, January 6, 2013

January 2nd The Big Day Arrives

Hermana Jorgensen entered the MTC on Wednesday, January 2nd.  We had a great ride with the family up to Provo.  It was beautiful, covered with snow and very cold.  Lexi's friend Abbey flew in from California to say goodbye. While waiting for the airport shuttle outside in the freezing cold, she noticed a sister who was going to the MTC that day too.  She was wearing no tights and little flats.  Abbey was freezing in her winter boots and coat, so she asked her if she was cold.  The sister said, "oh this cold is nothing".  Abbey asked her where she was from and she said, "INDEPENDENCE, MISSOURI".  So, we hope we have enough warm gear packed into her 2 and a half suitcases.

I will attempt to keep you posted on all of her great missionary experiences.  This is my first attempt at a blogspot so bear with me.  Below are some of the pictures we took when dropping her off.  Thank you to all our family and friends who came to her farewell, setting apart, to say good bye at the house, who sang "God Be With You Til We Meet Again", and saw her off at the MTC.


                         MARK, HERMANA  JORGENSEN, AND PRESIDENT STEVENS


HUGGING ASHLYN AFTER BEING SET APART


FAMILY DRIVING TO THE MTC


LEXI, KALEB(COUSIN), ASHLYN


THE FAMILY


ABBEY AND LEXI


ASHLYN, AUBREY, AND LEXI


ASHLYN, AUBREY, LEXI, PRESTON


SISTERLY ADVICE


HERMANA JORGENSEN AND ELDER MONTGOMERY


A KISS FOR THE ROAD


THE GANG


LET THE MISSION BEGIN

The Jorgensen's love and appreciate all your support and I know Hermana Jorgensen would really appreciate your prayers as she studies in the MTC.