HELLO MY DEAR FAMILY!!!
First, I want to start off
by saying Aubs you are too dang cute! You looked absolutely beautiful in your
Peter Pan costume with you makeup! I was thinking about you guys a lot this
weekend again. Thinking about little Aubsy finally getting to do her show and
that it was the last weekend with Ashy. Didn't think that we would have a new
cousin be born in the last week, but how exciting! Little Riley looks adorable!
Gosh, we haven't had a baby cousin since baby Megan! It's been a while. I'm so
excited for Steph and Justin. Make sure to tell them I say congrats! And feel
free to send as many pictures of her as you want because we all know how much I
love babies! :)
Let's see, two very special unique things happened
this week. First, on Thursday, we were able to be interviewed by President
Keyes. He interviews us every other transfer (6 weeks), so about every 3
months. Can I just say I love him and Sister Keyes. They are perfect for me.
Their spirits and testimonies always make me feel so much more excited to go
out and do the work. During our interview President asked me how my family was
doing and I told him about Ashy leaving this week and that my dad was Kansas
City last week because he's an airline pilot. Then we got into talking about
airplanes because I guess Sister Keyes' dad was an airline pilot for Frontier!
So he flew 737's and I think he said 850's, not sure because they didn't sound
familiar to me. Is that a kind of plane dad? Anyway, it was fun to get to talk
to him about that. He was really excited! So interviews with President and his
wife were wonderful!
The next incredible experience I had this week was
the opportunity to meet an apostle of the Lord, Elder Cook. He was here along
with President Hallstrom (of the seventy), Bishop Davies (in the presiding
bishopric), and two other seventies, Elder Ochoa and Elder Deshler. It was such
a neat and once in a lifetime meeting! They were here because they were
training Stake Presidents and Bishops and then had a fireside that night for
the youth. Because our mission is splitting, one of the reasons they came was
to talk about member missionary work and such. Elder Cook told President Keyes
a few weeks ago that as long as he was here, he wanted to meet with the
missionaries. My companion and I were on the very front row so we were
literally like 5 feet away from him the whole meeting and before the meeting
started he wanted to meet and shake every missionaries hand. Oh I can't even
begin to explain to you the strong feeling that entered the room when he came
in. My testimony has been significantly strengthened from this special
experience. He shared with us that since October, they have had to have 5 to 6
apostles each week look at incoming mission papers compared to the 2 that they
would usually have. How crazy! He also told us that reactivating is just as
important as baptizing. And on Sunday at our stake conference, we found out
that there are technically 650 people that are suppose to be in our ward, so we
have a lot of work to do!
Having President's
interview and training, and having the meeting with Elder Cook, we had less
time to work in our area this week. But, we were still able to meet our weekly
goals we had set so we were excited about that. As of today, so far Victor
hasn't smoked for 3 days. YAY! We are hoping that he will continue to stay
strong. I have learned so much from this situation. I have learned that
addiction is real and that when helping someone to overcome it we must be
patient and show increased love and confidence in them. I can't tell you how
many times I've gotten frustrated these past few weeks because Victor has lied
to us and told us that he wasn't smoking when we knew he was, but each time the
natural man would want to come out in me and get upset, Heavenly Father helped
me to know how He felt about the situation and how I should deal with it. So
hopefully Victor should be ready to be baptized in about two weeks! Keep
praying for him! Technically we have completed all the lessons we need to with him
before he can get baptized, so now we are going to go over them again and
review. What I'm thinking we are going to do (and I told them about this idea
and they liked it) is we are going to have them teach us the lessons and
commandments. We have pamphlets of each lesson with scriptures and such and I
have just been feeling like this is what we need to do with them. I know for
me, I learn so much more when I have to teach something (kind of like this
whole training thing!). So, I think this will be good for them and it will help
us to know what things they don't quite understand so we can go over them
and fill in the gaps.
This week we didn't have the car so we rode the
bus. While on the bus this week, we saw two of our investigators. That has
happened now two weeks in a row, where we have seen investigators just out and
about. I know that it's not a coincidence at all! It reminds me of a quote I've
heard before that says, "Coincidence is God's way of staying
anonymous." I love that quote because I feel like as each of us look back
at things that have happened in our lives, we can see how God has truly been in
the details of our lives. I want to end with telling you about a miracle that
happened this week.
So, we were out knocking
doors at this apartment complex and we knocked on a door but apparently the
neighbors thought we were knocking on their door and they opened it. We began
to talk to these two sisters Cayla (14) and Cerena (8). We asked if their mom
was home and they told us she was sleeping so we shared a brief message and
asked if we could come back. They said yes and as they were going to shut the
door, we could hear their mom in the background say is that the Mormons. We
said YES we are! She said, "Oh shoot, let me go put my cigarette down!"
We told her it was okay and not to worry but she insisted that she had too. She
invited us in and as we got to talking we found out that she is actually a
member! She was baptized when she was 16 and hasn't been back in a very long
time. This was a complete miracle that we even found her and her family. We are
beginning to meet and work with them. We are going to try as hard as we can but
I'm not sure if they are willing to change their life style. But if there's one
thing I have learned, as missionaries and members, we must never make final
judgments about others. We must have faith and believe in others abilities to
change. Well, I love you guys so much and will be thinking about you this
upcoming week as we send out another missionary into this wonderful army!
Last thought: Today
in my personal study, I was reading in D&C 31:6 and it said, "Behold,
verily I say unto you, go from them only for a little time, and declare my
word, and I will prepare a place for them." I loved this and felt like it
completely pertained to our family. I know that we will be blessed these next
couple months as we are around the country. In fact, Elder Cook gave us an
apostolic blessing on Thursday which said, "You will come to understand
that this mission will not just bless you, but anyone that is near and dear to
you." I loved this. As he said this, tears filled my eyes as I thought
about what a profound effect missions have on every one that you know. I think
about my dear friends that have served before me and how much their missions
and experiences that I read each week truly affected me. I know as Ashy goes
out, having two missionaries in our family will be the biggest blessing. I just
want to close with my testimony that I know that this church is true. I know that
we are led by a living prophet and that this is Christ's church. Yo se que solo
por medio do la Expiacion de Jesucristo podemos superar el muerte fisical y
espiritual. LES AMO MUCHO! XOXOXO
Con Amor Siempre:
Su Hermanita, Hermana Jorgensen
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| Aubrey as Peter Pan in Snow White |
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