PORCHE, DYLAN, AND CALEB BALDWIN

July 23, 2013

  I have the greatest family in the world! THE END. Seriously, I know I say this every week, but I mean it with all my heart. I just loved seeing all the pictures of all the cousins and fam at little Gary's baptism. And how special that grandpa got to baptize him! Everyone is so tan and getting so big! 

So this week, I got to see three people from outside my little mission world. Can I just tell you it's the weirdest thing when your mission world and normal world combine! It's completely surreal. Ever since I've gotten to the jail I've always thought about how neat it would be to take someone through that I'm close to on this tour, and then Jana came and it was so wonderful! It was so great to see her and just hug her. I was nervous it would be completely distracting, but I am totally fine. Jana, I love you so much and I'm so glad I got to share the sacred liberty jail with you! I also saw a girl from my freshmen ward at BYU on Sunday and Chris Booth (I think that's her name, the one you play wallyball with mama). I'm sure she sent you a pic. 

On Saturday, Sister Rackham and I went to a baptism because she was singing in it and there was a little girl the had Down syndrome, and yes I cried! It's the first little kid I've seen that has Down syndrome and I was just so happy! And then, the next day at the jail there was a little four year old boy who also has Down syndrome! So, I was in Down syndrome heaven! hahah Made me miss my Aubsy!

     Anyways, this whole week I have just been overflowing with joy to be a missionary! I am so blessed! Yesterday, we met with one of our new investigators, Porche, and we had one of the most powerful lessons I have ever been in in my entire mission. We were talking about the Book of Mormon and as she continued to talk to us, we realized that we needed to change our plans and talk to her about the atonement. She shared with us some serious and unfair things that had happened to her in her childhood that she has never told anyone, except her mom about last month. As we were all in tears, Sister Rackham and I were able to testify of the healing power of the atonement and I have never felt the spirit bear such a strong witness to me of this before in my entire life. As I was able to testify to her, that she is a precious daughter of a Heavenly Father who loves her, and that she does matter and is of great worth to Him, I could feel the spirit working through me. There is no better feeling than this, to know that you are truly being His hands. She is so prepared for the gospel, yes, there are many things that we will need to work through with her (word of wisdom, law of chastity, etc.), but I know this is her time if she is willing to take the journey.

      Another one of our investigators, Dylan, is a complete miracle story! He was a referral given to us from some other sisters and we had been trying to contact him for about 2 weeks and just weren't having any luck. As we were walking home one day, we saw this kid walking around with a guitar. We asked him if he would play us a song. He sat down on the grass and started to play a Christian song called "Doubting Thomas". We immediately felt such a powerful connection with this kid. After the song we introduced ourselves, and he told his name was Dylan. We found him!!! Well, more like the Lord placed him perfectly in our path. Anyway, we went over on Saturday and taught him and invited him to church on Sunday. As we went to get him on Sunday with another member, he seemed so nervous and hesitant. He told us that his friends had been trying to talk him out of going the moment we left on Saturday, but something just kept telling him he needed to go. So, he CAME! :) We sat in the back because he wasn't comfortable in what he wore (sweat pants). As the sacrament was starting, I had just been praying the entire time that he would feel at home. (You have to understand, that he's this 24 year old kid, who doesn't really have any family around, has been in jail, and we can just tell that he really doesn't have a support group or people that love him.) During the sacrament, he leaned over to Sister Rackham, and his exact words were, "I feel at home here.". Oh my goodness, hooray! The Lord answers prayers. The talks that were given couldn't have been more perfect for him. After the second talk he told us he needed to go out and pray for a minute. When he came back in, he had a small piece of paper that he wanted to give to one of the speakers (who is about to leave on his mission to Brazil). He was so impressed by his talk! After the first hour, the ward just engulfed him. Everyone came to meet him and welcome him! It was incredible! Very different from my old ward. He, like Porche, has been completely prepared. Yes, there are a lot of things to also work through with him, but they are both truth seekers and they have found the truth!

     The jail has been wonderful. I love it there. Every single presentation I take, I feel my testimony growing deeper and deeper. There is nothing like being able to bear testimony of the Savior and the prophet Joseph Smith, at a place where they have been. With all my heart, I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. I know it. This week I was studying about the history of the men that were in prison with Joseph, and I came across the story of Caleb Baldwin. His was my absolute favorite! At the time that he was in jail, he had 9 kids (7 of them daughters). He was very concerned about how is family would make it without him, especially in the winter. He went to the judge and presented his unique situation to him. The judge told him that he would let him go under one condition. If he would deny Joseph as a prophet. Caleb could not and would not do this. He knew, so deep within himself that he truly was called of God. And so, it was because of his testimony that he was imprisoned. I just love his story. He is my hero. I may name one of my sons after him (and of course Kaleb Bailey as well :) ) But, I just love that he was willing to give up everything because he was truly converted. It's made me think a lot about my own conversion. Could I do what he did? Something for all of us to ponder and think about this week.

     Well, I love you all mucho! Have so much fun on your trip! You are all my sunshine! LOVE YOU! XOXOXO MUAH!

Con Mucho AMOR,

              Hermana Jorgensen

Family Scripture: Luke 22:32.... "But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art CONVERTED, strengthen thy brethren."

I am in LOVE with this city!

July 16, 3013

Hello my beautiful familia!

     Let me just start off by saying I am in the cutest town ever! So, yes, I did get transferred and surprisingly I'm wasn't too sad. I mean I was a little bit nervous to come to a new area, with a new companion, and all that, because I really got comfortable in Kaw River. But hey,major growth can't occur when we are comfortable,so the Lord knew it was time for me to take on a new adventure. So, as of Thursday, I am here in Liberty, MO. I am so so blessed! You have no idea! Not every sister gets to serve here. We typically have between 6 and 8 sisters here compared to the 18 they have at the Visitors Center in Independence. The very first day I got to the mission, when we were doing our tour with the new missionaries and Pres. and Sis. Keyes, I just had an incredible experience as I went through the Liberty Jail and I knew I was going to one day serve here. And so, here I am and I am oh so happy!

    First off, this town is the CUTEST! Seriously, like every other house here is over 100 years old. It is so historical. We go running every morning and I just want to bring my camera because the houses are so darn cute. There's a farmer's market on the square every Wednesday and Saturday and they sale fresh fruit and veggies, and the Amish come with some amazing homemade bread and jam! Mom and Dad, you would LOVE it! When we come back next summer we are spending a day here for sure! So, we live right downtown. Our house is actually on the same property as the jail. All 8 of us live in it and it's super great because when we are on shift at the jail we can just walk over.

     My companion is wonderful! I love her so much! She's from, drum roll please.......WISCONSIN!   She lived in White Fish Bay (small town on the north shore of Milwaukee). Dad, do you know where that it? So her family actually moved to Orem about a year ago, but she lived there for about 15 years. How fun is this?! So we have had some good talks about Culvers, cheese curds, corn, and also the gospel! :) But, she is seriously so great. Goes to BYU, went to Jerusalem, just such a great person. She inspires me to want to be such a better missionary and person. God is so aware of us, that's all I can say! So, technically I'm finishing train her for her last 6 weeks, but it just doesn't feel that way at all. She teaches me so much every single day. Moral of the story, I am blessed!

     So, let's talk about the historic liberty jail! I have met so so many people. We typically average at about 300 people a day at least. Last week, they had over 600 come in one day. We are so busy busy! Like seriously, in a 6 hour shift, I do not sit down like once. I'll take a tour, then be done, come back, and take another. Because it's busy season, we have had to start taking solo tours very quickly. Yesterday was my first day taking tours completely by myself. They went pretty well for a first time. So we start out in the history room and talk about the history of the jail and the saints in Missouri at the time. We do that for about 10 to 15 min and then we go into the rotunda where the jail is and we finish the tour there. So, in total it's about a 35 to 45 min tour. I have met people from Tahiti, a lady came in from Thailand, and a family came from Enterprise. They said that Uncle Tom's their dentist! haha I was afraid that the transition from being full proselyting to being in a VC would be hard, but I actually really love it. I feel like this is so fulfilling. Never in a 6 hour period of time do I get to bear testimony as often as I get to here. And although most of them are members, I feel like member or non member, every single person needs to be strengthened on their personal journey towards our Savior. We do have non members come in though and it's great. Yesterday, I gave out 3 Books of Mormon and it was a really neat experience. The spirit is so incredibly strong here that people cannot escape it. My testimony of the prophet Jospeh Smith has grown leaps and bounds just in the past four or five days as I have been here. Oh, and another sweet thing is it's the 50th anniversary of the center this September, so I think they're going to do something cool for it! Such a great time to be here!

     In closing, a little spiritual thought for the week.... Thus far, I have loved being at the jail and I have been thinking a lot about what the Lord would have us learn from this experience. One of the things I've thought about is how, we all go through our own "liberty jail" moments, where we feel trapped, depressed, or dark, where we feel that the Lord isn't there. I mean even a prophet of God felt this way. But, as Joseph endured it  well, he was refined and we received three sections of the Doctrine and Covenants (121-123).  I love you guys so so much! I'm so glad Aubsy had fun at camp! You're so big! And Pressy with the BAMS! Sounds so fun! LOVE YOU GUYS MUCHO! XOXOXO

love always:

      Hermanita Jorgensen (numero uno)

Probably my last week in Kaw River

July 8, 2013

     HOLY HUMIDITY! Jana, now I understand what you mean about summers here! I keep talking to everyone here and they keep saying, "You haven't seen nothing yet." What in the world! Are you serious?! I am literally walking and sweat is just dripping down my legs! It's so gross, but at the same time I kind of like it because people feel bad for us and let us in! haha And these bugs! I think they're called chiggers. I thought they were a huge joke, but NO! These little guys are for real! Anyway, I loved your guys emails this week and all the pics! Wisconsin looked so FUN, like always! Jen Jen, thank you so much for the package! So yummy! And yes, cheerio bars already gone! haha Seriously have the best family ever!

     So, this week was a finding week! I feel like that has just been the theme of this transfer. In the beginning we had a lot more investigators, but quite honestly they weren't progressing. So that's why, progressively throughout this transfer, our investigators have become less and less. But, GOOD NEWS, we found some incredible people this week! Of course, they all speak Spanish, but that's just kind of how it is here. We met a great family one night as we were walking home in the rain. It had been a long day, full of a TON of walking, sweating, and not really finding. We couldn't believe it was raining, because hours before it was about 90 degrees with what felt like 100% humidity! But, it was, and we weren't prepared for it either. So we are just soaked and starting to get down, but I refused to let that happen (you'd be proud of me mom, I'm working so hard to be a positive person:) ), so I just started singing called to serve in Spanish and Sister Wuebkes was just looking over at me like, "Hermana, you are so weird!" , but by the end we were laughing and in better spirits. I have truly learned here, that life isn't always going to go exactly how you think it is, in fact in missionary work, it's pretty much a miracle if everything in your day goes according to schedule. It just never happens! We can't always choose what happens, but we can choose how we are going to handle what we are given. I have really worked hard on having a positive mental attitude! That doesn't mean I don't get sad, bummed, upset, etc. I am just trying harder to look at the great things that happen each day, because the fact is, a mission is HARD. Things fall through EVERY single day because people have their agency, but if we are completely negative, we can't have the spirit, and therefore we can't do this work. Anyway, enough of my insights, back to the family we found! They are from Mexico, it was a mom, dad, and their 13 year old son. They are so great! We taught about the restoration and book of Mormon on their porch and we are going back on Wednesday!

    

     We also taught a lady yesterday, Rosa, and she is wonderful. I felt like we needed to stop and talk to her as we were walking to one of our appointments. She started talking to us about her family and apparently she has a daughter who is a member! YAY! And, she had missionaries in Mexico once but one they were transferred, I guess no one went back to visit her. So, moral of the story, she's great! A huge potential! We are going back Tuesday!

     Goodness, I never have enough time to write everything I want to in this email. Just know that I love you guys, that I'm happy, and that I know this gospel is true. We are so incredibly blessed to have this knowledge! LOVE YOU! XOXOXO MUAH!

Love Always,

         tu hermanita jorgensen

Trying to stay happy and positive while tracking in the rain! I don't know if you can see it, but there was a huge rainbow in the background!

Sister Wuebkes and I in the rain!

This is Irma an her sweet family! I don't know if I've told you about her.  She's from Mexico, got baptized about 7 months ago and then moved here to find out that her husband has a new family and was being unfaithful.  She is such an incredible woman! Always so happy (even though she looks a little ticked in this picture haha) and has such strong faith.  She loves the Book of Mormon and each time we come, her sweet kids each have to say an opening and closing prayer.  Their prayers almost make me cry every time because they are so sweet and sincere.

This is her oldest daughter Melany.

This is her youngest, Valeria! They are both dolls!

4th of July barbecue with Victor and June.

This is our district after our last district meeting together at Hermana Balza's house.

Hermana Balza and I.  I love this woman! She is our spanish relief society president and has us over every Monday night for dinner.

No big deal, just exhausted after literally walking like 3 miles around the city and DRIPPING sweat! Disgusting!

But, still happy to represent the Lord..

This is Elder Heath! Can I just say I love him so much!  He was a service missionary in our ward.  He has autism and I just LOVE this guy!

Family Scripture:  Moroni 10:5

                          " And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things."     I finished reading the Book of Mormon today! This is part of the promise that Moroni gives us at the end. I want you guys to know that I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of god. I love the Book of Mormon! In fact, I've been putting of reading the last two chapters for the last 2 days because I just didn't want it to end! But, I guess it's just time to start over again!

The good and bad days of being a missionary!

July 1st, 2013

  Can I just start by saying how much I love you guys! I know I say this every single week but seriously, I have the BEST family ever! 

So, let's talk about the incredible zone/mission conference/ temple day! :) Oh my goodness was it incredible! Our whole mission was together (which doesn't happen very often), to hear from President and Sister Keyes and go to the temple! So, our mission is splitting, actually I think that may have officially happened today, and so President wanted to do a temple day for the missionaries that were going to the other mission (which he did last Tuesday) and for us (which we did this past Wednesday). It was such a special day! All 200 missionaries were in the temple! We were greeted by President and Sister Keyes ! As I sat in the Celestial Room with them and so many of my dear friends, I feel like for the first time, I saw a glimpse of what heaven will be like. Man, was my testimony strengthened that day about the importance of staying true to the gospel and going to the temple!

     So, SAD DAY..... Lucy dropped us :/ Everything was going really well this week with her. We met with her on Tuesday and reviewed the Plan of Salvation and she loved it. From the very first time we met her and taught her about it until now she always keeps telling us she wants to go to the Celestial Kingdom. So, we were asking her what things we needed to do here on earth to qualify for that kingdom and she just kept bringing up baptism. We weren't going to bring it up because the last time she almost dropped us was because her "husband", Willie didn't want to get married and she just felt frustrated and quit. But, because she brought it up we began to talk about it. She expressed to us how much she wanted to be baptized and that she thought if she truly expressed to Willie her feelings that maybe he would understand more. We invited her to talk to him again and to say a prayer before so that God could help her. We had been praying for her all week and then all of the sudden we get this terrible text saying that Willie won't budge and that he feels that we are getting into their personal business about marriage. We felt bad that he felt that way but the only reason we even brought baptism up again this soon was because it was what Lucy wanted. She continued to text us and tell us that she has to stick with him and so she won't be able to see us anymore. And there it was, we were so so so SAD. Nearly in tears. Hermana Wuebkes and I just sat there and looked at each other both about to break down. I just don't get it. Willie's so so so sick (he has lung and thyroid cancer) and Lucy's been taking care of him for so long and all she wants is to be married so she can be baptized. AHHHH! I just have to keep reminding myself that maybe this just isn't her time. That maybe a few months or years down the road other missionaries will find her teaching record and go visit her and the time will be right. It's just really hard because we know that she has had a spiritual witness about the things that we have taught her. 

     Anyways, moving on, this week Hermana Wuebkes and I spent a lot of time driving around going to part member families/ less actives. One of the themes that I realized as we went from home to home, was that so so so many people would say, "so and so offended me and he was high up in the church" or "my dad had the priesthood and he did this, so now I'm never coming to church". It's so heartbreaking to see people choose to be offended and not partake of the wonderful blessings of the gospel. We've been taking Elder Bednar's approach (if you haven't read his talk about being offended, you should definitely go do that!). He says to ask them why they haven't been coming to church, and then to ask them how/ why they joined the church, basically to bear their testimony. At that point as you ask them that, most people are in tears because they still have a sure witness that this gospel is true. You then ask them if it is really worth it to not partake of the sacrament weekly and all the many other wonderful blessings they are withholding from themselves because they chose to be offended. Sometimes, people are so upset and stubborn that they still don't care, but many of times, this helps them to see the eternal perspective and full picture. I have truly loved this approach because when we ask people to share their conversion/ testimony, it immediately brings the spirit into the room, as they share what they know to be true.

     Goodness, I felt like I had no time at all today to write anyone! I'm so sorry! I had to read 24 rather long emails which took about an hour of my time. I promise that I will try my best to email back in the next week. Just know that I love you guys and absolutely LOVE your emails. They always make me smile, laugh, and sometimes cry! I feel so blessed and grateful to be serving here in this great mission! President calls it the alpha and omega mission. This is where it all began, and where it will all end! I know that I have been called here for a specific reason. When President was splitting the missions, he said, " I want all of you to know that you've been prayed here to stay in this mission." I just wish you guys could meet him. He's incredible! Seriously, the most Christ-like person I have ever met, next to McKay Stevens. Well, I love you all and hope you're having fun in Wisconsin! Tell everyone I love them and miss them and tell Megan I say ,"Hey BABY!"

Con Mucho Amor,

          Hermanita Jorgensen (numero uno)

This is Michah! She absolutely Loves wearing my name tag every time we come over.  She pretends that she's a "sister" and helps us teach the lessons, which usually turns into chaos, but it makes her day so it's completely worth it!

Pretty sure no one's looking in this picture, but when can you ever get a perfect picture with so many kids!  This is Lawanda's family! I love them so much!

Two of Lawanda's girlies!

Hermana Wuebkes and I outside el templo.

My zone!!! So many wonderful missionaries!

Such a wonderful 

God is a God of Miracles

June 24, 2013

MY DEAR BEAUTIFUL FAMILIA!!!!

I can't even thank you guys enough for that lovely package! I LOVED it! I just opened it and could feel your love! I have the best, most supportive family in the world, end of story! So I'm going to attempt to talk about this week. I must say, I'm completely distracted and having quite a hard time focusing because the guy next to me is blaring music that I haven't heard in 6 months. Man, I'm becoming a weird missionary! haha But, bear with me and I hope it won't be everywhere!  

     So, this week Hermana Wuebkes and I have really been trying to seek the Lord's guidance more in how we can work more effectively in this area. We have kept feeling like the Lord wants us to work more with Spanish families. We have been hesitant and haven't really been working with as many people who speak Spanish as we could or probably should, because we aren't extremely strong in this area (the other sisters in our ward are both native speakers). So, we decided we were going to seek out Spanish families now, partly because, in all honesty, they are the more normal, prepared people in this city. We've been working with a lot of English investigators lately and they are just a little crazy! Not trying to stereotype or anything, but that's just how it's been! So here we go to speaking the beautiful language of espanol! :) Once we decided this, it's like the Lord just opened that door! Last week, we met this guy named Ignacio at Pizza Hut and I shared a short message with him. I asked if we could come visit and share more of this message with his family and he didn't say yes but he didn't say no. He told us if we were in the area we could stop by. So of course, we were "in the area" this past Friday and got to teach their whole family about the Restoration. All 9 of them! :) He has 7 kids, a suburban, and an excursion! Sound like a Mormon family in the making to you?? haha But seriously, I have never felt the spirit so strong as I bore my testimony to this family in Spanish. It was an incredible incredible experience! We are hopefully going to see them tonight so I will keep you updated on how it goes. 

     So, remember how these past couple of weeks we have been trying to work more with less actives and part member families?! Well, I was starting to think that we hadn't had too much luck with it because nobody was wanting to come back, but yesterday at church we had three miracles! First, Lucy came to church again! FINALLY! It was her second time. She came about a month ago and then hasn't been able to come since. I think she really enjoyed it. I kept looking over at her during sacrament meeting and she just kept nodding her head. There was one talk about choices and agency and it was just perfect for her! It's incredible how certain things shared at church can be so perfect for our investigators. This is one of the many reasons they need to come to church! Another lady that came to church was Isabella Buentello. She's less active and Hermana Thorne and I tried to visit her a few times my first transfer her. We kind of lost contact with her and then all of the sudden she just shows up at church. YES! Things like this don't ever happen! So I visited with her and we are going over to her house this week!

     Another lady I met at church was Hermana Molinar. I started talking to her and she introduced herself. The name sounded familiar (from our less active sheet) and she began to tell me that her family hadn't been at church since January. She said they use to go all the time but that they have had a problem with their car and haven't been able to come because of transportation problems. She said that her two boys went outside for two hours looking for a ride for their family so they could get to church. They found a lady at a gas station that was willing to take them. So, they paid her 10 bucks and made it to church! This woman is incredible! I loved her immediately! They are converts of three years. They converted shortly after her husband was killed in a homicide. As she was telling me all of this, we were both in tears. She told me it has been three years since he was killed and that she was left with three boys and a 6 week old little girl. Oh, my heart just breaks for this woman. She said she has really been struggling lately. Her oldest son, who's 16, just got married and he and his wife live with her and have a 2 month old baby. She said that her daughter-in-law really wants to get baptized. She asked if we would come visit her family this week, so we are going over for lunch this Thursday! I'm so excited! I just feel such a strong connection with her, like I was suppose to meet her and help her family come back to church. My testimony that the Lord is so aware of His children has grown immensely on my mission. I know that He loves us beyond our capability to comprehend and that He places people in our lives to show us His love for us.

      Last story..... So on Thursday one of our appointments fell through and we were just walking, about to start tracting, and all of the sudden, one of our members yells "Sisters!". We get in her car and she takes us to a house, actually it was Ignacio's, but we see that no cars are out so we decide to try another time. She just keeps driving and takes us to a house of a less active lady named Neva. We had never met her before, but she definitely needed us that day. She said, with tears in her eyes, that she thought she had been forgotten. She hasn't been to church in many years and she knew she needed to get back. So we shared a message from the Book of Mormon and told her we needed her at church. And guess what......she came on Sunday! YAY!!! We were so excited! People are coming back to church in Kaw River! It may have only been 3 of the many many people that are less active, but we are thrilled! 

      Well, I'm completely running out of time! But, I do love you guys so much! I'm so grateful for this gospel and the knowledge that it gives us that we can be a forever family. I'm so grateful for the temple because it is there that we can do this. I love my Savior, Jesus Christ, and know that only through Him can we become who God wants us to be. I LOVE YOU ALL MUCHO! 

Con Amor, 

               Tu Hermanita Lexi Annmarie Jorgensen 

Oh, and the scripture of the week is going to be Exodus 20:8, "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy." Short and sweet and to the point! Such a straight forward commandment! I learned so much more on my mission how important it truly is to live this commandment. It is on the sabbath, where we get to recharge our "spiritual battery". Where we receive the strength to do another week! LOVE YOU!

Tonya, Lucy, and Michael

June 17, 2013

My Dear Family......

     This week has been pretty great! I have learned so much about myself and about this work. These past few weeks have kind of been a struggle and needless to say, I have kind of been freaking out. Things started coming up (like having no solid investigators, no one coming to church, having no members to come out to teach with us) that I hadn't ever experienced before and I just felt like it was all on my shoulders because I'm training, like I should know how to fix it. Let's just say I learned a very very valuable lesson! It isn't up to me! It never was or never will be. My part in this work is to give my all and my heart and trust and turn to Heavenly Father. I feel like I had forgotten that, actually more like I know I had. I was so worried about it, when all I needed to do was humble myself, recognize that I wasn't in control and seek more direction from Him. And so, that is what my companion and I did, and this week went better. I mean, we still didn't have anyone at church, but we did teach more, invited two people for baptism this week, and felt like we were doing our purpose as missionaries more this week. Sometimes in life we think it's up to us, and there is a part that is up to us, we must do our part, but then Heavenly Father is just sitting there waiting for us to involve Him. Anyway, enough of my no-duh epiphanies ( is that even how you spell that word?). Let's talk about this week!

     So, I'm going to start us off with a little laugh. We have this investigator named Tonya (not sure if I've ever told you about her), if not, it's probably because she's a little bit crazy and were always on the brink of dropping her. She is quite a character! The Elder's in our area started teaching her but she told them she wanted Sisters so that is how we got her. We have been teaching her for about two weeks. As we taught her about the Word of Wisdom, she completely understood why we should live it and that it helps us to be healthy but then again, at the same time, she was trying to justify why marijuana should be legal. She said she struggles with cigarettes and also marijuana but knows she needs to quit. She said she use to struggle with drinking but she's been clean of that for a while and doesn't ever have any in the house. So then, we went back for our lesson three days later and she tells us that she bought alcohol to test herself to see how strong she is. WHAT IN THE WORLD TONYA! hahah My companion and I left that appointment just laughing and shaking our heads. How, after we have taught the Word of Wisdom, does she then go out to buy alcohol for the first time in months, to tempt herself.  Oh, she's a character that one!

      Good news! LUCY'S BACK!!!!! We went up and talked to her this week and she said that this past week she hasn't been praying or reading in the Book of Mormon and she's noticed a huge difference. She said she knows there is power in our messages and that she needs to continue on her journey. So, we are teaching her again! We aren't exactly sure how she's going to get baptized, but we know that she will! She's doing really good at the whole smoking thing, now we just gotta figure out the part about being married. Man, I LOVE this woman! Like, it probably isn't healthy! hahah

     We are also teaching this guy named Michael (again, not sure if I've mentioned him before), but he lives at a homeless shelter. We've been teaching him at the library for the last like month and a half. When he first started out learning, he was trying to just learn about the religion. We soon figured out that he really had no concept of God. He said he believes in a higher power but he isn't sure what it is. We've been working with him and meeting with him about once a week but we have just been feeling like lately that maybe we have to let him go. But then, on Thursday, we had the most powerful lesson with him. We thought we were going to be dropping him but the lesson went completely the other way. We felt inspired to talk about faith and repentance. As we were talking about repentance, he stopped us and said that we are saying things that he's been pondering and thinking about for the past few weeks. He said he is really starting to lean more toward that God and Jesus Christ are real. I have seen such a change in him and it's incredible. He has been praying every night now. I'm so grateful for the spirit that helps and leads us to know what to say and how to say it. At this point, Michael is far from baptism, but we are helping him on his path toward Christ, and that is our purpose. It was in this lesson that I realized that sometimes we can't give up on people. That everyone is somewhere different on their spiritual journey and we need to come to where they're at and lift them higher.

     I was thinking for our family scripture this week, we could memorize John 14: 18...." I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.". One, because it's short and I know mama needs to catch up, but also because I have truly felt this the past few weeks. I know that in our deepest moments of despair, when we don't think we can go another day, we can turn to our Savior for peace and comfort. I know that He lives and that He will never leave us. I don't completely or fully understand the depths of the atonement, but I have gained a stronger testimony of the enabling power of the atonement, that through His atonement we can constantly improve, progress, and receive strength. I love my Savior and I will forever be grateful for this opportunity to wear His name over my heart. I love you guys beyond words and can feel your love thousands of miles away! I pray for you individually each night! Have such a wonderful week!

Con Amor,

                 Tu Hermanita Jorgensen (the first!)

Brand new puppies, we saw them at one of the houses we were teaching at.

One of our favorite churches name.

She is in our ward and just got her mission call to Las Vegas, NV mission so be on the look out for her.

The Elder's who are also teaching in our ward.

Me, Lucy, and June.  Lucy is wearing her lovely velvet night gown that she always wears.  I told her next time I was going to come in mine so we could get great pictures together.  Isn't she a doll, I sure love her.