Happy Halloween!*!*!*

October 30, 2013

My Dearest Familia and Friends,

You guys are seriously the best! As Aubsy would say, "Best Friends Ever!". haha Speaking of my Aubsy, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE CUTEST 16 YEAR OLD EVER! My mind cannot fathom that she's actually 16, now she can date. Poor mom and dad! haha But seriously, our baby is all grown up. This makes me kind of sad. Can't you just make Aubsy and Pressy stop growing. I'm sure by the time I get home Pres will be so so tall! I mean his feet were already bigger than mine before I left!

Alright so updates for the week......

First off, my mission isn't always incredible and happy go lucky Ashy. Trust me, I have had my fair share of hard hard days. No joke, but with that said, we did get to go on a field trip this week to Adam-ondi-ahmen and Far West. It was so cool to see these sites that we always tell people about! The valley of Adam-ondi-ahmen was a lot bigger than I was expecting. They said the church owns about 3,500 acres there! There was such a sweet spirit there. This is where it all began and where it will all end. How cool is that! Far West was really neat too. I'm excited to take you guys to these places next summer because the day we went was super cold (like 40 degrees) and I had a bad cold so I tried to enjoy it the best I could but was a little miserable.

We had an awesome lesson this week with our new investigator Darla (I don't know if I've told you guys about her yet). She was a referral from the elders and we contacted her the week before and then had an actual lesson with her on Sunday. We felt prompted to bring Sis. Gallagher as our team up and I really wasn't sure why. They aren't the same age at all. Sis. Gallagher is probably 20 years older than her and so at first I wanted to bring someone in our ward who was more her age but I kept coming back to her name. As we talked about the atonement with Darla and she opened up to us about the pain she has been dealing with because of the abuse from her ex husband, the spirit told me, "this is why you needed to bring Sis. Gallagher". Before Sis. Gallagher joined the church about 12 years ago, she went through some of the exact same situations Darla was talking about. Oh am I grateful for the spirit that knows exactly what our Father in Heaven's children need. This was such a testimony builder to me that our Heavenly Father knows us, He knows our needs, our fears, He knows everything! So, we have another appointment with her tonight and are hoping to put her on date for baptism. She is super prepared and are very excited about her.

The jail has been quite slow lately. It actually stayed pretty busy almost all throughout October but has slowed down quite a bit in the last week. In the summer we took about 4-5 presentations each shift and then in Sept./Oct. we took about 2-3 and now it's down to about 1-2 presentations each shift. I had such a neat experience in a presentation I took this week though. There was a couple who came in that weren't members of the church. They were kind of familiar with the church but not really. I taught them all about the Restoration and Book of Mormon and took them through the presentation and at the end I gave them a Book of Mormon and some pamphlets and they gave me their number so I can follow up with them next week. They said they want to read a little bit of the Book of Mormon before I send missionaries to them but that they are very open and interested in the message. I felt so blessed to get to take them through and have that experience with them. There is so much power in teaching people about the gospel in the jail. It is already a building dedicated by a prophet where the spirit is always present.

I want you guys to know that I know that Jesus is the Christ, that everyday I have the privilege of putting on my badge with his name over my heart as His representative. I have come to know Him in such a real way here. I know that this is His work that we are a part of and that it is the single most important work to be done here on this earth. There isn't a day that goes by that I do not see Him in this work. I know He lives.

love always,

          Hermana Jorgensen

1     Sister Sommer and I at our ward Halloween Party! The lady right next to me is Miss Betty and the other couple is the Keslers. I don't know if I've told you much about this family, but I absolutely adore them! He use to be our ward mission leader and works for Hallmark and she's a ward missionary so we have worked very closely with them. They are on my list of top five favorite families in the Liberty 1st ward! Can't wait for you guys to meet them when we all come back. They are already planning on making Thai Food for us because Bro. Kesler knows I love it and he served his mission in Thailand!

      I hate that this is so blurry, but this is the Halloween Party continued! These are some of the young women in our ward and then of course Mercedes looking hot in her McDonalds costume (actually not really her costume, she was headed into work haha). I LOVE THIS WARD! the end.

Meeting another Apostle

October 22^nd, 2013

http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/mormon-apostle-celebrates-anniversaries-church-history-sites?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+LDSNewsRoomTop15+%28RSS%3A+LDS+Newsroom%29

This link is to a story about the 50th anniversary of the jail.  Hope you like it :)

To My Beautiful Family and Friends.....

     My word, you guys have been quite the world travelers since I've been gone! It all started about a month after I left when everyone went to London and it's just continued ever since! Lucky ducks! Disney sounds like it's going to be so fun and it only seems fitting for baby's birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY AUBSY!!!! The big 16!!! Now she can date boys, right mom?? hahah Or, I forget, have we changed the age to 21 now!

     

Well, let's talk about the week! Guess who got to meet another apostle?! That's two in one week. Elder Ballard came last Sunday and Elder Cristofferson came this past Friday. He was here for a mission president's seminar so there were 30 mission presidents and their wives and then Elder Christensen (of the seventy) and Elder Christofferson. How cool is that! They came into the jail on a break from the conference they were having in Kansas City so that they could see some of the historic sites here in Missouri. We all got to shake his hand! It was such a neat experience! Man, was the spirit strong in that room having all those mission presidents and an apostle of the Lord there!

     Our area is doing alright. We are still in the finding stage but really haven't had as much time to find because of all the things that have been going on the past few weeks. On Thursday we get to go see Far West and Adam-ondi-ahman so that will take most of the day. I'm so excited! I'm pretty sure I've seen them before on the back east trip but, that was so long ago I can't really remember.

     We had a good lesson with the Burchs on Wednesday and kind of just talked about where they were at at this point because a lot has changed in the past two months. They talked about how they know what they need to do and that the temple is the goal but it is just going to take some time and softening of their hearts, especially John's. He still won't pray because he knows if he does that Heavenly Father is going to tell him it's time for him to come back. He's kind of a stubborn one! I have faith though that they will come all the way back with time. They came to church again on Sunday so that's 3 Sundays now! :)

     All throughout the mission, something that I've learned time and time again, is how important going to church, praying, and reading the scriptures are. In the mission we abbreviate it to CPR. If our investigators are doing these 3 things, then they are considered progressing investigators. I know this is also true with us. If we want to continue to progress in the gospel, we need to be doing these 3 things. They will spiritually keep us alive! Sister Sommer and I are really trying to focus on this this transfer. We want everyone that we are teaching (investigators, recent converts, and less actives) to be doing these things consistently. I think sometimes Satan wants us to feel that skipping these things from time to time is completely okay. If he can make us think this, slowly the habits we once formed disappear and we begin to cut off our spiritual "life line".

     Well, I love you all so very much! I can't tell you how grateful I am for your constant support and love. You guys are the best!

love always,

             Hermana Jorgensen

50th Anniversary w/ Elder Ballard :)

 October 15, 2013

This week was crazy! It felt like we were running here and there and could never catch up with all that we had to do. We were preparing for the 50th, going to meetings, training,  working our normal shifts at the jail, and between all that, we only got 7 hours in our area. It was insane! The 50th went so well, but I'm glad it's over now so that we can get back to a normal routine and start working in our area more.

     I have seriously been beyond blessed though to get to serve at the jail during this time! Last weekend was so neat to get to be a part of! On Saturday there were lectures and a readers theater all day and there were tons of people.There were so many people that showed up that even our overflow room downstairs got too full! On Sunday there was a VIP reception where Elder Ballard came and talked. Yes, Elder Ballard! That's the second apostle I've been within feet of during the mission! Pretty much all of the events this entire weekend took place in the rotunda where the reconstructed jail is, so the speakers spoke from the top floor inside the jail. Side story..... on Saturday right as the events were all starting, Elder Brenchley (our visitor center director) was in charge of introducing the guests and conducting the whole thing and so he's introducing Alex Baugh (a BYU professor) and afterwards forgot that we needed to say an opening prayer so he calls me out of the audience to come pray. So I got to go up and say a prayer in the jail! :) It was so great!

     We got to listen to Elder Ballard speak twice on Sunday, once at the jail and then he did a fireside at the stake center. It was so cool, when he spoke at the jail, he pretty much taught the entire fist lesson from Preach My Gospel (the Restoration) because there were quite a few community and church leaders there who weren't of our faith. He was bold, just as all the talks were in conference this past week. It was just neat to see how an apostle of the Lord would teach what we teach every single day. At the Sunday night fireside the visitor center sisters got to do a musical number. We sang a song called, "Come to Jesus".

     Elder Ballard's talk was incredible! It was so neat to have him there for the 50th Anniversary because 50 years prior his grandpa, Joseph Fielding Smith, was the one who dedicated it and they are both direct descendants of Hyrum. He said two things that really stood out to me:

- "Every dispensation has had an ample amount of time, but not this last dispensation, we are in a HURRY in doing the work of salvation."

- "I would rather offend man by sharing the gospel than offend God by not."

     I'm seeing a common theme here, as almost all of the apostles have been talking about the need for us as members to help hasten the work. Elder Ballard specifically talked to us as missionaries at the end and said that we were preparing to be future wives, mothers, and leaders of the church. I can't even begin to tell you what a neat experience it has been to be a part of all of this this past weekend. Then to top it all of, the Burchs came to church again and I got to see family come through the jail! I am one blessed missionary!

     Well, I'm running out of time, but I love you all so very much and pray for you always! I hope all is well! Make it a great week!

Love Always,

                 Hermana Jorgensen

Being silly with the Stevenson's! Love these two!

 All the beautiful sisters I live with!

Sister Sommer and I :)

the 50th!

It wouldn't be a celebration without food, right?! This was the reception they had on Sunday when Elder Ballard came.

1. So fun to see family! :) My mom's Aunt Trudi, Aunt Charlene, Aunt Kola, and Uncle Aubrey came on a church history trip and we were blessed to see each other.