My Last Mission Email!!!

June 10, 2014

My Dearest Fam and Friends!!

I cannot even believe I will be seeing your beautiful faces in just a few days! It just doesn't seem real yet. Leaving such a huge part of my life is so bitter sweet, but I am so excited to see everyone again. Knowing and hearing how excited you guys are has actually helped me get excited for home, so thank you!

This week has been oh so long for some reason. I think it's because of the whole anticipation thing. Mom, I loved that in your email this week you said you were up writing it at 12:30 a.m.  because you just couldn't sleep because you were so excited! I've been having some of those nights myself. In fact, I've had to take a Benadryl twice because my brain just wouldn't shut off and also because I've sick. Can you believe it?! My last week and I have been sick for it! Heavenly Father's so funny sometimes! I'm feeling a little bit better now. Still have a deep cough, but hopefully that goes away in the next few days. I don't want to go home sick. :(

It has been such a great week though! Lots of hugs and goodbyes and a whole lot of food! Everyone and their dog wants to take us out for dinner. In the past week we have gone out for dinner over 7 times. Not going to miss that! haha The best part of this whole week though was on Sunday. Brother Harvey got baptized!!! :) That morning we had stake conference and our stake president announced his baptism to the WHOLE stake. He said, "It would be great if we could get a thousand people there!" The funny thing about all this is that for the past two weeks Brother Harvey has talked about how he doesn't want a ton of people there. Whoops! Good things he has a great sense of humor and he just laughed. It was such a beautiful baptism! The spirit was so strong. Right when he walked out in his baptismal suit, Sister Harvey just started bawling because she's waited for this day for over 20 years. So, of course, I start crying and have tears pretty much the whole hour. I gave a talk on the Holy Ghost and shared with him the story about the day we met. He was crying too. After he was confirmed he asked if he could bear his testimony. It was so good and so strong! He talked about how on May 23rd he had been praying to know if this was the right thing and he asked God to show him. He went out that day and that was the day he got a hole in one. He said that is when he knew it was right! How cool is that! I love him so much! Our spirits just connect so perfectly, the same way with the Burchs. I cannot wait to come back and see them sealed next year! God is good!

I want to end with a quote that I found from one of the early members of the church living here in 1831. In the quote, he is talking about building Zion, but I feel that this describes how a mission feels perfectly!

"When I think back over the vicissitudes through which I had passed in such a short period, it seems more like a dream than reality and when I think of it all as real, I feel a weight of gratitude to God that I find no words to express."

I love this! With every fiber of my being, I have LOVED my mission. Anyone that knows me well, knows that I have known for a long time that this was what Heavenly Father wanted me to do. I am so grateful for his guidance in showing me why I needed to serve. I am grateful for my testimony that has been solidified as I have served. I know that Jesus is the Christ - that He lives, loves us, and that this is His church. I love you all so much and cannot express enough how much your love, support, and prayers have strengthened me on my mission. I'll see you soon! :) LOVE YOU!

love always,

               Hermana Jorgensen

1. This is my ward mission leader and his wife :)

2. Independence 1st Crew

3. Our Elders.

4. Sick my last week of the mission :(

5. Brother and Sister Harvey <3

6. Happy BAPTISM Day :)

Talked to Ashy on the phone.

June 3, 2014

My Dearest Fam and Friends!!

Oh what a week it has been! As you know, I got to talk to my Ashy on the phone!!! I LOVED it! It felt so surreal to talk to her and hear her voice. Although it has been over a year since we've actually gotten to talk, it felt so normal to talk to her. This is why I love the mission. I feel like relationships don't change despite the fact that I haven't seen everyone for the past 18 months. I love my Ashy so much! She has grown and changed and her testimony is so strong. I could just feel it as she talked to me. I am so proud of her!

May 31st was such a good day! Heavenly Father is so kind to me. He knew that this would be a hard day for me but surprisingly, I stayed focused on the work. On this day, our investigator Donna committed to be baptized! It was actually really funny. As we were inviting her to be baptized, she said, "I was wondering when you guys were going to ask me this!".  She grew up RLDS but many of her friends are members of our church. She is so solid and I am so excited for her! I did think of my beautiful Abby a lot that day. In fact, when I was at the VC taking my lunch break, I looked down at my watch and it was right when they were getting sealed. I am so so happy for you Abs!

Sunday was such a good day too! We had four investigators come to church and one of them was FATA! YAY! We have been teaching him for quite a while and this is the first time he came. It was such a good Sunday! I gave my departing testimony. I am going to be sad to leave this ward. I love them all so much!

Last update for the week..... Lloyd Harvey is getting baptized this Sunday!! I am so excited for him and can't wait for you guys to meet them! His 16 year old grandson is going to be baptizing him. How special is that! We have seen him progress and grow so much just in this past month. It's incredible! Living the gospel of Jesus Christ changes people! I have seen this time and time again on my mission. It has changed those that I have worked with, my companions, and me. I am so grateful for my Savior and His teachings. I know that He is the only way to true peace and happiness.

I love you all so much! Have a wonderful week! See you soon!

love always,

           Sister Jorgensen

PS - The lady you guys met on the cruise came in this past week and I got to meet her! She gave me a hug from you guys! It was so fun! Always a small world when it comes to the church!

1. Our missionary correlation meeting! Us, the Elders, and the Faletaus (our ward mission leader and his wife). Love them!

2. Love this woman! This is Legend's grandma, Sister Iosua! Because next week is stake conference, technically it was my last week in our ward and everyone made me leis

1. Fata and Rachel finally came to church! Oh happy day!!!! :)

2. This is Donna! We've been teaching her for about a month and she's getting baptized in three weeks! :)

"ALL IN"

May 27, 2014

My Dearest Fam and Friends!

For some reason this week has felt so long and so jam packed with so many things to do! So many people here in the mission field keep reminding me that I don't have too long left, and I know it isn't that much longer, but I just still feel like there are a lot of appointments, meetings, and things that I need to do. I don't really know how to explain it. It's kind of like during finals week at BYU when you are so close to being done but it doesn't hit you because you are so focused on that week of finals. That's the best analogy I've got! It really has been a good week though. Everyone is out of school here so that's exciting! That means all of the kids we are teaching have easier schedules and that there are more people out and about.

This week we had our mission temple trip. It was so great! I got to be there with all of my companions that are still in the mission. President and Sister Keyes focused our meeting on families and how the gospel blesses families. I have really been pondering about that a lot lately. In fact, I'm actually giving a training in district meeting tomorrow about how we can bless and strengthen our families as missionaries. I got the sweetest letter from Sister Dunn this past week and talked about the ways that she has seen my mission bless our family and it was exactly what I needed to hear. I might even be using it in my training! ;)

I also had interviews with President Keyes and it was wonderful. Half way through it he had to stop himself because he said it was sounding too much like an exit interview. It's really neat to be going home within two weeks of your mission president because we are going through the same feelings (except he's been here twice as long and is the mission president so I'm sure it's multiplied times a million). I love him and Sister Keyes so much. They have both taught me so much and I see exactly why they were suppose to be my mission president and mom. President Keyes has such a powerful testimony of the Savior and His gospel and every time he bears it, it pierces my soul. I just love them dearly!

Wednesday when we were in the temple, I saw the Gale family (this is the family that Lhaylla lived with that is from the Liberty 1st ward). They told me that if all goes as planned, Lhaylla will be getting baptized on June 15th by their son who is serving in Brazil right now. Can you believe that!! Oh, I'm so excited and happy for her!

The work is going well here. Brother Harvey's baptism date has been changed from the 7th to the 11th of June. He got a hole in one like 4 days ago and I guess when that happens you have to buy everyone a beer, so he broke the word of wisdom but he will still be getting baptized before I leave! :) We had dinner with the Iosua's on Sunday and taught Legend one of his new member lessons. This little boy remembers everything! It's the best. He's so solid and such a good kid. Can't wait for you to meet him Preston! :)

I am so so grateful for the gospel. I have no idea what I would do without it. I feel like I've been very much out of the world for the past year and a half but as I look around and see what has changed, it has made me evermore grateful for the truths that I hold dear to my heart. We live in a time where we have to be "ALL IN" as my mission president would say. In that, he means that as missionaries, we need to be all in (heart, might, mind, and strength) - dedicated to the Lord and His work. Although this phrase is used by him in talking about the work, I believe it is still so relevant and real for everyone. We need to be "ALL IN" for the Lord. We do not live in a time where we can just go day to day and let life make of us what it does, but we need to consciously be choosing the Lord in all we do. I know that this is what it means to be a member of the church and I am so grateful for my membership in His church. I love Him and know that He lives.

I love you all!! Make it a great week! XOXOX

love always:

       Sister Jorgensen

1. My ward family :)

2. P-day Adventures!

Lacey's Baptism! :)

A Funeral, A Barbeque, and A Baptism

May 20, 2014

My Dearest Fam and Friends,

Oh what a week it has been! We have been oh so busy this transfer and I love it! It helps me to stay focused and all in. This upcoming week is going to be even busier and I am so excited! Tomorrow we are going to the temple as a mission and on Friday we have interviews with President Keyes! It is going to be such a wonderful week.

This past week has been good. We have seen so many of our investigators take big steps towards baptism and we are so excited for them. We have also had a few hiccups this week with some of our investigators, but hey, that's just missionary work for you. On Thursday we got to go out to dinner with Bro. Harvey and his wife to Olive Garden! It was so much fun! We also took them through the Visitor Center through a presentation about the family. It was so good for them. Bro. Harvey is doing great and should hopefully still be getting baptized June 7th. We did teach him the Word of Wisdom last night, and to my surprise, he wasn't as familiar with it as I thought he would be. He's been married to his wife who's a member for over 20 years, and he said that she's always asked him to quit things but that he never completely put two and two together. He is all good with everything in the Word of Wisdom except for coffee and tea, which we figured. We invited him to live it and so hopefully he will be all good. Funny story, remember how I took that prom date through the VC a few weeks ago? Well, it turns out that is their grandson and he's the one that's going to baptize him! haha We pieced that together at dinner and it was so funny!

Saturday was a very busy day for us! We went to a funeral in the morning. Sister DePriest's father passed away (she's a lady that we have been working a lot with in helping her to come back to church). She asked if we would come so we did. I haven't been to a funeral in quite a while! It was really neat to be able to be there. I did a lot of pondering and reflecting as we sat through the service. The Plan of Salvation is real! It is something we teach all day everyday, but I feel like being there really helped me to solidify my testimony of this plan. Death is not the end! I am so grateful for the peace and comfort that this plan brings to us.

We also went to a barbecue on Saturday. It's a new missionary program they are trying in our ward. Each month, different families are assigned together to have some kind of activity to invite neighbors and friends to and then at the end we share a message. It went pretty good for the first try and will hopefully continue in the future. After that, we rushed over to start setting up for the baptism of Miss Lacey. Everything went so well. We were a little frazzled when 10 minutes before the program, we couldn't figure out how to print the programs and Lacey wasn't there, but after a prayer, everything seemed to work itself out. I didn't bring the right camera card today so I'll have to send pictures of the baptism next week!

Well, I love you all so so much! Hope you have such a wonderful week! I know I will! :) So excited for the temple! XOXOX

love always,

     Sister Jorgensen

How I loved seeing my family on Skype

May 13, 2014

My Dearest Fam and Friends!

It was oh so good to see your beautiful faces on Sunday on Skype! Man, do I miss your voices! I just love how even though I hadn't talked to you since Christmas, everything seemed so natural and normal! Makes me not as worried about how it will be when I come home. It was odd to Skype you guys so soon to me coming home though and I hate that I now know that I have a 3 hour lay over in Chicago and that I don't get home until 9 pm. Sad :( I feel like there isn't much to email about this week since I just talked to you, but I'll share a few things from this past week.

Last Wednesday, we went to visit Pheobe and Zoe. Not sure if I've told you about them yet ( I get confused about who I've talked about), but they are 11 and 9. Of course! haha Their great grandma is a member and they have come to church here and there. We started teaching them about two weeks ago and they are preparing to be baptized June 7th! We're not too sure that they are going to make their date, but we hope so. It's been so neat to teach them because they literally don't know anything. We spent a whole 45 minutes just talking about Christ and His life and what baptism is. It has been great! I love teaching kids! Our little Lacey gets baptized this Saturday! :) We are so excited for her! It has been so fun to see her learn and grow.

This past week it felt like I was in meetings a lot! We had a mission leadership council at the mission home and it was lovely. It feels so good to be with President and Sister Keyes in the mission home. Our theme this transfer is testimony. It was such a powerful meeting. I always love hearing President Keyes' testimony. It is so sincere and powerful. Every time he bears it, I cry! He and Sister Keyes will be leaving about two weeks after me. I've been so lucky to have them my whole mission. I really do believe that part of the reason you are assigned to a specific mission is because of the mission president. He has been exactly what I've needed!

On Saturday we got to watch Ephraim's Rescue! We do this thing at the Visitors Center called Friday Night Out. Each Friday we have a different activity going on and so this was that activity for the week. We brought two of our investigators to watch it. I was so excited because I'd never seen it before and had heard so many great things about it. It was incredible! I think I appreciated it so much because I have studied a lot about my own ancestors on the mission and tell the stories of many pioneers daily in the Visitors Center. I felt like they were with me throughout the whole movie. I especially felt the presence of the Elliker family who traveled all the way from Switzerland to Salt Lake. During their trek, the father and 3 kids died. I am in awe at the great sacrifice and faith that this family had. I love them and cannot wait to meet them one day! If you guys haven't seen that movie, you have to see it! It's so good!

Well, I love you all so much and hope you have a wonderful week!

love always,

        Sister Jorgensen

p.s.   http://motherhood.mormon.org/?cid=HPTH050814094

          this is such a cute video!

The power that comes from fasting is real.

May 6, 2014

My Dearest Fam and Friends!!!

     I cannot get over how stinkin' adorable Aubsy looked at prom! Noah too! :) She looked BEAUTIFUL (make sure she sees this mama)! I may have teared up a little. I can't believe Baby is all grown up.

 Sometimes I forget that life has actually moved on these past 16 months. In my mind, it still hasn't registered that Ashy's on a mission, all my friends are getting married, or anything and everything else that has changed since I've left. I think I may have an overwhelming awakening when I get home and it all hits me. I feel completely at peace with everything though, I promise. The Lord has a way of calming me down and helping me to stay 100% all in for Him.

     This week has been like none other that I have had on the mission. We have literally had appointments back to back every single day this week. I've had days where that's happened, but not seven in a row. I know that this is common in some missions, but not really in ours. All I can say is that the Lord is truly blessing us. Right now we have five people who are preparing to be baptized (all on dates for before I go home too). I think some of them will for sure make their dates, but others I may just have to fly back out to see. We are seeing miracle after miracle! I've had to stop several times this week and ask myself if this is real life. It's incredible!

     I want to share the most incredible miracle of the week! It happened on Sunday. Sunday we were fasting and I felt prompted by the spirit to fast that Sister Almodovar and I would be able to teach and help two precious souls enter the waters of baptism. I've never fasted specifically for this before, but I knew that that was what I was suppose to fast for. We got to church and in our second hour, the bishop called me and my comp. out of class. He told us that he wanted us to meet someone that was in his office. We went in and met Lloyd Harvey. His wife has been a member her whole life and they have been married for over 20 years. Bishop has been their home teacher for 7 years now and he told us that Lloyd walked into his office and said that he was ready to be baptized. Can you even believe this?! So, we began teaching him yesterday with bishop and he is preparing to be baptized June 7th. Never has this happened to me, let alone probably most missionaries,  where someone just shows up and tells the bishop that he wants to get baptized. I am so grateful and feel so blessed to be able to teach Bro. Harvey. I am grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who is so intimately invested in the details of our lives. I know that there is power in prayer and fasting.

      Another blessing of the week.... Sister Rackham is back at the VC! We're together again! The Burchs came in unexpectedly on Saturday in hopes that they would catch us there and they did. It was so great to see them. Mom and Dad, they said they got the package you guys sent them and LOVED it! We talked all about the temple and how they are feeling since we didn't really have much time to talk about it when they went through. They said they loved it! John even went back last week. He also told me that he got a calling and is now the secretary for the high priests. They are so solid and I love it!

     Well, I love you all so so much! I am so grateful for your prayers, love, and support! I can feel them. Make it a great week! XOXOX

love always,

       Sister Jorgensen  

HAPPY ONE YEAR MARK TO MY ASHY!!! :)

April 29, 2014

   HAPPY ONE YEAR MARK TO MY ASHY!!! :) My word, where has the time gone?! I still remember when she got her mission call and I was eating in the MTC cafeteria bawling as I read the letter. I was so excited that we would both be out for most of our missions together and I felt connected knowing that we would both be learning Spanish. It has been the best thing to have her out with me and I'm so grateful the age changed so it could all happen!

     This week I have had some pretty fun presentations at the VC! This young couple came in all dressed up and as I was greeting them, I kept thinking in my head, "Please don't tell me you came here for Prom!". Sure enough though, I was right! haha They had some time to kill before dinner, so they came to the VC of all places. It was so awkward because I felt like I was 3rd wheeling the whole time and they were just flirting away during the presentations! I had heard other sisters talk about taking people through and on their first date, but I never thought that would happen to me. I guess I was wrong! :) I also got to take a huge group of 15 year old boys, coaches, and parents that were out here for a basketball tournament. Surprisingly, it went way better than I thought it was going to. They were so much fun! I forced them to take a picture with me at the end and then it turned out blurry. :( 

I also got to call someone during our teaching center time that's from Vegas! ( I don't really know how much I've told you guys about teaching center, but we get to do it while were on shift at the VC. We get to chat with and call people all over the world. It's pretty cool!) It just so happens that someone I got to call this week is from Vegas. He's my age and has a ton of LDS friends who are on missions right now. We didn't know any mutual friends, but it was just cool to get to talk about home with him. He said I can call him next week and teach him more about the church over the phone. How amazing would it be if he joined the church and we could all go to his baptism when I get home?!

     On Saturday, we got to go to Krishan's baptism. His mom and sister attend our ward and we are pretty close with their family. I told you a little bit about them last week because we have now started teaching Zuhair (he is Krishan's brother). Anyway, this baptism was incredible! From the moment it started, the room was filled thick with the spirit. Sister Ahmed said the opening prayer (all in Spanish because she's from Columbia) and I was just bawling through the whole prayer. She could barely say the prayer because she was crying so hard. This faithful woman has been waiting for years and years for her kids to join the church. Her husband is Muslim and wouldn't let the kids get baptized, but she has always known that they would join the church eventually. She shared with us somethings that her Patriarchal blessing says about them being leaders in the church. When she was saying her prayer, it reminded me of the story in the Book of Mormon when the angel comes to Alma the younger and says, "Behold, the Lord hath heard the prayers of his people, and also the prayers of his servant, Alma, who is thy father; for he has prayed with much faith concerning thee that thou mightest be brought to the knowledge of the truth; therefore, for this purpose have I come to convince thee of the power and authority of God, that the prayers of his servants might be answered according to their faith." (Mosiah 27:14) Sister Ahmed has continued to push forward steadfastly and she is seeing these blessings come 15 years or so later. It was such a beautiful thing to be able to witness.

     All in all, Sister Almodovar and I are doing great! Transfers are this week and we are 99% sure they will keep us together again. I sure hope so! There are so many good things happening right now in the Independence 1st ward! We are truly blessed! I love you all! Have a great week! XOXOX

love always,

            Sister Jorgensen

1. I LOVE this family so much! This is Sister Ahmed (she's in our ward). Her son Krishan (behind us sticking his tongue out) got baptized! :) And, Zuhair is the one that we are teaching right now.