Victor Got Baptized

May 13, 2013

HELLO MY DEAR FAMILIA!

     Oh what a day yesterday was! I had been looking forward to it all week and it couldn't have gone more perfectly! There's just something about being able to see your faces and expressions that made it seem more real than on the phone. Man, do I miss all your voices! Never did I think that would be something I would miss so much! My prayers have been answered, and thus far it has not been too distracting. Thank goodness! I was so nervous it was going to make me homesick and distracted! I'm sad that I didn't get to see Ashy, but I got to read her letter she sent us today and I was laughing the entire time! She is hilarious! I could totally feel her personality the entire letter. Oh man, that girl! Well, this letter probably won't be as long as usual because we got to skype yesterday, but I do want to talk about Victor's baptism!!!! :) VICTOR GOT BAPTIZED!!!! YAY!

        So, we had been preparing and meeting with him this past week and everything went really smoothly. I was a little stressed because this was the first baptism I had ever had to plan and I since I'm training, I'm the one that's suppose to know how to do it. Let me tell you, there is a lot more that goes into preparing for the baptismal service than I thought. Our ward mission leader was out of town as well so we had to do it all on our own. Luckily, the Elders had a baptism on Saturday too so we shared the service and it made it a lot less stressful because we only had to plan

Victor's Baptism Day

for one of the songs, prayer, talk, ect. I gave a talk on the gift of the Holy Ghost and talked about His many roles in our life. As the service started and a member of our bishopric (who was conducting) welcomed everyone to this special day for Victor, Sister Wuebkes and I looked over at Victor and tears were just streaming down his face. It's moments like these that make all the hard parts and days of missionary work so worth it and rewarding. Victor was so excited and ready. Our district leader, Elder Lusk, interviewed him the night before and told me that he could just feel of his strong testimony and spirit. Victor had to be baptized twice and it took three men in the font to baptize him because he had a stroke about 3 years ago and he is paralyzed on the left side of his body and he's a pretty big guy, but the second time he was completely submerged in the water and it all went well. He was confirmed yesterday! Sister Wuebkes and I are going to now start working with him and his wife to help them hopefully get to the temple. This was definitely the highlight of this past week and of course, being able to skype you guys!

Another quick thought I had this week as I was reading in Alma..... I was in Alma 50:19, 22-23. It says, "And thus we see how merciful and just are the dealings of the Lord, to the fulfilling of all his words unto the children of men; yea, we can behold that his words are verified, even at this time, which he spake unto Lehi saying: Blessed art thou and thy children; and they shall be blessed, inasmuch as they shall keep my commandments they shall prosper in the land...." And then a few verses later it says that "there never were a happier time among the people of Nephi, since the days of Nephi, than in the days of Moroni." I don't know why these verses just hit me. All throughout the Book of Mormon there are verses that say if they keep the commandment they will prosper. This is a promise the Lord gives them and He always keeps His promise. The people of Moroni were a happy people because they did just that. It is that simple, WE MUST KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS! One thing I have learned is, when the Lord feels the need to repeat things multiple time throughout the Book of Mormon, it is because He knows this is something we are going to have a difficult time remembering and that it needs remembering. Well, I love you guys so much and I'm so grateful for all your love and support! I can definitely fill it a couple hundred miles away! LES AMO!

con mucho amor,

                  Su Hermanita Jorgensen

I Hit My Four Month Mark This Past Week! Crazy!

            HELLO MY DEAR FAMILY!

     Ahhhh, I just loved all the pictures of you guys and Ashy. I feel like I was having deja vu the entire time. Same restaurant, hotel room, pictures at the temple (except the weather looked nicer), and Gabby Gabby was there and by chance you guys got to see Jeff! So cool! Ashy looks so adorable. She is going to be one cute missionary! I'm so excited for her to start on her adventure because the whole leading up to leaving is just so stressfull and hard. Once you get there, it's just nice to know it's all finally started. I've been thinking about you guys and her a lot this week. Can you believe we have two missionaries out from our fam now? INCREDIBLE! This is such a blessing! I am beyond excited for us to be out at the same time because I know when I'm having a hard day, I can just think about her and know that we are going through very similar experiences and feelings.

 OHHH I cannot wait for Mother's Day! So so so EXCITED! WE GET TO SKYPE! I'm hoping that I'll be able to keep it together this time! hahah I don't want to repeat what happened when I called at the airport but I can't promise anything! I'll probably be a little bit emotional, but hey, it happens! When you only get to talk to your family twice a year and hear their voices, I think it's completely normal!

     Well, this week was a little bit of a slower week for us. We had tons and tons and tons of appointments set up, but people have this thing called agency, and a lot of the time they choose not to be there! haha As missionaries, each day we plan our appointments and then we plan out two other back up plans for each appointment so if/when they do fall through, we still have other plans so we stay busy. This week was special though because a lot of our plans and back up plans all fell through. But hey, these kind of things happen in the mission and so we just start knocking doors and talking to people. If there is one thing I have learned about being a missionary, it is that you become an amazing planner. I feel like this was something I was kind of already good at, planning and organizing, but on the mission I have learned to stay positive and happy, despite all plans falling through (and that was something I wasn't good at doing before the mission).     

     So this week, we didn't find as many new investigators and people to teach like we had hoped but we did focus on a lot of the people we already are teaching. We have been teaching this guy named Nokomis for about two weeks now. We have commmitted him for a baptisimal date and HE CAME TO CHURCH!!!! :) He rode the bus for an hour and a half and then walked a mile to get to church! He's so great! I love him! He's in his 50's and we found him about a month ago on the bus. We set up an appointment with him about three weeks ago but when we went, he wasn't there. We were bummed, but that's kind of the norm so we didn't think too much of it, but then he called us the next day and asked why we didn't come. SAY WHAT, he called us! These kind of things never happen! It turns out we just both mixed up the times, so we set up another appointment with him and we've met with him about 4 or 5 times in the past two weeks. He is progressing pretty well. He does have a Word of Wisdom problem but we are working on that with him. Victor is doing great! We have been trying to figure everything out for his baptism this past week (like who's going to baptize him, the program, his baptismal interview, etc.) so it's been pretty busy. There's a lot more work that goes into that than I thought! We are going to be meeting with him like four times this week just to make sure everything is good. Continue to pray for him! If all goes well he is suppose to be getting baptized this week! YAY!!!! :) I sure do love him and his wife June! They are both pretty interesting characters, actually pretty much everyone in our ward is! hahaha But, I have come to love this ward and area more than I ever thought I could. The thought of one day having to leave this area makes me so sad.  They all have a really special place in my heart. I have learned so much from serving here thus far. I have learned that as we pray for charity and go out and serve, we are capable of loving everyone, even those that to us seem hard to love or different from us. 

     One thing I was pondering a lot about yesterday at church, was how important our role as member missionaries really is. We were in a meeting with the bishop and he told us about two scenarios that happened in our ward. He first talked about a teenage boy a few years back who had come to the ward for the first time. At that time, bishop was serving in the high council and he decided, knowing that it was this boys first time, he was going to follow him around for the day. (Now this sounds completely creepy haha but he wanted to see what someones experience was like for their first time in the church) He didn't make it obvious or anything that he was following him from class to class, but he just sat back and observed. He said he was completely devasted as he watched that not a single, NOT A SINGLE person welcomed him, introduced themselves, or took him under their wing. He then talked about another family in our ward that joined the church three years ago. He said when he talked to them about their experiences when they first started coming to church, they kept talking about how they had never felt so loved and included before in their lives. They are still completely active. This other boy did join the church but he is now struggling deciding whether he's going to go on a mission or not. Bishop then talked about how people do have their agency, but that we are the church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints, Christ's true church on the earth today. WE MUST FELLOWSHIP visitors, new members, and everyone in our ward. This new push for missionaries will do us no good if we do not have ward members who are willing to play their role in missionary work. This is just something I thought a lot about yesterday, having Nokomis at church with us. It is true, not too many people came up and said hi or visited with him. We (the missionaries) had to initiate almost all of that. It just breaks my heart because I got to thinking, being in an investigator's shoes, why would they want to return if not a single person welcomed them or said hi to them and if they sat by themselves in priesthood (when the sister missionaries had to go to relief society). Being a missionary, has really helped me to see just how vital a members role is in this work. I invite you guys to think of ways you can become better member missionaries because I know we can all improve. I know I was not a good member missionary before my mission and I wish I would have been. We need to be there for these investigators and new members as they are making this huge transition. They need love and support! Sorry for this huge long tangent, but this was just something that really tugged at my heart yesterday as I also tried to watch, as bishop did, how someones first experience of church is like sometimes. 

I sure do love you guys! I am so grateful for this opportunity to serve the Lord fulltime! I know that this is His church, that He is directing it today. I know that He lives and that this is His sacred work. Why on earth He has trusted us, His imperfect children, to be a part of such a sacred and important work, I'm just amazed and feel so humbled. I know He allows us to participate in this work, because through it we become forever changed, we become more like Him. 

Pues, Les Amo Mucho! XOXOXOXOX Cannot wait for Mother's Day! :)




I GOT TO SHAKE AN APOSTLES HAND THIS WEEK!!!!!!!!

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

Aubrey as Peter Pan in Snow White

I have a new companion Sister Weubkes

April 22, 2013

Querida Familia!

   Como estan??? Wow, what a weekend it sounds like you guys had! I must say, I was thinking about you guys a lot yesterday. It's so weird, I feel like Heavenly Father has blessed me to be able to put you guys, home, and friends in a place in my heart so that I can focus on the work, but there are days, like yesterday, where it's just a little bit harder. I just try to stay so busy and focussed though and then all is well!

   So this week has been a week of transitions and miracles! On Wednesday, Hermana Thorne and I got to go to the temple with a recent convert named Brian. I love Brian! He has cerebral palsy and is so sweet and is like a genius. Seriously, whenever Hna. Thorne and I would go visit him and we would talk about the scriputes or church, he would know so much more than us! He has already read all of Jesus the Christ and he hasn't even been a member a year. Simply an incredible person! We got to witness such a sweet and incredible moment as we watched him be baptized and confirmed for his dad. Tears were rolling down my eyes as I saw this. Missionary work is so incredible!

 Sadly, I had to say goodbye to my trainer (aka mama in the mission), Hna. Thorne on thursday morning. I will forever be grateful to Heavenly Father for allowing me to have such an incredible trainer. I feel so blessed! I have learned so much from her and I will miss her. But, surprise, surprise.....  I AM TRAINING A NEW MISSIONARY!!!! QUE EN EL MUNDO! Actually, I was told about a week and a half ago by the Assistants to the President that I had been recommended to train a new missionary and that they wanted me to come to the mission home for a training. I was completely freaking out because this usually doesn't happen. With the new program the church has, missionaries are suppose to have a trainer for the first 12 weeks so I was never expecting to train right away. But, I guess this is Heavenly Father's plan for me so I am embracing it. I am actually loving it so far though. My new comopanion is Sister Weubkes! She's from a small town in Montana (like even smaller than Boulder, can you even imagine that! hahah) and this is her first time away from home. Needless to say, the city that we're in can be a little shock to anyone, let alone someone who hasn't been away from home. She is adjusting super well though! Originally her call was in english but President switched it to spanish, so I have been trying to teach her a few things. So far, she is able to ask someone how they are doing and introduce herself. So it's a good start! This means that I will have to teach all the spanish lessons completely alone for a good while! It's going to be a fun adventure seeing that Hna. Thorne usually taught most of the lesson in spanish and I would throw in a few things here and there. I have already seen my language improve in the past few days and I know Heavenly Father will bless me to be able to communicate with our spanish investigators. I have serioulsy learned and grown so much these past few days. I am so grateful for this opportunity to train because it is forcing me to stretch and grow and more fully rely on Heavenly Father.

    We have had an incredible week full of miracles! I have seen God's hand in this work so much these past few days. First, I want to start out with Anthony. We went to the library (we sometimes go here to teach lessons in one of the rooms) for an appointment, but the person we were suppose to meet didn't end up showing up. As we were waiting outside, we met a man named Anthony who was just lingering around like he wanted to talk to us. We started talking to him and I asked him if he had some time to have a lesson. So, we ended up going in and using one of the rooms in the library. It was the most incredible first lesson I have ever had on the mission. The spirit was so strong and he literally is like a golden investigator. He told us that he had seen many Mormon missionaries growing up but that each time they would knock on his grandma's door, she wouldn't let them in. He said that he had always wanted to meet the missionaries again and that the night before he had prayed to God to give him more of His word. WHAT A MIRACLE! At the end of the lesson, I invited him to be baptized, and do you know what he said..... "I've been waiting for someone to ask me that." WHAT! Oh my goodness, he is so so so prepared! Such a testimony builder to me that God is in the details of our lives. Another lesson we had this week was with a girl named Brittany. I don't know if I've told you guys too much about her, but we have been visiting her and her boyfriend Chris off and on for the past few weeks. Her boyfriend is actually a member, kind of inactive, but we decided we needed to reteach the Restoration and we also watched the Restoration movie. After the movie, I felt the spirit tell me that I needed to invite her to baptism. I was a little scared, but I did it because I knew that's what Heavenly Father wanted me to do. We invited her and asked her if once she began to read the BOM and pray about it and Joseph Smith, if she got her answer, would she be baptized. She said YES! So she has a baptismal date in May as well. Another man we taught last night, Nokomis also now has a baptismal date. He is wonderful as well. He has had a completely crazy life but has turned it all the way around. God is preparing his people. I know this to be true because I have seen it time and time again this week! Yo se que Jesucristo vive y que esta iglesia es Su iglesia. I love you all so much! We are so blessed! LES AMO MUCHO!!!! XOXOXO

Con Amor,

        Hermana Jorgensen

Pizza with a sweet member of our ward, Jennifer.

A beautiful day at the temple.

A three generation picture.  Hermana Thorne (my mamma of the mission who taught me), Me, and Sister Weubkes (now mi hija who I will teach).

Hermana Thorne's Last Week

April 15,2013

QUIRIDA FAMILIA!!!

Oh what a week this week has been! In the beginning of the week it started off rather slow. Hermana Thorne and I were a little discouraged, and seeing as it was her last full week in the field, one night we sat down and decided we were going to change that. We decided that everyday we would each give out at least 10 pass along cards and 5 copies of the Book of Mormon. We also decided that on Saturday, we were going to teach 24 lessons because that's how old she is. Let me clarify that a lesson means that we have to teach them a few points and then leave them with a commitment, so it doesn't necessarily have to be like a 45 min lesson. So, we decided all of this on Wednesday night. We were so excited for Saturday! So, as you can see in the picture, we laid out 30 copies of the Book of Mormon, some in english and spanish and we placed pass along cards with our number in each one. We decided to be able to reach our goal, we would need to get out into the city a little early so we skipped our lunch hour and headed out at 11. Before we even got to the bus stop, we were able to teach 3 people. This day was incredible! The Lord continued to put people in our path throughout the whole day. We talked to literally everyone we met. My crazy companion even gave a few people Books of Mormon at stop lights! We met people from all walks of life. A family from Kenya, a man from Iran, and of course people from Mexico! We had only been out for about three hours and we had already taught about 20 lessons! We were so excited, but then there came about a good 30 minutes where every single person rejected us. We just pushed through and tried not to get discouraged. Eventually, we were able to meet people that were interested and within 5 hours we were able to teach 28 lessons,give out 30 copies of the Book of Mormon, and find 9 new investigators with return appointments. It was so neat! It's so neat to think that Kansas City has 30 more copies of the Book of Mormon floating around. I learned so much about missionary work on Saturday. I learned the importance of talking to EVERYONE and I also learned that the Lord will give me the words that he wants me to speak. I even gave a Book of Mormon out to someone in spanish all by myself. My companion was over talking to some other guys in Spanish so I decided to walk over and talk to another guy. I can't say the conversation went completely well, I asked him where he lived and he told me that he had already said that he was homeless! WHOOPS! :) But, I was able to give him a Libro de Mormon and set up another visit! It was honestly just such an amazing day. I know that the Lord is preparing His children everywhere and that it isn't our place to decide who looks like they could be ready or not. I know with all my heart that this gospel is true and that it is the only source for true happiness. Talking with and meeting so many people here, it has been sad to see so many people so unhappy and turning to sources that will only give them temporal happiness. I know that Jesus Christ is the only source of true happiness and peace in this world. This is the message we as missionaries are trying to share with the world, that He lives and that He has restored His gospel upon the earth. I know that this is true. Amongst all the changes and difficulties I have had as a missionary, I can honestly say I have never felt so happy and love this pure joy in my life. 

Anyway, a little update on Victor. He still has not quite smoking yet. We have set a goal that his quit date is in about a week and a half. We called a 1-800 quit now number and helped him get signed up for counseling and such and he just barely got perscriptions and patches so hopefully all of this will help. We have set a new baptismal date for the 11th of May. So pray hard for him! All in all, this week has been bitter sweet! The thought of having Hna. Thorne leave makes me so sad, but I'm excited for the new adventure ahead. She has seriously been such a light and example to me. I know that it was no accident that she was my trainer. I have learned so much from her. I have learned how to be a harder worker, more positive, more loving, and more thoughtful. I feel so grateful that the Lord allowed for me to be her little missionary. I sure do love her! 

Well, I'm sorry that this email was so short! But, just know that all is well here! I should be able to drive soon, since I passed my lessons off on Tuesday. So now I need to learn all the streets and such here! Well, I love you guys so much and pray for you each and every night. LES AMO!!!! XOXOXO 

We went to Chick Filet with our district after our Distric meeting.  It was my first time and I must say that I was quite impressed!

This is what I'd like to call Easter cookout in Kansas City, KS! There were about 4 families there.  It was a great time.

This is me before we headed out on Saturday with our 30 Book of Mormons.

Hermana Thorne giving out a BofM at a stop light.

What? Three months already.

April 8, 2013

HELLO MI FAMILIA!

Can you believe this past week I hit my three month mark! This is CRAZY! This transfer has just flown by! Probably because my companion and I work so well together! She told me that some transfers will just fly and others will drag on forever depending on the situation of your companionship. I have been truly blessed with companions so far on the mission. She has been such a perfect trainer for me! She seriously is one of the hardest workers I know! She is ball of positive energy (which I need a lot of the time)! I just love her! The thought of her leaving me here by myself is terrifying so I'm frantically trying to learn all the streets, bus system, how to get to investigators houses, and so on. My new companion will most likely be new to this area so I'll have to teach her all about it! SCARY! haha I am also finishing passing off my lessons so that I can drive. In our mission we have to memorize all five lessons with lots and lots of scriptures before we can drive, so I'm trying to finish that all off this upcoming week. It's crazy to think I haven't driven in over three months now! I think that's the longest I've ever gone without driving. Let's hope I remember how to drive!

 I don't know if I've ever told you guys this, but our mission is currently the largest mission in the whole church! I know, I'm sure you're thinking this is so random, because when President Keyes told us I was in complete shock. I thought for sure some huge cities in like South America would have more missionaries than us, but nope we have the largest number of missionaries in our mission (hence the reason they are splitting it). I think there are almost 300 missionaries! Can you believe it! President and Sister Keyes have so much on their shoulders right now it's unbelievable. They are so wonderful though and I feel so grateful to get to serve with them. President calls this the Alpha and Omega mission because this is where it all started, and this is where it will all end. There is definitely a special spirit about this area!

Well, for the week...... this week we actually had quite a few appointments that we set and the people were actually there! It was a miracle! We met a family (the Stauch family), I'm not sure if I've already told you guys about them, but we taught them about the Plan of Salvation this week and committed Mike (the dad) to baptism. YAY! We invited them to church this Sunday but Mike was hesitant because they didn't have any clothes that they felt comfortable wearing. So Hermana Thorne and I went and did a little shopping for them. We went to the thrift store and for twenty bucks we got three outfits and three pairs of shoes! We were pretty proud of ourselves! I guess in this ward, the bishop told us the ward will refund us if we need to go buy church clothes for investigators because this type of situation happens so frequently. We are teaching another family also! We met them about a month ago when they were first moving into their house. They were in such a sad situation but they had just got their kids back the day we met them and were running around trying to get lights and everything set up in the house. They just barely got lights and heat in their house this week. So they have been living there for over three weeks without any of that. It's so sad, but we did have a tiny party with them this week after we shared a message because it was Mateo's 17th birthday. Hna. Thorne and I brought some candy bars and Juan (the dad, He's from Mexico) and Hna. Thorne played the guitar. It was so fun! I can't tell you how much I love this family! Of everyone we have met here, I feel such a love and strong connection to them. They are so great! It was so neat, I was sharing the first vision with them in Spanish, and afterward Toni said with tears in her eyes, I've heard that many times (I think she meant the part that says, "this is my Beloved Son, Hear Him"), but never have I got the goosebumps like I did just now. We gave them all copies of the Book of Mormon and have invited them to begin reading it.  Victor is doing okay. It's been a little bit of a hard week with him. Lately, Hna. Thorne and I have been feeling like he wasn't being completely truthful with us when he's been telling us he hasn't smoked, and we got a phone call on Saturday from a ward member that we are close to  and she told us she was over there today and he was smoking. We were completely devasted, but kind of saw it coming. So we went over and talked to him last night and discussed that we would have to move his baptismal date back because you have to be living the Word of Wisdom for at least two weeks beforehand. Hna. Thorne and I were so nervous for this conversation, but we prayerfully decided we were going to do it in a loving way. We talked to him about being here for him as a support system and that we had complete confidence and patience in him as he is trying to give up this addiction. He tells us he still wants to work towards baptism so we are just going to be there for him. We are going to be calling him every day now so we can see how he's doing and know how we can help him. 

 Another thing we did this week is Family History Work ( I had to put this in because I know Grandma will be so excited! :) hahah). Honestly, never did I think we would do this on the mission, but Grandma you have trained me well! We are helping a recent convert (that Hna. Thorne taught) prepare family names to go to the temple next week. I'm so excited! We are going to the temple next Wednesday to do baptisms with two new converts! It's going to be such a neat experience!

Conference was so amazing! It's like Christmas for missionaries! Hna. Thorne and I were looking forward to it all week! We went to the church to watch all four sessions. It was such a weird feeling to know that we were all doing/watching the same thing just a few miles apart! So, Cedar City is going to have a temple! Can you believe it! No more having to drive down to St. George Ashy! How exciting! I loved Elder Holland's talk! So powerful, like always! And President Monson's talk about the fire! So funny! We are so incredibly blessed to have a living prophet and apostles today that guide us. When ever we are teaching investigators about prophets, we always ask them a simple question. We aks, "If Moses were on the earth, would you want to hear what he had to say to us?" And about everyone always answers YES! We proceed to talk about President Monson and the more I have taught and testified about this, the more I have come to realize what a blessing it is to have a living prophet. Yo se que tenemos un profeta hoy en dia se llama Thomas S. Monson. Yo se que esta iglesia es verdadera y tiene la plenitud del Evangelio de Jesucristo. Se que Jesucristo es nuestro Redentor y Salvador y El vive. I love you guys so mucho mucho mucho! LES AMO!

I just love my companion Hermana Thorne!

Feliz Dia De Pascua

April 1, 2013

HELLO DEAR FAMILIA!

Happy LATE Easter! It sounds like yesterday was a great day..... Mom spoke in church, you had the traditional family dinner, and you fed the missionaries (way to be, I'm sure they loved it!), and not to mention this whole last week was spring break, QUE DIVERTIDO! 

So, I finally found out where Kaleb's going!!!! YAY!!!! Oh man, I'm so so excited for him! As I watched the video, I was just tearing up. It's so wierd, on the mission you can be told that things are changing at home but it's almost like your brain doesn't register that it is actually happening, and so seeing the video really made it real for me. It was so fun to get to see and hear everyone's voices! In all honesty, I wasn't thinking Japan for him (secretly, I was hoping he would follow mine and Ashy's trend so we could all talk to each other when we get home, but now none of us will know what in the world he's saying). I can just imagine him towering over everyone there! hahaha Ahhhhh, our family is becoming such a missionary family! CONGRATS KALEB (or Elder Bailey)! Bailey's thank you so much for the package! I loved it! It brought me back to the night we were all tying that blanket! And Mom, Dad, and the rest of the fam bam, muchas gracias for my Easter package!

So, where to begin with this week....... seriously, missionary work is always a complete rollarcoaster ride! One day will be absolutely perfect and then the next is a disaster (or it some cases, this happens hourly haha). So last Monday night (P-days end at 6 and then we have three hours of prosyliting time), we were so so so excited because we had an appointment with this lady named Brianna. I'm not sure if I mentioned her at all in the last email, but we met her two days before that and she was just the nicest and so so prepared. She has two little girls and is married and told us this was something she was looking for. As we went to the door, we could hear everyone right there, so we knocked three different times but they wouldn't come. We tried to call her and she wouldn't answer. We were devastated! My companion was crying. It's so hard when you know that these people need this and some of them are truly searching, and then they will not listen. We feel like maybe her husband refused to let her listen or something, but who knows. All we know is she was just sitting in there. We have gone back a couple times this week and tried to text her but she hasn't ever answered. :( So, that night, as we were about to just go back home because it was snowing really hard, we felt like we should just go try to see this other lady that lived in the next apartment that we had met a couple weeks previous. She was there! She opened the door and invited us in and her husband and two sons were there too! We taught the whole first lesson and gave their family two Books of Mormon and it was just such a great visit. It was all in Spanish, and for the first time I felt like I was actually contributing a little bit to the lesson! We invited Maria (the mom) to pray at the end, and she prayed and thanked God for bringing her more of His truth. We left there on cloud nine, smiling from ear to ear! I cannot describe the feeling you get as a missionary when you meet a new investigator or come out of a lesson that just went so well. My companion and I get so giddy and can't stop talking about it all day! And this is what I mean by it being a rollarcoaster, within minutes we were so sad and then an hour later we are so excited! But, to continue the story about this family, so we go back two days later for our appointment and they DON'T answer the door. It was the exact same situation with Brianna, we can hear them in there living room right by the door but they just don't want to get it. So, we call her and she wispers that they are sleeping. :( Then we are completely heartbroken again! hahah This is a continuous cycle as a missionary. It's so hard because most people, like in these two situations, won't be just straightfoward and honest with us, but it's okay, we just keep knocking doors and sharing the gospel!

Our buddy Victor is still on date to be baptized on April 13th! :) Please keep praying for him! This week we finished teaching him about the Plan of Salvation and we also taught him about the Word of Wisdom because he smokes. Since the day we taught him, he told us he has quit cold turkey. We really really hope so, the other day when we came, the room seemed quite smokey, but all we can do is take his word and keep praying for him. He is such an incredible guy! He already knows so much. He studied the Bible at some church school or seminary or something all growing up so he can quote like every scripture we start talking about in the Bible. He came to church on Sunday with his wife June (who's a member of our ward) and he loved it. 

This week I went on exchanges again. I went about thirty minutes away to a city called Overland Park. Aparently, the county that this city is in is one of the top ten richest counties in the US, and let me tell you, compared to Kansas City, this place was so so nice. I was in quite shock! Literally like mansions everywhere! This made for quite an interesting day! For the first time, I experienced getting completely rejected with the doors slammed in our face! The work is so slow here because nobody wants to listen. They already have a good life and don't feel like they need any changes and many people that we talked to didn't feel like they needed God. It was so sad to see. It helped me to really experience and see that the humble are those that will accept our message. The highlight of the day there though, was when we went and visited a part member family that the sisters have been teaching there. The parents weren't home, only the grandma, and she only spoke spanish. As we were walking up the stairs my companion for the day, Sister Crick, told me I'd probably have to talk the whole time because she didn't know any spanish. OH HEAVENS! So I said a prayer in my heart that I would be able to communicate with her. Heavenly Father is so good to me. For the hour that we were there, I was able to understand almost everything that she said, and I was able to communicate. It wasn't the most beautiful spanish, very very basic, but Heavenly Father helped me to communicate with her. This was such a neat experience for me because all other times before this I had always had Hermana Thorne with me and so she always takes the lead in discussions since I don't know too much, but this situation forced me to speak the whole time and it helped me to see that through Heavenly Father, I can learn spanish.

Church was quite interesting this sunday! There were quite a few investigators there between our three companionships, which was wonderful. Having investigators at church is so great, but it also makes it quite draining because we are constantly making sure everything is okay. There were many times throughout the three hours that Hna. Thorne and I would just pinch eachother or else we were going to laugh. During the sacrament meeting, Victor kept saying Amen after like every statement ( I think that must be what they would do at his church). Luckily it wasn't too loud where everyone was looking at us. And then, Victor and June brought one of their friends, Jimmy. He was quite the character! Hna. Thorne and I would get so nervous in sunday school because he would just blurt out random things always at the most spiritual times of the lesson and then at one point he put his arm around the back of my chair and my companion then put her arm on the back of my chair to prevent him from doing it and then he grabbed her hand! hahaha Needless to say, we are not sure if Jimmy will be one of our new investigators! We might pass him off to the Elders! hahaha On a serious note though, as we began to sing our opening song yesterday in Sacrament Meeting, "He is Risen", I just began to get really emotional. We are so so blessed..... to have the gospel, to have our family and friends, to have a Father in Heaven who loves us and knows us individually, to have a Savior who atoned for each of us. I am so grateful for this time of year, to reflect about the Savior. I know that Christ is our Savior and Reedemer and because He has risen, we will all be resurrected. He has conquerred physical and spiritual death so that we may also. I love you guys mucho mucho and my heart just feels so full of joy today of gratitude for all the many blessings we have been given!

1. Jennifer and her baby Anna Marie.

2. This is a little girl in our ward. I promise she was actually happy! Everytime we would ask her to smile, this is the face she would make.

 3.  Easter Egg hunt with these little munchkins

4. This is Sister Crabtree! She is seriouly probably my favorite lady in our ward! She's a hoot. This is her three month old granddaughter and they're feeding her chocolate from our easter egg hunt (pretty sure babys arent suppose to have chocolate, but this is how they do it here I guess! hahah )

LES AMO!

       Hermana Lexi Annmarie Jorgensen