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.

Through the third transfer :)

HELLO MI BONITA FAMILIA!!!

     First off, Happy Happy Anniversary to the greatest parents ever! I can't say I completely remembered (I'm sorry), but luckily Pressy reminded me! hahaha I've been thinking all day about how Ashy is going to call! Man, I'm so jealous! I sure hope we can figure something out at Christmas so that we can all talk together for a little bit! How is she? I can't believe she's already out of the MTC! That went quick! Now were going to have two Hermana Jorgensen out in the real world! I'm so excited for her to begin her new adventure!

     Well, this week here has been a little bit challenging to say the least. It started out okay in the beginning of the week. We finally got to go over and talk to Lucy and she had been doing pretty good with reading her scriptures and praying. She was reading about Lehi's vision about the tree of life. We showed her a picture and compared it to her life and how she is on the journey to the tree and holding onto the rod. She really liked it. I then felt prompted that we needed to share the law of chastity. It went really well and she seemed to understand everything. She said, "Well, it looks like we'll be getting married then." We knew it wasn't going to be an easy route, but we were excited that she felt that way. It all went down hill when we texted her the next day.  We were going to go visit her that night and she said that she didn't know why we wanted to come anymore if she couldn't be baptized. We were completely confused. It was like a night and day difference. We asked what had happened and she said that her "husband" doesn't want to get married right now. We asked if we could come up and talk to her (since she just lives upstairs from us) and this whole week she has just been dodging us. She keeps making up all these excuses about how she hasn't had anytime this week. It's so sad because I know that she knows the Book of Mormon is true and she was so excited to get baptized. We have just been wanting to see her and talk to her in person to see how she is feeling and what's really going on. It's just such a hard situation because her "husband" is so sick, like he's literally dying. Anyway, needless to say, it's been a little bit of a hard week.

     We don't really have any super solid investigators right now. We are in the process of finding new people to teach. We have been talking to many people, but we haven't had too many that have actually accepted a return visit. It's incredible how many people (including members of our ward) want to talk about everything but the gospel when we come over! At times, I feel like they think we are counselors and we get to hear way way way too much about everyone's personal lives. My companion and I are just trying to step forward and have faith that God is preparing those for us to teach. We are trying new ideas to find people. This week we went and visited Lawanda. I don't know if I've ever told you guys about her. She's a recent convert, her and her daughter (who's 12). Hermana Thorne and I use to go visit them a lot. We haven't been able to for the last little while because she is always so so busy with work. We finally got to go see them this week though and it was so great! I love their family so much! She's a single mom with 5 kids. She told us she is going to be quitting her job and is going to start working on her GED so they'll be able to come to church now hopefully! She has a 9 year old son named Mikey and we are hopefully going to be able to start working with him because he hasn't been baptized yet and wants to be!

     So, this week I've been thinking a lot about goals. Let's just say I've been having some 1/3 of the way done with the mission breakdowns! I've been thinking about all the things I've learned and how much I've grown and I have just really been focusing on setting goals for the next year or so because I know if I don't, this time will just pass me by too quick and I'll come to the end with regrets. One of the things that I really want to work on is developing Christ-like attributes. Sister Wuebkes and I have been talking all week about our many goals and trying to make plans on how we can accomplish them. Often times I feel like the end goal is so far out of reach that I just don't even start, but as I've broken it down to transfers (6 weeks) and days, they seem a lot more attainable. Well, I'm sorry this email was kind of everywhere and not too exciting. Please, please, please pray for Hermana Wuebkes and I that we can find those that Heavenly Father has prepared! I love you all so very much! Have such a wonderful week! XOXOXO

Con Amor, 

           tu hermanita jorgensen 

Searching, Hoping, and Waiting

June 3, 2013

HELLO MY DEAR SWEET FAMILY! :)     

     Well, let's see..... quite honestly, this week was a little bit slow. It has been a little hard because we have to keep dropping a lot of our investigators because they aren't progressing or quite honestly are just a little bit crazy and not really all the way there.  Then we've also had a few drop us, so all in all our only really solid investigator right now is Miss Lucy. And we aren't exactly sure what's going on with her right now. We went to her appointment on Saturday night and we knocked on the door but she didn't answer. It was wierd because we had just seen her three hours earlier and she said she was going to be ready and expecting us. We tried to call her and she didn't answer. Late that night she texted us and told us she got a new number and asked who was going to be taking her to church. Sunday morning we went upstairs at like 10 to tell her about her ride but she wouldn't answer again. So we texted her and then she told us she wouldn't be going because she needed some time to think and read the Book of Mormon and close other things with her church. We were freaking out, so nervous but later found out that she's upset about a misunderstanding she has had with someone she really cares about. She texted us, "I am reading my book and no smoking. Love you.". So we are hoping all is okay with her. We hopefully are going to see her tonight. I just love her so much and I know that she really does want to make changes in her life. Last week she told us she had to tell many of her friends who she use to smoke and drink with that she will no longer be doing any of that and that she probably wouldn't even be able to hang out with them anymore. I'm so proud of her! She has already progressed so much! Her baptismal date is on June 22nd, but I don't know if she'll be able to actually be ready by that date or if we'll have to change it. The tricky thing is that her "husband" (they are just common law married) is very very sick. He has had lung cancer for 10 years and I guess also has thyroid cancer. He is bed ridden and literally just looks like he is melting away. It's so sad! So we have to still talk to her about how they need to get married but it is just such a wierd situation. We were planning on teaching her the law of chastity on Saturday night but since that fell through we are going to do it this week. Cross our fingers!

     We have been trying other methods of finding people to teach by reaching out to less actives in our ward. This week we went and visited the Imes family (an older couple). They were so wonderful! Reminded me of being around grandparents! The reason they are inactive is because he was offended by a bishop in the past. He is pretty stubborn, but he did promise us he would read from the Book of Mormon before we come back. When he promised us that, his wife's eyes widened in complete shock! She said he is a man of his word and that they haven't read in a very long time. We are hoping they will at least start with the Book of Mormon because it really is the key to conversion. We tried to go visit another less active lady but she forgot about our appointment and was at work. Her grandkids answered the door though and so we ended up staying for about an hour and taught the about the Restoration. We talked about the Book of Mormon and all five of them were like , "Can I have a copy of that book?". We were like of course you can, nobody ever usually asks like that when we explain the Book of Mormon. They were so wonderful and we are hopefully meeting with all of them again tomorrow and will reset an appointment with their grandma (who is less active) for Friday.

     Sunday was such an incredible day. It began with Debra (one of the Elders sweet converts) being confirmed, and then VICTOR BLESSED THE SACRAMENT, and John (our neighbor who the other Hermanas taught and was baptized) passed the sacrament. It was so COOL to see all three of them taking such big steps in their progression towards the Lord! I was so so happy for each of them and just couldn't keep the tears in during sacrament meeting. I was a little bit emotional on Sunday, all day. Who knows why, at times it was because I was just flooded with the spirit, and then other times I was just so sad and confused about Lucy who I just love so much, and then I missed you guys, and it just kept going like that all day yesterday. But, my time is up and I'm sorry it wasn't as long today. I sure do love you guys though! Don't worry about me, I'm doing good. I have learned more deeply what it means to humble yourself and trust in the Lord. Because we have been in a little bit of a teaching "drought", it has forced me to turn even more to my Heavenly Father for His guidance and direction in this work, His work. I know that Heavenly Father is so mindful of His children. I am so grateful for prayer, it has definitely got me through my mission thus far and I know it will only continue to. Sure do love you guys.... to the moon and back! XOXOXO

con amor,

              Hermana Jorgensen (the first :) )

Still learning lessons every day

May 28, 2013

TO MY DEAR SWEET FAMILIA......

     I love love loved all the millions of pictures I got this week! It was so fun to see all the cousins and baby Riley. Oh my goodness, she is the cutest! I'm not gunna lie, I was totally reminiscing on all the fun lake trips on Memorial Day weekend. Being with family and friends, getting in all the tubing and wakeboarding that we wanted, and sitting on the beach and just soaking in the sun. Let me just paint you the picture (as dad or John would say!) of what my day looked like yesterday.... We woke up and it was as dark as it is at about 9pm at noon. It was crazy and it was raining so hard! Luckily, it calmed down and became nice and humid/muggy around 3 just in time for our picnic with all the missionaries in our ward and John (our neighbor who was just baptized). He wanted to cook for us and thank us for all we have helped him with and let me just say that he is one good cook! It's what he does for a living (like the restaurant he's at right now, they charge over 100 bucks a plate CRAZY CRAZY!). But, this week has definitely had its ups and downs. It's been a little hard and discouraging because we've had to let go of a lot of our investigators that just aren't progressing.

     For example, a lady named Rosa. I don't know if I've told you much about her, but she's from Mexico and we've been meeting with her for a couple of weeks. We met with her twice this last week just to see if maybe we could continue to visit her, but it all ended on Wednesday after we watched the Joseph Smith movie. We invited her to come over to our Relief Society President's house (Hermana Balza) to watch it, because we had tried to share it before but the problem is that she talks too much. She won't ever let me talk unless I interrupt her which I have had to do from time to time just to get some words in. As we watched the 20-minute movie, 10 minutes into it she's just completely out on the couch (and of course it's right when Joseph Smith is having his vision). After the movie we started to talk to her about him. A little background, some of the problems we have been having with her is that she's told us she thinks Joseph Smith was a prophet and that the Book of Mormon is true, but that she also thinks anyone can be a prophet. So anyway, I was hoping that this visual with the movie and the spirit that it can bring would help her to better understand his divine calling as the prophet of the Restoration, but NO! As we started to discuss things, she said, "Soy una profeta" (meaning, I'm a prophet!). She talked about how she can heal people and see visions and so on and so forth. She talked about how she believes our church is wrong in that we believe there is only one prophet. It was then that we just had to tell her that we would come back to see her here and there but that we wouldn't be seeing her like we use to anymore. It was all so sad and frustrating! But, honestly the spirit during the Joseph Smith movie, even though it was in Spanish, was so strong and powerful. Looking on the bright side, I know it strengthened Sister Wuebkes, Hermana Balza and my testimony about the prophet that day.

     Sweet Lucy is still doing pretty well. She came to church with us this past Sunday for the first time and I think she liked it. She became friends with a lady at church who is going to be getting baptized this week so we were excited about that! We watched the hour-long Restoration movie with her (pretty sure it's the one Ashy's talking about that she saw in the MTC). She really liked it and kept saying how good of a man Joseph Smith was. At the end of the movie though, she did express some concerns about having to choose between her other church and ours. It kind of scared me for a second but at the same time I think it's good because she is beginning to realize it is going to be a lifetime commitment.

     This past Thursdays and Friday, I got to go to Independence to Visitors Center training. A guy from Salt Lake came out who is a part of the missionary department and trained us. It was so cool and insightful! It really helped me to better see why I have been called to serve there. I know in the beginning when I got my call I was wanting more than anything in the world to not have to be in a Visitors Center, but now being here and the few experiences I have had there, I'm so excited to get to serve there. Not even faking it! ha-ha Transfers are this Thursday. I don't think I'll be leaving yet, but you never know. I'm pretty sure though that I'll at least stay here another transfer to finish training Sister Wuebkes and then maybe I'll head to the VC in the middle of the crazy busy season. Only the Lord knows though! :)

     LAST STORY...... So Saturday was just a super hard day for us. We literally were trying to talk to everyone and nobody, NOBODY wanted to listen, or even worse, they would argue with us. I tried so hard to stay positive but it's just so hard to want to keep talking to people after the other 20 people before them rejected you. But, as we were standing at a bus stop, I had a BOM in my hand ready to give out to the next person we saw, and this lady came up to me and asked if she could have it. She said she's been needing a BOM and that she hasn't been to church in years because of her job. We got her number and we are hopefully going to go visit her this upcoming week! It was such a tender mercy from the Lord!

     Well, I sure hope the scripture I've chosen this week isn't too long. Preston said he's doing completely good with memorizing but that mom's having a little trouble if they're too long! haha I think you guys will be able to handle this one though (partly because I think it might be hanging somewhere in our house! ha-ha) It is Joshua 24:15, " And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." President Keyes talked about this being one of his favorite scriptures this week and it just reminded me so much about you guys and home. I know that everyday we must consciously choose who we are going to serve. That if we make that decision right when we wake up, that all other decisions will fall into place and be easier. We need to be the kind of people who Satan says, "Dangit she woke up!" every single morning. The kind of people that work hard and serve the Lord by building up His kingdom here on earth. I love you guys to the moon and back and I'm so very grateful for each of you! You are all my sunshines

and support through this crazy, hard, growing, exciting journey we call a mission. XOXOXOXO MUAH!

 

Dinner with Bishop and Sister Smith! They are so Great!

All in all a Great Week

May 20, 2013

HELLO MY DEAR FAMILIA!

     I can't believe it's already P-day again! Seriously, time on the mission is the weirdest thing! Days drag on, but weeks fly! Muchas muchas gracias por my package! I absolutely LOVED it! EVERYTHING IN IT WAS PERFECT! Nothing beats cinnamon bears from the BYU Bookstore and an adorable shirt! I absolutely LOVE getting Ashy's emails! They are so her but she is really learning and growing and I'm so so proud of her! I absolutely loved the MTC (probably partly because I had an incredible district, zone, and teachers) but it is truly a spiritual place! 

This week has been pretty good! We were actually able to have quite a few sit down and talk for about an hour kind of lessons. Many people still cancelled, but there were still quite a few people that were actually there which is a MILAGRO! A complete MIRACLE! We had really high hopes of having about 5 people coming to church with us this week and we were completely stoked but then people have this thing called agency (like I've talked about before) and we ended up only having one. When these kind of things happen I just try to laugh it off and not get upset because if I get mad every time, it make for an angry 18 months. I definitely do get sad and bummed though! There were a lot of really wonderful things that happened this week though!

    

 So our upstairs neighbor, Lucy, HAS A BAPTISMAL DATE!!!!! :) We are so so so excited for her! She is so solid! We started teaching her last week. In our first time meeting with her, as we were getting to know her, she explained to us about how she is unable to have kids and that it is something that she is really bummed about. We went in planning on teaching about the Restoration but we were guided by the spirit to teach the plan of Salvation. All I can say is thank goodness for the spirit! She absolutely LOVED it! All of it! Her eyes just kept lighting up and she was so so happy. The next time we went to visit her we talked about the Restoration and when we told her we have a prophet today, her mouth just dropped (like, why in the world have I not heard about this?!). We then invited her to be baptized and she was so excited. She thought that President Monson was going to baptize her so we had to clear that up, but she is just so incredible. About two days ago we went over and taught her about the doctrine of Christ (faith, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end) and we taught her about the Word of Wisdom (because you have to be living it for two weeks before you can be baptized).  She had strong faith though and we talked to her about having to change her date so we changed it from June 1st to June 22nd. The best thing about that visit though, was that when she opened up the Book of Mormon, not only had she read beyond where we had asked her to, but she was marking it! I'm telling you, this woman is incredible! We just adore her! On Saturday, she came to John (our other neighbor's baptism), who the other sisters had taught. At this rate, we are just going to try and help convert the whole apartment complex! hahah :) But, she was so excited to come and we were able to give her a tour of the chapel, it being her first time there. When we walked into the chapel, all she could say was WOW. She kept telling everyone that she was going to be getting baptized! It was so cute! 

   

  We started teaching another family this week too! We met a lady on the bus last week with her two girls and set up an appointment to go visit them. The mom's name is Hana and she has three kids, Brianna (14), Leanna (11), and Arnold (9). They are actually from a Navaho Resorvation in Arizona. We taught them about the Restoration and the SPIRIT WAS SO STRONG! Probably the strongest I have ever felt it in a lesson thus far. It was such an incredible experience to testify to them that the Book of Mormon was about their ancestors! There eyes just completely lit up! At the end we were able to have a kneeling family prayer and it was just such a wonderful lesson! The girls were so intrigued and of course I went home that night (like I do every night) and laid in bed dreaming up there future in the church. About how wonderful young womens would be for them and about how they could girls camp and the list could go on! Yes, I do this everytime! hahah 

    

 Lastly, yesterday we got to take Victor and June to the Liberty Jail for a President's Devotional. Twice a month, President and Sister Keyes hold a devotional for all the recent converts of the month. It is kind of like a testimony meeting, and then President and Sister Keyes share their testimonies. Oh my goodness was it amazing! I can't begin to describe the sweet spirit that filled the room as new members of the church shared their conviction of the truthfullness of the gospel. And then to finish it with the testimonies of President and Sister Keyes who, when he just walks in the room, the spirit can be immediately felt. It was such a neat experience and Victor and June really enjoyed it. After, we went on a tour of the jail with them and they had never been so it was great!

     Well, I sure do love you guys more than you'll ever know! At this time, I just feel so incredibly blessed! God has been so good to me! I want you to know that I have a testimony of this gospel. I know that God is our Father and that because He loves us so much, He sent His son Jesus Christ to be our Savior. I know that the same church that Christ established over 2000 years ago has been restored. That Joseph Smith was called to be an instrument in the Lord's hand to bring back what had been lost. I know that because of this restoration, the proper authority given to man to act in the name of God has been restored. Me encanta este evangelio con todo mi corazon. Les Amo MUCHO MUCHO!!!!!!

Love Always:

               Su Hermanita Jorgensen

This is our neighbor John who got baptized.

This is Nokomis.  We have been teaching him for a while.

This is darling Lucy our neighbor.  She came to John's baptism. 

Sister Wuebkes and I at the Liberty jail.

Victor, June, and us visiting the Liberty Jail together. What a great memory.

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! :)