February 11, 2013

What´s up everybody!

 

So this week was much better for us! Started out last Tuesday when we had some of our most powerful members from the branch leave with us for the afternoon and they took us to some of their family and some less actives. It was awesome to see how excited they were to go out and work with us and teach. They are amazing teachers, I was pretty impressed with them. So that was good to get some new investigators with them, we ended up with twelve new ones this week which is really good for us especially in this area! Also I have some good news about baptisms that are coming up. The familia we were teaching got whittled down to just the oldest daughter, but she should get baptized this next Saturday. She is super powerful too, she started going to seminary in the church, and they changed the schedule so she could continue to come every day. We are excited for her and then there is also Rene, and he can posibly get baptized this next Saturday as well! We have a multi zone meeting with President tomorrow so we are gonna bring him so President can interview him and hopefully pass him. So we could break my companions 14 month cold streak on the baptisms. Also we have a couple others that are super powerful that have a date for the first weekend in March. Their names are Vanesa and David. Vanesa is the wife, we hope, of a less active member who is 28, and she is pregnant right now (18 years old). Then David is a friend of both of them. I love going to teach them because they actually do what we ask them to do! We give them a chapter to read and they read it and then have questions but then they answer their own questions, it´s awesome!!!!

 

So we are starting our last week in this change. This change was only five weeks because of the age change we are getting a ton of new missionaries, about 40 when normally it´s like 15 to 20 max. But my comp is starting to pick it up again, just took forever it kinda feels like and it makes me feel super baggy and feel like I´ll never finish my mission haha. But it is getting better. I don´t think we will be together for another change but we both might stay in the area and it will get split, so we´re still waiting for that news. Um what else happened this week..I finished 3 Nephi in the Book of Mormon in Spanish so only a little bit more and I´ll have ´er done! I really haven´t studied language at all, just reading the BOM so my comp is pretty suprised about that, but I definitely need to study more just to be able to talk more smoothly without thinking so much about sentence structure and all that haha. I love studying the scriptures though, really studying. It´s awesome to feel the spirit when you read but when you actually study the scriptures and search for answers or things to help you out, the spirit is so much more powerful and I actually feel enlightened and inspired it´s awesome!! So I challenge you not to only read your scriptures but study with a purpose, with a question, with something in mind you want to understand better, and you will be so much more edified by your studying.

 

So pretty much besides that, not much else to report on. I have started stretching though! I figure there is no way I can really work out on my mish and see improvement or anything but there is a posibility I could touch my toes! So we´ll see how that goes. Oh i thought about another thing for a package, FIG NEWTONS i dono why but I have a huge craving for those right now haha. Other than that though...I dono.   But hey if you could tell Bro Cornelison and Bro Neuerberg thank you for me for everything they did for me when I was there that would be awesome. I´ve been thinking about that a lot lately, I never let them know how much I appreciated them and everything they did. That´s too bad about Taylor, I hope he can stay motivated to go back out. Tell him to write me though if you see him! It´d be awesome to get a letter from him. Other than that I love you all so much. Now have a great week, and be an example that someone else can look up to!!!

 

Love,

Elder Jorgensen

February 4, 2013

What`s up everybody,

 

Well this week I definitely missed Super Bowl Sunday, I dono if I missed watching the game, commercials, halftime show, or just normal awesome snack food all day long. I think I`m leaning towards the food at this point but it sounds like the game was pretty intense! Listening to your report and everybody else`s sounds like the 49ers shoulda taken it! I wanted them to win but oh well I guess, you all have a good time watchin it though? And the snow report...is the snow finally gettin better there in good ol` Idaho? Hopefully I`m not missing out on too much ha.

Anyways though about my week here in El Salvador. Well I hit 8 months on Wednesday so that was pretty neat I thought, doesn`t really seem like that long but at the same time it seems like longer, weird how that works. Tuesday though I went on exchanges with Elder Dolbin in our area. So that was a little nerve racking for me, I had to plan out our day and then when stuff fell through I had to find something else to do. But it was an awesome day, I learned so much from him during lessons and studying and just everything about being a missionary. I`m not even kidding, he is probably the best missionary in the mission ha me and my comp always ask him for his autograph because we want the autograph of a future apostle haha. Then Wednesday morning me and him went running on the beach, I`ve been here since Dec 5 and we go running like never so that was my second time running on the beach haha. And it killed me.

He also did the interview for Rene, but we are gonna have to wait a few more weeks, I hope this doesn`t discourage him though. So no baptism last weekend but hopefully in a couple weeks we should have at least 2! So things are starting to get better for us here. I didn`t really have too many powerful stories or things happen to me this week but for our district meetings we are now given study subjects to study all week and then we discuss what we learned in District Meeting, so that is like my favorite meeting of the week! I love it and it`s so spiritual and like a boost right in the middle of the week when everything is a little rough. My comp though is starting to get a little more fired up though finally, I think our zone leaders and one of the assistants got through to him this last week so it was kinda awkward at first but now we are super good. We are just working con todo right now so that`s fun, this week our highest step day was like 18,000 and I figured out that the lower the number the better. A higher number means a lot of stuff fell through and we were just looking all day and not teaching. So hopefully that number will be somewhat low from now on haha.

You guys send packages like crazy haha but yeah church music would be awesome, I actually just bought some speakers and a sub haha 30 bucks gets ya good sound down here in latino land but yeah that would be awesome! I do need another watch too, mine broke and we can`t go shopping here really unless it`s an emergency and I don`t wanna buy a crappy one in the street so maybe another walmart watch? Other than that I don`t got much else to say haha except I love you all and I`m praying that everything goes good in work and school for you! Thank you for your thoughts and prayers and everything you`ve given me.

Love,

Elder Jorgensen

New week! January 28, 2013

Hey Everybody,

 

Alrighty first off, you have no idea how jealous I am of the snow there right now ha I miss it so much. But anyways this week was a lot better than last week for me. Sorry if I sounded down in my last email, I just had to get all the stuff off my chest. This week though was a lot better for us. We didn`t have many new investigators, actually zero news. But we did find the family we have been teaching, they were just on vacation so we will be able to continue teaching them, they just need to start progressing more and fast. And then there is Renè, we had an awesome lesson with him two days ago about the Atonement. Lately he has been really laid back about being baptized and everything and so we have been kind of worried if he is ready and will stay active. But this lesson was awesome, he was so involved and really wanted and desired to be baptized for a remission of his sins. We hope that he is still praying every night, and trying to learn on his own for himself and not just for his wife. But we have an interview scheduled for him on Thursday so I guess we will learn there.

 

Also this week we had a pretty awesome experience. We were just walking down the road and some guy like did the awkward cough thing to get you to notice them so we turned around and starting talking. He asked us a couple questions and then just asked if we could sit down and talk about Jesus Christ and faith, so we said no and kept walking haha jk. We found a bench and he opened up to us a lot saying that he has four kids has been married for seventeen years and has been out of work for six months. From looking at this guy I thought he was like a pretty well to do guy, definitely not like most jobless people here. We talked to him about the Restoration and the Gospel of Jesus Christ and focused on faith. This guy was awesome he is one of those golden investigators that I`ve heard are walking around down here but have never seen. He said he wanted to talk to us more and wanted us to meet his family. The only problem was he lives in the capital, San Salvador and El Puerto is about an hour and a half from there, so he lives just barely outside our area. We promised him some other missionaries just like us would come and talk to him and help him in whatever way they could. He was crying during this whole time, it was super powerful for us. As we finished we pulled out five dollars and gave it to him and he couldn`t talk. I know he needed us that day and we needed him too. After that my companion was a lot more fired up to work.

 

Turtle eggs were weird, the shell wasn`t like a chicken egg it was flexible but still a little hard. All they did to cook it was put butter in the pan and heat up the egg for like a minute then to eat it you peel off a piece of the shell and suck everything out so yeah super weird. Basically like crackin open an egg and drinking it out of the shell ha. Wasn`t bad but wasn`t good and no i would not snack on them haha.

 

The branch down here is still struggling though, attendance yesterday was 40 so not good. But nobody wants to work down here, and they don't want to do anything and just say well many are called but few are chosen. That is their motto down here in el puerto branch and it is probably the dumbest thing ever. ha. And now the active members are saying how boring church is and how they don`t wanna come anymore, one even asked if it`s possible for a branch to disappear...well with that attitude yeah. So some things are definitely still rough down here but we are trying. Some other fun stuff that happened this week was I got my package and ate all the cookies a bag of jerky and the chips already so that was awesome. Thank you so much, still working on ideas for other packages, one thing I actually need is a new tie holder, and some pictures! Also this week we talked to some guys from Israel! That was weird, they were speakin some language I didn`t know and then they asked us if we spoke English so we just talked for a couple minutes, kinda weird but it was fun. And yeah that`s about it I think so I will talk to you guys next week I love you all so much and thank you for the prayers and support, always needed. I hope you all have a great week at home and I will be praying for ya!

 

Love,

Elder Jorgensen

Another week...not much success

Well how is it going everybody? We had a super fast week in El Puerto this week. With not a whole lot to report on sadly. Our investigators are just kinda all over the place. The  family we have been teaching basically since i got here and they have never not been home, but this last week they were never home and they haven`t been to church in the last two Sundays so that is not so good. But I do have some good news to report on, the husband of the relief society president is doing awesome! He hasn`t drank or smoked since New Year`s so if he keeps it up he should be able to get baptized on February second like he planned. But he is going in for surgery today so we don`t know for sure if that will hold him up or not so we`re just waiting that one out.

Still just trying to keep the work going in down here. Sometimes it`s kinda tough for us, not really me but definitely my comp. Everyday he is slow to do everything and I think it has something to do with how his mission has been and him having only five months left basically makes him pretty excited to go home. I`m kinda hoping for a younger missionary the next change or just someone who is more excited about the work because it is hard for me to stay focussed too when he doesn`t want to do anything or just talks about going home. So we`re really trying to stay focussed and I`m trying to help him stay motivated and myself as well. So if anyone has some ideas they would be greatly appreciated haha. I`m still loving the Book of Mormon though, I`m now in Third Nephi in Spanish so I`m getting close to being done and it`s been awesome. And I`m studying in PMG everyday day now and I can definitely see the change it`s had in me.

So that was basically our week. Um a cool experience I had was last Sunday I gave a talk in church just like right on the spot they told us we were talking. So I decided to talk about the Book of Mormon and the role it is in our conversion and after the meeting one of the counselors came up and told me that I answered doubts that a family in the branch had. That was really cool to me to see the Lord working through me to help others and to answer their prayers, so that was neat. Also last night was fun, we were at an investigators house and I ate the weirdest thing in my life, turtle eggs. First of all they are illegal so don`t eat them haha but the way they cooked em was leave them in the shell and just heat em up a lil bit on the stove then peel the top of the shell off and suck out all the yolk and all that crap haha it was weird. And they squirt lime juice on and sprinkle salt and put some salsa on it so yeah it was weird haha. Sorry I haven`t sent some pics in a few weeks I keep forgetting the cord and I did once again today so next week you will get pictures of that fun thing and our trip to the volcano we took today so that was pretty sweet. I`ll talk more about it when I send pictures though.

I`m sorry my letter home isn`t that great this week, trust me I wish I had somethin better to say too, but next week for sure! Sounds like Mom is super busy though and everyone else too. But keep it up and know that I`m praying for ya! I love you all!

Elder Jorgensen

January 14, 2013

Whats up everybody! How is everybody doing? I had a pretty good week down here in El Puerto. Not our best week with the numbers, this week was a little tough that way but we are excited because we just got told today that we do not have changes on Wednesday so we got six or actually five more weeks together to get some work done down here. I`m excited for the opportunity we have to finish everything we`ve started together and hopefully get a couple baptisms.

So this week we kinda just did our normal routine stuff. The big events for us was our district meeting on Wednesday and interviews with President on Thursday. I loved the District Meeting though, we talked all about personal conversion. Each missionary in our district chose a scripture that impacted them and deepened their own conversion so that was awesome to hear all these great guys and their testimonies of the Gospel. The scripture I shared, like I usually do, was Alma 37:35-37. I don`t know why that scripture makes such an impact on me, probably just because it really helps me understand the power of prayer and all the blessings that I have in my life. And then Thursday, the big interview with President, it was awesome. I first talked to Sister Glazier and we talked about planning and becoming a Preach My Gospel missionary. She had some great ideas and we set some goals for me to study more out of PMG so that was cool. Then I talked to President, we talked a lot about my goals. Our goals for our area these next few months and goals for the year, and then he kinda asked me about my personal goals for my mission and I wasn`t really expecting that. I told him that I wanted to go home in sixteen months a different person, completely changed and converted to this Gospel. Then I talked to him about my baptismal goals for my mission, and he helped me aim higher on those too. At the end he told me how much of a leader by example I have been to my companions and other missionaries that work closely with me. He said he is excited for me to come into leadership positions in my mission so I can better fulfill being a leader by example. Personally I hope to never have to become one of those positions ha, I don`t like telling people what to do. President has a way of making you feel like the best person ever though, it was a sweet interview.

Other than that, I don`t have anything really else to say haha so I`m sorry you are all freezing in Idaho right now. I went to bed last night and it was 92 degrees and I woke up and it was 85, so it did cool off a bit so I`m suffering down here too haha. Glad you all finally got your letters. And even more glad to hear there are some packages on the way. When I leave this area, I will send a package home since this place has a little more cool stuff. That`s all for this week though, stay warm, stay safe, and stay faithful!

Love,

Elder Jorgensen

January 7, 2013

Wow what a fast week this was. This was a tough week kind of for us but I feel like I am growing and pushing myself a lot more in this area, and that is what the Lord needs me to do. I´m excited to be out here doing this marvelous work. So this week started out with New Years! Pretty sweet down here for New Year´s, they did even more fireworks so that was cool until about 12:30 then I got mad cause I couldn´t sleep, they finally stopped at three in the morning. Then apparently everyone and their dog goes to the beach here in El Salvador so it was nuts on Tuesday! So many people and none were too willing to talk to us that day. But we did find some gringos from Louisiana that we talked to for a while. It was cool to talk to them but hard to talk about the Gospel in English haha. We kinda cleared up some of the questions and misconseptions they have about the church and then tried to leave them with somethtng powerful to think about. So that was cool talking to them, I think they really liked us cause they invited us to go surfing with them that day, dangit ha.

 Most of our week though was just spent walking. We couldn´t find a ton of lessons and our investigators are still having some problems just exercising their faith. We cannot grow in the church and our testimonies without acting and doing the things we should. So that was kinda frustrating to see that and to teach clearly to them and have them not understand. For example on Saturday we taught this family all about the Sacrament and baptism and the Atonement, then when we told them exactly why we go to church and asked them if they understood and they were just like ¨you know to hear the word of God and stuff¨ didn´t say anything about the Sacrament...frustrating. Some good news though. The husband of the relief society president has decided to really commit to church. On Saturday during the day he went to the temple with his wife and felt the Spirit very strongly there and then that night we had a powerful lesson with him about Eternal Families. At the end of the lesson he set his own baptismal date for the first Saturday of February because he wants to be sure he can go without smoking and drinking again. I´m pretty stoked for him to enter the waters of baptism, this branch needs more Priesthood and good hardworking men.

This upcoming week we are going to have interviews with President Glazier, every three months or so we have interviews with him. This will be my second one so I´m pretty excited for it. He always has the Spirit and is so powerful, he fires me up. I´ve been able to feel all of your prayers this past week, thank you so much for your support and prayers, they keep me going. I love you all so much and am sending prayers your way as well.

 

Que Dios les bendiga!!!!

 

Love,

Elder Jorgensen

Happy New Year! December 31, 2012

Buenas Tardes from El Salvador! Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! My week here was great. Probably the best week of the mish cause I got to talk to you guys! That was awesome to see your faces and hear your voices, now just five more months until next time, we can make it haha. That day really was the highlight of my week though. Monday night we went and had four Christmas Eve dinners so that was rough, then Christmas day we were at the member´s house just chattin it up. After that we went out and tried to find stuff to do but everyone was inside with their families not really wanting a whole lot from us. But the rest of the week was really good too. We went to the temple on Thursday! That was a great trip. I´m so lucky to have a temple in my mission. We get to go around Mother´s Day and Christmas and when we go home, so I´ll get to go a couple more times and experience it in Spanish ha.

So really our only full days of work were Friday and Saturday and Saturday we had a branch "activity", I don´t quite call it an activity because almost no one showed up and there wasn´t really much to do. We just played basketball with the kids in the ward for like an hour or so. I was so freakin sweaty, like I jumped in a pool, nasty. Anyways so that took up our afternoon kinda and then just had a few lessons at night on Saturday. So this week was kinda a rough week for us numbers wise, but it was a crazy week for us. I kinda feel like we have been doggin it though a little bit, we need to pick it up this next week and find those golden investigators that I keep hearing exist but haven´t seen.

Sounds like Christmas was nice though, besides the freezing cold part. But hey no complaining alright? You all get to go snowboarding and skiing! Sorry I got another lame letter but that´s because I just told you guys everything. Still getting the language down ha. How did I sound on the computer, Mexican? haha getting there right. Still reading the Book of Mormon in Spanish and I´m still in Alma haha, I wanna finish it before I´m twenty, I should be able to do it easily, just gotta do it ha. Hey some chapters if you guys wanna read that I really like are Alma 35 through like 42 haha so that should keep you pretty busy if you have any freetime. My New Years is gonna be kinda like Christmas it sounds like, just a ton of fireworks and people going nuts so we´ll see how that goes. Other than that...don´t got much, so hopefully next week I will have more to say. I love you all friends and family!!!

Love,

Elder Jorgensen