Oh my goodness what a week it has been. It has been so busy this week has just flown by. We had so many meetings and other stuff it has been insane but so much fun.
I have finally felt like I have hit my stride this week. The Spanish started to pick up and it has been a really good week. I'm not saying I'm fluent now or anything, just that it's been a really rewarding week!
And I honestly believe this week has been so good because of some council I was given. Earlier this week i was lovingly reprimanded and told that I have a problem with comparing myself to others, and it was true. I was comparing my spanish and success with others, either by saying I was better than them or I was worse than them, and it was beating me up. I realized comparison is the thief of Joy! I was told to focus on myself and focus on my successes and what success means to me. As I have done that this week, I have found more joy than I thought possible. It's been a great week.
Like I said earlier, we had such a crazy week, so we didn't have a lot of time to go contacting, but the times we did were hilarious. I think the Lord gave me a hilarious week because he knew I needed it. Let me share a couple of stories with you:
1. So last week we found a lady on the street and she said she was super interested in learning more. So we set up a return appointment and called it a success. The next day we texted to confirm, and she said she was free and asked if we could meet at Starbucks. So we ended up teaching a lesson in Starbucks. Never thought I would do that, but the best part was she told us 6:00, so we should up there, but typical Latino time, she showed up at 6:30. She got out of the car in a skimpy lowcut yellow dress with high heels a big ole necklace and a sweater. We all just looked at each other, and had to keep from laughing because she looked like she was coming for a date. We all sat down and made small talk and then it was a little awkward, and my companion asked, are you going to by anything, and she said no. (So a little strange that we were there if she wasn't going to by, but we made the connection later she wanted my companion to buy her something). But needless to say it was an interesting lesson. She was staring at my companion like 80% of the lesson. So so so funny. We would ask her a question and then she would turn to my companion and respond. Oh my goodness it was so bad. And to add to it, they were playing so old goodies by T-Pain, so it was even harder to pay attention because she spoke really softly and there was this creppy dude just staring at me the entire lesson. Probably made awkward eye contact at least 17 times. A lesson for the memory books, that's for sure.
2. So our mission President said we had to be out of our house for Halloween, but right we were live apparently there are a lot of devil worshippers and Satanists, so we didn't want to be anywhere near where we live, so we met up with the other Elders and went to a little suburb of the city and spent the night with them. The best part was we had to take a bus and walk a pretty far distance to the house. And we passed so many people who were like, "Oh my gosh, I love your costumes, Mormon Missionaries! That's hilarious!" But when we told them we actually were missionaries from the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, they weren't as interested. But we did get some candy for our "original" costumes!
3. I have grown to love the people of Baltimore, because they are honestly so crazy. You really never know what's gonna happen. Like the other day we were waiting for the bus and a die pulled up and yelled at us. "Hey Mormon Brothers. Y'all look really nice today! What's the good word for today?" I shouted, "God loves you!" He said amen and drove off. Super funny, but the best of this week, was so hilarious. We were in true downtown Baltimore meeting a member. And we got off the bus and this dude came right up to us and said, "Why they call you Elders, y'all ain't old, y'all kids. And so am I. So y'all need to tell y'alls church people to change your names, because y'all ain't Elders and they shouldn't be treating y'all like them!" I tried explaining that Elder was a title in the church for those called to preach the gospel and it wasn't about age, but he wasn't having it. He then went on some long weird tangent about some weirdo "doctrine" and some other wacko stuff. But he did have a good point that I liked, he said that when Christ comes again, Christ ain't going to slay the wicked like the Bible says, because a commandment is thou shall not kill. So instead he's gonna come around and kill with kindness, gonna go around giving hugs to all and telling them that he loves them. Don't know if that's true or not, but an interesting insight from the Streets of Baltimore. He also told me that I need to change my name from Elder to Lil' because I am kid. And that will give me more street cred. So like I'll be walking down the street and someone will shout out, "Lil' Jorgensen, what's good brother!" Ya so I have a street name now, no biggie. Jajajajaja!
4. So this last one, I don't even know. So after our correlation meeting the 5 Elders in my district decided to go to Wendy's, because the 4 for $4 is made for missionaries. Anyway we walk in and this lady shouts at us, who y'all work for. We then explained that we were missionaries and our purpose is to bring light into the world and other stuff. She said, y'all pray for people. And we said yes. Then she came running over with her arms out. So 6 of us stood in a circle holding hands, saying a prayer that this lady would find a job and be successful, in line in a downtown Wendy's. It was so awkward and so funny at the same time. After we were done, we saw that her friend recorded the whole thing and posted it to Facebook. So if any of y'all see a video of 5 white guys praying in a Wendy's, that's me!
So this week has been super fun and super uplifting. And just the week I needed! I love all of you!
Lil' Jorgensen
1. The inner harbor
2. Trees that are cool
3. Get a companion who wants to match with you, #companionshipunity
