Hello Family and Friends!
What a week it has been, so much has happened and it has been so so good! This week has definitely been directed by the Lord!
Monday: After preparation day, we had plans to go stop by some members, but our earlier appointments fell through. So we needed to come up with plans, and it was super cold, so we decided to go wait in a gas station and make plans. We made plans and just before we were going to leave a man walked in on the phone but told us to wait up. He told us that he was baptized in Honduras and he just moved here and didn't know where the church was. He also said he moved her 9 months ago and hasn't seen missionaries yet. So it was a little miracle that we ran into him. We then went a had a lesson with a member family and taught them the doctrine of Christ. We were then walking home and this man just asked us for a book of Mormon. He said he wanted to learn more about Christ. Really really awesome. We then passed by a dude who said that he was baptized back in 1996. He has since gone the ways of the world, but we friended him on Facebook and he said the he wants to visit us. The only thing is he lives outside our area. We then walked by a dude wearing a Steelers hat and said hi, he gave us an aggressive hello back. We then started talking about the Steelers and the NFL and his whole demeanor changed. He actually lit up and was happy after we left him. A solid night.
Then Tuesday I had an exchange and I went out to an area called pikesville. They just reopened that area so there was a lot of work to be done. There were some people who had been knocked before, but that was back in 2016, but we decided to stop by anyway. We were knocking one door and no one answered. Then someone walked up and it turns out it was his door. We talked to him for a little bit and asked us if we wanted tacos and so he invited us in and listened to our message. The tacos were cow tongue tacos and they sound disgusting but they were actually really really good! They also have a return appointment for this week too. But there were also miracles happening in my area too. My companion and his new companion for the day had their end of the night appointment fall through. So they tried by a couple of members who weren't home. They were walking around and this dude pulled up and said that he is a member and would like a copy of the book of Mormon to give to his friend. He also said that his son wants to get baptized. So so so cool! What an awesome day.
Fast forward to Saturday and we go visit this family. They invited us over for dinner and as we walked in they were all gathered around the table reading the Book of Mormon as a family. It was a beautiful sight. We then ate and shared a quick little message, and had to bounce, but they wanted us to come back anytime we can! They also showed up to church this past Sunday which is super super awesome!!!!
It's amazing to see how much love I have for complete strangers. When I see them becoming better and changing their lives to come back to christ it is an amazing thing! I absolutely love serving a mission and feeling the joy that comes from helping my brothers and sisters come to Christ and feel his love for each and everyone of them!
Some Highlights from this past week:
1. The zone leaders asked us to cover their english class on Saturday, so we got everything ready, super excited to teach.... and no one showed up! Such a fun time! We then had another class that night and there were like 5 people. And one of the lady's has a sister who is a member in Guatemala and she has the missionaries over every Sunday after church. Such a cool connection. Also the lady brought her son to English class and let's just say that he reminded me so much of the kid on the yellow pajamas from the Polar Express who only gets underwear for Christmas! So so funny!
2. There's a lot of people who know who we are but there's also a lot who don't know who we are, but the funniest part is if we start talking to them they immediately stop cussing. We met this man named Big Tony on the bus on Saturday. He let two cuss words slip in like the first 2 minutes and he felt so bad. And then we talked for like 20 more minutes and he didn't cuss another time! As he was getting off I gave him and card, and he asked "What is this, the suicide hot line, I isn't gonna kill myself." Pretty funny, but I told him what it actually was, and he said he was probably gonna look it up, and he felt really good after talking to us. So me and Big Tony are homies now.
3. On our exchange we didnt have time to run back to the apartment before our scheduled lesson, so I had to carry around a heavy backpack for the large majority of the day. And the Elder I was with is a little directionally challenged and he still doesn't have the area down. So we were walking and he said, look at this shortcut, but his shortcut took us too a fence. So we may or may not have jumped it! And after we may or may not have jumped it, I may or may not have completely wiped out because I had a huge backpack on and my balance was a little thrown off. Fun times!
4. Oh my goodness, the busses here are absolutely insane. It is basically crazy taxi but in bus version. They rule the roads and no one messes with them, the police just even sit back and let them be. It's always a fun time! Also there was a car who cut the bus off and the bus driver let him have it. It was two lane road and the bus driver floored it on a green light to get around the car and then just stopped in the middle of both lanes so the car couldn't go past. And then drove really slowly until the road opened up until three lanes. The car then drove by and did some unchristlike actions and sad some unchristlike words, but I was just laughing to myself on the inside, because this is just how Baltimore is. And I love it!
I hol everyone had a fabulous week feeling the Christmas spirit and if any of you hear last Christmas by Mariah Carey turn it up and sing it for me!
Love you all,
Elder Jorgensen
Pics:
1. Baltimore
2. My exchange with Elder Averett
3. Our super successful English class
