August 17, 2020

 Dear Family and Friends,

This week has been quite a fast one. This week definitely felt like the days went by slow, but the days went by really fast! Weird how time goes right? But also this week I got transfered to an area called Hagerstown, Maryland. And it's been really fun here! And the best part is I am serving again with my trainer Elder Rodgriguez. And it has been a super fun time!

Here are some other highlights that have come down this week:

1. Two people I was helping teach in Frederick got put on date this past week!

2. When I got here, my companions told me that they were teaching this guy who was agnostic, but you know when God has a plan and wants it to happen, it happens. Because we called him this past saturday and he said that he wants to get baptized. But he wants to know the true church, so we invited him to read the Book of Mormon and come to church! And then he joined in the church call this past Sunday! 

3. We hit 5 months in quarantine yesterday, and what better way to celebrate it than going back to church! Yes you heard that right, we went back to church! And it was so fun!

4. There is this recent convert that is in this branch here and he is so cool! We were able to contact some missionaries on Temple Square and took him on a virtual tour of Temple Square! It was really fun!

I love all of you!

Elder Jorgensen 

Not Today Satan - August 10, 2020

 Hello Hello!

How has everyone's week been? It's been absolutely rocking here in Frederick this past week! After a long long hard struggle, we found a whole bunch of people who are super excited and want to progress!

We were able to talk to 2 part member families this past week, and the ones who are not members have sincere desires to be baptized! We have also been teaching a lady who is a member of another church but more or less active in it. But she is super interested and wants to learn more about our beliefs and the book of Mormon. So that was super exciting! 

We also went and got haircuts today by this guy we found on Facebook named Magico Barber and Elder Hiserman went first and he didn't ask much. Then I went and got my haircut and he started asking me about the DC temple and a little bit about our religion. And then Elder Haskell went and he pretty much taught the first lesson. And we ended up giving him a book of mormon before we left. Just trying to contact anyway possible Hahahaha

We also had our first in person lesson yesterday with Isael! It was really awesome but awkward. We went to a park and he sat on one side of the bench and we sat on the other side 6 feet away and with masks on. So it felt really weird, but it was nice to get out! 

The best part was that we got so excited we put on our shoulder bags and it felt like I was a really proselyting missionary again! It was so fun!

But it was really funny, because Satan knew that the missionaries are on the loose again! Because while we were walking and teaching there were some people who rolled down their windows and poked fun at us and other things! But that just goes to show, Satan knows how powerful we are! 

NOT TODAY SATAN!

Love, 

Elder Jorgensen

Phase one - August 3, 2020

 What is good mi gente,

How has everyone's week been? We have some exciting news, on Wednesday we will be moving into phase 1! We aren't exactly sure what that means, but anything is better than having to stay inside the whole time! 

We also had a pretty big miracle this past week! Our friend Isael, who is just waiting on the permission from his dad to be baptized, reached out to us and was asking about the thing people do when they don't eat food because they want something. And so we were pretty surprised, and so we were able to teach him about fasting and he wanted to fast with us! So this past Sunday we fasted with Isael so his dad's heart could be softened, and it was super powerful! And the best part about it all is we were able to open and close our fast with him through a video chat.

We were also able to find this really cool lady this past week! She is a member of another church but she is not 100% active, so we reached out to her and it turns out that she and her son had been contacted by missionaries in the past, and her son actually has a copy of the Book of Mormon. And she wants to learn more about our church and the Book of Mormon! So we are pretty excited for that!

I hope you all have a blessed week!

Elder Jorgensen 

Miracle Preppers - July 27, 2020

 Dear Family and Friends, 

How are you doing? I hope that everyone has had a bopping week! This week has been pretty good, and I found out that Elder Hiserman, Haskell, and I are staying together another transfer. Or at least 2 more weeks together, because with all of these reassigned missionaries, we have transfers every two weeks. But we heard that we aren't going to get a lot of missionaries in August, but we are getting a bunch in September. Crazy stuff!

But this week I was given the opportunity to speak in our branch zoom call on the topic of ministering. And so this week I was studying about the miracles of Jesus, and so I decided to tie that in. 

As I was reading this week one miracle, or one story, really caught my attention. The story is found in Mark 6. And in this story, Jesus is teaching in a synagogue, and there are a lot of people in this synagogue who know Jesus and his family pretty well. It could have been that these people lived close to Jesus while he was growing up or just really close friends with his family, but they were pretty blown away when they saw Jesus teaching and preforming miracles. I am pretty sure they were even skeptical too.  It shows us that in verses 2 and 3, where the people pretty much say, We know this Jesus, where did he receive his power. Isn't he just a basic carpenter. He is not anything special. 

And we see what goes on to happen when people doubt the power of Jesus Christ. In verses 5-6 where it says Christ could only perform a few miracles. 

And as I was thinking about this story. Ether 12 came to mind and the many verses it has which says that without faith, there can be no miracles. Because God doesn't show himself until after their Faith! 

As I was thinking about this story, I thought how well it applies to our life right now. And especially how we are waiting for a miracle to free us from this virus, but we know that before any miracle can happen people need to have faith. And that is why I love the first line of the missionary purpose which say, "Invite others to come unto Christ, by helping them receive the restored gospel through Faith in Jesus Christ and his Atonement..." and there's a little more after that.

But the first thing we do as missionaries is we help people first, strengthen their faith in Jesus Christ. We basically prep them for miracles, which I really love to think about. 

And honestly that is what every member of the church has the opportunity to do! To help people build their faith in Christ, so they can receive miracles.

We truly are miracle preppers!

So this week, how will you help someone strengthen their faith, so they can receive a miracle?

Elder Jorgensen

Alma 36:21 - July 20, 2020

 Dear Friends and Family,

How is everything going? I hope that everyone has been staying safe and all is well! 

This past week was a little rough for us at the beginning of the week! Satan was working quite hard! 

Our main man Julio texted us this past week and said that he had some really major doubts about some of the teachings of our church. And so we tried to ask him what they were and what we could do to help and he didn't respond to any of our texts. So that was really sad.

Then we started teaching Isael's sister Issannet who is also an amazing person, and they both want to be baptized for such amazing reasons. So we asked for permission from the Mom and she said yes, and then we talked to the dad and he started bashing our church and said there was no way he was letting his kids be baptized into our church. Because we don't follow Jesus, we follow Mormon and Joseph Smith. So we tried to explain how that WE DO FOLLOW JESUS CHRIST, we showed him our nametages and a whole bunch of other things. But he just would not listen to us. It was pretty frustrating. So that was really sad as well.

And then our also other amazing person named Aaron, who read 1 Nephi 1-8 in one week, didn't pick up this past Monday, and we can only have lessons with him on Monday's so hopefully he will pick up this week!

So the beginning of this week was pretty rough, but one thing that I learned this week is that there are always elect people who are wanting to learn more about the gospel. We were able to find 3 super awesome people this past week, two through our English class and then one who was priorly taught. And then sometime we haven't had contact with in about two weeks called us up out of the blue and said she wanted to hear a message! So we taught her real quick and were able to set up a video chat with her for this week!

So I definitely know that at times life is super rough, but there always will be an opposition of all things! If you are going through a hard time, just wait for it.... It's coming!!!!!!!!

The Quarantine Missionary,

Elder Jorgénsen

Don't put boundaries on God - July 6, 2020

 Hello to All,

How has it been going? Did everyone have a good fourth? It was actually super awesome for us! The complex right next to us and apprently they do fireworks real big, so we had quite the show! It went from about 9:00-10:15ish which was perfect for us! Happy Birthday America!

We actually had quite the miracle with Isael this past week! So we have been teaching him and he said that he felt like he still hasn't received an answer yet. So we asked him how he thinks he's gonna get an answer and he said like in a dream or something. So we then explained God usually doesn't work like that and he will probably get his answer from the feelings of the Holy Ghost. And so he said he was going to try and listen, and then the next morning he texts us and all he said was, "Hey, I got something to tell you guys." Which could be really good or really bad. So then we asked him what happend and he went on to tell us that he had a dream the previous night and he felt like God talked to him and told him that he needed to be baptized. So were running with that! If God tells you to be baptized, you better get baptized! JAJAJA! All we are waiting on right now is permission from his parents!

But this week has been super fun! Trio life is the best, keeps things entertaining for sure! My new companion is from Texas, so we keep that southern twang going strong!!!

But one of the highlights from this past week was we were able to go golfing. And just for starters, I am a terrible golfer. But we found this one golf course that had free clubs to rent and it only costed $10 to hit as many balls as you want on the golf course! It was super fun! The only thing was that there was a dress code, no denim and collared shirts. But since we didn't have collared shirts, we went and played in our white shirts! Pretty funny and we definitely got a lot of weird looks! But hey, I think I am ready for the masters. Sign me up!

Elder Jorgensen 

Sunday Will Come - June 29,2020

 Hello Family and Friends,

How has it been going for everyone??? I'm pretty sure this starts week 16 of quarantine but we are popping stronger than ever!!

First off, this week has been a little bit of a tough one. Don't really know why, it was just one of the grind weeks that was a toughie! But after a hard week it just made the sweet Sunday even sweeter! This was one of the Sundays where you could actually feel the renewing power that comes from attending church (even though it is online) and partaking of the sacrament! Even though it was just me and my companion in our little apartment, you could feel the spirit as he accompanied us yesterday!

Biggest miracle of the week though... JULIO CAME TO CHURCH!!!! He joined and all the members already know him so they gave him a couple of shoutouts and were just so kind and welcoming to him! He truly appreciated it!

Also, some more exciting news we received is that Julio can receive the priesthood the same day! So, he will get baptized, receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and be ordained to a Priest all within the same day! We told him that yesterday and he was really amazed by that! The biggest thing that touched his heart is we told him, is that after he gets baptized, he can start helping us to teach his 8-year-old son and then he will have the opportunity to baptize him!!! HIS EYES GOT SO BIG WHEN WE TOLD HIM THAT!!! I love Julio so much!

We have also been teaching this 13-year-old kid named Isael and he is so awesome too! He texts us like all the time to talk and show us his chickens and then he asks us if we could teach him some more about the Mormon Book! So, we have been helping him out and he called us out to the blue yesterday and asked if we could read 3 Nephi 11 with him because he says he really wants to read it!!!

I love all of you and hope that you are all safe and Keep Grinding it out! Miracles are coming your way! Sunday will come!

Also, some more big news! We are getting another new companion this next Thursday! He served in Argentina for about a year before he got send home! So that means this will be my 10th companion in 10 months and 5th trio!!!!! If I keep this up, I'll beat Callie's record of 22!

Elder Jorgénsen

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Here come the miracles - June 22, 2020

 Family and Friends,

What a special week it has been this past week! The Lord is truly opening the windows of Heaven, and the best part is we are able to see them because we are taking the time each night to see how many different ways we saw the Lord's hand in our life that day!!

But I am so so so happy to announce that our friend Julio accepted a baptismal date! We have been teaching him for some time now and he was baptized already in the past, but he never received the Gift of the Holy Ghost. So we were told that he would need to be baptized again because it has been some time! So last night we had a lesson with him and told him that he needed to be baptized again and he was a little taken back by it at first, but then we were able to see the Spirit softening his heart and he accpted the invitation! He told us that he wants to be obedient to God and if that is what God wants he will do it!

We also have been teaching this other kid named Isael! And Isael is the son on a member who is less active, and so we have been teaching and singing songs for him and then we asked if he had been baptized yet and he said no. So we asked if he would like to be baptized and he said yes! And we asked him why and he said because he wants to feel closer to God! And we think that is a pretty good desire to be baptized and so we are going to go full speed ahead with him!!!

Also another thing about quarantine is you learn to make up pretty dumb games! So i've had some companions in the past who won't drink the tap water, because they think it tastes gross or they just prefer bottle water. And for me I don't think you can taste the difference between the 2 but Elder Hiserman proved me wrong this past week! We set up 12 cups of water and put some tap and some bottle water in the cups and then lined them up and let him see if he could taste the difference! And he got a perfect 12/12. We were pretty blown  away!

I hope you all have a blessed week! And watch out! Big milestone tomorrow! 100 days of quarantine!!!

Elder Jorgensen

Pics:

1. Helping the other elders move

2. I got to see Elder Nelson again!! Hooray for old companions