What you got to lose? - July 26, 2021

 Family and Friends,

What a crazy week this has been! But it has been absolutely fabulous, definitely one of the best weeks I've had on my mission. Let me give you a play by play real quick

Tuesday- we went on a exchange on the north side of Baltimore. We met some super cool people and got let into some houses! The coolest house was the last one we went into. There was a big old lady with her husband and her two granddaughters. They let us in and we taught them about God and taught them how to pray. It was so cool because neither of the little girls had ever prayed before and hearing them pray for the first time was something special! Also we took a selfie with a drunk guy on his porch (pic below)

Wednesday- I went up to my old area in York and we had a lot of people who just weren't open. And it went on for most of the day but at 8:50 we decided to send it to one last house that was a little far away, but we went because the spirit said so. The lady opened up and she expressed how she had been battling hard core with depression and anxiety, but as we taught her about Christ's love and his Atonement we could see her complexion start to change. We then stopped and asked her how she felt, and she just started to cry. We then testified that she was feeling the spirit and that she could feel the same way if she were to pray and read the book of mormon and exercise her faith by talking with us again. Of course she said yes!

Thursday-

I was over in Lancaster, and the people over there are just the bestest. We were walking and we saw two people sitting on the steps outside their house and so we struck up a conversation. And before we knew it, most of the family came out and we ended up teaching like 7 people right outside their door! We were able to catch up with Allan so that was fun. 

Friday- I got to do another Spanish exchange and those are the best. We find the biggest cheat code to the game though. We went into this corner store in Baltimore that had a western Union in it. And as we walked it we looked at the wall and it was full of people who were renting out rooms in their apartments, and all of them were in Spanish. So we snagged like 7 phone numbers and 4 addresses, hahah. Also that night we were walking to to an appointment and we saw a huge group of people outside having a grill we talked to them and they thought we were JW's, but we told then we weren't and they were chill. But we had to go the lesson but on the way back they invited us over to eat with them. And so we sat down, ate with, and taught about 20 Dominicans. It was do much fun!

Saturday: We finished the week strong and with a lot of cool miracles as well. We knocked on a door on a man from Bangladesh and he invited us right in and sat us down at his table to eat. So we are some fish and rice and sauce with out hands. We were also able to introduce him to the Book of Mormon and he was interested! And then that night we had a lesson with someone they were teaching who had gotten into anti. We started answering her questions and then just stopped. And asked her when she talks to us, how does she feel? And when she reads these things on the internet how does she feel? Good feelings come from God and bad ones come from Satan. She finally agreed to come to God or us if she has questions and not the internet!

This week was so good because I've finally got it into my head, what is the worst thing that can happen by me talking to people or knocking on their door? Nothing

Where on the other hand. What's the best thing that can happen? They come unto Christ and receive eternal life 

I'll take those odds

Elder Jorgensen 

The Spirit is Everything - July 19, 2021

 Family and Friends,

What an amazing week it has been! It was even better because it was Pizza week (aka Zone Conference week). It was a lot of fun but  2 zone conferences a day for 4 days in a row takes a toll on you. But it was definitely a spiritually enlightening experience. 

But we had a rocking week as well out on the streets. On Monday we had dinner with Viviana and Raul and it was a little awkward... we got there right after they had a little argument and the spirit was not there at all. It was a weird feeling, but then we had dinner and talked about the spirit and taught them the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And as soon as we started bearing testimony the spirit came in and I could just feel a difference in the room. The spirit is amazing. 

We also had some really good exchanges this week. We were able to go back out to Hagerstown and do an exchange with them. We went out to a knocked a trailer park (those are the best, really fun people) and we had a super successful night. Then at 9:02pm we were heading out and we saw a man chilling in his house without his shirt on, so we had a green light to go and knock it.  And as we knocked it this girl opened it up (who also wasn't wearing it shirt) and she gasped and slammed the door shut. Then she came back with a shirt on and the dude came around with a shirt on too and said, "We have shirts on now, come in." So they just let us right in and we sat down and had a really good lesson with them. Just a miracle knock

We also had a one of the most spiritual lessons I've had in my mission. Our instruction in zone Conference was on how to invite and point out the spirit to help our friends have a greater desire to come unto Christ through baptism. And it really works and changes people. On Saturday we were out knocking doors and we got a text saying that someone wanted to talk with us. So we called her up and she talked about how she felt different when missionaries prayed with her and she has been trying to chase that feeling. So we set up a lesson for that night at 8. And then at 7:45 it started pouring, and the lady cancelled the lesson. So we decided to rip her a call and we pulled off into just the grossest stairwell ever to teach the lesson. There was like hair all over the place, spiders everywhere, and mold upon mold. But we gave her a call and started talking about the love God has for her and she expressed how she didn't feel worthy of His love. We read some scriptures and then asked her how she felt and she said she had joy and peace and had the feeling she was searching for. We told her that was the spirit and that he teaches the truth, and then we asked her what God was trying to tell her at right then, then she broke down crying over the phone and said, "that he wants me to return to Him." And then spirit then came in super strong. So testimony gained, the spirit can be felt at anytime and in any place. It can be felt over the phone in an atrocious stairwell. 

There is joy in the Gospel, there is Joy in Christ. Come unto him and experience it

Elder Jorgensen 

Crazy Miracles - July 12, 2021

 Family and Friends,

What an amazing and fun week we had this week. We saw so many cool miracles both here in Clarksville and on exchanges. 

We were able to go out and visit some people we had met last week. And we went and visited our friend Paul and he was so cool. He told us that he had read about 5 chapters in the Book of Mormon and wants it to be true. He says it has been a little rough connecting with it, so we asked if we could stop by and read with him some day. And he said he would love to, but that he would want to get out of his house and read with us in our church. So we are going to read the Book of Mormon with him at our church! 

But some of the biggest miracles this week came on an exchange we did while up in Carlisle. Carlisle is a smaller city, but it has a pretty good downtown. So all afternoon we were walking around the streets and meeting cool people. The coolest guy we met was a man named Calvin. He told us that his son's name is Messiah and how he just wants to raise his son the right way. So we shared with him some points of he restored gospel and set up a time go back. And then today I just received a text from him saying that right after we prayed with him his Sister got in a bad accident and he sent us pictures of the car and it was absolutely destroyed. But he said they walked away with only bruises. He also said that he normally doesn't open up to strangers, but he had no problem talking with us! He was so cool!!!

We had another massive miracle that night. We went and knocked some town homes that night in a small town right on the border of the mission. And we knocked and knocked with no answer or no interest. So this went on until about 8:30pm, and then we decided to say a prayer and ask for guidance. And right after my companion saw 3 people and so we went and talked with them. And to make a long story short there were 2 Dominicans and a white lady trying to introduce herself, but they didn't understand her. So I started talking in Spanish and they were so amazed. They said they had just moved there and they were feeling so lonely because they couldn't talk with anyone. So when I showed up they thought it was a god send. I left them with a 

Book of Mormon in English and Spanish and put them in contact with the Spanish missionaries in that area and they were so grateful!

I love being a missionary and the miracles I get to see everyday! It's the best!

Elder Jorgensen

Grind Time - July 5, 2021

 Friends and Family,

What a fun week it was! It was quite a busy one though. We had 17 new missionaries come into our mission this past week, and they are all super amazing! We also had 24 missionaries leave this week, so we had quite the turn around.

We had an amazing lesson with the Buzaitis family this past week. It was realy fun because President and Sister Nye were able to come and join us. It was so much fun to teach with President. And it was the coolest thing, we had a good lesson about how we need to be converted to Christ instead of the Church. We read Moroni 10:32 with her, and afterwards she said, "I need to read this book more!" So we are ready for the miracles that are coming.

We were also able to go over to Raul and Viviana's house. They were so kind and made us dinner and we were able to read a little from the Book of Mormon with them. Raul is really starting to show interest, and loves to talk with us about God! So we are really excited for them too!

We had a super cool miracle this past week too. We went out and knocked doors for about 6 hours and it was rejection after rejection. I quickly realized that Christians are the minority here in Clarksville. There are so many people that just don't believe in God. But at like 8:45pm, we said a prayer and asked God to help us to know what he would have us do. And we felt guided to 3 doors, which all weren't interested, but we decided to do one more. And we met Paul and simi. They were such cool people who were really touched by the fact that we can teach them how to live together forever as a family. We are planning to go back this next weekend and going to bring the power.

Elder Jorgensen