Fancy Pants

I'm in the Woodlands! I drove up here with another hermana to meet my new companion. It was nearing lunchtime so I asked her if she wanted to get subway or something. "We should do it another day because we were invited to a banquet." What is this place?! Everything is so fancy here... I love it here though and this area has so much potential.

M got baptized on Saturday and I was able to go back for it. :) I have learned from her that the gospel really does change lives. She is so different compared to the first day I met her. After she was baptized, she expressed to me how clean and happy she felt and how grateful she was that we always stuck by her side. She was glowing. love that woman.

We've struggled this week with helping our investigators to progress toward baptism. At the beginning of the week they wouldn't even answer the phone, but now both of them are coming to all the activities and church and have a lot of friends in the ward. Everything changed when we started praying specifically to meet our goals. Cool, right? The Lord is good.

This makes me feel weird to say but I'm so happy. I don't think I've ever felt this much happiness in my life. I've finally put things in the Lord's hands and I am willing to serve and follow Him forever.

Alma 29:10 And behold, when I see many of my brethren truly penitent,
and coming to the Lord their God, then is my soul filled with joy;
then do I remember what the Lord has done for me, yea, even that he
hath heard my prayer; yea, then do I remember his merciful arm which
he extended towards me.

Hermana Jorgensen

Beyoncé

So I'm out of Houston 6. I'll now be a sister training leader and I'm going to an area called the Woodlands. I'm coming for you, Beyoncé.

It's been a crazy 6 months and I've learned  a ton of things and met people that have changed my life forever. P and A looked like legit Mormons yesterday at church! They were glowing. M has completely changed as well. She's getting baptized on Saturday and I'll come back for the baptism. :) I feel so blessed to have baptized a family in my mission. I can't describe the happiness I have felt here.

We got to go to the temple as a district this week. Soooo good. I went in wanting to receive crazy revelation but I ended up just feeling really peaceful and happy. I'm so excited for Paty and Alfredo to go through in a year.

7 And he hath brought to pass the redemption of the world, whereby he
that is found guiltless before him at the judgment day hath it given
unto him to dwell in the presence of God in his kingdom, to sing
ceaseless praises with the choirs above, unto the Father, and unto the
Son, and unto the Holy Ghost, which are one God, in a state of
happiness which hath no end.

Con amor, Hermana Jorgensen

Blessings have sinuses (or is it the other way around?)

Buenos Dias,

Well I've had a sinus infection. Good thing I have the most patient companion ever because she's had to put up with that for a few weeks. I'm finally on meds though so hopefully I get better soon. Grateful for the priesthood.

M is on track for her baptism and is coming to all the activities and everything. :) She glows now. The gospel changes lives.

So remember that guy H I told you about last week? So we go over again this week and he's telling me the whole story of the restoration and says he hasn't been taught for 10 years. I'm wondering why this guy remembers it all and more importantly why he isn't baptized. So we go back near the end of the week and he told the member that we were with that he's a member! He has the priesthood! He came to church this week! In a white shirt and tie! crazy that we found him walking down the street, right?

On Wednesday we had a lesson with a part member family that we recently started teaching. The wife has been less active for about 7 years and the husband just started becoming interested in the church. Because of recent world events, they were asking us a lot of life questions. In Preach My Gospel there is a section called "The Book of Mormon Answers Questions of the Soul." It lists a few of the most common questions people have about life and such. Every single one of their questions could be answered by the Book of Mormon. Last night in the Christmas devotional, Elder Bednar spoke of Christ's coming in 3 Nephi. He talked about all the events and signs that were shown through different types of light. Many similar things have been taking place these past few weeks that make me think of the signs and coming of the Savior. When I first heard a few of these things, I got really
scared. That usually is our first reaction, but that is the opposite of faith. We have been told in scripture and by a living prophet that the Son of God will come again. We know it's not all going to be peaches and cream either. Just like the people in the story in 3 Nephi, we will go through days of great darkness. In the end though, we will experience great light. We will soon rest from our labors, IF WE ARE RIGHTEOUS. It's going to become harder and harder to be a follower of Christ and especially a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but it will all be worth it in the end.

3 Nephi 9
14 Yea, verily I say unto you, if ye will come unto me ye shall have
eternal life. Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and
whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who
come unto me.
15 Behold, I am Jesus Christ the Son of God...
18 I am the light and the life of the world. I am Alpha and Omega, the
beginning and the end.

Com amor, Hermana Jorgensen

Dis de acción de gracias

¡Feliz día de acción de gracias!

Thanksgiving was a blast. We had 4 dinners! My stomach still hurts...

We started teaching M's husband this week! We taught them the restoration and M even taught him how to pray and everything. The spirit was super strong the whole time and their home felt so peaceful. They both came to church with the kids. Just a few weeks ago he wanted nothing to do with us but somehow his heart changed. I'm so excited.

We were putting up a poster for our English class and I saw a guy in a wheelchair with a sweet soccer jersey on. So I ran over and gave him a picture of Jesus. We talked to him for a little while and it turns out that he was taught by missionaries in South Carolina about 10 years ago. He has a Book of Mormon and everything. He wants us to go teach him!

Last night we were getting driving home at about 9. I saw a lady pulled off to the side of the feeder off of the freeway. She got out of her car to look at the tire or something. I felt a tug to go help her but it was late and I wasn't sure how much we could do to help her. After awhile I couldn't shake the tugging feeling so I turned
around and we parked and ran over to her car. She ended up being a member and had her family was in there with her. She said someone was already on the way to help them. Although we couldn't help her at all I felt a reassurance that it was an answer to her prayers. At the same time it was an answer to some of things I had asked Heavenly Father. How often do we brush off promptings of the spirit? That has always been something I have struggled with, but this experience taught me that any good thought can come from God. The bishop in my current ward has taught me a lot about personal revelation. It can become a way of thinking. We can bring about the purpose of God with the gift of the spirit.

Words of Mormon 1:7 And I do this for a wise purpose; for thus it
whispereth me, according to the workings of the Spirit of the Lord
which is in me. And now, I do not know all things; but the Lord
knoweth all things which are to come; wherefore, he worketh in me to
do according to his will.

Hermana Jorgensen

Feliz Cumpliaños a mi

J is now reading in Mosiah! He's already read a ton and he's really gaining a testimony of the Book of Mormon. I can't believe the difference we've seen in him. M came to church too and said that she's ready to start again. She said that she realized a difference in her life while she wasn't coming. We met a really cool lady that wants
to start taking the lessons. She was so intrigued by the church and wants to start coming. She helps a member that had a stroke awhile back with her daily routine and everything. Super special lady.

First and last birthday in the mission! R and S's family came over and we had a fiesta. Twas fun!

On Tuesday President Packer's son came to our mission. I got picked to have an interview with him for some reason. Talk about sweaty palms. He is a super nice guy and is very wise. It was a really cool experience to talk one on one with him and to hear his experiences. It was especially cool to hear what it was like being the child of an apostle. He talked a lot about something I really loved which was learning the culture of the spirit. Learning to have it with you at all times is a talent as well as a blessing. Could you imagine always feeling the spirit as strong as you do while you read the scriptures, take the sacrament, or when you pray? One of his important councils to
develop this skill was to observe. Observe when the spirit is present. Pay attention to the topic of conversation, to the people that surround you, the environment, etc. Maintaining the spirit isn't very easy because we have so many human habits that sometimes diminish the spirit, but it's possible. I've been in a lot of homes in my mission.
It is so important to keep the spirit there. It is a refuge and comfort from the outside world. The spirit should be with us wherever we stand. It is the thing that people notice about us.

Con amor, Hermana Jorgensen

Posole

On Saturday we had 5 dinners. I'm not joking.

We had some really legit miracles with some old investigators that we had stopped teaching. One kind of just dropped off the face of the earth for awhile and told us that he wanted to stop taking the lessons and coming to church. This weekend we talked about some of his doubts and set a new baptismal date! There's a lady that we stopped teaching awhile back because she didn't feel the desire to change. This week we ran into her and she told us that she is now ready to change and she wants to come back to church and learn more.

This week our district meeting was centered on prayer and fasting. Our mission president was there and started talking a little bit about fasting. He told us awhile back that he started fasting every Sunday for his whole mission and he immediately started finding families to teach and baptize. I started doing this when he told us about his
experiences. I looked back and all of the huge miracles we've had that lead back to fasting. We did a fast with one of our investigators to help him quit smoking. We taught him that every fast starts and ends with a prayer. I know that through prayer and fasting, miracles will happen.

Enos 1:4
And my soul hungered; and I kneeled down before my Maker, and I cried
unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul; and all
the day long did I cry unto him; yea, and when the night came I did
still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens.

Con amor, Hermana Jorgensen

Takin' it back to the CCM

Buenas,

And my new companion is..... Drumroll please.... Hermana Christensen! She was my comp in the MTC (CCM in Mexico) :) this is transfer number 4 in this area. I love it though.

We had a lot of really cool lessons this week. My particular favorite was with a part member family. She's been a member all her life and her husband has nothing against the church but has never been taught. We taught him the restoration and at the end I asked him to be baptized. He looked at us and said yes without any hesitation. It was so cool.

On Monday night we got a text from one of our investigators that has a baptismal date. Out of the blue he told us that he is done learning about the gospel. We were kind of crushed because we had seen so many miracles with this guy. There was no word from him all week but on Sunday he showed up at temple tours and told us that he's going to start coming back to church!

I was reading in Alma this week about the sons of Mosiah. They passed through so much affliction in the beginning of their missions. This affliction is experienced by all witnesses of the truth: Christ, Joseph Smith, and all members of Christ's church now and in the past. We have all been persecuted at one time or another because of what we believe. In these times of struggle we often wonder to our selves if we are making a difference or if it is even worth it at all. I love the council of the Lord to these men in verse 11:

And the Lord said unto them also: Go forth among the Lamanites, thy brethren, and establish my word; yet ye shall be patient in long-suffering and afflictions, that ye may show forth good examples unto them in me, and I will make an instrument of thee in my hands unto the salvation of many souls.

As we bear patiently our burdens, the Lord will strengthen us and make us instruments in His hands.

Con amor, Hermana Jorgensen

Halloween Interrogation

Halloween was weird. I got interrogated like 5 times about celebrating Halloween. I guess the 31st is bad in a lot of Hispanic countries. But other than that, we went inside at 6:00 and I ate a lot of m&m's.

This week we had a lot of luck with less active families. There is a family that we have been working with that has a daughter that also lives in the ward boundaries. She hasn't been very responsive to the
ward for a very long time. We dropped by on Saturday in the morning and just talked to her on her porch. But the end of the visit she invited us back to cook with her and said, "you guys made my day!" So
that was really cool.

"A" received the priesthood yesterday! We got to sit in on the blessing. I had never done that before. It was so neat. I gave him a little Spanish hymn book with my testimony in it. I told them I would see them in a year in the temple for their sealing and as we were leaving he said, "nos vemos en un año!" :)
Yesterday the bishop gave the ward a challenge to read a chapter a day of 3rd Nephi. There are 30 chapters and 30 days in November. I'm a day late in telling you but you can still catch up. I know that we will all grow closer to our Master before the Christmas season. We will know Him so much better and more fully participate in the blessings of the sacrament. My favorite verse in all scripture is 3 Nephi 11:14.

Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the
God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world.

Come unto the Savior and let Him heal you. Get to know him better. Use His atonement to overcome you trials and burdens.

Con amor, Hermana Jorgensen

Alma

Buenas,

A got confirmed yesterday! His blessing was so cool. He was blessed that in a year, he will enter the temple and be sealed to P and his kids. Also that he will be a support to those that are investigating the church and help them in their conversion. Looks like I'll be coming back here this time next year :) He has changed so much. It's incredible how visible the difference is. I love that family.

It rained a ton here this weekend. Hermana McCurdy and I looked like wet dogs all day but it's finally cooling off so that's a nice feature. I was told by like 25 Hispanics that I was going to get sick if I didn't take a bath when I got home.

A little tiny woman named Alma taught me how to make soup.

Every few months we have a mission president's fireside. All the Spanish speaking missionaries go up and sit in front and we sing and have a really cool program thing. At the very end we sing the EFY medley in Spanish. There was so much spiritual power in that chapel. Every time I sing that with all of the missionaries I am reminded that this work is eternally important. The gospel is the best gift you could ever give anyone. Reach out to someone this week and let them know what you believe. Pray constantly for experiences to do so. When the opportunity comes, open your mouth and Heavenly Father will help you out with the words to say. We get so caught up in what that person might think of us that we often do not say anything at all. Don't let them lose the opportunity. Forget yourself and be a missionary to those around you!

D&C 18: 15-18
And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying
repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me,
how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!

And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought
unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if
you should bring many souls unto me!

Behold, you have my gospel before you, and my rock, and my salvation.

Ask the Father in my name in faith, believing that you shall receive,
and you shall have the Holy Ghost, which manifesteth all things which
are expedient unto the children of men.

Con amor, Hermana Jorgensen

                                                    P-Day at the Houston Zoo

What happens in the font, stays in the font...

Happy Monday,

P's husband got baptized!!! We completed their family. :) He was having some doubts that he wasn't ready but we convinced him to come to the church and talk to us. After a small counseling session and his interview, he was ready to be baptized. After he came out of the water he was glowing! They had to do it a second time though and he was so confused and his face dropped a little. I'm just going to remember his first reaction....

Our bishop talked to the ward council yesterday about the life of Christ and certain things Christ practiced in his life. Many of you can think of all the things Christ did and the doctrine he practiced, but one thing the bishop said that I've never thought of is that Christ studied. In Matthew 4 it explains the account of Christ being tempted by satan just after he finishes his 40 day fast. The savior uses scripture twice in this encounter. We often wish and try to develop attributes of Christ in our own lives. We want to be patient, kind, meek, humble, charitable, etc. However, we forget a key attribute which is also the way we can develop all of these things: STUDY of the scriptures. Why are we so easy to forget the word of God? Especially when we are promised so many blessings from them. If we are not reading and pondering scripture everyday we are doing ourselves a huge disservice. I am slightly peeved at myself that I have waited this long to receive a testimony of the scriptures... Don't be as dumb
as me! Read, ponder, and pray.

10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is
written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou
serve.

11 Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

This is my favorite part of the story. Christ received strength from the scriptures and was not affected by the taunting of the adversary. We are able to receive the same blessing and protection when we
indulge ourselves in study of the scriptures.
That is all.

Con amor, Hermana Jorgensen

at the zoo on p-day

#hispanicprobs

¡Feliz lunes!

#hispanicprobs Our investigator made us fajita last night. I had a huge jalapeño and rubbed my eyes right after...

All of our investigators came to church yesterday! That was a miracle.

We were knocking the other day and heard some Hispanic music... So we followed it. There was a lady on her porch so we asked her which artist it was. She immediately asked us to come up to her apartment! She started showing us all of these pictures of her kids that are in Mexico. In her prayer she mentioned her thanks to God for sending us because she has been so lonely. The other day I was studying in Mosiah. It's the part about Alma's people suffering and when the Lord lifts their afflictions from them. The cross reference to the word 'strengthen' was in Matthew when it talks about the yoke of Christ. I looked that up and it lead to the word disciple. As a disciple of Christ it is my responsibility to alleviate the burdens of others and to know of Christ so that I can help others know of Him. If I center my life on the Savior, I will be able to be an instrument in God's hands and help others. This woman recognized us as disciples of him and that we had something to offer her. As we align our will with that of the Savior, we will be able to help others in their hardships just like Christ helped Alma's people.

Con amor, Hermana Jorgensen

                                                 Volunteering at the peanut butter factory

                                                                               Elote in a cup

Investigator Hall of Fame

Happy Octubre,

I thought I would just fill you all in that I am called Hermana Jorge on a daily basis. No one can say Jorgensen.

So that little miracle child that paid his tithing last week has read all the way to second Nephi already! Can you believe it? I can't. We had some really spiritual lesson with an investigator that is getting baptized next week. "What would keep you from getting into the Celestial  Kingdom?" That was one of my favorite questions we asked him on Saturday. He was feeling a little insure about being baptized. He seems really confident about it now. I'm so excited to complete this family! He is going to be able to get the priesthood and soon baptize his daughter :) During the lesson I had a little vision of him and P in the temple with their kids being sealed. I can't handle it! He's finally understanding that this is the only thing that will get him back to Heavenly Father.

Conference was so inspired! Well, it always is. But I felt like all of the speakers were speaking right to me. It amazed me how many spoke of discipleship. One of my particular favorites was by Elder Lawrence. I think he's in the quorum of the 70. He talked about the spirit as well as becoming "perfect" which I thought related very well to becoming a true disciple of Christ. I loved that he suggested we ask God how we can improve and be willing to act on the promptings we receive. What's keeping me from progressing? We often keep from progressing because we are afraid of change. It's hard to change our own nature and the natural man/woman likes to be set in his or her ways. As he said "the Spirit works with us at our own speed" and with small things such as reading the scriptures, attending church, and prayer, we will have a desire to change and become "perfected."

Con MUCHO amor, Hermana Jorgensen

Houston North Spanish Zone

Windows of Heaven

Howdy,

We had a ton of random miracles this week! Woo! The other day we got a referral from church headquarters. I called the number and talked to the guy. We set up an appointment and went over on Saturday. So it turns out that this guy sent in his info to get a Book of Mormon. We got in with him and taught him a little more about it. He loved it! It was such a good lesson. He came to church the next day and during sacrament meeting he asked me if he could pay tithing..... Oh mylanta, best day of my life! "Hermano, no tiene que hacerlo." "Hermana Jorgensen, quiero hacerlo." Translation: "You don't have to do it if you don't want to! Hermana Jorgensen, I want to do it." Where did this man come from?! Later in the meeting, the bishop talked about tithing which was so inspired. He talked about how tithing isn't a question of money, rather it's a question of faith. I personally have never had a really cool experience with tithing, but I have seen so many people here receive incredible blessings from just giving the Lord 10% of everything he has given them. This is my testimony that the Lord has so many blessings waiting for us. It's our choice if we want to receive them.

We also had a lesson with a less active the other day that has been having a really hard time going to church. She is the only member of the church in her family that is living in the states. She is continuing to go to church with her old pastor that is also her boss. So that's another difficult thing. We taught her about the Plan of Salvation about the three kingdoms of glory. We taught her of the members of the Godhead that can dwell in each glory. We then taught her that families can live together in happiness in the Celestial kingdom. I shared with her my testimony of families. I have a family that was sealed in the temple and if I am faithful to Heavenly Father and keep my covenants that I have made, I can live with them in bliss forever. I obviously got choked up... Being away from everyone hasn't been easy. But I will see them soon enough and I get to be with them throughout the eternities. I realized in that moment that I'm one of the luckiest people on the earth. I wanted this girl to realize she can have that if she just tries a little harder and gets a little closer to her Heavenly Father. God has so many blessings that are waiting. It's a shame that we don't always realize that. We let excuses get in the way and forget the promises of our loving Father.

I know that God lives. I witness His hand everyday in missionary work. I know that Christ died for me. I recognize the effects everyday in my struggles and hardships as well as in the struggles and hardships of others. I know that the Holy Ghost can dwell in us. I hear his quiet promptings everyday in all things.

Con todo mi amor, Hermana Jorgensen