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