we are instruments in the Lord's hands

Sept. 2, 2014

today is Tuesday, sorry i couldn't email this past Monday, LABOR DAY!

we went to the lake here, and swam, and tanned, and wake boarded, and

had SOOOO MUCH FUNN!.... not.

haha no this past labor day was fun though. We got together as a zone

and played soccer.. like always but it was SOOOOO fun! it is BLOOMIN

HOT HERE. humidity is out of control.

This week has been super fun! A lot of fun things!

Last Monday we had a softball tournament between half of the mission!

it was fun because sister duke and elder welburn were there! Also i

just LOVE like all the missionaries here! its so weird how they just

feel like your family. honestly.
Tuesday i had exchanges with SISTER DUKE! haha

She is my leader so she and I got to go on an exchange to Bayonne! oh

my gosh it was just heaven haha i love that girl! EMily Taggart (presidents daughter) came out with us all day! it was so fun because she literally is just like us! Also i just think she needed it, because she is in her senior year, and she doesn't really know a lot of people so she just needs like friends! We taught A LOT OF PEOPLE

together, and then some way or another i took the wrong turn and we ended up in Newark so yeahh.. that was awesome! haha we had no money,

and gracias a hermana emily taggart she paid the toll!

Then on Saturday the bravos came to see me! oh gosh i LOVE them. She called me and was like i heard transfers are coming soon so can we come see you just in case you get transferred somewhere else far!

literally i appreciate so much the relationships that i have made on my mission.

classic story. the Muslim friend that we contacted came to church AGAIN. in his dress and without shoes. everyone at the church weren't so friendly about him being there... don't know why but he really has a

lot of questions, and writes things down like he takes notes! I hope he is sincerely looking and the people can see that.

something i kind of realized this week was how we truly are just instruments in the Lords hands.

update on Paola. kind of a cool well shes the mom that i told you about last time. We were over there and she was just talking to us, and she actually wanted us to teach her. Usually before we just would

go and she didn't really want us to teach her. BUT this time she was like can you teach me something? she also asked if she could have more "homework" to read! WHAT? why did she say that? She goes ya know i was

really just reflecting on a lot of things and i really am grateful for the prayer that you girls said before i was arrested.. She said if we

wouldn't of have done that, she wouldn't of been calm and understanding at that point. She said she truly felt this peace, that she has never really felt before. And the time she was in prison sitting there she

thought a lot about what we have taught her. She said God had put us there right at the time that she needed Him (His word) the most.

Anyways a lot of other things have happened this week that just i don't have time to explain or write, but i just really want you to know that i LOVE being a missionary. I love it. Its so different than any other thing i have done, or will do. It is a pleasure serving my Lord. I am

starting to reflect a lot on everything that has happened, and all that i have learned, and i honestly am so GRATEFUL for the opportunity to be here in new jersey trying to help others come unto Christ. I love this Gospel. Sincerely i love the way of life that it allows you

to have. It leads and guides us to happiness. This is His work.This is His gospel, and we are privileged to be apart of it! Find someone this week that doesn't have this happiness and let them take part of the sweetest fruit on this earth!

LOVE YOU ALL. literally I'm obsessed with you family. you are all so

cute. I'm dying to see you, but oh so grateful for all the time i have

left!

love : hermana jorgensen xoxx

1. sohpie taggart (president taggarts 10 year old daughter i love her) prestonnn....;)

2. my zone for softball!

1. Emily Taggart (mission presidents daughter)

2. best exchange ever

1.    cayetanos! i love them

1. bravoooooossss!

Choices are critical

August 25, 2014

wow this week will be rushed because we only have 45 minutes but i wanted to just share a little experience that happened this week.

My companion and I don't really understand why these things keep happening to us. First Byron and now Paola.. ANYWAYS. 

We get this text on Sunday night from an inactive that said "i still love Kevin and Mimi" it was like at 1 in the morning.. so we just thought oh she is drunk or ohh something was mistakenly sent to us. anyways on Monday morning we go out early and we see Mimi and Kevin walking with someone else.. at like 6:30... we were like super confused. well we had an appointment with them that night that we set with them on Saturday because we passed by there on Saturday.. 

Paola the mom called us and was like hey can you come over.. we were like uhhh sure? something is up we had no idea.. we go over and literally the family is just a mess.. her kids got taken by the state.. this lady is so STRONG. like she doesn't cry over anything she doesn't like show emotion that she is stressed or sad.. like she is just so strong. She also said now she has to go to court and do this yadadyaya and she is sitting there telling us and then ASKING US ( two twenty year old girls what she should do.) my heart sunk as we sat there and listened to what she was saying... it really made me reflect on my life.. always..  this whole mission just makes me reflect on everything.. 

My companion and i were just sitting there and praying we had NO IDEA WHAT TO SAY... but the spirit was there. What was said was i know for sure what Heavenly Father wanted her  to hear. As we were ending the lesson she gets a knock on the door... The police came.. and arrested her right in front of us.. We asked them if we could just end with a prayer, and then they came and took her away.. My companion and i were left sitting to think what in the world just happened? 

As we were walking home we both just started crying.. Honestly my heart just broke. but HOLY COW i immediately just went home and thanked God for the parents i have. Mimi and I have been in the same situation in life.. (mine not as extreme) but i look at how Paola, the mom, has handled it. There are times in our life i feel that we need to take as opportunities to help correct, teach, and love them when those you love have gone astray instead of ridicule and abuse.. God has given us this opportunity to here in mortality to choose. CHOICES that is all that will make you sincerely happy or completely miserable. I am so grateful that God chose my family that i have here on this earth today. That God chose parents and siblings that love me dearly, that even though I went astray, that they were there for me and that they loved and HELPED teach me the way.

This Gospel is true. it blesses lives. The choices we make here in this life are so CRITICAL to who we will become and to where we will end up. I love my Heavenly Father. He is truly my Father who loves me and watches over me. He is ever so merciful and full of forgiveness. Let us all think about the daily choices we make, and repent for the ones that lead us away from Him above. 

Love Hermana J #2 now #1

ps. saw this girl with down syndrome this week. i cried literally when i saw her we hugged and laughed for HOURS. oh my gosh.i miss my baby AND i want to work with kids with disabilities.... they are my life i totally forgot 

and pss... we had a Muslim man come to church yesterday.. our "investigator" we found him in the street... he took his shoes off in church and wore his "dress clothes" .. you can only imagine it was a new experience for all of us...

 xoxx

took this investigator and her grandson to the park.. I'M OBSESSED WITH THIS BOY. oh my gosh. 

cayentanos.. i LOVE THEM.

soriano family! 

just a HOT day walking up a HUGE hill. haha awesome...

Exchanges with Sister Duke and a blast from the past

August 18, 2014

soo sorry there isn't much time to write because sister duke got permission from our leaders and they said it was okay if we went on a mini exchange because SAMMY AND SERGIO CAME TO SEE USSSS!!!I CRIED. I LOVE THEM. I seriously would die for this family. literally best p day ever. they came and we all went out to eat, and then we went to play soccer together. literally I'm crying. Sergio is getting baptized. Sammy hasn't drank in 4 months.. what? it was the most surreal thing ever. they drove 2 hours just to come and see us for like 4 hours. they are seriously like family. 

Things are going good with Byron, he is progressing but you know that there is a lot of time that has to take place before he can get baptized... President Crane will come in 2 weeks to interview him again to get ready to send everything to the Prophet.. soo yeah just pray. I sure love that guy.

Its been a dream to see sister duke! I love her. its weird to think that I had to come all the way to new jersey just to find my best friend! I adore her!

Julia Frazier.. adorable. I'm so sad I missed it. but it looked very classic, simple, and so Julia!(Julia Jeppsen got married in August.)

My companion and I are doing great! We are doing work here in Union City! We are trying hard to find people, its kind of hard but the work must go on! Weve been doing a lot of service. Trying to act as Jesus would, preach, love and serve! Im starting to get a little antsy and nervous thinking that this whole mission thing is coming to the end, but im trying to stay focused, and just lost in the work! 

Anyways sorry super lame, but I have to go! Emails next week will be better.. I hope! We have a mission softball game next week so I don't know if I will email..

anyways I love you all. really if you have the chance I invite you to read the talk the first commandment by Jeffery r Holland. it makes you really want to change.

"To which Jesus responded (and here again I acknowledge my non scriptural elaboration), perhaps saying something like: “Then Peter, why are you here? Why are we back on this same shore, by these same nets, having this same conversation? Wasn’t it obvious then and isn’t it obvious now that if I want fish, I can get fish? What I need, Peter, are disciples—and I need them forever. I need someone to feed my sheep and save my lambs. I need someone to preach my gospel and defend my faith. I need someone who loves me, truly, truly loves me, and loves what our Father in Heaven has commissioned me to do. Ours is not a feeble message. It is not a fleeting task. It is not hapless; it is not hopeless; it is not to be consigned to the ash heap of history. It is the work of Almighty God, and it is to change the world. So, Peter, for the second and presumably the last time, I am asking you to leave all this and to go teach and testify, labor and serve loyally until the day in which they will do to you exactly what they did to me.”

I love that paragraph. it made me really think. Jesus doesn't need money, doesn't need fancy things, He doesn't need anything but DISCIPLES... and He needs them forever. And here I stand as a literal representative of Him, with the honor of wearing his name on my heart knowing that when I return that the discipleship doesn't end for me. NOR DOES IT FOR YOU! share the Gospel, feed His sheep, and be His disciple the rest of your lives. I love you all really you are my Sunshine's.

love Hermana Jorgensen xoxxx

we make these for our members! hahah we are trying to get them to love us!

I LOVE SAMMY Y SERGIO.

:))))) Sammy serigio. and sister duke.

Heartbreak/Peace

August 11, 2014

well... this week it has been one of those weeks. i believe this week i have learned and experienced more heartbreak/peace than i ever have in my life.

As you all know we are teaching Byron. Little background all though I'm sure I've already given it. Hes 30 from Guatemala. He just came from there 9 months.. he crossed the border, and it was a rough ride.. or walk. As it is for everyone that we meet and that makes it to America. Anyways. quick story. he is so cute hahahahah So we kiss everyone on the cheek. like EVERYONE its a Hispanic thing. well we aren't allowed to kiss men on the cheek so we give the handshake even though sometimes they go for a kiss and its uncomfortable to say no. Anyways this week he was like i know why you cant kiss on the cheek and we were like why? he was like because Judas kissed Jesus on the cheek and that is how they knew he was the one to be crucified... oh i love his reasoning! i mean it makes sense but then we just explained.. no haha we can kiss on the cheek after the mission, just not as missionaries. 

okay so. He is the most prepared human being I have ever met in my life. He literally accepts every commandment that we teach. We talk about anything and he believes it he accepts it. Well Tuesday he told us that he would tell us on Wednesday if he will be baptized. So we get to Wednesday.. and he couldn't meet with us. you KNOW I'm just having a literal cow. Its like just the worst. you don't like to think that you are obsessed with people but then you come to the mission and you are like obsessed with your investigators. you want to see them everyday all day, you want to know what they are thinking.. ALL THE TIME you just want to know what they are doing. its like awful. So he couldn't meet with us Wednesday.. that would happen. its okay our prayers were heard to heaven and back. So we meet with him on Thursday and we were kind of nervous because 1. he was going to tell us if he will be baptized and then 2. WE WERE TEACHING TITHING! its like you would think that teaching chastity and word of wisdom are the scariest lessons to teach but for me its always tithing because the people here literally work their tails off just to make like minimum wage. Its just super hard. Well as we start to teach him about tithing i pull out the pamphlet and he goes oh yeah i already read that. We were like what? how we haven't talked about it. Well i think just by the grace of our Heavenly Father i accidentally gave it to him with a different pamphlet, so knew it! Anyways he totally understands the concept of everything. We of course read malaquias and then 3rd nefi 13:33-34 putting God first in everything. He like totally agrees. He then goes on to tell us how is family didnt have money to give in his country but say he has donated to the a church a donkey hahaha and other animals. He is so precious. hahha i just wanted to die laughing thinking about the difference between cultures! anyways. He says YES HE WANTS TO BE BAPTIZED.  he was SO nervous. so nervous. 

Next day Friday. we meet him and his cousin and we walk to the church, so he could go play soccer there! We taught The Cayetano family while he was playing soccer, and then as we were getting ready to go we just pulled him out and did the interview questions with him. It was going soooo great!

then we get to #5.. have you committed any serious crime... at first he just hesitated.. and there was silence..then my companion asked a very inspired question and he confesses to us... we talked about it. i just get this odd feeling. i finish asking him the questions and he passes everything else. with flying colors. so we are walking home, just my companion and i, and i have to call president crane. (1st counselor in the mission presidency) we tell him what happens and he says.. well... just a long pause that he will have to interview him on Sunday after sacrament. so. yeah. 

Saturday we teach him Alma 36 about repentance. I don't know how to explain how real the scriptures felt to me when we read them with him. It talked about how Alma a prophet of God was one of the most vilest of sinners.. and yet he was forgiven.. I don't know how to express myself of how real it really felt. I actually felt that Alma was like ALIVE like that i don't know. it doesn't make sense. anyways. we were just nervous and anxious for tomorrow with President Crane. 

So Sunday comes. Byron comes. Literally walks in the church saying hi to everyone, just acting like a member.. just ahhh love this guy. Sacrament ends and President Crane comes and gets ready to interview. As Byron is in his interview we are outside. My companion and  I had been fasting all day. He goes in, and we go into a different room and we say a little prayer. Well an hour later he comes out... President Crane told us it might be a little bit before his is baptized.. So we go through the whole day and then president crane asked if we would call him. So we call him and he explains everything. He says. well Sisters Byron is a very great man. He is SO prepared to hear the Gospel. You have taught him well, but unfortunately there is a little bit of a repentance process that needs to be taken. I asked him how long does he think it needs to be postponed and he goes.. well I just talked with President Taggart, and President Taggart and I need to meet with him again to get more information from him so we can write a letter and then send it to the First Presidency... he said the Prophet is the only one who will decide.. uhhhh.. so he said MONTHS. Last night was very hard for me. There is a lot of other things that are going on that makes me nervous that he will just drop us.. i don't know. but at that moment i just kind of stepped back and just cried. 

At that moment i don't even know the emotions that were going through me. It is incredible the way you come to love Heavenly Fathers children, i mean I've only known Byron for a month.. 4 weeeks.. and yet i have grown to love him not just as we as humans love people but as how our Heavenly Father loves and desires whats best for us. It made me really think back to how IMPORTANT our choices are here in this life. Have we repented? Or when we stand before God during our "interview" will we realize the unfortunate mistakes/choices we made here in our earthly life? I cant even imagine how our Heavenly Father feels at times when he watches His children here on earth make these choices, but oh how merciful and LOVING He was to send His Son Jesus Christ to atone and sacrifice to make it POSSIBLE if we CHOOSE to accept the Atonement to return to live with Him again. I love Byron, not just as Hermana Jorgensen or Ashlyn loves people, but as A Representive of Jesus Christ, i love and desire him to feel the blessings from the Atonement in his life. Its been super hard but I know that when he fully repents, he will feel his joy as great as his sorrow, as Alma testifies in Alma 36. I have been humbled this week to think and know that Heavenly Father has trusted my companion and I to be able to help Byron come back into his fold. To help someone that he LOVES and cherishes to truly become repentant and to hop on to the path that leads him back to our Heavenly Fathers presence. 

I know that God is a God of order. That He is a God of Love and Mercy. And that He desires our happiness and for that we do indeed have a Savior that LIVES and that has made it possible for us to repent to return to the presence of our sweet Father in Heaven. 

anyways. i love you. keep Byron in your prayers. PLEASE. 

hermana jorgensen xoxxx

Look at my awesome tan lines. Don't be jealous!!

Byron eating arroz en leche!

Great view

Walked on the Hudson with our sweet friend.

Haven't had Panda Express for 1 year and 3 months.  Wow!!

Byron still eating and thinking I made it.  Funny right.

Now this is what I've been eating for 1 year and 3 months :)

Cant believe I ate it I was dying.