Hermana Ashlyn Jorgensen: 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