What's that you ask?? THAT'S how many days Elder Cody Jorgensen has been serving! Only 330 more days...
WOOT WOO!
Thursday, August 28, 2014
Monday, August 25, 2014
August 25, 2014 ~ Week 57
Hey everyone!
This past week has been chaotic. Tuesday we got up at 4:45 AM and we went to pick the other elders up to drive them down to transfers... Our trunk wouldn't close though so we ended up just bungee cording it closed and then drove 3 1/2 hours with it just kind of closed. It was fine though. Oh also, so in the zone I'm in, the night before transfers we have a testimony meeting for departing missionaries. In the middle of the meeting we got a call from the assistants... So of course we answered... And they asked me to be the district leader... So that's fun.
So then back to Tuesday, we went to transfers and everyone was asking me who I thought was going to be my companion... I kept saying Elder Kitsell... I was just joking, but then it happened in REAL LIFE. I got just a bit excited. So I get to kill Elder Kitsell! Hooray! {Kill means I'm his last companion on his mission. I send him home. He only has 5 weeks left now.} So that's fun!
Elder Kitsell had a baptism in his past area so we stayed for that and ended up getting stuck in Philly for a couple days, but we got back eventually. We then had my first district meeting. It was weird because I had to teach it. I was so nervous. It went well I feel though. I'm excited for my next one though because now I kind of know what I'm doing. It's so great being able to care about someone other than me. Being senior companion you have so many more responsibilities, and being district leader you have a lot. It's so nice because it pushes me to be better, but a call to leadership is definitely a call to repentance. This next week is going to be awesome though. We've got a lot of cool stuff coming up! I'll let you know how it goes!
Love you!
~Elder Jorgensen
This past week has been chaotic. Tuesday we got up at 4:45 AM and we went to pick the other elders up to drive them down to transfers... Our trunk wouldn't close though so we ended up just bungee cording it closed and then drove 3 1/2 hours with it just kind of closed. It was fine though. Oh also, so in the zone I'm in, the night before transfers we have a testimony meeting for departing missionaries. In the middle of the meeting we got a call from the assistants... So of course we answered... And they asked me to be the district leader... So that's fun.
So then back to Tuesday, we went to transfers and everyone was asking me who I thought was going to be my companion... I kept saying Elder Kitsell... I was just joking, but then it happened in REAL LIFE. I got just a bit excited. So I get to kill Elder Kitsell! Hooray! {Kill means I'm his last companion on his mission. I send him home. He only has 5 weeks left now.} So that's fun!
Elder Kitsell had a baptism in his past area so we stayed for that and ended up getting stuck in Philly for a couple days, but we got back eventually. We then had my first district meeting. It was weird because I had to teach it. I was so nervous. It went well I feel though. I'm excited for my next one though because now I kind of know what I'm doing. It's so great being able to care about someone other than me. Being senior companion you have so many more responsibilities, and being district leader you have a lot. It's so nice because it pushes me to be better, but a call to leadership is definitely a call to repentance. This next week is going to be awesome though. We've got a lot of cool stuff coming up! I'll let you know how it goes!
Love you!
~Elder Jorgensen
 |
| Elder Jorgensen and Grisel Vega at the Baptism |
Thursday, August 21, 2014
August 18, 2014 ~ Week 56
Hey everyone!
It's been another awesome week here in Wilkes-Barre! Transfer calls came on Friday and Elder Pintor is leaving! So I will have my new companion tomorrow. Don't know who it is yet so we will see! This past week has been super fast but super long at the same time. We found some new people that are really promising, and I'm so excited to teach them. One thing that I've been reflecting on this week is my mistakes. Sometimes I get into the mindset that all mistakes can be avoided. We can just choose to not mistakes ever. We can be perfect. I can just try harder and I won't make mistakes. This is a lie!!! Man oh man, do you learn from mistakes. Of course we should do our best to live righteously and keep all the commandments, but we simply won't be able to learn all the lessons we need to learn in this life if we never make any mistakes. I think back on my life, especially on my senior year of high school, probably one of the most mistake-ridden periods of my life, and I can see how the mistakes I made have taught me the lessons I needed to learn to be the man I am today. It sucks to make mistakes. But Christ made it possible that we don't need to suffer unnecessarily for our mistakes. We still feel grief and shame for our mistakes, but only enough to help us to change. Then, after we have repented, we are made clean, and our past mistakes are just that...in the past. It's beautiful! Knowing this has helped me have more courage to face the world, and the problems I have. I don't need anyone to blame when I fail, and I don't need to be afraid of failure, because any mistakes that I make, while I'm full heartedly doing my best of course, will only help me to learn. It's the greatest! I know that Christ lives, and I know that repentance isn't the backup plan, but it is the plan of salvation.
{Here is a slightly edited journal entry!}
August 13th
Today has been pretty awesome! So this morning Elder Dopp and Hanshew came to our apartment for conference call because they left their phone at the Adams'. We then took them up to the Adams' to grab their phone. Then we went up to Sister Schwemmer's home, and the road was blocked!!! So we rescheduled and went home... Waste of miles... We did stop by and see the Anderson's who just moved in. Crazy story... They moved into a less active members old house. We tried to find it, and blamo! There was the Anderson's house! So that was cool. We are excited to be able to see them though once they get unpacked and everything. Then we went on over to the C's and talked them into letting us mow their lawn tomorrow! Exciting stuff! I was a little scared to go see them because on Sunday Sister T said she had called them and invited the grandkids out to church, and apparently they were a little bit standoffish, according to Sister T. All was great however! Then we went and had lunch. Elder Pintor didn't like the bologne though. Oh well. His loss. :) We went to do Facebook. We went to Sis D's to follow up on her giving out a family proc. She told us about her trip to the temple. She was sealed to her deceased husband. Such a neat experience. Then we went and saw Crystal with the B's. It was an awesome experience. Crystal is super prepared. She wasn't taught very well the first time around when she was taught by missionaries a couple years ago. She was being taught, but she moved and lost contact with the elders. We talked to her son on the streets a couple days ago and he told us to go over. She ordered pizza for us, and we all ate, and it was great. Her daughter, Joann, is probably the darn cutest thing I ever did see!!! She reminds me a lot of Carolynn Robinson. But our lesson with Crystal... It started off pretty scatterbrained. We didn't really know where she was so we just planned on teaching her about the Book of Mormon. We went in. She told us all about what she remembered from the first time she met with missionaries. She seemed to understand everything pretty well. Then she got pretty off topic, which happens often with investigators. She kept touching on questions of the soul however, so that's the route we took. We began reading Mosiah 2 with her, when we realized she knew nothing about what the Book of Mormon actually was!!! Besides the fact that Joseph Smith found it. So we had a great lesson on the origins of the Book of Mormon, and then that led us to teaching the whole restoration over again. Which I love teaching, and she needed so badly. One thing I'm super grateful for is all the teaching experience I got in Reading. No one really progressed too well, but I taught the restoration at least 200 times while I was there, if not more. It helped me so much in being a good teacher. Then she told us how much she dislikes her old church, and it was overall a great lesson! I'm so excited for her. She is going to progress so well now that we're actually going to teach her super well. Bro B was absolutely awesome in that lesson too. Members are such a huge help to the missionaries in teaching.
Love you!
~Elder Jorgensen
It's been another awesome week here in Wilkes-Barre! Transfer calls came on Friday and Elder Pintor is leaving! So I will have my new companion tomorrow. Don't know who it is yet so we will see! This past week has been super fast but super long at the same time. We found some new people that are really promising, and I'm so excited to teach them. One thing that I've been reflecting on this week is my mistakes. Sometimes I get into the mindset that all mistakes can be avoided. We can just choose to not mistakes ever. We can be perfect. I can just try harder and I won't make mistakes. This is a lie!!! Man oh man, do you learn from mistakes. Of course we should do our best to live righteously and keep all the commandments, but we simply won't be able to learn all the lessons we need to learn in this life if we never make any mistakes. I think back on my life, especially on my senior year of high school, probably one of the most mistake-ridden periods of my life, and I can see how the mistakes I made have taught me the lessons I needed to learn to be the man I am today. It sucks to make mistakes. But Christ made it possible that we don't need to suffer unnecessarily for our mistakes. We still feel grief and shame for our mistakes, but only enough to help us to change. Then, after we have repented, we are made clean, and our past mistakes are just that...in the past. It's beautiful! Knowing this has helped me have more courage to face the world, and the problems I have. I don't need anyone to blame when I fail, and I don't need to be afraid of failure, because any mistakes that I make, while I'm full heartedly doing my best of course, will only help me to learn. It's the greatest! I know that Christ lives, and I know that repentance isn't the backup plan, but it is the plan of salvation.
{Here is a slightly edited journal entry!}
August 13th
Today has been pretty awesome! So this morning Elder Dopp and Hanshew came to our apartment for conference call because they left their phone at the Adams'. We then took them up to the Adams' to grab their phone. Then we went up to Sister Schwemmer's home, and the road was blocked!!! So we rescheduled and went home... Waste of miles... We did stop by and see the Anderson's who just moved in. Crazy story... They moved into a less active members old house. We tried to find it, and blamo! There was the Anderson's house! So that was cool. We are excited to be able to see them though once they get unpacked and everything. Then we went on over to the C's and talked them into letting us mow their lawn tomorrow! Exciting stuff! I was a little scared to go see them because on Sunday Sister T said she had called them and invited the grandkids out to church, and apparently they were a little bit standoffish, according to Sister T. All was great however! Then we went and had lunch. Elder Pintor didn't like the bologne though. Oh well. His loss. :) We went to do Facebook. We went to Sis D's to follow up on her giving out a family proc. She told us about her trip to the temple. She was sealed to her deceased husband. Such a neat experience. Then we went and saw Crystal with the B's. It was an awesome experience. Crystal is super prepared. She wasn't taught very well the first time around when she was taught by missionaries a couple years ago. She was being taught, but she moved and lost contact with the elders. We talked to her son on the streets a couple days ago and he told us to go over. She ordered pizza for us, and we all ate, and it was great. Her daughter, Joann, is probably the darn cutest thing I ever did see!!! She reminds me a lot of Carolynn Robinson. But our lesson with Crystal... It started off pretty scatterbrained. We didn't really know where she was so we just planned on teaching her about the Book of Mormon. We went in. She told us all about what she remembered from the first time she met with missionaries. She seemed to understand everything pretty well. Then she got pretty off topic, which happens often with investigators. She kept touching on questions of the soul however, so that's the route we took. We began reading Mosiah 2 with her, when we realized she knew nothing about what the Book of Mormon actually was!!! Besides the fact that Joseph Smith found it. So we had a great lesson on the origins of the Book of Mormon, and then that led us to teaching the whole restoration over again. Which I love teaching, and she needed so badly. One thing I'm super grateful for is all the teaching experience I got in Reading. No one really progressed too well, but I taught the restoration at least 200 times while I was there, if not more. It helped me so much in being a good teacher. Then she told us how much she dislikes her old church, and it was overall a great lesson! I'm so excited for her. She is going to progress so well now that we're actually going to teach her super well. Bro B was absolutely awesome in that lesson too. Members are such a huge help to the missionaries in teaching.
Love you!
~Elder Jorgensen
 |
| Elder Jorgensen and Elder Pintor |
Saturday, August 16, 2014
August 11, 2014 ~ Week 55
Hey everyone,
The past couple of weeks have been crazy. We've been everywhere, doing everything. I'll try to tell you guys about as much as I can.
First off, sorry for not emailing last week. I kept putting it off, and putting it off, planning to email last thing of P-day... Then we got a call, and off we go to help a member move for the last 4 hours of our P-day. So I apologize for that, but know it was for a great cause...
The member we helped move... That was an experience. They lived in their apartment for 23 years. They told us Friday night it would take 2 hours to get everything into the U-haul. They had already taken several truckloads of stuff down to their new house. It took us, them, and the high priest group leader 4 hours last Friday night to load that truck. We were nearly killed while carrying a 400 pound solid steel dresser down the stairs. I went through the wall with it...Literally. It was interesting... And that was day one of helping them move. Saturday a bunch of other members went and helped them some more, and we went over for just a little bit. Then Monday we went over again for four hours. {That was P-Day.} This time half the ward was there and they still weren't done by the time we left. It was crazy. They took 2 U-haul trucks. Several pickup loads, and they completely filled a 30X15 dumpster with trash. It was just a tad ridiculous. But it was fun none the less!
This past week I didn't spend much time in my area. On Tuesday I went on exchange with Elder Dopp in Wilkes-Barre South. That's a walking area, which was weird to be in again. We walked for all day. We really weren't able to teach a whole lot though. Then on Wednesday we had zone conference, which was amazing. President
Anderson knows what's up. So awesome. It was weird seeing everyone there that came out with me though. We all just started talking about what we were doing on THAT day one year ago, which just happened to be the day we flew out to the field. So it was crazy! Then I went on exchange with Elder Stubbs up in Scranton. It was a great time...Didn't get to teach anyone though. We only had like 5 lessons this week, and I wasn't even there for any of them... Exchanges are
awesome... But sometimes they suck too. Anyways, I've got to go because time grows short, and it's about time to do missionary work again! Love you all!
~Elder Jorgensen
The past couple of weeks have been crazy. We've been everywhere, doing everything. I'll try to tell you guys about as much as I can.
First off, sorry for not emailing last week. I kept putting it off, and putting it off, planning to email last thing of P-day... Then we got a call, and off we go to help a member move for the last 4 hours of our P-day. So I apologize for that, but know it was for a great cause...
The member we helped move... That was an experience. They lived in their apartment for 23 years. They told us Friday night it would take 2 hours to get everything into the U-haul. They had already taken several truckloads of stuff down to their new house. It took us, them, and the high priest group leader 4 hours last Friday night to load that truck. We were nearly killed while carrying a 400 pound solid steel dresser down the stairs. I went through the wall with it...Literally. It was interesting... And that was day one of helping them move. Saturday a bunch of other members went and helped them some more, and we went over for just a little bit. Then Monday we went over again for four hours. {That was P-Day.} This time half the ward was there and they still weren't done by the time we left. It was crazy. They took 2 U-haul trucks. Several pickup loads, and they completely filled a 30X15 dumpster with trash. It was just a tad ridiculous. But it was fun none the less!
This past week I didn't spend much time in my area. On Tuesday I went on exchange with Elder Dopp in Wilkes-Barre South. That's a walking area, which was weird to be in again. We walked for all day. We really weren't able to teach a whole lot though. Then on Wednesday we had zone conference, which was amazing. President
Anderson knows what's up. So awesome. It was weird seeing everyone there that came out with me though. We all just started talking about what we were doing on THAT day one year ago, which just happened to be the day we flew out to the field. So it was crazy! Then I went on exchange with Elder Stubbs up in Scranton. It was a great time...Didn't get to teach anyone though. We only had like 5 lessons this week, and I wasn't even there for any of them... Exchanges are
awesome... But sometimes they suck too. Anyways, I've got to go because time grows short, and it's about time to do missionary work again! Love you all!
~Elder Jorgensen
 |
| I have NEVER seen that kid clean a toilet....until now! |
 |
| Elder Jorgensen & Elder Pintor |
 |
Thursday, August 7, 2014
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)