Hello from Good ole North Carolina!!
So, I meant to tell you about this a few weeks ago, but forgot.. In the Saturday Afternoon session of General Conference the last two speakers were Elder Zwick and Elder Cook. It was funny because not too long ago both of them came to our mission and spoke to us as a mission. I absolutely loved both of there talks.
This week was an interesting week. We took a little bit different approach to missionary work than we have in the past here, and I think It was really good. As I had mentioned before, most people in this area are pretty well off, already have a church if they have any desire of attending one, and they are all really busy people as well. So, just knocking on peoples doors doesn't work so well here. You will just tend to get turned away. But, this week we tried something else. We figured if we served the people first, it would be much more lickly for us to get to know them, they then trust us, and ultimately we teach them. That is exactly what happed with a mom this week. We went to a our dinner appointment on Thursday after going to the Horse Rescue to do some service. Dinner was not quite ready when we arrived, and we were still in our service clothes so Sister M asked us if we wanted to go mow her neighbors lawn? Her neighbor is single, has a son, and some health problems. So we went over with Her husband, mowed and trimmed her lawn, and then replaced a light fixture on the exterior of her house that was bad. She was very appreciative, and after I gave her an Articles of Faith card so that she would know what we believed and hopefully it would open up a conversation latter. A few days later we were at the horse rescue again, and Sister M told us that her neighbor would like us to come back ASAP and help her put her garden in and talk to her. So, we went back that day and helped her plant a little garden area. As we did so, she asked about some of the points on the Articles of Faith card. We were able to explain them to her, and teach her about the restoration of the gospel. She also committed to read the Book of Mormon!! :) We are so excited for her! that was probably the best lesson that we taught this week, because she was actually interested and we were able to teach people not lessons. I would say the worst one that we had would have been when we were just talking to a guy on the way back to our apartment. the way we taught his was somewhat confusing I think, so we just needed to simplify and intensify so that the spirit could do its job and bear testimony. But we are working on it :)
Last Monday the most amazing thing happened. Both Elder Schiffman and I were pretty much broke. I think we both had like $8 to our names, so we were just going to buy some bread and yogurt, and survive off of whatever we had in the apartment. But, as we were walking into target, a man was walking up the next isle over of the parking lot, so we said hi and everything. As he got closer to us he told Elder Schiffman to hold out his hand. Then he proceeded to drop $100 in his and asked if that was enough. we had never met the man before, but he said he lived in another ward and helped out missionary's whenever he could. Total Miracle for us. We were able to get healthy food since we are trying to loose weight, and we were able to buy a blender so that we could make smoothies in the morning. Wow!!!
I am so happy to hear that Jacob and Joe are both going on missions. That will completely change both of their lives forever. It is amazing to see how the Atonement in action in peoples lives. I am so Excited to hear that Leah is coming out into the field as well. That is so amazing. She will be great. We have emailed just a little bit, and she had mentioned that she was possibly going to put her mission papers in unless something else happened first. she hasn't emailed me back in a couple months, but Hopefully we will be able to keep in touch.
Thank you for all your prayers as we strive to Find, Teach, and Baptize! I think of the song "Bless My Son" when I think of you at home, and I know that that is exactly the kind of loving mother that I have at home. I could not have asked for a better family in the entire world. Y'all are the Best!!! Can't wait to hear your voice in just a few weeks! Love You!!!
Elder Jorgensen