Cold! And I can have my Boots!

                                                                                                                      November 25, 2013

Thank you so much for the package! I got it right before I came here to E-mail. It was so great, and I love you all so much! We are having Thanksgiving with the Clays, so I will definitely bring those beans with me. Thank you! And it has been pretty cold here lately. The cold is so different here. So, it has been quite an eventful week for us here. First, to go with the cold, Our furnace in our house went out on Sunday night, and then we kept forgetting to call our land-lady until Thursday, so it was Friday before it was fixed. So, we had a few cold nights, but it was okay. We bundled up and slept just fine :) Luckily we had the car this past week too! This week may be a little colder, but we will see ;) Thank you so much for the long sweat pants. They saved my life!  Thank you so much for the Thanksgiving box!
 I think it will be fun for Y'all to go and do thanksgiving at Grandma Calls this year. Its a Great idea.

This week was also crazy because we spent about 30 hours helping the Taylor family get their house ready. I told dad more about it, so you will have to ask him about it all :) It was so cray that we actually had to move a few meetings that we have every week so that we could fit everything in. (Like District Meeting) It was a fun project though, and we hope all turns out for the best. We also were able to meet and shake hands with Elder Quinton L. Cook of the Quorum of the twelve apostles. That was a grand experience, and a memory that I will always cherish. He spoke alot about us returning home and starting our family's. Also that an intended consequence of sisters being able to serve at a younger age was not only that there would be more sisters in the field, but more families would have both parents as returned missionaries. He also talked about how missionaries are called. He said that we are all called to a mission for either one, or multiple of three reasons. First is that the missionary needs the mission president. Second was that the people in that area need that missionary, or he needs them. And Third was that they didn't know what, but an event would occur in that missionaries life in which they needed to be in that mission for it to happen. And he said that if they got one wrong, they knew it. Within 2 of 3 other calls assigned, they would feel so uneasy that they could not keep going. They would then go back, and without fail find one a few back that he had gotten wrong. THAT IS SO GREAT!! I love that it is so inspired as to where we serve. I think for me it was for my Mission President. I love President and Sister Craven so much! They are truly parents to me while I am away from y'all. While they could never in a million years replace you, It is great have them. They are so amazing. We can feel the love that He and Sister Craven have for us. 

And that would be so great if you wanted to pass my address along to Breann for me! I would love to hear from her. We are most likely going to Skype from the church, because I had to buy a webcam. So, we might just use my webcam and stay here at the church. Or, we may end up at a members home? I have no idea yet.

Oh, So I found out that I can have my boots while on my mission!! I can only wear them while I'm around the house and doing service, but I was so excited! So, Maybe for Christmas you could send them to me? And they said that we will finally get I-pads the first week of December. We are so excited for those. They will be a great tool of communication and finding for us. Do the Elders a home have I-pads yet? And who are the families and investigators that the elders are working with? Sorry my letter is kinda short this week, but its all I can think of to include :) Thank you so much for all that y'all do, and I love y'all so much! Keep reading your scriptures every night, and saying prayers. I hope Andy and Cris and Nate are all reading the Book of Mormon daily. The Book has so much power in it. I love it so much. It truly does change lives. I'm going to include in this an attachment of a couple talks that y'all should listen too. They are by Elder Holland. He is such a great speaker!  I think I will try and send you all a talk to listen to and study every week, and then y'all can tell me what you think about it. 

Well, I love you all and will talk to you soon! 

Love,

Elder Jorgensen

A week of Service

Dear Family,

This week seemed like it was going so slow, but looking back it really flew by. The last part of this week especially flew by. This week was a hard week for us numbers wise, but we were able to stay busy. So, we have these things called Key Indicators which are the numbers that we use and report on so that we can track our work and progress. They are the Key Indicators for Conversion. In a average week we will teach 18-20 lessons, and we will find around 5 new investigators. This past week we were doing so much service that we were only able to teach 9 lessons, and find 1 new investigator. The new investigator that we were able to find is actually the land lord of the house that the Taylor family is moving into. The house that they are moving into was so gross that it was impossible for anyone to live in it. There was just trash and tons of stuff throughout the house, and a smoker had lived there for 40 years. The ceilings that were once white,  were brown from all the smoke. Tar covered the walls, and dripped from the ceiling. The Taylor family has to be out of their current home by the 30th of this month. So, we jumped into action to try and help them move into this new rental before then. All of the ceilings in the House had to be scraped off to get rid of the tar and cigarette smoke. All of the walls were wood paneling, and had to be sanded down. Then, the entire house is going to be sprayed with a coat of Kilz primer to seal it all. Last week we were able to get it all ready to prime. It was alot of work, but we were happy to do it. Serving others is the best way to get close to them and to help them come unto Christ. It is the best way to do missionary work. In Alma chapters 17 and 18 it talks about Ammon, and how he served the king. Through serving the king he was able to gain the kings trust, so the king would listen to him. The king was able to have the spirit manifest unto him that what he was being told was true. He had a desire to change, and he was converted. 

We have been doing everything that we can to serve the Taylor family, and we pray that they will have the desire to be baptized and to make these covenants with their Father in Heaven. They will be blessed immensely for doing so.

 That is good that you were able to go to Grandmas and be able to work on her house. How is she doing?
We did not receive any snow in Danville this week. They did get snow in Greensboro though, which is about an hour south of here. It didn't stick though. This week has been slightly warmer than previous weeks have been though! It is getting cooler. The cold here is much different at home. It goes straight through everything that you have on. Haha I'm going to miss the snow though.

I thought that I would include some fun facts and some things that we are doing this week :)

So... 

1. Dan River Mills was the largest textile company in the world before they closed. Their mill was here in Danville and is HUGE!! They employed around 23,000 people.

2. Thomasville Furniture company is the largest Furniture maker in the world, and their factories were located in Thomasville N.C. which is about an hour and a half south of here and in our mission.

3. Another Area in our mission is Burlington N.C. Burlington is the birthplace and I believe the headquarters of Burlington Coat Factory.

4.Charlotte Is the Headquarters of NASCAR

I think their are some others facts like that too, and I will let you know them when I hear them.

We have the amazing opportunity  to have a member of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles  coming to our mission this week. This Friday Elder Quinton L. Cook is coming to have a Mission Conference with all of the mission. We are excited to be able to learn from him. Sometimes we feel like we are standing in the midst of an apostle though with President Craven. He is such an amazing man, and Sister Craven is even more amazing. They came to our stake conference this week, and it was great to see them. 

 Thank you so much for all you do and I love you All!!

Love, 

Elder Jorgensen

Pics!!!

 There is a Wonderful Family in Matt's ward who sent me a few pics. I love them for healing my heart. Matt loves them because they take such good care of the missionaries and they are so much fun. So happy they are there for him.

 This is Matt's Companion Elder L. Matt says he has learned so much from him. These pictures were taken about 2 weeks apart.

He looks so good!! Makes my heart happy!!

Staying in Danville

Written November 11, 2013

I have heard a little bit about the Philippines from the local members, but not too much. I heard that it's one of the worst storms in history, and is really strong and bad. The teaching with other investigators is going pretty well, and we picked up another solid investigator this week. We have the Taylor Family who has been being taught for about a year and a half. They do not have baptismal dates yet, but we hope to have some set for them soon.  mark/punish them. We feel like the entire  they came to church on Sunday, and they have been several times. Basically the entire ward is their fellow-shippers, because everyone knows them, and is friends with them! They stayed for Gospel Doctrine class and the lesson this week was on baptism, so we hope that the hit them and they will understand the importance of being baptized. They already know that the Book of Mormon is true, and she quotes verses from 2 Nephi and Mosiah regularly.

That is sad that y'all lost because ya just didn't show up to play. This season had to have been amazing for them anyways. I know that the experiences that they were all able to have this year were all for a reason. The experiences that they have had are ones not alot of people ever get to experience in their lives! That is a great experience with the Moose. It is so great that you are willing and able to see those little things as blessings from out father in heaven. I know that they are blessings, and that those small in simple things is how God is able to show his love for us.  I think the hardest thing back here for me to figure out is the roads. I'm used to the roads being on a grid system. and kinda running that way, but that's not how it is back here. None of the roads seem to connect to each other. All of them just have names, so its hard to know where a house is, or which direction it even is from you. A GPS is essential out here! haha.

We received Transfer calls this Saturday night. Both my companion and I will be staying here in Danville, so y'all don't need to worry any more ;) 

 I did get your package and everything made it alright. Except I don't remember their being any CD's or a flash drive or anything like that besides the card reader. How fast the time goes seems to fluctuate for me alot. Some days go really fast, and some go really slow. This past week went really slow, but the weeks before this past one all went pretty fast. Hopefully this week flies by as well. I got a bunch of letters on like Wednesday when I got your package, so that always makes things better :) We love getting mail!! haha That rat thing was pretty crazy, but made me laugh too! :D Oh, and funny thing, you would think since it's pretty humid here that your skin and face wouldn't get dry, but I feel more dry here that I ever did back home. So, I had to finally get some lotion today. we'll see if it actually does anything or not. 

Oh, a few items of business... Please no more candy for a little while. haha I've gained 5 pounds already. Maybe for Christmas y'all could send me a GPS. When my Comp leaves I will need one.   Love you All!!! Keep reading the scriptures every night, and praying together. Learn the scriptures as much as you can, and hopefully mom and dad can go out with the missionaries on teams. They need all the support and help they can get. also try and find referrals for them, and fellowship the investigators that they do have. Love you!!

Elder Jorgensen 

And Brother Burke is the one who lived across the street from us, and the one that was baptized this last week. 

He is the Difference

 Written Nov. 4, 2013
I'm so glad that we were able to have Sis. Clay send you a picture of us and everything! It was so great to be at the Clay family's house last night for dinner with the sisters, and to be able to share a message with them. She absolutely loves you! There are alot of people here that look out for us, and the work is moving along great here. Ray is getting baptized this weekend,  we are excited for that, and its even more exciting that we were the ones to start teaching him. Most of the time it takes months for people to make the decision to be baptized, and several different missionary's. Ray is so excited about being baptized, and he can't wait. I can't remember if I told you about the baby that died or not?  The mother is the member. The funeral for the baby was on Tuesday at a different church. It was such a sad, but definitely interesting funeral. First the bishop spoke, and then the pastor from the baptist church started to speak. It was so amazing to me the stark contrast in the spirit between the two. With our bishop you could really feel the love that he had for them, and he was listening to the spirit to try and say what he needed to say to the family and everyone that was there. It sounded like the pastors address was almost memorized, and the spirit was not carrying it to the hearts of those that were in attendance. The difference was amazing to me. It was such a sad thing to witness, but we know many miracles will come because of it. We have seen the ward members already reach out and pull that family in. Her sister left their family some time ago, but has decided through all of this to return to her family and she was accepted. Without this all happening that might not have ever happened.

It is so amazing to be able to witness so many miracles every day. 

That stinks that we lost to Blackfoot, but I'm sure that it was great for Blackfoot to win game. It was great that we could give them that joy to end their season of hard work. Especially since it didn't really affect us much. I have faith that we will do amazing things in the playoffs if we just keep focused on the goal and the mission. y'all just have to be dedicated. 

I think I got your last package. Thank you so much!! Everything was great and so much fun. We love the jam, and we are getting some apples today for the caramel. The salsa got broken on the way, so we dint get to try that :/ haha but maybe y'all could send some more latter :)

The sweaters would be great, because you wouldn't thing that it would be cold here, but it is. It is a different kind of cold though. 60 degrees feels cold here and the cold goes right through you to your bones! Its so crazy!! The sweater that I am wearing is one that I bought last week. Hope you liked it :)  Did you see that Josey was in the last Jefferson Star that you sent me? 

Thank you so much for the Music too!! My companion and I both love music, so we listen to it all the time. The Lower Lights is a great band that we have found. 

Whatever happens in our lives happens for a reason. I have had to have faith that the atonement is enough to take care of all of us. Even me. Sometimes we feel like "yeah, sure that will work for others, but idk if its strong enough to work for me" It is. Jesus Christ willingly laid down his life so that we could make mistakes in our lives, learn from those things, and turn the rest over to him. Jesus Christ does not expect us to do our part and then he will make up the difference. He is the difference. His grace and love is.  

This has been one of the hardest things that I have ever done, but it is so worth it. I know that far Harder times lay before us, but that through Christ, all can be made right and okay again. Without the atonement of Jesus Christ we have nothing, and we are nothing.

I love y'all so much. you have no idea how much you mean to me. I am so grateful for the life and the standard of living that I have been blessed with. y'all are so blessed to live in an area with such a strong LDS community. Help the Missionary's in whatever way that you can, and try to offer them referrals whenever you can. Also try and go on team-ups with them so that they have members present at there lessons. Having members with you makes such a huge difference.Love you so much!!!

Love,

Elder Jorgensen

Lots of Teaching

Dear Family and Friends,

It has been a super crazy week, but so good! I can not even begin to tell you all of the success that we have been having. So on last Monday we had no progressing investigators, and we also decided to drop all of the ones that were in our teaching pool and start over because all but one of them was just not doing anything, and we were getting nowhere. so, we dropped all save one family. At 6:00 we went out and started the process of finding new investigators. We both had the feeling as we walked past a house to knock on the door and so we did. a girl named Katelyn answered the door and we were able to teach her the restoration right then and there. It was so good. Then we left her home after that and started walking again. We talked with a handful of more people and we set up one more appointment with a man named Henry. Later on in the week we were walking once again, and we saw  a man carrying his groceries back to his home, so we decided to help him carry them back to his home. We talked with him and were able to set up a return appointment and teach him the restoration. he accepted the invitation to be baptized on November 9th as did Henry.  Later also this week we had dinner with the neighbors across the street from us and over dinner, we asked the son Ray what his feelings are about the Book of Mormon. We then also extended to him the invitation to be baptized and he gladly accepted. He is so excited about being baptized, and we haven't even taught him the first lesson yet! haha he is also going to be baptized on November 9th. the success that God has blessed us with this week is so amazing. We are so thankful for it. We thank you all for your prayers. We know that they have been of great worth to our Father in Heaven and that they have made a difference in the work in this area.

That is so great that Nate finally won a game! I bet that he was so excited! I know that our team can pull out a win this week. It is a crucial week for them, but we are praying for them here. If they work hard and have the desire they can do it. I'm not going to lie, I am going to miss going to all of the haunted houses this year. I guess that means that Andy and Cris will have to hit them up for me. I want both of them to try and go to the haunted theater in Shelley and tell me how it was :) I am so glad that Sister Clay was able to send you that picture. That is so great! Trust me, I'm taking alot of pictures, so I will have lots to look back on :) It makes me so proud of you that you are doing all of this 5K stuff! you are so amazing, and you work so hard. Thank you for your example. I know that as you work hard and trust in the Lord that he will strengthen you and lift you up. With him, all things you can do. just keep going. I pray that all of you will be able to make the make study of the book of Mormon a part of your daily lives. I know that the only way to become truly converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ is BOTH attending church, AND studying and praying about the Book of Mormon. There is no other way that a man can come to be completely converted to the gospel of Christ. I know that as you strive to make scripture study a part of your lives you will receive blessings that you never imagined and that your testimony that this is Christ church will grow. 

Haha that is so crazy that Paxtens teacher is Mrs. Poehler! I totally remember working with her. she was so great! and I absolutely loved Breann. She was always so nice, and so wonderful. She had a great testimony of the Gospel as well and I really learned alot from her. That was one of my favorite seminary class's as well! I loved her!! Maybe you could see if you could get her address and I could write her sometime? Thank you for all the packages, letters and pic's! I love you all so much and I am praying for you!

Love, 

Elder Jorgensen
 idk if you have already sent the package or not, but if not, could you possibly send me a few things? We wanted maybe some of your Salsa, Dili-beans, and idk if you could send some of your jam? but if you could, that would be great!! love you! :)

Meetings and I-pad minis

Written October 21, 2013
So, I'm sorry that I Haven't E-mailed you yet today. Today we had a meeting in Charlotte with Elder Zwick from the first quorum of the 70. He came to Charlotte to train us, participate in a stake conference, and to be a representative from salt lake for the funeral for Elder Andrew Page who died while in the mission field like last week or something. I will tell you more about that later, cause that in itself is an amazing story. Anyways' we had to leave last night for it, and then we were able to drive the rest of the way to Charlotte this morning. It was such a good meeting. It went from 9:30 to 2:00 with no breaks or anything, but it really didn't seem that long. We were able to be instructed so much. Our mission is truly an amazing mission. The First Presidency is very aware of us, and is very trusting of us. We were one of the first missions to receive Facebook privileges, and we are the first mission besides Idaho and Utah to receive I-pads. Not all of our mission has them yet, but they said before the end of November, so fingers crossed ;) Pretty soon though, every missionary in the world will have an i-pad in his possession. That's over 85,000 i-pad minis! Anyways, I only had a few minutes to write you tonight, but I will be able to get back on tomorrow most likely and email you some more

I love you all so much and pray or you every day. love you,

Elder Jorgensen

Football and Mission Life

Written Oct 15, 2013
That is so cool that you can use Google earth!.  Our church is the only LDS church in Danville, and it is a little ways away, but not too bad. We are on carshare, so every other week we have a car, and the other weeks the sisters in our mission have the car. it works out pretty good. Our car is so nice though! Its a VW jetta. 2013 and it only has around 2,000 miles on it! Its so nice! But we do bike and walk alot cause we only have 750 miles and our area is pretty big plus we have to go down to Charlotte this month and that is about 300 miles or so.

I'm glad that Sadie and Jori both got my letters! hopefully Amanda did too! haha. I was hoping I would get some letters from them today so that I could not have to wait till next week, but oh well.

That is sad to hear all of that about football this week. That stinks that we lost all of them this week, but I hope that they are able to work hard and to do really good this next week! I can't wait to hear how they do. It is something that I really look forward to each week is finding out how the football games went. I am always bragging about how well we are doing this year. that is so great!!  Alot of the people here are black, and their standard of living is very low. All of their homes are very small, and not very well taken care of. most of them do not take very good care of themselves either. Drinking and smoking are one of the biggest problems here. For example, we visited a man and his two brothers one day, and we had no desire to go into their home it was so bad. You could smell it from the stairs leading up to the house. One of them sat in a rocking chair on the front porch and he was drunk. The other brother sat next to him in his own chair. His name is Scott, and he is the one that we came to see. He doesn't live with his brothers, he just takes care of them. He is the only one with a job so he makes them food and basically keeps them alive. One brother I have still yet to seen yet because he is always in the house asleep because he is sick. I guess he has a giant abscess on his face that is really swollen and infected. Scott made him go to the hospital, and the doctor prescribed him just a antibiotic that would take care of it and if he kept it clean and took those, it would heal and be fine. but, he is always too drunk to go and get his prescription, and he can't afford it either because all of his money that he gets every month just goes to him getting alcohol and cigarettes. It is almost heartbreaking to see these people like this.

I am so excited about you running that 5K though!! you have no idea. I am so proud of you! that is so cool that you have been training, and I know that if you give it everything you have and put your trust in god you can do it. With god on your side you can do anything. their are so many stories in the book of Mormon and especially in the first 20 chapters of Alma that testify of this principle. Time and time again the righteous are taken to war with the wicked and even though the righteous are smaller, they have the lord with them and he preserves them for another day. They are always victorious in their quest because they have faith in their god.

 That is cool that Elder Thomas is a trainer. I know that it is possible that i
I could be a trainer after 3 months. it has happened before haha. but I know whatever happens the lord will prepare us for and he will help us rise to our calling. 1 Nephi 3:7 "and I Nephi said unto my father I will go and do the things which the lord hath commanded for I know that the lord givith no commandment unto the children of men save he shall prepare a way that they may accomplish the thing which he hath commanded them" have faith that you can do it and do your best, and the lord will make it possible. That is cool that you are both in the Gospel Principles class. That is the class. that we go to every Sunday as well. Thank you for the pictures! That is so good to see all of that and it made me so happy! The way that you sent them was great!

 The Clay family is so awesome. They remind me of our family and the Grover family put together. He is a firefighter. We were able to go out to their house for dinner this Sunday night with the sisters, and it was alot of fun. They have a son who is out on his mission right now, and he has been out for about a year. But he tore his ACL and lateral something else so he is coming him this next transfer. So, they are all getting ready for that and making their home into a little MTC so that he can stay in missionary mode and get back out into the field as soon as possible. He will also be called as a ward missionary as soon as he is released from being a full time one so he will come out with us quite a bit probably which will be good. They also have two other sons that are about Andy and Cris's age, and them a daughter about 7ish. They are a great family, and we have fun with them. We feel very loved by them.

I love you all, and I look forward to next Monday. work hard at home, and know that  I will be working hard here. thank you for the package too! it was so great! I'm surprised that it got here so fast. haha but I love ya"ll and know that I'm proud of you. Thank you! 

Love, Elder Jorgensen

Mission Home Pics

October 7, 2013

We think these are all the missionaries that came in with Matt.

                                                          This is Pres. and Sis. Craven.

                                            Elder Mathue Jorgensen at the Mission Home

Get to work

                                                                                          October7, 2013

I agree. I would have loved to talk more, but there were only three phones, and 25 of us flying to Charlotte. but its okay. at first I didn't really like it here, but I'm liking it more and more. i think the hardest part so far in not knowing anyone and trying to remember their names. I'm so bad at remembering names! President and sister Craven are so nice and wonderful! they love us all so much, and they are so spiritual. they are not only interested in making good missionary's, but making good men and women. one of their favorite sayings is "today, tomorrow, and forever" like...no matter how hot it is outside, you should never roll your sleeves up. that's a today, tomorrow, and forever principal. I am in a companionship in Danville, Virginia.  I haven't noticed the humidity too much yet. It has gotten a little hot during the day, but not too bad.

As for being prepared for this, I don't think you can really anticipate exactly what it will be like. not that that's a bad thing, its just different from anything you have ever done. the biggest thing that i think would help the most is to do everything in seminary that you can. Don't just read the Book of Mormon, but study it and know the stories and what are in it. a huge thing that would help them so much is to have all the scripture masteries memorized and to know where they are!! I think besides having read the Book of Mormon is to know those. When we go into someones home, or we meet someone on the street, we need to share a message that will help them with the problems they are facing in their lives. If we can do that through the book of Mormon we can more easily let the spirit touch them, and better help them. but if they have a question about faith, and we don't know that in Alma 32:21 it says that faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things, we cant share that with them, and the spirit cant touch them. even though we are promised that in the very hour that we need it our mouths will be filled, if the spirit has nothing to pull from, how can it fill our mouths? 

and you will be happy to know that I have brushed my teeth every morning and night without fail! 

 

Thank you so much dad!! i love you so much!! That is so cool that they are starting that construction! where will the new ones be? in that torn up area kinda by your shop? and that is such a good idea for the heating! it sounds like a very conservative and useful use of their resources. will it generate alot of power? do you loose some of the effectiveness of the steam because of the turban?

Of course i think it is okay that you are doing this 5K thing! i think it is so cool, and it inspires me to do more! every morning we have workouts for 30min, and i don't really like doing that, but i have new found commitment to it knowing that you are working hard back home, i will work just as hard here to stay in shape and even when im tired or hurting, we will keep going and talking to people and spreading the truth. thank you so much for that!! i love you so much!! 

That is such a crazy firewood story, but that is so cool!! i cant believe that there is that much wood out back now! have they started to split and stack it yet? and yes, i can receive and sent pictures. i would love some of those pictures! 

thank you all so much for all of your prayers and everything headed my way! its so nice, and i love you all! its been slightly discouraging because i went on two exchanges my first week here in Danville, and it seems like thus far we having accomplished anything yet. i haven't even taught one lesson yet. our area in kind of dead right now, and we have no progressing investigators. but that's okay, don't worry. that just means that we have a lot of work to get done, and lots of people to talk to. Elder L and i have both made it our goal to kill it this week! we are going to work hard and help the spirit bring at least 10 people unto Christ this week! I'm so excited to finally be able to get to work this week, and feel like we are actually getting something done. i read the account of President Hinckley, and how he wrote home and said that he felt like he was wasting his time and his dads money but his dad said "forget yourself and go to work, and that was really good for me to hear. its time for me to forget myself and go to work.

Love you all!!

Elder Jorgensen

Love from Home

On Tue, Oct 1, 2013 at 1:13 AM,

Hey Elder Matt,
Boy it was so great to talk to you this morning! 9 minutes wasn't enough but I guess 90 wouldn't have been enough either. It was good to hear your voice. Paxten and Keasa loved talking to you as well. Your brothers were still asleep and there wasn't time to wake them, but we had talked the night before and this morning, They send all of their love and support. They were glad to here you sounded good and were excited.  I hope you loved flying. Paxten wanted to know how big your plane was. I told him it was huge. :)  Well your there now, a full time Ambassador of the Lord starting the service you have been prepared for. You will be Amazing!! We hope the next year and 11 1/2 months go by as fast as the last week did for you. ;) You will have to tell us all about the Mission home and Pres. Craven and his wife.  I'm sure they are nice. Are you in a companionship or a 3some? who is your trainer and where is he from?  Hows the humidity? Send us an address where we can send mail and packages ASAP.
Talon's farewell was yesterday, we went.people love you! He did a good job
So I forgot to ask you about your FB while you were on the phone. I would still like to clean it up and  check it for you. I don't know if you can remember what the new password you entered was or if you'll have to reset it. The thing is you can't access that email account to do anything. So I guess just let me know what you can that would be Awesome!!  
The game Friday was good we kind of told you about it on the phone, I want to give you all the details you want without making you homesick or feeling left out. Cris's senior year when you are here is going to Rock! Rigby is going to stay on top for awhile. We didn't play as well as we had the week before but the attitude has changed to a win no matter what instead of we can't pull this off.  "So what. Now what" is really making a difference. Refs, bad plays, so what, now what. Andy says the over all attitude of the players is better. they pick each other up and are better friends on and off the field. The score was 21-19. Drew Zagula carried the ball well and got one touch down. Hayden and Landon Larsen connected a few times a couple were Very pretty. 2 were  TDs.  Century had 2 or 3 quarterbacks. one could scramble, one could pass and one to hand off. it really kept our defense on its toes. But Norm totally handled it. We blocked a couple of PAT's and a crutcial punt. It was 18-19 at this point.  on the final drive Hayden put the ball in the middle of the field so Alan Caudillo could kick a field goal Then we drew Century off sides. so instead of kicking 27 yards they moved 5 yards closer. He nailed it no problem. It was also Alan's birthday! cool present! There was about 2 min left on the clock then so we defended 4 more downs then just stalled the min that was left. Hayden ran for 56 yards and completed 14 of 22 passes.  So this week we play Madison should be a good game- they are yet to win. Ririe got beat by firth last week 59-7. Their new coach isn't working out so well. ;)
I F beat Skyline in the emotion bowl 44-22. IF is really good this year. Bonneville is the only other team at 4A that is really good this year.  Blackfoot doesn't have much either.
Saturday we went and got wood. We went with Sorensen's and it was kinda fun. We filled Doug's big trailer then got about 3 rows in Floyd's dump trailer. There isn't much dead stuff left up there. We went a little further up than before and a lot of the land on one side is privately owned. And a mile or 2 further you run out of forest. it is just open ground and hills. We were suprised. So next year we will be hunting for a different place to go. But while we were waiting for Dad and Doug to fall a couple of trees, a guy drove up and said he had some ground on the other side that he was clearing an we could have all the wood he had already cut and didn't need. So Dad finished and Doug went and cut up about 1/2 a cord. Then the guy told them he would be back next week end and he would haul out all we wanted to cut. So we are going back up  this weekend to try and fill both trailers with some that's a little easier to get.  See blessings are already coming. ;)
Mrs. Thurber said to tell you Hi and that you did a Great job training Raina. She said they are in good hands till you come back. :)
I guess I'm walking/running my first 5K with Aunt Kara in 2 weeks. Think I can train as fast as you did?? ;0 I'm not a runner, as you know, but I told you before if you can do hard things so can I, and this is a Stretch for me! But I really hope to get better.  We are so Proud of you!!
I'm excited for conference this week end. I find it hard to believe that it was a year ago that Pres. Monson made that historic announcement that changed the age. And now look you are already serving. Wow what a difference a year makes. I find it a little exciting that you are out right now and that I have a piece of the almost 80,000 servants of the Lord. AMAZING!! and Awesome!!
I know your time is limited and I don't want to suck it all up with you reading. We are all fine. Love you so much. I hope your brothers get their emails off before your p-day. Can't wait to hear how you are and all about your first few days. Have you heard from others?

We Love you so much and pray for you every minute of  everyday! You are never far from our thoughts. Work hard and Brush your teeth! We Love you So much!
Love
Mom and Dad and Fam 

FB Nightmare

 This next couple are a little out of order
October 3,2013
So, i cant remember what i changed my facebook password to. I've spent like the past two days trying to think of what it might be, and i have tried so many things. can you think of it? and ideas or hints would be great! i thought i wrote it down somewhere by the computer for you maybe? idk. i would reset it, but because my facebook is connected to jorgensen7@q.com i cant access that email any more, therefore it wont let me do anything. thanks so much! talk to you Monday.

Letter from Pres. Craven

Thursday, 3 October 2013  
 
 
 
Dear Loved Ones of Elder Mathue Shane Jorgensen,
 
  Your son has arrived in the North Carolina Charlotte Mission. 

 He  has been assigned an outstanding companion

 to help him  grow and develop as a missionary.  

The people of North Carolina are wonderful and the 

members of the church love the missionaries. 

 We will work hard as a mission to assist him to 

become a successful servant of our Heavenly Father. 
  Your son will be serving in the Danville Ward 
  We love your son and look forward to serving with him.
 
 Sincerely,
 
Ronald L. Craven 
President
 

He's There

Dear Parents,                                                                    Sept. 30, 2013

Your missionary arrived safely in our mission today.  We are grateful for the sacrifice and hard work that has brought them to help serve the Lord in our mission. 

Pictures will be taken at the mission offices and a copy of that picture along with the name of their trainer companion and apartment address will be emailed to you within the next two weeks.

With Love,

Sister Andrus, Secretary
North Carolina Charlotte Mission

Travel plans

I fly out this Monday at 7:10 a.m. I fly into Atlanta at 12:47 their time, and then fly into Charlotte at 2:49 their time.

First Email to Matt and His Back Home

On Mon, Sep 23, 2013 at 12:05 AM

Hey Elder Jorgensen,
So I guess if your reading this its your first P-day! We all have a million questions but I know you don't have time to answer them all. I hope you have been getting our dearelder letters. Do you have your travel arrangements yet? I will send you a phone card this week. We need to know when to expect your call cuz everyone can't wait to hear your voice. If you have a lay over we can talk then too. Just need to know what to expect. :) So do you feel like you are figuring out the routine?

I'm grateful we could go to church today, even though it was hard without you, my spirit felt good. we got through it. I can see how each week we will look forward to that renewal more than before. It's nice to feel the spirit a little stronger. You are probably getting used to feeling it so much more.
I know you aren't the fastest typer and that you are limited on time, but try to give us all you can. :) It's true we really are hungry to hear from you, all of us.

We love you So very much- I wish there was a better way to convey it in a letter. We miss you every minute of the day but know so well this is where you should be. As I looked around church today and seen some of the men I know have served missions, I couldn't help but think Matt is going to Rock this! You will move mountains and touch so many hearts!! Keep working hard and know that we are praying for you always and Love you so much!!
WE Love you !!
Mom and Dad and Fam

hey everyone!!

today is my fist and only P-day here at the MTC. i am at the west campus of the MTC, and i am so grateful that i am. everyone here is so wonderful and nice. our teachers are amazing! my testimony has been able to grow so much. it has been hard, and we have alot of work to do even here. time management is so important. we are given between 2-6 hours of personal and companion study and planning every day. at first that was boring and hard to figure out how to use wisely, but now we find ourselves wishing that we had more. we have two investigators that we are teaching right now. their names are margaly and annie. they are wonderful, and so different in their individual needs. we pray for them every day, and both are steadily progressing. margaly has accepted the invitation to follow Christ and to be baptized and to receive the holy ghost. but the law of chastity seems to be holding her back. we hope and pray that we can help her make this important decision in her life. annie is very knowledgeable, and i think she believes everything that we have taught her so far. but because of family issues, she is also hesitant. but i can tell she wants to believe it, and she wants to follow her Savior.

i have been getting your dear elders, and also your packages. it is so nice to be able to receive mail every day. the cookies were amazing, and we all sat down and shared our food last night. i love the elders and sisters in my district. they are so wonderful and i have learned so much from them. elder Schoenfeld is my companion and he is great. i could not have asked for a better companion. his testimony is so strong, and he is the only member in his family. we have an elder in our zone who is the only member of his family as well, but he has only been a member for 18 months. he is so great. on Sunday i was asked to give one of the talks in sacrament meeting, and that was cool. it was on enduring to the end. you should read 2 nephi 31:20. it us a great scripture about enduring to the end. we have also been able to give three blessings so far, and that was way cool. we have learned so much about how the spirit talks to you, and how to listen. the biggest and one of the only ways to learn here is through receiving revelation for yourself and the others that you have keys over. the Book of Mormon and prayer are the two biggest ways to receive that revelation.

i have received my travel plans. i fly out the 30th at i believe around 7:00am. i don't have those with me, but i will mail you a letter with those details. i feel like i have figured out the routine now. the first days were so long and hard, but we have adjusted and have it pretty much figured out now. the days are flying by much faster now. 

thank you everyone for your prayers. 

thank you dad! i know what you said is true about the priesthood. we have already been able to give three blessings. one of those i gave to our district leader. one was to a sister in our district that was just having a really tough time. and one to one of our investigators. the spirit speaks to us continually, and we have learned how to better listen and receive that revelation. thank you for the example that you have set for me. one of the elders really struggled with giving a blessing, but because of what you have taught me, i was able to do it just fine. thank you for that. you have done well, and taught me well.  

 i read i scripture in D&C 100. its verse two, and i really liked it, and it comforted me. its a great verse, and i know it is true. Sundays are so amazing for us. they are just as busy as the other days, but its also a day to re-charge. we were so tired Saturday, but Sunday came, and we were rejuvenated and l know it helped our souls. most amazing day of the week. also, margally came to Church with us, and she loved it. Sunday we mostly have meetings and alot of study time in our class rooms. we also meet with our branch presidency. 

p.s. margaly and annie are real people, but not real investigators. they are our practice investigators. but, to us they are real, and we love them the same. we rejoice in their good decisions, and are devastated by their bad ones and when they don't follow through with commitments.   its getting colder here as well, and i had to buy a sweatshirt. buts its a cool one! we are rooming with one other companionship and they are great. the one companion is our district leader. everything is working great. i had a pair of pants rip on the side, but the alterations department took care of it for me. there is a big group of about 16 of us who will all fly together and who are all going to Charlotte. they are all in our branch. my companion is going to new york city north though. thank you for all your love and support. i love you all, and ill write you next p-day. if you could get me Tanner Fonnesbeck, Trent Stucki, and Jarrod Cooks emails that would be great. 

Dear Elder Week 2

Hey Elder Matt,                                                                        Sept.23, 2013
Well its on to a new week. Crazy busy like always. Keasa has preschool Mon, Tue, and Thur. Today she has a dentist appt. right after. So I will mail your bedding to the mission home today. I will stop and get a phone card as well. Cris forgot his cleats this morning so I will take those to him. It really is constant around here. :) It's all good- busy is good! 
I can't get into your facebook. can you send me the email and password? I was still cleaning it up and it got closed. Almost everyday something new would pop up so I just kept deleting pics and blocking. but now I can't get back in. 
It is totally fall here. The nights and mornings are getting cold. There is just that feel in the air. 
I will probably do Andy's senior pics this week sometime. He said the dead line is the 10th of Oct. So I kinda need to hurry. They have all sorts of restrictions this year he said. Like they cant have props and it has to just be from the waist up. No real personality. So we will see what we come up with. 
Well it's on with the day. We love you so so much!!
WE Love you! Work hard!
Love You,
Mom and Dad

Dear Elder/ Skyline game

Hey Elder Matt,                                                                     Sept. 21, 2013
We WON again!!!4-0!! 32-13. We started on D and saced the QB 3 times, backed them into our endzone. they punted it out and we scored on the very first offensive play. It was awesome!! we saced Zac 9 times in the first half. The refs were ok but we still had Way more penalties than they did. Andy played alot as it seemed we were always kicking it or punting. He had some great blocks. It was 13-7 at half time and they never scored again till they had a good pass at the end of the 3rd.  I got to the game at 530 and the seating was already limited. by 630 there were no seats left and the line was 100yards long. It stayed that way till the game started. the track had people sitting on it half way around on both sides. Crazy!! The playback screen worked just like you said it would, Couldn't see a thing till it got dark then it was pretty cool. Jp replayed some bad calls and a couple of great touchdowns.
I sent you off a package yesterday, just random stuff. Please don't hesitate telling me what you want or need. I think I will run out of ideas fast.:)
We are all doing good. The first 24 hours was really hard. But we don't want you anywhere else and know you are taken care of. Dad cried alot and you already knew I would and will.Your brothers cried more than I thought they would and they definitely feel your absence. So it's got to be nice to know they at least love and miss you! :) But they are proud and happy tears. We miss you too!! So very much!! We haven't missed family prayer and we are trying to make it a habit. It will be! I almost can't believe it has been nearly a week since your farewell. 
 Be obedient and work hard Heavenly Father will take care of the rest. We Love you!!
I seen Marcie Nelson's mom yesterday, she said Marcie's cousin John is headed to your mission in December. The Broulim's send their love and best wishes as well. So do the Taylor's, Peterson's and Livingston's. They all love you!
Work Hard as I know you already are!! We love You So SO much!! 
Mom and Dad

First Email Home

Dear Familly,                                                                                                            Sept. 19th, 2013
I am doing great here at the MTC West campus. There is such a feeling of love and peace here, and I am excited about the work. everyone is so nice and helpful here. It is harder than i anticipated it being, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. i also got to see Elder Riley Jorgensen for just a second this morning, and he is doing great. i love you all, and i hope your doing great back home!! ttyl :)

First Dear Elder

Dear Elder Matt,                                                                                   September 19, 2013
Well have you caught it yet? We are so Proud of you and Love you So much!!
 We got home just in time to drop Cris at Ravsten then home to drop the little ones off, Then ran back to the game. Cris played great!! He even got a few reps on Defense. We won 32-27. At one point we had a huge lead but gave it up. It was still a great game. Lets hope the varsity play as well. 
Please send us a note and tell us when your P-day will be. Just can't wait to hear from you! How are you feeling? Any more flu symptoms? Was your arm sore? How's the food? Did you get your suit to the cleaners? 
Is there any thing we can send you? 
Todd Hendricks says to tell you Hi. 
We love you So much and are Praying for you every minute. I will write again tomorrow. Praying for you to have a Great day! 
Love you!!
Mom and Dad

Farewell

Matt's Farewell was such a wonderful day. I was so excited for Matt that I couldn't even be emotional. I was nervous for him but excited. It was September 15th 2013. Our meeting started at 11:00. We actually got there a little early and many people we knew and love were already there. It was so fun to see all the people come to support Matt. We sat in the chapel and they had chairs set up like usual in the gym. 5-7 rows of chairs. By the time the meeting started the chairs were gone and they set up more and went to classrooms to find more. Our neighbor is the ward clerk and he said we had about 150 more people in attendance that day than usual. All of Matt's football coaches came. People who used to be in the ward but have since moved away were there. Family and Friends. Such Great friends!  So much love for him.   Matt spoke first and did a Fabulous job!! I just wanted to sit and soak up his spirit. I held it together very well till we sang "Called to Serve" at the close. It's been a couple years since I sang that song without tears and I expect it to be many more before I ever do again.  So many people to talk to afterward and I'm sure so many we missed. Then Lots of people came to the house to visit and eat. It was wonderful! The day was warm with a threat of  rain. So we were able to eat outside and the kids ran and played some football.  We figured about 130-150 people came over it was so great to talk and visit and share. So many Great friends!!

These were the only pictures I got that day. It was almost evening and the Williams girls came to just hang out and play ball for a few. It was perfect! Wish I had gotten more pictures of the people and the day.

The Call

  You are Hearby called to:

 

 Serve in the North Carolina Charlotte Mission. He enters the MTC in Provo on September 18, 2013

 Andy, Cris, Danny and Marceen Ferguson, Matt and Sadie Marley

 Bishop and Tandy Sutton

Onda K and Heather Hayes

 Marceen and Danny and Adam Hayes

Jori Ball and Jarrod Cook

Danny and Matt

 Matt and Cris

Conner, Abby and Josey Grover

Matt and Sadie Marley, Tresa Sorensen

So on Sunday Evening, July 30th Matt invited some of his close friends over and some close ward members he wanted to share the moment with. Grandma Call was on Facetime. I bought a map a few days before and we had everyone guess where they thought he would go while we were waiting for every one to arrive. Matt guessed Atlanta Georgia. It was funny his Dad and I both guessed foreign.Matt had so many there to support him, So many that were so excited for him. Our family room was overflowing!
I had made pies for refreshments. It was a great time.

Senior Trip to Seattle

Matt submitted his papers on Sunday night, June 16th. It was Father's day. President Foster said it was taking about 2 1/2 -3 weeks to get calls back. We had a packed couple of weeks planned. We left late at night Thursday the 20th for Seattle with the 3 oldest. Matt drove to Grammy Call's with me that morning and she watched Nate, Paxten, and Keasa while we were gone. Couldn't have done it with out her.  It was better than I ever could have imagined. Shane and I had so much fun watching those 3 interact and be brothers. I'm so glad we made that happen and wouldn't trade those 4 crazy packed days for anything!

 This was right in front of Pikes Place. (They had all just gotten new Oakleys and wanted to show them off.) This was Matt's favorite place. I think we went there 3 times in 3 days. We seen all the levels and all the shops.

 This was at the top of the Space Needle. We bought the city pass so we went up in the day and at night. Oh how I Love these boys!!

This was in front of the Gum Wall. It was under Pikes Place. Gross but cool.
 We came home at like 4 am on the 25th and the boys left for Encampment at 8am. I left to get Nate and the kids that afternoon. On the 27th I got the mail and there was Matt's call. As I pulled the envelope out I thought to myself "his call will come in an envelope like this."  I had no Idea that's what it was. As I looked at it I knew I was holding sacred paper. I cried and called Shane. Not 10 min had gone by and Matt called. I couldn't believe it. He wasn't supposed to use his phone at Encampment and what was I going to say? I think it went something like this- M- Hey. Me- Hey whats up? M- hmmm is my call there? Me- what?  Aaaahhh How did you know? I just barely pulled it out of the mailbox. M-hmmm ok Pres. Foster just talked to me and said it left Salt Lake Sunday.  (WOW a week to issue and send his call. Heavenly Father totally knew where he was going. He just needed Matt to be ready.) Me- ok so when so you want to open it? Matt- well I have to work Saturday and won't be home till Sunday Morning, so how about Sunday evening? Me- yep I think that works best. Are you scared? M- a little. Me- ok see ya soon Love you. M- Love you too.

I wouldn't have traded that time before we opened his call for anything in the World!! It was the perfect place as a Mom. I knew in that instance everything was perfect, He was worthy and about to be a preparing full time Missionary for the Lord. But my world hadn't changed yet, I knew the moment he opened that call Everything would change. I loved the Lull!