The Lord will keep his promise to me

Written Febuary 24, 2014

Dear Mom, Dad, and Family,

Thank you so much for all the pictures from you. We are no longer allowed to look at our email during the week any more, but it was great to see all the pictures that you sent me. I love it! 

I am so happy that Cris was able to fight hard and win one of his matches. I know that as he continues to trust In The Lord and work hard, he will strengthen him. We talked a lot about faith in church yesterday, especially in Elders Quorum. Most of the people in this ward are pretty well off. They have really good jobs, nice homes, and a great family. One of them was saying that his family will always ask him how he is so successful. He said it is really simple, "all I do is trust in The Lord. I do what I need to be doing, strive to keep the commandments, and help others. Then I trust The Lord (have hope) that The Lord will keep his promise with me. Just as he promised the Nephites, As long as ye keep my commandments, ye shall prosper in the land." I know that that principle is true. It applies to everything that we do. I think of Josey, and the amazing basketball/volleyball player that she was. I know a large portion of why she was so good is because she strived to live the commandments, and she worked as hard as she could to do her best. With god all things are possible. 

I'm sad to hear that Rigby's basketball team isn't doing too well, but hopefully next year they will be able to do really well. A. mission is hard. Way harder than I ever Imagined it being. I can see how many people are not able to stick it out. But, I know that when The Lord said "My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes." That he meant it. These little things that jeep in our lives are small moments. We can endure them well, learn from them, and have them make us a better person, or we can shrink and have no reward. Things get hard, but sometimes The Lord brings us low so that he can lift us higher. I know that is true. It never really gets any easier. But then, it wasn't supposed to get easier. What good does it do you if you lift 200 pounds, and then go back to a couple reps of 50? You only grow when it is hard. 

Connie Peterson is an amazing person. She is so talented, and such a great friend to us all. I love how big her heart is. That is so great to hear that Joe and Jacob both are preparing to serve missions. I know there is nothing greater that they could do. I am so happy to hear that Andy is in mission prep mode. I would encourage him to do several things.

1. Read the Book of Mormon cover to cover, including the introduction/testimonies 

2. Read all the way through and then study from preach my gospel every day. 

3. Read Doctrine and Covenants 121. Pay special and close attention to 33-46. We have those verses memorized as a mission, that is how important that they are. 

4. Memorize Doctrine and Covenants 4

But the most important of all of those to do is to read all the way through preach my gospel.

I am so happy to hear that you and dad are being more involved in missionary work as well. That is so great. I know that you and dad could all study from preach my gospel, and it would really help all of you and do the most to prepare all of you for missions. Probably more than anything else. I have not seen the march edition of the ensign yet, but I can't wait. I also can't wait for it to be time to watch conference again as well! So exciting to think that on just a short while we will be able to hear from a prophet of god an chosen apostles. It's like the same as If Moses or Noah were to stand up and speak to us. Crazy!! 

We we had the opportunity to have like 3 exchanges here this week, which was great. I love to be able to be with the leadership of the mission. They are so inspiring and great. We also were able to find some new investigators and meet some really great people. Thank you so much for all your prayers. The peoples hearts are softening. I love the idea that you had to pray about that. Good idea. 

I love you all so much, and can't wait to see you all on Mother's Day!! 

Love,

Elder Jorgensen