Mission Moment - Week 6

Buenos dias familia y amigos!

It has been probably the best week of my life (sarcasm). Meetings and classes all day every day is the work here. This is my last week here in Mexico, and then I leave to Chile on Monday at 3 pm. My flight is basically 6pm to 6am, so you best know I´ll be taking the longest nap I have ever had in my entire life on that flight. No layovers, and 2 meals. Fun times!

We have had a couple of incidents happen this week inside the district that has been pretty hard for us. I found out that two of our guys were having a VERY hard time and actually wanted to go home really bad. I set up meetings for them this week and now they are going to be serving there full mission to the best of their ability. I hope that the words that I gave them will be enough to keep them on the path. I love my district very much and I only want the best for them.

I also had a talk with Sister Bennett this week (the mtc president´s wife) she decided that it was necessary to tell our district that we were not ready to serve our missions. Needless to say there was a lot of backlash against that and I had to sit down and explain the situation of our district to her. She is very one-sided when it comes to a lot of things I had to say and tell her but as of now we are all on good terms. Who knew district leader would be this hard!

I hope everyone is doing well! I´m doing so well, each and every day is a grind but I know that it will be worth it in the end. I´m grateful for everyone and their emails they send! Keep sending them!

Keep working hard and don´t give up on anything, the end is always better than the beginning.

Mucho amor, 

--

Elder Jackson N. Jorgensen

Missionary Moment - Week 5

I'm so sorry for the late message everyone. The internet here keeps going on and off.

This week has been absolutely crazy! Our new district holds our new zone leaders now which is totally cool with me. Being district leader has taken a lot out of me, working every single day 16 hours a day non stop is pretty tiring. The two that got called are super nice and I'm grateful for their willingness to serve.

I learned a lot of things this week. Mostly about my abilities as a missionary and a human being. I really love this work and everything I'm learning but sometimes it gets so crazy I just have to leave the class for a second to breath. It can be pretty overwhelming but I'm killin it every day. The devotionals have been harder and harder for me to stay awake in. And that's new for me because I usually am pretty good about staying awake.

I'm tired of the food at this point. Rice with corn gets old after 4 weeks. We lost another district on Monday. My really good friend Siausi Nemotolu from Eastmont was in that district and we got to hang out a ton. I know they will be hard workers and serve the Lord with all they have. 

Other than all that I'm really good. Tired but good. Pictures will come soon. 

And don't forget to email me! I love hearing from all of you even if I'm not able to respond to all of you. I love all of you guys, I hope all is well!

Mucho amor, 

Elder Jorgensen

Thursdays

Thursdays are an entirely new normal for me.

I legit check my email box every 3.9 seconds. 

No joke.

I get very little done besides checking my email box every 3.9 seconds to see if my Bubba has emailed me yet.

Last night, Colton and I met with the Bishop.

Bishop asked Colton how he was handling Brother being gone.

Colton said, "It's really jacked me up!!"

Ditto, Buddy. 

Ditto.

Missionary Update - Week 4

Buenos tardes! Sorry for the late email everybody! This week as well as today has been pretty hectic.

First, what a week it has been. Classes and meetings everyday, 16 hours a day per usual. I had no sleep the night of new years because mexicans are super loud and they like their explosives! We had a couple really good devotionals and I took a ton of notes in those. We all have just about two more weeks here then we all head out to our individual missions. Wow has time flown by.

There's been a couple of issues considering my district. There have been some times where some guys have really struggled with the obedience and diligence part of the rules here and I am the one that gets the scolding since I'm the leader. I do what I can but sometimes that isn't always enough and that's okay. I know I'm doing my best. An issue I was having with another missionary should be resolved now and he is doing better. He just wasn't getting along with anyone including his companion.

We lost one of our latino districts on monday and that was kind of hard.We were all very close and I'll miss them helping with my spanish when I needed the help the most. We got a new gringo district in our zone however so now we have some people to help out which is good. My district has decided to help out in the kitchen with dishes after every meal and I think that by doing that we are doing a good deed. I love the thought and the action of service.

Other than all of that I have been having a blast. We lose our zone leaders on tuesday and some new ones will be called. They say it might be me and my companion but we'll see. I'm not too sure. And pertaining to all the emails, to Pops, I am indeed getting your emails. They always make me smile so keep em coming! I love you all! And I miss you all! Talk to you soon!

--

Elder Jackson N. Jorgensen

Missionary Moment - Mexico City MTC

Buenos dias! I hope everyone is doing well! I've got a lot to say so let's hop into it.

First, I hope that everyone had an amazing Christmas, mine was definitely different than what I'm used to obviously. We had a really good time though and I'm grateful to have had 

the experience of having a Christmas in the MTC. We had some really good food, and we beat the devil out of piñatas. I took a piece of the piñata I busted and wore it as a trophy

for the rest of the day. Needless to say I got a decent amount of looks of all kinds and a few sweet words from some hermanas. Later that day we also had the chance to listen to 

David A. Bednar talk to us for a Christmas devotional. Super awesome stuff! I took a couple pages of notes from that, so my next talk is going to be stacked with quotes and scriptures.

Other than that, Christmas was alright. It was a new experience for me and I wouldn't take it back for the world.

Second, my compañero and I now have a source from the outside of the MTC that supplies us with 4, 3 liter bottles of Coke and Mountain Dew. In order to get them we have to run a covert-op 

mission at 3 in the morning to grab and go. That's pretty difficult when all mexicans are night owls and you have two gringos full on sprinting down the road like a couple of drunk guys trying not to make noise.

BUT we haven't gotten caught yet and we don't plan to because carbonation here is seriously like the fountain of youth in a bottle.

Third thing, and also the last thing, I want to hear what everyone is up to! I need more emails to supply my P day with. I love hearing from you guys and it gives me something to do. Besides that, thank you all for the Christmas wishes.

This week has been a tough one with the language, I'm understanding a lot better but the pronunciation from my mouth seems to get whiter and whiter every time I speak. I miss you all and I hope you are all doing well. The temperature here is still in the high 70s, pretty rough huh (pops). My companion and I are killing the game! I hope to hear from you guys soon! I'll be back on the computer to update and do some personal emails a little later. Stay strong, doubt your doubts, endure to the end. With love!

--

Elder Jackson N. Jorgensen

Sunday Snapshot

Grandma Tina recommended that we take a Sunday Snapshot each week while Elder Jorgensen is gone.

We missed the first Sunday.

Let's face it -- I was a hot mess express.

But every Monday, I will post our Sunday Snapshot.

Tomorrow morning, I get to talk to my boy!!!!!

Merry Christmas!

Missionary Update - Week One Chile Vina Del Mar Mission

 Hola! Como estas! So first I want to say thank you for everyone who writes me and I hope I will still continue to get those awesome letters and emails from you guys. Wow, so much has happened in this past week I don't even know where to start. Well firstly, literally our first day here I was called to be a district leader for my group of about ten guys or so. Elder Millward, my companion, assistant, and best friend here has been so so amazing! We work really well together and are constantly quoting different quotes and disney sayings. I definitely think we'll have a life long relationship as good buds. Second, I'm responsible for different meetings that we have like 5 or 6 times a week, that has been a little stressful. They all have to be in spanish which is not the stressful part, the hard part is trying to be able to choose what to say and who to say it to. 

    This past week has been definitely the hardest week of my life but also the easiest week of my life. I'm pretty good at spanish at this point and I'm only about a week in which is such a blessing. I sent a christmas letter in the mail just a couple days ago so I hope it comes soon. Apparently mail takes a hot sec to get to Utah from here but it's whatever, hopefully it comes in one piece! Speaking of packages, I can't get packages from Utah but you guys can get on some website and order stuff from our store here in mexico. Super cheap, really good stuff, just sayin. The food here in the comedor, cafeteria, is seriously way good and lunches are always the best. It's their main meal here in mexico. I love you guys and I hope you are all doing well. I'll check back later today for any responses. Hopefully this email is getting to everybody on the list, please please email me, it will keep me occupied on my P-day. I'm going to try and send some pics, hopefully they'll go through. Stay strong, doubt your doubts, endure to the end, I'll talk to you guys soon!

    P.S. thank you Kaydon and Braxton for the small video you sent me from Coldstone, love you two, give Colt my love and tell him I miss him. Hopefully you like that picture. I was crying like 5 minutes before that picture, LOL.

Elder Jorgensen Update

The boys and I had such a tender mercy yesterday, and again this morning.

I don’t yet have an email from Elder Jorgensen. However, I know that his P-Day is on Thursdays and that they don’t have a P-Day the first week. We should be getting our first email this Thursday!

The boys and I had such a tender mercy yesterday, and another one this morning. Yesterday, I received an email from Elder Watson. He is a member of the Branch Presidency. He first told me that everything was okay with my son. Phew! Then he asked me to call his son, Adam, who lives in Syracuse. He said that Adam had something for me. I called him and he asked if he could drop the item off at 10 last night. I said sure, hung up, but then panicked (Heidi style) and texted him to see if Braxton could pick it up earlier. He said that he could meet Braxton when he went to pick up Kaydon from work at 10. In the meantime, I received another email from Elder Watson telling me that he had promised Elder Jorgensen that he would call me before Wednesday. I responded by asking if my kid was okay. I was assured that he was. Last night, Adam met with Kaydon and Braxton. He gave them a gift bag with two gift cards and a framed picture of my boy with his companion. That picture filled the gaping hole in my heart. And, I know that it did the same for my boys.

This morning, I received a call from Elder Watson. He informed me that Elder Jorgensen was called as District Leader on Thursday. Jackson arrived late Tuesday night! He said that he has never called anyone to District Leader that quickly, but that he felt such a strong impression that he couldn’t deny. Elder Jorgensen is responsible for 12 elders. There are not any sisters in his district. Elder Watson told me that his companion is very supportive and always has a smile on his face. He said that they get along great. He said that in all his time at the MTC, he has never seen a district so cohesive, unified and close. He expressed several times how much he loves Elder Jorgensen and how impressed he is. He told me that he interviewed Elder Jorgensen Wednesday and again yesterday. He said that most missionaries are homesick by the first Sunday after arriving. He said that my boy was not homesick, but became very emotional during the interview, expressing his concern for me and his brothers. He said that he just wanted to know that his mom is okay and that each brother is okay. I gave Elder Watson updates to give to Elder Jorgensen this Wednesday when he meets with him.

That is the update that I have for today. Enjoy the picture!