POLAR EXPRESS WARD CHRISTMAS PARTY
Dec. 20, 2015
Ward Christmas Program
The ward Christmas program was full of warmth, music and love. Ali Lydall orchestrated a combination of piano, violin, solos quartets and more. It was marvelous!!
MISSIONARY MEMORIES
ELDER JORGENSON
Heyo!
Hope all is going well with you guys! This has been a crazy week. We found out Elder Helco is being transferred Dec. 2nd. He's going to Milwaukee! Psyched for him. So I guess what we're all wondering is who my new companion is... well so am I! We found out that I am getting to TRAIN!! This is the craziest thing and I feel kind of overwhelmed but I'm getting a missionary straight out of the MTC. So tomorrow night I get to drive down to Milwaukee and find out who it is! I'm actually really nervous hahaha. I hope he's not quiet because I don't know if I can handle doing all the talking. All I can say is he'd better be a dang good missionary cause I'm still working on it!
This has been an absolutely crazy week even on top of that. We spent a lot of time visiting and having Elder Helco say goodbye to all the various people he needed to. But on Friday we had an awesome lesson with our investigator Michelle, and her two sons got interested and joined halfway through which was a miracle to her haha. They've shown very little interest in religion in the past. Anyways then best of all they came to church on Sunday! Michelle and her 9-year-old son Cody. And they loved it! We'll be going back to teach again on Thursday and hopefully they'll keep coming. Cody is a brilliant kid, he remembered every single thing we taught him, the primary teacher told us in church that he recited the Joseph Smith story by heart (I feel like half the adults we teach can't do that haha). Then later Sunday night we had a super spiritual lesson with Amanda and we set a baptism date with her! So hopefully her and her 11-year-old son Austin will be ready by their baptism date - January 2nd. We're super psyched for everything that's going on here! Although Elder Helco is disappointed that all this awesome stuff is happening right as he leaves haha.
I don't know what else to say other than that! Love you all and miss you and if you have any words of encouragement I could use em! :) Talk to you soon!
~~Elder Jorgensen
414 East D St.
Iron Mountain, MI 49801
I realized I didn't even talk about Thanksgiving and since like 10 of you asked how it was I suppose I'll tell ya. Completely forgot about it, it feels so long ago! Pretty much everyone loves to have missionaries over for holidays (because we're awesome) so we had two Thanksgiving dinners on Thursday and then another one on Friday for lunch. So I'm all Thanksgiving-ed out to say the least. We've still got leftovers sitting in the fridge but they'll probably be there a while haha. Love y'all! Talk to you next week!
From Elder Dylan Draper:
Hey guys!
Meet Elder Harmon, my trainee from San Tan Valley, AZ. I guess he brought the Arizona heat with him up here because all our snow melted. He's a total goofball though. It's great. It's been a crazy week! Between Tuesday and Wednesday I did about 15 hours of driving. Had to go to Milwaukee to pick up Elder Harmon, fresh off the plane, which is normally like a 4.5 (?) hour drive but I had to pick up other Elders, ferry luggage around, and drive to Crystal Falls to pick up another house key because we lost ours. (Long story). But... we got a new car so I'm not complaining much! It's a 2016 Nissan Frontier and I have already driven that thing into the ground. Not to bash on the Jeep but... the Jeep kinda sucked. :)
Great week for missionary work though! Being senior comp now I have been really struggling to fill time. So we've been doing a lot of tracting. But right now we probably have more promising investigators than this area has had in years! It's been tough and waking up at 6:30 every morning will probably stay tough my whole mission but it's been worth it! I have developed such a love for God and for this work that I'm doing. This truly is His work and His glory: "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." I know that if I can help even one person along the path to eternal life, then these two years will be more than worth it!
Love ya'll a ton, and thanks for everything! Feel free to send Christmas cards!!
Elder Jorgensen
414 East D St.
Iron Mountain, MI 49801
Hey all!
Seems like this week has gone by so quick. We've done more tracting in this week than I think I did the whole first three months. :) training a new missionary has definitely been an experience! Right now I'm really working on getting him to pipe up during lessons because he really does have great thoughts and scriptural knowledge. I can remember being a new missionary and being super uncomfortable in teaching situations so I can relate. It's tough doing all the talking though... I got a super sore throat on Thursday but luckily it's a bit better now!
Lots of trials happening right now but let me tell you, one thing that has kept me going is prayer! I don't think I could fall asleep at night without first kneeling down by my bed and offering up everything that's in my heart. I can testify that this is the first and one of the biggest steps to lasting conversion! Developing a personal relationship with our Savior was the topic for my farewell address in Sacrament meeting, and it really is something that is of the greatest importance. I've seen it in the first few months of my mission and will continue to testify of it for the rest of my life. As missionaries we absolutely love stumbling upon people who already have a good relationship with God because it makes it that much easier for them to get an answer from Him about our message and its divinity.
Lots of fun stuff happening right now! We've got a much better investigator pool than we've had in a while, and things are going great! I can't think of much to say about it but I really do love the people I'm working with right now and want what's best for them. Thank you guys for everything! Have a great week!!
Elder Jorgensen
414 E D St.
Iron Mountain, MI 49801
Hey all!
This week's been awesome. Although I'm sad to say... we had a brown Christmas. Coming from Utah to upper Michigan I expected it to be colder but apparently not! From what I hear we've had a record breaking warm winter, at least in the past several decades. Climate change anyone? I miss Utah.
But anyways Christmas was awesome! The Newman family invited us over for a surprise breakfast, which we happily accepted and when we got there we were presented with stockings packed full of candy to the brim. It'll legit last me at least until next Christmas haha. We spent some time with the Darleys, who are a really solid young family who we love to talk to. Skyped our families over there and had a nice Christmas dinner with a few of their friends, played some games, shared a Christmas message, etc. Then Saturday and Sunday were back to hard work!
We've been loving this season and the opportunity it gives us to testify of Christ everywhere we go. And it's just wonderful how any gospel discussion can be so easily related to the message of the Restoration. The gospel is simple truth and it all works together! We've seen a lot of success tracting and contacting lately - although a majority of them said "stop by after the holidays" - but I'm convinced the field is white here in Iron Mountain and now we're just awaiting the harvest!
Speaking of which, we were able to set two baptism dates this week. Amanda and her friend Justin are preparing themselves to be baptized on February 20th! It's a ways off but we're beyond excited.
Anyways I hope your Christmas was as great as mine, and I hope you all took the chance to strengthen your foundation in Christ at this holiday season. I love y'all and I'll talk to you next week!
~Elder Jorgensen
414 East D St
Iron Mountain, MI 49801
From Elder Dylan Draper:
Hi all,
We had a great week in Wilhelmsburg.
The coolest thing that happened this week is that two investigators
came to church. One of them has moved to Germany from Iran. He
believes in Christ and was seeking freedom. We had one appointment
with him and invited him to come to church. One of our ward members is
actually from Iran and is a big help all over the mission where these
people are being found. He helps us with translation and is
responsible for a class where he teaches in Farsi who Jesus Christ is.
We had another investigator there as well, that we invited to come to
church on the street. We asked him what he did for Christmas and he
sells light up stars at the Weihnachtsmarkt. He tried to sell us some,
but we didn't want to buy any because they were so expensive. We
talked to him another time the next day and found out that he pretty
much hates America. That conversation didn't end well, but he came
nonetheless.
Other than that, it was a pretty normal missionary week. Lots of
appointments. Lots of fallen out appointments...yeah.
I just would like to say how happy I am that God has a plan. I am not
sure where I would be right now without this knowledge. I am grateful
for a Redeemer that was prepared from the beginning to stand with us
and lift us up. I truly know that there is no salvation except it be
through Christ.
Elder Draper
Hi All, Hi All,
I forgot to mention a very important detail last week. Elder Smith was transferred to Osnabrück. My new companion is Elder Jaburek. He is from Wels in Austria. We get along really well. He has been out for about 3 months.
We were traveling a lot this week. We had a special appointment in Cottbus. We basically rode trains the whole week.
We had a Christmas party in the ward. It was really interesting. I got to play the violin a few times.
My district is kind of funny. It is only my companion and I and five sisters. I am definitely not used to that.
On transfer day, I got to spent some time with one of my MTC companions, Elder Hall, as we waited for our companions to come in. That was pretty fun.
We had a great lesson with an investigator that just moved here from Iran. He is really just a wonderful man. I have really high hopes for him.
Anyway... I know it's not a whole lot, but it was transfer week.
Again, I would like to mention the "small and simple things," especially the scriptures. (Alma 37:6-7) Through scriptures and prayer I have really seen the love that the Lord has for me. Through them and earnest prayer, the Lord has taught me in His own way. Not the way that I expected to be taught, but the way that I needed. I have seen the potential that the Lord has given us, for me and for these to whom I am called. In times of late, nothing has moved me as much as the word of God. I have found comfort and assurance. I can promise this to anyone who seeks these things if he would only search and pray.
Mit freundlichen Grüßen,
Elder Draper
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