Argentina Mendoza Mission 2016-2018
Week 72 --- Transfers . . .
SQUAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So I have finished another transfer, 5 left. Soooooo I´m staying here as
District leader to finish training my companion. I´m pretty darn happy about
that.
So this week started off badddddddddddddddddd, until Thursday we
didn´t have any news, and we hadn´t taught like any lessons. Then we did
exchanges, the four of us in my area, and me and Elder Thompson went to work,
and the struggles continued, 2 hours walking in the heat, and nothing, so we
sat down to think of something to do, but instead we just prayed. After the
prayer the first place we went to we found 5 new people to teach, and one of
them said he considered himself Mormon because he used to go to church alllllll
the time, but never was baptized. We ended the day with 12 new investigators.
It was sick.
Also we had a sick asado (Argentina BBQ) because Elder Botehlo
finished a year in the mission, so that was fun. Sorry for such a short email,
I´ll do better next time BYE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-----
Elder Keaton Jorgensen
Argentina Mendoza Mission
Week 71 --- dat cheese doh
SQUAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sooooooo here´s the thing, we did some stuff this week, and now Ima tell y’all.
Sooooo We went on exchanges again right? I went with Elder Botehlo to start,
and we went to some guy we had met over a month ago, who had asked us for a
blessing, because he knew we had the power and authority to do it. For some
reason he stopped receiving the missionaries, so we went because me and Elder
Botehlo were the first 2 to talk to him. We talked very firmly with him, and he
admitted he knew our church was the only true church, but he said that he´s
gonna stay in the Catholic church... WHAT!?!? How can you knowwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
our church is true, and not follow in this path. I don´t know!!!!!!! I was
really frustrated.
Ohhhhh wanna know why I put dat
cheese doh as the subject. Well during exchanges we ordered a pizza and Elder
Botelho and my comp got sick, and the next day we had a special conference with
an area seventy, and my companion got a little sick, and threw up in front of
our mission president’s wife. So that was a little awkward.
Other cool thing, the other elders
in my district had a baptism this last Saturday, and I met their convert during
exchanges, and it was kinda weird because she asked me to baptize her. It was
pretty cool.
Also me and Elder Thompson, during
exchanges we did some service, and we spent 2 hours in a tiny room sanding the
walls. So that was pretty fun.
Well that´s all I got to share with
you lovely people this week, bye!!!!!!!!!!
---
Elder Keaton Jorgensen
Argentina Mendoza Mission
---
Elder Keaton Jorgensen
Argentina Mendoza Mission
Week 70 - BAPTISM!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SQUAD!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was crazy! This last week, things just kinda worked out, and we had a baptism!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So you know how a few weeks ago we baptized a little girl named Mia? Well Saturday we baptized her mom too!!!!! Go team. You know a lot of stuff was goin on, things that were pretty difficult, but you know what happens when we endure through tough times? God blesses us, and that is what happened. We are so darn happy. Soooo it was a weird week, we went on exchanges for 3 straight days, it was nuts, and it was raining every single day. It was sick, I was with Elder Botehlo, and we had pretty good success. One day we found 7 new people and set 4 new baptismal dates. It was pretty sick.
Ohhhh also when we were on exchanges, we were all in one area, and someone came and knocked on our door, and the four of us went to answer the door, and we opened it, there were 2 Jehovah Witness missionaries standing there, and this young man with a look of fear on his face, said " Ohhhh you´re Mormons" then he said sorry to bother you and they left. It was a pretty funny experience.
To end I just wanna share a scripture from D&C 97:
7 The ax is laid at the root
8 Verily I say unto you, all
9 For I, the Lord, will cause
I know that if we are willing to keep our covenants with God, with whatever sacrifice he requires, he will make us a fruitful tree. We will bring to pass much good in the world. I have experienced this more times than I can count during my mission.
Elder Keaton Jorgensen
Argentina Mendoza Mission
Bowling on P-Day!!!
Week 69 - I dun goofed
SQUAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! well another week down! GET SOME! So here's the thing, I goofed a lot this week, it was difficult to get through this week. I shattered some glass plates in our apartment, I spilled hot oil all over the counter, and when that happened I freaked out, then I started to spill it on myself, it burnnnnnnned!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So cool thing happened, Mia, the girl who was baptized a few weeks ago, she was finally confirmed yesterday. She has been really sick, and her family was moving, and if she moved she would have had to be baptized again, so we were like freaking out like super bad right, and sooooo we put in the work to get her to church, and it worked so we chillin now.
So we had this lady, Lorena, come to church with us, we have been teaching her for a while, she would already be baptized, but she has to get married. I swear that is the problem with 83% of our investigators. It´s a struggle. The thing is they've been together for 10 years, and the plan for them has always been to get married, sooooo I'm not sure what's holding them back. As my homie Beyoncé would say if you liked it then you should have put a ring on it. They need to follow the counsel given to us by this American icon.
Soooo that's all I got for this week, sorry for another short email, but at the end of this email I sent something that my companion shared with me recently, I invite you all to read it.
I love you all! BYE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
----------
Elder Keaton Jorgensen
Argentina Mendoza Mission
Week 68 --- Opposition in all things
"Opposition permits us to grow toward what our Heavenly Father would have us to become." -Elder Dallin H Oaks.
Squad. This has been a rough week. A lot of wear and tear on us spiritually. We started off the week really well, we were finding a lot of people, and things were just going good. We were supposed to have a baptism Saturday, but that didn’t happen. This guy passed his baptismal interview and everything, but he never showed up. So his name is Luis, and he has absolutely no one who is supporting him in his decision to be baptized. Literally only the missionaries support him, and every moment we aren’t there, people are telling him that he shouldn’t be baptized, and it seems like they finally got to him. I´m gonna be honest --- I´m super sad about it. This kid has a tough life, he needed to be baptized, he needed the gift of the Holy Ghost. It just hurts me, but I know as the quote at the beginning of this email. These trials will make not only him into the person that God wants him to be, but also I believe that us as missionaries will also become as God wants us to be. I´m so sorry that I don’t have a lot to say today, but know that I know that we have opposition so that we can become who we are supposed to be. This is the true church of Jesus Christ, he lives, and he loves us, and if we trust in him, we will always get past the opposition in our lives. I love you all, until next week!
Elder Keaton Jorgensen
Argentina Mendoza Mission
Week 67 --- The Power of the Book of Mormon
SQUAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now to end with a scripture D&C 11:8:
8 Verily, verily, I say unto you, even as you desire of me so it shall be done unto you; and, if you desire, you shall be the means of doing much good in this generation.
Now to end with a scripture D&C 11:8:
8 Verily, verily, I say unto you, even as you desire of me so it shall be done unto you; and, if you desire, you shall be the means of doing much good in this generation.
Let's do some good!
That´s all I got bye!
Elder Keaton Jorgensen
That´s all I got bye!
Elder Keaton Jorgensen
Argentina Mendoza Mission
Photos:
The trainers
The trainers
The new missionaries
and Elder Sharp, because he's a stud.
Week 66 --- Baptism...Transfers...
SQUAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Man I´m sooooo darn happy to be writing you this fine Monday morning. So this transfer I will be staying in Bermejo, and I will be training, so I´m pretty stoked not gonna lie. Guys I had a good week. My companion was sick, so we didn´t get to work as much as we would have liked, but we still had a really good week. So Saturday my pal Mia got baptized, she is a stud, right now we are working with her mom too, she has to get married, and then she will also be baptized, so we are pretty excited for a wedding, hopefully, and another baptism. Well now that I mention it, we are actually working 2 weddings. I´ve never had a wedding in my mission, but that´s the dream. Guys I have wasted all my time I´m sorry, and like I said we didn´t do a whole lot this week because my comp was sick, but I´ll at least leave y’all with some scripture.
Mosiah 4:27:
And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order.
And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order.
God wants us to be diligent, but he doesn't require us to do anything we can't do. So don´t be so hard on yourself, that´s something that I've learned a lot here.
That´s all I got. Bye!
--
Elder Keaton Jorgensen
Argentina Mendoza Mission
Mia's baptism
Mia's baptism
Week 65 - BAPTISM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SQUAD!!"Ñ%&$"·/$"!!!!%(%&
I apologize for that,
it was uncalled for, but I´m just so darn happy right now! So we had another
amazing week, we found another 23 new investigators, and Gabriel got baptized!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He had such a long journey to get there, he had a lot of problems. He was a
drinker, a smoker, he went to clubs with the ladies, he had 2 kids, and a
broken relationship with the mother. When he came to the missionaries he said
he had to change to be a better father for his kids. He stopped drinking,
smoking, going to the clubs. This experience has strengthened my testimony
about the power of the atonement, that no one is truly too far gone. It makes
me think of something President Uchtdorf said in a talk he gave a while back,
"Just as the Good Shepherd finds His lost sheep, if you will only lift up
your heart to the Savior of the world, He will find you." I absolutely
love this quote, and it applies to each and every one of us.
To make this baptism
happen was not an easy task. Satan was putting in the work to make it not
happen, the hardest part was getting Gabriel to his baptism, sooo it was a few
minutes before his baptism was supposed to start, and he still wasn´t there, so
we went to look for him. We get to his house, and a river had flooded everywhere,
sooo we had to find some higher ground and fight through weeds that were my
height, I fell into a ditch, then eventually we see him throwing bricks across
the water to make a path to walk, he took a while but eventually we all got out
and got to the baptism. We started almost an hour late, but it happened.
So interesting thing
happened this week, we meet this guy right, and he showed us a special plant in
his house... he grows his own marijuana. Then he explained all the different
ways to use it, he said he really likes to make brownies with it, and then
explained how one time when he made those weed brownies he left them on the
table to cool down, and when he got back little children had eaten half the
pan. So that was interesting...
Hey guys next week if
things go well we will have another baptism, sooooo we are pretty happy.
I also got to go on
exchanges with Elder Thompson, he´s the GOAT. I love that man.
That´s all I got this
week! BYE!!!!!!!!!!!!
Elder
Keaton Jorgensen
Argentina
Mendoza Mission
Description of photos:
Baptism
We
made empanadas again, cuz why not, we are really talented
weed
guy
Elder
Thompson
Week 64 --- What a week!
SQUAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
11 But Ammon said unto him: I do not boast in my own strength, nor in my own wisdom; but behold, my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God.
12 Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.
So I´m very grateful for all the help that God gives this companionship every day. Oh also remember Gabriel, that guy that we have helped with his lady problems, well if all goes well this week he will be baptized this coming Saturday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sooo we are pretty darn happy right now!
Also this area has had problems with getting investigators to go to church, but this transfer we have had 1 every week, and yesterday 4 people came. Things are just going so well.
Maria and Mia, the mother daughter combo, came to church, they love us sooo much, they brought cake for us to church, and if they come to church this Sunday, we will have another baptism next week.
Hey y’all I´m so sorry that this
wasn’t
a very long email, and that I don´t have pictures to send, I just kinda goofed off for a while, and now I´m out of time. I´ll try better next week. I love you all!!!!!!!!
---
Elder Keaton Jorgensen
Argentina Mendoza Mission
Note from Mom:
I received a photo from the companion's mother.
Note from Mom:
I received a photo from the companion's mother.
Week 63 - Que flippin Milagro!
SQUAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I just love talking to y’all every week, it was a swell week
I´m not gonna lie! Soooo I´m gonna just start off talking about Soccer, So I
don´t know how many of you are soccer fans, but I now am one, so I´m gonna
share a little about my team here in Argentina. They were close to missing the
world cup for the first time in like a really long time am I right, but then
Messi decided to score 3 goals, and took them to the world cup instead, I may
have caught a little of that game it was nuts. Unfortunately our beloved U.S.
soccer team did not make it.
But let’s get serious,
something super cool happened this last week, so I went on exchanges with ma
boi Elder Botelho, from Brazil, and well we started off the exchange losing the
phone, and it was late at night, so we couldn´t go look for it, and it might
have fallen out in a bus. So we went to bed and all that good stuff, then the
next day we spent half the day going to mission offices, twice, to get a new
phone. So we were all stressed out and stuff, then all the appointments fell
through, but we just kept on working, and at the end of the day an older dude
came up to us, and told us to come to his house now. So at first we were a
little freaked out, he wouldn´t really tell us why he wanted us to come to his
house, we both had a very weird feeling, but we both felt that we should go
anyway. So we get to his house, and he just tells us that he needs us to bless
him. He told us that he believes we have the power to do so. So I was able to
give this man a health blessing, and after, me and Elder Botelho both had a
strong impression to invite him to be baptized. Not only did he say yes, but
the following Sunday he went to church, and that almost never happens. I feel
it was indeed a miracle for us. I believe with all my heart that Elder Botelho
and myself were blessed for our diligence. I was very grateful for that.
So this Gabriel guy we
have been teaching the past few weeks is a fricking stud, he came to church
yesterday for the third week in a row. We´ve become his relationship
counselors, it's quite entertaining, but if all goes well, we will have a
baptism next week. He also needs to stop smoking, sooooo we´re working with
that.
To end this lovely
little email I´m gonna share 2 scriptures...
1 Nephi 2:15
15 And my father dwelt in a tent.
2 Nephi 5:27
27 And it came to pass that we lived after the manner
of happiness.
Now perhaps these 2
scriptures don´t make a lot of sense right now, but if we think about it, Nephi
and his family had many riches in Jerusalem, and they left everything behind,
and are now living in tents, only because they wanted to be obedient to God,
and as it says in the second scripture they lived happily. I testify that as we
are obedient to God we will be happy. We may not always have the coolest car,
or fanciest clothes, but we will be truly happy.
That´s all I got for
today bye!
--
Elder
Keaton Jorgensen
Argentina
Mendoza Mission
Description of Photos:
My
comp got a little ill...
Our
Pet Lou Lee
The empanadas we made
Week 62 --- It's a trap!
SQUAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Other thing that happened! So we met this one guy right, Alejandro, and he told us to come back that Saturday. So we went, and when he opened the door, he introduced us to his pastor, and so I started to think “It’s a trap!" So for the next hour this man insulted us, and even worse the church. That made me kinda sad not gonna lie.
What else happened? Ummmmmmmm... oh yeah, sooooooooo after this pastor thing, we went to visit a couple we had met a few days earlier, and well the guy was leaving, so we couldn´t have a lesson, but we chatted outside with his girlfriend, to invite her to church and what not, but then 2 of her cousins asked if I was single. It wasn't the first time it had happened, so I didn't think too much of it, but then it got kinda weird. We then invited all of them to church, and one of the cousins looked at me and said “I´ll go if I can be with you" and then winked. At this point I was very uncomfortable. Then they asked for my phone number, obviously I don't have one because I share a phone with my companion, so my comp said that, and wrote down our number and gave it to her, just to make me feel awkward. I was not a fan of this moment.
So recently everyone here has been telling me that I look like the Russian guy from Rocky 4. if you don´t know who that is, look him up and tell me if that's true.
Yesterday we didn't have lunch, so Saturday we bought a bunch of stuff, and we made empanadas, alone with no help, from scratch, the dough and everything. They were frickin good too!
Well that´s all I got for this week bye!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Elder Keaton Jorgensen
Argentina Mendoza Mission
Week 61 --- General Conference!
SQUAD!!!!!!!!!!! What a pleasure it is to be writing you this fine Monday morning. I hope you are all doing well! I´m doing great just in case you were wondering. So I´m gonna start off talking about General Conference, because I just can´t wait, man you don´t even know, every conference I have watched here in the mission, has made me love Conference more and more each time. It´s just so amazing how inspired the messages are. I would also love to hear some of your thoughts about conference, so if you would send me some of your conference highlights. I would appreciate it a lot. So I´m just gonna share a few of my favorite parts. In Bonnie Oscarson´s talk she talked a lot about service, something she said really hit me, it was something along the lines of, without service our lives are without purpose. She also said the reason we have a church is to form a community of saints. When I think of the word saint, I think of a holy person who is dedicated to blessing the lives of others, and we are saints in these latter days, so we should be devoted to doing exactly that, blessing the lives of others. She also mentioned something like this, that God obviously wants to help, and serve us, but sadly, because of His plan, he can´t come down and help someone every time someone is in need. So we need to do him a favor and do it for him. This reminds me of a few scriptures that I would like to share.
Mosiah 2:17
17 And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.
Matthew 25:35-40
35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
So you all gotta serve. I also loved Elder Holland´s talk, he talked about our potential to be perfect even as our Father in Heaven is perfect, but he explained something very important to us. He related it to a primary song, "I´m trying to be like Jesus" the key word there folks is TRYING, we are not perfect, and in this life we will never be perfect, we will always make mistakes, but we need not to feel bad, or discouraged about that, as long as we are trying we are chillin.
I also noticed that the Book of Mormon was talked about a lot this conference, and I´m not going to share a specific talk about it but I encourage all who have yet to receive a testimony of the church, or who are struggling with their testimony, to read the Book of Mormon, ponder and pray about the book, and I testify unto everyone of you, that you will know as I know that the book is true, and that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the true church upon the earth. I invite all of you to accept the Prophet´s invitation to read the Book of Mormon every day. It will change your life, as it has changed mine.
Now I´m gonna share very quickly a few things that went down this week, because I´m out of time. First, we had a gun fight right outside our apartment; Second, we helped one of our investigators hit on a girl on the bus, he got rejected; Third, we found a guy in the street, and we started talking, and he said the words I feel like there needs to be a restoration of the gospel, because it just isn´t the same anymore. We pulled out the pamphlet that said the Restoration. His mind was blown. Well I´m out of time, I love you all! BYE!!!!!!!!!
Elder Keaton Jorgensen
Argentina Mendoza Mission
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