Week 13 --- #Halloween #casi3mesas

Squad! Well today is Halloween, but I can´t trick or treat, or anything like that... Bummer... and for your information casi3mesas means almost 3 months, because this Thursday is 3 months in the mission, I gotta stop keeping track, that´s your job, I think it´s just gonna make things go slower.  

Oh so funny story, my comp got bit by a dog, well that´s not funny, but because of a mission rule, we have to take a 2.5 hour bus ride to Mendoza 4 times, to get a rabies vaccine... Oh fun! 

Oh my goodness! So remember last week when I told you all about an investigator we found! Well I have some more news, he has attended 2 straight Sundays, for all 3 hours, and participates in the classes, and oh my, this is the best part, after 3 days reading the Book of Mormon, he told us that he knows it´s true without a doubt! ahhhhhhhhh! Why can´t all people be like this, oh yeah because that would be too easy. I´m so happy for him, and I´m so happy for him to be baptized. There is even a chance he can be baptized before the date we have right now, because he attends every Sunday, and he reads and prays everyday! It is so awesome!!! I love the work, honestly, not gonna lie, when he told me he knew the Book of Mormon was true, I started to cry a little, and I wasn't even ashamed. It´s amazing how the gospel has the ability to bring people together, seriously I met this kid like a week ago maybe a little more, and I fricking love him. He is the GIOAT (greatest investigator of all time) not really, because all my investigators are just as important to me.

So I ate at a Burger King today, just thought you should know I´m still living life to the fullest. 

I don´t even know what else to say, it´s been a little crazy. I´m a little sad to be honest, so I mentioned this awhile ago, but I´m in a biking area right now, and bikes are killer on the knees, and well some pre-existing knee problems, have come back,  and if it gets worse I might have to leave Albardon after my training, and I really don´t wanna leave Albardon yet, I love it here. So really that´s the only bad news I have at the moment.

Oh my goodness, so this last week we were in Mendoza for the second meeting for the missionaries in training, to go over some more stuff, and we got there early, for my comps vaccines, and so that afternoon, we got to do splits with the assistants to the Mission President. It was awesome, I went with an Elder named Elder Agyin, and let me tell you, he is un buen hombre. A really great missionary. Anyways that´s really all that happened this week. I love you all thanks for the support!

In these pictures you will see our new district after transfers, me and my comp with the assistants, and I ran into an Elder from St. George that I ran track with, so that was fun, he is the one farthest from me.

Week 12 --- First Transfer Finished

Well squad I have officially finished my first transfer in the field, and it's been wild. 

So to start, I'm gonna talk about the baptism we had this  past Saturday. It was awesome. This kid is the coolest. I'm so grateful I had the opportunity to baptize him. Oh! Also yesterday we had an investigator attend church, and this guy is seriously the coolest. He has already accepted a baptismal date! I can't wait, I honestly see a future Elder in this kid he is 19 and he is a stud. All the members went absolutely crazy about how smart he was, oh my goodness, I'm just so frickin excited to teach him. He has some serious potential. 

So we just found out transfers yesterday, and I'm pretty sure I talked about an Elder in my district last week, Elder Santos, well he's leaving, not gonna lie I'm a little sad. Also one of our Zone leaders is leaving, because he has a knee injury, so they're sending him to an area without bikes, to help his knee, and he was a swell guy not gonna lie, super funny. So I ate cow tongue the other day, not gonna lie it was weird. I'm not sure how I feel about it. 

So we were eating lunch at a members house yesterday, and we got to talking and all that jazz, and apparently they think that my Spanish has improved a lot since arriving. So that is good to know, because I still feel at times that I butcher everything I say, but I just think back to something my mission president said to me once, learning something new, and trying to track your progress, is like watching a tree grow, if you look at that tree everyday, you won't really notice a big difference, and it's the same with my Spanish, if everyday I think about my progression in Spanish I won't notice a big difference, but like with the tree, if I wait for a few weeks and look at it, I will notice the difference, like honestly I think back to when I first got here, and I was a lot worse than I am now, which honestly is hard to believe. 

Here's the good thing — I think I'm finally adjusted to the mission life, because the other day, I had some Oreos, and after I finished them, I got sad, and I missed them more than my family. So I guess I'm not as worried about home now, and I can focus all my efforts on the work!  Well squad thanks for all your support, quick shout out to a few people, the Courtright/Baugh fam, Jana, Dana, and Em, for supporting me, writing me, and giving my brother a job (and a place to stay), also Brandee, and my Jayden, but most importantly my mom, because she is the GOAT (greatest of all time).  You all have made the transition to the mission life so much easier, so thank you!!! Well I'm peacing out! Love you all! Stay sweet!

Elder Keaton Jorgensen

Argentina Mendoza Mission

Description of Photos:

1 baptism

2 baptism

3 nature and hiking

4 big white head . . . well it's just dope

5 nature and hiking

6 - ripped pants (my companion's fault) --- we were riding our bikes and my comp stopped suddenly right in front of me causing me to brake and swerve . . . I fell and ripped my pants  

7 - me and Elder Santos

Week 11 --- 21 months exactly until my return

Squad!!!!!!!!!!!! So like the title of the email says, 21 months until you all can rejoice in my return, I'm just playing but seriously already have almost 3 months in the mission, it's crazy how fast time flies! I am almost finished with half of my training! I still have a long way to go!!!!!! So last week we went on exchanges with Elder Santos and Elder Manuico, and let me tell you Elder Santos es un capo (a dope dude) He is from Brazil, but he also speaks really good English, so he's pretty much fluent in 3 languages, so that's pretty cool, but he is such a good missionary!!! 

So remember a while back I spoke of a 17 year old investigator, with 2 kids living with his girlfriend, well the other day my companion said maybe we should drop him as an investigator, because he wasn't progressing, because he needed to be married, but doesn't want to, well, I told him no, because we can't just give up that easy, but the other day we found his older brother, and he has accepted the invitation to baptism, so maybe this is just what we need, maybe he can help his younger brother progress further.

So this coming Saturday we have a baptism, and our investigator has asked me to baptize him, so I'm kinda happy right now, I'm so excited for him, and his decision to be baptized, he is such a bright kid. Not much else happened this past week, but this week I get to go back to Mendoza, to finish my legal stuff, so that's pretty cool, I love being in Mendoza. I had some more pretty dope stories and pictures, but I forgot my camera, so I will send those next week, and tell you about my experiences! Luckily one of the Elders in my district had some photos of us, so I sent those!!! Anyways all is well, my Spanish continues to progress, I think I'm doing alright. Sorry I don't have a whole lot to say this week, I've been pretty sick, and so it's been pretty tough, but I know that if I focus on the people, and love the people, that things will become much easier for me, because the mission has nothing to do with me, and everything to do with the people of Argentina, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This is the true Church of Jesus Christ, and I know I will be blessed through diligent service, I do love this gospel, and I'm so grateful to have the opportunity to share it every day. I love you all!

Elder Keaton Jorgensen

Argentina Mendoza Mission

Pictures:

1.  With Elder Santos (my favorite in my zone/district; he is from Brazil)

2.  left to right - Elder Santos, Elder Jorgensen, Elder Manuico, Elder Morgan (my companion/trainer)

3.  During a capilla abierta, it's pretty much an open house to learn about the gospel and our church; I taught about baptism

4. Just so you know, I'm working hard (fixing my bike) 

Week 10 --- Almost a month in Argentina

Squad! the first thing I wanna do in this email is give a shout out to mi padres, because it is their anniversary today! So this week has been pretty swell, I went into Mendoza to start some legal stuff, so I can stay here longer than 3 months, so that was pretty cool, and we had a bomb dinner at the house of ​the bishop down there. It was my first dinner of the mission. So my mom said I should talk about some weird food that I have had to eat here, but honestly everything I have eat​en here has been bomb!! 

​A​lthough I did eat leftover pig stuff, mostly just chunks of blood, they just cooked it up and put it on bread, it was a little weird​​. I have had some hard times this week though. One of our investigators that accepted the invitation to baptism no longer has a date, because he won't attend church, but also he is 17 living with his 16 year old girlfriend, and they have 2 little girls, and so he needs to marry her, if he wants to be baptised, but he really doesn't wanna get married. It has been so hard, I have prayed day after day, trying to find how I can help him realize the importance of marriage in the gospel, but we can't seem to get to him. However another investigator we have who is 9, is so ready for baptism, and on the 22​nd​ it's going down, now we have been focusing on his dad, who ​receives the lessons really well, and understands everything, we invited him to be ​baptized,   but he doesn't feel ready. Well things are going good, I love you all!

​

Here are some pics of some of my favorite foods, because they're hecka American!

Week 9 --- #2months #generalconference

So squad today is my 2 month mark, and for those keeping track, only 22 more or more like 21 and a half if we're being specific. 

So this week we didn't have as much proselyting time because Monday was Pday, Tuesday we had to go back to Centro for the first half of the day because my companion had to do a urine test, and Wednesday we had interviews with the mission president, but we still managed to find quite a bit of new investigators. I wanna talk about my interview with the mission president, because he told me I had to write home and tell everyone that he thinks I'm doing much better than most missionaries are at this point in their missions, so I guess I'm not doing too bad. 

OMG conference!!! I got to watch it in English, so that was pretty bomb, and I want everyone who actually reads this to send me an email with something they learned, or something that really stood out to them, but I'm also gonna share some things that I really liked from conference. I really liked this quote from Neil L. Andersen he said "Sharing the gospel rests upon us all" So not just missionaries, he also explained how we should all pray for an opportunity to stand as a witness of God. Also in Ballard's talk I like how he explained that if someone is thinking about leaving the church, he said ask yourself this question "where will you go?" Also saying that you need to remember what it was that first helped you gain a testimony of the gospel. So if any of you are struggling with your testimony, ask yourself where will you go if you leave the gospel, and then remember what it was that caused you to gain a testimony in the first place. Also in the last talk by Eyring in the Saturday afternoon session, he talked about counting our blessings, but one phrase that hit me harder than anything was this, “The greatest blessing we have is the feeling of forgiveness when we partake of the sacrament.” That is so true, when we take the sacrament and think about the atoning sacrifice of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and remember that he did that for us, so we could be forgiven. 

We are so blessed to be members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, let us not take for granted the many blessings we have received through the gospel of Jesus Christ. Think about the song "I Stand All Amazed" — are we really standing in amazement for the love our Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ have for us? If not, we certainly should be. We are blessed because of the gospel every day, whether we notice it or not. Show your gratitude for the many blessings we have, through service, and sharing the gospel with others, so they can receive these blessings, but also through prayer. I love you all, and it's great to hear from a lot of you each week. I'm peacing out! Keep on keeping on!

Elder Keaton Jorgensen

Argentina Mendoza Mission

So, here's some pictures; one is the gringos locked in a room alone to watch conference in English and the other is a pic my companion made me take in front of some vineyards. #Ihearditthroughthegrapevine

​