Week 6 in Texas

We were so happy to hear from Jesse today.  He seemed really upbeat and excited about his transfer this next week.  He is experiencing weather that is new him.  It was kind of exciting and weird, but I am sure it will get old really quick :)  Thank you for all your prayers in his behalf. He is truly being watched over and cared for by the Lord.

     Nothing really happened from Monday to Wednesday. On Thursday night, it was heavy rain and the temperature drooped 50 degree. When I woke up in the morning, there was an inch to two inches of ice on the ground. It was weird because it was white like snow, but all it was was a layer of ice. The grass froze straight up and the ice was on top and every time I took a step on the ice on the grass I could feel the ice sink but none of it was breaking. Even when i jumped it didn't break. So, we couldn't use the car for three days. Plus we have nothing to scrape the car off with.       
     Friday, the first day of ice, we went out tracting and knocked on one house and we talked with a guy for about 30 min. Then we got a text from the assistance to stay home. So we went home. The apartments that we were knocking were about a half mile from home. We get there and we played Monopoly. Then we get another call from the district leader and he said to knock the apartments around us for the day. We knocked on one and no one answered. Then we remembered that we had a dinner appointment at six at the E***** families house about 2 miles from the apartment. So we walked there and on the way there was this hill and there were three cars stuck on it. The first car almost made it but was still sliding back. The car behind was just tailgating and had to stop when the car in front got stuck and the third car got impatient of waiting at the bottom and tried to gun it and go around, but also got stuck where the second car was. All three of them were spinning their tires. We watched for a little bit, but then we got cold and hurried to the house. We got there at six and stayed there until nine.
     The next day was the same conditions, but it was colder with the wind. We went to some apartments about a mile away to knock doors then we got cold and we visited a less active. We talked for about half an hour and they invited us to dinner. We left and tried to go to an appointment next door to the house we ate dinner at the night before. Last night, we asked the sister that gave us dinner if she would go with us to the appointment. She said yes. So we went to her house first and we talked for about 2 hours with her family while she got ready. Then finally she was ready and we went to the house. With no one answering the door. (I don't like it when people say a time to come back and they are not home during that time.) So then we went back and ate dinner with the D***** family. By that time it was seven thirty and was too cold to do anything else so we went back to the apartment and played monopoly again.
     Then Sunday the roads were still bad so they cancelled church. We get a text from a lady named J**** telling us that she will be hosting a pioneer sacrament at her house. So we went there. She lives next to the E******. It was supposed to start at 11:30, but it didn't start until an hour later. We had to wait for the E******family. It lasted for two hours. It was cool. It was like an actual meeting. We had the sacrament and people gave talks including me. It was my first unexpected talk on my mission. After that we tried the neighbor again with no luck. Then we remembered we had to write a paper on how to be a successful missionary. So we studied at the E***** home until 5. Then J***** invited us over for dinner and we had dinner there.  We talked with her and her family until 11 and they gave us a ride home.
     Oh I almost forgot. On Friday I got a call to be transferred to Plano. It is an English speaking area. I leave on Tuesday. It is not to far from here. The area that I am in right now covers my new area.

I am really excited and ya I am happy to go to an English area. Hopefully I will be able to understand what people are saying.  I will be able to pick up the package tomorrow at the transfer meeting. 

      Oh, and guess what? I GOT MY BIKE PUT TOGETHER!

      I was really jealous of Mikaela this week. I have only ran twice since I have been here. Oh well, I think that Plano is a bike area so I will be able to get some endurance there. One thing that I forgot to mention to everyone is that we had a zone meeting and last month or the month before, they met some kind of goal that they had and President D***** gave everyone a signed autograph. He was not there at the meeting though. He signed some of them President D***** and some of them D***** D*****. I got one that said D***** D*****. How has your week been?
Well I hope that you all have a great week.

Week 5 in Texas

     Jesse had told us that President D***** said that the mission is heavy on Spanish speaking Elders and there are not enough English speakers. This next transfer he will be sending Spanish speakers to English areas for a couple of months or just permanently.  This is something that Jesse would like to do because he feels that the language is just not coming along.  We told him we would support him either way.  Please keep him in your prayers this week.  We want him to be happy serving the Lord.  I know Jesse feels of all your love and support for him.  It gets him through the tough times.  

     Not much really happened this week. It was really slow. No one was really around and we spent most of our time on knocking doors.
     The weather got nicer. It is in the 60's. It is a lot better then it was when it was in the 30's.
     For thanksgiving we got to eat two dinners. One at a investigators house. We didn't even know that they were going to feed us. They told us to come by at 5 on Thursday and we did. Then they sat us down at the table and we ate a turkey dinner. Then we had one that was planned at 6 at a members house. We had a Mexican soup and then they gave us cheesecake. That was a lot to eat in that one day. other than that the rest of the week nothing happened.
      If you have something that you want to send me I would hold off until next week when I get to talk to you again.  It is transfers and i don't know if i am staying or not. They have also said that missionaries are really bad at sending a box to the right missionary after they are gone because it is something extra that they have to do and it just ends up sitting in the apartment until the last possible second.
Thank you for all your support.
Jesse

Here is Jesse's Christmas Tree.  Thank you for sending messages to fill his tree :)

November 25th...Week 4 in Carrollton, Texas

     Sorry for not sending you a letter last week. The amount of time I can write depends on how many people need to use the computers in the library. Last week there were a lot of people so I only had an hour to write.  Also I wanted to send pictures. These computers don't accept cameras with cords. They accept flash drives and my camera doesn't do flash drive memory. So I accidently deleted the letter and I didn't notice until today. There are less people here than last week so I will try to answer all of the questions.

    I really can't remember what happened last week so I hope my mom put my letter I sent to her on the blog. I just first want to say thanks you all of your letters and packages. This week was very slow. Not much happened. It did get cold. We were getting our oil changed and the news was on in the waiting room. It said that there was a cold front and expect the temperature to drop 30 to 40 degrees in the next hour or so. It was low 70s and now it is low 30s. I really never expected Texas to get this cold. 

     Other than that there was only one other thing that was worth writing about. It was either last week or two weeks ago I wrote about an investigator we visited and he told us about his car and how he likes to street race. Well last Saturday we went over there and we knock on his door. He came to the door and asked who is it? (i hate it when people do that. Why don't they just open the door and ask. He was not the first one to do that but the others who have done it don't say anything back and don't answer the door anyway) We said the missionaries. Then he opened the door. We went in and we sat down in his living room. He then told us that now is not a good time for us to teach but then he said that he wants to hear our message but he has to deal with a few things. Then he told us that his father in law was kidnapped and is being held randsome for 1 million dollars. He said that the money is not a problem because he loves his family and that he has 6 million dollars. He is also scared that they will come to him. He says that he has three guns by the door. He then stands up and goes and gets one. One little fact right now is that he is a little on the drunk side. He comes back with a handgun and his finger on the trigger. He is just waving it around and saying that he has that for his protection and that he will shoot those (insert cuss word)'s in the face if they try to come in. He then sits down and says this isn't a toy. He cocks it and sets it down on the arm rest next to me and tells us that he was in the air force and knows how to use it. He then told us that he has an automatic that will cut the door in half. I kind of wanted him to get it but I was kind of scared for my life. We left him with a little message and left. 

     I don't know if we have anywhere to go for Thanksgiving dinner. Tell Mikaela good luck with the turkey trot. What kind of meal is it (we told him that we sent him a boxed chicken, mashed potatoes. gravy and biscuits type meal for Thanksgiving if he doesn't have a dinner appointment)? I don't really trust at all my cooking supplies. If i do eat at home it is either a sandwich or soup. I keep all of the bread and all my food that has been opened in the fridge and I only trust the plates and bowls if i get them out of the dishwasher. I have killed about five cockroaches. It is disgusting. I found some inside the house bug killer and I used it around the baseboards and just in some of the cracks near the floorboards and my companion got mad at me because he says I am freaking out over bugs and to get used to it because Texas is filled with bugs. I used it as we were leaving the apartment too.

    

 I had sent him a picture of our Christmas tree in our last email.

     Wow it looks like everything is set up for Christmas. I thought that we would do that after Thanksgiving. It looks good. I have been preparing for Christmas too. Ever since I found eggnog at the store I have gotten it. I think that in the last four weeks here I have drunken over a gallon of eggnog. Also pringles has their holiday special chips. It is white chocolate and pecan pie. The pecan pie is alright but the white chocolate is really good. You should get some. 

     I hope that you have a fun thanksgiving. You asked what I want for Christmas and I will tell you to get me nothing. You have already done so much for me. I will try to push through the hard times but I want you to have fun. 

    Well have a good week. Love you very much. 

Week 3 in Carrollton, Texas

No email from Jesse this week, but we did get a letter :)  Jesse and his companion are finding people who want to hear about the gospel, but they all turn out to be English speakers, so they can't teach them and have to give a referral to the English speaking missionaries in the area. He feels bad that he can't teach them :(

Dear Family,
     This week was really slow and not much has happened.  If I already told you this I'm sorry.  I met my first Jehovah Witness last week while tracting.  I thought it was goig to be like those horror storie I've heard about where it just goes into a big argument, but he was a really nice guy.  We told him that we believe that families can be together forever and he says that he believes the same thing.  Then he told us that he would like to research our church so we gave him the website.  Then he said he would like to hear more, but when his wife is not home.  We then gave his reference to the English missionaries.   I hope that everything goes well with him.
      Last Monday, we drove two elders to the church for sports.  They are on bikes and their area is farthest from the church.  They told us to make one stop on the way to a business called Project Sale.  One of their investigators works there and he told them that they could get name brand shoes for cheap.  We get to this big warehouse and go inside.  We met their investigator and he took us to the back with all of the shoes. The whole warehouse was filled with 3X3 foot boxes filled with shoes.  Then we just looked through the shoes and they were all brandnew.  They were selling all Nikes for $35 and most every other shoe for $25.  I tried looking for some Addias but they didn't have any.  I thought I was not going to buy anything, but then I found a really nice pair of Saconey.  It is not for running it is just a everyday shoe.  It looks nice.  I got it for $25.  The inside says sample not for resale.  One elder got a pair of bright orange Nikes and a pair of Under Armour.  The under armour pair is a basketball shoe with its symbol all over the shoe like a spider web.  The worker told us that the shoe was not sold in stores and just was a concept shoe made by Under Armour.  Later in the week I found out that one of the families I teach has a son who works there.  He told us that companies just donate their shoes to them and that really good marathon runner will only wear a pair of running shoes for oone race then they toss the shoes.  So Project Sole sets up a booth to take the shoes and wash them and sell those shoes in Bolivia.  But all the shoes they sold us say sample.  I just might get a new pair of running shoes from there.  I don't think Dad could get brand new shoes for $25.
     Well I think that that is it for my week except long drives to one dropped appointment to another.
           love you lots,
              Elder Jorgensen

P.S. Thank you for the box of greenie goodies.  They were good.

Letter from Jesse!!

We got out 1st handwritten letter from Jesse this week!! We were so excited.  He tells us so much more in his letter than he does emailing.  I am definitely encouraging him to handwrite more :)

Dear Family,
    How has your week been going?  It has been pretty hard for me.  Here are some of the better experiences for you to know about.
     I met a drunk guy last week.  He was from one of the South American countries.  I can't remember right now.  He told us about his days in the army there and how bad it is down there.  Then he taought my companion how to protect himself if a guy tries to rob you.
     Another story:  My companion was reffered to a guy during his last companionship.  We have tried to visit him, but either he is not home or he said that he was busy.  We knocked one time and he answered.  We told him that we have a message to share and he said one minute and went into another room.  When he left we saw in the middle of his apartment just walking around a pigeon.  He came back and said that he doesn't want to hear what we have to say.  We said OK then asked him about the pigeon. He told us that he fixed its wing and now it won't go away.  In that same complex on a different night be got booted.  It is a gated apartment complex and there is no visitor parking.  So we had to pay $100 to get the boot off.  We split it 50/50.
     I am in a town named Carrollton.  My area goes up to an area called Little Elm.  We don't go up there much because it is a rich area.  Yesterday when we went up there, there is an investigator in one of the poorer areas of town. He hadn't been visited in a while and this was my first time meeting him. We parked and all the houses look run down except for one that looked pretty nice.  He was doing work in his yard.  He was sealing up cracks to his house.  He told us that he is busy, but he wanted to show us around.  He showed us the outide of his house and then we started to walk next door where it was just an empty lot with a big fence around it.  He told us to look thorough on e of the holes in the wooden fence.  There were 2 trucks and a mustang body.  He told us that one of the trucks is a 2009 Ford F-550 tow truck and that the mustang is a '68 fastback.  He wants to restore and race, but he hasn't had time yet.  He then told us that he loves to race his cars.  Theat is when I noticed a brandnew Camero SS in his driveway.  He told us that he races that car.  We asked him where and he told us some of his street tracks.  Then he brought tus to the house next to the lot and he told us that he wants that house and he has told the owner that he will pay $50 grand in cash for it.  He will go up to $60, but no more.  He then said good-bye and went back to work. We got back into the car and my companion told me that he is obviously not poor.  It kind of reminded me of The Fast and the Ferious there.
     Those are my stories for the week.  Tell me about what is happening there.
                 Love you all,
                        Elder Jorgensen
P.S.  Did you get my package
P.P.S.  Don't mock my spelling
P.P.S.  That is pretty funny
P.P.P.S.  hahahaha

Weekly update- Week 2 in Texas

     Sorry, a little late getting this out. Things have been crazy at home going back on track :)  Please keep Jesse in your prayers as he gets used to being a missionary.  Thank you all for supporting him.  We feel your love for him when you ask about him and write to him.

     Things are hard as usual, but this week was better than last week. Not much is happening though. We talk to a lot of people. Then we set up appointments with them, go to their houses and they are either not there or they are busy. That kind of sucks. We spend most of the time driving to the different houses of investigators. It is hard because we can only teach those people that are Hispanic. If we teach another person that speaks English, we have to give them as referrals to the English missionaries. Then, all of the Hispanics we run into say that they work all the time. If we are not driving to an investigators house we visit the recently converted to followup or go to other members houses to give a short message.
     The food has been good. Every time we have had dinner it had been meat and tortillas. We did clean up the apartment some. I cleaned the kitchen and he vacuumed. We would not have even cleaned if it hadn't been raining and there was nothing else to do.
     I like my companion and he is a great guy, but there are just little things that bug me. Oh well, I will just have to get used to it.
Thank you for all of your support and I love you all.

1st week in Texas

     Wow! It was my first week in Texas. It is so much different than the MTC. The fist day here I did nothing but classes. Then all of the new missionaries slept at the zone leaders house. It was crazy because there were like 22 missionaries sleeping in one apartment. There were 5 bunk beds and the rest of the missionaries slept on the floor. It was crazy. Yes, I was one of them that slept on the floor.
     Then the next day we woke up and went to more classes. At about 12 I got my companion. His name is Elder P****. He is from California from Westminster city. He can speak fluent Spanish. After I met him we went to the mission office and picked up my bike. Then we drove to the apartment.
     The apartment is a mess. My companion said that he has never cleaned it up. It is really gross. Two days ago I finally did the dishes that were just sitting on the sink and I found mold on every one of the dishes. It stunk really bad. I put them in the dishwasher and washed them twice. Anyway back to my second day. After I got to the apartment I went to my first lesson. They cancelled so we went tracting and that went no where. We finally taught one house at 9:30. Then we took a missionary who is leaving that next day to his apartment. We didn't get back to my apartment until 11. That was a crazy day. Then the next couple of days went like this: woke up, studied, companion study, language study and then additional study. By then it is one and we start  appointments. Get home around 9:45 and then sleep. Most of the time we skip breakfast (because there are no clean dishes) and lunch (for the same reason)  I'm am grateful for the package my family sent me because if it were not for the stuff in there, i would have skipped dinner.
     We did have dinner appointments three times. The first time was my first day in the field. We had burritos at a members house. I was glad they were one white and 2 spoke English. The husband went on a mission to Puerto Rico and he married a girl he taught there. The food was good. For drink they had Brazilian lemonade (lemonade with condensed milk. it was really good) and for desert we had tremblaka.(it was a coconut pudding) that was really good. The other two dinner appointments were by native Mexicans and had authentic Mexican food there. It wasn't as good as the first appointment but it was still good.
     Sunday the meeting was all in Spanish and I could not understand a single word. Then we went out to appiontments with no luck at the doors.
     Oh, I almost forgot, on Halloween we were not allowed to go out after 5 so the zone had a party at a church and we watched The Other Side of Heaven. I like that movie.
     That was my first week. I hope that you all had a great Halloween.

Jesse is currently serving in the Carrolton 3 North area