Tempe continues to be awesome, I love it here. Each day is full of awesome experiences. Its tough, that's for sure, but I love it.
This week has been a little rough with lessons. We had 13 fall through....it gets annoying, but we just try to move through it. Everything happens for a reason and we just try to find other people in that area to teach.
It has been a pretty humbling week. So many of our investigators that we are teaching have been having some pretty trying times. Marshall and Shannon are taking care of 6 kids with hardly any money to their name, and it is tough to see them struggle. I have had so many people ask me, "Why are some people born into such hard lives and such hard circumstances when others seem to have it all." It has really made me think. Although I have never "had it all" in my life I have been extremely blessed. I have two loving parents that have always been there for me. I have awesome brothers and sisters who have always been amazing examples, and I have been given plenty of opportunities in this life. It is tough to see people going through such difficult circumstances. As I have been thinking a lot about this, Elder Nederhauser, an elder in my district, said something that really stuck to me. He said, "I have never seen so many people losing jobs, houses, or loved ones as I have on my mission. It is just proof that the Lord is preparing people to accept the restored gospel in their lives and receive so much more." It is so true. There are so many people that we come in contact with that are going through difficult times. It seems like everyone I meet is going through a trial that I have never had to face before. But it is true, the Lord is preparing them for so much more. The Gospel brings so many blessings to our lives, and the Lord is just putting them through these tough times so that when this light comes to their lives, they will so much more readily accept it. It is such a strong testimony builder that I am not here to prepare people for baptism, I am here to help the prepared reach baptism. It is awesome how the Lord places these people in our paths.
The last two days we have met some amazing people. The first one was David. David is a pretty big guy, he can't walk, and he has a breathing tube in his throat. He has definitely been through his fare share of trials. David came to the Trunk or Treat at the church because he got a flier and just wanted to bring some candy to help the little kids. He really had no idea what he was doing there, he just wanted to help out. We came up and introduced ourselves to him and he told us how he didn't know how much time he had left on the earth. He had heard a little bit about what the mormon church believes and he really wanted to be baptized. He said he wanted to take care of some things while on the earth while he still could. We told him that we would help him reach his goal of baptism and exchanged information. He told us to text him as soon as we could so we could set up a time to visit. When we got back to our apartment, I text him, and......wrong number..... so frustrating. He told us he lived in the Tempe apartments, which could be anywhere so Elder Hernandez and I were a little frustrated because he was definitely someone that the Lord had prepared for us. Yesterday as we were driving we drove right past the Tempe Apartments. We thought when he said Tempe apartments he just meant some apartments in Tempe, but turns out it is an actual name. So, we stopped by and knocked on his door. No one was there so we left a note with our number and told him he had given us the wrong number. Hopefully he got it and he will contact us shortly.
Another awesome person we met yesterday was Michelle. Michelle was just randomly sitting in church and told us she just felt that she should come by. She had been once before a while ago, but hadn't met with the missionaries for a long while. Neither Elder Hernandez or I had seen her before, so we introduced ourselves and started getting to know each other. After sacrament meeting we went to Gospel Principles class. There we talked about Temple work and how families can be together forever. She asked if she could do temple work for her family that had passed away, and we told her that she needed to be baptized. She thought about it for a while and then she said, "Alright then, how do I get baptized?" We set up appointments with her and we are going to visit her on Tuesday. I am excited to teach her and help her progress towards baptism.
Our other investigator Frank has been having some hold ups for baptism as well. He found out that he was on probation for sure, he just isn't sure what type it is. If it is a misdemeanor then we can go through with the baptism, but if it is a felony then he needs an interview with our mission president and needs first presidency approval. Hopefully that all gets figured out because he definitely wants to be baptized soon.
Every day we try to find new Spanish people to teach. Most of our work is in English right now, and whenever we find Spanish people to teach, our appointments fall through. We want to get the Spanish work right up there with the English, but it has been pretty difficult. Hopefully we will find some people that are really interested to teach soon. We have a pretty big family that we have been trying to teach, but every appointment we set up falls through. Hopefully one will actually work out sometime soon. Hopefully the Spanish work will catch fire.
The language is coming pretty good for me. Still nowhere near fluent, but progressing every day. It is nice to have Elder Hernandez as my companion. He helps me out a lot. He reminds me a ton of Edgar, so it has been pretty fun.
Anyway, all is well and I love it here. I hope everything is great at home. Hopefully the Hurricane isn't too bad and Cory and Darin are ok. Anyway I will talk to you soon.
Con Amor,
Elder Jurgensmeier
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