Week 14: I got hit by a truck

Familia!

So we got the calls last night for transfers, Elder Hernandez and I are staying in Tempe for another Transfer, except this transfer he is District Leader.

It was a pretty crazy week, Thanksgiving really wasn't all too bad on the food side. Our first dinner cancelled, so we pretty much just had one main one and then one at night. The whole zone went to eat at the Matheson home, it was awesome. I did pretty well on limiting myself on the food to save up room for the next meal, but when the desert came out I lost it... There was just so much, and it all looked so good. haha. I'm pretty sure I gained like 5 lbs....but its all good I have a long time to work it off.

Friday morning I got hit by a truck.... hahah it was AWESOME! So every morning Elder Hernandez and I go for a run to the gym, workout, and then run back. Friday on the way to the gym out of nowhere I just trip and eat it, I think it was the Turkey from the day before. So after I tripped I felt pretty retarded because I know I'm not that uncoordinated, but nonetheless we just went on with our workout. On the way home we were running south (back to our home) and the light for the road running east and west turned red, meaning that we could cross. So, being pretty close to home I was pushing it pretty hard (I had to run off those pounds from the day before) and I stepped out into the road. Out of the corner of my eye I see a silver truck coming right for me. He was turning right and was going to do one of those slow down/run a red light to turn right moves. As I saw him coming for me I planted my hand on the hood of his truck, jumped, slid/rolled across the hood (meanwhile yelling "Get off me truck!") landed on my feet, and just kept running home like nothing happened. I'm sure there is a scene somewhere in the Mission Impossible movies that if fairly similar. Elder Hernandez was behind me and the guy slammed on his brakes and he said the guy was freaking out. He said the guy just looked like he was in shock. I'm sure he thought he thought he almost killed me, but we just kept running like nothing happened. As we turned into our apartment complex quite a ways away, the guy was still sitting there in his truck. He was pretty scared I guess...haha. Either way though it was awesome. I had just jumped over a truck pretty much.... I had so much adrenaline haha. I told elder Hernandez we might as well put it to good use and keep running, but he wouldn't let us because he was tired. I said, "Man, I just got hit by a truck and you're the one tired? come on..." I took pity on him and we just went in the house haha. So ya, I think jumping and sliding across the hood of a moving truck, landing on your feet, and keeping running made up for my trip on the way to the school. I didn't feel like so much of a retard after doing all of that. When we got back to the apartment Elder Hernandez said, "Man, you're mom is going to hate me. She is going to think that I am causing all of this trouble with you." Don't worry mom, he is probably the one keeping me alive. Plus the Lord is protecting me as well. He just knows I want some good stories for my kids, so He is letting me have them. The next day my hip was pretty sore, but all in all it was worth it. I would have a sore hip for that story any day.

Church was also pretty interesting yesterday. Last week we met this man named John. He ran up to us one night and asked if we could give him a blessing. He said that there were spirits from his Island that had followed him and he wanted them gone. So we decided what the heck, we can bless his home for him. We go in the home and the place is covered in bugs. I probably saw at least 100 in the two minutes we were there. I don't think that he felt spirits in his home, I just think bugs were crawling all over him... Anyway, he came to church yesterday. We figured he was a little different, but yesterday confirmed it. In Priesthood class we were talking about becoming converted to Christ and the things that we can do to become more converted. Throughout the class he said these things "It's like a cowboy! Pshue! Pshue!" "Its like a store. If you have a good store and it looks nice you can sell a lot of fruit. Life is short." "I can fly. Not by a plane, but myself. I fly myself. It's like a marble." "My sister has a fan, its like one of the Japanese ones. If you fan yourself with it there is food, food you can eat. If you are in the desert and use the fan you can eat the food that comes. Next 

week when the angels come down I will get one for you." and then to end it all the teacher asked what we learned about how we could become more converted for ourselves and he raised his hand and said, "We are on our own, I am going to Mechanic School." It was an interesting day..... haha this week was full of interesting experiences.

As for the missionary work though I really feel as if it is picking up, especially on the Spanish side. This week we had 6 investigators come to church for Spanish and 1 for English. The 6 in Spanish are pretty solid. They all have a desire to learn and change and I really hope that Elder Hernandez and I can do our part to help them do this. One of the family's specifically has a lot of potential. We had two lessons with them prior to this week and they still weren't real sure if they wanted to go to church, read the scriptures, or pray. Our last lesson with them they just kept complaining about how their life was so hard and they didn't understand why. Elder Hernandez and I were able to teach a pretty bold lesson with them that pretty much changed their whole outlook. We said look, life is hard, and we are promised divine help if we do our part. You can't expect God to take time to help you if you don't take time to do your part. God knows what we need before we ask, but he expects us to do our part and ask. We promised them blessings if they would start living the life that they knew they should. We promised them that if they read the scriptures, came to church, and prayed things really would get easier. It has been awesome to see them change over the last couple days. As they have done these things there has been a visible change in the entire family. You can tell they are happier, you can tell that things are going easier for them. That is something that I have really grown a testimony about while being on the mission. At the end of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus talks about how If we seek the Kingdom of God first, all things that we need will be given unto us. As I have been able to teach people who are struggling in life, and as they have changed their life around to first seek the Kingdom of God, it is incredible how visible the change is. God really will help us when we do our part. The mission is probably one of the most difficult things I have ever done, but I have also received more help than I have ever had in my life. As I have tried to make the Gospel my life, God has blessed me with so much more than I ever thought possible. I love this work, and I am so thankful for the opportunity to do it. It is awesome to see all of my friends getting calls to serve. It will honestly be one of the biggest blessings in their lives. I can't even begin to explain how it has blessed me so far.

I hope all is well at home, I love you all. Take care.

Con Amor,

Elder Jurgensmeier

Week 13: Baptism!

Familia!

This week was a pretty awesome week. We were able to get a lot of things accomplished. We haven't really had too many Spanish lessons since I have been here, but this week we definitely stepped it up. I can't remember the exact number of lessons we had in Spanish, but I'm pretty sure that it was around 10. It is still hard to teach in Spanish because I can't express myself like I want to, but I know its coming along. Each day I get better at it, so I guess that is a plus. Its still pretty frustrating, but I guess I just need to be more patient.

Frank's baptism was AWESOME. Definitely an experience that I will always remember. Throughout the whole thing I just kept thinking about the scripture that talks about how great your joy will be if you bring only one person into the Kingdom of God, and my joy was definitely full. It is awesome to see how the Gospel really can change lives. Frank went from someone who wasn't happy and always questioning why he was here and what he was doing, to a person who has a plan. A person who knows why he is here and the things he needs to do in this life. It was awesome to see his life change and the joy that he experienced as he was able to come closer to Christ. I am so thankful that I was able to be a part of that. Every day I am so thankful to be on this mission to help Gods children, my brothers and sisters.

Yesterday Frank asked me if I would confirm him a member of the church and give him the blessing to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. It was definitely a very spiritual experience. The Holy Ghost has been such a huge blessing in my life. I think that when I was younger I didn't realize what a blessing that it really was. As I have been out here on this mission I have seen how hard this life can be. I have seen people who struggle and who have no hope. The Holy Ghost is there to solve that, and there aren't too many gifts that we receive that are better that this. Now Frank has the Holy Ghost as a constant companion, a constant guide in this life. Through those tough times that come up in life, Frank will have a helping hand to guide him through and a comforter when life gets hard. It was a privilege to use the power of the priesthood that I have been given and help him receive such an awesome gift.

Also this week I don't think I have ever ran into so many crazies before. Man, the ghetto is full of them. A couple days ago Elder Hernandez and I were street contacting a bunch of people. A few of them said they didn't even want to hear us talk and so we just left them with some invitations to the Mesa Temple lights. One of the guys that was there said, "Hey guys, I would like to learn a little more about your religion. I have always been interested in what the Mormons believe." So he had us follow him to another area to teach him. We started to talk about the restoration and a few of the things that we believed. Not sure how, but somehow he changed the subject to the constitution and a bunch of other things. He told us for the past 13 years of his life he has been reading the constitution and studying about our government. He read us off a list of 8 people that needed to die to get rid of the "beast" that now lives in our country. I don't remember the names, but I'm worried for them haha. This guy was a creep, and the ghetto that is in our area is full of people just like him. It provides for some pretty good entertainment.

Usually our preparation day is on Mondays, but today we just get time to email and shop, then it is back to proselyting. However, Thursday we get all day off for Thanksgiving. We already have three dinners planned............ I have three main goals on this mission. #1 Help others to come unto Christ #2 Strengthen my testimony and become more converted to Christ #3 Don't get fat. So far I have been doing pretty good on all of them I think, but Thanksgiving is going to be tough to keep #3. We are pretty much eating all day, so wish me luck..... Hopefully it all goes to pure muscle.... haha

Anyway all is well here, I'm loving it. I miss you all and take care,
Con Amor,
Elder Jurgensmeier

Week 12: Arizona gets cold too

Familia!

Sorry, I'm not going to have a ton of time to write this week. Since it was Veterans day yesterday the library is closed, so a member let us into the church to use the family history center computers. He has to stay the whole time we are here and he has to go in a few so we have to be quick.

So....Arizona gets pretty chilly too. Kinda lame. I was looking forward to 70 degree winters, but I'm not sure that will be happening. I also think the mission has turned me a little weird. I used to hate the heat and love the cold, but now I am starting to switch. It was 60 the other day and I was freezing....hopefully I get back to normal soon because 60 would have been perfect at home.

So this week I learned a pretty important lesson. Never let a guy who is high, smoking, and drinking oil up your companions bike chain. So earlier in the week Elder Hernandez and I were biking around one of our areas. All of a sudden I hear this man screaming for us to stop, so I starting thinking, "Awesome, I'm going to have one of those sweet experiences where this guy yells at us to stop because he wants to change his life around and he will be baptized in two weeks." but it was a little different.... We walked over there and he looked at Elder Hernandez and said, "Man, your bike is in awful condition, let me lube up your chain for you." So we thought why not, we had a few extra minutes and he was going to do it for free. We started talking to the man and then a few of his friends came that were pretty interested in the church. We started talking to his friends a little about the church and some of our beliefs. It had been about 20 minutes since the guy started to oil the bike chain, so we turned around to go see how it went and the bike was in pieces haha. He had taken nearly the whole front of the bike apart and said that he was going to fix it up all the way for him.... so instead of a quick 2 minute chain oil, we had an hour and a half stop trying to help this drunk, high man figure out how to put the bike back together.... it was quite the experience, but hey, now I know.

Last Tuesday we went on splits with our English ward. We have been visiting a girl named Nichole, and she has been very interested in the church. Tuesday we had a lesson set up with Nichole, so I went with Brother Wong, one of the members. We had a pretty good lesson about the plan of salvation and how there are certain things that we need to do while on the earth so that we can live with God again. I challenged her to be baptized on the 24th of this month and she excepted. I was pretty stoked. Bad deal is she got sick this weekend and couldn't come to church so we are going to have to push her date back another week so she can come to church twice. Either way it was pretty sweet. It was my first time pretty much doing a lesson solo and having it go so well.

We have tried to work a lot with Michelle this week, but nothing has been working out. She wants to be baptized so bad, but there are a few things in the way. She told us she was an alcoholic, but in the previous weeks she hadn't had any problems with it. This week we went over for one of our lessons and she was completely drunk. She started bawling and told us she wasn't a bad person she just fell short sometimes. We assured her that she was a good person and that we all have trials to overcome. We told her we would come back the next day. So the next we go back and she is drunk again....turns out she is a bigger alcoholic than we thought. It is sad because her family knows that she wants to quit, yet they provide her with the beer. We talked to her boyfriend that showed up to do some work around the house and he said he didn't drink. We asked if we could throw away all of the alcohol in the house and he said yes, so we did. Hopefully next time we go by she is sober so we can figure out a plan to help her out. I know that if she wants God will provide a way for her to overcome this challenge, but the key is first she must have the desire to help herself.

Frank's baptism is this week, I am pretty stoked for it. I will have to let you know how it went next week when I have more time.

As for the work, it gets pretty frustrating sometimes. We have had so many appointments fall through. Yesterday was stake conference and it was a broadcast from Salt Lake for all of Arizona. Elder Holland talked about all of the temples and how the missionary work is going to increase so much. The Tempe mission limit for missionaries was at 190, but now they bumped it up to 250. The work is going to explode here and I am stoked for it, I just can't wait until it does. Elder Holland talked about how the best way for missionary work to progress is through the members. It is so true. I hope that members listen so that this work will take off like it can.

Anyway, everyone is leaving, so I better go.

Love you all,
Con Amor,
Elder Jurgensmeier

Week 11: Tempe Life

Familia!

I can't believe that I have already been here for three weeks, time is flying by... for the most part haha. Last night I decided to give my self my first haircut....ya, it is as bad as it sounds haha but its all good. It has two years to grow out.

Things have been good this week, we have had a little bit more success. Things were pretty tough the first couple weeks. Elder Hernandez and I were white washed into this area (neither of us had been here before) and not much was going on. The first week it was pretty hard because we had to find everyone that we were going to teach. It seemed like no matter who we taught, they always had doubts or problems preventing them from baptism or coming closer to Christ. About a week and a half ago I knelt down and had a pretty good talk with God. I told him that the way I looked at it I was going to be on my mission for two years no matter what. I said that I could just go through with it and get it done, or I could actually help people and share the gospel with those I come in contact with. I promised Him that I was going to do all that I could, every single day of my mission. I was going to be 100% obedient so that He could trust me with His children and place them in my path. I promised him that when I met someone, I would do everything that I could to help them and I promised that He could trust me. The next day we went to church and met Michelle, the lady that just randomly felt like she needed to come to church. This week we had three lessons with her and challenged her to be baptized on the 17th. She accepted, but unfortunately we found out that there are some things that need to be taken care of before then. I know that God has a plan for everyone and things will happen at the perfect time. Although there are problems now, I know that God will help her overcome them. Even if she is not baptized on the 17th like she would like, I know that she will be soon, and that God can provide a way. And who knows, maybe he will provide that way for the 17th to work out.

To add to that little bit of success, Frank is being baptized on the 17th. He is on probation, so we thought we were going to have to wait, but turns out it is only a misdemeanor probation. Luckily, that means that we don't have to wait. Frank is the first person that I met on the mission and I can't wait for him to be baptized. He has had a tough life and it is amazing to see how he has changed it around. He is trying to follow the example of Christ in all that he does and I know that baptism is going to help him out so much. This week we were able to take him to the Mesa temple and go through the visitors center with him. It was an awesome experience. We watched the movie Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration, and after he told us that he was so excited to be baptized. I love this work and the opportunity I have to see lives change.

The Spanish work is picking up a little bit, but still not quite to the point that I would like. We have been teaching a few people who are pretty interested. It is still tough for me because I can't say everything that I would like to, but I am getting better at the language every day. I think I am to the point where I don't understand every word that they say, but I get the overall message. I can't wait until I get to the point where I don't have to think about every word that I say. I know that it may be a long ways off, but the Lord will help me get there. I just have to be patient....which can be very difficult.

The other day we were walking in the streets and stopped to talk to this guy who just got home from work. His name is Kid and he kept telling Elder Hernandez how much he liked his tie. Elder Hernandez said, "I'll tell you what, if we can come by Monday night and teach a lesson I will give you this tie." The man agreed, and so we are heading there tonight. He is very family oriented and says that He has a "weird" view on the bible. Hopefully we have a good lesson with them tonight and can find out a little more about them. Hopefully he isn't just letting us come over for the tie either haha. I'm pretty sure he is legitimately interested though because he was going to let us come over before Elder Hernandez told him he would give him the tie, that just sealed the deal haha.

Anyway, all is well. I am so thankful for this mission and the opportunity I have to serve. The lord's work is the most important work and it is awesome to be able to dedicate two years of my life to it. I hope all is well at home, good to hear Cory and Darin are fine.

I love you all!
Con Amor,
Elder Jurgensmeier