Week 2: August 29

Hola Familia,

 

It's insane how fast time is going. I can't believe that I have already been here two weeks.....well when I look back it seems like ages ago that you dropped me off, but each day flies by. I have learned so much and am so thankful to be here.

 

It was a little bit of a bitter sweet week. The oldest district in our zone all headed out to their fields earlier this week and I'm going to miss them for sure. They were all amazing misisonaries that had their mind set on the mission. They knew why they were here and were ready to get out there and serve. I became really good friends with a few of them, so it was tough to see them leave, but I am excited for them. Before they left we had a testimony meeting in their room with the entire zone. It's incredible how powerful simple testimonies can be when you testify with all of your heart. That's the main thing that I have learned while in the MTC. Even though I struggle with the language, when it comes to testifying of things that I know to be true, the spirit is always present. The other day we had a work shop where a guy from France came and told us about his conversion story. He said that he was converted by a missionary who had just left the MTC. He said that he had absolutely no idea what the missionary was telling him because his French was terrible, but the missionary testified with his heart. This misisonary knew what he was saying to be true, and even though there was a language barrier, this man felt Christ's love through the missionary. I am so excited to get to Tempe and serve. I know that I will not be anywhere near fluent with the language, but I know why I am out here. I know the message that we bring is true, without a doubt and I hope that through the spirit, my investigators will be able to feel the truthfulness of what I say.

 

This week with school starting at BYU, most of the teacher's schedules had to change. This made it so Hermano Finley and Hermana Contreas were not our teachers anymore. They were both amazing teachers, and so we all weren't too excited about the whole switch. Our new teachers are Hermano Jarmen and Hermano Anderson. They both have extreemely different styles of teaching than our previous two, but I'm sure that I will be able to learn a lot from them either way. Hermano Jarmen is from Arizona. He said he knew Bryce from somewhere as well, but I can't remember where he said.

 

The language is coming along, surely but slowly. We finished teaching our first "invetigator" last week, and so this week we are teaching two completely new "invetigators." One of them is Miguel, and he is insane. His wife and children are members, and he said that he knows everything about the Gospel and thinks its good. The only problem is he absolutely hates the Book of Mormon. He is extremely difficult to talk to, but I'm thankful that I am getting this experience here in the MTC so that when I'm out in the field I will hopefully know how to handel situations like this better. Teaching is still very frustrating. There are so many things that I want to say at certain times in the lesson that I dont know how. However, I know that with time the language will come. Yesterday we were walking back from lunch and two sisters stoped us. Their teacher was having them practice street contacts, and so they practiced on us. After, one of the sisters saw that we were speaking Spanish, and she was fluent, so she asked us to bear our testimonies. I was surprised on how much I could actually say. I went on for almost 5 minutes on things that I knew, and was surprised at all I knew how to say. I know that I am being blessed here at the MTC, especially with the language. It is frustrating at times, but I know that it will come.

 

I can't express how glad I am that I am on a misson right now. The Gospel brings me so much joy and I am so excited to share this joy with the people I meet. I have learned and grown so much in these short two weeks that I have been here and I can't imagine where I will be two years from now.

 

I love you all and look forward to hearing from you all soon.

 

Con Amor,

 

Elder Jurgensmeier 

Week 1: August 22

Hola Familia!

 

I love it here at the MTC. I have learned and grown do much already and am so thankful for the opportunity that I have to serve the lord. The first few days were rough. Our teacher, Hermano Finnlay only speaks spanish to us, so it was a little rough not being able to understand him. It's incredible how powerful the gift of tounges really is though. So much has come back to me that I learned in High School. I now find myself being able to understand almost everything that people say in spanish, I'm still just not sure how to respond. The days are long and full of classes. I never though I could be so exhausted, but its a good exhaustion. Everything has started to get better though and I am more used to the schedule and how things work around here.  

 

My companion is Elder Nelson. He is a stud.....but a little different haha. I love him though and have learned so much from him. He is from Henderson, Nevada, but his dad is in the military, so he travels the country. This summer he lived in DC, so he has had a lot of experiences in different areas. I have honestly learned so much from him though. He has such a strong testimony, and its always nice to have him around. He also has diabetes (not positive about the spelling) so we have a fridge in our room....kinda nice, we can keep things fresh you know? haha.

 

So far we have taught three lessons in spanish. At first they were very rough, but they have gotten better each time. Our "investegator" is Sandra, and she is Jewish so we have been teaching her about Christ and His love for her. We pretty much wrote out a script our first lesson, and it went well until we realized we were done and had only been in there five minutes. We asked her if she had any questions about Christ, which may not have been the smartest thing to do because even though I could understand the questions I had no idea how to answer them in Spanish. Even though our language isn't as great as it will be in the futures, its still an amazing opportunity. No matter how terrible our language may be right now, when we testify of the things that we know to be true the spirit is so strong. Even though there is a language barrior between us and Sandra, she can feel things when we testify. Its crazy how excited I get about teaching her. I know that she is a member and already knows everything that we have been telling her, but when her character grasps a concept and has a desire to learn more it brings so much joy in my life. I can't imagine how pumped I will be once I'm in Tempe teaching real investegators.

 

We have also had the opportunity to have several devotionals. Last night we were able to hear from Elder Neil A. Anderson. He answered a lot of my questions that I have had about my mission. He gave us a list of 10 things as missionaries we should do. My favorite was #10. He told us that we needed to testify of Christ, everywhere we go. I know that this is why I am out here. Our purpose as missionaries is to bring others closer to Christ by Faith in him and his atonement, repentance, baptism, recieving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. Christ is central to this plan. I know that he is my brother and my savior. I know that because he chose to walk the path alone, I don't have to and no matter what he will be walking beside me and carrying me in my times of need. We also were able to listen to a talk given by Elder Holland entitled "Missions are Forever." He told us that we truly are apostles with a lower-case a. I know this to be true. I know that I am a full time servant of the Lord and I am so excited for these next two years. Even though from my point of view now two years seems so far away, I am thankful for the opportunity I have to have these two years in my life.

 

The second day here I was put in as District Leader. I was a little nervous because I didn't want it to take too much time away from my studies, but it actually hasn't taken much time and has allowed me to get to know my district much better. My district is full of studs. Just like when I met my companion I was a little unsure about how they would be, but as I have gotten to know them I have gotten so close with them. Elder Duffy is one of my favorites. He is from northern Idaho and had the opportunity to play football for Utah State, but broke his back so he couldn't play anymore. His companion is also a stud, Elder Crompton. He his also from Henderson Nevada. Elder Morgan and Elder Wilcox are a companionship as well and they are two awesome guys as well.

 

I am running low on time... its a timed 30 minutes of email, kinda lame, but I would like to leave you with my testimony

 

I know that this church is true. There is no doubt in my mind of the trueness of this church. I know that I am here for a reason. There are people in Tempe, Arizona that need to hear the gospel from me, and I am so excited to share this Joy that I have with them. I am so thankful for my Savior Jesus Christ. I would not be anywhere near where I am today with out his atoning sacrifice. I will never be able to pay him back for all that he has done, but I know that a mission is a start. I am so thankful for all of you. I am convinced that I have been raised in the best family in the world. I'm not sure what I did in the pre earth life to deserve it, but I am so thankful for everything you all have done.

 

Con Amor,

 

Elder Jurgensmeier

See ya later Sunday

Kevin gave a wonderful talk on Sunday then we headed home for some delicious Mexican food with tons of friends and family.

He is going to be an amazing missionary and the people in Tempe AZ are so lucky to have him! We're going to miss him, but we wouldn't want it any other way. Just like Kevin said in his talk, there is no where better that he should be in this time of his life than serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! We're so so proud of him!

Mission Call

 So excited for Tempe AZ Spanish Speaking!