Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Hey guys!
I'm gonna start off with a story because it's been awhile. So on Tuesday evening, we were at the Stake Center (our church building) doing... something I can't remember why we where there. There was a relief society activity going on, they had done like a potluck. One of the Sisters came out and practically forced us in the relief society room to get some food, even though we had just eaten. And may I just say, that was AWKWARD!
So we go through the line, and really just grab little tidbits here and there to appease the Sisters. At the very end was ice cream. I didn't need any; we had already had a big dessert. So my companion goes for some of it and I just said, "Atta boy, Elder Peterson. Grab some of that ice cream! And THEN he freaking tries to take the scoop he was gonna put on his plate, and put it on my plate! NO! That was not happening! Dad, it  was like green beans at camp Morrison all over again. So, Elder Peterson in effect dumped a scoop of ice cream on the floor in front of the entire relief society!! I was laughing SO hard! It was great!
The other cool thing that happened this week was the Stake I'm in is doing ultimate frisbee on Saturday mornings for the next 2 months almost. We went on this passed week and it was great!  non-member came and we started talking to him and he wants to hang out this week, so we're gonna see what we can make happen.
uuuummmm... my toe is doing good. I wanted to take the stitches out myself but the nursing couple made me go to the urgent care center again... that kind of frustrated me. Oh and Dad there is a book coming your way about... I think it's a WWII story, written by the uncle of the mission nurse. I saw it in their car and asked them to send a copy home so I can read it when I get back. 
We are going to teach a 13 year old named HHHH tonight. She is a friend of one of the members we ate dinner with, the same family that had their dad get up and bear his testimony on how much he enjoyed having us in his home. Fingers crossed!

Hrrrmmmmmm I can't really think of anything else to tell you guys. Part of me, sometimes, might be excited to come home. But don't tell anybody I said that.
I learned something cool in studies today... I wrote about it to Prez so I'm just gonna copy and paste. Dad, btw Prez reminds me of you sometimes. He played rugby for Highland when he was in HS, and Larry Gelwix.
His team has their pic in the end of Forever Strong.


Studies. This morning I had a really good personal study that answered my prayers. I have been praying lately that I have the determination and drive to do all the little things I know I should be doing. The reason I bring that up is because my senior year, running was my life. Anything and everything that I could do to help me become a better runner, I did it, and I didn't let anything get me off track. So as far as dedication goes, running is the standard of comparison for me.
How dedicated am I to my mission versus how dedicated was I to my senior year of running? I've been praying to be able to get the 2 equal and eventually be able to say that my mission is the most dedicated I've ever been to something. But I haven't been able to figure out how to make it happen. This morning I was reading in 1 Nephi 14 and 15. In 15 Nephi has just finished seeing the destruction of his people, and verse 5 says that he was overcome with grief. I think that is the only time that the scriptures ever mention Nephi having a hard time. But as soon as he gets his strength back, he went right back to trying to help out his brothers. The thing that stood out to me is how hard Nephi worked for the rest of his life, even with the knowledge that ultimately nothing he did would save his people. That gave him the perfect excuse to sit down and stop trying at each trial he faced. But he never did. Next to the Savior, Nephi is one of the greatest examples of "not shrinking."

Dad, this week's requested talk is "Of Souls, Symbols, and Sacraments" by Elder Holland, he gave it as a talk at BYU in 87 or 88.
The reason I ask you to send them to me is because on the ipad pretty much every website other than LDS.org is restricted. So when you send it to me as an attachment I can download it to the ipad.

Alright, I love you guys, I'll send you a message on FB tomorrow about the fenders. Thanks, love you, bye!
Elder Travis Jorgensen


Hey Guys!Well.. I'll start out with my adventure for the week! Mom... you might not like this too much, but you told me if anything ever happened to tell you about it, so I am gonna be pretty descriptive so that you know what happened. and it might bring out the momma bear in you:)
but I'm asking you to please refrain because there isn't anything you could say that I haven't already heard or done... and if it was too much, tell me! So on Friday night we did exchanges and I went to a different part of Hillsboro. The Elders there live with members who have a slamball court in their backyard (trampoline in the ground, 2 hoops on opposite sides, weighted down so that you could dunk on them).
I was more interested in jumping and doing tricks than slamball, so I was just messing around. We've been over there a few times so I've done it quite a bit. Well, one time I jumped from the balcony to the tramp and did a backflip (I'd been doing it for like 10 minutes), and this time I backflipped too far and fell through the springs.
Not really Travis.  do not attempt this at home...
It kinda hurt. But, the family jewels were ok and nothing appeared to be out of order, so I pulled myself out and started walking around. As I was doing so, I noticed that my left foot was sticking to the ground and I couldn't figure out why. I looked, and low and behold 2 cuts on my foot, both bleeding something fierce
The first was like what happens when you get a deep blister on your foot, and pops, and you peel the skin off. That was right in the ball of my foot and boy did it hurt. The skin was still attached, so I had to cut it with scissors later (I would say it was about the thickness of a quarter). Because that's where all the pain was, I didn't notice the other one for a few minutes. Dad you know how my toes are super curled? Well, right in the top joint of what would equate to the index finger on my left foot, there was a cut. The sucker was DEEP so deep I could almost see the bone. The weird part was that it didn't hurt at all. It was bleeding like CRAZY, but no pain. The Elder I was with, Elder Tanner, was playing slamball and talking, so I just sat there listening, and after about 20 minutes I asked him if he had any neosporin and such. He asked what was wrong and I pointed to the drops of blood on the deck surrounding my foot:) I rinsed it off, and BOY did that one on the ball of my foot hurt, but the toe didn't, it just bled. I got both of them all cleaned up, sprayed some antiseptic on them, and gauzed and athletic taped them both. The problem was... MY TOE KEPT BLEEDING! So I asked Elder Tanner for a blessing, he gave me one, and we went to bed.The next morning, the bleeding had slowed down, but had totally bled through the gauze... I figured at that point it would be a good moment to call Sister Ballard... I went out and worked on it all day, limping like a fool
, and later that night after the exchange was over, went to the urgent care center and got some stitches:) That's the first time I've got stitches since the bike accident on my chin... All is well now

 So, no need to worry, all is taken care of, and the lady in urgent care even told me I bandaged my wounds well:)In other news... so yesterday was fast Sunday and a member got up and bore his testimony about how much he enjoyed having us in his home... It was SUPER legit I'd never had that happen before. But I like this ward, everyone wants to help, and our ward mission leader even has connections to Nike:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) Freak, I have waited a long time for an area with connections like this:) And we fasted with all of our ward missionaries yesterday to find a family who will get baptized, that was a cool experience!Ummm... shoes. No, I don't have any new shoes. My area is TINY, there's nothing inside it, and right now we don't have connections to drive us places My bike is still in a box... Again.... no car to take it to the member who can put it together. But, it's all good, because seriously walking is working miracles here, we've found like 10 news in 3 weeks. And I never read the Road. Thank you guys for being so diligent about the blog, it means a lot!Elder Peterson is doing good. He works hard, we get along well...  Aight.... anything else? I love you guys, hope you have a good week!Elder Travis Jorgensen!

Sunday, October 12, 2014

About the bike...  The Mission home did deliver it to me and it does have all the stuff that helmet the lock... Everything, however the mission office was not able to get it to a bike shop, so it is currently sitting in the garage.
The less active member who speaks Spanish that I gave a blessing to last week is a bike mechanic and he said he would help us out. The only problem is making time to get it over there. However, our area is TINY,
I have no idea how big his area is, but this is all I could find.
so walking isn't too big of a problem. This last week we got five new investigators, and almost all of them were people we saw walking in the street. One of them we had a super good experience with.
So last week we are out walking it was probably 8 o'clock at night, and I don't remember if I told you guys about this already, but somebody drove by and honked their horn at us super loud And it kind of scared us. But as we kept walking, we saw a guy in the street and started talking to him. His name is BBBB he just barely graduated, and is leaving for the Marines in a few months.
He didn't have time to talk last week or the week before technically, so we went back on Thursday to talk to him. He ended up being out in the street and he invited us in. It was probably 830 at night and we also got to talk to his mom, whose name is ZZZZ. They are very Catholic, but as we started teaching, The spirit was superstrong. They didn't have any questions, and accepted the book of Mormon.
OK, NOT Travis, but still a cool picture.
It was perfect timing too, because Matt left the next day for a hunting trip. The even bigger miracle is that we had a book of Mormon to give them. Before this week we had not given out any, but Thursday, we gave out the only one I had in my backpack. Right before we went for a lesson with BBBB and ZZZZ, we went to another lesson with an old lady named PPPP. She didn't want to talk much, she came out with her book of Mormon that she had, and gave it to us saying she didn't want to know anymore.
I won't lie I kind of frustrated me, but then when We went to BBBB and ZZZZ, it was a miracle that we had a book of Mormon to give them. So BBBB went hunting the next day, and we hope that he took the book of Mormon with him. We were going to stop by ZZZZ the next day to give her one, but we tried four different times and she never answered the door... So we will see how that goes, I'm hoping we get to talk to her again. This Sunday, our ward is doing fast Sunday, and so we,  The ward mission leader, and the ward missionaries, are all going to fast for a family that will be baptized, and also help us find more people to teach and baptize.
Alright, is there anything else? If there is let me know. I love you guys and hope you have a good week.
Love, Elder Travis Jorgensen!