WEEK 41: THE TEMPEST

STARKE, FL
COMPANION:  ELDER COLLETT

Alternate titles included: Two Gentlemen of Starke, A Comedy of
Truths, The Taming of the Floridians, and Much Ado About Eternity. But this one fit best because...

We had a miracle yesterday!! This week we worked HARD. Very hard.

WEEK 40: LOOK AND LIVE!

STARKE, FL

COMPANION:  ELDER COLLETT

Perhaps a story or two.

This week I had more fruit than I could eat! Oh goodness I love fruit. One fantastic family from my old area in Gainesville drove up and dropped off an ENORMOUS load of fruit for us, we were invited to a member's home where the biggest fruit salad I had ever seen in my whole life had been prepared for us, and another family from the Sister's area gave us fruit to take home TWICE. Such wonderful blessings from such kind, generous people here in the South.

WEEK 39: We Didn't Start the Fire!

STARKE, FL
COMPANION:  ELDER COLLETT

There is a fire in Starke! We love it. People are CRAZY. And wonderful. And I love them.

WEEK 38: Dedication

STARKE, FLORIDA
COMPANION:  ELDER COLLETT

Whew! By way of announcement, this will probably be my last week of life on this good earth. You see, I have contracted the "common cold". The name is somewhat misleading. I'm thinking of changing it to "The Wretched Pestilence of Death". You know, something with a bit of flair.

Anyway, apparently the work of God continues even when His servants feel like napping, so it was another week of constant miracles, blessings, and fun. One funny episode: We had parked our car on the far side of town and were walking along the busiest road in Starke (hehehe, kind of like saying the biggest river in the Sahara) when a less-active member pulls up and tells us to jump in the truck! We are very obedient missionaries, so we ran through several lanes of traffic and threw ourselves into his truck. Kindly and generously and WONDERFULLY he drove us to Pizza Hut and bought us a very late dinner. What a fantastic man. Then he drove away, with the blessings of heaven upon him.

At this point it was becoming rather late, and we were in the opposite corner of the city from our car, and it began to rain. So we did what any normal person would do; we abandoned our car and sprinted home in the rain, arriving right at curfew. The next morning we woke up early and ran to fetch the car as our exercise that day. Fun times.

People tell us everything. EVERYTHING. I'm pretty sure they think we're priests and we have some sort of confidentiality protection because I KNOW things. Goodness gracious. I'm not exactly sure why they tell us so much. We don't really ever ask. One question that WE get asked a lot is how old we are. I have a bit (... a lot) of a baby face, and the outfit and hairstyle accentuate the issue. After we teach the first lesson, or bear testimony, or call people to repentance, or declare in the name of the Lord God the restored doctrine of Jesus Christ, there's this very specific look that appears on their faces and they ask, "How OLD are you?" We make them guess. The oldest anyone has guessed my age to be is 18, and those were members who knew you have to be 18 to serve. Mostly investigators guess 15. I've gotten 16 twice and I was very pleased.

15, 16, 18, 22, it's all the same really. It's ridiculously young to know such things or to say them. But I do know them, and so I must say them, and that's just the way things are, baby face or not.

It rained on us a LOT. Goodness. Love the rain. It's very wet. We're sitting on 3112% humidity and climbing over here, so when something gets wet it STAYS wet. There are lots of flowers and everything is green. Beautiful.

The Ft. Lauderdale temple dedication was yesterday, May 4th (May the 4th be with you, my little sister Courtney says). It was broadcast to stake centers throughout Florida, including ours. We drove the hour or so into Lake City and presented our temple recommends to gain entrance and watched the broadcast live. I felt the spirit of the temple there. It is unique, it is supernatural, and it is pure. I love the temple. I cannot wait to go back. What a glorious thing.

One little miracle pertaining to the Wretched Pestilence of Death and then I will let you go. Last night, I was lying in bed struggling to fall back asleep; pretty standard for people afflicted with the wretched burden of a common cold. Anyway, I decided to request a priesthood blessing, and pictured receiving one in my head. I imagined being asked if I believed I could be healed. Then I said, out loud, "Yes. Heal me, for I know it."

At that moment, I was able to breathe, the pain fled from my body, I could swallow, and I had barely moments to wonder at the miracle before I was sound asleep. It was a miracle of healing, wrought by faith, and it happened to me. No big deal. Just Jesus Christ at work.

I love you. There are more stories and miracles to tell but I need to go to Wal Mart and buy 50 lbs of bananas to eat in the next couple days. Bananas, soy milk, and brown rice with a bit of cinnamon and nutmeg sprinkled on top. Mmmmmmmm....

~Elder Jorgensen

 

 

 

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