Kelsea said, "Cute little Jake"

They spent Christmas with Deli and her family and they gave them some of their Christmas decorations and a few presents.  She said it was fun to be with them.

Kelsea and her sweet companion, Hermana Clove

Christmas brunch with the Zone.  They also had a white elephant gift exchange.

Another Christmas Eve dinner with the Gullons

Christmas Eve dinner with the Burets (Branch Pres. and family), the Elders and Deli and her family.

These are picture from their Christmas dinner with the branch.  They also had a bonfire.  I asked her if it was hot outside during the bonfire.  She said that evening it was about 60 degrees- but that while they were roasting hot dogs they would put their hand in for about 5 seconds and then step back for a bit before doing it again.

Kelsea and Hermana Clove.  That was one of the few things Kelsea asked for in her Christmas package.  She wanted a gingerbread house kit and the ingredients to make chicken gnocci soup.

Feliz Navidad y Prospero Ano!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas season. It´s sure my favorite time of the year. And although there was no snow or Christmas music or Santa Claus or caroling, we had raisins and pig and aguinaldos and a great time with the members. Shows that Christmas isn´t about what you do, it´s who you´re with. And I had the privilege of being with some pretty special people. 

This week we received special permission to go to Santo Domingo to go to the temple. It was such a great experience. We got to go with the Fagerstens and while we were there we went to a restaurant on the ocean and walked around the park with all of the beautiful Christmas lights and we got to go souvenir shopping and drive through Colonial City. It was a fun little trip, and it was such a privilege to go to the temple. What a beautiful place. I also got to see a couple of my CCM teachers. It was such a fun trip.

We´ve been teaching a family, a reference from Deli. They´re amazing. They´re from Haiti, and Filomiz, the mother, still doesn´t speak Spanish. They´re such a humble, sweet family, and it´s been so fun to teach them. Deli always come with us and interprets. They´ve been to church the past couple of weeks, and they have accepted the invitation to be baptized. They´re such a special family, and I can always feel the Spirit when we teach them. Their life experiences have truly prepared them for the gospel. I feel so blessed to be able to teach them.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week! Thank you for your love and support! Happy New Year!

Hermana Jorden

This is a picture from when we skyped with kelsea today.  We got to talk to her for about 2 hours.  It was wonderful!!!!  She is doing so well and so happy :)

Merry Christmas!
It´s been a pretty crazy week here. I´ve had such a great time!
Wednesday: branch bonfire (the members put on a bonfire, and everyone came! It was so fun to have a good time with all of the members)
Friday: Cena Navidena (our Branch Christmas dinner.) President Buret bought a pig!  The food was so Dominican, but it was delicious! We had 9 investigators there and 8 less-actives)
Sunday: Christmas devotional in the park (we had a zone activity, and we set up the church´s Christmas video for everyone to watch, and we gave out Christmas pass a long cards and sang hymns and gave a              devotional)
Tuesday: Christmas carolling with the elders (last night we visited the members and sang to them. We sure love our elders)
Today: zone brunch (Thanks to the lovely Hermana Fagersten. We had a yummy brunch and then had a white elephant gift exchange.)

It´s been a crazy week! Tonight we have two dinner appointments with the members, and I don´t know if there´s any room left in my stomach from this morning. haha I´m so grateful for the members here and their love. They´re some really special people, and I´m so grateful for the chance to serve them. This Christmas season has really helped me recognize the blessings I have received in my life, and how grateful I am for the life I have been given. I´ve missed my family and friends a lot, but one Christmas away from them is well worth the chance to serve here in this wonderful country.

A Day in the DR:
This week Hermana Clove and I learned all about Dominican caroling, at about 5 in the morning. The people get together in the middle of the night, hop on their motorcycles, and ride around town blasting music and yelling and revving their engines. Every night. Definitely not my favorite Dominican tradition. haha They´re called aguinaldos. Luckily they only last about a week. Then maybe we´ll start getting some good sleep. haha
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Love, Hermana Jorden

 Kelsea got to meet up with missionary from her MTC district this week.

Her trainer is next to her.  She went home earlier this month.  Her new companion is the one with a purple skirt.  Hermana Clove.

Feliz Navidad!

Christmas is just around the corner, and I´m so excited! We´ve already been invited to two Christmas Eve dinners, and the Fagerstens are putting together a breakfast brunch the 24th. And my family sent me a gingerbread house to decorate and the ingredients to chicken gnocchi soup, my favorite. And I get to Skype my family in a week! When I first got here, I was really worried about this Christmas, but I´m so excited to spend it with the members here and to focus on the real meaning of Christmas.

As the traveling singing sisters, Hermana Clove and I got to go to the zone conference in Santiago yesterday, and I ran into the two elders who came here with me from the CCM. It was so fun to catch up with them, and talk about the good old days in the CCM. 

Something that has been a challenge here in the DR is that a lot of the people don´t understand our message. It´s almost like they have too much faith. It´s wonderful because almost everyone is willing to listen to us share "the word of God." They believe everything we teach, but they don´t seem to understand it. We´ll spend 30 minutes explaining the Restoration of the church of Jesus Christ, and they believe everything we say, that Christ established his church, the priesthood was taken off the earth with the death of the apostles, and Joseph Smith saw God the Father and Jesus Christ, that they told him that none of the churches had the whole truth, and that through Joseph Smith we have the priesthood once again and the fulness of the gospel. Then we finish the lesson and invite them to be baptized once they read and pray to know for themselves, and they say "Oh, no. I was already baptized!" But, didn´t you just agree that we need prophets today and that our church has the correct authority? haha It´s a unique challenge, but they are quite a few people who understand the power of our message and are willing to change their lives to follow their Savior, Jesus Christ.

We´ve started teaching Brendalis´ two best friends, Odri and Carleny. They´re both sweet girls, and they really understand the things we´ve been teaching them. I love teaching them, because it reminds me of the time when my best friend was taking the discussions. I always feel the same excitement that I did when my friend, Dei, was progressing in the gospel. I´ve really enjoyed teaching them and I hope that they can accept the gospel and become incredible examples just like my best friend. It´s been so fun to teach them.

A Day in the DR:

Something that cracks me up is seeing my companions give people compliments. A few months ago, Hermana Hunsaker and I were visiting a less active, and Hermana Hunsaker commented on how cute she looked that day and that she liked her shirt. She said "You like it? Oh, let me change so I can give it to you!" So she ran inside and put on a different shirt and gave it to her. Hermana Hunsaker said that it was okay and that she didn´t want to take it, but she finally accepted it because she was afraid that she was going to hurt her feelings. She also got a silver ring the same way. haha Last week, the same thing happened with Hermana Clove. Her and a member were talking about painting and she tried to give her her paints and some fabric. She tried so hard not to take it, but she started to get offended, so she took it. We´re quickly learning to keep compliments to ourselves!

 Christmas Zone Dinner

 Zone Skit

 Kelsea and Hermana Clove's Christmas decorations. 

 Kelsea loves everything about Christmas- she has since she was a little girl~

The sign of a true missionary!

Buenas!

It´s been a pretty crazy week, we´ve been traveling all around the mission these past few days. On Thursday, we got a call from Hermana Douglas, the President´s wife, saying ¨Are these the singing sisters?¨ haha She asked us to sing ¨Have you received His image in your countenance¨ at all of the zone conferences. It´s pretty fun being the ¨singing sisters.¨ We sang at our zone conference last night, and we have two more this week. 

Well, my dear Hermana Hunsaker is gone, and I´ve really had to step up to the plate. I never realized it before, but I really leaned on her for speaking spanish and teaching. I was really nervous because Hermana Clove and I know about the same amount of Spanish, but the Lord has blessed me so much. I think I knew more than I gave myself credit for, but my Spanish has really improved the past week, and teaching is a lot easier. I guess I just needed an opportunity to prove myself.  :) 

Last night was our zone conference with the President and his wife. There were about four other zones as well. I always love zone conferences, because it´s a change to see old friends and to make new ones. Each zone put on a skit, and it was a lot of fun. The senior couples put together a Christmas dinner for us, and it was delicious. And I always love Hermana Douglas´s talks. She always tells incredible stories. Last night, she talked about how we can know Jesus Christ. She gave  simple but powerful steps that we need to take in order to know Him.

1. Faith

2. Prayer

3. Scripture Study

4. Take upon us the name of Christ (I love the talk from General Conference, ¨Sacarament: A Renewal of the Soul,¨ that talks about what this means)

5. Do worthy works of repentance

6. Become like Jesus Christ, or live how He lived

These steps are so simple, and we should be doing them every day, but I think today is a great day to stop and really think about if we are truly doing these simple things. I know that I have a lot to work on, if I want to become like Christ. The whole point of her talk was to help us understand how we can receive His image in our countenance. That´s why I´m here on a mission. I hope that I can give myself wholy over to the Lord and become like Him. The words to the chorus of the song we sang are ¨Have you received His image in your countenance? Does the light of Christ shine in your eyes? Will He know you when He comes again because you shall be like Him? When He sees you will the Father know His child by His everylasting image in your eyes.¨ I hope this week we can all think about our relationship with Jesus Christ. Are we living how He would want us to live? Are we reaching out to others, lifting those whose hands hang down? I share my testimony that Christ loves us. He died for us. We have been so blessed in our lives, and all He asks is that we reach out to others. I promise that in service lies true happiness, and it is only then that we can receive His image in our countenances. 

Have a wonderful week!

Love, Hermana Jorden

Buenos dias!

There has been a lot going on this week! My trainer, Hermana Hunsaker, finished her mission and is headed home to Idaho! She was a great trainer, and I´m going to miss her. I´m still in the same area in Jarabacoa, and my new companion in Hermana Clove from St. George, Utah. She was in my zone last transfer, so we´re already friends, and we´re so excited to work together. Yesterday, the zone leaders asked us to sing a last minute musical number in the transfer meeting (and by last minute, I mean we decided what we were doing when we got up to sing! haha), and our voices blended so well. It was so fun to sing with her, and I´m really excited to sing with her in lessons. She´s so great, and I´m really excited to see what I can learn from her. 

I´ve learned that a big part of the mission is about planting seeds. We haven´t seen a lot of progression here, but we´ve planted a lot of seeds. Two weeks ago, one of our investigators died. She was an old lady who couldn´t hear very well, and she was just in so much pain. We visited her and her caretaker every Sunday afternoon. We mostly taught the lady who took care of her, Dulce, but she always loved to hear us sing. She couldn´t hear much of what we said, but she was always touched by our music. She wasn´t able to get baptized, but I feel confident that when the missionaries reach her on the other side of the veil, she will remember the two missionaries who sang to her every Sunday and be open to listening to their message. Another seed we planted was in the hearts of two little girls who live near one of our investigators. Whenever we pass, they run up to us and hug us and beg us to read the Bible with them. We had a lesson with them once, and we tried to come back to teach their parents. They weren´t very interested in our message, but they were willing to let us read scriptures with their daughters. They are such sweet girls, but we can´t baptize them without their parents. So I left them a pass a long card to use as a bookmark in their Bible. I hope that someday when their older, while they´re reading the word of God, they will come across that pass a long card and be pricked by the Spirit. 

Lately, we´ve been working with a young boy in the ward named Owens. I think I mentioned him before. We´ve been teaching his mom, and about a few weeks ago, she told us that she had kicked him out of the house for stealing her money. A few months earlier, he had stolen and sold the iPod of one of the missionaries (luckily he got it back). I felt so sad for this boy. He really is a sweet kid, he just hasn´t grown up with a father or good friends to help him choose the right. I had been thinking of what I could do to help him change his life around. One day, after visiting his mom, we saw him walking around his neighborhood. We talked to him for a minute, and then kept going. About halfway home, I couldn´t walk any further. I knew we needed to turn back and talk to him. So we asked him what was going on, and helped him realize that he needs to apologize to his mom and to stop stealing so that he can change his life and be happy. We told him that, even though his mom can´t go to church, if he goes, we could tell him mom that he is being responsible and trying to change. Since then, he has talked to him mom and made things good with her, he´s gone to every branch activity, he went to church on Sunday, we went to the Noche de Rancho at the Rosario´s house, he´s made friends with the Young Men, he went out to teach with the elders, and last night I saw him at seminary. It´s incredible. He just needed to know that someone cares. The branch has given him a place of belonging, and he loves being around the Young Men. It´s been so incredible to see him change so much. 

A Day in the DR:

Something I love about this country, is the confidence that these people have in themselves. They see their strengths and they are always willing to share their talents. In Sunday School this past week, the teacher asked each of us to go around and share one of the talents that God has given us. A few of the missionaries had a hard time thinking of one to share, but the members knew exactly what they wanted to say. I think sometimes in the US, we try to potray ourselves as humble by focusing on our weaknesses rather than our strengths, but it was so sweet to see these people proudly proclaim their strengths and talents. My favorite was when a recent convert talked about something he was good at, and then added ¨But my special talent from God is humility. I am so humble.¨ I love it. I hope each of you this week can think about your talents and focus on the strengths you have, and give thanks to God for what you have been given. 

Love, Hermana Jorden

Hello!

I hope everyone has had a great week! Today, we went to La Vega to have Thanksgiving with the zone. The food was delicious, thanks to Hermana Fagersten and all her hard work! It was a fun activity, and I´m stuffed!

This week, we had four less actives members and one investigator at chuch! It was incredible! Tony, a less active, brought his whole family! We´ve been teaching his wife, and he asked us to start teaching his daughter. We´ve been working hard with them to get married, and they finally went to set the date with the lawyer, but it turns out they are missing two original birth certificates, which means we have to wait even longer, but we´re just happy that they want to get married now! 

Today, we´ve planned Minute to Win It with the branch. I hope they like it! It´s fun to do fun games with the members, because we always have such a good time, and I´m much better at communicating through laughter than through Spanish at this point. haha 

It´s hasn´t been a super eventful week, but I´m loving being a missionary! I can´t blieve I´m already been here for 5 months! Pretty crazy! I´m so grateful that the Lord has sent me here, and I can´t wait to see what he has in store. This is my last week with Hermana Hunsaker before she goes home, and it´s been so fun to work with her. I´m excited to see who I´m be with for the next little while! Have a great week! Love, Hermana Jorden

A Day in the DR-

Everyone has been getting sick lately, with la gripe. It´s mostly just that everyone has a runny nose and a cough, but the people here are so funny. They won´t go outside, and they sit around all bundled up, even while we´re boiling in the heat. One family has two girls who are both in the hospital with la gripe. We´ve been a couple of times to visit them, and them seem pretty okay to me. Nothing that rest and some cough drops wouldn´t fix. But that´s the culture here. They go to to hosptial for everything.

Saludos!

We´ve been trying really hard to work with the members lately, but it seems like every time we plan to go out with a member, it always falls through. It´s been really hard because we always plan to have a member when we go to visit Yudi, but it hardly ever works out. But Yudi is such an incredible lady. She is so strong and willing to change her life for the gospel. It´s been hard, though, because she can never go to church. We talked to her and told her that we´ve almost taught her all of the discussions, and that now she just needs to do her part. She told us that she always wants to go, but something always comes up with her family. We asked her to talk to them and tell them that church is really important to her, and yesterday she told us that she talked to them, and they said ¨Of course you can go to church! You just have to tell us these things, silly!¨ haha I´m so grateful that she talked to them, and she said she´s going to be able to go to church now. She has made so many wonderful changes in her life, and she is so ready to be baptized. I´m so grateful that I´ve been here to see how the gospel has changed her life. She´s amazing.

Other than Yudi, we don´t have a ton of progressing investigators. Sometimes it a little hard, because all of the other missionaries seem to have baptisms all the time, and we haven´t had a single one. Sometimes I wonder if I´m doing something wrong, but this week I started to get a view of my purpose here. I may not have a baptism while I´m in this area, but they are so many members who need our help. There are a lot of people here who are lost, and I feel such a strong responsibility to do all I can to help them. There´s a boy in the ward who was kicked out of his house for stealing his mom´s money. There´s a daughter of a member who was sold to a friend in exchange for a house. There´s so much sadness, and nobody is willing to help them. I feel a great responsibility to reach out to these kids, and help them understand their worth and their purpose in life. I hope that I can be an instrument in the Lord´s hand and reach out to these kids. They need the Lord in their life, and I hope that I can bring them to Him.

I love being a missionary, and I´m so grateful to be here serving the Lord, and being a respresentative of Him. I love you all so much, and hope you have a great week.
Love, Hermana Jorden

Buenas!
We´ve had a great week in the branch! Sunday was the Primary program, and the kids were SO cute. We made invitations for Mari to hand out, and so many people came! The chapel was almost full! I´m not sure where they came from, but it made the kids feel so special and important. Right before the program started, Mari asked me to direct the songs. haha I was a little nervous, but it turned out great. Those kids did such a great job. On Monday, we had a Relief Society activity making jewelry. It was a lot of fun, and almost all of the women came. We invited Yudi and Yesenia, and neitehr of the could come, but we had a sister of another investigator come! It was a fun activity, and I love seeing the women spending time with each other. They´re all so funny!

We didn´t have a lot of lessons this week, but out of the ones we did have, most of them were with the members. It´s incredible to see the spirit that the members bring. They truly make a difference in the lessons. I hope all of you can have the opportunity to help the missionaries in your ward, because you all have experiences that can change these people´s lives forever.

I just want to share a little bit of Elder Klebingat´s talk from General Conference. He talked about having confidence before God when we stand before Him to be judged of our works. He gave six things that we need to do to prepare ourselves for that day.
1. Take care of yourself spiritually.
2. Take care of yourself physically.
3. Commit to being completely obedient your whole life.
4. Become really good at repenting quickly and thoroughly.
5. Become really good at forgiving quickly and thoroughly.
6. Accept setbacks as a part of life.
I wrote these down on a piece of paper that I read every night before I say my prayer. Kind of like nightly äccountability.¨ Something that I´ve always struggled with is letting things go when someone makes me feel bad. I know that it shouldn´t bother me, but sometimes I spend a little too much time focusing on it. But after I started reading this every night, it really helped me apply the prinicple of forgive and forget. One day I was annoyed with something that somebody had told me, but as soon as I remembered this talk, I was able to let it go. That´s something I´ve been trying to do my whole life! haha The Lord truly wants to help us try to better ourselves, and I know that He watches out for us and is always there to help us come closer to Him.

Sorry I was a little rushed today, but I hope everyone has a great day! Love, Hermana Jorden

A Day in the DR: During the Relief Society activity, one of the ladies was in the corner quietly trying to breastfeed her baby. Suddenly, all of the ladies ran over to her screaming Äh, no! Morena, what are you doing? We´re all ladies here! Ay, no!¨and they made her take off the blanket. haha Yep, that´s how things are done here in the Dominican Republic.

They couldn't find a pumpkin, so they carved a squash for Halloween.  She said the people of the DR think that Halloween is the Devil's Day so they celebrated quietly in their apartment!

Buenas!
It´s been a wet week in the moutains of the Dominican Republic. And it´s been COLD! It´s been so nice. Last night, I snuggled under a blanket wearing my sweatshirt and fuzzy socks. So different than sleeping under a thin sheet with the windows open and the fan blowing on me. It was so great!

The past couple of weeks, we´ve really starting having a lot of different activities with the branch. I feel like it´s really helping to strengthen the friendship and unity of the members, and it´s been so fun. On Friday we had our first Noche de Rancho, where everyone goes to a certain family´s house to have a short lesson and treats. This Friday we´re going to the Abreu´s house. We´re also having mutual every Saturday, and we´re going to start having them with the Young Men, I´m sure we´ll see a jump in attendance from the Young Women. haha Right now, the Young Women are putting together a short play to perform with the Young Men at the Christmas party. They´re going to do Ranpuzel, and then they are practicing Angels We Have Heard on High and Silent Night to perform as an angel choir. haha They´re all so excited about it, and it will be so fun to see how it turns out!

 There´s a lady named Deli we´ve been teaching lately, who has been a member for four years, but right now she can´t come to church because she goes to school on Sundays. She decided to go to this school because she can finish in 2 years instead of 4. She´s such a sweet lady, and she´s working so hard get an education and to provide for her two sons. Yesterday, we brought, Ely, a member with us to visit her, and we talked about the scripture that says Ask, and ye shall receive. Knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Ely talked about how she has been so blessed by God in her life. It was so humbling because Ely is in the same situation as Deli. She is trying to work, study, and take care of her daughter, and she doesn´t have a lot of money, but she is so grateful for everything she does have. I was in awe of these two hard working, strong women, who have hardly any possessions, but they are so grateful for what they have. After we shared our message, Ely was talking about church and her sister, and Deli realized that she had been talking with her sister a few days earlier. Her sister, Iris, told her that Ely had just quit a job, and Iris thought that Deli could take over for her. They talked, and Ely said that she would talk to her boss and try to get her the job. It was so awesome, and it was a testament to the message we had just shared, that God loves us and truly wants to bless us in all of our endeavours. I am so grateful to be here and witness the Lord´s hand in the lives of these wonderful people.

I´m so grateful to be a missionary, and for this chance to change my life and to come closer to Christ. But, please remember, that it doesn´t take a mission to come closer to our Savior. All it takes is a desire, just like Alma 32 says. If you feel something missing in your life, turn towards the Savior. Give yourself over to him, and I promise that he will change your life. A few weeks ago, my mom sent me a quote by Ezra Taft Benson that I just love:Men and women who turn their lives over to God will discover that He can make a lot more out of their lives than they can. He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities, comfort their souls, raise up friends, and pour out peace. Whoever will lose his life in the service of God will find eternal life.
Thank you for your influences in my life. I love you all so dearly and hope that you have a great week.
Hermana Jorden

Buenas dias!
Nothing too exciting has been going on here in the DR. We have a new district leader, and a lot of new missionaries in the zone, so it´s been fun getting to know them this week. Today we went down to La Vega for P Day and watched movies and ate nachos. I really love spending time with the other missionaries. It´s so fun to meet people from all over the world.

On Saturday, we had an amazing lesson with Yudi. We were talking about the blessings of temples and the wonderful things we do inside. Hermana Hunsaker brought a magazine with pictures of temples to show her. We brought Moma along to teach with us, and she was just the person that Yudi needed. She shared her experiences of going to the temple, and Yudi couldn´t believe it. She said she wanted to go so bad! It was such a great lesson, and we told her that she can go, she just needs to take the steps towards baptism. We set a date for her baptism, and she was so excited to go to church and to get baptized. We sent a member over to her house Sunday morning to remind her, and she said that she would be there, but she never came. I´ll admit, I couldn´t believe it. I was pretty bummed. But, everyone has their agency. It´s one of the Lord´s blessings to us, but sometimes as a missionary I wish people didn´t have it! haha But, I know that Yudi will get baptized. It may not be for a long time, but she has felt the power of the Spirit and she knows it´s true. We just have to do our best and wait until she is ready.

A few days ago, we were visiting Yesenia, and she was about to eat dinner, so she insisted that we stay and eat with her. I sat down and looked into my soup, and there were little pieces of intestine floating around! It was a real moment of truth. I either had to tell her that I didn´t want to eat it, or I had to suck it up and stick it in my mouth. I put a piece on my spoon, and just held it in front of my face for a few minutes. I was so grateful that her son was entertaining everyone, because I was having a hard time. haha I am not an adventureous eater, and I didn´t know if I could put it in my mouth. But I did, and it was so chewy! I couldn´t even chew it up, so after a while, I just swallowed it. I ate a few more pieces, and then I saw something that looked like stomach. I didn´t even go there. I just hid those pieces under the bones. haha It was definitely not my favorite thing in the world, but I did it!

A Day in the DR:
There are a lot of peope here who are convinced that we are from the CIA. A few days ago, we were contacting, and we started talking to a few people on their front porches. The man was really friendly and started talking to us, but his mom leaned over and whispered ¨Be careful, they´re from the CIA.¨ She wouldn´t tell us her name. haha

Buenas!
Today I finished my second transfer in the field, which means I´m a trained missionary! Luckily, I still get to be with Hermana Hunsaker, which means that I get to kill her because this is her last transfer. Elder Galvez is still here, but Elder Kunzler was transferred to Cotui. We have a new disctrict leader, who I haven´t met yet, but he just stuck his head over my computer to say hi. He seems nice! hahaha

This weekend, the Elders had a wedding, and then a baptism the next day. It was so special. We had a celebration after the wedding at their house, and most of the branch came to celebrate. I think it meant a lot of them to have the whole branch there. They really helped them feel welcome and a part of the Jarabacoa family. They´re such a sweet couple. The next day was their baptism. The woman wasn´t able to be baptized because she hasn´t completely quit smoking (but she´s gone from 22 cigarettes a day to 2! She´s incredible!), but her husband and their two oldest children were. It was really special. They were so happy and they were so grateful to be baptized. Yesenia came to the baptism, and afterwards she said, Is that how I´m going to get baptized? Is the water cold?! haha I think she really enjoyed it.

We´re still working hard with the Young Women. They´re all so sweet, and we love spending time with them. One of them, who has been inactive for a while, has been coming to mutual and church and she´s going to seminary! How cool is that! This past Sunday we gave a lesson about the worth of a soul. A lot of the girls here are raised to believe that they are worthless, because that´s how the men here treat them. It´s so sad. So we want to help these sweet girls understand that they are important and special, that they are daughters of a King, and that they are princesses. It was a great lesson, and I really think it helped them understand. They loved our examples of Disney princesses, and they loved the handout we gave them on the temple on one side, and a picture of a princess on the other with the quote by President Uchtdorf that said ¨Happily Ever After isn´t something found only in fairy tales. You can have it! It´s your destiny! You just need to follow Heavenly Father´s plan.¨

This week, I was thinking about different times in high school when I tried sharing the gospel with friends or classmates. Almost always, they would say, ¨Wait, you don´t drink coffee? I could never do that!¨ haha I started thinking about the Word of Wisdom, and why we have it. It says that we shouldn´t take in coffee, tea, alcohol, tobacco, or illegal drugs. Then I thought about why we´re here on the earth, and our purpose. The reason that we are on earth is to grow and be perfected in Christ. Really, we are hear to be tested and to grow so that someday we can become like Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.   This life is meant for us to prepare ourselves for that day. We have to be clean and pure in order to inherit the kingdom of God. People wonder why we don´t drink coffee or alcohol. I can´t picture Heavenly Father starting his morning every day with a cup of coffee. We have to live a life free from the addictions of substances such as drugs or tea or coffee, in order to grow and become exalted beings. I want to testify to you that God lives, and that He sent us here to grow and become like Him, so that one day we can live with Him and become like him.  Our time on earth is to prepare to meet God. Please don´t let worldly things get in the way of your eternal progression. Always remember that God loves you and that you can ALWAYS repent and come unto Him.

A Day in the DR:
For some reason, every one here waters the street in front of their house. We asked one of the YW why they do it, but she´s not really sure. haha I understand why people water dirt roads, but the streets here are all paved. I´ve been trying to take pictures, but I´m not sneaky enough. Someday I´ll send one.

Have a wonderful week! I hope you are all enjoying the cold for me!
Love, Hermana Jorden

Pictures are on her blog

http://sisterkelseajorden.blogspot.com/

1st picture: teaching with Emily

2nd picture: Hna Hunsaker with Ashley
3rd picture: The treats Kelsea and Hna Hunsaker took to the YW activity they were in charge of.
4th: YW activity girls
5th: the giant moth on their door

Letter from 10-15-14

Buenos dias!

It´s been a great week here! We found Yudi and Yesenia! Yesenia has been really busy with a new job that she started, and she´s been pretty sick, so that´s why we haven´t been able to find her. But now things have slowed down, and she came to church on Sunday! She´s doing well and her fionce comes to the DR next month, and they´re hoping to get married pretty soon after! We found Yudi yesterday, and she was glad to see us! We were really worried that she didn´t want to talk to us anymore, but it´s just that she´s been really depressed because her boyfriend left for Germany for a while. But we found our little sheep and they´re doing good! We sure love those too.

So, the wedding didn´t happen yesterday. President Buret (branch president) felt that he was pushing them to get married and doing everything for them, so he´s letting them go at their pace so that it can be there decision. We talked to Juana this week and she still wants to get married, so we´re hoping that it will happen soon!

We are the first and second counselors in the Young Women presidency, and we´ve been working with the president to start having mutual activities. We had our first one this Saturday. It was called a P afternoon, and we had the girls wear their pijamas, we watched a pelicula (Johnny Lingo), we ate panqueques (pancakes) and had jugo de pera (pear), and palomitas (popcorns, it literally means little doves. how cute!). We were going to work on Personal Progress too, but we ran out of time. But a lot of girls came and they really enjoyed it. Our YW president loved it too, and now she´s really excited to start having mutual every week. She even planned for us to all visit one of the Young Women who hadn´t gone to church on Sunday. I really think mutual is going to help strenthen these Young Women´s testimonies and to help them become better friends!

A Day in the DR:

The funniest thing has been happening to me lately. Hermana Hunsaker and I will be walking in the streets, and a random man will come up to me with the biggest smile on his face, take my hand in his, and just smile at me. Sometimes he will say hello and ask how I am, and sometimes he just gives me the biggest, happiest smile, and then walks away! haha He won´t even look at Hermana Hunsaker! That´s happened three times! It´s so funny.

I hope everyone is doing well! Have a wonderful week!

Hermana Jorden

Hola amigos!

Wasn´t General Conference amazing? I was so excited to go. On our way there, Hermana Hunsaker told me that once her mom said ´General Conference is like Christmas for adults.´ That made me laugh because six months ago I would have said Ókay, General Conference is great and all, but better than Christmas? I don´t think so.´ But it´s so true! It felt just like Christmas. We counted down the days, thinking about it all the time. While we were there, I felt so happy and peaceful, and I was soaking up everything they said. I felt the power of these men who have been called of God to teach us and to guide us in these days. But my favorite part, just like Christmas, is afterwards. I sit down, thinking about what has just happened, what I have received, and I think about how I am going to use my new gifts, or the things I have learned, to make me happier and to help me improve my life. I loved listening to conference, and for anyone who didn´t have the opportunity to watch it, you can go to LDS.org and watch the talks or read and download them. These men are truly incredible, and I know that they have been called of God. And their words have the power to change your lives.

Other than that, we haven´t really had a lot going on. We haven´t been able to teach Yesenia or Yudi because they either aren´t home for our appointments, or they call and cancel. We haven´t been able to find our other investigators either. But, Juana Vargas finally found all of the papers that she needs to get married! They´re getting married on Tuesday. We´re so excited! We´ve been working with her on that for a few months. She is ´married´ to a less active, and they have five kids. We´re so excited that they finally are able to get married! 

Today, we had a birthday party in La Vega for Hermana Fagersten. It was so fun. She´s such an awesome lady. Her and Elder Fagersten are like the parents of our zone. We played volleyball and pin the nametag on the missionary. haha And she made us delicious food and cake. We have a fun zone, and I always love spending time with them. 

A Day in the DR:

The people here are always doing things that make me laugh, but something funny is that they all eat cough drops like candy. They buy bags of them. Someone on the guagua gave some to us today. At least we know that they all have smooth throats here! 

I love you all and thank you so much for your support and prayers! Have a wonderful week! And always remember that Heavenly Father loves you and wants to help you with anything you are going through. All you need to do is ask.

Love,

Hermana Jorden

Hola hola! 

It´s been a great week here in Jarabacoa! Unfortunately, we didn´t have any investigators in sacrament meeting, which was really sad. And we haven´t been able to teach Yudi or Yesenia in a while because they always have to cancel or they aren´t home. They both know it´s true, they just aren´t going to church. It´s been really hard because they are both progressing and learning, but they just aren´t taking the step to go to church. And they need the blessings that come from attending church. We´ve done all we can to help them, but now it´s up to them to take that step and continue progressing. We pray for them, and we´re trying to teach them. I just hope that we can help them realize just how important it really is to go to church and to strengthen their testimonies.

BUT, Christina came to church! Her husband and two young daughters are faithful members of the church, but she got baptized before they got married, and has never really been an active member. She feels like she was forced into being baptized, and that she never gained her own testimony. It´s really sad. We´ve been visiting her family and trying to make her feel loved, and trying to help her understand how much her Heavenly Father loves her. She came to the district conference that we had in La Vega, and this Sunday she came to sacrament meeting! It was so awesome, and she said that she´s going to go to General Conference on Sunday. On Monday we had a Family Home Evening with her family, and she started to open up to us. She´s pretty quiet and conserved, but she made great comments about the lesson we taught about gratitude. It´s so amazing to see that changes that can happen with the gospel in our lives. The best part of that lesson, though, is that afterwards, I was going around giving Christina and her daughters kisses on the cheek, and when I got to Hermano Lopez, I almost did the same thing! haha That was a little embarassing! We all had a good laugh about that. Oops! 

This Monday, we had exchanges with the Sister Leaders. I got to go with Hermana Loarca, from Guatemala. She´s an incredible missionary. I loved teaching with her and I told her that someday I hope to be able to teach just like her. While we were teaching together, we went to the house of a less active in our branch. We stood outside and said ¨Saludos!¨ She greeted us back, so we walked inside. When we walked in, there was an old man sitting there. We asked in Yanniris was home, and he said ¨No, I just got here, and there´s nobody here. I´m just waiting for someone to get back.¨ While he was talking to us, I peeked into the kitchen and saw her crouched behind the table! haha I just thought it was so funny because she had answered us when we were standing outside! haha The people here are so funny. But I loved going on exchanges, because I got to see how much Spanish I really know! We were in my area, so I had to take charge. Normally I kind of lean on Hna Hunsaker to talk to people, but it was an awesome chance for me to use what I know! And it turns out that I know a lot! I was able to have conversations with all of the people we taught and to teach the lessons. And while we were waiting at Yesenia´s for her to come home, Hna Loarca and I had a heart felt conversation, for 40 minutes! And I understood all of it! It was so awesome. Okay, so she´s a lot easier to understand because she´s from Guatemala, but at least I´m learning! 

Something I forgot to mention last week, is that while we were at the branch activity, I was playing the piano with a little girl in the branch. While I was playing, I felt something fall in my shirt, and when I looked up, Ismael was looking at me with a smile on his face. And then I realized. He had thrown a cockroach down my shirt! I jumped up at starting freaking out! I was laughing and crying, and Hna Hunsaker and I ran to the bathroom to get it out. I was trying to laugh about it, but I´ll be honest, those were real tears. haha

I LOVED the Women´s Meeting this past weekend. We watched it with the branch in Spanish, so I didn´t really understand any of it, but I love the feeling and the atmosphere of General Conference. We got their early, so we sat in the chapel and watched the Mormon Tablernacle Choir sing. I didn´t realize how important music is to me until we watched them. Listening to them, honestly, filled my soul. I felt so emotional just listening to the beautiful harmonies and instruments. Music has always been a big part of my life, but I never realized just how much it means to me. I loved every second of it. On Monday, Hermana Loarca and I were talking about having a relationship with Jesus Christ. I told her that sometimes it´s hard for me to recognize my relationship with him. She told me that while we were singing hymns in the lessons, she could feel my love for the Savior. She helped me realize that that is how I express my love for Him. I´ve never been good at expressing myself through words, and I think that that really is the way that I show my love. I´m so glad that she helped me realize that, and now I´m going to sing until everyone knows what this gospel means to me! 

A Day in the DR:

A few weeks ago, the senior couple in our zone, the Fagersten´s, were driving us to the zone meeting, and they told us that, after their mission, they were thinking about making a video game about the DR called Junkyard Driving. haha The people here are crazy drivers! Sometimes I do feel like I´m in a video game, and that everyone is trying to hit us! haha Everyone here drives motorcycles, and they never stop at traffic lights or stop signs. And they´re always carrying something crazy on their bikes, like a family of 5 or a dresser, or they´re dragging 20 foot long poles behind him. haha I´m so glad that this isn´t a driving mission!

I hope you´re all doing well! Have a wonderful week!

Love, Hermana Jorden

Saludos!

It´s been a pretty normal week here in the Dominican Republic. Not much to report.

Unfortunately, we had another week of no investigators attending church. But, after talking to Yesenia, we found of that the first time someone had died that day, and the second week her son was sick. So still is still able to go 3 more weeks and then be baptized October 18! She´s so great! We got to talk to her fionse on the phone this week while we were teaching her. He works in the temple in Manhattan, and he´s been a member of a mission presidency, although he´s never served a mission. When I was talking to him on the phone, he asked ¨The important question is, is she someone that I should be with in the celestial kingdom?¨I said Äbsolutely! Well, I mean, that´s your decision. But we think she´s great! haha We´re excited for their wedding in November! The cool thing is, members can go through the temple a year after their baptism, so next year I could be able to go with them to the temple for there sealing. That would be such an amazing experience!

Everything has been going well with Yudi, other than the fact that she isn´t going to church! She told us this week that she was all ready to go at 8 30, but then her father came and needed her help. So I really hope that she can go this week. We´ve almost taught her all of the discussions, she just needs to go to church! When we taught her on Monday, she told us about this experience that she had where she felt prompted to visit her ex husband´s sister, and she did and it turns out that she was locked out of her house, so Yudi was able to help her. It was cool for her to see the power of the Holy Ghost and to have that experience. We sure love that lady!

A Day in the DR:

Last week, somebody that lived on a street we walk on daily died, and I learned a lot about Dominican funerals. After someone dies, they prepare the body and have a viewing in the house. They put up a white flag with a black cross. I´m not sure how long the body is in the house, but people sit outside and mourn for 7 days! Every time we passed, there were tons of people just sitting outside wearing dark colors. Last year, Hermana Hunsaker had an investigator that died, so she told me that the people just scream and cry and yell. She said it was a terrible experience. Luckily, every time we passed by the funeral, they were all just sitting there. So I´m not sure when they bury the body, but the cemetaries are just like big out of the ground shelves. So they put the bodies in there, and after 7 years they take them out. But nobody knows what they do with the bones after that. It was really interesting to learn, and I sure hope I never have to attend one here. But it´s really fun to learn about the culture here.

I hope you all have a great week! I love you all so much! 

Love, Hermana Jorden

Pictures from a Zone Activity today.

Hola amigos y familia!

It´s been a pretty great week here! 

This week was district conference and our mission conference with President Douglas. So that means we went to La Vega four times this week! La Vega is where the rest of our zone is, so we take a bus down the mountain to get there. But the conference we had with the Douglas was so great. I have the best mission president in the world. I respect President Douglas so much. He´s so wise and he always knows exactly what his missionaries need. He always gives the missionaries chances to prove themselves. And his wife is an amazing lady. She´s so persistent and motivated, and I really look up to her. She started a charity called Rising Star Outreach, that helps people with leprosy in India. She told us a few stories at the conference, and they were incredible. She´s amazing. I feel so blessed to have such wonderful leaders and to know that they can help me with anything. 

I forgot to mention this last week, but I finished my first transfer with Hermana Hunsaker last week! Training lasts for two transfers, so I´ll be with her for at least another transfer (6 weeks), but then I might be transferred to another area. If I do, there´s a good chance that I won´t be able to write because I´ll be traveling. But I´ve really enjoyed working with Hermana Hunsaker. We´ve become great friends, and we have a lot of fun together.

Today we had a zone activity here in Jarabacoa. We went to Dajaos (I just figured out that that´s the real name. We all thought it was called The House haha). But it´s a couple who live up in the mountains who are trying to teach about reforestation. They live in a beautiful forest, so we got to walk around and go to a small waterfall and pick raspberries, and then they fed us a delicious lunch. And then all 18 of us rode 40 minutes down the mountain in a tiny tiny truck. I´m so surpised we actually fit! But that´s how we roll here in the Dominican Republic. The pictures I sent are pictures we took today while we were up there. 

Sadly, Yudi and Yesenia didn´t come to church this week. Which means we have to start all over with them! Which is such a bummer, because if I get transferred in 5 weeks, I won´t be able to go to their baptism. And every time we´ve gone to their houses for appointments, they aren´t home. We haven´t visited either of them in over a week. It´s really sad, and I hope that tomorrow they will both be home.

I just want you to all know how much I appreciate and love you. But more importantly, I want each of you to know just how much your Heavenly Father loves you. He loves you so much. You are literally His child. And He cares about you. He wants to hear from you. Talk to Him. The power of prayer is real. He is listening, and if you come unto Him in prayer, He will bless you. He will always love you. No matter what you´ve done in your life. And if you pray and repent of your sins, through the power of the Atonement, you can be forgiven of your sins. What a blessing! I hope that all of you will use the Atonement in your lives to become clean through the blood of the Lamb, because Jesus Christ suffered for you. You can always go to Him, because He loves you with an infinite and unwavering love. When you feel alone, He is there. Always remember that you are never alone. 

A Day in the DR:

This week, our apartment flooded. At first it was just a little bit, so we would mop it up, leave, and then come back to a little more. But the past couple of days, we´ve had a lake in our house! haha So yesterday we talked to the man who lives downstairs, and he replaced our water heater today. So hopefully that ends that!