Teaching a deaf lady was a really good experience

So this week has flown by like really fast!

Transfer wise, nothing is happening to me or Elder Benson, but the other two companionships in the district are getting changes, no "greenies" though so it'll be nice to meet the new Elders!

Taught some really great lessons this week, will hopefully be having 3 or 4 baptisms in the next couple of months.

Gonna have another busy week this week, especially because all the college kids have come back and school has started again so hopefully we'll be able to teach more and more and more people!

The special person this week has got to be a lady called Sister Brummer, she is an elderly lady, who when she was in her 30s got an infection in her ears, and so they had to operate on them and it left her deaf, she is a member and her daughter (who now lives in Ireland) was 8 at the time. funny thing is, she can talk, well. She can also read lips really well, not so much english so we write a lot of things down when we visited her, but Afrikaans apparently she can lip read really well. It was a new experience, writing things down for her, because she couldn't hear, but then she responding by talking perfectly normal! She gets upset sometimes because people don't know how to communicate but I really enjoyed meeting with her!

The lessons we taught though went really really well, i hope that we are getting through to our investigators, and that they are understanding, they say they are, but i will be studying PMG to try and make sure i can find out if they really are.

Interesting experience this week, we were trying to visit a member, but they weren't in, so as we are walking back to the car, this guy comes up to us and starts talking to me, he said that he's seen the missionaries before, but that he wasn't taught by them, but that he wants to be taught and wants to learn more! So we were really excited, so we go to his house where we agreed to meet. Sometimes you can become sceptical, because what people say and what they do can two different things. But then I stopped believing in coincidence once and for all, because as we are getting out of the car, he comes around the corner and is ready for us to go in and teach! I was dumbfounded. 

We went in and taught a really great lesson, he's going through some hard times but we promised him that this message can and will help him, he seemed really interested and we are going back later this week to teach him some more.

One of our other investigators, his name is Vusi Musi, he is really powerful, he has such great faith, comes to church every week, which is always the deciding factor if they're committed, and we have him scheduled to be baptised! He is going through rough times, and didn't' eat for 4 days once, but he trusts in his Heavenly Father and wants to be baptised! He is also trying to end his old ways and be a better person!

Those are the highlights really, and mostly this week, apart from Friday, all our appointments stood true!

This coming week is gonna be good, we have worldwide missionary training on Wednesday, and since there is going to be a protest march in town we are going down to Jo'burg for the whole day, if we get permission from our President.

That's about it for this week, the letters are coming through!


Love from 


Elder Jack Jorgensen

Teaching in the townships. Houses are 4 x 4 metres in size.

SOoooooo this week! New Years! and a little illness (not mine thankfully).

New Years was actually pretty good. We had curfew at 6pm but the senior couple told us not to be in the township after 4. As it turns out we had to have district meeting, and by the time we got back it was already past 4, So we didn't do any proselyting on New Years Eve, we went to Klergsdorp with the other missionaries to have a sleep over there with them, and we went to one of the members house for food on New Years. 

We spent most of the night with a member, who was really nice, and then went back to their flat, they had an extra bed. I slept on two spare mattresses that they had, which was super comfy, tried to stay up till midnight but fell asleep about 11, first time in my life that I can remember that I didn't stay up. 

The wet weather at home sounds really nice, we've been needing a big rainstorm here but it is yet to come, still hot. I'm slowly getting used to it, I'm okay during the day but the nights are still touch and go.

So for New Years day we all got together as a zone at their apartment complex, and had a big water-fight with water guns. It was so much fun! Most people got absolutely soaked because we found some buckets and just poured them on people, but we dried really quickly in this heat :D It was nice to hang out with all the missionaries in the zone, especially Elder Nwokedi, from Denmark, who is sadly going home this transfer D: because he's a really nice guy and has a great personality.

After all that we went to the senior couples flat for tea because it was Elder Charchenkos birthday, he was 28! (he's actually 72, I'll let you work out the link) And I had Mashed Potato for the first time in SA, it was super nice, although I don't mind pap so much, just so long as it has sauce with it.

Talking about relaxing, the day after New Years, we were doing a service project which was nice because I got to do something with my hands and let my mind relax a bit and Elder Benson came down with what we think was the flu, and so we gave him a blessing (me and Elder Charchenko) and then they told us to stay in and rest. So we cancelled all our appointments and spent the day in the flat. He wasn't better on Sunday either so while we made it to church we stayed in for the rest of the day. It wasn't so bad, I got a much needed nap, and we watched Mountain of the Lord and the Restoration DVDs while eating the bag of Quality Street that I found and bought :P

That's pretty much what happened this week, found and taught this really great couple, out in one of the bits of the township where it's literally 4 metre squared shacks made of tin stuff, like literally really small. 

We must have invited a good 5 or 6 people to church, and 1 of them came.

Week 5, it feels like I've been here ages but also no time at all! It's scary!

Feeling the spirit a lot and settling in, following the spirit is much more important and trying that a lot. Study of the scriptures and prayers are so so important and the way to being inspired and receive a further understand of the atonement.

Glad to hear about the sister missionaries, I can feel that they are super nice people, you will have to send me a picture of them!

Transfer Day is 2 weeks tomorrow, but i think it'll come super duper fast!

Feeling a lot more confident and it's much easier speaking to people. Went contacting for 30 minutes this week and spent the entire time just talking two guys about the Book of Mormon and it was really, surprisingly easy. They were interested. Learning to just work hard, have a lot of patience and take no thought of the reward!

Lots of Love


Elder Jack Jorgensen

Christmas in the summer

So Christmas is now over already.

Yeah glad that I can start to get back to normal and back into the normal swing of things. 

That'll be set in stone in the new year, after the zone activity (paint-balling or crocodile farm!) and everyone comes back from their summer holidays.

Christmas at home sounds awesome. Christmas for me was Jo'Burg and the talent show where we sang "As Elders in Klerksdorp": 


1.As Elders in Jo'Burg we all work together; The Blessings of God on our Labours we'll seek. We'll build up his Kingdom in deepest North-West; We'll Comfort the Gogos and strengthen Tsotsis."

Chorus: We are in Africa. We are Sharing the Gospel with all those that are free and not busy

2. The work as an Elder is not always easy, Afrikaaners are yelling and dogs like to bite. But ours is the duty to help them realise that no we're not schoolboys and yes we're Christians.

3. How vast is our purpose how broad is our mission, if we but fulfil it in spirit and deed. Oh naughty the children who call us Mulungu, Magoa, eta ola, ekse fede, chap chap!"

It was very fun to perform, but one of the best ones there was definitely the office couples doing an awesome skit and dance to a pop song.

President Dunn did a Kermit the frog skit, with a Kermit puppet.

One of the elders played the guitar and sang while they balanced 25 Book of Mormons on his head and he walked around the stage!

All in all it was pretty awesome and skyping you guys was amazing. Home seems pretty much the same, but we'll see what it's like in 6 months.

This week has been pretty good. Ups and downs of course but all is going well. Getting more and more confident. 

I am slowly starting to get to know the area we are in. Elder Benson knows the area well and I am still learning.

We've got a couple of people that are progressing well so we hope that they'll be baptised soon! within the coming month if we can! 

We had a Christmas Carol service at one of the senior couples neighbours which was awesome. It went really well, a good 10 people or so came and people loved it.

Hopefully we'll be able to teach some people there!

Looking forward for the weeks to come, continuing to work hard as I can and keep going.

Hope that everyone has had a good Christmas and wish everyone the best for 2016, the year that i won't be able to see at home :-)


Elder Jorgensen