It Was The Perfect Question

Monday December 17, 2012

Dear Family,

On Tuesday I had an exchange with Elder Leavitt in Fairview and that is who you saw in the pictures that the Kenley's sent you.  On Tuesday night after our dinner Elder Leavitt and I went to go visit a potential investigator that they had found and the lady said stop back by sometime.  As we were walking to this lady’s house we could see that she was standing on her porch with her friend and with her fiancé.  As we got closer she started laughing as if she was embarrassed that we had shown up.  It was a little awkward at first but then Elder Leavitt started talking and the fiancé started talking to us then the friend left.  We were a little confused on what was going on but then the lady, who was about 23, finally started talking with us.  We started by talking about where they worked and what they did and then pretty soon she started feeling comfortable with us and asked us “when is the world going to end?”  It was a perfect question and from that point on we were able to share the plan of salvation and even a little bit about the restoration.  After talking to them for a while we found out that they were both a little lost and both wanted to do what was right.  They knew that living together wasn't right and they both want to quit smoking.  After talking for about 45 min in the freezing cold they invited us in so she could check her schedule to see when we could come back.  She even asked if we wanted any shampoo or gel because she cuts hair.  It was a really cool experience and at first I thought that they were going to tell us to go away but we were blessed and Heavenly Father softened their hearts so that we could share our message.  

On Wednesday we did some service at a retirement center and then the Kenley’s came and took us out to lunch to the Applebee's.  It was nice talking to them and catching up on Chambersburg.  They said that Kevin Kramer is getting the priesthood and then this Saturday he is going to baptize Jonah the 8 year old foster child.  

On Friday we had Zone conference.  It started at 9 am and we were able to hear from Doctor Brower the mission doctor.  He shared a presentation on how we can stay healthy and what we can do when we are sick.  He shared a lot of great information but one of the biggest things that I didn't know was that you can buy the 88 cent medicine at Wal-Mart and it is the same as buying the $6 name brand stuff.  So, mom and dad never buy the expensive stuff you will just be wasting your money.  After his presentation we had some training from President Topham where he taught us what we need to be doing in our companionship studies so that we can become better teachers.  It was really helpful and Elder Spohn and I have been putting it to the test.  It truly has been helping us to have better companionship studies and also become better teachers.  We then had lunch and I was able to talk to Elder Lozano about Lebanon and he told me that Sam is going to get baptized this Saturday!!!!   After lunch, we heard from the AP's and then we had to do some zone leader training which I felt went really well.  We taught about rescuing.  Our new purpose is to find, teach, rescue instead of find, teach, and baptize.  We still want to baptize but we want to rescue all those less actives and by rescuing those less actives we can then get referrals from them.  We did a lot of role playing in our training which is what president told us we need to do.  He said that every companionship study time, every district meeting, and every zone meeting should have 30 min of role plays because that is where you learn the most.  It is true.  If you want to become good at teaching then role play it to someone and when it comes time to teach it to a class you will get all the stupid things you might say out of the way.  We ended Zone conference with the mission video which was pretty awesome!

Thank you family for all your love and support.  I love you so much and can’t wait to talk to you this Christmas!!!  Have your questions ready!  

Love you!!!

Elder Tanner Lars Mouritsen 

PS.  My new address in Hanover is 500 Frederick Street 2^nd floor, Hanover, PA 17331.  I might have given you the wrong ZIP before.

My First Zone Leader Council

December 11, 2012

Dear Family,

We went to Pittsburgh this last weekend for Zone Leader Council. We went down on Thursday and had our council on Friday so we ended up staying with Elder Nelson in his apartment because he is the zone leader in Pittsburgh.  It was really fun to catch up on everything that has happened since the MTC.  He and I have pretty much had the same mission experience with a few differences.  We both want to serve together again so we kept hinting to President Topham to let us serve together.  He has also had some major girlfriend problems on his mission, which we were able to talk about.  He is also going through the same challenges that I have with learning Spanish so it is nice to talk to someone that knows what I am feeling.  I think it is cool that we will be coming home on the same day to the same airport to the same town.  I hope we can work something out to where we can go to the same university.  Oh, also transfer dates have been changed so I will be coming home a week earlier than what was expected, July 31 2013.

I am adjusting to being a Zone Leader.  It has been pretty much the same except we do more paper work and we have to go to Zone Leader Council where we talk about the rules of the mission and things we need to do to make sure the mission stays close to the Spirit.  We are also trained by the AP's and president on stuff that we have to train our zone to do.  The meeting at my first council meeting was good and the Spirit was strong.  We learned about rescuing less actives and getting them to the temple.  We also did some role plays on how we should use members in teaching less actives and how we can have that less active have a friend in the ward.  We will be having zone conference this Friday where we have to do an hour of training on the stuff that we learned in zone council.  Hopefully everything goes well and Elder Spohn and I can teach well together.  

Yesterday as we were E-mailing, the Gettysburg elders called us and said that they had an emergency.  They had been in a car accident and asked us to call President Topham.  We called the president to let him know and then we went out to the scene of the accident because the car was totaled and they were going to need a ride back.  It took us awhile to find where they were located but we eventually did.  As we pulled up we saw several cop cars two ambulances and a fire truck.  Yes it was pretty serious...  We got out and went to go see what had happened.  Elder Munoz who was the passenger was fine, he just had some bruises.  Elder Paralta was in the ambulance because he was having bad pain in his shoulder and neck.  The lady that hit the elders was also in the other ambulance and was being rushed off because she was in the worst condition.  The Gettysburg elders went off to the hospital in the ambulance and we ended up going to the hospital two hours later to give Paralta a blessing.  We got to the hospital and had to wait until the nurse called us.  Paralta ended up being fine.  He just had some strained ligaments in his shoulder.  I was amazed that they had no serious injuries after seeing their car.  They were both truly blessed.  We don't know about the other lady but we are trying to figure out how she is doing.  We heard her leg might have been broken.  

How the accident happened:

Elder Paralta is a very obedient driver and had stopped behind a stop sign.  He looked both ways and then pulled out into the intersection.  As he did, he was hit broadside by a jeep going anywhere from 45 to 55 miles an hour.  The elders ended up getting pushed about 30 yards from the 2 way stop.  The side air bags came out in the elders new Ford Fusion and the front air bags came out in the Jeep.  Both cars were totaled.  It is the fault of Elder Paralta because he didn't pull out far enough to see around a bush that was blocking his view.  If he would have pulled up a little farther he would have been able to see around the bush and prevented the accident.  I feel really bad for him because crashing sucks!!!

Both the Gettysburg elders speak Spanish fluently, so I can practice with them and we will be going on exchanges with them.  I will also being trying hard to find some new Spanish investigators so I can practice my Spanish.   

The work is going well we have some investigators that remind me of the Kramer’s and we also have Michael a 22 year old that wants to be baptized and a guy named Paul who is very interested.   

Love you!!

Elder Mouritsen

He answered his door with his M-16...

December 3, 2012

Dear family,

This week was transfers.  On Monday I spent the day saying goodbye to all the families that I had grown to love and finished packing.  On Tuesday we made the journey to Harrisburg where I met my new companion Elder Spohn and Elder Lozano met his companion Elder Morris.  I packed all my stuff into the car which was not easy because we had two elders with luggage; me and another Elder that was going to Gettysburg, and two more missionaries.  Once we finally stuffed all the stuff into the car we were off.  I got to my new area Hanover and my new apartment, which is quite nice.  It has two bedrooms, a nice bathroom and lots of windows so it doesn't feel like you are in a dungeon like it did in Lebanon.  I spent a little time unpacking and then we were off working in my new area.  It is always weird to get to a new area because you don't know anyone or anything about it but that is completely normal.  These last few days I have just been meeting all our investigators, getting to know Elder Spohn and getting used to this area.  So far I have been enjoying it and it is nice to be with a companion that is not brand new and actually knows what to do.  Elder Spohn has only been a Zone leader for 6 weeks so he is still pretty new to the whole zone leader thing so we will both be learning together.  

We have been having fun and we have some great investigators one being a man named Paul.  Paul is a character.  When I first met him he answered his door with his M-16 strapped to his belt and acted like he didn't want anything to do with us.  I found out later that Elder Spohn and he had been planning it.  His wife is a less active and that is how the missionaries originally got in contact with him.  He is really fun to teach because he is smart, has questions, and understands the importance of the gospel.  He also took us out to eat the other night with his family which was really awesome because normally investigators don't take us out for dinner.  

Elder Spohn came out to Pennsylvania with me on the airplane so he has been out about the same time as me.  He is from South Jordan, Utah.  He lives next to Glenmore golf course but went to Copper Hills instead of Bingham.  We have a lot in common and we even know some of the same people.  He likes to play sports, work out, eat well, and is smart in the gospel so our companionship studies go by fast because we have a lot to talk about.  

I am also back in the Zone with the Kenley's and the Kramer’s so I will get to go see the Kramer’s again!!

It’s crazy that Tess is in the MTC!  I can't believe she is gone!  I remember just like it was yesterday when I was saying goodbye to you guys on the curb at the MTC and I felt I was ready and within the first couple hours I found out how unprepared I was.  I am glad I am not going through that again but I would be nowhere without the MTC.  She is probably going to feel a little overwhelmed in the MTC at first.  She is going to do great though and I will try and send her an email or a letter. 

Last night (Sunday) we also watched the Christmas Devotional which was really nice.  I liked all the stories that they shared and how the focus was how to receive a gift, not just give but receive.  We don't always need to give a gift back when we receive a gift.  I thought it was nice and the music was phenomenal.  It was a cool experience because we had planned to watch the devotional with a less active and her son who is not a member but is investigating the church.  The less active sister wasn't feeling well so the investigator ended up inviting us over to his house.  We ended up watching the devotional on a laptop which at first didn't sound too great but the Spirit was still strong and you could tell that the music and stories had a big effect on our investigator and his girlfriend.   

I am off of z-pack and my ears are feeling better but I still kind of have a sore throat which is super annoying!  I should be back to normal this week.   

I love you guys!!!

Elder Mouritsen  

I am being transferred to Hanover, Pennsylvania

November 26, 2012

Dear family, 

This was a good week but sad because I knew I was probably getting transferred and I found out that I would definitely be transferred on Saturday from the Zone leaders.  I am being transferred tomorrow.  I will be going to Hanover, Pennsylvania to be the York Zone leader.  Chambersburg will be in my Zone so I will be able to see the Kenley's and the Cramer’s again. Yahoo!!! 

Things went really well this week though.  We had some great lessons and we had all of Rebecca’s family come to church; Sam, Sambo, Omari and Fernando.  We also had one of our Spanish investigators named Elizabeth come to church.  It was my first time having a Spanish investigator come to church.  It was awesome!!  We ended up having the Gospel Principles class in Spanish and Hector Morales taught the class.  It was so different having a Spanish investigator there and so surprising that I almost didn't know what to do with myself.  On Friday we had a lesson with Elizabeth.  In the lesson we watched the new bible video of Jesus being baptized by John and then after that I asked her if she would be baptized.  She accepted and then Elder Lozano set a date for the 22 of December.  We bore testimony that what we taught was true and of the priesthood.  She was happy and she also loved church.  Elder Lozano will be preparing her for baptism in these next few months.  After our lesson with Elizabeth we had our scheduled appointment with Rebecca and her family.  Sambo wasn't there but Sam was and Rebecca had made us a whole turkey dinner which was delicious.  We ate our turkey dinner and then shared a thanksgiving Mormon.org video.  After the video I asked Rebecca what she was thankful for, she quickly started tearing up and said “why did you have to ask me that?”  She then started saying that she is thankful to be a member of the church and for the opportunity that she had to come to America from Thailand with her family and to have always had a job since she has been here.  It was really touching and the Spirit was so strong.  We then asked Sam what he was thankful for and he explained himself, which was cool to hear.  Elder Lozano and I then shared our thoughts and then I asked Sam if he would be baptized on the 22 of December and he said YES!!!  I was shocked but not really because I could feel the Spirit witnessing to his heart that it was true.  Many things are starting to happen in the Lebanon area and I will be really sad to leave.  I have grown to love the people here and the ward. 

Thanksgiving was great!  On Thursday morning we had a Turkey Bowl at the park and Sam and Fernando came to that with us.  There ended up being about 35 of us so the teams where huge and lots of confusion but it was still really fun and I was able to show off all my football skills, haha just kidding.  After football we went home to shower and get ready and at 1:30 brother Gooden came and picked us up.  We then went and got Rebecca because her family was all leaving to go to other places, so we invited her to come with us, of course with the Gooden’s permission.  We got to the Gooden’s and everyone was playing Speed (a card game) and cooking food.  I was able to meet Sister Gillan’s Son Mathew who lives in Utah, taught at the mtc while I was there, and tutored me there.  He also dated Shea Renouard and new Chris Ackerman!  Crazy right!  Small world.  At around 2:00, we had dinner which was terrific!  We then played card games and I taught Rebecca how to play speed which she enjoyed very much.  At 6 we left the Gooden’s and went to the Whitney’s where we ate again and then played Texas hold em haha... no money was involved but we had fun and the had some none members there that we were able to talk with. 

The whole day on Thursday I had had a bad ear ache so after the Whitney’s we went to Jeff Sabey's house where he checked me out again and told me that my ear infection was back.  He ended up putting me on z pack and let me borrow his humidifier.  He also told me to use the Nettipot.  I had to buy a Nettipot and have been using it to clear out my sinuses.  It seems to work...  I am feeling a little better today and things are starting to clear up.  

Also this week I went on an exchange with Elder Platt in Hershey and I was able to talk to a Hershey med student and I think I want to be a plastic surgeon. 

This week for district meeting I taught on the Christmas Campaign.  Go to mormon.org/christmas and you can share the message of the true meaning of Christmas with your friend the family.  There are free e-cards on there which are pretty cool.  The Church will be putting up a lot of advertising within the next month on YouTube and Facebook. 

Thanks for the Thanksgiving card!

Love you!!!

Elder Mouritsen

Things are starting to come to fruition

November 19, 2012

Dear family,

Things are going well here in Lebanon.   It was a pretty normal week as far as missionary work goes except on Thursday I was able to have an exchange in Harrisburg with an elder named Elder Ward.  It was a good exchange.  We even had the security guard at the Hospital come up to us and started telling us that he thought that Romney should have won and then he told us that he listens to Glenn Beck all the time and loves listening to what he has to say.  He was really interested in us and what we do and we ended up setting up a time where we could meet with him and share a message.  It was cool because he came up to us and that usually doesn't happen but I think the Lord is preparing him.  Elder Ward and I got along really well.  We are both from Utah and we had a lot to talk about.  

I got back to Lebanon on Friday just in time to go to a lesson at Rebecca’s.  She had made us some Cambodian salad that was pretty spicy and I kept feeling like I was going to get the hiccups.  She also fed us some really good egg rolls that she made.  I don't know how she cooks so well because her kitchen doesn't have any counters.  The lesson that we had went really well.  We shared the bible video about the atonement.  The Spirit was really strong and both of Sambo's kids where there because they were sick and staying home from school but I think it was a blessing in disguise.  Sambo's son Fernando was able to watch the video with us and then we invited him to come to church.  On Sunday we had Rebecca's son Sam come and he brought Fernando.  They only stayed for sacrament but it was really nice to have them there.  Fernando is only ten so I ended up playing tick tack toe and the dot game just to keep it interesting for him.  

There are a lot of good things going on in this area and I will be sad to leave.  Transfers are coming up next week and I will most likely be transferred because I have been here for 6 months.  I am sad and I really don't want to leave though.  A lot of things are starting to come to fruition that we have been working hard on and I want to see the results.  Also, I want to keep speaking Spanish with Elder Lozano.  I love the ward and the members here and we are about to do some reaping in this area.   

This week is thanksgiving.  We will be having dinner with the Gillon's and the Gooden's.  We might also go and visit the Whitney family.  Brother Whitney is a jockey living in the ward.  He is supposed to be inviting several jockey friends to his house for dinner so hopefully we can get some new potential investigators while at dinner.  We also will be having a turkey bowl that morning where I will be able to show off all my turkey bowl (football) skills.   

I love you guys and pray for you constantly!!

Love Elder Mouritsen 

Hastening the Work

November 12, 2012

Dear Family,

This week has been a good week.  I started the week off by having exchanges with Elder Kunes.   He is one of the Elders in the Hershey area.  It went well.  I always like going to Hershey because it feels like I am staying in a hotel.  Their apartment is so much nicer than ours and you can see Hershey park from the window.  We had some good lessons in Hershey and we gave one of their investigators a blessing because he had been in a car accident.  The blessing went well and afterward he sent us a text saying that he was feeling better.  I am sure that Heavenly Father planned that out perfectly; he probably allowed the car accident to happen which then caused Sok (that is his name) to put forth some faith and ask for a blessing.  That is exactly what he did and Heavenly Father healed him letting him know that the church is true.  He came to church that Sunday and I am sure he will be baptized in the coming weeks. 

We ended our exchange and on Thursday we had a zone training meeting where we learned some great information from President Topham about the “hastening of the work”.  There are lots of missionaries coming in and that means the work is hastening and we need to work harder than ever.  We also need to rescue those that have been lost.  Our new goal, which President Topham set, is to find, teach and rescue instead of our old goal which was to find, teach and baptize.  We focused on the finding part which all started with faith.  We need to have greater faith in our finding ability and we need to find new ways other than tracting and talking to people on the street.  Overall, I learned a lot and Elder Lozano and I will be working on implementing this info into our daily activities. 

A couple more great things about this week; Sambo came to church for the first time and enjoyed it and Rebecca gave her first talk in sacrament on the temple.  For Sambo to come to church was huge because she was able to interact with the members, feel the Spirit and know the difference that it can make in her life.  I pray that she was touched by the Spirit and that she will come back and eventually be baptized because I know how much this gospel can change her life as well as her kids. 

Elizabeth is still doing well.  She didn't come to church but she is ready and she set up two days out of the week that we could come teach her.   

I can't believe that AJ is coming home!!!!  I want all of us to get home at the same time but that won’t happen.  I am sure he has had one of the greatest missions and probably has been one of the greatest missionaries that have ever served.  

Thanks for all your love and support!!!

Love you!

Elder Mouritsen

The Spirit pricked my heart and I could not hold back.

November 5, 2012

Dear family,

You guys have had quite the week last week with illness and parties. I hope mom is feeling better and I am glad that the kids all behaved at our house after the Bingham Ball dance. 

I talked to sister Gillon yesterday.  She came up to me and told me that she had talked with my dad and that she really enjoyed talking to you.  She is probably my favorite person in the ward.  She is so nice and loves the missionaries.  She is like the missionary mom.  She is in charge of our dinners now and we have been having dinner almost every night since she has been in charge.  Sister Mastracola has been really sick and busy with work and hasn't even been to church for about 6 weeks now.  I hope she starts feeling better and she can figure something out with her work.  The Mastracola’s were probably hit by the storm the worst out of all the ward members.  They had two huge trees de-rooted and their huge barn door was blown into the barn and it was on some massive hinges, so the wind must have been pretty bad and they were out of power for a couple days. 

This ward is really great and I have been impressed at how the ward has been so willing to step up and help us get to the places that we need to go and always pick us up and take us home for dinner.  They have also been buying us bus passes so we can get out to Palmyra the farthest part for us in our area.  We have had members present at lessons more than ever since we lost our car.   We need members to drive us to our lessons and most of our investigators are woman which is great but, we need priesthood in our ward.  I can definitely see why plural marriage was practiced back in the day because there weren’t enough good men that held the priesthood.  There are lots of men in this area but none are willing to listen.  All they are interested in is drugs, sex and trying to get rich.  They don't care about families and the well-being of their children that they have.  It amazes me how many young people already have babies and have no financial stability to support that child or a family.  We have one young man that we have come in contact with because he lives with his grandma who is a member.  He has one child already and one on the way with the same girl and he has not even turned 18.  You think he would've learned with the first baby but no, and he doesn't really plan on getting married.  It makes me sick and sad for those kids and I can't even image how sad God is for these decisions that his children are making.  I am glad for your example that even though the odds were against you, you guys got married and worked hard to make a happy family.  I feel that you two did one of the best jobs raising us kids and I wouldn't have had it any other way.  I truly have the best parents!!

This week has been different mostly because of the storm.  On Wednesday we had to stay in after 6 so we spent a lot of time in our apartment this last week.  There were some very spiritual events that took place.  We have been teaching a lady named Elizabeth and we found her by knocking doors one night.  She speaks Spanish and English but we teach her in Spanish.  We shared the story of the Restoration last week and this week we watched the Joseph Smith DVD which she loved.  You could tell by the way that she was watching the video that she understood and was feeling the Spirit.  She is also reading to Book of Mormon and coming up with questions which is a sign that the person is progressing and being touched by the Spirit.  We have been trying to work hard on asking inspired questions this week and in this lesson I feel that we got to put that practice to use.  I hope we can schedule a date for baptism this week. 

We also taught another Spanish speaking woman that has 4 kids and one on the way.  She is a single mom and ready for the gospel.  We shared the story of the Restoration with her and she understood it and told us that everything that we were talking about sounded true.  She also has the same question that Joseph Smith had about knowing what church is the true church.  It was a good lesson and I could feel the Spirit.  We also helped her fix her vacuum which had a clogged filter. 

Sunday was a great day!  We had testimony meeting and one of the first people to bear their testimony was Rebecca.  I wish I could put into words the way I felt as she bore her testimony.  She had written her thoughts on a piece of paper and as she read she cried and bore testimony that she knows this is the true church and how she has felt it change her life.  I don't think I have been touched so much by another testimony in my life.  The Spirit hit me so hard that I began to cry and I don't think I have ever cried in a testimony meeting but I could not help it.  The Spirit pricked my heart and I could not hold back.  I love that lady.  She has probably changed my life more than I have changed hers. 

 I love you family SO MUCH!!!

Elder Tanner Mouritsen

  

No car, terrible bikes, and goofy helmets!

Oct 22, 2012

Dear Family,

We aren’t able to drive a car anymore and are now walking and riding bikes.  This area is huge so we have been relying on the members to drive us to all the far places that we need to go.  Hopefully the members will remain patient with us.  We also got some bikes!  I opened my suitcase to get my heated blanket the other day and there was two fold up bikes in there.  I pulled them out and unfolded them and now we are able to visit all the people within Lebanon, haha, just kidding.  We actually got our bikes from the Hershey Elders because Hershey used to have a walking area but that area has since shut down.  They are pretty terrible bikes.  We need to get them tuned up because every time I go up a hill the gears start changing on their own which causes the chain to slip.  I will have to take a look at it today and try and fix it with the little tools that I have.  I feel that by riding bikes every day for the next while my legs with get enormous and my clothes and shoes will become very worn.  The only bad part about riding the bikes is having to wear the goofy helmets, haha.  I will have to send you a picture.  I look more like dad than ever when I am wearing a helmet.  When I first put the helmet on it reminded me of the time that we went skiing with Brady and he rented the silly looking helmet, haha.  Ya, you better take that off if you want to ski around us haha...  Dad you crack me up.  We found a really good deal on a couch at Ashley Furniture.  We will be getting it soon but for now we are just sitting on hard chairs. 

Grandma is such an inspiration to me.  I am glad to hear that she is doing really well.  Tell her the sooner her hip gets better the sooner we can go wake boarding!

I received a card from Aunt Bonnie this week that was very nice.  I really hope that her muscles and her nerves can re-heal and she can get back to normal and not have to feel self-conscious about her face.  I know the Lord will bless her because this was a trial that he placed in front of her and she dealt with it very well so now she will be able to recover fully. 

We had a good lesson with Sambo this week.  She brought up a concern that she has with the church and that is dealing with the baptisms for the dead.  She doesn't believe that we need to be doing that and she doesn't believe that temples should be closed to the public.  We will have to try and figure out a way to address this because we have already told her the reason for temples and baptisms for the dead but she is not accepting of it.  Rebecca went to the temple for her first time this week and did 7 baptisms for the dead.  She loved it she said and could really feel the Spirit.  She had done some genealogy, so she was able to perform the baptism of her mom and one of the young men did the baptism for her late husband and her father.  She had a good time and I am thankful to the ward for taking her and making it a good spiritual experience for her. 

We are supposed to be going to dinner with Rebecca, Sambo, Sam, and Sambo’s kids tonight so that will be fun but I don't like how she asks us to come and she feeds us all the time when she doesn't have much money.  I want to do something special for her before I get transferred from this area but I am not sure what.  Maybe you can help me figure out something. 

I made pumpkin cookies and took them to Rebecca and her family the other day.  They were really good but my first batch got a little burned because our oven is pretty bad but the rest were good.

I love you and I am glad you made it home safely from Tennessee!

Love,

Elder Mouritsen

We Teach Correct Doctrine

October 15, 2012

Hi Family,

Things are progressing kind of slowly with our investigators.  We did have some good lessons this week but they were in English which is kind of a bummer.  Our best lessons are usually in English.  We received a referral from Salt Lake City a couple weeks ago and finally this week we were able to meet with her.  She had been given a pass along card from the missionaries some time back and as she was flipping through her bible she found the card again and felt that she should get in contact with the missionaries.  This was surprising to me because rarely do people call the number on the card.  Actually I have never had it happen on my mission so this was a cool experience for me and it let me know that there is a purpose to giving out those pass along cards.  We had a really good lesson with her.  She had been in prison for two years of her life and she is now trying to get her life back together and find Jesus as she says. We shared with her and her fiancé the story of the restoration which I felt they understood really well.  We had a member there with us who bore a great testimony.  We also bore our testimony they both said that they would read the Book of Mormon and be baptized if they came to the knowledge that it was true.  The member that went with us to that lesson had just bought a new Acura tsx which was really nice and I think dad needs one, haha.  

Last night we had dinner with some members of the ward.  They had invited a non-member friend to come have dinner with us.  The member had been talking with her friend about the church and had given her a Book of Mormon, so this lady already knew a lot about the church.  We had not planned on teaching a lesson to her but she started asking about missions and what we do as a missionaries.  We told her that we were called by a prophet to teach the restored gospel.  Then she became very interested in prophets and started asking us lots of questions.  We ended up sharing the whole story of the restoration with her but focusing on the prophets and the apostasy.  She couldn't accept the fact that we have a prophet on the earth today or even see the need for a prophet.  She attends a Brethren church which has taught her that God has the authority and has given it to everybody and everybody has the power to baptize.  I think she could feel and see the truth of our message.   At one point she even asked me to stop using the word “authority” because she didn't like that word.  I think it is because she realized that her church doesn't have the authority.  It was a good lesson that sparked an excitement in my heart and mind that this is the true church on the earth today and that we teach correct doctrine.  I hope that she sincerely prays about our message and will accept that there is a prophet and that they are necessary. 

Thanks for all your love and support.  I love you guys very much!!!

Elder Mouritsen 

Conference Changed Me!

October 7, 2012

Dear Family,

Conference was awesome!  I was able to watch all the sessions.  We watched all the sessions except for the last one at the church.  I really enjoy watching conference at the church because there are no distractions and I can feel the Spirit so strongly.  The announcement made by President Monson was very surprising but I think it is a great thing.  At first, when I heard this I thought, why are they changing the age now?  I felt that the age should have been changed long ago but then I thought to myself how I could be done with my mission if this had happened a couple of years ago.  I was a little frustrated because I would've loved to go on a mission right after high school but then I thought about all the things that I learned in that first year of college that I wouldn't have learned if I came directly out on a mission.  Because of college I know how to study better and now that I am on a mission I have figured out better ways to study that will help me be more proficient.  I feel that I learned many lessons in the first year of college and I feel blessed that I was able to have that year of college to learn about myself better.   

Conference changed me!  I have been having so many questions lately and with this conference I could feel a burning within me and I could feel myself changing.  I could feel my testimony grow and I can truly say that I have gained a deeper conversion than ever before in my life.   The topics that were touched on were what I needed to hear and the spirit that those men brought let me know that this is the true church, the Lords Kingdom reestablished on the earth.  I am grateful to be a missionary to be able to give of myself fully to the furthering of the work.  I know that the Prophet receives revelation for everyone and knows what's best and what will bring us happiness.  Conference was a blessing that changed my life and I would hope changed the lives of many others.  It is not every day that we get to hear from a real life prophet of God.  

Things are going well.  I feel that I never have any time to do anything because I am either studying to teach district meeting or working with Elder Lozano in the training program and trying to practice Spanish.  It has been hard trying to balance all these things but I am learning a lot.  This week we will be without a car so we either have to walk or ask people for rides.  I am also dealing with a cold.  At least I think it is a cold.  We had a lesson with this lady the other day and she had three cats and when I came out of her house I was having horrible allergies.  From that point on I have had a stuffy nose and a sore throat.  Hopefully it goes away soon. 

We tried really hard to have Sambo watch conference with us at a member’s house but she couldn't because she had to go to her son’s football game.   We did have a lesson with her on Friday though and we watched some mormon.org videos that had some of the apostles talking so they would know who the apostles were.  The videos were all very good and by the end Sambo was crying and I asked her if Thomas S. Monson could be a prophet and she said yes, but kind of under her breath.  The best part was at the end of the lesson when she offered the closing prayer for the first time.  It was a great prayer too.  I really pray that she will accept the gospel.

Sam is Rebecca’s son and he came and watched conference with us at a member’s house.  He said he enjoyed it but didn't understand much of it, maybe because of a language issue.  I don't think Rebecca understood really any of it either because Sam can speak better English than her.  I told her to go and listen to conference in Cambodian when she got home because they have it in Cambodian on lds.org.   We had a fun time though.  We watched the last session of conference and ate some good sandwiches at the Whitney's house.  He is a Jockey and only 5'1 107lbs.  Can you believe that!  Crazy!

We teach a lot in Spanish but none of our Spanish speaking investigators seem to be progressing and no one comes to church.     

I called the Kenley the other day and they are doing really well.  Elder Rivas is working hard and will send me letters every now and again.   

I just wrote a letter to the Kramer's this week.  Kevin has been passing the sacrament and is getting ready to receive the Melchizedek priesthood.  Kim is teaching primary.  They really love church according to the Kenley's.   

Love you,

Elder Mouritsen

PS.  I have included some pictures.  Rebecca on a bike.  She is still a kid at heart.  Me and Elder Lozano.

Focusing on Teaching in Spanish

September 24, 2012

Dear Family,

This week we have been working really hard finding new people to teach really focusing on the Spanish speaking people.  It is kind of sad because we will see an English speaker and not talk to him or her because if we do then they might end up being a great investigator and take up a lot of our time when we have a goal to open a Spanish branch.  I know we are supposed to talk to everyone but we are both Spanish speaking so we try to speak Spanish as much as possible.  It seems to be working too.  Almost all our lessons this week were in Spanish and we had 14 lessons.  At the beginning of the week I went on exchange with Elder Broadbent from Hershey.  It was really fun but it ended up raining all day which was bad because I really wanted to get Elder Broadbent motivated to find new people.  We still ended up going tracting in the rain and we found some really cool people for the Hershey elders to teach.  One lady was a Cuban and at first she was not willing to listen to us but then we started talking to her and asking her inspired questions that caused her to think and feel the Spirit and by the end of the conversation she offered us a drink of water.  Within minutes, it was really great to see her change towards us and our message.  Elder Broadbent and I work really well together and I wish we could serve together sometime, because I feel we could do some great things.  We are very similar.  I think that is why it is so easy to teach with him because we think the same way, haha.  We also both have the first name Tanner, which is crazy.   Being on exchange with him is so stress free that it makes it hard to go back to my own area.  We exchanged back on Wednesday at district meeting.  I taught district meeting on prayer and the atonement of Jesus Christ and how they work together.  I feel that it went well but I am still trying to figure out how I can motivate Elder Broadbent and Elder Kunes.  They are both old in the mission and Elder Kunes is a little trunky.  This causes Elder Broadbent not to work very hard either.  I am glad to be with Elder Lozano and this week we will be speaking only Spanish so we will see how it goes. 

We had a lesson with Rebecca this Friday and, as usual, when we got there she had lots of food prepared; fried chicken, carrot bread, corn, rice, lasagna and some other things.  It seems that every time we go over there she gets more and more fancy with her food choices, haha.  She is great!  Anyway, we ate and talked and then after we ate we started teaching the rest of the plan of salvation.  Sambo was there and ready to learn.  She asked us as soon as we got to Rebecca's house if we were going to finish our lesson that we had started last time.  We started teaching by first finding out what they remember about what we had taught last time and they all remembered a lot, even Rebecca.  Sometimes, I'm not sure if Rebecca fully understands what we are talking about because it is hard to understand English but she knew quite a bit about the plan of salvation which made me happy.  After testing them and reviewing, we started teaching about the atonement and expanding on it then we moved on to talking about the spirit world. They were all intrigued with the spirit world especially Sambo.  We used these fancy pictures that Elder Lozano had received from a missionary serving in New Jersey who had a talent for art.  We finished out the plan of salvation talking about the Resurrection, judgment and the three degrees of glory.  It was fun to teach and Sambo kept asking inspired questions.  I wish she would follow her heart because I know that she knows it is true.  She is just holding onto the worldly things.  I have faith that she will be baptized one day.  Rebecca finished the lesson with a great prayer that brought the Spirit.

The Lebanon ward is helping us out a lot but they are hardly feeding us!  The members are starting these things called cottage meetings where they are supposed to invite their friends to their house, teach a short lesson and then work to develop friendships.  It sounds like a good idea but we'll see how it goes.  Tonight is our first night that we will be having the cottage meetings. 

We have two investigators that we are preparing for baptism, Linda and her daughter Christine.  They have been to church once but we haven't been able to get them back or teach them this week.  Linda has a very busy work schedule that makes it hard for her to come to church but Christine doesn't really have an excuse.  We should be having a lesson with them this next week and we should be able to set them with a baptismal date.  They know it is true because they have told us that they know it is true.  I only worry that they will struggle with the word of wisdom and tithing because Linda likes to drink coffee and tithing might be hard because they kind of live check to check.  We will be teaching them the word of wisdom in the next lesson and I hope that they will be willing to accept it and be able to come to church this week. 

I hope everything is going well at home!  I love you!

Elder Mouritsen

One of the highlights this week was teaching Rebecca the Plan of Salvation.

September 17, 2012

Hello family,

This week has been good.  We did a lot of work and we found new investigators, some that are Spanish speaking and some that are English speaking.  One of the highlights for me this week was teaching Rebecca the Plan of Salvation again.  While we were at her house, her daughter Sambo came in and listened and started asking inspired questions.  I could feel the Spirit working on her but she still denies it and won’t commit to be baptized.  She made teaching the plan of salvation fun.  Rebecca also made us some great Cambodian food which may be the reason my stomach has been upset for the last couple days.  Rebecca is amazing. She gives up everything she has for others and she has so little.  The love that she has for others makes me think of the love that Christ has for us and how unconditional it is.  Rebecca will definitely go to the Celestial Kingdom.   

I am adjusting to being the District Leader.  I am still trying to figure out what I need to do to strengthen our district and get them excited to go out and work.   

The zone meeting this week went really well.  We learned about the atonement and talked about sacrifices that we could make in our lives to become better missionaries.  It was a really good subject and I came away from the meeting wanting to be better and wanting to sacrifice some things that I believe would make me a better missionary and ultimately a better person.  After the meeting I talked to Sister and President Topham and then asked president if he would give me a blessing to help me focus on the mission and also to be able to learn Spanish.  It was a great blessing and a spiritual experience.  It was a very special blessing for me because it was just President, Sister Topham and me.  It was a time that I needed comfort and they gave it to me.  I love them and am glad they are here the same time I am here.   

Elder Lozano is doing really well.  He is straight out of high school so he thinks he knows everything still and so I told him he needs to work on his pride and patience with others.  He doesn't like speaking Spanish which frustrates me because I want to learn so badly but he doesn't want to help me as bad as I want to learn I guess.  It was the same way with Elder Rivas.  They don't like to speak Spanish and there is no need to here because even the people that speak Spanish also speak English and they prefer to be taught in English.  It is a never ending battle.   

I was watching a talk the other day by Elder Holland that he gave at the MTC.  He spoke about the making of the “Preach My Gospel” manual.  He said he remembered when Pres. Hinckley came out and said that there was a big problem with the missionary program because missionaries would come home and then go less active.  Missionaries didn't need to have a deep understanding of the gospel and they didn't even have to have a strong testimony they just needed to memorize the discussions.  In the past, it was possible for missionaries to lose their testimony because teaching the same lessons over and over again, no matter the situation, made them question if it was true.  I am glad that I am here on my mission and, for me to be a successful missionary I need to obtain a deep understanding of the gospel before I can declare it to others.   

The weather here is very nice!  Not too hot and not too cold, just perfect. The leaves are starting to change so I will try and take lots of pictures. So far, it hasn't rained too much lately. 

I love you! 

Elder Mouritsen 

Transfer time, welcome Elder Lozano!

September 5, 2012

Hi Family,

It was transfers this week.  I went to Pittsburgh to pick up my new companion, actually my trainee.  His name is Elder Lozano.  He is from New Jersey and he never went to the MTC but he speaks English perfectly and he speaks Spanish perfectly.  He is awesome!  Pittsburgh was a long drive.  I drove to Pittsburgh on Monday and got there around 10 pm.  We stayed in the AP’s apartment and the next day we had our training meeting on how to be a trainer.  I have been through it three times now but it was still a good meeting and afterward we had lunch.  I was able to talk to President Topham for a while he gave me some great advice and counsel.  I was glad that I had a chance to talk to him and I feel like we have a closer bond now.  He is an inspired man and I respect him greatly as my mission president.  Today I had district meeting for the first time which went pretty well.  I didn't have much time to prepare but it went well.  I feel bad that I was called as District Leader and the previous DL was released from that position.  He is still in the district which normally doesn't happen.  Usually Pres. Topham moves the district leader out of the area but not this time, he left him in and just released him.  That is why I felt bad.  All these changes are pretty overwhelming.  Pray for me!
 

Wow!  That is shocking news that I never expected about Aunt Bonnie!  I can’t believe she has a tumor in her head.  That is really sad, but I am really glad that it is not cancerous.  I will keep her in my prayers for sure. 

Sorry this email is short and boring but I have no time to write.  I am standing up in the library right now emailing you which is really uncomfortable, haha.  I’m sorry I couldn’t e-mail on Monday either.  The library was closed because of Labor Day.

I love you all,

Elder Mouritsen

It was as if we had the black plague!

August 27, 2012

Dear Family,

I’m sorry to hear that Sydnee is still sick!  Wow, it has been a long time.  It's always hard being sick during the summer because so much is going on.  I thought school started this week?  It started for all the kids here in Lebanon.   

It is cool to know that Elder Ballard spoke to you in the adult session and at the Sunday session of Stake Conference.  It was great to hear that Jon Bronson was called to the Stake Presidency!  He will do a great job.   We also had Elder Porter, a member of the 70, who came on what is called a mission tour.  He came on Thursday to Harrisburg and we were able to hear from Sister Topham, President Topham, Sister Porter and Elder Porter.  Elder Porter took up a majority of the time.  He spoke of the doctrine of Jesus Christ: faith, repentance, baptism, the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end.  He went into depth with all of the principles and offered a lot of good insight on all the subjects.  After every couple principles he would stop and have a Q and A session.  That was my favorite part where we were able to ask him any question that we had on our mind and he could answer it right on the spot.  When he finished with topics of the gospel of Jesus Christ we had a musical number and then he spoke again.  This time he explained the atonement the suffering that went on in the Garden.  It was really cool and at the end he bore his testimony of the Atonement after reading Isaiah 53.  I encourage you to read it.  This was a great experience for me, it recharged my batteries and got me ready for this next year that is ahead of me. 

Yesterday we had ward conference but Elder Blake and I were asked to attend an Orientation worship service where we were able to go and set up pamphlets, Books of Mormon, and we even had an iPad to show people Mormon.org.  This orientation was at the local college for all the new freshmen to come and check out the different religions in the area.  After setting up our stuff in the foyer we joined everyone in one of the worship services that they held on campus.  I will just say one thing, it was a great rock concert!  I couldn't help but laugh as I stood watching other people wave their arms back and forth.   At first I was like, wow this music is pretty good, and then I realized that that was all the worship service was.  I think the band performed 10 songs.  They did read two scriptures and had a 5 minute message which was based on “the woman at the well” but the information was changed and not true.  It was pretty fun but I gained a greater appreciation for our Church and the Spirit that is felt in our Church.  After the concert, we went back to our table to talk to people that might have had any questions.  Not one person came to our table or the Mennonites table.  I was blown away by this.  It was if we had the black plague.  We had the Protestants and the Catholics on both sides of us and everyone went to those tables and passed by ours.  People wouldn't even look at us!  It was crazy!  When we were cleaning up, I went over by the Mennonite table and I had a really awesome talk with their pastor about the priesthood and temples.  I could tell that he was blown away by what I told him but he still wouldn't accept a Book of Mormon.  I did get him to take a pamphlet about the restoration. 

The English class we planned last week was a bust.  Not one person came.  I had studied up on how to teach English and I was going to teach it.  We had passed out flyers all day on Tuesday and Wednesday but still no one came to the class.  We will make more flyers and hand them out again next week.  A lot of people have a hard time finding the church here because it is so far out of town.  I have faith that this week will be better.   

I love you all and pray for you!!!

Love,

Elder Mouritsen

PS.  I prayed for the trooper to get fixed and it did!  He hears our prayers! 

It is not just chance that we went to that neighborhood

August 20, 2012

Hello Family,

I am sorry to hear that the Trooper is still having issues.  I will pray for dad.  No one likes angry dad because he becomes a whole different person.  I hope the Trooper can get fixed because that car is nice to have. 

I am grateful for the experiences I have had with Elder Blake.  I have learned more about myself than ever and I hope I have offered some help to him. 

You will have to go to Mike Arnell’s Homecoming and talk to him.  I can't believe he is home and that AJ will be coming home in four months. 

The ward is doing great at making Rebecca feel welcome.  Last night we had dinner at the Johnson's and they had invited Rebecca to dinner which was great because we didn't even ask them to do that.  I think she really enjoyed dinner and Sister Johnson was very nice to her and talked to her the whole time.  Rebecca has such an interesting life story.  I would love for her to write a book, but she said she won't because she doesn't want to look back on the sad times.  On Friday we had a lesson with Rebecca where we read with her 3 Nephi 11.  It was great and the whole time we were there her daughter Sambo participated and asked question.  I think Sambo will come around soon because she sees the joy that the gospel and the Church are bringing her mom.  Sambo just enjoys the worldly thing which is the problem with lots or people.  

We weren't able to teach Christina and Linda this week.  We did however teach Alisaba and pick her up as a new investigator.  She is from the Dominican Republic and she only speaks Spanish.  She wants to learn English though and asked if we had an English class.  So we will be starting an English class this Wednesday.  Pray that we will have a good turn-out.  She also fed us some Dominican food which was really good. 

The best experience this week was on Saturday night when we met Lisa.  Last week when we were with the zone leaders we were tracting and we knocked on a door.  The lady that was inside told us to come in.  I was a little hesitant making sure there were other people in the house.  There were other people home, so we walked in and explained who we were and what we do.  There were three boys there, the oldest being 14 years old.  The lady that we were talking to was their grandma and she proceeded to tell us. that she was there babysitting her grandchildren while her daughter was gone with her husband selling their other house.  She said that they were trying to sell their other house because the husband and father of the boys was going to prison for drugs.  The grandma told us that the father had been in a business where he was doing very well but had to travel a lot and got into the wrong crowd.  He was on some type of drug that is worse than crystal meth.  We all felt bad for the family and Elder Henrikson was able to relate with them well because he had siblings that were involved with drugs.  We asked if their mother (Lisa) would enjoy a message about Jesus Christ.  The oldest son said yes and gave us her name and number telling us to come back in a couple of days. 

We went back a few days later and met with Lisa.  She told us that her son had told her about us.  She was happy to see us and we were able to share the plan of salvation with her.  We focused on the atonement and let her know that her husband would be able to fix his mistakes.  She was happy to hear this and expressed her feelings about the events that had happened to her.  I feel that the lord has prepared this family to hear the gospel.  It is not just chance that we went to that neighborhood and knocked on their door because we only knocked on about four doors that night.  Pray that they will be willing to accept our messages and our teaching and that they will follow the example of Jesus Christ to be baptized. 

Love you!

Elder Mouritsen 

3 Nephi 11 is the crowning event in the Book of Mormon!

August 13, 2012

Dear Family, 

This week was pretty hectic.  On Wednesday we had exchanges with Elder Gerratt who is the AP and served in Lebanon for 7 1/2 months.  He mostly came to check on the members that he baptized because everyone he baptized is less active.  We spent most of Wednesday going around trying to talk with all those less actives.  We had some good lessons with some of them and some of them were flaky, telling us that we could come by but then when we got there no one answered the door.  Typical.  That is the way missionary work is sometimes and it can be frustrating.  We will set an appointment with someone and lately it has been with single women and in order to meet with single women we need an adult male with us.  So we will call one of the ward members to come out with us and he will come and we'll go to our appointments.  But then no one is home or answers the door!  This happened three times last week.  One day we had two appointments and another two people that we could try to visit and no one answered.  So, we just had to tell the member to take us back home.  Even Elder Gerratt said he forgot how the people can be in Lebanon.  Flaky!  It was nice to have Elder Gerratt there with us.  He and I were able to speak Spanish because he is a Spanish speaking missionary. 

Wednesday night we had a lesson with our new investigators Linda and Christina.  It was the highlight of the day.  We were able to read 3 Nephi 11 with them which became a very spiritual and uplifting experience for everyone that was in the room at that time.  If you haven't read 3 Nephi 11 in a while I invite you to read it.  It is the crowning event in the book of Mormon and there is a lot that you can take out of it.  I feel that Linda and Christina could be our next baptisms.  They already said they would be baptized if they found it was true and I think they have found that it is true.  We need them to come to church though.  Also, on Wednesday night we had dinner with the Coopers because it was Elder Blake's birthday and Elder Gerratt wanted to have dinner with them.  So I called and asked if we could have dinner and secretly told Sister Cooper that it was Elder Blake's birthday and what his favorite cake was.  It was a good dinner and I hope Elder Blake enjoyed his birthday cake.  We had a good time with Elder Gerratt.  He lived on a dairy in Idaho with 5000 cows so he knows how to work hard.  That's probably why we both got a long so well. 

On Thursday we had a zone training meeting where President Topham came and we all sat around a huge table in the Gym learning about the common key indicators.  After the meeting, I talked with President Topham about golf because I found out he likes to play golf every week.  After the meeting we found that we would be going on exchanges with one of our zone leaders.  Elder Henriksen is his name and he is from Canada and loves hockey.  We had a good time and we both saw a side of Elder Blake that we didn't know about.  We laughed a lot and I think it was good for Elder Henriksen because he had three hard weeks.  

The Coopers will be moving to St. George at the end of this month.  I will be sad.  They are a great family but I am also glad for them because they have had their house up for sale for a year and it finally sold. 

That is sooo cool that Tess was called to New York speaking Spanish!!!  I know she will pick up Spanish really fast.  Elder Rivas came from that area and he said that the missionaries there have a lot of Spanish work to do and they have Spanish branches.   

I heard Elder Stewart was really sick for two weeks and had to go to the hospital.  He found out that it is his gall bladder and he now needs to get it removed.  He lost 20 lbs in two weeks.  I hope you all start feeling better and are able to get back in the swing of things.  It is no fun to be sick in the summer.  At least when you are sick in the winter you get to miss school but summer just stinks.   

I bet Braydon Bishop and Ben LeBaron did really well on their missions.  Who is the next missionary to come home from our ward?  Is it AJ? 

I think that is all my news this week. 

Love you family,

Elder Mouritsen

The Hershey and Lebanon Elders on exchanges