27 February 2012
Dear family,
Wow, this is so cool! I am an uncle now and I want to meet little baby Georgia really bad. I am glad that everything went well with the birth but that kind of stinks that Whitney had to have a C-section and has to stay in the hospital until the tomorrow or Wednesday. She looked so happy and so excited to be a mother. I think it is amazing when people bring new little life into the world. It is fascinating to think about the process that the woman’s body goes through to bring forth a new spirit. God is a genius and has planned everything out so perfectly that it astounds me. I can't even begin to comprehend his IQ score. Baby Georgia was pretty long I think. Isn't 20 1/2 inches long for a baby? She is really cute. I think she has Garrett’s nose from the pictures that I saw but it is hard to tell, she was still waking up from her nine month nap. Whitney will be a great mother and Garrett will be a great father. Both of them looked so happy and I know that baby Georgia will have a lot of love from the family. I already love her!
The Kenley's are the best! Elder Kenley makes me laugh so much. He reminds me of the old guy from the movie “UP”. Elder Kenley is only 5 ft. tall and has what he calls a Buddha belly, haha. I think his legs are about 2ft tall but he is a scriptural genius. He knows everything there is to know about the scriptures and he is a wonderful teacher. His favorite thing to teach is Church History. He teaches an institute class for young adults and old adults every Thursday and Friday, so sometimes we get to go with an investigator to his class. This week we had Leadership training meeting and we were able to ride with the Kenley's to Harrisburg where it was held. After the meeting we went with the Kenley’s to Five Guys burgers and fries! It was really nice of them to take us there and the burger was great. I don't think I have had a burger for a good 8 months because I always eat chicken, but it was a nice treat. There is everything in Harrisburg Costco, Chipotle, Five Guys, everything we have in Utah pretty much. I wouldn't mind serving in Harrisburg, it seems like a good area. I like to ride with the Kenley's, I am glad that I had the opportunity to have so many talks and discussions with grandpa and grandma because I feel that I can talk to an older generation and I like hearing their stories.
Wow, I would have loved to meet President Summerhays (former Pittsburgh mission president). He sounds like a great guy and I know he had a big impact on Elder Stewart. He was a very successful business man and was able to run things in the mission almost as Donald Trump would. The missionaries that were here when he was here all say he was a great leader and really changed the mission. It is great to see that the mission is still improving with President Topham. Everyone seems to stay really motivated to do work and to boost the numbers of the Key Indicators of missionary work. I have a lot of respect for President Topham and I think he is a great guy and same with Sis Topham, she makes me laugh all the time. She was in all these Role plays at leadership training and she just makes them funny and fun to watch. She is full of energy and reminds me a lot of mom. Probably stressed at times but always has a good attitude about things and supports her husband 100%.
We keep trying to work with Mark. He is fun to talk to. He owns an antique store on main St. and he travels all over the world to get antiques for his shop.
The rash under my eye is going away. I was able to call the mission doctor and he called in a prescription for me. I know my body probably looks the same, it just feels different because this is a different way of life and I have no one to boost my self image, haha. I think it was just my eyebrows. I haven't been able to give them a good trim since I left home so they were pretty gnarly but luckily Elder Leavitt had an eyebrow trimmer and I was able to use it. Now I can think clearly and I can have a confidence boost, haha. Most importantly though is that I am here for the Lord and not for myself like you said, so it doesn't really matter what I look like as long as my Heavenly Father is pleased with the work I am doing.
Your Stake Conference sounds like it was really good. That is insane that Patriarch Chipman has given over 1000 blessings. That amazes me. How long has he been a Patriarch? My Patriarchal blessing was one of the most spiritual experiences I have ever had and I am so grateful for it to help guide me through my life. The water/well drilling rig that John Renouard invented is ingenious and so simple. I can't believe no one else has come up with something like that. I sometimes try and think of little inventions that I could design and make when I get home. I haven't really come up with anything yet because I think Heavenly Father is clouding my mind of all the good inventions because that is not what I am supposed to be focusing on. It is weird when you are out on a mission you begin to forget a lot of things from your past like names of movies and actors. All the things that don't pertain to missionary work are lost.
Chester didn’t get to meet with President Topham yet because President Topham didn't want to drive all the way to our area when he was coming in two weeks for stake conference. It was probably good though because Chester has still been having struggles every now and again but he is doing great and he came to church yesterday. He really enjoyed it I feel. He listens really well and I know his mind is just trying to take it all in making him think and question and find the truth.
Jim is struggling major. He hasn't been to church in a long time. He was kicked out of the trailer he was living in because he can't give up Lizzy his dog. Is it wrong to kill a dog to save someone’s salvation? Probably, but something’s got to happen because all of his problems come from this stupid dog. I gave it my all but he broke my heart. I really do believe he could make a change. He just needs some guidance, almost like a parent because he never was taught from his parents. I think his parents messed up all their children’s lives.
Wow, this is so cool! I am an uncle now and I want to meet little baby Georgia really bad. I am glad that everything went well with the birth but that kind of stinks that Whitney had to have a C-section and has to stay in the hospital until the tomorrow or Wednesday. She looked so happy and so excited to be a mother. I think it is amazing when people bring new little life into the world. It is fascinating to think about the process that the woman’s body goes through to bring forth a new spirit. God is a genius and has planned everything out so perfectly that it astounds me. I can't even begin to comprehend his IQ score. Baby Georgia was pretty long I think. Isn't 20 1/2 inches long for a baby? She is really cute. I think she has Garrett’s nose from the pictures that I saw but it is hard to tell, she was still waking up from her nine month nap. Whitney will be a great mother and Garrett will be a great father. Both of them looked so happy and I know that baby Georgia will have a lot of love from the family. I already love her!
The Kenley's are the best! Elder Kenley makes me laugh so much. He reminds me of the old guy from the movie “UP”. Elder Kenley is only 5 ft. tall and has what he calls a Buddha belly, haha. I think his legs are about 2ft tall but he is a scriptural genius. He knows everything there is to know about the scriptures and he is a wonderful teacher. His favorite thing to teach is Church History. He teaches an institute class for young adults and old adults every Thursday and Friday, so sometimes we get to go with an investigator to his class. This week we had Leadership training meeting and we were able to ride with the Kenley's to Harrisburg where it was held. After the meeting we went with the Kenley’s to Five Guys burgers and fries! It was really nice of them to take us there and the burger was great. I don't think I have had a burger for a good 8 months because I always eat chicken, but it was a nice treat. There is everything in Harrisburg Costco, Chipotle, Five Guys, everything we have in Utah pretty much. I wouldn't mind serving in Harrisburg, it seems like a good area. I like to ride with the Kenley's, I am glad that I had the opportunity to have so many talks and discussions with grandpa and grandma because I feel that I can talk to an older generation and I like hearing their stories.
Wow, I would have loved to meet President Summerhays (former Pittsburgh mission president). He sounds like a great guy and I know he had a big impact on Elder Stewart. He was a very successful business man and was able to run things in the mission almost as Donald Trump would. The missionaries that were here when he was here all say he was a great leader and really changed the mission. It is great to see that the mission is still improving with President Topham. Everyone seems to stay really motivated to do work and to boost the numbers of the Key Indicators of missionary work. I have a lot of respect for President Topham and I think he is a great guy and same with Sis Topham, she makes me laugh all the time. She was in all these Role plays at leadership training and she just makes them funny and fun to watch. She is full of energy and reminds me a lot of mom. Probably stressed at times but always has a good attitude about things and supports her husband 100%.
We keep trying to work with Mark. He is fun to talk to. He owns an antique store on main St. and he travels all over the world to get antiques for his shop.
The rash under my eye is going away. I was able to call the mission doctor and he called in a prescription for me. I know my body probably looks the same, it just feels different because this is a different way of life and I have no one to boost my self image, haha. I think it was just my eyebrows. I haven't been able to give them a good trim since I left home so they were pretty gnarly but luckily Elder Leavitt had an eyebrow trimmer and I was able to use it. Now I can think clearly and I can have a confidence boost, haha. Most importantly though is that I am here for the Lord and not for myself like you said, so it doesn't really matter what I look like as long as my Heavenly Father is pleased with the work I am doing.
Your Stake Conference sounds like it was really good. That is insane that Patriarch Chipman has given over 1000 blessings. That amazes me. How long has he been a Patriarch? My Patriarchal blessing was one of the most spiritual experiences I have ever had and I am so grateful for it to help guide me through my life. The water/well drilling rig that John Renouard invented is ingenious and so simple. I can't believe no one else has come up with something like that. I sometimes try and think of little inventions that I could design and make when I get home. I haven't really come up with anything yet because I think Heavenly Father is clouding my mind of all the good inventions because that is not what I am supposed to be focusing on. It is weird when you are out on a mission you begin to forget a lot of things from your past like names of movies and actors. All the things that don't pertain to missionary work are lost.
Chester didn’t get to meet with President Topham yet because President Topham didn't want to drive all the way to our area when he was coming in two weeks for stake conference. It was probably good though because Chester has still been having struggles every now and again but he is doing great and he came to church yesterday. He really enjoyed it I feel. He listens really well and I know his mind is just trying to take it all in making him think and question and find the truth.
Jim is struggling major. He hasn't been to church in a long time. He was kicked out of the trailer he was living in because he can't give up Lizzy his dog. Is it wrong to kill a dog to save someone’s salvation? Probably, but something’s got to happen because all of his problems come from this stupid dog. I gave it my all but he broke my heart. I really do believe he could make a change. He just needs some guidance, almost like a parent because he never was taught from his parents. I think his parents messed up all their children’s lives.
Loannva is doing well but I feel she is really confused about the church because she was asking about the Book of Mormon and wondering what it was because it isn't found in the bible. I was like what?!... Do you not remember anything that we taught you? I didn't say that but I wanted to. We had two lessons with her this week and in the second lesson I taught her how to pray correctly because she would pray but it just wasn't the right way so I taught her the right way which Elder Stewart and I should've done but we didn't. At church, the lesson was on prayer in Sunday school so it all worked perfectly.
I have a cool story well, I have two.
First, I asked one of our investigators if he would be baptized and he said he would, so last night we taught him the Word of wisdom and Elder Ika and Elder Leavitt were there with us. Elder Ika used to be in a gang and did all sorts of bad things so he relates to this investigator really well. We ended up telling him to straighten up and that he couldn't do drugs, drink or anything like that and then Elder Ika just went off talking about his experiences and was telling the investigator that he could do anything especially quit drugs. It was the coolest lesson about the Word of Wisdom and at the end he said he would keep the Word of Wisdom.
This week something crazy happened. I was on exchange with Elder Medina and we went by one of our investigators to see if she was home because she hadn't been answering her phone all day. We got there and I knocked on the door pretty hard just in case she was asleep, no answer. I knocked one more time. This time she came to the door unfortunately in her underwear, something I wasn't expecting to see. She quickly ran into her room and put on some clothes. She then came back and let us into her house. I saw that she was there with her ex-boyfriend. They were trying to work things out and from the look and sound of it it must have been going pretty well. We taught her the first two principles of the Gospel, Faith and Repentance, afterward she asked if she and her boyfriend could live together. They are both married but split apart from their spouses and since it is the 21st century (It’s against the Ten Commandments but since it is the 21st century don't you think we can?) This is pretty much what she had asked me. I was stumped for a minute and didn't know how to answer the question but mostly scared because I knew that the answer was No, but I didn't want to offend her or her boyfriend with the answer. Also, I didn't want to make lite of the subject because it is a big no no. I paused for a little bit and then the Spirit filled me with an answer. I told her that God is the same yesterday today and forever and that even though the world changes, God doesn't and neither do his laws. We finished and left but I was praying that my answer wouldn't turn her away from the church. A few days later we visited with her again. She told us she had read a lot in the Book of Mormon all the way up to chp. 13 in Nephi, but the best part was in her reading she read the verse that says God is the same yesterday, today and forever. God works in mysterious ways but it is the coolest thing to be a witness of Him answering questions the way He wants them to be answered.
Elder Rudd and I work well together and we get a lot done. We see Elder Leavitt and Ika probably more than we should. They end up coming with us to teaching appointments if I think it is ok. We usually see them every P day but they are great. I love them!
I love you guys all so much and I pray for your safety and success!!!!!
Tell Whitney and Garrett I love them and congratulations!!
Tell Georgia she has an awesome uncle that is on a mission and he loves her!
Love,
Elder Mouritsen
No comments:
Post a Comment