Extra Long Twizzlers

July 30, 2012

Hi Family,

It was great to see the Bishops family and it is weird to see his kids growing up.  All of his kids are getting older and it was good to know that Janna Lee is the Relief Society president in her college ward.  She is really nice and sounds like she loves the U of U.  Jacob has gotten really tall but is still pretty quiet.  The Extra Long Twizzlers they gave me have been really good but I only eat two a day so they are taking me awhile to finish because they are so big.  The chocolate bar is more of a decoration because if I was to eat the whole thing it would be close to 14000 calories which I don't think would be too good for the abdominal section.  Bishop Rosner looks like he is doing well and I was grateful that he and his family came to see me.

I had to teach the Gospel Principles class yesterday which I felt went really well.  We had three investigators there.  Our combined lesson was really good yesterday.  It was taught by our ward mission leader who is a professor at the nearby college.  He taught on missionary work and proposed that the ward starts having what he called Cottage Meetings.  They are meetings that are held in members homes where the members run them and invite a friend, teaching them a gospel principle.  At these meetings, there should be between 8 to 20 people.  These meetings are held to show people that we are just like anyone else.  It is a chance to answer questions that they may have and spark conversation.  I am excited to see the outcome of it and hope the ward takes this seriously.

We are still working with Ganet.  I teach her in Spanish.  She speaks zero English which is my favorite because it causes me to use my Spanish and she has to answer me in Spanish.  I do all the teaching when it is in Spanish.  Elder Blake speaks no Spanish.  I feel bad sometimes though because I do so much of the teaching because we are teaching a lot in Spanish.  I also do a lot of the teaching when we teach in English.  I am trying to find a balance to help Elder Blake.   

Rebecca is planning to be baptized on August 4th now because the 3rd was the stake temple day so no one would've been there.   She is really excited and so am I!

Jonathan was in a bad car accident that has put him on bed rest for a few days so we haven't been able to see him.  He was riding with his friend in his friends’ mom’s new car and the friend’s license was suspended and he was going 40 in a 25 mph zone.   A cop saw them and when he went to pull them over the friend started driving faster to get away and that is when he hit a tree going 85.  Jonathan will be fine but is in a lot of pain at this point.  We will try and see him this week.  

In answer to your questions about my area, there is only one ward in Lebanon and there is not a Spanish speaking branch or ward.  I don't know of any Spanish wards or branches in my mission.  The stake center is in Lancaster and the boundaries cover a huge area.

I love you all!!!

Elder Mouritsen 

A visit from Bishop Rosner and family

July 23, 2012

Hello Family,

I am not being transferred this week.  Elder Blake and I are both staying in Lebanon.   It looks like I have to learn even more patience.   I wasn't too happy about transfers because President Topham said that we might be getting a third missionary named Elder Willis which would've been great and he also said that he knew what to do with the Spanish speakers but nothing happened there.   I get very frustrated at times with myself because Spanish has been such a struggle.  It is good for humbling though and I have been using it a lot more here.  Also a lady in the ward is having me write essays and she will correct them every Sunday so that is nice of her.  

The lessons with Rebecca are going well and she is preparing for baptism on the 3rd of August!  We taught her the word of wisdom this week and the law of chastity.  She drinks coffee but has already been resorting to hot chocolate.  She is always happy to see us and is the highlight of the week.   I talked to Elder Rivas this week and he told me that Quin the Kramers foster son wants to be baptized!  It was some of the best news I had heard all week.  When I was there we were just waiting on his custody papers but now they are in and he can get baptized!

We've been trying to get in contact with Jonathan but he had been busy this week so we haven't been to see him again.  I heard that he was reading some of the Book of Mormon according to his sister Haylie who is a member.  She said she caught him snatching her Quad trying to figure out where Alma 32 was.  Eventually Haylie showed him where it was and they read it together.  She said he understood it, which is a good sign:) 

I had a cool lesson with a lady named Ganet who is Puerto Rican this week.  We have been teaching her daughter but when we went by to teach her daughter her daughter wasn't home but Ganet let us in anyway.  She said that her daughter was telling her about the lesson that we shared and so I asked if I could share it will her.  She said yes but before I started explaining the restoration I asked her about her family and quickly found that she had lost her 2nd daughter not too long ago.  I was quickly led by the Holy Ghost and I started telling her that her daughter is in a place called the spirit world where she is able to rest from all her cares.  Ganet suddenly started crying as I explained the plan of salvation and that she would be able to be reunited with her daughter again.  It was really powerful, probably the most powerful lesson that I have ever had in Spanish.  I was glad that I was able to follow the promptings of the Spirit and that she was able to have her heart softened and touched through the Holy Ghost.  

Lebanon is pretty easy to navigate.  The city part is a grid system and there is a main highway that gets you where you want to go.  We are running low on miles so this morning we decided that we were going to take the bus to Hershey.  It was great!  The bus was fun, and it is a great way to talk to people because they can’t run anywhere.  We got off at Hershey Park and walked to the Hershey elders’ apartment.  On our way we walked right by the new roller coaster in Hershey Park called Sky Rush.  It looked awesome but way too much fun for missionaries.    

I heard of the tragedy that happened at the midnight showing of Batman and I think it is pretty horrific but I just hope and pray that those families that lost a loved one will understand that God has a plan for all of us even though we may not understand all things and why they happen.  I often go to Mosiah 4:9 when I hear of tragedies such as this or if someone is wondering about suicide or why a child died.  I know that this is the true and living gospel and with it our lives become more bearable and enjoyable.  

Bishop Rosner came and saw me at my apartment this week!  He and his family had been at the Hershey factory and were passing by Lebanon on their way to Philadelphia.  It was really great to see them and to hear how the ward is doing.  They brought me a 5lb Hershey bar and extra long Twizzlers!  

  

Love you Family! 

Elder Mouritsen


My Apartment - Picture by Bishop Rosner and family

It's a Lego Bible!!

July 16, 2012 

Hello Family,

I am sorry to hear that the Trooper is having problems.  That is so unlike it!  It usually never has problems.  It must be scared of Sydnee's driving.  I can't believe Sydnee is driving.  It seems like I was just with you at the DMV getting my license.  What a terrible place.  

Mom, the story about the Korean sister missionary that you and Dad met on the plane ride home from California is so cool!  We have a returned missionary in our ward that just got back from Korea on his mission.  He is really nice and will come out anytime with us.  He has lots of cool stories about his mission and he tells us how things were done in Korea.  It is pretty much the same but the language is really hard so he said you had to master the language before you could train, be a district leader or zone leader.  He said it took about a year and four months to be comfortable with the language.  He really loved the people and he has carried a lot of the characteristics that he learned with him.  He said he slept on a mat on the floor his entire mission and that the apartments are super small.  

I have been teaching some Spanish lessons lately.  I've probably taught more here in Lebanon than ever before.  I am trying to work hard to get this language but it is driving me crazy!  I have to speak English to Elder Blake and then I go and teach Spanish and feel like everything I say is wrong because I never get to practice it.  I think the people understand though because they make comments and nod their head.  I talked to President Topham about the language and he said he figured out what he needs to do with the Spanish speakers.  Finally!!  So hopefully he will put Spanish with Spanish in Spanish areas.   

I haven't heard anything from Loannva except for what Elder Rivas tells me.  It sounds like she was sick and is finally better and they have been able to visit her.  I will write her a letter soon.  Oh, and Elder Rivas sent me a birthday card that had been signed by the ward and Loannva had also signed it.  It was really nice of Elder Rivas to do that!

I received a package from Kortney for my birthday and it was way funny.  It is a bible and all the characters are Legos.  It’s a Lego Bible!! 

This week we finally had some progress.  One of our investigators that we have been teaching came to church this week.  Her name is Rebecca and she is from Cambodia.  We have been teaching her for a while and the last time we taught her I asked if she would be baptized and she said that she wanted to learn more and come to church more.  Yesterday, as we were sitting in the Gospel Principles class she leaned over and said “I want to get baptized and come to this church for the rest of my life”.  I was shocked!  We told her to set a date and that we just need to teach a few more things and then she could be baptized.  She is the nicest lady.  She hardly has anything and yet every time we go over to her house she has food that she bought just for us and she also gave fast offerings yesterday.  We told her that she didn't need to until she was baptized but she insisted.  I am excited about this and hope everything works out.  She is really hard to understand though.  She speaks English but has a thick thick accent.  

We also had a good lesson last night at the Mastracolas.  We taught a 19 year old boy named Jonathan who is a son of Sister Mastracolas’ friend.  This was the second time teaching him and we had planned to watch the Joseph Smith movie and talk about the apostasy but as soon as we started Sister Mastracola took over and was really bold with Jonathan and told him her conversion story.  At times I felt like it was an argument but at the end we finished with the Joseph smith movie which brought the Spirit.  We asked him what he thought and he said he liked everything but couldn't believe a 14 year old boy saw God and Jesus.  We asked him to read Alma 32 on faith and I am hoping that he finds faith and an answer to his question.   Even though the lesson didn't affect him the way we wanted it to, it still affected me.  The things that we talked about and the spirit I felt helped me in building my testimony of Joseph Smith and this Church.   This Church is true and I am glad to be a part of it.  Even though a lot is asked of us on missions and some of it doesn't make sense, it still is true and I have felt the blessings that come from it.  I know this is true and that Joseph Smith was a prophet called of God and I want everyone to come to that knowledge because it changes lives!

I love you all!!!

Elder Mouritsen

"You better be pretty convincing"

July 9, 2012

Dear Family,

I got my birthday package.  It was very nice and I could feel the love put into it.  I got a package from Kate too.  It was a Nothing Bundt Cake (red velvet).  We didn't do much on my birthday.  We went to Five Guys for lunch and I called a family to see if we could have dinner with them.  The dinner was good!  That was pretty much it.  We did missionary work the rest of the time and that night we were supposed to have a lesson with one of our investigators named John who wanted to change his life and was sober for 7 months but, we went over to teach him and he had been drinking again.  He was acting crazy and saying some inappropriate things about the member we brought with us.  I was really angry and told him that we were leaving and not coming back until he's sober and finds the truth for himself.  I could feel that that was the right thing to do and the Spirit assured me it was.   

It sounds like you had a good 4th of July.  We had to be in at 7 o'clock so I didn't see one single firework.  That was weird but it did give me time to write AJ back.  I sent the letter to you and you will need to send it to him. 

The Neilsen’s went to the Newport Mansions while they were in the east and the Mastracola’s went with them.  The Mastracola’s were telling me about their trip to Boston with the Neilsen’s yesterday and it made me think of how much fun we had on that trip.  I feel so blessed that we were able to travel all around the country and experience all different things.  It makes it easy to have conversations with people, haha.   

I am glad to know that you had a great time in California with Whitney and her family.  It’s cool that you were able to see John Steinbeck’s home in Salinas.  Dad, you don’t have to explain who he is.  I know who John Steinbeck is.  I wasn't born yesterday!  I am 20 now, haha.  

That is awesome that Roger Federer won Winbledon!  He is my favorite player and I knew he would make a comeback!  Maybe Tiger will make a comeback now? 

We had a really cool experience this week that might be the answer to our prayers.  Last week we went to go see a less active 19 year old girl named Haylie.  We drove to her house and she was sitting out with her brother and boyfriend.  We started talking and then the brother (18) asked what being Mormon was all about.  We started talking with him and he asked tons of questions that were scattered.  We said that we would like to come and explain everything through lessons.  He said, “ok, I will listen but you better be pretty convincing”.  Saturday night we decided to go see Haylie again because she wasn't texting us back or returning our calls so we went to her house.  We started talking to her and she said she had dumped her boyfriend which is a good thing.  As we were talking, her brother came out to smoke but I think the Spirit actually prompted him to come out where we were because he had been asleep.  Anyway, he came out and started asking all these good inspired questions.  So, the three of us started teaching him.  Having Haylie his sister there was a great strength and in the end he said that he would start believing in God again and that he would read a little and sincerely pray.  He then set up another appointment with us this Sunday at the Mastracola’s.  I really feel he could be ready and Heavenly Father has been working on him. 

I love you family!

Love Elder Tanner Mouritsen

Happy 20th Birthday Elder Mouritsen

July 02, 2012

Dear Family,

I don't have any plans for my birthday tomorrow.  No one signed up to feed us so I have no idea what we are going to do.  We will either eat at home or go to Ruby Tuesdays, the only restaurant in town.

None of the investigators that we had or have are progressing very much.  We have had some referrals this week though so hopefully things will start picking up.  Right now we just tract and tract and tract some more!  So, as for right now, missionary work is not that fun.  I like tracting but, going for hours and hours without anyone talking to you or opening their door really starts to wear on your patience and starts depressing you, haha.  Just pray for us to find a good solid investigator that gets us excited to go out and teach.   

We don’t have a senior couple in our area and the other missionaries are kind of far so we don't get to hang out with them on P-days as much.  The other missionaries serve in Hershey where the Hershey chocolate factory and Hershey Park are located.  We see them every Wednesday when we have district meeting and we see them when we do exchanges so like once a week but in my other area we saw the other missionaries all the time.  We had companionship exchanges with them this week which was way fun.  The city was really cool and their apartment was super nice.  I didn't really want to leave and go back to my area, haha.  It is hard to get good feedback from Elder Blake and it is hard to talk to him.  He is nice and always happy but when you want to talk he isn't the one to go to.  Anyway, the exchange was great and they have an investigator that was getting ready to be baptized so we went and saw him and he made us lunch.  We also talked to this lady that was 94 who knew Mr. Hershey personally.  She was nice and I think she really enjoyed our visit because after I said the prayer I shook her hand and she held onto it for a second and said thank you with watery eyes.  It was a great experience to meet her and hear her stories. 

My rash is gone and I finished my prescription so hopefully it doesn't come back.  My ankle still pops and is weak so I need to start working it out every day again.   

It is really weird not to be spending my birthday with family and having fireworks.  I am not going to lie I really wish I could be with you and go visit Whitney.  I hope you guys have a really fun time in California with Whit, Georgia and Garrett!!

I love you all and pray for you!  Thanks for all the birthday wishes!

Love Elder Mouritsen! 

PS.  Sorry I didn't write too much.  We went golfing today, 18 holes and the library is about to close.

500 Wedding Plates

June 26, 2012

Dear Family,

It is my second week in Lebanon and not a ton has changed.  We still don't have really any solid investigators but we did have some exciting events take place.  After a week of doing a lot of looking and not really finding anyone, we had a wedding in the ward.  On Saturday, we went to Sister Mastracola’s mothers’ wedding.  Sister Mastracola’s mother was marrying a man named Tino.  Tino has been a member about a year and was taught and baptized by Jake Neilsen.  The wedding was a blast!  Sister Mastracola had bought a lot of second hand china and so every table had a different set of plates on it.  It was a really nice Church reception.  The food was also good.  We had pot pies, chicken salad croissants, and a ton of cake.  The greatest part of the wedding though had to be seeing and meeting the Neilsen family.  Jake Neilsen served a mission here in this same area and was asked to be the best man for Tino's wedding.  He did a great job! I have met Jake before but I never really had time to talk to him or get to know him.  He is really cool and I will probably be hanging out with him when I get home if he is not married and maybe even if he is married.  His family was really nice and his mom was the best!  I am glad that she sent you pictures and kept you updated on everything.  It was even better when she gave me the delicious cookies and letters from you guys. 

After the wedding, we wanted to do some service, so we cleaned, dried and stacked over 500 plates!  I was the one drying the plates and Elder Blake was stacking while one of the members washed.  It took close to three hours, but we got it all done and it felt great to do service for the Mastracola’s.  

While drying the plates I met Jakes cousin who was also drying the plates with me.  She is a friend of Nicole Donaldson.  It was funny.  Her name is Lindy and she danced against Nicole so you can tell Nicole that.  What a small world.  It was fun to talk to people from Utah that know you guys but it also made me a little homesick.  The Neilsen's reminded me so much of our family and our trip to Washington DC.  I wanted to stay with the Neilsen’s all day which we basically did.  When they left, I almost asked if I could come along, haha.  I normally would never think like that because I have hardly been homesick and I have loved my mission.  But, these last two weeks have been tough and not being able to talk to anyone about what I am feeling has been hard because Elder Blake really doesn't understand.  Oh, he makes me laugh.  I will figure it out though and get back to normal.

After cleaning the dishes we were supposed to go to Texas Road House with the Neilsen’s and the Mastracola’s, but it was too busy so we ended up going to the Mastracola’s and roasting hot dogs.  It was really cool though because Sister Mastracola told us her conversion story which you can read on her Facebook.  It was really spiritual and I was really happy she shared it with us because it brought the Spirit to me. 

This week we did meet with some Hindus from India which was really cool.  They told us about Hinduism and then we told them about Mormonism.  Teaching them was unlike any other lesson I have ever taught because they didn't know anything about Christianity.  We had to start from the beginning, which was fun to do because it caused me to change my teaching and helped me grow. 

I have been struggling with prayer the past few weeks.  I feel like my prayers aren't spiritual and they are so monotonous.  It is hard for me to have the desire to pray every morning and night.  I have been struggling with this and pondering this problem that I have been having a lot.  While at church I believe I received an answer while a returned missionary was giving his homecoming talk.  He said that one of his companions would have personal study and at the end he would pray for ten minutes and write down thoughts and impressions.  When you feel the Spirit that is when you should pray he said.  I am going to start doing this and see if it helps me get more out of my prayers but, if you have any thoughts or guidance please share. 

I am so grateful for all my family and friends that are supporting me!

I love you Mom and Dad!

Happy Birthday DAD!!!!!!

Love Elder Mouritsen your son!

PS.  I would like a nice tie clip for my birthday to hold my tie down in the wind.