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