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