March 18, 2013
What a week it has been! It has been
really busy but full of spiritual experiences.
On Monday, we ended up going to Adam and Lynne
Fuhrman’s for dinner. After working out with Adam, he invited us to come
back at 6 to have dinner. We weren’t sure if we would have time to go to
dinner because we were doing exchanges that night and having a lesson with Jesi
in Gettysburg. We ended up going to the Fuhrman’s saying that would eat
quickly with them and then get out so we could make it to our appointment with
Jesi. Well 30 min turned into 1 and 15 min because, after finishing
dinner, Lynne started asking us questions about the Godhead. She has been
a member her whole life but has a weak knowledge of the doctrine. She
brought up a concern that she had with the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith and
we ended up telling her that she needs to have all the missionary lessons so
she can understand what the Church is all about. Adam, her husband who we
work out with, is not a member but has been really interested in the bible show
on the History channel. He was really interested in what we were saying so
they told us to come back on Friday to have a lesson. They have known missionaries
for a long time but none of the missionaries have actually taught them.
The missionaries just went there to hang out. We were pretty surprised by
that but I am beginning to see that there is a reason why they are just now
asking these types of questions. We had a return appointment to come and
teach them which was great but we were running late for our appointment with
Jesi. Luckily she called and said that
she was busy and couldn't meet that night. At the end of the day, we finally
got to our exchange with the elders in Fairview and Chambersburg.
On Tuesday I was with the elders in Fairview
which is an area that I have been to a lot on my mission because it was in my
first district. Anyway, we had a good day and we were fed by this older
couple. Unfortunately, I can't remember their
names but he made the best cake I have ever had. It was a roasted pecan cake with cream cheese
frosting made from scratch. After our dinner we had a lesson with
Jason, an investigator that is planning to be baptized this next week. It
went well. We talked about tithing
because he is struggling with that concept. Mom and Dad have you had any
cool experiences with paying tithing? He seemed to understand that he
needed to prove the concept of tithing to see the blessing because it's not
going to work out on paper. You have to
put it to the test to find if it is truly a commandment and if there are
blessings attached to it. That night we exchanged back and I was able to
sleep in my own bed:)
On Wednesday we spent some time working on our
presentation for zone conference but we also had our Book of Mormon class that
night. We had the most people I have ever seen at a Book of Mormon class.
We had 10 people come and almost all of them were less actives or investigators
like Jesi. We taught about the apostasy and the need for prophets and the
importance of having the Book of Mormon. The missionaries in Gettysburg
ended up coming too. They gave some good comments that allowed for good
discussion. Teri Varga came and brought a dessert for everyone
to have. She is the best! She has been a member for over
a year and she still brings a notepad to class and writes down all the new
stuff she learns. WOW! After class we found Jesi
some baptismal clothes. She was really excited and was glad it was
finally happening.
Thursday, we worked more on our
presentation for zone conference. During lunch we went to get my
hair fixed. A few months ago I went and got my haircut with Elder Spohn
at this place called Slightly Off Center. We went there because the
lady there is less active and her mom, who is a member, said we should go
there because she would cut our hair for free. So we went there and
she gave me the worst haircut I have ever had. It didn't even
seem like she was paying attention. At the point where I thought
she was going to start cutting the top she asked what
I thought. I said, I think we need to cut the top shorter so
she cut the top a little shorter and then said it looked good. I asked
Elder Spohn what he thought. He said
it looked fine. I thought it looked bad but I didn't want
to complain because we were getting it for free. Well, she
ended up charging us $10! That night I got home, took a shower
and decided that it was terrible. We went back a couple days later
and she cut off the fluffy sides but didn't have time to fix
the whole thing so we made an appointment to come back. Well,
transfers interfered so I missed my appointment. I had been walking
around teaching the gospel with a bad haircut for a good three weeks
before we finally had the time to go back and see her. So,
Thursday we went and she fixed my hair. I am pretty sure she
was high the first time I went because when I went back to get it fixed
she was a whole different person and gave me a really good haircut but the
first one was like a child had cut my hair.
Friday we had Zone conference. It
was really spiritual and our training went pretty well other than we ran
out of time. After Zone conference we went to dinner and then had
our lesson with the Furhmans. We taught about the Godhead because
we weren't sure if they understood it. Lynne has been a member
of the Church for 30 years but has been practicing Catholicism too so we
thought she might believe that they are 3 in 1. To teach
the principle I read the Nicene Creed while Elder Collier juggled 3
tennis balls. They got the point that the 3 in 1 idea would
never work. We couldn't stay long but they were excited
about learning and told us to come back Saturday. We ran
to our next appointment with one of our investigators names Al. He was
happy to talk to us and we ended up sharing our favorite scriptures
with him.
Saturday we had dinner with the
Fuhrmans and then we taught them about the restoration. Lynne had so
many questions and we could tell that Adam was really interested
also. Lynne is finally learning about the Church that she has been
a part of for 30 years. One of the biggest reasons people
go less active is because they lack knowledge of the simple and basic
principles of the gospel and they haven't read the Book of Mormon. We
invited Lynne and Adam to read the Book of Mormon and pray
about it. After our lesson we went to Gettysburg to have
Jesi's interview for baptism. She passed! And she got
a job that day.
Something amazing about the people that we are
teaching. Paul's wife Liz is best friends with Lynne and Jennifer
Gaylord is friends with Lynne and Liz. They have all hung out
together and have gone on double dates and stuff. What are
the odds that we are teaching people that all know each other and we
found two of them through our own efforts? None of them were referrals. I think God is saying something.
We will be getting them all together soon to have a movie night at Lynne
and Adam’s. This work is marvelous!
On Sunday we had Jesi's baptism! The Spirit
was very strong as the talks were given on baptism and the Holy Ghost and
remained while the baptism was performed. I had the opportunity to
baptize her and Elder Collier confirmed her in the singles branch right after
the baptism. She has made a huge change in her life and you can feel she
is repentant and ready to start a new life.
Last night we also had a lesson with the
Gaylords. I love teaching the Gaylords! They are so nice and attentive.
All of the kids were there and even the oldest ones’ boyfriend. They all sat in on the lesson about the Book
of Mormon and all of them participated in reading a verse. At the end we
invited them to start reading the Book of Mormon as a family and pray about
it. Before leaving we invited Rob the father to pray and he did! He
gave a good prayer expressing his appreciation for us coming by and sharing the
message. We knew it was a good lesson when they were all smiling and
waving at us as we left.
It was week never to forget!
I love you family!
Elder Mouritsen
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