A Day of Service

April 29, 2013

Hello family,

It has been a pretty typical week but we were able to have some productive teaching experiences.  Transfers are coming up next week and it is very possible that I will be transferred to another area, so I am going to be gearing up for that this week by getting my last visits in with all the investigators and people that I have been working with.  I don't want to get transferred from this area because there is so much work going on here that I have been a part of which makes getting transferred hard. I trust that everything will work out for the best though.

On Monday after our P-day and after having dinner with some members we decided to go by the Gaylord’s because we heard that Cierra had just gotten her wisdom teeth out so we wanted to see how she was doing.  We ran to the grocery store near the Gaylord home and got Cierra some ice cream because I remembered that ice cream was my favorite thing to eat when I got my wisdom teeth out.  We got to their house and they welcomed us right in.  We saw Cierra laying on a chair looking pretty miserable but I think us bringing ice cream made her feel a little better.  We started talking with the family but we quickly found out that their favorite TV show was on and we were disrupting it.  They had it turned off because they know that we can't watch TV but their DVR wasn't working so we told them that they could turn it on and we wouldn’t watch it.  Jennifer didn't care to watch it but the girls did so we kept talking to Jennifer.  Then Cierra said that she was having a lot of pain but she can't take pain medication because it makes her really sick.  Jennifer then suggested that we give her a blessing.  During the commercials we explained blessings and the priesthood and then during the next commercial break we gave her a blessing. It went really well except towards the end someone came to the door and the dogs started barking so loud I couldn't hear myself think.  I ended the blessing and she thanked us.  We left soon after that but they invited us back for dinner the next night. 

Tuesday we had exchanges with Elder Jones the new zone leader. We saw Paul and decided that he doesn't really want the gospel in his life at this point so we decided that we would probably be dropping him the next time we see him.  We want him to accept the gospel and progress but he doesn't want it so there is no point in wasting our time when we know he isn't going to do anything.  We also saw Jesi.  She is living with a family in the ward which is helping her get on her feet.  It is good for her to see how a family should function.  We had her answer our questions as we acted like we didn't know anything about the church.  I think it helped her learn and internalize things.  After our lesson with her we went to the Gaylord’s for dinner.  They had made us bacon wrapped chicken, loaded potatoes and asparagus.  It was delicious and after we ate we taught the plan of salvation.  The whole family was attentive and asked questions.  Temples were even brought up and we were able to talk about the importance of temples and how families can be together forever.  Jennifer said, "I want to be with Rob forever." We ended our lesson and they fed us some delicious angel cake with strawberries but the best part was when Jennifer offered the closing prayer.  She had not prayed in front of us before and was a little hesitant to do so but she ended up offering a really good prayer from her heart.  I pray for the Gaylords nightly and hope they can find out the truth for themselves. 

Wednesday we had district meeting where I taught about the importance of church attendance and how we can get our investigators excited to come to church.  After district meeting we went to this awful Chinese buffet.  It reminded me when we ate that Chinese food in San Francisco and after picking our first entree we couldn't find anything else that looked good.  It was bad!  Nothing much happened after that until the Book of Mormon class.  I thought that Elder Adams and the other missionaries were going to teach it so I didn't prepare anything but no one was taking control of the class and the people were getting restless so I eventually stood up and started teaching about the brother of Jared and his faith and obedience.  It ended up being a really good class but I will never go unprepared again because it was so disorganized.

Thursday we were able to teach the Fishers about the plan of salvation and the member that was with us invited them to church.  By the time we finished, the whole family was in the room listening and all the kids said that they would come to church if their parents went.  I love how the gospel can create a crowd of people because everything is so interesting and their spirits are drawn to the message of truth.  When Sunday came, Loretta, the mother, and her daughter were called into work so they weren't able to come to church.  It was sad but we know that they will come as soon as they can. 

  

On Friday we helped Adam Fuhrman put in a clothes line.  It was really fun and reminded me how much I like to build and make things.  It took a better part of the day to do but Adam was very grateful for our help. 

On Saturday we were part of the state wide service project to help clean up the state parks.  We worked alongside many members from the ward on one of the state parks near our apartment.  There were many different service projects going on in the park.  I was part of the ditch digging crew.  We dug a ditch and put a perforated pipe in the bottom so the amphitheater would not flood anymore.  It was nice to do some manual labor for a change and my back was even sore the next day.  It was fun to work with the ward and I was able to get to know some of the families better.  We left the park around 12:30 to have lunch with the Sherfy family and help them clean out their garage.  After garage cleaning we went to the Shanahans and did some sheet rock taping.  It was cool to learn how to tape sheet rock.  Out of all the things I have done I have never taped sheet rock so it was nice to learn.  Our day ended up being a day of service which was nice and made the day go by really fast.  I know that if we give selfless service we will be happier. 

Sunday was a good day.  We had one of our less active members come to church and bear his testimony. He has not been to church in fifteen years.  He said that he had never born his testimony but wanted people to know that he knows the church is true and that the missionaries have changed his life.  He told more of a story but everyone was awake and paying attention to what he had to say.  He told of three specific experiences that he has had with the missionaries that caused him to start coming back to church.  The first experience was when the missionaries first started teaching his family.  Before they were baptized they were always struggling financially and there wasn't much food in the house.  After they joined the church there was always food on the table.  The next story took place when he was living in Mexico.  One day as he was looking out his window he saw two missionaries running for their lives from a group of mobsters.  He quickly ran down and put his unloaded shot gun to their backs and told them to get in the house.  Once they were in the house he told him that he was a member of the church.  They invited him to church but he declined at that point in his life but the devised a plan to get the missionaries out of that bad area alive.  The plan entailed that he would roll them up in some carpet and put them in the back of his truck making it look like he killed two Mormon missionaries.  He got them out safely and from that point no one in that part of the city gave him trouble because everyone knew him as the guy who killed the Mormon missionaries.  He said it saved his life several times.  The last experience was with us.  He said after 7 years of missionaries trying to get him to go to church, Elders Mouritsen and Adams finally did it and now he wants to get the priesthood and his wife is interested too.  He closed by saying that he is at church today because of missionaries and he knows that the church is true. 

We ended up teaching Jesi and Kaitlyn at the Mebius’ house on Sunday night.  We had planned to teach Kaitlyn about the plan of salvation but we got stuck on Adam and Eve because she had never heard of Adam before.  She was very interested and found everything exciting.  She even took notes.  I have a lot of hope for her that she will accept the gospel and it will help lead her to live a successful and happy life. 

I am so glad to be a missionary and be able to help people come closer to our Heavenly Father.  There is no work like this on the face of the earth.

I love you family!!

The Spirit was doing all the teaching.

April 22, 2013

Dear Family, 

I am doing well this week.  It has been a little hectic with some different things that have gone on but it has made the week go by really fast.  I can't believe that this month is almost over.  I was so happy to get your package especially after I found out what was in it.  At first I didn't know what your written letter meant by ‘congratulations’ because it didn't say anything about a scholarship so then I got out the papers and immediately I yelled out "I got the scholarship!" I feel that it is a huge blessing.  Elder Adams said if I was to go to Snow College it would almost be a full ride scholarship.  I will sign and send the papers back as soon as possible.   

On Tuesday this week we had a lesson with one of our new investigators.  His name is Rick.  We were supposed to meet with him and his wife Loretta on Monday night but when we went over to see them no one answered.  We tried calling them with no answer.  I left a message and we both left the house feeling pretty down that they would stand us up like that, especially after having such a great lesson with them the last time we went.  Anyway, after being on a mission for a while you learn to deal with rejection so we got over it pretty quickly.  Tuesday night some of our plans had fallen through so we decided to go over again and see if Rick was home.  When we got there we saw that his door was open. Good sign.  When we got up to the door he was sitting in his chair and told us to come in.  We entered and we both sat in our normal places.  He told us that his wife was at work and that she had to work last night too.  He also told us that he had some fireman training last night and that was why no one was home.  We had not planned on doing a lesson but Rick told us that he had been thinking about all the things that we taught him last time especially the idea that God, Christ, and the Holy Ghost are all separate beings.  He said he feels that is true.  He then started talking about the feelings that he has had since we started teaching him.  At this point he got real emotional and tried to explain the feelings that he has had.  He explained to us the feelings of the Spirit.  He knows what we testify of is true and he is mad at his pastor for teaching false things to him.  It was a very spiritual visit.  We hardly spoke in our visit but we didn't have to because the Spirit was doing all the teaching. 

On Wednesday we had our Book of Mormon class. I taught about the body of the Church.  There was good participation but the best part was that Jesi was there and she brought a friend named Kaitlyn.  This surprised me because Jesi and another friend had been in a car accident the previous Friday where the car was totaled and both of them were rushed to the hospital.  After hearing the story it is a blessing that they are both still alive and have only minor injuries.  Jesi had been released from the hospital on Tuesday.  I was able to talk to her and Kaitlyn after the class and Jesi told me that she doesn’t have a place to live so she is homeless again but, on the plus side, Kaitlyn wants to take the lessons. 

Not much happened on Thursday but we did get to teach Kaitlyn for the first time.  We taught her at the library and found out some information about her.  She is only 15 and she comes from a broken family.  Both her parents are successful but they are divorced and neither one of them are good parents.  Her mom doesn't show her any love and lets her do whatever she wants and her dad is abusive.  She spends a lot of time out on the streets, anywhere except her house.  We taught her that Heavenly Father loves her.  We also asked her what she wants her family to be like when she has one for herself.  We talked about families and at the end we asked her to be baptized if she found that it was true and she said yes. 

Friday we had zone leader training.  It was alright but went a little long and the role plays weren't taken as seriously as they should've been.  It was nice seeing the Kenley's one last time before they make their journey back home to South Jordan where you get to meet them face to face.  When we got back from Chambersburg we had another lesson with Kaitlyn and Jesi where we taught about the restoration.  Kaitlyn had read the whole restoration pamphlet the night before so she knew a lot of the material already.  We just tried to bring it to life for her.  We ended by giving her a Book of Mormon and she said she would see how fast she could read it.  Hopefully she takes it seriously.  Either the Book of Mormon is true or it's not and if it is true then it means that Jesus is the savior of the world, Joseph Smith was a prophet, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the only true church on the earth today.  Without the Book of Mormon we have no religion.  I love testifying about the truth of the Book of Mormon. 

After our lesson we went home and waited for Papa Johns to deliver a Pizza that a member has ordered for us.  As soon as we got the pizza we ran over to Al's to have pizza with him.  It was nice visiting with Al.  He needs all the company he can get.  After dinner we helped him clean up his house.  I cleaned the dishes and Elder Adams cleaned up his painting area.  Al is a starving artist. 

Sunday we had church and ended up getting a living situation worked out for Jesi with one of the families in the ward.  We also had another lesson with Rick and his wife Loretta and watched the Joseph Smith video.  They both felt the Spirit and said they would read the Book of Mormon. 

I love you family!!

Elder Mouritsen

"It was no coincidence"

April 15, 2013

Dear Family,

This week was full of good experiences and the Spirit was definitely with us. 

On Wednesday we had the Book of Mormon class which was a great turn out.  We had about 12 people there and everyone was really interested in the subject that we were teaching.  I made a time line of the events that took place in Joseph Smith’s life after the first vision up until the organization of the Church.  There was good participation and even the active members that were in attendance were learning new things.  After the class we did an exchange with the Gettysburg elders.  I stayed in Hanover with Elder Watts and Elder Adams went to Gettysburg.  I don't think I have told you this yet but Elder Watts is Kenzie Watts’ older brother.  Do you remember Kenzie Watts?  I took her to a dance and hung out with her quite a bit throughout high school.  Well, her brother was not going to serve a mission but then had a life changing experience that has put him on a mission.  He is a year older than me in school and I don't think we ever talked in high school but we became great friends within a few hours.  We had a lot to talk about and I found out that Kenzie is married and is trying to have a baby.  That really blew me away.  He is a really cool missionary and it was fun to get to know him and talk about all the things that have changed in South Jordan since I left. 

On Thursday we had to do four hour studies because Elder Watts is being trained but that was not unusual for me because I did four hour studies for a whole year of my mission.  I then made lunch for both of us and from there we went and knocked doors in the richest neighborhood in Hanover.  We had a good time knocking doors but had little success. 

That night we had a lesson with the Gaylords.  It went well.  Jennifer wasn't there but Rob and his daughters where so we taught the first part of the plan of salvation.  We were trying to make it as exciting as possible so that the girls would not get bored with it.  I think we did a good job and they told us what they remembered about General Conference and they all ended up watching the prophet speak.  Rob sits quietly while we teach but you can tell that he is internalizing the information that we are teaching and I’m pretty sure he can feel the Spirit while we are there.  We exchanged back with our regular companions later that night. 

On Friday we had interviews with President Topham.  It was nice having Sister Topham sit in on our district meeting.  I appreciated hearing her thoughts about General Conference.  She always brings a smile to the missionaries’ faces and she always has a fun and happy attitude.  She also gave some good comments while I taught on the topic of talking with people instead of talking to people.  President had to be pretty brief with his interviews because he has almost 200 missionaries to interview but I felt that this was the best interview that I have had with him.  He always knows exactly what to say and I felt that we were able to have more of a good talk than an interview.  I promised him that I was going to finish my mission strong and that is exactly what I am going to do. 

After dinner on Friday night we didn't have many plans.  We were trying to get lined up to go see Adam but that is not what Heavenly Father wanted.  After dinner we had a little bit of time before we would be going to Adam’s so we decided to try and visit someone that was given to us by our old mission leader.  It was a less active member named Kelly who they hadn't been able to contact.  It took a little while to find her apartment complex but we finally found it.  We knocked on the door but nobody answered so we knocked the apartment behind us because we could hear their TV.  A girl, probably around our same age, opened the door.  Her name was Shea.  Her father was sitting on the couch and his name was Mike.  I asked them if they knew Kelly.  Mike was the one that lived there and his daughter Shea was staying with him because he had just had surgery.  He answered and said that Kelly had moved away about a year ago.  He then proceeded to tell us a little more.  I told him who we were then he started talking again and as he was talking I was having deja vu.  I had seen this whole scene in a dream a few months earlier.  I had seen everything that was happening and I realized that, in the dream, it didn't go well.  I thought of what I said in the dream so I could make sure not to say those things.  After he finished talking, I started telling him about the gospel that has been restored. As I was explaining, he said “would you like to come in?” 

We said “sure” but we really meant “YES!”  We went in and sat down and I started talking about prophets and apostles.  Mike cut me off and started telling me his religious history and what he thought.  After he finished I said “I don't think it is coincidence that we came tonight”.  He then told us that after his surgery he was going through a really hard time and a lady who was a surgical tech came up to see him.  She said I have some spare time before I have to go back to work and I felt that I should come see you.  They talked and she was able to say everything he needed to hear.  She left him by saying “I don't think it is coincidence that I came here today” and then she invited him to stake conference; the same conference that we had a few weeks ago.  She is a member and he said he thought she was an angel.  He was blown away and kept having chills because we both said that “it was no coincidence” and we came at a time that he needed us. 

We then started explaining Joseph Smith and he was astonished at what he was hearing.  He said “I have felt like I have known Joseph Smith my whole life”.  We talked about the priesthood being restored.  He even said “I have been baptized but if I don't feel it was done by the proper authority.  Can I be baptized again by the proper authority” He said, “I have learned more in 20 minutes than I have in a life time of going to church”.  He had been searching for answers to his questions and they were being answered.  God had been preparing him way before we got there.  He even said “I am going to buy myself a Book of Mormon”.  That is when we pulled out a free copy and gave it to him.  He said, “He was going to study it and give us a call if he had questions”.  He also gave us his number so we'll be calling him soon.  God is preparing people!!!

Saturday we had a lesson with Paul and we shared the doubting Thomas story because Paul wants to see the plates before he will go full on into the religion.  We also talked about the Spirit and tithing.  I shared the experience that you had sent me about tithing and I feel that he is getting closer and understands more and more but, he is still trying to prove it wrong which is good in a way because you can't prove it wrong so, he is just going to have more conviction in the end.  He is always fun to teach and the Spirit is always there, he even admitted that. 

This was a great week!

I love you family and pray for you!

Love,

Elder Mouritsen 

Conference was the best!

April 8, 2013

Dear Family,

Conference was the best!  I have really grown to enjoy conference out here on my mission.  Before my mission I know that we watched it every year but I didn't get anything out of it because I wasn't trying.  All I heard were words but never took them to heart.  I always paid attention to the priesthood session and mostly the 1st presidency because their talks were always exciting to me.  While on my mission I have learned that every talk in conference can be just like the ones in the priesthood session.  I just needed to work on focusing and internalizing the principles that were talked about.  I have totally changed my attitude towards conference and now I see it as a week of being uplifted and edified.

I really enjoyed all the talks. There were some that touched me more than others but I thought they were all good.  I really enjoyed the talk by Elder Robert D. Hales and the example that he used with his hands.  He said that he used to be able to put his hands a few feet apart from each other with one hand representing the world and the other representing the Gospel but, these days, the world is so far gone that he would need to put one hand all the way on the other side of the world.  I feel strongly that this is so true.  The world is a devilish place full of hatred, anger, violence, sex, back stabbing and lies, but the Gospel is never changing.  God is the same yesterday today and forever.  A sin is still a sin and no matter what the world does or says to make it seem alright it will still be a sin in God's eyes.  I wish everyone would be able to see the problems of the world as clearly as I have been able to.  I wish people understood that you cannot build a strong foundation in the things of the world.  No matter how good you think those things are they will always fail.  With the gospel, we have something in our lives that is steadfast and immovable that will keep us in the right. 

I feel that this conference hit on all the main topics of the gospel and if we want to be able to stand steadfast an immovable in these principles we need to:

1. Say personal and family prayer every day.

2. Read the scriptures daily.

3. Attend church to renew our baptismal covenants. 

These are three simple and basic things that will bring blessings and everlasting happiness to our lives.  I love how simple the gospel is!  Obedience and diligence to these principles with bring blessings beyond our imagination and I know that to be true. 

This time we didn't go to any members homes to watch conference.  I have gone to members houses before and it becomes too hard to focus, so I stick with going to the church.   

We had some investigators watch 1 or 2 of the sessions.  We didn't end up watching the sessions with any of them because they were either busy or didn't have the BYU channel.  Paul was going to come with us to watch conference but his son had to go to the hospital but he recorded the sessions and watched some of the talks.  We are going to see him this week and talk about it.  The Gaylords also watched some of the Sunday session because they have the BYU channel.  Rob had to work though so we couldn't watch it there because there wasn't a man at home.   

Jesi is doing really well.  She came to two sessions of conference at the church and she taught us some of what she knew about the restoration between the sessions.  She realized that she has some studying to do in order to teach about the restoration.  Before teaching us she thought she knew everything but now she has been humbled a bit.  It was a good experience for her and it is fun to see the joy the gospel and the church has brought her.   

Our other investigators are good, they are just really busy and we are having a hard time working with their schedule but it is going well, we just need to be patient.  Paul is getting closer each time we teach him and the Gaylords still seem promising.  We should be meeting with both of them this week and we are going to try to get the Gaylords to come to church.   

Being with Elder Adams is good and we are having a good time.  He is a good missionary.  He likes to play with knives and Silly Putty though, which is different.  He is patient, nice, clean, can teach, can speak Spanish, and likes to cook.   It is a good day here today.  It is 70 degrees outside and it's P-day. I can't complain.  We have a lesson with one of our investigators today in the middle of the day.  She couldn't do it any other time so that will cut into our days activities a bit.  I think we are going to go to one of the thrift stores around here though because Elder Adams wants to go and we'll probably work out later. 

I love you family!!!!

Elder Mouritsen

We stayed in our apartment the whole week...April Fools!!!

April 1, 2013, 

Dear Family,

Sorry I don't have much to say.  We stayed in our apartment the whole week.  April Fools!!!  

Actually, this week was full of great experiences. 

On Monday we drove down to Chambersburg where I spent the night with Elder Jones who I was supposed to be zone leader with, but not anymore.  We went to Chambersburg because Elder Collier had to drive to Pittsburgh that night so he could get his trainee in the morning. 

On Tuesday I spent the day in the Chambersburg 1st ward area with Elder Jones.  It was really fun. I was a little upset because I wanted to be companions with Elder Jones because he was Spanish speaking and he is awesome.  I was thinking that I would probably get another companion so I felt I had made a mistake by telling President Topham that I should stay in Hanover.  In Chambersburg we were able to have dinner with Mark, the guy that would come and take me out to lunch in Lebanon.  He took us to the Texas Roadhouse and we were able to have a good conversation with him.  After that we had a lesson with a Spanish family, all of whom speak English.  They are getting close to getting baptized so we shared 2 Nephi 31 with them.  After that, we went to the apartment where our new companions were waiting for us.  My new companion is Elder Adams who is from American Fork and is the biggest companion I have ever had.  He is 6’ 5” and over 300 pounds.  He served in Ecuador for 8 months before he tore his meniscus and was sent home then he was told that he needed to be in a mission with cars so he is now here.  He is a Spanish speaking missionary so we will get to work on our Spanish and start teaching in Spanish again. 

On Wednesday we had lunch with a member named Sister Witmer.  Her son lives on Pheasant Run Drive and his name is Bob.  Her son was our next door neighbor for 6 years!  Isn’t that crazy?  What a small world. 

That night we had the Book of Mormon class.  Our Book of Mormon class has been quite the success.  We have had around 10 to 12 people show up the last few times.  It was a challenge this time though because I was missing Elder Collier and the other 3 missionaries are all new.  Anyway, I ended up teaching about the apostasy and the restoration and the differences between a reformation and the restoration.  I used the Lego car that Kortney gave me for an object lesson.  I had someone try and gather up all the pieces and make a bat mobile car.  The Bat mobile looked a bit funky then I gave someone the instructions and told them to build the car exactly how it's supposed to be.  The instructions represented the authority.  It went pretty well except the video at the end didn't play. 

On Thursday we had dinner with an active Spanish sister named Yolanda.  She made us some authentic Mexican food and this really cultural soup with avocados and shrimp.  It was really good.  Al came with us even though he doesn't speak Spanish.  While we were eating, Sister Yolanda’s friend came over and got really interested in the Book of Mormon so we ended up teaching her the first lesson.  It was awesome.  Elder Adams and I really enjoyed it. 

On Friday we went over to Sherry's house to share with her family the true meaning of Easter.  They all found it pretty interesting, especially her oldest daughter.  I could tell that none of them really knew too much about the death and resurrection of our Savior.  It was fun to teach them because it was all pretty new for them and the Spirit is always present when you are talking about the power of the atonement. 

On Saturday we had a cool lesson with Pablo Sanchez and his cousins who were all interested.  We read over the Articles of Faith because Pablo had so many questions about our beliefs.  He told us that he is Catholic but doesn't know much about it because it is a tradition and you don't really need to know the doctrine you just go to church every Sunday.  He told us that he wants to learn more about the Bible and even the Book of Mormon and enjoys our visits.  He told us that he thinks it is weird that Catholics pray through Mary and saints.  We agreed with him on that and explained why he probably thinks that is weird.  He loves the knowledge that he is getting out of our visits and says he is going to start reading the Book of Mormon. 

Sunday was Easter.  We had lunch with the Fuhrman’s and dinner later that day with the Remington’s.  Both had ham and potatoes.  We tried to bring the Spirit to the Fuhrman’s but it was almost impossible with her brother there.  He was rude and disrespectful to us.  At the Remington's we all shared our thoughts about the Atonement which made it a very spiritual experience for us all. 

The best part of Easter was in the evening when we had a lesson with Paul.  We went through the whole story of John and watched 'He is Risen" on Lds.org.  He took it all in and really liked the part where Jesus says “touch me not for I have not ascended to my father”.  He totally understood that verse and understood that there had to be a spirit world or a place between death and the resurrection.  He is getting closer and closer every time we teach him.  He knows it's true and he can't deny it even though he wants to.  He has received an answer. 

I love you family!!!

Love,

Elder Mouritsen

A tough decision

March 25, 2013

Hello Family,

Lots of things happened this week. 

We picked up a new investigator on Monday night, her name is Nikki.  She met with the missionaries before probably about 5 or more years ago.  We got to know her a little bit.  She is correctional officer at the prison.  She isn't very big but I guess she can take a hit and throw a punch.  We had a good conversation about God.  Her daughter, who is 19, joined in on the conversation letting us know her view on life with is right in line with the gospel.  We are supposed to teach them again tomorrow. 

Tuesday, I got a call from President Topham early in the morning asking if I would like to stay as a zone leader or stay in my area.  After some discussion, I thought it would be best to stay in Hanover so it isn't doubled out (both elders leave at the same time).  Elder Collier is getting transferred and will be training.  I didn't understand why he couldn't stay in Hanover and train and I could go and to Chambersburg to remain the zone leader.  President Topham said that I would most likely be going to Chambersburg to remain zone leader and then hung up.  After that, my companion and I said a prayer and waited for an answer.  I don't think that answer ever came but I called President Topham back and told him that about the work going on in the area and I don't feel like we should be doubled out.  He told me that he can't promise anything but he will see what happens.  After the phone call, Elder Collier and I started preparing to be doubled out.  For the next 36 hours we cleaned, updated the area book, wrote summaries on all our investigators and started telling everyone that we were working with that we might get doubled out. 

On Wednesday we had the Book of Mormon class again which was a success.  We had about 10 people there again.  We talked about 1 Nephi 13 and the history of the Book of Mormon.  After the class we called the AP’s to see if they knew any info on if we were getting doubled out or if one of us was staying.  They said, as of now Elder Mouritsen is staying.  From that point I felt really stressed wondering if it was the right thing for me to tell President Topham that I should stay because his original plan was to have me leave and go to Chambersburg.  That night I prayed asking for Heavenly Father to let me know if I should stay or if I should opt to go.  I came to the conclusion that I would know if I should stay after our lesson that we had planned with the Gaylord’s on Thursday. 

The Worst Day Ever... 

Thursday morning I woke up stressed about transfers and hadn't gotten much sleep the night before because my mind wouldn't turn off.  I was tired. Our studies were awful. We had district meeting. Elder Munoz had us watch the BYU devotional from Brad Wilcox entitled "His Grace is Sufficient."  It helped us get through what was shaping up to be a terrible day. Afterwards, we went to Olive Garden and had our last meal together. Elder Jolley is going home since his 2 years are up. Our waitress was really rude. We left, to go to the church to have Spanish study and Elder Collier was going to work on the Area Book, when he realized he forgot the phone on the table so we had to drive back and pick it up. That wasted like half an hour and was frustrating.  Then our appointments all called and cancelled. We were bummed. But then we had Al and Jesi call us out of the blue to say they'd like to meet at precisely the times our other appointments cancelled! We were excited.

We went to our appointment with Al at 5:00. He was in such good spirits. He said he'd been feeling great that whole day. But after we started the lesson, he brought up all of the problems that had actually been going on that week. Then he had a complete mental breakdown.  He claimed he was the illegitimate son of Albert Einstein and had been switched at birth, that he knew where the tree of life was (it was in one of the Civil War battlefields, buried beneath the earth) and he had to go dig it up so we could all live forever, and that he was El Shaddai (Hebrew for God Almighty). It was absolutely NUTS.  I had seen him do this before but no this bad. He just had a complete emotional and mental breakdown. We told him, "Al, you've gotta calm down." We knelt down and said, "Let's have a prayer." He knelt down with us, Elder Collier said a prayer then I offered one, and then Al said the most profound prayer I've ever heard him say. At the end of the prayer, he was crying, but he was calm and at peace. The Spirit was strong. He looked up at us and thanked us for coming. He really needed our visit. It was really strange. We feel so bad for Al. He has so many health problems. You name it, he's got it; heart disease, diabetes, a pace maker, sleep apnea. It makes it impossible for him to work. He just moved to Hanover a year or two ago and has no friends. He has a master’s degree in psychology and he can't use any of his knowledge so all he does is sit at home in his apartment and sleep or watch TV, and he doesn't have cable so he can't watch anything interesting. So he just thinks himself crazy. We made plans to get him out of the house.

After our appointment with Al we were excited because we got a media referral sent to us! Turns out, it was a joke referral. Later, we went to a relief society meeting where Elder Collier was asked to play the video of Jesus and the woman at the well.  When we got there they asked if either of us could play the piano.  Elder Collier said yes.  Sister Cook then handed him the music and he began to practice but the song was slow and difficult.  We toyed around with the song for a while then realized he needed more time to practice or it would be a train wreck.  This event caused us to be late for our next appointment.

After that, we drove to Gettysburg to meet up with Jesi. We had to meet at a McDonalds because the library was closed and she couldn't come to the church. We tried having a lesson, but Jesi was distracted the whole time because one of the workers was sweeping and kept moving all of the metal chairs and making RIDICULOUS amounts of noise. It was awful. Probably the least effective lesson I ever taught. Looking back, it's pretty funny, but at the time, man, it was frustrating.

We came home that night drained, frustrated, and exhausted. It was a terrible day.

After Thursday I felt that I should leave this area.  I felt like that was God telling me I should tell president to send me to Chambersburg.  On Friday, I came to the conclusion that I should call president and tell him to do whatever he felt was right. I didn't want anything we said to have an impact on his decision.  During the call, he told me that he has the keys and what is going to happen is what the Lord wants.  I felt better and all my stress was gone after talking to him.  He always knows how to comfort me.  He is a great man and has truly been called to be my mission president. 

Friday night we had a lesson with Adam that went really well.  We showed him some of the bible videos that the church has put out.  We thought he would like them because he has been so into the bible series on the History channel.  We were right, he really liked the bible videos and then we proceeded to talk about the priesthood.  After our lesson our spirits were lifted and we were excited about the progress of Adam.

Saturday, Adam helped us move Lynn Fuhrman’s brother.  It was crazy move.  Lynn's brother and his roommate had a bunch of crap.  The couch was alright but they completely destroyed it as they shoved it through the door.  The whole back of the couch was ripped!  When they finally got it in they said "oh we can put some duct tape on it".  They didn't care at all.  It was quite the move. 

Before the move we had correlation meeting with Bro. Coy.  He and his wife made us Thai food.  It was pretty spicy but really good.  She served her mission in Thailand. 

While we were moving we got a call from Al's sister asking us if we could go check on Al.  He had gone to the hospital to get some sleeping medication and she was worried he would take too much so we went and checked on him.  He was pretty drowsy but he had taken the right amount of medication so we told him to get some sleep and we would come back later and go grocery shopping with him because he didn't have any food.  We came back after dinner and, as we were driving, we decided that we should take Al out for a night on the town.  We came up with the idea that we would take him to the nice JC Penny and we would try on some clothes and take some pictures.  He thought we were crazy but he was going along with it.  We picked him out some clothes and we got ourselves some clothes and we went and tried them on.  We took pictures of us in our clothes and Al said "this is the most fun I've ever had!”   After that we went to Target to do some grocery shopping.  Elder Collier ended up buying Al a Nerf gun so he could shoot us every time we come over.  We thought it would create some excitement in his life.  We ended the night by getting some Italian Ice at Rita’s.  Al had fun and it got his mind of the bad stuff that he thinks about. 

Sunday we had a special stake conference because they were splitting the stake and making a new one.  That is why they are moving the zone leader area because it won’t be the central location for the new stake.  There are just too many Mormons these days!

I love you family!!!!

Elder Mouritsen