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
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