My last mission e-mail

7/29/13

Hello Family!

This week has been full of goodbyes but we also met a new lady named Ingra Morel.  She was a referral from the West York elders.  They told us that she knew lots about the church and she had some good questions.  When we met her I quickly found that she knew nothing about the church, so I began explaining to her that we have been called by a prophet to come and share the gospel.  As we were talking her friend came into the room and said that she had talked to Mormons before but didn't know much, other than a man named John Smith started it.  I corrected her by telling her that it was Joseph Smith and then I started explaining the importance of a prophet and why the church needed to be restored.  They were both very inquisitive and kept asking questions about our life as a missionary.  I always love explaining our life as a missionary because you can always count on their jaw dropping.  Everyone finds our service as a missionary to be an amazing thing which is pretty cool. 

On Friday night we were finally able to get Kelly to the church for a tour.  We went over to his house for him to sign our journals and to get a picture with him and after he was done writing something to us he asked if he could go do the tour with us.  It was awesome!  He had lots of questions and he found it very interesting.  We invited him to come to church with us on Sunday but he didn't show.  Hopefully the other missionaries will see him come to church. 

We had a lesson with Ethan Specht on Monday where he told us that he wants to be baptized on Wednesday.  We were shocked that he wanted to be baptized so fast, but we had to tell him that he needed to come to church three times before baptism.  He was pretty sad but we set him up for an interview with the bishop.  The bishop was surprised by Ethan's desire and knowledge for only being an eight year old.  Everything is good for Ethan to be baptized except he needs to come to church and that is a problem because his real mother has him on the weekends.  He wasn't able to come to church this Sunday but his dad, Adam, and step mom, Tami, were able to.  It was a great sacrament meeting as well and I think that Tami and Adam thoroughly enjoyed it.  They are both making great progress in coming back into activity.  I will miss the Specht family and their excitement to learn. 

It is pretty exciting to think that I will be seeing my family this week for the first time in two years!  It really hadn't hit me that I am going home until yesterday when I started packing all my things into my suitcases.  I will be sad to leave the people of Pennsylvania, I have truly learned to love them and I have loved being a missionary.  It is going to be weird when I wake up Thursday morning and I don't have to wear a white shirt and tie.  There are going to be so many things that are new to me it will be quite the experience.

I want you to know that I am so grateful for a family that is supportive of my missionary service.  I wouldn't be able to complete my mission if it wasn't for your loving support and genuine care.  I have learned many things on my mission but one of the most important things that I have learned is how to love and the importance of family.  Yesterday I taught Elders quorum using Elder Richard G. Scott's last general conference talk called For Peace at Home.  It focused on ways for us to center our homes on Christ.  As I was preparing I was able to think of all the things that we did as a family to have a Christ centered home.  I was surprised to find how devoted parents must be to raise their kids in a Christ Centered home, which led me to an even a greater appreciation for my parents and the atmosphere you have been able to create in our home.  The little things that maybe felt small and insignificant to you have made a huge impact on me and have helped shape the missionary I am today.  My mission has been the best two years for my life.  I hope to build upon the experiences and knowledge that I have learned here and implement it into my home life.  I look forward to seeing you all!  I love you!!!

Elder Mouritsen

President Monson - The prophet for the whole earth

7/22/2013

Dear Family,

I won't be able to tell you what went on in my week this week because I am just about out of time but I can tell you when I get home and write about it when I get home.  This week was pretty uneventful and not much happened with our investigators.  Elva is hung up on having a modern day prophet.  She doesn't believe that the Church of Jesus Christ should be the only church with a prophet.  We keep telling her that he is the prophet for the whole earth and that people just have to accept him but she is having a hard time with that.  We did have a good lesson with her on the topic of prophets and she is working on trying to get an answer but she is not reading or coming to church so that can make it hard to get an answer.  We will be working hard to get her to church this Sunday because it will be the last Sunday that we are both here.  Elder Stevens and I are being doubled out.  I am going home and Elder Stevens is going to another area to train because they need Spanish speakers here.  We did receive a disappointing text from Salvador this week that told us that he has found a Spanish church and will be going there but I believe he just said that because he is scared to commit.  We will be trying to visit him every night this week though because I want to say goodbye to him and leave him with my testimony.  Hopefully other missionaries can work with him and he will one day be baptized.  This week we will be preparing the area to be doubled out. 

I love you family!!

Elder Mouritsen

PS.  I have included one of my most spiritual experiences that President Topham asked me to write about and send him a copy.

My spiritual experience took place in Hanover, Pennsylvania when we were teaching our investigator named Paul.  When Paul was first contacted, he told us that he was an atheist and wasn't sure if there could even be a God or a higher power.  His wife was a less active member but we didn't know that until after we started teaching Paul.  Paul told us that we could come back and visit him, but said that he didn't want to be pushed and was not interested in becoming Mormon.

We had the opportunity to start teaching him and his wife was present at each visit.  He enjoyed hearing all the different things that we had to share, but he still didn't believe in God. He did, however, say that if there was a God this would be his church.  He liked the Book of Mormon more than the bible and he thought that Joseph Smith being a prophet was pretty cool, but he still didn't believe that there was a higher power. 

On one occasion, after dinner with some of the members of the ward, we drove to Paul's house for a lesson.  We arrived at Paul's earlier than scheduled and found that his wife and kids were gone for the night, so the house was void of any distractions.  We started the visit by asking him if he had any questions. He asked what our feelings were towards our missions before we came out to serve.  I told him that I knew I needed to serve but I wasn't too excited to leave home.  I proceeded to tell him that I have learned to love it and through my mission I had gained a more complete conversion.  After talking a little longer and saying an opening praying, we started into the lesson that we had planned.  We began the lesson with Adam in the garden which led into a discussion about the Atonement and the need for us to repent.  We did some role playing to help teach these points.  Paul was blown away by the fact that the Book of Mormon teaches about Adam.  As we talked more about Adam and Eve, Paul began to have questions that moved us into a discussion about the Spirit World.  We told him that we lived with God before this life and we made the decision to come down to Earth.  The wheels in his head were starting to turn and he was beginning to understand.  

As we finished up the lesson and bore testimony we could tell that Paul was deep in thought and was amazed at the knowledge that he was receiving.  We invited him to say the closing prayer and he agreed he would.  We then asked if he would pray to know the truth, specifically if the things that we taught were true.  He said he would, even though he was hesitant.  He began the prayer a little shaky but after a while he started to express the desires of his heart.  As he was praying and asking the question, I was praying for him to get an answer, and as I did, I began to feel a burning in my bosom.  The prayer ended and we all kept our heads bowed.  After some time had passed, I raised my head to see Elder Spohn with a huge smile staring at me.  It was a smile just as big as he was and we both could feel the Spirit and knew that it had touched Paul.  Paul raised his head and said "Wow! I have been feeling the goose bump feeling all night but that was something unlike anything I have ever felt".  He kept trying to explain what he had felt, but he couldn't.  He knew for himself how he felt but couldn’t adequately express those feelings to us.  There was no doubt he had felt the Spirit!   He said when he had started his prayer he didn't know what to say, but pretty soon he was saying things that he would not normally say, and everything sounded so beautiful. 

As we sat there taking it all in I felt impressed to invite him to be baptized.  I was shaking inside as I invited him, because I could feel the Spirit working through me.  He responded by saying baptism is a huge step, but he could not deny that he had felt something not of this world.  He told us that he wanted some time to ponder on the whole experience but in the meantime he wanted to start taking the things that we taught into his life.  I invited him to do that more seriously. 

Good stuff is happening in this ward

July 15, 2013

Hello Family!

This week hasn't been anything special but we did get to teach Tony and the Spect family.  We taught Tony about the restoration using some red plastic Solo cups that we set up like the structure of the church the way it was when Jesus Christ was here.  We talked about how Joseph Smith had restored the Church in same way in these latter days.  Tony seemed to understand the authority and organization better and the member that was with us was able to give some good thoughts and insights about the restoration.  At the end, Tony asked for the member’s number and asked if he could start driving with him to church on Sunday.  We were glad to see that Tony and Brother Moul were hitting it off and establishing a good friendship.  We also tried to see Elva that same day, which was Friday, but she never answered her door.  We did however get to visit with her on her porch on Saturday.  She brought up some concerns, one being about the Joseph Smith and another being some Word of Wisdom issues.  We had planned for her baptism to be the 27^th of July but she said she wants to be completely clean before she gets baptized.  We agreed, but then she said that it could take a year.  I am glad that she is taking things seriously and it's good to see that she has the desire to repent.  She still didn't come to church this week, so our new focus will be to find out her concerns about going to church.  We will probably try taking her on a tour of the church so she can feel more comfortable when she actually does come. 

This week we saw the Spect family who we have a lesson with tonight.  The mother is a member and her biological sons are members but not active. Her husband is not a member and he has two kids named Ethan and Felicity and none of them are members.  We have been teaching Ethan and Felicity for a couple of weeks now and last week Ethan joined the cub scouts at the church which he was very excited about.  Ethan wants to be baptized so we have been focusing on him and Felicity when we teach because he is 8 almost 9 and she is 7.  The lessons that we have been having with them have been good but we have had to come up with some new ways of teaching because they are kids but they are both attentive and very good kids.  Ethan is into magic, so every time we go over he shows us one of his new magic tricks.  It is fun to teach them because they are so willing to do what we invite them to do and so excited about doing it.  We will be trying to get their father more involved tonight by asking him some good questions and we will be talking about Moroni 10:4-5 with them. 

Salvador is struggling.  We have tried to contact him several times this week but he has hasn't called us back or answered his door so we don't know what is going on with him.  I believe he is trapped in the worldly things.  We will keep working with him but not making it so much of a focus. 

I am amazed with the ward here and their excitement to get involved with the missionary efforts.  Our ward mission leader is gung-ho about getting us more work.   He and one of the ward missionaries have come up with a great plan to get all the members involved in the missionary effort.  Each week there will be two families signed up and their job is to come up with something for us to do whether it is helping their neighbors move or showing them how to make a Mormon.org profile.  The members with be giving us something to do instead of us always coming up with something for them to do.  Good stuff is happening in this ward as far as missionary work so that is exciting. 

I love you family!

Elder Mouritsen

My parents sent me a new car for my birthday

July 8, 2013

Hello Family,

Thanks for the birthday package.  I got the package Wednesday exactly on my birthday and I really enjoyed everything that was in it.  The new garments are sooo white it's incredible!  It brought a big smile to my face to see all the pictures of you and the Kramers at the temple and at lunch.  Also, thanks for the birthday cards that you sent me and Syd, thanks for your letter.  Anyway, besides the package and a family that had us over for a pizza party, my birthday was a pretty normal missionary day.  They also bought me two packs of strawberry Twizzlers, so now I have Twizzlers for dayz!! 

That same day we were able to teach Elva about the plan of salvation.  She especially enjoyed our discussion about the Spirit World.  She said that since we have been teaching her she has been sleeping better and her relationship with her daughter is getting better.  She said that she was going to come to church this week but, unfortunately, she didn’t show up.  That day we also taught our investigator named Tony.  He wasn't feeling too well, so we didn't get to stay for very long.  We did, however, teach him about repentance and he said he was going to start writing down his sins and start repenting for them but he wasn't going to tell us because some of the things he's done could send him to prison...  It was nice to see him, and it seems that he has a big desire to be better.  It’s just sad that his health is so bad but he probably wouldn't be talking to us if his health was good.  God knows what he's doing. 

The 4th was a very normal day.  We didn't do anything different except we had to be in our house at 7:00pm.  Sadly we couldn't see any fireworks from our house because the trees are so dense. 

On Friday we had an appointment with Elva, so we rode our bikes downtown to her house only to find that she had to leave.  We were pretty frustrated because she made the appointment.  We also had a member meet us there and we were sweating profusely.  It has been so hot and humid here the last few days.  We might as well have jumped in a pool and then entered into someone’s house for a lesson because that's what we look like when we get to people’s houses.  Luckily, that night as we were getting ready for bed the zone leaders knocked on our door telling us that they had some supplies and a gift for us.  They had been at zone leader council in Pittsburgh.  They pulled out a set of keys and told us that we got a brand new car to drive!  I was so happy!!!  Since then I've been telling people that my parents sent me a new car for my birthday.  I guess the church keeps sending cars to this mission, so now we have about 95 cars in the mission.  There won’t be any more walking areas opening up for a while.  Lucky for Mitch, haha. 

This week was really slow.  Sorry my letter is so boring.

Love you family!

Elder Mouritsen

P.S. Happy birthday Sydnee

My last zone conference

July 1, 2013

Dear Mom and Dad,

It sounds like you had a fabulous week and what a coincidence that you and Matt where on the same flight to New Orleans.  I am so happy to hear that the Kramers loved their vacation to Utah and that the sealing session was spiritual and uplifting for everyone.  I received an email from the Kramers not to long after I read the email from you guys.  They told me that they loved it and they are already planning to come back next year with their kids.  Thank you family for making their experience in Utah special and memorable. 

Well, just like your week I had a good week as well.  On Tuesday we went to the visit one of our investigators named Tony.  He is the guy that we helped move when I first got here to York.  When we got to his house we had a good lesson where we talked about the history of the Bible and the Book of Mormon and when and where they took place.  He really enjoyed it and said that he always learns more from us than he has ever learned in all the years he has gone to church.  After our lesson he asked us to help him clean up his house so it would look good for his daughter when she flew in from Florida.  I cleaned up his attic bedroom and tried to make it look like it was my own.  I got it looking pretty good but I wasn't sure what to do with the chair that looked like a high heel shoe.  With the help of Elder Stevens we got it all figured out and Tony loved it.  We were able to get everything cleaned up just in time for his daughter to show up.  She was very nice.  She was baptized in 2012 and is now the Laurel President and is planning to serve a mission.  She and Tony came to church this Sunday and it seemed that Tony is getting more comfortable with the people at church and is started to take church more seriously. 

On Wednesday we planned to teach one of the active families our new "member missionary lesson".   We have been creating this lesson and preparing to present it for a few weeks now.   Brother Smith, who is a Radiologist, came and picked us up in his S class Mercedes.  I have never been in such a luxurious car.  I now know why Mercedes’ cost so much money.  He let me sit up in the front and he turned on the massagers that were in the chair.  This car had everything you could think of.  It had heating and cooling in the seats.  When we took a turn, the seat would push me back.  It felt like you were floating when you drove because the suspension is so nice.  I definitely recommend one! 

We ended up eating lunch with the family and then shared our "member missionary lesson".  We had some good participation from all the members of the family and they seemed excited to do some of the new ideas that we presented for them.  After the lesson we helped them put a new pump in their fountain outside. 

That night we were downtown trying to visit Elva.  While we were talking with her outside her house a Mexican guy who was across the street called me over and started telling me that someone had stolen his phone.  He told me that he would like for me to call his phone and talk to the guy that had stolen it and try and get some information out of him and then call the cops so they could retrieve the phone.  He couldn't call the cops because he was illegal and they would've sent him back to Mexico so he wanted me to do it.  I told him that I couldn't get involved with his worldly problems but I could help him spiritually.  He then invited us to his apartment to talk more with him and he wanted to show us his bible.  It was perfect timing because it had just started raining.  We went to his apartment but it was a shared apartment.  He only rented one room but got to use all the facilities.  He opened his bedroom door to show us his bible and as soon as he opened the door I was hit with a pungent odor.  His room was stinky, but he had almost nothing.  He and his brother had been sleeping on the floor with a couple of blankets as their padding.  After seeing his bible we went to the front living room and sat down.  He told us more about his problems then I explained the Book of Mormon and tried to give him a copy.  He said he didn’t have any money to buy it but I told him that it was a free gift from us.  He got very excited, I proceeded to explain more about the Book of Mormon and then I ended with a prayer.  He started crying and gave us a hug.  I don't think anyone has ever prayed for him before and no one has given him a gift like the Book of Mormon before.  I felt good that I was able to brighten his day.  We will be going back tonight to try and see him. 

Elva is enjoying learning but still didn't come to church.  We will be working hard to get her there this Sunday. 

Saturday night we were picked up by Jose Calix a member of the ward who speaks Spanish and English fluently.  He picked us up for dinner and when he got in the car he told us we were going to pick up Salvador as well.  I was so excited!!!  Salvador was all dressed up and ready to go when we got to his house.   He and Bro. Calix were able to get to know each other better.  The dinner was delicious and it seemed that Salvador really enjoyed it.  After conversing together we went into the family room and with the help of brother and sister Calix we taught the plan of salvation to Salvador.  He told us that everything just makes sense to him and it’s all very logical for him.  It sounds like he knows Joseph Smith was a prophet and he is going to start taking things more serious now.  We bore our testimonies to him and invited him to read Alma 32.  On our way home he and Bro. Calix talked and Salvador said he was going to come to church after work.  He did just that!  As I was sitting in Sunday school Elder Stevens called out to me and said Salvador is here.  I was explaining to Tony the organization of the priesthood but quickly went and brought Salvador into where we were.  I then began talking to Salvador about the organization of the priesthood.  It was a great experience for me and it sounded like Salvador enjoyed it as well because he said he would be back but, he did say that he didn't expect that there would be so much English.  Hopefully that doesn't scare him away like it does a lot of Spanish speaking investigators. 

It was a good week and I hope I can have an impact on these people before I get shipped out!

I love you family!

Elder Mouritsen

P.S. We had zone conference this week.  It was my last zone conference so I gave my departing testimony.  It was weird that it was my last zone conference.