Some fun experiences happened this week: On Friday we were riding down 35th Ave and got to the Thunderbird intersection and passed two guys and a girl sitting on the curb on the edge of the sidewalk and road. One guy, (big tall black guy) seemed to be quite frustrated with the girl who was sitting down and he was standing up talking into her ear. The other guy was just standing up not really paying any attention to them. As we rode past, we asked if everyrthing was alright and the guy said, "yeah everything is fine." So we kept going. As we got up to the intersection where we stopped to cross the street, we looked back and the man had grabbed the girl, put her in a tight bear hug, and was yanking her around. She was repeatedly trying to push herself away by taking shots to his head with her fists. We saw this and turned around to go back to investigate. Nobody should treat a girl like that... We got up to them and again asked, "is everything alright." And you could tell the girl was quite frantic as her language soon disclosed to us. She was using words that shouldn't be used at all as verbs, adjectives, nouns, pronouns: You Name It!! Finally he let her go and we were already kinda nervous to be there and the guy let us know that he wasn't afraid of us and they were trying to each explain their sides of the story. It was quite funny. He was calling her unspeakable names and then he would say, "she ma baby's mamma!" "THEN WHY ARE YOU TALKING TO HER LIKE THAT?!?" We stuck around while they worked it out for about 45 min to an hour. The other guy who was with them was a short little 19 year old boxer named Oscar (like 5'2" 170 lbs) and didn't want to do anything to get in on the action. We started talking to him and told him he needed to get in on it, even if it wasn't the "cool" thing to do, it's still the right thing. He was way cool and was like, "yeah man you are right." We started talking about missionary work all of a sudden. He said he was from Oakland, that there is a lot of hope there but the place is just so messed up. He was really interested in our message and said he even wanted to come out to church on sunday. Meanwhile, he pulled out a roll of mary jane and lit up. haha He even told us that he needs to stop smoking cause it hurts his ability to box. It's too bad that he lives out of our area though, otherwise he'd be baptized for sure!! As we got done talking to Oscar, the other two had finally worked out their issues and the big guy (Jordan) came up to us and said, "Thanks guys you just doin' what a good man shoulda done in da' first place." And they went on their way. Oddly, we saw that guy two more times the next day and he was really nice to us and we chatted for quite awhile.
The next day, Tom and his 9 year old son Tom Jr., and their friends Caesar and Tyler, met us at the church for a church tour and lesson on the Restoration. Caesar is catholic, Tom is just kinda crazy, Tom Jr. has an atheist mother so he doesn't quite know if he believes in God and he's nervous to read fromt he Book of Mormon, but Tyler (long haired, spiked ear rings, 17 year old) seemed very interested. Well they all did but him in particular. We got done with the tour and sat down in the chapel to go over the lesson. It's so funny how reverent and respectful people are when in the chapel of a church. Tom's phone went off and he was about to cry because I think he thought he was going to be struck by lightening or something. It's kind of ironic because his ringtone is S.O.S in morse code. (Save Our Souls... get it? haha I just thought about that.) Anyways... we got going on the lesson and it was going really well, God is our loving Heavenly Father... The Gospel blesses families, God reveals his secret to His prophets in every dispensation, the Savior's earthly ministry and Atonement, the great apostasy, and then... The Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was my turn to teach the principle (we alternate every other) and as I began talking about Joseph Smith I was reminded of a time up in the Uintahs when we were having a devotional and you (dad) got emotional when talking about Joseph Smith and especially about the first vision. I just about broke down but the composure was held. haha The spirit was unmistakeable though. We are asked to memorize the first vision and as I began to recite it, I could tell from the looks on their faces and their countenance that "something" was telling them that what they were being taught was true. It was so cute to see big Tom with his arm around Tom Jr. and really wanting him to listen and learn about what we had to say. After the lesson, they told us that they were going camping later that night into Sunday so they wouldn't be able to be at church the next day BUT... Tyler was like, "while we're out there, I'm going to go get my own mountain, and do what Joseph Smith did and ask to see if this is true." I couldn't get the smile off my face when I heard that, and then as Tom said they would read as they sat around the campfire. Caesar is the only one who was a little bit skeptical but I think when the others are doing so, he'll come along. As it came time for a closing prayer, we asked Tom Jr. if he would like to pray. He said he had never prayed before and that he didn't know how. We let him know that we would help him through it. He began the most sincere, pure, and inspirational prayer I'd heard in a long time. You could tell he was very nervous and we said: "say thanks for something...." "thanks for these missionaries, thanks for my dad and also my friends..." about a 25-30 second pause then occured which seems like an eternity while sitting in silence in a chapel... "ask for help with something.." "please help me to know what these missionaries have taught is true." another 25-30 second pause. "in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen." We all said Amen and he looked up and he said that he was extremely nervous and didn't know what it was going to be like but it was so amazing to me to see a little 9 year old boy pray for the first time when he dosen't even know if there is a God, while his proud father sits there with his arm around him just forcing back the tears. It was a very spiritual experience and has helped me to make my prayers better. Tom still can't deny that the Book of Mormon has brought those four...three in particular (Tom, Tom Jr., and Tyler) closer together than they have ever been before. They may be closer along than we think. Tom still has a major drinking problem but nothing the spirit can't help to fix.
Last night we sang in Stake Priesthood meeting as a district. The song was a Joseph Smith medley which I've talked about before but the verses are as follows: 1st and 3rd verses to Joseph Smith's first prayer, 1st and 6th verses to A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief, 4th verse of Praise to the Man (without the chorus) which goes right into... "Great is his glory and endless his priesthood." 3rd verse? and then finishes with a quiet... "Ohhhhhhh. How lovely was the morning." Very powerful...
Well my time is almost up! It's so good to hear from you guys and it sounds like the staycation was awesome! Lunch with Justin was great and he said they added a slide onto the house boat. I bet Cameron's farewell was awesome, what did he speak on? I can't believe his time is already here... He's going to be amazing.
I love you all. Thanks for everything and your prayers are felt daily.
Love,
Elder Mouritsen
I love you all. Thanks for everything and your prayers are felt daily.
Love,
Elder Mouritsen
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