August 24-30, 2010: "We have a whole lot of work to do"

What up Mouritsens?

Alright this week has been swell. Sounds like all is going well back there too! How was the first week of school for the girls?? I'm glad the blue oven mitt is coming in handy! I knew it would. Just don't be ripping that cast off a few weeks before the doctor says it can come off ok Hallaballoo? Mom, that salsa sounds phenomenal. I can't remember if I told you but they changed the whole dinner with members rule down here and the only time we can eat at a member's home is when they have a non-member, less active, or recent convert over at their house. We are feeding ourselves quite a bit but it's great to see missionary work be taken to the family level and people actually doing it! Yesterday we, and the Ward Mission Leader, taught a combined young men/young women lesson on missionary work. Mind you there were three TOTAL young men and maybe 10 young women. I think I take after dad cause I got up there and was like, "alright, I have a question for ya. How many people are on the earth today?.... About seven billion, that's correct. How many members of the church are there on the earth today?.....About 14 million, that's right. I did the math recently and that's about .0025% (my math is pretty sketchy so correct me if I'm wrong please) of the world's population that is a member of our church. What does that mean to us?" They replied, "that we have a whole lot of work to do." haha I said that I take after dad because I like numbers or something, I donno. But yeah they were right, we do have a lot of work to do! And we are all numbered among those 14 million choice people whom the Lord has blessed to have his gospel, and it's our responsibility to share it! I asked them if they'd ever been nervous to talk about church related things to people and of course they said they had so I told them to open up to Moses chapter 6. This is where Enoch is called by the Lord to be a missionary and he says something to the effect of, I am but a lad, and all the people hate me, I am slow of speech, why are you sending me? I said, "ya know I put my own name in there when I read this cause, the people hate me, I'm a lad, and I'm very slow of speech." haha But we discussed how important it is from the next verse to just "open [our] mouth" and the spirit will help us to speak what needs to be said. They all committed to invite a friend to a church related activity in the next two weeks.





Transfer news wasn't what anybody expected. Elder Henrie was the only one from our district who was transferred, so that leaves Elder Otto and Elder Wesche (District Leader and one of the Zone Leaders) here who are going home next transfer. October is going to be a big change. Henrie went to the area that borders ours to the west but it's in a totally different stake and zone. He was made district leader there and his companion is Elder Halligan. That happens to be the same ward that the King's live in - how cool is that?!


We've been trying to come up with new ways to find people that can be fun at the same time. So we went to the dollar store and bought a bag of sidewalk chalk. :) We then went from bus stop to bus stop and drew the Plan of Salvation nice and big where people could see it. We then left a Plan of Salvation pamphlet sitting there so people could read. It was fun/funny and we ended up talking to quite a few people while doing so! It helps achieving the new rule of contacting 140 people weekly, instead of tracting for 10 hours.

Saturday was an awesome day. Chris Baird was baptized and he was giddy as a school girl! There were 59 people packed into a primary room to support him! He entered the water just shaking with a huge smile on his face and then when he was pulled up out of the water just smiling from ear to ear! He looked like Rocky Balboa after he ran up to the top of the stairs pumping his fists up above his head. It was PHENOMENAL. haha He gave a 10-15 minute talk about his conversion and his testimony, which was amazing. Afterwards we had a little get together with all his family members (who aren't members of the church except for his in-laws) at his home. He took us back into his room and just poured his heart out to us on how grateful he is to us and how he'll always hold open a spot for us in his heart. Awww man ain't that great? Whattaa guy.

Saturday night we got a call from a young girl named Charlotte Hurley. Charlotte is the future General Relief Society President. That's all there is to it. Six years ago Charlotte's father introduced her to the church because according to him she was an "angry child." She began going, loved church, loved girls camp, loved the Book of Mormon and continued on and decided she wanted to be baptized. Nope. Dad wouldn't let her. Weird right? Since he's the one who introduced her to it and all... Well, Charlotte goes on to earn her Young Womanhood Recognition award, she holds a calling in the Stake Youth Commitee and was asked to speak on baptism for the child of record baptisms next week. She's been taught the missionary lessons several times, one of them being us which we just finished about two weeks ago. Last night we got a voicemail from her which said that she needed us to call her back or she'll just speak to us the next day. We called her back and we were pleased to hear a very enthusiastic and excited response from her which said that her dad was going to allow her to be baptized! She's a senior in high school and 6 months from turning 18 haha. Yesterday we had dinner at the bishop's house and Charlotte was present so we could fill our her baptismal program. It's going to be a packed house! We could tell it was hard for her to decide whom she wanted to have baptize her but finally came to the conclusion to have Cichy baptize her and me to confirm her. I'm terrified! In front of the whole ward in sacrament meeting! haha Just kidding it'll be awesome. I'm honored. We'll probably have to hold the baptismal service in the chapel because of all the people who are planning on attending. It's gonna be a good one! She was interviewed immediately following dinner and took the baptismal program to her dad so that he would sign it. I guess a few times before he's said that she can be baptized and then when it came down to it he wouldn't sign the paper... Lame.

The crazy thing to me is this past month we've been blessed with a baptism almost every weekend and almost immediately following the baptism, the Lord places someone in our path who has interest in being baptized or wants to learn more. Mike James' baptism, a girl named Jeanette was there and said she would be baptized if she came to know it was true. She has a date for September 12th. Alicia Scott, baptized last week, was a random phone call from her mother who said she wanted to be baptized. And then after Chris Baird's, Charlotte's dad has a change of heart and says she can be baptized. Just amazing... It reminds me of the story of Elijah and the woman who fed him before she fed herself and her son. She was promised that the meal in the barrel would never run out as long as she first trusted in the Lord and served. Our teaching pool has been replenished just at the moment when we feel we're not going to have anybody to teach. It's amazing how this work works.

I know this church is true. It just is. I love being a missionary. "There's no comfort in a growing zone, but there's no growing in a comfort zone." Words of wisdom from Sister Beck that are very true. I've never been so uncomfortable because of going out of my comfort zone but with the Lord's help anything is possible. I hope all is going well for you back home. I pray for your safety every night! I love you all so much.

Love,

Elder Mouritsen

August 17-23, 2010: Baptisms & The Light vs Darkness

Hello family:

What a great letter! Sounds like the family is doing great and I bet all the girls are just heart breakin' head turners to all the boys. :/ . No dating till I get home. Nope, none. That's really cool that me and Kyler both finished the Book of Mormon and took the challenge. He's an awesome missionary. Well transfers are today and we hear in about an hour so I'll have to let you know through a written letter what happens. That's too bad about Hallie and her bone chip. She's super tough though and knows how to "accept the pain!" My ankle is... eh.. I've rolled it probably two-three times out here and it hurts bad but then after about 4-5 days the pain subsides. It is still all wobbly and it hurts to bend side to side so I'm trying to look for a brace that will be good to wear for tracting and playing sports. If you find a nice one let me know and I'd love to have it sent out!

This week has been pretty great. It was one of the longest weeks yet because of the anticipation of transfer news. On Saturday we were blessed to be a part of two baptisms: Alana Cortez and Alicia Scott. We were reading the teaching record of Alana and the missionaries found her in April of 2008 and gave up three months later because she wouldn't come to church and her less active mother wasn't supportive. Now, two years later we were able to contact her in July, commit her to baptism, get her to church with her young women's leaders, and develop friendships in the ward so she'll be excited to go to mutual, which she has been going to for a while now. On Friday we were getting information to fill out her baptismal record and we needed to know who she wanted to baptize her. Of course, being a young 12 year old she couldn't decide so her mom told her that she needed to choose one of us. That made it even worse. So after a few minutes of contemplation, her mom looked at Cichy and asked how many he had done and he said one, then looked at me and asked and I said zero (on the mission). So that settled it and I was able to baptize her! It was nothing like raising the blue oven mitt to the square (to cover my cast when I baptized Hallie) but it was still a very neat experience.

Saturday night we visited Teddy and Genevieve. I don't know if I've mentioned them before but they are a Mexican (teddy) and Navajo (Genevieve) couple who have shown some interest in being baptized. Back in June, Genevieve prayed about baptism and even received an answer for July 10th but then didn't follow through because she moved up to the reservation to be with family for about two months. Saturday was the first time we've seen her in about that long. We went inside and began chatting and there were two other people sitting in the room that we didn't know. The discussion went on and Genevieve was just kind of like, "ehh, yeah, ahh ok, yeah whatever cool" kind of attitude. Then all of a sudden, the woman who was sitting off to the side raised her hand and we were like, "oh do you have a question?" She replied, "yes actually I am Genevieve's sister and I was baptized with my daughter back in 1993 and I'm looking for the church around here so that I can attend." She then went on to bear a very powerful testimony about how the Holy Ghost has been a comfort to her even through all the tough trials she's had in her life. It brought Genevieve to tears and the spirit was very strong. Teddy, that jokester, never gives us straight answers and lies to us all the time. Even he began opening up and saying that he was going to talk to his Catholic priest and ask him where is authority comes from and then he was going to go talk to our bishop and ask him where HIS authority comes from. HAHA. It ended up being a very good lesson and we ended when Genevieve's sister asked if we could close with a prayer where we all hold hands and make a circle. Very odd, yet very powerful.

The next day, Sunday, made for a very interesting and bizarre experience. So bizarre and scary to me that I don't really want to have to describe it until a later time when we are face to face. I'll just say this, there are two powers on this earth, God's and Satan's. Both are real as you and me. God's power brings light, Satan's brings darkness. No darkness can reside where there is light. The power of the priesthood can and does work miracles as I saw with my own eyes and felt with my own hands. Satan's power is one thing that I wouldn't wish upon my worst enemies and I'm so grateful that God's power is able to overcome all darkness. I recorded this experience in my journal and will have to tell you about it in person. I have the chills and am near tears right now as I write and think about it and I just feel that it wouldn't be good to tell at this time.

Stand in the light, but if circumstance arise, light up the darkness. It's cheesy I know but it's been a major topic lately. People see your examples whether you like it or not and they can physically see your light radiate. Never underestimate the power of the priesthood but on the flip side, don't tamper with the power of the adversary. It is extremely real as I stated earlier. But yes dad, like you said exercising Priesthood takes practice and twice this week I've had the opportunity to be a part of blessings with consecrated oil for the benefit of the sick and the afflicted and I love the opportunities given to exercise it because that's what it's meant for, blessing the lives of others.
I love you all very much and I applaud you girls for showing your faith in the priesthood and allowing dad to give you a father's blessing. Oh how I wish I could receive one as well. In due time.

Say hi to Parlay and Brer... :/ not. haha jk. Let me know how the first week of school goes!

Love,

Elder Mouritsen

August 10-16, 2010: Stevie Thom's Conversion & Baptism

How ya doin eh?

I love the pictures! What the heck glasses are you wearing dad? haha! And the stories, phenomenal. Mom, I really enjoy your letters and the updates and encouragement it gives me! I would absolutely love something from you though. I just want a letter that is all about you. Whatever you feel to write about, experiences, childhood, raising children, life in general, happy times, bad times, just whatever! I just want it to be all about you. I would love that :). That goes for everyone though! Girls, dad. Don't be afraid to include pictures of us as well!

This week has been great. It's felt like it's absolutely flown by but at the same time it feels like it's been forever since I last emailed you guys. (I think I say that every week). On Thursday we were on exchanges with Elder Otto and Elder Henrie. Elder Otto came to our area with me and Cichy went to their area. We needed to schedule Stevie's baptism with the High Councilman over missionary work for six o'clock at the stake center so we called him up and he told us that there was already a baptism scheduled at the time.. Dang! I was so frazzled. I immediately began calling around seeing if it would be ok to reschedule or do it at a different building but everything just wasn't working out. Stevie's wife who almost caused him to not be baptized was working till five so it couldn't be earlier, the elder's quorum had already sent out an email saying it was 6 o'clock at the stake center, and there was no way we were going to make Stevie wait until the week after. He's just too dang excited. It all got worked out though. We moved it to another stake center and were able to keep it at the same time. I'm telling you this because I thought it was going to ruin my entire day spent with the district leader because the entire morning was spent making phone calls. Afterwards, we just went out tracting and tried to make the hectic feelings leave. The very first door we knocked on was a black woman named Annie from Liberia. We began talking to her and she didn't speak English very well. I mentioned we were missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and she just kinda squinted and looked confused. Then, with her broken english she asked, "Which church are you from?" "We're LDS," I said. "The Mormons." She perked up and said, "The Mormons?! I've been waiting for you guys! I have a friend in North Carolina who is Mormon and wanted me to join your religion after I moved to Phoenix! Come on in!" At this time I felt just how powerful your prayers are and I know that doors are opened for missionaries every time a sincere, heart felt prayer is said. We chatted with her for a while and it was tough to talk because of the language barrier but we ended up teaching the first discussion and she accepted a Book of Mormon. I told her that we could probably get her a book in her native language but she said, "No! I want to learn it in English." Sounded good to me! I was amazed at how the Lord leads us to those who he has prepared.

We tracted for a good hour and a half after that having many good conversations with people but nothing like the visit with Annie. We then went home for lunch and were just sitting down on the couch for a bit when I got a call on the cell phone. I happened to be on the other line so the caller left a message. She said her name was Sister Paisley Brinkerhoff, a member in the ward, and that she has two step daughters who have taken the missionary lessons twice, been coming to church for almost five years, and are now wanting to be baptized. Uhhhh.. Ummm... WHAT? Gotta be kidding me? I called her back immediately and she told me the story, 12 year old Alicia, and 14 year old Alyssa want to be baptized. I told her we would just probably need to meet with her and the daughters and then if they could pass a baptismal interview, they'd be good to go. That night at 6:30 we met them (just Alicia and her mom, Alyssa is going to wait a few more weeks) at the chuch and just chatted about a few things, got to know them, and then since we just happened to be on exchanges, Elder Otto (district leader) interviewed Alicia right then. She passed and we scheduled her baptism for August 21st. Things have been exploding lately. Just recently there have been 11 people who have expressed interest in being baptized not including the 3 who have dates. Last transfer we were wondering where our teaching pool was going to go because those who we had been teaching, were about to be baptized. I have a firm testimony that the time of the harvest of souls is here. No more planting seeds. The Lord is going to come soon and He's preparing all who will accept the message. It's been amazing to me to see tangible evidence of that coming to pass. Lives are changed by this message.

One example of a life being changed: Brother Stevie Thom. His baptism was unbelieveable. We heard some great talks on baptism and the Holy Ghost and then it was time for the ordinance. Everyone moved into the room with the font and as we did, tears began to fill Stevie's eyes. His wife began to sob as well. The Spirit was thick and nobody could deny it. He and Brother Mineer entered the water, tears streaming down his face. The prayer was said and his old life was laid down, never to be known again. As he came back up, born again with a clean slate, he wrapped his arms around big Brother Mineer and they just held each other, both sobbing, for about 15-20 seconds. I don't think there was a dry eye in the room. President Morris, a member of the mission presidency, was there comforting Stevie's wife who was crying uncontrollably. I too had a hard time keeping back the tears, as usual. Me and Cichy then gave our little intermediate message while they were getting dressed, and then Stevie bore his own powerful testimony. Nobody wanted to leave as the meeting ended and we all just hung around and chatted. The bummer thing is, Stevie happens to live in a totally different Stake and despite the fact that he would probably continue coming to our ward because that is where all his fellowship is, we were told he had to be confirmed in the other ward. He's so solid. I can see him pulling 4-5 hour Sundays, first coming to our ward at 9:00 and then going to his own ward at 11:00. What a stud! The man who we thought had a demon, now replaced with one of the greatest gifts of all, the Holy Ghost. He told us his conversion story after all this was done:

He said that a day or so after our first meeting with him, the meeting where we thought he had a demon, he was up working on a job near the new temple site in Phoenix. The street he happened to be parked on was Lehi Street. Coincidence? I think not. He had a few minutes so he opened up to a random spot in the Book of Mormon. The random spot happened to be the story of Korihor. As he read, he likened the story to himself and said that he could find no real differences between himself and Korihor. That scared him. He read what eventually happened to Korihor because of the route he was taking and Stevie was in no position to allow that to happen to himself. He called us later and said he was going to begin taking things on sure faith. We were thrilled of course haha cause we were so scared after our first meeting with him. In his testimony at his baptism, he said that before all of this, he was Korihor, he was a liar, and because he was a liar, he knew truth when he said it and he knew truth when he read it. The Book of Mormon speaks nothing but truth and he knew it. A little more than 3 weeks after that experience from reading Korihor, he was baptized.

I recently finished the Book of Mormon and took Moroni's promise. Yes, I know that it is true. And I challenge all who have either read it dozens of times or never finished it at all, to read it, to pray about it, and to recognize the feelings from it. Know that the feeling is enough. It is the fulness of the everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ.

I hope all is going well with you guys! I can't wait to hear about the first week at school for everyone. How exciting. School has already started down here for most everyone. I think it started like the first week in August for some kids. Poor guys. haha Make sure you tell the Kings thanks so much for taking us out to lunch! They took us on Cichy's birthday and it was awesome. It's so great to see them! I don't know if Melynda sent you the picture but if not, text her and tell her to.

I love ya'll so much. Talk to you soon. Transfers are next week and I'm feeling a big change in our district for some reason.

Love,

Elder Mouritsen

August 3-9, 2010: Baptism, Badminton, & Bad News

Phoenix flooding during a rainstorm.

Colton holding a cat that is fifth generation leopard.

Chris Baird at the Mesa Temple

"The standard of truth has been erected. No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing: persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, and calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth bodly, nobly, and independent till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the great Jehovah shall say the work is done."
-Joseph Smith

Hello family!

Madison and L-Mo phenomenal job with the softball! Man!! I better be receiving some pictures sometime soon. I'm not kidding. I can't believe you guys won the championship!! That's some serious stuff right there. Comp Softball is no easy task! Way to be!

Oh man this week has been filled. It feels like forever since the last time I emailed you but then at the same time it feels like this week went by faster than ever. As I think I've told you, Mike James was baptized last Sunday. He had a baptismal date since April because he wanted to be baptized on his wife's birthday, August 1st. And it happened, I just hope he was doing it for him, and not just for his wife. He's like 65 years old! haha The baptism was great. Brother Wisehart, the High Priest Group Leader baptized him. Brother Wisehart is a convert himself who did all that he could to prove the Book of Mormon to be wrong. He says that his conversion came from the bible, and also from the fact that he couldn't prove the Book of Mormon to be wrong. Cool story. Anyways: Since Mike is a bit older and larger, and Bro Wisehart is the same way, Mike wanted him to be baptized frontwards so that he would be able to stand back up and Bro Wisehart wouldn't drop him if they went backwards. Failure. Total Failure. He said the prayer and then began to lower him face first into the water and got to a point to where he just wouldn't bend anymore. And the back of his bald head, as well as his entire back was sticking out of the water, all the while Brother Wisehart grabbed the back of his head and began to repeatedly push his face under the water, making it look as if he were drowning him. HAHAHA That's all that was going through my mind, "Don't drown the poor man!" Well, the stake president happened to be there and he came up behind me (we were the witnesses) and asked me if it needed to be done backwards. I told him he was more comfortable this way but we'll probably be going backwards now because it just wasn't working out. Another thing that was going through my mind was the fact that we had several other investigators there and what the crap do you think was going through their minds as Brother Wisehart looked as if he was plunging something from a toilet as he tried to force Brother James under the water. He just wouldn't budge. So, he pulled him back out and immediately threw him backwards into the water. While Mike was down we had to tell Brother Wisehart that he needed to re-say the prayer and then baptize him. Finally, it was done correctly and the baptism was performed. HAHA I'll never forget that.

Mike James and his wife at his baptism. Brother "Wild Bill" Brown & Sister Brown (seated).

The next day on P-Day we had an AWESOME zone activity. Zone Badminton Tournament!!! President and Sister Beck were coming too because supposedly they were like professionals. Well we started off playing Elder Wright and Elder Harker who are two athletes and they barely beat us. Luckily it was double elimination and we still had a chance to make it to the championship but we were the very first team to be placed in the losers bracket. Poor Elder Cichy is blind in his left eye so you can only imagine the depth perception issues there is to hitting a birdie flying towards you. It was great though! There were so many companionships. It was legit! Our next three games we got up 6-0 and ended up destroying those teams. It came down to the wire in the fourth one though and the winner went on to play Elder Wright and Elder Harker to go to the championship. GEEZ! So much adrenaline rushing I couldn't believe it. HAHA Well we beat them and went on to play Wright and Harker. They got up on us 3-0 but we then went on a streak. After some major slams, spikes, and saves we battled back and won like 15-10. Championship game time and it was against the Zone Leaders who set up the whole deal and they were solid. Elder Wesche (from Viewmont, he knows Shaun) and Elder Kennington (from Afton, Wyoming). They got up 14-9 and it was game point and my serve. Very luckily, and nervously we got back to 13-14 but then they scored a lucky little drop shot and we lost :'(. Oh well, we battled. It was very fun though!
We taught Tom and Tom Jr. this week. There was some progression with Tom as he expressed interest in repenting but he also said that there are just some things that he knows he won't be able to quit doing. We told him that repentance in reality is change and if you are changing yourself for the better and continue to repent, Heavenly Father knows you are trying and will continue to forgive you. He then expressed interest in having his nine year old son baptized. We asked him about himself and he said, "I want my son to baptize me. I feel like that is the reason I had a son and I'm willing to wait 7 years for him to receive the priesthood so that that can happen." Immediately, I had a feeling of everything is going to be ok come over me, the same one that came back on the baseball diamond. I recognized the feeling, and couldn't deny it. The member who was with us got quite stern and pulled out the Alma 34:32-34 Procrastinate no more! scripture and Tom was set on his decision. He said that several years ago, he sat in his Uncle's basement (who is a member) and just prayed to know the purpose behind him having a son, and that is the answer that he was impressed with. After debating with the member who was with us he said this, "If you are here to help me through this, then help me, help him, as he grows up in the church and continues on worthily so that he'll be able to baptize me." I pulled him aside after the discussion and told him I felt great about the decision. I didn't know why because that's not the normal way of doing things. It'll all work out though. "...The purposes of God shall be accomplished.."

Wednesday night we were on splits. Cichy went with a Ward Missionary and visited Chris Baird and I went to the Mineers home and visited with Stevie. We talked about the Plan of Salvation and also some questions he had concerning the Book of Mormon. His knowledge of the Book has already exceeded mine it seems. He understand the Isaiah chapters as well as I understand the story of Ammon. hahah. We got to the point where we were talking about the reasons that Christ was baptized. Cause, if it's to be cleansed of all your sins, then why would Christ need to be baptized? Of course, the Book of Mormon describes all that. 2 Nephi 31:5-9. It's a commandment and Christ was obedient by humbling himself before the father and following His commandments. Stevie was then commited to baptism and set a date for August 14th! Awesome! He's already so powerful and was almost in tears when we visited the Mesa Temple and watched the Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration movie.

Yesterday was a pretty low down day. We were teaching Stevie the 4th lesson when we randomly got a call from President Beck. Cichy answered it and President said that someone would be coming to our house at 6:00 to pick us up and bring us to the mission office to talk with him. Immediately butterflies filled the soul and we began searching for clues about what it could be. We had been obedient! We had no idea what it could've been. As we rode home I got a sort of sick feeling that it had something to do with our families but I couldn't entertain that sort of thought and disregarded it. The Spanish AP's picked us up and drove us over there and as we got inside, President was waiting and he said, "Elder Mouritsen I'm going to be speaking with Elder Cichy for a moment if you just want to wait outside and study." I still had no idea what was going on. After about 10-15 minutes passed, President returned without Elder Cichy and let me know that Cichy's father had been diagnosed with a serious medical problem and that he was speaking on the phone to him. I felt some immediate sorrow and sadness for him as I couldn't bare to imagine what he must be feeling at this moment. Probably 25-30 minutes passed and he finally came out of the room and then President returned with him for another chat. He then came out and asked me to join them. As I went in I could tell that Cichy had been a bit teary eyed, but that was easily expected. He told me that doctors had just found a brain tumor about the size of a quarter in the frontal lobe of the brain but luckily its in the early stages and it's a miracle that they caught it so early. This tumor happens to be the same type that his dad's brother died from several years earlier, which makes it very scary. After talking about it, Cichy asked president for a blessing. The spirit filled the room as we both laid our hands on his head and President Beck gave comfort, reminders, and council regarding the current situation. On the way out, Cichy said, "I told you it wasn't your family." I replied, "Your family, is my family." From this experience, we are becoming more unified and strengthened as we improve our efforts and continue on doing all that we can to focus on the work and do as Elder Cichy's dad told him, "don't let this get in the way of your Heavenly Father's work." Easier said than done. Please pray for him and also for Elder Cichy, as their family goes through this tough time.

I hope all is going well for you guys! I love you all so much. I'm going to try to send pictures as soon as possible. I know I've been saying that but now I'm in the stake center family history center and I think it'll work. I love all your powerful testimonies and experiences you have from overcoming trials and going to the scriptures to find comfort. Never forget those feelings and experiences. You guys are amazing and thank you so much for the prayers. We have seen them answered as doors have been opened with people who are ready to hear the message of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Love you all,

Elder Mouritsen

July 27 - August 2, 2010: The Gospel Changes Lives!

This week has been sweet. Two weeks ago we met with a man named Stevie who is a friend of a guy in the ward named Brother Mineer. Now, Brother Mineer is about 6 foot 7 and MASSIVE. He's very persuasive and has a booming voice, one that you would normally hear announcing a sporting event. He's been bringing Stevie to church several times and then two weeks ago Stevie agreed to meet with us. The first time we met he told us he had many questions concerning the Book of Mormon, which was great cause we knew he had been reading. As we sat in the family room of the Mineer's home and discussed with Stevie, the spirit of contention just filled the room and it was actually quite scary. His eyes would get really big and wide and looked blood shot (i'm not even kidding) and he would stare at us as if he was looking into the depths of our soul. He would ask a question from what he had read and get extremely loud, angry, and vulgar. It was very hard to find the spirit but as we bore testimony and answered some of his questions, his entire countenance would change and he would recognize what he was feeling. At those points in the lesson, when he was feeling the spirit, we thought the contention would leave. Nope, wrong. He would look us right in the eye. Get all contentious again. Tell us that he has committed abominations in the sight of the Lord. And one of the most heart wrenching was when he said, "I'm not afraid to walk the halls of hell with the Devil! I don't fear him! I've murdered an unborn child! I committed abominations in the sight of the Lord!!" I'm pretty sure all color and expression in my face was gone. Several times this happened where it would be Spirit of Contention, then Spirit of Christ. Spirit of Contention=Darkness. Spirit of Christ=Light. No Darkness can dwell where there is Light and I saw that come to pass as the Spirit of Contention was immediately illuminated. Stevie kept telling us he had so many questions but they were all about deep doctrines of the gospel. He asked us if we ever have questioned our faith or doubted God. I said, "Stevie of course! The prophet Joseph Smith even did when he was in the Liberty jail! He said it himself as he said in a prayer, "Oh God, Where art thou?!" Even the prophet of the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ questioned his faith and God's plan for him. We all do but it can also all be overcome. As soon as we understand the basic doctrine of Christ which is faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end, then we have a shot at understanding all the deep doctrines! I myself am SOO far from understanding such things it's not even funny! But I can promise you that as you exercise your own faith and focus on the foundation that Christ taught, all things can be made possible to understand. I don't doubt God, He is perfect. But it's normal to often doubt myself. I'm human." It's funny cause that was one of the only times I said anything during the lesson and after that we said the closing prayer. We then watched the talk given by Elder Holland on the Book of Mormon and it almost seemed like Stevie was getting emotional. After the talk he said, "You can't deny the truth." That night we were discussing it and another member was listening to what we were telling him about Stevie and we began to think that he could be influenced by some demonic power. The member we were talking to said he had had experience with things like this and we were describing them to a T. We hoped it wasn't the case.

We saw him at church the next week and we met with him the week after again. It was unbelievable. I wouldn't believe the 180 degree flip flop that took place had I not witnessed it myself. He called us saying he was going to take things now on blind faith and that he would leave the negativity home. That week at our lesson, he couldn't stop smiling and showing tons of gratitude towards us and what we had brought into his life. Yesterday we had a baptism of Brother Mike James and Stevie came with Brother Mineer. At the end of the baptism he went up to the font and said, "I think I might just jump in right now." Are you kidding me?!?! haha no way did he just say that. Two weeks ago he was picking apart everything he could that had to do with the church and now he can't wait to be baptized. He's already borne his testimony and can't get the glow and smile off of his face. We are going to the temple visitors center with him on Wednesday. Can't wait.

I can't tell you how much power there is from the gospel being brought into people's lives. We have something that others need and it's our job to be the instrument that the spirit can work through in relaying the message. President John Taylor taught, "we are held accountable for those we WOULD HAVE taught." What if us sharing the gospel was their only chance to hear the message? What if they would've accepted? If all else fails just be bold and invite.

I woman requested a bible from mormon.org this week soo.... we gave her a Book of Mormon. haha. She accepted gratefully and the next day we followed up and she said she had read it and prayed about it and loved it! The week after we had a church tour and it was the first real time we met with her and taught her. Yup, she's committed to be baptized on August 21. It's amazing how through obedience and bringing souls into the waters of baptism, brings others into the pool of teaching. This is our Father in Heaven's work and he directs it. I would never think otherwise.

A quote by Elder Bruce R. McConkie

"I am called of God. My authority is above that of Kings of the earth. By revelation I have been selected as a personal representative of my Lord, Jesus Christ. He is my master. And he has chosen me to represent him, to stand in His place. To say and do what He Himself would say and do, if he personally were ministering to the very people to whom he has sent me. My voice is His voice, and my acts are His acts. My words are His words, and my doctrine is His doctrine. My commission is to do what He wants done, to say what he wants said. To be a living, modern witness of the divinity of this great and marvelous latter-day work. How great is my calling!"

I think it applies to us as priesthood holders and also members of the church. It's a blessing to have this gospel. It changes lives. Let it change our own.

I love ya'll so much.

Love,

Elder Mouritsen