This week has been forever long! Monday: transfer news. Tuesday: transfers. Cichy got transfered out to Lavine to open up a brand new area and he is training while doing so. My new companion is from Idaho Falls and he is also fresh from the MTC. His name is Elder Nelson and he's a stud. I don't know if you got a letter from President Beck? I got a letter saying that I was going to be a trainer and DL and it said that it was being forwarded to you so I was just wondering if you got it. It is so crazy to go from relying wholly on my Elder Cichy to an immense amount of responsibility! I love it though and I can't wait to get the hang of things. Our district gained another set of missionaries as well. Remember Elder Choules? He and a guy named Elder Gibson took over one of the wards in the district so that now there are five total companionships. Elder Otto (DL) and Elder Wesche (ZL) both went home so there is now a new Zone Leader in our district as well. His name is Elder Johnson from Edmonton, Alberta. They are some awesome guys and I hope and pray that this transfer is going to be a good one!
Photo taken of Colton and other elders moving their gear on transfer day.
I don't know if you watched anything about the weather that we had down here but on Tuesday before, during, and after transfers there was a MASSIVE rain and hail storm. Many cars, homes, churches and other buildings were damaged from inch and a half sized hail. Me and Cichy got stuck out on foot and took cover under a covered parking lot in an apartment complex and luckily were able to get a ride home. The roads were literally filled with water and then as the hail came down it looked like people were throwing baseballs into the road because the splashes were so huge. We got a ride to transfers at about 1:25 cause we had to be there by 1:45 and it was cut close because of the storm. We didn't get out of there till about 6 and our ride was stuck in all the traffic again so we didn't get home till about 6:45. We pulled Elder Nelson's suit cases inside, grabbed our bags, and went out and started working. It is so weird to be on the opposite side of the spectrum! SERIOUSLY! It just boggles my mind because I feel that I will always be a greenie (someone fresh from the MTC). We went and visited Tom and his son Tom Junior. I wanted Elder Nelson to meet him. On the way we talked to several people at bus stops and it is so funny to see the look on a new missionary's face as we approach and talk to the very first person on their mission! haha I remember when I was in that exact situation. We got to Tom's and sat down in his apartment. The rain had stopped but the roads were still backed up because a lot of the sewer holes had filled and popped open and were flooding the streets. As we were sitting in Tom's apartment all of a sudden his roof began to leak and water was flushing out of his light fixture in the ceiling. His idea was to climb up on top of the apartment complex and see what was going on. So we did... As we got up there, there was an incredible lighting storm way off in the distance to the east and we just watched it for awhile. Despite big Tom being a bit drunk he talked about how awesome God's creations are and how small we really are compared to other things such as a lightning storm. Little Tom was terrified to be up so high but he seemed to grab on to my arm as we watched and he thought it was cool, but he wanted nothing to do with standing on top of a three story apartment building :/. As we stood up there, I requested we say a prayer as we were humbled by such a neat experience. Big Tom said the prayer as he held his son in his arms. It was awesome. As we climbed back down to the apartment, we knelt down because Tom Junior now wanted to say a prayer. In his prayer he asked that Heavenly Father would help him overcome his fear of heights. It was so cool to hear him ask for help and show his thanks for other things! Little Tom seems to have grown closer to me in recent visits and he's gotten a lot deeper in his questions. Mind you, he's nine years old and he asked me this: "Remember you saying that you are protected by Heavenly Father as a missionary? And even if people tried to get you, you would be protected? I want that." I told him that he can have that. It comes after he is baptized and receives the gift of the Holy Ghost. He thought that was pretty cool and he was more receptive to baptism than ever before. We ended up committing them to be baptized on October 16th but I have a feeling that it's going to be pushed back a few weeks because Little Tom's mom isn't very happy about it. Also, they need to be interviewed and taught the actual lessons. Big Tom told us that it's not a matter of IF for him, it's a matter of when but he wants to do it with his son. He says that he'll be able to stop drinking whenever he needs to as well... I hope he's right! As we left Little Tom wanted to say another prayer and he prayed that his dad would be able to be helped to stop drinking from Heavenly Father. It was a very cool experience! A good one for Elder Nelson to have on his first night!
It's been hard for me to decide what spiritual topic to talk about that has hit me this week. One could be the need to be happy. Another, the impact of the adversary upon people who are striving to come closer to the truth. I just read a quote by Heber C. Kimball; "The nearer a person approaches the Lord, the greater power will be manifest by the Adversary to prevent the accomplishment of his purpose." A few weeks ago, I told of an experience we had with the powers of the adversary and the power of the priesthood. That same guy (we'll call him John) who was having issues from that experience came to us again telling us that he's been having these negative thoughts pertaining to his past. Nothing of the magnitude of before, but that he just has a hard time removing the memories and problems from his past. He said that his father was a very terrible man, who beat him and his mother. These beatings had been going on for a very long time and one day after being beaten pretty badly, John told his dad that he wanted him to die because of how harsh he was treating him and his mother. The next day, his dad shot himself. Many people blamed the tragedy on John but he knew how bad he had been treated and that he was not the one to pull the trigger. Today, almost 40 years later, these memories of his father have become extremely vivid in his dreams and thoughts and he has no idea why. He says that there is just no way that he would be able to forgive his dad for things that he did. Well, I've never been one to give advice, AT ALL, so I had no idea what to say! I just shared with him that through fervent prayer, scripture study, and the power of the priesthood, these things can be overcome. I told them that sometimes we just have to hear ourselves say the words, "I forgive you." Through this whole conversation he was in tears and told us that he had never told anybody this before. We ended by giving him a priesthood blessing. As we left, the intensity of the meeting had become relieved, and the powers of heaven had been conjured and we let him know that through his faith, that the will of the Lord would be accomplished. I think he felt a little better...
Well, that's about it for this week! I hope all is going well for you back home. I love ya'll so much! Stay righteous and safe!
Love,
Elder Colton Matthew Mouritsen
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