January 18-24, 2011: Alma the Younger & other conversions

Well hey!

A little insight on all our investigators/recent converts:

Timothy: Big, BIG guy. Baptized on November 27th. Doing really well and loves to share the gospel. He always has something to share in elders quorum regarding a way that he is building his testimony and/or sharing the gospel with others.

Erika: Smart, witty, outgoing girl. Baptized on November 20th. We had a new member lesson with her on Sunday and she told us about how she is a nanny for this family in Scottsdale. She showed us a picture of the family and then went on to tell us the guy's name is Eric Chavez, and that he used to play for the Oakland A's. ERIC CHAVEZ!?!? You gotta be kidding me!! He's the third basemen I would always choose for my fantasy drafts when I would play Xbox! He's legit! She told me she would do all that she can to get him to sign a baseball for me, or maybe a tie or something haha. He has a mini baseball field in his backyard for his kids to play on.

Tiffany Schmidt: SOLID! Single mother of a young daughter. Baptized on December 4th. She's already been to the temple and done baptisms for the dead and her daughter has received a baby blessing. She's very excited to meet a worthy priesthood holder and get sealed in the temple.

Stefania: Baptized December 25th. Ward photographer.

Dustin: Baptized December 25th. Fuels air crafts in the army. He told us about a ship he fueled once that cost over $100,000 to fill up! That's a lot of gas!

Will Wight: Grown up a Jehovah's Witness his entire life but has had friends who are Mormon. Met a girl in our singles ward and have now been dating about a year. He wanted to get baptized awhile ago but wasn't 18 yet and his mom would not allow it. He had his first Christmas this year, spent with his girlfriend’s family (because Jehovah Witnesses don't celebrate holidays) and then was baptized on January 22. He can't wait to receive the Priesthood and go on a mission.

Those are the recent converts. We have several that are very close to baptism. Ken Law was hoping to be baptized next week but has not been able to give up the cigarettes. He tries every once in awhile but he just can't get over that 72 hour hump. He gets so angry and unpleasant so he is now shooting for February 12th and has bought himself a nicotine patch to try to release some of the effects of quitting. He's solid and has lived a very tough life. We've been able to watch him to go from a depressed, uncaring, unfaithful druggie, to a happy, loving, outgoing, hard working saint. He shared with us that his mom is a less active member of the church living in Wisconsin and that each of his brothers have been killed in various ways. His mom is so heartbroken, that she told him that if he was ever killed that she would kill herself. Ken got so depressed at one point that he wanted to end his life, but felt that his mom has taken that option away from him because of that promise she gave him, of taking her own life. Since then, a new light has entered his life and he has begun to fall in love with the gospel and the happiness it brings. It's truly the most fulfilling feeling, seeing somebody's life change because of our Savior and the gospel. We are teaching these twin girls named Vanessa and Dominique. They are... NUTS! haha so much energy! Last week we had a lesson with Vanessa, the crazier of the two. She is so funny and is actually quite smart but I have the feeling there is something that keeps her from being able to focus very well. We took a girl from our ward over there named Amy Huff and she was so good with them. We had a very simple, yet spiritual lesson focusing on our Savior and what he's done for us.

There are a few others we are teaching but at the moment we are struggling to find people who fit the category of a young single adult. We are pushing the members very hard to try to prepare their friends to learn more because it's really hard for us! Preach My Gospel says that anybody who has ever been on a mission knows that there is a better way to perform missionary work than just tracting, and that way is through the members!

We did have an unbelievable experience this week. We have an awesome Stake President who has an awesome family. One of his sons has gone off the deep end for about 6 years though and the family has tried to help him out of his misery numerous times. I will call his name Jeff. Several years ago Jeff broke his leg pretty badly and was given some pretty powerful pain killers. After several refills of the pill, his brain started to make him think that he was still hurting when he had no pain at all. By the fourth refill, his doctor told him no more because he knew there was no reason he should need them. By now Jeff was addicted and couldn't help himself but to make weekly drives to California and buy pain killers by the thousands. This addiction went on for many years. He also was caught in a bad relationship with a girl while he was away at college and began drinking and smoking as well. He tried to get help from rehab centers but the craving began to be so bad that he would have friends bring him drugs, while he was there. Finally, he would just run away. He ended up fleeing back to his parents and told them that he wanted to take a semester or so up at BYU. They were extremely pleased by this and thought that this decision would help him to get back on track. Not at all. He hated BYU, hated going to church, still was involved in many wrong things, ended up homeless in Utah, bummed a couple hundred bucks and a ride off some friends to Las Vegas, went to a dentist in Vegas complaining of a tooth ache where he was prescribed pain killers, went to a casino, got drunk, and burned all of his money gambling. He now felt the misery, pain, and sorrow he was bringing himself. He would cry himself to sleep nightly, trying to find some help. He found himself back in Phoenix where he came and visited our singles ward. He still was taking pain killers though and couldn't get himself off them. Saturday, January 15th, he went over to one of our Bishopric member’s homes for a potluck before the ward was going to go to the temple. While there he looked across the room at a guy named Michael Jacobsen. Now, Michael is slightly mentally handicapped but hasn't been that way his whole life. I guess Michael was in the Navy and was brutally abused by some other people there, leaving him the way that he is today. When Jeff saw Michael, he said that Michael was beaming with light that hadn't been there before. Jeff went up and asked him what was going on and why he was beaming so much. Michael responded, "I've finally been able to forgive those people who abused me so badly and caused me to become the way that I am." Jeff said that it was as if the entire world had just stopped and a load of bricks fell on top of him. For some reason he realized that finding God in His life was the only way to get himself out from all the misery and sorrow. He ended up going to the temple with the ward, but not inside of course. The next couple days he said that it was as if he had no energy. He couldn't even bring himself to his knees to say a prayer or read his scriptures. He just slept, not able to get up, for around 24 hours. Does this sound like anybody familiar? The next day we got a call from him. He asked us if there were any appointments he could come with us to. Surprised, we answered that there were. He is pretty much now in our companionship, calls us daily, comes street contacting, sets up his own appointments and finds us new investigators. He street contacted a guy last week who was a street sign holder dressed up in a statue of liberty costume and has now taught him by himself and prepared him to learn more about the Book of Mormon from us. There was something very powerful about this experience that has touched me very much. As he was relating this experience to us while we sat in his car, we told him that his entire story was in the Book of Mormon. We read with him Mosiah 27, and Alma 26. The story of Alma the Younger's conversion. Tears came down his face as we read. It was unbelievable the correlation! Going about destroying the church, gall of bitterness, sorrow, misery, angel-Michael Jacobsen, dumb for three days-asleep for 24 hours, immediate desire to share the gospel. Wow. He is now preparing himself to serve a mission. It will be awesome to attend if I am still here in this stake when that comes around. He is 23 years old.

We also had a zone conference this week that was great. The focus of course was finding the Lord's will in our planning and in all that we do. A very good "skill" to have in all of life I believe.

I'm grateful for you and the experiences we've shared together. Dad, I hope that when I return we can make some more trips up into the Wind Rivers or the Uintahs and relive those experiences we shared back in scouts. I had my first couple run-ins with scorpions this week. They are scary little things. We had to clean off our porch and one was hiding underneath the stuff that was being stored out there. You girls would love them! Maybe I'll send one home in one of my next packages... Be afraid. :)

I love you.

Elder Mouritsen