Hello!
Man!!!! I'm so excited by the news of the week! I can't tell you how happy I am for you MEGAN Leah!! I bet you are just thrilled! That is so sweet... I forgot about it until about Tuesday when all of a sudden I had like this adrenaline rush of promptings to pray that you would make the softball team. I was so happy when I heard you did! Madi, sounds like LAX is going well! Looks freezing though... I've grown fond of the heat. I probably won't be saying that come June, July, and August though.
Looks like the wedding was awesome! Wish I could've been there but we'll just say that I was vicariously through you. I still haven't seen any pictures of Andrea so be sure to send those pictures asap!
This week has been great. We had Zone Leader Council on Tuesday from 8:45 to 12:30, then Leadership Training meeting with all the DL's from 1:00 to 4:00 so that day was pretty crazy. Wednesday we had Specialized Training Meeting which was held because we finished the Book of Mormon challenge in 60 days on Monday. It was awesome. Many missionaries got up and shared insights and their testimony about the Book of Mormon. I was amazed to see just how many missionaries struggle with trials that can all be solved by the Book of Mormon. Just like President Packer said, we have no need to fear anything from this life with the knowledge that we have from the Plan of Salvation and the Book of Mormon. It's an, "Everything is going to be alright" sort of feeling. Pretty neat!
Friday we spent some time at President Morris' (2nd counselor in the mission presidency) house to work on some things we've been wanting to type up. One of them was the revised Zone Vision. I will send you a copy. It is still up for revision because after we talked to President Beck this morning he feels that it is not a good idea to have a set amount of time for tracting but that we should definitely focus more on "finding" than "contacting." We also created a new baptismal date tracking sheet. This one focuses on how the missionaries will stive to have daily contact with each investigator with a date, who their specific fellowshipper is, their plan of action to teach everything before baptism, and when the investigators interview date is. Our zone has 28 with a date right now which is more than ever I think. I looked back on the numbers sheets from January of 2010 and the zone had only 6. Not that numbers mean ANYTHING but sometimes it can help to see progression. And we have definitely progressed!
I went on exchanges with Elder Tripp (Assistant) this week and we talked a lot about being a zone leader and what not. From our exchange, I took away that I just need to not get so worked up about numbers and what not and just focus on doing my best and encouraging the missionaries to do their best. So my focus has just been on the needs of those within my stewardship. I cannot and will not make them feel like the only reason I talk to them is for numbers and want them to make me look good. That is ridiculous and I would hate any leader that made me feel in such a way. So from now on my focus is on being myself around the missionaries and showing sincere concern and optimism towards their areas. It makes me feel better as well. If misbehavior arises though, it gets corrected.
The baptism of Desiree Peregrina was phenomenal on Saturday. I absolutely love the Hettinger family and they are awesome to have invited Desiree into their home to have the lessons. I hope to be in contact with them after the mission. Desiree bore her testimony at her baptism which had people standing because there wasn't enough room for everyone to sit. She is powerful and will be an awesome member of the church.
This Wednesday we will be having a Zone Meeting and I will be speaking at it for about 20-25 minutes. I'll send you a copy of the outline. I tell a story (deer caught in a fence) that has left an impression on my mind since my youth that I think you will remember. I start off the talk with a scripture from Mosiah 4:26 though and focus mainly on the words "administering to their relief." Tiffany Schmidt, recent convert of just over three months, is also going to be speaking at Zone Meeting. She will be sharing her conversion story and also anything that she feels we need to know that helped her while she was being taught by the missionaries. I hope it goes smoothly! Also, with all the baptismal dates we have set, we will practice teaching the baptismal interview questions.
This week we've had some interesting experiences. Last week we were so pumped about Ken Law and all of a sudden this week a total change occurred. This is a prime example of Satan doing all that he can to stop us from doing a great thing, namely Ken doing baptisms for the dead. All of a sudden Ken just had this distinct impression that something was telling him that he shouldn't do baptisms. He was so stressed, so mad, so down, and it got to the point where he couldn't handle it. Long story short, he got to the temple, was about to get his temple clothes, freaked out, literally freaked out, and ran outside yelling and screaming that he doesn't feel that he should be there. He tried calling his mom, she didn't answer, he tried calling us, we didn't answer because we were at Desiree’s baptism, and by that point his fuse had reached the point of explosion and he threw his phone on the ground, smashed it into a billion pieces, said that he was never going to set foot in a church again, and was going right home to smoke and to live a fun, normal life. My heart broke when I heard the voicemail from the member who witnessed his little freak out. I seriously was nearly in tears. I would have been if it wasn't for the fact that we were having such an awesome experience at the baptism. Later that night, Ken came over to our apartment because obviously we couldn't call him. We talked for about two hours. We gave him a blessing. He related to us everything he has been through, again. This time he just expressed what is really bringing him these terrible feelings. He has been through a lot. A whole lot. He has had a close friend or family member pass away every year for the past ten years. He also feels that he is the reason that his brother is dead and that is one reason that he felt he wasn't able to do his brother’s baptism in the temple, because his brother couldn't forgive him. In reality, Ken just couldn't forgive himself, and that kept him from feeling so peaceful in the temple. Everything is going to be okay though. He came to church yesterday and we called and talked to him last night. It's all going to be alright.
I've never really realized just how important it is to forgive, especially ourselves. Obviously in this case it even kept the person from experiencing the blessings of the temple. He'll be ready soon though, I know it. He is still working on his genealogy so that he will be able to do it soon. It's going to be awesome. That's my spiritual thought for the week though! Forgiveness! Of course we won't always forget, because our Heavenly Father allows us to remember things so that we won't do them again. But, through our Savior Jesus Christ we can all be forgiven, and we can all forgive!
I love you all!
Love,
Elder Colt Mouritsen
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