April 5-11, 2011: Miracles and Mountain Dew

Hello family!

Awesome letter, Dad. I feel so inspired, yet again. Dylan's wedding sounds like it was awesome! Pictures were great. What studs! This week has been filled of miracles.

I've talked to you a little bit about Roy Kelleners. He hadn't talked to us for nearly three weeks until suddenly, last Monday night we got a random text from him. He said that he had spoken to his family about converting to the Mormon church and his dad was neutral on the decision, but his mom was a little aggravated and upset. He was very nervous to talk to us about it which is why he waited so long. I get the feeling that he was doing as much as he can to try to make his mom feel more comfortable about his decision. In the text he told us about those trials. He said he would like to meet with us though and still continue going forward. The next day, he came to the Book of Mormon class taught by Sister Schloffman. He enjoyed that and Wednesday evening we had an appointment with him. We took Tiffany with us, recent convert of five months who also had issues with her parents not being happy with her decision to get baptized. Roy told us he would like Tiffany to come to the lesson because she could help him with some of his questions regarding unsupportive family. Little did we know, Roy just has the hotts for her. (I'll get to that later). So the lesson went great. We watched a video on the D&C dvds called The Great Apostasy which is pretty much the conversion story of Wilford Woodruff. Roy identified the four key elements that were lost during the great apostasy. Then I felt that we should just go over the baptismal interview questions. We did so and the only ones he wasn't sure on was whether not Joseph Smith was a prophet, Thomas Monson was a prophet, and the whole coffee and tea thing. We addressed those concerns and set up another meeting for Friday. I was a little apprehensive as to when he should be baptized just because of how much he had been taught and still didn't know. Then it hit me, that when I was eight years old what did I know? All I knew at that age was that I had a testimony. I knew how "to control the horse" and that all the things I was taught were true. All Roy needed is a testimony and that can come through sincere prayer very quickly if one puts forth the effort. Friday came and we sat down and asked him how things went with praying about those concerns. He responded by saying, "you know, it's funny. The other day I was walking over to Subway to get a sandwich and I was pondering about all that you guys have been teaching me and the street lights began to flicker, and I felt like that was God reassuring me of the truth. Then, on my walk home, I decided to try to take a short cut to my apartment through the 'exit only' gate into the parking lot. It's one of those censored gates that only opens when a car drives up to it from the inside. Well I was on the outside, and there was no car on the inside, and when I walked up to it, it just randomly started opening for me to enter. I felt as if it was God telling me that baptism was the gate to get into His kingdom, all symbolically of course." My jaw dropped. I asked, "so Roy when do you feel you can be ready to make that step?" He replied in his awesome Dutch accent, "well, is the 16th too late?" I smiled and immediately called the district leader and set up an interview for him for Sunday right after church. Sunday came, Roy was there, the interview began, and over an hour later, Roy came running out with the baptism record waving above his head cheering with excitement. It was awesome to see once again, another person make a 180 degree flip for the better. Okay, now for the funny part. After the lesson on Wednesday, Roy offered us a drink so we went in the kitchen to grab one. Little did we know that he was trying to get us out of the room so that he could ask Tiffany out. HAHA! So awkward. Tiffany is still a little unsure about the whole dating thing because she is so new to the church and doesn't know if she can trust herself yet. So, she told him that she isn't dating. Easy enough. I knew there was a reason that we brought her over! It wasn't because he needed to ask her questions! Well...I guess it kinda was. :/

Matt Robinson, formerly Jewish, was also interviewed on Sunday. Roy and Matt will each be baptized on Saturday. What a great day!

I don't think I've told you about our crazy Wednesdays yet. We wake up, play racquetball from 6:15-7:00, study from 8:00-10:00, North District Meeting 10:30-12:30, South District Meeting from 1:00-3:00, lesson with Matt 3:00-4:00, contacting/tracting 4:30-5:30, lesson with Roy 6:15-7:45, lunch/dinner celebrated at Market Bistro where we get amazing food for free because a member owns it. They are the most fulfilling days because it feels like we pump more into several hours after district meetings than many other days. It's crazy that the past couple Wednesdays have all been busy like that.

You asked about Ken Law? He's doing alright. Comes to church regularly and comes out with us on exchanges when he can. He is busy working and going to school almost all the time. He's going to MMI, a motorcycle mechanic school. He wants to become a teacher at the school so that they will pay for his student loans.

My favorite people are recent converts. They are awesome! We get texted daily, questions that they have and concerns they develop from their deep studies. This week Tiffany asked, "In D&C 137, why is it that Joseph Smith saw Alivin in the Celestial Kingdom if Alvin hadn't been baptized? I thought baptism was essential for everyone." She stumped me. So I went to work trying to figure it out. I found out that that vision was in the year 1836, and Joseph Smith hadn't yet received the entire revelation to perform baptisms for the dead until 1841. And visions, generally speaking, are of future events are they not? So Joseph Smith was just told by God that he didn't need to worry because as soon as Alvin's work was going to be done for him, he would accept it and go to the Celestial Kingdom. I also learned that Joseph Smith was told about baptisms for the dead ever since the first time that Moroni visited him but he never fully understood the principle until it was revealed to him in 1841. Before the temple was built, they performed them in the Mississippi river too. Crazy!?! I love this church. I love how it is true. I love how when questions are asked, they can always be answered and instead of coming away from it feeling down, my testimony is always strengthened.

We had another crazy experience this week where we were witnesses to a class 1 felony. Thursday we tracted in to a kid who told us that we could come back and teach him about the gospel. When we went back, we found one of his friends sitting out on the stairs looking very depressed, and another one over by a fence talking on the phone. We talked to the girl on the stairs and asked what was going on and she said that the night before someone had climbed through their window and stolen a whole bunch of their stuff including a 32" flat screen TV, an Xbox 360, a Playstation 3, two laptops and a 32 pack of Mountain Dew. Who the heck steals Mountain Dew?! The whole lot added up to around $3,000. They found shoe prints and what not inside and thought that it was a kid who lived on the other side of their apartment building. They called the cops, who came and tried to knock on the suspicious kid's door, but he didn't answer. Then, after the cops left, the kids who got their stuff stolen went and knocked on his door and he answered. They talked to him and he said he knew nothing about their stuff. We got there and realized that the kid they thought stole the stuff was a less active member’s son. Long story short, he finally came out and talked to them. He decided to let them go search his apartment. They found all the stuff hidden all over the place. He was so high on weed that he didn't know what was going on. They called the cops again even though they got all their stuff back, but luckily they didn't press charges. We tried to get them to drop it because it wasn't like any of the stuff was broken or anything. The kid was extremely lucky that he got off because he could have spent numerous years in jail. The one thing he hadn't given back was the Mountain Dew. We were talking to him about giving it back because we didn't want a fight to start up all because of some soda now that everything else was given back. He responded to us by saying, "No way man, I at least get SOMETHING out of this." WHAT?! You crazy idiot. You stole their stuff and you want something out of it? They didn't press charges, that should be something enough! Haha They got their Dew back and the issue was solved.

That is so funny that Debra was told about that experience (getting punched twice). I wonder who the missionaries were that she spoke to?! I haven't told that many people about that... If she lives in Glendale though I know a lot of the missionaries there and there's a good chance it was one of them.

Well, another week gone and another unknown to come. We'll see what this one brings.

I love you all very much. I have not yet received the package but there is a good chance it is here today. Mail doesn't come till around three o'clock.

Love,

Elder Colton Mouritsen