May 17-23, 2011: Saving lives spiritually and physically

My dearest family,

This week has been one filled with trials and tribulations yet excitement and enthusiasm. As you probably already know, Judgment Day was on Saturday. Haha. I wish I could have watched the news to see how the followers reacted when nothing happened. It is just funny to me to think how easy it was for a false prophet to be proven wrong. All that had to happen was the sun to rise on Sunday morning. Obviously the persecution and attacks the Book of Mormon, prophets, apostles, members, and Jesus Christ have had prove that the true church of God cannot be frustrated. This life/church/kingdom we live is true! If you don't know what I'm talking about, apparently the leaders name is Harold Camping and he's probably got quite mixed feelings at the moment. I can imagine him and his followers saying, "Yay the world didn't end! But... Oh no we were wrong!" haha.

Last night was a crazy night! We were contacting people on 19th ave and Northern. I was talking to people and Birch was talking to people and he ended up on one side of the street while I was on another corner. I started talking to an older man and a younger kid, named David, who both looked pretty rough and tough. David was extremely over weight and as I approached them, he began complaining of not feeling very well at all. He was moaning and groaning and then his extremities began shaking uncontrollably. I told him that he needed to sit down and get some rest. To my surprise and his dismay, his choice of sitting down was different than I expected. He sat down right on the edge of the busy, car-packed Northern ave. There was no way I could have moved him by myself because of his size and the older man was out of his mind so he wasn't doing anything. I stood in the road while he sat on the curb to try to keep the cars from coming too close and running him over. All of a sudden, he started rolling, still shaking uncontrollably but now he was unconscious. He was sprawled out in the middle of the road, now where cars could easily run his entire body over. I ran to his side, picked up his legs, and moved him as best as I could into the gutter of the road so that he wasn't poking so far out into traffic. Still, there was no way I could get him up onto the sidewalk and out of the street. I sat there, guarding him from rolling out of the gutter, feeling helpless and yelling for the old man to call 911, yet he did nothing. All of a sudden, three people ran over from behind me. Bishop Johnson, from the Country Gables ward (one of my great friends I made while serving there), his wife, and his 17 year old son Tyler. What a miracle! By this time Birch had gotten there as well and the four of us lifted David out of the gutter and onto the grass. He was still seizuring but by this time the cops had been called. Another lady, a nurse, happened to drive by and stop and she was helping him. Tyler got him situated in the position he was supposed to be in because he was having a seizure. Eventually, he snapped out of it, the cops got there, the fire department got there, and everything was good. Apparently he was a regular for the cops to find and they drove him to the hospital to get him checked out. It was an awesome experience for me because it taught me just how much the Lord is involved in our lives. What were the odds that Bishop Johnson and his family would drive by at that exact time? I don't find it coincidence at all. The Lord uses those that he can trust to be placed in situations where he knows they will excel and meet the needs of those distressed. I asked myself, "what can I do to make myself a constant instrument in the Lord's hands so he can use me to run any errand he would have me run? How can I be more trusted by the Lord and be one of his finest servants?" Well, how do we gain trust from those we associate with in life? Being honest to promises we make, being a friend, being there when we are needed, being proactive, etc. I think the same rules apply to our Heavenly Father. As we are honest in keeping our promises (covenants) that we have made with him, we can and will gain His trust. As we are proactive and "[give] ourselves to much prayer, and fasting" we will have the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation, and when we do things we can do so with power and authority from God, because He trusts us. What an eye opener this experience was! The Lord is truly in our lives more than we can see.

So we were supposed to have a baptism on Saturday. Two Saturdays ago, May 14th, we taught Lisa Wiley and she told us that she wanted to move her date from the 28th to the 21st. Cool! She was interviewed that night. Sunday, she came to church but had to leave early because of drama with friends. Monday rolled around and she got into a huge argument with her mom over other drama with friends. The argument escalated into her mom telling her that she doesn't think she is ready for baptism and that she needs to take it slower. Lisa disagreed. From there, her mom kicked her out of the house, turned her phone off, and told her she didn't want to hear from her until she changed and cooled down. So sad. Satan is doing all that he can to allow the spirit of contention to arise. As it arises, those who are involved assimilate attributes of darkness and a little bit of light is lost in them. We need to do all that we can to keep the spirit of contention from our homes! We didn't have any contact with Lisa until Saturday morning, the morning of her baptism. She said that she was going to go home the next day, and make amends with her parents. I told her that she needed to do all that she can to keep the spirit of contention down by just going right up to her mom and giving her a big hug and taking all the fault. Sunday, she did so, and things are now a little bit better. She is getting baptized this Saturday, but her mom is kicking her out as soon as she graduates. BLAH!!! So much drama! haha We obviously live in the last days and Satan is trying to do all that he can to keep as many of God's children from the kingdom as possible.

Well, those are the key learnings and special experiences for the week. A girl named Dominique is also getting baptized this Thursday. It'll be a great week! I hope you all are having a grand old time with summer coming up. I love you very much and wish you the best.

I pray for each of you daily.

Love,

Elder Colt Mouritsen