Hey family!Well we've had a pretty awesome week. Tuesday was zone conference and President and Sister Beck gave their "departing testimonies" to the mission. President also authorized us to give Sister Beck a final hug before they leave. I was extremely surprised at how hard it was. Despite the fact that I don't see or talk to them very frequently, I feel that they have left an imprint on my life that I'll never forget. I cried for the first time in a long time when we had to say goodbye. I will see them again this Tuesday for Zone Leader council though so that should be good. President Taylor arrives on the 29th and then the Becks are gone on the 30th. I can't believe it's already here. I thought this day would never come! It's weird to think that I just spent more time with President Beck than I will be able to spend with President Taylor! I feel like I didn't really get to know him as much as I would have liked! President Beck is an unbelievable man and has moved mountains (figuratively speaking) in this mission. Apparently when he got here the mission took a survey on Preach My Gospel and obedience. At that point, only 5% of the mission was waking up on time on a daily basis. Now the mission is up to 93% that wakes up on time. Obviously the promise from our Heavenly Father that tells us that blessings are only given when we are obedient is true, because the number of baptisms has increased hyperbolically. (That's a President Beck word...in the previous Zone Leader Council he said the word kibitzing as well...you can google it)
This week has been extremely warm! Wednesday-Sunday it was 110 degrees plus as a high. You probably already know that too because of the internet haha. It's different when you feel it though. I feel so lucky to have an air-conditioned truck to drive in when last summer I had a bike. I can't believe that June is already almost gone because last June felt extremely long. At Zone Conference I got to see Elder Cichy and it was really cool to talk all about our transfers together. We had a good run, just as Kennington and I did (nope I will not call him Lake, that is tooooo weird haha). It's already really weird when ward members call him that because they've talked to him on Facebook. Anyway, it was cool to see Elder Cichy.
Last Sunday a kid named Ryan Reardon came to church with one of his less active friends. He's awesome! He told us that he is sick of doing drugs, sick of having sunken cheeks, and wants to change his life. He also told us that he believes what the Mormons believe. It's amazing how the Lord prepares some people. Some of them have positive experiences that bring them into the fold. Others have some of the hardest, refiner's fire type of lives which still prepare them and get them to the same place. He is one of those that has been through a lot! He's very sincere and excited to change his life though. We had a lesson with him on Friday and committed him for baptism for July 30th. The funny thing is that he thought we said June 30th and after the lesson he was talking to his member friend and he was like, "dude, the 30th is like five days away. Do you really think that I can be ready by then?" We laughed about that and said that with how fast he is progressing he probably could! But we still have a lot to teach him so we will work till the middle of July at least. The addictions he's breaking might take some time as well. I've been praying and praying that we would be able to have at least one baptism a month. Just one a month! And it seems that line upon line, precept upon precept the Lord answers that prayer. Our teaching pool is dwindling despite the fact that we have been hitting the pavement like crazy looking for people to teach. When we work, it seems like that is the time that they fall right into our lap. It's worth it though. Knocking on doors is where a lot of the journal entries and crazy stories come from. :)
There has been a missionary companionship that has been struggling lately in our zone. One of the missionaries is a stellar, patient, well-seasoned leader while the other is totally opposite. We had a short exchange with the two of them and let them both cool off to each of us. When we got back together, I had them each talk about what they would like to change or do different to help the work move forward. The struggling missionary talked about some things that have been going on in his life that he has been dealing with. Some of the things have been very hard for him to deal with, not necessarily things that have happened on the mission. I said a silent prayer for inspiration on advice that I could give him to help out the situation. All of a sudden, the story of Dave Foote telling you (dad) to "accept the pain" during the Wasatch 100 came to mind. I related the story to him and talked about sometimes we go through these trials, but our focus just needs to be on the light at the end of the tunnel and also on the positive things that we've been through. A positive attitude can go a long way. As we "accept the pain" and move on, eventually we will become stronger as the Lord qualifies us in our specific trials. I've seen this to be true. I thought this advice would help. The next day, I got a call from this struggling missionary. He told me that he would like to talk to me separately with no other missionaries around to listen to what he was saying. He then began to tell me that the advice I gave him was hard for him to hear because it was the same thing that he had been told his entire life. He proceeded to tell me specifically the things that he was struggling with that happened back home. He said that he trusts me and that he wanted to tell me what was going on because he thought I could help him. I began to question whether or not the inspiration I thought that I had received was from God or not because of the way that it affected him. I then realized that it needed to be said because it was what was going to help him trust me. I prayed for inspiration again on what I should say. I then listened to him talk about his mission, his favorite areas, companions, converts, members, etc. I noticed a trend. He was extremely positive about certain parts of his mission, but at this point he was very negative. I tried to figure out why that was and proceeded to tell him the power of a positive attitude. For the next couple minutes I tried to help him love his mission with enthusiasm, optimism, and a focus on the positives. It's amazing how far a positive attitude can go. It's literally contagious. There are some missionaries who are just energetic and optimistic by nature and they are powerful leaders because others follow. I've done my best to be like that and I feel that it has helped me more than anything. I love this gospel, I love this work. It's all about love and being positive and because of that love I want to share it with everyone. I appreciate all that you do for me. Your prayers are definitely felt.
Last Monday my shoulder was feeling absolutely terrible. I prayed and prayed to have the pain alleviated. Wednesday night as I was getting to sleep I rolled over to sleep on my left shoulder expecting to feel pain shoot down my arm. As I did so, I felt no such thing. I feel that I have witnessed a miracle in that sense but I know that Heavenly Father will not protect me from stupidity so I am going to do my best to keep the pain down. I will let you know what we are going to do with the surgery. Sister Beck hasn't called me back but she did tell me that there is a good chance that we could just do it here and then I wouldn't have to worry about it at home. I did tell her though that if there is even a smidgen of a chance that I would have to go home for it to call it off, because there is no chance I would risk this experience for something I could do in the future. We'll see what happens though. I"ll talk to her tomorrow at ZLC.
Thanks again.
Love,
Elder Colt Mouritsen
P.S. Tell the brotherhood and their parents that I love them.
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