July 19-26, 2011: Abinidi and Back to the Basics

Family!

Sorry the email is on Tuesday this week! I bet you have many questions. With transfers being this week and President Taylor having received different direction from the brethren, p-day was changed to Tuesday so that the transfer process would be back to two days. Apparently the brethren want the incoming missionaries to stay the night in the mission home. President Beck got rid of that the first transfer after I got in. Now it is back. That means that there are missionaries coming from the MTC RIGHT NOW that will be in the mission home tonight. I feel like I was just there. Transfer news this morning: I am staying in the stake once again! I'm very happy. This means that I will kill Birch off because he goes home in the September transfer. By "kill off" I mean that he will go home and die from being a missionary while we are companions. Elder Choules is getting transferred along with Elder Fagersten and Sister Briggs. I was pretty let down when I heard Sister Briggs was going because she is a stellar sister who has done great things in her area. Her companion has also been here three months longer than she was. There is also a possibility that we will be getting another district in our zone. That is another thing that the brethren have instructed the mission presidents to do: There needs to be 3+ districts in each zone. We will see tomorrow.

Mom, you would be proud of me. This Sunday a missionary in the Country Gables and Campobello wards put on a missionary concert. Our district sang “Called to Serve” to open the meeting. It was well attended by those two wards and it was so awesome to be able to see all of those members again. Elder Birch and I got a lot of dinner appointments out of it because they don't like their missionaries as much... :/ haha well one of them. Anyway, we've been practicing this number and the last part of the song was split up into 3 parts so that one person sang soprano, one alto, and one tenor. I consider myself extremely tone deaf still so I had to sing the soprano part because it was pretty much just the melody. It sounded good though and the missionary also got permission to do an audio recording of the performance and CD's will be given out next week. I will be sure to send you a copy. You will probably think it is the weirdest thing ever, because it kinda was. Haha. Except for the first song of course...

We had a very unique experience this week with a very unique person. On Tuesday we got a call from the Glendale zone leaders saying they had a referral for us. Her name is Christina and she demanded to meet with us asap. We quickly figured out that she is legitimately crazy. She's severely bi-polar, has 45 decible hearing loss, used to be taught by the ASL missionaries but didn't like it. Right now she is in an assisted living center because she was badly abused, but she is extremely smart. She read the gospel principles manual in three days and pretty much taught herself about the church. She said that she wants to be baptized asap. We told her that we would just need to teach her and make sure that she is ready to make such a commitment. We asked her about the word of wisdom, tithing, the law of chastity, and what it means to keep the sabbath day holy. She pretty much taught us. She knew everything already. I thought something was really fishy and we didn't know the whole story. Regardless, she came to a baptism in the zone on Saturday and was interviewed right after. We just wanted to see if she could really pass and if she was ready for baptism. She passed. I still wasn't convinced though. She calls us almost everyday and sends us random crazy text messages all the time. Sunday she came to church. Monday she walked (or says she did) to our FHE activity which was like 7 miles from her house and we talked to her about how we felt about her getting baptized. People had been coming up to us non-stop saying that they don't think she is ready because of things she has been telling them. She wasn't too happy with us but by the end of the night she was convinced that it was probably good that she wait a couple weeks and see which ward she would do the best in. We just didn't want somebody to make the baptismal covenant with God and then not be able to keep it. I would feel as if it were on my shoulders at that point. She is still excited though.

We've had some struggles this week with some missionaries tainting their investigators’ views towards the YSA ward when the investigator has consistently told them, and us, and other missionaries they want to be in the YSA. It has been quite ridiculous and it's an experience that I will have to tell you after the mission. I recorded it in the ol' journal so I wouldn't forget the details. It's so stupid though...

I love our stake president, President Hettinger! We had our monthly stake coordination meeting with him this past Sunday. He's so legit! We talked all about the missionary work and the numbers and what not. He pretty much just does anything that we tell him would work with the wards, bishops, and ward mission leaders. It's nice to know that he trusts us. Our numbers have been very odd. Baptisms have been on the rise compared to last year. But the other key indicators have been slowly decreasing. I have wondered about this for awhile and the only conclusion I can come to is that we are becoming more efficient. We are constantly striving to find the elect instead of those who aren't really interested in changing their lives and coming closer to Christ. We are called here to baptize, and baptize we will. By the end of this month in our zone we will have a record on the year which is 14. It's awesome!

For some reason I have been thinking a lot about the man Abinadi in the book of Mosiah this week. I can't believe that I have been on my mission for almost 15 months. It causes me to reflect back on the past year and a quarter to see what I have done. What have I done? How did I spend my time? Am I changed? Was I an instrument in the Lord's hands? Did I really make a difference? What can I do more in the future? The reason I think of Abinadi is because sometimes in life we feel as if we don't put a "dent" in tasks or positions we are put in. Sometimes we feel like we don't make a difference. Look at Abinadi, he dedicated his entire life to preaching the gospel. It doesn't say in the scriptures that he was an old man, even though we depict him to be so, but we can imagine that it was a lot of years that he put in to inviting others to come unto Christ. In all those years, we only hear of one convert. And did Abinadi even know that he converted him? We don't know. But I can imagine that Abinadi had some of those same feelings. Did I really make a difference with my calling? Am I adequate for this job? Look at his fruits: Alma, the Waters of Mormon 1st Ward, thousands of converts, etc. I hope we can all learn from Abinadi's persistence and determination.

In our Zone Meeting this week I spoke about getting back to the basics of missionary work. I read the story of Glenn Cunningham, who ran a mile in 4 min 9 secs after being burned severely in a fire. It's a good story. I will send you my talk (see below) so that I don't have to re-type everything (we have a zone activity 12 minutes ago haha).

I love you all very much! Sorry to send the email on Tuesday...Just had to be obedient. I hope you have an awesome week! Keep being so stellar.

Love,

Elder Colt Mouritsen

Here is Colton’s Zone Conference Talk from 7/22/11:

Back to the Basics – July 22, 2011, by Elder Colton Mouritsen

Introduction: The story of Glenn Cunningham. In February of 1916, Cunningham and his older brother Floyd were badly burned in an accidental fire in their schoolhouse. Floyd died from the burns, and doctors thought that Cunningham's legs were so badly burned that they would have to be amputated. However, he eventually recovered after a long battle. Cunningham regained his strength by running. By the time he was 12, he had beaten all the local high school runners. His legs remained deeply scarred, however. Throughout his life, he would have to massage them and spend time doing long warm-up exercises in order to maintain circulation. In addition, his injuries meant that he could never run smoothly or efficiently; he compensated with endurance and strength. Cunningham attended the University of Kansas, where he ran for the track team and won his first big race, the 1932 NCAA 1500 meters. That summer, he was selected for the U.S. Olympic track team. At the 1932 Olympics, held in Los Angeles, he came in fourth in the 1500 meter race.
In 1933, Cunningham graduated from the University with the highest academic record in his class. That same year, he won the AAU 800 meters with a time of 1:51.8, as well as the 1500 meters with a time of 3:52.3. In addition he won the NCAA mile for the second time, with a time of 4:9.8.
Glen had his share of trials. He struggled, he probably doubted and got down on himself frequently. As missionaries, sometimes we struggle, sometimes we feel like our entire teaching pool gets burned down, sometimes we even feel burned out, but we can't let that effect the way we want to feel at the end of each day we go out and work. We can't let minor choices to not do the Lord's will effect the way we will feel at the end of two years (or 18 months). Persistence, determination, and getting back to the basics of missionary work we will be able to get back on track and feel good as we go to the Lord in prayer each night to recount to Him what we did during the day. We can see our own missions like a mile race. To some, it is short. Others, long. Some have just a short distance left, others far. Some are well prepared before hand, while others are recently converted. Some of us are competitive, some not so much. But each of us puts one foot in front of the other and moves along just like everyone else. In that we are all equal. We all know the basics to running a race. But what are the basics to missionary service?

What is a “basic truth” of missionary work you have learned that has stuck with you your entire mission?
· Follow the Spirit.
· Obedience
· Hard work
· Use the Book of Mormon
· Teach Doctrine
· Find the Lord's will in all that we do
· Involve the members
· Live our purpose
· Relationship with God
· Relationship with our Companion and other missionaries
· Relationship with Investigators and Members
· Relationship with ourselves

I've noticed from the past couple months that we often times lose focus and forget what we have already been taught. For example, the focus of the month of January was “Finding the Lord's Will in our Planning and all that we do.” February, was “Finding the Elect.” During those months we found new investigators like crazy! March was focused on Improving Member Involvement. April was on Sacrament Meeting Attendance. May was Extending and Securing Baptismal Dates. June, Asking Inspired Questions. July, My Purpose – The Doctrines of Christ. Each month we went to a new focus it was as if we forgot about the previous one. I hope we will not forget what we have been taught and remember those focuses each and every day. There is a reason we are now focusing on My Purpose – The Doctrine of Christ. It is because it is the basic, pure gospel of Jesus Christ that we are to teach. President Dieter F. Uchtorf said, “Brothers and sisters, let us be wise. Let us turn to the pure doctrinal waters of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Let us joyfully partake of them in their simplicity and plainness. The heavens are open again. The gospel of Jesus Christ is on the earth once more, and its simple truths are a plentiful source of joy!...Strength comes not from frantic activity but from being settled on a firm foundation of truth and light. It comes from placing our attention and efforts on the basics of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. It comes from paying attention to the divine things that matter most.”

Testimony.

July 12-18, 2011: The Feeling Is Enough

Howdy family:

That's great news about Whitney! Tell her congratulations for me! The girls camp sounds like it was a huge success! Madison, I love the song you wrote. The only problem is that I don't know the tune. I, and the other elders that I live with, have been singing the lyrics to the tune of hymns like "Praise to the Man." It's hilarious! It makes it fun though. You should try to send the tune sometime. I don't know how but just find a way haha. My shoulder is doing pretty well. Sister Taylor hasn't gotten back to me yet though. I'll be sure to keep you in the loop.

We had a great week across the Phoenix North Zone this week! Six people were baptized during the week and five more are scheduled for this week. It's awesome how real blessings can be as long as we are obedient and hard working. Some of the members of our ward are finally catching the vision on praying for missionary opportunities and then not passing them up when they come! Heather Dewar brought a friend from her work to church and in the very first lesson we had with her she committed to baptism! It's awesome! The only concern is that she lives with her boyfriend and his mom because the rest of her family has sent her away. She is solid though. Her name is Adriana Montoya. I shared with her an experience that we had this week while tracting. I will share it with you:

Friday we went to knock some doors on 33rd and Greenway. I knocked on a door and immediately it was opened by an older gentleman with Levi shorts hiked up above his bellybutton. He was also shirtless with fat, saggy, pectorals that made me chuckle when I saw him. He had dark eyes, white/grey wavy hair and he invited us in as soon as we told him we were missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. That doesn't happen much but I thought it could be a good opportunity to teach him and give him a Book of Mormon. Right when I stepped in I noticed that the feeling there was not conducive to the spirit. Something wrong, yet powerful was present there. I thought it was Satan trying to get us to leave so we kept going with it. We sat down on his couch, and he pulled up a chair right in front of us. We began talking while my eyes wandered around the dark and muggy smelling room. I looked down the hall to my left into the bedroom and saw a woman on the floor with her feet up on the bed and it looked like she was sleeping. Yes it was very eerie. The man was rattling off story after story and wouldn't really let us get a word in. He spoke about the war, driving trucks, his friends and more. Then he began talking about the power of God and the power of Satan. As soon as he mentioned the word "Satan" a cold chill ran down my spine and I knew there was something wrong with this man and the room. His face was eerie, especially with the lack of light in the room. His teeth were jagged and yellow and his eyes were dark and perplexed. As much as we tried, we couldn't really say anything. I found some correlations between him and some other people I've come into contact with that were possessed with demons. It was not a good feeling and I wanted out. Finally, I interrupted him loudly by stating our purpose as missionaries. I asked him if he is willing to come closer to Jesus Christ. He bounced around the question and never really answered. We stood up, said "well then we have to be going, there is no use for us here." He shook our hands but followed us out the door and walked with us to the next doors we were going to knock. Now HE wouldn't leave! He was crazy. We told him we needed to go and finally he walked away. Still feeling very sick from being near him and inside his apartment, we went and knocked a few more doors. One of the next doors I knocked, I saw a short, cute, old man with large flip-up sunglasses on. It was weird, when I looked at his face I immediately felt the spirit and I said, "You are a member!" I then looked down into his hand and he was holding the Liahona magazine! He was a member! He noticed that I was a missionary and he invited us both in. He did not speak English at all, but we found out through some papers and pictures that he is a convert from Bogota, Colombia. He is 87 years old, and he attends the Monte Vista Spanish ward in our stake. As we looked around the room, I noticed that this time it was nicely lit, there were pictures of his family and missionary grandsons. There were pictures of temples and it was very clean. We didn't even need to speak a word to each other (because we couldn't) but I knew that it was a righteous place all because of the feeling that I had. I felt like it was home. Once again, this taught me that "the feeling is enough." Words don't even need to be said to feel the polar opposite difference of the power of Satan, and the power of God. It was an amazing experience.

Other than that nothing to big has happened this week! Dad I hope you have a happy birthday! Love you! Please have a great week. I will talk to you next week.

Love,

Elder Colt Mouritsen

July 5-11, 2011: Sacrifice and Meeting with President Taylor

Hello!

Phenomenal letter! I love all the updates on everyone and everything, except for the injuries to Ethan and Elder Ashcroft. Hopefully they will be ok. By the way, I called Sister Taylor this week and told her to try and schedule surgery for my shoulder. It's been a bother again and I've just tried to "accept the pain" but it's just too much sometimes. I told her that if there was even an option of going home for the surgery I wouldn't do it. She called the mission doctor and he said that if it is what he thinks it is, that I would be out of commission for two weeks and in a brace for eight weeks. Hopefully that's not the case and I'll just be able to get it done and go do work immediately following.

So I heard the sand storm made national news?! That's sweet! I'm somewhere in that footage... I gotta be. We were finishing up our Book of Mormon class at the church and then we were meeting with our Ward Mission Leader when the brunt of the storm hit. We watched it from the inside of the church but it was crazy because we could barely even see the houses on the other side of the street. The elders we live with were riding home in it and said that it was tough to breathe deeply. One of those cool things though! Poor us though, it was hard on our truck because the following morning was vehicle inspections... :) We still got it clean and passed with flying colors.

Our interviews with President Taylor were so different, yet awesome. President Taylor is super soft-spoken, intelligent, not so intense, and chill. He and Sister Taylor had to ask us what the deal was when we would stand up and button up our suits anytime we were wearing them. President Beck trained us well on deportment and demeanor. President Taylor’s shoes weren't even shined. HAHA! My first interview with him consisted of three questions; "What are some things you are working on? What are a few strengths? What would you like your mission president to help you with?" He listened very intently, gave some advice, and we were done. All of about 2 and a half minutes. While he was doing interviews, the rest of the missionaries were signing the mission flag, writing a thank you note to the Becks, signing a square for a "Phoenix Temple" quilt Sister Taylor is making, and doing some other surveys. There was no agenda or anything. No skills training, just all about being personable with each other and getting to know each other. The chairs were also set up in a circle so that nobody was above anyone. President Beck was all about the leadership sitting up in front of the rest of the zone and President Taylor is all about people being equal. It's so awesome! He is going to be great. He is still learning as are the rest of us. For example, I interviewed a young lady for baptism on Saturday and I had no idea how to deal with her concern. She had a powerful testimony about most everything and then we got to the word of wisdom. She is extremely sickly and her doctor has prescribed her to drink 8 ounces of coffee every two days to keep her food down. She explained that the reason for it is because her stomach acid is so strong that if she doesn't drink it then the acid will deteriorate her stomach lining. Also, it causes her to regurgitate all of the food and drink she consumes. She told me that she was born with this condition and ever since she was a little baby her mom had to put a spoon full of coffee into her bottles to keep her food down. Yeah, I had no idea how to deal with it. I called President Taylor, no answer. I called President Morris, no answer. I told her that we were going to have to wait for their response and then I would let her missionaries know the verdict. President Taylor had no idea haha and he shot an email off to his leader-guy (don't know the term) in Salt Lake but didn't think he would get a response for a few days. Well her baptism was coming up and she needed an immediate answer which is why I called President Morris. P. Morris is a 72 year old man who has served in the mission presidency for nearly 7 years and was a stake president prior to that. In all those years, he's never in his life heard of such a thing. He told me though that since she talked to her Bishop and he was okay with it because it was prescribed by her doctor, and that it is not any different than medically prescribed marijuana, she should pass. So, long story short, she passed! The zone will be having six baptisms this week which is awesome because we've been lacking the past couple.

Funny story. We were street contacting on 19th ave and Northern one day (seems to be where all the good stories go down) and Elder Birch was talking to a lady which took him to the other side of the street. I was doing what I could to stay in the shade of a street sign and I must have been striking quite the pose because as the light went green, a man on a motorcycle looked over at me and yelled at the top of his lungs, "HEY LOOK IT'S THE GUY OFF THE GQ MAGAZINE!!" He then tried to get going but popped the clutch on his bike and stalled right in the middle of the intersection!! Haha I couldn't stop laughing! He felt so stupid and rode past me without looking. We both laughed for a good long while after.

I bought a big picture of the Anti-Nephi-Lehies from lds.org and then wrote some things on it. I think we could all do well to think about what things we could sacrifice that are taking us further away from promptings, our family, our GOOD friends, our lives, and over all, our Savior. What is it that we need to hide up? As we remember the covenants we have made whether it be at baptism or in the temple, there is always something we can do to change to become stronger and more in line with the teachings of the gospel. Kyler sent me a letter recently and he said that his Zone Leaders committed each missionary to sacrifice one thing that could help them to feel the spirit more abundantly. Of course, he had nothing significant to sacrifice because he is such a stellar missionary. Anyway, I love the story of the Anti-Nephi-Lehies and it reminds me of the LARP-ing experience (life action role play) at youth conference. Of course, I was on the Lamanite side and beheaded all of the Anti-Nephi-Lehies but it still left somewhat of an impression... ehemm... haha

Well I hope that you all have a super week! Sorry this email is so non-exciting. Have a great summer and always be safe!

Love you.

Elder Colt Mouritsen

June 28 - July 4, 2011: A New President and A Massive Rock

Happy Fourth of July!

Things are great. My shoulder is a miracle. I've been able to do push ups, sit ups, racquetball, and deathball. Basketball is a little iffy though but if anything comes of it I will be talking to Sister Taylor and seeing about having the surgery done here. I have talked to the new mission president twice now. He is legit! We were on exchanges with the assistants on Friday and they were telling us about how they went tracting with him his first day here. Apparently he is just all about being personable and loving everyone. That was made apparent in his phone calls with us. To be honest, I would say he is quite opposite of President Beck. Think about this, a normal meeting with President Beck had a strict agenda with meaningful trainings for every fifteen minutes. President Taylor told us about the interviews meeting we would be having this Wednesday: Arrive at eight, President and Sister Taylor would introduce themselves. Each missionary would say three things about themselves, the district leaders would say one thing about each of their missionaries, and the zone leaders would say one thing about each missionary. Then, he would begin interviewing and all the missionaries would chat with Sister Taylor and their 16 year old son Braden. Then it would be over with a spiritual thought and a prayer. Haha when I heard about that I was just like, "man this is going to be different but awesome!" Can you imagine up and leaving your high school to follow your parents on their mission like their son Braden is doing? It's funny because it's a lot more chill in the mission home. Apparently they have "family Saturdays" where they don't even where a white shirt and tie. We know this because some missionaries in our zone saw them while they were visiting the Mesa temple visitors center. The missionaries didn't even recognize who they were because President and Sister Taylor didn't even have their name tags on. You can imagine how embarrassing that was fort them when Sister Taylor had to tell them that they were their new mission president and his wife.

Yes it is awesome to be able to see Elder Cichy. After he left Phoenix North, he went down to South Phoenix, then up to Peoria, now he is back in one of the wards he had down in South Phoenix. It just so happened that he is the missionary who received the referral from Daniel Bigelow. He is going to keep me updated on her progress.
We had our final Zone Leader Council with President Beck on Tuesday this week. I thought it would be different from all the others just because it was two days before President Beck was leaving. I was wrong. It was just as if it were a year ago. He did not skip a beat. I got a final picture of me, him, and Sister Beck that I will have to send next week because I forgot my camera. As he walked away from us down the hallway for the last time I was half expecting to witness the translation of a human being. He is an amazing man. The day after he got home, he baptized his best friend that he met with one time while serving as mission president. During that one visit, he committed his friend to baptism and set a date for July 1st so that he could be there. He has been an exceptional example of obedience and service to me and the rest of the several hundred missionaries in the APM.

It's been a hot one this week as you probably know from your msn home page. We spent a lot of time tracting and street contacting this week and it has been super hard to find any investigators. Our normal "goldmine" apartment complexes are dead because all the YSA age people are gone home for the summer or are somewhere off on vacation. It's tough but we are striving to find the elect. Even those investigators we have been teaching are gone for a couple weeks so our time is very over run with being out in the sun finding. Roy Kelleners, the convert from Holland I have talked about a lot, has been on a road trip through New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, Montana and over to Iowa. We got a text from him saying that he is going to do all that he can to find a temple to visit and do baptisms in while on his trip. That was so cool to hear. I've never seen such a change in someone who had no idea about the gospel before we knocked on his door.

Yesterday in our fast and testimony meeting it was extremely sparse. Usually the pulpit has a line of 4-5 people waiting to share their testimony which I think is awesome! Yesterday was a different story though. It was still a lot more than a normal family ward but there was some time for the spirit to work on me and get me to stand up. For some reason the experience from youth conference several years ago where we were decorated in Nephite and Lamanite garb came back to me. I remembered what the stake presidency told us in a fireside before the conference; "we will know if this conference is a success if even one of you leaves with a strengthened testimony." I remember believing that promise to be true because my testimony was strengthened tremendously. I thought about that quote and how it applies to a mission. When I got to the pulpit I talked about how great it has been to serve along side so many great people. If I had to leave my mission right now, I would feel successful because my testimony has become strengthened from each person I have come into contact with. It seemed that the topic of the testimony meeting that coincidentally came up was that our Father in Heaven has plan for us in this life. I talked about a story that Sister Beck shared with us in her final talk called "The Rock." Here is a summary: A man was asleep one night in his cabin when suddenly he was awakened by a bright light that filled the room. The Savior stood at his bedside and told him that he had a work for him to do. The man was shown a massive rock, and was told by the Savior that he was to push against the rock with all his might. The man did this. Day in and day out he set his shoulder squarely against the surface of the rock and would return each night to his cabin very sore and worn out, feeling that his whole day had been spent in vain. Seeing that the man was showing signs of discouragement, Satan decided to enter the picture, placing thoughts in the mans mind such as, "Why kill yourself over this, you're never going to move it" or, "Boy you've been at it here for a long time and you haven't even scratched the surface." This gave the man the impression that his task was impossible and that he was an unworthy and unprofitable servant because he wasn't moving the massive stone. He began questioning himself, "why kill myself" he thought, "I'll just put in my time, putting forth just the minimum and that will be good enough." That is what he planned to do until he decided to take his troubles to the Lord. "Lord" he said, "I have labored long and hard in thy service, putting forth all my strength to do that which you have asked me, yet after all this time I haven't even budged that rock half a millimeter! What is wrong? Why am I failing?" To this the Lord responded, "My friend...when long ago I asked you to serve me you accepted, I told you to push against this rock with all your strength, and that you have done. But never once did I mention unto you that I expected you to move it! At least not all by yourself. Your task was to push. And now you have come to me, your strength spent, thinking that you have failed and ready to quit. But is that really so? Look at yourself, your arms strong and muscled, your back sinewed and brown, your hands calloused from constant pressure and your legs have become massive and hard. Through opposition you have grown much and your ability now far surpasses that which you used to have, yet you still haven't succeeded in moving the rock, and you come to me with a heavy heart and your strength spent, I my friend will move the rock. Your calling was to be obedient and to push, and to exercise your faith and trust in my wisdom, and this you have done."

Sometimes we don't understand why we are doing some things but the Lord sees the bigger picture. I feel that these are the reasons we have some of the commandments. The world says it's ok to abuse the Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chastity. But the Lord sees the bigger picture and knows how one little decision can change the rest of our lives. If we follow, we will be made stronger and more prepared for opportunities, struggles, trials, adversity, and anything that may come our way in the future.

I love you all very much! You are the best!

Your brother in the Lord,

Elder Colton Mouritsen

P.S. I don't know what your plans are today but we have to be in by six o'clock because we don't want to be outside when people start shooting guns all over the place. Wouldn't want to get hit by a stray bullet. :/