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.
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
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
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