With Mark at the Mesa Temple.
A view of the Phoenix North Stake
Elder Nelson and me on a Zone Leader hike. I was his trainer back in October 2010.
Elder Henrie and me on the Zone Leader hike. Elder Henrie is the A.P. and is a friend from Davis High.
The Celestial view from the top of the mountain on our zone leader hike.Hey!
Great letter. Great pictures! I can't believe that Carson is home. He looks... the same! haha Andrew and Kyler get home in less than a month. That is mind boggling. I hate the thought of it all coming to an end. Sure it's exciting, but bittersweet.
The discussion with the "missionary department" was actually with the research development initiative group or something like that. They asked us all sorts of questions regarding how the work is progressing with the campaign and new website. It wasn't what I was expecting. On the ride over there we had to pick up another missionary from his area who was also going to be in the discussion. We picked him up at the church that borders the site of the new Phoenix temple. It was so cool to see how it's coming along. The hole is like 40 feet deep. It should be done within 18-24 months. We will have to come back and see.
Had some pretty cool experiences this week. On Friday we were on exchanges with one of our district leaders and his companion. His companion is brand new from the MTC. I was with the new missionary (Elder Marble) in our area. We had a few appointments scheduled during the day but each time we went to visit the person, they were not home. Ughhh... It was so frustrating! Each time we were stood up though, we decided to knock the surrounding doors. We knew there was a reason for us to be there. Though we didn't teach those that were already scheduled to be taught, we found others that we felt the Lord wanted us to find and teach. One example: After knocking a few doors at one of the appointment locations, we decided to head to the car. While walking through the complex, I noticed there was a young couple walking about 25 yards behind us. Already frustrated because of the cancelled appointments, I discarded the prompting to talk to them. The prompting continued to pulsate in my mind and after battling for a bit, I stopped. I turned around and started walking towards them. When we met them, we talked and quickly found out that he had already received a Book of Mormon, and had read several passages from it. He wanted us to come back a few days later and teach him more about it. It was very humbling to see once again just how much the spirit is needed to over power the "natural man/missionary" in this work.
Elder Duncan spoke a lot about the two different kinds of missionaries there are. There are those who do all things for themselves, and those who do all things for the benefit of others. Those who serve others will be happy. That's all there is to it. If we want to be happy, we will lose ourselves and serve all those we come into contact with. He said something to the effect of, "you will achieve that which you think about the most." I liked that. D&C 4 teaches us to serve with all our heart, might, MIND, and strength. Our minds must be centered on the work and the purpose of returning back to Heavenly Father, and helping others do that as well. He said we must have a vision, then a goal, then a plan, then tasks to perform. V-G-P-T. I think that goes for life as well. It applies to many aspects. The vision of being in the Celestial kingdom. A goal to get there. The knowledge of the plan of salvation. And the tasks; faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. It's such a good feeling to know that we have no need to fear as long as we have said vision, goal, plan, and performed tasks.
We had a lesson with Nick this week. He thought he would be able to convince us that he could just get baptized without first paying his dues to society. As much as we wanted to tell him that he could, we told him he had to complete the repentance process. He was not very happy and it was hard for us to give him any form of comfort. Finally it came to me. I asked him where he was at three months ago before we met him. He said he had nothing going for him except coming home after work, drinking, smoking, possibly finding a girl, etc. He was not happy. No God in his life. No intentions of changing. And no knowledge of the need for a change. He then realized just how far he has come in the past three months. He really respects women now. No drinking. No smoking. He goes to church. Reads his scriptures. Feels happy even though trials never seem to stop. And has a goal to accomplish that which will benefit him largely in the eternal perspective. In three months he has come this far. Maybe in three months he will be able to be baptized. If he's come this far in the past three months, how far ahead could he be in the next three? His perspective changed and he realized it's just a small trial, yet blessing, that he will need to work through. When the day comes for him to be baptized, it will be that much more important for him then because of all the time and effort he has put in. I'm excited for that day.
I was reading in 1 Corinthians 2 this week. The first five verses stood out to me.
1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.
2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
3 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.
4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
I find it interesting that Paul, the great orator, would start out a letter like this. I find myself with the same feelings though. I do not have excellent speech or wisdom. I am weak and nervous when in front of people. But when it comes to teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ there is something that stands me up and helps me to not worry about what others will think. I haven't felt the gift of tongues through speaking a different language but I can definitely say that there has been a miracle performed in my life which I consider a gift of tongue whenever I am called upon to speak about the gospel. I love the gospel. I love the feelings that come into my life and the lives of others. The feeling is enough and it outweighs any feeling of weakness, inadequacy, fear, or nervousness. It's true and can't be proven otherwise!
Well things are going well here. It's getting cold again...cold. Today I purchased a sweater vest at Ross. It's pretty nice. I don't think I need anything! Thanks for all that you have already done though! The package you sent a bit ago was a life saver!
Our zone now has 34 people with a baptism date. The Lord has blessed us so much in the past few weeks. A month ago we had 2. 34 is more than we have ever had in this stake. With the end of the year coming, we hope to reach our goal that was set by our stake president of 110. Right now we are at 83. It can definitely be done.
I love you all and hope for all the best this upcoming week. I won't lie I'm kinda glad I wasn't at that snowy football game. The coldest it's been here so far is 50.
Love you.
Elder Mouritsen
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