January 12-17, 2012: After Our Faith Is Tried

Hello there Ya'll!

All is well here in Peoria! It is very weird to cover some of the same streets that I covered back in Phoenix North except that I'm just a few miles west. Our family ward is smaller and when we drive down Peoria Road I can look all the way down the street to the mountain that we lived near when I served in Phoenix North. It is so weird because when I heard that I was getting transferred, my mind was set on being sent so far away. In reality, I could get back to my old area in less than 2 minutes from the furthest east boundary of our wards. Being so close, so many great memories are brought to light as I think about what transpired over the past 20 months. I loved the opportunities that I was given there. Saying goodbye to the members was like saying goodbye to my family all over again. It was very hard. I have honestly had to work hard to keep back the tears. I know that I will be able to see them all again in the future though and that keeps me going. Mark Coleman wrote me an unbelievable letter before I left that I am going to save for you to read when I get home. Katie Redd emails me almost every week to tell me about what is going on in the ward. Many people have also expressed interest in coming to my homecoming. This is another good reason for living so close :).

Monday night I went and said bye to the James' family. Sister James was not there because of a relief society meeting. I talked to Mike (recent convert) and Sister James' parents who were there when we all went through the temple. I love those people. Afterwards, I couldn't handle the thought of not saying bye to Sister James after all that she did for me. We went to the church where her meeting was held and made sure to find her so I could say an adequate goodbye. She cried and gave me a hug :/ haha but said that she is going to do all that she can to get the family to come up to Utah for my homecoming also. I'm not thinking about it much but I think that it will be a grand reunion!

So when we got to the wards here we noticed that a lot of the investigators were doing anything but progressing. You asked if there was a reason for both missionaries getting transferred out. The answer is that I don't really know but for me to train a new missionary it would have to happen because I wouldn't be able to train in a Zone Leader area. President Taylor was particularly emotional when it came to this group of new missionaries that came out. Three zone leaders were released to be trainers. The other two were elders that I was in the MTC with. (Elder Halligan and Mendenhall) After getting our new companions, we sat together and got to know each other. President Taylor came over to Elder Brothers and me and when he made eye contact to tell us about the experience he had in having us be together, he couldn't get the words out because he was in tears. He is an extremely emotional and spiritual man. Apparently he felt very strongly about Elder Brothers and me being together. I know he is right.

Like I said the area was pretty slow and we didn't have many investigators when we got here. We began to use the ward roster to find new people to teach. We visit less active members and part member families in any spare moment that we have. If the person we are trying to find isn't there, then we knock the street to find out the reason that Heavenly Father sent us there. It's been slow for a little while, but at the end of each day we are able to look back and find out just why we were sent to the places we went. We have found many new people to begin teaching. One great experience we had happened last night. It was about 8:30 p.m. and we were quite bummed after having a born again Christian try to bash with us and several other doors slammed in our face. I could tell that it was wearing on Elder Brothers. It's hard to keep a good attitude in times like those but it's extremely important. The last door we knocked was SUPPOSED to be a prospective elder/less active member. When the door opened, a Hispanic man, his wife, and two kids came to the door. We asked them if "so and so" was there. The older man looked puzzled, looked at his son and told his son to speak to us. The 13 year old boy spoke English and Spanish and was able to interpret. He told us that the person we were looking for was not there. His mom then said something in Spanish and he translated by saying that his mom knows someone that is a missionary like us. To our surprise, they then invited us in. We talked for a little while to get to know them. They are from Mexico. They went to the Catholic Church while there and now attend a non-denominational English speaking Christian church even though they can't understand. Being from Mexico, I was very surprised at how modern and nice their house was. Usually they are not that way. We found out that the father is a woodworker by trade and builds amazing cabinets and tables. From what I could see, he was extremely good at what he did. As we talked, they asked us if we wanted to have some lemonade and stay for dinner. We told them we had just eaten but that we would love something to drink. We sat around the table and the dad then told his son to tell us that he would love for us to teach them because they can understand some things even though they can't speak it back. We proceeded to teach them about the restoration of the gospel. Though they looked puzzled, I know they felt the spirit. At the end of the discussion, the mother asked us if we would pray for her family and her home. We did so. Upon our departure, they told us that we could come back anytime we wanted if we ever needed anything. We told them that we would get Spanish missionaries to come by and teach them further. They were very happy at the thought. They continued to offer anything and everything they had, including free beautiful cabinets for our kitchen. Maybe someday! It was amazing to see how the spirit could have an effect on an entire family though we couldn't speak the same language. Just a testimony to me that the spirit can touch anyone that is willing to listen. The language of the spirit is spoken spirit to spirit, and we are all spirit children of God and speak the same spiritual language deep down. We just have to find it. Next Saturday we will be going over there to teach them with the Spanish elders. I can see them being future leadership in the church. This experience was awesome for Elder Brothers to have. At the end of the night, he made the comment; "Now I see why we knock on doors. It's for the one that will finally listen. Now I see." We receive no witness until after the trial of our faith. Our faith was tried many times with doors being slammed and people trying to prove us wrong, but it's AFTER our faith is tried that we can receive answers. It was a great experience.

To answer your questions concerning the bike. Elder Buttars and I started riding a little bit before I left. Elder Brothers doesn't have a bike at the moment but when he does we will start riding. At the moment we drive a 2011 Ford Fusion. It's a pretty sweet car! :)

Once again, thanks for all that you do. I truly love and appreciate your letters and support. I can't believe that it is already 2012. It blows my mind.

I love you. Please know that!

Love,

Elder Mouritsen

January 12, 2012: A New Companion and a New Area - Peoria

I have been given permission to tell you my new address and also who my new companion is. We are serving in the Peoria Stake in the Rio Vista (YSA) Ward and the Sahuaro Ranch Ward. Another YSA! My companion is Elder Brothers. He's from Bozeman, Montana. He has seriously done everything. Everything he has, or has done, are things that I dream of! He is sponsored by Oakley as a freestyle skier. He's been Heli Skiing several times. He owns an Alaskan Malamute, which is a dog that looks like a wolf but is bigger than the normal Siberian Huskies. He loves to hunt, fish, run, bike, play lacrosse, etc. He's 6'4" and is going to make a great companion. We're doing the best that we can to get ourselves embedded in the work here in these two wards. There's not much to work with YET but we are going to build it up.

My address is now:

8650 W. Peoria Ave. Apt. #2063

Peoria, AZ 85245

It was really hard to say goodbye to the Phoenix North Stake. Real hard. I still think back to the great memories that were made there. Having never been transferred before I don't know how long it will take to get accustomed to a new area! We will see though. I actually am now just on the opposite side of where Justin King's ward is.

I hope all is well. Have fun getting back to the swing of things at school.

Mom, I love you and I hope you had a fantastic birthday! Did you get my card? I am going to send some more stuff but I just wasn't able to due to the move.

Love,

Elder Colton Mouritsen

January 3-10, 2012: Big Transfer News and a Tribute to Grandpa Roger

Howdy!

Well that was a very tough email to get through. Several times I found myself holding back tears. I feel very sad and frustrated that I could not be there. There is so much I would have liked to say. This week has been one of very mixed emotions. I got the call from President Taylor on Wednesday morning. He said some very comforting words to me. I then got another call from him on Saturday. I will relate the experiences I had this week in chronological order.

Tuesday: Zone Leader Council. Same ol', same ol'. We are focusing a lot on obedience because a lot of the missionaries have become relaxed with some of the smaller rules.

Wednesday: Called by President to tell me about Grandpa's death at about 10:30 a.m. It was hard to focus the entire day. That night in my prayer before bed I prayed that I would have one last "mortal" experience with my Grandpa. I didn't know how that experience would come, but I will relate to you the answer to my prayer by quoting my journal entry that was written the next morning.

"I would like to recount the dream I had on the night of January 4th, 2012. I was told today by President Taylor that My Grandpa Roger passed away. To be honest this was an answer to my prayer. He had been suffering from cancer for a long while now. With so many mixed feelings in my heart and mind, I pleaded in my prayer before bed to be able to have a final "mortal" experience with him that I haven't been able to have for the past 20 months. I soon found myself fast asleep and dreaming after struggling to keep my eyes closed from the many things on my mind.

I remember it being my last day as a missionary (yet at the same time it wasn't) and I was able to return home for a short time. I remember wearing normal, non-missionary attire but at heart and mind I was still a set-apart missionary. I remember thinking that I hadn't been released by my stake president but I also hoped that that meant I would be able to return to the field after my short experience back home. The first place I was taken was a restaurant in West Valley City called Francescos. I walked through the sliding glass doors only to find my family sitting at a long, wooden, "family-size" table, eating their fresh garlic bread. My mom, dad, and sisters were there. Many members of my extended family were there. I specifically remember greeting my cousin Whitney who was sitting next to her immediate family. I cannot recall the other people who were sitting at the table but I remember it being a lot like any other family get together. My Grandpa Roger was sitting at the corner of the table nearest the glass door. As I walked in, I shook his hand and took my seat kitty-corner to where he sat. He looked the way I remember him looking the last time I saw him before my mission. He was in a wheelchair. His hair was white and thin due to constant treatments of chemotherapy. His stare was long and lifeless to those sitting around the table. His regular University of Utah sweatshirt covered his upper body and his well-known bifocal eyeglasses were on his face. His skin was worn, freckled, and tattered with signs of a life well lived. His hands and feet were swollen. But the most important attribute of his person I noticed was that his mind was clear, voice-unwaivering, stories-unforgotten. He related story after story and smart-aleck comment after comment. His conversation with us all was perfect. The overly told yet overly loved stories of his childhood rang through the ears of those in attendance. In my mind I thought, "How can he look so old on the outside, but sound so young and perfect on the inside?" I realized this was because his spirit, though harbored by his mortal body, was perfect and untattered unlike his body. I love that man. The feeling around the table was one that none in attendance would ever forget. Jokes, stories, gestures, quotes, and songs all brought laughter, tears, and love but overall, absolute joy. Everyone was happy. Out of the corner of my eye, a "visitor" came through a door from the back of the room. He walked over behind the wheelchair which Grandpa was in and told him that he would need to say his goodbyes, which would only be goodbyes for a short time. The room went quiet. Each remained in their seat. Tears slowly rolled down each person's face. I held up my left hand, caught his tear filled eyes with mine, and made the sign of "I love YOU" with my hand. He wept as he was wheeled out of the room away from his family, for a short time. I then found myself gathered with numberless concourses of people in a gigantic room that resembled an LDS chapel. The difference was that all the walls in a normal sized chapel were gone and replaced with stadium like seats that seemed to go up forever. I was seated on one of the front row pews on the ground in front of the pulpit. I finally realized where I was. I looked around and recognized faces of those who were in attendance. Each of them had been impacted in one way or another by my Grandpa. The rows and rows of people seemed endless as they stretched up and up the stadium seating. I quickly realized I was in attendance with the thousands of others at what I thought was my Grandpa's funeral. The only thing was that there was no casket. No viewing. Most of the time was spent visiting and recalling memories we each had with him. Then, a hush seemed to go over the entire room. The Mouritsen "daughters" all got up and went to the pulpit. They sang the songs, "Daughter of a King" and "Your Goodness Lives On" which were written by my sister Madison. There wasn't a dry eye in the room. Not because of sadness, but because his goodness truly does live on through us. I know his goodness lives on. Following the songs, I found myself back in the mission field, happy to be there. I knew I was needed to gather Israel in from this side of the veil, while Grandpa would be gathering Israel in on the other side.

At the end of the phone call when I heard this sad news, President Taylor said to me this, "I've set people apart before and told them that they would have those on the other side of the veil with them, watching over them while they served. I don't say this to everyone, but I feel impressed to tell you that your Grandpa has been added to the front lines and is added to those on your right and on your left and directly behind you. He will be there watching and guiding you in the time of need." I know that is true."

That was my entry. I felt like I should share it. I would have liked to have shared it at the service you held for him last Saturday.

Saturday night I got another interesting call. Elder Buttars answered the phone and President asked if he could speak to me. I was handed the phone and we began talking about some of the needs in the zone. We specifically talked about some struggling companionships. He then turned the conversation away and said, "Well the real reason I have called you is because the Lord has a new assignment for you Elder Mouritsen. The Lord has called you to be a trainer and a district leader." I was overwhelmed with some excitement, yet some major feelings of being torn away from the place that I have come to love so much. Of course I accepted.

Sunday was our ward conference. I'm glad that I was told the transfer news on Saturday because it gave me opportunity to say some last goodbyes to members in the ward. Since it was ward conference President Hettinger and the other stake leaders were there also. It worked out really nice because I was able to say goodbye to them also. President Hettinger and I have gotten really close over the past 20 months. Bishop got up to announce the meeting. During the announcement he stopped and said, "A long-time friend of ours here in the ward will be leaving us this week. We just wanted to publicly thank Elder Mouritsen for the work he has done and the love we have grown to have for him. We wish him the best wherever he goes." My heart was so big and I knew it was going to be extremely hard to say goodbye. It was so nice of him to say something like that. Next President Hettinger got up. He started by publically saying thanks also but then he took it to another level (haha). He said something to the effect of, "Hypothetically speaking, if I had two daughters who were up at BYU and not dating anyone, and Elder Mouritsen was not a missionary, I would sure love for them to date and marry someone like him. I've been very grateful to be able to work along side him for the past 14 months." Oh my, it was so embarrassing. Everyone busted up laughing and OH, what made it worse? His daughters were there and they were sitting on the FRONT ROW! And yes one of them is 19 and one of them is 21. Both are also very "fair and delightsome" as stated in the Book of Mormon. It was pretty funny yet awkward. Probably a good thing that I am getting transferred. Haha. They came up and talked to me after the meeting to ask when I was going to be home after the mission also... :/ President Hettinger is the man and I am definitely going to stay in contact with him after the mission.

Yesterday was when I read your letter because I had to transfer a bunch of stuff from my USB to Elder Buttars. I also had to email him some things. Following the email, we went to lunch with a member at Chiles. While there, a song came on over the loud speaker. You may have heard of it. It is called, "With or Without You" by U2. I thought it was interesting with all the stuff going on around. It reminded me a lot of my memories and experiences with Grandpa while up in Dingle. I also was looking through some past letters while packing and found the long printer paper letter that you had all the family members write on that you sent to me from Thanksgiving 2010. On the back of the paper, I found a note from Grandpa that I don’t remember reading before. It definitely describes him. I will quote it to you:

Dear Colton,

It has been 0 degrees all day here and we have been huddled together to stay warm. We have been burning wood like mad and if this continues we will have to start chopping up some of the smaller children to keep the fire going. Please send us any extra heat you are not using...Please say a prayer for me, I think the Lord will listen to you.

Frohliche Weinacten, Grandpa Roger

I was touched by that. I also don't know what "Frohliche Weinacten" means and I don't even know if I spelled it right. Oh well.

I recently found a poem that I want to share with you to close this email.

As I stare out the window,

Tears still in my eyes.

I see the vision of those I love,

As we said our last goodbyes.

The flight was long and tiring.

As two questions plagued my mind,

Do I want the life that's ahead of me,

Or the one I left behind?

You see twenty four months is such a long time

For going door to door.

In my reflection, I thought,

There must be something more.

I struggled down off the plane,

Looking for a friendly face.

When a man called Pres. said:

"Son, you've come to the right place!"

I sit reflecting once again

As this day is my last.

Please, Lord, it isn't fair,

The time went way too fast.

As I stare out the window

Tears still in my eyes,

I see the visions of those I love,

As we said our last goodbyes.

The flight was long and tiring,

As two questions plagued my mind;

Do I want the life that's ahead of me,

Or the one I left behind?

I love you all. Thanks for all your comforting words and strength. I'm excited to move on and finish strong to the end.

Love,

Elder Mouritsen

December 27, 2011 - January 2, 2012: Real Growth

It's 2012!

I can't believe this year is here. We need to get all of our lives in order because apparently this upcoming December 21st the world is going to end. Oh no! Too bad no man knoweth the time of His coming. Thank you for the letter by the way. I love how you can cram so much information into an email. The pictures look fantastic! Everybody is growing up so dang much. Of course Megan Leah is standing on her tip-toes...of course. Thanks for the update on Grandpa also. Though he is struggling immensely I am constantly reassured that "everything is going to be ok." When your letter said that he feels no pain in reminded me of my experience where I couldn't hold back the tears following my surgery and only being able to write, "He took my pain" in my journal. It is such a powerful, hard to comprehend feeling. One must "feel" it and "experience" it for themselves before they can truly know. I know that Grandpa knows. He knows he will see us again. I know I will see him again as well. There's no better feeling than the feeling of not fearing the "(un)-known" mysteries of passing through the veil into the world of spirit.

This week has been one of many mixed feelings and emotions here as well. Christmas was awesome. It's always sad to see it leave. Each of our investigators in the YSA were celebrating the holidays back at home so we didn't have many lessons to teach. We also spent a load of time on our year end report to give to the stake president. Usually we have a member of the mission presidency attend those meetings with us but since we had it at 7:00 a.m. on New Year’s Day they told us to just go at it alone. It was a good meeting. We calculated the "Real Growth" that the stake has seen over the past two years. I don't know if you have heard that term at all but it is being used by the brethren to show the growth of the church by seeing if people who either get baptized, reactivated, etc. continue on to receive the other ordinances of the gospel. They also want to know the percentage of activity of recent converts and all members for that matter. The activity level down here is very low compared to what I was used to up in Utah. There will be upward of around 400-500 people on a ward roster, but only 150-200 come to church on Sundays. I believe that rescuing a "less-active" person is just as good as a baptism on an eternal perspective. Of course our purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ through faith, repentance, and baptism but we are also "Called to Serve" the people we are around in any way that we can. Some missionaries have taken this idea to "rescue the less-active" to their bishops and been taken advantage of. For example, some Bishops have said that they are only allowed to visit prospective elders and less actives before they visit part member families. Those visits were also being counted by the Bishop as home and visiting teaching. That isn't right so we with the missionaries, and the stake president and high councilman over missionary work with the ward leaders, put a stop to it. The "Real Growth" of our stake has been better than we thought. There were 204 total baptisms in the past 2 years. Only 3 or 4 are endowed but many more that were baptized in 2011 are going to make it there. Several have also expressed interest in serving missions. One that you might have heard about was a kid Kennington and I taught one year ago. His name is Will Wight. He's working on his papers right now. Mark Coleman has also expressed interest in serving. Our awesome stake president is trying to get him permission from Salt Lake because he will be 26 one his year is up. Hopefully it happens. Mark bore his testimony again on Sunday. It was hilarious! He got up there and said that he loves "testimony day." He then went on to say that he feels that one day he will get up to bear his testimony and he will find his wife from the pulpit. Either that or she will find him as she gets up to bear her testimony. He said it much better but everybody laughed pretty hard. He is a solid convert. He walks ten miles each week to go do baptisms for the dead in the Mesa temple.

We had a pretty neat experience this week. On Wednesday we were walking through an apartment complex parking lot and a young man who looks exactly like Corbin Bleu walked up to us. The first thing out of his mouth was, "Man, you guys are lookin' fly! What are you up to?" We responded by saying we are missionaries, yada yada yada... He was like, "Ah man I was hopin' you guys were! I'm pretty interested in learning more about your church." Our conversation went on and we talked about his experience in the past with religion, what he believes now, and some other stuff. He made a comment that I thought was interesting that I had never heard before. He said, "So I have heard that some church out there believes that Jesus actually came to the Americas and taught the people here just like he taught the people in Jerusalem. I think that is so cool! I believe that happened..." So, after I picked up jaw up off the ground we went and grabbed him a Book of Mormon from the truck and told him that it gives the account of that experience. He was pretty enthused.

Well sorry my email this week isn't very eventful but we gotta get going because the bowling alley opens up at 2! It's 2 dollar shoes and 1 dollar games today. Last week I broke my record and bowled a 202! It was pretty awesome. I'll send a picture of some other things we do there. President Taylor came with us one time. It's a great P-Day activity.

I love you all. I can't believe I missed Kyler's homecoming, haha actually I can but it's just weird to think that he his home.

I hope your 2012 starts fantastic.

Love,

Your son and brother. Elder Mouritsen

December 20-26, 2011: Christmas Traditions and Santa

It was good to talk to you yesterday! Everybody is definitely growing up. Thanks for being prepared with all the great questions. That always seems to get a lot out of the short time that we are allotted to speak. I distinctly remember last Mother's day at the end of the call thinking, "oh my, the next time I hear their voices will be in like 7 months!" Those 7 months flew by. (Little did I know that I would be speaking to you dad on August 23, haha I don't remember much though). That makes me wonder just how much faster the next five are going to fly by.

I've been thinking a lot lately about what makes Christmas so different, yet similar, to one spent back home. On the mission there are no family parties, gift exchanges, traditions such as; stockings on mom and dad's bed Christmas morning, eating cinnamon rolls Christmas day, going to Dingle, the Christmas Eve party at Grandma and Grandpa Mouritsen’s, Christmas Day party at Grandma and Grandpa Figgins, not having school, making ornaments, gingerbread houses, snow, etc. There is none of that to look forward to while on the mission. But for some weird reason it doesn't really effect the feeling that is present. The feeling during the season is still the same and that alone causes it to be a good one. It's true what the Grinch said when he found out that Christmas doesn't really come from a store, but that it is much, much more.

There was a pretty cool experience this week that I will share. A young man by the name of Darie (pronounced Dar-ee-A) used to date a girl that lived above us when we lived in our old apartment. We talked to him a few times but each time produced the same results. He always found a way to make fun of us or degrade us in some form or another. We tried to avoid him from then on. Well those contacts with him were about 8-9 months ago. This week the family ward elders got a referral for him. Because he is YSA age, they passed him over to us. We visited and found out that he isn't dating her anymore. It turns out he wants to surround himself with good people. He loves the Book of Mormon. Believes Joseph Smith is a prophet. And now has a baptism date for January 21. It's amazing how line upon line, precept upon precept the Lord prepares those who you never thought would get to that point.

So I told you a little bit about Christmas Eve. We dressed up as Santas and the other elders in our apartment were the elves. We then went and delivered the Christmas packages to all the missionaries in the zone. It was fun to barge into their apartments and freak the crap out of them. I'll send some pictures.

Well that’s about it! Thanks again for the presents. I love you all and I hope that you have a great Christmas break.

Love,

Elder Mouritsen