April 10 - 15, 2012: Why is it that I was so blessed to be a part of this church?

Hi how are ya?

 It's amazing how time flies when one is busy isn't it?  Sounds like you guys are quite busy there.  That always makes life more fulfilling and enjoyable. That's cool that you got to go and chaperone at Prom.  I bet it was a blast.  Be sure to send me some pictures asap!  Or don't and surprise me in a few weeks by everyone dressing up in their dresses at the airport... :/ You too mom.  You can be off the hook though dad.

 This week has been pretty ok.  We were so psyched up with so much good stuff going on.  We are teaching four part member families that have a lot of potential.  We had good lessons with each of them and each committed to come to church.  Along side them, there were several other investigators that said they would come as well.  Sunday came, we got the entire ward council ready to fellowship them, and no one showed....  I was pretty dang bummed out.  It's so frustrating sometimes when you work your heart out in a good cause and then agency is used unwisely and the desired result isn't met.  Discouragement weakens faith though so we aren't letting that happen.  We just keep on pressin' on and seek for understanding.  One of the less active families we are teaching was very excited to come to church.  There is a non-member nine year old in the family and apparently sometime during the weekend she fell on her scooter and broke her middle two knuckles on her hand.  The growth plates were involved in both breaks as well.  So that kept the family from coming to church.  She is going to need surgery apparently.  It just seems like one thing after another with this family that Satan keeps on throwing at them. 

 We did have a pretty neat experience this week with our mission's new "prayer approach" to contacting.  We chose a street to tract for about an hour.  When we got to the street we prayed that someone there would be prepared for us to teach and invite us into their home.  The VERY FIRST DOOR we knocked was a young (20s) girl.  We stated ourselves as representatives of Jesus Christ, told her that we were there to pray with her and her family and ask for blessings from God on her home and her family.  She agreed and let us right in.  This was the first time it's ever happened to me when using this approach.  We sat down on the couch and she went and got the rest of the family.  Several more young mothers came into the room.  We got to know them for a little bit and found out that there are actually 13 people living in the home, nine of which are baptism age.  After I picked my jaw up from off the ground, we asked them if there was anything in particular that they would like us to pray for in regards to their family, home, work, etc.  They told us a few things.  We then knelt down and offered a prayer.  It was neat to see how grateful they were.  Following the prayer, one of the girls then said that she actually had another thing she would like us to pray for.  We did so.  We set a return appointment for a few days later because they said they wanted their husbands and boyfriends and other kids to hear the message. We hoped that it would go well.  The day came and we went by.  One of the girls was there and invited us in for a few minutes but said that they were going out to be with the family for the evening.  We said another prayer with them and they committed to come to church.  Of course, they weren't able to come because of some issues that came up but they are interested and we hope to continue to teach them. 

I told you in the past about how we have been going to Glendale Community College to talk to the kids on the campus.  Well this past week was a unique experience.  We got there and a TON of kids from the "Christian" Club were there passing out their own flyers and DVDs.  We stayed and talked to as many as we could but had several encounters with these "Christians" coming up to us and attacking our beliefs.  One of which actually used a video camera and taped the entire conversation.  I wonder what they will use that footage for?  It's amazing how the adversary ups his game as soon as too much good is going on in a certain place.  There were seriously dozens of kids passing out hundreds of materials.  I tried to talk to a few of them and they didn't even know what they were passing out.  They were only doing it because their friends had told them to.  It's so amazing to me to see how far the world is getting from the truth.  Twice now in my study of the doctrine and covenants have I found that the Lord inspired our forefathers to write the Constitution of our nation.  Satan is doing all that he can to skew the truth.  I'm glad we have the assurance and knowledge (as does he) that he will lose in the end.  He too knows our potential and delights in how miserable we will be if we don't live up to it.  We know too much and don't have the right to fool around with all the "dumb stuff" he tries to throw at us.  In my conversations with younger missionaries who are having issues with their leadership calls I have often told them that they have too much to offer to this work and especially to the Lord to just give up.  They were called to serve in that capacity because of what they have to offer and it's their choice to live up to the potential the Lord has given them.  I know this because it has helped me through difficult times as well.  That goes for all of us though.  We have been blessed with the gifts that come from the gospel of Jesus Christ and it's our responsibility to take it and offer it up to the world.  Just like light from a candle gives light to other candles but doesn't lose any light of its own, we can give our light to others and actually can gain more light in doing so.  We have so much to offer!  We have been blessed greatly.  I often times think about all the other people in the world.  The nearly 7 billion worldwide.  Why is it that I was so blessed to be a part of the mere 14 million members of this church?  I continue to answer that question daily and I'll leave it up to each of you to answer it for yourselves.

 I love you all!  Thanks so much for all you do.  The church is true.  Always remember the Savior.  We should never have to question our worthiness to have His spirit or enter His house.

 Love,

 Elder Mouritsen

April 4 - 9, 2012 Easter Weekend: Food Poisoning, Baptism, Speaking in Sacrament Meeting

Hey family!

Dang I'm sorry to hear that you are sick. Similar experience down here. Friday I went to bed fine only to wake up at 2:30 a.m. with a terrible stomach ache. I tried to sleep it off but realized that I would never be able to fall back asleep. I got up to try to go to the bathroom and fix the situation. For the next hour and a half I was stuck in there throwing up the dinner I had the previous night. It was a bad case of food poisoning and for the next 8-10 hours I would get up and my body would attempt to vomit every half hour. It really took it out of me! It was the worst time to happen also cause we had Kolt's baptism Saturday night, and then our talks on Sunday morning. All day Saturday, and all day Sunday, I never had any real nourishing food. I still haven't as I write this email now. My body is pretty weak but it's been amazing to see the strength be given at the very moment that it is needed. Some other elders gave me a blessing on Saturday so that I might be able to accomplish the plans that we had for the afternoon and evening. That evening was when President Taylor told us to go on to mormon.org/easter and post a comment on Facebook. Mark Coleman then took us out to dinner. By the way he says that he is planning on attending my "return and report" to the ward. Then at 7:00 p.m. we had Kolt's baptism. With the little energy I had, I was able to conduct the meeting and give the intermediate message because Elder Brothers was in white. It was a very neat experience and Kolt bore a powerful testimony about how it just feels right.

With Kolt getting baptized we were hoping that we would be able to find another to set a date with. It turns out that the Lord had prepared two! We had dinner last week with a part member family where the 16 year old boy in the family is super active, while the mom and other younger kids don't attend. The 11 turning 12 year old boy is the one we began teaching. He is super smart for his age. He could honestly teach us the lessons. He committed to be baptized on April 28th and his brother will be the one to baptize him. It will be a very neat experience for the entire family. Next was a family who happens to be 2nd cousins to Elder Dallin H. Oaks. Hannah, a 12 year old, lives with her less active dad and non-member mom. Her grandparents are active in Justin King's ward (I think) and she goes to church with them quite often. As we taught her, we saw a smile slowly creep onto her face as she told us that she really wants to be baptized. We just hope that we will be able to get her to come to church and meet the other young women. She is quite shy. Her baptism date is for May 5th. There is another less active family that we are working with who has a 9 year old non-member. She is praying for the 28th of April also. Those three should be baptized by the end of the transfer and we are working towards another one for the 12th so that the last week of my mission can be in white!

I've wondered a lot why the first couple months in this area went so slow. My nightly prayers would often consist of questions regarding that concern. I've learned that the Lord knows the amount of time that we will have in certain areas. Some missionaries are transferred to areas with only three months left. The Lord uses them with the time that they have. The first two transfers here for me were more for myself and the members of the wards. The ward members were not very happy with the previous missionaries and weren't too excited to graft in any recent converts because of the lack of trust with the missionaries. Now that the trust is back, the Lord is blessing the ward with baptisms so that they can be easily grafted into the fold.

Our talks yesterday went very well. Elder Brothers was freaking out sooo bad. Haha I will try to give you a run down of mine...

I started off with an intro about myself (where from, siblings, areas, length on my mission... I told them I've been out a "few months now", etc). I then shared a brief intro story regarding my mission call. About how my five close friends were all called to foreign missions and 4 of the 7 continents were represented. Because of that, my mind thought, "well I don't think they send missionaries to Antarctica, so that leaves either Asia or Australia!" I told the congregation that I had only one desire, one prayer regarding my mission call, and that was that I did not want to go somewhere freezing cold. I then said, "it's my testimony brothers and sisters, that God hears and answers our prayers." They got a good laugh from that.

I then read this poem to open my topic:

The alarm rings at 6:30; I stumble to my feet

I grab my companions' bedding and pull off his sheet.

A groan fills the room. "It's already time to arise?

It seems like just a second ago I was able to shut my eyes."

The morning activities follow: study, prayer, and such

When it's time to leave the apartment, you feel you haven't accomplished much.

"We have a super day planned," my companion says with a grin.

I lowly utter a faithless breath, 'Yeah, if anyone lets us in.'

With the word of God and my faithful schwinn, we ride off in the street.

Prepared to face another day of scorching sun and heat.

It's 8:30 in the evening, the day is almost through.

My companion and I are riding home, not accomplishing what we thought we'd do.

We ride up to the mailbox hoping to receive a lot.

Only to look inside and hear my echo reverberate "AIR BOX"

We go up to our apartment; the day is now complete

the only thing to show for our work is a case of blistery feet.

It's past 10:30, my companion is fast asleep.

Silence engulfs me all about and I begin to weep.

In the midst of sadness I kneel down to pray;

I need to talk to Father, but I"m not sure what to say.

"Oh Father," I begin, "What happened to us today?

I thought we'd teach somebody, but everyone was away.

My hands, my aching hands worn, hurt and beat

If our area was any smaller, we'd have knocked on every street."

"Why on missions are the days so much alike?

the only difference about today was the flat tire on my bike.

Will you send some cooler weather? The heat is killing me!

I sweat so bad, it gets in my eyes. It's very hard to see.

"Why do I have to wear a helmet, isn't your protection enough?

People always laugh at me and call me stupid stuff.

Please send us investigators so I may give them what they lack;

I want to give them Books of Mormon, the weight of them hurts my back."

"And what about my family? The don't have much to say.

I'm sick of not hearing from home day after day.

Oh Father, why am I here, am I just wasting my time?

Sometimes I just want to go home, I'm sorry but that's on my mind."

My companion, Heavenly Father, what are you giving me?

The way he rides his bicycle I don't know if he can even see!

Now you have it, I can't go on. I don't know what to do!

That, my Father in Heaven, is the prayer I leave you."

My prayer now finished I stand up, then jump right into bed.

I need my feet for tomorrow; we have another long day ahead.

Sleep starts to overtake me, I seem to drift away.

Then it seems a vision takes me to another time in another day.

I'm standing alone on the hill, the view is very nice.

A man walks towards me and says, "My name is Jesus Christ."

Tears of joy well up inside, I fall down to His feet.

"Arise," he states, "follow me to the shade, you and I need to speak."

My attention towards my Savior, total and complete,

He says, "Your mission is similar of what happened to me.

I understand how you feel, I know what you’re going through;

In fact, it would be fair to say I've felt the same as you.

"I even know how you felt when no one listened to you

At times I felt not quite sure what else that I could do.

I know you don't like to ride a bicycle for a car would be sweet.

Just remember the donkey I rode was not equipped with 21 speed."

"I understand you don't like sweating, in fact it's something you hate.

I remember when I sweat blood from every pore, Oh the agony was great.

I see you don't like your companion you would rather have someone else.

I once had a companion named Judas who sold my life for wealth.

"

"It's hard to wear a helmet and have people make fun of you.

I remember when they put thorns in my head and called me King of the Jews.

So you feel burdened down by the weight of your pack,

I recall how heavy the cross was when they slammed it on my back."

"Your hands hurt from tracting and knocking on doors all day,

I guess when they pounded nails into mine, I ached in a similar way.

It's hard not to hear from home when your family was not there to see.

I lost communication on the cross and cried, 'Father why hast thou forsaken me?'"

We have a lot in common, but there is a difference between us you see.

I endured to the end and finished my mission, so follow and do like me."

He embraced me with His arms, His light filled me with His love.

With tears in my eyes, I watched as He went back to the Father above.

I stood with awe and wonder when a beep rang in my head.

I listened and hear the alarm, when I realized I was in my bed.

My companion lets out a groan, "6:30 already, no way!"

I sat up and said, "Come on, I'll even carry your scriptures today!"

No matter what we go through when we feel we can't take more,

Just stop and think about Jesus Christ, He's been there before.

-Testified that "He's been there before" no matter what the situation or circumstance.-

Bruce R. McConkie said, "His atonement is the most transcendent event that ever has or ever will occur from Creation's dawn through all the ages of never-ending eternity." That is my topic I wish to discuss, the atonement of Jesus Christ. Elder Bruce C. Hafen said, "The atonement of Jesus Christ applies to all of life. The Savior can wipe away all of our tears, 'after all we can do'...The Savior's atonement is thus portrayed as the healing power not only for sin, but also for carelessness, inadequacy, and all mortal bitterness. The atonement is not just for sinners." Let's think for a moment about tears. What sort of experiences most commonly invoke tears? Tears of sadness (emotional). Tears from physical pain. Tears from guilt that breeds repentance. Tears from fear. Tears of joy. The Savior knows each of these.

So why do we celebrate on Easter? What is the significance? To truly paint the picture of the significance of the celebration, we must go back nearly 2000 years ago outside Jerusalem's walls. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland recounted the experience of Orson F. Whitney while he was serving as a young missionary.

As a young missionary, Elder Orson F. Whitney (1855–1931), who later served in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, had a dream so powerful that it changed his life forever. He later wrote:

“One night I dreamed … that I was in the Garden of Gethsemane, a witness of the Savior’s agony. … I stood behind a tree in the foreground. … Jesus, with Peter, James, and John, came through a little wicket gate at my right. Leaving the three Apostles there, after telling them to kneel and pray, He passed over to the other side, where He also knelt and prayed…: ‘Oh my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless not as I will but as Thou wilt.’

“As He prayed the tears streamed down His face, which was [turned] toward me. I was so moved at the sight that I wept also, out of pure sympathy with His great sorrow. My whole heart went out to Him. I loved Him with all my soul and longed to be with Him as I longed for nothing else.

“Presently He arose and walked to where those Apostles were kneeling—fast asleep! He shook them gently, awoke them, and in a tone of tender reproach, untinctured by the least show of anger or scolding, asked them if they could not watch with Him one hour. …

“Returning to His place, He prayed again and then went back and found them again sleeping. Again He awoke them, admonished them, and returned and prayed as before. Three times this happened, until I was perfectly familiar with His appearance—face, form, and movements. He was of noble stature and of majestic mien … the very God that He was and is, yet as meek and lowly as a little child...."

Of His suffering, Chieko N. Okazaki said, "We know that Jesus experience the totality of mortal existence in Gethsemane. It's our faith that He experienced everything-absolutely everything. Sometimes we don't think through the implications of that belief. We talk in great generalities about the sins of all humankind, about the suffering of the entire human family. But we don't experience pain in generalities. We experience individually. That means he knows what it felt like when your mother died of cancer-how it was for your mother, how it still is for you. He knows what it felt like to lose the student body election. He knows that moment when the brakes locked and the car started to skid. He experienced the slave ship sailing from Ghana towards Virginia. He experienced the gas chambers at Dachau. He experienced Napalm in Vietnam. He knows about drug addiction and alcoholism."

Following Gethsemane, He was betrayed by a trusted friend, led as a criminal with a rope around His neck to a cruel, undeserved execution. 39 lashings with a whip woven with sharp bones and metals tore into His back. Afterwards, He was mounted with a crown of thorns, mocked, and spit upon by the Roman soldiers. He rose from such cruelty, and carried His cross outside Jerusalem’s walls once again to a hill called Calvary. Nails of iron were driven into His hands, wrists, and feet as they lifted Him up before the world. Bruce R. McConkie stated, "The heavens grew black. Darkness covered the land for the space of three hours... There was a mighty storm, as though the very God of nature was in agony. And truly He was, for while He was hanging on the cross for another three hours, all the infinite agonies and merciless pains of Gethsemane recurred." After the atoning agony had taken its toll and the will of the Father had been fulfilled, though we don't know what was stated last, He said, "It is finished," and exclaimed, "Father, into thy hands, I commend my spirit."

His body was laid in the tomb only to be brought forth triumphant over death just three days later. And so it was, as Mary Magdalene and other women went to the tomb for further anointing and embalmment of the body, the angels sat waiting and said, "Fear not, for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified, He is not here, for He is risen." And that brothers and sisters is why we celebrate on Easter. Elder McConkie goes on to say, "His rising from death on the third day crowned the Atonement. Again, in a way incomprehensible to us, the effects of His resurrection pass upon all men so that all shale rise from the grave."

Of the dream I cited earlier by Orson F. Whitney, he goes on to say...

“All at once the circumstance seemed to change. … Instead of before, it was after the Crucifixion, and the Savior, with those three Apostles, now stood together in a group at my left. They were about to depart and ascend into heaven. I could endure it no longer. I ran from behind the tree, fell at His feet, clasped Him around the knees, and begged Him to take me with Him.

“I shall never forget the kind and gentle manner in which He stooped and raised me up and embraced me. It was so vivid, so real that I felt the very warmth of His bosom against which I rested. Then He said: ‘No, my son; these have finished their work, and they may go with me; but you must stay and finish yours.’ Still I clung to Him. Gazing up into His face—for He was taller than I—I besought Him most earnestly: ‘Well, promise me that I will come to You at the last.’ He smiled sweetly and tenderly and replied: ‘That will depend entirely upon yourself.’ I awoke with a sob in my throat, and it was morning.”

-Testimony, saved by grace--after all we can do. He's been there before. Etc-

That was it! Sorry it's so long. It took a while to type out but it'll be nice to have a digital copy of you.

Thanks for all you do. I love you and hope you all have a great week. Good luck with all your endeavors.

Love,

Elder Mouritsen

March 27 - April 3, 2012: General Conference

What’s up family?

Fantastic letter. Yes, this has been a very bittersweet week. Thursday in our weekly planning session, I had to pull out my last planner that was made by you back home. Specifically it's the one made by Bailee. I saved it for the last. Maybe it's because it has a gigantic picture of the temple on it.

Sounds like things are great back there. I hope you got my package from the member that moved up to Utah. He said it got a little wet during transportation but hopefully it wasn't too bad. I will probably be sending a few more home in the next couple weeks. I have acquired a lot of goodies. I got a text from Mark Coleman on Friday saying that he was on his way up to watch the Saturday afternoon and Priesthood sessions. I was amazed! I told him to visit with you but I don't think he got my text and you were in Idaho anyways. He is going to take us out to lunch next week. I love the wards here. Last week for our FHE activity the Phoenix North YSA came to a barbeque in the park with our ward. It was awesome to see them all again. There are several groups that are planning on coming up to my "Return and Report" to the ward on May 27th. The James' are planning on being there also. A few members of the Phx No YSA bishopric might come as well. It will be neat.

Last week was a great week for teaching. We had a lot of great lessons and found a couple great new people to teach. They all came from part member families. It's funny how right when you think there is nothing left that you can possibly do, if you but do just a bit more, the Lord opens the windows of heaven and pours out blessings. Even through a couple of faith demoting experiences, Kolt is enduring well and will be baptized this Saturday at 7:00 p.m. Example; he was on his way to our lesson at the church and his brake pad fell off. :/ His rotor was scraped down like crazy and he ended up having to drive home by using the emergency brake. He's fine though and continues to have spiritual experiences which propel him through to the waters. We had a very powerful lesson with him last night. We had planned to teach about the baptismal covenant and how it applies to the sacrament. That ended up only lasting about ten or fifteen minutes before it turned into a testimony meeting where we shared experiences and stories that have built our faith and encouraged our progression.

General Conference was fantastic wasn't it? I think I say this every time but it's like the Super Bowl or World Series for missionaries (if the Yankees are playing). I loved Elder Holland's talk once again. I felt like it was speaking directly to some of my recent converts. One convert in particular had always questioned why she didn't find the gospel until later in her life. Why wasn't she one to have been born into the covenant. We told her that it was because Heavenly Father trusted her enough to put her in a situation where he knew that she would accept it when she heard it. Elder Holland made the comment that whether you receive it early or late you will still receive the same wage. The blessings and potential are there for all. I also liked Elder Nelson's talk. "If a printing shop exploded, could it create a dictionary? And then could that dictionary produce other dictionaries?" There is so much evidence that there is a God and that He loves us. SOOOOO much evidence.

Had a pretty neat experience visiting a less active member this week. Her name is Kim. We had never been able to get into contact with her in the past. On Tuesday night we had a few minutes to kill so we decided to go and stop by. As I was about to knock on the window, a hand appeared on the other side of the door and peeled back the curtain. I heard a faint "hello?" The only way I can describe the voice is to say it sounded like Wendy from the movie Hook when she is at the top of the stairs and says, "Hello boy." Yeah, it scared me for a minute. I jumped back and introduced myself. She came out and sat down at a table that was on her front porch. We could tell she was a smoker and wasn't active AT ALL in the church. As we talked we found out she was baptized in the early 90s, still believes in the church and has children that have families which are active in the church. It was really hard to get any sort of conversation going so it came to that point in the visit where we just share a spiritual thought, say a prayer, and leave. My thought turned to Ether 12:27. First, I talked about how God's hand is in the details of our lives. Sometimes things happen to us that we don't understand, but in the end we see that we grew substantially from the trial/experience we were given. Before I could even read the scripture, her eyes got dark. She cut me off and smartly said, "Even if you have a gun held to your head and you are forced to take the blame for a crime you didn't commit?" I looked at her puzzled with dozens of questions running through my mind. The only thing I could say was, "Uhh, what happened?" She said that her son (non-member) was cornered by a group of "thugs" (as she puts it) and with a gun pointed at his head, forced him to take the blame for a crime he didn't commit otherwise they would kill him and his entire family. He followed their command. She then told us that this had just happened five days earlier. Her eyes got teary and she looked up at heaven with a clenched fist saying that she was mad at God because of what had happened. My brain was spinning! Finally my thoughts focused and I don't know where it came from, but I started talking about how God gives us experiences such as this to humble us, and His "grace is sufficient for all" who humble themselves before Him. I shared the experience of Tom Hughes, who also was falsely accused in jail. I talked about how Tom had an amazing experience, gaining a testimony while there and teaching the others in prison. Suddenly her countenance changed. She looked at me, and as if to have just scratched the winning lottery ticket, and said, "I have actually been praying for years that my son would find God and develop a faith in Him. Do you think that this could actually be an answer to my prayer?" I hoped and prayed that it was because I told her that I would have to say that was the case. Her tears turned from tears of anger and hate to tears of hope, faith, and joy. I asked her if she would like a priesthood blessing for comfort. She agreed. Elder Brothers gave her the blessing and she was in tears through the whole thing. As we left, she smiled and thanked us many times for helping her change her perspective on the experience. It was one of those "tender mercy of the Lord" experiences. Hopefully things go well.

Lastly, I've talked a lot about an investigator named Preston who was supposed to get baptized a few months ago but has to wait a little while to work some things out. His member girlfriend broke off their engagement. He was pretty distraught. He called saying he needed to receive some answers to questions from us. At about 9:30, he came by and we talked in the parking lot. His girlfriend had told him that they can't get married because they each have to be perfect before they go into it. He wanted to know the doctrine behind that excuse. We helped him to know that that was actually the opposite of truth and that we will be far from perfect and need to work through our imperfections before, and after marriage. He went to conference with many questions in mind. He let us know that they were all answered. His testimony is unshakeable.

Lately I've been thinking a lot about the "absolutes" I've learned on my mission. Some come from one-liner quotes, others are single principles. You will probably recognize some. Here's a few:

There is no comfort in a growing zone, but no growing in a comfort zone.

You are as happy as you are obedient.

The Atonement of Jesus Christ is real.

Our potential is incomprehensible.

Submitting to the Father's will, obedience, and righteous actions breed spiritual and even temporal/professional education and knowledge. (Just look at the apostles and prophets). Callings are seldom convenient...they come first.

It's a choice to be happy and to get along.

"Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of Heaven."

“The opportunity of a lifetime can be missed by not seizing it in the lifetime of the opportunity." We are saved by grace, after all we can do.

Attitude is everything.

The church is true.

I love you all very much!

Elder Mouritsen

March 20-26, 2012: The Lord's hands are in the details.

Hey family,

I won't lie my heart sank a few notches when you said that Kyler won't be there for my homecoming. That'll be a good experience for him though and hopefully all goes well. It sounds like it's been a good week back there!

Dylan’s been emailing me the past couple of weeks. I seriously admire him a lot. His strength and testimony are very powerful. As I read through his email, I couldn't help but notice that the phrase, "the feeling is enough" is also very apparent in his life. Especially in tough, very tough, decisions, the feeling is necessary to confirm what needs to happen. He is a great example of one who seeks the Lord's help and then acts.

This has been a pretty good week. Things continue to come out of the woodwork. We got in contact with the Oaks family, second cousins to Dallin H. Oaks, this week. We hope to teach and baptize the 12 year old daughter.

Our lesson with Kolt this week was fantastic. He is so ready. He shared with us his experience of finding the gospel. I'll summarize it the best that I can. He just graduated from high school in 2011 and was pondering what he wanted to study in college. His first choice was psychology, because apparently he has a Jedi's ability to interpret dreams. Next was to be a pharmacist. And lastly, at the very back of his mind, was music. He played a little bit of tuba while in high school but didn't think there would be much of an opportunity to take it into college. The decision drew nearer, and he realized he didn't really have adequate funds unless he received some help from scholarships or grants. He knew the jazz band/music professor at GCC a little bit and talked to him a bit about what he should decide to study. The music professor had heard him play a little bit and invited him to join the jazz band but to not focus on the tuba, but the saxophone. Well new saxophones cost around $5,000-$6,000 so Kolt didn't know how that was going to work. Little by little, things just started falling into place. His spot on the jazz band bred a scholarship that required him to take 20 credits. Some other funds were given by other sources and all of a sudden Kolt's school was entirely paid for. When he felt like nothing else good could happen, his teacher then offered him a very nice, but old, saxophone for $1,300. Kolt couldn't believe it! Of course he took the offer. Because of his focus on music, he became great friends with a member of the church named Melissa. One day after practice, they decided to go to lunch. The topic of religion came up and Kolt joked around a little bit about religion in general. Melissa invited him to church. She obtained a Book of Mormon from us and gave it to him. He read a few pages. Then he met with us. We did what we could to invite him to Christ. He felt the spirit, came to church, made changes in his life that are in line with gospel principles, and is now getting baptized on April 7th. After sharing this experience with us he made the comment that the Lord had answered a prayer of his heart while he didn't know he was even offering the prayer. It has been amazing to see him recognize the Lord's hand in his life as he now looks back and sees just how much he has been led and guided, though at the time being oblivious to inspiration from God.

The Lord works in mysterious ways. His hands are in the details. I'm grateful for that and I hope that we can recognize more fully in our lives just how much his hand has been there.

This week I have focused each of my studies on the atonement of Jesus Christ and the doctrine behind it. I read the account in Talmage's Jesus The Christ of the agony that took place during the crucifixion. It became very real to me. It had never occurred to me before that even after suffering all that he did in the garden, after being strengthened by the angel that was sent from the presence of God, after asking, "my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?", the suffering from Gethsemane then recurred, only this time without the help of an angel to bear him up. Through experiences on my mission, good and bad, some far too sacred to even relate, I have felt the power of His atoning sacrifice and I know it's real. I read the talk by Elder Bednar in this month's Ensign and I like how he talks about how it makes a bad man good and a good man better. The atonement isn't only for the sinners, but for the righteous. It is the power by which even the righteous are given adequate strength to break the cords/bands by which they are bound. The experience of Nephi, Alma and Amulek, and even Nephi and Lehi in the book of Helaman, show that when we pray, we shouldn't pray that the power of the atonement change our circumstances, but that we be given the necessary strength to be made equal to our circumstances. My prayers have changed since I've studied up on this principle. It has been my experience while teaching people, that people often doubt the power of the atonement when they pray for deliverance from certain circumstances and don't receive relief. If God answered every single prayer of every single person in the world, there would be no growth. Every trial and negative circumstance would be removed. In a sense, agency would be halted. God is there to give us strength, but He's not about to hinder us from experiences that which will make us stronger.

I love you all and I'm grateful for your strength in the doctrines of Christ. You all inspire me.

Love,

Elder Mouritsen

March 13-19, 2012: Teaching people, not lessons

Hello there Mouritsen family!

Sounds like a good week! There is a member in the YSA here who got a job up in Draper and has volunteered to take a package home for me. I'm trying to get some stuff together to send. That way I won't have to spend $30-$45 next month trying to send a bunch of stuff through the flat rate process. I will give him your number and he will probably come by sometime next week.

Not much has happened this past week. We had a neat experience with setting a baptism date with Kolt. I've never taken the route that we took before. We have been putting a large focus on strictly teaching the doctrines of Christ in all the lessons. Whether it be the Restoration, Plan of Salvation, or Commandments - the Doctrines of Christ are the main focus, and the other info is just to show HOW we can strengthen faith, repent, prepare for baptism/confirmation and endure to the end. Even though we had been over it before with Kolt, we felt like it would be good to just go over those five principles in more detail. As we did, the spirit was very strong in helping us to know where to take the lesson. Elder Brothers still has those "new-missionary jitters" (Leah those "jitters" are just a way of life, remember an experience of getting to the plate might just be preparing you for future "jittery" experiences that you will know how to conquer) and thinks that he has to focus strictly on our lesson plan, as opposed to focusing on the needs of the person. I'm a firm believer in creating a plan for the lessons, but then going away from those plans as the concerns and questions come up. We came to the principle of baptism. I was reluctant to commit him to a date because we had invited him in each lesson for the past two weeks. We didn't want him to feel like we were pressuring him into it (though we know it's necessary) and then lose interest all together. Oddly, I felt like the spirit told me to commit him to another date. We prepped him regarding the baptismal interview that he would need to show him that he would even be ready for baptism. Though he has felt that he needs to read the entire Book of Mormon before being ready for baptism, we let him know that all he really needs to be able to do is answer the baptismal interview questions. I looked at him and said, "Ya know Kolt there will actually be a missionary holding a baptism interview on April 1st, would you prepare yourself to be interviewed on that day?" He responded yes. I then ripped out the sheet from my planner that had the questions on it. I handed it to him and told him to look over it. If there was anything he didn't understand we would teach him about it in the coming weeks so that he could be ready. The only question he had was regarding tithing. I felt like he finally realized that he really didn't really need to know that much doctrinally, but just needed a testimony of the gospel. I noticed his countenance change as he came to that realization and said, "Kolt, we will be holding a baptismal service on the 7th of April. After being interviewed, would you prepare yourself for that date to be baptized." His response came after a few moments of pondering with, "Well, I guess I'm getting interviewed anyways. So why not?" There is no greater sight than that of watching someone change in just a few weeks because of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is a very visceral feeling, to put it in Mark Coleman's words.

Yesterday we had a cool experience in our ward council meeting with the Sahuaro Ranch ward. We have been really struggling to find, teach, and of course baptize in that ward. As of right now we have one investigator. We have put a huge focus on working with the members, mainly the less active and part member families, to find those who are searching. When we got here, the ward had a list of about 8 people who were still living in the ward that were part member families. In our efforts to seek them out, we now have a list of 33 part member families. Many of which don't want much to do with the church but the bishop was extremely happy to see that we had helped him find them. We have also really cleaned up the roster in an attempt to develop trust with the active members and help them in reaching out to the less active. Each week we come to the meeting with names of those we have found that have moved out of the ward. I know it sounds bad, but it has made them very happy to find out. Next, we "geo-coded" the ward. The clerks haven't really known how to go about doing that so when they heard that we had already done it they were happy to receive all our information and plug it in to MLS. Yesterday, the bishop vocally thanked us in front of the entire ward council. He said that he had actually emailed what we had done to help him to the missionaries that were serving from his ward. He said that they should do the same to help the bishops that they are serving. In just two months, we have really felt a big change in the ward in regards to missionary work. When we first got here, we did not feel welcome and frequently got the cold shoulder from members. They also asked us if we could take the entire meeting on Easter to speak about the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and then on the crucifixion/resurrection. My topic is the atonement. I see that as evidence that they are beginning to trust us and desire to help us with the work. Bishop has also expressed interest in having meetings with us to give us names to go and visit. The sad thing is that the names he gave yesterday, were names that we already knew a lot about. They don't have much desire in progression. We hope and pray that the work will pick up soon. We do have one investigator, a nine year old from a less active family. She actually came to church by herself yesterday. I'm amazed at how strong she is. Youth will need to be that strong if not stronger to be able to forge through the persecution that will come in the coming months and years of their lives.

Thanks for all that you do. If you have any cool stories that involve the atonement they would be greatly appreciated. I have some ideas, but more info is always needed!

I love you all! Have a great week. Get prepared for conference!

Love,

Elder Mouritsen

March 6-12, 2012: A Three-Act Play

Hello family,

To answer your questions:

I have not seen or heard from Bishop King for many months.  I think he is super busy with his new calling.  One of his friends from his mission is in the ward I serve in now, Brother Pearson.  He is awesome.   The Kings are an awesome family.

What will I do with my bike?  That is a great question.  I will probably either leave it with someone that is going to come to my homecoming, or just leave it here and I'll be able to pick it up at a later time.

The Easter Pageant is a great missionary tool.  We are only given permission to go to it once though so we are going to try to get as many investigators together that we can.  It's a great experience and many referrals are sent out because of it.  A lot of the Christian world here in Phoenix attends and finds out that the Mormons are actually Christians.  Weird.

Sounds like it was a great time in St. George for Leah's softball games!  This past week I was on exchanges with Elder Griessmann because we had to switch companions because of the leadership training meeting.  We rode our bikes past the Spring  Training field that the Padres and the Mariners play it.  It is unbelievable.  I hope to get a picture of it soon.  Each team has three practice fields that are each as nice or nicer than Lindquist field in Ogden.  Also, green grass is a rare sight here, so it blows my mind to see such immaculate green grass.  That will take some getting used to come May.

Yesterday I was waiting in the foyer for my ride to come to take me to our other ward.  Brenda's sister, Debra walked past and we chatted for a bit.  She showed me some pictures of Whitney and the baby.  She's pretty dang cute!  It sounds like all is well with the delivery.  That is good news.  Debra is dang funny too.  She reminds me so much of Brenda.

On Tuesday of this week I was on exchanges with Elder Freeman, one of our zone leaders.  We were in his area and had an appointment with some less active kids in his ward.  The situation is kind of hard to explain.  There is a ten year old boy, 13 year old girl, and 14 year old girl.  They grew up here in the valley but because of some bad decisions from their parents they were forced to move in with their grandpa who was living in northern Arizona.  The grandpa is an active member.  He took them to church during their youth and made sure that they all got baptized at eight years old.  Well now they have all moved down here to go to school.  They are living with their non-denominational Christian aunt.  They also have a Baptist grandma who comes to visit frequently.  There are also 6-7 other people living in the home.  Oh, and did I mention that it felt like we were having a lesson in a chimney with a fire going from all the smoke that was in the room?  It was hard to breathe.  The kids stopped coming to church since moving and haven't had much interest in it since.  The grandpa is worried, so he sent a referral to the missionaries to go over and help them. 

We walked into the house and I could tell immediately that there wasn't much interest in us being there from the feeling I got from the kids.  The ten year old was nice, but the girls just had no care in the world.  They were really snotty, acting like they weren't listening, and trying to do all they could to end each conversation we would start.  Elder Freeman shared a brief spiritual thought.  The grandma and aunt were in the room and talked a lot about how they wanted the kids to get involved in spiritual things in any way possible.  I could tell they weren't too firm in their own faiths.  The grandma then made an interesting comment.  She said to the 14 year old, "even though you might have a lot of questions and doubts, you still need to give God a chance."  Ding! Ding! Ding!  The light bulb lit in my mind.  I looked at her and said, "Look, we are here to answer your questions.  This is your opportunity to throw all your concerns out on the table and allow us to help you clear up your doubts."  She looked at me, looked at her grandma, back and me, did one of those snotty teenage girl shoulder shrugs and said, "Well alright then here goes...if God created the earth and created man, then where did God come from?"  Right then I had the feeling that she has been influenced by many other "popular" theories of the time.  Kids think they can confound and frustrate the works of God, or at least people who believe in God.  Someone who doesn't have a firm testimony in gospel principles may be very susceptible.  I looked at her, smiled, and assured her that often times we don't receive answers until the next life.  Our minds are so finite and focused on time and having a beginning and an end to all things that we cannot even comprehend eternity.  I then told her that even I have many questions that I have never had answered, and probably won't ever have answered until the time is right in my progression which probably won't be until the next life.  In a straightforward sense, I quoted the Prophet Joseph to answer her question; "As man is, God once was, and as God is, man can become."  She slightly understood but responded with another question; "Well if God loves me, and if He exists, why did he put me through so many hard times and trials while I was growing up?"  She said that she had prayed but never received any answers or comfort.  I thought for a bit, and told her straight up that she probably just didn't recognize answers because they didn't come the way she was expecting.  It was funny to watch the grandma and aunt during this conversation.  They looked back and forth from us to her (as if they were watching a ping pong match from the side of the table) and would pipe in with comments that agreed with our doctrine.  That is how I knew that they didn't understand or attend their own church very much.  haha.  Their comments backed up all our teaching!  In my mind, I thought this scenario seemed extremely backwards.  The "member present" wasn't a member at all and the "investigator" that we were teaching was a member!  

We talked for a while longer on that subject.  Then a random thought came to my mind.  I asked her if she had ever been involved in drama or acting of any kind.  She smiled and said yes.  I sighed with happiness and relief.  I then went on to describe how life is a lot like a three act play.  Act one is our pre-mortal life, act two-earth life, and act three is life after death.  The only problem is that we enter the theater of the play in the middle of act two.  We also aren't just a spectator, but an actual actor in the play.  You can imagine that if you were to act such a part in a play that you just popped in to that it would be very confusing and you wouldn't understand all the plots and subplots.  Life is a lot like this, many things happen that we do not understand because we don't remember Act one, and we haven't yet seen Act three.  There is also no "happily ever after" in Act two, that comes in Act three.  Sometimes we don't understand everything, but when Act 3 rolls around we will be able to see everything that happened and know exactly why.  I then went on to talk about Ether 12:27.  The reason she had such hard times in her youth could be because the Lord needs her to become strong from such trials so that she can lift someone else in the future.  We just don't know.  To my surprise, she agreed with everything.  She understood.  This is the shortened version of all the topics that were covered but what was supposed to be a 15 minute visit turned out to be a 45 minute discussion.  It was a good experience.  I was thankful for the promise that the spirit will fill our mouths with what to say as long as we are prepared with the doctrine in our minds. 

This morning I read a quote by Joseph Smith that helped me understand this experience.  "When you climb up a ladder, you must begin at the bottom, and ascend step by step, until you arrive at the top; and so it is with the principles of the gospel--you must begin with the first, and go on until you learn all the principles of exaltation.  But it will be a great while after you have passed through the veil before you will have learned them.  It is not all to be comprehended in this world; it will be a great work to learn our salvation and exaltation even beyond the grave."

Of course we know those principles to be: Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End.  But what is the significance of all those things?  Baptism is the power to remit sin.  Confirmation, the power to commune with Heaven.  Enduring to the End includes receiving the Melchezidek Priesthood, which is the power to act in God's name.  Receiving the endowment, the power to become like God.  And to be sealed for time and all eternity, which is the power to become God.

We have great potential.  Potential we cannot even comprehend!  I would hope that we would live life in such a way that we wouldn't hinder the blessings that the Lord has in store for us.  Each choice we make either pushes us further up the ladder, or slides us down.

The church is true! 

I love you all.

Love,

Elder Colton Matthew Mouritsen

February 28 - March 5, 2012: One of the best days of my mission

Hello "goodly parents," grandparents, sisters, friends, and family...

Great email dad. I'm very excited for the girls and all their accomplishments. I hope they know how much I look up to and admire them. It's just a blessing to be assured of their constant experiences they have which strengthen their testimonies. The adversary's tactics have become far too apparent in the lives of many of the youth down here. There are those who are stalwart, steadfast, and immovable. Then there are those who doubt, waiver, and disregard the illuminating feelings of the spirit that were once present in their lives. This contrast of experiences has caused me to NEVER have that feeling where the spirit leaves. I can't imagine life without it. I mean, life with it is still a struggle, but a struggle that we can always win.

One of the best days of my entire mission occurred this week. It was Friday, March 2nd. The night before I got a call from an old friend, Mark Coleman. He said that he had received his patriarchal blessing in the mail and he wanted to meet with me to talk about how awesome it was. We set the appointment for 7:30 the next day. Friday at 2:00 we had an appointment with Kolt. Kolt is the friend of a member in the YSA. I've talked about him before. He has been intrigued in the church’s stance on the family, and that "intrigue" has turned to an intense study of the other gospel truths that go hand in hand with our belief about the family. We had planned to teach him the Plan of Salvation, my favorite to teach. He accepted the things we spoke about. It went smoothly like any other lesson. We focused a lot on the fact that the blessings of the gospel are open to those who have already passed on from this life. This was because his dad passed away around 15 years ago. I think he enjoys that gospel truth; that families extend to the eternities if we but do the work for them here on earth. The end of the lesson came and I realized that he had never prayed in front of us before. We invited him to do so. He did not want to at all. At that moment the scripture in 2 Nephi 32 came to mind. "Satan teaches a man to not pray..." We insisted that he say the prayer. He continued to come up with bogus excuses as to why he didn't feel adequate, or able to pray. After a short battle, we bowed our heads, closed our eyes, and FINALLY Kolt began to voice the prayer. What then occurred was one of the most powerful feelings I've felt in my life. Immediately, the spirit engulfed those in the room. It felt like I was hit by a spiritual freight train. In the prayer, Kolt expressed gratitude for his family, for us, for his member friend, and then he paused. His eyes began to fill with tears. Once again the spirit hit so powerfully it was undeniable. He closed the prayer in the name of Jesus Christ and we just sat there in silence. That's all that I could do. I wanted to say something but I think the spirit blocked my mind from being able to come up with what to say. The silence was finally broken by Kolt, he said, "It feels like I've been hit in the chest with a baseball bat. It feels so weird it almost hurts." Once again the spirit was super strong. We sat in silence for a bit more until finally I felt what I needed to say. I testified of the power of the spirit, especially the spirit that was present right then and there. It helped Kolt to recognize it. We brought up baptism. He knows what he needs to do. I think he is looking for some miraculous burning bush experience. We assured him that what he felt was the Lord speaking to him. We left with the spirit still strong and he committed to come to church.

Later that night Mark Coleman met us at our church building. I was pretty stoked. He wanted it to be between him and me so Elder Brothers volunteered to just sit outside the door so we could talk. He wanted to talk about certain lines from his Patriarchal Blessing and other specific blessings the Lord has given him that have been already made known in his life. Of course he didn't read the whole thing to me. I made sure he wouldn't. It was amazing to hear. He said the majority of his blessing talks about his service as a full-time missionary. There is also a large chunk about who he was in the pre-existence. It was very apparent in the blessing that he had many friends in the pre-existence who would be waiting for him to come to them with the gospel in mortality. It reminded me a lot of my own personal testimony regarding the reasons that I came out on my mission; for those who were prepared by the Lord that only I could touch. Afterward, he went on to tell me that he had received a new calling. He is the elder's quorum secretary. He home teaches 10 different individuals who are all either less active or recent converts. He has also volunteered to help people in a cancer center. He told me that there is absolutely no way that he would be doing these things if it wasn't for the church. It was so soothing to hear. His testimony is so strong and I am so thankful for the opportunity that I have had to get to know him. I know that I knew him in the pre-existence. He was a friend of mine before we received our calls to come to earth. That has been made known to me on many occasions.

My studies lately have revolved a lot around the talk, "Cast not Away Therefore Your Confidence" by Elder Holland. Like I said earlier, it is amazing to me to see how many people have at one time been illuminated by the spirit, forgotten the feeling/illumination, and turned away from what they knew at one time was true. Lesson one from Elder Holland's talk is to REMEMBER THE REAL THING. Satan can hedge up the way, marshal Pharaoh's forces and dog our escape right to the water's edge, but he cannot produce the real thing. He cannot conquer if we will it otherwise. Before receiving answers, Satan strives to discourage us. Afterwards, he strives to cause us to doubt. His fiery darts never cease until we bind him by our own righteousness in such a way that he has no power, just as he won't have power during the millennium. We can all start the millennium early, in our own personal lives and ways. Lesson number two: Don't miss the opportunity of a lifetime by not seizing it in the lifetime of the opportunity. After spiritual illumination has occurred, Satan's greatest tool is fear. Don't fear nor forget the miracles that have gotten us to where we are. Resist the temptation to panic and give up. Yes, those feelings are temptations and choices we can make. At those times, fear will be the adversary’s strongest weapon. After we have received the revelation, "go forward...don't fear, don't vacillate, don't quibble, don't whine." Lesson number three. If God has told you something is right, if something is indeed true for you, He will provide the way for you to accomplish it. That is true with any worthy pursuit in life. Hence the reason Nephi was so sure that the Lord would provide a way for him "that he may accomplish the thing, which the Lord [had] commanded him."

Too often we forget. I would hope that steady, earnest, energetic effort in having spiritual experiences will help us to never forget the real thing. Constant impressions and spiritual illumination is possible. We might not be able to be the prophet of the church, but we can be the prophet of our own individual lives. It is a gift which those who have the gift of the Holy Ghost are all entitled to. It is called personal revelation. Joseph Smith has said that "salvation cannot come without revelation." He isn't referring to prophetic revelation necessarily, but individual revelatory experiences that help us to gain a testimony of the truth.

Thanks for all you do! I love and appreciate you more than you know.

Love,

Elder Mouritsen

P.S. Please apologize to those who have written me but I haven't responded to. At the library we have a very short amount of time to do our emails.