He Said That Every Time He Talks About God It Just Makes Him Happy

Hey again!!  

Its good to hear from you this week!! It for sure looks like the week was a full one!! It seems like a good week. Can you believe how old dad is? I think he is getting older faster than the rest of us. But we love him anyway. The two that look the most different are Ali and Jaxsen though! i wont say more about that, if i did i am sure it would all be sarcastic. I will let them still think they are beautiful people.   No but it does sound like it was a fun week. I really liked the pictures from the Philippines! (Bri went back to the Philippines for a humanitarian trip with BYU) it looks like a fun place. All the other little things sound like it made for a great week!

This week here was a super good one! We probably taught more this week then i have in a week before. Not all of the lessons were like perfect super powerful lessons, But we were able to have good contact with a lot of our investigators. The whole time i have been here the area just seems to be getting better and better! Its really cool to see. We received a referral from the Sisters here in Benton. It was a guy named A--. We went and found him one day and he let us in. He has had a really hard life. He was homeless in Kennewick for a while and there is a program that helps people in that situation called the Union Gospel Mission. When i was in Pasco we did service there every week helping them out with the things they needed. But he got into that program. It gives them food and a building to sleep in. The great thing is for them to be able to stay there they have to get involved with a church. he said ever since then he started learning about God, he just wants to learn more and said that he will never turn his back on God. Just before his time there was done he found a trailer and a park to put it in. We taught him the Restoration and he loved it. He said that every time he talks about God it just makes him happy. We helped him know it is because of the Holy Ghost and helped him know how he can receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. So now he is on date for March 18th to be baptized. There are a lot of things he is going to have to overcome, some of them related to the Word of Wisdom, but we are super excited to teach him! We had a second lesson with him this week and it went good also. We taught R-- and L--again too! R-- has a crazy work schedule this week too. there were times he got called out super early morning, would work part of the day and when night time would come around he would have to head back to work. He said he had a 16 hour work day this week. the lesson went really good. they are just super awesome and prepared to receive us and our message. They slept through church though!! It was to bad. But they are doing really good though. For D--, we did have a lesson with him. It was good too. He is a Free Mason. Its another organization not really a religion, but it gets picked on and called a cult a lot also. So he was able to relate to us. he explained a bit of that to us.  But he was excited to get the Book of Mormon on his phone! He is busy but does have some travel time. so he said that he would listen to it as he drove around. Another miracle we saw this week was a guy named B-- M-- that we found. He is less active. Last week we asked our Elders quorum President if there was anyone that he would like us to try to go find. He told us B--M--. So one night we did. He lives in the middle of nowhere and it was dark and it has been warming up so it was super muddy, i thought i was going to lose my shoe or something. But we finally found a house that we thought might be his so we went and knocked it. And it was him!! He said he had been drinking a little bit and we started just getting to know him. then he asked us how he could get back into church. He wants to change his life and get back to church. We told him the time of church and that it is on Sunday and said it is that simple. We testified of the power in the Book of Mormon and how that, combined with prayer would give him the added strength that he would need to overcome his bad habits and get back to church. The next day on Sunday he wasnt there. We dont know what came up for sure. But he hasnt read the book of Mormon for a long time, long enough that he didnt know where it was so we gave him another one. But he said that he has been reading the Book of Mormon again and that it is great. So it was so great to find him. Its amazing, sometime people think that miracles dont happen anymore, but as to my experience as a missionary, that that is the only way missionary work happens. I believe miracle are how missionary work happens. Its amazing!! some are big some are small, but when anyone has a change of heart and wants the things that he have to offer, it is a miracle. This week was just a great one. 

The only not so great thing was the freezing rain. The sisters got hit from behind in their car. So that night was kinda taken over by helping them with everything. It was good for us to give that service for them. They were more shook up than hurt, but they didnt even want to drive the car off the road after that. So we drove them where they needed and gave them a blessing and shoveled ice and snow and did a bunch of other things and walked home after because we had to get their car to their house somehow. It was really good though. One thing that i have found out more while i have been on the mission is that i just love to serve people and i just have a great time doing that. Its a good thing that a mission is all service so i have a reason to always love and enjoy it.

But ya it was just a great week. I loved it. I hope all of you have a great next week too! i hope everything goes as planned or better!! I love you all!! bye bye!

Elder Mortensen