hello! 

It definitely sounds like it was a fun week! Haha the first thing that comes to mind is Jaxsen crashing in his race. I feel a little responsible for that. I might have jinxed  him from earlier. I told him not to crash! but i hope there was a GoPro on. Haha it makes me laugh that Brianne won all of the Shooting competitions! that is super awesome! For you dad, looking good. Its also kinda funny that Ali probably knows more of what she is going to do in college then me. I should probably put a little of effort into thinking about it. But good for her. 

this week here was awesome! definitely the greatest news i could tell you is we found M--! He is doing great! He is also getting baptized this week!! He is super excited. So are we. Its a little bit stressing though. Right now we are planning the baptism, and another interview with him, and the hardest part is finding him rides. He has to keep working so he can start to save up some money so he can get a car. So there is still a lot more work to do there. It has been really good to be able to see him progress to this point. If there is anything that i would ask for some extra prayers for it would be for that baptism to go good and especially for M--. Thanks for all the prayers that have been said for him already.  

C-- is also doing pretty good. We had a really good lesson with him on exchanges. He wanted more information and was trying to understand more about the gospel. We taught him the lesson of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He really liked it. It was a super good lesson. It was very different to teach with someone that has been on the mission for a while. My last two companions being newer and its just different. once you have been on the mission you start to think more a like. It probably is being more in tune to the spirit and receiving the same things more often. We still are focusing on baptism for him and helping him get ready for that point. 

For A--, she actually moved out to Spokane. So we aren't teaching her anymore. She needed a change in lifestyle. So she wanted to move somewhere different and get a new start.   That for the most part is the people that we are teaching. We are also working with this guy named J--. He is Less active. He is working a job that makes him not be able to go to church on Sundays. So he tells us we are his Church for now. he is also preparing for his Patriarchal blessing, so we are helping him keep learning and keep praying. He is doing good though. 

We did get a chance to do some service this week. We go every week to this place called Union Gospel Mission. We pack fruit and vegetables into boxes and they give them out some where. We have also been working with the City and working in their fields. That is ending here soon because of winter though. 

Well that is what i got for today! i might be more if this keyboard didnt suck. But is does, so sorry! I love you all!! Have a good week!

Elder Mortensen

Ps pictures!

This was on exchanges. Elder Somerville is from Lehi!

I recognized him but didn't know him.

I also carved a pumpkin!  I didnt have a light 

so I put a lamp in it. It actually worked!

Also getting read for the rain! Its been crazy! so it was 

time to pull out he massive jacket that makes me look funny.

We moved into our new apartment and there was a 

football on the roof right out side the window in front 

of my desk. It was to distracting for studies that we 

had no choice but to go get it. And I didnt fall!

She Looked At Him And Pretty Much Told Him That He Needs To Start Doing More And Then His Faith Will Be Enough And He Will Know It Is True

Hello! 

Well... this was another crazy week! It was a good one though. But yes you are right, that is the life of a missionary and you wouldn't want it any other way. Guess what, M-- came to FHE! the thing is we still dont really know what happened to him, but we did find him and get a chance to talk to him. Elder Corral was talking to him and asked him about baptism. He said he hasn't done anything wrong. So Its at least on his mind and he is trying to be ready in a way. We still haven't been able to  teach him or meet with him again, but he seems to be doing good. His life is just crazy. He actually for some reason got kicked out of where he was living so he is now in Richland. So we cant really just go look for him over there. But He is planning on coming to FHE again today. Its been a wild ride with him. I cant wait until he has a car. right now we are finding him rides to everything he wants to come to. So it is a lot of work. This is a big part of YSA work for some reason, finding people rides. 

We did get another chance to teach C-- again. He has a lot of questions. the big thing for him is he doesn't understand the need for the Book of Mormon. We have answered all his questions with our thoughts and scriptures and testimony and then we just told him that now it comes down to him reading and praying and getting an answer that its true. Then he will know why we need it. He is for sure sincere and is putting some work into finding out if it is true. It was a good lesson. At the end It was kinda an awkward time but i felt like i needed to share a scripture from the Book of Mormon about the Atonement and bear him my testimony. It was actually really cool. After the lesson Elder Corral said that it brought the spirit in really strong. That is something i realized that i want to do more of. Just as we are talking to people wherever i might be to share a scripture and a testimony with them so they can feel something. So if we come back or when other missionaries come back they can remember that they felt something. At the end of sharing with him, his friend asked if she could share a scripture. She shared a scripture in James about how we need works. She looked at him and pretty much told him that he needs to start doing more and then his faith will be enough and he will know it is true. It sounded a little nicer then that, but that was the message. It was super awesome!

the studying is still super cool. I am just going in logical order so probably not perfect chronological order but there is a lot of different things that stand out as i have read it this way. Mostly to see the little differences of the stories they tell of Christ. Also to see what stories and events are told by more then one person and sometimes just one person. putting it together in this way just helps it make a lot of sense. 

The YSA branch is great. They actually do feed us almost every night. Better then any other branch i have been in so far. it makes me realize how funny it is when a big family ward says its too hard to feed the missionaries everyday. They just need to look at this branch and see that its not to bad. Its good to get a chance to talk to the members more. It is an easy time to just get to know them and then get to the point we can encourage them to do more missionary work and ask to teach their friends. That is probably the best part of YSA work. It takes a true friendship before any work gets done. We have great friendships and are now ready for the work to take off! 

Lehi still sounds great!! it sounds like lots of things are still going on. I am a little jealous that you got to go to the Mountains! I haven't seen those is a long while! Whenever i see a picture of them i am just like, Dang, we dont have those here. But its all good i guess. Sounds like Jaxsen is still doing great with his biking. I hope he never crashes to bad, but if he does at least you have video of it on that GoPro! 

Thanks for the Email again! it was great!! i love you all!

Elder Mortensen

 PS Just to answer one on your questions, my favorite thing to eat is Breakfast foods!! i have pancakes or eggs for most of my lunchs. 

also we have pictures but we will have to send them next week, they are on E. Corrals camera and right now i am with E. Owen ( he was is my MTC District) because our companions are in the Choir and are at practice right now. They have a choir because the 70 that is coming next month requested one. SO that is where E Corral is!

He Also Saw Many Miracles And Said They Were From God. So He Knows. We Might Just Have To Help Him Realize It Again

Hello!! 

this was a crazy week. I dont really know why but for the last half of the week i felt like by brain was on overload! There was a ton going on in my mind and it was crazy! It was Probably the weirdest feeling headache that i have ever felt. But i guess it was a sign of working hard. The days and weeks just keep on flying. They have all been so good though.  This week we finally got in contact with M-- again! We had a few lessons planned that he said he was going to be able to make it to. But he didnt show up to either of the lessons that were planned.  It is great that we now have a little more contact with him, but we still dont know what happened or what is still happening. he did move up here to Pasco finally. we dont know exactly where. There is this big neighborhood behind Walmart that he said he lives in. so we might just have to go knock the whole thing to find him. Because of the people he lives with he would still rather meet at the institute building for the lessons. We hope that we are going to be able to find him this week and get a chance to talk to him. He will come around soon enough. He had a great time at church. Something that he wasnt able to have in the same way anywhere else. He also saw many miracles and said they were from God. So he knows. We might just have to help him realize it again. 

A super awesome miracle we saw this week was we received a referral from the Relief Society President in the Kennewick YSA. Her friend C-- lives over here in Pasco. We were able to have a good lesson with them both. He grew up Christian and dosent remember much but still believes in Christ. So it was kinda hard to teach him because he know a lot but there is a lot of holes in what he knows. but he accepted all that we had to share about the Restoration. He also accepted a baptismal date! He said that he would be baptized when he knows that these things are true and when we invited him to a date he first said that it seemed to early. We were able to help him understand the importance of putting a date as a goal to work toward and we were able to bare testimony to him.  He accepted a date for the 12th of November. We hope that we will be able to start working with him more and more this next week so he will feel ready for baptism. 

That is the big thing that President White is pushing, Baptism! He has told us a promise he was given from one of the Seventy, as he always focuses on baptism that the missionaries will follow and success will happen. As a mission we are trying to invite everyone to baptism. Of course every lesson as it was before and more and more as we are just talking to people on the streets and at their doors. It is going to be hard and probably awkward at times, but that just seems to be how missionary work is. 

My interview went really good with President White. the 20 minute interview went 10 minutes long but it was still one of the shortest ones. President was there for 10 hours doing interviews. One of the biggest changes from that interview is how i study. He invited me to study a little different than i have probably ever before. He was right. It is to read the 4 gospels in chronological order. To skip back and forth and as teaching or events come up in the Book of Mormon, to read them there too. He said it will help to bring the bible and the Book of Mormon together and i will understand them better. an example, i dont remember how many of the 4 Gospels has the birth of Christ, i think it is 3 of them. But than as i read those to go to the Book of Mormon to read of the prophecies and signs of his birth.  It has been really cool. It has been kinda hard, but it actually feels like a scripture Study, not just reading them. 

well that is for sure the big parts of my week. Another thing that just came to mind is after church we had a "linger longer". it is just a pot luck after church to get the members to stay and then have a good time together. It was great and we also got all the leftovers!! 

It sounds like there is still a lot of fun things that are going on back at home. i think that it is super cool the activity they did with the refugees. That would for sure be something you would always remember. I am sure it is something they will always remember too. Mountain biking still looks fun, even if its not a great as soccer. But its alright. I bet it has been fun for Jaxsen. Good luck with the ward. I hope you all have a great week! talk to you next week! well kinda. I Love yo u all!! 

Elder Mortensen

Ps: This wasnt staged! this is just another normal day as a missionary! ties, candy, cookies on the ironing board shaving and eating some good food. Its great being a missionary!

Also i wanted to let you know mom, that i dont just eat sandwiches anymore. I improved my cooking skills. 

It's Hard To See Someone Going Through So Much And Know We Have The Things That Will Help, But They Don't Know That And Wont Do Some Of The Things That Really Will Help Them

Hello!! 

This was a crazy week! It was for sure a weird one! well the biggest thing on my mind, its not to fun, M-- disappeared! After his interview last week he was all good and ready to be baptized. his date was 2 days ago. But we havent seen him and havent been able to get in contact with him. He lives in Kennewick still so we cant go and look at his house so we did the next best idea. There is this taco truck that he is at all the time. He kinda just hangs around there. So we ate a lot of tacos during a couple of different days, but we didnt find him. He did text back one of our members inviting him to an activity. He didnt end up going but the good thing is that he answered. He also loves Facebook so the members can help us out with that. There is a lot of things that work on investigators in a negative way when they are close to baptism. This, i am sure, is what is happening with him. It might take a little more time, he does love the church, so he will come back some time soon. its kinda been a little crappy because of that, but it was a good week still. A-- fell into some more bad habits and didnt really want to talk to us because she felt guilty. We talked to a recent convert that she lives with and she said that A-- is just having a hard time with life and everything about it right now. Its hard to see someone going through so much and know we have the things that will help, but they dont know that and wont do some of the things that really will help them. this week has obviously been super full of prayer, with our two main investigators falling off a little. 

We had exchanges this week and i went with our district leader in his area. Before the day started i told him that we are going to work in his area but find a YSA for our companionship to teach. We did! We were knocking around at 11 just before lunch. there was this guy named I--. We had a really good lesson with him. He is hard to explain. he is opened minded kinda. He told us that he dosent believe in God because he cant prove it. But he also cant prove that god isnt real so he believes there could be a god. So it is going to be interesting to teach him. He is reading the Book of Mormon and there is a lot of power in that, so there is a lot of hope for him. he is pretty cool. 

This next week is going to be good. We are going to do a lot more member work. We have been trying to get that going but it hasnt worked super good yet. We also have interviews with president. Those are always really good. They usually are a few hours behind at the end but this week we dont have to worry about it because we are the first two interviews. We also hope we will find M-- and help him with whatever he is going through so he can keep progressing in the gospel. We are excited.

Sounds like everything back home is going really good! thats good to hear! especially that Jaxsen did good in his Bike race! Thats awesome. i hope that everything keeps going great! I will be excited to hear back next week! have a great week! I love you all!

Elder Mortensen

 

Ps i do have a picture. Its with B--. He is one of the people we knew in Prosser. He was an investigator from the other elders. He got baptized! the first time we met him the other elders introduced us as Stumpy( Elder Harward) and Ugly(me). when he opened the door he said, i dont want to call you this but i dont know your name. so he just called me stumpys companion, Ugly. It was funny

We Need To Really See What Matters Most To Us, What Has More Value, Then Choose It

Hello! 

Wasn't this week just great! it is kinda weird that we were doing the same things for like 10 hours this week! that doesn't happen very often. The conference was great though. Something that stood out to me a lot is how often the gospel of Christ was talked about. If it was either repentance, grace, joy, or things like that. The Gospel of Christ kinda covers everything so its obvious that its talked about all the time. But i realized more of how it needs to be always a thought in our mind.  This was for sure on my mind a lot because the day before, on Friday, We had the Doctrine of Christ training. Its a training that you go to in your second transfer, or if its our companions second transfer. They taught about having a perfect brightness of hope as we are living this Doctrine. If we really trust God and his promises. We all have a lot of promises made to us, especially as missionaries. President White taught us that we need to do the things necessary for those blessings then ask for them and expect them to come. For me i do the things that i am suppose to, but dont always ask God to show me the blessings. It seemed kinda weird for me, to ask for something that i am already promised i will receive. But as i do this i either receive more or at least recognize more of the blessings that i receive. It makes counting my blessing a little easier for me. The thing i liked most about conference was the promise of Joy. I dont remember who it was exactly or exactly what he said, that is what notes are for i just dont have them with me, but i think it was Elder Stevenson Invited us to have more Joy in our lives. it kinda seems weird, making it sound like a choice to have joy. But it really is. I was reading in the Book of Mormon in the book of Mormon. In chapter 8 verse 38 it says.  Why do ye not think that greater is the value of an endless happiness than that misery which never dies-because of the praise of the world?  It helped me understand that it is a choice. We need to really see what matters most to us, what has more value. then choose it. We need to not be afraid of the praises of criticizing of the world and choose the things that will give us Joy. It was a great thing that was able to come clear into my mind. I hope it came out good when i typed it. The spirit works great with me in my head, but my fingers and words dont always work super great with the thoughts i was given. Conference was so great thought!!

The first two sessions we were at the institute building where we have church and watched it with the YSA. There was breakfast before, games and a barbecue in between and they gave us all the extra food after. So it was great! We watched the other sessions in the Stake Center. I worked out really good for us.

This week was like cut in half because all the meetings and conference. Not a ton of missionary work got done. But... M-- did have his interview with president and he is getting baptized!!  It made us so happy you have no idea. We dont now if it is going to be this week or the next we hope this week if we can get a hold of him. He is kinda hard to get a hold of. We are so excited for him. He is so great.

Its great to hear all the great things from this week. Its pretty cool that some friends from North Carolina come down! that i am sure was a ton of fun. I hope everyone got as much out of conference as mom did!! i will have to make sure i study a little bit more to catch up with her. and i hope that none of you gained as much weight over conference as i did! because if you did, i am sorry! But have another great week! i love you all a ton!!

Elder Mortensen.

Ps  Mom i just wanted to let you know that i definitely know that you have a really strong testimony and are converted to Christ, living like him to the best of your ability. There is nothing that has more impact on me than you and the example of Charity that you have shown during my whole life. You are a unfailing light that helps lead me in the way of joy that was talked about so much this last weekend. i love you very much for that and for everything else.

also pictures!  

There is nothing better then locking our trainees out side for a little. 

Elder corral also got a bunch of car oil dumped on him. He wasnt to happy about it. 

even more because i thought it was super funny

Its not my face to look at so sorry, but it is just as funny

Its Been Something I Have Known Before But Now I Can Say It Is a Solid Testimony Of Mine Because it Was Confirmed So Clear To Me By The Spirit

Hello!!

I have been great!! I'm loving it here in little Mexico! It still surprises me how many Hispanics are here. I dont know if i told you this, i told someone sometime. But down down there is a member family we were eating with. Down in the neighborhoods they are living in it is 97% Hispanic 2% Black and 1% White!!  I dont know how that happens, but it does!

Thanks for asking about M--! he is still doing pretty. But, he will no longer be baptized this week! It was sad to hear, his probation was suppose to end last week, but it got extended until January! He dosent really know why. He has an interview with President White this Wednesday (transfers day). So we will know what is going to happen then. He could still be baptized while on probation, but we just dont know yet if it is going to work earlier or have to put it off for a little.  We have taught a lot about repentance and how to do it. He feels that he has repented. That is part of the reason he is going to have an interview with President. He is in a better position to talk it through with him.

A-- is doing so much better! We stopped by one day and had a conversation with her on her porch. She has a super hard crazy life, more then i could really explain. She has 3 sets of Parents that have pretty much rejected her. Her real mom and dad, her step mom and dad and here street mom and street dad that helped her out when she was homeless. There have been many that have passed away and the others dont make time for her to visit them. She wants to help her street parents but has no way of doing it. There is a lot of things that she told us. She said that she wanted someone to tell everything to and she trusted us. She said she told us things that she has never told anyone else. She was pretty sad. We stopped by a few days latter. Someone else answered the door and we asked if A-- was there. Then she came running to the door and said hey its my missionaries! it made us super excited to hear that! She said that she feels so much better and lots more joy. The bad things that have been in her life are going away. you could just tell there has been a lot of change in her. it is awesome to see! She wanted to come to church but was in Vancouver for the weekend.

We didnt really find G-- this week. He had his moms phone so we called that. Pretty much the first thing she said was i want to cook a meal for you both. When do you want to come over.  So tomorrow at 7 we are going to go have second dinner!! and teach a lesson!! It is so great. Being a missionary has many blessing. Spiritual and definitely temporal also!

One of my favorite part of this week was during the sacrament. We had the opportunity to bless it this week. As i was saying the prayer, i felt a power in me super strong. i dont know how to say what i was feeling or even why but it was amazing. While Elder Corral was blessing the water there was somethings that came so clear into my mind. Just about the promises of having the spirit with me. How they change just a little. It brought comfort to me and after sitting in the congregation just listening to the talks, As i thought of it again i was just filled with joy. It was amazing to me to learn more of how i can remember Christ always. How we just need to live how he would live and do what he can to love like he does and we can always have the spirit and that direction in our lives. When we think of the water or his blood, or his Atonement, the promise it that we may have his spirit to be with us. To me it tells me that it is an unfailing way to invite the spirit into our hearts. So when the hard times come, when there is any time we feel alone or anytime we want to be lifted, the promise to receive all that is by thinking of his Atonement. Its been something i have known before but now i can say it is a solid testimony of mine because it was confirmed so clear to me by the spirit. This made for a great end to the week.

Its Great to see all the great things that are going on at home. Also i realized how i can give a talk better. I just need to tell Ali my topic and have her write it up for me. It sounded great!! its good to see the i am not the only success in the family ;) Its to bad to hear jaxsen didnt get a chance to redeem himself mountain biking! but his time will come! Thanks for always keeping me in all your prayers. It is for sure something that lifts me and helps me be able to do the things i am called to do. I love you all!! have a great week! again!

Elder Mortensen

Ps, oh i almost forgot! We are both staying here for at least one more transfer!! i was super glad to hear that!

He Said A Prayer and When He Did The Spirit Came In Really Strong And Helped Him Know That He Really Is Ready And Going To Change

Hello!!!  

This week was a weird one. It was really good though. the best part is M-- came to church!! again! and he had his first baptismal interview! He is going to have to have another one because he is just getting off probation, so he needs to meet with President white. the district leader that interviewed him said that it went really good. He said that lots of people when they get out of jail say that they want to change but not long after they get put back in. he said that when M-- said that he was going to change his life and that he has, he said that it felt real. At the end he had M-- say the prayer and he said when he did that that the spirit came in really strong and helped him know that he really is ready and going to change. But... the only thing is M-- lives in Kennewick right now and so really he isnt even in our area, but his plans were to move back up to Pasco, but the apartment he was going to move into rejected him for some reason. So we dont know where he is going to be going. We dont know for sure what elders are going to be teaching him, but he is ready to be baptized and is going to happen eventually!! 

this week we didnt have a ton of lessons, just a few. An-- is going through a hard time in life and she is quiet and because of the things she is going through she doesnt want to talk to many people. so she didnt come to church this week and we didnt really have a lesson, but we did stop by and she was happy to see us. We had a good conversation and shared a scripture with her. We hope that it is something that will help her feel more peace. We had a lesson with G--. He is always out and about so its hard to find him home. But Sunday night we found him. He was in his garage watching TV. we sat down and he asked us, what was that guys name? the prophet or something like that.  we told him Joseph Smith. But he said no. He was thinking of Tomas S Monson.  We then went to youtube and watched some of his messages and talks. It was really cool. It gave us a chance to share about prophets and bare testimony of the importance of them. It was a really cool lesson. One like i have never taught before. It was also cool to see the first talk president monson gave when he was made an apostle. also something else weird. One night we were laying there in bed. i didnt really know what was happening bu i realized me and Elder corral were sitting in bed talking to each other. He said something to me and i was just, elder that didnt even make sense, you are crazy. then he told me to just go to bed. after that i rolled over and fell asleep. the next day i didnt now if it was a dream or not until he asked me if i remembered this. So we just had a great little sleep conversation! i remember trying to nightly plan but it didnt work because i couldnt understand him. So it was kinda weird for us. But it gave us a good laugh.

thanks for all the updates for what is happening back at home! that all sounds like a lot of fun. Ali going to a dance in a convertable car. Haha there is so many Hispanics here that have that car! it is so crazy. i see them everyday. Its cool that you, mom and dad got to get together with missionary parents and all have a great time. i am sure that was a good experience. thanks mom for the letter and sharing the experience you had while teaching. Its always really cool to hear! i hope that we all can continue to see the spirit work in our lives everyday. Because he does, every day! it is an amazing miracle for us just to be able to recognize it. i hope you all have a great week!! i love you all!!

Elder Mortensen

ps pictures!

hey i got the package! thanks! i was super excited to get the bible videos! and 

The other sock, even though now i dont know were the first one ended up.  

 

Haha we also locked elder Corral outside on the balcony. he was causing to much trouble.