A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Visit A Ward Member

Hey Everyone!

Happy Monday! It's great to send this email out and share with you about my week and happenings in the mission field. 

Elder Barney and I worked and grind all week long! We logged a ton of miles on our car and we need more miles each week to continue our work! Our area is the LARGEST in the mission and it takes us half a transfer to visit every town and village and home on our list. Then we start over again and visit and teach in each area. 

We found three new investigators through our efforts in FaceBook finding this week. The best part of all they all live in our area we serve so we look forward to meeting them in person and teaching them. 

This week when we were teaching LEXIE I extended the invitation to be baptized and she said YES! She has three children, two who are of age to be baptized, and she wants them to be baptized at the same time so we don't have a baptismal date yet. We are super happy for her and look forward to continuing to teach her and her children. 

CHEYENNE moved to PIttsburg so she is officially off our teaching list. We are still teaching MAGDELENA and it is going okay. 

JEANNIE had a huge setback with her leg. It is not in good shape and it is getting worse, not better. We can't get her into the font with her open wounds and I can't share with you the details of how horrible her leg looks. We are concerned and feel sorry for her. We stopped by yesterday and taught her a lesson and gave her a priesthood blessing. 

We dropped JOYCE and still haven't seen ALEXUS in person yet. We keep missing her each time we set up an appointment. We may have to move on with our efforts there. 

SHAUNTEA came to church yesterday and she is doing well. Her husband, Brother Howard, said that when we first started teaching her her desire to get baptized was very low, but now her heart is softening and she is feeling the spirit and enjoying the fellowship of the ward members. Everyone has a different journey when investigating the Church and we will continue to show love and concern and find ways to serve her. The seed has been planted. 

Elder Barney and I spent some time serving at the local B&B this week. We scraped paint off windows and cleaned them. 

Sister Francom, owner of Ruthie's Pies, was featured in our local newspaper and the ward social media person posted it on the ward FB page. It is great that the community knows a ward member so well and she has great support from all over. This week we stopped by and she fed us the best cherrywood ham sandwiches and peach cobbler. My mouth is still drooling...

Elder Barney and I made Carbonara this week! Absolutely delicious and it was quick and easy to make. 

We also had one of the best member meals this week at the Wall's home. Delicious food and such great people!

And, a funny thing happened on the way to a ward member's house this week. It has been raining pretty consistently and we are getting a lot of moisture here. We were going to visit Sister Francom's brother, Brother Francom (haha) and we had to travel for quite a ways on a dirt/muddy road. The further we traveled on this narrow muddy road the more our car slipped and slided until it got completely stuck in the mud and everything we tried we couldn't get our car unstuck. So, we finally just started walking to Brother Francoms home and we visited him for a bit. Afterwards he asked if we were going to need help getting the car unstuck and we said yes and took him up on his offer to help us get our car out. He has a tractor and was able to pull us out of the mud. Sure made for a great fun experience and, yes, our shoes and pants were muddy. 

This week I was able to get an allergy shot and I think it is already kicking in and helping so hopefully I'll make it through allergy season. 

I was asked to teach at District Council this week and shared a message on being anxiously engaged in missionary work. I appreciated the opportunity and had good feedback on my lesson. 

This week as I studied the Book of Mormon I tied it into a talk I listened to by Sheri Dew. It's the first time I've listened to a talk by her but a good friend sent me the talk and I really enjoyed it. Sister Dew said, "When we let Jesus Christ put his hands on anything it lives." Yesterday as I entered the chapel and watched as members continued to fill the chairs I was touched by the spirit of the gathering of these great ward members. I felt like the spirit became stronger and stronger with each person who walked through the door. I love serving in this ward and area. I know that the Book of Mormon is something that has been touched by Jesus Christ. It is the words of Christ. The book has endured because it is the words of Christ and it lives. The Savior lives and He is constantly touching our lives. 

Elder Mortensen