ONE YEAR COMPLETED!!! WOOT! WOOT!

Hello EVERYONE!



Let's start this celebration email off right and say HAPPY ONE YEAR MARK ELDER MORTENSEN! One year ago today I gave my Farewell Talk and was Set Apart as a full time Missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! What a ride this past year has been! The absolute joy I have felt as I've worn my mission name tag and served here in the Missouri Independence Mission.The incredible companions I've had and the people I've met and taught and the hard work and challenges that I've gone through. Whew! So much growth and so much goodness this past year! Tomorrow it is officially ONE YEAR that I started Home MTC. My life continues to be molded and shaped by my mission experiences and I know those will last a lifetime. 



This past week we had transfers and Elder Stevens completed his mission and he's back home in Idaho. My new companion, Elder Davis, is in quarantine in his last area, so President Ames had me take home the companion replacing Elder Davis, which is Elder Neal, for one week. So, Elder Neal and I have been working hard. He has been out 8 months and is from Payson, Utah. Elder Davis will be out of quarantine on Thursday so we will switch companions then. I look forward to working with Elder Davis this transfer. 



Another week of working hard, finding people to teach and sharing messages. PAT is still in rehab. We are learning her injuries are more severe than originally thought. We are glad she is doing well but she's pushed her baptism date to the end of August on her birthday. ANGELA was supposed to attend volleyball with us on Friday night and she bailed on us. We hope to see her this week and continue to teach her. EVAN has worked hard and is wanting to be baptized. We had to pass him off to the YSA Sisters because of his age. I'm glad I found him and was able to teach him. TINA was sick this week so we didn't teach her. SABRINE wants to be baptized but is working some things out. We have the YW looking out for her in the meantime. BRANDON is asking a lot of great questions and Elder Neal asked if he could be the one to answer this week's questions and it went well. TONY STAR (not STARK--LOL) is a new investigator I found this week. He responded to my ad online and we started teaching him. I hope he continues to move forward. 



This week we helped serve a sister in the ward moving and setting up a TV for her. We continue to be fed by ward members and offer our time serving them with things they need done. 



Our new Ward Mission Leader teamed up with us as we went out teaching. It was a lot of fun having him with us and his life experiences and age allows him to share a different point of view on how the gospel of Jesus Christ has blessed his life. 



Being out one year on my mission I've understood more powerfully that the Lord's Church is a Missionary Church. When the Savior lived on the earth he taught those around him the Gospel. So many prophets and apostles have also been great missionaries. One of the most humble missionaries in the Book of Mormon was Alma the Younger. In Alma 29:9 it says: "I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it. I do not glory for myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath commanded; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy." 



Elder Mortensen



Pictures this week are from transfers








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