It’s Bigger Than I Thought

Hey Everyone,

Higginsville is a little bigger than I thought. I haven't been to Moose Market yet but they have a small, very small, Walmart but mostly nonfood items. We are finding our way around and meeting the members. 

This week we had Zone Conference and we were asked to travel to Lee's Summit about one hour away. It was interesting we didn't hold it in Warrensburg, but you go where you're asked to go. President Ames focused on how we can find solutions to problems as we serve. He related it to Captain Moroni and we were all pretty engaged in what he had to say. 

This week we taught another lesson to Kimberly. She has a 4 year old and an 8 month old baby. She is elect and is progressing and actually read from the Book of Mormon. She is interested in being baptized and we are working with her to set a date she is comfortable with. 

We also taught Donna and her family (she has two teen children). One teen is also interested in learning more about the gospel. Donna feels like she needs the gospel in her life. 

Sunday was the first week we attended Church because of General Conference. The branch is welcoming but very small. It was so quiet in sacrament meeting. The building is small and there is only a microphone stand on the floor and folding chairs for everyone--no pews. We do have hymn books so that's a plus. 

A great family I met on my first transfer drove all the way out here to the boonies to take me and my companion to lunch this week. They are the greatest! It's the same family that met my parents in Utah this summer. 

No bed bugs at this apartment but we do have a faulty thermostat! You can set it at 70 degrees and it goes to almost 80. We are figuring it out, but it still runs higher than set.

This week I had a very intense spiritual experience where the spirit stayed with me at a very strong, palpable level for 90 minutes. At lunch I was reading the scriptures as I ate. I have been reading in chronological order so I was reading both Ezekiel in the Old Testament and 1st Nephi chapter 11 in the Book of Mormon where Nephi sees the Spirit of the Lord and is shown in vision the tree of life. He then sees Jesus Christ's birth, baptism, ministry, and crucifixion. As I'm reading I have the strongest impression how important it is that this message of Christ's mission needs to be carried to everyone. I felt the spirit so strong and I hardly dare move and kept my every thought focused on Christ. This was by far one of the longest spiritual experiences I've had on my mission. 

Elder Mortensen