Happy 4th of July

Hey Everyone,

Happy 4th of July tomorrow. I hope each of you enjoy your day and that you are safe as you celebrate. 

Thursday evening our district attended the Kansas City temple for an endowment session. It was the first time I've been able to attend the temple since the change of the presentation and I have to say that I absolutely loved it. I loved how Christ centered and clear the instruction was. 

Funny story about the temple, I have the alarm on my phone preset to go off at 8:30 pm. We were in our session when the alarm went off. When I got back to my locker to change and realized I had failed to turn off my alarm I picked my phone up and saw that the alarm was never shut off, but apparently a temple worker opened my locker, found my phone and tried to stop the alarm because there were several pictures of him on my phone. I'll share one of the pictures at the end. So, just a word of wisdom to remember to turn off your phones, including alarms, because they will open your locker and try to stop the alarm. 

The past few days took a little detour when President Sommerfeldt called me and asked that our companionship became a trio. A missionary in our district went home early and so we had an emergency transfer and gained his companion. It's Elder Gillman (my former companion) so it's all good. We now cover both the Tiffany Springs and the Parkville wards, so it's back to 4 hours of church and extra meetings for both wards.

We had to move Elder Gillman's mattress and box spring in our little car from his apartment to our apartment. Elder Gillman had to ride on top of the box spring back to our apartment. See pictures and video below. 

Also, when we went to Elder Gillman's apartment to get his bed we found that his companion, who went home early, loved Dr. Pepper. There were 3 brand new 20 can packs of Dr. Pepper left in the apartment, along with 30 empty cans of Dr. Pepper scattered around the floor. Elder Fleming and I stacked them into a pyramid on the table. The apartment needs to be cleaned out and I will make sure we go back to get it taken care of.  

As District Leader I have many responsibilities, but I sure enjoy Sunday "accountabilities" and contacting every missionary in my district. It's been fun to talk with each missionary and help them, give advice, and share spiritual thoughts when needed. I still have a few more exchanges left to complete before the transfer ends in the next few weeks. 

At District Council meeting this week the theme I focused on was "Having the Spirit and Keeping It". I taught about the protection of the armour of God and kept the training fun, yet spiritual. Things are going well with my district and everyone is working hard. 

Several of our lessons fell through and one gal asked us to move her lesson to a time we had committed to move a family out of the ward so we rescheduled.  

We worked at Hillcrest hauling and sorting, and also moved the family out of the ward as our service hours this week. 

We received a referral from a guy named Benjamin. He gave us a fake phone number but his correct address. We showed up at his home and when a guy answered we asked if he was Benjamin (plus last name). He said no. We said okay, but we had received a referral online from him asking for a visit from the missionaries. He then said, yes, this is Benjamin and he let us in. Once we got talking to him and were getting to know him he asked us, "What church are you guys from?" We told him we were from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And then he said, "Wait! Are you guys MORMON?" We said YES. He said, "WOW!" And was shocked they were one in the same. He told us he'd call once he wanted to know more. We haven't heard from him yet. 

There is a family in our ward, (Tiffany Springs), that is moving. But, they contacted us and said they had a friend who they wanted to introduce to us. We met Carlos and his family at their home. Brother Holflez kept reminding Carlos that the elders have a curfew and they need to be home on time. Carlos and his family really wanted to make us an authentic mexican dish but they didn't have the meat needed and wanted to go to the MexiMart and get the meat. Brother Holflez drove us in his car to the MexiMart and all the while we are teaching Carlos and his family the gospel of Jesus Christ. From their home, to the MexiMart back to Bro. Holflez's home we were getting to know the family and teaching them. Finally at 9:18 pm, still not eaten dinner, we tell them we need to end to get back to our apartment by 9:30 pm. We placed two Spanish copies of the Book of Mormon with this family who already loves God and wants to know more. Please pray for Carlos and his family that they will read the Book of Mormon and that we can continue teaching them. 

Sunday was a great day, even with double wards and areas to cover. I shared my testimony in the last Fast and Testimony meeting on my mission. It was bittersweet. Many of the members came up to me and said they didn't realize I was so close to going home. I guess that's what happens when I tell them "I've been out over one year." 

I am back to driving since my companion (Elder Fleming) had his driving privileges revoked. All in the day and life of a missionary. 

President Sommerfledt has granted permission for our trio to attend Jordyn's baptism this Saturday, July 8th. I am very happy for her, it will be an amazing day. 

Today for Pday we ate lunch as a district, played pickleball, and hung out together. We didn't need to go grocery shopping since we just did on Thursday and have a lot of food that we acquired from the Parkville refrigerator.

Our 4th of July will consist of meeting President and Sister Sommerfledt in person as a district and having personal interviews with President. We have an early curfew so we will continue to work online in the evening hours. 

In Mosiah chapter 14, Isaiah called the Savior "a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief". Then, he identified the source of those afflictions: "Surely he has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows". I know that no one has ever lived on earth and loved with the intensity of Jesus Christ. Even with the sorrow, disappointment, and rejection that Jesus Christ experienced he loved with such an intensity. I hope that as we suffer through our own personal trials and challenges that we will always remember to love ourselves, our family and most importantly our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. 

Elder Mortensen 

Pictures this week: 

Dr. Pepper boxes everywhere

Dr. Pepper pyramid

Our trio, Elder Gillman, me and Elder Fleming at Pday today

What I ate for lunch today

Thursday night at the emergency transfer picking up Elder Gillman with the Kansas City Temple in the background - the stake center is right next door to the temple 

Thursday night at the temple 

Moving Elder Gillman's mattress and box spring

Trying out a bowtie...didn't leave the house, not mission approved

At the MexiMart, one of Carlos' kids climbed into the donut case

Beautiful clouds at the apartment complex we helped the ward family move out of 

Random temple worker taking selfies on my phone while I'm in the endowment session 

Video of our travel with the mattress and box spring - time for a road trip