Tuesday, February 11, 2014

February 10, 2014 (Week 78)

February 10, 2014

[Told Conner the Jazz beat Miami]Classic Jazz.. beat the best, lose to the rest. haha. If only they'd get as stoked up to fight the other teams we might actually have a team! yeah. [Told him how grateful we are to have a mom who keeps a clean house] Mom really does keep a clean house. It's hard for me to keep a small apartment clean, let alone a house immaculate! haha... but yeah. she does a lot. Gotta get me someone like her! There are too many houses that are just horrendous down here. I mean horrible. A little 1 year old baby threw up on the dirt floor. Her mom patted her on the back and said, "it's ok, here's some Coca Cola." We were amazed at the amazing motherhood down here. So enjoy some time with mom. You picked a great wife. Enjoy some quality time with her Mr. Mom [Kristy broke her arm this week]. haha I bet that song has a whole lot more meaning.
 
[Told him about running errands Saturday, including a stop at the 7-11 for a slurpee] 7-11.... man. real quick. I had another dream about Mountain Dew. The whole zone was drinking it, but I was fasting. I said "nahhh mañana [tomorrow]!" and bought a ton. Mañana came.... and then I woke up. I was so angry. No wonder I have migraines!
 
Well, this week things got rough, then a lot better. We are working with more patience and I think things are more relaxed between the two of us. Which is good because I have not had time to breathe. I've had a migraine since last Sunday. I've been getting shots in the butt every day. Complete B cortisone shots to unswell the brain a titch. Man, migraines are horrible. Sure makes it hard to focus I'll tell you that much. We have been working hard and praying hard. Trying to talk to more people every day. Elder Johnson told us we aren't to walk out of a single house without another name of a person to teach. It's really helping the members get a little involved. And we are getting more people to teach. More seeds, more crops, more fruit. We are having difficulties adjusting to the new way to teach. We have to teach God is our loving Father in Heaven,  but super good, super thorough.  We realized this week that we only finished the restauracion 1 time, and got the church of Christ 3 times. There won't be any progression and there isn't anywhere the Spirit can testify and say Joseph Smith really saw God and the church and the blessings are here again... if we never teach it. We are feeling some pressure from the president and the assistants. It's normal. We hardly are having results. Something's gotta give. We are just gonna keep praying and changing and being obedient. It's the only thing we can do. What else happened this week...
 
Did divisions in Baxcatbaltepec this Saturday. At 7:15 we came sneaking through the window, haha. Kinda fun being ZL for that reason. We can just do stuff like that. I worked there for the day, and came back at night. He [Companion??] told me it helped to see me teach, and to know I was there because I cared and wanted to work and not just judge and evaluate. I hope so. I figure it's one of my only strengths. We need to instill more energy in the zone, verfiry [testify] better, and just work harder. God has blessings for us, just gotta wait and progress.. I guess that's a blessing of another calling, the chance to progress. 
 
Well, I love you all. Que les vaya muy bien [Hope all goes well, good luck].
 

Mom, take care of yourself, don't make me hide your pills :)
 
Love you, Elder Mortensen

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

February 3, 2014 (Week 77)


February 3, 2014

So Dad was a ZL. We are gonna talk about the mission when I get home, eh! I didn't even know that. It'll be interesting to talk about the two missions!

Well this week, I went to Veracruz to a concilio [council]. Pretty cool being in a room with president and 20 other elderes. I learned a lot. Other than that, we talked about what was gonna happen Viernes [Friday] when Elder Johnson came. Area 70 Presidente. Powerful. He came Friday, I was able to play the piano at that meeting, (pretty cool stuff) then he started talking. It was pretty spiritual. He knows what he's talking about. Friday just made me want to get out and baptize the world, but the door broke, and we ended up being in the apartment after until 6. 3 hours waiting for a locksmith. That's a good way to kill the attitude, haha.
 
Saturday we went to another conference in Veracruz. Just the leaders of the mission, like 80 people. He then talked about Lehi's dream and explained it all to us. Then, with love, asked us questions about which group we are in, group two, that made it and fell away, or group 3, that lasted. It was pretty powerful... He said what we learned on the mission has everything to do with what we do when we get home. Pretty powerful. I wish I could tell you more. I don't know where the time goes!!! It's insane! I sure do love you all. Know that I know that the Lord lives, and that he loves us. The knowledge we have is sooo important. Share it with everyone!
 
I really am sorry I can't tell you all, but we are already late to start the day.

Mortensen Elder 

January 27, 2014 (Week 76)

January 27, 2014

Welcome to the Jungle.

Haha I'm here. In San Andres Tuxtlas. It's down south by the ocean by Catemaco and stuff. The city is called San Andres, Tuxtla. I went from one extreme of the mission to the other, haha. It's hot, but not too bad. Still January, so I'll keep my mouth shut.
 
Were you a ZL dad? What advice do you have for me? Haha and no cars [I asked Conner if the Zone Leaders had cars for their area]. I have two. They are shoes, and have custom holes in the bottom. hahaha. It's pretty poor down here. Humble. and no I've always wanted to come down here. I've always heard about Tuxtlas and stuff and wanted to find out. Its super beautiful. Basically what I meant is it's the last area in the mission I haven't been to. Tuxtepec, Veracruz, Tierra Blanca, y Los Tuxtlas. The 5 main areas. So I'm super blessed to be down here. But I'll have one more area before dying. This is my 5th change.
 

Elder Anderson is pretty cool. He's from West Jordan. We came all this way just to meet someone that lived down the street a bit haha. I have no idea what the Lord wants me to learn from all these gringo compañeros. Freak, it's a little annoying, haha. I just want to speak Spanish for more than one comp at a time. It would help to have like 2 or 3 comps to keep the fluidity. Down here its just a rama [area]. They don't have the numbers necessary to be a ward and stake, so they are all branches. They are missing out on a lot of blessings... They don't have high priests or bishops or anything. Mi rama [my area] is pretty small but pretty cool. We are working super hard. Elder Anderson isn't dead which is good, but he's close to home which doesn't make it easy. He is trying to stay away from the end, haha.  Well, Elder Johnson is coming this week. I've gotta go to Veracruz twice and get a nice planch from El presidente del 70 de mexico jaja.... woo! I'm excited. But it's always a real eye opener to get planched and motivated by a 70 haha. Helps keep the mission flowin! 
 
We have a few good investigators, but none of them came to church! One guy was crying and asking how he could come to know God and what he had to give to be baptized, and all we said was come to church and pray. 6 people said without fail they would be there, but nothin'. That sure was frustrating! Well... It's time to head out for the week. I'll try to take more fotos later on. que les vaya muy bien [hope all is going well, good luck].

Elder Mortensen