2/23/15: Ten Months Today!

Hello Good morning!

Well this week wasn't too exciting but still a great week of course. :) 

We received our transfer calls on Saturday and I will be staying another transfer in Nassau! haha. Okay we all knew that was coming. But Sister Judd will be leaving. She is getting transferred back to Jamaica to Montego Bay to be in a tripanionship and as a trainer. Man she's amazing! I will certainly miss her a lot. We had such a great transfer together. I will be receiving Sister Nelson who has been out about 10 months and she is Jamaican. It'll be awesome! Sister Wint and Sister Lewis are staying the same. :) And I found out that Sister Garrett is going to CAYMAN! Jeez man. 

We a great lesson with Sylvia again about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She just loves the Gospel and it has definitely been a light to her. She was able to come to church as well. I just love her and I wish SOO badly that I could speak Creole. I'm working on it though. Sac Passe! Yah... I probably spelled that wrong... I've still got time so I'll get this thing eventually. Hopefully. 

Gislaine is doing amazing as well. She wasn't able to come to church yesterday though so we were sad about that. We talked about the plan of salvation and she loved it! She really opened up to us more in that lesson and is really wanting to change and she's been able to see how reading the Book of Mormon is helping her to begin to change some bad habits that she has. I love her. Okay I say that about everyone. I love everyone. :) 

Kevin is making progress as well! He was really busy once again with the Taxi and couldn't come to church yesterday but is definitely making progress to be baptized. He can't wait and knows this is what he needs to be doing right now. I love that guy. Yes once again, I love everyone. :)

I had a date with Doctor Downes at the doctors office again... I'm pretty tight with all the nurses and Doctor Downes haha. They all know me and whenever they see me it's like, 'HEY!! How's our missionary doing??' It's awesome. Too bad they aren't interested in the Gospel... Yet... But he says things are looking good on the incision. And hopefully by next week I'll be able to start exercising again. I'm hoping and praying! I miss my morning runs.... So bad.....

Well I hope you all have a great week! I love you! Keep enduring and enduring well!

Love,

Sister Mouritsen

P.S. I got some new nicknames this week hahaha... Didymus which means twin, and Sister Monson because no one can say Mouritsen. Haha. I'm honored. :) And once again, Mariah Carey. People are creative... 

2/16/2015: Happy Valentines Day

Good afternoon!

This week was a good one. I say that every week. I don't wanna say it was bad though. haha. They never are! Missionary work is the best kind of work! 

We had a couple meetings this week which were great and always thought-provoking and motivating. I needed it. It's great to be able to count on feeling the spirit strongly as a district or zone when we have meetings each Wednesday. 

Sylvia is doing amazing! I just love her to death! She is the sweetest! She has been reading and praying constantly and came to church yesterday as well! Even though it's all English she still comes and she even told us that even though it's English she will always come. She loves the spirit that she can feel there and she wants to learn English. Many of the Haitians learned to speak English because they just kept coming to church and listening. I love the way the Spirit communicates through the heart. What would we do without it? :) Sylvia accepted to be baptized on March 14th and we can't wait! She's SOO excited as are we!

Thursday the 12th was Sister Judd's 11 month mark! She's almost been out a year! I just love her so much! So guess what we did to celebrate?? Yah we stayed home... I was throwing up all day. haha. Nassau is just tearing my body apart. I felt bad for Sister Judd to have to listen to me all day long. You guys know how I am with that... I dunno what made me sick but something! We joked about how it had to be that we had too much pork the day before! We had a less-active unexpectedly feed us and he gave us lots of pork and peas and rice. Man it was delicious. And then Sister Okhuarobo fed us that night and it was the same thing, lots of pork and lots of rice. haha. I've felt fine since then though so no worries (mom;) ). :) 

Friday was "Friday the 13th" and Sister Judd and I were so superstitious the whole day! First of all while we were super planning, our phone wouldn't work. We couldn't contact anybody and no one could contact us either! Then we walked out to the car to go out, started it and it made a really weird sound... So we turned it off and popped the hood acting like we knew what we were doing, stared at it for a few seconds, checked the oil which was fine, and then discerned to go about our day. Haha. We started the car again and it was fine and has been since. Then while Sister Judd was driving she just about ran a guy over hahaha! He walked out right in front of the car and she didn't see him... The guy is fine though. He actually just laughed it off thankfully. Then all of the members that said they would come with us to see Sylvia cancelled so we just decided to go anyway. We saw her, gave her a Creole tract about the Plan of Salvation to read, prayed with her, and left. It actually wasn't too bad. Sylvia has learned to say "I love you" haha! She says it to us all the time! The rest of the day all of our appointments cancelled. Lovely. And all throughout the day we just decided to wave to all the people that we saw while we were driving on the road. Man it was hilarious! So many doubletakes like, 'who dese white girls?' it was great. We got like 36 waves in a few hours. :) Then that night was the Valentines social that the branch put on. It was fun but started late so we only got to stay for about 30 minutes before curfew. All in all, it just comes down to the fact that ya gotta be positive. :) 

On Valentines we had the funeral for Sister Bastien. Her kids made it be at the Christ the King Anglican church and man was it the most interesting thing I have ever been to! We smelled like incense the rest of the day! I am so happy to have the full gospel in my life. I'd be lost without it.... 

We also saw Gislaine and had a great lesson with her about the Atonement. She says she is ready to make the changes she needs to in her life and she committed to be baptized on the 22nd of March! I hope she will really work for that day! I know she can! She came to church yesterday and it was fantastic to see her!! 

Yesterday Sister Wint and I spoke in church and it was great. I love speaking in church. Seriously. Missions change you. I spoke about being an example at all times and she spoke about conversion and we really linked well! The spirit was strong. Once again I just love the way the spirit works. :) There were a lot of tourists there as well.. I even met one from Kaysville! Small world! 

Well I hope you all have a great week! Be safe! Keep enduring and enduring well. I love you all.

Love,

Sister Mouritsen

This is an ant's nest. Yes it's massive!

i'm obsessed with the sky.

2/9/2015: Another week in paradise!

Hi Family!

So this week was my first week getting to actually teach District Meeting because my first week here I had surgery and then the next week we had Zone Meeting and the Zone Leaders taught, who by the way graduated from Viewmont High together. Wah? It was great though. The Zone Leaders and the other 2 Elders in Freeport wanted to come so they skyped in. I was nervous in the beginning of course but it went really well. This transfer there were some new goals that have been set for the mission to achieve so we can be closer to also achieving the Standards of Excellence and that's what we talked about. It was a great meeting. Just like Elder Figgins said in his email how he loves to give talks... Well I love to teach big groups of people. haha! Man the mission changes ya. I love being a District Leader. I really do. :) I was feeling a bit inadequate for this but the saying, 'whom the Lord calls, the Lord qualifies,' is true. Was that President Monson? I feel much better about it though.

We had some great lessons this week. We saw Sylvia again with Sister Etienne and Camillot. We talked specifically about the Book of Mormon and gave her a Creole Book of Mormon. She was so happy that she jumped up out of her seat and gave each of us a kiss on the cheek! Including Camillot! hahaha! He was blushing under that dark skin! hahaha! And then after the lesson he asked if she had a husband. ha. Oh jeez...... Sylvia is doing great though. She came to church again last week :) even though she can't understand much. The Creole speakers are really taking her in and fellowshipping her well. :) We also saw her on Friday and we shared the Plan of Salvation with her. :) Man! She's great! She just cannot wait to be baptized!! She tells us that just about every time! :)

We street contacted a man named Augustine this week and we got to go see him. He is great! And so prepared! We shared with him our purpose as missionaries. He doesn't speak much English though so we need some Creole translators again. Jeez though. He is way prepared. Even if he doesn't know it. I'm excited to see him again this week to share the unique amazing message of the Restoration with him! 

Yesterday a cousin of one of the members came to church who is a less-active. He used to live on the streets until he was 7 and then he was taken in to a Mennonite home to Andros and then moved to Pennsylvania. I had never heard of Mennonites until yesterday and it is the most interesting thing! It was cool to hear about what they believe. It's sort of like the Amish. But he came to Nassau and ended up getting baptized and was here for a few years until he went back to the Mennonites. But he is one of the most knowledgable people I have ever met! And he was a strong member! Still is but just needs to remember that he is. :) The three of us really clicked! He is fantastic! 

Update on the pain levels : Minimal. I still have my doctor check ups every other week. He said that normally at 3 weeks after the surgery the incision would be pinky size still but miracle mine is about less than half of his pinky fingernail. How does that happen!?! So you wanna know what he prescribed me to do? I have to go sit in the salt water (the sea) to clean it up more. ha! I even asked if I could sit in the tub and put salt in there because an ambulance alarm went off in my head saying NO! And he said nope. That actually doesn't work. So... I guess we'll see how this goes.... Gotta love missionary work! 

Well I love you all so much! Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Mouritsen

2/2/2015: It's February. Wow.

Hi!

This week was another great one of course! I've officially been back to work for a week now and it feels so good! Those 5 days just about killed me haha. I just wanted to get out! Yes, I still feel a little bit of pain sometimes but that's not going to stop me! I refuse. This work is going to move no matter what. Whether it's with me or without me. It'll pass me by like wind if I'm laying in bed so I'm not going to let it. I'd rather fly with it. :) But yes, I'm recovering well and loving it up here in Nassau! Besides the fact that it's freezing! Jeez am! 

We went and saw a referral this week and we met him at his office and he could not remember meeting the missionaries. But we shared with him our purpose as missionaries and talked about the Godhead. He kept asking us questions as we were talking and trying to disagree with us. But then when he would explain what he really thought about it, it was exactly how we explained it just in different words. ha. Man. Come on. So he'd disagree and say NO it's like this and we'd be like Yeah! You're right! Then he disagreed about the Holy Ghost like, 'So what is a Spirit?' And we looked at each other and said, '...Well... you tell us. What do you think it is?' And guess what... he was right. haha. Needless to say, he said he still wanted to see us again. So we set up an appointment for the day after next. We called him that day and he said we could still come. When we got to his office the door was locked but someone was in there and we called him and he said, 'Oh, I'm in Eleuthera.' Come on man! Yeah right! So we wrote our testimonies in a Book of Mormon and left it on the door handle to his office. Hopefully he gets it. If someone steals it, that's great too. haha. He's a cool guy though. But just not ready yet. Soon come.

Here is the Book of Mormon we left on his door. 

We also got a referral from a member. Her name is Sylvia and she is from Haiti. The population here seems like it's mostly made up of Haitians. Maybe half and half of Haitians and Bahamians. But anyway, Sylvia only speaks Creole. Creole if you remember from my email in August when I was here in Nassau and we learned Creole is like just broken French. I never knew my French classes would come handy so much! It's all coming back though and I understand some of the things they are saying. :) It's cool! No wonder I took French in school! But we have to have a translator when we teach her. A member named Sister Etienne, who is also Haitian, came with us and she and Sylvia really hit it off! They are great and Sister Etienne bore powerful testimony. Having a translator can be hard though. We have to speak in short sentences that sums up a section of the Gospel. We taught her the Restoration and during the lesson a lady walked in and saw us so she sat down and started listening.  She didn't speak much English. During the lesson she started asking questions and then started talking to Sylvia and Sister Etienne and all of the sudden it was just a whole lotta Creole and no English. Sister Judd and I were so confused. We could tell though that it was getting a little bit heated. All of the sudden the lady turned to us and said, 'So how do you know what church is right?' We said, 'Well, pray...' and then she snapped her fingers, hissed her teeth, got up, and walked out. Wow. We turned to Sister Etienne with confused looks and she told us that that lady had come to take Sylvia to her church. She was a preacher and she was angry that we were there teaching Sylvia the Gospel and that her congregation was dwindling. Also that she new what we were teaching was true, though she didn't say it, which is why she just got up and walked out apparently. haha. It was a funny experience. We finished the lesson and it was powerful. The Spirit was definitely there to testify and Sylvia said she could feel it was true. She even came to church yesterday for the Caribbean broadcast by Elder Holland, President Packer, Elder Anderson of the seventy, and Sister Oscarson. It was great! All about family! It was only in English though and one of the members helped Sylvia to understand what was going on in Creole. We only got to see two of the talks though. Long story... But they were fantastic! I can only imagine what the whole thing was like! haha! 

We also got to see Kevin a few times this week! He is the one who committed to be baptized on February 14th. Man he is so prepared! I can't say it enough! We were able to have a recent convert come with us, Jerome who got baptized the Sunday before I got here, and a long time member, Sister Saint-Gilles. Jeez Am It was the most powerful lesson ever!! We talked about the baptismal questions and shared D&C 20:37 at the beginning. I honestly just cannot teach a lesson without members. I don't like it one bit. Sister Saint-Gilles and Jerome were powerful and I know that they were meant to be there. It turns out that Sister Saint-Gilles had gone through a similar thing that Kevin is going through right now and she testified to him how the only thing that got her through was the Gospel. Wow. It just melted my heart and touched Kevin right to the very core. Then Jerome went on to talk about how and why he was baptized and it made the experience even sweeter! We may have to push back his date so he can work some things out but he is amazing and so ready for baptism! I can't wait to see him get to take this wonderful step of baptism and confirmation in his life. 

It's been a great week and I can't wait to see what this new week has in store. I hope you all have a great week. Be safe! I love you all.

Love,

Sister Mouritsen  

Second coming. haha.

We were climbing coconut trees on the church lawn while waiting for an investigator for a couple minutes. haha. Reminds me of Colt trying to climb or touch some spiky tree in Phoenix... Anybody else remember that picture. ;) haha! I've been thinking about reenacting it... ;) Love you Colt. 

1/26/2015: God is Mindful of Each of Us

Good morning!

Man, what to say about this week? If I could describe it in one word definitions: 

Unproductive

Frustrating

Helpless

Humbling

.....

and many others.

I don't know where to start. 

I guess I had been feeling these pains since last summer in Cayman definitely and in Ochi but it wasn't as bad in Ochi. I look back now and it really was a miracle that I made it all 4 1/2 months in Jamaica with lesser pain. I thank my Heavenly Father so much for that! 

Well since being in Nassau I have gotten to meet some great people! I haven't gotten to spend as much time as I would have liked with them but.. things happen. I could tell the longer I had been here that I was getting more, and more pain. It felt like my tail bone, which felt like a knife, was trying to poke through my skin. haha. This sounds ridiculous and I would joke around with the other sisters that I was growing a tail! Because that's what it felt like! And then Sister Judd said, "you're turning into a tad pole!" But I said, 'Mmmm.. I think I'd RATHER be a tad pole because they lose their tails!' haha! We had a lot of good laughs but it never took away the pain completely.For the past few nights I hadn't been sleeping and I would wake up and go boil water to put my washrag in so that I could put it on my tailbone but it would only stay hot for about 3 minutes and then I would have to get up and go do it again. Man! Walking, sitting, lying down, it all hurt! 

On Tuesday we went to a doctor to get it checked out and she just told me that I needed to buy a doughnut pillow (that looks like a cheerio. ugh. ugly humiliating thing) and then get some pills. She said that whether it was broken, bruised or fractured it would make no sense to X-Ray it because you can't do anything about it. I was livid. And I had to buy a stupid pillow that feels like i'm sitting on 2 by 4s. haha. I could barely move that day. Sister Judd is a saint as well. On Tuesday she boiled, and boiled, and boiled water until she filled the tub about 2 inches so that I could sit in it to release the pain. Man that was the best thing ever. I sat in there until the water was cold and then gone because we don't have a way to close the drain so we used a wash rag. It was the best. 

Then Wednesday came and I woke up with more pain than I could possibly bear. More pain than I'd had my entire mission. Anyway Wednesday I woke up and was just in tears again because of the pain and I think I was just so fed up with everything. So we drove to the ER and that's when they put me on a table and shoved some needles in me to stop the pain and I had never felt so good in my entire life. I could lie down! The doctor told me that I had to get surgery and I was scheduled for it around 1 o'clock. One of the members came and gave me a blessing right before I went in though. I was terrified. It really calmed me down.

They wheeled me into the operating room which scared me half to death! It was like a movie with the big lights and everyone has masks on and they were sticking me with needles that felt like they were putting shards of glass into me and then I was out...

The next thing I remember is waking up and having a man trying to put another needle into the top of my hand and saying it wasn't working. Apparently the one in my forearm stopped working. Eventually they were able to get one into the top of my right hand. Ridiculous. I guess I was talking to a lady named Cyndy and trying to get her to go to the temple because she said she had been to Utah. I don't recollect that though. haha! It was funny. 

Finally my sisters came in and I was taken to my room where they held me over night and I was finally able to go home the next day. I felt like a queen in there! There were menus for food and tv, which i didn't watch, and everything else! It was a WAY nicer hospital than in Ochi. I can't even tell you enough how blessed I was to come here at this time. 

Since Thursday I have been on 'house arrest'. I had a follow-up with the doctor on Friday and he made me wait and sit in that chair for 3 hours saying he was just upstairs doing something. ugh! Patience is a virtue. 

Then I also got to come out on Sunday for sacrament meeting but i had to take my doughnut, which was humiliating. 

So that pretty much sums up my week. I am just so blessed to have been able to be watched over so closely by my Heavenly Father. He is mindful of each one of us. I read a talk this morning called Forget Me Not. That really helped me to understand this even more. It's by Uchtdorf. But I love this Gospel more than anything and I can't wait to get back to work! Hopefully tomorrow. We'll see what they say. I love you all! Thanks for everything!

Love,

Sister Mouritsen

We made Raspberry duff but....they forgot to tell us that sugar is an ingredient.....haha.

  At the hospital.

 And my medications..... 

 Boredom at it's finest. Check it out. Rev 13. 

1/19/15: Another plane.....haha

Hi my beautiful family!

So yes, Nassau is amazing and it has been cool to see some of these people again and actually get to serve them and know them better! And to get to see more of the island! I love it here! 

Someone asked me how many planes I have been on and I think, if I remember right, this plane was my 11th. I think. How ridiculous is that?! I'm pro at flying, not so much at packing. haha. Did i say that in my last email? I me nuh no. haha. And i'm still not finished either. 

Goodbyes are always hard. I hate saying goodbye to the people that I love. But we went to transfer meeting on Wednesday and President Brown has definitely made some changes to the mission that are going to be happening. I know they will help and that they are inspired. It'll help us to be more balanced missionaries and to find much more success. After all, this is the Lord's work and he knows best. Always. 

Wednesday after transfers I actually went to Portmore with Sister Oman because I was waiting on my flight which was on Thursday and her companion, Sister Llewellyn, who is in Cayman, wasn't coming until Saturday and she needed a companion haha. And they just took the car away from the Portmore sisters and gave it to the sisters who are opening a new area in Montego Bay. So we walked the whole evening and I have never been eaten by so many mosquitoes in my entire life!! I don't want to serve in Portmore because of that! And Portmore is just a lot hotter than Ochi. I thought I was in the desert. Ochi is green and luscious. Then the next morning the APs and some other elders came and picked us up and we drove to the airport in Kingston where they dropped off Sister Wint and I, and Elder Lafayette who is going to Freeport, and we flew to Nassau. There the sisters picked us up and we got to work!

My new companion is Sister Judd and she is amazing! We are SO alike it's crazy! I'm excited to work with her here in Nassau. She has been in Nassau for about 6 months now and she actually served in Ochi where she got trained right before she came! It's fun getting to talk about Ochi together. We have a lot in common though and we are gonna have a great time! I have already met SO many new and amazing people! The Bahamian accent is almost like the Caymanian accent so it freaks me out every time. And then there are a lot of Haitians here. Their accents are great too. The Creole is awesome! It's a break off of french. 

You asked what my duties as a District Leader/STL (Sister Training Leader) are. Well, first of all I teach District Meeting every Wednesday. I take numbers from the sisters and give them to the Elder's in Freeport, and I report to President Brown what's going on out here. That's about it. It's awesome. I'm definitely getting used to it. haha. I never saw this one coming...

On Saturday we saw an investigator whose name is Kevin. Man he is fantastic! He told us that he is positive now that he wants to be baptized! That day he even had some Jehovah's Witnesses come up to him and want to teach him and he said, 'you know what, i'm studying with the Latter-Day Saints and i'm going to get baptized. So I'm not interested.' He's awesome! We had a great lesson planned for him as well all about baptism, the holy ghost and enduring to the end.  The Spirit was so strong and I can't wait for him to start this next part of his life! This is the most important path anyone will ever pursue in this life. He loves the Gospel! I already love him so much and I just met him! He wasn't able to come to church on Sunday though. We were sad about that.... Next week!

[

Well that's pretty much my week. It's good to finally be unpacked and settled into this place and ready to get the work done! 

Thanks for the emails! I love you all! I'll get pictures to you next week. Sorry! I love you again! Have a safe and blessed week!

Love,

Sister Mouritsen

1/12/15: Transfers! On to Nassau, Bahamas!

Hello! Oh wait... Hi! Wah Gwan?

Sister Garrett and I had some great experiences this week! I love missionary work. I can't say it enough.

On Tuesday night at the church we had our first Bible Study/Book of Mormon class that we are starting. While we were sitting and discussing, Sister Garrett leaned over to me and pointed at the door and we saw a dark face looking through the window. As soon as we got up and looked back at the door they were gone. So we went to go open it and invite them in. As we walked out, there was no one in sight. Anywhere. And the way to get out you have to walk past a beeping thing that announces someone coming or going and we didn't hear it. It's loud. We looked around for about 5 minutes and found nothing. Then we heard someone coming from the bathroom so we walked over there and a man walked by. I walked over to him and said, 'hey were you the one poking your head in the window?' he said no, with a confused look. Then I proceeded to ask his name and if he wanted to come with us to our Bible class. At first he was apprehensive and kind of rude and just putting us off and saying that he had to go quickly to catch a taxi to get home. Eventually he started to be more curious about it the more we talked to him and he said, 'okay, can I just come for a few minutes to see what it's like?' 'Heck yes!' haha! So we went in and at first he was just standing at the back for about 5 minutes and then he sat down and then he started putting in his comments! After the class we got his number and invited him to church and to learn more about the Gospel! It was such a cool experience!! His name is Collin. :) So sister Garrett and I decided she saw an angel in the window was drawing us out of the church to go find this elect being even though he didn't know he was elect. :) ha!

On Thursday we had our institute class taught by Elder Hardy. We had an appointment fall through right before so we decided to walk around the church area and talk to people. On our way back to the church a guy who was smoking called out to us and asked what we were doing. We talked to him, gave him a Restoration tract and invited him to Institute. He said his name was Dogarthy and he said he wants to change his life and go to a church. Then we went to the church and a random number called us. So we answered and he said his name was Dogarthy and that he had just talked to some church sisters and they gave him a tract with a number on the back and he couldn't remember where the church was at for institute. haha! WHAT?! We told him it was us and where it was at. Institute was fantastic and Elder Hardy talked a lot about baptism because we were in Section 20 of the Doctrine and Covenants. At the end we talked to him and he is in the Elder's area... But as he left I shook his hand and he said, 'Man, I just want to get dipped!' It was awesome!

Lenny was supposed to have his baptismal interview with President Brown on Friday morning but he never showed up even though he said he was 10 minutes away. We haven't been able to get a hold of him since. We think he got cold feet. :( I hope I will be able to see him again before I leave though. He is amazing!

In Cayman, I don't know if you remember me talking about Tyrone and how his two girls came to visit. Well, I finally got their number and we were able to go find them and see them! We had a fantastic lesson about the Restoration and their mom sat in as well and they committed to be baptized! They are amazing! The daughter's names are Tianna and Tuanna, and then Arlene. I wish I could see them again! 

Saturday we also received our transfer calls and I am leaving Ocho Rios, actually I am not just leaving Ochi but Jamaica! I have been called to serve in Nassau, Bahamas! Yay! I'm excited but sad to leave the Rock. I have also been called to be the District Leader in Nassau. I'm scared about that one but we will see how it goes.

Yesterday was my last Sunday. Sad.... We went over to some member's house, the Francis' family, for home evening. We had a great time getting to watch Legacy and then, to my surprise, I go floured! Unexpectedly! And not just a little flour, it was the whole bag! It was my going away present haha! Apparently they do it to every missionary who leaves but sister Walker got away without it. It was fantastic! It just turned into a war! I'm stilll crying flour out of my eyes and digging it out of my ears and every where else you can imagine! It was a fantastic night! The tradition is flouring for people going away or coming home and birthdays. Definitely keeping that tradition when I get home. Watch out. ;) Show. No. Mercy. haha!

Well I hope you all have a good week! I will be flying out once again on Thursday. This is my 10th plane ride in almost 9 months. haha. Yah.... Well I love you all! Have a safe and blessed week!

Love your Caymanian, Jamaican, and soon to be Bahamian sister missionary,

Sister Mouritsen :)