6/2/2015: Mandeville, Mandeville :)

Good afternoon :)

Sorry I did not email yesterday... We got our car back from the shop and it looks brand new! Ha! 2013 Honda Civic. Man is it nice... :) So I had to drive Sister Robinson and another sister, Sister Brown and her companion Sister Frey, to get police reports and passport photos done in Kingston just in case they would be traveling to the islands in the future. It took pretty much all of our Preparation day. It takes about an hour and a half to get to Kingston from Mandeville, and luckily we have the highway to make it faster, but we had to pick up the sisters in May Pen. It ended up being a good trip and it was good to get to spend some time with Sister Brown and Sister Frey. They are fantastic and both just finished training and got put together in May Pen, so they were excited to be together because they came out at the same time. Kingston was awesome! That place is like the fiery furnace! Man! We were sweating like crazy and were blessed to have AC in the car until we almost ran out of gas and had to tough it out hahaha... Mandeville is just a very chill, cool place. :) I love it!

Wednesday we had Zone Meeting which was fantastic! Our Zone is great. I had a meeting with the Zone Leaders and District Leaders before it, DLC, District Leader Council and we talked about some good things that we can do to help the Zone to grow even more. During Zone meeting we talked about teaching people and not lessons, the Book of Mormon how it needs to be used more in our proselyting and we were invited once again to proselyte with a Book of Mormon in our hand, and how we need to be more efficient in having an Escalator effect and not an Elevator effect in our missionary work. It was really awesome to get some more insights and help with the work and the Spirit is always felt so strongly during meetings. I love Wednesdays just for that reason. This week I get to go to MLC on Thursday, Missonary Leadership Council, which is for the ZL's, AP's and STL's and President Brown will be there to teach us and help us with what we can do to move the work forward here in the mission as a whole. 

We got to meet with a less-active named Audrey on Friday and she is great! We even got to talk all about Nassau because she has lived there for a little while. It was really cool! She told me I was Jamaican and it totally made my day haha. She is a very sweet lady and we hope that she will come to church soon... But we will see. She went back to her Adventist church which she grew up in and says she is more comfortable there. So we are hoping that she will come and we can talk to members this week about coming with us to teach her and fellowshipping her better at church. 

Saturday there was a combined Family History Roots Tech activity with our District at the Hopeton branch. It was awesome! We got to help Brother Morgan from our branch with it. He said he really needed help and doesn't understand computers. So we were able to help him start his family tree and he really got excited about it! It was great! He still needs help with the computer though. After we helped the members with that, President Brown came and did a presentation about the temple and helping them all to prepare to go to the Dominican Republic in July. I was hoping to listen because President Brown is SUCH a good speaker... But... Gotta go do the work for the living right now. haha. :) And I love it. That day is also RAINED like crazy............ It looked like a white out and we weren't able to see many people because of it... :/

Sunday we got to have a lesson with Demarce about the Plan of Salvation. It went really well. He is very, very smart and pretty much knew the whole lesson just from the tract. He read it multiple times. He just needs to figure out his situation so he can recieve a baptismal date to recieve the Holy Ghost. We are going to go see him today and hopefully we can help him out a bit more. He is fantastic though!! 

We also had a cool experience on Saturday. The Mandeville sisters gave us a referral of someone they met on the street whose name is Marcia. We got to meet with her on Saturday and had an awesome lesson about our purpose as missionaries and about the Godhead. We invited her to pray about it and to come to church tomorrow as well. And she showed up at church! She was late because of taxi reasons but she came! And she had a great time. She even read the Restoration Tract that we gave her and she thought it was very interesting. She had a few questions about it. Man. Things just seem to be going really well lately. I'm excited to see where this path will take her and the happiness that it will bring her. 

We were challenged last transfer to read the Book of Mormon every 100 days and it has been really awesome to be able to do it. I love getting to read it so fast. It takes about 6-7 pages a day. Looks like something I'm going to do for the rest of my life. haha. I have really gotten to grow from it and gotten to know the scriptures a lot better as well. 

Well I hope you all have a great week. I love you and pray for you daily. Be safe!

Love,

Sister Mouritsen

5/26/2015: Back in Jamaica :)

Good afternoon :)

Man this week has been an insane one and definitely not like any other week I  have had on the mission... haha...

So Monday, Sister Lewis and I flew out from Nassau. At one point in the airport, we were talking to this guy and the conversation started out really well and then it just went downhill.... so I don't know what religion he was cause he wouldn't tell us but he started pulling out scriptures and getting heated and rude and yelling at us about how we should not be teaching with our hair uncovered and how we should not be teaching at all because we are women. And that we should just shave our hair off because we are speaking. Jeez man.... As he was walking away he said, 'Stop lying to my people!' That was a great going- away-from-Nassau present....

The AP's picked us up from the airport and we met the STL's in Kingston and went teaching with them for the night. Then Tuesday we drove to Spanishtown for the trainers' meeting in the morning and then we went teaching the rest of the night. It was a good day. I have been pretty nervous about what is going to happen this transfer though and woke up kind of sick Wednesday morning. But it eventually went away when we got to the transfer meeting so that was good. 

Transfers was awesome! My new companion/daughter is Sister Robinson. :) She is fantastic! She's from Junction and is 19 years old. I'm only a year older than she is but it just made me feel so old especially in the mission old. All my companions have been older than me and older than me in the mission, except for when I trained Sister Garrett. Man....

Well we drove with the Zone Leaders back to our area. They are serving in Hopeton which is just north of Mandeville in Manchester. I also found out that I will be the only STL in Mandeville. We'll see how this goes.

Well white washing is interesting.... when we got back to our area on Wednesday it was about 7 at night. Sister Lewis helped us by telling us who we could go visit. So we called them and then walked out to get taxi a ways down the road. They were a nice family and we had a great lesson with them. They are some recent converts and a newly reactivated father. 

Thursday we went and did Service at a member's house in Mandeville as a district. We helped to clean up her yard and weed and such. It was good and the rest of the day Sister Robinson and I walked and walked and walked and taxied and walked and talked to a lot of people and tried to find the people that the past sisters were teaching. The sisters before us were actually Sister Mashabela and her trainee sister Frey (my sister) and we also have the STL area because we are supposed to have a car. Hopefully we'll get it on Tuesday. The sisters hit a gate haha. We had called a guy named Dixon who apparently had a baptismal date for June 6th and we tried and walked so much to try to find this guy. At one point we called him and he said that he was walking home now from work and we were like sweet us too. and we asked where he was and he told us and apparently we had passed him on the road and we even said hi to him but he didn't want to talk to us and he said on the phone that he was looking for Sister Mashabela and Frey haha! We talked to him! So we have been trying to meet up with him since but.... It hasn't worked out. Hopefully soon... 

It has been raining about every day here as well. Friday we got drenched. At one second it was sprinkling and the next we looked like we had just jumped into the ocean! We were soaked for the rest of the day. It was nice to be able to take off our wet clothes that night haha. 

Sunday was a good day. We got to meet the members and get to know them a little bit. President Brown was there as well because it was District Conference. We also met one of our investigators named Demarce, who is amazing! He was living in Florida and being taught by the sisters there and moved back here this month. He lives with his mom who is really skeptical of the church but she came to church yesterday for the first time! She thought it was a very interesting church....... She doesn't want Demarce to be a member and Demarce still lives with her. He's 24. So he's having a hard time getting consent to be baptized. We are praying that she will let it happen and eventually she will want to learn more as well. We had a lesson with Demarce after church and tried to get her to join us but she wouldn't... Demarce is so ready though! The way he talks, it just sounds like he is already a member! I can't wait for him to enter the waters of baptism! 

Monday we walked and walked again and had a lesson with a guy named Sean. (See-on is how it is pronounced.) It was really cool. We helped him to understand more about Heavenly Father and what his purpose is here on earth. He has been going through a really rough time. We gave him a plan of salvation tract and he said he would read it and come to church. He mentioned that he just needs a reason to come to church. He wants to devote his life to God. The Spirit was so strong! 

Yesterday was Labor Day so we are having our preparation day today. I hope you all have a great week this week. I am exited to see what is in store for us. Mandeville is awesome! It's cold though compared to everywhere else!

I just love missionary work! I love you all! Be strong. Know where you stand.

Love,

Sister Mouritsen

Final Pictures from Nassau (including one with Sylvia, a new convert).

Washing a member's car

Sylvia, a new convert

5/18/2015: Transfer Calls!

Good afternoon!

I don't have much time. My flight leaves today... It would seem that my time is up in Nassau.... I have been called to serve back in Jamaica in Mandeville as one of the main Sister Training Leaders (STL's) :) No more District Leader... haha.... And no more ocean either.... I've been blessed with the ocean for my whole mission! The other STL is Sister Lewis who was my companion in Cayman after Sister Mashabela. But, the catch is that we won't be companions which is new... She is training a new missionary and so am I. Oh, and my new trainee and I will be white washing our area in Mandeville. Oh jeez.... Wish me luck. I love you all! You'll get more details next week. Sorry! They scheduled our flights today because I need to be to the trainers' meeting tomorrow. Alright! Have a great week! Sorry this is so quick and short... have a great week!

Love,

Sister Mouritsen

Here's an image of Leah's areas so far. 

5/11/2015: Mother's Day!

Good Afternoon :)

Happy Mother's Day once again Mom! I love you! It's crazy that a year ago I was at home in Cayman talking to you on Mother's day... Whoa. It was great to Skype you all yesterday! Last one! Haha! Not funny.... That means I go home before Christmas...........................................................

We had a great lesson with Yvonne this week. We talked about the Restoration with her and the Spirit was strong! She told us about how she had had a dream about how some missionaries came to her and wanted to talk to her and had invited her to church. And then that next day she was over at Islande, her friend's house, when we came by. So she accepted for us to come teach her more about the church. It was a really cool thing. She also was able to come to church yesterday with Islande! They were late but they still made it just after the Sacrament. 

Funny story, the branch STILL get's Sister Lewis and me mixed up. So Sister Lewis and Nelson gave talks yesterday in church and after sacrament I got SO many compliments on how good my talk was! Yes I was honored. :) No I did not take the credit for it no matter how much I wanted to. hahaha. It was funny though. 

The biggest news is that Augustin is getting baptized on Saturday! We are so excited for him! He had his interview last Saturday on Skype with the Zone Leaders and Brother Saint-Natus was there to translate the things he didn't understand. He is just so ready. I can remember the day when Sister Judd and I were driving and we saw him walking in the hot sun, so we stopped and rolled down the windows and just started talking to him and gave him a restoration tract and went on our way. It's so amazing to see where he has come from. He has totally just lit up. The Atonement of Jesus Christ is a blessing for everyone but it's our job to accept it and use it or not. And it's not just for times of repenting but the enabling and enobling powers of the Atonement are there as well. I definitely have  learned a lot about my Savior Jesus Christ. I've never trusted him so much in my life. I'm just a small insignificant person in the big scheme of things and yet, he and my Heavenly Father still care. They know what I am capable of and they know my potential. I hope someday I'll be able to achieve what they know I can. I'd be lost without knowledge like this and the fact that everything will work out for the better. This is the most important thing we will ever pursue in this life. So why would we let anything get in the way of that? If there is something in the way of that... haha... Well you better get your priorities straight. ;) 

We had a cool experience this week with a member. Sister Saint-Gilles. She called and said she was having a hard time lately and just feeling disconnected with everything that was going on and wondered if we would stop by. Well it was our dinner time coincidentally but not haha so we rushed over there to see her. We talked with her and felt as though we should share a good pick-me-up scripture from D&C 121 and 122 when Joseph Smith is in Liberty jail going through a rough time and the Saints are suffering out there. I love the words that the Lord tells him in 121:7-9. I'm sure they were comforting to him and can be comforting to us as well when we are struggling. Then in 122 when he's talking about all the things he may have to go through, he should know that these things will give him experience and are for his good and that he does not need to fear what man can do, for God would be with him forever and ever. This really touched Sister Saint-Gilles. She began to cry as we shared it with her and said that it was exactly what she needed to hear. We then told her about a story in the Book of Mormon that she could read on her own time that would help her as well in Mosiah 23 and 24 when their burdens were lifted as they continued to follow the Lord. I just love the way the scriptures touch us today even though they were written so long ago. They are so true! We receive so many answers from them! Jeremiah 29:13. Pray. And then go read and find answers through the scriptures. ;)

I also had a cool experience as I was reading in D&C 105:9-10, 12, 14. I would invite you to read it and ponder it yourself. My favorite part is when the Lord says, 'I will fight your battles.' That's been really comforting for me lately. :) But we also need to be like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego in Daniel 3:17-18. They completely are subject to the Lord's will and trust in Him completely. Would you say, 'But if not', if you were in this situation? haha. Would I? Oh man... 

We also had a great lesson with Bencita on Sunday. Her husband John joined in on the lesson and we talked about the Restoration. They were having questions as to why we need to be baptized again. It really helped to clear up some things and President and Sister Ferdinand were able to testify of the Book of Mormon and how they know that it is true. Man it was fantastic. I'm hoping and praying that John specifically will read the Book of Mormon and pray to know if it is true. They would see so many blessings for their family and I just want them to receive those so badly! 

Well that's a little of my week, I hope you all have a great week as well! Keep your head up and keep smiling. We have a lot to smile about and be grateful for. I love you all! Be safe. CTR. Return with Honor. haha. :) D-accord. Mwen Fini. Mwen Renmen ou.

Love,

Sister Mouritsen

5/4/2015: Se me deja?............... :/

Good afternoon :)

So exactly 6 months from tomorrow.... I will be on a plane leaving home...  Oh... I've already done that 3 times..... Ya know how they say you leave a piece of your heart when you leave, I dunno how there are any more pieces left but crumbs! haha! For true though....

I hope you all had a great week. :) I know I did of course. It rained some this week which was nice. Like Cayman, this island just floods when rain comes haha. But it was nice to have a cool down from all of the heat lately.

This week Sister Nelson and I decided to have a scripture a day. (To keep the devil away... ;) haha..) We started last Saturday and we would switch off every day choosing one. It's great. :)

Saturday: Psalms 118:24

Sunday: Alma 13:24

Monday: Psalms 46:10

Tuesday: D&C 43:16

Wednesday: Psalms 15:13

Thursday: Isaiah 41:13

Friday: D&C 66:36

Saturday: Isaiah 55:8-9

Sunday: 2 Nephi 4:28

Today: 1 Nephi 13:37 

We had a great lesson with a couple this week. Mickey and Eisha. Mickey used to live in Florida and says he is ready to make some good changes in his life. We had a really awesome lesson with them about our purpose as missionaries. The spirit was really strong and they even came to church yesterday! We are going to see them tonight to share the Restoration with them and I can't wait! 

We also met Yvonne and were able to have a lesson with her at her house. We met her while we were meeting with Islande. Yvonne and Islande are best friends. Yvonne is so sweet. Islande had been telling her about how we were meeting with her and that this is a good church and so she wanted to know for herself. She is Haitian too so she speaks a lot of Kreyole like Islande so we need a translator but... That's nothing new. haha. I am really excited to get to see her again. We had a fantastic purpose lesson with her as well. She really opened up to us about her life and what she wants in life. I'm really excited to see her again as well! She is prepared!

Augustine is doing well as well. His baptism is going to be on the 16th of May. :) We are excited for him. We've been able to have some really spiritual lessons with him and he can't wait to be baptized. So we are definitely looking forward to that. 

Bencita is doing really well too. She wasn't able to come to church yesterday though because she was sick from this off and on weather. We were able to teach her about the Plan of Salvation and she had some really good questions about it. She was saying how it just makes more sense to her that there is more to life than just Heaven and Hell. We are still praying that her family will have a desire to join her as well. If not now, sometime in the future. 

Well, thanks for the emails. I hope you all have a great week this week! Can't wait to Skype on Sunday! I'll be Skyping around 4 my time. So I think that is... 2 your time... In Utah at least? Haha.... I dunno. Ask Google. ;) 

I Love you all!

By the way Happy Birthday last Friday Colt! And congratulations! I love you!

Later.

Love,

Sister Mouritsen

4/27/2015: Psalms 46:10 Everything happens for a reason

Koma nou ye m fanmi epi ami yo? :)

I think I said that right....

Anyway...

So... Sorry about yesterday... The power was going on and off and on and off all day on the island so we couldn't email. The poor electric company just suffers haha. The new hotel Bahamar has been getting built, which is MASSIVE and a while ago they tried to light it and shut down the power on the entire island for a few days. haha. Yeah.. You can imagine..... But yesterday it was just a sorta normal summer thing. When it gets too hot everybody turns on their air conditioning and it shuts down the power on and off all day long... So that was the issue yesterday. I guess we will see what the REAL summer brings besides sweat and sunburns. ;) 

We had a decent week though. Nothing too exciting once again. Oh wait, the definition of missionary work is exciting. :) In my opinion at least. Yes, I've officially been out over a year now. It's weird to think that last year at this time I was in the MTC in Utah. I remember it snowed and we were like WHAT the HECK? I've only got summer clothes.... 

This week we had a great lesson with Bencita. Her husband still seems to randomly disappear when we come over, but what can ya do right? He says it's okay for her to be baptized and soon come he too will be. I guess it depends on how long the 'soon come' is... But we had a lesson about the Holy Ghost and how to receive answers and recognize them. Brother Saint-Nutus and Camillot were able to be there to translate for us this time and it was a powerful lesson. We talked a lot about the Book of Mormon and she keeps saying that she doesn't need to pray about the Book of Mormon. She already knows it's true. But at the end of the lesson she really understood the need for it. The Holy Ghost is what testifies of truth and it's important to ask for it to bear witness to us. 

On Friday we had a lot of appointments fall through so we did a lot of walking and finding. It was great! As we parked the car, we saw a family heading towards us and we got out to talk to them but... they saw us and hurried and crossed the road... ha.. haha... So we tracked them down. Man they can speed walk haha. We caught up to them and they just snuffed us off. They wouldn't even take a tract! But we had felt strongly to follow them. So anyway we just continued to walk around their neighborhood until we came to a park and there was a man sitting under a tree at a table. We were a little bit apprehensive. We could see the Bob Marley weed shirt and the way he was slouched at the table. Too gangster for us haha... But we went and talked to him anyway. His name is Gregory and he ended up telling us how he stopped going to church. He just felt like there was more to life. He felt like after Jesus Christ died that his church he established was changed and corrupted. So we shared some about the Restoration with him and he seemed interested. He has his own ideas as well... but we are excited to see him again this week. It was a cool experience. It's always interesting how the spirit works. :) Alma 13:24 and Psalms 46:10 were very helpful to Sister Nelson and I this week. 

Alma 13:24  For behold, angels are declaring it unto many at this time in our land; and this is for the purpose of preparing the hearts of the children of men to receive his word at the time of his coming in his glory.

Psalms 46:10  Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

I love this Gospel and I love being a missionary. I know that it is true and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else at this time. This truly is the Lord's church and I am happy to be a part of it and to get to be serving the Bahamian/Haitian people right now. 

I love you all

Love,

Sister Mouritsen

4/20/2015: One down...

Good afternoon family!

Yes man! I've got 1 week in the mission field finished on Thursday. haha. I'm just kidding. I know it's 1 month. :) Time flies doesn't it?? Alright, alright... I'm in denial.... I admit it. But this has been the quickest year of my entire life...... I love being a missionary and getting to serve the Lord for 18 months. But now... It's down to 6 months on Thursday. Jeez.... Not cool. Not cool.

So Herdy! Yes indeed, he got baptized on Saturday and received the Holy Ghost on Sunday! Aw man it was just the greatest! It couldn't have been better. He has really blossomed. :) We almost forgot to fill the font for the baptism as well. hahaha! We had so many things going on.... But the good thing is it was filled. :) And the baptism was a great spiritual success. One that he will be able to remember forever. 

Herdy at his baptism! 

This week we finally got back in touch with Gislaine! After our last lesson with her about a month and a half ago, she wouldn't answer our phone calls or texts or anything and we had no idea what happened! But this week we were over at a member's house that is nearby her and we saw her! So we went and talked to her. She told us what happened and that she wanted to be taught the lessons again and that she is ready to be baptized. We were so excited! It's really great to see her again! Even if she didn't want to be taught the lessons again, that would have been her choice :( but it was good to see my friend again and talk to her. I missed her. 

I've had some great insights this week as I was spending some time with my other friends in the Book of Mormon. :) I was reading in Alma 11:21-23 when Amulek is talking with Zeezrom who 'was a man who was expert in the devices of the devil, that he might destroy that which was good...' and he  says, 'Will ye answer the questions which I shall put into you? (which Amulek knows they will be deceiving questions that he is trying to tempt him with) and Amulek says to him, which I LOVE, 'Yeah, if it be according to the Spirit of the Lord, which is in me; for I shall say nothing which is contrary to the Spirit of the Lord.' How many times do we have this answer when things arise? Do we ALWAYS think like this before we speak? I also love when he says the Spirit of the Lord is in him. He is Confident about it too. Are we confident that our personal temples are clean to have the Spirit with us? If not, what do you need to change? Verse 23 is awesome. Haha. THAT is confidence right there. He is confident in God and he knows where he stands in the battle against Satan. This scripture really helped me this week. Maybe it won't have the same effect for you, but I know that if you just spend some time in the Scriptures and specifically the Book of Mormon, because it is the Keystone of our Religion, you will find personal treasures for yourself as well. I can testify of that one with confidence! I want confidence like Amulek and Alma! Some of the greatest missionaries there are. 

I know that this work is a true work. I know that Christ lives. I know that he accomplished the Atonement for us out of love. I know the time soon come when he will reign. There is no time for procrastination of repentance (Alma 34). I know it all begins with Faith in Jesus Christ. I love my Savior. I have never felt so close to him. I've never been so sure in my testimony of Him and this Gospel. I know the work has been hastened (D&C 88:73) and it will leave us behind if we don't hasten with it. I truly know that the Book of Mormon is true and was translated by a Prophet of God, Joseph Smith. The prophet of the restoration. I know we have a living prophet on the earth today and that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is led by Jesus Christ. He is at the helm. We have no need to fear if we keep our covenants. 

I know this is true.

I love you all. 

Love,

Sister Mouritsen

The morning run. 

Leah's mission photo is climbing the wall in the Stake Office.