Week 54

Ahh ye another week down...couple feelings about hitting the year mark and my mission as a whole. Ive grown a lot and been so blessed. Let me share a few.

First off being, wow, the one thing in the world you can never get back... time... how precious is every minute we spend, every hour, every interaction, every activity, every friend, every job, we have such limited time. Make the most of every moment you have... this has been motivating factor for myself but at the same time some stress too.

Another one, is that we as human beings - but especially as members of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints - everything we do matters, the way we talk, walk, live, breathe, you know what i mean, we each have an opportunity to have the light of Christ with us. But it depends on our agency - are we going to spend our time wasting ourselves or building ourselves...!

As a missionary you have a lot of time to study, ponder, think, and pray. I think about things like, how can i make sure i keep myself at the highest standard and make sure i always have the spirit to be with me? How can i make sure i stay active in the church and never fall away? Something i love to share with people here is the phrase... CPR. Everyone knows what it means and why it is so crucial. If someone is needing CPR, we save them! We revive them. Switch this to gospel terms - "Church, Prayer, Read".

I have been told and have said it may times myself, if you want to stay in the church, if you want to keep your testimony...you need CPR! We have to be going to church, praying with real intent, and reading the book of Mormon every single day. What does this do? It keeps you alive, keeps your testimony alive, keeps the fire inside of you...alive! Love sharing this. Let’s all make sure we continue to do CPR so we can help others along the way.

One of my favorites - 1 Corinthians 10:13. There’s lots of scriptures like this one, THERE IS NO TRIAL THAT YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO OVERCOME!! I love sharing this to people here because the joy, the hope that comes across their eyes as they eternalize these principals! There is a way, there is always a way. The atonement is real and i think there’s times where we possibly take for granted. WE ARE NEVER ALONE!! Not for a single minute or day. We have a brother, Jesus Christ right there alongside with us.

Reminds me of the poem Footsteps. If you don’t know what Im talkin about, look it up!

I had the opportunity last week to go to mutual with the youth of the stake and share what I’ve learned as a missionary. Bottom line – prepare now youth! Read the Book of Mormon now! One asked me if I have ever regretted going on a mission. I haven’t…its been a roller coaster at times but I would do it again. And before my mission, i had all these things in my life to possibly hold me back home. Girlfriend, baseball, family, school, and opportunities left and right that could’ve kept me home. But I made a promise to myself when I was 6 year old that I would go! CHOOSE NOW!

Why? Its such a blessing. I say to myself - look where you are now, look at what you have grown from, look at the person you are now, look at the testimony you’ve gained. The trials we go through shape us each and every day, build us, shape us into what God needs us to be! So, do i regret it? No and i have never regretted it for a day in my life. Was it absolutely the hardest thing ive ever done? YUP, welcome to the process.

Last thing…we haven’t had rain in who knows how long, months i guess...right now, we are in a flash flood! Sadly the streets are flooded and wow it just keeps on coming down ahah, the Lord is flooding the land... just like we try to haha, flood the land with the gospel!

Sorry for the big rant email... testimony email idk!

Till next week, Elder Mortensen outta here!

1. flash flood warning

2. Flash flood (had to run to the front office)

3. The night before the storm... boiling

4. comp caught a lil fishy

5. poopy pick up(still imature)

6. i caught a fishy too

7. Jesus fish

8. after mutual sunset

9. sea turtle Legos

10. Flooded streets