The Gospel Is Meant To Be Learned As Families

Dear Family and Friends,

It has been another great week here in Lumberton. It has been a really fast two weeks here. I am adjusting fairly well! I really love it here. Ill start off by answering your questions. The reason I said its like I'm not in North Carolina anymore is because we do not teach any white people. Our assignment is to teach the Burmese. Lumberton is pretty small town. It is also pretty run down. Roberson County is one of the most poverty stricken areas in North Carolina. For our lessons, there are a few people who can speak multiple languages that can translate for us. There are like 5 different languages that these people speak so it is fun trying to find people to translate. I'm trying to pick up some of the language, my goal is to be able to pray in one of them before I leave here. There are 3 sets of Elders in Lumberton, we do not live in the same place but they are both really close. Next transfer I believe we will be getting Sister Missionaries here as well. Elder Cluff is doing well. So far I have enjoyed being companions with him. I am the Senior Companion. He is a really good singer and he sings all of the time. We drive the car mostly. All of our lessons are really close, but a lot of the time we have 5 back to back lessons so in order to make it to them on time we drive. I often get the chance to play the guitar here, it is really nice to have that connection with those who do play the guitar.

That is awesome that you are going to meet Brother Warren! He is the nicest guy you will ever meet. So for the story behind me signing his guitar... He purchased that guitar so whenever we came to his house I would be able to play it. He also would bring it when we went on exchange and I would sit in the back seat and play while we were driving. On the last preparation day that I was in Greenville we went and played disc golf with him. We also went to his house and spent some time there. I was playing the guitar and he just asked me to sign it!  Brother Warren did sooooooo much for us. He wasn't even in our ward and he would go with us to lessons all the time and bring us to teach his friends that lived in our ward boundaries. He is a true disciple of Jesus Christ, and you will know that once you meet him.

Sorry all of that is kind of scattered and all over the place. The work here is going very well. We are teaching a lot of people and there are a few that will be baptized in a few weeks ( hopefully)! The Burmese are really humble, but it takes a bit longer for them to grasp the gospel due to language barriers and not having a real solid Christian background. Until coming here to Lumberton, I hadn't taught a lot of families. It was usually just one person at a time that we were teaching. One of my wishes was to teach more families. I think my wishes have been fulfilled in coming here. Almost every lesson we teach we are teaching a family. I really really enjoy it because the gospel is meant to be learned as families. This last week we participated in 3 family home evenings with 2 or more families at each one. It is really enjoyable teaching big groups of people who are all striving to become more like Christ. I love the people here.

Sorry this is a short letter, and sorry Ive been really bad at responding to letters lately. It seems that I just haven't had time to write back, but I am planning on writing a bunch today! This week Ive really rekindled my love for the Book of Mormon. I am in Mosiah which is probably my favorite part of the book. I know it is true because of the spirit it helps me feel and the things I learn from it.

Have a great week!

Love Elder Mortensen