We Have Been Working Hard and Talking To A Ton of People Just Trying To Find the Elect

Dear family and friends,

 

 

This week has been a great one! Elder Persinger and I are seeing a lot of miracles because we are doing our best to labor without ceasing. We have really been working hard and talking to a ton of people just trying to find the elect. The Lord is blessing us in many ways that we did not expect. This week we had 7 of our investigators at church plus 2 or three less active members that we have been working with. It was a great day! We also had our Christmas program at church. Elder Persinger and I both sang in the choir. There were only 3 men and about 7 woman. It went really well. We recently started teaching a man named R-- and his wife. They came to church this week. They are good friends of some members here in the branch and are excited to learn more about the church. They have 3 young girls that will be a very needed increase in the branch primary program. They really enjoyed church and should be coming back next week. A lady named S-- that we are teaching also came to church for the first time! She really loved it and is good good friends with some of the members in the branch! Those members seemed really excited to see her there and told us that they wanted us to teach her in their home! S-- is working toward a baptismal date in February!

 

 

Our Christmas season has been great! I have been enjoying the 12 days of Christmas that you sent me! Thank you for all of the things that you have sent me, I really appreciate it. We have had a lot of interaction with the members of the branch this week. They are some of the best people I have ever met. They treat us so well, and make us feel like their family. I love it here because of the people. We have had the opportunity to teach a fair amount of people this past week. A miracle that we have seen is that some of the less active members we visit are really starting to open up to us. They are more willing to express what their concerns are so we can better help them overcome them. We were not able to visit M-- this week because she has been very busy with Christmas. Her mother is in town from California and we have decided to go see her again after the holiday's are over. We have not talked to Father W-- either. He is always home and available to meet with us, but we figure that it is not the best use of our time.

 

 

We are going to be at our Branch President's home for Christmas! I'm not sure exactly what our plans are for Christmas eve yet. We have a lot of good members that make sure we are taken care of though. Transfers are next week. I will be staying and it is likely that Elder Persinger will stay as well but we are not sure yet. I have not had any opportunities as of late to play the guitar, but there is a part member family who the non member I've heard plays the banjo and guitar. We are trying to see when we can meet up with them so maybe it will happen then!

 

 

That's great to hear about all of the exciting things happening back home! This was one of my favorite times of the year back home. Thank you for the updates on what everyone is up to. Im not sure if I will continue the tradition of making a blanket fort here, but I will consider it:) I also sent home my sd card so you should get that soon!

 

 

The Christmas zone conference went well! There were three zones all at the meeting! I got to see Elder Thornton and Elder McHan who are two of my former companions. I also got to see a lot of missionaries that I served with in the Fayetteville zone. It was great to be able to talk to them and see how they are doing with their missionary work. The first half of the meeting was instructions given by a few missionaries and President and Sister Bernhisel. The last half was the musical part. Different missionaries and groups of missionaries did musical numbers. We have a lot of good talent in the mission. I sang a song with the rest of or Zone. Elder Persinger did a piano-vocal solo. It was really really good. He has a video of it on Facebook if you want to look at how great he is. Overall the meeting was really good and spiritually uplifting.

 

 

Thank you for all that you do! I hope you have a merry Christmas and enjoy your week. Know that I love y'all and hope that you are all safe and blessed.

 

 

Love Elder Mortensen