Week 8

Oh my goodness. This week was a break through for me as a missionary that is for sure. So heres the thing. This week we had an exchange and I WAS THE ONE LEADING THE AREA. okay people. I dont get like super stressed or anything. but wow the couple days leading up to it I was getting pretty anxious. The main reason to was because my sister training leader that was going with me doesnt know any spanish. So yikes. I was praying SO HARD that I would be able to call and text all the people I needed too to set future appointments and drive everywhere and teach lessons and do all that. And guess what, the day came and I was forced to do all the spanish on my own and the Lord truly helped me. I was able to understand everything that was being said on the phone and I wasn't afraid to ask people to repeat what they were saying or anything AND I was able to find a member to come with us to our lesson and then they got lost and were asking me for directions and i was just like yeah right i dont even know how to help you in english let alone spanish so yeah stress but he finally made it and we went to go teach our investigador alfredo who has a baptismal date for september and his wife is a member. I felt so calm that whole lesson and really felt like I could communicate everything I wanted too. We talked about prayer and why we pray and how we should pray. He is so cute and he wrote down his prayer last time because he would always forget to start with "Padre Celestial" and end in the "nombre de Jesucristo" but now he kinda just repeats the same prayer over and over. The spirit was so strong when talking about how Heavenly Father is literally our father and he wants to hear the desires of our heart because he loves us and he was always answer our prayers. I asked him if he has prayed in this way to know if the book of mormon is true. He said he hadn't. I wanted to ask him to do it right then but hes pretty shy around other people, espicially with out member present and a new missionary. So he said he would do it that night. My sister training leader that was with me, Sister MacLay was so fun to have for the day! I got some good translating practice in too! She even said the the spirit was so strong even though she didn't understand what was going on! Just one more experience to strengthen my testimony that I know I am recieving divine help from the Lord everyday. I LOVE SPANISH. I used to be like, wow this is so hard, but now im just like WOW THIS IS SUCH A BLESSING. I love walking up to hispanic people and just going off in Spanish because they are always so surprised that I speak spanish and then I tell them im from Mexico and they almost always believe it hahaha so then Im like just kidding california, and they are like well there are a lot of mexicans there! and just laugh and think about how Irvine is like all asian. 

So our mission has this huge focus on service so we found this food pantry and its at this catholic church and its called Rafael's celestial angels so we are like oh yes lets do it. so we called them and told them we wanted to serve and it was such a great experience. They were all asking who we were and why we were serving mission. It was so great to just answer with a short testimony, "I am serving a mission because I know that God is our loving Heavenly Father and he wants all of us children to return to live with him again in our own families for eternity" or "because I know that the same church Christ established on the church has been restored again!" they were so nice and it was so great to work with them. And then as we were serving saturday morning at the food pantry, I would find all the hispanics and help them and talk to them in spanish and invite them to meet with the missionaries! (perks of speaking spanish and no one knows what im saying hahaha) 

Something I have come to learn and just accept is that questions to most hispanics like "could you please share an experience about when you recieved an answer to your prayer" is just not a good idea. because then 27 minutes later, they have finally finished their story about their 6 different cousins and how all of them have different problems and every life lesson their grandmother taught them. Yes I let my feet hover above the ground to stay awake as my eyelids start to feel super heavy. I'm trying to think of anything else happened.... so many things happen and the days feel like so long because of all of people we see and then before you know it im already sending an email! Oh okay one more thing. So our investagators just aren't really progressing. they dont want to come to church and getting juked starts to become pretty normal by the time the third lesson hits. I was feeling a little frustrated about it and then I remembered a lesson we got at the MTC and it was about specific prayers and how we can bind the Lord. We as a companionship coventented with the Lord to talk to everyone we see if hopes that he will place a family of 5 who has been prepared and is looking for the truth. Know its go time people. Stay tuned. It'll be good, the Lord always keeps up his end. 

Love Hermana Mortensen

It was Luis 22nd birthday (he's from guatamala and his mission papers are almost finished and he loves to come out with us he's the best) and this was after his face entered the cake.

We met with Cesar, he is a less active who works at this restaurant and hes trying really hard to get sundays off. we met with him at his restaurant and he bought us shin guards and soccer socks for soccer because we have so many bruises. COME ON HOW CUTE.

sister b and i have cantelope and ice cream after a hard day because why in the world not