July 28, 2011

July 28, 2011

Lakeside Ward/Tucson Arizona

 

Hey Everyone!!!!

 

So I’m still broken but I’m ok. I want to thank everyone for all of the prayers and thoughts sent my way. They did not go unnoticed. I love you all and am so thankful you took the time out of your day to think of me and pray for me so thank you.

 

The break in my elbow is not as bad as they thought so no surgery. Also my face isn't swollen anymore :). I still have the stitches in my face so those will come out soon.  I’m doing just fine. My bike is also fine.  I got a prescription for no bike for two months, best prescription ever :). I don't have any more scabs, only around my eye. Sister Kilpack (Mission Pres. Wife who is a RN) looked me over and said that I’m looking good. For sure this past week has been the craziest week of my life! On Mon I broke my elbow and face, on Wed my district leader and his companion were in their car driving in the church parking lot. They hit a metal plate, popped it up and it punctured the car. You can see the parking lot from inside the car. and then Fri we got another elder in my companionship. Him and his comp got ET (emergency transferred) not sure why, and they do the American Sign Language program in the area. So maybe this is my chance to learn some ASL... So yeah its been nuts!  Thurs, Fri, and Sat, I had to be on exchanges b/c we didn't have a car so I had to be with someone with a car. I went with a Spanish Elder one day and it was so fun. We went to the ghetto of ghettos I mean like we heard gunshots. It was so awesome. It was in south Tucson and we were with all the illegals. It was so much fun. I loved it. I even spoke some Spanish no joke it was legit. I loved it, now my dream is to learn some Spanish and try to go Spanish even for a little bit. The other days I just bummed with the Zone Leader, but it was a lot of fun with a ton of confusion. It was crazy.

 

So today we went to the temple. It was the most amazing day of my life. The feeling of Gods love was so amazing to me. While I was lying in the hospital bed, I was in a serious amount of pain, I prayed so hard to have the Savior help me. I wanted mom there, I wanted to have the pain leave me. The biggest help was Brother Draper our Ward Mission Leader and he just sat by me calming me down and helping me out. What a great blessing he is to me. I had some big moments of ah ha there but some I will not share because of how personal they are to me. But one experience I will share is this; as I was lying there I wanted the pain to leave. Just talk to my mom, give her a hug, and I couldn't do that, I couldn't even hear her voice. I wanted something familiar to me in a place that was so confussing to me and chaotic. So all I know that I could do was pray. So I did just that, I prayed and a miraculous thing happened to me. I felt the Savior's love so strong that day. I felt him hug me and say everything will be ok and I knew that it was going to be ok. A thought came to my mind that said I protected you today, you are one of my servants and I protected you. He did, he really did. When I came in to the Emergency Room I was in bad shape, I didn't know what was going on. They rushed me in because they saw the condition I was in. I was rushed to get a CAT scan and an X-Ray on my arm. When they came back, they said that my elbow was broken and that I didn't break any bones around my eye. They said I don't know how you did it, but your eye socket should be collapsed with no eye and your elbow and shoulder should be dislocated. But none of those things happened to me. I broke down in tears because right then I knew that God protected me. He really does protect his servants; I know this to be true because it happened to me. I should've been a ton worse than what I was. I feel so blessed and humbled right now compared to where I was on Mon night and Tues to where I am today is completely different. In one week all of the swelling has gone down, no black eye, and my elbow doesn't need surgery or a cast just a splint and sling. What a miracle it truly is. Something funny though is while I was getting stitched up, my companion and I gave the doctor the first lesson. We bore our testimonies and shared the first vision. She couldn't just leave me so we decided, why not ya know. All of these memories flooded back to me while I was sitting in the temple. I felt that love again surge through me like a wave. I was hit by emotion and I couldn't help but cry. I was also pondering about the investigators that we have right now.  I knew that Heavenly Father helped me understand where they are at and how I can help them reach that next point and how I can help them come closer to Christ.

 

I feel impressed to bear my testimony right now. Everyone that reads this email know this; CHRIST LIVES!!!!! He is our Redeemer and Savior. He loves us and knows who we are as individuals. I know this because never have I felt it so strong than this past week. Joseph Smith saw God the Father and his son Jesus Christ that day in the Sacred Grove. I know this to be true because I myself have prayed about it. No one has influenced me otherwise. I made this decision to go on a mission. Not my dad not my mom and not my friends. I did. It is the best decision I have ever made in my life. I love this gospel with my whole soul and all of my heart. If I didn't not know this gospel to be true with out a shadow of a doubt I would not be here. This is His church. This church is not run by man, but by God. If you do not know that this is his church I plead with you to pray about it. Read from the Book of Mormon. I beg you. It can and it will change your life for it has changed mine in ways that I cannot even describe. Since I’ve been on my mission I have the opportunity to read from the Book of Mormon every day and it is honestly the highlight of my day. I learn so much from it. I now know what it means to feast on the words of Christ and not to nibble here and there. The priesthood is real. It heals and gives miracles every day, and I am a recipient of one of those miracles. I love this gospel so much. Read from the Book of Mormon, pray about it, and seek for yourself. For God will not lie to you. This is His church and His kingdom on the earth today with a living prophet on the earth today.

 

I love you all so much and miss you dearly. Love, Elder Mortimer