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Monday, November 29, 2010

Amsterdam...week 3!

I definitely notice a difference from time here out in the mission field and time in the mtc.. in the mtc it seemed slow.. it dragged on forever.. here.. days are fast.. we are constantly going back and forth all over the city, and wow three weeks are already gone! Crazy stuff.. I don't have many cool stories this week.. so I'm going to try and answer some questions you all have been sending me.. I don't have a bike yet.. My companion broke his bike a couple days before I got here, but even before that he never rode his bike.. so we ride the bus and metro system.. I wish I could ride a bike, I think it'd be awesome, seeing the scenery and what not, but this is really one of the few cities in the mission that you can survive without a bike.. so yeah no bike yet! My companion he's from Seattle Washington.. like you have already found out, I"m the third person he has trained, the companion he had before me was a greenie also, so he's gotten back to back greenies, and now with 8 new elders coming in, who knows could get a third straight as well!!

Transfers are coming up, I hope I stay, I want to be able to get to know the city beter, know the ward members better as well.. there's a lot of amazing people, but curse my personality, it takes me a little bit to get used to and open up and become good friends with people =P No worries though, I feel more comfortable every day I'm here! I hope you all had a blast for thanksgiving.. We had kinda a thanksgiving meal the night before, and then on thanksgiving day we ate the leftovers of that meal.. so nothing special or anything but it was still nice to eat turkey and pumpkin pie, and talk about america with the elders here in amsterdam. We also had our first church service in the church yesterday, the previous two weeks had been in a school because of mold problems in the church.. so that was nice also.. just something about having church in a dedicated building that makes it feel better ya know? =) I said the closing prayer.. said a whole bunch of stuff, hoped it made sense, but I"m really just trying to speak as much as I can.. I've gotten over the initial fear of talking to people.. and I've had some good conversations with people on the bus and metro and what not.. problem is.. not about the gospel.. so that's something that I'm trying to work on.. harder than you would think! But I was reading in 3rd Nephi chapter something (don't remember =P) and the verse said that members of his church are lions among sheep.. so I say that to myself whenever I start feeling.. umm.. overwhelmed? Not a good word but oh well.. it helps.. the fear leaves, and that's actually how I've been getting the confidence to start talking to people and try and start conversations.
I got to go.. times up but I love everyone, know that your emails and letters make my day, I'm in amsterdam in europe and the thing I look forward to every week is hearing about all of ya'lls lives and what's happening with them.. I'm being honest when I say that, and it's hard to believe me since I rarely write anyone else besides this general email!! But believe me =)
Love you all
--Elder Mohrman

Monday, November 22, 2010

Amsterdam... Week 2 =)

Goededag mijn familie!

I apologize for the last week email, didn't really give any good details and didn't realize I would be extremely rushed! I get too distracted reading up on everyone else's life that I forget to share about mine!! ;) Well I have about 15 minutes to write this probably will take less time so I can get back to the emails however. ha ha okay so just a couple of quick experiences from last week when I got here and then I'll tell you about some this week.

My first day here in Amsterdam I got to the apartment which is actually pretty good size.. and then we were off me and Elder De Meester to my very first "real" lesson to an investigator.. her name is Glady's she was a former model and actually now is building up another modeling agency.. so pretty interesting stuff with her, she's a surinamer but she was raised in the Netherlands, anyways it was also the first lesson that she was being taught by the missionary's. Wow.. it was quite the expirience.. we taught about the first lesson, so the restoration of the gospel, about joseph smith and what not, as the lessen begins, I'm jet lagged a little, I'm nervous since it's my first lessen and to top it off it's all in dutch, and everyone's speaking super fast and I can't understand anything! Needless to say.. I didn't speak much =) Elder de Meester taught the bulk of it, and when we got to the joseph smith story he let me give the first vision in dutch.. (first time also =P) anyways the spirit was strong there, really strong, and she teared up a couple of times. At the end Elder De Meester asked her if she would say the closing prayer, she was hesitant and tried to get out of it saying she didn't know how, and she never has before, but Elder De meester kept prodding and asking, and I even felt prompted to say, that you need to start somewhere and likened it to me speaking dutch, I have to speak to get better and what not.. and long story short she said the prayer and the holy ghost was strong and powerful and present, and it was just an amazing way to kick off my mission ;) Next lessen that night was much of the same, but I was still able to bear my testimony and the spirit was there and just a really good first day! Okay that's what I wanted to say in the last weeks email.
Now for this week

A couple of expierences from this past week, we were on a train heading down to the southern part of Amsteradam, and one of our goals is to contact 20 people as a companionship, this was on Friday, so we really tried to take your commitments to heart and accomplish this. I was sitting apart from Elder De Meester and the guy sitting by me already gave me the cold shoulder so I was left to sit and think.. Elder De meester was having a really good contact with this girl and her father from china I think.. sitting across from them and listening in to the conversation was a an older dutch man probably around 75 ish. Elder De Meester started telling the girl what we believe, bared his testimony about there is a modern day prophet and apostles just like there were back in the times of Christ, and they speak and talk with God and Jesus Christ today. As Elder De Meester was saying this the Dutch Man, was smirking and laughing a little bit. Just a typical reaction from someone who is set in his ways and not searching for the truth. But as Elder De Meester continued on, explaining about Joseph Smith, explaining about how he saw God the Father and his son Jesus Christ when He prayed to find out for himself, I could see a change come on this man. He stopped smirking and he started thinking.. I wish I could explain it better because the change in his demeanor was drastically different.. as Elder De meester kept talking you could see he started thinking about things.. started thinking about what was being said, and you could see he was feeling the Holy Ghost touch him. Elder De Meester wasn’t speaking to this man, in fact he didn’t even know he was listening in to the conversation. But the holy ghost testified to him of the truthfulness of what was being said nevertheless. It was a neat expirieince for me to see. Here was a man with a wall built up about god, about religion, and to see the Holy Ghost still touch him and work on him in a way that he probably hasn’t felt before. The lesson I took from this was just a reinforcement to what everyone has been telling me while I’ve been on my mission, you need to have the holy ghost with you at all times, because the Holy Ghost is the true teacher, the true person that will get a person to stop and think and ponder.. It was a little thing that happened that I witnessed, I didn’t even get to talk to the man, and bear my testimony as I was feeling that I should do. He got off at the next stop, but as he got off and he walked off, I could still see in his face a change, a subdued look.. wow I can’t really describe it but I hope you know what I mean. After that we got off the train, taught pretty much the entire first lesson on the street to a lady a lesson that both me and Elder De Meester gave and one that I didn’t realize was in dutch until after it was over, because I had understood everything and truly thought it was in english, got to see the gift of tongues in action with me for the first time.. that was a blessing as well and then when we finally got to our actual appointment we were able to set a baptism date with the lady.. It was a pretty incredible string of events that happened.

Love you all, Elder Mohrman

Monday, November 15, 2010

Amsterdam.. Week 1 =P

Goede middag van Amsterdam mijn familie!!

It's weird.. not going to lie, I"m sitting in a library in amsterdam right now.. about the 6th story, by a window looking out at the city.. it's amazing =) Hopefully my pictures will justify this city! Europe.. well.. all I can say is.. it's not America.. not even close.. they have a lot of the same stuff.. there modern, there civilized, but wow.. different.
Plane ride over here, there was nobody that sat by me.. I had a whole row to myself.. the row in front of me and the row in back of me and the row across from me were all empty.. it was insane.. I got a lot of personal thinking time in.. not much though happened.. I slept a little bit.. read a little bit.. slept.. really uneventful long boring flight =0 Although I did hear my first real dutch being spoken! And I actually recognized it as dutch too!! Didn't know what was said.. but it was dutch!! =)
First day I got here in europe I don't even remember what was going through my head.. it's kinda a blur really.. I met Pres. and sister Brubaker for the first time, (eventually) took a while for us to find each other in the airport.. but it's okay, the lord looked out for me and I met a member from utah visiting Belgium, and I walked with him out to customs and the baggage area, so that was blessing.. went to the mission office, and filled out and went over a bunch of different papers and what not.. had dinner at a greek resturant with the mission assistants.. that was pretty fun and interesting, went back to the mission home then.. and got to open my call to see where I was serving! 'Kinda cool to finally have that moment of opening a mission letter.. since I wasn't able to with my original one.. =P But I got my call to the city of Amsterdam.. so starting off in the most well known city of all of netherlands right from the get go =) My companion or trainor is named Elder de Meester.. which means in dutch "the master" He's great, been really helpful to me, and we get along really great! In amsterdam there is 4 elders and two sisters, so our apartment is a 4 man.. the other two elders elder mccarlie? and elder Garrett both are great as well.. definitely 'having a lot of fun with them ;)
This email is kinda boring and I apologize for that, I didn't really prepare what I wanted to say
Gotta go
Love Elder Mohrman

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Elder Mohrman arrived in Brussels :)

Email family received in the wee hours of the morning...





Hello,



I just wanted to email you and let you know of the safe arrival of Elder Mohrman in Brussels this morning. There is a nice lunch at the mission home planned for him, followed by a short nap (to help overcome jetlag). After that he’ll be heading to the Brussels town square to do contacting with the Assistants and enjoy some authentic European food. He’ll be staying in Brussels tonight and heading off to his first city tomorrow morning. He’ll be serving in Amsterdam with Elder De Meester as his companion. All mail can be sent to his apartment there. The address is:



Jesse Owenshof 38

1034 WT Amsterdam

Nederland



I’ve also attached a few photos of Elder Mohrman with President and Sister Brubaker. Please let me know if you have any questions or if I can do anything more to help you.



Elder Marshall

Mission Secretary

87 Boulevard Brand Whitlock

1200 Brussels

BELGIUM




Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Week 8

Goedemiddag mijn familie!!

this is the last email you will receive from me from america! Pretty crazy to think about. Last thursday I received my flight plans, and I leave on monday! I report to the travel office at 6.. so probably leave 15 minutes after that, and then on my way to another country! That's all fun and dandy, and really exciting, can't even express to you all how excited I am to be leaving.. a little bit of a twist, I am going to be traveling the whole way by myself.. that should be interesting, haven't ever traveled by myself in my life, now I get to go half way around the world, by myself.. should be umm.. interesting.. not going to lie, I'm going to be scared out of my mind!! Probably not to atlanta.. and even from atlanta the first part will be okay.. but half way through that flight, it'll probably hit.. then it's going to be nuts.. going to be interesting to see if I can get any sleep on the flight, I'm going to be so pumped up, I may not!! I dunno, I've been trying hard not to think about it, and it really hasn't set in yet that I am finally leaving.. it was sad I tried to imagine myself walking down a street by the mtc... I couldn't.. That's when I knew I'd been here too long!!

But everything is going great, language is well.. language.. always a work in progress.. sometimes I can speak, other times I can't.. but always learning, always growing so pretty happy about that. I have noticed now that sister kraemer is gone, that my speaking really hasn't improved that much (probably has but I don't see it) but my reading and understanding has improved drastically.. especially the reading, it was pretty cool the other day I started to read out of one of the pamphlets that I've never read out of before and without realizing it I was understanding everything that I was reading!!

The new Dutchees are also pretty cool, Elder White did end up going home, so it's down to 8 elders and 2 sisters, there dutch is improving pretty rapidly as well which also helps me out as well.. It's crazy being the "old one" I've been here the longest in my part of the MTC, so for zone activities, they've been having me help teach ther newer ones, and also give spiritual thoughts.. I teach the other dutchees a lot as well.. it's sometimes a drag, but I really see how teaching is the best way for a person to learn, the grammar principles although still difficult for me to use when speaking I have a pretty good grasp of them now, and that's why my reading and listening has improved so much.

So two weeks ago just a reminder, I had the privilege to see Elder Nelson.. Last week the privilege to see Elder Richard G. Scott.. Last night.. Elder Ballard. Absolutely amazing, after having the fear that I would miss out on seeing ANY apostles, I ended my stay here at the MTC with three straight =) Last night was amazing too, Elder Ballard gave some really good advice and council, and I have a lot of material and notes that I get to review on the plane ride over! I sang in the choir again last night, this time I went to the sunday rehersal so I actually new the song when we were singing it.. I've made pretty good friends with the elders going to Iceland, so there the ones that pushed me into going.. really glad I did.. Song was great, and not only that but both times I've sung in the choir, it was too an apostle.. can't beat that right?? ;)

Also another really cool powerful moment, we knew it was an apostle because the conductor said that we only stand for the brethren of the twelve.. (dead give away) so were all excited and waiting to see who it is, we sing three songs before we start the devotional, and we just finished the first one, then we start the second one and it's praise to the man.. oh man I thought to myself this devotional is made for me.. what a way to be sent out.. hear an apostle for the third straight time, and get to hear my favorite hymn sung by 2,500 missionary's.. but it get's better.. as were singing Praise to the man, that's when Elder Ballard walks in, so were all standing and singing, and he stays standing to the end of the song, and we were about half way done when he walked in.. it was powerful.. As I progress here at the MTC I'm starting to recognize the spirit in my life more and more.. but this time.. it was unmistakable.. so powerful, like a fire in my chest, and especially singing the words standing for an apostle of the lord, "millions shall no brother Joseph again".. can't describe it.. And I wish I could read over this paragraph.. because it probably doesn't make sense.. but I just wanted to share with you a moment I felt during a pretty remarkable night..
Also in the night we go and have a district meeting ( I join with other districts.. since well.. it's only me in mine =P ) and we bore our testimonies and how we got ours.. it was just amazing.. from last weeks devotional Elder Scott told us every time to write down when we feel the spirit in our lives so I bought a journal for my "spiritual guidance" moments.. it's not too full.. but every time I get to put a entry in it, it's amazing, and I just realize how blessed I am..
Well tot ziens family and friends, thank you all for all your prayers, and letters and packages, I made sure to write everyone who sent me a letter back.. so hopefully you all receive the letters.. I sent out a bunch today, and if not.. realize you were thought of.. and just the mail messed up!!
Love you much,
and succes met leven,
-- Elder Mohrman..