Mortensen, Annalise

Good evening! As most of you know, Sister Annalise Mortensen is serving in the Newport Beach Mission in California. She has been struggling with continuous headaches for several months now. She has endured well in her missionary service.  After many attempts to remedy the headaches, visits with doctors, and prayerful discussions with her Mission President and parents, it has been determined that the best course of action is for her to return home to focus on her health. She will be returning home tomorrow (Friday) night. She will remain set apart as a missionary and will serve in a service missionary capacity while she receives medical attention here at home. To know Annalise is to love Annalise! Something tender that her Mission President shared is that she is a "Top 1% Missionary". I have no doubt in mind that statement is 100% true! The best thing we can do for her as a ward family is to wrap our arms around her, pray for her by name, and also pray for the medical professi...

Hi everyone!! How do I even begin. This week was challenging. When I said my headaches were better I was trying to convince myself haha. They're really not great and it seems like they've gotten much worse these past few weeks. I've had a few doctors appointments and we haven't been able to find the problem. I've started feeling nauseous and had some serious neck pain which isn't too fun! But alas the work continues! I've learned so much from this crazy week. I've learned what promptings of the spirit look and feel like, and how He speaks to me! I've learned to place my full trust in Heavenly Father and His perfect and infinite plan. I've learned of the power of prayer. And I've learned that mortality really does work! We had zone conference this week and a major theme was Ether 12:27. I bore my testimony at the end about how I didn't realize how much God would show me my weakness when I came out on my mission. I have been truly humbled a...

CARLSBAD ZONE!!!!! The ward we cover is technically in Oceanside but we live in Carlsbad! Thank you for all the prayers because we are on the coast haha! I have the greatest companion EVER!! Her name is Sister 'Eliesa and she's from an island in Tonga called Vava'u. I love her so much already! She's so good at following the spirit. Every night I'm scrambling to write down everything I remember her saying/doing. Everything she does is to align her will with God's! She's also a VERY diligent missionary. She works hard and finds lots of joy in the work!! This week was the first time it's been pouring raining since I've been here. It actually only rained 2 or 3 of the days but I loved every second. On Thursday we were out all day going between lessons and finding. By the end, everything we were wearing/our hair was soaking wet and it was awesome! Again, Sister 'Eliesa is amazing at following the spirit so it was really cool to see how she does missio...

It's been a crazy day but so much fun! This morning we went to Alohana with all the Sisters of course and then had our zone activity! We played volleyball, spikeball, and had a great idea to throw eggs at each other. It was so much fun and felt like summer again!! This week we saw so many miracles. We knew it was most likely my last week in this area so we were working as hard as we could!! Our friend Ilyana came to church for the first time yesterday! After Relief Society, we followed up with her on any questions or thoughts she had. Ava Olsen (our member friend who just got home from her mission) joined us along with my bestie Becca who leaves for the MTC tomorrow! It was so fun being in a group of missionary girls and feeling the spirit with Ilyana! On Saturday morning, Sister Dudley and I went to Laguna Beach to weekly plan at the members home we usually go to! We were enjoying our life when the APs called us and were like "did you get transfer news?" We were like ...

Can I start out by saying how much I love you all?! I've felt so much support and comfort from everyone throughout this week. I'm beyond blessed to have the family and friends that I do. Thank you for being my angels out here. This week was infinitely better! Still challenging with my health but much easier to endure. We saw many miracles and I found so much joy! One of my favorite experiences was meeting Ilyana and her family! They're a nice Muslim family and very strong in their faith, but they invited us in when we knocked on their door! We talked for a while about the basic principles of both of our religions, and I felt the spirit so strongly. We went back a few days later and Ilyana wanted a Book of Mormon to start reading! She's coming to church on Sunday and we're excited to keep teaching her! We're still teaching Aubrey who is 14 and needs a miracle to be baptized. Her family dynamic is really challenging and her parents are against the church. She'...