Living Mission for Life

Michael Mortenson, ’15, came to the University of Mary to play football. Ashley (Sickler) Mortenson, ’15, came for the physical therapy program and competitive scholarships. Both students from Dickinson Trinity High School, Michael and Ashley enrolled at Mary in the fall of 2010, around the same time Monsignor Shea became president of the university. “I was interested to see what would happen under his leadership,” Michael said.

Many new initiatives were started during their time at Mary, giving Michael and Ashley a unique opportunity to grow in their relationship with God and each other. “Our sophomore year, the Rome campus opened, and that really transformed people,” Ashley said. “Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) came to campus and started Bible studies,” she said. “That had a really big impact on our community.”

Michael was also one of the founding members of Saint Joseph’s Hall, a discernment hall for men at Mary. The Catholic studies program started while they were students, and Michael minored in the program. The two had started dating in high school, and despite a brief break after returning from Rome to discern their vocations, they dated throughout college. They got engaged in 2013 and married the summer of 2014, before their senior year of college.

Ashley had switched her major to nursing, and Michael was almost done with his degree in business administration and just needed to student teach to finish his secondary math education degree.

The FOCUS missionaries at Mary asked them to consider becoming missionaries themselves. “I did want to be a FOCUS missionary,” Ashley said. “I kept praying for it. Michael was absolutely against it. That year FOCUS had a conference in Nashville, and when I went to the conference, I just said, ‘Fine, Lord, if you want us to do it, tell Michael, and I will follow.’ And then I had a great conference,” she said.

“I didn’t have such a great conference,” Michael said. “It was hard. But I realized I’d been given a lot in my formation, and I’ve been given a lot in my ability to befriend people. And God made it very clear that He wanted me to be a missionary.”

Later during the conference, Michael told Ashley he had a change of heart. “I know,” she said. “We are going to be FOCUS missionaries.”

Ashley and Michael spent six years as FOCUS missionaries.

The Mortensons served as FOCUS missionaries at Minnesota State University Mankato for six years. Over the years they served in Mankato, they were able to see transformation in the students and on the campus as the community grew in fellowship and faith. “Right now, there’s a battle going on for the soul of every person,” Michael said. “So many people walk around and, for a plethora of reasons, aren’t really happy. They don’t have real friends. They don’t have a purpose. You see the spiritual poverty that exists right in front of your eyes every single day. But then when you truly befriend somebody, and you bring in the light of the Gospel and show them that there is a purpose to life and there is meaning, everything changes.”

“It’s hard to describe,” Ashley said. “But after walking with a handful of women and seeing them transform, it is super beautiful to see that through Jesus Christ, a new life is possible.”

So many people walk around and for a plethora of reasons, aren't really happy. They don't have real friends. They don’t have a purpose.

Ashley and Michael credit their passion for sharing the Gospel to their time at the University of Mary. Now that they have retired from FOCUS, they continue to look for ways to meet the needs of the world. “We are convicted to live lives as missionary disciples and to follow Jesus’ commandment to make disciples of all nations, not because it was our job as FOCUS missionaries, but because we continue to see the need,” Ashley said. She currently serves as director of middle school faith formation at the Pro-Cathedral of St. Mary in Bismarck, ND. Through her work there, she has revamped the middle school faith formation to be small group-based and involve the parents more. Ashley and Michael also both lead Bible studies through their parish and are working on getting a young adult group started.

The Mortensons have two children, Annabella and Nicholas, whom they adopted three years ago. They have fostered ten children and plan to continue foster care.

“Through our struggle of infertility and God’s work in our hearts, we considered adoption, but we kept feeling God’s invitation to foster care,” Ashley said. She is also passionate about women’s health and teaches natural family planning.

Michael works at the University of Mary as a mission advancement officer. He’s also assisting with the execution of the university’s athletic strategic plan, Greatness through Virtue, by teaching classes to scholar-athletes and fundraising for the initiatives. “My role is to bring people into our mission who can support us in a wide variety of ways,” Michael said. “I get to sit down with people and explain where we’ve been, where we are going, and how we are meeting the needs of the world around us.”

For the Mortensons, it all comes back to sharing the love of Christ with others. “I firmly believe people are hungry for purpose, and that can only be truly fulfilled by receiving the Gospel and living a Christ-centered life,” Michael said. “That’s what makes us generous, and that’s what makes us joyful.”