August 19, 2015

Hello all!

I actually took pictures this week! This was a busy week but a lot of fun. I'm continuing to learn a lot, become better, and meeting new people! I also hit my three month mark last week and finished my mission training which is so awesome!

Transfers: I'm in the same area, but Elder Anderson left. I get to be a trainer this transfer! I'm training Elder Casey, from South Jordan, Utah! He is a super great missionary and I am excited to work with him!

Monday: Had some solid lessons. One of them was a surprise too, but that's still awesome! For P-Day it was super relaxing. I got caught up on a lot of housekeeping stuff I needed to do.

Tuesday: We painted a fence for service, and I had to paint with fences on both sides of me with 12-18 inches in between. It was rough. We met with our ward mission leader to talk about the ward mission, next we had some lessons and then popped into game night. Game night was a throwback to home because they were playing a lot of music I used to listen to, haha.

Wednesday: We had zone training meeting in the morning and had missionary night in the evening. We met with a YSA less active who is ready to come back and found someone else who might want to be taught! We will see what happens.

Thursday: We had some solid lessons this day, it was great! Our last lesson of the day was with an investigator who is slowly progressing and changing. I really love working with him!

Friday: We did our weekly planning all at once with one break for lunch, then went to weed wack a lawn. After that we had a good lesson in the evening and got two people on date for baptism!

Saturday: We helped out at activity days, then we had a baptism for a YSA recent convert! It was a very nice service. We did more weed whacking today day (but I spent my time trying to figure out how to put string in the weed whacker), had a great dinner, then we were invited by on of our investigators to go to their church (called The CHURCH). It was a neat experience seeing a different type of church service. We also got our transfer news today.

Sunday: Church meetings throughout the day, had one last lesson with our YSA recent convert to say goodbye as she goes to the valley (Phoenix area in AZ), then we went out with some priests (young men ages 16-18) to teach one of our actual investigators. We were giving the priests real-world mission experience and they got to teach the lesson. It was super fun!

Monday: I finished the 12 Week training program. We had our first lesson with a referral and were able to get them on date (that was a miracle). The rest of the day was spent packing, and then, around 4:00 some of us left to the transfer meeting in the valley. It was a super fun truck ride down. We went to Scottsdale Mall so I could get my shoes looked at (it was a SUPER nice mall). The trip to the valley made me miss being in a more urban area. We also got to have dinner at the mission home which was extremely good and I saw my cousin coming into the mission! (Blake and Lauren were called to the same mission, but Lauren is a Spanish speaking missionary.)

Tuesday: We had a lot of meetings for transfers and our new missionaries. In the morning we got to work out with the mission president which was fun. We drove back up to the mountains, took some pictures at a pretty overlook, had Wendy's, then arrived in Show Low. We got to say "Hello!" to a few people at game night, but then had to go plan.

Wednesday: So far all I did today was study and get my back adjusted. It felt great. My companion is a great missionary!

Spiritual Thought: This life is hard. The Lord gives us trials so we can learn, grow and become better. So long as we trust in the Lord, have faith in Him, and keep his commandments, all will be well with us and we will inherit the blessings He WANTS to give us because He LOVES us!

I love and miss you all! Stay strong and keep doing what you're doing!

Sincerely,

Elder Morgan

August 10, 2015

Hello all!

The work is still good in AZ! Last week was a slower week, but still good. I'm doing well and having fun! Things are still kind of warm, but school has started and places are a lot less crowded. Another fun thing that happened this week is that I've been assigned to be a mission tech! Aka, I help the mission with their iPad usage and implementation, help answer people's questions, and test the apps with Apple's new software! Currently I'm Beta testing iOS 9. It's a fun responsibility to have! Also sorry for the lack of pictures this week.....I'll get better.

FYI: The next time I email home will be one week from Wednesday because of transfers!

Monday: In the evening we had  a lesson fall through, then FHE. We ate Papa John's wings/pizza. It was so good! We also had a good lesson with one of our progressing investigators (we've had a lesson with her almost every  day this week and she will be getting baptized this Saturday)!

Tuesday: We did some service (fence painting and digging holes), then had a normal day with a few lessons. Dinner was super good. Our branch president took us out to a restaurant called Samurai Sam's.  I loved it! We also got to go temple cleaning in the evening which was awesome as always!

Wednesday: Most of the day was spent doing district meeting and missionary night (members of our congregation gather together and go and visit less active members or investigators). We got pizza to entice people to come to missionary night. It was from Little Caesars and they have a really good pretzel pizza. I got to go with the branch president during missionary night and we had some very powerful visits. It is amazing to see the love he has for his branch members. He is the principal at Show Low HS, so he had many of them in school as well. He took me on a off-road short cut in his Jeep which was super fun as well.  

Thursday: Not much happened. We had a good lesson with our progressing investigator, our recent convert family, and we visited a less-active YSA and his girl friend. The less-active guy was sleeping because he had work soon, but his girlfriend gave us some extra dinner (we ate a lot that day).

Friday: We had weekly planning which took a lot of time. We also had four set lessons, but only one actually occurred. It was a super good lesson though. We were preparing our progressing investigator for her baptismal interview the next day. We also had a really good dinner: homemade Chalupas.

Saturday: Another slow day. We did our studies, then our zone leaders came over so Elder Anderson could check their Area Book inputting. We then had our progressing investigator's baptismal interview which she passed! Elder Anderson had a meeting, so I just spent time waiting.  And our lesson for that day, unfortunately, fell through.

Sunday: Good as always! It was busy though, we had branch council, then did some companion study, then had ward council. In ward council, we got a training on how to make sacrament meeting and the Sabbath day more meaningful. The answer is that it all starts in the home. We contacted a lot of people in the park after church, then went to a really good dinner (homemade orange chicken and peaches with ice cream in them). After dinner, I felt sick for the rest of the night so it was hard to focus. We had a good lesson with another one of our investigators. He is so interested in learning more and because of that the Spirit is always present when we meet with him (especially when his kids are there too).

Monday: All we have done today is shop. Today I'm going to have to get caught up in my journal writing.

Last, I was very sad to hear about the car wreck and the death/injury of Holly, Dale, Kyle, Kevin, and Hannah. I have been keeping those people, as well as all affected by this accident, in my prayers. I sent a statement home to my parents to share, but here it is again (plus some additional comments)...

Note from MOM... The post dated August 8 has two paragraphs. The first was his original statement, which appeared on Facebook, and the "additional comments" are the spiritual thought he shares in the second paragraph.

August 8, 2015, FRIENDS REMEMBERED

On Friday, August 7, a tragic car accident began when a wrong way driver hit an SUV with five young adults inside. A semi truck came upon the accident and the truck driver did not have time to stop before hitting both vehicles. This accident ultimately led to the untimely death of three HHS Band friends from Elder Morgan's 2014 graduating class. Elder Morgan writes:

August 8, 2015 
Those peers of mine that were lost and injured were great examples and leaders in The Pride of Herndon Marching Band, at Herndon High School, and within the Herndon community. They were actively involved in a  variety of activities -- band, theatre, scouting, charity, and more.  They were also people who loved making others happy and putting others  before themselves and they would do that with little acts of kindness  ranging from surprising people with flamingos in the yard to being the leaders of Herndon's Pride. I was lucky enough to have the privilege of working with those people throughout my time at Herndon High School. They were some of the most outstanding leaders and people I have worked with. They always cared about how other people were feeling, they  made people happy with their Pride spirit, and they made sure the band  was always striving to "be better today than they were yesterday." I thank Holly for the time I was able to  work  with her as drum majors, Kyle for his large desire to make  people happy and support the school/band program, Dale for his leadership within the band and his motivation to be the best he and the ensemble could be, and Kevin for his leadership over the pit and drumline, for also always wanting to be the best he and the ensemble could be, and also for being a great friend since  elementary school. Their influence will  always  be  remembered.

Holly, Kyle and Dale

August 10, 2015 (additional thoughts)
That event ties into my spiritual thought [religious perspective]: God has a perfect plan of happiness of each of us. It started before we came to Earth and it  continues on after this life. Dale, Kyle, and Holly live on. Their spirits are in a place where they can continue to learn, grow, and be happy. Just like birth is part of God's plan for us, so is death. Birth brings us to this stage in our eternal life and death moves us on to the next stage of our eternal life. This is a hard thing to have happen. It is tragic. I know that as we rely on God through prayer, scripture study, and church attendance, He will ease this burden that now rests on many of us.

I love you all; I'm praying for you all; I miss you all. May God be with you.

-Elder Morgan

August 7, 2013, A Tragic Day of Loss for the HHS Class of 2014, and the Pride of Herndon Band Family.

Herndon Patch

Three teenagers identified as recent graduates of Herndon High School died early Friday in a head-on collision on a Texas highway, and two other teens were seriously injured, according to media reports.

WTVR Channel 6, a Richmond TV station, reported Friday that Dale Neibaur, 19; Holly Novak, 18; and Kyle Mathers, 19, were killed when their SUV was hit by a wrong-way driver at 1:50 a.m. on Interstate 30 in Hunt County, Texas.

An 18-wheel tractor-trailer that came upon the accident could not stop in time and slammed into the SUV and the wrong-way driver’s car, WTVR reported, and both vehicles caught fire.

The wrong-way driver also died in the crash, according to media reports. He was identified by a Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman as Kenneth G. Frazier, 78, of Royce City, Texas.

The two other teens in the crash were taken to a Dallas hospital, according to media reports. They are Hannah Galbaith, 18, and Kevin DiCicco, 19, WTVR reported.

The Facebook page of the Herndon Band identified the three deceased teenagers as members of the band and of Herndon High School’s Class of 2014. Novak served in the band as a drum major, while Neibaur served as trombone section leader and Mathers as pep band manager.

The five teens were taking a road trip in the SUV from Virginia to a video-gaming convention in Austin, Texas, media reports stated.

August 3, 2015

First, thank you all for your kind birthday wishes! It really means a lot to me and helps me feel happier when I receive that love from home. I wish I could respond to you all individually right away, but I just don't have time! I will try my best to a reply to each of you within the next several weeks!

Anyways, I'm holding up in AZ. This week has been a really good week! We are getting closer and closer to our personal, mission, and stake goals each week. It's amazing to see the Lord's hand when we consider Him in our goal setting.

It's a lot of fun getting to be in this part of Arizona! I'm beginning to feel more adjusted and used to life. I understand the geography, I'm getting to know the culture, I've picked what college I'll root for (ASU) and what high school to cheer for (Show Low HS), the weather is beautiful, and the evenings, sunsets, night skies, and storms are all wonderful. On top of that, I'm getting a lot closer with all of the missionaries in the two stakes I serve in and I'm getting better at disc golf. Today we started playing disc golf at a new course and It was so much fun. I'm excited to keep playing and I hope to play when I get home too!

Monday: We met with an investigator we haven't seen for a while and read the Book of Mormon with him and his family. It was super fun. After that we went to FHE. There was pretzel pizza and it was the best pizza I've ever had. They also had a huge telescope to look through which was super cool.

Tuesday: We didn't have any lessons fall through -- that was a miracle. We had a lesson with an investigator we have been working hard with to get to church. We met with a less-active woman and her non-member husband who are interested in learning more and coming back to church. We  met with a person we contacted in the park on Sunday, and we met with a person we've done service for. All of those we fun lessons. We also got to help paint a fence in the morning.

Wednesday: We mowed a less-active member's lawn for him. After that we had lunch and then interviews with the mission president. That was really nice to talk to him one-on-one. He hinted at what my transfer news might be, but I'll inform you all of that when they are definite (so two weeks from this Wednesday). In the evening, we had missionary night which was fun as always. It was my first time traveling out to Clay Springs (a small town 20 minutes from Show Low). I love the drives in AZ. At the end of the night, our branch president bought us Dairy Queen. That was super nice!

Thursday: We had district meeting in the morning. I showed up late because one of the zone leaders took me to get their phone and their car cleaned while the other zone leader set up the building for more interview with the mission president. We then had a great lesson with one of our investigators who will be headed back down to ASU in a few weeks. She is very interested in learning more which is great! In the evening we had to head up to Pinetop so my companion could do a baptismal interview.

Friday: It took us all day to complete, but we had a successful weekly planning session. It usually take us 3-4 hours, but we always had to do it at random times of the day because other things come up. We had three good lessons: we introduced the gospel to a women we have been doing service with for a while, we had a good lesson about keeping the Sabbath day holy with our recent converts (see Elder Nelson's talk, The Sabbath is a Delight), and a good lesson with another investigator who really enjoys the missionaries.

Highlight from Elder Nelson's address: The Sabbath is a Delight,

General Conference, April 2015

Saturday: I was with another missionary while my companion was doing exchanges. It was a great day. We went to a Pioneer Day celebration at Woodland park which was a lot of fun. I got to see my MTC companion there too which was awesome! Then we were out on bikes visiting people and were able to talk to a lot of people on the street. We got service planned for next week with a potential investigator, had a lesson with a less active member we have been wanting to see for a while and she said she would read the Book of Mormon daily, and we had a lesson with another potential investigator which went really well (when we asked him to be baptized, he didn't answer us, but he sat silently for 5-10 second then tried to change the subject, ha-ha). My favorite lesson of the day were in the evening.

Saturday Evening: We tried to visit a less active YSA, but she was in the valley. The member we were with (a really cool RM who is going to BYU and applying to teach at the MTC) wanted us to have a lesson that night, so he took us to someone he knew, but they weren't home. He suggested we just talk to people. We talked to one family through their screen door, but they weren't interested. We walked down the stair and talked to another family through their screen door. The women we were talking to was a member and her sister was with her. She said her sister had been asking her questions all day about the LDS religion, so we offered to have a lesson right then and they accepted! We did a how to being teaching lesson, then transitioned into teaching her about the Plan of Salvation. In the end, we invited her to be baptized and a set a date for her to be baptized. Coincidentally, that date is the first Saturday her LDS niece will have turned 8, so they most likely will get baptized together! In the end she gave the closing prayer and the Spirit was really strong. The missionary I was with, the member, and myself were all stoked after the lesson! Then just the missionary and I had another lesson that night with a recent convert we are trying to get to church. It was a lesson with some ups and down, but the highlight was when his girlfriend said she wanted to get baptized and wanted to be sealed in the temple! She wants to do it on her own timeline, so we just keep working with her one step at a time.

Sunday: The recent convert we saw Saturday night came to church after a lot of tugging as well as one of our investigators. She was a YSA investigator, but thought her church was at the building where our family ward met and she showed up just as our family ward sacrament meeting was about to begin, so she was still able to join us. Another investigator we have been working to get to church came to Relief Society for the first time today (her son went to Primary and wouldn't let her leave, so she actually went to primary)! At church, we were surprised that a potential investigator who declined our invitation to hear about the gospel when we go do service for him change his mind! We were told he is willing to talk with us! In the evening we had a lesson with a less-active whose baptism wasn't recorded and has to be re-baptized and we got him on date as well!

Monday: We started the day by playing disc golf, then had to get food for a zone activity, went to the zone activity, went shopping, and now I'm emailing! I found a really cool shirt for the high school I support in Show Low, but it is super expensive....I don't know if I'll end up getting it, ha-ha.

Spiritual thought: This life is meant to be a time for us to learn and be happy. I know there are trials we all face in life, but as we rely on Jesus Christ, His gospel, and His Atonement, we can work through those struggles. I'm grateful, as well, that this church is organized the same way as when Christ was on the Earth -- with prophets, apostles, and so on! It is truly a blessing in my life.

Another blessing in my life is all of YOU! I am so grateful for all each of you have taught me. All of you have taught me a variety of life lessons and I am grateful that I know you and for your friendship! I love you all and miss you all! You all are great! Stay strong! I know the church is true!

Love,

Elder Morgan

PS: The Church is still finalizing their materials for what's called "Online Proselyting" (i.e. missionaries on Facebook). It will be longer than originally planned until I'm on Facebook. That time  is still TBD.

July 27, 2015

Hello Everybody!

I am pushing through! Missionary work is tough but we are making progress. We have goals in mind and are working toward those goals. I also have personal goals that I am working towards so I can improve. It's hard work though, but I'm learning and growing day by day.

COOKIES & MILK... do make me happy!

Tuesday: We continued work on a family's patio. We visited with some recent converts and a less active member. Game night was "Capture the Flag" and that was super fun. There were less active members there and potential investigators which was really great! 

Wednesday: Elder Anderson and I gave a training about how to teach simply and with unity at our district meeting. We also has a lesson with a potential investigator we met at game night. It went well, but he will be out of town for a while, so it will be some time before we see him again. This is a weird time of year because people go on vacation We also meet college students but struggle to set up future appointments with them because they're going back to school. 

Missionary night was fun. I got to be with the branch president. He gave me a lot of advice about life and about being a missionary. 

Funny [Interesting] story: We wanted to visit someone that night, but didn't have time, so we started to head back home. We stopped at a convenience store to get a candy bar, and we coincidentally parked right next to the person we wanted to visit! It was a small miracle. [Have you ever heard the sayings that, "Coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous," or "Chance is the pseudonym of God."?] We also had a lesson with another less active member. It went really well. 

Thursday: We did service in the morning, had a lesson with an investigator we haven't seen for a while, and had a lesson with a member referral that we got a while ago. In the evening we tried to visit people and were able to have some lessons with less active members.

This is my desk where I study and plan.

Friday: We did service in the morning. The person we did service for is a potential investigator. He took us out to lunch afterward at a place called Jalapenos Cafe. It was super good. I loved it. We tried to talk with him a little bit about the gospel while we were eating. Then we had weekly planning. In the evening we tried to visit people, but other things came up such as planning for an exchange, having a baptismal interview far away the next day, and our phone dying. In the evening, I went to another companionship's area so Elder Anderson could do an exchange.

Saturday: I was in another area. The missionary I was with got out [came to the mission] a transfer [six weeks] after me, so he was still very unfamiliar with the area; but that made it more fun. We stained a fence in the morning, then visited people throughout the day while trying to find time to do our First 12 Weeks training in the mission field. We were also on bikes. That was awesome because the weather was great (especially in the evening) and it made it easier to talk to people. We tried to talk to one person, but quickly found that he mainly spoke Spanish. Not much happened except me butchering Spanish as I tried to say the church's name.

Who knew city's close down... 

Where do they all go after 5:00? ;)  :D

Sunday: Our companionship study was planning and study time because of how late the exchange the day before had ended. We had ward council, then popped into the YSA branch to see if any people we invited came to church; none of them did in either ward. After church, we went to dinner in Clay Springs (about 25 minutes away). We couldn't find the family's house in our GPS, so we ended up 11 miles past it before turning around. Dinner was Navajo Tacos (my first time having them) they were super good! In the evening we tried to visit people with not too much luck.

Monday: I dropped my disc golf score this morning to 85, then we went shopping for groceries. I had to by new running shoes and I spoiled myself by getting some ASU shorts and an ASU baseball cap. Tonight we have a good FHE planned, so today should be a good day.

Spiritual Thought:

God loves us. He knows everything. We need to trust and rely on him.

Remember *Mosiah 4:9 where it say we cannot comprehend all that God can and **2 Nephi 9:20 which talks about God's omnipotence. He knows everything we are going through, feeling, dealing with, thinking, etc. And in the end, all of that can work out for the best so long as we follow him.

*Mosiah 4:9 (Book of Mormon)

Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend.

**2 Nephi 9:20 (Book of Mormon)

O how great the holiness of our God! For he knoweth all things, and there is not anything save he knows it.

Thank you all for your love and support! I hope you have a great week! I love you all, miss you all, and think of you every day!

Elder Morgan

July 20, 2015

*Pioneer Day is an official holiday celebrated on July 24 in the U.S. state of Utah, with some celebrations in regions of surrounding states originally settled by Mormon pioneers. It is the anniversary of the day that the first Mormon Pioneers entered the Great Salt Lake Valley.

Hello everyone!

Another week is done in Show Low! I'm holding up well! There is nothing too interesting or different going on. Missionary life is becoming normal and routine. The work keeps moving on and the days keep going by. (Highlights in red.)

Monday: I got my haircut and got to play dodge ball with the YSA's (Young Single Adults) at
FHE (Monday evening YSA activity). That was fun! We also got our car washed which is always fun!

Tuesday: We tried to take a new member family to the Family History Center so they could find names for temple work, but that didn't work out too well. We weren't as organized as we needed to be, the family history consultant did most of the work, and they didn't find any names...oh well! We cleaned up the backyard of someone we met on the street, and then we taught them about the Book of Mormon. It was a good lesson and they said they would read 3 Nephi 11 (Book of Mormon). For dinner, we went to a member's home. The father there is the band director of Show Low high school. We got talking and I may be able to help out with their band camp! We also brought a new YSA ward member to fellowship one of our YSA investigators and things are working out great with them!

Wednesday: Lesson with a less-active member, then Zone Training Meeting. The sister missionaries in our district gave a great training about being bold. The meeting went really long, so my companion and I gave an abbreviated training on how to use digital missionary pamphlets in lessons. Later that day, we went to the temple to do baptisms with our family ward youth and our recent converts. It was my favorite day of the mission so far! I love working in the temple. My companion and I got to do the confirmations which was very fun. After that we taught our ward mission leader how to better use the Gospel Library on lds.org and we gave a blessing.

Thursday: We did service in the morning, then made a lot of visits in the afternoon. We found out that someone we thought was a less active member is actually not a member, so hopefully we can start teaching him more. We had other good lessons that day.

Friday: We got our oil changed, visited less active members, and did service for one of them (we built a gate under her deck). I also tried some super hot chili extract, and lost my bag (but found it that night...phew). Also that day, we were asked to provide missionaries for the stake *Pioneer Day activity on Saturday which was easy to do, but we were also asked to find two musical numbers for that activity. And that is what we spent the rest of our free time Friday trying to do. In the evening, my companion and I came up with a cool arrangement of Come, Come Ye Saints (pioneer hymn) while he played the guitar and I sang.

Saturday: We started working on another patio, we helped a less-active member move, we performed our song and participated at the stake Pioneer Day activity (It was a week before Pioneer Day because they didn't want to have it the same day as Snowflake, AZ). We also made progress on our weekly planning.

Sunday: After studies, my companion and I had to go on splits. (To meet the need for missionaries in two places at the same time, the companionship splits and each missionary joins with a member from the ward as a temporary companion to cover both events.) We were to split for an hour because we needed to be two place at once: he needed to attend a confirmation, and I was needed at the YSA branch. Turns out the time for the confirmation was wrong, so the split ended early. I performed Be Still, My Soul in the YSA branch. We had church as usual and a nice linger-longer. (A social gathering after church where people visit and have refreshments. Very common in YSA wards/branches.) We also had a stake correlation meeting with our ward mission leaders and the high councilman over missionary work that was very good. In the evening we had a lesson with the family we introduced the Book of Mormon to on Tuesday. There was a daughter, mother, and grandmother. The mother and grandmother weren't interested in our message, but the daughter was, so we will try and teach her more. In any other remaining time, we did weekly planning.

Today: We played disc golf again. This time I scored 95 (lower my score by 9). I don't know what par is for that course. Then we went to Panda Express and shopping. Unfortunately, the internet is down in most of Show Low because someone cut the cable of one of Show Low's biggest internet service providers....whoops.

Spiritual thought: 1 Nephi 11 is the guidebook to how you can receive inspiration from the Spirit. My favorite part is verse 1-5. Nephi says "I sat pondering" (v. 1), "I desire" (v. 3), and "I believe" (v. 5). In order for us to receive that inspiration, we have to ponder what we read, learn, hear, etc., desire to hear from God, and believe that he will communicate with us. As we do, we will learn. Our branch president also shared a great talk about the story of the brother of Jared and ships (Book of Mormon). We must remember the we need to put in effort and do as much as we can, then the Lord will help us (especially if we ask Him).

I love you and miss you all! I hope you have an amazing week! You are in my thoughts.
-Elder Morgan