10/30/17.. Goodbyes ...and implementing new changes as a pilot ward.

This week was sooo good! We had some people from Salt Lake come in to our mission this week and it was a ton of fun. They switched up some things of how we do stuff. I'll tell you what it is in a bit.

So Tuesday I took Elder Johnsen to the mission office and it was pretty quick, just took some pictures and I said goodbye to everyone. It was honestly pretty sad. I'll miss Elder Johnsen, Elder Watson, and Elder Cannon.  They were some good missionaries, so it was a bummer. But I got with Elder Ward right after that and it was way fun.  We have had a super good time together I'm excited to be with him. 

Wednesday was district activity and the people from Salt Lake came in to the meetings. It was really interesting to have them. They changed some things. The most interesting part was on Saturday. Brother Donaldson came to our ward coordination meeting and at the beginning Brother Donaldson called President Alexander and said he needs to ask for permission of what he's going to do. He said we are a pilot ward. So he told us what we're doing. It was sort of the same concept we've been taught but the difference was we are going to make a team for each of the people we are teaching to help them progress. There's a little more to it, but that's pretty much the gist. 

We found some really solid people this week too. We had some big miracles this week. We were going to deliver a free bible to a lady and they somehow didn't want the bible, it was weird. We had a couple minutes before our next appointment so we knocked on a neighbor's door.  We met a nice lady from Paris who said she knew some members of our church.  We got talking and she let us in and she said that we were an answer to her prayers.  It is one of my favorite things to hear when someone says that. The Spirit was super strong in her home, she has a big family and we are going back over there tonight.  Let's hope she can feel the spirit while we teach the restoration! 

Sunday we saw some big miracles!  We had our church and it was really good, there were some really solid talks on missionary work by a member and President Sheppard. So church was great.  So we hop in the car and head home after church and we get a call that bunch of high schoolers are at the church wanting to learn more.  So we head back and got to talk to a bunch of high schoolers and it was way fun!  Then we leave and get a call from other missionaries saying there's another person that just showed up to church and wanted to learn more!  We're teaching him this Halloween.  It'll be super fun. I'm really excited especially with what's happening here! I love this ward. 

Anyways things are going really good down here with Elder Ward. He's from San Diego he's been out quit a while now. 

Qs

How is your new companion??  

He's really good ...we get along really good

How were the goodbyes??  

I didn't even get to say very good goodbyes, but it was probably better that way. 

How are your clothes holding up?

Decent, I need some new proselyting pants 

Is it getting cold yet?

50s 

Did you get the package from the Sanders? 

Ya it was so nice of them!

What time do you usually get home on Thursday nights?

9:30 is usually when we are in by. 

Love you momma!

10/23/2017... I'm going to miss Elder Johnsen ...My new comp's name is Elder Holden Ward.

  

 

Aight! I'm going to miss Elder Johnsen a ton!  He is a good dude.  We are definitely going to be friends when we get home.  He is one of the funniest missionaries out here so a lot of people are going to miss him a ton. 

This last Monday we played some basketball and Nerf at the church.....still think playing Nerf is a lame p day activity but we had some fun. Then right after that Elder Dana and I went on exchanges and I went down to Catawba.  It was pretty fun-- just a normal exchange though. We were able to find a nice lady who had met with some missionaries before. She started crying and telling us her story, it's amazing how many people will accept the invitation to read the Book of Mormon, but really have no idea how much of a blessing it could be just to open it and read it. 

This Sunday the speakers all spoke on service.  Elder Johnsen gave a really good talk on service too on his last Sunday. It was really good, I love the scripture, "whosoever shall find his life shall lose it and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it."  We can lose ourselves in the service of others and find the most amazing outcome and happiness. I've been trying to serve others more and compliment them. 

We went on another exchange this last week with Catawba.  They all wanted to go before Elder Watson goes home. It was a ton of fun. Elder Watson is a really good friend too. I think we'll be good friends after the mission. But we tried to find some people and went to an apartment complex after Brother and Sister Nelson took us out to a Texas Roadhouse for one of Elder Watson last dinners. It was a ton of fun actually....always a good time at Texas. 

Sunday we saw a ton of miracles though. It was just a great day all around! Church was awesome --sacrament was really good, talked a lot about service.  Maureen came to church, so did a couple other investigators who are in a part-member family and are really wanting to get baptized --but it'll be harder now without Elder Johnsen whose Spanish is pretty good. 

My new comps name is Elder Holden Ward, I've heard a lot of good things about him so we'll see. It should be a ton of fun I'm excited to hit the ground mobbing probably being my last transfer in Pineville. 

Love you all so much!

Love you mom!

 

This is my red throw up from a few weeks back...

10/16/17... We found some new people to teach this week--a truck driver, a family from Ecuador, and a lady named Joy.

Had a good week this week! Saw some great miracles. 

I don't know if I told y'all about the lady that we've been teaching who's a returning member. She is awesome. She left the church for 20 years and called us a while ago that she wants us to teach her. It took her a while but she was able to gain a really strong testimony of the Book of Mormon and had troubles with Jospeph Smith but she recently told us that because the Book of Mormon brought her closer to Jesus Christ, she said she knows Joseph Smith was a prophet. It was a pretty neat experience to watch her overcome her concerns and end up with a really strong testimony. She has been sharing the gospel like crazy. She just got called as a ward missionary and has come out finding with us the last 2 days. She talks with people really good so it is awesome to have her and be able to connect with people, then share the gospel with them. She is the best though and just got her patriarchal blessing. 

We found some new people to teach this week, a truck driver, a family from Ecuador, and a lady named Joy. One was a Book of Mormon referral.  Those are always a blessing!  Maureen and her fam were set to come to church and we were stoked but they didn't show :( Jo was going to come too but he slept in.  It was a bummer but it's all good, they'll come next week. 

A member gave us a book that she put together on the atonement. It was a study that they did while she was on her mission and it's 3 months and everyday is a different talk or chapter in the scriptures and it's amazing.  It's been so fun. I've learned a lot more about the sacrifice that our savior made for us. I think my favorite chapter in the bBook of Mormon is Alma 7. It's so good. Just jammed packed with doctrine. You can tell how much Alma has been through to get to where his understanding of the atonement is. He knows how important it is and how we need to live our lives and strive to be better to have it play affect in our lives everyday.  We're always indebted to the Savior for what he did for us. Justice would doom us all without the mercy that's comes from the Savior and his sacrifice. 

We taught gospel principles this week and it was really fun.  We had a good conversation about missionary work and the topic was a lot about angels-- how many of them are around us and go before us to prepare others to receive the gospel.

I'm gonna be sad when all the missionaries leave this transfer.  I know a lot of them, but I think I'll see most of them again in Utah for school which should be a lot of fun. 

Today's been pretty lax just went and played Top Golf which is always pretty fun. Then we went to church to play nerf with some other missionaries which is pretty boring lol. 

Love y'all 

Love you mom! 

Tell Sarah I said happy birthday! 

Qs
When do you get transfer calls?
This next Saturday night is calls. 
Connor Call just got transferred to another college campus area...Do you have any college campus areas in your mission?
Not totally, just areas that have a campus, that'd be super fun to be on campus all the time. 
What else do you want for your birthday???

Which gift cards do you want?
Subway, t bell, McDonald's. Chick Fil A. 
Do you have enough warm clothes? Sweaters? Workout clothes? Socks? Ties? Coat?
Ya I've got a good coat still. Maybe a sweater would be good. Good on socks. Maybe send me like a light wind breaker that's slim. Or just put some money on my card and I'll go get one I like, that might be best. 

Hand warmers? The cold is gonna come before we know it!!!

I know lol, I'm good on them right now I still have a bunch from last year. 

10/9/17... The NCCM life

What's up y'all! 

This week flew by so I'm just trying to remember what happened lol. 

MLC (Mission Leadership Conference) was this Tuesday so it was super fun. We talked a lot on planning because we got these new smart phones.  It's a  Samsung j3 and it's not a super great phone... but it's night and day to what we had, so it's pretty legit. We can Skype more members into our lessons to get more fellowshippers. The new missionaries starting in January are going to come out with phones instead of tablets. And guess what? The rumor going around at MLC was that Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat might be some of the apps that we start using to proselyte......ya that'll be crazy to see how those go and how we would use them. So send me some snaps when we get it. Naw I don't think they'd want that haha. 

Then right after MLC we went on exchanges with Elder Cannon and Elder Samuelson, who is a new missionary. I went with Elder Samuelson in our area while Elder Johnsen went to their area in South Carolina. Elder Samuelson is awesome--guess what, he loves baseball! And chance the rapper...(favorite rapper). But we had a really good day, we went and taught the Nigerian family and it was really good. We read the Book of Mormon with them and they committed to come to church and come and do a Church Tour that Friday. Friday we realized we had their wrong number. So we went over and talked to them and they were got ready really quick and met us at the church. They loved the church and were excited for Sunday. Well Sunday came and we were expecting them and they snuck in right at the end of sacrament. I guess they really liked it and are coming back tomorrow. 

We had to plan for our Zone Week that we are doing this next week. It'll be really fun...hopefully. Everyone in the zone gets on Facebook chat for 30 minutes and someone in the zone gives trainings or councils on stuff. Doesn't sound super interesting but it can be pretty good. 

We were able to find a couple new people to teach and one we are teaching tonight.  He's a teenager and plays basketball. 

Love y'all

Love you Mom

Elder Morgan

Here are some quick Qs

When are transfers?
October 24th 
Where is Elder Johnsen going home to? What are his plans?
He s going back to Ventura, California. He's going to play football at Utah State. I think he goes to school in January. 
WHAT DO YOU WANT FOR YOUR BIRTHDAY???
(I need to get going on it ASAP so I can get it in the mail. 😉)
Hmmmm. Send my Southridge watch out. Um I don't really know I'm pretty set. Gift cards actually. 

What is your weather like there??
It's been super humid lately and really hot. Starting to cool down soon hopefully.....probably not soon though lol. It'll be hot and humid for a good bit I think. 

Elder Morgan life is easy when we choose to follow our Heavenly Father and His commandments. I like what you said about being an example after your mission I think that is important.  Whatever you do make sure that you keep your spiritual side that you are working on now going when you come home.  It will look different, but I want you to always think about what is going to happen next in the context of making goals and striving towards them.  For example, what exactly do you want to do in school and how will you work towards that when you get home?  Baseball is important, but so is school and your career after baseball.  Also,  dating is important and getting married.  Those are things that are going to help you forever.  If you have not set some goals do so today during your p-day and send them to me so that we can both see them.  Love you and am so proud of you and all that you are doing.

Love,

Dad

Agreed it is a great day to be alive! 

...Honestly I'm just trying to make it through the rest of this transfer... ...He's an awesome dude but I'm just trying to help him finish at a descent rate...  ...I just want to do missionary work and it's so opposite for him we got in an argument because he wanted to go play basketball with 2 youth in our ward who are good kids on a Friday night from 7-9 instead of actually doing something productive. It's just been a trial. The Book of Mormon has been my buddy though. I think the most important thing I've gained a strong testimony of is the Book of Mormon.

 I've made a promise with Heavenly Father that I will read it everyday for the rest of my life, I've never been more committed to do something in my life. I saw it bless our family and I know it'll bless my family, help me prepare for marriage and have kids. I want to marry a wife that has a love for the Book of Mormon. And I guess I'll have a lot of kids because my wife will expect it from what my patriarchal blessing says. 

Anyway everything's going to be alright. We're going to have a baptism at the end of the month or beginning of November from an awesome Nigerian family. 

Love you dad. 

10/2/17... Man, I love General Conference, so much inspiration

Frank Kaminsky jersey I couldn't keep my hands off.

Thank you to all of you for your interest, love and concern for Brad.  He is doing great.  He loves his mission and everyone he is serving in North Carolina.  We miss him, but are so proud of all that he is doing.  This week he will have been out 14 months... which means only 10 months left!  ❤ (but who is counting?! 😉)

Brad has a birthday coming up on November 2!  He would love to hear from you...  

His email is bradley.morgan@myldsmail.net  

and his mailing address is: 

Elder Brad Morgan

9100 Fisherspond Dr. Apt E1

Charlotte, NC 28277

Again, THANK YOU for you love and prayers on his behalf.  You mean the world to him and to us!

Love, CHRISSY

...enjoy!

General Conference gang

Man, I love General Conference, so much inspiration in it all. I loved how Elder Anderson wrapped it all up at the end.  The spirit was so strong. And how he quoted Elder Hales's talk that he wasn't able to give. That was powerful. We watched conference at Star's house, who just got her patriarchal blessing this week. We watched Saturday's conference there with the Clays, who is our ward mission leader. Then the ward went to Chipotle for dinner before the priesthood session. Sunday was awesome too! We went to Star's with Jason and ate breakfast and then watched conference, then after conference we went back to Star's and we cooked out and grilled some steaks... it was so bomb. Such an awesome weekend filled with inspiration. 

We went on exchanges last week with Elder Olsen and Elder Kimball. It was really fun, Elder Olsen is super funny.  Exchanges are really fun-- you get to learn from each other but also share funny stories so we have a good time. We went to district meeting the next day and I gave a short training on planning since we got new planning guidelines that changed up the way we plan everyday.  It got switched to 6 steps that just help you set goals and make plans with whoever you're working with. And right after the meeting we had an appointment with President Sheppard in Uptown which was super fun.  He wanted us to teach one of his co-workers. It was interesting, he was really nice but wasn't totally into the lesson. He had a lot of doctrinal questions that he wasn't really open to the answers. We are going to try and connect him to the Book of Mormon and let that, combined with the spirit, soften his heart. It was still a lot of fun teaching in Uptown, I love it up there. 

We also got contact with Jo again this week, which was a miracle.  He is having some problems with family pushing back on him, so it's hard for him right now. He doesn't want to get baptized yet but we are still working with him. On exchanges Elder Johnsen and Elder Kimball went and taught Maureen and her family.  They went over and the mom had been talking to the dad and the dad said he really wants to learn more too and wants to be baptized. They watched conference and we are excited to keep teaching them! 

 

Yes I got the package mom! It was awesome thank you! How are the Seahawks doing? I haven't really heard much on them except they're not doing good. I don't even think I have to ask about the Mariners lol.

Love y'all! 

Love you mom! 

Shamok that Jason gave me.

Hey can y'all put some money on my debit card? We need to buy some things for the zone and I don't have enough money for it and food on my mission card. 

Love you!