12/25/17...Merry Christmas playas!

Yoooooo    Merry Christmas playas!

Got the package....wow you hooked me up to say the least! 

See you in a bit, I'm going to try and get on a computer or else I'll have to use my tablet. 

Ok so .... Let's Skype around 3:30 my time, we have a lunch with a family at 2 so I think we'll be done and back around 3:30! 

12/18/17... Hey y'all! Life is crazy in Shelby!

Another week flew by, life is crazy.  

We had a lot of miracles this week and I'll try and remember everything that happened. 

We have been trying to find more people to teach, and we have been doing a few main things differently.   We'll plan with members for someone they know that could really be blessed by the gospel and how they can share the gospel with them. It's been going pretty good so far. We have a lot of members that are really trying to share the gospel right  now. 

We've been trying to get to know the ward as  quick as we can.  We were full for dinners this week, so it was good to get to know a lot of knew faces. It's really hard to put all the names that you learn to the faces, I forget them so quickly a lot of the time... haha. 

Friday we had some interesting lessons. This guy thought we were Jehovah Witnesses which happens a lot actually. His wife said we could come back and the guy was like, Wait I though y'all were the Jehovah Witnesses. And he started to argue with us a little bit.  We tried not to bash at all so we left pretty quickly.  I just think that it's still ok for us to stick up for our beliefs and be firm in them but not try and argue with others--obviously that drives away the Spirit. So we had a good lesson over there then went and got in contact with a lady who wants to investigate the church that the previous missionaries taught.  It was hectic, the little girl was going crazy and it was so hard to focus on anything spiritual in there. 

Saturday was a ton of fun! Brother Hickman came out with us all day. His wife is a recent convert and they are just so solid. They take really good care of the missionaries.  They brought us over a Christmas tree so that we could have one in our apartment haha. We had a couple really good lessons that day. We went and had a lesson with a recent convert, and a couple had moved in with them earlier that week. They were really interested in the gospel. It was so great being able to teach the restoration with Elder Luna. It's always really nerve wracking teaching when you first get out. It's a lot of fun when we contact people on the streets to get him out of his comfort zone. It's never easy but it can be a lot of fun if we make it and follow the Spirit the best we can. Then Brother Hickman was like let's go try one of our friends, and he said he didn't think he was ready for the gospel but let's go ahead and try it. Well he was wanting to meet with us actually, and he totally wanted to come to church he just needed a ride. We got him a ride and his ride didn't even show up to church either! It was a bummer but we got next week. 

That night we had to drive to York after our ward Christmas party and pick up Elder Christiansen because he is a traveling assistant right now. It was about an hour drive and we left at 9:30....it was such a tiring night....actually morning because we got like 0 sleep. So it was a struggle staying awake at church lol. But it was so fun having Elder Christiansen with us. He is such a good missionary and really fun to be around. He stayed the night Sunday night and went to zone activity with us. We did an ugly sweater contest and also did a white elephant exchange it was super fun, I got a dinosaur egg that turns into a dinosaur when you put it in water haha. Then played some volleyball which is always fun! 

When do we get to Skype with you??!!   

Let's do 12 our time which would be like 9 your time I think right? Will that work with your church schedule?

Any Christmas needs? 

Don't think so right now. 

for you or for anyone else...

What are your favorite eating places in your new town???

Ohhhhh I love this place called the Shelby Cafe! You can get something called the garbage platter and it's biscuits--2 of them, with hash browns, cheese, liver mush (it's famous in this town--tastes like sausage honestly) cheese, and gravy on that plus 2 eggs. Soooo good very unhealthy but so good lol. Haven't gone to a whole lot of other great ones, just some regular fast foods and we want to try this good barbecue place here. 

Love y'all! Love you mom! 

This dog looked just like Chloe!

Exchanges with Elder Zesiger... it was nice to see him.  It's been since the MTC.  

12/11/17... I'm in Shelby!

This last week was crazy! Fun, stressful and crazy.  

We had Mission Leadership Conference last Tuesday and we thought transfer calls were going to come later that night. But before the meeting President pulls me and another elder in and tells us we were getting transferred. I'm going to Shelby, North Carolina! 

Well I'm here now... but yeah-- Shelby! Elder Carroll and Elder Kimball both served here and they talked it up a lot. So the whole meeting I knew I was getting transferred and it was kinda on my mind and bugging me the whole time. I could have stayed in Pineville for the rest of my mission-- I loved it so much! The people, my companion, the ward. It was all just really amazing. I'm so grateful to have served there.  I learned a lot there. So Wednesday was pretty jumbled, it consisted of teaching a few lessons, and saying goodbye and packing. I didn't even get to say goodbye to everyone but I got a few of them. I had to say goodbye to the Sheppards.  They are an amazing family and some of my favorite people. We went to dinner with Star and Jason that night too! It was Elder Ward's birthday so we went to Outback. We had a good lesson with Maureen that night too. 

Thursday I finished packing everything. Which it wouldn't have fit if I wasn't given a few Space Bags. They were so nice. But everything mostly fit pretty snug. I've kept and gotten rid of a lot of things. My 2 suits I came out with don't really fit anymore, so I left those. I've gotten 5 pairs of shoes out here--mostly just from other missionaries going home. Got all of my stuff gathered. Oh and I found out my bike got stolen off of our back porch!  So I took Elder Ward's bike since he's going home next transfer.  We got there at 10 and I had a meeting at 1 so we went and got lunch with some other missionaries at a good sub shop while we waited. Then I got my companion Elder Luna, got our new car, got the keys to the apartment and we headed off! 

It was kind of hectic right off the bat. Just trying to figure out the area and who we were working with. There's some solid members here and the ward is tiny! To put it in perspective there are single seats in the chapel with about 10 rows, no overflow! But our ward missionaries here are super solid and help out a ton! They made it really great for us. Friday Brother Hickman picked us up at 2 and came out with us all day!  We actually made cookies and took them to all of our investigators. But we ended up taking them to some random people and we actually got in 2 homes and were able to talk to them about the gospel. 

We are working with a family who is really nice.  We had a lesson with them Saturday and the daughter has a ton of questions that are really good. It was a very Spirit-led lesson and it just ended the night on such a high note. Yesterday at church we tried our best to get to know everybody. It seems like a really great ward that we are in and it will be fun getting to know everyone. We had a really fun dinner too! We were at the Simpson home and they have a ton of kids who love the missionaries and they were just going wild, they were jumping all over us it was crazy. 

I've really been grateful to be on a mission lately.  I've really felt how important it is to always have the spirit in your life and how fulfilling it is to have it. We are here on the earth with a personal guide to help us stay on the right path.  How great of a blessing, and how great of a responsibility it is to live worthy of it. 

I love the scripture in Alma 32:23 

Every seed bringeth forth fruit of it's own likeness. 

I think this relates a lot to leadership and parenthood and life in general. It makes me look at true character and realize that who I am and who I become is going to effect others. A good leader creates leaders and a good disciple creates more disciples. A good father creates good fathers and it can apply to anything really. 

Just a scripture that I really like. 

View from my desk...

Love you so much!

Elder Morgan 

Qs

Tell us ALL about your move, your goodbyes, your apartment, your companion... etc.

The apartment is 2 bed, 2 bath. No workout equipment...so that's a huge bummer. I think we might be able to get a bench set from another apartment soon. My companion is from Eureka California.  He played a ton of sports, has a family of 7. He's the first one to serve a mission. Very nice humble guy. 

I have always wondered...

--When you move, do you have enough room in your suitcases?

For the most part yes, most missionaries get another box and fill it up with stuff. 

--Have you kept good track of your stuff, or have you left a bunch of it along the way?

Both. I left some slacks that were worn down. 

--Do you bring any of the food and toiletries you got?  or do you just get new in each area?

I don't really, I do with my toothpaste and that stuff but not food usually. So an Amazon pantry box would be awesome right now! 

--How big is your new ward?

--Are you still the ZL?  How big is your area?

The area is big but we have about 70 active members I think. It is almost an hour drive across the whole thing probably. 

How are you on shoes?

I'm good on shoes. 

How are you on tennis shoes?

Good... a little holy, but they're good still. I got a pair of vans actually, with the birthday money too. 

What size do you like?

12 normally.

Do you still wear the LeBron's to play basketball?

Ya they're solid! 

Do you keep your apartment clean--ish?!  

Are you vacuuming?

Ya we deep cleaned our old apartment pretty good and this one is pretty clean so far. 

Just a few things a mom needs to know! 😉

Also--Speak now or forever hold your peace-- WHAT ELSE CAN WE SEND YOU FOR CHRISTMAS???

I'm pretty set right now 

What treats are you craving?  

Muddy buddies were so good last time :) I loved those! 

Snow!

12/4/17...I've fallen in love with Pineville.. There are so many good things happening in this area!

Transfer calls are this Tuesday night and I think they'll let me email y'all if I actually get transferred. I've fallen in love with Pineville and if I have to break up with her now during the Christmas season its going to be pretty sad. I really do love the people here and our investigators.  I really hope I stay. I just feel like there are so many good things happening in this area and I don't want to leave them! Plus the members are so good here.  

This week flew and I'll probably forget some details so I apologize in advance! 

It was really fun! We had a huge nativity festival this weekend and it was a ton of fun and a big success. It was a community thing, a bunch of choirs that were there, we actually were the grand finale....not because we were the best choir but because they realized we could help clean up after lol!  I think we turned out pretty good actually. A bunch of members were able to share the gospel through and it was such a good time to just celebrate the birth of Christ. They also had a lot of nativities which was fun to watch. As we walked through i was just looking at the pictures and I saw the picture of the first vision and I just realized how so many Christians of all different denominations will see this picture and probably not know what it is and be confused. And how many millions of people this event has influenced, it just made me realize the importance of my calling also. 

We had an amazing couple lessons with Maureen and her family. The first one was earlier in the week, Monday, the dad...thats his name, we watched the restoration movie with them and he said i know exactly how he feels, people didn't believe me when I told them how i felt after you gave me the blessing last week. He said "i know that this is not your power or the power of man, but the power of God" it was one such a great experience to watch him be so touched by the spirit. I love being out here and just being able to witness things like that, the little times when someone recognizes the Spirit are so special. 

The Spirit is so important in our lives in shaping us and guiding us to where we need to be and I've really learned how important it is to live a lifestyle that is worthy of that guidance. A member in our ward always says you're creating holy habits on your mission. 

Went ice skating today and It was so hard, I am not good at ice skating and I didn't fall the whole time until about 5 minutes before we were leaving, I fell so hard both my feet were in the air and I was about 2 ft. Up horizontal to the ground. Fell flat on my back and it wrecked me. My back is not feeling good after that one, I'll be alright though we will see how tomorrow mornings treats me haha. Tomorrow is also Mission Leadership Conference so it'll be good to get some new training and guidance on what we can work on to help others come to Christ. 

I probably missed some questions mom but I love you and am out of time today.  It was just busy seeing some members and stuff because we won't get to see them if I leave or anything. 

Love you so much! 

Elder Morgan 

Dad--

I doubt they'd expect me to be in top shape when I come in. Not sure, I could ask him. I think I could get in shape before I get back, not so much with running though.

Let me think and pray about it. If you do call will you pray about it before.