So, my new companion is Elder Lim. He was born in Korea and grew up in Logan UT! :) I can already tell that He is my favorite companion! Ha ha. I can't really quite be 100% myself yet, but that’s ‘cause we are still trying to sink up right now! Any way, he is way great! We got along great really quick... but it didn't seem like that was going to be the case at first. In transfer meeting he didn't stand when he was called. He seemed very sad, and disappointed, and like he didn't want to leave his old pad, district, and companion. He didn't talk much at first, but that was gone once we got home. Elder Williams (from Alpine) gave us a ride to the pad after transfer meeting. The Pad has a way different energy now. But I like it. With only half a week, we got as many lessons as I did with Gourdin in a whole week! I’m realizing now, that the situation I’m in with Lim is far better than the rest of my mission has been. One night we got into every house we tried and they all became investigators. We give really amazing short powerful lessons with lots of testimony! I have been dying to have this! Orr would just hog the whole lesson, and Gourdin was very long winded. Lim and I are equal and to the point! SO AWESOME! and the difference with those we teach is completely obvious! LOL!
I had a presidents interview and we talked about how its so funny that Preach my Gospel and the White hand book really do tell you everything to be successful.... its just we don't apply it! Its so funny.
So, our first night out we were running into a lot of Russian Jews. we were walking around in Kew Gardens, when across the street on someone’s roof was....... THREE HUGE RACCOONS! LOL! They were just hanging out like it was their stoop and they was just chilling! LOL. I saw a lady walking by the house and I suddenly blurted out "watch out they will eat you!" as I pointed to the raccoons. She, jumped a foot and a half and coward. I said "I’m sorry, I’m just joking.. LOL", to which she replied in a Russian accent, "they have been there a since late summer, I'm afraid that they will climb in through the windows and hurt the children!"... Then we tried to fearless her... but it didn't work. I couldn't believe the raccoons though! LOL. Wow. Ha ha.
Elder Lim was in Richmond Hill this time last year until February! So he knows all the members, when he walked in the church Saturday night for our Christmas play rehearsal, there was a collective gasp! Ha ha ha! They love him here. I'm so glad that the lord answered my prayer of sending the right missionary. Right now we could not afford a p-dub or a control freak. Right now we need team players. Elder Lim and I are already sinking so well! :) After Richmond Hill, Lim went to Bermuda and after that to Stanton Island. He got his call to Bermuda when he was here in Richmond Hill. he only has 4 transfers left and I am on my 4th. LOL.
We will probably have a baptism with Zorina in two weeks. We also have a lot of potential with all our new investigators as well as with some of the old. Pray that Elder Lim and I can accomplish our goal of 3 baptisms minimum this transfer. (Wait... I’m not supposed to ask anyone to pray for specific causes huh... idk...)
OK... well, I can't think of much more to say.
oh yeah, the weather here is cold now. the temperature isn't really cold at all (Utah standard), but the humidity and especially the wind make it really super cold! The wind just cuts through you. don't worry about sending me things to keep warm though... I have plenty of long johns now. Ha ha. Oh, maybe I could use a black or dark blue water proof hat that looks conservative but not stupid... maybe some where in between a newsies type had and a Fedora, only, waterproof and covers my ears. :) If you can't find anything don't fret. I am doing ok. :)
The church is true. I cannot convince any of you. But I know that if you will read and pray about the book of Mormon (even if you have before), your testimony will grow. Before my mission I had a shaky testimony of Joseph smith, until right before my mission. it got shook in Bushwick, but after that It was solid. It just doesn't make since for him to be anything but a prophet. It really doesn't. If you don't believe that there is one true church, it’s because you are making justifications because you don't have a testimony of the Book of Mormon or Joseph Smith. I ask all of you this week to pray to God our heavenly father in the name of Jesus Christ if Joseph Smith was a true prophet and if the book of Mormon is true; regardless of weather or not you have done it before.
I love you all! Love Elder Morris! bye!
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Better Than Average
So the goal this week was to have an amazing week 6. Well, we had a good week 6 instead.... but that’s better than average. :D
So for CDM Elder Gourdin and I wore fake mustaches and changed our name tags to elder batman and elder robin (and pronounced it Baitmen and row-bin) basically everyone ignored us.... but we had fun anyway. Also, I showed an elder from my zone one of the songs I wrote and he was amazed, but then he asked me to show him how. I was hesitant but then remembered emulation is the best complement. Unfortunately he learned it and is now playing it all the time... :( even more unfortunate, he showed his companion, who then took it and made it into his own song that’s better. :(
Well, I’m sorry but... I really don't have any good missionary stories to tell you for this week, but I can tell you about the up coming transfer (transfer meeting is tomorrow). My companion is leaving, he is going District leader in Rigo Park. I am staying in Richmond Hill. It’s gonna stink to see half the pad leave while I stay. :( On the up side, I heard that elder swain and elder write are both getting transferred (so its possible one of my MTC mates will be my new companion!)... we shall see though. I just pray its not some p-dub... because this area cannot afford that right now. We need to jump on all this opportunity that’s all around us. I will fill you in next week with how all that goes.
We have so many medias, potentials, part member families, and less actives in this area its really hard to keep track of everyone and people are slipping through the cracks.
Well, I don't want to waste any y’alls time so I will end with a random comment and then a story. :)
Deep fried PB&J's are really tasty, but once you are finished you feel like you just drank a gallon of oil.
So, at our CDM we had a surprise "soap box preaching/street sweep" in Jamaica. In Jamaica you can count the white people on one finger. The church building there is above a food court. Jamaica is so weird... I'll tell you why... its almost fake. it seems like Disney built it to look like a real place, but the energy is so different. The two don't seem to fit together. I had this visual-spiritual dissonance. anyway, Jamaica is full of masons, hee-bee-gee-bee's, Muslims, and everyone else seems to be an ordained minister of their own denomination. When I stood on the soap box I talked about the book of Mormon and its origin and how you can know if it is true. I ran out of material fast.... then an old lady came and asked if she could have the book, when I tried to give it to her she told me she already had one. Ha, ha. It was fun but not effective. I also talked to this lady who seemed like she was into it and listening, but then this guy with a triangle shaved into his head came up and her whole attitude changed... for some reason I told them I was pleading with them to read the book for they didn't know what they were missing... they kind of just said, "Don't you plead with us! uhnt-uh! Then, they snapped into z formation". Then I went and talked to this other guy for a really long time. He told me I had no idea what the roots of my religion were, and that our church pretended to be bible based and wasn't. He also told me that I had no Idea what happens in the temple. He tried to tell me that Joseph smith tried to "run off with someone’s wife" and that’s why they went to go kill him. He was not crazy... just miss informed, so i tried to stick with him and testify. Eventually he let me know he was a Mason. That’s when I understood why he was telling me I didn't know what the church was about. So I tried to inform him that Joseph smiths connection with the Masons was for protection purposes because of all the persecution. then I told him about how Christ’s church while he was on the earth is the exact same church on the earth today, and that similarities with other religions or sects are only because they have pieces of the truth but not the whole truth nor the authority. He agreed, but then... he told me I didn't know. He said our church was good, and that they taught good true things... but that he would not budge. So I shook his hand and went on my way.
Crazy, huh. I'm telling you, if you live in New York as a Mormon you are either less active or way strong, because this kinda anti-doctrine is all over the place! It is hard when your testimony is not strong. But the funny thing is your testimony grows a ton when you hear all this stuff people use to justify their position and put down our church.
I love you all.
Love, Elder Morris
So for CDM Elder Gourdin and I wore fake mustaches and changed our name tags to elder batman and elder robin (and pronounced it Baitmen and row-bin) basically everyone ignored us.... but we had fun anyway. Also, I showed an elder from my zone one of the songs I wrote and he was amazed, but then he asked me to show him how. I was hesitant but then remembered emulation is the best complement. Unfortunately he learned it and is now playing it all the time... :( even more unfortunate, he showed his companion, who then took it and made it into his own song that’s better. :(
Well, I’m sorry but... I really don't have any good missionary stories to tell you for this week, but I can tell you about the up coming transfer (transfer meeting is tomorrow). My companion is leaving, he is going District leader in Rigo Park. I am staying in Richmond Hill. It’s gonna stink to see half the pad leave while I stay. :( On the up side, I heard that elder swain and elder write are both getting transferred (so its possible one of my MTC mates will be my new companion!)... we shall see though. I just pray its not some p-dub... because this area cannot afford that right now. We need to jump on all this opportunity that’s all around us. I will fill you in next week with how all that goes.
We have so many medias, potentials, part member families, and less actives in this area its really hard to keep track of everyone and people are slipping through the cracks.
Well, I don't want to waste any y’alls time so I will end with a random comment and then a story. :)
Deep fried PB&J's are really tasty, but once you are finished you feel like you just drank a gallon of oil.
So, at our CDM we had a surprise "soap box preaching/street sweep" in Jamaica. In Jamaica you can count the white people on one finger. The church building there is above a food court. Jamaica is so weird... I'll tell you why... its almost fake. it seems like Disney built it to look like a real place, but the energy is so different. The two don't seem to fit together. I had this visual-spiritual dissonance. anyway, Jamaica is full of masons, hee-bee-gee-bee's, Muslims, and everyone else seems to be an ordained minister of their own denomination. When I stood on the soap box I talked about the book of Mormon and its origin and how you can know if it is true. I ran out of material fast.... then an old lady came and asked if she could have the book, when I tried to give it to her she told me she already had one. Ha, ha. It was fun but not effective. I also talked to this lady who seemed like she was into it and listening, but then this guy with a triangle shaved into his head came up and her whole attitude changed... for some reason I told them I was pleading with them to read the book for they didn't know what they were missing... they kind of just said, "Don't you plead with us! uhnt-uh! Then, they snapped into z formation". Then I went and talked to this other guy for a really long time. He told me I had no idea what the roots of my religion were, and that our church pretended to be bible based and wasn't. He also told me that I had no Idea what happens in the temple. He tried to tell me that Joseph smith tried to "run off with someone’s wife" and that’s why they went to go kill him. He was not crazy... just miss informed, so i tried to stick with him and testify. Eventually he let me know he was a Mason. That’s when I understood why he was telling me I didn't know what the church was about. So I tried to inform him that Joseph smiths connection with the Masons was for protection purposes because of all the persecution. then I told him about how Christ’s church while he was on the earth is the exact same church on the earth today, and that similarities with other religions or sects are only because they have pieces of the truth but not the whole truth nor the authority. He agreed, but then... he told me I didn't know. He said our church was good, and that they taught good true things... but that he would not budge. So I shook his hand and went on my way.
Crazy, huh. I'm telling you, if you live in New York as a Mormon you are either less active or way strong, because this kinda anti-doctrine is all over the place! It is hard when your testimony is not strong. But the funny thing is your testimony grows a ton when you hear all this stuff people use to justify their position and put down our church.
I love you all.
Love, Elder Morris
Thankful for Punjabis
Dason, our baptismal commit, is more like another investigator now. His wife (sister ram, a pretty active member) called us up Sunday and said, "He goes to his church.", so solid, but yet so mysterious. Kinda like a big oak door on a big scary haunted house.
Interestingly enough, Zorina (a Punjabi), an old lady from Guyana who is a former who has had 2 baptismal dates, came to church, making her a progressing investigator. The funny part was, we were thinking about dropping her because we kinda felt like she had a mental disability and wasn't really all that interested anyway. God has different plans I guess; seems to always be that way.
It’s kinda weird to me how you can feel the spirit so strong with someone, and they tell you about a really spiritual experience where they received a conformation after prayer.... and then they turn around and act like they don't know you.
I had a lot of cool experiences where the spirit guided my words and feet this week. Just with deciding to go certain ways, or walk instead of take the buss, and then we ran into less actives or fearless great people. Also, two men, Jay and Vinny, asked us to exorcise their apartment; basically. Elder Gourdin told me after that appointment that he felt like the junior companion in it. Ha-ha-ha. Some of you know why others don't. But, apparently there is still a problem. Gourdin feels it is one of Jay's family members wanting there work to get done, so they want him to join the church. I like that theory, so we are going to encourage him to become a member and do his families work to solve the problem. :)
Mark (a Punjabi) a member of the branch is the funniest person ever. and not because he means to be. I can't even explain it.... but I am glad I know him. "Sir!!! I would like it if someone could make me a big chicken for the holidays" right in the middle of 5th Sunday 3rd hr. ha-ha-ha. "Straight up!" as I give him stones and say good job. :)
For Thanksgiving we spent the evening at Sister Sookrams (a Punjabi). The people in attendance were: me, Elder Gourdin, Dannielle (Sookrams' 19 year old Punjabi daughter), Sister Springer (the cutest old lady from Guyana you shall ever meet), and Sister Sookrams' sister (a Punjabi, but a Hindu first. Ha-ha.). It was great; there was actually turkey and potatoes and carrots believe it or not. There was also rice and roti and curry. That was the first roti I have ever had. It was great. We talked about everything from what we are thankful for to college to Oprah to gays and blacks; at the same time we watched home a lone twice and some Charlie Brown.
The Murrays (Punjabi part-member family): the girls (10, 11, 14 years old), all really like to feel my hair. The oldest asked us what we wanted for Christmas. :) Ha-ha-ha.
This week we almost got 20 lessons! It was great. (I know what your thinking, "your in NY and you don't have over 20 lessons!". give us a break ok, this was a good week for us.) We hope to end the transfer strong. This is week 6, or in NY-NYCS mission slang "P-week". Gourdin and I don't want it to be p-week; we want to get more than 20 lessons instead.
Does someone want to get me the DSM iv or DSM v for Christmas? (A book on psychosis of people--there are a lot of crazy but nice people here; that way, I could know how to talk to them.) That would rock. :)
Sometimes I think the members don't like me here.
I wonder if I will get transferred or if I will stay in Richmond Hill... :s
What do y'all want for Christmas?
I would like a large honest spoonful of love in long letters. Let no man feel obligated to write me, and if he does, let that man not fret, but instead not write. :)
Anyway, I sure do miss all the Jews from Bushwick, but I sure am thankful for Punjabis. I miss Elder Singh.
I love you.
Interestingly enough, Zorina (a Punjabi), an old lady from Guyana who is a former who has had 2 baptismal dates, came to church, making her a progressing investigator. The funny part was, we were thinking about dropping her because we kinda felt like she had a mental disability and wasn't really all that interested anyway. God has different plans I guess; seems to always be that way.
It’s kinda weird to me how you can feel the spirit so strong with someone, and they tell you about a really spiritual experience where they received a conformation after prayer.... and then they turn around and act like they don't know you.
I had a lot of cool experiences where the spirit guided my words and feet this week. Just with deciding to go certain ways, or walk instead of take the buss, and then we ran into less actives or fearless great people. Also, two men, Jay and Vinny, asked us to exorcise their apartment; basically. Elder Gourdin told me after that appointment that he felt like the junior companion in it. Ha-ha-ha. Some of you know why others don't. But, apparently there is still a problem. Gourdin feels it is one of Jay's family members wanting there work to get done, so they want him to join the church. I like that theory, so we are going to encourage him to become a member and do his families work to solve the problem. :)
Mark (a Punjabi) a member of the branch is the funniest person ever. and not because he means to be. I can't even explain it.... but I am glad I know him. "Sir!!! I would like it if someone could make me a big chicken for the holidays" right in the middle of 5th Sunday 3rd hr. ha-ha-ha. "Straight up!" as I give him stones and say good job. :)
For Thanksgiving we spent the evening at Sister Sookrams (a Punjabi). The people in attendance were: me, Elder Gourdin, Dannielle (Sookrams' 19 year old Punjabi daughter), Sister Springer (the cutest old lady from Guyana you shall ever meet), and Sister Sookrams' sister (a Punjabi, but a Hindu first. Ha-ha.). It was great; there was actually turkey and potatoes and carrots believe it or not. There was also rice and roti and curry. That was the first roti I have ever had. It was great. We talked about everything from what we are thankful for to college to Oprah to gays and blacks; at the same time we watched home a lone twice and some Charlie Brown.
The Murrays (Punjabi part-member family): the girls (10, 11, 14 years old), all really like to feel my hair. The oldest asked us what we wanted for Christmas. :) Ha-ha-ha.
This week we almost got 20 lessons! It was great. (I know what your thinking, "your in NY and you don't have over 20 lessons!". give us a break ok, this was a good week for us.) We hope to end the transfer strong. This is week 6, or in NY-NYCS mission slang "P-week". Gourdin and I don't want it to be p-week; we want to get more than 20 lessons instead.
Does someone want to get me the DSM iv or DSM v for Christmas? (A book on psychosis of people--there are a lot of crazy but nice people here; that way, I could know how to talk to them.) That would rock. :)
Sometimes I think the members don't like me here.
I wonder if I will get transferred or if I will stay in Richmond Hill... :s
What do y'all want for Christmas?
I would like a large honest spoonful of love in long letters. Let no man feel obligated to write me, and if he does, let that man not fret, but instead not write. :)
Anyway, I sure do miss all the Jews from Bushwick, but I sure am thankful for Punjabis. I miss Elder Singh.
I love you.
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