Time

‏Time is odd... There's often not enough of it, but occasionally there is too much of it. In my case today I don't have enough of it.

Basically what happened this week was we worked with recent converts and less actives. We talked to part-member families and we looked up former investigators.

I had a lady lecture us (mostly my companion) and yell at her son and compare him to nasty things like serial killers for 15 min straight all because we sympathized with the 16 year old who in the closing prayer had the devil prayed out of him. Well needless to say he did what I would do and called his little brother who was praying a "homo". The 16 year old has no motivation because he doesn't find the support he needs from his parents.
Umm... no time.

PS

OK... ha-ha. Well I was kicked off the other computer because someone reserved it... so now I am on a new computer and I will now finish my email.

OK, well, the 16 year old from what I gathered is like any other 16 year old around here. He is a sensitive type though unlike his half brothers that are very outgoing. Well the entire lesson we had with them the mom compared the children and talked bad about the 16 year old and praised the others right in front of him. She even told us that if he ran away he would be doing the family a favor right in front of him to us (we only knew her for about a half an hour by this point). We felt so bad for the kid, yes its true he is probably up to things he shouldn't be but there is a difference between stern structured parenting and ruthless nagging and overbearing criticism (and not even constructive.) The only tactic she used was the "guilt trip" one. She told us he wasted all his talents!. Well In the hour I was at this home I learned so much about parenting and I remembered how amazing my parents are and have been. I have always had support from my parents. I have always felt loved by them.
Well, the mom suggested that if we knew anyone to take him and "deal with him" she would consider it. Well, we have considered taking her up on that. However we would like to try to heal the wounds of our relationship with the mom and then let our message do the healing in the family. We'd rather not separate a family, but if she keeps this up and won't let us meet with her then I'd like to see this 16 year old in a home where he can find support, in the home of one of the ward members.

I love you mom and dad. And thank you grandmas and grandpas for raising my parents so well. Thank you Jesus Christ for the gospel which can really truly apply to every aspect of our lives. Thank you Dad for always using scripture in our conversations and taking every opportunity to teach me. Thank you for teaching truth and correct principals and letting me then exercise my agency. I can't really express fully and accurately how I feel. I'm not as prolific as I think I used to be and my feelings are almost indescribable. The gospel really has all the answers.

We had exchanges on Tuesday. I went to the South Shore / Patchogue pad and went on exchanges with our district leader Elder Kirby. They have a guitar in their pad from a past missionary that is pretty dang nice. I was so relieved as I played it. Wow! It was so nice to play a real guitar again; even though it hurt my fingers like crazy since I have lost all my muscle memory.

I don't know what else to really say except for the fall colors are really starting to be diverse now and I am pretty excited. I'll be taking pictures this week for all of you to see.

PSS

Oh yeah, I forgot. This weekend was stake conference. It was amazing. I LOVED it! I felt the spirit so strong in the adult session. It felt so good. It was so peaceful and I felt so much love. It was crazy to see people from Plainview. I love that place. I feel bad though because I forgot a few people’s names. :S Its hard for me to remember everyone’s names cause I cram them when I am at an area and then when I go to the new area I never see the old names anymore and I have to cram new ones so I end up Recognizing everyone and remember none of their names. I wish I could be as good at names as all my companions have been especially Elder Kiser and Khang.

But yeah, Conference was amazing. I love President Hardman and I love President Nelson. Also an area 70 came Elder Lancing. He and his wife were just so classy and brought the spirit so well. They really made it easy to listen and they made you really want to support and sustain all our leadership.

Thank you Adolphsons for the package to say "I hope you feel better and we love you.” and thanks mom for the package as well! Kiser loved his light up pen and Halloween card. Thanks for the Carmel-pop-corn and the treats. We were pretty happy. We were really impressed with the Halloween cards. I still can't believe we still have computer paper from when I was 3 and 4. HA-HA!

Anyway, this is the real end.
love
--
-Elder Samuel Austin Morris