Newt was baptized yesterday. Fitting I believe. Some of her friends and acquaintances believe she has given in to bondage, but we know she has broken free of bondage. Independence comes when we have agency. Our agency is limited by habits and addictions and the ways of the world. Doing what’s cool isn't always what’s right, and doing what’s right is usually not what’s cool. Newt amazes me with her determination. Her determination and desire are allowing her to develop her faith. Her faith is helping her to repent and to make covenants with God. As she keeps those covenants she will be blessed with spiritual power. She has made some really good decisions and I know that as she keeps her commitments her life will be blessed; its only up from here. There will be hard times in her life, just like anyone, but the companionship of the Holy Ghost (which she will get on Sunday) and the confidence and hope that she is worthy and in good standing with her Heavenly Father will help her be strong enough to bear her burdens and be an example to those around her. "Putteth off the natural man and become a saint" (paraphrased).
Anyway, the baptism was very smooth. Newt was nervous, which made me even more nervous than normal, but it was one of the easiest dunks ever. Ha-ha. When she came out she looked at me and said "That’s it?" with one of those frown smiles that says "hey how about that!? Ha-ha". "Then I said yeah, easy right?".
Newt seemed lighter and cleaner and clearer and happier afterwards. She still has a lot to learn, but baptism of course it just a step onto the long pathway of conversion that leads back to our Heavenly Father.
Most of this last week was spent preparing Newt for her baptism. The other elders pulled a mean prank on me though (by newts request) that made me look like a fool! Ha-ha. They called up after her baptismal interview and said that newt wasn't ready and that she mentioned me a lot and that she was kind of obsessed with me. I just accepted it, and said something like, "well we knew that already right!?" and Newt was listening. :( I heard her say "Hey!" in the background and the elders laughing. They told me they were still at her house.
I had them put Newt on and I said, "Hey Newt?"
She responded, "Yeah?"
"You are kind of obsessed with me." and she said sheepishly,
"I know...." It was funny. I then said I was sorry and she expressed her sadness with our "lack of faith in her" and then we agreed we were on even grounds again. Ha-ha. We do have faith in her. She has come really far, and she has helped our testimonies grow too.
I am so thankful for this experience in my life and that I was able to teach Newt with Elder Crabtree in this my final transfer. We will continue to help her come closer to her savior and Father in Heaven by teaching her and helping her make and keep commitments.
Hopefully we will be able to help a 9 year old girl named Tessa get baptized before I come home. I'll let you know how things go.
I don't remember if I told you about Jane or not, but she came to church. She was a little uncomfortable, but liked it. I was really frustrated because we introduced her to tons of people before sacrament started and even let people know days before that she would be coming and asked them to fellowship her. When we saw that she was sitting by herself I asked a member to "help her feel at home" and that member sat on the opposite side of the room. :( I guess I should have been more specific, "will you sit with Jane and answer her questions and fellowship her?"... Lesson learned. We will meet with her again on Friday, this time we should be going with the members that we have picked for her fellowshippers. I hope she gives church another shot, and stays for Relief Society, It just what she needs.
Well, I love you! Thanks for all the support and prayers you send my way. I'll see many of you soon (in two weeks as of tomorrow).
HAPPY BIRTHDAY NOAH (on the 7th) AND KYLE (on the 5th)!!!!!!!!!!!!
Showing posts with label 2011. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2011. Show all posts
Friday, September 2, 2011
Mind Numbing Oscillation
Well, sometimes when a lot is on my mind and then things go weird and then people do annoying things it all rubs me the wrong way and I just can't think clearly. So sorry if this email is short and unorganized or uninformative, I've just had a fuzzy mind the last few days. Everybody has their own view on everything we do and they all make a point at letting us know just exactly what they feel about it. It all contradicts... but that is the nature of life. We are agents unto our selves, this is the one thing that is truly ours. If we were not enticed by every means in every which way and direction there would be no need for choice and this would take away our agency. So although it can be a taxing and mind numbing cycle for me (and i'm sure some of you out there) I should be thankful for the opportunity to study it out in my mind and then ask my Heavenly Father if my decision is right. This is a good opportunity cause then I get closer to my Father in Heaven and my Savior (because he knows how it feels). I can leave my worry wart self behind and continue forward with faith and hope in Christ, His Atonement and His promises to us.
Well, Newt is overwhelmed with all the information she has to take in but she is keeping her commitments the best she can. Progress is fast and difficult. My goal is to help her to relax and exercise her faith in Heavenly Father and the faith she is developing in Jesus Christ. I want her to trust and Love them and the Church and not the missionaries or Mareena. If she really is dead set on raising her family LDS and if she really does want this in her life then she should be a sponge and just try to soak in everything she can and not let her old ways get in her way. Easier said than done probably, but I think a large part of understanding is listening with the correct attitude. She gave us all her cigarettes yesterday........ Not. Ha-ha. She said she was, but all she gave us was empty cartons and an empty bag! LOL. She probably thinks we are stupid. I might be trusting and maybe a little gullible but I have experience with being duped and I don't want to take any of that any more. Next time we will ask her what her intention are with meeting us and let her know that if she truly wants our help that she has to let us and that she can't play games and try to pull things over our eyes. Newt is really cool, I am grateful that I and Elder Crabtree get to be the missionaries who teach her, I hope we all grow from it. I hope we can all understand just how serious this all is.
Other than Newt the only real big news is that I got to go on exchanges with my companion from the MTC, Elder Wright. That was super nice. It was good to be his companion again! He rocks.
OK G2G!
--
-Elder Samuel Austin Morris
Well, Newt is overwhelmed with all the information she has to take in but she is keeping her commitments the best she can. Progress is fast and difficult. My goal is to help her to relax and exercise her faith in Heavenly Father and the faith she is developing in Jesus Christ. I want her to trust and Love them and the Church and not the missionaries or Mareena. If she really is dead set on raising her family LDS and if she really does want this in her life then she should be a sponge and just try to soak in everything she can and not let her old ways get in her way. Easier said than done probably, but I think a large part of understanding is listening with the correct attitude. She gave us all her cigarettes yesterday........ Not. Ha-ha. She said she was, but all she gave us was empty cartons and an empty bag! LOL. She probably thinks we are stupid. I might be trusting and maybe a little gullible but I have experience with being duped and I don't want to take any of that any more. Next time we will ask her what her intention are with meeting us and let her know that if she truly wants our help that she has to let us and that she can't play games and try to pull things over our eyes. Newt is really cool, I am grateful that I and Elder Crabtree get to be the missionaries who teach her, I hope we all grow from it. I hope we can all understand just how serious this all is.
Other than Newt the only real big news is that I got to go on exchanges with my companion from the MTC, Elder Wright. That was super nice. It was good to be his companion again! He rocks.
OK G2G!
--
-Elder Samuel Austin Morris
Broadway
Well The Book of Mormon the Broadway musical is doing the church a lot of good. I'm not being sarcastic, there is a lot of people who are interested in the church now because they saw the show and because the church and the missionaries aren't defensive at all. The Church officially made a decision not to fight back because that would be completely silly. The musicals purpose is not to prove us wrong or to make fun of us. The message of the musical is simply conveyed through the story of two missionaries (however not entirely accurately... especially considering there is a lot of cussing and the f-bomb is all over it). So if any of you have been frustrated about the existence of the play, change your attitude because it is simply raising the worlds awareness of the existence of the church and our missionaries and the Book of Mormon! In fact the Church has decided to use all the hype to its advantage. We have started a large campaign in Manhattan—heavy advertising in the subways and on taxis; advertising on billboards and even on electronic signs and billboards. :) Cool right! We have all been way stoked. The New York city North missionaries have been handing out the Book of Mormon to people as they walk out of the show. I think it’s really cool.
Well, a lot of good has come from all this including in my own reality. Newt (her nickname) is our newest investigator. She saw the Broadway show and loved the idea of our church and the emphasis that we put on families. She contacted the only member she new (who does not consider himself a member and hasn't come in quite some time) and got our info from him. She told us that her parents raised her without any religion. In fact she would be punished if she brought up anything about religion or brought anything into the house that was religious. She had seen pictures of Christ and heard his name all her life but didn't know until a week or so ago that the pictures of the bearded guy were Jesus. The first picture she saw of him since seeing the musical she asked if he was Joseph Smith.
So as you can see she has basically no foundation or concept of Christianity. She is really awesome and is working though some hard times right now and is finding the transition from the ways of the world and the Satan to meeting with us and learning about Christ to be kind of overwhelming. We are working hard to try to help her take it a piece at a time. She has a date set for baptism that is some way off in the future. But we know if she keeps her commitments and exercises her faith the desire to be baptized will increase in her and she will feel the converting power of the spirit. It’s been really helpful that Mareena (a member from the ward. She is a 20 year old girl just like newt) has been coming to teach with us. She is great and been a good help. Newt’s questions are deeper than her current understanding. Her desire and her dedication will make up for her lack of knowledge. Although she feels she has little to no faith I believe she has a lot of faith, to meet with us and go to church and trust us and listen to the message with no knowledge of Christ and only few experiences where she feels like she is developing a relationship with God.
This week we taught more lessons than last week which was nice. Ironically, even with more success it was a harder week. We never got a chance to do our weekly planning so we are going into this next week blind... that's a scary thought. We are gonna have to come up with some sort of a plan soon.
Well, a lot of good has come from all this including in my own reality. Newt (her nickname) is our newest investigator. She saw the Broadway show and loved the idea of our church and the emphasis that we put on families. She contacted the only member she new (who does not consider himself a member and hasn't come in quite some time) and got our info from him. She told us that her parents raised her without any religion. In fact she would be punished if she brought up anything about religion or brought anything into the house that was religious. She had seen pictures of Christ and heard his name all her life but didn't know until a week or so ago that the pictures of the bearded guy were Jesus. The first picture she saw of him since seeing the musical she asked if he was Joseph Smith.
So as you can see she has basically no foundation or concept of Christianity. She is really awesome and is working though some hard times right now and is finding the transition from the ways of the world and the Satan to meeting with us and learning about Christ to be kind of overwhelming. We are working hard to try to help her take it a piece at a time. She has a date set for baptism that is some way off in the future. But we know if she keeps her commitments and exercises her faith the desire to be baptized will increase in her and she will feel the converting power of the spirit. It’s been really helpful that Mareena (a member from the ward. She is a 20 year old girl just like newt) has been coming to teach with us. She is great and been a good help. Newt’s questions are deeper than her current understanding. Her desire and her dedication will make up for her lack of knowledge. Although she feels she has little to no faith I believe she has a lot of faith, to meet with us and go to church and trust us and listen to the message with no knowledge of Christ and only few experiences where she feels like she is developing a relationship with God.
This week we taught more lessons than last week which was nice. Ironically, even with more success it was a harder week. We never got a chance to do our weekly planning so we are going into this next week blind... that's a scary thought. We are gonna have to come up with some sort of a plan soon.
Crab Tree
So I have begun my last transfer and done so fruitfully because I am now a pops. I wasn't sure it was actually going to happen, but I am training and it’s gonna keep me kicking until I fly away. His name is Elder Crabtree. He is from Las Vegas (my third Vegas companion) and he likes to skate.
We have had good experiences together so far. We have experienced a little bit of everything! Which is great because I’d like for him to have the best understanding possible to start off his mission. I want him to know everything I know now, to be able to function off of knowledge I wish I had at the beginning. Of course we know that some things we just don't learn until we have had an experience that teaches it to us, but I’d like him to understand principals that he can fall on when those experiences happen. He is really cool and I think he will be a great missionary.
We taught 9 lessons in 5 days and got 3 new investigators and some solid potentials and new less active members we can start to visit. We also had the opportunity to use our priesthood. We got jewked a few times and we fearlessed too. We started 2x2x5ing (knocking two doors to the left and right of a house and the five houses across the street around a house of a potential investigator, investigator, or member [its way more effective than tracting {picking a random street and knocking the whole thing}]) right away and so I think Crabtree has a good idea about how to do door approaches now. He won’t be scared! NYNYCS missionaries fear no man! :)
Thanks for all your love and support and help.
The Church is true! Hoorah for Israel! The work rolls forward as a stone cut without hands and it will fill the whole world! Prepare ye therefore everyman and fear not the future. Take comfort in the blessings and promises of our savior by exercising your faith and hope by doing what he has asked us to do. We will be blessed with spiritual power as we keep and make covenants with the lord. I love the doctrine of Christ. Let’s all have faith, repent, be baptized, and endure to the end! I love you! ttfn
-Elder Samuel Austin Morris
We have had good experiences together so far. We have experienced a little bit of everything! Which is great because I’d like for him to have the best understanding possible to start off his mission. I want him to know everything I know now, to be able to function off of knowledge I wish I had at the beginning. Of course we know that some things we just don't learn until we have had an experience that teaches it to us, but I’d like him to understand principals that he can fall on when those experiences happen. He is really cool and I think he will be a great missionary.
We taught 9 lessons in 5 days and got 3 new investigators and some solid potentials and new less active members we can start to visit. We also had the opportunity to use our priesthood. We got jewked a few times and we fearlessed too. We started 2x2x5ing (knocking two doors to the left and right of a house and the five houses across the street around a house of a potential investigator, investigator, or member [its way more effective than tracting {picking a random street and knocking the whole thing}]) right away and so I think Crabtree has a good idea about how to do door approaches now. He won’t be scared! NYNYCS missionaries fear no man! :)
Thanks for all your love and support and help.
The Church is true! Hoorah for Israel! The work rolls forward as a stone cut without hands and it will fill the whole world! Prepare ye therefore everyman and fear not the future. Take comfort in the blessings and promises of our savior by exercising your faith and hope by doing what he has asked us to do. We will be blessed with spiritual power as we keep and make covenants with the lord. I love the doctrine of Christ. Let’s all have faith, repent, be baptized, and endure to the end! I love you! ttfn
-Elder Samuel Austin Morris
Monday, June 6, 2011
Week 2 of Transfer 16
Well, we had a better week numbers wise than last week; even though Tuesday night I got really bad allergies that turned into a cold that kept me in on Wednesday. The weather is starting to get pretty nice, which is good.
On Thursday we planned and met with Darcy (our young man friend who has been investigating for about 2 years but never baptized) and had a good lesson with him he said something funny, he referred to the second ordinance of the gospel as "receiving the Holy Gift from the Ghost". so we have been saying it like that ever since and it cracks us up. :) Ha-ha. That day we also met with Raymond who is a super nice wealthy older gentleman who loves the missionaries and was baptized 30 yrs ago but only because he knew the method of baptism was correct. He attends a Presbyterian congregation but will be leaving soon because of drama concerning the church (the church is having lawsuits about changing the church constitution to allow homosexual marriages to occur). We told him if he had a testimony of the Book of Mormon than his decision to come to church and officially be a member would be natural. Great guy, I hope he converts for real this time. :)
On Friday we had CDM and I gave a workshop on inviting people to be baptized and following up. It went pretty well and the missionaries seemed to enjoy it, when people laugh and also get personal insights I know I did well. Also on Friday we met with a great member bro Daley who is a part member family. We had a good talk with him and he gave me great advice about going home and staying active and avoiding temptation and what to do when I get married. Ha-ha. He’s a great Jamaican guy. We also helped a part member family clean out their attic. That was great cause I felt like the "pigmy-plumber/electrician" again. Mom and dad will know what I mean. Also they seemed to be friendlier afterward, so here is proof again that service is a great way to prove you mean well and just want to help.
Well it was great calling home. But for some reason this time it just wasn't the same as it usually is. Partly I think it was cause Mom Dad and I were all low on energy due to colds. Ha-ha. The other part is cause there wasn't as much to talk about as usual. But I’m just glad i got to hear your voices. I love you!
That’s all I got.
Attached is snort-porth
-Elder Samuel Austin Morris
On Thursday we planned and met with Darcy (our young man friend who has been investigating for about 2 years but never baptized) and had a good lesson with him he said something funny, he referred to the second ordinance of the gospel as "receiving the Holy Gift from the Ghost". so we have been saying it like that ever since and it cracks us up. :) Ha-ha. That day we also met with Raymond who is a super nice wealthy older gentleman who loves the missionaries and was baptized 30 yrs ago but only because he knew the method of baptism was correct. He attends a Presbyterian congregation but will be leaving soon because of drama concerning the church (the church is having lawsuits about changing the church constitution to allow homosexual marriages to occur). We told him if he had a testimony of the Book of Mormon than his decision to come to church and officially be a member would be natural. Great guy, I hope he converts for real this time. :)
On Friday we had CDM and I gave a workshop on inviting people to be baptized and following up. It went pretty well and the missionaries seemed to enjoy it, when people laugh and also get personal insights I know I did well. Also on Friday we met with a great member bro Daley who is a part member family. We had a good talk with him and he gave me great advice about going home and staying active and avoiding temptation and what to do when I get married. Ha-ha. He’s a great Jamaican guy. We also helped a part member family clean out their attic. That was great cause I felt like the "pigmy-plumber/electrician" again. Mom and dad will know what I mean. Also they seemed to be friendlier afterward, so here is proof again that service is a great way to prove you mean well and just want to help.
Well it was great calling home. But for some reason this time it just wasn't the same as it usually is. Partly I think it was cause Mom Dad and I were all low on energy due to colds. Ha-ha. The other part is cause there wasn't as much to talk about as usual. But I’m just glad i got to hear your voices. I love you!
That’s all I got.
Attached is snort-porth
-Elder Samuel Austin Morris
Babylon
Well my new assignment is to be with elder Gibbs from alpine Utah. I am his step pops and we are serving in Bayshore (which is on the south shore of Long Island right under my last area [Huntington]). A sisters’ pool recently closed down so we are working both the sisters area and the elders area. Anyway, Babylon is a city here in our ward boundaries; so that's pretty cool that I get to work in Babylon for my last area before coming back to Zion. Ha-ha.
Anyway, yes it’s a ward but it’s actually smaller than Huntington. There is a lot less unity and a lot more frustration within the ward. I found out real quick that each member of the ward council feels like they are spinning their wheels and hitting their heads against the wall while they are at it. Fortunately the young men a growing and doing quite well!
I don't have a lot of time this week, cause we get less time at the library here in Bayshore. Only 15 min left.
Anyway we have amazing recent convert young men; I’ll tell you more about them later. Also a ton of less actives a high amount being "do not contact" it’s really sad. It’s maybe worse than Huntington. :S
We have a lot of potential. Also it helps we have two areas to work. The son of a member family we spent a lot of time with this week actually brought 2 of his friends to church yesterday (who told him that they like us, so that was cool) and one has a lot of questions. Also 2 youth permigators came; so that will be awesome if we can get things going with them.
I've been trying really hard to apply all the lessons I've learned and ideas that have worked in the past to this my final area. Some of them kinda back fired in some ways but also have helped a lot. This week was one of the saddest numbers weeks I've had, but Gibbs and i have had good unity from the start, so that helps a lot. We wish to have our optimism and excitement and unity to rub off on the ward. Mostly I believe a lot of what will help them is a perspective change. So we are working on a plan to change the paradigm of a whole ward body. Ha-ha. Wish us luck!
Things are good don't worry about me. But I would appreciate prayers to help me stay focused and work hard until the end. It’s kinda hard not to think about how close the end is, sometimes that motivates me, other times it doesn't. I'll be honest. Ha-ha.
I love you! Thanks for your love and support, I'm sure it’s helped in ways i won't understand until the next life!
-Elder Samuel Austin Morris
Anyway, yes it’s a ward but it’s actually smaller than Huntington. There is a lot less unity and a lot more frustration within the ward. I found out real quick that each member of the ward council feels like they are spinning their wheels and hitting their heads against the wall while they are at it. Fortunately the young men a growing and doing quite well!
I don't have a lot of time this week, cause we get less time at the library here in Bayshore. Only 15 min left.
Anyway we have amazing recent convert young men; I’ll tell you more about them later. Also a ton of less actives a high amount being "do not contact" it’s really sad. It’s maybe worse than Huntington. :S
We have a lot of potential. Also it helps we have two areas to work. The son of a member family we spent a lot of time with this week actually brought 2 of his friends to church yesterday (who told him that they like us, so that was cool) and one has a lot of questions. Also 2 youth permigators came; so that will be awesome if we can get things going with them.
I've been trying really hard to apply all the lessons I've learned and ideas that have worked in the past to this my final area. Some of them kinda back fired in some ways but also have helped a lot. This week was one of the saddest numbers weeks I've had, but Gibbs and i have had good unity from the start, so that helps a lot. We wish to have our optimism and excitement and unity to rub off on the ward. Mostly I believe a lot of what will help them is a perspective change. So we are working on a plan to change the paradigm of a whole ward body. Ha-ha. Wish us luck!
Things are good don't worry about me. But I would appreciate prayers to help me stay focused and work hard until the end. It’s kinda hard not to think about how close the end is, sometimes that motivates me, other times it doesn't. I'll be honest. Ha-ha.
I love you! Thanks for your love and support, I'm sure it’s helped in ways i won't understand until the next life!
-Elder Samuel Austin Morris
Monday, April 25, 2011
Still Workin
Ok well some great things happened this week.
1. We invited Jenny Catron (the daughter of a less active sister in our branch) to be baptized and she said yes. Sister Catron came to church. It’s been a long time, It was awesome to see her. [i was mad though cause the branch really didn't fellowship her very well and she left before relief society started which was what she probably needed most] I machine-gunned everyone in the foyer when i saw her walk out. I didn't want to be the church police so i let her go. Me saying, "Where are you going? You should go to relief society" is not nearly as effective as a beautiful sister taking her in an arm and saying, " Sister Catron, will you sit next to me in relief society?"
2. The branch council is getting stoked and everyone is excited to work with and focus on the Hollister family. Soon we will get our Elders quorum president over there as well as our young men’s president. We are really gonna try to take advantage of this opportunity and excitement and we pray that the Hollisters are receptive to it. They will make a great addition to our branch, they are wonderful people and we need their strength. I hope that the spirit of Elijah that has been with Bro Hollister opens him up to feeling the spirit that is with our members causing him to accept lessons with his family and come back to church. When he reactivates he could then baptize his wife and two kids. It would be so wonderful and beautiful
3. It’s been really rainy and stormy, so I’ve been sleeping a lot better than I was (with the exception of the one night i didn't sleep at all....) But finally we have had some sun yesterday and today. Spring has silly weather.
4. If you don't know, I planted a grapefruit. I have a 3 inch plant now... it looks like grass... I really hope it’s a tree instead though. Ha-ha. If it is my Joy will be overflowing! Ha-ha. Also, I made a sock monkey this week with my time before bed and before study time. His name is Snort-porth. He looks grumpy but he has an eye single to the glory of God, so I feel that he is qualified for the work. :)
This upcoming week is the last week of the transfer; weird. So potentially I could be leaving. We will see. I'll be sad to leave Huntington because I’ve put so much into it. I've really tried to help the teaching pool grow and get the members excited and leave the area better than it was. I think I’ve succeeded (with the help of Elder Mitchell of course) but I’d really like to see the out comes to the efforts we've made. I hope if I do get transferred that the next elder is qualified to magnify what we have done; someone who will see the Hollisters and Jenny to baptism and keep up the trend of missionary work in the branch.
Whatever happens is in God’s hands. Despite the outcomes I am a better person and the work will not stop. The work of the lord is a stone cut forth without hands rolling to fill the whole earth.
I love you.
PS Ben is doing well. We love him. We just got to get him to read the Book of Mormon. When he has a testimony of that then he will understand why we do what we do and what our calling is.
We have some new investigators this week, I’ll tell you if anything happens with them; also we are teaching this wonderful Pakistani family! I haven't met anyone from Pakistan I didn't like so far. They are so wonderful. Ha-ha. Nahid and Syed. Their son is Jimmy and their daughter is Lilly. Nahid is super generous and really loves us coming over. She is going to cook for us this Saturday. I'm supper excited! I really hope they will progress because they would be a great family in our branch as well. :)
OK g2g.
-Elder Samuel Austin Morris
1. We invited Jenny Catron (the daughter of a less active sister in our branch) to be baptized and she said yes. Sister Catron came to church. It’s been a long time, It was awesome to see her. [i was mad though cause the branch really didn't fellowship her very well and she left before relief society started which was what she probably needed most] I machine-gunned everyone in the foyer when i saw her walk out. I didn't want to be the church police so i let her go. Me saying, "Where are you going? You should go to relief society" is not nearly as effective as a beautiful sister taking her in an arm and saying, " Sister Catron, will you sit next to me in relief society?"
2. The branch council is getting stoked and everyone is excited to work with and focus on the Hollister family. Soon we will get our Elders quorum president over there as well as our young men’s president. We are really gonna try to take advantage of this opportunity and excitement and we pray that the Hollisters are receptive to it. They will make a great addition to our branch, they are wonderful people and we need their strength. I hope that the spirit of Elijah that has been with Bro Hollister opens him up to feeling the spirit that is with our members causing him to accept lessons with his family and come back to church. When he reactivates he could then baptize his wife and two kids. It would be so wonderful and beautiful
3. It’s been really rainy and stormy, so I’ve been sleeping a lot better than I was (with the exception of the one night i didn't sleep at all....) But finally we have had some sun yesterday and today. Spring has silly weather.
4. If you don't know, I planted a grapefruit. I have a 3 inch plant now... it looks like grass... I really hope it’s a tree instead though. Ha-ha. If it is my Joy will be overflowing! Ha-ha. Also, I made a sock monkey this week with my time before bed and before study time. His name is Snort-porth. He looks grumpy but he has an eye single to the glory of God, so I feel that he is qualified for the work. :)
This upcoming week is the last week of the transfer; weird. So potentially I could be leaving. We will see. I'll be sad to leave Huntington because I’ve put so much into it. I've really tried to help the teaching pool grow and get the members excited and leave the area better than it was. I think I’ve succeeded (with the help of Elder Mitchell of course) but I’d really like to see the out comes to the efforts we've made. I hope if I do get transferred that the next elder is qualified to magnify what we have done; someone who will see the Hollisters and Jenny to baptism and keep up the trend of missionary work in the branch.
Whatever happens is in God’s hands. Despite the outcomes I am a better person and the work will not stop. The work of the lord is a stone cut forth without hands rolling to fill the whole earth.
I love you.
PS Ben is doing well. We love him. We just got to get him to read the Book of Mormon. When he has a testimony of that then he will understand why we do what we do and what our calling is.
We have some new investigators this week, I’ll tell you if anything happens with them; also we are teaching this wonderful Pakistani family! I haven't met anyone from Pakistan I didn't like so far. They are so wonderful. Ha-ha. Nahid and Syed. Their son is Jimmy and their daughter is Lilly. Nahid is super generous and really loves us coming over. She is going to cook for us this Saturday. I'm supper excited! I really hope they will progress because they would be a great family in our branch as well. :)
OK g2g.
-Elder Samuel Austin Morris
Monday, April 11, 2011
And the Skies are Grey
It’s been pretty overcast the last few days and I’m sick of it! At least it’s not cold any more. :)
Well, this week went fast! It feels like not too long ago I was in the house of a Catholic family who dominated me. lol
Let me explain. Last Monday we went and saw Ben Scott and had a great lesson with him (we're taking a different approach) more of a bible study, he doesn't seem to respond well to anything else. He doesn't have the attention span if it’s not right out of the New Testament.
After the lesson we looked up potentials (Mitchell and I call 'em pots) and the first one we went to let us in. It turns out that it was not the potential we were looking for, she moved, but we were all excited cause a family let us in with no hesitation. Things started well and we began from the top of the plan of salvation so that we could explain to them the way that our families can be together forever. It ended pretty fast cause this man and his wife practice teaching when their kids go to bed (I am joking but, it wouldn't surprise me if it were true). There really wasn't a way to defend ourselves without bashing and so the spirit constrained me from speaking. The only things I could get out were questions and occasionally a brief explanation of our doctrine concerning whatever subject they brought up and questioned us on.
Fortunately my companion was able to testify a few times, but he realized that they were very, very set in their ways. That there wasn't much we could say to get them to just listen to our message without an interruption in the form of a rebuttal. I think if I were to have tried to defend the doctrines I would have done so emotionally and not by the spirit and would have dug us a pit. So our whole purpose was to just try to leave with a neutral, "Hey, this is what you believe and makes since to you, this is what we believe and makes since to us. All we are here to do is invite you to read the book of Mormon. Have a nice day. Yes we will accept one of your books or pamphlets, thank you. Thank you for your time. Here is our number. Thank you for your number. Give us a call if you need help with spring cleaning."
Wooooohhhh..... I'll tell you I felt like a man with the palsy in a cage fight. We were beat down by a tag teaming WWF defending champions’ duo. I'll give them credit. 90% of the people we talk to have no Idea what the doctrines of their religion are, let alone how to defend it. Of course they said some contradicting statements and some silly things, but they knew just how to change the subject or flip it onto us when we called them out on it. Needless to say, the rest of my week was spent studying the apostasy. I thought it was interesting that they defended their church using almost word for word things I've said to people in the past. I am more motivated to follow the council of our prophet from General Conference now; that is to learn the doctrine and the doctrines of the priesthood. Hard times are coming, we will be tried and persecuted and we have to know how to be like Abinidi. I want to be able to stand firm and confound the wise all the way to my burial if needs be. I can't afford to simply take the beatings with as skinny as I am, I've got to learn to deflect them or redirect them. Dragon Ball Z style YO! Ha-ha. I encourage all of you to do the same.
Well, I have recovered mostly and am continuing to recover thanks to the amazing contrast to those feelings that i have felt in lessons and church and studies since then.
Let me tell you, Tito Rocks! the way he understands and uses the spirit is refreshing. When we have a lesson with him the spirit is there and like D&C 50 we are all edified together.
Good things are happening. We met with our branch President and our coordinator and the elder’s quorum president and are developing a plan to help two part member families progress and become complete. The Hollister family is one, and they rock, I know good things will happen, I pray they are receptive. The other is the Catrons.
In attempts to make an appointment with the Catorns yesterday however we discovered that she is in the hospital!!!! :( So we went right over and gave her a blessing, we told her home teacher who is going over today and we told the branch president who told the Relief Society to take advantage of the opportunity to start supplying some relief, to do what they do best. :) I'll keep you posted on the outcome. Pray for these two families.
That’s all I have for you but to end I'll tell you a funny thing that happened last week that I forgot to tell you about.
We went to the church and the guy downstairs in the library told us that they were having pluming problems... well he asked us if we were having problems, so I responded, "I don't know, we will go check!" he didn't stop us. It seemed totally normal to me. We flushed every toilet... we flooded the library with poopie-pee-pee-water. :S The guy was totally flabbergasted at our stupidity and the extra work we caused him. I felt stupid so I got to work mopping up the nasty water in my suit. The guy tried to stop me but I insisted. That put us back to neutral ground. Hopefully he will see us as stupid but harmful and respectful until the next missionaries can come along and show him that most of us aren't stupid. lol. That’s all.
Love,
-Elder Samuel Austin Morris
Well, this week went fast! It feels like not too long ago I was in the house of a Catholic family who dominated me. lol
Let me explain. Last Monday we went and saw Ben Scott and had a great lesson with him (we're taking a different approach) more of a bible study, he doesn't seem to respond well to anything else. He doesn't have the attention span if it’s not right out of the New Testament.
After the lesson we looked up potentials (Mitchell and I call 'em pots) and the first one we went to let us in. It turns out that it was not the potential we were looking for, she moved, but we were all excited cause a family let us in with no hesitation. Things started well and we began from the top of the plan of salvation so that we could explain to them the way that our families can be together forever. It ended pretty fast cause this man and his wife practice teaching when their kids go to bed (I am joking but, it wouldn't surprise me if it were true). There really wasn't a way to defend ourselves without bashing and so the spirit constrained me from speaking. The only things I could get out were questions and occasionally a brief explanation of our doctrine concerning whatever subject they brought up and questioned us on.
Fortunately my companion was able to testify a few times, but he realized that they were very, very set in their ways. That there wasn't much we could say to get them to just listen to our message without an interruption in the form of a rebuttal. I think if I were to have tried to defend the doctrines I would have done so emotionally and not by the spirit and would have dug us a pit. So our whole purpose was to just try to leave with a neutral, "Hey, this is what you believe and makes since to you, this is what we believe and makes since to us. All we are here to do is invite you to read the book of Mormon. Have a nice day. Yes we will accept one of your books or pamphlets, thank you. Thank you for your time. Here is our number. Thank you for your number. Give us a call if you need help with spring cleaning."
Wooooohhhh..... I'll tell you I felt like a man with the palsy in a cage fight. We were beat down by a tag teaming WWF defending champions’ duo. I'll give them credit. 90% of the people we talk to have no Idea what the doctrines of their religion are, let alone how to defend it. Of course they said some contradicting statements and some silly things, but they knew just how to change the subject or flip it onto us when we called them out on it. Needless to say, the rest of my week was spent studying the apostasy. I thought it was interesting that they defended their church using almost word for word things I've said to people in the past. I am more motivated to follow the council of our prophet from General Conference now; that is to learn the doctrine and the doctrines of the priesthood. Hard times are coming, we will be tried and persecuted and we have to know how to be like Abinidi. I want to be able to stand firm and confound the wise all the way to my burial if needs be. I can't afford to simply take the beatings with as skinny as I am, I've got to learn to deflect them or redirect them. Dragon Ball Z style YO! Ha-ha. I encourage all of you to do the same.
Well, I have recovered mostly and am continuing to recover thanks to the amazing contrast to those feelings that i have felt in lessons and church and studies since then.
Let me tell you, Tito Rocks! the way he understands and uses the spirit is refreshing. When we have a lesson with him the spirit is there and like D&C 50 we are all edified together.
Good things are happening. We met with our branch President and our coordinator and the elder’s quorum president and are developing a plan to help two part member families progress and become complete. The Hollister family is one, and they rock, I know good things will happen, I pray they are receptive. The other is the Catrons.
In attempts to make an appointment with the Catorns yesterday however we discovered that she is in the hospital!!!! :( So we went right over and gave her a blessing, we told her home teacher who is going over today and we told the branch president who told the Relief Society to take advantage of the opportunity to start supplying some relief, to do what they do best. :) I'll keep you posted on the outcome. Pray for these two families.
That’s all I have for you but to end I'll tell you a funny thing that happened last week that I forgot to tell you about.
We went to the church and the guy downstairs in the library told us that they were having pluming problems... well he asked us if we were having problems, so I responded, "I don't know, we will go check!" he didn't stop us. It seemed totally normal to me. We flushed every toilet... we flooded the library with poopie-pee-pee-water. :S The guy was totally flabbergasted at our stupidity and the extra work we caused him. I felt stupid so I got to work mopping up the nasty water in my suit. The guy tried to stop me but I insisted. That put us back to neutral ground. Hopefully he will see us as stupid but harmful and respectful until the next missionaries can come along and show him that most of us aren't stupid. lol. That’s all.
Love,
-Elder Samuel Austin Morris
Monday, April 4, 2011
Huntington
Conference Rocked as usual. That was the most exciting thing that happened. We invited so many people, but no one came. Big surprise. lol. At least Tito made it Sunday morning! Cool. :) The blessing for me though (of no investigators being there) is that I got to focus on what the speakers were saying and just soak it up without having to worry about explaining things or making sure they are understanding and not falling asleep. The sad part though is that we promised people their questions would be answered and guess what? I heard so many answers that applied to the people we teach and those who don't make it out much. It would have been great for them. Hopefully they will still get the message from the Internet or when it all gets typed up.
Sorry there really isn't much to say this time. We had a good week though, not really number wise, but otherwise.
Everything is fine--Nothing is broken, :)
I love you all! :) You all are influences on me that have made me who I am.
-Elder Samuel Austin Morris
Sorry there really isn't much to say this time. We had a good week though, not really number wise, but otherwise.
Everything is fine--Nothing is broken, :)
I love you all! :) You all are influences on me that have made me who I am.
-Elder Samuel Austin Morris
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Success
Being busy is not an indicator of success; remember that.
Cool thing #1: Tito is continuing to progress. He told us when we visited him that he was reading from doctrine and covenants and he explained to us what he learned from the section he had read and it was clear it made sense to him! He said that he feels the spirit and that his days are going better. He was interviewed for the priesthood and really enjoyed his interview with the Branch President. Tito said he is a really nice guy and helpful and he likes him a lot! That was a good thing to hear cause it means he has started off on the right foot with president and will go to him when he needs to in the future without hesitation. Tito has a great understanding of the need for repentance and that it’s something we all need to do all the time, and that's why we have church and the gospel. After his interview he told us how he was going to have responsibilities to pass the sacrament and how he needed to look nice for it (so president is gonna buy him a nice shirt) he then told us "that means that I've really got to be here every Sunday then!" and we said, "yeah!"
Cool thing #2: Ben almost accepted a baptismal invitation. He is kind of committed to finding out if what we are teaching him is true. (Which really is a big step up) the spirit is in the lessons a lot more than before and he understands a lot better. It’s nice to have Ira there to help teach. Ben has come to church twice. He was supposed to come yesterday but Ira said he wouldn't come cause he was sleeping. Lame.
Cool thing #3: I kinda got to be an office elder again on Friday. The Lees and the Scotts are going home (senior missionary couples) so we packed up all there furniture and put it in a truck and went to Ridgewood in Brooklyn and put it in a church basement. It took all morning (I thought it was going to take a lot longer) but we were finished by 12! we got back to our area by 1 and were done eating a huge buffet, courtesy of Elder Scott and Elder Lee, and got home by 3. It was a nice switch up from what we have been doing. I'll miss both senior couples. :( they were really great. I didn't say goodbye to the Scotts cause I’m just not down with goodbyes any more. I'm more of a "quit acting like this is the last time we'll see each other" kind of guy. If I don't see them in this life (which for some reason just doesn't sound like the case) I’ll see them in the next one. No need to get all sappy and then shake hands (cause we're missionaries) instead of hugging... or what-naught.
Cool thing #4: Jose and Marta Santos and the newest members of the branch. Their home has a different feeling in it now (i went on a mini exchange to go teach them with Elder Sanford last night cause of complications). Jose is a different guy and much more humble and accepting and willing to learn. He told us after he was baptized he felt like a blind man who could now see more because he wasn't looking with his eyes but listening and feeling with his heart. Cool! Ha-ha. Then last night he told me that after he received the gift of the Holy Ghost he has been full of the spirit (as he should be). He said everything is lighter and he feels like a child, "protected". So we discussed how he keeps that feeling is by taking the sacrament every week and making sure that he keeps true to the covenants described in the sacrament prayers. I showed him where they were in the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants. Anyway, much more than I can explain, it was all the spirit. Basically we were both edified. :)
Brother Mills our Coordinator is finally back from vacation.
We have been working a lot on getting the wards and branches involved in our work and also us as missionaries working around our members (working smart). So that’s been cool, but there is a lot more to do before it really becomes our culture. Mostly I think some of us older missionaries just have to die for it to take hold completely. The work really is a big rough stone rolling and growing. It’s pretty cool. It gets better and better and more and more efficient.
Anyways, please pray that I will have the desire to work out in the morning, cause I hate it...
There was more I wanted to say but it left me. Sorry.
--
-Elder Samuel Austin Morris
Cool thing #1: Tito is continuing to progress. He told us when we visited him that he was reading from doctrine and covenants and he explained to us what he learned from the section he had read and it was clear it made sense to him! He said that he feels the spirit and that his days are going better. He was interviewed for the priesthood and really enjoyed his interview with the Branch President. Tito said he is a really nice guy and helpful and he likes him a lot! That was a good thing to hear cause it means he has started off on the right foot with president and will go to him when he needs to in the future without hesitation. Tito has a great understanding of the need for repentance and that it’s something we all need to do all the time, and that's why we have church and the gospel. After his interview he told us how he was going to have responsibilities to pass the sacrament and how he needed to look nice for it (so president is gonna buy him a nice shirt) he then told us "that means that I've really got to be here every Sunday then!" and we said, "yeah!"
Cool thing #2: Ben almost accepted a baptismal invitation. He is kind of committed to finding out if what we are teaching him is true. (Which really is a big step up) the spirit is in the lessons a lot more than before and he understands a lot better. It’s nice to have Ira there to help teach. Ben has come to church twice. He was supposed to come yesterday but Ira said he wouldn't come cause he was sleeping. Lame.
Cool thing #3: I kinda got to be an office elder again on Friday. The Lees and the Scotts are going home (senior missionary couples) so we packed up all there furniture and put it in a truck and went to Ridgewood in Brooklyn and put it in a church basement. It took all morning (I thought it was going to take a lot longer) but we were finished by 12! we got back to our area by 1 and were done eating a huge buffet, courtesy of Elder Scott and Elder Lee, and got home by 3. It was a nice switch up from what we have been doing. I'll miss both senior couples. :( they were really great. I didn't say goodbye to the Scotts cause I’m just not down with goodbyes any more. I'm more of a "quit acting like this is the last time we'll see each other" kind of guy. If I don't see them in this life (which for some reason just doesn't sound like the case) I’ll see them in the next one. No need to get all sappy and then shake hands (cause we're missionaries) instead of hugging... or what-naught.
Cool thing #4: Jose and Marta Santos and the newest members of the branch. Their home has a different feeling in it now (i went on a mini exchange to go teach them with Elder Sanford last night cause of complications). Jose is a different guy and much more humble and accepting and willing to learn. He told us after he was baptized he felt like a blind man who could now see more because he wasn't looking with his eyes but listening and feeling with his heart. Cool! Ha-ha. Then last night he told me that after he received the gift of the Holy Ghost he has been full of the spirit (as he should be). He said everything is lighter and he feels like a child, "protected". So we discussed how he keeps that feeling is by taking the sacrament every week and making sure that he keeps true to the covenants described in the sacrament prayers. I showed him where they were in the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants. Anyway, much more than I can explain, it was all the spirit. Basically we were both edified. :)
Brother Mills our Coordinator is finally back from vacation.
We have been working a lot on getting the wards and branches involved in our work and also us as missionaries working around our members (working smart). So that’s been cool, but there is a lot more to do before it really becomes our culture. Mostly I think some of us older missionaries just have to die for it to take hold completely. The work really is a big rough stone rolling and growing. It’s pretty cool. It gets better and better and more and more efficient.
Anyways, please pray that I will have the desire to work out in the morning, cause I hate it...
There was more I wanted to say but it left me. Sorry.
--
-Elder Samuel Austin Morris
Monday, March 28, 2011
Happy Paint Satrick’s Day
Well... This week was one of those weeks that has seven days.
We spent almost all week preparing for and inviting people to our branch activity: Movie Night!!! We were feeling really good about it! We ran into snag after snag that resisted the whole thing. We were able to invite tons of people in person with flyer's/invitations, and we got at least 20 commits and everyone seemed really excited about it all. Well the day of, Friday, we pretty much spent from after District Meeting until 7 preparing. We had problem after problem in setting up. Broken projectors and dvd players and no sound coming forth etc... Well we finally got it all strait. It looked great! The whole place was all set up nicely and The Testaments title screen was being projected largely on the wall of the Assembly room. Well... Not counting the missionaries 7 people showed up. :(
Don't you hate that.....
Well, It wasn't a total waste because the senior couple Elder and Sister Lee had never seen it, and it gave Bro Hatch something to do and allowed us to get to know him better (plus he sympathized with us and now seems to be a supporter in our work) and Sister Catron and her Daughter came. Sister Catron hasn't been to church in a long time because of work scheduling issues and from our knowledge her daughter is unbaptized. Well, we were able to get an appointment with her for tomorrow and the Mansuettos (my favorite members) were able to fellowship her because they are old friends. Elder woodland knows her from an exchange and was able to say, "Hey!!! Sister Catron! How are you?!?" that seemed to be nice for her because I think she feels like no one knows who she is any more. Besides that Axel and Jeff came (19 and 23 year olds in the branch that currently don't have a lot to do). So that was great cause you know what they say, "an idle mind is the devils work shop".
We felt bad though because we worked so hard and the Lees got us refreshments for it and a projector and dinner (cause we missed dinner cause we were busy trying to get everything working) and the Mansuettos brought a bunch of Soda. We popped a bunch of pop-corn... but at least all that got eaten.
No one came to church really not even Tito, we aren't sure why. We feel bad cause we taught him about baptisms for the dead and he got confused and worried, so we wanted him to come so we could talk more about that at church. Well, we did have investigators go to the YSA branch however. Ben went and brought his friend Matt. We will be seeing them tonight. Ben still likes to preach to us, but is starting to understand what we are all about and what we really have. He is going to church and reading the things we tell him to, so he is progressing. :)
So we have had a new elder in the pad this week. His name is Elder Sanford. You can tell he's right out of the MTC. Ha-ha. That's not bad, it’s just funny how everyone comes into the mission field the same way; the same attitude and expectations. It really is a boot camp. Anyway, Elder Sanford is from Las Vegas and had a semester at BYU before he came out on his mission (living the Mormon dream). He is a nice guy, and I can tell he is starting to get used to being here now. He has a girl friend back at home and when he found out that I used to he asked how long into the mission I was when it ended. When I told him he said, "Oh, ok, so I've still got some time." Ha-ha. It was pretty funny. He has pretty good timing. He doesn't really say things that are supper witty, just simple, but he says them at the right time. He's a nice guy. Anyway, I'm sure he'll be a great missionary. Hopefully elder woodland can help him with his Spanish though. Ha-ha. Jk, his is better than mine (at least vocab). :)
I hope I didn't scare him to much with my craziness I hope it just helps him feel like he can have fun and work hard. Ha-ha. He didn't laugh at anything I did or said for like the first 4 or 5 days! Ha-ha.
OK I must now depart from this writing for I lack any more to say. Yet, I will not leave you without my own testimony of the truth. The lord has his holy an eternal purpose and we are the whole point of that purpose. He work and his glory is to bring to pass our immortality and eternal life. His joy is our progression and our success. He weeps when we weep. His heart drops when we fail. He is our loving Father. Understanding our relationship to him will deepen our relationship with him. We will become more sincere prayers and we will understand his will. We will no longer question him when bad things happen to us or the ones we love, we will not blame him for our sorrow but praise him for all that is good in our lives. We will praise him and love him even more for his perfect parenting skills. He loves me and you more than anything we could fathom. I can't say that I know really anything perfectly because I am human and I am week and I don't understand all things, but I can testify to you that he does not abandon you and that he does not cause anything negative in your life. God is perfect and therefore he does not do anything that would cause him to be a liar. What is good comes from the father; if God lead us into temptation he would cease to be God. He Promises that as we discover and apply his will that we will not have room enough to receive his blessings. Our trials are a part of mortality and come from either natural events that come from the physical body or world around us or from the decisions of others or from Satan and his followers. We can be thankful for the hard things because without resistance we would lose our strength.
That’s about it. Love,
-Elder Samuel Austin Morris
We spent almost all week preparing for and inviting people to our branch activity: Movie Night!!! We were feeling really good about it! We ran into snag after snag that resisted the whole thing. We were able to invite tons of people in person with flyer's/invitations, and we got at least 20 commits and everyone seemed really excited about it all. Well the day of, Friday, we pretty much spent from after District Meeting until 7 preparing. We had problem after problem in setting up. Broken projectors and dvd players and no sound coming forth etc... Well we finally got it all strait. It looked great! The whole place was all set up nicely and The Testaments title screen was being projected largely on the wall of the Assembly room. Well... Not counting the missionaries 7 people showed up. :(
Don't you hate that.....
Well, It wasn't a total waste because the senior couple Elder and Sister Lee had never seen it, and it gave Bro Hatch something to do and allowed us to get to know him better (plus he sympathized with us and now seems to be a supporter in our work) and Sister Catron and her Daughter came. Sister Catron hasn't been to church in a long time because of work scheduling issues and from our knowledge her daughter is unbaptized. Well, we were able to get an appointment with her for tomorrow and the Mansuettos (my favorite members) were able to fellowship her because they are old friends. Elder woodland knows her from an exchange and was able to say, "Hey!!! Sister Catron! How are you?!?" that seemed to be nice for her because I think she feels like no one knows who she is any more. Besides that Axel and Jeff came (19 and 23 year olds in the branch that currently don't have a lot to do). So that was great cause you know what they say, "an idle mind is the devils work shop".
We felt bad though because we worked so hard and the Lees got us refreshments for it and a projector and dinner (cause we missed dinner cause we were busy trying to get everything working) and the Mansuettos brought a bunch of Soda. We popped a bunch of pop-corn... but at least all that got eaten.
No one came to church really not even Tito, we aren't sure why. We feel bad cause we taught him about baptisms for the dead and he got confused and worried, so we wanted him to come so we could talk more about that at church. Well, we did have investigators go to the YSA branch however. Ben went and brought his friend Matt. We will be seeing them tonight. Ben still likes to preach to us, but is starting to understand what we are all about and what we really have. He is going to church and reading the things we tell him to, so he is progressing. :)
So we have had a new elder in the pad this week. His name is Elder Sanford. You can tell he's right out of the MTC. Ha-ha. That's not bad, it’s just funny how everyone comes into the mission field the same way; the same attitude and expectations. It really is a boot camp. Anyway, Elder Sanford is from Las Vegas and had a semester at BYU before he came out on his mission (living the Mormon dream). He is a nice guy, and I can tell he is starting to get used to being here now. He has a girl friend back at home and when he found out that I used to he asked how long into the mission I was when it ended. When I told him he said, "Oh, ok, so I've still got some time." Ha-ha. It was pretty funny. He has pretty good timing. He doesn't really say things that are supper witty, just simple, but he says them at the right time. He's a nice guy. Anyway, I'm sure he'll be a great missionary. Hopefully elder woodland can help him with his Spanish though. Ha-ha. Jk, his is better than mine (at least vocab). :)
I hope I didn't scare him to much with my craziness I hope it just helps him feel like he can have fun and work hard. Ha-ha. He didn't laugh at anything I did or said for like the first 4 or 5 days! Ha-ha.
OK I must now depart from this writing for I lack any more to say. Yet, I will not leave you without my own testimony of the truth. The lord has his holy an eternal purpose and we are the whole point of that purpose. He work and his glory is to bring to pass our immortality and eternal life. His joy is our progression and our success. He weeps when we weep. His heart drops when we fail. He is our loving Father. Understanding our relationship to him will deepen our relationship with him. We will become more sincere prayers and we will understand his will. We will no longer question him when bad things happen to us or the ones we love, we will not blame him for our sorrow but praise him for all that is good in our lives. We will praise him and love him even more for his perfect parenting skills. He loves me and you more than anything we could fathom. I can't say that I know really anything perfectly because I am human and I am week and I don't understand all things, but I can testify to you that he does not abandon you and that he does not cause anything negative in your life. God is perfect and therefore he does not do anything that would cause him to be a liar. What is good comes from the father; if God lead us into temptation he would cease to be God. He Promises that as we discover and apply his will that we will not have room enough to receive his blessings. Our trials are a part of mortality and come from either natural events that come from the physical body or world around us or from the decisions of others or from Satan and his followers. We can be thankful for the hard things because without resistance we would lose our strength.
That’s about it. Love,
-Elder Samuel Austin Morris
Monday, March 14, 2011
6 of 2
Well my second transfer in Huntington has now come to an end. It looks like I’ll be here for another 6 weeks. That leaves me with 12 weeks after that until the end.... :S
My prediction is that I leave Huntington after this next 6 weeks and then end my mission somewhere else (hopefully the city) for my last 12 weeks. Elder woodland thinks I’ll just finish here though and probably end by training.
Btw, elder Clement is leaving us... :( we are all very sad. President told us though that he wont be going to far away, so maybe he'll still be in the zone. Elder Clement is getting replaced by a Greenie. So Woodland will be training. That means we will have a new missionary in the pad. I want him to remember me for the rest of his life... ha-ha... so I’m going to do crazy things to him.... nothing bad, don't worry about that. :) Ha-ha. I'll let you know how it goes.
Tito is still strong! He is doing really well and still coming to church on his own. He remembers all the doctrines we teach him and is starting to ask some pretty deep questions all on his own. Its really cool cause he says his mind is more clear than it has been in a really long time. Also, he is defending his beliefs where ever he goes he seems to tell us every time we see him about how he was challenged by someone or asked a moral or religious question. The best part is that when we ask him what he told them, he always gives the right answer! Ha-ha. then I ask, "have you been studying" or "when did you learn that" and he either responds, "I learned it from you guys" or "I learned it at church" or "I read it in a book somewhere" Ha-ha
We had 4 investigators at Church! Woot! A former named Kai brought her sister to Church and said they would come back next week too! I explained how the meetings go before church started cause they were the first ones there. Most people showed up last minute, probably because of Day light savings time. Then I explained what the sacrament was in response they said to themselves but loud enough that I heard, "oh Ii'm not baptized" and a little later I asked where they normally go to church and they told me they weren't raised any particular way and that they haven't been to a church in a really long time. Kai wanted to stay for class but her sister Lakeema didn't. But like I said, they'll be back next week. I think that they will come to church every week if we just remind them on Saturday.
The other two at church attended the YSA branch in Plainview, but because they are our investigators they count on our numbers. Ben Scott attended the whole of all 3 meetings and stayed for munch and mingle. He wants us to come over 2 to 3 times a week to teach him all we know. We made it clear to him this is not bible study. The other who came was a guy named Scott who lives in our area and is a friend of Ira Greenbay (just like Ben)... so Ira is not only a drumming machine but a great member missionary! Woot, way to go Ira. Well I’ll let you know how their progress is later! :)
Other than that I can't really remember what happened this week; just a lot of looking people up and trying to conserve our miles... ha-ha. Well, that’s all.
--
-Elder Samuel Austin Morris
My prediction is that I leave Huntington after this next 6 weeks and then end my mission somewhere else (hopefully the city) for my last 12 weeks. Elder woodland thinks I’ll just finish here though and probably end by training.
Btw, elder Clement is leaving us... :( we are all very sad. President told us though that he wont be going to far away, so maybe he'll still be in the zone. Elder Clement is getting replaced by a Greenie. So Woodland will be training. That means we will have a new missionary in the pad. I want him to remember me for the rest of his life... ha-ha... so I’m going to do crazy things to him.... nothing bad, don't worry about that. :) Ha-ha. I'll let you know how it goes.
Tito is still strong! He is doing really well and still coming to church on his own. He remembers all the doctrines we teach him and is starting to ask some pretty deep questions all on his own. Its really cool cause he says his mind is more clear than it has been in a really long time. Also, he is defending his beliefs where ever he goes he seems to tell us every time we see him about how he was challenged by someone or asked a moral or religious question. The best part is that when we ask him what he told them, he always gives the right answer! Ha-ha. then I ask, "have you been studying" or "when did you learn that" and he either responds, "I learned it from you guys" or "I learned it at church" or "I read it in a book somewhere" Ha-ha
We had 4 investigators at Church! Woot! A former named Kai brought her sister to Church and said they would come back next week too! I explained how the meetings go before church started cause they were the first ones there. Most people showed up last minute, probably because of Day light savings time. Then I explained what the sacrament was in response they said to themselves but loud enough that I heard, "oh Ii'm not baptized" and a little later I asked where they normally go to church and they told me they weren't raised any particular way and that they haven't been to a church in a really long time. Kai wanted to stay for class but her sister Lakeema didn't. But like I said, they'll be back next week. I think that they will come to church every week if we just remind them on Saturday.
The other two at church attended the YSA branch in Plainview, but because they are our investigators they count on our numbers. Ben Scott attended the whole of all 3 meetings and stayed for munch and mingle. He wants us to come over 2 to 3 times a week to teach him all we know. We made it clear to him this is not bible study. The other who came was a guy named Scott who lives in our area and is a friend of Ira Greenbay (just like Ben)... so Ira is not only a drumming machine but a great member missionary! Woot, way to go Ira. Well I’ll let you know how their progress is later! :)
Other than that I can't really remember what happened this week; just a lot of looking people up and trying to conserve our miles... ha-ha. Well, that’s all.
--
-Elder Samuel Austin Morris
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
One O'dem Short-longs
This last week flew by yet.... seems so long ago.... if any of you know what that's like you have experience what I just deemed as a 'one o'dem short-longs'. You could probably refer to a number of time increments that way. Maybe like an hour of heavy lifting, or a 5 min wall sit. Sometimes a day is long but is over before you know it; awe the paradox of life and time.
Well to the important stuff.
Tito's baptism was pushed a week. He is having a hard time but is doing so well. I feel like he does I think. I am just struggling a long and often find myself beating on myself and feeling inadequate and just making the same old mistakes (its so frustrating) but really there is progress. Its like what the Ensign said about a baby walking to a parent with out-stretched arms (I think it was last month). The baby falls over a couple times on its way but it still makes its way. Although the baby falls the parent doesn't love the child less or think less of the baby, nor does the parent scold the child but utters only encouragement, "It’s OK, get up." :) come to mommy." Most of us learned to walk that way. God does the same for us now. Tito and I and all of us fall right on our face but our Father in Heaven and our Savior stand there with arms wide open calling us by name.
This week we exceeded last week’s number of lessons by 4. Elder Mitchell and I are raising the bar for Huntington and progress is still being made. Soon I hope for some real evidence of that progression, some crescendo if you will. :)
We get along quite well with our pad mates and the district all seems to be pushing the work forward.
We have many referrals media, member, and missionary. We have really narrowed down the branch list and are finding out who everyone is and whether or not they want contact. Because of our efforts in looking up Less Active members a surprising thing has happened. Our number of lessons with non-members have increased. Also we have found amazing part member families who are super nice, like Aaron and his wife Leah. I'll be talking more about them later (hopefully).
Well I don't have much more to say. However I will say that I learn and relearn every day these last few weeks that it doesn't matter how many times you read the book of Mormon, because each time it feels almost like a different book. Not only do you read stories you don't remember but you learn doctrines and receive revelations that you never have before, even by reading verses that you have read hundreds of times before! The mission is reading the BOM on a schedule together and I am loving it. It's a blessing to me in my life right now. I encourage you all to make sure you are reading and praying every day. Even 10 or 15 min is better than nothing.
OK, love you peeps. Chill out a'ight?!
Elder Samuel Austin Morris
Well to the important stuff.
Tito's baptism was pushed a week. He is having a hard time but is doing so well. I feel like he does I think. I am just struggling a long and often find myself beating on myself and feeling inadequate and just making the same old mistakes (its so frustrating) but really there is progress. Its like what the Ensign said about a baby walking to a parent with out-stretched arms (I think it was last month). The baby falls over a couple times on its way but it still makes its way. Although the baby falls the parent doesn't love the child less or think less of the baby, nor does the parent scold the child but utters only encouragement, "It’s OK, get up." :) come to mommy." Most of us learned to walk that way. God does the same for us now. Tito and I and all of us fall right on our face but our Father in Heaven and our Savior stand there with arms wide open calling us by name.
This week we exceeded last week’s number of lessons by 4. Elder Mitchell and I are raising the bar for Huntington and progress is still being made. Soon I hope for some real evidence of that progression, some crescendo if you will. :)
We get along quite well with our pad mates and the district all seems to be pushing the work forward.
We have many referrals media, member, and missionary. We have really narrowed down the branch list and are finding out who everyone is and whether or not they want contact. Because of our efforts in looking up Less Active members a surprising thing has happened. Our number of lessons with non-members have increased. Also we have found amazing part member families who are super nice, like Aaron and his wife Leah. I'll be talking more about them later (hopefully).
Well I don't have much more to say. However I will say that I learn and relearn every day these last few weeks that it doesn't matter how many times you read the book of Mormon, because each time it feels almost like a different book. Not only do you read stories you don't remember but you learn doctrines and receive revelations that you never have before, even by reading verses that you have read hundreds of times before! The mission is reading the BOM on a schedule together and I am loving it. It's a blessing to me in my life right now. I encourage you all to make sure you are reading and praying every day. Even 10 or 15 min is better than nothing.
OK, love you peeps. Chill out a'ight?!
Elder Samuel Austin Morris
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Week 5
Well week 5 is over now. Elder Mitchell and I have been really working hard. Mostly we just get the, "this is a bad time guys" or "could you come over next week? Sorry" or "You guys are getting to preachy with my family, I would appreciate it if you didn't come back." or "You really need to call me before you come" (even when we had an appointment), or other similar things. Fortunately our progressing investigator and really only investigator, Tido is doing just fine and he came to church this week. We had a lesson on the law of Chastity in Gospel Principals class and there was another investigator there (Jose Santos, the guy we gave to the Spanish elders) and he had some objections. Any way it was cool because every so often Tido would chime in and explain correctly what the law of chastity really is! :) so that was great. Tido is telling everyone that he isn't ready to be baptized because he needs to learn more and because he feels like he will mess up after he gets baptized. I told him that I know he will mess up after he is baptized, because everyone does. Its not good to mess up, but God knew that we would and that is why he supplied us the Savior. Because of Christ we can repent (change) because of Christ it’s possible for us to make mistakes and not be damned. Its like school, we will make mistakes on tests and on assignments but we can still end up with a good enough GPA to graduate.
Anyway, we continue to try to get things going here. Mitchell and I have been teaching more lessons somehow, so things are going up even though it’s hard.
Nothing really amazing or spectacular happened this wee--good or bad--beyond what I have told you... so there is really not much else to say. We did get snow however, and our driveway is really icy. The snow was really powdery so it wasn't as hard to shovel as the last two storms have been. Most people’s steps here have a bunch of ice cause they don't know about those de-ice-er heated cord things to put on their eves. Don’t worry we haven't slipped. But we have thrown Icicles at each other like spears!
OK, have a nice day!
--
-Elder Samuel Austin Morris
Anyway, we continue to try to get things going here. Mitchell and I have been teaching more lessons somehow, so things are going up even though it’s hard.
Nothing really amazing or spectacular happened this wee--good or bad--beyond what I have told you... so there is really not much else to say. We did get snow however, and our driveway is really icy. The snow was really powdery so it wasn't as hard to shovel as the last two storms have been. Most people’s steps here have a bunch of ice cause they don't know about those de-ice-er heated cord things to put on their eves. Don’t worry we haven't slipped. But we have thrown Icicles at each other like spears!
OK, have a nice day!
--
-Elder Samuel Austin Morris
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Duped
Well Elder Mitchell and I must be pretty strong cause we have experienced a lot of opposition this week. I say that because the scriptures tell us that we do not receive a trial that is harder than we can bear.
Among the missionary trials that exist there are many that are usual and common. We have had a week of those with little of the converse. However we have had added to that both the small and tall of, "wow, we just got the short stick..." From pube in the sandwich to the "give me a [effing] break!... get off my porch." The one that takes the cake however is as follows:
Two weeks ago Jeong and I found a guy at Dunkin’ Doughnuts who seemed to be a great potential and a little odd but very nice and cool. His name is Khan and he is Afghan. Well after a week of not being able to get a hold of him and not hearing anything from him we get a call. He was very buddy-buddy with us out of nowhere and he invited us to dinner. Well to make a very long story short (especially cause I'm running low on time right now) we met him at the Kabob King. He brought his friend. His friend told us he was Persian and that his name was Mike but we cannot be certain anything he said to us was truth. Basically after being a jerk to the waitresses and bus boys and telling us he worked on Wall Street and gets fat checks in the mail (so he would pay for dinner) he went out for a smoke break. Well, I thought it was odd that he didn't do that before he came, but we were trusting. He came back with Khan and they didn't smell like smoke... Khan was different after that and wouldn't look at us in the eyes. He even said a few things to Mike in their own language (also weird since mike said he was Persian) and Mike acted like Khan wanted to ask us something that seemed disrespectful. However we feel Khan was actually putting up a protest to what was about to happen. Well, just before the check came they went out for another smoke break (because we all know smokers like to smoke before and after a meal) but they never came back and Khan wouldn't answer his phone. Let’s just say I'm glad I had extra money this month and I'm glad the cashier took mercy on us and allowed us to have one item free and not pay tip. Mitchell gave me some money to back me up but the bill was a little over $75.
It just seems silly for a guy to go through all that trouble acting interested so that he could save $40. So we believe the friend just came up with that idea when he saw how trusting we were (mostly me, Mitchell didn't think Mike was sincere) when they went out for the first smoke break; basically that really discouraged us. The biggest issue however was not the money. But that is a much longer story that you would have to ask me about when I get home.
Elder Mitchell and I talked in church. They told Mitchell it only needed to be a testimony and they told me a 7 min talk well. I ended up having to give a 20 min talk because the first speaker forgot they had a talk. Mitchell gave an impromptu talk that helped me out. Unfortunately I didn't realize there was a speaker after me (no programs in our branch) so I thought I had to take up the rest of sacrament. I'm glad I left 10 min cause then the second councilor got up and talked for 25 min. Ha, wow, anyway.
I love you all. I know that if we will hearken unto the Lord’s council we will be blessed. I know trials are for our benefit and learning, and to help us rely on the lord. If we will focus on the basics and keep things simple we will be able to avoid confusion and know we are doing what the Lord wants us to do. OK, I got to go.
Love,
Elder Samuel Austin Morris
Among the missionary trials that exist there are many that are usual and common. We have had a week of those with little of the converse. However we have had added to that both the small and tall of, "wow, we just got the short stick..." From pube in the sandwich to the "give me a [effing] break!... get off my porch." The one that takes the cake however is as follows:
Two weeks ago Jeong and I found a guy at Dunkin’ Doughnuts who seemed to be a great potential and a little odd but very nice and cool. His name is Khan and he is Afghan. Well after a week of not being able to get a hold of him and not hearing anything from him we get a call. He was very buddy-buddy with us out of nowhere and he invited us to dinner. Well to make a very long story short (especially cause I'm running low on time right now) we met him at the Kabob King. He brought his friend. His friend told us he was Persian and that his name was Mike but we cannot be certain anything he said to us was truth. Basically after being a jerk to the waitresses and bus boys and telling us he worked on Wall Street and gets fat checks in the mail (so he would pay for dinner) he went out for a smoke break. Well, I thought it was odd that he didn't do that before he came, but we were trusting. He came back with Khan and they didn't smell like smoke... Khan was different after that and wouldn't look at us in the eyes. He even said a few things to Mike in their own language (also weird since mike said he was Persian) and Mike acted like Khan wanted to ask us something that seemed disrespectful. However we feel Khan was actually putting up a protest to what was about to happen. Well, just before the check came they went out for another smoke break (because we all know smokers like to smoke before and after a meal) but they never came back and Khan wouldn't answer his phone. Let’s just say I'm glad I had extra money this month and I'm glad the cashier took mercy on us and allowed us to have one item free and not pay tip. Mitchell gave me some money to back me up but the bill was a little over $75.
It just seems silly for a guy to go through all that trouble acting interested so that he could save $40. So we believe the friend just came up with that idea when he saw how trusting we were (mostly me, Mitchell didn't think Mike was sincere) when they went out for the first smoke break; basically that really discouraged us. The biggest issue however was not the money. But that is a much longer story that you would have to ask me about when I get home.
Elder Mitchell and I talked in church. They told Mitchell it only needed to be a testimony and they told me a 7 min talk well. I ended up having to give a 20 min talk because the first speaker forgot they had a talk. Mitchell gave an impromptu talk that helped me out. Unfortunately I didn't realize there was a speaker after me (no programs in our branch) so I thought I had to take up the rest of sacrament. I'm glad I left 10 min cause then the second councilor got up and talked for 25 min. Ha, wow, anyway.
I love you all. I know that if we will hearken unto the Lord’s council we will be blessed. I know trials are for our benefit and learning, and to help us rely on the lord. If we will focus on the basics and keep things simple we will be able to avoid confusion and know we are doing what the Lord wants us to do. OK, I got to go.
Love,
Elder Samuel Austin Morris
Dang Yo
Hey family and friends! Unfortunately all the Libraries are closed today due to Martin Luther King Jr day. so i will have to email you all tomorrow. I am writing this email to you from best buy, so ... yup. I love you all. You will hear more about my CRAZY WEEK tomorrow hopefully. But just so you know my new companion is Elder Mitchell from Idaho. WE have no problem getting along and are having lots of fun even though we are having a hard time getting the work going here. We have lots of ideas to help Huntington get moving however, so hopefully they work. :)
-Elder Samuel Austin Morris
-Elder Samuel Austin Morris
Monday, January 3, 2011
Oops!
Sorry I spent all my time emailing individuals instead of my mass email! Ha-ha, oops.
Well, here is the update. My companion goes back to South Korea on the 18th (enduring a 14hr flight) and then he will spend his time with his mother until she passes. When she passes he will organize the funeral and then sell what things they cannot manage from Utah. His visa will expire 10 days after he leaves the USA. He will not be able to receive another visa for missionary purposes, which means he will not be returning to NYNYCS mission. He will become a regular member. Since he plans to live in Utah though (since that is where his only sister is) he needs a way to get a visa, so he is applying for school so that when its time to come back to the states he can tell his console that he is coming for school. He plans on going to SLCC until he can get a scholarship to either LDS Business College or U of U. Depending on if his sister will support him in his desires to be a doctor, if not he will be an accountant.
Our struggles with the Spanish missionaries are indirect and subtle but still present. I plan on doing things their way (which actually make more since anyway) to stop the drama and become united. This means we will have fewer investigators and be teaching fewer lessons until we find new people. We have been blessed with two new referrals.
I don't know what else to say ‘cause I don't have much time. But know that I am well and healthy and that I am pressing forward with faith knowing that I am lucky to be here at this time on the lords errand!
The church is true, If you have doubts then pray and ask God specific questions to resolve your concerns as you study the scriptures and go to church. The big 3 baby is the way!
Love,
-Elder Samuel Austin Morris
Well, here is the update. My companion goes back to South Korea on the 18th (enduring a 14hr flight) and then he will spend his time with his mother until she passes. When she passes he will organize the funeral and then sell what things they cannot manage from Utah. His visa will expire 10 days after he leaves the USA. He will not be able to receive another visa for missionary purposes, which means he will not be returning to NYNYCS mission. He will become a regular member. Since he plans to live in Utah though (since that is where his only sister is) he needs a way to get a visa, so he is applying for school so that when its time to come back to the states he can tell his console that he is coming for school. He plans on going to SLCC until he can get a scholarship to either LDS Business College or U of U. Depending on if his sister will support him in his desires to be a doctor, if not he will be an accountant.
Our struggles with the Spanish missionaries are indirect and subtle but still present. I plan on doing things their way (which actually make more since anyway) to stop the drama and become united. This means we will have fewer investigators and be teaching fewer lessons until we find new people. We have been blessed with two new referrals.
I don't know what else to say ‘cause I don't have much time. But know that I am well and healthy and that I am pressing forward with faith knowing that I am lucky to be here at this time on the lords errand!
The church is true, If you have doubts then pray and ask God specific questions to resolve your concerns as you study the scriptures and go to church. The big 3 baby is the way!
Love,
-Elder Samuel Austin Morris
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