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
Monday, October 25, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
Racing Stripes
Last night Elder Ledbetter buzzed a line right up my right shin removing the hair. Now I have a cool and sleek looking racing stripe on my normally very harry leg. the contrast is stark. I look fast.
Good news: I got a letter from Nate and Kenzi this week. That made me happy. I also got to do a lot of service this week. This also made me happy. It’s in the 50's here now (finally) and the leaves are starting to change colors (finally). I love fall colors, so, this makes me happy.
Bad News: Elder Kiser and I kept our jack-o-lanterns inside so that we could enjoy them for ourselves for longer... well, they got moldy. Everyone else who put there pumpkins out side, there pumpkins are still firm and mold free. So we put our pumpkins out side, but they are shriveling up and getting pretty furry. LOL. This could be some kind of story base for an apostles talk at conference don't you think? It could be an analogy for talents or something, if you keep it to yourself and don't share it you lose it. If you put it out for everyone else to see and not for your own benefit it won't get moldy. LOL.
Better news: My toe is practically Normal now! It’s so weird. I lived with a wound so long I still favor that toe I guess you could say. It’s odd how when I touch something with my toe or bump my toe it doesn't hurt; it’s weird to look down and see a normal looking toe. As I type this to you I am stepping on my toe with my other shoe and it’s not sending shooting pain up my leg. It’s not used to pressure... weird, but not painful. Let this be a lesson to me and to all the rest of you. Take care of your problems. Living with your problems is a disease and a plague; whether it is physical or spiritual or mental or social. It’s like living with sin. I wonder if someone were to live with a bad habit or sin, like I did with my toe, if they would have behavioral problems; problems extending beyond the time the issue was resolved. You know what I am saying? Like, you are so used to living with guilt that even after you have changed your ways you still hold on to the guilt. When we touch a stove we recoil naturally because it’s hot and hurts, if we don't we cause serious problems; eventually you will damage that had to the point you will have terrible scars even after treatment. So, Again! Don't live in guilt or pain. Something I realized yesterday in the lesson on repentance in elders quorum was that the principles of Pain and of guilt are the same. its a warning system. if you ignore the warning system you can't expect things to end well.
Best News: Harold Ariza was finally confirmed a member of the Church and received the Holy Ghost yesterday! :D he seemed touched by the photo album we gave him with our pictures and all the notes people wrote for him at his baptism. We were so happy he came to church. We hope he realizes the effect it can have in his life. I pray he recognizes the difference in his life now that he has the Gift of The Holy Ghost. I love Harold. I hope That he will remember the great blessing that came with his confirmation and the wonderful blessings and protections promised to him if he is faithful.
Kiser and I are suffering the self inflicted neglect of not spending enough time finding last transfer. We have either Dropped or Baptized everyone in our pool and left our selves little to work with. This transfer we have been spending most of our time finding. Fortunately we have a few leads. There is a Former investigator we looked up and he has a whole family. So we will hopefully get something going with them tonight. :) Also, we will soon be able to start raking the leaves of random people’s houses soon! That will be good to show people we just want to help. Maybe they will be more willing to have religious conversation if they see how we have served them.
Also, something cool! Kiser and I made a cool contact a few weeks ago named Lon at pep boys when we were waiting for our state inspection. he is a very talkative and intelligent man who is retired. Well even though he was out of our area we paid him a visit and taught he and his wife. We left them a Book of Mormon. This week we gave them a call to see how things were going and they told us that Lon's brother had read the first half of the B.O.M. and is very impressed! So we will be going over there again with the elders who are in that area to introduce them so that some miracles can happen! :)
I've only got 6 min left of my email session cause the library was full today. I don't remember all what I wanted to say... but I hope you get something out of what I wrote. if nothing else a chuckle or a smile.
--
-Elder Samuel Austin Morris
Good news: I got a letter from Nate and Kenzi this week. That made me happy. I also got to do a lot of service this week. This also made me happy. It’s in the 50's here now (finally) and the leaves are starting to change colors (finally). I love fall colors, so, this makes me happy.
Bad News: Elder Kiser and I kept our jack-o-lanterns inside so that we could enjoy them for ourselves for longer... well, they got moldy. Everyone else who put there pumpkins out side, there pumpkins are still firm and mold free. So we put our pumpkins out side, but they are shriveling up and getting pretty furry. LOL. This could be some kind of story base for an apostles talk at conference don't you think? It could be an analogy for talents or something, if you keep it to yourself and don't share it you lose it. If you put it out for everyone else to see and not for your own benefit it won't get moldy. LOL.
Better news: My toe is practically Normal now! It’s so weird. I lived with a wound so long I still favor that toe I guess you could say. It’s odd how when I touch something with my toe or bump my toe it doesn't hurt; it’s weird to look down and see a normal looking toe. As I type this to you I am stepping on my toe with my other shoe and it’s not sending shooting pain up my leg. It’s not used to pressure... weird, but not painful. Let this be a lesson to me and to all the rest of you. Take care of your problems. Living with your problems is a disease and a plague; whether it is physical or spiritual or mental or social. It’s like living with sin. I wonder if someone were to live with a bad habit or sin, like I did with my toe, if they would have behavioral problems; problems extending beyond the time the issue was resolved. You know what I am saying? Like, you are so used to living with guilt that even after you have changed your ways you still hold on to the guilt. When we touch a stove we recoil naturally because it’s hot and hurts, if we don't we cause serious problems; eventually you will damage that had to the point you will have terrible scars even after treatment. So, Again! Don't live in guilt or pain. Something I realized yesterday in the lesson on repentance in elders quorum was that the principles of Pain and of guilt are the same. its a warning system. if you ignore the warning system you can't expect things to end well.
Best News: Harold Ariza was finally confirmed a member of the Church and received the Holy Ghost yesterday! :D he seemed touched by the photo album we gave him with our pictures and all the notes people wrote for him at his baptism. We were so happy he came to church. We hope he realizes the effect it can have in his life. I pray he recognizes the difference in his life now that he has the Gift of The Holy Ghost. I love Harold. I hope That he will remember the great blessing that came with his confirmation and the wonderful blessings and protections promised to him if he is faithful.
Kiser and I are suffering the self inflicted neglect of not spending enough time finding last transfer. We have either Dropped or Baptized everyone in our pool and left our selves little to work with. This transfer we have been spending most of our time finding. Fortunately we have a few leads. There is a Former investigator we looked up and he has a whole family. So we will hopefully get something going with them tonight. :) Also, we will soon be able to start raking the leaves of random people’s houses soon! That will be good to show people we just want to help. Maybe they will be more willing to have religious conversation if they see how we have served them.
Also, something cool! Kiser and I made a cool contact a few weeks ago named Lon at pep boys when we were waiting for our state inspection. he is a very talkative and intelligent man who is retired. Well even though he was out of our area we paid him a visit and taught he and his wife. We left them a Book of Mormon. This week we gave them a call to see how things were going and they told us that Lon's brother had read the first half of the B.O.M. and is very impressed! So we will be going over there again with the elders who are in that area to introduce them so that some miracles can happen! :)
I've only got 6 min left of my email session cause the library was full today. I don't remember all what I wanted to say... but I hope you get something out of what I wrote. if nothing else a chuckle or a smile.
--
-Elder Samuel Austin Morris
Monday, October 11, 2010
Flat Stanley
Noah sent me Flat Stanley in the mail this week. He is going around with us everywhere so we can take pictures so I can send him back to Noah's school. Well I was dumb... On Saturday we went to Manhattan for a temple trip! Yeah, woot! ‘Cause Grace got a recommend and we took her with other ward members for her first time! It was wonderful! but silly me.... I left Stanley.... :( I could have had Manhattan shots with Stanley for Noah! That would have been so-o-o-o-o-o coo-o-ol! Oh well.... maybe I'll photoshop one! Ha-ha. I at least got some good shots with him at a lighthouse! So that will be good.
Well, I caught a cold this week. But I'll tell you I love miracles. Saturday when I woke up to go to the temple I felt terrible!!!!! I had a horrible headache and didn't sleep at all the night before and snot was everywhere..... I prayed, took a shower, took two Excedrin, and by the time we got to the church to meet The Bryants (our correlator and his wife) and Grace for carpooling purposes, I was totally clear! Ha-ha! The lord will sustain you when you do his work and when your intentions are pure and righteous. Well... I felt super weird like I had a caffeine rush and my blood sugar was way low cause I didn't eat breakfast... but I felt good. I felt the spirit and we had a good time and we knew what we did helped the lord and many, many people waiting for their work on the other side. I love the temple. I was able to get baptized and it felt great! I haven't been submersed in water for a long time.
Let’s see here..... We killed a lot of cockroaches. Is a mirror a normal place for roaches to be? also we did a lot of driving this week. This week was Kiser and my lowest numbers. We blame our lack of motivation on our colds... but realized that's not a great excuse and look forward to higher numbers this week.
I don't know what else to say.
I'm super excited right now ‘cause i get to go carve pumpkins for Zone activity right now! Ha-ha! Woot! I love pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns more than Elder Black! And Black is a funny guy!
Thanks for all your support. If you desire more faith then exercise it! Remember that faith is focusing on Christ and His atonement and our Heavenly Father and not on our trials or anything else. If we do what they ask of us despite what the outcome will be our faith will be strengthened. When you do righteous acts you will be blessed. Just like how my cold was temporarily taken away so that I could have a good temple trip. God may not remove our trials, but he will make a way for us to bear them. I love how simple the gospel is and how we can truly use our gospel knowledge to solve anything. Everything can point to Christ. We don't need complex solutions to all our complex problems. We need more simplicity... we need to slow down, Just like Elder Uchtdorf said.
Love,
--
-Elder Samuel Austin Morris
Well, I caught a cold this week. But I'll tell you I love miracles. Saturday when I woke up to go to the temple I felt terrible!!!!! I had a horrible headache and didn't sleep at all the night before and snot was everywhere..... I prayed, took a shower, took two Excedrin, and by the time we got to the church to meet The Bryants (our correlator and his wife) and Grace for carpooling purposes, I was totally clear! Ha-ha! The lord will sustain you when you do his work and when your intentions are pure and righteous. Well... I felt super weird like I had a caffeine rush and my blood sugar was way low cause I didn't eat breakfast... but I felt good. I felt the spirit and we had a good time and we knew what we did helped the lord and many, many people waiting for their work on the other side. I love the temple. I was able to get baptized and it felt great! I haven't been submersed in water for a long time.
Let’s see here..... We killed a lot of cockroaches. Is a mirror a normal place for roaches to be? also we did a lot of driving this week. This week was Kiser and my lowest numbers. We blame our lack of motivation on our colds... but realized that's not a great excuse and look forward to higher numbers this week.
I don't know what else to say.
I'm super excited right now ‘cause i get to go carve pumpkins for Zone activity right now! Ha-ha! Woot! I love pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns more than Elder Black! And Black is a funny guy!
Thanks for all your support. If you desire more faith then exercise it! Remember that faith is focusing on Christ and His atonement and our Heavenly Father and not on our trials or anything else. If we do what they ask of us despite what the outcome will be our faith will be strengthened. When you do righteous acts you will be blessed. Just like how my cold was temporarily taken away so that I could have a good temple trip. God may not remove our trials, but he will make a way for us to bear them. I love how simple the gospel is and how we can truly use our gospel knowledge to solve anything. Everything can point to Christ. We don't need complex solutions to all our complex problems. We need more simplicity... we need to slow down, Just like Elder Uchtdorf said.
Love,
--
-Elder Samuel Austin Morris
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Slow Week 1
Well, basically all of our investigators have been dropped or baptized... we have like 1 that we are still meeting with occasionally that does not have a baptismal date. We tried to find more this week. It was slow because we didn't really have any sit down appointments. We were still able to get 10 other lessons and 6 less active lessons though. It’s really funny how some people respond to you when you knock on their door as opposed to some other way. There doesn't really seem to be one way that works for everyone (I mean that doesn't bug or frustrate them). Some people love it when you knock on their door, others feel awkward, others don't understand why you are knocking and others just want you to go jump off a bridge. You get the same response though from people who actually ask you to come to their homes... It’s odd to me when someone says, "Hey, I want a free media item. Here is my number and address." and then when you knock on the door and tell them you have the media item they wanted they say something like, "That person doesn't live here", or "I didn't order that! I don't know how you have my information", or "Are you Jehovah's Witnesses?", or "Get off my property". It doesn't matter. Even offering to help people rake their lawn or do their chores can get you the same responses. Ha-ha. It’s funny though, Talking to someone from a car is really interesting. Not usually fruitful but I've never had someone shoot me down when my comp and I approached them by rolling down the window and saying hey. The people behind you never like it, but the person you talk to usually is pretty happy or at least amused with what you said or asked.
I had my follow-up appointment with the doctor and my toe is healing nicely. Today it looks fairly normal. I haven't had any problems with my stomach so... It was just totally random. I guess it was the meds. I'll have to remember that med don't work none on me. Ha-ha. The new one is annoying though cause it’s a 4 times a day one. I'll tell you, its hard to be consistent with a 4 times a day medication! Maybe it’s just me...
Grace and Eugene are both fantastic still. Eugene amazes me. He did something with the church or church members every night this past week and he went to or watched every session of conference. He even went on splits with us. He kept asking us about marriage and dating! LOL! He has already been married he is 28 and has way more experience than us and we are two guys who are completely out of the social loop and are totally awkward! LOL I guess that just means that he trusts us and cause we know Mormon culture. We told him though we date the same way everyone else does after high school (within the bounds of the law of chastity of course). The singles ward is all over Eugene. Henry they guy who baptized Eugene is trying to set him up with a RM girl Named jenny. Ha-ha. I think Eugene is up for it! LOL Pretty funny, but cool too I guess.
Conference was awesome. Every conference I get more excited. Every conference I enjoy it more and appreciate it more. I only have one more conference left on my mission! Weird, I want to really stress to all of you how important conference is. I don't care if you are a member or not. If you watch conference (especially if you are looking for answers and doing it prayerfully) You will feel peace. You will feel comfort and joy. You will learn things that will help your family become more united and strong. Watching it will give you a strength and a light you can only get from conference; so please watch every session! i used to think it was good enough to just watch Sunday and if you fell asleep it was no big deal. But Saturday usually ends up being my favorite session! Ha-ha and every message has something for me to learn.
I don't know what else to say really. Its getting colder now. Its rainy today and should be for the next few days. There still really aren't any trees that have changed color. Only a few trees have started. But pumpkin patches and are selling pumpkins now! Ha-ha! I love pumpkins! I LOVE THEM! PUMPKINS ROCK!
I looked for razor heads in the store. Guess what? The ones that go to my razor are $23! can you believe that! Holy cow! That’s expensive. So I am just gonna reuse the old blades until I figure something out. Ha-ha.
Thanks Mom for the package and dad for the letter! I loved them. Dad you just have a way with words. I love your word choice and the messages you have for me. I love your letters so much. Thanks sister A for your letter! I enjoy hearing about all my fellow scouts and the new changes in alpine! I'm glad my letter and pics worked out well for you. :)
love
--
-Elder Samuel Austin Morris
I had my follow-up appointment with the doctor and my toe is healing nicely. Today it looks fairly normal. I haven't had any problems with my stomach so... It was just totally random. I guess it was the meds. I'll have to remember that med don't work none on me. Ha-ha. The new one is annoying though cause it’s a 4 times a day one. I'll tell you, its hard to be consistent with a 4 times a day medication! Maybe it’s just me...
Grace and Eugene are both fantastic still. Eugene amazes me. He did something with the church or church members every night this past week and he went to or watched every session of conference. He even went on splits with us. He kept asking us about marriage and dating! LOL! He has already been married he is 28 and has way more experience than us and we are two guys who are completely out of the social loop and are totally awkward! LOL I guess that just means that he trusts us and cause we know Mormon culture. We told him though we date the same way everyone else does after high school (within the bounds of the law of chastity of course). The singles ward is all over Eugene. Henry they guy who baptized Eugene is trying to set him up with a RM girl Named jenny. Ha-ha. I think Eugene is up for it! LOL Pretty funny, but cool too I guess.
Conference was awesome. Every conference I get more excited. Every conference I enjoy it more and appreciate it more. I only have one more conference left on my mission! Weird, I want to really stress to all of you how important conference is. I don't care if you are a member or not. If you watch conference (especially if you are looking for answers and doing it prayerfully) You will feel peace. You will feel comfort and joy. You will learn things that will help your family become more united and strong. Watching it will give you a strength and a light you can only get from conference; so please watch every session! i used to think it was good enough to just watch Sunday and if you fell asleep it was no big deal. But Saturday usually ends up being my favorite session! Ha-ha and every message has something for me to learn.
I don't know what else to say really. Its getting colder now. Its rainy today and should be for the next few days. There still really aren't any trees that have changed color. Only a few trees have started. But pumpkin patches and are selling pumpkins now! Ha-ha! I love pumpkins! I LOVE THEM! PUMPKINS ROCK!
I looked for razor heads in the store. Guess what? The ones that go to my razor are $23! can you believe that! Holy cow! That’s expensive. So I am just gonna reuse the old blades until I figure something out. Ha-ha.
Thanks Mom for the package and dad for the letter! I loved them. Dad you just have a way with words. I love your word choice and the messages you have for me. I love your letters so much. Thanks sister A for your letter! I enjoy hearing about all my fellow scouts and the new changes in alpine! I'm glad my letter and pics worked out well for you. :)
love
--
-Elder Samuel Austin Morris
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