Hello Everybody!
I had a good week as usual. Nothing too exciting, just a good hard working week.
I am really enjoying it in Sierra Leone. It is fun to talk Krio and to just be myself in this crazy place haha. I have realized being yourself is the only way to do it! We work the best and can have the most effect on people when we are ourselves. I think that The Lord calls us to different places because He knows what we can provide and bring to our individual missions. I have really been able to understand and know that as I work in my area with Elder Uko.
We are nearing the 3rd week of the transfer and will be having a Combined Zone Conference next Friday. This will be President Clawson's last Zone Conference. I am pretty sad that He will be going, but also excited to receive a new Mission President, His name is President Harper. President Clawson will be leaving in July.
This Sunday we spoke in Church! Elder Uko and I expressed some concern about the reverence in our Sacrament Meetings to our Bishop. The members literally talk so so loud and don't even listen to the speakers. Our Bishop asked us to speak about Reverence and Why We Take the Sacrament. I spoke on Reverence. We gave some really awesome talks and I hope it will leave some sort of effect on the members!
Other than that, it was a quiet week. It rained once this week and is cooling down...somewhat. It is just very humid now, I guess I will never really get away from the heat!
-Elder Morgan
Hello Everyone!
We had yet another great and hard working week. We had a Baptism on Saturday and had some fun experiences!
Honestly, the pinnacle of the week was getting a package from my parents. A few weeks ago, I had told them that we had rats in our apartments so they sent a few rat traps. I kid you not, 15 minutes after I set both of them we caught 2 rats. After throwing those guys over the fence, I re-set them and 30ish minutes later caught 2 more. I then let another apartment borrow them, but that just goes to show how many rats we had... and there are still more!
We also had a Baptism where we baptized Brother James Lavalie Jr. and Brother Musa Bangura. What an awesome Baptism! If you remember back a few emails ago, I talked about James having those few addictions that would have stopped him from getting baptized. We had a heart to heart conversation, and He totally changed and dropped His old ways, just like that. It took a lot for him to get worthy and ready for the baptism and so it was such an awesome experience to see him get baptized. Right when He came out of the water, He looked right at me and said " I feel good!" I was so proud of Him for going through all that He went through. Quite an example to me.
On Easter Sunday, we watched The Sunday Morning General Conference session for our Church meeting. They did not tell anyone except us as missionaries, because I guess no one really comes to watch it if they know. So everyone was just talking and our investigators were the only ones on the front row listening and telling the members to be quiet! Part of me was so embarrassed and the other part of me ws so proud! Embarrassed because the members were being so disruptive and loud, but proud because all 14 of our investigators were at church and listening intently!! As many of you know all they speak here is Krio, and so knowing that the talks would not make any sense to them, I was able to translate every talk for them. It was a pretty funny and awesome experience that I got to have!
A short experience of faith and will power-
Obeying the Law of Chastity and the Word of Wisdom are the toughest things here for people to keep. One of our investigators, Joseph, opened up to us about some things when we talked about The Law of Chastity. We counselled with him and had a good lesson. After we left, He went straight to His girlfriends house and told her He wanted to change. He brought out scriptures and totally taught the same lesson we had just taught to him! The next day He told us all of this and how He has made up his mind to stop. He also was smoking about 5 ties of marijuana a day. We talked about the word of wisdom and He threw away all his marijuana right then and there. He hasn't touched anything since. I was so impressed by his faith and will power to just stop right then and there. I think we can all learn from his example!
--Elder Morgan
Hello Everyone!
We were not able to have our Preparation Day yesterday because the bank we use was not able to get all of the missionaries their money. Some missionaries got money, while most did not, so our P-Day got pushed to today! I had another good and solid working week. I will share a few things that happened!
This last week was Transfer News week. Fortunately I will be finishing Elder Uko's training, which I am excited about. But I hope I will be transferred after this one. 6 months in one area will be a long time! But nonetheless, I am grateful to still be here for one more transfer. We have been working hard and are preparing for a baptism this Saturday and hopefully having 4 more people baptized in May. I am pretty dang excited about that.
We had a few experiences this week worth writing down but I will just share one that stands out to me.
One of our investigators, Sister Sesay, has had a daughter, Fatmata, who has been unable to get up or really move for the last few weeks. She has been sick with headaches, stomach pains, and everything else. Every time we went over there she has been laying on the ground in the same spot. Sister Sesay does not have enough money to get her to a hospital or to buy any medicine for her. Like I said this went on for about 2 weeks. This week I felt prompted to ask if she would like a Priesthood Blessing for her daughter. They accepted, so I picked Fatmata up off the ground and brought her inside. They asked me to give the blessing. I felt very good about the blessing. We then had a small lesson with the mother and left. A few hours later we walked by the house again, and came to see Fatmata smiling, running and working in their garden. We went over and asked how she was feeling, she said much, much better. We then talked to the mother who told us that right after we left, Fatmata got up and ran around in the street. She thanked us and told us how much they need that.
It was a great experience that just shows how our Heavenly Father uses His power to heal people today just like He did in the old times. I am grateful I got to be apart of it.
This week has been a really good and hard working week, and I am excited to do all over again this transfer.
--Elder Morgan
Hello Everyone,
I am so glad to email today! We had a great week, but definitely the highlight was General Conference! Man, that was so awesome. My Conference experience was a little bit different than most peoples best nonetheless super spiritual and uplifting. But other than that, lets see how my week went!
First off I will talk about General Conference. For those who are not aware of what General Conference is, simply it is when The Prophet and other Leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints give us counsel. This happens every 6 months in April and October.
The Area Presidency said they would not be streaming any sessions of General Conference to any of the church members here. They simply do not come and watch. As missionaries, we were all a little bit down about not being able to watch it. But luckily for Elder Uko and I, a neighboring Bishop allowed His missionaries to use His WiFi to watch it. We were invited to watch! So we all crammed 15 people into a room the size of an office cubicle. We did not have a working speaker and so we all huddled around the computer to hear. It was both spiritual and sweaty! The time difference is 6 or 7 hours ahead and so we started at 4 o'clock and again at 8 o'clock. My favorite talk was given on the Saturday Morning Session by Brook P. Hales.
This week we had a few adventures that I would like to share. On Saturday we were in a lesson with an older woman and in the middle of talking a snake slithered up my pant leg! All of the sudden, I jumped up and pulled the snake out of my pant leg and just swung it around and threw it. It landed across the street and slithered away. It was probably about 3 feet long. The funny part about it, was that Elder Uko was more scared than I was. He screamed and ran away. I have found out that all West Africans are terrified of snakes. A good time for sure!
We went to go to the Batima Village again, with a ward missionary this time. I am grateful we did that! We got there and all we saw was small mud houses with palm tree leave roofs. We met with the Chief and will be going back again this week. What a great experience!
This week I learned a valuable lesson. With our area we are very busy but I have finally realized that I cannot get everything done. And becoming okay with that. We cannot baptize all of the people in the short amount of time I am here and realized we just have to prepare all the best we can for the next missionaries. We have made a better schedule and it is working really nicely. We are still working just as hard but now just smarter!
I hope everyone had a great week just as I did.
-Elder Morgan
Parent Notes:
We talked with Eli again this week. He's really doing great and loving the country and people of Sierra Leone. He talks more and more like an African. He has learned Krio really well, and people there comment often at how good he sounds. It's really fun to hear him talk to the people on the street.
They finally received water after about a week of having to go to a local well and draw water to bring back to their compound for cooking, showers, etc. He said it wasn't so bad, but it wasn't very convenient. He's enjoying taking showers again, instead of using a bucket!
He was offered a job as a salesman for a local company. He had to tell them that his full time job right now is to serve the Lord on his mission. But it's good to know he can find work if he decides to never come back home! Eli has many talents and will do very well in life. :)
We keep asking if he's losing weight, but since he doesn't have access to a scale. He called on his way to the store to buy their weekly food, so we know he's eating... He's dying for a hamburger, though! He's feeling good, though, and eats a ton of rice with cassava leaf and an occasional chicken.
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| No Explanation Needed |
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| Eli and Elder Uko |
Hello Everyone!
Of course I had another great week here in Salone. It was filled with new experiences, which we all need in order to grow into the people our Father in Heaven wants us to become right?? Before I share a few experiences, we are now in the beginning of rainy season. It is getting colder and getting pretty over cast, which will be a nice change. I am ready to switch things up!!
This week was a good one. Here are a few experiences I'd like to share.
Friday we had an exchange. I went to a different area, while elder Uko stayed back. I was actually pretty nervous because he has only been here for one month and doesn't know the area super well. But He absolutely killed it! I am so glad that our training is paying off. It makes me feel like I am doing something right!
Like my parents said in the last email, yes we are busy. We are getting many, many referrals and the members all want them to be baptized like the day after! So we are really working hard to run around and see every one. It is very tiring, but well worth it. (Parent's Note: They have 40 new referrals from members who they are trying to meet and teach. In addition to that, they have 2 people who are scheduled to be baptized and another one who is on track to be baptized all this month. They have 7 more who are investigating the Church. These are all progressing. They are trying to make time for all the work and so they leave early and come home late just to try and fit it all in. They try to go on exchanges with members from the Ward, but that doesn't always work so well. Their ward mission leader just got over malaria and is working to earn enough money to go on a mission himself. Others are in school. Their resources are fairly scarce, so Eli and his companion work hard to fit it all in.)
We ran out of water last week, and so I am really trying to perfect taking a bucket shower, it is coming along well but I will be glad to get some running water again...hopefully soon? (Parent's Note: They have a 5,000 liter tank and a 2,000 liter tank that supply water to them in their "compound". Elder Uko accidentally left the pump on and their water spilled all out. They woke up the next morning and soon ran out of water. They are now going to a local well to gather water to take showers and cook and clean. They are hoping to have the tanks filled this week. In the mean time, they're having to ration their water.)
We got lost in the bush this week. We were following a referral from Elder Pasikala. Before he left the area, he went on an exchange with another elder and they ended up meeting and teaching the Chief in Batima Village. Elder Uko and I set out to find this village in the bush one day. We asked several people for directions, but in the end we walked for about 30 minutes and got lost! We had to backtrack and find out way back to our area. We'll have to try again when we have someone who knows the way.
Sorry for the short email, but time seems to fly when we are this busy!!
-Elder Morgan
