Here kitty kitty... AND Going Salone Style... it was an interesting week for Elder Morgan!!!!

Hey Everyone,

I had a good week as usual, this week had me pretty beat mentally but The Lord always provides support and love for us when we need it. I am very grateful for prayer and the scriptures, they are some of the greatest tools and gifts we are able to use. I have learned a lot these past two transfers. This week I had an exchange with my District Leader Elder Barrezueta from Florida and some fun new experiences!

This week was pretty busy with training The Childs and MLC. We have been doing about 1 hour of training everyday with The Childs and they are really learning and helping out a lot! They have had many questions and it is a blast answering them and I know we are putting our job into the right hands. I will be pretty excited to be regular proselyting Elders again. Office work is fun, but it can get a bit tiring after a while. There really is not anything spiritual about it! 
Like I said we also had MLC on Tuesday and Wednesday. That is where all the Zone Leaders from the mission come and council with The Mission President and The AP's. We were invited to come and talk about a few things which was a good experience for me. We also got some free dinner out of it, so who can complain again that right?

On Friday I had an exchange with Elder Barrezueta. He was born in Ecuador, but came to America and now lives in Miami, Florida. He is a great guy and I was able to learn a lot from him. It was also good for  me because it forced me into understanding the area more. I don't know what it is about Freetown but it is a crazy confusing area and I am having a lot of trouble with it, but it is coming small small. We had a few funny experiences, one was that we went to eat FuFu with the Childs and the Family History Elders. FuFu is cassava root that is beaten and mixed with water and some other stuff. After made, it comes out in balls with the consistency of soft play-doh. They usually put it in soup. It is then eaten with your hands and swallowed whole! It was kind of funny to see them try and do it. When I first tried it, I did not like it at all but now I really enjoy it! Lets just say the Childs have really been thrown into the culture! We had a good time.

I am not totally sure that this next story is for Cat lovers... so be cautious.
We had some lessons in the morning today. Our first lesson was at Ramatu Kamara's house, who we are preparing for Baptism on August 17th. We were talking about Baptism and Receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. I swear the Spirit was so strong you could have reached out and grabbed a chunk of it! She lives in a family house, which means anyone in the family can live there who is apart of the family. There are a lot of people in the house and around the house and so we meet in the back yard. As we were talking some of the men around us started trying to catch a cat. We had ignored them for a bit but they were running around and making lots of noise. They finally caught a cat and held for a little bit. They then put the cat in a bag and started slamming it into the wall and on the ground! We totally stopped our lesson and were just like what the heck?! They probably went on for like 1 minute straight trying to kill this cat, they stopped and thought it was dead so they took it out of the bag and the cat was still breathing! So guess what they did for another minute! After this was done, they began to skin it and are probably enjoying some nice cat right about now! Pretty crazy how different it is over here, that is actually a pretty normal way to kill cats or dogs around here to eat. 

The average "backyard" in Freetown

Overall, a good but trying week and transfer. Missionary work is good and so is God!

See you all next week. 
-Elder Morgan

This was a separate email Eli sent:

On my exchange with Elder Barrezueta (District Leader) we ate some beans that a member prepared for us the night he came to our apartment. The next morning we both had some runny tummy and we figured it was the beans. We then went out to proselyte when I was still feeling a little bit weird. About half way through the day we ate some fufu and then went to another lesson.We arrived to the house and I had to go to the bathroom so bad! I tried to hold it in but the pressure was just too much! So we began to talk but all the sudden I asked to use their bathroom. David (the guy we were teaching) showed me where it was and I ran in there to find the nastiest toilet I had ever seen in my life. I quickly realized my situation and threw a prayer up to Daddy God for some protection. It was a noisy experience, if you know what I mean. If I could use an example it would be as if someone had blown up a woopie cushion and was just jumping on it and then an earthquake hit and shook the house. 
When I had completed my journey, I soon came into another predicament. There was no toilet paper in sight! I kind of laughed but soon realized the seriousness of the matter. My heart began to quicken as I looked around and all I saw was a small bucket with some water in it. I realized I was gonna have to go Salone style on this one. I threw another prayer to Daddy God and just told myself I am becoming apart of the culture. I grabbed the bucket and just went to town with my hand! I am just grateful they had soap laying on the floor to use! I walked out and just looked at Elder Barrezueta and laughed. I told him after we left and He told me he had toilet paper that whole time! I should've just asked him! But new experiences make new stories right??


It has been raining like crazy here!! It rained for 3 days straight and people say it will be raining for 7 days straight pretty soon.

Agnes, the Super Mom that I told the stories about last week

Moms

Hello Everyone!

I am so grateful to be emailing this week! I just finished talking with my family and man oh man, they are so awesome! I have really been blessed in the Parental, Aunt and Grandparent unit! This week went by pretty quick, we were able to drive and show the Child's around Freetown and Kissy. We also had some solid lessons and a good time.

The Childs are a new senior couple who came to the mission, they will be taking over our job. President Harper told us that it does not need to happen soon, but over time they will be taking over completely and we will be full time proselyting elders! I am actually pretty excited about that, the office work is fun but I will be excited to be proselyting full time. 

It was a pretty good time with Elder and Sister Child. They are from Utah and were pretty surprised and could not believe the way people live here. They were taking lots of pictures and really enjoying the scenery! One nice thing that they did was Sister Child made us some cookies!! A few days before she had asked what were some things missionaries missed or would want, I said cookies and she decided to make some and bring them to all the missionaries that we saw! All of the missionaries really enjoyed it. 

One cool story one of the people we are teaching told us an amazing story that I would like to share! 

Her name is Agnes Mattia, she was born in Sierra Leone but moved to Guinea and married a man there. She had a boy child with him and went back to Sierra Leone while her husband flew to Morocco to find a better life. Turns out that he could not get money to send her by plane and so she walked all the way! She told us that she went from Sierra Leone to Guinea to Mali to Algeria then to Morocco! It took her 2 months but she did it! As she went to Morocco, she got pregnant again and then her husband left/abandoned her! She ended up creating a business and having her girl child and leaving her in Morocco. She walked back to Sierra Leone and got enough money to send her son to France. She did not know if he was going to be on the street or what. Just sent him not knowing the outcome! He is know living in France with some people and trying to come back to see his mom! Just a crazy story that makes me so grateful for moms. They will go to any height to have a better life for their kids. Such an awesome and humbling story. 

Agnes

Well we really did have a good week and I cant wait to do it again!
-Elder Morgan

We received the following email from Elder and Sister Child. It was so nice to hear from them!

Hi Bishop and Sister Morgan, my name is Dee Child and my wife (Bonnie) and I just started serving in Sierra Leone as senior missionaries, arriving late last Saturday night.  Bonnie and I had the privilege yesterday of spending part of the day with your son, Elder Morgan.  He and his companion and a driver took us around to visit some of the missionary apartments in Freetown and we were so impressed with his happy personality, his clean and wholesome missionary look, his use of Krio, his knowledge of the roads and areas around here, his great social skills with us, and his desire to be a great missionary.  I am sure you are so proud of him!  They are taking us out tomorrow again to visit some other apartments and Bonnie made some peanut butter cookies to surprise them.  We think the way to get to the hearts of great young missionaries is through their stomachs! 

As you know, President and Sister Harper arrived just a few weeks ago to serve as Mission President and Wife. They are WONDERFUL people and will be great leaders for the mission and are dedicated to supporting the missionaries.

Bonnie and I have 5 children – 2 sons and 3 daughters.  Our sons served missions in different parts of Russia in the late 90’s and we were so nervous at first about them going to such a scary country.  They came back more mature, stronger, happier, and better equipped to take on their future journeys in life.

Thanks for sharing your son with the people of Sierra Leone and for preparing him so well.  We will look after him for you!

Throwin' Down Some Krio and Getting New Missionaries

Kushe mi padis an fambul dem! Ow una de do-o??

I had such an amazing week! It was busy so that made it go by quick. We had to say good bye to Elder Dunn, received new missionaries into the mission, had some really awesome experiences, and will be getting a new Senior Couple.

Early in the week, we had 10 new missionaries enter the mission. There were 8 Elders and 2 Sisters, they will be a great help to the mission! It was fun because 6 of the Elders were American and so it was fun to talk with them and answer tons of questions from them. It was pretty funny because all they wanted to know was how krio sounded like! So I was able to speak some krio for them and they thought it was just insane! It is pretty funny because when I first came I was in the same boat but now Krio just sounds regular and easy to understand! Makes me think back to when I first came and how much I have grown and learned since then. It is pretty crazy to think that I will be hitting 8 months soon! With new missionaries coming, that also means Missionaries are also leaving. Elder Dunn left us on Tuesday, that was a sad day. I really looked up to him and really enjoyed being a companions with him. But going home happens to us all sometime right?

Elder Morgan, Elder Dunn, and Elder Hansen together for the last time for a few months

We had some really solid experiences with some people we are teaching this week. One I would like to talk about is a lesson with Susan Dumbuya we had on Friday! She has been taught for a really log time but has not really showed the commitment yet. Elder Hansen and i have been really praying and trying to plan lessons that will help her to become more committed to The Gospel. As we were planning Her lesson, we were really feeling good about talking about the covenants we make at baptism, so we went with it. When we come to see her, she is usually kind of grumpy and quiet. This time she came out of her house joking with us and smiling. As we began our lesson, she pulled out a paper with goals on it. Last week we challenged her to figure out what she was gong to do based on the knowledge she has of the gospel, and she gave us 5 goals she wanted to commit to! I don't think I have ever been so happy in my life!!! After that we had such a spirit led lesson.

After we saw her, we went to another person we are teaching, Momodu. We got to his house and wanted to talk about the Book of Mormon and how it can bless our lives. When we began the lesson, it just didn't seem right and we ended up talking about the importance of prayer and asking God about questions. Another out pouring of the spirit in that lesson! It is really awesome to see how God can use us as his instruments just like that. A few really good experiences.

We will be getting a new Senior Couple today, and they will take over our job. We will be training them for the rest of this transfer and maybe a bit next one as well? I am pretty excited, because there really is nothing spiritually fulfilling about looking at a computer screen and talking with angry people for half the day, so it will be an awesome change. 

This week I have been participating in the challenge our mission president gave us. He gave all the missionaries a new Book of Mormon and asked us to do 5 things. Use 5 different colors and mark any reference to Jesus Christ's name, His words, His doctrines and Principles, His attributes, and write down impressions that we receive. By doing this I have really understood that when we study with these 5 things in mind, how much the Book of Mormon can help strengthen us and give us that boost we all desperately need. My Dad sent me a quote from Jefferey R. Holland pertaining to the sense of urgency to have the Spirit with us. As we read the Book of Mormon we are really able to open up our thoughts to revelation Heavenly Father is just waiting to give us, sometimes we just need to ask for it. It has been a very special experience to know these things for myself. I am very grateful for a Father in Heaven that loves us enough to set us up for success, it all just depends on us. I love you all! Keep on keeping on.

 - Elder Morgan

It's Jennifer's birthday today, so Eli sent a typical birthday wish in Krio, "A tel God tanki for anotha year whey Daddy God don giv me for make a de na dis world, He don do boku tings dem fo me sef sef. I tank God fo me healt and fo me well bodi!" (They take it to be so big, because they really don't know if they will live another year, especially if they are 40+.) "But me bak I tank God fo yu sef sef, yu na me provida and me best padi. I tell God tanki fo di tings dem whey yu sef don do fo we fambul dem, all man get fo tell you boku plenty tanki. I luv yu ya!  I pray God go de wit yu."  

Elder Hansen and I chillin in the back of a keke (the Salone form of a taxi)

A picture from the mission Facebook page

Another picture from the mission Facebook page

A Tangle with Malaria

Hello Everyone,

I had a pretty good week. We had a Zone Conference, was sick and got transfer news!

On Monday, I woke up not feeling super good so I kind of took it easy and went back to bed. A few hours went by and it kind of got worst. I had a 102.5 fever, and all the symptoms of Malaria! Our mission nurse, Sister Moomey called me and asked what was going on. After I told her, she told me to go to the hospital to get a malaria test. I went and got some blood drawn and went back home to bed! A few hours later the test came back and said I didn't have any Malaria, but Sister Moomey still thinks I did. I guess sometimes the test will not pick up the malaria. But basically was not super fun on Monday! The nice thing was that I felt good enough to go to Zone Conference the next day!

On Tuesday we had a Zone Conference with President Harper. It was really wonderful. They introduced themselves and told us all about their family and life. The AP's gave two instructions on how to teach with the Spirit and a new approach on teaching the Plan of Salvation! After their instructions, Sister Harper gave us some knowledge about safety and health. President Harper then came and gave us a Book of Mormon challenge which I am really excited about. Overall, just a solid Zone Conference. 

Transfer news was on Friday, I am staying with Elder Hansen for at least one more transfer. I am excited to work with President Harper and work in the office for maybe 2 more transfers! 

-Elder Morgan

Missionaries = Real Handymen!

Hello Everyone,

We had a petty interesting and fast paced week. We were handy men, and Apartment Inspectors, President Harper arrived and we went to the Beach!

This is President Clawson's last week as Mission President. Early in the week, He called us up to help him with a few things he wanted to make ready for President Harper. On Monday, He asked us to come up at 6:30am and help with some leaks in the ceiling. He showed us the leaks, and we crawled up into the attic and sealed up a few leaks and did some extra wrapping of pipes and things. It took us about 2 hours. On Tuesday, he asked us to come and change some shower heads and put up a few smoke detectors and small other things. When I received this calling, I did not think I would be doing all of this kind of thing but I am always up for a new adventure!

On Friday, we did apartment inspections! Part of our job as Office Elders is inspecting peoples apartments in Freetown and Kissy. We have done all of Freetown and will do Kissy next Friday!

A view of Freetown from one of the apartments they inspected

President Harper arrived on the 27th. He got in at about 8:30pm and came home to a huge power outage and rain storm. A true Salone welcome! We were able to meet him the next day and I really like him. He is from Idaho and owned a Tractor Company, and does a bunch of triathlons with his wife! He will be a really solid guy to work with and I am grateful I get to be a part of it! 

-Overall, we had a very solid week! Next week we will have Zone Conference and Transfer News. 

-Elder Morgan