Headed to the Bush!

Hey Everyone!

Sorry I did not write last week, we had a busy week but it was kind of boring so there wasn't too much to write about! This week was a little bit more exciting, so here goes!

First off, we have some missionaries in the bush (Jungle) of Sierra Leone, these areas were opened up and a year and a half ago. One of the bush areas is called Rutile. We had 3 areas in Rutile, Mogbwemo, Moriba Town, and Mosenesie Junction but due to some problems the Mogbwemo area was closed down a few weeks ago. This week the Elders were taken out of Moriba Town and brought to Freetown. One of the Elders joined us for the week. His name is Elder Kasim and is from Ethiopia! He is super awesome and a good worker so it made the week fun. 

We kind of had to juggle proselyting with Apartment Inspections this week. On Wednesday I stayed back with Elder Kasim and then on Friday we switched and I went on Apartment Inspections with the Senior Couple taking over our position as Office Elders. 

We also had a baptism today!

But now for the real news! Last night we received our transfer news! I am being transferred to re-open Moriba Town! My new companion's name is Elder Obasie. He is from Nigeria and just finished his training so I am excited to work with him. I will be driving for about 8 hours to get to Rutile from Freetown.  
After I recieved transfer news, President Harper called me and thanked me for my work as an Office Elder, He said some very nice things. He then talked about Rutile and what has happened in the past and what is going to be expected. There is a lot of work that needs to be done in the bush areas and I am excited to be apart of it! See you guys next week!

-Elder Morgan

Parent Note: We received a copy of a letter from the Sister Harper, the Mission President's Wife. It was very, very nice and very complimentary of Eli and the work he is doing. They expressed their gratitude for this hard work and dedication and his obedience. He is admired by all who have a chance to be around him. It was very nice.

They are sending him to Rutile to help increase obedience and to set a higher bar in missionary work. Eli is a little nervous to be "way out in the bush", but very excited. Moriba Town is about 8 hours south of Freetown, in the middle of nowhere. 

Moriba Town is the Red Flag

A Cool Little Bridge They Have to Cross

A Community Toilet

Growth of the Church: A New Stake is Created

Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening to everyone!

I had a pretty solid and busy week as usual. The two high lights from the week were having dinner with President Martinez and having an exchange!

There is a new stake being created in Sierra Leone, this new one will make it 6 total stakes. Although it is not much, there is some crazy growth out here! To oversee that event President Martinez and Elder Kaku came. President Martinez is in the Area Presidency for West Africa and Elder Kaku is an Area 70 in Ghana. They arrived on Thursday and we were invited to have dinner with them. Before I go any further, the West Africa Area Presidency is led by President Nash, who is a no nonsense kind of guy. That guy does not mess around! We got to the President's apartment and waited till they arrived. When they arrived President Martinez went around and shook everyone's hand and stared them down as He talked a bit. When He got to me I was nervous! It felt like he was staring into my soul!! But I just smiled and made some small conversation and it was all good. 

(Parental Note: A "Stake" is an organizational unit in the Church. Our congregations are called "Wards". Several Wards make up a Stake.)

Leadership from the Mission and the Newly Created Stake

We then had some dinner and got to talking about their conversion stories. They both shared some powerful experiences and the love they have for the Gospel! It was a really good night and fun to be with them. 

On Friday, we did an exchange with our District Leader! He is training a new missionary, Elder Luamanu, so he came here and Elder Dilebo went to their area. Elder Luamanu was a total stud! He is from Samoa and had the opportunity to play Rugby for his country's national team but decided to serve a mission. He is a powerful missionary with a really strong testimony. The only bad part was that almost all of our appointments had cancelled on us! That never happens here, and so we saw some members and less active people. It was a good exchange!

Elder Luamanu and I

We also had a Zone Conference this last week. It was a good one, pretty heavy but good. President and Sister Harper are really trying to fix up some loose ends in the mission, the Area Presidency has also made some new rules to keep. It is a good change and will really help the mission out, now it is just getting all the missionaries on board! These new changes really help me to understand the the Lord leads and guides this work. He is very aware of us! Love you guys!

-Elder Morgan

Flooding due to all the rain

Elder Dilebo and I Making Cookies!

The Lord Is Very Sneaky

Hey Everyone!

Sorry I did not write a weekly email last week. It seems like these past few weeks have been a little bit tougher for me, but it is all a learning and progressing process which I am learning to love. The Lord is VERY good to us. He always looks for ways to help us grow and become who He wants us to become. I am very grateful for a Father in Heaven that cares that much. I will just share a few experiences form the past two weeks that have stuck out to me and made me want to do better and be better.

A few weeks ago some new missionaries arrived to the mission. One of the new missionaries got Malaria right when He arrived. After a week of malaria, he got typhoid and has been struggling bad. He called Mission President and wanted to go home! He arrived at the mission home with all of his luggage and went to the hospital to get some treatment. We met him just before he left and talked with him a little bit. Later that day, I really had a strong impression to go to the hospital and share a scripture with him. 

I told my companion and we went a few hours later. We got to the hospital and shared a scripture about why we got through certain trials. He began to open up to us and talk about how he really felt, we bore honest and sincere testimony about the love that God has for each of us. I really felt impressed to ask him if he would like a blessing, he agreed. I really felt the the Spirit direct me in what to say. We said our goodbyes and really pleaded with him to stay. He ended up staying and is excited for the work now. I think the best part about it was that my companion had been feeling homesick the whole day as well. When we got outside, He said that what we talked about had really helped him as well. I was really grateful to the Lord for that. 

Throughout my 3 transfers in the Office I have not really been a big fan of the office work and did not really see why I needed to be put in this place. Recently we have had work with some land lords and some shady business they were partaking in. We were able to have some meeting concerning those matters and get it solved. To solve these, we had to do a little bit of looking around and research. But everything went smoothly and has really made me want to pursue a business career. The Lord is very sneaky and puts us in places that we don't think we need to be in. I have really learned so many good and useful techniques of how to talk to people and work deals. I am really blessed. I love Him. Love you guys.

-Elder Morgan

With Sister Child. Eli is training the Childs to take his place in the Mission Office

All Africa Day Of Service

Being Eli