Eli's Final Email

 Hey Everyone!

Well, this is it.... my last email!

I have had such a phenomenal experience as a Full-Time Missionary. My experience has been overwhelmingly positive. I love the Savior Jesus Christ. I have come to know Him as I have worked alongside Him in the field. He is the Son of God! He is the Savior and Redeemer of the World! 

I have loved this wonderful work for the past 2 years and now it is time to take what I have learned and use it for something else. Thank you for following along with me on my journey to help myself and others come closer to Christ. I have truly found myself. 

Love,

Elder Morgan

Much to be thankful for

Hey all!

We have had a really busy past 2 weeks!

We have been filming a video for the Iowa City Stake, which has been a lot of fun but really busy! We are going to different members and asking them to say a few sentences about the Book of Mormon. We have been travelling around the stake, sometimes driving up to 3 hours to get somewhere!!

We have completed the filming and are now editing it! 

Veronica and her 2 kids were all baptized on Saturday! It was such an awesome experiences to witness the baptism and take part in it. We are really grateful for them and their decision to follow Christ! 

This week we are getting together with our District and having a Thanksgiving feast! Elder Briggs, (one of the missionaries in my district) is a really good cook and offered to make it all! We are buying ingredients and gonna go help cook a bit! Should be super fun!!

Well, this is my last full week as a missionary which is pretty crazy. I am excited byt also pretty nervous to go home! Oh well, I'll get over it!

See ya next week!

Elder Morgan

Trying to Fit It All In!

Heyo!!

We have had a great time over the past two weeks! It has been super busy!

I have been going on a lot of exchanges with Elders in my District and Zone. I have been going on 2 every week so that I can get in all of the exchanges before the end of the transfer. I have really learned a lot from the missionaries in my district. They are powerful missionaries.

Veronica and her kiddos are progressing so well! Their baptismal interview will be this Saturday! We are super excited. Last night we were over at their house and asked them how their lives have changed since deciding to be baptised. Veronica said "The gospel has made me feel like I am worth something, that I don't have to be negative all the time or surround myself with people that made me feel that way. It has also made me feel free, like I can actually progress and be a better version of myself." That was really special to hear. They are so excited for their baptism, and so are we! It has been so fulfilling teaching them! 

Last night President Sturm called us and told Elder Harris that he will be transferred tomorrow. We were not expecting it at all! We have just gotten SO many projects from the mission and Iowa City Stake as well. We are filming a stake wide member video, we had just planned out when we were going to do it all!! We are also working on a few more projects, and will have to see how to work it out without Elder Harris being in the area! President said that he knows it doesn't make any sense because of all the projects that we have, but he really feels like it is the right thing to do!

Love you guys!

-Elder Morgan

Blessings from Serving in 2 Totally Different Missions

Hey All!

Man, this week seemed unusually long, but really awesome. I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve! As I think more about being reassigned, I see the hand of the Lord more and more. I could not have had the spiritual growth that I needed if I didn't get reassigned. There are things that I could not have learned in Sierra Leone, as well as people that couldn't have made a positive impact on me if I never came here. I have learned so much and I am so grateful for Him! I needed certain opportunities to grow and progress to become more like Him and am definitely enjoying those experiences. Words cannot describe my feelings of gratitude. My deepest desire is to serve Him until the end! And that is coming too quickly!

This week I went on the " Sprint Trip". It was such a fun trip! Monday night I slept over in Iowa City, while my other companions held down the fort in Belle Plaine. The next morning we drove 2 hours to Nauvoo, IL. where we met at Carthage Jail. We had an online tour of the jail and learned some really interesting stories of what happened leading up to the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, although we did not get to go into the jail, I still really enjoyed it! After about an hour there, we drove to the Smith cemetery which is right next to the Mansion House, so we got to see that as well! The cemetery was pretty neat because it is owned by the actual Smith Family, it is pretty small but really awesome to see. President Sturm told us a few stories about the cemetery and it was a really uplifting experience. From there we went to one of the churches and had a meeting about finishing our missions! We then went to the temple and took some pictures there and had the opportunity to take some time and think about the church history that had happened there. So cool!

This week we were able to choose a new baptisml date for Veronica and her kids. They are doing so well and really really preparing themselves for the baptism. I am so grateful that I have the opportunity to help them along the covenant path. They are so impressive with keeping commitments and striving to make necessary changes in their lives to become more like the Savior. Veronica even made us some sweet sweatshirts! She wants to add a few more things to them and so we are gonna get them on Tuesday! We got a sneak peak yesterday when we went over after church! They are so awesome! 

Other than that, we have just had such an awesome week. See ya next week!

-Elder Morgan

Congrats Mom you made it on the fridge!

A sneak peek of our new sweatshirts that Veronica made us!

Covid-Free and Snow!

Hey Everyone!

On Thursday we had a Covid19 test, then went back into quarantine haha. Friday afternoon we found out that we are all negative! We got right to work and have really had a good time since being out! 

It's snowing here in Iowa!! Sunday was the first day that we woke up to a little bit of snow, today it is really coming down! I am pretty excited because growing up in California, you don't really experience that! I am also really dreading it, because it is super cold haha. I bought a winter coat to keep me warm for these last weeks!

Tomorrow I am going on a "Sprint Trip". This is where all the missionaries in their last transfer go to Nauvoo for the day! We go to the Temple, Carthage Jail, and Joseph and Hyrum Smith's graves! I am really excited for it! I hope it all works out well. 

Other than that, I have been trying to figure out school. That is a whole ordeal by itself haha. Slowly but surely.... 

I am just so grateful to be a missionary. It has been my greatest joy this far in my life! I have learned so much about the Savior and His Gospel. I am really grateful for this experience!

We had a really cool experience with the family that is preparing to be baptized! We taught the Word of Wisdom and quickly realized that there will be some things that need to change. We have made an "Action Plan" so that they will be able to keep the Word of Wisdom. At first they were a little bit hesitant, but the Lord's commandments bring joy! After talking through it and explaining commandments, they were so excited to start keeping it! It is so awesome to see people change their lives. Such a powerful experience. Love ya guys!

-Elder Morgan

A Brush with Covid

Hey all!

Well, last week at the end of my email I described it as lame and boring! That switched up a little bit this week!! We have had a really exciting week! 

To start off the week, we had an exchange with some of the Elders in my District. Elder Rhea and I took Elder Byers, and had such a fun day! Elder Byers is a super funny guy and we had a really successful day! They slept over and we left early the next morning to go to Iowa City. President Sturm asked us to help him make a video. We ended the exchange in the driveway of President's house, then Elder Harris, Elder Rhea and I filmed! It was really fun and President says he wants to do more videos!

That night we put on a Missionary Fireside! Most of our Branch Members came and we even had a few of our friends come! We even had a few people join in on YouTube live. We talked about the Restoration, used a few examples and watched a short video. We think it went pretty well!! We were able to play basketball with a family that on date to be baptized after! It was a really good experience for them!

The next day is where everything kinda hit the fan haha. A member of the branch, Sister Gates, has us and a few members over for dinner once every week. We had a great meal and made plans to go to a different members house the next day for a lesson.

The next afternoon we went to his house and he came out and said he wasnt feeling too good. We shared a small message and gave him a blessing! Later that day, he texted us that he had been in contact with someone who tested positive for Covid. He was trying to get tested as well. We then called our Mission Nurse and she told us to start quarantine. 

The next day, he got his test result and he is positive! So now we are in a 2 week quarantine!! We all feel healthy and have no fevers. We are just bored to death!!!! Being stuck in a missionary apartment all day is no fun! 

Our last day before Quarantine!!

We have seen a few miracles because of it though. We have been truly blessed by the Lord!

Well, today starts the beginning of my last transfer on mission. That is pretty crazy. I still feel like I am 6 months old on mission!! I am excited and have some goals that I want to accomplish, well right after these 2 weeks!! Please send an email with some ideas to help us stay sane!!! Thanks!!

- Elder Morgan

Our exchange with Elder Byers!

2nd time with our favorite member, Dustin Polton! He bought a head stone for his Dads grave. But they cremated his body 20 years ago and spelt the last name wrong....a story for another time!

Iowa is Different than Sierra Leone and Exposed to Covid!

Hey Everyone!

I had such a good week! I am really enjoying this area and everything about the work! We had a lot of lessons this week and were able to watch the General Conference! It was so awesome!

We had all of our Friends come and watch General Conference with us! They were all edified and really liked what was said. We are planning to extend a few Baptismal Dates this week! We have really had some awesome lessons with the people we are teaching. We are teaching a few families and are really making good progress with them. 

This week we got the work orders from "Mormon Helping Hands"! We did a ton of service for Belle Plaine and now we are knocking on peoples doors and asking if they need anymore help and if they want some Salvation. No takers yet:/ They will literally look at you through the window and then not answer the door! In Sierra Leone, we had people calling to us to teach them but here it is much different haha. I am having a lot of fun with it though!

We are planning on doing a missionary Fireside on Wednesday! We are inviting all of the Branch members, all of our Friends, and asking the branch members to bring friends! We are gonna show the " Ask of God" video and talk a little bit about the Restoration. I am excited for it and hopefully people actually show up haha. 

Trying to get ready for the Missionary Fireside

Man, I feel like my emails are so lame now! In Salone it seems like I crashed on a motorcycle or ran from a monkey every single week haha. It is so different here, but I am seriously enjoying it! 

This picture was sent to me from a friend in Sierra Leone! This was in my last area!

Have a good week!

-Elder Morgan

We take a morning picture and send it in our Zone groupchat! This is an example of what we try and do!!

Since they got put in quarantine and hadn't gone to the grocery store, we sent them some pizza so they didn't starve. :)

Baby, It's Cold Outside...

 Hey Everyone!

I wasn't able to get an email out last week and I'm super sorry! We had an awesome week! It seems like time is flying by, and it makes me pretty sad because I have had such an awesome experience serving a mission! Last week we had a Zone Conference, MLC, and began to teach a few new people! This week we went on a nice exchange with some of the Elders in my District and I gave a talk in church!

Zone Conference was a really neat experience for me! I learned some really good principles that will better me in my missionary work! All the District Leaders were also invited to attend MLC (Mission Leadership Conference). A man named Brother Littlefield, he works for the church, gave us a presentation on how our mission was doing pertaining to baptisms, finding new people to teach, etc. He then trained us on how to better ourselves as leaders and how to encourage the members of our Districts or Zones. It was really awesome, but super long! It went for 5 hours!! It was well worth it though. 

I went on an exchange with Elder Smith and Elder Ginn, while their 3rd companion came to our area. It was a really fun exchange! We were able to do some good work in their area, they are both really awesome missionaries that I learned a lot from! Other than that we did some awesome service for an older sister in our branch! We are in the works of doing a missionary fireside in 2 weeks! We brought it up to the Branch Council and they are totally behind it! 

The exchange with Elder Smith and Elder Ginn

I also gave a talk at the Sacrament meeting! I really enjoy public speaking and I spoke on converting ourselves to Jesus Christ. I felt that it went well! 

Other than that, nothing too much! I am really enjoying my time here in Iowa, I am sad that it is coming to an end shortly! Have a great week!

-Elder Morgan

We were invited over to a members house for dinner, and it got super cold!! The member made me put on all of her winter clothes and I was still cold! Not ready for winter!!!

Just clowing around

Just a nice picture we took! My companion and I were trying to copy the Apostled pictures haha

Training Again!

 Hey All!

I had a great week!

We are training a new missionary! His name is Elder Rhea (pronounced Elder Ray). He is so awesome and I'm really excited to be training again!! 

We did some service and had some really fun member lessons this week! 

I am so grateful for this Gospel and the joy it brings me no matter the circumstances that I am in. It is the key to true happiness!!!!!

-Elder Morgan!

Miracles and Training Again!

Hey All!

I had an exciting week here in the great Belle Plaine! We had an exchange and also got some transfer news!

We had such a fun exchange with the Zone Leaders! I went with my previous companion Elder Anderson and Elder Harris went with his previous companion as well! (both of our previous companions are now companions!!) 

It was good to be with him again. We taught a lesson over a game of pool, and had a really good time! 

We had some cool miracles this week! Our mission Nurse gave us a referral! We are gonna meet her tomorrow! 

Also on Sunday, a woman came into church and said she wanted to be taught by us as well! We are gonna meet tomorrow as well! We are also talking to a few more people and will hopefully be able to meet with them soon!

Funny story: 

Everyday I try to find new people to teach! We friend them on facebook and I interact over the messenger app. This goes well sometimes, other times it doesn't go so well. I changed my profile picture on Facebook and now some of the people who weren't answering my texts, actually texted me out of the blue! Funny how that works.... I had to tell a few women that I am a missionary AND DO NOT WANT A GIRLFRIEND OR ANY "RELATIONSHIPS" AT ALL!!! It was a little bit wild but it has all almost died down now hahah.

The New Picture

We got transfer news! Elder Harris and I will stay together but we are also getting a new missionary to train. We will pick him up on Thursday. Looks like I will finish my mission here in Belle plaine! Can't wait!!

That's all from me! Love ya!

- Elder Morgan

Blessings of Service, A 5K, and a Dead Bat

Hey! 

I had a great week! They just seem to go faster and faster each week! We had a really eventful week!

First off we had an exchange with some of our District Members on Tuesday and Wednesday. I went with a companionship and Elder Harris went with the other companionship. It was such an awesome exchange and I was really able to show some new ideas that would work in their areas. They slept over and then we went to District Council the next day!

On Thursday we taught Sheila with Elder Stubblefield, he just returned from his grandparents house in California. He did the online MTC over there and has come back waiting to leave for his re-assignment in Colorado Springs! In the past Sheila did not fully understand baptism and why we wanted her to join the church. We had a really special lesson with her and its kind of like a light bulb just went on in her head. We really felt prompted to talk about the true nature of God, at first she did not understand but once we dove into the scriptures and bore powerful testimony she felt that it was correct. She began to cry and thanked us for sharing the truth with her. We then asked her to be baptized on September 19th, and she accepted!! We were so overjoyed!

Later that evening we went to teach Corben. We had a really good lesson with him about Baptism and invited him as well and he accepted!! He even chose to be baptized on his birthday next month! We were so excited! 

The next morning we woke up to a text from Him that said he didnt want to be baptized anymore. We were really confused and asked if we could meet to talk about it. He said no and so we are gonna give him a little bit of time. We are praying and wondering what we should do! I know that the Lord will work on his own time!

On Saturday we ran a 5k for Cancer awareness in Marengo, the next town over, it was so awesome! A few of the branch members invited us and we got it done in about 20 minutes. I was feeling pretty good, but my companion was about to die haha. I felt pretty bad for him, but he tried his best! Then on Sunday we had our first church meeting in the branch building! That was so cool!!!

Right after the 5k. My companion could barely walk up the stairs!

We also had a really cool miracle happen to us! Last weekend when Mormon Helping Hands were here, we were given a referral from one of the members that came. We planned to go and knock on the referrals door during the week. On Friday we were at the church working on some video training's for our mission when we heard a knocked on the front door. We walked out and met a family, we welcomed them in to the church and quickly realized that they were the people referred to us a few days earlier! They came into make a donation to our church to show their gratitude. We kindly rejected their offer but they were very persuasive and so we finally accepted it. We then offered to show them a tour of our branch building. They really enjoyed it and asked some good questions. They asked if we had any videos to show them so that they could learn more. We said we will compile some and drop it off to their house! We are so excited!

Sorry for the long email, see you next week!

-Elder Morgan

The dead bat that we found in the church building

More Service and Arm Wrestling Champion

 Hey Everyone!

Over the past two weeks I have had a change of heart! I have been humbled! I have definitely progressed in my journey to become more like Jesus Christ!

I am so grateful for this opportunity that I had to come back out on a mission, because I have been so blessed it is unreal. I have learned things and had opportunities to grow that I could not have had in SIerra Leone. It has brought me to love this Gospel more. It makes me want to do better and be better everyday. 

Two weeks ago we were hit with a Derecho. I still have no idea what it really is haha, all I know is that it resembled a category 3 Hurricane, with winds up to 140mph in and around our area! It destroyed millions of dollars in corn, beans and other crops. Has destroyed houses and left towns in a disaster! 

We were on our way to the church when it hit. All we saw was this huge mass of darkness, lighting, thunder and rain coming toward us! We hurried and got into the car and began to drive to the church. A 2 minute drive turned into a 20 minute drive, dodging fallen trees, branches, and sheet metal! We stayed in the church for about an hour. 

After the Derecho past, it took us 20ish minutes to get back to our house! There were trees blocking many streets, we began to follow tractors that were clearing the road. We finally made it back to our house and saw a few broken windows along with other things. We changed our clothes right away and went to check on the older ladies in the branch. For the next two weeks we would be cleaning up the aftermath of the Derecho! We have worked from 8am-9pm every single day moving branches, cutting trees and raking yards. The state of Iowa has brought in Utility companies from different states all over the midwest, all the way to Colorado! They have been working non-stop to get power back to the citizens over here. The storm left 500, 000 people without power! 

This weekend we had the Helping Hands organization in Belle Plaine! It was so fun to have the whole Zone here!

It destroyed this gas station!

Kind of a funny story- On Sunday, we were talking with the Stake Relief Society President, SIster Sparks, and somehow got onto the topic of Fitness and going to the gym. I then talked about how strong Elder Harris is and how he could totally beat her in an arm wrestling competition! She got pretty excited and began to talk it up with all the missionaries the whole day! Once the work was done, they provided all of the missionaries with dinner. After we had eaten we had an arm wrestling competition with the whole Zone! Elder Harris beat Sister Sparks! I am happy to say that I am the Arm Wrestling Champion in Sierra Leone and now in our Zone!

We have been blessed immensely these last few weeks. I love it here!!

-Elder Morgan

Love & Service

We received the following letter from Eli's mission this week. What an inspiring story of love and service.

Dear Family and Friends;

As I write this our mission continues to dig out and climb out from under all the broken and downed trees and power lines left from last week's derecho.   The Cedar Rapids Zone was particularly hard hit and some residents there are still without power and some are without water as well.  However the entire mission was affected and there is still widespread destruction across the majority of the mission.   Our missionaries have been doing service all this week to help clear the debris so that other crews can get into those homes and neighborhoods to start repairs.   We have had the opportunity to work with "Helping Hands", wear the yellow T-shirts and truly be of service to our neighbors.   The following is a story taken directly from the Cedar Rapids newspaper on Wednesday of this week:

"Sitting on my porch swing Saturday morning, catching some early light and fresh air as I searched for the city's latest tree debris up-dates, my anxiety level began to rise.

Contrary to what I had read earlier, I discovered I would need to move all the limbs that fell from a city tree into the space between my sidewalk and curb.  They were too heavy and too tangled for me to drag. 

Near tears, I looked up to see two young men in yellow T-shirts headed my way.  I jumped up, raised my arms in a touchdown salute and yelled "thank you" before they even opened their mouths.

I just knew they were coming to help me.  And I was right.

"Do you need help?"

"Yes!"

Their shirts said "Mormon Helping Hands".  They assured me they would be back with a team bearing chain saws and rakes, to tackle the limbs blanketing my front lawn.  (My kind next door neighbors had previously cut me a path from porch to curb, which also helped immensely.)

I asked about the cost, then fought back tears as I croaked out my gratitude when they said, "No charge."

They were working at another house first, but assured me they would be back shortly with their team.

What a welcome sight about 30 minutes later when five men and one woman - from Cedar Falls, Cedar Rapids, Iowa City and Utah - rounded the corner onto Seventh Avenue SE, with two chain saws and rakes.

In about 5 minutes they were done with my yard and moving two doors down to cut a swath from steps to curb for a household that has several people recovering from surgeries."

This is what your missionaries have been doing this week and will be continuing to do for this coming week.  They go out to neighborhoods in teams and just work through it, house by house, helping however they can.    Members as well as the missionaries are traveling to the hardest hit areas this weekend to do whatever needs to be done.   All-day work parties are planned for both Saturday and Sunday and our missionaries will be leading the charge working under the direction of our Regional Public Affairs Coordinators.   It is truly inspiring to watch the temporal organization of the church kick into gear and fill in the holes that wouldn't get filled otherwise.  

I just want to reassure you too that they are doing well.   The only calls I have received this entire week has been about sunburn, insect bites and wasp stings.   The work moves on.

Stay safe and healthy.

Sister Taylor

A Tornado...But Not A Tornado...But Like A Tornado

Eli wasn't able to write this week. A land hurricane went through Belle Plaine Iowa on Monday. Eli and his companion Elder Harris were on their way to the church just as it was starting. It got really bad and they were told to stay at the church building. They ended up being stuck there for a while with no electricity and no food as they waited for things to settle. 

This was the worst storm Iowa has seen in 22 years. There were 115 mph winds. Houses were crushed, cars were damaged, trees and telephone poles were ripped out of the ground. Following the storm it took Eli and Elder Harris 30 minutes to find their house as they drove behind tractors that were clearing the trees and debris from the streets. They came home to find windows broken in their mud room, their car port destroyed and no power. They have not had power or cell service since and don’t expect power to return for at least another week. Their food spoiled and they have been eating cold canned food, taking cold showers, using a flashlight for light and washing their clothes in the sink. (Eli said he’s had worse times in West Africa!) The gas stations are all out of gas and people have been stealing generators.

This is how someone from the Mission Office described it to us in an email, "As I am sure you have all heard, we experienced a derecho (pronounced duh-rhay-cho) that traveled across the middle of Iowa on Monday.   Being from the western US, as I am assuming many of you are, I had never even heard of a derecho before I found myself in the middle of one so I will explain.  It is a windstorm that has tornado force winds which travel in a straight pattern instead of a circular one.   A storm has to be at least 265 miles long and about the same distance wide to qualify as a derecho and not be just a windstorm.  This one certainly qualified.  Sustained winds greater than 60 mph with almost continuous gusts up to 100 mph swept from eastern Nebraska across the center of Iowa and into Illinois for almost an hour.   We are hearing estimates that 1/3 - 1/2 of the corn and soybean crops in Iowa are gone.   Of course thousands of trees were broken off, taking out windows, roofs and power lines in the process.   Immediately after the storm 250,000 people were without power, internet or cell service.   Utility crews have been working round the clock and we are down to about 10,000 people who are still without services as of today, 4 days after the storm.  Several small, rural towns may not get power back for another 2-3 weeks."

Eli and Elder Harris are the only missionaries in Belle Plaine. Their area was hit worse than any other part of their mission. They were able to get to the mission home to check in. Their Mission President was going to have them stay with others in Iowa City but Eli told him they would be fine… “this was actually like the bush in Sierra Leone but a lot nicer… they could handle it!” Elder Harris was looking at Eli like he’s crazy and thinking speak for yourself!! President gave them some non perishable food and added extra funds to their account. Everyday since they have been working from 9am to 9pm clearing debris, chopping trees, raking and helping wherever needed. There have been several older people and single women they have been especially helpful to. They will be missing their zone “movie day” activity this week to continue with the clean up. There is so much to do. Their bodies are sore and they are exhausted but healthy and safe. 

Week of Service

Hey Everyone!

I had a really good week. I am enjoying being a District Leader again, it is a lot of fun and I have a really good District!! We have already had some really good District Councils and I think we will have a successful transfer. 

This week we met with the Mayor of Belle Plaine! He is a really cool guy and we had a great conversation with him. We talked for about 1 hour trying to get to know him and introducing ourselves as well. We then gave him our number to give the Parks and Rec. Association so that we can do some more service for the town. I think we made a really good first impression and hope that we will have the chance to talk with him a little more sometime soon!

On Tuesday, we got a call from Sister Gates, an older lady in our Branch. She was really really angry because " dumb computer wasn't working". We finally found why she was mad after listening to her yell for a few minutes. Turns out the computer was self updated and she couldn't play Solitaire. She plays it everyday and beats the "Daily Challenge". We went over there and fixed it for her, it was like watching a little kid open a present when she started to play again haha. Pretty funny!

On Saturday we did some service for Sister Gates. We mowed her lawn and cut some trees and bushes down for her. We then had a barbeque! I wanted to practice my Dad skills and so I grilled the patties and they turned out great! She invited some neighbors over and we had a good time!

I am really enjoying it here. I am loving our area, we found a guy named Corben to teach this week! He is really cool and wants to learn about the Gospel! 

The Lord is opening up ways for us to teach more people and have them bless our lives. 

We made a new video that should be getting posted this week! Stay tuned!!

-Elder Morgan 

Nice Picture that Elder Harris Took

Practicing my dad skills

On the set of our new video

Meetin' with the Mayor

Hey Everyone!

This will be a pretty short email. I'll just hit the main points of the week!

This week we set up an appointment with the Mayor of Belle Plaine! We are gonna meet with him on Wednesday! I am excited and also a bit nervous! He told us to come to his office in City Hall, it should be a fun time!

On Thursday a lady in our ward called us and asked us to do some service for her! We helped build a retaining wall in her front yard! It was a lot of fun, but I am a little bit sore and have a few blisters! 

We got our transfer news. I am now a District Leader again. Other than that nothing changed too much! 

I am just excited and happy to be a missionary. As I ponder about the Atonement, I feel an overwhelming sense of love and a desire to do more! I love this work! It is going by too fast. As the days go on, I realize that I am running out of time! I only have 3 transfers left! I am trying to make everyday count! Love you guys!

-Elder Morgan

Our member mama gave us a huge bag of food!!

Elder Harris and I doing some facebook finding over some carrots

Had Chinese food and chocolate pudding and orange juice with our favorite member Dustin!

We had a meeting over zoom and Elder Harris stood in the window for the whole meeting lol

Witchcraft and Locked Doors

Hey Everyone!

I had a fantastic week!!

I am so grateful to be a Missionary. It is my greatest joy and brings me the most peace! I have had experiences here that I could not have had if I was still In Sierra Leone. I have met people that have blessed my life in a way that only God knew!

One of those people is Cody! He has been having trouble lately. He hasn't talked with us for the past few days. This morning, I woke up to a text from him, he said that he had almost died! We were so confused and worried about him. We asked what happened, and then he asked us if we knew anything about Sorcery or Witchcraft! We are gonna head over there tonight and see what actually happened. Might bring me back to some of the crazy experiences I have with Black Magic in Salone! Should be exciting!!

Every morning we usually go to the church to do our personal studies. As we were diving into the Spirit, a man opened up the front door! We were really confused and asked if we could help him somehow. He said that he was a Less Active member of the branch, he stopped attending about 10 years ago. He expressed some interest in coming back to the church and meeting with us again. We got his number and are excited to see him!

After he left we were so confused on how he came into the church. He went over to the door only to confirm that it was locked from the inside. Meaning you cannot get in from the outside unless you have a key! After testing out the lock a few times, we quickly realized that it was a miracle! What a wonderful day to begin the day!!

Well, that is it for me! Have a good week!

-Elder Morgan

Eli is working on his drawing skills

Eli & Elder Harris painting a garage for a neighbor

Potential Social Media Post

Karate Lessons

Hey All!!

I had a great week. We had interviews with President Sturm, went and saw some fireworks and did some karate!

Every Tuesday we have a meeting with the other Social Media Supervisors. We review all the Facebook pages in the mission and try to make them better and more popular, so that we can raise more money to run advertisements which brings more people to our Facebook pages.  In about two weeks we will be having a big seminar, called Super PAC, with all the missionaries responsible for the individual Facebook pages. We are all preparing different instructions to give. Along with another missionary, I am preparing an instruction on how to message people and get results from those interactions. It is keeping us busy and we are very excited about it! 

On Wednesday we had interviews with President Sturm! While one of us was being interviewed, the other was with Sister Sturm. I had a great conversation with Her and then had a wonderful interview with President. They both were very complimentary and kind with their comments! I love them! They also brought tons of snacks, so that was a plus!

We have a really awesome member named Dustin that really likes us. He has some sort of a mental disability and is really funny. He tells us a lot of stories. Some of these stories are about his super hot girlfriend that he wants to marry, or some really impossible thing that he did. This week it was that he is a karate instructor. He then asked if we wanted to see some of his moves. We agreed and he asked me to slowly try and punch him in the face. I did as he asked and all of the sudden, he punches me super hard in the gut! I was kinda confused but then I started laughing because he just punched me. He then told me to "sweep" his leg slowly. He said he wouldn't punch me this time. I slowly went to kick his leg and he full on kneed me in the thigh and punched me in the arm! He then said " I lied, i punched you. Never trust your enemy." It was really funny and we will have to get it on video next time! Hopefully he doesn't beat me up too bad on camera!

This is Dustin! The guy that beat me up! 

About a week ago we met a guy named Cody, had a great lesson and really felt good about it. After that lesson, we were not able to get in contact with Him. He did not answer our calls or texts. I was really worried about it and found a video made by the church that I felt really good about sending to him. He watched the video and said that it was what he needed, and that it really helped. We then set up a lesson with him for tonight....IN PERSON!!!! Our mission is finally in Phase 1. This means that we can now go into peoples homes, we must be invited though and cannot eat with them yet. Little by little things are beginning to open up!

I am loving it here and am so grateful to be serving Him!

-Elder Morgan

Their 100 Year Old House!

Social Media Specialists - Not Something You'd See in Sierra Leone!

Hey Everyone! 

We had a really good first week in the new area. When we first arrived here they had a few people that were being taught but we have not been able to get in contact with any of them! They do not answer any of our calls or texts. 

Early in the week, I predicted this. I began to fast and we prayed as a companionship to find the elect of the area. After calling tons of people we found a few promising people to meet this week. We are excited about that. 

I felt that we could do a little bit better than this and so we made a goal to find 1 new person to teach the first week we got there, (last week). Monday- Friday were pretty unsuccessful. I had sent out many friend requests, but none were taking me anywhere. On Saturday some of the people finally accepted my friend requests, a few of them had some choice words about the Church and were not receptive. One guy named Cody talked with me and wanted to meet with us!! We scheduled a meeting for that night. We were so excited and got all prepped for it, but he didn't answer the video call. We were disappointed but kept praying with faith that we could find one new person to teach the next day to fulfill our goal. 

Sunday came and we asked Cody to meet again. He agreed and we finally met at 8pm on Sunday night. The last hour of the last day!!

Cody is really cool, he is a student of the Bible and knows that very well. He said he is confused about where is going and where he wants to end up. He is lucky, because He just found the path to take!! We shared the Restoration with him and he accepted to read the Book of Mormon and meet with us again!!

I am really grateful to the Lord for helping us. Without Him it would not have been possible. 

My companion and I have been assigned to be Social Media Specialists for the mission. We review all the content that was made during the week by certain facebook pages and critique them. We give some tips to make it better and more successful. It is going well, we are very busy with it. I enjoy it and feel that I have lots to learn as well.

I am grateful to be a missionary. I am grateful for the miracles that happen to me everyday. I am grateful for Him!!

-Elder Morgan

The beautiful Plaines of Belle...

The Rolling Plaines of Belle

Hey Everyone!!

I had such a great and uplifting week. We have moved into Belle Plaine and have started to get working on the area!!

My new companions name is Elder Harris. He is from Washington, and has been out for 6 months! He is a great missionary with lots of energy!

Elder Harris

We met on Thursday and drove the hour trip to Belle Plaine. It is in a super small town in the middle of nowhere! There is one gas station and one grocery store, other than that you have to go to the next city to find another grocery store and then all the way back to Iowa City to find anything else! It is pretty awesome being out here, it is definitely not the city life that I am used to in California but I could get used to it!

The branch has about 30 active members and about double that inactive members. They are all pretty old and so I am excited to get some youth back into the branch! We have met with all of them over phone call or video chat and have already felt a love for them. It is very special!

We dont have many people to teach, but are facebook finding. That is coming along very well. I hope to see success this next week. Speaking of facebook pages.... last transfer about halfway through we got a call from a man named Pablo! He had been praying for a church to join, right after his prayer he got onto facebook and saw our page! We have taught him for about 4 weeks and he wants to be baptized on July 4th! We told him we would celebrate with some firework after haha. I have really grown close with him and love him very much. He is so humble and just says that the Gospel of Jesus Christ just makes sense. He always takes on bee challenges to become more acquainted with Jesus Christ! Facebook is working!! Miracles are happening over social media!!!!!! 

I love this work and am grateful to be out here serving in Iowa. I have learned new skills here that I will take back home and apply for a lifetime!!

Love, 

Elder Morgan