I Wanted to Cry 3 Times Today

Hello Everyone!

I had an awesome week with some cool experiences.

On Monday I had my 20th Birthday! Not gonna lie, it is so weird to say that I am 20 years old! It still feels like I am 17 or something... pretty crazy! I kept it on the down low and did not really tell anyone, but somehow some of the missionaries found out and made me some nice dinner! Other than that, it was a normal day of proselyting and emailing the family! 

The next day, we went to Freetown for a Missionary Leadership Council. It is where all the Zone Leaders get together with the Assistants and President to talk about the needs of the mission and specifically what we can do to better train our missionaries. We left at 7:30 am and arrived at about 12 o' clock, and went right to the business! They had some instructions led by other Zone Leaders and gave some council about challenges in the mission we are currently facing. I was really lucky to be there and learn from some of the other Zone Leaders. After 8 hours of talking we went to sleep and hit it again the next day until about 12 o'clock. We had lunch and then left to go back to our areas. 

Missionary Leadership Council

We celebrated President Harper’s birthday!

On Friday we went on an exchange with one of our District Leaders. My companion Elder Quaisie was able to go to their area, and I received Elder Enimahkpokpo. He is a new missionary from the Liberia Mission that closed down! It was so great, and we were really able to have some powerful lessons together! At the close of the day I really felt bad for him, he said " Elder Morgan I wanted to cry like 3 times today because we were walking so much, but I did not want to cry in front of you so I just cried in my heart. You guys work really hard!" When he said that, part of me wanted to laugh but then I really felt for him! I think in the next exchange, he would like to stay in his area! I really enjoyed my time with him. It is fun to compare missions and different teaching styles. Super awesome!!

Elder Enimahkpokpo, me, and Kandeh one of the people we are currently teaching.

Some funny stories...
Before I came out on mission my father used to cut my hair, but now that he is not here I have had to learn for myself. It has taken a lot of practice and lots of messing up, but I am finally getting the hang of it. It is usually pretty hard to cut your own hair anywhere, but here it just seems almost impossible! It has taken much trial and error because of the light system here. We hardly ever have power and when we do it is so dim that you can't even see! I have really perfected taping a flashlight to the wall and maneuvering in every kind of position to get it just right!  

But to get to the point, some of the missionaries have noticed my hair cuts and ask who does them, when I say it is myself no one believes me! They then ask me to cut their hair. So now I have kind of become the mission barber here in Bo! It is good practice for me, and I am enjoying it!!

We are teaching our Bishop's grand daughter, Christiana, who is 9 years old. Two weeks ago she went to school and told all of the embarrassing things that her sister does to all of her friends. This hurt her sister pretty bad and they have been at war ever since. This last week we tried to solve it but they ended up getting mad at my companion for laughing too much, and so now whenever my companion talks to Christiana, she turns to me and says " Is someone talking?" or " I don't hear anything, Elder Morgan can you say it again?". I just laugh but it gets my companion a little fired up as well. Now my companion does the same thing back to her, and I just have to remind him that he is arguing with a 9 year old. Pretty funny haha. 

Well that was my week! Love you guys!
-Elder Morgan

How they carry things around here.

A Week of Exchanges, and Happy Birthday Eli!!!

Una Kushe oo!!
Ow una de do? I de do fin, yu no say it no easy but we de pan em smol smol. I bin enjoy dis week bing bing! Wi tel god tenki. 

This week was so awesome! I was able to go on two exchanges, one with the Assistants to the President and another with some missionaries in the Zone. I was really able to learn tons and also have such an awesome time.
The first exchange was with Elder Dube, from Zimbabwe. He has been in the mission for quite sometime and is Assistant to the President. He is such an awesome guy and I was really lucky to learn from Him! I think that my favorite part was participating in a challenge that our Mission President issued to us, he asked us to talk about the Restoration of the Gospel to 5 new people a day! We had been doing this, but during the exchange we scheduled 1 hour to talk about the most  important message on Earth! We were able to meet some really awesome people and just testify purely about the restoration. It was a really powerful time that I had with Him, it strengthened my testimony about the Restoration of the Gospel and how important it is to help everyone understand and hear about it!

I kind of had a cool experience with Elder Dube..
We had gone to an appointment and found that the man was really sick and so we helped him out a little bit and just made sure that he was feeling okay. We than shared a message about the restoration with his mother. We closed and began to pray, as we prayed I just had the distinct feeling that what we said was true, that Joseph Smith was a Prophet and that he did restore the true church of Jesus Christ again to the earth through the power of God. I knew it before but I guess the Lord just wanted to reassure me at that moment. I am so grateful for his hand in my life. 

We then kind of had an emergency exchange with a companionship in our Zone due to some problems they were having. I was able to go with one Elder from America! He has been out for about 8 months and I have never seen a missionary so loved in his area! It was so fun to be with Him, because he always laughs with the people in his area and just makes them feel like family. It was such a good exchange for me!

A few days ago the Liberia Monrovia Mission closed down due to some economic circumstances, they sent a lot of missionaries home early and sent us 10 Nigerian missionaries. We have a few new ones in our zone! They are so great and I am excited to have them. 

Other than that nothing too much has happened, sorry nothing too exciting but just a good week full of work!

- Elder Morgan

Parental Note: Eli turns 20 today. He has about 9 months left on his mission, and we're missing him this week as his older brother, Jonah, is getting married! Lot's going on in the Morgan house....

The Bed, The Tooth, and Lots of Pure Awesomeness Sprinkled with Dopeness

Hey All!

Man oh man oh man, this week was just awesome. Just pure awesomeness sprinkled with some dopeness. I had such an awesome week! I am glad to be back in Sierra Leone and working with a new zone and companion! We put in lots of good work this week and I am excited for this new week.

The two Elders that came with me to Ghana had left on Saturday and I was in Ghana until Tuesday because of my tooth. I went to the dentist on Monday night and got it all fixed up! I don't believe it was a root canal but just a bad cavity, they did some good work and left my whole mouth numb for the next few hours. I was so happy to get it done, because now it is really feeling a lot better! I then flew out of Ghana back to Sierra Leone the very next day. It was pretty funny because when I reached the Airport, there were 3 new missionaries coming to Sierra Leone so I got to sit with them and answer any questions they had! It just reminded me about the time I first came to the mission and all the thoughts I had when flying there. 

This is the bed and hotel room that I slept in while I was in Liberia. It may not seem like  much, but my oh my that was a good night sleep.

Elder Mitchel, myself and Elder Klinglesmith. The Elders that I proselyted with in Ghana.

We then arrived in Sierra Leone and were taken to the Mission Home and slept there for one day. 

We left for Bo that next afternoon and I met my new companion Elder Quaisie. We came to the mission at the same time and I am so excited to be companions with him, he is from Ghana! 

Elder Quaisie and I

This week has just been tons of planning for the Zone! We made some really awesome Zone Goals and had a meeting with all the District Leaders to talk about them and add or subtract anything. We came to some awesome conclusions and I am so excited to see how they are put into practice. 
We have already had some trouble with companionships not getting along and so we have been running around trying to make sure everything cools down and is getting resolved. It has been kind of a lot of work but I am really grateful for the opportunity to serve with these good guys. 

I have come to find out that most of the problems we can get is just from our own pride! It has just been a really good learning lesson for me to work on humbling myself and working with the Lord's guidance. He knows best!
The Simbaru area has been a tough area for a long time, not a lot of people to teach and not too much progress with the ward or with baptisms. Elder Quaisie and I are determined to stop this trend! We worked hard this week and were able to get 13 people to Church yesterday, the Lord really does help His missionaries. It is just gonna be so awesome to see what will happen this transfer. The only thing that I am worried about now is that the Assistants will be coming to Bo to do an exchange with us in our area and I have only been here for 5 days!! I know that the Lord will answer my prayers and help me. The Lord really is just so good to us! He has given me strengths and also lovingly urges me to work on my many weaknesses. I really do love Him and the way that he helps me everyday become better and when I falter on the path, he helps me to do better and be better. I love Him!

Thanks everyone and we will see you next week!

-Elder Morgan

Bird vs Airplane - A Night in Liberia

Hello Everyone!

I have had a fairly busy week. I flew out of Sierra Leone, stayed in Liberia for a night, came to Ghana and have been here for a week! I have seen so many white people and can't really speak good English anymore. Whenever I talk to someone they think I am from South Africa and tell me that I talk weird. I have eaten some of the best food ever and have gotten a really dope tie! It has been a great week in Ghana!

I was scheduled to fly out of Sierra Leone on Wednesday but flew out the day before to catch an early Dentist Appointment. I flew out at about 3 o'clock and landed in Liberia at 4 o'clock. Somewhere along the flight a bird flew into the propeller and damaged enough so that we could not fly to Ghana that night. We got out and they were all speaking this weird English, they speak very quickly and the mumble too much! So when you combine my broken English and their fast and mumbled English, you don't really get anywhere in a conversation. We then were taken to a hotel near the Airport, and slept there for the night. They gave me my room key and I went into the room and I looked in and was almost brought to tears because I had a queen sized bed and a hot shower all to myself! I took an hour long hot shower and got dressed and went down for dinner. When I reached dinner I thought that I was going to faint because of the joy that coursed through my veins! They had chicken, meat, fish, noodles, rolls and about everything else you can imagine! I was in heaven, I think I got about 4 plates! I then went back up to my room and got the best night of sleep I have gotten in 14 months! It was so wonderful!

The next morning I went down for breakfast and had about every cereal in the world and some nice mango and pineapple juice. I then had a personal study and really learned some awesome things from the Book of Mormon. We then left at about 12 o'clock to go back to Salone and then finally went to Ghana!
We reached Ghana and were picked up by the Area Medical Adviser and his Wife. They took us to KFC, it was so awesome! I never knew how excited I could get from food until a few days ago. 

They ended up invited me over for dinner again and I found out that she is a famous cook and so we really enjoyed for a few days! 

I was also able to see President Nash again in church on Sunday. He remembered me and gave me some good advice and a good little pump up speech! It was such a good time.

I am grateful to be a Missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It is my greatest achievement and joy as of right now, I am so lucky to be called to Sierra Leone and I miss it dearly! I am being transferred out of the bush and will go back to Bo. I am going to have a wonderful Ghanaian companion named Elder Quasie and I am excited to learn with and from Him. I will send some dope pictures next week. Love Ya!

-Elder Morgan

Parental Note: The last we heard, Eli was going to have the root canal done in Ghana and then head back to Sierra Leone for the crown. He was taking some antibiotics for an abscess on his tooth, so we're hoping it all went well this week!

Eli was also called to serve as Zone Leader in Bo. He is so excited to be back in Bo and for the opportunity to serve in this new capacity.

The Office Elders in Ghana

Eli and Elder Freedland in Ghana