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