"Missionary Challenge"

If you go back to my post on October 4th, you will read about my first dinner in Oregon. The bishop and his wife have a family tradition of honoring brand new Elder's from the MTC by serving a "green" dinner to the "greenie" missionary and his companion. As a part of the meal they give the green missionary (me) a "Missionary Challenge." They said that we could go to Dairy Queen and get the Blizzard of choice if I would eat a jar of GREEN baby food. Boy, was it nasty, but I did it, and OOH was that Blizzard worth it!  YES!!!

Elder Morgan and  his companion Elder Rowley

It's all GREEN for the GREEN missionary... ME

Elder Morgan questions how parents can be so cruel 

and feed this stuff to their small children.

This is NASTY!!!  Poor babies!

I survived and lived to tell about it!

IT WAS WORTH IT!!

Elder Morgan with his companion, Elder Rowley with the Bishop's kids.

Yum! Yum!

MTC Pictures

The MTC (Missionary Training Center) is the first stop for all LDS missionaries. At the beginning of their service LDS missionaries usually spend 3-12 weeks at an MTC where they receive training in doctrine, conduct, proselyting methods, and when required, a foreign language. There are 17 MTCs located in nations throughout the world. Because Elder Morgan's mission did not require language training, he stayed at the Provo, Utah MTC for 3 weeks (minus 2 days). Here are some of his pictures while at the MTC. (Sept. 14 - Oct. 2, 2011).

Boys will be boys! Even Mormon Missionaries... 

Having fun on "P" day (preparation day or play day?)

Mount Timpanogos; a lovely view from the MTC.

Symbolic...

The University of Utah

BEATS it's rival

BYU (Brigham Young University)

Elder Morgan is prepared either way!

Elder Mahoney, another great Elder!

MTC classroom... Missionaries learn, study and prepare.

Dorms at the MTC.

More dorms...

Another Jedi Missionary... having fun!

Elder Morgan's MTC companion, Elder Jorgenson.

Let's take pictures of each other... 1,2,3, CHEESE!

New friends!

ELDERS

 MTC Entrance

Another Jedi!

A Visit to the Provo, Utah Temple

Elder Morgan and other missionaries at the MTC visit the Provo, Utah Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Temples are houses of the Lord, the most sacred structures on Earth for members of the LDS church. In temples, church members participate in ordinances designed to unite their families together forever (see The Old Testament, Malachi 4:5-6), and to learn eternal truths. Members can also provide ordinance work for their family members who have died without the opportunity to receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ. (See The New Testament 1 Corinthians 15:29 and 1 Peter 4:6). 

Missionaries leave the MTC to visit the Provo Utah Temple.

Happy Elders walk the pathway to the temple.

The Angel Moroni statue on the top of the Provo Temple.

Moroni is an ancient prophet in the Book of Mormon. His statue on top of most LDS temples symbolizes the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the latter days. The angel is a representation of the angel in John's vision in the New Testament. "And I saw another angel fly in the midst of Heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth." (Revelation 14:6)

Did you know that LDS lady missionaries are called Sisters? 

Here are four sister missionaries that were in Elder Morgan's  MTC District (group).

Beautiful flowers line the pathway to the temple.

BEAUTIFUL!!!

The Provo Temple with Squaw Peak towering as a back drop.

A message displayed at all LDS temples.

The view of Provo, Utah from the Provo Temple grounds...

A hazy day.

CTR

CHOOSE THE RIGHT!

Missionaries show their solidarity in choosing to follow Christ and do what is right. 

Their name badges collectively display this favorite Mormon acronym.

Hey There! October 17, 2011

Howdy! I hope everything is going well. I hope Virginia is not too crazy. I never know, cause I don't watch TV or anything. How are the rehearsals for the musical going? I saw a high school in Troutdale was doing "Sound of Music." It brought back good memories.

When I was doing some exploring on www.mormon.org, I found video profiles of some church members. These videos explain their lives, their faith, and things about them that reflect how "normal" they are. I really enjoyed Alex Boye's and Brandon Summer's videos. If you haven't seen them I recommend watching them.

If you don't know Alex Boye, he is one of the few African American singers in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. He is an amazing singer. He has his own albums, published through Deseret Book, and his record deal is with Shadow Mountain Records. His music is great. Anyway, he has a great video about how music has shaped his life. At first he sang and performed for himself, but later on in life, when he became Mormon, he wanted to sing and perform for other reasons. He says, "Music can heal the soul." I totally agree with that. I know that music can express emotions that can make a person's life different, even better. In his video, Alex Boye shares that there was a man who was about to commit suicide, but the man listened to one of Alex Boye's recordings and he refrained from committing suicide. Music can be a powerful tool in testifying to our hearts and minds that there is a God who really cares. People might not always make that connection, but it's true. Music can calm people and can make them feel good. There is something spiritual about music.

Brandon Flowers' video is another great profile. He is the lead singer of the band called "The Killers," and he is a Mormon. He said that his music doesn't have to be about money, sex and everything bad. It can be different. It can be good. In the rock pop industry, he shares that it is really weird to be married, especially at a younger age...like late 20's, but he is married and he manages his career with his family. In terms of what he values most, he says his family has surpassed his music. He says that as he has grown up, he has been more cautious about lyrics. He wants to be a positive influence in people lives. He has grown up in the church and he is thankful for his parents and the church instilling good values in him.

These videos are comforting to me because the more I think about what I want to do in my life, the more I think that it has something to do with music. I don't know what yet. I'm not saying I'll be focused on the extremes of getting rich and famous or becoming a music teacher, but I know that music will be a part of my life somehow. I'm grateful that I know that I can have a life centered around the gospel of Jesus Christ and have music in my life. They don't oppose each other. In fact,  music can help to bring others closer to Christ.

Even though I am on my mission, music can still be a big part of my life. Each day Elder Rowley and I start our companionship study with a hymn. Music invites the right spirit to our study sessions. I wrote the family a letter, which I sent just yesterday, talking about my first real Sunday in Troutdale. It was awesome, but what I liked the most was that Elder Rowley and I sang "Be Still, My Soul" for the musical number during sacrament meeting. It was a great experience.

Being on a mission makes me realize the blessings God has given to me while growing up. I'm so grateful for my family. I'm grateful for the resources that we have had so that we could live comfortably. Even in times when we haven't had all the money we wanted, we have been supported by friends, family, and from the church. I'm grateful for all the blessings I have had in my life. I'm grateful that I could spend a lot of my life involved in music. I love music. But most importantly, I'm grateful for God's plan that he has for me. This is something that is even bigger than music. This is an eternal plan that he has for me and for everyone. If we follow His commandments we can have joy forever!

I love you all and I pray for you every day!

Love,

Elder Trevor. A. Morgan

Hi, I'm Alex Boye and I'm a Mormon

Brandon Flowers - A Fire Still Burning

News from Elder Morgan 10/12/2011

Elder Morgan and two more brand new missionaries.

We made it! 

First day in the Oregon Portland Mission

10/3/2011

Hey! sorry I didn't email any sooner, I've been pretty busy. I'm glad to hear all is going well in VA.

This week has been a great week. I was able to hear from a General Authority 3 times! He is from the first quorum of the seventy and his name is Elder C. Scott Grow. He is an amazing person. My stake had stake conference this week, so Elder Rowley and I attended the Saturday session, then the regular Sunday session and the missionaries in the OPM  had our own meeting with Elder C. Scott Grow. That last meeting was awesome, but it was soooo long. The meeting lasted 8 hours (with breaks). He talked about how we should spend half of our time working with less active and part member families. 

So I had some fun experiences this week. I committed someone to baptism, and she said she would be baptized!...except she called today when Elder Rowley and I were teaching the lesson in district meeting. I had Elder Rowley take the call and I continued to teach the lesson. After district meeting Elder Rowley told me Carolyn wanted to drop the baptism. Just yesterday, we set up the whole baptismal service with her. We talked about who she wanted to talk, what songs we should sing, and who she wanted to baptize her. (Sorry, I might not have said who this lady is. Her name is Carolyn Gordon. She is about 63 and was a Lutheran before...well she still is as of now.)  Anyway, Elder Rowley told her to hold the date of Nov. 5 and we would try to resolve her concerns about the church...She has even told us before SHE KNOWS SHE NEEDS TO BE BAPTIZED! Guess how long she has been taught by the missionaries? 2 and a half years!!! Okay, even if I sound a little frantic. I'm not worried. She'll accept the gospel of Jesus Christ. She has been and IS prepared. She loves the people at church and she really enjoys the missionaries. She is great!

I'm not sure if it has always been this way, but the Church is encouraging missionaries to do much more than baptize new people. We are to help focus church members on living the gospel of Jesus Christ, and try to encourage them to receive all of the blessings they can have through being active in the church, this includes temple blessings. I read a talk somewhere (I think it was in the MTC) and it explained that the spirit of Elijah is spreading, just like it says in Malachi, "And he shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to their fathers."

Just to wrap up the email, I was talking to Elder Rowley this week about being a missionary. I was asking him how "bold" can we be. We talked and talked about it. We came up with the conclusion that we can be as bold as we want to be, as long as we are doing it because we love that person. We are representatives of Jesus Christ. I am so grateful to be on a mission. I know I can be a good missionary, but it is only through prayer that I can become a great missionary. I pray multiple times a day to "have the desire to work hard." I can feel that desire.

I love you all and thank you for all of the prayers, emails and letters!

Love,

Elder Trevor A. Morgan

Commentary by Mom: Some facts about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS church)

Stake: A stake is an administrative unit composed of multiple LDS wards (congregations). A stake is approximately comparable to a diocese in the Catholic Church. The name "stake" derives from the verse "enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitation: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes." (Bible, Old Testament, Isaiah 54:2) LDS wards and stakes are established by geographic location. The Morgans in Herndon, Virginia live in the Herndon Ward of the Oakton Virginia Stake, which also includes the following additional wards: Chantilly, Fair Oaks, Franklin, Oak Marr, Oakton, Reston, Spring Lake (spanish speaking), Vienna.

Stake Conference: A semi-annual meeting for all members of a stake.

General Authority: In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), a general authority is a member of certain leadership organizations who are given administrative and ecclesiastical authority of the church. A general authority's jurisdiction is church-wide, in contrast to the responsibilities of a local authority or an area authority, which relate to a particular area, unit, or department of the church. As of April 2010, the number of general authorities was 109.


Quorum of the Seventy: Seventy is a priesthood office of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Traditionally, a Latter Day Saint holding this priesthood office is a "traveling minister" and an "especial witness" of Jesus Christ, charged with the mission of preaching the gospel to the entire world under the direction of the Twelve Apostles. The office of seventy is based on the seventy disciples mentioned in the Gospel of Luke 10:1-2.

Families and temples: (Bible, Old Testament, Malachi 4:6, "And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers...) Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe that family ties can be eternal. Husbands and wives are not only married for this life, but in temples, they are sealed for time and all eternity to each other and to their children. The eternal ties extend to grandparents, great grand-parents and all of our ancestors as well as to grand children and our future posterity.

I'm in Portland!!! 10/4/2011

Hey!!

These last few days have been crazy! I'm still kinda taking it all in. I'm in Portland and I'm way excited (and nervous) to be here though!

So, yesterday I woke up at 4:00 am in the morning in Provo, Utah at the MTC. That was fun. We left by 5:15 to go to the airport in SLC. At the time I was really glad to be leaving the MTC. I loved the MTC, don't get me wrong, but I really wanted to get on my way into the mission field. Like I said at the airport when I called, there are 17 new missionaries from the MTC who were to go to Portland that day. Do you remember when grandma Morgan cut out an article in her paper from Santaquin talking about a person going to the Oregon Portland mission? Well he left the MTC the same time I did too. Oh and also the Scholz's have one of their nephews in my mission too. He told me they say hey. That was pretty cool. But now that I look back on yesterday, I miss the MTC. It was a place of comfort and the spirit was so strong.

SO, I guess your probably wondering who my companion is. His name is Elder Rowley. He is from someplace in Utah and he went to school at SUU as a music education major with an emphasis in voice. We have a lot in common. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. I hope he'll be a good trainer. He hasn't done anything bad yet, in fact he seems like a great missionary.

The first day, yesterday, we visited some families and we had dinner at the Bishops house. The bishop's family is nice. I don't know exactly what we ate, but it was TONS better than the MTC food. They had green lemonade for me cause I am a "greenie" (a brand new missionary). The Bishop's family has their own crazy tradition which they fondly call a "missionary challenge." They don't have one universal challenge, but my challenge was to eat a small jar of baby food. If I did it they'd take us to Dairy Queen. That baby food was disgusting. I don't know why parents feed that to their children whom they love. BUT that Large Pumpkin Pie Blizzard at DQ was well worth it. It  was SOOOO good. It was like pumpkin ice cream with cinnamon toast crunch cereal in it...yum!

Today is p-day, so I'm still unpacking and I super-cleaned my bathroom. In my apt is just me and Elder Rowley, and we both get our own bathrooms, which is nice. Not that it was super dirty, but it wasn't really clean. So I spent about 45 good minutes today cleaning every inch of my bathroom with Pine-sol. Thank you for teaching me how to clean. My bathroom now smells great! Later today were probably going to go hiking somewhere. Not Mt. Hood, I know that. Some other cool hill or waterfall. I actually haven't seen Mt. Hood yet, but I'm guessing in two years, I'll see it a few times.

Well its weird cause I'm in a new place I've never been. I wasn't really ever homesick at the MTC because I knew where I was. I wasn't really even too homesick at college after my first semester. But I'm feeling it now. It's weird to have no clue where you're going, and the only person you are following is a person your age. I miss you all more than ever, but I know this is where I'm supposed to be. Your all in my prayers.

Love,

Elder Trevor Morgan
Commentary by Mom: Oops, Trevor forgot to send his address in this week's email. We will post it as soon as we get it :)   I know he'd love to hear from you! We do know he is presently in the town of Troutdale, Oregon.