Merry Christmas to all!

Mom note: Christmas was an awesome day, in part because we got to talk to Elder Morgan. He is doing well and really enjoying his mission experience. Here are some of the things we learned:

• Troutdale, Oregon is beautiful but WINDY because it is at the opening of the Columbia Gorge.
• Trevor really appreciated all the cards, gifts and goodies that were given to him for Christmas. He said he had more calories on his counter top than he could ever imagine.
• Trevor said the thing he misses most on his mission is HIS FRIENDS back home!
• Trevor felt he had to choose between becoming an Oregon State fan or a University of Oregon fan, and he is now an official Ducks fan! (UO)
• Trevor has taken up looming and makes hats in his spare time since he cannot watch T.V. or spend time on Facebook. You may have seen him sporting one of his creations on his Christmas card.
• Trevor is also into Disk Golf and says it IS NOT the same as Ultimate Frisbee.
• He plays basketball 3 mornings a week and enjoys it!
• It rains A LOT in Oregon so Trevor bought some rain pants to wear as he knocks on many doors each week.
• Trevor LOVES to teach people, in part because he LOVES people, and because he LOVES the Lord Jesus Christ.
• He enjoyed singing in the church choir for Christmas, and he also went Christmas caroling.

After we visited with Trevor, he was off to spend Christmas evening with the Bishop and his extended family. Here is the report we got in an email explaining his celebration.

"I had a great Christmas evening! We went to the Bishops brothers house! It was the biggest house I have ever been in!! The food was AMAZING! We just chatted for a long time. It was really great. And then we finished the night of by playing some poker. It was either play poker or watch "Wallie" on the television...and the white book says we cannot watch television. (haha) All in all, It was a great evening with some great people! I hope your guys Chirstmas evening was awesome! It was great to hear from you guys!"

Love,

Elder Morgan

Mom note: The white handbook has rules that all missionaries are to follow, and I guess they didn't think to include anything about Poker ;) Oh, our silly boy.

Wise Men Seek Him Still

Merry Christmas to all!

David Archuleta to be a Mormon Missionary

Almost CHRISTMAS!

Hey there!!!

So for Christmas I will be calling from Bishop Cards house at 1:30 Oregon time, which would be 4:30 Virginia time. I can't wait to hear from you all!

This week has been another great week in Troutdale!

I have definitely seen how I have progressed and grown to be the missionary I am today. I can tell a difference in attitude, spiritual growth, and even physical growth (so much food!). This week Elder Rowley and I had the opportunity to go to the temple with a recent convert who was baptized about 2 years ago. The temple is such a sacred place. Before I went on Saturday, it felt like it had been forever since I had gone to the temple. Well, it had been 3 months, but it seemed so much longer. Every time I go to the temple I always feel the spirit so strongly. I know that this place is the House of the Lord because I can feel the Holy Ghost so strongly when I enter. The Temple is beautiful inside and outside. It is different from the Washington D.C. temple, but yet it is the same. I loved going to the temple on Saturday because I was able to grow more as a missionary by being in the house of the Lord and reflecting on all that he has given me.

It's crazy to think that my 3 months of training are almost over! These 3 months have just seemed to fly by. I'm really grateful for such a great trainer like Elder Rowley.  He has taught me what it's like to be a successful missionary. He has helped me grow into the missionary I am today. But soon (one week) I will most likely get a new companion who will help me learn and grow. Likewise, I will help him learn and grow. It has been nice having Elder Rowley as a companion because we can do so many musical things! We have sung at an old folks home, at church, and we have even gone caroling! BUT who knows, maybe I'll get a companion who is tone deaf....haha. But probably.

I am so grateful for *personal and companion study. I really feel that those times are when I grow in the gospel the most. I really try to understand more about the gospel and find what the Lord would have me learn, and what he would have me teach my investigators. Our investigators and less actives are really great people. Sometimes they don't always exercise their agency the way I would like them to, but they all progress in the gospel in their own ways.

I got your letter! That was awesome and it made my day! I love hearing more about our family. It really makes me think about how much our family has been blessed. Even though our family has had some hard times, we still have so many blessings. I know that this is because our family is focused and centered on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Lord has promised that when you keep his commandments, you will be blessed. In the Book of Mormon, I love how he says you will "prosper in the land". We can all "prosper in the land" by obeying God's commandments. Since going on my mission, I have seen many people "prosper in the land". All these people just try their best to obey God's commandments, and it works! I have seen the blessings for others, and even for me when I focus myself on living the gospel.

Anyways, I love you all and I pray for you every day! Thank you for all of your prayers!

Love,

Elder Morgan


* Mom note: Through daily personal and companion study of the scriptures, and obedience to the commandments of God, a missionary strives to develop Christlike attributes, and prepare themselves to teach gospel truths including: The Message of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, The Plan of Salvation, The Gospel of Jesus Christ, The Commandments, Laws and Ordinances.

Hello there! 12/12/11

Hey there everyone!

I hope your week is going great! This has been another wonderful week in Troutdale, Oregon.

I hope you guys are having a lovely winter! In Troutdale Oregon its more "windery" that any place around. There is a huge gorge right next to the town, so all the wind (and cold) just funnels right into town. When it's not windy....its rainy. I heard I have not even seen the worst of the rain OR the wind. I'm ready for it though. I have a really great windbreaker and I can add layers underneath it. I also purchased some rain pants that I wear even when it's not rainy because they are also made out of windbreaker material. And boy does it get cold. When it gets cold, your face feels like it its gonna freeze. I put my hood up, which keeps my ears quite warm, but my face gets cold. Oh, well. That's the life of being a missionary. Missionary work is still amazing!

It's CRAZY to think that I have been out for 3 months! It has just gone in the blink of an eye! I feel like I have grown up so much more than in any other time. Elder Rowley and I gave a talks (and I sang and he played the piano for the musical number in between our talks) in sacrament meeting last week. A lady came up to us and she told us even though we were young, we spoke like we had "old souls". I found that kinda funny, but I thought that was pretty cool.

Thanks for sending the Sinterklass package! Elder Rowley and I both loved it! It made our day.

And yes, I am doing fine with my blankets and sheets. It is getting colder, but I just sleep with my thermal on or one of  my sweaters on top and then pajama pants on the bottom. Thanks for thinking about that though! I seem to be doing good.

There is one thing you could do for me. We have a very nice lady who fixes our pants whenever they rip. (For some reason or another, they always seem to do). She actually loves doing this for us and she always ask us if we need anything sewed. So, I was rather clumsy one day and I missed a step getting off someone's porch and I tore a hole in one of my "lightest black" pants right on the knee. Now this lady is a pro at fixing pants. She totally fixed the hole in my pants....BUT even pros make mistakes. She was fixing my pants and she got glue on my pants. She told me that she felt horrible and that she would buy me new pants. I told her to do no such thing because I had so many other pants. Would you let me know if my pants have a warranty?

So you want some more pictures, eh? How about this: Can I mail you my SD card after new year and then you can have all the pictures you want off of it? That would be great because that would be a lot easier that having to attach my the pictures in an email. I'll plan on doing that. I'm excited for you to get them!

We were really busy this week. We taught about 4 lessons a day and every day we had dinner appointments. We were able to teach 29 lessons this week. I love the opportunity to be a missionary in such a great area with great members.

Elder Rowley and I have come up with a "method" for us to be successful missionaries. Our goal is always to teach at least 20 lessons per week. (When we weekly plan the goal is always higher.) We have found out that in Troutdale, Oregon, teaching 20 lessons can be done. If you break it down per day that's 3 lessons a day if you wanna get 21 lessons in a week. When Elder Rowley and I teach 6 lessons (1 a day, not including p-day) for dinner appointments there are 15 appointments left. If you teach 2 lessons on p-day (not including the dinner because we don't always have dinner with members on p-day) that's 13 lessons left. Then all you have to do is teach 1 lesson with an investigator and 1 lesson to a less active member a day. Then we have 21 lessons!

Even though we have that "method" it doesn't always work out perfectly. But for the past 7 weeks we have been able to teach 20+ lessons a week because of this method. We also always make sure to do the 13 steps for daily planning because the planning we do each night, helps us plan our whole week out. Those 13 steps for daily planning are such a blessing. All this success we are having is not because Elder Rowley and I are such great missionaries though, it is because the Lord has provided us with his children to teach. This area is a great area with people wanting to be taught. I really do truly love the people I serve in Troutdale.

If there is anything I can do for you, let me know!

Love,

Elder Trevor A. Morgan

Mom note: 
An LDS missionary's job is to teach people about Jesus Christ and preach his gospel. This is why tracking "lessons taught" is so important to Elder Morgan. He is seriously engaged in this effort, and feels accountable to the Lord for his time. Missionaries are a tool whereby the Lord can share his message with his children on earth.  Missionaries will teach basic principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ including faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, repentance, and baptism for the remission of sin. They also teach many other principles to  investigators and  members of the church who desire to know more about the gospel of Christ. 

Hey There! 12/05/2011

Dear Family,

This week has been another great week!

This week has been full of amazing blessings from the Lord. Elder Rowley and I are so blessed to be in such a great area with such great members and investigators and even less actives. They are all willing to listen to the Gospel and they try to "liken" the gospel into their lives. This week we were able to teach a very good amount of lessons for our area! We reached our goal with "members present," "lessons taught to recent converts and less active members," and got close to our goal in other lessons. This week we taught 21 lessons, which I love because so many people want to hear about the gospel that truly does bless their lives.

This week I have been trying to develop more charity for those I teach. Elder Rowley and I were studying in *PMG  and we learned the best way to develop charity for those you teach is by praying, even pleading for them in prayer. So, I tried it. It's amazing! It really does work! I prayed sooo much for the people I teach. I really love them all. It's amazing to see that even though I am on a mission teaching others about the gospel, there is not a day that goes by that I am not learning and growing myself.

This week we had many wonderful experiences. I'd like to share a few with you. Elder Rowley and I were helping a family pick some carrots out of their garden and this lady drives up into the family's driveway. We both said hey to the lady and then she went on inside. Then Sister Taylor (a women who lived in the house) came out and said that this lady had the faith and she needed a blessing. Elder Rowley and I were more than happy to give this lady a blessing. Apparently, this lady was hired by the Taylor family to help clean the house, but today she wanted to stop by a little earlier to say that she recently fell down her stairs and couldn't clean today. Sister Taylor then boldly asked her, "Do you have the faith to be healed?" She replied something like, "Oh yes, I love Jesus!" This lady is a very energetic person. Anyway, Elder Rowley and I then proceeded to tell her what a blessing entails and why we can do this. After the blessing she asked us, "Did you Elders feel the warm, soothing, feeling?" We told her that was the Holy Ghost. She knew it was. She was so happy after the blessing and said she would never forget this experience.

Another great experience we had was with a family that has accepted a baptismal date on the 17th of December. I love this family. They have such a yearning for the gospel. Lately, we have been meeting with them every week with the Elders Quorum President, Brother Trujillo. Elder Rowley and I stop by a few times each week to leave a short lesson with them, and to check up on them. They came to our Christmas party and they loved it! Unfortunately, this week the whole family didn't come to church, because apparently the parents forgot to set up their alarm. 

The 14 year old daughter woke up on Sunday, got ready to go to church,  and then she realized her parents weren't awake. She went next door and asked Brother Trujillo's family if she could get a ride with them to church, and they said yes. She really has a lot of faith to do that. Whenever we teach her family, she is always the first one to do the reading, to keep her commitments and she was the first to say that she wanted to be baptized. The parents of the family really do want to come to church (the whole family came the week before) but they just didn't. What an example this 14 year old girl has set for her family.

Another great moment we had this week was we had a ward Christmas party! The preparation for the party was amazing. The party went great! Elder Rowley and I made sure to invite everyone we could. We had MANY less actives and investigators come. We made sure to talk with them all and see how they were doing. It seemed like they all had a great time. Elder Rowley and I had the opportunity to help with the music part of the program a lot. Elder Rowley played the piano for almost all of the songs, I was able to sing "Gesu Bambino," and we both were able to sing in the ward choir. The Christmas party was one of those moments on my mission where I just had joy. I knew this was where I was supposed to be.

We then had a great testimony meeting. This ward is amazing. They have great testimonies about the gospel of Jesus Christ and missionary work. This ward really does care about its missionaries and missionary work. We were able to have some investigators who came to the Christmas party come to church also. Specifically two of those investigators, Ben (8 years old) and his west African grandmother Theresa (realllllyyyy old) came to church, which was great. Theresa just listens and sometimes adds in her thoughts. She in a really lovely lady. She is hard to understand sometimes, but I have almost gotten used to her thick accent. After church when I was talking to Ben, he was asking me what certain things were on a table in the church. He then takes a tithing slip and says to me, "what is this again?" I told them, "it's a tithing slip and I explained what you do with it..." He then cuts me off and puts it in his pocket. He tells me, " I know what you do with it...I learned it in class." That was an awesome experience for me. I don't know what he's gonna do with it, but maybe he'll pay his tithing. We haven't even talked about tithing with Theresa and Ben at their home!

These have been wonderful experiences for me! It has been another great week.

Thank you for all your prayer! I love you guys!

Love,

Elder Trevor Morgan

Note from Mom: *PMG is the book Preach My Gospel. This book is a resource a guide for missionaries, available to everyone.