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.