Hello There!!! 7/30/2012

Hey there family!!!

This week has been another GREAT week in the Oregon City 3rd Ward.

Missionaries have many wonderful experiences happen to them, but his week just seemed to be an all around great week. This week Elder Quinton and I were able to reach a few of our goals and beat some as well.

Our opportunities to teach are growing. I know that comes from finding as much as we can when we have time. Elder Quinton and I have found success from our area book and prayerfully looking at who we should visit. We were able to pick up a new investigator from that. We also strive to "teach when we find and find when we teach". When we go to some lessons nearby, we will walk to those lessons because we know there will be some people on the streets.

A few weeks ago we were street contacting and we ran into this man named Ryan. We shared our message and he was interested. Even more so he said he thinks he was a member and he wanted to come back to church, but he wasn't quite sure if he was a member or not because he thinks his parents left the church. We gave him the missionaries phone number for the area he lived in and I'm not sure if he was a member or not, but now the missionaries are teaching him! I have a personal testimony that street contacting and tracting is worth our time, even more than just that story.

We also have found a few less active members who were not on record that we are beginning to teach due to tracting, even "country tracting". Elder Quinton and I decided we would tract out in Beaver Creek. It is a lot more open and has farms, but we were able to find a new family to teach. The husband is a L.A. member but is eager to meet with us. The wife and kids are not members and we don't know too much about them, but we are excited to work with the whole family.

This week Elder Quinton, Debbie (our investigator), Bro. Westover (member) , and myself fasted for Debbie knowing what to do with her job situation. I know the adversary wanted us not have this fast. In just one day Elder Quinton and I were given 24 oatmeal raisin cookies, 20 dollars for lunch, and 48 eggs and 2 loaves of bread! We never get offered that much food in one day, especially when fasting!

The day previous we had a lesson with Debbie and she was talking about how she didn't know what to do with her job situation. Interestingly enough Bro. Westover asked us if we all would like to fast for Debbie (Debbie being included in this fast) and then meet the next day and conclude it. At the first lesson we of course talked about what a fast is and then we talked about how fasting and prayer go right along with each other. Elder Quinton and I actually prepared to talk about prayer that day. The Lord works in mysterious (but amazing) ways. At the last lesson, we talked about Alma 17, and how fasting and prayer (among others things) was how the Lord blessed them and gave them courage to face whatever trials they went through. It was a great fast. We all grew spiritually from it and we know God will bless Debbie is her job situation. He already is beginning to.

Thanks for all that you guys do for me!

Love,

Elder Trevor A. Morgan

HOWDY! 7/23/2012

Hey family!

This week has been a other great week in the OC! (not Orange County, but OREGON CITY!) Elder Quinton and I have been working really hard to try and teach as many as possible. Missionary work is missionary work. It doesn't matter if we are bringing less actives back to church or inviting anyone into the fold. We have been promised from C.Scott Grow a member of the Quorum of the Seventy, if we spend 50% of our time working with less active members and 50% of our time with investigators, we will have more baptisms. While we haven't seen any baptisms, Elder Quinton and I are positive the work that we are doing is showing our faith to get those baptisms. They might not come at the time I'm here, but they totally could though. As long as we are doing all that we can, we are doing what the Lord asks of us. Elder Quinton, and I were at a meeting with other missionaries, the stake presidency and President Ward (one of Pres. Morby's counselors). President Ward asked Elder Quinton and I what our secret was in teaching so many lessons. We told them it was the coordination the ward had with their missionaries (us).

The ward is 100% behind us. We did have to earn the wards trust, but once the ward is behind missionaries, they give us referrals, (less active and non member), they treat us nice, give us great dinners and the work increases! Elder Quinton and I do work very hard, but it is partly because of the ward too that we are teaching and having success. We haven't had any baptisms, but there are some we are teaching who are close. (We even have one with a date right now).

Missionary work is hard. I'm not perfect, I make mistakes. I strive to be obedient, but I'm not always. I want to be, but sometimes I let the my body win instead of my spirit. A common phrase in missionary work is, "Do the hard things". I'm really learning what that means. Self mastery, it's hard, but everyday I'm working on it. Life is about progressing, but not at the rate we want, but the rate our Heavenly Father wants us to be at. I know I can always do better. But I am glad for all the hard work Elder Quinton and I put in. Right now Elder Quinton and I are leading the numbers in our zone. That's great, but we always can be doing better. Missionaries never want to plateau. Once we think were good enough, or we know everything, that's where pride kicks in.

Missionaries teach and testify, not bash. (this is how I'll start my story)

Elder Quinton and I picked up 2 new investigators, Sacha and Jeffery, who live in our apartment complex (well, Sacha does, Jeffery is just friends with him.) We have got to know them pretty well. They are both music majors at Clackamas Community College (C.C.C.). Sacha is Evangelical and Jeffery is Nazarene. They have shown us around the music building (it's cool cause the college is in our area) and we have talked about missionary work and more gospel topics. They want to hear the discussions, They are kinda familiar with the Book of Mormon. They have read a bit of it. We asked Sacha at C.C.C. if he had any questions about our religion so that we can focus on those. He went off on how we can't hold the priesthood and about Melchizedek and the Aaronic Priesthood. He did it as nicely as he could but you could tell he had some passion behind what he was saying. We told him very nicely that we could totally talk about that at the next lesson. He had some interesting questions that, at that time, I didn't know the answers too. I never really thought about exactly what he was saying, I just knew that the Priesthood was restored and it was true.
I am grateful for the scriptures. I am grateful for the Bible, Book of Mormon, and Doctrine and Covenants. They all explain the priesthood so well. They all witness of the truth. We just have to find it through scripture study and prayer. I know the Priesthood was restored to the Prophet Joseph Smith.

Love,

Elder Morgan

Hey Family!

This week was another great week in Oregon City!

I really enjoyed the opportunity to have Zone Conference this week. I really appreciated the teaching about repentance and baptism. I even took the time to memorized some scriptures, because I thought President Morby asked us too, but apparently we didn't have to. However, I am very grateful that I did because they came in handy later in the week.

Last week Elder Quinton and I were visiting a less active/part member family. When we set up this appointment, the wife (L.A. member) asked us what we would be teaching. We asked her what she felt should be taught. She said baptism. We were excited to go over and talk with the whole family. Elder Quinton and I planned for our meeting with the family and decided to teach lesson 3 in Preach My Gospel: The Gospel of Jesus Christ. We spent some time preparing to teach, and I must say that I am really glad Elder Quinton and I both understand the purpose of "teach people, not lessons" because we definitively had to tailor lesson 3 to what the non-member father had questions and concerns about. Anyway, I am truly grateful to have memorized a good bunch of those scriptures that we talked about for zone conference because they directly answered some of his questions, but even more, I am grateful for the opportunity of doing the Lord's work.

I also really enjoyed learning about being a PMG missionary. I have decided to focus even more on PMG than I already have been. I have decided to continue my study of PMG but starting from the beginning. I am so grateful to have PMG. Even this last week , I have learned by the Holy Ghost more about "Our Purpose". As a missionary and as a priesthood holder, I truly have the authority from Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ to minister and even administer. I am an authorized servant of the Lord who holds His Holy Priesthood. The Authority I have received can lead to power. But I need to be worthy to receive that power. I am truly grateful that I am worthy. I am still imperfect, and I definitively make mistakes, but I know I am worthy to be a missionary.

I love the what Elder Bendar said. "Become a clean vessel". That is my goal. I'm never quite finished with that goal because it is always ongoing. But I really love the word "vessel". I am an instrument in the hands of the Lord. I am here on a mission so that I can teach and testify, but the Holy Ghost can bear that witness of truth.

I am grateful to be in the Oregon City 3rd ward. I know that where ever I am, there will always be someone who needs to hear the gospel so that the gospel can bring them a fullness of joy.

Love,

Elder Trevor A. Morgan

What do Mormon's value?

Hola!

Hey!

This week was another great week in O.C.! We were always busy because we had the opportunity to go to the Portland Temple on Tuesday and then to celebrate the 4th of July!

I love going to the Temple for many reasons. I love the look of the Portland temple. The grounds are very beautiful. All the landscaping is very green. Another reason I really like it is because about 3 months ago they put in the visitor center there. We now are one of a few missions to have a visitor center in our mission. The visitor center is A LOT smaller than the Nauvoo or Washington D.C. visitor centers, but it is amazing. The church has put great technology in the visitor center so that there are many videos to watch and TVs touch screens. There are touch screens about "Special Witnesses of Christ", The Book of Mormon and how its teaches the Gospel of Jesus Christ, The Life of Christ, The Purpose of the temple, and there is a place where you can watch all of the mormon.org videos. You even use an iPad to click the one you want and then it shows up on the TV!

I also love the Temple because I can learn more about my purpose on earth and Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ's love for me and for everyone. I love just sitting in the celestial room and just thinking about my mission and about my life and how many things I am grateful for and what will happen next in my life. I'm so grateful for the prayers given for missionaries and many others that take place in the Temple. It's a special place. I'm grateful I can go in, just to feel peace and to be happy and feel God's love for me.

Another reason I like to go to the Temple is because that means that after the Temple....we get to go to Deseret Book store! I didn't want to buy much, but I really wanted to buy the Book of Mormon Student manual. I heard it was a great read to read along with the Book of Mormon. I have learned so much from reading the student manual for the Book of Mormon....and guess what? I basically bought one of my textbooks for school cause that's the textbook for the Book of Mormon religion class at school!

Brother Wood, our Ward Mission Leader, then took us out to Panda Buffet! Sooooo goood....but I definitively ate too much...ha.

The 4th of July was great! we were told by President that we should not proselyte on the 4th, but if we had lessons we could teach them. If not, we were encouraged to spend the day with investigators. If you couldn't do that, we could spend the day with members. All our lessons canceled that day so we had no lessons. So it was basically another p-day!!!

Our District still decided to have district meeting, which was totally okay because the missionaries in my district our awesome! Elder Quinton and I are in charge of picking where we go for lunch after every D-meeting....so we went to Mike's drive in! We actually didn't get much because there were some members (the Smiths) who offered to give us lunch at their house and then to stay and play basketball and volleyball in their backyard. The Smiths are in my ward and they are super awesome! And, they have a sand volleyball court AND a basketball court in their back yard. Their house is HUGE! They are super, super nice to the missionaries, and really to everyone. After that we went to dinner at a member's house and then went to the Munoz's house for fireworks. The Munoz's are awesome. Their family is a combination of less active, part member, recent convert family...haha. Jimmy Munoz is our investigator. We are working with him to quit smoking, Max is the recent convert, Jody is Josh's wife who isn't a member and the rest of the family: Tamara(mom), Jaime(dad), and Josh, are less active.

We could be out till 10:30 that night, so Elder Quinton and I went to this bluff for the last 20 minutes and we were able to see all the fireworks in the valley! We could even see the fireworks show in Portland! It was a really great 4th of July!

Love,

Elder Morgan

OPM Missionaries... We have left our nets.   2012

Training and team work!

Tired feet, happy faces!

No Crazy Storm in Oregon City!

So glad to hear all is well after the crazzy storms in VA and I'm glad you got your power back! Well, this week in Oregon City has been another great week!

There was this guy in our apt complex named Sacha who started talking to Elder Quinton when he was *backing me up (cause that's the rules). It was cool that someone actually said "hey" to us. Normally, as missionaries, we say "hey" to them. But apparently he wanted to meet with us for a couple of reasons.

1. He wanted to meet his neighbors... Us!

2. He had a couples of questions he wanted to ask us.

So we set up a time and it was great! On Tuesday, we met with him and he brought his friend to his appointment too. Their names were Sacha and Jeffery. They were about my age so it was neat to talk with them. They've met with missionaries before, but I heard it was not a good experience, but it was basically bashing (trying to prove ones point just using scriptures in a "scriptural argument"). Elder Quinton and I were wondering if our meeting was gonna turn into bashing. I am very opposed to bashing. Bashing does not bring the Spirit into lessons. In fact in 3 Nephi it says (this is Christ speaking), "the spirit of contention is not of me"....if only I would have thought about that scripture when at home before my mission...haha. But still, this lessons actually didn't turn into bashing. This lesson was a great lesson. Actually, Sacha and Jeffery are both music majors at the community college right near our apartments! We talked a bit about music which was great. We really got to know more about Sacha and Jeffery. They really just thought that the more they know about other religions, the smarter they would be and the more they could decide which religion was right for them. One was Evangelical and the other was Nazarene. We didn't have enough time to go into the restoration too much, but this lesson was great because we got know who we were teaching, we got to set expectations about what missionaries do, and they said that they do want to keep meeting with us and hear all of the discussions we teach. Another cool thing is Elder Quinton and I always invite something for our investigators to do when we leave such as read the scriptures, or to read a pamphlet, but THEY asked US what they should read from the Book of Mormon. I was like...sweet. haha

Work is picking up in the OC 3rd ward which is great. We still need to get some more investigators, but we know that they will come. We have the faith that they are there, we just need to find them. We have developed a great relationship with the ward. This year **Youth Conference is called "The Rescue" (Trek). The Stake president asked the ward to invite 6 L.A. (less active) youth (1 from each quorum or class). We have been working with the YM (young men) and have helped them find about 3 L.A. YM to get to "The Rescue"...and consequentially they are coming back to church!

We have a goal each week to go tracting with the priests (age 16-18 YM) in our ward. We just made that goal and it is working...kinda. We had a time on Saturday set for 2 hours to go tracting with 2 of the priests. We picked up Max (a recent convert) and we went to Caesar's (a semi-less active) house to pick Caesar up BUT....he was asleep. We reminded him 2 days before that he would be going tracting with us. He was even excited. His mom told us how excited he was...but as teenagers do (guy teenagers especially) Caesar stayed up really late playing video games and then he slept in till 1:30... Before my mission, I would NEVER do that...I'd wake up more at 12:30 instead of 1:30...haha

One more thing that's not related to missionary work, but super cool.

OREGON STRAWBERRIES ARE SOOOOOOOO GOOD!!!!!

They are super sweet and they are only in Oregon because they go bad, I guess, pretty quickly. BUT THEY ARE DELICIOUS!!!

That's it. I'm glad you all made it through your crazy week in safety.

I love you guys!

Elder Trevor A. Morgan

MOM note:

*When missionaries back a car out of a parking spot, one companion drives the car and the other companion stands at the rear of the car to make sure the area is clear. Obviously, this is to cut down on accidents.

**Youth Conference for LDS youth is a gathering of teens ages 14 to 18 for the purpose have sharing a gospel centered experience. The conference is for multiple days and often held in the summer. The youth build friendships, provide community service, enjoy gospel instruction and share in faith promoting experiences.