One Year (almost) 9/4/2012

Hey FAMILY!!!

The last week Elder Quinton and I had to do missionary work together in the Oregon City 3rd ward was a great week. Elder Quinton and I both got transferred. He went whitewash training and I got assigned to be a trainer for the next 3 months. My new "greenie" (new missionary) is Elder Bishop...great name, right? I want to highlight a principle that I learned this week-- the reason we receive revelation and then I'll talk about training.

It was a Tuesday morning and Elder Quinton and I had planned to go street contacting for about 2 hours to find more and to teach more. This was a long two hours. We tried to talk to as many people as we could, but no one was out. Even though we were street contacting there were houses on this (usually) busy road that missionaries would be less likely to hit. I got the prompting to go knock on the doors. We weren't just limited to street contacting...we were FINDING. At first, I ignored it. Then, there was a second driveway entrance to this house. I got the prompting again and I decided to act on it. Well, no was at the door. In fact no one was at ANY of the doors. Elder Quinton only talked to about 2 people very briefly and had no responses at the doors. It seemed like we were just almost wasting our time. ( Even though I know we weren't....even if we didn't have this cool experience at the end.)

Well, somehow it was 12:00. That is when we wanted to eat lunch but we weren't even close to home yet. We were gonna call someone to pick us up, but right when we talked about it a car drove up and this 20 something year old driver. He asked if we wanted a ride. We said "sure!"He was telling us he was up here for work but he lives in Canby and he was driving home. We figured he was an *RM but his car smelled like cigarette smoke. No matter, he was super nice.

He asked us all about how the work was going in our area and how he served a mission about 3 years ago. He told us he got married 5 weeks later...and then got divorced 2 years later. He told us he wasn't really into to the whole religion thing right now, but he told us he loved his mission and whenever we talked about the work in Oregon City he was happy. It was his 24th birthday the day he picked us up and he didn't look at his birthday as a happy thing, but more as a depressing day. He told us he was a returned missionary and he served in the Denver Colorado South mission. I then thought (before I said it) "That's where MY SISTER served her mission" I then asked if he knew a Sister Morgan. His face lit up and said "yeah, I was her District leader!"

I then told him that that was my sister. We started laughing at how cool this situation was. I told him that think of the statistical probability of us meeting. I didn't tell him about the prompting that I had about knocking on the doors where there was no at home (or at least answering the door.) I didn't feel it was appropriate under the circumstances to tell him that it was God's will that we met, but I know he was thinking that.

I know that is where Elder Quinton and I were to be and he was the one we were to talk to. I don't know if our visit will have a life changing impact it will have, but I know that is where the Lord wanted us to be and that is who He wanted us to meet. We all need to act on the revelation or inspiration we receive in life because sometimes, even when it seems like it was a pointless thing to do, it has a purpose.

I am grateful for the opportunity to be a trainer. It's a blessing because I know that I am always learning. I know this won't be easy and it will be a challenge for me, but I know that when I ask for the guidance from the Lord on how to be a good trainer. He will help me. Elder Bishop is a great Elder. We are very different, but I strive to look at all the positives and not the negatives. He is very spiritual and that is very appreciated. He also thinks a lot which is a lot better that a missionary who doesn't put the effort of thinking about anything. I know that with the help of the Lord that he can grow from this experience and so can I. I know that this is a big task and I know that I need to have that perfect obedience, hardworking attitude, and become a master teacher. I strive to do those things every day. I know that if I give it my best, that the Lord will make all the difference. He will make Elder Bishop's and my own weaknesses strong if we humble ourselves and get lost in the work.

Thank you for all that you do.

Love,

Elder Morgan

Mom note:
*RM: returned missionary; someone who served a missionary for the LDS church.