February 13th, 2012

Hey everyone!  Well it sure has been cold here in Texas these past few days.  It's been in the low 40's and sometimes high 30's.  It’s that humid cold so it feels colder than it really is and especially when the air is hitting u on a bike.  We have just been working hard this week knocking on doors and talking to everyone.  We find some pretty interesting people.  A lot of people these days when we ask them if they are religious they just say they are spiritual and have their own beliefs about God.  It's weird hearing everyone's different beliefs.  It’s funny they just think that they know everything and that everything they believe is true.  The people with their own beliefs are all the lazy ones that think they can just do whatever.  There is really only 1 person we are working with and it is this lady named Wanda.  We've met with her 3 times this week and are making a little bit of progress.  It was weird cuz it was like around 8 pm and we were just knocking on doors in this dark apartment complex and we saw this lady in another building up on the 3rd floor balcony smoking.  So usually we just wouldn’t leave where we were and try to go talk to her.  But we decided to and so we were down on the ground and started to talk to her while she was clear on the 3rd floor.  We talked for like 5 minutes and then we asked if we could come up and she let us so that was cool.  She has a kid and is divorced and she is also from Canada like my companion so they had stuff to talk about and we have developed a pretty good relationship with her.  We hope that she wants to keep meeting with us.  We took a member to our last lesson with us and it went really well so we are having a dinner with her at his house this week so hopefully it turns out.  We taught a lot of lessons this week but just had nobody at church or anything so oh well we will keep trying.  One of the kids in the ward just got his call to the St. George Utah mission so that was cool.  He's up at BYU right now but I met him when he was home for Christmas break.  His name is Kirk Bassett so if he somehow ends up in Beaver u will have to say hi to him.  The bishop wants the priest age young men to go out with us to see what it’s like teaching.  So starting this week every Tuesday one of them will go out with us for a few hours so it should be pretty fun.  We are also doing a presentation for the relief society on missionary work in a few weeks so we've got to prepare for that.  So that’s pretty much it for the work for this week.  Thanks for the Valentines package u sent me I got it on Saturday.  I really like the truffles.  Sounds like dad had a pretty fun birthday!  Red Lobster sounds really good!  I remember eating there before I went into the MTC and that is crazy that was 5 months ago.  I'll be at a year in no time.  I’m glad u finally got some snow there and not just cold.  I’m sure mom enjoys watching Ava.  I hope Chantel is able to pass all of her tests and be done with school soon.  I hope I will be able to handle the heat here because I have heard it’s pretty bad.  I laugh at everyone now in their huge winter coats and scarves and gloves but I’m sure they will be laughing at me in the summer haha.  I’m glad Grandma and Raymond are getting close with their mission papers it will be interesting to find out where they go.  Well that’s all I’ve got for this week.  Have an awesome week and I love you all a lot!  Next time u send something to me if u can just throw in a Beaver County Journal so I can read a little of what’s up in Beaver I would sure appreciate it - thanks!:)

Love, Elder Morgensen

February 6th, 2012

Hey Everyone!

Well I hope you enjoyed the Super Bowl, cuz I didn’t (haha).  It was really tough knocking the whole time that the game was on.  I’m glad u told me who won.  I was wondering because I think the whole fourth quarter nobody opened the door so we didn’t get any updates.  Well I’m glad it was a good game and it wasn’t boring.  I bet the patriots coach was pretty mad about it.  Well dad, I hope you have a happy 50th birthday on Saturday!  That’s pretty cool cuz you still look really young!  Make sure to do something fun this weekend.  My new companion is pretty cool.  He is from Canada it’s a town called Cartson and I think there is a temple there.  It’s not deep into Canada and only like 20 minutes from the border.  His name is Elder McMurray.  The guy we have been working with called and dropped us yesterday he just said he isn’t ready to give some things up like alcohol and smoking and getting married.  He sounded completely different on the phone from when we meet with him.  I think he just hit a low point or maybe a little bipolar.  So I talked to him for a good ten minutes on the phone and just told him to keep thinking about it and we plan to stop by and see him sometime soon and see how he is doing.  He pretty much denied everything he had told us before that he knew he needed to change but now just wants to live his life how he wants to so we will see what happens with him.  We have just done a lot of knocking this week and have found a few pretty cool people that we hope we can meet with again.  It seems like u can get in a door and teach an awesome lesson and they feel the spirit but after a day or two they don’t really want u to come back.  So hopefully all of our appointments work out.  We had stake conference yesterday and it was really cool.  We had a member of the first quorum of the seventy there and he gave a really good talk.  I love hearing from the general authorities.  Well that’s pretty much how the work has been going.  It’s been rainy and cold this week so we've gotten pretty wet on the bikes a few times.  It’s really not fun when it rains haha.  That’s exciting that Ava will be getting blessed soon.  Will most of the family come up for that?  It sounds like life is pretty normal there.  Have you gotten any snow lately or is it still just cold?  Is my car still in the garage?  Courtney it sounds like your b-ball game is really improving and I’m excited to watch ya play when I get back.  It sounds like Candace has been hitting the weight room to get ready for softball, that’s really cool.  I’m sure you will make the team and I will be excited to hear about the games.  Well family I love ya and take care! :) say hi to chan, trev, and ava for me.

Love, Elder Morgensen 

January 30, 2012

Hey Everyone!

Well we got transfer calls last night and my companion is getting transferred down to the border.  So I will be getting a new companion on Wednesday.  It seems like when you get used to a companion they leave or you leave (ha ha).  But oh well I'm glad I am staying in the area--it's really nice and I like it a lot.  The members here are cool they just need to give us referrals (ha ha).  But we called the cop guy and talked to him for a bit and it turns out that he lives outside of our area so we just are going to call him into the office as a referral and they will call the missionaries that cover his area.  So I hope that something happens with that.  But the investigator we are working with is pretty cool.  He came to church again yesterday and we didn't know it was fast Sunday because i guess Stake Conference is the next week.  But it turned out good. There wasn't any crazy people that got up.  All he really has to do to get baptized is get married.  We took him to a baptism a few days ago and he really liked it.  The only problem is that his girlfriend doesn't want to join the church so she is kind of a hinderence.  They both come to church but they won't stay for the 3 hours because she just wants to leave after Sacrament. So we are going to have to work with the two somehow.  So that's how that is going.  One night at dinner this week we were just getting to know the family and I told him I was from Beaver and he said that he knew someone on his mission that was from Beaver. So I asked him where he served and he said in Italy.  So I was like, oh that's my uncle Tyler Black (ha ha).  They weren't companions but he said that he knew him so I thought that was cool. The guys last name is Halverson. I actually got a letter from Tyler this week so when I write him back I will make sure to tell him that and see if he remembers him.  And thanks dad for my line of authority--it's good to have.  Thats really cool that Tyson is going to Peru.  That sounds really fun!  It sounds like you had a fun trip over to see them.  Sounds like the monkey's had fun watching that basketball game. I remember going to those EFY things. They were always really fun and the speakers are always awesome!  I'm glad they liked it. Wow time is just flying by--it will be the Summer in no time!  That's really cool that dad is turning 50 really soon--you will have to do something fun for his birthday.  It's crazy how the time flies. At the beginning of March I will have been out for 6 months! It's not a ton of time but it's a good chunk.  Well, I will talk to you all next week and let you know about my new companion!  Hopefully he is cool (ha ha).  Take care everyone. Love ya lots!  

Elder Morgensen

January 23, 2012

Hello Everyone,
Dad, that's good that your Patriots get to play the Giants in the Super Bowl again. Hopefully they can win this time--that's exciting!  We had something pretty cool happen last night. We were knocking this street and it was like 7:00pm so it was dark and we had this great conversation with this lady and her kids out on her front porch.  Her husband wasn't home so we couldn't go in but we set up a return appointment.  But when we were finishing up 2 cop cars rolled up and they got out and told us to come here.  The one was really nice and said oh hi elders haha  and the other guy was pretty big and was kind of standoffish and just didn't seem friendly.  So they just said that someone called us in but once they found out we were LDS missionaries then we were good to go.  They just ran our ID's and stuff and so we just chit chatted for a few minutes about our missionary work with them.  The not friendly guy left but the other guy stayed behind so we kept talk'n to him and said that growing up he had quite a few LDS friends and then like after 15 minutes of talk'n he finally admitted that he was actually a member and was baptized when he was 19 and even thought about serving a mission.  He said he didn't wanna say anything in front of the other officer cause I guess that guy is like really anti religion.  So it was cool talk'n to him. We got his info an  hopefully we can set up a time with him and then baptize his family! (ha ha) So even though someone tried ruining our night they sent us more missionary work to do (ha ha).  Then later on the street we talked to another one of those crazy non denom people for like 20 minutes.  She just kept trying to tell us that we are all saved by grace no matter what as long as we believe in Christ.  She just didn't understand anything we tried telling us.  Those people are impossible to talk to.  But we are working with this one guy.  He was a referral from another ward. I guess the missionaries there had taught him a few times and then he moved into our boundaries.  So we taught him and he came to church yesterday with his girlfriend so that was good.  He is a really nice guy and really wants to be baptized.  He pretty much can whenever he gets married or kicks out his girlfriend (ha ha).  But I can't remember if I told you but Roxanne dropped us so oh well.  I really hope Julie gets that job.  I actually talked to this member that took us around one night to some appointment's and he is from Monticello.  His last name is Anderson and I guess his dad is the Judge there and he said he knew the Lewis' so i thought that was cool.  I got the pics of Ava today--she looks really cute it looks like she got Trevor's eyes.  Courtney it sounds like you did good at your basketball game just keep playing hard and keep doing good in school.  And Monkey it sounds like you got a new boyfriend.  Courtney will have to keep an eye on you (ha ha).  You will have to let me know more next week.  Well that's all I got for this week. Glad you finally got some snow there (ha,ha).  Love you all very much. I will talk to you more next week!


Love Elder Morgensen

January 16, 2012

Hey Everyone!

Sounds like everything is going good!  As far as Roxanne goes she wasn't at our appointment on Saturday and she didn't come to church on Sunday and hasn't been answering our calls so thats kind of a bummer.  I don't know about these people sometimes its hard finding anyone that actually wants to change something in their lives.  It seems like everyone here is just content where they are.  The area is predominantly Catholic just by tradition so its hard getting into any doors.  But oh well we will just keep working hard and hopefully get a referral or two from the ward.  But the ward is really cool so thats a plus.  In fact I'm emailing on a members computer right now cuz the library is closed for Martin Luther king day so they are really nice.  Being around a bunch of dental students in the ward and eating dinner at their homes makes me want to do that.  It seems like a really good job.  But that's really cool about finding out all that stuff about Brigham Young--that's way sweet!  Sounds like football is underway. My companion is from Denver so I just told him that they lost (ha ha). I am going to try and scrape up a blank dvd from one of the members and put a short video on it from my camera. I filmed me opening my christmas presents so i was going to send that to ya with a few pics. But yeah, my companion is feeling better and am noticing that I can pedal easier on the bike (ha ha). But you will have to tell Tyson and Stephanie that I got their package and tell them thanks!  I will try and write them a letter when I get the chance.  I've been talking to Bryce and Josh and they seem to be doing really good where they are at so thats good.  But yeah, at the Christmas Conference I got a big envelope from Ginger and each of the primary kids had written a letter to me so that was really nice of her. So I thought I would write them back. I'm in the best time of the year to be on a bike that's all I can say.  I still get hot when I'm on my bike. I can't imagine how bad it would be biking in the middle of the summer--so hopefully I have a car in the summer (ha ha).  Everything is going good for me. It sounds like Dad is still giving awesome talks in church keep it up man! :)  Well we aren't really working with anyone new right now but we will keep looking.  But we do have this one thing on our phone and we can check the weather anywhere in the US and it sounds like its just way way cold there in Beaver (ha ha). Hopefully you are all enduring well.  Keep living right and the Lord will keep blessing you :)  love ya!

 

Elder Morgensen

 

Oh yeah and I watched a movie this week about the building of the Salt Lake Temple. It's really crazy what the early settlers went through to build it!  After 7 years of working on it they had to rip it up and start over after they found cracks in the foundation.  Just everything about that temple is mind blowing.  All the work that went into it is just crazy.  Glad I didn't have to build it (ha ha).

January 9, 2012

Hey Everyone!

Glad to hear that you're doing good! Roxanne is doing good. She came to church with us yesterday so this was her second time coming so that was good.  It was fast and testimony meeting and of course the weird people have to get up and start sobbing about their year and talk about a bunch of crazy things. Oh well, hopefully she will come next week for a regular meeting.  Because the first time she came it was on Christmas so it was just one hour and we pretty much just sang songs.  But the gospel principles class went well and hopefully she liked relief society.  When we asked her how she liked it she just said, "it was different".  She is used to those non denominational churches where it's like a rock concert so this is a big change.  But hopefully she will keep reading and progress.  But thats good to hear about Statton and Clayton. I can't believe that they are already home.  I'm glad they both had a good mission.  But the biking is going good. I'm already a lot more in shape when I ride so thats really good.  My companion was kind of sick this week so we didn't get to go out much so I did a lot of reading.  I pretty much read the whole missionary library except I haven't read through Jesus the Christ yet.  It's a really deep book.  And then I read another book that I think mom gave me its called "Believing Christ". It was really good as well.  I think you have the missionary library because I think I have seen your copy of Jesus the Christ on your nightstand.  But the others are True to the Faith, Our Heritage, and Our Search For Happiness.  I'm not sure if you have those ones and if you don't you should get them; they are really good. I really liked reading them.  That will be tough for Chan to be away from Ava while she finishes up school.  Bryce, James and Josh are all doing good. I write to them quite a bit!  They all seem to be really strong missionaries!  As for the Monkey's I'm really jealous that you can play Battlefield 3 and I can't (ha ha).  I will have to play it when i get home.   Wow, Courtney thats sounds like a really good basketball game.  Can't wait to watch you when I get home! It sounds like you did really good!  Thanks to the monkey's coaching of course (ha ha).  Well family love you tons and take care! :)

Love

Elder Morgensen

January 2, 2012

Hey everyone!

Well it sounds like you all had a fun break and a good New Year's celebration.  I would have really liked to have gone snowboarding (ha ha)  but mine was still pretty good.  I bought me and my companion a 5 dollar shrimp platter at Walmart so we stayed up and ate shrimp, Christmas candy and watched "The Testaments".  It was pretty fun.  I'm sure dad is really enjoying football season on his new big screen TV (ha ha).  I'm sure the playoffs are good and the superbowl is just around the corner!  Well, I will be able to remember 2012 as the entire year I was on my mission.  Missionary work should get interesting at least by the end of 2012, with Mitt Romney probably running against Obama (from what I hear he is looking like he will be the Rep. candidate) and then supposibly it will be the end of the world (ha ha).  So I will be looking forward to that.  But the work here is going pretty good. We are teaching a lady named Roxanne.  She is probably mid 30's and is divorced with two boys-- one is 9 and the other is 2.  She came to church on Christmas but texted us yesterday and told us she wasn't able to come.  But we are working with her and hope that she continues to progress.  Dad thats really cool that you are getting into some geneology.  I'm sure it will be really interesting what you dig up about your ancestors--that would be really interesting to know.  Plus being able to take those names to the temple will be really cool.  And as far as the bike goes I'm definately getting more used to it but it will probably take a few more weeks until my legs get in better shape (ha ha).  But my new companion is pretty cool; we get along well.  Thanks mom for sharing that article in the Ensign. I will have to find it when I get back and read through it.  I'm sure you really enjoyed your break and probably don't want to go back to school.  But it will be summer vacation in no time.  As far as new years resolutions I haven't really made any except to just work hard. Well, I'm glad that you all had a fun break and New Years eve.  Well, Monkey's just keep up the good work in school, you will have to let me know if you get strait A's for the second quarter.  I love you all a lot and I am glad to hear everything is going well! :)

 

Love, 

Elder Morgensen