21 Dec 2009

Ahoj Vsichni!
Well i have some interesting news for you. My new companion is from Hungary!! Can you believe that!! His name is Starsi Horvath. He speaks decent english, fluent hungarian, and pretty fluent German. He has been a member of the church for a total of 3 years now!! He is the only active member in his family his parents are both non-members and claim atheism. He is a very spiritual individual. Czech for him is about as difficult for americans. Although he does catch onto the grammar a bit faster. I will keep things brief. I am really nervous for this transfer because i dont want to become lazy and lose sight of my goals and desires to finish strong. Satan has an interesting way of using such ideas as, "you have done so much now that your mission is already a success" or "Just hit the standards and that is enough." It scares me when those thoughts jump into my head, but it is a part of the "increasing of our faith" that we all must experience. So i am in 1Nephi 16 right now and i just read about when Nephi broke his bow. The whole family was being obedient and had kept all the commandments of the Lord. They were all doing what they should and had what they needed in life. In this great state of obedience and faith is when Nephi's bow broke. I find it interesting that even when we are doing everything and keeping all the commandments of the Lord that he still gives us trials so that we can truly show the power of our faith and bring our faith up to a new level. I look forward to talking to you all this week.

I love you family soo much!!! cant wait!!!
-- With love, Your son,Starsi Morgan Nowland

14 Dec 2009

Je to neuveritelny ze vanoce jsou jenom za rohem! zda se mi jakoby byly jenom vcera. Je mi to lito ze nemuzu byt s vami ale se mnou budete v duchu. A pres mobil.

It is unbelievable that christmas is only around the corner! It seems like it was just yesterday. Its sad that that i cant be with you but you will be with me in spirit. And through the phone!!

Your prayers for the Roberts worked because both of them came to church again this sunday. I was able to sit down with them and with brother Harf to talk to them about the importance and neccessity of baptism, before entering th temple, because here we only have primary and sunday school, and the topic of the sunday school lesson was temple work and ordinances for the living and the dead. Needless to say i was doing all that i could to fill them in so that they could understand. Afterwards i simply explained that the most important thing for them to do right now is to find out that Joseph Smith really is a prophet. Brother Harf was a Lutheran at first and converted when he was 18 years old. He bore his testimony about the need to be baptized twice because the roberts had been baptized as babies as are most people in this country. It really is very sad to me that nearly every person in this country was baptized as a baby, yet only 1 out of about every 50 people we talk to really believes in God, and only 1 out of about every 200 of those follows the catholic beliefs. These people are very confused about religion and God. It turned out to be a very good lesson. Brother Harf invited them to be taught at their home next sunday after church at 16:00. We now currently have three baptismal dates sitting in our area for january next year.
Well just for your information we just recieved our transfer fax today, and transfers will be on wednesday. And so the results are.....I am staying in Ceske Budejovice, and........hold on to your hats....! Im staying as district leader but i am going to be training a new missionary. I am really excited for this opportunity to raise up a missionary that will stand in my stead.

For christmas as of right now we have nowhere to go for dinner so we might just be doing our own thing. I would really like to give the new missionary an opportunity to see what czech christmas is like...Well see what we can work out.

I will be going into prague on wednesday to get trained and then to find who will be my companion.

The work is so much more fun when you are really giving your heart to it and forgetting yourself. I set a personal goal for myself for this last transfer. I want to truly become a Preach My Gospel Missionary before i leave. So i am going to be reading the book of mormon again from cover to cover and studying Preach my gospel from cover to cover. I am excited for what this transfer can be for me. I am excited for what this transfer can be for my companion, and also what it can be for this city.

Now time for questions:

What have you opened in your package so far? (as best you can remember) Laser pointer, socks, floss, toothbrush and tops, Step counter, pen, thats all i can remember.
What do you like best about your new city? It has a very pretty namesti area.
Have you taken pictures of your apartment yet? Not yet but i do have a few.
Have you given out the children's gifts yet? not yet im waiting until the branch christmas activity. We are going to have a white elephant gift giving party. In czech it is called the Bily Sloun.

It will be so fun to be together. Whitney and i will have a lot to discuss and a lot of stories to share. Im looking forward to seeing you whitts.

With love, Your son, and brother
Starsi Morgan Nowland

7 Dec 2009

Ahojte vsichni!
Family, this week was a fun one i have a few cool experiences to share.

Elder Pearson set a goal to get up every morning at 5:30 to study Czech. I decided to do it with him. I would have to say that even though that is a very cosmetic sacrifice it was a great help for us in seeing a raised amount of success. The Zone Leaders also came down for an exchange, it was a decent exchange. I felt a good amount of energy from them. They came in and went to work with us to find on the streets. I am very thankful that they came. While I was finding with Elder Mittanck, we contacted two men that we sat down with at our building and ended up inviting them to church. The basis of the lesson was to show the Lord that you want his help by coming to church. Well, here is the cool part. A day or two later these two men met another man, that was down on his luck, in a housing panelak. This man asked the two guys that we had contacted, named Robert and Robert, if they knew the address for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, they replied that they had just met missionaries from the church a few days before and that they were going to be going there for church on Sunday and that this man could go with them. All three of these men came to church and really felt of the spirit as missionaries and members bore their testimonies. One of the Roberts actually got up himself and bore a very appropriate testimony about the trials of life and looking to God for relief. Cool Experience number one.

Cool experience number two: I have been giving a lot of thought to how i can better allow the Holy Ghost to do all of the teaching in our companionship. I have felt lately that i have not been allowing him to speak but that instead i have been trying to do all the teaching myself. So after church on sunday our newest investigator came and sat down next to me while he was waiting for president to have time to meet with him. We just started talking to each other i asked him how he was feeling. He told me that he was lost in his thoughts about the difficulties he is having in his life. This is where the cool stuff happened. I felt impressed to begin talking to him about Matthew 6 where Christ talks about the Lilies of the field. After we read the passage, words began flowing from my mouth. I know that sounds a bit cliche but it is true. The thoughts entered into my head so smoothly, and clearly. Receiving the thoughts is one thing but moving them out into words is another. The thing was though that the thoughts entered into my head in czech. Therefore, they came out very fluently in czech as well. I felt very relaxed and comfortable. I was speaking fluently. It was amazing and he was taking in every word and i could see the words really making an impression on his mind. I cited scriptures and asked questions so easily. It was an amazing experience. The Holy Ghost really taught through me. It was a very spiritual experience.

We went to Prague to go to the turkey bowl( our Zone lost by one) and to go to Zone Conference (very spirituallly uplifting about giving three gifts to christ for the next three weeks, one gift every week. It relates to the frankincense, gold, and myrrh).

Question time:

Did you get your Christmas Package? yes
Have you started opening the gifts? yes
If so, are you having fun with it? you know it! thanks a bunch
Is it snowing? nope
What are some things you are going to buy for yourself from CR before coming home? Shoes, pictures, postcards

Do the Czech people do anything special for the Christmas season? We just had a big event on the town square where a massive three story angel came and blessed the city. Then, another normal sized angel zip-lined from the tall clock tower across the square to the town hall, dropping magic dust as it went.

Are there like Christmas concerts and do the village squares put up tons of Christmas lights, like Temple Square? There is an iceskating rink that covers a fourth of the square, and there are little decorations on the lamp posts. Also, a big chrstmas tree!!!
Well i must go now, im glad that i was able to write.
The mission is way more fun when you are having success and the only way to have success is to work hard, and work with the Lord.

Your son, Starsi' Nowland

23 Nov 2009

Hey family It has been a good week,

Heres what happened
At the beginning of this week we had a wonderful thing happen, we committed our investigator to be baptized. He accepted and now has a date for second of January! It was a really great lesson. The topic was receiving blessings from sacrifice. He is a really great young man and will make a great priest. We are also teaching his family, which consists of his Father and younger brother. They are a really great family So our meeting with him went over really well, when we committed him to baptism he was a little nervous but looked at us and said that he trusts us and will try hard to be prepared for the date. He reached his hand across the table and shook saying you have my word I set that as a date and do what I can to make it. It was a really cool experience.


Later in the week I went on exchanges with Elder Hill. It was awesome what happened with Elder Pearson because he was on exchanges with Elder Vivona, they went tracting on that first night they got let into a panelak and then into someone’s home and taught a lesson and the individual became a new investigator. The Cool thing is that this lady has a family that can also be introduced to the gospel! Elder Pearson was on cloud nine. Then the following day when the two were together again for district finding, they found and taught another new investigator! It was awesome! They were so happy.

On Saturday we baked up some banana bread and went out and paid a few visits to some of the Less-Actives in the city. It was a wonderful opportunity to serve these wonderful people. Best of all was that the two less actives that we visited and challenged to come to church actually came!! It was super.
As a district we put a big focus on finding and were able to find 9 new investigators as a district!!! It was a solid finding week but wasn’t solid with people at church. So we are going to continue building our areas and then push to get the new investigators coming to church! On sunday we went out to an investigators house that lives about 30 min away. Her name is Adela, and she restores old dilapidated books. We had a good meeting out at her house. She lives way out in the country but she is a great lady and repaired my scriptures for me because the pages came unsewn so she resewed them back in for me.
Take care this week and do something fun together while you are still empty nesters!!!--



With love,

Your son,Starsi Morgan Nowland

16 Nov 2009

Hey family!!!
You all sent such great letters this week. Thank you for that Here is what went down

I will not lie about the fact that we have been struggling with trying to find new investigators. We have had righteous desires and righteous actions towards trying to accomplish our goals, but we just haven’t been able to make the solid connection. I have been praying every night for increased faith with which the Lord might be able to work miracles. We have really been striving to talk with all of our progressing investigators about baptism inviting them to work with us toward a date of baptism. It was hard as we were striving to endure with patience the trials that the adversary kept placing in our path. Well, I am here to tell you that the Lord never loses! Out of nowhere an older investigator, that had been out of the country for a while sent us a text asking to meet. We meet with him and quickly found out that he had been humbled and had lost all motivation to strive for his life’s goals. He came to us looking for answers, so we told him that he needs to repent. It was so cool just like the apostles of old we said to him,” this is what repentance is and how we do it, you need to repent, and then you will find the joy that you once had swell back into your body. It was very powerful! We set up a meeting for two days later and taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We went through all the five steps that lead to eternal life, and then told him, “you are here right now at the step of repentance, we are going to help you to repent so that you can take the next step which is baptism by immersion and authority.” He accepted the challenge and is now working towards the 12th of December!

The Lord’s work will always go forward...”no unhallowed hand will stop this work from progressing.” Of that i am sure. We simply have to choose if we will be the ones to bring the work to light now in this time while we are here, or if we will grow lazy and leave it off for the next worthy soul. No matter what though this work will go forward.

Being a missionary is many things, it is hard, it is trying, and it is a learning process, but it is also rewarding, amazing, full of miracles, and up to this point it really has been the best two years (well year and some odd months). I am blessed to be here.

A little insight:
The main thing that i have really come to recognize is that with whatever we are doing, we need to always look for the fun in it. Everybody really only wants to be happy. It is what motivates each one of us to do what we do, to make the choices that we make. Too many people get lost in the things that bring very short temporary happiness, and ignore that thoughts that there could be something better; thats when people give up hope; that is what brings tears to my eyes...people without hope. So always look for the path that will bring greater happiness than you currently have. Always be open to inspiration.

Questions:
Have you had lots of snow? not at all yet
Take lots of pictures and especially of your new apartment ok? ill do my best
Are you close to a czech crystal store? (is that what it is called - the little glass sparkly beads for making necklaces) They are everywhere, i can go looking in one, i have never really been inside one yet. What can i get for you?
Enjoy this week family. Mam vas rad. I love you.
Remember be happy!--
With love,
Your son,Starsi Morgan Nowland

9 Nov 2009

Hey family, Ahoj Rodino!

So we had finding on the plan. We were feeling the burn of the previous days of finding. We had spent dedicated time out on the street looking for people that “had ears to hear” the message. We hadn’t seen very much success. It was hard, to continue talking to these people as our faith was taking hit after hit of, “No Time” “give me peace!”, and, “I’m hurrying.” We took some time to sit down and really talk about what was going on. We each shared our feelings. I then offered a true prayer for us where I truly begged the Lord to show us success, to lead us. We went out after that and talked with energy and fire, the denials and shut-downs didn’t stop coming, but we continued in the face of it. Then, finally, we stopped a young man and asked him to sit down with us for a few minutes. We had a great conversation with him. His isn’t a believer and isn’t terribly interested in the gospel and has his own beliefs, but he was willing to meet again two days later on Saturday. He showed up and we had a good talk with him about the gospel and its effect in our lives. We told him about the Book of Mormon and the history and knowledge that it holds, because he is really interested in the history of religions. It was a great blessing form the Lord to see him answer our prayers. We got a few numbers from some really great people and ended up meeting with two other individuals that will make great new investigators as soon as we can get them to find an opening in their schedules to meet with us again. I really saw an answer to our prayers. Answers come in all sizes and altitudes of amazingness, but they come.
The biggest struggle that the district is having right now is that we don’t have enough people that we can be teaching so we are going to put a bigger push on finding these next few weeks.
Successes are that we have been doing an extra contact game that involves a punishment of having to wear the same tie the next day if you don’t get all ten extra contacts. It has really helped us to contact couples and larger groups of people. If you come home with only 6 extra contacts then the next day you have to wear the same tie, and you have to get the 4 that you missed from the day before and then your 10 for that day.

We are getting there. Keep praying for us.

Stepanka Anderlova and Honza Barta were at church this Sunday. It was Wonderful!
Question time: How long will it take a package to get to you? im not sure maybe three weeks
Do you get to travel to Prague or is it too far away? It is about three hours by train, so not too often.
Take care this week! i love you so much!
Thank you for the letters, they are very motivating. you are the greatest!-- With love,
Your son, Starsi Morgan Nowland

2 Nov 2009

Hey family!
This week was a busy one, We moved out of our apartment temporarily. We are getting new windows put in so we had to make ourselves scarce. We are now bunking in with the other elders for at least a week! its exciting! We had Zone Conference as well which was welcomed and needed.

So I think the highlight of this week that you should know about is the experience that I shared in Zone Conference. So on Tuesday we had 6 lessons in the plan, three of which we had set up with members ready to come and assist us. We had a challenge given to us by our Zone leaders to teach 6 member lessons. We didn’t exactly hit that goal this week but…! We did hit the standards in member lessons which was so awesome! It is possible to hit standards in member lessons in every single city in this mission. We just have to be willing to put the work into finding solid investigators and then setting them all up for a time that our member can make. It takes a lot of work on our part as missionaries, but it is do-able! Anyways so on Tuesday as all of our lessons started falling through, I started to feel the pressure that would be put on us in the latter part of the week. Elder Pearson and I felt at the end of the day that we really needed to repent of the way that we handled the let down of all of our investigators falling out. This is the amazing part, so on Thursday we really pushed hard to have two meetings at least with members present. It was turning out to be hard as we had one investigator that said that he couldn’t meet as early as we had set up. The only time he could meet was at the exact same time as another meeting that was in another location of the city. We set it up anyways and I was just hoping and praying that we would be able to find two members to go with us. I texted our branch president, President Chrdle, and asked if he would be willing to go on real “Splits” with us. He very simple responded “ok.” You couldn’t imagine how happy I was. The only trick left was to find one other member that would be able to go with us. So I gave Brother Harf a call. He gladly accepted. Again my joy was full as I see our goals and dreams for this city become a reality. We ended the night with a prayer in our branch president’s basement. WE had two wonderful member lessons and another two set up for Saturday that went through without a hitch.

The Lord might work in mysterious ways, but he is always working and bringing to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.

Questions:Do you have Halloween in Czech? The members really are the only ones who will celebrate, and it is mostly just an activity night where the kids dress up but they dont go trick or treating.

Well i dont have anything else to say but, i love you and im excited that member lessons are starting to go here little by little.

Thank you so much for helping me with college stuff. Say hi to the band peoples for me, Say hi to rachel, blaine, erin, kailey, barrett, and evan for me if you see them. Oh and could you let me know when christopher is supposed to be getting home?
I love you soooooo much, Opravdu, ja nikdy nelham, ja vas mam fakt rad. Vy jste nejlepsi rodina na svete.--

With love, Your son,
Starsi Morgan Nowland

Pictures in Ceske Budejovice Oct 2009

Pictures Elder Nowland sent me this week
without any labels, so I am left to guess...

Sauerkraut and ?












Elder Pearson















The bus stop perhaps?













Elder Pearson, Elder Vivona (looks like he
needs a jacket), Elder Hill & Elder Nowland
are they trying to look like a boy band or what?

That pose has Elder Nowland's name written
all over it.

















Another castle...













Elder Nowland in a goofy face in front of the
castle with Elder Pearson













The city square of Ceske Budejovice












Fountain in Ceske Budejovice
















Could this possibly be the NORMAL
picture of Elder Nowland that I have
been begging for with his companion,
Elder Pearson. Wonder how long it
will be before I get another normal
face picture?













See I told you it wouldn't last long.
















The boy is NOT NORMAL















Need I say anything more. LOL.













Posin' again for the Missionary Boy Band -
who knows?

Until next time - and we never know what

that may bring now do we? But we wouldn't

change him for anything. Life is never dull in

the Nowland home.

He always makes fun of the antics of his

dad - the apple does not fall far from the tree
now does it?

26 Oct 2009

Hey family!

This week’s district meeting was a really powerful one. I don’t say this because I want to brag of myself, but actually because I want to brag of my companion. One evening we came home and we were feeling really good about the day’s activities. Elder Pearson after taking a seat began to share his thoughts out loud. Well before he knew it he had monologued for 40 minutes about the power of our calling and our reliance on the spirit. I felt super motivated by the words that he was sharing with me and felt that he should share those same words with our district. So I gave him about 30 minutes of our district meeting to expound upon those thoughts. He did an amazing job. Elder Hill later mentioned that it was one of the best district meetings that he has had on his mission.

We pushed really hard this week trying to get member lessons. Throughout the week we had a total of 6 lessons with a member present set up. Three of them fell through and caused for a scramble yesterday to make it happen. We came to the point where we had nothing else to do but hope that at one of our meetings there would be a random less-active friend of the investigator there that we did not know about. Even though the standard was not reached, we did see an increase, and that increase is our motivation this week to really make it happen.

This next week should be great the Zone Leaders challenged us as a companionship to get 6 member lessons, so that is what we are going to do. The district goal for the end of this week is to have had 8 member lessons and 4 people at church. Hold your thumbs for us, it is going to be a wild ride!

Now for questions:

It looks like it has been kind of rainy, is that correct? yes
Has it already started snowing? a little but then stopped
I noticed that Elder Hill got a New Missionary - what is his name? Vivona
Where is he from? Indiana
What is your direct address? Dukelska 46, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
Do you have a mailbox? nope
So are you getting settled in your new city? yeah its great
Is it challenging because of the beer production? a little but not a lot
Are the people harder to teach? the same
More receptive than in other cities? nope
Struggle with the Word of Wisdom? always
Is your comp fired up about being there? you bet ya
How long will it take to get a package to you? maybe three weeks possible 4
Do you have any investigators getting close to baptism? 2 are getting close to receiving a date
Are the members supportive of the missionaries and do they get involved with the work? a very very little bit....but it is starting to get better, we had three member lessons this week. we are going for 8 total as a district though
I love you all and am thankful for what you have done to help and motivate me
You are truly the best parents that i could have had.--
With love,
Your son,
Starsi Morgan Nowland

19 Oct 2009

A Waffle Fest before he left the Mission Office in Prague - notice the goofy face...lol














He always talked about being so tired at the
end of every day. But he says there is no
greater feeling than being spent at the end
of a day in the service of the Lord.
What a priceless picture.
















The sleeping picture was sent to me by Elder and Sister Robbins. They are a senior couple serving in Prague. Elder Nowland has grown very close to them. I am glad they sent me this picture with them.






They all went on a vylet (day trip) on their P-day to Knezi Hora,
which is right behind the castle, this the place where on
July 24, 1939 the country of Czechoslovakia was dedicated to the preaching of the gospel by
Elder John H. Widstoe. Elder Russell M. Nelson returned to this same spot in 1990 and offered a prayer of thanksgiving and rededication. Very appropriate that the name of the mountain is Priest Hill.












This is a picture of the Zone in Prague before
Elder Nowland left this past week to serve in
his new city of Ceske Budejovice.












Now in the city of Ceske Budejovice on P-Day.


Elder Nowland, Elder ?, Elder Pearson, Elder Hill (if you know the mystery Elder please let me know)

.....

.

Elder Nowland and Elder Pearson

Hiya Family!

I'm now in Ceske Budejovice serving as the district leader!

We traveled in on a train! It was great.

I have come to realize that this is definitely not going to be just a walk in the park. We are going to be walking in the park nearly every day to find the investigators that this area needs. In all actuality, I’m really excited to be able to work here in this city because there is a big need for member lessons and people at church. These are our two biggest focuses. The district has set a baptismal goal of 4 for this transfer and I really feel that if we put the work into it, it will happen. The only thing I’m afraid of is the human factor. I have a really comforting confidence that the Lord can help us find that many people.

In district meeting this week we talked about Moroni and the title of liberty. What he did has become our motivation. We got some old proselyting shirts and put them on, then we rent them off of our bodies and we are going to make our titles of liberty out of them. It was a lot of fun. I took a few pictures as the Elders were renting. We are going to hang a flag up in each apartment, in the building and in branch President Chrdle’s home. It went over really well. Because we have such young missionaries we are having the “Polar Bear” (a training where we apply practical missionary finding methods into czech). This past one we had, we broke down “the contact” and practiced the different parts like in football how one player runs down between two rows of players breaking through the pads that the players are holding; except we had one missionary contacting through three other missionaries. The missionary was not allowed to move onto the next contact until he had accomplished his task with the first.

I am really excited for this next week because we already have four member lessons set up for Tuesday, with about 9 lessons total in the plan. We double booked two 1 hour blocks and got a member to come to that hour. Sister Kalenska and President Chrdle are the members that are helping us. We did a lot of calling! We called all former investigators that looked to have any potential, and contacted as many of our current investigators as we could. There are 2-3 investigators that we are already teaching that are looking really good for making progress towards a baptismal date.

This is a very beautiful city. I’m excited.

We went on a vilet (day trip) today to an amazing Castle Called Hluboka we got some fun pictures!

Ill post them as soon as possible!Question time:We noticed you finally had to use some of your money from your account what did you buy? Two white shirts a thicker coat (it is sooo cold here.....and rainy)Do you have a lot in common with Elder Pearson? we both like to laugh and have good success. He is really easy going. We both like to be goofyDo you think you will see his dad while you are there? Probably not, his dad is in RussiaWas it hard to leave Pres and Sis Slovacek? yeah, but i'll be fine. It was hard to leave PragueWhat did they tell you when you left? "You had better have success down there!" ...Seriously thoughDo you think you will stay in Ceske Bud until the end? AbsolutelyWill you take pics of the apt there? yup remind next week though just in case.....hee heeWhat did you think of Conference? Elder Holland's talk? conference was sooo nice it was a great booster to get me going again. Elder Holland and Andersen's talks were my favorites!Well that is all i have for this week. I love you and will talk to you next week. Make sure not to spend too much money on the christmas package. if anything send stuff that will be great for little gifts to children that dont make too much noise. So i can use them in sacrament. We have a lot of little kids in our branch.

Thanks a ton!!

Ahoj! --With love,

Your son,Starsi Morgan Nowland

10 Oct 2009

I am going to make a quick apology for the length of this letter, but because of conference our time has been cut short today. I wanted to let you know a few things though, and answer some of your questions.I am so glad to hear that things with work are going reasonably well. I don't remember having a single tornado watch the whole time that i was there in Georgia. I hope that everything turned out all right and that everyone is safe and healthy.

Conference so far has turned out to be amazing! it is full of great talks covering concerns that we as missionaries hear on a daily basis. It will be wonderful teaching with the talks once they come out in the Liahona. We have been spending the past week getting transfers all figured out. Otherwise, I will be going to a southern city called Ceske Budejovice i will be a district leader and will be follow-up training Elder Pearson (his father is the General Authority).

As for the questions:

Did you laugh at that poster of Barrett and Evan? Yes i did it was perfect! thank you so much for doing that for me.

Did you enjoy your package? Absolutely, and i am still enjoying it! Im actually wearing the tie today!

Elder Briggs hasnt had grits since he left home and was in heaven when he ate some.

Thank you family for all that you do, the loving kindness that you have shown unto me will be with me for all eternity.

As parents you really were consistent in raising me just as Elder Bednar spoke about.

Thank you.

I am learning so much and am thankful that i am out here. I am truly where the Lord has always desired that i be at this time in my life.--

With love, Your son,Starsi Morgan Nowland

26 Sept 2009

This picture is from a Young Adult Family Home Evening with one of the Senior Couples Serving in the Czech Republic Mission - Bro. and Sister Robbins.






Ahoj!!


It has been another week! Weeks don't last nearly as long now as they did when i was in High School. It all is going by so quick. we just got back from a Zone leader conference that we had in Brno. It was a lot of fun and i am really grateful that at this time in my mission i get to be apart of such wonderful opportunities to learn from the other elders and from mission president.


The coolest thing that happened this week is that.....drum roll please.....I finished reading the Book of Mormon from cover to cover within a 6 week period !!!!! I know for many people this is not such a massive accomplishment, but for me it really is something absolutely amazing. I never really had a very strong testimony of the importance of the Book of Mormon, i always considered it to be a true book, and i defended it as scripture, but i never really knew the great importance that it holds, and also the great amount of knowledge that is contained within its pages. I have grown to love the book. It is interesting because now that i have finished it i feel this great desire to want to pick it up and start all over again. It really is an amazing piece of work that know matter how intelligent Joseph Smith was or may have been; he could not have written such a book by himself. even if he would have had four years to write it. If any man had four years or more to try and write such a book, i am firm in my belief that no one could create a compilation that would come anywhere near to what the Book of Mormon is.





We received a really great blessing from the Lord but not anything that could top what happened to momma. Thank you for sharing that story it is absolutely amazing!! We went out contacting and talked to 5 people. The third and the fifth are where the miracle happened. we talked to them about the Plan of Salvation. One is a convinced atheist and doesnt believe in God but he does believe in something after death, so we set up a time to meet again and talk about exactly what happens after death. it was really interesting because he is a really sarcastic individual and seemed as if there was nothing we could do or say to help him feel the need to learn more. We took a step back and started to listen to him and discern with the spirit what his true desires are. And, we found it. That was pretty neat to receive that blessing of the Lord.





I love you all!!!!!!!!! Have a great week--


With love, Your son,Starsi Morgan Nowland

19 Sep 2009

It is so exciting to hear that things went really well for you all this past week. It really is a great motivation for me to persevere and continue on in the work. I'm really excited to see the branch (he forgets we are a ward here) when i get back. I have a feeling that I'm not going to recognize anybody. It is a wonderful feeling to know that my family is doing missionary work right along side me. I forgot to mention a big ol' HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO DADDY!! I want you to know Dad that when my mind was pricked to remembrance about that fact that your birthday had come and gone, I felt absolutely horrible. Then, as i thought more about it i realized that it was probably better that i forgot because then, in my mind at least, you dont get any older. Now isnt that just wonderful. My mind creates a "Neverland" for you, so i figured that even though i am half way around the world, that i can still give you a gift. The gift of never growing up! Which my 20 years of experience has shown me is a gift that you already assume that you have. But now it is official!! So Congratulations to never having to grow up; at least in the mind of your son. I love you daddy!
This week some really neat things happened. We went to a meeting that we had, upon showing up to their house we were pleasently surprised to find that they had four other friends from Nigeria staying with them as well . We felt the impulse to change our lesson plan to discussing the baptism of Jesus Christ. It turned out to be a very bold lesson, but very powerful. Also while i was on exchanges with my District Leadder we were out contacting near the center of Prague which is a bit abnormal because there are always a lot of tourists there so missionaries don't frequent that area too often. For some reason though we were out there and ended up getting contacted by two amercan girls that know (Elder) Travis Chambers. I told them that i had lived with him for two months and know him pretty well. They were really excited about that. Small World huh... So because of the example that Elder Chambers always was, we are now meeting with these two while they are here an a study abroad program. We will see what happens. The power of example is something so great, much greater than we realize. That it why Alma was so dissapointed with his son Corianton. For because of Coriantons bad example, many were hardened in their hearts and did not listen unto the words of Alma and his sons Helaman, and Shiblon. Something really cool that i cant remember if i told you or not is that Elder Briggs challenged me to read the Book of Mormon from cover to cover this transfer. I have been completely absorbed into the book. I am truly amazed that a book of scripture could be so amazing. Another neat thing is that because of this great excitment that i have felt towards the Book of Mormon, when i finish it i want to read the New Testament in the same fashion. It is a witness to me that the Book of Mormon does not only witness and testify of itself, but it testifies of the truthfullness of the Bible and as you read in the Book of Mormon, it develops in you a greater desire to read the Bible as well. The Book of Mormon is truly a magical piece of literature that i know without a doubt was written by the hand of God.

Questions?

Do you think you are a better field missionary or office missionary or both? I enjoy the field work, it keeps me on my toes. But I do ok in the office when it comes to keeping things organized.
What do you like most as AP? working with President so closely, and being able to travel aroung the mission
What do you like least? Balancing the area and the office and the mission.
Last chance for things in your birthday box?
An updated picture of Whitney and Jeff in their home.
Pictures of our new home
A picture of Barrett and Evan Bello
Cinnamon Poptarts
Grits
Green "Icebreakers" mints
I cant think of anything else so if you think of anything else i guess it will be a surprise!it is possible that i will buy a new pair of shoes because mine are seeing their end. cobblestone is a destroyer! But it is fun to look at!
I love you all and look forward to hearing from you next week. Im in Alma 50 and looking like i will finish before the transfer is up...keep your fingers crossed. I love you, and wish you well this week. --
With love, Your son,
Starsi Morgan Nowland

12 Sep 2009

Hello family
I'm really excited to be back home! Well back home in Prague! I have spent the past four days in the Slovak Republic. It was an absolute blast! I have never worked so hard in my whole mission! I'm planning on making a voice recording telling in a little more depth what happened. It was these same three days Tuesday - Thursday, two years ago that the church received recognition in Slovakia. So the Zone Leaders took advantage of this opportunity to excite the missionaries to making the second Slovakian miracle! So we (Elder Briggs and I) went to Slovakia to be a part of it. The schedule was that the missionaries put off all of their regular meetings to the weekend so that for the three days they could devote all their time to finding new investigators. We woke up every day at 5:30,and we were out on the streets from 7:45 in the morning to 8:45 at night! And we weren't just out talking to people here and there but it was power contacting!! It was truly talking to one person after another, we were talking to every single person that crossed our path. I have never worked that hard on my whole mission. We didn't have any lunch break or dinner break, we just carried around carrots and apples and little sandwiches with us and had little 15 minute breaks about every 2 hours. I say that i have never worked that hard, but i have never felt so satisfied and happy. When we finally got home yesterday i was so tired. I am soo happy to be home and to have a day of rest. Cool story really quick though was that when we got back into Prague we dropped our things in the office and then went out contacting for our own area. we talked to three people....just three....The first one was way grumpy and said something pretty rude to us, he was a really big guy, we just looked at each other smiled shrugged our shoulders and then continued on, the second one when we contacted him, he simply said, "I am a Jew," and then continued on, then the third person we talked to was the blessing from God. His name is Adam, he has been thinking about how to get rid of all the problems in his life, he came back to the church building with us and after we taught about coming to know God, and praying with him, he said,"i feel very comfortable right now, really.....pleasant, it is hard to describe." Well you can guess what our reaction was! We told him that those feelings are confirmations from the Holy Ghost that the things we were sharing with him are true. Miracle!

Ether 12:4,6 Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with a surety ,hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God. And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.

These are truly words to live by. I have seen this promise fulfilled so many times on my mission. In these past four days i have seen it more than ever! God always keeps his promises to us. the Prophets do not lie. This is truly the Gospel of Jesus Christ again in its fullness. Of that i testify.i love you family
This weeks questions:
So how's everything this week? It went well.
Are you having a better week.
yes we really had a week of miracles, tender mercies of the Lord.
Are you still enjoying being in the office? it definitely has its perks, like this past week.
Scout questions: (moms notes-I am doing a Little Philmont Scout Training and wanted to share some of his cubscout memories)

1. What did you like most about cub scouts? I liked going on camp-outs and making smores
2. Which camp out do you remember? The one in florida when went on the canoe trip and boats would go driving by and their waves would tip over some of the scouts....Hilarious!!
3. What did you like doing most at the camp outs? finding a hiking stick and carving it with my pocket knife. Also, playing capture the flag.
4. What food did you like at the camp outs? Dutch oven cooking is the best ever!!
5. Who helped you most with cub scouts ? Mom and dad
6. What is your funniest memory of cub scouts? i will have to agree with Andy on the time i ate that mexican food!!!!
7. What did you like about Derby Day? Seeing all the cool cars and, the pushcart derby. It was really funny when the scout leader would tip over.
8 What was your favorite Pinewood Derby Car? The Jamaican bobsled
9. What did you like most about the pack meetings? I loved the cheer box!! That was so fun. The live wire cheer was definitely a favorite
10. Is there a particular skit that you remember? The three rivers skit "its as clean as three rivers can get it!"
11. What is the funniest thing one of your parents did while they were being a cub scout mom or dad? Probably watching dad pack for a camp out. It was either putting a 20 dollar bill in his pocket and saying," Ok im ready! i think there is a holiday inn right around the corner!" or him getting the blow up mattress sheets pillows a grill a tent heater, a few chairs and some "tee kee torches" to put up around the tent.
I hope this week is another fun one for you all. Enjoy yourselves
Love you bunches, Your son,Starsi Morgan Nowland

6 Sep 2009

So I'm going to apologize for writing late this week. By the way when i said we are having a baptism here in Prague i was meaning as missionaries as a whole so it was actually an investigator of the district leaders. It is really scary because right now it is taking a little bit longer for any of our investigators to start making the essential progress towards baptism. I am going to share with you that i am getting a little scared that the goal i established at the beginning of mission is not going to be acheived. dont worry though that doesnt take away any of my desire to still strive for it to make it a reality. I suppose i need to have greater faith. We have had a pretty calm week here. But on tuesday of next week we will be in slovakia trying to make another miracle happen there. It was this time about three years ago that the first miracle happened. It was when we were striving really hard to get enough signatures to get the church recognized by Slovakia. So we are going there this time with to try and find 27 new investigators in three days. It was in three days that the missionaries got 27,000 signatures. The Zone Leaders there have invited all the members to hold a fast for the missionaries for them to be able to find that many new investigators. I had an interview with president the other day. It was cool just because he told a little about his mission and how you can have great field working missionaries and great office working missionaries, and even missionaries that can do both very well. He mentioned that while he was an assistant he had a companion that was a great field working missionary for a companion, but when they brought him into the office he just wasnt able to make the transition so he went back out into the filed and did amazing things. The story helped me with my concern a bit. In case you didnt know president Slovacek served his mission in Austria.
Our questions for Elder Nowland:
Anyway how has everything been this past week? things have gone well, we are having trouble finding good solid people.
Are you doing a lot more traveling or has it slowed down for a season? it has slowed down for the week but as you read above it will pick back up again.
Are the missionaries putting into practice the things you have taught them? yes, here and there we are hearing good success storiess about the trainings
And are they seeing results? yup Is the work continuing to accelerate? it is continuing to accelerate. We just had 12 baptism this weekend in the mission! 6 of them were in Olomouc!

I have to go now but i love you and wish you the best this week. P.s. thanks for letting me know about you back momma nad how the priesthood blesing really worked. It was a great testimony builder for me to put more faith in the power of those blesings and the priesthood.-- With love, Your son,Starsi Morgan Nowland

29 August 2009

Morgan sent us pictures of his apartment and also of a few of his
companions who were going home this past transfer.

View from the apt balcony


Elder Nowland's study desk (below) - nice and neat.

Perfect for picture taking. Actually he is a pretty neat young man for the most part. Some of you remember I coordinated all of the colors of his mission items (orange) so it would be easy for him to keep up with. He got his call in October so everything was orange anyway. So you will see these throughout the pictures. My other mom friends thought I certainly had OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder - yeah so!)
Orange supply box with orange stapler, orange sticky notes, orange scissors in the box.









Bedroom Area - notice his orange suitcases.


Kitchen - pretty modern. They must have just cleaned for the apartment check or something. This is just way to clean for missionaries.












Entryway

















Closets and his companions bed.










Here is Elder Nowland's bed. He asked me to
make him a lite weight spread for his bed with
the pattern of the Czech flag. I am happy to
see he is still using that. Under that you will
see his orange sheets and pillow case.













Study Area













Previous Companions who were
getting ready to go home.
Elder Chambers, Elder Nowland, Elder Wilding













Elder Chambers and Elder Nowland
they are great friends














Here they are again. They served in Olomouc
together in Morgan's 2nd area
and had great success together. They will remain friends
forever. Elder Chambers mom and I developed a great
friendship also. We love our boys. Aren't they awesome.

Now for Elder Nowland's letter for this week:

I just got back on Thursday evening from another week of conferences. It was a lot of fun! But I'm not going to lie about that fact that i was completely exhausted afterward. We started off in Brno, where i had some interesting feelings run through me as i watched Elders Guzy and Barker give their departing testimonies!!!! it was super weird!! because i remember serving with Elder Barker and him being scared because he had only 5 transfers left. Yeah....now he is in his last one. Our companionship study training got progressively better. Our best run of it was in Praha. We had this one training called the "silver bullet" which focused on the standards of excellence. For part of the visual aid we had a missionary shoot a silver birthday hat off my head with a Nerf gun. It was a lot of fun and surprisingly no one took advantage of the opportunity to shoot me in the face. Elder Strupp at the Prague conference nailed it first shot! I was impressed.

Cool story of the week was that we had been on exchanges in a little city called Zlin and then another little city called Jihlava. After these exchanges we were completely worn out. We had worked so hard and diligently to find people in those areas. We were in the car on our way home when i vocalised what we were both thinking. I said,"when we get back to praha we need to go out and find, the Lord has someone prepared for us." So we went. We took the metro to the stop Namesti Miru. We get out and make our way up the stairs, right as we were on the pavement Elder Briggs takes about two steps and contacts this guy that has an ice cream cone. The guy is interested and walks back to sit down with us on a bench, we talk about Heavenly Father, Prayer and the Book of Mormon. When this guy sees the Book of Mormon he got really excited. He said something to the effect that, patterns repeat in this world so often, just like when Christ came to the earth and started preaching something slightly new, and the pharisees and leaders of the church all denied Him and hated Him, even today people are still doing that. He said many wise things that were very impressing for a man that is not a part of any church. This man, whose name is Pavel (Paul), has clean cut hair, he is shaven, kind, intelligent, has a job, a home, a great desire to improve and progress, he knows the bible, he speaks czech and english, and is possibly a father (we didn't find out too much about his family) Pavel is what we would call a "Kingdom Builder" he could very easily become the next young mens president, or branch president. He could hardly wait for us to hand him the Book of Mormon. he opened it, closed it, then looked at us and said," I'll read it." From this experience i learned that for miracles to occur we need a few things. We need obedience all the time, we need faith that the Lord is watching over us, we must make sacrifice (hard work even when we are having little to no success), and then when the feeling hits us that we are ready to go in or to stop, we say a prayer asking for strength, and then go out fully expecting and waiting for the Lord to provide. It was a great experience, i slept well thursday night.

It was a truly great learning week. I had a lot of fun. Slovakia is absolutely beautiful. Rolling hills....It looks like the Shire from Lord of the Rings. Marvelous!
Momma, make sure to take care of yourself, lots of rest and patience.
(mom's note: I hurt my back (herniated disc) last week when we were in Utah for our son-in-laws graduation from BYU - but I am doing much better)

I love you all enjoy this next week!--
With love, Your son,
Starsi Morgan Nowland

22 August 2009

Cau! I'm glad you had fun in Utah! The weather looks like it behaved while you all were there. Thank you for sending the pictures. Everyone seems to be the same for the most part. It is a slightly different family to look at with a newly added member. I'm glad you all had fun together.

This week i had a really cool experience with my testimony of the Book of Mormon. the story can be a long one but i will try to keep it short. we were talking with a guy out on Namesti Miru. He started out as being very interested in what we believe, but really just wanted to prove to us that his ideas about us not needing a church or anyone for that matter other than God were the true way that God wanted us to live. He was all over the place and very unfocused. He caused a very strong spirit of contention as he was cutting my companion off everytime he tried to teach this man something or testify to him. I felt suddenly very alone and empty as the Holy Ghost left because of the level of contention between this man and my companion. I stood up because i wanted to leave. Once we kindly said goodbye and walked away, i said a prayer in my heart asking the Lord to please send his spirit back and to calm my heart, for it was beating very fast. After having offered up that prayer, I felt an impulse to read the Book of Mormon in Moroni 10:3-5, and continuing to 6 and 7. I read out loud in an effort to bring the spirit back to the both of us. We were waiting down in the metro when i started reading. To explain a little bit, i have never felt that horrible and completely alone in a long time. I have always had trouble recognizing what the spirit feels like, i was always looking for some powerful feeling that would be super noticeable when a person had it, but i came to find out that the spirit is a very simple feeling of calm and quiet comfort. As righteous people we have this feeling always. It is when we offend the spirit that we really notice the difference. So as i read these passages from the prophet Moroni, I felt my heart and chest fill so quickly with love and peace and that quiet comfort that my body didn't know what to do or how to react other than to send tears pouring from my eyes. I cant remember the last time i cried but i dont ever remember crying quite like this, and i could not stop, which was funny because i felt the desire to keep reading but i couldn't read the words for the tears that were filling my eyes. It was a bit embarassing in front my companion, but that experience was so powerful for me. Any doubts that i had ever had about the Book of Mormon being written by God through living prophets were completely washed away with those tears. I know that God exists. I know that he loves me and cares for me. His love was shown to me that night in the Book of Mormon. He does want us to know who He is, He does want us to know what the purpose of this life is, He does, and has made that love for us boldly evident through the revealing of more scripture in addition to the words that he had been revealing with the books of the Bible. The Book of Mormon was compiled and written by those prophets of old for the sole purpose of proving more powerfully to all of mankind here on earth that Jesus is The Christ, the living son of a living God, Our living God; and that we need not be lost our confused anymore about what the gospel of Jesus Christ is and what it isnt. It was a truly great experience for me.

Question time! Your b-day is coming up. Anything you would like? The only thing i can think of would be those scriptures that i wrote about last week, but i would want those to stay there at home with you all.

How's your new comp? He is a good hard working missionary. We've served together already so that makes it easier.

Are you impacted at all by the Swine Flu or these other Flu viruses going around? nope not yet at least
Did you ever get the envelope of the posters that I made? I did, Sister Robbins thought it was way funny, and President got a good kick out of it. We all agreed that someone has too much time on their hands and loves being a missionary mom.

Did you ever use the Bumblebee training idea? not yet but i was looking at it the other day stewing over it a little.

Family, you are the greatest. I love you and am thankful for you.--

With love, Your son, Starsi Morgan Nowland.

15 Aug 2009

We have been so busy this week. Picking up new missionaries getting a new companion (see questions below), taking old missionaries to the airport, and having leadership conference. I don't think that i have ever been as tired on my mission before as i was this week. We lost a lot of sleep due to getting up early and getting to bed late. No fears though, the reason that we got to bed late was because of President and assisting him with the old missionaries and other items of business. It was really neat though that i got to see Elder Chambers' parents. His mother said so many nice things about momma. She said that she was so thankful that momma talked to her and kept her updated on what was going on with her son. She said that momma was such a wonderful lady and knew for sure that she was a wonderful mother. She said that momma was always so loving and kind and that she really enjoyed the conversations that she had with you mommy.
My letter is going to be a little short today because i was just downstairs in the building with a gentleman that was homeless and looking for food and clothes. I got him something to eat and gave him a coat and shorts. I sat and talked with him for a little bit. He is originally from slovakia so he was speaking a mix between slovak and czech. He is a little mentally ill. He was kind. It was really sad for me because he said that he doesn't love his family because they can't help him anymore. So now he is homeless and on his own. I couldn't imagine that kind of life. a life without family, without love. I will always strive to show kindness and love to others.

I'm happy and healthy, my allergies have been acting up a little but no worries.

Here are the questions of the week:
Who is your new companion? My new Companion is ........[drum roll please].......Elder Briggs!!! Round two!!! Where is he from? He is from North Carolina
Do you want anything from BYU? Maybe, a book. "The Apostasy" by James E. Talmage.
Ok so there is a missionary here who has the small size Quad that I have and use. But get this his is not the quad all-in-one version like mine, but his is the split version. The Bible and then the Triple. I would absolutely love to have that version of the scriptures. I would be so excited. The color of choice would be first in brown, then black. I would ask that you not send them to me though. But keep them at home for me to use when i get back. I will pay you back for them once i get home. I love you tons.
You are the coolest family ever!!
When you send "the Apostasy," if there is still room in the box could you send the cinnamon poptarts, and cheese grits again?!!
Thanks I really appreciate you all so much as my family. You all mean so much more to me since i have been away. Take care until next week.--
With love, Your son,Starsi Morgan Nowland

8 Aug 2009

Hello Family and Friends -
This is Morgan's Mom - I did get pictures this week after much begging. But I have to preface them with this: Morgan has NEVER been able to take a picture with a "normal" face. You should see our family photo album. We can take 5 quick photos on the camera and he will have a different goofy face in every one of them. So with that being said, here he is. Nothing has changed, even as a 20 year old.

A package for the AP and Office Elders...

...some serious stuff

A sign - OK - I need a translator for this one,

but it says something about the name of the Church and a date. I guess I will have to wait until February when our translator gets home to find out what it says. Or if you don't want to wait, you could just google it. hmmm now there is a thought.




I want to go here someday. I wish he would send me little titles to the pictures, but I guess I should just be grateful that we get pictures.

This is Elder Nowland, Elder Guzy and Matthew Slovacek - the Mission President and Sister Slovacek's son. He is a return missionary and has come back to Prague to visit his parents. He caught up with these two while they were on their P-Day in Downtown Prague

Now for Elder Nowland's letter for this week:

Ahojte,

This week is the week of transfers. That means that we have not yet had transfers but Elder Guzy and i have been spending quite a bit of time with President at the transfer board trying to figure out who needs to go where, who needs to take on more responsibility, who needs to move out of their city, etc.

Getting the sisters worked out just right was quite difficult. Zone Leaders and my next companion proved to be the next difficult task. It has been a lot of fun though to work so closely with President, counselling together about what should take place.

A really cool success story this week was that Elder Guzy and I had just had a meeting with a guy named Gus. We were hungry and were deciding where we should go to eat. As we were walking across Namesti Miru (Town Square of peace) Elder Guzy contacted a young man sitting on a bench. He is a young man with a piercing right through his lower lip. He would appear to be a bit of a punk, but he is such a humble young man. He was actually sitting reading a book called "On the Boarder of Truth." It is about a reformer named Jan Hus. We had a very spiritual conversation with him on a bench on this town square that was positioned right in front of a massive catholic church. (Ironic huh?) We taught him about knowing the truth of all things through prayer. He agreed with the things that we discussed and set up a meeting for the next day. He came the next day a little late and a little flustered. He had been running from job to job, and still had another to go to, so he only had like 15 minutes, but told us that he had to keep his word to us even though he would only have 15 minutes. We gave him the Book of Mormon and challenged him to read Ether 12. He happily accepted. A very cool story and success for me that it does not matter what a person looks like, or how they act; they might very well be the person who is most seeking for the truth, they just dont know where or how to find it.

The Work is still going forth. We have had a lot of meetings this week. things are working out well for us. We have been blessed to teach 14 lessons already this week. the Lord is truly blessing us.

Question time:

Did you get transferred? Nope, Assistants always stay for at least two transfers
Did you get a new companion? Not yet, on Monday
What interesting thing did you do this week? Umm i stared at a board for a long time to figure out which missionaries should serve together and where changes should be made!!
Is it scary to drive in the Czech Republic?

a little bit but it is not too bad after you get used to it.
Do you drive on the "wrong" side of the road? nope the road system here is pretty similar to that in america. the big difference is no turning on RED!
Is the drivers seat on the opposite side of the car from here? nope same side.
Take a picture of you by your car OK? Ok, that is not a question momma
Take pictures of your new apt OK? Ok,....still not a question
MORE PICTURES PLEASE-PRETTY PLEASE? Not going to answer one this because it is not a question.Mother, we might need to take some time to re-explain the difference between a question and a command.

(note from mom: I figured if I put a note to him in the question part that he has to answer about sending me pictures, I might get some, hence the funny little replies - it worked, I got some pictures - hehe)

I love you all so much and am thankful for the motivation that i recieve from your letters.

Do something fun and unique this week! --

With love,

Your son,Starsi Morgan Nowland