20 June 2009

Hello Family!
It is so great to hear from you. It has been a pretty decent week by way of our own missionary work. We found a new investigator this week from Slovakia! Outside of the work in our area, we just had our Zone Leader / District Leader Conference. Elder Guzy and i gave a training on having effective district meetings, weekly call in reports, exchanges, and correctly filling out baptismal records. It was a really interesting experience for me to be sitting up next to President, to lead the conference and also to give trainings to the leaders in the mission. I guess at this point I don't feel like I have really qualified for the calling that I have been given. I think that that is something that comes with time. I know that who the Lord calls the Lord qualifies, but i still just feel like i need greater experience in this new calling, and that as i rely on the Lord, then He will provide me with the attributes that i stand in need of.

We went on a pretty cool Vilet today to a place called Terazin. It is an old concentration camp, but on a smaller level. It was designed to be the place where the Nazi's would send different groups like the Red Cross and other inspectors so that they could hide the fact that they were treating these people inhumanely. After inspections were passed Terazin soon began to take part in inhumane treatment like the other more well known concentration camps like Auschwitz. We ended up walking through this 500m underground passage that lead to the shooting execution ground. It was a really humbling experience as i began to think about what emotions a person must be going through as they are making this long darkened walk to a place that they did not know to be executed for a reason that was unjust and also unknown to the victim. I began to reflect on my own beliefs and the faith that i have within me while i was making that walk. As i stood on a square patch of dirt placed in front of a towering wall of earth facing a small hut that stood as the place from where the armed soldier fired the life taking bullets, i began to feel a really great sense of respect for the many martyrs in the history of our church. I reflected on Abinadi and many others and felt an overwhelming calm as i then placed myself in the position of the victim and tried to imagine what i would be feeling if i were standing there with the beautiful sunshine beaming down upon me looking at the blue sky and clouds for the last time; breathing slow and deep. it was interesting, i began to rely on my faith that as i would soon leave this life i would be joining my Father in heaven, and received a peaceful confirmation of the thought that i knew He would be there waiting on me ready to comfort me in His arms and tell me that He is pleased with me that i did not deny Him and that i kept the faith. It was a really neat experience.

Elder Guzy and i have our own area that we have to tend to on our own. which is very difficult because we will not have even been home at all this coming week since we will be having Zone Conferences all across the mission. We will be in Brno, Slovakia, and then Prague.

Question we asked Morgan: Do you specifically work with the President and the other missionaries throughout the mission? We do both...We work all throughout the mission with the missionaries and president and then also when we are in Prague we are in the office with president from 9:30 to 4:30 and then we go out and proselyte. Do you have an apartment of your own or do you share with other office missionaries? We have an Apartment of our own just around the corner from the mission home. And the Office Elders live the next floor down from us in the same apartment building.

I love you all tons and am so thankful for your support of me.
Do something memorable this week!!!
Love your son,
Elder Morgan Nowland