24 Nov 2008

Hey Family So i must Say that i have just had the best week on mission by far. I saw many miracles! like actual miracles happen. Stuff where i was just like standing there with my mouth open with no idea how it happened! Crazy those will be stories i will hold onto forever. You will hopefully get two of them in voice files today. So this week was amazing. So last week as i was turning in numbers elder Mack our Zone Leader challenged us to teach 10 member lessons this week. Now let me fill you in on the size of the challenge that he had given us. The every week average for a companionship is about 4-5 and those are good numbers, the standards of excellence or mission standards are to get 4 lessons a week with members. So of course i accepted elder macks challenge and threw it right back at him to also get 10 member lessons. So we went to work setting up meetings with members to be present. Monday we had 2 already so we were looking good. Tuesday we had three in the plan, but all three fell out and that is when we had a tough day but we saw a miracle when we went tracting and found a family that is totally prepared, they let us in & we shared a message and they loved it and became new investigators. We saw them twice this week, they have a 4 yr old girl and two 4 month old twins, boy and girl. Awesome family!!! The dad originally studied to be a priest, but then met his wife, I talk about it in the voice files.

Oh yeah i gave the other elders in the district the challenge as well and they accepted so we worked together a ton during this week. But yeah long story short not only did both companionships get 10 member lessons, but both companionships got 15 member lessons putting us at a total of 30 member lessons and 6 other lessons!!!!!!! It was 100 percent amazing!!! I've never seen anything like it. I don't know why the Lord loves us so much, but for some reason he does!!! He helped us so much, I am blown away. it is so unreal what two very powerful things can do when you put them together. Faith + Fire = Miracles , I'm not kidding it was so Crazy! I really did see miracles with my own eyes this week. And to add to it, We only have 9 active members that we can teach with during the week!! I think each one of them at least taught with us twice, some of them even more than that. Then, to top it all off We challenged two more people in our area to baptism for the 3rd of January, and they excepted giving our little city 5 baptismal dates, And all 5 of them were at church as well as two other investigators giving us 7 investigators at church. I'm really having trouble knowing what i should think about all this.

In the Zone we have 7 missionary companionships and all together the zone taught 54 Lessons with members, our district of 2 companionships carried the whole Zone!! Ok but we have to be Humble, The Lord has opened the windows of heaven on this Mission, he has raised our sights by showing us that we can do more, that we can find people, and that we can bring children unto Christ no matter where we are in the world. They say this area of the world is hard to baptize in, I would say otherwise. All we need is to raise our sights and mix Faith with Fire! Anything is possible. We are about to have three baptisms this coming saturday and it is going to be amazing! This branch had gone through a period where they had not seen a baptism for 3 or 4 years straight. They are about to see three and then a following two next year. At the beginning of the transfer we told the mission that we would for sure get two baptisms. Well we are doing that and even more two it, we are going to get four!! The stereotype has been broken, this is no longer a mission where baptisms are hard to find, this is becoming a mission where baptismal fonts are hard to find!!! We are going to Prague for the baptisms because we dont have anywhere to do it here in Liberec.

We found 10 new investigators this week as a district! The thing that pleases me most right now, is the fact that it isnt just the district leaders companionship that is making all these things happen, it is both companionships in the district that are equally stepping up to the plate. It has been awesome thanks for your prayers.

Mom's questions:
Are your shoes staying warm and waterproof? yup they are doing good but my regular sneakers arent
Dad and I think you may need to buy some warmer shoes or boots for the winter - what do you think? i should be ok with the dress shoes.
Have you heard from Karel and how he is doing in Olomouc? (if you get his address, we would love to write to him) he is doing amazing and has a surprise talent for playing the piano , so he received the calling of branch pianist.!!! so cool
Are you homesick at all? It is ok if you aren't, I guess we just raised a well adjusted young man. And you are even doing it without your blankie. I'm not too homesick, of course i miss my family, but I'm having a great time here.

Dad's questions:
How cold is it now? So Cold 2 below 0 Celsius
Are you freezing yet? pretty close.

We've seen pictures through one of the webcams and it looks like a lot of snow. Is it like a snowy village like you see on the postcards or is it just like snow back here and wet and cold? It is Like snowy villages in the postcards.
Do you need more thermal long-johns, scarves, gloves, etc? I can get most stuff here the exchange rate is pretty good right now.

Are you still having fun? Having a blast

Well i must go i hope the letter helps i had such a good time. I love you so much .

Your son Morgan Nowland

17 Nov 2008

Well i tell you what we just had an amazing week in the district! we taught 28 lessons between the two companionships 15 of those lessons were with members! That is an all time record for this area since it has been in existence. the closest this district has ever come to that number of member lesson and just lessons period was two weeks ago when the whole district together taught 23 lessons 11 of which were with members present. Before this transfer the highest amount of lessons taught together as a district was i think like 15. 6 with members. So this district is flying to new heights, and none of that is because of me, it is all because of the missionaries in this district. They have new vision, aim, and faith. The Lord is blessing this area of his vineyard, and i am so thankful to be apart of it. WE have three baptismal dates in the area right and are looking to add two more to that this coming week, so we will see how that goes. We have this coming week and then one more after it before transfers so get excited! Most likely i will be staying here in Liberec but we will see what happens. Our district right now is the youngest district in the mission all four of us being here for less than a year. It is so amazing what faith and fire can do when you put the two of them together. Being here and seeing the success that we are having is such a great testimony to me that it doesnt matter where an individuals language skill is at, it matters where you faith is and where your motivation is. Amazing things are happening in this area and we are looking to do even more. We have planned as a district to have 20 member lessons 10 from each companionship. It is going to be sweet!! The coolest part is that the members truly are starting to catch the vision, they are starting to teach with us a lot more often. Imagine this we taught 15 lessons with members this week, and we only have 7 members that we can teach with. Woo Hooo!! Go members!! We have more members than that but they live in different cities outside of Liberec so it is a little harder to teach with them. Missionary work can be so much fun! and its crazy because im already moving into my tenth month an my mission, but only my eighth month in the field! I cant believe how fast time goes by. Our most progressing investigator right now is named Lukas. We have taught him the first three lessons and the Law of Chastity, learning the vocabulary to teach that lesson was fun i'll tell you what.....That was a little awkward. Lucky for me that we have Preach My Gospel in czech so that helped a ton.

Next week we will be in Prague for our P-day to have a Turkey Bowl between the Hradec Kralove Zone (Thats us) and the Prague Zone. So i will be emailing probably closer to 3 or 4 our time.

Questions from home:
Are you teaching bunches? yeah, we taught 28 lessons in the District 11 of those were from us, so the other elders are showing us up but, im really pleased with that because my goal was to get the missionaries in this district to a point where they all could move on to District Leaders before this transfer was over. I think that we will see that happen from the example they have been setting by their work. The missionaries here really are finding machines. It is mission standard to find and make three new investigators every week.

Do the members feed you, have you for FHE with investigators? tonight we have one which will make for our second of the transfer!

What are their customs for Christmas? they have Karp for christmas dinner, that is a custom and also something for the children that has to do with an angel the devil and saint nick. ill tell you more when that rolls around.

Do you get snow there? yeah it started to flurry today while we were outside.

Do you need cool ideas for teaching your district? no i think i should be good but feel free to send stories when you want, or you can always send talks and things in the mail for me to use and read

What kind of things do you drink? Juice, water, Kofola (czech soda)

What do you eat for lunch most often? stroganoff, soup, Gyros

What do you eat for dinner most often? sandwich, leftovers.

Je vam zima? ( moms note: I asked him if he was cold in Czech and this is his reply - I have no earthly idea what it says- that will teach me)
no to je ano. je mi velmi zima, myslim ze budu koupit neco noveho aby mi chladno nebyl. ale co? to nevim.

Well i believe that is all for now i have to write my letter to president and then we have to fly because we have a couple of meetings tonight.
Take care everyone i love you all, and i thank you for your prayers in my behalf.

Much love to you from the Czech Republic, "The CR"
Your missionary or son, or both,
Starsi Nowland

10 Nov 2008

Dear Friends and Family,
Here is Morgan's letter from this week. His Czech language is causing many typo's so instead of correcting them, I hope you can read between the consonants. Enjoy, Susan

hiya moma a dada

Well greetings from central europe! it is still crazy for me to think about it sometimes that im roaming around causing spiritual havac (in a good way of course) in the middle of the european continent. the temperature here is definately dropping and the skies are looking greyer and greyer. The Locals are saying that we should be entering into snow season in about the next 3 weeks so im getting excited and a little nervous. i hope i will be able to stay warm. No ill be fine, im really excited. So it sounds like good things are happening in georgia!!! wooo hooo! So by the time i come back home there will be a new stake there right?! Well family i just went on a vilet(day trip)today to a castle called Bezdez. it is one that is in ruins but it was very neat and beautiful. i'll have to send the pictures from that next week though. I had lots of fun and was really evcited that i could enjoy the time with the district. So pretty much everyone in all of Europe knows that we have a new president, and whenever we contact people on the street they always through in "the Question" so, what do you think about your new president? So it is a little difficult, we just tell them that we have been away from home so long already that we dont know a thing about him.

Anyways the work is going really well, we found 8 new investigators this week in our area (not to be confused with potential investigators)! it was awesome, that is 8 people that we have had a lesson with, prayed with, and set up a following meeting with. The work is so hard but so satisfying and fun!

Our Questions to Morgan:
How is tracting going? (Note from Mom: By the way tracting is spelled without a "K". hehehaha.)
As you learn a new language your mother tongue starts to go to the dumps, in czech we say Traktovani for the english word tracting which is probably why i cant spell it correct. tracting is a little hard just because here the situation is a little different. Going trakting here is like walking into a hotel back in america and knocking on the peoples doors. So as you can guess a lot of people arent too happy about that. So its a little difficult to find the elect. but it is possible.
Is your teaching pool getting bigger?yes we found 8 New investigators this past week!!!
Where is Elder Hatch from? Arizona phoenix area
Are you eating well? yup im learning to cook some good things.
What size pants do you wear now? Is your waist size 33 or 34? probably 34
Do you want me to send one of the pair of brown pants that you didn't take? if you would like to.
Any favorite food items that you want me to send that you can't get there? Oreos, popcorn, Chicken in a can for chicken salad!!
Do you ever use the iron we sent with you? i left it at the MTC it was too heavy. We have a good one right now in our apartment
Are you keeping a journal? i have kept a journal everyday for about four months straight now. Im am very pleased with it.
Well family it has been a great week and we are looking forward to giving a baptismal commitment to our investigator Lukas so, In the words of a czech Hold Your Thumbs!!! It is the same as cross your fingers, or you can just pray that helps too...haha...Ftyp, that is how they say joke.I love you, stay strong,and keep the faith, Morgan

Mom Note: I attached his letter to his mission president - we have the video of the Miracle Bowl and have watched it a couple of times. I also showed the last 3 minutes of the game in Seminary one year to teach the principle of "Never Giving Up" - so it seems there is one thing he remembered from Seminary. (hopefully there are many more).

President,
Well it has been quite an eventful week. We were able to see a great amount of success this week as a district. As I reflect back on everything that happened I was able to see that our success, finding 13 new investigators, was due to the fact that we had the faith and the energy to go and do it. We had the help of other missionaries in the zone, but even still when it comes down to it, like in The Miracle bowl as we call it in the year 1980, when BYU played SMU (Southern Methodist Univ.), BYU was down quite a few touch downs, and everybody had given up hope and had left the stadium thinking the game was in the bag. That didn’t matter though, BYU wanted it, they knew they could get it and so maybe we could say “with faith” they went after it and came out on top victorious at the end. BYU scored 21 points in the last 2 minutes and 33 seconds of the game. That, is what it takes in missionary work, it takes sacrifice, and struggle, and then after the trial of our faith that is when it comes. That is when victory is made, that is when the elect are found and brought back into the presence of God.
As missionaries we are apart of a great work that I’m still trying to figure out and understanding. But my understanding becomes more and more clear as I see my faith tried and as I see they blessing from that trial. If I could just get rid of my own self pride, that I know how this work works and that I know what’s best for these people, then I would start to see that the Lord truly knows how it works and the He truly knows what is best for his children. It becomes clearer.
The district is doing great we have little kinks to work out but we will overcome. With Lord at our side we can accomplish all.

Starsi' Nowland

03 Nov 2008

Hello Family
I hope everything is looking wonderful there in Georgia. Things are moving along here in Liberec. This past week was a harder one for us. We had some really great finding activities. We found 14 potential investigators!! it was really great. We also went to Jicin for a Zone Flood. Jicin is the sisters area so it was really good for them. I Love you so much. Make sure momma that you also look at moderation in all things. I really didn't intend for you to go out with the missionaries everyday...That is Amazing!! and I'm sure you helped their investigators overcome great difficulties and concerns ...but you are teaching future missionaries in Seminary, which is also missionary work. What really helps is if you could pick one day every week or even every other week and set that day with sisters and then they can plan on being able to use you on that day, and set up lessons in the spot where you have said you'd be available. If every member were able to give 2 hours every other week to teach with the missionaries, then they would never have to teach a lesson without a member!!! But you all are doing such amazing work there in Georgia. I am so impressed and pleased with the great advances in missionary work and the growth of the ward. Two Thumbs up!!!
It gets dark here now around 5:00 in the evening, its kind of crazy, but makes for really interesting missionary work. Our teaching pool has taken a large hit now that Jvan has been baptized, Igor moved to Slovakia, and that a few investigators dropped us. We are having to do a bit of re-building, which means a lot of finding time. It is very difficult though because we are currently making the transition from contacting missionaries to tracting missionaries so we as a companionship are running into a problem because we don't quite have a hold on how to make it work so we are struggling with finding new investigators. It will start to pick up, we just need some time to figure out how to tract.
Questions:
1. What is your local address? you will have it next week...im sorry i forgot it while sitting here.
2. Can I send your Christmas package there? you might be able to. I dont know if im going to suggest that though.

3. Do you have that pen that I gave you that has the oil vial in it? i do and i can use that for sure.

4. Do you think you will be there in Liberec for Christmas? Im not sure. Since elder Hatch has already been here for two transfers now, that probably means he will leave and that i will stay, but i really dont know.
5. Are you staying warm? yeah im doing pretty good. Ive already broken out the long johns. So at least for now im good. (you know how Momma's worry-especially this Momma)



Did Karel get baptized on Saturday? YES!!!!! he did its so Amazing!!! I was able to talk to him on the phone on the day of the baptism!!! WOOO HOOO!!!!!
(Note: Karel is the young Taiwanese man that was in the Czech Rep studing at the University in Morgan's last area. He was on a train that Morgan and his companion were on. Morgan's Czech was not that great yet and this young man was speaking English. Morgan said he was so nervous because he has only been there a couple of months, but how could he not tell this man about the gospel - he was after all speaking English, so he had no excuse not to tell him. And after a few "I can do this" under his breath, he talked to him and they became great friends and he just got baptized on Saturday. It is a lesson to us all that we have to talk to those around us - no excuses. What if he hadn't told this young man about the restored gospel). I love you and wish you the best have a good week
Love Morgan