13 June 2009

Crazy Week!
Ahoj, Nazdar! So this past week has been 100% crazy. i just finished getting unpacked today because of the schedule we've had.
Monday: get moved out of Vysehrad and into Hradcanska, and less active lesson.

Tuesday: wake up at 6:30 and prepare to go to the airport to pick up the new missionaries, 9 total, 3 czech speaking elders, 4 slovak speaking elders, and 2 czech speaking sisters. We took them on a tour around Prague and then gave them their first go at contacting out on Namesti Republiky. They were so scared but they did a great job i was very impressed with their courage. That evening Dinner with the Slovackovi (The Slovaceks).

Wednesday: wake up at 6:30 head over to train the New Missionaries and also the trainers. That evening we served the departing missionaries dinner and sat in on their testimony meeting.

Thursday: 5:15am load up the cars and take the Departing missionaries to the airport and wave goodbye. That was such an interesting moment for me, something i had not yet experienced in my life let alone on my mission. It was a weird feeling of saying goodbye knowing that in a few hours they would be back with their families, feeling the anxiety with them, but also, knowing that i would simply return and continue with the work. It was interesting for me because yes, i did feel the anxiety and excitement that they were feeling to go home and finally see your family, but as i walked out of the aiport i was so overwhelmingly glad that i didnt have to go through that yet. We had to do the same thing the following morning for a senior couple that was going home as well that were out serving in Slovakia. So over the past few days i have been to the airport about 4 times and willl have to return again at some time to pick up a missionary that didn't come in yet because of visa problems. We are already planning for our first training that we are going to give to all the leadership in the mission this coming friday. I am having a blast though, even with all the lack of sleep it has been absolutely amazing! Elder Guzy and i are having a really great time serving together. He is such a cool Missionary.
Quick story, so on thursday we found out that President and Sister Slovaceks visa's run out in two weeks time and that we had to have their passports into the Foriegn Police office 14 days in advance or else they wont renew them. AAAHHH!!!!!! was all we had time to say and then we had to through a bunch of papers together and get signatures and be at the foreign Police before 18:00 (closing time) the only problem was that we realized all this at 16:00. CRAZY! but a lot of fun because we made it and all will be good.
I got the email about Kaitlyn Whiteside coming. I will definately be here and we can invite them to come to church since they will be here. I love you all tons and am grateful for the package that you sent. the ties will be a blast! Take care and i will look forward to your letters. (on Saturday (New P-day)
Your son,Elder Nowland

Memorial Day 2009

It seems Elder Nowland ended up with all the Sister Missionaries in this picture. I am certain his companion must be taking the picture.

6 June 2009

Baptisms in Prague. Don't they look great in white?

8 June 2009

Well everyone hold onto to your seats because i have no idea what President Slovacek was thinking when he asked me to come serve with him as an Assistant to the President!!!! OHHH MY GOODNESS!!!!! I'm going to be serving with Elder Guzy. Elder Guzy and i were both trained by the same missionary Elder Turner. I'm am so blown away right now, i dont really know what to think. it really hasnt even hit me completely yet that the work im going to be doing is going to have a whole different feel. I have to be packed by today and ready to move into the AP apartment by 6 o'clock this evening to start being trained and to prepare to go pick up the new missionaries at the airport tomorrow morning! Me an Assistant To President! I am going to need a lot more prayers to be able to perform as the Lord would have me. Faith and Prayer are going to become a much larger part of my Everyday! routine. Im very nervous but it is going to be a very humbling experience for me. I know that the Lord has a lot of faith in me, so now its my task to have even more faith in Him. I really feel like i am going to be growing a lot stronger spiritually from this new calling. Working side by side with President Slovacek is going to teach me so much about how to serve more strongly in a spiritual capacity as well as in a temporal capacity. It gives me a lot of strength to know that i having a loving family that is going to be supporting me all along the way. You all are absolutely amazing, and it is because of you and the exemplary way that you raised me that i have been able to progress like this in my life. I really truly mean it when i say that i would never wish for any other family. The Lord our God has smiled upon us and showered down blessings upon our family because of foundations of righteousness and righteous living. I really do know that obedience is one of the great laws that governs heaven and earth. I know that God is our Father., and that because of that relationship he gives unto us everything according to our obedience. Mom, Dad, i am so thankful for the righteous ways that you lived your lives before our family was formed, because i know that it is because of your individual righteousness that you two were blessed with a great gift of the spirit which is the gift of being a righteous example for your children. You both have a great gift for being able to teach the youth of this world, starting with your children. I will never be able to repay you for the lessons that you have taught me and the way that you raised me. My faith is grwing so much stronger and stronger. Im really excited for this new step. Pray for me. Take care of yourselves.
All of my love,
your son and missionary,
Starsi Morgan Nowland

Missionary Work Update in Europe

I thought you might like to see how great the Lord's work is going in Europe. This is from a fireside with Elder Oaks and Elder Perry. Elder Oaks talked how the Lord is smiling on Europe. After several years of declining baptisms, 2008 saw a 5% increase and thus far in 2009, there is a 17% increase. Then he talked specifically about the Czech Republic when he said "The Lord is REALLY smiling on this mission with a 134% increase in 2008 and more than a 200% increase thus far in 2009! You are marvelous!"

Morgan on P-Day - Bike Riding through Prague with his Zone. And what is up with the pants. lol

1 June 2009

Hello family it was very nice to hear from you. This week was a little bit slower but things are starting to get better. All at once our investigators that we have been falling out and we have not been able to meet with anybody so we have been struggling to be able to teach. So this past Friday we committed ourselves to go out and spend the whole day finding new investigators. So after about 7 hours of finding we returned home with 8 phone numbers received from people that are interested to hear more about the gospel. One of those was taught a lesson and became a new investigator. He is from Poland and is a really humble guy. There was another young man that was completely prepared to hear about the gospel he asks all the right questions and wants to know what he can do in this life to prepare himself for the life after this one. He said that he has looked in many churches and hasn’t been able to receive answers to the questions that has! We testified to him that he will be able to find the answers as he meets with us. The Only thing is that he lives in Brno so he will be a referral for them but he is a solid individual and I really see him getting baptized and becoming a missionary.
So yesterday Elder Price and I continued with getting out and finding, and while contacting we committed someone to be baptized as soon as they receive their testimony that these things are true. He told us that he had had a health miracle recently in his life. He felt like God had really given him a second chance. I told him that he is right God loves all of us and wants us to return to him but there are a few things that we must do to be worthy to live with God. I said and one of those things is that we follow the example of Jesus Christ and get baptized by proper authority. I told him God has given you the chance not only to help others and be a testament of the power of God for the rest of the world but also to help yourself by making a promise with God to follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized. We then told him that we are God’s Servants, and committed him to meet with us so that we could prepare him to be baptized. He said yes! So there were some really great things that happened this week. I am really learning that as we rely more and more on the Spirit and on the gospel of Jesus Christ, we will see that more and more people will be open to hear and they will accept. I have learned that the Spirit is very bold and straight forward but very lovingly.

The work is a lot of fun and I’m really enjoying myself.

Here is your question:What do you need for the package? If you want to put blueberry muffin mixes, or peanut butter, or Protein Bars, or Oreos, one of those things would be sweet! Whichever one will fit. Thank you.

Well things are really starting to pick up a bit better. I love you for the support that you give to me. I’m very blessed to have a loving family because many people nowadays do not have such a blessing.

Take care, until next week, all my love
Your one and only,…….son that is,
Elder Nowland

p.s. i still need to get new aaa batteries for my voice recorder you could send those in the package if they will fit. Electronics are really expensive here. Ahoj Diky

25 May 2009

Hey Family,
This week was a lot of fun, for at the start of the week we received a challenge to hit standards of excellence for speaking Czech and also for teaching lessons with a member. I love a good challenge and so we went to work. As we spoke more Czech this week we really noticed that our focus was more on the work, and also that our ability to break off from a conversation and contact someone was increased. Just little changes like that allowed us to see more success in our work and having a greater focus on the missionary work allowed us to really be in tune with getting lessons and getting members to them.

We also spent some good time this week with some of the members in our area to help build that relationship, and also we saw Petr get his first home teaching visit. It was a really great experience to see him and his home teachers really develop a bond of friendship and enjoy in each others company.

We are looking at a really great transfer with baptismal dates. The Zone record so far has been 4 baptisms in one transfer. We have already hit 7 this transfer and we have 8 more baptismal dates set for the 6th; 5 of those looking very solid.

The next focus that we will have is going to be put back into getting those extra contacts to help us always be doing missionary work, and to help rebuild the investigator pools in each area for next transfer. The second focus is getting those dates into the water!!! We are looking forward to having a great last two weeks here in the transfer. With faith and hard work we will see some great miracles.

18 May 2009

Hey family so guess what we just got back from a really cool Preparation day activity. We went bike riding through prague!!! It was so cool we rode through a few parks and rode our bikes on the bridge just across from Charles Bridge! It was really exciting i'll post the pictures next week for you all to see. The coolest thing that happened this week was that after many hard days (about 2 weeks in all) we have had really low amounts of success in our contacting and everything altogether. We were really starting to get down and our faith was hurting a little bit, but we said "no more!" to low faith and we each got down in humble prayer on our own and also together. We went to a park on thursday morning sat on a bench, said a prayer.
The Lord is always watching over us. he sees our struggles and hardships. He sees our faith being tested as we journey through the trails of life, and as we show forth our faith in the midst of those hard times and put complete reliance on him, he blesses and not just little blessings but great blessings! I am a witness of that. This mission is teaching me a whole lot about that absolute faith in and reliance on the Lord.

I Love you all so much and am very thankful for your letters. Oh and by the way about singing on Namestis (town squares) we do it every week!!! A lot of people really enjoy it too!! We use it as a way to find people!!!! We have had some good success from it too.

Well take care of yourselves and keep the amazing missionary work going forward!!!

Love your son,
Elder Nowland

Elder Price and Elder Nowland with Mr. Petr Spirit. Aren't they a handsome group. Petr was baptized on May 2, 2009

This is Starsi' Nowland and Marcelu at her baptism - May 2, 2009

4 May 2009

My Family!!
So guess what this week was quite a blessing and as you said our prayers have been answered. So i just got back from spending a few hours with Elders...well Brothers Trost and Johnson who were past missionaries here. Elder Trost was my Assistant when i first got in the country so it was really awesome to see them here and to spend some time with them. Elder Trost is awesome and brought me some whoppers!
So as you know 3 people got baptised this past saturday. It was a very hectic week for us because we were trying to get the baptisms organized while also preparing to go to Plzen on exchanges with the district leader there.

Elder Price and i have been doing very well at not only working on our spiritual strength but also our physical fitness. Both of us noticed that we were starting to "Let ourselves go" and so we have really been getting up in the mornings and getting straight to exercising. We have started running to Charles Bridge every morning which is one of the most amazing runs ever. It is so peaceful in the morning and really offers a time to relax and rejuvinate while also releasing stress through excercise. I'm so blessed to be living in the country and serving in the city that many people dream about coming to.

So we got a referral from the elders in Brno. We didnt contact it right away, when on saturday night we really felt like we should give her a call. She answered the phone and we asked if we could visit her. She said, Absolutely im so glad you called i really need some help with some problems im having with my computer. We went to see her and see ended up telling us that she had been thinking to herself that she needed some help but didnt know who to call and then she thought of the missionaries that she had talked to in Brno. Right as she thought this we called her and came to the rescue. How amazing is that!! She is now a new investigator and has commited to start coming to church. She has already given us a number of one of her friends and is calling another to ask that friend if we can come visit as well. It so awesome how well Referrals work. It is a very big key in bringing more of our brothers and sisters unto the gospel. we need to share the message of faith and divine help with our friends and family and then invite them to receive their own spiritual experiences as well through meeting with the the missionaries.

I love you all a ton and look forward to talking to you this sunday on Mother's Day!!!!
Here are the questions:

Did you get your package? yes, thanks a ton!!!
Did you like the surprise item that I sent? yeah super sweet ...i have two now so i will be set for sure (frisbees)
Do you need me to send anything? not at the moment.
How is Elder Price? Super we get along very well!!! He says thank you sooooo much for the PMG(mini Preach My Gospel). and thanks for the popcorn and pictures and frisbee.

take care this week and always remember that your one and only son Morgan
loves you

This is the view from their apartment in Vysehrad. It is a suburb of Prague. Really beautiful area. He says they go jogging every morning now that the weather is getting nice.

Elder Nowland has always had this thing about cleaning his ears. His companion, Elder Price caught him in the act and took this great picture and sent it to his mom, but told her not to send it to me. Well you know how moms are and we know every picture we can get of our missionaries are always welcomed. So being the great mom that she is...she sent it to me. I loved the picture and decided you might get a laugh too.

Vysehrad - The City where Morgan is currently serving.

Elder Nowland and Amka.

27 April 2009

Hello Rodino!!!! Jejda! I’m really excited to hear about all the good fun that you all are having. It has been a fun filled week here as well.
We were able to spend some time with Petr this week and get him completely prepared for baptism. He is doing so well and it is really exciting for me to have been involved in a great part of his life.
We also had a few meetings with a nice lady this week and we taught her.
We took some time through out the week to devote to preparing for Zone Conference. We trained on introducing the Book of Mormon with power and with great testimony to help the investigator to understand what we expect them to do (Study and pray to receive their own testimony). When we do this we don’t end up with a bunch of investigators that aren’t willing to progress. Also, we found that when an investigator has a testimony of the Book of Mormon you can overcome any concerns that they might have in the future. The training seemed to go over really well. The missionaries responded really well to what was taught. Now we will be looking to see what comes of the training as the missionaries put it into action.

Elder Price had his birthday this past Saturday so he is now 21!! He said thank you so much for sending the mini PMG. It will make a great birthday present.
My testimony of the importance of having a great loving supportive family that are members of the church has grown by leaps and bounds.

I love you all more than I could ever repay. The best thanks I feel that I can give to you all at this time are to serve with all my heart, might, mind, and strength. Thank you for the way that you raised me.

There should be three of our investigators getting baptized this weekend. We are really excited about that!! So we will see what happens, keep them in your prayers.

Well that is all the magic that happened this week. One cool experience, we were talking to an older man that we had contacted on a bench when a little while later a drunk young man came walking down the sidewalk being very loud and rude. As he approached where we were, he moved closer to where I was standing and shoved me off to the side. Not the nicest thing he could have done, and he probably wouldn’t have done it if he weren’t drunk. But it was pretty cool after I thought about it that, that was the first time I have ever received some sort of physical abuse since being on my mission and it felt good that I could be a small part of the scripture that says “blessed are ye that are beaten for my names sake…”or something to that effect.

I love you all a lot and I look forward to Mother’s day!!!
When you are deciding on a time pick the soonest time that you all can do it because Elder Prices parents are two hours back so it will be best if you all call first and then they can later. we get home from church at about 2pm our time.

Take care this week and have a lot of fun. All my love,
Your one and only son,

Starsi Morgan Nowland

20 April 2009

Dobré Ráno!!! Rodino moji. So, things are starting to look really great this transfer. Elder Price is awesome, and we are having a lot of success. About taking more pictures we will get on that because Elder Price and I both like to take pictures so that should result in some pictures being taken. We are actually going out today to specifically take pictures. The weather is really starting to warm up so that is a great blessing. Elder Price and I have started to put a greater focus on our health, so we go running every morning, and we are cutting back on what we eat and how much. I feel a lot better and more joyful. Being healthy is a great blessing especially on the mission because being sick puts a real damper on the missionary work. We have Zone Conference coming up on Friday and we have to have a training prepared. We are going to be training on the Book of Mormon and powerfully introducing it to our investigators to create a greater desire for them to read it and develop a stronger testimony on it that will help them to progress at a more stable rate towards baptism. With a strong testimony built on the Book of Mormon, any concern imaginable can be overcome.

It sounds like things are going well there in Georgia. I heard some weird things about Texas this past week. Keep having fun!

Here are the answers to your questions:
What are some things Elder Price and you have in common? We like the same style of music, photography, we have similar personality, and we like to be missionaries!
Are you getting along well? Yes, very well things are going great!
Does he like to work hard? Absolutely
Did you get the Easter package? Yup!!!
Which Elder did you share the other Easter basket with? Elder Price
Did you like the "book" that I sent? Yeah I did! I like it sooo much it is perfect! And everyone is super jealous they all ask were I got it and if it’s possible for them to get one as well. .
Is there another Czech food that you really love? Svickova, segedensky gulas, ovoce knedliky, and vepro-knedlo-zelo.

I love you all so much and wish you the best this week. You are always in my prayers. Say hi to the people in the Ward whenever you get a chance. Let Whitney and Jeff know that I love them, hope that they are having a blast together.

All my love, your son,
Starsi Nowland

13 April 2009

Well this week, even though it was transfer week was a great one full of success. I have very limited time so i will share the most important parts. Anyways we go to a meeting that we set up for friday. Right when Elder Price and i get there, our investigator asks, "What made you call me? i said we pulled your name out of our area book. He says how long before you actually called me did you find my name? I said about a week before, why? He push a calendar over to me, and written on the day of our first scheduled meeting, was written, One week ago i prayed that God would send me his messengers. So that was a really neat experience for me to know that God does answer prayers, and quite quickly in fact. He looked at us and said im not baptised yet because i havent kept my end of the deal with God. He said, I am coming to church on sunday so i can get ready to be baptized.
Cool story Number 2. While hurrying through the metro Elder Price saw a young man reading in the New Testament. We talked to him and he got really excited. He gave us his number and name while jumping onto the metro car. We texted him our number and names. About 20 min later he calls us and invites us to his home to talk with him about the gospel. We go on Saturday and teach the most powerful and bold lesson i have ever taught on my mission. I have never been so amazed by the spirit and its power to teach.

Family i love you so much and am so thankful for what you are doing. i apologize for the shortness of this letter.
Ill try and make up for it. All my love,
Elder Morgan Nowland

6 April 2009

Z Prahy, S Laskou! From Prague, With Love. Another week has gone by, and it has been the final one of this transfer. I’m looking at staying here in Prague as a Zone Leader and my new companion is going to be Elder Price from my MTC group. Elder Barker is heading back to Brno. I’m really excited because I have never yet served with an elder from my MTC group so that is going to be so much fun. I’m excited because he has never been a Zone Leader before so it is going to push me to have to take more of the lead this transfer instead of just riding comfortably in the back seat. I’m really excited for what the future holds. I’m super excited to be in Prague for the summer months. I have never been here for the beautiful blossoms and contacting in the parks and in the town squares. Elder Price is a super cool elder that loves photography, and playing bass guitar, and he is from Idaho.

I am at a loss for words to say as my mind is taken away to thoughts about the coming transfer and what I am going to do to help bring this zone into a new state and vision. So I am going to be putting a lot of thought into how we can raise and increase. I know it is going to have a lot do with two words that I have mentioned and talked about before when I was in Liberec, and those words are faith and fire. How can we bring the Zone into a greater sense of Faith, and more Fire. I’m excited for what the transfer will bring serving with Elder Price.

Let’s get to the questions:

Pres. Obama was supposed to visit Prague last week. Did they visit? Yes, he had a speech on Sunday so I did not go, but unfortunately some investigators went instead of coming to church.

Did you hear that they were coming? There are many posters up all over in protest to the missile base that the U.S. wants to put here

Well that is all for this week i will let you know next week how things are going with my new companion. I love you very much, keep up the great missionary work!!

Love you one and only son,
Elder Morgan Nowland