25 July 2009

Hey family,

So this week has been superb. We were in Slovakia at the beginning at this week for zone conference. So left Sunday evening to Zilina, the trip was about 4 hours from Prague. We spent the night in Zilina, and had zone conference Monday morning. It was really funny, because our training had to do with a balloon game. Our training was on communicating clearly. And so we developed a fake game that had no rules, or instructions. We simply gave each missionary a balloon, had two tally takers, and two parakeets (the Parakeets and tally takers had no real purpose). We then gave one player from each team a balloon with the jolly roger (mom's note: I think he means a jolly rancher) on it. Then all at once, we gave them 10 seconds and said "Go!" It was really funny to watch how the missionaries reacted. Most of them started blowing up their balloons, some were highly confused and just sat and stared. We then got into our training which ended up pretty good. The next few days were pretty hectic as we traveled to Banska Bystrice, Trencin, Brno, and finally back to Prague. While we were in Banska Bystrice, I had a really cool experience contacting with Elder Haberman. On their town square in Banska Bystrice there is a really ornate, beautiful, luxurious fountain. Sitting on the fountain was a young couple, Elder Haberman and I contacted them about what they think of when they hear the word "church." To make a long story short, we had a really great conversation, and took them back to the church building, where we taught about the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was unique to see how even though each one of them had different ideas about religion, that they helped each other to overcome certain concerns.

I found this cool analogy in the office for how to teach the third lesson, using a story with pictures about a man who is traveling to his father's house. Even though there was a lot of driving across the two republics, Elder Guzy and I got to know each other better by telling stories all along the way. He really is a great missionary, and has a really funny past.I have come to the knowledge that, when we really rely on the promptings of the Holy Spirit, that the Holy Spirit can make us sound a lot more impressive than we really are. As we went into the second conference in Brno, I felt like this came true with myself, because I was required to contact Elder Guzy as a part of our training. I didn't quite feel ready for the contact but as i got into it i really began to testify and feel the spirit testifying through me. The spirit entered the room with such a great strength, that it really made the whole training so much more powerful. I am so thankful that God our Father in heaven doesn't leave us here on this earth without any contact from Him, but rather he sends us his spirit that a part of Him might be in each one of us that we can feel such great promptings from our Heavenly Father who knows us so well.

You have a lot of questions this week so I'm going to get right to it:
Has our package arrived yet? yes and thank you soooo much! the grits were a nice surprise
Was the chocolate melted? it was a little bit
Did you eat it anyway? Of course!!!
Anything in particular you want sent...more pop tarts, etc? i don't really see anything that i would like at this moment. Maybe wait on the next package for a few weeks.
Are your shoes holding out? yeah they are doing pretty well. I think they might last me to the end

Are you getting letters from any of your friends? Not a whole lot. the last one i got was from Lindsay Owens and one from Kailey

Are you still having fun being an AP? yes, it is a lot of fun but i look forward to the day when i can get back out and just work in the field again

What neat things have you done with the missionaries lately? Just the training about communicating clearly, and how they didn't have a clue what to do with the balloons because we did not express what we really wanted even though we were very enthusiastic.

How often do you get to drive? Pretty much everyday we are in the car
What kind of car do you drive? It is an Opel Astra (I put a picture of a similar one above)



(Moms note: I have to paste in my letter to Morgan so his response below makes sense, but it is funny, so I hope it is worth it. I was asking him questions...
Did you get your package?
Was the chocolate melted?
Did you eat it anyway?
(golly that started sounding like the little song "I found a peanut, I found a peanut..."
Do you know that song?

OK, I really am not as insane as this letter is sounding, I am just your same goofy mom as always. Here is his response in which he pasted part of my letter:)


(golly that started sounding like the little song "I found a peanut, I found a peanut..."
Do you know that song? i do know that song! I think Andy was the first person to introduce me to it.Well that is all that i have for this week. The transfer is winding down, which is scary, but things always continue on and we must always move forward.
Elder Chambers is going to be going home here in 3 weeks when the transfer ends, which is very sad for me, but he has to move on too.
Take care family!--
With love, Your son,
Starsi Morgan Nowland

Pictures from the Vylet (Day Trip)

Mustache Monday
at the office.







.

President Slovacek, we promise not to paint our faces ever again, but Sister Slovacek told us we could - I promise. Please let me out, please!














(he always used that smile on
us here at home too - it worked on us as well)











Enjoying the day with the office staff,
this is Elder Nowland with the Robbins
and Elder Kartchner














This is the picture with the group.












President Slovacek looks like he is taking the opportunity for a teaching moment. He is just an awesome Mission President. Elder Nowland says he is so blessed to be able to work so closely with he and Sister Slovacek.

President Slovacek let me out of the castle prison

and I promise to behave. But I can still have fun.....

18 July 2009

Vitam vas, It literally means, "I Greet You",

I'll start this email with a quick funny story so every monday and thursday we have a meeting with all the people in the office so that we can all coordinate what will be going on for the next few days. Well seeing as how the office can sometimes become difficult to handle mentally on a day to day basis, we sometimes have to do things to keep our minds sane, which usually involves doing things that are insane...or just dorky. So the theme for the monday meeting was mustache mondays.

President and Sister Slovacek found it quite funny, so the story continues...on thursday when we had the second meeting of the week as all four of us missionaries walked in we were suprised by the fact that President Slovacek, Sister Slovacek, and the senior couple the Robbins were all wearing pirate Patches over their eyes, they said it was in celebration of Pirate Patek, which is interesting because Patek is the word for Friday in czech, so it didnt make much sense, but it was very funny. Sister Slovacek is a hoot!

In the missionary work though, we had a meeting set-up with a guy we had met on a bench last week on tuesday of this week. When we were standing with him at the bank of the river across from Charles Bridge, a young man and a tour guide come walking up to us. It turns out that the young man was from Canada and was a return missionary. He was very jealous that missionaries get to serve in prague. We ended up getting a contact for his tour guide who was a czech, and inviting her to english class. Later on in the week we went over to teach a recent convert name Jana. While we were with her and her 14 year old son (who we are teaching the gospel to) she took us up to her neighbors flat and we taught the daughter and her boyfriend about God and prayer. It was really neat because Jana helped us teach by bearing her testimony, and it was a very strong testimony about the power of Christ and his atonement.

Then on Friday we traveled to Brno for a Zone Leaders council meeting. It was such a good council, because it was a complete council in the sense that we sat in a circle and simply addresssed many different concerns with regards to the mission and how we can improve. The spirit was very strong and we all left with a completely different outlook on the mission and how the work can progress forth. I have begun to really enjoy counselling with the president and the other missionaries. I am beginning to realize that in life and in marriage Counselling will be very important. If we just try to ignore things and hope that they work out, or hope that the other individual will just make the change, then the possibilities for a misunderstanding or a difficult situation will be much more likely to present themselves. We must always be willing to share our thoughts and be open with one another in love and humility. When we accomplish that we will see a greater bond formed and higher rate of successfulness in our lives.

Questions:

So how was the vylet with the Slovaceks? It was a blast!

Did you take pictures?

I did the will be uploaded so that you can take a look at them.

Did you get your package? no I have not gotten the package yet but I assume that it will be here within the week, most likely on monday
Are you feeling more comfortable with being AP? Yes, I am getting to be a bit more comfortable now that I have had time to get know President more, and now that I am beginning to understand what is expected of me.

The mission is a blast! it is unbelievable to me how much i am learning here. You really do learn the skills for life while on a mission! I highly recommend it.

I love you all.

This week can be the best week ever if only we choose to make it that way!

11 July 2009

Morgan is far left on the back row.

Jak se vede Rodino?

Hello family it has been an absolutely crazy quick week on my end as well! So in the life of an Assistant there are a lot of missionary THINGS that we are assigned to do. One of those is that we are in charge of all visa work that takes place in the church across the Czech and Slovak Republics. So there is going to be a youth conference in a little city outside of Prague, and not only are the Czech and Slovak youth coming but there are about 28 youth from Moldova and 2 from Cyprus. So the past few days have been full of filling out Letters of Invitation to the Czech Republic for these 30 individuals so that they can get a visa to be over here. It was hectic because it involved waking up early to go stand in lines to get in as soon as possible. The only problem with waking up early is that we don’t really get that sleep back.

It sounds like mom is becoming an electronic whiz. I’m very excited for dad’s new job. It sounds like it is going to be a big improvement, and a lot more enjoyable. Working together has got to be a blast, as long as you find ways to keep the stress levels down.

I just realized that I might not have told you that I have been driving for about 4 months now, and it is an absolute blast! I also feel really cool just that I can say that I have driven not only in Europe but in The Czech Republic and also in Slovakia!! I was really scared when I first drove because it had been about a year since I had last driven. It is normal now even though it took some getting used to with the different laws and style of driving here.
I think we are officially teaching the most hippie family that I have ever met. I might have told you about them already. They live about 45 minutes outside of Prague in a little mountain cottage, and when I say little I mean little. It has two rooms that are still altogether smaller than our kitchen in Callaway. They play guitars and hand drums, the kids are home schooled, they have goats that they often paint red with the wild strawberries that they pick, and we just found out yesterday that they are going to travel all the way over to the coast of France so that the father can build a legitimate year round live in it “Tree House”! They are the sweetest people; they have three little children which is big for a Czech family.

I uploaded some pictures for you all of a haunted house thinger we went to. It tells all the myths and legends of the city of Prague. There are also pictures of the office that I work in with the other three Elders. Some pictures of the main post office, me with a statue (he is a little indecent but still very neat), in the metro, and others.

It is time for me to depart. I love you family and hope that you continue to see great successes from living the gospel. I have learned so much up to this point and am continuing to gain great treasures of knowledge. Enjoy your week! Oh and we are going on a small trip with the Slovaceks on Wednesday to a place called “Cesky Raj” or Czech Paradise, so you will get some of those pictures next week!!

Love you hodne krat,
Your missionary son,
Elder Morgan Nowland

4 July 2009

Happy 4th of July!!!
Well this week I'm doing very well but i will honestly admit that I am beginning to get very tired. I have been on a pretty solid sleep schedule for over a year now, and now that schedule has been changed. I was very glad to be back in Prague this week but it didn't last very long because we were soon back on the road and on our way back to Ostrava to Have a full exchange because when we were there previously last week we didn't have a whole lot of time with Elders so we felt the need to go back and spend some more time with them. I am glad to hear that there are some people preparing for baptism and that the missionaries are getting back to the basics and refilling their teaching pool by finding more. At this time in our mission most missionaries are doing the same.
We are actually celebrating the fourth of July today here in Prague and most likely around the mission. The missionaries don't have the entire day off but they are all gathering in for a lunch barbeque.
It sounds like things are looking up back at home with new jobs and extensions to jobs. The staging service sounds perfect for the two of you seeing how you love design so much. New ideas and experiences keep life rich...in more ways than one, so keep the new ideas and different perspectives flowing.
This week has been hectic, but nonetheless enjoyable! I look back at days that were hard and am so grateful that i experienced them. This mission is the most perfect preparation for life. I heard one missionary explain it like this," Often there come days that are like storms, and we can choose to run back inside or we can learn to dance in the rain!" That touched me so much and i really look forward to that storm now so I can show forth my faith,...and dancing skills!...haha.
Speaking of storms, it has rained every evening for the past week and a half, and there are many places that have flooded. In Prague the Vltava River has gotten so high!! It is a bit scary but we will be ok.
That is all i have for now. If you ever feel like sending a package...Im not suggesting that you should...But if you do i would love Reeses and Cinnamon Poptarts.
I love you family keep being Super!!!
Love your son,
Starsi Morgan Nowland

26 June 2009

Wow hey family so this week was packed with traveling. I have officially been to Slovakia now! This past week we were in Prague for zone conference then we were in Zilina in Slovakia for the second zone conference, we saw Poland, We were in Ostrava on exchanges, in Brno for the third zone conference, and now we are back in Prague. What a blast it was but sooooo much traveling i was begining to get really sick of being in the car. It was a blast though and a great experience! So i really don't have a whole lot to talk about outside of teaching the same training 3 times and the same training rotation exercise 9 times!!! It was really fun though and i am glad that i can be a part of it. I was able to see our whole mission in a matter of four days which was pretty stellar. I'm doing well and getting accustomed to being an assistant. I want to make more happen though and i'm just not quite sure what that is yet so i will have to put some time into creating a good vision. The work is moving forward but Elder Guzy and i need to find some new investigators because our area is very empty right now and no one is really making great progress. We have some time planned for finding people though so with the Lords help and your prayers we should be able to find those who are prepared to make progress towards baptism. I'm really glad to hear that you all are doing well and that you have a new job dad. I hope that the new job becomes very enjoyable and successful. Remember that when you rely on the Lord He can help us be successful even in temporal things.

You had many questions so i will get to them.Questions:

Did you get to see Kaitlyn? yes i did, she came on sunday to church
If so, tell me about it? It was really neat and also really difficult because sundays are always very hectic as a missionary and so my mind was all over the place, I took her to sacrament and sunday school. She said that she really enjoyed it! I guess it was just really very different to see someone from home especially since i have been away from you all for over a year now. But it was really great that she got to come and took the time to come to church.
Did you travel this week? yes all over, see above.
Where did you go? Zilina,Ostrava,Prague,Brno
How are the new missionaries doing? they are all doing very well it seemed. How has your training meetings and zone conferences been this past week? they were successful, i feel like the missionaries enjoyed what they heard.
Have you had fun traveling around the mission? it has been fun except for the riding in the car and sleeping accomodations. We slept at elders apartments and elders apartments only have two beds so we slept on couches and floors.
What is Slovakia like? beautiful rolling hills all covered in green and massive valleys covered in beautiful shades of yelllows and greens. The hills are absolutely stunning in number and layers. i was very impressed it made me think of The Shire from Lord of the Rings.
It was a packed week and im sooo happy to be back in Prague in my own bed. I hope you and the new members enjoyed the temple, i would love to be able to go to the temple, really badly actually but it isn't allowed president has already asked the Brethen of the twelve and they told him it just wont work out for certain reasons, but it just builds the anticipation for when i can.
I'm enjoying the work and looking forward to hearing from you next week. Love your son, Elder Nowland
p.s. Ahoj is hi in czech as you know and Do videnia is good bye in Slov

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

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.