2/14/2011

Some interesting news. Because the zone leader here crashed so much driving he can't drive in Kingstown. Therefore Elder Murray became my companion and Elder Taylor went to Kingstown to be with Elder Peterson. I was way disappointed. It happened mid-day Wednesday (transfer day). Elder Taylor and I really got along well. Elder Murray is from Guyana and Elder Carter was serving with him last transfer. He is an interesting kid. He's way homesick for Guyana. It'll be a very difficult transfer all of a sudden. I love the Guyanese people to death they just are different than us and it'll take some getting used to (again).



Because of the fact Kingstown elders didn't know Kingstown at all, we were with them the rest of the week showing them around and going on splits. Because of that, Calliaqua was hardly touched and we weren't able to teach many people. However church attendance was at 58!!!! the average is about 40 or less and it was so great to see that small chapel fill up. President Jackson is doing such a great job as the branch president and Calliaqua will never be the same since.


A new senior couple is coming to the island. That's pretty cool. The Henderson's. We picked their apartment and it's way nice. It's 3/4 the price of our apartment and about 4 times the size and 10 times nicer. I was tempted to just take that apartment as our own. But yes we will be on foot from Tuesday on. That'll stink. But i guess i'll lose some more weight.


About that. This morning, we drove to La Soufreire, the volcano here. We hiked to the top of it. It was awesome!!! About a 3 hour hike round trip and it was pouring the whole time. I loved it. There was so much wind that it was dangerous at the top. It was a steep fall. The crater is huge. But we couldn't see it because the fog was so thick. Like 30 foot visibility. Great P-day though.


I'm excited about calliaqua but i wish i was still with Elder Taylor. That's gonna be tough. Thanks for all you do and i'll have a better report next week. I love ya tons!


Elder Morris

2/07/2011

I'm excited this week!

President Jackson is going to turn this branch around. He's been a member for 10 years, been to the temple several times, and is just overall a very awesome strong member. We're going member finding on Tuesday with him, to introduce him to all the members. We left our apartment at 7:45 Sunday morning to pick him and his family up at 8:15, then getting to the church before 8:40. So it'll take awhile but it's very worth it. We're losing the car next week as well. A senior couple is coming. But everything is very promising! We're going to get a lot more people at church and i'm excited for the progress that will come.

We received transfer calls this past week. I will be with an Elder named Elder Taylor. I was in the office when he came through his first few days and he'll be really fun to serve with. President said he's having a very difficult time right now however and he has expressed his desires to return home early. So my assignment is to keep him here and get him loving the work again. He said it's going to be a heavy load but I hope it goes well. I'll be on my knees plenty this next transfer. Elder Welch is going home but spending about 2 weeks in the caribbean with his family. He is extremely excited. President told me that if i do well this next transfer he'll let me do whatever i want the last two transfers of my mission. He said as long as the lord approves.

So, yes I am still in Calliaqua for the next 6 weeks but it'll be good. I am learning to love it here. Now here's something cool about this past week! Sister Brown, a member in Kingstown, told us about a family of one of her students. She teaches at the school for disabled kids. The daughter is always super sick but she's the nicest cutest little girl. Her family is very interested! The husband isn't of course, like most of the men here, but the entire family went to Kingstown church on Sunday. They're on the border of areas so Kingstown will be teaching them from now on but they loved church and they are very promising! We taught them twice this past week both with Sister Brown and it was way fun. Member teaching and fellowshipping is well, there's no good substitute.

There's not much else to report about, this next week will be quite interesting but it'll be good. Not much time left but i'm very excited to push until the end. It's going to be a good finish. I love the gospel, and this transfer I'm trying to purify and perfect myself to try and have the spirit with me more fully to see more success. I feel confident that success will come after this long drought i've been in. I love and am grateful for all of you!

Elder Morris

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Elder Nathan Morris

PO Box 601
Kingstown, St. Vincent
West Indies

1/31/11

Hello!

This past week has been so up and down. Definitely not the best week on my mission. There were so many crazy things that happened.

1. Our branch president was released this past sunday for branch conference. Replaced by a strong melchezidek priesthood holder named Brother Jackson from Kinstown branch. He doesn't have a car so we will pick him up every week for church. I've never seen that before, transplanting members between branches. Calliaqua really needs the help thouh.

2. On Friday in Kingstown there was a political rally for the opposing party. They were rallying against the new bill that they're passing. I guess a few more taxes will be added. But we were walking through town past the crowd of like 1000 people and we heard some screams. We look to the left and we see like 15 army guys walking toward the crowd holding riot shields and big police batons. They didn't do anything to the people they were just providing protection. But a bunch of people were running from them and screaming. It was pretty intense. One police officer was hurt in the rally but that was it. We got out of there pretty quick.

3. We were driving Brother Lewis home Saturday night and we saw a guy beating a lady in the middle of the street. We put on our brights, stopped the car and Brother Lewis got out and stopped him. It was horrible. The lady was pregnant and the guy was just evil. A bunch of people came out and helped and Brother Lewis talked to him for like 20 minutes calming him down. I guess she was doing drugs and he was mad at her so he decided taking her out to the main road and physically abusing her publically was the best solution. Goodness...

4. Someone stole the toyota chrome logo on our car above the license plate today.... Lame.

I dunno all these things were just ridiculous. We weren't able to get much work done but this next week should be tons better. I'm excited about the new branch president. He's a great man and we'll be able to get lot of things done. Our past branch president just wouldn't do anything and the branch was falling apart. President Macintosh in the WIM presidency was here over the weekend and we were able to get a lot of things sorted our. Institute and Seminary are going to be a lot bigger part of the church here in St. Vincent now. The programs were not working very well but wow it'll be so much better now. I'm excited about what will happen in the next little while. We're going to see a lot of success. It really does come from having a good branch president.

Dad to answer y our question, a few missionaries break rules, but it's nothing as bad as what you described. Sometimes a missionary will take a swim, but most of the disobedience is coming in early and long lunches. It's not too bad here. It sounds like everything is so busy at home and you don't have any time at all. I hope things are going well. Things are going well with us. We have a few really great investigators. They didn't come to church this past week but they are still progressing along. The work has been slow but it's still moving.

I love you all!

Elder Morris

1/24/11

This past week was pretty up and down!


Ups include Barbados. Wow. That was so great, to be able to go back and visit the island again. I forgot how civilized and americanized it is compared to st. vincent. Monday night we slept over at the zone leaders' apartment and I got to call Black Rock and talk to Elder Hoepel. he just got put back in the area and we had a blast gaffing about the area and the good times we had. Some cool news about Black Rock, it is on fire right now! Not literally but missionary work wise. The week after I left they got a new branch president, President Moody. He is from Utah and has a family and everything, works for the embassy. Well he totally has changed everything around! When I was there we'd get mid-30's at church every week but last week they had 60! Baptisms are happening and people that haven't been to church in years are coming back. Home teaching is going, and things are just going great there. Sherneal hasn't been baptized still, she hasn't overcome a few things but she still is interested and comes to church every other week or so. That was pretty sad to hear but she will. Zone Conference the next day was great. Really my favorite part, sadly, wasn't the actual conference but seeing Elder Hoepel and everybody that's in Barbados. Elder Hoepel and I are great friends and I miss him a ton. Zone conference was great and President spoke a lot about relationships with our companions. It was pretty interesting and helped a lot. Elder Welch and I get along okay, but it definitely could be better. It helped a lot though. The spirit was there in great abundance. Interviews was interesting. We talked a lot about next few transfers. I asked him what the possiblieties were of serving around Elder Prince or Beeson and he didn't really answer me. He said he could only guarantee that they'd be at the departure devotional. He did tell me however that he might want me to train next transfer. It'll be interesting to see what happens. I can't believe that after February 9th, I'll only have 3 more transfers left.. Wow.


The week was pretty difficult actually. We tried, but none of our progressing investigators came to church. Jasmine is still doing well we just think she felt shamed because she doesn't have modest church clothes. That was one of the things Elder Oaks spoke of at last week's conference so she probably felt pretty guilty. She definitely wants to change and be baptized though. She has 5 kids in this tiny board house. I feel way bad for her but the best medicine is the gospel. It would help her and her family so much. We don't really have much else going for us right now. Except that last night the Adams' family came teaching with us (they're from Kingstown branch) and they wanted to visit Brother Lewis, a recent convert here that is receving a calling and the melchezidek priesthood this next week. We got to visit with all 3 of his sisters which was a first. First time we've been able to sit with all of the family there and they should be coming to church next week. So I hope that turns out well.


Today was pretty great. We woke up early and drove to Dark View Falls which was pretty fun. Took some great pictures. 2 waterfalls that's just a short 5 minute hike away from the road. On our way back we stopped at Waliliabou bay which is where they filmed a lot of Pirates of the Caribbean. Remember the part with Jack Sparrow riding in on his tiny boat that is sinking as it gets to the port? I stood on that port today! I bought a bunch of shells from this cool rasta guy that was selling and I got a whale tooth necklace. It was a cool morning and i'll send home the shells in the next few weeks. I'll attach some pictures.


Well I don't know what else to report. Life is good. It's weird being with a missionary that's going home. He is trunky and he tlaks about home a lot. Haha. We're still working though and i pray to see some of these great people get baptized soon..


Love, Elder Morris

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Elder Nathan Morris

PO Box 601
Kingstown, St. Vincent
West Indies

1/17/11

Hello!

Tomorrow is Zone conference!!! I can't wait. We only have them every 3 months and so this is my 2nd to last zone conference. Grenada and St. Vincent missionaries are flying to Barbados tonight then flying back tomorrow night. Zone conference usually goes from like 9-3 or something. I'm way excited for I haven't seen President Gamiette (let alone talked with him) for 3 months. That can really be hard sometimes, not seeing the mission president very much. All is well though cause tomorrow i will. Dad- to answer your questions, the planes that LIAT uses are these small twin propeller planes. They carry about 30 passengers or so and wrok really well for inter-caribbean flights. No big jet planes can come to st. vincent cause it's such a small airport. the security stuff is still the same just smaller lines because less people are flying. The mission pays for the trip and orders the tickets when they know when the Zone conferences will be which is usually about 2 weeks before the Zone conference. The president always travels with the Assistants, yes. It's quite fun and I'm way excited to see barbados again. I love that country. I just hope i can get some flying fish and chips. Mmmmm....

I want to tell ya of a cool experience we had yesterday. At church we met in Kingstown with both branches and had District Conference. It was a broadcast from the Conference Center broadcasting to the Caribbean area. Sister Thompson of the R/S spoke first, then an 70, Kent Richards, then Elder Oaks, then President Uchtdorf. It was amazing because they spoke to the needs of the Caribbean which are of course different from other parts of the world. Elder Oaks seemed to be the one that had to give the bad news and tell us what work needs to be done and where the caribbean needs improvement. He used many statistics t hat were really interesting. For example. 40 percent of children being born in the US are out of wedlock. I can't imagine the percentage for the Caribbean but it seems like it would be 70-80 percent. That seems to be such a horrible trend these days. Finding a husband and wife is a rarity and when we meed some we usually congratulate them for making that wise decision. Elder Oaks talked a lot about tithing and how when when it is paid in a country the entire country (not just the tithe payers) is blessed. It was an amazing meeting. The spirit was way strong. Elder Oaks' talk was my favorite just because he really did bring up the things that they need to change. Here there is no real youth programs set up yet and that's taking a toll, not many are paying tithes, and law of chastity issues. He talked a lot about the "gospel culture" which needs to be implemented in these developing countries. President Uchtdorf was very encouraging and spoke for a long time about how to become converted and stay converted. I wish more people could have been at the meeting.

At the end of the meeting we saw one of our investigators that came, Jasmine. We didn't see her come into the church, we weren't even expecting her, but she came all on her own. She lives on the top of a large hill in a small, 5 foot by 10 foot wooden house. She has 5 kids and only gets about 50 dollars a week from her child's father. It was amazing to see her make that sacrifice to come all the way to Kingstown to find the truth. We taught her later that day and she said that she felt strange ( a good kind of strange). She had the spirit with her as we read from the Book of Mormon and someone that we didn't think would go anymore now became one of our strongest investigators. Great thing to see that happen.

This week we worked harder than i ever think i've worked in my whole mission. On Saturday night we walked in and just fell on the couches. We were exhausted and fell asleep within minutes. I'm still trying to get over it as I am still way tired. However when we're working our hardest it feels so much better. We had a really successful week. I'm happy. I was thinking just now about how much i love the west indies. Despite all of its quirks and bad habits, I love these countries. There is nowhere like it in the world. This week ahead i'm pretty excited about and i'll let you all know how the zone conference goes and everything. I love you all!!

Elder Morris

PS: Grandpa, I did get your package! I thought i mentioned it two weeks ago but thank you so much! I also got the one from the caldwells. They were welcome treats and I will write back, when I have time. Which today i have none.

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Elder Nathan Morris

1/10/11

Hello there!

Life is going pretty normal here in St. Vincent. We're working so hard but sometimes it can be really hard to see the fruits of your labors. Especially if you worked your 100 percent hardest the whole week to try and get people to come to church and none of them come. There's a cool family that we're teaching. The mom, Pompei and her 2 boys. She's older but the boys are pretty young, both 11. (1 adopted). They seemed golden. Everything was looking great, like they have all prayed about the message, they are feeling the spirit, all excited to be baptized. But Sunday comes and one of the kids was sick and had to go to the hospital. Next week we're crossing our fingers. Elder Welch is especially trying to keep his hope alive because this is his last chance to bring someone into the waters of baptism as he's still Elder Welch.

It was fun, yesterday, after church we went to one of the members' houses. His last name is Bullock. His wife isn't a member but her father passed away last month. They're an east indian family so they invited us over to have 7 curry. Vegetarian curry but 7 different kinds. Like eggplant, pumpkin, dhall, etc. Eating them on these big leaves. Usually it's a Diwali tradition but they do it once in awhile for special occasions. I missed my chance to do it when I was in Guyana for Diwali but it was really fun. All the elders came and we definitely had a great time. About 100-150 people there, and 6 white guys from America. We felt pretty awkward and out of place but some drunk guys came up to us and made us feel right at home with some jokes they thought were hilarious. It was pretty funny.

Some weeks are better than others, and there have definitely been better weeks than this past one. Sometimes it feels like we're just working for numbers which isn't good. We did get most of our goals this week but none of our investigators came and so it's like all our work that we had didn't really help the branch progress. Calliaqua (Cal-ick-wa) is having a lot of problems. But good news, to cheer us up we made some Sorrel and homemade oreo cookies. We were pretty proud of it and shared with the rest of the district. Next Monday night we fly to Barbados for Zone conference. I'm way excited to see people there again. I'm going tofind out how Sherneal is doing there to see if she's been baptized or if she's still having problems. It's always nice to fly.

About coming to pick me up. I think a cruise would be fun, but i think it'd be very fun to do just a simple trip. Like 1 or 2 days in Trinidad, and 1 or 2 days in Guyana. In guyana i'd definitely want to do the kaietur falls. Please tell me what you think. We can go to the islands on a cruise another time but i want you to see Trinidad and Guyana.

That about wraps up our week.. We continue to try, I'm studying and learning tons and personally i feel pretty good but the work just isn't progressing the way we wish it would. Time to buckle down.

I love ya!

Elder Morris

Pictures next week ;)

1/3/11

What a fantastic week! We worked extra hard. Elder Welch and I both want to finish our missions strong and he's going home in 5 weeks, so we did work! It's kinda sad though. This week we found a ton of new people around the island that seemed way prepared, way ready for the gospel. A lot of them fell through, however. That's such a problem here. We'll find some great investigators then they'll talk to their friends and get a bunch of anti back about us. We were teaching this guy, Junior, this week who pulled out a piece of anti-mormon literature that was 30 years old! It was an antique. He has heard so much bad stuff that he does not have ears to hear if you know what i mean. Blinded by craftiness. This week really was great though. I've felt lately the Spirit's direction more than I ever have... it's the best.

We do have some news. There was an emergency transfer and we have 2 more missionaries now on the island! We have Elder Ackerman, who i was real good friends with in Trinidad, then Elder Bybee who was in the same zone as us June-July time. They're going to be a way fun addition and it makes this island feel like we actually have a district. 4 just wasn't enough. New years was kinda weird here, just lots and lots and lots of alcohol. We were going to wake up at like 11:50 and call the other missionaries and drink our sparkling grape juice but we slept through the alarm.

It's pretty cool, I've been studying tons from Jesus the Christ lately and am just learning all these cool pieces of doctrine about Christ I never thought about. Like how Adam and Eve being cast out was a result of them breaking the word of wisdom. I just never thought of it like that. Right now i've never felt better in my entire life. Over the course of my mission i've really gotten to know the Savior personally. He helped me a lot through some hard times. He helped me feel clean and pure as I've repented over and over and over again. I wouldn't be anything without the Savior. It's interesting too, the more you're focused on Christ and the stronger your testimony is of the Atonement, the stronger your desire to help others know the truth. It really is an interesting dynamic.

I was reading a conference talk by my main man, President Eyring, and he talked about Remembering. About looking for the Lord's hand in your life, and remembering it by writing those things down and things like that. I started at the bottom of every journal entry to write a small thing of how the Lord influenced my life that day. How he helped us in some way. It helps me see even bad days as blessings.

Church was okay, none of our "progressing" investigators came to church but we still have a lot of promising people coming up. Honestly i can't fathom in my small brain what it's like to be in a ward with over a hundred people (at least) in attendance every single week. I can't remember what it feels like. The only thing i really remember is my farewell, seeing over 500 people in front of me. Dang that was scary.

Overall it was a fantastic week, i hope i can save you the mushy stuff by just saying i'm changing and i'm happier than i've ever been. I love this gospel. I know my Savior lives and i wouldn't be doing anything else right now.

Love, Elder Morris

Mom, about the travelling, I think i'm happy with just going home the normal way. Flying home and getting picked up at the airport. It would be fun to go back though, that's for sure!! A cruise could be fun.

Pictures: A kid washing our car with his new toy, it was free :D, some picture i thought was cool in the bush while we were tracting one day, and fried chicken wings overlooking the ocean. I love food!
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Elder Nathan Morris