This has been ( I bet you could guess what I'm going to say)
a great week!
I love this island, even though the work here is kind of tough. For my
birthday mom asked me what I wanted, and I said that I wanted things
that I could give a way. She went above and beyond my request and sent
me 4 jars of jam. Elder Miller and I were so excited to see the
raspberry jam. Jam is about the best thing to put on bread ever
invented. It is so sweet and American, but Raspberry! Woah, that's
some good stuff. However I was humbled when I read the note attached
telling me tthat it was for me to copy the minister in 'The Other Side
of Heaven' and give it away. So I mustered a little courage and wrote
a note and decided which 4 ministers would be best to give the jam to.
In the note I talked about how I had just turned 20 and that I wanted
to give this gift as a symbol of good will between us. I gave the
gifts to the minister in our town (she just said ok and we awkwardly
left), the minister that yelled at us last month (she said 'thanks'
and we left), the minister that yelled at me back in march (that was
this morning. he had us sit down and gave us a drink, then we left and
came to internet), and the minister that yelled at elders last year
(he's actually Mormon, so we were pleased when he wished me a happy
birthday). I sure get to do new things outside of my comfort zone all
the time. It so scary every time, but I just felt so happy every time
when it was done. I hope they accept the gift and that they understand
that we really do have no hard feelings against them.
I gave away one last gift last week, but this one was better than them
all. We were preparing our investigator Nukai for baptism. All he had
to do was not smoke for a few more days and he would be out of the
addiction and ready for baptism this Saturday. We went to his house
and we were happy to see him biking there at the same time. We started
walking into the house with him and to our surprise the minister,
Kaitiiti, came motorcycling up at the same time. Nukai ran away and we
had a nice chat with Kaitiiti. This is the first minister that has
allowed us to have a coherent conversation. He didn't want to offend
but was not please by what we were doing. He reminded us that there is
one 1 religion allowed in that town and asked us to never come back.
We talked about it for a while. He kept on bringing up the differences
between our church and at one point started talking about the Book of
Mormon. I know that Elder Miller has a strong testimony of that book,
and is somewhat protective towards it. So when I saw that he was
pulling off his back pack I knew that he was going to give the
minister a book. In the end of our chat we made an agreement that
essentially we would keep doing our work in all of the houses that
welcome us and that he would keep doing his. Plus I was able to give
away a birthday gift. I told Kaitiiti that I had been giving gifts
away to ministers and told him that I wanted to give him something
that I held very dear. I gave him a Book of Mormon with the same
goodwill wishes. He commited to reading it and we parted ways. I am so
greatful for the chance that I have had to stand for my testimony and
to give him a book that I cherish. I know that if he will read it with
real intent its power will flow into his life and he will be blessed.
I love this church.
Love
Elder Morley
P.S. Oh yeah! After 7 or so months on Nikunau I'm getting transferred
next Monday, so if I'm not on don't worry. I'll be a zone leader with
Elder Tiaon.
Sunday, June 5, 2016
May 29, 2016
Hi all!
This has been another great week. We currently have 2 golden
investigators preparing for baptism in the next few weeks. Their names
are Kooreta and Nouoo. They are neighbors and live within walking
distance of our house (they're practically our neighbors too). They
started taking lessons at different times and for different reasons,
but both have progressed beyond belief. Kooreta's house is used as a
meeting place for the Protestant church, so when we first invited her
to church she was awfly shy about it, and didn't seem to hopeful. That
same day we taught the first getting to know you lesson to Nouoo. We
commited her to prayer and that's all. To our suprise they came to
church, both fellowshipped by someone in the ward. Now they fellowship
eachother and are completely accepted into the ward. We started with
them in the first few weeks of May, and they should be baptised on the
11th. It is so incredible to me that when domeone is ready and
honestly searching for the truth, they convert themselves. The rest of
our investigators we have been working with them for months and just
pleading with them to pray. Or helping them to quit smoking. I am
blessed so much more than I deserve. I love this work and the fact
that I have been allowed to stay on this island for just a little bit
longer (pretty crazy when you realize that I got here back in
October!).I love you all!
Elder Morley
Have you read Justin's email? This is what I said in response:
Hey Justin!
eh hem...
Salutations Elder Bouck!
It's been so long since I've written. I thought pets weren't allowed
for missionaries! Poor Trevor. We made an exception to that rule to
get a chicken. But he wasn't a pet. He was being raised for the
slaughter. His name is Sweet 'n Sour. Turned out to be a pretty great
name because that bird has some sass. It slept on a little stick
sticking out of my 3 walled hut, until it got too big last week. We
were going to kill it for my birthday, but the family liked it too
much. So it is now the House Bird. you've heard of watch dogs, well
sweet 'n sour is a watch bird. During church yesterday he clawed the
face of a stray dog and chased it away. Not a pet, it's now a monster
that lives in the neighborhood! The work is going great here. I hope
all is well you you as well.
Love
Elder Morley
P.S. That was no exaggeration, I'm understating that monstrosity.
That bird is actually very domesticated, just has a lot of
personality. Tame with a temper. He drives the house crazy, but is so
funny that they can't get rid of him. But after it was sure that we
weren't going to kill him, I made him find a new place to sleep. He is
no longer my bird. But Elder Miller has 2 hens that he is trying to
teach to lay eggs. He hates the idea of having a pet on a mission, but
he REALLY wants some eggs, so now they sleep on the other side of the
house. But really these birds just take care of themselves, we just
rent out the corner of our stick hut. If we actually had walls it
would be a bigger deal, but as it is I don't worry about it much.
This has been another great week. We currently have 2 golden
investigators preparing for baptism in the next few weeks. Their names
are Kooreta and Nouoo. They are neighbors and live within walking
distance of our house (they're practically our neighbors too). They
started taking lessons at different times and for different reasons,
but both have progressed beyond belief. Kooreta's house is used as a
meeting place for the Protestant church, so when we first invited her
to church she was awfly shy about it, and didn't seem to hopeful. That
same day we taught the first getting to know you lesson to Nouoo. We
commited her to prayer and that's all. To our suprise they came to
church, both fellowshipped by someone in the ward. Now they fellowship
eachother and are completely accepted into the ward. We started with
them in the first few weeks of May, and they should be baptised on the
11th. It is so incredible to me that when domeone is ready and
honestly searching for the truth, they convert themselves. The rest of
our investigators we have been working with them for months and just
pleading with them to pray. Or helping them to quit smoking. I am
blessed so much more than I deserve. I love this work and the fact
that I have been allowed to stay on this island for just a little bit
longer (pretty crazy when you realize that I got here back in
October!).I love you all!
Elder Morley
Have you read Justin's email? This is what I said in response:
Hey Justin!
eh hem...
Salutations Elder Bouck!
It's been so long since I've written. I thought pets weren't allowed
for missionaries! Poor Trevor. We made an exception to that rule to
get a chicken. But he wasn't a pet. He was being raised for the
slaughter. His name is Sweet 'n Sour. Turned out to be a pretty great
name because that bird has some sass. It slept on a little stick
sticking out of my 3 walled hut, until it got too big last week. We
were going to kill it for my birthday, but the family liked it too
much. So it is now the House Bird. you've heard of watch dogs, well
sweet 'n sour is a watch bird. During church yesterday he clawed the
face of a stray dog and chased it away. Not a pet, it's now a monster
that lives in the neighborhood! The work is going great here. I hope
all is well you you as well.
Love
Elder Morley
P.S. That was no exaggeration, I'm understating that monstrosity.
That bird is actually very domesticated, just has a lot of
personality. Tame with a temper. He drives the house crazy, but is so
funny that they can't get rid of him. But after it was sure that we
weren't going to kill him, I made him find a new place to sleep. He is
no longer my bird. But Elder Miller has 2 hens that he is trying to
teach to lay eggs. He hates the idea of having a pet on a mission, but
he REALLY wants some eggs, so now they sleep on the other side of the
house. But really these birds just take care of themselves, we just
rent out the corner of our stick hut. If we actually had walls it
would be a bigger deal, but as it is I don't worry about it much.
May 22, 2016 Happy Birthday
Happy Birthday!
Well, you guys might not know yet but...It's my Birthday! Just wait
for time change to catch us up! I've been a branch president for a
year and now I'm finally 20! The birthday party was great. A friend
killed his pig for us, everyone briought dishes to share and the girls
prepared dances and we brought everyone together to party! We call it
fellowshipping/ward unifying time, but it was fun. The hardest partt
was the cake. We tried to buy a cake, but everyone fell through.
Miraculously we were able to find some eggs to make a cake (we've been
trying for weeks). We've tried catching chickens, then we enlisted the
kids in town to catch us some and we payed them with coke, but they
haven;t gotten eggs yet. SO then an investigator randomly had some and
was able to gather 6 together. So then we started making the cake on
saturday morning and every step took five, (ex, recipe askes for 1 cup
milk, send person to store, they search in 3 stores before they find
the last powdered milk on island, wash cup, pump well water to clean
cup, scoop rain water take milk and stir). The best part was when we
found out that the eggs were fertilized. But after a 4 hour adventure
we had some really good CAKE! I made frosting out of sweetened
condensed milk and hot chocolate, with m&ms for decoration. Everyone
loved it. It was great day and It is always fun to see the ward
together having fun.
I won't go into details, but I just want to say that heavenly father
answers prayers. This week we were faced with a large problem in the
branch. I called together all the members of the branch in town for a
ward council. I knew that my words would be very important in helping
resolve the problems. I ran around making sure everything was going
well and making sure that everyone got some personal time with the
Elders. I didn't stop running from 6:15am to 5, then I worked again
til 8:30pm, but right before everyone arrived I had a small break.
Everyone ws busy, and Elder Miller had gone to the bathroom. It was
9:30 and I plopped down to get some much wanted personal study time. I
grabbed my Book of Mormon, but I had a strong feeling that I needed to
say another prayer. I almost pushed it off, I'd been doing a lot of
praying that morning, but in the end I said a kneeling vocal prayer,
my first in a while. In the midst of my prayer I asked for the gift of
speaking with power and authority like Ether, Moroni, and Alma. I
prayed for the gift of discernment and of wisdom like Solomon. I
prayed for the gift of following the voice and promptings of the Holy
Ghost like Nephi and for many other things. Throughout that morning
and through the rest of the day I was able to clearly see the answer
of my prayer. I can't say what I said (and if I did you wouldn't
understand them anyways), but I acted and spoke in a way that I have
never done in my life. In our ward council there were many tears shed
and a great outpouring of the spirit. I after the biggest excitement
of the morning was done I went to the restroom and felt again that I
needed to say a prayer. I started crying as I prayed in gratitude for
the goodness and grace of the Lord in answering the prayer of my
heart. I love this work and KNOW that Heavenly Father answers our
prayers. I love you all!
Love
Elder Morley
Well, you guys might not know yet but...It's my Birthday! Just wait
for time change to catch us up! I've been a branch president for a
year and now I'm finally 20! The birthday party was great. A friend
killed his pig for us, everyone briought dishes to share and the girls
prepared dances and we brought everyone together to party! We call it
fellowshipping/ward unifying time, but it was fun. The hardest partt
was the cake. We tried to buy a cake, but everyone fell through.
Miraculously we were able to find some eggs to make a cake (we've been
trying for weeks). We've tried catching chickens, then we enlisted the
kids in town to catch us some and we payed them with coke, but they
haven;t gotten eggs yet. SO then an investigator randomly had some and
was able to gather 6 together. So then we started making the cake on
saturday morning and every step took five, (ex, recipe askes for 1 cup
milk, send person to store, they search in 3 stores before they find
the last powdered milk on island, wash cup, pump well water to clean
cup, scoop rain water take milk and stir). The best part was when we
found out that the eggs were fertilized. But after a 4 hour adventure
we had some really good CAKE! I made frosting out of sweetened
condensed milk and hot chocolate, with m&ms for decoration. Everyone
loved it. It was great day and It is always fun to see the ward
together having fun.
I won't go into details, but I just want to say that heavenly father
answers prayers. This week we were faced with a large problem in the
branch. I called together all the members of the branch in town for a
ward council. I knew that my words would be very important in helping
resolve the problems. I ran around making sure everything was going
well and making sure that everyone got some personal time with the
Elders. I didn't stop running from 6:15am to 5, then I worked again
til 8:30pm, but right before everyone arrived I had a small break.
Everyone ws busy, and Elder Miller had gone to the bathroom. It was
9:30 and I plopped down to get some much wanted personal study time. I
grabbed my Book of Mormon, but I had a strong feeling that I needed to
say another prayer. I almost pushed it off, I'd been doing a lot of
praying that morning, but in the end I said a kneeling vocal prayer,
my first in a while. In the midst of my prayer I asked for the gift of
speaking with power and authority like Ether, Moroni, and Alma. I
prayed for the gift of discernment and of wisdom like Solomon. I
prayed for the gift of following the voice and promptings of the Holy
Ghost like Nephi and for many other things. Throughout that morning
and through the rest of the day I was able to clearly see the answer
of my prayer. I can't say what I said (and if I did you wouldn't
understand them anyways), but I acted and spoke in a way that I have
never done in my life. In our ward council there were many tears shed
and a great outpouring of the spirit. I after the biggest excitement
of the morning was done I went to the restroom and felt again that I
needed to say a prayer. I started crying as I prayed in gratitude for
the goodness and grace of the Lord in answering the prayer of my
heart. I love this work and KNOW that Heavenly Father answers our
prayers. I love you all!
Love
Elder Morley
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