Elder Trevor Morreall

Monday, July 11, 2016

Week #43

Hey Mis!

I actually have not gotten the package yet :/ idk if you sent it to the mission home or my trailer. If it got sent to the mission home, it takes a little longer to get out here to Parker. But thank you so much in advance!! My week has been very eventful. We're teaching a lady named Randi. She's supposed to get baptized next week, but before she does she needed to quit smoking this week and come to all three hours of church. We've been working with her for a while now, and this week, she gave us her last cigarette pack and said that she was "done" with smoking!!! Elder Peterson and I celebrated by making a video, which I'll send in a separate email. It was frustrating though, because we called her Sunday morning to come to church, and she said she wasn't feeling well and she wouldn't be able to make it. :(

It was really disappointing, so we're going to push her date back. We're going to give her a few days to rethink some things and clear her head. She's suuuuuper close though. We were also teaching a guy named Ronnie Thomas. He's a really good guy, and loved talking to us, but his pastor found out and got involved which I mentioned in an email a few weeks ago. Well, his pastor decided to pull a Satan and take away Ronnie's agency, so Ronnie called us and said that he didn't want to meet with us anymore because he didn't want to disappoint his pastor. So, we stopped by his house and talked with him. He said that his pastor talked him out of it, which was really sad. If he had told us on his own it would've been one thing, but the fact that the pastor was choosing for him was what got us mad. It happens though.

On Wednesday they had an extended-Mission Leadership Council in Vegas, so the ZLs picked me up and we drove to the meeting. It was fun because we drove right through my old area in Green Valley, so I saw some familiar places haha, it was fun. It was a really good meeting too. All the ZLs and STLs were there, and hey invited all the DLs for the meeting. It was really cool to see how the mission is run from that perspective, I learned a lot! I also got to see my trainer, Elder Wightman. He's a ZL so it was cool to get to see him! I also got to see Elder Williams and Robinson, from my MTC district!!! They're both DLs, so I got to see them. The meeting was super cool, they emphasized a lot of obedience haha.

Sooooo Sunday was interesting. We had just finished comp study, and I went to the bathroom right before we left our trailer for church. As I was leaving the bathroom, I turned the knob and heard a "ping" sound. I tried to turn the knob, but it wasn't doing anything. I wiggled the knob, and it still didn't do anything. I was trapped. I yelled for Peterson, and he came over and tried to pick the lock. No dice. He got a screwdriver and took the knob off. The bolt that opens and closes the door was stuck, and we couldn't open the door. So, Peterson had to break it down. I was in there for about a half hour before he broke the door down, and we barely made it to church on time. First our trailer had a bunch of bugs, now the doorknobs are locking me in. I'm never living in a trailer after the mission haha. That was pretty much my week haha. It was a slower week with our investigators, so we're going to focus a lot on finding people to teach this week. Any fun plans this week?

Have a great week!

Love you Mis!
Trev

Sent 7/11/16

Monday, July 4, 2016

Week #42

Hey Mis! Sounds like a super fun week! That sounds like a really fun reception! I think Jenn Blosil is on one of my efy CDs haha.

We made a lot of progress this week, both in the area, and in our companionship. One of our people with a baptismal date, Randi, came to church and has almost quit smoking! She's soooo close, and she loved coming to church. We met with a guy named Larry again. We met with him last week, and he had brought up a concern that he had a weird dream. He said in his dream he was praying, and that he was surrounded by darkness. Then, he saw a dim glow in front of him, which slowly started to get brighter. Then he woke up. He was super confused. So, Elder Peterson and I shared 1 Nephi 8 with him his week about Lehi's dream, and it was really cool how much he got into it. He invited his wife, Dominique, to join too, which was cool because she wasn't super big in joining the lessons. But she soaked it up like a sponge too. We're going to see them again his week.

We also got to see a lady named Renée Fisher. She lives with her grandparents, who she had been taking care of because they are both ill. We stopped by this week, and she told us that her grandmother passed the week before. She also said that she lost her mom, dad, and now grandmother within the last five years. We had a member with us who bore a powerful testimony about eternal families, and I explained to Renée how the Plan of Salvation has blessed our family. It was neat because she was saying that she feels a special spirit and happiness when she talks with us, and that's why she keeps inviting us back. It was super cool. We've been teaching her brother, Lewis, as well, and he's pretty cool too! We also had Zone Conference this week. It was neat to see President and Sister Snow, and I learned a lot from it! Since it was a two hour drive from our trailer to Zone Conference, the ZLs invited us to stay the night before at their apartment. I got to know them super well, and they're really cool!

We met with Bishop Nelson yesterday. He's a reallllly good guy. He sat us down and talked to us about how the work is going. He said that he's seen more work going on in the last three weeks than he has in the last three years, and he's very excited about it. It's tougher trying to get members out here in Parker, because the ward is small and the boundaries are so big. But, it's not impossible. They called a few more ward missionaries to help out, so I'm excited that things are turning around here! Bishop has helped Elder Peterson out a lot too, and he had said that Elder Peterson has come a long way since he first got transferred here. He's changing for the better, which is good! And he's keeping me more humble too haha. He's not afraid to mention something when I mess up, which is good haha. Like I mentioned earlier, Randi is almost ready to be baptized, and Ronnie Thomas is close too! He's the one with the annoying pastor, but he's going to talk to her about finding a new usher for their church haha. So we'll see!

This week should be a busy week. There's an extended-mission leadership conference this week back in Vegas, so we have to leave Parker by 5:00am🔫 The ZLs are gonna pick me up, so Elder Peterson will be on splits pretty much he whole day. We have a lot of appointments his week too, so it should be a busy but fun week!

As for my birthday, we're going to Lake Havasu as a zone, so that'll be fun! I've been thinking a lot about mom this morning, and how excited she would get for my birthday. More excited than me lol. I remember how bad she felt those years we either took you down to or picked you up from efy on my birthday hahaha. Good times. I hope you have a good holiday! Have a great week!

Love you Mis!

Trev

Zone Conference (Sent 7/4/16)

The bow tie Grandma sent me for my b-day (Sent 7/4/16)

Monday, June 27, 2016

Week #41

Hey Mis!

This has been the most bizarre week of my mission. It started off awesome. I did an exchange with Elder Keller, one of the ZLs, and he's a super cool dude. We were teaching an investigator named Ronnie, and we were studying out of the Book of Mormon with him. Ronnie's little dog kept jumping on my lap during the lesson. So, while Ronnie was reading, I had a Book of Mormon in one hand, and the other hand I used to try to pick the little dog up and set her down on the floor. When I picked her up, she started to squirm, and she felt out of my lap onto the floor, and landed on her head. She yelped, and Keller and I, horror coming across our face, looked up at Ronnie. Luckily, Ronnie was still reading and didn't even notice it. Elder Keller and I tried SO hard not to laugh during the rest of the lesson. The dog gave us dirty looks the rest of the lesson, and has since ceased to jump up on my lap.

The rest of the week was very odd. We had 4 people with a baptismal date, and we had to drop three of them. It was super frustrating, but they just didn't have the desire any more. We're still trying to help one of them quit smoking, but the other ones are super flaky. Saturday was the weirdest day this week. First off, I woke up Saturday morning, and rolled out of bed to pray. As I was praying, I started to feel really itchy. I finished praying and looked at my arm. There were a bunch of red bumps on my left arm 😳. I look at my right arm, and it has some bumps too. I started to freak out, ran into the bathroom, and checked to see if I had any more. There were bumps all over my neck and arms 😳 I called the ZLs, who told me to call the mission office. Turns out, I had bed bugs. The mission office said that they would take care of it Monday (today) so I spent the last two nights sleeping on the couch.

But, that didn't stop the work. We went out to our lessons. We had an appointment with Ronnie at three o'clock. As we turned onto his street, we saw another car pull into his yard. We pulled up to his house and saw a larger woman leading Ronnie to her car. I was driving so I rolled down the window and said "Hi Ronnie!!" He smiled, but then his smile disappeared as the lady walked over to us. She asked who we were, so we told her the missionaries. She then went on a rant about how she is a pastor and how Ronnie goes to her church and that she doesn't agree with our doctrine. So, we asked what doctrine she disagreed with, and she said Joseph Smith. We asked what she knew about him, and she said that we worship him, that he wrote the Book of Mormon, and that he was a liar, and that whenever we have "Bible study" with Ronnie, she has to be there. We tried to explain who Joseph Smith really was, and she just kept yelling at us. Then, another car pulled into the yard behind the lady. An older man stepped out of the car, and under his breath we hear him say "It's stupid people like this that make me want to..." It was Bro. Tarone, the member that we had invited to Ronnie's lesson. Bro. Tarone is a 75 year old, ex-military member of the ward. He's a little rough around the edges, to say the least. All of a sudden, he comes up from behind the pastor and starts yelling at her. She then turns around and starts yelling at him. Meanwhile, Ronnie is just standing there, so Elder Peterson and I start to talk to him. We invited him to keep reading the Book of Mormon, and to ask God, because He is the only one that truly knows everything. He agreed that he would. Then his pastor turned away from Bro. Tarone, took Ronnie and left. Bro. Throne's face is bright red, and then he stares at us. Then, he quietly said: "Let's go get some ice cream cones. We need to talk about this." So we did. It was pretty interesting.

So the next day, Sunday, we visited Ronnie again anyways. We sat down and talked with him. He said that his pastor ripped up his copy of the Book of Mormon. So, we gave him a new one. Then, he sat there and was quiet. Then he said, "She was really rude to you guys, and she has no right to tell me what to do. I still want to get baptized in your church on July 23rd!!" It was super cool! We're wayyy excited for him. We also had a really good lesson with a guy named Larry as well. He had a lot of questions, and ultimately, he opened up about how he lost his sister when he was 14 in a car wreck, and asked how he gospel was supposed to help fix that. I shared with him about mom's passing, and how the gospel didn't necessarily fix the problem, but that it was more to prepare us for these trials and to provide a foundation for us to lean upon. For the rest of the lesson, Larry was very different. He was very quiet and receptive. The Spirit was SUPER strong. It was really cool.

Sorry this email is all over the place. Not only do we have bed bugs, but our water randomly stopped working today too. Life in a trailer. It's great. It was a weird week, but there were some bright spots too!