Happy Leif Erickson Day

Actually, it's not. It's on October 9th. Yep. It's totally a real
holiday. Prepare to celebrate.

Hi everyone!

This week went by really, really fast.  Probably because we've been
super busy.  We have an investigator!  She investigated a couple of
years ago, but quit because she thought that we were the FLDS church
and that Thomas S. Monson was Charles Manson.  So yeah, that happened.
She missed her last appointment, but is seriously considering getting
baptized.

We had our Christmas fireside a the mission home!  Santa came!  And
gave us presents!  Well, the ones our families had sent.  But still!
And then we got to hear President Fenn talk about the Christmas story.
Everyone needs to fix their nativity scenes, because they aren't
doctrinally correct.  It's way too nice looking.  The real stable was
more like a cave, and it was disgusting, which symbolizes the Savior's
condescension.  Then we talked about the duality of Christ.  And how
there were like, 20 or 30 wise men.  Well, we don't really KNOW that,
but he figured that if you were going to see the Messiah, you wouldn't
just go alone.  You'd take your family and friends and everything.
And that they didn't even show up until Jesus was a little older,
like, two or three, and by that point they are in a house.  So yeah,
it was super awesome.

We've had a lot of cool experiences finding by the Spirit.  It's
awesome to know that you are doing something that the Lord has
literally asked you to do.  It's been great.

I was burned by Five Guys this week.  I swear on my life I will never
eat at that place again.  A member took us there, and the things it
did to our bodies... I won't go into it.  Needless to say, I am glad
we have a washer and dryer in our apartment.

To answer a question, yes, I can read emails during the week.  I can't
respond till Monday, and that includes writing letters. So yeah, fun
fact for the day.

So story of the week: I did what is probably the most dangerous thing
I have ever done before on Tuesday.  By accident, of course.  So a
member asked us to help him clean out his barn.  As we were there, the
conversation somehow turned to fireworks.  That reminded him that he
had a room in the upper level of the barn COMPLETELY FULL OF
FIREWORKS. Ten year old fireworks.  From China.  That he had modified
by hand.  And he wanted them all downstairs.  We had prayed beforehand
and my companion and I were like, "Well, we'll just need to be
careful.  I mean, it's not like they're just going to go off on their
own, right?"  So we carried all the cardboard boxes full of fireworks
downstairs.  Soon there was just a wooden crate left, which was
labeled "Caution: Highly Explosive."  We asked the member, and he was
like "Oh, that's where I keep all of my black powder.  Whenever I
break a firework, I just pour the black powder into a ziplock baggie
and throw it in there."  Those may have been the most horrifying words
I had ever heard another human being speak.  My companion and I went
upstairs, but neither of us would touch the thing.  We decided to open
the crate and see exactly what was inside, just to be safe.  But then
we were convinced that even opening the thing would result in an
explosion, the likes of which would rival Krakatoa.  Finally, I pried
the box open and... Empty. Completely empty.  We carried the box
downstairs and when the member asked us what took so long, we told him
we were worried about the black powder.  He was like "Oh, THAT'S the
box you were talking about?"  He pointed to another box, one I had
carried down the stairs by myself. "It's THAT one."  My companion
lifted the lid off of it, and it was FULL of black powder in little
baggies.  So yeah, I pretty much almost died.  The Lord answered our
prayers, though, and I have lived to tell the tale. So yeah, that was
exciting.

Other than that, things have been good.  I'm super excited to be out
here.  I have less than a year left, and it's super sad.  It's going
by really fast.  And this morning, I realized that this January would
be my last as a missionary, and I kind of freaked out.  How?  How did
this happen?  I don't know.  But yeah, I'm trying to make the most of
it, and do everything the Lord has asked me to do.  I know that if we
let Him guide us, He will make more of us than we could ever make of
ourselves.

Elder Jordan Morgan

"The Giver"

Does anyone get the subject line?

So you guys saw the Giver?  How was it?  Did they keep the super
christian themes in it, or did they water it down?

The book is super christian.  I mean, they got rid of all opposition,
which makes everyone neither happy nor sad, which is straight out of 2
Nephi 2:11.  And the thing I liked about the book was that it really
looked like their world was perfect, but then as Jonas slowly learns
the truth about things, he realizes that things are awful.  Like
Plato's cave!  And then the community chooses one person to bear all
the sufferings of everyone in the world?  The Giver is a Christ
figure!  And Jonas is only a letter away from Jonah, the prophet who
fled his calling!  Like Jonas does!  Well, Jonas was doing it for a
good reason, but still!  Christianity is all over that book, yet I
wouldn't be surprised if they toned it down for the movie.  Whatever.
I'll have to see it when I get home.

Thanks to everyone that emailed me!  That was awesome.  I love getting
emails from people in the family.  Make sure you write Carter too.

That is insane about Devin and Jordan coming home.  I couldn't believe
it, but then I thought about it and was like "Well, it is December."
That's pretty crazy.

Speaking of coming home, my mission president is working it out with
the mission department to set my release date for December 9th, 2015.
He thinks that that is when I should be able to go home, and so do I.
We both feel good about it.  He doesn't foresee there being a problem
(It's a little different for me, since they apparently didn't take
into account my time already served when they set my release date),
but maybe I'll get to talk to an apostle!  It's a long shot, but
still, that would be awesome!

Things have been going good in the area.  We are meeting with a TON of
members to help them create their own family mission plans, rather
than doing what some missionaries do and try to guilt them into doing
missionary work.  It works a ton better when people set goals
themselves, rather than go with the goals that other people want to
set for them.  And this way, when we leave the area, the work doesn't
leave with us, it stays with the ward.

I told Davis this, but it totally pays off to stick with the piano,
because then you get to do awesome things on your mission like playing
Let It Go at the ward Christmas party.  It was pretty awesome.

Someone commented on one of Mom's statuses on Facebook, asking if I
know the Joss'.  I totes do.  He's our first counselor, and he's
awesome.  The whole family is.  I guess they lived in the Cascade Park
ward for like, eight years.  They know the Gages!

Other than that, not a whole lot to report this week.  Thanks for the
Advent calender! It's awesome.  Except now the first thing I eat every
morning is candy.  Which isn't really an odd thing for me, actually.
I love candy.

Love,

Jordan

The Swanky Part of Town

Hello again family!

Things are awesome here in St. Charles. We have one of the worst

apartments in the mission, but this is America, so it's still pretty

nice.  Fun facts about it:

-The person living below us controls our heat.

-The light switches to the bathroom are in the hall and the light

switches to the hall are in the hall closet.

-The front door doesn't open from the inside, so we have to pry it

open with a butter knife.

It's pretty nice besides that.  The members in this area are crazy

rich, and one of them bought Temperpedic mattress pads for our beds,

so that was awesome. They're the best beds in the whole mission.

Other ridiculous things that have happened since I got here:

-I was fed a $40 steak.

-We were "official" fancy cheese testers, since that sort of thing

just happens all the time here.

-We were fed Thanksgiving twice.

It's kind of ridiculous, but the members are all super nice and

awesome.  We're trying to spend as much time with them as we can,

since missionary work is best done through the members.  It's

difficult (WAY harder than tracting.), but the results are tons

better.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR FIGURING OUT BYU FOR ME!!!

I'm super excited, and yes, less worried.  It's going to be great.

I'm going to try to figure out today when to go home.  I've been

thinking about it for a while, even though I thought I wouldn't need

to figure it out for a long time, but now it's come right up, and I'm

glad I've already put some thought into it.  There's been a lot of

prayer involved, studying it out, and talking to my mission president.

I'm going to make some calls today and then I'll let you know.

We have two investigators, and they're pretty cool.  We have a lesson

with one of them tomorrow, and he sounded excited, so that's going to

be great.

Thanks for the advent calender!  It's going to be awesome.  I really

like it a lot.

We got paid today, so we're going to Giordano's.  It's a deep dish

place, and it's not too expensive, and it's delicious.  I feel bad for

everyone that has not experienced it.  It's the best deep dish I've

found out here (yes, there really is deep dish pizza EVERYWHERE. It's

the greatest thing in the world. At first I was like, "What's the big

deal? It's just thick pizza."  I was wrong.  So wrong.  So many years

wasted!)

I am doing good.  Things are well.  I am co-senior companion right

now, but it doesn't mean much.  No one is really in charge in a

companionship.  It's good preparation for marriage.  If the Ensign has

taught me anything, it's that neither spouse is in charge.  They make

decisions together.  We do kind of have a problem with unrighteous

dominion in our mission, but it's just a few elders.

I hope everyone is having fun!  And Christmas is coming crazy fast!

It seems like mothers day was just last week!  It's insane.

Have a good week!

Jordan