at the same time it is totally awesome. I love it. There have been
so many things that happened this week that I don't even know where to
start. This email is probably going to end up being as long as the
unabridged Les Miserables but we'll see what happens. I figure I will
just take you day by day since that will be easiest for me to remember
everything I want to share.
Wednesday: So obviously, I got to talk to you in the morning before
the flight. Well the flight went great. It was a lot faster than I
was expecting. There was a couple sitting next to me that I talked to
a little bit but I should have shared more about our church and
things. I was so scared to talk to them that it wasn't even funny.
So that was kind of discouraging. Oh well. Anyway, after the flight
we went to pick up our bags and President Howell and his wife were
there waiting for us to welcome us and say hello. It was wonderful to
see them. And they already new all of our names and where we were
from. That was inpressive. It definitely made me feel a little more
comfortable. President Howell is pretty much the coolest mission
president ever. I love him so much. He really is focused and knows
how to bring the spirit but at the same time he is funny and fun and
great. His wife is also the sweetest lady I've ever met. She cares
deeply about everyone and is so loving. Don't worry, mom, I'm well
cared for here.
Oh so we got off the plane and then guess what? They took us straight
to the institute building on the U of M campus, quickly showed us how
to talk to people, gave us an experienced missionary to go with and
some pass along cards, and then made us go out into campus and street
contact people. Holy smokes. I'm scarred for life. I was so scared
to talk to people that it was embarrassing. I would get flustered and
jump around in my conversations and everything just went horribly.
The area we were contacting in is called Dinky Town and there were
just a buch of college students walking to class that don't want to
talk to anyone, especially mormon missionaries. I can't even describe
the fear within me. We only did this for maybe 45 minutes and then
met up with all the other missionaries again. Thankfully, I'm still
alive. And it isn't like anyone was judging me or anything, I was
just scared to talk to people. After this experience I was really
discouraged and down as well as emotionally exhausted from all my
nerves. But the rest of the day went much smoother, thank goodness.
We went to the mission home next, did some orientation business, had
dinner, and then had a little fireside thing. The fireside was so
wonderful. Both the President and his wife spoke to us and then we
all got the chance to bear our testimonies. So great. Feeling the
spirit so strong helped me to recover a little from the trajic
experience earlier that day at Dinky Town. And they awesomely also
let us go to bed at like 8:30. Oh man that was awesome! Normally,
that is definitely not allowed but for this one day they wanted us to
get some good rest so we could start off the mission fully recharged.
And I did get the letter from you, mom and dad. Thank you much. It
was so great to read.
Thursday: Today I met my trainer! Word. His name is Elder Farnsworth
and he is sooooooo awesome. Seriously. Parents, you have nothing to
worry about because I am being well taken care of. He has been out on
his mission for over a year and a half. He is super obedient and is a
fantastic teacher. Everytime another missionary talks to me about
Elder Farsworth they always say that I got one of the best
missionaries in the mission for a trainer and how lucky I am. And
it's true. He knows his stuff, his very dedicated, and pushes me hard
to learn the missionary skills that I need. By the way, you know how
I told you about the Pilot Program at the MTC? Well there is actually
also a pilot program for training new missionaries. All of the new
missionaries that came in this transfer are on this program. It is
awesome but also very difficult. It is designed to be twelve weeks
long and by the end of the twelve weeks I am supposed to be able to
train a new missionary myself. That doesn't mean I will, it just
means I should be able to. Insane? Yes. But everything has been
going good and Elder Farnsworth and I are working hard.
The area we are assigned to is called Plymouth. I really love it.
The members are so loving and kind here and they take good care of
us. Elder Farnsworth and I were white washed into this area which
means we are both brand new to the area. Normally, they switch
missionaries out one at a time but they just put us both here at the
same time.
We also did our first companionship study today. Interestingly
enough, since we're part of this new pilot program, there were a
couple of guys here from Church Headquarters who are here to watch how
everything is going as it gets started. Because of this we had a man
sit in on our companionship study and just watch as we prepared for
the day and Elder Farnsworth began training me. It was kind of
interesting but also cool. He also took us to taco bell. That was
great.
We had an appointment with an investigator tonight who sounded like
she was really solid and interested in the church. She ended up
cancelling because all of her kids are sick. So that stunk but I
think we're going to try and teach her tomorrow or at least in the
next few days. I also had my first dinner appointment tonight. Yay!
That was fun. In fact, we've had dinner at a member's home every night
so far since I got here. So awesome! The members in the ward here
are just so great!
Friday: Craziest thing happened today! Background: Thursday we
called a referall that we had and they said that they would call us
back later, which never happens but we went with it and figured we'd
just call them later. However, Friday morning they called us! It was
shocking. Elder Farnsworth answered the phone and it was insane what
happened. The woman basically said, "yeah, we want to join your
church." Well we said we could help her with that! Ha ha. So we
will be meeting with them tonight actually. Hopefully all goes well!
We also had dinner at the bishop's home today. It was so fun. Their
family also has a friend that they invited over too. He is not a
member but he told us that he would be interested in taking the
lessons from us. So we're teaching him this Friday! Yes! He is the
first investigator we have picked up that we can count as an actual
investigator. Awesome!
Saturday: So you've probably noticed by now that we were already
seeing a ton of success out of no where. The Lord is really opening a
ton of opportunities and I think it is because he wants to reward
Elder Farnsworth for being such a dedicated, hard working missionary.
I'm already seeing the blessings that come when you are an exactly
obedient missionary and you work like crazy! But anyway, I mention
this becasue do you think our success ended here? No! We went to
teach a family for the first time that the missionaries before us had
just recently tracted into. So we set up an appointment with them
today. We went in planning to do just a short lesson and then next
time we met we would do an all out restoration lesson. However,
that's not was the Lord had planned. We got in there and the Father
was really interested in the Mormon church because he believed that
God wouldn't just stop talking to his people after the Bible. They
also are a super strong family and they read from the Bible everyday.
They are very Chrtistian and were looking for a church when the
Missionaries came knocking on their door. Gosh! I just get chills
when I think about it because everything was perfect. Perfect timing
and the family was 100% prepared beforehand to have the missionaries
come. So we ended up teaching a full Restoration lesson and the
spirit was really strong. The Lord is totally the one that is in
charge. He takes care of you as long as you are obedient and put your
trust in him. It was amazing! By the end of the lesson we invited
the family to be baptized on March 19th. And they committed to it!
Oh man. I just died inside. My first baptisimal commitment of the
mission! I can't belive it. Goodness! It is so awsesome. I think
I'm going to explode.
We also visited some less active people today. And, I've already been
a part of three Priesthood blessings since I've been here.
Missionaries get tons of opportunities to give blessings. It's cool.
Sunday: Today the snow came. About the same time as church a giant
snow storm started. It wasn't so bad at first but it just kept
dumping and so we got like twelve inches or something today. Because
of that, all of the investigators and less actives that we committed
to church didn't come. It was sad but I understood. Hopefully next
week will be better and they can all come to church. Church was great
though. I met a lot of members who's names I can't remember. It was
fun. It was also nice to be able to feel the spirit and not have to
be the one teaching or participating in the teaching. You know? Yeah
that was awesome.
Crazyness also happened today. The Elder's quorum president is a very
dedicated man. So in the evening he wanted to visit many less active
people and give them an invitation to stake conference in a couple
weeks. And we went with him to meet these people and maybe get them to
let us come back and teach them. Things were okay at first, we only
had to push the car in the snow a couple times. But, it got to the
point where we couldn't push the car anymore and it was just stuck.
So we all gave up and some nice guys gave us a ride back to the house
where Elder Farnsworth and I got our car and drove to our home. Oh
man. The snow was a killer. I was so tired when I went to bed that I
slept unbeleivably well. And now it is P-day thank goodness! And
even though it was an annoying moment, that snow adventure was an
excellent experience for my first week in Minnesota. It really isn't
THAT cold here though. The snow has actually been pretty fun. I like
it. It was funny how quickly it changed though because Wednesday was
sunny and warm in the 40's and now it's just snowy and cold.
Definitely bearable though.
I love Minnesota. Everyone here is really so nice. And the lakes are
literally everywhere and it is beautiful, especially since they are
all frozen Ha ha. I see cars out driving on the lakes all the time.
In fact, there is a mini lake in my back yard that has a Hockey rink
carved in it. Super cool!
It sounds like life at home is going great. I miss you guys!
Thanks for all of your love, support, and prayers. It was wonderful
to talk to you on Wednesday. And I will make sure to update you next
week! I can't wait to see what happens!
By the way, I am getting way more comfortable with talking to people
now. It gets easier and easier everyday. Tracting is actually fun
now. My companion is helping me out so much and everything is just
going better than I could have ever imagined. I'm very happy here!
Love you so much!
Elder Morgan Ruesch
