Letter From Elder Morrison

Hey fam. monday p-day is really really weird. but i can let you know about transfers before they happen now. transfer calls came yesterday. Elder Anglesey will be transferred to Sikeston, MO. he'll be in Alex's district. i'm going senior companion now, and i'll be serving with Elder Heath, who has been out 3 months. well, like i said on Christmas, we had 2 baptisms the sunday before, and then we had another one yesterday. it went really well. i have pics that i'll send through gmail, so i can send more than 2 at a time.this week, after Christmas, we had teamups with the Washington area. Elder Swenson, who is there, is a greenie, and hadn't been inducted into the mission yet. we have a specific routine in the mission called Gonbaloosh. basically, on teamups, after the greenie falls asleep, we put blankets over us, and are on hands and knees. we scream "GONBALOOSH" and leap on the greenie, pinching and wrestling him. Swenson fought back a little, and then he got out of the bed and headed to the hallway. we found him in the hallway, and he started going up the stairs. we chased him up the stairs, and couldnt find him. he hid against a wall, and we didnt find him. we went back downstairs, got a flashlight, and then found him upstairs. he was pacing the landing of the split-level and saying "what are you guys saying? you sound like satanic Elmo's". finally we gave him clues as to how to 'kill' us, which is to take off the blanket. he finally killed us, and then didnt get to sleep until like 3 am because of adrenaline. pretty fun stuff though. we found out this week we'll start teaching 2 sisters, Julie and Sarah, who want to get baptized. i'm really excited to be working with them, and plus we have some other referrals coming. Sullivan is really good with referrals. dont have any plans for New years, but we cant really stay up like that, so probably wont do anything, unless the ward party starts early enough.package, no. still didnt get the 12 days of christmas package. either it was lost or stolen. no bueno. and by the way, i'll have the chicken southwest salad from jack in the crack, please.i'm glad creesh got her card finally after all that trouble. hope you feel special creesh, getting two cards....well, i'm about out of things to say. i didnt tally up my bathroom visits this week, sorry i'll try to get on that, mom. i am writing in the journal though.love you all, and miss you. only 5 months till we get to talk again!Elder Morrison

Sunday Blanket

Ty sews his own blanket at Grandma Burch's home

BSU 73 BYU 70 nuf said!

Tyler Takes A Beating

Last practice before vacation. 10 more days until the next beating!

The Cost of a Merry Christmas...

A camera to take the traditional picture of the line up down the hall... $160.00

The memory card in the camera to catch Deb so excited $49.00


The Red Bow on a used pair of CCM Vector Goalie Pads... $1.00 per bag

A Jr. Goalie Cup....$11.95

The phone call home from Elder Morrison... Priceless!

We had a wonderful Christmas and hope the joy of this day was enjoyed by all of our family and friends. Santa brought all the right gifts, and friends and family gave the perfect heartfelt presents. However, the best present of all was hearing from Mackenzie and sharing in the joy and success he is having serving our Lord. It is His birthday we are celebrating after all.

Merry Christmas !

Home Teaching

Last Sunday Ty & I went home teaching at Merle & Cynthia Hardy's house... Deb won't let us go home teaching any more!

Merle taught Ty & I how to make Christmas Tree Ornaments out of eggs and declared a fierce competition. The looser would buy the winner a dozen eggs.

Pictured are a few our family made. "Tyler's Best" is not pictured. He gave it to his friend, Chandler before I could get a picture of it. It was a tractor inside the egg with brown yolk spewing out. It looked really good.

Everyone at the house participated including the missionaries. The competition escalated and fun was had by all... Deb just wants her kitchen back.

It's been an eggciting week. Merle, when you buy the victory eggs, I like the jumbo grade A!

Lets Not Foget Tyler-A Post By Assistant Captain himself- Tyler Morrison

Tyler isn't doing too bad. He was in the top three people voted to be captain for his team and is now the assistant captain for the Moses Lake Avalanche

It only went in my an inch...but a goal is a goal.

Kevakin's first day in the net

Our Team

Craig's Hockey Game (at Kevin's Request)

Here you go Kevin... not the best video but at least it's a video. It's not the NHL either so your "smart ass" comments will quickly find my delete button. And to answer your next question... NO, IT'S NOT IN SLOW MOTION!!!! Thats as fast as I can move.

Tyler's First Quarter Grades at Big Bend Community College

THU, DEC 20, 2007 BIG BEND COMMUNITY COLLEGE OFFICIAL STUDENT TRANSCRIPT MORRISON, TYLER

BUS 254 BUSINESS LAW 3.7

ENG 101 ENGLISH COMPOSITION 3.5

COLLEGE SURVIVAL SKILLS 4.0

LIFETIME WELLNESS 3.6

VICE PRESIDENT'S LIST

Cum Gpa Cr 16.0 Cr Earn 16.0 P/S Cr 0.0 Grpts 58.8 GPA 3.68 Clvl: Gpa Cr 16.0 Cr Earn 16.0 P/S Cr 0.0 Grpts 58.8

GPA 3.68

Letter from Elder Morrison

hey fam. yeah, it's only 5 days till Christmas. i'm just as excited as you to call home. our cell phones actually do call out of state, although the mission president and other leaders try to convince us otherwise. i know because Elder Durham called his parents while i was there in St. Peters. anyways, we're still trying to figure out what is going on for Christmas, so i dont know what time i'll be calling you. i might just call on Christmas eve and let you know. we may be at jeanne's for a little while on Christmas if things work out right. we're just not sure of the timing yet.
i didnt get the 'do not open' box yet, so i guess i'll be looking for it. there's one headed your way too, so be looking for that. it will probably get there like Christmas eve or something.
about the blog, i may or may not have just got on there real quick to find out what was happening and to see some pics. you guys dont really send many pictures, so i thought i'd find some. and it's too bad to hear about zach. i hope things work out the best they can for him.
well, this week when we were teaching the Jones kids (who are getting baptized this sunday, the 23rd) we were just sitting down and getting ready to start, but the mom had stuff to talk about. Dustin, the 9 year-old says "did you know it really hurts to get a sewing needle in your foot?". we kinda laughed and brushed it off, and then a minute later he said "Mom, stop. i was trying to change the subject." she just kept talking and then he finally said "OK, who wants to say the prayer?" hahaha. he's a really cool kid, and so is Breanna, his 11 year-old sister. i am really glad that i have the opportunity to teach them and see them get baptized.
we did get some snow this last week. we got about 5-6 inches. it was real powdery though so we couldnt really make a good snowman. we tried to with a member, but it was only like 4 feet high, and looked pretty dumb. however yesterday we were waiting outside of our grandma's house for her to get back from the store and we built one that was a good 5 or 5 1/2 feet in like 5 minutes. the melting snow worked a lot better. we've had 40's for most of the week, so that's pretty warm. i havent had to wear a coat too much as we havent spent much time tracting. we have a lot of less active work to do here. we're consistently visiting about 9 families each week, and that's quite a few. the thing is that they're almost all different families each week. we have a lot of less actives due to how far things are spread out, and the fact that nobody does their home teaching. i really didnt see the point of home teaching until i got on my mission. make sure you're doing it. those families need it, and it's kinda on your shoulders to keep them active. just be grateful you have 2 or 3 families instead of 5 or 6 like here in missouri.
well, i look forward to talking on Christmas. i'll let you know (probably by Jeanne) when i'll be calling. love you a ton!
Elder Morrison

Ho Ho Ho!

Kevakin wears his "build-a-bear" accessories more than his bear does. He was very happy to finally get the Christmas tree up. . . almost as happy as the frogs were to finally have a home.

Our Toilet Brush Tree

Cassia found her home as soon as we put up the tree.
Merry Christmas Cassia.

Life Without the Vivarium

TIE : Us - 7 Them - 7

I can count on my hand how many Wyoming Cowboy fans I know and like. Well here is another example why...
Number 21 just graduated from Wyoming where he played hockey, and recently moved to Moses Lake.
This picture shows my "awesome gloveside save" from the cowboy shot. Here is the problem.... not enough of my efforts resulted in saves. I was scored on 7 times last night. 6 of the 7 goals were made by the cowboy. Maybe he will move back.

Concretia - Another Band Geek!

Concretia had her 6th Grade band concert today. She did a good job. This video shows her section solo.

Letter from Elder Morrison

no kidding that the weeks just keep flying by. it's been a good week though. we had our Christmas zone conference on tuesday, and got to go to the temple and that's when i got the package you sent to the mission office. thanks for all those things (i couldnt wait till the 25th). i got the 12 days package, but there were only 6 numbers. was there supposed to be another one? plus your letter in there said start on the 12th and go till the 12th. i got a little confused by that. so we just opened them all. thanks for all those. i have a hard time believing that you found all those scriptures yourselves, so where did you get that idea?
i'll be calling you for Christmas, and unless things change, it will probably be in the morning sometime. i'll probably give you some time to wake up before i call too, since it IS a 2 hour difference.
we did get a little bit of ice, but not nearly as bad as columbia, MO. i guess they got an inch or something of ice. we just had a little bit, and it wasnt even on the roads. it looked pretty cool though. it snowed last week a little bit, but then turned to rain, and it obviously didnt stick.
i have talked a little bit to Nelson, but just for a minute. and Alex is in Poplar Bluff (which is called outer darkness) and will be for probably at least until mid-February.
We went to Centralia, IL for a baptism last saturday. we drove to st. louis (about an hour), hopped on the MetroLink train (another hor and 15 or so) and then had someone pick us up at the last station and drove another hour to Centralia. we spent about an hour there, and then backtracked. we did have some extra time, and we really had to use the bathroom, and since Jeanne's was on the way, we decided to stop for a few minutes. she was so surprised and excited i thought she might pee her pants. lol. then since she loves me so much, she came all the way out to Sullivan to bring us to St. Louis for zone conference. then we spent a few hours with her and she took us to dinner at red robin before we drove back out to sullivan.
well, i guess i'm about out of things to say. i hope this season is finding you well. know that i love you, and that the Lord loves you. stay close to Him.
Elder Morrison

Elder Morrison Update... a letter from Jeanne

Hi Debbie:

Well, your boy is doing fantastic. My son, Chad and I went to Sullivan yesterday to pick up Elder Anglesy and “Kenz” so they could attend Temple and the holiday festivities at the Mission Home, which is about 15 minutes from my home. He is so happy in Sullivan. Happier than I have ever seen him. His roomie, Elder “Mike” Anglesy is so nice. Almost a perfect match for Kenz. It was about an hour drive back to the Temple from Sullivan and we both didn’t stop talking. I think Mike and Chad were ready to give Mackenzie and I the boot out the door. But, that is just too bad, we had a lot of catching up to do. The apartment is really large and Mackenzie and Mike did a great job of decorating with Christmas lights inside and out. In fact, their apartment was easy to find since it was the only one decorated outside. J

I can’t believe how much has happened since Mackenzie went on his mission. I don’t believe in coincidence. You telling me all of these stories about people you haven’t seen in years and now they appear out of nowhere in connection to the people in Sullivan. WOW !

He did not complain at all about his knees, so I think he is improving there. He had made himself sweet and sour chicken for breakfast and brought it with him. You really raised a boy that is pretty self sufficient. This mission has really given him a lot more confidence than when I first met him. He just misses his family so much that when I go see him, I think he feels a connection because he knows you and I E-mail each other a lot. He got his gifts. The boys really look forward to getting things from their families. I noticed some of the boys at the Mission House were already opening theirs. I think if they got a sack of coal, they would still be grateful since it was from ‘HOME”. Mackenzie is spending Christmas at a home in Sullivan. There is a grandma who has taken a liking to Mike and Mackenzie. So, I will be seeing Kenz and Mike on the following Thursday (P-day) to celebrate.

He sends lots of hugs and kisses. So do Ron and I.

Love,

Jeanne

Happy Birthday Abigail

8 lb. 10 oz.

21 1/2" long

36cm head measurement

Born in Orem, Utah @ 10:22 am

Peace Around The World

Concretia entered a poster drawing contest with the theme "Peace Around The World" that our local Lions Club sponsored. She took first place and brought home a check for $100
The poster is now in Canada being judged at a district level.
Sorry, I didn't get a picture of the poster. You will just have to imagine that it was really cool.

CONGRATULATIONS TYLER !

Last night Tyler swam at the High School swim meet in Wenatchee where he put up district times in all three events. As for now, these times are his personal best. Good job Ty!

CONGRATULATIONS HAILEY !

We're back

After a week of re-doing, re-painting, re-fixing, re-frogging and re-organizing, the house is nearly back together. We still have some door trim to paint and a front room to organize, but the computer is up and running now. So now I can at least post Mackenzie's last email. He writes in this email as if he sent pictures. But he didn't!

family,
i cant believe how fast time has flown since i got into sullivan. its already been 2 weeks since thanksgiving. and you dont have the lights up? that IS unnormal. well, anyways, this week has been a good one. we had our branch Christmas party this week, on saturday. we had a good time. i have a picture of me and elder anglesey with santa here. so that was fun. we also signed up to decorate a table for the party, and there's a picture of that also. the tree was a dollar (yeah, only a dollar) and then we spray-painted it silver. then we hung book of mormon ornaments on it that we made from pass-along cards, and then a couple pictures of ourselves on it, with Christ at the top, made from pass-along cards. we thought it was pretty sweet.
we also put up lights in our apartment. its really sweet. we got blue and white ones, and then at the Meramec Mission (where we do service) they had lights for 50 cents a strand (because we get 50% off), so we bought like 4 of them. there's lights around all the walls in the main part of the apartment now. i'll have to take a video of it so you can see it all. we've also made a goal to listen only to Christmas music until Christmas. so far we're lasting pretty well, but it's probably only a matter of time until one of us breaks. lol. at least we have some fun.
as for the work, things are going well. we still have 3 dates for this month. we got a couple referrals at the Christmas party who are going to be solid. possibly baptized this transfer. its pushing it, but it might happen. the girl wants to go to the temple. i'd say that's pretty solid. we also have a few potentials, so we're excited about that.
well, that's about it. hope the ice gets better, and i'd like some pictures. that'd be nice.
love you and miss you
Elder Morrison