Pray for the members!

"Genara, the baptism I performed last week even though she wasn´t my investigator"

Pictures from Leticia's baptism

Here are the pictures of the baptism last Saturday. I don't know how much I have told you about that family. Leticia is the oldest (12) of four kids that were in a very bad family situation. Two member families in our ward found out (those kids used to live nearby) and for the past few months have been going through a court and adoption process. Each family adopted two of the kids, and one of the pictures has all of the families together. The baptism went well, except that the water was VERY cold and poor Leticia was pretty startled coming out of the water. Wish there was a better way to heat it up. It has been very cold recently (almost freezing). It doesn't bother me too much, but my companion is from a hot part of Peru and it's an adjustment for him.

As far as other people go, we have stopped visiting Bryan for now because he doesn't seem to have time or interest. Paola is doing great, thanks to a strong group of young adults and institute program. Marcos...seems to have a few drug issues. We'll do what we can to help him repent, feel the spirit, and decide to get baptized. We found a lot of new people this week, but as always, finding them again is a herculean struggle. We almost always invite them to be baptized in the first visit, which helps us see who really wants to find the truth. One young man who responded well was Moisés. He asked great questions--how to be saved, what our church does, etc. When we explained that no one in our church receives a salary he said, "But the Bible says if we don't pay tithing we are robbing God!" We laughed and explained that yes, that is absolutely correct, but we use it for other programs like church construction and humanitarian work. I am excited to visit him again. He could be a great missionary.

Pictures from the temple visit

The temple was also a great experience. We got to do baptisms and confirmations while waiting, which took me back to the good ol' days. I can't even count how many times I did baptisms at the Provo temple with Heather & Daniel, Kate Schroeder, Corbin, and others. The temple will always be a special place for me. It reminds me of how sacred our commitment is to keep the commandments and how much we need to be willing to sacrifice for this gospel. Afterwards, I was able to go to the distribution center and buy a few church movies and Gospel Principles in Guaraní! That has hymns at the back, so I will able to keep singing (and learning) in Guaranì

Loved the conference yesterday. We didn't get to hear all of it, but it got me excited to work with the members. So, like I said last week, please keep praying for our members, including the leaders and active members. We need all of their help to get this work going at the pace it should be. We are having some issues with trying to involve the  members in missionary work. I will have to be patient with the progress, but I am going to work hard to encourage all the missionaries in this district to involve the members even more. I hope you all follow the impressions you received yesterday to help "hasten the work" and bring salvation to our brothers and sisters around us.

I would love to get more photos, especially of what Daniel's doing before leaving. My old pants got pretty hammered, but that may be in large part because of the poor laundry job. Not everyone is Sister Paredes in Amambay--she was the best missionary mom I have met here, and she helped us a lot in keeping our clothes clean. Thanks for all the news about Trevor, Rian, Grandpa, and the rest. I can't explain how great it is to have all of your support. Love you so much!

-Elder Wesley Morgan