tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22487283113226600712024-03-12T18:08:45.843-06:00Gathering Israel: Elder Morgan's Mission BlogUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger107125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2248728311322660071.post-64741802834390918002014-06-02T14:52:00.000-06:002014-06-04T14:55:13.145-06:00GratefulAs I´m sure you all wondering, Sonia finally got confirmed! It was an
incredible experience to see her in the Gospel Principles class. She has
matured so much spiritually and her comments are much more appropriate.
A testimony is a wonderful thing to watch grow. She also gave me a
thumbs up on her way to her seat after the confirmation.<br />
<br />
<div>
</div>
<div>
In that Gospel Principles class, several new converts,
like Andres, shared very nice experiences. The whole Insfrán family
finally came!! I´ll be happy to hear about their baptism in the coming
weeks. We have a lesson with them tonight, and like you said, I have a
lot of goodbyes to do. I didn´t cry during my last testimony, but I
almost did while playing the last hymn "God Be with you till We Meet
Again," which I requested.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Now everyone wants me to come by their house and say
goodbye. We´ll see what we have time for. I also have mostly planned
how I am going to pack things, so I´ll be fine there. There are 8
missionaries going home with me, but only two others will be with all
the way to Salt Lake.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Everyone keeps asking me how feel, and I honestly
don´t feel much differently yet. But, the best word to describe it would
be grateful. The experiences have been unforgettable, the Paraguayans
are more than welcoming, and Heavenly Father has always been with me to
help me learn and grow.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I think that´s something very important in order to
feel at peace at the end of the mission, being grateful. It has also
helped to be obedient--I don´t have any guilt nagging at me. Above all, I
have tried to give my all to the Lord and to his work. That´s the key.
You can´t be a successful missionary if one foot is still at home and one is
in the mission. And above all, I have stayed focus on the most amazing
miracle I have seen in these two years--Conversion.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Conversion means that someone makes their own
decision to follow Christ and change their life to be more like His. And
that´s why we´re here. That´s why they gave me a name-tag and flew me
all the way from Utah for two years, to help the process of
Conversion--giving people access to the Atonement. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
That´s why it´s so important to stay focused on
baptism. There are a lot of misconceptions in the church about
missionary work, especially when it comes to baptism. Before the
mission, I thought I was coming out here to help people live better
lives, and if they didn´t get baptized, oh well. Now I understand that
if they don´t get baptized, the changes they have made will most likely
not have eternal significance. It´s like a hospital. The nurse that
brings food to the patients will make them feel better for a few
moments, but only the surgeon will help them make the permanent changes
that they need. We are instruments in that surgery, and sometimes it´s
tough. We need to work hard and be clear so that the people can
understand the importance of repenting now. Everyone needs to understand
in the first visit that our goal is to help them get baptized, because
waiting longer will probably create confusion.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
And above all, baptizing is just a very happy thing.
The people I love and remember most are my converts, and I am so
grateful to have helped them. I recognize that many great missionaries
work hard and don´t bring many people into the waters of baptism.
Finding and teaching are noble efforts, and I know I have laid the
foundation for many people who were baptized after I left, which is
great. But our focus always needs to be on baptism and confirmation, and
it is urgent because it is of eternal importance! Salvation is so
important, and we need to do the work the way Christ would. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
That´s another thing I have tried to do, always live
like Christ would. I know I need to continue doing that for these last
days, because I have to keep up the good reputation of the church. So,
once again, I am very grateful to all of you for your support, and I
will see you soon!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
-Elder Morgan the much Older</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
P.S.
I do have two food requests: Krispy Kreme donuts and those layered
graham-cracker and caramel bars. I don´t know if you remember them, but
they are pretty similar to alfajors. I´ll explain more when I get back.</div>
Brittanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04488463268751586446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2248728311322660071.post-76949000153238646502014-05-26T14:47:00.000-06:002014-06-04T14:51:44.945-06:00This is my joy<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
The theme of this week might be <a href="https://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/rom/15.1?lang=eng#primary">Romans 15:1</a>, a
scripture I found and really liked. I don´t know how it translates to
English, but those of us who are stronger need to be patient with those
who are weaker spiritually. For example, not all the missionaries take
the work as seriously as I do. Or yesterday it rained A LOT, and the
investigators and members who committed to come to church did not. But,
like I learned from that scripture, we just need to be patient, and love
everyone even if they are imperfect. Cesar Insfrán was finally going to
attend church, but I´ll have to wait until next week, which also means I
won´t be at his baptism. It´s frustrating, but if there is one thing I
have learned, my mission is not about me. It´s about the Savior Jesus
Christ and helping other people come unto him.</div>
<br />
Sonia is included in those who didn´t attend, so we´ll also
have to wait another week for her confirmation. Interesting turn in the
story of Deborah. We had a very straightforward lesson about the Law of
Chastity, and without offending her, she realized herself that she is
committing adultery. She, as always, wants to get married and baptized.
Her member boyfriend does not. One thing led to another, and the next
time we went by, they had fought and are no longer living together. So,
there´s another baptism for Elder Rodriguez and his next companion.</div>
<br />
We had the monthly meeting with the Stake President, and we
are seeing slow but visible progress. He is always saying he wants to
teach with us, and we decided to invite him to teach Santiago and Sara.
Unfortunately, that just made her close off more. All of the wonderful
progress we were seeing...ciao. She´s back to not wanting to get
married. Now you know why Romans 15:1 is the them of this week.</div>
<br />
But that is okay! We had my last Leadership Council today. I
took more notes than ever, even though the things I wrote may not be
used until my next mission (yes, there will be other missions). It was
all about how to be a good leader, and one missionary, who had been here
with me in Pa´i Ñu, talked about how I had been a great example
correcting him with amor (love) so that the misionary wants to be
better. President also talked about an experience he had with us a few
weeks ago with a missionary who wanted to go home. Remind me to tell you
when I get back. Above all, I was able to give my last testimony, which
is also a feeling that everyone looks forward to. I just told them that
I know I may not be the best missionary in the mission, but I know that
I am the best Elder Morgan I can be, and that´s what is most important.
I know that I am a child of God, that Christ died for our sins, and I
can be an instrument in his hands. Like it says in <a href="https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/alma/29.9?lang=eng#8">Alma 29:9</a>, "this is
my joy."</div>
<br />
I have learned so much in these years. I am amazed that I
couldn´t realize at the beginning of my mission how important baptism
is. I think I heard too many stories of "don´t worry how many people you
baptize" and misinterpreted them. I have finally gotten as focused on
baptism as I think I should have been my whole mission, and our goal is
to help the Zone to do the same.</div>
<br />
I also had my last interview. It was a great experience. The
counsel President gave me was simple, direct, and but not very specific.
He didn´t tell me what to do when it comes to work or marriage or
anything, just focus on putting God first. He was also very emotional
when he realized it was his first exit interview for someone who he had
also interviewed at the beginning.<br />
<div>
<br />
Haha, I didn´t realize I put a
double meaning in the subject title. Honestly, I try not to count how
much time is left. I just know that June 5
will one day arrive. I´m still feeling like a missionary. Next week,
when everything culminates, I will write a little more about what I have
learned and how I feel. Know that I will keep praying for you,
especially for your back injury and Dave´s passing. I hope everyone is
doing alright.</div>
<div>
<br />
Love,</div>
<br />
<div>
-Elder Morgan the Older</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
P.S. Elder Brown is my hero.Brittanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04488463268751586446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2248728311322660071.post-3855323484035938952014-05-19T14:36:00.000-06:002014-06-04T14:47:28.229-06:002 Weeks<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
Okay, I have to update you on some things that
have happened in the last two weeks. That is a very long space of time,
just so you know. We had our district activity, where Elder Henrie (our
district leader from Idaho) made AMERICAN food. He made brownies, we
tried the cream soda recipe (it turned out alright), and I did my best
imitation of champ sandwiches from Ernie`s Sports Deli. Cooking eggs and
meat for 16 sandwiches is a lot of work.</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6NNMt1rPKmw/U4-E1g-VdHI/AAAAAAAABFk/cKCqmXVebl8/s1600/DSCF6565%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6NNMt1rPKmw/U4-E1g-VdHI/AAAAAAAABFk/cKCqmXVebl8/s1600/DSCF6565%5B1%5D.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Last Sunday, like I said, was Stake Conference. It was very
spiritual, especially for me personally. I got to see the effects of
missionary work done in that Stake while I was there a year ago. The
photo attached is of Miguel and Gema, who I found in Costa Bonita. She
is from the Nivacle tribe, if you remember me saying that. They got
married and baptized after I left, he received the Melchizidek
Priesthood, and she is pregnant with their second baby. In San Isidro,
two converts who I met while I was there are now doing very well. One,
Francisca just received her endowment and her mom, who was very Catholic
when I was there, just got baptized thanks to several miracles. The
other one is preparing to serve a mission very soon. Just a few results
of missionary work here in Fernanda de La Mora Sur.<br />
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cP5FmNl3e0I/U4-FVDhd4DI/AAAAAAAABF0/PCzRvXhvfCw/s1600/DSCF6573%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cP5FmNl3e0I/U4-FVDhd4DI/AAAAAAAABF0/PCzRvXhvfCw/s1600/DSCF6573%5B1%5D.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"My companion and I at the temple."</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We went to the temple, which was beautiful. The new video is amazing. We`ll talk more about all that later.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-asDUAyDe6uo/U4-FI92d4FI/AAAAAAAABFw/ZkdIiuGrXgk/s1600/DSCF8003%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-asDUAyDe6uo/U4-FI92d4FI/AAAAAAAABFw/ZkdIiuGrXgk/s1600/DSCF8003%255B1%255D.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Sonia
was finally baptized! But she did it in secret, and her family made her
go visit some relatives when she should have been at church for her
confirmation. We called her to try to get her to come...but it looks
like we`ll have to wait a week. She understands that her baptism isn`t
complete, and we visited her with the Benitez family last night. They
live nearby and should offer great support. </div>
<br />
Marcelina Insfràn and her daughter came to church again. She
decided not to go to her meeting, but her husband had to take care of
another daughter. She already has a very strong testimony, so the only
question is when she`ll be baptized.</div>
<br />
We also had a great experience with Santiago. His girlfriend
Sara had a dream that she was getting married. We had a very intense
lesson about repentance yesterday, and she wanted us to come by again
today to talk more, because yesterday she wouldn`t commit to a marriage
date.<br />
<br />
Well, this subpar internet place is kicking me out early. What can
you do? All is well. <br />
<br /></div>
Elder Wesley MorganBrittanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04488463268751586446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2248728311322660071.post-90587469127702814812014-05-18T16:18:00.001-06:002014-05-18T16:18:49.870-06:00Rapidisimo<div>
Well, I received my flight plans, and I´ll admit it, I feel like my
mission has come to an end. But hey, that´s life. I´m excited to see
you all, like we did yesterday, but I will stay focused on the work.
Next week I´ll write more about plans for the next life. For now, keep
praying for Sonia to stop smoking and for the Insfráns to have faith to
keep coming to church. Stake conference was VERY spiritual, and a bonus:
I met a returned missionary visiting Paraguay who is studying at
Georgetown with Sophie Siebach. God never ceases to amaze me.</div>
<br />
Elder Morgan the OlderBrittanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04488463268751586446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2248728311322660071.post-35617827096683397982014-05-05T16:09:00.000-06:002014-05-18T16:17:18.252-06:00Just Keep Swimming<div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-y46di01fhNA/U3kxEDQY9OI/AAAAAAAABFA/ZUZwS9MFn_w/s1600/DSCF6543%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-y46di01fhNA/U3kxEDQY9OI/AAAAAAAABFA/ZUZwS9MFn_w/s1600/DSCF6543%5B1%5D.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Well, I finally have time to send pictures of our small-ish apartment.
As you can see, the other two missionaries are sleeping on the floor.
That´s interesting for Elder Henrie, who is more than 2 meters tall."</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-S5UIiVUaS6w/U3kw7kBIDPI/AAAAAAAABEw/D0o7yuzgVsU/s1600/DSCF6536%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-S5UIiVUaS6w/U3kw7kBIDPI/AAAAAAAABEw/D0o7yuzgVsU/s1600/DSCF6536%5B1%5D.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-n54G9vnA5Pc/U3kw_1QZ4SI/AAAAAAAABE4/JZtcNhINBlQ/s1600/DSCF6545%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-n54G9vnA5Pc/U3kw_1QZ4SI/AAAAAAAABE4/JZtcNhINBlQ/s1600/DSCF6545%5B1%5D.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
It was a bit of a hard week. We are losing contact with a lot of
investigators, which is tough because we don´t even get the chance to
tell them why they should keep investigating. But, we also found a lot
of new families, like the couple last night who had heard some bad
things about tithing. It was a good lesson, and we are able to shift the
focus to baptism and finding out if this church is true. With all of
those new people, our biggest challenge is that most people want to wait
a few weeks to see what church is like. Elder Morgan doesn´t have time
to wait! Well, next week we´re hoping for a lot of people to come to
church, especially the Insfrán family, whose daughters were sick but are
now committed to come.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Yesterday we asked the bishop when he would
interview Andrés for the priesthood. He started to talk about how many
people get scared when he talks to them about commandments like tithing,
so he likes to wait a few weeks. My companion and I were not very happy
with that, but we told him we understand his point of view (from my
experience as a counselor I know a little of how hard it is to work
people who just aren´t willing to keep the commandments), and luckily
the night before Andrés had asked us to help him fill out the tithing
envelope. He´s very converted and willing to obey, and the bishop
believed us. It sounds like they had a very spiritual experience in the
interview--what a relief for everyone.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<div>
You asked me a bit
about my zone and the area. I can´t think of much more to say about the
Paraguayan culture, I feel like I´ve shared everything. The biggest
difference in this area is that there are so many members (including
less-actives). We contacted a teenage BMXer with long hair who was
listening to Linkin Park, and when we went by to teach him, he told us
he was a member. Happens all the time with all sorts of people.</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
We have a great, hard-working zone. One of the
sisters who just arrived is Hermana Cortés, who was also with me in
Ca´acupé and when she started the mission in Amambay. We´ll also be
ending the mission together, which is cool. For the first time, we have
two young American district leaders. Elder Henrie, from Idaho, and Elder
Walsh, from Utah. They are great to work with.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
That´s about it! I look forward to talking about spiritual experiences next week. See you soon!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Love,</div>
<div>
Elder Morgan the Older</div>
Brittanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04488463268751586446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2248728311322660071.post-6589707640538856772014-04-28T16:00:00.000-06:002014-05-18T16:09:55.938-06:00One Thing is Needful<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VRwrvauaoGQ/U3kuHOBdfoI/AAAAAAAABEc/8XjIsaou_a0/s1600/DSCF6550%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VRwrvauaoGQ/U3kuHOBdfoI/AAAAAAAABEc/8XjIsaou_a0/s1600/DSCF6550%5B1%5D.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
Well, as you can see from the photo, the baptism was
a success. Antonia was so nervous she was shaking, and unfortunately
her foot came out the first time, so I had to baptize her twice. Andrés
shared a great testimony, and I hope they´ll be able to start helping in
the ward ASAP. The other man in the photo is Santiago, Andres´s is
brother, who is very converted, but his girlfriend Sara still doesn´t
want to get married. We need a miracle soon. <br />
<br />
We are also praying a lot for Sonia, who finally left the hospital,
but still has to spend lots of time taking care of her grandson. Good
news--she can´t be near the baby if she´s been smoking, so she said that
might be what finally motivates her to quit. Yesterday we shared <a href="https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/25.23?lang=eng#22">2 Nephi 25:23</a> with her, explaining that Christ´s grace has gotten her this
far, but it all depends on her own decision to do her part to quit.</div>
<br />
We were hoping to have a family of 8 in church yesterday, but
it looks like we´ll have to wait at least one more week. We are teaching
their son, Carlos Saldivar, who is trying to overcome a drug addiction.
In the first lesson, his parents said they were very Catholic and
didn´t want to change, but they are all (he has 5 sisters) willing to
come to church with him to provide support. He wants to repent and be
baptized, we just have to get the ball rolling by getting him in the
church. </div>
<br />
We´ve also got the Insfrán family, who I mentioned last week
with the introduction to the Book of Mormon. He works on Sundays, but we
taught about the Sabbath and the Plan of Salvation, and he understands
what he needs to do to change. Once again, it´s just a matter of time
until they decide. We are teaching so many great people, and, like Elder
Funk said in the last conference, <a href="https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/10/called-of-him-to-declare-his-word?lang=eng">"Hearts Open Daily."</a> So many people
are willing to open their doors to this message, we just have to help
them have the courage to open the chapel doors and visit us there. The
ones who can do that will be the ones who get baptized in the marvelous
month of May! </div>
<br />
Today we had a great Leadership council. Basically, the first
three months were incredible for the mission, and for lots of reasons,
the mission didn´t baptize as much in April. President said he had
planned to talk about lots of things, but he decided to just focus on
regaining the vision to baptize. There was a lot of open discussion, and
I shared the story of Mary and Martha from <a href="https://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/luke/10.38-42?lang=eng#37">Luke 10:38-42</a>. We have so
many things to worry about as missionaries, and last month we talked
about a lot of things to improve in our work with the members, the area
book, etc. But, we are really just here for one thing--inviting others
to come unto Christ through the ordinances of Baptism and Confirmation.
All the other temporal and spiritual things we do are appendages to that
purpose. So our zone training (my last one) next week will be focused
on that.</div>
<br />
About the Sister missionaries...I¨ll just say that the Elders
were not receiving any support from the members, for many little things
that had been adding up during the last few years. This will give that
branch a fresh start, and we´re sure the members will be a lot more
sympathetic towards the Sisters.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Honestly, there are a lot of things that
happen in the mission that I can´t talk about--because it´s personal for
someone else or because I just don´t have time to write everything! Is
it alright if I use most of the time in the phone call talking about the
experiences I haven´t had time to write about? I would really like to
do that with Daniel, and I am not sure what our schedule will be like.
I´ll just wait to hear next week and make the necessary arrangements.<br />
<div>
<br />
Love,<br />
Elder Morgan the Older<br />
<br /></div>
P.S. I´ll add a bonus photo. For an FHE last week, I
made strawberry bars from a recipe on the back of the oatmeal boxes we
buy. Turned out great!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MlYkdMrlIMU/U3kvnTEo4tI/AAAAAAAABEo/XkEZBVZh8Qc/s1600/DSCF6531%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MlYkdMrlIMU/U3kvnTEo4tI/AAAAAAAABEo/XkEZBVZh8Qc/s1600/DSCF6531%5B1%5D.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
Brittanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04488463268751586446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2248728311322660071.post-70986366244868210662014-04-21T21:12:00.000-06:002014-04-25T21:14:20.121-06:00Happy Easter!Well, we did not have a baptism this week. Sonia has been in the
hospital for a few days with her daughter and newborn granddaughter, who
is having lots of complications. She (Sonia) seems to be doing well,
and she even said that an extra week free from cigarrettes before the
baptism would be good for her. That´s a change of heart!<br />
<br />
<div>
</div>
<div>
During weekly planning we decided to talk to Andrés about
postponing his baptism a week to make sure his wife does it with him.
He said that would be wonderful. They prayed for a sunny day (it has
been cold and rainy) so that Antonia could come to church with the baby.
On the way they ran into Marlene Centurión, a recent convert who was
excited to find someone else going to our church, too. Just a few of the
miracles that have made them even more sure. They are such a converted
family. We reviewed the baptismal questions last night, and they are
110% ready. Antonia seemed very shy at first, and Andrés seemed like he
didn´t want to commit, but they have opened up, trusted in the Lord, and
they are now like our second family. Yes, I have a lot of second
families here in Paraguay.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So, if all goes well we´ll have three baptisms <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1701768655" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ">this Saturday</span></span>.
Debora didn´t come to church, again. But her less-active father-in-law
did! Progress! That great family I mentioned last week pretty much tried
to drop us, but we were insistent, and they gave us permission to keep
teaching their children, who have lots of interest. We also had a great
experience reading the introduction to the Book of Mormon with a new
family, Cesar and Marcelina Insfrán, who had seemed very closed-off but
were very interested by Christ´s visit to America and the opportunity to
pray to know the truth.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I don´t normally mention the exchanges I do, but
know that we do exchanges just about every week. This week we did TWO.
One with Elder Ruiz, a Peruvian who was in my district in the MTC. He´s
working hard, but they don´t have much support from their members,
especially their branch president. Good news--In our meeting with
President Agazzani and the Stake President, one of the many things
accomplished was that President is going to take out the four
missionaries in that branch and put in two sisters. That should solve a
lot of problems.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I also did exchanges with Elder Velasquez, which was
interesting because we worked together once in Ciudad del Este--August
2012! It was his last Friday, and we were able to teach 8 lessons that
day. That kept him from thinking to much about home. He also sold me one
of his SD cards, which is good because the one that came with my camera
is full!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Oh, I also wanted to mention an eye-opening lesson I
had with Elder Ruiz. We ran into two atheists, who were very
intelligent, and knew quite a bit about the church. They mostly wanted
to mock religion, so we couldn´t achieve much. But the sad part was when
their 6-year-old daughter came out and said she also "used to believe
in God." It´s so sad to see a little girl talk about not believing in
God the same way she´d say she realized the Easter Bunny doesn´t exist.
Though I often do not agree with other religions (haha, that´s a light
way to put it), I am SO grateful to serve in a counrty where almost
everyone has the tradition of accepting that God exists. Besides helping
them live better, more hopeful lives, it saves us a lot of work as
missionaries.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Church was very spiritual yesterday, though there
wasn´t much about Easter. One of the bishop´s counselors talked about
the importance of talking to the investigators at church, something we
had shared with him at lunch the day before. Sorry I don´t have much
more time to talk about Easter traditions. I think I explained a lot of
that last year. They eat a lot of food and watch The Passion of Christ
all day. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
They sold the house we wanted to someone else, so
we´ll have to keep working on that, along with everything else. And hey,
you do have other things to look forward to--like Mother´s Day and
Skyping your sons. Hope you enjoy it all! Love you lots!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
-Elder Morgan the Older</div>
Brittanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04488463268751586446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2248728311322660071.post-22846063103522395942014-04-14T21:07:00.000-06:002014-04-25T21:11:30.902-06:00Becoming a Preach My Gospel Missionary<div>
Next week I will try to send photos of our house. If all goes well,
I might be sending photos of our new house, too. For now, just know
that things are going quite well. Andrés has a lot of faith, and has
prayerfully decided to be baptized this Saturday. He had to quit
drinking (which he did weekly but not extremely), he has to work almost
24 hours a day to fulfill a commitment he wants to get done so he won´t
have to work on Sundays, and he has some other family issues he
committed to resolve to he can feel fully repented. He´s a man who knows
he has found the truth. He came to church on his own and helped us set
up chairs. His wife, Antonia, did not come to church, so she´ll need
another week or so. She´s a little tougher, but like most of the people
here, her Catholic traditions are more traditions than beliefs, so it´s
not too hard to help her change her mind on certain things (we hope).</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Another surprise at church was that Hugo showed up!
We continue visiting a lot of converts and less-actives, so it´s good
that something is turning out well. Sonia smoked last week, so we
postponed the baptism. She couldn´t come to church because her family
came to visit for her birthday, but she still wants to quit smoking and
be ready to be baptized this Saturday. We talked about not playing the
game of smoking until the absolute last day (one week before the
baptism), explaining that true repentance is a change of heart which she
should make as soon as possible.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Debora is also progressing. Her less-active in-laws
are not, but she said that she will come to church next week even if
they don´t! She really, really wants to get married and baptized. It´s
always nice to teach people like that, who just understand the truth and
do what they can to live it. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
One day, while waiting for a member to accompany us,
we asked his sister Mercedes (our last baptism), to take us to the
house of some kids she brought to the English classes the ward is doing
on Thursdays. Their names are Marcelo (13) and Deisy (9), and they have a
sister named Natasha (15). They were all very smart, and her mom asks
great questions. She is Baptist, and she can´t understand why every
church wants her to get baptized again. During the lesson I had a really
spiritual experience. I really wanted to help this family, and I
remembered the talk we read this week in the Zone Training, <a href="https://www.lds.org/prophets-and-apostles/becoming-a-preach-my-gospel-missionary?lang=eng">"Becoming a Preach My Gospel Missionary"</a> by Elder Bednar. He talks about letting our
will become the Lord´s will so we can be his representatives. In the
middle of the lesson, when she was asking us all those questions, I
didn´t want to lose them, so I prayed silently for what Elder Bednar
mentioned, letting my words become his words. The lesson turned out
well, and they understand the importance of praying to know the truth.
If we can keep teaching them, then we have a great family to baptize in
May.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I don´t like to take time in the fast and
testimony meeting, but I felt like I needed to say something. Few of the
members take the initiative to talk to the new faces at church, and
most of them just call us Elder instead of learning our names. It´s
understandable, but it needs to change, like <a href="https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/10/hastening-the-lords-game-plan?lang=eng">Elder Gifford Nielsen</a> said
in the October General Conference. So I talked about that, along with my
testimony of the Savior´s love for us and importance of this work. It´s
a small thing that could make a big difference.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
We keep working hard, all day every day, even though
not everything goes how we plan. There are lots of people who want to
preach to us instead of listen, and it´s easy to get frustrated. But I
feel like most everyone in the family is going through some challenges,
and I just want encourage everyone to stay strong. This conference, more
than ever, I felt like the second coming is getting closer. We don´t
know when it will happen, nor do we need to. But we know that we need to
prepare. The only way we can develop the faith necessary to overcome
the trials ahead is by experiencing challenges now. I love the scripture
in <a href="https://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/matt/10.29-31?lang=eng#28">Matthew 10:29-31</a> that says that even a sparrow can´t fall without
the Lord knowing. He understands every temptation, sorrow, or
frustration we experience. Many of those were given to us directly from
him because he knows the eternal potential we have. Even so, he has
promised us so many times that he will never let us face those trials
alone. He has also promised us that in the end, we will be grateful for
the difficulties we faced in this life. It is hard to have that
perspective now, but we can always pray for it. It´s like you said Mom,
the Lord can help us be grateful and patient. I testify of his love for
us, and I will keep you all in my prayers.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Love,</div>
<div>
Elder Morgan the Older</div>
Brittanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04488463268751586446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2248728311322660071.post-61525417319990211312014-04-07T20:54:00.000-06:002014-04-25T21:15:24.497-06:00Courage to Stand Strong<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VdrtvHf0Vm8/U1sfLR0q_fI/AAAAAAAABDk/WZDOgh5SZT4/s1600/DSCF6506.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VdrtvHf0Vm8/U1sfLR0q_fI/AAAAAAAABDk/WZDOgh5SZT4/s1600/DSCF6506.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Here are the pictures from General Conference! It was the first time I
have been in a ward that provided a bus for the members to go to the
stake center. I hope you can recognize some people, like my companion
standing up. The lady in the very front of the picture is Sonia."</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RtUUFpOED2A/U1sfDx3qBII/AAAAAAAABDc/7n91kq9iTRU/s1600/DSCF6512.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RtUUFpOED2A/U1sfDx3qBII/AAAAAAAABDc/7n91kq9iTRU/s1600/DSCF6512.JPG" height="320" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"One other new thing is that most of the wards provided lunch between
sessions. I peeked into the Costa Bonita room to take pictures of my old
friends from that ward, where I served. Elder Adamson just so happens
to be serving there, too. I also got to see a baptism they had on
Saturday between sessions, which was a special experience."</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_u5_HwIBW_A/U1ser6b3u4I/AAAAAAAABDU/5_dtguLTpSc/s1600/DSCF6502.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_u5_HwIBW_A/U1ser6b3u4I/AAAAAAAABDU/5_dtguLTpSc/s1600/DSCF6502.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"I also included a picture from last week when my district cleaned the temple."</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I was so busy last week I forgot to mention a few things. That happens
quite often.That week I learned to cut trees with a machete doing
service for our member neighbors. My district went to clean the temple
in Asunción. All I did was dust the furniture, but just being in the
ordinance and Celestial room is a great feeling.<br />
<br />
<div>
</div>
<div>
And the feeling of participating in General Conference is
always incredible. I noticed the common themes of avoiding pornography
and defending the truth, both of which were very powerful. They were
also mostly discussed on Saturday, so I hope not too many members are
<a href="https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/04/are-you-sleeping-through-the-restoration?lang=eng">"Sleeping through the Restoration"</a> and just watching the Sunday
sessions. I really enjoyed those talks about having the courage to
choose the right. I am sure they will help the 18 and 19-year-olds now
serving missions around the world. I think many missionaries come with
the false concept that though many doors will be slammed, the last door
you knock right before giving up hope will always be a miraculous family
that will have been praying to find the truth. Some days that does
happen, but most of the time you just have to keep working whether the
people want to hear the message or not. In all seriousness, I had no
idea how many people would not want to hear this message. Now I do. We
sow many, many seeds, but only a very small percentage grow fruits of
eternal life. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Speaking of missionary work, can you see why I said
that <a href="https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/04/following-up?lang=eng">Elder Ballard</a> knows how to be an effective missionary? He
followed-up on his commitments! That´s great. We are actually trying to
do that more in our mission, too--follow-up in our conferences and zone
trainings on what was taught the last time. I also liked how Elder
Anderson added the idea of being a tree that cannot be blown away to
Elder Maynes´s phrase from last conference, "You must become the rock
the river cannot wash away."</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Apart from that, I am sure you all had the parts you
liked most, and I know most of what I learned was revelation for me and
won´t be as interesting as what was meant for you. Just remember what
<a href="https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/04/what-manner-of-men?lang=eng">Elder Hallstrom</a> said and apply it!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The other interesting event this week was interviews
with President Agazzani. The tone of those interviews has changed a
lot. We just talk like friends now, which is nice. He told me he is
really going to miss my group. He has mentioned that before, but never
like the way he said it on Tuesday. But hey, he´ll be back in Cordoba
the next July--Tell Tim Price to say hi!! </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I did write to Liza, though I don´t know if it´ll be
enough. President Agazzani told me we´ll be going to the temple in May,
so I will be able to put her name on the temple list. And I'll try the
cream soda recipe....someday.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
With all of those spiritual experiences, the
missionaries in our zone weren´t able to teach much. We´ll have to get
them jump-started again with the training tomorrow. In our area, we
continue to visit the converts hoping that they will use their agency
and fulfill their baptismal convenants. Sonia smoked her last
cigarrettes on Saturday. The members are starting to get a little more
used to her. She also escaped from the conference without telling us.
She really wants to get baptized, and she is changing a lot. Here´s
hoping she´s ready for this Saturday.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Lots of Love,</div>
<div>
Elder Morgan the Older</div>
Brittanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04488463268751586446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2248728311322660071.post-4284565364147974492014-03-31T20:35:00.000-06:002014-04-25T21:16:36.223-06:00I always forget to put a subject line, you can put whatever you want ;)<div>
<div>
<div>
As with every last week of the month, today we had the
leadership council. As always, it was very spiritual, reminding me of
how great it is to be a missionary and how many details we have to take
care of, especially as leaders. We read the Agazzanis´ new favorite
talk, <a href="https://www.lds.org/prophets-and-apostles/becoming-a-preach-my-gospel-missionary?lang=eng">"Becoming a Preach My Gospel Missionary," </a>by Elder Bednar. It´s
very similar to what he taught us when he came here. We talked about
using the area book to help keep track of our investigators´ progress
and coordinate retention with the ward leaders. There were lots of
things I have been thinking about recently, which always helps me know
that these councils are inspired.<br />
<br />
Sonia went to live with her aunt in Fernando de la Mora
(closer to the center of Asunción), but she found the missionaries and
went to church! She´s incredible. We are trying to help her fit in
better with the members and be honest about how much she smokes. Those
seem to be the only two challenges we have. She is my only investigator
who reminds US of her baptismal date every lesson and asks when we are
going to buy her a triple combination.<br />
<br />
We really couldn´t find many new investigators this week, but that
is just another opportunity to learn and improve. The Morinigo family,
one of the pioneers here, is committed to help us visit everyone on the
Action list (I think that´s what it´s called in English) and re-record
or re-baptize those who need it. So we´re on our way to solving that
problem. We found out that one of the girls who we thought wasn´t a
member actually is...but it was good because we are working on
reactivating her family.<br />
<br />
Andrés, Santiago´s brother, and his wife and two kids came to
church! Lots of members talked to them. I think they had a great
experience. Tomasita, who I don´t know if I´ve mentioned, also came to
church. She´s the niece of Nila, a recent convert. She doesn´t pay much
attention--she´s 11 years old and can´t read because she doesn´t pay
attention in class either. But we´ve found that movies work miracles! <br />
<br />
One thing we did well was visit a LOT of converts this week,
so most of then are doing better. Hugo and Arnaldo seem to be avoiding
us, or their families are keeping them from talking to us, which is sad.
I guess you can´t win every time, right? <br />
<br />
Also, I just heard that Liza Melgarejo, my convert in Ca´acupé, has
cancer. Her daughter Silvia, who took so long to get baptized, is angry
and hasn´t come back to church. I love them like part of the family, so
it worries me a lot, as you can imagine. I didn´t really understand what
was going on when Dad was diagnosed with cancer, but I understand now.
It seems like as an adult all of my feelings are a lot deeper, if that
makes sense. Just keep them in your prayers, as I surely will, too.<br />
<br />
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
Thanks for taking care of classes and
housing. About the little miracles, we do try to take advantage of every
chance to find new people, but your spiritual thought will remind me do
it even more. Luckily, here in Paraguay, when plans fall through
someone somewhere is willing to let us in. I don´t think I was able to
answer all your questions from last week. My companion has been out for
16 months. He goes home in November. He is a little shy, but we get
along very well. He is a very good listener and a sincere testifier (if
that makes sense). And know that all the news you send me is very
interesting, even if I forget to write my reaction. Like Brother
Pyne--that´s great!<span style="color: #cfe2f3;">*</span><br />
<br />
Woopdee doo, the church is true, and I love you.<span style="color: #cfe2f3;">**</span> Have a great week!<br />
<br />
-Elder Morgan the Young at Heart</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #cfe2f3;">*Brother Pyne from our ward was just made the new Stake Patriarch.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #cfe2f3;">**That is a quote from an elderly gentleman in our ward who used to say that at the end every time he bore his testimony.</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Brittanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04488463268751586446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2248728311322660071.post-44659608758220291032014-03-24T17:32:00.000-06:002014-03-30T17:38:17.140-06:00Always learningIt was a good week, as is
every week in the mission. (You always learn something worthwhile). But
we didn´t teach as much as we would´ve liked. We used a lot of time
moving the other missionaries in our ward into our apartment until they
find a new apartment. It´s cramped and smelly but we get over it. They
are both from Guatemala. I think I have mentioned this before, but never
asked specifically, could you give me the names and addresses
(approximate) of your cousins in Guatemala? Elder Velasquez, my old
friend, goes home in April and lives pretty close to the temple, too. He
said he´d like to visit them.<br />
<br />
Another thing that took a lot of time was a conference with
Elder Francisco J. Viñas, a Spaniard who grew up in Uruguay. He's from
the Area Presidency, and it was a very very good conference--one of the
mission tours that Daniel mentioned in his mission a few weeks ago. My
zone did a special musical number, "Onward Christian Soldiers," which
turned out alright. I sang a solo, which was pretty nerve-wracking.
Elder Viñas talked about a lot of great things--teaching by the spirit,
preaching repentance to help people change. Everything was centered on
the Atonement. He shared a story I loved about a missionary who wanted
to go home a little early. When he had to interview the missionary, he
said "You probably think I am here to convince you to stay, but that´s
not what I am going to do. I just want to help you understand why you
want to go home. You may have your reasons, but it is really because you
don´t understand the Atonement. If you understood the Atonement, you
would understand why you have to continue in the mission. And if you
were to stay here, you would come to understand the Atonement more
fully." The missionary was intrigued, and--as you can guess--decided to
finish his mission.<br />
<br />
He also mentioned what you said, that the mission isn´t ours.
He reminded us that we don´t baptize or teach anyone. I´ve heard that
before, but it was a powerful reminder. It´s no use counting your
baptisms and comparing numbers because I have little to do with the
success. Like you said, we are just instruments in the Lord´s hands.
Elder Viñas was very direct in everything he said, and used a lot of
memorized scriptures. He talked about the poor retention in Paraguay,
and told us we can´t baptize people who aren´t ready yet. He gave the
example of Ammon and Limhi. He wasn´t worried about what other people
thought, he did things the right way. That´s something this mission
could improve. We talk a lot about having faith and showing the people
they are ready and need to be baptized now, but sometimes we should give
them more time to prepare, especially if they don´t have a true desire
to endure to the end. So, as with all such conferences, we have a lot to
improve.<br />
<br />
Speaking of retention, we have some members who are helping
Nila and Hugo learn to read. The youth of this ward are incredible. I
need to visit my converts more...it´s so hard to do so many things at
once. We are visiting the Centurions, whose dad is working here for a
few weeks. He went back to visit his wife this Sunday, but we´ll try teach him the importance of making time for church, too.<br />
<br />
We also keep trying to help Santiago, and one thing that will
help is his brother Andrés, who seems very interested in learning about
Christ and the Bible. He promised to bring his whole family to church
(he is already married) next week, and we are hoping that his baptism
will encourage Sara to consent to be married so Santiago can get
baptized too.<br />
<br />
We also have a new investigator named S. She is very
interesting, haha. She is a 38-year-old grandma who contacted (yelled
could be the word) us in the street. She wanted someone to help her quit
smoking, which we are doing. She has had lots of problems in her life,
many of which continue--like bipolarity. Elder Viñas said we should only
teach people with the desire to change who will contribute to the
church. She has a desire to change...but we are trying to help her
contribute. She came to church and made a lot of inappropriate comments
in the classes. At least the members know who she is now, and I hope
they will be patient. I keep finding scriptures in the Book of Mormon
like <a href="https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/alma/6.5?lang=eng#4">Alma 6:5</a>, which say that we can´t exclude anyone from participating
in the gospel. We just have to tell her frankly what she can and can´t
do, and with lots of prayer, God can work his miracles. She really needs
help, so let´s hope she changes soon.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yEFfeLNxrPg/Uziqmyp1FbI/AAAAAAAABC4/378AAMpg9qU/s1600/DSCF6497%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yEFfeLNxrPg/Uziqmyp1FbI/AAAAAAAABC4/378AAMpg9qU/s1600/DSCF6497%5B1%5D.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
I almost forgot to mention the baptism. I hope you can
tell who everyone is from the picture, like my new companion and
Mercedes, who is in white. This got the ball rolling, so we should be on
our way to help other people re-record or redo their baptism so that
the church records can be up-to-date.<br />
<br />
Let me know if you have any other questions, and thanks for all the news. Love you all!<br />
<br />
-Elder Morgan the Older
Brittanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04488463268751586446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2248728311322660071.post-13312322695505113532014-03-17T17:22:00.000-06:002014-03-30T17:39:59.400-06:00Last (?) New CompanionDear Mom,<br />
<br />
I really liked the last part you wrote about Dad.
With how little I knew him, I always appreciate everything I can learn
about him. That one especially, because, well, I have written that same
sentence<span style="color: #cfe2f3;">*</span> in my journal several times on the mission. I´m normally happy
on Mondays, so you may not see that quite so much, but I have had some
very, very tough days out here. I have been thinking about that this
week, as I have mixed emotions. Really, my feelings about being a
missionary are
so complicated, and often contradicting. It`s so
frustrating, and yet so hopeful. We have days where I work so hard, get
home, and think I need to rest for a couple months before I can keep
working. Then I get up the next morning, somehow with the strength to
work hard once again. I love how much I am learning, and I love the
people I get to work with, but those are blessings that only come after
lots and lots of trials. I am definitely going to cry a lot in my
homecoming testimony. I find myself tearing up at stupid moments
throughout the day when I think about how far I´ve come and what a
privilege this is--like when we went to do studies with a new
missionary, Elder Castañeda, (which I always enjoy) or reading in the
missionary handbook about how the Lord will convert us into defenders
and messengers of truth if we strive to be obedient.<br />
<br />
But don`t
worry, I´m hanging in there. I have a new companion! His name is Shared
Rodriguez (Book of Mormon name) and he is from Tijuana, Mexico. I had
met him before, and I knew his city is very close to the border, so
until the Tijuana temple is finished they have been going to the San
Diego temple. He was in Ca`acupé when the mission limits changed, so he
is my first companion from the North mission. He didn`t fall quite in
love with Ca´cupé like I did, but we enjoy talking about funny things
there. He speaks very slow, and with somewhat of a California accent.
Before the mission, I thought Mexicans talked fast. South Americans talk
WAY faster, and as you´ve noticed, I picked that up. This is his first
time as a Zone Leader, and he is a kind, calm person (those words don`t
have quite the same meaning as in Spanish, but oh well. I might revert
to writing everything in Spanish soon, (ha, ha). So yeah, we are doing
well.<br />
<br />
Our baptism streak did end. But it is starting back up
again. First we have Mercedes Baez, who comes with us to teach young
women and has been to the temple to do baptisms....but yesterday told us
that she was never confirmed. Yeah, this ward needs to improve
their record-keeping a lot. More on that in coming weeks, if
there`s progress. So, she`s definitely ready to be baptized. She`s 13,
and of her large family, only one other brother is active, but we`re
hoping this will have an impact.<br />
<br />
Tomasita, Nila´s niece continues
attending and seems willing to accept everything. We are working hard
with Emilia Saldivar, who appreciated your letter. She said it makes her
cry a lot (she cries just about every time she thinks about her son),
and it was very nice. She has also been coming to church 2 weeks in a
row, so we might be close to finally convincing her.<br />
<br />
We aren`t
having much luck convincing Carlos Acosta, who looks like Abe Lincoln
without the beard. His wife and kids are all members, and he is nice but
stubborn. One of his sons has football....also known as soccer in the
EEUU...on Sundays, and he goes to that. They are adding on to their
house, so our new battle plan is to help them build that, and build his
trust with us at the same time. Also, Liz and Alejandra Vera, who seemed
to be progressing so well, failed us for the 3rd Sunday in a row. We
heard that Alejandra is getting baptized in the Catholic church this
week or the next, but she has pretty much told us
that it`s what her
mom wants, not what she wants. We´ve done all we can, so we´ll stop by
today and invite them to keep reading and praying, and when they come to
church we´ll keep visiting them.<br />
<br />
This week we found 17 new
investigators, which is a record for my time in this area, so we have
lots of possibilities for the future. They come from all different types
of religious backgrounds. Well, most are Catholic, but most of them
have investigated other religions. I`ll let you know about those who
keep progressing.<br />
<br />
Our Zone is having a lot of success. We have
new district leaders, one of whom is Elder Velasquez. He was in my very
first District in Ciudad del Este--this is his last transfer. We are
trying very hard to work on retention, and there are a few members who
are helping us. Hope that keeps improving.<br />
<br />
Thanks for all the
other news about vacations and family. I actually don`t feel much
skinnier, though I am definitely not in shape like I was for football.
Do you know if Makade Claypool was affected by what happened in Ukraine?
I don`t know if you have heard anything about him. Let me know. Love you all!<br />
<br />
Love,<br />
<div>
<br />
Elder Morgan the Older</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #cfe2f3;">* Note from Elder Morgan's mom: I
told the boys that one of the times their dad was in the hospital,
every day they made him say his name and the date and write a sentence
to make sure his brain was not affected by the medications. He always
wrote: "Tomorrow will be a better day."</span></div>
Brittanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04488463268751586446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2248728311322660071.post-22423705214755162532014-03-10T17:14:00.000-06:002014-03-30T17:22:04.325-06:00The Streak Continues<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-63htuw_lkpM/UzimNTQS3kI/AAAAAAAABCc/Abnr0FuCb2I/s1600/DSCF6460.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-63htuw_lkpM/UzimNTQS3kI/AAAAAAAABCc/Abnr0FuCb2I/s1600/DSCF6460.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"The district activity last Monday--we played soccer."</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Well, our streak continues, as this week we had two baptisms. Melisa
Paez, who is nine years old, was baptized. Her mom came to church for
the first time in a long time. Her sisters are already active, and her
nonmember brothers seem to be a little more interested in talking to us
(when we bring food, haha). The other one is Nila, who has a very large
family (children, cousins, etc.), almost all of whom are living in a
fairly small house. Not all of them are members, so we´ll keep passing
by there to see who else we can help. The girl in the navy blue shirt is
Tomasita, Nila´s niece who came to sacrament meeting and said she
really likes it.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QMfKalGHvIw/UzimT4_p3qI/AAAAAAAABCk/NPoFR7D__-8/s1600/DSCF6467.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QMfKalGHvIw/UzimT4_p3qI/AAAAAAAABCk/NPoFR7D__-8/s1600/DSCF6467.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div>
</div>
<div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aqBMZ_OTOHA/UzimXu1BLzI/AAAAAAAABCs/VFh-V1PsLRw/s1600/DSCF6482.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aqBMZ_OTOHA/UzimXu1BLzI/AAAAAAAABCs/VFh-V1PsLRw/s1600/DSCF6482.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
We don´t have anyone committed to be baptized this
Saturday, but we´ll see what happens. We have some possibilities.
Santiago keeps coming to church, and his girlfriend keeps refusing to
get married. We also have Emilia, the missionary mom I mentioned, who
also attended church. We went by her house with three young adults who
live nearby. They were great to help us, but she is very stubborn about
wanting to wait until she is absolutely sure of her decision. Patience.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The other investigators who I am hoping for are Liz
and Alejandra Vera. They are two teenage girls who remembered the
Restoration perfectly when we went back for the second visit. They have
some commitments in the Catholic Catechism (sp?), which is like seminary
but requires much much more time. Speaking of that, they have seminary
in this ward, which is nice. Hope to be able to update you on their
progress next week.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The Zone training went well. One thing I wanted to
mention. I think I said that most of what we taught came from Elder
Ballard. One thing he said is that we shouldn´t look at the missionary
handbook as a set of rules, but as a "guide to be a successful
missionary." Very, very, very true. Those who obey the rules avoid
certain problems and can give all their attention to teaching and
working. The assistants, Elder Brown and Elder Arango came to the
training. Elder Arango then worked with me in my area. It was a very wet
day--rain up to our ankles. But we did get to teach quite a few people.
He´s a recent convert with no support from his family, but before the
mission he was a tour guide and party host, so he always seems happy and
excited. Lots of fun.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OyMerTqQHFs/UzimM0Ix-ZI/AAAAAAAABCU/vqds6lW79fc/s1600/DSCF6465.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OyMerTqQHFs/UzimM0Ix-ZI/AAAAAAAABCU/vqds6lW79fc/s1600/DSCF6465.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elder Arango and Elder Morgan</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Other fun facts: Everyone says I am much skinnier
than when I got here. Our chapel is on the corner of the streets
Jerusalem and Jericho. Pretty cool. Not to worry you, but Pa´i Ñu is a
little "village" wedged between Ñemby, and San Lorenzo, two bigger
cities. So we end up with a lot of the not-so-good people from both
sides. There are a lot of marijuana smokers, but as long as we stay in
the right areas at the right time, there´s no real threat (there you go
with Elder Ballard´s advice--it´s not a rule, it´s a guide to success).</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
We also had a meeting with President Romero, the
stake president, and President Agazzani. Pres. Romero didn´t remember me
from a year ago, haha. The overriding theme was that the missionaries
are baptizing more and more, but due to lack of retention efforts,
statistics like church attendance are not improving at all. We talked a
lot about how to improve that. It is always interesting to see how the
organization of the church works.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Keep me posted on how everyone is doing. Send me
some photos if you can. I am starting to feel like the
hourglass is running out of sand. But I won´t let that keep me from
doing the same things I have been doing every day. There is still lots
of work to do, and I am committed to change people´s lives. The church
is true, and no amount of opposition can change that. I am so grateful
to be a missionary. It is an unforgettable experience. Love you all!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
-Elder Wesley Morgan</div>
Brittanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04488463268751586446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2248728311322660071.post-64930523711396840732014-03-03T18:26:00.000-07:002014-03-30T17:13:43.090-06:00The Work Continues<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y5tmC8HSZ4g/UxvC5YGlTMI/AAAAAAAABBg/B73Ay8Rnlx4/s1600/DSCF6436.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y5tmC8HSZ4g/UxvC5YGlTMI/AAAAAAAABBg/B73Ay8Rnlx4/s1600/DSCF6436.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hoLkWI_qnZc/UxvCp6yAdrI/AAAAAAAABBY/s-W04FUQg1c/s1600/DSCF6447.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hoLkWI_qnZc/UxvCp6yAdrI/AAAAAAAABBY/s-W04FUQg1c/s1600/DSCF6447.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
As you can see from the photos, Irene was baptized.
She is the last of the Centurión siblings. There is a picture of her,
her son, and her two sisters. The one next to her son is Clotilde, who
we baptized a few weeks ago. She has been living out there in Ybycuí,
but came back to visit. She is reading a lot in the Book of Mormon and
trying to dress more modestly, so we are really happy with her progress.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
This week we have Melissa Paez, a nine-year-old whose sisters are active, and Nila Perez who are preparing to be baptized <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_198830851" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ">this saturday</span></span>.
Nila is the mom of several active members and lived in the area of the
other missionaries in our ward, but her husband did not want to get
married. This week she left him and moved in with her grandma, which is
in our area. Luckily, she wants Elder Cortes, who has been teaching her,
to baptize her. They are looking for a house, so we just have to hope
they find one within the ward or wait until next week.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
On the other hand, we are still working with Sara
and Santiago so they can stay together and get married. She has been
progressing a lot. We watched Finding Faith in Christ, and she has been
telling us more experiences she has had with answers to prayers. I hope
she will soon decide to have faith in God, herself, and her husband so
they can have an eternal family. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
We found LOTS of other great people this week who
expressed interest in baptism. Unfortunately, none of them came to
church, so we have work to do. One cool story--we saw a mom and her kids
moving rocks in their yard, and we stopped to help. They turned out to
be members that stopped attending church just a few months ago. We came
to back visit them and found out that the Young Women´s presidency also
visited them this week. That family, the Zaracho, came to church this
week. The Lord always has a plan.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Somehow, I knew after writing my last letters what things
you would ask me to explain more. We´ve been writing each other for
quite some time, it appears. About health blessings, it´s the bishop who
has the authority and responsibility to minister to the members.
Therefore it should be him or an assigned home teacher or member of the
ward council who goes to visit them and give the blessing. We can only
give blessings under their direction. But some people have gotten in the
habit of asking the missionaries because it´s easier (we always have
time and are willing to go help). We need to let the ward leaders do
that more.<br />
<div>
</div>
<div>
Ca´acupé worries me because they haven´t had any baptisms
since I left, and it sounds like the attendance is declining. They did
finally get a release from being branch counselors, but no members have
stepped up to take their place. Here I am busier than when I was a
counselor just because of how many people we are teaching, baptizing,
retaining, etc. in our area and in the zone. Each convert is a lot of
work, but it´s worth it.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Corbin is talking a lot with some of his other friends about
housing. I´ll see what they decide on. If you can talk to his mom and
Truman (when he gets back....wow! time went fast. Congratulate him on
being an excellent missionary), that would help me out. I, too, wasn´t
too worried about location. But what would be a reasonable price? What
happens if I get married before the school year starts? </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Haha, just trying to scare you. Stay focused. But
really, thanks for all your support. I hope that everyone is doing well
with jobs, studies, missions, families, and all of the eternally
important things. Whatever happens, remember that when the storm comes
it´s time to ask for more help from God, not run away from him. Love you
all!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
-Elder Morgan the Older</div>
</div>
Brittanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04488463268751586446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2248728311322660071.post-67805452106716686012014-02-24T18:09:00.000-07:002014-03-08T18:18:48.252-07:00(No Subject)I just got out of the Leadership
Council, which was great as always. President Agazzani always knows
exactly what the mission needs. We watched <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNpKOwfnpuA">"The Pump,"</a> an old church
movie I remember well, and talked a lot about being obedient and
patient. He was very direct, as always, sharing some great scriptures,
like <a href="https://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/27.15-17?lang=eng#14">D&C 27:15-17</a>, and talking about the consequences of some
disobedient missionaries once they get home. He talked about not abusing
health blessings--members here have a problem with that, and I have
gotten lazy about asking ward leaders to do it, but we really should do
that every time. President also said we should not give investigators
blessings unless they really need it, have done all they can, and
absolutely understand how the Priesthood and Faith work. A lot of people
have erroneous ideas about healing and the priesthood, as you can
probably imagine.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qzKZJqOhOF4/UxvA1Z-HX4I/AAAAAAAABBM/OXNaOCsMg_M/s1600/DSCF6428.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qzKZJqOhOF4/UxvA1Z-HX4I/AAAAAAAABBM/OXNaOCsMg_M/s1600/DSCF6428.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Elder Jessop and Me from the meeting we had today."</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We talked about a lot of other things we can do to get more
references from the members. The mission presidents in the area just had
a conference with Elder Ballard, who seems to be the world´s expert on
effective missionary work. Wish I could tell you all the things we
learned, but I´ll give you more details after the training. Also,
because the District leaders attended this meeting, too, I got to see
two of my best friends in the mission, Elder Jessop and Elder Godoy. We
really make strong friendships here, and I love hearing how my old areas
are doing (even if Ca´acupé worries me).<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Uj1FUUHWz5U/UxvAwPFgo_I/AAAAAAAABBI/nuoOotmUbgY/s1600/DSCF6422.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Uj1FUUHWz5U/UxvAwPFgo_I/AAAAAAAABBI/nuoOotmUbgY/s1600/DSCF6422.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"The one next to me is Hugo (he´s 30 years old). In the middle is Nico Galeano who taught Hugo much more than we did."</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Well, as you can see from the photo, Arnaldo and Hugo got
baptized. Arnaldo was incredible, he read the pamphlets about the
commandments we hadn´t taught him, and he understood perfectly. Hugo
was a little harder to teach, and he didn´t show up for his interview
the first time, but he´s very happy and wants to progress. He also
needed a translator (my first convert who really doesn´t speak much
Spanish). It was a stressful weekend trying to get all that arranged,
including while we were doing exchanges. I can´t imagine having a bigger
workload than what I have now (yes, I know I said that when I trained
and when I was a branch counselor, haha), but I am grateful for my
companion and the excellent missionaries in our Zone who keep working
hard. We had a very successful month, and I hope that continues.<br />
<br />
Yesterday we finally got Irene, the last of the Centurión
family, to commit to be baptized. It was a very spiritual lesson, with
testimonies from her siblings. We were very straightforward, showing her
scriptures and explaining that the Spirit doesn´t always strive with us
if we ignore the promptings we receive. She didn´t think she needed to
be baptized because she had already repented of her sins, but by the end
she felt the Spirit very strongly and commited to baptized this
Saturday. <br />
<br />
We don´t have many other people who are progressing, but there
are many who could. We chased down Eladio one night when we found him
drinking. He didn´t want to go home, but when his 8-year-old son came
with us, he went back to his wife, who was very upset. He doesn´t seem
very motivated to change, but--if only for her sake--we´ll keep working.
The only other person I´ll mention is Santiago, who I don´t know if
I´ve already talked about. His girlfriend is a member who doesn´t have a
testimony, does not want to get married, and doesn´t think she can
change. It´s tough. We pray for and teach her more than him. He came to
church and already seems like a member--very strong testimony. We just
have to get her to change or, if she continues to be stubborn, convince
them to separate so he can live the commandments and be baptized.<br />
<br />
I also did exchanges with Elder Connor Peterson, who is going
to be a Wide Receiver at BYU. We talked a bit about that, but I really
encouraged him about missionary things. He´s new and has a lot of
energy, and I showed him the importance of listening and teaching by the
Spirit, among other things. He really enjoyed it, and I like helping
other missionaries, too.<br />
<br />
With all the people writing me and
these post-mission things to take care of, I´ll try to stay focused. I
do love being here, and I am thankful for the card you wrote. Thanks for
all your support. Remember to trust in the Lord, even when we can´t see
why. Things will always work out for the best in the end (<a href="https://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/100.15?lang=eng#14">D&C 100:15</a>). Love you all!<br />
<br />
-Elder Wesley MorganBrittanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04488463268751586446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2248728311322660071.post-59470037248884846032014-02-17T14:18:00.000-07:002014-02-23T14:22:17.346-07:00Solving Problems<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PWsGAhdyKuY/UwpkUge9_rI/AAAAAAAABAg/LX5rhPo68AU/s1600/DSCF6381.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PWsGAhdyKuY/UwpkUge9_rI/AAAAAAAABAg/LX5rhPo68AU/s1600/DSCF6381.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"I haven´t taken many photos of the apartment yet, but here´s the view
right outside our door. Yeah, they sell a lot of Cerveza downstairs."</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1hKChr8CjLg/Uwpkay7QRzI/AAAAAAAABAw/xEMUeO-1fho/s1600/DSCF6383.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1hKChr8CjLg/Uwpkay7QRzI/AAAAAAAABAw/xEMUeO-1fho/s1600/DSCF6383.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elder Morgan demonstrating the homemade bench press in their apartment.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Wow. I just lost internet connection
for a few minutes. When I asked the man to come help, he found an option
on the internet connection that says, "Solucionar problemas" (solve
problems). In thirty seconds, my connection was back. If only everything
in life were that easy.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--F0Pg8ChqkQ/UwpkLtM7YXI/AAAAAAAABAY/sINbIM9OggE/s1600/DSCF6404.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--F0Pg8ChqkQ/UwpkLtM7YXI/AAAAAAAABAY/sINbIM9OggE/s1600/DSCF6404.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jrGTsTpc3tY/UwpkbUSl8KI/AAAAAAAABAs/nCqbt5K7ZS0/s1600/DSCF6407.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jrGTsTpc3tY/UwpkbUSl8KI/AAAAAAAABAs/nCqbt5K7ZS0/s1600/DSCF6407.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
As you can see from the pictures, Clotilde was baptized! We
fasted with her on Friday, and she fulfilled her commitment to not go
out and party. Even still, she scared us to death arriving very late to
her baptism and confirmation. There were a lot of young single adults
there, as you can see from the photo. Her sister, Irene, had some health
and family things to take care of, but will be back here this week to
be baptized this Saturday. They come from Yvycuí, a town in the middle
of nowhere, and they often go back to visit their parents. When I come
back to Paraguay in 50 years and there´s a ward there, I might be able
to say I helped with the first converts.<br />
<br />
We also have two other possible baptisms. Hugo, who mostly
speaks Guaraní, but has been receiving the lessons from two priests who
are very excited about missionary work. They are also helping us with
Arnaldo, who is their age and might go play rugby with them. The youth
in our ward have a rugby team in a small league. Their team is called
"Helaman Rugby." Wish I could play on that team, haha. Arnaldo and Hugo
have been coming to church, but we haven´t been able to teach them much,
so we´ll have to pray a lot for them to be ready this weekend.<br />
<br />
E. will not be baptized this weekend. He spent all his salary
getting drunk instead of coming to church, and his wife, Perla, is very
frustrated. We just have to keep visitng them and helping her be
patient. He did read the page I marked for him in the Plan of Salvation
pamphlet, so there is progress. Thankfully, we have a member couple who
visits them, too, and the man was an alcoholic before getting baptized.<br />
<br />
We were hoping for more investigators in church, but we´re
analyzing what happened and who we are going to visit more often and
less often. Remember that family who has a son that left on the mission?
Mom, I was wondering if you would be willing to write a letter to the
mom. You can talk about what it´s like having a son (now two) on the
mission and the blessings you received. I know you didn´t take it as
hard as she did, but maybe you can give some good advice (hopefully it
will also help her decide to come to church and prepare to be baptized).
It would have to be in Spanish, would you be willing to do that?<br />
<br />
The only other interesting news is that I worked with Elder
Guzmán, who I was with in Ca´aguazú when he started his mission. He´s
doing a lot better now, so it was very interesting to see his progress.
It´s just my companion and I living together, but it is very hard to
keep clean. We are incredibly busy. But we´re working on it.<br />
<br />
Good to hear that Daniel is happy and
having success. Keep up the faith, especially in the family. I have
heard that all over the world same-sex marriage is a prominent force.
But, as I read today in <a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/6.13?lang=eng#12">2 Nephi</a>, those who wait upon the Lord will not
be ashamed. Love you all!<br />
<br />
-Elder Morgan the OlderBrittanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04488463268751586446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2248728311322660071.post-13491471460184889302014-02-10T14:07:00.000-07:002014-02-23T14:07:16.324-07:00Happy Birthday Heather and Daniel*Wow! You have lots of questions!
First we´ll talk about what happened this week. We had our Zone
Training, which went well. We shared some scriptures and quotes that
President Agazzani showed us about not worrying about what leadership
position you have, just serving humbly. We reviewed the mission´s
emergency plan--everyone has to have a backpack ready with basic hygiene
materials and non-perishable food. The rest of the time we talked
together as a Zone about our progress--especially in church attendance
and baptisms--and what we can do to overcome the challenges. We also
have a goal as a mission to read the Book of Mormon in the next three
months.<br />
<br />
I did divisions with Elder Cortes, from Chile, who is a great
district leader. I also worked with Elder Jensen, from a little city in
Utah, I think it´s called Castle Dale. He´s a great missionary, but very
young and a little unsure of himself. His trainer didn´t let him do
much, and so this transfer is the first time he´s teaching and talking
to people in the street. I really enjoyed working with him. I made him
do a lot of things he wasn´t comfortable with, but in the end he was
happy with how much Spanish and missionary skills he knows. I love
helping young missionaries, in part because they bring new ideas and a
lot of spirit to the mission, and also because I remember how hard that
part of the mission can be.<br />
<br />
We have two baptisms for this Saturday--Irene and Cleotilde.
They are sisters (24 and 21 years old), and three of their siblings are
recent converts. Irene travels a lot and had some doubts, but she
finally attended church for the third time and is willing to be baptized
this Saturday. Cleotilde, the younger one, has a lot of crazy friends,
and we have been trying to help her raise her moral standards. Saturday
night we went and made lasagna with their family so Cleotilde wouldn´t
go to any parties. This week we invited her to fast the day before her
baptism, so let´s hope everything goes well.<br />
<br />
We are teaching lots of people, but I´ll just talk about a few more.
There´s Victor, a 9-year-old, who just moved from Argentina with his
less-active mom. His accent makes me laugh a lot. Imagine how you feel
listening to a little British boy talk. There´s Eladio, the husband of
Perla, who is a very large man. He works with cement, and he had a big
drinking problem. He´s been fine for a week, and a member who also
struggled with alcoholism is helping us a lot. He´s planning on getting
baptized on the 22nd.<br />
<br />
We also have the Salidivar family, whose son is a recent
convert and left on a mission last week. The mom was crying last night
when we got there. Seems like she misses him a lot. We talked about the
plan of salvation, and how if they get baptized, when their sons gets
back they can be sealed in the temple.<br />
<br />
So, things are going pretty well. It´s always rough for me to
learn a new area, as I think I´ve mentioned. I´m not so good memorizing
windy, unnamed streets. But I just try to be patient. Hygiene updates
for you, Mom--I´ve switched to razors and shaving cream. My beard is
pretty tough, but I´ll try to manage it. Also, those black spandex
shorts have really helped me some hot days--keeps me from chafing.
I think I´ll just have to show you on a map of Paraguay what
happened to my mission. The whole south part, plus Ciudad del Este, is
now part of Posadas, so our mission is pretty much the line between
Asunción and Ca´aguazú. "Pa´ee Ñoo" (that´s how it´s pronounced) is
about 30 or 40 minutes south of downtown Asunción, depending on the
traffic. My last area was a branch. I do play the piano in sacrament
meeting, which is interesting when your book closes randomly...The bench
press is just solid cement blocks attached to a bar. I do use the
perfect pushups. I think I´m at about 175-180 pounds.<br />
<br />
My companion talks pretty normally. Most of the Latinos
develop a fairly neutral accent in the mission. I really wanted to talk to President Webb about my career
decision since he has lots of experience in those fields. I´ll just have
to arrange another time with him. Love you all, keep reading
the Book of Mormon and sharing the gospel with anyone you can.<br />
<br />
-Elder Morgan the Older<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cfe2f3;">*Our sister Heather's birthday is February 8th and the other Elder Morgan's birthday is February 7th, so it was a birthday-filled week!</span> Brittanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04488463268751586446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2248728311322660071.post-28286183626242873762014-02-03T13:52:00.000-07:002014-02-23T14:02:15.075-07:00Hit the ground baptizing--Pa´i Ñu<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-P9-Gb8M85IA/UwpgubJpQRI/AAAAAAAAA_4/2Ixf_Pv9qEw/s1600/DSCF6336.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-P9-Gb8M85IA/UwpgubJpQRI/AAAAAAAAA_4/2Ixf_Pv9qEw/s1600/DSCF6336.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Here is the last picture I took before leaving Ca´acupé, with my home
away from home--the Sostoa and Melgarejo families, half of whom are my
converts. I hope you´ll be able to recognize everyone from the other
photos and emails I´ve sent. Brother and Sister Sostoa are the elderly
couple on the end."</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I am very excited to be here in Pa´i Ñu. Things ended pretty well in
Ca´acupé. We didn't have quite as many people to teach and baptize soon
as I would have hoped, but I'm sure Elder Godoy and his new companion,
Elder Zenteno (who arrived here with me) will do great.<br />
<br />
My new companion is Elder Cabrera, from Arequipa Peru. He
was trained by Elder Leishman, so I had already heard a lot about him.
He comes from a very active family and is a very hard worker. He looks
black because his mom is from Ecuador. I am actually learning more from
him than I think he is learning from me. He has a stronger personality
than I do, and is a lot more controlling in his leadership style, but
he's also very loving and obedient. Like I said, he has a strong
testimony and is definitely here for the right reasons, so I'm sure
we´ll get along.
<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I am in Pa´i Ñu, which is a small "suburb" in Ñemby,
a "city" on the South side of Asunción. It´s just like classic
Paraguay--lots of small or medium sized houses and huge trees in a
labyrinth of small dirt or cobblestone roads. Made me realize how open
and "wild" my last two areas were.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The members here are incredible! I have ward
missionaries to work with for the first time! It's a young
ward--primary, youth, and YSA ages--but there are also a few people who
have been in the church for a long time. The missionaries here sometimes
complain about the members not helping them, but they have no idea how
blessed they are. I have never had this much support from the members.
One sister, Sebastiana Silvero, came up to me crying after church
because the young man who played piano left on his mission two weeks ago
and she had been praying for someone to come who could bring music back
to the ward.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Interestingly enough, I have already been here. When
I was a Zone Leader in Costa Bonita, we had a huge zone which they
divided shortly thereafter. I am in the half of that zone where I almost
never worked, but I do see things from time to time that I remember.
It's also easier to stay in contact with the members and converts from
Costa Bonita, and maybe I'll see them if there's some sort of conference
or activity soon (it's the same Stake).</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The apartment needs some help. I had visited it
once, but it has gotten worse. I'll send some pictures. We live above a
Despensa (small supermarket), so we get some interesting smells. What's
cool is that someone gave us a bench press made out of cement and rebar,
so I might not come home quite as "flaco" as I thought.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fG51awVGUj8/UwphDGUg9LI/AAAAAAAABAM/IMg58D0G1Uk/s1600/DSCF6371.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fG51awVGUj8/UwphDGUg9LI/AAAAAAAABAM/IMg58D0G1Uk/s1600/DSCF6371.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XMsOWMy9LM0/UwphAlKUIkI/AAAAAAAABAE/iV2JH6nr6Hk/s1600/DSCF6375.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XMsOWMy9LM0/UwphAlKUIkI/AAAAAAAABAE/iV2JH6nr6Hk/s1600/DSCF6375.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
I have so much to talk about, but I'll just mention a
few things. This is definitely the first time I have gotten to an area
and had baptisms that week. First was Perla, who has been trying to get
married. Her husband is drinking less alcohol, which is why she finally
agreed to marry him (the other option would be separating, because she
really wanted to be baptized). He could definitely get baptized in a
couple weeks.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Then there's Alma, who comes from a less-active
family with some problems. She was going to get baptized when she turned
8 but...there were problems. Basically, she just turned nine, and she
normally comes to her church with her sister. Her grandma wasn´t sure,
but gave her permission. Then Saturday came. I ran into a barbed wire
gate, but luckily I have enough hair that I didn´t bleed too much (I was
fine for the pictures, and it wasn't too deep--don't worry). I tell you
that because it's funny and shows one of the many crazy things that
have been happening. When we got to Alma's house, her mom and grandma
had been fighting, and didn't want the baptism to happen. Alma came with
us to watch Perla's baptism. Right before the ordinance, her grandma
showed up and said we could baptize her. Alma was sure she wanted me to
baptize her, so I changed quickly, we took pictures in the hall, and had
quite the miraculous evening.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Wish I could tell you more about the other people we
are teaching. The kid on my shoulder in the picture is another 10 year
old who wants to be baptized, but the permission there will be a little
tougher. I'm so grateful for the support of the members. We do run into
people who are a little more aggressive, but I've learned how to handle
that. For example, the other day we taught some protestants (not sure
which denomination) who attacked Joseph Smith and talked about 7th day
worship. My companion whipped out the Bible and was ready to defend the
truth, but I just calmly explained, "This message could change your
life, but you'll need to read the Book of Mormon and pray to know if
it's true, are you willing to do that?" When they said no, we just
left. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Things are great, love you all!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
-Elder Wesley Morgan</div>
Brittanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04488463268751586446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2248728311322660071.post-70146153907246381622014-01-27T22:36:00.000-07:002014-02-01T09:11:13.714-07:00A Happy Ending (perhaps) to Ca´acupé<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EDB1Hiu-w3A/UuyIzb2FEBI/AAAAAAAAA-k/sjImgmJ1muQ/s1600/IMG_2644.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EDB1Hiu-w3A/UuyIzb2FEBI/AAAAAAAAA-k/sjImgmJ1muQ/s1600/IMG_2644.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"BAPTISM PHOTOS!! We have Silvia, who FINALLY GOT BAPTIZED! I have been
working on convincing that girl for almost four months. Haha, well we
weren´t teaching her that whole time, but it´s been quite the wait. She
was even a little unsure right before entering the font, but it all
turned out well. We also baptized her ex-boyfriend-who-she-wasn´t-<br />
<div dir="ltr">
<wbr></wbr>talking-to-but-are-friends-<wbr></wbr>again-and might-possibly-starting-<wbr></wbr>dating-again
(teenagers...), Alex!! He is great." </div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LM2M0PRo49I/UuyI5c0mESI/AAAAAAAAA-s/vHgMB2wPs_Q/s1600/IMG_2645.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LM2M0PRo49I/UuyI5c0mESI/AAAAAAAAA-s/vHgMB2wPs_Q/s1600/IMG_2645.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Email from Sister Keller, senior missionary in Elder Morgan's mission: "We had a great weekend here in Caacupe. Your son is such a gentleman:-) The
missionaries sang Donde Hay Amor= Where Love Is:-) and it was lovely. I
wanted to do that song in case Elder Morgan gets transferred. He looked at me today and said, 'How's my Mom?' I
thought that was so funny. I told him though that I thought I would
send you the pics. Enjoy :-)"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vFPW5m3UZRg/Uu0b_7PKCdI/AAAAAAAAA_E/a-rdsK907F0/s1600/DSCF6296.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vFPW5m3UZRg/Uu0b_7PKCdI/AAAAAAAAA_E/a-rdsK907F0/s1600/DSCF6296.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Here are a few of the photos I took at our district activity last week.
We went to 'El Mirador,' a small scenic hill in Tobatí. It takes about a
minute and a half to hike, and then you can walk around on top to see
the city. So we played a few group games--Zip Bong (makes me think of
Aaron Densley) and Signs (don´t know if you know that). Fun stuff!"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-msRapX7gzVg/Uu0cMPAUOqI/AAAAAAAAA_M/k_nObtWfxi0/s1600/DSCF6300.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-msRapX7gzVg/Uu0cMPAUOqI/AAAAAAAAA_M/k_nObtWfxi0/s1600/DSCF6300.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O_AtasM-LPk/Uu0bz1h_asI/AAAAAAAAA-8/CJkIeUiiMuE/s1600/DSCF6307.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O_AtasM-LPk/Uu0bz1h_asI/AAAAAAAAA-8/CJkIeUiiMuE/s1600/DSCF6307.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
I am sure you got my other letter about
the baptisms. I am so so so happy. In this last month we have found a
lot of wonderful people who have let us down, and my one plea to
Heavenly Father was to help Silvia get baptized and complete the
Melgarejo family before I left. We still don´t know if I´m leaving,
but....we are pretty sure. It´s now the norm to be in an area for 3
transfers. I have been here for 3, and there are 3 left in my
mission--makes sense. I have already started to conditionally say good
bye ("If this is the last time I see you, thanks for everything"), which
could make for funny moments if I stay here. We´ll see! </div>
<br />
We actually just had a great Leadership Council where
President Agazzani encouraged us to focus on how we serve, not where
(including leadership positions), using <a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/alma/13?lang=eng">Alma 13</a> and <a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/121.34-46?lang=eng#33">D&C 121:34-46</a>.
Very spiritual. There are a lot of changes in the mission, and this
month wasn´t quite as fruitful as were hoping, though the last week we
had 58 confirmations (6 in our Zone!), a record for President Agazzani´s
time in one week. Also, to clarify, the numbers of 1400 baptisms were
just for this mission, and there are two and a half (Posadas Argentina
takes half) missions in Paraguay. So each missionary (200) baptized
about 7 last year, but that´s actually 14 per companionship. Now, with
about 250 missionaries, if we baptize 8 each (16 per companionship),
we´ll reach 2000 baptisms. That´s pretty much how President Agazzani
thinks--he´s a business man. But, combined with the gospel, it works!
Like I said, this mission is growing incredibly fast. </div>
<br />
Speaking of President, he finally read my letter and gave me permission to do the ecclesiastical
endorsement for BYU. Still waiting for it to load. He also, for the
first time, sends his greetings specifically to all of you (the family).</div>
<br /></div>
And, most of our attention was focused on the baptisms in our
area and the other areas. Oh, the missionaries who came to split my area
finally had their first two baptisms, too! Like I said, we are finding
great families or groups of young adult men --they are usually willing
to chat--but no one came to church apart from those you saw in the
pictures. We are having trouble with reactivation--the Castro family,
whose daughter we baptized a couple months ago, told us they don´t want
to come back to church :( --but with a fully armed Elders Quorum, the
branch councils are now going to implement the 5-5-5 plan that all wards
here are supposed to use to focus on reactivating 15 families.</div>
<br />
I do love the chapters about the sons of Mosiah. There are
many, many things there that led to their success. Some are their
spiritual preparation, their love for the people, their simple form of
teaching according to the needs of those they taught, and their focus on
important doctrines like the Atonement. They also taught people who
were willing to be converted and sacrifice anything to accept the
Gospel. Those are great chapters to analyze again and again.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
As
always, I enjoy hearing how everyone is doing so I can pray for all of
their individual challenges. I, too wish I knew the transfers. I´ll let
you know next week!</div>
<br />
-Elder Wesley MorganBrittanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04488463268751586446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2248728311322660071.post-76115101743540888042014-01-20T22:32:00.000-07:002014-01-31T22:33:21.480-07:00No Subject<div>
<div>
<div>
I´m trying not to explode at the internet man. I just
spent an hour writing emails to everyone on another computer as I waited
for the website to load. When it didn´t load and I switched computers,
everything was erased. It´s a good thing my favorite Avenger is Captain
America and not the Hulk.</div>
<br />
There actually wasn´t much news this week, but I had written a
lot of details. Unfortunately, I don´t have the time or patience to
write all of that. Basically, we found a lot of great people this week,
in part due to our ward mission leader, who is sacrificing a day of work
each week to visit investigators and less actives, and his son, Daniel,
who is finally helping us. We sure have great members here.
Unfortunately, none of the new people we found came to church. Cristian
came, and his girlfriend, Ilse, realized that if he died tomorrow, it
would be her fault that he wasn´t baptized. Somber, but true, and we
reviewed the option of separating until her divorce is finished and they
can live together as a married couple. <br />
<br />
Cristian´s cousin Alex came to church again. He is no longer dating
Siliva (teenagers...), but they both want to be baptized this week!</div>
<br />
I have had to testify a lot about the Restoration this week. So many
people think we are just another church, but if that were the case, I
wouldn´t be here. This is the only Church that Christ directs
personally, and we have all the other truth that is found in other
religions. We try to explain that to people, but many of them tell us
that they would rather stay with their religion than ask God what they
should do. Alas. We do what we can.<br />
<br />
Haven´t heard of the parasite pill or
travel plans, but I'll let you know. Thanks for all the news. Be
patient, and don´t lose your temper. Even when they erase all your hard
work. Haha, maybe I´ll be over it by next week. In any case, I love and
keep praying for all of you.</div>
<br />
<div>
</div>
-Elder Morgan the OlderBrittanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04488463268751586446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2248728311322660071.post-20317563683067953602014-01-13T22:25:00.000-07:002014-01-31T22:30:40.277-07:00Progress<div>
We are seeing some excellent progress in the branch. I am excited
to hear that you have a new Elders´ Quorum Presidency. We do too!! When I
got here there was no one in the presidency. Yesterday Alberto Sostoa
was sustained as president, with two counselors (one is his dad who he
is helping reactivate) and a secretary. I don´t know if you remember
that Alberto is Delfina´s husband who was inactive before he moved back
here and we helped baptize her. He is a natural leader, and I am so
excited to see progress here! Our ward mission leader is helping us
reactivate recent converts, one of whom--Juan Martinez--received the
Aaronic Priesthood.<br />
<br />
We only had three investigators in church (saying "only three" is also a sign of progress). Cristian, who
is still waiting for the divorce papers came with his cousin Alex, who
we have been teaching. Best part: Alex randomly showed up with Silvia to
one of our lessons with the Melgarejos. He´s dating Silvia and he is
very excited to be baptized on the 25th. Though she still acts very
unsure, I am pretty positive they´ll get baptized together. What a
miracle! They also want to go to EFY the week after (they´re both 17).</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Luján did not come to church and her mom is gone so much we couldn´t teach
her at all this week. Though she likes coming to church with us, we´ve
decided to postpone the baptism until her mom or her uncles (The
Garcías--those recent converts who have also been facing some work and
social difficulties) are reactivated and can take her to church. I just
realized that you can´t say uncles in English to refer to an aunt and
uncle. I´ll leave it that way just for fun.</div>
<br />
<div>
The Meza family is also a disappointment. We were pretty
gung-ho about their baptism (they seemed to be, too), and we talked
about the law of chastity to explain why they´d need to get married
before their baptism. Now they don´t want to talk to us...Lesson
learned. I´ll be sure to teach a few more of the doctrinal lessons to
strengthen the faith of the investigators before teaching a commandment
that could try their faith.</div>
<br />
<div>
I´ve realized that I talk a lot about what these people
do, but not much about what they are like. That may be for lack of time,
but I do wish you could get to know all of them. My best way is just to
compare them to people you know. Like my companion, who--musically,
religiously, politically, and in many other ways--keeps reminding me of
Tony. He´s a lot of fun, and we have been very good about communicating
openly and being patient with small differences. For example, there´s
Sister Guerra, the Uruguayan Relief Society President who is SO crazy I
can´t even explain it. There´s Rubén Ledesma, the young (20) man who
came to live with his active grandma. He was born in the church but
never really developed a testimony. He knows he should come to church
and do the right things but seems to have a lot of bad influence from
his friends and his personal feelings. It´s really interesting to help
people like that. Perhaps someday we´ll have enough time to talk about
all of the great people I´ve met and who they really are.</div>
<br />
<div>
As far as Elder Morgan goes, I do wish there were faster
progress in the Zone and with the investigators, but we are working
hard. I have been sick this week (cold), but I´m finally recovered. Only
the 2nd time I needed to ask for a health blessing on the mission. I
don´t even want to talk about how skinny I´m getting. New favorite
fruit--Mburucuyá (passion fruit in English). It´s hard to describe. Sort
of like sweet lemon, but all the seeds are mushed together in a goo
that´s inside of a very hard shell. Reminds me of an alien egg. There´s
fruit everywhere in Paraguay, and that´s the latest one that falls so
much people just give it away.</div>
<br />
<div>
I do also wish I could explain more about the culture.
Part of the problem is that I don´t want to say anything negative, so
you only hear the positive things. In this city, there are a few many
asphalt roads. The rest are cobblestone, and there are quite a few dirt
roads. It´s interesting here, because there is a lot of urban influence
from Asunción and tourism, but there is quite a bit of rural culture,
too. We have 70-80 in church every week, but the other two
companionships are finally starting to bring people to church, so that
should go up as we continue baptizing and retaining.<br />
<br />
Also, we are in the South America South
area, which is Paraguay, Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile. I can write
anyone in those missions for free, which is nice. Our mission baptized
just under 1,400 last year, and President Agazzani´s goal is 2,000 this
year. He likes it when people tell him he´s crazy.</div>
<br />
<div>
</div>
<div>
Thanks for all the other news from everyone. Not all the
news is good, but it gives me things to pray for. I know the Lord is
with us, no matter what happens. Just trust in him! Love you all!</div>
<br />
-Elder Morgan the OlderBrittanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04488463268751586446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2248728311322660071.post-77044709897540136532014-01-06T22:20:00.000-07:002014-01-31T22:25:03.923-07:00La Orientación Familiar (Home Teaching)<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
Last week, I didn´t even have time to write
everything I´d planned. I also wanted to mention the Leadership council,
which went very well. We talked a lot about working more with members
and being obedient and formal. Supposedly, we are one of the most formal
missions in the area (dress and conversation), but we have to keep
improving, as with everything. President Agazzani also explained why
numbers are very important to him and to the Lord--they represent our
work efficiency and the amount of people receiving their salvation. He
showed us that this mission baptized 500 more in 2013 than in 2012!
Definitely the fastest growing mission in the area. I am very grateful
to be here in Paraguay at this time, and the goal is to keep growing at
an accelerated pace.<br />
<br />
This week we had a lot of success with church attendance. I don´t
know if I mentioned that we called group leaders (like a branch
president) in Atyrá and Tobatí? That was a big step, and they are both
doing well. The group leader in Tobatí has a sister (Teodora Meza) here
who we have been trying to teach for a while, and he finally brought her
daughters to church. We helped them move on Saturday, and their stepdad
also seems interested in the church. The only complication is that he
hand his soon-to-be-wife are never home at the same time. But we´ll see
what happens. <br />
<br />
Luján also came to church again, but her mom and the Garcías (her
cousins) continue to fight so neither one comes to church. We need the
support of all of them to help her get baptized and stay active. In that
same neighborhood (Buena Vista), we are also teaching the Kiese family
again. I think I´ve mentioned them--they are young adults who were
baptized but never confirmed. They just need to quit smoking and come to
church so they can get baptized again--which should happen soon.</div>
<br />
We still have Gustavo Resquín and Emilio Portillo coming to
church, but neither wants to be baptized. So weird. And Cristian is
waiting for Ilse´s divorce so they can get married and baptized. We´ve
got lots of miracles on the way.</div>
<br />
We also called Delfina as Relief Society secretary. She is
very timid and was scared the first time we mentioned giving her a
calling. But she seems to have changed a lot and wants to contribute to
the progress of the church. That made me so happy!<br />
<br />
We´re giving out a lot of callings, but what we need now is Home
Teaching. I cannot express how important that is. We have converts who
fall through the cracks because no one knows who they are or helps them
feel welcome. Elder Keller has the vision of assigning everyone a Home
teacher, and we need that. For example, in that same neighborhood where
we are teaching a lot of people, we found a young couple who'd been
living in Barcelona for a few years. They seemed to know a lot about the
church, and we taught the whole Restoration to them. When we invited
them to be baptized, they admitted that they are already members. If
they had a home teacher assigned, we would have already known that.
President Thomas S. Monson, the most inspired man living on the earth
today, chose to speak about the principle of Home Teaching instead of
many other topics he could have mentioned in General Conference. It´s
simple, but it is eternally important.</div>
<br />
My favorite gifts are the belt--I really needed one--and the
flashlight. It´s pretty awesome. That reminds me, President Agazzani
said that the church is trying to get missionaries to change from
backpacks to shoulder or waistbags, so having a little, but powerful
light really helps. Yes, the next transfers are the last Wednesday in
January, and I´m almost positive I´ll be leaving to do my last three
transfers in one area. And Go Colts! Haha, and thanks for letting me
know about the job opportunities. Maybe I'll end up just teaching at the
MTC, like many people have suggested. I love you all! Don´t worry, be
happy!</div>
<br />
<div>
-Elder Morgan the Older</div>
<br />
P.S. Along with doing your home teaching, read the Book of Mormon! It´s so important! (<a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/pgp/moses/7.62?lang=eng#61">Moses 7:62</a>)Brittanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04488463268751586446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2248728311322660071.post-25171147730970612412013-12-30T20:44:00.000-07:002014-01-30T21:11:48.544-07:003 Weeks Behind<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9aWst5oJuzI/Uusfw1nKVII/AAAAAAAAA8o/88noEyJF60s/s1600/DSCF6025.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9aWst5oJuzI/Uusfw1nKVII/AAAAAAAAA8o/88noEyJF60s/s1600/DSCF6025.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"These are the pictures from Rodrigo´s baptism awhile ago. Good news:
this week he got confirmed. His dad is in that picture, but he hasn´t
been to church since. There have been lots of complications, he has
problems with his neighbors, and we are trying to do all we can do bring
peace on earth and goodwill to all men. Mostly we´re just thankful that
Rodrigo is an official member of the church!"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iXRlcVx6J1U/Uusfoxl6lsI/AAAAAAAAA8g/_D9cMWqn2Wo/s1600/DSCF6030.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iXRlcVx6J1U/Uusfoxl6lsI/AAAAAAAAA8g/_D9cMWqn2Wo/s1600/DSCF6030.jpg" height="320" width="239" /></a></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xmpuq6ewzsU/Uusf9PEC5WI/AAAAAAAAA8w/9l6qViiYpog/s1600/DSCF6158.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xmpuq6ewzsU/Uusf9PEC5WI/AAAAAAAAA8w/9l6qViiYpog/s1600/DSCF6158.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Sorry I didn´t tell you beforehand about these two Christmas activities.
I have lots to think about, and we had spent so much time planning them
I was sure I had mentioned them. Like I said, no one showed up for the
open house, but we had a great group of missionaries there."</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oEVETZMevHI/UusgOfQQBII/AAAAAAAAA84/cWwe7Oq3IMw/s1600/DSCF6164.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oEVETZMevHI/UusgOfQQBII/AAAAAAAAA84/cWwe7Oq3IMw/s1600/DSCF6164.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"The next day was our Christmas activity with all those musical numbers. I
didn´t take pictures of many of those (I was singing in some of them--I
really like the Spanish Primary song "Estrella de Luz"). This is the
Nativity play where President took people out of the audience to
participate. It was a lot of fun, especially for Delfina, who is
normally pretty shy, but as the only pregnant woman in the branch had to
be Mary by default. Alberto, her husband, loved every moment. He
reminds me a lot of Jed."</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XLnrtRrOSo0/UusggWSbIVI/AAAAAAAAA9A/IxRNFAmcmYQ/s1600/DSCF6175.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XLnrtRrOSo0/UusggWSbIVI/AAAAAAAAA9A/IxRNFAmcmYQ/s1600/DSCF6175.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"These next ones are all from the Christmas activity. We had half the
mission there on thursday (our day), and the other half on Friday (Elder
Jessop was in that one, so I didn´t get to see him. But I heard he´s
training!!) We hiked the Cerro Lambaré, which was short and easy. Played
some games there at the top, then we had a white elephant gift exchange
(passing them in a circle) like last year. Then we played sports, had
relay races--including a watermelon eating relay between the zone
leaders. It was very, very fun. With all the stress of the branch and
the zone, I was so happy to have a free, fun day with other
missionaries. That doesn´t ever happen, but It really did help."</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rlD3swMNNP4/UusgqupIAOI/AAAAAAAAA9I/5Z7EKSrZmbk/s1600/DSCF6182.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rlD3swMNNP4/UusgqupIAOI/AAAAAAAAA9I/5Z7EKSrZmbk/s1600/DSCF6182.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4yAAXG75POQ/UushK76IoOI/AAAAAAAAA9Q/Sm7weoo7cg8/s1600/DSCF6190.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4yAAXG75POQ/UushK76IoOI/AAAAAAAAA9Q/Sm7weoo7cg8/s1600/DSCF6190.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"The Kellers at the activity."</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1UWKRfb-HvU/UushYHClYsI/AAAAAAAAA9Y/jbP7jGIuHuc/s1600/DSCF6206.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1UWKRfb-HvU/UushYHClYsI/AAAAAAAAA9Y/jbP7jGIuHuc/s1600/DSCF6206.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Our tug-of-war team at the top of the hill. We won! I´m in front, with my companion right behind me."</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HfW6PhX4dx8/UushjmOuRhI/AAAAAAAAA9o/zY-d470tHvg/s1600/DSCF6232.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HfW6PhX4dx8/UushjmOuRhI/AAAAAAAAA9o/zY-d470tHvg/s1600/DSCF6232.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Elder Adamson and I eating watermelons. Woohoo."</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0Phc1X-QN9k/UushgkbqdSI/AAAAAAAAA9g/B0MBwWSwL0c/s1600/DSCF6239.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0Phc1X-QN9k/UushgkbqdSI/AAAAAAAAA9g/B0MBwWSwL0c/s1600/DSCF6239.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Well, I kind of have to update you on the past
three weeks. I talked about some things in my other emails that you can
string together to see the parts of the story that are missing. This
will be more like a Daniel email--lots of quick sentences about things
that happened.</div>
<br />
I mentioned the Garcias in the photos. They have a niece who
lives nearby who asked us to walk with them to church. She´s 10 and very
sweet. With the support of the Garcías, she´ll be baptized soon. Silvia
has pretty much disappeared, which makes me very sad. But I did what I
could and her time will come. Gustavo Resquín continues to come to
church, but not the classes. We´ll get him there this week and hopefully
he´ll find the courage to be baptized. Cristian and Ilse are still
waiting for the divorce. He´s the one telling her she needs to make time
for the Book of Mormon, and he wants his family and friends to be
baptized after him. Oddly enough, they didn´t come to church yesterday,
so we´ll have to find out what happened.<br />
<br />
Then we´ve got the Castro family (my other 9-year-old convert), who
we are still breaking our skulls to figure out what they need to come
back to church. We talked about tithes and offerings because they have
financial issues (fasting can also help). They said that in their 6
years as members, no missionary has ever taught them fast offering.
Moral of the story--don´t be afraid, the people need the blessings of
making sacrifices so they can progress.</div>
<br />
I´m also frustrated with the Centurión family. Lessons with
members who now attend other churches are very awkward. We talked about
the Atonement, and it is obvious they are trying to tell themselves what
they are doing isn´t wrong. I bore one of the strongest testimonies of
my life--I was close to crying--telling them that they need to believe
that the Atonement IS powerful enough to help them forgive and come back
to the church that THEY KNOW is true. I would have never said things
like that a year and a half ago, but I´ve learned that we have to be
direct, sincere, and teach what Christ would say if he himself where
there. The spirit was strong, and they thanked us for the visit but they
are firm in their decision to keep going to another church "for now."</div>
<br />
Other great experience that I didn´t have time to tell you on
Wednesday. We found a group of 20-22-year olds sitting around the other
day who actually let us teach them. One of them showed me his tattoos
and could tell I was uncomfortable. He asked why, and though I wasn´t
sure they would take it seriously, I offered to sit down and answer as
many questions as they had. We started with a prayer, and an hour and a
half later they didn´t want us to leave. They asked about baptism, the
restoration, worshipping images, chastity (we were VERY direct about
that, and they also said no one has ever told them it was wrong to live
together without being married), what happens after this life, how to
repent, the word of wisdom, what we do as missionaries and why we chose
to come here, and much, much more. It was very spiritual, and there was
never more than a 3-second pause between questions. I am so grateful to
have studied PMG well, and I know the Spirit gave us the answer to all
of their questions. It also works to ask people questions--"Does it make
sense that babies are baptized when Jesus was baptized as an adult?"
Questions like that have been helping me in lots of lessons. They´re
pretty busy (one of them--Jorge--is a pro soccer player), but we are
excited to go back and teach them again.</div>
<br />
I also taught a man in the bus about the restoration--in
English!! He lived in Indianapolis, but is from Uruguay. He teaches
English here, and he is a member of the Salvation Army--he explained
that it´s a church, not just a charity like most people think. I would
love to talk more about that lesson, too, but time is short!<br />
<br />
As far as things after the mission go,
feel free to ask me when you need to. I don´t love talking about it, not
because I am afraid of being unfocused, but because I am actually a
little worried. I have been praying a lot, and that idea of working with
the Educational system has been on my mind for months. I think I'll
have to sign up for my own classes when I get back and make a firm
decision on what to do. As far as work goes, I have also felt the
impression that EFY isn´t for me. But I really want to come back and
start working. I don´t want to go from being busy all day to
nothing--that would depress me a lot. But I also need a job that will
let me study full time in the fall--which is most important. There is a
lot to worry about, seeing as I'll have to be saving for a future family
and all that. It´s not just saving up for my mission and the fun things
I want. Definitely a big change, but I think it´ll be okay. For now,
I´ll keep you posted on how the work of Salvation is going here in
Ca´acupé, Paraguay. I am so grateful to be a part of it!!</div>
<br />
<div>
</div>
<div>
Love,</div>
Elder Morgan the ElderBrittanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04488463268751586446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2248728311322660071.post-45387735781676207712013-12-16T15:44:00.000-07:002013-12-26T15:45:18.180-07:00Short LetterWell, writing Mom and President didn´t leave me much time this
week, and next week I won´t be writing the family either--we are using
that time for the phone calls. <br />
<br />
Fast updates--we had interviews with President Agazzani who
got me very excited to see progress in Ca´acupé. We also found out about
a lot of problems in the districts, which we are working on. We had SIX
investigators in church yesterday!! Woohoo!! Gustavo, the teenager
whose sisters are all members, finally came! Juan Martinez brought
three of his nieces who are visiting from Capiatá (one lives here):
Cristian, whose girlfriend is a member named Ilse (I think I mentioned
them) came with his Evangelical friend, and they LOVED church. Liza
Melgarejo gave a talk, the Garcias still didn´t confrim their son. The
Melgarejo twins went to do baptisms at the temple, and their sister
Silvia finally came to our lessons again. She knows she needs to gets
baptized, the only question is when. Pray for her and everyone else
around here. I do love it here in Ca´acupé! I was very happy to hear
about Daniel´s baptisms! Hope all is well, and we´ll talk next week!<br />
<br />
Elder Morgan the OlderBrittanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04488463268751586446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2248728311322660071.post-15892429670030303412013-12-09T15:39:00.000-07:002013-12-26T15:43:34.856-07:00Weekend in Tobatí<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
I think I said this last year around this time,
but there´s really nothing I´d rather be doing during Christmas than
serving these people and preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There´s
also no place I´d rather be than back in Ca´acupé! We have been in
Tobatí for 4 nights (we left Thursday night) and three days (we came
back this morning). Luckily the wife of a member (who´s getting baptized
this week) loaned us two mattresses. The members are pretty great
there, though most are new converts--the group has only been there for 5
years--and are still learning how the church runs and the importance of
rules and commandments. Good thing we have two obedient missionaries
there right now. <br />
<br />
There were 21 people in church--a rented house--and when the talks
ran out with 25 minutes left in the meeting, one of the missionaries
there asked me to give a talk. People warned me that would happen in the
mission, but I never guessed it would be like that. I talked about
<a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/97.8?lang=eng#7">D&C 97:8</a>, one of my new favorite scriptures about being willing to
sacrifice anything to keep our covenants, and <a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/mosiah/5.2-5?lang=eng#1">Mosiah 5:2-5</a>--the desire
to avoid temptations and be faithful to our covenants all our lives. We
found lots of families to teach, many of whom are very interested in
praying to know the truth, so I hope there will continue to be growth up
there. <br />
<br />
I am also very glad to be back in my area. It was weird not
going to church in my own area. I heard there weren´t many members in
church, but I also heard that there weren´t the millions of people were
expecting to visit the Basilica. There were quite a few, but it was
interspersed throughout the week. We heard lots of music every morning
and night while we were still in Ca´acupé, and we did feel a little out
of place when large groups of people were heading towards the center of
town. But I don´t think it was anything noteworthy on a global scale.<br />
<br />
Rodrigo was baptized right after our English class, but due to
a miscommunication he was not confirmed. Gah! Nothing that can be done
to change that now. It was a great baptismal service. That morning we
assigned lots of members to come and participate, and most of them did!
It was amazing! I wish I knew more about how our other investigators and
converts were, but I´ll find out. I do know that Liza, our recent
convert, offered to give her talk a week early because her friend Sister
Sostoa, who I had assigned for that week, wouldn´t be able to. Hope
that makes sense. Basically, Liza is an awesome convert who is willing
to do anything.<br />
<br />
In our meeting with President Burger, we helped him give lots
of assignments and callings to recent converts and more-or-less-active
members. That is progress! We still haven´t been released...so we´ll
continue to help as much as we can until that happens. <br />
<br />
I am also learning patience with people who talk a lot. Sometimes,
people here can just talk for 15-20 minutes without taking a break, and I
get very frustrated because I don´t like to lose control of lessons. We
had a great family who we wanted to teach about the Restoration, but we
couldn´t get our testimonies in because they talked about all the
terrible things their neighbor (who is a member) has done. It is
frustrating that there are people who don´t find the truth only because
they don´t let the missionaries get a word in. Haha, but I am also
learning that the things they tell us might be very personal or
important, and we should listen with love. One of the many things I
learned in Tobatí.<br />
<br />
Men´s Chorus has always had 180 men,
as far as I know. Sometimes it just looks bigger with combined choirs.
Hope things are well with the family and their various work, study, and
calling situations. I love you all!<br />
<br />
-Elder Morgan the Viejo<span style="color: #cfe2f3;">*</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cfe2f3;">*Viejo=old, older </span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Brittanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04488463268751586446noreply@blogger.com0