La Esperanza*

*La Esperanza: Hope

First and foremost, I forgot to mention the awesome letter I got last week. I don't know if you know we are supposed to write our converts, which I do occasionally. I finally got my first letter from a convert! Remember Lidia, the miracle I found my last week in Ciudad del Este who had searched all her life for the true church? Well, she is still enjoying the fullness of the Gospel. She seems very happy, and she teaches the fourth Sunday class in Relief Society! Makes me feel SO good to hear things like that.

Around here, we are dropping investigators who don't have interest and trying to avoid the many people who say, "Yes, we'd love to listen, but we already have a church we go to and we don't want to change". Thankfully, we have found some great new investigators in Toro Blanco, a neighborhood that is fairly far from the church. The kid who was going to come with us this Sunday wasn't there, so we ended up having to run a lot to get to church on time. Elder Jessop is having some fun experiences in his first weeks! Haha, he is always pretty positive, so he doesn't mind things like that. He is like a fireball-- I just have to show him what to do and let him go. He isn't afraid of talking to anyone, and he learns very fast. 

I do have a lot of responsibilities, so I have to try very hard to be paitent when things don't always go how I want. For example, after a very tough day of looking for people to teach, we found a family we talked to a few weeks ago. Their dad is a preacher in a church founded by a very false prophet. It scares me sometimes how close Satan's imitations are to the truth, but I just have to trust that those who really want to find the Gospel will recognize the difference. I know it's not good to try to convince people with the Bible, but that is what they tried to do to us. I wanted to use my testimony to show them the truth, but I should have just left. My companion and I ended up getting very frustrated because they wouldn't let us talk with how much they were trying to preach to us. (What Grandma said about the importance of understanding the Godhead is very true). Thankfully, forgiveness exists. After a lot of prayer and meditation, I realized how we should have handled the situation. The next day when we found another family who, in spite of our attempts to explain, was sure the Book of Mormon does not talk about Christ, we just left. I am realizing that with our limited time, we can only use it on those who really want the truth.

Okay, now for those recipes I have forgotten to send you. These are the ones I have made (some several times): Pancakes, German Pancakes, Syrup (mucho), French toast (a companion showed me how to make French toast sticks--very good--I can send Daniel the recipe if he wants), tortillas (my Mexican companion helped me perfect that), Banana bread, No bake cookies, brownies, snickerdoodles, and easy cobbler (that is the PERFECT missionary dessert). The mission gave us a recipe book that had some ideas I have made: an easy apple crisp and empanadas (which my Argentine companions helped me with). Some recipes you gave me that also seem simple enough to try soon are breakfast cake, corn bread, paprika potatoes, easy fettucini alfredo, meatballs, mac&cheese, teriyaki chicken, lemon bars, and sugar cookies.

The thing with being a missionary is that we have an hour to prepare and eat the food (except P-Days), so that limits us a lot. There is a book I found here called "Missionary Meals in Minutes" that I think you used some recipes from--very good ideas there. Then there are a lot of ingredients that are expensive here (beans), that don't exist here, or that may exist but I have no idea how to look for them in Spanish. So, there are some complications, but I am very grateful for the recipes I have used. I am sure I will keep using them after the mission. Like I said, it is also fun to learn from your companions. 

I should be here for two more transfers (including this one), but with the addition of the new mission... anything could happen. I don't know how many more missionaries there are. I know that before President Agazzani the mission was baptizing 80 or 90 each month, and now we are averaging about 120. Last month was amazing, but it looks like this month will be tough--my whole district didn't even have any investigators in church yesterday (to answer your other question, there are usually about 60 members in our branch every week). But, like I said, we just have to be positive and learn from our past. Life isn't easy, so I can't expect the mission to be either. I hope my time here helps me learn to deal with adversity and stress.

I don´t know if you have been able to tell from before the mission and my letters that sometimes I let myself get really stressed. But the promise of the Atonement is that anyone can have a hope of changing to become like Christ. That's why Mosiah 3:19 and Omni 1:26 have become two of my favorite scriptures. Prayer is powerful, and I know the Lord has a plan for us. Stay within the limits he gives you, and he will always give you the blessings and challenges you need.

Love you!

-Elder Morgan

Training!

Well, I am very excited to be one of the many missionaries (the age change is bringing a flood of new recruits) training a new missionary! His name is Elder Andrew Jessup from Harbor City, California. He is very big but he has the enthusiasm of a little kid. He is a hard worker who wants to be obedient. He speaks the basics of Spanish, but I am helping him a lot with pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary. I am pretty strict about speaking Spanish all of the time, though I do explain things he doesn't know. One of his goals is to learn how to roll his r's. I am taking your advice and trying to serve him every day, even little things like teaching him how to cook or cleaning his shoes. It can be very fun, but it is also a lot of work. I have a lot more respect for parents or anyone else who has to give constant attention to children--I am sure what I am feeling is just a small example of how that is.

I am also very grateful for my trainer, though at the same time, I am trying to do everything I would have like my trainer or other companions to have done to help me. Being a trainer has been pretty emotional. It was exciting going to Asunción to see who else would be training and wanting to see which one in the group I would train. Like I said, it also makes me remember how hard my training was and gives me an immense sense of gratitude for the strength God gave me to make it through and how much I have progressed in this year.

It is also satisfying to see his progress and enthusiasm as we focus on the basics. Today we were setting a lot of goals for the 12 week (two transfers) training period, and one we decided to put was how many baptisms. When he said 5, I acted a little shocked, and so he was going to set a lower goal. He was very happy when I told him I think we can get even more. So our goal is 15! I didn't tell him that is more than I have baptized in my whole mission (yes, I do write it all down in my journal), but it will be good to help him have a high aim. 

I am trying to have faith to baptize more people in spite of the difficulties. I now have a lot of pressure with my two assignments--like worrying about a calling and a family. But it is just another chance to learn and strengthen my testimony. Speaking of baptisms, the mission baptized 185 last month, which is a record (because there were 5 weeks). My district was one of the highest baptizing districts, as it was before I got here. So things are going fairly well, but like I said, there is a lot of pressure.

One of the difficulties is that we still don´t have anyone who is progressing. But I am happy with the progress our branch is having. That was our first correlation meeting in a very long time, and we might have branch council this week! Yes, Ismael is younger than me. Please keep praying for the leaders, for my companion and all he is learning (especially Spanish), and for me to strengthen my faith (may sound odd, but I need it).

Sounds like there are a lot of changes happening (just like this time of year last year), but I am sure you will be able to get through it all. Life never stops changing, like you mentioned. I am sure Daniel will do well.  One thing that might be good for him to bring is a flash drive to store pictures, videos, or things the mission sends him like talks or emails. 

Like I said, the best way I can describe how I feel is gratitude for this chance to train. The Lord blesses us with so much, and we always need to use that to help others. Simple, but true.

Love you!

-Elder Wesley Morgan

Creemos en Cristo*

*Creemos en Cristo: Believe in Christ

One piece of great news--we finally had correlation with our ward mission leader! His name is Ismael, and he is preparing for a mission, so he is fairly inexperienced. But this is a great step towards coordinating our efforts with the members. It's been a tough week to find people, and I have walked a lot! Marcos is one of those who has been tough to find because of his work, and he also has a lot of doubts about the Book of Mormon, like that Indians aren't descendants of Jews. We tried to testify and I lent him a video called "Creemos en Cristo" by Elder Holland that I found at the distribution center. Hope that works. We did find a kid named Enrique, whose sister is a less-active member. He doesn't have too much interest, but we'll see what we can do. She really wants to start coming back to church. Many of our efforts to find and teach people only result in strengthening the members we used to teach them, but I guess that is part of our job. Paola is doing great. Last night we taught her with all the young single adults, who had been watching a movie. That was weird...because they were exactly like me and my friends hanging out before the mission. Sort of felt like another reality. Haha.

One of the people we contacted this week was Amado. He is similar to a lot of people here in South America, who sometimes have a hard time letting things go. The people here often tell us about their same problems or grudges every time we visit them, and he kept telling us about his wife who left him 6 months ago. I tried to tell him that he needs to pray to have the Lord help him forget it and come to church where can also relax from his worries. We also met a young man from Florida working for the Peace Corps. It was nice talking in English...except for the swear words he used. 

One more experience. We were going to go to a city nearby called Campo Nueve. Seeing as our area is HUGE, it is still in our area. There is a store with American food, which many missionaries have visited. I wanted to see that, but I also wanted to find out if there were people there we could teach. But as we were walking (20 minutes) to the bus terminal, I had the feeling I shouldn't go. I had felt that the night before, and I wrestled with it the whole way, thinking about experiences of friends, family, and the scriptures where people had followed the Spirit. Finally, I asked myself, if the Lord wanted me to know that this is a bad idea, how would he make me feel? The truth was, I felt awful, and finally, right when the ticket man was pressuring us to buy our tickets, I told him we would go another day. Still not sure why the Lord didn't want us to go. Like I said, we didn't teach many people that day, but there were a few small things he may have needed us to do. I was waiting to hear on the news that the bus blew up or there was a fire in the city, haha, but divine answers are not always that clear. We just have to trust in God.

It has been cold, and according to thermometers, we have had some days just above freezing. The humidity and the cold means that wet things don't dry at all...and no, the heated water in the font does not work very well. But it sounds like you are all having a tough time there, too. 

Yes, that is probably the only time I will go to the temple until my last day in the mission (unless some of my converts get sealed!). I understand a lot more Guaraní...but still not very much. I do miss some of the patriotism, but it is not something we think about. We did sing the national anthem in the MTC.

And that's all for this week. I will find out the transfers tomorrow. Still hoping I will train, and there has not been any indication so far that that will not happen, but there is still the suspense. One more thing that I have been wanting to say to you, Mom.  These past months I have been thinking a lot about how Sister Bednar and most women who talk to us remind us that every mother thinks her son is an excellent missionary, and we should live up to that. I have seen many missionaries who are disobedient, unfocused, or prideful, and I don't think their mothers know yet. But I do want you to know that you can be proud of me. All I want is to serve the Lord, and I am trying to give all my heart to this work. I love being a part of it, and I will never do anything to bring shame to those I represent. It's not always easy, but it is worth it, and I hope I can always say that I am the kind of missionary my mom thinks I am.

Love,

-Elder Wesley Morgan

Pray for the members!

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

Pictures from Leticia's baptism

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

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

Pictures from the temple visit

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

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

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

-Elder Wesley Morgan

¡In Asunción!

Haha, I hope the title doesn´t make you think I got transferred. We are in the bus terminal in Asunción waiting to go to the temple. I am pretty tired, so please forgive me if something I say isn´t coherent or is very mixed with Spanish (I have a feeling I do that more often than I realize...I also doubt if I will be able to speak English in a year). Last week the internet place was closing so I had to stop writing pretty fast. I don´t know if that was apparent.

Well I have been all over the place as a District leader. Due to this temple trip I have had two district meetings since the last email. It is always a challenge thinking of what will best suit the needs of everyone, because sometimes their needs are opposite--some focus too much on the people and not teaching doctrine, some focus too much on the lessons and not the investigators. But yesterday I did an activity that I thought would help everyone. We wrote lists of what Paraguayans need (peace, direction, etc.), what Gospel principle can help them, and what specific blessings we can promise them. Along with a teaching practice (we always do one or two), I think it really helped.

It is really good to live with the Zone Leaders and my companion. All three of them give me good ideas about how we can help the missionaries. That is one challenge of being a District Leader. As a Zone Leader you share the responsibility and pressure. Not so now. But I also have more freedom as to what I can do.

One miracle this week is a man named Marcos. My companion and Elder Moya found him while I was doing exchanges in another area. When we went back to visit him, he had read 60 pages in the Book of Mormon and remembered all of it! He thinks it´s one of the lost books from the Bible. His two problems are (1) He doesn´t want to pray to ask if it´s true until he finishes it. That is a common doubt, but he might actually do it in a reasonable amount of time. (2) He travels every weekend. So we haven´t seen him since that lesson and it will be tough to get him to church. But if he finds out this church is true, that won´t be a problem.

Leticia, the adopted daughter of the Lopez family will get baptized this week. Bryan seems to be giving in to what his apostate dad´s problems are with the Book of Mormon. We testified and told him that if he comes to church he´ll be able to feel if it´s true or not. And we did get to visit Amós again, who also wants to be baptized. There is a lot of work to be done here, including with the less active members. No country needs Home Teaching more than Paraguay. 

Oh, one more thing I almost forgot. I did the baptismal interview for a lady named Genara this week in the 4th Branch. (I´ve had to use a LOT of Guaraní this week, and I don´t know very much) Afterward, she said she wanted ME to baptize her. That has happened before, and normally I can convince the person to pick one of the missionaries in their branch, but she was pretty insistent. So it was a little odd, but nice to participate in that baptism.

All is well. I love being a missionary. This area is beautiful. The more I learn, the more I see how much I need to improve. That makes me grateful for the Atonement and the Plan of Salvation. Keep reviewing the good things you already know and focusing on the basics. Love you all!

-Elder Wesley Morgan

Come so far, still so far to go

"I put the two brownie batches together and made this cake."

"Elder Leishman and Elder Portillo enjoying the brownie cake"

Well, as you saw from my pictures, I can now admit I hit the year mark. I really have come a long way. That day in the airport no longer seems like just yesterday. I am excited for the next year, though I have no idea what is in store. I also loved the other little package. That Indiana Jones Card made my week.

The other thing that made my week was a small moment. Like I said, I have been trying to have more faith to find miracles and people who are ready to hear us, and it is working! One of those moments was with a man named Amòs. He is an old man who lives a few blocks from the chapel in a small wooden house on a big field. By talking and asking good questions, we found out his children are members of the church and he is unhappy with the leadership in his current church. We briefly taught a bit about how Christ can help us be born again and erase our pasts so we can have hope for the future-basically repentance and baptism. On our way out he said ''I usually keep my door closed. Don't know why I left it open today. I guess God must have told you to come by.'' We work hard, and it is rare that investigators express sincere appreciation for what we do. So that meant a lot to me.

It was also great that everything went well for Paola's baptism. We had to review a couple commandments right before the interview and baptism, but she is willing to do everything, including help us teach. We have a great group of young single adults here. I'll be going to the temple next Tuesday, so the day you get the email next week might be different. Thanks for letting me know about Grandpa.* Not easy to hear, but I will keep everyone in my prayers. I am glad I got write him. And I am thankful for the time I spent with him right before the mission talking about family history. Now he is part of that legacy. And I, like George Albert Smith, have the task of bringing honor to his name.

Unfortunately, like the rest of the world, there are definitely problems sometimes with people getting offended. One of these was an experience yesterday with a member named Pedro. He complained about President Agazzani and several members. This was an interesting experience because first I wanted to get defensive and remind him that he can't let others keep him from his salvation. But then I remembered that Christ is our mediator, he always takes our side. So I tried to do that and express sympathy. I hope you don't mind, but I shared some experiences you've told me about during Dad's sickness and how you commented that the most important thing was keeping your testimony. I think that helped them, and I hope to continue to be able to mend some of the breaches here in Ca'aguazù. 

I am learning a lot of Guaranì, which is fun. I did my first baptismal interview with someone who spoke only Guaranì, but understood most of my Spanish. I kind of just had to nod and get the general idea of what she said. I am also trying to learn to pray in Guaranì.

Little things you might be interested in. Preach My Gospel in the small Spanish version is now available down here, so just about everyone has one now. I also bought new belts (the other ones were getting old) and boots (the ones from missionary mall were very uncomfortable) for very cheap. Also, I have had to learn a lot about clothing care. I knew how to sew and how to polish shoes, but washing clothes was pretty new. That first week I had to wash the garments by hand. And I learned that when pants say Dry Clean Only, it's the truth. I probably should have bought and used more washable dress slacks. Live and learn. 

One other challenge I am having is learning the area. It is big, and I am a visual learner. In Amambay, where we had maps and street names, I had the area memorized quickly. But it seems I am slower than most missionaries in learning an area just by walking and remembering. That is okay, again, it is an opportunity to learn. It is just a little thing, and in everything that is important, I am doing well. Being a district leader is a lot of responsibility, but I have a great district (you can tell by the number of baptismal interviews I mention). I decided to try looking for scriptures to cross-reference to phrases and topics in my Patriarchal Blessing. That is a great activity (though it can take a long time) that I recommend to anyone. It has helped me understand my role in serving others and how many scriptures applied specifically to ME.

Only one missionary from my group, Elder Smith, went to the other mission, as far as I know. The rest are still here with me.

Love,

Elder Wesley Morgan

*Our Grandpa Morgan died on June 9th.  :(

Conference with Richard J. Maynes

I just sent an email to Grandpa. I hope he is doing well. I feel bad for not writing him more often. He has always been a great example.

The best part of this week was traveling to Asunción for an incredible conference Elder Maynes, from the Presidency of the 70. We did it in Moroni, the chapel next to the temple, which I got to see for the first time (our trip there is in two weeks). It is always great to see my friends from the mission, including those from the north mission. Elder Maynes served in the Paraguay-Uruguay mission, so he started off with a few words in Guaraní that he said he has been waiting 40 years to say. He was a great speaker and shared some incredible things that are changing the way we teach. He talked about using the Book of Mormon more and expressing love for the people right away. In Paraguay, people often refer to each other as ¨Hermano¨, so we often skip the part of ¨How to Begin teaching¨ that explains that we are all children of God. But I am trying to do that more with Romans 8:16-17. He also talked about teaching clearly when inviting people to repent so we can find those who are really interested. He told us to stop wasting time trying to convince people to be interested, something I have done many times. So that is something else I am trying to improve. It is a little frustrating, because I am realizing how many people her don't want to change. But scriptures like D&C 42:6-8, 123:12 help me not get discouraged and have faith to find those the Lord has prepared.

And an answer to that prayer---Paola. She is a friend of the young single adults in the ward who has attended church activities for years, but never church itself. She knows it's all true but has always been afraid of something. Missionaries have been trying to get her baptized for a looong time, but she does not like to feel pressured. With the baptism in our branch on Saturday, she decided to come to church. We had taught her the day before and invited her to read and pray. She hadn't prayed yet, but we talked about how she liked what she had read (3 Nephi 11) and how she felt at church. My companion had the insight to help her recognize her feelings at church as an answer, and after listening and asking questions I pretty much said, Paola (it's important to put the stress on the O...she likes that we are the first missionaries to pronounce her name right, haha), you know it's all true, and we are not going to pressure you, when do YOU want to get baptized? And, what do you know, we have a baptism this Saturday!!

She is a friend of Laura Lopez, who has a 12-year-old sister that her family is trying to adopt. That will probably be a baptism for the week after. Miracles all around! The other person we are teaching often is Brian Naumann, whose dad speaks English and is a less-active, anti-Book of Mormon member. We have had some interesting lessons with him. I´ll try to share more another week. The branch president's wife is awesome and offered to wash our garments. We found a laundromat that will wash the rest for very cheap, which is great. Just a lot of work to haul it there, but I am happy with what we found. 

So, we are working hard with the people we have and always trying to find new people. I enjoy being district leader and being able to focus more on the individual missionaries. I did 5 baptismal interviews this weekend, which was great. I am not sure how big this city is, you'll have to google that. The downtown part is fairly small, and that is where the sister missionaries work. Our area is huge, but we work in the part within a mile or two of the chapel, where there are more houses.

My companion is great to work with. He is new, so he is willing to try anything. His name is John, but everyone calls him by his middle name, Crosby (like Bing Crosby). Crosby Pacheco--how cool is that name? Before the mission he liked salsa dancing, football, and video games. Oh, when we were in Asunción we found a place that makes Seviche. He LOVED that, and I got to try a bit. Very good. I like living with four. We cook together, usually the missionary norms of rice or pasta with eggs, meat or other sauces. Love the suit, thanks for everything!

Love and prayers,

-Elder Wesley Morgan