House Shopping

First and foremost--the investigators. Of the miracle Melgarejo family, on the 12-year-old twins Analía and Anayeli came to church, and they had to leave early. But they really liked the Young Women´s classes. But we had a great lesson with the family the night before. They had asked about why only we have the authority to baptize and who the Nephites are. Reading 3 Nephi 11 was a great way to answer both questions. They are still getting ready to be baptized on the 26th, as is Delfina, who we are also teaching with the Sostoa family. She is the oldest son´s girlfriend, and they just moved to Ca´acupe. She seemed really quiet in the lesson, but she also loved church. She is pregnant with her second child, so I think she really likes the emphasis on families.

Then the story continues with Emilio. We devised a plan to have him come teaching with us. He got to see how much work it is to find people to teach, and we intentionally visited a lot of less-active families who asked him "Why aren´t you a member yet?!" Some of them are people with testimonies who just don´t want to keep the commandments, which we are trying to use to show him that he just needs to act on what he knows is true. He loves practicing English, though he is fairly slow at learning. Yesterday when we were talking about what he would need to be baptized, and he said he needs to learn more, I said "YOU KNOW EVERYTHING!" That he understood, haha. He´s really fun to have around, but we are just praying so hard that he will get his answer from the Lord and make up his mind to get baptized, maybe even this Saturday.

Not much else to talk about. We did do the Zone training, which was interesting to be doing again. I feel like everything we did helped the missionaries, but we could have explained to the District leaders a bit more of what their role was (they spent a lot of time talking when we wanted more demonstrations and practices). But overall, I enjoyed it.

It will be easier when the Zone splits next transfer, which is now official. President visited a few branches to approve some new houses. We are going to be receiving new missionaries in three of the branches, including ours. So we have to dedicate a lot of time to house shopping. Luckily, we found a great one nearby, which might even be big enough for the four of us. Besides finding a house for the new Elders that will come, we need to move out because there is a single lady living in the beauty salon downstairs. So please pray for us to be able to do that.

There are 13 Zones in the mission, with two or three districts in each. I heard Corbin is a ZL over 40 missionaries which is insane. Here 8 missionaries in a district is the maximum, with no more than 3 districts in a zone. And it is sad to hear what happened in Truman´s mission. I´ll have to write to him and see how everyone is handling it.

As far as your talk goes, I think the best thing I could say is that missionary work is truly guided by the Lord. He will never abandon us if we believe in him. That guidance only comes through preparation and participation. Like Elder Maynes said, you can´t learn how to play basketball by watching the NBA. You have to go out and do it! It´s the same with missionary work. I have learned most everything by making mistakes and trusting in God to help me improve. The other day we had a meeting with our district leaders. They were letting us know what challenges they are facing, and I found the counsel to help them just coming out of my mouth naturally. When we are focused on helping others, not our own desires, the Lord can work through us, and it is the same for every member or missionary who wants to participate.

Well, I wish you luck with your great new temple calling, along with Tony & Jed in their new jobs, Danny with his grad school applications, and Brittany, Heather and Daniel. Thanks for keeping me posted, even with the sad things. I´ve heard that something is happening in Syria...is that important for me to know about? In any case, I hope all is well. Love you all!

-Elder Wesley Morgan