Miracles in Jalapa

November 28, 2016

Hey Everyone,

Not to worry because Jalapa is way up in the north tucked beautifully in the mountains we weren't touched by the hurricane. All is well. AND I AM SO HAPPY THE BEAVERS WON, I let out a shout and jumped and all the people here in the server looked at me weird.

We are super happy we have been working our tails off and the Lord has blessed us with more success. It is never easy but it is worth it. Our investigator that was super positive and ready to be baptized all he needed was to abandon coffee and he had already cut it down to only one cup a day fell through and fell through big time. But we have a mom and her daughter that we think are sure baptisms for this Sunday but we will see what goes down.

We found her a month ago and she was a wreck to say the least. She was cohabiting with an inactive member, and that relationship went south to alcohol, and she has changed a ton!! It is so amazing to see the Atonement work in someone like her. Anyway we were teaching her and there was a knock at the door, it was her former beau and member. He was slightly drunk, when he saw us he started crying, he said that he decided that night to quit drinking and now we are working with him and helping him and her repair their relationship, and what not.

We had 25 in sacrament meeting we almost need a new place to meet the old place is too small. Miracles!!

I am super pumped, like super pumped. I am super happy it was a crazy week with a lot of miracles and great stuff. I love this place, I don't want to leave. I mean I do but little by little I just fall in love with Nicaragua and the people, I know this is where I need to be. Yes it sucks sometimes but no change with no challenge. Coach Stanley always yelled if it does not challenge you it will not change you!!

SOOOO true. For this I try to meet every challenge with a force. So if the Lord thinks i am ready for something, so be it, I will do it with all my heart might mind and strength.

The members are changing, they are wanting to help us to go out on splits, give us references, two of them are asking that we get someone that can give them discipline so they can progress and repent. It is amazing this work and I am humbled to be apart of it

Love you all hope you are doing great. Sorry for the short letter this week, Elder Morrison

Thankful Thanksgiving

November 21, 2016

Buenos!

This week was a bear not gonna lie, it was a rough one, the adversary is going to great and subtle lengths to stop us in the work, but daggumit I wont let that stop me from overcoming!! We worked our tails off and a lot of things were tossed at us, and the investigators and members.

For example, we are teaching a family and they are soooo awesome. Like super awesome, but they have a weird situation that is going to take a while for us to fix in order for them to marry. Like this Sunday as they were getting ready for church their neighbor got mad and punched him in the face so they couldn't come to church because he got licked pretty good, it was sad to see, but so amazing to listen to him say that this is not going to keep him down!! I love him and his family so much they are all just super amazing humble wonderful people.

Like I said many situations and obstacles put in our path this week, some we hurdled and overcame, others there was nothing we could do but watch and pray. I personally am trying to focus on 5 things especially when stuff hits the fan and everything was sucking.

1. Obedience, our motto as a mission is Obedience Brings Blessings, but Exact Obedience brings miracles, to this I testify to be true

2. Diligence, or Work Ethic or Effort. It applies in school, sports and missionary work and all other aspects of life. Nothing worth doing is easy, but soooo worth it, to see someone change by the Atonement makes all the sweat and bug bites and blisters worth it, and then some!

3. Attitude, we can choose to be happy and positive or not, it is up to us

4. Love, service service service, love is an amazing thing that can touch hearts faster than any other thing

5. Testimony and Knowledge, learn by the spirit and by the scriptures and always have your lamps filled with oil (see Matthew 25). One of my favorite times of the day is personal scripture study. There is a power in the words of God, the Bible and the Book of Mormon.

Love you all hope you are all doing well.

Love,

Elder Logan Morrison

Here is some of the advice Logan gave his sisters this week:

Apply the Atonement and there is nothing you cant do in this world.

Remember the prettiest smiles are the pure and genuine ones. I have never seen prettier smiles than the ones here in Nicaragua, even from people that are missing more teeth than they have. You smile with the light in your eyes.

Read the Book of Mormon and pray daily, and learn to love people and work hard. Learn to repent and change, repentance is a gift and we must use it everyday!!

Baptisms and Rivers

November 15, 2016

This week I learned a lot. Ether 12:6 says, ";no witness til after the trial of your faith;" This week kind of sucked at the beginning because we had next to no time to work. Monday is Pday and we only had 3 hours to proselyte, same with Tuesday because of the district meeting and we have to take a 3 hour bus ride one way every Tuesday. Wednesday was a full day, then Thursday we woke up at two in the morning to go to Managua to go to a conference for all the trainers and trainees, luckily my last one as a trainee. We didn't get back til 10 that night. I stayed in a neighboring city to go on splits with the ZL. and Torres went up with the other ZL to check on the progress of the area.

I came into the area on Saturday and quite frankly all had gone to heck, one of our most positive family's of like 6 people with baptismal dates decided to poop out. Torres kinda was freaking out. I came in and I was mad, because the members also were saying they didn't want to go to church. I had to bring out my machete,  D&C 121 reproving betimes with sharpness.... then showing an increase of love. Torres, bless his heart, is super nice so he gets walked over sometimes.

So Saturday I flew around Jalapa like a mad man on a mission. Sunday morning I was feeling sick and tired because I was running on less than 10 hours of sleep on 3 days. I was beat.

Sitting in the room that we call the church 5 minutes before the meeting we had 5 people. The ZL was there because we were supposed to have a baptism and I was not well to say the least. 

Then the heavens opened. 22 other souls came pouring into church, all happy and ready and all participated and it was awesome!! Then after we had the baptism, which was another cluster. It is a single mom with her two sons. Someone left their baptismal clothes in the taxi and one of the kids ran away for his home before the baptism, but once again the Lord provided and we baptized the two!! Easily the best day on the mission thus far.

We are seeing miracles because of obedience and diligence. We hope to baptize two maybe three this week too!!

Stay Sweet Everyone, I love you all, Elder Morrison

November 7

November 7, 2016

This week we progressed a lot.

Again 17 to church but considering it was election day that was a huge success.

We have a baptism lined up for this weekend with a family of 6 but only 3 are old enough to baptize, the mother is single and super awesome, I am super happy we found them they have been soaking up our lessons and are repenting and it is awesome. I got to give her baby a name and a blessing this Sunday, it was a super cool experience.

We have been picking up a ton of investigators which is nice, Elder Torres doesn't like me when I get restless and bored because we have to contact, because knocking doors is very inefficient and not effective. Working with members is by far the most successful and funnest way to teach people, everyone involved, the investigator, the member and the missionaries are blessed and learn when we work with the members.

Elder Torres is a little weird, he talks to himself but not in any language, he weighs 93 pounds. But he is cool and he is adapting to me and I to him and though we are super different from each other we can teach super dynamic and awesome lessons together.

But it is so sweet here in Jalapa, the weather is heaven, a lot like Oregon in July. We have had so many cool experiences, we have ran into people who have been affiliated with or members of the church for years but when they moved to Jalapa they lost it, but randomly we have been finding them. Hard work and Obedience and the Lord takes care of the rest.

I am starting to love living in a third world country, everything is a challenge and an adventure, like walking to a mountain village and having to catch Elder Torrito (meaning small Torres) because he is afraid of the group of bulls in the path or the pack of stray dogs, he hates animals. Everything is harder but more enjoyable if you have the right mindset.

Love you all, hope everyone is doing well, sorry not much time this week to write.

Elder Morrison