6 Months?!?

Hey Everyone!!

Yep so the third I complete 6 months out on my mission. It went by super fast but seems soooo long ago that I entered the MTC. So many cool things have happened since then. So many amazing miracles, people and places, sicknesses and blisters haha, in grown toenails, all things have been a trial and a lesson. I truly do understand what they mean that the true convert on the mission is yourself, I find myself in the same place a the Nephites in Helaman 3:35, finding joy in surrendering yourself to the Lord. 

As for this week, another week of traveling but Wednesday I hit a big step! I received my ID card for Nicaragua! YA SOY NICA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Haha, I love this place, it's so amazing. The people are so humble and kind. They are teaching me more than I could ever teach them. 

I have been trying recently to learn how to find joy in trials. Yes, after the trial many of us are grateful for what we have learned and what we experienced, but I wanted to learn how to enjoy the time during the trials. I was thinking of this as I was walking with multiple quarter sized blisters on each foot, with foot fungus (I know, tmi), and a disgusting ingrown toenail, and all were competing to see which could drive me the craziest. Don't worry mom, I killed the fungus, the blisters are healing and the ingrown toenail I ripped it out without cussing and passing out...

Anyways, that is what I was thinking about, because sometimes the mission isn't all that rosy. People are still people, the gospel still has opposition here, and people don't like me for no reason other than the fact that I am Mormon and I want to help them change their lives and achieve eternal salvation, heaven forbid I invite them to pray!! haha, that is so frustrating... I don't like apostasy.

Either way I still love it and am grateful for it. I had a dream that I was sent home at nine months and I was so sad. It seemed so real, but then I woke up to two dogs fighting in the street and all was well!!!

Love you all, I am working hard as always! Hopefully we can help this one dude quit coffee and get in the water this weekend!

Love Elder Morrison 

Ocotal!!

Hey everyone!!

I am super pumped this week, I mean I still have to travel a ton this week like last week, like over 20 hours on a bus but I have gotten used to sitting on hot uncomfortable buses.

Yeah being a DL...I enjoy it and I have a really sweet district. They are all hard workers so they make my life easy. I don't know what I would do about disobedience but luckily I don't have to worry about that, they gave us a super good Zone.

As for the new area I love it! We actually have members that I can visit and that can help me. Which is a nice change, in Matagalpa we worked a lot with the members and that is why we baptized 8 people!! As for the new opening a new area thing, it has been rough in Nicaragua with the "addresses" sucking. A really good direction is "from Pali go straight 5 or 6 blocks, turn west for 3 blocks and it is a red house" but most are like "from there turn right then take left and about 25 meters later it will be there" so it really was difficult, but because I am almost a Nica now, and the Lord really helped us, we found a lot of the people and found a lot more really cool people to teach.

We also baptized a 18 year old kid, he is super cool. Already he wants to serve a mission so I am going to try and help him by having him help us find more people to teach and baptize. It was super cool though, he moved in with his cousin, aunt and uncle and they happened to be the most faithful members in all of Ocotal, and he was super prepared and ready, so the other missionaries set me up well so that I could baptize him with my brand new baby boy Elder Aybar.

Elder Aybar is super cool!! He is 6 foot 4 and Dominican and a super humble guy and a hard worker. He is going to be a good missionary!! I am super pumped to be his comp. And because he is like at least 18 inches taller than all Nicas, we won't have any problems with anyone!!

Love ya all Elder Morrison

January 16

Hey Everyone,

So changes came and they kept me in the same district, but they asked me to be a District Leader and to open a new area in Ocotal and train a new missionary. I am super pumped for this opportunity to serve here in Ocotal. The people here are super kind and humble. It was a huge blessing to stay in the same district because I can check on my recent converts and investigators, which is very exciting. I was very sad to leave Jalapa, I learned so much there and had so many amazing experiences. 

As for this week, like normal with a lot of traveling and whatnot. Not a ton of time to work because we had a lot of meetings and more to come this week but all in all I am very excited and very pumped for these upcoming weeks. I know we will have success here and we will be able to establish a branch here.

I know trials always have been and always will be a blessing for us. Many of you know the incident that my father had this week, please keep my family in your prayers. It's funny, I prayed for more trials many times this last week and the Lord has blessed me with them. I am very grateful for them. I am grateful for eternal families and for the temple. I understand many nonmembers read these letters, I invite you to ask a member, my mom or someone, or a missionary, how your family can be eternal, and how even death can not take away your joy that is to be found in your family and joy and peace in your own personal being. 

I know repentance is a gift, I invite all to try the sweet fruit of repentance. Elder Christofferson of The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said something in the MTC that will stay with me forever, "The Message of Repentance is that There is a Savior"

Love you all, don't worry about me, I have been born to goodly and very stubborn hard working parents! I pray to follow suit.

Love Elder Morrison

Bringing in 2017

Sorry for the day late letter,

I realize that in some missions (Elder Shurtleff, soon to be Elder Spencer and Elder Jacobosen) the places they serve in are relatively secure, you know, developed and what not. They have luxuries like cars, parasite free water, carpet, members, flushing toilets, secure lizard and mouse and cockroach free houses, and one small detail... ELECTRICITY. Literally all of the COUNTRY lost power for almost 2 whole days. Haha, yeah the life of a Missionary in Nicaragua, truth be told I LOVE IT! I wouldn't want to have it any other way.

As for the house, last Tuesday after district meeting, and the usual 3 hour bus ride, we came into the house to find a friend, an 18 inch Lizard!! It was huge and it was fast!! But we caught it in some towels after some shenanigans. And not just any lizard, there are a ton of small ones and those are my friends, no this one was one of those Jesus Lizards that can run on water (because they are so fast and have huge feet). It was a little freaky not gonna lie, because it was ON MY BED!! And we are fighting mice in the house: kill one, 5 more takes its place...

As for the work, after a couple of weeks of hard working with little success, the heavens opened and we are finding person after person, and they are good high caliber investigators! The type you can baptize and build a branch out of!! Elder Carlisle is super pumped as am I!! But now I told him the real work begins, keeping and helping investigators progress. But I am super pumped and super motivated to get on the baptizing train again. I am putting dates out further so I can ensure they are truly converted, in an attempt to boost retention for many fall away weeks and even days after baptism. I believe I am gonna stay awhile here in Jalapa, which I will not complain about, I love it up here!

As for me, the war in my stomach is settled down some, although I am a little fat... sadly, but that will come off in time, all else fails I will drink from a ditch and then I will be really skinny in a couple weeks, perhaps even days!! haha.

Anyways, 'tis all,

Love you all, you're in my prayers, 

Stay Sweet Elder Morrison

Happy New Year

Hey Everyone!!

Hope you all enjoyed New Years Festivities, I kinda didn't. Haha, These Latinos love New Years Eve, parties on every block and drunk people everywhere. Which can be funny to watch, or crappy because they are hostile sometimes. We had a group of drunk teenagers follow us throwing fireworks at our feet, but like the baller missionaries Elder Carlisle and I are, we didn't flinch, jump or look at them, we just kept on walking. Haha, it was awful, my ears are still ringing from the explosions. 

But we had a good week and saw some awesome things and found some awesome people. Little by little this area is turning into a good area and we are working our tails off to keep it that way.

As for me I am getting fat, kinda sucks. I am getting a rice belly, because that is literally 85 percent of what we eat here. That is not a bad thing, I don't mind it, it just sticks to my belly and I feel fat and out of shape, even though we did the math and Elder Carlisle and I walk about a 10 minute mile. Our Area is HUGE. Jalapa is actually pretty big. But still for workouts I started doing sprints, I was so sore the next day from only a few sprints. It was pathetic.

It is also soooo gorgeous up here. The biggest temptation I have had is that in one of our areas there is a trail that leads up to a waterfall and a gorgeous mountain area evidently, and I wanted to go sooooo bad. Maybe next P Day. 

Hey Mom, I hope you actually are doing well, I don't always trust what you tell me, because I know you and I know how stubborn and tough you are. Something I have inherited for sure. Sometimes I doubt how tough I am, and then I listen to others and what they think is hard or what small petty things they have gone through. I am grateful for the challenges, problems and lessons I have learned in my life. Those trials are now blessings to me. Because of them I have been forced to be more converted to the gospel. I still got a long road to go to be completely converted, but little by little I am growing more and developing a stronger and more pure faith.

The gift of tongues is real, Elder Torres told me I have almost Latino Spanish. 

As for me, I am happy and enjoying it up here the weather is perfect, sunny and 75 with a light breeze. I don't want to leave.

Love you all. Stay Sweet.

Elder Morrison