MATAGALPA, I'M BACK!!!

Well of all the weeks I have had on the mission, this week stands alone!! Friday night Elder Rush and I are planning two baptismal services and after that I fell asleep. Elder Rush wakes me up and hands me the phone saying its my mission president and he wants to talk to me. So I am all disoriented and Presidente Poncio proceeds to tell me that I AM GETTING EMERGENCY TRANSFERRED!!

He told me the zone leaders in another zone fought! (it happens) and their zone was doing terribly, and that I was being sent to diffuse the situation and raise up the zone again!!!

SO I AM WRITING FROM MATAGALPA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I AM IN MY OLD AREA WHERE I STARTED MY MISSION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE THIS PLACE!!!!!!!!!

And oh buddy I have some work to do!! This place is a shadow to what it was a year ago!! 

So Sunday I hop on a bus heading for Matagalpa from Leon, and 3 hours later I roll into Matagalpa. I wait for a while for my new comp to come get me and... nothing. So then I think WHY wait. I remembered where the house was so I hop in a taxi and go there. After talking to old friends, some members, where they tell what has been going on, shows up a missionary and a young man, Julito. Julito is a youth I activated and like one of my best friends!! And he sends in his mission papers in 2 weeks!!!! He gave me a big ole bear hug!! I love that guy. Seing your converts defend truth and participate in church is awesome!! I had the blessing to be passed the sacrament from a convert of mine, that was blessed by a convert of mine, and have 1 convert pray for the sacrament meeting, and another give a talk!! ALL in one Sunday!!

As for Leon, we baptized and confirmed two really sweet converts, Benigna who is 75 years old and Selenia, whose cousins are converts of mine! I am gonna miss Leon, definitely enjoyed my time there. 

Literally when I entered in to Matagalpa I cried a little bit, I was so happy.

Love you all, my new comp is Elder Reinoso who dies (goes home from his mission) in a 2 weeks, he is a Dominican (KLK).

Love,

Elder Morrison

Another week

Well, another week at the grindstone, and all week was just Work Work Work Work Work. That is about life now.

Unfortunately we were unable to baptize this week. So ya know, anywhere else that might be fine but here it means you need to repent... haha. I love this country for that.

BUT we have hope for a better day, a better week, and a better eternity. It helps keeping things in their rightful order and perspective!!

Lately I don't know if y'all remember about a young sick boy named Paulino, well turns out the young man, his mom and one of his sisters are members!! Likewise, his younger brother, his brother in law and his other sister want to get baptized!! So cool right?! They are so elect. We are working with him and his family. And truthfully I realize our work is the small part. I realize that Christ has already shouldered their load, and mine.

I do not know everything...  yet, I hope to someday. It won't be in this life, but it will come. I do know the Church is true, its power is that of God. I learned a beautiful little nugget the other day, in Revelations John wrote of a light, a candle, and a candle stick. The Light is Christ and the candlestick which holds up his light is the Church. The Church is not made of of walls and buildings but of the Saints of God. We are the bearers of Gods eternal and hopeful light. Such bearing of light is done through our testimony of Him, our Lord and Savoir, our King and Our Friend Jesus the Christ.

Love ya all!!
Love Elder Morrison

Mes De Milagros

This was such a normal week I can't even begin to tell y'all about how normal it was. It wasn't bad. It was so good because every week here is a good week and every day in the mission field can be a successful day because we all have been given agency. Salvation is a choice, and exaltation too. Likewise our success as missionaries is based on our decisions and our dedication to the Lord and His work. It doesn't matter if we are rejected or if a baptismal date falls through, if I can say that I gave it my all then I can say I am a success. Now that can be used as an excuse too, and excuses are the worst. To me if a baptism falls through for the same reason twice and I didn't try to correct my error, then I have failed. The first time I do not fail if it was a simple human mistake, but if I do it twice then it is a mistake and I have failed because I wasn't dedicated enough to try to correct my mistake.

For example on my guy Jose, we tried so hard with him and worked and worked and worked. Finally we got him up to two days before the baptism and our District leader came to interview him but he just wasn't there. Turns out he was talking to his old Pastor. He still receives us but doesn't want to repent or be baptized.

Or another time this week we went to baptize a girl. One time we showed up for her interview and her father kept her all day, and her mom was livid because he didn't bring her home (her parents are separated) until several days later. So she was not able to be baptized this week too. What a bummer!

But this next is a new week, new people to meet, lessons to teach, and even people to baptize!! I love this country, the people are so receptive and kind and the Lord is blessing us and His servants with the right amount of opposition, heartache and triumphs to allow us to keep growing!

I love my Father in Heaven, before in my life I never really thought of Him as much, but I love Him, and am so grateful for Him and His infinite wisdom, love and power. He knows who I am and what I need, and He is blessing me richly here serving His children, my siblings, here in Nicaragua!

Love you all,

Love Elder Morrison

Are you junking me??

Yeah so conference came, that was neat. AND I BROKE MY PR FOR INVESTIGATORS IN CHURCH, we got 15 baby!! It was so fun, we have been working so hard with so many awesome people and it is so nice to seem them progress little by little unto baptism!!

Perhaps the most impactful thing I heard this week was on prayer: Someone once asked President Eyring how to make their prayers like they were talking to a friend, and he said that it shouldn't be like if we were talking to a friend, we are talking to GOD. It is a privilege to pray and we should do so with much respect. Then he told of how Elder Neal A Maxwell would pray. Neal A Maxwell would go into a dark room, dressed fully in church clothes, kneel down without supporting himself on a chair or anything and would wait until he felt worthy to approach God in prayer.

So I have been doing it too, and wow I have been impressed by the results. The reality that God is my Father and He is listening to my prayers is becoming so apparent. Truth be told most nights I fall asleep when praying because I am so tired, but I won't anymore. Likewise, I have found that my prayers aren't necessarily longer or more detailed, but they are more sacred. God listens to my prayer and strengthens me through my humble supplications. I feel more connected to Him.

We should baptize the cousin of our recent converts Naydlin, Marlon and Marjlings, their cousin Selenia. And in a couple of weeks their other cousin. And a couple of people here and there, we just work like horses everyday and my kidneys ache from the work.

Really the kidney thing might be from the heat and literally everybody and their dog here has problems with their kidneys. One of our recent converts kids has 1 and a half kidneys and he is 7. 

Our Foster Child Elder Deere will be adopted to a permanent home, so proud of him, he will do special things in his life as a missionary! He is a super cool guy and we worked him like a horse, and every night we would hang out on our hammocks till midnight or til we fell asleep. It was a junking good time. And tomorrow we are going to the capitol for leaders council where Elder Deere will meet his new father Elder Chinchilla who is the man, he was in Zona Ocotal when I was there. I am pretty pumped for Council because we are always spiritually fed de viaje and we get to hang out with the coolest missionaries in the mission because, shocker, the coolest missionaries are the most obedient and hardest working and therefore leaders!! 

This week Elder Deere and us got to work in his area 4 hours in and yet still his weekly numbers were literally better than missionaries that work ALL WEEK in their area. Why is that? CONSECRATION that's why!! Hermana Poncio told us that 2 consecrated missionaries get done more than 100 regular ones, and that is so true!!

Love you all Love Elder Morrison