Milk toast

This week was a week of work and then some, and Sunday was a very good time. I worked my tail off looking for investigators with a member where I had the opportunity to be rejected, that was fun. Then I missed a bus, even more fun, then I got to church late, even more fun, and didn't get to take the sacrament, even more so. But I decided to go to the other wards sacrament meeting, and I got there early so I sat down and prayed and meditated for quite some time. And I will never forget how powerful that moment was for me when I partook the bread and water. The feeling that overcame me was indescribable and powerful. I felt the holiness of the Lord overcome me and the humility of the Savoir, likewise I felt the peace and joy that comes with sanctification through the Holy Ghost.

I am very pumped for the weeks to come, I hope and expect to have more success, we got turned down a lot this week. In our mission we invite many people to baptism, generally on the first time we meet them, it is the number one reason we are very successful, and here in Matagalpa many people accept it but a very small percentage complete with it. It can be very frustrating because these people are so non committal, but at the same time they are so sweet and kind that you can't really be mad at them. But for reals though sometimes I wish they would be more direct and mean about it, they have like 10 million ways of saying no without saying no.

Since Nicaragua is the 2nd hottest place in the universe, behind the sun, we will not be having snow for Christmas. So, our mission president is still calling it a white Christmas because we want to baptize a bunch of people dressed in white!!

I seriously love helping people get baptized, I have yet to see a sad person as they come out of the water! They are always smiling and very very happy! And in order for the whole world to feel that joy, all of you Mormons out there had better #lighttheworld Those videos are powerful!!

Love you all so much Love Elder Morrison

I love Matagalpa

Well this was quite the week of a lot of work!! I really enjoy life here in Matagalpa, it is cooler here, my companion is from the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean and was freaking out because he could see his breath! Haha I was dying. We had to get out early in order to bring investigators to church, so at 5 o' clock in the morning we were already out and about with members trying to get our investigators to church!

We are teaching a lot of people and preparing a lot of people for the month of December! And we are super motivated and pumped to see many miracles in our lives and more importantly in the lives of those we serve! I have been talking with Elder Ward a lot here and we are both so sad to be on the downhill part of our missions, 7 and a half months are going to fly by! Seems like just yesterday I was up here in Matagalpa on my first night in the mission flying up these mountains trying to (and unsuccessfully) not fall on the little goat trails between the houses here!

We have been teaching one family in particular that are really awesome! We are hoping they can pull through and we can be blessed with the opportunity to baptize them. Shout out to Lynda Spencer, the mother of this family is really blessed because she has 3 teenage boys! They are a really neat family and have strong desires to be united and blessed by God.

Being in the North of Nicaragua where I was for the first 9 months of my mission, I forget how kind the people are, and how flaky too!! It is really frustrating sometimes but I had a cool experience this Sunday. I was mad because every body bailed on us and so I said a little prayer of desperation asking for guidance and then I looked out and a rainbow was coming down on a neighborhood in our area and I felt that that is where I should focus my work on, so now we got a couple of people getting ready to be baptized that live there!!

Love you all Love Elder Morrison

Matagalpshkies

Hey everyone, I hope you all are enjoying your lives. Just know that it may not be as good as mine!! Yes it was a tough and challenging week and we have many things to do and improve, but that is awesome because I love improvement so much!

My new comp is very charismatic and it adds up to a lot of success. Couple that with Matagalpa and we are going to do some special things here!! I seriously love this place. As a companionship we put over 25 baptismal dates this week and found almost 70 new investigators!! Which is pretty cool, and the ward here is strong and so willing to help. I hardly even have to ask for their help and they are offering it!! I know that it will not always be sunshine and roses here, and some days will be hard but that is fine, I am prepared for it!!

In this ward there are 2 companionships, the other Zone Leader Elder Ward, and we are trying to break the mission record together of 24 baptisms, a record that was set here in Matagalpa in this very area. We will see which of the 2 companionships can do it!!

I love you all so much and I hope you have a great week!!
Love Elder Morrison

Lengthen your stride

I realized how incredibly true the phrase "Whom the Lord calls, He qualifies" is, and it is quite impressive. For example, my situation here in Matagalpa. So far  on my mission I have been able to be a part of...

1. Reopening an area- did that in Jalapa and again in Ocotal.
2. Helping a fallen Zone- did that in Leon.
3. Bringing Matagalpa back up to its potential- I saw that potential when I started out here, I know now what needs to be done to help this place rise up again.
4. Establish the Church in Matagalpa- this is done by unity with church leaders, something that I was taught a lot about in Leon. Currently the church attendance is less that 400 in the whole entire stake. I know by my experience in Jalapa how to help the small branches.
5. Work with a Dominican comp- Dominicans, in my experience, have been hard to get along with, but when you learn to get along with them and understand them, they are the coolest people, super dedicated. My new comp is Elder Jimenez, he is a really good missionary and I am pumped to work with him!!

There were a lot of changes today, Elder Ward, my old ZL in Ocotal, is my fellow ZL here. Although we are not in a companionship together, he is with Elder Davis and I am with Elder Jimenez!!

Likewise I killed Elder Reinoso this week, in two days he will be on the beaches of the carribean in The Dominican Republic, dancing La Bachata, which is a really awesome type of dance and music from the DR. We baptized a lady this week, she is super humble and sweet, Elder Reinoso had been working with her for a long time and finally she got dunked!! Such a cool experience.

Other than that I just got to roll up the sleeves and put on a smile and work my tail off!!

Love you all so much,
Exitos esta semana,
Elder Morrison

Started from the bottom, now we're here

Well on October 24th 2016, I left Matagalpa on a bus to Jalapa. 1 year later, after 5 companions, two sons (missionaries I have trained), a handful of converts and a bunch of wonderful miracles, memories and friends later, I have come back.

I left Matagalpa last year after a week where we baptized 15 as a zone, this week the zone baptized 2. When I was here the first time I was a brand new missionary that could hardly speak Spanish, now I am fluent. Back then I was trying to learn all I could from my leaders, now I am the one trying to act like I know what I am doing!! Truth be told, I am still trying to fake it till I make it. But I am just as pumped to be here as day one Elder Morrison!

It makes me realize the miracle of the mission. That the more I lose myself trying to help others, the more I find myself and progress. I have realized 2 very encouraging things!! 1) I have grown a lot 2) I have yet much more room to grow!!

There have been times on my mission when I come home and kneel down and I have just had tears coming out before I choke out the first words of my prayer. Times when they have been tears of pain and anguish, or joy and consolation, or any number of reasons.

This week I have ran into many of my old friends!! And when I see the less active youth I drug around with me, now sending in his mission papers, or seeing a convert of mine who has recieved the Melchezidek priesthood, I am overjoyed and I know that all my efforts in trying to pay back my Lord have been worth it. But I will never be able to pay back my Savoir. I am grateful to be the unprofitable servant.

Unprofitable because I know I can never repay back the debt that was paid by my Savoir in a Garden called Gethsemane and a hill called Golgotha. His sacrifice was an infinite and eternal sacrifice, because he considered me worthy of his blood, and likewise all of us worthy.

I heard a quote the otherday that I loved, "The best decision I have ever made was sacrifice something I loved dearly to the God I love more, he has never forgotten me for it" I testify of these words, God has not forgotten me because I have sacrificed much, although very little to what he has sacrificed!

I love you all, and I hope that you have find success this week!!

Love Elder Morrison