Maldito March

Well the title sums it up, March is cursed for me. I have never been able to help someone get baptized in the two months of March on my mission. It has become my least favorite month, but April last year was fantastic so I am pumped to tackle this month. The whole mission is really excited now that the majority of the mission is hitting their home stretch, their senior year, or fourth quarter, call it what you will, it is the time to separate the boys from the men.

So now we just gotta trust in the Lord and know that in the end His will will be done and not ours. It will be in my best interest to keep in mind that I can trust Him completely, that He is my Father and I am His son.

As far as the work goes, it has just been a gauntlet right now. Which is funny, in most things with more time the more effective you are, but I have realized that this is not our work, but the Lord's, and His work is my progress, and the progress of everyone. On the mission I have adapted the mindset that when times are hard and success is scant, those are times to self evaluate and adapt and overcome.

We do have a handful of people that are progressing and will be baptized unto repentance! One family lives quite close to us, which makes it easy, all of the neighbors know us now! We have talked with the majority of the people in our neighborhood. One family has made huge sacrifices to be able to go to church, and they are being blessed greatly for it!!

Love you guys so much hope you have a great week!

Love Elder Morrison

Matagalpa baby!

Well, good news is that I am loving life. Bad news is that I am the oldest missionary in the Zone. Which is just shocking to me.

As for this past week we had a multi-zone conference and Presidente Poncio called us to repentance. And it was quite the awakening experience, something we needed, not that I am being rebellious or disobedient, but having a motivation to self reflect and repent is wonderful, truly the call to repentance is a great manifestation of love.

Elder Smith and I had a good heart to heart where we were able to discuss what we were lacking as a companionship, given that we have had a difficult time lately. What came of our self evaluation was very precious council directly from the Lord in what we need to do to improve. I continue to marvel at how wonderfully and completely dependent we are upon the Lord, despite me being the oldest missionary, I really need to depend upon guidance from the Lord always because I can always learn more and improve more. Being a leader I have seen many things in young missionaries that remind me of myself how that after having some success, immediately we consider we know so much!

This Sunday we had a miracle! We left the house way early to get investigators to church, and we saw a wonderful miracle with a family we have been teaching, they came to church on their own and we were freaking out because we didn't find them at their house. They are preparing to be baptized on the first week of April! And they loved church!!

I really love this work and seeing little miracles like that just keep us going with a little extra spark and enthusiasm.

Love you guys
Love Elder Morrison

Here to stay

The transfers came and went and I am pleased to say that I am staying in the wonderful land of Matagalpa. I already have in total about 7 months here, and I am really pumped to stay here. Not to say that it is all roses, we have a lot of work to do, my companionship was the only companionship to not have changes in all the zone, and for a very wise reason. Some missionaries don't love Matagalpa as much as I do I guess. Elder Smith is staying with me to run a muck in Matagalpa for at least 6 more weeks.

Elder Ward, one of my best friends on the mission, got sent out to die (he will go home from there) in Managua, it was bittersweet to see him leave. Bitter because we only had 2 weeks living in the same house, not that we didn't take full advantage of those 2 weeks, we had a lot of fun! But it is pretty sweet because Elder Deere is coming to live with us, he was my foster child in Leon. He worked with Elder Rush and I for a week in Leon and he is super cool, he is becoming a quite excellent missionary. And so I am pumped for that, because last change was my most favorite change of my mission, which is really cool because the one before that one is now my second favorite, so needless to say the mission just gets better and better every week. Every day I love leaving the house just hoping and waiting to find one of the elect of God to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Other news is this Saturday I got to meet another Apostle, Elder Quentin L Cook. He came to speak to the two missions in Nicaragua, and that was an intensely spiritual experience, his testimony was quite powerful and simple as well as was his message. In fact at first I was shocked at how simple his message was, but it was exactly what we needed to hear and apply to our work here in Nicaragua. In his remarks he spoke of commitments and using commitments to guide people to repentance. Very simple and true things. He shared a fun fact that him and Elder Holland were companions in the mission. I came to that conference with him with some questions and one by one they were all answered, quite directly I might add. I wanted to learn how to develop unshakable faith that is much firmer and steadfast, and the answer was clear. Keep it simple. Read, pray, fast, have the spirit with you always and you can't go wrong.

I loved my interview with him, the Apostles really can see your very soul,  and no matter what you cannot walk away sad from meeting one of them. All the missionaries walked away from shaking his hand smiling. You can feel the pure love of Christ through them, it is a delight meeting them, shaking their hand and looking into their eyes, and through a smile say "Elder Cook it's an honor to meet you."

I love this Church and the opportunities within it to draw so close to the Savoir and to truly come to know him. I know he lives and directs this church personally, I have no doubt of this. This is His work, and I am so privileged to be a part of it!

Love you all
Love, Elder Morrison

Clase Machetazo!!

In the stake of Matagalpa we had the privilege of having a stake conference presided by Elder Arredondo, of the Seventy. And it was so wonderful. I am shocked and impressed as always at the simple and powerful way the general authorities teach. They don't try to reinvent the wheel, instead they trust that what the Lord has already put in place.

And Elder Arredondo taught that to the Matagalpinos that they simply needed to trust in the Lord's system, let's just say that they haven't been doing that here. It was such a wonderful message that he gave, it was seriously so inspired, because his message was seriously perfect, and so simple.

Transfers are coming soon, next week actually, and I have about 4 months left on the mission, so I am pretty sure I am gone. Which is a bummer because we just moved into a wonderful house with another companionship, it has been a good time. Including last night when I got really sick, because we had large lower part of the large intestine of a chicken. It was like eating a tire and with the worst flavor.

Anyway I got a fat fever and stomach cramps right away. Upon getting home I asked for a blessing from my comp and one of the other Elders that is living with us, and let's just say today I was able to work up on some fools in soccer. I am really not that good at soccer, but as Elder Taulapapa says. "I may not be good at certain sports, but I am good at winning and that is a sport. Winning is a sport"

Other than that it has just been business as usual.

Love you all Love Elder Morrison