January 28, 2013

(In case you haven't noticed, I'm not posting all of Mike's letters, just enough to give you a taste.)

In the words of Tyler Melling [Michael's friend who is serving a mission in Sacramento], another week bites the dust.

And as for the beans, no they are black and especially delicious. I would ask for pinto beans down here, but thankfully I learned in the MTC what the word pinto means in Portuguese, so I was able to escape that humiliation. I’ll let you look up the meaning for yourself.

I am finishing my sixth week today and I finished my third month on Thursday, which means I am finally moving along. Transfers will take place in a week, and the chances are that Elder Castel will be transferred, which is a bummer, like I said, because he and I get along well. But I try to remind myself every day that God knows what is best for me, so wherever I go and with whomever I am teamed up with will be for my benefit.

I wish I could say that I am as focused as you are, Dad, but my mind keeps calling me back, and often times I find myself discouraged about how long I have before I will be back home. For the last couple of weeks I have been doing better, like I said in my last email, but without fail, once a week since I have been in the field, I have this dream about being home and having accomplished my mission. And every time I have the dream it is more and more realistic, almost as if my brain is trying to convince me that I am home. And then, of course, I wake up and remember that I have only been out for a little while and it depresses me. I don’t know how to get rid of these dreams.

The investigator that we had lined up to be baptized on Sunday ended up moving this week to live with her sister-in-law, so she won’t be baptized here. She said that she will in the new area where she will be living, and I really hope that she follows through on that promise because we worked with her for an entire month. It kind of sucks not baptizing her, but as long as she is baptized, then this will act as a reminder that we are baptizing people unto the Lord and not unto ourselves. So if she does what she says she will do, then we can be satisfied knowing that we did our part.

The language still gets me, but I know that this will help me to become more patient and humble. So every day I tell myself that “it’s gonna take time, a whole lot of precious time. It’s gonna take patience and time to do it, to do it, to do it, to do it right” (George Harrison). I know I will get it eventually, but more than anything I just want to understand what people are saying.

The last email came straight from my heart. I really do look up to you, and that is part of what is keeping me out here. I want to make you and Mom proud, I want to become a better person, and I know that the mission field is the only place I can do that right now.

I remember President Payne, and I think I can picture him. I remember you telling me that story before, I think. It is touching. Speaking of the Liahona (again), I was looking through it yesterday and I noticed a picture of a lighthouse that looked familiar. I stopped and read the title, “Encontrar a Fe nos Confins da Terra,” which translated means “Finding Faith at the Ends of the Earth.” Sure enough, there on the page was your name and your article. So I read the whole thing in Portuguese, most of which I understood, and I have to say, old man, that it’s a good article. Nerk.

So when you were on your mission, you pretty much had a new companion every transfer? That’s crazy. From what I’ve heard, it will be about the same for me. Which is good news if I get a moody or lazy companion but bad news when I get a good guy who I become friends with. That’s life, I guess. 

I have been able to use my pull-up bar, which is nice, and I exercise every day. So far I’ve been able to keep in shape pretty well. We are allowed to go running if we want, but I haven’t done it yet because after walking all day, my knees are kind of worn out. As soon as they get more used to the schedule, I will start some light running around the park near our place.

The address you emailed me is correct, so you can use that one.

I’m sending a couple of pics with this email and on the next few P-days, I will send all the ones I have from the MTC. The one picture of my area is the best I could do for a picture from a vantage point. The area is pretty flat. The other picture is me eating a “xis” (pronounced sheez), which is the Brazilian version of a hamburger. It tastes pretty good, even though they put weird things on it like peas, corn and egg. The other pic is one of me standing in front of a Bom Jesus fruit store (bom meaning good). I guess it is the superstition of South America that forces people to name everything after Jesus because I see it all of the time.

I didn’t have anything extraordinarily exciting happen to me this week, so I don’t have much in the way of cool stories. Sorry. I love hearing about your mission and the stories. Thanks for those and continue to throw me journal entries when you can.

Amor, abracos e beijos.

With a Book of Mormon in one hand and a popcicle in the other,

Elder Morris

 (I will try to locate those photos to post. :) )