Well hello there,
This last week has been the fastest of my mission so far, and I know that the reason for this is that at the beginning of the week, I made a goal that no matter what happened, I wasn’t going to let myself get down about it, I wasn’t going to worry or fear, and I was going to love whatever came my way. I accomplished my goal and I’m feeling good, which is a nice relief from how I have been feeling for the last year or so. I’m learning to do what you do to help with anxiety about the future. This mission is already blessing my life and making me a happier and more optimistic person. How a young man finds his way in life without serving a mission is beyond me.
I’ve got another story to tell—this one is from a more spiritual side of things. When I was in the MTC, there was an elder named Elder Ryberg and, although we were friends, we pushed each other’s buttons every once in a while. So anyway, when we had only two days left in the MTC, I was ticked off at him for something—I don’t remember what—and I decided that I was going to give him a piece of my mind and just tell him off because I figured that we wouldn’t be seeing each other again for a while. But then I received an impression from the Holy Ghost, and it had to have been strong because otherwise I wouldn’t have felt it in my angered state. The Spirit said to me, “No, do NOT do that. Be humble, do your part and apologize for what you’ve done, and leave the rest up to him. So I thought, “Fine, I’ll do it—whatever.”
So I went and apologized, he apologized back and we left the MTC on good terms. The next thing that happened is that we both ended up being transferred to the same zone. One transfer later, he ended up being in my district, so we see each other every week. And today I just found out that maybe, for the rest of the transfer, he might end up being my third companion because his trainer finishes his mission tomorrow. And because I didn’t burn the bridge two months ago in the MTC, I am really excited and I am hoping this will happen because we have become good friends. The Holy Ghost is certainly a powerful friend, and I’m grateful to have him with me.
To answer Dad’s question, the transfer doesn’t end for another two weeks, so Elder Castel is stuck with me until then. But after that he most likely will be transferred and, because our ward is being divided, we will receive three new missionaries in my area and house: my new companion and another companionship. And as of now, there are more Brazilians in my mission than there are Americans, so who knows? I might be with three other Brazilians for the next transfer, in which case my Portuguese should be excellent by the time I hit six months (five days after my third transfer ends). Either way, gringo or no, I think it will be fun having four missionaries in the same house.
The English class is going well, I think. I taught the third of six classes on Saturday (we teach once a week on Saturdays). We had about 10 people show up for that one, including two people who weren’t members. I ended up having to wing that class because someone failed to give us the proper set of keys, so I wasn’t able to access the computer room in the church to print off the lesson plan that I had typed up and saved on my pin drive at a member’s home. But I was able to get by with a little help from Elder Castel. And next time Ill make sure to print off my lesson ahead of time.
The one commodity that your mission had over mine is that we don’t have a maid to clean or cook for us. We have to do all of that ourselves. Life is rough. Nerk. We actually have our own washing machine in our house but, of course, we don’t have a dryer, so we just hang up our clothes on the line and let the wind do the rest. My clothes are doing fine for now. I take good care of them, but I did have to sew a small rip in the seam of a pair of my pants last week. I think they will hold now.
I haven’t received the packages yet, but that is probably because they are at the mission home and our zone leader hasn’t picked them up yet. And it turns out, the missing Reese’s candy can be attributed to the MTC here in Brazil. The zone leader brought them in a different package last week, so apparently the MTC rearranged my package for me. How nice of them. But the good news is, they weren’t stolen, so maybe our packages aren’t opened, or at least aren’t opened every time. Oh well, whatever. Hopefully yours and Mark’s packages get here with their sealing intact.
I’ll talk to the family about the package and let you know. It should work out. And the father of the family speaks English, so that should make things easier.
I’m still jealous about the The Hobbit. I don’t think my president will be letting us see it anytime soon, but to answer your question, The Hobbit arrived in Brazil the day after it opened in the U.S., so they aren’t too far behind. Maybe I’ll have to sneak out at midnight and go see it. Nerk.
So Mom is going to be flying out to Georgia? That is really exciting. Like you said, Mom, you haven’t been down South for three decades, so that ought to be really cool, especially because Uncle David is going to be a general now. And I also want to throw out a special thanks to Mom for sending me that pedigree chart. I’ll be able to use that. Thanks.
I’m excited to hear about Michelle’s basketball tournament and Tommy’s play. I wish I could be there to see them both, but . . . well, you know.
I’m sending a pic of me throwing together some pancakes. I haven’t found whole-wheat flour here yet, but I hope they have it somewhere. So for now, my pancakes are plain white, but they taste pretty good with some strawberry jam or chocolate doce de leite.
Well, that is about it for me this week. I’m getting along, and by the way, I passed my four-month mark yesterday. So that puts me exactly four months ahead of Tason. Ha ha! Victory shall be mine! (Old competitive habits die hard, I suppose. Nerk)
On a side note and in the words of Samwise Gamgee, as of today this is “the [longest] away from home I have ever been.” I have now passed the amount of time I did away from home for my first semester of college. It’s weird to think about. But anyway, I love you all.
Getting by with a little help from his friends,
Elder Morris
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