February 4, 2013

Feb. 4, 2013

Geez, your winter sounds like a real winner this year. Bummer for you. Last Friday I was in 100-degree temperatures with humidity. It was quite fun. Not. Last week was a little rough for me. I’m sorry to hear you are all down with sickness again, but last week I caught it too. It was really hot and I got sick. I was working through some emotional problems with the language as well, but I am doing better now. It’s actually kind of a cool story.

Elder Castel, Cleiton (ward mission leader) and I were all walking to the church to print off some more invites for the English class I will start teaching this Saturday, and I was kind of down about the language. The whole way there I was praying for God to send me something or someone to help me deal with it. When we got to the church, I sat down in a class room and Elder Castel went to print the things off. As I was sitting there Cleiton came in and asked me if anything was wrong. I told him what I was dealing with, and then he said something to me that really helped me out. He told me two things: 1) I am no different than any other missionary who has ever come to Brazil (in terms of the language), meaning that I will learn it just like everyone else and that I can stop worrying. 2) He told me to focus on my objectives and not my fears. It really lifted my spirit and I am doing fine now.

I completed my first transfer today and I thought that Elder Castel was going to be transferred, but turns out he will be here for another six weeks. This is good because I like him, we get along and he will continue to help me progress in the language quickly. This also means that I will be in this area for at least two more transfers, so I will be teaching English for the next 12 weeks. And when I get into my second area, I will be fluent in the language.

All the zones get together the last P-day of the transfer and play sports and eat churrasco, so we just got back from doing that, which was really fun. It was a little depressing seeing some of the missionaries in my zone leave to go home today, but I just need to remember to focus on my objectives and I’ll be all right.

To reply to something that Mom said in her email, it is easier and quicker for me to write just one email in reply (which I will send to both of your emails), but I will make sure to address everything that you both email to me.

It was nice reading the family newsletter. Thanks for sending that to me. I really enjoyed reading it.

Dad’s story about the Scouting article was interesting. It’s a real bummer to hear the news about the Scouting program. I’m disappointed but I am not surprised. I know that bad things are going to continue to happen up until Christ’s coming (which I personally believe won’t be long), but I am working on developing the faith I need to trust that everything is in God’s control. I even fasted for faith yesterday. I believe that faith is the key to being a successful and happy missionary. More than anything, I just want to be the best missionary that I can be. I know that to do that, I must have faith in God.

As for the progress of the work here in Estancia Velha, Canoas, Brazil, we have a baptismal date set for two people on March 3. And we might pick up two more (the son of one and the brother of the other one, both of whom are about 9 or 10 years old). Hopefully these actually go through.

I wish I had more cool or inspiring stories to tell, but I don’t really have much. But I am serving a mission in Brazil, so I know that I will get them. I do have something kind of funny to tell about. On Saturday when we exited our apartment, I noticed it was overcast, which excited me because whenever it rains it drops the temperature about 15 degrees. So we grabbed our umbrellas and headed off to lunch. Then the wind picked up and it was crazy wind. Our umbrellas were being pulled back and forth, dust was blowing into our mouths and eyes and up our noses, garbage was flying everywhere, we could hardly see where we were going and all I could do the whole time was laugh. I just laughed and enjoyed it. It might seem like an insignificant or boring story, but for me it just helped remind me that it is all good and that the mission experience is meant to be enjoyed, not endured.

Now, to tell you about the pictures. There are a couple of me standing in front of a castle, which is really cool. The thing about that castle, if you look closely, you will see a satellite dish. The castle is a house and people actually live in it. Cool stuff. The other pictures are of me and Elder Castel in our Gaucho (pronounced gow-oo-shoo) attire. Gausho, if translated, means cowboy. These are the clothes of the Brazilian cowboy. Pretty fun stuff.

So Tason is getting ready to follow suit, huh? Sweet. That means that time is moving along. What day does he enter the MTC and where?

Well, I look forward to your emails every week, and every time I read them they give me the moral boost I need to make it through the next week. I hope that you all get over your colds quickly and that the groundhog was correct and winter will be over soon. (Speaking of Groundhog Day, you should watch that film to celebrate. Classic.)

I love you all and will continue to work as hard as I can to make the family proud. Thanks for the prayers, love and support. And I look forward to getting the package. (It has individual pictures of all and a group shot, right?)

Frequently visited by Dr. Boo,

Elder Morris

Advice for prospective missionaries:

Well, I would tell perspective missionaries to get on a regular schedule. Get used to getting up at the same time and going to bed as well. If they are going to be learning a language, take a class or do something to help prepare because it is frustrating and you can use all the help you can get. Tell them to read all the way through Preach My Gospel at least once and start applying what they learn. Another thing would be to make sure you have your own testimony of the gospel and that you are not just leaning on others. I discovered that I had my own but that a lot of growth was needed.