March 24, 2014

Good morning:

This email is coming in from the city of Canela, which lies 10 miles north of Gramado, the biggest tourist city in Brazil. I received a phone call from the assistant, Elder A., last Monday night informing me that I was being called to serve as a zone leader and that I would know where I was going and with whom I would work the following morning at the bus station.

When I arrived at the bus station, Elder A. aproached me and asked, “Are you ready to work?” Not really understanding the full meaning of the statement at the time, I said yes. When I got ahold of the actual transfer, I saw that my companion was going to be none other than the safado that had called me the night before, telling me I was going to be a zone leader. As I looked even closer, I saw that he and I were going to be opening an area together as the new zone leaders in the Gramado Zone (he was released last Monday as assistant to the president). I have to say that I was a little apprehensive about being a zone leader with a former assistant in a new area that neither of us knows, but so far it has proved to be quite enjoyable.

I am living in a house with four missionaries again, which is always fun. It is me, my comp, Elder N. (my second companion) and some verdinho, Elder Av.—in other words, one gringo and three Brazilians. This is good, though, because I have been with American comps for the last four months, so now I have the opportunity to improve my Portuguese even more. We all get along well, and we are having a lot of fun already.

Elder A. and I found a part-member family this week in our area, and so we worked with them and were able to baptize three of the kids who weren’t ever baptized. We also got another week of excellence, so we are off to a good start. I am attaching pictures, but don’t expect too much; nobody knows how to take a good picture, and nobody knows how to act normal in a picture. After 10 attempts, I gave up and I am sending the best ones of the baptism.

Bummer that I missed Tommy’s birthday. Wish him a happy one from me. Let’s see, I will miss the birth of my niece and nephew, James’ b-day, Emily’s b-day, Sam’s and Chris’, and then I am home. Boo yah. I can’t wait to eat some American cake with frosting (it doesn’t exist here either).

I am slightly pressed on time today, so I will have to wrap it up. I’ll look into the picture stuff; you sent me a couple of emails with different info. Could you send me exactly what you need me to do? I’ll do the best I can.

I love you all! It is pretty cool here in Canela. I’m looking forward to another great transfer.

Love,

Elder Morris

March 17, 2014

Happy Corned Beef and Cabbage day. Bummer that I missed that one again. Oh well.

Well, the transfer came in today, and I have to admit that I am slightly surprised to find out that I am being transferred. I didn’t get any emails or calls about other leadership positions or anything, so I thought that I was going to stay here and finish training Elder F. Kind of a bummer, huh? I really liked Elder F., and I know that he liked me. We had a great companionship, a lot of success and a lot of fun. It is going to be weird being transferred again. That is mission life though.

It’s a bummer to hear about the missionary who died. That must be devastating. I guess it was his time to go. I know that I am being protected here because every week it seems like I am almost hit by a car, but there is always an angel there to push me out of the way. I’ll just keep the rules, work hard and not do anything stupid, and I’ll be all right. And my official release date, I believe, is October 7. In 12 weeks I will receive an email with my flight information, and then I’ll know for sure.

There is a cool experience that happened this week that I would like to share. Sister L., our recent convert, (who really was prepared by the Lord to accept our message), was having a lot of back pain this week due to the nature of her job. We had explained about the priesthood and authority, and she asked us to give her a blessing, which we did. Immediately after, she stood up from her chair and said, “Thank you. The pain in my back has already receded, and I can feel that the muscles have loosened.” We witnessed thereafter that movements she was struggling to make before, she was able to do with ease after the blessing. Cool stuff, huh?

Well, that’s about it for now. I’ll let you know where I’m at and who my companion is next week.

Love you all,
Elder Morris

March 10, 2014

Good morning,

We had another good week this week, including another baptism. We met L. two weeks ago while doing street contacts (I almost didn’t contact her because it was the end of the day and I was tired, but I felt like I should, so I did and, booyah, baptism). L. had actually studied with the missionaries when she was a young woman (12–15), but she was never baptized because her dad didn’t let her. But now that she is 26 and living alone, she was ready to be found and baptized. It was a cool experience, and I feel like we have been immensely blessed this transfer with success.

As for D. and the mother, they don’t really care that much. The mother is Catholic, and D. decided that he doesn’t really like religion or something. I don’t know. Bummer, oh well, we will see what happens.

This is our last week of the transfer here, so next Monday I’ll know if something new is going to happen. I don’t really know what to expect. I could keep training Elder F. or maybe (because I‘m coming up on the last quarter of my mission), I might take a different leadership position elsewhere. Either way, it will be an adventure. But I have really liked working with Elder F.

So last Monday, Elder F. and I joined the zone leaders for the Festa da Uva in Caixas. It was pretty cool, I guess. There were a lot of venders and lame stuff like that, but we got free juice and grapes, so I guess it was worth it. I’ll try to attach a picture of us with the Grape Queen.

Honestly, I don’t have that much else to say for now.

Até mais,

Com amor,

Elder Morris

(I will attach pictures when I get them. :))

Letter 03/03/14

[A note from Michelle: So, because I'm going to school full time, working part time, and also being awesome into overtime (it's hard work), it's going to be really hard for me to catch up a years worth of letters. So, I apologize. However, I am going to do my best to post Elder Morris' letters every week from here until the end of his mission (only 7 months left! Huzzah!). So, feel free to read, comment, all that good stuff. Also, thanks for not hating me. <3]
(Also, due to rules I can't use full names and have to use abbreviations and such. Just FYI.)

Ah, one more month down. Que coisa boa, nah?

I imagine that the weather for us is about the same as it is for you right now. It is probably in the 70s this morning with a cool breeze blowing through the mountains of Farroupilha. I do believe that my scorching Brazilian summer days are officially over, and I will never have to go through another one. So that is a happy thought. 

This week Elder F. enjoyed performing his first baptism in Portuguese when he baptized Fran. It was a cool experience, and later that night Elder F. said, “Thanks, man, for letting me do that.” We weren’t able to get Brother D. in the water this week (he wimped out last second), but we will try for next week. But Fran is certainly one of the elect of God. I think that I already told you guys some of her story, but I would like to retell it. We found her the Saturday before last at 8:00 p.m., and she accepted to go to church. She went to church Sunday, and we gave her a Book of Mormon that night. When we came back on Tuesday, she had already read 1 Nephi, and then, on Wednesday, she stopped drinking coffee (before we had even taught her the Word of Wisdom), because she read on the Internet that we don’t drink it. We taught her everything else, she was interviewed after church on Sunday, and then she was baptized that night. It was pretty sweet and especially cool for me because it was the first time that I have ever baptized someone by knocking doors. God really does prepare people; we just have to work hard enough to find them. 

Fran’s father passed away a couple of weeks ago, and it was actually our talk about the plan of salvation and eternal families that sparked her interest. Her mother is pretty hardcore Catholic, but she listens in on our discussions every time anyway. She even made us cake the other day (I think she likes us). We are still working with Brother D., but we are going to try and baptize him this next week. We will see.

So last week Elder F. and I teamed up with the zone leaders and went to a vine factory tour. We enjoyed drinking free grape juice and talking with the tour guide in English (she was practicing hers). Whether it was our English or just our plain awesomeness, I don’t know, but either way she kept giving us more free grape juice. Each one of us drank about a liter.

That is about it for this week. That is another one down, and they just keep speeding up as I get “closer to my home.” Speaking of, do you know if Grand Funk or Jackson Browne are going to be coming to town this fall? It is almost time to buy the tickets. Nerk. I can feel the bass in the stands under my feet now. Que trunkesa. (That paragraph was for my dad.)

I love you all and hope that you enjoy the spring because my fall is just starting. I just hope I’m not here during the winter because it will be cold. I was thinking about this the other day, and I realized that most likely I only have two areas left as a missionary. I’ll probably stay here for one more transfer, and then I’ve got four transfers left, aka, two areas left to conquer. Weird. 

It’s strange when you start to get closer to your home. I’ll try not to think about it too much, though. I’ve got to stay focused because I’ve got people to baptize.

Com amor,

Elder Morris

(Elder F.'s mom shared a picture to the LDS Missionaries facebook page and has over 7000 likes, Mike thought that was pretty cool. Here is what my mom said about the picture, “Despite the uncertainty in the fog ahead, the missionaries are not walking, but running, to their duty.”)

 (No, I don't know what he's eating.)

 (Elder Morris and his comp. went on an adventure in the jungle and found this waterfall.)

 (There was a big festival type thing, and the Elders got to watch the parade from a members apartment.)