And you thought Utah drivers were bad!!

Wow. Mexico, right!? Who would thought!? I am just going to start with this has been the most humbling experience! After seeing the humble circumstances of the people here, I am truly grateful for the lucky circumstances I was born into. Well I am in Pedregal, Apodaca, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. My day is waking up at 6:30, exercise, 7:00-8:00 eat and get ready, 8:00-12:00 personal, companion, and language study, 12:00-2:00 contact and teach, 2:00-3:00 eat with members, 3:00-9:00 contact and teach,9:00-9:30 plan, 9:30-10:30 prepare for bed, and then rinse and repeat! We have no hot water but, the water isn´t too bad, I just take super quick showers. We are emailing from an internet cafe owned by members. We are an hour bus ride from the mission home. The members are great and feed us every day! We walk everywhere, everyday, so it is pretty tiring. I honestly don´t even remember our address. Somewhere in Apodaca. They said just to send packages and letters to the mission home but it is a 50/50 chance it will get here.

Well, my first thoughts of Mexico: Holy Crap, do all of the people speak that fast!? Do they even have any traffic laws!? Am I really that white!? Well, the answer is yes. 

The people talk SOOOO fast! It is like their mouth is a dam and they just let the water build up and then just let it all out at once! The only problem is the refill speed of the dam is like .0001 sec. It is SOO tough. I thought I could at least recognize some of the words in a sentence, but with them all jumbled and coming out at the speed of sound, it is kind of tough. That has probably been the hardest part. The language barrier is tougher that I would have thought. WAY tougher.

They do have traffic laws, but no one follows them! They have speed bumps everywhere to get people to slow down. People don´t follow any kind of common road laws! It is just shoot this gap, pull out in front of this person, ALL the time! It is pretty crazy! The first day I was here  we hailed a taxi, he literally stopped in the middle of the road, threw it into reverse, and backed up 20 yards to pick us up! 

And yeah, I know it is hard to believe, but I really am that white! Although I have gained a wicked tan in the last week, I still stick out like a white kid in Mexico!!! I have got some pretty weird looks passing people on the street. Way funny though! I have people all the time saying ´´how are you´´ from the window of a car as I am walking down the road. C´mon, really? I know I stick out a ton but at least give me the courtesy of talking to me in a language that I don´t know!!! Sheesh!

The people are so awesome!! I don´t know what they are saying a lot of the time but they are all so kind! And they feed you like there is no tomorrow! My first day here they fed us rice and a cut of meat. Then finished it off by giving us each a sandwich the size of a hoagie, just 3 times wider!! The people really know what it means to love your brother.

A family that has been receiving lessons from the previous missionaries are getting baptized on Saturday. They really are a choice family and have been thoroughly prepared by the Lord. When I first met the Dad, he told me in broken English, ´´Your name is Morris?´´ ´´Yes´´ I said. ´´I have had the name Morris on my mind for the past 4 days!´´ He said. I have no idea what that means but I am glad that he likes my name! Unfortunately, we don´t get to teach them after their baptism, the zone leaders will teach them. 

Well, I love it here! It is easily the hardest thing I have ever done, but I know that this is where I am supposed to be. I didn´t get much out of listening to the first session of conference in Spanish, but when I thought of how easy it would be to be an English missionary, I had a profound feeling that all will be alright and that there are people here who need me. Not just any missionary, but the shy kid from Centerville, Utah. I don´t know where they are or what they look like, but I know I am here to find and serve them.

Keep the faith, press on; President Monson gave the perfect talk about not being discouraged. I really needed that. I am glad that is one of the talks I got to listen to in English. Love you all and thanks a lot for the prayers and thoughts!!!!

-Elder Morris