Hotter than Heck!!!

What has happened this week? Well, we had a zone conference. That was pretty sweet! We had a lot of heat. Not so sweet, but hey, it’s Mexico so it is just going to get worse! We are talking like nothing below 95-90 degrees anymore. Then one whole month and a half of it not dropping below 105. Yeah, we are going to cook eggs outside. 

This week was really good! We have found some really good investigators. The problem is that they just can't make it to the church for one reason or another. One of them has the excuse that his wife is already 9 months pregnant and is just waiting to go to the hospital. What kind of sorry excuse is that!?! Ha-ha, no we understand that one but we are just on the verge of people changing their lives here!!! They NEED to go! We are definitely going to be working on that one this week.

So this week I was on an exchange with one of the Elders in my district. We had stopped in a bakery to buy a little snack because, well, we are 19 year old kids. We get hungry. Anyway, we are waiting in line to buy the bread when the lady in front of us looks at us a minute and says, "Don't worry, I got you" and she pays for our bread. Wow that stuff never happens in Mexico! We think, "Obviously we need to talk with her to find out if she is a member or something." So as we are walking outside she pulls out a bag of apples and gives us three. I am not going to lie, it completely took me by surprise. So we started talking to her and getting to know her. No, she is not a member, but her mom was a member before she died and her brother-in-law is a member and has the missionaries over frequently. That's how she knew who we were. With a little more digging and prodding we found out that she usually does not get off the bus at this area because she still has a ways to go before her stop, but for some reason (prompting) she got off at this stop. She expressed that she liked to walk because she didn't feel so alone when she was walking. Who knows why she decided to go into the bakery (the Spirit does) but that’s where she ran into us. I then had the opportunity to bear testimony that it was not a coincidence that she got off where she did and that she was in the bakery at the same time we were. It was a great experience! She didn't give us her address because she is not usually home, but she said that she would talk with her brother-in-law and find out more.

I also had the opportunity to strengthen my testimony of the power of the Spirit to change the hearts of people. We met Norma a week and a half ago when we went to visit some less active members. We gave her a lesson and at the end we extended the invitation to baptism. She resisted because she was Catholic and that she had her religion and that we should respect that. We said something along the lines of "we do, we just want you to ask God if this is true, nothing else." She accepted to ask. 

We went back this week and found that she had completely changed. She wanted to talk more with us. She even expressed the desire to attend church with us to see how things go in our religion. She went from being closed off to having the Spirit soften her heart and accept change. She even is changing the only time that she can see her dad to accompany us to church! She is really making progress. 

I know that the Spirit has the power to soften hearts when we let Him. I know that this gospel and this message bring more peace and happiness than any other thing in this entire world. And this peace and happiness is not just for an instant, like the things of the world, but for eternity. We have what the world needs. We should not judge or think that anyone is beyond the saving power of Christ or the influence of the Spirit. Something that our mission President told us is that if we don't have faith in "them" then how can you expect them to have enough faith to change? "Them" for us means our investigators. "Them" for everyone else means everyone else!! Every single human being on this spherical rock we call earth has the Light of Christ. Their hearts CAN be changed. They CAN receive an answer. We aren't teaching anything new, we are just helping them learn about things they have forgotten. By the power of the Spirit, everyone has the ability to be reminded of these spiritual things. I know that with all of my heart, every fiber of my being, nothing and no one can ever take that from me. I have been reminded of where I came from and who I was. I want to help others remember as well and remind them of the greatness that was before? 

I hope you all pray for guidance and for chances to have missionary experiences. Pray for opportunities and then open your mouth. Too many times we ask for faith to know what to say. It is better to put that faith into action and open your mouth and see what the Spirit puts into it!!!!! I hope you all have a great week. Happy Memorial Day or whatever day you Americans are celebrating up there!!!

-Élder Morris 

Hard Work Pays Off!!

Hey! 

So this week was pretty dang good! We had an investigator tell us that he has received an answer. We have found people who are ready to change their lives. Things are just looking better!

 This week we had a lesson with Julio along with a member family. We talked about the way to receive answers because the last time we invited him to pray to find the answer to if what we are teaching is true or not. I was expecting him to say "well I forgot because I was working," or "I just didn't have time" (The favorite excuses). But when I asked him if he had prayed about it he just looked at me and said "yes, I have." I then asked him if he had received and answer. He said that he did. Then he told us about how he had a job to do at work and he prayed for help and he had felt like his mind was opened. He told us that he had to do his work on the computer and he had never had much experience with stuff like that. But when he went to do it he felt like he was blessed with the ability to complete his task. When he gave it to the boss he said that it was super well done and congratulated him. He said that he had a peace and tranquility in his heart. Well folks, as missionaries, that is what we look for! It was a super awesome experience! 

This week we have found 7 new investigators with 5 of them having baptismal dates! Two of them we found visiting less active families. Alejandro and his son Jorge. Alejandro's dad is a member. We talked to them for a while and shared the importance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He and his son, Jorge who is fifteen, right then and there made a promise and commitment with each other and with our Heavenly Father that they would be baptized! For a fifteen year old, Jorge is really attentive and really in tune with the things we teach.

All in all we are working really hard and we are starting to see the results! People, fasting and prayer works! It may be a trail of your faith, but in the end God knows what is best for you. Don't give up and never look down. Keep your head up and look to the Heavens because that is where your answers and guidance are! I hope you all have a good week!!! Sea file!

-Èlder Morris

Great Mother's Day call home!

So, how is life going? Me? Well, if you’re asking. Which you’re not, but I am going to tell ya any ways. This week has been really good. We have been able to find some new investigators and we have been able to increase the amount of people we are visiting. 

This p-day we were able to hike the Cerro de la Silla (Chair Hill) again! It was way awesome! The sister missionaries almost didn't make it but they persevered! Something different than last time was that this time you could actually see a lot of Monterrey. The other time was super foggy and you couldn't really see anything. This time was a lot better.

One of the people that we found this week is named Ricardo. We had contacted his mom a few weeks ago. Her name is Cantalari or something like that. So, when I was looking through the list of contacts that we had her name just stuck out. I threw it into our plans as a backup plan. Our appointment fell and we just passed by the house to see if she was there. She wasn't. But her son was. We just contacted him very briefly and explained who we were and what we do. I had a thought come to me to ask him if he had some time that we could share a little bit more about us and that I knew it could bless his life. I thought for sure he was going to say something like "well, I just got out of the shower so maybe another time." Just getting out of the shower? I know that sounds like a weird excuse to use but I will explain. All he had was a towel around his waist. But he just said, "of course, just give me a minute." So he invited us in and we sat and were expecting to wait for him to get dressed. Nope, he just put a shirt on and then came and had a lesson with us, with only a towel for pants. It was pretty dang awesome! At the end we set a date for baptism and are we going back to visit him this week. 

Yesterday all the elders in our ward gave talks. It was funny because the American elders gave talks on following Christ's example and defending the faith. The Mexican Elders gave talks on repentance and on keeping the Sabbath day Holy. It was definitely a Mercy and Justice meeting. 

Another thing that was really funny that happened this week was that we were making a contact and Elder Luna was talking, all of the sudden he just turns to me to continue on. I thought that was a little weird.  After when we were walking away he turns and says to me "Elder Morris, something happened." I was like, "yeah, we just made a contact." "No, something else." He turns and points to his shoulder. A pigeon had pooped on his shoulder!!! I couldn't stop laughing. It was so funny! We tore up a piece of paper and cleaned it up the best we could. Ha-ha oh man was it funny! 

Well I just want to give a shout out to all the mother's out there! I know that there are some great moms who have made a great impact on my life, but nothing and no one compares to my mom. She has stuck with me through a lot of stuff and I am eternally grateful for the fact that she even still loves me! I wouldn't trade the world for the moments that I have had with her, good and bad. (More good than bad, trust me!) Happy Mother's Day to the best mom out there! And all the other mothers as well. You really don't know how much of an impact you have on your children and how they will be forever grateful for the things you taught and demonstrated through acts of love. 

 Remember that it takes courage to DIE for something you believe in, but even more to LIVE for it! My hope is that we can all take the necessary steps in our lives to live for what we believe. I hope you all have a great week!!! Don't only keep the faith, defend it!

-Elder Morris

What an experience to have Mitch larger than life in our family room!

 View from the Hill Top

 Me and Elder Luna

 Our District

 Cool little cave. Oh and the spiders the size of our hands!

Constant Changes

Well, how many weeks has it been? Who knows and who wants to know!? I feel like it’s a time warp in the mission field. I taught the gospel principles class on Sunday. For me it felt like 2 weeks ago, so when I asked my companion who did the lesson he just looked at me and was like "are you serious"? Ha-ha, but it is all good! I am just enjoying living in the moment right now!

Well this week brought some changes. We now have 4 elders in Infonavit. I feel really bad for the other elders because their house is probably the worst in the mission. The elders before me and my companion NEVER cleaned and with us not living there it had a month and a half of disuse. So needless to say we are on the search for a new one! 

With new elders, we needed to divide the area. I must say that the division didn't go our way. We have 2 investigators remaining in our area. The rest were graciously (or grudgingly, you chose. ha-ha) handed over to the new missionaries to care for. But hey, it is okay, we started new before, why not again!? The Crazy thing is one of the new Elders is the son of one of my dad’s friends from his single days. He and my dad just connected on Facebook this week. Elder Nay is a great guy and a great missionary that loves to work hard.

This week, like you already know, was fast and testimony meeting. Unfortunately I didn't get to bear my testimony because there were no open spaces. But the fasting part was awesome! We had been struggling to find new investigators this week because of the division. So of course, I was fasting for new investigators. Well yesterday after we broke our fast, we went to work! We are working in the part of the area that we had scarcely visited so we were just passing by addresses of people we had contacted. We passed by one house and found a man named Roberto. He invited us in and we had an awesome lesson with him. He accepted to be baptized when he receives and answer.(Which he will) Then a little bit later on we were trying to contact people on another street and we saw a guy washing his car, so naturally we went over to help him out. Well, he denied us. But he told us, "how about you go over and help my neighbor with his car." So we were like, hey that's okay with us! So we went over and offered to help Julio wash his car. He said no, but then invited us to eat dinner with him! We had to decline because we can't eat dinner with members or anyone. He said, "So if you won't let me feed you, I am not going to let you wash my car, Simple as that," so we laughed and said "Well how about we share a message about Jesus Christ?" That he was all up for. It was awesome. He just left his car half washed and invited us into his house in total confidence and we had an awesome lesson with him and his wife who is about 8 and a half months pregnant. Can I get a Plan of Salvation lesson and an AMEN?! It was really an awesome lesson and he offered us hospitality like none other. This new/old area is starting to look really good! When we got home that night we just looked at each other and my companion said, "What did you fast for?" Ha-ha, he had fasted for the same thing as me and it definitely worked!!  I have never had such rapid results to fasting or had the answer be so direct. This definitely strengthened my testimony of the importance of the fast. I know that we are never alone. That we always have help. Nothing is ever out of our reach because nothing is ever out of the reach of God. If it is part of his plan, it will happen. We just have to put our trust in him and go to work! I know that when we align our will with His, we will see His hand and His miracles in our lives.

Well, that’s all I have! This church is true! I know it with every fiber of my being!! Never feel like you can't get on your knees and have a personal conversation with our Heavenly Father because that is how you will receive personal revelation and direction.  I hope you guys have a great week!!

-Élder Morris

This is how we celebrated my Companion Elder Luna's Birthday!!!  I really do love the food here!