The Lord needed his valiant son. Love you Grandpa!

Well, I really don't know what to say. I have a million moments passing through my mind's eye. I don't even know where to begin. Okay, a little bit from the week.

We have an investigator that is progressing really well. Her name is Ruby. She is really great and has come to church 4 times. Well, one of her old pastors came and was talking her out of coming to church. She was letting the world tell her and teach her of Godly things. So we gave her a blessing to be able to receive an answer from her Heavenly Father. We invited her to pray, asking specifically for direction from Him. She accepted. The next day we passed by and she had a story to tell us. That night she had had a dream. She was walking along a path in an open field. As she was walking along this path, some lilies caught her attention. She walked over to them and noticed the whiteness and brightness of these lilies. She said to herself "These are the lilies that I have been looking for and have always wanted. I think I will ask the lady to sell me some." She then turned, looking for the owner, but found no one. Looking back at them she said "Look how white they are. They are just like the white shirts of the missionaries." Then she woke up. The Lord answers prayers. The Lord cares about us and if we have questions about things pertaining to the Kingdom of God, why would we look in the worldly kingdom for the answers? Don't accept anything less than an answer from a loving Heavenly Father. Ask and ye shall receive, knock and it shall be opened unto you. Prayer works my friends.

Last night we had a meeting with the stake president and Mission President about how we can help the work in our zones. The answer, WORK WITH THE MEMBERS!!! All you members should make time to go with the missionaries. Just saying. But before the meeting, President Bird pulled me into a classroom to talk. He told me that my Grandfather had passed away. I didn't know what to feel. Truth is, I had been expecting that. Ever since Saturday, I had had a feeling that the Lord needed his valiant son with him more than he needed him here in a failing body. It is good to know that the Lord is now using him for the salvation of many on the other side of the veil. My companion said I was strong, but my wet pillow at the end of the day said something different. One thing that I have learned about the Atonement of Jesus Christ is that for me it doesn't take away the pain at the beginning. Life is still painful, just like a wound at first. But it does soothe the pain. It is the Holy Balm that if we apply it, it will heal whatever wound, spiritual or physical. The atonement is not just for the spiritual pain, but also for the pain that as humans we are susceptible to feel. Pain from hurt feelings, from a bad day, or from the loss of someone dear to your heart. The Lord does take away the pain, if we open ourselves up to His healing hands. My hope is that we can all accept and utilize the healing power of the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. I love you guys so much. Have a great week!

Elder Morris

Don't worry, the Church is true!

Life as a zone leader. Last Thursday: Leadership council all day. Tuesday: Zone Training AND exchanges with the Assistants. Wednesday: Zone conference which I had to direct. Then Monday: No P-day. Tuesday. Exchanges. Wednesday: I didn't get to work in my area because we had to go find a missionary who went rogue and ditched his companion. We had a man hunt on bikes all around our little city of Cadereyta. Then we found him just in time to go to the mission offices to spend the night because on Thursday: TEMPLE! WHOO HOO!! The temple was great. I finally got to eat some good campechanas!! IT was great. Time to relax and time to chill. 

We have been able to find some new people that are really ready to be baptized. And the best part is that half of them are part member families. Families are the most important folks. Remember that.

 So, what is it that I have learned in the time since I last wrote? The Lord has a plan. It is infinitely expansive and infinitely detailed, yet everything is so simple that all we have to do is ask and He tells us what He would like. What I have learned is that everything will work out. Life will get better if you are doing your best. There is a saying that my companion uses a lot because it is funny. "Don't worry, the Church is true." It is 100% true, it is just funny because he uses it for everything, jokingly of course. "Elder, we don't have any more toilet paper!!!" "Don't worry, the Church is true." But I know that it has a lot of solace. Really, nothing else matters. The church is true. I invite you to keep that in mind and pray to know that it is true. If you know it, do it to get the confirming revelation that the Lord has promised. If you knew it once and have strayed a little, do it to renew the conviction you once had. If you don't know it, but want to, test the Lord, He never fails. But do it with a heart ready to follow the answer and with the humility required to submit your will to that of the Lord. Lastly, I want to share with you my testimony. The Lord works in small ways. He works through humble, weak, but dedicated humans to bring about the happiness that He desires for all his earthly children. The Lord loves you. I know that more than I know that I am sitting here in Mexico. People, the Lord wants you to be happy. He is pouring buckets of blessings!!!! Don't you dare put up your umbrella! Do what you need to do to be able to except all that the Lord is doing for you, all that He is WILLLING to do for you. I love you, the Lord loves you, and you need to love you. Be happy, “Don't worry, the Church is true”.

Love Elder Morris

P.S. Please keep in your prayers my Grandparents if you wouldn't mind. They had a serious auto accident. Elliott and Shirley Morris. They deserve your prayers. They are the best, most humble people. 

Holy Hot and It's not the weather!

Wow, another year in the books. How strange. Well, 2015. This year I want to give my life to Christ, especially in these 7 months. That is my resolution for this year. I only have a certain amount of time in the mission field, and in life, to be able to serve him so I want to make the most of every moment that I have. I hope that the service that I have done and will continue to do won't end. Just my role in the work of the Lord will change a little.

We started this year off really good. The members are excited, the investigators are coming to church, my companion and I are working like crazy, and things are looking good! We were able to have a good week. 

UPDATE: Ruby is awesome. She is doing really well. She came to church yesterday and she loved it. She really has got a testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel. Esteban didn't come to church because he didn't have credit on his phone to call us and tell us to come by and we didn't call him, we just texted. We kind of dropped the ball on that one, but he is also great. Ruby asked why he didn't come and she said "That is too bad he couldn't come, he really is missing out on something really special." Yeah, she is gold. I can't wait for her baptism. Good stuff people. 

Some other events: We are still doing a lot of intercambios so that is fun. I mean, exchanges. I ate a habanero at one of the lunch appointments. I almost died. Then the morning after, I almost died again.... ha-ha. One of the less active members told us he had a vision saying that Monterrey will be destroyed in the year 2016. Good thing I am out of here in 2015! Also, it is cold. And our boiler doesn't work. Well, it works, but it only heats up the water to a little bit warmer than room temp. Mornings are so hard...temps at night are in the low 40s and a cinder block house with no insulation gets cold. But life is good. I love working the mission field because I love being a worker in the vineyard of the Lord. I hope you all have a great year and that you all are healthy, happy, and keeping the commandments!!!! 

Elder Morris