Great week.

April 20, 2015

Wow, tomorrow I hit 20 months in the mission. I don't like it, but what can you do about it? That is super nuts.... Life is good. We had a good week! We had a whole family get baptized! The Sanchez family got baptized on Tues. It was pretty much the best baptism I have had on the mission. The spirit was just super strong, pretty much tangible. The talks were great, the family were just so happy, the members came to support them (even if they showed up late.) It is something super special to be able to see an entire family enter into the waters of baptism. I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that the Gospel of Jesus Christ changes lives, but it especially changes the family because the family is the central part of the Plan of Salvation. The true happiness comes from having the gospel bless our lives through blessing our family’s lives. I am so glad that my family is eternal. I know that the Lord always helps those who serve and love Him. Those of broken hearts, and contrite spirits.

This week I had my testimony of Charity, Faith, and Hope strengthened. We have a missionary in our zone who is struggling. He doesn't have a good hold on the language. He said that he isn't really studying Spanish because he doesn't feel the desire. He said that he just reads from the dictionary looking for new words. I thought about what my desire was for learning Spanish. It wasn't too hard. The only thing that got me through learning Spanish was my desire to understand and talk with the people that I loved, that I was trying to help. I expressed my feelings of that and he told me that he was having troubles with loving the people, that he was having troubles with loving Mexico. D&C 4 instantly came to my mind. Verse 5 says "And faith, hope, charity and love, with an eye single to the glory of God, qualify him for the work." If we don't have these things, then we won't be able to really be the missionary or the disciple, that the Lord expects and hopes of us. Truthfully, I don't really remember what else I said. I read some other scriptures with him and  I explained some things, but the Spirit really was just guiding the whole thing.  We set the goal of studying the attributes of Faith, Charity, and Hope to help him feel the love for the people and the place. I then had the chance to give him a blessing. I could feel the Spirit really strong as soon as I laid my hands on his head. Just another testimony builder of the Priesthood. We really do nothing. We aren't the source of the power, just the conduit by which the power is given to others. I am having just a ton of testimony building experiences and I feel that I have progressed a lot in these last few months and I know that I am progressing every day with the help of the Spirit. Life is good, the work moves on, lives are changed, miracles happen, hearts are softened, and eternities are made. Love you all, have a great week!!
Elder Morris

p.s. I saw Pres. yesterday and we talked to him for a min. As we walked up he was like "That is just my favorite name!" He really likes calling me Mitchell Dee. He then told me that a missionary who went home 2 transfers ago is engaged. He then turned to me and said, "Your goal is to beat him. Before 2 transfers." I just laughed because girls are still weird and have cooties. Ha-ha LOVE YA TONS!!!!!!!!!

Great General Conference!

Wow, what a week. This week was SUPER awesome!!! Definitely one of the most spiritual weeks of my mission. What I am going to share is just a portion of what has happened. We had Leadership counsel this week. We all went in fasting and prepared ourselves to be fed spiritually. Oh boy, did that happen. It was AWESOME!!! We talked about the atonement. How and why the Savior did what He did for us. It is amazing because he has done so much for us and asked so little in return. It is a huge comfort to know that I have someone like that cheering me on. It was super powerful and we were reading scriptures and we were feeling the spirit and watched a video of Pres. Eyring and Elder Holland talking with a video presentation of scenes from the atonement from the church's bible videos. Boom, the spirit is palpable. And then we end by singing I know that my Redeemer lives. There was not a dry eye in the room folks, let me tell ya. Very few time have I felt the spirit that strong on my mission. It is something that I will never forget. Also when we got home we found 2 families just super chosen and super awesome!

Then with Conference, it just topped off the week. I loved the talks and the counsel from our living prophets on the earth. I know that those men and women with their messages were inspired just as I know that I am sitting here writing. Man, good stuff!!!

Some of the quotes from Conference that I loved:

"It is supposed to be hard" L. Whitney Clayton

"Actions are the evidence of our belief and the substance of our faith". L. Whitney Clayton

"I can teach you to dance, but not to hear the music." Wilford A. Anderson

"A saint is a sinner that keeps on trying." Dale G. Renlund

"All I want to do in life is to please my Fathers, both temporal AND eternal" Michael T. Wringwood

"I know what time it is at home" Quentin L. Cook

" I am here to become a better man because I love my Father in Heaven and His son Jesus Christ." Dieter F. Uchtdorf

"You can build on whatever strength you have"  Dieter F. Uchtdorf

"We cannot embrace the choices they make, but we can embrace them" Brent H. Nelson

"God loves us deeply, perfectly, and everlastingly" Dieter F. Uchtdorf

"Living the Gospel is not a burden, but a joyful rehearsal for eternity" Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Family, I love you. Just know that I am forever indebted to you for all you have done. It is weird to think of, but I will be with you guys for the next General Conference! LOVE YOU!!!!!
Elder Morris

ACTION FIGURES FROM MY EASTER PACKAGE FROM HOME. LOVE EM!!