March 4, 2008

Hey Mom! Hey Dad!

Thank you so much for the packages! I LOVE them. Thank you so much for sending me shoes. The gym shoes arrived just in time for gym. I wondered all day what I would do and then I got my package. What a relief! They fit perfectly. Anyway, enough about shoes. I’m thinking you want to hear about my mission.

I love my trainers! They are awesome! There is Hermana Christensen who I think served in New York. She is a BYU student and studying Econ. or accounting or something like that. She somehow always gets to teach us when we are hyper. Maybe because she seems to teach us right after meals and we have fun when we eat, maybe too much fun we’ve decided. The Elders especially get pretty off track talking about; well now I can’t really think of anything, but it gets pretty loud. We love to laugh! I think we just need to get rid of stress and that’s how we do it. Anyway, back to my teachers. My other teacher is Hermano Martinez. He went to Argentina on his mission. His family lives in Layton somewhere close to SR 193. He is a really sharp guy! And a very good teacher.

The Spanish is coming along pretty well. We have learned how to meet someone and tell them who we are. We learned how to testify and also how to pray. So that is pretty fun. You learn fast! I am so glad I took Spanish in high school or it would have been overwhelming. I’m excited for the day I can speak as well as the rest of zone.

I LOVE MY DISTRICT! They are so much fun! There are 5 elders. Elder Nelson, who is the district leader. He is Awesome! He is really good leader & I think the other missionaries including me really look up to him. The other elders are Elder Shirley who is a convert & the only member in-his family, Elder Haackie who for some reason reminds me of Tanner, Elder Roberts who is really smart & Elder Walker who likes to make us laugh. I feel bad for him and Elder Haackie. They are really struggling with the language. I think we have a really good district. Even Elder Martinez said he could tell we were a good district –He Said not every group feels the way ours does when you walk in the room. I appreciated that he said that. I think the reason I like my district so much is because we’re all such good friends. .

The hardest thing about the MTC is just adjusting. Every second of the day there is something we have planned to do. Meetings, comp. study, personal study, language study, class time etc. I don’t feel like I have enough time to do anything. They keep giving us assignments that I end up using personal study to work on because every other time of the day is full. I love personal study time so hopefully I’ll be able to start getting my work done more quickly. Apparently the first week is just hard that way because of all the orientations and new missionary meetings.

Our visas? Well we don’t know. They haven’t told us any news. I was actually thinking the other day, even if I had to stay in America, I think that would be okay. I still get to speak Spanish and I may get to teach in English too. So it was really funny because right after I finished the last sentence, before this one, the travel office called for Hermana Briggs. They told us we’ll either have our Itinerary for Spain MTC or a letter telling us we have to stay at this MTC by Friday. So cross your fingers. We’ll know by the next letter I send you. From what I’ve heard they send the missionaries who don’t get their visas to California... So who knows, I could be serving the same place as Taylor Webb and Brandon. Let’s hope for Spain though.

Let’s see…I’ll try to think of some interesting facts. –I sleep on the top bunk by the door. We have 3 bunk beds and 3 people in the room so we each have our own bunk bed…I hope that made sense. 3 of the elders are from Utah. Elder Shirley, a convert played football for BYU. They give us lots of food at the MTC and so far I’ve enjoyed it. We get ice cream on Sundays and Wednesdays. Wednesday ice cream is a special treat to welcome the new missionaries. All of the elders in our district have girl “friends” writing them at home. Only one will admit he has an actual girlfriend, which I think is funny. Both of my companions got asked to stay home by a boy. I tend to forget my name tag in the morning. I’m still working on that new habit. Tonight we have a devotional and I’m hoping it’s a member of the 12.

Tell everyone hi, I miss you all. I can’t wait to see you again, but just like Bro. Simon told Madi, the hardest part’s over now. Now we’re on the countdown. I love you. Tell Kade hi and that I love him so much and thank you for the gum. Thank you guys for the packages. It’s like Christmas every time I get one. I love getting packages, it makes my whole day. We have a district goal where we only look at mail at night. So all day I have to wait, but I love it. Hermano Martinez suggested we only read at night so we don’t get distracted, so that’s why we’re doing it. It makes the end of the day so much fun. I love getting letters. They don’t distract me at all. If anything, they help me stay focused and motivated and happy or optimistic I guess.

The MTC is great. I’ve learned a lot. It’s so nice to have the spirit constantly with me. It is so peaceful and wonderful. We had a lesson yesterday with our zone. Think of some one who is very important to you. Who would you trust to look after them? I thought of you guys and I thought of Kade. I realized I’m helping Heavenly Father bring His Kades home. That put missionary work in a whole new perspective. It is very motivating.

So I guess you probably want to see what I’ve learned so far. I’ll bear my testimony for you in espanol and you can figure it out.

Yo se que JesuCristo es nuestro redento.
Yo se que Jose Smith fue un profeta de Dios.
Yo se que El Libro de Mormon es la palabra de Dios.
You se que Thomas S. Monson es el profeta de Dios
Yo se que Dios es nuestro Padre Celestial.
En El nombre de JesuCristo, amen.

I have no time. But I just hope you know I’m doing great and I love you and I’m excited to write you again.

Love,
Morgan

PS: Elder Holland spoke to us tonight! Wow! What an amazing talk! My favorite was when he talked about the Savior and pointed out all the people who abandoned him and even on the cross he says, “My God, my God, why has thou forgotten me?” And he (Elder Holland) said very firmly to us, “Don’t you DARE abandon Him!” It was amazing. I was so sad when he ended his talk. I could have stayed there all night!