I HATE Needles...

Well... It makes me so sad to hear about the death of chandler. On Sunday I wrote some stuff in my journal about him. I made a list of all of the memories I had with him. It doesn't seem real to me. It just seem that he is like everyone else, and I will see him again in two. It is great to think that I will get to see him again, but just not that soon. I have been praying for his family every day. He truly is in a better place.  

It has been another crazy week here in Nagua. We finally had the baptism of H... and M.... Those two are amazing! They are so dedicated to the church, it is awesome to see. I have had to give the confirmation blessing these past two Sundays in Spanish. haha I don't know what I said both times so I hope that the people understood me. 

We haven't been able to do that much work this week. On Monday my comp got two teeth taken out because he needed space in his mouth for braces. Now its time for a little story. On Tuesday I got sick. It started off with a bad stomach ache the night before and just kept on getting worse. Then more symptoms started popping up. I had a fever, head ache, stomach pain and some good ole diarrhea. We were in the middle of a lesson when it really hit me... The sucky thing is,, is that the investigators house is a 30 minute guagua ride back to our house. We finally got back and all I wanted to do was rest. I had no energy. My comp called Sister Douglas and told her all that was going on. She said that I had to go to a hospital in San Fran. There was no way in heck that I was going to take a 1.5 hour guagua ride to San Fran. So we decided to go to a hospital closer to us. When I got there they didn't ask me any questions or anything. My comp told them my symptoms and two seconds after that they were sticking needles in me and injecting crap that I had no idea what it was. I don't know if everyone knows this but I absolutely HATE needles. My comp got the funniest pic of me getting injected that shows how much I hate them haha. They also wanted me to crap in a cup the size of a sacrament cup. I didn't do it. After they did their stuff I went home and didn't get any sleep that night. I still don't fell 100% but its okay. They never told me what I had. Some people think that it was dengue but I don't think so. Well that's about it.. I love my mission and the people here. I miss you all so much! 

Love Elder Morgan

Nagua, a little part of Heaven...

Well I had another wonderful week here in Paradise. Saturday was pretty sweet because other missionary's in out district had a baptism at the beach. Seriously one of the sickest things that I have ever seen. It was one of those times in life where you think about how beautiful the earth is and all of Gods creations. I hope that we will get to do that soon. We are supposed to have a baptism this Saturday of that couple we have been teaching. They were married yesterday so now they can finally get baptised. Tonight we are having a little party for them because they don't have enough money to have any kind of celebration by themselves. 

The work here in Nagua is coming pretty slow. It is really frustrating sometimes when things don't go as planned. The ward right now is really weak. Lots of the members don't pay tithing anymore because their old bishop was stealing that money and using it for himself. Lots of members do not sustain the bishop that they have right now which is sad. I don't know why because he is a great guy. It stinks! I also wish that we had more investigators. We don't have that many people to teach right now so I want to go out and find some new ones. My comp doesn't really like to go contacting but that is what we need to do. 

Everyone here already has their Christmas stuff up. Every house has little lights hanging out of their window. Its weird for me because it still feels like summer. It doesn't seem that Christmas is in a month. Every single day is the temperature is perfect which is super nice. 

So I started to read this book called ´´ The Miracle of Forgiveness´´ Wow! That book is life changing! It makes you think about the gospel and the atonement in depth. It makes me want to be the best person I can be. I think it is a book that everyone should read. 

Remember how I said that there were strikes going on in other towns? Well it is now here in Nagua. The streets are filled with rocks and glass bottles for people to throw at the cops. All of the stores are closed so that sucks for us. 

We went to Santiago again for another meeting. My comp and I went and took pics at the Monument. The DR is a wonderful place but it does have its cons. I would say that one of the worst things here is the peoples breath... haha I know it sounds weird but every single person has the same bad breath smell. I think that it is because most of them have rotten teeth. The soda here is super cheep, its even cheaper than water. Its really unhealthy because it is loaded with sugar. Therefore when people only drink sugar and don't brush their teeth they get cavities that smell bad. Haha. But that still doesn't change how great they are. I wish that everyone in America were as humble as the people here. Well my time is up.I love my mission and how it is changing me into a better person. I miss everyone so much! Thanks for everything!!

Love Elder Morgan

Machetes

! Everything is still going great here in the DR! Halloween was nothing like it is in the States. The people here see Halloween as a day for the dead. They go visit the cemeteries and cry all day. It's actually a pretty sucky day here. Its not really happy and you don't get any candy. So I just went and bought my own. 

On Saturday it was some big service day for the church. We went to an orphanage for girls and cleaned up the place. There were only four guys so we had to do all of the landscaping. We had to cut the grass by hand with machetes. It was a back breaker... All of the women cleaned and braided the hair of the little girls. It makes me sad seeing so many cute little girls without a family. The family is the main source of happiness and joy in life. I think about how hard its been for me being away from my family for 2 months.  It has been the hardest two months of my life... I cant imagine of what its like not having a family. I am 99% sure that I am going to adopt a Dominican baby when I am older.

Anyways the update on the couple that was going to get baptized on my birthday but couldn't because they weren't married is that they are having their wedding this next week. Hopefully they are getting baptized the week after that. I love the people here so much! I know that I always say that but it is true! I feel like I'm the ward babysitter on Sundays because during church the kids are always swarming me because I give them candy. I connect with the kids so much more because they don't care that I can't speak the language. They are friends with everyone.

The bummer of my week was, one night we were at a members house having a little party. There was lots of food, dancing and karaoke we were taking tons of pictures. Some kids got a hold of my camera and ended up deleting 150+ pictures off of my camera. It stinks because I had some sweet pics. I had pics of a double rainbow, a lizard the size of my thumb nail and other sweet things. Its alright though, I have a little time here on the DR to take some sick pics.  

Today for P-Day we went on a sweet beach bike ride. We rode for about 10 miles I'm guessing. I cant get over how beautiful Nagua is. The days are always so colorful and bright. The nights make it feel like I am in Lake Powell with the warm temps and the zillions of stars.

I am still not 100% used to being a missionary so I still have rough days but I know that this is what I am supposed to be doing at this point in my life. I am so grateful for all of the support of my family and friends. I feel the help from their prayers every day. I miss everyone so much!

Love,

    Elder Morgan