Cigars

Well another crazy week has gone by. Well first of all, I have some crazy news, I got transferred to a new area. My new area is called Hato Mayor, it is still in Santiago and in the same zone as Tamboril. I was kind of bummed to have such little time in Tamboril. Even though I only had 6 weeks, I met and got close to lots of the members there. Change is never easy. It was hard for me last night saying my goodbyes to the people that I just got used to. Well President is a very wise man and will always respect his decisions.  My new area seems pretty cool. Also I am excited to be in the district that I am in. We got some good Elders here. I am happy to still have the chance to be DL, I still have many things to learn. The companion that I had was really having a hard time enjoying his mission. I think that he was just super homesick. Although it was one of my hardest transfers, I have learned so much from all of the hard times I had. I am happy to be here with my new comp. His name is Elder Simones and is from Haiti. I think that we are going to have a great time together.

So this last week I got to learn a lot about cigars... We took a tour through one of the factories where our friend works. It was cool to see the process that the tobacco went through to become a cigar. Haha I know this is a weird example but it is the same with us in this life. We start out as rough and ugly leaves. But after we have time and experience in our life we learn to accept the lords help or hand in our life to shape and form us in to the type of person that he wants to be. After a long process of having the lords hands work with us, we can be perfected. Just as the the ugly tobacco goes through the process to change into a perfect cigar. Now I am not saying that tobacco is good for you and all of that junk. It was just cool for me to see that whole process. I feel the same in my mission. I am now learning to accept the lords help in my life to help shape me into the man he wants me to be. I know all of this is random but that's all that's going on in my life. I love my mission and all of the wonderful people from the DR. I love and miss you all!

Love Elder Morgan 

Relationships

Well it seems like it was just yesterday when I wrote you about last week. This week was a good one for me. My comp and I both have gotten better from our sicknesses so it was a good week full of work. One of my favorite things about the mission is making new friends. 

It is so cool to see the change in relationships with the time. There have been so many times where we meet someone and by the way they act I judge them and say to myself "they are not going to progress" But all it takes is a few visits to gain their trust. We have been visiting this one family ever since I got to Tamboril. Every time we taught them it was going no where. Then one lesson we talked to them a little less about the gospel and a little more about their lives. I realized that we didn't have our trust. By the end of the night they invited us to have dinner with them two nights later. On Sunday we had dinner with them. It was so great we talked and talked and talked. Before we left they had invited us to another dinner night, lunch whenever we want in their house, and and a trip to some property that they have far away that is full of fruits and veggies. Haha I don't think we will be able to do that, but it was so cool to see how fast that we gained their trust. Honestly I have learned that trust is key in mission work, but more than trust its being a good friend and showing the person that you really care about them. 

This week alone we got to get really close with three other families. Life is so much better when you have friends and when you are a good friend to others. Although the mission has never been super easy, I am thankful for all of the things that it has taught me up until now. I am so glad that I have friends at home  and in all parts of the world who care about how I am doing. I love you all so much!! Thanks for everything!

Love Elder Morgan

Humanitarian Work

Well this week was a pretty good one for me. My comp and I are doing our best to work with our differences. Its not that we don't get along, its just that literally, we are different in every aspect. Haha it has been hard but good for me learning how to live with someone so different. He has a super big heart and wants to serve the lord with everything that he has got, but he is just to hard on himself. 

Monday was such a fun day for me. I got to translate for some doctors that came down from Utah, who are here to educate the kids and their parents a little bit more, cuz there are like 5 million ways to get sick down here. they had all different types of stations set up. there were stations to check eyes, teach about medicine, good hygiene, first aid and dental. I was doing the dental part. I got to teach the kids how to brush their teeth. Haha it was super funny because everyone here drinks way to much soda, so the lady that I was with came with a little example. She had cut out teeth from Styrofoam plates. She had two jars, one full of water and the other with nail polish remover with food coloring. So we told them that this is was happens to your teeth when you drink water, and dipped the tooth in the water, nothing happened. Then we said that this is what happens to your teeth in soda, and dipped the tooth in the "soda". When you do this the Styrofoam melts. Haha every time we did it, the kids and the parents had the funniest looks on their face. Haha the type of look that says " I am never going to drink soda ever again" Haha it was great. It was such a great experience for me to see how much humanitarian work helps other countries. 

The work for us here in Tamboril is going pretty good. We are working hard with the less actives. WE have some potential baptisms, but only time will tell. Well that's pretty much all that happens this week. I'm not sick anymore so that's good. Well thank you all for everything. I love you all so much!

Love Elder Morgan

Sick Again!

Well, twas a long week for me... My comp was sick all last weekend so we didn't do much.. then I got sick again on Monday... not too fun.. Chicunguya or whatever it is, is like the worst sicknesses all mixed together. First, your bones and joints feel like they are 150 years old and don't want to work, then you get a rash all over your body, then a killer fever and headache, and to top it all off, it drains all of your energy. I tried to go out yesterday, but only lasted two lessons before I had to come home. Right now I feel pretty good so I hope that it is gone for good.  I'm kinda bummed because that sets us pretty far back in our work. Something that you always have to do as a missionary, is be consistent with visits. I have learned that one visit a week goes nowhere. Its hard because our area is pretty big, so we do have lots of people to visit.

I'm not going to lie, it has been pretty tough for me to get used to my new comp. We are just so different and have nothing in common. He is a great and loving Elder though, He want to do his best and is very good at serving others. When I was sick dieing in my bed, he was always there asking me if I needed anything. I found out after I started feeling better that he did my laundry for me. DANG.. I would have never have thought to do that for someone else. So yeah there are lots of things that I have to learn from him. 

It was so weird for me to think that the 4th has already passed by. There is a less active here who loves Americans. Haha it was super funny to me that on the fourth, he came over to our house and wanted to party all day. He was way more excited for it than I was.  Well it just felt like a normal day for me. Well that's all that happened with me this week.. I hope that this week is better! I really felt the lords love this week, even though it was one of the harder weeks of my mission. I am so lucky to have been blessed so much in life. I love you all!

Love Elder Morgan

 Don't know how this can be comfortable.

 Beautiful sunsets!

A Fun Week with HEFY

On a side note, last night our doorbell rings.  Two darling girls are standing at the door.  Catie says to us "You don't know me but I met your son, Elder Morgan."  

We invited them in.  Catie Osborne and ? Brumm from Sandy, both attend Alta High. Catie spent the last 2 weeks with HEFY in Santiago, DR. The ward they were put with happens to be the ward Elder Morgan is serving in.  She told us he is so happy and looks healthy.  She delivered letters to us from him.  We had a great time talking to her and Ms. Brumm.  Elder Brumm returned home a month ago from the same mission.  He was the AP for the last 6 months.  This unexpected visit was the highlight of our week!

Tami

Hola todos! So this week was a pretty good one for me, full of lots of fun, stress, and success! The people of Tamboril are awesome! I have only been here for a few weeks and I already feel like I am family. This past week was full of activities with the youth of the ward, and the kids here for EFY.  It has been fun for me to have been able to meet these kids who are from Utah. They are having lots of fun learning about the culture here. Haha the other night there was a dance party in the church. My comp and I went to check it out. It was super funny to see all of the different cool and fancy ways Latinos dance. They have meringue, salsa, bachata, dembo.  Haha then it came time for the Americans to dance and all they did was the classic American fist pump. Haha it was so legit! I was sitting in the corner feeling like I was in a cage watching all of them having so much fun dancing...#MISHUNLYFE  It was also super funny to see the reactions of the Utah kids to see how the Dominicans party... They brought in these huge speakers that shook the ground in the small chapel haha good times. 

We had some great lessons with great people. We have a family that we are teaching that have lots of potential. We had a FHE at their house, after the lesson they fed us so much food!! I could feel their love in my belly.. This week was a little stressful because I have been learning all of the District Leader business. I guess that it will come in time. 

I am always super tired for some reason. I think it is because there are so many hills that we walk every day. Its an awesome place though. I have has some great spiritual experiences with the investigators and less actives. I just hope that we can get them going! Well that's the short update of this week. I love you all so much!

luv Elder Morgan

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