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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New District Leader

What up y'all? Yeah so this week was super fun but stressful! As for the chicunguya.. I'm not sick anymore but still can feel the effects...I have no energy.  
Tamboril has been awesome. It is on the boarder of Santiago but isn't in Santiago. It is on a mountain side so it is kinda sucky to walk with so many hills but its okay because I need to loose some weight.. haha jk I'm not fat... This place is the tobacco capital of the DR. I get to smell it 24/7 here.. smells like Vegas. Haha everyone here also smokes, so I am guessing that I will be teaching the Word of Wisdom a ton. It has been a good experience meeting new people. 
Also I have to learn tons of new things being a new district leader... I had to go to like 4 meetings last week. I feel the same way as I did when I first got here.. The sisters in our district are so great. They are super hard workers and love everyone! They are teaching me a lot. My comp and I are doing great. He has told me so many stories about his life before the mish and the crazy things that he did. He is super smart and humble. He knows 7 languages and knows how to cook and clean and just about everything else haha. He cooks super weird food for me. He is not the type that does all of his food shopping at Walmart... He is more of the type who goes out and looks for it in the fields. He knows just about every plant and its uses. That's one of the fun parts of the mission is getting new comps and learning about their culture. 
The branch here is super great, and a little different than the ward that I had in Nagua. The members actually help the missionaries with the work haha. We have a super cool ward mission leader who is an RM. Every day gets better and better because I am gaining the trust of the members. I have already been stuffed full 5 times... They love the missionaries here. I have been so blessed to have been put here with my comp. I am grateful for so many things in the life, all of which God has given me. I love my mission and the gospel. I also luv u all so much!

Love Elder Morgan

Tough week- Transfer and Chikungunya!

Well after nine months in Nagua, here I am in my new area. I'm in a countryside part of Santiago. Tamboril. This week was super sad for me, being my last week in Nagua and having to say goodbye to all of the people that I loved so much. 

On Sunday I got sick with the new dengue like sickness.... Chikungunya. It was terrible.. My comp got it also. We had to call the bishop to take us to the hospital because we couldn't walk, but... his car was broken. He calls everyone else in the ward who all had cars but they were busy. So we walked to the hospital. For some reason they made us go to the public hospital because it was free... They don't understand there is a reason why the service is free. It was so dirty! I saw blood on the ground, tons of used needles lying around and lots of people dying like me. We waited for like 20 minutes to get checked. Then like last time they just started stabbing me with all of these needles. I freaked out. Everyone was staring at me and laughing at me. After them doing all of these tests and stuff they let me go because the results wouldn't come back until the next day. My comp was in there for about 3 more hours because he had it worse. After the longest wait of my life we finally went home. We walked and I had no energy. I almost fell over like 3 times but the bishop caught me. Then we stayed in the house the whole next day. 

I had planned to go to get my teeth cleaned by American dentists in Puerto Plata, but I was sick. I was bummed because I hat tons of things planned with the members like goodbye party's but couldn't go to any of them. Then yesterday I spent the whole day packing and saying goodbye to all of the people that I could. I am really grateful for the 9 months that I had in Nagua. I am excited for the experiences that await me in the future as well here in Tamboril. My new comps name is Elder Estayul. He is from Guatemala and is from the Mayan tribes that live there. I love and thank you all for everything. 

Love Elder Morgan

At the Medical Clinic

                                                      Saying goodbye to the Bishop

My Final Week in Nagua

Hi! How are you all doing this week? I hope that you all had a great first week of summer, I know that I did.  Well it is just starting to hit me that my year mark is just around the corner... I really cant believe how fast the time has gone. Today my mission president pretty much told me that I WILL FINALLY BE LEAVING MY FIRST AREA... Transfers are next Wednesday so I am excited to see where my new area will be. My time in Nagua has been wonderful! I have met so many amazing people who love the gospel. I have had made so many new friends and good memories that will last my whole life. I would say that I have learned more about life and everything in these 9 months than any other time in my life. I have seen the love of god with my own eyes helping the humble people of Nagua. I have mixes feelings about going, I feel like I am ready to leave, but at the same time I don't want to. Nagua is my home. Well its all part of the mission life... I am also kind of sad to leave because I was starting to see real progress in a few of our investigators. I feel like they will be baptized in time, but I wont be here to see it. 

I have put the personal goal to try to learn creole. It the language that they speak in Haiti. There are tons of Haitians who live in the DR so I think it would be a cool skill to have. Well there isn't much more to say. This week was great and fast. I hope it was the same for you. I just want you all to know that I love you all. I also love our savior, Jesus Christ. I am learning more and more every day about him and feel like I will be learning more and more for the rest of my life. I feel so blessed to have the restores gospel in my life. It is a huge blessing that we have been given. I love my mission so much. Its great fun!

Love Elder

June 3, 2014

Hola everyone! This week was a super good one for my comp and I. We had so many spiritual moments for some reason. We have really been praying and working super hard to help a few people that are going through some hard times right now. It is so cool to see how the spirit can open the hearts of people.  We really have 5 people who are going through super hard times in their life. Things that I hope that I will never have to go through. Before I could tell that something was wrong, they were acting different than usual. I tried to be a sincere friend to them, gaining their trust and letting them know that I really cared for them. After awhile they poured out their hearts to me, just because I was listening to them. I found out what ways that I could help them but it wasn't that much. I also I really wanted them to know that Jesus Christ really is their savior and that he is the one that is always there for us. It wasn't until after they put their trust in the lord with faith, that their problems started getting better. Prayer really is a necessary tool in our lives. How can the lord help us with our problems if we never ask for help. In less than a week every one of those 5 people that I love so much, have seen there problems get better. 

My testimony of the lord gets stronger and stronger every week. I can say that I have seen how much he loves and wants to help us in our lives. I love the savior for all that he did for all of us. I really love my mission and everyone that I have met. Sometimes it isn't the easiest to be away from all of you, but I know that it will be worth it. I love you all and thank you for your support!

Love Elder Morgan