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

Elder Bieber?

Well it has been another great week here in paradise. Twas my birthday on Saturday and it was a pretty awesome day. We just taught normal lessons during the day but one of the investigators house is way far away. We usually take a Guagua (piece o crap taxi) to his house but we didn't have any money to get there so we just rode the bishops motorcycle there instead. It was probably about a 45 minute ride.   By the time we got there my butt was dead. During the ride I realizes how pretty Nagua really is. Everything is so green and big. The mountains here aren't the same but are just as sick in a different way. 

After we got back we had a baptism of two 8 year old kids. One of the dads was running way late and they were going to have me baptise one of the kids but he made it just in time. That's a good thing for me because I don't know the baptism prayer in Spanish yet. 

Then later that night I had two surprise birthday parties. One by the Bishop's family, because it was also the bishop's wife and son's birthday.They had three cakes made for us. It was a sweet party. Then later I thought that we had one more lesson but it was a surprise party at one of our investigator's houses. It was an awesome day!

 The rest of this week has been normal for the DR. Everyday I see things that would be crazy in the States but is totally normal here. A funny thing that has been happening lately is that everyone thinks that I look like Justin Beiber. He is way big here, so just because I'm white and sexy people think that I am JB. What the crap! The bishops wife just calls me Justin... 

It has been raining like crazy the past couple of days. Every time we go out I forget my umbrella so I get soaked. I have a hard time sleeping at night because the thunder, barking dogs, and freaking roosters. The roosters here suck because they think that the sun is rising at 2am. 

I have been teaching a lot of lessons lately so I guess that I am progressing in the language. As I have always said, the people here are awesome! They are so loving and caring even though they don't really know me. I have learned a lot about life out here. Lots of these people out here have pretty crappy lives and its not because of anything that they have done.  Bad things happen to good people but everything happens for a reason. We might not know why it is happening at the time, but Heavenly Father knows us better than we do. He is all knowing so everything that happens for a purpose. Life isn't always fair and that is why we need the gospel in our lives. No matter who you are, you can be saved and live with your family for eternity if you follow his commandments and the words of the prophets. I have been so blessed in my life and I am so grateful for it. I miss you all!!

Love Elder Morgan

Who Needs a Seatbelt

Well I would like to start out by saying that I am sorry to all of the people that wrote me emails... It has been crazy here because they are having a crazy strike or something... I freakin love you all so very much though!! 

Anyways this week has been sick. Tons of awesome and spiritual experiences. The days are starting to fly by because I am getting in the missionary routine. I don't know where to start... I just want to say that Nagua is one of the best places on earth! It is incredibly beautiful. Almost every morning my comp and I run to the beach and watch the sunrise. It is unbelievable! We usually don't have time for studies in the morning because we usually are doing some type of service for someone. Service has got to be one of the greatest things ever invented. You help someone in need and feel very good inside, everyone benefits from it. I kind of regret complaining when we had to do service for mutual or something. But its alright because I will have two years to serve the wonderful people of the DR. 

I am already used to the living conditions. The food is really good but unhealthy. I think that I am gaining some poundage. I did the math and the church gives us about $2 a day for food... Its all good because the food here is super cheep. 

I see crazy crap everyday so i think that it will be a shock when i go home in 2 and everything is normal. I swear that I have seen more naked babies than there are churches in Utah... I am growing super close to the people here. They are all so wonderful. There is this little girl in our ward whose name is D. She is the cutest little girl that I have ever seen!! At first the only thing that she would say to me was ¨Feo Blanco¨, which means ugly white... Its alright because we are like best friends now even though I have no idea what she says to me. 

The Spanish is coming. Instead of just bearing my testimony at the end of our lessons I am now starting to teach the lessons. Yesterday was crazy because we had a meeting with the President in Santiago. Transportation is really hard because of the strike. So last night we had to ride in the bed of a little truck for an hour and a half! It was a party! We just sang songs, pretended that we were on the top of the titanic and other dumb things to make the time go by faster. 

I am learning so much about myself everyday. I also have learned about how wonderful life is and how important it is for us to have the gospel in our lives. It has been a super busy week. I am supposed to go to Santiago tomorrow but it might not happen because there are strikes going on there. Our area is super big so we walk somewhere around 6 or 7 miles a day. My feet hurt so dang bad but I cant complain because there are people here that don't have shoes. There are lots or crazy people here, one that we see everyday is this old Gypsy lady that is like 120.. idk how she is still alive but every time we walk past her house she says ¨give me one peso¨. We just smile and wave but it is pretty funny because a peso is pretty much worthless. Wellzz I g2g so I want you all to know that I miss you! The Church is an amazing blessing in my life and I am so grateful for it!

Love Elder Morgan

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Small Spaces and Beautiful Places..

Well, this week was hard but wonderful. Change is a very hard thing. A mission helps you learn how to move on from things that you don't need to dwell on. Haha... One of the biggest changes that I made in the past week was getting used to where I live. At first I thought that the MTC was a piece of crap. I soon realized that I was living in the Garden of Eden... Where I live, in reality is pretty awesome. I have a great view of palm trees and rusty roof tops. I wake up every day and get to see a picture perfect sunrise.
My companion is a great guy. I have learned so much from him in only one week. Yes it is hard with him not knowing any English but, it is forcing me to learn Spanish so its a good thing. 
I would say that my biggest struggle right now is the Spanish. It is hard because I can't tell people what I want to when we are teaching lessons. I usually just sit and listen because I can understand most of what they say. I just don't know what to say back to them. 
The people here are amazing! They are all so humble and caring. They are all starting to get used to a skinny white boy from America that barely knows Spanish. I am getting close with lots of them. The bishop and his family do so much for us.
Want to hear something crazy-- There are 35,000 members in the DR only 5000 of them are active... So the work that we usually do is try to reactivate those members. We still have tons of investigators though. I had someone accept my baptism question this past week. I was stoked! We also have a couple that is getting baptized on the 26th of this month. The day of my birthday! Pretty cool birthday present huh! I think that we will get to do it in the ocean. 
Everyday here is an adventure. Everyday I eat at least 20 tropical fruits. We have coconut milk at least once a day and make fruit smoothies. I am starting to see how much missions bless lives. I know that I have only started but I know that my life is going to change for the better. I love and miss you all!! 

Love, Elder Morgan

I am learning new things about myself every day..

 Nagua, DR

 Elder Morgan's new companion.

Holla Holla! well it has been one of the craziest weeks of my life. It was a fun last week at the mtc. It is sad to think that I won't be able to go to a temple for the next two years. It sucked leaving because I had to say goodbye to all of the people that I was friends with there. First they make me say goodbye to my real family, then they make me say goodbye to my MTC family. I will miss all of the wonderful people that I met there. 

I am finally out in the field and it is loco! I am in a small town on the beach called Nagua. It is super hot and humid here but its alright because I'm not a baby.. It literally took us the whole day to drive from Santiago to Nagua. We crammed 10 missionaries in a minivan and drove for about 2 hours. Then we were dropped off at a bus station and waited all day for a ride out. My new companion's name is Elder H..... He is from here and speaks about 0% English... Its good for me though because I will learn the Spanish a lot faster. 

Santiago was great! I met my mission parents and they are the most wonderful people ever. The mission home was super nice. Today is my first full day as a real missionary. It is kind of funny because all of the people stare at me like I have boogers on my face but I think its just because I am white... haha. 

So much has happened this past week that there is no way I can write it all but last night after I arrived here we went out and taught a few lessons and had a ward FHE meeting thing. My apartment is pretty dang small but it could be worse. At least I have power and running water unlike some of the other missionaries here. 

I am pretty nervous here because this is the start of my real life. This is the first time that I have to make my own food, clean my room, unclog the toilet and lots of other things that mom used to do for me. To be honest I kind of like this simple life style. You learn to live poor here and its kind of fun. I am learning new things about myself every day. Missions are hard but they are well worth all of the sacrifices. I know that my journey has just begun but I know that the lord will help me when I need it. My new day for P'Day is Wednesday. If you want to send me letters, send it to this address.

I miss you all like crazy!! The church is TRUE!!

Love Elder Morgan

Elder Parker Morgan
 Y PARA CARTAS 
SDQ 8013    
P.O.    BOX 025725      
MIAMI, FL      33102-5725.