Hi Fam, Friends, and others interested :)

August 31, 2009

I'm glad you are taking notes in church, Taking notes truly does help you stay up, and you get way more out of the meetings when you do that; also, if the lord gives you an impression or revelation and you don't write it down.... you are basically telling him you don't care, and then you forget it. That’s why it’s so important to write journals and take notes. The Lord will see we care about the information he is giving us, and then he will be more likely to give us more. I know personally that I need all the help from the lord I can get.

That’s soooo awesome to hear about my cds! It makes me feel good to hear they are selling. Thank you mom for being a great manager for my business while I'm gone! Thanks to everyone who has promoted my cds too. You know who you are; and I know most of you who know who you are.....

So this week I was told that if you have a guitar on your mission then you are pretty much apostate... and that guitars are very "old culture". I decided that I would find myself a violin then! because they are allowed. :) So I prayed a couple times I said "Lord, if it be thy will help me to find a violin/viola to buy or get"; then mid week I realized.... Why do I need an instrument... the lord is trying to use me as an instrument, it will only happen if I do what he has asked. So I have not been very aggressive at all about finding one. But I figure that if the lord wants me to have one then I will find one. As for now, being desperate for an instrument to play, I have created one from a drinking straw. It’s kind of a double reed off tune flute. It makes me explode with laughter every time I play it! It would be amazing if I could find a cheap recorder or something. Then I might modify the recorder into a ghetto oboe that plays only in one key, by replacing the mouthpiece with my double reed straw. (That probably made no sense to any one. I will send a picture if it ever happens.)

This week I went on exchanges with Elder Alder (another elder from the pad) it was interesting and we didn't achieve anything.

I ran out of pens (I used them all up! Ha ha!) So I bought some new ones.

This week we told Shakora to get married and come to church so she could get baptized. So far she hasn't come to church, but it’s because she has had things come up to prevent her from doing so. She is really solid, but we cannot baptize her until she gets married! so we have been trying to help her realize the importance of getting married if she wants to be baptized.

Rufino is an awesome hot dog stand guy who lost both of his children (one to suicide and one to murder) while he was in prison. He has really turned his life around and when he came to church, his answers and spiritually was above a lot of the priesthood holders'. Ha ha. we told him that he is ready for baptism but he said he needs to think about it. we haven't been able to get a hold of him because he is out of town until like tomorrow or Wednesday.

We did a deep clean this week! Wow. lol. Wow. lol. I moped by the door.... oh man; I really do not think it has ever been moped. I will send pictures. It feels much brighter, lighter, and happier in the apartment now. But, sadly, it doesn't matter much because after this transfer the lease is up on our pad. So we will be moving. Woot! the new place will probably be one of Elder Oliverson’s investigators. :) He is an awesome guy! The people in that hood love the missionaries already. It is only two blocks from where we live now, but it is a much cleaner better area. There won't be a problem there as far as druggies and violence go. (its really funny how every block here is a different universe) Its by a block garden (that the missionaries beautified) and two schools, and a park, and a firestaion, and a church (not LDS, but still a big church). So it will be better. It’s got its own washer and dryer and a huge new fridge that has an ice maker!

A guy started talking to me when Elder Orr and I were singing hymns in the subway. Ha ha. :) he was Russian and his name was atone!

I talked to a guy in Spanish.

I was headed to a media with when we heard a young girl say to a guy she was with "you don't call god Jehovah because that’s like calling a king by his first name, so we shouldn't call God by his first name". Before during and after I heard this I felt impressed to talk to her so I stopped walking a turned around. Elder Orr told me later he felt very prompted to talk to her too. We turned around and so did she. Then she said "get over here!..." so we did. Then we had an amazing conversation with her and the guy with her who ended up being the brother. (We talked 2 hrs) and by the end we were best friends pretty much. Since then we have met on Thursday, Saturday, and she came to church Sunday! She is solid and understands everything we talk about. She wants to be a missionary! lol. We have given her a blessing ‘cause she was sick and she felt better right away. She cares about us too which is cool! She told us to call her when we got home so that she would know if we made it home safely! It turns out; she said all that stuff about Jehovah to get our attention so we would share our opinions on the matter. What she got was much bigger than the fact that Jehovah is Christ not Heavenly Father. She has received a lot of understanding and knowledge and faith. we will commit her and her brother for baptism next time we see them. Also, funny thing... the guy who got shot next door to me was one of her friends. small world huh.... especially in Brooklyn cause there are more people in this city than in Utah and its only like the size of Provo. lol.

Today was cool so far ‘cause I got to go to BJ's (its basically like Costco) I will be hungry no more!!!!! I have been feeling like kitty lately... I eat and eat and don't feel satisfied! It really is a horror show. I ran out of everything! lol. Yesterday I ate a fourth of a lasagna in one sitting and didn't feel stuffed. Ha ha.

I love and miss you. I hope my other missionary friends are doing well. If someone could give me an update on Erik, Todd, Kyle, Mclean and BJ that would be cool. I'm already getting updates on Nate and Josh (which I appreciate greatly)

thank you soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much for your support and prayers, hugs and kisses, good vibrations, and letters/packages. They help more than I ever would have predicted. Letters and personal study are the only things that I have kept me sane. Besides seeing the atonement in others lives.

Peace out!

PS
why does race matter so much to people? and why does Gods color and people on other planets even matter? God is our loving heavenly father and he has provided a simple strait forward way back to him. It’s right infront of so many people and they just don't see how important it is. All we need to do is have faith in the lord Jesus Christ and in his atonement, repent, be baptized by the correct authority, and then endure to the end. Those of us who have testimonies and our families have been unified by these truths (or will be) are sooooo blessed. The difference is clear, large, and specific. I know this Is The true church! I love the knowledge I have. I wish very much that my whole family could realize this, so that we could all be together forever.
-Elder Morris