So there is this teenager in our ward who got baptized in February. She is now famous to all the missionaries that have gone through here because they all knew her. She was EMO. Like wrist cutting, devil worshipping, wrist cutting, scream rock EMO. All the missionaries have tried to get her to listen to them, but she would always say crazy things or leave the room. Eventually the right missionaries came and something magical took place. A true miracle. She changed... as simple as that. I have heard the stories of her and can barely believe them. However the scars on her wrist are pure evidence of what she has been through... Well we showed up to give her an ordinary boring lesson when some next door lady came over and chewed her out cause she called some grandma a nick name. She came back in crying and her mom yelling at her and it was horrible. I had no idea what to do so I prayed with all my strength and the spirit guided me.
I don't remember the scriptures I used, or how I said it but me and her both just cried. I testified to her for a good 10 minutes about how happy Heavenly Father is with us when we change. When we don't give up, but focus on making ourselves better people. How change is real and possible, and that how she is an example to all who know her of how much she has changed. She like tells all her friends about the Book of Mormon and the Gospel, she goes to seminary every day. She still has her problems but she is such an example to me. I have my problems, but if she could change, can´t I? I testified to her about all this stuff, and it was like through my own mouth the spirit was helping me to understand that he is ready to help me on this next grand step I am about to take in life.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Todo Cheque!!! (Its all good!) June 14,2010
A miracle happened with Ericka. One day I brought her a book about the teachings of Joesph Smith, and she picked it up and started to read. So you can imagine my surprise when I came to pick her up to go to Church and she came walking out with about 200 limps of cash. She comes up to me with the sweetest smile and with such excitement tells me "look, I have my tithing." I had only talked to her about tithing once about 3 weeks before, and had forgotten to remind her through the whole week to keep track of it cause me and Elder Medina were so busy. Through her own study the Lord had shown her the way to begin her Financial Independence. Also a reference to a man named Jorge. We gave him the book of Mormon 10 days ago. He is currently reading in Alma!!!!! We have only taught him the restoration of the gospel and he is going to finish the book of Mormon before we finish the plan of salvation!!! Talk about elect.
Todo Cheque!!! (Its all good!)
Todo Cheque!!! (Its all good!)
Raining Cats and Dogs May 31, 2010
So I don't know how President did it, or why. However he actually managed to find some one in the mission with less time, baptisms, and experience than me, and now he is my comp. Elder Medina has 3 months in the mission, and he was in Catacamas for the first 3. It's a pueblo where the church is basically persecuted. So he didn't get a lot of chances to teach or learn how to contact. However here he is. He may actually be the only missionary here who knows a little less then I do.
So basically I just have to tell him like 10 times a day, "I'm sorry" and "I have no idea what I am doing." I feel like I am starting the mission over. I haven't had time to wash clothes for a week now and I spend every free minute I have making plans, calling people, and getting everything filled in and organized. Yesterday was so stressful I thought I was going to have a panic attack!
Good Part: Elder Medina is super patient with me, a really great missionary who loves to work hard, and we are both learning's tons together. We have his first baptism this Saturday (a mom and her daughter, which is also a challenge because I have no idea how to baptize some one, or the paper work, or the baptismal meeting or anything so I am literally just praying for revelation cause he has never baptized before so we both have no idea how.) However the part that almost makes everything okay? HE SPEAKS THE ENGLISH! Yesterday I had a headache so bad I thought the Lord was ready to take me. I had just finished the hardest high stress week of my life and even the idea of continuing on was to much to handle. My body went into self destruct mode. However God prepared a way for me to make it. My comp just came up to me and said "How are you" in the most beautiful English ever. I just went off in English venting and letting my brain relax from my Spanish stress nightmare! It's now my perfect stress remedy.
Elder Medina is from Tegucigalpa, Honduras, The city is divided into two districts, Comayuguela, and Tegucigalpa. He literally lives 20 minutes in a taxi from my house. He knows our stake president as a friend, has friends in our area, we see people he knows in the street, and he has a relative that we eat lunch with on Fridays. Its basically as if I was called to serve from Ivins to the "St. George Bloomington Utah Mission." no joke that close. I know the scriptures say that you can't be a prophet in your own land but hey, here he is. (PS, from our back porch, cause we live on a huge mountain, you can see his chapel that he went to church in, and the district that he lives. His house is covered in trees. It is super distant, but hey, you can still make it out.)
So my baptism this week will be very special. It will be my first contact to water baptism. Her name is Ericka, and her daughter Kathy. Ericka loves the church and reads the book of Mormon every day. However she couldn't come to church because she had to make tortillas to sell to feed her kids. When the members heard about it they all did this thing where they all went Saturday and bought twice as many tortillas from her so she could go on Sunday to church. To see her progression has been such an amazing experience. However despite the miracles of her changing her life and the members helping yesterday was the counter Satan attack!!!
So she had to go to church yesterday to get baptized this Saturday. So all Sunday morning we got stuck in "an all talk" stake mission work meeting. So we were finally delivered from that I literally ran to the members house who was supposed to take her in a car. However his tire was flat! On top of it all? It was raining cats and dogs! The rivers in the city yesterday started to run there banks, and the river is currently washing away houses left and right here. (PS the city is in a state of emergency from flooding, forgot to mention that small detail. Don't worry about me or my area its called "king of the mountain" for a reason.) My comp just sat down defeated and depressed in the house completely soaked from the rain and said "what do we do? She can't go in this rain with her children and she doesn't have rain gear." I said "shut up and get your umbrella."
I took every jacket, cardigan, umbrella, and towel in my house and marched to her front door. She was standing in the door way and yelled "wheres the car?"
I yelled back over the sound of the pounding rain "I have bad news."
"I cant go in this!" she said as she realized the car wasn't coming.
I responded "if i have to carry you and your daughter it doesn't matter to me, your coming to church and your getting baptized I packed them with clothes, gave them my own umbrella, and off we went.
They still have my jackets and my umbrellas, but I am grateful for the miracles, and I am also grateful for hard work, and how even when the streets turn to rivers, the church is true. I hope one day these people realize just how much I love them, and what I am willing to do to see them happy.
God Bless,
Elder Morris.
So basically I just have to tell him like 10 times a day, "I'm sorry" and "I have no idea what I am doing." I feel like I am starting the mission over. I haven't had time to wash clothes for a week now and I spend every free minute I have making plans, calling people, and getting everything filled in and organized. Yesterday was so stressful I thought I was going to have a panic attack!
Good Part: Elder Medina is super patient with me, a really great missionary who loves to work hard, and we are both learning's tons together. We have his first baptism this Saturday (a mom and her daughter, which is also a challenge because I have no idea how to baptize some one, or the paper work, or the baptismal meeting or anything so I am literally just praying for revelation cause he has never baptized before so we both have no idea how.) However the part that almost makes everything okay? HE SPEAKS THE ENGLISH! Yesterday I had a headache so bad I thought the Lord was ready to take me. I had just finished the hardest high stress week of my life and even the idea of continuing on was to much to handle. My body went into self destruct mode. However God prepared a way for me to make it. My comp just came up to me and said "How are you" in the most beautiful English ever. I just went off in English venting and letting my brain relax from my Spanish stress nightmare! It's now my perfect stress remedy.
Elder Medina is from Tegucigalpa, Honduras, The city is divided into two districts, Comayuguela, and Tegucigalpa. He literally lives 20 minutes in a taxi from my house. He knows our stake president as a friend, has friends in our area, we see people he knows in the street, and he has a relative that we eat lunch with on Fridays. Its basically as if I was called to serve from Ivins to the "St. George Bloomington Utah Mission." no joke that close. I know the scriptures say that you can't be a prophet in your own land but hey, here he is. (PS, from our back porch, cause we live on a huge mountain, you can see his chapel that he went to church in, and the district that he lives. His house is covered in trees. It is super distant, but hey, you can still make it out.)
So my baptism this week will be very special. It will be my first contact to water baptism. Her name is Ericka, and her daughter Kathy. Ericka loves the church and reads the book of Mormon every day. However she couldn't come to church because she had to make tortillas to sell to feed her kids. When the members heard about it they all did this thing where they all went Saturday and bought twice as many tortillas from her so she could go on Sunday to church. To see her progression has been such an amazing experience. However despite the miracles of her changing her life and the members helping yesterday was the counter Satan attack!!!
So she had to go to church yesterday to get baptized this Saturday. So all Sunday morning we got stuck in "an all talk" stake mission work meeting. So we were finally delivered from that I literally ran to the members house who was supposed to take her in a car. However his tire was flat! On top of it all? It was raining cats and dogs! The rivers in the city yesterday started to run there banks, and the river is currently washing away houses left and right here. (PS the city is in a state of emergency from flooding, forgot to mention that small detail. Don't worry about me or my area its called "king of the mountain" for a reason.) My comp just sat down defeated and depressed in the house completely soaked from the rain and said "what do we do? She can't go in this rain with her children and she doesn't have rain gear." I said "shut up and get your umbrella."
I took every jacket, cardigan, umbrella, and towel in my house and marched to her front door. She was standing in the door way and yelled "wheres the car?"
I yelled back over the sound of the pounding rain "I have bad news."
"I cant go in this!" she said as she realized the car wasn't coming.
I responded "if i have to carry you and your daughter it doesn't matter to me, your coming to church and your getting baptized I packed them with clothes, gave them my own umbrella, and off we went.
They still have my jackets and my umbrellas, but I am grateful for the miracles, and I am also grateful for hard work, and how even when the streets turn to rivers, the church is true. I hope one day these people realize just how much I love them, and what I am willing to do to see them happy.
God Bless,
Elder Morris.
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