I'm a Texan.

Faaaammillllyyyyy!!!!!   SoooOOO.... In case my subject line didn't give it awayyyyy....   IM GOING TO TEXAS ON WEDNESDAYYY!!!!!!!  SaN ANToniOO!!!!!!   HAhaha I am so beyond stoked it's not even funny!!!!  What a crazy week though! Last Thursday we recieved our travel plans to go to Argentina (Monday the 4th at 11:30 am) and after days of annoying the heck out of the poor travel office, we got our reassignments this morning!!!  Everyone had hopes of getting our visas but the word on the street is that only 19 out of 52 or some odd number got them.. and thats including some missionaries that have already been in their reassigned missions for over 3 weeks now.  We put up a grid on one of our white boards and everyone guessed where everyone would go.  You know how much I love placing bets. ...We still have to see who won but if someone guessed right for me, I buy them a candy bar.  If I guessed myself right (which I didnt) I would get the "grand prize" of the tic-tac fund (which I think is a whole 7 dollars in spare change), and if our teachers guessed ours right they win an 8x10 picture of us. Haha.. the BYU photo center is closing down so 8x10 are all they make anymore but we figured it was fitting because... who wouldnt want a 8x10 of their favorite district ever. :)))   Because your probably dying to know, all of the elders got reassigned to Alabama and Sister Nelson and a sister from a different district are going to Washington D.C. South.  Seriously, we are all beyond excited.  One of our teachers served in Alabama too so we can't wait to see his face when we tell him. haha.  It is going to be hard waiting without having any way of checking up on our visas but i have been constantly working on my patience since getting to the mission so... bring it on. We've been told proabably a month or two.  I know that this is all happening for a reason.  :)    aaannnywayyss... ya.   Not much else to report here.  I don't think I'll have much time to call in the airport... probably a little but I also get to call today!  It can be a whole 5 minutes long so ya. be excited mom.  It'll be before dinner so... 5:45ish Utah time.   I LOVE YOU ALLL!!!!! -Hna. Morgan  

2 weeks and counting!

Aye Chihuahua!!!  Mother! How many time do I need to tell you that I get all of your DearElders before you will actually believe me?!  haha. Maybe I should have specified that I do not get them unitl after dinner so when you send them to me on Thursday I don't get them until after I have already emailed... but I still get them. I PROMISE!!!

Ha, now that that is out of the way and you only have a week or two left to take advantage of that awesome service...  We're supposed to get our travel plans today!!!  It is super exciting even though it doesnt really even matter because we wont find out until next Friday if we have our visas or not.  If not, they will reassign us then and we will get new travel plans.  But ya, either way, it is exciting.  I was afraid that the weeks would slow down as it got closer to the time to leave but they have not.  Time flies as usual as we continue to learn and grow in prepartation for the people we will teach.

As we get down to the wire it has become a little bit stressful because its like.. pressure is on! Haha we get a new district in our zone this past Wednesday and all of teachers and our branch president were going on about how we are the viejos of the zone now and we need to set the example to them (mainly by speaking Spanish all the time)  It is soo hard though.  I absolutely love Spanish and honestly it's not that hard but what is hard is switching my brain over.  It's like.. once I go to sleep and wake up or once we go to a workshop or something where we have to speak English again, it wipes my brain of every Spanish word and it takes so much to turn everything back on again.. ....probably similar to a Windows computer ya know?  haha. I dont know.. I'm just excited and ready to be out in the field where I won't even have an option of speaking English.

Also, I got to sing this past week in church! One of my companions, Hna. Nelson played for my and it went really well. ..except that I lost my place once which was just weird because we only practiced it like 80 times but it was still great.  "I Stand All Amazed" in Spanish. I think it's even better that way. ;)

I know you all are dying to know but.. no, we did not have an apostle come an speak to us this past week.  We did have Ronald A. Rasband though (in the presidency of the 70).  Mom, I dont know if you remember but he gave the talk about how missionaries are called -- we watched it with Chandler when he came down to Vegas. His talk was awesome.. all about the way that we can have the guidance of the Spirit at all times.  What I really wanted to share from it though was a question that President Hinckley asked him when he was interviewed to be in the 70:

"Does the testimony of Christ still burn in your bosom like it did when you were a young missionary?"

Wow did that hit me.  My testimony of Chirst and His gospel is stronger than it has ever been.. it's why I am here! I can't even imagine not having it to get me through everything in this life.  But if we don't continue to work and fight for our testimonies -- to study and pray and feast on the words of Christ -- we will lose it.. thats just how it happens.  So, my challenge to all of you is to find your testimony of Chirst when it was its very strongest. Remember how wonderful it was and the hope and love that you felt every single day. and then make it even stronger.   We are never too old or too young to learn more about the Savior and His love for us. All we have to do is have that desire then ask in faith and it will be given unto you.

Have a wonderful week. :)
Look forward to hearing from all of you,
Lele

pro?

So, once upon a time I attempted to log on to email this morning and the computer insisted that I had no clue what my password was... it was awesome. And then I locked up my account. So after wasting over 10 minutes of my time I went to IT and I did the exact same thing for the guy and it worked. figures right? anyways, today I am going to be a sinner and go 10 minutes over time because I am a little bit bitter that my email hates me so much..

Aaannyways, HEY!  How is everyone!?!

This week has gone by even faster than the ones before if that is even possible.  Want to know why? WE GOT TO HOST!!! hahaha it's quite possible that I have never looked forward to anything as much before in my whole entire ever life.  Also, I think that MTC life makes little things super huge just because they are different from the schedule that you live by every day. :)  Really though, I love it here.  It's just so crazy to think that it's has already been 6 weeks since I was one of the new missionaries that I was showing around yesterday and getting them their keys and tags and stuff.  It is going to fly.

Also, (if you will even believe it!) we had another apostle come on Tuesday!!!  Elder Perry came and talked about the priesthood as it had been 183 since it was restored. (Cyd probably knew that though, right Church History pro???)  I seriously love him though.  He gets so excited and jumps all around when he bears his testimony.  I hope I look that excited when I talk about the Gospel. 

The rest of the week was super the same.  2 districts leave this coming Monday though so the zone will get really quiet.  I think I'm excited about it. I know this is bad but spending so much time with some people can be exhausting.. I'm glad all of our district gets along and is for the most part mature. ..Maybe having Hermanas has made them more mature though... either way.  So ya, we will be the oldest ones and in the words of Elder Bush, "I don't want to say that I am pro at the MTC but... I am a pro at the MTC."   ...Our teachers told us that if we felt that way we aren't working hard enough.  I'm sure that is always the case but I am just ready to get out there!  There's still a ton that I am learning about the gospel and how to teach but I feel like my Spanish has plateaued... I'm crossing my fingers for an awesome native trainer who doesn't know a lick of English. :)

Well.. I guess I didnt have to sin after all! que bendicion.. ha. I love you all so much and always look forward to hearing from you. Don't forget to send pictures! 

-Hna. Morgan

Week Six.

Family!

 This week has flown by as usual. I´m convinced that it is because of our schedule because the first few weeks actually existed unlike these last ones.  Spanish is progressing really well even though our teachers constantly tell us to speak more.  The oldest district in the zone is leaving this next week too which is crazy.  They were all supposed to go to Buenos Aires but got reassigned to Eugene, OR Fresno, CA and Denver, CO because of visas.  It´s not looking too good but i still have hope because they met with the Argentine consolate the same week that we did which was like 3 or 4 weeks later comparatively.  Honestly though, being reassigned would be really fun. 2 missions in one. I´ll stay super positive if you all pray for me and my district. deal? deal.   

So guess what! This past Tuesday we had yet ANOTHER apostle come to speak to us!  It was Elder Christofferson and he spoke all about (you guessed it) the Doctrine of Christ (2 Ne 31, 3 Ne 11, 3 Ne 27.)  Mom, I'm sending a letter with more details about it so that my email isn't a repeat of last week.  Just know that I love the Doctrine of Christ so much and that I am so super excited to get to teach it to the people of.. wherever I go.  

Mom, as far as the phone call goes... I'm super sorry but they told us last week to let everyone know that we won't be able to call. There are like 2500 of us here and only about 6 phones so.. ya.  But, I will call when I get my travel plans and if I get reassigned I call again. Also, I'll be able to call during lay overs at the airport so there will be plenty of time for that.  Until then, Happy Mother's Day and Happy Birthday all in one!!!   

Highlight of the week -- Hna. Nelson's twin sister came to the MTC on Wednesday!!  Gosh I wish I had a twin! Seriously, so jealous.   

I'm so sorry that I don't seem to have a lot to write...  every week is just so similar and planned out that I feel like I have said it all.  The weather is getting a lot better which is a blessing and they have opened up the missionary field for gym time so twice a week we get to enjoy the fresh air.  We also got another new district (with more hermanas!!) but I got released as Coordinating Sister so I didnt get to tour them around.  It's always sad how right when you start to really enjoy something it's over.   I'm sure it will be the same with my mission so I am doing everything I can to live every single day to its fullest - to work hard, have fun, and not stress.  It is hard sometimes because there is so much I want to learn to be prepared for the people I teach but the Lord called my as I was.  This is His work and as long as I work hard and am obedient it will all be perfect.  :)  

Stay strong. The Church is True!
-Hna. Morgan

Week Five.

HOLAA FAMILYYY!!!!

Ha, you all are absolutely nuts! 41 emails!!!  Ha, my companions absolutely loved sitting and waiting for me to read them all. ;)  But ya, thank you again so much. 

This week has been great as usually and has absolutely flown by. Literally yesterday seems like Sunday. ...so does tomorrow. Time is such a weird thing.  The Spanish is coming along pretty well.  Our teachers are great and one of them constantly gets on our case about not speaking our language and much as we possibly can--literally he makes us feel like dirt. ..but in a good, i've got to get to work! kind of way.  We always talk and pray about having the gift of tongues but I know now that Heavenly Father can't bless us with something that we aren't working hard for ourselves.  I definitely experienced that this week.  I have definitly let my Spanish slack a little bit just because it is really hard to speak Spanish when people reply to you in English or don't understand what you are even trying to say.  We had two lessons on Monday and the difference between those lessons and the ones from the week before where we were speaking Spanish all the time was just upsetting.  Learning the importance of speaking was not the only thing I learned though.   Our lessons  on Saturday were just awful.  ..and honeslty I guess they werent even that bad but i was comparing them to our ones from last week.  I felt like we were teaching these people and following the Sprirt and even though everything seemed to be going so well and the spirit was there, etc etc they just wouldnt commit or open up. I was so frustrated and confused.. scriptures and stories came to my mind to share but for some reason things just weren't clicking. I don't know if that even makes sense.  We got out of the lesson and my companions just loved were it went but i was so down on myself.  We talked it over with our teachers when we got back and  he led me to the "patience" section in PMG.  He had me read it outloud and like the 4th sentence says that being patient with investigators and companions is demonstrating your trust and faith in the Lord. wow.  

So in return I have been working on my patience this week.  I absolutely love how the everything that I have heard since then has helped me in this though!  Literally everything - almost every lesson, talk, devotional, scripture..   gosh, the Book of Mormon is awesome that way.   Every problem that you have or could ever have can be answered or related to with a story in the Book of Mormon.  Turn to the Lord and trust in His words.  I am running out of time but I just real quick want to emphasize how much the Lord loves and knows every single one of us.  All He wants is for us to have joy in this life and to return to live with Him. He has given us everything that we need to do this but most importantly He suffered for our sins so that even when (not if) we mess up, we could still return.  Never let that be in vain.  Let Christ into your life.   Elder Holland in a video that we watched of a MTC talk from the 90s read a French poem.  In it the Lord kept asking the man to come to the edge of the cliff and the man continually said no out of fear.  He finally came and when he did the Lord pushed him but instead of falling, he flew -- it is the same with us.  Doing all that the Lord asks of us can seem hard or scary or.. whatever else but I know that when we come to Him with everything that we have, He will give us even more.

I love you all so much. Be happy and make sure that others feel your joy and love, not just see it.

The church is true.

-Hna. Morgan

Video that Hna. Morgan mentioned in her post