2 weeks of faulty electricity!

Jan. 18th- 

Hey mama!  So sorry this is so late ! First time we tried to cafe the electricity went out and then the second time it started raining and electricity went out again!! So this is my last time to try. So my companion, Elder S. is getting transferred to the city and I'm staying here.  It's good to hear you received my letters!  Ahh...Elder Barr is now training this next transfer. It seems that once you hit 5-6 months you become a senior comp. Crazy! This next transfer is only going to be a 4 week transfer so it'll go by quick! We have about 2-3 possible baptisms this next month!!! Please pray for Ernest, Patience and Emmanuel. The have all come to church and are keeping their commitments with reading and praying which is amazing! Things are looking up. The new mission president has a lot of new changes including no more office elder which means I'll never drive in Africa, unless I am called to be Assistant to the President. hahaha
Sorry, no weekly email this week. I pray the cafe will work for us next week!
Love and miss you all!
Elder Morris

Jan. 25th

Okay, so yeah, my new comp is really cool! He's quiet but when he says something it's usually really funny! He's really good at teaching from the scriptures as well. I guess the Transfer meeting was done away with world wide because we are no longer having them either. Which means some missionaries travel alone for transfers now which is sketchy!!!

Elder Tshibangu, my comp, is from DR. Congo. He has 3 months left on his mission and will most likely die (a phrase used by missionaries when they leave the mission to go home) out here in Asamankese. He is a cool guy. Emmanuel didn't come to church last week so we need to figure out how he's doing. Ernest came and loved it again. He's most likely going to be baptized on the 6th of February.

If you have pics from home send them to me. I miss seeing everyone! 

Thanks for sending snail mail letters and the package :) I'll keep an eye out for them. Thanks for the prayers! I love and miss you all! Please tell Elle and Poots  to write to me! 

LOVE YOU!!!

Elder Morris!

Faith in Fasting

Mama,

Thank you for your letter! It's so great to hear about back home! Good luck with school! I can't believe you're almost done! The church service in Twi is still the same...I haven't really picked up on a lot of things but I do get good time to ponder and read the scriptures during it. 

I really liked what you said about how even if we don't see immediate success we are always planting seeds. Sometimes I feel like we are planting the seeds more then we are gathering the harvest. But that's okay. Transfers are on the 19th. We will find out on Saturday what happens. Some people are already being transferred to Winiba, the new part of our mission, including Elder Barr! He's becoming a senior companion!

My ponderizing scripture this week is 1 Nephi 7:12 "Yea, and how is it that ye have forgotten that the Lord is able to do all things according to his will, for the children of men, if it so be that they exercise faith in him? Wherefore, let us be faithful to him"

Sorry I don't have time for a weekly email this week. Please just know that I've been praying for what I need to change to be better and as I was pondering in Sacrament meeting, I had a strong impression to be kinder to Elder S and other missionaries, both in words and actions. As well I decided to fast this last Sunday for help in our area and guess what?! A guy brought his friend and his wife to church who seem to really be interested in our message and are so happy we are now meeting with them. I call it "Faith in Fasting". Remember there always needs to be an action to our faith. The plane has to drive before it can fly! (if that makes sense)...Know that I love you and miss you! I'll be sure to write my weekly email first thing from now on!

Love Elder Morris!

It's so good to hear that things are going good back home! I'm glad y'all made it home safe back from Utah and that y'all had a great time spending it with family! Teachings are going well. Pretty much the same as the last few weeks-slow and no one is really progressing but here with the new year I think it will get better!

So crazy story for this week!

I forgot what day it was but my companion and I were walking in our area and we passed a group of kids playing next to a well/septic tank with 3 holes going down into it. When all of the sudden I heard a little girl scream and then all the kids ran away. I looked at my comp and he had a crazy expression on his face like. So I look over and see a little girl looking down into one of the holes of the septic tank then I heard another girl screaming. So I ran over and dropped my bag and looked down into the hole. One of the kids had fallen into it! 

I told her to calm down and that we would get her out. My first thought was "oh no, she's going to have to swim" so I was preparing myself to jump down to save her. Just then she stood up and the water wasn't all the way up so as I began to put my legs into the hold to drop down and get her out, this man runs over and pushes me out of the way yelling NO! The next thing I know he is jumping down in there. (I guess he didn't want me to get my clothes dirty?)  He grabs the little girl and I laid down and reach my hand in to grab her. She was barley able to reach but after she grabbed my hand I pulled her out. (It felt like Batman in the first movie when he saves that man from falling off the cliff hahaha) then we had to pull the man out. Afterwards the man kept saying " God bless you!" and I could tell he was very happy that we were there to help. 

I've been really excelling in my Book of Mormon reading this last week! I went from 3 Nephi all the way to Mormon! I love the part in 3 Nephi when Jesus Christ is visiting the Nephites. After reading it I just can hardly wait for the day that I get to meet Christ!  It will be the coolest thing ever! I just imagine giving him a big Texas-sized HUG!!!

For those who don't know, I have a "ponderizing" a scripture each week! Meaning I choose a scripture to 80% ponder and 20% memorize. It really helps me look closer at the meaning of scriptures. This week my scripture is 3 Nephi 12:16

"Therefore, let your light so shine before this people, 

that they may see your good works 

and glorify your father who is in heaven."

 

Everyone has the light of Christ within them. As we live righteously, obeying the commandments of God, and continually doing "Good Works", we will be able to share the greatness of the gospel of Jesus Christ with everyone. How I wish I could go back and share it with all my non-member friends. I pray they will be willing to see for themselves the greatness of this Gospel someday. The blessings we receive are so great, and they come according to our faith. Faith without works is dead! Trust in the Lord that as you do His will, He will reward you.

It is my testimony that the Gospel of Jesus Christ blesses individuals and families. I've seen it in my own life and within my family. I know that the Book of Mormon is true. It is another testament of Jesus Christ. All who read it, wanting to know the truth of it can know for themselves. I encourage those who don't yet know for themselves to find a Book of Mormon and start reading. Pray for understanding of its words. Your answer will come!

I love and miss everyone! May God bless your lives with this new year.

and as Elder Cameron Bailey puts it... Moroni 8:3(read it!)

LOVE

Elder Morris!:)

Christmas Day phone call

We were so excited all Christmas day to talk to Garrett. He ended up calling us around 12:00 our time. It was wonderful to hear his voice. We were not able to Skype because the internet cafe in Ghana is not equipped for that. So, a phone call was all we could do. However, we enjoyed every minute of our time talking to him. He shared several funny things with us about his happenings in Ghana and the huge adjustment it had been with culture, food, and the BLASTED HEAT!!! It's been nearly 95 degrees the past few weeks. He said he had to keep reminding himself that it was December and Christmas time because it sure didn't feel that way. He shared part of the missionary lesson with us and immediately we all noticed that his accent shifted into an African accent. It was awesome! He also shared with us some of the challenges and trails that he is facing with the missionary work there. He was cheerful nonetheless and continued to make us laugh. It was by far my favorite Christmas present just like the past 2 years when we would Skype with Kaden from Brazil. We are anxious to hear how he liked his Christmas gifts and what he actually did the rest of the 2015 year. 

We didn't get a letter from him this past Monday so we are really anxious to hear from him tomorrow!

 BBQ Chicken 

 He was waiting until Christmas night to open his gifts!