10/27/2009: A nice week in Phoenix‏

Greetings, hola, bonjour, awakietashika, and all those hellos to you: (p.s. I'm pretty sure awakietashika doesn't mean anything)

Well I'm really sad to hear about Sister Hemming. She was so so so awesome, and I'm sure that right now she's organizing a choir of youth to sing the song of love to the hearts of the people still here. I don't doubt her desire to spread a happy song, and her testimony with anyone. She'll be greatly missed I'm sure. Tell Keri things'll be ok and to think about the happy day we'll all be together again.

I didn't know I was eating intestine...until I put the first piece in my mouth and everyone went "oooooooh!!!!! Elder that's INTESTINE!!!" then they all laughed. joy. :) Also, I've decided to spend some of my time on Sundays learning to play more hymns, evidently there are a lot of wards and branches with no one to play for them, so I should be getting some good piano experience here!

Rules for Halloween? Just another normal day. We're going to a ward trunk n treat thing, but after, we're knocking doors, and teaching lessons. yeah I have permiso to drive now, so we all three alternate driving days, and I think I'm good on my license, but I have the option of renewing to an AZ one which I think I will cause it doesn't expire until I'm 65...that's cool.

Mom, about the members, it's really sad. They aren't super friendly or outgoing to the people we bring. Often they are left to sit alone, in the which case, we elders split up to sit with them all. One family we're teaching has next-door-neighbors who are members so they chat and sit together. Other than that, they unfortunately aren't too helpful...we have a hard time getting anyone to come teach with us. It's a struggle, but we're trying to win their trust by doing awesome Noches de Hogar (FHE) with them. We'll see how that goes.

Thought: Elder Moffitt, in his old age and wisdom said that people said a lot that we are the "chosen generation" and maybe that is so because we're chosen to realize that the members can help the missionaries in more ways, so when we're all done with our missions, this generation will be the AWESOME ward member support for the next wave of missionaries. Matt: you better be doing something missionary like still. if not, get going you bum! just because you don't have a tag, doesn't mean you can't share the light of the Gospel with others :) .

Schedule:
5:45 wake up
6:00 meet at church where we play soccer with other missionaries in the gym (or at their apartment to lift weights)
6:45-8:00 shower/breakfast (Elder Nicholas takes forever.)
8:00 personal study
9:00 companionship study
10:00 Spanish study
11:00 Lunch
12:00 begin proselyting
5:00 dinner at a member's house/message there
6:00 continue preaching
9:00 home (unless teaching a lesson then it's allowed to be 9:30)
9:30 plan for the next day/write in journal/discuss spanish problems
10:30 in bed, lights out, sleep

Ugh I hate how long my letters get, but there's so much to say!!!! For a cool thing I've started dreaming in spanish. Funny thing is, it's slow spanish JUST like how I speak. it makes sense, but I remember waking up after my first spanish dream and just being like "WHOA!" "my dream was in spanish!" it was cool.

Here's a quick spill out of the SWEET things that happened this week:

Today: Climbed a mountain here, Iron Mountain, or Squaw peak. it was intense

Yesterday: Taught an AWESOME Lesson. We went to a less active member's house to teach them, they happened to have a friend over, who happened to want to learn more, who happened to understand everything we said. At the end of the lesson, she looked at us, and said "that makes perfect sense. do you have a book of mormon I can read so I can be sure before I get baptized?" first lesson. that was WAY sweet. We invited her to pray...and after the prayer she just filled with emotion and through the tears told us she'd never felt like that before. it was an amazing experience. All because some members had befriended someone, and talked about the church. Last

Friday: we taught a guy named Sergio. This little mexican is like a sponge!!! He soaked it all up, and just asked for more. He's going to read the whole book of mormon these next two weeks he told us and he said he'll see how he feels after that. Basically that means he knows this is the truth, and he's going to get baptized and start his road to Heaven.

Last Thursday: We taught AGAIN a friend of a member named Olga, who loved church and wants to keep coming cause she "feels something different". That's all the cool stuff. Aside from that, just the normal people who are drunk and on crack all the time, there are Gay people everywhere here and they hate us and yell at us and spit on us as they drive by. Met a guy who challenged our knowledge of the bible by asking us who the most notorious killer in the bible and the United States was...he told us they were the same person:Moses. I think he was high. A lady who told us that her pastor told her that she isn't allowed to change religions...and she believes him. we met our new neighbors...get this, she's a black lady named Shae. Loved that. alrighty! that's all for this one!

Love you all thanks for your support and prayers...we definitely need them here. OH!!! one more thing! Elder Nicholas has been feeling a little lack of mail this past transfer...if you were planning on writing me this week, will you write him instead? Just a hello, thanks, add a thought/poem/encouragement, send it to the same address just put Elder Adam Nicholas instead of Elder Shae Morgan :) this is something I've wanted to do to help serve one of my companions. Thanks!

-Elder Morgan