óla! I don´t think it is possible to fully express just what it is like to be a missionary. It is full of ups and downs, every hour, of everyday. Constantly changing and adjusting plans and trying to do the best we can with what we have. This was such a week. UP and DOWN.
I will stick with the up. So we have really been trying to get the members involved in the missionary work here and come together to bring people to Christ first of all, and second of all, to get a chapel so it will be easier to get to church for the members and investigators. Sunday came around yesterday and we had been doing all we could to get our current chapel filled and to get people to church. We need to have a lot of attendance at church this month to try and demonstrate that the people here are ready to have a chapel. I have never seen the ward come together like this. People were inviting friends, bringing family. Getting in there cars earlier to go pick people up and coming to our rescue to help us get our investigators to church too. It was such and outpouring of unity.
We had a really powerful testimony meeting and The Spirit was really strong. However looking around I didn't think we had met our goal of 120. Then Bishop got up at the end to share his testimony. Tearfully he announced that we had 126 people at church that week! Now the goal is just to keep this fire, this unity, and build on it, let it grow. It was a great day.
We also had a ward lunch afterwards. I dropped and broke two glass cups in front of 125 people. That was cool. Ha funny thing is I didn´t really feel embarrassed, just loved.
Our focus this week will be getting the people who didn't go to church this week, at church this coming week and also maintaining who we did have. On top of that, our teaching pool is REALLY shrinking we need to start finding more people to teach.
Our district also has three baptisms planned for this week, maybe even a fourth. We have two young men who really want to be baptized but their parents won't let them. So we just continue to teach them and spend time with them.
Also, neat story. So we were doing a service project this week at a member's home. They had an old french Book of Mormon lying around. So I picked it up and started to read. I can understand a little bit of french. I had heard I would be able to do that with Portuguese but it was fun to put it to the test. I am sure if it was a book I wasn't familiar with or if someone was speaking it I would get nothing. But hey, it is a start right. I totally knew what was happening and where I was in The Book of Mormon while I was reading.
Also, Willain gave me a hammock this week as a present. I was pretty excited. When it stops raining and we get some sun. That will be a P-Day activity for sure. It is really warming up now, very humid here.
So my spiritual thought for the week. It is about prayer. Often we think of prayer as either, when we are in a bind and need some help, or like we are calling in our pizza delivery order. We sort of, place our order and then hang up. Yes, Heavenly Father delivers. But not like that. Something I had to think about was if I was really having a conversation with my Father in Heaven or just placing an order. I have been trying to give myself time to think and meditate before prayer. Take time to really have a conversation about what I feel and what the needs of the people here are. ´Let´s all just remember to have a conversation with our Father when we pray. not just place an order. Don´t really know if that counts as a spiritual thought, but it is something I had been thinking about these last few days.
Well I hope all is well back home. I love you all. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers on my behalf and your letters of encouragement. Take Care.
Seu Filho, irmão e amigo. Elder David F. Morgan
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