Oi!

Oi!
So great to hear about Louie going through The Temple! Please send him a grand congratulations from me.
So this week was rather interesting. As far as teaching goes, not our most shining week. We had service projects that ran amuck. We helped a less active member move. Luckily she had a nephew and his friend helping too. You know the guy who does the show ´Dirty Jobs´? Ya, I´ve got him beat by miles. Pretty much we moved her and the twenty- thirty rats living in the very poorly cared for home, thank goodness she will be getting out of there.
We also helped a member put in his tile floor, mixing concrete etc. It was nice to do a different form of work, I also got super sun burned, it has been heating up a bit here. Ha, last night we were teaching a lesson and it started raining SUPER hard again, ha we basically waded home, but it´s nice and dry now again.
I had a realization about listening this week. I think something that many of us lack (myself included) is that we all are so preoccupied with what we want to say, that we forget to listen and actually respond to who we are talking to. Let´s all get out and listen a little better.
I guess that all of those years in boy scouts really paid off. We air dry all of our clothes and in a storm one of the lines broke. When I looked at the ropes somewhere in the back of my mind came Bro. Merrill´s voice when I was maybe 12 or 13 saying: A square knot is used to tie two pieces of rope together. I thought.. man how do you make a square knot again? again Bro. Merrill´s voice: Right over left, left over right. Yup, it worked, I even used it on a shoelace that broke a few weeks ago too. I am pretty much a square knot master now.
    We are trying really hard to get the members involved more in the work here, something we are lacking on as well. We invited some members to go with us but our appointments fell through, bummer.
I am looking forward to this coming week, I hope and pray we have a lot of success. I am trying to just smile and just keep happy, I find joy in the little things, I find a lot of moments where I see something funny and am just able to laugh at myself a little bit. It helps.
I guess I am turning 20 this week huh? Ha thanks for all the emails and the cake mix. Our oven doesn´t work but maybe I can make it at a members house during a lunch appointment. Man, 20 when did I get there? I was handed off to give a talk in church on Sunday about council for youth. I was excited about the topic and prepared quickly. I have so enjoyed my teenage years. I thought I would feel really sad about being 20, but I decided I am not gonna fight it and just enjoy it. The talk gave me a chance to reflect on my teenage years, what I would have told myself, what I always heard, things I learned, it was pretty fun. I found it funny that everything I was going to say I had already heard from other people who have counseled me over the years. Wise people learn from their mistakes, REALLY wise people, learn from the mistakes of others. I did a little bit of both. Basically what I talked about was recognizing that as a youth, it seemed like wickedness was happiness and that the Gospel restricts our freedom. My advice was the same that Alma gave his son in The Book of Mormon, "wickedness never was happiness." Anyways, I had a good moment to reflect on my teenage years and I am happy to look back and see that I thoroughly enjoyed it and am grateful for the things I learned.
Have a great week everybody. I will be praying for you. Thanks for all your love and support.
Seu Filho, Irmão, e amigo
Elder David. F. Morgan