So dad sent me an email a couple weeks ago with a cowboy quote. One part stuck out to me as I read it over and over again. WE SHOW THROUGH PERFORMANCE. I don't know why but it has been in my head over and over again. It reminds me of the quote I have in my room. There is always going to be someone better than you, but that doesn't mean anybody is going to work harder than you. That is the straight up truth. I show through performance......that means working as hard as I can everyday and perform. Some days its hard when the work seems to have slowed down or we don't know where to go when appointments fall through. But its all about relying on the Spirit and just digging down and really working hard.  

I have been able to run everyday except for Sunday this past week. Well, I run in front of our house while Elder Quesada watches me run....haha. I run for at least 8 minutes and end with a couple of sprints. I have stopped eating so much and I feel a lot better.

Well I have officially less than 18 months left in the Mission.....And I am learning that it doesn't get easier, the challenges just change. I am now more focused on the investigators and look more to help them. My Spanish is well enough to communicate with everyone now. There are new challenges everyday that I am faced with. Something new to do everyday which keeps it fun.

Our investigators are doing well. We have some now that are progressing including a family that looks like we will see a baptism or two within the upcoming weeks. The daughters are really interested in the gospel and so is the husband. They have gone to church several times but the thing that is holding them back is the mom who smokes.....its kinda sad to see. But we are going to go this week and see what more we can do to help them. We also have another investigator that we are teaching who has a brother on a mission. She has some problems. We don't know exactly what yet but we feel like something is missing. We will see what happens. I am loving the work more and more and I am really loving my time in Nicaragua.

I am working this week on having more faith. And placing more hope and faith in my investigators. To have more faith that they will progress and that they will go to church. It is a constant struggle to help them go to church. I have been reading a lot in the scriptures about faith and how first its a trial. Then we are blessed. Just like the Sons of Mosiah and the scriptures In Ether 12. This is going to be my focus this week is to focus more on my faith and helping my investigators faith grow.

I love you guys and love all your support for me. You guys are amazing! I am sorry I don't have any photos this week. I will try to take a few photos this week! I love you guys. Watch for mail coming soon! Let me know if I can do anything. I love you guys!

Your missionary, 

Elder Morgan M. Anderson

Here is the quote that I sent to Morgan:

I can’t say I’m a cowboy because that’s just not what we do. We don’t tell everyone that we know everything and we don’t gloat that were not afraid to get dirty. What we do shows through the pride we have in our work. The pride we have when our cattle slip in the sale ring on sale day. The quite pride we have when our horse cuts out a cow. We don’t boast or brag that we know more then the next guy. We may not have the best language around but I guarantee well stop and listen to an elder talk or open a door for a woman. We’ll talk to a child like he was our own. Our horse is God’s gift to us. We respect every aspect of this animal yet no boasting is necessary, we show through performance. Our pickup and trailer may not be the nicest but it’s ours and that’s enough for us. Whether we back into the box or open the gate to the pasture, we will always live a simple life with our lord to thank.

A pre-mission picture

January 19, 2015

Well this week I will complete 6 months in the mission field. I am already one quarter of the way done.  In a way I am sad that it is already gone. The Lord's work is something to be cherished; every moment that we have.

This last week was a pretty good week. I am still adjusting to the changes but am doing well. Elder Quesada and I teach well together and we are able to teach with the Spirit. My new area is very big with many people to contact. We are in a suburb of Managua but there are still lots of places of businesses. 

It is really nice here since we have someone that washes our clothes and cooks lunch for us lunch everyday. Many of the members and some of our contacts offer us food as well.  Some of them give us soda and I really cant say no to them......so that is kind of a down side.  I really like our lunch. She cooks very good food and its always different. Something we get more of here in Managua is cooked green bananas. Not my favorite, but they fill you up. Its like eating parsnips.....but not.....

My house is a small house behind a less active members home. Last night they were having a party for their 8 year old daughter.  As we came in for the night they gave us some cake and soda. The cake was good!  

 

We usually teach in the outer parts of the city.  Most of the people here have cars and big screen TVs and not much else. There is a lot of diversity in religions in this part of Nicaragua as well. One of the things I love about Nicaragua is that almost everyone believes in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. 

In this area we still walk a lot and when needed we take a bus. Our area is so big that we have to take a bus just to get to our lunch appointment.  We live at the very top of our area and she lives at the bottom. 

The baptism this last week was amazing! The members helped out a ton.  They even bought a cake  for the little girl. Her grandparents and aunt are members but her dad is not. The family is a lot of fun to visit. The grandfather is less active but he likes to joke around with us missionaries. They feed us nearly every time we pass by to visit.  They are one of those families that I will always remember.  I have only been here about 2 weeks and they are already very special to me. 

At the baptismal service I was once again filled with the spirit.  Once again it testified to me that this is the true church.  I don't have a doubt in my mind that this is the Church of Jesus Christ.  I know that her decision to be baptized was the right decision, and that 11 years ago my decision to be baptized was also one of the best decisions of my life. 

One investigator we are teaching has been really progressing well. She has read some of the Book of Mormon and is changing her life to live gospel standards.  She has some problems with the Word of Wisdom but is committed to change.  We went to walk with her to church but nobody was there......we were very disappointed!  We also have some other investigators that are progressing as well.

Thank you for your prayers, letters, and packages. 

 

With love,

Elder Morgan M. Anderson

January 12, 2015

Well I guess the lesson I have learned about life as a missionary is that it is a life of change.... Especially my areas. So the story of the week is that yes, we had transfers again. I thought I would spend a little bit of time in Masaya but evidently not.

Masaya was a really great area and I was enjoying it.  Even though the work was very hard  with very few people that wanted to listen to us.  The people who wanted to listen didn't seem to be able to act with faith. Tuesday we got the call and I packed my bags and went to tranfers on Wednesday.

I am now in downtown Managua.  It is very different.  Most everyone here have cars and its like living in the city. We teach in the little suburbs outside of town. There are more stores and things to see city wise.

My new companion is Elder Quesada. He is from Costa Rica. He has been here in the mission field the same amount of time as me.. He is really nice and a good missionary. It will take some time to re adjust to a latino companion again since I was with an american for 6 weeks. The first few days in the area I really struggled but I am doing better. I just need to keep my faith in Jesus Christ and he will do the rest.

We already have 2 baptisms planned for this week. YES! I am ready to have some baptisms again! These two girls are always in church.  Their parents are not members but their grandparents are. Elder Quesada told me about them and how things never really worked out to where they could be baptised before.  We went to their house and now they are going to be baptised this Saturday.  I am super excited for that!

My birthday was a normal day. I haven't recieved any mail since Christmas but  i'll keep watching for the package and mail. I got kinda homesick yesterday and missed home a lot but I am doing good. President and Sister Russell called me last night and sang happy birthday to me. Maybe I will go buy something later today for my birthday. Crazy to think I am 19.

Yesterday was Stake Conference. President and Sister Russell spoke and they both gave really good talks. They talked on how the members can better help the missionaries. Its really hard here sometimes to get the members to help us. Then my thoughts turned to Hyrum Utah in the Hyrum 14th ward. Almost everyone in the ward are members with some less active and part member families. I thought of our family and thought of what a great thing it would be if you guys could be more involved in Missionary work in the ward. Invite them to talk to missionaries in our home or go visit them just to visit. To many times I think we wait for people to ask us instead of going to them. It was just something I was thinking about this week.

Today for Pday we went as a district to the lake and bought stuff for a picnic.. In the whole zone of Managua there are only 2 Hermanas. They are in our district. The sisters, the zone leaders, the district leader, and then me and my companion compose my district.

Your Missionary in Managua Nicaragua,

Elder Morgan M. Anderson

January 5, 2015

Wow I guess its already 2015. It seems like yesterday that I was getting ready to start soccer and was still in High School and then was opening my call.  Now that dream is a reality. Sometimes I still dont think its real that I am here in Nicaragua speaking Spanish!

So to start things off, no I have not received any packages or letters. I will look in the weeks that are coming up. The office has not sent anything since Christmas. I am going to assume that we get a lot of mail on Wednesday due to transfers.

So that brings me to my next topic........yes, transfers are here again. I now have officially 18 weeks in Nicaragua. Crazy! I dont know what is going to happen in my area. Whatever happens I know it for the best. I expect a lot of changes to the zone I am in right now, but like I said whatever happens I know it is revelation. I know President Russell receives revelation for this mission from our Savior and Heavenly Father to know how to keep the work moving forward with success. I am excited to see what takes place. We will know about  transfers tomorrow afternoon.

So this week one of the APs came out and worked with us on Tuesday to help us out a little bit. He is from Murray Utah. He is a way good missionary who I look up to a lot. He helped us know what we need to do to help get people to church and to help them progress. We need to teach with more love and with more patience. This week we really worked on first finding the needs of the person then teaching doctrine and then committing them to church so they can receive their own witness that this church is true. It was a lot better week than the weeks past. Thank you for all your prayers and support.

January 31st was a normal day for us except at night.......there were so many fireworks. At 12 everyone had fireworks going off. We lost some sleep. January 1st was a hard day because everyone was at home sleeping or with family. We treated ourselves for the holidays with a piece of sweet bread and a fruit drink.

Here in Nicaragua they make these mannequin's signifying the old year. They then load them with firecrackers, and decorate them. They are often decorated with an empty alcohol bottle in their hand.....ya I don't know why. Its a pretty cool tradition though.

Today for p-day we didn't really do much. We exercised, Elder Carter got his haircut, then we went and got lunch at a little pizza shop and went to the market to buy our bananas and stuff. Pretty normal p-day.

I am enjoying the work more because I am working at trying to be a better friend to those I meet first so I can teach them as a friend. It has helped  that my Spanish is progressing and can understand more now.

I am excited to see what the new year brings. All of 2015 I will be in Nicaragua. Wow........I hope all is well for you guys. What are some of your goals for the upcoming year? Hopefully by the end of this year I will be completely fluent in Spanish. Wow.......

I will watch for the letters and packages. Thank you. I love you guys so much and you are constantly in my prayers.

With love,

Elder Morgan Anderson

Oh ya, I bought a Cristiano Renaldo Jersey last week. I have attached pictures of it with another missionary from the district who bought the same one and a picture with me and one of the mannequins on the 31st of December.