Hey family
Well to start this letter off, I must let it be known that we received the notice for changes today. I am being exchanged again....... ESMERALDAS!!! So just a little info about this city, it is on the coast of Ecuador. It is always hot, even through all of the night, most of the population is black, and they speak a completely different dialect of spanish. The coastal spanish here is hard for even latinos to understand. I cant really express with words how scared I am right now. If the spanish doesnt kill me im sure the heat will! Thats a joke, but I would ask to please remember me and missionary work in your prayers. I will be needing it.
On a lighter note, how about that conference this weekend!? I would have to agree with what dad wrote me, that talk by Elder Holland was one of the best talks I have ever heard! Everything was great. We had to go to the stake center here to watch it. We were in a seperate room watching in english. The couple missionaries from the offices here in Quito, President Sloan and his family, 3 other gringo companions and I all watched conference together. It was great. One thing I will really miss about Quito is being so close to President Sloan and being able to see him and talk with hiom frequently. It was just a great weekend. I loved conference. And it was great to see some familiar faces in the choir. If any of you missed any one session of the conference, GET A COPY! The ensign will have all of the talks, but even better is to look up the talks on the church website to actually hear the voices and testimonies of the Apostles and Prophet. We have been promised so many blessings and have been given many warnings this conference. One thing that stood out to me was the many talks that touched the topic of the Temple. Always take advantage of the wonderful oppportunity to go to the Temple. But along with all of the talks, I got the impression that the financial situation world wide is worse than I thought. We are not exposed to news or anything really so all that I know is what news I get in emails. So by the sound of all of the ´faith´ promoting talks I cant help but ask really how everyone is doing back home. We live in such a blessed time and a VERY blessed area! Dont forget it. Laura and Chance, CONGRATULATIONS! A baby girl! WAHOO! You should have named her Hunter, or Sage, something tough like that, haha. Just kidding. But I hope she gets on the ball and starts growing faster, September 3rd is MY day! Jason Cook, well I think those pictures of the antlers he found and the pitures Jared sent to me of magnum catching mice made me miss home more than I have in the last 2 months, BUT those are the best pictures to see. Jason is one lucky guy, those are some awsome sheds. I was thinking the other day about him and how dang funny he is. I just started laughing while walking down the street, tell him hello for me. If I am forgetting anything im sorry, but I love you all and I am so very grateful for everything you do for me. Be safe on the slick roads! Love you all.
Elder Matthew Morris