P.S. tomorrow I complete 14 months!!

Hey Family! Well thanksgiving was this week! We had a pretty good dinner with the Curtis´here in Quito. We had ham, rolls, stuffing, cheesy potatoes, fruit salad, green salad, and other gringo food and it was just really good! To be honest, it was more like a Sunday night dinner than a real thanksgiving dinner, but it was still GREAT! Today for preparation day we went downtown to see some of the cathedrals, when I was in Quito last spring we went. But we went as a district today so go sight seeing. It was fun. When we got done there we took a bus over by the mission offices and ate at McDonalds!!!!!!!!! I had a classic double with cheese, biggie fries, an orange soda and finished it off with a chocolate sundae. As I was eating my burger I closed my eyes a couple of times and it really felt like I was back at home. No worries, I'm not homesick to say the least, no offence.
One thing I wanted to say before I forget, President Sloan is in really bad condition right now. They let us know last week the he had to get surgery done. He had a type of infection in his lungs that was slowly deteriorating his lungs. So when they caught that they couldn't repair the damage so they had to take out half of one of his lungs. Right now he still has bacterias that they are trying to kill away with medications. They have him in a good hospital here, but he´s still having a rough time. So please keep him and his family in your prayers back home. He has two older kids in the states (both married), one son on a mission in Spain, and two little girls here in Quito with him and his wife. So I imagine its rough on his family as well. To this point he is still going to continue with his calling as Mission President, with the hopes of getting back to work in January. Please remember him in your prayers.
By the sounds of the letters all of the family is doing well back home, I will surely support the family fast for Caleb this week. I'm glad to get letters and hear from you all. The letters I got today were filled with great news for me. Even the little things are always good to hear. In a few letters I have mentioned a couple of things I had thought would be nice for Christmas, but I have sadly forgotten one of the most important things, hickory farms beef stick and sweet n hot mustard! haha.
My companion and I are doing well in our sectors. We have got a few investigators in the sector we are opening and this week at church we had 3 in-active families come to church that we have visited! Tonight we have a family home evening with an older couple that is less active. The wife is bedridden with arthritis, but her husband has started to come back to church again. The first 2 weeks in our ward we had an attendance of about 40-50 people, but this week we were up to about 70! I'm loving it here in this sector, its cold, a big hillside, and the food isn't to my fancy, but I love working here! Thank you all for your love and support! I hope to hear from you all again next week.
Elder Matthew Morris

Hey Family!
Well this week turned out to be a great week for us here. On Sunday we did divisions with the assistants to the president and went to our two wards at the same time! It was great! My companion went to Carapungo where we have been working and we had like 5 investigators come to church! A couple of them were members of a family we had just met Saturday morning and we invited them, and surprisingly they came! So that was great, then I attended in our ward La Bota (the boot)haha, and we surprisingly had 2 investigators there that are sisters of a member. I was there in my ward with one of the assistants and a old missionary couple that work in the offices, in sacrament meeting they asked me to give a talk, mind you they asked me about 30 seconds before announcing it! So I got to give a talk about member missionary work and persistence with the hard hearts! It turned out pretty good. Then Elder Squires (Arizona) told me how before the mission that would have never been possible for any of us to improvise a talk of 10 minutes, let alone in another language. It was just a great day for us. I'm getting used to this new sector of mine. I'm used to the colder nights and the hot sun during the days. The food, well... I still really miss the food from the coast. Basically its like Jared always said about the food in Chile, there´s no flavor. That's about as descriptive as I can get. We so have one mamita for us on Saturdays, her and her family is from Columbia, she cooks really good, but the rest are from here in Quito and cook like they´re from Quito. But the good thing is that I'm loosing a little bit of weight here in Quito, they don't serve as much food as the people on the coast, so I have been able to loose a few pounds here. The dogs here, are just as many as on the coast, but not quite as disease ridden as those of the coast. There the pros and cons of everything here, but I do miss the coast. But this isn't my work anyway is it? If I'm here, its because I need to be here.
Thanksgiving is this week, no worries, I did NOT forget about it. The couple that attended with us on Sunday are the Curtis´, they are from the Provo area, I cant remember exactly where. So they and I have become good friends in the mission and they invited my companion and I to thanksgiving dinner with them at their house. It was a pretty special invitation too! They only invited the Elders from the offices, my companion and I, and another companionship here in Quito. So no worries, I will have a thanksgiving dinner this year.
Today for p-day we went to a mall here in Quito, eat pizza hut and played laser tag. The laser tag was a BLAST! We played for 45 minutes without stop! It was a lot of fun! But basically my team got dominated. We hurried and got back here to the sector to write home, and will soon go back to the house to shower! I hope all is going well back home! I love to hear how cold it is back home! And even more when I hear that it is snowing. Today sitting in the bus coming back to the sector I started to think about the cold weather back home and about hunting season. Then remembered my rifle waiting at home for me....... wow....... haha
I hope you all have a VERY happy thanksgiving this week. I love you all and thank you so much for the letters, pictures, and your loving support. I appreciate every little thing you do.
Elder Matthew David Morris

So here's a couple of pictures. the first two are of my district here.

The third is of president and Hermana Sloan and I after the leaders dinner with them. Almost the exact same picture as the first one I sent home when i first got here eleven and a half months ago! The fourth picture was just a cool sunset here the other day. And the last one is of my favorite family that we contacted in esmeraldas, still haven't gotten married yet but they are getting closer!!! Enjoy family! Elder Morris

Hey Family!
I hope all is going well back home for everyone! Sounds like the weather is getting cold and the days shorter. That is one effect down here that makes the time go by faster for me. There are no seasons, the sun comes up and goes down the time time every day of the year, and its always warm weather. We are supposedly entering winter here in Quito, which just means it rains more than normal, but we haven't got any rain yet. Everyone here thinks that its the end of the world. Latins are really sceptical about stuff like that. But all is well here. President Sloan got really sick this week and has been in the hospital for a few days, they say he has pneumonia and water on his lungs. He should be getting out in the next couple of days. Keep him in your prayers, hes an excellent leader. He has changed this mission around 100% and has helped me to change my life as well.
This Sunday the bishop from our ´forgotten´sector came and picked us up and we went to get to know our sector and chapel. I have never seen such happy faces as those of the members when they got to the church and we were at the doors to welcome them! We´ve got some activities and stuff scheduled to do with the members to help excite them again. Wednesday nights we are going to do divisions with the bishopric to re-activate the less active members. There´s no effort wasted. And as it says in Jacob 5:72, the Lord of the vineyard went and worked with his servants. This is the work of the Lord, I am certain of that. This sector has been quite a change for me, but I know that its the same work where ever I go. Speaking of which, two of my investigators in Esmeraldas got baptised Saturday. I cant explain the joy that one feels upon hearing that phrase. I miss Esmeraldas so much. BUT I'm getting used to the cold weather and flavorless food of Quito again. Hopefully next week I will have some great story about the visits we make in our new sector this week. Love you all. Thank you all so much for your letters! Oh ya, I think I may have mentioned before, my scheduled release date is October 5th next year, but President told me last week that I can extend a month extra if I want....
Love you all!!!
Elder Matthew Morris

Hey Family!
Well this was a pretty good week here in my new sector. I'm getting used to being in the sierra again. It's COLD at night here, sunny and hot in the day, the food is flavorless, the people aren't nice....BUT if I'm not stretching myself, I'm not growing! So I'm excited to be here in this sector. This sector has had a line of some no-so-obedient missionaries so we have got our work cut out for us here. We had stake conference yesterday, EXCELLENT messages! The stake president here is a man who truly understands his calling and magnifies it for the good of others, not for personal gratification! So the messages, hymns, everything about the conference was gratifying! My companion and I in this next week are going to open up a sector that the missionaries haven't worked in for a couple of years. We met the bishop of this ward at the conference and scheduled a day to go with him to meet the members and all. I'm excited for that, I know there's a lot of rumors about his sector, but I know that there are people waiting there and if we just do our part with much prayer we will find them.
It was actually pretty neat how we met the bishop. After the priesthood session Saturday night, we were saying hi to members and such, when two members approached me and asked what sector I am in. I told them my two ward's names and they both got big grins on their faces and introduced themselves as the bishop and one of his counselors in the ward of mine that hasn't had missionaries. They then told me how long it had been since they have had missionaries or even a baptism and said to me after the conference was over they saw me and both knew that my companion and I were those assigned to their ward to renew missionary work there! It was a neat little experience for me.
This week we have zone conference and interviews with the President. Always a spiritual boost!
Congratulations Mary and Greg! I hope all is well for everyone back home! I miss you and love you all, with Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up, one really realizes how great it is to have a family. Don't worry about me out here, I've got my mission family. Follow President Monson's council, do something special for someone else. Love you all!
Elder Matthew Morris

Hey Family!
Well I'm in my new sector. I actually have two sectors here. We are in a valley north of Quito. My companion is Elder Farinango. He is from Otavalo here is Ecuador. That is the city where they are basically pure Lamanite descent, they are all indigenous. So he, keeping with family tradition, has a ponytail! It's pretty cool. It's just weird finding long black hair in the bathroom! ha ha. He's a good missionary. He started his mission a week before me, so we are equals time wise. The sector is not bad here. We are going to have to work ALOT to get the members respect and confidence. They haven't had that good of missionaries here. Our second sector we haven't even gone to yet. My companion in 2 months has only been there once. So we are basically opening it up. We will see how everything turns out here. It's a wealthier sector. Lunch today was hard for me. I felt embarrassed to be eating with such nice plates, in such a nice house and with ice cream and cake for dessert. I miss Esmeraldas, people there were poor, but they are happy with the little they have. Also, the accent here is killing me! It is so funny to hear people talk here. I got so used to the coastal accent that these people just sound weird to me!
Last Sunday was probably one of the best Sundays I have had in the mission. We had a lot of investigators and less-actives come! One after another came through the doors, and every one of them I was more and more surprised. We heard some great testimonies and it was just an all around great day for me! UNTIL we got the transfers, I felt very sad, but this is how the mission is. I'm nervous here in my new sector, but I'm gonna give it my all. These two wards here need some doctoring up. Pray for me! Thank you all for the pictures and letter this week! Mary and Greg, Congratulations, have a great week. I hope to get a couple pictures! Happy holidays to everyone! Love you all!
Elder Matthew David Morris

EXCHANGED!!!

Hey family,
Sorry, but this letter is not going to be a very long one. We are in the bus station right now getting ready to leave. I got the phone call last night, I'm going back to Quito, about 40 minutes north of where I was last time, but still in Quito. 7 months here in Esmereldas....I think I'm going to be shedding a few tears on this bus ride. I will try to get to an internet shop when we arrive at my new sector.
Elder Matthew Morris