Hey Family!
This week was a really good week. We had the Zone Leader council this week in Quito with President. He is back in charge of the mission now. He has an injection insert in his wrist that they use to give him antibiotics every morning and night, but he is able to go to and from the offices now. It was a great meeting and dinner that we had with him. It was very spiritual and uplifting. This upcoming week we have Zone Conference again. So we´ve got to prepare the capacitation again. I'm excited for it this time though. Not so nervous. We are going to do the conference and interviews with President in Quito so that he doesn't have to travel with his medical stuff. That will make four weeks in a row that I have had to travel to Quito. I'm getting a bit used to in now, but hopefully wont have to go for a while longer.
My companion and I are doing well. Last week we had changes in the mission but we are both still here. There were only a couple of changes in the zone. But last Monday we had to wait in the bus station ALL day for the now missionaries. I got my forehead nice and pink. When we left our house it was cloudy and rainy, but getting into Otavalo it was nice and sunny! haha. Oh well. Today we went to a nice grass soccer field where we did a cleaning service project last week. We played some basketball, threw a couple of footballs around and then played an intense game of kickball! It was a blast. It made me miss football alot just tossing the ball around to each other. I think that when I go to BYUI when I'm back home, I will have to play there. That only have like the little league within the student there, but I would love to play again.
This week here in Cotacachi I met a couple that has a house here, they are originally from London, but the most of their life they have lived in Vancuver! And to be honest I cant really spell in English anymore so Dad if I spelt that wrong sorry. But it was pretty neat getting to talk to them. I meet gringos about every day here that are either vacationing or have condos here in Otavalo and Cotacachi. Just today I met a member that is from Mexico, lives in Roy Utah, but is vacationing here for another month or so. Small world!
I'm enjoying my sector alot. I'm getting used to the hills and rocky roads. A couple of Sundays ago for lunch we had something called Librillo. Jared may have heard of it, but I'm going to explain anyways. Well to be honest its really easy to explain. They take raw cow intestines, cut it into little bite size pieces, then put it with some type of sauce, the preference of the cook, then eat it! RAW!! Yup, I'm just going to say, to this day I have not denied a lunch from any member, sadly. It was very, very, very odd. I'm not sure if anyone back home has tried tire tube, but I would imagine that its somewhat similar. Other than that I haven't really eaten anythin weird yet. Alot of potatoes, rice, and peas. Its alot like the food when I was back in Tulcán. The people are great here. All of the members ask me if I'm from Utah. Then I usually get after them and proudly tell them I'm from Idaho! The land of the GREAT potatoes! haha. They always laugh at me. This week I got a package from home. Shoes from dad and Jeanne! WAHOOO!!! I was worried that they might not get here, or maybe just be the wrong size, but they fit me perfect. They will be GREAT trackting shoes for me. I'm actually way excited about them, that and the 3 pairs of new socks that came too. Sorry Jared and Krysten, your package hasn't showed up yet. It could have just gotten lost with the X-mas rush and all, that happened to package I got for x-mas last year, it showed up in mid February with a stamp that said it got lost in El Salvador for a couple of weeks, but it got to me! So theres still hope. Mary thanks for the pictures of little Caleb this week, Cute little guy, just too bad Laura got ahold of those scissors. Don't worry, his hair´ll grow back somewhat normal I imagine. ahah, just kiddin Lou. It looks good. He is a handsome little boy.
Well I hope you all have a great week this week. Love you all and thank you for all of your love and support!
Elder Matthew Morris

Hey Family!
Another stressful week gone by. We have just had a lot of things to do here, like always. I went to Quito to renew my identification that was overdue about 2 months ago. They gave me another year and a half on it, so I'm set for at least one return trip here! Today we were able to do a good service project for one of the companionship's in our zone. Tomorrow we get our changes if there are any, so today as the last preparation day, we went over to an apartment of a couple of Elders and we cleaned and reorganized the entire house. About 8 of us spent around 4 hours cleaning and moving stuff around. Its the storage house for the zone, so there was a lot of cleaning to do! But it was a really good experience. It helped me to see who really are the loving and helping missionaries in the zone. A number of times I had to tell them Great Grama Morris´old phrase about getting the job done right! ¨Once a task is first begun, never leave it ´till its done. Be the task great or small, do it right, or not at all.¨ So I had to step up a few times and let some of them know its just easier to do it all right when we´re doing it, than have to come back again and redo it all! Thank you Dad, for the work ethic that you have taught me. I will never be able to thank you enough. I personally love doing special service projects for others. Especially while on divisions with other missionaries. I have had some great district and zone leaders in my mission. A number of times with them they did little things, even like washing the dishes for me, those moments always made me feel of their love, and dedication. I am convinced that selfless service is the greatest way to show your love to someone. Its something that words cannot even replace.
Tomorrow we have a baptism of a kid who is 9 years old. His parents and brother are all members, but haven't been really active, so he just kinda slipped by the 8 year old mark without getting baptised. So the family recently started coming again and told us he wasn't yet baptised. So we have been able to help out in strengthening the family, and now baptise the son.
All in all I'm really enjoying it here. Being zone leader is a bit rough, but I'm getting used to it. Before I finish the letter I have to wish everyone a happy birthday. No worries, I haven't forgotten about any of them! Zach, Rachel, Gramma, Krysten and anyone else there, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I think about you all and remember you in my prayers. I miss you and love you all! I hope all is well for everyone back home, and that the work situation betters. Thank you all for your letters and support. Love you all!
Elder Matthew David Morris

So the first 2 pictures are of a service project we had last week in my sector. We once again hand tilled a field for a member. The member in the photo with me is Luis Maigua, he was inactive for some 4 years, we went with our bishop and visited his two sundays ago, thenafter we visited a few times, he in now comming to church and excited to be back. For me, its just a good of a feeling as having a baptism!the next two pictures are of the service we did this week, my ripped missionary arms packing cement bags, and shoveling gravel. The last picture is part of our zone, in our favorite lunch restaurant for preparation days!

Enjoy!

Elder Morris

Hey Family!
This week was a LONG week for us here in our sector. We were doing lots of divisions with missionaries, and had a couple issues arise with some elders. We had some real funny stories at the same time though. One of our district leaders here is from Bogota Colombia, he is training a new elder from Arizona. So on Monday night during family home evening I got a phone call. It was the district leader. He told me he was lost in the mountains outside of Otavalo and couldn't see ANY city lights or anything. They had been looking for a house of some investigators, and decided to take an unsure ´shortcut´ and then the fog came in on the hillside and they got LOST! So the missionary I was on division with and I went to the nearest police station. We got there and told the cop at the front desk what the problem was and he while at the same time watching his little TV just said. Sorry, cant help you. I just kind of stood there shocked at his response. So I asked why and he just said it was out of their jurisdiction. So he told us we had to go to the little city where I live to get help here. But it being late, there weren't any more buses going out of Otavalo to Cotacachi, I knew it so I asked if by chance they could help us out and take us to Cotacachi. He simply said NO and continued watching his movie. So I got a bit frustrated about it and just left. We payed $5 for taxi to take us back here to cotacachi, got to the police station, and they had us get into the little 4 door Chevy luv and we headed for the hills! Luckily last Friday I was on divisions with this companionship, so I remembered where more or less the house was. So we about 2 hours later found them down a dirt road off in the middle of nowhere! It was a funny experience. One definitely for the diary. It was a crazy week in a lot of ways for us.
Friday morning we went to do a service project for some people. We went to where a family was building a new house. We started out by unloading a truckload of cement bags! Then we had to mix mud for a cement pad. It was a lot of fun for me. I felt at home. They do construct in a weird way down here. But it was really interesting to see the process and everything of how to put up walls and do flooring. I took a few pictures.
Last Sunday we attended at one of our two wards here. It was the first time we were able to go there, and apparently the missionaries before us hadn't been either, for about 7 months according to some of the members there. So when we got there we were welcomed by many happy faces. I wish I would have had a camera. I haven't ever seen such happy little Indian ladies in all my life! We had ladies coming up and shaking our hands and hugging us almost in tears they were so happy. The same thing happened to us last night while contacting in this sector where the missionaries haven't really been for a while. We didn't find, but were found by a few members that all welcomed us into their houses with open arms and happy faces. I love being here on the mission. I don't think I can possibly say it enough. I will never be able to look at these two years without feeling something special in my heart. It truly is going to hurt when its time to come home. Mark and Kyle are just right around the corner from getting home. Within some 3 months now! and Even scarier is that I'm just around the corner from them! But this is a great time and I'm not going to waste any of it. Thank you all for your letters and all that you do for me. Love you all!
Elder Matthew Morris

Hey Family!
This week was a fun week for us. We had a lot of real memorable experiences. We are having some troubles with a couple of the companionships here in the zone, so my companion and I were in other sectors on divisions about the whole week. The one night that we were here in the sector we had some real close encounters with some vicious dogs! No worries though, no bites. At one of the houses, two dogs came out at us running and barking. My comp. finally had enough of the dogs chasing us on the street so he picked up the biggest rock he could find, about the size of a softball. Then we just underarm threw it (because of its size and weight) in the direction of the dogs. It had a slight encounter with one of the dogs, don't worry no animal was harmed, and then the dogs ran back to the house whimpering and yelping. So as we chuckled about our victory over the dogs, we heard someone come out of the house yelling ¨whats going on out there!¨. So us and our quick instincts, just ran into the dark bushes and hid! It really reminded me of the good old days in high school and pulling pranks. So we got outta there and had a good laugh about it.
This week has been a week that has really helped me out on remembering the sacredness of my mission calling. I had a few really spiritual experiences with some more or less troublesome missionaries. I had a lot of great reminders of the power of the priesthood. I just love being a missionary. I cant compare this time to any other in my life. Thank you all for the letters and packages that you have sent. I'm living like a king, a king that loves Reese's, jerky, and ´Idahoan´instant potatoes!
Elder Matthew David Morris

Be sure to get these on the blog Mary! :)

Ok, so the first photo was taken while we were hiking, we decided to stop for a quick breath and a couple of pictures. The volcano's in the background are, left: Taita Imbabura, and right: Cayambe The second photo is just a cool shot of my sun burnt face!
The third photo is the view of the lake as we crested the ridge of the crater. We didn't realize we were so close. I just saw a little trail up the steep hillside next to us and decided I would check it out, to my sup rise I found the crater lake! The fourth is another of the lake Cuicocha The last is of my companion and I at the entrance gate as we were leaving. (We hiked in on the backside of the lake to not pay the entrance fee, haha...) ¡Buen provecho!
Elder Morris

Hey Family!
Happy new years to everyone! This week has been a very long and very rush rush week for us here. We weren´t allowed to leave the house at all new years eve, then we had zone conference this week. The conference turned out really well. I enjoyed doing the training part with my companion. But we finally made it to Saturday, Preparation day! And tomorrow is Sunday, so I´ll get to nap a little bit in church. Not understanding anything in the classes puts one to sleep I have come to find out. But no, all is good here with us in Otavalo.
New years day we did a zone service project for some members in my ward. I don't have the pictures from it, but as soon as I get them I will send some home. It was really neat, 18 of the 20 missionaries here in the zone showed up to help. We HAND WEEDED an ENTIRE field! And it wasn't your ordinary field. It was about a 2 hour walk up the hillside in my sector, just to get there. We then divided into groups, one group went ahead down the rows weeding, then a few runners were going around rounding up all the picked weeds, then the last group went up and down the rows with a shovel tilling the dirt! I worked up a couple of blisters on my hand, but worst of all was the sun burn. There were NO clouds whatsoever, so I got a little pink, ok RED. But its alright, we really enjoyed doing the service project. The best part was the gratitude that the member felt for us. He had been getting behind in his work, then because of that got behind in tending his fields. So his home teacher realized what was going on and asked us and a few members to come help. Between members and missionaries there was about 35 of us there helping out. So needless to say, upon thanking us it brought the member to tears. It was a great way to start out the new year! There is nothing more gratifying than doing selfless service.
So today we also did the zone activity. The trip to the volcano Cayabme didn't work out, so we made the short trip up the mountainside in my sector to a pretty lake here. If you have checked out my sector on google, I'm sure you've seen the lake. Its called Coicocha. A big volcano crater filled with water that has two islands in the middle of it. It was alot of fun. Quite a hike getting up to the lake, but it was worth it, cresting over the ridge after a long steep hike and then seeing the beautiful crystal blue water! It was quite the site! Ive got a few pictures I'm going to send with the letter.
It was great hearing from everyone for Christmas. I hope that all is well back home, and that you all had a very happy new years! I love you all and am so grateful for your letters and support.
Elder Matthew David Morris

OK so on this computer I don't have the connection for my memory card, but I will change computers and send the pictures in just a minute.