Hey family!
Well this week was a good week. On wednesday morning we did a service project for a widow lady in our ward. We hand mixed and poured a concrete patio in front of her house. There was six of us elders there, i was the only one that knew anything about construction, so basically the other five watched as i did all of the stuff. But i loved it! I didnt want to go home, but we ran out ofcement to mix so we had to stop. I got back to the house with 6 blisters on my right hand and 3 big ones on my left hand, and I about couldnt walk the next day or two, but i loved it! One of our investigators was pregnant and she had her baby saturday night, we are going to go visit her tonight at the hospital. She is an investigator I will NEVER forget! Ever since we contacted her she has amazed me. She is progressing so much, and would probably get baptised tomorrow if we asked her to, the opnly bad thing is, that she is not married. So our goal right now is to get her married with her ´husband´. I will probably send a few photos of the baby in my letter next week. My comp and I are doing good here in Esmeraldas. The other day we were helping out in one of the other sectors with a few companionships. We devided the sector into different sections, then went out to our assigned area and contacted as much as we could, to help that companionship get more references. After about 2 1/2 hours of door after door, my comp asked me if I ever get tired! and that he wanted a bottle of water and to rest a few minutes. It made me laugh, so we took a little rest and then finished up the rest of our assigned area. That is one thing I have felt really good about being here in Esmeraldas, we have been working HARD. from the morning, till night. And I sleep like a ROCK! I love it here. I wouldnt want to be anywhere else! I hope that all is going well back home for everyone! The other day was pioneer day, it made me think about the rodeos back home. That reminds me of a thought i had a couple of weeks ago. Some of the worst smells that there are: horse poop, human BO, beer, cigarette smoke, diesel exhaust. Put them all together and you have one of the funnest memory making experiences, the county fair! Love you all! Hope to hear from you soon!
Elder Morris

Hey Family!
Well another week gone by. It seems like just yesterday I wrote home. The time is flying by. We had a baptism this week. Vicente Cuero, I think I wrote a little about him in my letter last week. He lives in just a little shack, but hes got his heart set on changing his life and following the commandments! I really love it here in Esmeraldas. It will be a sad day for me when I get transfered. We have found some great investigators here. I have had some experiences that make me certain that God is preparing people for us, that He puts us or them in each others paths. I have learned so much here how to learn to love someone, even complete strangers. This is the best training field on earth, for the rest of ones life!
My companion lost his temper a little bit a couple of weeks ago, he told me it was my fault, that im prideful and impatient! Upon thinking about the situation and what was the real cause of the problem, it made me smile really big! It was probably one of the first times that I could honestly say that I hadnt been stubborn, prideful, or impatient in an arguement in all of my life. I remember what I was like before the mission, in arguements I always had fault at least a little, if not alot. But being here in the mission I have wored HARD on not being like that. And Im doing pretty darn good at it! So it just made me smile real big and laugh a bit when my comp told me that! I hope that I can continue to better my patience and love for others.
In the last while, I have also found such a great love for the guidance and the help we get through the scriptures. Especially in the book of mormon! I am getting alot more familiar with my scriptures and I love it! In lessons with memebers as well as investigators, when a question or a problem is brought up, scriptures and stories start running through my mind! I love it here. I love the scriptures! I love spanish! Its such a beautiful, basic language, I hope to continue to get better at my spanish! I guess just to finalize all of this I need to say, "I do not boast in my own strength, nor in my own wisdom; but behold, my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God. "Yea, I know that I am anothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things. (Alma 26:11-12)
I hope all is well back home! I love and miss you all. Hope to hear from you all soon! Thank you for your love and support!
Elder Matthew Morris

Hey Family!Sorry im a day late on this letter. This weekend has been busy for us. President Sloan has spent the weekend here in Esmeraldas with his family!They hada weekend on the beach! haha, and so they came to church at my ward sunday (STRESSFUL). I was worried we would have some wierd member give a talk or something but it all turned out well. And also the asistants to the president have been here staying in our itty bitty apartment and doing divisions with us. I got to go and do a few visits with Elder Olaveson, asistant to the president, he is from Rigby! We met at a school dance in high school. It was alot of fun cuz im in what was his first sector. And we got to talk alot about sports and all the fun stuff back home. And yesterday we didnt end up having time to write so here I am today. We had interviews with president Sloan this morning and will have Zone conference here tomorrow! Wahoo! Zone conference is always a big boost.
I have had some great experiences lately. I know its an answer to my prayers for the little hard things that I was passing as well. The past week I have found a HUGE love for the scriptures, and such gratitude for the things I had learned in seminary and sunday school throughout the years. The scripture that says not to think beforehand of what to say, because the word will be given to us in the precise moment, is 100% true! I have not a doubt about it. I cant even explain how the spirit truely forms us and speaks through us to give hope to people. One of the things that I have really learmed is that we need to be always lookingfor ways to feel the love of God in our own lives, and help others to feel it as well. We dont need to just feel the spirit, feel encouraged, but truely feel the Love of God. It is a feeling like no other. I cannot explain it. Every one of you back home, make the goal to at least feel it once a week. I try to find a way top feel it every day here. Do whatever you need to do, pray, fast, read the scriptures, truely ask God for help, courage, and knowledge of his love. I promise you wont end you efforts discouraged.
I thank each and every one of you, my family for always writing me and supporting me, the next best feeling to the Love of God, HAS to be the love of one´s family! It makes me happy and helps my desires here when i hear from home and hear that all is well. And it makes me feel good to know that you are also passing trials, that shows that God trusts you, and wants to strengthen you. I love you all so much and love hearing from you! Thank you.
Elder Morris

Hey Family!
I hope all are doing well. I got a couple photos from Krysten, WOW that new firepit is nice! I cant tell you all how much I miss laying stone! I miss working with my hands, but this has gotta be the next best thing, if not the very best thing to be doing! I hope everyone had a good 4th of July! We had an activity planned to do here, saturday in the morning, but we had to go to Quito on friday for a training meeting I got invited to. So we ended up coming back here to Esmeraldas saturday night. It was a long weekend. Esmeraldas to Quito is a 7 to 8 hour ride in bus on roads that just wind through the mountains up to Quito, and it is going from sea level to about 10,000ft where Quito is. But it was a good meeting, I learned alot. And after the meeting we got to go have dinner with President and his wife at their house. Chicken Alfredo and homemade pizza, and blonde brownies with vanilla ice cream! It was quite possible the closest I have felt to heaven........ It makes me teary eyed just to think about it now! haha, it was a great dinner, that's for sure!
I have just been having some great experiences here. I'm sure grateful for them too! Its what helps me keep plugging on! Dad and Jeanne, I got the package from you the other day! Thank you so much for the photos of the Temple! If anyone is putting anything together to send, load it with photos! I love getting pictures, and it´ll be easier to get them by mail not, my email box is getting about full from all of the big file pictures I've got! haha, oh well.
A quick little story to tell, we have an investigator right now named Vicente. He is 76 years old and from columbia. He doesn't know how to read or write, never learned. He lives in a little 7 ft x 12ft wood shack that has a rusty tin roof. He is the most humble person I have ever known my entire life. He has a few kids, but none of them talk to him. They live in another part of Ecuador but he doesn't know where. But in teaching him I have seen a new happiness and brightness come into his life. He quit smoking and drinking alcohol. And has a baptismal date for july 18th! I'm really excited about it. In the lessons we have to help him out with the prayers like they do in primary (whispering in the ear), but hes doing great! We are also trying to teach him how to read, its a slow process, but we´re getting there. It is a really humbling experience for me. It always makes me realize how blessed I am when I can read and write spanish just fine, and people here never have learned their own language. Always be grateful for what we have back home, we´ve sure got a lot. Seeing some of the pictures of the house and yard back home, it makes me shake my head at myself for not being grateful before for what we have back home. I love you all and thank you so much for the letters and the support! I hope all is well with everyone!
Elder Matthew Morris

Hello!
Well another week has gone by. This week I hit 12 weeks in Esmeraldas, a few missionaries got exchanged but I'm still here. I hope everything is going well for everyone back home. The fourth of July is this weekend! WAHOO! Too bad they don't celebrate it down here. Let me know next week how it goes for everyone. We are actually going to have an activity at the church Saturday morning. A breakfast and then a bunch of games. Hopefully a bunch of people will come. Yesterday was stake conference here. All of the stakes in Ecuador were included. We got to hear some talks from Salk Lake, Elder Packer spoke, a couple members of the 70 and the general primary president. It was really neat. It was transmitted live, just to the stakes in Ecuador. A couple of investigators came and watched, but not as many a we had hoped.
I have a video here and a couple of pictures that I am going to try to send with this letter. The video, well I explain it in the video. The pictures, after stake conference we went to do service for an investigator of another ward, they had these nifty weights on the ground. So we decided to find out who the toughest Elder was. All of the elders in my district are latinos, and not real tough. I won, but I sure am feeling it today. My arms are pretty sore. And upon lowering the bar from the air, it caught on my pen and tore my chest pocket off! oops, but its ok, i know how to sew! Anywho, hopefully these pictures and video send!
Love you all!
Elder Matthew Morris
(**Video did not transmit in the email)

Hey Family!
Well time is flying by! Happy Fathers day to all of the fathers back home. It was an interesting day for us yesterday. EVERYONE in Esmeraldas was drunk. Including a couple of investigators. So we didn't really get anything done. I got offered beer by a couple of people. It was just something new to see. Last Friday I was given the opportunity by the sister missionaries in our district to preform a couple of baptisms from their sector. It was a family of seven, the parents have a baptismal date in July (not married yet) so the 5 kids got baptised on Friday. Elder Betancourth baptised the 3 boys, and I got to baptize the 2 daughters. It was really neat to see that big family there all together. The sister missionaries in our district are Hermana Tax from guatemala, and Hermana Morris from Panama! Don't ask me, I don't know how she got that last name, she is pure latina, and even more weird, both of her parents are Morris´. So I think we´ve gotta do some family searching and figure out how we got our name in Panama. But anyways, that was a great experience. Everything is going well here for me. By the sound of all of the letter, we´ve been getting lots of rain back home! That's good, you´re learning a little bit of what Ecuatorian life is like! I was glad to get so many pictures from home in the letter this week. I liked all of them. Cole Matthew, Caleb and the airplanes, Laura and her big belly!! The picture of Laura and Chance at the zoo with Mary and Caleb caught me off guard, I haven't seen Laura with a belly like that, so it made me look twice! haha, oh well, not too much longer Laura. Dad also told me in the letter from him that they sold grandma´s buick, does she have another car? It was great to get those pictures from home. I couldn't believe how comfy and expensive our couches look! And carpet in the house! That is a luxury that is unknown in Ecuador. And the picture of Dad and Caleb mowing the back lawn! There are no lawnmowers here, there´s not even lawns here at people´s houses. we are truly blessed. Don't ever forget it, I hope that I will always remember it.
Thank you all for the letters and everything!
Love you all, take...luck!

(next email...)
oops....love, Elder Matthew Morris

Hey Family!
Its starting to scare me how fast time is going by! We are already half the way through June! I am just grateful for where I am right now. I wouldn't choose to be anywhere else. There have been some tough days, but like I said last week, I love my mission. All of the ups and downs, forwards and backwards, everything about it. Everyday I learn something new. Yesterday we were visiting with a new member family and a couple of non-members of the family. In the closing prayer the wife who is a member in her prayer, asked the Heavenly Father bless all of the people in the world who are less fortunate and don't have food to eat, or a home to stay in. Now this is a great thing to pray for, but it struck me because of their own living conditions. One of the most humble families Ive met here on my mission. Yet they are one of the happiest families I have met. Also, Dad usually always reminds me in his letters, for me to pray for little Caleb and Cole Matthew. I always do remember you all in my prayers, but something that none of you will see or hear, that I see and I hear, is the prayers of the members and our investigators here. And in their prayers they ask, not just that the missionaries be watched over, but the families of the missionaries be watched over, and protected. It always brings a tear to my eye when I hear it. People who have never met my family, only seen the pictures that I have, and THEY pray for MY family. You are all being prayed for, more than you would imagine. And by the sounds of the letters, the prayers are being answered. Its good to hear that everyone is doing so good, that we are getting lots of rain back home, that dad and the crew are staying busy with work.
I hope that this letter finds everyone well. I love you all and thank you all for everything!
Elder Matthew Morris