The end is near....

Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2010 09:54:52

Hey yall!
First of all....HAPPY FATHER´S DAY!

I hope Dad’s Father’s Day was enjoyable because he is the bomb! This might be my last email from Perú as a missionary how crazy is that?! I have learned a lot in these last few weeks. I have learned that at times our pride and fear of new things inhibit us from growing to be the children god intends us to be. I have been able to work with a gringo for almost three weeks, and it makes me want to call all of my Latino companions that delt with me when I was new and apologize for being such a butt.

In regards to the money deal if it isn't too much of a bother it would be great if you could send me a little bit more money just in case because I want to buy a little something for everyone from ¨El Perú¨ if possible and I don’t want to be completely broke when I get home.

Don’t wish to be more organized, just do it! Start today and do something every day until it’s a habit and then you will say ¨remember when I was un-organized? ¨ Annette lives close to Fitness 19. I hope she will make it a habit to go for her health and not just to drop a few pounds. It needs to be a life long endeavor, not just a quick fix.

I will need the varying clothes sizes because right now I am not as buff as I used to be but I plan on making a come back with vengeance. Yes, give those size elevens to Chris I am a 9-9.5 now. Thanks for the desk I will be using that a lot to study and the TV is cool but I don’t think I will be using that very often. I will be thinning things out as well because I too have a lot of things that I don’t really need and can be of greater use to some one else. Don’t worry about the air conditioning deal you will live, I have survived without air conditioning for 2 years and its all good! There is no air conditioning in the jungle either, and it’s always about 95 degrees with about 100% humidity!

How crazy, I will be a great uncle before I even get home! Who would have imagined? Oh yeah I got the photos and thanks a ton! I used the one of Semaj and I, when I played football and the one with my brothers and sister. I think we will end up developing the pictures that I have in my camera when I get home because if I send them now I will get home before they do! It’s been a crazy 2 years and every day it seems more and more crazy. My only comfort is prayer and the scriptures.

I have truly come to realize that were nothing without the lord’s help. We can accomplish our dreams on our own at times but its a lot more fulfilling when we have the help of the lord; we just feel more at peace. I really want to go to BYU and build the business so that I can provide every opportunity for my family possible to grow and be better than I was. We will see what the lord has in store for me, all I know is that he can’t steer a parked car so I will be moving from the get go! I have to put this new found energy into something positive because if I don't I will lose it and I don't want that.

I will write you next week if I can, but if not I love you all and look forward to seeing you soon!

Love,

Elder Morton

So much to do and so little time!

Date: Mon, 14 Jun 2010 09:56:22 -0500
Subject: So much to do and so little time!

Hey yall!

About them releasing me a day later than I hoped is cool. I would have liked to be released the same day I get home but I am cool with being a missionary for another day! Thursday at 7pm is fine. I am happy to hear that Annette is back to the old Annette helping out and all.

I don’t know the airline I will be flying in on but I will let you know when I know. The information that you have is all that I have as of now and it’s correct. They will let you know in due time don’t worry, or if you want you can call the mission office and ask them.

About my first dinner, I don’t know what I want, be creative! I am looking forward to coming home too but I have two more weeks to work my butt off and then I can rest for a few days, after that it’s back to preparing my future and busting my butt to accomplish my dreams! I hope all is well at home as it sounds but get ready because I will bring the noise so watch out everybody!

It’s a really cool experience training a white boy because its like looking in the mirror and how I was two years ago. It’s a testimony to how much I really have changed and I can really say that I know that the church is true and that this is the Lord’s work. I have a testimony of the libro de Mormòn, or the book or Mormon......Whoops I am mixing Spanish and English again! I have to say that these have truly been two years that will define my life forever and I am happy that I made the decision to go on the mission and that I had so much help along the way.

Thank you guys for sticking in there and staying positive.

I love you all,
Elder Morton

Todo prueba tiene su fin y despúes hay una bendición..

Date: Mon, 7 Jun 2010 09:45:46 -0500
Subject: Todo prueba tiene su fin y despúes hay una bendición..
Subject: Every test has your order and after there is a blessing

Hey yall!

Thanks for the pictures they are pretty much exactly what I needed to choose from! Whoa! How cool is that! My first bishop, and best the example of a latter day saint that was a bit crazy like I was will be the one releasing me from missionary duties! Yes that’s right it will be the first Sunday of the month. The 11th it will be then, I’m down!

Well Justin graduated boot camp, may have gotten married and the family wasn’t there? That’s a crappy start and sad enough it will end crappy as well. Mike was talking about going into the police academy 2 years ago so it’s not really a surprise. Good for him. It’s a good, steady job that pays well enough. Well Mike is a smart guy and I think that he thinks that is good enough to support him in the way he’d like but it’s not. There are a lot of smart people out there in the world and it’s those that work hard and sacrifice that make the good money.

Well I’m sure you guys are passing through your fair share of trials but be strong and never give up hope for a better day. If you obey the commandments you will be blessed sooner or later and in the time most needed. I too look forward to coming home although I will be leaving a big part of my heart here in Perú, but this won’t be the last time I step foot on Peruvian soil! My coming home will be a breath of fresh air for all of us I think at least for the first few weeks of missionary stories and photos!
To be continued.............


Date: Mon, 7 Jun 2010 10:08:39 -0500
Subject: The mission’s like a box of chocolates.....

Thanks Mom the pictures of Semaj and I is the bomb and I will be using it for sure!

Now, to understand Lehi’s vision read 2 Nephi Ch 11. It’s the explication that Nephi received about his father’s vision. Laman and Lemuel are Lehi’s two older sons that fell away from the lord and didn’t partake of the fruit. The mist of darkness are the trials that the adversary puts in our way to blind us and lead us away from the straight and narrow path.

The blessing has the same result because you are heal based upon your faith, it doesn’t matter if I am a missionary or not but if that’s what you want who am I to say no? I love you all and I know that the lord is on your side all you have to do is have faith and act upon that faith because as you know the lord can’t steer a parked car!

I have crazy news! You know how I was sent to Ventanilla in a hilly desert? Well now I am near the mission office as a district leader and I am training a white boy from Washington! How crazy is that! I am teaching a white boy Spanish and basically I have a managerial position, in other words I get to serve 6 people and help them have more success. I am learning patience because my comp doesn’t speak Spanish at all and he wants to speak to me in English and he is adjusting to the mission life, that it’s not all about ¨me¨. You never know what’s just around the corner. I am happy to know that the president has a whole lot of confidence in me because if he didn’t he wouldn’t have called me as a district leader training a white boy Spanish. I feel good because that means the lord has confidence in me as well. Keep on keeping on! Keep it real and read your scriptures!

Love to all,

Elder Morton

Working hard and loving it!

Date: Mon, 31 May 2010 10:53:27 -0500
Subject: Working hard and loving it!

Hey yall!

I had a good week, just busting my butt because there is a lot of work to get done and not a whole lot of time to get it done in. Yes the photos were cool but I would like some from when I was on the wrestling team and the one with Brandon and I when I played football and a few others when I was younger that would be cool for everyone to see. I would like a variety of photos that say something about how I was just before the mission and how my childhood was. Also maybe a few more from my bodybuilding days to choose from of which, one would be the coolest to share.

I think it’s the stress that is causing everyone to get sick because it kills your immune system. It’s the same story here. My comp is coughing up a storm but he’s getting better. Send the Mortimer family my best regards they are the bomb! Good for Chris I hope he gets something positive out of the military, at least a future for his family. Tanya is the bomb! Tell her hi for me and thanks for the support!

I have to come to realize that basically we are in June....how crazy is that?! In a month I will be home and the mission will be in my rear view mirror. I never thought it would be here so soon. It’s sad but true that all things come to an end. It seems like the only thing you can count on is change. The good news is that I have been able to gain a testimony in which I didn’t have before and along with that the missionary experiences have made me a stronger person. It is funny because I came to serve the lord and really he has served me the whole time making me better. I truly understand the example that Joe Mortimer gave in his home coming speech because it’s true. I can never pay the lord back for what he did but I will make it a life long goal to do my best to keep on paying him back, every day of my life doing something to make up for my debt to him. I feel as though with the help of the lord I can do anything that is just as long as I am obeying the commandments and following the example of our lord Jesus Christ. I have learned how to love those that don’t love me and really have no reason to love me. I have learned what humility really is and how powerful it can be. I have learned how to confide in the lord and that the only way we can get better is doing the things that challenge us. If we have a fear of public speaking we need to do it over and over again until we master it because these type of fears only limit us and our progression. I know that we are children of God and he wants the best for us, we just need to ignore the negative comments of others that get us down and see ourselves through the eyes of our heavenly father, which is without limits. We decide what our limits are, not the world.

Please send a shout out to all the family and friends for me because I love them all and hope things are going well for them and their families!

Love you all,

Elder Morton

P.S. Read 1 Nephi Ch.8 and tell me what you learned in your next email please! Ciao!