Hey everybody!
So I think most of your letters got lost in the mail. I have only received one! The zip code is 29063. I don't know where the other letters went but hopefully they find me eventually!
This week was such a good one! It started out with zone conference, which includes a bunch of training, role playing (aka the bane of my existence), and talks. My favorite part is when the mission president spoke to us. I wish he would have just talked the whole four hours! He started off saying,"There are two of us: the person who is and the person who can be." Isn't that incredible? I want so badly to change and to become the person that God wants me to be. "Trust Him that He will make of you, immeasurably more than what you will ever, ever, in all eternity, make of yourself. He will create of you a masterpiece. You will create of you only a smudge. You will create an ordinary man; He will create a God." Hopefully, I will be a totally different person by the time I get home! Missions are a real refiner's fire. Missions bring all of my weaknesses out in the open. Some I didn't even know that I had! But that is the great thing about missions, too. They are the perfect opportunity to change and to make them into strengths! So hopefully the Morgan Daniels you saw get on that plane back in July will not be the same Morgan Daniels that gets off the plane!
I guess it is tradition for a basketball shootout after lunch at zone conference so they divided up the sisters and the elders and we played knockout. You won't believe this... but I actually won! So you are now writing to the reigning champion for the sisters. No big deal :) I had to take a picture holding a basketball with President Holm, like it was some NCAA championship (I'm not sure what the equivalent of the super bowl is for basketball but NCAA sounds right...) I was pretty much humiliated. I hate being the center of attention! That and I'm sure the audience got a good chuckle from my "basketball form" which I am sure is anything but flattering. Oh well. Who knew I would ever use the skills I gained in 7th grade basketball on my mission??
I love my mission! I love South Carolina, and to be honest I don't want to leave it! I'm actually hoping it takes a long time for that visa to go through :) I really think the Lord is watching out for me, because visa waiters can't drive!! Talk about a miracle right? I guess my driving record is in Brazil and all the insurance information, so I shouldn't be allowed to drive the whole time I'm here. So no worries on that end!
Yesterday we had the primary program. It was so perfect! We had two investigators, Shannon and John, there. They were such a miracle. She actually called the church and requested the missionaries! She had already bought a Book of Mormon and read 1 Nephi before we even met with them. God has truly prepared them! They have so many questions and have such a desire to grow closer to Jesus Christ. I don't mean to get ahead of myself, but I just want them to get sealed in the temple! I guess we will have to focus on baptism first though :) Anyway they loved the program. John kept clapping after the songs. (Even though no one else was!) He clapped the loudest after "Families can be Together Forever" and had so many questions about that after the meeting! I loved how the primary president arranged everything. During "Families can be Together Forever" she had two families come up and sing the first verse. It was so powerful and really made the words more meaningful.
Congratulations on doing so well in school! Open note tests are usually even harder because they expect you to have taken good notes so the questions are tricky! I am so proud of you for going back to school. I loved that quote about the Atonement and Christ refusing to use his "bulletproof vest of divinity." I shared it with my companions and they loved it! I think I am just now beginning to understand even a glimmer of the Atonement. I just don't think my mortal mind will ever completely understand it! But the more I learn the closer I grow to my Savior. I love that the boys are in cross country! It seems like all the good boys in high school did cross country rather than football. I also love that they get to compete and push each other. I will never forget that one cross country race where Mom cheered Lexi on to beat me! :) Pops, take consolation in the fact that you can still run circles around me even if the boys beat ya! I loved that story about the monkey and the peanut! Last week was particularly bad. It was just such a rough week and I didn't think I was doing any good. I was also really distracted and frustrated because I hadn't received any letters (Which isn't your fault at all! I know you sent them!) and felt really alone. This feeling of gloom stayed with me all week! I just couldn't let go of that stupid peanut so I think the adversary nabbed me! It wasn't until last P-day that I could let go off the dark feelings that I harbored in my heart. It was a conscious decision to just let go off myself and my petty wants and just go to work. President David O. McKay once said, "The greatest battles you will ever fight will be within the silent chambers of your heart." I think that is so true! I let go of the peanut and I had the best week yet since I left for my mission! I have witnessed so many miracles and have learned so much about myself!
There is just so much to talk about! Do you want to hear about my investigators, my own personal study and what I've learned, or more about what I actually do every day?? I feel like I am just a rambling mess with these emails, so let me know if there is something in particularly you want me to write about!
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