A week of mustached men I don't have time to tell you about

Dear Family,

Hopefully for the only time ever, I was glad to not have any investigators at church on Sunday. Jordan is baptized and confirmed now- so he doesn't count any more. Sacrament meeting and Sunday school were so spiritual, but during the third hour the bishop presented the ward mission plan and everything went down hill. People were practically shouting about how they did not want to follow the plan because they were not a part of making it. One man said, there is a great and spacious building on the other side of town that is the largest church in San Antonio. I was expecting him to say we should avoid being like that church, but he said the opposite! He said, the reason they have such high activity is because they put on a show so we should do the same> OH MY GOSH!!! I can't believe he said that. I wanted to cry the whole way through the meeting. Moral of the story: support your bishop and throw your weight behind the ward mission plan. Never behave in a way that will make the missionaries glad they did not have an investigator at church.

Other than that small incident yesterday the week has been pretty good. Jordan is Baptized and Confirmed!!! All is well. I am not getting transferred.

I went on splits to Encino Park and it was fantastic. I hope Sister Jespersen and I get to be companions someday. I also got to see the Footes* and it was almost like I got to get a hug from my mom. It was so good!!! I hope I get transferred there some time.

Anna! I predict with my super magical skills as THE PREDICTOR that you will go to...SWEEDEN! Just kidding. Dad already told me. I'm so excited for you!!! I'm also way excited to get all your letters.

We're going to the marcado today and have to meet up with the elders soon so I have to go but I love you all.

Love,

Morgan

        DFTBMA

*The Footes are old college friends of my parents.

From All of Me to You- Wait... What?

Happy, happy birthday

From all of me to you

I wish it was my birthday

So I could party too! HEY!

Happy, happy birthday

May all your dreams come true.

Since I'm a missionary,

Hope this email song will do.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANNA!!!

Dear Family,

How is everyone? I like how you all emailed me right after I emailed you last week and then sent me letters telling me you had emailed me. Haha. It made me laugh. I did appreciate the letters though. I always love hearing from you. This week has been crazy and I can't believe it's Monday again already. Transfers are in 10 days. Holy cow! How did that happen?

We dropped the Sandwich girls and my weekly opportunity to speak Spanish along with them. They told us they don't want to get baptized, so we said we wouldn't come over any more and they were ok with that; so the Primary is in charge of them now. I don't know if they believed us that we wouldn't come back.

Good news: I had a realization this week that made me very happy. My "maybe if I step in front of a bus I'll break my leg and have to go home early" stage has passed. Yay! Do you remember when Kiera (our cousin who served a mission) wrote home about that? It obviously made quite an impression on me since I'm quoting her now, and I'm happy to announce that I did not jump in front of any busses. :)

The hardest part about being a missionary for me right now is Thursday's weekly planning because we never get out of the apartment before 4:00. ugh. It’s pretty much awful. That’s 10 hours of studying and planning in case you were wondering. I hate it so much, but it has to be done. Basically, study time is the bane of my existence because I am easily...distracted. I'll just say it's hard for me to focus sometimes. I really need to get better at that because studying is important when you're a missionary.

We met a man named Frank this week who told us we were blasphemers, so that was fun. He started quoting the Bible and a bunch of ancient records, and all the stuff he quoted was correct; he just did not completely understanding what he was saying. The Spirit was so strong when Sis Schwarze and I talked to him about the Restored Church. And I think the Holy Ghost ultimate punched him in the face about 10 times, but he was not listening. (For those of you who do not know what an ultimate punch is it involves jumping in the air while making a kicking motion and punching someone in the face. Now you know. There will be a test, so don't forget it.)

We also knocked into this woman named Mrs. Smith and she was convinced I was 12 years old. I told her I was 21, and she laughed and said, “Don’t tell anyone else that or they won't believe you." She was really funny and really nice and really black. We’re probably going to go back next week and try to get in to teach her a lesson. Jessica, yes, I'm on the East side of San Antonio so there are a lot of black people. Welcome to Texas, where the Bible Belt meets Mexico with a few Cajuns mixed in. (Yes Cajun. A woman in the ward fed us alligator this week. yum)

Jordan is getting baptized this week! Finally! He has been having a hard time with his family recently because they are just not interested in being a part of his life. So he's all alone a lot of the time. Luckily the ward has taken him in really well and he has made some really good friends. I wish he had been baptized yesterday, but we still have to make it through the next 5 days.

(side note: Liz Huskinson, I would like to write you a letter so please let me know the best address to reach you at.  Other friends, I wouldn't mind having your addresses either if you want to send them to me.)

Ok, well I'm out of time, but this is actually quite a good letter this week. (Jessica, tell me how many hits I’ve been getting. do I get comments?) I love you all.

DFTBMA

Don't Forget To Be "Morgan" Awesome

    (Thanks for that one Anna)

Love,

    Morgan, The Super Awesome Girl You All Wish You Knew As Well As I Do

Peace

Come to Church, Anna Right

Hey Family!

So it has occurred to me, based on the last few letters I've received, that I've been an incredible pessimist and forgotten to tell you all the fantastic things that are going on in Converse. I love Converse. Things are going really well. Jordan's baptism is finally coming together. I don't know that I've actually told you about Jordan, but he is fantastic. He's 50, retired air force, and blind. He’s super independent and lives alone, but can't drive. It has been super challenging arranging for people to give him a ride to church, but the ward is starting to catch on that they are about to have their first baptism in over a year. And they are getting excited to see him there. Yay!

We've also started going back into a part of our area that missionaries haven't been to in several months due to...stuff. Anyway, we were there for like 2 hours and taught a lesson and set up 3 return appointments and didn't even have to knock on any doors. :)

We've also been teaching quite a few lessons to people we hope will begin to progress soon. This last week we've been focusing on reactivating a few less active members, and they all came to church yesterday!!! Anna Right was the Relief Society president. When she was released she got offended, stopped going to church, and took the rest of her family with her. We tried to visit them earlier in the week, and her husband told us she wasn't feeling well and sent us away. We went back a few days later and he was about to send us away when I said, "Can I ask you a favor? Can I use your restroom?" He kind of sighed and then let us in. Score! I want in to the bathroom and just sat there for forever. I wanted to make sure Sister Schwarze got nice and comfortable before I came out. They also had a copy of Gorden B. Hinckley's book Stand A Little Taller sitting in the bathroom. I flipped it open to the page about keeping the Sabbath day holy. Then I wedged it between the towels a little bit so it would stay open. Oh I'm so clever. I came out and Sis Schwarze was sitting on the couch, so I hurried and sat by her before Brother Right could send us on our way. We talked with him for another 20 or 30 minutes, invited him to Jordan's baptism, and told him we need him at church. Anna Right never came out while we were there, but imagine my surprise when they were two rows in front of us in Sacrament Meeting on Sunday. Brother Bloxham was also at church (which was good because I was ready to go into his house and start yelling at him about how he's breaking his temple covenants which probably wouldn't have gone over well).

We also found this less active family who joined the church 3 1/2 years ago and have been inactive for the past 3 years. They’re military, so when they moved to Converse they stopped going to church. Sad. So we've invited the Mortons along to both lessons we've had with the Pipers. and the Mortons have been absolutely fantastic in fellowshipping them. The Sis Piper asked to get Sunday off in two weeks so they can come to church! I pray every day that happens. When we mentioned this family in Ward Council no one had ever heard of them. Can you believe that?

I had an interview with President Jones yesterday and that was fantastic. He is so amazing. When we finished we went and got Sis Schwarze; then President shakes our hands and says, "Oh I'll give you a hug" and hugged both of us! Then he said "Don’t tell anyone." Who am I going to tell? He's the mission president. Well, I guess I just told all of you. Oops. Don’t  tell.

We also had a two day training this week (Wed and Thurs) and it was so good. I just kept thinking, "Oh, that's how you do it." Of course, I've been thinking that every day since October 19, but this was like a concentrated dose. We went through all the missionary fundamentals which I was trained with in the MTC, but a lot of us out here have never really been exposed to them because we're new. I also got to talk to a lot of other missionaries which was fun. It was all of the Zone leaders, district leaders, and all the sisters in the San Antonio area. The sisters got to come because we're special. :) *ting. 

Mom and Dad I hope you liked that card I sent you. I thought it was fantastic which is why I forwarded it to you. Santa Clause wearing Texas get up and riding a chili through the sky. what could be better? 
Well, unfortunately I'm out of time, but I hope this letter helps you all see how fantastic Converse is and how well I'm doing. I love you all and hope to hear more from you soon.
Can you all believe I've been gone for 3 months? That’s so crazy!
ok, well I really have to go, but I love you!!!

Love,
   Morgan, That Super Cool Girl You All Know


Yay for a good email! We also got some pictures from Morgan this week.

seriously, have you ever had rice before?

My Dear Family,

So I want to begin my email today with a story. We were invited over to the bishop's for dinner Monday night. He had his counselors and their families there, and we had this huge Asian dinner. (The bishopric is all white but they are all married to Asian women so that's why we were eating Asian food.) So anyway, I, being the "new missionary," was asked several times that night where I was from. I told them all I was from Idaho and then they would make a comment about potatoes, and I would make a joke how, being from Idaho, I only ever eat potatoes. So I told the bishop's wife I only ever eat potatoes because I'm from Idaho and that I'd never had one of the dishes on the table.

She than asked, "Have you ever had rice before?"

I said, "Yes I've had rice before."

She did not believe me! She asked three more times, and I told her three more times that I had had rice before. Then she looks at me very seriously and says, "Seriously, have you ever had rice before? because some people have never had rice."

I don't know who those "some people" are who have never had rice before but I let the subject drop even though I still don't think she believed me. It was pretty funny.

Secondly, I haven't gotten a letter from anybody in 3 weeks...just so you know.

Thirdly...thirdly... I'm trying to make this a really good email, but I just do the same thing every day. I could tell you stories about people yelling at me about how my religion is wrong, but I don't think you want to hear about that. It's just me and my companion all day every day, and I've already told you about her so I can't say too much there. 

Oh, I know. I'll tell you about the Sandwich* girls. They are ages 8 and 12, but neither of them is baptized. Their dad (who is Mormon) is blind and deaf so they spend most of their time living with their mom's parents (who are Catholic). The mom lives in Mexico and they never see her. The dad is super pushy and wants his kids to get baptized, but they don't want it. They always say, "It's a big decision and I just need to think about it." basically they are just really stubborn. So the younger girl, Angela, can't read English but speaks it well enough that you wouldn't guess that she doesn't really understand when people speak to her. So all the past missionaries have been trying to teach her in English, and she would get really bored and never pay attention since she couldn’t understand. But I started teaching her in Spanish while Sis Schwarze taught the older one in English, and Angela opened up like a floodgate. She talks so much in Spanish. I gave her a Spanish Book of Mormon and she carries it everywhere with her. On Sunday morning she helped me pass out programs and then sat by me. It was pretty cute. I hope this helps us get to the bottom of why she doesn’t want to be baptized and helps her understand why baptism is so important. She is my only opportunity here to use my Spanish. I study every day but I can still feel it slipping away because I never have a chance to use it. It’s so sad. I hope I get transferred to the border soon, but who knows when that will happen. I'm in Converse for at least 3 months :\. Not that I don't like it, but it's all in English and I prefer to teach in Spanish because that's how I learned.

Anna, aren't you so excited to do school this summer! That means you get to go play in a foreign country for 9 months! I'm super jealous. Rachel, help mom out. Camilla, just do the play and if you get a dumb part oh well. That just means you can goof off more during play practice. Jessica, yeah. You need to work on that.

Mom and Dad, hope work is going well and the kids aren't driving you too crazy.

I love you all. DFTBA (dftba) (dftba)

Love, Hermana Heeder aka Morgan


* All non-missionary names have been changed.

Just Me

Dear Family,

Everything here is going well. We mostly just study and get doors shut in our faces. Woohoo. On an exciting note, I saw a car at church with those vinyl stickers of the family, but everyone in the family was a Daleck and the pets were Doctor Who's robotic dog, K-9! It made me so happy. I'm such a nerd.

Mom, I need quarters so if you could send me a roll that would be nice. No one in this area trades cash for quarters. I don't understand it but whatever. One roll should last until I can figure out where to get some.
SOMEONE WRITE ME A LETTER, PLEASE. Someone, I think you know who you are. Also, thank you Sis. Jepson for the Christmas present.

Ok, so this letter is going to be short because I have nothing to really say. I get up, study, knock doors, and go to bed every day. This area is full of rich Catholics*.

Ok, well, I love you all and hope you have a fantastic week. I'll let you know if we get to teach anyone or if anything funny happens, but until then just remember I spend all day every day being awesome.

Love,

Morgan

* I would just like to note that teaching rich people is often much more difficult than teaching poor people. It is a lot harder to find people to teach when they aren't already desperately looking for something. I feel for her. Please pray that she will find people whose hearts have been softened.