Luke's Letter Dated January 19, 2015

Well, Here we are. 

This will be the last time I write to you all as a missionary of Jesus Christ. I have a lot of things to tell you all, a lot of stories and experiences to share. But there will soon be plenty of time for that. For now, I want to share with you a few things that I have learned in this short time. 

I have learned that the atonement of Jesus Christ is real. It isn't just a story that we read about, or a subject to talk about in Sacrament Meeting. It was a real event. And it has Real power today. I know that each and every one of us can apply that power in our daily lives. It's not just for repentance. It has power every single day, and in every single thing we do. 

I have learned that the Book of Mormon really is the word of God. I have learned that by simply reading a few passages from its pages every day a person can come closer to God than ever before. I have learned to love that book. It has become a part of who I am. 

I have learned the power of good parents. The first thing that Nephi said in the Book of Mormon is that he has good parents. I have seen that parents can completely change the lives of their children. I have seen this in my own life. I know that I too was born of goodly parents. I know that they are a lot of the reason that I decided to leave home and come here on the mission. 

I have learned that this church is true. That by lving the principles that this church teaches one will find the way to be truly happy.

I love you all. 

I hope to see you all soon. 

I will be finishing my service as a missionary Tuesday the 27th of January. 

My homecoming talk will be the 22nd of February in Elk Ridge.

Read 2 John 1:12

I love you all.

Elder Morgan

Luke's Letter Dated January 12, 2015

Dear everyone,

How was your week? I hope everything went very well for you all! 

My week was great!! On saturday we got to go to the temple with the Sosa Family! Maxi sosa was baptized a while ago. His mom got baptized about a year ago. And now we're working with Gastòn and his girlfriend! They're an awesome family! I love them all! The temple was amazing. We got to talk about the blessings that God gives us as his children and the love that he has for us! 

This week was also kinda sad because I had to say the first of many goodbyes. The Cruz family (The family we live with) left to go to bolivia for a month or soon saturday. It's kinda weird not having the little boy (Titi or Michael) Come up to our apartment and talk with us! But I'm really grateful for them and all they do for us! 

As I am coming into the last 

​two weeks of my

 mission I really feel the desire to sprint to the finish. I remember in the army when we would do our two mile run for our physical test the satisfying feeling I got when I sprinted the last quarter mile or so and absolutely put all my strength into the final stretch.

​ I really want to feel that same feeling as I get to the end of my mission. I want to get onto that plane knowing that I did everything I could here.

​I love you all! I hope you all have a great week! Especially those of you who are on cruises this week! 

Elder Morgan ​

​

Luke's Letter Dated January 5, 2015

Hello everyone! Well at least everyone that reads this! 

How are you all? How was your new years? 

Our new years was fairly uneventful. We had to be in the apartment at 830, so our day was cut a little short! But we were able to go outside and see the fireworks and talk with our family (The family we live with) a little bit! 

On Tuesday we were able to go to the temple. This was the last time I'll be able to go inside the temple of Buenos Aires. It was a really peaceful, calm experience. I love the peace and the reverence that is felt in the temple. In a world where peace is almost nonexistent and it seems like the media dominates every aspect of our lives, it is refreshing to be able to enter into the house of the lord and feel his spirit there. Our ward mission leader is the engineer for the Buenos Aires Temple. I love talking with him about the temple and everything he does. I hope that I will always be able to be close to the house of the lord throughout my life.

Anyways, This last month of my service to the Lord I am trying to focus a lot on treating others as he would treat them, saying what he would say, and doing what he would do. He is our grand example in life. I love him.

I love you all.

Elder Morgan 

Luke's Letter Dated December 29, 2014

Well hello everyone!! 

I hope you all had a great Christmas!! I know I sure did!! 

Here in Argentina the 24th is the big day. Everyone gets together in family and spends a good part of the day / night together. We had permission to stay out until 1030 so we went to Maxi's house to have dinner. They made a giant asado. (Argentine BBQ) Pretty much I ate more meat there than i do at tucanos!  At 1200 they always light off  a bunch of fireworks and stuff, so about that time I couldn't sleep, so I went out and took video of all the fireworks!! (I would send it, but this computer won't let me get into my camera.) 

Anyways we had a great week! We were able to find and teach a few new people. Including a new family that's really really awesome! I have a lot of hopes for them that they will progress in the gospel as a family! 

Tomorrow we have the opportunity to go to the temple as a mission! It's been more than a year since I've been there! I hope to never pass so much time without going to a temple again! 

I love you all! I hope you have a happy and safe new year! 

Elder Morgan 

Luke's Letter Dated December 22, 2014

MERRY CHRISTMAS

This week was very very eventful!!!

We had transfers. Elder Reynoso left and I got Elder Mateo from Peru! We had our Christmas P Day oafter the transfers. They had a really really nice Christmas program about Jesus Christ. Then we got to watch the movie Ephraim's Rescue. Overall It was a really really fun day. But I was super tired when I got home.

Up until Friday it was kinda a normal week. We had a ward dinner and activity. So that was really cool! We could stay out late so we got to be there till 10! (Don't laugh. That's late for missionaries! )  Then right when I had gotten to sleep the phone rang. My companion had some problems back at home and had to go home. We had to pack all his stuff up and get him to to the airport at 0430. Needless to say I didn't sleep much....  Later on that day I got a new companion, Elder Blake from Las Vegas!!

I'm really looking forward to Christmas and hoping that they don't change my companion again!! (:  I hope you all have a great christmas and that you really remember the reason behind Christmas. Christ.

I love you all!!

Elder Morgan

A random Jesus Statue that I found.

My old comp Elder Mateo

Luke's Letter Dated December 15, 2014

Well, I'm now a Pastor. That's what they call the missionaries that are on their last transfer in the mission! The time has gone by really fast, but I still have a lot of really good time ahead of me! I'm really excited for what lies ahead of me! 

This week was full of a lot of fun and hard work! We are taking advantage of our waffle maker in every chance we get! We have already done two family home evenings with it and we have another one tonight!

Our area is kind of split into two distinct areas. We have Aldo Bonzi, which is kind of a richer area, then we have Barrio Hernandez, (Where we live) Which is a more humble little place behind the central market of Buenos Aires. Usually it is a lot harder to work in Aldo Bonzi. But this week we have been focusing on some members and investigators that we have over there and we are seeing a ton of success! It's always amazing to me to see the hand of the Lord in the lives of the people I get to meet.

Anyways, this week we have our Christmas P-day!! We're gonna all get together as a mission on Wednesday to celebrate the birth of our savior! 

I love you all!!

Have a great week!!

Elder Morgan 

Luke's Letter Dated December 8, 2014

Well, this week started out quite interesting! ON tuesday my companion was cutting some bread and asked me for a knife. Well... after second guessing myself for a couple seconds, and him reassuring me that it was a good idea. I gently tossed the knife to him from the other side of our apartment. Well, It ended up landing perfectly and stabbing him in his foot. We were both pretty impressed with the throw! So we got it all cleaned up and called the mission presidents wife. I started the phone call with "Everything is okay. We're all alive. Nobody is going to die. My companion is okay, he's here with me." (That's usually just about what I would tell my mom before I showed her some crazy injury that I got doing something stupid)

So Sister Robertson said that if we didn't think it was too bad that we didn't have to go get stitches. We didn't go. Argentine hospitals are sketchy. (:

So that was a very very interesting start to our week! 

The rest of the week went great! We did divisiones with the other elders in our district. One of the had his apendix taken out. So we went to be with them and work with his companion for a little while! So that was pretty dang fun! The best part was we ate waffles with buttermilk syrup the next morning!!! That may not sound so great but it has taken us a really really long time to find a waffle Iron here in argentina.

So on Sunday we had Stake Conference. We were waiting for a bus to take us to church and a car rolled up and the man inside said hop in morgan! It was an investigator that we had a while back named Leo. He doesn't really believe in anything. Even less in religion. But he really likes us so he gave us a ride to church. When we got there he said "Can I take a look around inside?" OF COURSE!!!!!!! So we took Leo inside and showed him around a little bit. He got talking with the ex stake president and one of the bishops. They convinced him to stay for alittle while, so he stayed and absolutely loved it!! It's amazing to see the little miracles that God puts in our lives every day!

I love you all!!

Have an excellent week!!!!! 

Elder Morgan

 My Companions Foot

 A monument kinda like the tomb of the unknown soldier.

WAFFLES!!!!! 

Luke's Letter Dated December 1, 2014

I love you all!

Check out the churches website Christmas.mormon.org

Have a great week!!!!!

Luke's Letter Dated November 24, 2014

Well, this week has gone by really really fast! We had a lot of really cool experiences! The biggest thing is that the family that lives right below us. (We kinda share the house with them. We just live in a little apartment on the third floor) But anyways the mom and one of the daughters are members. But we're gonna baptize the other daughter! We're teaching the son as well! But he needs a little bit more time to progress. But Melisa is super excited!! It's gonna be awesome! 

With thanksgiving coming up I would like to invitge you all to do something. Give Thanks! (It kinda comes with the name of the holiday) At some point during this week find a little bit of time to be alone and offer a prayer of gratitude. Thank your Heavenly Father for every blessing that you can think of, then listen. You will be inspired and guided to be thankful for blessings that you didn't even know you had! As you do this, god will be even more willing to bless you daily! 

I love you all! 

Have a great week! 

Eat a lot of turkey for me!!

Love,

Elder Morgan 

Luke's Letter Dated November 17, 2014

What a great week! 

We started out by being able to watch the priesthood session of conference that we all missed!! It's awesome to hear from the leaders of this church and feel the love they have for every one of us! 

Now that I'm in this new area I'm like 20 minutes away from the temple. So we try to go quite often! We went on wednesday and were able to take some of our investigators with us! They are having a hard time quitting smoking so going to the temple helps them out a ton!!

On Saturday we had to be up super early. We were up at 4 and out the door at 4:30.

We went to the bus stop and waited for about an hour for the bus.. It never came. So we had to go get a taxi to take us. We waited for about ten minuites and the car finally came. Well, we got on the road and about ten minuites later the car ran out of gas.... My comp and I were so irritated! haha. Well, another car came and towed us to the gas station. (Kinda sketchy on the freeway, but it's normal here.) Well, we finally got on the road again and ended up getting to the mission offices like ten minuites before we had to be there! 

When we got there, we got in buses and went to the north mission's office. There we got to listen to Elder Christofferson! I dunno if I just don't pay attention to things, but I had no idea before that he speaks perfect spanish! It was really awesome to hear him talk and crack jokes and just enjoy himself. At the end of the day, he's a normal person with quirks and everything that we all have! At the end he left a really powerfull blessing on all of us. I was impressed with the love that he has for every member of the church!

Anyways, that was my week!

I love you all!!!!!

Elder Morgan

Luke's Letter Dated November 10, 2014

So. Last week was transfers. People kept asking me where I thought I was going. I said jokingly "As the old man in the testements said, Take me to the land bountiful so that I may die near the temple of my god." The zone of Aldo Bonzi is where the temple is. And what do ya know! I got sent to Aldo Bonzi!!! 

My new companion is Elder Reynoso from California! He's such a stud!! He does like parcore. Like all the crazy flips and stuff like that. He's got about 3 months in the mission. He's just like super cool. We get along great!!! We are pretty close to the temple so we're gonna go on wednesday and take some investigators. 

I'm also a District leader here in Bonzi. It's pretty fun, I have two sisters and two elders in the district. The two sisters are from Utah. So that's pretty fun! 

Anyways. I'll be able to write more about the area and all that next week. I just don't have a whole ton of time today!!!

I love you all!!!

Elder Morgan 

Luke's Letter Dated November 3, 2014

Well this week in Argentina has been really really wet. We have had rain every day since tuesday. We go out in the rain just the same as any other day, so as you can imagine, we get really really wet. On one edge of our area we have a river. The water in this river is usually about 20 feet down from the banks. Well this morning the water was about 6 inches from the banks. I have pictures that I'll try to send. 

This morning we went to help some members, Marcelo and Marcela, get all their stuff out of their house before the river came up over the banks and flooded everything even worse. It was really humbling to see them have to pick and choose the things that they wanted to keep. It was really cool to see that their daughter packed up the pictures of her baptism and her scriptures very first thing even though she doesn't really go to church anymore. 

Last week we had the chance to sit down and talk with Marcelo and Marcela. They changed a whole lot before their baptism. Something that Marcelo said really kinda hit me. He used to like to drink a whole lot. Now he says that what he likes to do is eat ice cream. Then he told us why. He said, "I can go to the store and buy a couple Ice creams to share with my son. I couldn't do that with my beer. I was just being selfish. But now I realize that the best things in life are the things that I can share with my son." That is some really really wise counsel. I love seeing the gospel change the lives of all kinds of people! 

I love you all!! 

Elder Morgan

Luke's Letter Dated October 13, 2014

Well hello everyone!

This week has been pretty sweet! We had interviews with our mission president on thursday. My companion and I were the last ones there so we got to chill and hang out with him a little while. He told us all about when he got kidnapped the other day. (I think that they talked about that back in the states too.) He was saying that he was super greatful that he was able to just be let go like that. He said that the lord was really really looking out for him. Pretty cool to hear from him all that happened, and really cool that the Lord protected him like he did. It was just a testimony to him that when we are in the service of the lord and when we are doing the things that he wants us to do, he will protect us. No matter what. 

As I told you before I set the goal to read the Book of Mormon again before I finish the mission. I have been doing pretty well with reading every single day even though it's been kind of difficult. I lost the triple that I had been studying for a long time, and all the notes and everything that I had inside. But that was also a good opportunity to start fresh and have a fresh new outlook on the scriptures as well! I love that every time I read The Book of Mormon I find new, exciting, interesting things! I hope that you all are finding the same joy and excitement in the scriptures that I have come to find during this time. And if not, What are you waiting for!? Start today!! 

I love you all!!!

Elder Morgan 

Luke's Letter Dated October 27, 2014

Well, This week was pretty awesome! 

We were able to get a lot of work done! We had divisiones on Friday. That was pretty fun! I was in my area with an Elder named Elder Urquhart from Orem. We ended up in a really rural area late at night (Kinda Sketchy) But we were walking by a couple big fields and there were just a ton of fireflies! I decided that fireflies are one of the coolest things ever.  

On Saturday we helped out with a Youth Conference. We took the youth out with us and visited some "Investigators"  It was really fun and the youth that we took with us absolutely loved it! It's fun to try to help them have the desire to serve a mission! 

So later on saturday night we were heading to an appointment that we had planned. We really didn't have time to go. It was a ways out of our way and wasn't anything set in stone. So we were kind of doubting whether we should go or not. Both my companion and I felt like we should go, so we went! When we got there, the people weren't home. Well crap. We had walked all that way and didn't see any results. We decided to knock a few doors down there and see what happened. We ended up knocking on the door of a man named Florencio. He and his family had known the missionaries for quite a while now but they couldn't ever get baptized because his wife is waiting for a divorce so that they can get married. Well, turns out we showed up at just the right moment! There were a few big things that have happened in the past few months that made it so the divorce is going to be a lot easier to get! They're super excited to get married and get baptized! 

This whole deal was just another testimony to me that we need to follow the spirit at all times! If the spirit tells us to do something! Do it!!!! 

I love you all! I hope you all had success on the deer hunt! 

Elder Morgan 

Luke's Letter Dated October 20, 2014

Bueno, this week has been pretty good. It went by flying!! 

Yesterday was Mothers Day here in Argentina. So that was pretty good!! My companion and I went and visited a few members and investigators and wished them a happy mothers day! 

Other than that, I have been reading the Book of Mormon a lot this week! I finished Alma and I'm in Helamàn right now. It really surprised me that just a few years after some awesome guys were around like Moroni and Teancum, all the nephites fell into wickedness and forgot all the things that they had learned and applied in their lives! They fell into apostasy. It's so crazy that they were so quick to forget all the things that they had felt and seen!! 

In these days we need to be so careful to not fall into that in our own lives! It can really just sneak up on us and before we notice it, we're in our own little apostasy.

They way to avoid this is the same thing that one of my friends suggested in his letter this week. He said: "we must always focus on strengthening of testimony on faith, repentance, baptism, Receiving the gift of the holy ghost, and enduring to the end; through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. we do so by simple things that we must do daily, Reading the Scriptures and words of the prophets as well as praying. We must all so partake of the sacrament to feel the fulfilling cleansing power of the atonement. These things are so simple but powerful and are need for salvation."

I invite you all to apply the things that he said! 

I love you all!!

Elder Morgan

Luke's Letter Dated October 6, 2014

Wow. What a great week!! Well, first off I had my birthday!!!!! My last birthday here in Argentina was honestly kinda lame.. But this one rocked! Pretty much the members here in this area love me. So I had three Birthday Parties!! So basically all the exercise that I've been doing in preparation for the end of my mission just went down the drain. haha. 

The rest of the week was fairly uneventful except for this weekend. CONFERENCE!!!!!!!!!!! So as you may know, in utah when the prophet speaks he's on just about every channel. There's a better chance of seeing him when he speaks than seeing the President of the United States when he speaks. So nobody has any kind of excuse for not watching conference. Here, however, all the members have to go to the stake center to watch it. The two saturday sessions were awesome. We got to watch it in a little room with a tv so that we could watch in English. On sunday the weather was really rainy and ugly, but there were still a ton of people there. About halfway through the session the satelite signal cut out and we were left with a black screen. One of the counselers in the stake presidency came and asked us to pray. We had a whole zone of missionaries in a little room knelt down each offering up silent prayers. It was a really really special spirit that could be felt in that room. After we had gotten done praying, we just stood up and waited. About ten minutes later the signal came back on!! It was a little spotty, but we were able to listen to some of the talks. What a great blessing in the lives of these people to be able to hear a prophets voice!! 

That whole experience is just another testimony for me of the power of faith and prayer! 

I love you all!!

Elder Morgan

So this week was a little bit of a week of miracles!! 

One of our awesome members, Cecilia, has a daughter named Chiara that always complained about her baptism, she said that the water was freezing and that there were bugs floating in the font. So with that whole story we kinda assumed that she was a baptized member. Well, it turns out that the baptism wasn't ever recorded, so we arranged everything and baptized her this weekend! She was really excited for it!!! We planned with the bishop and had the baptism after sacrament meeting yesterday.

After the whole service was done we had quite a few people tell us that the spirit was stronger in the baptism than in the sacrament meeting! It was really cool to take what would have been just a normal baptism and see it turn into a really spiritual, edifying experience! It'll be something that Chiara and her whole family will remember for a long time!! 

So in other news, transfers are this week. I'll find out on tuesday if I am staying or leaving. I really don't wanna leave! But I might be going! I really hope not, but if I do leave I'll love the new place I have! 

Anyways, I love you all!! I hope you all have an awesome week!

Luke's Letter Dated September 15, 2014

Buen día a todos!!

Here in Argentina we are coming out of winter and into spring! Everything is starting to get green and I'm loving it! 

This week we had the opportunity to go to the temple!! We were able to go with our converts and investigators and enjoy the gardens that they have there! It really was an awesome experience to enjoy the temple and feel the spirit. My companion and I had a little bit of time to just go and take pictures of the temple. That was really cool, I love how beautiful and peaceful the temple is. 

The temple is something that we often take for granted back at home, we have a number of temples within a short distance from our house. These members here have to plan a whole day to go with their ward just once a month. In some places the members don't even get to go once a month. It makes me think of something that President Monson  said,“Those who understand the eternal blessings which come from the temple know that no sacrifice istoo great, no price too heavy, no struggle too difficult in order  to receive those blessings."

I hope to be able to treasure the temple like we should when I finish my mission. I hope that all of you would treasure it like we should.

I love you all!!

Have a great week!

Elder Morgan '

Luke's Letter Dated September 8, 2014

​This week was pretty awesome!! We were able to see the baptism of two of our investigators this week!

This family is really cool. We found them knocking doors one day and it turned out that the mom was a less active member. Right off the bat she told us that she had a few people to baptize, but that it wasn't going to be easy. We accepted the challenge. We met her husband and the rest of the family​. The family loved us, but the husband was a little shy and didn't want to talk to us that much. Well, after a while of trying to set up a lesson with them we finally were able to teach him. In the lesson he said that he didn't want to get baptized. My companion told him "Well two years ago you didn't want to get married either, but look at you now!"  That was all he needed to change his mind. He accepted a baptisimal date for two weeks from then. We also invited their daughter to be baptized, she accepted like crazy! The parents wanted to wait for a little while. Well the bishop had some different ideas than that, so he had a talk with them, and they decided that Ariel and Lucia needed to be baptized ASAP. 

So we got them all interviewed and baptized them on saturday night!!

Sunday morning was the time for their confirmations. But before the confirmations three of their four kids recieved baby blessings, then Ariel and Lucia were confirmed. What a great sacrament meeting!! 

They have a goal to be sealed in one year from now. I'm so glad that we were able to help them and work with their family!! It was really a blessing and a lesson for me!!

This saturday we are going to the temple with them and with the ward, it should be an awesome experience for everyone!

Anyways, that's pretty much my story for the week, 

I love you all!!!!

Elder Morgan  

Some pictures of the baptism!!

Luke's Letter Dated August 18, 2014

Hola everyone!! 

So transfers were this week!! My Mexican companion left!!!!!!!!! I now have an american companion!! Elder Steinke from Clearfield Utah. It's really weird having an american companion and talking English again. I dunno if I like it that much. haha. But it's going awesome with him! We're working like crazy and loving it! 

Last week we had made an appointment with a less active, then we couldn't go. I didn't really see it as a big deal. But later on, the bishop, the ward mission leader, and the less active all kinda chewed me out. I realized that when i didn't go to the appointment that I had set, I was being dishonest.  So I have made a new commitment to myself to be completely honest in everything, with myself, others, and the lord.

I love you all! 

I hope you all have a great week!!!!

Elder Morgan! (: