my friends, adios!

I thought adieu fitted more in the style I like to write, but adios seemed to fit my departing to Arizona much better. (:

Did you know adios means literally "to God?"

In French, adieus also means literally "to God" - and it comes from the 14th century French phrase "a dieu (vous) commant", which means "I commend you to God".

So, everyone, adios. Adieus. Goodbye.
God be with you 'till we meet again!

I'm off to Arizona, to serve as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

This blog will be updated pretty frequently with my stories, experiences, & photos.
Friends who would like to keep in touch, I would love to hear from you!

Seriously, my heart would be so happy, being a hard working missionary so far away from my family... so be kind and write me (: I promise I'll write back haha.

Anyways, before I sign off for the next eighteen months, I'd like to explain why I chose the title "love, serve, teach".

A few months ago, we had a lesson in Sunday School that opened my eyes to a whole new aspect of the meaning of and implementation of missionary work - or the work of salvation (which encompasses all of us, really)

Our branch president gave a lesson on the qualities of love, service, and teaching. He explained how each of these qualities in particular related to our Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost.
Well, his lesson made me ponder really how perfectly their examples teach us of how to treat others, and how to bring others unto Christ.

Heavenly Father, exemplifying love -

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,

that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life"

-John 3:16

Jesus Christ, exemplifying service -



"For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground:

he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty

that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows,

and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities:

the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed....

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth:

he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

- Isaiah 53:2-7

and the Holy Ghost, exemplifying teaching -

"And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God,

the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true;

and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ,

he will manifest the truth of it unto you,

by the power of the Holy Ghost.

And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.

- Moroni 10: 5-6

Isn't that incredible?

God, in His merciful, perfect love for us, provided a way for us to come to earth, to learn and be able to make our own choices, enabling us to grow through experience.

Because we would make mistakes, and we would be unable to return to Him, He provided a Savior, Jesus Christ, to pay the price of our sins, and enable us to return to live with Him again. 

Jesus Christ spent His entire life in service for others, through the miracles he wrought and the kindness and mercy He gave - even when he was mocked and persecuted sometimes for doing so.

He gave His life for us, and died, so that we could live again with God. He suffered our sorrows, and our pain, and our grief, so that He would know how to help us and lift us and save us. 
How grateful I am for His perfect service!

Then, there is the Holy Ghost.
The special mission of the Holy Ghost is to testify of the Father and the Son, to reveal the truth, to comfort us, and to sanctify us.

Through the Holy Ghost, we can gain guidance and learn the truth of all things. The Holy Ghost is truly an incredible teacher, and I have seen that in my own life. I know that to be true.

So, there we are - perfect examples of love, service, and being a teacher.

Now, let's think about how perfectly that fits in with being a missionary -

Love

The gospel of Jesus Christ teaches us to love everyone. 
To love God. To love our neighbors, even as we love ourselves.

 One of my favorite quotes on this is from C.S. Lewis -

“There is someone I love, even though I don’t approve of what he does. There is someone I accept, though some of his thoughts and actions revolt me. There is someone I forgive, though he hurts the people I love the most. That person is me.”

We are asked to love our enemies, and to pray for them.

Charity - the pure love of Christ - is why the Lord calls missionaries.

Charity is why missionaries go out and try to love, serve, and teach every person they meet -
 because God loves His children, and wants them to be happy, and He has called us to help Him.

Serve

As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, we promise each week to take the Savior's name upon us, and always remember Him.

As missionaries, we take this quite literally - on our namebadge, the name of Jesus Christ is large, front, and center. We take every opportunity to serve that we can.

One of my favorite stories of missionary service is that of a sister named Isabelle, who just returned from serving in Germany. She says, of her experience
(which you can read here - her blog is hilarious and AMAZING: bellainberlin.blogspot.com)

The day before our concert i held a street display downtown.. 

God had other plans that day..... HE MADE IT RAIN ( non fat joe reference.. or was it)

Well it was pourrrinnnggggg.. the elders and sisters all sung huddled under an umbrella and 

yours truly was the sacrifice and stood out alone passing out fliers..

A man walked up to me and i offered him a flyer.. 

he declined..

So... i offered him a cooooool blue book..

he declined..

I noticed he was absolutely drenched, he looked exhausted and as if

he might of had even a worse day than me..

So without hesitation.

I offered him my umbrella..

He stopped with a confused look.. stared.. and then humbled himself and

said '' ja... bitte''

he accepted.

He took my umbrella ( still completely shocked ) and walked off..

about 10 minutes later i felt a tap on my shoulder and it was him again!

He asked '' who... are you?''

i explained i was a missionary for the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints..

and we talked for about 10 minutes... 

His heart was completely changed.. he then took a flyer.. and eventually a book..

He couldn't make it to the fireside but the sisters have a new investigator..

BY SMALL AND SIMPLE THINGS ARE GREAT THINGS BROUGHT TO PASS

Guys, I love this story. I absolutely love it. Why? Because...

That man rejected both the flyer and the Book of Mormon. 

He just was not interested, probably because he was grumpy and soaking wet in the gloomy weather. 

The missionary didn't get offended, or angry. Instead, she saw an opportunity to make his day a little better, to make his burden a little lighter. And so she did. And that, folks, is what service is all about.

The awesome thing about service is that it tends to soften hearts. As Pres. George Albert Smith said,

"Kindness is the power that God has given us to unlock hard hearts and subdue stubborn souls and bring them to an understanding of His purposes."

It is incredible what sincere kindness and service can do.

Teach

Last of all, teaching. Our purpose as a missionary is to

Invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance,baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.

The message that we have to share is remarkable! 
It is:

God is our loving Heavenly Father. Ever since Adam & Eve, he has always taught His children the commandments and the gospel through prophets - like Adam, Moses, Abraham, ect. 

When Jesus Christ came to the earth, He performed His earthly ministry and His Atonement. He also established His church upon the earth.

Sadly, after his death, the church was persecuted intensely. The apostles were slowly killed, and the priesthood authority Christ had established to baptize and perform saving ordinances were lost from the earth. 

A period of apostasy occured, where people had to depend on human wisdom to interpret the scriptures. 
Many plain and precious truths were lost.
 Political counsels were organized to determine answers to doctrinal questions. 
The pure, true church of Jesus Christ as established by Him was lost from the earth.

There were centuries of spiritual darkness, until slowly men of honest heart and great courage began recognizing how far the churches had gone from the gospel. 

They initiated reformations, trying to fix what had gone wrong, and these created more churches, as well as established greater religious freedom.

However, what was needed was not a reformation from man, but a restoration from God.

In the spring of 1820, a young boy named Joseph Smith humbly prayed and asked God to know, among the great religious turmoil at the time, which church was true.

In the grove of trees where he knelt in prayer, God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ came to Him. He says of his experience:

I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head,

above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me...

When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air.

One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—

This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!

Through the prophet Joseph Smith, the Lord restored His true church upon the earth. 

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is truly Christ's church, with the priesthood authority and plain and simple truths restored again.

This is the message that we share.

 This is the message that I know to be true. 

This is the truth that I hope to be able to share with those who are searching, yearning for it, for the peace and joy and purpose it gives to life. 

It is such a blessing to be able to serve a mission.
 I can't say how excited I am. I know it will be hard, but it will also be one of the most amazing experience of my life. I truly hope to be able to emulate in some small way those qualities of love, service, and teaching.

And, although you're probably not called as a missionary right now, I hope that you can too. (:

And with that novel of a blog post, I wish you all the best! Don't forget to write me! ;)

God be with you 'till we meet again.

-Sister Morris