Letter Home March 3, 2014 + Valentines Day :)

 

Dear Family,

 

First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!!! You're awesome, and hope you have a fantastic one!! Love ya! :)

 

Thank you so much for the Valentines package!!! I finally got it and it was so fun to open (: The skirt is adorable, and I wear the necklace every day... and my favorite things are always the letters from you all (: They make me laugh and make me so happy. I miss you guys! Thanks so much! Oh and I got the letters, and the pic with Elder F. at the MTC haha, that was awesome!

 

That's so awesome Dexter is joining the Marines!!!!! I am freaking out right now, haha, that is so awesome. I am so excited for him. You guys will have to send me tons and tons and tons of pictures.(: Gosh, we're all growing up. This is so weird. But awesome. (: The lamb sounds so cute!! And I can't wait to get the soap you made (: The candy you sent was sooo good, especially the homemade fudge. And the sugar free candy was good too.... haha that's all I'll say about that.

 

That's so awesome you guys could go to the temple too, and had such a great week. I love hearing about home and seeing the pictures (: I really miss you guys a ton. I don't really think too often about it, because I love my mission so much. But it will be a great day when I see you all again, after I work my hardest and help these people here. (:

 

So did you guys watch the Gilbert temple celebration?? We didn't get to attend, but we watched it in a stake center. It was INCREDIBLE. The youth are so strong!! Our youth were in it, so maybe you saw some of the young people in our ward here in Maricopa (:

 

My favorite parts were where they went through some of the history here in Arizona. They had some Native American dancers come and perform for it, and talked about some of the ancient people who lived here - turns out there were ancient people who lived in the desert here, who dug canals and intricate irrigation systems right after the time of Christ. Cool huh? When the pioneers first arrived in AZ, they found the irrigation systems and started using them again. It was fun because they had some Latina heritage dancing too, which was so cool (: It's just such an interesting mesh of cultures and people here. I absolutely love it. They had a hilarious pioneer skit too, which reminded me of you guys! It was basically a group of youth acting as pioneers, singing about how hard it was to be in the desert... and they had all these chickens and goats and were making bread and chopping wood, all that fun stuff. It was a funny skit, and reminded me of home. (:

 

The temple dedication was incredible. It was so, so beautiful. The Spirit was so strong. Pres. Monson and Pres Eyring came, and we watched it in a stake center. But it was like we were there with them, the Spirit was so strong. They talked alot about family history work, and families. I learned so much from them. I can't wait to get home and start doing family history. It's so amazing, something I love about being a missionary is that it's never just one person you are teaching and baptizing. It's a work that involves generations and generations, both to come and from the past. I know that this work is real, and I am so honored and humbled to be able to be a part of it.

 

This week was a bit slow, because we had a lot of meetings. Sis R. had to go to a meeting in Tempe (Sister training leader) and so I spent the day with some awesome sisters in Casa Grande, which was really neat. It's funny how different each area is - they have enormous cactuses - even bigger than Maricopa - there, and it's just a cool atmosphere.

 

We taught T. again, and he's doing really well. He is the coolest kid (: And his family is amazing too. He's become best friends with K., a young man in the ward, and spends almost every day at their house. He's just so awesome. We are continuing to teach him, and are loving each time! He wants to make sure he knows it's true, and his Mom wants him to know what commitment he is making when he is baptized, which is something we absolutely want for him too, before he gets baptized. So we will meet with him again this week, and things are going well. (:

 

R. is doing awesome too. She came to a baptism this week, and she felt the Spirit so strongly! She is really unique, a really special person. She recognizes the Spirit and when she feels it, she just struggles with doubts... but it's amazing to see how the Lord is working in her life to help her resolve those concerns, even before she meets with us again. She shared with us that when she reads the Book of Mormon and just focuses on what she is reading, and doesn't focus on her doubts, she feels so good, and so much peace. So she recognizes it! We're having a lesson with her tonight, and are going to just talk about faith, and share Pres. Holland's talk from last Conference? about faith. She wants to go to church so badly too. It was so sad, they didn't have church this week because of the dedication, and she wanted to go so badly! But she is coming next week. So that will be amazing. :)

 

In other news, as a mission a few weeks ago we were each challenged to read the Book of Mormon in 90 days. It has been an incredible experience. I honestly wish I could tell you how it has changed me, I don't know if I can. But I have just become so close to Heavenly Father. I have felt His answers to my questions and my faith grow, in small and simple ways, page by page. I know The Book of Mormon is true. I know it with all my heart. And I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet, and that this church is Jesus Christ's church again, restored in these last days. Before my mission, I could have said those words easily, because I believed it. But now, as I've served and read and pondered these words, and have focused completely on Christ and His work and His gospel, and helping these people in their lives, I have come to know, with every certainty in my heart, that it is true.

  

I love these people so much. I love the Lord. I know this work is true. I love you guys!

 

Wow. Well, here are some cool things, kind of random, that are hopefully fun to read (:

-  John Wayne used to live in Maricopa! He went to a restaurant called Headquarters that is super old here, where we had zone lunch the other day. Funny huh? :)

-After we run in the mornings, sometimes we skip back to our house. It just makes us really happy, for some reason haha. Plus it's a killer workout, surprisingly enough!

 

Oh, and some new favors (: For my birthday, do you think you could possibly send my GPS? And also some homemade church cd's, with like upbeat fun music that is religious? Not Mothers LDS, Home Teachers, etc... also the music on the youth.lds.org website (: And there's a super good cd at Deseret Book that's like a dollar called the 2012 summer play list.... there's a song on it called "Make You Smile" by Catherine Papworth, and it's so happy and so uplifting! So yeah. (:

 

Thanks so much for all you guys do for me. I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!

Can't wait to hear from you again (:

 

love,

Sister Whitney Morris

Sorry, lots of selfies this week... haircuts tend to do that :) Plus I feel bad sending no pictures haha.

Zone lunch! Day before transfers

 

 Haircut!

Going biking

 

This is the picture I talked about last week, that we always ask "What do you see?" And "How do you think that lamb feels?" Pretty awesome. :)

 

 Life in the past lane..... Haha I want this.

Driving to the stake center

 

 

Just a pretty puffy cloud sky (:The clouds were stunning! Our first storm.

Lots of selfies this week.... Sorry about that, haha. My comp took a short nap during our lunch hour.... She has no idea I took this (: Even missionaries take a few minutes to relax in the day. Just during our two meal hours!

 

 

 

Another selfie.

 

(& just a little note for V-day!)

Hola Familia! :)
 

I don't have too much time and it's way past Valentines Day, but this was too cute not to send. Isn't this the cutest little envelope? And it's a monkey! Best of both worlds. Anyway, just a note to say I love you guys :) and I miss you. Dad, Mommy, Isaac, Hannah, Jacob, Adam and Peter -> You are the best! I'm so grateful to have such an awesome family. :)
I love you! Happy (late) Valentines Day!
Love, Sister Whitney Morris. <3


"When Sowing seeds of friendly deeds, the less you keep the more you reap.<3" Chris Bannister
Matt 25:40 & D&C 4:2