love, serve, teach: April 21, 2014

Dear Family,
WOW what an awesome email!!!! Reading about Peter and Adam being able to be sealed too brought tears to my eyes (: I am so, so happy to hear that. It's amazing to see our family get all of the blessings of the temple together. I am so proud of you and love you guys :) That made me so happy!

That lamb cake was hilarious...! And disturbing, haha. Glad you guys had fun with that. I also liked the easter egg warnings... that was funny :) The choir performance sounds beautiful! I love the Messiah. That is amazing :)

It's not quite as bad here as God's Army, haha, and I think it gets a worse rep then it actually is. But it is definitely a completely different culture. I do feel like I'm in a foreign country sometimes. Everything is in Spanish! The music, cartoons, restaurants, billboards, what you hear on the street... But I love it! I really wish I spoke Spanish better, sometimes we talk with people and can't get anywhere because we don't speak Spanish. But it is really awesome serving here. It's great... especially the food and horchata... yum (:

Well, this week has been amazing!! So much has happened. I'll share some of the highlights, because there is too much to write. :)

So we are teaching this new family, L, and D,! We received their referral from church headquarters, and we went to visit them, and L, told us a bit of his story. He works as a doc assistant, and all of the doctors he works with are LDS. Growing up his family was in many different religions, and he hated it, because it was so confusing, and he didn't fully believe any of them. Now, as he and D. have started their family and have young children, he is looking for a religion for them. He knows they need God in their life, to help them, and especially help his kids become better people, and he wants his family to be united in whatever way of worship they choose. We talked with him, and he said that his doctor friends have been such good examples to him. Sometimes they'll be doing surgery, and will be talking about random things, and suddenly one of them will say something profound and spiritual, and that impressed him so much! So one day he asked his friend, how do I get involved in your church? His friend told him that he could send over missionaries, and L. said great! About a week later, L. asked if he had sent them yet, and his friend said no, but that he would. So then L. went to Mexico for a bit, and he said he was so scared that he had missed us coming by. So when we came by and got in contact with him, he was so relieved!

It is so amazing to see how he has been prepared for us to share the gospel with him. He told us that he already felt something different with us then he had learning about other churches, and we told him that that was the Holy Ghost. We explained to him how the Holy Ghost is like a messenger from God, that testifies of truth and guides us. He said that that made so much sense! And that he had felt it sometimes in his life, but that he had never known what to call that feeling. But he said that that was the feeling he was looking for, to have it always. It was just the most amazing first lesson. I mean... wow! This week we are going to go back and teach him and his wife, and his children - the whole family. I am so, so, SO excited!! :) It is such a blessing!!

We are also teaching a young woman named K. who referred herself on mormon.org. Her boyfriend is LDS, and he's shared alot with her, and she's been to church with him, but funny enough she said she felt more comfortable learning from people she didn't know very well.... so she requested the missionaries :) Haha, she is so cool! I'm so impressed with her because she has such a sincere desire to learn, and to know. Our first lesson with her we invited her to pray, and the next time we came she told us how it went, and she even told us that after she prayed she sat for a few minutes to focus on how she felt, like we had invited her to. She took that time, and she wrote down the feelings she felt. It was so neat :) She is progressing super well! She is thinking of maybe marrying her boyfriend I think, and she knows that being unified in religion is so important in marriage. So she is taking that in consideration. She is worried though, because her family are all kind of different religions, and sometimes they make fun or make little digs at mormons, and she feels like she may become an outcast/weird one in her family if she gets baptized. It's hard, I can't imagine being in her situation! But she knows she does have a wonderful family, and that they would love and support her no matter what. So I have faith just that as she prays and finds those answers for herself, those worries will kind of become less important, if that makes sense. They will probably still be there, but she'll know it's true. She is amazing. Do you have any advice or thoughts on how we could help her? We pray, and talk with her, and she is just amazing. I'm so grateful we can teach her!

Other then that, this week has been fantastic! We've been teaching tons and tons of lessons, and lots of them with members, which is exciting. The ward here is incredible, they do so much to serve us and their people. We have one lady, the one who reminds me of Farmor, who is probably in her late 60s. Her name is Sister F. She served a mission when she was young, and she comes out with us every Sunday! She has a bit of trouble walking, so we both walk arm in arm with her, and I always turn the ignition in her car for her too. But she always has such a sunny attitude and wants to come out and help share the gospel! She is so fun too, she makes funny jokes and she is just the best!! I love the members!! :)

We have had some funny moments this week.

In correlation, we gathered together for our meeting with the ward missionaries and the elders we share the ward with. Sooo, we are getting the chairs situated, because they were placed pretty awkwardly. So Sister D. was moving the chairs around, and I decide to go ahead and sit down. So I pick a chair, go to sit in it, and Sister D. pulls the chair right out from under me!! I fell straight on the floor, and my stuff went everywhere. Hahaha, it was so funny, we were all laughing. It was hilarious :D

There is also this girl named L. that is getting baptized next week! She's 9, and she's been inviting her friends at school to her baptism. We were teaching her, and she told us the funniest story :)

This is how her conversation with her little friend at school went:

L: "So are you Catholic or Christian?"

Her friend: "I'm Mexican"

L. "Well.... were you put in a birdbath when you were a baby?"

Her friend "Yeah!"

L. "Oh, okay, your Catholic!"

Hahaha, isn't that funny?? Kids say the funniest things, it made me laugh :)

One more funny story, so there is this 13 yr old boy we are kind of teaching. He is baptized, and he's inviting his friends to meet with us and talk with us. He's the only one who speaks English, the rest of his family - including his grandma who is the cutest grandma I have ever seen!! - speaks Spanish. So after talking with him one day, his grandma came to us, and chattered away to us in Spanish. We found out that she wanted to introduce us to her neighbors! We said awesome! So we walked with her over to her neighbor's house, and the whole time she chattered away in Spanish. She was wearing this brightly colored striped sweater that looked like a rainbow candy cane, flower print pants, tie dye crocs, a huge cute sunhat, and very large glamorous sunglasses. We just walked with her, listening to what she was telling us in Spanish, she's all happy and smiling while she's talking with us... haha it was so fun :) She is amazing! I can only understand the jist of what she's saying, but we just absolutely love her and love listening to her. None of her neighbors were too interested, but it was so awesome that she took us over to introduce us to them. It was a fun scenario (: Missions are the best.

We also had a baptism this past week, which was incredible. His name is P., and he's been taught for a while. After he was baptized, he shared his testimony, and it was so powerful. He's come from such a hard background, and his LDS friends have made all the difference - and have been basically his family, and his support - during his life. Tears streamed down his face, and he told us that that was the first time he had cried in about 30 years, and the most he had ever cried in his life. The Spirit was so strong, it was so powerful. It was a beautiful baptism.

There is so much to tell you, but time is out! Guys, I LOVE Phoenix. I think this is going to be one of my favorite areas. Sister D. is AMAZING. We make an awesome teaching/inviting team. She is so fun, and is such a powerful teacher, and we have so many good times together. She's a good example to me, and I like to think in some way I'm a good example to her too. It's going to be an awesome transfer :) So many stories and experiences to share... and no time! Someday when I get home, we'll sit on the couch and talk, and I can tell you so many things that I didn't have time to write! And I'll hear about what happened while I'm away.

I love you guys. I am so grateful for all of you, for my wonderful family! You mean everything to me. I know that loving Heavenly Father and loving your neighbor, and your family, are what it's all about. That is where true happiness and peace is found, no matter what your circumstances are in life - wealthy or poor, rural or urban, whatever. It all comes down to your relationship with God and with those around you! That's where the most beautiful, life fulfilling treasures are. (: I love my Savior. Have you guys watched the video Because of Him? Please do. My testimony of Christ has grown so much, just in these past weeks. I would love to write more, but my times almost up... so next time. :)

Love you guys!

love, Sister Whitney Morris

Oh, and I did have a favor to ask - A new journal... I'm almost done with mine already, yikes! A nice one from deseret book is what I would love, but their like twenty bucks, so if that's too much don't worry about it, I can buy one here. :) Thanks! Love you guys!

Today at 2:55 PM

Phoenix! Maryvale is the best!