love, serve, teach: Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Dear Family,

THANK YOU FOR THE BIRTHDAY PACKAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) That made my whole day. I could barely wait to open it, and I opened it the morning of my birthday... it was awesome to start the day off with letters from you all, and all those fun little gifts (: The Duck Dynasty guy (Si?) Made me laugh so hard. And the soaps smell soo good!! And thank you for sending the (essential) oil too. I've been using it every night, and it smells so good. It's only been a few days so we'll see how it works still (: Thanks so much for everything!

That's so awesome about Jacob's testimony! He is so strong. I saw Hannah's fb post the other day, it just popped up on the newsfeed, how she asked why reading was important or something, and Jacob said because we need to be able to read the scriptures. That made my whole day (: I am so proud of all of the kids, and their strong testimonies and examples. They are so amazing, each and every one of them. I love you all so much. And just a heads up, thinking about you guys sometimes helps me have the strength to keep going and keep working. Thanks for being there to inspire and strengthen me. :)

That's so exciting about Jacob Ingham's decision, and Isaac's!! Wow! You will have to tell me how his experience goes. I am so excited for him. That will be incredible. :) I remember seeing the previews for God's Not Dead, that sounds like such a good movie. I also heard how bad the Noah movie was... ugh. I read a verse this morning in Mormon, where he talked about he has been surrounded by wickedness and abominations ever since he could remember. I couldn't help but think that's exactly how children are being raised in these days. We're surrounded by so much... trash. I'm so grateful for the gospel and Jesus Christ. Pretty crazy! A bit depressing though, so moving on...

Woops, sorry the video was upside down!! Hahaha, that's too bad. I took it on my ipad, so I'll try and remember which way is up next time. :)

Thank you for sending the pics of the violinist! I love her music, that is so neat you guys are listening to her. I can't wait to watch that video when I get home :) I'll add it to the list! And the Orson Scott Card quote was awesome!! Loved it!

Well, my week has been so, so busy! Even busier then usual, which is saying something. We had exchanges this week, so I led the area, with an AMAZING sister, Sister S. She's the one that talked with me on FB before I left on my mission :) We ended up in the same zone! How funny is that? So we were companions for a day, and that was so fun! She is so cute, and we had some awesome lessons, including one with T. That was probably one of our best lessons yet with him. We just read Alma 32 together, pausing at different parts to talk about it and apply it and answer his questions, and it was so, so powerful. His older sister C. was also there, and she had some AMAZING insights that I learned from! The best lessons are when the Spirit is there so strongly, and both us and the investigators learn from each other and from the Spirit. That's how that lesson was. It was awesome. :) We are going to try and take him to another church sometime... haha so that he can be baptized. :) Transfers are next Wednesday, so I'm not sure if we'll still be here or not :( But if I'm still here, or if Sis R. is still here, we are definitely going to take him to one! The Bishop even gave us some suggestions of those who are a bit friendlier to Mormon missionaries coming and joining one Sunday. (: Haha.

So exchanges went great. I used to get SO NERVOUS leading an area, and I still am a bit. But only a teensy bit now, not nearly as nervous as I was before. So that's really comforting, if I end up getting called to train or anything I know I'll be able to do it. (:

My birthday was awesome. My zone surprised me during weekly planning by coming in with a ton of cupcakes and birthday cake and singing happy birthday to me, so that was really fun! Their such an awesome zone. Maricopa is the best!! Sis R. and I got frozen yogurt for dinner too, which was really yummy. (:

Not too much else has happened.... Sis R. had a meeting in Tempe the day after exchanges, so I spent a day in the other sister's area with them. That was fun! They are so funny. We spent most of the day giving service to different members/part member families in the ward. I got SO sunburned. They also caught a pet scorpion named Ted... he was probably about an inch long. Sadly he died in the water bottle :( I was going to pack him up and send him to Isaac, but he smelled a bit gross, haha.

We also had our first dust storm!! Apparently here they call it a "haboob". It was pretty exciting! Very windy, and dusty. I sent some pictures that some other people took. Pretty crazy!

We had a great day yesterday! Church was amazing, they had a missionary couple from the addiction recovery program speak to us, and it was so powerful. They have an amazing program, and a book that they want every family in the stake to have, that just educates families on different addictions, and how to help loved ones who are dealing with them. I think it's definitely a good thing to look into, because sadly pretty much every family these days is impacted somehow by it. And if not our families, then definitely a friend or someone we know.

After church we went down south with a member and her daughter, and that was so fun! We visited a man named M. who lives in the middle of the desert, in a little tin trailer. He was really cool, and very talkative and friendly, but he's come across alot of skewed info about the church. It was the first lesson where someone has really brought up anti stuff with us... but it went okay, and especially the member was awesome. And we just bore our testimonies, letting him know that we believed and knew these things are true, and just avoided contention or arguing. It was interesting. We tried this other family, and as we drove in the neighborhood the member just kept getting more and more nervous... she told us to never ever go there alone. It's this little community in the middle of the desert, and I guess it's filled with drugs, and violence. Luckily we were all safe and sound and we were totally fine. (: It was pretty crazy though. I felt like I was driving through an old western.

Well, I don't know too much else to say. Things are going really well. (: We found a momma cat in the backyard that had kittens, brand new, just a few days old, and they are so cute! We also saw a baby cow this week, so that was really fun. (:

There is also this delicious recipe I want you guys to try! We had it in a members house a while ago, and for my birthday she gave me a whole bag of the things we needed to make it :D I was so excited!!

Basically, you take these fried sugar chips that they make in Mexican culture - I'm not sure what their called. Their just fried chips coated in sugar. But you take one, put a scoop of vanilla ice cream on it, and top it off with strawberry/banana salsa (a mix of strawberries, bananas, and sugar) or just strawberry jelly. It's the most delicious thing I've ever tasted!!! You guys would love it. When I get home, we'll have to have a night where I cook you all this delicious Arizonian food I get to eat. It's so good. :D

Well, I love you all. I am SO excited for General Conference too. Wasn't Women's Conference amazing? I've also been reading Jesus the Christ, and have been absolutely loving it. I learn so much every day in studies, and also from the Book of Mormon. Almost done! :)

Well, next week we'll know if I'm getting transferred or not... crazy! Time goes so fast.

Love you guys. I'm so glad you are all doing well. Did you get my letters? :)

love,

Sister Whitney Morris

Some other random pictures... more roping, the elders roping each other, and Ted. And Sis Larsen and I on my birthday. (: