August 24 2014

Dear Family,

Man, your email was such a cheerer up for me today :) Thanks so much for replying about my letter... it has been so hard this week! But your support and everything helps me, and especially helps me feel happy again and renew my strength :) Thank you! The sheep are sooo cute! I'm excited to see the new ones... was that pic you sent of the new ones? Every time I see goats or sheep or any fun animal in our area, it reminds me of you guys :D Haha, I LOVED the totes my goats and goat t shirts!! Those were so funny!!!! And when I first saw it, I thought the pic of me holding the goat was on Isaac's t shirt hahaha.... wouldn't that be the funniest? Now there's a homecoming at the airport idea... everyone wearing totes my goats t shirts with that pic on it... hahaha, just sayin'. :D The conversations with E. were sooo amazing!! I seriously think that was the greatest tender mercy that we can be teaching him during this time. It is the greatest happiness in the world, finding and teaching those who are prepared and searching :) I am so excited for him!!! We just need his missionaries to visit him so they can help him make friends in the ward. :D

College is such a hard choice... I'm pretty sure I'll choose Virginia. Maybe find an apt to share up in DC, and commute to george mason... that would be awesome. :D But we'll see! Any ideas on how housing or rooming costs are up there?

That's so awesome K. C. is going to Mesa!! She is going to LOVE it. The heat honestly isn't even that bad... everyone makes it sound sooo terrible, but you totally acclimate. I hardly even notice it anymore. :) Luckily it's cooled down alot though! Now its usually just in the 90s!  The Captain America poses and redneck band pictures were hilarious, haha. And the possum!!! Oh man, that made me laugh! Hahaha... so hilarious! 

I'm glad Hannah is taking piano lessons! She is going to LOVE that :) And she's going to be so good!

Well, as for me, this week has been pretty hard! We've had some major miracles happen. I've felt really homesick and depressed for some reason... just all weak I've kind of been dragging. But B is doing really well! It's cool to see his progress. We had some good lessons with him, and he told us that he is searching for the true church, and that we're his guides. He also told us that once he has a spiritual "validation" (or a spiritual witness) that these things are true, he'll act on it. He is still listening to the BOM cd's, and is on disc 7.... 

This week we got to help a family out in our ward who had a wedding reception. It was so fun! We got to weekly planning on Friday, we usually plan for the coming week in the gym for about 3 hours, and it was all decorated with crystal chandeliers and Christmas lights... so it was a fun planning day haha. But on Saturday we got to help them serve ice cream at the reception! It was so fun! We got to talk to some nonmembers, and B came too! He knows the family who was getting married, so that was so fun :) 

We had the craziest bike troubles!! So on Thursday, we were biking to an appt at about 8:00 pm, and suddenly my front tire went flat... so we called the member we were giving a family mission plan too, and she ran out the front door and drove her minivan to come and help us. We were stranded on the side of the dirt road haha. So she came... and we did our best to fit our bikes in her van... but they didn't fit at all! We finally fit them in lying sideways over the seats, but the front wheels were poking out the door, so Sis W and I stood and held them in place, driving with the door open back to our car. It was sooo funny! Then to top it all off, while we were doing this, it started getting really windy and dusty, and a dust storm came! So there we were, driving through the dust storm with huge tumbleweeds flying by, with the door open and standing holding the bikes in place.. haha it was so funny! It was crazy!! Luckily we got home safe and sound :) The next day the elders helped us fix my bike... well, we said thank you, and did online proselyting for an hour. We came back to get our bikes... and saw that now my other bike tire was flat! It was so crazy! So the next day we had to go buy a bike tube and fix the other tire too... needless to say, it's been a crazy week haha.

It's been hard with the work so slow. But we're still working hard and doing our best! We had a miracle yesterday. I was feeling soooo down, and just so unmotivated, and my faith was growing weak. I was so tired. So we tried yet another less active's door with no answer at 8:00 pm again.. and we saw this family outside weeding. We went up to start talking to them, and it was amazing! They were so happy to talk with us! The mom told us her boss is a member, and then told us she wanted her daughter - whose 11 and was there too - to learn about God. She asked us if she had to pay us money for us to come visit them :D We told her of course not! We would love to come back! And she asked us to teach her daughter how to pray. It was so cool!! So standing on the sidewalk, we taught her daughter how to pray, and we all prayed together. It was the most amazing experience! I was so depressed, but we turned back and continued to work (Alma 26:27) and Heavenly Father blessed us to find a little family, a mother and a daughter, who are interested, and who want to learn more! It was so amazing. I know that was such a tender mercy and miracle... sometimes we just have to plough through the hard times, the rejection and the setbacks, in order to find the miracles. It was amazing :) They set up a return appt with us, so we'll be going back on Thursday at 4:30! Be sure to keep them in your prayers :) Their names are A (the mom) and T (the daughter).

We also had a fun Sunday! We taught the gospel principles lesson, and I was so scared! It was about the gathering of Israel, so it talked about the twelve tribes and all this deeper factual stuff that I haven't learned much about... so we were nervous haha. But it ended up being an awesome lesson :) The Spirit was really strong! It's amazing how Heavenly Father blesses us, with His help our weaknesses don't matter. He helps us do what He asks us to do. It was a great experience!

 

We had two other tender mercy miracles. The first is:

Recently we've just been working on finding, almost all day and night. Part of this has been knocking the doors of less active members... for some reason, there are so many angry ones here! I will never understand how someone just seeing our nametags can instantly bring such strong anger... it's really sad! And hard for us! But as part of the finding, we decided to knock the neighbor's doors when the person we're looking for isn't home. So we knocked this person's door, and they weren't home, so we started biking away... and halfway down the street I felt a really strong prompting to go back and knock the neighbor's doors. So we turned around, and went and knocked their doors too, and neither of them were interested. So we biked away again, and as we turned the bend of the street, we heard someone yell "Sisters!!" We turned around, and this teenage kid ran up to us and said hi! He had two friends that he introduced us to, promptly told them that sister missionaries are the sweetest people in the world, and then said they had to go in because they were going to wrestling, but said that he would tell his friends all about the gospel and what we believe. And his friends were super nice and wanted to know! It was such a cool experience! It was just a simple encounter, but you never know what might come from it :) It was amazing because if we hadn't turned around to knock the other doors, that wouldn't have happened.... it was really cool.

The other tender mercy was also pretty small, but taught me that God is so aware of us and loves us :) He even cares about the little things we struggle with. We have a ton of gated communities in our area, so luckily we have the gate codes and we can just bike in. But when we leave, if there isn't a car, we have to crawl under the gate, punch in the code, and run back in to roll our bike out before the gate closes on us. Well, sometimes you are just so tired and dread crawling under that gate, haha! So we were biking towards the gate, and I just said a prayer, and said "Heavenly Father, please let there be a car to open the gate for us." I prayed this a few times.. and then as we were pulling up to the gate, a car came through and opened it for us. It was so amazing. I really know Heavenly Father answers our prayers, even the small things we struggle with each day. :)

Well, it has definitely been a crazy week! Tonight we have our fireside... it will be so fun! A potluck, musical number from the elders, and the two speakers.. it will hopefully go smoothly. It was one of our finding ideas, and we're really hoping that we'll find someone to teach from it :) And if not, it was definitely a great experience for the ward, for the recent converts who are speaking, and for the nonmembers and investigators who are attending!

We also have mission conference this week! I think a general authority is coming down to speak to us, so that will be amazing :) 

Oh, another funny story.... so our church building doesn't have a microwave. Weird huh?? So Sister W and I got one, from the mission office, and now we bring it to our meetings, so when we eat lunch we can warm stuff up :) Haha, it was so funny... 

Well I'm glad all is well at home! I miss you guys!! I loved seeing the pictures, and I'm excited to get letters :) For Christmas... hm... I think I would definitely love the Nashville Tribute Band CD, the title is D&C 4! It is SOOO GOOD!! It has a silver cover, and is all upbeat, happy, motivating missionary music... other then that, probably just handwritten notes and stuff from home. I would love nice pics of the kids and of Virginia... and just anything, really. :) Cute skirts... earrings.. lds music... there are also really good revised hymns that are fun that are by the "lower lights". Just the normal stuff I always love :)

Is there anything you guys want from AZ? haha. 

Well, I love you all! Hope you have an awesome week :) Thanks for all your love and support and encouragement! It seriously means the world to me. 

Love you!

 

love,

Sister Whitney Morris

 

  

the wedding reception

 

 

gilbert rocks from last transfer

 

 

gross huge frog! 

 

 

making mud pies, with the arizona rattlesnake gummies... those were so gross looking haha!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Family,

Thank you so much for the package and everything!!! I was SO happy when I opened it. I absolutely loved everyone's letters... Isaac's about efy, Jacob's funny pictures, Adam and Peter's cute letters, and just hearing from everyone made my whole day. Thank you so much for sending pictures from the sealing! I have my favorites hanging up on my picture wall now :) It made me so happy to see everyone, and hear from you all. It is the best feeling in the world to come home from a hard working, sometimes discouraging day, and to have a package filled with love and this whole giant family cheering you on. Thanks so much for that :)

That sounds so crazy with all the sheep! Sounds like you'll be eating mutton for a loooong time, haha....

Yeah, I noticed that about my blog too! I'm not sure why it isn't showing on my page... I didn't do anything to change it... that I know of, haha... so yeah, I think it's fine if you keep doing it that way. :) 

 

I'm so excited about E!! Honestly, he is like a beacon of light right now. It is the happiest feeling in the world, teaching someone who is so prepared and so sincere in searching for truth :) He is so amazing! And you guys are so amazing for helping him out!  We can definitely keep teaching him until he starts the lessons consistently with the missionaries where  he lives. That would be awesome! :D

Where are you and Dad going out of town? That sounds fun! I'm glad things are well at home. I love that you and Hannah listen to Les Mis, and it cheers you up. :) That is so awesome!

Well, this past week has been crazy! I was soo nervous to take over the area... it's silly, because lots of missionaries take over their area right when their done training. But I've always whitewashed out... so that was scary. But it went really well :) I missed Sister A!  She is an amazing person, and I learned sooo much from her - way more then I have from my other companions, in some ways. I know I've become more patient and loving because of my time with Sister A, and it's neat to see those changes... even if their so gradual. 

My new companion is so cute! She has the happiest smile I've ever seen, is super enthusiastic, very bright, and reminds me a little bit of Hannah. She is so cute! She's also super obedient and wants to work. She makes me laugh... haha every morning we say recitations, like our purpose, D&C 4, the standard of truth, different scriptures, etc, that we memorize. Well when she reads she talks in this voice that sounds like it could be an announcer in the temple videos or something... just loud and melodic and dramatic, haha. Like those spiritual voices in the temple visitors center or something. So she recites in that reading voice, and while she was doing it, she was doing these yoga moves, like stretching her legs with her arms sticking straight out... haha it was so funny!! She is a unique girl, and she's so much fun. I just love her :) So it's going to be an awesome transfer!

We had some great lessons this week. We still don't have anybody progressing, but we had a cool lesson with B! So we were knocking on his door inviting him to this fireside we're having, and nobody was answering... and then he drove up in his car, and he called us over, and he was listening to the Book of Mormon CD's we gave him!! How funny is that?? He had a ton of questions about Lehi and Nephi, and about the plates, and also who the great and abominable church is, and how Satan has influenced different churches... it was so cool! So he's interested, and he wants to learn more! It's funny, because when we first met him he said he would try to convert us too... so he also gave us a copy of this novel someone wrote, who basically rewrote the Bible in a novel form, using passages from the NIV version. Soooo yeah haha. But it's really cool to see his interest growing :) He also told us he was curious for two different reasons - one, because we're so happy, and two, because our church is growing so fast. So it's super cool to see his interest grow and the gradual progress he's making!!!

We also had an AMAZING lesson with R! It was such a crazy lesson.... we talked with him about the nature of God. He believes God is in everything, is in us, is in the trees, in nature, etc.. So he believes like when we die, we will kind of dissolve to become part of God again. But it was really cool, because we talked with him about how God is our father, and has a glorified, exalted, perfect body. He had a difficult time, because he feels like calling God our Father is somehow bringing Him lower than He is, and would be limiting God. But it was so cool because Sister W asked him "Do you think saying God is not your father would be limiting Him?" That question really made him stop and ponder, and it was so cool because we could see him come to the conclusion himself that he couldn't assume God was not our father, and he became more open to it. He committed to pray to God like He is his Father, which is something he hasn't done - he usually prays by saying a few heartfelt sentences, and then saying Amen. No Dear Heavenly Father or in the name of Jesus Christ or anything. So hopefully he can gain a testimony of God being our loving Heavenly Father and His love for us. It's hard to describe, but it was neat because many of the beliefs he has are in line with ours, he just has a different name for them. He's been reading from the Book of Mormon too, so that's exciting! So yeah, he's going to be a tough cookie haha, but he's slowly progressing. He told us the greatness of the teacher is in helping the student learn for themselves and keep them interested, and he said that we're doing that... so yay! Hopefully things keep moving along with him :)

We also had a really cool lesson with a new family! C and her son B. It was sooo cool.... they are so open. It was Sis W's first night here and they opened the door for the first time! We've literally tried them like 10 times and they've never answered. So they answered, and we had a nice conversation, and the member we brought was perfect for them... we asked them about their religious background and their relationship with God. It was amazing because C talked about how  God has helped her through so many trials. We felt really prompted to share with them the "Mountains to Climb" video (if you haven't seen it, go watch it now!). We showed it to them, and asked afterwards what thoughts or feelings they had. The Spirit was soooo strong... B, her teenage son, talked about how he related with each person, because when he was young his dad died, and he saw his Mom go through many hard times as she tried to raise her kids, and he turned to sports to distract him or help him with the things he was going through. And C.. wow. She told us how God has helped her, and she started crying and said she felt guilty because she only prays when something is going wrong, and she knows it shouldn't be like that. So she wants to make a bigger priority of going to church and making God a bigger part of her life. It was so amazing. They said they would be open to coming to church, so hopefully they do :)

Other then that, the work has been really slow haha... it's so sad! We get rejected sooo much. Last night, it was funny, an AMAZING member named Sis S came out with us. Well, there was an ENORMOUS rainstorm!! It rained sooo hard and was super windy for an hour or so! But we knocked on like 30 doors of potential investigators and less actives, and literally nobody let us in... haha we were all soaked to the bone. It was crazy! But we had alot of fun :) It was kind of depressing, but it feels good to be working hard and doing our best, even when people don't accept us or accept our message. So with that perspective, it was pretty awesome :D 

Other then that, things are going well. We also put together a cool fireside! It's going to be at the retirement community in our area - our area is literally one square mile of retirement communities, one mile of county land/farmers, and one mile of super wealthy people - and so two recent converts, B - he's AMAZING. He was baptized within two weeks, just went to Nauvoo, and is soooo strong!!! - he is a retired cop from Chicago. And then Bro. D, also a recent convert, is an ex-hells angel motorcyle gangster. So they're friends, and they'll be speaking. All the empty nesters in our ward are going, and hopefully P (even though she's in a different ward now) will be coming too, and B. And I think a few of them are bringing their friends! So that's exciting!

Well, that's pretty much all going on here. Missions are crazy. Yesterday at church a girl came home from Argentina... it was so amazing. I just cried in her talk, because she talked about how hard it was, but how she doesn't even remember the hard times because of the joy she feels and the love she has for the people she's met. I completely, completely related to that. :) 

How are things going with the college apps? Sorry if it's stressful haha. I just found out K - the girl that was baptized in Phoenix, the golden one haha - is transferring to BYU-I next fall!!! And so is Sister D, my AWESOME comp when we taught her.... so they all want to room together. It's soooo tempting haha! I'm definitely going to have to pray about everything. I feel at a loss of what to do. But I'm sure in time I'll know what to do.

Well, love you guys! I miss you all, a ton! I can't wait to see you again... halfway there... but please pray for us, especially in finding people to teach. :) I was also so excited to hear about the wedding stuff! Dexter's comment "anything for my dumplin" on facebook made me laugh soooooo hard.... did he really type that?? is that my brother?? hahaha... so funny! I would love to see a pic of her dress :) And that's so awesome Dexter has been reading too and has such a strong testimony :) I love our family!

Love you guys!!!

love,

Sister Whitney Morris


Goofy elders returning my iPad

cool furniture a member paints and a bark scorpion

Monday Aug 11

 

Dear Family,

Thanks for the emails! I'm so excited to get the letters and package... and I'm glad things are well at home. Mommy, cravings and stress.... that is THE WORST haha. I'm sorry to hear Hannah has been having a hard time too. I'll keep her in my prayers! And all the kids! It was so fun to see Adam and Peter when we were teaching  E. They are sooooo cute :) I love my brothers. I'll definitely be praying for Wednesday... I hope all goes well.  That's awesome Isaac is going to be seminary president! That's so awesome he's a senior! I still can't believe he's going to be graduated and on a mission soon... I'm so excited for him. Sometimes I think of him being an elder in France or something, and it makes me so happy :D Elder Morris! My guess is somewhere in South America for him, actually... I can see him going to Brazil or Mexico. That would be sweet :D That's so funny S is coming to help slaughter lambs haha... we have the weirdest family! :D 

Thanks so much for everything going with E.!! That really was an amazing first lesson. I'm so sorry it was so crazy... past Skype lessons have gone really well, but we've never skyped in members to join too. So it was just really hard with three screens... I am so glad he's gotten in touch with missionaries in his area! Do you think he'll be able to meet with them there? I was thinking that would probably be best. It's kind of hard over skype, and I think they're the ones who could really help him the most, especially with the awesome ward there!! That's so cool you all have so many friends that he ran into! What a small world :)  I love how sincere he is and his true desire to know! It is seriously the best feeling in the world, teaching someone who has been that prepared and is that sincere in searching for the truth. Thanks so much for referring him and being his good friends :) I'm so happy and excited! And I'm sorry if my one message sounded irritated... I did kind of feel like Dad threw us under the bus, haha. But it's all good! I know he didn't mean to.

That's awesome your friend flagged down the elders!! I love stories like that!! I bet they were so surprised and happy to have someone flag them down and want them over for dinner! As a missionary, I know how happy that would make any missionary... that's so awesome :) You guys are seriously the best missionaries. I am so proud of you all! 

That's so awesome you could do baptisms too! Dad, that's so cool you were able to baptize Isaac and Hannah and Mommy... I bet that was so amazing :) I can't wait to go to the temple together. We'll have to go when I come home! 

Thanks so much for the package! I'm really excited to get it and to read all the letters :) There were a few more things I need... could you send an ultratouch meter? I accidentally told my doc the wrong test strips, so the prescription I got only works for those meters, haha. I'll get a right prescription today, but it would be nice to have the other too. It's the onetouch ultra. I'll also need the set changes - the quiksets? Their in the orange cardboard box with the little tube and needle. I'm down to one box, and I'll probably need two or three more for the rest of my mission. Thanks so much :) Sorry for all the trouble. And I should be okay with the diabetes doc, I'll just need an eye doc.

Thanks for the well wishes and everything! It's funny, this week went really well. Sister A and I have finally kind of gotten into a good rhythm. I'm going to miss her. We have good times & they are really fun. I have learned soooo much from this companionship, and I am so grateful I was able to serve with her. Last night we found out she is getting transferred, (transfers are actually this Wednesday :) ) and I am staying in the area! Funny enough, I'm really nervous. I'm excited... but I feel nervous. I've been out almost 9 months and I've never been left to take over the area when my companion leaves. I've always whitewashed out, which means I left the area with my comp. So this time she'll be leaving and I'll be staying and getting a new companion... so I have to learn the area more and work with the ward and everything. It's a silly thing to be nervous about, I know I'll be fine, but it's kind of scary! Haha, but it will go great.

Other than transfer news, this week has been a really good one. We've been doing a ton of finding, but haven't found new investigators yet... it's been hard. We have a few people we're teaching - B, a funny old man in his 60s who is a little bit flirtatious haha, but doesn't mean anything by it, and he also has like a ton of cats, R - a man in his 50s who has a few kids, is divorced, and is open to learning but believes in kind of a metaphysical spiritualness... he doesn't believe the Bible literally, but believes the principles in it are true and are from God. He believes in pretty much every religion. It's so hard when people are so open minded that they don't accept the restored gospel... and then there's another man named S. S is AWESOME. He's probably in his 50s and is super super nice, and is sincerely interested. He's just so busy that we hardly get to see him, so it's hard to help him progress. Our area is pretty small, I think it's 3 square miles, and everyone just seems so content with their lives and not interested ha. But we'll keep working and doing our best and praying :) We're really focusing on working with the ward. The ward here is INCREDIBLE, and so we're just helping them to share the gospel with their friends. It means other missionaries in other areas will probably get to teach their friends, but it's helping the work hasten - even if it's not in our specific area. So that's okay. :)

Nothing else too exciting happened this week. We had an awesome handoff lesson where some members in our ward had P over to dinner with the new missionaries - the elders - who will be teaching her. It was amazing :) Their house is so gorgeous! Their the ones who have the Michelangelo statue, and their house is literally like an Italian villa. Granite pillars, it kind of wraps around, there's a courtyard in the middle and pool and landscaping... it's crazy haha. And, random story, the wife was in the original cast of Saturday's Warrior! She was the little girl! How cool is that? But the dinner was awesome. We had this awesome, awesome lesson where P basically told us that she is loving church, and has felt the Spirit so strongly, and loves the goodness and light she sees in the families and the members of the Church. She has a really strong Christian background, and some of the huge Christian churches around here literally have anti Mormon classes taught in their congregations, so she's heard alot of bad things... but it's cool  because she said she was praying to Heavenly Father, and said to Him " Really, Lord? The LDS?" Haha, but it's amazing how open she is. She is seriously golden :) I'm so excited for her and I really hope she continues to do well with the elders and her new ward. It's amazing how much you grow to love the people you teach! Their really like your little children that you want to take the best of care of! And it's funny because P said we felt like her daughters. You just make the strongest friendships and have the greatest love with those you share the gospel with. 

I had another fun moment this week... K, from Phoenix, messaged me on FB and asked for help, because her and J were asked to speak in sacrament meeting. She sent me the sweetest message, and it just made me so happy to know their both still going strong :) I just LOVE being on a mission!!! I love the people so much! It is the best!! 

Well, there's not too much else to say. Sorry this was kind of a boring email this week :) 

One other cool thing happened... yesterday was awesome. Church was so good! We had this awesome lesson on eternal marriage, and Sister J - the bishop's wife who is SO cool and so real! taught it. She wrote happily ever after on the board and then told us that it really didn't exist, and once you get married that's when the work really starts - and also the most happiness. She talked about how the things that have helped her marriage the most are not making the little goals - like not yelling, or keeping the house cleaner - but deepening their commitments to keeping their covenants together. She said her and her husband hit a really low point in their marriage and they sat down - had a comp inventory (they both served missions - and decided to go to the temple every Friday night for a year. She said to do things together spiritually... and also to pray for them by name, and also to ask forgiveness when your praying with them. I really liked these because I've seen that SO MUCH as companions. Those times when Sister A and I prayed together and we prayed for each other by name,  then that's when we felt the Spirit and could really forgive and have a stronger companionship. It is so humbling and so hard. But I just really loved that part in the lesson. It's so crazy how much missionary work and being a spouse/parent coincide. I feel like everything we learn about companionships applies to marriage, and vice versa, and everything with investigators applies to parenting, and vice versa. It's really cool ha. Missions are the greatest preparation for the rest of our lives. :) 

Well, I love you guys! I'll keep you in my prayers this week. I love you!!! Good luck with everything.

Something I love about Dad is how awesome he explained the priesthood to Ed and his awesome testimony of how it's blessed our family.

Something I love about Mommy is the amazing emails she writes me every week, that make me so happy and I think back on when I feel alone, and I know I'm not. And also what an amazing missionary she is and how she shares the gospel with everyone! 

Something I love about Isaac is how strong he is! What a hard worker he is and also the goofy pictures he sends me.

Something I love about Hannah is what an incredible young lady she is. She is soooo strong, and so smart, and so spiritual. She is truly incredible and is such a great example to me. 

Something I love about Jacob is also how strong he is. I love his sense of humor and what a good speaker he is, and also his spiritual thoughts. And his awesome drawings!

Something I love about Adam is how much he helps Mommy and Dad out, and how much he loves Heavenly Father and Jesus and the Book of Mormon.

Something I love about Peter is how sweet he is, and how he loves the temple and our family.

Something I love about Dexter too is how strong he is, and what a good husband and Dad he's going to be someday... (that's sooo weird... but true.) And also what a hard worker he is. 

Something I love about Brittney too is how happy she makes Dexter, and also her sense of humor and how nice it is to have her as part of our future family. 

(Maybe you can send them those for me. :) )

I love you all :) Have an awesome week!

love,

Sister Whitney Morris

K sent me these pics of us from J's baptism!

 

 

This, my friends, is the Michelangelo statue in the front doorway of the B's home... yes, you walk in the front door, and that's what you see, on a marble floor and with pillars. Behind it is the courtyard and the house stretches out to the right and left on either side.. it's so pretty!  I had to get a picture!
 

 

And a gorgeous AZ sunset!

 

fun pics by a sunset! I am sooo sweaty, so don't mind that, haha.

 

 

 

And the sisters in our zone! I love the senior couple, they serve on the Indian Reservation. Their awesome :)

 

more pics

 

 

corn chips anyone?

 

 

 

 

 

 

August 4, 2012

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Family,

I'm glad things are going well at home! I always love reading about everything, and the fun pictures you send :) The sass squatch was sooooo funny.... hahaha, that was hilarious! You guys were doing great in the FB conversation :) No worries about it kind of ending.... to be honest, I'm still figuring it all out too. So we're learning together :) It was so cool that everyone's been reading. I cannot tell you how powerful the Book of Mormon is, when we ponder and study it. 

D. helped me teach the guy I'm sending the referral in for! It's so exciting! He is really excited to learn more.. I can't wait to see what happens :) All the way in Kenya!

 

That's too bad about Adam's retainer! Poor kid, haha. He's so awesome though, one day he'll look back and just realize he's having all these challenges because he's too awesome :) All the kids are! That's so sad about the sheep and foot rot too! And Chessie! Poor girls! 

 

That's so awesome Isaac and Hannah went to SVU for youth conference!! How did they like it? :) It's sooo beautiful... yeah, I think I've definitely outgrown SVU. I'm having a really hard time choosing between George Mason and BYU... but I think George Mason, because I LOVE VA, and it's by DC and all the YSA in DC.... but then school and dorm life might be super hard.. and at BYU, it's got the social fun stuff, tons of awesome people including people from my mission... but it's in Provo. Bleh haha. But thanks so much for doing the application stuff :) 

I would love some new skirts! :) I was also going to ask about a few things -

1) do you think you could check and see if there's any way I could get a yw medallion? I got my PP award, but lost the medallion... it was a pretty silver one, w/out the ruby. I would love another one, if the ward has any, or ebay or anything :)

 

2) an ice cube maker! Haha our freezer doesn't have one, and it's sooo nice to have to put ice in your camelback for the day!

and also I will need some new contacts pretty soon. I can mail home a pack of them so you can remember what kind if you want :) oh and also probably a list of eye docs covered by the insurance... I haven't had an eye exam in like two years, so I should probably get one.

Thanks so much! I love hearing from home :) I really miss it. I try not to dwell on it... it's been hard not to because things have been so hard. But I really love you all. And I wouldn't be anywhere else then where I am now :) But I really am so excited to come home and spend time with you. 10 more months... crazy!

 

 

We had an awesome week with P!! Remember her? She's the miracle investigator. One night we were going to try a less active man we had never met before. We accidentally turned down the wrong street, and knocked on her door. She invited us in, and we shared a message with her, and since then we've met with her 4 or 5 times. She's so fun!!! We had an awesome lesson with her this week! We've been working really hard to have a member with us in all of our lessons. Well, for her lesson we literally couldn't find anyone.... so we finally invited a man in the elders quorum in our ward, whose really awesome. He was able to come! We had a great lesson with her. Last time we taught her about Joseph Smith, and she had asked who was the prophet today. We told her, of course :) And so for the next lesson with Bro R. we watched one of Pres. Monson's general conference talks with her (on our ipads :) aka hastening the work devices). It was so powerful!! Bro R was perfect because it was a bit about the priesthood and having courage to stand up for what's right and follow God, no matter what others think of us. It was so cool because it was an awesome lesson... and her fellowships who live right down the street dropped by to meet her real briefly. So that was awesome! (Let me just say that she lives in the wealthiest neighborhood I've ever seen! The mayor of Chandler lives there, and the houses are gorgeous huge mansions... P's main fellowships, the B family, Bro B makes imitations of Michelangelo statues and sells them to Catholic churches. So  in the doorway of their home they have the enormous statue of Mary holding Jesus by Michelangelo... it's so beautiful!!! So it's really fun!) But anyways. It was an awesome lesson! And afterwards her husband came home!!! We had never met him before because he works so much. But he came and he was super friendly! And he got along great with Bro R! The one night we bring a priesthood holder, was the night we met her husband... it was so cool :) I know the Lord's hand is in this work. And sometimes what we think is a bad thing, often turns out to be the greatest blessing, and Heavenly Father's hand intervening to bless the lives of our investigators. It's amazing :) 

The great news is that she came to church this Sunday! Oh, it was so awesome... she wanted to wait to come until she could stay all 3 hours. So she came, and she absolutely loved it :) She's really social and made a ton of friends. And the Sunday School class was perfect - they taught about the Restoration, and they actually teach the gospel principle's class in the Bishop's office here so it's a cozy environment where people feel open and like they can talk. So the Spirit was sooo strong. And she loved Relief Society.... she even participated :) It was the best Sunday ever!!!! 

After church we had dinner with her and with the C family. It was so fun!!! The C have two kids on missions - a sister in Argentina and a sister in Scotland/Ireland. So they had us, P, and the two set of Spanish speaking sisters over for dinner. It was so fun!! We all just talked, and Bro C bought this enormous like two foot long NY prime steak, which he rubbed in the seasonings and spices, let it sit overnight, and then baked it... and then literally cut off our own prime rib steaks off the huge chunk. It was sooooo delicious. I have never eaten so much in my life... haha, and then to top it off he made his famous homemade peanut butter oreo ice cream... it was sooooo good!! And P had such an awesome time! This ward is INCREDIBLE. The families are so, so strong, and they immediately reach out and love everyone we teach. They do so much to serve and give. Honestly... the work is a bit slower here, but I am so grateful to be here, because these families are some of the greatest examples of Christlike service I've ever seen. I just love them. They are hard workers and love their families, and their just so strong. And many of them do so much missionary work! I absolutely love it. 

Well, after this, the sad thing happened.... our stake realigned it's boundaries, and our ward stayed the same... except we lost P's neighborhood :( how sad is that???? So our one golden investigator is now out of our area.... haha, it was sooooo sad!! But she's in our district leader's area now, and her main fellowships went to their ward with her, so that's good. We're going to miss teaching her though! And we'll be doing alot of finding! We will also probably be getting another ward to cover, so that's exciting. I would love to cover more than one ward :) So we'll see what happens! 

Other then that, it's been a good week. I've felt... well, a whole mix of emotions. Kind of stressed, sad, but also so grateful. It's been a really hard transfer, but I'm so grateful for the things I've learned and the experiences I've had. Next week we'll know what transfers bring, so we'll see what happens.

 

Love you guys!!!

con mucho amor,

Sister Whitney Morris

 

Funny/Cool Moments:

We have to hunt for scorpions at night with a blacklight! They glow bright green! We found a HUGE one in front of our door... it was terrifying!! Their disgusting, haha.

 

 

There is a family in our ward with a pet pig... so they have this gorgeous kitchen you eat in at the table, with a nice view of their huge green lawn... and then there's this cute little muddy pig running around the lawn haha. It was so funny.

We were biking on this cool little trail in between neighborhoods, and - get this - there are cicadas here! How weird is that? They have tons in VA, but I didn't expect to find them here! So the cicadas were soooo loud... and we're biking along... and Sis A is terrified of them. Well, a cicada fell from a tree, and fell in her hair! While we were biking! It was chirping sooo loud, and she was screaming, and I was laughing, and she almost crashed into me because her bike was going crazy, haha. It was so funny!!! Missions are always an adventure :)

 

 

  

a HUGE toad we found!! Gross!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

and a funny monkey golfer that reminded me of Isaac

 

 

mashing potatoes

 

and Bro C searing the steaks! Yum!

 

and an elephant cloud!

 

This HUGE bug we found!!! My tag is about 2 inches long - thats how big it was!

 

 

Some dobermans guarding a house... joys of being a missionary haha

 

 

 

Some books by a famous author in our ward :) I've heard her books are AMAZING, and super clean! She's been in scholastic catalog and sells in barnes and noble and stuff. Her name I think is Janette Rallison? But another of her pen names is C.J. Hill. Definitely recommend them for Hannah especially!!

 

 

 

 

pics from dinner!! The HUGE NY steak, it looks small but it was about 2 feet long, and the potato bowl was like 2 feet wide... and all of us at dinner :) I'm sitting by P!

 

 

 

 

 

 

And a funny guy's comment on my fb post hahaha.... there are some funny people out there...

 

carrying goats

 

in a car wash

 

petting goats (theres a ton here)

 

and the freaky scorpion!!!

 

 

Oh and Sis A running from the baby goat attacking her....hahaha :D