11-28-2014

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Family,

Mommy, I LOVED hearing about your trip!! And the pictures are sooo beautiful! The Redwoods look incredible... and I absolutely love how happy you look. You look amazing, inside and out. :) I'm so grateful you went on that trip! It sounded like a lot of healing happened. It's incredible how times like those can bring the family together again. I'm so grateful you could have that experience. Dad and the kids, hahaha, your comments and statuses were hilarious!! I loved the farm animals revolting since their captain Mommy was gone... especially how the ducks were always watching hahahaha. You guys are hilarious! :D I love our beautiful farm in Virginia. WOW, Valerie's house was stunning! Her home reminded me of a lot in Gilbert. It's amazing what you can do to a home, even with not much money. I love our brick home in Virginia :) It would be fun to come home and decorate it more. That's so sweet you could see Uncle Asa too! <3  Thanks so much for signing me up for Adopt A Soldier! It's really cool - I got his info and description today, and he mentioned that he is Christian, and a little bit about himself. Perfect segway into mentioning I'm serving as a missionary! I think it was meant to be! Thanks so much for doing that! I'm also so happy you all had a fun Thanksgiving! I am SO excited for Randi to come out and move in! :) I love her!! And it was fun to see the table spread... . It was fun seeing pics of the elders and Shannon and Dexter and Britt! You guys all look so great! Jacob looks so old! And Hannah looks BEAUTIFUL. Holy cow! I'm so glad you all had a fun time, especially in the hot tub! Fancyy. :) I loved Peter's modest buttoned up shirt haha. He's so cute! And so is Adam! 

Well, there's not too much to write about today, since p day was on
Wednesday. But it's been a good week! It's funny, a member was sharing
their testimony and they talked about how sometimes life is like a
wheel. There are times where everything seems to be going right,
better then usual, and your at the top. Then it circles around, and
things go wrong, and your at the bottom. Luckily we know there must be
opposition in all things. So we can have faith and know that no matter
what, with the Savior things will always get better. It's really been
a good week, we've been working so, so hard! And things haven't
necessarily gone wrong, they've just been more difficult haha. But I
have faith that the wheel will circle around again and things will go
better this week :) We've been working really hard to get members out
with us this week. We had a funny experience where we asked a recent
convert to come out with us. Well, she showed up happy and excited to
go - along with her 9 yr old daughter and nonmember cousin (who was in
her pajamas and slippers, since she just rolled out of bed to come!)
Haha so we went around trying to find people home to teach, with our
little caravan in tow... It was a little scary because she was a crazy
driver hahaha.It was funny to hear about you being scared of Mel's driving in San Fransisco, because I literally thought I saw my life flash before my eyes! My only faith was in the missionary protection haha, it was so scary.  So after a few houses we decided to just ask if we could teach them a lesson at the church. We did, and it ended up being
a great lesson. It's funny, the cousin was in a band, and so she loves
music. She listens to the hymns every night, and her favorite is "how
lovely was the morning"! Because of how it makes her feel. We taught
them about joseph smith, and she said she doesn't want to get
baptized, because she is working to become a bartender... But it was
still a good lesson, and I think someday she'll get there. So that was
a funny experience :)

L. got baptized this week!! That was so wonderful! She got
baptized with a lady who the Elders were teaching who we share a Ward
with. This week their investigator - M L- had us all over for
dinner, all the missionaries plus L and her kids. It was the
sweetest dinner! It was like an early Thanksgiving, just so so cozy,
with everyone talking and laughing. I absolutely loved it! It's funny,
M and her husband were married in Mexico but they weren't sure if
that was valid here. So the Bishop came and married them right after
dinner to make sure, and then the next day they were baptized! It was
awesome.

L had a really, really rough week. It's crazy how the adversary
just attacks before people get baptized. We had the saddest lesson
with her. She was so, so stressed out, and we were in the middle of
teaching, when all of a sudden she stood up, put her wallet in her
mouth, called out her sons name, and fell on the ground and had a
seizure. It was so awful. We didn't know what to do, so we just stood
there while her son helped her out. When her seizure was done she
explained to us how she struggles with those, especially when she's
stressed. It was so so humbling - her left arm and left leg don't work
well, and she just talked about how her physical struggles were
sometimes so hard that she just wanted to quit. She works so hard to
just survive, she has so little. They sometimes go dumpster diving or
collect cans to get money for food and lights. But she told us that
she knew her kids still needed her, so she needed to continue for
them. It was so humbling. She is probably the most hard working, happy
person I have ever met. It was incredible to see how strong she is,
especially when she is faced with all those challenges, and she is
still happy and wants to help others. She is incredible. So she was
baptized Saturday, and it was such a wonderful baptism. She wore her
shoes so she wouldn't slip since she has a hard time walking, and she
held her wallet in case she had a seizure. (The Bishop and WML were all okay with it.)

 But she was just glowing and so happy, and the members here love her... Especially our Ward
mission leader. He baptized and confirmed her, and it was so, so
powerful. For the baptism sister S and I sang 'beautiful
savior' from the children's songbook - the alto, soprano, and then the
descant part at the end. It was so beautiful! Sister S has an
amazing voice, and the Spirit was so strong. It was a wonderful

baptism. L is so sweet - in the lesson after the one where she had a seizure, we asked her what relieves her stress. She told us singing hymns. So we just sang hymns with her for about 20 minutes. By the end, we could see so much happiness and less of a burden in her eyes. She's so cute, afterwards she gave us a tape recorder and a cassette tape, and asked us to sing and record a tape for her of us singing so she could listen to it. So we're going to do that. :) It was the sweetest thing! I just love L. 

It was a little bit of a rougher week - our golden investigator, F, dropped us. He's the college student whose really involved in the knights of Columbus. He was so golden, he felt the Spirit so strongly, and he was loving the Book of Mormon! But he texted us and said he couldn't meet with us anymore, because he is Catholic and he can't change that. :( We think it's because of his family and friends. So that was really sad. But we still pray for him, and hope the seeds we planted will remain in his heart, so that one day they'll have a chance to grow again. Our lesson with L, the amazing kid from Mexico, also fell through... but we're hoping to see him again soon. It's been a crazy week! But we've seen a lot of miracles, especially with L. Sand R are doing great. They are the sweetest people I've ever met. They are soooo quiet, and shy, so it's so hard to figure out how much they are understanding. But they are keeping all their commitments! Most of the time when we ask them a question, they say "it makes me feel good" or "it makes me feel happy". So it's always a golden gem when they open up a little bit more. This week we taught them the Word of Wisdom, and they both committed to live it. S said she would go home and throw away all her coffee. It was so cute, she turned to R and asked him "It's going to be hard for you to quit tea, huh?" He turned to us with the hugest, brightest smile on his face and sparkling eyes, and said "No!" Haha, they were soo willing to just keep every single commitment! It is incredible. They are so quiet, but they have a sincere desire to follow Christ, and they read the Book of Mormon together every night. R can't read, so S reads out loud to him, and he repeats after her when they read together. It's so sweet how they help each other. So they are reading together every night. It was awesome, we asked R when are some times that he feels the Spirit. He got another bright, bright smile and said whenever I read the scriptures. It was sooooo powerful! I know when we read the scriptures, it doesn't matter how much we understand or if we learn anything newly profound or new - simply reading them and pondering them brings the Spirit so powerfully into our lives. Even if you've read it a million times before. That's something I'm learning today - it doesn't matter how much of it you read each day, what matters is if you take the time to read and think about it, and have a spiritual experience in the scriptures each day. That's what creates and builds faith and testimony. So that was a really sweet experience. 

We had some really great experiences at church too! It's been crazy - we haven't had church for two weeks, because of stake conference and the temple dedication, which was beautiful. Pres Monson and Pres Uchtdorf spoke. It was such a special experience. :) So this Sunday was our first at church for a while. It was amazing! We have 6 hours of church every Sunday since we cover two wards, and sometimes it is looong haha. At the end we often feel like we've been hit by a bus... especially because this week, they asked us to teach both gospel principles classes. It is so hard! As missionaries, we are always prepared and ready to teach a lesson out of PMG. But a lesson in the gospel principles manual is hard, because we don't really have the time to prepare, and it's not really something you can just wing it. But somehow the Lord helps us and it actually worked out really well. We taught about the Atonement in the first ward, and had a wonderful lesson. Alot of the recent converts shared their experiences of feeling the Atonement in their life, and it was incredible. S and R were there, they actually attend both ward's services every Sunday. So that's been fun :) But in the second ward was the incredible part. They asked us to teach literally 3 minutes before class started.... but it turned out at first only S and R were there. So we decided to share the 20 min Joseph Smith video, and then talk about Joseph Smith and the first vision after. Right as we were about to start, this couple came in who we've been teaching. He's been less active for a long time, and she isn't a member. They were just barely married and came back form their honeymoon in Mexico. They randomly came to church, and sat in the class... and it ended up soooo powerful. We watched the film, and testified of Joseph Smith, and talked about how we can have a sacred grove experience. The husband shared his testimony of before his mission when he first felt the truthfulness of the BOM and Joseph Smith, and talked about how even though his life led him far far away from the gospel, that knowledge somehow always pulled him through, and now he is coming back to partake in the gospel. It was sooo powerful. He read Moroni 10:3-5 with us, and as he read he started choking up because that's when he received his answer that it was true. The Spirit was so strong! I know his wife definitely felt it, and afterwards she walked up to us and said she wanted us to come visit her when they get back from their next trip. Her husband said for dinner, but I could see in her eyes that she wanted more then just that... I know the Spirit truly touched her heart, and I feel like she wants to learn. You can just feel it, when people are thirsty for the gospel or for the Spirit. So that was so powerful. :) 

So, it has been a fantastic week! I've been focusing on becoming a more consecrated missionary, and being "green" again. Once you've been on your mission a while, it's easy to get into the routine, and not depend on the Spirit anymore. I remember my first day in the field, my trainer brought me home for lunch, and I remember sitting inside, hearing people in the apartments outside, and thinking "Why are we in here?? We should be outside talking to them!" I just had so much fire and excitement to testify and put everything into the work. I want to have that new missionary fire again, and keep that throughout the rest of my mission. It's funny, in studies I've decided to just spend half an hour in the BOM and half an hour in PMG, and just studying with the hard copies instead of my ipad. Just doing that has brought the Spirit so much more into the work, and I feel that fire coming back, and it is THE BEST FEELING EVER! :) I LOVE being a missionary. I love this work. I know this gospel is true! Joseph Smith was truly a prophet of God. The Book of Mormon is true, and is the convincing evidence that this is Christ's church on the earth today. I know we can have a sacred grove experience, just as Joseph Smith did, when we desire to know, and we choose to kneel in prayer in a spiritual environment. I read 2 Nephi 4 this morning, and there's a verse that says "let not my strength slacken because of my afflictions". As missionaries, we have a lot of afflictions - exhaustion, work, fear, rejection. I love how Nephi prayed that his strength wouldn't slacken, but that he would continue to have that strength and that happiness and fire in his heart, despite the afflictions he faced. That's something that really helped me.

Well, I love this work. I love, love, love being a missionary. I love putting my tag on each day and being a representative of Jesus Christ, of Him. It is the greatest blessing of my life. I came on my mission knowing it was the right thing to do, because God answered my prayer and told me to do it. I have to come to learn on my mission that I serve, because of the fact that "because I have been given much, I too must give." The gospel is the most priceless possession of my life. The Lord has given me so, so much - my warm home, my family, comfort in sadness, strength in trials, meaning and purpose in a sometimes confused and lost world. What more can I do then to share that with others? So that they too can be comforted, can be strengthened? I know that that's one of my purposes in life. And I know losing myself in that is where I will gain my life, just as Christ taught. :)

I love you guys. Thank you so much for being such an incredible family. I know this gospel is true with all my heart. <3 and I love you!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

love,

Sister Whitney Morris <3


Snapshot of cultural celebration, the cute costumes I talked about last week

 

 

The Gilbert temple in a dust storm!

 

 

And our MLC picture this transfer. Can you find me? :) Play Where's Whitney... haha, I'm in the middle by Hermana D in the red dress. :) 

 

 

 

 

L's baptism :)

 

 

 

 

Froyo in November in an open air ice cream shop :) #onlyinAZ

 

 

My cute study desk and pic wall

 

 

Bro and Sis A and L. He was the best ward mission leader I've ever had!! I seriously LOVE them. They feed us every Wednesday. Bro A has the sweetest, strongest testimony I've ever seen. <3 I love, love, love them. I seriously love South Phoenix. It's the greatest place ever!

 

 

 

And a weird hairy cactus!! And cool cactuses! I never knew there were so many different kinds!

 

 

 

Oh and Sister S with froyo too :) I love her!

Also! Could you please update me on registering for George Mason and BYU? I feel VA is right, I just want a backup in case one of those colleges don't work out.. if they reject me or something. Please keep me updated :) I know BYUs application is due really soon. I can write essays and stuff if you send them to me! love ya!

November 19, 2014

Dear Family,

I'm so sorry to hear about Grandma Jo :( Mommy, those were incredible experiences... just feeling the Spirit there, and how peaceful it was. I think those (experiences) were definitely meant to happen, in some way. That is amazing. Thanks so much for sharing with me. :) Mommy, I hope you have a safe trip! That's crazy it's the first time being so long! And Dad, hope babysitting went well! Haha, I'm sure you guys had a lot of fun. 

Dad, those experiences are incredible!! About the man choosing to be baptized - wow! I think it's amazing how we can't do this work without the Spirit. Everything you and the elders did seemed so inspired, and were just to help that man recognize the truth and be baptized :D That is amazing!! And so cool you get to baptize him in a river!! You'll have to take lots of pictures after! I'm jealous haha, I wish we could have baptisms in rivers! There's not too many of those here in Arizona... Dad, that's so cool you gave a book of mormon to your coworker too!! Great job! :) That takes a lot of courage! Way to be a member missionary!! :) 

I'm so sorry I forgot to tell you our P day was moved to Wednesday! Every other transfer we get to go to the Mesa temple, and when we do we have to move our P day to Wednesdays because the temple isn't open on Monday. So sorry about that :) If I ever don't email on Monday, it should happen about once every twelve weeks, that's why.... haha. Sorry about that. 

We have had an amazing week and a half! Our area is doing amazing. We have been blessed with sooo many people to teach. L is doing great! She is getting baptized this Saturday, and she is SO excited. She is the sweetest, most humble, kind person I have ever met, and also the hardest worker. She has the most humble home, and to make extra money she has a yard sale every day, and usually only makes 10$ a day. She gets excited if she sells something for fifty cents. It is so humbling and makes me so grateful for what I have. She is one of the happiest people I've ever met too. She loves the gospel, and in one of our lessons this week she was praying in the closing prayer. She was so happy and excited that she prayed that she would be able to bring 300 people to come into the church. That's one of the main reasons she wants to get baptized - because she wants to help people come closer to Christ. She is just the sweetest! So her lifetime goal is to bring 300 people into the church.... So when there is a new ward formed in Phoenix, we'll know why haha. She said the funniest thing the other day. We were going over the baptismal interview, and we were going over the 10 commandments. She was trying to name them all and she said "don't kill, don't steal.... Don't use the spittin' image of God..." Hahaha it was sooo funny! She was thinking of graven images, but she said spittin image hahaha. It was so funny! I love her! She also started laughing when we asked her about he word of wisdom, and said that she had told her friend to listen to her because she is the word of wisdom. She loves to give advice and help people. It was so funny :) She is so prepared though. Over a month without smoking! Now that is an accomplishment! She is amazing.

It's been a really crazy and slightly stressful week too. Last week we had zone conference, so we did a training for the zone. It was a great experience. Sister D and I trained about being consecrated, and focusing on how we want to feel at the end of our missions. It was funny, there is a video that shows Paul (? I think) during the last day of his ministry, when he's in prison and being taken to be executed. It has him reading the scriptures of his last words, "I have fought the good fight, I have kept the faith." It's so powerful! So we introduced our training as every time we mention death, it symbolizes our mission death. Then we shared that video and some of the last words of the prophets in the Book of Mormon, it was so powerful, to apply their last words to the last words we want to say and feel at the end of our missions. I loved Enos 1:26-27 especially. I love how he talks about how he has preached the gospel with joy all of his days, and have rejoiced in it above the things of the world. We talked about things we can do now to serve with no regrets and feel that way at the end of our missions. So that was really cool.. It really inspired me. Honestly I think I learn more from the trainings then the missionaries do. Hopeful,y they get something out of it :) but it was neat.

Well, then we had MLC later on in the week, and it was AMAZING! The APs always train us in what we need to train on during the transfer. This time it was completely focused on the talk "Man Down!" By Pres Eyring from April 2009 conference. It is an AMAZING talk! And it talks about rescuing the man down, including heroic stories from soldiers in battle. It was sooo powerful! It made me so, so excited to train. Because as STL's and zone leaders, we're supposed to take what we were trained about and train the rest of the zone about it. I was so excited, because I got to search these neat Conference talks about military experiences, and talk about George Washington and Cptn. America (when he jumps on top of the grenade in boot camp) and about heroes, and what makes a true hero, and how it relates to missionary work. It was so amazing. It was a really, really spiritual experience, because we talked about the charity and the selflessness, and then talked about the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and how He is the greatest hero. It was sooo powerful. I absolutely loved giving that training. :) 

We have a super cool investigator named F. He's in his early 20s, in college, and he's in the Knights of Columbus. He went to the open house with his knights of columbus brothers, and referred himself to meet with us. We started teaching him, and he is seriously golden... he is so in tune with the Spirit. He said he felt it soo strongly at the temple, and when we taught him. He came to a baptism we had, and he also felt it again so strongly there. It was so cool! So he's starting to progress really well. We also have another amazing new investigator named L. He just moved here from Mexico, he's a junior in high school, but he's been exposed to so much in his life that he seems older then us. He used to live with his dad in Mexico and he said they did really, really bad things - the violence, illegal stuff, ect, because that was the way to make money. He never felt bad or thought that it was bad, until he came to live here. He came because the violence was getting too scary, so he moved in with his mom here in the states. He said since living here he has started to feel guilty about the things that he's done. He met some missionaries in Maricopa, and thought what they had to say was very interesting. So they referred him to us. We taught him the Restoration, and the Spirit was sooo strong. He was just thirsty to learn, he has basically no religious background. At the end, we taught him how to pray - fold our arms, bow our head, address God, express feelings of your heart, gratitude, questions, ect, and then say in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. Well, we taught him, and then we all knelt together and he said his first prayer. The Spirit was soooo powerful, it just filled the room. After the prayer we knelt there for a bit, and we asked him "How do you feel?" He said, "warm.." We asked him, have you ever felt like that before? And he said "no". It was soooo powerful. We are so excited to be teaching him... it is so humbling to think where he is coming from, and the divine potential God has for him, and that we get to help him along in this process. It is incredible! I love being a missionary. I love these people so much! 

We also had a really cool spiritual experience with a lady named L. She lives in this poverty trailer park :( It's so sad... 7 kids and her, all in this little home. But we talked with her, she was also a referral. And we talked with her, got to know her a bit, and we found out that her two year old daughter needs a heart transplant, because she has a rare disease. It's soooo sad :( I felt prompted to share a scripture of comfort with her, and the first one I found was D&C 84:88. At first I thought, oh that's a weird one to share, it's like a missionary one. But I felt prompted to share it with her. So I did... it basically says, those who accept you, I will be with them. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and angels round about you to bear you up. We testified of God's love for her, and of His sending angels round about her to help her. And she instantly said that she knows that's true, because in the hospital her little girl raised up her hands like she was touching someone. And later she told her mom she met papa, which is her grandpa who passed away a while ago. It was the neatest experience. I definitely know, without a doubt, that the Spirit guides us in what to say. He knows their hearts and their circumstances, and He sends us as angels to help them. It was so amazing. 

It reminds me of a training we had from one of the zone leaders. He talked about how he used to feel frustrated because he wanted to know when the Spirit was guiding him, not just realize it later. Well, he talked about how having faith enough to move a mountain - he said that it's not having a sufficient amount of faith that's important. It's feeling the Spirit, trusting it's God's will, and having the faith - even if it's the tiniest bit, to follow that prompting - then that faith, even though it's so tiny, because it's following the Spirit and the will of God, the miracle happens. That really stuck out to me, in having the faith to follow even the tiniest of promptings. It's something I really want to work on. 

We had so many  miracles this week! Seriously, there are so many to share. Another night, around 8:30, we felt prompted to try this person we never had before. We did, and she answered the door. She seemed kind of upset, so we started talking with her through the screen door. We asked if she was doing okay, and she opened the screen door and she was crying. She wouldn't tell us what happened, except that one of her best friends just found out she had a brain tumor. So we stopped and prayed with her, and the Spirit was so sweet. The woman was very touched, and said she knew God had sent us there to comfort her, and she told us that we could come back another day to talk more with her. It was another powerful experience of my mission.

We had another amazing experience - gosh, so many! We've been teaching this lady M, and her family. They just moved here from Chicago to get away from the awful gang stuff going on there. So we've started teaching them, and she is so interested in the Book of Mormon and loves learning from us. She's getting surgery soon, so we had some of the priesthood holders in the ward come to give them a blessing. They have concerns about the priesthood ban, so we were trying to think of a good fellowship to do it, but we felt super prompted to ask this recent convert to come and do it. It ended up being such a spiritual experience.I think it really strengthened the recent convert man's faith, as well as M's. She said a few nights before she had a dream that she got the blessing, and she felt the power in the dream, and was so excited to recieve it. Well, when they gave her the blessing, M said all of the fear just left her. It was so powerful! So many miracles! I love the people of Phoenix soooo much!

We also had a really crazy experience... one night we were in this apt complex, trying to find this apt. It took FOREVER. One kid helped us find it, it was at like 8:30 at night again. So we finally found it, and the people had moved and the people living there now were very sketchy haha.... people smoke marijuana everywhere here. :( But we went back to our car, and on the way back we stopped to talk to the kid who helped us out. He was super cool and said we could come back to teach him! So we are excited to meet with him again! 

The Phoenix temple dedication this week was soooo amazing too!!! The cultural celebration was AWESOME. It was so cool - a ton of it celebrated the Hispanic culture, which our stake did the dances to, and it was AWESOME! Something I realized was how many Mexican and Spaniard ancestors I have, and I thought about how that culture is part of my family, my past. It made it really powerful, and made me love the people here so much more! But they also did a whole big chunk of it dedicated to honoring the military personnel. They played each of the military branche's theme songs, and during the different theme songs the veterans of that branch got to stand. So when they played Anchors Aweigh, President Monson stood up, and saluted along with the music. It was soooo sweet!!! And then Pres Uchtdorf and one of the general authority's wives stood up in the Air Force one. It was so awesome!!! The youth did such a great job dancing too, the girls had red polka dot dresses and yellow ribbons in their hair :) And the young men dressed in military uniform costumes. It was so cute, their swing dancing!! They did such an awesome job!! I LOVED it! Then of course, the dedication was absolutely wonderful. We got to watch them put in the cornerstone, and they gave beautiful talks that really inspired me. I'm so grateful for temples. :) 

There are so many incredible experiences to share, this is hardly even the skimming the top. I love being a missionary. I love my companion! She is incredible. She has health issues, so we can't bike or anything, just drive. Which reminds me, we live with the cutest greenie, and she borrowed my bike because hers had a flat.. and they didn't lock them, they were gone for 7 minutes, and they were stolen :( So I don't have a bike anymore... ha. I'll probably end up just buying a used one, because there's no point in buying a brand new one to leave in 6 months. But we'll work something out. Anyways, so Sister S kneels for every single prayer. She is in alot of pain sometimes, and a long time ago she promised God that if she knelt for every prayer, she asked if He would heal her. She did, and He healed her, and she is in good enough health to come on a mission. It is so humbling, she kneels and prays in every single setting and lesson. I love her! We have a lot of fun.

Well, I had better wrap things up. I love you guys! Hope you had a great week. :) I can't wait to hear from ya next week! Also, Mommy, were you able to sign me up for Adopt A Solder? Just to mail them a letter once a week? I can do that. :) And I really really want to! Especially because it came to mind a few weeks ago, we had the MLC training on military, the PHX temple celebration was military themed, and yesterday one of my recent converts invited me on facebook to do adopt a soldier randomly! I think it's a sign haha, somebody needs a missionary writing them! :)

Well, I love you! Also THANK YOU for the package!!! I LOVED the letters, the candy, the skirt, everything! Thank you soo much :) And for sending the set changes! Haha, I think your right, that should be good :) Love you guys!!!

love,

Sister Whitney Morris <3

We took all these on p day

Us and a recent convert. She loves the BOM and started painting scenes that inspired her from what she read :) I LOVE her. She has an amazing story! I'll tell it sometime!

Us at the temple
 

My package

 

Funny Sister C haha

 

And pics from last week that I didn't get to send.. the computer kicked me off so I ran out of time. so I'm sending them today :)

 

 

Sister D and I and this family we love - S and E. The elders in our ward are teaching them, E wants to be baptized but she doesn't want to get married :( I LOVE them and their kids!

 

And the M's took us to get respados - basically ice cream, with sugared fruit (mangoes, pineapple, strawberries, whatever you want ) and lechera on top, which is basically sweetened condensed milk. IT IS DELICIOUS. I love Mexican food!!!

The graffiti pics

 

November 10, 2014

Dear Family,

I can't believe it is my one year month. It has gone so fast! To be honest, it makes me really sad. I love my mission. I don't feel like I'm ready to go home... so good thing I have 7 more months left. :) Mommy, I loved what you said about realizing other people give love differently. I think that's something I learned with Sister D. Thanks so much for sharing that. :) 

Before I say anything else, Elder W. and his comp are sitting next to me, and they say hi haha. 

I LOVED Hannah's experience!! That is so awesome!! It's so crazy how every time something goes bad, and something tells us not to do something good (like go to school, go visit someone, go pray, ect) that's the exact time we need to do it. That is so cool she could talk about Joseph Smith to her whole class!!! I loved that!! Way to got Hannah!! :D That is seriously sooo cool!! And it's awesome that your getting a modest bridesmaid dress. :) 

Thanks so much for sending the package!  That is awesome! :) That's so sad about the cat too... I'm glad it survived haha. Poor thing! I'm so excited about Isaac's mission!! He's going to be an amazing missionary. :) Isaac, have you watched the district at all? Or studied PMG? If not, you totally should. :) There are ways to make it fun, you don't have to read it straight through! And they have cool spiritual activities to do in it!

If there's anything on my mission that I've learned, it's that event + response = outcome. Even if someone does something that hurts us, we can choose to respond in a way that makes the outcome a good one.  Because that is really how Christ would have us love and forgive, and He is the key to family happiness. I know what He has taught us about the family and love in the home is true. I know it's only following His example that that healing is found. I love you guys. :) and I'm proud of you.

Well, as for me, this week has been great! My new companion is Sister S, and I LOVE HER. We get along SO well!!! It's crazy!! Like, it's almost weird how well we get along. Before Sis D left, we took some fun pics up in the mountains on p day, so I'm sending those home today. AZ is sooooo beautiful. I also had a really neat moment. My whole life I've been really critical of myself, and have had pretty low self esteem, ect. Well, this last transfer with Sis D was a life changing time because she taught me how to not be so hard on myself. And our last P day, I had this moment where I felt so much peace, and I just realized that I am happy with who I am, and God is too. It was the most peaceful, freeing moment. The greatest lesson I learned last transfer was to not be so hard on myself, and in turn not to be so hard on others either. It was an incredible lesson for me. 

We had so many incredible experiences!! It's sooo busy, and time is so limited to write, but one of the highlights was a Less active lady we went by. We had never met her before. It turns out she is homebound, and was praying someone in the church would contact her (she hasn't been contacted in years). She shared with us stories from her mission and her powerful, powerful story of the Book of Mormon with tears in her eyes. It was the most incredible, humbling experience. I know God guided us to find her. It was so incredible! Now the Relief Society is going to go visit her. It was amazing. :) 

We have so much work to do!! Every day is full of lessons, of street contacting, of finding new referrals - we've gotten so many referrals!! It's a miracle! And most of them are interested and want to continue meeting with us! I am SO excited for this transfer, because we have an insane amount of work to do. It's CRAZY. And it's awesome!!! I am so happy!! Our companionship is awesome, and we just have so much work to do! It will be a transfer of miracles!

S and R are doing great! They came to a baptism after church Sunday, which was in spanish. A whole familiy being baptized. :) It was so powerful! Some missionaries who went home came back, and it was so neat to see them! It's so weird that that will be me in less then a year. Ahh! 

I wish I had more time to write, because there is SO MUCH. But just know I love you guys. Missions are incredible. This time is really a time to dedicate every last second, every last bit of energy, to the Lord and to God's children. I absolutely love it. I know He gives us the energy and strength and power we need to do His work. I know His power is real, and that the Atonement enables us to do things we could never do on our own. I LOVE my mission!!!

Love you guys!

love, 

Sister Whitney Morris

11-3-2014

 

Dear Family,

Wow!! I love the Halloween costumes!! Hannah looks gorgeous, Jacob's costume is SO cool!! That's so awesome he made it!! And Peter and Adam just look adorable! Haha the diseased pumpking was disgusting... and the Virginia houses decorated like Halloween were soooo beautiful. :) Hannah, good job running too!! Your going to be in better shape then I am when I get home haha :D I'm glad Dexter is doing well. His puppy sounds sooo cute. :) Brittany messaged me on facebook, and they just changed the rules so I can't answer family messages or anyone related to family without permission from my mission president first. So that's why I didn't answer! Sorry! That's exciting about D.  Maybe I'll just message him on FB this week and ask him if she wants to learn, and say you had mentioned it.

It was so cool to read about your experiences with the missionaries!!! Dad, that is SO COOL you were able to help the Marine out. That is seriously a miracle. I love hearing about the miracles that come from bringing members out with us. That definitely would not have happened if you hadn't been there... that is so cool!! :) Do you think you'll go back and visit him again with them? Mommy, I loved the experiences you had too! Especially how you were able to help that one lady with her struggles with her daughter. It is amazing how when we bring members, Heavenly Father leads us to teach people who the member can relate with and support and love, and understand their specific challenges and trials and heartaches. I bet no other member in the ward could have related with her like that, and that was such a blessing to her, and to the missionaries! That is such an amazing experience. :) I also loved your street contacting experience!!! Haha I LOVED it!! Because seriously, that is every single person we talk to on the street here in PHX. A man or woman covered in tattoos, usually shirtless or dressed pretty immodestly, drinking beer and swearing or something. Seriously. That was a true missionary experience hahaha. We actually even did that last night... we had about 15 min before stats, so we decided to just knock some random doors. We did, nobody was interested, so we walked up to this man sitting in his garage. Yes, he was in a tank top, covered in tattoos, drinking beer, smoking, and it was dark haha. Super sketchy! But we talked with him and had a great conversation. He told us that he is sure he's going to heaven.... and that people could still love Jesus and go to strip clubs... hahaha oh man. But he siad we could come back! So we'll do our best to help him out. :) The gospel truly changes people and changes their lives! It's so important to see them as their potential, as Heavenly Father sees them. That's when the true success and love comes. :) And the Spirit.

Well, sorry for rambling haha.

We had a really good week this week. It has flown by! We found out about transfers. I'm staying in the area, and staying Sister Training Leader. Sister D is getting transferred. She is soooo worried, because she has been in this area for 8 months. She's only had two areas her entire mission! But I know she'll do great wherever she goes. It's really weird, one of the Hermanas we live with got called to be a sister training leader, but mainly over the spanish sisters. So I think what's going to happen is we'll be STL's together, but we won't be companions. How weird is that?? We'll see what happens though. I'll get my new companion on Thursday and we'll know what's going on then!

Other then that, this week has been kind of crazy and good. Tuesday we went to the Phoenix Temple Open House again. It was so beautiful! We went with S and R. They are the couple who randomly came to church one day. We started teaching them, and they've been progressing right along! It's really hard to teach them because they are sooooo quiet. We do all we can to help them feel comfortable and open up, but I don't know how much they understand. But they are so, so sweet. They are faithful in coming to church, we taught them about the Book of Mormon and they've been reading together every night, and they came to a baptism. They don't have a car so they literally walk a mile or two to meet us at the church every time we meet. Yet they are happy to do it. They are amazing! So we're not sure how much they understand, or what their thoughts are, but they are keeping their commitments and seem to be feeling the Spirit. Hopefully in time they'll open up. We can just tell they come from really, really difficult backgrounds. Right now they had their kids taken away from CPS and another kid ran away. That happens a lot here because people are so poor, and just have such rough lives. But they are praying and trying to get them back. So their having a really hard time with that, and it's so sad. But they came to the temple, and it was a sweet experience. 

Sister D has been sick alot this past week, so we just stayed home for two days. That was hard. It was nice to have a ton of time to study. I've started memorizing the Family Proclamation. So that's exciting :) But I did alot of studying in the Book of Mormon, some in Preach My Gospel, and also some about communication. I've been studying that alot in my spare time to help me in my companionships, and also hopefully help my marriage someday. I came across this awesome quote by Elder Holland that I LOVED. It said

"We can spend our lives hammering away at our spouses, defending our rights, protecting our egos, pointing out mistakes, uncovering faults, letting them know our displeasure. But in the years ahead, we will find that a spouses's love will be badly tarnished and that he or she will not be thrilled to look into our eyes and will not be warmed by our presence. (I think this also applies to parenthood and friendships.) Or we can make a wiser choice. We can expand the effort to change ourselves so that our words continually reflect true love. If we do so, it is more likely that we will reap the reward of continually seeing our spouses eyes light up every time we enter the room. We have only one life to live, and it offers us the chance to build our marriages into an eternal love. What will you choose?"

Isn't that an amazing quote? I absolutely loved it. I also studied about how words are sacred. I never thought about this, but the ability to speak is a gift from God. It's one of the most precious gifts God has given us. He wants us to use it for good. I've made a commitment to myself to treat my words more sacredly, and to do better in never saying things that are hurtful or mean. These studies have impacted me alot. Dad and Mommy, what advice would you give? Or what principles have you learned, that have led to having loving, respectful communication in the home? And always strengthening your relationship? I would love to learn more from you.

We had some amazing experiences with members coming out with us. We went out with the New Jersey lady who taught Sunday school last week. She shared some of her story with us... it was so humbling! She and her husband moved here from NJ and became friends with the Bishop and his wife in the grocery store. They started taking the discussions, and everything felt right to her. She had always prayed and asked why Christ hadn't visited more people then those in Jerusalem, so the Book of Mormon and the confirmation from the Spirit answered her prayer. However, her husband came across anti material and basically told his family they couldn't investigate any more. They stopped being friends with the bishop and meeting with missionaries. But in her heart, she prayed and asked God " Heavenly Father, if this is the true church, please make a way for me to be baptized. I want to respect my husband's wishes. If this is true, please make a way for me to be able to join." So three years passed, and her marriage just started sinking. Her husband kind of went crazy, and divorced her. She did her part to keep it together, but he left. And so she took that as her answer, and she was baptized. Now she is so, so strong and active in the gospel. All of her kids are so strong too. Her son is 17 and can't be baptized until he's 18 because of his dad. But he has told his mom how he's grateful for that, because it will make him appreciate his baptism so much more. He is excited to serve a mission. Isn't that incredible??? The members and the life stories of the people I meet on my mission amaze me, humble me, and inspire me. I love them!

L is doing great! We are probably putting her on date for baptism this Saturday, and she will be baptized the weekend before Thanksgiving, hopefully :) We also had stake conference this past week and Pres Uchtdorf and Elder Christofferson spoke!! It was so amazing!! Did you know that Pres Uchtdorf lived in Glendale, AZ? AND that he got his endowments in the Mesa temple?? How cool is that??? And then a lady in the yw presidency spoke, Sister McConkie, and she used to live right across the street from the Mesa temple! That was so cool! It made me feel so priviledged once again to be serving here. :) Arizona is awesome!!

Well, I think that's about all this week. We went to the trunk or treat monday, and on Halloween we just stayed inside and took a nap and wrote letters. We put all our mattresses on the back porch and slept outside becaues it's getting so cool now!! It's in the 60s!!! WOW! Haha. So, we had one crazy story...

We had our mattresses all out, it was so cozy, Halloween night, and we had all talked and had fun and now were falling asleep... and then suddenly - down the street from our house is a nightclub. So we hear this LOUD awful rap music. It wasn't too bad... but then they turned it up and it got even louder!! It was so obnoxious!!! So Sis D and I went inside and slept inside. It kept going until around 4 in the morning, when there were gunshots, and then a bunch of police sirens, and then the music finally turned off haha. How crazy is that?? Halloween in Phoenix... haha it is sooo crazy here. But I love it. And we are safe and protected, and in by 9 every night, so we stay away from the scary stuff in the scary hours. :) But yeah it was pretty crazy!

Thanks for getting the insulin pump holder! And I'll have to write him. I asked my mission president today about permission, but I'm sure it will be fine. We can write anyone outside the mission boundaries, so it should be okay if their deployed, and because it's service. :) The program is called "Adopt a Soldier." Thanks for doing that! :)  That is also a miracle tithing moment!! Wow! I will have to share that next time we teach someone who has a problem with tithing. That is so cool :) 

Well thanks for the emails! And for the Halloween letters!! I LOVED them. I love you guys! Can you believe it's almost been a year since I've seen you?? A year ago we were decorating the Cmas tree before I left... awww! That's so crazy! I'm so excited for Isaac next year! He better wait to leave until I can atleast enjoy some of his goofy humor before he leaves :) I'm happy Peter is going to be his dobby in training hahaha.

Love you guys! Have an awesome week. I love this gospel, and being a missionary is the greatest thing I have ever, ever done. I hope you all get to experience it someday. :)

Love you!

love,

Sister Morris





Funny drawing under our mattress when we took it off

our mattresses, and candles on our back porch :)

having fun! :) with our no makeup, before bedtime faces haha.

a view of phoenix

we pulled a prank on the elders :) we had all this random food, candy, and little buddha statues from a service project, and we had a key to their mailbox... so we put it in their mailbox haha. It was funny!

We also put a squid in a little baggy in there... hahaha. It was great.

 

trunk or treat

 



temple

Squid!!! So the Hawiian sister we live with, her family sent her a COOLER. Yes, a HUGE cooler filled with raw fish, shrimp, squid, hawaiin macadamian chocolate, all sorts of food!! So she made us some squid... and it was yummy!! Haha gross huh??

We did our toes waiting for transfer calls last night! :) our funny shoe tanlines... they're alot worse in the summer haha. now their fading because we almost never bike. our area is too big.

Fun graffiti :)

 

 

L's CRAZY kitten! It acts like a dog. It waves it's tail, and every single lesson it just plays with and bites L's hands. It's such a funny, cute, wild little thing!

 

And L and I and a brand new baby puppy :) Soooo cute!

Photobooth at open house ":) This is S and R, and Bro H, our WML in Vineyard Ward. Fun fun!