5-25-2015

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Family,

Thanks so much for the emails, and for the letters this week! I loved hearing from everyone. Jacobs story about the snake was terrifying haha, and I loved hearing from Hannah, and getting Adam and peters pictures. Thanks for sending me dexters letter too, it was so good to hear that he's okay and going to church with his fellow marines! Yay! I sent him a letter last week and will be writing him every week, even when I go home. Thanks for sending me his letter! Also thanks for checking up on my finances and everything, the roommate application looked perfect haha. Walmart would be awesome, actually, as long as I can have Wednesday evenings and Sunday's off for institute and church. That would be awesome! I'm glad the mustang is getting taken care of as well! I loved seeing the pictures of Isaac and Shannon in their prom clothes. That is just too fun :) haha I'm glad Isaac is sharpening up in his teasing skills! That's funny they've gotten a little rusty :D I'm sure they'll kick in quickly enough. I'm really proud of the man he's becoming though. Isaac, you are going to LOVE your mission. :)

I'm excited to share a room with Hannah! It was so sad how hogan died haha. And that it took so long to notice.... Oh man haha :D we will definitely have to hang out and do some fun things this summer. I'm happy Hannah gets to go to prom, and that she'll do high school with byu next year! They have a great program, great education. Maybe she'll have the opportunity for scholarships or something at byu. That would be pretty cool! I remember when I went to prom with a sweet, kind of nerdy guy, and it was so much fun. I think she's going to have a blast, and that that young man is so lucky to go with her!

I think homecoming dessert sounds perfect! Don't worry, I don't expect anything huge at all haha. I'm just excited to see everyone and talk with everyone. Hanging out at the house eating dessert and talking is perfect. :) nothing too big at all!

That's so sweet Adam is brushing your hair! That's the cutest thing I've heard all day! And if Isaac wants a graduation picture with a hobo, he should come to Phoenix haha. I actually don't have Katherine's address, but I got her first email as a missionary and she wanted me to forward it to ya'll :D so hopefully you got it ok! Also happy Memorial Day! And also, I read your email last night before bed (we're allowed to do that during lunchtime or before bed- just not respond. It's sort of like getting a letter in the mail.) and you told me to not die in a bike crash this next week and a half... Haha, that's like my worst fear, as silly as it sounds! I had a nightmare last night that I did, and it was horrible.... So don't worry, I'll keep myself safe, and Heavenly Father will keep me safe, and I'll see you soon haha.

So as for us, it has been an INCREDIBLE week! It has been so, sooo busy! Wow! We've had so many lessons, and preparing for L and J's baptisms was awesome. :) It has been such an incredible week. I've felt the Spirit so strongly. It's been a little bit of a roller coaster week, with pretty high highs and low lows. I think we are both a little stressed and emotional, with transfers coming and me going home soon, and having two baptisms in a week. It was incredible but also stressful. But the good thing is that sister w and I learn from each other and support each other and work things out, and it's just been amazing. She is an awesome companion, I really love her and am so grateful for her. She's an awesome friend!

We had a funny miracle - so besides L and J, the two main people we are working with are C (a young mom who feels this is the right church for her, and is studying the bom. We just need to help her get to church.) and A - he's the super cool referral who defended us against the creeper a few weeks ago. Well, his member girlfriend moved down to Phoenix to be closer to him and family, and he is doing so well! We had a lesson with him this week, we taught him the gospel of Jesus Christ. He talked about seeing the church, and we offered to give him a church tour. He said sure! Do you have some time right now? So we all drove over to the church, met him there, and gave him a tour! It was so awesome!!! The Spirit was really strong. Since then he's read halfway through first Nephi and has started reading doctrine and covenants too. He never wanted to come to church because he never liked going. But last night he texted us and told us this is the first time in his life where he's felt excited to go to church :) yay!!! It was so cool! It's incredible to see his progress, finding and gaining his own testimony! I think it's the best feeling as a missionary to see the people you serve and love experience that.

The highlights of this week were definitely the baptisms of L and J. It was sooo crazy, but it all worked out perfectly! It was so funny, on Friday they both had their interviews - J in the afternoon, L in the evening. We picked J up with a member, and her son E threw a FIT going out the door. It was so sad! Poor guy, and poor J! Haha, it was crazy. But we got to the church, and she had her interview, and it went great :) she was so happy and excited to be baptized! Then later in the evening we had L's interview. That was the one I was most worried about! But L was so excited, and he did great!! Yay!!! It was so funny - while we were waiting for him, we were waiting outside with our district leaders companion (the dl does the interviews.) well, he was staring at the ceiling, and sister w randomly says "if you stare at it long enough, it might start moving." He said "what?" She said "the giant bug right there! It's like the size of a quarter!" Haha he started looking for this bug, and sister w would say "look! There it is! At about two tiles by two tiles... I can't believe you don't see it!" Hahaha she had him thinking there was a giant bug for like 3 minutes until he caught on haha. It was so funny! We also had fun with L waiting, he has this joke he always tells us, and it's hilarious. We recorded him saying it, I'll have to send it home sometime. It was so much fun!

Then Saturday we had the baptisms. First was J, at 11:00 am. She was baptized with an investigator the elders were teaching. It was such a beautiful service! The Spirit was soooo strong. A young couple in our ward who are from Samoa did a musical number, and it was so beautiful. It brought in the spirit so strongly. Then there were testimonies given of baptism and of the Holy Ghost. And then J was baptized, followed by J. It was so beautiful!  She was glowing, and she knew this is what she wants for her and her family. Her husband and her son E were there. Her husband is excited to be baptized again in the next year or so, and their goal is to be sealed in the temple someday. J's friend V came too, and he's so funny! He's not a member, and during the musical number and the speakers he was completely enraptured in what was going on. Afterwards everyone was so happy, and he walked up to sister w and I and gave us a huge hug! Ahhh! Haha we did the awkward arm side hug thing because we aren't supposed to hug guys at all... But he just was so happy and didn't know that was a rule, haha so he just walked up and gave us a hug! It was really funny. Everyone just felt so good afterwards, the spirit was so strong. :) another awesome part was R, our recent convert who was baptized two weeks ago, he said the closing prayer. Before he prayed, he shared his heartfelt testimony of baptism, and it was just so beautiful! It made me so happy to see how his happiness and testimony has grown!

A few hours later, we had L's baptism! He was baptized with his great grandson who just turned 8- how awesome is that? His whole family was there, and it was sooo sweet! They were all so happy for L. L is 87 years old and going strong! He has the sweetest cry I've ever seen, he always cries when he feels the spirit, and he sort of crinkles his eyes and it comes out in little puffs of breaths. It's sooo sweet! He started crying during the talks, especially when they talked about how he would be sealed with his wife. His wife passed away a year ago, and it's so sweet to see L's love for her. He's so excited to be with her again someday. The baptism was beautiful. It was really cool, A and his girlfriend M both came too! We weren't expect them to, but they showed up, and A felt the spirit so strongly and loved it! It was so awesome!

Then the next day, Sunday, was one of the happiest days of my entire life. On Thursday during studies at 8:30 am we had heard a heavy knock on the door. The hermanas answered, and we heard a voice say "is sister M there?" It was brother F, our first counselor in the bishopric of our ward! He knocked on the door and asked if I could speak Sunday! It was my last sacrament mtg on my mission, and my last mtg in the Maryvale ward, because this Sunday is stake conference. I happily agreed to. Later I found out that he had also asked R to speak! So on Sunday first R spoke in sacrament mtg, sitting in his wheelchair holding up a microphone up on the stand. It was such a beautiful talk, about his journey into the gospel, and how it's changed his life, and the two sisters who knocked on his door that were led by the lord to answer his prayers. It was so beautiful and I was just so filled with joy, I was bawling. After his talk, two elders spoke, and then I spoke. I loved preparing my talk, I love being a missionary! He asked me to speak on the joy of missionary work - how perfect is that, having had two people confirmed that day in church who I love who we taught, and R speaking too?? I couldn't have imagined a better last service on my mission. It was so incredible. I sent ya'll the notes from my talk, and I just wish I could express fully the joy that has filled my heart, helping L and J and R come unto Christ and seeing how Christ has changed their lives. It's incredible! The greatest joy I have ever experienced in my life. It was so amazing!

I know this gospel is true, and I know that following the savior is the way of happiness. I love being a missionary! It's been the greatest experience of my entire life. This Sunday I have my departing interview with president T, and then next week I will be home. My mission has flown by, I will be forever grateful and indebted to my heavenly father for blessing me with this experience. 

I love you guys, and I hope you have a fantastic week. :)

Love,

Sister Whitney Morris