Dear Family,
Thank you for the emails! I loved seeing the pictures of everyone, and seeing Hannah go to prom, and all of the awesome things happening. Thanks for the email :) there's so much to reply to, and so little time! But know I appreciated every word, and I'm thinking of you, and you are all in my prayers every day, especially dexter at boot camp and Hannah with the trials she's facing, and Isaac preparing for his mission.
Thanks for checking in on the phone! I don't necessarily want or need Internet, I would just like to access gospel library... But I guess you might need an Internet phone to do that. So thanks for looking into it for me! I'm excited to start looking for a job and getting things figured out so I can move forward.
These are the things I wrote from stake conference that stood out to me personally, and I think it's interesting the next day you wrote me about the exact same topic haha. I literally just basically wrote my notes from stake conference, in the things that stood out to me, and I just want to share my testimony that I know these principles are true. President Toone said the most revelatory experience he has as a mission president is receiving revelation in who gets moved where, with what companion. He knows without a doubt that God guides and directs him in that process. It reminds me of when the 12 apostles assign mission calls. Heavenly Father directs that process so clearly, and He is truly the one who calls the missionary to their field of labor. There are many missionaries who at first feel disappointed with their mission call, and wonder, "Heavenly Father, why are you sending me there? I don't want to go there." In the middle of it, missions can be SUPER hard, and missionaries even wonder why their there in the middle of it. But there is always a reason, and as they serve, they discover why God sent them there, and it becomes one of the most treasured experiences of their lives. They learn what God wants them to, and they become who God wants them to become. We are all serving together in the Lords kingdom, we just have different fields of labor, and we switch off from time to time. That testimony came from me as a missionary and the testimony I've gained personally. :)
Well, these 18 months are coming to a close. It feels completely unreal that I'll be home in a few days. I don't know how it will be, I'm feeling really sad about it. Excited, yes, but I anticipate it being a difficult transition, so please be patient with me haha. It's going to be hard! Gosh! But one thing I am excited for is just talking with you and spending time with you. I'm also so excited to share my missionary cd music with Adam and Peter and Isaac and all of you haha, your going to love it, I know you will :D
This week has been another crazy one, with high highs and low lows. The highlights were probably meeting with A. We have seen SO many miracles with him this week!! It's incredible! We had an appt with him Monday evening. The week before he had planned on the baptismal date of Nov. 1st, but we were going in and planning on teaching him the word of wisdom, and extending a date that we had prayed about and was a little bit closer - namely July 11th. Well, we walk into the lesson, and Andrew immediately says he has some things to tell us! A little bit of background on him, he has been a heavy drinker his entire life. We're talking cases of beer, vodka, ect every day. The word of wisdom was a concern of his from the beginning. Well, the first thing he tells us is that, when we invited him to read d&c 89 in advance for the lesson, he knew it was about the word of wisdom because he had read it before. He was planning on kind of tripping us up and pointing out discrepancies and giving us a hard time about it. But then, Sunday afternoon, he was driving - after studying the scriptures and praying - and he said that God just told him that it was time to quit. So he came home and dumped all of his alcohol down the drain! Every last drop, except for the wine he's giving his sister. He had gotten rid of all of it!! And, he said that he wanted to be baptized on July 4th! It was sooo crazy! Sister Wright and I probably looked so funny, we just sat there with our mouths open haha, it was incredible. It was such a testimony to me of how when people are willing to act - to study, ponder, and pray - God does help them to resolve their concerns, and changes their hearts, and works miracles in their lives. A was going through some withdrawals so he asked us if bishop could come give him a priesthood blessing. The next day we went with bishop T (he is so awesome) and bishop talked with him about baptism, gave him the blessing.... And then put him on date for baptism this Saturday! This was Monday night, so we had 2 weeks to prepare. He was doing awesome on quitting drinking, and had gone through most of the lessons.... So it was just incredible. A said yes, and he is so excited to be baptized. He told us that he knew it was right.... When he first agreed to learn, he was pretty skeptical. When we started teaching him, he opened up a little more. But when he started praying and reading on his own, that's when the true changes started happening, because it invited the Spirit into his heart and into his life. It was incredible!!
Sunday we went to the Mesa visitors center and the temple (in K's mission :) ) it was so much fun, we went with him and M. We watched meet the Mormons, and I cried like a baby - we all did. We watched the testimonies of elder perry and president Monson, and those were so powerful. And we just walked around and took pictures! It was such a spiritual experience - truly amazing, the Spirit was so strong. :)
The other highlight was teaching R! He is doing SO amazing! We taught him Sunday night, and he did the sweetest thing for us - he bought both sister w and I flowers, and wrote us the sweetest thank you notes for teaching him, and wrote us a song on his guitar! It was the sweetest thing I've ever seen!! This is the navy veteran in his 60s who is in the wheelchair who we taught and baptized a few weeks ago. He is one of the strongest converts I've ever seen. He is so amazing! We had stake conference this week and it was INCREDIBLE. It was so cool! Haha, elder S of the 70 came. He is so funny! At one point he was just asking questions, in the adult session, he was asking for examples of how ward counsels had come together to be guided by the lord and do his work. Bishop T got up and talked about the experience of everyone helping R to be baptized, and R got to wave at everyone, he was sitting there absorbing everything. I think that was a really special moment for him, and it made me so happy! Something terrifying happened though!! Oh man! So the brethren have made some amazing changes to ward counsels that are going to bless he lives of members and investigators SO much! At the end of stake conference, he talked about how missionaries will be able to help in ward counsel, and then he had all of the missionaries come stand in front of the whole stake. He told us to think about the question - how to help the ward counsel find, teach, baptize, and retain - and then handed the microphone to a random elder to answer it. Then, as the elder was answering, he scanned all of us, and walked directly toward me and sister wright at the end! Haha I tried to avoid his gaze because I was terrified to answer this question in front of the whole stake, but he zeroed in on me and gave me the microphone and said "your next!" I gave my little answer and the meeting went on, but it was so scary haha. But it was such a fantastic meeting! I learned some really amazing things, and I know that the things we've learned are true principles, and I am excited to apply them in my life.
It was a really special week. I did get really overwhelmed, and sad, at one point, and that was really hard. But we worked it out. I got to go on exchanges onto the Native American reservation as well, and that was so cool. I love the people there. :) They were Apache families that we taught, and it was special to have that time with them. It is humbling to see the challenges hey face living on the res, especially spiritual challenges in raising a family. But those families have done an amazing job.
We had one really scary moment this week haha. So we were teaching L. She has a boyfriend who is a terrible influence on her - his name is R. But he likes to be called c. which means crazy in Spanish. He has major issues and has been a really bad influence in L's life, which is heartbreaking because she used to be going so strong. She really wants to follow the savior and live the gospel, but she's having a hard time right now. Well, they live in a trailer park that is really, really poor. Their house is made up of plywood walls, and it's just really a humbling area to be in. We were teaching her, and c came in the lesson because he likes to do that sometimes. Well L's daughters boyfriend walked into the house and gave L a soda, like he normally does. C has major issues with her family - he says because they drink, but I think it's also because he's jealous and controlling. So he flipped out at the young man and yelled at him to get out of the house. It turned into this big fight, and c grabbed him by the shirt and arms and threw him out of the house. Well, the young man has issues also, and so c locked him out, and the young man for the next half hour, hour or so kept running around the trailer screaming and banging on the windows and walls. It was terrifying! L and sis w and a baby that L was babysitting, we all just kind of huddled together and knelt on the floor. Eventually we started singing hymns. We were trapped in the house for about an hour. C called the police, and when the police came they talked to us all and figured out what happened. One of the policemen was really cool, he was glad we weren't on bikes. They told us we were really gutsy to come into this area, because when policemen go into that area they always go with at least a 3 man team. It was soooo crazy! It was scary in the moment, but we all knew we would be okay, we just felt it. It was scary though! We were in their house for a total of 3 hours because of that. I'm just glad we were all okay!
So, needless to say, it was a crazy but awesome week.
I can't believe my mission is ending. It's definitely been one of the hardest things I've ever done, but it's an experience I will never, ever regret, or forget. I know it's changed me. It's brought me closer to the Savior, and I've grown to love Him and I want to follow Him even more when I go home. I've set goals and made plans to continue to grow spiritually when I go home, and to hold myself accountable so I continue to progress and don't regress. I think I'm going to keep doing daily and weekly planning, so I can keep using my time the best I can and keep on serving and progressing. I'm excited for the work and adventures ahead. Being a missionary has brought me the greatest happiness I've ever felt in my life, as I've come closer to Christ and have helped and seen others come unto Him as well. I have learned so much! I have loved my mission. I am so sad to be going home, but I know Heavenly Father has great things in store for all of us as we continue to follow Him.
I love you guys. Thank you for being such incredible examples to me. I love you, and I hope to talk with you and continue to learn from you all my life. I know I'll need it when I go home, and make this transition, and face these changes. I have so much more to say, and I'm feeling so much at this time. But the words are leaving me, I don't know if words could describe how I feel right now. But I love the savior, and I know this is the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I have loved being a missionary, I'm going to miss putting the name tag on every day and working so hard and feeling of the reward that comes from not giving up and doing your best each day to serve faithfully. I am committed to serving for the rest of my life, because I know that's where true happiness is found.
25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
I know the words of the Savior is true. I have truly found my life in His service, and I intend to continue to find it more and more the rest of my life, because I love Him and I know this is where true life is - no other life compares to losing your life in the savior and in serving others. You tell the missionaries in the branch to start planning lessons, because I'm coming and I want to help them out! Haha, tell the ward that too. I'm excited and pumped up to serve to serve. I think when I go home, that's when the real work and service begins. My mission has taught me that. :)
I love you guys!
Have an awesome week. I'll talk with you soon. :)
Love,
Sister Whitney Morris ♥️
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