3 Months already?!

Hello friends! 

I reached my 3 months a couple of days ago and I honestly am shocked. I can't decide if I'm freaking out because it's only been 3 months and I have 15 left or if it's because I ONLY HAVE 15 MONTHS LEFT. Time is going way too fast.... slight panic over here but it's okay. 

My favorite quote of the week is "There isn't a person in the world you wouldn't love if you could read their story."

I absolutely love this quote because it just goes to show you that no one knows what's in each other's heart or mind. It's hard to remember when you have so much going on in your own life, that other people have a bunch going on in their lives too. Some people can seem prickly or standoffish, some can seem to lack motivation or will, some people are just sad and withdrawn. You can judge quickly and harshly based on appearances, and they may be accurate, skin deep. But the truth is we don't know why! How did they end up at this place? What have they seen, experienced and felt? And you and I will never know the full story. Maybe it's your mom, maybe your brother, maybe the homeless man on the corner.

But they are all children of God. And, they all have a Savior who does know you perfectly. The Savior has been through what you have and worse! Every second of your life people! He offers you the sweetest and the very best peace you absolutely and possibly can. I promise you because I know it for myself! 

If you haven't seen or heard of it, my comp and I recorded a beautiful medley of two of my favorite songs ever and posted it on Facebook! It's basically my testimony in song form, (which is the most accurate way I can share my testimony.) 

A cool story from this week: we were at an appointment with a member and we sang our song for her and she was crying by the end it was the cutest thing I've seen. She was so cute!

And we got to talk to one of our friends and he was asking us about aliens, dinosaurs, Bigfoot, dragons, and the abyss. You know, normal stuff we missionaries talk about It was an interesting and hilarious conversation. I was dying laughing. Dragons do exist though, so no arguments there. Because obviously they did. But we won't go into that. 

Anyways, I love you all and I know that God loves you! Have a blessed week my friends! 

Love, Sister Morrison 

Onwards and Upwards 

K.I.S.S.

Hey all!

You know when your favorite book becomes a movie? Well, guess what?! My favorite book in the whole wide world just became a movie! Actually not a movie, but a series! Which is even better! For those of you who don't know the massive blessing the Book of Mormon is, you can now watch it! It's really really cool and I think it is surprisingly well done! Plus, our Bishop's son is serving with the guy who plays Nephi, so that's pretty awesome! Here's the link! Go check it out and let me know what you think! 

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/video/1-nephi-1-2/2019-07-0100-the-lord-commands-lehis-family-to-leave-jerusalem-1080p-eng 

And like most books turned movies, this Book has a ton of information that the episode misses so you'll have to read along so you get the whole story with all the juicy details! 

The Book of Mormon is really really cool! We got to meet a guy last week and we set up a return appointment. He told us at the return appointment that he has studied the Bible and that he loves it, but it seems confusing and like some things are missing. That's exactly what the Book of Mormon is here for! It clarifies and reaffirms the truths that are in the Bible! And all it's doing is testifying of Jesus Christ! How cool is that?! God just loves to bless His children. 

So here's a fun story from the week. Maybe a few. I haven't decided. So.

We went to Martin's (a grocery store) to grab some food so we could make cookies for our grumpy neighbor downstairs, and as we were turning down an aisle some lady starts running towards us. It wasn't even a fast-paced walk or a jog, she was legitimately running. With a cart. It was mildly concerning until she pulled up next to us. And then she pulled out a kitten from her bag and said "Look at my kitty." It was super weird! But it turns out she used to come to our ward a while ago so she actually recognized us as missionaries. But she was funny and she had a teeny little kitty that was weeks old. It was cool. 

Also, we went to go see our friend who we haven't seen for a few weeks and we were worried about because she wasn't answering. Turns out she's literally tearing her house apart that was built in 1910 and rebuilding everything. So we get to go help her repaint her house now that she put the walls back up. It's pretty cool. Also, we got to see the rest of the house because she's working on it all and she has like three extra stories than we didn't even know about! And this lady is doing it all herself and she's like 5 foot even and about 90 lbs. So that's also cool. 

Oh, we also had a great time during exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders. It was a super crazy day. We also had interviews with my mission President the same day and those are always super intense. But fantastic and I loved it! It was a chaotic and fun day! 

I hope you all know how lucky you are. You have amazing and wonderful blessings in your life and I'm in awe of it everyday. Thanks for all you do!

Love, Sister Morrison 

Onwards and Upwards!

How embarrassing...

This week was absolutely fantastic!

First miracle! We felt like we should visit our friend who lives a couple of streets over. But he wasn't home so we were very confused! Why would Heavenly Father ask us to walk over here when Sister Baroldy was sick? Well as we were leaving our friends doorstep, I felt like we should go check out this house on the end of the street. Awkward truth: we were too scared to go because it looked like a murderer's house. So I turned around and before I could take a step away from the house, the Lord chastised me and told me to turn back. NEVER suppress a prompting my friends! If I had we wouldn't have met a new friend who we are now teaching! I'm super glad that I get to rely on my Heavenly Father to show me what I can do to use my time here wisely! 

This week I got to find rides for some people we started teaching. I know it sounds a little underwhelming, but to me and to them, it was a huge deal. The first kid, his mom never takes the kids even though she's okay with them going. And his sisters didn't want to go, but he's been talking about it for weeks. He got to come yesterday and he LOVED it. it was such a neat experience! And the next guy is actually homeless. We met him as we were walking to the CVS. I was a bit wary of him because of the way he was acting but he called out to us so we walked over and he said "I'm a fourth-generation Mormon!" Turns out his whole family lives in Utah. He's had a super hard life. Crazy hard. And now all he has is in two bags and a backpack. And his dog Snoopy. He is the most humble, appreciative, God-fearing man I've ever met. So when he quietly said how much he wishes he could go to church again and then said he couldn't get there even more embarrassed and quiet, my little heart absolutely swelled for him and I told him I would get him to church. So I did of course. And he was beaming the whole time. He could not stop talking about how good it felt to be back and how amazing it was to feel home again. It was a scramble to find someone to take him and find a place for Snoopy, but man! It was so worth it! He's just so humble and happy!

I learned a ton this week. I learned to listen to the Spirit even if you're not totally sure it was a prompting. I learned that God loves His children SO much and He is SO happy when they are living how they should or when we help them to start living how they should! I also learned a lot about seeing others how they can become instead of how they are. 

I was busy this preparation day! I just want to leave you with a scripture and a story I heard this week. I love you all so much! Never stop smiling!

It's a little lengthy, but worth the read!

Alma 5:19

"I say unto you, can ye look up to God at that day with a pure heart and clean hands? I say unto you, can you look up, having the image of God engraven upon your countenances?"

I read this the other day on Facebook:

There was a group of women studying the book of Malachi, chapter three [or 3 Nephi 24:3]. As they were studying, they came across verse three, which says, "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver," they were puzzled, and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out about the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next study.

That week this woman called up a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn’t mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity regarding the process of refining silver. As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.

The woman thought about God holding us in a 'hot spot' – then she thought again about the verse, that he sits as a refiner and purifier of silver. She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined.

The man answered, "Yes," and explained that he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on it the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left even a moment too long in the flames, it would be damaged.

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?"

He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that’s easy. When I can see my reflection in it."

We are His. We are His children and He loves us completely. He wants absolute happiness for us. Listen to those promptings because I promise they will only make you better. I love my mission and I am in complete awe of the miracles and blessings I've seen since being here!

Love, Sister Morrison 

Onwards and Upwards!

It's official. Dogs work for God.

Hey guys!

So a quick funny story. We got to meet with this sweet lady and her devil kitty. (The cat was "playing" in Sister Baroldy's skirt and scratching her legs. It climbed up my leg like a tree trunk many times. I have the claw marks to prove it.) Anyways, as we were leaving her neighbor came running out saying "Wait girls!" And after introducing himself as "Leon" he told us he had something we would enjoy. With a bit of trepidation, we said go for it. He then proceeded to serenade us with an adorable song about Jesus cleansing us he wrote himself! He had such an innocent voice. I was beaming by the end.  He's now joining our lessons with his neighbor. On the way home from that lesson we saw this lil doggie running around on the road. The road was busy so we were worried about it so we managed to pull over and try to catch it. It kept running around and I decided to whistle and it came running! It was so energetic and exciting! Luckily, (by pure inspiration no doubt,) Sister Baroldy had dog treats in her bag and we were able to read her tag and call her owners. Her house was just down the road, so we dropped her off and set up a time to come back to teach the cute young family who lived there! So God always is working on many things at one time. 

Oh and also I relearned how to cover books! We got some cute paper and Mod Podge and we started covering Book of Mormon and I also did my copy of Jesus the Christ by James E. Talmage. Which is a fantastic book if you haven't read it. It's been fun! 

I have to leave you guys with at least one thing about the gospel because it makes me the happiest I've ever been! 

This comes from Romans 8:

"35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Just a small reminder that the love that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have for us is immovable and unbreakable. Sometimes to us, it may seem that us and our daily problems are infinitesimal but God's love is infinite. It can overcome everything. Everything that we have was given out of love for us. Heavenly Father gave his Only Begotten Son so that we can have true and everlasting peace and happiness! 

Anyways I love you all and I pray for you! You guys are power sons and daughters of the Almighty God. I believe in you! (:

Love, Sister Morrison 

Onwards and Upwards!

I thought I was a member...but I never got baptized...

HELLO WORLD,

What a fun and crazy week. It was the beginning of the new transfer and I was able to get a new companion! I was sad to see Sister Morin go, but we keep on preserving! Sister Baroldy is an awesome missionary! Right away we started getting to know each other and find our "battle rhythm". We're already getting along fantastic! And we were able to get a lot of work done! Already we have someone praying about a baptism date and a new person to teach! I'm grateful for her passion to kind of wake me up and get me out of the routine. I love it! 

This week I was thinking about what truth is. How do we know? But more importantly, how do we feel right about something? We're teaching a couple right now who are opposites. He feels and believes what we're saying is true in his heart, and she knows what we're saying is true in her mind. The way we can really know truth is using both our heart and mind. It takes passion and knowledge to progress. Just how the Book of Mormon and the Bible work hand in hand, or a husband and wife work together to build a home and family, we too can build our testimonies and be converted to Jesus Christ's gospel by learning and then asking God to know and feel that it's true. That knowledge is what I share every day, but the feelings and my love for the gospel and what I've felt is what motivates me to get up and get going every day. I appreciate my knowledge, but if you don't use it, you lose it! 

We're teaching another guy who we bumped into by the grace of God. I took us a silly way home for some odd reason, and we stopped in a tiny neighborhood to see a potential person. She didn't answer and neither did the next guy we walked over to see, and we even felt like we should talk to this guy sitting in his truck. Well, that guy wasn't interested even a little bit, but before we could feel too discouraged, the guy, (who we hadn't noticed before,) sitting in the car next to us rolled down his window and said "Hey I used to go to your church!" Well, that's neat! And he was more than prepared to talk to us. Apparently, he had been having the worst week of his life and was looking for something good and knew he needed to change something. And he actually thought about church! He was super excited to talk to us and said "This has to be a sign from God!" And he was absolutely right! Heavenly Father was absolutely watching over him and had given this guy a little rough patch to wake him up and make him turn to something better. 

Mormon 9:6 in the Book of Mormon says "6 O then ye unbelieving, turn ye unto the Lord; cry mightily unto the Father in the name of Jesus, that perhaps ye may be found spotless, pure, fair, and white, having been cleansed by the blood of the Lamb, at that great and last day." 

This is saying that sometimes God allows Satan to try us and tempt us so we can realize that we aren't turning towards Heavenly Father and so we can straighten ourselves back up. And we get on the straight and narrow path by Jesus Christ and his atonement. He can find us and lead us back to God. 

Anyways, so much to do and so little time! Thank you all for your prayers! Make sure to keep praying and read the Book of Mormon. For those of you who don't know, I like to read more than necessarily what is healthy and I can honestly say, the Book of Mormon is the ONLY book that has genuinely changed my life for the better. Please read it!

All my love,

Sister Morrison 

Onwards and Upwards!