I can smell the nice day

Hey y'all!

The most dreaded part of preparation day is when I have to write this stinkin email. I'm too exhausted to write emails. I could say this faster in person with more detail. Just goes to show how much I love y'all I guess. 

Anywho, this week was actually really fun. Sister Whitcomb and I have become fast friends and the days seem to be speeding past. Seriously, I don't know if I have the brain power to keep up. Luckily, our sojourns out into the real world are being more frequent and a smidge longer that they used to be so that's awesome. We also have begun playing tennis in the mornings. Basically we're training to be the next Williams sisters after quarantine gets out. Wimbledon here we come! 

Also, breaking news, we got a ukelele!! We asked and within 24 hours we had one and it's awesome! I love getting to learn and strum. It's way easier than the guitar at least! Only four lil strings? Sign me up! We'll hopefully be making some awesome videos soon. Lots of parodies of regular songs made into gospel-y songs for sure. 

This week we started teach this cute little lady named Milli. She is an absolute doll. I love her! She is a sassy old black lady with a spicy attitude and a contagious laugh. She's super open to having us talk to her and share messages and even said that she would love a copy of the Book of Mormon. Her son is a recent convert in a different ward, so he's been helping us out. She's honestly so precious. I can't wait to teach her about the temple and eternal families! She's gonna love it! We also have been trying to calm a lot of people but we're beginning to run out of numbers. Maybe we'll have to start writing letters....

Still no word on if we're getting some new Sister(s) or not, but it tends to be a surprise for everyone. Usually, they give us at least 24 hours of notice. Usually. I'll keep ya updated! 

Also, THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR THE BIRTHDAY WISHES!!!! I was overflowing with happiness and gratitude. So many people reach out to wish me a special day and I am so so so grateful. I was definitely not looking forward to it, but I actually had an amazing day! Sister Whitcomb made me a key lime and black raspberry pie (and yeah, it was wicked good,) some members dropped off Chick fil a, and I got cards, messages, gifts and notes. It turned out to be one of my favorite and most memorable birthdays ever! I love y'all so much!! It's super weird to be 20 now, no longer any teen years to hold on to, but it's definitely been a blessed two decades. Thanks to all the amazing people I've shared them with. 

Alma 34:38

"que vous ne combattiez plus le Saint-Esprit, mais que vous le receviez et preniez sur vous le nom du Christ ; que vous vous humiliiez jusqu’à la poussière, et adoriez Dieu, en quelque lieu que vous vous trouviez, en esprit et en vérité ; et que vous viviez quotidiennement dans les actions de grâces pour les miséricordes et les nombreuses bénédictions qu’il vous accorde." Toujours remercier!! Toujours, toujours, toujours!!! 

Câlins et bisous, Sœur Morrison 

Onward and Upward 

Que Dieu vous bénisse 

A mischievous, one foot nothin', little red gnome-man with horns and beard

What a week it's been folks.

Okie so my companion! She is a hoot AND a holla. We have an absolute blast together!! She and I are actually pretty similar. We already have a SWEET dinner plan going, which I am wildly excited for. We also have the same kind of excitement and likes. I like good food, baking, art, singing, and the gospel and she loves it all too!! I'm so excited for this next transfer and I'm praying that we don't get ripped from each other. There's a bunch of new missionaries coming into our mission, so many Sisters are either getting split up or they are getting put in trios. Honestly, I think trio life would be an absolute blast! And really I don't think they'd split us up because I'm following up training Sister Whitcomb currently. I guess I might get to trip train, but who knows?! Life is never as it seems. Always something new and exciting waiting just around the next bend or turn. How fun!! 

Things are constantly moving and changing over here. Including the weather!! Friday we woke up to some snow flurries. That was fun. And then Saturday was in the 80's. I don't understand this place. Still love it, but I'm hopping around from winter to fall to summer clothes and I think we really just need to make a decision here. 

We have been rolling the work along so quick! One day we had about 30 minutes of downtime before our next appointment and we decided to call some people who were in our records who had been interested but who we hadn't been in contact with for a while. These phone contacts are an absolute dread for the majority of missionaries. Mostly for me because I'm terrible at making conversation, but also because often people are more comfortable being rude over the phone. So I went in with trepidation for these next few minutes. However, the first guy picked up and we had a full conversation with him and told him that we would love to talk with him more and he invited us to call him anytime!! It was so cool!! He was excited to hear from us again! Then the second call was to this cute lady, who did not speak much English but tried so hard and we mentioned doing English lessons with her and she was absolutely ecstatic! We asked if we could also share more about the Books of Mormon and she said she'd love to!! It was wild! And then our 30 minutes were up and we moved into our amazing lessons! Our friend Chuck is still very excited for his baptism (still left to the imagination as to when that will be, but we're praying!) He loves to share fun things he reads from the Book of Mormon and is trying to see if he could possibly finish sometime soon! Chuck is basically a better member of The Church than I am! 

This week I wanted to talk about how good God truly is. He gave us His Son as a sacrifice. Knowing how painful it would be. Knowing the cost was Jesus Christ's life. To me, that shows incredible faith. Faith in the Plan. Faith in His Son. Faith in the Power of Justice and Mercy. Wow it's amazing. I'm finding myself draw even closer to my Savior as I study His atoning sacrifices. I have felt the power of that sacrifice in my life. I know the feeling of your sins being lifted from your shoulders and it is inexplicable and perfect. I am so eternally grateful for Him. I'm so grateful for that power in my life. 

WOW I just love this gospel and my Savior. Words cannot describe. 

Mosiah 15:9

"Étant monté au ciel, ayant les entrailles de la miséricorde, étant rempli de compassion envers les enfants des hommes, se tenant entre eux et la justice, ayant rompu les liens de la mort, prenant sur lui leur iniquité et leurs transgressions, les ayant rachetés et ayant satisfait aux exigences de la justice." Par Jésus-Christ, nous pouvons être libérés des péchés et des ennuis. Laissez-le vous aider!

Câlins et bisous, Sœur Morrison 

Onward and Upward

Que Dieu vous bénisse 

If our eternal marriage is based on my drawing skills...it's not gonna make it

Okay first of all. The title of my last weekly was a quote. Just thought I should clarify. Each subject line is a quote, usually from my companion, but also from members or people we're teaching. Remember that the next time one of them is a little scandalous. I can't make this stuff up y'all. 

What a mad mad week. Let's go with bullet points because that's fun. 

• Transfer news!!! Yes I'm a little shocked that they're still happening, but guess what? I'm staying in Gettysburg! I'm pumped to continue my work here and helping out all of God's children in this beautiful historic city. However, Sister Mansell is leaving me for the wild outskirts of Baltimore's classy neighborhoods. I have never even heard of my new companion so I'm super excited to get to know her and get to work! 

• I got my brand spanking new mission President! He's got some stories to share. We had a two hour meet-and-greet with him on Sunday and he just told stories about his mission and his life the whole time. It was awesome! He loves to talk and his wife has a big heart. I'm excited to continue getting to know them and see how our work changes. Definitely still sad about President Mutombo, but so happy that President Nye is so kind and loving. The first thing he did was bare his testimony of our Savior, Jesus Christ. It was very touching to see his devotion to his Redeemer and the work he has been called to do.  

• We have a new pet! His name is Frederick. He's got claws and basically that's all we know about it. So now we have birds and possibly rats/squirrels/other gross creatures in our attic. He likes to scratch at the kitchen ceiling and disrupt our lessons and meal times. It's pretty gross. I feel violated a bit, not gonna lie. 

• Miracles continue to happen!  We found someone new to teach this week and it has been fun! Chuck is still on fire for his baptism so we're still very excited for that, and we've been having some sweet success. We love to make word searches, crosswords, coloring pages, and all sorts of fun things for the people we're teaching. We also have more puzzles so we do them as we call people and it's so much better than just sitting and calling people over and over again. I love it! 

• We are not getting any new missionaries this transfer so far, but President Nye said we could have our mission increase to 280 missionaries!! We're currently around 150 missionaries, so that's pretty intense. We basically have no notion or idea of what's gonna happen in the future. We're just coasting through and doing the best with what we've got. 

Anywho. I'm still doing amazing! Every day is a gift and blessing from God and I pray that we find ways to make it meaningful. Y'all are the best! Thanks for giving me a reason to smile! 

Mosiah 8:18

"18 C’est ainsi que Dieu a fourni à l’homme le moyen d’accomplir, par la foi, de grands miracles ; et c’est pourquoi il devient un grand bienfait pour ses semblables." Vous pouvez être un outil entre les mains du Seigneur. Espoir en Père Céleste en les temps incertains. 

Je t'aime !

Câlins et bisous, Sœur Morrison 

 Onward and Upward!

Que Dieu vous bénisse 

God is your sugar daddy

Well, here we be folks. 

I'm officially double digits in months out on my mission, and I'm terrified. I know everyone wants to speed up time so that corona leaves us finally, but I would rather keep a nice slow n steady pace. 

Also, when May comes, my mission President will leave. I'm not sure how accurately I can express how much I love that man, but just know that it's a heck ton. My last interview was wildly bittersweet. He has changed my life completely and I'm incredibly grateful for the unique chance to know him and love him! 

So we got some more sad news. Our friend Chuck was going to be baptized on May 2nd, but our Area Seventy (the higher ups) said that wasn't okay. So it's been called off. We were both very upset, but God knows me. He knows me well enough to know that food is my love language, so, I kid you not, FIVE Sisters reached out to us and would not take no for an answer. We got FIVE offers for dinner that night, two promised meals later in the week, but we had 3 meals brought to us that same night!! And I finally got Chick fil A again from one of em! AND one of them came with puzzles! AND my Ward Mission Leader brought us stickers and a Bob Ross coloring book! What more could you need?! Bob Ross!

Is it okay for me to be sad? Of course it is! I'm quite honestly devastated for Chuck. That man was so excited to baptized on Saturday. He was a giddy old man. I'm very sad. 

However, the Lord showed me that, "Yes this is very sad, I'm sad too. But I still need you." I am not going to let a little rain ruin my parade. I love rain! Rain is an excuse to dance and to sing. Because after the rain comes new life. I have no idea why in Heavenly Father's eternal plans Chuck has to wait a few more months to be baptized, but I know that it will be all the more sweeter. I know it'll probably mean a lot more. 

Basically, the Lord knows y'all have had to put off sports, meetings, jobs, school, everything you've looked forward to for the past and future months, wasted it seems. I hear ya. So does He. But quarantine was not meant to be a big pity party. Quarantine was not meant to break you, only change you. Quarantine was not meant to make you fail or crush you. Quarantine, I think, was meant to refine you. Now we have all day to think and pray and turn to the Lord and listen. Breathe. Ask. Hear Him.

Hello. The Prophet of the Lord has been asking us to do this even before quarantine hit. It must be a pretty important thing to do if the Lord stopped the world to give you time to do it. 

Hear Him. That's what you should do with quarantine. 

Boom. I just blew my own mind. 

Anywho. Here's a fun story:

I have begun to do accents to add some spice to life and I gotta admit, I'm pretty good. Each one has a name and story and it's kind of fun to make it all up. My District Leader called one night to check in on us and somehow he found out that I do them (I accidentally switched into one of the voices....oops) and he was dying. He thought it was so funny. (Just goes to show you how low our standard of humor has gotten hahaha.) But one of them is a Russian man named Vladimir and so we all started speaking in Russian accents and I laughed so hard I choked. It was a good night. 

Hope you all have all the fun you can imagine up in quarantine. I'm gonna add my address at the end of my email because I've been asked a few times for it, so just in case y'all want to kidnap me.... ;) 

Dieu est aux commandes. Et voici un proverbe africain de mon président de mission bien-aimé: "Si vous voulez aller vite, allez seul. Si vous voulez aller loin, prenez le temps d'aller avec les autres."  Je vous aime tous!

Câlins et bisous, Sœur Morrison

Onward  and Upward 

Que Dieu vous bénisse 

Mon adresse:

68 E Middle St 2nd Floor

Gettysburg, PA 17325 

You'd sip and you'd just want to die. You gotta cool it dawg.

Friends and Family!

I've decided to make it a personal goal that whenever I have a Zone Conference or any large meetings (most of these are over Zoom,) I get a large plate of food and see if anyone notices as I eat it all. Fries are a personal favorite option, also dino nuggies, salad or chicken and quinoa, etc. Pretty much anything. So far, I'm pleased to announce I have not been called out, nor caught. So I continue my endeavors for the benefit of the select few that I have told about it. 

So basically I'm so excited for bunches of fun projects we're going to start this week! We're trying to use our talents to share the gospel. It's going great haha! 

I totally ran out of time and I'm sooooo sorry! Y'all are in my prayers! 

Câlins et bisous, Sœur Morrison 

Onward and Upward 

Que Dieu vous bénisse 

"I hope I didn't lead them on. I had 0 potential."

Helllooooo family and friends!

Another great week ahead of us I think. Actually, I know. 

Sometimes I wonder how blessed we can get, and then Heavenly Father blesses me again! Isn't God great? 

My days are filled with video call lessons over Zoom and Facebook messenger, or phone calls or texts. We make videos and try to grow our skills and talents so the Lord may use them. We paint, draw, sing, write, and try not to go crazy! We often take long walks and I adore getting to see all the history in this cute little town. Gettysburg is a blessed place to be quarantined in! 

So you would think that whilst in quarantine I would have all the time in the world to write a nicely lengthy email that is organized and makes logical sense. Unfortunately, those dreams died before they were born! Turns out quarantine life is just as busy, perhaps more so than before. I guess I never knew the full potential of this cute little mobile device until I was forced to spend 90% of my time staring at it and struggling to understand it. But now I'll never be the same, so lucky me! 

I'd like to start with one of my all-time favorite scriptures, found within the Book of Mormon: Alma 26:7! It says, "But behold, they are in the hands of the Lord of the harvest, and they are his, and he will raise them up at the last day." This simple and short scripture is overflowing with hope and peace. Hope is extremely important to me. It lends motivation, comfort, and truthfully most everything revolves around it. So, maybe I should explain. You are His. The God of the universe. The Creator of the world. The Savior of us all. Has you in his hands, and proudly claims you as His. 

Back story time: once upon a moment in time, Sister Morrison struggled to understand her divine nature. She knew she was a daughter of God, and it made sense logically that she was loved, but she didn't necessarily feel it. Dark times my friends. However, one day her brother pointed out a chapter in Moses and a single scripture became her beacon of light guiding her home. Moses 7:43 reads, "Wherefore Enoch saw that Noah built an ark; and that the Lord smiled upon it, and held it in his own hand..." Imagine for just a second that you are Noah on the ark. The winds are blowing fierce and strong, the waves stretch high above you and crash into your boat, the world seems to be in chaos. You are pouring out your heart to the Lord because you are very scared. And sad because you lost some loved ones. Now zoom out. Here you see God the Father holding this little ark in His mighty hands, smiling at the adorable creations He made, who are freaking out. How tender is that? To Noah, it was the scariest and hardest thing he's ever been through! And yet, Heavenly Father tenderly wraps His hands around them and smiles at them. I'm sure a smile from our Father could melt the hardest of hearts. 

Therefore, what? The world is in chaos. The "waves are crashing," the power of nature seems destined to be our doom. But you had better believe that Heavenly Father has His hands wrapped snugly around you. No mere virus can stop the power of the Master of all. May I repeat a well-known and beloved hymn, "Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side; with patience bear thy cross of grief or pain. Leave to thy God to order and provide: in every change, He faithful will remain. Be still, my soul: Thy best, thy heavenly Friend through thorny ways, leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul: thy God doth undertake to guide the future as He has the past. Thy hope,  thy confidence let nothing shake; all now mysterious shall be bright at last! Be still, my soul: the winds and waves still know His voice who ruled them while He dwelt below." 

As I've said, my beloved people, God is good. Believe in Him and in His power, and never forget hope. Let it fill your mind and heart. I can personally testify that God's work continues, He is not slowing down, but in fact, is speeding His work along. Run with it! Every day I have an opportunity to be a part of that glorious work of Salvation, and my goodness the hope it brings!! There is joy to be had in this gospel, the kind that never ends and only seems to intensify. 

I would also include some Frenchie stuff but I'm a little short on time now (no surprises there) so I'll put in a scripture instead. 

2 Néphi 4:20-21 

"Mon Dieu a été mon soutien ; il m’a conduit à travers mes afflictions dans le désert, et il m’a préservé sur les eaux du grand abîme.

 Il m’a rempli de son amour, oui, jusqu’à ce que ma chair en soit consumée."

I love you all and pray that you'll have a sane, healthy, very good week! 

Bisous et câlins, Sister Morrison 

Onward and Upward!

Que Dieu vous bénisse

 

He does not have 20/20 vision. He has glasses.

Wasn't Conference one of the most revelatory and uplifting experiences? I for one was absolutely and ridiculously happy to be able to participate in such an amazing and historical event! 

A few things that stood out to me were:

1. The call to action! 

We all have been extended so many invitations. I absolutely loved Sister Jones talk. She called the Sisters of the world to step forward and take their place in the hastening of the work. I think oftentimes we think that we don't have a need to be involved with the inter-workings of the Priesthood and the responsibilities they have. But we do! We are equally yoked! Our responsibilities may be different but they come together and intertwine to give us a single purpose. Which purpose is the same as Heavenly Father's! To "bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man."

2. Hear Him!

Repeatedly, the Prophet has asked us to hear the voice of our Savior. In scripture, and in general, when the Lord asks us to do things multiple times its because its important. Make sure that you follow those suggestions. I promise that it will bring so much joy into your life! 

3. MY MISSION PRESIDENT GOT CALLED AS A SEVENTY! We are all so very proud of him and excited for this new opportunity. He is one of the most faithful and genuine people I've ever had the good fortune of meeting. I always knew he would someday be a general authority, but I was NOT expecting it to be so soon, let alone while I was on my mission. 

There was so many more amazing things that happened and if you don't know what I'm talking about go to churchofjesuschrist.org and check it all out! 

So other than that I'm loving this area! We got to walk around the battlefield and get a tour from our very knowledgeable landlady. It was so cool to hear about the stories of everybody who lived and struggled in those times. It's so crazy that this place that I live in has seen so much history! I've been so blessed to be here! 

I'm sorry I'm running low on time. I love you all and I LOVE this gospel! 

Love, Sister Morrison 

Onward and Upward!

Que Dieu vous bénisse