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 

I was really hoping for buff Santa, but he did okay too I guess.

Bonjour ma famille et mon amis!

This has been a wild and wonderful week! I was so not expecting transfers to come so soon and honestly, because of the COVID-19, I did not expect them to happen at all! 

But they did and guess what? As usual, God's plan is much much much MUCH better than my own! Allow me to enlighten you as to why:

1. My companion, Sister Mansell is an absolute crack up and we have the best times! She is so nice and cute. She does come from Utah, but it's all alright. I'll forgive her. 

2. I live in a Civil War Era house. Yes, of course, I have a ghost in the attic. Did he try to strangle my landlord's son? You bet! Of course, I also have a limb pit in the basement from the many amputations that happened down there. So that's pretty sweet. 

3. The ward is super nice! They bring us dinner and make sure we've got all we need! The house we live in is actually a recent converts house. Her name is Tara and she's an absolute doll. I love her to pieces. 

So life is great here in quarantine! We are using Facebook, Zoom, and other online stuff. It's definitely different but we're all learning. It's crazy out here! The work definitely continues, no virus can stop the Lord! 

I am happy as a clam, though I hear that's a sign of insanity. I seriously love being a missionary and I'm beyond blessed to be able to stay here and work for the Lord. I can't believe that the world is so crazy now. I almost feel like it's been a weird dream. But I know the Lord is taking care of us all! I know that you all have hundreds of tender mercies from the Lord every day. Please take time to understand and recognize them, it is where I find the most hope. Remember that the Atonement is always available for each of us. Every second of every day, the Savior is aware of how you're feeling. Your stress, your boredom, your pain, your joy, your happiness. He knows it all. Don't go through any of it alone. He wants to join with you in every triumph and failure! So throw a party! There is ALWAYS sunshine! 

Je t'aime! Dieu t'aime pour toujours!

Love, Sister Morrison 

Onward and Upward 

Que Dieu Vous bénisse 

This soup is like Mexican cereal

Well, it happened. 

Not even 20 minutes after last week's preparation day ended, our Zone Leaders messaged us and asked if we had gotten enough food for 2 weeks and that we would be in quarantine for at LEAST two weeks starting then. I started laughing, but by the end, I think it might've been tears of sadness. I don't do well cooped up inside. But anywho, we have been busy, I don't know when it will end, but I'm definitely trusting the Lord so much with this. 

Soooooooo despite what you may think, missionary work does continue no matter what and it has been kinda super fun!! In fact, we have transfers coming up and Holy moly I was not prepared for them! Suddenly it was the last Saturday of the transfers and call outs and I was shocked! Luckily we got no calls, which means I'm not a trainer again, nor am I a Sister training leader. HOWEVER, there is some changes being made! Drum roll please........

I'M GOING TO GETTYSBURG! Wahoo! History and stuff!!! I'm excited for the change but more than a little sad to leave behind my trainee. She and I have become fast friends amid the quarantine life. Being stuck together brought us closer so apparently it was meant to be. Oddly enough, I'm going to follow a newly trained Sister who came out with my trainee, and her trainer is coming to follow up train my trainee. A little switch-a-roo! I've met my new companion, Sister Mansell, a few times and she's a real sweetheart! I'm excited to be her companion. I guess I'm back into the changing companions every transfer which is kinda sad too haha. 

But boy oh boy the tender mercies of the Lord are constant!! Its amazing how much love is being POURED out to the world! I'm honestly so happy that we have these amazing opportunities laid out for us. It sets us apart even more than before. I cannot wait to see what Heavenly Father has in store for each of us! 

I am so sorry for those missionaries affected by the virus who had to be sent home! Please remember that as long as you have an eternal perspective, this sacrifice will only allow you greater and better blessings in the future. The Lord is so grateful for your dedication. 

I'm happy to be a missionary still. It's all I've ever wanted to do. It's a blessing in so many unique ways I never thought I would have. I'm grateful to be wearing the tag and doing the work. I'm grateful for this part of the vineyard to care for as well. May God bless each of you in your efforts! 

Dieu est aux commandes. N'oubliez jamais qu'il sait tout. Et donc Il aime aussi tout le monde. Tu es à Lui. 

L'amour, Sœur Morrison 

Onward and Upward! 

Que Dieu vous bénisse 

Sister Morrison

Remember like 1000 years ago when that kid tried to impress us with his cussing and baby lobster?

Allow me to gush for a moment....

God is SO good. I cannot even describe to you the deep and very real truth that He KNOWS YOU. Personally. Intimately. Because He cares. He wants to know. He wants to listen and be a part of your struggles and triumphs. What other person could be so perfect and yet want to yoke themselves to you? He has such an infinite and divine love for His children. I wish I could reach through this phone and just make you feel what I feel. If I could hand this incredible thing to you and let you experience what I do every day, my goodness you might explode. I nearly do. And to know that it is only the smallest decimal of the full extent? How could you NOT believe in God?! How can you not see that the motivation and the foundation of the world, all things therein, and the power by which it was done? My lack of articulation is eradicating the message I'm trying to get across. Don't fear. Don't give in. Don't give up. Don't despair. Please understand that you have LEGIONS of Heaven's angels battling at your side. You have CONCOURSES of spiritual giants praying for you every day, including God's Prophet on the Earth today. My word, if I could just hand this burning in my soul and heart to you. 

I sat talking with a woman for two hours and went from nearly sobbing to bursting out laughing and back again. She has so much faith and so much courage to face her trials because she knows that God is on her side and with Him, all things are possible. In our very first lesson with her, we invited her to be baptized and she picked April 25th. We are excited to help prepare her for that day and guide her in her spiritual journey of healing and coming closer to the Savior. Please pray for Mary! 

And now, the thing you've all been waiting to hear about, COVID-19!

No, we are not on lockdown. 

Yes, we do still go out and tract and have lessons. 

No, we don't have any toilet paper. 

Yes, we are using hand sanitizer every day, many times a day. 

No, we don't have any cases of it in Woodstock, VA yet. 

Yes, missionaries are getting sent home, but only if they are immunocompromised and/or have lung issues. 

No, I don't know what's actually going on outside of Woodstock. 

Yes, we did buy food storage stuff. 

No, I'm not scared and no I'm not coming home. 

Yes, I do think that the Lord has been preparing us for this for a very looooonngggggg time. Decades of preparation. Therefore: no fear. "Let your faith be bigger than your fear!!" 

Et maintenant, tu as d'écouter de moi et mon mauvais français! Je suis désolé! Mais, je veux continuer à vous montrer mes progrès. 

Dieu nous a donné son fils, Jésus-Christ. Jésus-Christ est mon berger. Il est génial et mon ami vient pleuvoir ou briller! Il chercher l'agnue perdu. Doux et vrai sont ses voies. Je vais lui faire confiance et suivre ses chemins. Nous sommes tous tellement bénis d'être sous sa garde!! 

Je t'aime! Vous tous!! Have a blessed week and wash your hands! 

Love, Sister Morrison 

Onward and Upward 

Que Dieu Vous bénisse