My Reason to be Brave

I have started a new blog called "Finding the Sunshine" about my battle with depression. I am hoping that by sharing a little bit of what I am going through, I'll be able to help somebody, somewhere. Please feel free to check it out and tell others about it. 

Love, Rach

http://yellowinthegray.blogspot.com/

Be still, and know that I am God.

"However bewildering this all may be, these afflictions are some of the realities of mortal life, and there should be no more shame in acknowledging them than in acknowledging a battle with high blood pressure or the sudden appearance of a malignant tumor." http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/10/like-a-broken-vessel

When I was sixteen years old, I was diagnosed with MDD or Depression. I have battled with it since.

"So how do you best respond when mental or emotional challenges confront you or those you love? Above all, never lose faith in your Father in Heaven, who loves you more than you can comprehend. As President Monson said to the Relief Society sisters so movingly last Saturday evening: “That love never changes. … It is there for you when you are sad or happy, discouraged or hopeful. God’s love is there for you whether or not you feel you deserve [it]. It is simply always there.” Never, ever doubt that, and never harden your heart." http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/10/like-a-broken-vessel

The last six months on my mission were incredibly difficult, but the best experience of my life. I've been honorably released and sent home to battle my depression. Something that I've learned on my mission is about the ENABLING power of the Atonement. The Atonement doesn't just cover sins or mistakes. Jesus Christ is the only one who knows EXACTLY how I am feeling right now. I testify that our Savior, Jesus Christ knows us all individually. He is the reason I could get up every morning, and the reason I keep going. I know this church is true, with all of my heart. I wish I was still in Washington, but the Lord has different plans in mind for me. I'm ready to serve.

Love, Rachel

Week 27

Hello all!

This week was pretty tough, not going to lie. Sister Goble (pronounced like "global" without the beginnning l" are still trying to adjust to each other and each other's teaching styles. But, we have definitely made major strides in getting to know each other better and getting along better.

We had a very interesting lesson with a former investigator this week. We have been texting everyone to see if they want to meet up and still learn. They only respond via text, no wonder missionaries are going more digital. But, this former named Danil (from Russia) responded and said he would like to meet up. As soon as we got there, we knew it wasn't going to go well. We started to try and teach him and he just had a rebuttal for everything we said. Finally, I got so frustrated that I said, "Danil, WHY did you agree to meet up with us?" He says, "So that I can teach you the truth." We wrapped the lesson up pretty quickly from there. He said the closing prayer, and prayed that "We would find the truth and no longer be blind." It was a very, very frustrating experience. I have never felt so disrespected in my entire life. He didn't respect us enough to not waste our time. But, the lesson I learned from this event was that without a doubt, this church is true. I know it. I felt beaten down as a missionary and as a person, but then I remembered that people even rejected our Savior, Jesus Christ.

We had a baptism on Saturday! Erika got baptized. It was SUCH an awesome, spiritual experience. I was sooo happy for her. (And, miracle of miracles, Sister Hehl got to come!!!!!!!! I was SO happy to see that girl. She truly is one of my best friends.) At the end of her baptism, Erika shared her testimony and it is one of the strongest I have ever heard. I am so thankful that Heavenly Father has allowed me to come here and to meet these people and feel of their faith.

Something sad happened this weekend. Kat and Joe (Dave and Jessica) moved :( After working with them for so long, it just about broke my heart to have to say goodbye to them, especially since they still haven't made the necessary changes to come to Christ. I think I now Know to a TINY extent what Heavenly Father must feel like when we have the truth but still choose to disobey the commandments. He wants us to choose the right, but we all have agency. I want Kat and Joe to change, but they have agency. All I can do is share the truth and pray for them.

I'm so grateful to be a missionary. It is one of the hardest things I've ever done, but it is amazing. I know that this church is true, and that our Savior Jesus Christ leads it.

Love always, Sister Morrow

What week are we on anyways? Twenty six?

Hello family and friends!

Let me tell you about the wonderful Erika!

SHE IS GETTING BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY!!!!!!! WAHOOOOOO!!!!

I am so stoked for her. She is absolutely amazing. When our District Leader interviewed her, he asked, "Are you sure you aren't already a member?!" She is absolutely wonderful.

The rest of this week was decent. I'm just trying to help Sister Goble get situated in the Branch. Everyone really likes her so far! We are gonna work hard and be a great team, I can just feel it. :)

So, I wanted to share a spiritual thought this week! So all the YSA missionaries are on a rotation where we get to go to institute. This week was our week to go, and it was awesome. We were talking about the Book of Mormon and Nephi asking his brothers if they remembered things. The institute teacher showed us the hebrew word for remember. The literal translation of the word is "Our first leader who was nailed in the hand and bled." If that translation is true...how amazing! The word "remember" even reminds us of our Savior.

There was something else I was thinking about this week. Yesterday for a rest hymn we sang "A Poor Wayfaring Man." There is a line in the second verse that says "I gave him all." I was thinking about that...do I give Him all? Too often I find myself making God's work about me. I don't know if it is completely possible to give Him all as a mortal being, but I sure am working on it. I look forward to the day when I can truly have an eye single to His glory. A lofty, but worthy goal, wouldn't you say? :)

Well, that's about all for this week. We are staying busy working with Less-Actives, Kat and Joe, Yerry, and Erika as well as trying to find new investigators. I love being a missionary! I can't believe that I'm a third of the way done with my mission!!! That's craziness. I don't look forward to the day when I'll have to take my badge off. But, until then, Hurrah for Israel! Love you all so much.

Love, Sister Morrow

Rachel and & recently transferred...Sister Hehl

 

Week 25

Additional note: The only other info we were able to gather from Rachel is that her new companion is Sis Goble.

 

Dear loved ones,

I dunno even know where to start. This will probably be a short email because there is so much to write that I'm only gonna write a little bit. That makes sense, right? ;)

Drumroll please......

I am staying in the Mirror Lake Branch, and Sister Hehl is being transferred. I am so glad I am staying here, I really don't feel like my work is done. However, I am NOT happy to be separated from Sister Hehl. We had such a solid team going. But, I know the Lord calls us to go where He needs us, and obviously Sister Hehl is needed somewhere else. I am REALLY gonna miss that girl.

As far as the work goes, we had a crazy week. We now have four people on date for baptism:

Yerry: I think I talked about him last time. From Puerto Rico, super awesome. On date for November 9th.

Erika: A friend of a girl in the branch. On date for NEXT WEEKEND! She is soooo prepared to be baptized. She has been called "half Mormon" all her life because she is such good friends with members. I am so so excited for her!

Kat and Joe (Dave and Jessica): Theyyyy''''rrrrrreeeeee back! Long story short, we got them to come to church this weekend and they ended up going to a fireside about near death experiences. Joe has had a near death experience, and the fireside really touched him. He called us up that night and said, "I just want to let you guys know that I'm ready." So, they are back on date for November 16th!

It's been an awesome week, a busy week, and a bittersweet week. I am so grateful to be a missionary and for the Lord's help. I'm learning more and more every single day that I can't do ANYTHING without Him. I love you all!

Love, Sister Morrow

Week 24

Hello all!

So, this week was a tough one. I still wasn't feeling good, and ended up staying in on Wednesday. That was tough on Sister Hehl. I felt pretty badly about it. It was also hard because we have zero investigators. BUT! We have two new investigators! We've only met them once though...haha. Their names are Niko and Yerryban (Jerry, in English). Niko doesn't look super promising because he hardcore stood us up at a lesson we had planned yesterday. But Yerry is from Puerto Rico and is awesome! Hopefully we will get to teach him this week.

The highlight of my week was conference, of course. Conference = Christmas on a mission. My favorite talk was the talk Elder Holland gave. I bawled my eyes out. I've never had a talk that was like this one. I'm pretty sure Elder Holland wrote it just for me. For those of you who don't know, I was diagnosed with Depression when I was sixteen. I have dealt with it since, and it has been a trial, but it has strengthened my testimony so much. When I feel at my lowest, I know that the Savior is there with me. As Elder Holland put it, "When the bitter cup does not pass, drink it and look forward to better days ahead." It strengthens me so much to know that my Savior knows what the bitter cup tastes like. He loves me, and each of us, and is on our side no matter what. Depression isn't easy to handle, but with the Savior on my side, I can do all things. (Phil 4:13)

Another thing I really loved about conference was President Uchtdorf's talk. "Doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith." I LOVE that. Too often I get wrapped up and sucked into my doubts and blinded by them. Heavenly Father doesn't give us doubts. Satan does. We should doubt our doubts are valid before we start doubting the faith that God gave us.

This is the last week of this transfer. :( I have no clue what is going to happen, so I'm just gonna make this the best week ever. I have LOVED serving in the Mirror Lake YSA Branch. I love these kids with all of my heart. This branch is "home." But, I will go where the Lord wants me to go! Each area I have left I have felt like my heart was going to break, but I end up loving my new area just as much as my last area.

I love you all, pray for you all, and hope all is well.

Love always,

Sister Morrow

Week 23

Hello all!

So this last week was full of ups and downs..

...the best "up" being that Jennifer got baptized on Saturday!

It was kinda stressful haha. She was late getting to the baptism...she forgot a towel...she took 15 minutes getting ready...but it turned out beautifully in the end. :) President Eaton was the one who baptized her! I gave a talk on baptism, which went pretty well. (In front of my mission pres...no pressure.) Jennifer is so sweet, and it was so wonderful to watch her be baptized.

With the baptism of Jennifer, we are back to ZERO investigators! Blank slate, I guess! Time to start tracting hardcore! It'll be fun. :)

This weekend I got pretty sick, which was a bummer. I had a bad sore throat, headache, stuffy nose, ear aches...just a bad cold. So, Sister Hehl and I did splits. I stayed at Sister Grisham's, and Sister Hehl went out with two other sisters from the branch. Sister Hehl is such a hard worker. I'm so blessed to have her as my comp.

Going to the Relief Society Broadcast this weekend was THE BEST! I am so so so so so excited for General Conference. Even as a missionary, I still need to fill my spiritual well every once in a while. I loved that the focus of the meeting was covenants. I became very overwhelmed with gratitude as I realized how blessed I am to have made sacred covenants in the temple at the age of 19. I'm so grateful for the temple. I miss it so much! Hopefully we will be able to go to the Seattle temple once or twice in the next year...

So funny story, Jennifer figured out my name from my scriptures, and now she calls me Rachel. Yesterday, in Gospel Principles, I made a comment and she commented after me. "I really agree with what Rachel said..." Everyone started giggling. I heard some people behind me say, "Her name is Rachel?!" You know you're a missionary when your first name is some big secret....

One last thought. During personal study this week, I read from some old Ensigns we have. The particular one I was studying was from the October conference of 2010. David M. McConkie gave a really great talk called "Gospel Learning and Teaching." My favorite quote from the talk: "Successful gospel teachers love the gospel. They are excited about it. And because they love their students, they want them to feel as they feel and to experience what they have experienced. To teach the gospel is to share your love of the gospel." This really made me step back and look at my teaching style. Am I teaching out of love? How can I develop the attitude necessary to be a successful gospel teacher? Well, Elder McConkie answered my questions.

1. Immerse yourself in the scriptures

2. Apply the things you learn to your life

3. Seek Heaven's help

4. Act on promptings you receive

This talk made me realize that to be a good teacher, I need to be a good student. I need to absorb the gospel, and love it with all my heart. :)

I love you all, and I am so thankful to be a missionary. Hurrah for Israel!

Love, Sister Morrow

I don't know about you, but I'm feelin' week tweeenntyy twwooo...

Hello all!

Highlights from this week!

-Stephanie got baptized on Saturday! It was SUCH a great experience. The program went really well, and a good number of people showed up to support her. The best part of it for me though was the actual baptism. Sister Hehl and I got to watch from the dressing room. After Stephanie was baptized, she had the most amazing expression on her face. She was literally glowing. I've never really understood it when people say others can "glow" but I definitely understand it now. As I saw her face, I had the thought: "THAT is why I am a missionary." It is why I am a missionary, to see my brothers and sisters come to Christ. The amazing part about it is I have absolutely nothing to do with it all. I am just here at the right time. The Lord is putting these prepared people in our path! I am so grateful to be here.

-We had an AWESOME lesson with a recent convert from the Dash Point ward on Friday. We were going to teach her about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but when we got there, I felt like we should just ask her questions about her conversion. She told us her story, and then we asked if she had any advice for us. She told us to relate to people more, because people have had some tough life experiences, herself included. I said, "How am I supposed to relate to people? I'm a little baby nineteen year old girl who is from Utah and hasn't had to deal with anything in life." She sat there and thought for a second, and then she said, "You just can listen and care. You are only nineteen, but at nineteen you are going to change a lot of lives." It was a realllllly spiritual, neat experience. I haven't been through anything close that these people have been through, but I can listen, and I can love them.

-We got a new branch president! I am sad to see President Dueck go, he has been awesome. But, he has a lot going on in his life right now and he couldn't handle it all. Our new branch president is Marty Grisham! He was the first councilor to President Dueck. Marty was the first person we met out here in Federal Way. He has truly become our "mission dad" (Don't worry dad, ain't nobody gonna replace you.)

Well, when I look back on this week I guess not too much happened "event" wise. But it was still a great week. It was hard, it was strenuous, but it was great. I love being a missionary, I love being out here, I love the work. I am learning so much. Thank you all for your prayers and support!

Love always,

Sister Morrow

Rachel still has to be creative on her mission!

Sister Morrow and Sister Hehl

Week 21! Loving Life!

Hello everyone! Yet another week has come and gone. I swear, time goes by faster and faster the longer I am out here!

So! About this week:

-Sister H and I went and served a lady in our area on Tuesday. She is in her forties, and is a quadriplegic. She has a muscle disorder where all her muscles are always tight. She can't move at all. We got to go and help her move her arms and her legs. It was a huge blessing, and an eye opening moment. She can't even move her fingers, and here I am, blessed to be able to walk, run, jump, write, type...We are going to be helping her every week now, and I am so excited. It is such a humbling experience, and I truly love her.

-We had a church tour with our new investigator, Jennifer, on Tuesday. I can't remember if I wrote about Jennifer, but she was found by some Elders in the area and they referred her over to us. At the church tour, we were at the baptismal font, talking about the blessings of baptism and being a member of the church. We asked her what she was thinking, and she looked up at us and said, "I'm thinking I really want to be baptized." It was amazing. The spirit was so strong! It was like an electrical shock when she said it. So, she is going to be baptized on October 12th! She can't wait. Yesterday, we had a new member fireside which gives recent converts an opportunity to bear their testimony. Jennifer came with us. She talked with President Eaton and Sister Eaton and other people. At the end of the meeting she leaned over and said to me, "I want to invite President Eaton to my baptism." Whaaaa?!?! So we walked over and she invited him! He put it in his calendar. Jennifer is absolutely incredible and so prepared to hear the gospel.

-On Tuesday we had a lesson with our investigator Stephanie. We talked about her baptism date, which was September 28th. She moved it up to this weekend!!! I am so excited to see her baptized this weekend. It is going to be such a huge blessing for her. She has so much faith. Her dad still isn't supportive of her getting baptized, but she is going to anyways. She is so strong, and I feel so blessed to have been able to meet her. Get this. She has already expressed a desire to serve a mission! She is so strong in the faith.

Something I was thinking about this week is how blessed I am to be able to serve a mission. Almost exactly a year ago, I heard the announcement that changed my life. I have received so many blessings for being out here, and I have changed so much already even though I've only been out about five months. Some things that I have gained from my mission thus far:

-Love of the scriptures: I actually WANT to read the scriptures. I crave them. I look forward to study and times I can just sit down and read.

-Love of the sacrament: I never really appreciated the Sacrament until I came on my mission. It is so sanctifying, and such a blessing.

-Lessons about agency: Everyone has agency, and sometimes I hate it. But it is such a wonderful gift from our Father in Heaven. He has given us the tools we need to succeed, and all we have to do is choose the right.

-True happiness: I miss Facebook, my music, my iTouch, Pinterest, shopping, no curfews, BYU, my family, my friends...but when it comes down to it, I am so happy here. It is a different brand of happiness. There is absolutely nothing like the feeling that comes when someone makes the choice to follow our Savior, and I am there to witness it.

This church is true! I know it, and I love it. I love you all! Until next week.

Love, Sister Morrow

Week 20

Hello all!

The email this week is probably gonna be a bit shorter! I don't have too much to write about this week, event-wise.

We had some fun "extreme" weather this week! "Extreme" for Washington, that is. :) We had a few thunderstorms and some hail. I loved it. Felt like I was back in good ole' Utah. :) That is one thing I have really really missed about UT, the thunderstorms.

We got a new investigator this week! She was a referral from the Federal Way Elders. Her name is Jennifer. She is SUPER smart. We were teaching her the Restoration and she was asking super in-depth questions like "How did Moses know he was a prophet? Did God physically talk to him?" I need to brush up on my bible stories. And then she started asking about heaven and hell. We briefly talked about paradise and prison, and the three kingdoms. She said, "Wow. I've actually thought about that before, if there is more than just heaven and hell." It was awesome.

I had an inward battle with myself this week. Everyone, here is a confession: I LOATHE tracting with every fiber of my being. I hate having to start conversations with strangers on their doorsteps. Some missionaries think it is a rush. I just get all panicky thinking about it. So I was thinking about it a lot, and questioning why I even have to tract as a YSA missionary. We just end up referring everyone to other missionaries anyways. So, I was praying about it and thinking about it a lot. The conclusion I've come to is: I tract to show obedience so the Lord can bless my efforts. Tracting isn't very effective, but I love the Lord and I am willing to try and show that through the sacrifice of tracting. Something else that I learned while having this battle: Just because I'm not good at talking to strangers doesn't mean I am a bad missionary. I have other talents and skills that are important in missionary work. Talking with strangers just isn't one of them. It was just a reminder to me that we are all different. God has given us different sets of skills, trials, etc. He loves us, and He wants us to use the talents we have, because we all have them.

Well, that's all for this week! I love you all so much. Hurrah for Israel!

Love, Sister Morrow

Week 19

Hello everyone!

This week was a long, awesome, exhausting week full of some incredible stuff!

Well, the biggest news was Shannon's baptism! It went soooo well. Well, we had some hiccups but I'd say it went really well. Shannon was just beaming and glowing. It made me SO happy to see the joy in her face. The closing song was "I Believe in Christ." I was sitting next to Shannon, and she was singing so loudly, so confidently. It has been a miracle and a blessing to see the changes she has made and to see her faith grow.

Some other really cool stuff!

This week we had exchanges with our Sister Trainer Leader. Sister Hehl went to that area, and Sister Brittany Barlow from Kaysville, Utah came into my area. She went to Davis, and we have a lot of mutual friends! It was fun to talk about home. But while we were on that exchange, we were working on a list of all the YSA's in the Stake. I can't remember if I have already mentioned this, but we are going through the list to see who is still in the boundaries, who is married, who isn't interested, etc. I saw a name on there and just decided to go there. It turns out that the girl who we had come to visit didn't actually live there, but was visiting with her sister. She had been thinking about coming back to church but didn't know where to start. She was about to go take a nap and thought about praying when we knocked on the door. It was such an incredible experience. And her sister isn't a member, and wants to be baptized! (Unfortunately we are having a hard time getting back into contact with her since she lives in Tacoma)
 

The second miracle that happened on the exchange is we met a sweet girl named Stephanie who is the friend of some members in the stake. One of the boys in that family returned from his mission in Brazil last week, and has been teaching Stephanie. We came over and had a lesson with her, and she is GOLDEN. She knows this church is true. The spirit was so strong as we testified to her. She said she wants to be baptized, and would be baptized this weekend, but her dad isn't very supportive right now. We are praying that her dad's heart will be softened and that she will be able to be baptized as soon as possible, especially before she goes off to school.
 

Oh...I should probably talk about transfers haha! Sister Hehl and I are staying together here in the Mirror Lake YSA Branch! We are both so glad we are staying. I personally feel like we still have so much to do here. And we have become such good friends. Sister Hehl is a sister to me. We have so much fun together! I'm so grateful that I will get to be with her for at least 3 transfers. :)
 

Also, I just want to thank all of my extended family for their support and love. When we get the mail, Sister Hehl and I always tell each other who the letters we got are from. The other day she turned to me and said, "You have so much support from your extended family!" It is so true. The majority of my mail is from extended family. Thank you so much for your love, support, and prayers. I am so blessed to have you all!
 

I know this church is true. Something that I have really learned on my mission thus far is to rely on the Atonement of our Savior. Every single day, I feel completely inadequate. However, every morning I get on my knees and ask for the help I need to get through the day. I AM completely inadequate, but I am not alone. My Savior took upon himself my sins and infirmities, He knows me perfectly. He knows that I can't do this alone, so He strengthens me. I know that the Atonement is real, and is enabling. I know this church is true!

Love, Sister Morrow

Week 18, 4 months in!

Hello all!

Fun fact: On Saturday was my 4 month "anniversary" of leaving on my mission! How crazy. I am so grateful to be a missionary!

This week has been INSANELY AWESOME. Get ready for the best story you will ever hear in your entire life:

On Tuesday, we were having a lesson with our eternal investigator, Shannon. She has been investigating the church off and on for 8 years. She just kept saying that she didn't know the church is true, so she didn't want to commit. Well I've been praying long and hard about this sweet girl. I just didn't know what to do. Every single lesson we had with her was utterly frustrating for me. I left each time wanting to pull my hair out. She was always SO CLOSE to knowing, to understanding. She just wouldn't commit!

On Tuesday, I had had enough. I remember in the MTC, an Elder in my district using Mosiah 18 to extend the baptismal invitation. So, I whipped it out and we read it with her. We expressed to her that she didn't need to KNOW to be baptized. She didn't need to be PERFECT to be baptized. When I got baptized when I was 8, I didn't know the church was true, but I believed it. And that is all that was required for me to enter into that sacred covenant with God. So after talking with her about all of this, I looked her in the eye and said: "So Shannon. Will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by someone holding the proper authority of God?" She sighed, put her head down on the desk, and asked, "When?"

AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Right then and there, she set up a Facebook event. She is getting baptized on this very SATURDAY! AUGUST 31st! I cannot express how excited I am. It is such a blessing to have been a part of this. After 8 years, Shannon is finally taking that leap of faith. She is such an incredible example to me. She has taught me that this life isn't about knowing. It is about having faith, and believing that God will make up the difference.

This church is true. I believe it and I know it! I have seen it bless so many people. I am so grateful I get to be a missionary, especially here in the Mirror Lake YSA Branch with Sister Hehl. I know that I am where I am supposed to be.

I love you all!

Hurrah for Israel!

Love, Sister Morrow

17 Miracles

Note: This was from August 19th

Hello all!

It is week 17, so I'm going to write about seventeen miracles that I have seen this week:

1. The miracle of zone conference. Why was zone conference a miracle? Every zone conference seems to address my needs exactly! This zone conference was focused on charity and on teaching people, not lessons. I loved it so much. President Eaton was incredible, as always.

2. The miracle of the Book of Mormon. We taught Dave and Jessica on Tuesday about the Book of Mormon, and Jessica turned and said to us, "I feel something different when I read this book." It was incredible to see that light in her eyes. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and its teachings can change lives!

3. The miracle of the piano. Sister Hehl is preforming this upcoming Sunday in a trio. She is playing the piano. So this week we took a half hour for her to practice her piece, "O, My Father." Hymns have so much power. I can't explain how calm I felt listening to her, and how much it strengthened my testimony just by singing the words in my head. I know that I have a Father in Heaven who loves us.

4. The miracle of being focused. Mom and dad, I thought it was gonna be killer knowing that you guys were in Seattle this weekend/will be for a bit. So I prayed extra hard that Heavenly Father would help me stay focused on my work. I can't tell you how much He has blessed me to stay focused, even when I knew you guys were so close. He heard and answered my prayers.

5. The miracle of our branch mission leader. Our BML, Danilo, is from Chile and he is AMAZING. He has such an incredible testimony and such a strong passion for missionary work. He came with us to a lesson this week and it was SO beneficial to have him there. He testified so strongly about faith, and that we don't receive a witness until after the trial of our faith.

6. The miracle of member missionary work. We have had at least four investigators introduced to us by members. They have been looking for missionary experiences and have been finding them! We have been able to teach a lot of people because their friends were willing to introduce us to them.

7. The miracle of having a best friend for a companion. I can't even express with words how grateful I am to have Sister Alyssa Hehl as my companion. We have become so close in our three or so months together. When I got set apart, my stake president didn't mention anything about companions, so I just assumed that I would get along with my companions. I have, and become SUCH great friends with Sister Hehl. I didn't expect a blessing like that. We laugh together over the silliest things and just have fun while we are doing the work! It is so much easier to be a missionary when I am happy, and Sister Hehl helps me stay happy. I'm so grateful that I've been blessed enough to have her as my comp.

8. The miracle of a typewriter. Did I ever mention that our apartment has a typewriter? Yup. An old-fashioned, electric typewriter. It is AWESOME. We have three lists of less active YSA's in the stake that we have been taking notes on, and we definitely needed to consolidate. So, we pulled out our typewriter and consolidated! Needless to say, I'm glad that we now have computers with the capability to delete haha.

9. The miracle of our Brazilian friend. We have an awesome Recent Convert named Deise from Brazil that we have been working with. She doesn't quite have the testimony that she needs, so we have been teaching her lessons and stuff. She has been such a positive influence on us, and has helped me look for evidence in the scriptures to help her that have ended up helping ME.

10. The miracle of being a missionary. I actually felt like a missionary this week. I am starting to get used to the schedule and the lifestyle, and I am loving it. It is extremely hard, but extremely rewarding. I have seen so many blessings come into my life because of the opportunity I have to serve. I can't even imagine my life without being a missionary, and it is funny to think that a year ago a mission was NOT even on my radar.

11. The miracle of the new member fireside. We had an awesome new member fireside yesterday. Essentially, it is a testimony meeting for recent converts. I got to see my sweet Dawn there! I worked with her in my first area in Lake Holm. As soon as we saw each other we ran and gave each other the biggest hug. I can't describe it accurately, but it gave me a glimpse of what it will be like to see those I love in Heaven, especially people I have helped do work for. I love Dawn so much, and I am so grateful that I got to see her. She bore her testimony about the "little girls" (sister missionaries) who came to her door and who have continued to work with her. I am grateful I got to be one of those little girls.

12. The miracle of Washington. It has been an absolutely gorgeous week. This morning, Sister Hehl and I were out walking and the sky was absolutely gorgeous. The first rays of the sun were hitting the edges of the clouds and each individual cloud looked like it was glowing. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father created such a beautiful world for us to live in! Being able to see and appreciate nature brings such peace to me.

13. The miracle of Luke 24. In zone conference, President Eaton taught about Luke 24 and the importance of the fact that the two disciples invited Jesus Christ to tarry with them. It made me step back and look at my life and see if I am inviting Christ to stay in my life.

14. The miracle of Sister Eaton. "You aren't adequate. But you aren't alone."

15. The miracle of the blue dress. Last Monday, we took Jessica shopping and bought her a dress for church. It was so rewarding to see the smile on her face.

16. The miracle of the GPS. I'd be lost without it. We cover such a big area that we would be absolutely useless without it. Thank you so much mom and dad for sending it haha.

17. The miracle of the sacrament. As a missionary, Sunday has become my favorite day of the week because I get to partake of the sacred ordinance of the Sacrament. As a missionary I think about the church A LOT, but it doesn't compare to the peace that comes from sitting in the chapel and partaking of the sacrament.

As I look back over this list, some of these things seem like a stretch as "miracles." But I know that miracles are in my life every single day, in all shapes and sizes. The greatest miracle of all is my Savior. I know He lives, and this is His church! Hurrah for Israel!

Love, Sister Morrow

Hello all!

I don't have a ton of time to write this week, so sorry about that.

Highlights of the week:

-Sister Hehl got stitches on Saturday. Okay, that's not a highlight. But it was something rather big that happened haha. We were having a lesson at Dave and Jessica's house and went on a walk on the trail behind their house. We were walking back up the hill and Sister H sliced her ankle on a broken glass bottle. She didn't think it was too deep, but alas, we could see her tendon. I almost puked. Not really. But I did get shaky. But anyways, I made some slightly frantic calls to Sister Eaton and President Eaton and they directed me to take her to Urgent Care where they stitched her right up. I was actually the doctor's assistant, helping him by sanitarily (is that a word?) opening up sucher equipment. I forced myself to watch him give the stitches so that I would be less squeemish. Ya, I'm still squeamish.

 

-We had a great lesson with a less active named Orrin. I shared Mosiah 2:17 and he started crying. He said, "Sister Morrow, you are only the second person in my life to make me tear up. You have changed my life. I can tell you right now, you are meant to be on a mission here, right now. Both of you are." I was kinda just floored. What an experience.

 

-Dave and Jessica need some prayers. Satan is doing EVERYTHING in his power to work against them. But we are working even harder. I know that God is on our side and will bless them to overcome their trials.

 

-An Aunt of one of our investigators called us and chewed me out. Specifically me. For inviting her nephew to be baptized. That was fun. After the phone call I just bawled. I felt so down on myself! I have been working so hard to do God's will, and that's how I was treated. But, life is life, and that investigator has the choice to be offended about being invited to repent or has the choice to accept the invitation.

 

-The pastor that Dave and Jessica live with asked us for $300,000 for her organization. That was fun trying to explain to her that we have NO idea how to help her and that she needs to get in contact with other people. She wouldn't have it.

 

-We participated in a service project as a zone to help set up a fundraiser auction for a home for battered women. It was really fun, and we got to see a lot of beautiful art. Dad, there was an artist selling candles that were made out of rocks! The rocks were cut and polished and an oil lamp is attached to the bottom and wick comes out through the rock. He lit one for us...it was gorgeous. I wanted to buy one for you. You would love it.

 

-I just gotta say. Sister Hehl is the best. We are such great friends. I am so blessed to have her as my companion! Heavenly Father knew I would need her in my life.

Sorry this is a short one, guys! But know that this church is true!

Hurrah for Israel!

Love, Sister Morrow

 

 

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Hello all!

It has been one crazzzzzyyy week. The craziest of my mission so far. Because it was so crazy, I'm just going to write about it day by day:

 

Monday: P-days are like my favorite and least favorites days because they are SO BUSY. But we got to go to the Redondo boardwalk on the Sound and had lunch at a restaurant called Salty's. I had crab mac and cheese. It was fantastic. :) I would send pictures but we are on rented laptops at the library and they crash if we try to send pictures. :( Maybe next week!

Tuesday: We went on an exchange with our Sister Trainer Leader. Sister Woodland, the Sister Trainer Leader came to my area. She is incredible. She has been through so much in her life and she has totally changed my outlook on missionary work. But before we went on exchanges, Sister Hehl and I went and saw a referral we had named Dave. He is a black guy in his twenties, and he is hilarious. Basically, he is my black brother. Brotha. Whatever. ;) We sat and talked with him and his girlfriend Jessica and they are on date for baptism on August 31! They are SO prepared. Jessica told us that she had been clean from drugs and alcohol for two weeks before she even met us, and Dave said he is willing to clean up his life and stop smoking eventually. It was just such a great lesson and we were so excited. On exchanges, Sister Woodland and I taught to recent converts. Those lessons were so incredibly spiritual. I love feeling the spirit testify through us that what we are teaching is true!

Wednesday: WE GOT OUR AREA BOOK! So the Elders before us had lost the Area Book at a zone conference and it somehow ended up in the Seattle mission. With a lot of phone calls and prayers, we got it back! I can't tell you what a miracle this is. The Area Book contains records of everyone that has been taught in this area, what they've learned, etc. I am so glad we got it back.

Thursday: The first day EVER that I actually enjoyed tracting. Honestly, I hated tracting with a passion. It is so terrifying to knock on someone's door and start talking about the gospel. I thought it wouldn't be that bad, but I really haven't liked it. BUT. Sister Woodland taught me a better way to tract than I had been taught. She taught me to fit principles of the gospel into the conversation right off the bat. It's a bit more aggressive than the way I had learned. Instead of just pretty much announcing who we are just to be turned away, now I ask about their beliefs and slip our beliefs in here and there. It feels so much more natural and effective. We found a lot of potential investigators, but unfortunately we can't teach like any of them because they aren't YSA's. But that's okay! Some missionary will be able to teach them! :) We also had a great church tour with Dave and Jessica. They talk a lot, but we were able to get them to quiet down and feel the spirit. It was amazing. :)

Friday: We had another AWESOME church tour with an investigator named Marshall! He accepted to be baptized on August 24th because he will be out of town on the 31st. :) He is so great and I am so excited to work with him. He first became interested when his aunt converted. He even wears a CTR ring that she gave him along with his cross. :)

Saturday: We had a pretty scary experience on Saturday. We were tracting and long story short, we ran into a situation that we needed to get out of. The spirit left almost as soon as the guy answered the door. I am so grateful for the protection God provides for His missionaries. Truly. That situation could have gotten much much worse very quickly, but the Spirit prompted us to leave so we did. I am so grateful that we have the Spirit! The second counselor in the Branch presidency's wife let us come to her house for a few minutes to cry and calm down. I am so grateful for her and for her love and concern. She was a mom when we needed one :)

Sunday: Dave and Jessica came to church. Not only did they come to church, but Dave got up AND BORE HIS TESTIMONY! He talked about how he knows the church is true, and that he knows it because we DO what Christ did. Everybody was tearing up in the audience. The spirit was so so strong! After Dave sat down, I turned to Sister Hehl and mouthed, "Is this real life?!" Then we were in charge of teaching the lesson in Relief Society about missionary work. I was nervous about what Jessica would think about us talking about what we do. But near the end of the lesson she raised her hand and said that she just wanted to thank us for being her friends and for bringing truth into her life. She said that she has never been religious, and this is the happiest she has every been in her entire life and she wishes everyone could have this joy. Sister Hehl and I totally choked up and pretty much ended the lesson there. I cannot even DESCRIBE the feelings I had yesterday. Seeing the pure joy in Dave and Jessica's eyes...there is nothing like it. They have come so far in the very short time that we have known them. The joy that missionary work brings is like an adrenaline rush that just keeps coming. So this is what it feels like to be a missionary. :)

The church is true! This gospel is true! I love being a missionary and the abundance of blessings it brings. I love you all and pray for you.

Hurrah for Israel!

Love, Sister Morrow

Hello all!

Well, it has been quite the week!

  On Tuesday, Sister Hehl and I got out of zone transferred to the Federal Way zone. We are in the Mirror Lake YSA branch. It is SO weird being in YSA again! We are young single adults...but we are missionaries. Quite the paradox haha. We introduced ourselves in Elders Quorum and the 1st councilor got up with us and said "You protect this sisters. You are their big brothers." Basically what he was saying was, "These girls are off limits, so don't even THINK about it." It was pretty funny haha. We haven't had any issues with the brothers so far. :) We did have one investigator ask us out...ya awkward. But we just explained that we can't date on our missions haha.

 So far I absolutely love this branch. The leaders are so supportive and so excited to have sisters here. Apparently the Elders who were here last were slightly on the lazy side...But anyways haha. :) There is a lot of potential in this branch. I can feel it! I have a feeling Sister H and I are going to get a lot done in this area and see a lot of miracles.

  Because we are in the singles branch, we cover the whole stake. A lot of our work is going to be trying to track down less actives and unknowns. Federal Way is beautiful! We are right near the Puget Sound and we get to see it through the trees now and again. Today we are hopefully going to try to go to Redondo to the boardwalk.

  I wish I had lots to report on as far as investigators, but I don't. :( The guy who asked us out, Gray, is coming to church on Sunday. We were given an investigator from the Elders that has been investigating the church for 7 years. Hopefully we will get to meet her soon! She lives out of the mission boundaries though so she has to come to us. We have an appointment today with a former investigator from the Elders at five, and he is bringing his girlfriend and brother! That's THREE! I'm excited, and I think it will go well.

  This week during our meal breaks, Sister H and I watched "The Mountain of the Lord" which is all about the building of the Salt Lake City temple. I was soooo humbled by the sacrifices made by the saints to build that temple. In part of the movie, Brigham Young promises a man that future generations of saints will praise him for his work because they will be able to make sacred covenants in that temple. I got very emotional as I realized how much that man's work has affected MY life. My parents got sealed in that very temple. My family had its beginnings in that beautiful house of the Lord. And someday, I'm going to start my own family there. I am so grateful for the sacrifices of so many that allows us to have temples and thus eternal families.

Thank you all for your prayers and love. I love being a missionary! This week I asked Sister H, "Can you even imagine your life without serving a mission?" I truly can't. It is amazing that a year ago a mission wasn't EVEN in the far reaches of my plans. God has a way of making sure we end up where we need to be, though. I am learning so much, and growing so much. I can't imagine my life without having been called to serve the Lord.

Hurrah for Israel!

Love always,

Sister Morrow

Hello everyone!

This is going to be a short one because the computers weren't working so I just barely got on.

So, the news you've all been waiting for......

Sister Hehl and I have both been out-of-zone transferred! We don't know where to though, not yet. And the crazy thing is we are staying together! That doesn't happen very often. I am super sad to be leaving Auburn and the White River Ward. I feel like we just barely were making progress in the area.

A couple of highlights from this week:-Frank texted us and wanted us to teach him again! We had a great lesson with him on Sunday. I am sad that we are leaving him.-I went on an exchange to Lake Holm this week! Talk about WEIRD. It was crazy being back in my old area. I was with Sister Judd, a sister from England. She was born in Detroit but grew up in England. We went to go visit a potential investigator and had an interesting experience haha. The guy was like 80 years old. He had fallen that week, and was bent on showing us his bruises. He lifted up his shirt to show us one on his back, and then pulled down his pants to show us one on his hip. So...I got mooned by an eighty year old.-Some sister in the ward, we don't know who, dropped off 10+ bags of groceries at our apartment. I almost started crying. It meant so much to us that they would go out of their way and spend so much money on us! It was a huge miracle and blessing.-We had an AWESOME lesson with Mikayla and Joel this week. They weren't going to let us in, but they did. We talked about a lot, and Sister Hehl and I took turns keeping the kids occupied. I had one of the sweetest moments ever: Taniah, their six year old girl, was looking through my quad with me. In the back, there is a picture of the Salt Lake temple. She literally gasped and stared at the picture. I said, "Isn't it beautiful? That's a temple! I am getting married in there someday." She looked up at me with these big round eyes and said, "Me too!" For that brief moment, I truly saw heaven in her eyes. I saw that recognition that comes from beyond the veil. It was incredible.-I learned some Marshallese! We had a Marshallese sister we were working with to bring back to church. She taught us how to say "How are you?" and "What have you eaten today?" "H et h'am muurr rhine-ee?" and "Quar manga ta rhine-ee?" I love you all, and I love being a missionary. This work is amazing. For some cool scriptures about missionary work read: D&C 133:57-58 and Isaiah 60:22.Hurrah for Israel!




Love, Sister Morrow


 

 Playing some BBall

Click day Celebration

Hey all,

It was a pretty rough week this last week, not going to lie. But I had a lot of good experiences too. :)
 

-If anyone knows me, you should know that I hate hate HATE exercising. But, I am proud to say that my wonderful companion has been making me run every. Single. Morning. It is awful but wonderful the same time. :) Maybe I'll actually get in shape for the first time in my life...
 

-On Tuesday, we had interviews with President and Sister Eaton. Oh my goodness. I cannot even express how amazing they are. My interview with President was one of the most spiritual experiences I've had in my life. I truly know that President Eaton needs to be here in the Washington Federal Way mission, and that he is called of God.
 

-On Tuesday...I hit a rock. I was pulling off the road for a minute because something was beeping in the car and showing up on the dash. However, I didn't see a medium-sized decorative rock on the side of the road and...I hit it. We got out and checked for damage, and wahoo! There wasn't any! But...that night a light came on on the dash. I got out and looked at the tire and it was hissing. So, Sister Hehl, Sister Thomas (a lady in our ward who was with us, bless her heart) and I got out the spare and the jack and changed the tire! I was proud of us. We didn't even have the Elders come help us. Pictures to come. :)

 

- I had some very interesting experiences with less-active families this week. One of the sisters really opened up to us this week about her having depression, her husband being bipolar, and different issues they are facing. I was just really overwhelmed. It's hard to hear problems that I can't fix! Yesterday we went to see a less active couple who basically for an hour and a half talked about how much they hate bishops. It was rough. But, they want us to come back for dinner on Friday so that will be interesting. I know that as a missionary, one of my mine jobs is to help investigators come to Christ. But I'm seeing more and more after lots of prayer, study, and revelation that a big focus of my mission will probably be reactivation and retention. Our purpose as missionaries is to invite others to come unto Christ. I'll invite everyone--member, less-active, non-member.
 

-I had some anti experience this week! We were walking down a road and some guy yelled some not very nice things about Mormons at us. It was somewhat amusing in the sense that I couldn't tell if I wanted to laugh or cry about it.
 

-A sister in our ward gave us some really good advice this week. She is a returned missionary and she served in the Tulsa, Oklahoma mission. She had so many ideas about things we could do to improve our missions. I loved it!
 

That's about all that happened this week. The work is kinda slow, but we keep going. D&C 64:33 "Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great." I may not be seeing the fruits of my labors right now, but I'll keep doing that which I know I should be doing.

I love you all, and I so appreciate all the letters, prayers, etc.

Love, Sister Morrow

 

Some creative writing by Sister Morrow.....

You Know You're a Missionary When:

-You shovel any food down whenever you get it

-People yell explicitives at you from moving vehicles

-You measure time in transfers and remember things in reference to the last P-day

-District leaders are your best friends or worst enemies

-Being "dropped" is as bad as it sounds

-First names become irrelevant, including your own. In fact, your first name starts sounding like a swear word.

-You get tan lines on your feet from tracting

-You measure how loved you are by the amount of letters you get

-You feel sinful wearing jeans, and naked without your tag 

To be continued...

Dear Everyone,

It's been quite a week! I forgot my journal today so hopefully I can remember everything :/

-Frank: Oh Frank. He had such a great lesson with him on Wednesday talking about the Book of Mormon and baptism. He agreed to be baptized, which was awesome. But then he started talking about that HIS preacher needed to be the one to do it. We tried to explain the whole priesthood authority thing, but he wasn't having it. But it was a great lesson, nonetheless. We set up a return appointment for the following Wednesday. But on Friday, Frank texted us and told us he wasn't interested in the church anymore. He said that it doesn't matter if the Book of Mormon is true or not because the Bible is the only thing that matters. He also said he didn't want to betray his pastor because he has been a good friend to him for the past three months. We responded that we were sad we wouldn't meet with him anymore, but there we were still here if he has any questions. He responded with "The real tragedy is that we can't all worship the same God in the same way." So...we are pretty sure he got antied by his pastor. It was heartbreaking! I really love Frank. He is such a humble, down to earth guy. It just kills me that he was so close to the truth and he is shoving it away.

-We met President Eaton on Wednesday! Let me tell you, he is incredible. Absolutely incredible. I cannot wait to work with him! He is so kind, so approachable, and so knowledgeable. I can already tell that he cares so much about us and about the people here. I feel so blessed to have him as my mission president.

-Mikayla and Joel--we met this family about three weeks ago when we were tracting. Mikayla was busy with her kids so she told us to come back. We came back, and this time her husband Joel was there. We talked to him for a bit about the Book of Mormon and the Restoration. He was raised Jehovah's Witness (or J-Dub, like we like to call them) but was disfellowshipped at age fifteen. He really agreed with everything we were telling him. We then came back again on Friday, and this time Mikayla was just there. She told us a little bit more about her family: Joel has PTSD from fighting in Iraq and really struggles mentally. It is really hard for him to get out of the house, and he has been spending time in a rehab type place. Their oldest daughter Hailey has cebral palsy and behavioral disorders. They are really going through a rough time in their lives. But they are SO ready for this gospel. As we testified of the truth of the Gospel, the Spirit just filled the house. Sister Hehl did most of the teaching for that lesson while I kept the kids distracted. Two girls ages 8 and 5, and a little boy age 3. Next time I am bringing more stuff to keep them entertained. :) But I am just so excited about this family. I cannot even express it. Mikayla agreed to be baptized in September, but we are hoping she decides on sooner. Who knows.

-This transfer apparently is only going to be a five week transfer! Crazy. So that means we only have two full weeks left-this week and next. Apparently a lot of sisters are coming in again, so chances are I will probably be training again. There are also rumors of them calling more Sister Trainer Leaders. Elder Mckendrick and Grandstaff were telling us about that and I just scoffed and said, "Well, at least we don't have to worry about that! We are too new!" Elder Mckendrick said that I shouldn't be so sure about that, a couple of sisters have been called after only being out two transfers. Oh man...

-I love this ward. So much. Our bishop is incredible, and so motivated with missionary work. Also, we have found a lot of couples who are so willing to help us out. One of those couples is Lindsay and Seth Gonzales! I don't know if Scott Holt gets these emails, but let him know that I met them. Seth and Scott were good friends apparently. Oh! The Wilkinsons are related to Rhonda Robertson! Sister Wilkinson and Rhonda are cousins. The church is a really small world.

-We visited Julie and Ray this week, the lady who invited us to her house for a BBQ on the 4th. We went over but she was having a rough day. Her grandson just had surgery and she was taking care of him and she was helping her daughter, son-in-law, two grandkids, and mother-in-law move out of her house. She was stressed, but she let us in and just talked with us. She showed us around her house and showed us pictures of her family. She said that she really wants us to come back and have dinner with her and her husband. Her husband, Ray, wasn't too nice to us the first time we met them. However, this time he was absolutely wonderful towards us. He said that he didn't like Elders and never would've let them in his house, but we were easier to let in. While he was holding his grandson, he said "See Landon, those are the type of girls you need to marry when you get older. Pure and clean from the world." I started tearing up when he said that. I hope that we can progress in the work with them. I love them so much!

-Yesterday, President Eaton and Elder Call our Area Seventy came to our church block. President Eaton and Elder Call both bore their testimonies. They said something really profound that I want to expound upon:

President Eaton's dad is in our ward. He mentioned this, and talked about how his dad used to play the trombone on people's doorsteps on his mission. He then told us that he himself played the accordion on people's doorsteps on HIS mission. He was laughing about "father-like-son." After President finished his remarks, Elder Call said, "It is funny how the Lord uses different instruments to get His work done." I started thinking about that. We are all the Lord's instruments, and we all have something unique about us. Too often I find myself comparing myself to other missionaries and their successes. "Why can't I have a testimony like ____?" "I wish I was as good with people as ____." "I need to be more bold like _____." But that's not who I am. I am me, and always will be. There is something unique I have that I can share. I may not be as elegant as a flute or as soulful as a violin, but I've got something to share, and so does everyone else.

Missionary work is wonderful, exhausting, hard, amazing--everything! 6:30-10:30 days can be really hard. But you know what? It is worth it.

I love you all! Hurrah for Israel!

Love, Sister Morrow

Service! We helped with someone's roof. Don't know if that was quite handbook approved....

 

 

Week 10! Double digits whaaa?!

Dear Everyone,

I feel like so much happens in a mission week. I have no clue what to write about because there is sooo much to write about. But I'll try.

 

-On Tuesday, we met a hispanic girl named Stephanie while tracting a sketchy part of town. She is 22, and has had the missionaries over before. She grew up in America so she speaks perfect English and little Spanish haha. But anyways. She stopped meeting with the missionaries because her parents got sick of them because they went over there three or four times a week. It's quite the balancing act to know how much contact is the right amount of contact. But anyways. SHE IS ON DATE! Wahoo! She said she would like to be baptized in September. So September 21 it is. Unfortunately we haven't been able to visit her yet again but hopefully we will soon.
 

-I was pretty sick this last week. Just an awful head cold. Blegh. So that put a damper on everything but I just kept going. That's just what you have to do with missionary work.
 

-We have a new investigator named Frank! We had a lesson about the Book of Mormon and it was awesome. He basically said that he could believe the Book of Mormon is the work of God. He also came to Sacrament meeting yesterday! It was going fine and dandy, but then he asked Sister Hehl if we do a collection plate at the end. She said no, and briefly mentioned we pay ten percent of our income. As we talked to him after the meeting, he said he couldn't be Mormon because he can't pay tithing. He also said that he was going to go check out other churches and he would let us know if he was still interested. We were devastated, especially Sister Hehl because she felt like she messed it up by mentioning tithing. BUT. We had a miracle. Sister Hehl accidentally called Frank last night and he called back and I just straight up asked him, "Frank, are you still willing to learn about the church?" He said he was! We have another lesson set up with him for Wednesday.

-Miracle Mikayla! So do you remember me mentioning Mikayla, the investigator that we got from White River when I was in Lake Holm but we could never get in contact with her? Well. On Friday, we had the Wilkinsons (a family in the ward) as a backup plan. We drove there but were really hesitant to go visit. We sat in the car for five minutes discussing it. We had no reason to go there. None whatsoever. We had no clue what to talk to them about. But, we were walking up and Emilia (the eighteen year old Wilkinson girl) pulled up. In the front seat was MIKAYLA! We talked with her and asked her if she still wants to be baptized. She said yes! She is on date for July 27th. We taught her the Restoration on Saturday and she came to church on Sunday. She is the first investigator that I have seen the gospel literally and physically affect them. She just lights up when we are teaching her. She grins from ear to ear and sits up a little bit straighter. It is absolutely incredible to see. You should have seen her face when we told her that she can have the gift of the Holy Ghost. So things are going well with her, but her parents are a major obstacle. We can't meet with her unless her mom is willing to drive her to the Wilkinsons. Her mom is fine with her learning, but her dad is inactive, and very Anti. It's a struggle for Mikayla. We are praying that her parents' hearts will be softened!
 

-We are now officially the Federal Way mission! So far, not too much has changed. It will be interesting to see what President Eaton has to bring to the table. I'm excited. 
 

-Yesterday we had another "What are we doing?" Moment. We had planned to go drop by a potential investigator. We had no reason to go there, and we had no clue what we were going to say. As we were walking up to the house, Julie was outside. She invited us to a BBQ at her house on Thursday! Woooot! It's been really cool to see Heavenly Father taking care of things. With both Mikayla and Julie, we didn't know what we were doing. But the Lord did.
 

For anyone who wants to send me letters or packages, which should be everybody: ;) My new mission office address is:

23175 224th Pl. SE  Suite E

Maple Valley, WA

98038

Being a missionary is awesome. Hurrah for Israel!

Love, Sister Morrow

Week Eight....drum roll please!

Dear Everyone,

 

Well, it was obviously transfers this week! I got in-zone transferred to the White River ward. I am whitewashing, which means neither my companion or I have been in the area. We have a completely blank area book, an apartment with no food, and no idea what we are doing. Oh ya, I'm training haha. :) 

 

When the AP's called me and asked me to train, I said yes but was panicking. I said a prayer and opened up my scriptures randomly to 1 Nephi 17:50. It gave me exactly the peace and comfort I needed. I can do all that the Lord commands of me!

My companion is Sister Hehl. She is so awesome! Straight from the MTC with a can-do attitude. We are gonna get along so great, I can already tell. 

Because I stayed in my zone, I am a Federal Way missionary! I was bummed about it for a bit, but I am excited to be a missionary in a new mission! We have some exciting stuff coming our way, I can feel it.

 

I don't have much time to write because we are going grocery shopping right after this. We have ZERO food. Woot woot for whitewashing! But I am loving life, doing great, and working hard. I love you all so much!

 

Love, Sister Morrow

Hello all! It has been quite the week! Up and down like usual. But here are some positives:

-We got two new investigators, both were referrals. Mikayla is a fifteen year old girl who was a referral from the White River Elders. She is in Lake Holm ward boundaries, so we are going to start teaching her. The problem is, her mom won't allow her to tell ANYONE her address. Literally nobody knows where she lives. And her mom is "too busy" to drive her places. So...who knows when we will get in touch with her. But she really really wants to get baptized, which is awesome. Our second investigator is a seventeen year old boy named Bailey. He is the grandson of some people in our ward. His mom didn't want to take care of him and his brother anymore so he got shipped to his grandparents house. He doesn't have the greatest life. But we taught him the first lesson and he is on date to be baptized on July sixth. :) He came to church yesterday which was great. So keep him and Mikayla in your prayers. They need all the prayers they can get.

-I got a really special blessing from my District Leader this week. I asked him for a blessing of guidance and comfort, and didn't really say anything else. In the blessing, he mentioned things that I had only expressed to Heavenly Father in prayer. It strengthened my testimony of the power of the priesthood. Some of the things he said in the blessing were:

1. The Lord is in charge of all things

2. Study the scriptures and pray as I never have before

3. The Lord has many great things in store for me, and this time is preparing me for those things

4. The lord keeps all of His promises, and He will keep the promises He has made to me

5. The Lord loves me

6. The Lord has felt it all and knows the things that weigh on my soul

7. Trust in the Lord, He knows all and is in charge

It was exactly what I needed. I got slightly emotional, and so did my District Leader. I'm so thankful for the power of the priesthood.

 

-I went on an exchange to Maple Valley on Friday til Saturday. I was companions with a sister from my MTC district, Sister Lee. She is a sweetheart. But it was interesting to be in a different area. We went to Maple Valley days and handed out mormon.org cards there and talked to people. Her area is only a mile and a half by a mile and a half! My area is HUGE compared to that. Like I said, it was interesting to be in a different area.

-As I was feeling discouraged this week, I thought of missionaries who have made a difference in my life, and who are examples to me.

 

1. My dad: His entire mission, for two years, he only baptized one person. He was working hard, he was being faithful. He may not have converted many people, but he converted himself. Because of the person my dad became on his mission, I have had the life I have had and I am who I am. I pray every day that these next 17 months will turn me into the person I need to be for MY children. I don't think I'll ever get a more important calling than to be a mother. If this mission will help me become the woman I need to become to be what my children need me to be--then I'll keep going even if I have to fake a smile.

2. Aaron: Ammon, Aaron's brother, was having a ton of success  among the Lamanites. He converted King Lamoni and was having hundred flock to the church daily. Aaron, on the other hand, was not. He and his brethren were cast into prison. (Alma 21:14) Finally, Ammon and King Lamoni came to rescue them. Now Aaron had suffered a lot--starvation, torture, nakedness, imprisonment--but as soon as he was released, he went out and taught again. Soon, the Lord blessed him with success. (Alma 21:17) Aaron had it pretty bad. I'm not being starved or tortured or anything. Sure, I get yelled at, but who doesn't as a missionary? Aaron endured his trials patiently, and the Lord blessed him for it. I need to do the same.

 

This is the Lord's work! Being a missionary is incredibly challenging but full of so many blessings. Thank you all for all that you do.

 

Love, Sister Morrow

Hey all!

It's been quite a week. Like usual. I've decided that it is easier to do bullet points rather than paragraphs because being the English major I am, I feel like paragraphs need to connect and flow. :)

 

• Me and my big mouth...ah man. I always get myself in trouble. Especially when it comes to authority. So...on Wednesday, we had District Meeting. The past little while, our Zone Leaders have been hounding us about numbers. Numbers numbers numbers. That is literally all they cared about. We had the goal in our mission to get 100 convert baptisms in May. (which didn't happen, we got to 84) So, the Zone Leaders were being stupid about it. I kept my mouth shut like a good Sister Missionary. At the end of the meeting as the Zone Leaders were walking out, they again said something about more numbers or getting someone baptized that day. I just light-heartedly said, "It's not all about the numbers!" That made them pretty mad. They called our District Leader and had him call us to tell us that numbers do matter. But our District Leader was 110% on our side. He said that the ZL's were getting too wrapped up in numbers and not caring about the people individually. So I told the DL to tell the ZL's that I apologized for being disrespectful. ( We aren't allowed to contact anyone directly without permission from our ZL's. We can only call our DL) Anyways. It was dumb, and I learned that I really just gotta keep my mouth shut. 
• I got kissed. On the cheek. By a three year old little boy. :) I was giving him a high five goodbye and he gave me a huge hug and kissed me on the cheek haha. It was pretty funny and cute :)
• Tim got baptized!!! WAAAAHHHOOO! It was incredible. We had over one hundred people show up for the service so we held it in the chapel of the Stake Center and broadcast the actual baptism from the Relief Society room to the chapel. It was so cool to see how happy the family was. He was so ready. As part of the program, while Tim and his son (who baptized him) were changing, we handed out 3x5 cards for people to write notes and testimonies on. One note said, "It's about d*** time!" Hilarious hahahahahaha. :) It was a great experience.
• So transfers are on June 18th, and wherever I am after that transfer decides what mission I am in. I am thinking I'll end up in Federal Way so Sister Mosbrucker and I are going to do our culture day next Monday. What's a culture day? I'll tell ya. The rule in our mission is that every missionary gets one day his or her entire mission to go sight seeing in Seattle. So on Monday, we are having some members in our ward take us. :) I'm stoked. But that means I may or may not get to email on Monday, so ya. :/ I hope I don't get transferred out of this area. I am really starting to fall in love with it and with our ward. I hope that Sister Mosbrucker and I just stay together. We are getting along really well and working together really well. I feel so blessed to have such a great companion!

I love you all, and I love being a missionary! Thanks for all that you do for me.

Love, Sister Morrow

"Bella" one of Rachel's current pets :)

 

Hi everyone, 

Oh man. It's been quite a week.  

Okay. So highlights and lowlights of this week:

• I am going to have my first baptism on Saturday!!! So this man, Tim Hunsaker, has been investigating the church for like fifteen years. His wife and kids are all members. His son just got his call to New Zealand. They live across the street from us. Every single companionship that has come in here has tried to get him baptized, to no avail. But, he made the decision last Sunday to be baptized! I am so excited for him. It really is a testimony builder for me that it isn't about the missionaries or anything like that. It is about the relationship between God and the individual. It is up to them to listen to the Holy Ghost and make that comittment.
• I got to go on an exchange this week! Sister Mosbrucker is Sister Trainer Leader, so she went to Kent with Sister Cox. Sister Cox's companion SISTER BROOKE TAYLOR! came and was with me!!! Wooott! She was in my district at the MTC, and she was the one I went to lunch with before I even went on my mission. She and I have become really really good friends, and might room together at BYU when we get home. It was awesome, I loved being able to spend some time with her.
• Thursday...the day from you know where. Thursday was really really hard.Dana dropped us. She was the first investigator I met out here in Auburn. She is the sweetest lady, and we had three lessons with her and a church tour. We had another appointment scheduled and when we showed up, she told us that she would "never come to our church and never be baptized into our church." We said that was fine, and we would drop by every once in awhile to see how she and her family is doing. I was devastated. I love Dana so much. As we were walking away from her house I was bawling. I guess it is a good thing though, because I am learning how to love the people.
• I got held hostage. Yup. You read that right. But don't freak out yet haha. We went to visit a very less active sister named Katrina. She lives in one of the sketchier parts of our area. We knocked on the door and she came out and gave us two bags of red potatoes, a loaf of bread, two oranges, and two water bottles and told us that we needed to give them to people who need them. Okay.... So we talked with her for a minute and decided to share a quick scripture with her. I was holding both the potato bags, the bread, my bag, my scriptures...etc. As sister Mosbrucker was sharing, Katrina kept reading out loud. We were on the porch for like twenty minutes. My arms were shaking from holding all that junk. We had an appointment, and told Katrina so. We tried to leave, but she said: "No, you came into a family dispute so you need to stay and help us." She was ranting and talking forever. She made us go into her apartment and we talked to her for a bit longer. We tried to leave two other times but she wouldn't let us. We probably could have stood up and left, but we were afraid she would freak out and get physical with us. So...ya. But eventually we left. It was kinda a scary situation. Needless to say we won't be back.
• Okay, I have never realized how important Ward members are. EVERYONE LISTEN UP: HELP THE MISSIONARIES! Our ward is great, but they are not very open and helpful. They like to keep to themselves, and they all get offended easily. We need sisters to come with us when we visit single men, but no one will come out with us! WARD MEMBERS ARE ESSENTIAL IN MISSIONARY WORK. Ward members ARE missionaries! Realize this! Be willing to go and help the missionaries! Feed them! Ask them what you can do to help! Be willing to go out with them! I had a sister in ward council tell us that she "would never go out with us." One hour was too much time away from her baby. There are thousands of missionaries serving missions for 18 to 24 months, 24 hours a day. Be willing to sacrifice an hour or two to help bring souls unto Christ.

So basically, that was my week. Full of hills and valleys, but good nonetheless. I love missionary work, and I am so grateful to be here. I love you all and appreciate your love and prayers and support. Hurrah for Israel! 

Love, Sister Morrow

Week 3: My God is a God of miracles!

Hello everyone!

So it has been one crazy week.

On Tuesday, we woke up at 3:30 to pack and get ready for leaving the MTC at 5:00 a.m. We got ready on time, thankfully. With a room full of six girls, getting ready got interesting at times. But we took the bus to the airport and I waved goodbye to Utah from the airplane window. See ya in a bit, Utah. Once we landed here in Seattle, President and Sister Larkin were at the airport to pick us up. We all grabbed our luggage and packed into minivans and a full sized van. I was expecting to do a little sightseeing, but that was not on the schedule. We went to the mission home where we had some orientation and training. After that we went to the church building where we met our trainers.

My trainer is Sister Mosbrucker. She is 22, from Ft. Collins, Colorado. She is very "let's get down to business" like me, which I really like. I've finally been able to get her to open up a little bit though and be silly with me. She has been in the mission for ten months. I feel lucky to have such a seasoned trainer because a lot of the Sisters and Elders were being assigned to trainers who have only been out in the field for six weeks. We are getting twenty six Sisters next transfer...so chances are I will be training. So I am grilling Sister Mosbrucker and making her train me really well just in case.

 We are in the Auburn area, in the Lake Holm ward. It is kinda up in the mountains. There are tons of trees and it is absolutely gorgeous. We live with some nonmembers who have four dogs and four horses. It is a beautiful area! I love being tucked back in the woods a bit. We go down to Auburn for shopping, etc. I met our ward yesterday, and they are pretty great. I feel slightly awkward because I don't know anyone and Sister Mosbrucker knows EVERYONE. She has been in Auburn eight out of the ten months she has been on her mission. So I kinda just stand awkwardly to the side while she has conversations with people. I try and introduce myself and stuff but people don't really care about the greenie haha. But whatever, no worries! Next transfer determines what mission we will be in: Federal Way or Seattle. If I am to stay in Auburn, I will be in Federal Way. So it will be interesting to see where I end up! If I do end up in Federal Way, they send us new mission calls haha. Exciting, right? :)

Sister Mosbrucker is the Sister Trainer Leader, so she had a meeting all day on Wednesday which means I had to go on a transfer with someone else. Weird. My first day in the mission and I wasn't even with my companion. But oh well. I spent the day with Sister Boyce in the Puyallup area. It was a pretty overwhelming but good day. I was pretty homesick and emotional on Wednesday, but I am doing so much better. I am really focused and loving it here! I just hit those waves of homesicknesses every once in awhile.

Thursday we visited some less active sisters who were absolutely wonderful. It was a beautiful day, so we sat outside in their gardens with them and talked. I loved it! Washington is so beautiful when it is sunny! The trees, the flowers, the birds--I love it!

On Friday we had a zone meeting. Elder Cook, a friend I met through Jared Workman at BYU is in my zone! Crazy. And one of my zone leaders is Elder Grandstaff, a guy I went to Jr. High and High School with, and a fellow Farmingtonian. At zone meeting, we were informed that President Larkin had made the goal of putting 100 people on date for baptism in the mission that day. What a daunting task. But we set out to meet our goal!

That evening we went tracting in a sketchier area called Lea Hill. We were knocking in apartment buildings, and I had some fun experiences haha. Experiences I definitely wouldn't have in Utah! One guy was growing pot and wouldn't open his door all the way, another guy was SUPER high...I dunno. It was interesting and kinda entertaining haha. My California friends can't call me super sheltered anymore because I now know what pot smells like. ;) But tracting was disappointing because absolutely no one was interested. We started discussing the gospel with a guy from Africa named Julius, but it just turned into an argument. Needless to say, when you are arguing about the gospel, the spirit is not there. So we said a prayer with him and left.

 It was a bummer of a day. It was 8:30 and we still hadn't placed anyone on date. I asked Sister Mosbrucker if we had any potentials in the area, and she said we had one named Chad. We went to Chad's house and said a prayer in the car before we went to talk to him. I prayed that we would have the faith to put Chad on date for baptism, and that he would feel the influence of the Holy Ghost. Long story short...he is on date for June eighth!!! It was such an incredible miracle. With ten minutes left in the day, we had put someone on date. I know that the Lord does answer prayers, and that my God is a God of miracles.

On Saturday we met a man named Mike who's friend was rushed to the hospital the night previously with a heart attack. We shared the message of God's love with him and prayed with him and sang to him. (Oh ya. This mission is a singing mission. I HATE SINGING. But, I'm going to have to learn how to love it because we sing everywhere. God is obviously trying to teach me a lesson about singing haha.) I shared 1 Nephi 11:27 with him, and explained that I don't know why bad things happen to good people, but God loves us. I know that he truly does. We put Mike on date for June eighth. :)

Also on Saturday, we had dinner at an inactive family's house. They are absolutely wonderful people. They have a cat named December that reminds me a lot of Miko. She likes laying on her back too. :) But after dinner we shared a message about the Atonement and asked Brother Wallace (the father of the house) what the atonement means to him. He got very emotional sharing about the atonement and expressed that he want to be sealed with his family. The spirit was so strong in that room. I expressed to him that my reason for coming on my mission was so that families can be together, so that the Wallace family can be together forever. I love families so much, and I am so thankful for eternal families. When I get down, I remember my family and that I am here so that others can be with their families forever. I love you guys. :)

Yesterday we met with a hispanic woman named Brenda. We taught her the first lesson and put her on date for June fifteenth. :) We are going to have to refer her to the Hermanas so that her husband can learn too, but she is super solid and ready to be taught.

It was so good to see your faces yesterday. :) I love you all so much. Thank you for all your encouraging words and thoughts and prayers. I need them and I feel them.

I love this gospel! I love Washington! I love being a missionary! Hurrah for Israel!

Love, Sister Morrow

 

Sister Mosbrucker and Sister Morrow

Sister Morrow and Sister Hill @ MTC

Flying past Mt. Rainier

Stables where she lives. There are horses and 4 dogs!