Goodbye Inde 4th and hello Hill Park!! ~ Sister Morgan in Missouri

Hello everyone!

SOO much has happened! I know I won't be able to write everything that I want to today but I'll give you some highlights of my last week and a half...

1. I got transferred!! so yes, Thursday pdays this transfer. I am still in Independence and at the Visitors Center but I am in Hill Park ward! This ward is actually right in the center of Independence! If you know anything about Independence, you'll know that it gets crazier (the people) the closer you get to the center.. haha, so literally everyday is an adventure and a half. I actually just moved downstairs in the Willis house to a different room... so HUGE difference. ha. But I am now living in my own area, which is way fun! One of our amazing investigators lives right across the street from us! I am follow-up training Sister Moulton this transfer. She is amazing.

2. Transfers happened obviously. Which means soo many tears at the VC. This was the transfer we have all been dreading for lots of reasons. First, our beloved Sister Allan went home :(

We are going to miss our spunky little sister leader at the VC. She seriously changed my mission. She is amazing. I love her.

and second, it marked six months that all 10 sisters that came out together have been serving together (aka.. a BIG change was happening). Half of us left the VC to go full pros. Here's the last selfie of "The Ten" (As Sister Toronto calls us. haha)

3. Goodbyes. I never thought I would love an area so much like I loved Independence 4th ward. They are my family. Saying goodbye to them was soo hard.. especially saying goodbye to Kyle. But I am so grateful I am still at the VC so they can come visit :)

4. Darlene. how I LOVE her. She is our investigator in Hill Park that is getting baptized the day after Christmas! We are so excited for her. She is this adorable lady from Micronesia with 4 adorable kids. Ricky (or Boom Boom) is my favorite. It was hilarious. The second lesson I had with them, we brought them to the VC and we were going downstairs for our lesson, and Boom Boom and the other three kids raced downstairs. We get down there and Boom Boom has climbed into the history/pioneer part and is now pretending to be one of the manequins there. It was hilarious. Our lesson two nights ago with them, they were dancing around, singing "Follow the Prophet". The smile on Darlene's face as this was happening was so amazing. She loves her kids and loves God. She is so sensitive to the Spirit as well which is awesome. We cannot wait for her baptism :)

5. We went to go pick up Darlene and her kids with a member before church and we get there and oh yeah, it is POURING rain btw. So we get there about thirty minutes before church and she comes out of her apartment with 6 kids!... we barely had room in our member's car for the 5 of them.. so definitely not room for 7 of them. Her neighbor wanted her to bring her kids with her to church so we frantically called every member we could think of to help us give them a ride, we finally did and we roll into church 1.5 minutes before sacrament starts with Darlene and our crew of 6 crazy kids who are jumping in every possible puddle they see and oh yeah.. Sister Moulton and I are speaking in sacrament. haha. the craziest 30 minutes of my life. but hey, everyone got to church. everyone felt the Spirit during the Sacrament. and the Sabbath was truly a delight.

6. The Dyers. All week, I had been kind of just preparing myself to not like Hill Park as much as 4th ward.. which isn't the best, I know. I just felt that I would never love a ward as much and I felt like I wasn't really needed in that SPECIFIC area, but I was just there to finish up training.. oh man was I wrong. The Lord works in mysterious ways everyone. I am thoroughly convinced of that. This whole week has been the Lord SHOWING me that. I want to tell you all the details of everything that led up to this, but it won't make much sense, so I'll summarize and when I get home I will tell you every detail because I will NEVER forget the craziness of this. k? perfect.

ok.. just kidding.. I typed it all out and it just doesn't make sense. haha ask me later about the Dyers :) but long story even shorter, I know that every missionary in the world is where they are for a specific reason. They are with their companion for a specific reason and the Lord is in charge of it all.

I'm not sure what else to write about, this week has been crazy. I love my district, I love my area, I love this work.

Also, Christmas is just around the corner!! so weird!! I feel like it was 4th of July just yesterday!! I hope everyone is having a peaceful Christmas season and that everyone is remembering to celebrate the birth of our Savior this Christmas, the real reason we celebrate :) Check out Christmas.mormon.org right now if you haven't already :)

I am so grateful for our Savior Jesus Christ. He is everything. I know that He was born so that all of us could return to live with our Heavenly Father after this life and experience a fullness of joy. His plan and His gospel is a plan of happiness and joy.

Don't forget to read the Book of Mormon this Christmas season too! From your friendly sister missionaries :)