Starting my last transfer!

Well I officially started my last transfer this week... so that is so
super weird.
This week has been full of highs and lows but most importantly an
increased testimony of the love that our Heavenly Father has for us on
such an individual level. There have been so many experiences I have
had this week, especially these last few days that have helped to know
and feel that He indeed is real! I think the thing that I have learned
the most is that He listens. So many people in the world don't take
the time to listen and care for others. Time is oh so valuable and the
time that you spend listening to others is a huge gift to them. I know
that our Heavenly Father is the perfect Listener. It doesn't matter if
we are telling Him the tiniest details of the day that we are grateful
for or if we are pouring our heart out to Him through tears. He
listens and He loves.

Transfers were on Thursday. I had to say goodbye to my best friend
Sister Baggett as she went home but I'm so happy that she gets to be
with her family for the holidays after all the service she has done
out here in the mission field for the last 18 months. We cried the
whole drive down to transfers. :( we also had departure breakfast
Wednesday morning which was super sad and super good. We got to hear
the departing testimonies of the missionaries leaving.

I get to stay in Doniphan my last transfer in the mission, which I am
so pumped for! Before transfers we went to say a lot of goodbyes and
after transfers we did a lot of service and planning. So many amazing
things are happening right now. Even this morning, at Walmart, this
man stopped us and said that he has had a vision that he needs to bear
his testimony at our next testimony meeting! So that was super cool!
He said he had met with missionaries back in Lawrence Kansas and wants
to come to church next Sunday!

Friday night we fed the homeless with the Emmett family which was a
huge tender mercy. It was a particularly harder day and the Lord knows
me so well we went to their service before and Heavenly Father knows
that I love live music and we just got to be at this Christian concert
where everyone was worshipping Christ in their own way. We were with
the most humble people just feeling the Spirit. I loved it.

Yesterday on shift I met this amazing girl, Hannah. She had just
gotten released from the hospital. Her mom had gotten baptized like 2
years ago and the daughter loves Joseph smith. We went through the
presentation and afterwards she wanted a blessing from the elders
cause things started to not go well with her health. Before they got
there, she came back into the jail with her roller skates and asked if
I would come watch her roller skate. It was the sweetest thing ever to
go watch her. She was so happy. I just love little moments like these
that make your heart happy when Heavenly Father knows you need it the
most. God is good.

I love you all!
Sis Morgan

Pictures:

- the best three months in Doniphan
- Sister Draper who has some super exciting news this week! I won't
spoil it though. You'll have to read her email this week! She is the
best missionary ever!
- Sister Eraso at departure breakfast. I miss that girl!
- this is mostly for Lynds. I managed to hold five kitties in my arms
at once! They are the bishop's holy cats that they found at the
temple. Their names are Teancum, Moroni, Ruth, Gideon, and Esther
- they came and joined us as we painted bishop's doors.
- from Sister Beer's awesome service project that we got invited to!
- saying goodbye to the Marbles and Julia's accidental Polaroid.
- killing Sister Baggett the night before transfers
- goodbye!
- transfer pic with Sister Draper!
- Sister Murdoch, my new companion!
- beautiful Hannah ❤️
- our weekly Russell visits feat. Christmas decorations already!

Veterans Day service!!

Sister MorganHello family!

Well on Thursday I start my last transfer out here in Missouri, which
is so so sad. Also sad because Sister Baggett is leaving me!! I'm
going to miss her so much!

This week went by SO FAST! So many amazing things happened also!

The best part of the week was working with Bruce for the Veterans Day
service project! Sister Beers organized this amazing project for us
and him. He ended up speaking to the youth on mutual night and shared
some of his experiences in Iraq with them and then we all put cookies
into little boxes that kids in the Ward decorated for FHE earlier that
week. All the boxes we made got passed out within 15 minutes at Texas
Roadhouse on Friday. I just love this Ward so much and how they serve
others. It is incredible.

On Friday we went to FMTM at the visitors center because Sister Vest
gave a training there. All the departing missionaries gave a training
as well. It was one of the most spiritual meetings I have been to.

We are going to the Russell's tomorrow and tomorrow night we get
transfer calls so I may find out who my next companion will be!

Sorry I don't have much else to write this week! I'll write more next
pday though!

I love you all!
Sister Morgan

Pictures:
- our friends, Tami, Bruce, and some of the scouts!
- after FMTM at the VC!
- weekly stalker picture of Sister Draper
- my baby Sister Flake came into the jail this week with this super
cute skirt that a member made her... so I made her let me try it on :)
haha
- the Nielson's in our Ward!
- pday lunch with our favorite sisters! They had to say goodbye to
Sister Baggett 😢

#LIGHTtheWORLD by going to the temple :)

Hello family!

We just got back from a session at the temple! I also found out that I
get to go to the temple 2 more times before the end of my mission!!
Yes! We had MLC this week and they announced that they aren't having
an All Mission Christmas Conference this year which was super sad news
but instead they are having three zone conferences and after each zone
conference they are going to take us to do a session at the temple!!
So that is super exciting! Also at MLC, we watched the new Christmas
video that the church will be putting out at the end of the month
called #LIGHTtheWORLD. It is such an incredible video. I cannot wait
for all of you to see it and also to be able to use it out here in the
work. We had a meeting last night with the awesome new community
service committee in our ward that is a part of bishop's vision for
this area and Tami (one our favorite members who is also on the
committee) and I brainstormed this super amazing video to put together
to pump up the ward to serve for New Years that goes along with this
Light the World initiative! She is a super talented
photographer/videographer. The Spirit was so strong when we were
talking about what this would do for the ward. It was awesome. I'll
write more about this amazing initiative in later emails. It is
something for ALL MEMBERS, not just the missionaries :) We just get
super pumped about it all :)

Anyways, I don't have too much time to write this week so I will keep
it short. Sunday night, my friend Pauline from Independence surprised
me and walked through the jail doors while we were on shift which was
the biggest tender mercy. I love her and speaking of BIG tender
mercies... Sister Prior came back to visit the mission on Saturday and
she came in for prayer meeting. It was the best thing ever to see her.
We were kind of having a rough night. Literally started crying when I
saw her. She changed my mission so much.

This week, we met this cool less active member named Bruce. He is a
vet and super nice and was really open with us about his experiences
but isn't super interested in coming to church or anything. With the
new service committee and how amazing it works and runs, we asked him
if there was any service that we could do for him or those in the area
and he said no. Right when we started driving away, he called us and
said he thought of a service we could do for him. He wanted to do
something for Veterans Day. So with the help of Sis Beers in the ward,
we have this awesome service project set up for this week. It is going
to be awesome!!!!

Last night, we had our weekly visit with the Russells!! They had us
over for dinner before our lesson and invited their nonmember friends
to join. Their friends are moving to Michigan tomorrow so they had
them over to say goodbye and they have invited them to church before,
gave them a Book of Mormon, etc. It was the best appointment ever.
They were so fun and nice and we had a lesson on the Book of Mormon
and used the pictures in the front of the Book of Mormon to tell the
story until Christ came to the Americas and then we read a little from
3 Nephi 11. The kids loved the story and the Spirit was so strong. My
testimony was strengthened so much of the light that members of the
church have. They were talking all the time of how grateful they were
for the Russells and the influence they have had on their lives.

Oh! 2nd tender mercy of Saturday was getting a text Friday night from
some sisters in our zone to go to breakfast the next morning with them
because Sister Draper was on exchanges there!!! wooo!! So we went to
iHop! I think the last time I went to iHop I was with Sister Draper
(previously known as Rach;) It was so fun! I have heard none stop so
many amazing things about Sister Draper from everyone and from all the
senior couples that spy on her at the VC for me :)

Shout out to my comp who is the best thing ever. I am so sad for
transfers next week because her mom is stealing her back to Utah :(
She hit her 18 month mark Sunday!!!

Have such a great rest of your week! I love you all so much!
Sister Morgan

Picture time!
- when two of your favorite comps go home the same transfer and share
their departing testimonies at MLC. Literally have never had a
companion leave the mission except my trainer!
- zone lunch!
- breakfast with Sis. Draper!
- Pauline visit :)
- Sissy Baggett and I at the temple this morning! I love the temple!
- hail from the hail storm that we ran into this week

Mission stories for days :)

Hello family!!!

This week has been so amazing!!! SOO many answers to prayers this week!! Get ready for some stories!!!! 

So starting off with where we left off last week,

Monday night we had our FHE lesson with Russells which was incredible as usual. We watered plants in their yard with Kloe before our lesson and got to hold their baby bunnies!! Kloe also gave us an invitation to her baptism on the 22nd!!! 

We had a lesson about our "Spiritual CPR"! We had their son, Lincoln, do push ups and then had him pretend one hand is Church, the other is Prayer and his feet are Reading the Scriptures. We told him to take one hand out and try to do push ups and he realized very quickly how hard it is. We have to have all three in our life! I know that for me on my mission, those three things have been key for me. I am so grateful for the peace and guidance that comes into my life when I focus on reading the scriptures and praying.

On Tuesday night we had the coolest lesson with our friend, Julia, and her friends! It's so hard to describe what even happened but the girls had just gotten home when we got there from doing a homecoming proposal, sooo they were pretty hyped and going crazy. haha. Sister Baggett and I were wondering how in the world we were going to bring the Spirit there enough for the lesson and calm everyone down. haha. We decided to just start the lesson. Julia offered the opening prayer and then we started teaching them about the Restoration. We shared with them our testimonies of how much God loves all of us and then told them or prophets in the past who have led people and have helped them to feel of God's love by giving them the gospel of Jesus Christ to live to be able to feel of that love the most. We were teaching them of how this priesthood authority that the ancient prophets had was lost and people were confused and then shared with them the story of Joseph Smith. He was trying to find out what church to join and he said a prayer and asked God which was correct. He then saw a pillar of light exactly over his head above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon him. When the light rested upon him, he saw two personages whose brightness and glory defied all description. Standing above him in the air, one of them spake unto him, calling him by name, and said, "this is My Beloved Son, Hear Him!"   ... The Spirit was so strong. I know that each of you were able to feel a portion of that peace that filled the room during this lesson with these girls. "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance." I came to know that that is so true Tuesday evening. I was thinking of each of these teenage girls during this lesson. That night for the very first time they were getting the opportunity to hear and feel this message that brings me so much PEACE and JOY. I literally cannot even imagine where my life would be right now without this gospel. It is so precious to me. I hope that you and I will never forget the peace that this gospel brings into our lives. 

We got transfer calls Wednesday morning and Sister Baggett and I get to stay together for her last transfer!! and then.. it will be mine. so crazy! I do not feel like I have been a missionary for over 16 months. We said goodbye to our friend Sister Linda Petey Wednesday morning at Departure Breakfast at the VC and then had our Jail farewell that evening. Costumes and all! They also transferred the elders out of our ward and closed down their area, which is super sad!! I loved finally having elders in our ward for those short 6 weeks! ha. 

Thursday morning, Sister Baggett and I got to take the new missionaries through the jail, aka, I got to see SISTER DRAPER!!! I only accidentally called her by her first name in front of President ONCE! haha. we are still adjusting :) It is so fun having her here in the mission. She is such an incredible person and missionary. She is also starting her mission in the Celestial Kingdom, aka Independence 4th ward <3  I love that ward with my whole heart.  I am still praying that we can be comps next transfer!  

We had an awesome Friday Service Day again :) They are becoming a weekly thing which is awesome. We scrubbed a members kitchen floors with her in the afternoon and it was so fun! Sister White is the best! We also helped our Relief Society President, Sister Jensen, set up for the neighborhood barbecue they were having Saturday night, which was awesome!!!!!!!  This family is seriously they best member missionaries ever!!!!  They have been telling us about this neighborhood barbecue that they were having and they have been making sure that we can make it for weeks. We have been super pumped for it. There were like 70-80 people at their house that night. Half were members of the ward and others were their neighbors. It was perfect for us to be able to get to know others in the community. We made sure to plan to get our food last so we could pick who we wanted to sit by out in the backyard and we sat by their next door neighbor and literally, every other neighbor of theirs that weren't members came and sat at our table and we got to get to know them all! It was literally so inspired. The barbecue was awesome! They had an awesome smore bar there too! :) The members in this ward are literally so incredible at missionary work and just living the gospel. They just get it. I hope to be like them one day. 

One of my favorite stories this week is about a sister in the ward who is also amazing at missionary work. She was fasting a part of our Ward 40 day fast to be able to have missionary opportunities. She texted us and said, "ps. I just totally had an awesome missionary moment handed to me and I botched it. Insert sad emoji" So we asked her what happened and basically she was at a yard sale and got talking to the woman about how she has a big family and so does this member and at the end the woman says to the member, hey do you know of any churches around here, we just moved here and we need a church to go to. OKAY GOLDEN.

So this missionary moment was right in her face and it just shocked her!! Hahaha so she stuttered out an "I'm ..uh... Mormon...and we go to the church by ... the temple..." she goes why would I said I'm Mormon first thing!?!? And we don't even actually go to the church by the temple either, we go to another building...well this is awkward.  She was like I don't even know what I was saying and it just got so awkward and I know she thought I was crazy so I just got her number and decided I needed to fix it later!! Hahaha so later on in the week she invited her family over for a movie night on the lawn and they came! She told us how this lady was telling her husband where she was going that night and her husband (who had to work late) was like, you met this girl for three minutes on our driveway and now you want to go over to her house with our kids?! Haha. The lady told her husband that for some reason, she just felt really strongly that she needed to go over and she wasn't sure why. (Aka, already following spiritual promptings!!) And they're also having a play date today! So if you ask her it wasn't the best contact ever...hahaha but that's why it's Heavenly Father's work and not ours!:) He definitely makes up for our mistakes. So keep trying everyone!!

Before the barbecue on Saturday, we went to another baptism in KC1. Joyce got baptized!!!! It was such a special day. After she was baptized, she was walking out of the font and she just said, "I'm so happy!" It was the sweetest thing. We met Joyce like a month before I left Kansas City and she has been so prepared for the gospel ever since. She was actually introduced to the church by members in her old town. She met some members like 2 weeks before she moved and she just never stops talking about them. The light that they had and how they helped her organize her move (which is when we met her). It is so amazing to see the influence that we can have on others by simply being an example to them! 

Anyways, that's all I got for you all this week. Keep living the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is how we can obtain the most happiness! I promise!! :)

Love, 

Sister Morgan 

Picture time! 

- first four pictures are from the Russell's ❤️ t-11 days till Kloe's and mine birthday!!

- departure breakfast when we found out we got to stay together!!!!! Yessss!!!!

- selfie with the new missionaries on their second day in Missouri! (I spy Sister Draper!)

- SISTER DRAPER in person!!! 

- Joyce ❤️

- Liz showed up to the baptism in kc :) 

- smores at the barbecue on Saturday!! 

 

Conference Weekend!!!

Hello family!

This week has been so full of miracles!! Where do I even begin?! First, I am so grateful to be a missionary. I love every second of serving the Lord full time. 

Monday evening we had our FHE lesson with the Russell family. We taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ to their family. Kloe who is 7 years old is getting baptized on October 22nd! And we found out that is a day after her birthday!!!! Aka birthday buddies ☺️  I have learned so much from this family. I love them. 

Tuesday we had a huge miracle! We have been praying and praying and fasting and fasting to find people to teach in our area for weeks and we are teaching another active family the lessons, the Marbles. We went over to their house Tuesday evening for dinner and Julia Marble, who is a junior in high school, texted us and said she was goi to bring two of her friends home from cheer practice to introduce to us. She comes strolling in a little after we got there with FOUR friends! We had such a fun visit with them. Sister Baggett and I got a taste of how clueless we are about worldly things. Haha. I still can't believe you don't have to press and hold a snap to watch it. Lol. Afterwards we had a lesson with them about the Book of Mormon and they were so excited to start reading it! They were trying to make it to conference yesterday but things came up. We are seeing them all tomorrow though. 

On Wednesday we had district meeting! Sister Baggett gave such a good training on this talk called "The Tongue of Angels" by Elder Holland. I seriously recommend all of you to read it. It is so good! It was given in the April 2007 conference. The Spirit was so strong during her training and it inspired me to to pay more attention to the words I say to others but mostly the thoughts that I say to myself. 

All weekend we did so much service. It was so awesome and so many miracles. We cleaned some houses, helped with some piano lessons, did some painting and gardening. It was awesome!

Conference was so amazing as well. We went to our favorite families' houses to watch conference. We ate breakfast at the Russell's house yesterday morning and watched the morning session there and then went to the Marbles for the afternoon session! 

I have so many pictures from this week so I will end it off there because you all probably like the pictures better anyways :)

Love you all so much!! I hope you enjoyed conference weekend and received the inspiration, guidance, and answers that you needed. Check out lds.org to catch up on sessions you missed! :)

Also, shout out to Sister Draper who will be in the MIM on WEDNESDAY!!!! Everyone pray that she serves at the jail her first transfer!! :)

Sister Morgan

Pictures!

- the coolest zone with our awesome new zone shirts! Pre frisbee game :)

- temple baptisms with Royce and Gabriella from Olathe. Sister Baggett taught Royce and this was his first time doing baptisms 

- Sister Flake and all of her companions past and present! Haha

- our new friends! Aka the Marbles and Julia's friends :)

- Liberty District!

- picnic in our kitchen for dinner!

- KC Mudhole BBQ for dinner with the White family. Their family is the best. Never seen boys with better manners than theirs. They have the cutest southern accent too

- breakfast at the Russell's!!! (Brother and Sister Russell are on the right :) 

- the breakfast :) so yummy!!

- conference with the Marbles... our besties :)

- conference Polaroids thanks to Julia Marble :) 

I owe to my mission..

This week has been amazing as well! Seriously, I just love being a missionary. I cannot believe how fast time is going. It is making me so sad but I am loving every second that I have left of serving the Lord here in Missouri. 

Last Monday, we had our FHE lesson with the Russell's. I absolutely love that family so much. We taught them the first part of the plan of salvation and are going over tonight to finish it up :)

On Wednesday we had interviews with President and Sister Vest during our district meeting. I feel so incredibly blessed to be serving in this mission with the Vests. Yesterday, they brought all their extended family into the jail in the evening and I got to take them through on a presentation! I have learned so much from both of them and know that I needed to be in this mission because of them.  Yesterday, there was a couple from Shoal Creek Valley that we were starting to teach before I left that came into the jail too! They came in with one of my favorite families! It was so much fun to go through the jail with them. The wife of the family came up to me afterwards and said that she has been through the history presentation at the jail countless times but never understood the history as well as this time when I took them through. That is huge coming from her if only you knew. Haha. So yesterday was very good! 

Thursday we went on exchanges with the sisters in the Liberty 1st Ward and are done with exchanges for the rest of the transfer now. I was with Sister Anderson in Doniphan! She is such an amazing missionary!! That morning, Sister Baggett and I both gave trainings at TMTM. I gave a training on the miracle of a mission. I jus talked about what being a successful missionary means and then I quoted some of the talk by Elder Holland called "The Miracle of a Mission". This is one of the parts of his talk that has been meaning so much to me recently...

"In two years my life was changed forever and forever and forever. Everything I hold dear, everything I cherish in one way or another, I owe to the experience that converged from my childhood, my lovely parents, and my good home. Converged and passed into my soul on a mission. Everything — my marriage to Sister Holland, my children, the fact that they have been on missions and all married in the temple and now are raising children to go on missions and be married in the temple, my education, and my chance to have a profession in education, my church assignments—everything that has ever blessed me I owe to the gospel, collectively, broadly, and to my mission specifically."

I can't even begin to describe how true that is. Here was an elder who served out here like a year ago that said "everyone says that missions change you. Missions do not change you, the Atonement of Jesus Christ changes you. The mission is just a greenhouse for the Atonement to take place". I am so grateful for this little greenhouse that I get to live in for these 18 months to help shape who I need to be. 

Yesterday, we were also asked to help in primary by telling the kids how we prepared for missions and we came in a little early and got to listen to end of their singing time and they were singing the song, "Gethsemane". It was the sweetest thing ever. The chorus of the song goes like this: 

Gethsemane, Jesus loves me, so he went willingly to Gethsemane. 

The strongest battle that ever was done. The hardest fight that ever had won. 

The fight was won by Jesus. Gethsemane, Jesus loves me. 

So he gives willingly, in Gethsemane. 

I am so grateful for my Savior. I am grateful for His Grace and for His love for ALL of us. 

Saturday, we had some awesome opportunities to do some service before our shift at the jail. We did lots of gardening and cleaning! I love getting to do service. Our bishop was talking last week to us about the importance of serving and letting others serve you. He said that one the most meaningful home teaching visits was when his home teacher asked what he could do for him and the bishop told him he had to do a lot of lawn mowing to do and asked if he could come help for his home teaching visit. So, instead of a formal family lesson, they mowed lawns together! He said there were two very important needed things that made this one of his best home teaching experiences... 1. his home teacher caring enough to serve him/letting him know that and 2. him allowing his home teacher to serve him.  Letting other serve us keeps us humble and also allows others to receive the blessings of service. I am not the best at letting my companion, friends, others serve me but I love serving others. I have been realizing more and more that others need to be able to feel that love and peace of serving too and I can help others to feel that Christlike spirit! 

Picture time! We took like no pictures this week, so this is all there is. Haha 

Exchanges!

My sweet companion 😍

Sister Morgan