11.16.2015

I now know what I am going to be when I grow up...

This week was one of those weeks on the mission were nothing pans out

like you think it's going to, but it was still a good week. The good

news is that transfer calls came and sister Birch will be staying

together for another six weeks! Thankfully we will have each other for

the holidays. I will start out this email with the good news and all

and with the funny stories.

We met with A again this week and he is doing great! He loves

church and said that he felt so welcomed there which is exactly what

we wanted to hear. He also said that he noticed a change in his life

since we started meeting with him, and he is really progressing.

J is doing great and she was taught some commandments and is

excited to make changes so that she can be baptized. It's cool to see

how much she loves the gospel. She thinks church is just the greatest

thing ever.

The R family is continuing to do great! They came to church again

and everyone at church loves them. We even had people ask us if they

were already baptized. Their family is so great and they cannot wait

to be baptized. They always talk about how they can share the gospel

with other people because of how happy it is made them.

This week I raked leaves for the first time in my life. I never knew

how much a tree could produce until they're on the ground and we have

to rake them off the someone's lawn. Sadly the trees are now naked and

they kind a look ugly now. I guess I'll have to wait for the first

snow when they're white to have this place look beautiful again.

We had our first chasing down of the bus experience this week. We were

at a bus stop and decided to chance it and get to the next bus stop

before the bus came. Unfortunately we saw it driving up when we were

halfway between them. We started chasing it down like mad woman but

luckily there is a less active driving by who gave us a ride instead.

That was sure a miracle!

On Tuesday morning we went out with the Relief Society president to

visit some less actives. Unfortunately she got a flat tire in an

alleyway so we ended up changing a tire instead of visiting people.

Good thing Dad taught me how to change a tire because that came in

handy this week!

OK, now for a pretty funny story. This probably should not go on the

blog though. (i'm putting it on anyway ;))We had zone training again this week and after training

we were given a few hours to play activities together. We were playing

a game of basketball and I got pretty warm from playing. I had a light

sweatshirt on, so I decided to take it off really fast. Unfortunately

my sweatshirt wasn't the only thing that came up, my shirt came off as

well. Next thing I know I have my companion, Sister Birch, tackling me

and all the elders standing there not quite sure what to do. At first

I didn't register what happened, but once I figured out I started

laughing so hard that I couldn't untangle my sweatshirt and my shirt

fast enough. Luckily there is a tablecloth in the cultural hall so

they were able to hold that up while I put my shirt back on. I'm now

known as the zone stripper which probably isn't the best thing for a

missionary to be known as, but at least I gave a few people a laugh.

Sister Morrison

It got pretty windy one day this past week and we were supposed to have a lesson at the park. Sadly it was too windy and we would have blown away if we held it there.

Helping change the Relief Society Presidents car

E, S, and E . M was gone, but I finally got a picture with at least most of them! They are so great! Eric is a personal trainer and he even told us he would work out with us in the mornings to make sure we are getting a good workout in. We are pumped to start doing that!

11.09.2015

Hey All! 

Hi everyone, another week has come and gone and it has been great. First off I want to teach you a little bit about Pennsylvania, there is a real thing called the PA ramble and oh my gosh can it can kill you sometimes! Most people here just talk and talk and talk and sometimes hard to get a lesson in 40 minutes, but it all works out in the end. We had our Indian summer last week and it got up to 72° for a couple days. I was so happy about that heavenly father knows that I am not ready for the cold. Sadly it already ended and is starting to get cold again.

J is doing awesome, and we had another lesson with her which is great and she came to church again. When she introduced herself in Relief Society she said that she met the missionaries and it was the greatest thing that is ever happened to her. That sure made me happy to hear! I'm glad I could make one persons life a little bit better.

A is doing great as well. We taught the plan of salvation and he said it was a little daunting to know that God is our father but we were able to help him by teaching him that he's a loving father despite our mistakes and imperfections. It was cool to see some relief his eyes to know that God loves us all. He also came to church again! It was a little awkward during Sunday school because I was sitting on the side with him and the lesson was about eternal marriage. I felt as awkward as Kelly acted around boys when she came back from her mission. Wow, I didn't think I was at that point yet.

The reads are doing amazing and loving the gospel! Some miracles happen with their family this week. E has always been against praying out loud because she feels it's a very personal thing but she prayed during the lesson! I was so sad to miss it because I was on an exchange but so happy to hear that she finally prayed out loud. The family came to church again this week, and S sang Amazing Grace during sacrament. The congregation was a little restless and loud before she sang and, right when she started singing it got dead silent in the spirit was so strong. It was so cool to see her sing in church! Later during Sunday school E said that he felt the spirit so strong in the all his burdens just got lifted off his shoulder. I am so relieved to know that he can rely on the gospel to get through anything. I am just so excited for them to be baptized! Everyone in the ward loves them.

Friday night I got a phone call from Sister Malo and Sister Durfee. Sister Malo got her visa and will now be heading to Australia next week. I'm so happy that she got her visa and I know that her time in Pennsylvania was partially to help me get through my first six weeks. I was also able to catch up on some of the old investigators in my last area, and I guess Gina has a baptismal date which is so exciting!

Ok, now for some funny stories. We taught a lesson some drunk people as well as someone who is high off of the medications at their dentist gave them. Needless to say those lessons didn't go anywhere. I really hate teaching people who are not fully mentally there.

We also went to visit a less active who had the most evil cat you can ever imagine. It jumped up on the couch next to me I would stick its paw on my thigh. Then, it would slowly pull its nails out so it was just clawing into my legs. I kept trying to not make a big deal out of it, and nonchalantly move the paw off of my leg, but the lady noticed. She just kept saying "it's all right you'll get used to cats eventually." Umm lady, how my going to get used to That they keep trying to kill me!? Even worse and that the cat sneezed and got cat boogers all over me. That was gross.

To make things worse, right after we got out of the lesson Sister Birch turned to me and said "are you ready to get your flu shot?" Well, as all you know I hate shots. I started tearing up just a little bit on the side of the street because I could not go through two terrifying things in one day. But I was a big girl and I got my shot and only had two tears come out as I received the shot. I would like to say I'm pretty proud of myself.

We had a new transfer system in our mission this starting next week. Now on Saturday when we get our transfer call we will also know who her new companion is and where our new area is. It's going to be weird and I'm just praying that Sister Birch and I get to stay together for another transfer.

Sister Morrison

Just some pretty fall colors 

Missionaries with Bishop Hoke! He is awesome!!

Me and my district got a little creative for our picture.

11.2.2015

Happy Halloween 🎃

This week has felt like 5 miles long, but we had a lot of fun as well

so we'll start off by telling the fun stories.

Let me just for start off by saying I did something super legit on P

Day! We went to North park which was super beautiful because of all

the fall leaves on the trees, and we found a vine that we swung from!

I just got to swing like George of the jungle and I felt so cool doing

it!

Tuesday morning the elders had to come by our house night before we

found Nerf guns in our apartment, so we decided to surprise attack

them. We climbed onto the roof on the second story of the house and

had her studies up there what we waited to shoot them. Well after an

hour waiting they finally came and sadly they didn't think it was as

funny as we did, but we sure got a hoot out of it!

It rained all day Wednesday which is pretty terrible. I sure don't

know what I'm gonna do when the rainy season really hits. I'll just

have to pray a lot.

So Halloween this year was pretty awesome! We couldn't really dress up

like anything but Sister Birch and I still managed to dress up and it

was so fun! We were cleaning out our neighbors house the week or two

ago when we found a bunch of outdated dresses. We ended up dressing up

like sister missionaries from the 1990s and even did our hair and

makeup to match them. We went to the ward trunk or treat party like

that and everyone thought we were so funny. My favorite comment that

we got was "I looked just like that! I think I had that same exact

dress!" Next day on Halloween we went to New Hope, a senior rehab

facility, to help with their Halloween party and it was so fun to see

all the old people in their costumes and with face paint on.

OK, now for the most exciting news that I have had on my mission so

far… We had six investigators come to steak conference this weekend!

Oh my gosh it was so stressful and by the end of Sunday I was pooped.

It took about three hours of coordinating to get everyone a ride to

church but it all worked out. They even got to meet President and

Sister Johnson which is pretty cool, as well as a bunch of members

from our ward which was fantastic. It was seriously a miracle that it

all worked out. By the time we got home were so tired that we didn't

feel like talking to each other during lunch so it was a little quiet.

Later that day when we were out visiting people they kept asking ask

us why would he looks so tired even though it was daylight savings the

night before; I guess we looked as hammered as we felt.

J is great she came to church on Sunday and our lesson with her

this week was phenomenal. The member who came with us was so impressed

with her love for Jesus and I can tell that everyone in the ward is

just going to love her. She really taught me this week how much

somebody can love Jesus and makes me want to try to emulate that.

A also came to church on Sunday and his lesson this week was

amazing. We brought along one of the ward members and they clicked and

got along very well. That was such a relief because we feel that A

is sometimes a little reserved when sharing his emotions and feelings.

He even prayed for the first time out loud during her lesson and it

was wonderful! Hopefully he'll continue to read the book of Mormon and

gain a testimony of the Gospel.

Now for some of the greatest news ever, I know I've said this so many

times in this email already but I just can't stop smiling every time I

think about it. The R family has recommitted themselves to baptism

and are getting baptized on December 19! We are so happy and it's been

a long road for them, but things are finally looking up and they are

committed once and for all. They've been through a lot of struggles

lately that have been keeping them from progressing, but they've been

able to resolve almost all of them and they have this new drive and

spirit that just lights up the room. Sister Birch and I are so excited

and we cannot wait to get their whole family baptized. Brother

K, a member in our ward, has been a great fellowshiper and

is really taking them under his wing. It really is amazing how much

people can progress and they have a friend in the Gospel.

Sister Morrison

This picture doesn't really do the trees justice of how beautiful
they look right now.

Our super legit costumes were we look like freaks the whole night!

These old folks seriously cracked me up the entire time. If you zoom in you can see some pretty wild face painting jobs.

I got a picture of me swinging from the vines!