11.14.2016

Holy guacamole, this week was great!

This week was so awesome! There are so many highlights, and I felt like I was constantly smiling so big that my squinty Asian eyes were in full force haha. I hit my 15 month mark as a missionary, and I still feel brand new, but at the same time it's starting to hit me that the end is near. Before I talk about all the good stuff, enjoy the blonde moment of the week for Sister Terry: we were commenting one morning about how nice it is to have it be light out when we wake up. I told her it wouldn't last much longer cause as the days get shorter it will get darker in the morning. She thought it was the coolest thing ever, and couldn't believe that in Pennsylvania days get shorter. I didn't realize why she was so excited, but then I realized she thought the days literally got shorter by the hour, not by the amount of sunlight haha.

First off, D. We were able to teach her about temples and eternal families this past week, and she soaked it all up. Brother B, her fellowshipper / boyfriend, wasn't there this past week, and she told us that they are planning on getting married (we all assumed it would happen). So now she's planning on getting sealed next December! We asked how they met and she said that the first time she met Brother B there was this glow about him. As she came to church and stuff she realized it was the spirit. She told him about a month ago that they were destined to meet so she could join the church. We obviously wanted to make sure she was doing his for the right reasons, and not just for Brother B and she told us that if anything were to happen she would still come to church, probably at a different ward though haha. But hey, she is golden!

We started meeting with a less active, Sister M. Two weeks ago she expressed to us how she doesn't even know if she has a testimony. We decided it was best to start from the beginning with her, and as we were teaching the Restoration she was throwing down testimony left and right. It was kinda funny because we would point out that she did have a testimony, but she would discredit it every time. She is awesome and although she doesn't know it now, she's got a wonderful testimony. 

We had exchanges this past week, and I got to return to Lock Haven! Thursday evening came and I got some sad news, which put me in a down mood. Even though I was excited to go to Lock Haven, I just wanted to stay with Sister Terry, but exchanges aren't something you can really cancel, so off I went. Within the first five minutes of pulling into the driveway we went and saw Sister N, which put me into the happiest mood ever! Sister N is so amazing, and I love her so much. The world needs more people like her because she is super smart, hard working, and tries her best to be a disciple of Christ. The next day continued to get better and better. We got to go and teach J. She is as awesome as ever, and it was a real treat to hear her testimony of the sacrament. For dinner we went to the M's, and taught a lesson while we were there. I've really missed that family, I feel like I'm at home playing with my younger siblings when I'm over there; it's great! The twins are so sassy, but I think it's hilarious. Plus, Sister M's makes some bomb food, so I definitely left the house stuffed to the brim. 

Saturday was an unforgettable day, and hands down one of my top three moments of my mission. We had a mission wide conference here Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles came and spoke to us. Everyone always says how you can really feel the abundance of the spirit that they posses, and I wanted to personally feel that. So I prayed that I would, and wow, God answers prayers! We all stood up as he entered and I swear, right when he passed through the door jam the spirit hit me so hard, there was no way you could deny that he is an apostle of God. We all got the opportunity to shake his hand, and as she shook mine he thanked me. In my mind all I could think was "I'm only here for 18 months, why the heck are you thanking me? You're the one whose completely dedicated the rest of your life to Jesus!" The meeting was only two hours, but I learned so much during that time. I realized that I have been holding back on promising blessings to people because I lack the faith to do so. I also learned how much God loves and cares about me individually. I mean I knew that, but for some reason, while I was sitting there I felt like I could physically see and feel Jesus sitting next to me giving me this awesome hug. I've never felt that close to Christ before; it was like I had reached another level of absolute knowledge on my testimony ladder. 

Seeing all my missionary friends was another bonus to our meeting. I was pretty scared to go on a mission because I knew in that time all my college friends would graduate, and I would come back to no friends. But, thankfully I've made some awesome friendships here in PA, so my stress level has subsided. It was so much fun to just laugh and enjoy each other's company. 

The final highlight from Saturday was that we traded in our Corolla for a brand new 2017 Subaru Legacy! I was a little bummed that it was a Subaru at first because I felt like only lesbians drove them (kinda like how old people drive a Buick), but holy cow this thing is so nice! It's got these cameras that detect if you are drifting into a different lane, and when you do it beeps and corrects your driving. It also slows down when you get to close to the car in front of you, and a bunch of over things that I still don't really know how to work. For example, paddle shifters. I had never seen them before and driving back from the conference I started to play around with all the gadgets. Well, I pushed a button a few too many times and next thing I knew our car wouldn't move because it was in too low of a gear. Oops! Haha. As awesome as having a new car has been, it's been the most stressful thing ever. I'm still amazed they give young kids new cars. One other funny story, within a matter of hours I got the car stuck in the mud on some backroad that was blocked off by a fallen tree. I was turning around and the mud got a little too deep, so I had to have three sisters push the car as I stepped on the gas. Thankfully we made it out! 

Sister Morrison

Post conference lunch at Chipotle

Pday done right! Teaching Sister Terry was

probably the funniest thing to watch. Thankfully,

we have no broken bones, or bruises. haha

Featured Phil: Presby McPhil (he's located outside

a Presbyterian church). Don't worry, eventually

we'll get a Pioneer Phil when the Punxsutawney Branch

reopens ;)

The M's.

Mini Willamsport reunion!

Getting the keys to our new car!

P4 alum and Bishop Hoke. Ge is such a great

example of Christlike service to me.

My babies :)

11.07.2016

Halloween, old man tears, and God's food.

Why did the toilet paper not cross the road? Because it got stuck in the crack! Haha, there's your joke of the day! Wow, lots has happened this week, but at the same time, not really. The last few days just got super stressful, and made the days feel three times as long. But Sister Terry and I sure learned a lot, so that's a plus!

Monday was Halloween so we had to be inside by 6pm to do some deep cleaning on our apartment. But Sister Terry and I wanted to capitalized on the opportunity to get a little more sleep, so we cleaned during our lunch breaks the week prior. That was the best decision ever! Earlier in the day our district went to a member's house where we carved pumpkins and did other fun stuff together, so all in all, it was a great Halloween!

D is continuing to blow us away! Last week we committed her to follow the word of wisdom, and when we followed up this week she said she quit cold turkey! Obviously, it's been a little hard for her to not have her morning cup of tea, but she is so willing to make that sacrifice cause she knows it's what God wants her to do. This time we taught the law of tithing, and once again she readily accepted the invitation to do it. Wow, this seriously never happens, but it's great! If all investigators were like D then Pennsylvania would magically turn into a Utah or something haha. 

This past week we had a little extra time and miles, so we went to visit this active elderly couple in our ward who told us to stop by when we are in the area. Sadly, we never go to where they live, but we decided to make a special trip out. Most members here are pretty old, and a good majority of them are converts themselves. So visits are always warmly welcomed, but when missionaries come it's like a treat to them. It sure makes you feel good when people start to cry (good tears) when they see you. They really cherish the church and the friends or missionaries who helped them find it. It gives me something to look forward to years down the road when I get to see the people I once taught flourishing in the gospel.

One of my favorite "mission foods" has to be pirogies. Holy cow, those things are going to be served on gold platters in heaven cause they are soooo good! I guess the best way to describe them is a potato filled ravioli which you fry up in some butter. My mouth is watering just thinking about them, and my waist line is also getting bigger, so it's a good thing I've only been fed them a few times :) But, we did get to help the T's make some this past week, so now I know how to instantly gain ten pounds haha. The coolest part was after we were cooking. They aren't members, and somehow our temples got brought up. Thankfully I just so happened to have a temples pamphlet in my bag that day, so I whipped it out and showed them pictures of the inside and explained what went on. They didn't have too much to say, but did marvel at how beautiful they are. One day the Tice's will be Mormon, and they will be the best ones there are!

I guess the main lesson that I learned this past week is that even though I'm a missionary, it can be super hard to stand up for our morals and what we believe. I wish it could magically get easier because people know I'm a missionary, but I feel like it gets a million times harder because I feel all this pressure to not screw up cause people might see the church as evil or something. But in the words of Elder Perry "sin will always be sin" so if the haters are gunna hate, then let them cause at least you're on God's team! 

Sister Morrison

Sister Morrison

Happy Halloween!

PSA: I still love BYU

The G's. So I have to explain P's face tattoos because they

are really interesting. The X on his forehead is because the thinks

he is Malcom X, so weird design thing by one eye is because

S (his wife) loves Mike Tyson, the barbed wire on his nose

is because he thinks he's bad, the tear drops beneath both eyes is

symbolic of anyone he would kill if they hurt S, and he has

some lines by his other eye which are scratch marks because

one time S got scratched by a cat

10.31.2016

This past week we had a lesson with the C's (P and B) and the whole time there were about five dogs surrounding me, and then another five jumping all over Sister Terry. It was so gross! But the lesson was good, and they were set on coming to church yesterday which was great! We stood outside the chapel waiting for them, and sadly they didn't show up. So we did the walk of shame to the chapel and sat in a pew by ourselves. I forgot to poopy it feels to have everyone expecting someone to show up, and they bail. It's probably my least favorite thing as a missionary.

I also got to rake leaves for the second time in my life this past week! It's insane how many leaves tress have! It was lots of fun though and it was a good way to serve our elderly neighbors.

Ok, so now for a more spiritual note. At stake Conference this weekend the theme was centered on Christ. They showed this video of President Hinckley getting super emotional as he bears his testimony of a Christ. In it he said "Jesus is my friend," and that was the neatest thing it hear. The closeness of the relationship between in and Christ really touched me because of how much he loved the Savior. It helped me recognize even more how much He loves me.

Sister Morrison

Featured Phil: Breakfast sounds good!

10.24.2016

Lightning, teaching, and future baptisms

This week was great! I don't know how we managed to pull it off, but
we only did an hour and a half of finding the whole week, and spent
the rest of the time teaching lessons, doing service, or going to
meetings. We've had some pretty crazy rain storms, coupled with lots
of thunder and lightning at night. One night I woke up to a super loud
thunder clap, and as I was trying to fall back asleep I could faintly
hear sniffles coming from Sister Terry. I asked her if she was
alright, and hat poor girl was crying in her bed petrified. I did my
best to try and calm her down in my half asleep delirious state but I
do remember one funny thing she said. After I explained how we are
safe in our house because of the lightning rod she responded "so I'm
safe even though I'm laying on a metal bed frame?" The following night
we were eating dinner at a members house when the storm hit again. The
power went in and out, coupled with a little thunder. Sister Terry was
so scared she just sat there with her fists clenched and whole body
shaking. I couldn't help but laugh a little when the members commented
how they felt like the ground was shaking. Haha, bless her heart.

I guess the funny lesson we had for this week was with the C's.
You never really know what to expect when you go over there. One week
L is dressed up like Darth Vader, another week you have a lesson
while you walk to Sheetz for hot dogs, last week we got kicked out of
the house after everyone had a meltdown, and this week our visit ended
wit L listening to farting noises on YouTube for a good five
minutes straight. I'm just grateful that the sound came from the
computer and not her behind!

D is awesome! We had another lesson with her, and we ended by
discussing the sacrament. We wanted to make sure that she fully
understood the commitment she would make with baptism and before we
could really explain much she cut us off and said "I know the promises
that I'm going to make. I listen very closely to the words spoken
during the sacrament prayer, and I still get emotional every time."
Ok, that say sound like she was rude when I wrote it out, but it
wasn't. It was a genuine love she had for the sacrament and it was
cool to see her "get it."

We also had a super awesome lesson with Am, the investigator.
We've been working our way is to baptism and really been trying to
have her understand the purpose of us visiting, and how she can truly
come unto Christ. We weren't planning on setting her with a date, but
mid lesson we decided that is what we needed to do. The setting was
perfect, but then her sister L came in and sorta killed our vibe.
We love L, but she just likes to chit chat with us, so it blew our
opportunity. But, we are excited to try again next week!

We also had zone conference this past week and it was really good. We
now officially have a Standard of Excellence (mission wide weekly
goals) which I was honestly not too thrilled about at first, but now
I'm pumped. This past year wasn't the best number wise for our
mission, so now the bar has been set and we have something to work to.

Sister Morrison

Featured Phil: Postcards from Phil :)

Altoona Zone

D, Brother B and us!

10.17.2016

D and family history

Not too much happened out of the ordinary this week, but I got to

relearn the lesson of not trusting our GPS when it takes you on long,

windy, dirt roads. Wednesday on our way back from district meeting we

went to go visit some people in Reynoldsville. It was going to take us

an hour to get there, which we knew, but it turned into a two hour

ordeal. Everything started off fine, we were driving down this pretty

road admiring the fall colors, and eventually the road turned to dirt.

We still had about five miles left on this road, and over time it got

more narrow, and less maintained. Next thing I know it's a game

commission road which hunters use to go through the woods, which lead

to a dead end. All we could do was laugh, and get away before some

hunter shot at us, because with our luck it would happen.

We had a very good lesson with D about the Plan of Salvation.

Brother B comes to our lessons with us, and he always throws down

this awesome testimony at the beginning that sets the tone for our

lessons. At the end we invited her to be baptized and she didn't even

hesitate to say yes! So now she is set with a date for December 9.

Each week we get to spend some time doing family history, and over the

past five weeks both Sister Terry and I have been about to find over

250 of our ancestors who need temple work done. (S/O to Dad for

showing us how!) We are pretty proud of our accomplishments and cannot

wait to get to the temple! Sadly, I've yet to go on my mission, and

probably won't get the chance. But that just means I'll be busy when I

get back!

Sorry you get a short letter this week, not much worth noting happened

this week. Hopefully next week we will have some crazy, random

adventure to report on :)

Sister Morrison

Pday shenanigans,

Just another groundhog statue in my

favorite place :)

Trying to fit in with the locals.

I got to ride a dinosaur.

And then we decided to eat everyone :)

10.10.2016

The week we almost died in the woods

Fall is here which means I've reluctantly pulled out a few long sleeve

shirts. Summer was hard knowing that the beach was an unrealistic

place for me to go to, but it had some wonderful perks as a

missionary. Like it being light outside all day, and not having to

worry about the cold weather that everyone reminds me about. So, the

weather transition has been a little bitter sweet. Part of the sweet

has been the leaves changing color. Our area is pretty big and I hate

spending a couple hours a day in a car, but I seem to enjoy it more as

I've driven through post card scenes. Pictures and descriptions pale

in comparison to the beauty, so basically be jealous of me during

these few weeks :)

This week we got to be the victims of a real life horror movie. To set

the stage I need to give you some background information on what's

been going on all over Pennsylvania. Groups of people have decided to

dress up like clowns and go jump random people. Ok, so now that you

know that little info let me go into our near death experience. We

were being good missionaries and all, just trying to find a less

active. Our GPS took us to the middle of the woods where a small

camper trailer sat on a cleared piece of land. There was a car in

front of it, so we figured he was home. We knocked on the door, and no

one answered. In fact, it was super quite except for what sounded like

a water generator near a little pond about 100 feet away. So we

decided to go back to our car and leave. As I was walking back I

peeked my head in the car window and saw a clown mask chillin on the

passenger seat. I told Sister Terry to look, and right as she saw it

some psycho looking mountain man with an ax came charging from the

trees towards us. I don't think I've ever ran as fast as I did to the

car. We got in, drove away, and were basically freaked out for the

rest of the day. Just kidding about the whole psycho man part, but the

clown mask was real and that did freak us out a bit!

Our Ward had a surprise birthday party for a lady turning 90 this

month. We got to see a bunch of talents that our Ward members have

like yodeling, line dancing, being an Elvis impersonator, and

accordion playing. It was a fun party and it was nice to see people

outside of their Sunday persona.

We had another rural PA style lesson with P and Am this week.

Thankfully the fleas were under control, well partially, so they let

us inside their home. I kid you not, there were six dogs in the family

room alone! I was a bit on edge the whole time because everywhere I

turned a dog was, but it was still a good lesson. And at the end of it

P accepted the invitation to be baptized in December! That was

super exciting! So now our main goal for her is to get her to come to

church. Hopefully we can make that happen this week.

Our other super awesome news is about D. After sacrament meeting

she pulled me aside and said how she has been praying and praying to

know if it is true but hasn't felt anything until someone bore their

testimony and kept saying it is true. So it hit her like a brick wall

and she couldn't stop smiling and was so excited to tell us that she

knows it's true! She said she just felt relieved and on cloud nine

when she got her answer. We had given her a chapter to read about

baptism and she said that it confused her because she was already

baptized, but during church it totally clicked with her! So when we

meet with her this week she too will be getting a baptism date!

Besides that it was just another week full of finding and mundane

missionary stuff that you would get bored reading about. But, I'm glad

we had some cool miracles to outweigh that stuff!

  

Sister Morrison

Slow days call for peanut butter filled chocolate

donuts from Sheetz 🍩

 

Last Pday with the Ridgeway sisters. Can you tell

we love Pittsburgh?

Classy Walmart selfie

I feel like this describes a missionary's

experience here pretty well.

Just chillin with our main squeeze Phil.

10.03.2016

Crazy old lady, finding, and conference

I haven't really eaten myself sick since Pittsburgh, but this week we

actually had a meal appointment, and they believed in huge portions! I

saw my plate and thought "wow, that's a lot of food, but I can pack it

down," but poor Sister Terry. She is seriously a size XS, and I was

afraid she would bust open if she ate half of the food. I was pretty

impressed with her when she got almost all of it down. The car ride

after we couldn't help but unzip our skirts and laugh. We also

performed our first food swap together without the members knowing.

That's proof right there that training is coming along just fine ;)

We did some service for some nonmembers, and we went into it thinking

we were going to spend time with an old lady and give her care taker a

break. Well, we more or less babysat a crazy old lady named A.

Sometimes we felt as though we were going to die from a psycho person,

but for the most part we just laughed. We asked her who old she was,

but she couldn't remember so we decided to ask her what year she was

born. She responded "1792!" A little while later she was saying how

she was skinny, evaluated Sister Terry and said she was skinny, then

looked up at me (I was a good four or five inches taller than her) and

said "You are too big to be skinny." Man, only old people can get away

with saying stuff like that without reservation!

We were able to have a lesson with a less active, Am, and her

nonmember mom, P last Monday. It went so well, and the whole time

Am was throwing down testimony and P was eating it up! Of

course there had to be a redneck flare on the whole thing. This time:

it was a porch lesson in the freezing cold because their house was

infested with fleas. I guess you can't have it all, can you?

This week we tried to change up finding a bit, and it turned out

pretty successful! I read from another missionary's weekly email that

they did something called "Power Hour" where they share a message with

members, and then have them pray and receive revelation on where we

should work for the next hour. We did it with the J's and it

worked! They sent us to a little community in Richardsville. We were

able to hand out two Book of Mormons, and get a new investigator! They

whole drive there I was a little nervous that it was going to be

unsuccessful, and we would look like dumb missionaries, but I kept

saying to myself "no, I need to have faith!" Well, it turns out that

faithful finding works! If only I can remember that more often when

finding is not the most enjoyable...

We also had interviews this past week, and had some more great

training from President and Sister Johnson. They talked about how

Moroni even felt inadequate as he compared himself to the Brother of

Jared. I never knew that, and it was a little comforting to see that

others struggle. But, it also was a good reminder for me not to

compare myself to others.

Conference was great, and I feel like I learned so much! One main

takeaway for me is that I want to make the rest of my mission a

"joyful privilege." It's hard to see on a day to day basis how awesome

being a missionary is, but it you step back and really think about

what you are doing, you see that it really is amazing! I'm so grateful

I decided to go on a mission because I've seen so many people change

and become happier. D also got to watch conference this weekend

and she loved it. She said that it really helped clarify things, and I

am grateful to see her dedication in learning if the church is true.

  

Sister Morrison

District picture

We really don't appreciate the rain.

Photo booth selfie with P.

9.26.2016

Drugs, dogs, and Darth Vader

This week was another good one, full of interesting lessons. Here are

just a few of the good ones:

We were teaching some people on their front porch and it was crazy all

around. Kids running around, tons of people talking, and lots of

smoking going on. Welcome to Pennsylvania! But the best part was that

one of the men was smoking a thin cigar and as we were walking away

Sister Terry asked me if he was smoking weed. All I could do was laugh

because I thought the same thing with another person until I saw the

cigar box in their shirt pocket.

We also went to contact a less active, but new tenants moved in

recently. Thankfully they welcomed us in and we were able to teach the

Restoration! I'm not too sure how interested they are, but the best

part was she had a keychain that said "Nugs not drug" with chicken

nugget pictures on it. I thought it was super fitting for the day,

because we ended it by meeting a different less active who spent a

good thirty minutes talking about drugs, and how heroine is becoming a

big problem in Punxsy.

Wednesday was a bit of a brutal day, constituting of a lot of

unsuccessful finding. At one point we were came up to an intersection

in a neighborhood and Sister Terry turned the corner. Next thing I

know she turns around with a super frightened look on her face and

says "Sister Morrison, there is a wild dog!" We both are freaked out

by dogs, so we turn around, and start booking up is hill we just

walked down. About five seconds later I turn around, and there it was,

a huge dog chasing after us. I was in such a panic as it was catching

up to me, my only thought was to try and juke it out by getting on the

other side of parked cars, and then run up some steps to get to the

sidewalk. Once we got to the top of the stairs the dog thankfully

stayed at the bottom, and we didn't get eaten alive. It slowly

wandered away from us, and now we live to tell the tale!

D has been coming to church for about two months now. She is

dating a member of our ward, and has kinda been off limits for us to

teach because of the awkward situation that it might put Brother B

in. But, we finally got the ok to teach her, and our lesson went so

well! The members we had with us were solid, and D really has a

genuine interest to know if it is true. She asked us what our favorite

chapters from the Book of Mormon were so she could read them, and even

asked for a DVD of the Restoration. She loves the church so far, but

is just waiting to see if it is true. Talk about a miracle!

I was finally able to accomplish one of my new year goals this past

week! My goal was to pass out 150 copies of the Book of Mormon, and

with the time we spent finding this past week I was able to do it!

Obviously the year isn't over and I still have three months, so my new

goal is to pass out fifty more, making it a total of 200 during 2016!

Saturday was Sister Terry's one month mark, and I am all for

celebrating whenever you have a reason to, so I thought I'd give her a

little treat. L, one of our less actives, loves to put on a Darth

Vader costume, stand on the street corner, and wave to cars as they

drive by. I was able to arrange for Laura to be at the corner when we

pulled up to go visit them, and act like a stranger. Sister Terry

thought it was the weirdest thing ever, and wanted to go take a

picture with this random stranger, and I told her ok on one condition:

she gave it a Book of Mormon. So there's Sister Terry, testifying of

the Book of Mormon to Darth Vader. She did a good job, and got a laugh

out of the whole thing once Darth came walking in the house after us!

Sister Morrison

Shout out to Sister Terry for the cute clothes.

Selfie from Zone Conference

9.19.2016

New comp, and the temple!!!

Why do missionaries have big bladders? Because their pee day is on

Monday! 😂😂 oh man, nothing beats missionary humor! Oh wait, lots of

things do. Like slurpees :)

Transfers week came and went, and they are always so crazy, a little

stressful, but a blast. I learned lots from Sister Maya this past

transfer, but the biggest thing was how important it is to bear a

genuine testimony all the time. She was super good at that. Monday

night the Berwick sisters came and spent the night which meant

sleepover with Sister Birch! It's always a party with her, and we got

to go to the trainer meeting together. Of course we had to make a pit

stop at the M's because they are our pseudo grandparents here,

and I love them so much! The trainer meeting was wonderful! It got me

a little freaked out about training, but a little fear is always good.

I got to see both my trainers, and a bunch mission friends. One funny

thing that happened was when President assigned Elder Boyes and Manly

together. Sister Birch scream "manly boys!!!" We all got a kick out of

that. So with that news, I'm training Sister Terry!

Sister Terry is awesome and is already such a good missionary. She is

full of the greenie fire, and it totally motivates me to want to kick

butt every day. Training has really helped me see how much I've grown

over the past year. When I first came out to PA I honestly can say

that I hated the place. In my mind I kept saying "I'll put my 18 mo

this in, and then I am never coming back here again." Well, slowly but

surely my attitude has changed completely! I love it here, and I have

so much pride in this place. I had a really rough go to the start of

my mission, and adjusting was something that took a lot of work. Since

Sister Terry is new, she is experiencing a lot of the things all new

missionaries feel. It has been cool for me to talk with her about how

I also had those feelings and how overtime they go away and you learn

to love the simple things here. Overall, it has helped me reflect and

see how much I have utilized the enabling power of the atonement. When

I first got out, I had no idea what that was, and once I learned I put

it to action, and now God helps me on the daily! God rocks my

socks!!!!

We had so many random and fun adventures this week, one of them being

a nerf war with some 10-12 year old boys. We were walking around

trying to visit some people when they came up to us and asked us if we

wanted to nerf battle. So next thing I know we are chasing little boys

around with guns. It was short lived cause we didn't want to look like

two creepy girls chasing down little boys, but they offered to walk us

back to our car. So basically it was like I was roaming the streets

with my posse like I did when I was little. It was great.

Our Relief Society had an activity where we did laughter yoga.

Honestly, it was one of the weirdest things ever, but so funny! Just

imagine a room full of old ladies in a circle making faces at each

other and laughing.

We also got to play butcher with the T's. They have to have non

injected chicken, so they bought twenty chickens from an Amish lady,

and we spent the morning cutting the meat off the carcasses, then

grinding it all up. It was so much fun! I never thought I would learn

how to do so many random things from how to butcher a chicken, to

milking cows, to catching stink bugs before they spray you, but life

in the country has some perks!

Ok, the highlight of my week was hands down yesterday. We got to watch

all here of the Philadelphia temple dedication sessions!!!! I have

never been so proud of this state like I was yesterday. My heart was

so happy that they finally have a temple! It's probably the only

temple I will have the opportunity to go to on my mission, and after

touring it, I felt such a strong pull to it. I know God wants each of

us to strive to go to the temple and remain worthy of the blessings.

The temple itself is so special because it is right at the birthplace

of our country's freedom! In fact, the Declaration of Independence,

Constitution, and Bill of Rights were all established there! Some cool

little fact is that the Constitution was signed September 17, 1787,

the ground breaking ceremony for the temple occurred September 17, and

the cultural celebration for the complete temple was September 17,

2016 making it 229 years after our rights were established! Needless

to say, that date is full of historic events. They talked a lot about

how so many people have sacrificed so that we can have the blessings

of the temple. Both church leaders, and government people who have

fought to have our rights preserved.

Sister Morrison

Grinding chicken meat with D.

Squad

All of the missionaries from yesterday's temple dedication.

We more or less got to hang out between sessions.

Some of the coolest missionaries in the PPM!