2.22.2016

Another week has come and gone

This week has been a good one! Since Saturday the weather has been AMAZING! We have had clear skies, and it got up to 60 degrees which is unheard of here in the winter time. I know I sound like a broken record when I say this, but I have been so blessed with a mild winter! I didn't have to wear a coat and tons of people were outside, it's been great!

This past week we had a memorial for Sister Wells. We had some missionaries give tributes to her, and then President and Sister Johnson spoke, along with our AP, Elder Miller, and Elder Gardner who works in the office. It was all based around the Plan of Salvation. At her funeral in Utah the day prior, Elder Bednar spoke and said something along the lines of "I don't know why things like this happen, but I know that God knows why, and that is enough for me." With that, we all just need to have faith that everything is part of God's plan and that it'll all work out in the end. It was a great memorial, and it really helped all of us cope with the accident and move on. So, back to work we go! Two of the other sisters are doing great and are improving so much. Sister Young continues to be in the ICU and is fighting broken bones, infections, and internal damage. She still needs lots of prayers because she is in a bad condition. Hopefully she will be able to pull through and won't have any lasting effects from the accident. I cannot imagine the pain she is going through right now.

At the beginning of my mission we had a mission-wide initiative titled #JustReadIt (The AP during that time loved hashtags haha). Anyways, there were three things we had to try and do each day: 1. Hand out a Book of Mormon, 2. Read a chapter of the Book of Mormon, and 3. Have someone we are working with also read a chapter from the Book of Mormon. It's pretty straight forward, but can sometimes be a challenge. I remember texting / calling people at 10:15 pm in a panic to see if they had read so we could get our day counted for. Our zone leaders decided that for this transfer they are bringing back the challenge. Since they started it a little into the transfer they made it a goal for each area to get 30/37 days a #JustReadIt day. Sister Kwasney and I have really taken this challenge to heart. So far we are 3 for 3! We have also seen lots of blessings from doing it in only half a week. We have struggled for the past few weeks at getting new investigators so that we have someone to teach. Well this week we got four! Three of which were from the challenge. It was been such a blessing and I cannot wait to see the success that continues to come through this initiative. 

I have learned the power of saying sorry and having humility over the past few weeks. Yes, that's right everyone, you can now flop over and die because I'm pretty sure none of you ever thought that day would come. Also, no need to worry, Sister Kwasney and I get a long totally fine and there is no tension or riff between us. That in itself is a miracle to get along so well with a companion. Anyways, about the whole humility thing. I've just learned that in the long run it's not worth it to hold grudges or get mad about stupid things. If you say sorry and have open communication, then it works five hundred times better! It's weird saying sorry so much, this will definitely take some getting used to, but it's a nice change. I can feel myself much happier and patient towards others as well as myself.

What's a weekly email from me without a story about an animal, right? So this past week we were at Sister Thompson's house and I was sitting on a chair opposite of the room from the couch where she and Sister Kwasney were sitting. I noticed Sister Kwasney looking strangely at my feet, and when I looked down I say Sister Thompson's cat. Naturally you would think that I would flinch or do something along those lines, but not this time. Instead I just sat there frozen and let out a really loud yelp that freaked out that cat and everyone in the room. I don't know why it scared me so much, but we all got a good laugh about it afterwards. 

That's about it in the life of me. We are expected to get one more snowstorm and then hopefully it will transition to spring. I am so excited!

Sister Morrison

Just a funny picture we took in a bathroom one day. We sure get laughs at doing stupid things together!

I burned a shirt for my 6 month mark! 

We traded name tags and practiced giving a Book of Mormon with one of the cutest kids in our ward while we were there for dinner. I seriously want to fit her in my pocket and take her everywhere I go!

02.15.2016

A Sad Week for the PPM

This past week has been a rough on for the missionaries here in

Pittsburgh. As some of you may already know, on Tuesday on the way

home from the transfer meeting four sisters got hit by a school bus

that ran a stop sign. Sister Wells lost her life in the accident,

Sister Young had some internal damage along with broken bones that has

required some surgeries, and Sisters Douglas and Faamaile had serious

concussions and broken ribs, but thankfully are already out of the

hospital recovering very well. It has been a humbling experience for

me to see people who see the love and care that missionaries, members,

and even non members have shown towards those Sisters who were

effected.

On Thursday we had a mission wide fast, and I cannot describe the

power and spirit that I felt throughout the whole day. We also had our

district meeting that day, and when the eight of us missionaries knelt

down in prayer for the families and people who have been involved, I

felt an overwhelming feeling of comfort and peace that I know others

felt as well. There is such a power in prayer and fasting and it truly

was a miracle for me to see and feel the magnitude of it on Thursday

as missionaries united together for Sister Wells. I know without a

doubt that God lives, and that we are given trials which enable us to

exercise our faith in Jesus Christ and hold fast to His teachings. 

I have been comforted by the knowledge that I have of the Plan of

Salvation. Life does not even after death, and because of the

atonement of Jesus Christ we will all live to see our families again.

This incident would have been much harder on me if I didn't  know

that. 

The latter half of the week was freezing! I am so grateful that I

wasn't here last winter because there would be no way that I would

survive. I seriously felt like my toes were going to fall off or turn

purple with frostbite. Wind chill is a legit thing and I don't like it!

Thankfully it will warm back up to the mid thirties again this week,

so I should survive. I also had my first slip of the season on

Thursday. It didn't hurt one bit and I just laid in the parking lot

cracking up. Good thing it wasn't as bad as it could've been! 

Sister Kwasney and I knocked on Sydney Crosby's, a Penguin hockey

player, door this past week. Sadly no answer, but persistence is key.

Especially when it comes to meeting an NHL player! 

On Saturday night the R's had the missionaries over for dinner. It

was the first time we saw E in a month! It was wonderful!!! It was

great, and I think it really helped him to see that we still love him,

even though he is going through trials. We all make mistakes, and we

can use others around us a support, there is no reason to be ashamed

for having weaknesses because we all have them! Everyone except E

came to church yesterday. I was so happy to see part of their family

there, and so was the ward. As we continue to love E he will come

back, it will just take some time. 

This past week was a bad cat week. Did you know cats can shock you? I

learned that Thursday night. We were at the house where the cat kept

digging its claws into me about two months ago. Well this time it

would do the same, unless you pet it. The only problem was that its

fur would conduct an electrical current and shock you if you pet it.

So throughout the lesson I had to battle between claws or shocks. It

was not enjoyable. During another lesson we were mid prayer and I felt

something tugging on my shoe. I opened my eyes and saw a cat. I

freaked me out so bad that I kicked it and it bolted out of the room.

It happened to Sister Kwasney about thirty seconds earlier so her eyes

were open to see my freak out. It took all I had in me to not laugh

loud enough for the person praying to hear me!

Sister Morrison

BRB, just chillin' in the tropics trying to forget about the cold tundra outside.

Outside of Crosby's mansion!

Photo booth fun!

Cool picture of some snow on trees. After it snows it's pretty for

about five minutes, then the cold hits your nose and cheeks so you

look down and try to squeeze your face in your coat and you miss the

prettiness.

2.08.2016

When you laugh inside a bathroom, someone is bound to hear you...

This week the weather was nice and warm! And by warm I mean in the mid

40s. There were also more days with clear skies which sure makes me

happy! Those days are usual far and few. I never realized how grateful

I am for the sun and warm weather!

J came to church yesterday, it was great! She only came for the

first 30 minutes to take the sacrament before she went to the other

church with her mom, but something is better than nothing!

Ju also came and this week she paid her tithing!!!! That is

something that we have really been trying to work with her on. We kept

promising her that if she paid tithing that she will receive blessings

and that she would still have enough to pay her monthly bills. Well,

this past week she saw a financial blessing that caused her to have

enough faith to pay tithing. Hopefully we can continue to help her

progress towards a full tithe so she can go to the temple!

The R's didn't come to church yesterday. As frustrating and sad as

it makes me, it doesn't surprise me anymore. They keep bailing last

minute for random reasons. It kills me to see how they aren't keeping

the covenants that they made.

We saw E with the Relief Society

president this past week and you could physically see a difference in

her since she has stopped coming to church. She is no longer full of

light and happy, but is miserable. I just wish she could see that when

she starts doing the right thing she will be blessed.

We got to teach L a little about the Plan of Salvation this week.

She is really eating it up! It's nice to teach someone other than the

Restoration. Seeing people progress is one of the best parts about

being a missionary. Sadly, she got called into work yesterday so she

wasn't able to come to church, but she said next week she will!

We have been working with a less active named L this past month.

Both her and her mom, Susie, have been coming back to church more

recently. L was really able to open up with us this past week and

now we have a great relationship with her and we will know how to help

her develop her faith in Christ in the future. We also helped her work

on her car. She knows lots about cars and she said that she had $1,600

worth of work to do, and if she did the labor it would only cost her

about $300, so we volunteered to help! I didn't learn too much, but I

did learn a little about the inside of a car. The highlight was

definitely hitting a sledge hammer a bunch of times on a part to knock

it loose. I also got my hands dirty and wore pants which is also a

nice little treat :)

At New Hope this week they had a comedy club activity. They told funny

old people jokes and we served them drinks. Leave it to the two Mormon

missionaries to be assigned to making mock tails for everyone!

Thankfully most of them wanted piña coladas or margaritas so it wasn't

hard. I just faked it till I made it when it came to being a bar

tender.

So this past week we got to one of our lessons and I really had to use

the bathroom. I went upstairs used the bathroom, and then went to

leave when I noticed the door handle was falling off. I knew I was

locked in and all I could do was laugh. I could hear everyone

downstairs talking and I figured I would be stuck in there for a while

and continued to laugh hysterically. Well, all the sudden I heard

Sister Kwasney say "is your bathroom door hard to open?" I knew she

heard me, so I just knocked on the door to signal that I was stuck.

Eventually I got out, but it was funny knowing that everyone and their

dog could hear me laughing in the bathroom and that if I just yelled

they could have gotten me sooner! During that same lesson both me and

the member who came with us fell asleep, but only Sister Kwasney

noticed, thank goodness!

We were on the bus to the outskirts of our area, so the bus ride is

about twenty minutes long. For some reason that bus ride always makes

you so tired. Kwasney told me that she was about to fall asleep so I

stayed awake so we wouldn't miss our stop. Her head started bobbing

more and more, and within a matter of two minutes her whole body was

practically jerking. That didn't seem, to wake her though. What did the

trick was when her whole body gave out and she fell forward and hit

her head on the pole in front of us. I was dying laughing as she woke

up to a bonk on the head! If only I got that on camera!

Sister Morrison

Beaver Valley District

One of greatest things about going into the city is that there is a 7-11 on every corner. I love slurpees!

Touching Monongahela, Ohio, and Allegheny Rivers all at the same time! Only place you can do this is at the point of Point Park.

Selfie while we fix L's car.

2.01.2016

It's already February!

Well, this week will help compensate for the lack of crazy stories

from last week. But first, I'll start off with those we teach:

As you could probably notice, over the past few weeks we have been

trying to find people to teach and build our teaching pool again. Well

last week we went to visit a self referral from two years ago in

Sewickley. When we got there we met L, his mom. We gave her a

Book of Mormon and got another appointment with her set up. She is

seriously so awesome, the time that we set up didn't work for her and

instead of flaming out like most people she called us and let us know

a time at worked better for her. We went and taut her Saturday the

Restoration and the lesson went fantastic. The spirit was strong and

we invited her to be baptized and she said yes! Even better, we

invited her to church and she said yes to that as well. So yesterday,

Leslie was at church! She loved it and was smiling the whole time. I

am really excited to teach her, I see so much potential not only in

her but also possibly teaching her family as well. She is a blessing

that was much appreciated since I felt like we have been working super

hard to find someone ready to hear the gospel.

We also met with a former investigator who stopped meeting with the

missionaries when his health went bad about two years ago. He had to

get his leg amputated, yet he has such a positive outlook on life.

Hopefully I will have more to report about A next week!

J has been struggling little bit, and this week she was genuinely

concerned and didn't understand how Christ knows exactly how we feel

during trials. I was able to testify that he really does know how we

feel, and how he took on the sins and pains and sorrows for each one

of us individually. It makes me so sad to see how people do not

understand that Christ is there for us and is willing to help us when

we feel bogged down. All we have to do is ask for help and rely on

Him. I have grown a love for the Atonement, yet still have so much

more to learn. It's super cool.

Now for some adventures from our week:

We were riding on the bus one day and it totally broke down.

Pittsburgh is a city of hills, and we were slowly going up one (a lady

jogging on the sidewalk was faster than the bus) when all he sudden it

died and started to roll backwards a little. Thank goodness for

emergency brakes and the next bus which only came ten minutes later!

We had dinner with a family who has a Great Dane that probably weighs

as much as I do. Well for some reason it took a liking to me, so the

entire time at dinner it was trying to bite / tug on my laces, and

stick it's head up my skirt. at one point the dog got so close to my

face I thought it was about to lick my mouth. That would have been

bad. The whole time I was trying to play it off all cool and

nonchalantly push it away, but I totally failed. I got the "laugh when

you are in an uncomfortable situation" thing from my mom, so the whole

time I was dying laughing. It totally backfired and drew so much

attention to me. Classic backfire moment of Sister Morrison.

So, one thing I love about Bellevue is there is always something going

on because it's a walking community. Well, yesterday we were walking

to see a member when we saw Sister T and her friend L on

the side of the street. We were talking with them for a little bit,

when all the sudden we see a car speed past us and a few seconds later

two girls screaming and briskly walking down towards us. The girl who

was screaming profanity more than a sailor had her face totally beat

and blood gushing out of her nose. Obviously she got the crap beat out

of her, she looked nasty. We went over to see if she was ok and the

whole time she was screaming and bawling hysterically while trying to

call someone on her phone, but failing to do so. She had two dogs that

we pulling her arms in different directions, so Sister Kwasney and I

held the leashes for her and the friend so she could settle down and

get a little cleaned up. Well, while all this is happening Larry

decides to call the cops, which was a little unnecessary since the

only thing that happened was a girl got beat up. We kept trying to ask

her friend what happened but the whole time she was mute, and would

only talk to her friend. I'm pretty sure they were also both on drugs.

The girl finally composed herself a little and decided she felt good

enough to walk home. Right as they left a police came, so we finished

talking to Sister T then walked towards the cop car to see what

happened. As far as we could tell they were just trying to see how bad

her face was.

So that's about it for the week! The weather has warmed back up to the

fifties again! This winter has been the second most mild winter here

in the past century, and I'm sure not complaining! As long as I am in

a walk area the snow stay for away!

Sister Morrison

Since I don't have lots of pictures to send this week I though I'd show you this one. It's a picture of the shortest and tallest missionary here in the PPM. It cracks me up every time I look at it!

Gas is so cheap here, can you believe it's below $2?

Me and Kwasney