Merry Christmas!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! (3 days late...)

I hope everyone enoyed their Christmas, and that you were all able to feel close to your Savior. Isn't Christmastime just the best? The whole world just seems to be in a better mood. :) 

Sister Johnson and I had a good Christmas. We were able to talk to our families!! Yay! Technology sure is great. :) After we talked to our families in the morning, we were able to do service at a soup kitchen. Some of you may have seen Sister Johnson's post on facebook about Sherry. Instead of serving the food, the manager had us go out and talk to the people getting food. That is how we met Sherry. She had written that poem about an experience from her childhood, and had the manager print about 200 to give to everyone that came to the soup kitchen. She wanted everyone to remember that Jesus loves them, so they could be happy in whatever their circumstances were. She is amazing. It was a very special experience to spend part of Christmas among people of the most humble circumstances. It made me very very aware of how much God loves His children. Some of these people didn't have homes to go to (keep in mind the weather has been close to 0 lately) and they still were laughing and smiling and giving credit to their Heavenly Father. :) I am grateful for what I learned from them. 

i recently read a talk by Elder Holland that he gave to BYU students in 1998. You can find the whole thing in the April 1998 Ensign titled, "Come Unto Me". I just want to share a quote from his talk with you all. :)

"Consider, for example, the Savior’s benediction upon his disciples even as he moved toward the pain and agony of Gethsemane and Calvary. On that very night, the night of the greatest suffering that has ever taken place in the world or that ever will take place, the Savior said, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you. … Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27).

I submit to you, that may be one of the Savior’s commandments that is, even in the hearts of otherwise faithful Latter-day Saints, almost universally disobeyed; and yet I wonder whether our resistance to this invitation could be any more grievous to the Lord’s merciful heart. I can tell you this as a parent: as concerned as I would be if somewhere in their lives one of my children were seriously troubled or unhappy or disobedient, nevertheless I would be infinitely more devastated if I felt that at such a time that child could not trust me to help or thought his or her interest was unimportant to me or unsafe in my care. In that same spirit, I am convinced that none of us can appreciate how deeply it wounds the loving heart of the Savior of the world when he finds that his people do not feel confident in his care or secure in his hands or trust in his commandments."

Your Savior and Heavenly Father love you all so much. Please remember that as you go about your day! Even though Christmas is over, and light the world is over, keep lighting the world! Keep helping people see who they are as children of a loving Heavenly Father! :) 

Have a happy week and be sure to smile lots. :)

Love, 

Sister Morris

Christmas and Cavemen

Howdy howdy!!

This week was a great one. The weeks just go by so fast!! We hardly did any tracting this week, which was strange! It also made it harder to hit our weekly goals haha. But, with a lot of faith and help from Heavenly Father, we did it! :) 

On Friday we had our Christmas zone conference, which was really fun! It was more like a party than a zone conference haha! I also had a fever all day, so it was hard to pay attention in the games. Oh well, twas still fun. :) 

We got to go to the temple again!! Shelby just finished her first semester of college, and was finally able to go to the temple. She absolutely loved it. :) It was so fun going to the temple with a recent convert. She was smiling from ear to ear, and kept commenting on how beautiful and white everything is. The temple is such a wonderful place! Sister Johnson and I are pumped because we get to go with Jane on the 30th, and Sis. J hits her 6 month mark, so we are gonna get to go then as well! :D 

On Sunday we had a missionary Christmas music devotional which was awesome! We were not allowed to practice at all leading up to the devotional, so we learned 6 songs in the 2 hours before. It was crazy. But, the Spirit must have covered any mistakes, because everyone loved it. :) At the end of the night we all gathered together and sang the mission song. It was glorious. Ah I love being a missionary. :) 

Jane started on her family history and loves it! Thankfully I had done some family history, so I knew how to help a little bit. We were able to find several of her family members to take to the temple. She is so excited and so are we. :)

I cannot believe that Christmas is in 5 days!! I am so excited to experience Christmas on the mission. I have been studying the allegory of the Olive tree in Jacob 5, and am in awe with how much love our Savior has for us. I love my Savior, Jesus Christ, and am so grateful for his love, mercy, kindness, and example. One of my very favorite things about being a missionary is meeting complete strangers and feeling an overwhelming sense of love that their Heavenly Father and Savior have for them. It is incredible. :)

I hope you all have an amazing Christmas, and in the words of President Gordon B. Hinckely, 

"For each of you may this be a merry Christmas. But more importantly, I wish for each of you a time, perhaps only an hour, spent in silent meditation and quiet reflection on the wonder and the majesty of this, the Son of God. Our joy at this season is because He came into the world. The peace that comes from Him, His infinite love which each of us may feel, and an overwhelming sense of gratitude for that which He freely gave us at so great a cost to Himself—these are of the true essence of Christmas."

Love you all!! 

Sister Morris

PS

Sister Johnson and I have created a language with each other. You just say the sound the first letter of each word makes...lol it sounds like a caveman language. 😂

Just like frosted flakes, Miracles are Great!!

Hello hello! 

This week was soo good!! Jane's baptism went so well, and many miracles came with it. :) as her baptism got closer, her family became less and less supportive. It got quite difficult for a bit, but she persevered and kept her faith! None of them were planning on attending the baptism, but when the day came, all of them had softened their hearts and changed their minds! They all came, and were all smiling! It was amazing!! When we pray with faith, God will provide miracles. :) Both former elders were able to make it to the baptism, and they both bore their testimonies of the Savior and his gospel. The spirit was so strong! Jane hasn't been able to stop smiling since. :) I'd like to say to all you who have tried sharing the gospel in one way or another, whether it be sharing your testimony with a friend, or serving a full time mission. I hope you know how valuable your efforts were and still are. Most of the time we will not see the result of our efforts, but it is the Lord's work, and you were able to bring someone closer to Jesus Christ. The two brothers who taught Jane 16 years ago had no clue how big of an impact they had on her life. I promise that there will be many who thank you in the next life for the efforts you put forth in sharing the gospel. :)

It is transfers again...weird! But good news, SISTER JOHNSON AND I ARE STAYING TOGETHER! I am so happy to be staying with her and staying in Zanesville. :) 

Hahaha so we have a rule in our mission that we have to eat everything on our plate when we eat with members (hence the growing double chin;)) and in order to do so, you just have to turn your brain off and eat. 😂 anyways, we were eating at steak n shake with some members, and I had ordered chicken fingers. I was super excited to eat them, but when I bit in, they were really slimy and mushy. Bleh. I shut my brain off and tried really hard to eat them. Well...one of the members had also ordered chicken fingers, and she pointed out how gross they were. Which is when we realized we were eating nearly raw chicken. Yaaaay! Lol we prepared ourselves for the worst, but thankfully Heavenly Father watches over missionaries! Only as a missionary can you eat two raw chicken fingers and not get food poisoning. ;) 

Thanks for all your prayers! I love you all lots! Enjoy the happiness that our Savior brings at Christmas time! 

Much love,

Sister Morris

Fasten your seatbelts...

What a week!

Sister Johnson and I had a week full of the most amazing miracles. As you all know, Jane is getting baptized this Saturday, the 9th! I am not sure if I've given Jane's conversion story before, so I will tell it now. About 17 years ago a set of elders knocked on her door, taught her all the discussions, and although she loved everything that was taught to her, she decided against being baptized. Shortly before I arrived in Zanesville, the sisters saw Jane's daughter in the area book and felt like they should stop by. Although her daughter wasn't interested, Jane was. She told them right off the bat that she wasn't going to convert, but she did want to learn more about the Book of Mormon, and other things that we believe. The first lesson we had with her was about my fourth day here. She just absorbed everything we taught, and was very open with any questions. She started reading the Book of Mormon, which as many of you know, will give you a growing testimony. :) last week she had her baptismal interview, and had asked us if there was a way to know what the elders names were that served here. She has expressed many times how much they mean to her. She gave us what she could remember of their names, and we went home and started Facebook stalking. ;) haha we found an Ohio Columbus mission 2000 page, and found her elders!! We were able to get in contact with them, and long story not as long, THEY ARE BOTH COMING TO HER BAPTISM!!! 😄😄 one of the brothers will baptize her, and the other is going to confirm her!! When she found out that they are coming, she was soo happy! The other night at our lesson, she was talking about her baptism and getting emotional. Her testimony is so strong, and she is just so amazing. I'll send pictures of the happy day next week. :) it was just amazing seeing God provide help in finding and getting in contact with her elders! Our Heavenly Father has so much love! 

Light the World has been so fun! :) isn't it great seeing the smile that comes to people's faces when you do something kind? Ah...we love it. :) I hope y'all are enjoying the light the world initiative as much as we are! It is so cool how the far the Light of Christ can spread from service. 🌞

I hope you all have a happy week! Thanks for all your prayers and support! I love you all very much!

Love,

Sister Morris