"I testify that bad days come to an end, that faith always triumphs, and that heavenly promises are always kept. Jeffrey R. Holland

Sorry my e-mails are always really lame!  We have so much to do, and not much time to do it! The first Friday of September, we had mission counsel, and it turns out that Elder Ochoa from the 70's was invited, and i was assigned to give a 6 minute talk on the atonement of Jesus Christ. Wow! it is incredible how much Christ does for us! He is my HERO!  The more we learn about Him, the closer we grow to Him. And like Alma said, we will develop the desire to sin no more. We choose to follow him more closely, and not cause him any more pain!

Elder Ochoa gave an amazing talk about how we can find the answers to life if we can answer 3 simple, but very important questions! 

1. Is Jesus the Christ, the son of God and the Redeemer and Savior of the world?

2. Is the Book of Mormon the word of God?

3. Is Joseph Smith a prophet, seer and revelator? 

When we can know for certain that these things are true, we can answer the questions to any of life’s problems! 

He invited us, that if we don’t know, or if we are unsure, to study these three questions…and when every missionary in the world has a conviction of the truthfulness of these things, we can teach with the power and authority of God and we will baptize hundreds more investigators each month! Then he gave us a super awesome blessing, the spirit was sooo strong that I didn’t ever want to leave! Super awesome! so also, i gave a talk in sacrament meeting about......... missionary work!! surprise!! We use 3 questions before we listen to a talk or have a meeting,

3 questions that change us from not only hearing, but changing.... 

1. what have I heard? 

2. what have I felt?

3. what will I do differently?

I invite all of you to ask yourselves these same three questions before everything!!! General conference, talks, testimonies…as we do so we will be changed! We will become more like our Savior!!!

I love you all and hope you are doing well!! This weekend we should have the baptism of Alfonso!!! He is sooo super awesome and has been ready to accept this message for a long time!!! He is so prepared, and it’s been neat to see him study and change, accepting the challenges, and making the necessary changes in his life!

Love, Hermana Morris 

Be careful judging others...you don't know what battles they are fighting!

WOW!!! So many things to say, but sadly.... not much time!          

So a while back if you remember, we went to the temple as a zone- 18th of august -on our way back home something really crazy happened!!   .... after taco bell, we all got on a bus to take us to another stop before getting on one that would take us back to our areas... so here go a whole bunch of latino and norte companions piling onto a bus, all talking about the temple, and the photos we took,  and before long we reached the stop where we had to get off and change buses.... me and my companion, Hermana Bonilla, and two other companionships joined us on a bus that went to Mixco, while the rest of our crew got on the bus behind us at the front of the bus   We quickly realized that 3 large, rough looking men got on our bus, and one stopped at the front, one headed to the back door, and the largest of the three men started walking up the aisle, looking everyone down, and i assumed, seeing what expensive things we had.... then, the guy that was sizing us all- got a phone call, and as he lifted up his jacket to talk on the phone, a gun showed  and as he hung up, he shouted to the other two men that had gotten on the bus with him, and said, " a whole bunch of greengos just got on the bus behind us, lets go!!" and then all jumped off the bus, and caught the one behind us, and we all look at each other and are like "the elders!!!" so we sat there, not knowing what to do, we didn’t want to call them, because we thought that it wouldn’t be a good idea to show them that they had phones as well, so we said a prayer for them, and about 15 minutes later we called them to see what happened... the elders told us that when the men got on the bus, 3 elders had their cameras out and were looking at photos that they had taken when the big guy approached them, and asked an elder to see his camera! well.. he said no. The other guys walked up to them, and at this point everyone on the bus had stopped what they were doing and were watching what was going on, Then Elder Baldwin walked over to his companion who was being asked for his camera, and asked what was going on, and when he approached, the man saw his nametag and looked over all of the elders, seeing that they all had nametags. The robber then looked at the bigger guy and said, “they are elders, we don’t touch elders”. Let’s go. So without taking anything from anyone, they all got off the bus and didn’t say a word. Super crazy!!! But evidence that God looks out for his missionaries!!  When we are obedient, we are protected!! He loves us, and i am forever grateful for the atonement and the power that it is in my life!!!

love you all!

Hermana Morris

feels like we are always eating!

District

companions

BEST mission president couple ever!

American Hermana

cute family

companions!

"Tis sweet to sing the matchless love, of Him who left His home above, and came to earth- oh wondrous plan- to suffer, bleed and die for man! Hymn # 176

       We have really seen some awesome miracles this week!!! We're working with a family of 3, 2 recent converts, and her husband who likes to drink. The husbands name is Alfonzo, and her name is Janeth, and the daughter of Jeaneth is Emely, and she has a son whos name is luis angel, who is 5 months old.  So Emely was baptised first, a few months later her mom and from what she and other people have told me, she has changed a TON from how she used to be, so now her husband was ready to start listening to us! the problem is he lacks a lot of confidence, and is really shy, and doesn't want to answer questions- afraid of being wrong! but he finally (after like a year and a half) has his first baptism date, and is coming to church with his family and everything!! super awesome!! we have seen, and continue to see many miracles with this family!!!
       So sister Meivy, (pronounced maybe) is super awesome!!! she goes with us all the time to visit.  she is a convert of almost 2 years, and does a ton more to help out the misisonaries than all the RMs!! .
       It's really weird to be with my mom again, mostly cause this time i actually understand her, its weird to look back and see how far I've come!! We are going to have mission counsel on friday, They are super duper intense.  It's always fun to see sister Caffaro!! she is awesome, and always fun to talk to!!

p-day in Guatemala

yikes...

lots of eating!

i guess we should have brought rain gear!

Love going to the temple!  

happy that the temple is in our mission!

SISTERS!!

pay day for missionaries

HAPPY :-D

Love the people of Guatemala!

ALWAYS so much fun to learn and be together!

Our new zone

I get to translate for her, which gets interesting, cause she's also the nurse-- sometimes i have to ask really awkward things!! but it is fun!! so i hope you are all doing well!! I KNOW this church is true, and one thing i have learned from my mission, is that it's literally sooo dangerous to stop reading scriptures, going to church, and praying!!  It's spiritually dangerous!!! So we have to be so careful about the things that we take in, the friends we have, the movies we watch, the music we listen to, because although all of it can be good, it can be sooo harmful if we aren't careful. love you all tons! Thanks for writing to me!
Make it a great week!! 
Hermana Morris

"We may not have all the answers, but the Lord does, and He is willing to reveal them to us if we are willing to listen, be patient, and trust Him." Quentin L. Cook

This week is changes again!! i don’t even know how time goes by that fast!! My new companion is........ Hermana Hernandez!! yep!! i just keep repeating all of my companions, and i will be back with my mom  Almost a year ago to the day we were made companions for the first time, super sad to see sister Bonilla go,

We had 2 baptisms yesterday, and it was pretty stressful, cause the girl that was getting baptized showed up super duper late, without fail they’re always super stressful. But i know that we are able to help them make covenants with God, and that he prepares those who are ready!! She had such an awesome desire to be baptized.  We baptized Mel Paz, and Maria Caal, a mom of a less active, and she was like, i want to be baptized cause i want to change and stay changed and not be who i was before!! our other baptism- Mel got attacked by 2 dogs, and has huge holes in her leg from this dog biting her, and it was huge and swollen, and black and purple, but she said she wanted to do it, and that this wouldn’t stop her. Just shows how the lord prepares hearts!! awesome!!

I know this is His work!!! And we can do it in no other way than with his spirit!!! Believe that people who are being prepared to receive the message of the Restoration will be placed in your path. God will also place you where your good acts and words will prepare people to receive missionaries and Church members. In all your finding efforts, pray and look for opportunities to serve, help, and lift others. As you are serving, talk with everyone you meet. Have the faith that you can share the restored gospel. In every way you serve, you should do so because you love your brothers and sisters and therefore hope, pray, and earnestly desire to teach them the restored gospel.

When people choose not to investigate the restored gospel, your work is not wasted. Your consistent efforts in serving and teaching as many people as you can is one way God prepares His children to eventually receive His servants. He often reaches out to His children through you. Even when people do not accept the opportunity to learn the gospel, your service and words are evidence of God’s love for them and may plant seeds that future missionaries and members of the Church will harvest.

When people do not accept the gospel, do not be discouraged. You have raised a warning voice. You have given them a clear choice. Disciples of Christ feel sorrow when people choose not to repent, but they maintain a vision of who they are and what they are doing. They continue to diligently move forward. don't ever give up! --Preach My Gospel, Chapter 9

"One can pray and not really pray. Prayers can be routinized and made superficial. When this happens, there is very little communication and very little growth." Neal A Maxwell

Oregon looks so fun family!! This week has been full of miracles!! one thing that a mission has definitely taught me is that the Lord is fully capable of doing his own work.. but He continues to do it through us…so that we learn and grow as well..

We have been studying preach my gospel chapter 9- how to better find people to teach! Something that is key-we need the spirit to guide us in everything. . without it we are lost!! In mission counsel, our president was talking about the importance of using the members, and it got me thinking on how we should all be engaged in this great work for our whole lives. not to just help the missionaries or anyone else.. but to help ourselves most of all.. without God and his work, we are literally lost-drowning without a light.. but when we turn to God, when we give our will up to Him, and accept His plans for us, that is when we are changed.

I love serving others, it has brought a happiness and peace that nothing else has brought to my life.. yes.... including all the things i used to love! I know we must stay strong in this ever-darkening world. i was listening to a talk the other day about light, given by elder Bednar, and how we have to take the initiative.. He won’t do it for us, no matter how much he loves us. it is our choice, but when we let him take over... we will be alright. . .

In sacrament meeting a sister shared a story from the liahona.. a lady was on the plane before a flight, and she saw a little girl get on alone, and walk calmly to her seat next to her.. she started playing with some small toys she had brought, and the lady looked over and asked....why aren’t you scared.. you are flying by yourself, and we are about to take off, you don’t even look nervous.. the little girl looked into her eyes, and replied bluntly.. no... my dads the pilot... at that reply the lady thought about the confidence this little girl had in the fact that her father was in control, leading and guiding us to our destination..

This is how we should be in life... God is in control..at the head of our lives, and if we trust in him, we need not fear-only trust! I love our Heavenly Father. I know he loves each one of us, and wants the best for us! he knows us all!! He loves us even with our weaknesses!!! just put your trust in God and let him take over! I know He lives!! you are all awesome! Have a great week!

Hermana Morris