Power of the Priesthood

This week we have really seen so many blessings as a result of our 40 Day Fast! Our lesson numbers have almost tripled, we are exceeding our daily goals, and we are continually seeing the Lord's hand in our work!

Last P-day our whole zone went to the Temple. But we were the ONLY ones that couldn't go since we went last transfer. Serious bummer. But we had a relaxing day and decided to sit outside the stake center and chill until we had our dinner appointment. I sat on the ground and got caught up in my journal and Sister Sorensen ran laps around the parking lot. Not too long after we got there this guy parked his car and started riding his bicycle around the parking lot with his dog. I saw him and Sis Sorensen talk a couple of times but I was just super focused on my journal that I didn't think much of it. I totally thought he was a member and that they were just talking about bikes or something like that. About 30 mins later Sis Sorensen comes and sits next to me and I ask her about what they talked about it. Turns out he's not a member. And she practically did the whole first lesson with him.....10 points to Green Valley! :) Who knew you could find investigators literally RIGHT outside your front door?

So we run and get a Book of Mormon out of our car and both go up to talk to him. I introduced myself to him and then bore testimony about the Book of Mormon as I handed it to him. I have never seen anyone thank me so sincerely from the bottom of their heart for giving them a Book of Mormon. It was such a cool experience for me and I will definitely never forget him! We set up an appointment with him the next day but.....he stood us up. So I don't know if I'll ever know what happens to him. But at least I know that I planted a seed and helped him to feel of the pure love of Christ.

Which reminds me! The Work of Salvation Broadcast was super awesome and I loved the main theme of it all. They talked about member missionary work and how everything needs to be out of love for our fellow children of God! It was awesome and I just hope that it continues to spark the fire of missionary work within our ward! And they announced some cool stuff. I guess pretty soon here we will be able to get on Facebook again and use social media as a proselyting tool! Hopefully pretty soon here we will be getting some i-pads :) But they also said that the church buildings will be open more to the public and that missionaries will give guided tours through the buildings. I am so excited for that. Just getting people into the building and helping them to feel the Spirit sooooo strongly in there will be such an amazing experience!

This week has been an awesome but still extremely difficult week. Satan has been trying really hard to get me down lately but I'm not going to let that happen. I've been reading a lot lately in Jesus The Christ and I learned so much about how even our Savior needed to be administered by angels to receive spiritual strength. I got my first priesthood blessing on the mission this past Sunday and it was one of the most spiritual experiences I've had since I've been out here. I've never received a blessing before where the words are just burned into my brain and are on constant repeat. It has brought me so much peace and comfort and I know that my Redeemer is supporting me right now. The Priesthood and authority to act in God's name is real and restored on the Earth today. Every day my testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and of this Church just continues to grow and I can say without a shadow of a doubt that I know that Christ lives and that God knows each of us by name.

With all my love,

Sister Morgan

Mosiah 24: 13-14

Fiery Trials

This past week my mind has been filled with images of fire. My heart truly goes out to all of those who lost their homes in the Black Forest Fire this past week. I heard about the fire last Wednesday and was so worried for my friends and family since I had no idea where the fire was or what was happening. As I prayed fervently everyday, my heart was at peace and I knew that all of them were okay. But that still brought up some not fun memories that I've been trying to push out of my brain this entire month. Flashbacks of smoke, running around my house evacuating, watching houses burn on the news, and seeing our lot for the very first time was on constant replay. As those memories kept flashing across my thoughts, I began to realize that the way my heart felt was completely opposite of what those types of memories should have made it feel.

I felt happy.

This past week I realized that I have actually been the happiest I have been my whole mission. Which was kind of a shock since it was a pretty hard week. I didn't realize why I felt so happy until this past Sunday when Sister Sorensen and I had to teach Sunday School at the last minute. The lesson was on Repentance. As we were teaching a perfect scripture popped into my mind but I couldn't remember where it was located for the life of me! I sat there flipping through my Book of Mormon trying to find it and it was literally no where to be found! In my mind I said a prayer to Heavenly Father asking Him to help me find it right when Sister Sorensen gave me the "look" saying that I needed to say something so she could stop rambling. So I start talking about the story of when Peter walked on water and related it back to how Christ "reaches our reaching" when we are asking for forgiveness. As I was talking my hands naturally just kept flipping through my Book of Mormon and as soon as I finished my thought, I looked down to behold that I had flipped to the EXACT scripture that I had been struggling to find.

It was Alma 36: 18-20. It was truly a tender mercy from the Lord and such a little miracle. But it probably taught me more than it did to those in the class. I realized that the reason why I was so happy was because I had turned to the Lord and truly repented of my sins. Those images of fire that have been running through my mind were not just literal images of the wildfire. They were also images of a spiritual fire. Last year I truly humbled myself before the Lord and felt His hand of love and forgiveness remove those burdens of sin from my back. Just like what Alma 36 says, a result of true repentance is joy that was exceeding as our pain. Now when I reflect back on that time, I no longer remember the pain that I experienced. Yeah I still get sad about it every now and then, but I literally cannot remember what that pain felt like. Now, all I remember feeling is the pure love of Christ. So I found the partial reason to why I have been so happy this past week. Because of all those nasty memories, I was remembering the pure love and comfort that I experienced and it was so overwhelming that it still remember how wonderful it felt.

The other reason why I have been so happy this week is because I have been sharing this wonderful Gospel and have been serving the people of Poway. On Saturday we did an exchange and Sister Kober and I stayed in Green Valley and taught 8 lessons that day! (which is HUGE for our area) This Gospel seriously is true and brings me pure happiness every.single.day. I am so blessed to have the knowledge of the Atonement of Jesus Christ in my life and to have applied it in my life. I just pray everyday that I can help others to feel that same peace of mind as a result of repentance and help them to come closer to our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Love,

Sister Morgan

Tender Mercies!

This week was another difficult but awesome week!!! There have been so many times where I feel like I'm about to lose hope but then Heavenly Father always provides me with a tender mercy that keeps my hopes and spirits up! This week those tender mercies came in multiple ways.

The Text from Alvin

On Thursday we were doing Weekly Planning and before we start we come up with a list of names of people we want to see during the upcoming week and then have a super long prayer praying for each of them by name. So of course it was my week to say the prayer and it was one of those moments where I finally had to let all of my walls down and truly humble myself before the Lord. It seems like that happens basically every.single.day. Which means I probably need to humble myself more instead of being compelled to be humble haha But right after that prayer we were slowly getting up (being on my knees so much is really starting to become a painful process) and our phone got a text. We look at it and it was from a number we didn't recognize........turns out it was that guy Alvin that was my very first street contact saying that they decided not to move and were interested in meeting with us again sometime soon!!!!! I think my heart skipped a beat. It was so amazing to see how Heavenly Father truly blesses us when we are obedient and submit our will to His. We invited them to the Mission Presidents Fireside on Sunday, but they didn't show up. So we'll just keep chugging along and try to meet with them when they are ready.

Another tender mercy this week came in the form of music. On Saturday we had practice for the Mission Presidents fireside (which is a bunch of musical numbers performed by missionaries, testimonies of new converts, and a couple of mormon messages) and I realized how powerful music truly is to the soul! While listening to everyone practice their musical numbers and singing in the choir, I truly felt that all of us were bearing testimony through song and it just made it even more powerful. Also, today I went to the Stake Center and sitting right outside the Family History Center was this big box with my UKULELE in it!!!! I just about died I was so happy!!!

Package from the Family!
SO HAPPY TO HAVE MY UKE!

My Mom and Sister Katie are in San Diego right now and they were so kind to bring me my uke and music!! It has been crazy to think they are here right now and actually only a couple of miles away!! They even had to drive through Poway the other day!! But I'm really glad I didn't see them. Everyone must think we are crazy that we can't talk to our family or see them and think that my church is super controlling. So let me clarify that for you all. While I am on my mission I am dedicating all of myself to this work and to my Heavenly Father. These 18 months are not about me and what I want to do. Its about serving my Lord and doing what He needs me to do in order to share this Gospel with His children. I honestly don't even want to see my family right now. Don't get me wrong, I love my family with all my heart and really miss them. But I am so focused on my work that I don't want any distractions. And my family, friends, facebook, country music, etc are major distractions. Preparation Day's are nice to talk to my family and friends and see what all is happening in their lives, but during proselyting time all my thoughts need to be focused on the people here in Poway. If i'm not focused, I won't be able to put my all into this work and do everything that Heavenly Father needs me to do. The church doesn't control me and limit my free agency. Everything I do is out of personal choice. Its out of a love that I have for God and for this Gospel. And actually I feel like my religion and testimony give me more freedoms. I'm not weighed down by addictions, worldly obsessions, mistakes from my past, etc. Because of my faith and trust in God I am able to experience true and everlasting happiness. My family has been so blessed and strengthened from building ourselves upon the foundation of Jesus Christ and from having the priesthood (authority to act in God's name) in our home. I am so grateful for this Restored Gospel and the knowledge that I have of the Plan of Salvation. I can't even imagine what my life would be like without it, so that's why I am sharing it with everyone I can while here in San Diego. I just want to help someone find peace and joy through this Gospel that I have been so blessed to have my whole life. So if anyone has any more questions about what I'm doing here in San Diego or want to learn more about my church, I have a couple of friends that I would like you to meet :)

Awkward Zone Pictures!

XOXO Sister Morgan

2 Corinthians 9:7 & 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Found: Lost Cat

Beautiful Poway!

This past week is kind of a blur. We had to do a lot of stuff to prepare for the 40 Day Fast so that took up quite a bit of time between studies, meetings, and teaching lessons. Sister Sorensen and I got to teach the Young Men& Women and also Primary this past Sunday to kick off the 40 Day Fast and that was way fun! I actually don't remember much of what I said during my lesson but that's when I know that the Spirit was doing all the teaching.


The "Relief Society" District

As we were preparing for the lesson we didn't really know how to best teach the kids, so we met up with a recent convert who is an art teacher and she just came up with the best analogies ever! In Preach My Gospel on pages 1-2 it talks about how we are surrounded by people. That so many people are searching for something in this life but they don't know where to find it. Sometimes they don't even know they are searching for something. So she compared that to someone who has lost their cat. They are looking and looking everywhere for their cat but they just can't find it! And sometimes they are searching so long for their cat that they eventually give up and begin to forget about it. But luckily, there are people who put up "FOUND" posters and then people no longer have to search for their cat! That's exactly what it should be with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. People are searching for it but don't know where to find it. Luckily, there are faithful members who are willing to talk to their friends and neighbors and share the good news of the "Found Cat" to end their searching. In 1 Peter 3:14-15 it talks about how we should always be ready with an answer of hope. When I read that it reminded me of the fire and how blessed my family was to have an eternal perspective that allowed us to have the answer of hope and comfort. But more importantly we need to share that answer of hope to those we know when they ask "How can you be so peaceful during a trial like this?!" The answer is always going to be our faith in Jesus Christ. So when someone asks you about your faith, just invite them to "come and see" and let them to feel of the peace and comfort for themselves.


Happy, Happy, Happy!

Sorry I don't have much time today, but I hope you all know that I do have faith in my Savior, Jesus Christ. And that faith is what continues to push me forward every single day during this journey. Without that support and guidance, there is no possible way that I could be doing this! I love you all and I pray that each of you may continue to find that pure happiness in the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, or that you may come to find it soon.

Love you all!!! xoxoxo

Sister Morgan

Hiking around Lake Poway on P-Day

Beasted the Hike!