#RealBookofMormon

The Walkers right after their baptism!

Hey Everyone!

So the Walker family's baptism was a HUGE success! We had around 50-60 people come to support them and the Spirit was SO powerful. They both bore the most beautiful testimonies and Geoff even said that they are ready to start helping with the hastening of the Work of Salvation! And he's ready to have the "real force" (a.k.a the Priesthood) which is SO much better than the Force in Star Wars ;) So you can bet that we are definitely going to start putting them to work! They are such an amazing family and I am SO excited to be a part of their new member experience.

So this past week was pretty crazy with trying to get everything ready for their baptism plus we had like a million meetings. But we also had some super cool miracles happen! Last Wednesday we decided that we would go and try 3 different Less-Actives that all live in the same complex. Door number 1.....no answer. Door number 2.......no answer. Door number 3.......WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER. But not in the way that we expected....a woman answered the door and automatically recognized us and started asking us where we were from. At first I assumed she meant my home state but halfway through my sentence it came across my mind that maybe she was asking what CHURCH we were from. So I sounded a little dumb being like, "Coloraadddd.........well, we are actually from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" hahahahaha

But it's okay because we come to find out that she WASN'T the Less-Active that we were originally looking for. But Heavenly Father works in mysterious ways.......turns out this woman is ALSO a member of the Church, that she has lived in that apartment for a year and has NO idea who the other Less-Active that we were looking for is, that we don't have her records in our ward, that she was baptized when she was 14, hasn't been active since she married her Non-Member husband, and has a 10 and almost 8 yr old sons and a 15 month baby girl. But wait, it gets even BETTER. We set up a return appointment for this week to come and teach her WHOLE family! She wants us to help her husband come closer to God since he has a Scientist mentality and needs to go off of Faith more than facts. So we are bringing a Member of our Bishopric w/ us who also has that same kind of mentality. It's just SO crazy how Heavenly Father leads us and guides us to His Children that are prepared to receive the Gospel. Ever since the first moment that I met this Woman, I can FEEL in my heart that this family is going to be a Miracle family. That they are eventually going to be an ETERNAL family. It gives me the chills just thinking about it :)

This past Sunday we got to have lunch with all of the Youth in Seminary and had a super cool lesson with them! For Sacrament meeting it was "Seminary Sunday" and all the students stood up and bore their testimonies about what they have learned from studying the Book of Mormon this year. So after church @ the Seminary Teachers house we had lunch with them and then shared a lesson that continued on from their theme in Sacrament Meeting. We read our favorite scriptures and simply bore our testimonies about them. Then we asked all of them to pull out their smart phones, get on Facebook or Twitter, share their testimonies about the Book of Mormon with ALL of their friends and to use the hashtag #RealBookofMormon. It was SO cool to see all of their thumbs going crazy bearing their testimonies :)

But recently we found out that our Mission is helping in a social media campaign that the Church is doing! The Book of Mormon Play is here in San Diego this summer and we are inviting EVERYONE to come and see what real missionaries do and to see what the Book of Mormon is actually about! We are inviting our members to use the #realbookofmormon hashtag and in other areas where the play has been, it has been a HUGE success! People go and see or hear about this play and it brings up so many questions about what the Book of Mormon actually is or what the Church actually believes in. It's amazing how Heavenly Father can take something that is SO crude and vulgar like this Play and use it as a resource to further His work even more! That is evidence to me that no matter how bad things may seem, you may ALWAYS find the good in everything.

SO......I have an invitation for you all. Go to YOUR favorite Social Media (facebook, instagram, twitter, etc) and share your testimony about the Book of Mormon and Missionary Work. Invite your friends to learn more by using the #realbookofmormon hashtag! I can PROMISE you, that something that you say will touch someone's heart. That your example will help someone to have a more positive look on the Church. AND someone will truly have a desire to learn more about the Book of Mormon and read it for themselves.

May the odds be eva in your favor! :)

xoxo Sister Morgan

Californiaaaaaa, knows how to party!

District Picnic @ Mission Bay

Greetings everyone!

Today I am writing you from my new area in PACIFIC BEACH. I love it here! It is SO nice to finally be serving right in the middle of the city and to not be on the outskirts anymore! (a.k.a Poway, Imperial Valley, and Chula Vista). My favorite thing so far is definitely street contacting people on the Boardwalk and next to the beach and being able to hear the waves and smell the ocean water :)



Sunset our first night in the area :)

I LOVE seeing the gorgeous sunsets over the ocean every night, but there are definitely some set backs about living in Paradise...

1. No.one.wears.clothes.here.
2. Parking is IMPOSSIBLE to find
3. PB is PC (party central)
4. People come to the ocean to "escape their former lives" and don't care about anything, let alone God.
5. Basically, it feels like we are living in Sodom &Gomorrah. 

BUT despite all of the crazy things that go on around here, there are SO MANY PEOPLE THAT ARE PREPARED TO RECEIVE THE GOSPEL.

Exhibit A: Geoff & Amanda Walker. In January they just showed up @ church, and this upcoming weekend they are getting BAPTIZED. Geoff grew up with a lot of LDS friends and almost joined the Church when he was 18. But a bunch of stuff happened with his family and he didn't want to lose his relationships with them. So over the next 16 years or so, he went a little Atheist and would basically mock everyone that believed in God. Fast forward to January 2014, Geoff was walking down the hallway of the submarine he works on and felt prompted to walk into the room with all of the religious books. He walked in, automatically saw the Book of Mormon, picked it up and has NEVER put it down since then! His wife, Amanda, jumped right in with him and they have been SO prepared by the Lord! Geoff was deployed for the past 3 months and seriously read the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, AND Pearl of Great Price 3 TIMES. They have 2 adorable daughters: Mara (4) & Arya (14 mo). And best thing about this family.........THEY ARE GINGER. hahahahaha Everyone who knows me, knows me story about why I'm afraid of Gingers. But from the first moment I met this family, I have LOVED them and haven't even really noticed their hair yet ;)

Geoff's Colorful Triple Combination!

I am so excited that I get to be a part of the end part of their investigation process, but I'm even more excited to be there at the beginning of their life as Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Their red hair will stick out like CRAZY when they get sealed together as a family for ETERNITY in a year from now :)

Saying Goodbye to my favorite chocolate
 covered face lil man- David

So coming to Pacific Beach has been exactly what I've been praying for. I wanted to come to an area where I could WORK my tail off and LOVE every moment of it. So the Lord AND President knew that, because I didn't just get transferred into PB. I WHITE WASHED (which means BOTH of the previous 2 Sisters were transferred out and me and my companion were transferred in nothing practically NOTHING about this area or the people). It has DEFINITELY been an adventure but I am loving every moment of it! My companion is Sister Cazares and she is SUCH a trooper! She was born in Mexico City but grew up in Salt Lake CIty. She's been out for 5 months and was called to serve in the Mormon Battalion Spanish Speaking! But for 2 transfers the MoBat Sisters get to go full proselyting. So this transfer she went full pros, ENGLISH speaking, AND we white washed. Woof! But she has had a smile on her face the whole time and I am SO grateful for that. Even when we've had 5 dinner appointments cancel on us in a ROW, the numerous times we've been lost, AND when we got a flat tire yesterday and had to spend 2 hrs in Pep Boys. We both just know that Satan is trying to work hard on us because he KNOWS all of the amazing miracles that are about to happen in this area!

I love you all and I am SO grateful for everyone and their concerns for me w/ the fire that is going on in Poway. Thankfully, I'm not near that area, but the smoke clouds have made it out all the way over here to the beach :/ Please keep all of those being affected by these fires in your prayers!

xoxo Sister Morgan

The Walker Family at the Mormon Battalion w/ us!

The Story of the Forgotten Book of Mormon

Drawing that basically sums up my life here in Chula

Hey Everyone!

I hope all you Mother's out there had an awesome Mother's Day! I know I did! I got to Skype my family for the 1st time on my mission and it was AMAZING to see all of their smiling faces, including little baby Mason :)

Well, this past week has gone by super fast. Yesterday I had a pretty cool experience though! So last year when I was in Poway with Sis. Sorensen, one of our goals for my last week there was to write our testimonies in a Book of Mormon and then hand them out that week. But then I got transferred last minute and that Book of Mormon got tucked away into my suitcase. Sooooo ONE YEAR LATER......I'm searching through my suitcase and open up one of the side pockets to find that SAME Book of Mormon still chillin' in my suitcase hahaha Ooooopppsss! I seriously had forgotten about it. So this week I made the goal to prayerfully hand that Book of Mormon out to the person that it has been waiting a year to find.

So yesterday we were walking down the street after failing to find a referrals house and we see this young girl standing in the shade with this MASSIVE dog. So we stop to pet this chunky pit bull and start talking to the girl. She's in 7th grade and is just a super star! She reads out of the Bible every night and even goes to a Bible Study during her lunch hour on Fridays. She was so friendly and I wish that more adults were as friendly as she was! So we started talking to her about the Book of Mormon and the Spirit kept prompting me to give her the one with my testimony in it. So I asked if she wanted a Book of Mormon and with a big smile on her face she gladly accepted it and cherished it in her arms. We read Moroni 10:3-5 with her and she promised us that she was going to read AND pray to know if it was true. Right before we were leaving, she opened it up to where my testimony was at and put her bookmark on its page. Now I know for a FACT that she WILL see my testimony. That she WILL read it and that she WILL feel the Spirit. It was such a cool feeling to walk away knowing that that Book of Mormon was finally with the owner it has been waiting a year to find.

I LOVE tender mercies like that and it makes me so grateful to know that my testimony of the Restored Gospel is not only in someone's hands, but in someone's heart that hopefully she can cherish forever. So maybe Heavenly Father wanted me to forget about that Book of Mormon all these months so that this precious daughter of God could have it. Heavenly Father works in mysterious ways!

But now for the big news....got the phone call this morning that I'm getting transferred from Chula Vista. I'm sad to be leaving this Ward and the many people that I have come to LOVE! It has been amazing to serve in an area that has so much potential and is an example to Missionaries ALL OVER THE WORLD who watch and learn from the District 2 that was filmed here. But I'm excited for this new adventure and for the new people that I will meet and come to love as well!

I'll let you all know what happens next week! :)

xoxo Sister Morgan



Bowling! I totally kicked everyone's butts :) 120&158!

Baby Fever!

Hey everyone!

So I'm super sorry that I'm having a hard time focusing on what I want to write about right now .......but I'm distracted by all of the ADORABLE pictures of my NEPHEW that was born on May 4th! AHHHHHHHHHHHH He is seriously the cutest thing I've ever seen in my life! His name is Mason Tyler Morgan and he was 6.6 lbs and 19.5 inches long :) He is DEFINITELY going to be one spoiled little stud!

So besides that super exciting news, this week has been pretty good! A lot happened (like usual) but some not-so-usual things happened as well. I mean, it's not like it's a big deal or anything, but I got to shake Elder M. Russel Ballard's hand for the SECOND time on my mission. He was in San Diego for the CES Devotional on Sunday and he stayed till Monday so that he could do a Mission Conference with us. I just absolutely LOVE listening to him speak! He talked a lot about following promptings of the Spirit and how truly vital it is in everything that we do! He compared it to all of the lights in the Chapel. That if all of a sudden, the lights went out and everything was black, it would most likely be because someone flipped the switch off. WE are the only ones that are in control of our "Spiritual Light Switch's" and as we act upon the promptings of the Spirit, our "Chapels" are filled with even more and more light.

As a Missionary, the Spirit is the ONLY silver bullet that we have that will touch someone's heart. This week we had some cool experiences with following promptings of the Spirit. On Friday as we were driving home after our last appt @ 8:45 pm, I had this prompting to go and try one of the Less-Active families that we hadn't been able to see in 6 weeks. NO one had been able to get a hold of them for several weeks and I was starting to get worried about them. At first I just shrugged it off because curfew is at 9:00 pm and we had a lot that we needed to plan for the next day. But I couldn't get the thought out of my mind! So we drive over to their apartment, drive up near the curb and throw our hazard lights on, RUN over to their apartment, knock on the door, got hit on by some super drunk Mexican guys that were sitting on the steps, (but thankfully my adrenaline was pumping enough so that I was able to block out everything they were saying and focus on the door), and the family was actually HOME. We told them we just wanted to check in on them since we hadn't seen them in forever and they were SO grateful to see us. All of the girls came running up and gave us hugs and it truly warmed my heart to see all of their smiling faces! Turns out, they had just been SUPER busy going down to Tijuana basically every day and didn't have a phone anymore. But we were able to have that peace knowing that they were okay and after sharing a quick message with them, they were able to have peace knowing that we love them and truly care for them!

Another cool experience, yesterday for dinner we didn't have a dinner appointment so we decided to treat ourselves and go out to eat. We were also short on time so we picked the closest place to us, which just so happened to be Jack-in-the-box. It's not my favorite place, but it was better than starving for the rest of the night! As we were walking in, this lady and her daughter were walking in at the same time too. As soon as I saw them I had a thought in my head that said, "Talk to them!" So I commented about how adorable the 4 yr old daughter was and the lady just smiled and said 'Thank you!'. After we got our food, we sat down kind of near that same lady. Once we stuffed our faces, Sister Mims looked over at me and said, "We should talk to that lady!" After she said that I automatically knew it was the Spirit prompting both of us to talk to her! So as they stood up we started talking to her and found out their names were Megan and Kyra. Then randomly the Mom (Megan) said, "Hey do you girls know an Elder Watchman?" and we were like, "Yeah! Of course we know him!" Turns out, this lady has just recently started investigating the Church and has been the Elder's big "Miracle" for the past couple of weeks! We had a super friendly conversation with them and after they left, I felt in my heart that we had helped them to feel the pure love of Christ.

It truly is the most amazing feeling to act upon the promptings of the Spirit and to see how much greater God's plan is than mine. I am SO grateful to have modern day Prophets on the Earth today and I KNOW that President Thomas S. Monson is a true Prophet of the Lord! I KNOW that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the same organization that Christ established, restored on the Earth again in it's fullness! I am so grateful that God has designed for us to be in eternal families and I am SO grateful that I get to Skype with mine on Mother's Day! :)

xoxo Sister Morgan aka-Aunt Mekena :)

Crazy Town

Hey everyone!

So this week has definitely been one of those weeks where I just look back at it and laugh at all the weird stuff that has happened...I love serving in Chula but there are definitely some crazy people around here! But that's what makes missionary life interesting right? So here's the low down about the crazy's we've ran into this past week:

1) Saturday afternoon we get a mass text from some of the Elder's informing us about a crazy lady that is creepin' on the Elders in our complex. Apparently she is just house-sitting so she won't be here too long (thank goodness!) Thankfully we have not run into her yet. But from the Elder's stories, she is a Ginger (which my family knows I'm already scared of this lady), she likes to bake odd casseroles and drop it off at the Elders apartment, and she likes to yell her name at them and scream "YOLO" followed by some profanities. But no need to worry, Sis. Mims and I have already developed a system to make sure the "coast is clear" before we leave/come back to the apartment and have planned out our escape strategy just in case we do run into her. Lessons Learned: Always lock your doors. Drop to the floor when you hear someone knock on your door so they can't see you through the window. Elder's WILL try to prank you and pretend to be "Kelly" @ your door...

2) Roxyene.Roxyene.Roxyene. I don't know if I ever wrote about her in my email a couple of months ago. So the first time I met her was with Sis. Roberts. Roxy just showed up to church and told us about how her hair got burned off by "Solar Flares" and a ton of gibberish that I really did not understand. So this past Sunday we walk in to the chapel 5 mins before Church starts and Sis. Watkins comes up to us and is like "There is a lady named Roxyene here and she says she wants to get baptized!" and I look over and there is Roxyene sitting in the middle of a pew in the middle section wearing a scarf wraped around her head smiling and waving at me! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I almost had a mini heart attack. But I smiled and we went and sat next to her and this is what went down:

Roxy: "I remember you!"

Me: "Ya.......I remember you too!"

Roxy: "This is my 3rd time coming to church, I want to become a member!"

Me: "Oh yeah?!........(changing the subject) Well how have you been lately?"

Roxy: "I'm doing okay, I'm getting kind of tired from my studies and I'm going to take a break from a little while."

Me: "What have you been studying?"

Roxy: "Websters...."

Me: "Websters.......Dictionary?"

Roxy: "Mmmhhmmmm!"

Well, last time she booked it out of the Chapel right after the Sacrament. This time she actually made it through the 2nd talk before she peaced out! Lesson Learned: You NEVER know who will show up to Church each week. Always be polite! Always be on your toes.

3. The last one has really taught me the most. The other night, Sister Mims and I decided that we would try stopping by a name on the Ward List that we knew nothing about. We knock on the door, the son answers, and we ask if this guy lived there. This kid automatically says, "We're Christian" and without hesitating Sis, Mims goes, "Well yeahhhh, so are we!" before he could close the door on us. So he goes and gets his Dad and we talk to him for a minute before his wife comes out. We smiled @ her and introduced ourselves to her and she was nice for a minute. But then when she realizes that we are Missionaries for the Mormon Church she goes full on Anti on us and starts telling us why she thinks we are NOT Christian, why she thinks we are a cult, yelling @ her husband because she told him when they got married that he could never ever EVER practice the Mormon religion EVER again. Then she proceeded to tell us about how "awful" her husband is and starting yelling all these profain words out there. We just stood there in complete shock. Spirit was immediately gone. But we just asked if there were any questions that she had that we could answer and then wished them a good night and left. Once we got in the car I realized how much I have grown on my mission. Before, if someone started yelling all that stuff to me, I would have gotten SUPER ticked. But that night, I just felt bad for this lady. Lesson Learned: I honestly feel like we did exactly what the Savior would have done and that was a pretty cool feeling.

In times of difficulty or trial, look for the blessings and lessons that God is teaching you. You never know what you'll learn!

xoxo Sister Morgan