Best Birthday Ever?

San Diego Sunsets=tender mercies from the Lord!

Aloha everyone!!!

My Baby Seesta just left for school in Hawaii this week & after looking at her pictures.........I really feel like the Lord needs me to go visit her after I get back. :) Guess it has to happen!

But THANK YOU everyone for all of the birthday wishes. It is crazy to think that I'm already 23 yrs old. But I can honestly say that the 22nd year of my life was hands down THE best year of my life! And after the crazy day that my 23rd Birthday was, I'm excited to see what new adventures are yet to be in store for me!

I guess it all actually started the day before my birthday, on Sunday. In Sacrament Meeting, our Bishop's son gave his Homecoming talk as he just recently returned from his Mission in the Philippine's . He had a lot of visitors and friends come and before the services started, a guy wearing some running shorts and a t-shirt asked if he could sit down next to us. Assuming that he was a friend & visitor, I introduced myself to him hoping that we could possibly add a new investigator. But, it turns out the guy is already a member. He was just in town for the weekend for a work trip and forgot to bring his church clothes haha So Jake goes on to give his talk and tells a story about this amazing family that he helped into the waters of baptism. They would ride their bikes 8 miles to church every Sunday & despite having coffee and tobacco addictions, they were fully living the Word of Wisdom only a week & a half after learning about it. Next month they are planning to enter into the Holy Temple and be Sealed for time and all eternity.

It was definitely a tear jerker and as he was telling the story I just kept thinking about how I wish I could have an experience like that before I go home. After the talk the guy that was sitting next to us leaned over and said, "Sisters, can I tell you something? That was an amazing talk that that young man just gave. Every homecoming talk I have ever heard has been amazing. It's so uplifting to hear stories like that family who accept the Gospel instantly. But let me tell you Sisters, as a convert, most of the people you are teaching & meeting right now just aren't ready to receive the Gospel at this time. My wife & I definitely weren't. We had the Missionaries coming over for years. We would feed them dinners, have them over for Christmas, but still just kept going to our old Church. But what truly helped us to become ready & finally accept the Gospel was all of the faithfulness of every single one of those Missionaries. If they gave up on us, we would have never been prepared to fully accept the Gospel. Just know Sisters, that you are impacting so many people's lives through your faithful service. Thank you for serving a Mission!"

About half way through his story he already had me in tears. The Lord truly placed that man in my path & inspired him to sit down next to us and talk to us because what he had to say was EXACTLY what I needed to hear. But it didn't stop there. Even the lessons in Sunday School and Relief Society were the Lord speaking DIRECTLY to my heart. As we went home and sat down for lunch, I just felt like I was on Cloud Nine. Heavenly Father had spoken directly and specifically to me through His inspired children & it was the perfect introduction that I needed to my birthday!

Elders made me a B-Day Cake &
wore ties to match the frosting &
sprinkles :)

The amazing part is.......IT DOESN'T STOP THERE! Heavenly Father has answered SO many of my prayers in such a short time span I am just in awe right now. When I woke up my sole purpose for my birthday was to bear my testimony about the BOM & eternal families & to find someone we could serve at the perfect moment. And ALL of that happened.

We were walking through the park waiting for our car battery to get fixed and stumbled upon this guy named Randy. He asked us about our favorite verses in the Bible and I told him that 2 of my favorites were Romans 1:16 & James 1:5. I just automatically started bearing my testimony about how Heavenly Father truly hears & answers our prayers as long as we pray with sincerity and actually intend to act upon the answer he gives us. Turns out Randy had met with Missionaries before and had even started to read from the Book of Mormon! He is a smart guy and knows his stuff, but it was amazing to see how much his testimony was lacking a foundation. He has gotten so caught up with knowing all of the crazy and deep random doctrine that he doesn't even fully understand everything because he has no foundation to build off of.

I started to tell him about the story of the Fire and it turns out that he had also lost his house in the wildfires here in 2007! It was such a powerful moment for me to bear my testimony about my experience to someone who had experienced the same type of life changing event. I could relate EVERYTHING directly back to him & was truly able to bear my testimony about the Book of Mormon & Eternal Families [JUST like how I had prayed for]. I also basically straight up told him that he needs to finally pray sincerely & with real intent about the Book of Mormon. And I PROMISED him that if he did so, then he WILL receive an answer of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. That all of the confusion will be swept away and that he will be able to see clearly the path to eternal life that Heavenly Father desires for him to take. As I was bearing my testimony I could just feel the Spirit so strong and I truly took a second to cherish that moment. With tears in my eyes, I bore him my testimony straight from every fiber of my being & heart that I KNOW the Book of Mormon is true and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints IS the Lord's kingdom restored on the earth once again. He promised me he would and even told us he will go to his Saturday services so he could come to our Sunday meetings :)

To top off my day, we saw THE most beautiful sunset & then got a call from one of our Recent Converts. Earlier that day we decided to drop by her apartment while she wasn't home and sticky note her door with some scriptures and to let her know how much we love her. As I talked with her she was just in tears because our sticky notes were exactly what she needed at the perfect moment. She had had a rough day and had already started crying in her car before she walked to her door and saw our sticky notes. Then she felt awful that she totally forgot to wish me happy birthday and all I could tell her was that her phone call just made my 23rd Birthday the best I've ever had. Knowing that I was able to serve someone and help them to feel the same love that I have felt for the past 23 yrs was hands down, the best feeling ever.

I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY & I truly am cherishing every moment that I have left here in San Diego.

xoxo Sister Morgan

 

Pic 1: Elders made me a B-Day Cake & wore ties to match the frosting & sprinkles :)

Pic 2: San Diego Sunsets=tender mercies from the Lord!

"Are you J-Dubs?"

I love SD Sunsets!

Hey everyone!

I am still just LOVING things here in Rancho Bernardo. Our ward is HUGE. Seriously. It's the biggest ward in all of SoCal...so I definitely have a lot of names I'm trying to cram into my brain. After serving in 4 other wards, I really feel like my brain is overflowing with thousands of names! But it's not too much for this ADD Sister to handle :)

This past week was super good though! On Tuesday night we had a pretty cool miracle. We went to go hit up a certain town home complex to try and see a few less actives before we started making our way home. We had a lot of success actually finding people at home! Around 8 we got back into the car to head over to a different area that is closer to our house. [oh yeah, I think I forgot to mention that we are living at a Member's house! It felt SO weird at first, but after hearing all of the kids yelling at each other as they were getting ready for Church in the morning, it definitely made me feel right back at home :)] As we started exiting the complex we drove past a town home of a Less active that we had tried a few days before but weren't able to get a hold of. I looked at Sis. Saedan & asked her if she wanted to stop and see them. I could just see the wheels turning behind her eyes and at first she was like, "No, it's okay. We can try them another day.

But then not even 15 seconds later the Spirit prompted BOTH of us that we needed to go back & knock on that door again. So we flipped around and went & knocked on their door again. As we sat there for a second I started to get distracted by a moth that had gotten stuck in a big spiders web & watched as the spider made it's way towards the helpless moth....then all of a sudden I heard someone say "Hi!" but when I looked at the door, it was still closed. Then I realized that it came from behind us & it was actually one of their neighbors that said hi to us as she was putting her trash cans by the curb. As Missionaries here in SD, it is soooo rare to have someone say hi to you first, especially when we hadn't even stared her down, smiling! So we turned back to the door & knocked a second time as I continued to watch the dramatic scene go down between the moth and spider. Sometimes I just wish people could record Missionaries @ their doorsteps because all of a sudden the moth broke free from the web right before the massive spider was about to make the kill & it decided to fly RIGHT towards my face! Naturally, I freaked out & could hear the lady by the curb making an inaudible comment behind me. Once we realized that the family wasn't going to answer the door, we turned & the lady across the street asked, "Are you J-Dubs?"

Happy Happy P-Day Faces!

We walked up and told her that we were actually Missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and we just had the BEST conversation with her! She had actually met w/ some Sister Missionaries in Northern California a few years ago, but it was only a handful of times and it was during a super crazy time of her life. She seemed super interested in learning more again, but when we asked her she said that she had just moved in w/ her Boyfriend a week ago & he is really not religious. So she doesn't want to mess things up w/ him right now but she asked US for an address for our Church building AND for our numbers so she could call us sometime soon. It was just super cool to see how the Lord had truly directed us to be in the right place at the right time & that SHE is the one that actually found us. Ever since we met her we have been keeping her in our prayers and on Sunday we actually found out that her & her BF are roommates to one of our Active Members! Soo we can definitely see how the Lord is preparing them to receive the Gospel & i just know that there are SO many people just like her, waiting for us to come into their lives.

I just love being a Missionary. It seriously brings me so much joy & I am SO grateful that I have such a loving Heavenly Father who is truly watching ovehttp://www.mormon.org/me/G0HF/GeoffWalker

r me continually. We had so many tender mercies this week! A few of those tender mercies have actually been the opportunity that I have had to hear my recent converts bear their testimonies with such a powerful spirit! On Sunday we had a Mission President's Fireside in Chula Vista and we were able to go to it since my companion plays the piano so lovely :) And I am SO grateful she does because I was able to hear my RC-Erin, get up in front of over a hundred people, and bear her testimony about her conversion to the Gospel. It was seriously a tear jerker. Also, I found Geoff Walker's Mormon.org profile and it just makes me SOOOO happy as I read it! Here's the link so all of you can read his AMAZING testimony as well :)

I am so grateful for everything the Lord has done for me & I can't even imagine what my life would have been like if I never served a mission & met all of these amazing people. Heavenly Father is SO mindful of us! I hope each of you can recognize His hand in your lives this week & will feel of His love and MY love for you as well :)

xoxo Sister Morgan

Answers to Prayers

Hey Everyone!

So this past week has been pretty interesting.....I was pretty bummed to transfer out of Pacific Beach and go to a new area for my last 2 transfers. I was so nervous about it that Sis. Cazares woke up in the middle of the night to me having a legit "Sleep Prayer" where even sub-conscieously I was asking Heavenly Father that everything will go well with transfers & even closed in the Name of Jesus Christ.....haha

But thankfully I can say that Heavenly Father is SO mindful of me & even hears my prayers that I mumble in my sleep :) This past week has been AMAZING as I was transferred back to good 'ol POWAY in the Rancho Bernardo Ward (which is right next to my 1st area-Green Valley) & i love it, love it, LOVE IT! I can literally say that I have spent my whole Mission on the outskirts. I started @ the very top of our Mission in Poway, went out to the very East to El Centro, from there went to the very south next to the Mexican Border in Chula Vista, to the middle west next to the ocean in Pacific Beach, back to the good 'ol north of Poway! (If you look @ a picture of my mission, it might make a little bit more sense haha)

Starting my 2nd to last transfer of the Mission has truly been an eye opener! It is so crazy to come back to a familiar place and see familiar faces but what's even crazier is to see how much I have changed! It has been such a humbling perspective to have and I am SO grateful of how mindful Heavenly Father has been of me. Since I have come to RB I have been able to see SO many answers to prayers that I forgot I had even asked for & my heart is over flowing w/ love as I see& feel how much Heavenly Father loves me. I also realized that if everything had gone according to "my plan" for when I first even started my mission papers, I would have gone home last week. But the Lord taught me patience and had me leave on my mission 3 months after I had planned to go. It was difficult for me to accept then, but now I am seeing that there is a very specific reason why Heavenly Father asked me to wait. He needed me to be here, in Rancho Bernardo, at this very moment in time. And I am SO grateful that His plan is a million times BETTER than my plan!

I LOVE my new Thai friend! :)

But to top it off, Heavenly Father has blessed me to have an amazing companion that I have been praying my whole Mission to have! Her name is Sister Saedan and she comes from the beautiful country where my Dad served his mission, THAILAND. She is the happiest person I have EVER met and we are just having an absolute "BLAST-A" serving the Lord together. She has only been speaking English for 5 months now but you wouldn't even be able to tell by all of the funny jokes she cracks! Every night for the past week I have been finding myself falling asleep with a smile on my face & I can't wait to see all of the MANY miracles that this transfer will bring!

Ever since DAY 1 in RB we have been seeing miracles. My first night here we decided to go contact a Potential Investigator before we headed back to our house. Her apartment looked completely dark & empty. We decided to ask one of her neighbors who was sitting outside smoking a e-cig if he knew if she still lived there. Turns out she has been gone for about 2 months now. But we ended up staying and talking with him & had such a spiritual experience! He's 23, has had a super rough past, and has lost all faith and hope in God. Since he is the same age as both of us, we were able to relate to him & bear the strongest testimonies to help him recognize God's hand in his life. We showed him a Mormon Message called, "Hope of God's Light" and it was crazy how similar his story was to the guy in the video! This kid has just been living and breathing negativity & had absolutely no hope for this life. But we just kept bearing our testimonies & by the end he had a completely different countenance. He had a real smile on his face & the light of Christ in his eyes. He even agreed to let some of the YSA missionaries stop by again :)

Have I told you all lately that I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY?! Because I truly do with all of my heart. I am cherishing this time with all that I have & I am so grateful for everything that Heavenly Father has blessed me with.

xoxo Sister Morgan

Road Rash

Hey Everyone!

So this past week has definitely been a crazy one to say in the least. In summary: I jumped in front of a bus to save an old guy on his bike from getting ran over. Scraped up my leg and arm pretty nice & have to keep ace bandages wrapped around them till they heal. Realized I can pull off the "broken Sister Missionary" look pretty well and can still accessorize around my bandages. The Elders have officially declared me as "The Newest Superhero".

Okay, okay, okay. That might have been the over-exaggerated version of the story that I told all the Elders. BUT there is still a lot of truth to the story! Well, actually it's "stories" since I may have combined 2 different stories that happened on Thursday and Friday...here's what really happened:

Thursday- July 31st, 2014 4:15 pm

Sis Cazares and I have 15 minutes before we were going to meet up with the YSA Sisters @ the Church Building. We decided to go and try one more Less-Active before we left. We park one block away and after some contemplation, decide to be law abiding citizens and cross at the designated Cross Walk instead of jay-walking to save time. We cross over, actually make it into the less-actives apartment complex, find out he's moved & have a super awkward conversation w/ his ex-wife & begin walking back towards our car via the designated cross walk that was a little bit further up the road. As we are walking and are crossing a side street before we make it to the cross walk, we hear a bicycle behind us and watch an older gentleman ride his bike up on to the sidewalk. All of a sudden we see that he had gone too far to the left and his back tire lands in the dirt. He over-corrects it and we watch him hit a bump and go flying over his handlebars and land in the street....on his head...we break into a run and throw our purses on the ground.

We see a large puddle of blood starting to form beneath his head and can see the large gash spilling the blood directly under his right eyebrow. I stood in between him and oncoming traffic to make sure no one got into the turning lane and ran him over. A guy driving past saw us running towards him and quickly pulled over and helped us aid the man. We helped him sit up and gave him a napkin to help stop the bleeding. Quite a few others stopped to make sure he was alright. But us and the 1st guy to stop helped walk the gentleman w/ his bike back to his apartment to drop off his bike, and then into the other guys car so he could drive him to Urgent Care. While we were waiting outside for them to drop off the bike we wrote a note to the kind driver on a mormon.org card and placed it on his dashboard. As they were getting into the car the guy who crashed looked at us and was like "Are you in some sort of club or something? Why do you have nametags?" and we were like "Oh! No, actually we are Missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints!" Both of them looked super surprised at first and then guy who crashed was like, "Well, you were Angels behind me!" As we watched them drive away I felt the Spirit SO strongly and we knew that we were in the right place at exactly the right time. Talk about the best feeling EVER.

Friday-August 1st, 2014 6:57 am

WARNING: Preview of my road rashed leg!
Definitely looking worse a few days after...

As I was running down the street during my morning work out I just kept reflecting on that moment right after a good run where you stop to pace around and your mind and your body tells you, "Dang, I feel SO good right now!" We had 5 minutes left before we had to head back into our apartment to start getting ready for the day, so I decided to take one more lap down the parking lot and back before we went in. As I was running towards my "finish line" (a.k.a the super nasty dumpster we have to walk past everyday to get to our apartment) I decided the last 200 feet that I would sprint and finish my run off strong. Right as I make it to the dumpster my foot gets caught on the lip of a pot hole and next thing I know, I'm crashing towards the ground skidding across the gravel of our parking lot. As I'm laying there for a second, my companion looks up at me and says, "Did you fall?" She completely missed the whole thing and thought I was just resting after my run...I look at the damage and my right leg & arm were completely scraped up & bleeding. I limp back to the apartment and begin THE most painful process of cleaning the wounds w/ Hydrogen Peroxide to get all the gravel and dirt out. The Mission nurse is having me lather more Neosporen on my wounds than you would lather icing on a wedding cake. I then have to put these big pad things on and then wrap them secure w/ an ace bandage. This is supposed to help reduce the scaring so then my leg wont look like I have road rash for the longest time. It's been a bit painful, but it hasn't stopped me from doing the Lord's work! But I definitely understand better more of what our poor friend who crashed his bike yesterday is feeling...

So even if the stories were combined or separate, it was still a pretty crazy week! But to make it even crazier we got transfer calls this morning.....looks like for my last 2 transfers I am NOT going to be in Pacific Beach :( I was definitely not expecting it because my companion has to go back to the Mormon Battalion and the 2 of us whitewashed into the area. So either our ward will get whitewashed again or Sis Cazares will take it w/ her and it will become a Battalion area. So we'll see what happens!

This morning was also pretty rough because I had to drop off some of my FAVORITE Sisters at the Airport to head on home to their next adventures. I had to say goodbye to my lovely Mama (my trainer-Sis Sorensen). I can't believe her time is over & it FINALLY hit me that that will be me in 2 transfers from now. I can't believe how fast 18 months truly flies by-I never want this to end! But, I know that when October 28th comes around, that my time will be over as well and I will have to go back home. The wonderful thing about it is I NEVER HAVE TO STOP BEING A MISSIONARY! Even when I'm home and no longer wearing this name tag, I can still stand as a Disciple of Christ at all times, and in all things, and in all places. Sharing the "good news" of the Gospel of Jesus Christ has truly been the happiest time of my life. But I know that I can experience that pure joy even after my mission, as I continue to invite others to come unto Christ.

I'm excited to find out where my new area is and to know who my new companion will be! I know that this is the LORD'S WORK and that I will be exactly where He needs me to be. I am determined to make these last two transfers the best yet and to continue to see miracles happen every day!

I love you all!

xoxo Sister Morgan