God Doesn't Call the Qualified, He Qualifies the Called

Hey Everyone! The final countdown has begun.......2 MORE WEEKS! I can't believe how fast time has flown, but don't worry, I'm truly making the most of EVERY single second that I have left to be a full-time set apart Missionary and Representative of Jesus Christ.

Ever since I got to this area 10 weeks ago, I have been praying & praying & praying that Heavenly Father would help us to find those who are pure in heart. To find those who will recognize the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. We have had many opportunities to teach those that are getting close to that point, but many of them don't live in our area so we had to refer them to some other missionaries. It would be frustrating at times having to send out all of these amazing referrals and then having to start back at square one again in our own area & begin the "finding" process again. I kept telling my companion that someday it will all go full circle. Whatever we send out, someone will send to us. And this week, IT FINALLY HAPPENED.

Wednesday night after exchanges we look at our phone and see that we have a voice mail. We listen and its a Member from Texas asking us if we could meet with one of their friends, Shannon, that lives in our area. So we get her information, call her the next morning, and set up an appointment for later that night to meet with her at the Stake Center. We get there and have THE most spiritually powerful Church Tour that I've EVER experienced before!

So here's a brief summary of Shannon-SHE'S AMAZING. She has survived stage 4 Breast Cancer, TWICE, and beat it without using ANY chemotherapy-she only used natural medicines! This woman was literally on her death bed, when God taught her that she was still going to do many things in her life that will change and bless SO many people. Now that she has been cancer free for 3 years, she runs a non-profit organization that helps fund-raise money for cancer patients who can't afford their treatments. She works with quite a few organizations and is seriously Wonder Woman! She does all of this out of the pure goodness of her heart and refuses to accept money for her services. She has so much faith and trust in God and knows that He will help provide for her needs. Which is how we came in to the picture! Shannon was literally starving because she didn't have enough money to buy food. Our Bishop asked that we would do a "needs assessment" when we met with her and see how interested she was in the Church.

From the first moment I met her my Spirit literally jumped because I truly felt like I have known her once before. We've never met before in this life & I honestly feel like we are "kindred spirits". As we met with her at the Church we gave her a Church Tour to show her around because she had never been inside one of our buildings before. At our Stake Center, they have arranged all the art work in a certain order that allows us to teach the Restoration as we walk & explain each art piece. Before we even started talking about the Restoration she saw the painting of Joseph Smith in the Sacred Grove and asked if we could explain more about him and his life. So we sat down and started teaching & I honestly have NEVER felt the Spirit teach so powerfully through me before. She was soaking all of it in and as we continued to teach you could see the light within her eyes growing and illuminating her countenance.

We then stood back up to take her into the Chapel and on our way there she saw the large painting of Christ ordaining His 12 Apostles to the Priesthood and she stopped mid step to look at it. She stared at Christ's face and I explained what He was doing and referred back to what we had just talked about how Christ's priesthood authority is once again on the earth today. She smiled and said, "I love this painting. I love how Authoritative Christ looks. I've never seen anything like it". Once we entered the Chapel we explained the purpose of why we come to Church & the Sacrament. Then Sis Saedan played "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" on the piano for her. The peaceful feeling of the Spirit that was in that Chapel was so incredibly powerful and I will truly cherish that moment forever!

As we were sitting in there Shannon was talking to me about her Non-Profit work and telling me about how overwhelmed she feels with it. There are so many people turning to her for advice and counsel and she was afraid that God has called her to do something that is too much for her to handle. I then told her how I felt the same way when I became a missionary. But something that one of my Mission Prep teachers taught me was that "God doesn't call the qualified, but He qualifies the called". She pondered about that for a minute and turned to me and said, "God is qualifying me right now huh?" and I said, "Yup. That's why you are sitting here in this Chapel at this precise moment. That is why we have come into your life today!"  After our closing prayer she mentioned how she didn't want to leave the building. She said "I felt the most peace I have ever experienced in my life as I met with you girls today!"

AHHHHHHHHHHHSDFLHDLKSDJFHLDSKJFHLDSKJH!!!! We were seriously on Cloud Nine that night! On Saturday we were supposed to meet up again but she called and seriously left the most heart breaking message ever to cancel our appointment. She talked about how her Dad is dying with Cancer right now and since she is so close to her Dad, she won't be able to look him in the eyes and tell him she's changing religions because she knows it will completely break his heart. He almost became a Catholic Priest but is just a Seminary Teacher right now. She left the Catholic church a loooooong time ago, but her Dad still attributes everything that she's doing to the Catholic Church. He never let her associate with Mormons growing up and she said she can't do that to her Dad right now and have that be his last memory of her.

After listening to her message I was completely heart broken! But I was determined not to let her slip away that easy. So we knelt down and prayed for guidance of the Spirit right before we called her back. That phone call was literally the most spirit filled phone conversation I've EVER experienced! She sat there in tears and described how the Book of Mormon was sitting right next to a picture of her and her Dad and she felt so torn between the two. She said the "Book of Mormon just keeps beckoning me to open it and read it!" After 1 hr and 45 mins of pure spiritual guidance and me testifying the most powerful I ever have my whole Mission, Shannon told us that she finally understood what God needs her to do. She no longer felt torn and said that she again felt that same powerful peace that she felt with us at the Stake Center.

On Sunday she came to Church. She actually stood up and bore her testimony so she could "briefly introduce herself to everyone and share her story" :) :) :) :) We couldn't attend any of the classes because EVERYONE kept coming up and talking to her and truly helped her to feel so welcomed and loved. It was AMAZING! We also were able to get a food order for her so this truly remarkable Saint doesn't have to be starving any more!

I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!

I LOVE THE RESTORED GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST!

I LOVE THE PRIESTHOOD POWER & AUTHORITY THAT I HAVE AS A FULL-TIME SET APART REPRESENTATIVE OF CHRIST!

I LOVE THE HOLY GHOST & HIS ABILITY TO CONFIRM TRUTH AND PEACE IN OUR HEARTS!

I LOVE THE PEOPLE I HAVE BEEN ABLE TO MEET THESE PAST 18 MONTHS!

I LOVE MY MISSION!

I LOVE MY HEAVENLY FATHER AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST!

Without ANY of these things, I would not be the person I am today. I am so grateful for my Heavenly Father knowing me better than I know myself. I am so grateful for the plan that He has for my life and I am SO grateful that it is a million times more amazing than my own plans.

I LOVE MY FAMILY & FRIENDS!

& I'm excited to see you all in 2 weeks!

xoxoxxo
Sister Morgan