Family and Friends-
Well I don't have very much time to write but this week was good. It has definitely warmed up which is a plus but now everything is ICED. I have never seen anything like it. Because it was warm yesterday and then the sun went down and went into the negatives everything is SLICK and completely covered in ice. My companion and I were walking downhill quickly to get to the bus stop yesterday and finally we just realized it would be a lot easier to just hold on to each other. It was pretty funny walking down the street grabbing each other's coats but we didn't fall, I guess that's what's important.
Friday night we didn't have any lessons which means we are on the street for 5 ½ hours straight! Woohoo! We actually had a really fun and great night dancing and hiking in the mountians. We also had a MIRACLE! We were up pretty high in our area and ran into a young girl. She was 19 and was very interested in the church. We were able to have a great conversation with her and get her number she also promised ot come to church and wants to do a Family Home Evening this week with some of the youth from our ward. She said that she has been looking for something that would give her the opportunity to know people who don't smoke or drink! So COOL! We were so excited to meet her and hope that everything works out this week. We also were able to meet a young mother who had been baptized about 15 years ago in the church and didn't know where the church was here in Russia. She wants her kids to grow up in the church because she knows how many blessings come from it and how the standards and teachings can really help in raising kids and so we were able to give the address for the branch building and our number. We really hope that she comes in the coming weeks and we are able to meet with her and help her family. We also had another MIRACLE! I have been talking to a lady on the phone for MONTHS and every Sunday she has something or just doesn't want to come or something else. On Sunday she came to church!!! My companion and I were both floored because we had been trying for so long to meet with her. The members were great in welcoming her and inviting her to come every week and she stayed for the whole 3 hours and really liked it. We were able to give her some Liahona's to read at home and will hopefully meet with her this week as well. Overall it was a great week and we saw a lot of miracles! It just shows that the Lord really does His missionaries and is completely and totally in charge of this work. It's all in His timing and up to His will.
Yes, unfortunately the Russian didn't win the gold medal and things have looked pretty bad for the USA. The Russians aren't very happy with us and the rumors are flying about how the judges were paid, etc. etc. Awesome. But that's okay. I hope they do well in Hockey and everything will be forgiven. The Russians love HOCKEY and it has been huge here so I really hope they do really well.
Tuesday we had an amazing Conference with President and Sister Bennett and it was very inspiring and uplifting. We talked a lot about just having FAITH to find, teach and baptize these beautiful Russian people. It is all up to our amount of faith, we can truly move mountains if we want to. So this week is an experiment in faith. If we exercise our faith, pray in faith and do our part then the Lord is bound to do his part. Miracles do happen! The church is true! Thanks for the love and support!
Sister Morris
Monday, February 22, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
The gift that keeps on giving!
To all of my Valentine's--
Well another week has gone by and it has been cold! We are definitely ready for Spring and warmer temperatures. We know that it is coming, it's just a matter of when :) Valentine's Day was pretty uneventful but I guess that's the way it should be when you are a missionary... not a very missionary holiday:)
I was excited to hear about the new mission president and wife here and am excited to meet them in a few months although we will all be very sad to see Sister and President Bennett go. We will have Zone Training tomorrow and so I am excited for that and a little spiritual enlightenment in our lives.
I had one great experience this week as we were on the bus to Natalya's. We have about a 40 minute bus ride to get there and so we always have time to talk to people. Right before we left the house I decided I would grab an extra Liahona to give away on the bus. AS we got on the bus it was VERY CROWDED (anyone who has ridden a bus in Russia knows what I mean) but I prayed that I would be able to find a seat (eventually) and give away the Liahona. About halfway through the ride I found a seat next to an older lady and began talking to her. I explained I was not from Saratov etc. And she asked where I was from. I said I was a missionary serving here and I was from America. She immediately started taking to me in ENGLISH! WHAT? She is a teacher here of English and so I was able to talk to her the rest of the ride in English. She teaches Kindergarten and was coming home from work and so we had a good talk about Kindergarten and I told her that I also wanted to be a teacher. I was able to tell her a little about the church and give her the Liahona. She surprisingly looked at me and asked «as a gift?» and I said of course! It was a great experience and I was so grateful that Heavenly Father answered my prayers to 1. find a seat on a very crowded bus and 2. to have a spiritual conversation and give away the Liahona.
Well the church is true! Keep praying for the missionaries and have fun watching the Olympics! We hear the Opening Ceremony was good and the Russians are definitely excited for the Olympics to start as well. They have a male figure skater that everyone is cheering for so it will be interesting to see how he does. I love you all! Thanks for the emails, support and prayers!
Sister Morris
Well another week has gone by and it has been cold! We are definitely ready for Spring and warmer temperatures. We know that it is coming, it's just a matter of when :) Valentine's Day was pretty uneventful but I guess that's the way it should be when you are a missionary... not a very missionary holiday:)
I was excited to hear about the new mission president and wife here and am excited to meet them in a few months although we will all be very sad to see Sister and President Bennett go. We will have Zone Training tomorrow and so I am excited for that and a little spiritual enlightenment in our lives.
I had one great experience this week as we were on the bus to Natalya's. We have about a 40 minute bus ride to get there and so we always have time to talk to people. Right before we left the house I decided I would grab an extra Liahona to give away on the bus. AS we got on the bus it was VERY CROWDED (anyone who has ridden a bus in Russia knows what I mean) but I prayed that I would be able to find a seat (eventually) and give away the Liahona. About halfway through the ride I found a seat next to an older lady and began talking to her. I explained I was not from Saratov etc. And she asked where I was from. I said I was a missionary serving here and I was from America. She immediately started taking to me in ENGLISH! WHAT? She is a teacher here of English and so I was able to talk to her the rest of the ride in English. She teaches Kindergarten and was coming home from work and so we had a good talk about Kindergarten and I told her that I also wanted to be a teacher. I was able to tell her a little about the church and give her the Liahona. She surprisingly looked at me and asked «as a gift?» and I said of course! It was a great experience and I was so grateful that Heavenly Father answered my prayers to 1. find a seat on a very crowded bus and 2. to have a spiritual conversation and give away the Liahona.
Well the church is true! Keep praying for the missionaries and have fun watching the Olympics! We hear the Opening Ceremony was good and the Russians are definitely excited for the Olympics to start as well. They have a male figure skater that everyone is cheering for so it will be interesting to see how he does. I love you all! Thanks for the emails, support and prayers!
Sister Morris
Monday, February 8, 2010
Happy Valentine's Day! (and yes it is a big holiday here too!
Happy Valentine's Day!
Well another week down and a FULL week into February. We are so happy because that means Spring is coming and (hopefully) warmer temperatures. It hasn't been too bad here but we are looking forward to a little warmer temperatrues for those nights we're on the street for 5 ½ hours straight:) Well it was a good week-- not too eventful but as mom says, that's a good thing. We had a good lesson with Natalya and with Valentina this week and we are looking forward to lessons with them this week as well. We have started reading with Natalya on the phone everyday from the Book of Mormon. It is so cool because she has started calling US in the morning around 7 to get her «spiritual thought» for the day. She is usually at work and so turns the phone on speaker phone so everyone at work can hear it as well. How awesome is that? When your investigators are doing missionary work it's pretty cool:) We also had a lesson with Valentina and Luba this week. We talked about the article in the Ensign about Lot's wife. I shared my experience how I was there when he gave that talk and was still trying to decide if I should go on a mission. I wasn't sure because I loved my life. I had a really really good job, friends, a house I loved living in, my family, etc. I didn't have enough faith that if Heavenly Father said «go on a mission» that I could go and everything would be fine. I didn't have enough faith that He could bless me more than he already was and that I would be happy!!! Well... I went on a mission and am grateful and happy. I can remember hearing that tallk and just thinking how I was definitely Lot's wife, wanting to look back and live where life was easy and I had everything I wanted. I was grateful to share that experinence with her. She then asked how I received an answer to my prayer to serve a mission and so we were able to talk about that as well! I LOVE her! She is slowly but surely thinking more and more about the Gospel which is cool. She is a HUGE fan of the Liahona and so she was super excited to get the new Liahona this month.
Well my Birthday was pretty uneventful. We were hoping to have a lesson set up but it fell through so we were out on the streets the whole night. We decided to head out to the boundaries of our area and found some pretty cool mountains to hike in. We met some people up there and thought, «oh there's no way we've talked to them before». As we started talking to them they informed that, yes, we have talked to them, they've seen us around town. Sister and I just looked at each other and laughed. Good times. I did drink some Coke, my companion made me cookies, AND Valentina brought my zeffir, MY FAVORITE candy here. She is soooooo awesome. We had also worked with Luba the night before and so she knew my birthday was coming. I had been talking to her about gloves or something and just mentioned how I had lost my mittens and was pretty bummmed about it. In church yesterday she brought me a present and it was REALLY NICE, WARM mittens and candy! It was so nice and sweet of her to remember and to bring me really warm mittens. I wore them for the first time last night and my hands were sweating, it was pretty awesome.
Well I think that is about all. The sun is now on the street from about 7:30-5 which is REALLY AWESOME! I'm so excited that the days are getting longer and longer and the temperatures in the daytime are getting warmer and warmer. The work here in Saratov is going really well and there are lots and lots of baptisms planned in the coming months. It is so cool to see how the Lord works and see that the Gospel is being preached to the whole world. Go do some missionary work! The church is true and it is our responsibility and privilege to share it with others. Even if you just put your phone on speaker phone at work. My goal this week is to SMILE so I enourage everyone else to do it to (that way I know I'll have some support), even when things are hard it's our choice to smile and it will make us and those around us feel better. I love you all! Thanks for the love and support and most importantly prayers.
Sister Morris
Well another week down and a FULL week into February. We are so happy because that means Spring is coming and (hopefully) warmer temperatures. It hasn't been too bad here but we are looking forward to a little warmer temperatrues for those nights we're on the street for 5 ½ hours straight:) Well it was a good week-- not too eventful but as mom says, that's a good thing. We had a good lesson with Natalya and with Valentina this week and we are looking forward to lessons with them this week as well. We have started reading with Natalya on the phone everyday from the Book of Mormon. It is so cool because she has started calling US in the morning around 7 to get her «spiritual thought» for the day. She is usually at work and so turns the phone on speaker phone so everyone at work can hear it as well. How awesome is that? When your investigators are doing missionary work it's pretty cool:) We also had a lesson with Valentina and Luba this week. We talked about the article in the Ensign about Lot's wife. I shared my experience how I was there when he gave that talk and was still trying to decide if I should go on a mission. I wasn't sure because I loved my life. I had a really really good job, friends, a house I loved living in, my family, etc. I didn't have enough faith that if Heavenly Father said «go on a mission» that I could go and everything would be fine. I didn't have enough faith that He could bless me more than he already was and that I would be happy!!! Well... I went on a mission and am grateful and happy. I can remember hearing that tallk and just thinking how I was definitely Lot's wife, wanting to look back and live where life was easy and I had everything I wanted. I was grateful to share that experinence with her. She then asked how I received an answer to my prayer to serve a mission and so we were able to talk about that as well! I LOVE her! She is slowly but surely thinking more and more about the Gospel which is cool. She is a HUGE fan of the Liahona and so she was super excited to get the new Liahona this month.
Well my Birthday was pretty uneventful. We were hoping to have a lesson set up but it fell through so we were out on the streets the whole night. We decided to head out to the boundaries of our area and found some pretty cool mountains to hike in. We met some people up there and thought, «oh there's no way we've talked to them before». As we started talking to them they informed that, yes, we have talked to them, they've seen us around town. Sister and I just looked at each other and laughed. Good times. I did drink some Coke, my companion made me cookies, AND Valentina brought my zeffir, MY FAVORITE candy here. She is soooooo awesome. We had also worked with Luba the night before and so she knew my birthday was coming. I had been talking to her about gloves or something and just mentioned how I had lost my mittens and was pretty bummmed about it. In church yesterday she brought me a present and it was REALLY NICE, WARM mittens and candy! It was so nice and sweet of her to remember and to bring me really warm mittens. I wore them for the first time last night and my hands were sweating, it was pretty awesome.
Well I think that is about all. The sun is now on the street from about 7:30-5 which is REALLY AWESOME! I'm so excited that the days are getting longer and longer and the temperatures in the daytime are getting warmer and warmer. The work here in Saratov is going really well and there are lots and lots of baptisms planned in the coming months. It is so cool to see how the Lord works and see that the Gospel is being preached to the whole world. Go do some missionary work! The church is true and it is our responsibility and privilege to share it with others. Even if you just put your phone on speaker phone at work. My goal this week is to SMILE so I enourage everyone else to do it to (that way I know I'll have some support), even when things are hard it's our choice to smile and it will make us and those around us feel better. I love you all! Thanks for the love and support and most importantly prayers.
Sister Morris
Monday, February 1, 2010
Another year older and ... something else
AHHHHHHHHHHHHH I am so blessed! All I can say is thankyou thankyou thankyou for all of the emails! I got so many AMAZING emails this week and I am so excited!!! I have the most amazing family and friends in the WORLD!!! (and that includes Taylor:) I have to say the best was the LOST party. WOW! I'm jealous but I'm sure I'll be doing great things as well Tuesday night, like contacting in the snow... I have to say though that it has been SOOO warm!!! Holy cow! Whoever thought that I would say it is Spring here when the temperatures are in the -8 range. It's the best. I walk around without gloves and my hood, tender mercy!
Well I am still in Oktabrasky area with Sister Stolyarova. We waited all Saturday and Sunday night for the Assistants call to know if we were changing areas but nothing came. We are excited to be here again and to be able to continue working with our wonderful investigator's. We had some good lessons this week with Natalya and Nina our new investigator. WE also had a great experience this week. We have been using a new system of planning where we focus on people. Each time we pray and then talk about WHO we want to find the next day. We have had some fun finding sessions for things like... wives for certain members of the ward (probably not completely appropriate) but it has been entertaining. Well this week we wanted to find a singer who could help in the choir and help out Luba because she helps us out so much. It was about 10 minutes before lunch, and if you've been a missionary you know how serious and important that time is, and we were heading towards home. We ran into a woman who we talked to you for a little bit. She said that she was a member of a different church but was not attending anymore. She then said that she had sung in their choir, she loved music, etc. WHAT? We continued to talk to her and she invited us over to her house right then and there, so we went with her to her house and were able to talk about the Book of Mormon with her, invite her to choir every Sunday and talk about meeting again. It was pretty cool to actually find what we were looking for and it reaffirmed my testimony that Heavenly Father knows us and knows each one of his children. When we follow the Spirit and we truly pray in faith, we will find ANSWERS! I am excited to continue working with her and hopefully she will be able to join the choir:)
No falls this week which is good but we've gotten a lot of snow this week so we'll see how it goes. We have planned to buy some Diet Coke today to celebrate my birthday and we will probably go to Natalya's for a lesson that night which is always a great experience! Well again thanks for the emails, Brooke, the pictures were AMAZING, Kubo, I”m glad you appreciate what I'm going through, Jill- Live up life, you'll only live everyday once(sounds weird but true), Cami- I just love you, Andrew- tell Ben hi and baby Jane! I love all of you and am so grateful for everything I have and the amazing blessings you are to me. The church is true. Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers and we can do HARD THINGS!
Sister Morris
-One year older and not a bit wiser, unfortunately
Well I am still in Oktabrasky area with Sister Stolyarova. We waited all Saturday and Sunday night for the Assistants call to know if we were changing areas but nothing came. We are excited to be here again and to be able to continue working with our wonderful investigator's. We had some good lessons this week with Natalya and Nina our new investigator. WE also had a great experience this week. We have been using a new system of planning where we focus on people. Each time we pray and then talk about WHO we want to find the next day. We have had some fun finding sessions for things like... wives for certain members of the ward (probably not completely appropriate) but it has been entertaining. Well this week we wanted to find a singer who could help in the choir and help out Luba because she helps us out so much. It was about 10 minutes before lunch, and if you've been a missionary you know how serious and important that time is, and we were heading towards home. We ran into a woman who we talked to you for a little bit. She said that she was a member of a different church but was not attending anymore. She then said that she had sung in their choir, she loved music, etc. WHAT? We continued to talk to her and she invited us over to her house right then and there, so we went with her to her house and were able to talk about the Book of Mormon with her, invite her to choir every Sunday and talk about meeting again. It was pretty cool to actually find what we were looking for and it reaffirmed my testimony that Heavenly Father knows us and knows each one of his children. When we follow the Spirit and we truly pray in faith, we will find ANSWERS! I am excited to continue working with her and hopefully she will be able to join the choir:)
No falls this week which is good but we've gotten a lot of snow this week so we'll see how it goes. We have planned to buy some Diet Coke today to celebrate my birthday and we will probably go to Natalya's for a lesson that night which is always a great experience! Well again thanks for the emails, Brooke, the pictures were AMAZING, Kubo, I”m glad you appreciate what I'm going through, Jill- Live up life, you'll only live everyday once(sounds weird but true), Cami- I just love you, Andrew- tell Ben hi and baby Jane! I love all of you and am so grateful for everything I have and the amazing blessings you are to me. The church is true. Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers and we can do HARD THINGS!
Sister Morris
-One year older and not a bit wiser, unfortunately
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