When the lights go out!

Well... I think everyone has been waiting for it, and everyone knew it was coming one time or another, but... I got a transfer. Yes. A transfer. After 10 months in the most amazing ward in Russia, I got transferred. I know it is what is supposed to happen but it is heart-breaking to leave the area that has literally become HOME. You
know you're blessed when going to church every Sunday is like going home and your hazaika lives next door and brings your cirniki and zefir when you've been on your mission a year. But like everything---change comes and we move on. I am excited to be moving into a new area and even more excited that I get to open a BRAND NEW AREA FOR SISTERS. Seems a little crazy that I did that here in Oktyabraski but I am
excited to do it again. I still don't know who I'll be serving with but we will see on Wednesday. And now for the important part-- where.... PENZA! I have no idea what Penza is like, who is there or what kind of city it is but we will see. Right now I am in the Dachni apartment for about 2 hours waiting for the mission driver to pick me up and then we will drive to Samara. I think I will be there for a few days and then head to Penza on Wednesday with my new companion and we;ll start from scratch. I know it will be a great experience and as I said I am really excited to meet new people and see a new place. Although I know it will be hard I know it is exactly what the Lord wants and that great things will happen there soon. I will definitely
miss all of my friends here-- Natalya, Irina and her girls, LENA-- my love in Russia, Rinat, Valentina-- of course (who I haven't told because she is on the dacha and not home right now-- uh oh.), Sister Sorensen, CT. Redford and Sly who heard me whine and made me happy ;)and all of the other amazing and dedicated saints here in Saratov. But life moves on... I guess I should have had an inkling of an idea when
both of my siblings ended up moving this week as well, it's just a month of change for us Morris'. Speaking of... Sara your house is amazing! I love it and it is so CUTE! I am so excited to see it in person in a few months;)BUT on to the week. I have been on my mission officially a YEAR! yEA! It seems really really weird that a year has passed but it has been one of the most incredible and rewarding years of my life. I fell in love with Russia, the people here, and the Gospel even more. We had a
good week and had some great meetings with our investigators this week. One of our investigators Honi and her daughter Marina met with us this week in the park and then came to church on Sunday. It was fantastic! They have such great questions and we were so happy to be able to meet with them again after not hearing from them for about 2 months. They are truly amazing and I love their sincere desire to find
truth. We also had a great meeting with our investigator Tatiana and she is doing great. We even had a lesson with Lidia Timofeevna at 7:30 in the morning which was a first for me, but it was also great. We also had a great experience Saturday morning. On Saturdays we are on the street ( like everyday) at 7 and it is sometimes a little EMPTY. It's always a good time to get in a little time on the swings at the
park because no one is there yet, BUT, Saturday morning we started out our door and walked a little ways and ran into a lady crying. We tried to talk to her a little bit but she didn't seem very interested but we kept trying. We asked if she needed help or anything , or if she just needed someone to listen to her adn she said okay, let's find a bench. So we all walked for a little while and talked to her. She
was having trouble with her husband and sons and so we talked to her a lot about trials and why we have them. We were also to teach her about prayer and how we believe we can pray ALWAYS and anywhere-- we don't have to be in church, and we most definitely don't have to read or memorize a prayer. We were able to pray with her and she was SO grateful (she even bought us juice;) She wants to meet with us again
and just kept saying how "good" it felt to be with us and how calm she felt. We explained to her that that is the spirit and gave her the Plan of Salvation pamphlet. It was a great opportunity and a testimony builder to me that Heavenly Father really does put people in our paths to work with. He gives us all of the tools and all we have to do is open our mouths. I was so grateful that morning to be able to help someone just feel better-- whether she gets baptized or not-- it is
our job and responsibility as members to lift the heads that hang down, serve, and just help people know about their loving Heavenly Father, their blessings and that he is always ready and willing to listen. So overall it was a fantastic experience. This was a great week overall and things in Oktyabraski are doing fantastic. I loved my time being able to serve with Sister Sorensen and she is a great missonary and we had a lot of FUN together and got a lot done. My "birthday" was Thursday and like I said, Valentina gave us my favorite candy- zefir, and my cute companion gave me a few little gifts. As I said it is definitely weird to think that I have been on my
mission a whole year but overall things are great. I hope everyone had a fantastic week and continued to do missionary work. Look forward to news from PENZA next week and about the new area, ward and companion. This next cycle will be FANTASTIC and I'm excited to see what happens.
I love you all!
Sister Morris