What Are You Willing to Give Up? - March 2, 2015

Morgan found a kindred spirit in Sister Warren

Morgan is excited about missionary work 

Saying goodbye to friends from the Rigby Zone 

Saying goodbye to some of the kids she has gotten to know in Ucon

So! I LOVE POCATELLO. I love it here. It is so so so awesome. I'm serving in the Pocatello West stake and the wards I cover are the 29th, 41st, 52nd 53rd branch (it's the old folks home branch), and the Bannock Creek ward. That one is on the reservation. So we go out there on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Pokey West I (the name of my area) is a walking area and we also have bikes. We got out the bikes yesterday...ok. My butt hurts like no ones business today. We biked alllllll over. It was so much fun though. 

This week has been crazy. Trying to get everything done in Ucon before Wednesday was crazy. We had a huge list we needed to do and somehow we were able to get everything done! thank goodness. On Tuesday, we went and said goodbye to all our favorite people. It was...sad. To say the least. After we left one house, I cried like a baby. We went to Johanna and Kaiden's house for dinner on tuesday and they got us a cake that said "We will miss you" on it. Johanna drew me a picture that said "We already miss you" on it. Oh man. That was a hard place to leave. Really. Hard. 

So on Wednesday, we got up, finished packing, and then Sister Gregston picked us up and took us to Rexburg. We got on the transfer train and went down to Pocatello. That was a really fun ride. Then, we got off, and i met my new companion. Sister Kolo is awesome! She's from Tonga, but moved to California a few years ago. (No pictures yet.)

Anyway, I had to say bye to SWarren...and that was hard. I already miss that kid. It's crazy how someone can become your best friend in less than three months. I cried like a baby after that one too. Swarren taught me...really, everything I've learned and figured out the past three months. God loves me enough to send one of the best missionaries in the mission to help me grow to become the person I needed to be. I'm so completely grateful to have been her companion. 

So, we got to our area, and I've been in love with it ever since. It's a really good area. There's a lot of potential and I want to come and find it.

Here's some fun stories - so, on Friday night, we were in the trailer park walking home and we passed some people outside roasting smores on a fire. So we talked to them. And this drunk old guy came out and started arguing with us. He was just saying really, really weird stuff. He dropped the f bomb a few times. It was...yeah. It was interesting. Made for a good story, though. It was funny. I also awkwardly talked to people playing basketball yesterday. We went up to talk to them about the gospel and they completely ignored us after we said who we were. Awkward. But, we talked to them and did our part!

So, I've been having fantastic personal studies each morning the past few weeks. Like, really REALLY good. I read this verse in Matthew 16:24. It says, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." I think i spent about 20 minutes thinking and getting into that verse. But...I realized a few things. What am I willing to give up in order to more follow Christ? What am I willing to give up in order to have success in this area? What am I willing to do in order to become the best person that I can be? I need to absolutely and completely deny myself and the selfish things that I want right now, and take upon this calling with everything I have. This mission isn't about me. It's not. I'm here to serve God and that's all. I'm willing to give up everything in order to more fully serve and devote myself to this. I love this work. I really do. I love being here. Even though this is the hardest thing I've ever done, it's the best thing I've ever done. Seriously.

Anyway, hope you have a good week!
Love, Morgan