Sup, IF - February 1, 2016

So this email will be much newsier than last weeks. Sorry! We didn't have much time...

Anyway. So transfers happened this week. We got to the transfer site in Pocatello around 7 in the morning, loaded up all my stuff onto the trailer, I got on the big van with a bunch of other sisters, and we went off. It was a total party on the way up there. There were like, 12 sisters in that van. It was awesome. We laughed the entire time. Then we got to Idaho Falls, I got off, met my comp, saw some old friends, and saw a bunch of missionaries I don't know. Seriously, I know like five people up here. I guess that's what happens when you spend most of your mission down south..oh well. My comp is Sister Bueno (yes, that's her last name) and she's from Georgia. She. Is. Awesome. Seriously, we've laughed so much the past few days. It's been so much fun. I like her a lot. 

So, the area. We cover Eagle Rock stake, and we have nine wards - 39th, Mill Run, Old Butte, Osgood, Pioneer, Rosewood, Sageview, Village Park, and Westview wards. It's a pretty big area, but we're always busy. Which is good. I spoke in church yesterday, that was fun. It was probably about my 25th time or so speaking in church. 

I. Have. Thirty. Five. Days. Left. That's crazy. I've been thinking a lot about how I'm going to continue to grow when I get home. i've been thinking A LOT about how I've changed, if I've even changed, etc. It's weird to think about going home. It's gone by so fast.. I have no regrets with anything here. I've loved it here and I'm excited to make five more weeks of memories, miracles, and good times. 

Love you!

Not much time – January 25, 2016

Sorry! We don't have too much time to email today. Biggest news of the week, I'm getting transferred up to Idaho Falls for my last transfer. I'll be in the Eagle Rock stake with Sister Bueno, she's only been out three months. So that will be fun!

It's a whirl of emotions being transferred for my last transfer. I'm sad to be leaving Inkom, but I know I need to find one more person. And they're up in IF. So. Yeah.

We went sledding this week and it was fun.

Anyway, Have a great week!

I'll have more to talk about next week, sorry!

Good-bye, Inkom

Brother Vanderkooi - Family History Center 

Farewell, McCammon

The Clark Family

The Sisters in the office

Morgan's new companion, Sister Bueno - in Idaho Falls (IF)

It's snowing, we were walking, and it was cold - January 18, 2016Flirty

Sounds about right. 

Remember a few weeks ago when I drove into a fence? So we had to take it back to the shop to get everything else fixed up. So we didn't have a car this week. That wasn't fun. But it's ok. It was snowing a crap ton, but it's ok because i like snow.

So. Even though it wasn't a huge, successful week (it was pretty normal, nothing huge happened), it just hit me how much this experience means to me. I love it. I love it so much. 

Here's a funny story. So we're teaching a family and they have an 8 year old son who...is really flirty. On Saturday, we were at their house. He kept hugging me and before we left he asked, "Can you sleep over in my room?" hahahaha. At church on sunday, he sat next to me and drew me a picture of us. He's such a cute kid. 

Flirty boy on the left!!  I love that Morgan is giving us one of her authentic smiles!!

Anyway, transfer calls are this week. At this point, anything can happen...so i'll let you know next week what happens. Literally anything could happen. But...its my last transfer and that's so weird. Ugh. 59 more full proselyting days...haha. 

Love you!

morgan

End of My Blackout Year - January 4, 2016

So in missionary terms, your blackout year is the year you spend entirely on your mission. And...mine is over. The time has gone by so fast. I can't believe it. I honestly can't. 2015 has been the best year of my life, hands down. It's been the most incredible experience I've ever had. I can't even put into words how much I loved 2015. And 2016 is prepping to be pretty dang good, too! But, I realized yesterday kind of why 2015 was the best. About May of last year, I was miserable. I wasn't having fun, I wasn't really progressing, anything. And I prayed that something would change. God sent me my answer in a 4'11 Peruvian companion who taught me how to work hard and completely forget about myself. And I realized...I am truly and honestly only happy when I think about other people and forget about myself. Before the mission, my life was the Morgan Smith Show. Everything was about me. Everything I did..it was mostly for me. Even my reasons for going on a mission was because of me. And I realized..that doesn't matter at all. I don't matter. Other people do. I am completely happy when I forget about myself and focus on others. That's why 2015 turned out to be one of the best years ever. My life isn't really about me anymore. I'm not perfect...I still think about myself a lot. But. I'm working on changing, and that's what matters.

Anyway.

This week was amazing! We had the opportunity to go to the temple in Rexburg and that was awesome. A ton of miracles happened this week. We had a referral that we went to go contact on Tuesday night. it was 8:45, dark, snowing, cold, etc. But we knocked on this guys door, and it went perfectly. We set a return appointment, and when we came back, his less active wife was there and was talking about how she wanted to go to church again and how she wants her husband to be baptized and stuff like that. They're in the perfect position to accept the gospel, too. It was perfect.

We also set a baptismal date with one of my favorite investigators! Pleaseeeee pray that she'll know that February 13th is when she needs to be baptized. She's got some stuff she needs to overcome, but she's amazing and we love her a lot. She needs a lot of prayers.

New Years was awesome, too. On NYD, we had a giant breakfast thing at President's house. It was so much fun! We had a huge game of Phase 10 going on at one point. Like, 10 of us were playing at once. It was awesome.

Anyway, have a great week! 8 more.

Merry Christmas, Indeed – December 28, 2015

Dang, Gina. This Christmas was so good. Obviously you saw me for about an hour..but here's how the rest of the day went.

So, we woke up around 8 (all day pdays mean we can sleep in) and opened presents. I promptly put on my new sweats and wore my Vans blanket around and put on new socks. So. Thank you for those!!

We had breakfast with the Nelsons (the people we live with). They had all their family over, so that was fun. Then, we went and skyped. I graced you all with my face and funny stories.

Then, we drove down to McCammon and had lunch with one of the bishops that Sister Brewer was close with. She served in McCammon for like, 7 months by the way. So. That was fun! He was the bishop in the ward where Janice got baptized, and he said she's been coming to church every sunday! that was soooo good to hear. But we had fun, played phase 10, and then we drove back to inkom.

We had dinner with one of our Ward mission leaders, Brother and Sister Clark. I just love them. They are amazing, and dinner was so much fun.

Then, we went to the institute building in pocatello and watched movies and played games during the evening. So, it was a fantastic christmas.

So, the baptismal date we set didn't really work out as we would have hoped. But...it's ok. We did all we could. And we'll still work with them. It's all good, though.

We're going to the temple tomorrow. HALLELUJAH. I am SO EXCITED. We're going with the Clarks, so that will be fun. Yayyyyyyy

anyway, have a great week! love you

Going out for hibachi

New Year's Eve 

A visit to the Rexburg Temple

I ran in to a fence

Big new3s of the week - I drove into a fence. I was on the intersection of Grant and Main in Inkom. And i was trying to stop at this stop sign, and instead of stopping, the car skidded, started sliding, went through the intersection, and into the fence. I saw it coming...and there was nothing I could do to stop it. Hahahaha. It was actually really funny. I broke part of the fender, cracked part of the front of the car, broke the axle, bent the wheel...yeah. So. There that was. I have since given up driving.

The transfer was this week and now I only have two more. What. But it's been fun and we've been working SO HARD. Like, really really hard. I'm almost sure we had more lessons this week than we did all of last transfer. Yeah. We actually found a new investigator this week, too! So I was stoked about that cuz we've had next to nothing going on the past few weeks. So. That's cool. 

I'm with Sister Brewer and Hoffman, Brewer goes home in 9 days, that's crazy. She's from Tennessee. Hoffman is from Pittsburgh and has been out like five months. They're both stellar missionaries and I'm enjoying being with them. We laugh a lot. 

Here's another funny story - we went up to this door to knock, and Brewer goes to open the screen door...and the handle breaks off. We were dying. No one answered...so we just left. Oops. But it was so funny.

I love my mission. I've been thinking about that a lot these past few weeks. It's completely changed how I think about things. I'm still the same person. I'm still Morgan, but the way I think about things and what I see as important in life has completely changed. That's exactly what I needed. My mission has been perfect for me. I haven't been in leadership my entire mission, I haven't had the most numerical success, but it's been perfect for me. 

Merry Christmas, can't wait to talk to you this week! 

Love, Morgan

Uhh-ohh...

New comps:  Sisters Brewer and Hoffman

Inkom, Round 2. And 12 weeks left. - December 14, 2015

WHAT. 12 weeks left. Crazy.

This week was pretty good. IT SNOWED FINALLY. 

Transfer calls came, and I'm staying in Inkom. Sister Leon is going to Pocatello, and I'm getting two sisters. One is going home at the end of the month, and the other has been out about 4 months. So, that will be fun. Hopefully...we'll be able to find more people to teach, cus...we're kind of empty right now. But. That's ok.

So here's a funny story from the week - we were driving around Inkom, and we see this deer. It ran across the road. Then. A whole heard of like, 20 deer ran across the road. You know you've been in Idaho too long when a herd of deer run across the street...and it's funny. 

Anyway, Christmas is coming up and I'm super stoked. I'll talk to you then!

I always send Morgan some fun decorations

She found some ice

Friends at Zone Conference 

More Zone Conference

Beautiful Inkom

I was ill - December 7, 2015

I was ill this week. It was horrible. I kept getting really, really hot and then really, really cold and i was nauseous and it was just gross. But. I am better!

We had zone conference this week and it was awesome! I got to see a ton of my friends and that was fun. Sister Wooten straight up gave me a quesadilla maker for Christmas, haha. So then we had our Christmas talent show. And...well, I'll sing you the song I did when I get home. It was hilarious and everyone was laughing. It was a fantastic conference. I learned a lot.

Yesterday was just a fantastic day. We were sitting in Sacrament meeting, and I just felt..amazing. Taking the sacrament is the best part of the week. The chapel doors are literally the start and finish lines to my week. I love it. You know, I really wasn't that great of a person before my mission. I wasn't. But because of the Savior and because the sacrament, I can be better. I can start over each week. And that's fantastic. 

Thanks for everything you guys do, I really appreciate it. I love Idaho so much and I'm stupid happy to be here. Have a great week!

Morgan

Post Thanksgiving Thanks - November 30, 2015

This week was awesome! Thanksgiving was THE BEST. It snowed so much the night before, so the roads were covered. It was so cold! I LOVE THE COLD. It's the best. And the snow. So, obviously..we went to a church parking lot and spun a few donuts and drifted a bit. Don't worry, we didn't get into any accidents!

But..then...i got stuck in a ditch/tree thing. Driving up in Pocatello. Oops. It was so funny though. So it was worth it.

Dinner was great. I spent it with one family i met in Tyhee that I absolutely love, so that was good. We had so much fun. That evening, our zone met at the mission office building and we played Murder in the Dark. That was so funny. There were about 30ish people there. So, thanksgiving was thanksgave and it was the best.

We had a really cool lesson this week with a family we've been teaching. The parents aren't members, but the kids were baptized last year some time. We read 2 Nephi 2 with them, and it was absolutely amazing. There was such a warm, peaceful feeling while reading that. It's stuff like that that makes missions worth it. I felt like I was on fire. I absolutely love the Book of Mormon and i love the peace that it brings. 

We have a busy week this week with zone conference, zone meetings, etc. Should be fun. 

Anyway, have a good week! Love you,

Morgan