This week has been one of the most insane weeks of my life - July 20, 2015

Ok seriously, i had the most crazy week of my life. I'll send a letter home more about it because i cannot type and like 100000 things have to happen today. ok.

So! i've had SO MUCH FUN THIS WEEK. Seriously, even though so many crazy things happened, it was so much fun. We basically saw the spanish sisters every day. They even slept over at our house last night. Good grief, it's been crazy.

ok I promise i'll send a real letter in the mail with more details! i love you!

And here is her letter I received in the mail yesterday - It is last week's news, but it is a little more detailed!!

Hi Mom!

Oh, this is so much easier than typing.  I got my cast on today.  it only goes a little bit past my wrist, so it isn't too in the way.  It's blue and I already have had some people sign it.  

This week, one evening, I told Sister Sam, "I feel like I'm holding people's salvation in my tiny hands!"  She replied (in her cute accent), "Well...your one hand is broken, so just one hand and a half."  I really enjoy serving with her.  We laughed pretty hard at that. 

We were able to go up to the Temple Visitor's Center this week with one of our investigators.  She is so awesome.  Her parents are really Catholic, and they're not the biggest supporters of her learning about our church.  But she really wants to learn more.  We went to the VC, and she really felt the Spirit strongly.  It was an awesome experience.  She was at church this Sunday and she really liked the feeling there.  

One of our Ward Mission Leaders has chickens, so we got to see them the other day.  They had names like Gertrude, Beatrice, and Marge.  I feel like those are really good names for chickens.  They were so cute.  We even got some eggs, and they've been so good in the morning.  I make one with avocado and tomato, and it is delish.

We had interviews with our new mission president this week!  He said something really cool, "No matter what you have going on right now, you need to keep going."  I liked that a lot.  It's so true, though.  If you keep going and keep pushing forward, even if you don't want to, that's when you really grow and see all the blessings.  Heavenly Father knows He asks us to do things we sometimes don't want to do (like talk to the big, scary guy working on his chainsaw about the gospel...that was not my favorite street contact).  But, when we set aside ourselves, our fears, and try to push past our human limitations and weaknesses, that's when we grow.  That's when we become someone we never thought we could become.  

I am so completely happy.  I LOVE Pocatello with all of my heart.  I love my area so much.  I never want to leave Tyhee.  I love being a missionary.  Not going to lie, it's hard, and I am always out of my comfort zone.  But I love it.  I've never been happier.  I love the Gospel.  I love everything about it.  

Hi!! - July 13, 2015

Readership was way up this week with Morgan breaking her hand.  Luckily, she broke her left hand.  While typing is difficult, she can still write without interference from her cast.  She wrote this letter to me last week:  

Hey Mom!

It is much easier to write than to type, so here is a more detailed weekly letter.  Feel free to put it on the blog.

This week was AWESOME!  We worked so hard and we saw a ton of results.  It was way cool.  After emails last Monday, we went out and worked.  We talked to a ton of people.  It was also 104 degrees outside, but a member gave us popsicles, so that was cool.  

The 4th of July was so so so fun.  We had an all day p-day, so I slept in till about 7:30 or so.  After that, a bunch of us from our zone went on a hike up by Mink Creek (South Pocatello).  That hike was intense.  Sister Samanez got really dizzy so we went back early and ended up throwing rocks off the cliff by where the cars were.  When were driving back to Pocatello, the sisters driving us missed the exit, so we went all the way to Fort Hall and took a small field trip there in order to get back to Pocatello.  Then, we watched movies!  We caught the last 20 minutes of Big Hero 6 and then we watched Despicable Me 2.  

It was there that the hand incident happened.  Here is a more detailed explanation.  Just a forewarning, I am the clumsiest person alive.  So, in between movies, I was laying on the couch so that no one would steal it while some other sisters went and got snacks from the kitchen.  I had my dried fruit, so I needed no snackage.  I saw an elder drinking a Yoohoo, and those are my favorite.  I think the last time I had one was at Girl's Camp.  The elder said they were in the kitchen.  So I jumped up, I slipped on the gym floor, fell, and smashed my hand onto a metal chair nearby.  Oops.  It hurt the rest of the night and on Sunday.  I had the mission nurse check it out.  She sent me to the Urgent Care Monday morning.  I got it x-rayed, and sure enough, it was broken.  It's in a splint now, and I'll go in to get it cast next Monday.

So back to the 4th, at night, we went to this big park and talked, hung out, and watched fireworks.  It was so much fun.  I absolutely loved being able to spend time with the people I love.

Yesterday we went out proselyting in the evening and we were going to go contact this one address, and we saw this guy sitting outside his trailer.  We talked to him, and at first, he just looked dejected, uninterested, and sad.  But we started talking about the Gospel, the Book of Mormon, and families, and his eyes just lit up.  His whole countenance changed.  He looked so happy, it was amazing.  That's the power the gospel and the spirit has.  It's so cool to be able to witness it first hand.  He asked us to come back on Tuesday afternoon, so we definitely will.  I love it when cool stuff like that happens.  

So my companion, Sister Samanez, is from Aerequipa, Peru.  She's shorter than me, and has been a member of the church for a year and a half.  She is such a hard worker and isn't afraid to talk to anyone.  The rest of her family is Catholic, but it's cool that she's still out here, even though her family isn't Mormon.  We have a lot of fun together.

Anyway, I'd better go.  Love you lots!!

And now her email from today:

this week was AWESOME!!!! seriously, it was a really great week. a lot of cool things happened.

so i told you last monday about juan, right? well. we saw him three times this week. he is so solid. we took him on a church tour on saturday, and he told us that on the day we met him, he had been praying two hours earlier that he would be able to find someone or something to help change his life. and then we showed up. he even drove himself to church this week...fifteen minutes early. stuff like that keeps happening and it's SO COOL.

i got my cast on this morning! it's blue and it's even harder to type, haha. oh well. i'll have it on for five more weeks. so, just for the rest of the transfer.

seriously it yakes forever to type so i'm just going to send another handwritten letter this week. love you guys!

Tyhee District with the new Mission President and his wife (on Morgan's left)

Showering - looks a little creepy.

I America'd Too Hard - July 6, 2015

So. I broke my hand on the 4th. Tahts the big news of the week. Its incredibly painful to type...but i manage :) haha.

So what had happened was....I slipped on the gym floor in a church building (I was running in just socks) and i fell and slammed my hand into a metal chair. Everyone kept sayiing it was just sprained or the tendons were injured...but when i still couldn't move my ring finger, i went and got it checked on. And sure enough...broken! haha. it's kind of a funny story. 

But the fourth was awesome!!!! we had an all day p-day and we just had fun all day. we went on a hike, watched a movie, and spent time with other missionaries. it was soooooooooooo much fun.

here's a cool experience. yesterday we talked to this guy named juan. he was sitting outside his house. we started talking to him about the gospel, and you could see his eyes just light up. it was amazing. he wants us to come back, so thats cool.

ok so i can't really type at all, so i'm going to go. love you!!!!!!

Out with the "hermanas"

4th of July fun - Morgan loves to stand out and be a little obnoxious!!

In the Zone

She titled this photo - AMERICA 

The truth 

She still can't be serious - With Sister "Sam" Samanez 

It's Stupid Hot Outside - June 29, 2015

I have never sweat so much in my entire life, it is DISGUSTING. Ew. I hate hot weather so much. It's so gross. 

Anyway! It's been a good week. We've been doing a lot of work. We've been walking a lot and talking to like, everyone we see. So, that's been fun. We ended up finding three new investigators this week, we taught like 17 lessons in four days, and we contacted like, 14513457 houses. Not really, but it felt like that.

Sister Samanez is my new compaion, she's from Peru. She is a BOSS. She's a convert and has been a member a year and a half. So that's kind of cool. She's really good at talking to people and like, immediately talking about the gospel and stuff. She's awesome.

But yeah. Hmm. What else. I'm super tired, but I'm happy. We've done a LOT this week. That was awesome. 

We have all of the 4th off, so that's fun. We just have a 3 hour p day today, but that's ok. I'm excited for Saturday. 

Love you!

Hi - June 22, 2015

How's life? I'm doing good here. A bunch of missionaries are finishing their mission today, and that's always a weird time. Because it makes me think of how little time I have left..and that's just weird to think about. 

Remember how when I was first out and people talked about hobos and I thought they were talking about real homeless people and not spiders? Well. Last night, I found a hobo in our bathtub and it made me do two things - 1. I screamed and my companion had to kill the spider. 2. I laughed because I was confused when someone told me there was a hobo in my bathtub...and there was a hobo in my bathtub. The circle has been completed.

My handwriting has also gotten progressively worse the longer I've been on my mission. Oops.

This week has been pretty interesting. We got transfer calls, and Sister Boyd is being transferred to Montpelier and I'll be here with a new companion. I'm kind of nervous about it because our area isn't doing as well as I would like it and I don't really have that much experience in this area. But. I guess I'll do whatever I'm asked to do. I will miss Sister Boyd a lot, though. I really liked being with her. She's helped me a lot, and I'm really grateful for that. 

Not too much else happened this week. We're just looking for people to teach..so that's fun.

Morgan had her Aunt Karen take this picture at church and send it to Travis for Father's Day!  

Tyhee District

Morgan, Sister Boyd, and Sister Hunt

Morgan and Sister Boyd

Gratitude - June 15, 2015

So, these past few weeks I've kind of been in a rut. I haven't been the happiest and I've been really just....a bum. Seriously. But, I decided last week that that wasn't really fun, so I decided to focus more on being grateful for things. We have so many reasons to be grateful, no matter our circumstances. Sure, my area can be difficult. But why should that stop me from being happy? So this week, I'm going to write about things I am grateful for.

1. I am grateful for all the amazing experiences I've had thus far on my mission. I've seen so many cool things and witnessed a lot of cool miracles. I have made so many memories that I am eternally grateful for.

2. I am grateful for warm weather because it makes me appreciate the cold weather SO MUCH MORE.

3. I am grateful for a lovely family.

4. I am grateful for being able to be a missionary. This is such a great opportunity that not many people have. I'm grateful to have this in my life right now. 

There's more, but that's kind of all for now. :)

On monday, the sisters in my zone and I tie-dyed shirts and they are AWESOME. I also dyed some socks...and they look pretty funny. So I called them ugly socks. I'll send pictures when we take pictures today of us wearing ugly socks/cool tie-dyed shirts. One bad thing though...my hands turned basically blue, but. Good news. It washed off. 

We were also able to teach an awesome lesson last night to one of our investigators, Bryon. We taught the plan of salvation, and he said it gave him a lot to think about. In a good way. He's pretty cool. I like teaching him.

Anyway, hope you have a good week! Go find things to be grateful for, and when you email me next week, tell me what you're grateful for! Or if you feel the need to send them to me now. Feel free. 

Love you,

Companion Unity Tattoos - Captain America

Pocatello 48th Ward Youth Fireside

Tyhee Squad

(no subject) - June 8, 2015

work

work

work 

things

sleepy

work

work work work

work

things

zone conference

things

work

nap

bananas

work

end

That, in a nutshell, really sums up my week. Not too much happened, but that's ok. 

Honestly, I don't really know what else to talk about. We had zone conference, and I played violin and it went well. So that was good. President and Sister Brinkerhoff are going home in 3 weeks and I'll miss them a lot. They are such good leaders and I've enjoyed serving with them. 

Life is good. I love you guys.

Travis posed these questions to Morgan:

Now that you're halfway thru your mission, what would you tell somebody to do if they wanted to prepare to go?

If you talked to someone at the MTC, what would you tell them the two or three most important things are that you've learned the first half of your mission. And how do you think that experience and knowledge will help you for the rest of your mission?

Hmmm. I would tell them to decide now to not go home early. It's so much easier to have that decision made. Every single missionary, no matter what, has at one point wanted to go home. But, in the long run, it's easier to stay out, work through things, and keep going. Enduring to the end is where we become like Christ the most. That's really the ultimate goal of a mission - to become like Christ. It's not about the numbers, it's not about the converts. Who is the convert that benefits most from your mission? You and only you. You can touch people's lives right and left, but unless you leave your mission more converted to the Gospel, you wasted 18 months to two years. Going home doesn't solve problems and even though times get hard, the principle of enduring to the end will bless you immensely.

The three most important things I've learned so far is -
1. Personal conversion is the ultimate goal of your mission.
2. Missions are actually really short, and you need to make the most of your time here.
3. This gospel is the only thing that really and truly matters in life. Things that aren't based in the gospel aren't really that important.
These things set you up for the rest of your life. These things you learn on your mission will make your life easier. These things will help you to gain exaltation in the next life, and that really is what we're here to do. We're here on this earth to prepare to meet God. I wasn't converted at alllll before my mission. Now that I'm here, I am eternally grateful for the decision I've made. It's literally the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. But. It's the most worth it. I may not be baptizing everyone in Pocatello, but I am becoming more converted. And that's what really matters.

Does that answer your questions?