FELIZ NATAL, ERRBODY

Itttt's CHRISTMAS. 

Where do I begin?

This week has been phenomenal. And hard. But whatever. What's new? Jack was BAPTIZED on Saturday. It was wonderful. We've seen so many miracles in their family and it's been bringing their family closer together as well, SO happy for them all.

We spent a TON of time with Jack and his family this past week.. We still had a bit to teach him and Chris made us Cap'n Crunch french toast (Best. EVER.) before the baptism.. and oh, we had to teach 13 year old Jack about the Law of Chastity. MISSIONARY LIFE DOES NOT GET MUCH MORE AWKWARD GUYS. It's whatever though, I've made the family feel awkward often enough that it's just funny now so it's cool. Hakuna matata. 

Did I tell you Kelly is getting baptized on January 4th? that was the original date we set, then we jumped to Dec 28th, then we bumped it back to the 4th. So i dunno where we were at last week when I emailed yall.. but there ya go. So Kelly is like 52 and he is just soaking everything in, he's awesome. We had a lesson with him yesterday, f a n t a s t i c. He's so ready to make changes in his life, and he KNOWS that the gospel of Jesus Christ is exactly what can help him do that. He knows what baptism means and how special this time in his life is. He still feels like he's stuck and he's not in a great place in life right now, but he's completely allowing the Savior to take over and guide him. It's been so amazing to see it affect his life. 

We had to go caroling with the ward missionaries and it was probably the best worst experience of my life. We went with the other real missionaries a week ago and had a blast.. But this time everyone else (heck, I probably was too) was out of tune AND they had 2 people playing french horns in the back. KILLER, MAN... But amusing at the same time. 

I don't know what else to say right now BUT I'M SKYPING WITH MY FAMILY IN LIKE AN HOUR AND A HALF AND I'M PUMPED. 

 

OH OH OH..

QOTW:

[sorry I've been stingy with these lately... Apparently they're a hit. I'll keep em coming.]

"Ugh I have a pit in my stomach.." 

      -silence-

      -10 minutes later-

"I FEEL SO SICK. IT'S A COMBINATION OF GUILT AND THE HOT DOG I ATE FOR DINNER." 

-Sister McLelland

Oh, and here's a golden quote from our Plan of Salvation lesson with Jack's family..

"Do you get to choose what your body looks like after the Resurrection?" 

 -Jack

"..........He wants to be black." -Kelle (his mom/my favorite person here)

yep. Jack loves basketball and in another life he would be a tall lurpy black man. #livingthedream

Okay well we're off to a fabulous Christmas brunch with a rockin' awesome family, buuut Feliz Navidad, prospero ano y felicidade.. I WANNA WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS, WITH LOTS OF PRESENTS TO MAKE YOU HAPPY. I WANNA WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEEEAAAAARRRTT. Sorry I just stinkin' love that song. 

PS thanks for all the Christmas cards and packages and letters yall are sending, I've been loving it! 

Amo voces, Feliz Natal!

Love,

Sister Morrill

TRANSFERS TRANSFERS

HEY YALL

First of all TRAAAANSFERS!!

We got transfer calls last night....

SISTER MCLELLAND AND I ARE BOTH STAYING.

I'M PUMPED.

This week has been fabulous. It's actually been harrrrd trying to meet with people and it's been slow, but we're working our tails off! It's been rough, but the weeks that are hard like this always end filled with miracles LIKE THESE....

Jack is getting baptized on SATURDAY. It's gonna be a white Christmas in Bass Lake!

So excited for him. He's 13, his mom is basically my favorite person in El Dorado. Sister McLelland and I have gotten TIGHT with their family and I'm so excited for the doors this will open for them. 

Alsoooo, we had a POWERHOUSE lesson with Kelly yesterday... He went to church with us again on Sunday and BUSTED out after Sacrament meeting, we were worried that something happened and he was done with the church thing and didn't want a part of it and we just came to allllll these conclusions, but we talked to him yesterday and found out that he just didn't realize that the Sunday school classes were every single week.. SAFE. On top of that, it turns out he thought that the priesthood blessing he got  the week before was supposed to be his baptism.. Soo we made to talk that out and now he wants to be baptized on January 4th. SUCH a miracle. He's hurting hardcore with everything going on around him, looking for a job, trying to pay rent, keepin a roof over his head... He's struggling but he's recognized the importance of the gospel in his life and he is SO humble and prepared for this. He needs it and he knows it's going to change his life. Our lesson was incredible, we just listened and addressed his concerns and somehow we got a baptismal date.

After struggling hardcore for 6-7 months to find and teach people we are seeing SO many blessings. There are so many prepared people and I'm so blessed to be here. Especially with Sister McLelland. We're besties. So glad we're serving together for 6 more weeks. 

Like I said, this week has been slow.. so I don't really have anything else to tell ya but we are LOVING it here in Bass Lake, havin' fun and workin' hard ;)

LOVE YA ALL.

TCHAUUUUU

Hello, I am an awkward missionary and I have a problem.

This week has been INSANE. In a mostly good way. I've made a fool out of myself multiple times, the members think it's hilarious but I have lost every particle of pride that I may have had. We have seen MIRACLES this week, yesterday especially. Oh, and we had an emergency transfer.. on the OTHER missionaries end FYI. haha since we're in a trio they tend to pull us out for ET's.. So Sister Twitchell was transferred to Carmichael and Sister McLelland and I are basically shotgunning the area now and trying to get to know everyone and everything on our own. We miss her but we're pumped for her at the same time, this is her first transfer out of this area and we are having a blast here!

Okay so awk story of the century..

So we have 2 investigators, Jack (kid) and Chris (kid's mom's boyfriend) We had a lesson with said family. It was a great lesson. After the lesson we were saying goodbyes, and I hugged Chris' girlfriend (member of the church). Then Chris came up (not having a clue about mission rules and the no hugging the opposite sex thing) and tried to give me a hug. I could have stayed calm and been a normal person, but instead.... word vomit. He goes in for the hug, and I just flail my arms around, yelling "UHH I DON'T DO HUGS"... Pretty sure I scared Chris. A lot. Jack's mom tried to explain to him (after tears of laughter on everyone's part but mine) the whole shebang... Still awkward but still funny (to everyone else..)... there's more to the story too but I'm out of time.

MIRACLE: 

We went to visit an inactive lady and her husband. Had a rockin awesome conversation with them, and on the way out they asked us if we knew anyone who could use a Christmas Jar, they've made it a tradition to save up their change all year long and give it to someone in need, and they didn't know who to give it to this year. We were able to tell them about Kelly and how he REALLY could use it. Instant answer to our prayers. We've been praying for help for him to pick him back up. He's had SUCH a hard time the past 4 months. He came to church on Sunday, and EVERYTHING, talks, lessons.. all of it was exactly what he needed to hear. And he was given a priesthood blessing afterwards and the spirit was so powerful and we were all in tears. We're working with him and we feel like he's going to be our white Christmas baptism :) I really am super excited and feeling SO blessed to be a part of all of it, I'm just out of time to email and I gots tuh GO.

PS Sister Lewis asked me to be an angel for the Nativity we're doing during our Christmas devotional. Like I said, I have no pride left. I have to wear a costume and get in a picture with all the other missionaries who probably get to be normal. WHATEVER I'M OVER IT. 

Okay no time, BAH. LOVE YOU ALL TALK TO YA NEXT WEEK BUH BYE.

Bass. Lake's. Back. ALRIGHT.

Please sing the title of this email to the tune of Backstreet's Back okay? 

Thanks. Kudos to you if you caught that before reading this. 

Okay sorry, starting this out a little ridiculously. 

Carrying on.

It's only been like 4 days since last P-day... Probably not too much to talk about.

BEFORE THAT THOUGH I JUST REALIZED THAT WE GET TO SKYPE/CALL OUR FAMILIES ON CHRISTMAS.. LIKE IN  A FEW WEEKS. WHOOOOOO.

Okay, really now. 

So maybe yall forgot, but I'm in a trio. Trios are a pain and I don't recommend them, but at the same time the companions I'm closest with always come out of those trios, so I guess it all works out. Anyways we're making breakthroughs in our companionship, so that's nice. It's definitely a process and we'll be working on it for the rest of the transfer, but we're making a lot of progress.

MOVING ON 

We had a roughhh day on Saturday. We were absolutely seeing miracles in the morning, finding people to teach and being missionaries and what not, but then later in the day no oneeee was answering, we had a Temple Tour set up at the Sacramento Temple with an investigator and we were SO EXCITED.. We got to the temple, waited for our investigator... and waited, and waited... and waited.. And she never showed up. We were bummed because we were pumped for her to see the temple, aaand we had some Elders come to meet her, and we just used a ton of our miles to get us all there, and we waited forever and couldn't get ahold of her. We were all pretty discouraged as we drove back to our area and tried to decide what to do. We made a few visits. 2 of them told us they weren't interested at all and shut the door in our face, and 2 more didn't answer.. Sooo we got in the car about ready to call it a night. At the temple tour Sister McLelland saw one of her investigators & old comps from her last area and I saw a bunch of the missionaries from my last area and we were in a bad mood and we missed our past areas and we were DONE. But we decided to say a prayer and ask for some direction before we headed home. We sat and thought and flipped through our planners and area books, and I thought about visiting our investigator, Cathlina. We were all a little nervous because our last lesson kinda sounded like the end. After LOTS of debate, we decided to go and see if she was home... and then we had a MIIIIRRAAACLE. Cathlina was there. Her husband answered the door. We finally met him, he let us in and we all got to sit down and talk to them as a family, it was so neat. He told us about his experience with the church and their faith and we got to really understand where they were coming from.  He is actually a member of the church but hasn't gone since he was 18. They're suuuper cute together and I am so pumped. They're all up for us coming by and they want to have us over for dinner. They have so much potential and I know we're going to see miracles in that family. I love em both a stinkin' ton. 

Welllllllll that's the news so far. Next week I'll have a full week to write about, so buckle up. We're going to see miracles this week :) 

PS Sister McLelland watched Miranda Sings pre-mish too and she has the perrrrfect Miranda imitation.. In case you all wanted to know that useless information. If we weren't besties already we sure as heck are now! t i g h t. 

Okay really now, see ya, wouldn't wanna be yaaaa.

Um abraco, 

Sister Morrill