November 28 email - It's time to hit it out of the park"

Dearest Family, 
   How are you? Thank you for all of your letters throughout the week. I have loved every one of them. This week has been a really good one for me. We have had some really neat opportunities. The first was during class one day. Our teacher gave us the opportunity to go and teach one random person on the MTC campus in order to practice our street contacts. We found one couple initially and we thought they would be perfect but as we began talking to them the sister who was supposed to give them a tour of the MTC walked up and stole them from us! So we were running out of time and kind of freaking out. Our conversations were mostly "We're going to be terrible missionaries," "Say something to her" "She looks busy" "We're never going to teach anyone in the field because we're too scared to talk to anyone." Haha but as we were walking back to our classroom in hopes to find someone in our building an older couple walked out of the building. We started talking to them and asked them if we could share a quick message. They told us about their upcoming mission to Taiwan and how they would be speaking Mandarin. They told us about how nervous they were to learn the language and how they were sad to leave their grandkids. I quickly flipped through my scriptures in hopes of finding a scripture that would be applicable to their situation and I opened to a scripture that I recently marked. It is in Doctrine and Covenants 75:26 and 27. It reads: "And let all such as can obtain places for their families and support of the church for them, not fail to go into the world whether to the east or to the west, or to the north or to the south. Let them ask and they shall receive, knock and it shall be opened unto them, and be made known unto them from on high, even by the comforter, whither they shall go." 
   It was perfect. The wife looked over my scriptures like "Is that really in there?" It was pretty cool and I knew it was Heavenly Father helping me because He wanted them to feel encouraged about their missions. 
   My companion and I were asked to be part of what they call "The New Missionary Teaching Experience." The first day in the MTC they do this thing where they have groups of 40 or so missionaries in a room teaching an investigator. It's pretty hilarious because no one's thoughts match up. But they have to have two missionaries start the lesson with the investigator. We were asked to do that and it was pretty intimidating because we were told in advance that 4 of the actors are not LDS. It was really good practice and a good experience. The moderator in our room was really excited when we were done so that was encouraging! Both of these experiences were in english though so we'll see how it translates...literally! :) The good news on the spanish front is that the visiting general authority this week was Hispanic and his wife bore her testimony in spanish and I understood every word. It was amazing! 
   I was glad to hear that your Thanksgiving turned out good. Mine turned out to be one of the best days in the MTC and despite the fact that I wasn't with all of you (which was painful) one of the best Thanksgivings I have ever had. Even on a Thanksgiving where I had decided that it wouldn't be about me, Heavenly Father sent Elder Holland (we're not supposed to have favorite apostles but if I did...) to come speak to us. It was incredible. I was really impressed with how hard the MTC Presidency worked to make that day special for every one in the MTC but how everything was about gratitude. After Elder Holland's talk we were able to do a service project, be part of a hilarious Thanksgiving skit and then at night we watched 17 Miracles and they gave us delicious bags of Kettle Corn. I will always remember this Thanksgiving with good memories. I did miss Mama's corn pudding though. I continued to feel so grateful for the things I mentioned in my last email. When Sister Holland stood us she said, "Would it be okay with you if for my testimony of gratitude I just stand here and cry my eyes out?" I have felt very similar at times here lately. 
   Elder Holland talked to us about three things he is grateful for: 1. To live in the last dispensation, 2. Joseph Smith and 3. God knows each and every one of us. It was such a powerful talk. He talked about how we often take for granted the blessing to live in this day and we don't consider other periods of history. He said "For the most part the gospel has not prospered with very many people, in very many places for very long. We don't understand what it means for us to have what we have now. Someday we will see the panorama of human history and we will see all the challenges of the darkest hours and we will understand what it was that we were given." 
    My favorite part was that he talked about how in Mormon 8 we read where Moroni says that he saw our day. He said that throughout history God buoyed up apostles and prophets by allowing them to see our day because each of them knew that they would fail and their time would end in apostasy. They knew they would lose but then Elder Holland said, "God said Buck up because finally eventually a group will make it. It is finally going to work and they saw us." He said that when Peter was hung upside down, when John was beheaded and when Alma and Amulek watched the righteous burn in the furnace they saw us and our day and because of that they "stiffened their backs and hung in there because they saw you and they said 'I can do this because the group in the MTC on Thanksgiving Day 2012 is going to hit it out of the park...we're finally going to win this." 
    I got chills when he said that and just felt so grateful for this opportunity and every opportunity that I have had in life that led me to this place. The MTC has been good for me but it's almost game time and I've got to hit it out of the park. I love you all so much. You're in my prayers. Thank you for praying for me and writing me! 
Love,
Hermana Jones 

November 21st email - Revelation from the Gym

Dear Family,

   Happy thanksgiving!!!! I hope you are all doing wonderful and that you eat lots of good food for me! Apparently they are feeding us thanksgiving lunch in the cafeteria and then thanksgiving dinner is a sack dinner. Haha! BUT I'm just grateful I'm not in the MTC over Christmas because I wouldn't get to call home! Bless those poor kids hearts! I get to be part of the MTC Presidency's thanksgiving skit tomorrow as a puritan woman who says "Mercy Me!" on que...so what more could a girl ask for on Thanksgiving?! :) This week has been really good! Our goal to only speak spanish as really failed but we have had a really good week otherwise. Our lessons have gone well and we have had the spirit with us I think so it's been good! The spanish is coming along about as good as it possibly could for someone who knew little to nothing coming into this so I am very grateful. I have been praying to have charity and I can feel that it is working. My goal is come home from my mission filled with the Savior's love for everyone so I am doing everything I can to develop that and praying for it every day.

   So this week I was in the gym one day and for some reason I just had this really spiritual experience so I thought I would share it with you all. I was kind of feeling sorry for myself at the beginning of the week because it was a Holiday week and I wasn't going to be home but I was in the gym riding the bike and watching the new Bible video (the actor that plays Jesus looks just like Christian Bale FYI) about the Savior's birth. I watched the part with the three wise men. It showed them travelling on camels through the snow to give their finest gifts to the Savior. I then flipped to another channel and a Mormon Message was on called "Wise Men Still Seek Him." I don't know if I can adequately describe or express my thoughts and emotions as I watched these videos but I am going to try.

   "The Wise Men Still Seek Him" video shows a man serving others at Christmas Time. I started thinking about how every Christmas my entire life I have been able to receive gifts and more importantly make memories with my family and friends, all in celebration of the birth of a baby boy who would save us all. We celebrate this miraculous gift that He gave us.

    As I watched those videos I was just overcome with gratitude for all of the memories that I have shared with my family during the holidays in my life. I understood more fully that He is the reason for the season. All of our blessings come from our Heavenly Father, including the gift of His son and so we celebrate Thanksgiving. Christmas is the celebration of Christ's birth and New Years is a celebration of the opportunity to begin again. I am grateful for these holidays and the sweet memories that I have because of them.

    I realized in the gym that because Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have blessed me so much in my life during this time of year, it is a blessing for me to have the opportunity to draw closer to Him during this time this year and to help others who seek Jesus Christ find Him. After all the gifts and blessings He has given me in the past 23 years and Christmases the least I can do is serve Him by sharing His gospel with those who need it. As Mosiah 2:17 says: "When you are in the service of your fellow beings you are only in the service of your God."

   Later as I reflected on holiday seasons past I couldn't stop crying as these cherished memories ran through my mind.

   I thought about Thanksgiving meals at Momel's, Grandma's and most recently our house. I thought about Turkey Bowls and football. I thought about Me, Brooke and Danielle's matching dresses from Papa and Grandma. I thought about Santa Claus's horse drawn sleigh driving down Crest Drive and me dropping my milk because I was so surprised. I thought about Pa and Grammy and the family singing Christmas songs. I thought about Chester and Elwood singing "I'm getting nothing for Christmas." I thought about Pepper Steak and Danielle trying to guess the gifts before we opened them. I thought about Papa and Grandma and how they made every Christmas Eve magical. I thought about Momel bringing presents every Christmas Day without fail and her never-ending generosity. I thought about Daddy C putting Christmas bows on his head. I thought about Blake King saying "Woo, that's purdy" and "Thank you Bishop Frankie, Thank you Miss Paula" and then watching Beatles videos all day. I thought about Christmas Jars and Doorbell ditching. I thought about the excitement of Christmas morning and how Daddy never has the video camera ready and always tries to convince us that Santa didn't come. I thought about Natalie and Benson's faces on Christmas morning and Mama and Daddy's tired eyes that were always filled with joy because we were happy. I thought about white elephant exchanges and Barbara's Nativity at church. I thought about Daddy C and Daddy reading Luke 2. I thought about Grandma's singing and her "It's a wonderful life" Christmas. I thought about Janice's Christmas recitals and Christmas Carolling in the back of the Hallelujah van. I thought about Lori's wedding. I thought about George Bailey. I thought about New Year's Family Dances, Bruce and Johnny's Dance-Off and Grandma's black eyed peas.  I thought about the Steak barn and Papa and Grandma's 50th Anniversary Trip. I thought about how blessed I am to have such a wonderful family, amazing friends and the gospel and all I have been  blessed with. I was reminded of a line from Alabama's Christmas CD (which brings back another great Christmas memory from Festival of Lights when Kate Bell couldn't believe multiple people in our office loved that CD) that says "All those Christmas Memories, Oh they mean so much to me." I just felt so grateful and at peace. I knew that for these next two holiday seasons I can give the Lord the gift of my time and service to repay Him for all of these wonderful blessings and memories. It is the least that I can give him.

 

"What can I give Him, poor as I am, If I were a shepherd I'd give Him a lamb, If I were a wise man I'd do my part, What can I give Him? I'll give Him my heart."

 

I love you all so much! Happy thanksgiving!!! I miss you! Thanks for everything! I feel like the luckiest girl in the world!

-Morgan

November 15th email - "Baby Oil and Cotton Balls"

Hola mi familia!! How are ya'll?! Thank you so much for your Dearelders this week. I'm doing really well! This is my 6th week in the MTC. I think I've consumed more spinach and lettuce than in my entire life previous to this but I'm convinced I create the best salads in the history of the MTC. This week definitely had its ups and downs but right now we're up and hoping to stay there for a while! :) Our "investigator" Gabriella committed to a baptismal date! I still have a hard time taking role plays seriously but I was pretty pumped when she said yes! 
   My spanish is coming along I think. Yesterday it hit me that this is another reason I was supposed to go to SVU for the time that I did. Some sisters came in yesterday that are going to Honduras and literally knew 0 spanish. Granted, I knew very very little when I came in but it got me through the first day which was a real blessing. Still, last week I told someone that they were sent to this earth "to become Jesus Christ." I forgot the "como." Needless to say the investigator was shocked. This week my companion told our investigator that we can be cleansed from all of our pescados (fish) ..instead of pecados (sins). Thus, last Friday we made a big decision. The main teacher for our zone came in our classroom and we were expressing to him our concerns with spanish. Our district has done a few "english fasts" but they don't seem to be super effective. We were just having a difficult time utilizing the things we were learning in class. Hermano Brodegard read us a scripture in Alma 17:23 that says "And Ammon said unto him: Yea I desire to dwell among this people for a time; yea, and perhaps until the day I die." He told us that when he was in the MTC as a missionary he decided  to kick the crutch of english and pretend that he didn't know if he would ever speak english again. He went 4 weeks in the MTC only speaking english to Priesthood leaders. He challenged us to do something similar. We came up with a few exceptions (and a few others have had to be made) but for the most part we have spent the last (almost a) week speaking spanish. We made a paper with the scripture from Alma to remind us of our commitment and then prayed that Heavenly Father would help us. I have felt Heavenly Father helping me. Elder Holland once recited a poem that says:
"'Come to the edge,' he said. 'No we will fall.'
Come to the edge,' he said. 'No said we, 'we will fall!"
COME TO THE EDGE,' he said. So we came to the edge,
He pushed us! And we flew." 

This commitment to speak spanish is our way of coming to the edge. We're hoping that in the end we'll fly. The elders in our zone haven't been super supportive because they aren't doing it and I think they want us to fail but you know me...competitive to a fault. That only fuels my fire. It's interesting because I have found that I think this may help me in other aspects of my life. It has caused me to be more positive because I don't have the words to be negative in Spanish. It has also caused me to really think before I speak (Daddy, maybe I should have done this a long time ago). I read a really good talk yesterday by Elder Marvin J. Ashton on Charity and I really really want to concentrate on being more charitable. I have a  LONG way to go. Elder Ashton said that "Charity is expecting the best of each other." He also quoted someone else who said "The best and most clear indication that we are progressing spiritually and coming unto Christ is the way we treat other people." I know that is true. I am praying to be filled with that love. 

This week I have thought a lot about the atonement. This began when an elder in our zone told us a story about a lady he knows. The lady's young family had recently moved into a new housing development and her kids kept going and playing in the frames of the houses that were being built. The mom kept telling them not to but they wouldn't listen. One day they came home and they had gotten into tar for the roofing of the houses. They had it all over them and the mom became super frustrated. She started trying to get the tar off and nothing would work. She wanted to just take sandpaper and scrub it off she was so frustrated but she went to the construction workers. She apologized and said that she was so sorry but her children had been playing on their site and got into tar. She asked if they knew how to get it off. Their response: baby oil and cotton balls. This is how the atonement is. We come to the Lord, dirty with sin and we need His help to be clean again. He goes on our behalf and asks forgiveness for us. The Elder in our zone said that we always expect repentance to be hard and to hurt like sandpaper but every time we come to Him it will always be cotton balls and baby oil because He loves us so much. 
Hermana Pierce said that she used to baby sit a family with a little boy named Max. Max is a very mischievious little boy and was always getting into trouble...she said not because he was a bad kid but because he didn't understand. One day he was particularly bad and Hermana Pierce felt really frustrated with him. She laid him down for a nap and was trying to read him a story when he looked up at her and said "You know what Hailey Pierce...I love you." She said that everything he had done bad that day just disappeared because she loved him so much and to hear him say that made her so happy. And that's what we need to do with the Savior...come to him and tell Him that we love Him. It's interesting because we always talk about all the miracles Christ performed when he was on the earth. He raised the dead, caused the deaf to hear, the blind to receive their sight and the lame to walk. But in reality the greatest miracle He ever performed was for me and you. I know that without the atonement I wouldn't feel good enough or worthy to be a missionary. I wouldn't feel worthy to wear his name but I have felt his love and so I am able to bear witness of it. I can tell other people that it is always cotton balls and baby oil and that I love Him for that. 

I love you all so much! Thank you for everything! Keep the letters coming please..you have no idea how much they help me! 

-Hermana Jones

P.S. Challenge for this week read and compare Hebrews 11 and Ether 12. Then write your own "By Faith" chapter about the examples of faith you have seen in your life. I did it last night and it was awesome! :)

November 8th email - "How is Your Heart"

To the best family in the world:
  How is everyone? I am so sorry the election turned out like it did! What a bummer! We decided in class that the MTC is the weirdest place on earth. When something big happens like the election or the hurricane, you feel so disconnect from the world. There are no newspaper racks, no cell phones ("I mean I am flipping the light switch on and off and nothing is happening" inside joke with Daddy) and no internet use beyond lds.org. SO yesterday morning I heard some girls in the hall ask the cleaning lady who won and could tell based on their reaction it wasn't good news. I went out into the hall to confirm. However, the Domans did tell me on Tuesday night that Romney won NC so we should be proud of that.
   This week has probably been the toughest week in the MTC. I have loved it but it has been difficult. Last Thursday after P-day was over we taught a lesson with an "investigator" named Christian. It was a door contact and we asked him to read a chapter in the book of Mormon. He told us that he can't read well and my companion felt the spirit tell her to tell him that if he would read the Book of Mormon he would start to read better and he would want to read. I felt inspired to follow that up by saying that Natalie had a hard time learning to read but with the help of the Book of Mormon she was able to learn. Unfortunately this didn't go over so well and he got offended. Hermano Miller (our teacher who is also Christian) later said "Don't tell me I can learn to read better, I don't want to read better." It really upset both me and my companion because we both felt like we had followed the spirit and we ended up offending him. It was the first time I have felt really frustrated since coming here. As we walked back to our room I just felt really discouraged and I was thinking about how much I wished I could talk to Mama or see her and have her tell me it was all going to be okay. I was walking up the stairs and I turned around and there was Sister Doman who is the closest thing I have to a mom here (don't worry Mama she has nothing on you) and I just started crying. I knew that Heavenly Father sent her to visit us because He knew I needed it. I knew at that moment that He loved me and cared about the work I am trying to learn how to do. It was such a tender mercy.
   Sunday I fasted to be able to learn spanish better. We had testimony meeting and I kept feeling like I should bare my testimony but I didn't want to because I knew it would have to be in spanish. I felt like Heavenly Father needed to know that I was willing to step out of my comfort zone if He was going to help me with my spanish so I got up and bore my testimony. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be! Another miracle!
    Tuesday Elder Craig Zwick and his wife spoke to us. It was the best talk I have heard since I came to the MTC. Elder Zwick talked about becoming a better disciple of Jesus Christ. He said discipleship is continuous, unconditional, compassionate and submissive. He told a couple of stories that I loved so I thought I would share them with you all.
    First he said that they have a son, Scott, who has a disability. Years ago he lived in a group home with other boys with physical disabilities. One day a new boy moved into the home and the boy had no toes, making it very difficult and painful for him to walk. Scott could sense this pain and so every night for four months he did something for the boy, not to be seen by men but because he loved the boy. He would get a bucket of warm water and wash the boy's feet. I am not a feet person (Kaili, my favorite bed buddy can attest to this) but I thought this story was so sweet. What an example of service!
   Second he told us that when he was serving in Brazil (I believe as mission president) Elder Neil A. Maxwell and his wife came to visit. Unbeknownst to Elder Zwick, Elder Maxwell had been diagnosed with Leukemia earlier that week and this was the last trip he would take before returning home for Chemo treatments. After a long plane ride and having not slept in two nights, it was requested that he travel across town to give a blessing to a young boy dying of Leukemia. Elder Maxwell's response was "I would be honored." On the way to the hospital they encountered really bad weather but they arrived at the hospital to find the little 9 year old boy in the arms of his 14 year old sister. Elder Maxwell asked him if he would like a blessing and then gently removed his oxygen mask to hear his response. The little boy said yes. Elder Maxwell reassured him in the blessing that life is eternal and that he had accomplished much in his life. He told him the Lord had a work for him to do in the coming days. After concluding the blessing Elder Maxwell asked the boy if he could do anything else for him. The little boy then said "Yes, can you sing I am a Child of God?" So there in a small hospital room in Brazil an apostle of God, who was dying himself, sang "I am a Child of God" to a dying 9 year old boy. The little boy died later that day and Elder Maxwell arranged to push his travel plans back to attend the funeral. I was so touched by this story and I think it epitomizes what discipleship is all about.
    Elder Zwick's wife gave an amazing talk as well. She said that there is a group of people who speak with a Mayan Dialect that great each other by asking (instead of how are you or how's it going) "How is your heart?" I loved that because we all know what the feelings of our hearts are. We know what they feel like when they are happy, sad, joyful, excited, depressed, hopeful, etc. What better question could we ask to know how people are than how is your heart? I realized this is really question we need to ask when trying to share the gospel because when we know how their hearts are we can better serve them.
    It also made me consider my own heart and whether I am experiencing "a mighty change of heart" and becoming better. Sister Zwick said that we should be able to say to the Lord "Here's my heart Lord take and keep it." I feel like right now my heart is not a worthy gift to give to the Lord but I hope that if I serve him with all of my heart these next 17 months (can you believe I've been here a month already?!) it will become a gift worth giving.
   I want to be so much better than I am and I am working hard to become what the Lord wants me to become. I love you all so much! Write me back and answer the question "How is your heart?" Please know that I want to know because I love you all so much! To everyone this email will be forwarded to I love you and appreciate your prayers and letters more than you know!

Love always,
Hermana Jones

P.S. I hope you enjoy the pictures. The first is of me and the other hermanas in our zone that left this week. The one next to me is Mauri Earl's niece. It's a small world after all! Then the second picture is us with bags of candy on Halloween that Elder Abbott's mom sent our district. The last one is me and the hermanas in our zone!

November 1st email - "If all men had been, were and ever would be like unto Corianton?"

Dear Family, 
   How are you all? I am doing really really well. It has been so great to hear from all of you and to hear everything that is going on there! I've got some good news and some bad news. The good news- thanks to working out every day except Sunday and eating Salad for lunch and dinner I think I am in better shape than I was when I left. Bad news- Mama, Kaili, Robin and Catie are really not helping the cause! BUT I've loved everything I have received! It seriously makes my day every time I get a letter or package! You would not believe the amount of junk food our zone received and consumed yesterday. It was the best halloween ever! I'm usually not a huge fan of the holiday as many of you well know but when it involves amazing treats then I'm totally down! Hermana Pierce and I have changed the words to Love at Home. "There is junk food all around in the MTC, missionaries gaining pounds in the MTC." 
   This week has been really really good. My companion and I auditioned to sing "In Quiet Grove" and we were picked to sing for Relief society in front of all the sisters in the MTC. Sister Jean Stevens from the primary general presidency was the speaker and it was a really neat opportunity. I video'd a practice run of it. It says the file is too big to send though so that will have to wait until later I guess. It went pretty well though and I thought about how it was two sister missionaries that sang that for mama the first time too. It is a pretty neat butterfly moment Mama. :) The funny thing is the sisters in the presidency acted like they had never heard the song before. 
   One thing I love about the MTC is the conversations that you have with people that strengthen your testimony. the (the shift key on this keyboard stinks so forgive my poor grammar) other night I was getting ready for bed and a member of our branch presidency's wife stopped by. She and her husband returned from serving as mission presidents last year. I was asking her how hard it was to leave her family and stuff for three years and she told me that while she was gone her first three grandchildren were born and that missing the birth of the first one was really hard on her. She said that they were at a Stake Conference that weekend and her husband mentioned the miracle of technology and how they had received pictures right after the baby's birth. She said that after the conference people lined up to talk to them and when the line had finally cleared they saw a young mother sitting in the back of the chapel with a brand new baby. The young mother then said "I waited because I thought you might need to hold a baby right now." I thought that was one of the most thoughtful things I have ever heard. I hope someday to be more like that young mother. We watched a talk Sunday by Elder Bednar that he gave at the MTC on Christmas Day called Characteristics of Christ. He said that Christ's character was to always turn outward when he could have turned inward and the natural man would have. I hope I can be better about that.
   I think the biggest thing I've gained this week is a stronger testimony of the Book of Mormon. We watched a talk by Elder Holland about the power of the Book of Mormon in conversion. He said "I never knew a substantial, solid, convincing conversion who did not have a personal experience with the divinity of the Book of Mormon." He talked about the importance of sharing the beginning of the Book of Mormon with investigators and reading with them 1 Nephi 1. He said Lehi was a prophet, who saw visions, received a book, was filled with the spirit and then was persecuted for his beliefs. He then asked whose story that was. He said it is Joseph Smith's story but it is also the story of the people we will teach and they will feel that spirit that Lehi felt and they will be persecuted but they can do it because Lehi did. 
   My companion and I decided to put this to the test and in our next lesson we decided to read 1 Nephi 1:1-12. We decided to read it and look for questions to ask our investigator. We have had a really hard time getting "Gabriella" to open up and tell us anything about her life and when I read 1 Nephi 1 I said why don't we ask her if she has good parents or if she has had afflictions? My companion said we should ask if she had anything in common with Nephi. When we did in the lesson she finally opened up and told us about drug cartels and her family in Mexico and how her family fights all the time. It was a miracle and it happened because of the very first verse in the Book of Mormon that I have read a thousand times. 
   On Sunday Brother McDonald (from our branch presidency) talked about repentance in Church. He told of being in a training with Elder Scott when he asked how many of the men in the room had read Alma 48:17 "Like Unto Moroni." He said about 95% of the men in the room raised their hands. He then asked how many of the men in the room had Alma 48:18 marked and only about 10% raised their hands. He then said "If you don't have verse 18 marked you don't understand the power of the atonement." That verse references men other than Moroni that men should be more like. At the end of that verse it says "And all the sons of Alma, for they were all men of God." He said a man sitting in the meeting next to him gasped and said "Corianton?!" After committing serious sins, Corianton repented, returned on his mission and became a man of God. I think sometimes we think we have to be perfect, that we can't make mistakes but the miracle of the atonement is that we can still become men and women of God with the power of repentance.
   I have a testimony that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I know that it can help us in all aspects of our lives. This week I read about Enos and was struck by the fact that his dad probably felt like the words he had spoken to Enos never got through to him. But in the moment Enos needed help he remembered the words of his father and he prayed all night. The scriptures are full of stories like that and I am starting for the first time to fall in love with the Book of Mormon. Yo se que esta iglesia es verdadera. Yo se que Jesucristo es mi Salvador. Yo se que nuestro Padre Celestial ama mi y ustedes. I love this gospel. Every day is a challenge but you know me I love a good competition! I'm working hard and maybe one day I will be like unto Corianton...a person of God. 

I love you all so much! I hope you have a great week! My challenge to you is to have an experience with the Book of Mormon this week and if you feel comfortable, share it with me! 

Love,
Morgan

October 25th Email - "Real Life"

Dear Family, 
   How are ya'll?! I miss you so much but am doing great! I'm learning a ton about all aspects of life and feel really blessed. On Sunday we had the opportunity to watch a talk by Elder Holland about missionary work that he gave in the MTC years ago. He said that we needed to stop worrying about "real life" and what is going on at home. He said "This is as close to real life as you will ever get." I've thought a lot about that when I start to miss home and feel like I'm missing out. Last week the BYU football game was going on and we could hear the roar of the crowd several times and it made me miss my old life. The other night I walked past the security booth and the guard was watching the debate and I longed to be home watching with you guys but I think Elder Holland is right. This is as close to real life as I will ever get. 
   Our investigator is now our teacher and he is awesome. His name is Hermano Miller and we love him! Our three hours with him fly by. The same cannot be said for our other teacher (who we've had from the beginning) so he's a real blessing. My companion and I have started singing together. She sings alto and I sing soprano so it's really fun! 
   Tuesday Elder Larry Echo Hawk (our friend from the picnic) came and spoke at devotional. He told his conversion story and it was really really neat. He is an incredible story teller.  He and his wife are both converts. They both joined in their early teens. He said that he joined the church but was not super interested. But when he was a junior in high school he had a Priest Quorum advisor who could tell he just didn't care and took an interest in him. The advisor knew that Larry loved football and so he set out to be his trainer. They did workouts all year and by the time football season rolled around he was in really good shape (although not a very big guy). When the roster was released he was listed at quarterback and was way bummed because the captain of the team was a quarterback. One week though he was listed as starter on the depth chart going into the weekend. A few days later he turned his head and a ball hit him square in the eye.  The doctors worried he might lose his eyesight in that eye so in order to keep him from moving the eye he had to lay in bed with both eyes bandaged for days. He said as he laid there feeling sorry for himself he started to think about a lot of things. He thought about his advisor and the things he had told him about The Book of Mormon. He said he knelt and for the first time prayed that if Heavenly Father would heal his eyes he would read the Book of Mormon for the first time. His eyes began to heal and he returned to the football team on the bench. A few games in though they were playing a big game against a good team on the road and they were losing. His coach came and asked him if he wanted to play 3 different times and finally in the second  half they put him in the game. The play call was an option and he said apparently he didn't sell the fake very well because it didn't fool anyone and they were running right at him. He saw one of his receivers down field and launched the ball just as he got hit. He said as he lay there on the ground he heard the roar of the crowd and wondered "Whose fans are those?" and then  he saw his teammate celebrating in the end zone. He had thrown a 60+ yard touchdown in his first play. He went on to throw one more and run for 2 more in that game. Later in the year he began receiving visits from well-known college coaches and realized he would have the opportunity to be the first in his family to graduate from college. He ended up going to BYU where he played in every game for 4 years and started his junior and senior seasons at free safety. 
   However, he said that the best part of the story is that he kept his promise to Heavenly Father. When his eyes healed he began reading the Book of Mormon. He read 10 pages every night and when he was done he prayed to know it was true. He received an answer and knew it was true. He said he continued to read 10 pages every night throughout his life. His talk was such a tribute to the advisor who had helped him and also to the missionaries who shared the gospel with his family. He said that when he bore his testimony to the First Presidency in the temple for the first time he said that "Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I would be bearing my testimony to all of you in the temple and it would not have been possible without Lee Pearson and (insert name of the other missionary who taught him)." We never know who the people we meet and have an opportunity to influence will become. 
  Last night we were in the workout room (where my new favorite toy-a rowing machine that you can race other people on is) and the Mormon message about Stephanie Nielson (the lady who was burned in the plane crash) came on. In it she said something about how one day she walked into her closet and she missed her old life. She longed for it. And then she said that she received a calm spiritual reassurance that this is her new life and it is good. "It is oh so good." I realized that if she can find the good in the new life that she has with all the pain that she experiences on a daily basis then I need to focus on how blessed I am to have this new life where I am able to learn and grow, to come closer to Jesus Christ which is the whole purpose of this life. This is as close to real life as I will ever get and I am so grateful for it. 

I love you all so much! I cannot thank you enough for every letter, package and prayer you have sent my way. I feel it every day and feel so grateful. You all keep me going because I want to make you proud. I'm giving my very best. Please pray that at some point I will have a personality in spanish! Haha...right now I just laugh! I'm attaching a few pictures. The first is of me and Lyndell! The second is of me mailing the 15 letters I wrote last week. The third is of my district! I love you! Thanks again for everything! 

-Morgan


Mama thank you sooooo much for the package!!! It was much appreciated! Thank you for all you do for me! Please forward this email again. I love you!!!!
Daddy I will work on crafting a response for our good friend on the radio. 
Kaili, I am so proud of you for studying your scriptures and recognizing God's hand in your life. I know that he does love you and cares about you so much! A letter is coming your way today! Well hey I am out of time so I have to run but I will be writing letters later today! 

Morgan's first email - "In Terms of Forever"

                                                                                                     October 18, 2012

Dear Daddy, Mama, Spencer, Kaili, Julia, Benson and Natalie (and people that I love that this email will be forwarded to),

   I have been dreaming of this moment for the last week. Actually waiting to be able to tell you everything that I have wanted to has kept me awake at night because I just run through everything I want to say or write back over and over again! It's a strange form of detox but the good news is I am still alive and I am actually doing wonderful! How are ya'll?! I miss you all so much and am so grateful for you. I have loved every letter or package I have recieved this week and seriously cannot thank you enough! Mail is like the best thing for a missionary. My companion yesterday said "I LOVE MAIL! I think I'm addicted." Haha I feel the same way. All of the letters I have recieved have been so uplifting and just give me a boost to work that much harder. I have so much to tell you so I am just going to dive right in to the lesson...or the email. :)

   First off, I saw Lyndell yesterday! He looked great and seemed to be doing really well! He is so cute! I stalked the incoming missionaries to see if I saw him! Have ya'll heard from Michael? I haven't seen him since the first day. Hopefully he's doing great!

   I seriously could not love my companion any more than I do. She is the best. We get along so well and she is just so fun to be around! I think Heavenly Father knew exactly what I needed in a companion. My district is unbelievable. We have the perfect combination of people because we are all way different but we all love each other. The elders in our district are hilarious but such good boys. The second day we were here we were asked to tell why we decided to come on a mission and one of them, Elder Farnsworth, talked about how he wanted to set an example for his little sisters and about gaining a testimony for himself at 15 that the church was true. He then said something that I thought was so cute. He said "I also selfishly want to see the man that gets off that plane in two years. I want him to be awesome." I loved that.

   It is seriously so weird to see the MTC from the inside out so I'll tell you a few things about my experience so far. First, the food (my highest priority) is actually pretty good. My companion says our main food group is lettuce because we eat a wrap or a salad every day but it's keeping me from piling on the pounds so I'm grateful! You can make pretty much any kind of wrap you want. They have new 30 minute aerobics classes for sisters every morning at 6 so I have been trying to go to those as well.

   The second full day in the MTC they have you teach someone for the first time. The person is a member but they are pretending to be a friend that they know who is not LDS. You have to teach them...in your mission language. It was the scariest, most intimidating thing I have ever done because I literally knew nothing. Our first lesson was a literal train wreck. We were awful. My companion spent 4 of the first 5 years of her life living in Costa Rica so she used to be fluent in Spanish but has forgotten most of it. She's way better with spanish than me but our first lesson was awful. We were fumbling around and couldn't say anything. It was embarrassing and really humbling. We didn't understand anything he said. Hermana Pierce told our teach that we asked Lucas a question and the teacher was like bueno pregunta, que el respuesta? Hermana Pierce was just like I couldn't tell ya. Haha. The next day we had to teach another lesson. We prepared better the second time around and we went in and it was like a miracle. I felt like I was actually teaching. I was able to communicate my thoughts (my emotions not so much yet) and he understood. It was incredible. I told Hermana Pierce I have never known the church was true more than that moment. This is his work and it is my honor to see him work miracles through me.

    In Relief Society in the MTC all the sisters are combined and Sunday our teacher was Sister Burton, the general relief society president. It was incredible. Before relief society we watched Music and The Spoken Word. They were singing the line "Give all my life to Him" in I feel my Savior's Love and it hit me that that is what I'm doing is trying to show the Savior that I love him too and because of that I am giving my life these next 18 months to him. We can show our love to him in so many ways though and I want to spend the rest of my life doing that. To open Relief Society a Sister missionary from the Philippines bore her testimony. She said when she was originally introduced to the church she knew it was true and she told her father and he beat her. Years later she was working in a grocery store and two missionaries came in. She prayed that they would come to her line even though it was the longest one. Her prayer was answered and she met with the missionaries and was baptized. She's now on a mission. Her testimony was so humble and so powerful. She said she knows the Lord is mindful of each of us.

   In our branch presidency one of the counselor's names is Brother Doman (He is Brandon Doman's brother Daddy ;) and his wife is really sweet. On Sunday she told us something that I really liked. She said that she loves the part in Anne of Green Gables when Anne is leaving and she closes her eyes and someone asks what she is doing and she says "I'm making a memory." I've tried here since she told us that to make a lot of good memories. So that is my challenge to you this week. Make a memory and then tell me all about it! I would love that!

  The second day in the MTC I heard a quote that I really loved. It was by Elder Wirthlin and he said "We see ourselves in terms of yesterday and today, The Lord sees us in terms of forever." I realized that in terms of forever 18 months is nothing. I am grateful to be able to serve Him. I know that He sees me for what I am capable of becoming with His help and I am so grateful for the way I have already seen His love for me here. I know that I will have the opportunity to live with ya'll forever and that makes missing you right now barable. I want to share with others the hope and peace that I have for that day. Well I'm out of time but I will write letters this afternoon. I love you all so much! Have a great week!

Con Amor,

Hermana Jones

The Missionary Training Center

Morgan's good friend Lynette Schroeder picked Morgan up at the Salt Lake City Airport on October 9th.  Morgan spent the night with another dear friend, Heidi Erickson.  Spencer, Morgan's brother delivered her and Elder Michael Diettrich from Roanoke Rapids to the Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Provo, Utah on Tuesday, October 10, 2012.

Richmond Airport and more goodbyes

We met Kaili at the Richmond Airport and said goodbye to Morgan for the next 18 months.  Morgan's good friend Catie Borland and her precious little girls were so kind to come.

Good-byes

Due to the fact that she was flying out of the Richmond, Virginia Airport,  Morgan met her Papa and Grandma at the Smithfield Outlet Mall a couple of days before to say goodbye.

Missionary Shower

Melinda Fortier hosted a missionary shower for Morgan at her home on October 2, 2012.  It was a fun night out with the girls and Morgan received many thoughtful gifts.

Farewell

On September 30, 2012  Morgan gave her farewell talk in Sacrament Meeting at her home ward in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina.  She also sang a solo, "This is My Season" by Janice Kapp Perry.  After church we had lunch at our home for our friends and family.  It was a perfect day!

The Call

On June 15, 2012 Morgan was excited to receive a call to serve as a full time missionary in the Washington Kennewick Mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints.  She was excited and nervous about the news that she would be speaking Spanish. She quickly began hearing from lots of people that Washington State is a wonderful place and that she would love it there.