Celestial Craft Room

Tracting in the swamp  

Hi everyone! Happy Monday!! 

This week was great! We did lots of service, taught some lessons, found 6 new gators, and had interviews with President Lee! 

There's a family that just moved into our ward (the Smiths) and we were able to go over this week and help them unpack a bit. Sister Smith had us over for dinner and we went a little early so we could help her cook. She showed us her craft room and was explaining how overwhelmed she was with the project. We offered to come back later in the week to help and it was so much fun! We organized ribbon and washi tape and found all kinds of crazy things. Her craft room is basically hobby lobby. She has everything you could ever need/want. Apparently this room is smaller than their last house so she was needing to down size a bit. She gave us all kinds of cute paper and stickers and these awesome things called smash books. It was great haha! It was fun just getting go visit with her too. She's such a sweet lady and we are so excited to have her in our ward! 

Cute friends at zone conference

Our recent convert Logan and his family had some flood damage to their house about a year ago and they just barely were able to get out and into a hotel this week so that the repairs could start on their house! His mom texted us telling us what was going on and invited us to come and teach a lesson at the hotel. When we walked in the lobby a lady sitting at one of the tables motioned for us to come over she started talking to us. We were a little hesitant but she told us she was a member from central Florida staying in g-ville for a few days and she was so excited to see missionaries! She was super sweet and asked if their family could take us out to dinner that night and we didn't have anyone feeding us so we agreed! They picked us up later and it was super random but they were so sweet! They joined the church about 4 years ago and so it was cool to hear their story and experience with missionaries! 

Gainesville district with the APs

We had an awesome exchange this week with Sister McKay! We went out to Newberry to try and few people and we were able to see two families we have been trying to teach for months. There's a lady in our ward that has 5 young kids and she has been less active for most of her life. She texted us a few months ago saying she wanted us to come over and teach her kids so her two oldest could get baptized. They are 9 and 11 so we were really excited to teach them! We've been trying for weeks to catch them at home and things weren't really working out but we finally caught them with Sister McKay and we were able to teach the whole family about the Restoration and invited to two girls to be baptized. They both said they really wanted to and were so excited! We just have to get them to come to church now and they'll be set!! We saw another family and had a similar experience. Their little boy wants to get baptized but he doesn't know much about church since he's only been a few times. We taught him about baptism and he asked if he could get baptized the next day haha! It was super cute. I love teaching kids! They are so sweet and have such a sincere desire to learn more. It's the best! 

Great things are happening here in Gainesville! I'm thankful for the time I have to serve here. I love being a missionary!! :)

I love y'all! Have a blessed week!

xoxo
Sister M

I love florida!!

-Weekly Moss Moment-
So this week we were out trying some people and handing out family history cards! We had tried a knocking a few doors but no one was answering. I knocked on one door and no one answered so I went to go put the card in the door. There wasn't much room between the door and the frame for me to stick the card in so I pushed on the door a bit hoping it would move the door back enough so I could just stick the corner of the card in so it wouldn't fall out. As I went to push on it, the door opened and I panicked and quickly tried to grab the handle and shut the door. As I was fumbling a man walked out and started talking to us. I tried to awkwardly explain what I was doing then just jumped right in to the importance of family history. He was actually pretty interested and said he would call for more information and then told us we should try his neighbor because he thought she might be interested too! He actually called us and we are going to go back next week! I'm glad my moss didn't scare him off haha!

Adventures With Black Beauty

Hi y'all! Happy Monday! 

This week was busy and crazy but still super fun!

We had Zone Conference this week up in Jacksonville and it was so fun to get to see mission friends and listen to some amazing trainings. We talked about having the faith to baptize and how we can improve so we can find those the Lord has prepared and see success in our different areas. We also talked about exact obedience and living the higher law that Jesus Christ established. Being obedient for the right reasons and going out of our way to seek correction from the Lord and from our leaders. It was one of the best Zone Conferences I've ever been to and I'm pretty sure I took like 20 pages of notes because it was just so good!!

eating inside a bus with the GV5 sisters

This week we had an awesome exchange with our Relief Society President and we went out to Newberry to try some people. We were able to see two of our investigators, Cora and Joseph. They are true southerners and they love talking about Jesus with us. Sister Gordon had a great idea to have us sing to them a few hymns. We sang Sweet Hour of Prayer and they loved it! After we finished Cora sang us a few of the songs she used to sing for her church. They were classic southern baptism hymns and they were so great! We told her she has to sing for us every time we come haha! It was fun to change things up a little bit.

I saw my daughter at zone conference and cried a few tears of joy <33

On Saturday night we had the oppputunity to have dinner with one of our favorite families, the Willinghams. They live in this super cute house out in the country with lots of land and a pet chicken named Black Beauty. Their chicken is trained and stays inside with them. She has a cage she sleeps in and when she's up she just walks around the house or sits in the bathroom on a shelf on top of some towels. It was a little random to have a chicken just wandering around but it was pretty awesome too. After we finished dinner I asked if I could use their restroom. I walked in and there was Black Beauty, sitting up on her towel rack facing me. The bathroom was tiny and there wasn't much room between me and her and I was super panicked. I heard Sister Willingham yell out from the kitchen "don't worry about her, she won't bother you!" Going to the bathroom with a chicken watching me wasn't something I anticipated while on my mission but this is Florida and anything goes haha!

when all you ever buy is slushies bc it's too hot to eat anything else 

The weeks are flying and it's crazy summer is almost over! I love Florida and I'm just soaking up every minute I have here. I love being a missionary so much!! 

I love y'all! Have a blessed week!!!<33
xoxo
Sister M

sisp&sism

-Weekly Moss Moment-
This week we did some service for the Donahey family, our recent converts, and once we finished they wanted to take us to lunch. We went to an Asian buffet in Newberry called the Red Wok. When we got there Sister P and I were standing by the front and this man all of the sudden comes up to us and starts saying really weird and creepy things and basically tries to bash us. Super confused and creeped out we walked away and started stuffing our to-go boxes and avoiding him as much as possible while he just kept staring at us. When we were checking out we could see him at his booth writing something down and we were trying to hurry and so we could get out of the situation. Before we could leave he came over and handed us a napkin with some bible verses. We took them with out saying anything and basically ran out of the restaurant. We looked them up later and we weren't sure what he wanted to say but we were pretty sure he didnt write down the scriptures he meant to? lol I love creepy people who try to bash us! they make things.....interesting! 

gainesville district doodle (by sister armstrong)

Happy (late)Bday America!!

Happy Monday y'all! 

This has been a fun and a busy week! 

Tuesday we had the opportunity to go with a member to volunteer at the Ronald McDonald house! We cooked dinner for all the families staying there and it was so fun! They have a big kitchen at the house and so we cooked everything there and helped serve it. The member we went with volunteers there a lot and she always goes all out. Everything was made from scratch and looked super yummy. We made a traditional 4th on July meal (burgers, potato salad, pasta salad, corn, chips, and an American flag cake for dessert) and everyone seemed to really appreciate it. It was a great way to spend the holiday :) 

We also had a trade off this week with our sister training leaders! I stayed in GV2 with Sister Heller! We did a ton of finding and walking and we were out dying in the Florida heat the whole time but it was super fun! We knocked a lot of doors then went and visited some less active sisters with a member! Sister Heller and I served around each other in JAX East so it was fun to be together again! 

We made festive French toast on the 4th with some homemade bread a member gave us!

Our investigator Barbra had been out of town earlier in the week but we were able to finally see her over the weekend and we had some really awesome lessons with her. She is the sweetest person I have ever met and I love her so much!! We talked about service and read together from the Book of Mormon. She is almost halfway done and is loving it! She will text us random scriptures she likes and always has a million questions. She is just amazing I can't even explain it. We have also been working a lot with a lady named Caryl.  We saw her this week with a member and had a really good visit. She came to church two weeks in a row, which was a total miracle!! Another tender mercy...we hadn't been able to get in contact with our investigator Audrey at all this week. We had texted her a few times but never heard back from her. We sent her a church reminder yesterday morning anyways hoping for the best. The meeting started and we didn't see her so we figured she must have slept in or was taking care of her baby or something. After the meeting ended we stood up and spotted Audrey sitting by a member in the very back. She said she woke up late but felt like she really needed to be there at church. Miracle!!

Fancy volunteer name tags at the Ronald McDonald house 

I am so thankful for this time I have to be a missionary. I have learned so much and I know Heavenly Father loves all of us (especially the amazing people in Gainesville)

I found this quote this week from President Monson and I have been thinking about it a lot....

"There are feet to steady, hands to grasp, minds to encourage, hearts to inspire, and souls to save. Are we doing all we should? "

I hope we can all go out this week and look for ways to serve and reach out to everyone around us! I love y'all! Have a blessed week!! <3

xoxo
Sister Morrow 

A member gave us glowsticks to compensate for not being able to watch fireworks....it was also a little stormy that night! 

-Weekly Moss Moment- 
So before I got here Sister P was out tracting with her companion and got bit by a dog. They had to go ask the owner if the dog was all up to date on its shots and the owner ended up being a lost sheep member and it was a total miracle. Well fast forward a few months and we are out walking in the same neighborhood. A lady walks up to us and says "glad to see you survived!!" Sister P just looked at her super confused and the lady was like "oh...maybe I have the wrong person?" And walked away. I had never met the lady before so I was just as confused. We kept walking, talking about what a weird exchange it was when suddenly it dawns on Sister P that it was the member and she was talking about surviving the dog bite. Super awkward! I guess we can't go see her for a while or else we will have to explain that the moss got to sister p...it was pretty funny though 

More America gear from our fav member Sister Hrivnak 

This week Sister Pennock and I found out we are 11th cousins twice removed <33 #fambam

All I Know is Missionary Work and Breathing

Loretta my fav

Hi everyone!! 

This week was awesome!! We found a lot of promising people and had great lessons with Audrey and Barbra! 

One person we were really excited about this week is named Landon. We called him a few weeks ago and had a lesson with him over the phone, and then we were able to set a return appointment. We went to the return appointment and he was so happy to see us, he introduced us to his wife and 2 kids and they were super sweet. We were able to teach the Restoration and he was super prepared, he asked some really amazing questions and wanted to know how he could know if this was true. He expressed to us that he was looking for some spiritual guidance for his family and he felt like this was a sign from God. It was such a powerful lesson.

Well we got caught in the rain(again) we've just accepted that this is going to be a weekly thing

This week we were able to go out with the best member missionary ever! Her name is Loretta, and she is hilarious. She texted us in the beginning of the week saying she wanted to take us to see some people. So Saturday rolls around and she picked us up and she was so happy to see us because she has been out of town for a few weeks. We started driving and we were a little confused because we were no longer in our Ward boundaries. She then pulls up to Sam's Club and she had us wait in the car for 30 min (thank goodness there was AC and classical music) while she ran in and got some chicken. When we finally got rolling she told us we would be bringing this meal to a non-member friend of hers. Then on the way she called her sister who lives in Road Island and has a THICK accent...it was awesome. We were able to share a message with her sister over the phone and we also had a really great visit with her nonmember friend. It made up for the 30 min we just sat in the Sam's Club parking lot lol. The next day she bore her testimony in sacrament meeting about how much she enjoyed coming out with us and how it helps her grow her testimony. Loretta may be a kook but she is a pretty fabulous kook. 

Gainesville district with the APs and President Lee (last transfer)

After a scorching hot day in Newberry Florida, we decided to go back to town and try our luck at an apartment complex; we were looking through our area book and decided to try a former named Gwen. We knocked on her door and she yelled "COME IN" a little skeptical, not knowing if she knew who we were we softly answer back "it's the missionaries" she then yelled louder "COME IN!!!" So we slowly tip toed through the narrow hallway...When we finally made it into the living room she was actually happy to see us! We were able to share a message about the Book of Mormon, and she is excited to start reading it again and accepted a soft baptismal invite! It was a miracle!! 

I'm grateful for another transfer in Gainesville!! I love it here so much and I love being a missionary!

I love y'all! Have a blessed week!!<33
xoxo
Sister Morrow 

Door knocking aesthetic pt.6 (thanks for the new shoes mom!!)

-Weekly Moss Moment-
Around 9pm Friday night a member called us asking if we would be able to help with her son's wedding reception the next evening. She apologized for asking last minute but she had some people cancel on her and she didn't know whom else to ask. We told her it was no problem and that we would be happy to help! Saturday after we went out with Loretta we went to the church. We were mostly in the back getting food and taking it out to the tables. We were busy restocking the fruit and bringing out new trays of mac&cheese and hot wings (lol) we didn't realize they were doing a ring ceremony as well and I rolled out with my squeaky cart of food in the middle in of the ceremony and just froze. It was too late to turn back so we just kept going and tried to be as quiet as possible. No one seemed to notice us or they were too nice to say anything. Either way wedding receptions are just awkward as a missionary