Roadtrip to JAX

Milkshake moment with the GV5 sisters <33

Hi everyone! 

Sorry for the change up...we had meetings in Jacksonville Monday and Tuesday so my pday was changed to Wednesday this week! :) 

We had such a hectic crazy week and a half but it has been so amazing!! 

Last Tuesday we had exchanges with the Williston sisters and I got to go to Williston for the day with Sister Mann! We were able to see a lot of people and it was awesome! Williston is this tiny country town where everyone is super southern and super prepared for the gospel! I loved it!! The next morning we went to their district meeting in Chiefland and Sister Heiner and I were able to give a training on being worthy and prepared to receive spiritual promptings. It's something I have been working on a lot lately so it was great to get to study it more and discuss it with other missionaries! 

Tracting out in Newberry

Friday and Saturday were pretty crazy. We were in Gainesville all day Friday doing service, grabbing some ice cream with the sisters, and having a meeting with our Zone Leader. We felt pretty drained by the time we got back to Newberry but we went out finding anyway and found the Austiles. They are a family of 4 and we were able to teach them and set up a time to come back!! They were super sweet and we are always excited about finding families!! We also had a really awesome lesson that night with our investigator Barbara! We were able to talk about the Gospel of Jesus Christ with her and help her see the importance of getting baptized. She's the sweetest thing I've ever met and I can't wait for her to get baptized some day!

Saturday we felt prompted to drive an hour down to Ocala to see our 2 sets of sisters serving there. We went on some power exchanges and went out finding with them. It was good to see them and talk about how their goals are going and how their areas are doing. We are trying to find more ways to be involved with them even though they are really far away. We are glad we were able to make it down there and spend the day with them! We have awesome sisters and I love going on exchanges because I learn so much from them!!! 

Exchange with Sister Mann!!

Once we made it back to Gainesville we stopped by and saw the YSA sisters really quick then headed back to Newberry. By the time we got home it was about 8:45 and we had been out of our area all day. We decided to go and work hard and have an end of the night miracle. We felt we should try a lady who we hadn't been able to see recently and she was home! She let us right in and talked about how she was experiencing a trial and felt God had sent us at the perfect time. We were able to teach her and her daughter and had a really spiritual experience! She sent us home with a bag of peaches so it was a win win! 

Sunday night after church we did a power exchange with the YSA sisters and did some finding near UF campus. I was with Sister Heller and we were able to find 3 new investigators! Teaching people my age is really weird so I'm greatful to be in a family ward haha! We spent the night with them at their apartment then we all woke up bright and early to make the 2hr drive to Jacksonville! 

Home improvement ft. President Haddock

We were so blessed to have Elder Nielson who is the head of the missionary department come and speak to us at a Zone Conference! We talked a lot about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and recognizing the spirit. He talked to us a lot about how missionary work will be changing and how We will be incorporating technology more! It was really exctiting! We also were able to have Elder Godoy from the seventy speak to us. It was a very spiritually uplifting meeting! 

Sunset selfie 

After we finished we headed back with the JAX South STLs to do an exchange with them. I got to go back to St. Augustine(my first area) for the day and it made my heart happy. We weren't in the same ward so I didn't actually see my area or anyone I know but it was still awesome. I got to be with Sister Hardy who is one of my favorite people in the whole world. We came out together and she is just an amazing person. It was so fun to be with her!! Tuesday night after we finished the exchange we headed back to Jacksonville to have our Mission Leadership Council with Elder Nielson. We talked a lot about the importance of being a good leader and what we can do to help our missionaries! 

Car naps during dinner are the best 

Sorry this email is super long...so much happened!! It was a great week though! I'm thankful for this time I have to serve the Lord. One thing from Zone conference that really hit me was when Elder Godoy was speaking to us. He said "The Book of Mormon changes my life every time I read it." I was just thinking about how true this is for me. I was able to finish The Book of Mormon again this last week and I was able to pray and ask if it was truly the word of God. I know it is because it changes my life every time I read it! 

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

1 Year

trade off with Sister Henriod! 5 seconds after taking this picture I dropped my ice cream in my lap :`)

Hi y'all! 

This has been an exciting and busy week. First off...wowza! I hit my year mark this last week which is crazy!! Times flying way too fast! 

found my Gpa Frank's painting in one of the church buildings!!!

We had interviews with President Lee this week which was awesome, like always! After we finished our interviews and district meeting we went on a tradeoff with the Ocala 1st ward sisters. I stayed in Gainesville with Sister Anderson and we had an awesome time! We did a lot of finding and met some fun people! We woke up early the next morning so we could drive back down to Ocala for their interviews and district meeting! After we finished Sister Heiner and I had about 30 min together before we went on another tradeoff with with Ocala 2nd ward sisters! This time I got to spend the night in Ocala with Sister Henriod! We had so much fun!! We spent most of the night finding and we found 6 new investigators. It was a crazy miracle! It's like every person we talked to was interested in learning more!! We woke up the next morning and headed back to Gainesville! It was fun to see the other sister and see their areas but it was nice to be back in good old g-ville with Sister Heiner (: 

SISTER HEINER MY BFF <3

Friday after we got back from our trade offs we headed out to Newberry to do some finding! We had one lady in that area we were planning to try but she wasn't home so we decided to knock some doors around her. We knocked on the first door and met Robert! He was super nice and we were able to teach him a quick 5 min Restoration and set up a return appointment! The next door over we met Kashon. He let us teach him as well and we were super excited! We decided to try one more door since we were having such good luck and we were able to meet Beverly and her family! We talked about the Book of Mormon with her and she told us they have one and that her daughter reads from it all the time! She was super sweet and we set up a time later this week to go and teach the whole family!! Newberry is a gold mine! 

comp study 

I love being a missionary and I love getting to see all the awesome miracles that happen! Life is so good in Florida! Thanks for all the continued love and support! I know God loves us and wants what is best for us. It's not always easy but it's worth it! 

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

tracting in Newberry 

-Weekly Moss Moment-
Last night we were out trying to contact people in the middle of nowhere. We were driving down all these sketchy dirt roads and we were pretty sure our Toyota Corolla was not going to make it. We were looking for a certain house and our TomTom promised if we stayed on this road it would connect to a bigger road where the house was. It was windy and bumpy and went straight through the forest/swamp that is everywhere in Florida. It was getting dark fast and we almost got stuck about 50 times. After driving for about 20min we decided we should just turn around. The road we were driving on was super narrow though and the trees came right up to the road making it very difficult to turn around. After several failed attempts I let Sister Heiner do it and we made it out alive. Lesson learned...dont trust the GPS and don't go off roading in Newberry(in a corolla)

Audrey!!

 Audrey's baptism!!!!! 

Hello everyone!! 

This has been a crazy busy week but it was awesome! We had transfers on Wednesday and I got my new companion Sister Heiner!! She is the best! We've served around each other quite a bit in our missions but this is the first time we've been able to really get to know each other and we have so much in common it's crazy. Two peas in a pod. She's from Green River Wyoming and wants to be a dentist when she grows up. She's been out a little over a year and has served in Gainesville for 9 of those months. She just came from the YSA and we are super excited to work hard and see miracles in the 2nd ward!!

Barbara! <33

This week Audrey was baptized!!! It was so amazing!! A little recap...two elders knocked on her mom's door about 3 months ago and gave her a mormon.org card since she didn't really have time to talk. That night she went online and ordered a Book of Mormon and her information was sent to us. We texted her the next day and set up a lesson for a few days later. We've been teaching her ever since and she's been coming to church every Sunday since we first met her. She gave up so much and even changed her living situations so she could get baptized. 

My favorite people

She is basically the biggest miracle ever!! Her baptism was great and the spirit was so strong!! At the end she got up and bore a simple and pure testimony that she knows these things are true and that it has blessed her life so much. It was awesome!! Yesterday at church she had a meeting with bishop to get her temple recommend so she can go do baptisms NEXT SATURDAY! She's amazing!!

I had corn nuggets for the first time this week and it was life changing 

Saturday night Sister Heiner and I caught a bug and felt super sick so we slept for like 2 days ....so there's not much else to report on this week

We have a busy transfer coming up with lots of meetings and tradeoffs but I'm so excited! I know we will see lots of miracles! Thank you for all the continued love and support. Y'all are top notch!

I love yall!! Have a blessed week <33
xoxo
Sister Morrow

We got to FaceTime in sister p for the baptism 

- Weekly Moss Moment -
This week we ate some food that had been expired for 2 years. It was not a good experience and I would not recommend it

G-Ville Pt. 3

Last selfie with Sister P :/

Well we had the transfer call and found out Sister P and I will be split up :( she's headed for JAX West which is exciting! I'll be serving here in the 2nd ward with Sister Heiner and we will be the Sister Training Leaders! Which basically just means we will work with the sisters in 2 zones and help with their training, go on lots of trade offs, and be there to support them and help in any way we can! I'm super excited!! More information to come on that next week.

We had dinner with one of our fav members Loretta and she ate some wasabi lol

This week we were able to teach our investigator Troy a few times! He's a 9 year old little boy that wants to get baptized. His mom has recently started coming back to church and it's been really awesome getting to work with them! We taught Troy about the Book of Mormon and challenged him to memorize the 1st Article of Faith. When we came back a few days later he had it all written out on a piece of paper to practice it and he was able to say the whole thing for us. It was so adorable! He has a sincere desire to learn and always sits very quietly and listens to the lessons. Solid kid! I'm so happy we get to continue teaching him! 

It poured buckets this week. One day it was super rainy and dropped down to the 70s so we got some hot coco bc we are wimps

Last Sunday we asked the ward counsel if there was anyone we could visit and they gave us the names of two sisters. Both of them are in their mid 20s, married to a nonmembers, and have small children. Bishop told us they both have a desire to come back and asked if we could stop by and offer to teach them to help strengthen their testimonies. We were able to see both of them and they were both so excited to see us. One of the sisters we were able to see twice and we just love her so much. Her name is Marissa and she has a young boy and a little baby girl. When we went over we taught her the Restoration so we could "practice" and you could tell she felt the spirit so strong. As soon as we finished the lesson she asked if we could come back and teach it to her husband because she thought he was ready to listen to our message and come to church. She said he started reading the Book of Mormon on his own and has a lot of questions but has been hesitant to meet with us because missionaries have been pushy in the past and it scared him off. She thought he was ready though and  we set up a time to teach the whole family again! It's amazing to feel the spirit come back into a home like that. Their whole family was at church yesterday for the first time in years. It was a miracle and I'm so grateful we were able to work together with the ward in helping this sister come back to church!! 

We made district shirts last week for pday!

I am so happy I get to stay in Gainesville! We have been working so hard and I know we will continue to see miracles! Audreys baptism is this Saturday and we are so excited!! She is ready to go!  She got up yesterday and shared her testimony in sacrament meeting and I was tearing up. She said she was so glad she finally found the gospel because it makes her truly happy and brings peace into her life. I know she will be so blessed as she continues to make these changes in her life and come closer to the Savior. I love being a missionary because I get to see miracles like this. The gospel of Jesus Christ changes people's hearts. I've seen it in my life and I've seen it in others and I am so thankful for this time I have to serve and spread the good word. 

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

GV2 fam...Elder Christensen flys home tomorrow :/ RIP

- Weekly Moss Moment -
So the first time we were teaching Troy we promised we would bring him a treat if he kept his commitment and memorized the 1 AofF. We even put it in his teaching record so we wouldn't forget to bring something next time. We'd had a crazy day and we pulled up for our second lesson and Troy was outside and first thing he asked was what we brought for his treat. Sister P and I just looked at each other like "oh nooo we forgot a treat!!" So we told him to give us a second and thst we would meet him inside. We searched through our car figuring we had to have some candy somewhere....and all we found was a fiber one bar. That was the best we could do lol! Luckily Troy was super pumped about it and didn't even complain. Lesson learned...always keep some candy in the car!!

1 Year Older and Wiser Too (Kinda)

Bday dinner with the Palmers<33

Hi everyone! This was a long hectic week but we survived! 

Thank you for all the b-day love! I really appreciated all the letters/emails. Y'all are the best!!! 

I got a bday package from one of my favorite members in Arlington with this sloth in it! I cried for a solid hour:')

First bit of exciting news...our investigator Audrey moved out this week so that she could live the commandments and be baptized. Which was a major sacrifice and took a ton of faith! She has already changed so much in the last few months we have been teaching her and she has such a strong testimony it's crazy to see.  We finished teaching her all the lessons this week and her baptism is set for August 12th!! She's such a tender mercy 

We were walking through the back of this neighborhood and found a family of 4 armadilos. Sister P got too close and this one charged after her lol 

This week we also started to teach a young boy named Troy. His family is less active and he will turn 9 in October and he wants to be baptized. We met him once before but it was hectic at their house so we didnt get to talk much. We went this week and while his other siblings were napping and taught him the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was really awesome to see this 8 year old boy sit quietly and listen to the Spirit testify to him of truth. He had some of the sweetest comments and questions. When we showed the Joseph Smith first vision video clip he was so focused and then asked us if that really happened. Bing able to testify that yes, Jospeh Smith really did see God the father and his son Jesus Christ was such a spiritual moment for all of us. Troy came to church on Sunday and was so excited to be there with his family! 

Selfie with Audrey!!! She's the best <33

Saturday we had our stake picnic for pioneer day and it was super awesome! The whole thing was centered on family history and they had all kinds of booths set up with displays and pictures and even food! We got to try some traditional Southern cane syrup and other yummy treats. Audrey came and she was anxious to get help on her tree so she can take names to the temple as soon as she gets baptized. It poured about half way through but we were still able to eat under the pavilion. It was a great event and a lot of nonmembers came which was exciting! They even had a newsperson come from the Gainesville local news and a segment about it made it on the 11pm news lol  

Our investigator Caryl has a baby peacock that we got to play with this week

Well we are coming to the end of another transfer which is crazy! We have the call on Saturday so I'll update y'all next week on what's happening. I love being a missionary and I love serving in Gainesville! The Lord has been blessing us so much.

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

-Weekly Moss Moment-
This week it poured buckets so one day we decided we would call some less active members of the ward. This lady was on record that she moved and nobody was able to contact her so we decided to call her and to ask for her address so we could move her records to her new unit. Sister P had the phone and it just kept ringing and ringing. She finally answered and her whole tone changed when she said we were the missionaries. She asked if we could get her new address so we could come visit her and she said "I'd rather not give you that information." A little taken back and unsure what to say next....I some how awkwardly said "Welp ummm huh okay well I hope you have a nice day....bye!" Hahaha it was so bad and after we hung up we just sat there laughing. Talking on the phone is hard as a missionary sometimes haha 

We found out at the stake picnic that brother Palmer and I are cousins! Everyone download the familysearch app and find your cousins!!!