Wednesday, September 17, 2014

September 8, 2014

Hello! Hope everyone is doing super well. This is my 29th P-day in Juneau and I think only the third one with sun. Later today we are going on a huge bike ride all around Juneau, and I am pretty pumped to get out in the sun. Sadly, it's only 48 degrees, but hey...at least the sun is shining!
Well, this week I have learned that the Lord seriously answers prayers. As a missionary you probably pray like 50+ times a day. Each prayer counts and it is not until big miracles happen that you really realize that the Lord answers literally every single thing you ask of him if it be his will. This week Sister Dall and I were pretty stressed because we were running out of things to do. One night in particular we had no appointments the next day and were literally going to tract for 8 hours the next day. I was not looking forward to it. That night I think I prayed for a good 30 minutes practically begging the Lord to fill our schedule. I was running through my head different things we could possibly do and then I went to sleep having faith in the lord that he would answer my prayers. Lo and behold, he answered my prayer. We were so busy the next day. The Lord just kept putting things in our path to do. Hallelujah! So.. If I learned one thing this week it is that prayer really does work.
This week we helped out at the State Archive Center. We helped prepared documents over 100 years old so they could be photographed, and people like you could index them. It was really fun. While we were prepping old death certificates, and I was reading through them and looking for the reason of death. One in particular said, “Was out hunting seal and floated out on an iceberg never to be seen again.” Only in Alaska do people die from floating out on an iceberg.
Meet the Mormons is coming out! We are so excited. If you don't know what it is about go to meetthemormons.com and check out the cool movie trailer! Enter your zip code and get the movie shown in your area. This is a great missionary tool! If it gets sent to Alaska then guess what? I get to go to the movies with investigators! Woohoo!!!!!
Well, it rained a lot this week... In the midst of all of the rain we got to cut down part of the rain forest. Okay, all you hippies/tree huggers come at me. It felt good to get all my anger out, from the rain, on all of the trees we tore down. We were renovating an old historical site by the old gold mines in Juneau. That was a really fun adventure! Don't worry... we still left a TON of trees :)
This week we went caroling again with the Elders. It was so much fun! Two thirds of the houses we went to had non-members there. It was so cool to see the spirit of hymns touch even the non-members. It is amazing to see the force of missionaries. Once again, everyones house we went to came to church the next day. It was incredible! I think heavens angels were definitely helping us sing, because you know me... I can't sing on key to save my life.
L and L. This week we had the Bishop and our first counselor, Bro. M come with us to a lesson. It went so great. L was able to ask some very deep questions and Bishop and Brother M answered them perfectly according to their needs. Members are really super great at lessons! Afterwards they fed us a huge feast. Some of the food was interesting. Let's just say I am grateful I didn't get called to the Philippines on my mission. I think I would have died. The cool thing about this lesson is the impact it had on them though. They were able to have questions answered that they had been wondering their whole lives. The gospel is truly amazing!!!!!! L is the chairman for the Filipino Community in Juneau. This week she invited us to one of her board meetings where she is going to introduce us. Apparently it is a big honor and we are excited!
R is doing a lot better. This week we were able to visit with her twice and really help address her needs. She is finally committing herself to the gospel again. Hopefully, we can see some good progress with her. We were not able to see S this week, so I will have more updates for that next week. A family in our ward did invite us and a less active family for dinner. It was so great. We were able to talk about baptism for their two eight-year-old boys. They will be getting baptized in October. Once again, members save the day!
This week we had so many miracles at church! L and L, J and R all came to church, along with three less active families. Woohooo!!!!!! They all stayed all three hours. Sister Dall and I felt like chickens with our heads cut off trying to direct everyone where to go. It was the best feeling ever!
I hit 11 months this past week. Crazy how fast time flies.The time I have left on my mission is the amount of time I have spent in Juneau. Looking back it went by way too fast. 7 more months to go. This week is transfer week. I think I will bawl my eyes out if I have to leave this place. They are literally my family away from home. I have learned so much here and I will be forever grateful for these sweet people. Who knows? Maybe I will stay another transfer and I won't have to stress about putting all of my stuff back into 3, 50 pound bags which might actually be a disaster when the time comes again. Wish my luck!!!!!!!
Remember who you are and what you stand for.. here is the quote of the week. “You hold in your hands the happiness of more people that you can imagine” Henry B. Eyring. Share the gospel of Jesus Christ!
Love you!
Sister Morrison  

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

September 1, 2014

Hello friends!

Well, this week was kinda lame. I think all of our work plateaued with the open house and then everyone stopped getting excited about missionary work which resulted in us having like the slowest week of the mission, but you know what? From the wise words of Kelly Clarkson: "What doesn't kill makes you stronger." Right?

Anyway... now that I got my complaining out.. ya sorrry about that. We did have some miracles this week. L and L came to church. Wohooooo!!! That was really happy. I still think they are only half commited to the church, but this week our Bishop is going over to their house. He taught them 20 years ago when he was a missionary, so hopefully he can have some major impact on the situation. I am praying for the best.

The senior couple living upstairs went home this week. Another one doesn't come until October. So as for now we are without “mom & dad” living upstais. The Brinkerhoffs were great people. Sister Dall and I are sure going to miss them!!!!!

This week I was pretty sick with a nasty nasty cold going around Juneau. Literally everyone has it. Hopefully, Juneau will heal up pretty fast that way we can meet with way more people! Sister Dall and I did A LOT of tracting this week. My o my it was fun. I think we turned into little water logs. My shoes just stayed wet all week. Rain, rain go away! We did have success tracting though, which makes everything worth it! We met a man named J! We passed him over to the elders and they had a great first lesson with him.

This week something funny happened. In February I helped a lady plant some peas in her garden. This past week we helped her pick them. Can you believe I have been in Juneau long enough for peas to grow? Crazy crazy. I think if I stay another transfer I should put my name on the balets and run for Mayor!

S, our investigator is doing great. Her husband read part of the Book of Mormon so that is super great! She says she knows it is a sign that she is supposed to get baptized. All we have to do is get her to come to church and she will be in for life!!!

Sadly, this week we had some encouters with fake missionaries going around Juneau trying to be us and then teaching people anti-mormon stuff. Pray for Juneau!!!!!! They don't deserve this.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Labor Day!!! wohooo!!!!! Go swimming in the sun for me, okay?

Here is little quote to hopefully start the week off right. “We attain our exaltaion in the Celestial kingdom only on the condition that we share with our Father's children the blessings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and observe the commandments that will enrich our lives here and hereafter” - President Geroge Albert Smith. It is time to share the gospel with everyone!!!

love you all!!!!

Sister Morrison 
Sister Dall and Morrison in their rain jackets ready to go tracting!