March 31, 2015 THE FINAL POST!

Hello Hello.

"I'm comin' home, comin' home, tell the world I'm comin' home!" Ahhhhhh! It is so weird. I am like 12 hours away from boarding a plane and it still doesn't really feel real. It is kinda weird. Okay, you all know I am an over organizer and planner, so I would assume you are probably all thinking that my bags have been packed for a week. Well, they aren't. In fact... Not even close. My companion and I have to be completely moved out our apartment in 3 hours. We have to have it cleaned as well, because no one is going to be living there for 6 weeks. It should be a fun mad dash to the end. Hopefully procrastination won't bite me in the bootie haha.

Sister Strong cut my hair this week. I am so excited for you guys to see it. Did the member in my ward send you a picture? She said she was going to. Looks like I am taking after my momma! Short hair!!!!!!! I was really hesitant to do it, but my companion just graduated from hair school and told me that I needed short hair. After 10 weeks. I finally caved. I am not sure how I feel about it. Mom... we might be going to get extensions tomorrow haha

Well this week... I have tried to work harder than ever, so I could go out with a bang! It was a great week! We were able to teach our investigator E. She is a foreign exchange student from Thailand. I have been really nervous about teaching her because I have never taught someone without a Christian  background. Well, we had a follow up lesson about deity an she had been praying all week. It was so cool for her to grasp the concept on God, Christ and the Holy Ghost. We were able to teach her about prophets on Sunday. It was incredible. The spirit was so strong. The Holy Ghost totally taught the whole lesson. I have no idea what I was saying. The words she needed to hear where just coming out of my mouth. It was so cool! She is so excited to listen to General Conference this week to hear what the prophet has to say to us.

We were also able to pick up another investigator named, O. She is a freshman in high school and we teach her at the seminary building across from the high school during her lunch break. We were able to teach her about God, Christ and Spirit and the roles they play in our life. I love teaching about our Father in Heavens love for us. It is the best. It available to all!

This week we were able to help out at the Nature Center. On Wednesday they had us hike out three miles on a trail then pick up these GIANT 2 x 6's and carry them another mile to go and help build a boardwalk. It was tough work. The trail was icy and boards were heavy. I kinda felt like a pioneer towards the end of the trail. The place where they were building the boardwalk was absolutely gorgeous! Oh man! Wait until you see the pictures. I am really going to miss the beauty of Alaska!

Well, we have been helping the Senior couple in this area teach a guy named B Morrison. Pretty cool right? Well, this weekend another Morrison entered the waters on baptism. At his baptism he just kept saying how light he felt. The Atonement in real. At baptism we are truly forgiven of our sins. We have the opportunity to renew that covenant with our Father in Heaven each week. I am so grateful for B's decision to be baptized! :) Nothing better than seeing people come closer to the Savior.

In my setting apart blessing to become a missionary it said that I needed to "Cherish Everyday". That is something that I have really tried to do. Everyone at some point in their mission has struggles and everyone amazing times. I know that as I have tried to cherish everyday that my life has completely changed. Never before did I realize that Heavenly Father loves each of his children. That is you and me and everyone that ever has and ever will live. He sent is son, Jesus Christ to atone for us, each and every single one of us so that we would have someone to turn to, someone to be our greatest support. I have learn to recognize the promptings of the spirit. It has been amazing. I have seen countless miracles and people's lives changed because of this gospel. I have loved being a missionary.

Well, I love you all! I will see you all so soon. Can you believe it? Time sure has flown by. I will probably be a blubbering mess when you see me next.. and the poor stake president tomorrow night. I think he is going to have me kicking and screaming when he asks me to take of this name tag. Little does he know the name tag has been stamped into my heart forever. I cannot wait to be a member missionary wherever the Lord calls me to go. Okay...enough with the sappy stuff. See you tomorrow!

Sister Morrison

P.S. I am going to be one tired cookie. I will be running on 28 hours of no sleep when you see me next. LOVE YOU!

One last beautiful scene from Alaska

Carrying the boards for the nature walk

B's Baptism!

Sister Morrison and her zone at Echo Park

March 23, 2015

Hiiiiii!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lets just say my fingers are shaking. I am literally freaking out about the rest of my life and seeing you all.. for heavens sake... what am I going to talk about? I am so awkward and weird and I am frankly just flat our tired. I am just a mess. Get ready for crazy Sister Morrison. My poor companion this next week. That is all I have to say. I am ready to work harder than I ever have. This is the final countdown! ahhhh

Okay, enough drama. Here is what happened this week. Well, I have one word for ya'll TRACTING! We sadly ran out of work to do :( I am honestly grateful that we ran out this close to the end ya know? So, this week we knocked hundreds of doors! It was okayish. We did have a little success. So.. that is happy. We had one cute little pregnant lady tell us that we can come back this week. Let's home for one last amazing miracle in this area.

We have a foreign exchange student from Thailand living with a family in our ward. The family asked us to start teaching her. Mainly just to inform her about the gospel. I didn't realize how hard it is to teach someone if they don't know or understand who God is. We were able to teach her about the Godhead this weekend. It was quite challenging, but the spirit was totally there. She is now praying everyday.

Also, there is a lady in our ward that has been working with some of her friends to share the gospel. A few weeks ago we taught her the Plan of Salvation. Yesterday we had a follow up with her. She really loved the Adam and Eve perspective that we have. Hopefully, things will continue to progress with her.

Anyone ready for the biggest miracle ever?! So the Ks called me on Saturday and said the family was in town and they wanted to take Sister Strong and I out to dessert. They were planning on surprising me at church the next day, but V had a work project come up so they couldn't. You guys! I got to see the Ks again! I guess they drove all the way up from Soldotna (3 hours) just to say goodbye. I love them so much. They have literally made my mission. It has been so fun to see their family progress. They are planning on going through the temple to be sealed in 3 months! Oh man! The gospel is true happiness!

Oh we found out what is happening to our ward after we leave. Sister Strong is going to Wasilla to be with Sister Dall and Sister Wright, and a Senior couple is replacing us. Looks like this week is going to bring a lot of organization and form filling out and notes.

Well, I hope all is well! I will see you all in just a few day....weird. Remember to preach the gospel. On Sunday check out the churches new Easter video at helives.mormon.org :) #becauseofhim on your social media.

love love love love you!

Sister Morrison

Free cones from Dairy Queen!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Star Wars street tracting

Sister Morrison got to see the K family one last time!

March 16, 2015

Hello everyone,

Well, I think these emails are getting harder and harder to write out. I am so sorry if this one ends up being short. I just feel like... why write a long letter when I can talk to you about it in like a few days. Life on a mission gets really tough when you approach the end. Satan likes to make you feel like you haven't done enough, even though you have spent every ounce of energy trying to be the hardest working missionary out there. You also have all of these weird dreams about the future. I am not digging it. You also get all nervous and excited and you feel pretty much every emotion in the book. Oh.. I forgot to mention. Your tear ducts really decide to open up. I feel like I cry any time I feel the spirit, and as a missionary that is like always. Don't worry. It is tears of joy.

Well, to be honest this has been one of the most frustrating weeks on a mission. This week was spring break and since our ward is super rich literally everyone in our ward boundaries went on a vacation. Literally no one was home. Oh it was so hard to see people. Anyways, so sorry for complaining.

On the bright side... I learned how to lay hard wood floors this week. I think we can add that one to the resume, right? We helped a young single adult do it. It was a lot of fun and a lot of work. Speaking of a lot of work. We volunteer at a Nature Center. When it snows people put gravel down so it is not super slippery. Well, now that all of the snow is pretty much gone the gravel needed to be removed from the parking lot. The park rangers gave us five brooms, some shovels and some sand bags. We swept the entire parking lot and bagged all of the gravel. It was an adventure! Speaking of adventures. This week Sister Strong and I cleaned a hoarders house. Boy o boy. I cannot say much more other than the fact that we got a 4x4 foot square cleared. That is improvement right?

Well, this week we had interviews with the mission president. It was weird thinking that was the last one before my exit interview in about a week or so. The interview this week was all about the future. Nothing really about it had to do with missionary work. That was pretty awkward, oh well!

Well, D, The lady I met at the DMV. We called her this week and she wanted to come to church. Sadly, yesterday she was a no show at church, but there is always next week. Hopefully, we can start actually teaching her this week.

We did have an awesome lesson with a part member family. The husband is a non-member. We had an awesome lesson about God's love. The spirit was so strong :) He even started to cry. I love when people feel the spirit! It is the best :)

Well, I think that is all I have for this week. I hope you are all doing well! I love you! Look for opportunities to share what you know to be true. It will 100% change your life.

Sister Morrison

Sweeping the parking lot with the zone

March 9, 2015

Hello hello!

Pretty much the saddest thing ever happened this week. I got my trunky papers in the mail. Trunky papers are a letter from the mission president thanking you for your service in the mission and inviting you to have a departing missionary interview with him. It also includes your flight itinerary and luggage rules. Oh man. It was just so sad. I cannot believe these amazing 18 months are coming to and end.

This week I attended my last transfer meeting since I am leaving half way though this transfer. Man that was sad too. I got to hang out with Sister Dall all day, so that made me super happy. Normally departing missionaries have to bear their testimonies on how their mission brought them closer to the Savior. Thankfully, I dodged the bullet and didn't have to. Not that my mission hasn't brought me closer to the Savior, but I would have been a blubbering mess up there guaranteed. I just saved the mission a few dollars on the tissues that I would have used up at the stand. I have always known that I mission would help me progress spiritually, but I had no idea it would impact me this much. I would not change it for the world. I have come to truly love this gospel, my Savior and my Father in Heaven! It's the best. Okay, sorry for going sappy. All of these crazy emotions are going through me right now. I feel like it happens to most missionaries.

Okay, for the bad news first.. our only investigator A dropped us this week. I seriously wanted to cry. I felt like she was so prepared, but sadly Satan got to her and told her that she didn't need it in her life right now. Oh so sad. Hopefully, we can maintain friendship with her and she will become interested down the road.

Okay, now for the good news. Sister Strong had to go and get her license this week. While she was taking her test I was sitting surrounded by tons of people. I looked at all of them and with a super strong act of faith I decided that I was going to make one of them my investigators. Boy oh boy did that happen. I started talking to everyone and finally this lady D started talking back. Turns out she has read the Book of Mormon and went to church last Sunday down in Soldotna. We started talking about family history. I invited her to come with us to the family history center with us. She happily agreed. This week we will set something up. At the end of our conversation she said, "I know God brought us together today." I was grateful for the courage that I had to talk with everyone. When you show the Lord and act of faith he will shower blessings upon you :) I love miracles!

This week I have felt very strongly to boldly invite people to repent and come back to church. It has been incredible. I have really come to realize the power that we have missionaries. When you boldly invite with love and by the spirit amazing things start to take change in people's lives. I had an impression one night at dinner that someone was being prepared to accept the gospel and that if this family would pray about who they should invite to attend church they would find that person. I told them the prompting that I had and invited them to act upon it. The room went silent and they all started to cry. They accepted the invitation. I am excited to see who the Lord has prepared. Oh how I love feeling the spirit.

This week we challenged three different less actives to read the Book of Mormon. They all accepted the invitation. I love seeing people's lives change as they read the Book of Mormon. I am excited to see the progression that they make over the next few weeks.

Well! This week has been good! Hope you all had a great week :) Look for opportunities to share the gospel :) If you find them, they will help your testimony grow stronger than you ever thought it could!

Love you all!

Sister Morrison

Sister Strong, Morrison and Dall

All the the Elders that Sister Morrison came to Alaska with

Sister Dall and Morrison

Sister Morrison got her trunky letter

March 2, 2015

Hello family and friends!

This week started out great. There is a little girl in ward that is about to be baptized. Her family asked us to come over and share with her what is means to be baptized. Oh man do I love teaching 7 year olds. It is so much fun! They just light up about the gospel as you teach them.

Sadly, we have not been able to meet with our investigators the P's. They have just been super busy. Hopefully, we can meet with them sometime this week :)

This week our ward asked us to help with Mutual night. At mutual they all came up with questions that people ask them at school about the church. We then taught them different ways to find the answers. They then all presented their answers. Okay, I know this probably sounds super boring, but it was awesome. The girls totally got into it and loved it. There were even two non-members there! They were able to get lots of questions answered. We even were able to give them our phone number and told them how we teach people about the church. They happily took it and were excited to come to mutual next week.

This week I felt super inspired to go to a less actives home. The lesson was pretty normal and at the end of the lesson the husband looked at us and said.. what brought you here tonight? We said the spirit. He then went on to explain that the week had been one of the worst he had ever had and how he just needed some spiritual uplifting help. Man! Isn't it the best to be in the right place at the right time! I love being able to follow the spirit.

We were able to help paint an old man house this week. While we were there we talked a lot about the Book of Mormon. He got fired up about reading it again and has made it a goal to finish it by the end of the year. The Book of Mormon will seriously change your life as you set time aside each day to read it.

Our stake had a youth talent show this week to kick of Stake Conference. It was awesome. There were tons of non-members there! We got to introduce ourselves to a lot of them. Nothing better than sharing the gospel.

Okay, so during adult stake conference the topic was ward council. In front of everyone the Stake President called Sister Strong and I up to talk about how members and missionaries should communicate with each in ward council. It was quite frightening to say something on the spot. In fact, I think I started quoting Preach My Gospel. At least I didn't pass out!

Okay, last night we had the biggest miracle ever! A member family invited some friends over for dinner and we were able to teach them the Plan of Salvation. It went great. We have a return appointment with them in 2 weeks!

Well, I think that is it. I cannot believe I have been out for 17 months. Time is flying on by. See you all in less than a month...ahhhhhhhhhhh

Sister Morrison

February 23, 2015

Hello friends.

Well, here is some cool news. We had dinner with a family in our ward named the H's. Turns out they lived in the Long Beach 10th ward back in the day and they know Clark and Genie Poston. Apparently, the Poston's gave them a Coleman water jug for a Wedding gift. Whoever talks to the Poston's next tell them the H's said hello. Also, their nephew is serving in Abundancia in Paraguay. The gospel sure is a small small world.

Okay, our investigator A is not really progressing. Sadly, she is not keeping any commitments and wasn't at church yesterday. Tomorrow at our lesson with them we have a sister coming with us who her and her husband just got called to be mission presidents in Mexico. This is one of their assignments to come out with the missionaries. Hopefully, we can a really great lesson teaching the second half of the Plan of Salvation.

Okay, Elder Ballard and Elder Rasband were just awesome! They were only with us for about 1.5 hours, but it was just what I needed. They taught us how to ask for more referrals from people and how to talk to more people about the gospel. Elder Ballard promised us that if we talked to 10 people a day outside of teaching appointments and tracting that our baptisms will double. I have been working extra hard and hopefully we can see some positive results from it soon. He also taught us that whenever he is having a hard moment in life he just pulls out a picture of Christ and looks at it. After looking at it he knows that everything will be okay. I decided to put up a picture of Christ in our car and try to look at it more often. Every time there is a hard moment I look at it. It seriously bring immediate peace. It is incredible. You all should try it. One of my favorite scriptures is 2 Timothy 1:7. "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love and of a sound mind." I feel like it applies perfectly!

This week we volunteered at a Senior Center. Most everyone their has dementia. It is so sad, but can be pretty fun sometimes. Sister Strong painted everyone's fingernails and I painted with the old ladies. While painting an old lady rolled up to me and said with what she thought was a whisper voice, but in all reality was a shouting voice... at least you don't have a butt the size of that lady over there. So awkward. The director of place, who the lady was talking about is about 300 pounds. She heard the whole thing. So awkward. Hopefully, you are laughing and feel really bad for me.

We had dinner with a part member family this week. It was great. They invited some non-members. We were able to talk to them all about missionary life and the gospel. It was the best. The part member family invited them to come to the next dinner we have with them. They happily agreed.

The weather here has been so weird. It is actually pouring rain right now. I am all about warmer weather, except for the face that it makes the roads insanely icy. Yesterday, we got a text saying that we could stay inside all day because of road conditions. No way jose were we staying inside on a Sunday. We had way too much to do. I drove with much caution. No need to fear!!!!

Well, last night a member told us a story about when he fought a bear in a cave. Talk about crazy! Remind to tell you about it when I get home.

I love you all! I hope all is well!!!

Love,

Sister Morrison

Exchanges with Sister Ogden

February 17, 2015

Hello Hello.

Big news. M. Russell Ballard, Elder Rasband and Bishop Stevensen are coming to Alaska tomorrow. They are on their way to Asia for some conference and have  a lay over in Anchorage. So.. instead of exploring Alaska for a few hours they want to meet with the missionaries. I am so excited. Hopefully, I can be really edified and really learn a lot from these great men, the lords chosen disciples.

This past week we had dinner with the B's. It was great. It is fun to have some what of a connection with home. We talked all about God's love that he has for each one of his children. There is so much power that comes from teaching that lesson! It was the best.

We were able to teach our investigator A and her husband. We taught them the Restoration. It was great. They both agreed to pray to know Joseph Smith is a prophet of God. That is a big step! They also  both committed to come to church on Sunday, but sadly they went snowmobiling in Valdez instead.

We have continued meeting with the active members in our ward. We have met with just about all of them. They are so nice letting us into their homes to share a message. So, where ever you are, call up the missionaries and invite them to come share a gospel message with you. Trust me... it will be an answer to a lot of missionaries prayers.

We met with Sister D this week. She has gone through a lot in her life, but she strengthened my testimony as she bore testimony of the love that she has for her Savior. The Lord is really there waiting for us to turn to him. He loves us and wants to help us. All we have to do is ask for his help and he will guide us through our lives. Meeting with her reminded me of the poem, "Footprints in the sand". You should all read that when you have a chance.

Valentine's Day is a pretty dumb day as a missionary. Literally no one wants you over which is completely understandable. Sister Strong and I decided to make the best of it. We had a ward potluck after church on Sunday so we decided to make invitations and deliver them to everyone on Saturday. We reminded them and invited them to bring a friend. We also visited all of the old single ladies in the ward. Thankfully, we were able to fill up our day with only one awkward situation. There is a girl in our ward that just got back from her mission. We were dropping off the reminder flyer. She answered the door and she looked a little surprised. She started talking really fast, basically trying to rush us out of her house when all of the sudden there was a knock at the door. It was her date. I feel so bad. We totally crashed the date. Oh well. Something awkward has to happen or it just isn't Valentine's Day.

The ward "Linger Longer" (potluck) was a success. Everyone was able to talk to each other and really get to know each other. That was great since the ward was just created a few weeks ago. No one brought their friends, but a less active came so that was happy!

Yesterday we climbed Mount Baldy. Don't worry. I still have all of my hair. It was a tough hike, but so fun. It was really snowy so going down was quite the adventure. We had to slide down on our behinds and then drag an ice ax behind us to slow us down so that we wouldn't fly off the mountain. It was a crazy awesome adventure. Pictures to come...

Well, I hope all is well. I love you! Remember to share the gospel and use the missionaries in your wards. They.need.your.help. Pray for inspiration to know who is in your path that you could help bring closer to the Savior.

Sister Morrison

On top of Mt. Baldy

Sliding down!

January 9, 2015

Hello friends and family.

Can you believe it is Valentine's Day coming up this weekend? Man time has flown by.

So this week has been super cold. One of the down sides of having a truck is that it has no thermometer so we never know how cold it is, but a member has taught me a really helpful trick. You ready for it? It will probably cause you to laugh pretty hard. Depending how cold it is outside the snow as a certain squeaky pitch when you walk on it. So... in other words. The colder the snow the squeakier it is. Sister Strong had fun this week trying to decipher how cold it was based on the squeakiness of the snow. I think the weather resided at about -5 this whole week with lots of wind. I think the wind chill probably made it feel about -20.

We did some fun service this week. We were able to help out at a Nature Center in Eagle River. There was going to be a big bike race this week, and part of the trails snow needed to be packed down that the snow machines could not get to. So... they asked us missionaries to go and snow shoe the trail to pack down the snow. How could we say no? We got to go snow shoe for about three miles for free and not even on a P-day. Could service get any better? It was pretty cold, but being out in the mountains made it all worth it.

This week we had a the opportunity to go out to lunch with President and Sister Robinson right before our Zone Meeting. That was a treat. They took Sister Strong and I out to Subway. I just love them so much. They are amazing. We were able to talk to them a lot about our ward and the unique challenges that it presents. By the end of the lunch President told Sister Strong that we could also help worth with the Arctic Valley Ward. Right now there are senior missionaries in that ward. They are getting ready to go home and are trying to wrap things up. They need some help working with people that they don't have time for. We happily accepted. Looks like when you pray really hard for more work the Lord really does provide.

This week we were able to meet with our investigator A and her husband J. It was a great lesson. We talked about the love that our Heavenly Father has for us. The spirit was very strong and the room was filled with tears. Their is a great power that comes from the Holy Ghost as we teach about each persons divine nature. We invited them to come church, but sadly they couldn't because J is getting out the military today and had to do a whole bunch of stuff yesterday for that. They said they would come this week though :)

We had an awesome FHE with a family that has all non-member children. We decided to keep it real basic. So I had this idea.... we popped a bag of popcorn and gave each kid like 30 popped pieces of popcorn. We then asked them to find two that were identical. They couldn't find two of the same. We then talked about how we are all different. Each person has different talents and abilities. but we emphasized the importance of being God's children. The lesson went pretty good. Hopefully the kids will start investigating the church soon.

We were also able to have a lesson with a lady that was previously a do not contact, but let us in because apparently we have a nice ora about us. Pretty funny right?

So something very interesting happened at church on Sunday. We only had one hour of church.  Can anyone guess why? The pipes leading up to the church froze up. Therefore nothing could move through the sewer or water lines. Only in Alaska would this happen. As we were sitting in ward council the Stake President called our Bishop and said to only have one hour of church and to call everyone on the ward list to use the bathroom before they came. At the beginning of Sacrament meeting they made the same announcement but added that if you had to leave sacrament early to use the facilities that would be okay. It was kind of weird only having one hour.

Well, I hope all is well. Things are going good here. I have recently been studying what it means to have a mighty change of heart. I have learned more about the Atonement than I ever thought I could. God answers prayers and has provided a Savior that is right there for us when we need him most. Remember that he waiting there to lift and carry you through some of your most difficult and trying times in your life.

Keep the faith, serve others and look for daily miracles.

I love you!!!

Sister Morrison

Snow shoeing!

Snow shoeing with the zone

Snow shoeing with the zone

January 2, 2015

Hello Hello!

Happy February. Oh and happy "click day" to me. I have been out for 16 months. Man time flies when you are having fun. In the mission we call it our sweet 16. You are supposed to do something fun. There are two other elders that I came out with in my district, so for P-day we are having a huge nerf gun war at the church. It should be fun.

So this week has been full of meeting people and trying to get to know everyone we possibly can on the ward roster. I think we have made some sort of contact with about 90% of them. We have been in several active members homes sharing messages and helping them get fired up about missionary work. We got one referral that we will be contacting today. Apparently, she was given the Book of Mormon a little while back. We are excited to contact her! Hopefully, the ward will get more excited about sharing the gospel here pretty quickly. Everyone is still pretty pumped about having sister missionaries.

We have an investigator named A. She is Cherokee Indian. I totally love her already. Her husband, J, is less active. They just had a baby and named him little J. K, big J's mom lives in the house with them. K is sadly less active too. For heavens sake she even served a mission. We are going to get her back to church again. A has investigating the church for about a year now. They just moved into our ward boundaries, so we get to teach them now. It's happy. They are very outgoing people so we have just about invited everyone in the ward to be their friends. The ward is doing a great job welcoming them in. They now have home teachers, visiting teachers, play dates and the whole nine yards. And to make matters better... They came to church yesterday. On Super Bowl Sunday! They have only been to church once in the last year. We were just thrilled.

Everyone in the ward has a cat. Honestly, it is pretty scary. I guess a mission is one way to get over the cat fear.... maybe? Thankfully, Sister Strong likes cats and pets them all so I don't have to. It is has been really cold here lately. We sure have had to really bundle up. We went caroling on Saturday night and met one of our investigators P. They might start going to the Spanish Branch, but we will still stop by.

Things are going good. Keep trying to help the missionaries out in your wards. They need your support. Pray for them and give them people to go and see. As your friends come closer to the Savior your testimony will be strengthened immensely. I promise.

Hope all is well "down south" :) If you don't know what that means....well look it up :)

Love you all!

Sister Morrison

Sister Strong and Morrison 

New view from Mt. Baldy

January 26, 2015

What a week it has been. I think I start all of my emails like this, but that statement totally fits the week.

Well, this week consisted of moving into the dungeon. We had to start fresh because nothing was set up for us. We had to spend a good five hours assembling things and getting our apartment livable. We then had lots of correlation meetings with the Elders that previously served in the area. The Mount Baldy ward is a combination of three wards combined. We met with the Elders just so we could figure out if we were teaching anyone and who we should look out for. Turns out we have a few investigators so that is happy. We then spent a few hours organizing, make charts, and planning on how we would best meet the ward. You know me. I loved this part :) The more organization the better :) It has been fun because we are setting up this ward. I get to start a new area book and run things how I want (well...really how the spirit wants). After a day of organization and stuff the next day was Zone Conference.

At Zone Conference we learned a lot about courage. It really helped me want to develop as much courage as I can for the rest of my mission. I was feeling pretty inadequate with my responsibilities, but this zone conference really helped. We are the only sisters in the zone. That was a change for me. It is kind of weird not having any others. It was also pretty weird not being a part of planning for it. It was kinda sad, but I got over it real fast. Well, after Zone Conference we had to run home really fast to grab something and noticed that the key to our apartment had fallen off the key ring. We hunted high and low for about an hour in the snow looking for our key (yes... it started snowing in Eagle River). Turns out we  could not find the key. Super embarrassing. One of the Senior couples in Anchorage had to come and bring us a new one. Fun fact of the day.... we are the only sisters in the mission with a truck. We drive a gray Nissan Frontier. As the trainer I am the only one that is allowed to drive. I am getting real good a learning about four wheel drive and driving on the snow.

The bishop gave us a list of people to see. So, of course we contacted them before ward council on Sunday. We really wanted to show the ward that we are here to work hard. We actually had a super huge miracle. We got in with a less active family that no one has been able to get into for a really long time. We came to ward council with the update that the family might be coming to church. Everyone was shocked. Clearly Sister Strong and I are here for a reason. Church on Sunday was great! The ward is awesome. Everyone is so excited to for sister missionaries. Our dinner calendar filled right on up. That is usually a good sign. Sister B is in my ward who apparently has a sister in our ward at home. Sister B's husband is a non-member. I am really hoping this connection will help Sister Strong and I get in and really start teaching the husband :) I am excited to see the miracles that this ward has in store. We have really just been trying to meet everyone and get referrals. So far the ward has been really good at it.

Well, I think that is all I have to report on this week. Things are good! Things are getting really cold. We are in the negative weather now. Work hard to share the gospel with your friends. It will seriously change your life if you do!

Love you all!!

Sister Morrison

January 21, 2015

Okay. I know you all have been dying to know with what is happening with transfers. Well, this has been the craziest transfer call I have gotten my whole mission. Like seriously. So.. The whole week before I got my call I was not nervous one bit which is totally not like me. In fact, I felt the most amount of peace that I have felt so far on the mission. I started to get kinda concerned as to why I was not stressing out. Well, then the call came. I was a shocker. So here are the details of the call.

1. I'm training for my last two transfers. Her name is Sister Strong!

2. I am opening up a new ward that just got created like a week ago.

3. It's called the Mount Baldy ward (enter all the jokes you can about going bald)

4. I now live in Eagle River in a basement with one window

5. I am in the Chugach stake, that hasn't had sisters in a really long time. I don't think parts of the ward have seen sisters in years.

6. Out of 280 members, 230 are active.  It's going to be tough, but happy!

Well, for the rest of the week. I hate to say it but not a lot has happened due to transfers. We were not really able to teach many people, because of logistics and picking up the new missionaries.

We did get to go on one last exchange. I went with Sister Moore. The sadest thing ever happened. It has been super icy in Anchorage and we were trying to walk up this driveway that was as slippery as an ice skating  when all of the sudden I look down and Sister Moore had seriously face planted on the ice. Her chin was rubbed raw, she hurt her knee really bad and her hand was all torn up from the ice. Maybe it was a sign that we should start wearing ice cleats out? Besides that, it was a great day serving in Anchorage.

Last night Sister Strong and I moved into our basement apartment :) It's pretty funny. The elders that helped set up the furniture call in the dungeon. That name is pretty fitting. For heavens sake we don't even have a door for our bathroom. In fact when I am sitting on the toilet I have to yell to Sister Strong not to walk around the corner, or else she would see everything. So funny!

So, because we are starting this new ward, we have no record of anything or anyone. Tonight we have a correlation meeting with some of the elders that have served in parts of the area before. I am pretty excited to set up the ward and get things up and running. I get to fill out tons of new forms, so that is great. I am really excited to meet everyone. It should be great. I hear we have one investigator family and a single adult to teach. I am pretty pumped about that!

I know this is where the Lord wants me. I am excited to see what the Lord has in store for Sister Strong and me. We will start meeting everyone tomorrow :) Whooo hoooo!

Love you all!

Sister Morrison

Sister Morrison is training Sister Strong in Mt. Baldy

All the trainers and trainees

Sister Morrison and Strong at the Anchorage Temple

January 12, 2015

Well hello.

What a week it has been. Thankfully I am alive and back in Anchorage.  Get ready for story time! So Wednesday morning Sister Ogden and I were dropped off at the airport to do exchanges with the sisters in Juneau and Sitka. At 2:32 we boarded the plane. Right before we were supposed to fly out they made an announcement that due to weather we may not be able to land in Juneau. They said that anyone that didn't want to go could get off the plane. Nobody even flinched, so we totally thought we would be fine. They went on to tell us that all the other flights that day had landed. So.. our first layover was in Cordova. That was happy! It was beautiful. Our next layover was in Yakutat where they proceeded to tell us that they were not going to even try to land in Juneau due to freezing rain on the runway. They told us that we were flying straight to Seattle, Washington. We started freaking out because we are not aloud to leave the mission. We called our mission president and he told us to fly to Seattle. We got there at about 9:30 and were able to re-book a flight back into Juneau the next morning at about 7:00. We figured that we would sleep in a hotel for the night, but nope. Our mission president told us to stay in the airport. We bought a Seattle t-shirt to prove we were there. The airport started dying down until there were only about 10 of us there. We decided to find a bench to sleep on. Sadly, all of the benches were a nightmare! We could not sleep at all and to make matters worse...at about 1 am they decided to do airport construction. That basically said goodbye to sleeping. Sister Ogden and I pulled an all nighter and boarded the plane back to Juneau that morning.  By that time our hair was insanely greasy, we smelt bad, and we were exhausted! We then landed in Juneau at 9:45 and had to be to a meeting at 10:30. We were waiting for our bags to come off the plane and out came Sister Ogden's, but mine was not there. I had to report a missing bag and they told me that it would probably come in on the next flight. So.... we quickly ran to the sisters apartment and showered. I had to borrow everything of Sister Ogdens. We then went to the meeting with soaking wet hair. We went throughout our day... I'll talk about the day later. It was 8:30 pm and my bags still hadn't shown up. I had to board my plane to Sitka in 20 minutes. The last flight came in and my bags still were not there. The airline told me it wasn't their fault for losing them because it was due to weather and that they would not reimburse me. I was so tired and I started to cry saying "I don't even have a toothbrush!" They then told me that I could buy the bear necessities. We then boarded the plane to Sitka. We landed at about 11:30 pm. The next day was great. I'll talk about that later also. We stayed for the day and I finally got my luggage at about 12:30 pm. The next morning we flew back to Anchorage, but not without its struggles. We had to be at the airport at 3:45 am. We were standing in line at the airport about to go through security when all of the sudden my blood sugar dropped. I went pale white and immediately had to lay on the benches. The Sitka airport is super small so of course everyone is watching Sister Ogden try and shove sugar down my throat. The attack lasted for about 45 minutes. I almost missed the flight because I literally could not even stand up to walk through the x-ray thing. Oh well... at least I made it. Well, we then landed in Juneau and told us all to get off the plane. We were like what? They then told us we had a 2.5 hour layover because of the lack of flight attendants. So lame. We finally made it back to Anchorage at about 11:30. It was a crazy adventure.

Well... back to the beginning of the week. For P-day we walked out on the frozen ocean. It was super cool and fun! Wait until you see some awesome pictures.

We were able to teach K and her less active boyfriend the Restoration. The last time they were taught it was about a year ago. It was a great refresher. We challenged them to read the Book of Mormon everyday. They agreed! That was happy!

Juneau was just fantastic! I got to see several of the people I love so much. One of my favorite things was seeing R. Since I had left she had gotten baptized. I am not kidding when I say that she is completely different. The spirit just radiates from her. She is kind and so happy! It was the best thing ever to see. The day with Sister Lind was awesome. I got to see J, the one that told me that I looked like I was from under a rock.. she is dying. It was super sad to see, but I was happy to say goodbye. I got see and recommit S, an old investigator to start coming to church. That was awesome. I got to have dinner with the L's and lunch with the S's. That was great to see them! There was also a Relief Society activity I got to go to. Seeing everyone was just what I needed. I love the people of Juneau so much.

I was with Sister Guerra in Sitka. Sitka is beautiful. We got to do service at a bear habitat. Folks. I fed bears! It was the best. We were not able to see a lot people...oh... I did play the piano for old people at a retirement home. Mom... you should be proud. All of that piano practice has paid off. It was a fun day in Sitka.

Sadly, two of our investigators said they were coming to church, but decided not to come at the last second. Hopefully, they will come this next Sunday. We get transfer calls on Thursday. It should be interesting to see what happens. I only have 2 transfers left. Oh speaking of that ... I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU GOT MY FLIGHT INFO. HOW SCARY. I don't want it to end...

Love you all!

Sister Morrison

Standing on the frozen ocean

Frozen Ocean

Eating moose pasta

Time to feed the bears!

Zone standing on the flats

Trying to get some shut eye at the airport