"Worry ends when faith in God begins!"

This week, we went on exchanges with the Kannapolis sisters!  So Sister Grace came here with Sister Flaherty and I :)  the sad thing is we found out that earlier that day, they had been at the church with the elders and one of the elders had punched a basketball into Sister Grace's face!  So she was dizzy and threw up a few times, blurred vision, huge bruise on her face, headache etc.  We did have one appointment Monday evening that we went to and then I could tell there was something wrong with her because she hardly said anything the whole time and she was pretty out of it.  So we went over to Sister Albitz who lives in our complex (and was an EMT for a few years) only she wasn't there!  Luckily, her non-member husband was and he worked in an ambulance for many years so he was able to talk to us about it.  The crazy thing is, he is super shy and never talks to us at all!  So it was kind of a miracle he was talking to us!  Anyway Sister Albitz got home and we were making calls and for a while there, we thought we were going to have to take her to the emergency room. Instead, we just had to wake her up every couple of hours during the night.   She's super nervous her face will still look super bruised and sad!  But hey, God uses even bruised faces and mild concussions to further His work!

This week, we also had a meeting with Elder Kopischke, which is always fun cause he has an accent like Elder Uchtdorf!  The next day, we had a second meeting as an MLC with Elder Kopischke so we didn't want to drive all the way back to concord.  So we went on a mini exchange with the Matthews sisters and slept on their floor!  It was a lot of fun and the member feeding us dinner was super impressive because she fed all five of us dinner!  We were joking that she didn't have to make any more food than she makes for the elders when they come over :) MLC was especially fun because Sister Shepherd and Steimle were there!  Yay!  It is always to fun to see old companions! Also this week we were invited to go to the stake choir practice to sing for stake conference!  It was lots of fun because all the sisters in our zone were there except for Kannapolis :)

This week we got to read the book of Mormon with a lot of people and it was so fun!  I love the spirit that comes when we read together the words of the prophets.  I know the book of Mormon is the word of God and that it makes me happy!

I hope y'all have a fantastic week! Sure love ya!

Sister Morris

Sarah and Kyiah

Sister Grace came here on exchanges!  She can't smile because her
face hurts so much from being slammed in the face with a basketball

we made cupcakes!

sleep over with the Matthews sisters!!

Look who I found at MLC!  Sister shepherd was there,
but she escaped before I could get a picture with her!

Kyiah is doing my hair for me... :)

we have been doing FHE with the Williford /Brinson family
lots of fun!

haha I think Jr. Is trying to eat Sarah's leg!  Yum!

 Beverly-- The one that we thought was going to kill us... :)

"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened!" Dr. Suess

This week, we met an older black lady, who would be perfect for our Ward! And she was willing to have us come back.  So the next day we pull up and Sister Blaylock goes, is that like a lamp I can see through the window?  Looks like we're going to have a séance or something.  So we headed up and saw she had set up a little table with four chairs and a lamp on the middle of the table.  So we all sat down and she asked us if it was okay if she recorded the lesson.  We told her that was okay so she turned it on and started narrating, "it is October the 7th, 2015 and I am here with the Norman girls and we're about to pray!"  I was trying so hard not to laugh at the Norman thing and then she wanted to hold hands for the prayer and I am sure it looked like we were going for a seance!  It really was a good lesson though and she had some great questions for us.  After, we helped her put the table and chairs away and we're looking at some pictures of her family.  She started telling us all about her family and then said, "you won't find any pictures of my husband here, because I killed him.  Just like I'm going to kill you!"  She was looking strait at Sister Flaherty, who backed up, and Sister Blaylock and I were just standing on either side in shock.  She had seemed so normal up to this point!  It was seriously scary to be standing there trying to figure out how to save Sister Flaherty when Beverley was staring her down! After about ten seconds or so of shocked silence she said, "haha just kidding!  I got you though!" And then she started telling us about her ex-husband, who is still alive.  Haha we are still laughing about that one!

Also this week, we went on exchanges with the Matthews sisters!  I went to Matthews and we were on bikes for the day.  Haha, such a good work out!  I loved it though!  Sister Vos and I got to eat dinner with a super cute recent convert- less active.  She fed us chicken and dumplings and let us play with her cute kitty :)  I also managed to get pretty sunburned... Oops!  Wish I'd had sunblock with me!  As we were getting back to concord, we met at a warehouse where a member of the church has a huge distribution service thing she works with.  She has hundreds of Coats, strollers and car seats that she was then distributing to those who need them in the community.  When I got there, she said she needed me to fill in for her on Sunday.  Apparently she was supposed to give a talk.  Nice.  Of course I didn't have any time to plan at all until after we'd gotten home and finished planning for our day, so I was trying to figure out what i wanted to talk about....then we had Ward council the next morning at 7:30.  Haha, so pretty much I was making it up as I went along!  Luckily the topic was the gospel of Jesus Christ and the atonement so I brought a pamphlet up with me :)  everyone said I did a really good job, but I don't really remember it!  Haha.  I just testified of Jesus Christ a lot and of our Heavenly Father and of their love for us.

I hope y'all have a great week!

Sister Morris

here is my crazy district!  Haha

My district

Didn't have time to go home for dinner so we ate at Ihop in
Charlotte!  Aka the international house of prayer :)

YUM!

My two companions

Sister Halvorsen took us out to eat in one of the cute little
restaurants on union street!

we call this the cheese grater.  No idea why it is in the
middle of a cemetery....but we always look for it!

"Don´t be too critical of the barrier, it´s the only thing that´s keeping you from being devoured by the sharks." Von G. Keetch

Wow!!! who was blown away by general conference!?! Wasn´t that incredible!? I can hardly remember a time where I felt the spirit more than in every one of those sessions!! It helped that it was in English!! yay!!! I’m so grateful for words of inspired leaders that can get and give direct thoughts from God!! How incredible!! What an opportunity we have to listen to their guidance and apply it in our lives! So the talks that I especially liked: #3 Russell M. Nelson and his talk about women!! Isn’t it amazing the influence that women have today in the world!? As we strive to be covenant keeping women, we influence generations upon generations and every single young women makes a difference!! As we keep a Christ centered home and raise our children with these standards, the impact it has on the world is amazing! We need to be better covenant keeping women, always striving to uplift and comfort others, showing the love and care for others that Jesus Christ has for each one of us! We are His daughters! We have the special opportunity to bring life into this world, and when we are faithful to our covenants we make in the temples of God, we can have these families for eternity! What a great gift!!!

 So #2 was by Von G. Keetch: "Don´t be too critical of the barrier, it´s the only thing that´s keeping you from being devoured by the sharks." wow!!! How powerful!! How many times do we look at laws and commandments of God and think that they are holding us back!? How often do we think, oh, this doesn´t apply to me, I know my bounds, and try to set off on our own course?! I testify that these barriers that the prophets and apostles set for us are for our safety!! Like the revelation that Joseph smith received about the word of wisdom, many were upset and didn’t feel like this commandment applied to them and that it had no impact, and now years later we see how devastating these things are for the body, and for our spiritual well being! How incredible is it that we can receive direct commandments of God through prophets that will keep us safe for this life and prepare us for the eternities!? We need to stop justifying reasons for leaving the boundaries, and stop complaining about them being there. They are for OUR safety from a loving Heavenly Father!!! Sure we don’t always understand the reasoning behind it, and it may seem as though you are the only one staying within these barriers, but I promise you that as you stick to these boundaries, and enjoy the safety they give you, you will be sooo blessed!!!! Because, just outside the barrier there are forces seeking to destroy you, and if you slip out for just a peek, they will grab hold of you and drag you down to destruction!! Do not allow yourself to leave these boundaries! They are put there by a loving heavenly father, who cares so deeply about you, and who is hurt every time something bad happens to us. if you find yourself in temptations, just picture the savior beside you, would you feel comfortable doing these things in his presence!! I love the song that was sung during this conference of "if the savior stood beside you", this song brings back tender memories as it was the song that me and my cousins sang at my baptism almost 12 years ago. Even though the experience at my baptism was a little crazy as we weren´t in sink and ended up messing the song up pretty bad, as we had 25 kids under the age of 14 trying to be the loudest one and thinking they were supposed to be doing a solo, and while one half of the group started early following my lead, and the other half stubbornly started when they were supposed to so the pianist (Lexie) couldn’t follow both groups—the words to this precious song still ring true and touch my heart. if the savior stood beside me, would I do the things I do?! would my words be true and kind if He were never far away!? Brothers and sisters, I testify that Christ is never far away, He is with you always as you invite him and make room for him in your busy lives, and as you are tempted to leave these barriers placed in our lives, just imagine how much the savior loves you, and how sad he feels when we purposefully leave these boundaries and venture into the treacherous waters.

The talk that I loved the most, #1 was by Elder Jeffery R. Holland. WOW!! Isn’t he a powerful speaker!? He can drive the spirit into your heart with every word he says, and he has the ability to make you hang on every word he says!!!! mothers!!! what an important part of our lives our mothers are!! They bring us into this world!! They care for us and are never far away!!! They are there as we grow up, helping us take our first steps, to teaching us how to drive, even if it’s with their eyes closed the whole time!! How often do we take these women for granted?!! I know that as a teenager, I definitely took my mother for granted, and didn’t fully comprehend how much she did for me, and still don’t!!! Although we don´t always have our mothers near our sides, they are always in our hearts!! Their teaching and counsel are always with us, and they shape us and mold us as they can see our divine potential and they know that we are made for better things!!! They offer up their whole lives in the raising and nurturing of their children and how grateful we should be!!! We can´t even comprehend how much love they have for their children, and want the best for us!! How grateful i am for my mother!! For the testimony that she helped me find, and nurture, for the sacrifices she’s made (because we all know its no easy task raising me) and for the love that she shows to me and all of my siblings the whole time!!! Wow!!! i am forever grateful for this incredible example in my life, for her devoted service, and for her love and care in having a Christ centered home, always helping us to see what really matters in life, and what is really important. In the end we can’t take any of these worldly things into the next life, but we can take our families and have them for forever!!! How grateful i am to all mothers everywhere! Thank you for what you do!!!!! With lots of love, appreciation, and adoration, 

Hermana Morris 

--

Con Amor,

Hermana Morris #3!! 

Je m'appelle soeur Morris!

here is the cute family from Guatemala! 

 I feel so tall next to them!

look at the size of this!  Bugs are big here!!

us and Sister McCulloch! :)

look!  It is a Kiwi grape!!! How crazy is that!?

This week, we got to teach a cute French family!  (Hence the title :) I wish I could speak more French but we brought along a member who speaks it.  Stany and Esther are hilarious too because they can't say Blaylock and Flaherty!  Blaylock comes out as blah blah and Flaherty is not even close!  They can get Morris though!  :)  So he was all making fun of my companions' last names and then when they asked his he said "Lukaumwena" haha yeah how are you supposed to pronounce that???

We also have a cute family from Guatemala we got to meet with so we went over there with our ward mission leader Brother Watson.  And my name was the only one they could remember!  Yuri came down the stairs with a huge smile saying, "Sister Morris!"  And gave me a big hug and then told my companions she couldn't remember their names.  At this moment, we looked around and we couldn't figure out where brother Watson had gone!  He'd just like gone into their kitchen or something!  Ha ha we found out he had actually asked to use the bathroom and hadn't just randomly taken himself on a tour of their house :)  so we finally all got sitting down and started with a prayer when we hear a knock at the door.  And guess who walked in?  Yuri's preacher!  Ha ha!  I thought I was going to bust up laughing because I have heard of that happening and always wanted that to happen to me!  And now it has! :)  preacher Juan is super nice but totally didn't speak English so brother Watson had to keep translating both ways the whole time.  At the end of the lesson, both of them agreed to read el libro de Mormon. :)  I got a picture with the family and told them my Sister is serving her mission in Guatemala right now.  They thought that was really neat :)

We went on exchanges with the Harrisburg sisters this week and had a lot of fun!  One of the funny moments was when an investigator asked Sister McCulloch where she is from and in all seriousness she said, "heaven."  I loved that answer!  Because it is so true!  That is our deepest identity, the one that really matters!  It transcends all skin colors and accents and is a simple truth!  We are all brothers and sisters!

This week, we had a mission conference specifically so they could install the black boxes into our cars.  It was an amazing meeting where we talked about family history work and how we can use it more effectively as a finding tool!  I actually got excited about family history!  They also talked about the black boxes aka tiwi.  It is a little box that gives you feedback on your driving.  If you're going too fast, it will tell you to slow down etc.  If you don't slow down in 15 seconds, then you get a mark against you on your record.  You can also get them for stopping too fast, speeding up too fast, etc.  I was pretty worried about it but it really hasn't been bad.  I usually drove the speed limit anyway (or slower if I get stuck behind a North Carolinian! Haha).  Apparently they are making missionaries way safer though.  I guess they had tested them in some missions and missionaries were going over a hundred miles per hour!  So now we are being kept accountable and there are a lot fewer accidents! :) Wasn't General conference amazing?  I love the feeling of conference! We even had a couple of investigators who watched it so that was exciting!  For one of the sessions we were at the Sistrunks with Victoria.  And does she have a ton of questions!  Victoria knows next to nothing about religion, which is so different to teach than those we normally meet!  We've really had to focus on simplifying!  I love going back to the basics though!  Like they said in conference, the gospel is simple!  :)

Anyway I hope y'all have a great week!

Sure love ya!

Sister Morris