"Every time you take someone figuratively by the hand and introduce him or her to Jesus Christ, you will feel how deeply our Savior loves you and loves the person whose hand is in yours." Clayton Christensen

This week has been crazy but lots of fun!   On Monday we stopped to get gas and as we were pulling in, I smiled at a man getting gas.  Then when I got out, he struck up a conversation with me about how my smile let him know I was a believer of Jesus Christ.  Though he didn't end up agreeing to a return appointment, it reminded me how simple things can really make someone's day!

During our lunch this week, we also went to visit a shop in downtown Concord and ended up striking up a conversation with the owner.  It was neat to see how God had put us in the right place at the right time and she was willing to learn more! We also had a RS activity we went to where we were teaching the women how to do a Mormon.org profile and I was shocked at how many didn't even know what they were!  It is such an easy, simple way to share your testimony!  We also had a bunch of other stations where they were able to make conversation starters for their desks at work or in their homes somewhere :)

We got to have dinner with a cute family this week and their son

Aidan was going on and on about minecraft and was showing us his Lego minecraft set and shirt he'd gotten for his birthday.  It was hilarious how serious he was telling us all about mine craft and how you play it!  Little kids are really so impressionable!  I always love singing primary songs with them as well because they are so enthusiastic!   

We went on exchanges with the Matthews sisters this week and I went to their area with Sister Rasmussen!  It was a fun exchange and I really love a lot of the people I have met there!  I have met and taught some of them three or four times now! After exchanges, we were able to stop by Dekoyas in concord, and talk with her.  She asked us about the temple and she ended up getting really excited!  She wants to make some big changes in her life and get her boyfriend involved as well.  She actually got really excited about the idea of not feeling guilty over her sins anymore and I remembered that repentance really is a great thing!  Something to be excited over not dreaded!

We were driving through an apartment complex and saw a women who looked pretty down.  When I smiled at her, she just gave a really sad half smile.  So we drove around and sister Steimle saw what apartment she went in.  We went and knocked on her door to see if she was okay and she was super touched we'd come to see if she was okay and shared she had met with the elders once and would be open to meeting with us! we are really excited to see her again!  I love the power of a smile!!

We went on a hike today so I'm out of time but I love y'all!

Sister Morris

"Great purpose comes into your life when you make it your quest to follow the will of the Lord" Randall L. Ridd

Last Monday, we went as a zone to Defy gravity, the trampoline park.  It is actually pretty crazy how much of our zone stayed the same since last time!  There were a few missionaries who went home and a few missionaries who are being trained in our zone, but pretty much everyone else stayed the same!  On the way home, however, we got stuck in some crazy traffic from a detour!  And ended up having to detour halfway around our area!  Talk about a waste of time and miles!  And then we ended up getting to the store late and having to run around like crazy!  Yep, lots of fun!  I was kind of nervous though because there were three cars that got in an accident and the man behind us was having road rage issues—was yelling at whoever he was on the phone with and just kept gesturing around!  He finally ended up u-turning and going a different way.  I am really thankful God protects us and keeps us safe even with crazy drivers around!

On Tuesday, we went to the Esklesons to dust.  Only it ended up being a lot harder than that because no one had dusted in a long time and we were cleaning the kitchen so it was greasy dust caked to things...we were scrubbing at that for forever!  But we were determined to get the job done!  She ended up being able to tell us quite a lot about a less active family we have been wondering about so that was helpful!  Less helpful was the way we smelled after we walked away...

We also had the opportunity to go to dinner at the Ernst's with Carla this week!  We were a little nervous because Sister Ernst texted us and said that her family was unexpectedly coming into town and since we know she is the only member in her family, we were a little apprehensive!  But it turned out to be a really amazing experience!  Carla felt really comfortable because there were others who were not members of the church and we had a great lesson!  As we were teaching about the doctrine of Christ, Sister Ernst's sister Deanne asked some great questions about what we believe in the Book of Mormon.  Instead of us or Sister Ernst answering the questions, Carla answered!  She ended up bearing her testimony about the Book of Mormon and about how it has been changing her life!  :)  Deanne actually ended up asking for a Book of Mormon by the end of the night!  Now if only we could get Carla past the wine thing!  She still hasn't had any wine though and she shared that she had poured herself a glass of wine and then had to pour it out! :)

This week, we had an impression that we needed to call some of the sisters in our zone and found out that one of them was going in for a minor surgery the next day in Concord!  So we made plans to meet them there the next day, we got there and we were waiting and waiting!  We weren't sure if they had already gone back and we couldn't get a hold of them!  We waited for about an hour and they finally texted us back to say they were still on their way!  Turns out, they went the wrong way and ended up in Albemarle!!  And got to the doctors office super late!  They told them that it was too late to do the surgery and they were going to have to reschedule.  The poor member that drove them felt super bad and the sisters were crying when i remembered Dr. Aldous (the doctor who was supposed to do the surgery), who also happens to be a member of the Kannapolis ward was in our phone!  So i gave him a call and told him the situation.  He wasn’t sure what he could do because the room might have already been cleaned up, but he said he would do what he could.  Mean while, the five of us stood around in a circle and prayed that everything would work out.  Shortly after we finished the prayer, they told us that Dr. Aldous had come back to the office and they would be able to do the surgery!  It is amazing how the Lord works to get everything in the right place at the right time!  He truly looks after us!  

So we have been having the most impossible time getting a hold of one of our investigators!  first we went over and found out her phone had been disconnected and she had a new number.  So Sister Steimle put that in our phone but when we texted it, we got back a message that we had the wrong number.  So we finally caught up with her again and tried to figure out what was wrong.  Turns out the number was supposed to be 980 not 908!  Then on Saturday, we were texting her to make sure she was coming to church and got back "will you stop texting me??  You have the wrong number!"  yep… Totally didn't change the number in our phone.  Moral of the story, make sure you have the right phone number!!

A couple of weeks back, i shared a story about how Sister Steimle couldn't cut her pork chops when we were over at the Esklesons for dinner...So this Sunday, Sister Eskleson was teaching RS and the lesson was about the duties of mothers and fathers.  As she was talking, she mentioned how important it is for mothers to make sure their kids know how to do basic things like setting a table…and then she says "and make sure your kids know how to cut meat!"  She vigorously showed us how to cut meat, and i thought I was going to die laughing!!  Sister Steimle thought it was less funny...But even Sister Watson caught on since we had told her the story and she texted us "pork chops?!"

But church was overall wonderful :)  The level of reverence has improved drastically since the push from the 1st Presidency and the Stake and the talks about the restoration were wonderful! :)  Sister Jackson, a recent convert of a few years, spoke and at the end, she shared her testimony through song.  I love black people and their willingness to just start singing at the pulpit!  :)  I know that the restoration of the gospel truly did happen, that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God and that Thomas S. Monson is the prophet called for us today! :)  I love the gospel!

  I hope y’all have a wonderful week!

 Sure love ya!

Sister Morris

umm, let's not go there!
 

isn't this little girl so cute? 

She kept giving sister Steimle hugs

“Live every day as if it were going to be your last; for one day you’re sure to be right.” – Harry Morant

This week we have had all kinds of adventures!  We went over to Carla's and she had made a guacamole chip dip, which I refused to try.  I mean green and chunky and slimy?  So not my thing!  Anyway, as we were going forward with the lesson, she turned the lesson to the word of wisdom and told us she had gotten rid of seven bottles of wine and only had about half a bottle left!  Then she said if I tried her guacamole chip dip, then she would pour out the rest of her wine! So I had to try it!  And she poured out her wine!  As I was pondering the experience, I couldn't help but laugh-God really does use our weaknesses and strengths to His advantage!  He can use everything we have!

This week, we also met with Dekoya, a less active in our ward.  As were read the Book of Mormon, we talked about how important following the commandments are and mentioned a few specifics.  When the spirit pricked her heart, she immediately jumped up and grabbed the alcohol from beside her bed and went and poured it down the sink!  Haha, twice in one week!  As we were getting ready to close, gabby (her 2 year old daughter) was running around the room chasing the kitten Jackson. Once she had caught him, she went to sit in her moms lap for the prayer.  As Dekoya prayed, she all of the sudden stopped.  As we opened our eyes to see what was wrong, she was wiping something off her face and smelling her fingers with the most disgusted look on her face ever!  She ran to the bathroom to wash her face off and then came back and was shaking gabby, "this is all your fault!!"  Turns out the cat had sprayed her.  Haha, Sister Steimle and I just could not stop laughing!  She did eventually finish the prayer though.... and she came to church on Sunday!   She did great with participating and is planning on coming back next Sunday!! :)

Also this week, we were sitting outside to teach Sister Drye and I noticed a mosquito had landed on my companion so I smashed it!  Only it had already been drinking her blood so it made a bit of a mess. Kind of gross but Sister Steimle totally freaked out!  She just started going gross gross gross!!!  I even put some hand sanitizer on it and she was still freaking out!  She ended up having to go to the car to clean it up... This week, we had a couple of times where we would knock on a door and then go in to knock again and they would open the door right then! The surprised looks on our faces are probably hilarious!  But hey, people were really nice about it and were all helpful and apologetic.

Sister Steimle spoke in sacrament meeting this week about the sacrament and was kind of stressing out about it all week.  I was just glad I wasn't doing it!  Then at ward council right before church, one of the bishopric went, "oh, about that youth speaker, he's not coming today.... so Sister Morris is speaking!"  Huh???  Yep.  I had to speak in church!  And they wanted me to speak on ordinances!!  Seriously?? I think brother Wheatley saw the panicked look on my face and said, "you can talk about forever families or baptism or something?"  So I picked forever families and then went into sacrament meeting and started playing prelude.  I am sure I looked funny up there playing and trying to find things on my i-Pad at the same time!  I ended up talking about forever families and was doing well until I started coughing and there was something in my throat.  So then my dilemma...keep going?  Or end?  I picked to end with my testimony...haha, I have no idea how long it was!  Probably like four minutes?  Not very long but oh well!  It was also pretty funny because brother Wheatley announced the sister missionaries were speaking and that one had had a month to prepare and one about 30 minutes.  Haha, so then everyone was asking us which had had more preparation than the other.  Quite a few members thanked us both and individually for our talks so I guess it wasn’t too bad!

This week, we went into a cute little chocolate shop on union street and we're talking about all of the chocolates.  Then they started telling us how good their coffee is!  We said we don't drink coffee. So they said they have really great tea.  When we turned that down, they said, we have great wine!  Are y’all both over 21?  At that point we told them we don't drink that either because we are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Then it turns out one of the girls working there has a less active boyfriend who lives in Utah and she is moving there in two months!  She agreed to meet with us!  It is amazing how God leads us to the right places!

Being a missionary is amazing and I love talking with people about the gospel! I hope y’all have a great week and an opportunity to share your love of the Savior!

Sure love y’all!

Sister Morris

companion study

study time

coordination meeting at the watsons

We found a tiny little town so we stopped to eat lunch and take some
epic pictures!  I don't know why there is a roster there...

swinging!

short lesson on southern pronunciation....this is said water
burger.   Haha I love the south!

"Life with God is not immunity from difficulties, but peace with difficulties." CS Lewis

here is our zone! 

I like that we are all laughing

Ethan and aiden built a little fort.  Don't you love their
decoration choices? 

me and Tara!  She is super sweet

yeah, how does this even happen?

 Us with Amanda at church!  I love the recent converts in this ward!!

Mt pleasant is super pretty!

the clouds almost look fake!

 this church is really neat and I love the stained glass
that is an image of Christ knocking at the door 

This week, we had the great opportunity of going to MLC with president and sister Alexander! :) They are so wonderful and I love learning from them!  Sister Alexander did a really cute training about music where she had us all sing the family is of God together :)  I found out that she used to teach piano and she is really good!

Since we had MLC on Tuesday, we had zone meeting on Friday!  It was lots of fun because we have such a great Zone!  So sad that transfers are coming up on Tuesday!  But it sounds like a lot of us are staying!  Only three of our sisters are leaving and sister Steimle and I are both staying!!  Yay!!!  I didn't see it coming because I was so afraid I would get transferred!  Actually our whole district is staying the same -which is super weird!  First time that has ever happened on my mission.

We had a super great lesson with Carla this week where we had sister Ernst come with us!  It was so amazing to watch the two of them connect over so many things!  It is rewarding when you match up the right member with investigator!  It was also funny because Carla told Sister Steimle she is like a shoulder angel that pops up every time she is bored, telling her to read the book of Mormon :)  yeah, I guess that last lesson was pretty epic!  I was away on exchanges at the time but I think the point got across because she has been reading the Book of Mormon :)

This week was testimony Sunday and Amanda bore her testimony, so did Homer!  It’s so amazing when recent converts share their testimonies and it changes the whole feeling of the meeting! We also had an opportunity to do some service this week for Tara!  The Nunn family actually went over earlier in the morning to help and I guess she was going around telling them she was Mormon :) haha I love her!  She has a mini farm though for real—two horses, piglets, a donkey, chickens, etc.  Her boys always keep us amused! Also this week, we were able to watch the Joseph smith movie and I just love his testimony of the savior!  Our Savior truly lives and loves us and is always watching over us!  Sure love ya!

Sister Morris