"We were taught in the pre mortal world that our purpose in coming here is to be tested, tried, and stretched." Elder Richard G. Scott

This week, we had the opportunity to go to Latoya's funeral and let me tell you, the opening prayer was the funniest thing!  A pastor from another church was the one saying it and he was....very enthusiastic! He was strait up yelling into the microphone at some points!  Haha, I was trying so hard not to bust up laughing!!!  That is for sure not an experience you normally have in an LDS chapel!!  Afterwards he was just telling us how it wasn't him at all but it was the Holy Spirit moving upon him.  I just remember thinking about what a difference there was between him yelling and the feeling when Amanda said the closing prayer.  Huge difference!  Both had the spirit to some degree, but during Amanda's it was so much stronger!  The bishop and Brother Windham spoke and they both did such great jobs!  They talked about the plan of salvation and the pastor was sitting right behind us going, "amen!!  Amen!  Praise the Lord!"  Haha so amusing!  Also pretty distracting though!  My favorite part was when brother Windham said, "God is good" and the entire audience said "all the time!"

 Women's conference was also amazing!  The stake got together before hand and they did a fun little activity.  They started off with one of the men in the stake singing the song about white dresses, don't know if you've heard it before, but it starts with a baby being blessed, then baptism, then wedding and with each part of the song, they had baby Annie in her blessing dress, then a girl and her dad in white, then a lady who recently got married :)  It was so cute!  Then for the activity, they had everyone put a sticky note on their back and we all walked around writing nice things about them :) it was great!

We also got to go on exchanges with Kannapolis sisters and Sister Sandy came here with Sister Blaylock and i.  I love the sisters in the zone! They are so cute :) During stake high council this week, we watched some more of the training on the Sabbath day by the first presidency and apostles.  It was neat to hear the stake leaders and the bishops talk about what can be done to help improve Sundays in the stake.

Anyway, I hope y'all are having a blessed week!

Sister Morris

Sent from my iPad

Sister Tallent helped us get everything home!

that's a lot of luggage!

so we were teaching Tara and all of the sudden this snake fell
out of the tree we were sitting under and landed in between Sister
Blaylock and I!!!  After it slithered off, we realized there was
another one in the tree....so that's what everyone it looking at!

The boys brought the puppies out again.
They love showing off their puppies!

"There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated--And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated." D&C 130: 21-22

So transfers were this week!  I got asked to play at the transfer meeting which I loved :)...Even though I messed up on our mission song! I just hope everyone was singing loud enough that they couldn't hear! We ended up having Sister Tallent go with us plus driving our own car...we did borrow a bike rack from Brother Howard in our Ward but that thing is the sketchiest bike rack ever!  He was all trying to tell us it holds two bikes but we were like, uh yeah right!  He was even telling us the strap to hold the bikes on is broken but he'd give us a bungee cord.  Haha thanks!  So we drove our car to use the bike rack on it.  But it ended up being a really good thing!  Sisters have so much stuff! Three of us plus all those bags would not have fit in one car!  Anyway, my new companions’ are Sister Blaylock from Spanish Fork and Sister Flaherty from Gilbert, AZ.  They are both really cute and we've been having fun trying to help each other!  I keep repeating stories about people a bunch since they don't remember them yet :)

Also this week, I got asked to do a musical number in sacrament meeting.  The only problem is I have no piano to practice on!  And the church is far away...haha so I messed up at the beginning but ended well!  So that's good!  And bishop gave the best talk!  He is an amazing speaker and he was talking about repentance and asking any who need to, to come talk with him.  It was super powerful! Oh and we got asked to teach gospel principles last minute haha welcome to Concord sisters! Oh and we had what we called an extended ward council meeting Saturday evening!   So all the members of the Ward council and their wives/husbands meet at the church for dinner and then to talk about the Ward afterwards.  Bishop asked us questions like what made the best ward you've ever been in the best? How can we make our Ward the best ward?  It was really neat to see everyone unite!  We all have the same vision!  Plus the free food was great! :) We've also been reminding or teaching people about general conference a lot this week!  I can't believe how fast it is coming up?!!   Wow, where has time gone?  I am so excited for it though!  I've been reading all the talks from last time and love how inspired they are!  Yay for conference!

Anyway, hope y’all are having a great week!

Sure love ya!

Sister Morris

So cute Eva got a hold of my iPad during our dinner appointment 

She started taking pictures!!!  

Haha I think they are so funny and cute!

Here's a selfie we just took with our iPads! Sister Flahery
is in the back and Sister Blaylock is next to me! :)

Me, Sister Stocker, and Yesus- biggest dog ever!
Every time we try to say a prayer, he goes for your face with his tongue!  

This is my wall!  I'm thinking i should
fill up the whole thing!  That would be fun! :)

We love biking!  Not!
This picture was at like 9 in the morning and it was soo hot!!

And this is the elders...They think they are soo funny...

Picture of us with the Dicksons! They are the best!!

I especially love how brother Dickson didn't want to tower over us all!

For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 1Cor. 15:21-23

So this week has probably been the hardest week on my mission and maybe ever.  On Saturday this week, things just really got crazy and blew up.  It all started as a beautiful day and I was feeling great because I am finally on the tail end of my cold!  I had great studies and was excited for a fantastic day!  About that time, we got a text from Carla telling us that she didn't want to meet with us any more and she'd let us know when she was ready again.  After that, we went to go get wifi and were syncing our iPads and trying to figure out what to do about Carla when we got a call from the Elders.  They said that Sister Watson had called them trying to find out what was going on because Sarah had posted on Facebook something that made it sound like Latoya was dead.  It all seemed like a big joke or something, like it couldn't be real.  We got on Facebook and started seeing that other people had posted things on Latoya's page about how much they would miss her and how she had been on this earth for too short of a time.  We started crying and the elders told us to stay where we were and they'd go over to Latoya's to see what is going on then come tell us.  Luckily we had tissues in the car from our colds because we were both crying and trying to figure out what's going on.  The elders eventually got here and told us it was true.  Latoya passed away Saturday morning at 5:30.  We honestly couldn't stop crying. Eventually the relief society president called us to see how we were doing and said they would come over to give us hugs.  I think they were inspired because they stopped by Sister Dickson's first and brought her along.  She gives really good mom hugs.  We were eventually able to stop crying and get ready to go over to Latoya's house.  I put on waterproof mascara first though.  When we got there, everything was crazy, people everywhere, piles of stuff everywhere. Latoya has always had big dreams and hopes for their little home and has been trying to remodel forever.  So Chris (that's her husband) has decided he is going to finish all of her projects and was having everyone move everything out of the house.  He's really just in shock.

It was hard to see Sarah too because she was trying so hard to hold it together.  The other kids, Sam (11), Julian (7), and Elizabeth (4) are over at their aunts house so we haven't gotten to see them yet.  And all of them have different issues like Sam has Aspergers and Sarah takes medication for depression and Julian has depression issues as well. And Sarah is only 16 but now she is going to have so many responsibilities.  Every time I think about Latoya and her family I just start crying again.  I remember my very first night here in Concord, sister Nielsen told me we were going to be going on splits and I went with Latoya and Sarah.  And we got so lost!  And in the sketchiest part of town ever!  Then we ended up getting to the right house and trying to teach this lady who was totally drunk and racist against white people.  Ha ha -Latoya loved recounting that story to anyone who would listen!  Then I remember we drove back to her house and while we were waiting, just talked and got to know each other.  Ever since that day in February I have visited Latoya and her family at least once a week and usually more like three or four times a week.  I have always imagined staying in touch with Latoya after my mission and coming back to visit them.

Sister Steimle and I really feel the weight of helping this family and helping them apply the gospel in their lives.  Then, that same Saturday in the evening, we got transfer calls.  And Sister Steimle is being transferred.  I honestly think we cried for three or four hours strait.  And apparently I am getting two new companions, neither of which has been a Sister Training Leader before.  It is so hard when things change.  Neither of us thought either of us would be transferred, but I guess we were wrong.  So anyways, pretty much the hardest day ever.  And both of us are bawling our eyes out as we write about Latoya.  Haha I am sure the office people think we are absolutely crazy!

Sunday wasn't much better because Sister Steimle had to say goodbye to everyone.  However, Amanda Johnson (recent convert) was giving a talk and it was amazing!  She talked about how much she loved Latoya and how she knew Latoya would be proud of her for giving this "speech". And she did such an amazing job!  She talked about tithing with so much passion and made eye contact the whole time!  She had just about everyone in tears by the end and the spirit was super strong.  I was also asked to lead the music that Sunday and when we sang the closing song "a poor wayfaring man of grief" I just about lost it up there. Oh and my arm almost fell off cause we did almost all the verses. I just miss Latoya so much and it is hard to not figure she's just in another room when we go over there.  We visited them again after church.  They are trying so hard!  Chris wants to keep the family together no matter what and is trying to step up.  Latoya was always the strong one in the family, the person that holds them all together. I always knew if I turned around and saw Latoya there at church, all of them were there.  We last saw Latoya on Thursday when we went over for a lesson and I just remember hugging her a couple times and telling her how amazing she is and how much I love her.  We were totally there for longer than we were supposed to be but I honestly didn't even feel guilty about it at the time.  Now we know why.  I know Latoya is in a better place and finally not in pain anymore.  She really was in pain all the time and I think she just didn't tell anyone just how bad it was.  The doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong with her either and I remember her once telling us that her organs were shutting down for no reason.  She was only 35.  I am sure she would smack me if she were here for crying so much.  We also found some pictures we had taken with her in them and it is crazy how much they mean to me now.  I just wish I'd taken more pictures!  Things can change so quickly and then it is too late.  So we have also been taking tons of pictures and videos of just about everything.  Like we went over to our ward mission leaders home and the elders ended up showing up as well since Elder Prestwich is getting transferred.  We were just laughing and talking and taking a ton of pictures. It has been so fun to all be together for three transfers!  Watching Sister Steimle saying goodbye to everyone and everything hurts.  I feel like I am saying goodbye to my best friends, Sister Steimle and Latoya.

Anyway, this is getting really long and is probably fairly depressing. Sorry about that!  I really do love being on a mission and I love my Concord family.  I know God lives and He is truly looking out for us. I have seen so many of His tender mercies in the last couple of days! He loves Latoya's family and He loves me and He loves you!  His hand is in everything and even though trusting can sometimes be hard, He sees the bigger picture!

I sure love y'all!

Sister Morris

"For behold, this is my work and my glory --to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." Moses 1:39

sorry but I have no time to email this week!  
     Since we had Labor Day on Monday, we have a Tuesday p-day which is just throwing everything off!  It has been super weird trying to figure out what day of the week it is!  We ended up doing a painting class with the Spanish sisters and Harrisburg sisters.  Unfortunately, I didn't learn any Spanish.... I did learn I am really good at spilling paint!  Haha.  But that ended up taking a lot longer than we'd thought and we are actually at our dinner appointment right now using their wifi. Good thing dinner wasn't ready yet or there wouldn't have been any email at all!
     One of these days, we are going to have a nice relaxing pday!  Though maybe I would think that was boring after so much running around! Oh also this week, we had MLC and a great training on positivity!  So we've been using that all week and just having a wonderful week!  We set baptism dates with Carla and Tara and are super excited!  Zone meeting went pretty good as well so that's a plus!  It was really spiritual and my favorite training was one on the doctrine of Christ where we started with I stand all Amazed and talked about the atonement of Jesus Christ.  At the end, the missionaries bore their
testimonies and it was super powerful!!
 I love y'all!     Have a great week!
Sister Morris

"Even those who have received and nourished the word could have the gospel choked out by the 'cares and riches and pleasures of this life'" Luke 8:14

selfie!

 time for a break!

can we stop smiling yet?

we made it!!

it is so pretty up here!

These dogs are huge!

-yeah not so sure about making fried pies!

exchanges with the Harrisburg sisters!
I went to Harrisburg with sister McCollough!

we were waiting for a train!

exchanges with the Spanish sisters!  I went to the Spanish area
with sister Javalera!  This is the cute family we ate dinner with!
(The man on the end isn't related though)

exchanges are so fun!

miss Ashley herself!

Fun fun

This week has been crazy!  Probably because we went on two exchanges and had zone conference!  But it was so amazing and fun!  I just love the missionaries in my zone and I love President Alexander!!!  So on Tuesday, I went to Harrisburg to be with Sister McCullough and had a lot of fun!  We did lots of new things that day like trying figs off a fig tree, making fried pies, and squashing pennies on a train track!  We also talked like Miss Ashley most of the day which was pretty funny!  I just love sweet old people like her!  Probably my favorite moment was when she asked us if we wanted water.  We took one look at the cups and were like, "no!  We're good!"  Haha, they had dirt or something in the bottom of them!  Then when someone called, she says, "sorry!  I can't talk right now!  I have the Mormon girls over here"  It is fun to learn so much from different people we meet though.  She has had such different life experiences than I have but has a deep love for the savior.  I also love just having fun with missionary work!

On Friday, we had zone conference and it was wonderful!  President Alexander gave a training about using the bible and how we need to use the bible to establish common ground and then tie in the Book of Mormon.  So we have started carrying around our bibles too and it has made a huge difference!  We tell people that we read from the bible too, but that doesn't seem to have actually penetrated!  There were a couple people who acted all shocked that we had bibles with us and they just hadn't quite made the connection that we read both!

Sister Alexander also did an amazing training on the power of music! It was so cute because the two of them sang a song for us at the end to show that even if you don't have a great singing voice, you can still bring the spirit!  Music is so powerful!  President Baker, our

stake president, also got to talk with us about members and I just

loved it!  He is an amazing leader in this stake and he is the reason

it sees so much success!  He shared that he had been baptized in that very building as a convert and confirmed on that very stand. It is amazing to think of the huge changes that can come about!

President Alexander is just so amazing too because he always has time for you!  No matter how many interviews he has lined up or things he needs to do, he has the time to sit and talk and see how your doing and I love that about him and Sister Alexander! We also went on exchanges with the Spanish sisters and I went to their area and I was totally nervous about it because I don't speak Spanish! But we ended up teaching about half the lessons in English!  Anyways the picture I sent is of us at dinner with the Cruz family.  Jefferson (he's the young boy in front) just got baptized and sister Cruz is a returning member.  The man on the Side is not her husband but when we got at their house to go to dinner, he was just leaving.  And when he saw the missionaries, he was so excited!  Turns out he is a member! He came here for work two months ago and hadn't been able to find the church until now!  So he came to dinner with us and told all about his story.  Funny moment though, he was super confused about me and asked sister Javalera, "why didn't they teach her Spanish?"  Haha.  She had to explain that I serve in an English Ward.  And she had to translate for me the whole time cause only the kids spoke any English.  It was a lot of fun though!

Also this week, we met with Carla and she was talking about how protective she is when it comes to those she loves and cares about and gave us some examples of beating people up.  Haha—that's when she tells us that she'll beat anyone up who is mean to us!  Watch out North Carolina!  You may just not like that!  We just need her to get baptized so she can come out with us and be a bodyguard!

Anyway, I love y'all!    Hope you have a fantastic week!

Sister Morris

--Oh PS one of the pigs totally broke out of the pen when we were teaching Tara.  Yep.  I cease to be amazed about what happens there!

Something is always unexpectedly popping out!