The World Is Run By Those Who Show Up

Hey y'all!

I'm sorry I forgot to get my weekly to y'all last week! This week has been awesome, Sister McKay and I have seen so many miracles together here. I want to share my favorite with y'all though because it makes me laugh.

On Saturday Sister McKay and I went to try a woman out yonder (we drive over 50 miles every day here because this area is so huge). When we got there we realized that we were just there the day before and she wasn't home. We looked around and it appeared the exact same as it had 2 days prior. We went on with faith anyway, parked, and got out to talk to her neighbor who was outside on his lawn.

Neighbor 1:
We began talking to him and he didn't seem too interested at first. His 5 year daughter came running out toward us and began asking me to come see her house and backyard. She was so cute! She was in her swim suit and it was about to storm, she was not taking "no" for an answer. I offered her a picture instead and she said "I want a picture of you" haha she was so funny, but I handed her a picture of Christ and she looked at it and said "who is this?". When her dad told her she gave the picture a kiss and hugged it. It was so sweet :) They even invited us back. But as we walked away I felt like we still had someone to see, so we headed to their other neighbor.

Neighbor 2:
We walked up to the door and knocked, a young man opened the door and kind of just looked awkward. I felt awkward so maybe it was just projection, but I do love awkward situations so it was all good. Sister McKay started talking about eternal families and asked if we could come back when all of his family would be home. He said yes and went back inside. I felt content after that home, even though nothing really happened so we went back to the car. Flash forward to Sunday night, a missionary just returned home from Mexico and we went to her drop in. I was talking to one of their neighbors ( who came to church that day :) ) and a member pulled Sister McKay to the side. She said......

"We're y'all out over by so & so on Saturday?" Sister McKay wasn't sure which street it was so the member described the boy we had met and she remembered him! So she proceeds to explain the part of the story missionaries typically don't see, after we walked away the boy went back inside and resumed playing on Xbox live. He just so happened to be online with the members son. The boy said to him, "I think the missionaries were just at my house" and then described us and the members son confirmed it. Anyways, the member told us how she had just sat down with his mom and she had so many questions and they had such a deep gospel conversation!! The boys grandma was actually raised in an LDS home. Seriously how cool is that! There are so many connections, we are just running around trying to find the links.

On another note, Sister McKay is absolutely wonderful. I love being companions with her because she is so funny and we are seriously polar opposites in every area and it works! I can't believe we are on week 3, but I enjoying every moment with her.

This week I was feeling extremely overwhelmed, as a missionary I worry a lot about how we appear to the community. We are representing our Savior, Jesus Christ, and that is not something I take very lightly! But worrying about things I can't control is lame, so I am trying not to do that. I was reading in Jacob and I came across 2 verses that hit home.

Jacob 3: 1-2
"But behold, I, Jacob, would speak unto you that are pure in heart. Look unto God with firmness of mind, and pray unto him with exceeding faith, and he will console you in your afflictions, and he will plead your cause, and send down justice upon those who seek your destruction.

O all ye that are pure in heart, lift up your heads and receive the pleasing word of God, and feast upon his love; for ye may, if your minds are firm, forever"

Even He, who was perfect was accused of sacrilege and blasphemy! Integrity is everything, which is choosing to do whats right regardless of the conditions...

Helaman 5:7
"7 Therefore, my sons, I would that ye should do that which is good, that it may be said of you, and also written, even as it has been said and written of them"

I love being a missionary and I share His gospel because it feels good to bear witness of Christ's divinity. Y'all don't have to look like a certain anyone to feel His love. :) or mine!

I love y'all, have a blessed week!
Sister Morrill

1. Pretty views

2. We went crabbing, we caught seaweed

3. This is what it looks like to move a trailer hitch from the middle of traffic

4. Sister McKay :)

5. Our district made a Spanish music video

White Washed Straight To The Sea

Hey y'all!

This week was full of "see you later"s because Cochran is wonderful and I will miss it. On that note, today I transferred to South Carolina! I am serving in Beaufort with Sister McKay! She is from Sandy Utah and this is her last 6 weeks in the mission! She is full of excitement and ready to do work :)

Beaufort is beautiful! The area has not had Sisters since 2015! Prayers have been answered though because Sister McKay and I were whitewashed in together this afternoon! One set of English speaking Elders were pulled out, so now there's one Spanish and English speaking set of elders, a senior companionship couple here, and us. Seriously this area is huge! I smell nothing but miracles, blessings, and a lot of salty water here. There is also a base and the University of South Carolina-Beaufort here, so we will get to work with a wide range of people. I have been wanting to teach on a base since I got here, so I'm even more pumped about that!

I am so stoked to serve here!

Alma 30:7-9
"Now there was no law against a man’s belief; for it was strictly contrary to the commands of God that there should be a law which should bring men on to unequal grounds.

For thus saith the scripture: Choose ye this day, whom ye will serve.
Now if a man desired to serve God, it was his privilege; or rather, if he believed in God it was his privilege to serve him; but if he did not believe in him there was no law to punish him."

I will choose God every time!

Yesterday we were able to have a family home evening with a family and an investigator in Cochran. We talked about faith and had a little object lesson. It was so peaceful and I just love when people feel vulnerable and open up. The spirit always testifies of truth!

 I love y'all! Have a wonderful week!

Sister Morrill

No Time Like The Present, Come Unto Christ!

Hey y'all! 

I hope y'all had a great week! This week we put a boy on date and he is awesome! He has so much understanding of the gospel, he is 9 and ready to be baptized on May 31st!

Kelsey is the member referal we have been teaching and she is wonderful! She is so strong and everything she has been experiencing is only strengthening her testimony that she is walking the path of truth. We taught her this morning and she is planning to be baptized on June 9th! We love her and her gospel notebook! 

I had such an awesome birthday, I was planning on keeping to myself because 18 months is a short time I have the privledge to focus on everyone but myself! But the Elders here planned a party the night before and after with two of the families here. I think just about the whole town knew it was my birthday & wished me a happy day! (Kidding) but seriously there is no better gift to me than to be surrounded by good Georgia folk who love me ;)

I definitely learned a lot this week about the eternal significance of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost. The Sacrament (bread and water) is a representation of being washed clean every week! The Atonement is so important, daily repentance how we change and become more like Christ. Y'all! The Gospel is so important! We do not have to be or do anything in this world that we don't want to. Choose the right! Living the principles I believe has improved my life. God gives us commandments, because He knows everything and the only way to experience eternal joy now is to keep them! Think of them more like guidelines, because He won't force you to keep them though.. no one will actually. It is our choice, and He lets us choose because He loves us. :)

Next week is transfers, so stay tuned.. I go where the Lord takes me!

I love y'all! Thank you for the birthday wishes! Have a happy week!!
Sister Morrill

ps. Sister Smith can sound like just about any animal so I hope y'all enjoy this picture of her with a chicken on her head. 

Omni 1:26

"And now, my beloved brethren, I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption. Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved."

Let It Go

Hey y'all!

I hope y'all had a great weekend & treated your mom with the love and respect she deserves. 

I feel like I just wrote! My companion asked a return Missionary if the first half or the second half of the mission goes quicker, all she responded was "yup". haha.. yup.

We had zone conference this week in Macon. We got home a little after 5 and while we were having dinner the Cochran Elders texted us because they were still in Macon and wouldn't be home in time to give a church tour. We told them we would happily give the tour for them. The individual was not able to make it, but as we were getting ready to leave the church, a man we've been teaching reached out to us. He wanted to read in the Book of Mormon, because he has been struggling with his thoughts and he feels strength when he reads the scriptures. So we quickly arranged for a member to join all of us at another members home at 8 p.m. (The members here are seriously the best!) The Spirit was so strong, and Sister Smith is such a powerful teacher! I love serving with her. He committed to work toward baptism on the 15th of June!!

We also had the opportunity to see the member referral we started teaching back about 5 weeks ago. She was ready to pick up right where we left off! We love her and she loves to learn, she literally has a notebook full of notes! We taught her the Plan of Salvation and our purpose in life. At the end of our lesson she brought up tea and then seriously she committed herself to live the Word of Wisdom for a week!! She rocks.

Sister Orton (stellar missionary) gave a training at Zone Conference and she talked about when Jesus Christ invites Peter and his brother to follow Him.They willingly dropped their nets and faithfully joined Him.

Matthew 4
18 And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.
19 And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
20 And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.

She invited us to consider our what are our"nets". Something we may be holding on to that is keeping us from following Him closer, and to let it go! I've been considering what I do on my personal time after 9 pm and trying to better prioritize my tasks. Preparation= a better stress free tomorrow!

Happy Birthday Scott & Caroline!!!! My other two & I turn 21 on Sunday :) I love y'all, thanks for making me feel whole :,) 

Have a happy week!

Sister Morrill

"Seven days without prayer, makes one weak"

Prayer Changes Things

Hey y'all! 

This week was grand, we saw so many miracles. I appreciate all of your prayers & love, if anyone ever tells you they can feel your prayers I hope you believe them :)

Before I tell y'all about my week, I would like to share with you that for the first time in my nearly 21 years, I held a duck. He was so cute Sister Smith and I named him Pequito Leché. I love him! We had dinner with our Stake President's family and when I first came to Cochran he told me I could hold one of them and he remembered! So before we left he went to get him for us!

All week we had been trying to set up an appointment to finish teaching the Plan of Salvation with a girl we have been teaching. On Saturday she told us she wouldn't be able to attend church this weekend. We felt sad because we hadn't been able to see her all week. So Sister Smith and I went out all day to find someone who could! We spent all of Saturday inviting people to come to church, I think we had about 20 people accept! We had prayed to find someone who would be willing to come to church and throughout the day two different men randomly pulled over and invited themselves to come. Haha! It was so great. We were really hoping for miracle. So, come Sunday... Unfortunately neither of the two men were able to make it or the 20th people we had invited. I didn't lose hope though, because I know God is funny. About 10 minutes before Sacrament began, a girl walked in by herself. We didn't recognize her and she looked slightly lost. She mentioned it was her first time attending this Church and was looking for Tucker, a recent convert. Tucker invited his friend and she came!!! Y'all Tucker is awesome. She stayed for church and she said she really likes it because everyone has their own voice here.

On Monday, we had a change of plans about 3 times. So, we went out searching for another opportunity for a miracle and we somehow ended up at a less active families home. On our way back the girl we had been teaching just so happened to drive by on her way to work. She stopped for a second to talk to us. She is so awesome and God's timing was no coincidence. 

Later that night I felt prompted to go to an old referral we have not seen several months. She lives about 30 minutes away and we got to her house just as she and her family were leaving to pick up a pizza for dinner. She was so happy, when we asked her why she said the big man upstairs has been good to her and then she told us something funny. She said, "my boyfriend in Perry just called me and told me this sister missionaries stop to by to see him. Then he said he was sending them to me". We don't cover Perry, its about 45 minutes away from our area and we had no idea who her boyfriend is, but God knows everything so we laughed because God sent us to her. We gave her a Book of Mormon and headed out.

1 Nephi 17:13

"And I will also be your light in the wilderness; and I will prepare the way before you, if it so be that ye shall keep my commandments; wherefore, inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall be led towards the promised land; and ye shall know that it is by me that ye are led"

This week was awesome, I am excited to Skype my family this weekend but for the rest of y'all.. I hit my 11 months last week so it'll be about another 7 until I see y'all. But I do love all of y'all and I hope you have a happy week!

Sister Morrill

Have I Done Any Good In The World Today?

Hey y'all!

Our week has been great & I pray y'all can say the same about yours. 

This week we had a lesson with the member referral I mentioned last week and she is awesome! We taught her the Restoration and she came to church again!! Yesterday we taught her about the Godhead and tonight we are having family home evening with her and a family. 

The Godhead is probably one of my favorite restored truths, I love my heavenly Father, my Savior, and the Holy Ghost! I am grateful for the knowledge I have of them. I continue to build upon it as I study my scriptures, experience life, and pray because it helps strengthen my relationship with each of them. We can pray to our Father in heaven, follow Jesus Christ as we choose the right, and feel comforted and confident by the power of the Holy Ghost. They are all distinct personages, but one in purpose! That purpose being to bring to pass the eternal life of man :) 

I want to share a little bit about what I have learned about sacrifices with y'all. A couple of weeks back, we heard a General Conference talk called "One More Day". This talk gave me a desire to sacrifice something in hopes that I would be a better missionary and disciple of Jesus Christ. I chose to sacrifice music, but recently I discovered that was vain and I can do better. I do not have a strong attachment to music and it was not very difficult for me to stop listening to it, so I tried again with something I do struggle with. 

I personally feel strange smiling every second of the day and my resting face is my comfortable face. Unfortunately for me my comfortable face does not represent how happy I do feel, so I promised God I would give it up for 48 hours. I sacrificed my own comfort and smiled 2 days straight until it hurt. (I believe it remained while I slept). Let me tell y'all, it did hurt because I am fairly certain I used muscles in my face I have never used before. It was amazing to feel the difference in my attitude, outlook, and thoughts just by making one better decision consciously. I know that by small and simple things, great things are brought to pass. I showed God my willingness to put forth effort into a smile and He filled my heart with greater understanding, peace, and joy. I love to feel at peace with myself! I promise y'all that as you give up something hard to you, God will replace it with something so much better. 

This week we finally got to meet with a man who has been coming to church for months. He has a hectic schedule, but literally just showed up to church one day and has attended ever since. He was taught by the Elders before, so we helped him better understand the Priesthood authority and he understood the scriptures as we taught!!!! God is so wonderful, we are so excited for his progression.

D&C 97:8

"Verily I say unto you, all among them who know their hearts are honest, and are broken, and their spirits contrite, and are willing to observe their covenants by sacrifice—yea, every sacrifice which I, the Lord, shall command—they are accepted of me."

I love y'all, I hope y'all are beginning to consider what y'all can do for the wonderful woman who brought you into this world. I am thankful for my Merm and her constant love and support. 

I wish y'all a lovely and blessed week,

Sister Morrill