simplicity

Tuesday we felt like it was time to set a baptismal date with Chris and Jessica... SO... We asked Heavenly Father and He said to teach a lesson on eternal families in the temple. We taught the lesson and the room felt as if we were in the temple. The solace in the room taught them more then any word I could ever say. Chris' mother was totally there as we talked about her. Chris told us that it would take him a while to be baptized. He didn't grow up with a belief of God. The Spirit was strong so we took the moment to invite them to fast about a baptismal date on fast Sunday. The words slipped out of my mouth so comfortably, it was natural. They both looked at each other, then back at me and agreed to try it! The Wilson's took the Smith's to see Meet the Mormons. It brought so much clarity to their minds and provided a perfect mindset for their fast the next day. We get to branch council and start talking about the Smith's only to have Brother Wilson provided information that made me drop to the ground!

After we had left Tuesday night, Chris turns to Jess and said "well, you know what we need to do already." WHAT. So they came into the fast knowing that they'll be baptized, the fast confirmed to them that it is right. Chris then turned to Charlie and said "Charlie, do you believe in God?" "Yes." "Why do you believe in God?" "Because He loves me." Chris believes in God. We complicate things as we get older. He loves us, it's that simple.

Jessica and I were talking after church about how coffee will be a struggle, but she's so grateful that she's seen the day where Chris is more ready than she is. Her prayers have been answered. She expressed her desires for Charlie, how BADLY she wants for him to serve a mission, and have an eternal family. It brought me to tears realizing how the Lord works in His own way, in His own time. I trust His plan. Jessica wants us to come over Tuesday and set a baptismal date with them. Also, I'll just throw in that they LOVE the Book of Mormon and see a difference in the days they do read, and the days they don't.

Ariez Ortega (15) walked out of her baptismal interview BEAMING with light. She yelled "I finally felt that warm feeling everyone keeps talking about!!" We jumped up and down with JOY for her baptism in a week!!! Also, Jesse and Silvia have breezed through the Book of Mormon! THEY HAVE LOVED IT, it aligns with the Bible so well for them and makes logical sense. We watched the Restoration Friday night with them, a girls night, with smoothies and blankets on their bed. Best Friday night. The Ortega's home is a party for us. They have about as much energy as I do, we are really similar.

Chuck Segars bore his testimony on Sunday. I was in PIECES. Sunday was the most incredible day!! I lost it! I almost wanted to leave because love penetrated my heart so deeply I didn't know what to do.

I don't think I've ever experienced this kind of love, it FILLS MY BODY AND SOUL, motivates, cures, does everything. I am experiencing the highest of highs right now like I have never experienced before. I am learning more from it than ever. Words cannot be written about the way I feel about this branch.

What I love about the Yarmouth Branch is how much they care for the people we teach. They pray for them BECAUSE THEY LOVE THEM AND THEY ARE THEIR FRIENDS, not because we make cute bookmarks to remind them. They love them. Missionary work is not "work" at all.

Gotta go... emails were cut in half this week! Love you!

I didn't even GET TO EXCHANGES WITH MY MISSION BABY SISTER COLLINS. TALK ABOUT THE BEST 24 HOURS OF MY MISSION!!!! She is incredible in every way...

I cooked salmon... best meal I've made on my mission.

With wings as EAGLES

But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. Isaiah 40:31

"Endurance is even more than elasticized courage, for it underwrites all the other virtues across the expanse of life. Without endurance, the other virtues would be episodic; faith would be fitful, and virtue transitory." - Neal A Maxwell

There was a lot of talk about opposition in conference. Whenever we are consecrating ourselves to the Lord we are just ASKING to walk the path of opposition (see President Monson's talk on walking the paths of the Savior). We must learn the extremes to understand the character of God in ways we otherwise wouldn't be able to. Understanding the character of God builds our foundation of faith. Faith and patience make a great companionship. I had an interesting thought on patience as I lied in the apartment sick: patience enables us to undergo a character change similar to repentance, that cannot come through anything else except patience itself. It is a godly virtue, which is interesting because it revolved around time, which God doesn't have because He is everlasting. There is no other way for true growth to occur. I think of the people of Alma in Mosiah, when they were doing exactly what the Lord had commanded them to do, were required to endure a trial that would test their patience. It was necessary to their growth and development as consecrated followers of the Lord.

"And on gods time ... Who knows what he has. He may have time, just lots of it. But it does take time to acquire and test attributes of character. That is why the old are much different than the young. The old wise folks who had chosen time and time again to build character feel different than the youth who choose to pick things that develop character. Time is a big piece in the equation of becoming as God is. I guess that's why our spirits continue to progress even after this life!" - my mother

The Gospel allows us to have the extended vision of the purposes of life that enable us to learn and grow. "Where there is no vision the people perish." We cannot reach a destination we do not have. The Gospel gives us the destination, and sets markers lining the way to reach that destination.

D. Todd Christofferson, WHAT A MAN! I loved his talk! How fun it was to see Sister McConkie up there Sunday morning and what an incredible, sustaining talk she gave.

Conference was a testimony to me that the Lord calls normal men and women to do His work. He truly does qualify the called if we choose. I love how President Eyring always quotes D&C121. The General Authorities of the church manage to convey such pure love and real intent whenever they speak. Nothing was new in conference, we will continue with the same patterns the Lord has established, but I love the way they present them. It always brings a new zeal and drive to follow the Savior.

I learned that it's a good idea to listen to your companion, even when they urge you to do things you wouldn't want to do. We went to district meeting Wednesday and I felt AWFUL. She encouraged me to stay in, and I did. I had a 101 degree fever. Resting gave us extra time to read BYU talks that I've been dying to read, but just haven't had the time. President Stoker challenged us to read the WHOLE Book of Mormon by October 22nd, going at 18 pages a day now. I was so behind. It was nice to have time to dive deep into the scriptures and ponder, and SLEEP. I'm still recovering, but doing better, still just exhausted. As of Friday evening we are back on the normal schedule.

Incredibly, all 5 of our investigators watched conference and had uplifting experiences. Jessica and Chris started by watching the Priesthood session. We thought they were watching the normal sessions. We get a text from Jessica asking "where are all the women?" Oops... our bad for not letting them know there's a Priesthood session! All was well though. We made them a scripture progression chart to mark where they are in the Book of Mormon. Jessica went ALL YESTERDAY WITHOUT COFFEE.

She asked why men don't hold the Priesthood and this answer came flying out of my mouth, and helped me understand the Priesthood so much better! Women are the portal to bring souls into this life. Men help them to return by providing the necessary power to bind us back to God through covenants. Women help us here, and men help us home. It's not a power struggle. My personal opinion on this whole women and the priesthood thing is that people are ignorant. If they just take their questions to the Lord and go to the temple fasting with a prayer in their hearts, they will receive and answer and the Spirit will surpass their understanding.

The Ortega's are so funny. We are teaching them how to do family home evening with them. The more I am around them, the more I realize that our relationship didn't start when I was a missionary. They are so dear and special to me.

Teaching is becoming so much easier because my love is growing and deepening. The Spirit has an interesting way of improving the quality and quantity of our love, because God is love.

#openyarmouth

Back in Vermont, one year ago, Sister Tarawhiti and I decided that we were going to be companions at the end of my mission. We've spent the rest of our missions hoping that we'd be companions. I knew she was coming here, I told the entire branch to expect her. She sat behind me at transfer meeting and we jumped out of our seats when they called our names! THIS IS A DIVINE COMPANIONSHIP. She is refined and ready to GO! We only have a short amount of time together - we are in HASTEN mode. It doesn't get better than this. We are going to RUN! RUN! RUN!

She's a spiritual giant. Sister Tarawhiti knows how to open a fire hydrant full of the spirit and unleash it onto everyone she sees. She is a great example to all those around her. We've helped each other in so many MANY ways. I love her.

SISTER COLLINS IS IN ONE OF THE AREAS WE SERVE WITH!!!! So I'll be going on exchanges with her shortly. The Lord is so good. We get to call each other WHENEVER WE WANT!

The Ortega family is all set to be baptized on October 19th. They cannot wait, and I can't either. I can't believe this is REAL. I wanted this so badly for so long. I will see families be baptized. They found BYUTV and haven't stopped watching it! They consistently read the Book of Mormon and are gaining a testimony of it!

The Smith's: I sat next to Jess in RS. The Spirit flooded the room and she was the first to recognize that. I have the best video of her dumping all the wine in her house down the drain. She's tapering her coffee intake down so she can gain a testimony that the Word of Wisdom is divinely established. Chris has a testimony of God, which is HUGE. We commit him to ask God is He is God, and to prove Himself to him. I love that we aren't expected to have blind faith, that faith is EVIDENCE of things not seen, which are true. Chris gets it. We started reading the Book of Mormon with them. They read and pray every night as a family and are just SHOOTING out of the ground in everything they are involved in. This has changed their lives for the best, and they recognize that. They give the Book of Mormon priority in their lives, make prayer a regular part of their day, hang out with the members all the time, and make church their first priority. Jess and I are VERY SIMILAR, we struggle with the exact same things. It's easy to teach them because they are my friends and I love them. 

I am doing well. I am currently sick for the first time in my mission, which is a downer. It's amazing when I get into teaching appointments, it's like it's lifted from my. The moment we go into someone's house I'm fine, the moment we leave it comes back. Evidence of God, I think so!

Ali is incredible, just as light and brilliant as ever before. The Holy Ghost has purified her as she's opened this wonderful gift. She's progressing in her business, and in every aspect of her life. 

Chuck and Linda are the cutest old couple! We had the coolest lesson with them on what the family is like in every estate of the Plan of Salvation. Studying that has increased my testimony of the importance of families in God's eyes. 

I was asked to bear my testimony of my witness of the Savior Sunday. I think it really started when I started to pray with all my heart, on my knees, vocally. If there's anything that has changed me for the best, it has been my nightly prayers. I account to the Lord. I ask Him to consecrate our plans for the next day. With the help and guidance of the Spirit I am able to identify weaknesses I didn't notice before. Through my prayers I have studied with Heavenly Father. Reverence and serenity in prayers are important, that is where we show the Lord our love for Him, are still, and have time to be with God. I'm grateful that I am His daughter. 

Naturalmanism

I don't want to spend my whole email talking about how exhausted I am, but that's about what happened this week. I'm too tired to come up with an articulate way to say this, so I'm just going to say it: I just want to crawl in bed and rest. I don't know what is keeping my body moving, because it doesn't want to move. I am in a routine that my body knows. It's a pile of mass moving due to good habits formed. It's not that I don't want to sleep past 6:15, I don't think I'm capable of it. I want to take a nap, but my mind won't stop running and my body follows it. I can't keep conversations going, I just sit back and listen, because I'm too exhausted to think of a response. 

In emergencies on airplanes, you are always instructed to supply oxygen to yourself, then to those surrounding you. One of the habits I have is supplying oxygen to those around me before myself. I am exhausted from it.

I eat healthy.

I sleep a full 8 hours.

I pray continually.

I run 6 days a week.

WHY do I feel this way?

It's as if I'm carrying rocks. I'm trying to find the literally enabling power of the Atonement. I need it.

I am grateful for the members and companions that made my birthday this year so special. I was so tired it's as if I wasn't there. I tried. I am tired. 

I try to relax but there are 5,000,000 things that need to be done before I can even close my eyelids. I am grateful it's a rule to be in bed at 10:30. Sometimes the best part of my day is my nightly prayer. I hand it ALL OVER to the Lord. I form all that has to be done into an object (in my mind) and give it to Him. Once the night is over there is nothing more I can do, but from the moment I wake up there's a weight placed upon me. It's HEAVY, and difficult to carry from day to day. I am grateful that this is His work though, but if He wants to get it done here, it has to be through me. I am His. He is doing it. 

It's not that I don't feel successful, or worry about my performance, I know the Lord is pleased with all the work I am doing. I feel His approval. However I don't feel like He wants me to feel this way physically, emotionally, and even at times spiritually. 

With Chris and Jessica we want them to prepare for an experience to understand that Heavenly Father exists and that He is their Father. We are immersing them in the Book of Mormon to be able to prepare them for an experience outside of themselves. God doesn't expect anyone to blindly believe He exists - faith is the EVIDENCE of things not seen - so we look for evidence. There is Spiritual evidence that comes through the Holy Ghost that trumps all others, and that's what we want them to experience. They've come to church every week since we've taught them, they pray consistently, now we just need to help them READ.

I don't blame anyone who has a hard time reading the Book of Mormon without a Christian background, or even with one for that matter. It requires spiritual eyes, and an open heart, to understand how to apply it. In just the first chapter there are dozens of words they won't recognize. We all must be taught by example HOW to read, and HOW to pray, HOW to be a disciple of Christ. 

We must read WITH people. Read the first 15 chapters with them, then have the members read the rest of the Book of Mormon with them. When you read with the people you teach their true concerns come out. Their testimonies come flying out of their mouths as well, when they realize what they're saying is their testimony they create an ember of the fire of faith.

Both of my companions go home TOMORROW. Aside from how exhausted I feel, these oast few weeks with Sister Westling and Sister Cotant have been the best of my mission. It is the greatest trio I've ever seen. What's weird is that I'll see them sooner than a lot of my friends serving with me...

AN Y WAYZ 

Yesterday we had stake conference, which was INCREDIBLE. We had Elder and Sister Wilson of the seventy come and speak (we also had zone conference with them this week). I love how equal they are. After stake conference we went over to the Seymour's (she has become my mother away from my mother). They got together with the elders and made a beautiful gluten free meal. We then came home, did some planning (weekly planning went out the door this week with my companions going home and all), went to the Wilson's, then to the Segar's. I was with people I love. The Oxford sisters slept over for stake conference Saturday night to my birthday (5 sisters, one itty bitty apartment) so we partied until 10:30, then woke up on my birthday to breakfast! 

Next time I email you I'll be 21.

I can never do more for the Lord than He can do for me.

He has more blessings for me than I am willing to receive. I don't have room enough to receive all that Heavenly Father has in store for me. All the work I've done my whole mission, all the prayers I've said, are all coming together.

Is it believing is seeing? Or seeing is believing?

Friday the 12th:

We wake up at 4:30 to beat Boston traffic down to the temple. We arrive at the temple for an 8 o'clock session. We finish and head to the front of the temple to wait for people.

Sister Turley came!!

Megan from Hanover and her sister Aberash came and surprised me, along with MARIA THE IRISH LADY WE FOUND WHO IS NOW BAPTIZED. I had to peal her off of me. 

I met JoAnne in the changing room, we just embraced each other for the longest time. It really was a heavenly reunion to see her there. She made it. She loved the temple. It was one of those moments where you realize your own nothingness, that every sacrifice you made was paid back to you one hundred times fold. Anything and everything I've gone through on my mission was worth this one reunion in the temple. It was all worth those moments we spent together. Seeing her eyes open to the realities of the Gospel and how close we really are to Heaven was incredible.

Chuck and Linda are going to be sealed in the temple September 12, 2015. On Friday, Chuck was baptized! We RACED home from the temple to get there in time. It was a small service, just simple. Sister Westling and I gave the talks. The simplest, most heartfelt testimonies are always the ones I learn from the most, and that was Chuck's. We've commit a lot of couples to pray together the past few weeks, and you can see their love grow. It's evident that couples NEED to pray together. Chuck and Linda love each other so much, their love it radiating from them like the cutest old couple I've ever seen in my life.

A while ago my mom gave me large print of genuine leather scriptures to hand out to someone on my mission. I've been tempted to give them away, but it hasn't felt right. It was RIGHT! Chuck's eyes showed it all - He is SO GRATEFUL. He loves the Book of Mormon. Oh what a moment! I don't know how to describe it all...

Sunday we had the Ortega family come to church. In a long, complicated string of events, we are now teaching this FAMILY. Sylvia is the mom, Jessy is the husband, and Ariez is the teenage daughter, they have another daughter, Bella, who is 3. We had an awesome lesson with them last night and they have AGREED TO BE BAPTIZED ON OCTOBER 19TH. 

We had a really REALLY sacred experience with Chris and Jessica Smith, let's just put it this way - the Lord knows them. They are doing incredibly well. I love them. So much. I never want to leave.

It's the hardest thing in the WORLD seeing my companions prepare to go home. It scares me. I've never been much of an anxious person until my mission, but I feel so much anxiety watching them leave. It will be much harder to leave this than it was to come out here.

I feel like I'll be catching up on my sleep for the rest of my life. I am viscerally exhausted. 

It's not miracles that change us, it's recognizing them that changes us.

HEAVEN feels like this

"I prayed last week for one simple thing for you... That your prays would be answered. A simple but honest pleading that all of your desires may come to pass." - Mom

"Your mom prayed in sacrament meeting today. It touched my heart. As she finished she choked up and said, "bless our missionaries with answers to their prayers." I for one add my faith to that sincere prayer for you all!" - A friend from the home ward (Yale Ward)

Thank you. Everyone who is praying for us. We are seeing this. Everything I have ever wanted is happening right before my eyes. It's overwhelming to see the evidence of God so blatantly before me. 

I have seen the fruits of the Atonement. They are freeing, lifting, enabling, and so tangible. Everyone around us is changing, repenting, realizing that pure connection they have with their Father. They are being taught by the Spirit. Every time we see these people, they change. One powerful prayer when you realize someone is actually listening to you can change your life, it changed mine, it's changed the lives of plenty of people around me just this week. 

I glory in God, I truly know that in Him I have the power to do all things. He can do anything. 

I sat in my bed after praying this past week and took note at the full feeling I had in my heart. I had never taken the time to notice it before, but as I've been more aware of that, I've realized that it's something I feel all the time. It's this burning sensation that never leaves my chest. At times I feel it going through my entire SOUL (body and spirit). The Holy Ghost is a physical being, the soul is matter, because it fills me.

Chuck received the news that his son was diagnosed with MS. He opened his heart to God, felt him tangibly next to Him, then his prayers were answered the next day. When we visit him yesterday he leaned over to me and asked if it's ok to cry in your prayers, as a way of telling me that he's experiencing this power. I don't really know if his son really has MS or not, Heavenly Father knew it was an experience he needed to have to come closer to Him. Chuck is getting baptized Sept 12. He said "He's answered my prayers, it's about time I answer His." Linda, Chuck's wife, has been a member for as long as I've been alive waiting for her husband to make this decision. Heavenly Father has a timeline for each of us, and when it's our time, it's our time! The Spirit surpasses all understanding.

Sydney is off to Colorado.

With all that's in our schedule now, I feel like I am much better at prioritizing the important things. There isn't any time to teach people that aren't ready, I will find through the members and find with what little time we have, those who are prepared. People who are prepared are the people we are teaching. We had THREE DAYS dedicated to meetings and planning, plus PDAY, church, and exchange, I didn't spend any time in our area... YET I SAW SO MUCH HAPPEN IN THE TIME WE HAD. Really, we had maybe a few hours to proselyte this whole week. Time is so precious to me.

We gave four training's this week to the Augusta North and South Zones. We had SO MUCH TO COVER and half the time to cover it. We divided with the ZL's what we would train on, we were left with a bunch of topics that didn't go together at all... We ended up using the Song Called to Serve to bring them all together. We covered CLA's, Joseph Smith, social skills, church tours, and obedience ALL IN ONE. We sat for an hour trying to figure out how we were to do it, finally we dropped to our knees and prayed. After we prayed, Heavenly Father flooded us with revelation like we were standing under Niagra Falls. It came together so perfectly!! John Durham emailed me a cool quote last week that we wrote on a board and had them all sign at the end of the training. So. Cool.

Exchanges with Sister Kimball this week blew my mind. I love this sister so much. She came out one transfer ago, this is the first time she'd been in her own area alone. We worked HARD. It was nice to finally have time to go tracting! We invited 14 people to learn!! Sister Kimball and I took turns with everyone we saw. She handed out her first Book of Mormon!! She is incredible! I watched her grow in confidence as the day progressed. I think she realized that Heavenly Father really guides us in our planning, more than we know. She experienced that as she realized how He plans our schedule.

Chris and Jess are just straight from God. It's like He's opened my eyes to see His hand in EVERYTHING. They prayed together and read together as a family and progressed so much. Chris is agnostic, but I don't feel like he is anymore! It's quite incredible. Both of them are worried the other isn't going to be in it as much as the other is, but they are both just incredibly prepared. We plan on getting them a date on Saturday.

President Stoker came to church on Sunday to train our members (we are having a serious missionary kickoff with them during this 40 day fast). It was Chris's (Jess was at work, but she came for literally the first 15 minutes) first time staying for all three hours. He was just hanging with the branch, they LOVE THEM. They're more connected to the branch than they are to us, it was nice. President Stoker kept picking on him during the 3rd hour, asking him how he came in contact with us (people are shocked that we tract into them, it was awkward because President was teaching against that ha!). Keep in mind how incredible SHY Chris is! Jess is his mouthpiece. he was able to give the most open and sincere answers because he knew the whole entire congregation! It was unreal to see his real intent! THEY FEEL THE POWER OF GOSPEL PRINCIPLES!! I was scared because they were so new, and here we were talking all about how they came to be at church, missionary work. I was nervous. The Spirit surpassed my understanding as I prayed, that all would be ok. We do missionary work because of love, when we really come to understand charity, we will then share the Gospel.

Christ overcame all sin and temptation in His life because He understood love (Sister Westling taught me this). He has given us the Gospel to acquire Christ-like attribute to combat our weakness (not weaknesses - Ether 12:27) The greatest opposition we receive is the battle between the natural man, and our divine nature.

Do I even start with how much I love Sister Westling?? She helped me flip my first, unburned pancake on our nonfunctional frying pan. It just doesn't work! I cooked my own beans from a BAG, made Cafe Rio dressing (I am trunkie for one thing, and that is Cafe Rio), and today am making butter from raw milk (love New England farms), and a sourdough bread starter.

I'm starting to attribute a lot of the joy I feel and growth I'm seeing in myself to the scripture memorization. Being diligent with it and memorizing a scripture every day since January 1st hasn't been easy, but it's been so worth it. Every time I memorize a scripture it becomes a PART OF ME. I say this because I hope that if you are struggling spiritually, you might try it. Virtue will always garnish your thoughts if whenever you have an open moment you are memorizing a scripture... scriptures come into your heart by the power of the Holy Ghost, so then you can speak with the power of the Holy Ghost.

I think what's really happening is that my eyes are being opened to see the hand of the Lord. He is more involved in our lives than we will ever know. Nothing will surprise us more than to see our Father someday and how much we recognize Him, and hopefully how similar we are. I know that when I see Him, my relationship will be much stronger than when I left His presence. I know that I left His presence to come here to learn and grow, and to learn what Heaven is like. I feel like I know what Heaven feels like.

Love,

Sister Morgan

I found this a little while ago and it's changed my life more than anything else has on my mission.

This talk will change your life if you apply it.

BUCKETS

Then out of nowhere, Heavenly Father saw it fit to DUMP BUCKETS OF BLESSINGS UPON OUR HEADS. Where do I even start... My head is spinning in 5,000 directions with the thought of having to place words to fit the experiences I am having. I'll repeat what Sydney said in the car home from an appointment: "the church must be true because it brings such real, raw emotions of joy." 

The Spirit at MLC has moved me to want to have a stronger testimony of Joseph Smith. The way President Stoker talks about the Prophet makes me desire to have it. I want that. I want that kind of love for Joseph Smith. He told us all sorts of stories and experiences Joseph Smith had. He shared with us the historical history of our mission. The Spirit testified SO STRONGLY that this mission is sacred ground. The departing missionaries bore their testimonies - it was intense - then President had us read D&C 39. We talked about the promises the Lord made with James, then he had us turn the page. He gave us the correct date. We read it. The room was silent as we listened to one of the sisters try to read verse 2. It was a sad feeling realizing all that he could have had, then to just turn it away for the world.

That night I prayed that I might have a stronger testimony of Joseph Smith.

Later that week we had an incredible lesson on TEMPLES with the Segars family. Out of nowhere the JSM (Joseph Smith Memorial) came flying out of my mouth and soon enough we had a trip planned for a Monday road trip to Vermont.

While at the JSM I felt it. The Spirit washed over me like a massive wave as we drove up the maple tree lined driveway up to the memorial. We walked all over the grounds and had an incredible tour. I sat on the grounds and pondered about the place where I was, and the man that was here, and all he did. It is true. He is a prophet. My testimony grew immensely.

Saturday we knocked on Chris and Jess's door... we had talked to Chris earlier, but lost contact with them. Chris was pretty promising. His wife answered the door and she was JUST AS PROMISING IF NOT MORE! We scheduled an appointment for the next day. Last Sunday we had our first lesson with them. It was GREAT. We commit them to a church tour on Friday. On Friday we had one of our members come with us with her two boys, so Charlie (the 3 year old son) could have someone to play with. Chris and Jess are openly on this CRAZY SEARCH FOR HAPPINESS and a community of people. They are in their early 30's. They have attained all their life goals and are at a point where they don't know what to do next. We took Jess into the chapel (Chris had work). We talked for a long time, the Spirit was just working like crazy on her. She opened up and said "this is what we've been looking for!" She REALLY commit to read the Book of Mormon daily. We prayed together, we asked her to pray. She said a prayer for the first time in her life, she was so sincere. That moment is in my heart forever. She was talking with God. They came to church and had a GREAT time. The branch has been in this 40 day fast for two families to be taught the Gospel, so they all saw that it was an answer to their prayers and fasts. 

The branch and us are working side by side. Our 40 day fast for two families came alive. Chris and Jess are going to be baptized.

After the JSM with Chuck Segars, he initiated a conversation about tithing with his wife. He stayed for all 3 hours of church for the first time. He is scared out of his pants, but is making changes so he can prepare to be baptized! 

So in just two short weeks we have seen Sydney progress to baptism at such a rapid pace I can barely keep up. It is incredible what actually reading and praying does for people. She leaves for Fort Collins, Colorado in less than a week and has plans to attend institute their, be a big part of the singles ward, and be baptized in the river behind CSU. YEAH. So she was sitting in the hospital with a friend, pouring into the Book of Mormon, got up to go onto the elevator and saw no one other than THE PORTLAND ELDERS. She's seeing answers to her prayers everywhere she goes. 

So back to Jess... She's been studying this lecture of a guy who compares happiness to a seed. When she read the Book of Mormon OF COURSE SHE BUMPED INTO ALMA 32. She was just in tears at all she had learned and couldn't wait to tell us. 

So in our lesson with Elane she told us she was already baptized by the priesthood. Love that. So we commit her to a church tour tomorrow.

These past two weeks were like nothing else I have ever experienced on my mission. 

I don't have time to give an overview of all that I learned in my studies, but it is comparable to the amazing weeks I've been having. It's that good as well. Holy smokes. I wish I could just dump it on all of you!!!