My dearest loved ones,

Well, we had yet another investigator drop us last Monday.  That would make 3 in one week.  Having an investigator drop you is a bit like getting dumped.  Some approach it really slow and carefully and feel bad about it, but still want to see us.  Some do it over the phone.  Some send it in a text message.  Either way, it's not fun.  Especially when it's an investigator we thought was progressing so well and wanted to learn so much more about the gospel.

The beginning of the week started out really really slow.  Longest week of my life.  Things just were not moving.  Nobody was progressing.  No one was able to meet with us.  But on Friday, we had an awesome lesson with the new family from NM.  It is crazy how much they have been prepared to hear the gospel.  The opportunity to move to Idaho just randomly popped up and they took it without even going up here first to check it out.  They had a bunch of stuff happen in the moving process that got them in contact with LDS people from NM, they just randomly went to the temple visitors center on their way up to Idaho just to check it out....just so many things have been put in their way to prepare them for this.  Their hearts are so open to learning new things and to really putting it to the test and figuring it out for themselves if it is true. 

Little miracles have been happening all over the place.  For example, we went to contact a referral the other night and the house was dark. No one was home, of course, but we went back to the car to figure out where to go next, and we hadn't been there for 30 seconds when a car pulled up. This kid got out and told us that his family is remodeling this house, so for now, they live down the street.  If we hadn't run into this guy right then, we wouldn't have ever figured out where this referral was. We almost just barely missed this guy. Coincidence?  I think not.  But since he caught us just before we left, we were able to go down the street and meet his family (hopefully some potential investigators!)  The Lord plans things out.  He times things just right to show us miracles. 

Haha, we saw another primary program yesterday.  In this ward, the kids knew the songs really well and did an awesome job.  But, like the other ward we saw, this primary also like to yell during the song "God gave us families."  Did y'alls sing that one? It was pretty great. 

Dawn is getting baptized next week!!!! She and her family have been working SO hard to get to this point.  Seriously, I have never seen so much faith and perseverance within one family.  The adversary has been throwing everything he has at them, but they have pulled through by relying on the Lord and supporting each other.  They didn't give up.  They kept going to church, even when the stress was almost too much to handle.  What an amazing family.  We are SO excited for them!

Love you all.  Stay strong and never give up!
Tell the fam to email/write me.

God Bless,
Sister Moreland

Hola, mi familia and mis amigos!

This week was transfers, and I found out that this area is in need of more Spanish sisters, so guess who has been called to speak Spanish for the Blackfoot area in the Idaho Pocatello Mission?  Estoy muy emocionada de ser una misionera en espanol!  I was shocked when I got the news, but Sister Worrall and I will both have to learn the language, so we will be in this together.


Ha! Gotcha! Just kidding :) I'm still English-speaking. Haha.   I am hoping with all my might that that will never happen.  So this week was full of trials, blessings, and miracles.  First off, we were dropped by two investigators in 3 days.  But it was nice to hear from one of them (her name is Evelyn) that even though she was not going to "be a Mormon", she thanked us earnestly for "giving her faith again".  The Lord knows how to prepare his people for the gospel, and even if she isn't ready now, the fact that she is going to start attending a church again (even if it isn't the LDS church) shows that she has become a little bit more prepared to receive the gospel later in her life.  Well, where one door closes, another opens.  We met a woman who doesn't like organized religion but LOVES God and Jesus Christ and has studied many different religions.  We have set up a return appointment with her and we are excited because she has tons of potential.  Also, that new family from New Mexico came to church yesterday!! They may have been a bit overwhelmed with all the new information and way of doing things, but hopefully it will just pique their interest even more. 

So Sister Worrall and I were going to sing in Sacrament meeting yesterday.  Unfortunately, though, Sister Worrall got very ill that morning, so we didn't sing. :( The awkward thing is we invited a lot of our investigators to that ward to hear us sing and then we weren't there...now they probably think we were just pulling their leg to get them to church!

So remember the little boy, Ethan, who just got baptized? We went over to his house on Friday. Ethan (who is 10, mind you)  told us that he started reading the Old testament last Sunday.  He is now in the 34th chapter of Genisis.  34 CHAPTERS. OF THE OLD TESTIMENT. IN 5 DAYS. THIS CHILD IS 10.  Needless to say, I was impressed.  If a ten-year-old boy can speed through Genisis like that, I should be able to enjoy the scriptures so much that I soak it up just like he does!

Well, that's it for this week.  I also carved a pumkin last Monday.  But now it's all saggy and rotten-looking.  The end.

Love,

Sister Moreland

My Dearest Loved Ones,

Oh, my gosh, this week has been CrAzY! I feel like so much has happened in the past week it feels like it's been 3 weeks or something.  Okay. Here it goes.

I think the highlight of the week was a new family that just moved in the area.  They aren't members but the ward has been so friendly and warm and welcoming it's AWESOME. They came to the ward harvest party and afterward we and the bishop took them on a CHURCH TOUR. Big deal, y'all, that's a big deal.  So we showed them all the different rooms of the church and explained what we do in sacrament meeting and why the sacrament is important.  In the primary room, we explained the primary's theme (families can be forever) and they had lots of questions about that and seem pretty interested.  They wanted to come to church yesterday, but they didn't have any church clothes, so they went to Idaho Falls to buy some (wow, they really want to come) and they are coming to church next Sunday!

The best part of that whole thing was that the members were SO EXCITED about this new family! We came over to bring them an invitation to the harvest party, and they had already gotten 2 of them from other ward members.  I wish that members could get this enthusiastic about EVERY missionary opportunity!  There are SO MANY people around you every day that need the gospel.  It is the most important thing, and the best way you can show love for your friends.

 Let me repeat that--

Sharing the gospel is the most important thing that you could ever share with your friends.

Ask the missionaries for help! Ask them for ideas--ways that you can share this great message.

Anyway, enough of my lecture on member-missionary work.

So apparently I'm a terrible driver.  I mean, I've always known I'm not the best driver, but I didn't think I was that bad.  But these country roads, man, they aren't easy to drive around on.  The speed limit is constantly changing (from 50 to 25 to 40 to 55 to 30...) and the stop signs sneak up on you like crazy.  So I've given Sister Worrall a bit of whiplash from stopping so abruptly.  And she says I'm a terrible driver.  Well, fine then.

YES, I heard about Ebola.  Oh, my gosh, that is so scary.  Usually when I tell people I'm from Dallas, they say something like "How bout them Cowboys?"  But this week when I tell people I'm from Dallas, they have said "How bout that Ebola?"  Not comforting....Don't shake hands with Bishop for a while.  Wash your hands.  Carry hand sanitizer.  Please don't get sick.  I love you.

 

We went to the temple on Friday!!!  Y'all.  The temple. The temple is the best place to just let the world go and focus on what is important.  The eternal perspective I get from going to the temple is unmatched by anything else.  After going to the temple, I feel renewed and ready to go! Then we went and ate Indian food (a first for me!). 

I learned a lesson about obedience this week.  When we left to go email last Monday, I couldn't find my planner anywhere.  And the planner is LIFE.  It has our schedule, our appointments, our contacts and numbers, everything. I couldn't find that thing anywhere.  When we got back from emailing, I searched every inch of our bedroom and bathroom for my planner.  I prayed for help to find it, knowing how important my planner was to the work.  Then, I saw Sister Worrall cleaning the bathroom, and I realized that I had forgotten to do my weekly p-day chores that the Mission President asks us to do on Monday. Then I thought "Oh, I'll do them after I find my planner," and proceeded to re-look for my planner.  Then, these words came to me--  "Do your chores, and you will find it." I didn't see how that would do anything, but I figured I would be obedient and do my chores.  In the first 2 minutes of vacuuming our room, I found my planner stuck between my bed and my desk.  There was one little angle at which you could see it, and I wouldn't have seen it unless I had vacuumed.  I immediately knelt down and said a prayer of gratitude, thanking Heavenly Father for the inspiration.  I also promised to be more obedient in the future! Every little thing about the missionary schedule is put in place so that we can be productive servants of the Lord and serve at full capacity. 

I love you all.  Stay strong in the storm.  And tell me what's going on with you! I love to hear from you :)

God Bless,

Sister Moreland

                                                                  Love from Potato Land!

My Dearest Loved Ones,

Watch The Bible Videos.

Seriously. They are awesome. Especially the ones that depict the life of Christ.  I seriously wish I could spend all day just watching those videos.  Watch them.

Holy blessings. We have seen so many miracles this week.  Last week we were really struggling to find new people to teach, find anyone that was interested in hearing what we had to say, really.  But this week we had lessons with two people that we set baptism dates with!! One of them was a woman that we didn't even ask to be baptized, she just said, "So when should I get baptized? Should we plan a date for that?"  And Sister Worrall and I were kind of shocked (because this was only the second time we'd ever met this woman) and were like "Uhh...Yeah! We should!" And we've met a few other people that seemed like they might be interested in hearing more, so we'll be checking up on them again.  But like I said, the blessings are just pouring in!!  Heavenly Father is looking out for us.

We volunteered at a blood drive this week for this one kid's Eagle Scout project.  We were fasting that day, and they put us at the "snack table" of all places.  So we had to sit in front of a table of beautifully plated cookies, donuts, crackers, and juice for 5 hours and could not eat anything.  Oh, mylanta, it was so hard.  But the fasting paid off, and we met some people there at the blood drive to invite to watch conference.

So we live with the Bishop and his wife, the Nickells.  Bishop and Sister Nickell are awesome, and they have a two-story house with an upstairs that is just guest bedrooms.  We have a roomy bedroom with two desks, and the loft has a treadmill, stationary bike, and elliptical, so it's perfect for morning workouts (if we get out of bed soon enough to have time to work out, that is :/ ) Every morning we wake up at 6:30, exercise [kind of], shower and eat breakfast, do personal study for an hour, companion study for an hour, training for an hour (just for greenies like me) then we are off to proselyte!

Conference was awesome. All the missionaries in our zone went to the stake center to watch it in the chapel. There are about 12 of us, so it was kind of nice just being there with that small group.  Man, there were so many great talks.  If you get a chance, invite some friends to watch either President Uchtdorf's talk from Saturday or Elder Bednar's talk from Sunday.
         
ELDER BEDNAR. So we were sitting there on Sunday and I was thinking "please let Elder Bednar speak, please tell me Elder Bednar is speaking..."  And then they announced Elder Bednar and me and a few other missionaries there said "Yes!!" And then Elder Bednar said that he was directing his talk to non-members, and about half of us threw our fists in the air and said "YES!!" That was such an awesome talk.  Read the talks over this week, next week, and keep them in your hearts and minds as you go about your day.  So much good advice and spiritual guidance can be taken from conference.  I love you all and can't wait to hear from you. God Bless.

With love,

Sister Moreland