At the Temple with Sister Leasi

                                           Thanks for the Lion King shirt!  I love it!

Happy New Year!

Well, Christmas was joyous and wonderful, and the New Year ahead is looking bright!

This month has been so great. It's felt more like Christmas than ever before.  We've been focusing so much on "He is the Gift" and the birth of Christ this season, it's just been nothing but Christmas for us all December long! And I got my White Christmas!! :D

But it's still snowing. and cold. I think I'm ready for spring now. 

Sooo, for Christmas we had a delicious breakfast with the Bishop, I talked with my beautiful family, we delivered a few Christmas gifts, had dinner with the Osegueda family, then went to the Eppichs house, where I read "The Three Trees" to them.  It was a lovely day :) Much thanks for the gifts and the love that was sent to me this Christmas :) I love you all so much!

Please pray for Evelyn. One of the hardest things as a missionary is to see people so broken and feel like there is nothing you can do.  Some trials strike some more than others.  But that doesn't mean that some people are "better off" than others. We all have trials, and they are all for reasons, even if we can't see them yet.  At the time it might just feel like we are being punished for trying our best, but at the end of the day, the Lord will bless us more abundantly than we could ever imagine for enduring our trials well. It makes me think of the Lord's counsel to Joseph Smith when he was in Liberty Jail, "My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; and then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all they foes.  Thy friends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands." -D&C 121: 7-9

We went to the temple visitor's center with Lindsay on Saturday, which was really great! There were like 3 weddings going on at the time, so it was a bit loud because there were a bunch of children there, but the spirit was still felt as we talked about eternal families and temple covenants. I love the temple!  

The Riders have decided to try and quit smoking again!!! :DD We are so excited for them to begin to progress towards baptism again. I know that through Christ, they can do all things! 

Well, the new family that just moved in, the James, came to church yesterday, and they brought the whole family!  It seems like they had a pretty good experience, which was good. There are so many amazing people that are prepared for the gospel.  It just makes me have the same wish as Alma: "O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with he trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth...yeah, I would declare unto every soul...repentance and the plan of redemption, that they should repent and come unto our God, that there might not be more sorrow upon all the face of the earth."  <--solution for world peace, right there. 

Well, I hope you all had a wonderful, White Christmas! For New Years Eve, we are watching movies. Then for new years day, we are getting together as missionaries at our member's house and sledding! :D

Love you and God Bless!

Sister Moreland

My dearest loved ones,

Woooaaaahhhh work is exploding here in Blackfoot.  New people, progressing investigators, baptism dates and more!  I am so excited for these people that are prepared to receive the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.  The Lord prepares the hearts of his children, there is no doubt in my mind.  The only thing left after that is the use of their own agency.  Pray that the investigators here will use that agency to follow Jesus Christ!

I love Christmas!!! I love Christmas so much, and the season is here!! We have been spreading the message of "He is the Gift" everywhere and to everyone that we meet.  What a wonderful opportunity to get people in the Christmas spirit by turning their thoughts to the birth of the savior.  There is a wonderful Bible video on lds.org called "Glad Tidings of Great Joy" and it depicts beautifully the blessing and gift that the birth of Jesus Christ is.  I am really getting into the Christmas spirit and can't wait!  I just really hope it snows here on Christmas day because I've never had a white Christmas before.  

Speaking of weather, it's been unusually warm here.  Unusually warm for Idaho December, at least.  For the last few weeks, it's been 50 degrees or so, so it feels more like Texas December.  But then it finally snowed yesterday.  But now it's melting. Weird.

How much I have felt the spirit this week.  There is a new family that just moved in who had met with the Elders in town once before.  We went over to meet them this week, and it is amazing how prepared they are to receive the gospel! I am so impressed with this family.  They've had a lot of struggles in the past, but have been searching for a relationship with God lately, and as they've been seeking, they have felt more peace and happiness in their lives than they ever have before.  We promised them that this peace and happiness would continue to grow as they learn and accept the restored gospel.  I notice that it's with people like them that the spirit is felt the strongest in lessons---because they are both receptive to the spirit and contribute to it.  When we left their house, I was giddy with joy at their desire to find the truth.  

One of our investigators, Lindsay, has a baptismal date, and she is working hard to get there, she is fantastic! We took her to another convert baptism on Saturday just so she could see what it looks like and what goes on.  The guy getting baptized was a big guy, so he didn't get completely submerged the first time, so they had to re-do it.  Although Lindsay is more comfortable now that she has actually witnessed a baptism, now she's a bit nervous that she'll have to re-do it and be embarrassed.  Haha.  But we reassured her that she'd have plenty of time to practice before then. I'm just glad that that's her biggest worry right now :)

Well, Merwwy Chrwistmas  to you all! Love you all and hope that you are in the Christmas mood as much as I am! 

God Bless,

Sister Moreland

Talofa!

Got myself a new companion here in old Blackfoot!  Her name is Sister Leasi (Lay-AH-see) and she's from Samoa.  She's pretty awesome--already teaching me some Somoan, haha.  This week has been ridiculously crazy. I've been pretty stressed just with all the adjusting.  Sister Worrall and I went around for her last couple days seeing different people, getting pictures, etc.  I'll send you some. A lot of people were really sad to see her go.  But Sister Leasi is fitting in just fine.  She's a hoot, so people tend to love her pretty quickly. 

 

I've been pretty stressed the last week with making sure I have all the addresses I need, contacts, info, phone numbers, knowing where everybody lives, etc.  Leading out an area takes a lot of work, so I've been waking up pretty early to get caught up on some things I've gotten behind on.  Feels like being at school again.  Except no science.  I'm okay with that.  

 

One thing that really touched my heart this week was when we went over to teach the German student and the family of members he lives with.  When we got there, their 9-year-old daughter excitedly runs upstairs and brings down a sticky note.  She says that this week in school, one of her friends asked her about her religion.  She and another friend began to explain about The Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith to her, and they bore their testimonies of the Church to this girl. "Then," she said, "I asked her if she wanted to see you guys to learn more, and I got her phone number for you!"  So she gave us the sticky note with the girl's name and phone number on it.  I was so excited that this 9-year-old girl was excited enough about what she believed to share it with a friend.  It made me feel like progress was really being made in the home of these members as well as the non-member that lives with them.  Warmed my heart :)

This week, I've learned the power of a positive attitude.  One morning this week, I had just woken up on the wrong side of the bed. In my discouragement, we hardly got anything done that day. Then the next day, we had a zone meeting that really made me see how much we could be improving in our work.  That night, even though we hadn't reached many of our goals, I said to our District Leader "we didn't reach this goal and this goal, but I have faith that if we pray for help to reach these goals, the Lord will bless us!"  So with that positive attitude in mind, the next day we went out to teach, and we ended up setting baptismal dates with 2 of our investigators in a single day! I was worried about these investigators not wanting to set dates to be baptized, but the spirit was present and their hearts were opened, so they accepted.  What power faith and a good attitude has to accomplishing goals! 

Sorry this week is kind of short.  Just know that I know that this gospel is true with every fiber of my being.  May I serve as a witness to my God that the things that I am teaching daily are true.  I love you all so much.

God Bless,

Sister Moreland

 

P.S. I can't remember whether or not I mentioned this last week or not, but if you haven't seen the "He is the Gift" video already, check it out! It's an awesome video about the true meaning of Christmas and it's very powerful.  It's really short so you can share it with your friends and family via facebook, twitter, or whatever other social media shenanigans you like to do. You can also use the pass-along cards from the December Ensign to give to friends and tell them what you enjoyed about the video. Share with the world about keeping Christ in Christmas and what an important gift to the world that he is!  http://www.mormon.org/christmas.  Merry Christmas, y'all!  

Enjoying the snow

      The elders thought they were funny by putting blocks of snow on the sisters' car

             First day of driving in the snow, and we had to get towed out of the ditch!

Dear loved ones,

Another adventurous week in the Idaho, Pocatello Mission.  Thanksgiving was awesome!  We went and did service by helping serve thanksgiving food at the Community Dinner Table.  We met so many great people and was a good experience to serve and get to know those who didn't have anywhere to go on Thanksgiving.  

That evening, we went to an investigator's house and had thanksgiving.  Although I'm not usually a fan of stuffing, I ate seconds of hers because is was delicious.  After being stuffed to the brim with food, we went to another investigator's house--intending to simply stop by--but instead they made a plate full of food for each of us despite our polite refusal.  We kinda picked around at our mashed potatoes and cranberries for an hour....haha,  Then they sent us home with pie. 

On Friday, we made lemon bars (thanks for the recipe, Momma!) with a sweet old less-active woman who has really been trying to come back to church.  We are planning on taking the treats to potential investigators and people that we don't get to see as often for Christmas!

Speaking of Christmas, if you haven't seen it yet, "He is the Gift" is an awesome new Christmas video on http://www.mormon.org/christmas and you should watch it!  It is a great message to share with friends, family, and neighbors about the true meaning of Christmas.  #ShareTheGift  !   (<--haha I feel like such a dork using hashtags...as if I actually use technology.)

We had an AWESOME lesson with the Knocks family.  We haven't seen them in a while, but we finally saw them and their new foster son.  We talked about coming closer to God through prayer and the importance of the Book of Mormon.  We invited their foster son to be baptized when he came to know that the Book of Mormon was true, and he said that he would if he knew it was true.  The spirit is always so strong in every one of their lessons.  It makes me think that the Lord is trying to let us know that they are ready.  I am so excited for them.     

Tom. Tom is amazing.  We met with him for the 3rd time on Saturday.  Our third lesson.  And we asked him if he is still reading the Book of Mormon.  He's in Jacob.  It took him a week to read 2Nephi. A week! I started in 2Nephi a month ago, and I'm still on chapter 17 or something! So he's awesome at the reading, but he's still working on getting comfortable with praying.  but he's on his way!

We did Sharing Time in Primary yesterday!  It was fun :) .  I will send pictures.  

Soo.....on my first day of driving in the snow, I may or may not have gotten the car stuck....we had to get towed.  Haha. Here's a picture. 

The Lord absolutely answers prayers.  There is no doubt in my mind that the blessings I have seen so far on my mission come directly from Him.  He cares about the our needs and the needs of our investigators.  He cares about your needs.  He may not always answer us in the time that we think is necessary and in the way that we want Him to, but that's where patience and faith comes in.  I gave a talk on Sunday in one of our wards about receiving revelation.  One of the things I talked a lot about was patience.  Although nowadays we are so used to getting any question we have answered instantaneously by Google and other websites, God does not work like the internet.  We must be patient and recognize that His knowledge and His timing is best.  I love you so much and hope you had a great Thanksgiving!

God Bless,

Sister Moreland