Sledding Christmas Eve

                                            Friends (Andy and Brock) from BYU visiting in Pocatello

Hope everyone had a great Christmas!

We saw some Christmas miracles this week! A few days prior to Christmas, we were trying to see a girl named Graciela that we had met outside of her apartment.  When we knocked on her door, her roommate answered instead. Her roommate's name is Kiki and it turns out that she's from China!  She was the only one home and she let us inside.  We showed her the Christmas videos, and although she has no religious background at all, her Grandma in China is Christian, so she's heard about God and Jesus Christ.  The girl that we took with us invited Kiki to the church Christmas program, and Kiki accepted! So yesterday she came to church, and we sat by her and explained some of the things that were happening (the sacrament,etc).  She seemed to really enjoy it!  She accepted to learn more, so we look forward to meeting with her again!

We also had another miracle this week.  This was just the day before Christmas Eve.  It was in the middle of the afternoon, and we stopped the car on the side of a residential street in order to look at our map and figure out who we would try and see next.  I glanced up from the map and saw somebody bundled up and walking in the snow alone.  I didn't even think-----I just said almost automatically, "we need to talk to that person."  I got out of the car, Sister Gilbert following behind me, and we approached the person walking on the other side of the street.  He was a young man named Eric.  Eric told us that he was from California---he had just moved to Idaho that day.  We gave him a pass-along card about Christmas, and he seemed pleased, "Oh! Christan! I just accepted Jesus 2 or 3 years ago."  We talked with him a bit about that, and he accepted our invitation to come teach him about the Restored Gospel!  We are really excited about both of these miracles.  Christmas really is a wonderful time of year!  

We ate with several families and made homemade donuts with President and Sister Hancock! That was super fun.  Went sledding a bit, watch a movie with the zone, and played a very intense version of capture the flag. 

With the upcoming New Years, make it a time to give Christ His "birthday present".  For your New Years Resolutions, you can give Christ a gift by resolving to pray more.  Maybe you can make a resolution to be kinder to your neighbors and friends.  Perhaps you want to make it a goal to go to church, or to focus on the sacrament more as you attend meetings. Your New Years Resolution could be to say "thank you" more often, or even to spend more quality time with family members.  Whatever it is, dedicate this year of 2016 to the God who loves you more than words can describe. I LOVE YOU ALL!

God Bless,

Sister Moreland 

Guess who came home to Pocatello for the holidays?? Andy and Brock!  

Me and Sister Gilbert after sledding!

 

You will only understand if you are a Monty Python fan!

                                                           New Companion, Sister Gilbert

                                                                         First attempt at queso

MERRRRRRRRRRYYY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

New Companion!!

I can usually tell from the first few days what a companionship is going to be like. And I can already tell that it is going to be a fantastic transfer!

My new companion is Sister Gilbert.  She is from Huntington, Utah and has been out for 7 months. She's a brand new STL, so we've got a new STL training a brand new STL. So this should be fun.

I am excited to work with Sister Gilbert.  We've been sharing a lot of the goals that we have for this transfer and it's looking like we're on the same page--we want to be bold, fearless missionaries who are diligent workers.  Ahhh I'm so excited, Sister Gilbert is great. I don't know if I mentioned this in my last email, but she served in McAmmon while I served in Inkom.  The two towns are really close to each other, so us Inkom sisters would get rides form McAmmon sisters all the time, and vice versa.  So we got pretty tight there.  

All the ISU students are going home for Christmas break, which means, in terms of young single adults, Pocatello will be a ghost town for the next couple of weeks.  Most of our investigators are going out of town to see their families for Christmas.  One of our Investigators, Ali, is going back to his home country for the break. Please pray for him. 

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Yearrrrrr!! I can't wait to Skype y'all and see how you're doing.  Although I will miss hanging with the cousins, eating cottage cheese pie, making a gingerbread house, and going to the theater to see a movie on Christmas Day, I love Christmas in the mission field because of how exciting it is to 'announce' to everyone about the birth of the Savior.  It makes me feel like the angel announcing to the shepherds of the glorious news. Thing this year of what you can give Christ for His birthday.  I love you all so much!

Merry Christmas and God Bless,

Sister Moreland

we tried making homemade queso. Didn't really turn out, but it still tasted good. haha

Don't have a whole lot of time today!

Sister Green is entering the Mission Home today to go home!! So we've got to get a bunch of stuff ready, clean our apartment, which is destroyed right now, before my new companion comes.  Oh! My new companion! Her name is Sister Gilbert.  When I was serving in Inkom, she was in McAmmon, which is right next to Inkom so we saw each other on P-day every week, got rides from each other, etc.  She's from Utah and has been out for about 7 months. So I'm excited to get a companion that is right smack in the middle of her mission, I feel like that's when you're the most completely focused because you've been in the mission field for a while so you don't think about family or anything back home anymore, and you're not in that stage where you're starting to make preparations for coming home yet.  So I'm excited and ready to light the fire of missionary work!

Short and sweet one.  I love the Lord.  His Church is true! 

God Bless and Merry Christmas,

Sister Moreland

ps if you haven't seen the 2 min Xmas video yet, check it out here

It's commiiinnngggggggggggg!!!!!

Christmas.

It's coming.

Soon.

Get ready.

I'M SO EXCITED.

Alrighty here we go.  We had a Zone Conference.  It was full of slideshow goofy pictures, funny talent show shenanigans, and lots of Christmas excitement.  There, they introduced the website.  THE WEBSITE.  Christmas.mormon.org.  This website has a 2 minute video called "A Savior is Born" and it is absolutly wonderful.  I love the African kid.  That's probably my favorite part. He's just so passionate about it.  

So we got Christmas pass-along cards, like they give us every year, and we've been handing them out like candy.  Telling everybody about the good news!  Christmas!  A Savior is born! And not just any Savior, your Savior!  

To see what the world would be like without a Savior, check out this 2 minute video called Why We Need a Savior.

Yesterday we watched the Christmas Devotional Broadcast and that got me super excited about Christmas as well.  I love Christmas music.  It makes me so incredibly happy.

So last week, we went to contact a less active girl named Kate, and Kate didn't seem too excited to have us there.  Her roommate Alexis, however, is not a member of the church and seemed eager for us to return.  We went back yesterday and shared a brief message about the Book of Mormon.  She talked about how she was super open and willing to learn more.  We were doing cartwheels in our heads on the way out!  Miracle, my friends.  God lead us straight to Alexis, I'm sure of it. 

Once you watch the videos on Christmas.mormon.org, post it on facebook, twitter, instagram, pinterest, and any other social media you have! Spread this wonderful message of Christmas joy.

Merry Christmas and God Bless!

Sister Moreland

To my beloveds,

Happy Turkey Day!  So this week we taught a new investigator from Nigeria! I LOVE teaching all of these young adults from different countries and cultures.  We Americans can be so very stubborn sometimes haha.  But the people that I have taught so far that have been from foreign countries have been so meek, so open to God, and so willing to hear and act on this message.  This new investigator has a ton of questions, many of which are very thought-provoking.  We hope that he will turn to God to find the answers to his questions.  

It snooooooooooowwwweeeeddddddddd!!!  I forgot how much I love the snow.  It puts me in such a Christmasy mood.  Even though it wasn't even Thanksgiving yet.  I am loving the snow!  And people like to let us in their house when it's cold outside :))) mehehehehe......

 

Well, for Thanksgiving, we served dinner at a senior center, which was way fun!  Then we went to a member of the stake presidency's house to have Thanksgiving dinner. (No, I didn't do any cooking.  Ain't nobody got time fo dat.)    Oh, man, I miss Thanksgiving in Texas.  They just don't do it up here like they do back home.  No creamed corn and no cottage cheese pie.  Man, I miss cottage cheese pie. In the evening, all of the missionaries in our zone got together and played a game called 'murder in the dark'. It was lots of fun.  

Well, sorry I don't have more info about the week.  But that's all I can think of for now.  Being a missionary is the best.  I love it here in Pocatello and I love teaching this age group. They are just searching for themselves, for their purpose in life, for a direction, and Jesus Christ provides it.  It's just the right time in their lives.  I love you all and hope to hear how things are going for you!

God Bless,

Sister Moreland

I tried to take a picture of the snow in the dark.  Didn't really work. Plus I kind of blinked.

Caught the APs shoveling snow! Haha

Hellooooo everybody!

Haha to be perfectly honest I don't really remember much about what happened this week.  Kind of a blur.  So this is going to be kind of short because it was kind of uneventful.  

The highlight of my week was our lesson with Al yesterday.  He is continuing to read the Book of Mormon and says he prayed this week and "had a feeling---it was peaceful"  as he prayed.  As missionaries, when we hear that people are experiencing these kinds of things, on the outside, we're all calm and smiley but on the inside we are just shouting "WWOOO-HOOO!!!"  we came out of that lesson just giddy with glee.  He has a desire to continue and he is seriously considering baptism. 

We went to a fantastic meeting this week where a couple of brethren from the mission department came and gave us tons of training on what to do and what not to do when teaching. Great stuff! While we were there a sister that is currently serving in Blackfoot gave me a sticky note with a note from DawnRae on it! It made me so happy to hear from her!! I miss that family so much.   One of my favorite things is hearing from people from past areas.  So that made my day!

Also, I went on exchanges in Inkom this week!  It was kind of weird, it's like I never left.  haha.  It was great to see a few of the families that I taught and worked with while I was there.  Great exchange! 

 

For thanksgiving, we are going to a High Councilman's house for dinner. Like last year, it's a service day, so we'll probably find some kind of food kitchen to serve thanksgiving dinner at.  Unlike last year, however, this year we are getting together with the other missionaries in the evening and playing games and stuff.  So that will be fun.  

I'm trying to eat as well as I can before thanksgiving so that I can gain it all back at thanksgiving. ha.

 

Love you all, have a Happy Happy Thanksgiving, and may you see all the blessings of God in your life during this season! 

God Bless,

Sister Moreland

                                                      HALLOWEEN COSTUMES - PERFECT!

                                                         SHELLEY AND NATE SURPRISE VISIT

                                                                              MIRANDA BAPTISM

woah woah woah what a week

Idaho State University is awesome.  There are a few differences in teaching college students in young single adult ward that I've noticed before.  One bad thing about Idaho during the winter is that it gets dark around 5:30, so by the time it's 6:00, it's pitch black, so when you knock on a door at 6:00, people are already getting ready for bed and they are really irritated that you are there so "late".  But not in college world! Everyone is up past midnight anyway, so they are cool with you coming by even when it's dark outside.  So that is a relief.  

We had a baptism this Saturday! That's always a nice way to start off the week. Miranda is an amazing young woman and I can't wait to get to know her as we begin reviewing the discussions! 

We are teaching a student from Saudi Arabia (there are a lot here) named Ali.  He is currently reading the Book of Mormon in Arabic and has some great questions about it.  We had a lesson with him this week, and we explained how the spirit can feel (feelings of love, joy, peace, etc.)  We asked him if he's ever felt like that before.  In broken English, he said, "yes," that he had felt that way when he was at church the week before.  He said "It was...a feeling in my heart..it was beautiful."  I was so excited to hear that!  What a beautiful thing the spirit of the Lord is.  It changes lives, that's for sure!

I also had a wonderful surprise on Sunday.  Right after sacrament meeting we were talking with people in the chapel when two people walked into the chapel and I had to do a double take.  When I did, I saw Shelley!  I was so surprised, but I rushed over as fast as I could to embrace her.  After some tears were shed and we hugged a few more times, she introduced me to her fiace, Nate.  It was so good to see them!  I can't thank her enough for coming all this way to see me and to introduce me to Nate.  I am so happy for them!  What a beautiful couple :)

Love you all so much, hope you have a great week!

God Bless,

Sister Moreland

Hellooo everybody!

So on Saturday morning, Sister Richins was busy packing and I was busy updating the Area Book,  looking over maps and making sure I knew the area and everything.  Then we get a phonecall from the Assistants!  Oh, who could my new companion be? I was excited to find out.  The Assistant, Elder Fontes, said that Sister Richins would, of course, be going home.  Then he asked me if I wanted to go to Pocatello.   "No," I replied simply.  He hesitated.  I had thought he was joking.  But apparently he wasn't.  I've been called as a Sister Training Leader and I am going to Pocatello to join Sister Green, who was just in St. Anthony before me as companions with Sister Richins.  I was stunned.  I was really upset, to be honest.  I was expecting them to turn St. Anthony into a Sister Training Leader area.  I had honestly thought that I would be spending the rest of my mission in St. Anthony.  After hanging up with them, I completely abandoned my tasks that I had been doing before, began packing, and just cried.  For a good while as I was packing, I was pretty mopey.  It's just that we've had so many miraculous things happen in St. Anthony, we had had 14 new investigators come our way in a single month, and now they were whitewashing the area?  It just made me really sad that I was going to have to leave after just a transfer.  But I tried to find positives in the sadness. "at least it'll be warmer in Pocatello". "at least I'll be with the same Zone I was before."  Ha that'll be weird.  I said goodbye to everybody in the Pocatello Zone down there, and now I'm already coming back to the Zone.  "Just kidding, y'all, I'm back!" 

Well it's been wonderful being here.  Just wasn't long enough, but I know I'll learn new things no matter where I'm serving and who I'm with.  

God Bless,

Sister Moreland

    

                                                                          Halloween Celebration

                                                                               St. Anthony District

Hello to my loved ones!

Happy Halloweeeeenn!  I will send pictures of our costumes once the other sisters send them to me.  We wore these costumes when we met up with the rest of the Zone, and the other missionaries really got a kick out of it.  So then we watched the Cokeville Miracle. Okay, my friends, if you have not seen this movie, watch it. It's a true story, and it's fantastic.  I even saw some actors in it that I recognized from BYU! haha that's what you get when you're a Theatre major, I suppose. 

Holy cow. God is sending us so many miracles, I don't know if I can keep up with them!  Like sometimes I'm just thinking, "I don't know what He expects me to be able to do with these miracles I can't keep up gaaahhhh!!"   But I'm trying my best. I guess that's a good problem to have.

A few days ago, we got a phone call from a man in one of our wards.  He said there is this girl that works at the gas station in town that's not a member.  He had apparently told her that he was going to send the missionaries to see her that day.  So we go to the gas station, and I am fully prepared to meet a super uncomfortable worker who has to awkwardly explain that she didn't really expect the man to send missionaries.  But to my surprise, as soon as we entered the gas station, a girl about 18 was there and just said "are you looking for me? I'm Brynn." We began talking with her and discovered that she's always had LDS friends growing up and has had an interest in learning more, but her Mom was never supportive of it, so she's never really gotten the chance.  So now that she's graduated, she said that she is just "ready" to meet with missionaries.    Wat.    What the heck is with this area?!?  I have never been somewhere that has had this many people pop out of nowhere and want to meet with us. 

So yesterday, we had our first lesson with her.  We shared the message of the Restoration of the Gospel with her, and she was in tears as the members that were with us testified that she is a daughter of God and that this is true.  The spirit filled the room tangibly, and I could feel the love that God has for Brynn.  We are SO EXCITED to continue meeting with her.

Miracles happen, y'all. You just gotta open your eyes to see it! Love you!

God Bless,

Sister Moreland

To my loved ones,

Well Sister Stephens has decided to go home.  She will be leaving at the end of this transfer, which is one week from today.  She's been a great companion, I will really miss her.  Having only been in this huge area for 6 weeks, I'm a little nervous about leading out the area.  I can't even remember where everything is...wish me luck!  Or if you'd like, a prayer for my mind to be expanded would be much appreciated! haha :)  

I LOVE THIS AREA. 

Okay, I've got to tell a little miracle story here.  About a week ago we got a phone call from a newlywed couple (both returned missionaries) that said they invited their non-member neighbors to dinner at their house and would like us to come!  We went yesterday.  The family consisted of the parents and 4 daughters.  They just moved from Oregon a few months ago, hence why they are all non-members.  They told us that they were Christian and attended a bible church in town.  After dinner, we shared a message with them about Christ and his restored church.  We asked if we could continue to meet with them to teach them more about the gospel.  I didn't think they would say yes, especially since they already have a church they've been going to (most people are pretty content with their own church if they have one they are going to consistently).  But the wife surprised me by saying "Sure!" I was elated.  We set up an appointment for this Wednesday to begin teaching them.  Sister Richins and I praised God the entire rest of the day for that wonderful miracle!

Love you all so much, hope everything is going well! I continue to keep you in my prayers!

God Bless,

Sister Moreland

Dear Family and Friends,

What a week!

Sister Richins was sick for a few days this week, so I got a bit antsy for a few days.  But we had a FANTASTIC lesson this week with Lindsay and Don.  They are fairly new investigators, Lindsay just asked the Primary President out of the blue if she could come over to her house to ask her questions about our Church.  The Primary President said yes, of course, and asked Lindsay if she could invite the missionaries, too.  Lindsay agreed, but before we even got to meet with her in the home, she came to church during the primary program and loved it! So now we are teaching her and Don, and she shared the most incredible experience with us this week.

Lindsay had accepted our commitment last week to pray about baptism, so this week she asked God if it was the right thing for her to be baptized.  She told us that in that moment, she saw in her mind's eye herself in the middle of a wheat field. As she was looking across this wheat field, she saw right in the middle a light, just a light resting on the wheat.  She didn't really know what it meant, and she's not too familiar with the Bible or parables.  She told Don about it, and Don, who is well-read in the Bible, told her that the imagery of wheat is very common in the Bible, and that Jesus uses it as a symbol in many of its parables.  She felt good about baptism and felt that what she saw as she prayed was an answer that this was the right thing for her to do.  As Lindsay told us about this experience, the spirit filled the room.  I know that what she experienced was truly from God, as He has so many different ways of communicating with us and giving us answers and direction in life.  The spirit confirmed to me that day, as it has in many other days past, that this gospel is the true and only path to God.  It's moments and lessons like these that make everything in missionary work completely worth it.  

I love y'all so much! Thank you for all your love and support!

God Bless,

Sister Moreland

We went to the sand dunes last Monday!

                                       You know your hair is getting too long when you step on it

                                                               With Sister Timothy before transfers

                                                                             Excited Missionaries!
To my dearest family,

I just got really happy because the family history center that I'm emailing at right now just started playing the theme song to Harry Potter.  I am now humming along happily as my companion rolls her eyes at me. Hahahaha.  Oh, my goodness, I miss Harry Potter.

Okay.  I've been super behind on journaling, so I'm having a really hard time remembering what we did this week.  We had a great time doing service at a food bank, we and the Elders got to take some of the leftovers, so we came home with a cardboard box full of croissants.  Oh, my deliciousness so good. 

We got a few new investigators this week, one we met outside of her apartment.  I am so glad we didn't simply rush past her to our appointment, but instead we took the time to talk to her and get to know her! She has only lived here for a few months and has never talked to missionaries! That never happens around here so we jumped on the opportunity and offered to come by and talk to her more about God in her life, and she accepted!  The other new investigator was found from a "potential investigator" contact in our phone, which we texted to know who it was, and they accepted to have us come over and teach them the gospel!  Um what? Miracles are real! 

Hope you all are having a wonderful week and seek to recognize the Holy Ghost every day.  He is there when you seek His guidance and he will speak as you are ready to listen.  

God Bless,

Sister Moreland

                                                                                    Shaylee's Baptism

                                                                             About time for a hair trim.

Helloooo everybodayy!

What a wonderful conference weekend!  

So this past week, I've been reflecting a lot on my own personal progress as a missionary.  At times I was a bit discourage because there are times where I feel that--even with everything that I've been doing and that I have gone through in the last year--I haven't really changed all that much.  That thought is quite disturbing to me, as I've been through so much in the past year and I feel as though I've grown a lot, but there are some days where I feel as though I'm going backwards.  The strength you gain as a missionary sometimes seems to take a step forward and then take a step back.  Sometimes you feel as though you have become a patient and loving person, only to fall to impatience and anger and think "Well. Back to square one."  Well this feeling got extremely frustrating this week, and so I was pondering a lot on what I needed to do to be the person that Christ wants and needs to be.  For General Conference, however, I had a question in mind that was more specific towards some of the people we are teaching, how we can help them, etc.  Although this question was met with some pointers and inspiration in Conference that could help my investigators, the overall message that I got from Conference was an answer to what had been bothering me for weeks.  I look forward to studying my notes from Conference all week this week and continuing to get new inspiration every day.  

I went through watching Conference thinking "Oh. This is my favorite talk."  but then as conference continued, I would think "Oh wait no, this talk is my favorite." Haha, too many good talks this year.  The first that really stood out to me was Larry R. Lawrence's on sacrificing and praying about what we can do to be stronger disciples of Christ.  We had just talked about sacrifice in our Zone Training the day before, so I thought it quite appropriate. I also saw a recurring theme on parenthood and raising children in righteousness.  Very uplifting, overall. 

Thank you for all of your love and support.  I love you all so much!

Sister Moreland

Transfer Day

New Comp

                                                                                  TRANSFER DAY!

                                         Trying to teach Elder Anderson how to do Grumpy Cat Face!

                                                                  Saying good-bye to Sister Stephens

                                                          Last Good-byes to the good folks of Inkom

                                                      Totally Lost Photo Op!  Anybody else see it?

Helloooh to everybody!

Here I am in St. Anthony.  At the moment I am in the family history center here, munching on some who-knows-how-old dried apples that I found in our apartment.  There was lots of random food stuff in there when I got here, so we're trying to get rid of most of it by either throwing it away or eating it so that we can make more room for food we will buy at the store.  I don't think anyone's gone through the past missionaries' stuff for years--there were cans and foods from like 2013.  Gross.  But it feels great to de-junk.  It's quite therapeutic. 

The area that we cover has a whopping 9 wards.  That's the size of my first and second area combined.  It's a bit overwhelming, and there are a lot of names, people, and meeting times to remember, but slowly and surely, I'm sure I'll get it.  I'm just praying for the Lord to expand my mind so that I can fit everything inside.

My companion is Sister Richins.  She is from Flagstaff, Arizona, is 20 years old, has been out for 14 months, and has a beautiful singing voice.  Upon arriving here, I was told that we have 2 investigators that are preparing for baptism!  So that is a pleasant surprise!  Sounds like St. Anthony has been really catching fire.  Since both Sister Richins and I are pretty new, we're still trying to figure out our area, meet all 9 of our Bishops and Ward Mission Leaders, setting up dinner schedules, etc.  Keeping us busy for sure.  

Ew. These apples are really gross.  But for some reason I can't stop eating them.  

We had a lesson with Trevor and Sicily yesterday, a young couple that the missionaries have been teaching.  It was a great lesson on following the prophet and how they can prepare for general conference this weekend.  It made me ponder on how I personally can prepare for general conference.  I have decided to take my own advice and come to conference with a few specific questions in mind. I will write these questions down, watch general conference, and take notes on the things I hear or impressions I receive that answer my questions.  I recommend that everyone try it!  Here is a video on how to prepare.

Women's Session on Saturday was awesome!  I loved Linda Reed's talk on staying pure in a world with so much impurity.  Her advice to pray continually and read the scriptures was a point that we got to talk about with Trevor during his lesson, so I was grateful for the inspiration. 

Love you all soo much! 

God Bless,

Sister Moreland

Well, guess who's getting transferred?

We get transfer calls on Thursday, and usually if you are getting transferred, they called you around noon or 1:00, maybe 2:00 at the very latest.  So we were doing weekly planning this Thursday, and it was Noon, 1:00, 2:00, 3:00, we went out and started seeing people 4:00...still no call.  So we are like "Cool! We're both staying here another transfer!"  At 4:45, we get a call from the APs.  They informed us that Sister Stephens is staying and that Sister Fa'oa, from Tonga, will be accompanying her.  I will be transferring to St. Anthony! That's Sister Stephens' first area! That's the 2nd time that I've gotten transferred to my companion's first area.  I was surprised, and honestly a bit disappointed.  I had really hoped to stay here one more transfer.  Oh well.  God needs me where He needs me.  But it's gonna be cold as heck in St. Anthony.  My new companion will be Sister Richins.  Her name is familiar, but I've met her, and I don't know anything about her.  I didn't even think to ask the AP's anything about her because I was just so stunned that I was even getting transferred.

Whew, boy transfers are crazy.  I was talking yesterday with some men from the ward and they were talking about how, back in their day, they would call you the night before to tell you if you were getting transferred.  I'm just glad they give us 6 days to pack up and get prepared! But it still doesn't feel like enough.  There are too many people to say goodbye to!  Also, my new companion Sister Richins has only been in St. Anthony for 2 weeks, so both of us are going to be pretty new to the area.  So we are pretty much whitewashing (both new to the area having to figure things out.)  So that makes me a little nervous, but I'm sure we'll be okay.  

Bleh. I hate packing.  I have finally admitted it.  I am a hoarder.  I can't get myself to get rid of anything.  Mom, Dad, you'll be finding a package in the mail soon that is full of junk that I couldn't bring myself to get rid of but that wouldn't fit in my suitcase.  Thanks.

Can't wait to see what new adventures this transfer brings!! Besides frozen toes and frostbite. Love y'all!

Love,

Sister Moreland

goodbye to the Lopez Family!

                                                                            At Idaho State Fair

                                                                             Idaho State Fair

                                                 Pink Dress Notecard mom sent - makes a pretty dress

                                                Paige, Jeremy, Zaiah, Trinity, Me and Sister Stephens

Hellooooo!

We went to the FAIR last P-day!  Our investigator, Richard, invited us, so our awesome ward mission leader, Sister Clark, took us and we met up with Richard and his wife and all went around the fair together!  First I got a 'tiger ear', which is just really big frybread with cinnamon sugar.  Then we saw the Indian relay races, which is where these guys from different Indian tribes from around the area race horses bareback, jump off the horses, then jump onto a different horse and continue racing. It is crazy!!  Also, we were walking around the different shops and things, and I saw Brock!!  He has been at school but came back to visit his family for labor day.  It was so great to see him!!  I've forgotten how much I've missed some of my friends back home. Great day!

TRINITY GOT BAPTIZED!!!  Her and her family have been preparing so much for this day!  There was a bit of last-minute confusion about who was baptizing her (apparently her Uncle didn't get the memo! :o  )  but it eventually all worked out, and there was a great turn-out.  

The Lord is with me. I can feel Him supporting me through every day.  There is still so much for me to learn and do here, I just hope I can cram it all into the time that the Lord has allotted me.  I love studying the gospel.  If I could do it all day, I would.  If I could just bury myself in the Bible and in the Book of Mormon, studying the life of the Savior, I would.  Sometimes, when we're walking, I like to imagine the Savior, in his sandals and his long white robe, walking in front of me, leading us where to go.  All I have to do is follow, as the disciples of old did.  It gives me confidence knowing that the Savior has promised to "go before [my] face." I know that he has promised to "be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up."   

 I have felt this personally, and I know it's true. I pray that you can all feel this influence.

God Bless,

Sister Moreland

                                 Ran into Brock, a fellow thespian from BYU, while at the State Fair in Idaho

Hellloooooooooo Everybody!

Gotta keep this short because we are leaving in 30 minutes to go to the IDAHO FAIR!!! It's in Blackfoot, so I'm really hoping to see old friends and investigators from Blackfoot! :D Gonna be a fun day!!

Trinity (10) and her parents are preparing for her baptism this Saturday! We are super excited for her and her family. They really have had a desire to come back to the gospel and to receive the blessings accordingly.  Making gospel habits can be hard, but it's always worth it. 

 One thing Sister Stephens and I have realized this week is that the Lord always lovingly beckons, he never forces.  Satan, however, "drags". He does anything and everything to take our agency away from us.  That is exactly why it is so hard to stop bad habits that keep you from the Savior, but really easy to slip out of good habits, because the Savior never forces.  But He always wants to help, so we just have to pray for strength to get into/continue good habits!

Love you all sooooo much! I will make sure and send lots of pics next week from the FAIR!! 

God Bless,

Sister Moreland

                                                                Sister Stephens and Sister Moreland

                                                                     Sister Moreland, snake charmer

                                                                              stacking hay

Hey hey hey!

Interesting things this week.  I caught a little snake. That was fun. Maybe I'm a snake charmer.  First: a garden snake, next: a boa constrictor. 

Also, we helped stack hay this week.  Man those things are heavier than they look.  I felt super buff afterwards.  

We had a lesson yesterday for the very first time with a man who just lost his wife 3 weeks ago.  His name is Troy, and he is very depressed and frustrated with everything he's having to cope with, and although we explained to him about God's Plan of Salvation, he seems to pretty mad at God right now.  However, he did like certain aspects of it.  When we explained how Christ understands Troy's pains because He went through it, Troy paused for a moment. Then said, "I can dig that."  So I think he'll really like what the gospel has to offer him, he's just in a pretty intense stage of grieving right now. 

Things are going well. Still always working on how I can improve and how I can make sure that the Savior makes such a tremendous change in me that there's no way it can reverse when I get home.  

Love you all so much!

God Bless,

Sister Moreland

       

                                                              Smoke from the Idaho Wildfires

                                                 Two Elders and her "Mom" (Sister Worrall) going home!

                                                                        Got the glasses, left the hat

                                                                      Selfie with a Grizzly Bear

       I held a chicken at the zoo! Caught by Elder Banez. Elder Banez is The Chicken Whisperer.

                                                                  Hidden ditches everywhere!
Hellooo everybody!

This week we made "Buddah Mochi".  Twice.  Buddah Mochi is a Hawaiian dessert stuff, it's like a sticky cake.  The first time we made it, we put too much rice flour in it, so it kind of came out tasting like sweet cornbread.  I thought it was some pretty good cornbread, but Sister Stephens said it was awful Buddah Mochi.  So we saved it in our fridge and later made strawberry short cake out of it.  We tried it again the next day, and apparently we put too much baking powder in it, so it came out tasting like a really thick crepe.  I thought it was great, but Sister Stephens still thought it was terrible.  We gave it to people anyway, haha.  

There are a couple kids from Inkom, they're all around 18 and 19, they are all non-member and really have no church influence or even God influence in their lives.  We saw one of them this week, we've seen him around quite a bit so we've gotten to know him pretty well.  He and his friend that was with him told us about the negative influence that drugs have had on their lives.  Even knowing how these things had ruined their lives, they still were not willing to accept the things that could help them recover and heal the wounds that they had.  It's sad, but we really hope that one day they will be willing to turn to something greater than themselves for help.

Sooo after a lesson on Saturday, we were pulling out of this person's very rocky and treacherous driveway, and we drove next to some shrubs.  Little did we know, these shrubs were hiding a small but deep ditch.  Our front wheel fell into this rocky ditch while our back wheel was lifted into the air.  We had to go back inside and request the help of our investigator to get out.  After a brief prayer, our resourceful friend found some wooden boards to shove underneath the front wheel, which pried it up a bit, and that did the trick!  Gahh. I am so done with car problems.

Love you all sooo much!  Thank you for your letters and emails! :)

God Bless,

Sister Moreland