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