what a day, what a week

Wow. Finals being over REALLY open up doors. I don't have a TON of time to email right now, but just a few things real quick! This week we were CRAZY busy because suddenly everyone and their mother could meet with us! I have a feeling this is about to be a great summer. 

Okay so miracles really do happen! Fasting really does work! Alfredo wanted us to fast with him that he could get work off on sundays so he can go to church and get baptised on June 11! So obviously we were super excited and WOW we saw the blessings from it because he was able to talk to his manager and get transferred to a different unit and NOW HE DOESN'T HAVE TO WORK ON SUNDAYS!!! We are SO excited. 

Another miracle that happened this week is that we found TWO binders full of former investigators just chillin in a cabinet at the church building. What they were doing there, I have no idea. BUT we are currently going through them and COOLEST STORY OF THE WEEK. So like two nights ago we got home a little early so we decided to contact some of them and we felt like we should call this girl named Eve. So we call her and she answers and she's SO excited that we called and asking us all these questions and then she goes "so it's reallly funny that you called because today I was sitting in Harvard square thinking about how I kinda wanted to come back to church and see if it will make me happier." SO WE'RE MEETING WITH HER THIS WEEK! Miracles. do. happen.

Today was so great. We started off the day by playing ultimate frisbee and spike ball with our zone at Harvard stadium. Then there was a man in our stake named Bert who is WAY nice and LOVES missionaries. Today was his birthday, so he wanted to take a bunch of us out to lunch! So we went to a super fancy restaurant and all 10 missionaries ate the best lunch ever. Then (he thinks the sisters are better) he bought sister Graham and me MASSIVE bouquets of flowers. Then he took us to L.A. Burdick (which is the coolest chocolate shop ever) and bought all of us chocolate! So yeah today was great. 

But that's about all I have time for today! Love you all and have a good week! (:

-Sister Morley

Slow but we got chocolate

HELLO EVERYONE! Okay so this week actually went by REALLY slow. It was the last week of finals so no one wanted to meet with us and on top of that EVERYTHING cancelled that we did have planned. Even zone conference. And zone conference NEVER cancels. Oh well. It was still a good week!

On Tuesday we went to a member's house who LOVES feeding missionaries. And he gave us so. much. chocolate. I'll definitely attach a picture. It's ridiculous. BUT we got food poisoning so we were sick all day Wednesday when we were doing weekly planning which was something we both just laughed about. We picked up a new investigator named Chris! He's super cool and he has a baptismal date for July 2! We also met with Sami and Patrick again and they're SO CLOSE to getting engaged they just have to take that leap of faith! They're SO cute I just want them to get married and for him to be baptized! We did our Thursday service as per usual which is always super fun, but they guy in charge of it (his name is kelly and he's from haiti) is SUPER loud and always tells the same joke about a guy with no arms... anyways. On Friday we taught Alfredo again and GUESS WHAT HIS PHONE IS GETTING FIXED THIS FRIDAY!!!! So we will actually be able to get in contact with him whenever we need to! So he should be getting baptized VERY soon! So I guess this week was relatively uneventful but we're STOKED for this coming week because EVERYONE IS WILLING TO MEET WITH US NOW THAT FINALS ARE OVER! WAHOO! Also here's a picture of us with Patrick and Sami (: We love them a lot! 

-Sister Morley 

yeah still cold

so it rained this literal entire week. which is fine except also way too cold for me. It's may and I'm way over wearing my coat.

ANYWAYS. So this week and next week are finals for harvard and mit and basically all the smart schools and grad schools and med schools and yeah. so NO ONE wants to talk to us or meet with us because theyre all busy studying and taking tests so this week was kinda mediocre.

On tuesday my companion had surgery. AND SHE WAS AWAKE FOR IT. okay to be honest it was just a mole removal BUT STILL i was there and got to watch it and it was siiiiiick (in the cool way not in the gross way) On Wednesday we taught Leonardo again, which went really well! He's still on track for his June 25 baptismal date! On thursday (cinco de mayo) we did weekly planning (as per usual) and service! we do service at a food bank with some of the elders in our zone and this week they were filming us haha it was super weird. Then Friday we had Zone meeting which was all  about how to gain and show more love for our investigators. it was really spiritual, and it's so cool how principles we learn to apply on the mission can turn around and be applied in real life too with our families. On friday night we had dinner with the recent convert in the portugese branch Aline! she took us to a brazilian grill and it was PHENOMINAL. like I'm slightly obsessed with it. ALSO friday was sister grahams ONE YEAR MARK!!! she only has 6 months left! In honor of that, I decorated the house, and we took some super awkward pictures that ill definitely attach On Saturday we had exchanges AGAIN with the spanish sisters BUT THIS TIME they had to come into our area SO I DIDNT HAVE TO FALL ASLEEP IN SPANISH LESSONS HALLELUJIA. But as luck would have it, the morning of exchanges, everything cancelled hahahahah. go figure. so we contacted a TON. We ended up teaching leonardo and then exchanged back right before dinner. For dinner we went to George and Tina's hosue! Tina is a recent(ish) convert and George wants to get baptised SO bad! he just hasnt been able to come to church so we're trying really hard with him! they fed us an irish dinner though because theyre from ireland! And of course yesterday was mothers day and i got to skype home! which made my week so great! 

But even on the weeks where everyone has finals, and appointments cancel, missionary work is still the greatest and most rewarding work literally ever. I'm dead tired 90% of the time, but I'm also crazy happy and LOVE being a missionary! I love you all and thank's for all your support! 

-Sister Morley

FLYIN

this week FLEW (hence the caption) but it was SO FUN. Speaking of flying this email is gonna be quick and probably short.

On monday we went to Revere Beach with our zone which was so fun I love my zone! Then on Tuesday we taught a lesson with the Portuguese Elders to a guy we contacted on the bus, and he committed to baptism! (to be fair I only know that because the elders told me what happened, i didn't understand any of the actual lesson, but it's cool)

Then on Wednesday we taught Jim again, and he always has SO many questions haha it's great but man it's exhausting sometimes. THEN we had this SUPER cool lesson with a guy I contacted on exchanges named Leonardo! (okay so technically his names leonard because his dad forgot to write the o on his birth certificate but hes working on changing his name so oh well) we taught him the restoration with a less active member and everyone was getting emotional and then he committed to baptism on June 25! He came to church on sunday and even bore his testimony! 

On Thursday we had a lesson with Sami and Patrick and basically had a HUGE hheart to heart about marriage AND WOW I have never felt to much love in a lesson, it was incredible. I'm skipping friday because not much happened. BUT SATURDAY WAS GREAT. 

We had service literally all day and it was SO FUN. We cleaned up the charles river, then went to lunch, and then helped someone move. Sometimes you just need a day to JUST serve. It was such a good day. 

ANYWAYS SORRY FOR THE SHORT LETTER but also not sorry because i have great pictures this week so yay. (definitely will attach some separately)

love you all! give your missionaries referrals! 

-Sister Morley

ps the pictures on this email are of us and our zone leaders and then us and our missionary friends who got transferred ):

all good things

Okay so last week (after I emailed) we watched the Boston Marathon at the Mission Office! It was so cool (and way inspirational) to see everyone running and everyone who was pushing along their family members. My favorite part was that we had like 40 missionaries lined up in this one spot and every time there was a Mormon runner they would see us and get SO EXCITED it was like an extra adrenaline rush for them! haha it was great! 

We got a member referral this week for a girl named Elena! She's so cool we taught her the first lesson on tuesday and she's suuuper solid. She's excited to learn all about the plan of salvation and hopefully we will be setting up a baptism date with her this week!

ALFREDO! Okay so last week his phone BROKE. Like we had NO contact with him and we were freaking out (because he's our most progressing investigator and we love him and he is supposed to get baptized soon ya know) ANYWAYS so we were praying and praying to find a way to get in contact with him and it got to the point where we were willing to go tract the ENTIRE town of Newton to try and find this guy. BUT THE LORD BLESSED US SO HARD. We were eating lunch on thursday and we get a call from an unknown number and who is it? ALFREDO! we were so excited and happy! His phone should be getting fixed this week but we'll see! we've met with him twice since then and we will be meeting with him more and more before he get's baptized on the 14th! 

On Wednesday we went on exchanges with the Spanish sisters (hermanas haha) and if there's one thing I learned, It's that I'm SO grateful I didn't get called spanish speaking. I literally don't think I understood a single thing that happened THE ENTIRE DAY. and THEY DIDN'T STOP FEEDING US. Every house we went to fed us! WE ATE LIKE 7 TIMES AND I DON'T UNDERSTAND. It's hard to pay attention in a lesson that is all in a language you know 0 of. so I might have fallen asleep a few times and hermana Lira just laughed at me and said it happens every time they go on exchanges with english sisters. oh well. 

Then on Friday we had District meeting and went to lunch afterwards and we were all together when we got t-texts (texts that tell us who's getting transferred where) and surprise surprise I'm staying in cambridge! so is my companion! We're super excited for everyone who's coming in though! It's going to be a SOLID zone. 

On Saturday we got to go to the recent convert temple date! We helped out in the Baptistery and it was such an amazing experiece to witness people go into the temple for the first time and do baptisms for their own ancestors. IT WAS PACKED THOUGH. i have never seen that many people in a baptistery before! It was way cool. 

ANYWAYS that's about it for this week! It FLEW but I feel like I say that every week. I can't believe I've been out two months??? super weird. Anyways I love you all have a great week (:

-Sister Morley

what a week

I feel like this week was 8 years long, but also like it was 8 seconds long. It was so so good though.

1. So last monday after I emailed we went to the stake center to play basketball and hang out with our zone, which was great! Except it started snowing SO HARD (well at least I thought it was snowing so hard) and it was SO SO COLD. and me, not knowing any better, was not dressed properly for it (i don't understand how people here can just whip out all their winter gear from their little purses whenever it snows? like was that in there the whole time?) and because of the snow, the public transit was way off so we couldn't figure out how to get to our dinner and eventually the zone leaders had to pick us up and take us haha and they all freaked out when they saw me because apparently I looked an inch from death from all the running around in the freezing cold weather. Safe to say i felt about an inch from death ahhaha. It's way too cold here.

2.We had a few lessons this week and they all went relatively well! Alfredo started recognizing the answers to his prayers, and Patrick is making bigger and bigger strides towards baptism! we're so excited for this coming month! it's cool because even we're teaching our investigators who are borderline crazy, it's amazing to realize that the spirit is still there with us, helping us and carrying us through everything we need to do, teach, and say. It's the most comforting feeling in the world.

3. I GOT TO GO TO THE TEMPLE ON WEDNESDAY. The Boston temple is BEAUTIFUL (although I have to admit I'm still partial to the Gilbert Temple) It was amazing! I got to see my MTC companion Sister Clark. I love her to pieces, and as I always say to her, I hope we get companioned together someday.

4. On our way to service on thursday we met this guy named Jajuan who we both just felt like we needed to stop and talk to. He just sat and told us his story and cried and accepted to hear the gospel! we met with him and his girlfriend Sheila on Friday, and to be honest, it was a lot of sitting and listening. and sometimes that's what the first lesson is. And it's good because we really get a feeling of what they need. the spirit was so strong, and we're meeting them again this week. ALSO on our way BACK from service, it was POURING. and i mean we were DRENCHED even with umbrellas it was ridiculous hahahaha I'll attatch a picture.

5. We had zone meeting on friday which was so great but also funny because my companion was the STL in our zone before I got here, so we were still given tons of stuff to do haha. we had to make the entire lunch and everything so it was crazy. I put a picture of most of our zone in this email, some of them already left, but for the most part thats it. I love my zone so much i am so blessed. especially my zone leaders, theyre the best.

6. On saturday the portugese elders in our area got to baptise their investigator Aline! we love her. because she's YSA age, she actually is starting to go to our ward now! So we got to go to her baptism and bring some of our investigators. even though it was all in portugese, it was such an amazing experience. you could feel her happiness and God's love for her. Heavenly Father loves us so much its so incredible. 

Okay well that's all for this week! Have a good week and I love you all and the church is so true! 

Love, 

Sister Morley

SNOW

TOO MUCH SNOW. It's April and it's snowing. I don't get it. BUT despite the cold, I'm still loving Cambridge! It's amazing. and CONFERENCE was amazing! (would i even be a real missionary if I didn't bring up conference in my weekly email?) if you didn't get to watch it, I highly recommend that you go online RIGHT NOW and watch it. or at least watch Elder Holland, Elder Richmond, President Iring, and President Monsons talks. They were my favorite. 

This past week was good! not our best week but it was good! I keep trying to figure out how to format my emails but I think I'm just going to stick with lists or else I forget everything I was going to write.

1. In the MTC they teach you how to teach lessons in 45 minutes or less. My comp and i have a goal to actually do that because it seems like ALL of our investigators have 873 questions for every lesson! which I mean it's good that they want to know and understand what we're teaching but it makes teaching short lessons really really difficult!  

2. We committed Patrick to baptism! I'm so excited because I really love patrick. He found US and said he wants to become a member and bring his inactive girlfriend back to the church!!! now they just have to get married!! hahaha I'm so excited for them but kinda nervous for the next lesson when we tell them that! but we're excited because his baptisimal date is may 7th, and his girlfriend got baptised on may 4th so we might be able to move it to the 4th which would be so cool for them! 

3. One of the people we're teaching is george. He had a baptisimal date a few months ago but it fell through and missionaries havent been able to get in contact with him since then! but he came up to us a few weeks ago when he saw us on the streets and said he wanted to learn again! so we taught him and his girlfreind tina this week, and now we have to get them married too! it's about to be a crazy wedding season here in Cambridge, MA. 

4.Alfredo is still doing well! hopefully still on track to get baptised on the 23rd! the only sketch thing is that a few days ago he was saying something about wanting a sign so we might have to clear some things up about how we get answers to our prayers haha.

5. OKAY so below is a picture of my comp and i outside looking MISERABLE because so yesterday we had a dinner at a members house and we left and went to go wait for the bus and it was about 8:00 and we are supposed to be home by 9, which would usually be pleanty of time except public transportation is SUPER unreliable on weekends so we were outsite and it was like 30 degrees and windy and we were waiting for like 30 minutes and the bus WASN'T COMING. and eventually we called a member to drive us home and we maybe got there by 9:30. IT WAS SO COLD. 

6. One cool story from this week is that sister Graham and i were at the saturday morning session of general conference and we get a phone call from some random number and we go out to answer it and it's this girl named Dominique and shes like yeah i want to come to your church what time is it and we told her about how its general conference and where it is and so she came on sunday, and turns out she dated a few mormons in high school but she was catholic and never wanted to learn anything but now she just felt like it was time that she became open minded to our religion! so she looked us up and found out number! it was such an amazing experience so hopefully we will be able to teach her soon! 

It's STILL snowing as I'm typing this, which isn't cool but I know that Temples are the most Holy places on this Earth, and I know that if we attend them often that we will be blessed beyond measure! I love temples, and I love our prophet and the apostles and the revelation they receive for our church. seriously, if you didn't get to watch conference, GO WATCH IT.

 

I LOVE YOU ALL so much. Also i had my first bowl of clam chowder this week, which rocked.

-Sister Morley

p.s. https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/04/media/session_5_talk_8/4829866645001?lang=eng