First Week in Cali

Hello!!!! Buenos Dias!

How are you guys doing? I don't know whether to say "Wow, it has already been a week?" or "Wow, it has ONLY, been a week?" Both are good though. I feel like so much has happened here and I am loving it!

My companions name is Hermana Tapia. She was born in Mexico and Spanish is her fist language but she has lived in Utah for most of her life. She is from West Valley mom! Is honestly is the best companion I could have hoped for. She is patient, funny, dedicated to the work, and so much more. The mission rules here are a little bit different and more strict which was hard to get used to at first, but I am realizing how much they help me. President Van Cott stresses obedience and from what I have seen, the missionaries listen and are very blessed for it. We work very hard and the Lord blesses us and our areas in return.

So, it turns out that I was the only girl in a group of 11 missionaries. Isn't that funny? It was so weird to be the only girl and ended up being with either Sister Van Cott or her daughter Grace. It was fun. The Elders are all very nice from what I could tell. My first area is technically called Rialto 3rd C. However, it makes it easier to say that I am in Colton California. I am in the Spanish ward and the members are really wonderful. It is a little difficult with the Spanish but I am working my hardest. Hna Tapia really helps me learn how to teach and her attitude makes me want to learn! I love it. 

We have a lot of great investigators here. The big problem we have is "good old Mexican Pride" as Hna Tapia calls it. People are just stubborn. We know they are feeling the Spirit but that they don't want to change. It makes me want to be a better person so that I can be more receptive to the Spirit as well. Did I tell you how happy I am? I feel like this is my mission. I feel the peace that I realized I didn't feel before. It is amazing what the Lord does for us. 

Some fun facts, we drive a 2014 Toyota Corolla. It is super nice. I wouldn't mind having one when I get home! My apartment is pretty nice and we have some nice neighbors. This area reminds me a lot of West Valley which is interesting. I have heard that I am in a gang populated area but I haven't been or felt like I have been in danger which is really nice. 

There are six people in my district and three of us are new. I was talking to Elder Rodrigues and we just laughed about how he had just realized that sisters had rules as well. (Such as one person backing out the car with the other person directing... and so forth.) I like my district a lot. It is super hot here by the way. It is nice to have a car because sometimes I feel like I might melt!

Well, that is all for this week! I love you all so much!

Happy birthday yesterday Zack!

The Lord loves you!

Hermana Morey

Last picture from before she left!

Back in the Field

To all those reading the blog, this is Hermana Morey's sister, Meredith.

After six weeks of recovering, Clarissa has been reassigned to the California Redlands Mission. As soon as she heard her reassignment she felt like things had been inspired, so there has been a lot of excitement about heading back out! She left yesterday, and we just heard from her this morning. So far so good!

Her letter said this:

Dearest Family:

I made it here safely! It is weird, but I am the only sister missionary with six Elders. There was going to be one other sister, but she got sick in the MTC. This mission is a lot different than I thought it would be. A little more run down. I am excited though. Since I am the only Sister they know who my companion is...Sister Toppia or something like that. I am going to be in a Spanish ward, which will be nice!

You know how you mentioned the Morey mansion? Sister Van Cott drove me to it and got a picture of me in front of it. her maiden name is Morrey. The mission president seems really nice. This is going to be a great mission. The rules are A LOT more strict here, which should help me be a better missionary.

I don't have a lot of time, but I want you to know that I love you all so much! Thanks for your examples, and I will be praying for you. Wish me luck!

Love, Hermana Morey

Medical Release

Dearest friends, family, and others,

As I look back on this past week I realize how quickly everything can change! This week started out really normal and pretty good. On Thursday we had zone conference! It was the last zone conference for President and Hermana Dyer because their last day was Friday and President and Hermana Hansen were coming Friday morning. It was a really good conference and it was fun to be there for their last conference.

This week was a really bad week for the infection in my toe. I am not sure what happened but it got so much worse. It became very hard to walk and instead of just oozing a little bit of puss I was starting to get a little bit of blood in there as well. All of Wednesday afternoon I spent in the emergency room trying to get something for the pain. However, as had happened the 4 times before that, the doctors just told me to come back another day and they would do something. They didn't even get me anything for the pain. Thursday night they had me call the doctor in charge of my mission and send a picture so that he could decide what needed to be done. He actually told me that I needed to get home as soon as possible so that the doctors in the US could help me. Next thing I know, I have my flight planned out and I left the next night, not even 24 hours after the phone call. Not only that but I got to fly home with my mission presidents. That was a blessing for me because I didn't have to fly alone.

On Friday night we flew to Santa Cruz, Bolivia and stayed in a Hotel. The next day we had a 7 hour flight to Miami and then to Dallas Texas. I was able to spend the night with my Aunt and Uncle which was wonderful! Then on Sunday morning I had my last flight back to good old Utah. In all honesty this was the hardest thing in the world. I felt like I was giving up. Why couldn't I just have a normal mission like everyone else? Why did everything have to be so darn hard?! I did my best to be a good missionary. I prayed herder than I ever have in my entire life, I did my best to be 100% obedient, I was teaching the gospel, why did I have to come home? I felt like I just wasn't good enough to be a missionary. It was even harder when I went to meet with the Stake President and got released. I am not an official missionary anymore. Taking off the name tag actually made everything real. However, it made me even more determined to get back to Bolivia as soon as I possibly can! I will be going back. I am not just going to give up!

I was extremely blessed by being able to go to a doctor right away. I went to the doctor and he told me that we needed to remove my toenail so that the infection would be able to clear out. After he took off my nail he realized that the infection was a whole lot deeper than they thought. He was worried that the infection had grown into the bone and that I would have to lose my toe! Goodness, I don't know why but when he said that I just thought it was funny. My companions and friends in the Mission had always joked about that and I realized that it was a possibility now. However, from the x-rays they think that the bone is okay. That is another blessing!

As of right now I am home for around 6-8 weeks. I am looking forward to the day when I can put that name tag back on and go and serve the people in Bolivia again. I am amazed at how the Lord has been blessing me over the past couple months. It has honestly been the hardest and most rewarding months of my life. I am so much closer to the Lord and am amazed at the love He shows for me. By looking back I know that I have not been alone. The Lord is always by my side and I am so extremely grateful for that.

That is all for this week. The church is true and God really is our Loving father in Heaven. Thank you so much for all of your support! I am so grateful for all of you..

Hermana Morey

Climbing a Hill

Okay, to start off.... I can´t even tell you how many people I have seen going to the bathroom in the street over the past couple weeks. I mean really. It is at least 2 every day. Why can´t they just wait? Seriously, if you ever visit Bolivia never walk barefoot! EVER!!! Really the only time I don´t have shoes on is
while I am sleeping. I am either wearing sandals or my nice shoes.

So, about my teaching..... We went to visit an Inactive member that I have been working with and in the end she was in a hurry and didn't want to have the appointment. We asked her if she had a reference for us and she mentioned someone named Ines. Ines is 22 years old, is divorced and has 2 kids. Her son is with the father and she is working at a little stand on the street to try and make ends meet. She was really emotional when we mentioned that we had come to help her and accepted the offer for us to come back. We have visited her almost every day and I can tell that she is ready for the gospel. When we bring up a new point about the gospel she asks a couple questions and then smiles and says something like "that is what I believe as well!" It has been such a wonderful opportunity to teach her and watch her start to feel the love of the Lord in her life. I really hope that things continue to progress with her.

Another fun experience is with an investigator named Cinthia. Cinthia works at the ice-cream shop of a member family. She is about 22 years old as well and lives with the member family while she works there. I have been teaching her the whole time I have been here and she just doesn't want to pray. We have explained over and over again and she won't read the Book of Mormon as well. How on Earth do we help her?! Finally this week I was a little up front with her and told her that if she didn't want us to come back we wouldn't. We were trying to help her and the commitments we left weren't for us, but were for her and the Lord. She looked a little embarrassed and said she wanted us to come back. When we went back a couple days later she was smiling and looked excited and said "guess what, I prayed!" I was so happy. The fact that she was happy about it was even better. She said that it made her feel peaceful and happy. She also accepted a date to be baptized but we need to teach her more first.

I am loving teaching! Sometimes it is hard, but when the people start to feel the love of the Savior is when they start to change. I love being here to be able to help them feel this love. I love this area and I love the ward that I am in. I am so excited to help the people here.

How are yáll doing? It is so fun to hear from everyone every week! Thank you so much for all of your help and support. When I am at the top of one of the hills in my area, after I catch my breath becuse it is hard to walk up the hill, I look out at the beautiful valley and am grateful for the people in my life who have helped me get to this point. I could not have done it without all of you! I love you all so much. Thank you for everything!!

Love always,

Hermana Morey

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

Hello family and friends!!!!

How are you all doing on this beautiful Monday Morning? This week has been about 1345% better! Working with Hermana Toral was fun and we mostly ended up exploring the area. I need to learn the area because I will be leading again this transfer and the rest of the time I am in Cosmos. We didn´t end up working a lot because she was Trunkie. I don´t know if they use that word in other missions but when someone is Trunkie it is when they do something that reminds them of home. Almost like homesick but more just thinking of home. It is understandable because she leaves tomorrow! However, I did learn a lot from her but am excited to work with my new companion.

I went to the Doctor this week for my toe and on Tuesday they said they were doing to remove the nail on friday and then it would be fine. When I went in on Friday they said it wasn´t an ingrown toenail but just an infection over the nail bed that is causing it not to grow. They gave me more medicine and said that if it wasn´t better in 2 weeks they would decide what to do... joy. I am working around it though so all is well. 

Yesterday and today I am in a trio while I wait for my new companion. The problem is... it is a trio of gringas. That is dangerous in any area and it turns out we are in the most dangerous area in the mission where they have sisters. Don´t fear! We are strong. We survived and today we aren´t in the area so we will be fine. This is the first time two let alone three gringas are together. It has been a ton of fun and I have loved it. ç

Last night we got our calls for transfers.... it was intense! Remember how I mentioned Hna Adama and how we got along well and worked hard? Well I have been praying that she would be my companion because I could use a good one for this 8-week transfer. Prayers are answered because she is my new companion!!! I am so happy. I am going to be the happiest missionary! We will work hard and it is her last two months so I am killing off another companion. I am excited it is her because I know she will work hard to the end. 

Other than that I am happy and loving this week! I got a cold but it is going away now. Also, last week when I was having a hard time I found the scripture D&C 127 verse 2. it is Joseph Smith. While I know my problems aren´t as big as his were, it still helped a ton.

I got to go to the temple on Saturday as well. The Cochabamba temple is honestly the prettiest in the entire world. I am in love with it. It was such a great experience!! Always go to the temple. it helps I promise.

I hope you all are doing well! I love you so much and pray for you more than once every day. You are such great examples and I am so happy to have such an amazing support group. Have an amazing week and remember that God Loves YOU!!! (And I do too!!!)

Your Bolivian Missionary,

Hermana Clarissa Morey

The Best and Worst of Times

Okay this week has been the best and worst week of my entire life! It started out amazing because I had intercambios with Hna Adama and for the first time in a long time I was happy to the core. With her we had fun but we worked really hard. I loved going out and teaching the people and could feel the love that Heavenly father has for every one of his children. I realized how much I love being a missionary!! 

Tuesday in the afternoon I got a call from Hna Dyer saying my companion and Hna Adama's companion were attacked. It was terrible. The guy wanted Hna Tarvin's bag and knocked her around a little. The worst was he kicked her in the stomach. They are okay but it was a terrible experience. They went to the mission home and I ended up being with Hna Adama for 3 days. It was a good three days but we felt terrible. Then on Thursday Hna Tarvin and Adama got transfered to a new area and replaced with Elders.  We helped them pack and sent them off. Then after being with my companion for 3 minutes we got a call saying that she was getting transfered to Sucre the next morning. Wow. I got a new companion, Hna Toral, she is from Equador and on Wednesday turns 26. She also goes home next Tuesday.... that means I get a new companion next week! I hope it is Hna Adama. However, that is 3 companions in 3 weeks! I told that to Hna Dyer and how one of the Elders mentioned I should get a plaque for that and Hna Dyer said she would see what she can do. 

It was hard to lead my area because I don't know anything. However, Hna Toral helped a lot  because we decided to just reopen the area. We weren't having success anyway so we just reopened. That helped remove the stress and we are focusing on me learning the area for my new companion. See, tender mercies in everything!

Then on Saturday I went to grab my wallet and it was gone. Just gone. It only had 30 Bolivianos and my licence and my 2 cards. I just broke down. I was so tired and couldn't believe that something else had gone wrong. However, now I think it is really funny. Satan is really trying to stop me isn't he? Good thing I don't give up easily!!

Today I hit my two month mark! Only two months/?!?! I have been here for an eterninty!!! Haha it will get better. I know that. I also know that the Lord always show us tender mercies. Every day even when large bad things happen there are always the small blessings that outweigh the bad.

Thank you so much for everyone who fasted for me yesterday. It means so much to me. Thank you for all of your support and help. You are amazing people! I couldn't do this without you.

Megan, Sharlene, Bryan, and all of those leaving for the MTC this week, good luck! This is hard but worth it. You grow so much and my relationship with my savior is so much stronger. I am grateful for this opportunity and know that you will be amazing missionaries.

I love you all!!

Love from Bolivia,

Hermana Morey

And It Came to Pass...

Well this week has been interesting!!

So, as I mentioned last week I had a terrible rash. It kept getting
worse so I was admitted into the hospital for two days. I was in the
hospital the first week of my mission!!! Haha it was an adventure
though. Another elder had an apendicitice and so his companion would
come and play card games with us. I was on an IV for two days and now
I am doing a lot better. I am no longer red and ugly! My companion
likes to tell me that I m beautiful now.

So, the mission is hard! One of our really good investigators Hermana
Alicia had a baptismal date for June 21 and was progressing really
well! After I got out of the hospital we went to visit her and it
turns out that while we were gone she got baptised in another church
and now now longer wants to here more about our church! Oy vey! How
does that happen? We were both really sad about that and had a hard
couple of days after that. People just don't seem to want to listen to
us right now and the people that do don't end up progressing. We still
haven't had a single investigator come to church. We spend a lot of
time praying for our investigators and the people in this area.

Sunday I was having a really hard day. I didn't feel like I was
doing well as a missionary and was probably just overtired. While we
were waiting for church to start Presidente y Hermana Dyer showed up
at our ward!  They are saying their goodbyes before they leave this
month. I talked with Hermana Dyer for a while and she helped me
realize that this is possible even when it is hard. A quote that I
really like that she told me is "In the Book of Mormon is says "and it
came to pass" not "it came to stay"" I reallly like that. The hard
times will pass and soon I will be able to do this even though it is
hard! It isnice because some days pass by really quickly and other
days are slow. When I get the hang of things time will fly by!

Today for Pday we went out of Cochabamba to a field house as a zone.
It was such a nice place! Compared to other places here it was a
palace. We had really good food and just got to play around in the
sun! People played soccer, frisbee and other things.It was such a fun
day! The people that own the place are a convert family of one of our
zone leaders. It was really fun to get to talk to them specially the
mom because she is from the US and has been though what I have. She
says that she hated it here and first but loves it now. I feel a lot
of hopefor the future of my mission!

Today I am doing my first intercambio! That is where I take a split
with one of the sister zone leaders. I am nervous because she is
Latina and I am leading her though the area. I don't know my area
super well yet but I think I can do this! Wish me luck.

It doesn't rain a lot here. I thought it would be! apparently during
the winter it isjust slightly chilly and dry. The air in Cochabamba is
really polluted and usually smells really bad. However, I am learning
to love it here. Everything is different but I can feel myself
changing and learning to rely on the Lord. I am seeing tender mercies
every day and know that my Heavenly Father is always with me.

I hope you all are doing well. I love you so much! I can't wait to see
you again but I hope it isn't  until next October.

Love your Bolivian Missionary

Hermana Morey

Hermana Morey