Coachella

Happy April everyone!!!!

I can't believe it is almost halfway through April! Time right now is going really slowly but quickly as well. I don't even know what to think about it.

To start off, have you heard of Coachella Festival? Apparently it is one of the biggest Music festivals in the nation.... and it is less than a block away from my apartment. It has been crazy here! Apparently Justin Beber, Katy Perry, Drake, Niki Manaj, and a ton of other people are just walking around down here on the weekends. There are a TON of people down here for the festival. We just have to be careful because people are drinking a lot and then they feel okay to drive. We can even hear the music from our apartment. It has been really weird to here these songs again.

This week I went on Exchanges with Sister Jones! I was a little worried at first but I went to her area and it was the best exchnge that I have had on my mission. She taught me so much about how to create a full and busy day out of nothing, how to work with members that don't want to help, how to be happy while doing missionary work, and so much more. I really needed it more than I had thought I did! She is such a good missionary and it was weird to be in an English area. I don't think you understand how different Spanish and English wards are! 

Our little area is still struggling. We are trying so hard to find people to teach and have lessons with people but we are struggling. The area has so much potential but we haven't been able to get it to work yet. We are working so hard and I am super tired. Even though our numbers aren't the highest we know that we are doing our best and don't feel guilty which is how you know it counts. 

Funny story: our mission president had the idea that when we take birthday cards to members that we should get them signed by their neighbors! "If they aren't willing to sign a birthday card they aren't ready to receive the restored gospel." that is so true!!!! We had a lot of people just say no. However, the people who said yes were people who you could tell would love to hear our message. We had several birthdays this past week so we took around the birthday cards and we got answers like..." I would prefer not to.", "I don't even know them", "Yeah, no" and so much more. We were SO frustrated. I even remember thinking, Jesus would sign a birthday card... and I just realized that the world isn't as friendly as it used to be. We just need to work on being friendly to everyone! That is after all, what Jesus WOULD do. :) 

I love you all so very much. I hope you are doing well! Thank you so much for all that you do for us. We pray for all of you daily. The Lord is aware of all of our needs and will bless us as we are faithful.

Love always,

Hermana Morey

The Lord is Mindful

Buenos Dias mi familia!! Como estan?

This past week flew by! I can't believe it is Monday again. This week we worked so hard even though our numbers didn't quite show it. I got to go to the doctor for the final time! He says that everything should be okay with my toe now. :) I was so happy to hear that! He is giving me medicine to help with the infection that required me getting my blood drawn but I am okay now. :) Now all I have to worry about is the occasional nightmare where I am told that I need to go home again! 

Conference this past weekend was such a blessing to us. Conference is like the Super-bowl for missionaries. We look forward to it and enjoy every moment. We went to the Stake center and were able to watch all four sessions there. This year was the first time that I had thought and prayed about questions and it was amazing to me how each and every question was answered. They weren't answered in the way that I had hoped or even wanted but they were answers all the same. It amazes me how mindful Heavenly Father is of me. A miracle that I would like to share with you involves one of those questions. I had prayed to Heavenly Father that I would be able to feel His love and know that He is aware of me and that answer didn't come by any of the speakers but by someone who showed up to the final session of conference. Right before the last session started two girls walked in and one of them walked right up to me and said "do you remember me?" She looked really familiar but I couldn't remember where I had met her. Her name is Hermana Brown and she served with my in Cochabamba Bolivia and lives in the stake where I am serving. She had heard about me and was able to find my blog and saw that I had been having a bad week so she decided to go to the Stake Center for Conference to cheer me up a little bit. To me, this was one of the biggest miracles that I have seen in my mission. I felt the love that the Savior has for me so strongly yesterday afternoon and I knew that He sent her to find me. To her it may not have been a big deal, but it was an answer to one of my prayers.

How was your Easter? It was such a blessing to have conference on Easter and to have that Spiritual Boost! Yesterday nobody had signed up to feed us dinner or set appointments with us so we made Easter cards and took them to several members and Investigators. It was such a beautiful evening and it was fun to stop by and help other people feel that the Savior was aware of them. I know that He loves each and every one of us and that He is aware of every single one of our needs. He will be there for us no matter what happens. Just like Elder Holland said, He will never let us fall if we let Him help us. 

I am so grateful for this gospel and for the opportunity that we had to sustain President Monson and all of the general Authorities yesterday. The church is true and the work will continue forward no matter what. It is just for us to decide whose side we are on!

I love you all so very much!!! thank you so much for all of your prayers in my behalf. I cna feel them strengthening me daily.

Love always,

Hermana Morey

Cartoon Clarissa!

I Got Shot! ...I mean shots...

Hola Buenos dias familia mio! Como estan?! Como fue su semana y todo? Ojala que todo esta bien con ustedes.

This week has been about 10000 times better than last week! It is so weird to look back and see how frustrated I was and how much better I feel now! I think it just took time to get used to the area and to actually start to get to know people. I am just doing so much better now!

So, for the excitement of the week! At the end of last week my toe got a little infected... again! However, I was able to go to a podiatrist this past week up in Redlands. It turns out, after my toenail stopped growing again it started to grow incorrectly and became ingrown. So, I got that taken care of super quickly! They did the shots and everything but I didn't feel like they worked but I second guessed myself... oh the pain that followed! So, I stopped them and got more shots. Who would have thought that I would ask for more shots?! It felt so much better after that and now I am on my way to normal feet. Joy!

One of my highlights for this week was meeting Salvador and Andrea and their two kids. Andrea is a less-active and her husband and son were investigators who through being pushed too hard had stopped taking the lessons. When we went to meet them they said that they loved the church and wanted to go back. We taught them the Plan of Salvation and it was a really spiritual lesson. I invited them to come to church on Sunday and Salvador was really hesitant.... he was talking about how they were going to LA on Saturday and they wouldn't get back until late... you know, the normal excuses.... and then his wife said that to get blessing you need to make sacrifices. It was so powerful! I couldn't believe how strong the spirit was. They committed to come to church and then they came!!! We had a really good fast and testimony meeting and we know that they felt the spirit. We are going to keep working with them and try and help them realized for themselves why baptism is important.

Another wonderful experience this week was our mission conference on Saturday. We had to get up at 4:30 so that we could be in Redlands at 7. At 7:30 Elder Nielson of the 70 walked in to 200 silently studying missionaries. It was SO POWERFUL!!!! He said that they had thought that nobody was there and walked in to see us studying. He talked to us about the difference between the Redeeming Power of the Atonement, such as being forgiven of our sins, and the enabling power of the Atonement, Strength to keep going. It was such a powerful meeting. He talked about how we should be grateful to get trials and not freak out when we get them. If we don't have trials, the Plan of Salvation isn't working for us. I thought that was really cool! Then we talked about what the church is focusing on right now. The first main concern was people keeping the Sabbath-day holy. That was really interesting to me! Listen for that topic in Conference!

Also, Elder Nielson will be speaking on Sunday for conference so look for him and think about how I just shook his hand!! That was really cool.

The work is going so well! I am so grateful to be on a mission and to be serving the Lord. I am sure that you have all heard about Because He Lives, but if not I ask that you go and watch the video! It is so good. I am so grateful for this Easter/conference weekend ahead of us. We are working very hard to prepare ourselves for these two days, are you? What are you doing to prepare? I love conference and Easter and we get to celebrate them together!

I would like you to all know that I know that Christ lives, He is the head of this church and missionary work. We could not be seeing the miracles that we see daily if this weren't true. I know, that this mission is where I am supposed to be. I am so grateful for Heavenly Father's plan for me and that He is helping to be the best person that I can be!!!

I love you all so much and I am so grateful for your love and prayers. Thank you so much!!!

Love always,

Hermana Morey

"I hope you know, we had a hard time"

Hello Family and Friends!!!!

This week I would like to start off by a quote given by Elder Cook, it says "I hope you know, we had a hard time." This quote expresses perfectly how my week went. :) 

To start out, on Tuesday I got a call saying that they had told me the wrong transfer information and that I would be follow-up training instead of actually training. that means that my companion has been out for 6 weeks and I am just finishing her training. Her name is Hermana Yeager and she is from Colorado! Then on Wednesday we went up to Highland for transfers and it turns out that we didn't have a phone! The only person who could get us a phone wasn't going to be there until 2 and since we live 2 hours away from the mission home we couldn't leave and go back. We were so lucky to be able to go to the training meeting for all of the new trainees and such. It was so good and I was really inspired to work my hardest this transfer. President Van Cott came up and told me that he was sorry that he kept telling me that I would be training and then I don't end up doing it but that he had a very strong feeling that it wasn't right and that this is what would be better for me. I felt a lot better about it after that.

So, work-wise... this week was a fail. We spent a ton of time trying to figure out our area and where people are but we just end up getting lost! That or the people aren't home. We have seen very few people. Some people are super duper excited to see us and others just sit there awkwardly and wonder why we are there. I didn't know the mission got this hard!! I know that I am here for a reason but this is really hard. I am trying to find the balance between doing as much as I can and knowing when it is usual for white-washing to have this bad of a week. We keep telling ourselves that it can only go up from here! Yesterday we dropped our phone and the battery flew out and landed in a puddle. We had just had it so we got out and walked it off. That is something that helps me a lot. When I don't know what else to do, we get out and walk it off. The only problem is that most people live in gated communities. I need to ask if we can walk around those because we aren't sure yet. We also need to figure out how to get into the gated communities. :) You really just have to laugh it off and then pray very very hard.

I am not sure what else to tell you about this week. The weather has actually been pretty good! We are lucky that it cooled down a little bit. We have some super duper rich areas and some super sketchy areas so it balances itself out. We have some great people who love us and we know that if we need anything we can go and see them! That makes everything a lot easier. We are just working on trying to get things rolling here so that we have work to do! 

I love you all so very much and I appreciate all of your prayers in my behalf. I hope you know that I am praying for all of you and that even though it is hard I love being a missionary. The good outweighs the bad every time! The Lord sent me here for a reason and I am going to do my best to do what he needs me to do!!!

Love always,

Hermana Morey

All the Emotions

Buenas tardes mi familia! Como estan?

This week was a really good week. We have been able to keep ourselves really busy and working hard! 

So, I am going to tell you about one fun thing that we did yesterday for the Ruiz family. They are one of my favorite families in this branch. They do everything for us! They always call us to make sure that we have dinner and then feed us when we don't, they drove us to the zoo and took us to breakfast, and so much more. She even offered to teach us how to make Chile Reyenos! So, to say thank you we made a TON of hearts and wrote nice things all over them and last night we stuck them to their garage door, knocked, and then ran like there was no tomorrow! We were feeling so happy when we went back to our apartment and then the unexpected happened 30 minutes later.... our doorbell rang. That NEVER happens! We opened the door and they had done the same thing to us and gave us Kit Kats. It was such a fun little battle! I am going to miss them so much.

This week has been so hot!!! It is March and it has been in the upper 90s ever day. Everyone is worried about this summer because it will just be even hotter. Good thing I am staying down here! ;) Wish me luck.

We have been struggling with the investigators this week. We had some great lessons but then we couldn't see them throughout the rest of the week so they didn't make any progress. We have some great plans for them this week. We have finally figured out how to be bold but not overbearing! If we aren't bold and tell them the consequences they aren't going to see a reason to change. Would you change if someone told you to change but didn't tell you why? Probably not... it is the same with them. As missionaries we are afraid to do this because we don't want to hurt their feelings. This isn't good because it is their salvation! This isn't a game, we aren't perfect but we have to try our best. :) 

This week has been a little rough on our emotions. Hna Jepperson and I knew that one of us would be leaving the area because we knew that we both would be training. So, we have been preparing for that and we both felt that she was leaving. Then, we both felt like they were taking us both out, then I had a feeling that I was leaving, and then that I was staying.... etc. Last night right as soon as the phone rang for us to find out about transfers I KNEW that I would be leaving. It turns out that Hna Jepperson is staying in the area and that I am leaving! I thought that I would go back to Rialto 3rd and just open that area again... but the Lord has other plans. I am going to White-wash into the Thermal ward! That means that I am opening the area to Spanish sisters again and I don't know the area, and my new trainee won't know the area so we are just going to have to work things out I guess! I am so extremely nervous. However, I just feel an overwhelming sense of peace about this transfer. That is such a blessing! I know that I have told the Lord that I will do His will.... but I don't always mean it. I think that my way will be so much better and happier, however, that is never true! I may want  to take the easy way, but He wants me to take the best way. I am so excited to see what I need to learn this next transfer. So, to Indio here I come!!!

I love you all so much and I hope that you know that! I am loving my time out here serving the Lord and even though I don't always know what to expect, I know that it will be what the Lord needs for me! 

Have the most wonderful week!

Love,

Hermana Morey

I am so happy!

Hola buenos tardes mi familia!!! Como estan?

This week passed by so quickly! I can't believe it is already Monday again. We had such an adventurous week and I feel like I have a lot to share. 

This week started out really really well! We started last Monday with an FHE that was focused on the new Pamphlet "My Family" It was so much fun to get everyone together to start working on their family history. Everyone was so excited about it and it was a lot of fun to use the skills that I learned last summer in the Family History Library. :)  On Tuesday we had an amazing day with 4 member present lessons that went SO well! We knew it was just going to be a great week! However, after that things just started dropping like flies. Apparently Hna Jepperson prayed for humility and we certainly were humbled this week. We had a goal to have 7 investigators in church which we thought was possible. On Wednesday it even looked like it was going to happen! However, sadly we didn't even have one. Satan works so hard on these people. He just doesn't want them to be happy! We are working hard to try and figure out their needs so that they are willing to come to church. 

On Friday we had completely run out of people to see so we got up the courage and decided to walk. Just as you would expect, it turned out to be 90 degrees that day! Haha we were dying! Fortunately members usually offer us water. We tried to visit past investigators and such but literally nobody was home or outside. That was very humbling. Even with all of this we are still happy and still loving the mission. We are just as tired as ever and just praying for the energy to keep teaching! 

I love this area so much. The people here are amazing and they do everything for us. On Saturday a member called us over to ask for help making Tamales. We spent an hour helping her and they gave us some of the leftovers. Then they offered to take us to the Zoo today! I feel so special and so loved. The Lord has blessed me so very much during my mission and I just want to do my best to deserve all of these many blessings. 

Yesterday at church I ran into John who was here for the tennis tournament! Since I hadn't met him before I didn't recognize him. However, he was very nice and I hope you got to see the picture that he took for you! It is such a small world. :) 

I love you all so very much. Please let me know what I can do for you. I am doing well and am so happy! Next week I will let you know about transfers! 

Love always,

Hermana Morey

P.S. Happy birthday Sariah!!!!!! I hope you have a wonderful day!!!!

P.P.S Happy birthday Jahna as well!

The End of the Drought

Hola mis amigos y familia! Como estan?

Yo estoy muy bien! Realmente esta semana fue una semana buena. It didn't seem or look like we had a lot of success this week but we did our best and are happy about it! 

On Wednesday we had exchanges and contrary to what we both had been thinking I ended up staying in the area with Sister Sommers. She doesn't speak any spanish so I was teaching almost everything and translating everything else. For one thing, I realized that my Spanish is a lot better than I thought it was! Plus, I realized that people in this area like me more than I thought they did. It was so much fun working with Sister Sommers. We are fairly similar so we had so many things to talk about and to learn from each other! 

This week we worked a lot with Less-Actives. This is because if people would come to church, we would have a ward! For example, yesterday we had maybe 35 people in church. We don't really have anyone to fill callings because they aren't active enough to fulfill their callings. We are working so hard on that. Most people don't come because they just want to relax. They work a lot and then Sunday is their only day to rest and they just want to rest. One good thing is that I have learned how important going to church is through teaching it so many times! I really love this little branch even will all of the little problems. :) 

So, last week I mentioned that I had played the piano in Relief Society. I thought, hey it is just Relief Society, I can do that! However, Elder Nickle just got emergency transferred out and he was an amazing piano player! So.. therefore the new Elder does not play. So I am playing in sacrament meeting!!! My worst nightmare. :) Just kidding, It isn't that bad I just wish that I had more time to practice! You were right mom... I should have learned the hymns before my mission. I admit it now. 

Hermana Jepperson's knee went crazy this week! She was in so much pain and I felt so bad for her! One day as we were about to leave she just couldn't even walk. So as she went to lay down I ran here and there taking care of her. I made her a sick bed, she didn't have a blanket so I used a giant scarf that was in our apartment, I gave her our dried roses for flowers, m&ms, and her heating pack. Then we just talked to help distract her. It was really random and funny. She is feeling a lot better now though!

As I began my fast on Saturday night I prayed that Heavenly Father would end the drought in this area. Then I clarified and said the drought of people to teach. However, Heavenly Father apparently understood it to mean both because it Poured rain yesterday! That was desperately needed down here in the desert. I think it was an answer to everyone's prayers.

I love you all so much! Thank you for everything that you do for me. I appreciate every thought and prayer. 

Love always,
Hermana Morey