Menudo

Hello family and friends!!

How are you on this beautiful August afternoon? Happy birthday mom!!! I hope that you are having a wonderful day and that you get plenty of "Love mom time" from the girls. 

This week has been really good! It has been a little hard but overall it has gone well. We have continued trying to contact people and we even almost had luck with one of them! She invited us back and then found out that we were LDS not Christian, and then didn't want us to come over. We talked to her for a little bit about our religion and she basically called us false prophets. For some reason I wasn't mad, or upset. Just sad. I was sad because she was so nice and I wanted her to be able to have the gospel in her life. I felt sad that she was turning it down. 

This week we had some really good food. We had Papusas, sopes, and Seviche. Seviche is a dish where they cut up shrip, and other fish, and cook it in lemon. then they mix it with cucumbers, onions, cilantro, tapatio sauce, etc. It is SO good!!!! It is one of my favorite things that we eat over here. I need to learn to make Mexican food. 

So, fun experience of the week.... Actually I wouldn't use the world fun for this one... In spanish the phrase "a menudo" means often. However, the word Menudo means a soup with boiled cow stomach in broth. I was super excited because I had made it through my WHOLE mission without eating it. Most people understand that we don't like food like that, however, yesterday was when it all changed when a bowl of menudo was placed in front of me. So, one thing I have learned in the mission is that you eat everything whether it was good or not. However, it was the worst thing I have ever eaten. I would rather sit there with everyone putting there feet all over me than to try and eat it again. I think the texture was the worst part. One side of it was fuzzy, almost like tongue. Ugh. It was the only time that I didn't eat most of it. I did try, but in the end it just made me throw up. I felt so bad! We told the story to some members and they just laughed and laughed! It is really funny to look back on! Hermana Buttars couldn't even try a piece of it. It is super funny now. :)

We need people to teach. That was the theme of the week. Some of our investigators asked us to stop coming, others just aren't progressing, etc. We are working so hard to find people to teach. Some people may think that is because we want more baptisms. that is not true. We want others to be able to have the happiness that we have seen in our life. That has been something that has really stood out to me this week. We aren't here to tell people that they are wrong, and that we are right. We just testify to them of what we have done, and felt, and that we know is true. We literally just try and guide them to be able to have their own personal relationship with God. That is the most important part of missionary work. We want people to know that they have a loving Father in Heaven. I hope that you all know that as well!!

I am so happy here. As much as I miss all of you I absolutely love serving the Lord. Is there really anything better than I could be doing right now? I know that this work is true. I know that God loves each one of us and that he will always be there to fight our battles. Sometimes we try and fight them alone, however, he will always be waiting until we are ready to let him help us. 

I hope you all have an amazing week!!!!

Love,

Hermanita Morey

He Will Deliver Us

Happy August!!!

 I can't believe that it is actually August. I never though I would make it to July let alone August. Where is all of the time going?!?!?! It is really interesting because in my District there are 3 of us going home on the same day so I finally have someone who can relate to how I am feeling. However, all of the missionaries that I am serving with in my ward still have a year left. So that helps me stay focused on working hard. I love that!

This week was a really good week. It went by so quickly that I can't remember everything that happened. However, I know that it went well! When we got iPads the referrals that every area has received in the last 2 years was updated so this area ended up getting about 50 referrals and since it looks like we just got them we get to try and contact them again. It has actually been a really good experience. Even though some people still don't want to listen we have met some really good people. Hermana Buttars is really good about being optimistic so that makes it really fun to talk to people. We have also had some really interesting encounters with some people so that always keeps us entertained. Even though it is hard it has been really fun!

Hermana Buttars tried her first Helote this week! It was really fun and even though it was messy she enjoyed it. Yesterday as we were getting ready for church we didn't see what the other person was wearing until we were about to leave. It turns out that we were both wearing the exact same colors and just had a matching day. A lot of people commented on it and we just laughed. It is funny how as companions you just start to think alike! I really love her and I am really enjoying serving with her. 

We also have had really interesting lessons with two recent converts this week. The difference between the two of them is the fact that one is doing what  they should be, such as reading the scriptures, praying, going to church, etc. while the other one has not. They are both wonderful people but it has been such an amazing experience to see the difference between the two. The first one has been really working hard to live worthy of the covenants they made at baptism. Before her baptism she had a little bit of a rough background and had an aggressive tendency. This past week there were 3 people at her work that were bullying her and it even got to the point where one pushed her. Normally, she would have turned around and just punched them but she knew that wasn't right so she said a prayer to help her, walked away, and then called us to help her calm down so that she could be worthy of her covenants with God. That was so amazing to me because I know a lot of times when things get hard I don't think "would this be something good that will help me be worthy of that covenant that I made with God?" I think I will start doing that. The second person is super friendly and fun to be around. I really like teaching them! However, they have not been living up to their covenants, they aren't reading, they aren't happy, and now they are dealing with the consequences of actions that they made while knowing that it was wrong. The first person is happy, the second person is not. As we strive to keep the commandments and do what God has planned for us, we will be happy. It won't be easy, but God will give us the strength to move forward. I love the scripture Alma 58:11.....

"Yea, and it came to pass that the Lord our God did visit us with assurances that he would deliver us; yea, insomuch that he did speak peace to our souls, and did grant unto us great faith, and did cause us that we should hope for our deliverance in him."

Even though we will still have trails, we have the faith and the hope that God will bless us. He will never forget about us and even though he won't take away our challenges, he will give us the strength to overcome them. As long as we are living worthy of His help. 

The work is amazing! I wish that everyone could have this opportunity to share the Gospel. Hermana Buttars and I were talking about it and we realized that the mission is so hard because we are constantly trying to put off the natural man. it is a daily fight. We are constantly trying to forget about ourselves and serve others. It never comes naturally but it makes us so happy. I love how the mission has given me a chance to learn and to grow. I just hope that I can take all the things that I am learning and put them to use in my own life when I go home.

I love you all so very much. I say that every week but it is true. Don't worry about me, I am doing well and loving every moment. Remember, you can do hard things! 

Love,
Hermana Morey

Earthquakes and Good Weeks

Buenos tardes mi familia! Como estan?! Como esta la clima en Utah?

This week was SOO good!!! I don't feel like I have had a week like this in a long time. I was super excited when I had learned about being transferred but at the same time I was really sad. Honestly, I was having a mini pitty-party and was thinking that I hadn't helped anyone in that area and that nobody was going to really notice that I had gotten transferred. I know that isn't important but I was a little sad. That night however Heavenly Father heard my little prayers. For some reason we randomly had a dinner that night. (Usually we don't have members feed us on Monday nights) We ate with Hermana Valdez who I like a lot and when we told her that I was leaving she looked super upset. Then, she started to cry. She kept saying how we were the first missionaries that actually made her feel important. That we cared about what she had to say and even went out of our way to say hello to her. She then told me that whenever I want to come back, with family or by myself, she has several open rooms awaiting me. My heart was filled with such extreme gratitude and love. Even when we are a little sad, especially when it seems like something small, Heavenly Father shows us that he cares about us and that He does love us. 

It was really hard to say goodbye the people that I had been serving with for the past 4 months but now I am in Fontana and I am loving it!! My companion is Hermana Buttars. She is from Garland Utah, she is 19, a hard worker, and has been out for about 6 months. I love her so much! She is really dedicated to her work and has taught me so much about "leaving it all on the field." I have never been so tired but I also think that I have never been so happy! We have spent a lot of time trying to get to know people and teaching. We teach really well together. This area is super great! We have a lot of Recent Converts that we are working with and investigators as well. Surprisingly enough, most of the investigators that we have right now are youth! mostly from the ages of 15-30. It has been so wonderful to see that this age group has taken a stand and decided that what they want to do right now, is to have a relationship with God. I wish I had been better at everything like reading my scriptures and such at that age! 

Fun fact! On Friday morning at about 5:50 I work up to a HUGE clang!! It didn't surprise me because we live right next to the train tracks and there are always trains passing by.... but then I noticed that everything was shaking! It didn't last very long but I finally felt my first earthquake. It wasn't bad and it left just as quickly as it had started but it was kind of fun.

I hope you all know how much I love this mission. Even though it is hard, exhausting, frustrating, etc, it is honestly one of the most fulfilling things that I have ever done. It makes it so much easier to look back and see how much God has been able to work through me than to look back and realize that I just wasted my day away. As I have become aware that this is the Lords time and have strived to dedicate all this time to Him, I have noticed so many miracles, so much love, happiness, and joy! The Gospel really just brings us blessings. I wish more people could realize that. I am here trying to help them know that there is hope and that God loves them. I wish I could do this forever. 

Thank you so much for everything. I love you all, I love the Lord, and I love serving. 

Love always,

Hermana Morey

Transferred!

Buenos dias!!! 

Como estan todos? Ojala que bien! This week has FLOWN by!!! It was kind of crazy because the weather was amazing. On Saturday we woke up and went to exercise and it was so extremely humid. That whole day it just rained. When I say rain, I mean, it would feel perfectly fine and then a second later it would be pouring! The roads here aren't built for rain so there was a lot of flooding and several points were we were worried about our car! Fortunately both we and the car are okay. That being said, the past couple days have been in the low 80s and I think that is a miracle in and of itself! 

This week was also a good week for seeing people. We were able to meet a couple of new investigators and several less-active families that we have never seen before. One of these visits to a  less active family had a big effect on me. I found there teaching record in the area book while we were transferring information to the iPads and they looked like a very promising family. We decided to stop by and see them and not only were they home, but they invited us in. We were so excited!! We went in and sat down. Now, everything in the house was dark. There were blankets over the windows to keep the sun out, everything was a mess, and there was a complete absence of the spirit. We talked to the Hermana for a little bit and she finally told us that she wasn't interested in coming back to church or even having us stop by. She was super nice about it so that wasn't a big deal. While I was sitting in the house I could feel my energy draining away. When Hermana Jimenez and I got back in the car we felt so exhausted that we couldn't even move for a couple minutes. We talked about what we had felt while we were there and then we realized that these people were literally living in darkness. Spiritual darkness and even physical darkness. The darkness of sin can literally drain away our energy while light encourages us to keep going and to keep trying to be better. It was really interesting to see how as we keep the commandments we will have light. We will have the spirit and a desire to keep bettering ourselves. 

On a happier note, we had a great lesson with Teresa this week. We watched Finding Faith in Christ and talked about the importance of acting on our faith. She really liked it. She said that she would go to church on Sunday and that she wants to be baptized just wants to learn more first. That is good! Unfortunately she did not come to church on Sunday. She got ready and everything  but her friend didn't pick her up and didn't answer her phone so she couldn't make it. We visited her after to see if everything was okay and while she was disappointed to have not been able to make it she has a stronger desire to make it next week. We are trying to find another ride for her. She is progressing and I am going to miss her.

I forgot to mention, I am getting transferred!!! I have learned how to tell if I am getting transferred or not. If I feel like I am going to get moved.... I won't. If I feel like I will stay.... I won't. So.... not only am I leaving this dear little area in Indio.... but I am getting moved up to FONTANTA!!!! That is on the complete other side of the mission! It is one of the coolest areas in our mission and it is the very tip of our mission. I was shocked! My new companion is going to be Hermana Butters. I don't know her at all but I am excited to get to know her because I have heard amazing things about her! I have a feeling that I won't get moved back down to the desert since I don't have much time left and I will honestly miss it. Everything is just a lot more relaxed down here. I also finally felt like I got the hang of things! Maybe that is why I am getting moved.

Last thing, I got a call on Saturday asking me to play the piano in Sacrament meeting! So I did. :) I was also asked last minute to play in a baptism yesterday night. Those piano lessons are really paying off! I also am not as shy about playing anymore. That is really good! 

Thank you all so much for the letters, emails, and prayers that you are all sending my way. I love you all so very much!!! I appreciate everything that you do for me. I hope and pray that you are doing well. Thank you so much for everything!!!!

Love,

Hermana Morey

Epiphanies

Dear Family and Friends,

Hello! How are you doing?! How was your week? I hope you are all doing well! This week was a really interesting week. I would like to thank you all for your emails asking about Cecilio and him baptism. Unfortunately it did not happen. I went on Exchanges on Tuesday afternoon and I left the area, while I was gone they went to see Cecilio and Bertha, his caretaker, and she was really not interesting in learning more. She doesn't like our church any more and says that it is too strict and that we ask too much of people. She doesn't want to have to be perfect. They tried explaining that we don't have to be perfect but she did not want to listen. When we stopped by on Wednesday evening Cecilio said that he will not be baptized until Bertha is baptized and I am not sure if that will ever happen. We were so sad about that. I was annoyed because when I went on Wednesday Bertha was acting super interested and like she was the perfect investigator. However, whenever we stop by without a member she is really rude to us. So, in the end we decided to give them a break. We will stop by in a couple weeks or so but hopefully they can feel the difference of the spirit that we bring and notice what it feels like when it isn't there. We are still praying for them.

On the up side... we got a new investigator!!! She called us last Sunday and asked us to stop by. She had gone to an English ward even though she didn't speak English and wanted to learn more. The missionaries gave her our number and we stopped by on Monday. She is amazing. I feel like I say that every time but this time it is true. She is reading the Book of Mormon, praying about what we teach, trying to come to church, and even re-reading the pamphlets that we give her! She says she wants to get baptized and after we explained that we need to teach her first she got excited and asked if we could come over twice a week. Her named in Teresa. She is a little older and is a cancer survivor. We are taking it a little slow so that we don't have the same thing happen as Cecilio. 

As I mentioned earlier this week I went on Exchanges! I went to Palm Springs with Sister Dalton who is brand new in the mission. She is super fun! She is 6ft tall which is a big difference from the 4ft 11in of Hermana Jimenez. We are really similar and she helped me figure out some of the things that I have been worried about recently. We had a really good lesson with one of their investigators and we taught really well together. After that we had another lesson with an ex-member who wants to come back. It was rough. He kept talking and I felt super uncomfortable. I finally decided to take charge of the lesson and it worked for a little bit until I mentioned that as he acted on the invitations that we leave he will have a desire to be baptized. He got super mad at me and said that I was just assuming that he didn't want to get baptized, that I was falsely accusing him, and how terrible I was. I was stunned. For some reason it just made me frustrated so we hurried and ended the lesson and left. Wow. It was a little bit of a struggle but the rest of everything went well. I loved the exchange and I learned a lot from Sister Dalton. 

This week Hermana Jimenez and I had an epiphany. We were having Companionship Inventory when we started talking about how we both felt like terrible missionaries. That isn't because we are doing anything wrong, but because nobody has told us that we are doing a good job. We keep hearing things that we are doing wrong so the missionaries have all started judging themselves really harshly. As the conversation continued we found out the whole problem of what is lacking from the missionary work here and also the problem for just about anything in the world! it is a lack of LOVE. Now, before you all think that I am crazy and that I belong in the 70's let me explain. We realized that as we feel loved, we become less critical and then we have the power to act. If an investigator doesn't have that strong love for God, he isn't going to want to change. If a missionary doesn't feel loved they become self-critical and unhappy. When government leaders have a genuine love for the people they act out of love for what would be best for the people that they serve. When we feel loved we become happier and better! Also, as we feel loved we strive to help those around us feel that love.  I don't know if I am explaining this very well. But the answer is literally always love! Didn't Dumbledore say that in Harry Potter? We focus on it so often that we forget about it. It truly is important to help others feel loved so that they have a desire to improve and don't just tear themselves down. We are working on applying this in our missionary work and with other missionaries in our mission. Just helping them feel loved!

I hope that you all had a good week. I love you all so much and I am so grateful for this time that I have to be serving the Lord.  This is such an amazing experience and even though the work is a little slow, I am loving it. Thank you so much for your prayers and letters. I really appreciate them!

Love,

Hermana Clarissa Morey

The Person I Want to Be

Buenos Dias!!!!!!

Como estan? I hope everything is going well with all of you. I hope that you all enjoyed a wonderful 4th of July especially to those who have been out of the country for the past couple years. Did Sariah enjoy the fireworks? I think it is really fun that I was in California for the past two, last year to visit James, and this year as a missionary!

This week has been really good! On Monday we started teaching Cecilio. He is a 94 year-old man. He is the sweetest person in the world. He has such a strong desire to get baptized before he has to pass on to the next life. We talked to President Van Cott and he said that we can change a couple of the rules for him as long as he is in compliance with Doctrine and Covenants section 20. We really just changed the fact that he won't have to come to church the full 3 times before he gets baptized. His baptism is scheduled for this coming Sunday! He came to church yesterday and he really liked it. Everyone was really nice and came and introduced themselves. When we taught him about the word of wisdom he just said "I only drink water!" So we are really excited for him. He is very sick and we aren't sure how much longer he will live but I know that he has a sincere desire to follow the savior. Yesterday he looked at us sadly and asked if it was too late for him to get baptized because he had waited this long. We explained to him that it wasn't and that God is proud of him for making the decision now. I love him so much and we are so excited for this weekend. Please pray for him! We have a member named Suzanna who is an amazing help. She is a registered nurse and is the person who introduced us to Cecilio. She is amazing!!! She will do anything for the people she is trying to help bring into the gospel. She came to our ward so that she could be with them so that they would know someone. She is always willing to share her testimony and to encourage them to keep progressing. She has done so much for us and it showed me that I hope to be a lot like her when I go home! She was introducing Cecilio and Bertha to everyone! It was perfect.  

Other than that most of our investigators aren't progressing. We have Bertha who takes care of Cecilio who also came to church yesterday. She really feels the spirit when we are teaching her and when she came to church but sometimes just doesn't feel like acting on it. It is sad but we know that as she realized the importance of following Christ she will feel the happiness that she is searching for.

This week I have really learned about the type of person I want to be when I go home. I have noticed that over the past 13 months I have learned so much about people and have seen good and bad qualities. I just want the Lord to know that I love Him and that he will always come in first place. Hermana Jimenez and I were talking about this yesterday. There are so many things that we put in front of God without even meaning to. Some of that is in keeping the Sabbath Day Holy. I am so excited for when I go home and can try my best to show Heavenly Father that I love him.

I hope that you all had a wonderful week. I thank you all for your letters, your emails, your prayers, and so much more! I am so grateful for all that you do for me. Have a wonderful week and know that I love you!

Love,

Hermana Morey

The Water Plan

Hello Family and Friends!!!

I am so sorry that I didn't write a big letter last week. We had to cut it short since we went to the temple this week so we just wrote on our iPads. Apparently I am not very good with technology. it was super frustrating and hard! How do you use it all the time?! Maybe it is just because I had such a long break from it. Hopefully I get used to it eventually. 

These past two weeks have been filled with lessons, walking, heat, humidity, the temple, zone conferences, etc. It has been busy! As I mentioned before we had a Zone Conference that trained us for and gave us the iPads. it is a little overwhelming trying to figure out how to use them and try and do our best to use them effectively. We are working on it though.

We have really been struggling to find people to teach. We have several people who have a LOT of potential but the problem is that they have been really busy the past couple weeks. With it being so hot here a lot of people leave. They just can' t take the heat so they go somewhere else for a month since it is summer break. With that, we have learned several new ways of finding people to teach. With it being so extremely hot and humid we have learned and are starting to apply the water plan. Let me explain what that is. During the day we are outside and going from place to place, we are hot and sweaty and look a little pathetic, so we go up to a door and knock and ask for water. While they give us water they are asking us why we are crazy enough to be outside and what we are doing, that gives us about 5 minutes to talk to them and explain our purpose as missionaries. It really softens their hearts! 

We have not had any investigators at church for the past two weeks even though yesterday was Stake Conference. We have been trying everything but we just don't know what these people need. We have been praying a lot and know that the Lord will guide us in the right direction. Yesterday however, a less active came to Stake conference!!! It is Hno Munoz. He is such a great guy but just hasn't come to church in 4ish years. Yesterday he came to stake conference and he loved it. His family doesn't know what happened but they do know that he was up and ready to go before everyone else was! It was such a miracle that it testified to me that we are doing a good work. We are working hard and helping people come unto Christ. that is what matters!

On Friday we got to have our Temple Trip. It was amazing. The temple is such a special place and since we can't go very often it helps us remember just how special it is. The peace and love that I was able to feel there have me the strength and the energy to keep working hard. That is why we need the temple so much! It is there to help us and edify us when we are struggling or even when things are going well. I hope that you all have the opportunity to go to the temple soon and feel the refreshing spirit that is there. 

I love you all so very much. You are such amazing people and I am grateful to know that you are always there for me. You are in my prayers!!! Have a wonderful week!!!

Love,

Hermana Morey

P.S. Happy 2nd birthday to the best and cutest nephew in the world!!!!