herro.
this week has been crazy. it's one of those weeks that has just become a blur and i'm actually not really sure what happened this morning and what happened last week. but i will try to remember things.
first of all... funny story. so. at the fireside this week stephen. b. allen came to speak again. and he had people stand up for various things.. like, stand up if you're waiting for a visa. stand up if you've received a dear john since being here. etc. well he had these 9 elders stand up and say something that they have sacrificed to be here on a mission. the first elder that got up said, "marriage." so brother allen kind of laughed and asked more about her... "so were you engaged?" and the elder said, "almost." and brother allen said, "well, tell us.. is she waiting for you? where is she now?" and he said "she's here." WHAAAAT! so then every single missionary in the mtc was screaming and laughing. and then we start to see in the back a huge crowd of people pointing. pointing at a sister. and everybody was laughing and gasping. then the sister stands up, and the camera zooms in on her. so apparently they had been dating.. almost engaged.. then decided to both go on missions. brother allen said "where is she serving?" and then the missionary totally blanked and didn't even know where she was serving. ha. oh my goodness. it was the weirdest thing. people were applauding. i can't imagine being at the mtc at the same time with somebody that i was/am in love with. and had like kissed and been intimate with. and then to see them at the mtc every day and not even be able to touch them. haha. what a bunch of weirdos. so. that's the crazy story of the day. those mormons.. sure are a peculiar people. :)
i am feeling much better this week. i'm on some inhaler that the main drug is steroids. so it has been fun joke this week. my district jokes about the day that i will have 'roid rage. or that my muscles are starting to look bigger. meh. that's probably not that funny to you all. but i think i've said before, my sense of humor has been altered here. i laugh at anything.
i had a neat story at the referral center this week. we've been making calls in spanish which is just absolutely frightening. it's hard enough to understand native speakers speaking spanish as it is, then throw in a barrier like a phone where you can't read lips or see facial expressions to read, it's impossible and scary to understand what is happening. we've done the spanish calls a few times before and no one in our district has had any success. we've been pretty down about it and didn't want to go this week. we've had lots of people not be able to understand us or vice versa so the calls just went nowhere. so this week we were all pretty bummed, but we went. and the teacher at the RC gave us a beautiful little thought and then told us to just keep talking to people. to find out about their lives and love them and testify about christ.the first few calls were a little shaky for me but then i got in the groove. i talked to a woman named Martha. we were calling because she had ordered a "lamb of god" dvd so i called to make sure she received it and how she liked it. she said that she loved the movie. she loves learning about christ. she had been meeting with the missionaries about a year and a half ago but then her missionaries went home and never transferred her to another missionary. she had been interested in the discussions and had even been to church a couple times but then somehow just fell under the radar. it was neat because i was able to help her with some questions that she had, read some scriptures about christ with her, bear my testimony, and then she asked if i could send some more missionaries to keep teaching her. it was so neat. i am going to keep calling her to make sure that the missionaries came and see how she liked the discussions and stuff. but it was so neat. and it's amazing how the language just comes to you if you open your mouth and are trying to communicate with your heart.
i love being a missionary. it's amazing. sometimes you feel really discouraged. but then you always receive some encouragement. i have had so many prayers answered here already. it's amazing to see how much heavenly father really does love us. and he's waiting for us to talk to him. and ask him for blessings. and he is so eager to give them to us. he wants us to be happy. and he wants us to learn about him and find truth and talk to him. anyway, i am out of time. i hope this email finds everyone well. vaya con dios! :)xoxohermana morrill
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Week Six
heyo fam.
well, i am still alive and kicking. still pretty sick. the doctor wants to see me again today. maybe they'll run some tests or something this time instead of just saying i have something else and giving me more drugs and sending me on my way. sigh. it hasn't been too bad though, i'm not like on my deathbed. just really really sleepy and coughing a lot. it could be worse. one of the new missionaries in our zone has the flu and has to be quarantined for a week. i am glad that i am still allowed to go to class and socialize a little bit. good for the spirits.
um. the food here makes me want to die. not really.. i'm mostly being sarcastic.. but really, i don't know how much more i can take of consistently "meh" food. i can't wait to get to the field and cook my own food and have members feed me delicious homemade mexican food. oh speaking of food, i ate some of my first meat for... over a year and a half now? i decided i need to start slowly weening myself back into it so i don't get out to the field and have three people feed meat dishes in one day and then i throw up. so i had some soup that had little shreds of chicken in it. and i had some potatoes last week that had little pieces of bacon in it. it's crazy how meaty meat tastes. it's not very delicious.
i love it here at the mtc. sickness and bad food and all. the spirit here is so strong. and it's amazing how much my spanish is improving. we speak only in spanish all day every day. except sometimes on P-day when we want to take a break, and on sundays we have to take a break because we have interviews and meetings and such with people who don't know spanish. but other than that, it's all spanish. and i can actually communicate without having to think too hard about it. and people understand me! and especially when we teach lessons and stuff, i've noticed i'm even to the point where i'm starting to just be thinking in spanish and not have to translate in my head all of the time. it's amazing. i never thought i could learn it this fast. the gift of tongues is real. we even started making calls in spanish in the call center. it's actually really scary. and hard to understand people over the phone. but somehow i communicate. it's pretty awesome.
i cannot believe i am starting my 7th week here. i'm almost done! my district gets to be "host" missionaries this week, so we get to take all the new people around on the day they arrive. take their bags, get their supplies, take them to their rooms, etc... it seems like i just got here! now i'm the one hosting people. i'm going to be soaking up the warm weather in mcallen in no time. can't wait. the cold is getting old for sure.
well. that is about all i have time for. i hope that this e-mail finds everyone well. until next week...
hermana morrill
well, i am still alive and kicking. still pretty sick. the doctor wants to see me again today. maybe they'll run some tests or something this time instead of just saying i have something else and giving me more drugs and sending me on my way. sigh. it hasn't been too bad though, i'm not like on my deathbed. just really really sleepy and coughing a lot. it could be worse. one of the new missionaries in our zone has the flu and has to be quarantined for a week. i am glad that i am still allowed to go to class and socialize a little bit. good for the spirits.
um. the food here makes me want to die. not really.. i'm mostly being sarcastic.. but really, i don't know how much more i can take of consistently "meh" food. i can't wait to get to the field and cook my own food and have members feed me delicious homemade mexican food. oh speaking of food, i ate some of my first meat for... over a year and a half now? i decided i need to start slowly weening myself back into it so i don't get out to the field and have three people feed meat dishes in one day and then i throw up. so i had some soup that had little shreds of chicken in it. and i had some potatoes last week that had little pieces of bacon in it. it's crazy how meaty meat tastes. it's not very delicious.
i love it here at the mtc. sickness and bad food and all. the spirit here is so strong. and it's amazing how much my spanish is improving. we speak only in spanish all day every day. except sometimes on P-day when we want to take a break, and on sundays we have to take a break because we have interviews and meetings and such with people who don't know spanish. but other than that, it's all spanish. and i can actually communicate without having to think too hard about it. and people understand me! and especially when we teach lessons and stuff, i've noticed i'm even to the point where i'm starting to just be thinking in spanish and not have to translate in my head all of the time. it's amazing. i never thought i could learn it this fast. the gift of tongues is real. we even started making calls in spanish in the call center. it's actually really scary. and hard to understand people over the phone. but somehow i communicate. it's pretty awesome.
i cannot believe i am starting my 7th week here. i'm almost done! my district gets to be "host" missionaries this week, so we get to take all the new people around on the day they arrive. take their bags, get their supplies, take them to their rooms, etc... it seems like i just got here! now i'm the one hosting people. i'm going to be soaking up the warm weather in mcallen in no time. can't wait. the cold is getting old for sure.
well. that is about all i have time for. i hope that this e-mail finds everyone well. until next week...
hermana morrill
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Week Five
Hello hello.
So this week I learned a very funny lesson about obedience. actually i didn't think it was so funny when it was happened, but looking back on it i can see the humor. so. as you know i was sick. i went to the doctor on tuesday and he like wanted to x-ray my chest and thought i had pneumonia. the whole time i was thinking it was weird because i didn't really feel that sick. so anyway, the doctor told me not to exercise AT ALL. like not even stretches or anything. anything that would get my lungs worked up. he also told me i couldn't drink any milk because it makes phlegm worse or something? who knew. anyway.. little did he know that gym time is my favorite time of the mtc (that, and bed time) and that i have at least 2 or 3 bowls of cereal (with milk) a day. i decided to take his advice. the next day i didn't go to the gym or have any cereal. it was the longest day of my life and i still wasn't feeling very sick. so the next day i decided i was feeling well enough to play some volleyball at the gym. and have two bowls of cereal. and have a mini-dance recital in our dorm. ha. don't ask. we get silly. anyway. the next morning i woke up and it felt like somebody was squeezing my lungs. every time i breathed in it was like someone was squeezing it tighter and tighter. it hurt really bad. i had to go to the hospital. to babylon. i had to get a breathing treatment. it's basically like a glorified asthma inhaler hooked up to a machine. i felt like such a pansy and the breathing treatment really didn't do anything for me except make me feel like i was on LSD or something. my lungs still hurt after. so the doctor gave me lots of drugs and told me once again to not exercise at all. to take naps during gym time instead.so. the morrill of this story is: sometimes your doctor really does know what he is talking about. sometimes. but.. the good news that came from this is i get to take naps! that is quite a blessing here at the mtc.
anyway. that's the excitement of this week. it's been pretty crazy. let's see... oh Sister Dalton came and spoke to us in Relief Society again. holy cow she is a great and inspired lady. she stayed after and talked to everybody personally and hugged and stuff. such a cutie. her talk was really good. it was about being virtuous, and that proverb about how one virtuous woman can change the world. or something. anyway, it was so good. i wish that every girl would go on a mission. seriously. this is the best thing that i have ever done with my life. i'm learning so much. i know i say that every single week. but really i am. and i wish that this was something people stressed more. missions are the greatest things ever! don't get married when you are 20. go on a mission! i actually can't imagine my life without this right now. it would be so unfulfilled. and i guess if you don't go you just never know what you're missing so it's no big deal really. but i am telling everyone now that missions are the best and you will never ever regret going on one. fo' reals.well. that's about all i have time for today.
i hope you're all safe and well and missing me tons.
love you!
xoxo hermana morrill
So this week I learned a very funny lesson about obedience. actually i didn't think it was so funny when it was happened, but looking back on it i can see the humor. so. as you know i was sick. i went to the doctor on tuesday and he like wanted to x-ray my chest and thought i had pneumonia. the whole time i was thinking it was weird because i didn't really feel that sick. so anyway, the doctor told me not to exercise AT ALL. like not even stretches or anything. anything that would get my lungs worked up. he also told me i couldn't drink any milk because it makes phlegm worse or something? who knew. anyway.. little did he know that gym time is my favorite time of the mtc (that, and bed time) and that i have at least 2 or 3 bowls of cereal (with milk) a day. i decided to take his advice. the next day i didn't go to the gym or have any cereal. it was the longest day of my life and i still wasn't feeling very sick. so the next day i decided i was feeling well enough to play some volleyball at the gym. and have two bowls of cereal. and have a mini-dance recital in our dorm. ha. don't ask. we get silly. anyway. the next morning i woke up and it felt like somebody was squeezing my lungs. every time i breathed in it was like someone was squeezing it tighter and tighter. it hurt really bad. i had to go to the hospital. to babylon. i had to get a breathing treatment. it's basically like a glorified asthma inhaler hooked up to a machine. i felt like such a pansy and the breathing treatment really didn't do anything for me except make me feel like i was on LSD or something. my lungs still hurt after. so the doctor gave me lots of drugs and told me once again to not exercise at all. to take naps during gym time instead.so. the morrill of this story is: sometimes your doctor really does know what he is talking about. sometimes. but.. the good news that came from this is i get to take naps! that is quite a blessing here at the mtc.
anyway. that's the excitement of this week. it's been pretty crazy. let's see... oh Sister Dalton came and spoke to us in Relief Society again. holy cow she is a great and inspired lady. she stayed after and talked to everybody personally and hugged and stuff. such a cutie. her talk was really good. it was about being virtuous, and that proverb about how one virtuous woman can change the world. or something. anyway, it was so good. i wish that every girl would go on a mission. seriously. this is the best thing that i have ever done with my life. i'm learning so much. i know i say that every single week. but really i am. and i wish that this was something people stressed more. missions are the greatest things ever! don't get married when you are 20. go on a mission! i actually can't imagine my life without this right now. it would be so unfulfilled. and i guess if you don't go you just never know what you're missing so it's no big deal really. but i am telling everyone now that missions are the best and you will never ever regret going on one. fo' reals.well. that's about all i have time for today.
i hope you're all safe and well and missing me tons.
love you!
xoxo hermana morrill
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Week Four
hi family/friends!this has been a great week. happy new year! my new years eve was fun... we left class at about 8 p.m. to get changed for gym and we soon found out that gym was cancelled. so, the obvious response when gym gets cancelled is to eat as much junk food as you can! the sisters from our zone all combined forces and christmas treats and we had a party. my companion hermana rohr's family sent her chips and salsa from chili's, a lot of us had sparkling cider, and so many cookies and brownies and candies and popcorns. it was swell. we all made the new years resolution to lose the weight we ate that night. ha.
i have learned a lot this week and have had a break through in my teaching skills. i owe it all to a man named brother campbell in the T.E. the t.e. is a place you can go to practice teaching to a teacher or have demos or practice the language. my companions and i went to practice teaching about the plan of salvation but we ended up just having a really good discussion with brother campbell and completely changed our lives. :) seriously though, i vow to name my first born child brothercampbell.
oh. remember how i was sick my first week here? my cough never went away. in fact i am still coughing as i type this. not that dramatically though. but anyway. we decided it was time to go to the doctor again because nothing was working. so we went to the little clinic here and they ended up sending me to a real hospital because they didn't know what was wrong. that's right, i got to leave the bubble of the mtc and go into babylon. i was so free! there was even a tv on at the hospital! anyway.. turns out i have bronchitis. pretty cool, eh? i'm on drugs now and should be cough free any day now. any.. day.. now.. cough. cough.
i keep running into people i know here at the mtc. it's crazy. like two girls i went to high school with live like three doors down from me. (no pun intended.. three doors down) and my friend andrea kinghorn from the elms is in the zone right across from my classroom and we always go to gym together. there's a red head boy from our home stake in west jordan here. rachel edwards' brother teaches here. two of my friends from high school teach here. i ran into my friend's mom at the temple. another girl i knew at the elms is here. a girl who was in my single's ward in virginia beach three summers ago is here... such a small world... my companions joke that i know everybody at the mtc. but i kind of do. anyone who's anyone is serving a mission right now. anyway.
i sure am learning a lot here. i was telling one of my companions the other day, that even if my leg got chopped off tomorrow in some freak accident and i had to be sent home from my mission, i think i have learned so much and grown so much in just this 4 weeks that it could last me a lifetime. i know that the savior really lives and loves us and wants us to come to him and let him take our burdens. and i know that he will. i'm so grateful for the impact that knowledge has had on my life. i know it's because of the atonement that i've been able to make it through any hard time in my life and that my faith in jesus christ is what makes all things possible. i'm so happy to be living life at this time and am so grateful for all of the people and places and experiences that make up my life. man. i wish that everyone in the world would go on a mission. there is nothing that gives you more happiness and peace and comfort and confidence and faith. i'm so excited to go help other people find it. it's crazy i was so worried about leaving other good things behind.. like kaiizen, and taking longer to graduate and join the peace corps, and all of those things. because really, there is nothing better i could be doing to bring peace to the world than this right now. i'm so grateful for the opportunity i even have to be here. thanks, mom and peter. thanks family and friends for all of your love and support and packages and prayers. i miss you all and hope you are doing well. 4 weeks down, only 17 months to go!
love,hermana morrill
i have learned a lot this week and have had a break through in my teaching skills. i owe it all to a man named brother campbell in the T.E. the t.e. is a place you can go to practice teaching to a teacher or have demos or practice the language. my companions and i went to practice teaching about the plan of salvation but we ended up just having a really good discussion with brother campbell and completely changed our lives. :) seriously though, i vow to name my first born child brothercampbell.
oh. remember how i was sick my first week here? my cough never went away. in fact i am still coughing as i type this. not that dramatically though. but anyway. we decided it was time to go to the doctor again because nothing was working. so we went to the little clinic here and they ended up sending me to a real hospital because they didn't know what was wrong. that's right, i got to leave the bubble of the mtc and go into babylon. i was so free! there was even a tv on at the hospital! anyway.. turns out i have bronchitis. pretty cool, eh? i'm on drugs now and should be cough free any day now. any.. day.. now.. cough. cough.
i keep running into people i know here at the mtc. it's crazy. like two girls i went to high school with live like three doors down from me. (no pun intended.. three doors down) and my friend andrea kinghorn from the elms is in the zone right across from my classroom and we always go to gym together. there's a red head boy from our home stake in west jordan here. rachel edwards' brother teaches here. two of my friends from high school teach here. i ran into my friend's mom at the temple. another girl i knew at the elms is here. a girl who was in my single's ward in virginia beach three summers ago is here... such a small world... my companions joke that i know everybody at the mtc. but i kind of do. anyone who's anyone is serving a mission right now. anyway.
i sure am learning a lot here. i was telling one of my companions the other day, that even if my leg got chopped off tomorrow in some freak accident and i had to be sent home from my mission, i think i have learned so much and grown so much in just this 4 weeks that it could last me a lifetime. i know that the savior really lives and loves us and wants us to come to him and let him take our burdens. and i know that he will. i'm so grateful for the impact that knowledge has had on my life. i know it's because of the atonement that i've been able to make it through any hard time in my life and that my faith in jesus christ is what makes all things possible. i'm so happy to be living life at this time and am so grateful for all of the people and places and experiences that make up my life. man. i wish that everyone in the world would go on a mission. there is nothing that gives you more happiness and peace and comfort and confidence and faith. i'm so excited to go help other people find it. it's crazy i was so worried about leaving other good things behind.. like kaiizen, and taking longer to graduate and join the peace corps, and all of those things. because really, there is nothing better i could be doing to bring peace to the world than this right now. i'm so grateful for the opportunity i even have to be here. thanks, mom and peter. thanks family and friends for all of your love and support and packages and prayers. i miss you all and hope you are doing well. 4 weeks down, only 17 months to go!
love,hermana morrill
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Pictures from the MTC
Jamie and Britt in the back seat on the way to the MTC.
Did I mention that Colby married in to the midget family?
Lindsey driving us all to the MTC. Yes, Lindsey.
O Christmas Tree
It's Official!
Tiny little dorm room.
Christmas Dinner! How pitiful is that?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)