Christmas

The burning of the skirt at the one year mark

'ello.
i feel like i have nothing to say because i already talked it all out on the phone.


hello everybody!
merry christmas. i spent my christmas week:
-having a christmas zone conference and whacking a pinata around
-eating til my face turned blue
-singing at a retirement home
-serving food to homeless people
-finding an amazing woman named alda, alone and needing us on christmas eve night
-hanging out with my favorite familia torres
-enjoying the beatiful 70 degree weather
-watching tim get the priesthood and baptize his wife, kim
-eating breakfast with the elders
-talking to my family on the telephone
-working on growing my double chin

i don't feel like writing that much. but it was the most humbling and rewarding and amazing christmas i have ever had and i know that i will never forget it. i hope that future christmases can match to the awesomeness of this one. i hope that all of your christmases were white and wonderful.
love,
sister morrill

Feliz Navidad!

feliz navidad a todos!
esta semana voy a escribir toda mi carta en espanol. ojala que la entiendan. esta semana ha sido muy especial y el espiritu de la navidad esta tan fuerte. hemos tenido las programas de la navidad en la iglesia, y visto "mr. krueger's christmas" y "regocijaos, jesus nacio," y tenido muchas oportunidades de servir a los demas. tambien la clima es tan buena ahorita. estoy muy agradecida por mi llamamiento como misionera y por la gente buena que conozco aqui en mcallen. estoy tan agradecida por mi salvador jesucristo y todo lo que el me ha dado, y por su amor infinito que siento diariamente.
kim had her baptismal interview yesterday, and she'll be getting baptized this sunday. it is going to be a white christmas afterall. (cue drumroll... cheesy missionary joke.) tim got confirmed yesterday and it was awesome. they have been having marital problems, but the two of them working together and strengthening their faith seems to also be strengthening their relationship. they have been really great together lately. kim told us that when tim got baptized she felt really good inside. like a warmth in her chest and that she wanted to cry. we were able to testify to her that it was the spirit and that was really the turning point for her. she's been reading her book of mormon like a maniac and has been really really happy lately. we're so excited for her to get baptized this weekend.
we found a cool family, the figueroa family. the three kids, michelle 15, jackie 13, eric 12 have baptismal dates for january and we are hoping to get their mom.. we are meeting with her on tuesday. they are awesome. we've also been teaching a woman named brandy who has come to church a couple of times now and has a testimony. the only problem is opposition from her crazy husband/boyfriend/baby daddy. we're hoping for some miracles this week though.
the branch president from the young single adults branch down here gave all of the missionary companionships names of less actives members who should be attending the young single adults and wanted us to stop by them and visit them. at first we kind of thought it was a dumb idea and that the members should do it... but it has turned out to be the best thing we've done all week. we've found two new invesigators out of it so far.. family members of the less active members. i will tell you the story of one now:
Rosario Cardenas is the non-member mom of one of the less actives we were going by. turns out the kid got married and moved away. BUT. we had shown up just in the middle of a crisis and were an answer to a prayer. We were talking kind of small talk stuff to her at first. and it was getting to a point where we didn't know what else to say really and there was a silence. rosario looked like she was going to say something and i was sure that it would be "well, thanks for stopping by. see you later." i wanted to hurry and blurt out something about the gospel, but the spirit told me to stay quiet. tears welled up in her eyes and she said, "you know... our family has been going through some really rough times right now." she then told us the story how her daughter almost died last week and is in the hospital in the ICU. it made her step back and think that maybe she didn't push her kids enough or show her example enough in having faith in god. she thought of all these regrets that she had and she wanted her children to know god better. she told us "i think god sent you girls to me as a sign that i need come back to him and learn more about him and bring my family with me." we were able to testify of the power of the book of mormon in converting people to jesus christ and of the peace that it brings and the influence of god's spirit and the power it has to bring families together. as we prayed at the end of our experience the spirit was so strong and we were all crying. rosario grabbed sister busath and told her that she could feel her spirit and her love. it was amazing. she's going to be in the hospital pretty much all this week, but we are planning on stopping by this week and raking her yard and bringing a christmas present, and we will hopefully be able to meet with her when things calm down in the hospital. she said she would read the book of mormon every day until we see her again.
i am so grateful for the spirit that guides us in this work. i am so grateful that each of us gets to be the savior's hands here on earth and do his will if we really seek it out. i am so grateful for prepared people that are searching for truth. i know that heavenly father loves each of his children and is always willing to put people and blessings in our path when we ask for them and have the faith to recognize them. i know that it is only through jesus christ that our joy can be full in this lifetime and in the next.
merry christmas!
i love you all.

Training the Newby

hello, world!
what a week. my new companion's name is sister busath (pronounced b+you+saith) and she is from a place called livermore california in the bay area. she is adorable! everything that comes out of her mouth is love and rainbows and sunshine. it's crazy. i've never known such a loving person. when she speaks to people you can just feel her love. it's cool. my throat is starting to hurt from talking so much this week though. i'm getting sick of the sound of my own voice. ha. she's still working on the spanish so i pretty much have to take over in the spanish lessons, although she does a great job baring her testimony. we've just been trying to speak a lot of spanish to each other and play games and things to constantly be practicing. we're getting there. I pretty much love having a newby around though. I think after a while of being on the mission you start to forget or take for granted all of the blessings you receive. she is so sweet and bright eyed and bushy tailed and it's reminding me of what a miracle missionary work really is. we received a lot of blessings this week.
tim got his interview for his baptism and he'll be all set to go this weekend. we have also been seeing miracles with his wife's heart softening. she even came to church this week, and she cried when we watched a movie with her and has read a chapter in the book of mormon. we are going over to just visit with her alone tonight, and we are going to see if we can set a date with her. tim will get the priesthood the next week and he can baptize her! keep her in your prayers. they are an awesome family and they will do a lot of good in the world.
we met a cool woman this week named mayte (my-tay). it was neat, an appointment we had fell through so we decided to knock on a couple of the neighbors doors. mayte answered the door and i felt like i knew exactly what i needed to say. i told her how we share a message about how we can overcome our trials and how god is always aware of us and waiting for us to come to him... which is something i don't think i've ever said right on a doorstep. usually i say something about families or jesus christ. anyway, she just melted. she let out a sigh. there was a silence. i asked her if she was going through trials right now. she told us about how her family is illegal and her husband got caught by immigration. she has 4 kids under 15, with a baby on the way. she doesn't know when husband will be let out. she can't get a real job because she doesn't have her papers so she sells homemade tortillas and menudo from her house on the weekends. her two year-old son has been sick, having little seizures, and being violent and they are waiting on doctors visits to find out if he has some kind of epilepsy. her life has been crazy, but she is the most optimistic person i have ever met in my life. she has so much faith and just knows that god is watching over her and that her baby will be okay and she is doing everything in her power to make sure that her kids are happy and healthy and loved. she is an amazing soul and i know that god put us in her path to help us right when she needed it. we shared alma 26:31 about how god is aware of all of his children, and he numbers them, and he is with them always. she cried. it was really powerful. my poor companion had no idea what was going on but she bore a simple, pure testimony that just hit home. it was really neat to be a part of. we'll be visiting her more this week. she is awesome.
anyway, other news, i have quit sweets. in order to help an investigator quit smoking, sister busath and i quit sweets. it has been a rough three days, but maybe it will help my fat face go away.
that's all for this week.
love,
me