ANNOUNCEMENTS

Alright it's officially SUMMER. We live in an oven, my friends. And its only going to get hotter! But I have seen miracles all week that have shown me that the Lord is mindful of EVERYONE. Even his hot, exhausted missionaries. 

The highlight of my week was definitely companion exchanges! Jaén is out in the middle of nowhere basically so both the sister training leaders came (usually one of us would go to their área on splits). And i was nervous be cause we have lost a lot of investigators who have left to escape the summer heat so i had no idea how we were going to find enough missionary work for the both of us. I prayed that week that Heavenly Father would bless us to find a way and guess what miracle He blessed us with! The day before exchanges we got a call from a member with a ton of references who wanted to take us to a pueblo (town) outside of Jaén the next day--tender mercy say what! So the next day Hermana Andersen and Hermana Knowles were able to go visit a family, ending the night with SEVEN new invesigators. And then by the end of the exchange we were able to find and teach 2 more. Ive NEVER found that many new investigators before in one week, let alone one day. Tender merciesssss. The rest of the exchange was great, even though Hermana Read and I had no success in the morning and we ended up walking up and down the mountainside for three hours blahhhhh. Whatever. Worth it. And I'm super proud of my comp too. She hasnt had even one transfer in the mission field and she was able to lead the sister training leader to all the appointments and guide all the lessons. What a stud. She gets it from her mom ;) 

We were also really active with the ward this week. Friday the ward had a talent show and it was a pretty good turnout! We even got a bunch of our investigators to come too. People danced, sang, did skits, and even us and the Elders particpated. Haha we all laid down on a table upside down and did that thing where you draw faces on your chins while singing Hakuna Matata (i did it just like you and I practiced it, Kate ;) and yeah...i think it was too much for them to handle. Hahaha there was just that awkward pity applause but I dont care, we were awesome.

And on Saturday the Elders had a baptism! It was super special and even though she wasnt our investigator, i was able to see the changes she made in her life and Im so proud of her. She is the cutest thing ever and a great  addition to the ward. Shes been coming to church for months and I love how the members have already made her feel welcome and special. 

And lastlyyyyyy guess who got their TRUNKY PAPERS this week. They mailed them to me on my year mark on the dot, SO. MEAN.  (For those who dont know, trunky papers are a list of things the mission sends you to take care of before you leave, debt, flight plans etc). I still have an entire 6 months left for heavens sake haha. But man, I cant believe how fast this year has gone by, but at the same time I feel like I have been in Spain forever. If i had the choice to serve a two year mission, I would do it--without a second thought. I LOVE being a missionary. I love it. I love it love it love it. And I'm excited to see what challenges and miracles these next six months will bring! 

Oh and shout out first to my own padre! His birthday is on June 2 and he's turning....a big number that I forget. But its big ;) haha just kidding. I wont say anything as gushy as I said last week but I'll re-echo my love and my appreciation for my dad. I love him so much and have spent these past couple days thinking about all the things he's done for me and theres a lot. And probably half of them I havent thanked him enough for. But I do so now! Youre 

And second shout out to Elder Casper and his mission call to the California Bakersfield mission! What a stud! You'll have ana amazing time, i promise.

And also, I love President and Hermana Deere! President and Hermana Andersen arrive tomorrow. It's a bittersweet moment--i will miss the Deeres more than anything but I am also ready to support and welcome the Andersens in any way that I can. 

And last but not least, MY FAMILY AND I ARE OFFICIALLY ON THE SAME CONTINENT. And time zone. I got an email this morning that my family has arrived safe to Germany and I am so unbelieveably excited for them and this new chapter in their lives. I love you all so much! 

Well this has been quite the email of announcements, I hope you all are doing well and that you have a great week! I'm praying for you!

HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!

Love, 

Hermana Morrow

CASTLE AND BAPTISMS

BEST WEEK EVER!!! Also the craziest. And most exhausting and stressful but amazing and incredible all wrapped in one!!! Here's a sum-up (brace yo'selves, this weeks gonna be a long one!)  

Monday was by far the best day ever! Probably the funnest P-Day in my mission thus far. We finally went to the castle with Oscar our investigator and a recent convert Virginia (who is THE BEST by the way!) and it was really funny because the whole time Oscar was like "are you sure? Are you sure you'll be able to walk up? It's like 45 minutes uphill" and we were pshhhh whatever, we do that literally every day! Oh man, oh man did we die. 45 minutes up a 60 degree angle mountainside! I don't know HOW we thought we could compete with two 6 foot football/ cross country star Elders and two super healthy active Europeans. We were soooo behind the entire way but we played it off by pretending like we were taking lots of pics haha. Of which, by the way, I have a TON. (Thank you iPads for your awesome quality picture taking skills!!) we ate at the top and took a billion photos and then headed the way back down the mountainside. We decided to literally go down the mountain this time through the rough terrain and I only biffed it twice (my companion had to hold my hand after that). The whole time We had a tri-language conversation going on--Oscar teaching us German phrases, me translating Spanish for Hermana Anderson, and then her teaching Oscar English haha. So basically it was a ton of fun and probably the best Pday I've ever had. Dang I love Jaen.

We also had a tooooon of miracles this week! I mean we always have miracles of course but this week was amazinggggg. I remember telling Hermana Anderson last week the famous Hermana Lyons (my second companion) quote, "what I like about the mission (and life for that matter) is even when times get rough, you always know there's a miracle on the horizon. And the harder you work, the faster you will reach it OR the more meaningful it will be for you when it does come."--because  we were having a rough week and getting a little discouraged. And it came true! 

The first miracle happened when we passed by an investigator who is always super busy. She didn't have time again but she gave us the reference of her son who was in the hospital. So we pretty much ran to the hospital to see him and it turned out that it was the wrong hospital and that the one he was at was like and hour + walk away. So we attempted another day (we found a bus to take--I'm not THAT crazy) and everything was going perfect until we found him. Yeah he didn't want ANYTHING to do with us and I think we were in that room for a total of 30 seconds. Tough luck. So we left feeling a little discouraged, feeling like we had come all that way for nothing when on the bus ride home, a man happened to sit next to us. We got a conversation going and he pretty much gave US his phone number and address. He even showed us where he lived so that next week we can visit him and his family! Say what?!? Never happens by the way--truly a miracle! 

The next miracle happened yesterday when we were in choir ( Yeah I can't sing....and they gave my comp and I a solo part--AH) when suddenly an investigator that we had lost contact with for over a month walked in and started singing with us. Hermana Anderson and I were in shock but thankfully our brains started working again when he attempted to leave--we practically FLEW after him. We were able to teach a lesson and shared "the hope of God's light" Mormon message (of which I highly recommend btdubs) and we felt the Spirit so strong. He was like, "do you feel that?? I feel good!" the whole time and he expressed how he knows this is the true church of Jesus Christ and that he wants to be baptized. Incredible. There's not even words to express how blessed I feel to have these miracles, especially when I complain about the heat or being tired. It's so worth it. Every second. And I haven't even talked about the best miracle of them all *drumroll*..........

CLARA AND OSCAR WERE BAPTIZED!! Wow what a special week we had! The service was beautiful, I am so proud of them both for preparing themselves and pretty much changing their lives around completely so that they could follow the example of Jesus Christ to be baptized into His church. I have seen these changes and they have helped me to remember exactly why I'm here. The gospel truly truly does change people. The knowledge of our Saviors Atonement changes people. And all for the better. 

The service was beautiful and I'm grateful that I was there to see it. It was a little weird though because the ward pretty much did everything and we were like hey we're here too, what can we do?? Haha but that's how it should be! I'm grateful for this ward and how integrated they are in missionary work, it's more than important--it's essential! And now as I think about it, all the converts I've had on my mission have been references from members. And I think it's because they already have friends, they already have someone other than the missionaries that can help guide them, answer their questions, listen to their doubts, and uplift them spiritually when the missionaries can't be there. So know how important each and every one of you are to missionary work. Especially the youth--imagine the kind of lives your friends could have if they were able to find the gospel NOW. They could go on missions, have temple marriages--there's so many blessings you could help them receive. Heavenly Father is always preparing people, I promise that with all of my heart. Pray for these experiences, I know Heavenly Father will guide you to those friends or relatives or acquaintances that are ready to receive Him.

Alright so longest- weekly- letter-ever over. But to close, I just wanted to give a shout out to my amazing PADRE!! ¡¡FELIZ DÍA DEL PADRE!! (Even though in Spain it happened months ago) I am so incredibly lucky to have the dad I have. A father who has sacrificed so much for his family. He's the hardest worker I know and I am so proud of him as he serves our country in the Air Force. I know it hasn't been the easiest path for him and it has required a lot of sacrifice on all of our parts but it has been an amazing experience that I would never have traded for the world. I am also eternally grateful for the worthy priesthood leader he is.Our family has been blessed in more ways than I can count because of this. In fact I have no doubt in my mind that I'm serving a mission now because of him and his example. My dream would be to marry someone as loyal, faithful, and hardworking as my him-- awful dad jokes and all. I LOVE YOU DAD!! 

 And that's it! I love Jaén so much it worries me that it means I have to leave soon haha Hermana Anderson and I are having so much fun and working so hard and good together, it's almost too good to be true! My dream would be able to work here with her for the rest of my mission. Hands down. I love her so much and I love you all too!! I wish you the best week ever!!

HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!! 

Love,

Hermana Morrow

BLESSINGS DO COME!

So I don't know if you remember, but we had a pretty
bizarre/crazy/ridiculous-to-a-point-where-all-we-could-do-was-laugh
beginning to our transfer and these curveballs from heaven just seem
to keep on comin! Haha for the first couple weeks I would tell Hermana
Anderson, "I promise you this is not what the mission is really like!
Next week will be normal !" But I seemed to have forgotten that the
mission is NOT normal! It's discouraging and physically and
emotionally exhausting but it's also the best thing ever. The most
amazing thing I have ever had the opportunity and blessing to do. And
something I would never give up for anything in the world! So yeah we
had another rough week but it ended on a good point and that's all
that matters. The blessings do come! That's one thing I have a strong
testimony of--sometimes they take time and sometimes they come after a
lot of sacrifice but they do come!!

So I ran out of time so I'm only going to share the happy stuff woohoo!!
First, Oscar, our investigator, came back from Germany this week and
we threw him a party in the church and it was soooo fun! He's awesome
and we're going to hike to the castle with him and the Elders and
other young adults today for Pday!! Hopefully his mom will be baptized
this week! They're both amazing and have such strong testimonies.
Clara has had the lessons pretty much like twice and has been
listening to General Conference daily for almost months! I've never
met someone so prepared to receive the gospel and she's finally taking
this next step this week!! Ahhhhh I love her so much!! She's an
incredible incredible person and I'm so glad to have been able to meet
and teach her these past couple months.

My favorite cita of this week was when we visited with our Frenchie
friends. We had invited them to baptism before and they weren't able
to be baptized but they are just SO good. Such good people that we
felt that we should invite them again. We shared the video of Christ
getting baptized and read in the Book of Mormon about following
Christs example and I felt the Spirit So strong. Okay so as a
missionary I feel like we are just blessed to have the Spirit with us
so often and if we are obedient and doing the things we should, we
SHOULD have the Spirit with us 24/7. And then after living like that
for almost a year and being used to feeling Him constantly, it's not
been as often where I've felt The Holy Spirit so powerfully. But this
time was different. We invited them to be baptized and they wanted to
follow Christs example so badly. They're so ready and I've never met
people with such a strong desire! But they explained to us their
struggles in their lives and that they know they can't make this
covenant with God if they are unable to come to church and renew their
promise with Him every week. Man I'm not giving this experience any
justice, I wish I could explain it better. It was just so powerful to
be with people who treasure baptism and who truly know and feel what
it means to do it. And they said they believed that when their
circumstances change and when it's the Lords will, they will make that
next step!! I've never seen so much faith before.

And to end, yesterday we went to stake conference in Granada, which
included the Malaga stakes too so President and Hermana Deere were
there!! We got to say our goodbyes, as the new mission president
arrives the 30th of June. AHHHHHH SO SAD!! I love love love them both
so much, I don't know how we'll be able to let them go!! But I'm so
grateful for the time we had together and the miracles we've seen as a
mission. They're both incredible people who I will look up to for the
rest of my life.

I love the mission guys! I've never been more tried but I've also
never been so happy! I have a quote on my wall that says, "Heavenly
Father cares more about your growth than He does about your comfort"
and I feel like Heavenly Father definitely wants me to grow haha! I'm
improving and becoming better every day and I feel Him molding me into
the person He wants me to become and I can't ask for anything better.
I will serve Him for the rest of my life and for the eternities after!
I love my Father, I love my Savior, and I love being a missionary in
Spain. And I love you all too!! Have a great week!!

HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!
Love,
Hermana Morrow

SHARE THE GOSPEL EVERYDAY

Guess who had an awesome week! We diddddddddd! Seriously though, it was pretty great. We decided that Heavenly Father gave us a rough start so that we wouldn't get too cocky haha. We've already been blessed with so much success and we work so great together. If we keep it up, we're going to see so many more miracles these next two transfers!!

My new co pie in the mission home right after being assigned together! 

So first, quick update--my companions feet are pretty much healed! We
took an entire day off so she could just recover and the members were
so nice about gives us rides to the meetings we couldn't miss so she
was able to get the rest she needed. What a trooper though. Not
exactly the funniest experience to have the first week of your
mission! 

And another update, guess what I have learned this week--I actually
know Spanish!! There is definitely a difference between having a
native Spanish speaker as a companion and having someone just starting
out. Not gonna lie, I would get so down on my Spanish when I was with
my other companions because they spoke perfectly and next to them I
felt like I just sounded so dumb. But now there's so much depending on
me and my ability to communicate with everyone that I feel like my
Spanish has grown so much just in these past two weeks. and I've seen
the Lord's hand this week, guiding and helping me. The gifts of
tongues is real, guys!! I can't tell you how many people we visit who
I could barely understand before or people who could barely understand
me before and now we communicate with almost no problem. It's
incredible and very humbling. I know that the Lord qualifies us for
each calling that he gives us! And plus, I don't have to worry at all
about Hermana Anderson. She's been learning Spanish for only 2 months
but she already teaches in every lesson and is an expert contacter.
The people just love her! She's just so cute and happy, she's my
secret weapon haha I always make her talk to the grumpy people because
she just melts their hearts. So yeah, we're a good team! 

 What else, what else....we might have 2 baptisms this weekend, Clara
(the most amazing person ever!) and her son Oscar who gets back from
Germany tomorrow. But if there's one thing I've learned on my mission
it's that Heavenly Father's will is often different than our plans.
But that's because He can see the bigger picture and He knows what's
best for each one of us! So we'll see what happens!!

We also have a recent convert from Nigeria who has been sharing the
gospel like a machine with her friends so we still have two baptismal
dates for later this month too :) I love seeing the work here
progressing! 

 So nothing new has been going on here, just lots of walking and it's
HOT. We were going to walk up the mountain to the castle today but all
the Young Adults chickened out because there's a national heat warning
and all us missionaries are just like yeah...we'll be proselyting in
that later today haha. But The Lord definitely does bless us--that I
can't deny! And it's a small price to pay to do His work!

And plus, I have an amazing comp who just makes everything so much
more fun! I love her so much! I felt like we've been together forever
(in a good way, come on) and it's only been two weeks! Jaén is just
incredible. I've really learned how to be a true missionary here from
the companions I've served with, from my missionary leaders here, from
the help and love we receive from the ward, and of course from
learning the lessons Heavenly Father has wanted me to learn here. I
have a long time left here (hopefully until August) but I already know
I'm going to be sad to leave! I am just in love with everything right
now, especially the being a missionary part. 

I LOVE THE MISSION! 

It's
the best thing that has ever happened to me and for all you young ones
out there, I promise you that you can only regret NOT going on a
mission. I love this gospel, I love my savior, and I love sharing my
testimony and seeing the faith of others grow here in southern Spain.
Find a way to share the gospel every day! Even if it's just by posting
a Mormon Message or your favorite scripture on Facebook. And there
you'll find true happiness! I promise.

Anyways, I love you all so much!! Have an amazing week!! 

 HURRAH FOR ISRAEL! 

 Love,
Hermana Morrow

Our first day we tried to make brownies but we didn't have cocoa
powder or vanilla so we used hot chocolate mix and honey instead and
it actually turned out pretty good! (Aka We ate the entire pan in two
days)








Kebap is the closest thing that you can find here in Spain to a NYC

gyro, if we had a national mission food this would be it



We taught a family about Family Home Evening and made them a chart

NEW COMPANION FROM AMERICA

Longest. Week. Ever. Oh my goodness I feel like this week has been
going on forever and that my new HIJA and I have been serving together
for at least 6 months. Its probably been the craziest week of my
mission and maybe my life soooo yeah...WELCOME HERMANA ANDERSON!!

Alright let's start from the beginning:
Tuesday I said goodbye to my favorite Spanish companion and then Elder
Lindley and I set off to pick up our hijos! The whole matching up
greenies with their trainers was just as dramatic and exciting as I
remember and it was even more special for me because it was the last
new group coming in before President and Hermana Deere leave! We all
gathered in the palace (the mission home) and were assigned our
trainees. I am companions with the beautiful Hermana Anderson from
Draper, Utah!! My second American comp! 

Ah man I'm so excited to be
with her, we've already had so much fun!! She's already got me caught
up on all the slang and everything. So now I'm on point--my comps DA
BAE. Haha I sound like dad when he tries to be cool.

Anywayssss we spent the night at the mission home and the next day we
headed to Jaen! After a five hour grueling bus ride my comp was
welcomed into a Jaen by a drunk man trying to give her kisses. Nice.
So after defending her from him and then running away from another man
who was trying to beg money from us we finally made it safely to our
apartment. Best start ever. And it only gets better!
The third day hermana Anderson grew these impressive blisters ON THE
BOTTOM OF HER FEET! Never knew that was possible. But she pushed
through it and was a hero and tried to hide it from me all day but
when we got back to our apartment she took her shoes off and she
literally had HOLES in her feet! Im pretty sure I saw muscle! Guys, I
only had my comp for two days and I already broke her!!! But she is
amazing. She can barely walk but We were still able to work and see so
many miracles!


For example, the first thing we did was sat down and decided that
Hermana Anderson would be the one to invite people to baptism in every
lesson with an investigator for that week. She listened to the Spirits
promptings and invited three people to baptism, two of which said yes!
One of them, Margarita, I had contacted on the street the week before
and we found out that she had been taught by the missionaries years
before but had somehow lost contact with them. She's GOLDEN guys! She
even told us she would switch work around so that she could come to
church on Sundays! BAM. Miracle. The other woman was Becky, the friend
of a recent convert. We even set a date with her for June 13th so
we'll see what happens! BAM. Miracles. The third is a gypsy woman who
Hermana Anderson street contacted pretty much all by herself her first
day (mind you she's only studied Spanish for 6 weeks yet she is
rocking it!!) it was an amazing lesson but we just need a little more
time with her to help her see how much her life can be blessed by
following Christs example.

Another miracle we had was we finally got iPads!!! Friday we took a
bus to Granada and our assistants to the president handed them all
out. Haha it was quite a sight to see 15 missionaries crowded in a
small room attempting to use technology that we haven't seen or
touched for up to 2 years! It was pretty frustrating and one of the
most stressful things I've had to deal with so far on my mission but I
know once we get the hang of it it will do so much good! And plus, not
only will we able to go home knowing how to use technology, but we
will know how to use it WELL. And then we can teach our families and
future children how to use technology in the best way and how to avoid
temptations lurking on the Internet and how to avoid wasting time.
That's honestly what I'm most excited for.
So yeah, pretty crazy week....it got super hot again...pray for my
comps feet please....and that these iPads won't stress me out too
much...I LOVE YOU ALLL! HAVE AN AMAZING BLISTER FREE WEEK!
HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!

Love,
Hermana Morrow


PS hit 11 months!! In our first moments together my comp asked me how
many months I had in the mission and when I told her 11 her eyes got
big and gave me a look as if I was going to die (end the mission) like
tomorrow. So apparently I'm old. Doesn't help that there's now
officially only SEVEN Hermanas in the entire mission that have more
time than me. Where has the time gone!!! Ahhhhhhhhh!

Sent from my iPad (awwww yeah!)