Hello All! Another week, more mission drama.  This weekend was probably the best yet because Orrin was FINALLY baptized and confirmed. It was the cutest thing ever. Originally after he had committed to be baptized on November 16th he told me that he only wanted it to be me, him, and Brother Stephenson (the man who fellow shipped him) at his baptism. That's it. Just three people..... My response to that was: "uhhh yeah, no. We are inviting the whole ward." Which we did, and a ton of people showed up.  When Orrin was in the baptismal font, about to be baptized, he started crying like a little baby. I started crying too and so did my old companion Sister Fairbanks. BEST TEARS EVER. I was able to give a talk, as well as his good friend Melody.. and Orrin gave a talk too. He mainly just bore his testimony and it was so great because even our Bishop, WHO NEVER CRIES, started tearing up. Priceless.  Orrin is going to receive the Aaronic priesthood this next weekend.  

I've been having some health problems, mainly just terrible headaches which have been getting progressively worse over the past two months. But I was able to finally see a Neurologist and I will be getting an MRI this Wednesday. So hopefully that helps.

hmm... Transfers are coming up and I am praying that me and my two other companions can stay together. My companion got grounded from driving because she hit a pole (don't ask me how) and so I was given the keys to the car:) let's just say... Scottsdale is not the same. Anyway, our two sibling investigators Sam and Wesley are getting baptized this Sunday which is exciting.

Love you all, have a great great week! 

sister healy 

Hello everyone! Just another sunny monday morning in Scottsdale. this week was a whirlwind to say the least.  Where to begin...

 

Well let's start with the AMAZING NEWS. We now have 5 scheduled baptisms in the next 3 weeks. Yes, we had 1 and now we have 5. SO EXCITED. Orrin is going to baptized this saturday, and let's just say I've really taken the reigns on this one. I made sure to individually call every member of the ward council (Relief society prez, Elders Quorum prez, ect.) and made them promise me (literally I made them verbally promise me) that they would announce orrins baptism in each of their meetings. I even stood up in the third hour and announced it again... so the whole ward better show up to his baptism. or else. The other people we have on date are: Wes and Sam Louis (11,13 year olds whose mom recently started coming back to church), Steve Rhoads (this super swanky man in his early 60's, looks like a stake president, just saying), and finally good old Paul Dewitt. Paul, like Orrin has a baptist background and actually used to be a minister himself. He had a falling out with the baptist faith when the Reverend above him started doing some things that were morally not right. we had a great lesson with Paul yesterday and he committed to be baptized. So Im SO SO excited because we are leading our zone in baptisms now. YIPPEE.  

 

Other things this week: hmm, well I share a more than awkward experience haha. We were trying to contact this woman who is less active. We showed up at her house after eating the classic dinner which includes potato salad, and beans of some sort.  Well that food never sits well in the stomach of sister fisher, so mid conversation, as we are talking to this woman on her porch, sister fisher just rips one. and i mean rips one. we all kind of just stood there.... not knowing what to say. the woman says "well mother nature calls to us all." let's just say that was probably one of the funniest experiences of my life. seriously. so funny. sister fisher is just classic. 

 

Now on a more serious note: 

 I've decided that because we leave commitments with our investigators and less actives every appointment, I should do the same with all of you. So this week, I commit all of ya'll ( the amazing people who read these GREAT emails) to write down three things that you are grateful for everyday. I promise that if you do so, you will really see how lucky and blessed you are:) have a great week and know I love and care for you all.

 

love your fave,

sister healy 

 

Happy November! Here's the latest from Morgan. Pictures are posted on her blog:  www.missionarymorgan.blogspot.com

 

And.... IT'S NOVEMBER. another week has passed here in scottsdale and we had some great peaks and a few pits this week.

I'll start with the saddish stuff, Hattie is being a bit of a pill and is impossible to contact at this point. We know that she really does want to be baptized but I'm not so certain about her willingness to committ fully to gospel principles... so we will see what happens with her this next week.

We did have a couple miracles this week. I'll start with the best one. So as I HOPE you all remember we have been teaching a man named Orrin Billy ( he used to be a baptist and his dad is a hard-core, Mormon-hating pastor)... anyways we have been teaching him the past 2 months and extended an invitation for him to be baptized about 5 weeks ago. He told us that he would pray about it... and he did... for the past 5 weeks... well yesterday I was sitting next to him in sacrament meeting and I of course was blabbing on and on about something (honestly don't even remember exactly what) but then there was a pause in the conversation and he just looks at me and says "So i want to be baptized". I kind of looked at him in shock for a second because IT JUST DIDN'T SEEM REAL. I then pulled myself together and asked him when. We've set the date for November 16th! SO SO EXCITED.

Also a less active that we have been working with since i got here committed to prepare to go to the temple and take out his endowment and become worthy to recieve the Melchizedek priesthood! that was also so exciting.  

SO FUNNY. due to the fact that we are now in a car, we are limited on how many miles we can drive a month... we have exactly 1000 miles a month to use. anyway, last week we ran out of miles and had to use the bikes and can i just say... it was probably THE FUNNIEST THING seeing us three sister missionaries biking down the street. Sister F and A HATE THE BIKES, actually they both started crying after the first day of using them... so that was an experience to say the least.

Still don't know how sister fairbanks and i survived that first transfer together as newbies; fresh out of the mtc with no trainer, crappy bikes, and absolutely no idea what to do at first. the fact that i'm still alive & kicking is in itself a miracle.

Love you all! have a great week. all my love,

sister healy

 Halloween party with families from the stake.  Morgan ran into the Forkners!!!!

Ward baptism

The sisters looking oh so disguised.

Happy Halloween.

I tried to think of a clever hook line for this email, but i couldn't think of anything so.....Sassy sister healy is here to give you an update on this past week in good ol' Scottsdale!

My great companion sister fairbanks and I departed ways on Wednesday and now I have two new companions, sister alexander and sister fisher. Sister alexander is this sweet, tiny little, curly-haired blonde from Virginia and Sister Fisher is a slightly awkward, but great sister from Canada (who took creative liberties and drew me as a horse yesterday. yes, i'm a horse).

  I'm still covering all the less-actives and investigators that I taught before and so it's kind of strange now because essentially I'm doing all the planning each morning and night ALONE. I go on splits all the time too because sister A and sister F still teach who they had been teaching prior, as do I... so I feel like a solo missionary which is interesting! 

On Wednesday, Elder Teh of the Seventy came to our mission and gave us a training and gave a number of different talks as did the stake presidents and mission presidents. President Sweeney, at the end of the day, provided 6 missionaries with the opportunity to speak one on one with Elder Teh and I WAS CHOSEN TO BE ONE OF THE 6. IT WAS SO EXCITING. I think he chose me mainly because I'm (a bit too) confident at times so during Elder Teh's training, I put my MTC memorization of scriptures and quotes to good use and kept answering the questions that he had for us:) Anyway it was great!

We also had great progress with our investigators Megan (the Jew) and Orrin (the Baptist)! The Barron family who has been inactive for over 5 years came to the Halloween party and then to church this sunday! And the husband and wife committed to preparing to return to the temple. CHUCHING!!! We are also teaching a man named Paul, he is this big African-american guy who used to be a member of the baptist church, but says that that church just no longer felt right to him. Anyway,  I had my first lesson with him and at the end of it I asked him if he would be willing to be baptized.... AND THE MAN SAID YES. YES. YES. I was pretty shocked when he said that and then kind of stared at him dumbfounded, so great.

Last little thing, at the ward halloween party on saturday the primary presidency thought it would be HILARIOUS to put us sisters in charge of the kissing booth. yes you heard that right. So we gave kisses out to everyone (they were on a rubber stamp I promise). Definitely the most popular station.

Have a great week and just know that there are so many great missionary opportunities everyday, where we can share what we believe in and serve others. Great scripture that I COMMIT you all to read: D&C 100:5-8. Love you all!

Sassy Sister Healy  

 

BECAUSE its past mid-october, you know what that means..... IT'S CHRISTMAS MUSIC TIME. you should hear me singing on my bike, it's just glorious. i know the residents of scottsdale really look forward to it! This week we had more less active/recent convert lessons than ever before, as well as more investigator lessons than ever before, so that was GREAT. my companion is getting transferred this wednesday to serve in the papago zone of arizona on the native american reservation. Word on the missionary street is that the native americans feed the missionaries dead dog on special occasions, so that should be interesting for her haha! I'm still staying in the scottsdale tempe area of arizona, now working with two other sisters in a tri companionship until the next transfer. Yes we are still waiting on the visas.

 

quick update on this week: hattie is still struggling with the WOW (word of wisdom) so we pushed her baptism back a few weeks so that she can get things into check.  Another one of our investigators, Megan,  wants to committ to baptism but feels like she needs to be perfect before she committs.... MAGIC IS GOING TO HAPPEN WITH HER THIS WEEK. i can feel it.  our work with the less active families is also going really well. One family who hasn't been to church in at least 5 years came this sunday; which was exciting. we're going to help them prepare to go to the temple.

 

This week we are having what's called "mission tour" which just means that a member of the Quorum of the 70 is going to come in and teach and train us; which should be pretty cool! The mission president said that on halloween we are supposed to go in at 6pm; so my comp and i were thinking of just being super creative and throwing candy at people from our apartment balcony with the lds.org card attached. we think that will really get the message across! haha.

 

The weather is beautiful here. the other day I actually said i was cold when it was 60 degrees! which is wrong i know. WHAT HAS ARIZONA DONE TO ME.

found a new favorite scripture this week in D&C 78:17-18. SO PLEASE LOOK IT UP and apply it to your lives.

Love you all so so much! Have an amazing week and know that you are always in my thoughts and prayers.

 

Love,

 

Sassy sister healy

with member of ward; super sweet lady

at the temple with her comp

 

Additional stories:

so we have been teaching this less active for a while who went inactive when he was 18. He never believed in the church he said and thought it was just something that people used to fill that "void" they have in their hearts... that void can be filled with other things like their job, money, community service, ect. anyways, in the past missionaries have tried to visit him but he has always rejected them. well we have not only gotten in his house, but we've been teaching him about the restoration and he actually is softening, its pretty great. he's single in his mid thirties and he is becoming a changed man which is super exciting:)!

Morgan wrote a few other funny stories in her letter home, but I'll include those another day.

 

  Please pray that Morgan's visa gets approved soon!

AND.... I'VE BEEN OUT FOR THREE MONTHS!

This week, because of the emergency transfer, we were in a tri-companionship... and WE GOT TO USE A CAR! it was so so great! The sister we were with this week, is named sister alexander. We were super busy and had a number of super cool experiences this past week.

 

sister A and her companion had been working with this one man named rick who has been investigating the church for the past 3 years. he has a bit of a drinking problem so he would never committ to baptism... but sister fairbanks and i had a bit of the magic touch this last week. so in the lesson we were talking about the significance of having faith and how faith is a principle of action. We then used that to segway into a more open discussion about baptism, and guess what?! Good Ol' Rick committed to be baptized on november 25!!!! YAHOOOOO. The next day we had a similar experience with Fran, who for the past few months has profusely refused to be baptized... well last week when we asked her to prepare for baptism, she miraculously said yes and committed to a date. it was GREAT! what else....we've had a couple set backs with a few of our investigators this week but we are going to keep pushing forward.

 

due to the fact that i didn't ride a bike this week, I don't have any near death experiences. yipee!

 

Favorite scripture this week:

 "For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope; for what a man seeth why doth he yet hope for"(Romans 8:24). 

 

Keep on HOPING AND BEING AWESOME!

 

side note: we played flag football as a zone this last week and lets just say that those elders were owned by all the sister. GO US. 

                                                 Meetin' with the members in Scottsdale!!

 

Yet another week has past, and this one we've had some pretty CRAZY experiences. So let's get to it:

 

SISTER HEALY'S 5 HAPPENINGS OF THE WEEK:

1. Hattie is getting baptized on October 26th. YAYAY!

 

2. Two Pdays ago after writing our emails we went to taco bell (like we always do, don't judge) and we talked to this man who worked there. When we got to talking he told us that he had been taught lessons by some missionaries a while back but had moved and lost contact with them. Well we jumped right on that and we got his informationa and called it into the mission offfice so that he could get set up with some missionaries. Well guess what, we saw him the other day and because we set him up with those missionaries, he is getting baptized soon!! MIRACLE.

 

3. We crashed a bible study session ( yes thats right). We were looking for this less active wandering around the apartment building... and we see this group of black folks (it just sounds more legit when i include that) studying the bible together. well we go up to them introduce ourselves and then get into conversation about the Book of Mormon. I shared the story of Ammon in alma 26 and then testified of Christ. it was great! they invited us to come back again!

 

4. In sacrament I bore my testimony and sort of mentioned the many struggles i've had with my bike... well the bishop came up to me right after sacrament and said that he would fix it... AND HE DID.

 

5. We taught a LA(less active) family this week who hasn't been to church in years. we focused the lesson on the restoration and their two boys were just eating it up!!! it was great. anyways, the wife calls us a couple days later and says that her son had show & tell at school and that he brought the book of mormon (which he had just learned about in our lesson) and told his whole class about it. He said that he had prayed about just like we had told him to and he had recieved an answer from God. SO CUTE.

 

So much more happened this week, but these were just some good experiences.  Just want to say that I love you all that I'm so gratetful for this church and for the knowledge I have of the plan of salvation. thank you for all you do for me:)  Keep up all the good work and keep doing your best.

 

love

 

sister healy

 

Morgan's AZ address:

Arizona Scottsdale Mission
6265 N 82nd Street
Scottsdale, AZ 85250

Morgan would love a letter, postcard or other :)

Well hello everyone! yet another week has passed here in arizona, and who knows how many more are to come. no word yet on the visa. keep your fingers crossed!

 

I'll just start with another embarrassing (yes, involving the BIKE) experience from this past week and then get to the good stuff...

Well on saturday my companion and i were biking to a lesson and due to the fact that we are always late, we were biking our hearts out (skirts and all). One of the mission rules is that if you are biking you need to be biking on the sidewalk. So... we crossed the street and I notice that on the sidewalk that I'm supposed to bike up onto, there is this big wire real estate sign that is pretty much in the middle of the sidewalk. well... this inner missionary voice inside of me screams" BE EXACTLY OBEDIENT" so disregarding common sense I reason that I can probably bike inbetween the sign and the giant pole with no problem. BIG MISCALCULATION. I attempt to squeeze by the sign on my bike, turn the handle bars, run straight into the giant traffic pole, the tip over and fall into the street. At this point all of the cars stop, and just stare. I'm laying there on the blazing asphalt a little stunned.... and then as I continue to lay there...  everyone continues to stare. Eventually I get over myself, get up and see that my handle bars are all bent now. Well two of the cars that saw this great fall (catastrophe) pull over and offer to help. One of the men who offered to help actually gave us his address and I'm thinking we're going to drop by there this week and share a message with him:) so hey maybe I was supposed to crash and look like a fool for a reason??

 

Highlights this week:

 

Hattie came to church with us this Sunday for the first time and she loved it! there are legitimately no girls in the ward her age, but she still had a great time. Last week we hardly got to meet with her, so this is the week we are committing her to baptism. IT'S HAPPENING AND I'M SO EXCITED. what else, we have a number of new investigators now, one whose name is nathan and he's about 20.  He is wicked intelligent and knows a TON about the church already so teaching him has been a glorious struggle. We also had a really neat experience with a man named Brent Moody. He hasn't been to church in years, but we had a lesson with him and he pretty much told us his whole life story. He had been addicted to cocaine and alcohol for years, finally cleaned himself up 6 years ago, and then 3 years ago got into a terrible bike accident and became paralyzed from the waist down. It is so amazing to see that from that experience he drew strength rather than anger or resentment and turned to God more than he ever had before.  He came to church with us on Sunday and we're going to teach Hattie at his house now... (his house is literally a jungle. SO COOL.)

 

I hope you all have a great week. Keep working hard and doing what's right. Love your favorite missionary EVER, (good thing she's maintaining her humility :)

 

Sister Healy

Two months in.... CRAZYTOWN. Things here in Arizona, are good!! WE had a couple set backs this week but also some pretty amazing experiences. Just a funny story from this past week. WE are visiting this less active family and this past friday we taught their son about baptism. We asked him why he thought it was important when he was baptized to be completely submersed in the water.  His response: "Because the Holy Ghost is way, way down there." hahaha so good. 

 

Due to the fact that it's blazing here, my companion and I stop on occasion at the gas station to fill up our waterbottles. well on this one occassion, there was this man standing outside of the gas station smoking. we approach him and explain who we are.  his response: "oh, i'm mormon... or i was when i was12" That started a whole conversation, and it turns out that he hasn't been to church in over 45 years. But it also turns out that the man that baptized him when he was 8 was the same man whose house we were going to dinner to that night!!! So CRAZY. seriously, what are the chances. we got his information and we're going to stop by his house this week. 

 

Hattie, our 14 year old investigator, is doing really well. We had a lesson with her this past week about eternal families and eternal marriage. It was probably the lesson in which I have felt the Spirit the strongest.  We were talking about how we were so grateful to have the knowledge that we can be with our families forever and how knowing that has given us so much comfort and stregnth in this life. Her family life is extremely difficult, her two older brothers are drug addicts and dropped out of high school and her mom is in a mental institution after trying to commit suicide. but i could see in Hattie, this love and hope, that I really had never seen in her before. she said: " so you really think i can be happy and have someone who will treat me well, like those special couples. Is that really possible?"

 

I just want to say that I know more than anything that it is possible. We all deserve the best because we are children of God. He loves us. I don't understand everything, but I do know more than anything that we all have a loving Father in heaven who is rooting for us to succeed. So many people think that they deserve less, well they don't. We are all special and we are so important.  That much I know. I know that this mission has been the hardest thing that I've ever done in my whole life, but I also know with every fiber of my being that we can surmount any difficulty and challenge that we face through the stregnth of the Lord. Through him we can do all things. 

 

I love you all so much! have a great week and I'll talk to you soon!!!

 

PS: this morning it was 95, I was excited.... what has happened to me here.

 

PPS: QUOTE OF THE WEEK : "He started to sing as he tackled the thing that couldn't be done and he did it"- Edgar Guest

 

Love ya!

 

Sister Healy

Biking is fun in the sun....even with 115 degree heat and bike shorts under the dress!!!

Spiderman "catches" the spirit with his Book of Mormon.

WELL HELLO EVERYONE, yet another week has past, and I still haven't been sent to the hospital for heat exhaustion. yay!

 

It was a bit of an ordeal getting to the computers this morning... usually at 10, we bike over to the church and write our emails on the family history computers. well to start this morning off, it was POURING RAIN. it never rains here so that was a bit of a struggle. than sister fairbanks and I remembered that we had left our helmets at church, so we bike over helmetless (which I was secretly happy about which I'm sure you know why) and then my skirt got caught in the bike and ripped. priceless. when we got to the computers, the internet didn't work, so we freaked out for a bit, and luckily got a ride over here to the library... wooh!

 

But anyways, this week, we've had some highs and lows. One of our investigators whose name is Hattie has been making great progress. Here's a little background on her: she's 14 (looks like she's 18) and has had a pretty difficult life. No one in her family is a member, except her mom who used to be, but now is suffering from mental illness and is in the hospital.  Hattie was hanging out with the wrong kids and one night they decided to break into a store and steal alcohol. well long story short, they got caught and she got sent to jail for 2 weeks and is now on house arrest with ankle bracelet and everything.  We heard this whole story, with a number of

 

expletives included, when her cray grandpa answered the door last week.  We decided that we were going to attempt to teach her anyway, and it actually went really well. We've now taught her 6 lessons and are hoping to commit her to baptism soon. it's amazing to see how this gospel has really changed her for the better and we hope that she continues working hard.

 

Other news, sam is getting baptized on the 21st! YAY! Could not be more excited. there is only 1 young man and 1 young woman in the WHOLE WARD. (yes you heard that right) and so we've really been working on getting the teens to come back. 

 

Other embarrassing stories this week... hmm....too many to count. most of them involving me falling off my bike.  Its a love/hate relationship (mostly hate).

 

love you all and i hope you have an amazing week and keep pushing through the good and bad times. Here's a scripture that has helped me alot lately:

 

"remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God"- D&C 18:10--> know that you ARE worth it and that is why you're here. Even if you're a sweaty, skirt-wearing, biker sister like myself, just remember that you are special and you are loved.

 

sister healy

 

 

HELLO EVERYONE! we had transfers on monday so our pday was pushed back to today. anyways, you know how I said that the first week in the mtc was the longest week of my life... well I lied. THIS WAS THE LONGEST WEEK OF MY LIFE, but also one of the most amazing ones. Where even to start. Well let's stary with my first contacting experience. So as I mentioned last week, me and my companion sister fairbanks and I are both greenies, and we're on bikes. Our first day out in the field was last tuesday. Its a nice 115 degrees (joy) and the walmart helmet that I am using is messed up, or my head is messed up of both. i dont even know. All I know is that it is awkwardly cocked to the side whenever I ride ( which is all the time) and it often slips off my head and just hangs off my neck.  So we get out there with our ghetto gps and a map on the first day and go looking for an inactive member of our ward, Alan Earl. We're biking around in circles in that more than warm sun for over an hour, meanwhile dying because we've forgotten water bottles and forgotten money to buy water.  We finally get to his apartment after what has seemed like a legit eternity, knock on the door and.... he's not there!  At that point, I was feeling pretty discouraged. Another sister from our district had come out to help us for the day and I asked her if we should knock on his neighbor's door and see if they knew anything about him. She said that usually they don't knock on doors... I responded (probably a little too sassily) that I thought we should knock anyways. so I knock on his neighbor's door and this young woman answers. We ask her about alan earl and she says she hasn't seen him recently. there's an awkward pause and it looks like she's about to shut the door when I kind of blurt out "can we have some water?!" she says yes, and lets us inside. we say that we are missionaries for the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints. she says she knows who we are and that in fact her best friend is mormon! we then chat with her for a little longer, and you know what she says!!!!! she says "I've read the book of mormon 4 times and I know it's true." I'M NOT KIDDING. For a second, I thought I was hallucinating (probably because of extreme dehydration).  We'll we were stunned and crying with joy inside and then we asked her if she would prepare for baptism, and SHE SAID YES.  It was the most amazing experience. Her name is Samantha and I know that she was prepared to meet us.  We've already had our first real lesson with her and she attended church with us this sunday and LOVED IT. she's going to be baptized in a couple weeks. did i mention that she is 19! and that she was our first contact. it was a miracle needless to say.

 

Riding on bikes all day.. in the 115 degree weather... in skirts... and biking shorts... without water.. and using a broken bike and broken helmet has been so humbling, but so good too! Sadly one of the sisters in our district who also bikes fainted the other day from exhaustion and dehyrdation, but it's all good now! I had a really embarrasing experience the other day. so we were biking back from zone conference and I was trying to fix my helmet (which I hate) because it kept sliding of my head. so I had one hand on the helmet, the other on the breaks, and I see this car pull out of the parking lot. fearing that its going to hit me, I clutch the brakes (definitely too hard) and go flying off my bike, skirt and all. I just happened to have this humiliating crash in THE ONE SPOT, SERIOUSLY THE ONLY SPOT, ON THE STREET WHERE THERE ARE A TON OF PEOPLE. They are all sitting at this outside bar and see me fall. and just stare. (I'm not even sure why they were at that bar at like 10 in the morning ayway)... then they see that i'm not really moving and come over and ask if im ok. I manage to reply that its only my pride that has been wounded. they really got a crack out of that one.  Let's just say that I've learned to ride with both hands on the handle bars at all times. 

 

I have so many other great experiences to share but thats all i have time for this week. Just know that I love you all! I'll be on again on monday at 10:30-11:45 (arizona time) so be on so i can talk to you. have a great week!

 

sister healy

 

drum roll please.... I WAS REASSIGNED TO SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA. sadly, none of you guessed it right, I couldn't even believe it at first when I opened the letter! These past three days have been absolutely CRAZY.

 

I opened my reassignment call on friday and as I was flipping through the reassignment packet (which included flight information)... I read in the wee little corner of the second page that I WOULD BE LEAVING SATURDAY MORNING (aka: less than 18 hours later) to fly to Arizona and get straight to work. I when I saw that.... I cried a little (inside of course.) I mean who wouldn't be scared!!! We had no information about anything; all I knew was that I needed to report to the travel office at 4:30 the next day. I was in mini freak out mode the rest of the day and managed to pull myself together enough to sleep a couple hours that night.  Woke up at 3:50am on Saturday morning, got to the airport with Sister Fairbanks and Elder Molinaro ( from my district) and seriously felt like Will Ferrell from Elf in that one scene where he is fresh out of the North Pole and frollicks around new York city (eating chewed gum and getting hit by cabs). IT WAS GREAT. In the airport, we actually got to eat REAL FOOD... like jamba juice; then, I was lucky enough to get to talk to my family on the pay phone, it was amazing! And I randomly saw my cousin who works in the airport! The flight was only an hour and 15 minutes. so we landed in scorching Arizona at around 10 am.  We were carted over to the mission home (me with my two bags... one weighing 49 pounds, and the other 70 pounds...that was a miracle in and of itself). We got to meet the mission president and his sweet wife and we've slept at the mission home for the past two days.

 

They dropped some pretty big news on us that freaked me out a bit.  First, this is a BRAND NEW MISSION, opened only a month ago, and this area is new and redrawn. Second, I would paired up with sister Fairbanks (the girl from my MTC district) which means that WE WOULD HAVE NO TRAINER. YES, ME A GREENIE WITH ANOTHER GREENIE, AND no trainer. Lets just say we both almost peed our pants(skirts) when they told us that. Thirdly, we would be riding bikes. YES, us sisters in our long skirts riding bikes in this wonderfully warm 115 degree weather. Fourth, we would be working solely with inactive and less active members...without any updated area book!

 

After the shock of hearing all that wore off, we basically passed out.... and got to meet our ward for the first time yesterday. The ward is tiny, made up of single, elderly people and newlywed couples. THERE IS A LOT OF WORK TO BE DONE, but we know that we can do it and they we can make this ward one that is strong and unified.  The 2nd counselor to the bishop told us that 75% of the ward is inactive...so we know that we are much needed and we're excited for all the good we can do.

 

Anyways, today its 98 degrees and people are talking about how glorious the weather is.... this is a great warmup for BRAZIL.

 

Love you all, have a great week and I'll keep you updated on the crazy happenings here in Arizona!

 

Love,

sister healy (the perpetual visa waiter)

 

 

                                            Morgan and her new mission president and his wife

 

              

                                                                      Salt Lake City Airport

                                                      Waiting for her flight to Arizona

I made it safely (to Scottsdale, AZ where Morgan was rerouted awaiting Brazilian visa).
Me with my mission president and his wife.

Morgan also ran into her cousin Brad at the Salt Lake City airport just before departure as she was chatting with her fam! Go Morgan! Enjoy the 115 degree heat!

Yes... the rumor is true... THIS IS MY LAST WEEK HERE AT THE MTC. CRAZYTOWN, I know.  No news yet on my visa, so what is going to happen is that this friday (yes in 3 days) we get our reassignments to somewhere in the US until the ridiculously slow Brazilian Government gives me my visa.  In the MTC, word on the street is that my reassignment would be to either somewhere in Tennesse; somewhere in Michigan; Pocatello, Idaho; Texas; and last but not least BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS. Yes, there is potential that I could be reassigned to Boston. There are a couple of other places that I could head out to but those are the BIG 5. I could leave this saturday, monday, tuesday, or wednesday.... SO I'LL KEEP YOU POSTED, or at least as posted as a missionary can!

This past week was pretty great. Not only are we 6th week missionaries on top of the food chain here at the MTC, but we also know everything there is to know about the MTC... which includes NEVER eating the leftover eggs they serve, EVER. It was so great because last week Elder Scott, from the Quorum of the 12 apostles came to speak to us. He talked about prayer and its many implications in our lives. It was so amazing! He had such a presence and the love he expressed for his wife, who passed away about 20 years ago, was heartwarming.

 

 Now onto to some saddening news (at least for me), I was all set to break the record this friday for the mile run, so I gave the record plaque one good glance over to inspire myself.... WELL GUESS WHAT?? Unbeknownst to me, some sister broke the mile record by 45 seconds a little over a week ago. It went from 5:52 to 5:08. YUP. I will give it my most valiant effort this friday.... but yeah, that was quite depressing to find out. On the brighter side, I'm almost done with reading the Book of Mormon.  This will be the first time I've read it all the way through and can I just say, it truly has changed me for the better!

 

This past week, my companion sister miller and chose to read a couple conference talk about family and there is a quotation from Prophet Joseph F. Smith that really hit me: 

" There can be no genuine happiness seperate and apart from the home, and every effort made to sanctify and preserve its influence is uplifting to those who toil and sacrifice for its establishment.  Men and women often seek to establish some other life from that of the home; they would make themselves believe that the home means restraint; that the highest liberty is the fullest opportunity to move about at will. there is no happiness without service and there is no greater service than that in the home."

 

I'll end this weeks email with that.

 Love you all and remember to love your families too! I SURE LOVE MINE. SHOUT OUT TO YOU MOM.  

 

PS: send me an email guessing where you think I'll be reassigned:)  morgan.healy@myldsmail.net

 

Much love,

 

sister healy  

Well HELLO EVERYONE! Crazy to say it but, its officially been a month. STILL IN SHOCK. This past week here at the MTC has been great, and time seriously feels like it's passing faster and faster each day. At the beginning of last week, one of the elders in our district was just slightly ill, but by the end of last week there was a FULL BLOWN INFLUENZA in district 14. I'm not kidding, people were coughing, and hacking, and other germ infested things... I was scared. I even took the extra precaution of wiping hand sanitizer all over my desk every hour. and it worked! I SURVIVED.

                  As far as the language goes, I can feel myself becoming more comfortable day by day. Though I am having a bit of a struggle with verb conjugations, I know that it will come with time... I mean at least a sister can hope.. right! haha. 

             This past sunday we had a really great experience.  Our district president, President Jackson, when he was in his 20s served his mission in Sao Paulo Brazil.  He met and eventually baptized this young woman who lived there at the time, her name was Seria Makua.  About 30 years after serving his mission there, he was called to serve as mission president in a different region of Brazil with his wife.  He had long since lost contact with Seria Makua, but when a young elder with the last name of Makua was called to serve his mission under President Jackson, it was discovered that this very elder was the son of Seria Makua!!! President Jackson resumed talking to her and discovered that she and her family had moved to the US and because of her conversion in the church over 1,000 people, including children, grandchildren, and friends, had since joined the church. They came and shared their feelings and testimonies with us in the MTC and it was just an all around AMAZING EXPERIENCE. It is so astounding to see the effect of just one person's conversion. It was a reminder to me that we all have the potential to change lives for the better and that we never can truly understand the magnitude of our influence on other people. So be the best person you can and know that no matter how small, no act of kindness of faith or of generosity ever goes unnoticed. 

             No word yet on the VISA, but I'll be sure to keep y'all updated. What most likely will happen is that I will be reassigned to somewhere in the United States until my visa comes in. So pretty much, I have NO IDEA where I will be in 2 weeks time, but it's all good!! Other side note-- I'm going to break the mile record this week and get my name in gold on that wall. YAHOO.

 Love you all and hope you have a fantastic week, because YOU ARE FANTASTIC.

 

Until we meet again,

Sister Healy  

 

 Morgan and her companion with their new door signage

 Fellow missionaries

Outdoor break to escape the germ-fest classroom :)

Third Week in the MTC

Third week...

and.... I'M HALFWAY THROUGH MY TIME HERE AT THE MTC! Feeling extremely excited and nervous about that one. A quick update: two of the elders in our district go their visas this past week and headed off to finish their training at the Brazilian MTC. CRAZY. I'm hoping my visa comes before these next three weeks are done, but either way, even if I end up going somewhere in the united states before I leave for brazil, I know it's for the best!

SO, this week... my companion and I had the opportunity to go to the TRC. This was our first time and it was AWESOME! Prior to this, our two teachers, Brother Buttars and Brother Nothumb (I know GREAT names), have acted as fake people who are interested in learning more about the church. They take on the role of a "particular" person and that "investigator" is the one that we teach lessons to. Well this past week, we got to teach REAL PEOPLE. I was a little nervous going in, mainly because I didn't feel that prepared with my Portuguese, but it went great. The two people we taught are both Mormon already, but we still go to share with them a message. We had a GREAT lesson with one of the guys, named Nathan. We started our conversation just getting to know him, but then bluntly asked if there was anything he was having a hard time with or wanted to talk to us about. He paused for a second and then went on to tell us about how his 18 year old sister was going through a really difficult time. We gave him all the advice that we felt prompted to and told him that we knew things would work out in time. At the end of that lesson it was amazing to see the change in him and it was amazing how I felt! He seemed reassured by the things that we had told him and I was ECSTATIC... I MEAN HE'S A REAL PERSON with real issues. It was great.

What else... the food is still the same... the weather is nice and warm... and OH YEAH, on sunday we had what's called a fasting testimony meeting. Which means that prior to the church service you fast (restrain from eating or drinking anything for 24 hours). You can fast for a concern you have about a person or about yourself, or for a trial your having. Anything that you think God can help you with. Anyway, at the testimony meeting, I went up and shared my feelings about the gospel. I seriously shot up like a bullet as soon as they announced that people could bear their testimonies. Other than a few conjugation mess ups it went well! And at the end of the meeting our District President told me that I did phenomenally with my Portuguese. GREATEST COMPLIMENT EVER.

I miss you all a lot, but am so excited to serve the people of Brazil! No extremely funny stories have come to mind, but I'll just end with a slightly awkward experience I had. So, everyday after lunch slips and letters are dropped off in the classroom and I was super excited when I got a slip to pick up a package. Long story short as I was walking out of the building to pick up my package I ran into a glass door and fell over. YUP. THAT HAPPENED. TOOO many other stories like that to share haha Love you all! HAVE A GREAT WEEK:)

"some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them"

Let's CHOOSE to be great!

Sister Healy

 

 

ALRIGHT EVERYONE, SO ITS OFFICIALLY OFFICIAL, I HAVE SURVIVED MY SECOND WEEK HERE IN THE MTC. Crazy, I know! Time seems to pass by faster and faster each day that I'm here. So how are ya'll doing?

I'll give you a quick update on my week. In my district there are 14 elders and sisters and our teacher Brother Buttars ( I know cool name) is pretty much the greatest. He also served his mission in Brazil and so yesterday we got him to go off on a tangent about all of the crazy good/not so good experiences that he had in Brazil.  There was this one time that he and his companion were invited over to have dinner at this elderly woman's house. She was very poor and EXTREMELY OLD. Anyways long story short, she tells them that they are going to have macaroni salad for dinner. When she served up this so called "salad"  Buttars looks at the plate and realized... HIS FOOD IS MOVING. Upon closer inspection he realizes that those little things... actually not so little things in his maraconi salad are MAGGOTS. The sardines that she had used had been rotting for a while  and due to fact that she couldn't see very well she didn't even know. She told the elders to eat up, and brother Buttars looked at his companion; they knew how much it meant to her to have them over for dinner.. so they decided to eat it, wriggling maggots and all...... HOPEFULLY in the near future, I don't have any stories similar to that but who knows?! haha The food here at the MTC  is good... my go to meals are cereal and peanut butter sandwiches, you can never go wrong with peanut butter; though I know in Brazil peanut butter is 25-50$ a jar, so I'm going to eat it up while I can!!

             What else? Learning portuguese here has been a slow but steady progression. A couple days ago we taught a lesson for 30 minutes all in portuguese with no notes. YAY US! A typical daily schedule consists of getting up at 5:45, eating, class, eating, class, running, class, study, eating, study study study. REPEAT. There are times that I feel like my head is about to explode but all in all it's been GOOD! I've seen many random friends of friends here and the reason is that all mormons are somehow connected... I SWEAR ON MY LIFE HAHA. My companion is from Colorado and she's a sweetheart we have a ton of fun together so that's all good.

            Depending on the day, we have gym time for 50 minutes, and in the large gym here at the MTC they have a record board. The other day, I was walking by and looked at the mile time record for sister missionaries... IT'S 5:52. I'M GOING TO TOAST THAT RECORD. The one bummer is that the track is only 1/10th of a mile, but either way I'm going to crush that record and get my name up on that board. So future missionaries, you can tell all your friends you knew me... haha. All in all, my experience here at the mtc has been great! Everyone is so nice and so intent on bettering the lives of those around them. It truly is an inspiration and makes me want to be a better person.

 

Have an amazing week everyone, and next week when I write I will have reached my halfway point here at the mtc! LOVE YOU ALL, STAY AWESOME. OH... AND WRITE ME A LETTER OR EMAIL.

 

LOVE,

 

SISTER HEALY

HELLO EVERYONE, Commo Vai?!!!! IT'S OFFICIAL, I'VE SURVIVED MY FIRST WEEK IN THE MTC... Miracles really do happen ha ha. So how are you all doing? Here in the MTC things are great, though it does seem as though I've been here for eons when in reality its only been 6 days.  Let me first start out by saying I've NEVER seen so many mormons in my life... It's cray.  Every where you walk there are literally hordes of white shirted elders and not so white skirted sisters speaking, or attempting to speak Portuguese, Spanish, Japanese, French... any language you name, its here. I'm still trying to decide exactly how I want to organize these FANTASTIC AND INSPIRATIONAL EMAILS I'll be sending out but I think this week I'll just share some highlights and lowlights that happened each day!

 

So, last Wednesday when Candace and my mother dropped me off here at the MTC, let me just say that I felt like I was in shock, so many smiling mormon faces EVERYWHERE.. it was insane, but the good kind of insane of course. I was immediately herded along to my room and then to the tiny room, that's literally the size of 2 bathroom stalls where me and the 13 other people in my district will be studying for the next 6 weeks.  I met my companion, or more like was smashed against my companion as soon as I entered the room haha. Her name is sister miller and she is from Colorado Springs. She's almost 22 and she's a sweetheart.  There are 6 sisters and 8 elders in total in my district and a majority of us are from Texas, California, and Georgia... random, I know! Anyways everyone in my district is great, especially the sisters. Sister Haueter (the coolest ginger you'll ever meet) and I are definitely the sassiest of the group and we hit it off right off the bat!! Last Wednesday was honestly the LONGEST DAY OF MY LIFE, mainly because it was just so overwhelming. 

 

Since being here I've really realized how grateful I am that all of ya'll are in my life!!! Seriously, you guys are the best!

 

Okay, sorry, continuing on... probably the most awkward thing about last Wednesday was in the big orientation meeting we had. My district sat in the first row and the MTC president and his wife were up sitting in the chairs looking out at all of us... suffice it to say the MTC president's wife, whose name I have forgotten, kept looking at me and then she whispered something to the women next to her. As everyone else was singng she came down  from the podium and motioned for me and my comp to follow her outside. We did.. and she then told me that my shirt was not appropriate mission attire. DEFINITELY THE MOST EMBARRASSING MOMENT OF MY LIFE. ever. ever. ever. ever. SO YEAH... now I am the most mission appropriate sister you'll ever see. Not about to have the wrath of the MTC president's wife come down on my again. LESSON LEARNED.

 

So far its been amazing to see how all the other missionaries are so strong in the church and how much they love me... for some reason teh thing on the computer just said me allotted time is almost up, which doesn't make sense but I guess I'll just close for my first week. I've really learned here that though things have been difficult, especially getting up SUPER EARLY (5:45am), I have so much to be grateful for and so much to look forward to. AND SO DO ALL OF YOU. Life is a great thing that is meant to be endured but mainly enjoyed. the MTC has taught me that in full. I LOVE YALL LIKE CRAZY AND I WILL HAVE PLENTY MORE EMBARRASING STORIES TO SHARE IN THE WEEKS AHEAD. Don't you worry. Have a fantastic week!

Love,

 

Sister Healy

Morgan opens her mission call: February 2013 @ Boston College

Morgan's mission open house: July 14

 

Morgan with Grandpa Leon and Grandma Karen (visiting for her farewell)

 Morgan and cousin Landon both off to Brazil to serve.

Siblings and friends at Morgan's farewell: Noor, Paige, Dallas, Morgan, Weston, Candace, Blake & Madison.

Brother Weston returned home from his mission to Campinas, Brazil on Tuesday, July 9th...one week before Morgan went into MTC to start her mission.