Goodbye New York.......

 

The hardest part is saying goodbye...

      I never thought I would be writing this blog. This mission has been amazing! It has had its ups and downs just like every missionary experience has, but I have learned so much and have met so many wonderful people. I remember the moment that I received my reassignment. I waited for the page to load and then screamed so loud that the teacher from the next room came to see if everything was okay! I was so excited to come to New York! But Rochester? Where is Rochester, well I soon found out where and all the blessing that came with it. The first day in the mission we went to the sites. I had no idea that the sacred grove, hill Cumorah and the Book of Mormon publication site were here. I loved every moment I spent there and couldn't believe how blessed I was to come and see that as part of my mission. I have grown to love the sites! I mean they are not really hard to love they are where God and Jesus Christ appeared to the young prophet Joseph Smith. There is an amazing spirit there that makes you never want to leave! I was so blessed to go and serve at the sites over pageant. It was a wonderful learning experience.

    The first area that I was sent to was Amherst (Buffalo). I loved Buffalo! I met so many wonderful people and had the opportunity to see the gospel change people and their lives! I loved every moment there and learned and grew so much even during the harder times. Then after two transfers there I was transferred to Brockport. I never thought I would be transferred but God had a plan for me as he always has. I have learned to love Brockport just as much as Amherst. They are very different but I love them both!

    I love the people in these areas so much and am truly sad to leave them. Everyone has had a huge impact in my life. I never thought I would meet so many wonderful people in such a short amount of time.
  When I received the phone call that my visa was here I was in complete shock. I really didn't know what to say. It was the most bitter-sweet moment of my whole mission! I truly do love the New York Rochester mission. It is a place where I have grown a lot! There have been so many people that have changed my life. They have helped me realize what is really important in life and that is the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for all of my companions and the lessons I have learned from them. They have become some of my best friends and have helped me grow as a missionary and as a person. I am grateful for all the missionaries I have been able to serve with from my districts and zones. This mission has some of the best missionaries I know. Every missionary that I have been around has taught me something new. I am so grateful for the two wonderful mission presidents that I have had here. President Christianson and President Francis. I have learned and grown from the things they have taught me. I don't know exactly every detail of why I was sent here but I do know that God has a plan. It took me a long time to realize that he is in control and will take care of me because he loves me and all of his children. Luke 12:6-7

Here is my address for all those that would like to send me a letter!

Sister Melanie Morgan
Brazil Joao Pessoa Mission
Rua Deputado Jose Mariz,515
Tambauzinho
58042-02 Joao Pesson-PB 
Brazil 

None Were With Him

Christ suffered the burden of our salvation and was completely alone. Because of him we are NEVER alone. Christ went through this pain to understand what we all will go through and so he can help us completely if we ask him. He restored physical life so we can live with our family and with our heavenly Father for forever. I am so grateful for him and what he has done for me. I will never understand the pain that he went through but I hope to always so gratitude for his sacrifice.

 

"May we declare ourselves to be more fully disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, not in word only and not only in the flush of comfortable times but in deed and in courage and in faith, including when the path is lonely and when our cross is difficult to bear. This Easter week and always, may we stand by Jesus Christ “at all times and in all things, and in all places that [we] may be in, even until death,”²¹ for surely that is how He stood by us when it was unto death and when He had to stand entirely and utterly alone. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen." Jeffery R. Holland

Life Is Short

Life is short....
What does that mean to me?
It is such a simple phrase but it really makes me think.
Every action is accounted into life and each action is either making life better or making it worse either for yourself or for others.
We have the choice... the question is what will we do with that power.
Life is short so handle each situation with love and let people know that you care.

The Hill Cumorah Pageant

The hill cumorah pageant

From lds.org

So I am finally writing about pageant! The only problem is that there are no words to describe pageant but I am going to do the best I can. I included a lot of pictures so hopefully that will help show how amazing it was!

Taking a picture at the slightly funny sign at pageant with a member from the cast photo bombing the picture! :) We were able to go to pageant every night! It was amazing. The Hill Cumorah Pageant depicts events that happened in The Book of Mormon. The most memorable part for me is when Christ appears to the people in the Americas. Here are a few verses from The Book of Mormon that describe the event. Verse seven is God talking about his son and then it continues to when Christ appeared to the people. 3Nephi 11:7-12 

7 Behold my ^aBeloved Son, ^bin whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name—hear ye him.

8 And it came to pass, as they understood they cast their eyes up again towards heaven; and behold, they ^asaw a Man ^bdescending out of heaven; and he was clothed in a white robe; and he came down and stood in the midst of them; and the eyes of the whole multitude were turned upon him, and they durst not open their mouths, even one to another, and wist not what it meant, for they thought it was an angel that had appeared unto them.

9 And it came to pass that he stretched forth his hand and spake unto the people, saying:

10 Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world.

11 And behold, I am the ^alight and the life of the world; and I have drunk out of that bitter ^bcup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in ^ctaking upon me the sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the ^dwill of the Father in all things from the beginning.

12 And it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words the whole multitude ^afell to the earth; for they remembered that it had been ^bprophesied among them that Christ should ^cshow himself unto them after his ascension into heaven.

From lds.org

Abinadi and his wife! 

Character that i don't know, Sister Rippstein, King Noah! , Sister Klepinger, and Me!
King Noah was awesome and Elder Fuller did a great job reenacting his lines!  

Some of the wonderful volunteers at the Book of Mormon Publication Site 

Two other volunteers! They were a great! The wife was so nice! loved talking to her! 

Lunch a Nimas! One of the volunteer couples paid for our meal
and enough for ice cream at the end! They were so kind! 

A wonderful surprise from my Aunt and Uncle! They thought I was in Buffalo! 

The Book of Mormon publication site: where I worked the second week!

Sorry that I wasn't able to write more about each one. I was just running out of time! :) I really loved every moment of Pageant and the opportunity to serve at the sites! Once in a life time experience! 

Daily Bread

John 6: 35

 "... Jesus said unto them, I am the ^abread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never ^bthirst. "  

 

 

We all have some sort of manna in our lives. Something that remind us of Jesus Christ or makes us line up our will with Gods. When we go through times that are hard we learn to trust God and to search for answers through prayer and scripture study. That daily bread is so important!  The sad thing is we put that off until the end of the day when we are not "busy", and by then we are so tired that we do not feast on the scriptures and our prayers are half hearted. This is the most important growing and strengthening time that we have!

 

Every day we eat our daily bread we grow just a little bit more. "...By small and simple things are great things are brought to pass..." Alma 37:6 

 

 

Seek help everyday, God is there for you and wants to help you sometimes all we have to do is just ask. Most of the time there will not be a miracle but he will be able to help you get through the day. One of my favorite things Elder D. Todd Chritofferson says is that sometimes it helps not to think to far ahead. That is something that I am really good at. I am good at planning and worrying about things that are so far away! We just need to slow down and to try and take each day at a time. We just need to do what he says and do what each day requires. Sometimes our day will become so much better and a much great learning experience as we include Jesus Christ.  "the greater blessing is to walk through it with him (Jesus Christ)."

 

God is patient with us so we need to be patient with ourselves. We need to remember him everyday and to partake of the daily bread. He is the bread of eternal life!

Patterns of Light: Spirit of Revelation -David A. Bednar

Has there ever been a point in life where the answer is unclear? When there are many good options but you are not sure which one is right? Something that has truly blessed my life is personal revelation. It is revelation from God to tell us what is best for our eternal happiness. He loves us so much and wants the best for us all the time. The only problem is sometimes it is hard to know exactly what he wants us to do with our life because he is not physically standing right beside us. We receive those answers through personal revelation. I stumbled upon this video and it really touched my heart and helped me understand this concept of the gospel of Jesus Christ a little bit more. Answers from God are so important. 

 

This video was something I watched that really helped me in my life. There are points in my life where I want answers now and don't understand what is best for my life. I am slowly learning that we need to trust God and sometimes we need to act on what we feel is the right answer. If it is not the right course of action God will let us know. He loves us too much to leave us in the dark when we are constantly trying to do his will. Something else that helped me realize this is a quote by

 Dallin H.Oaks:

"We will get promptings of the Spirit when we have done everything we can, when we are out in the sun working rather than sitting back in the shade praying for direction on the first step to take. Revelation comes when the children of God are on the move.

So we do all we can. Then we wait upon the Lord for His revelation. He has his own timetable."

We are an impatient people and want answers before we even ask the question. We need to slow down, listen and then act on the answers we are given or act on the step that we feel is right. I am so grateful for personal revelation and the way that it has helped me in my life. Heavenly father truly loves each and everyone of us and will do anything he can to help us but he will never take away the precious gift of agency.
 

The Shiny Bicycle

I love this video! It is a really cute way to show how repentance is so important and the process that we go through to receive that forgiveness.

 

 The thing that I love about repentance is that it is all about love. God loves us so much that he created a way for us to return and live with him. Christ loves Heavenly Father and us so much that he was willing to preform the Atonement so we can all become clean from sin. I am truly grateful for Jesus Christ and his Atonement that has made it all possible to come home to our loving Heavenly Father.

 A scripture that i love is:

 Helaman 5:11

 11 And he hath power given unto him from the Father to redeem them from their sins because of repentance; therefore he hath ^asent his angels to declare the tidings of the conditions of repentance, which bringeth unto the power of the Redeemer, unto the salvation of their souls.

 

We can see the love that God and Jesus Christ has for us in this scripture and the need to share the joy that we receive from the Atonement with others. I hope we all take the time to really ponder and think about the love God has for us and also the love Jesus Christ has for us.

The Book of Mormon Musical in Buffalo

We as missionaries had the opportunity to pass out copies of The Book of Mormon after the musical. Many people were not interested and tried to avoid eye contact with us, which happens to missionaries many times. However, many were interested and took The Book of Mormon or a Mormon.org card. One lady in particular seemed uninterested but later came back to get a copy saying her curiosity had been peaked and she was now interested in reading it. I then had the opportunity to tell her the happenings in The Book of Mormon. It was a wonderful experience. I hope the people who received The Book of Mormon, realized its importance and significance. I hope they read and pondered the messages that this wonderful book contains.

I know that The Book of Mormon has power to change people. It is not just an ordinary book it is ancient scripture for our day. It is comparable to the Bible. With the Bible and The Book of Mormon together the gospel of Jesus Christ becomes clear. The Book of Mormon is for everyone and will help with any problem or discouragement. The Book of Mormon has been a key part in my life and always brings me peace and comfort when I read it. I truly love The Book of Mormon and will treasure it forever. I encourage those that are not familiar with the book to read it and then to act upon Moroni's promise which says:

"4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ^aask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not ^btrue; and if ye shall ask with a ^csincere heart, with ^dreal intent, having ^efaith in Christ, he will ^fmanifest the ^gtruth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may ^aknow the ^btruth of all things."

(Moroni 10:4-5)

Shea's Theater

Standing by the trailer behind Shea's Theater

A Buffalo by Shea's Theater

You can see a representation of the stage

A little bit of Buffalo

( I just thought the clock was really cool)

 

I am a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. My Mission call is to the Brazil Joao Pessoa mission. I am currently serving in the New York Rochester mission. This has been a great blessing in my life! I would never trade the time that I have spent here for anything else.

 

The first day in the mission we went to the sacred grove. This is an amazing place to start a mission. The sacred grove is a beautiful place where the spirit is very strrong and you can't deny the things that took place there. The area was beautiful and I loved the peace that came as I was in the grove.

The Temple from the Joseph Smith Farm