Mission President

She made it!

Kara has made it to her mission! After a very long trip. Here she is with Pres. Northcutt and Sister Northcutt.

Her mission President sent her family a lovely photo and message saying she was doing well. And that she is off with a great missionary as her trainer. Now we just have to wait for Kara to tell us all is going well. It is good to know she has arrived and is where she needs to be!

Phone Call at the Airport

Kara's Phone Call

Kara (oops Sister Morris) was able to call her family this Memorial Day and it was such a treat! She talked to lots of different family members and it was great to hear her so happy :) At the time I talked to her on the phone she was preparing for a 17 hour flight to Buenos Aires. She said after she arrived she would then find out if she was taking a two our plane flight or a 21 hour bus ride.

She was traveling with her MTC companion since they were heading to the same mission and she was also going with another group of Elders in her district from the MTC that were also heading there.

She sounded so happy and she said she had changed a lot since entering the MTC already. And that she can not wait for the mission field. She knows it will be hard but that it will be worth it.

Kara we will see you in only a few months. I can't believe you are leaving already! Best of luck with your two day journey. Her next letter will be from Salta Argentina.

Letter from May 12th

so every Tuesday night we have a devotional two weeks ago we had L. Tom Perry he talked about the Book of Mormon. Last night we had Jeffery R. Holland he talked about missionary work how to be a better mission and that we need to be converted before we convert the people. He said I want everyone of you to come back with one convert and it better be yourself you better not leave this church when you come back and you better serve a full mission. It was so profound and powerful. Two amazing apostles spoke while I was here I am so blessed for the opportunity.

He said that we are going into war and were at boot camp for it right now. My Spanish is coming the other night a sister came up to me and was speaking to me in Spanish and I didn't realize she was speaking Spanish for like 5 min cause I understood everything she said it was amazing. I leave on June 1st to Argentina I'm so excited to serve the people. I guess in Salta Argentina they speak a mix of Italian and Spanish so i shall know both when i get back. The CCM (mtc) is duro (hard) but I love it here. I don't have any amazing stories yet cause I'm not in the field. I did cry when i was teaching one of my investigators cause the spirit was strong. Hope to get letters from everyone soon!! love you all. I really mean that I love you!! :)

MTC Fun

Picture Time

Kara has been very busy in the MTC and she finally was able to send a few pictures for me to share with you all. Sister Morris reports she is learning a lot everyday. She is excieted for this Sunday because her and her companion get to teach Sunday school on praying and testimonies. She says it is hard everyday but very rewarding. So now it's picture time:

Kara's District
From Left to Right:
Back Row: Elder Tyndell, Elder Mack, Elder Martin, Elder Gustufson

Front Row: Elder Fordham, Elder Jensen, Hermana Wiscomb (companion), Hermana Morris

Old Roommates that left for Argentina on Monday
From Left to Right:
Hermana Wiscomb (companion), Hermana S (Kara can't spell her name), Hermana Gram, Hermana Morris, and Hermana Karras

Nathan's Visit
Hermana Morris and her brother Nathan

For those of you who don't know: Kara entered the MTC two days before her brother came home form his mission. So they were not able to see each other and it would have been 3 1/2 years before they really got to see each other. However Nathan got permission to go and see Kara in the MTC. They had a great visit on a Sunday and spent some time together after two years. It was a nice surprise to see them together in a picture.

Kara's Letter

I promise I'll send pictures soon. When I first got to the MTC I went into culture shock and didn't like it much. I love it here now. I love my district and my companion. I love how much I learn everyday about the gospel and Spanish. The other day I was doing my task for the week and were suppose to talk to people about eternally families in Spanish. I practiced the whole thing for what felt like hours we went in there to do the task with the investigator. I ended up talking about how God loves us, The the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith was our first prophet in this dispensation. we also talked about prayer and bore are testimonies. It was so amazing the gift of tongues is real if you go in prepared the lord will fill yours months not the whole thing was in Spanish but i was saying Spanish words I had only heard people say once. Even though the MTC can fill like a jail cell the experiences we have in it our worth the confinement. I love my mission I can't wait to teach the people of Argentina. Missions are super hard but I've already changed so much for the better I left as Kara Shay Morris and now became Hermana Morris a servant of the lord. I will do anything he wants. The spirit is so strong here. That makes the adversary crazy strong he'll get me when I'm weak but its kind of nice cause he makes all my weaknesses stronger and that is what I need before I get into the field. Stay strong and if you need anything read your scriptures the answers to everything are in there if you look hard enough. I love you all!!!

Kara's First Letter to all

One week into the mission field Kara sent this email for everyone on how she is doing:

the mission is amazing i love the MTC. It super hard here but i love every moment of it. Thank you for all your support. this week is one of the hardest best weeks ever and i loved it. the spanish is coming i dont believe i'm doing very good i fill like everything is going over my head but i have faith as long as i do everything right the spnish will come. we had a frieside last night by L. Lionel Kendrick he is one of the seventy and is an amazing man. He talked a lot about following the missionary handbook but the part that stuck out to me the most was that its normal to be discourage but it means the spirit has left you so get down on your knees and pray for the spirit. The lord loves us all and wants the best for every one of us. My companion is Hermana Wiscomb i still gettin use to be around someone 24/7 is not my favorite thing to do but even though she has faults as we all do she is amazing and she trys so hard what more can i ask for? My district is so close it tooks us a couple of days and the first days were hard because of that but are district is so much closer now. The hermanas in my zone are amazing and always there for me. I just love the MTC so much. I've been able to learn all my weaknesses and strengths and i wouldnt have it any other way. Missions are not easy but there worth it! my one week here has felt like a month i'm not even kidding. I love serving the lord so much. this is where im suppose to be. I have to go my time is running short we only have 30 min. I would love you all to write through dearelder.com the letter comes that day and its free.

Hermana Morris

Last days before MTC

Kara had a busy few days before she left for the MTC. On Saturday she moved back to Salt Lake to store her stuff and get ready for the big move. That night all her friends in Provo had a surprise going away party for her. She told me it was funny because her friends came and picked her up during the day for a girls night out and she spent her first few hours in Provo with a boy because her girl friends were all busy.

On Sunday Kara gave a wonderful talk in sacrament that we all enjoyed. After her talk she went to her grandparents for an open house and to visit with some family. Then that night Kara and a couple of friends went to her mom's house for a yummy dinner and games.On Monday Kara spent some time with her niece and nephew at the Hogle Zoo. We had fun getting together and the kids loved all the animals.On Tuesday Kara went with her oldest sister (me) and her brother-in-law to the Salt Lake Temple. We missed the noon session and they only have a session every hour so Kara and I left my husband in the chapel to go eat lunch and then we came back for our session. One of the temple workers took us after the session into the offices in the temple so we could see more of the details inside the temple. It was a wonderful experience. Then Kara did all of her last minute shopping. Can you believe that this girl was paying bills up until 15 minutes before she needed to be at the MTC. I would call her "crazy". Tuesday night most of Kara's family went to the Stake President's office and set her apart as a missionary. She was blessed with many great things!
On Wednesday after waking up at 8 am and getting ready for the day. Kara went and finished her packing for the MTC with the help of her sister (me). I hope her mission helps her learn to pack better she was not organized in anyway she just threw things in her suitcase. But I still love her :) Then we all met for lunch at the Pita Pit in Provo. Kara was able to meet up with a few of her friends. And after eating Kara and 3 of her friends along with her mom and sister took her to the MTC. All we got to do was pull up to the curb and get her luggage out. Because of the flu they are not letting families into the MTC it is all curb drop off. But Kara had two Elders their to help with the suitcases. And one was a very cute Elder with an Irish accent.
I hope Kara remembered everything with her last minute packing. I know she is ready to serve the night she got set apart she bore her testimony to her family. She will make a great missionary!