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Advice to make friends:

-take the time to introduce yourself and remember their name

-ask questions

-find common ground

-smile

-become friends

I'm going there someday, and that day is tomorrow!

In approximately one hour, I will be heading home to the great state of Arizona where it apparently snowed a lot yesterday?!  I was hoping to escape the cold (I hate the cold for any who did not know).  But I know it will be a lot nicer than stinkin Utah.  Anyways, I couldn't be happier for the two reasons I am going home.

1. To receive my endowments in the Mesa, Arizona temple
2. To attend the Students Supporting Brain Tumor Research (SSBTR) Walk-a-thon

Ahhhh AZ sounds sooo good right now.  But really, I could not be more excited to go through the temple, I know I am going to learn so much and feel God's presence so strongly.  It is going to be absolutely wonderful.  My parents will be with me and that's all I could ask for.  Oh goodness, I love this gospel.  I am so excited to feel so much closer with Christ after this great experience.  I am so grateful that I am able to come home for this (thanks Mom and Dad!) and feel so blessed.  This is all so surreal.  A year ago at this time, never would I have ever expected to be going to serve a mission in the Philippines and to be an endowed member of the church.  I love how unpredictable life is.  It keeps it entertaining and allows me to grow in so many unexpected ways.

Also, I am sooooooo happy I am able to attend the SSBTR walk-a-thon!!  I have gone the past three years in support of my "Other Mother" Nancy Pool.  My bestest friend in the entire world was welcomed into this world by this amazing woman and Rachel and I practically grew up in each other's houses so Nancy was very close to me.  Our Freshmen year of high school she was diagnosed with a brain tumor which became a roller coaster of a struggle for the next few years.  She defeated all odds by surviving with this stage 5 tumor for so much longer than expected.  What a blessing.  Nancy taught me so much in those three and a half years until her passing on December 7, 2011, during Rachel's and my senior year of high school.  I felt so privileged to have been with her the day she passed, and with her family the day after.  The Pool family has felt like family to me over my 14 year friendship with Rachel.  I truly love the Pools and Nancy.  I am so happy I am able to remember her at the SSBTR walk-a-thon and help raise money to help the research of brain tumors.  Nancy will always be remembered for all the good she did and has been and always will be missed.  Love you Nancy!

Passion

Passion is a very important attribute to me.  I even dedicated my graduation speech to the topic.  I think it is so incredibly important to find passion in life because it gives a person drive, desire, and happiness. I believe it is possible to have many passions.  I have a passion for the outdoors.  I have a passion for the Phoenix Suns.  I have a passion for Special Education.  I have a passion for forever families.  I am so so passionate about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  I am so passionate about the Gospel because I know for myself it is true, it brings me peace and happiness, and it is the gospel that our Savior, Jesus Christ, would have us follow.  I have also become passionate for missionary work.  I admit, I have not always been because before the age of 19, a mission was not always in my plans.  But oh how I have become an advocate of it.  I am passionate to go where the Lord wants me to go and I am passionate to be sure I teach every possible person who needs and wants to hear the message of the restored gospel.  With out this drive and passion, I know my journey of serving a mission across seas would be difficult and inevitably a failure.  And I think this quote applies to my tangent here, this was put in the newspaper after my graduation speech: "The pursuit of a worth passion that enables one to serve and lift others will make life more enjoyable and worthwhile."

People are the Best

So today I experienced the sweetest thing.  I work in flower shop and it has gotten verrrry busy lately for Valentines Day.  So while working in the front, an older woman, about 80 years old, and her care taker slowly come inside the store from the frigid air and light snow outside.  I gave them a smile and asked how I could help them.  The old woman moved very slowly, barely lifting her feet off the ground as she stepped towards me.  She pointed to the flowers she wanted, and so I pulled down two vases of gerbera daisies to let her choose which ones she wanted.  I tried to make small talk with her, as she picked her flowers.  She was a local and she was getting four flowers for her friends.  Her caretaker was so sweet too, but there was something so warm about this woman, even though I could barely hear and understand her.  While I was wrapping her flowers, she took a seat and a man came in and was being helped by one of y co-workers.  He was making an order for his wife and when he read his phone number I noticed he said his area code was 480, which is in Arizona.  But I didn’t ask him about it since I wasn’t helping him.  But my friend who was taking his order walked away to get something, and he looked at me and my nametag and said, “So Morgan, where are you from?”  I was surprised he asked me because I wanted to ask him the same thing!  I said Phoenix, and he said Mesa, he had recently retired and moved up here.  He was so nice and we made many connections.  I can’t remember how but my mission came up and I told him I was going to the Philippines.  He was so happy for me, therefore I was so happy too!  He was so kind and as he left, he told me good luck and was so sincere.  When I finished the woman’s wraps, she had heard the man and she mentioned to me how her granddaughter was going on a mission too.  And before she left, she looked me right in the eye and said with her soft voice, “I know your mission will be wonderful.  Good luck, I am so happy for you.”  I don’t know why, but I loved her.  She was so genuine and her comment really meant so much to me.  She assured me that my mission really would be wonderful.  As she walked out, my eyes began to water and it wouldn’t stop!!  She somehow made a major impact on me today.  It is those small moments that mean so much.  What a blessing.  She was a saint and I wish I could go hang out with her like I would with my favorite 93 year old neighbor who lived across the street.  I seriously wish I could see this woman again, but she sure made my day.  Gosh.  Life is great.  Missions are great.  I just can’t contain my excitement, only 100 more days!!!!!!!

107 Days...

I can't even explain how grateful I am to have my mission call.  So last semester was a doozy.  My classes were rough.  My best friend left on his mission.  It was my first semester having my three best friends from home all in different states.  And after my decision to serve a mission, I really saw the adversary make a huge leap into my life.  I had never felt the amount of worry, confusion, sadness, and stress than I did in the months of October through December.  It took a toll on me.  I was not myself.  I strongly believe that Satan was trying to hurt me and change my decision to serve a mission.  I had contemplated many times if it was the right decision, but the answer always came out to be yes.  That was assuring.  The clarity of my answer was pleasing because I knew the Lord had not left me in that time of need.  But during that time, I noticed a lack of focus, habit, and happiness.  I was not doing the best I could in school, I was losing track of my habits of personal prayer and scripture study, and I roamed each day with kind of a fake smile and blur of confusion.  This may sound like a depression... I assure you it was not a medical condition.  Just one of those weird and semi-dark times in life.  I hated every second of it.  I wasn't enjoying life like I used to.  I used to be high on life!  The only times I was unhappy was when... oh wait.  I was always happy!  High school was great.  Summer semester was superb.  But bam.  Fall semester?  I was in a funk.  But somehow, that mission call released the chains that were holding me down and allowed me to be Morgan Waldrom again.  And ooooooh boy.  I am oh so happy again.  It is not quite a simple happiness I feel, because I notice I have to work on it everyday.  Now daily, I look for the things that make me smile.  Like when customers come into work and appreciate my help and are kind, or when my boss compliments me, or when my roommate and I die laughing on the floor, or when my best friends and I tease each other, or when I meet new people, or even go on dates!  Seeing the daily blessings in my life has immensely lightened my spirit.  I notice that the Holy Ghost is my constant companion.  I feel his presence more and more daily.  I love it.  I don't really know why things all changed after that lovely white envelope entered my life, but I am pretty sure that having the knowledge of who I am going to serve has made everything so much more realistic for me.

My mission has become a bright spot in my life.  Whenever the Philippines enters my mind, I smile and think of all the possibilities that will happen there.  Let alone, being a different country will be an experience in itself since I have never left North America!  But I am so anxious to be sitting in the homes of the Filipino people, teaching lessons in Tagalog, and serving the investigators of the true gospel.  107 more days and counting.