Hermana Thetford and the Last Week in the CCM!

It's Morgan's last week in the CCM! I was talking with my Dad, saying how crazy it is that Morgan is flying to Salt Lake on Monday where she will spend the rest of her mission. I can't believe six weeks has already gone by! In some ways, it feels like Morgan has already been gone so long. I miss her like crazy! And I also can't believe that she has already been gone for six weeks!

One thing that surprised me from Morgan's last email is that she sang in front of people! Lots of people! Without her life being threatened or extreme bribery involved. She loves to sing with her Hermana Jordan and harmonize, but then Hermana Jordan told the elders in their district that Morgan can sing. Anyways, one thing led to another, and Morgan agreed to sing for the district devotional! It's awesome to see how Morgan is learning and growing, and becoming more comfortable with sharing her talents.

So, funny story. Morgan and the hermanas in her casa wanted to take their mattresses on the roof and sleep under the stars. But they couldn't figure out how to get up there. They even tried climbing on top of the garbage can and climbing on each others' shoulders. They gave up on the roof, and decided to all sleep in the living room and have a giant slumber party. Really, Morgan? On the roof? This cracks me up.

At the end of her email, Morgan shared a poem with us in her last email that she absolutely loves, and she relates it to putting our trust in the Lord.

Come to the edge,

No we'll fall!

Come to the edge,

No we'll fall!

Come to the edge,

So we went

and He pushed us,

And we FLEW!

Morgan is so excited to go to Salt Lake, but is so sad to leave all of the friends she has made in the CCM. She has become so close with them, that they feel like family. But, Morgan has great faith. And I know that she trusts our Heavenly Father in His decision for her to serve in Salt Lake. I know that she knows that it is where she needs to be, and there are people there that she needs to serve!

Who's looking forward to her first email from the field?! I am!

Hermana Thetford and the Carbon Monoxide Detector

In each room at the CCM, there is a carbon monoxide detector. The one in Morgan and Hermana Jordan's room went off for the seventh time a few days ago at 12:00am. So they called reception, who sent some workers out to check on it. They did the usual, looked at the detector and opened the windows. As they were leaving, they told the girls, "Let us know as soon as you start to smell it." Morgan and Hermana Jordan became a little panicked because as much as they wanted to tell the workers, "But you can't smell carbon monoxide!" they couldn't because they didn't know how to say that in Spanish. Unable to do anything more about it, they just went to bed, a little unsettled.

The next day Morgan and Hermana Jordan went to the second counselor in the CCM Presidency because he speaks English, making it easier for them to voice their concerns. When they explained what was going on, the counselor became concerned and went home to get his brand new carbon monoxide detector. He gave it to Morgan and Hermana Jordan to put in their room that night and also told them to put a towel under the door that leads to the laundry room.

Last night, the alarm went off again. All 19 girls were up and mad. As they were getting out of bed, they heard girls coming out of their rooms and saying, "Oh my gosh, I can smell it!" The four girls in Morgan's room were confused, because you can't smell carbon monoxide. But when they stepped outside they instantly were overwhelmed with the very strong scent of gas. Everyone went outside to wait for help while Morgan and Hermana Jordan went to look at the detector. It had Spanish writing on it, but after a few minutes, they were able to figure out that the detector isn't only for carbon monoxide, it's also for explosive gas! They were relieved to figure out that it was beeping because of carbon monoxide, meaning they all weren't slowly being poisoned. But they were frustrated because if it wasn't carbon monoxide, then they had a gas leak.

Because of the leak, they have to shut off their gas and hot water when they leave in the morning after everyone has showered. Morgan is the earliest one up in the casa, so she has to go turn it on. Meaning that she has to have a cold shower every morning! She's way tougher than I am. She said that every morning, during her shower, she thinks, "I can do hard things! I can do hard things!"

Morgan is loving her time at the CCM. She is especially loving all of the devotionals that she gets to hear. One of the ones that stuck out to her this week was on consecrating yourself to the Lord. In the devotional they explained that consecration means to fully devote yourself. And she has given us a challenge! Hermana Thetford wants us to think of ways in which we can more fully consecrate ourselves to the Lord. What can we give to the Lord today? What are some small and simple things that you can do to put Him first in your life? Even if it's something as simple as giving Him time from your day so that you can sit down and read the scriptures, it is giving something meaningful to the Lord, and you will be blessed for it.

Here's Morgan's ending from her email. I loved it so much that I didn't want to rephrase a single thing:

"I love you all so much, and I love being a missionary! I love having every aspect of my life centered around Christ and His gospel! I know that this church is true! I can't wait to leave for Salt Lake in 13 days! I can't wait to serve the people there and help them come unto Christ! I love this gospel!"

Hermana Thetford and the Day of Love and Friendship

Morgan has now spent three weeks in the CCM, and only has 19 days left before she goes to Salt Lake City! I'm so excited for her to get to Salt Lake, because that is when she will get to truly share her beautiful testimony and change the lives of everyone who meets her. But, she is absolutely loving everything about the CCM. It sounds like she is having the time of her life! She's learning new things and growing to love the Spanish language more and more each day. Morgan is so, so grateful to her wonderful high school Spanish teacher, Senora Williams, who first taught her and helped her love the language! Without the three years of Spanish she took with Senora Williams in high school, Morgan would not be able to speak as well as she can. Being in the CCM has made her even more grateful for Senora!

She's also noticing some interesting things about Mexico City. One thing she has noticed is that the city itself is a bowl, completely surrounded by mountains. She says that because of that, the city floods easily so they set off fireworks when a lot of rain is in the forecast to help break up the clouds. She's not too sure if that's true or not, but when it's cloudy they hear fireworks all day and all night.

Another thing she has noticed about Mexico City is the way people drive. When they ride the bus anywhere, they get to see what it's like to drive on the streets. Morgan said that she would be way too nervous to drive in the city!

Morgan had a wonderful Valentine's Day! In Mexico, the holiday is called the Day of Love and Friendship. In America, we celebrate February 14th as more of a romantic holiday, and in Mexico it's more about your loved ones and dear friends. That morning she found that her bed had been made, and there was a heart shaped box of chocolate on her bed with a note from Hermana Jordan. She sounds like such a sweet and wonderful girl! We are all so glad that Morgan has such a wonderful companion. When they went to class, their teacher, Hermano Borgel, had bought each companionship a mug with candy in it. And then the girls from the room next to Morgan gave them a sucker valentine. She got plenty of candy!

During their afternoon class, the teacher walked in and pointed to the mug on Morgan's desk and said, "Oh, Hermana, who is that from?" (Morgan said he has a "sassy little voice" and sometimes they call him Sassy Sanchez.) Morgan responded, "Oh, it's from Hermano Borgel!" However, everyone else had already put their mugs away, so to Sassy Sanchez it looked as though Hermano Borgel had given a valentine to just Morgan. Everybody had a good laugh about it, and now the elders like to call her "Hermana Borgel" or "Morgan Borgel".

Morgan got to visit the Mexico City temple and said it was absolutely beautiful. She took some pictures, but I guess we'll get those in another email.

I am absolutely loving these emails from Morgan! It seems surreal that she is on her mission. It's something she has been talking about for so long, and looking forward to for SO long, and now it's happening! It sounds like she is enjoying every single second, and I wouldn't have it any other way for her.