¡Hola a todos! I made it to Arizona!! It was a trek but we're here now! This email will probably be a bit longer and organized differently but it's all good stuff! If you don't read anything else, read the spiritual thought!
Travel 
On my last day of the CCM, I slept for about 2 hours and then had to wake up to get ready to go at 12:30. Hermana Ballard my diva queen woke up and helped me with my luggage even though it was so early and we said goodbye too 
it was tragic but it's also awesome because we're all going to learn so much and help so many people! We got on a bus to the airport at 1 and it was smooth sailing from there! There were 7 of us headed to Arizona and our flights were chill, thank goodness. We made it and hopped in a van with the APs to head to the mission office! We got the most fire horchata and met all the other new missionaries! I love meeting all these awesome people from all over all here for the same reason I am.
it was tragic but it's also awesome because we're all going to learn so much and help so many people! We got on a bus to the airport at 1 and it was smooth sailing from there! There were 7 of us headed to Arizona and our flights were chill, thank goodness. We made it and hopped in a van with the APs to head to the mission office! We got the most fire horchata and met all the other new missionaries! I love meeting all these awesome people from all over all here for the same reason I am. Companion #2! 
I met my trainer!!! My mission does this cute thing where we stand in a circle and the new missionary goes into the middle and their trainer is announced and everyone is so excited for everyone! My trainer is.... Hermana Black!! She's actually the GOAT and I'm so glad she's my first comp!! She's so good at sharing the joy of the gospel with everyone we talk to and getting other missionaries hyped for the work! She is seriously awesome and I'm learning so much from her every day.
The Area! 
My first area is Rio Rico! To address the subject of my email, it looks a bit like Radiator Springs from Cars plus Camp Green Lake from Holes plus Tatooine. It's about 2 hours from the mission home and the temple, but it's also awesome because it's a small town and there's lots of nice people! And cows wandering around. Everyone said I should prepare to never see green again for 18 months, but it's been pretty beautiful and lots more green than I thought there would be! There are lots of mesquite trees, so lots of the same green, but also lots of people with awesome yards full of flowers and plants. Hallelujah for plants! Also, you can see the stars so well here and see for so far even though there are mountains! So there is beauty to be found in Arizona.
The Work 
Basically as soon as we dropped our stuff off at the apartment, we got to work! We do a lot of knocking doors, which is awesome and crazy scary at the same time - I've been practicing this for so long and now it's actually happening! We also "flow", where we hang out in a parking lot (there's only one good one at a grocery store in this tiny town) and say hi to people and ask to share a scripture with them. It's actually crazy bc my natural instinct is not to inconvenience people, but this is an important message to share! And it's a lot more successful than knocking because people can't just hide from you in their homes. There are lots of awesome people here and we're not really teaching anyone right now, so we're doing a lot of finding and meeting people! We're also assigned to 2 wards (Spanish and English) and they're awesome! They have so many activities to invite friends to and they're all so supportive and loving to one another, which is epic. We helped a couple who just finished their senior mission move stuff to their house yesterday with this cool brother from the ward who is a bug expert, and he found a BLACK WIDOW SPIDER in one of the cabinets. He let us all see it before he killed it and it was actually crazy huge. 
Lots of good work to be done here and we're grinding every day which is awesome!
Lots of good work to be done here and we're grinding every day which is awesome! Spiritual Thought 
My mom (the most awesome and wise person I know) sent me a letter saying that while the CCM is nice, it's like Adam and Eve living in the Garden of Eden - really convenient and comfortable for a while, but after some time you realize there has to be more to life than green parrots and playing games in Spanish class every day. So we go out to the field! Where it's hot and dusty, there are black widow spiders, and people run to their cars to avoid talking to you. But you also grow your own testimony and share it with the people who are willing to listen! And it takes a lot of work and discomfort and sweat, but you can share the joy of Jesus Christ that you have in your life with other people, and it's much more fulfilling. So even though it's not the easiest thing to be doing, I'm so grateful for this opportunity to work hard to help other people more than myself for 18 months.
2 Nephi 8:3 
For the Lord shall comfort Zion, he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving and the voice of melody.
If you have advice on the first few weeks on the field and what helped you, I'd love to hear it! Or just reach out for fun - emails are the best part of my day! I love you all and Jesus does too!
Hermana Morales :D
Officially in Arizona!
(All of the missionaries that arrived from the CCM with Leah. It turns out they were all in a beginning-Spanish district there together, but Leah was blessed to be with Hermana Ballard and all of her intermediate-Spanish besties. Her circle was just a bit wider from day one!)
Hermanas Morales y Black!
Leah's first district. It would appear that she and her comp bring the hype!
Roadrunner!
La biblioteca!
The view out her front door.
15 minutes north of the U.S./Mexico border, in a beautiful but literal crack of the desert.
Welcome to Arizona, finally!
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