I ALMOST CLICKED THE LIZARD 🦎Oct 13, 2026

 Hello everyone! The sun is shining a little brighter in Nogales this week. Lots of awesome things happened so I'll try to cover them all! The title is just something silly Hna Winegar said today when she was trying to react to a text with a heart haha 

️ ZOCO + exchange! We had zone conference, where all the missionaries get together for some training - its always such a spiritual boost AND we had an exchange! So I stayed in Tucson for a day and we met so many cool people! I learned a lot about testifying powerfully, especially about restored truths that are unique to our church.

️ Irania!!! She is such an awesome lady. Shes been taught for a looooong time and we've been getting to know her and felt like we should invite her to be baptized and she said YES!! She is such a deep thinker and super open to starting on the covenant path. Please pray for her! 

️ I had my first bash en español! It was this old guy who seemed super nice but then started grilling us about religious things that really dont matter in the grand scheme of things. But we got a few seconds to share our testimonies so I'll call it a win.

️ Noche de Hogar - we have a scripture study class every Monday night and this time we taught about God's plan for us after this life by pretending that we were on a plane and it crashed - it was super fun! 

Cloudy moments:

I accidentally invited one of our friends who was already on bap date to be baptized again.... he was very confused 

we have a super sweet friend named Marta who REALLY wants to come to church until about 5 minutes before and then she'll cancel... pray for her too! 

Bug of the week: there haven't been many lately, but I saw a cool praying mantis the other day! 

Spanish word of the week: la vida loca (the crazy life)

We were talking with this old guy about how the world needs Jesus and he said "yknow its just like Ricky Martin said, la vida loca". So true king, la vida is loca rn.

Spiritual thought: at zone conference, we talked about testifying of restored truths, like how the church Jesus Christ established is on the earth again, and that we can receive personal revelation, and so many more! They're such beautiful truths and everyone should get a chance to hear the truths they once knew. So share your testimony this week! 

D&C 9:8 But, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right.

You are loved! Your efforts are appreciated. You are doing good things. Sending lots of love, 

Hermana Morales  

Google photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/1vpWDchCEHN3CsEk6

Address: 797 W Mesa Verde Dr #9, Nogales, AZ (thanks to all who send letters and emails, you're my favorites! ) 

Zoo wee mama- Oct 6, 2026

 Hello all! This week has actually been so crazy and was topped off with a hectic pday so this is going to be short and sweet! 

Wowie so many people on date!! We have really been focusing on inviting everyone to be baptized so now we have FOUR friends preparing for baptism! Please pray for Chris, Raquel, Irvin, and Abel! They are amazing and God has prepared them. 

temple! Amid all the craziness of the day, we went to the temple! As a missionary, rhe peace and quiet that comes at the temple has never been more appreciated.

we knocked this awesome street with a bunch of nice cats and a nice lady too! 

General Conference! Basically the best weekend ever - messages from special witnesses of Christ broadcasted to the whole world?? Yes please! More in the spiritual thought.

Fransisco, the other hna's friend, got baptized!! He is amazing! (Also i played the piano... let's just say its a good thing the piano was so far away from everyone )

Spiritual thought: This week we saw miracles. I also felt like a chicken running around with its head cut off and went to bed exhausted every night. But as we worked hard with faith, we could see God working with us! I loved that in General Conference, i heard the message over and over again that God usually works miracles through other people. We can be that person for someone else! So look for how you can be the angel in someone's life this week! I love you all! 

Hna Morales 

Oops- I forgot! 

Here's all the info stuff I always forget to add!

Google photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/1vpWDchCEHN3CsEk6

Address: 797 W Mesa Verde Dr #9 Nogales AZ 85621

GC Talk to study: Sister Tamara Runia's talk!

A note from Mom- I recieved my first text from a stranger with a picture of my missionary this week! I immediately burst into tears. Unironically, I sent pictures and videos to a stranger mom this week of a missionary whose birthday we celebrated at our house. Good karma!

The Expected and the Unexpected

For all of the songs and years and conversations that we've had about preparing to go on a mission, there is still so much that is new and surprising about this whole experience. 

First off, we LOVE having a missionary. We pray for Leah in every prayer, we connect with her every day (via one-sided conversations on FB, email, pictures, and voice memos that she can only react to with emojis), and we love Tuesday P-Days! There are many things about her mission that are just as we expected, and many things that are coming as a surprise! 

THE EXPECTED- 

*We miss her! All the time, every day, no way around it. She is doing the most amazing things in Arizona, and we miss her so much. Just as we expected we would. 

*She has good moments and bad moments as a missionary, just like she does in real life. As expected. 

* The sunset and scenery pics, the smiling missionary selfies, and the beautiful focus on the gospel in her every day life is apparent in her pictures. 

* Some weeks she would want to spend a lot of her P day time talking to to us, and some days she wouldn't. I love when her days are filled with other fun things to do, and I love when her day is filled with time to chat like we love to do. I love it all! 

* She is driving the nicest car and living in the crappiest places of her life so far. Typical missionary life. 

*She is thriving as she works, learns, and serves! 

THE UNEXPECTED- 

*The bugs! Wow, Leah is basically an entymologist by this point. For every picture of missionary work that we see, there is a creepy crawly discovery there too! 

*The infamous sister missionary Dr. Martins have not been Leah's favorite shoes, and not for lack of trying- she has given that stiff leather her all and all it gives her in return is blisters!

*Grocery shopping makes me sad. I don't need to buy pretzels because no one here likes them as much as she does. I experienced this while she was at college last year, but at least then we got to go out occasionally and buy her some food!

*Four comps in four transfers! This is a HUGE blessing, because one of the greatest perks of serving a mission is expanding your social network as wide as possible. Leah is off to a great start!

*The feelings about her mission president- who is a lovely and kind person that she respects, I'm sure. Leah, like the rest of us, is no stranger to Church leaders. She has lived with one for most of her life! We've had many, many in our home in recent years- the Iowa Iowa City mission presidents, Area 70s,  the presiding bishop and lots of general authorities have all come into our house, taken off their shoes, and dealt with the sniff down from Laney just as the missionaries and the members and the friends we invite into our house do. That is awesome, and it possibly makes it just a bit harder to see these wonderful and regular men as MEN WHO MUST BE OBEYED. I'm sure that that is in no way the vibe that her mission president or any other man she has met on the mission has demanded to be treated at all, but Leah has the somewhat unique and sensible position of knowing that even chuch leaders are just people. She commented recently that she is excited to see how her mission leader, who started a week before she did, will grow on his mission. Fair point! 

* Decisions about packages- more than ever before, we have reached the "just because we can't doesn't mean we should" phase of parenting. Just because we can send Leah a package every week to ease her annoyances (loud box fan, I'm looking at you), does that mean we should? If she was serving outside of the US we proboably wouldn't even consider utilitizing Amazon Prime to the extent that we are now.... but she's not and so we do and most of the time I don't think twice about it but once in a while I wonder if we should. Her grandma sent her a package of chocolate on ice recently, so I know I'm not the only one taking full advantage of the trusty US postal system. 

* The random moments that I burst into tears. Some weeks more than others, but boy, my mother heart is more tender than ever, and I just miss my peanut. I try to picture her poofing into our dinner table or family prayer and giving us all great big hugs. 

* That she is still 100% Leah! I couldn't be happier about that fact, but I think I have spent enough time wondering what she will be like after 18 months of service that when I get to see her tried-and-true personality just as I remember it shining through on the weekly, I love it! 

* Navigating two-factor authentication with a missionary who doesn't have access to a phone or the ability to open links. Sheesh, what a nightmare. Leah figured it out though! 

*The blessing and annoyance that Facebook video calls can be. We all try to cram in as much time as we can on Tuesdays, but that makes one-on-one and/or in-depth conversations a little tricky. We are still trying to figure out the best way to spend the little time that we do have together, but as long as there are smiles and connections, we call it a win! 

*My hesitation to consider ALL good things in our lives a direct blessing that we have received as a result of having a missionary in our family, because that would imply that ALL bad things in life might be a result of making different life choices. It doesn't work that way. Tamara Runia just gave an excellent talk about this in general conference yesterday, but the talks aren't up yet for me to quote it here. Look it up! And trust that God's timing and love are the most important factors of our lives!

I'm a mom... mamacita? Dog mom? No, I'm a mom!!!! 👩‍🍼

 HOLA everyone! Wow this week has flown by - actually the last 7 weeks have flown by and now its the end of the transfer already!   shoutout Hna Keime for the email title.... because IM TRAINING!!!! Thats right, I get a baby!! Im SO excited to meet and learn from a new hermana! I get to meet her tomorrow! If you have training advice, send it my way pretty please! I'll need all the advice I can get! 

Also this week was such a good one! 

Highlights:

️ dinner with Hermana Barrazza, the wisest abuela I've ever met - she's so sweet and calls us her princesas/reinas/hermosas and shared such a precious testimony of the blessings in her life

️ México Independence Day Fiesta! We had so many friends come and meet members and the food was SO good. viva México!

️ we had a great lesson with Aneth and Belize where we painted Books of Mormon and chatted about their thoughts on baptism, their parents opinions, their questions about church, and their lives! They are so sweet - please pray for their testimonies to grow and their parents' hearts to be softened! 

️ we had a super awesome sacrament meeting where Hna Woodbury talked about truth and Elder Jones played a beautiful musical number on the piano - an Aneth and Belize came! The spirit was so strong, I love a rejuvenating sacrament meeting. 

Bug of the week... cicada. What an experience we had last night. There's a guy in our ward who is an entomologist, meaning he studies bugs. Therefore, he somehow knows how to cook bugs. So he fried us up some cicadas for dinner last night. Taste - 6.5/10. Texture - 2.5/10; would not eat again but I'm grateful for the experience. If you want the recipe I'll ask him for you! also, there is a video of us eating them on my google photos if you're curious: https://photos.app.goo.gl/1vpWDchCEHN3CsEk6 

Spanish word of the week courtesy of Hermana Black: Facebookiendo

If you don't know this word, don't worry! It's not technically real! We LOVE Spanglish down here by the border. The next time you don't know how to describe a particular action, feeling, or object in Spanish, try saying it in an accent or with Spanish grammar rules!! It works about 110% of the time. and -ando/-iendo are the same as -ing in English. 

This has been your Spanish word of the week with Hermana Black! I'll be here for the next six weeks thank you and good night! 

Isn't she great?? My mom, everyone! 

Spiritual Thought

We had a general authority, Elder Larreal, come to our mission at the beginning of this week! He was so funny and joyful and enthusiastic about missionary work! I learned so much about sharing the gospel joyfully and with urgency. One thing I especially loved was his emphasis on looking outward and upward rather than inward. Life is full of challenges - anything important in this life will be hard to get. But when we focus less on our shortcomings or trials and start relying on God and serving others, joy will come. Everyone should read the General Conference talk he shared a few years ago! He is awesome. 

I Feel My Savior’s Love - https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2026/04/43larreal?lang=eng

Aaaah next week will be so full of updates! I'll be here for at least the next 6 weeks, so if you feel so inclined as to send a letter or package, here is my address: 

797 W Mesa Verde Dr. #9, Nogales AZ 85621

You matter! Your efforts are seen! Help someone else see that this week. Lots of love,

Hermana Morales