A Utah Vacation!

We took a vacation in Utah this summer! Not to be confused with the many, many, many trips that we take to Utah all the time to visit family and friends, this was an actual vacation. With excursions and poolside relaxing and national parks galore! So I must blog about it accordingly. 

Day 1 and 2 were spent getting to Adam, who had left at 4:00 in the morning on Sunday, navigated his first solo layover flawlessly, flew over the Grand Canyon, 

stayed overnight with Grandma and Grandpa (they are always so kind to host him when he's exhuasted and help him get situated at camp), 

and he then spent the week at BYU at the Y We Sing a capella camp. We heard from him exactly once. But that meant he was having fun and too busy to think much about his phone, which is always the goal!

Our drive started on Thursday, and I should probably see if this post could be sponsored by Maverick, because we spent an embarrasing amount of money raiding the gas station for snacks throughout this trip. 

But we drove the father's truck, which saved us money and wear and tear on my car, and we needed to stay sane somehow! (Truthfully, the truck was perfectly comfy on the way out when there were only four of us in it, and there is no way that we could have hauled all of our bodies and luggage and hiking gear in my new car. The truck for the win!) 

Thursday's drive through Nebraska included a nice crazy rainstorm and a beautiful sunset, 

a good night's sleep in a hotel somewhere in Wyoming, 

and back in the car we went on Friday!

With all the traditional stops and dinosaur kisses and rock treasures along the way. 

Emma was very concerned about her hair. 

Noah was very concerned about the pressure that the altitude change put on his chips! 

We were all concerned about getting to Adam's concert in time, but we made it into Utah with time to spare! 

We met up with Auntie Al and Grandma and Grandpa for a quick height measurement 

and dinner, and took the mandatory trip around the block to pay homage to the humble beginnings of our little family. The Brown Apartment cost us $450 a month, with a generous $40 a month knocked off because Jason mowed that little square of grass in the summer and we attempted to shovel the snow off the sidewalks and driveway in the winter. I pushed Leah all over Provo from this apartment, sometimes balancing a laudry basket on her stroller, or stuffing the stroller basket full of books from the nearby library that looks like a castle. I wonder if the mustard yellow countertops and radiant heating are still inside these units. 

I believe our upgraded Crescent Arms two-bedroom aparment, where Leah and Adam came home from the hospital, was closer to $525 a month, and boy did those rooms feel spacious. Nevermind the horribly stained carpet, the soft flooring around the toilet, or the portable dishwasher that we were so excited to own because we thought two people and a baby need a dishwasher. We had a balcony! We had a washer and dryer down the hall! We climbed onto the roof to watch the Stadium of Fire fireworks show while the baby slept on the 4th of July! We were living the good life on 100 North in Provo! 

I will forever more think of the Provo City Center Temple as Leah's temple, because she spent her Fridays there her freshman year at BYU! 

We even had a bit of time to walk around downtown Provo.

Yikes! The smoke from the wildfires in Utah was really gross and alarming. 

But we made it to Utah! Next up- Adam's concert! 

Weekly Check-Ins

 Our weekly video calls with Leah have been a lifeline for all of us! It is an incredible blesssing that we get to see Leah's sweet face every week- sometimes more than once! She gets to call on holidays and birthdays, too!

Some days we are all together, some days we are coming and going, some days are sillier than others. 

She can also 'react' to any Facebook messages or emails we send throughout the week, so we are getting proficient in emoji language. Sometimes it's tricky but we'll take it! And we really debated sending her with an AirTag, but ultimately, we are grateful that we have the means to peak in on her location every once in a while and see where she is spending her days. 67! 

Her mission plaque is officially hanging in the stake center!

Ahh the saga of the shipped violin. Noah helped me pack it up, and the end of the story is yet to be told. 

There are lots of encouraging thoughts in my photo library these days. 

Look at this beautiful army of missionaries that Leah is spending her days and efforts with! She is in the Lord's hands and on His errand now, and she is doing amazing things. We are lucky to get to support her in her work! 

Ogres Have Layers, The Gospel Has Layers

Hola everyone! 

I hope your week has been great! 

This week was a bit of a rough week in terms of finding new people - we had lots of lessons cancel which is not my favorite  

And we grinded everyday to find new people and just found a lot of people who were happy to chat, but not interested in meeting with us again. But this week has already started off really awesome, and I'm sure this week is going to be full of the Spirit as we keep working hard! And every day has blessings, so here are some highlights from the week: 

️ Joy in sharing - there was one day this week where I felt extra tired and down, but then we went out and flowed (shared scriptures with people) at the grocery store parking lot. We talked to so many people about the gospel, and while we didn't find anybody to continue teaching, getting to share why I love the scriptures and the gospel cheered me right up! And the rest of the day I felt excited to share and work hard!  

️ Exchanges - once every 6 weeks, we get to spend the day with another sister missionary, so I went up to Tucson with Hermann Boyer! Let me tell you it is SO busy up there.The Lord is hastening his work in Tucson for sure. We visited, taught, and called so many people! It was super awesome to see the work moving so quickly up there! 

️ 2 months!! That's right, yesterday marked 2 months on my mission!! The days are slow but the months are fast! To celebrate, Hermana Black and I ate ice cream and played chess and I WON for the first time ever!! 

️ Border Shopping - for Pday today, we went out to breakfast with the district at a cute little diner and then went to some little stores right down by the border! which was crazy because we could look and see mexico just a couple miles away  but we just looked at a bunch of random stuff at all these little stores, and it was super fun! 

️ Esperanza - yesterday we had set new goals for the week and we were feeling a bit discouraged because we hadn't met very many of our goals for last week. But we decided to go visit some people who we had met that week and knock the doors around them! one of the doors we almost didn't knock, but we decided to  anyways, and a cute old lady named Esperanza answered! She loves talking about Jesus and invited us to come back later this week!! So because of her, we already passed our goal from last week and we're doing better already. It was a great start to an awesome week and she gave us the hope that we needed!! 

Spanish word of the week - ¡Guau! 

This is just the Spanish pronunciation of "wow", but we say it all the time and for some reason its hilarious every time 

Bonus word: cebolla 

This is the word for onion! To explain my email title, this was just something one of the elders said during our district scripture study yesterday, and for some reason it was hilarious too  I think I'm deprived from humor as a missionary.

Spiritual thought: 

I put this in my Facebook story yesterday, but I was studying hope this week and this quote from President Uchtdorf stood out to me so much - "Hope is not knowledge, but rather the abiding trust that the Lord will fulfill His promise to us. It is confidence that if we live according to God’s laws and the words of His prophets now, we will receive desired blessings in the future. It is believing and expecting that our prayers will be answered. It is manifest in confidence, optimism, enthusiasm, and patient perseverance." 

As we put our faith in God and trust that He has big plans for us, we can have the patient perseverance that he's talking about. And while it might not always be manifest right away, I know that God knows what He's doing and His work is perfect. While I'm trying to find people to teach, He is teaching me lessons and preparing people who are ready for us to teach.  so if you're feeling like its hard to see God's hand right now, have the hope and confidence to continue on! We're in this together! 

This week was a hard one but also spiritually strengthening! If you have a favorite General Conference talk for motivation, send it my way! I hope you all have an amazing week! Jesus loves you!! 

, 

Hermana Morales

This is the U.S. Mexico border! So close, but worlds away. 

#4- ✔

Leah has had the desire to serve a mission her entire life. It is incredible to me that she is living this lifelong goal out in real time, right now! Does wanting to serve a mission make it any easier? Maybe in some ways, but mostly, no. Just like wanting to be a mother doesn't make mothering easy, becoming a great violinist still requires the hours of practice, and wanting to be a good cook doesn't keep the kitchen magically clean. The work is still hard, but the payoff is that much more rewarding because it was the desire of the heart. Her 8-year-old self is so proud of her right now, and so am I!