Elder Zach Morris (Shoal Creek Valley Ward) recently returned from the California Riverside Mission after serving for two years. He had many faith-filled experiences on his/her mission, but one woman they were teaching helped him understand the impact God can have in someone’s life. After a lesson they thought she wasn’t interested, but the spirit told them to go back and try again, and eventually she agreed to covenant with God in baptism.

“On the day of at 3 am, she said she didn’t want to be baptized via text,” Elder Morris said. “We didn’t understand, but we didn’t give up. It turns out that people in her household were bashing her that night and telling her not to get baptized.”

Elder Morris and his companion were able to talk with her, and she decided to get baptized anyway.They told her about Joseph Smith how he had to go through hard times in Liberty Jail, but through it all, he did not budge. 

“After Joseph Smith’s example, the lady said, ‘If I have to divorce my husband to join the true church of God, I will.’ I found out later, she did get divorced, and is living in a few states away and is happy. It showed me how impactful the spirit of God can be.”

One of the attributes Elder Morris learned on her mission was charity, the pure love of Christ.

“It seems simple, but it’s true,” Edler Morris said. “Charity surpasses all things. There’s nothing it cannot fix or help. Everything ultimately falls down to charity.” 

When asked what the youth can do to better prepare for a mission, __name__ had this advice: “Read scriptures and go to church. You need to have  spiritual experiences. That’s just how this gospel works. We need youth to have spiritual experiences and to go out to the missionaries so they can have their own experiences. It is so important.”

Elder Morris also recognized the importance of reading the Book of Mormon and having a testimony of it prior to your mission. 

“It is the crux of what makes this Church true,” Elder Morris said.

He also advised the youth to learn to recognize the spirit.

“Learn to recognize how the spirit speaks to you. I didn’t know if I had felt the spirit, but then I learned that I had, but I just didn’t know how the spirit spoke to me personally.”

Elder Morris ended with his/her testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ relating it back to Star Wars.

“Before my miss, I didn’t know much about the spirit, doctrine – just a few nuggets from seminary and my parents. Similar to Luke Skywalker from Star Wars, I was a nobody. Luke met this old wise man who said you are something more than you think you are and then takes him on a wild adventure. My mission was my wild adventure that taught me I am important and that I can feel  the spirit.”

Elder Morris found value in writing down his spiritual experiences. 

“I’m up to my eight journal. I carry them with me (pointing to a small notebook) I know my Savior and who he is personally, and I truly know what God has in store for me and what my divine potential can be.” 

Elder Morris plans to BYU-Idaho online in the fall.