December 28, 2009 Cuando TODOS pensaron que no me cae bien la nieve...‏

Well hey!! This week was quite the treat... being able to talk to everyone was great!! Sounds like everything is going well. I've learned that life does go on without me. :) It's hard to believe.... but I guess it's true. And I'll just have to accept it.

Well... first off. I know everyone thinks that I hate the snow. Not true. Because of the snow church was cancelled yesterday!!! I love snow!!! Ok just kidding, I still don't like it. But church did get cancelled. It was nice to be able to sit in the apartment Sunday morning. I actually did a lot of cleaning. I threw away so much junk that I had had in my desk and just organized everthing. I may be able to pack all my stuff up for this transfer in just my 2 suitcases and tote. We shall see though.

Cecilia and Esteban's baptisms DID happen. It was great. There weren't many people there. Just The bishop and his wife, the stake President, 6 missionaries, and about 5other people. It was very quiet, but it was great! Since church was cancelled they have not been confirmed yet. But it was a great night! There is nothing better than being a part of someone's journey back to the presence of our Heavenly Father. Cecilia and Esteban have been an enormous blessing in my life.

So this past week was very slow. We weren't able to drive for 4 days. Yeah... that was a long 4 days. But it was a very enjoybale and relaxing holiday season. But I guess that the holiday isn't quite over yet. We got the new year right around the corner. This year has passed incredibly fast. I don't know how it has felt to all of you. Mom, I don't think I said Thank you enough for the gifts you sent me and for the 14 days of Christmas. That was great. That story about the little girl and her pearls really got to me. I was already kind of emotional that day for some reason. We had just been seeing amazing blessings and had been having so much success with Cecilia and Esteban. I think that might have been why.... who knows though. But that story really got to me. It's one of my favorites. I had never heard it before. Also the golf balls are a great gift to have. ;) It will be easier knocking doors with them instead of my frozen knuckles! I actually had left my stocking at the apartment so when I got home... FINALLY, after almost 4 days, I found them in there. Haha.

So this week should be great. We are going to focus on buliding up our investigator pool since now we have no one progressing anymore. So we will be knocking a lot of doors and contacting referals and just talking to everyone we see. Should be a good week.I am really hoping to leave Omaha though. I don't know what it is... but after being in the same spot for so long you just start to feel burned out I think. And when you get transfered it's like new life. A fresh start. I could use that right about now.

Well I pretty much told you a lot on our phone call about what is going on here and about the crazy adventures of this past week. Man, we've had some good times. I have to say that opening presents at 2 in the morning and having a huge nerf gun fight for the next hour was great!! I have found some of my closest friends out here on the mission. And have had experiences that I will never forget. I have met some of the best people and have been able to see them progress in the gospel from the day we met them, to the day of their baptism, up until now. The mission has been an incredible experience for me. It has changed my life. It's helped me to look at the bigger picture. It's tested me. And it has strengthed my testimony in the gospel of Jesus Christ. I love you all! It was great talking to everyone! And in case I don't see you again... good afternoon, good evening, and goodnight. Justin, get those interviews done!!

Love, Elder Moore

December 21, 2009

Well hey there!! Can ya believe Christmas is this week?! I cannot believe it. :) But I am very excited for it. It hadn't really felt much like Christmas until last night. I don't know why... maybe just not really focusing on Christmas and giving/receiving gifts and being with family and all hasn't really made it feel like Christmas. But yesterday, well Saturday, I got a call from Elder Anderson and he said let's make our own Christmas cards, we'll put a scripture on the front and on the back we'll write Merry Christmas from the Missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day saints, and we'll tie a candy cane to them. Then we'll go down to the Old Market and sing Christmas carols and hand them out. It was a great idea!!!So we did that last night.

The Old Market is SO COOL! I love going there. It's just an old fashioned looking out door shopping area. So we stood on the corner and sung Christmas hymns for like an hour and a half and handed out these cards and talked with people. There was 8 of us Missionaries there. And THAT felt like Christmas. It was a blast. Also, there was a drunk girl with 4 of her friends. And she was riding around on a... like cart scooter thing, and I said, "Hey how fast does that thing get going?" And she says, "HEY!! You wanna try it out?" And I was like.... YEAH!!! So I got to ride around on that for a few minutes. It was great! But people stood around and listened to us sing and tried to give us money. It was just a great time last night.

So this past week we had the ward Christmas party and it went great! Cicilia and Esteban came, as well as Alejandro. They are so prepared for their baptism. So we WILL be having a white Christmas. I am so excited for their baptism. You have no idea. I love seeing people make that commitment to come unto Christ and change their life for the better.The party was a hit too! There was so many people there. :) And there was dancing and a pinata and food, and a nativity scene put on by the Primary kids. And somehow we got roped in to being pastores. So that was fun.

So this week is going to be a crazy one.... I am going on exchanges with Elder Ward tomorrow, and then Wednesday morning we have our district meeting, and then I go on exchanges with Elder Boyer. So lots of exchanges. And then talking to all of you! That will be great!! :)So.... what more... Oh yeah. I had my interview with President Kunz this week. That was really good. I told him though that I am ready to leave Omaha. I need a change. He didn't make me any promises... but I am sure I will be leaving. We'll see what happens though.

We also did a white elephant thing at zone conference. I gave a roll of wrapping paper, wrapped in wrapping paper! It was a sweet gift! But I had to open up the wrapping paper to wrap my gift. Sister Worthen got it. Haha. She just laughed and thought it was crazy. So I gave her my bag of candy that I got too along with the wrapping paper. It was fun.

Oh yeah so I forgot to mention that on Saturday.... we moved 2 people! But this time there was more missionaries... like 12 at the first move and 6 at the second. And neither person was in our ward. It was a way fun day though! That morning we helped this woman move and we rented another uhaul and packed up all her stuff and moved her. So we were at the apartment that she was moving into. And the kid dropped the keys somewhere in the snow when he was walking home and they couldn't find them. So me and Elder Anderson decided to try and scale the back of the apartment up to the third floor while the others were praying. Haha... yeah, I guess there idea was better. So we are climbing up the apartment and this kid opens the blinds and yells.... Mom there is someone climbing on our house. So we jumped off and ran away!! And needless to say... the keys got found and we were able to move everything in. And we had a sweet assembly line going all the way from the truck outside to the 3rd floor room. We got that done fast!Then later that night we get a call from 2 sister missionaries that asked us to go help them move too. So me and my comp and Elder Anderson and Eddington went and helped her move from about 5:30 to 9:30. Yeah... a lot of moving. But Saturday was great! We had a lot of fun!!

I can't wait for Justin to get his call. I want to know where he is going!! I am really excited for that kid. That is so awesome that Brad and Toni and the kids all came to the ward this past week. I miss that family. And yeah I wrote Brad. I was reading in a journal I have and read about that experience we had. And then I have told a few people about my first time through the temple and how Brad couldn't find the guy he was supposed to be following.... ya, that funny story. That is cool that Justin will be going through the temple soon. The temple is great.

And oh yeah... haha yeah I did talk to Elder Morrill's mom this week. It was pretty funny. I think I made it really awkward for her. :) I seem to be good at that type of stuff. Turning a moment that could be completely normal into an incredible awkward moment. :) Oh well.... But it was fun!

So since the day after Thanksgiving I have been working out 6 days a week. And in the past week and a half I have put on about 7 pounds. I lost some weight, but now I am back up to 147. It's great!

Well I will be calling you this Friday, so I won't try and write too much. I am still not sure what time I will be calling at.... but I'll let ya know ASAP. Probably sometime inbetween 10 and 12. I think... but I'll let you know for sure! :) Either that.. or I'll just call.

And I am so proud of Brooklyn!!!! She is such a great little ball player. I love that girl. We really do have a GREAT family!!

Well I love you all! I hope all is well. I miss you. Be safe and take care!

Love, Elder Moore

December 14, 2009 Recibimos demaciado nieve esta semana!!‏

HEY HEY!!Well first off I am going to let you know that this email won't have cool stories like last weeks. At least not amazing gospel stories. But it does have a story... quite the story actually. So I'll tell it to ya....So on Monday night it began to snow... really bad. They said we would be receiving A LOT of snow. And sure enough we did. Tuesday morning we woke up and it was still snowing and we had about 13 inches on the ground. I got a call from the ZL's saying that the cars were grounded... meaning we weren't allowed to drive. And also that we were to stay in that day. BORING! There isn't a whole lot to do inside of an apartment with nothing. So we called the Sandovals and Tony wasn't going to have to work that day because of all the snow. And he said he would come pick us up and take us to their house. So their house is about 10 minutes from ours. So he shows up, we hop in the car with him... and an hour and 15 minutes later we arrived at the Sandovals. Tony's car doesn't have 4 wheel drive or good tires. So we spent an hour looking for different routes to get to their house since you have to go up 2 hills to get to their home. So finally we arrived at the bottom of the final hill. And Elder Morrill and me pushed that car up all the way!! Just about... We got to about 12 feet in front of his driveway and couldn't push anymore. We were so tired! So we shoveled the road there and finally got the car into the garage.

So it continued snowing that day.... and we ended up getting stuck at the Sandovals house. We couldn't get the car out. So we slept there that night. I slept on the couch and Elder Morrill slept on the air mattress. It was quite the adventure that day. BUT WAIT... the adventure is not quite over. So we got back to our place Wednesday morning went and changed, did what we had to do... and went out to the car. Now our car had had its gas light on for the entire day before. Our car was covered in snow also, about a foot of snow and half an inch of ice. So we turned on the heater let it defrost as we scraped the windshield. After about 15 minutes of cleaning the car we hopped in and drove off. So we have a street here... called 13th street. it's like a 13th East in Sandy. So we turned left onto 13th AND the car died. HAHA! Yup, right there in the middle. So I said "Throw it into neutral!" And I hoped out and started pushing it. Then another guy stopped and helped us push it, then he got back in his car and put his bumper to ours and pushed us into a parking lot. So we were stranded in a parking lot. And the high for that day was 7 degrees. So yup, it was cold! So anyways... a hispanic guy pulls up behind us and says he wants to park there cause he lives in these apartments... and I said we are out of gas so let me shovel you out a spot where you can park. So we shoveled him out a spot and he just sat there in his car. And another woman stole his spot! Ha!

So we made a few phone calls to some other missionaries to get some help. And the closest missionaries said that they were shoveling a driveway and would be down in like 20 minutes. So I said ok, and we sat in the cold car and waited. And 30 minutes passed, and they still hadn't shown up. So I called them again... and they said 20 more minutes... YEAH RIGHT! I was so mad. So I just got out and said "Hey, we're walking home!" So we did... and eventually the spanish north elders came down and saved us. So that was the tale of Tuesday/Wednesday.

I really don't like snow! Oh yeah... and we were supposed to have a huge zone conference on Wednesday and that got cancelled because of the weather too.Yeah... gotta love the mission eh?! So anyways the north elders got stranded at our place and stayed there with us that night. The snow here really isn't good. And yesterday night we had ice rains and we had to go back home early because they grounded the cars again. So needless to say, the weather here hasn't been pretty.

Well. Sicilia and Esteban are doing great! They came to church again yesterday and are so excited for their baptism! We are very excited for them! I love them. They are great. And Esteban, everytime he sees us, runs over and gives us a hug. He is a cool 12 year old kid. Alejandro on the other hand... he is going to take some work. It doesn't help that he works 12 hours a day and 7 days a week. We taught the 3 of them the commandments this past week. And Alejandro thinks that it isn't a sin to have sexual relationships before marriage. So that was a tough one to explain. I think in the end it went well. But that converstaion lasted about 25 minutes. He has said to his mom that he doesn't know if he wants to be baptized or not. So we aren't sure if he will be getting baptized on the 26th. There is still a chance he will. But Sicilia and Esteban are looking incredible!

Yup! I did recieve my package!!! And I didn't look in that brown bag to see that I am to open up something everyday. Haha. But don't worry, I am doing it all now. But the tree is all hung up with ornaments, and also I put the Halloween lights on it that you sent me a while back. :) it is looking good! you'll see it on the tape. When I am finished making it. It's coming a long well. :) But that was such a SWEET idea!!! I don't know where you came up with that, but I LOVE IT!! Thank you very much!!

Oh yeah, also this past week we went to the temple! The temple is a cool place. :) I really like it. So I am looking forward to talking to you all as well. It is right around the corner eh? Next week. It is crazy! The last Christmas in the mission. And the fact that a year has already gone by. That is crazy too! But I am really excited to talk to everyone!!!

It finally started to feel a little like Christmas this week. We went to the Thompsons and frosted Christmas cookies. It was fun. I love doing that!

So that is great that Brooklyn is going to Tawain! That should be an amazing experience for her. Lucky girl. She has had so many awesome things happen in her life! How is basketball going for her? And how long is she going to be over in Tawain for? Are ya gonna miss her? :)That's great that Justin went and got his suits. I am sure he looks great in them! Did he put in his papers yet? When do you think he'll be getting his call?!?! This is so exciting! The mission is the BEST thing! He will love it!!That is very exciting that you got an A in your class! Way to go mom! It doesn't surprise me though. :) So what's next for you?....How are the Wilcox's doing? And Grandma and Grandpa? Everyone excited for Christmas? Should be great! Especially with that house as packed with people as it is. :)

Well family... I miss you all very much. I love you! I hope you are enjoying the Christmas season. Stay safe! Take care!I love you all!

Love, Elder Moore

December 7, 2009 Wow! We had a powerful week!‏

Wow, I hope that I can remember all the amazing things that happened this week and be able to put it all into words, so that you too can feel the power and spirit of the things that we experienced this week.So we now have 3 people set for baptism on the 26th of December. We may change their date to the 19th because of how great they are progressing. Their names are.... Sicilia, Alejandro, and Estaban. A mother and her 2 children. They have just arrived 2 months ago from Columbia and are living with Sicilia's sister, who is a member. They were being taught by the sister missionaries and Sicilia was translating everything. But they called us this past week and told us that we should begin teaching them.So we went to see them on Thursday and it was the most powerful lesson I have had my eintire mission. And probably will ever have. It was just that good.So the sister missionaries came with us to introduce us and all. And having them there was great. Even though neither of them speak spanish.... the sister missionaries just bring an amazing spirit with them.So we began to teach the first lesson to Sicilia and her 2 kids who are ages 23 and 12. And the Spirit was so incredible! And the lesson was amazing. And we explained the spirit to them so that they knew what they were going to be feeling. And I began to tell the first vision to them... and wow.... Nobody in that room could control there emotions. Including me. I had never cried in a lesson up to that day. My year mark. :) And everyone was just crying in tears. And after the 1st vision the moment was perfect. We asked them to be baptized on the 26th and they said Yes!!! And everyone was hugging eachother, the sister missionaries were hugging Sicilia and her sister, Rosa was hugging them too and there was so much happiness in that room. It was incredible.

So then we came back the next day and taught Alejandro some more because he had to leave the room and take a phone call. So we went over the 1st vision with him and it was also a powerful lesson. And I asked him to pray about Joseph Smith and The Book of Mormon. And then to sit with his eyes closed for 30 seconds and just listen. And he said he would.... so he began his prayer, and it was an incredible praryer. He asked God to open his heart and mind so that he could know if these things were true. And then he asked.... if The Book of Mormon was true and if Joseph Smith was a prophet.And then he sat for about 2 minutes. And I was praying the whole time just hoping he would get his answer. And at about 1 minute and a half. I started to shake, the spirit was SO STRONG! And I looked at Sicilia who was sitting across the table from me, and she was shaking and crying. And then Alejandro looked up and said... I feel so warm right now. It was amazing!

Then yesterday they came to church and it was fast and testimony meeting. And I was sitting there, looking at the floor, and Elder Morrill nudges me and says look. And I looked, and Sicilia was heading up to the pulpit to bear her testimony. I couldn't believe it.So she went up, and said her name and where she was from and then we made eye contact and she started to cry and just smile and couldn't finish. So the bishop got up and helped her out. It was really really cool!So then last night we went and visited them again. And we taught them the plan of salvation. And I said, in this lesson we are going to answer 3 questions... Where we came from, why we are here, and where we are going. And Sicilia said, last night in my prayer I asked God where we go after death. And here you are saying that that is what you are going to teach me. And she couldn't believe it. Then as we went through the lesson, I said lets read a scripture in Alma and she said.... Last night I had the desire to read in Alma, but I couldn't find the book and now you are here and showing me a scripture in Alma. She said that during that lesson she was just having her prayers answered everywhere! It was so awesome!!!So that family is so so great! I do love them and can't wait to see them baptized.

Well we got a huge snow storm yesterday. And tonight is supposed to be one of the biggest storms Nebraska has seen in a while. We are supposed to get like 13 inhces of snow tonight and tomorrow. YAY..... Not. Personally... I think that the snow should shut up.

Also, we are trying to help some investigators out that just opened up a restaurant and the restaraunt isn't doing so well.... so I decided to have our district lunch there... and I made a few phone calls.... and we had 22 missionaries there!! Crazy huh!?!? It was so cool!

I am so excited for Justin. I am so excited for him to get his mission call! I can't wait!!! So hey I can help ya learn a little bit of Spanish if you want.... Just let me know what you want to learn how to say and I'll tell ya. Or I could just teach you a few phrases every week.

So Nebraska football.....GGGGGRRRR!!! Wow, how pathetic. All of Nebraska was watching that game. Anywhere you turned, it was on. Stupid Huskers!! They should have won it! They could have won it!! They have a pathetic offense, but wow, their defense is one of the best I have ever seen! There was so many really ticked off people Saturday night and Sunday... and even today. It's bad! Haha, yeah it's crazy how big a part of my life sports was.... and now it pretty much isn't even important. I do like knowing how my teams are doing though. :) And we do get a paper once a week. So... I can keep tabs. But yeah... it's true...Sports don't mean anything in the mission :)And DAng Huskers, I know.... that is terrible!!!! Dang dang dang them!

Well my year mark was a sweet one. I went to breakfast with my comp, and Elders Anderson and Eddington. I have become really good friends with Elder Anderson and it will suck to see him go in Februrary. He is a good guy. Then we had an amazing lesson with Sicilia and her kids. So now, we are on the downhill. :) It's crazy how fast the first year passed.

The guys in our ward will be great missionaries. You just have to focus on the purpose. Once you internalize your purpose and begin to work, begin to love the people you serve, it will be easier to enjoy yourself. The key to being happy in the mission is hard work. It's hard, but you really do need to lose yourself in the mission.I have been out a year and there are still some days when I struggle out here. When hard times come, the most important thing we can do is put our faith and trust in the Lord and rely on Him. We need to take our minds off the things that make us weak, and focus on the things that make us strong.

Well.... I love you all! I hope that you are enjoying the holiday season! Please be careful in the snow and enjoy life!

Love, Elder Moore

November 30, 2009 Hooked up!! BYU woot woot!‏

First off... Happy Birthday Ginger, Bailey, and Dawson!!!!!

Well hey hey hey! So yes it is official.... I will be spending my first year in Omaha. It's kind of weird. It's kind of like home now. I know all the streets, where things are, a lot of people, (it's funny walking down the street and seeing people I have talked to or taught before). And it seems like a lot of people know me. It's just crazy that I haven't left here. I do love it. But sometimes you just need a change of scenery ya know? But I am very positive that I will be going to Lincoln next transfer. Which I am SO excited about!!!But I am so glad that I have one more transfer here...

I have entitled this email "Hooked Up" because yesterday I got a call from two sister missionaries who have HOOKED US UP!! They were teaching a woman and her two sons that speak spanish, and they live with the woman's sister, who speaks both english and spanish, so she translated the lesson for them. But this woman was just recently baptized, so she is a huge support! So I talked to this sister, and they said that the lesson was so powerful and that they want to learn more and that they have already been to church two times! The first week to an english ward and this past Sunday they came to our ward. I didn't get to talk to them though but I did see them. So I gave this woman a call last night to set up a time we could come teach her and her two sons. She was so nice and respectful, she kept saying Si Senor, or yes sir, almost after anything I said. She was nice. She said she had a dream about a man, and when she got to church she saw a picture of him.... it was Joseph Smith. She said she couldn't forget those blue eyes. Haha. It's amazing! So we are going to teach them this Thursday and set them for baptism since they really want to learn more and be baptized. Wow, I am so glad that I am still here!

Also, I got a call from another sister missionary who said that they had taught a man names Santiago and invited him to be baptized and he said he would pray about it... but he too doesn't speak great english so we are going to go see him as well. So the sisters have given us 4 very prepared people. We are so excited. And me and Elder Morrill set our baptismal goal for this transfer at 4. So things are looking good. But we definately are going to have to work very hard!

So we have another woman we are teaching, her name is Maria. She is a very sweet woman. She has a son that has a disease, he is 6 but has the mentality of a 6 month year old and may never speak. We had a great powerful lesson with her. She does have a concern though and that is that she believes in Saints. She prays to one because he answers her and gives her signs. Yup.... so that was tough. It's like, how do you really dispute that... Because she has a testimony of saints. And you can't just say... no you don't belive in that or No that isn't right. It's like someone can't tell me that I don't believe in the church. So we are taking a member with us over there tomorrow who used to be catholic and she can help us a lot on this subject.

So tomorrow, we are going to have a huge party! We have two new investigators... well kind of new. They were investigators a long time ago. And funny thing is.... I was with Elder Peterson my first transfer, on an exchange, when these two investigators dropped Elder Peterson and Elder Clawson. So now they are back wanting to learn more and they have just opened up a restaurant and it isn't doing so good. So I have made tons of phone calls and tomorrow for lunch we are goingto go eat at their restaurant, about 20 missionaries. That is what is great about being a spanish missionary. You get to know a lot of missionaries cause our areas cover theirs. :) So I have made a lot of friends out here. And we are so excited because this is going to help their business alot and show them how much we care about them. We are very excited!

So Thanksgiving was good. We played in a sweet turkey bowl Thursday morning. There was 10 missionaries and 6 members there. It was crazy! And so much fun! Then we went to the Thompsons and ate breakfast and played games. Then I took a nap for about 2 and a half hours on their couch in the basement. Then we ate again at like 5. Then we left from there and went and had another Thanksgiving dinner with the family Sandoval. Friday was a terrible day, full, and totally tired! So we slept a lot that day. Probably more than we should of. But wow, Thanksgiving takes a lot out of you.

So this week was pretty crazy and I have said a lot! But that is the jist of our week. It was a lot fun and we had some amazing things happen to us. The Lord is blessing us once again.

That is so cool that Brooklyn made the basketball team! I am so proud of that girl! I hope she makes it the next year too! So that way I can be back to see her play. It is always so much fun watching her play basketball!

I am glad that Justin asked for that blessing. That will help him so much! I am glad that he is taking this so serious. The mission is an amazing experience that has really changed my life. And has made me a better person. It has also strengthed my testimony so much! To the point where I cannot deny it. And I wouldn't deny it. He is going to love it and have a great time in the mission! I can't wait to hear where he is going! But wherever it is, it is where the Lord needs him. And he will love it. I wasn't too estatic about a call to Omaha, but I LOVE IT!!! And I wouldn't have rather gone to any other place. The mission is anything but easy. Everyday is a struggle. But no one said it would be easy. Haha, yeah I would say that my spanish is passing my english. I struggle to say so many words in english or just put all of my thoughts together in english. It is ridiculous and at times frustrating. :)Yeah, patience has always b een hard for me. But I feel like I am doing so much better at it. And that my temper is completely gone as well. The mission has changed me a lot. :)

So yes, please send my package to the apartment. My address is....
Elder Brandon Moore
5802 S. 14th st #5
Omaha, NE 68107

So what can I get for all of you for Christmas.... give me some ideas please..... :) Thanks! And I am not sure what you should get for Justin.... good question. Haha. I will think on it and get back to you asap. By the way... tell that kid he is a good looking kid. I saw some pictures that dad sent to me of him. He is a stud. but the jedi braid... yeah that has to go. It's a little queer. :) I love ya bro!! But seriously if you don't walk around with a light saber fighting off evil masked villians... the jedi braid just isn't in style. But you are still a stud! How are things with your chick?.... c'mon man, we are bro's you gotta talk to me about this stuff. :)Well I am glad I was on your mind for Thanksgiving! And I am glad it was a.... decent one. :)I love you all so much! And I miss you much!Yes mom, count down the days... the phone call isn't far away. :) Haha!

Take care!!!
Love, Elder Moore

November 23, 2009 Mi pedazo de consejo

Well hey hey hey there! I always love reading your emails and hearing about what is going on back home. Well this week we had some crazy stuff happen. But first off I want to give a little advice to any missionaries that read this or people that are preparing to go on missions.... and it is this....DO NOT LOSE YOUR PERSONALITY!!! As a missionary that is probably the worse thing you can do. I have seen too many people come out here and lose who they are. I have found that since I have been out here missionaries that come out and lose who they are don't enjoy the mission nearly as much. Something that I am good at.... and I don't mean to brag... is making people laugh. I can do that with anybody out here. Even just talking to someone on the street after 2 minutes I have gotten a laugh out of them and they are more open to talking to us.I had a woman laughing so hard she was in tears just after about a minute and a half of meeting her. And after that, she opened up and actually talked to us.

The English missionaries turned two women over to us to teach that they have set for baptism for the 12th of December. We went to meet them for the first time and I talked to this woman on her doorstep and asked if Maria or Anita were there. She said no they didn't leave there, so I talked to her for another minute or 2 and finally got her to open up to me and tell me she was Maria. I guess she was confused seeing us missionaries there and not the other ones that had been teaching her. So really if you want to get in good with people, if you want them to trust you and actually talk with you. Be yourself. Don't change who you are. The mission will change you for the better, but you always need your personality. And that is my piece of advice.

So I went to a Catholic mass yesterday with Elder Anderson. I was on exchanges with him. And we went to the HUGE cathederal we have here. Wow it is amazing, the cathederal, not the mass. The mass was very very interesting. And I got hit on the hand and face with blessed holy water. It burned....But it was very different, and they sing things, like, "We will now read from the gospel of John". And they sing that phrase. I don't know. I like being a part of the true church!

So no I have not gotten transferred yet. Transfer calls will be tomorrow so I will find out then. But I am pretty sure that I will be staying. And propbably a 3rd transfer with my comp. I had my interview with President and he told me that there are still things I can do in this area. And he wants to start keeping the senior companions in their areas for 6-8 months. Crazy, I know. But I had a good long interview with President, probably about 15 minutes, and he did tell me that we would be getting 2 new spanish missionaries in February and that I would probably be training one of them. So we will see if it is that one whose mom wrote you. Ya never know. But I am excited to get new spanish missionaries. Especially since we will be losing some here in the next 3 months. One being Elder King in January, one of my favorite comps.So yeah anyways... tomorrow I find out if I am leaving or staying, but from the way my interview went, I will be staying.

Also, concerning Christmas gifts. They have asked us to tell our parents to send the gifts to where we are staying, not to the office this next transfer. So that we can SOS, "Save Our Smailman". I added the S onto mailman, because it went along with what I was trying to do. So yeah...So I will let you know if I am staying and then you can mail my stuff to that address. :) That will be great!

So we are going to be playing in a sweet turkey bowl this Thursday, I am way excited for that. And also have 2 appointments to eat. One with the Thompsons and the other with the Sandovals. So we will be well fed.

That is so cool that Brooklyn recieved an answer to her prayer. Although it doesn't surprise me at all, she is very close to the spirit. She is a great girl! Dinner at the Farrs should be a lot of fun! And I cannot wait to eat at the In-N-Out burger. It is a bout time we got one!I am so excited for Ryan Stewart! I love that kid. And I am so happy he chose to go on a mission. He will have a great time! Look at all my friends that are going spanish speaking. That is SO awesome! I can't wait to talk spanish with all of them when they come back. By the way, the spanish rocks. I love it. It is going really really good for me.

Oh yeah.... ha another thing....So we do these things called G.Q.'s. It's a good question. We ask people on the street questions to start a converstaion with them. So last night me and Elder Anderson went G.Q.ing at the Old Market. And I found out that I can't talk to people at all in English. Like, it was terrible. I had never really done it before. So I tried and it was just awkward doing it in english. I am so glad I got called Spanish. :)

Well fammers that is about all for me this week. We have two new sets as I metioned. Maria and Anita, they are set for the 12th of December. We are going to have to work really hard with them to get them to that date. We may end up pushing it back. But we shall see. Having people set for baptism is so much fun!!Oh yeah!!!!

We went to the zoo this morning. That was way sweet! The zoo here is legit. It is awesome! Me, Will, and Elder Anderson spent about 25 minutes trying to call down some animal so we could touch it. They didn't come. It was a bummer. But really.... the zoo here is awesome!! Especially the jungle!! We will for sure go when we come back and visit here.

Yes mom, you are right.... the one year mark is wow... this next week. It has gone fast. And it will end fast. The transfers are flying by. We have 17 transfers and on Wednesday I will enter my 9th. It's nuts. Well I hope all is well. I am so so excited for Justin!!!! I love that kid so much. He is going to make a great missionary. Take care everyone!I love you and enjoy your Thanksgiving!!!! Indulge yourself in food. This holiday gives you a good excuse to do it. :)

Love Elder Moore!

November 16, 2009 Miembros y la obra misional‏

Well another week down, with not a whole lot happening. But this week was better than the past! So that is good. I taught the Gospel Principles class yesterday and it was AWESOME!! It went so well. I taught it on..... of course, how we can all be more involved in the work. Comments were being made, people were laughing, and just we had a great time and I was able to get the point across that we need their help. And then I brought a box of Book of Mormons and each person took 2 or 3 and said that they would give it to a friend this week and that next week everyone is going to come back and report on how it went. I also helped them see that it isn't that hard to give it to someone. I had Elder Curisinche come up front with me and do a role play and he gave me the Book of Mormon and just showed how easy it can be to give it to a friend. So the class was a total Success!!!

So ya know that green sweater you sent me a while back. Well it has always been a little too big on me. So I decided, well let's wash it and see if it shrinks, since it says "don't wash it because it will shrink." So I washed it and..... sure enough it shrinked....and now... It fits PERFECTLY!!! Haha. So my brilliant idea worked!

So we have something that we call GQ's. It means, good question. So when you are walking on the street you walk up to someone and you GQ them, you ask them an inspired question.... for example. Did you know that Christ visited the Americas after his ressurrection? Well we were knocking some doors and some guy walked up the stairs, all covered in tatoos, and he was hispanic. So I asked him.... hey, have you ever wondered why there are so many churches on the earth? And he said... ya know what... I ask myself that all the time. So we gave him a short first lesson and a Book of Mormon right there on the stairs. Ha that was way cool! And then we went to go contact another referral and it was the wrong address but we found an 18 year old kid there named Noe, and we talked with him and he invited us back to teach him and his parents. So we are excited for that. Other than that... another pretty uneventful week. The Lord blessed us so much with the family Sandoval and with Eric and Alma. And now we are experiencing some hard times. But ya just gotta go with it when it happens. And just hold out. And just trust in the Lord and know that things will get better as we continue to serve him and do our part.

So I forgot to tell you this but.... a few weeks ago.... oh my!Me and Elder Morrill saw another woman's boob. It was weird. We were teaching her the Plan of Salvatio and she just decided to give her kid some milk right there while we were there. And just pulled it out! Haha, it was so ridiculous. That is the third time that that has happened to me. I just don't get it. But oh well. :)

So transfers are next week. I cannot believe how fast this transfer went by. They are just flying now. I am pretty sure I am getting transferred to Grand Island. But I will get a pretty good idea if I am going or staying tomorrow in my interview with President. So I am pretty much not liking some of the directions this mission is beginning to take. They are making it so much about numbers and percentages that it is just really starting to bug. It's almost not becoming about the people anymore but the numbers we are getting and how our percentages are. I don't know... that just makes me mad that they focus so much on that and just how degrading people are becoming towards missionaries that aren't getting great numbers. Oh well... just a moment of letting out more frustrations that I am having.It is just amazing how much the mission is changing and the direction it is starting to take, but I am sure it is all for the most part under the direction of the Lord.

So what are the Thanksgiving plans? I think that it is awesome that Justin and K. Sutton made that sweet deal! Tell Justin to lose the jedi braid. That stuff is nasty. Unless you have a light saber. Does Justin have a light saber? Cause if he does... I will approve of the braid. A light saber you must have mmmmM! (Yoda)

So the weather here still isn't too bad. Nothing too cold yet. Maybe like sweater weather.... So I am not minding it. And the forecast hasn't said anything about snow yet. So I am happy. But Utah has got some snow eh? Wow! That is crazy! I am glad I am not there. :)

So pretty much the mission is flying by. I do love it. Everyday is a new experience. With a new story. I love teaching the gospel. This week we taught quite a bit on baptisms for the dead since Alma and Eric and the family Sandoval will be going to do them. Woohoo!! I gained such a greater testimony of batpisms for the dead. It is SO important! So do them. :) Mark and Eric both received the priesthood yesterday. Woohoo!!Oh yeah... and the best news... The Valensuela family came back to church! After about 5 months. They just disappeared and I have called them twice a week since they left and now.... one day this past week Mauricio answered. I talked to him for about 20 minutes and they came back this week. I was so so so so happy to see them there. That is the great news! Well that is it for this week.

I love you all!!!! Hope all is going well up there in the S A N D Y! Take care!Thank you Pennington family for the letters!!! I miss you all. And also... Tio Juan, me encanta cuando tu me escribes en espanol. Me ayuda demaciado. Te cuidas!

Love, Elder Moore

November 9, 2009 Operation Firefly

This is of me and Elder Curisinche's exchange.


Well.... Hey!! Thanks for the email. I am glad to hear that you had an awesome week! I love getting good news from home.Unfortunately there won't be much good news coming from this end in Omaha. This week was probably one of the most frustrating, stressful weeks of my life/mission. So I don't really know if I have much good to say in this email. It may just end up being me complaining and venting.

So yes, I did spend 75.00 dollars and rent a U-haul this week. I did turn the receipt into the church and will be getting money back. We did everything we could to get people to help us to help Olga move her things from her apartment. She got a letter of eviction and was kicked out 3 days later. I made phone call after phone call after phone call, and got absolutely NO HELP from anyone. SO, we rented a u-haul and spent an entire day moving Olga out of her 3rd floor apartment. Now I am not complaining, it was so great to help her and see her smile and almost cry at what we were doing for her, since she was pretty much helpless. We took about 30 pictures of us with the U-haul just doing crazy stuff next to it and in it. Haha! They are sweet. I will print them off and send them to ya all. They were a lot of fun. And the North elders came and helped us too. We had a lot of fun.

Then that night we were supposed to meet with Jacobo. But he has disapeared. He left us a message saying where he was moving to. So I listened to this message like 20 times trying to figure out where he was moving too since we didn't get an exact address from him, he just told us what was around him. So we did find it but he wasn't there. So then....Operation Firefly commenced, we had a stakeout, and waited for him to come home. Well he never came. So we decided to go to his old place, and a woman answered the door and said he still lives there with them and didn't move yet, but that he wasn't home. So Operation Firefly re-commenced and we sat out in front of his house for a while, and he didn't come home. And his phone, is disconnected or something. It doesn't even ring, just goes for 2 seconds then ends the call. So moving Olga and losing Jacobo all happened in the same day.

So pretty much our ward is just useless. They don't help us at all. They blame us when we don't have investigators there. Brother Ortega says to me, Elder Moore, where are all the people? I was just like... ok "PRESIDENT" you have just as much of a responsibility to get people here as I do. It's like, whenever anyone needs ANYTHING they call the missionaries. And our leaders don't do anything. Not a dang thing. The Bishop is doing his best, but did not answer or return our calls with the Olga situation. But he is a great guy, and we had a good conversation with him yesterday on what we can do to get the ward involved. He said, you could slap them. Ha.... It was funny. But we are trying to figure something out... on how we can get people to church, and re activiate people and for us missionaries, how we can get the members to give us referalls. Since right now, it is like we have just opened an area. There is NO ONE progressing. We are starting all over again. And it's hard, especially when we can't get out and work because we are moving people and translating papers for our members that don't speak English. It's just been a hard week.

But on a good note. Eric and Mark both had their interviews to receive the priesthood and will both be receiving it this next week! So we are so excited about that.

Well I hope Laynie is getting better. That poor girl! I love her. I love the idea of everyone wearing a mask though. I bet that made her feel better. I am sure that you and Ginger are a hilarious crew up there. :) I can just imagine that!I bet Dano did a great job. Can you tell that kid that I love him and can't wait to play him in some one-on-one again? Text him that for me please. :) Haha. He is a great kid. He will have an amazing experience on the mish. I am happy that Amber came and saw ya. She is a great girl. And has supported me so much out here. And I am glad she was able to put a smile on your face too. :) She has a tendency to do that. :)Man I heard about an In-n-Out in Utah. That is so awesome! It's about time they got one. And I can't wait to go there!!


Celebrating Elder Moore's birthday

I did find something good to do with the pinata you sent for my birthday. We had just come home from a terrible day, and right as we were opening the door to go upstairs to the apartment, this girl opens the door with her friend. And her friend says, it's her birthday! She is 7!!! And we said oh that is so cool!! It was all in spanish, it's funnny talking to little kids in spanish. :) And I said, ok well come upstairs with me and I ahve something for you. So they came up stairs and I gave them that pinata and the girl was so excited!! She was yelling and screaming. :) That made a good end of a night to a terrible day. ;)



So mom keep up the missionary work and help out the missionaries as much as you can. We need it. Our ward has never been into it and I think it has finally got to me. I have been in this ward for a long time now and I haven't seen a change in them and I think that is why I am finally so mad about it. But we'll keep working and keep trying to get them involved. Actually us, and the north are going to get together and have a huge brainstorming session on what we can do to get the work really going. It was good for a while. We had 7 baptisms in the last like 8 weeks. And before the past week there had only been 2 here in the South. So, now we are experiencing the bad after we have had so much joy. Well I know this is long. So I will close it now. I love you all. Thank you so much for your email. Take care please!!Love you!!
Love,
Elder Moore

November 2, 2009

Well here is a picture of Eric and Alma's baptism! Meaning.... YES it did happen!!! It was awesome. They are such a great couple and amazing people. The sad thing is that they have plans to return to Mexico. But they are so happy to be baptized now and haven't stopped expressing their joy to now be members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I called them Sunday morning on our way to church at about 9:00 to make sure they were up. They didn't answer and I got worried. We walked into church and they were already there! It was awesome. Actually Alma said that they got there at 8:00 because they forgot about the time change. And we had no idea about it either! The elders from the North slept over at our apartment and we got up and our phones said 7, and the other clocks 8. So we were all very confused!

Ok, so I need to apologize for my email last week. I told you just that we set Rodalfo/Jacobo for baptism, but I did not explain how we did it, and the spirit that was there. Elder Morrill and I talked before about teaching him about priesthood authority and baptism. So we went into the members' house with him and we were just all talking before we started the lesson and I turned to Elder Morrill and told him we needed to teach about the spirit before we taught about those two things. So we explained the spirit and told him to pay attention to the feelings that he would feel while we taught. We also explained the feeling and the role of the Holy Ghost, that is, to testify of truth. I don't know why I had the impression to teach about that. But as we taught it became more and more clear. The scripture in Acts popped into my head in chapter 2, verses 37-38, and 41. So after we had taught about baptism and priesthood, we asked him how he felt, and asked him to explain his feelings. After he had done that, we read him this scripture. It is when Peter is teaching and he has just finished and the people ask, "what should we do?" because they had felt the spirit. And he said, "be baptized and recieve the Holy Ghost." So we invited him to be baptized using that scripture and he accepted. It was AWESOME!!! It was a great experience. So he is preparing to be baptized this Saturday. So this week was a good one. The work was good. Now.... we have to focus on finding again. Because we have no one progressing or even that we are teaching seriously right now besides Jacobo.

Some crazy things happened this week. There has been some major disobedience issues in the mission and President is having to change a lot of things. President Kunz called me last night and told me that there were some emergency transfers in our zone. 2 areas have been closed, and I recieved another companionship in my district. This companionship has been the cause of some disobedience. It's going to be quite the change. Some of the things that are happening in the mission are very crazy. But I know President was called of God, and I love him. So I guess the only thing I can do is support him in the decisions he makes. But one decision I am not happy about is that instead of having transfers the day after Thanksgiving, it will be the day BEFORE Thanksgiving. There are a lot of people very unhappy about that decision. Oh well.... guess we'll see what happens.

I'm glad to hear that you are feeling better! And that Halloween went well! We dressed up as civilians. :) And I bought a sweet fannypack! I fit right in. :) But we didn't really do anything or go anywhere. We did hang out with the Thompsons on Saturday and played some crazy Cranium.

Wow, yeah keep me updated on what is happening with Curt Weaver! That is terrible. What is going on with the guys on our street? They are all having some serious injuries and things happen to them. Congrats to Vance on his mission call! That is going to be so much fun. They are all going to love there missions. It is a great experience. I can't believe Dano is going in this next week! Wow.... Good for him. It's amazing how fast it goes by. Tomorrow I will hit 11 months. It really is just flying by. So tell them to enjoy the time the Lord gives them. I'm sad to hear about Granny. I hope things start to improve with her. :) I do love that woman.

Yeah, I got the bday card from Jon and Lisa! And Jon wrote it all in Spanish. I love that! It was sweet. I am going to have to write him back.... in Spanish. :) That is one thing that I don't do enough of is writing in Spanish. But I did have 3 dreams in Spanish this week. Haha, that was fun. And 2 of them took place in a Panda Express... yeah, weird I know, since they speak Japanese there. Oh well...But Jon and Lisa... Thank you so much!!! And I'll be writing ya'll back. Haha, ya'll.

Well that is the excitement for the week. It was awesome seeing Alma and Eric get married and then baptized! They are great. After I comfirmed Alma a member of the church she was crying and smiling. They are going to be great members.I love you all! The church is true! Oh yeah.... So Sandy Adamson sent me a book for my bday. The Peacegiver. If you haven't read it.... I suggest it. I finished it in 4 days! Yeah I know, very impressive for me. Elder Morrill felt a lttle under the weather on Thursday so I got a lot of reading in. It is an amazing book!

I love you!! Take care.
Love,
Elder Moore

October 26, 2009 - The Birthday Boy < :0)

I figured I would start off the letter this week with a Holyoak family shout out! Hey Holyoaks!!!!

Well this week was quite a good one! We set Rodalfo for baptism on the 7th of November! We are so excited for him. He has come to church twice in the last 2 weeks. It has been great. We had a lesson with him at the house of some great members, and the first thing he said to us was ..... "Tell me about baptism." Wow, yeah.... that was the first time ANYONE has ever said that!!! Ever!!So we had a great lesson with him about authority and baptism. And then we asked him to be baptized on the 7th of November and he said... "In the name of Jesus, yes!" It was so incredible! So he is very excited for his baptism!

Oh yea... so Saturday night! We had a lesson in the Rivera house with Rodalfo. And we said we had to go, but Sister Rivera said... WAIT! Not yet. She went to the kitchen and brought out a cake with a candle! It was so cool and so unexpected! They are great! Yeah people here are being good to me. I haven't told like anyone it's my bday. So it was nice of them and I don't know how they found out. But they are being good to me. ;)

This Saturday we will be having the baptisms of Alma and Eric and also their wedding. They announced their baptisms in Priesthood, the Gospel Principles class, and in Sacrament meeting. They couldn't be more excited for their date for baptism. I cannot wait until this Saturday!!! So now the next 2 Saturdays we will have BAPTISMS!!!! Woohoo!!!! Baptizing is so much fun and so is teaching! It is such an amazing experience setting people for baptism and how strong the spirit is when that happens.

So I have been getting boxes left and right. Full of candy. I am going to put on quite a few pounds. :) Elder Morrill's parents sent me a package. So I know they read this letter. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!! They are awesome. Thank you so much for your gifts I really appreciate them so much!!! I haven't broken open the pinata yet. We will see what we do with that. ;) But thank you mom!! Also, tell Grandma and Papa thank you so much. I also got a sweet homemade comic book from my sweet cousin Hallie. :) Amber also sent me some beautiful pictures of her, OUR sweatshirt, a tape, and some way awesome stuff! I love that girl!! She is great! I got lucky with her! My wonderful Aunt Diane out in New York sent me an E-card over email. She is awesome! I can't wait to go out and see her.

Well mom, I am glad I was the only little white kid at the hospital where I was born. ;) That is why I got some black in me. And a little hispanic in me. And then... I am white. So I cannot believe that Justin is in Hawaii. That is so unbelievable. That lucky guy! So I have a birthday, and he goes to Hawaii. What is up with that?! Haha, he is going to have fun.

Brooklyn is awesome! I can't wait to see her in her outfit! That girl is so amazing! Haha, and that is funny that Shortcake was in the Haunted House. That little girl is full of so much love isn't she? I have the best family!!

Well the bday is going well. Thank you for everything. And yes... I am 20! Woohoo!The North Elders called me this morning and sang to me in Spanish. It was funny. Then the office sang to me. And I got a card from the Office and from President. Its been a good day. Once again thank you so much for the box you sent! Full of fun stuff.

Oh by the way... I am not quite sure what I am going to be for Halloween. We will have a baptism that morning, then go to the Thompsons for the day and the Sandovals for the night. I think that is our plan. We will see though. I don't know. I think on Halloween I am going to be me. :) Or a 3 hole punch version of Jim. From The Office. Yeah Amber you'll understand. :)

The work is going great here. We are loving the people we are serving. Actually one funny story. We got a referral from someone and they set us up an appointment for 6. So we went to the house and there were 2 guys outside. So we walked up to them and asked if Juan was home. And the guy says... "We don't know Juan. He doesn't live here." So I said, "Well what's your name?"... and he said... "My name is.......................Miguel?" Haha! So I said, "Well hey there Miguel!" I am sure that that was Juan. It was funny.

Well I believe that is all. I think.... If I think of anything more I will write you and let you know. This week was great. One more wonderful person set for baptism! One more person ready to make that commitment. He is so excited about it.I love you all!!! Thank you for all your love and support!I love you!!!!! I love you so much mom! I am so lucky that you are my mom! I love it! Say hi to everyone for me please!

Love,
Elder Moore

October 19, 2009

Hey Hey Hey!

Wow, sounds like you all had quite the week and that Justin is going to have an AMAZING week in Hawaii! That lucky guy. Should be a good time. Well as for how things went here. It wasn't such a bad week. We did have transfers this week, and me and Elder Morrill are still together. And so are Elder Curisinche and Elder Ward, so my district has stayed the same. But I do think this will be my last transfer here. We shall see though. They have closed a spanish area here and are opening another in Schyler. So that is pretty exciting. We'll see what happens!

I am very glad that I stayed here so that I can see Alma and Eric's wedding and baptism! Alma and Eric are still looking awesome for there baptismal date. Last night we talked about the Word of Wisdowm with them. That went really well. Alma said they had run out of coffee on Saturday and she wouldn't be buying anymore. So they were totally open to following it! We also gave them there conversion calendar to make sure that they are ready for their date and it is hanging up on the fridge. So they are very excited and are looking great for it!

We also did find a new investigator. Actually... he found us. He just moved here from Mexico. His name is Rodalfo. He came looking for the missionaries and wanted to go to the Trail Center. So we picked him up Wednesday morning and went and had a great tour. And then watched the Joseph Smith movie. He loved it! So Sister Rosa started the tour, and she gave an amzing tour in Spanish. And she asked him what he knew about baptism, and he said nothing. Then she asked what she knew about Joseph Smith, and he said nothing. So then she asked me, Elder Moore, what have you taught him? Haha. I told her nothing. We just met for the first time this morning. Since we usually always mention Joseph Smith and/or baptism in the first lesson. So she was wondering what we had been teaching him. :)But he came to church yesterday and asked a bunch of questions and wants to know more about baptism. The hard thing is is that we can't teach him in his home because he lives with people that are in disagreeance with the Mormons. So we have to teach him outside or in the homes of members.But yesterday he had a lot of questions about baptism and loved the service. And was saying Hi to anyone and everyone. Even those that didn't speak Spanish. Walking up saying hi, shaking their hand. He is so funny! So we are going to see him on Tuesday and set him for baptism!

So YES! I did get my bday box and the cake in a jar is so cool! I was wondering what the heck it was. There is actually a christmas tree in the apartment. So I pulled that out of the closet, put it in the "living room" and put the gifts under it. ;)

Man!!! That is so awesome that Adam got his mission call to BRAZIL!! That lucky guy. He is going to love it!!! I am so excited to hear about that. Dano and Adam are great!!! I am way excited for them and for the experiences they are going to have. The mission is fun and flies by.

Well that is it for the week. We are so excited for Alma and Eric. They are looking great for their date. They did tell us they would be moving to Mexico sometime in the near future which is a bummer. But they did say they would not be moving until they were baptized in the church. So Halloween is going to be a WHITE one!!

Well take care everyone! I love you very much!!

Love,Elder Moore

October 12, 2009 What's Up? Just shook an Apostle's hand this week!

HAHAHA!!! I am glad that you liked the video we made. Or didn't like it. Or... I don't know. But yeah it is pretty dang awesome. That was probably the best lunch break of my mission! It was Mark and Arianna's b-day and so we were thinking about buying them a card.... then I got the brilliant idea. Make them a movie!! And well... that is what came of it. :)


I do have a cool companion, we are both kind of similar ya know? We were talking last night, it was probably like 8:30 and we were walking down a street and I just said.... Man this is weird. And he said what? And I said, we are both 19, never knew each other before the mission, and here we are, having nightly sleepovers, always hanging out together, sharing an apartment. And I didn't even know anything about you 6 weeks ago. The Lord has us 2 goofy kids running the whole Spanish South of Omaha. Our area is HUGE!! It's amazing how much trust he has in us.




But yeah.... The Family Sandoval loved the DVD! Veronica was laughing so hard! And then we brought it over to the Thompsons and showed them and they were like.... Oh my gosh! Melanie said, Elder Moore you better not show that to your girlfriend, because you are a complete nerd. Yeah I knew that. And so does Amber, and my family. :) Well the Sandovals are still awesome. They invite us over to dinner like every day. We'll just be out and about and they will call us, hey come over for dinner.... Ok! We are going to turn that down. Alma and Eric are great. I am so excited for their baptism. This week is transfers and I am hoping I will still be here. I am pretty sure I will stay. I have only been a DL for one transfer. But unfortunately after the transfer I think I am gone. Probably out to Grand Island is what I am thinking. Because I have been in Omaha my whole mission now, and that is a little weird. I love it though and I hope I'll stay here through next year so I can spend Christmas with the people I know. But it's not what Elder Moore wants, it's what the Lord wants. :) So.... "I'll go where he wants me to go."

I am loving my mission, well for the most part. Three mornings ago I woke up to 3 inches of snow on the ground. It was so depressing. It almost made me not want to go out and do anything I was so sad. But then I got over it. And I through that snow TO THE GROUND!

So this week we had Stake conference. And Elder Cook from the 12 came! It was awesome. And I shook his hand! Our conference was mainly focused on Temples and the worth of souls. It was an amazing conference! I also translated one of the talks for our members. We had the headphones and everything. It's SO HARD! But it was good. It helped me a lot.




And today Brother Bernabe is coming over to look at the Thompsons house to give them an estimate on the paint job and building a deck. So I get to translate again!! I love it. It is awesome knowing a second language. It's so much fun.So speaking of Brother Bernabe he is a great guy. I love that guy. But he is very less active right now. But he also has great insights to share with us. And one of them I really realized how right he is. Our members don't help out at all. We have meetings every week to give certain groups assignments, and wow... they never do them. NEVER! It is so frustrating. They are so concerned with themselves and their own families to the point where no one else matters. In preach my gospel a prophet said, we will attain our exaltation by sharing the gospel with others. And I shared that in the talk I had to give. And they just don't get it. We can't get them to do ANYTHING. If you have any ideas on how we can motivate them please let me know.It is hard not getting much help. And right now we don't have a huge teaching pool. Me and Elder Morrill have talked and have decided this week to focus ourselves on knocking apartments, walking streets, and contacting old referalls so we can begin teaching more people. It's amazing how much the work has slowed since the baptism of the Sandovals. But we'll keep at it.

Thank you so much!I love you very much and I miss you!!!Take care.
Love,
Elder Moore

October 5, 2009

Hey there!!

Wow, yes conference was absolutely incredible this week! We watched 3 sessions with the Sandovals on the internet, went to Priesthood with Antonio and Mark Sandoval, and then watched the last session with the Thompsons. It was a lot of fun. I took like 11 pages of notes. I absolutely loved it.

Mmmm...ok my first favorite talk was the first one of the conference by Richard G. Scott on the Spirit. Wow, that was amazing. I learned so many more things I should and need to be doing to be able to ALWAYS have the spirit with me. I am on a mission but still make mistakes. So I need to strive to be completely obedient. It is hard. Even while being on a mission. So I am definitely going to work harder. I loved his talk. Jeffrey R. Holland is and will always be my favorite speaker. You can ALWAYS expect something amazing from him. And he didn't let down. Wow, my love for the Book of Mormon grew like 1000x's. And I can't wait to go out tonight and talk with people about the Book of Mormon and continue this throughout the rest of my mission. I am so glad I heard that talk now and that I have 14 months left to apply what I learned. The mission is passing fast. M. Russell Ballard gave a great talk in the Priesthood session. Definitely gave me good guidance in the future on how to be a great father and son. As well as Thomas S. Monson's talk on service. He is amazing. And I know he is a true prophet. Listening to him speak is so much different now then before the mission. This conference was truly a treat! And I cannot wait for the conference issue to come out next month so I can study it more. Oh and Henry B. Eyring gave an amazing talk in Priesthood also about being prepared. Conference is bomb!! Wow, I wish I could tell you how much conference helped my testimony!! It was truly an incredible experience. One I will always remember. I am regretting napping through all those sessions before my mission now too. My testimony has grown so much these past few weeks. And my love is growing for the Savior everyday.

Alma and Eric are still doing good and looking good for baptism. So we are excited for them. Fransisco is still doing good, but still doesn't feel ready for baptism. And I love the Sandoval family. They are incredible! She is already talking about maybe moving to Utah. She wants to come out and meet you all and everything. So that whole family is awesome! And they loved conference. Tony wasn't able to watch conference on Saturday becasue he was working so that he could come to the priesthood session at night. So he came that night and was completely into it. He didn't look away from it once. And a lot of what they talked about was directed directly at him. And Veronica even mentioned when one of the speakers was speaking...does he know my family? Oh and I can't remember his name, but Tad something of the 70, wow. I wish every non member could have heard his talk.So that is life in Omaha.

Yes, once October hit it dropped like 20-25 degrees. It has been sweater weather here. I love sweaters. All is well with me and my comp. We are getting along just great. we have both truly been humbled this week and the past week, having a member of the 70 here at zone conference to talk to us. And this week we are going to have Quinton L. Cook here to speak with us at stake conference!

So this past week I started to read Jesus the Christ. I have had a lot of time since I have been sick for the last 4 days with a bad cold. So we had to stay in one day. That is always a bummer. But that is an amazing book! I am learning so much in that book.I have been keeping very busy, trying to finish that book by the end of the year, and me and Amber are reading the Book of Mormon together and are working on finishing it before the end of the year too. The Book of Mormon I know I will get done especially since Amber sent me a list to keep us on track... but Jesus the Christ may take some time.

So me and Elder Morrill were talking about music. And we found out that we both went to the same concert once. I was talking about a Secondhand Serenade/ Making April concert I went to and he was like.... I WAS AT THAT ONE TOO! Wow, small world. We probably high fived and didn't even know it. Oh yeah... and this morning we played some basketball.... and we played full court on a half court. So it had 2 hoops but it was a small court. After 2 games I was dying. I am way out of it. But it is funny, I have no real desire to be in shape right now.

Spanish is pretty much awesome. I bought a book at Barnes and Noble this past week that is helping me out so much. I had to look through like 10 books to find the right one. Wanna know why? Because I already knew everything in the other books. But this book is awesome!! It helps you correct common mistakes and teaches you so much. So this week I have learned a lot more. I love Spanish, and I love talking to people. So the new Spanish Bible is AMAZING!!!! Elder Morrill ordered one. I am going to get one of those soon! They are only 26 dollars. And wow...... much better than the one I got at the MTC. Only problem is the one I have now is all marked. But that is ok. This bible is awesome! Have you seen it? Has Jaime seen it?

IF YOU DON'T READ MY WHOLE EMAIL, READ THIS PART:So I want to share with you one of the coolest experiences of my life. We are teaching two homeless guys. Yup we pretty much just teach them on the street once or twice a week. So we were talking with them, and one is named Martin. He was saying how the shelters won't let them stay there anymore and how they have no money and are starving. Well I had a bag of 6 ribs in my hand. And I handed him the bag and told him what was in it. He looked down for about 10 seconds, then looked up at me with tears in his eyes and said "Thank you." That is a moment I will never forget in my life. One of the most special moments of my mission. Well I hope all is well. I love you all very much! We are still working hard to find more people that are ready. And I have definitely recieved a boost from this past week.

I bet you I have one more transfer here at least. Especially with just being made District Leader. Wow, I love it. I had a conference call with President Kunz and all the other zone leaders and district leaders in the mission. It was sweet! It felt like I was a business man. But in that call I learned so many things. I am learning so much that is helping change my mission in so many ways. I love our mission President.

Mom thank you for everything you have done for me. You raised me well. :) I learned a lot in the Priesthood session on how to be a good father too. So I am working on that. And the mission is helping me a lot. I love you all. Take care! Say hi to the Wilcox's for me please. :)

Love Elder Moore

September 28, 2009

Well hey Mom, although you didn't have much to say I still appreciated your letter. Thank you very much. It is pretty much the only thing I recieve so it is much appreciated. I am not complaining though. I don't mind. I do love hearing from you though.

Life is funny. You have everything you could possibly want. Then it's not there anymore. I am sure that you and Ginger have both experienced that. You get that kind of empty feeling. And you really don't know how to fill it. It happens sometimes. I have experienced that as well out here.

We had a great zone conference this past week. We had Elder Sybrowski from the 70 here, and his wife. It was amazing. The spirit was very strong. He seperated the Elders from the Sisters and spoke to us for an hour. Wow.... He said in all of his visits to missions (40-50) he had never done that before. He said he felt prompted to, and told us about the things that were wrong in our mission. What we were doing wrong as Missionaries. He said before he started, that he was doing it because he loved us. Wanted us to be better. And it has helped. It's amazing the things he pointed out that were wrong about our mission. That were wrong about the missionaries here. It was all right. He really is an inspired man. The conference was incredible. The best I have had yet.

Well as far as teaching goes.... still not finding people. No one is interested in hearing us. Alma and Eric are still looking solid for their date. They are doing great. Hispanics have a phrase that goes like this.... "Si Dios quierre." Which means.... if God wants. I hear that so much. You invite them to church and they say that. It's like of course he wants you too!So we were with Alma and Eric on Friday and right as we were leaving I said, "Ok well we'll see you at church on Sunday" and Alma said.... "Si Dios quierre." To which I responded, "Yes he wants you to, we want you too, and you want too. So we will see you there." Then she said, "Will you come by tomorrow?".... So I took this as a perfect oppurtunity. I said, "Si Dios quierre." :) Haha. To which she replied.... "Yes he does." Ha, it was funny. But they love having us over there and teaching them. It's fun.

So yesterday we had a way awesome lesson with Fransisco in the Goff's house. It was so powerful. He has been to church many times and works a lot. He also lives with friends so we can't teach him in his house. Which is a bummer, because he lives in the apartment next to ours. But he said, he is still learning, and not ready quite yet to be baptzied, but when he is ready, he says he will do it gladly! The Sandovals pretty much rock! I love that family, we spend a lot of time with them! Tony recieved the priesthood yesterday!! And Tony and Veronica both gave the prayers in Sacrament meeting! It was sweet. Outside of that.... it was a very uneventful week. Not much has been happening lately. We have been working and trying to find people. But.... no one is ready to accept us. It's hard when that happens. But we'll keep trying.

Say hi to the Wilcox family for me please. That would be great. Thank you!!That is awesome that Justin is doing some sweet missionary work! I am proud of him. It's good he is beginning to prepare himself. How is my little sister doing? Well I love you all. Thank you for your letter mom. It is very much appreciated! Take care.

Love, Elder Moore

And look at you with your new high tech phone!! You crazy! :)

September 21, 2009

Well Alright.... where to start with this week....

It really wasn't full of many many exciting things. And the one exciting thing that did happen kind of got shot down. Here is what I mean...We have been teaching Alma and Eric for quite some time now as you know. They are a really cool couple, living together, not married, have a one year old daughter named Jarumi, and another daughter on the way. So we had a really powerful lesson with them this past week, we watched The Restoration, and talked about how the gospel was restored. They loved it. I had told Elder Morrill before we went in that we were going to set them for baptism. I was set on setting them. They had been to church like 4 times and were just doing awesome. So we watched the video and talked some. But Eric loves to talk. Ah man, he just goes off. So... he went off on like a 30 minute deal- about a lot of things dealing with churches. Finally the opportunity presented itself and I jumped right in and talked about authority and how Joseph Smith had received it. And we asked them to be baptized on the 26th of this month. And Eric and Alma both said yes. That it was what they wanted to do! We were super excited!

But as we know.... you have to be married to be baptized. So they went down to the court to take out their marriage license AND.... ONLY in the state of Nebraska do you have to be 19 without a parent's signature to be married.... Alma is 18. She will be turning 19 in October on the 28th, so they are going to get married that day and baptized on Halloween!! So at least they are still getting baptized. But now we are really going to have to "baby" them to make sure they stay strong.
So we won't be having another baptism this Saturday... although all of us really wanted too. But it's ok, I am just really happy that they have the desire to be baptized!

So other than that not much happened this week. We have been knocking a lot of doors and talking to everyone on the street, but our pool of investigators remains low. We really aren't teaching many people right now which is a bummer. But we will continue looking.

Scott Cole is 40 eh? Wow.... I bet I could totally take him in a ball game now.... that old man. :)

Haha, yeah ain't Sister Morris awesome? I think so. We have gotten a pretty tight relationship. And I am glad she had good things to say about me. :) Ah man, the start of my mission... I remember those days. Wow mom! Yeah, well guess what?! My basketball antics have changed quite a bit. Wait till President Becerra sees me now. :)

Skip is the man! I love that guy. He has done so much for our family. I don't think he realizes how many things he has helped us get through. How many things he has helped me get through. We are so lucky to have him as a friend and as a home teacher. He really just does try and make everyone around him better. He has always put himself second and no matter how much he was struggling, he was still always helping others. I hope to have as strong a testimony as Skip. He is probably going to hate me bragging on him like this when he reads this. :) Sorry Skip.

So BYU stunk it up! They definitely proved that they are not a BCS type team this past Saturday. They got killed!

Oh yeah... the Sandovals still rock! Antonio is going to receive the priesthood this next Sunday and Veronica got a church calling. She is a primary teacher. :)

Oh yeah... I so wish I would have brought the video camera to our ward activity. It was a cultural activity where everyone came and told about their country and brought food from their country and taught us some things. And then haha Sister Barrera called me out and said I was going to do some dance moves, since she had seen me dance at her house before. :) So I was like.... uh oh. SO I went up there and said... ok everyone stand up... and I am going to teach you all how white people dance. Hahaha wow it was so hilarious!!!! I was laughing so hard. Watching all these people do the dance moves I was showing them. It was so awesome!!!

Guess what.... our stake conference is the second week of October and Elder Cook from the 12 is coming to it! Sweet eh? I am way excited! And I can't believe that it is already time for another general conference. These past 6 months flew by!

Well I love you all very much! I am glad that the Wilcox's are getting settled in. It is going to be fun having them there. I am sad they had to move in under these circumstances. But I will love having them.

Mom thanks for that email. I do have wonderful people around me. I have that picture up on my wall of my 3 favorite girls. I am really really lucky to have you all in my life. Mom I love you! I am so glad we developed such a close relationship before I left on my mission. Most kids can't tell their mom EVERYTHING. But I felt that I could with you. I love having that kind of relationship with my mom!

I do love the mission and it has changed me so much already!!! I am so glad I am a member of this church. I love you mom!!

Take Care!!
Elder Moore

September 14, 2009i - MISSION POSSIBLE!

Hey Hey Hola!


Woohoo, we baptized and confirmed the Sandoval Family this week!!! It was so so awesome. It's amazing to see how much they are embracing the gospel. Mark, the 11 (almost 12) year old is already talking about a mission and wants us to help him begin to study Preach My Gospel. He told us he wants to serve a 17 year mission. Haha! Funny kid. Actually this kid is hilarious. He doesn't know the english word for "bishop" so he always calls him "the obispo" when he is speaking in English. It's hilarious. Whenever someone sins or something he says, "I am going to tell the Obispo on you." Haha.So after the baptism we went to theIR house for a bbq. We grilled up hamburgers and us men were standing around the grill, drinking lemonade. And Mark was there. And we were like... Mark this is what it's like to be a man. Standing around grills and talking about guy stuff. So I asked him.... Mark what is your favorite grill...... He said.... I don't know, I like ours. Haha! Then he asked if we had a grill, we told him no. So then he said.... You should ask the obispo for a grill. Haha. It's so much fun being with this family.

Then we were eating burgers at the table and I asked him, ok Mark now that you are becoming a man, what are your 3 favorite "man" things to do? He said, let me think, you tell me first so I said: 1- I like to stand around grills and talk 2- I like movies with Karate and guns 3- I like to go to nascar races. So Mark said: 1- I like to kick butts (this kid is a tiny kid, obviously never done that)2- I like to go to the gym..... (once again... never done that)3- Ride bikes. Hahaha. This kid is hilarious!!

So wow..... they are such an awesome family. They are going to be so strong. yesterday in Gospel principles we talked about the sabbath day and keeping it holy. So they said they didn't listen to music on the way home, they weren't getting on the computer, and she said.... eventually we won't watch t.v. Haha. They were also talking about things from the church they are excited to buy. It's so incredible how strong they are as recent converts.

Veronica told us that Atonio got mad at Mark for "disrespecting" us, because he treats us like kids. Tony told Mark that he respects us and that Mark needs to as well.....I just laughed, because the reason he thinks we are kids is my own fault....I have gone down the stairs in a laundry basket wearing a helmet, played them in the wii, rode around on a scooter, taught them a dance move or 2, "wet willied" Mark, taught him how to become a man in the most ridiculous ways ever.....because in all honesty, I am still learning how to become a man, etc. So I don't blame him for goofing off with me. I am just a goof.So yes, this week was so so so cool!! This is an awesome family.

Veronica told us that she didn't want to get baptized like 3 days before her baptism because she didn't want us to stop coming because she wants to keep learning. We said, we are going to be coming here all the time still and teaching you and hanging out with you. So no worries.... ha so she said ok! Then I want to get baptized. She is already planning ward activities on how we can all get to know eachother better. It's sweet!!!

Ok so moving on....Eric and Alma, I feel bad, we didn't go see them much this past week because we had to be visiting The Sandoval family 2 times a day. So we could talk to Tony and Veronica in the morning, then Tony would go to work and we would come back and teach the kids when they got home from school.... so anyways... didn't see them much. But yesterday, to our surprise they just showed up at church!!! Without us inviting them or anything. So the bishop talked to them and the first day it rains here, Eric won't be able to work, so we are going to get them married that day. And they don't have a baptismal date, but we are thinking next Saturday they will get baptized. So we should have 2 more we are hoping! We have an appointment with them tonight, and we plan on setting them for baptism.

So I printed off a bunch of pictures to send you like 3 weeks ago, but I haven't sent them yet. So I will print off a few more and send them all off ok? Sweet!! And I will attach a few to this email from the baptism. Oh man, it was so so so awesome!!And the even more awesome thing is.... I will be here when they go threw the temple to be sealed together.

I am so excited for that.So that is so so cool that Ginger and her kids have moved in. I think that is totally sweet!! And it's going to be fun hanging out with all them when I get back. I love that family. They are such a strong family. I think them living there will help a lot of things.

Well sorry so short.... but I have to go now. I am glad to hear all is going well. I love you all very much!!! Take care. Baptizing is awesome. And the church is Awesome. And..... Eternal families is awesome!! Take care everyone.

Love,
Elder Moore

September 7, 2009

Hey there!
So I say... this should be an awesome week because Veronica and her family will be getting baptized this Saturday. I am so excited!!!
So I was not transferred obviousy. :) But Elder King was. :( We were both bummed about that. We got along really well and had some good times together.
My new companion is Elder Morrill. He has been out almost 4 months and was called English. He did take Spanish in school for like 4 years.... but I am teaching him a lot and doing much of the teaching in lessons. It's a big change. It's helping my Spanish a lot. But still.... it's very challenging having to do just about all the teaching. I was also called to be the District Leader. So this transfer brought a lot of changes.
Veronica and Antonio were married this past Saturday. It was awesome!!! They had me be one of their witnesses. Ha it was sweet. I love this family. We have become so close. President Kunz is going to have to interview them though because of something they had happen 13 years ago. But I am pretty sure they are going to do just fine. They are all so excited!! And the members have helped us out so much with them by making them feel welcome and calling them to invite them to church. So this Saturday is going to be a 5 baptism Saturday!!!! Oh wow, I am so excited to see this family be baptized. I love how God answers prayers. Me and Elder King decided to pray for a family. And we prayed for like 10 days, and then found the Sandoval family!!
We've been having so much fun with them. Last night we made popcorn and watched The Testaments. And Veronica was crying at the end. It was so powerful! And we had a huge cookout for their wedding. Haha, and guess what?! They have 2 other daughters that are 16 and 18 that don't live with them, (they are in a foster care thing because they have stealing problems) but they were at the wedding, and the 16 year old is very straight up, she asked me on a date. Ha, had to explain that we don't date. Haha, I thought it was so funny.
But the cool experience we had with them this week......
So on last Friday they were still a little unsure whether they wanted to be baptized this upcoming Saturday. So we had a really good lesson with the whole family. And I told each of them to say a prayer and keep their eyes closed for 30 seconds and listen for an answer. So Arianna and Marco did it with us there, it was so cool. And I told Veronica to ask God if she should be baptized on the 12th. And we would come back the next day to talk about her answer. So we came back the next day and I asked her if she had prayed. She said she did, and I asked if she had received an answer. She said that that night she had a dream where she saw me baptizing her. And she knew that was her answer. I love how God answers prayers. He really does!

So also as district leader one of my responsibilities is to interview people in our district who are getting baptized. I have my first one this Friday. In all honesty I am kind of nervous. His name is Sergio, his whole family is members but he isn't. But he is going to be getting baptized this Saturday. That's going to be so cool and so exciting for the family.

So this week was full of a lot of powerful experiences with us and the Sandoval family. For their wedding gift I gave them a framed picture of the first presidency. And they have it up in their family room. Tomorrow also, we are going to their house to learn how to make Tamales. We are going to make them for the primary activity we have coming up. It is going to be sweet. People are bringing things from their countries and are going to be teaching us dances from their countries. It will be fun.

Veronica also suggested that we should talk to the Bishop and try and get a pot luck going once a month so the members can socialize and get to know each other better.
I am so excited for this family!!! So I will be here to see them get baptized. :)
So wow!!! That is such great news!! Of course the mission has its ups and downs. But It's still a great experience.

Everyone is just growing up so fast. It's funny to watch the world change, and the people you know go on with there lives, from a distance. So I hear the Cougars beat the #3 Sooners!!??? Holy man! And heck yes! Go Cougars! And The Huskers won big too 49-3. Elder King got lucky, he was transferred to Lincoln right as football season is starting. But Nebraska is crazy with football, even here in Omaha.

Haha so requests for a birthday box?..Mmm... You are already spending a lot of money on me. And I don't need much. So just a card would be nice. :) I really don't need much else.

So can you believe I got my mission call over a year ago?! That is so crazy to think about?!?!?! And I am coming up on the year mark. It's sneaking up. I can't believe how fast it is going now. I do love it though. Especially when we are working with families like the Sandovals.

Well that's that I think for now. I love you all so much! Sounds like all is well up there.

Look forward to pictures attached to this email of people dressed in white next week! :)

I love you. Take care!!! Thank you!
Love
Elder Moore