February 17, 2009

Hola!
Sorry I was not able to write home yesterday, Monday, my p-day, because it was Presidents Day, so the library was closed. So here I am today.....
Yes, I got my bike. It is in my room. My companions name is Elder Shumway, from Blanding Utah.
Ok so events from this week... wow so many. Everyday something totally interesting or random, or just out of the ordinary happens.
A mission definately is crazy with so many unexpected things happening.
So we were given a referal by the sister missionaries for 3 hispanic guys living together.... This was really cool. We taught them the first lesson. It was pretty powerful, and all of them seemed very interested. We told them about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. And at the end of our teaching we asked Miguel, one of the 3 guys, to pray. You could tell he had never done it before out loud in front of people. So Miguel stood up, put his hands in his pockets, and began to pray. Yeah...! It was amazing, he even had to pause a few times because he was feeling that our message was true, and he offered an amazing prayer! We gave them each a Libro de Mormon, and before we could leave they were all reading it. We are probably going to go see them again tonight.
So me and Elder Shumway were doing our thing. Walking down the street trying to find people and we came across three guys probably 20 years old. One of them had something in his jacket he was hiding.... Ha! We did our Hola somos misionarios de la iglesia... dealio... and here is how the converstaion translated... He said to us " Look guys, we just did a run. We got a kilo of marijuana here, we are packing heat. So we got to get out of here." Ha oh man that was hilarious! So of course that is where the conversation ended and we went our seperate ways.
Next story, we got a referal for a family. There is 3 in the family, and we went over to teach them the first lesson. Well we entered into their house and ha, there were pictures of girls on the wall, huge posters, yeah you can fill in the rest. The family sat under the posters and we faced them. It was a lot of looking at the floor, our scriptures, and their eyes. Nothing more. But they do seem to be progressing which is good. So hey, who knows maybe we will get them to take them down one of these visits.
So Friday there was a horrible snow storm! The cars were grounded so we were out walking in the blizzard. Yeah.... that was crazy. There were many accidents. And people couldn't get up the hills. So me and Elder Shumway, ran down to the bottom of the hill, and one by one, pushed 6 cars up this hill. That was a pretty cool experience, serving people who had no idea who we were. And that continued through out the day, pushing cars. We propably pushed about ha 10-12 cars that day.
So last night, we had dinner with the bishop. Wow.... He is such an amazing guy. Obispo Maranda. Every member in our ward is struggling. Mostly financially. Everyone is here illegaly. He said last year they only received 450 dollars in fast offerings. And that is the money they give to the memebers in need. He said that money was gone the first Sunday of the year. He is having a hard time financially, but he isn't even the one we are worried about, he seemed to be doing alright for himself. But the faith of him and his wife is amazing. They don't go running to the church like every other family does. They try and work things out between them and the Lord.
It's hard seeing all these people struggle. Every person we teach has an issue with something. And they tell all their problems to us, 19 year old boys. It's hard to be able to help them or to know what to do.
But last night after dinner with the bishop we went out to try and find some people to teach. It was rough, no one, and I mean no one would let us in. So we got down to 8:30, our last resort, Benito, a referal. This is cool....
So we talked to him on his porch for about 10 minutes, then he finally let us in. He had been being taught by the Jehova's Witnesses. Which by the way are EVERYWHERE! But he told them he disagreed with them and didn't want to be taught by them anymore. So we taught him, we were there for like 50 minutes, teaching and discussing, and resolving concerns. He kinda told us not to come back, but he didn't mean it. That was obvious. He was feeling the spirit. So we are going to return. :)
So I am eating some funky stuff, that there is no way I would eat back home. Like...... Cow tounge, chicken feet, Chicharon (porkskin, that was chewy) and cheesecake. But ya eat it because you have too. :)
So a new stake presidency huh? That is so awesome! Sounds like we got a great one!
Hope you enjoyed your valentines day. :)
So you can send letters to the apartment, but please send packages to the office. I recieved one, not sure who it is from, but I will find out tomorrow because.... UPS came to drop it off but yeah.... We are rarely at home, so they left a note. I am having them deliver it to the office. So please send any package there. Thank you! :)
Well I love you all very much, very very much! Missions are totally crazy, but totally awesome. By companion is awesome. We get a long very well. But he is a terrible driver. Ran 1 red light and 3 stop signs last week alone. Ha! Yeah..... Well wish us luck. We got a lot of potential investigators that are looking good for baptism. But ya never know...
The spanish is coming.... it's very difficult. But I am learning moore every day! I love you all!
Love always Elder Moore