June 1, 2009

Ok.... let's see if I can top your amazing week.....
Lakers are going to the NBA Finals, The Dodgers have the best record in baseball, and we set Veronica Juarez for baptism on the 27th.... Did I do it?
Ok maybe not quite. :) But wow sounds like your week was packed! But that you had a great time and really enjoyed it. Sounds the the temple celebration was a HUGE success! That is great to hear.

Well this week wasn't so bad. A little more was accomplished and the Spanish is starting to improve rapidly. Even though my companion still won't speak Spanish to me I am handling it alright on my own without Rosetta Stone.

Ok I have a funny story for ya... So this week the Elders of the south had a baptism. And after the baptism we had cookies and soda and ice cream. And I was playing around with Sebastian Rivera, he is 5 years old. And I was showing him some cool magic tricks with a penny that I have learned on the mission. He was so amazed!!! It was funny!! But anyways... his mom told me Sunday after church that Sebastian had mentioned me in the family prayer and that on Thursday night he said.... "Thank you for sending Elder Moore to this mission. He is such a great magician!! He shows me really cool stuff." Haha!! I thought it was pretty funny. I also showed him a trick where you push the penny into the back of your neck and pull it out of your mouth.... Haha, well his mom also told me that while trying to do that trick he swallowed the penny... oops. :) Maybe I should show him how they are done.

So Yesterday was a great Sunday, well for the most part. No investigators at church for us.... But during Sacrament meeting, I don't know why, but kids just like us. Me and Elder Herrera were sitting on a bench. And then everyone's kids started joining us, from different families. And before we knew it it was me, Elder Herrera and 7 kids on our small bench. haha I thought it was funny. I like little hispanic kids, they are so great.

So I am really excited about Veronica! She is really cool. She is almost 30 and has a 5 year old daughter that is pretty much paralyzed, cute little girl though. I have been teaching with her since probably my 3rd week here. And she is an on again off again investigator. She shows up randomly at church, then disappears. then we teach her and then she is gone... I don't know. But anyways we got a call from her this week and she asked us to come over. So we did. And we read from the Book of Mormon and asked her to be baptized......again. And this time, she pretty much accepted. She said ok, but that she would have to pray about her date. Which we totally respected. but I am going to do everything in my power to get her there and feeling ready for the 27th.

So yesterday we had a pretty sweet day. We went to the Valensuela's house and had a bbq with Alister and Erika and their kids. And then Cinthia's dad Jose, his "wife" and their kids. It was so sweet!! They had a blow up pool that the kids swam in and played in. There was like 7 of them in there. It was sweet. And we just sat outside and hung out and talked and had a great time with them. I really like that family. They are going to come to Utah in December of 2010 when I get home to check out temple square. I told them they could stay with us. Hope ya don't mind. :) So it was an overall success, well 98% successful. Because..... Joele, there little daughter that is 2, she is a rebel. haha. And she falls down at least 3 times a day. It is nuts. But anyways she was riding a tricycle and And Alister told her no. And she didn't listen and fell down the cement stairs and hit her head. She immediately had a bump the size of......... Texas?... on her head. Well you get the point. It was huge. She cried for about 20 minutes. Then that was that and she was fine again. But it was a good day yesterday.

So Alister and Gabriel are fine. Gavino still needs some work to get him to his baptism date of the 27th. So still so much work to be done.

So guess what.... This seems very crazy. But I hit 6 months in 2 days. Nuts huh?! I am enjoying it though. To some it may seem like time is passing slow. But I think it's actually going pretty fast for the most part. I have learned a lot and am starting to feel like a man.... Kinda.

You can tell Ginger that there is definitely more than one hair in my arm pit now! And that I can cut my own hair. That is something the mission has taught me, it's taught me HOW to cut my hair. And HOW NOT to cut it. I do the dishes, but mostly I try to eat off one bowl and use one spoon throughout the week, don't know if that is healthy, but I seem to be doing alright. :) I do my own laundry. I can flip an egg without cracking the yellow. I buy my own food and toilet paper (a necessity,) oh and my own toothpaste. I still can't tie a tie on the first try, but that will come I am sure. I can impress kids with magic, that is manly. And I look for sales :) like today, me and Elder Herrera went to Old Navy, they were having a HUGE sale there. So I got a few COOL shirts. I may send them home though because it's not like I really get to wear them that much. but we will see. So I am learning a lot of good stuff. And definitely learning a lot more about the Gospel. I love it. There is so much cool stuff that is found in the scriptures and it's great knowing how to help people with their problems using the scriptures. The Book of Mormon really does have answers to every question. All is well.

So let's see, answer a few questions here....Transfers are on the 11th. So Wednesday I will find out who my new companion is and Thursday I will be with him. Woohoo! The black spot on my gums.... well the Dentist said it's nothing. So I am good with that answer. She explained some dental term I didn't understand but I shook my head and nodded anyways like I did. But I am fine. And yes there are Allegeries in Nebraska. I had it for about 12 hours. And that was that! Awesome huh? Speaking of stuff in Nebraska. Last night we had an AWESOME lighting storm. It was so sweet! Am I suffering emotionally from the car wreck? Mom I am a man, we don't suffer emotionally. :) Haha, ok, maybe not true, but no I am doing good. I still don't like driving and I go through intersections a little slower now. If I lose my driving privileges I will be completely fine. Because, yeah.... I don't know. I just don't want to drive anymore. But I am doing better. It did freak the crap out of me when it happened. But yeah as you said, it'll make for a good story. And if I have to experience a car accident somewhere, why not on the mission.

Oh yeah speaking of the Lakers going to the finals.... did I ever tell you about the bet one of our investigators made with us? Ha it's Arturo Vega, he is one of the coolest guys! Well he said about 2 weeks ago, if the Lakers win the NBA finals we can shave his eyebrows, but if not, he gets to shave our heads. So I accepted, I couldn't back down and hear about it the rest of the time I was here, so I said yes. And things are looking pretty good for that! haha. I told him we would have to wait to shave my head because you can't have shaved heads in the mission. But I am not too worried. It should be a good series.

Well I love you all very much!! Hope all is well. I miss you! Take care!!
Be obedient and do what is right. Living the gospel brings blessings, and blessings bring happiness and the continued desire to do what is right. A mission is a great experience and I love sharing the gospel. Even though most don't accept it at that time. It still brings me great joy.

I have come to realize as a small white spanish speaking kid I am one of the most feared people. We get out of the car and hispanics avoid us or go into their houses. I have found myself saying "hello" to the air a lot. We are becoming good friends. By that I mean, you say hi and you get completely ignored. Oh well. :)

And oh yeah... So we were having dinner with the Goff family. They are from Utah and both served spanish speaking missions so they come to our ward. they are a white family. Well anyways..... Me and Hermano Goff got to talking at dinner and he said he ran cross country and track. So we talked about that. Then he said he went to Davis High School. Then I decided to ask his age. He said 30. Like the same as Darrell Phippen. So I asked, Do you know Darrell Phippen, and he was like yeah I do, I know the Phippen brothers. haha it was crazy that he knows Brad and Darrell. Thought I would share that with ya. Sweet stuff eh? I think so!

Love,
Elder Moore