Tuesday, July 27, 2010

July 26, 2010 My "Black Sheep" Moment ;)

Alright so to start off...... I will start with one of the funniest awesomest things that has ever happened in my life. If you have seen the movie Black Sheep there is a scene where Chris Farley and David Spade are trying to get a bat out of the cabin. Yup, you guessed it. A guy we are teaching a few doors down called us and said there was a bat in his house. So we immedeiately siezed the opportunity and ran down there. I grabbed a snow shovel just in case. ;) Which I am glad I did... it came in handy.

So we walked in and David, 75 years old, is standing there with a broom and he told us that it was upstairs. So we all walked up there, I went first and I was totally trippin, I was scared, and saw the bat up in the corner. So we devised a plan to hit it with a broom and have it fly downstairs and out the door, didn't work out quite that way... but we'll get to that. So I had the broom and the other 3 went downstairs to wait for it. Ah man at this point I was really trippin. And I opened up the bathroom door so that I could hit it then shut the door and let it fly away. Well the plan failed, I would poke it and hide in the bathroom and scream like a girl. And they were all downstairs shouting, "What's going on up there? Did ya get it?"

So then Elder Warby who is a little taller than me came up with a different tool and I was standing on the stairs so I could tell him where it was so he could hit it. Well the second he put the brush up on the wall it came flying off and right at me. Ah you bet I took off running down the stairs and screaming like a girl. Hate to say it.... but it's true, I was. We all were. And it was flying around in the stair case, then it made it's way down to the living room and we were circling it and laughing so hard and screaming everytime it got close to us. Well Elder Butler hit it with the snow shovel and it flew into the wall and fell down. So then we found it and it was crawiling around, really creepy lookin, and we got him into a drawer and took him outside and took the blanket off the drawer and it flew away. Ah man, it was the coolest thing ever! This bat was huge too!! It would have made a sweet youtube video. All of us screaming and laughing, and David holding up a blanket in the air trying to catch it. He says there is one more bigger bat in the house and we couldn't find it, so we might have another chance to fight bats again. Anyways.... that was the cool thing that happened last night.

So....onto something more spiritual.... Taylor got baptized on Saturday!!!! Woohoo!!! And he got the priesthood on Sunday! It was sweeeeeeeeeet sauce!!! He is such a good convert and now he is going to prepare to go on a mission. So we are way happy for him.

There was something really cool said in a talk yesterday by President Beck, a member of the stake presidency. He said.... If Joseph Smith didn't have a testimony that God lived and answered prayers, he would have never been a prophet. I really liked that.

Well we had a miracle happen this week. Our car has been in the shop for a while now and finally we got a call Friday that it was done, after 2 weeks of walking. We were so excited! Well we needed to pick it up by 6 and it was like 5:15. And if we didn't get it then we wouldn't get it til Monday. So we were making phone calls and no one could take us. Then we get a random call from a Idaho number and it's a guy named Jared. And he says, "Hey I am in town for the week and was wondering if I could go out on team ups with you and help you out with anytyhing"...... Crazy!!! And we said yeah, we actually need a ride to our car, and he said sure where do ya live I'll be there in a few minutes. Totally sweet blessing! Random call from a guy that takes us to get out car. Then Saturday me and him went out for 3 hours and taught some people and went to lunch. So this week was really good. Had a lot of fun and a baptism.

Well I am so proud of Justin, he is going to make a awesome missonary!! President Kunz gave me some cool advice on how I can help Justin out on his mission, so I will need his MTC address asap. ;) Thanks!! I love that kid though! He is a great kid. I am really excited for him! And kinda jealous that he had his arm around Amber in one of those pictures. ;) Haha.

You are very welcome for the bday gift mom. I thought you would like putting an Elder Moore tag on. :) That tag means a lot to me so I was glad that I was able to put it to better use. :) You can send it to me this week and it will make it to me in time. That would be great.

Well I love you all!!!! Can't believe you go to La Verkin this week!!! Blows my mind. It will be good. Remember that.

Love,
Elder Moore

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

July 19, 2010



Happy birthday Mom today!!!! And Happy birthday Dad on Thursday!!!

So for starters.... our companionship had the best numbers in the mission this week!!! We worked our butts off. And without a car because it is in the body shop getting repaired. It has spent the week there and will spend part of this week there as well. But in our mission we have what is called the standard of excellence. It is certain numbers we have to hit, and we hit them all! So we got a text this morning saying we did the best in the mission. We were way excited! I haven't hit the standard of excellence since February of 2009. And we were the only companionship in the mission to do it in over 3 months. So we were really excited.

So this week has been a hot hot HOT one. 110 deegrees and 95 % humidity. We were always drenched in sweat out walking around. We even had a heat wave warning for 2 days this past week. It was nuts. Also.... our neighbors upstairs moved out at 4 in the morning without saying anything. When they left they turned off the gas and air conditioning. So we had no hot water for 2 days and no air conditioning. Wendesday night it was 92 degrees in our apartment. Yeah.... we didn't sleep well that night.

This week we had 4 people at church and we have 4 people set for baptism right now so the work is going great! I won't be around to see much of the baptisms since most are set for the 7th and I should be out of here on the 5th, but I'm way excited they are getting baptized. We do have Taylor getting baptized this Saturday though so that will be awesome!!! Baptizing is so much fun! It really brings me so much happiness and it's like filling up your gas tank when ya get a baptism, gives you more desire to go out and work harder!

Well, we had a cool experience yesterday. We were working with the Andrade family for a bit, but they weren't progressing so we haven't seen them in about 2 weeks. So we have planned to see them for the past 4 days, and never have made it over there. Well yesterday we finally did and it couldn't have been at a better time....
She said that that morning she had been praying, cause her son Ryan had gotten in trouble and their house got shot at and she was just wondering if God even loved her and if he did, to show her a sign.... well that night we showed up again for the first time in 2 weeks and she said that we were the answer to her prayer. So hopefully now after that testimony builder she will have more desires to do what we ask her to do and keep her commitments so that her and her sons can get bpatized. So that was a cool experience.

Also we had some sweet trainings this week about asking questions and stuff like that... so that night we went and taught a guy named David. And it was sooooo sweet! The spirit totally guided that lesson and then we started asking him questions and then we set him for baptism on the 7th of August. It was awesome! Asking questions is such a good way to teach.

Well we are having a great time and we are having plenty of success out here. We also have Stella Mattox and Joe Lett set for baptism, so this area is on fire.

I'm glad to hear that Justin had fun at the temple!!! It's a way cool place to go and the spirit there is so strong! He is going to be a great missioanry!
So please do record his farewell talk and good luck bro!!!! I love you!!
I love you all! I'm glad to hear that all is going well.... and I can't believe you are moving. That just blows my mind. Have a great week!!!

Love,
Elder Moore

Monday, July 12, 2010

July 12, 2010 Crazy Fun Week !!!

Well it has been another really frustrating and tough week, but along with that came some pretty good laughs. So in this email I will stray away from the frustrations of missionary work and focus on the instances that got me to laugh so hard I was crying and couldn't talk.

So first off.... we were trying to look for some less actives, and we saw a name on the list in the area that we were at. Her name was Laura Christo. So we went to find her house and it turns out that she lives in an assisted living facility...... but that's not the only thing it was...I'll get to that. So we go in, and the first thing I did was help an old lady escape. Haha. But not really.... But we walked in the doors and there is a woman there in her wheelchair and she asked for a push over the hump, so my comps opened the door and I pushed her over the hump and outside. So I think was probably an accomplice in her escape. Oh well...So we get through the doors and there are like 12 old people looking like they are literally ready to kick the bucket just sitting there in their wheelchairs. It was pretty creepy. And one of the old women says..."hey it's the 3 muskateers!" Haha, that was funny. So we find Laura's room, its on the second floor, and we take the elevator up, and the doors open and there is 12 more old people just chillin in their wheelchairs. But this is the handicap old folks floor. Ha, so we go to Laura's door and knock on it and someone answered and said they were just putting Laura in bed and would be out in a minute. So from the door across the hall wheels out on her wheelchair Doloris Clark. Funniest, meaniest, craziest woman. She made me laugh so hard I was crying. She says "Hey what are you doing?" I said we are here to visit Laura, then she says "What?" And I said we are visiting our friend Laura, then she says... "I don't know." And rolls away, then comes rolling back and we have the exact same conversation. And then she says, "Well I don't want you in my room," and I said ok we won't come in there, and she "Goes good cause this is my room with my stuff," and rolls in and shuts the door.

Then we get in to visit Laura and she has a major disability, can't move her body or talk, so we were there for like 3 mintues, said a prayer and left. And there is Doloris. Asking us what we were doing. But this time she has a list in her hands, and she is asking us questions about what car we drive and if we had a El Camino, we think it was her escape list. She had a gps tracker on her ankle, so we think she has tried to escape before. So anyways, we run into Orville who tells us he used to date Laura, weird. Then there it was.... we saw it..... the 90 year old boob. A woman just sitting there with her shirt unbuttoned. Ew. Then we left.

Second funny story:
Jamie is a less active member and she is always drunk! Always. But the past 3 weeks she was sober, and it has been great. So we went to visit her and her and her friend are there just totally wasted. We walked in and her drunk friend gives us hugs.... weird and creepy. And we go in to sit down and Elder Warby sits on this couch, and the drunk woman's dog was hogging the other part of the couch, so me and Elder Butler sat on a different couch. And this woman sat down next to Elder Warby.
So these 2 woman are like your typical drunk women. Can't stand up straight or walk for the life of them. So we start reading the Book of Mormon and Jamie is like, why are they in the wilderness and her friend is like you guys are so great, and just making the most ridiculous funny comments. And I start laughing, and I cover my face with the Book of Mormon so that they can't see, then Elder Butler starts laughing, and we are laughing so hard we're crying. And it's my turn to read and I can't do it, I get through like 4 words and manage to squeak out in between giggles, "Elder Warby can you read please?" I just couldn't do it cause I couldn't stop laughing. Then Jamie is like I don't even know where we are, and Elder Warby starts laughing and he is like me. It was hilarious! I have never laughed so hard. SO then this woman is like showing us her nasty stomach and is wearing short shorts that are like falling off of her, and we got out of there because it was just ridiculous, but we didn't leave without another long hug and awkward hand shake. Wow, it was... unexplainable how funny that was.

ALright, next story-
Yesterday in sacrament meeting a guy gave a talk, where in it he said he was picturing everyone in there underwear, then he said he has lost so much weight he was worried his pants would fall down and he would moon the stake president (who was on the stand) and the bishopric. It was weird. This ward is weird. My best friend in the ward is 45 his name is Brad. He has down syndrome. Funniest guy ever. And there is another kid name TJ who also has down syndrome and they were going at it in priesthood yesterday. Brad is hilarious. And in priesthood excercises a guy told everyone that he saw one of the 3 nephites. That was weird. So lots of funny crazy thing happened this week.

But good things.... We took Joe and his memeber wife Jessica to the trail center this week and to see the Reflections of Christ pictures. It was awesome. Jessica wants him to get married so bad so that they can go to the temple together. We invited him to be baptized and he is praying about it.

Well that is it I am running short on time. But I love you all!!!! Hope everything goes well this week and at camp with the girls!!!

Love,
Elder Moore

And I'm way excited for Justin!!! He is such a stud!!!

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

July 6, 2010

A week of Suicide threats, domestic abuse, and a 911 call. So do I have your attention? I sure hope so.

We have been teaching a woman named Jackie for a while now, she is set for baptism on the 24th and has been super solid, coming to church and having us over every other day, and keeping her commitments. She has just been an incredible person. But she has had a rough past full of drugs, meth, crack, and alcohol. She has left all that behind and has started new. The only thing that she has struggled with is smoking, and it's only a cigarette or 2 a day. So nothing too serious. Conisidering I've taught people that smoke 3 packs a day.

Well she is the aunt of a very less active member, basically the only one that still loves her and that she has a good relationship with. Well she got in a fight with him and his wife, and they said not to talk to them anymore. So she felt like she had no friends. We went over to see her Friday night after we got a call from her crying and we were there til 10. So my spanish really came in handy that night. I had no idea she spoke spanish, but she does. She was on the phone while we were there and she said to the guy on the phone in spanish that that was her last day, and that she was going to kill herself. So when she got off I talked to her in spanish and told her it wasn't her last day, and that she would be alright. And it totally shocked her. She hadn't told us yet that she was planning on suicide. So we talked with her about the love of God, and then we gave her a blessing, and in it, I expressed God's love for her and talked with her about the atonement. Well we left that night, thinking she had no more intentions to commit suicide.

We got a call from her at 1 in the morning, and she said that she had taken a bunch of pills and that she just wanted to say good bye. So we called 911, and sent them to her house, but she wasn't there. Turns out she was in South Omaha and didn't know where she was. It was a very frustrating night.

So we called her nephew and his niece answered the phone, and said that the fight that they had gotten in with Jackie was over her getting beat by her nephew. So she told us that her husband was beating her. So we were up from 1 to 4 in the morning on phone calls. Luckily the next day we got to sleep in or else we would have been dead. So we didn't know what happend to Jackie, and Sunday she called us and told us she was home and doing a lot better. So I don't know what happened, we are seeing her tonight. But it was just crazy.

Basically the point of me telling this story is so that we can all realize how lucky we are to have the gospel in our lives. It truly does bless us. Especially if we live it! That is the most important part. It's not enough to just know about it, but we must live it and apply it to ourselves.

I read a really cool talk yesterday by President Monson from the conference in October, where he talked about doing something good daily for someone. He said that we are the Lord's hands here on the earth, and that it is up to us to help God's children. So I would challenge you to do something good for someone everyday, and then at dinner that night, share what you did. ;) I promise it will bless you.

Yesterday, I got up and made my comps some omelettes and toast, and that made me feel really good the rest of the day. So I promise you it does work. And you really do notice a change in your day.

I have taught so much Spanish people this week it's been awesome!!! I have been loving it. It is just so much more natural. I hadn't taught a serious lesson in spanish for a few weeks, and now once or twice a day I get to teach someone in spanish. It has been great. So we still have 5 people set for baptism on July 24th who are looking pretty good, with the exception of Jackie, but she'll bounce back she is a great person.

So that was the extent of my week. Crazy stuff was happening!!!! Glad to hear that the move is going well and that Justin is set and ready to go! He is going to have such a great time!!!! The misson is a really great experience! I love it! As hard and crazy as it may be sometimes.... the spirit is so strong, and the knowledge obtained will bless you for the rest of your life. I've really noticed how powerful it is to be a set apart representative of the Lord. We can go into horrible situations, where there is beer and drugs, and the spirit usually would leave, and teach a lesson with the spirit and be able to feel the influence of the spirit always. It's an amazing feeling.

I do love this work. I do love my mission! And I am so grateful for our Savior Jesus Christ and his healing power.

I love you all and miss you! And don't worry, I will be working my hardest these last few months. I'm honestly not trunky at all. Doesn't mean I still don't look forward to seeing everyone when I get back. ;)

Love,
Elder Moore