September 27, 2010 September - A Month to Remember

Wow, what an incredible month. 9 baptisms in the month of September. Finally, Orlando, Jocylyn, Argenis, And Kim Loeza, Guillermo Tapia, Mario and Olivia Pacheco, and Lori Beckner, all baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the month of September. It has been the most wonderful thing to watch all of these people put there in faith in Jesus Christ and be baptized. They are going to make great memebers. And Mario and Olivia have 3 kids of baptism age, and 2 of which are becoming really interested. President Kunz did their baptism interviews on Thursday and I was able to sit in and translate for him and he talked so boldly with them about working with their children and making sure that they are baptized next. And so far it's been going really well. We have been working with them and teaching them quite a bit.

So as for other baptisms... Natalie Sandoval is looking great for her date on the 15th of October and Jorge and Fabiola are looking fantastic for the 13th of November. They have a meeting with the divorce lawyer tomorrow to get that started. So things are going great!

Nancy on the other hand.... She isn't doing much and we have had to move her date and we will probably end up dropping her this week for a while. Oh well... it's a bummer but she just isn't keeping any of the commitments we leave.

So this week was so cool!!! We had Elder Ellis a member of the 70 and his wife come. That was one of the most incredible meetings I've ever been in. He talked about how God has a plan. His plan is better than our plan, and we need to do all that we can to make our plan his plan. To try and elevate ourselves and put ourselves en acuerdo with him. His wife also spoke and she said something really awesome! She said... "Sacrifice isn't loss, it's merely preparation for something better. " I loved that!!! And she is right, it's true. But sometimes I think that at the time of the sacrifice we don't think about what's to come, or we don't see things getting better, but that's only cause we see the small picture. We see what's here and what's now. But if we are patient and dilligent we do see it.

After the meeting it was really neat to be able to have a leadership meeting and receive more training and instruction from Elder Ellis. He taught us from the scriptures on how we can be a better leader. He used John 10 and talked about the Good Pastor, and the attributes of the Good Pastor. How he knows his sheep and his sheep know him, how he would give his life for the sheep and protect them. He then taught us from Matthew and the parobol of the talents. He said that God has given each of us talents and he expects us to use them and multiply them. It was really cool because the man that had 5 talents and made them 10 talents, received the same reward as the man that was given 2 talents and made them 4 talents. He says, it doesn't matter the calling that you have, as long as you magnify it well, the Lord will reward you. He said that you don't have to be a prophet or an apostle to be exalted, but that with whatever calling is given to you, that you give it your all for the Lord. So there was some great instruction given in those meetings.

Haha, so the most akward thing of my life happened this week. Just so ya know. Really it was the most akward moment ever. But.... I'll leave it at that. ;) But just so you know... I'm seeing a doctor about what happened this week. Hahaha.... ya.

So I attached some pictures of the baptisms we had. The first 2 are Lori's baptism, the next 2 are of the Pacheco's baptism, and then of the Loezas baptism! So I hope that you enjoy them!!

Well that is very exciting news about Justin!!! Can ya believe it!?!?! He is off to Nicaragua this week. He is going to love the mission! He will have a great time! Nicaragua awaits him! Tell him I love him and I'm so proud of him for making the decision to serve a mission. I also can't believe that it is going to be October this week. Totally nuts! Love it!!! I hope Justin got the tie I mailed him last week. I loved that tie. :) It's crazy how many missionaries have been asking me for ties. I'm running out almost. ;) Because this last transfer was weird. Some of my close friends got sent out west or to Sioux City so I won't see them again cause I only have one transfer left after this and odds of them getting transfered back are slim. So all of them were like hey could I get a tie signed by you so I could remember ya. Haha, so I couldn't say no. :)

Oh yeah.... weird moment this week. We were teaching a guy named Jose and we were just about to invite him to be baptized when a car pulled up and he said... Well there is my ride to the grocery store, gotta go see ya later. And he just stood up, walked into the kitchen, and left out the back door. So we were just sitting there like.... what the crap?! So we showed ourselves the door and left.

Also yesterday I had the BEST meal I've ever had!!! They call it "Discada." It's like 6 kinds of meets all cooked together in a big pot over the fire on the grill. It was so so soooooo good!!!!

Also this week we are painting the outside of a house. I've never done that before so that should be cool.

Well I hope that all is going well out there for you!!! Love you all!!

Love,
Elder Moore

Please send this to Justin, Adam, Eric and Dano,
Hey what's up my ninja turtle brothers! Long time no see.... for obvious reasons. I love getting all you alls emails and reading about the awesome experiences you are having on your missions!
It's been a lot of fun getting to know you dudes and hanging out with you! Remember when we used to play predator and monster child? Or Mario Kart and Halo? Or go to Janbo and the Philly? Or have water gun fights? Or play basketball together?
I've had so much fun growing up with you guys!!! I couldn't have asked for better friends! Thanks for being so awesome!! We have grown up having fun together, and now we are all serving the Lord together! And before ya know it... we'll be back at it playing halo and drinking cokes together. I love you all and hope that you are having a great time on your missions!! Thanks for always being people I could rely on and for being friends that always helped me to be the best person that I could be.
Love,
Elder Moore the first. the handsomer one.

September 20, 2010 Best Phone Call EVER!!!!!

Ok so before I tell anything else.... I got the best phone call I've ever received on Saturday. So we were at the Loeza's eating dinner and I saw that Kanesville was calling. Kanesville was the area that I served in while in Council Bluffs. So I decided to take it thinking that they had some good news for me.... Which they did!!! Elder Johnson said.... Hey Elder Moore do you remember Lori? Which of course I did. Lori is a 50 year old woman who I really got close to and we became really good friends. So I said yes. He said, well she is getting baptized on September 25th (this saturday) And I was so so SO excited!!!! Then he said, she wants you to baptize her. I just about started crying. Really. I was so full of happiness. Like you can't even imagine it. So of course I said I would. So I called Lori later that night and she said, Did the elders tell you> And I said of course they did! And she said, I remember when I was at the play with you and I looked over and said when I get baptized I want you to do it. And she said, you looked at me and said that nothing would make you happier than to do that for me. And then she told me that she knew that I was the one that was supposed to baptize her. :) I am so excited!!!

And also this Saturday Mario and Olivia are going to be getting baptized!!! Two baptism servies in 2 days!!!!!! This weekend is going to be awesome!!! So many baptisms. We truly are being blessed by the Lord right now.

We have what's called the Standard of Excellence here as I've mentioned before. And this week, me and Elder Thorpe CRUSHED it. We have 6 people set for baptism right now (yup we set 4 people this week. ;) ) Natalie Sandoval, the Sandovals' oldest daughter is going to be baptized on October 15th. We set her for baptism yesterday. We are so excited for her and for their family!!! It is going to truly be amazing to see Tony baptize her.

Also we set Jorge and Fabiola for baptism on November 13th. It's kinda far away but it needs to be then because we are working on getting him divorced from his wife in Colorado and that proccess will take a month. Then we need to get them married, and then afterwards baptized. But we taught them a great lesson and we invited them to be baptized on that date and it went silent and Fabiola (who has told us she knows the church is true) just stared at Jorge. And he said yes. Then she just got this huge smile on her face and she said that when he says yes he means it. And yesterday they drove us to the Stake Conference and we were able to have a good conversation with them.

By the way.... Stake conference was INCREDIBLE!!! We had Stanley G. Ellis of the 70 here and he gave an AMAZING talk!! And tomorrow we have a meeting with him, following which there is a leardership meeting with him, so I'm really looking forward to being able to be instructed by him and taught more by him because there was so much power in his words yesterday and the spirit was so strong.

Mario came and said that he loved it and said that that man had a very strong spirit about him. He also said he knew that he was called of God. The Robles family has helped us out so much with Mario and Olivia, they have given them rides to church, answered their questions, resolved their concerns. Yesterday Mario said that he still had some doubts, so Caleb Robles sat down with him in the Robles home and just taught him from the scriptures and then afterwards Mario said that he knew it was true. So we have had some amazing help with this family. They are going to make great converts. The joy that I've experienced in this area has been unlike any other joy I've experienced on my mission. With the Loeza family and now Mario and Olivia. The work is going great. It is a strong finish to an amazing journey.

For the month of September, by the end, I would have been a part of bringing 9 people unto Christ. Because Orlando and Franky are set for baptism up in the North and we are working with them too. So with the Loeza kids, Guillermo, Mario, Olivia, and Lori, September will definitely be a month to remember! And October with Natalie and Nancy set. Should be a great way to follow up to September.

Well funny story for you.... last night I couldn't sleep. And Elder Thorpe when he sleeps makes lots of weird noises. One in particular though that stands out above the rest. So I laid there on the couch trying to figure out how in the world he makes that noise. And after about 45 minutes..... I figured it out. Somehow when he sleeps his tounge clicks on a part of the roof of the mouth. But it has to hit a certain spot. That's why it took me so long to figure it out. But just in case you cared, I did figure it out, and I did fall asleep satisfied.

Story number 2. Expired butter + expired pasta= bad idea! I don't think I need to say more. Let's just say... I wasnt feeling too great after I'd eaten that meal I made.

So me and Elder Thorpe are doing just fine when we are working and teaching. But it's when we are in the car or at home when I feel like hitting him in the throat with a wooden spoon. But we'll survive. The work is going great!!

That is so cool that Brooklyn went to a dance with that boy! Go Brooklyn!! I'm glad that she had a great time with him! She looked really happy. I miss that girl. Hahaha she wanted to wear some converse like me and Amber eh? Haha well she has some good role models then when it comes to having fun. ;)

Mom the house looks amazing!!! It really does look incredible!! I was actually shocked and in unbelief when I saw it! It looks fantastic!

When I get back to the Sandy, you should just give the Forest Ridge house to me and I'll turn it into a bachelor pad for all my returned missionary buddies and Greg. ;) What do ya think? I like it!

That is so cool that you'll be able to talk with Justin in just a week!!! Good stuff. Also..... I've learned a trick. It's hard to send things down to Central America without them being stolen. So what you need to do is get a bunch of Jesus and Virgin Mary stickers and put them on the box and no one will mess with it. FYI. ;)I'm way excited for Justin! I have a letter and a tie I am going to send him today. So he should get it this week! That is so exciting that he is about to get out into the field and really start enjoying the work!

Yeah lots of good things are happening here in this area. And we are seeing so many blessings come from it. So we are hoping and putting our faith in Christ that all will go well and all these people will be baptized. Well as you can see. This area is on fire. We got the best numbers in the mission this past week!!!! Woot woot!!! Love it!!! And I love you all!!! Have a great week!

Love,
Elder Moore

September 13, 2010 Que Onda Familia

Good Morning to everyone!

First off.... Grandma Happy Birthday this week!!!!!!!! I know it can be hard turning 40... but we'll get through this together. ;)

Ok.... so last Tuesday was sweet! My first night in the south. Elder Thorpe and Elder Finnerty had been teaching this family and they said that they were an amazing family but wouldn't set a baptismal date becaue they didn't feel prepared. They had challenged them to be baptized on the 25th of September but they didn't think that they could be ready. So there is some background on them. Well I got there Tuesday and we started talking and immediately just got along great. And we talked with them about baptism, prayer, and how God answers our prayers through the power of the Holy Ghost. So I said... let's have a prayer and ask God if he thinks that you should be baptized on the 25th. SO they said ok. So we all knelt together and they asked me to say the prayer because they wanted to just listen for an answer. So I began to pray, and I asked God if they should be baptized on the 25th, and I paused. And there was almost 2 minutes of silence as we knelt and listened. And then I closed the prayer. And as I did, I looked up at Mario and Olivia and asked how they felt. She looked and me and said, I can't believe it, that was amazing. And Mario said... I felt something that started at the top of my head and ran all the way down my body. So we explained to them that this is the Spirit testifying to you of God's love for you and that he knows that you will be ready. And then I invited them to be baptized on the 25th and they accepted!!! So we had them both at church yesterday and that was awesome! We actually had 5 people at church!!! Woot woot!

So we are also working with Fabiola and Jorge. I met Fabiola when I was here last year. But she wasn't to interested then. Well now... she is! Her and Jorge both are. They were both at church yesterday as well. She is almost 19, he is 20 and they have a 3 year old daughter. Yup. Well, he got married before when he was in Colorado, so that is the only thing keeping them from getting baptized right now. We are working on getting him divorced... which the proccess will take a month once we get it started, then they will get married and baptized. They both know it's true and really enjoyed church yesterday. So the work really picked up this past week.

We also went to jail and talked to an investigator. He got pulled over for speeding but had a previous on his record and no papers, so they put him in jail. It was cool. We talked to him through a phone and we saw eachother through t.v.'s. It was sweet! I've never done that before.

So we went to knock on someone's door and as we were leaving... I saw something on my foot, and I looked away thinking it was my shoe lace, but then instantly I thought... that is to thick to my shoe lace. It was a SNAKE!!! I hate snakes. I ran away.

Also President Kunz gave me another responsibility. He put me in charge of the Spanish meeting where all the spanish missionaries come here to Omaha and we have trainings. So I have no idea what I"m going to do for that yet. He just said in my interview I want you to put together a meeting, telling me when it will be and what you'll be doing for it. Have fun. Haha, yup didn't really give me a whole lot to work off there. :)

So I got sick this week. I had a sore throat. I've actually been sick for almost 2 weeks now. But this week it got worse. So I climbed out of bed at 6:40 am and went into the bathroom, and still was out of it. Drank some medicine out of a bottle in there before checking what it was. It was nighttime. Yup I took night time medicine at 6:40 in the morning. That day was a bad day. I was so tired the entire day! Not good.

Also this week Sebastian Rivera got baptized. It was neat! There was a lot of people there. Members and non-members! My comp and I taught a first lesson to all of them. Honestly... I was so nervous. There was a bout 50 people there I would say. It went really well though. The biggest group of people I've ever taught a discussion too that's for sure. So the work here is going really good. The only thing that keeps me sane is working hard right now.

Also I met some less actives in our ward from Nicaragua! Her brother still lives there and is the Bishop. Bishop Cortez! So I wrote Justin a note that I'll send today telling him to keep an eye out for Bishop Cortez in Mannagua. She said that she is going to call her brother and let him know that Justin is coming. ;)

Haha by the way that first paragraph of Dano's letter.... I totally remember when Eric threw that dry piece of poo at me! Hahaha! Good times when we were kids. I loved it! As a matter of fact, there is a good chance he was still throwing poo at me right before we left on our missions..... I remember when Adam was eating a brownie with frosting on it and I shook it out of his hand and ran away and he picked up the brownie and threw it at me and the frosting side of it hit me in the butt and I had frosting all over my pants. Darn him.

Anyways... glad that you were able to go up to Sandy and have a good time! I'm looking forward to that too. :) Here in less than 3 months now.... Crazy Eh?!?!
Well hope you all have a great week!!! I love you!!! Talk to ya soon! And c-ya soon!

Love,
Elder Moore

September 7, 2010

Hello everyone!!! Can ya believe that we are one week into September. I can't believe how fast time is flying! And the weather has already changed here. September hit and it got cold. But from what we've heard it's supposed to get back up into the 90's this week. Anyways.. I'm sure you don't read these emails to get the weather report... But this week has been so crazy. One of the craziest of my mission. Some stuff I can talk about... some I can't. But we'll start off with the GREAT STUFF!!!

So Friday night was probably one of the best nights of my entire life. No joke. Argenis, Jocylyn, and Kimberly Loeza, as well as Guillermo Tapia were baptized and Sunday they were confirmed members of the church and received the Holy Ghost! It was really the most spiritual baptism that I've been a part of on my mission. I can't even begin to explain the feeling that was there that night. And to see the parents there with tears in their eyes seeing their children get baptized was an experience unlike any other. We talked a lot with Brother and Sister Loeza this week and they said that the church has become the most important thing in their life these past few weeks and that he even asked for Sundays off now so that he has absolutely nothing going on so that he and his family can come to church. This is such an amazing family! I'll attach some pictures of the baptism.







So Crazy news. I got a call Sunday night and I am being transfered a week and a half early down back to South Omaha. There is a new missionary who has been here 6 weeks and his comp goes home today. So I will be taking his place down in the good ol' part of South Omaha. It's funny. Just retracing my steps. Going back and serving in all my old areas. So my new comp is Elder Thorpe, he is from Arizona and speaks 0 spanish. I gotta tell ya I loved being in a threesome with Elder Starkey and Elder Curisinche because both of them speak spanish really well and we all just got along so good. But I guess we accomplished what the Lord wanted us too by baptizing those people. My new address is:

5802 S. 14th st. #5
Omaha, NE 68107




So funny story about our little threesome! So the other night I was laying on my couch and Curisinche was in his bed and the light was on. Well common sense would say... ok last person in their bed turns off the light. That is just how it is. Well Elder Starkey was lacking common sense this night. And he gets in his bed and leaves the light on. And so we say Starkey turn the light off and he says I'm in bed already. So I said well I'm not getting up. And then Chinche said neither am I. So I was like ok whatever... I can sleep with it on, and they all agreed. So we laid there. Then Chinche said Starkey turn it off and he said no. Then I said, I'm not doing it. So for like 5 minutes we argued about who would turn off the light. And it was probably about 5 feet from all of us. So we started throwing things at the light switch trying to hit it. No luck.... So then Chince threw a shoe at it and it hit the lamp (it's a tall lamp, not one that sits on a table or anything) and it fell down on my couch where I was sleeping. Almost hit me in the head, I had to dodge it. So I flipped the switch on the lamp and pushed it onto the ground. And the light was off. I have to tell ya we all started laughing so hard. It was ridiculous.




So yesterday night we went to a haunted park with the Loeza Family. It was sweet! A girl was actually murdered there... not sweet. But people say they hear screams coming from that park. And they have these stairs and you go up and you count them, and you come down and it's a different number. You can't count them the same going up and coming down. It's crazy! I'll attach a picture of the stairs too.




So my clothes are all starting to fall apart. Just 3 more months left. ;) But my shirts pockets are starting to fall off and my pants are gettin worn. Guess that is what happens when ya where the same clothes everyday. But I think they should hold up for the next little bit. My suit pants have been on the fritz lately. So on one of my suit pants it's hard to explain, but the bottom came undone and fell out. So I got some scotch tape and taped it back on.... Yeah I know. Not the brightest of ideas. So I taped it back and it fell out, and Sister Loeza was istting next to me and she said Elder Moore is that tape on your pants... and I said yes. And she just laughed and said bring them over tomorrow and I'll sew them up for ya. Ha, they are really awesome! She said if you don't have a dinner appointment call me 30 minutes before so I have time to make something for you and you can eat here. There are 9 people in this family and she is offering to cook for them and then the 4 of us missionaries. They are going to be so blessed!

The other day their son got sick and he walked up to me and said my mom wants to talk to you. So I went and talked to her... and she said Reuben is to shy to ask... (he is like 4) But he said that he wants you to give him a blessing to feel better. The faith of this family is amazing! We also went fishing with them and caught like 30 fish. Then had a fish fry and ate carne asada Sunday. Ha yeah we are with this family quite a bit.




Oh yeah I forgot to tell you my expensive cup of lemonade story. So I have made it a goal of mine to buy lemonade from all the kids' lemonade stands I see. I don't know why... just makes me feel good. :) So this week we were driving and there was a lemonade stand with these two 7 year old hispanic girls running it. So I told Starkey to pull over so we could buy some. So we walked up to their little table and they had a huge thing of lemonade and two cups. A glass cup and a plastic cup. No paper cups or anything. And they said...Do you want some lemonade and I said of course! And they said.. well we only have these two cups. we don't have enough money to buy plastic cups yet but we are going to try too so hopefully people will buy our lemonade. And I looked in my wallet... and as poor as I am I pulled out some money and sent them across the street to buy some cups. And these girls faces just lit up. And they said thank you thank you thank you! And one of them even hugged me. It was the best money I have ever spent to see these girls so happy. So it was quite a pricey cup of lemonade but I didn't care. It made me feel good. ;)


Well that is it for this week crazy great week!!!!
I love you all very much!! Have fun this week!!!
Love,
Elder Moore
I will attach the pictures now. ;)