Elder Brandon Moore - Nebraska Omaha Mission

Post-script by Mom

2010-11-20T11:37:00.000-08:00

The End of the Best Two Years....

It all began on October 7th. I received a surprise phone call from my son, Elder Brandon Moore. It was a surprise since he is only suppose to call home on Mother's Day and Christmas while serving his mission. As it turns out, he had a physical problem and was letting me know he would probably returning home sooner than his December 2010 release date. The following evening, the mission president's wife called to tell me basically the same thing. I spent the weekend wondering what exactly would be the consensus as to when he would fly back to Utah. Monday afternoon the mission president called to let me know I could pick my son up the next evening at the Salt Lake airport.I flew into action.

First of all, I was sure the mission president didn't know that I had moved to Southern Utah. I had to prepare to make the trip up there, see if I could arrange for him to have his homecoming the following Sunday in our old ward, and figure out how to get Brooklyn out of school on finals week without it hurting her grades too much. Also, I did not have Brandon's room prepared for him. Oh well, some things would have to wait.

That Tuesday we headed up to Salt Lake. I don't know who was more nervous, me or his girlfriend Amber who had been waiting for him for two years. We were lucky enough to have two of our friends who have airline ties sneak up to the gate and give us a play-by-play as he walked out of the gate and began his trek to baggage claim. I must admit, as I saw him coming down the escalator, I was shreiking with joy, jumping up and down clapping and excited that I could finally hug and kiss my baby boy. It was a wonderful moment.

After leaving the airport we headed to the Stake President's office to have him released. President Dibble did the honors. It was heartbreaking watching Elder Moore remove his missionary tag...the same one I had placed on him 22 months earlier at the mtc.

We followed up that meeting with a family dinner at Chili's. It was impossible for me to keep my eyes off of him. I loved watching him interact with Amber, I loved listening to his voice. I loved just having him back in my world.

We stayed the next 6 days at Brett, Cheryl and Brynlee Bishop's home They were so kind to us. They decorated the yard with posters and balloons, left notes and candy on our pillows, and encouraged us to have an Open House after his Homecoming talk.

That Sunday he gave a wonderful homecoming talk, testifying of Jesus Christ. He taught so many things I had never thought about before. It is a marvelous experience to be taught the gospel by your children.

We returned to La Verkin. I was anxious and excited to show Brandon the new home I had purchased and remodeled. I hoped he would like it, and even though he would only be staying temporarily, that he could feel like it was home to him.

We spent the next week fighting to get his medical records faxed from Nebraska to the surgeon here. We didn't want him to have to go through the same testing he had already had done there. They finally arrived and his surgery was scheduled for October 27.

Because Brandon had a few days before the surgery he asked to borrow my car and head up to Logan to spend a few days with Amber. I was carless for about 4 days, but since I am a homebody, and the grocery store and church are within walking distance, I knew I would survive. I spent my homebound weekend studying for my BYU Humanities final...which I passed, barely :)

Brandon arrived back in time to celebrate his birthday on October 26th. He is now 21. Ginger and her kiddos and Grandma and Papa joined us for the cupcake festivities. It was low key, but right up our alley considering we didn't have much time to prepare and Brandon wasn't feeling all that great. He had lost 20 lbs. in the previous 6 weeks due to his illness, so he didn't have that much of an appetite.

The next day we headed out to Dixie Regional Medical Center for the surgery. The actual surgery only lasted 1 hour, but the before and after lasted a total of six. We returned home to begin the recovery.

For the last week Brandon has gained 7 lbs., moved around a wee bit, but mostly just camped out on the couch. He sleeps there, he watches tv there, he texts there, he plays on the computer there, he takes pictures from there. It is really quite comical although it is also quite necessary. His recovery is a 4 week recovery. He is hoping he can return to Salt Lake at the end of the month to begin working and spending more time with Amber.

It has been a whirlwind of activity, but I have treasured it. There is nothing like having your son gone for two years and then having him in your presence and all to your self 24/7 for 4 weeks. Blessings can always be found if we take the time to look for them.

October 12, 2010

2010-10-12T08:33:00.000-07:00

Well this will be the last email I send to all ya all.

Thank you for all of your support. This has been an incredible 22 months. I have absolutely loved my mission. It all seems like a dream still that I will be home today. I'm just waiting to wake up.... but I haven't yet, and I'm not sure when I will.

It finally set in today though that I would be leaving. I slept a little less than 2 hours last night just thinking about everything and trying to comprehend it. I got up at 6:30 and took a shower and just started to cry as it set in that this is it. I never realized how hard it would be to leave this wonderful work. I know that I will continue to be a missionary when I get home... but it's different. The experiences that I have had on my mission are things that will stay with me forever.

Last night it was fun just reminissing with Elder Curisinche about stuff we've done together. The mission has made me a better person and has really strengthened my testimony. I will be forever grateful for the time I have spent here in the best mission in the world. I have really learned to love people and see them the way God sees them. I know that even though I am having to come home early, and as hard as this is for me, it's part of God's plan and I shouldn't ask why is this happening to me, but rather, what does God want me to learn from this?

I know that this church is true. I kow that Christ lives. And if we believe in him, he will lead us and show us what he would have us do. I'm so glad that God loved us enough to call another prophet. Our message is a message of hope. And because of the prayer of Joseph Smith, there is hope. We can know that through Christ we can receive the divine help neccesary to return and live with God again.

I love you all! And I will see you all tonight!

Love,
Elder Moore

October 4, 2010

2010-10-04T12:25:00.000-07:00

Well hello!!

This email will be a short one. Not much happened this week.

I painted the outside of a house. Ha, and accidentally stepped in the paint tray. I would.... Anyways, I'm probably going to need new shoes when I come home. These ones have been used for like 3 years now and they have a hole and paint on them and many other things. I think I can survive on the clothes I have for now. If you want to throw in a cool green tie though that would be nice. :) Maybe like a green Paisley tie. But other than that.... I have 2 suits, one I haven't dry cleaned since the MTC. But I'll be good. For my bday.... Mmmmm I don't think there is much I need. :) And plus I'll be home 6 weeks after my bday anyway. Then we can celebrate it. :) But My clothes are definitely getting hobo-ish. I think that is why the mission is just 2 years.... that's how long the clothes last. :)

Also we went fishing and caught some sweet bass.

Conference was great!! I really enjoyed it!!! There was some amazing talks and I love seeing the prophet speak because he is the one that we are out telling the world about. When he comes on, it's like.... Kobe Bryant walking onto the court. I just wanna cheer ya know!? But I went to conference with some questions in mind and had them answered so that was great!!

Also, I forgot to mention... last week when Elder Ellis was here from the 70, I was just sitting in zone conference minding my own business, when all of the sudden, he said... "We will now have a talk by Elder Brandon D. Moore on the power of the spirit in conversion." So yup, had to give a talk on that. It was neat.

What else.... well we are working with Mario and Olivia's kids now, working on getting them baptized. We invited them to be baptized and they said that they would think about it. Their parents said that they have talked a lot about it and think that it is something that they will do. Also Natalie Sandoval's baptism is coming up and then I am hoping that that family will go be sealed in the temple in November.

I can't believe it's already October! It's crazy! But I love it!

I also can't believe that BYU lost to Utah State. What in the world..... Ah well. Glad that I don't have to worry about that stuff right now.

Well that is pretty much it for this past week. This next week will be a tough one. Tuesday-Friday I have leadership meetings that go from 8-3. Not looking foward to that. Also next week my pday will be on Tuesday. Just an FYI.

Well I hope all goes well this week. Pray for me that I won't need this surgery done. :( Cause I don't want it. I just wanna be able to finish strong!!

The church is true. Thomas S. Monson is a prophet called of God. Christ does actively lead and guide this church.

I love you too mom!! I'll keep hanging in there. I've done it for 22 months, I can make it 2 more.... yup yesterday was 22 months in the mission!!! ;) Be good and say hi to my favorite little sister for me! Love you!!!

Love,
Elder Moore

September 27, 2010 September - A Month to Remember

2010-09-29T08:43:00.000-07:00

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!!!!!

2010-09-20T19:18:00.000-07:00

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

2010-09-13T11:04:00.000-07:00

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

2010-09-08T10:06:00.000-07:00

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. ;)

August 30, 2010 Oracion, escrituras, y iglesia = Testimonio‏

2010-08-30T19:26:00.000-07:00

Hey Hey Hey!!! Well.... another crazy week. It's amazing how some things can go SO good and others.... not so good.

We did have the Loeza family at church this week which was awesome!! As of right now only 3 of them are set for baptism because Orlando has not been keeping his commitments and we know he will not be ready. But Argenis, Joselyn, and Kimberly are so excited for there baptisms and are looking great for this Friday. We couldn't be more excited for them. Joselyn is liking the Book of Mormon so much that she took it to school to read it there... and by so doing, got in trouble and sent to the principals office! Atta girl. But they are making amazing progress.
Sad thing is though, that the dad will not be able to baptize them. We found out that he drinks and this past weekend came home drunk. We had a good sit down with him and his wife and sent all the kids off so that we could just talk to them. It was an amazing lesson we had with them. The spirit was so strong! By the end of the lesson they were asking themselves the questions that we had planned to ask, like..."Why did we even get baptized if we were just going to fall back into our old habbits," and "What kind of examples are we setting for our kids?" It was sooo cool. So Sunday we went to their house at 11:30 and they were all ready to go to church! So we talked with them, and 12:30 rolled around and they were like, welp time to go don't want to be late! So this week is going to be amazing!

And on top of that... Guillermo is getting baptized Friday as well!! 4 baptisms!!! :) He is still in Kansas but will be back tomorrow night. Earlier this week I reviewed the baptism questions with him and he is so ready! He has been reading daily from the Book of Mormon and praying everyday. Even sharing the gospel with co-workers down there. Ha funny story about him... So every morning when the alarm goes off I think to my self... no way is it 6:30 already. It can't be... but it ALWAYS is. So Wednesday the "alarm" goes off and I think to myself.... no way is it 6:30 already (ya know my morning ritual) and sure enough, it was 5:31. Guillermo texted us and said I am so excited to get baptized in the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. So I was ok with having to get up at 5:31 because of that. ;) So just know come Friday... there will be 4 baptisms here in the great Omaha Spanish North!

So this week was also kinda rough.... I found out that Veronica and Tony Sandoval are having marriage problems. Which is really sad because they are 2 weeks away from being able to go into the temple and be sealed! 2 weeks!!!! Ah. Stupid satan. Bumbhead. So I have been working with them and texting Veronica quite a bit beacuse she is looking for help and advice. I don't know why... but I always seem to be helping people with marriage/relationship problems. This is like the 5th time. So yesterday, I taught the Gospel Principles class on families and the responsibilities that Father and Mother have. Also talked about the fathers and the priesthood, on how we have the authority but not always the power, and then taught about mothers and nurturing. It went really well. I think the reason it went so well was because I started off with a soccer analogy. Hispanics love their soccer, so that automatically got there attention. Plus the Loezas were in there as well. And we went and saw them last night and they said that they want to start having family home evenings, so tomorrow night we are going to go over there and teach them how. Woohoo!!! I love that family and their strong desire to change. The parents are totally on board now!

So it was kind of a downer week with finding out about Brother Loeza not being able to baptize his kids, and the Sandovals problems, but hopefully all will get better. But it's been a great week too with the kids all coming to church and looking great for baptism! So no complaints.

Also this week we had some awesome trainings about how we can help our investigators gain a testimony so that they will then be ready and willing to keep commandments. We learned that a strong testimony comes from prayer, reading from the Book of Mormon and church attendance. When these things are done consistantly, investigators and members gain testimonies and then keep commandments. Also the bishopric gave a bomb class about prayer, scripture study, and family home evening. These things are become more and more important by the day. Doing these things is what gives us that constant protection needed against the threats of the world. So much of what we do as missionaries and members of the church right now is being evolved around the family.

Well... that was our week. I love you all!!!! Glad to hear that things are picking up down there in La Verkin. Can't wait to come check out the house.

Love you!
Love,
Elder Moore

August 23, 2010 From Fantastic....to horrible.

2010-08-24T11:55:00.001-07:00

( Here I am right before going to email you today!)

Well this week couldn't have started off better, and couldn't have ended worse. So to explain, I'll take you through the list of events that took place.

So right after I finished emailing you all last week I got a call from Orlando Loeza. He is the father of the kids that we will be baptizing in less than 2 weeks now. Well Sunday night we had given his daughter a blessing who has been really really sick with the flu. Monday they had an appointment with the doctor. So Monday afternoon we get a call saying that he had taken his daughter to the doctor and she was perfectly fine. He thanked us for healing his daughter and knew that it was only the priesthood that could have done that. I'm glad that he was able to see the priesthood in action and hopefully he will recieve the Melchizedek preisthood soon. But that really built my testimony on the power of the priesthood.

Then we went to the Old Market, it is such a cool place! Just an outdoor store place downtown. And this guy walked up to us who was a member and gave us 20 dollars and told us to go get some ice cream. So we did of course. Haha, by the way that is the first time that that has happened to me on my mission. Kinda... one time a woman gave me her onion rings.

Then on Wednesday I got fat. I've never eaten so dang much!! We went out to eat and I ate a huarrache, a sope, had some coke and orchata, then later that night it was Sister Riveras b-day so we showed up on her porch with a sign, party hats and Mole and Cake with flan. So I ate some mole and flan cake right afterwards. I had planned on fasting the next morning because I was so dang full....but, I ate. ;) What can I say I like food.

Then Thursday we went with Sister Rivera to visit the Loeza family. They are so cool!! But there are 9 of them so getting them to sit and be quiet is impossible. So needless to say everytime we go over there it is a party!

So Saturday we got a text from President Kunz asking us to all fast for the next 24 hours for the people that are set for baptism. This will come into play later.... So we started our fast.

Saturday was so so SO awesome!!!! We went to the trail center with..... 17 people!!! We brought 17 people there! Incredible eh? I would say so! The people at the trail center couldn't believe how many people were walking in with us.
We had all 9 of the Loeza family, plus one of their girlfriends, and their uncle. Then we had Roxana and Manuel and their 2 kids. And then the bishop came and brought his daughter. So we looked at Reflections of Christ pictures, watched the Joseph Smith movie (which they loved!) And then took a tour of the trail center. It was so awesome!!!! They had such a good time.

(Our trail center group!)

Well We ended our fast at 12 the next day and went and ate lunch with Roxana and Manuel. Holy dang I ate like 8 tacos. Not even kidding. And then they were going to come to church. And the Loezas were going to come for just sacrament meeting because it was Argenis' bday. So we were cool with that. So we had worked so so hard to get the standard this week. Last week we missed it my one lesson with a member. So we were really wanting to hit it this week. So we had taught all the lessons we needed too, found the new investigators, contacted referals. We'd done it all.....And not one person came to church, and to hit the standard requires 2 people at church. So that was pretty much the disappointment of the century. Knowing that we had done everything possible, to hit the standard and to help people come closer to Christ, and we had no fruits to show for it. Sacrament meeting is kinda like the big game. Everything you do during the week is focused on getting people to church. Getting them to come there and feel the spirit and take the sacrament. And when know one comes... it's just heartbreaking. Especially when 7 investigators said they would come. We were all pretty bummed. So this leads me to my fasting comment.

I hate fasting, I dont like not eating, so that one I obey because I have too. I'm not quite at the point that I do it because I love too. So I have fasted 3 times on my mission for people to come to church.... and 3 times... they haven't come. I'm not saying I've lost my testimony about fasting... I'm just saying....Anyways.
That was our week.

I'm glad to hear that Justin is doing great and is having a good time. That kid is a goober! He ridiculous!!! And by the way Ladron means thug or gangster and sometimes boss. That kid has to remember that there is more than just one spanish speaker in the fam. ;) I'm actually writing him a letter right now just giving him some advice. But I'll definitely include a tie in there when I send it. :) That's a good idea.

(Rebel)

Well I love you!!!! We just keep working away out here. And hopefully this week will be a better one. Enjoy La Verkin! I hope everything shapes up in the house.

Love,
Elder Moore

(Take a good hard look at what I'm holding :) hehehe! Found that. It grows in Iowa...it's called ditch weed.)

August 16, 2010 Guess what I got?

2010-08-17T06:57:00.000-07:00

Ok, so lets start off with something crazy that happened this week.... I got my first set of "trunky" papers. I need to feel these bad boys out so that they can start making my travel arrangements. I will be getting home December 10. It was so crazy getting those!!! It made me realize that time is running out. But it's ok, cause I have been working my butt off. This week we went from one person set for baptism, to 5 people set for baptism, and we had 5 people at church so it was flippin sweet!!!!

We set the kids of the Loeza family. The parents were baptized 12 years ago and have since gone inactive. But they were found again here in Omaha, and we started teaching them, and set 4 of their kids for baptism. The dad also really wants to baptize his kids, and that is what we want also, so he is doing everything he can to become worthy of that. So this should be an awesome experience for the whole family. We are also working really hard with the uncle of that family. So hopefully we can just get this whole family baptized. That would be so sweet!

So this week we had an ok week. I mean we were totally stoked about the 5 sets, but we had so many appointments cancel on us and 3 dinner appointments cancel also. That was a major bummer! But oh well... I'm still alive and kickin and that is the important part.

So the work is really picking up here, and we have a few more potential people that we are working with that could be set soon for baptism. We should be baptizing this area right out of existence. ;)

We also had a sweet soccer game with some mexicans this past week. Us american missionaries vs. some mexicans. Ha, yeah... totally won that game 5-2. It was legit! But so dang hot. It's been like 100 here with tons of humidity. The humidity is so crazy.

Man that is such a crazy story to hear about that boy dying. That is really sad! A guy that I taught when I was in South Omaha, a 19 year old, was shot 3 times and killed. There is so much killing going on here right now it's crazy. We saw in the paper that Omaha is home to 74 gangs right now and there are shootings pretty much everyday. It's ridiculous.

Yeah I wouldn't mind staying on verizon. I like it. So you don't need to cancel Justin's phone, I'll take that when I get home. And if I want to change later I will. :) Ha it's crazy to be talking about that kinda stuff.

Well I'm glad that everything went well your first Sunday in church, and don't ya worry when I come back that house will be a party house!! ;) I hope everything is going well with the kiddos. Say hi to them and tell 'em I love them!!! Cause I do!
And yes I did get my tag back and right as I opened your envelope I put that one back on. ;)

Well take care and I love you tons!!! Keep your head up!
Love,
Elder Moore

August 9, 2010

2010-08-11T08:16:00.000-07:00

Hey hey HEY!!!
Well I did get transfered.... but I'll tell you where in just a second. You won't believe it. So I get a call from President Kunz Wednesday morning and he says... Elder Moore to you miss spanish? And I said Yes. Then he said, "Well... I almost sent you out to Kearny as a zone leader, but I knew how much you love spanish, and how you would rather be there, so you are going back." So ya know where I am?..... Omaha North! Again. Haha! But it's ok, I was so so so excited to come back to Omaha! It was like coming home in a way. Since I spent the first year here, why not spend a little more time here ya know. :) So I am in the north, my mission birthplace, and I am a district leader here. And I have 2 companions, Elder Curisinche and Elder Starkey. President told me the 2 comps I would get are struggling some so to help them out. And so far we have done great! There is 7 elders and 2 sisters in my district. Oh yeah, and there are only 2 beds in our apartment, so of course I am sleeping on the couch. :) Since you all know how much I love the couch. ;)

So when I got here, they were teaching only one person. So not a whole lot going on here. But Elder Curisince had served here before also, so he knew some people and I know some people so now we are teaching a butt load of people. We went out and recontacted some of the people that we used to teach. So as of right now, we have a family of 4 that could be baptized, a family where the parents are members and the 5 kids of baptismal age are not, and Roxana and Manuel. So there is a possibility of many baptisms right now. I am so excited!!!! I am really looking forward to this transfer! There is a possibility for so much good work to be done here!

So yesterday on the way to church I got a call asking if I could teach the Gospel Principles lesson. Haha, I hadn't read it, and I haven't spoke spanish in like 10 weeks. So I got a little nervous, but it was on Repentance, so easy enough. It went really well and there was 5 investigators in the class. So that was cool. I am so happy to be back in spanish!!! You have no idea.

Also, since I stayed close, I was able to go back for Stella Mattox's baptism. That was great seeing her get baptized!!! That is the oldest person I have baptized on my mission. 71.

My new address is:
Elder Brandon Moore
605 S. 37th st #4
Omaha, NE 68105

So there ya have it. I am really looking forward to all the great things that are going to happen this transfer.

I am also glad to hear that Justin is doing great!! He is going to be a great missionary.

Good to know that the move is going just fine. And that Brooklyn was able to meeet some 'Hot' guys. Gosh she is funny!!

Please drive safe! 24 hours is a long drive! It's sad that Granny passed away, but she has the celestial kingdom written all over her. She was a great woman!! I love you!!!

Love,
Elder Moore

August 2, 2010

2010-08-02T20:39:00.000-07:00

Hahahahaha Justin talks about how he isn't going to write long emails and look at that first one....GINORMOUS!!!!

Well before I get started I want to say hi to a few people.... Hi to the Pillings! And the Sohms!! And the Morgans! And Aunt Diane! :) And of course to my friends on their missions that read this! And hello Amber. :)

Well this past week was a good one. And this week is transfers. I cannot belive it. We had exchanges with the assistants on Saturday night, and I was given warning.... I'm going leadership somewhere. He told me that he hopes I am ready for this because it's going to be a big change for me with lots of responsibility. So we'll see what happens. But whatever it is, I'm excited for it!!

So we got a referral for 2 jamaican guys this week! Totally awesome and legit!! It was one of the most powerful conversations I've ever had! The guy said to us that he felt some sort of energy running through his body that he had never felt before and that he knew that what we were saying was true. He told us that we were ripped (and it's funny because this guy was really strong so that was funny) but he said that we had spiritually strong muscles and that he knew that what we were saying was true! And we taught him a lesson and he understood it all and was repeating back what me and Elder Butler were teaching him. It was just a really really cool experience. These guys are totally getting baptized soon. And he has a wife and a son that are going to be baptized too. We have another appointment with them tomorrow.

So this week I did something AWESOME!! I picked corn for the first time. We were picking and husking corn for like 3 hours. I'm sure to those that do it all the time it isn't fun. But for us.... ah man it was the best time ever!! Ok, over exaggeration there. But it was still good. And we found a frog and Tanner was holding it and he put it close to my face and it jumped on my face. It was freaky! But kinda funny at the same time.

So I'm glad to hear that Justin is having a fantastic time in the MTC. He is going to make such a great missionary. I love that kid!!!

It is weird to think about.... only 4 months left. But I'm looknig forward to them. I am having such a good time right now.

Sister Mattox is getting baptized on Saturday. She is so so so ready!!! I can't wait for that. I won't be here, but that's fine. She is still getting baptized and that is the most important part. Yesterday Taylor blessed the sacrament for the first time and bore his testiomony. That was aweosme!!! All 3 of us bore our testimonies too and after that the meal calendar was full. Funny how that works... But it worked.
We also saw a really good play on Saturday called "Come Home to Kanesville." It was a really good play!! It was actually a musical about the pioneers. So that was basically our week. It's been a lot of fun. And a lot of really good stuff is happening here.

Yeah I did read that part about granny. That is so sad but she lived a good life! She is a great woman with celestial kingdom written all over her!! Also a woman I taught a lot in Omaha died this past week..... this was just a kinda sad week for that kind of stuff. I sure am going to miss granny though!

And youc an send me my tag when I get my new address that will be fine. I'm glad that you put it to good use. I love you. And thank you for the pictures!!

I hope all is going well there and I hope the move is going great! I love you!!! Have fun and take care!

Love,
Elder Moore

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

2010-07-27T10:13:00.000-07:00

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

July 19, 2010

2010-07-20T05:21:00.000-07:00

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

July 12, 2010 Crazy Fun Week !!!

2010-07-12T22:31:00.000-07:00

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!!!

July 6, 2010

2010-07-06T19:40:00.000-07:00

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

June 28, 2010

2010-06-29T06:15:00.000-07:00

Well not much changed in my life this transfer. I am still here in Kanesville. I was actually pretty mad about that. About not going back to full spanish, since now I am the oldest spanish missionary in the mission, plus I speak it the best, even better than a native from Peru. He is always asking me questions. So I wasn't to happy. President Kunz called me and said that he knew I would be dissapointed, which I was, but he knew that there was more for me to do here. The Lord does work in mysterious ways... and sometimes I don't like his ways... but gotta accept that He knows better than me.

Well, instead of being mad for a while, I decided to just go work. And we talked to a hispanic guy on his porch and we started talking about the gospel, then his wife came out and we started talking to her, she is american and her two kids both speak english too, but his english is very limited, well, the 3 of them are now set for baptism on July 24th. So I guess that there was a little more for me to accomplish here. It is an english area, but I am in charge of the spanish work here. I am also helping my friends in the Omaha ward contact some less actives out here. So I use my spanish sometimes, but not as much as I want too. But President Kunz did say I would be back in full spanish next transfer. So this transfer better fly by. But right now in our area we do have 5 people set for baptism on the 24th of July. So it is going to be a way awesome day!!!

Also yesterday we had 6 people at church that are investigators! So the work is going really good right now. It does suck though, because we are doing it all without the members. They have no desire to do anything. Our ward mission leader said to us yesterday "It's amazing that you still baptize even without our help."
So we had a meeting yesterday with some of the ward council, and most of them were complaining about having to be there in the meeting, and they weren't doing any of the assignments that L. Tom Perry gave to them to do. So I said, "Hey, an apostle of the Lord came here, to this mission, and told us how to do missionary work, why are we not doing it?" And none of them could say anything. So I hope that that gets them going and contacting the people they need too.

Yeah I am in a 3some still. With Elder Butler and Elder Warby, me and Elder Butler have served around each other since the day he got here. So I know him really well.

Oh yeah I forgot to mention, yesterday for lunch, we ate at the Edwards mansion! President Edwards pretty much owns Council Bluffs, he owns some dealerships here and oh man..... it was cool, and this morning we went out on his property, which is also huge, and fished for 3 hours. It was awesome!!! I haven't fished in like 2 years. It was fun. And he gave us 200 dollars to take the missionaries out for lunch today. This place isn't soooo bad. It's definitly no sweet spanish area though. ;)

That is basically how the work is going here! I"m glad that the Vassars gave you that hug for me. ;) They are awesome! It was great to see them!

Don't worry Momma I will finish off the mission strong. I am doing really good right now. I would much rather be in full spanish, but I'll make do with what I have now. ;) Obviously there is more for me to do here, and I'll do it.

I'm glad that the house is all coming together! Can't wait to see it, you are right, just 5 months. By the way my pday next week will be July 6th, tuesday, just a heads up. :)

I love you!!!!! Have fun!

Love,
Elder Moore

June 21, 2010

2010-06-23T19:17:00.000-07:00

Well hello hello hello!! Shout out to the Adamsons...... Go Lakers!! ;)

This past week I had a really nice treat! Rick Vassar gave me a call. They were here in Nebraska, so I was able to see him and his family. It was really cool. They are a great family! And Victoria has grown up so much!

This week was a packed one. We had zone conference, interviews, and the temple. So not a whole lot of work got done. But work still did get done.

I had a really really cool spiritual experience this past week. There is a woman from our ward in the hospital with heart problems. She was really having a hard time and freaking out and crying. We went and visited her to give her a blessing. I gave the blessing and the spirit was there stronger than I have ever felt it at any other time in my life. I won't give much detail about what happend, but let's just say.... the priesthood is very real, and the spirit is very very real.

This week we have had some of the most crazy of crazy storms. Non stop lightning and thunder. This last storm started yesterday at 8 at night and ended today at 9:30 today. It was a huge storm!

Well it sounds like Brooklyn has had a crazy start to summer with her trip, birthday, and youth conference. But sounds like a great one! That is Awesome that Matt Farr got his mission call!!!! Good for him. I'll barely miss him by a month. But that's alright, we'll meet again. ;) I"m really excited for him! I can't believe everyone that is leaving on missions. It's crazy!! I love it. The mission is a great expereince. ;)

Well I don't have to much to say about this week, besides that it has been busy. Transfers are on Thursday. So I'm looking forward to that. Besides that, life is good. I"m really enjoying the mission.

So these past 2 weeks I have been studying a lot about the Holy Ghost and Personal revelation and it has been incredible and I've really felt the spirit helping me know what to say and do. The spirit gives so many great gifts! I started a study this past week based off of one scripture that will take a lifetime to study, but it's been amazing. It's based off the scripture in Matthew 16:15. Jesus asks his apostles "whom say ye that I am?" So I've been studying ensign talks and conference talks and the scriptures and learning more about Christ. It has been amaazing and I have learned so much about him. He truly is the son of God, and Savior and Redemer of the world. I also learned something really cool the other day, through this study. In 1 Nephi 3:7 Nephi says that the Lord always prepares a way for us to accomplish what he has given us. And in this study about Christ, Christ says, I am the way. The way that has been prepared for us is Jesus Christ. I had never related those 2 sciptures before. So that was really cool!!

No I didn't get a chance to see the Lakers game. ;( But next year. ;) It sounds like it was a really good one! That's right Celtics!!!!! I'm so happy the Lakers won it!! 2 peat!! I'll be around for when they win it next year.

Haha Brooklyn is such an awesome girl!!!!! I love my brother and sister. We have a sweet awesome sauce family!!! Well I love you!!! Thanks for everything!!!

Love,
Elder Moore

June 14, 2010

2010-06-14T13:59:00.000-07:00

Well this week was pretty good! We had a baptism on Saturday. Micky was baptized. So that was a lot of fun seeing her start her journey on the way to eternal life. She is a bit of a cooc, but she is funny.

We had some pretty cool moments this week. But before I get to that.... Last Saturday, we got in a car accident. That brings my toll up to 3 on the mission. A guy ran a stop sign and we hit him. So it smashed up the front of our car. Haha, man, 0 accidents before the mission. #\3 while on it. Crazy sauce eh?

So ha, we had a weird, powerful, scary type lesson this week. We talked to a guy on the street named Darwin. He is a paper guy. LIke 60 years old, long hair, beard. He said that he had read the Book of Mormon and invited us over to his house. Well... we went to his house and he was waiting outside for us and took us around back. We went in through this door and up these stairs and into a hallway, and it was like we were in a scary movie or one of those Saw movies. Everything just felt really eery. Then we walked through his kitchen, which had nothing in it, and into the front room that had only a chair. With a rope tied to some wood and leading to the front door across the ceiling. It just felt really scary. And from talking to him we found out he goes to a psychaitrist every once in a while... But we stareted to teach him and had a way powerful lesson with him where the spirit was strong and he was understanding everything and as we were about to finsish he said.... Wow, I feel really good right now. I want you to leave. Lets stop the lesson there, and you can leave now. Haha, it was the weirdest thing ever!

So I went and had dinner with the Sandovals this past week. That was great. I love that family! We were going to be down in Bellvue so I called Veronica and asked her if we could come over for dinner. And she said of course we could! So it was fun seeing some of my old friends.

Well the work here in Iowa is going great! Here, I talk to a lot of hispanic people and teach them the first lesson sometimes, but then I have to turn them over to the Spanish Omaha South missionaries because that is part of their area. So that's a bummer but I did find them like 9 people this past week. And I was able to team up with them and teach a lesson. So that was a lot of fun since pretty much all the teaching we do here is in English but I am hoping that I will go back to full spanish next week when we have transfers.

I know that President Kunz put me here for a reason. I got a long with every missionary in the mission but one. Elder Gann. Who is my comp? Elder Gann. And Elder Warby. And now me and Elder Gann are way good friends. We have a lot in common and are always talking about stuff we both like and quoting movies and stuff. So it's been good.

Well I'm glad to hear that Brooklyn had a great birthday!!! Sorry I missed it. ;) And that she had a lot of fun in Taiwan! That must have been a really neat experience for her. I love that girl!

And Justin's date to enter the MTC is coming up fast! Woohoo!! He is going to flippin love his mission.

Well I hope all is well... I"m sure there is much more to say... but I can't remember all of it right now. But I'm pretty sure I covered the highlights with the baptism and all.

I love you!!! Thanks for your testimony mom. I really appreciate it. And I have really appreciated your love and support!

Take care.
Love,
Elder Moore

June 7, 2010

2010-06-07T10:14:00.000-07:00

Well unfortunately these computers here only give us one hour and kick us off. No matter what. SO I can't write as much as I used too. But hopefully I'll be out of Iowa and back into a spanish area at the end of the transfer which is 2 and a half weeks away.

I have found so many hispanic people here but I have to turn them over to the Omaha south spanish elders. But yesterday I was able to have a sweet lesson with three brothers. It felt SO dang good teaching in Spanish. It's what I"m used too. When we teach people in english or talk to them on the street I have such a hard time, believe it or not. But being able to talk to them in spanish and teach them in spanish comes so much more naturally.

Well this week we found a snake in the toilet. Ha, crazy stuff. It was dead.

And on a more spiritual note... We had a way awesome lesson with a 22 year old girl named Susan. She has had such a hard life. At age 15 she was raped in her church and her dad is a major jerk and just a lot of things have happened in her life that are just so terrible and heartbreaking. So it has led her to question if God is even there and if he exists. Well we were teaching her at the church and we went in the chapel. And we kneeled down and prayed with her in there. And we asked God if he was there. And in the prayer there was a long 2 minute pause where we just sat and listened. And then we closed the prayer. And not a word was said for like 3 minutes following the prayer, the spirit was so strong in that room. Then she started to cry and said, "I know he's there." It was so powerful. And I personally received a very strong witness that God lives and loves us and answers our prayers.
Also we were able to go watch the Joseph Smith movie with her yesterday. That is such a good movie! I noticed this time through, that whenever Joseph Smith or anyone has a trial or a problem, he always says, "We must trust in God and move on." or "To endure it well we must trust in God." Everytime he had a trial his solution was to trust in God. 3 words... Trust in God. I love that.

Thank you mom for your wonderful email. I have been struggling lately as you know. But I am getting better now. We had a great week. It's been really hard. But I know that it's all in the plan of the Lord. Whatever happens to us we have to realize that the Lord is shaping us into who he knows we can be. Its hard to want to believe that sometimes, that these trials are for our good, but I know that if we do endure them well that we will be richly blessed for it.

My new companions are Elder Gann and Elder Warby. We have a great time together. But Elder Gann goes home this transfer, and I will be leaving here in 2 and a half weeks. Yeah! I can't wait to get back into spanish

Well that is all I will write for this week. Sorry so short. But as I said, I have very limited time. Mom thank you for your encouraging words and for the strength you provide me with. I love you so much!!! Sorry I can't write more right now because of time. But I'll try and get a letter off to you this week. I do love you mom!! Less than 6 months left now. :) Then I can give you your nightly hug and kiss. Haha

Well I love you! Say hi to Brooklyn for me and wish her Happy Birthday!!!!!!!

Love,
Elder Moore

June 1, 2010

2010-06-01T11:05:00.000-07:00

Elder Moore dashed off a very quick email today to let me know he had been transferred to Iowa. I guess we can expect to hear more next week!

May 24, 2010

2010-05-26T15:13:00.000-07:00

So it sounds like you had quite the week! Wish I could say my week was half as interesting as yours........ BUT I can't.

So I'm going to start off by being brutally honest. Mom, that house looks like a dumb. But you're right, I won't judge it. And I have faith that you can turn this place around. I'm just glad I don't have to be part of "turning it around." Because yes, I have little faith right now after seeing those pictures. :) Just kidding mom! I'm sure it will look great when you are done with it!! I love you!!
I trust that you know what you are doing and that it will look great by the time I get home!! It looks like it has some real potential.

That is so exciting that Brooklyn leaves for Taiwan this week! I am so excited for her. She is a lucky girl, I hope she knows that. Wish her luck and tell her I love her too!!!!!

Well.... This week was just another week in the mission. Still struggling with teaching people and getting people to progress. We are also working right now with a lot of less actives. We spent our whole meeting with our mission leader on Wednesday discussing less actives. We have about 15 right now that used to be very active in the church and now don't come at all. So an hour and a half was spent discussing them and what can be done to help them out.

We came up with a few ideas which are some pretty cool ones. We are going to start playing soccer every Saturday morning so we can start to build some sort of unity in the group. So we are inviting everyone in our group and asking them to invite their friends. So this should be fun. And the elders in Crete are going to do the same. Then the first Saturday in July we are going to have a championship game. Lincoln vs. Crete. Haha, I'm so excited for that!

We are also going to be having a fireside about Christ, and we are going to invite the Omaha ward to come down and join us. So hopefully we can get more people to understand Christ and his atonement better and strengthen their testimony in him. Usually people go less active because they have a very weak testimony. I'm really sick of the excuses people give for not coming to church.

Also this next Sunday we are having a fifth Sunday fireside during the last hour of church and I've spent some time putting together family mission plans. We have a group family mission plan but it is pretty much non existent. No one looks at it or does a thing on it. So I've put together individual family ones and I'll be teaching the lesson and presenting the family mission plans this week. Wish me luck. Hopefully it goes well and we can get people helping us out more with missionary work instead of them being the people we are having to focus on.

Also we are going to start teaching english classes. I made flyers for those as well and we will be handing them out to everyone we see and posting them on bulletin boards and the local hispanic stores. So that way we can find people to teach. And we will teach the classes in the church. So then we can invite them for church on Sundays. So hopefully we can find more people that way.

Yeah I know I asked to get out of Omaha. I was tired of being there and I have almost been here now 6 months. And usually after being in an area after 6 months I am done and ready to leave. But not here. This place is having so much troubles right now. And as much as I hate it, and as much crap that I have dealt with over the course of the last 2 months. I'm not ready to leave it. I still feel like there is a lot that can be done here and a lot that I can do. I've been trying really hard. But maybe I just need to try harder. I was so bummed when I didn't go to Crete. It really sucked. But now I'm glad that I stayed here. I think it is definitely helping me to learn patience. Kind of. I haven't quite learned it yet. Since I still get so mad when peole make dumb excuses to why they didn't come to church. But I hope I stay here longer because I don't feel like I've done enough here.

Well we used to teach a guy named David. He was ALWAYS drunk!!! He would be there talking about killing himself and swearing and it was just bad. Well we ran into him again. He had been clean for 5 days and looked great. He was a nice guy. Had a button up shirt on, hair combed over. It's amazing to see what not drinking can do to a person. You really do have so much more freedom. So we taught him and hopefully we can get him set for baptism soon because he loves what we teach and he wants to go out and teach with us. Only minor problem we have with him is..... he lives in his van. But that's ok, we'll work with that. :)

So quick story. We were teaching a 19 year old named Estefany. We gave her a Book of Mormon and asked her to pray about it. So we came back a few days later and we were talking with her and asked her if she had read. She said yes. Then we asked if she had prayed. She said yes. Then we asked if she had gotten an answer. And she said she had a dream. In her dream her mom, who had died about 10 years ago, came to her. She told us that she never has dreams of her mom. So her mom answered her in her dream and told her that this church was not something new but that it was God's church and that she should learn more about it. So she told her that she had felt she recieved the answer that this is the true church. We were so excited!! But the only bad thing is..... that she left for Mexico this past Saturday. I hope he finds the church down there. We gave her all the information needed to be ale to contact the missionaries there.

So there is a chance we may be moving back into our old apartment. In this apartment people are allowed to smoke inside and Elder Rigby has asthma and it has been bothering him. So we'll find out today if they send us back to the old one or not. We hope so. Cause that old apartment is the bomb!!

haha wow must stink to be living in Utah right now!! Here it has been 80's and 90's and very very VERY humid. It's such a wet heat. But I don't mind. I love hot weather! But I can't believe that it is snowing there! That is crazy! Sorry. :)

Thank you for the pictures! Hahaha Justin looks way happy in that top picure with his mission call. I've never seen that kid smile so big!! And that is a hideous suit he is wearing. Tell him to leave it for me. :) Laynie looks so grown up!!! Good grief. And you and Brooklyn look great!! Betty is such a sweetheart!! Geez I miss my family. ;) Haha yeah I know ya'll are still going to be there when I get home :) And I"m looking forward to seeing you all soon. Time really does fly. Those were some great pictures. Especially of Dawson and Brooklyn. Gosh our famliy is the best!!!!!!!

Hey mom my pday will be on Tuesday of next week because of the holiday. Just letting ya know. I love you!!!!!! Good luck with our new way awesome house! It will be great. :) Well that's it for this week. I hope everything starts to get better there. I love you all!!!!

Love,
Elder Moore
Go Lakers!!!

May 17, 2010 Fuimos al templo y hicimos un sesion en espanol, fue bien chido!!‏

2010-05-17T20:54:00.000-07:00

Well hello there!

Another transfer down and a few more to go. I stayed with Elder Rigby. But we did get kicked out of our apartment and moved to another one. So the address there is:
1411 D st #7
Lincoln, NE 68502
It's cheaper..... and it's obvious why. It's a tiny little bugger, but whatever. Right now we are living there with 2 other missionaries. They are actually moving down to Crete today. Yup they opened Crete. Yay. So I got to go down there and show the 2 missionaries that are opening it around and show them who we are teaching and tell them about everyone. That was great.... I was actually pretty mad when I found out that I was going there. But whatever, life goes on. That's become my new saying lately if you haven't been able to tell.

So this past Saturday was cool. We had a spanish meeting up in Omaha. I gave a one hour training on the culture. It was about finding common ground and building upon it. It went really well. So the meeting was 5 hours long and then we went to the temple and did a session in Spanish. That was a lot of fun. I'd never done one in Spanish before so I really enjoyed it!! It was cool to be able to understand the whole thing too!

Afterwards we went over to the Sandovals and had dinner with them and with the Riveras. Ah that was so nice to be back with some of my old friends. Haha, there was no handshakes there. Every one of them hugged me. It was so nice to be with some of the people that I have come to love. It was a party there. The Riveras, the Sandovals, and 6 missionaries.

Well honestly that is about all that happened this week. The work is going..... That's about all I can say about that right now. We did find a few new people this week and we are working on contacting the former investigators. So this transfer should be a good one we are hoping. We need a good transfer.

Well have fun in La Verkin! You'll have to send me some pictures of the house. I would appreciate that. And thank you so much for the package!! I loved it. I love you Mom!!!!! You are the best!!!

I love you!!!
Love,
Elder Moore

May 10, 2010

2010-05-13T05:09:00.000-07:00

I don't really have much to say this week because I told you all of it yesterday. So I figured I would attach some pictures for you to enjoy since this email is going to be very very short.

The first picture is of the can tower we are building in our apartment.

And sorry the 2nd picture is a little blurry but that was at the part we had at church.

This one is of the dancers that danced at our party. It was a lot of fun.

And lastly, here is a picture of some sidewalk art we did. We didn't have chalk so we used Tums :)

Well yesterday was a great day and I loved talking to all of you!!! It was so great to hear your voices and hear that everyone is doing so well! Mom, I hope that you had a great mother's day!!! You deserve it. You are a great mother and I love you! Thank you for the advice you gave me yesterday and for the great stories of Weston. That kid is a hoot.

We were supposed to go golfing today but there is a big rainstorm today, so we are getting some good rain too. At like 5:30 this morning we had thunder that shook the entire apartment. IT was so crazy!!!!! And way loud. Nuts!!

Well I hope you all have a fantastic week. This could be my last one in Lincoln. But I guess we'll see... Wednesday is transfers. I got a call this morning from the office and they asked me again about apartments in Crete so there is a chance they could be opening it this transfer. But I guess we'll wait and see. Gosh, how many times have you heard that? But it was cool to get a call and have them ask me about a specific apartment I told them we liked... so maybe there is hope.

Well have a fantastic week. I love you all!!!!!
Love
Elder Moore

May 3, 2010 Git R Done

2010-05-03T10:24:00.000-07:00

Woohoo!!!!!! I wish you all had some idea of how happy I am for Justin!!! He is going to have a great time serving his mission there in Nicaragua that lucky kid! I'm even more excited for him because I'm going to go pick him up! :) But really the hispanic people are absolutely incredible and Justin you are really going to come to love them. You are very lucky, I hope you know that. You are going to have such a fantastic time and I am so excited for you!

So I know that the last few weeks I have been kind of a downer, and honestly this week was no better. Like these past few weeks I have been flipped off sworn at and called queer/fag more times than I have my entire mission. I have learned to laugh it off where it doesn't even bother me. Also, we had 15 people total in church yesterday and 6 of them were visiting from Utah and spoke no spanish. So that goes to tell you how well our little group is doing. But these past few weeks have made me think a lot. So I'm going to share with you my thoughts. Who ever said that the mission is the best 2 years of your life was a liar. I'm sure that the first few years of marriage are better. The first few years of having your first kid are better. So the mission I would say will not be best 2 years of my life, but I know that they will be the best 2 years FOR my life. I know that this amazing experience is preparing me for future callings in the church, of husband and father. I know that the mission has helped me come to know that this is the only true church. On the mission I have felt the Savior's love and power more than I ever have at any point previously in my life. I've gained a stronger testimony of the Holy Ghost and it's role, and the help that it provides. The mission has made ME better. And has strengthed my personal testimony of the gospel.

I know that all the hard times I've encountered this past little while has taught me a lot and will somehow work out for my good. There is a lesson we can learn from every experience we have. God sees the big picture and we don't. I haven't figured out the lesson I'm supposed to learn yet, I'm working on it, but I'm sure one day it will be crystal clear and I'll understand why I've had to go through these things I've had to go through these past few weeks. I love the mission, it has been a great 17 months, but there is so much heartache and trial that takes place in the mission. And on the other hand there is so much joy and happiness when you see someone that you have come to love accept the gospel, enter into the waters of baptism, and come closer to Christ. There is no better feeling than that in the world.

I've also thought quite a bit about Noah. Poor guy. He taught the gospel for 100 years!!! And during that 100 years he only managed to save his family, and Noah knew that even if he were just to save his family, he was successful. I can't imagine being called to be a prophet, by God, and trying to preach to people that just reject you and don't listen to anything you have to say. It's sad because we know the truth, we know the blessings and joy that being a member of the TRUE church brings, and to watch people turn it all down because they would rather be part of the world is just so sad.

This past week we had to drop Hector as an investigator. That was hard. I've been working with him since I got here. My first day I was here I started teaching him. But he just isn't ready, and is not yet willing to change.

Before I forget, Thursday night 3 tornadoes touched ground and we had a crazy awesome storm! Non stop lightning and thunder, strong rain, hail, and as I said before....TORNADOES! They were advising everyone to stop driving to get away from windows and watch out for flying debree. It was legit.

So anyways.... this past week we went down to Nebraska City which is about 55-60 miles east of us to go visit some people that the missionaries had found out there. So we did and I have to tell you, I'm not one to bash with anyone.... but, the Jehova's Witnesses are just so much fun. So I went with Elder Routladge to visit this guy named Mario and his wife. They have talked to him some because he speaks a little english. So he likes us, she doesn't. So we were sitting on their porch just talking and then the wife started getting into it with me, and I just sat there and let her rip our church and me apart for about 15 minutes and when she was done... I asked.... is that all? And she said yes. So then I started. I started to show her that everything she had just said about us was not true using her very own bible. She said that Joseph Smith didn't see God because the bible says no one can see God. So I showed her where Moses and God talked face to face like a man and his friend talk. Haha, she was amazed that that was in her bible. So she started taking notes so that she could discuss this stuff with the Jehovah's Witnesses that come over every Friday to teach her. She then started talking about how God doesn't call Prophets anymore, so we discussed that as well. I hate how many people quote that part in Matthew where Christ says to beware of false prophets. No one knows the verse afterwards that talks about their fruits and by them ye shall know them. Then we talked about how I came to know that Joseph Smith saw God and we talked about how by faith and prayer we can know, because God will answer us. So by the end of our hour long conversation, she was convinced that we could possibly be the true church. It was so AWESOME! Odds are the Jehovah Witnesses have already destroyed what was just built, but oh well.... it was a really cool experience helping her realize that God does call prophets, that he does keep revealing things to us in this day, and that he loves us enough to bring forth another book of scripture that testifies of Christ and that can help us learn more about him.

So pretty much I've just been so tired of nobody wanting the Gospel. We are teaching plenty, but not finding any that want to progress right now. It's that dang free agency that I have come to dislike with a passion. But anyways.... I started reading through our area book on Sunday night, and I read every former investigator sheet that was in there, ha it took me like 2 and a half hours. I was up a little past bed time. But I found some good names of people that were interested but for some reason or another stopped listening to the missionaries. So this week should be fun. We are going to go out and contact all these people. It's really hard though because people here move so much. Hispanics move in and live there for like 3 months and boom, there gone again. So hopefully we can find some people.

So about the Mother's day phone call. I'll probably be calling there at yeah... 3:30 your time. Because our church goes from 1-4. So we'll get out at 4 and make our calls ok? Ok!! We are thinking we may just go buy a pay as you go phone and put some minutes on there. It's probably our best option right now. But we may also use a member's phone. So still not sure. But we'll see... either way, I'll be calling at 3:30ish your time.

So this week my spanish really came in handy. I've made quite a few friends down there in Nebraska City the 3 times I've gone down there. So one of them gave me a call Saturday night saying that they had some spanish guy in front of their house needing help but they couldn't understand what he was saying. So they asked if I could translate so I said sure. This is when I know my spanish has gotten good, he was so drunk and I was talking to him on the phone. So he started to tell me how he had been drinking and had crashed his car into the lake and that the police would take it out but that he couldn't get it back until Tuesday but he needed to get to Omaha that night. Haha. So anyways... I told Bill and Leslie his story and anyways they ended up giving him a ride to Omaha and all.... but I love spanish! Justin, you're going to LOVE learning it. It's so much fun!

Well that is pretty much the jist of the week. I'm really looking forward to this week though. It should be a really good one we are hoping. We need a good week. It's been far too long without one. I can't wait to talk to you all on Sunday!!! But until then, stay good, and be safe. I love you!

Love,
Elder Moore

PS.......GO LAKERS!

April 26, 2010 Life Still Goes On.

2010-04-27T05:54:00.000-07:00

Wow, sounds like everything is pretty darn crazy there with the moving and Justin waiting for his mission call! I cannot wait to recieve that phone call Wednesday. That will be AWESOME! I'm so excited for him and that he has decided to go on a mission. It will really bless his life and he'll have the opportunity to bless the lives of many others. So I'm so excited for him!

Well this week was a crappy one. That's about all I can say. The past 2 weeks have been the hardest most challenging weeks of my mission. And now I am just really sick...throwing up all night, that kinda good jazz. I think it's mostly because of all the stress. Lately things just haven't been good. Everything has fallen apart. Fidel is drinking and getting high again. We're trying to help a guy not commit suicide, and he is constantly drunk, doesn't matter what hour of the day. Our group leader/ward mission leader is getting on our case for who knows what. I was released as district leader for things I couldn't even control. Everyone in the group just has problems right now, whether it be getting kicked out of there apartment because they don't have money to pay rent, or they have a problem with someone else in the group, etc.

Lincoln has proved to be so much more challenging than Omaha. The problems here are so much diferent and the support that comes from the group is so little. Really my desires to do much this week weren't very high. But we had to keep working.
I was reminded of the story of Christ, when John the Beloved was beheaded. And Christ went to be alone to mourn for John. And the people came to him because they needed his help. So Christ had compassion on them and healed them. When Christ was hurting and struggling he served the people and that brought him joy. So I tried to take that experience and relate it to myself. I have been such a real downer these past 2 weeks. I just haven't been myself. So we decided to work a little harder this week and do some walking and tracting and street contacting. We just went around looking for opportunities to serve. So that is what we did, and it did help some. It raised my desire to do missionary work, that's for sure.

We did run into 2 bums this week and it was hilarious. The guy would talk to us and do yoga moves while talking to us. I wish I could show you because it was hilarious!! Oh well.... in 7 months I'll show you the yoga moves this guy was pulling while talking about God the father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost. He talked about how he lived in the hood in LA and in New York. He also talked about how the white dove appears to him and his friends call him the "Birdman." And then his other friend, Larry, was sitting behind him on the steps and he shouts out "Hey Ya'll are phony bologna!" And the "Birdman" says to him, "Not all of them Larry, not all of them." It was so funny. Then Larry, the guy on the steps said "Peace be unto you." And he showed us the peace sign then he said "NOT!" and flipped us off. It was quite entertaining.

Another cool part of the week, we preached a sermon to a group of 8 drunk guys. We also got threatened to be hit with a hammer and shot by a guy. So we left. This week was just a wild one. I'm ready for things to start looking up. We did spend a hour and a half last night with Hector talking to him and being very bold with him. Elder Rigby and I decided that if he didn't accept a baptismal date last night we were going to drop him because we have been working with him for a while now and he is not going anywhere. So at the end of the night... he accepted to be baptized on May 8th. So we'll see what happens. He has a few hold backs.... but we are hoping to get him there. That was the one bright spot of the week.

I lied. Me and Elder Rigby were cleaning out a closet in the apartment that just has a bunch of junk in it and you'll never guess what we found...2 typewriters in briefcases! So now we each have a typewriter and a briefcase for our typewriter. Pretty much was one of the most happiest moments of my life! Well that is it for me. Sorry this was such a downer. Hopefully things will turn around this week and I can have better news for you all next week.

Yes I will be here this next week. :) transfer aren't until the 13th of May. I am hoping to open Crete too. We shall see what happens though. Keep praying! I love you all! Be safe and enjoy southern Utah!!

Love,
Elder Moore

April 19,2010 Life Goes On

2010-04-19T17:03:00.000-07:00

There it is.... the new slogan. Life Goes On. I've learned that whenever you have a hard week or things just aren't going the way you want them too.... Life Goes On.

This week was a decent one. We are teaching plenty, but aren't having much progress. We went out to Crete yet again and found more and taught more. It may be close to impossible but not completely impossible to open Crete this next transfer because a spanish missionary went home last week. But I still think it can be done. There are 2 many missionaries that were called english, got switched to spanish and are back in english areas (if that makes any sense) that could be switched back to spanish. Then we would have enough. Plus we have one new spanish missionary coming in this next transfer. So we'll see what happens. Hopefully it opens up though. As you know I have been wanting this so bad for so long. But whatever happens, happens and we just go with it.

So yesterday was Stake Conference. That was really really good. Elder Smith, an area 70 was there and gave an amazing talk! President Kunz, Sister Kunz, and President Bateman (the stake president) also spoke at the meeting. Unfortunately only 2 memebers from our group showed up. I really don't know what's going on right now. Things have just been so.....down?...I guess would be the word. We have hit a rough spot that we haven't really pulled out of yet. And it's with everyone, members and investigators. It looks like we are going to drop Hector and Jully because they are being major bums. Hector just keeps making excuses. He said if he found a job he would get baptized, he found a job. He prayed before his job interview and asked God to help him get the job. He got it, now he wants a car before he is baptized. It's just ridiculous. We've been so bold with him and he just doesn't get it.

Also, I have noticed something. It's always hard being a convert and having to change everything. It's hard, but it's worth it and some people just don't realize it. They aren't willing to TRY obeying the Lord's commandments because they don't think anything will come of it, or they are content living the way they live. But if they would just TRY it, just for a week, or 2 weeks, they will see how much the Lord has for them and how much he is willing to bless them! They just aren't willing to make that sacrafice sometimes and it's frustrating and hard to watch when we know what will come of them doing what God asks them to do.

We went out to Crete like I said earlier and tried to see Edgar, he wasn't home, but his mom was. Oh man.... Me and her got into it big time. She won't let Edgar come to church anymore, says he HAS to go with her. She called us liars and decievers, said we go around confusing people. So I just let her have it. She was yelling at me, so I didn't yell at her, but I didn't use my nice "sweet" voice either. It was pretty intense, and funny at the same time. Elder Rigby didn't know what to do so he just stood there, and I could tell he was just like what the heck is going on. Because it was pretty intense. So after about 10 minutes of arguing and as she started to recognize that defeat was drawing near, she kicked us out and told us we are no longer welcome in her home. Fine with me. But then as we were on the porch Edgar and Annel showed up and we hung out on the porch and talked with them for about an hour.

So last week, on a fun note, we got pranked. The Elders from Holmes Lake broke into our apartment and put syrup on EVERYTHING! The whole kitchen floor, counters, fridge, stove, dishes, then they flipped our beds and put stuff in them and then tried to make jello in our bathtub. So, we had to get them back of course.... they started a prank war. So the next day during lunch, us and the elders from Trendwood broke into their apartment and put every piece of furniture they owned in there bedroom, we stacked their beds and piled everything in there! Even the food from there cabinets. Then we filled up their bath tub with lots of good nasty stuff, and put fish in he air vents. It was a sweet prank. and it only took us about 30 mintues to do all of that. It was so awesome! So later that night they called us and truced. I don't blame them. Ya don't mess with us. :) I love the missionaries here and the friendships you create with everyone. I really have loved my mission and I am going to miss it so much when it comes time for me to go home.
There really is no greater calling than teaching the gospel. Although young mens president comes close right Tyler? :)

But I do love just talking to people, I love knocking doors and talking to people on the street. It sucks when they reject this message. And when they reject it, they have no idea what it is they are rejecting. I wish that people would just listen. I can't even imagine how frustrating it must have been for Christ, trying to teach the people and them rejecting him and his teachings. Rejecting happiness that can last forever. It's hard when people reject it. It's especially hard when we know the blessings that can come from not just being a part of, but living the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We really are blessed to have a prophet and to have God's authority. I love this church and I know it's true. I love you all!

Congrats Tyler on your new calling! You are going to be great! You have such a great gift. You are what got a lot of boys from our quorum on missions. You helped, changed. and affected so many peoples' lives in so many different ways. And definately mine. I am so greatful for the time you took to be a good example to me. I love you!

Mom, here is the Thompson's number again... 402-620-5703. Call that if Justin gets his call this week and tell them and Melanie will give me a call. That would be AWESOME! J- Money I am so excited for you!!! I miss you - you little stud. You are going to be a great missionary! And it doesn't matter where you go, it's the people you teach. I LOVE Nebraska!!! It is the best mission in the world! But I'm sure you'll get called to the second best mission in the world. You'll love it though! I love you broski!

And mom thanks for the picture you sent of you and Amber. You both look great! Talk to ya soon.... like really... I'll be able to talk to you.:) I love you!

Love,
Elder Moore

Notes from Stake Conference:
We had the opportunity to listen to Elder Terrance C. Smith of the Seventy at the Lincoln Stake Conference this weekend. Here are a few notes from his talks.
We build faith by: 1. Reading the scriptures (particularly the Book of Mormon), 2. Praying, and 3. Attending Sacrament meeting. These are typically the first three commitments that missionaries extend to investigators and they are the same things that members must do to constantly build faith. A three-legged stool is more solid and firm than a one-legged stool. We must do all three to build faith.

"Don't take counsel from your fears." People have concerns and if they listen to these concerns they will not take advantage of available blessings. Instead, they must exercise faith unto repentance and the first fruits of repentance is baptism.

"Don't doubt in the dark what you learned in the light." In other words, we learn about the gospel which brings the Spirit (or light) into our lives. As people drift away, they begin to doubt in the darkness of their inactivity the truths they learned while being faithful in the gospel.

When the prophet Joseph Smith went into the grove of trees to pray, he went with the intention not only to find out which church was true but also with a determination to join that church. We also must seek the inspiration from the Lord through the Holy Ghost but must "bind yourselves to act" (D&C 43:9) As we seek guidance from the Spirit, we must be willing and committed to act upon that inspiration. We must seek guidance constantly not just during daily planning or companion study.

People suffer from two major things: 1. sin and 2. adversity. People suffer more from adversity than sin. The 'fix' for sin and adversity are different. Sin is 'fixed' by 1. faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, 2, repentance and 3. Holy Ghost. Adversity is 'fixed' by 1. faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement and 2. service. The keys of the Aaronic Priesthood in the office of Bishop is used to help people obtain a remission of their sins (D&C 13) while the keys of the Melchizedek Priesthood are utilized to help people with adversity. The Melchizedek Priesthood offers people the gift of the Holy Ghost, Priesthood blessings, Patriarchal blessings, and temple covenants.

Elder Smith talked about what is required to build a stake of zion: 1. individual unity with the Savior, 2. unity within families and 3. unity in the Church. We must attach ourselves to Jesus Christ, "remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation" (Helaman 5:12)

He offered an interesting insight to the sacrament. In 1 Corinthians 10:16-17 it states, "16. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? 17. For we being many are one bread, and one body; for we are all partakers of that one bread." When the Priest breaks the bread, he is offering it to us individually and as we all take of the bread we, as a congregation, become one with the Savior.

And finally, Elder Smith talked about our obligation to support the poor and needy. In order to retain a remisison of our sins we must remain faithful which includes helping those in need. "The physical needs of the poor are our spiritual necessity."

Hope you enjoyed. It was an amazing conference session!

April 12, 2010 28 Lesson Week !!!!!

2010-04-12T16:11:00.000-07:00

Well hellllllloooooooo!!! This week was so crazy!!! We taught 28 lessons this week. Most that I have ever taught in one week on my mission. And also found 13 new people. That is what happens when you spend 3 and a half hours in Crete knocking doors and teaching! It was an incredible day. We brought 2 other missionaries down there with us so that me and Elder Rigby could split and cover more ground and talk to more people and knock more doors. So we went to 2 different trailer parks and just knocked doors and we ended up teaching and finding like crazy.
I also talked with a man named Miguel and soft set him for baptism. So we are going back on Tuesday to spend the day out there teaching. But wow, Crete is so ready to have full time missionaries there. They were going to open it up last transfer but they didn't have a car to put out there.... so this transfer they will open it up. It is being talked about so much by stake leaders and President Kunz. I talk to a guy in the stake, Brother Lucas, at least twice a week about Crete. He is always asking me about it everytime I see him. SO I am very positive it will open.
That was the exciting news of the week.

The weather here is beautiful! It was been anywhere in between 67 and 85 this past week. So as you can imagine.... I am a happy person!

So that is way sweet that Travis came over. I love that kid! Ah man he came down!!!! Awesome!!! Yeah I told him too. He said that he didn't have a guitar and was saving up for one. I told him.... heck mine won't be used for a while. Go snag it from underneath my bed. :) haha I'm glad he did! Yeah Elder Rawlins... aka Travis became one of my best friends. I love that kid, as you could probably see why. ;) He is a stud. But yeah, that's why we got a long so well is because we could relate to eachother pretty well. We have talked about moving into an apartment together when I get back. That would be fun. I would love that. He is a stud.

Ok long story behind the "key shirts" There was a big fight over a church key between some missionaries. So I decided to make it a joke. And I made a t shirt that had a key on it and on the back it said the key is mine and I wore it to a district meeting to get the point through to people that a fight over a stupid key was lame!!!! Needless to say people enjoyed the idea and more shirts were made. :) And the fight over the key was ended.

What else do I tell ya...... I really can't think of much more except for how excited I am about Crete and how it is just going to take off once they have missionaries serving in that are full time. We also brought a member out with us on Saturday and he spent the day with us. He is 18 and getting ready to serve a mission. I helped him a lot to overcome the fear of knocking doors. It was cool, we took turns and I knocked on the first door and went behind Efrain, the member we had with us, and said te toca (your turn). Haha, he was scared a bit but did a good job. But it was cool to see him progress as we went on. I did the next one, and then Elder Rigby. And we just took turns. It was actually a cool spot he showed us. It's a little community of 66 apartments that are all hispanic people.
We got into a door, and I love having the Spirit by the way, it helps us teach so much!! We got into a door and sat down, and it was just uncomfortable from the get go. You could tell they weren't believing a word we said and just not being very polite and they were just laughing. So they are catholic, a bit of background. The woman says... why do we need Prophets if God is everywhere, we have no need for them. So I waited a second, and asked, do you believe in the bible? She said yes. I said so you believe that Moises was a prophet. She said yes. So you believe that God is the same yesterday today and always then right? She said yes. So then I asked her.... If God is always the same, and he is always everywhere.... why did he call prophets in the old days? Haha..... that was followed by a minute of pure silence, then I said.... what do you think? She couldn't answer it. So then I said, I know that this church is the only church on the whole face of the earth that has every key and power that Jesus Christ had when he was on the earth and God's actual church has been restored to the earth. You should pray about it. And then we left. Haha, it was so awesome! Like.... they were all just silenced. Sweetest thing. I love it. I usually try to be nice... but when people are being jerks and you know that what you are sharing is true... sometimes you just have to say it like it is.

So one last thing...I gave a training this past week in a leadership meeting. My topic was "Why is leading by example so important?" So I trained on if we are going to lead by example we have to becomes servants. Philipians 2:7 talks about how Christ took upon himself the form of a servant.
So I talked about 3 ways to be come a true servant of Christ.
1- Simple acts of service
2- Learning more about our Savior Jesus Christ and striving to become like him.
3- By love

So I shared a story about the Starfish... and I'll share that with you real quick....
So there is this man, and he is running down the beach and in the distance he sees a young boy. So he continues to run towards him. As he gets closer he notices that the boy is throwing starfish into the ocean. So curiously... the man asks "What are you doing?" The boy responds... "The tide is dropping and if these Starfish don't get back into the ocean they will die." The man looks at the boy and says "There are millions of starfish, you can't possibly expect to make a difference." The boy looked at the man, bent down and picked up a starfish and threw it into the ocean and said "I made a difference for that one."

Every simple act of service that we do, no matter how small, makes a difference for someone. So this week I want to invite you to learn more about the Savior, to study him and the things he did. And then in next week's email, to write me back and tell me what you learned about him.

I love you all. I am so excited that Justin's papers are in!!!!!! Ah I am so so so excited!!!!!! You have no idea. Mom, have an awesome time at scrapaway. Sorry I haven't got any pictures off to you yet. I know... I'm a bum. But this week was so busy! I can't believe I have already been out for over 16 months. It really is just flying by now. I love every minute though and I am going to be so sad when it's over. But also, happy and excited, because when your 2 years is up they are up and you are ready to just move on. But the mission is amazing!

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

April 5, 2010 Hay Mucho Que Hacer!‏

2010-04-05T17:01:00.000-07:00

Ok so first off, about the pictures you sent me..... why did you dress me so funny? How am I expected to get girls at Disneyland dressed up like that? ;) Well, oh well... I got myself a good one now. Hehehe. Haha, thank you for that picture though. I love it!!!

Well this weekend was an amazing one! Conference was better than it has EVER been. Especially that Sunday morning session. I absolutely loved the talks about the ressurrection of Jesus Christ. Hector and Jully, 2 people that we have been working with for a while... they came to the morning session and loved it. I am actually really glad that they were there because during President Monson's talk I was starting to choke up, but the fact that Hector was sitting right next to me helped me not to cry, because everytime we get emotional around each other we give each other a hard time. Haha, it's actually kinda funny. But wow, that was an amazing talk he gave about Christ and his resurrection and his life. I can't wait until the Ensign comes out so I can read all of those talks again. I took notes on the first session but then decided to stop because I figured I was missing a lot of really good stuff, so that is another reason I can't wait for the May Ensign.

I really wish that everybody could have heard all the talks given. It seemed like a lot of them really focused on the family and raising your children in rightousness. I am so gald that that was the topic. To many famililes seperate and their kids go astray, the family really is losing its importance. The best teaching that we can do is within the walls of our home. I learned so much from this past conference that I know will help me in the future. I'm glad that they put so much influence on the family in this past conference. It really was an amazing general conference session. Definately the best I have ever heard! And wow, I can't talk about conference without mentioning Jeffrey R. Holland. He is the man! I could listen to him speak all day. He was so bold with his message, but did it with so much love. And I loved his comment about the tea.

Well, this week I got a new companion. His name is Elder Rigby and he is from Provo, Utah. This is his second transfer out in the mission. He graduated in 2009, so I'm starting to feel a little older now. Every compaionship in my district got changed and I got another companionship added to the district. Yup, I'm still district leader here. I don't mind though... I love it. Crete was still not opened, they did rent the apartment we found but the reason it hasn't opened up is because...... we don't have a car for that area. Lame sauce huh? So we are thinking it will open next transfer. Guess we'll see... Ah well, I do love Lincoln, it has been my favorite area. It's definately a lot harder than Omaha was though and has presented many new challenges. One of them being, relationship counseling.

For example: Yesterday Sister Kreber invited us over to her house for Easter dinner. We gladly accepted. Well we get there and Efrain, one of the guys in our group comes running out of the house asking if we had seen Fidel. We said, "No what happened?" He said that him and sister Kreber (his girlfriend and memeber of our group) got in a fight and he left mad. So me and Elder Rigby hopped in the car and drove off to find him. We saw him walking down the sidewalk so we parked the car in a parking lot and waited for him. As we were waiting Sister Kreber called and told us what happened, and then said that she would have to cancel dinner if he didn't come back. So... When he arrived we talked to him about what was going on for like 15 minutes and he didn't want to go back and talk to her. He was being stubborn, he wanted to wait until the next day. So I said... ok fine. And I let him walk away. So I was thinking... ah man, no Easter dinner for 2 years in a row.... I don't think so! So we got back in the car and pulled up next to him and I said, "Hey, Fidel, I'm starving. I'm not letting you ruin this dinner for us. Get in the car! You can't just run away from your problems every time you get mad. Sometimes the best thing to do is accept you were wrong and face it. Get in the car!!" So... he did. And we got a meal. :) As we were leaving Sister Kreber said thank you to me and said, "Ha I bet you didn't know that you were going to become our relationship counselor did you?" I kinda had an idea I would. ;) This isn't the first time I have given her advice about their relationship. haha It's funny because she is 30 and she says to me... "I can't beieve that I am talking to a 20 year old about my relationship problems." Sister Kreber is the bomb!

So I am very excited for this week. We found some really good people to teach this week and we are hoping on setting them for baptism. It's been a rough past few weeks without finding a whole lot of people or teaching as many lessons as we usually do, but I'm very excited for this next transfer because I think that we are going to see some really good things start to happen.

April Fool's day was BOMB!!! 10 of us missionaries pranked the zone leaders way good! We wrapped their car in seran wrap and put soap and syrup on it, then they called us and pranked us back by saying the syrup wouldn't come off the car and that it had taked some paint off and we would have to pay for a paint job, then we pranked them back by telling them that the joke had gone too far and that Elder Shumway, who was involved in the trick, called his parents and said that he had to pay for a paint job and then his parents called president Kunz and he called us asking what the heck was going on. Haha it was definately a fun pranked filled day.

So I hit my 16 month mark on Saturday. It has gone by so fast. And the days just keep getting shorter. It's crazy! But what's nice about the days... is that they are in between 65 and 82 degrees. The weather has been so nice! Well that is it for me this week.

Can you do me a favor mom........ can you tell Skip Morgan how much I love him. And how grateful I am for everything that he has done for me and our family. I would appreciate it if you could pass that along to him today. Thank you!

I do want to say though that I know this church is true. That Thomas S. Monson is a prophet called of God to lead us through these hard times. And that his counselors and apostles are also men called of God. I also know that Christ lives. And that through him we can be rescued from our sins, and return and live again with our Heavenly Father that loves us.

I love you. I am so glad that we have such a great strong family. That we have chosen to stay on the right path. Take care and be good.

Tell Brooklyn I love her!! And I'm proud of her for being brave in her surgery.

Love,
Elder Moore

March 29, 2010

2010-03-29T18:41:00.000-07:00

Well as always... sounds like a busy week for you! No surprise there! But I'm glad it was a good one and that you got to go to the young women's broadcast. I'm sure that was a blast! I am very excited for conference this week.

This week should be pretty crazy! We have transfers on Thursday, so we'll find out who is going where on Wednesday. Transfers is always hectic. But I love it! And it's funny too, because everyone is always trying to predict transfers, and then it happens, and that same day, you start predicting for the next transfer in 6 weeks. It's a blast.

So we did go out to Crete on Tuesday and we looked at about 7 apartments and found 3 that we liked and 1 that we really really liked!! SO I hope that they pick that one. But it was a lot of fun pikcing out an apartment. I really do hope that they open Crete this week. We will find that out on Wednesday too.

So this week I accomplished my mission dream..... and I will warn you... it's a lame mission dream, but I did! So we have this van in the mission. It's a big 15 seat van, and we use that for transfers and stuff like that. I have always wanted to drive the transfer van! Always!!! I don't know why.... But only the assistants and the office elders get to drive it. Plus I don't have driving privilages, so no way am I driving the van right? Wrong! This week the office elders came out to Lincoln to move somebody and we met up with them in front of Best Buy to talk for a few minutes. And I asked if I could drive the van and they said yes!!! I was so stoked. It was one of the happiest moments of my life. SO I hopped in the van and drove it about 3 and a half parking spots and parked it. It was awesome!

So this week was another rough one. We are kind of in a dry spell right now. But we started to pull out of it towards the end of the week. It's funny... we've been trying harder and seeing less success. But that happens sometimes. And ya just got to go with it. We did find some sweet people this week.

AND funny story, well not so much funny as crazy, but it's a little bit of both. So Sister Quirk talked to this hispanic woman on the street and got all her info and called us to go over and visit her. Well we went over yesterday and guess who opens the door. A guy named Pablo! So what's crazy about this story? Well we were teaching Pablo and then he moved, and the person Sister Quirk talked to is Pablo's wife. So we found them again and he opened the door and I just said, iholi, and he said, iholi, then he said Come in!! So we talked with him and his wife for almost 2 hours yesterday. The wife is a lot more interested than the husband.... he just thinks that if you follow Christ you are good, no matter what church you are in, so a lot of the discussion revolved around that. But we'll see what happens eh.

We also had a pretty cool lesson with a woman named Maria Carrillo and her 3 sons this week. She is a recent convert and her 3 kids aren't baptized, they are 19, 17, and 13. So we have been working with all of them. Hector is the 17 year old and he is doing really well. I think that he should be baptized within the next month, we are hoping. But we went over there and talked alot about prayer and the espiritu santo. And the feelings that the holy ghost gives us as answers to our prayers. Then we each kneeled and each one of us said a prayer and asked God a question. And after we asked God a question, we waited for an answer before closing the prayer. So there was 6 prayers said and it was just a really really neat experience.

So how is everything going with the move? I've been talking with Elder Lee, he is hoping that a hot babe moves into our house, so he is cool with us moving. :) Haha that kid is hilarious. Ok, he isn't really ok with us moving, but he'll get over it when a girl does move in.

Well I love you all! Sorry that this email is so short again. As I mentioned.... things are slow... but we'll start picking up. It is supposed to be in the 60's this week. Love it!! I will get you pictures before you go to your scrapaway. Don't you worry mom. :)

So let me know how everything goes with Brooklyn's surgery. That is so neat that Justin gave her the blessing! That's very exciting. I remember giving my first one, I was terrified. And now out here, we give one if not more every week.
I gave one to Fidel this week because he fell back into temptation and drank. I was so sad and disappointed. We had had a decent day and we got home and I decided to call him, just to see how he was doing and I called and he was drunk. So I said Steve put your tie on, we gotta go see Fidel. So we went and talked with him for an hour and gave him a blessing. Some of the most amazing things are said in his blessings and he has so much potential but right now he is still weak. It's been hard for him. But he is dating a memeber in our group and she has been really good to him so he'll be alright.

It's ok that yo uaren't sending me anything for Easter. :) I'll survive. We should have a great meal though! Our member in charge of our meal calendar is a bum and has stopped showing up, so we don't have meals this week. So last Easter it was cereal for our easter dinner and this Easter, probably the same. But actually we'll have our money in by then, so maybe I'll treat my self to a nice t.v. dinner or something. :) It should be fun, we'll have a sweet dinner with some other missionaries. I have some way cool missionaries in my district. I love it! It's holidays like these that help you remember the mission. Like last Christmas was the best! Hanging out with Anderson and Eddington and Morrill. And we cooked a pheasant for dinner and ate rice with it. I love the mission! Well I hope you have a great week. I love and miss you!!!
Love,
Elder Moore

March 22, 2010

2010-03-22T11:20:00.000-07:00

Wow!!! Sounds like an incredible week! I am so happy to hear that Justin was ordained to be an Elder! I am so proud of that kid and I wish I could have been there to support him. But it's ok.... I'm sure he did fine on his own, he is finally growing up. ;) Hehehe. But I am so happy for him! He is going to be an awesome missionary. The mission is one of the greatest experiences that any one person could possibly have. It really makes you a better person and shapes you into the type of person that God knows you can be.

Well this week was a pretty hard one too. We are running low on investigators so this last week and this week we haven't taught much lessons. We are in a bit of a dry spell right now. So I spent a few days studying on how to find people and listening to this CD by a guy in the 70 that talked about finding and I came up with a bunch of ideas. So I set up a dinner with the Bishop and discussed these ideas with him, and we also had the 4 english missionaries there too, and discuessed ways, outside of the box, that we could find more people. So April should be a lot of fun. We are giong to start a bible study class, we are also going to do a mutual activity with different workshops on how to give a way a Book of Mormon or bring up the gospel in any situation etc. with the youth and their parents. And then afterwards we are going to have a question/answer where they can ask us anything they want, or bring up any type of concern they have about sharing the gospel, or discuss the challenges they have in talking about it with friends and see if we can answer their questions. It should be way legit!! So I am looking forward to that.... assuming I am still here.

And here is the reason why I say that....So interviews were this week. And like ALWAYS my interview was like 25 minutes long. I swear I get the longest ones... and I don't know why... but anywho, me and President talked about opening Crete and he said he wasn't going to do it this transfer, but the next one. Which I was kind of bummed about that, but ah well. WELL.... the next day at like 9 in the morning I get a call from him. And he says... Elder Moore I got a big favor to ask of you... and I said, ok what can I do for ya?
And He says... well we got a new Spanish missionary coming in that I just found out about, so we are going to open Crete. I need you to go there and find an apartment, can ya do that for me? And I was just like HECK YEAH!! I was so excited! And then he says, yeah I knew you would like that assignment. So then I called Sister Morris and she gave me a 10 minute training on finding an apartment, so we went out there Saturday and found some numbers, so I gotta call those numbers now and set up times to go look at apartments out there. But I was so excited!! I'm gonna find us a good apartment! But it is hard too because they want me to try and keep it under 450 a month. Not easy I found out. But oh well. So pray that we find one so we can open up Crete at the first of April!

It will definately be hard, but I want that. I want to go out there and start at nothing. We were told yesterday by President Kearl, the first counseler in the mission presidency that we are in the most difficult ward. The Capitol Ward. He says a lot is expected of the missionaries in this ward. This ward has the highest baptismal goal in the mission. So if I get sent out to Crete, things definately won't be any easier. But I really hope I do go out there.

What else what else what else.....

I do want to say that the Spirit is bomb!! We were talking to Hector yesterday who should be getting baptized this Saturday we are hoping! So we went over to see him and he just said that he feels like he is in a maze. Just so confused and doesn't know what to do. So I asked him... how do you get out of the maze? And he said, I don't know... well I could cheat and just hop walls. Then something just hit me... open up to 2 nefi 31 17-18. So I did it, and it tells you how to cheat right there in those verses. So I drew Hector a maze on one half of the paper and a straight and narrow path on the other with that scripture next to it. And I handed it to him and said, so which to you prefer, which one is easier? And he said... well the straight one. And I said, ok then read those scriputres and he did. And he was like.... Alright, I know what I gotta do. Haha, it was way sweet!!! I love how much the Spirit can help you in any given situation.

Hector really has so much faith though, he has been praying so much, he and his brother went to go to a job interview and Hector said, hey lets pray first, and they walked in and had the interview and both got hired! Then his brother, Jairo, has been struggling lately and has really been struggling financially, with a girlfriend and a kid, so he prayed to God and asked him for help, and the next day he got a check in the mail. Just a random check. So he called us up and said, I want you all to start teaching me. So we have seen some miracles happen this past week.

So pretty much, I love my mission! It has changed me so much and really has strengthed my faith in Jesus Christ and his Atonement. This has been an amazing experience. Although it definately has been difficult, I have loved it all. Lincoln was and is a whole new challenge than Omaha was. But if you have the Spirit with you, it doesn't really matter, it will lead you through any situation that you are put in. That is something I have really come to know since being on my mission. Doesn't matter if you don't know what to say, if you don't know how to deal with a suicidal alcoholic or a guy that is having marital problems, if you just stop and listen, the Spirit will always tell you what to say.

I love you all! I miss you. You are so right mom, it is going by so fast! But we are still going to have to wait a while to take the family portrait photo, cause J-Mo still has to go out and do his time. :) But he'll love it! I am really so excited for him! Him getting made an Elder is the best news I could have recieved today.

I love you!

Love,
Elder Moore

March 15, 2010

2010-03-15T15:21:00.000-07:00

Wow, sounds like you all had a great week out there in Utah. Seems like I am missing some good basketball. Congratulations Brooklyn and Justin on winning your championships!! That is awesome!

I can't believe Cody Hatch is back. That is great. Say hi to him for me when you get the chance. Thanks! I think that it is a great idea to have the parent of a missionary speak once a month, since we have so many missionaries out now you'd probably only end up speaking once a year... maybe. ;) That's a good sign eh?

So this week was a really hard one. One of my best friends here in the mission got sent home. It's really sad. I loved that kid. I was his district leader back in Omaha so I was with him a lot. I hate when that happens. Just be strong against Satan and against his temptations. Satan is very real.

I really don't have a whole lot to say about this week. We had a zone conference which took ALL day. And then the next day I had to go out to Nebraska City and do 2 baptismal interviews, which Nebraska City is about 55 miles away. So that took up a good portion of that day. So this week was pretty slow.

I did experience something very interesting though this week. I'll just share a quick story with you. I was talking to a guy named Luis, he is one of our less active members, and Elder Stephenson was just hanging out there with Fidel and talking to him. And Luis was just talking about how rough things are at home with his wife and just talking about getting a divorce and asking me whether he should do it or not, or what he should do. And ha... I have no idea. I've never been placed in that situation before. So after he finished talking to me about everything that was going on, I honestly had NO idea what to say.
So I just sat there and looked at the floor for about a minute and a half, of just pure silence. He was just waiting for me to say something to him. And as I was sitting there I was just praying and praying and praying to know what to tell him. And it came to me. And I began to teach him and share scriptures with him about the situation he was in. So I have really gained a testimony of the power of the spirit and how involved God is in his work. I hate seeing all these strong good families fall apart. The gospel is supposed to bless families! I wish people would realize that and just live it! If we would live it, we wouldn't have these problems. It's funny how little God asks of us, and how much he gives to us, and we can't give back that little bit that he expects. I've learned a lot from my mission and from others mistakes. And I know that those things will help me in my life.

I do have a testimony of this church. I know it's true. And I'm glad that Jesus Christ did what he did for us. So that he could help us through whatever we go through.
I love you all!! Be strong. And yeah I know, Mothers Day isn't far off now. Just right around the corner. And I cannot believe it's already conference again! That was such a fast 6 months! I can't believe how fast it has gone!

Hahaha, mom, you are right! You got 3 awesome kids! And we got a great mom! I went to Omaha this week with Elder Winegar to take care of a few things, and I went and saw one of my favorite members there in Omaha, Sister Rivera. She is great! I am excited for you to meet her. She was just flippin out when I showed up at her house. We have a really good relationship. And she was asking me how things are going and I told her about the good and the bad and just made light of the bad and kept a smile on my face and she said..."Moore, that is what I love about you. You always have a good attitude about everything." And I think that is just how we are. We keep smiling, whether we are struggling or not. I do love our family. :)

I love you Mom!!!

Love,
Elder Moore

March 8, 2010

2010-03-08T15:32:00.000-08:00

J Mo!!! happy 19th birthday man!!! I hope you had a great one. I can't believe that you are flippin 19 years old now! How is that treating you?

Yeah I'm at it early today because the sister missioinaries invited us to go play some tennis with them, and then we are going to play basketball afterwards, so it's a packed day.

Well this week was a very spirit packed one. It started off last Monday night. Elder Stephenson rolled his ankle so he has had a hard time moving around lately. So Monday night I took another missionary with me to our group Family Home Evening. Sister Kreber was in charge of it and she had asked Elder Stephenson and myself to do a role play. Well he wasn't there and she finished early. So she turned the time over to me with 30 minutes left and I had prepared absolutely nothing for this group of like...16 people. But needless to say.... it went really well. I shared a quote out of Preach My Gospel about how we obtain our personal exaltation only with the condition that we share the gospel with others. So then I talked about..... yup, missionary work. That is what the F.H.E. was on anyways.... so it worked out perfectly. So I taught them how easy it is to share the gospel with your friends. I seperated them into groups and had each of them practice giving away a Book of Mormon to a friend. It was a really fun time. And then I had a question/answer thing where I just let them ask me questions about the fears and challenges they come across when trying to share the gospel. I have found that the members really trust you with fears and concerns, because this is what we do as missionaries. We teach. It's when we are at our best...when we are teaching. All of them left that night with a Book of Mormon and 2 folletos to give away.

Then Wednesday, I spent the whole day in Omaha for a leadership training. I left with 4 other missionaries at 6:15 in the morning and we got back that night at 9:15. It was the most amazing meeting I have ever been too! President Kunz gave a great training on our purpose as missionaries. He talked about how our purpose is the same as Gods, Christs', and the Holy Ghost. (2 Nefi 31:11-12, 21). It was the best training he has ever given. And we also had 2 men there from church headquarters that trained us on what we need to do and should be doing when we teach. They taught us that we need to teach plain and simple. It was an amazing meeting! And then to top it all off, we got to go to the temple afterwards.

So yesterday as I was sitting in Sacrament meeting, I was thinking a lot about being a missionary. And how great it is to be able to share my testimony with others every single day. I bore my testimony yesterday in church and just about started crying thinking about how great this church really is. And what it takes to have a testimony of the church. We have to go through a lot of struggles and challenges to gain a testimonio. We have to study a lot and pray daily. But once we've gained that testimony, it's something that nobody can deny. That is one thing I will miss most about the mission, is being able to share my testimony daily. But yeah, I got really sad yesterday sitting there in sacrament meeting. As a missionary you spend the whole mission counting how many days you have left, talking about going home. And I myself am guilty of that sometimes. But sitting there yesterday I just felt really sad knowing that it will come to an end, and that I won't be able to go out and talk about the gospel everyday. So I gained a much greater appreciation for my mission yesterday.

Over the past few weeks we have been faced with quite a few challenges. They were really starting to take there tole on me, and I was just getting so frustrated. But as I was sitting in church yesterday I just felt so comfortable and so relieved. The thought occured to me that Jesus Christ took upon himself EVERYTHING, from EVERYONE that would EVER exist. He understands everyones needs and struggles, including mine. And I realized that I have been trying to do too much on my own and not relying on him as much as I should have been.

So my testimony is that Christ lives. That he loves us. And that he knows our individual struggles. That he took upon himself everything that we would feel so that he would be able to help us in our times of need. We just need to let him help us. He always allows us to repent. It's never too late. And he is always there with open arms waiting to receive us. I have gained such a greater testimony of the atonement of our Savior, and the love he has for each and every one of us.

I love you all!! Hope you have a fantastic week!

Love,
Elder Moore

March 1, 2010

2010-03-01T13:13:00.000-08:00

Wow..... I can't believe it.... you bought a house. Mom, that is crazy!!! That is great though! I'm very happy for you and this will be a very nice change. Change is difficult, change is constant, and change is good. So this change should be good for you all. But I still can't believe you bought a house.

Well this week I had a little surgery on my big toe. I had had an ingrown toe nail for about 7 months that I just hadn't taken care of and finally I decided to do it. Mostly because I hit my toe on the couch and it hurt. So I got an appointment with a doctor and he took it out. He stuck a needle into my toe which hurt pretty bad, but after that I didn't feel a thing. So I watched him cut my skin with some scissors and a knife and take out the toe nail that was in there. That thing was HUGE! The doctor asked me how long I had had it for and I told him for a while, and he said, ha yeah I can tell. So yeah.... So now I got my toe all wrapped up. It's great.

Also, we found a part member family this week. The mom was baptized in 1995 in Arizona and hasn't come to church since. She has 4 kids. We taught the 13 year old and 7 year old. The 13 year old, Joselyn is now set for baptism on the 20th of March. We are very excited for her!!! She is really cool. Her and her little brother are in Karate and were showing us all of their sweet moves. It was cool! And the mom is just a really really cool woman. First day I met her she was already giving me a hard time, plus she fed us. So I really am liking this family!

On Saturday, we were hanging out at Luis' store just talking with Luis and Fidel and one of their friends walked in. He was SO DRUNK! It was hilarious. And he offered to buy me a beer about 7 times and I told him no everytime. So here is the funny part, I was having a conversation with him in spanish. Then I walked away and started talking to Luis for a minute. Then this drunk fellow walked over to me and said something to me and I turned and answered in him spanish and he goes "WAIT WAIT WAIT, you speak spanish?!?!" And I looked at him and said, Man! I just had a conversation with you 2 minutes ago! Hahaha, I was laughing so hard. Drunk people can be....interesting.

So the work is still going really well. Edgar was confirmed yesterday and that was AWESOME! I love that guy. Hector and Julie came to church and they call us everynight telling us what they read in the Book of Mormon and The Strength of Youth, and Gospel Principles book. They are always reading and studying.

So how are my brother and sister doing? I haven't heard from them since Christmas so I hope they are doing good. I still can't believe you bought a house. That is very exciting and I can't wait to come see it. That is some pretty crazy news and definately not what I expected when I came to do emails today. I have a question though.... can I get released there in Sandy? And give my homecoming there come December?

Sorry this email is so short, not a whole lot happend this week.

I hope you all know that I love you! Keep me up to date on what is happening up there?

Love you, take care!

Love,
Elder Moore

February 22, 2010

2010-02-24T11:55:00.000-08:00

Well hello there!!! This week was quite a crazy one! Edgar was baptized, L. Tom Perry came, and I am an idiot.

Let's start with the "I am an idiot" part. Well, ya know how there is certain types of dish soap detergent stuff that you use only for the dishwasher. And then there is certain types of dish soap you just use only on dishes.... Well, I didn't know that before. But I know now. This week we ran out of dish detergent stuff. Ya know... the soap you put in the dish washer. So I thought, eh what the heck, dish soap is dish soap no? So I put some of the dish soap that you use on the dishes in the sink in the dishwasher. Yup, I just squirted it on all the dishes in there. Needless to say, half an hour later, there was bubbles all over the floor and in our dishwasher. Yeah.... not the smartest move on my part. Haha, yeah, I guess when it comes to not putting that soap in the dishwasher, it is just common sense. But, I lack on sense sometimes. As you may or may not know. But it was pretty funny. So I called Sister Kunz and said "Sister Kunz, just say someone that you know... hypothetically speaking, but dish soap in the dishwasher and now there are bubbles all over the floor and in the dishwasher, what would you do?" She just laughed really hard and said... "Elder Moore, hypothetically speaking, this is what I would do...." Yeah, it was a good laugh.

So Edgar was baptized on Sunday! It was so awesome! He is such a great kid. His baptism went great! His mom came and his dad too, and also 3 of his friends. It's going to be hard for him being the only member in his family, but I know that he is going to do just fine. He is so excited and loves learning about the gospel! I love that kid! We have had a lot of fun with him. It's hard though because he lives out in Crete which is a 30 mile drive there and 30 back. So it chews up a lot of our miles. I talked to President Kunz yesterday about me going to Crete and opening it up as another spanish area. He was very excited about the idea. I really hope he lets me do that this next transfer! There is a good chance of that since we have talked about it before. So we will see what happens. It would also really help Edgar, having us there to see him more than just twice a week.

Yesterday was incredible! L. Tom Perry came to the mission with Elder Holstrom of the presidency of the 70. Wow, it was incredible. The spirit was so incredibly strong! And L. Tom Perry shook everyone of our hands! IT was aweosme. He was wearing a really nice cardigan and I just had to compliment it. So it was my turn to shake his hand and I got there and he says "How are you?" and I said "I am doing great. That is an excellent cardigan you have on." And ya know it was a line so I started to move on, and he still had a hold of my hand and pulled me back and said "Ya know Elder Moore, when you get to be old like me, you always need to wear a sweater. But thank you, I think it's nice myself." Hahaha yeah it was pretty much awesome!!!

SO that was the weeks events! I got 2 new companionships in my district. It's pretty cool. Oh yeah, Hector and Julie are set for baptism now too! We have had some incredible lessons with them. They are both 17, boyfriend girlfriend thing. Hector is the son of a recent convert. They call us everynight and tell us they read the Book of Mormon, and they ask questions about what they have read. It's awesome. Also Julie called the other night and asked if I could bring her some sticky tabs so that she can write her own summary of the chapters she reads and put it in her book of mormon which she has decorated with stickers. It's actually pretty cool. So they read and pray together everynight! They are set for the 20th of March. And are looking great for their date.

So that is the news here. It was a pretty crazy week. Me and Elder Stephenson are still together. Should be a fun transfer. Lots of good things are happening here and we are very excited for what the future holds.

I can't believe Justin is working three jobs to prepare financially for his mission. He is really working his tail off. I'm glad that Justin will be serving his mission soon. That is so exciting! I can't wait to hear where he gets called to. The mission is an amazing experience that he will love.

I have found recently that sacrifice brings blessings. I have had to sacrifice a few things these past few weeks to be able to start feeling the full love our Savior has for us and to have his spirit more strongly. But it has been worth it. Also in my studies this week I realized something.....Christ was ONE sin away from failure. Just one. How incredible is that, that he didn't let temptation get the best of him. He knew his calling and had internalized it. He is such an amazing man.

I love all of you very much!!! Take care and have a great week!!!
Love,
Elder Moore

P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMBER!!!!

February 16, 2010

2010-02-16T17:51:00.000-08:00

Hey hey hey! I am glad that you enjoyed your trip to Carlsbad California. You luckies. :) You are right, it will be my turn in December. But I'm glad ya had fun and got to spend some serious good time in the sun. Well I have been loving my time in the snow here. Yup, we got more snow. It's been great!

Transfers are tomorrow. It seems like I just got to Lincoln, but 6 weeks have already passed by. I have a feeling that something really big is going to be happening with me this transfer. I've had some interesting conversations with President Kunz and he has sent me to a few meetings I don't normaly go to. So we'll see.... but you'll have to wait a few days to see if what I am thinking is going to happen happens or not. ;) Sorry!

So Edgar is so ready for baptism this Sunday. We are so excited for him. He is getting quite a bit of opposition from his friends and mom telling him that it is way too soon to be baptized. But he knows that what he is doing is right. We are very excited for him!

We also set another man for baptism this week. His name is Jorge. We went out to Crete to knock some doors and no one was home. Then we saw a man in the street. So I turned to Elder Stephenson and said, "Do you think we can baptize him?" And he looked at me and said, "Yeah." And I said, "Yeah me too." So we went and started talking to him, and he let us in to his house which wasn't too far away and we started to teach him. And then we taught him the first lesson and we invited him to be baptized and he said YES! Woohoo! Yeah we are very excited!

So the reason I asked Elder Stephenson that question was this.... I read a quote by Bruce R. McConkie that said once the missionary believes he can baptize, he will begin to baptize. I think I have lacked the faith that the Lord has been preparing people for us to teach and baptize. So I decided to start believing that we could baptize. And we have seen some amazing things happen from it. We are definately inviting more people to be baptized. Haha, I've also become a lot more bold with people. It's been a little hard for me because I like to keep the conversation light. But it's actually worked really well. Yeah, the mission is going great. I really have no desire to come home right now. I have really just started to focus and realize that the end really isn't that far away. It's nuts.

Also, next Monday I won't be here either. I will be in Omaha! :) L. Tom Perry is coming to talk to all the missionaries in our mission!!!!!!! How cool is that?!?! That is way cool. So I will be doing emails again on Tuesday.

SO mom, thank you very much for the Valentines package you sent me. That was very sweet of you. :) I love you Mom! Well that is that for this week. I know this one is short. Crazy huh? But tomorrow should bring many more crazy things. I love you all. I am glad you made it home safely.

Pray for Edgar. He is doing great, but can always use your prayers.

Love you all and take care.
Love,
Elder Moore

February 8, 2010

2010-02-08T15:03:00.000-08:00

First off.... dumb Myldsmail people are making us get new emails. We don't even get to create our own, so there is no creativity in this one. But starting next week.... email me here BRANDON.MOORE@MYLDSMAIL.NET.

Well, this week was good. Not much to say about it though. But! Fidel did get baptized!!! That was so great. It was a really nice baptismal service and we had quite a few members show up and bring refreshments. Fidel also invited his sister and her husband to come to it. Afterwards, they came and talked to us and said that they want us to come over to their house and talk with them. So that will be AWESOME!!

So this week, I had quite the dream that I want to share with you. And the more and more I have thought about this dream, the more and more it has related so much to the atonement for me. This week I got a really good look at what it's going to be like when we meet are Savior Jesus Christ. So Thursday night I had a dream that I had just gotten home from the mission and I walked into a room. And in this room there was a lot of people that have really helped me through out my life...that have inspired me, or guided me, or influenced my life in one way or another. And people were walking up to me and hugging me. I don't want to name everyone in the room because there were quite a few people there, but I knew everyone of them. And I was talking with them and hugging them and just smiling. And then I looked to the left of me, and there was Dirk Roberts. And we made eye contact, and I just got these tears in my eyes. And Dirk walked over to me and gave me this big hug. And he didn't let go. His hug was longer than anyone elses. And we just sat there and hugged and cried. And he let go of me after about 2 minutes and looked me in the eyes and said, "Well done." And he left. Then I woke up and I sat there and thought about it. And over the course of the next few days I have just been thinking about that dream.I read an article yesterday by Jeffrey R. HOlland called the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and in this article Orson F. Whitney has a dream and witnesses the atonement of Christ. At the end of the dream, he says with tears in his eyes that he looked up at Jesus and Jesus hugged him. And I thought to myself, when we return home from our earthly missions to Christ, he is going to hug us, and cry with us, and just not want to let go. And then he will take a step back and look us in the eyes and say, "Well done." I know that Dirk is doing just fine up there. I am sure that he is looking down on us and watching us. And he is so proud of what we are doing here. So you can tell Nicole and Brynna that Dirk is alright. I could tell just from the way he looked at me and hugged me. Yesterday I just thought about that dream and I finally started to understand it and I just started to cry. I miss that guy.

Well Edgar and Annel did not get baptized. But they will be getting baptized on the 21st. We got in a talk with her mom, and she said in her church you have to study for a year before you get baptized and she said it was too soon. So they are set now for the 21st of February. Edgar set his own date and said.... "THIS IS WHEN I'M DOING IT! I know that I will be ready. I don't have to wait a year." Haha. He is the man. And he gives the best prayers! Annel has been working 6 days a week 12-15 hours a day, so she gets off at like 1 in the morning. So 3 times this week she called me at 1:30 in the morning and I taught her for like an hour and a half over the phone. I have been so wiped out in the morning. But it's worth it. She is doing great!

Well that was the week. Tonight we are going to have 8 missionaries staying in our tiny apartment. Tomorrow is zone conference. Yay. Great eh? So tonight should be great. Hope you enjoyed the pictures!! I love you all and have a great time in California you luckies!!!!!

Love,
Elder Moore

February 1, 2010 Una semana muy especial‏

2010-02-01T10:53:00.000-08:00

Wow!! This was an amazing week. So many things happened this week. So this could possibly be a long email. I shouldn't say possibly, because it will be a nice long one.

Well we had 7 people come to church yesterday. Yes, 7! We have 7 people set for baptism now. Most looking really good. Two, not so good. But the other 5, looking great! So on Tuesday we had an incredible spiritual experience with Edgar and Annel. They were supposed to come to church on Sunday but didn't make it there. I was pretty upset with them for that since I had just talked to them the night before. So we went there on Tuesday, and I guess I wasn't my normal self. I was being a little hard on them and had toned down the jokes a little bit to let them know that I was serious. Annel said to me, "Wow, you are fiesty today." And I have to agree. I was. And I guess it turned out to be a good thing. I told them why I was upset. Then afterwards we taught her about how she can fight off these really evil feelings she has been feeling. Edgar was also there. She said to us that she likes her mom's church and our church and wants to get baptized in both. So I pulled out a scripture from 3rd Nephi. We read verses 19-21. In verse 21 I put Annel and Edgar's names in there to personalize it some. And I said, "Jesus Christ can't be here to invite you to be baptized, but he has sent us as his representitives. We are here, standing in his place. If he were here, he wouldn't say, wait to be baptized, he wouldn't say get baptized in both churches. He would say, follow me, and be baptized, in MY name." Annel looked at me, and so did Edgar. They were almost about to cry. And she said, "Ok I want to be baptized on February 6th!" And then Edgar looked at us and said, "YEAH! Me too!" I was really taken back, I was like... wait, what? Haha. But I told them they could of course. So pretty much they set themselves. The spirit was very strong in that room. Yesterday, they came to church, and Edgar brought his girlfriend. Then the 5 of us went up to Omaha to the trail center. We drove about 275miles yesterday between Crete and Lincoln and Omaha. It was a long and exhausting day. But a very good one! They even announced their own baptisms in church yesterday. So they are very excited and very ready. It was pretty cool too because the Sandovals came to the trail center to say hi to me, also Elders Curisinche and Morrill, as well as Melanie Thomspon. It was so nice to see some familiar faces.

Also, Fidel is looking so solid for his date! This Saturday he will also be baptized. Funny thing... we found out that Fidel and Annel used to date. Small world eh? But he will definitely be baptized this Saturday. It's been amazing to see his progression and his changes over the last 2 weeks. I am so excited for him!

Also, we set Hector and Julie for baptism. They are boyfriend and girlfriend. Hector and Julie said they wanted to wait till after marriage to get baptized because they wouldn't be able to follow the law of chastity. So that's why they wanted to wait. But, once again, being really bold with them helped. We told them straight up that what they are doing is wrong. And that they were not going to do it anymore. it's hard being hard on people sometimes, but ya gotta do it. So we did it. And it payed off. They are set for the 18th. I think it's good that both of them are doing it together. That way they can strengthen each other. So they were both at church yesterday and are looking really good for there date. But we have a lot to teach them.

So yes, President Kunz did come to my district meeting. It was great!! Everyone was so nervous. So I decided to ease the tension with a little "joke." So lately President Kunz has been on the "tie tie-ing high." Meaning, he has really been encouraging the elders to tie their ties down to the belt and not above it. Well, ya know I had to do somethin!!! So I did. :) Amber, for my one year mark, sent me a box with some goodies in it. One of them being a clip on tie that is MAYBE 3 inches long. So I wore that to district meeting. I wore my overcoat over my suit to district meeting so no one could see my tie. So I was sitting in my chair and I got up to conduct the meeting once everyone was ready to go, and I took off my overcoat and went up to the front and started to conduct like everything was normal. Hahaha, then everyone just started laughing. President Kunz louder than anyone else. And we laughed for like a minute straight. It was great. That really eased the tension and calmed everything down. It was great!! After the meeting President Kunz took like 3 pictures with me. I guess he liked it. ;) But it was funny.

This whole past week before the district meeting I had this feeling that I needed to talk to my district about companionship study. I could just feel that it wasn't being done. So I got up after the 2 trainings and talked about that for only like 3 minutes and told why it is so important. Afterwards President Kunz got up and said,"Wow, Elder Moore, you are one step ahead of me. That is what I wanted to train on next zone conference." It was kind of interesting I thought. After the meeting, President Kunz took us all out to lunch. That was sweet! Free lunch! Last night I was reporting the numbers to Elder Taggart and he asked me what was my favorite part about the week. And I said "Free Lunch on Wendesday!" And he said.... You have 7 people at church and your favorite part of last week was free lunch? Haha, I guess 7 people at church was cool too. :)

Oh yeah, one more story. Annel and Edgar's mom is of a different religion. So we decided to talk to her. We talked with her about the bible and the Book of Mormon, and we had her read a scripture from the Book of Mormon, and right in the middle of it, the light went off in that room. Didn't go off in any other room. Just that one. That was weird.

Oh yeah, one other crazy cool thing!!!! So we have a member, well kind of a member. She was baptized like 10 months ago but is now going to another church. Well we decided to go visit her and we went to her house and her pastor was there teaching her. So we walked in and talked to the pastor for a second and he said, "We have bible study here every Saturday at 5." And I said, "Well that's great." And he said "Yes it is." So I said, "Well I would love to join you next Saturday if you don't mind." And he said "Sure, but we only talk about the word, and we only believe in Jesus Christ." And I said, "That's great. Us too!" So he said, "Ok we will see you here next Saturday then." Woo!!! I am so excited for this. To be able to talk to this pastor about the bible. And the Book of Mormon. Right there with our member. Well kind of member. Good thing I have been studying the bible a lot. I am not looking for a bible fight or religion fight by any means. I just want to see what he is telling our member that made her leave our church so fast. So this should be a lot of fun!!! I am really looking forward to it! I love being part of the TRUE church. So next Saturday, pray for us. :)

Well that is it. It has been a crazy week! Thank you for the email. I love you all so much!! And in case I don't see you again "Good afternoon, good evening, and good night!" - The Truman Show. Oh yeah, I am doing this so early because we have zone activity today at 12:30, pizza and bowling. Should be good.

Love,
Elder Moore

January 25, 2010 That's the way the cookie crumbles !

2010-01-25T12:17:00.000-08:00

Well this has been another one of those weeks....Lincoln sure has not been easy. Actually this transfer has been the most challenging one.

I will start off with the good news... Fidel is re set for baptism on the 6th of February, we had him set for the 13th but now he is set for the 6th. We are very happy for him. He came to church yesterday and even brought a friend. He hasn't smoke or drank for over a week now. And him and Luis, one of our less active members, are reading the scriptures every night together and praying every night, just like I asked them to. :) They have both been struggling so we had a really good conversation with them and the things they need to do to overcome temptation and to become stronger. Friday night, Elder Taggart and I went and visited with Luis and Fidel. I gave both of them blessings that night. It was such an incredible experience for me. The Lord has AMAZING plans for both of them. If they will just stay strong. Which they are right now.

Well this week we planned to have about 8 people at church that told us they would be there. Two showed up. That was very frustrating. Also a member called Saturday night and said he would not be at church Sunda; and him and his wife teach the classes. So I had to teach both classes yesterday as well. It's hard with such a small group sometimes, if someone doesn't show up, we end up teaching. Haha it's actually kinda funny.

Well speaking of a small group... Elder Taggart and I also went and met with President Kunz and President Bateman, the stake president, to talk about our zone and to talk about the Spanish work. Our group has a goal set for this year of 24 baptisms. President Kunz told me that there is a good chance I may stay here the rest of my mission....but who knows. He wants me to focus all my efforts on helping our group become a branch. President Kunz has been eyeing me lately. I have had a meeting with him, and this week he will be at my district meeting. I was told that since my first district meeting, my district is the best one in the mission right now. So President Kunz is coming to see what it is we are doing. I love the Elders in my district, and so many amazing things are happening with everyone right now. There is an episode of The Office, where David, one of the head guys of Dunder Mifflin, invites Micheal down to his office in New York to find his secret. Because Micheal's branch is the best one. So Micheal goes down there and David is trying to figure out his secret and Micheal is just making a whole bunch of stuff up because he doesn't know what the secret is behind their success. Well I don't know either, but Elder Taggart, my ZL, told me that is what he is coming for. Haha, maybe I'll pull a Micheal and just make a whole bunch of stuff up....

Well we had a funny experience this week. We were knocking doors with one of the counselors in our group, and we saw a guy in the hall. So I started talking to him. We talked for a few minutes and he said to me, "Are you married?" And I said "No." And he said," WHAT?! Why not? You are a really good looking guy." Haha and I just laughed and explained to him I was a missionary and blah blah blah, ya know. And he said.... "Well come on in to my place!" So we went in, and he has a sister that is single. HA!!!!! We taught them, it was fun. They are a really cool family. And we are going to keep teaching them. There is 3 of them and they are all very interested in the church. So we'll see what happens. But yeah.... NO PLANS on hooking up with that girl. Especially when I already got a GREAT one. :) It gave all 3 of us a good chuckle though.

So Saturday night I got a call from one of our investigators that has been searching for the true church for 4 years now...Annel, I have mentioned her before. Well she said ever since we started teaching her, she hasn't been able to sleep. She said it feels like an evil power is attacking her every night.Ssatan that jerk!! But little does he know he is helping us. We are going to go see her and her brother tomorrow. I have done a lot of studying on this the past 2 days. So we are going to be able to help her out. But it's crazy how much satan tries to attack people when they are getting so close.

I have been out almost 14 months now... and still, you can never fully be ready for the experiences that are placed in front of you. All you can really do is rely on the spirit to lead you. To tell you what you need to say. If you are obedient, the spirit will always be with you. So prepared or not, you'll have a member of the Godhead telling you what to say. Pretty incredible huh? I would say so! I am only 20 years old, but people trust me to help them. Justin, the calling of a missionary is greater than that of the kings and rulers of this earth. God will help you. He'll be there for you. And the closer you get to him, the closer he will get to you. I love you. The mission has been one of the greatest experiences of my life. It has really helped me to become who I am. It's a great feeling knowing that every morning when you wake up, you have the chance to make a difference in someone's life. And not just their life, but their kids' life, and their kid's kid's lives. The mission has strengthened my testimony of the church and has strengthened me as a person. Just trust God. If you do that, he promises to help you. You're not alone out here.

I love you all family! Mom thank you so much for your words of much WISDOM. I appreciate it. :) I love you very much mom. Thanks for what you said to me. I really needed to hear that.I hope everyone is doing great. Read the Book of Mormon!

Love,
Elder Moore

January 19, 2010 Give satan NO satisfaction!

2010-01-19T11:04:00.000-08:00

I am going to have to say that that is what this past week has taught me. To give satan NO Satisfaction. This week was a very challenging one as well as very depressing and draining. It's amazing that one experience can change everything. I'll get to that experience in a minute.

As many of you know I am a very outspoken person. I speak my mind and I voice my opinions. That is exactly what I did in my leadership meeting I had this past week. I pointed out the things that aren't going right in this mission. Like, there are so many missionaries that have so much more to offer, but won't, because they are scared. The trainings that were presented this past week focused on how we shouldn't be ourselves. About how we need to transform into something different and we can't be original or normal. And I didn't agree with that. So in our meeting I said that. I said not enough people are smiling, not enough people are being themselves, they are losing what makes them them. I also said we have focused so much on the damnation part of not being obedient and not enough on the atonement. And I probably made....ha, like 20 minutes worth of comments. And after the meeting Sister Kunz came up to me and asked if she could speak to me for a few minutes. And I said sure. So she pulled me aside and began telling me that everything I said is what has been on her mind. It's what she has been talking to her husband about, but he hasn't done anything about it. She talked to me for about 5 minutes and pretty much said, thank you so much for your comments. You do have the ability to change this mission and influence a lot of missionaries. She is a sweet woman.

So, I've been pretty sick this past week. I've had a really bad cough, a sore throat, and I lost my voice for a few days. So me and Elder Stephenson weren't able to go out for a day. And that day I was able to do a lot of thinking. I mostly thought about the people that have changed my life, and have had an amazing influence on the person I am becoming. I think the sickness really helped me in a way. I decided that day, that I want to be like the people that have helped to change me. I have been so fortunate to have so many great influences in my life. But the three I came up with were:
1. Tyler Sohm
2. Brad Pilling
3. Amber Lynn
As I thought more and more about it I just don't know where I would be without these three people. So that night I prayed and I asked God to at least give me my voice back, that had now been gone 3 days, so that I could go out and try and influence someone the way that they have influenced me. And sure enough, the next day.... my throat was SO sore, and my cough was even worse. But I had my voice back. So we were able to go out and teach.

So we were supposed to have a baptismal interview for Fidel on Sunday night and he was going to be baptized this week. We had seen him everyday and he was doing so well! Not smoking, not drinking. He was ready. But then Satan, hit him hard. He took a really cheap shot on him. Sunday night we went to his house and he was drunk. I handed the phone to Steve and told him to call President Kearl and cancel the interview. We spent the next 2 hours there talking with him. He was drunk, crying, depressed, and suicidal. They don't teach you how to deal with that. It was so hard. And poor ol' Elder Stephenson didn't have a clue what was going on. So we talked with Fidel for a long time. Trying to get him to see that he is worth something. That suicide isn't the answer. And neither is drinking. He went to the kitchen and brought me out his 72 oz bottle of beer and gave it to me. And I said it down next to me and just kept talking to him. And he just started begging me for a drink. And I said, do you really want that? That is the reason you are getting kicked out of your house now. That is the reason you aren't getting baptized. That is the reason your roommate did the things he did to you last night. Do you really want that? And he said, no. But he eventually drunk some more and then handed it back to me. So I went outside and dumped it all out. And came back and just kept talking with him about what we could do. Those 2 hours were just so draining. I was so depressed and upset. It was really rough. Really, I have never had an experience take that much out of me before. So it was a very long conversation as he cried the whole way through it. He was just so upset and depressed. I can't even really describe it. But I will say that the spirit was very strong in telling me what to say to him. Because without it there is no way I would have known what to do in that situation. So he told us he was going to go stay at the shelter which was about 30 blocks away. He is drunk, can't drive. So we put him in our car. We swung by our place and I made him some sandwiches because he hadn't eaten all day and was in a lot of pain from all the alcohol he had drinken without eating. Then we took him to the shelter. Yeah it was very exhausting. That ranked up there as one of the worst days of my life. It was so rough. I can't even explain it. But you are right. Love is what it is all about. And as disappointed and upset and frustrated as I was, I couldn't help but just love him. And feel a little bit of his pain. It was a very hard day.
So what I learned from this experience is to give satan no satisfaction. He is so happy when he sees us suffering, or sinning. We can't let him have that satifaction. Just be strong! Stay close to God and let him protect us.

Afterwards we went to eat at a member's house. She just looked at me half way through dinner and just asked if I was ok, because she said I looked terrible. I was trying so hard to make jokes and keep the conversation light. But, wow, it was rough. And then I got to listen to her complain for the next 45 minutes. Sunday was just a terrible day.

Yesterday a lot changed. We went out to Crete which is about an hour and a half round trip, and saw some really cool people. We are really excited about them. Annel, 20, and Edgar, 17. They have so many questions and are so open to learning. Last night we spent probably 2 hours there answering questions, and teaching them about the gospel. It was so much fun. It's like they are my best friends now. We were able to teach them a lot but also crack jokes and get to know more about eachother. So yesterday was a much needed expereince. Please pray for them though. We had taught Annel earlier and asked her to read a chapter we left her in the Book of Mormon and to pray about what we had taught. She said she didn't receive an answer. So yesterday, I promised her and her brother that if they read the chapter after we left, and prayed to know if the Book of Mormon was true, that they would receive an answer. So please pray for them, that they will receive an answer. Thank you.

Haha, also, one other guy we are working with. His name is Jose. Oh my gosh. Everytime we go over there it's like a battle. He is very humble and wants to know, and wow, does he know the bible. He is very smart. So pretty much him and I just talk about the bible, prophets, God's plan. Haha, I love teaching him. I finally got out of him what I needed though. After so much talking, and AH so much everything! He finally said that he does believe the true church is on the earth. He just doesn't know which one it is. So tomorrow we have a appointment with him and we'll see how it goes.

Well I am sad to hear that that happened to Brooklyn. She is such a sweetheart. I love that girl. She does have a good life and I hope things start looking a little better for her. She is so strong. I've never heard of anyone that prays and asks for problems. I love that girl.

Well I love you! Sorry this email was a bit of a downer. It was a downer week. But hey, things can only get better right. We can hope so. Be good, take care. Say hi to everyone for me!

Love,
Elder Moore

January 11, 2010 Estoy en Lincoln!!!‏

2010-01-11T13:24:00.001-08:00

Yes, it is true!!! I am OUT of Omaha. After 13 months there, I am gone. And Lincoln is great! I love it so far. Although my new companion Elder Stephenson is more lost than I am.... I still like it.

And hey... what do ya know? My first Sunday in the new "group" (we aren't a ward or branch because there are so few of us) they asked me to speak because the speaker wasn't going to be there. So I was asked to give a 20 minute talk on faith and hope. It went really well. Especially with such short notice. :)

Oh yeah... before I forget. Next Monday will not be our P-day. Our P-day will be on Tuesday cause it's a holiday and President Kunz wants us to go out and find people to teach on the holiday cause he thinks more people will be home. So yeah, next Tuesday will be email day.

Well this week was a little hard. I did hate saying goodbye to some of the people I got really close too. Like the Thompsons, the Sandovals, Riveras, and Finns. Those are pretty much the only people I said bye too. I spent a lot of time with those families. Transfers did get pushed back a day because of the terrible weather. Transfer morning was -8 degrees. Yeah, that was cold. As I was packing I had Elders Morrill, Ward, and Curisinche there, so I was able to get a rid of a lot of things. Man I had so much stuff!! I got rid of lots of things and still was packed to capacity!! I almost did need to rent a u-haul. :)

So ha, Thursday I said my goodbyes to everyone. And the last family I went and saw was the Finns. They have a great family. And 2 daughters of 10 and 6. So I was talking with them. And Daisey, the 10 year old. Asked me if she could paint my toe nails. I was like....WHAT?!?! She said please please please! So I said to her and Kaylie her siste, "On a scale of 1 to 10, how happy would it make you?" And they both said "10" with huge smiles on there faces. So I said... "Well, that's not enough." Then they said "A GAJILLION!!!" So I said..."ok fine!" :) So for the first time in my life my toe nails got painted. There is a picture.

And also a picture of me and the Riveras.

So then afterwards I hopped on the van Friday morning to Lincoln. Our apartment is nice and small. A room, just big enough for 2 beds and 2 dressers. A small bathroom and the a kitchen/sitting room. It's cozy. :) Odds are I will be here for at least 4 and a half to 6 months because I am District Leader again. I have some sweet people in my district.

About my companion.... well he doesn't speak any Spanish. Like none.... zilch. So that is challenging. But I am working really hard with him... quizzing him, speaking to him only in Spanish, etc. So the work isn't too bad here. They had 0 people set for baptism on Friday. Saturday, we got a set. Her name is Dorie. She says she KNOWS the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith is a profeta. But she just doesn't want to be baptized. We had a good conversation with her and she accepted a date for the 30th of this month. She said many missionaries have tried to get her to be baptized and none have succeeded. Well, we will see what we can do. Also, Sunday night, yesterday, We went and saw a guy named Fidel and had a great lesson with him. He has been to church a few times but hasn't been baptized. He was talking about how he doesn't have much money to be able to buy gifts for his kids. So we told him how him getting baptized here can really help his family in Mexico. It's the best gift he can give them. To be able to take this knowledge he has back to his family and share it with them would really bless them. And he agreed to be baptized on the 23rd of this month. So we have 2 sets now! It's great. And yesterday we had 3 people at church. So that was sweet!

Also, there is a way sweet family here. The Morales family. I met them my first day and we are already best friends. After like 15 minutes we were just laughing and making fun of each other and just having a good time. I am really going to like being around them. They are a lot of fun. I got her to laugh so hard that she spit her gum across the table. Now that was funny!

So Elder Taggart my zone leader told me a really cool story yesterday that I want to share with you. I was talking to him on the phone last night and he said..."Elder Moore, I want to tell you a story. And it's about you. You're first zone conference here in the mission I remember you standing up and having to talk some to all the missionaries. And after you were done talking and you sat down, I turned to my companion and I said, 'He's got it.' And this is the first oppurtunity I have had to serve around you and it's true. You've got it. You set 2 people for baptism in the last 2 days. You haven't let me down." Haha.So that was the story. And I really appreciated hearing that story. It really gave me a lot of confidence. And I know that we are going to have a lot of success here in this area.

Also last night we found a man named Jose. We had a really awesome conversation with him!! He knows the bible really well. So we talked about the bible for quite some time. And he is really open to learning. He said he doesn't think a prophet could be called today. But... we'll show him. :) We have an appointment with him Tuesday. So that'll be good. I think we will get him with a baptismal date too. He said he wants to come to church and see what it's like and he is open to learning about our church. And he is a really humble man. I'll have to let you know how that goes next week.

It's nice being here in Lincoln. It's a change. It's new life. I love it. I hope everything is going well back home with everyone.I love you all!!!And oh yeah.... L. Tom Perry is coming to our mission to speak to all of us on the 22nd of February! Sweet eh?!

Love, Elder Moore

January 4, 2010 La iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Ultimos Dias = A mouthful‏

2010-01-04T15:28:00.000-08:00

Happy happy new year!!! Can ya believe it? It is 2010! I sure can't.
Well this week was a REALLY good one. So this email may be a little long as I explain everything that happened this week.

So Tuesday, we had district meeting and Elder Anderson and myself trained. It was one of the best meetings we have had. We all got really fired up. We talked about what we personally need to do to have more success in our areas and how we can find more people. So I told everyone to find one investigator a day and then to call everyone else in the district and tell each other about the person we had found. It went great!! Me and Elder Morrill found 11 new people, Spanish North 5, and West Maple 8. The zone leaders, 0. Yeah....But anyways.... We were talking to everyone. Parking lots, streets, knocking doors. And we found 11 good people.
So the whole district got really fired up about finding people.

On Wednsday we went and taught a guy named Moises. He was being taught a while ago but then dropped the missionaries. Now he is talking to them again. His wife wants to get baptized really bad. She is American but fluent in Spanish. He is Mexican, good English but not great. And the English missionaries have been teaching him. And he kept saying he didn't feel quite ready. So I called the English missionaries and I said, set up a time where we can come talk to him with you both. So Wednesday night we went and visited Moises in the restaurant he owns. And we began talking to him. And it's moments like these that missionaries live for. That make the mission an amazing experience. I asked him.... how can you know if our church is true? And he said by asking God. And I said, how can you know that God has answered you? And he said, by what I feel. So I asked, what are the feelings you feel when you know you've received an answer from God? And he said, I feel happy, and warm, and really peaceful.

So I said, ok Moises, I am going to tell you a story, and I want you to pay attention to what you feel ok. Then after wards, tell us. So I told him the story of Joseph Smith. And I related it to him. And then told the first vision. And he just started to cry. And so did I. And I asked him how he felt and he said, I feel like I know it's true. So then I said, Moises, what I would like you to do now, is pray. And in your prayer ask God if it is true. And then pause for 30 seconds. And once you feel like you have received an answer, you can finish your prayer. So he began his prayer and he didn't ask a question but what he said was... Me voy a bautizar pronto. Or, I am going to get baptized soon. And he just sat for probably a minute. Then he finished his prayer. After wards he looked at me and said.... I'm going to get baptized. It was an incredible moment.

On Thursday, Sister Morris, one of the senior sisters here invited us over to her apartment to eat dinner. So us, the Spanish north elders were there, and the Cold Springs sisters were there. So we all had a really good meal. Then after wards we played a Christmas game. Sister Gingrich and Sister Lamplugh beat all of us. Go figure..... then we played a game called Signs, for like 2 hours. That was a lot of fun! We had a good time. Then we went and celebrated the new year with Elder Anderson and Elder Eddington.

We started off the new year right by going to Village Inn for a good breakfast. We talked a lot about 90's music though. Our waitress was Dawn and she was having a bad day. So me and Elder Anderson sang her Mmmbop by Hanson. Haha she said.... thanks! You've made my day.

Hahaha ok so funny story! I have named this story "Geronimo." You'll see why.
So Elder Ward and I talked to this guy in a parking lot. I was with him and I said let's give away 2 Book of Mormons while Elder Curisinche and Elder Morrill are in the store. We decided that would be a better idea then just sitting in the car. So I said, ok you pick someone out for me to talk to, and I'll go give away this Book of Mormon, then I'll do the same for you. So he pointed to a guy, and I went and talked to him, he is from Oaxaca Mexico and his name is Fransisco and I gave him a Book of Mormon and set up a return appointment. So me and Elder Morrill went and saw him. And wow! There was like 2 and a half feet of snow leading up to his front door, and on up the stairs. So I said I hope he is here! So there was a hill of snow in front of the snow leading up to his house. So Elder Morrill went first.... and he jumped off it into the snow and started making his way up to the stairs. Then I went. I stood on the hill and yelled "Geronimo!" And my plan was to jump into the snow. Well.... I tripped and instead of jumping into the snow, I fell. Yup.... real smooth! Then we came to find out there was a door at the back of the house with no snow in front of it. And he wasn't even home... so there ya have it.

So I have realized that our church has such a long name. Especially in Spanish. It is quite the mouthful when you tell someone what church you are from. It's like Hola! Somos misioneros de la iglesia de Jesucristo de los (oh no! I"m losing them, speak louder....) SANTOS DE LOS ULTIMOS DIAS!!!! Haha, it feels like people start to like doze off when you are saying the name of our church. It is the true church though so it can have whatever name it wants. But yeah.... I love knocking doors and talking to people! It's a lot of fun.

So our church starts at 1 now. Woohoo! We had SO many people there. There was like 80 people at church. And like 18 people in Priesthood. Towards the end of the year it was just me and Elder Morrill, the Spanish north elders, Tony Sandoval, and the teacher. Now... there are more! It was great! Also, Cecilia and Esteban were confirmed yesterday. Woohoo!! So things are going good here.

Transfers are this week! We will find out on Wednesday. I am pretty sure I am leaving. I really hope I do. I need "new life." And that comes when you get a new area and a new companion, new people, etc. I could use that. For a bit I was feeling burned out and lazy. But this week helped me a lot! With finding new people and talking with everyone!

Well that was my week. And this week should be crazy. Transfer week always is!!
I hope all is well back home. Happy New Year!!! A goal I made for this new year was to write in my journal EVERYDAY. I think I wrote a grand total of like 9 times last year in my journal. This year so far.... 3 for 3! Oh yeah. We'll see how long this lasts.

I know this church is true. I know the Spirit truly does testify of the truth. And through the spirit we can know the truth of not just some things, but of ALL things. I know that Jesus Christ is my savior. And I love him. I love you all. I am truly grateful for my family.
Take care.
Love,
Elder Moore

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

2009-12-28T13:12:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-21T15:00:00.000-08:00

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!!‏

2009-12-14T13:22:00.000-08:00

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!‏

2009-12-07T12:24:00.000-08:00

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!‏

2009-11-30T14:56:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-23T19:50:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-16T14:05:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-09T11:48:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-02T11:54:00.000-08:00

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)

2009-10-26T13:21:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-19T11:48:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-10-12T12:04:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-05T12:44:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-28T12:16:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-21T12:18:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-09-14T08:46:00.001-07:00

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

2009-09-07T19:53:00.000-07:00

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

August 31, 2009 - This one will make you laugh for sure!

2009-08-31T11:46:00.000-07:00

Hey there followers of the interesting life..... of me.

And things just keep getting more and more interesting. Gotta love investigators. Gotta love being a missionary. And gotta love the experiences missionaries have with investigators..... And the dumb things that I find myself doing with investigators.

So this week we saw Veronica, Antonio, Arianna, Marco, and Jasmine quite a few times. They are all very excited for their date on the 12th. It's amazing seeing their excitement. Veronica said the other day the Jehovah's Witnesses knocked on her door.... great. She said she asked them what religion they were. They said, we are Jehovah's Witnesses. To which she replied, oh well I'm Mormon! Hahaha!! Yeah! Go Veronica!!

She always has some of the weirdest things to say as well. I have started a page of Veronica quotes in one of my journals. I already have a full page. This week one of the funny things she said was.... she asked about polygamy. Cause she had heard about that. Everyone asks about polygamy. We told her we don't practice that to which she responded.... "DANG!!! I want more than one husband. Hey, whose kid is that?! Psh, I don't know!" And that is just one of the funny things she said. Some others are: I hear after seven years your tubes can come untied so I told the doctor, you cut them, tie them, burn them!! Also, I leave my car door unlocked. Tony doesn't like that. He says the car will get stolen. I figure if they want to steal the car, they are going to break the window. So I leave the door unlocked. So that way when it gets returned back to me, it doesn't have a broken window.
Haha oh man mom... this lady.She is very interesting. But very awesome!! This week her and Tony are going to get married and then they will all be baptized on the 12th. If things keep going the way they have been going.

We also had dinner with them one night this week.... It was weird. It was just like being at home with my family eating dinner. It was a Mormon family dinner. The kids, the parents, us. Just goofing off. Having a good time. And eating a lot of food. That wasn't Hispanic food.

So, also another story about them. So we were talking to Veronica on Saturday. And her kids were in the background doing something crazy and making a lot of noise. So we decided to go check it out..... They are back there with helmets on sitting in laundry baskets, and going down the stairs. So I decided, in my wisdom, to try it...... Yeah, I am not as light as those kids. I put on the purple helmet, got in the basket, and Marco gave me a push. The basket nose dived into the first stair, and I went out of the basket, and eventually made it to the bottom, with the basket trailing behind me. Oh man, it was hilarious. Everyone was just laughing, including me, laying at the bottom of the stairs. It was so so funny!! I wish I would have recorded it on my camera.

Also two times we went over there I wore these ridiculous sweater vests that the kids and Elder King were just ragging on! Ha, they are just like family to us.
Veronica also said something really.... incredible to us. She said that the first time we came into her house she noticed a different feeling. One that she said she had never felt before. She said it felt like Jesus Christ was in the room with us. And she said when Tony came home from work he asked.... What is that feeling? And she said, "Tony today missionaries came over." And the next time we met with him, after we left, he told her it felt like Jesus Christ was in the room there with us.
After she told us that story I just got chills. It was incredible. He really is involved in this work. I am very excited for this family. And as you can tell we have had a lot of amazing experiences with them.

Also Alma and Eric came to church with us this week. Which was great. They will be getting married and baptized too it looks like. Probably the 19th of September. The work is going really well.... for the most part. We haven't been teaching a whole lot this past week. We don't have many investigators. We do a lot of walking and knocking. And..... that doesn't do much good. So after Alma and Eric and our awesome family, we are going to be empty.

We even rode bikes this week, 1- because we are low on miles, and 2- to find more people. I got so frustrated, I threw the bike onto the grass. Haha, Elder King got a good laugh out of it. I did too, later. :)

So I have realized that I do have limits. I always thought I was invincible, until I got older. I have become so fragile it seems like. I got a bum ankle and it is all swollen, and my knee needs surgery. Yes I saw a doctor and was told I need surgery and that it would be a 3 month recovery deal. But I said.... NO WAY!!! I don't want to be sent home. I just have very little...something.... in between the bones on my knee. And that is why it is bugging me really bad again. It's lame. So I will probably get that checked out when I get home.

So transfers are this week. This transfer flew by! It was so fast!! But we did get some good work done during it. No baptisms.... but 7 on the way. I love it!
So I also found out that we are going to be opening a new Spanish area here in Nebraska. I am way excited for that. I hope I don't get transferred yet, I would really love to see this family get baptized. But whatever it is the Lord wants.... that is what I'll do. We also get a new Spanish missionary. That will be great. Since we are really short on Spanish missionaries. And there are SO MANY Hispanics.
So this week I felt a huge jump in the language. It was sweet. I finally feel comfortable. Like really comfortable. Just talking about whatever....

Well that is it for this day. But I love you all very much!! Hope all is well. Take care of yourself.

Hahaha!!! And wow, My license is suspended again eh? Go figure.... it's ok, I'll have a clean record for a while. I am not allowed to drive here. So I should be fine. :) And yeah that is a bummer I can't make another court appearance there in Utah. I don't like driving anyways.

I love you!!!
Love
Elder Moore

August 24, 2009

2009-08-24T13:24:00.000-07:00

Yes Yes Yes, that is right. We are going to baptize a family!!! Of 5!! Woohoo. Wow, it's so awesome. So we got this referral from a woman in California who is a member, and it's her cousin that she wanted us to go visit. So we went and saw her. Her name is Veronica. I may have mentioned them last week.... But anyways... her and her husband Tony are going to get married hopefully this week or the next week. And they have 3 awesome kids. Well this week me and Elder King went and taught her and her husband Tony. And we invited them to be baptized. They told us "No." And that they didn't think they would be ready to be baptized on the 12th of September. So we talked more about baptism and just a lot of things and invited them again. And once again they said "No." Then that is when the spirit really kicked in. And we taught them more about baptism and really went into depth about the importance of it. And invited them a 3rd time....(who says persistence is a bad thing :) ) And this time they accepted! Third time is a charm.

So this week they went and bought church clothes at the salvation army store. They were excited. And we invited them to a baptism the Elders in the North had on Saturday. They came with their 3 children and loved it!!! And they got to meet a lot of members as well. It was just a great enviroment. They are very excited. So after wards while Tony and Veronica were talking to me, Elder King took the kids on a church tour to show them their classes and all. Those kids are so so awesome!! I was talking with them in the sacrament meeting room and told them one of my ridiculous stories, and of course they laughed, cause I have just, weird stories. And after that no one said anything. So then we all started to laugh again because of the awkwardness...... then silence again.... then more laughing. Ah man... those kids are great.

And yesterday the family came to church. And enjoyed that too!! They were smiling and laughing and socializing. And in class, it was so cool! We talked about baptism, and Brother Goff, our ward mission leader and the one that teaches the class sometimes, asked my Jesus went to John to be baptized. And Veronica rose her hand and me and Elder King just looked at each other, and she said.... "because he had the authority to baptize." And me and Elder King gave each other bones. We were so happy. This family is looking great!! It will be so cool to bring this whole family into the gospel. I am so so excited. So their baptism date is the 12th of September. So that is the highlight of this past week. As you can tell I am so excited about it!!

Also, Alma finally received her ID from Mexico so she can take out her stuff and the Mexican Consolate here, and then they can get married. And then they will be baptized. So we should have 2 more baptisms coming here soon too. But we are lacking other progressing investigators. So I don't know what we are going to do after these 7 get baptized. Just have to start finding again.

It has been a tough week though. There are days when I am so excited to go out and work and teach the gospel. But there are so many disappointments in the mission to where sometimes I lack desire to do things. But I have found that reading the scriptures gives so much strength throughout the week. There is always so much to learn and understand. It's great. The things that the spirit is able to teach you.

So speaking of the spirit, yesterday we had an amazing fireside-ish deally about the Holy Ghost, and President and Sister Kunz spoke as well as President Bartlett of the stake. 3 of the most spiritually powerful people in Nebraska. It was amazing the things we learned about the Holy Ghost. And me and Elder King did translating for the spanish speakers. Wow!!!! Super hard. To listen and translate into a different language when they are speaking really fast. But it was really helpful. We did pretty good! But still, I need to practice that!!!!

So this week I have been learning some tongue twisters from the members. It's fun, but hard at the same time. But it's helping a lot. Members are so much fun to be with. They help ya out and teach you stuff. And most of them don't know any English, so it's fun to teach them English and listen to them.

So mom, did you take the challenge I gave to you about taking a whole week to study the Atonement? And just the Atonement. If not.... I am reissuing it to you. Just a few ideas to start off with.... study 2 Nephi 2:7-9, and in verse 8 where it talks about grace, mercy, and.... ah I don't remember the word in English. But study those 3 words.... study Alma 7 and Alma 34. There is so much to learn about the Atonement. And so many of these things have helped me in my life. So take a week and just focus on that. And I know you will see your life start to change for the better. I promise you will. It's amazing what the gospel can do for us and the changes it can bring about in our lives. I am so glad to have it in my life and to be able to share it with people. It's sad watching people reject something that can change therir life completely. But everyone has there agency.

Justin, the longer you put off your mission the harder it will be to go on it. Something will always just pop up. You turn 19 next March, so make your mission your first priority now. So that way whenever something comes up, you already have your decision made. that you are going on a mission. And plus if you put it off longer, that is a longer time you won't be able to see your RIDICULOUSLY AWESOME older brother. But make sure when you go on your mission you are prepared. Don't put it off for basketball or work. Put if off, if you do, because you want to prepare yourself more. The best thing that has happened to me is my mission. Amber is right up there too though. :) Haha girls aren't a bad thing.... But anywho.... the mission! I enjoy it so much. I have never been more challenged in my life. But I have never felt as close to my Savior either. Justin, baptizing someone is the greatest joy I have ever experienced in my life. watching those you have taught make that promise with God, and enter into the path that leads to life with our heavenly father, is one of the most amazing things in the world. It's a feeling I will never ever forget. God has given us so so much! And he has asked so little of us. But when we do what he has asked, he gives us even more. I have felt his love in my life. I struggle a lot still, but he has always been there for me. Justin, the mission will bless your life. In ways you can't even imagine. And more then just your life, it will bless the lives of your family, your future family, and the families of those you are going to teach and baptize. God has people prepared for you to teach little brother. They are out there and ready. Don't make them wait to start receiving the blessings that the Lord has in store for them. I love you Justin. I only want the best for you. I know that the mission will bring you many blessings. Start preparing now. You are going to need it. :)

Writing in Spanish is my weak point right now. It's hard. Haha, with their accents and stuff. But I still love it. And the Spanish keeps coming and I keep learning new words every day.

Well this is a huge email. But I want you to all know I love you all very much. The mission is great. I miss you all, but I love being able to share the gospel with people. It really is a short time. But one I am loving. I love you!
Love,
Elder Moore

And pray for Veronica and Tony please, your prayers can only help. :) Thank you!

August 17, 2009

2009-08-19T13:51:00.000-07:00

Well this week, we found a sweet, dysfunctional family to teach. They are a family of 8. One son that is 19 lives in California, the 17 and 15 year olds live in a foster home. And the twins, that are 11, and the 8 year old live at home. They were a referal to us from a member that lives in California, it's her cousin. So we went over to teach them, and had a great lesson and she told us she believed in everything we had told her. It's very rare we find those, but she did, and you could tell. So we asked her to be baptized and she said no, because she wants to learn a little more. So we are going back tomorrow, and we will ask her and her husband again. But they have had a lot of problems with their family and they know this can help them. They have been together 19 years and aren't married.... go figure. But they do want to get married. So probably not this week, but the next week we are going to get them married. Woohoo!!

Speaking of marriages.... yesterday I was part of my third wedding since being in the mission. Sister Fix, a woman in our ward, and Jamie Riverra got married. Jamie is not a member. We have been teaching him, but he lacks a lot of faith. He said if he could see the plates, he would believe. Well Jamie, only 12 people got to see the plates. And they aren't even on the earth anymore.... so good luck. BUT getting him married is a start. They had been dating for about 4 months, and BAM! Yesterday, they told us to come over for dinner, so we did. And the bishop was there with his family, and they got married. Also..... with Alma and Eric. They are waiting for Alma's I.D. from Mexico to come in right now so that she can get married to Eric. So that will be yet another wedding. And they said after they are married they will get baptized! Woohoo!!! So that I.D. should be coming in anytime now. So more good news! A family of 5 that wants to get baptized, and Alma and Eric. So hopefully good things are to come this month. We are looking forward to it. So hopefully everything works out.

Also we took Fransico, another investigator, who is the cousin of one of our members, to the Trail Center and watched the Joseph Smith movie. And then had a really good talk with him afterwards. He asked a lot of questions and said he feels like he is in the same spot as Joseph Smith, with just wanting to know. He has come to our church at least 5 times now, always there with his Book of Mormon. So he told us, he knows he needs to get baptized, he just doesn't know where yet. So we told him to pray. That's the only way he can know. So this week we are going to go back and see him, and find out how his prayer went. So we had a good week full of talks about baptism! So I am excited to see how the next couple of weeks play out.

Alister is still going strong. Coming to church every Sunday. I love seeing that. I talked to him again for a little while. And he invited us to go fishing with him next p-day. So we'll be doing that I hope. He asked if I had a fishing pole. I told him no. Ha in which he answered.... Yeah me either. I usually just use a stick and some fishing line. Haha! That guy is the man. So we'll be fishing with a stick and fishing line. :) I look forward to it.

So that would be so sweet to get all those letters from the Young Women! I can't wait. Our young women are all so cool! And geez.... I haven't gotten a letter in like.... 2 weeks now. Ha, so it will be nice not to see the empty box for one day. :) Oh well I don't mind anymore.

Well I hope everything is going well out there in Utah for you! Life is good here. I love you all very much!

Love Elder Moore

P.S. And I have moved pass fruit loops to Honey Nut Cheerios. ;)

August 10, 2009

2009-08-10T13:06:00.000-07:00

Well..... I don't know what to say. But we are kind of in a slump. I hope you enjoy this email anyways. We are working pretty hard with Alma and Eric still. She is 18 and he is 24. She is now pregnant with there second kid. She wrote her mom, who lives in Mexico, to get her to send an ID here for her so she can get married. So they are going to be getting married!!! Woohoo. They came to church yesterday, and had a great time! We plan on setting them with an actual date for baptism this week. So that is exciting stuff. It's funny, I am starting to see that with hispanic people, a baptism is usually accompanied by a wedding. So this will be my 3rd wedding since being here in the mission. And what's nice is that the Bishop is able to do them for free.

Alister came to church yesterday and that was great. I was able to talk with him and catch up on how things are going. We sat and talked for probably 15 minutes after church. He is way cool and is loving being a member of the church.

This week I went on exchanges with Elder Jarman. In all honesty I was pretty nervous at first since he only speaks English, but all went really really well! It was great really getting to find out how good my Spanish is getting. We walked around little Mexico for about an hour and half and just found tons of people to talk to. It was a lot of fun.

This past week we had Zone Conference which is always an awesome spiritual experience. And a lot of fun too because we get to be with a ton of other missionaries. I have made some of my best friends here. This zone conference was about getting members more involved in the work. It was a great topic. Members in our ward are so shy and scared to share the gospel. So we have decided to take some serious control. Me and Elder King spent about 2 hours reviewing the ward mission plan then went and visitied the bishop for another hour and a half to figure out how we can get things rolling in our ward because, really, knocking doors is a waste for the most part. And all of our members have friends. So this week we have really started working with tthe ward. And yesterday we even went to the 8:00 morning meeting to see what we could do to start fulfilling some of the goals in our ward mission plan.

So I am sad to hear about Granny. But she is 95 years old as you said. Hopefully everything is going to be ok with her. I would love to see her again. But if not, she is awesome! And I love her! And I'll have my chance to see her again.

So this week we had some crazy!!storms. They were so awesome! And lots of them. With constant thunder and lighting and rain. It was nuts! And then after that it heats up to usually about 110 degrees with the humidity. Then storms again.... It's a crazy pattern, but so much fun to watch. One storm this week woke me and Elder King up. So we went out and sat on the couch in front of the window with some brownies and just watched it. Then went back to bed.

Wow, that is scary about Mike Stark! I sure hope everything is ok with him. He is one of my favorite people! I love that guy. Keep me up to date with him please. Tell him I say Hi. And Scott Cole too.

So mom you have been a great mother to us! You don't have anything to worry about . Yeah, things haven't gone like we expected them too. Or like you expected them too. BUT you've always been a good mom. I feel like you and me got so close through the last year I had before I left for my mission. We would hang out and I could just talk to you or tell you anything. Literally Anything. I couldn't have asked for a better mom. I love you!

So I have been asked by a couple people what the best way to prepare for a mission is...... So I am going to give my 2 cents worth right now.

1- Know the scriptures! I have found so much joy in studying the scriptures! Marking them, writing in them, reading conference talks that relate to them. And I feel like I have been made such a better teacher for it. You can answer any question anyone has by using the scriptures. So study the scriptures with a PURPOSE! And you will get so much more out of it and really enjoy it. Scriptures are such a huge part in missionary work. Also it is important to know the bible. I have found that out here. And have been studying it a lot. I love the Book of Mormon! But for people that don't know the Book of Mormon yet, it is important to be able to teach to them from the bible.

2- Study Preach My Gospel. Moddern day scripture. Preach My Gospel has made missionaries the best teachers that this church has seen. If you study it, you will be a great teacher, as simple as that. You will know how to create a spiritual atmosphere whether in a home or on the street. You will know how to teach with power, and understand what it is you are teaching much better. Preach My Gospel is an amazing book. Combined with the scriptures and a personal testimony, they are the most powerful tools you have in missionary work.

3- Pray before and after studying. The spirit will teach you things that you may not have understood without the spirit. So pray for the spirit. Live worthy of the spirit. And you will always know what to say, study, and do.

4- Gain a personal testimony of the church. One that won't waiver. One that can't be destroyed. It's not enough to be a member of the church and believe it's true anymore. You have to KNOW it's true. And when you know it's true, no one will be able to deny your testiomony. Gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon, by studying it. Gain a testimony of the restoration. A testimony of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. That He lives. And a testimony about a living prophet.

These are just a few things you can do to become a more effective missionary. To really be able to acheive your potential to grow in the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am not saying these things will bring baptisms. But they will bring power, and the spirit into the lives of those you teach. I love this gospel. It was great to hear from you.

I love you!!! Take care.
Elder Moore

August 3, 2009

2009-08-03T20:29:00.000-07:00

Hey there to everyone!

So to start off, it's amazing the way the spirit can lead you in lessons. So I am going to share a story about how that happened with us this week. So we were teaching a woman named Flor. She has come to church probably 6 times now, but the only thing that is keeping her from getting baptized is not being married but living with a guy. Who is actually a jerk to her. So her 2nd Sunday in church she bore her testimony saying this church is true. She is reading the Book of Mormon, has a testimony. So this past week me and Elder King went over to teach her. We really didn't have a lesson planned, just wanted to see what happened. So we started to talk to her and for some reason I just thought about talking about examples. So we shared about Ammon and how he was an example to the King and the king believed his words and listened to him because of it. Then we shared the story of Aaron and how he taught King Lamonhi's dad. And then King Lamonhi's dad asks after he finishes teaching.... What do I have to give to experince this kind of joy, I will give up everything i have. So after we read this I looked at Flor and asked her what she was willing to give up to be with God. And she knew....It was a really powerful experience. And she said, you're right, I know what I have to do. So two days later we came back and talked to her a little more and about what she had decided....... after about 20 minutes of talking to us, she said, "You can go now. We are done." We didn't see that coming, and then she didn't come to church either. She just isn't willing to leave her "husband" or marry him. So that's a bummer. But hey, we planted a good seed. And we will see what happens. We haven't seen her since, and we probably won't untill she calls us. It's sad, because she is so cool. But oh well.... she knows now... what else can we do right?

So Alma and Eric came to church this Sunday too. They are way awesome. She is 18 and he is 24. They are going to get married soon. And we are going to ask them to be baptized tonight. Hope all goes well there. We had a way powerful spiritual experience with them earlier this week when we watched Finding Faith In Christ. I love the Spirit. It really helps people to know that what we are sharing is true. And then it's up to them to accept or reject what they are feeling.

Before coming on the mission I had this idea in my head that we could baptize everyone. No one would want to say no. But it surprises me how many people have become so content with the lives they are living. And have no desire to change or just don't believe us.

So I had court. It sucked. I have to pay 69 dollars by September 30th. So that's not bad. I got the fine cut by alot. From like 160 to 69. So I'll take it. But I didn't even get to tell what happened. It was lame. Just had to stand in front of a judge and say "No contest" It was lame. But oh well.

So that is awesome that Toni was in town. That family is so awesome!!!! I miss them and I will definitely go and visit them in Canada when I get back. Another Waterton Lakes reunion! Hope all is well with them.

So wow, that surprises me that Tyler got released too! Holiness, the priest quroum will never be the same. Tyler transformed the priests. He made it something totally awesome and did amazing things for every person that was in his class. For all the years he was there. Some of my favorites memories are being on camp outs and hang outs with the priests. Like the Moab trip! That was so awesome!! I love that guy. I owe him a lot for why I am on a mission. He helped me so much. I hope that family is doing well. They deserve it. They have never thought about themselves and have always looked for ways to serve. They are just full of so much love for everyone. Ha I remember when we made chinese food at Tyler's house and brought our dates over.... ha and made our own fortune cookies. That was so much fun. I hope when I "grow up" I am half as cool as that guy.

So Mom, I am so glad you are reading Preach My Gospel. That book was writen on the other side of the veil. It is scripture. It's so awesome! That book is changing missionary work and has made missionaries better teachers now then ever. As L. Tom Perry said in his conference talk. It has been cool I have been reading the New Era's and past conference Ensigns. I have learned so much! Jeffrey R. Holland gave an awesome talk called Broken Things to Mend in ..... April 2006 I think. I would recommend everyone read that. It's amazing.

I love studying and reading the scriptures and the words of our living prophets. They truly are the words of our Heavenly Father. I know that this is the true church. This is the gospel of Jesus Christ. And he did truly suffer for each and every person, and this he did because of the love he has for everyone of us. Well family. I love you so much! I love sharing the gospel and being on a mission. The time will come when we are all united again.... but as for now, the Lord has a work for me to do. And I am trying to fulfill my purpose to the best of my ability. The Lord has a work for all of us to do. I hope you are all trying your best to fulfill the work our Heavenly Father has for you as well. We can't make it on our own. Turn to Jesus Christ and he will be there, always. When others dissapear, he doesn't.

I love you.

Love, Elder Moore

July 27, 2009

2009-07-27T17:20:00.000-07:00

Wow, sounds like quite the week you all had! My week was pretty crazy as well! Yes, I have been transferred, after about 6 months in North Omaha, I am now down in South O. I just moved down across the border. Same ward, new investigators. It's crazy. But I love the change. I needed it. So my new companion is Elder King from Idaho. We are going to have an awesome time together.

So speaking of our ward....Saturday night at about 10:35, the Bishop calls and asked if I could speak for 20 minutes on Sunday...so I accepted, and was up till about 2:30 working on a talk to help encourage the members about missionary work. Yeah, that was a joy. The talk actually went pretty good, just would have been nice to have a little more time. Especially because me and Elder King's first 2 days together we didn't leave the apartment. He had a fever of 101, so I spent 2 solid days in the apartment. Ha, yeah, that was hard. But I am easily distracted so I found ways to distract myself.

Also the day before transfers I went on exchanges with Elder King and we had a way awesome experience! We met a guy named David Lopez on his porch and started talking to him about the Book of Mormon. And we explained authority and baptism to him as well and Elder King invited him to be baptized. He was hesitant to accept and said it seems like such a long staircase. I don't know what it was, probably inspiration, but I said to him, "You are right, it is kind of like a staircase, but with only 5 steps." Then I explained to him, Faith in Jesus Christ and his Atonement, Repentance, Baptism, Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. And I told him we would be there helping him prepare for baptism. So he realized it wouldn't be terribly hard and he accepted a baptism date for the 22nd of August. He is out of town in Lincoln now, but we are going to be working with him quite a bit when he gets back. That was a way cool experience!

So leaving the North was hard. People actually cried. I couldn't believe it. And I found out that 2 little 6 year old girls had a crush on me there, Ana and her friend Tasha. Ha they are the daughters of 2 investigators that live together. Orquedia, the investigator said she found them writing love notes to me. Ah kids.....

So the new area is great! I think I have become a lot more bold with people. And it's actually a good thing. I have begun telling people how it is and not beating around the bush. It seems to be helping. I think it really helps the people we are teaching realize the importance of our message and especially about coming to church.

Sorry I don't have much to talk about. Spent all day Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, in the apartment.

So how is the Wilcox family doing? I got some letters from all of them. They are so great!! Dawson's letter started off like this, "Lakers Suck." Haha. And Weston's was..... I know you like guitars, I like them too. Then a picture of me and him. Haha what cool kids! I love that family! Just hearing from all of them was great!

Mmmm so how much weight have I gained? I think like 25 pounds. I look gooooood. My temple/baptism pants are pretty dang tight, but I am living. :) :) Haha! Actually funny story about that. Today we were thrift store shopping for fun. And I went to buy 2 sweet ties and the girl at the cash register was like.... 17, and she turns to her friend at the register next to her and says "He is cute" in Spanish. Haha, little did she know, I understand Spanish. So I just laughed. And then as I was leaving, I said, "By the way, thanks for the compliment." HA!!! It was so funny. I love being white and people thinking I don't speak Spanish.

Thanks for having the Young Women write to the missionaries. That is neat. Missionaries love letters! And that is da truth! Oh yeah, so I did get a new address it is :
5802 S 14th st #5
Omaha, NE 68107
But just have everyone send stuff to the mission home, so that way it always reaches me no matter where I go :) Thanks.

Well sorry this hasn't been totally exciting. Not much went on this week as I mentioned earlier. But Elder King is awesome. We are going to do pretty well together. He is like another me. You'll see from the camera when I send that back. :) We have a lot of fun. Maybe to much.... I'll let ya think on that. :) Actually mom it is all obedience fun! :) But yeah we have these guns made out of PVC pipe and they shoot little kind of like cotton balls but smaller and heavier. And at night when it's dark, we turn off all the lights and play 007 with them and shoot fur balls at each other. It's so much fun!

But anyways.... take care!!! And the the skies in the Midwest are just awesome!!
I love you all! And miss you!!!
Court tomorrow...... yay!
Love always,
Elder Moore

July 20, 2009

2009-07-20T18:14:00.000-07:00

Bada Bing! Bada Boom! Elder Moore is in the Room!!Yeah that was a pretty good intro... I will see if I can keep getting better, but that one will be HARD to top.

So first things first.... Transfers are this week. Actually in 2 days!!! I am so excited!! Either me or Elder Arellano will be getting a new companion, we won't be together another one. I cannot wait till Wednesday comes to find out who I am going to be with! I am thinking it will be Elder King, and I will be going down to South O.I hope that is what happens. But whatever happens, for the most part, I will be good with, as long as I get a new companion.

So Alister is already doing missionary work. Yesterday he came to church, and brought some of his wifes family that aren't members. It was so cool! We didn't even pass by his house to wake him up or anything, they just came. He is doing really good and I am so happy to see him progressing and really understanding how important this gospel is. Yesterday we confirmed Arali, Micheal, and Jaden to the church. That was a great experience as well. They were yet to be confirmed becuase they were all out of town for the holidays and all. So yesterday, it was done! Arali is such a sweetheart, she is always trying to do what is right. Reminds me so much of Brooklyn. My companion plays the piano in Sacrament meeting so I sit with Micheal, Jaden, and Arali and translate all of sacramentmeeting for them. It's hard.... trying to work with two languages in my head.

This week has been great. I have completely stopped translating what people say in my head and now I just listen and understand it in Spanish. I think I can finally say, I get it! I am teaching an English class right now to members, less actives, and investigators. Oh man I love it and have so much fun with them!! Tonight at 7:00 we have a class. Georginia an old investigator is in the class. I have become good friends with her, she is like 45. We were teaching her like 5 months ago then everything just stopped. She lives with members and was coming to church EVERY Sunday for like 9 sundays in a row. Then just stopped. But we would still see her every week when we had dinner with the members she lives with. Well last night we went over and had a lesson with her about Faith, the Atonement, Repentance, and Baptism. And we commited her to baptism for the 22nd of August! It was great and quite a suprise that she excepted. I just think the lesson had gone really good and the spirit was really strong there. And she couldn't deny it.

Carlos, well, he is done. He is reading the Book of Mormon like crazy! He is almost threw Alma and he has only had it for a little more then a week. He actually asked us for another to give to a friend. But he said there couldn't be a prophet on the earth. And that he wasn't going to be baptized again. He "knows" the bible really well, so we showed him parts where it talks about Christ's church having prophets, where people were baptized again... etc. But he just doesn't believe it.

Oh well. So we talked about the gift of tongues in Priesthood this week.... and of course, the lesson centered a lot around me. "Take Elder Moore for example when he got here he could only say "Si" and now he can carry on a conversation." So to prove his point he asked me a gospel question, and of course I answered. Haha, it was funny. I didn't mind being picked on. I love our ward members.

So I am glad to hear you had an AWESOME birthday! And that you were able to talk with Melanie and maybe Sister Thompson! They are so great!! They are the coolest people and they are going to move out to Utah.

Well Family.... That is all for now.I love you all very much!!! Take care please!

Love Elder Moore

July 13, 2009

2009-07-20T17:25:00.000-07:00

Hey there!!I got to come up with a more clever way to start my emails.... like...BAM!!!! HERE I AM! It's a work in progress....

But anyways I have a cool story to tell you. And it's not some big inspirational or spiritual story. So sorry if that is what you were hoping for. But this week Me and Elder Rawlins had exchanges. And we were up late talking and finally decided to go to bed. But this night, was way way way stormy, like the biggest storm I have ever seen. So at 2:30 I look outside and Elder Rawlins says, hey you are awake too, and I said yup I am. So he said, let's go out side and check it out.So we did....And we were standing out side in the entry way to our apartment under something so we wouldn't get wet. And about 200 yards away we see this incredible lightning bolt. Like it was so close we saw sparks flying off it and fire coming off the sides of it. Wow!!! It was incredible, and it was followed by this thunder that made a car alarm go off it was so huge! And it scared us to death, we both jumped and ran inside the building and into the apartment and slammed the door and locked and just sat on the couch..... It was pretty funny afterwards. But not at the moment. That's my cool story. That lightning bolt was one of the coolest things I have seen in my life.

That is so cool that you were able to go to President and Sister Newman's homecoming. I am way jealous. They are 2 of the most amazing people I have ever met. They are just packed with so much spirit and knowledge. Yes please do send me the notes! I do want to hear what they had to say. And that is nice of them to say nice things about me. :) I do love them and miss them a lot. But President Kunz is an incredible guy as well. He is so enthusiastic and excited about the work!And interviews got changed to this Wednesday so I will be having my first one with him Wednesday morning.

I do have to tell him I have a court date on the 28th as well. So I think when transfers come around I will either be staying here in the North, or going down to South O. Because I have to stay close so that I can go to court. And the other areas are 1 hour, 2 hours and 4 hours away. I don't know, but we'll find out in 9 days. Whatever happens, I'm good with.

Wow, that's crazy that Elder Olsen is taking off in 2 days! Wow! I remember those days right before entering the MTC, and the first days in the MTC. He'll do just fine. :) Wow, can you believe it, here I am working on month number 8. Good stuff.

Well this week I don't have many crazy or interesting things to tell you. It was just another week in the mission. Leticia was out of town this entire week so we weren't able to talk with her at all untill yesterday. We will have to re-set her for baptism. But she is still looking really good. Manuel and Roxana came yesterday as well to church and they are doing great. They both want to get baptized, so all we need is to get his divorce. They talked with the bishop yesterday after church, but I don't know what happened or what was said. So hopefully all went well. We have been teaching a guy named Carlos, he is like 55, and we are seeing good progress with him. But I will tell you that the oposition is working so hard against us and Carlos right now. It's pretty incredible actually. It's because if Carlos gets baptized, his family will too. So we would see probably 8 or 9 baptisms from Carlos getting baptized. He is very respected in his house. He understands the bible really well. teaches his family and they all attend a church near the house. But it's funny because Carlos doesn't believe in that church, he just says, he knows he is being blessed for going to church. But he did tell us he knows he needs to be baptized, and in his prayer he asked God if this was where he needed to be. So he is trying really hard. But so is the other side.It's been very challenging. But we are going to continue to work with him and hopefully see a break through. This week we just didn't see a whole lot of success, and many people aren't progressing. But we are still working hard to find those chosen few that are prepared and ready to hear the gospel. But the opposition has worked harder on us this week then just about any other.

So I don't know if I mentioned this in my email last week but I haven't had to deal with eating fish since being here. And two days in a row we eat Shrimp Cocktail......... I tried so hard to eat it. Both times. The first time I had like 6 bites and the second time, I had 3 before I said. Sorry, can't do it. Haha. Oh well... hopefully another 6 or 7 months before I have to deal with that again.

And no the package didn't get here by Friday. We went by the office Friday afternoon to turn in an oil change receipt and it wasn't there. So hopefully it shows up at interviews that I have Wednesday. But the cookout was fun. Me and Elder Rawlins played a song by Jimmy Eat World called For Me This Is Heaven. It was sweet. We had to listen to it and pick it up by ear, and we did AWESOME! It was fun. And the other musical numbers were pretty good as well. That was a good night. Sometimes ya need nights like that, when you can hang out on the porch of a member and play guitar with your other missionary buddies. :)

Well I hope everyone is doing well. I miss you all.I love you very much!

Love, Elder Moore

July 6, 2009

2009-07-06T10:20:00.000-07:00

Hello Family! And others.... But you others are like family too so I will just leave it at...Hello Family!!

So this week wasn't too bad. I have to say I really don't like Holidays, I don't care what holiday it is, Holidays in the mission are no fun. Actually they are border line depressing. And you can't get any work done either on those days because no one wants to see you. It seems like all missionaries are just depressed on Holidays. We really aren't perfect, as many people seem to think we are. This is tough. But I do love it.

And I can't believe it, come August 3rd I am a 1/3 of the way done with my mission. This transfer is going by so fast. But I do love it here. Missions are so great!

But we did find a woman name Liticia a.k.a. Catwoman. Why do we call her Catwoman you ask? Because she has like 9 cats and every thing in her walls is cats and yeah.... but she is the nicest woman with the nicest apartment. It's like being in the temple when you are in there. That's how peaceful it is. So we began to talk with her to get to know her better. And she said she doesn't let anyone in her house, but we were different. She felt prompted to let us in. So we taught her the first lesson. And when we finished she looked at us and said, I believe it. That was kind of a shock. She said, I believe that actually happened. So we asked her to pray about Thomas S. Monson after and we kneeled down and she offered this small simple prayer, but didn't close it.... she just sat there in silence. And it was about 3 minutes of silence before she just looked up and said, wow. He is a prophet. It was so awesome! So we figure if they pray about Thomas Monson it connects everything. And he is living now! That is why we have them pray about him. His name brings so much power into a home and into a prayer. We set her for baptism on the 25th of July but may have to push it back a week. She is working Sundays right now and covering for a woman who is out of town. So she can't come to church till like the 19th. So we may push it to August 1st. But she will be baptized!

We also went and saw Manuel and Roxana. They are so cool! I love them. He is so funny. I called him and he picks up the phone and he pretened to be an answering machine like our phone has. ya know we say You've reached the missionaries Elder Moore and Elder Arellano of the church of..... yeah you get it. Well he goes Hi you have reached Manuel and Roxana from the church of Jesus Christ of the angels, then he started laughing becuase he messed up. Haha it was way funny! He is jsut a goof. But a way cool guy. He said his wife has the divorce papers ready in Mexico, we just have to find a way for him to sign them so they can get divorced, then he can marry Roxana and they can be baptized!!!! Woohoo!!! I am way excited! So that was about the highlights of the week.

I am excited to hear you will be going to the Newman's homecoming! That is going to be so so cool!!! I can promise you that the hour drive will be totally worth it! I love them. And yes I did meet President Kunz! He is really cool! And very excited about the work. So it used to be when we set someone for baptism we would call President Newman and he would sing us a song. Well President Kunz said he doesn't sing, so we have to sing to him when we set someone for baptism. I think he is getting a lot of calls. We have like 157 people set for baptism in the mission right now. It's incredible. We have decided to focus everything on baptism and church attendance as a mission. To put those two things into every section we teach. It is difficult in some ways, but it really helps the people we are teaching know our purpose. Know that we are here to batpize. And it is paying off. It helps us know the people that are serious, and those that aren't.

So I have my first interview with President Kunz on Wednesday. I am looking forward to it. He is great. He is going to help the mission do great things.

I think a huge reason in why we baptized Alister is because when he started coming to church people were talking to him and inviting him over for dinner and just being so nice to there family. That is what a good ward should do.Ha, funny story, We told Alister to be there at church last sunday before his baptism at 6:30 so he could get dressed and prepared and all. Well 6:45 rolled around and he still wasn't there and I was freaking out! then he walks in at 6:50 and says hey sorry I am late, we were eating dinner at one of the members houses. I was just like WHAT!? I couldn't believe it. It was so cool, Sister Robles had invited them over for dinner. She is way awesome. So see, ward members play the biggest roll in a recent convert and a convert baptism. Preach My Gospel says that after batpizing the person our job as missionaries is DONE. It is now the wards responsibility. And that is very true.

A mission is so worth it. It definately is not easy. But it is a great experience!

We didn't get to see any fireworks. Just hear them. We did get invited over to the Thompson's to watch fireworks with them..... But Elder Arellano didn't want to go. So we didn't..... We just tried to visit people and ended up seeing no one in the 3 hours we were visiting. Oh well. It's all good. That happens.

So this is how transfers work.... we have transfers every 6 weeks. And you get a call on Wedensday at 12:00 that tells you to pack your bags you leave tomorrow morning at 6:00. Or you are staying and this is your companion. So I think there is a good chance I will stay or go to South Omaha. I have to stay close because I have court on the 28th and transfers are the 25th. So if they sent me to Grand Island it's a 4 hour drive and Denison is a 2 hour drive. And if I don't show up at court I get arrested. So I kind of want to be there. So I don't know what will happen still but odds are I at least stay in Omaha.

Well I think that is the jist of what I have to say this week. I love you all very much! I hope everyone is doing great. I miss you all. But this is where I am needed. I know this church is true. I don't believe it anymore, I know it.

Take care

Love always, Elder Moore

June 29, 2009

2009-06-29T14:24:00.000-07:00

Hey Hey Hey! So yes it's true..... Yesterday we had 4 baptisms!!!!

It was definitely a very memorable day in the mission. Micheal, Jaden, and Arali were baptized. It was so cool, Nancy, their mom was crying and it was just an amazing experience for all to see. It was great helping this family start their path in coming unto Christ. And number 4....... ALISTER!!!! Woohoo!! We finally got Alister baptized. I met him my 3rd week in the mission. And have worked with him ever since. I think he will be a stronger member for taking this much time to finally be baptized. He was so happy yesterday and so was his wife, Erika. In the picture, Elder Arellano is wearing a tie like me. And Mauricio Valensuela, a recent convert, he was baptized in December, baptized Alister, so he is in the picture too. So yesterday was an incredible experience. And we had so much support from the ward for all of them. We had in between 50 and 60 people there at the baptism. And at sacrament meeting we had a little over 100 for the first time since I have been here. The ward is growing and people are wanting to be baptized. It is so great!

So Manuel and Roxana are having problems getting there divorce figured out. We are going to get the bishop involved and hopefully get some good help from him. He works part time as translator for the court systems, so he has a good in there and will be able to help us out. They are awesome. They have gained a testimony of the Book of Mormon and love reading it. And they come to church and participate. It's so awesome!

Court stunk. They just gave me another date to come back. So I go back on the 28th of July for the actual thing. Haha read D & C 24:17, I think it is. It talks about that if anyone takes you to law, they will be cursed. Ha something like that. It's funny! But yeah, the Bishop is hooking me up too, with a lawyer to help us out. He is the 1st counselor in the stake presidency. So we are getting everything squared away.We'll see how everything goes.

I forgot to mention the TORNADO!! I don't know how I forgot about that. It didn't touch ground in Omaha, but it was like it had. Trees were snapped, powerlines down, cars smashed by trees, it was so crazy!! It was 104 degrees that afternoon and at around 4:30 it got really dark really fast and then the storm started!!! we got out of our car and ran, to shelter like they asked us to do. And we ran for about 20 seconds and I was drenched from head to toe in rain. Like it was really as if I had taked a shower. So we ran into an apartment complex and just sat on the stairs and watched. Wow!!! It was bad! It was cool though watching this tree snap and fall. It was a way crazy storm!! So we had tornado winds but it didn't come all the way down. It was quite a crazy experience!

Things are going really good here. It's been a lot of hard work, but we are really starting to see things pay off. So this week we met Lester. He is 23. He has a drug problem that his parents don't know about. He was living in Council Bluffs Iowa for a while and got into a bad group of friends and he got addicted to drugs. So he moved back to his parents home and is trying to get rid of it. He really wants to be baptized and he knows it is going to help him so much! I am very excited to be working with him. I have never come across a person this humble before in my mission! It's crazy! He is a great person.And guess what?! With Lester I called him to set up an appointment before we met him, since he was a referral from another set of missionaries. So we went to his house, and he asked me if I spoke spanish, and I said, ya know the person you talked to on the phone yesterday and the day before, he said yeah... I said, that was me. Haha! So that was kinda cool. :) I guess my spanish is getting a little better. Still takes time though.

That is way cool Eric Olsen got called spanish speaking! He is going to love it so much! I love speaking spanish, and the spanish people are so amazing and just way nice!

It is really sad that President Newman is leaving. Very hard on the mission. But we know President Kunz will be great! We had our last zone conference with President Newman, that is just an amazing man with an amazing family. You should definitely go to their homecoming. Just seeing him, you can know and tell that he is a man called of God, with so much power. And I know his homecoming talk will change your life forever. He has changed my life so much. Even up to the last words he said to me. I gave him a hug and he just whispered something so powerful to me and about my mission and responsibility. I love him and will miss him. Let me know how his talk is, and his wife's talk as well. Thank you!

Well I love you all very much. This week was a really good one! And this one should be good as well. This could be my last transfer in the Omaha North. We will see what happens..... Crazy eh? I have been here a while. But I do love it. Take care!!! I miss you all very much. But as you said mom, it is starting to go by fast.

I love you!

Love Elder Moore

June 22, 2009

2009-06-22T17:07:00.000-07:00

Hey there Family!!!

So let's start off with the best news first. This Sunday we will be having 3, yes I said 3, baptisms!! Micheal, Jaden, and Arali Montonez. They are the sweetest kids in the world. They are 11, 10, and 9. They are kids of a less active member. We went and saw them on Thursday this past week and they are so ready to be baptized. They told us they went to their friends baptism and wanted it so bad. I am loving teaching them! Kids are so much fun to teach. And they have such funny questions like.... Do animals need to be baptized too? Ha, we answered no, because they are innocent, to which Arali, the sweetest 9 year old girl said, "Sharks aren't innocent, they eat people, there is nothing innocent about that." haha!! It was so funny. We gave them each their own Book of Mormon to read and we left a chapter for them to read. They came to church yesterday and Arali said that her and her 2 brothers all read it together. We also taught them how to pray, and hearing them say their first prayers was such an amazing experience. They are amazing kids who really love learning and try so hard to understand everything. :) Their Mom, who is less active, came to church yesterday and loved it. This family is going to be great! So they are going to be baptized this upcoming Sunday!

We saw Alister on Friday, he told us.... "I want to be baptized after church Sunday." I couldn't believe it!!! We of course said, "yes you can!" We came back Saturday night to go over the baptismal interview questions with him and..... I can't really say what happened.... But, he wasn't baptized. And there is a slight chance that may never happen. It was very sad and so disappointing. His wife, Erika, wants him to be baptized so bad! We will have to wait and see what happens with everything, but as of now, there is that chance it could never happen.

Manuel and Roxana are set for baptism on July 3rd. They have come to church the last 2 Sundays and have such a strong testimony. The thing that is holding them back is.... Manuel is married to a woman that lives in Mexico and we have to find a way to get them divorced. He said he wants to marry Roxana and be a member of the church. But this divorce may take some time. We watched the Testaments with them on Saturday and it was such an awesome experience! They are so cool! And they feed us EVERY time we go see them. They will make great members as soon as he gets divorced. We keep praying for that to happen, so right now they are working it out.

Also we have been teaching Max and Anna. Anna is very interested, Max, not so much. We taught them about prophets and taught them that they can know that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet through prayer. Max wasn't interested in finding out but Anna was. She prayed and asked, and well the best way I can describe how she got her answer was like this.....It's like when you are just sitting there and like a water balloon hits you in the face. It kinda of throws you back and you blink a few times cause you are stunned. Maybe you are shakin up. That's how it was for her. She received her answer. She knew he was a true prophet.

So this week I saw something way cool! An eye surgery!!! It was crazy. One of our members Ana Klien, different Ana, asked us to come and translate for her. And then to drive her and her car back after her surgery because she wouldn't have been able to drive. We told her we can't drive other peoples cars, so she brought Antonio to drive us back, a 76 year old man..... Yeah we'll get to that in a second.
So while Elder Arellano translated I talked to Antonio, for 2 and a half straight hours, in spanish. It was so cool!!! He is not a member, but has read the Book of Mormon 5 times and The Gospel Principles book twice. haha! He is so funny. So we talked a lot about life and the gospel, and just whatever in those 2 and a half hours. So then Ana had her eye surgery and I got to watch the whole thing. It was so cool!!! So she doesn't need glasses anymore. But wow, it was an experience like any other. And it looks like it hurts! Glad it wasn't me. Then Antonio drove us back. All I have to say is that God has more in store for me. Because if he didn't. I would have died on Tuesday. Antonio can't drive worth nothing! It was so scary!!! Wow.... That's all I can say.

So yes I do have my court tomorrow at 9:00. In all honesty I am not nervous. I may have been before my mission but now it's just like.... ah whatever. I talk to people I don't know ALL day. I go into people's houses I don't know. I get yelled at or told our church is of the devil. Just you name it, it happens. So I think tomorrow talking to a judge won't be too bad. :) We'll see what happens though. I definitely don't want to pay the 150 dollar ticket. And as of now my driving privilages have been taken away by the church for the past 2 weeks. I like not driving though. It's cool! But yeah, tomorrow is the big day and we'll see what happens.

Sounds like the Trek was so much fun! I never did one of those.... maybe one day I'll have my chance to be a Ma or Pa. Ha actually just a Pa. Ma's are for girls. Which I am not.

So things are good with Elder Arellano. He did scold me today. Elder Rawlins, he has become probably my best friend in the mission, calledtoday and said we were playing basketball at this time. We play ball every Monday. I told Elder Arellano and he said that we can't do this all the time. We can't always play and hang out with other missionaries. That was a bummer. So he said we can play basketball 2 times a transfer and that is it. Which sucks. He only has 10 p days left, he says they aren't fun anymore. So I am thinking, well if they aren't fun for you at least let me enjoy mine. :) Haha. But yeah... what can ya do.

So there is a 50 50 chance I will stay in this area after this transfer. If I do stay I will be here at least ANOTHER 3 months. Which is fine with me. I don't mind. I do like the Omaha North a lot. And good things are starting to happen here. If I stay much longer though I will need a U-haul to come and take all my stuff to my next area. :) Haha.

I love you all very much! I love getting the emails every week. It's something I look forward too! Take care!

Love always Elder Moore

June 15, 2009

2009-06-15T09:09:00.000-07:00

Hey Hey Hey inhabitants of Utah, and any others who recieve this world wide!

Well this is Elder Moore here reporting from Omaha, Nebraska, yup still here. I wasn't transfered, as we knew this would happen. There is a good chance I could spend up to my first year here in the same area. Elder Arellano is my new companion and he has 3 months left. Estoy serviendo con me Abuelo, means I am serving with my grandpa, he trained my trainer, making him my grandpa in missionary talk. But anyways, there is a good chance I will stay with him 2 and then receive another missionary, we will see what happens though. Elder Arellano is 25 years old. And an AMAZING missionary. I had met him once before, it wasn't great. And no one likes him for some reason. But in the 4 days I have been with him I have learned to love him. And we get a long really well. He told me there hasn't been many he has had a great relationship with but I see us having a great time together. He is a dang hard worker!

So before I get into the really good stuff..... GO LAKERS!!!!! NBA champs!!! Woot woot!!! I just had to throw that in there!

Well this week Alister came to church AGAIN! And Roxana and Manuel came too. They have two kids ages 5 and 3. Oh man they are awesome. All of our members were really nice to them and they invited us over for dinner tonight with them. We are going to set them with a baptismal date. They told us they want to be members and they were so excited to be at church. So good things are happening there. Alister is still looking good for the 27th. His testimony and faith are really growing and Erika loves coming to church. So that family is really progressing great together. We had a lesson with him about faith and the Book of Mormon. We asked him to pray about it to know if it was a true book. We then kneeled and he asked God right there. And told us he had received his answer and that he just felt so peaceful.Haha, we stopped by Sunday morning to see them. Erika was already dressed and ready to go, but she said Alister was still asleep but that she would wake him up. Well it was time for sacrament meeting and I called them and Erika said I couldn't wake him up so we aren't coming. I was so disappointed. But HA! I walked into the chapel and there they were! She said "Ha! I tricked you!" Haha.

We had an AWESOME experience with Veronica this week. We found out what her real concern was. It was that she was talking with the Jehovah's Witnesses and that she liked what they taught too. She just didn't know what religion to choose. So we testified of the Book of Mormon and of our living prophet Thomas S. Monson. And when we were finished we said, Veronica, right now, pray and ask God if Thomas S. Monson is a true prophet and if he leads this church today. She then prayed and offered a simple but very powerful prayer. And during that prayer, the spirit was the strongest I had ever felt it before in my life I think. She said Amen and we looked at her and she sat there with her eyes closed, not moving. After about a minute of silence, she looked up at us with tears in her eyes and said I know he is a prophet.It was one of the most amazing experiences. She didn't come to church though. She was dealing with people for her daughter, who is pretty much paralyzed. But she is set for baptism on the 27th.I know God answers our prayers, I have seen it many times these last few days.

With Manuel and Roxana, I mentioned them earlier. We talked with her on Friday, her husband wasn't there and for this reason we didn't set her for baptism yet.... But we asked what her goals were for life. She said, she wants to be with her family forever. She wants her sons to grow up and be missionaries. She wants to have a good religion. Their family is friends with the Martinez family who is in our ward. They live in the same building, so we have AWESOME member support. I can't wait till our meeting tonight. Also, Dilie Lopez has a baptismal date for July 4th. We have not met her yet, but other missionaries taught her and passed us to us because she understands spanish better. We will be seeing her tomorrow.

This week so many amazing things happened! Well since Thursday. It's amazing how much has changed. This area has completely 180-ed since getting Elder Arellano. He loves to work, and so do I. But man, he is crazy! It's going to be fun.

Well I got an email from Elder Lee. He said he isn't receiving my emails, and I am not receiving his. Come on! Hook us up! Please. :) Thank you! I gotta know what my best friend is up too!

So yes I do know Elder Quintana. He is serving in Lincoln right now as a zone leader with Elder Camacho. Lincoln is such a sweet area. I hope they send me down there eventually. But yeah, he is a stud. A way cool kid. I like him a lot. I haven't really served around him, just met him a few times. So he is doing very good.

So how is Aunt Diane doing? That is one of my goals when I get home to go to New York and meet my Aunt Diane. There were a few people in my zone in the MTC that went to spanish speaking New York.

I will be sending all of your gifts in July ok? I made some cool stuff during Arts and Crafts time.I don't know if I told you about that but me and Elder Herrera decided to spend half of our lunch time eating, and the other half dong arts and crafts. Man I have made some SWEET stuff!

I did receive a wedding invitation to Kelsey's wedding. Unfortanetly I couldn't make an appearance.... I hope they will forgive me. But congrats to them! That's exciting!!!

Welp family. I hope all is well in Utah. Things are great here! I love it!!!President Eyring prophicied in 2005 that many people and many hispanics would flee to Nebraksa as a refuge. I don't know why it's here. But it is happening. We are seeing so many people pile in here. President Newman recently said to us. That we are building Zion right here. We are seeing some amazing things happen in the mission! Over 200 people with set for baptism for this month and in July. It's incredible. The work here is amazing. Elder Arellano and myself have 5 people. And many more to come.I love you all very much!! You are great. Please take care!!!Mom I love you!

Love Elder Moore