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

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

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!!‏

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!‏

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!‏

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

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

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