March 26, 2012

Well let me start off about something new I tried this week. I tried a meat that was so deliciously good. On Saturday I killed and cooked a duck. It was so good. I love duck meat. I am pretty sure that after the mission I will go to Victor's Pond, catch me a duck, pluck it and cook it. I will send you a bunch of pics ha ha. And after the mission I'll show you the videos.

Other than that, I am stoked cause this week we have changes. I know that my comp is gone. I dunno what is going to happen with me tho. And well hopefully they don't give me another member. Talking about that, Ismael is here with me right now. He came to visit me and visit his converts in San Ramon. A lot happened this week but for some reason right now I can't think of anything except for the duck.

In church we had 40 people so that was an improvement. That is about the average now. When I came it was like 10 to 15 but now it is like 40.

Elder Faught is totally bouncing out. That is awesome. He is going to be back with his family. I am pretty sure I am going to stay here for another change and then die where they send me to.

I had many spiritual experiences this week in lessons. I love feeling the spirit. It helps me remember how true this church is. I believe at one point or another everyone has second thoughts or doubts but we should not ponder on that. We need to stick to our faith. That is what has helped me a ton. Just telling my self that I have faith and remembering the spiritual experiences that I have had have helped me a ton with enduring to the end and helping me all seguir adelante in my life and especially at this moment in my life. In my mission. On Wednesday I will be completing 20 months which means a short 4 months left.

There are some really ugly birds here called chicharras. They scream and are really annoying. This week one peed in my eye ball. Now my white eyeball has changed to a beautiful color of red ha ha.

Well I love you and hope that you are all being Latter Day Saints every day of your life and that you are always being an example. Cause that is what we do. We put the example. I know the church is true. I don't have a doubt about it. I love you.

Love, Elder Moore

March 19, 2012

Hello mother that I love so much. That is so awesome that I have a new COUSIN. It would be tight if he was my nephew psh he pretty much is my nephew but at the same time he is pretty much my brother. I consider all the Wilcox kids to be my brothers and sisters. Not just cousins we have been through a lot together and I love them a ton.

So I'll start off with something awesome. The first family that I baptized in the mission is going to the temple this next week. I got the phone call last week. I don't know if I told you but it's for sure. I am going to see them tomorrow and on Monday they take off to the temple I am so happy for them. It will be a great experience for them. Family Machado. My first converts. It makes me happy to see the change in them and see them receive blessings. I don't know if you remember their story but Hermano Machado had smoked for 30 years. He even smoked the day before his baptism but the day before his baptism he made us a promise that he was never going to smoke again because he had such a strong desire to change and get baptized and become a member of the church. They were baptized on January 22nd 2011 and he has made such a great change in his life. And still has not smoked. It is amazing what the true gospel of Jesus Christ can do. It is amazing to see the blessings that come from living and obeying the commandments of God.




Well on to a couple of other things I forgot to tell you. I saw a dead lady. We were walking in the street and a lady had died and well they took the lady home in a taxi. It was ridiculous. I saw the family take the dead lady out of the car and take her into the house and then I just heard everyone start screaming and crying. The same day a 7 year old kid got hit by a bus I saw it a couple minutes after it happened. I saw the bike he was on broken into parts, his crocs on the ground and a bunch of blood. They say he died but I don't know if that is for sure. That was a crazy day though.

Today I went out to eat with my parents from Jinotega. They came down from Jinotega and we went out to a restaurant called El Mexicano.



Other than that I have been kinda struggling with my comp. We have been struggling for like 4 weeks now. He complains about everything. And cries so much he is like a little child. And he is a compulsive liar its horrible. It could be that that number he gave you is a false number. He loves to create problems every where he goes. In the families we are teaching he is horrible with the members. The zls know how he is and I am pretty sure they are going to send him home after this change. I hope so. I have seen him lie a ton. And it bugs. We have got into a lot of fights too. He is way super lazy and complains and never wants to do anything. We have not had any success this change to be honest. And it's been really hard to feel and follow the spirit. Unlike last change when I was working with my convert we threw flames. With my companion right now we baptized a family but it was the family I was teaching with Elder Martinez, a family that already had a date set to get baptized. Other than that we haven't done anything. It's been hard but I am learning patience and humility, two things that I know will help me in my life.

It is frustrating when people lose sight of the real goal. The goal is to make it back to the presence of our Loving Heavenly Father. Knowing that we have "The What¨ and ¨The How¨. In this life we should make a list of HOW we are going to achieve The WHAT. Achieve what we really want. And we should always go back to that list and check and make sure we are doing everything that we can to reach our goal of returning to God's Presence

It is weird being old in the mission. All my friends and all the people I looked up to on the mission are now gone or are leaving, like my best friend from the mission is leaving this change. His name is Elder Ellis. He is the black kid that is in that one Dr. Pepper movie I sent you. It is going to stink to be honest. I was talking to him yesterday but I don't like getting old in the mission. I want the same feeling to come back that I had when I only had a 11 months in the mission. I have met so many friends here that live so close to the house that I plan to kick it with after the mission. Like Elder Weber. He is so tight. I went to the gym with him today in the morning. He is from Payson, Utah. It's crazy that his parents get home this week from their mission, that is what he told me. Tomorrow they get home and we started the mission before them crazy ha ha. Only 4 more months.




This picture is of bananas. They fry bananas here and sell them like chips they are so good.



I have not got my travel plans yet but to be honest I am pretty sure I want to fly into Salt Lake if that is ok. Well mother, I love you a ton. And miss you. Thanks for everything darling, ha ha.

Love you take care,
Love Elder Moore

Here is a weird picture, because Elder Moore is weird!

March 12, 2012

WOW! I am so proud of Brooklyn. I really am. To see the big change in her is amazing. She is really turning into a woman. I like legitimately almost cried reading all that stuff about her. I can't wait to see her. I am so happy that she has found happiness in La Verkin. That is where she needs to be. I hope you filmed her dancing and signing or at least have pictures from that. I would like to see that.

Props mom for getting a ticket ha haha. Well I got a speeding ticket once. It was ridiculous. It was after I got my lift and the speedometer hadn't been changed and I thought I was going 65 but I was really going like 80. When you put bigger tires on a vehicle the speedometer gets thrown off just so you know, just in case you put a lift on your car.

So this week we were in zone meeting in Matagalpa. Matagalpa is like 25 minutes away from San Ramon in a bus. We were there in a meeting and the church door bell started ringing. And Elder Weber went and opened the door and they said they were from San Ramon, so Weber told me there was a family from San Ramon that wanted to talk to me. So I went and sat down with them and talked to him. I didn't know them but after a couple of minutes of talking I got to know them a little better. They had talked to missionaries before and had a goal to get baptized but for some reason the missionaries stopped going by their house. I ended up sharing my testimony and a little message and well put a baptismal date with both of them. Migelangel and his wife Carmen. They have the goal to follow the example of Jesus Christ and receive the only true baptism for this Saturday. It was rough finding their house. We had their directions and they lived on like the far end of our area, a part that we don't usually work in. Cause like I said it's kinda far so we were hitchhiking and told the guy we were going to PLOMO and well by the time we got out of the truck we had passed Plomo by like 2 miles and had to walk back by foot. So we had quite the adventure. We got kinda lost in the middle of nowhere for a while but we ended up finding their house. Sorry my English sucks I am trying hard to explain what happened but it's kinda hard but I think you will understand.



Also this week we found a big parrot in our area. I'll send you pictures. I have pictures.

Our sacrament meeting went good this week. The average church attendance is definitely going up. When I got here we had an average attendance of maybe 15 but now it is like 35-40 so it is going up. This Sunday we had 37. And we had 3 way good speakers. The last speaker was a recent convert and he gave an amazing talk but it was a little evangelical. In the beginning he asked the congregacion a question. He held up a piece of paper and asked them what they saw. The paper had a dot on it. And the congregacion answer well I see a dot. He talked about how many people see the black dot on the people and judge them for that. They just look for the bad and not the good in people. They let the bad over rule the good. It was way funny as well. The congregacion was happy and laughing. It was his first time giving a talk his name is Axacal. The branch pres could not pronounce it so Axacal goes up and says "Ya my name is a little difficult. It's because my parents are difficult." ha ha.



Elder Lerohl, Humphries, Martinez, Herrera, Ortiz...and the Hermanas Atkisson and Quieju.




Well I feel like I have gone on and on about nonsense but the mission is awesome. I feel like I have a ton to tell you but I don't know how to write it down. So I'll drop it off here. I love you a ton mommy. I know the Church is True. I know that with out doubt. I love you.

Love, Elder Moore

March 5, 2012

Well today was an awesome day. We just lent service the whole day. There was an older man that lived way up in the mountains way away from everything and he was way sick and is way swollen and has been that way for months. So we contacted the firemen and we got him down from there. It's a long story and to be honest I don't think I can describe it all, but we took him down on a stretcher on a way sketchy trail. The old man is a member and his son is a recent convert that is way pilas. So we got him down but that is what we did pretty much the whole day. I'll send you pics.



Well when I get back you are taking me on a shopping spree ha ha and we will make sure that my clothes match ha ha. I will definitely be getting rid of a lot of stuff when I get back, I already know ha ha.



I did get my birthday package. Thank you so much. I loved it but I don't think the cake was good. I haven't tried it. It's still sitting in the house. It reaked when I opened the jar ha ha ha but it's the thought that counts right. That was frosting from a way sweet cake fight we had. It was tight.



So this week we had another baptism. We baptized the daughter of a family that we baptized a little over a month ago. Pedro y Mayra. I am still waiting on the pics from the baptism. I haven't seen my DL so I haven't been able to get them but I'll send them to you tomorrow. Cuz tomorrow I'll see him.

Here I am crawling through the barb wire cause that is the only way to get to a house where recent converts live.



So the attendance kinda went down in a branch and let me tell you why. Supposibly several members saw the branch president drunk and didn't want to go to church that the pres drinks. Well some one from the stake came on Sunday and the pres didn't show so I had to take over and do everything. I am literally the branch president now. I do everything. Interviews. I do the tithing and offerings. I do the deposits and direct the meetings. I do everything. I have learned so much here.



The church is so unorganized here in Matagalpa. I had a one on one meeting interview type thang with someone from the district telling him what we needed to do to make things better here. In all of Matagalpa there are just so many things that are not organized what so ever.



This past week I have had a lot of problems with my comp. It's not easy working with members but I have learned a lot and I have learned to humble my self a lot. We are good now but it was bad for a while but it's all good now. The mission is a learning process and I am definitely learning a lot this change. Mainly patience and to not freak out when I want to and to just humble my self.



So where did the other Pillings live? And what is the name of the video? and I will definitely pray for her.



I love you mommy. The Church is true. I don't have any doubt about it. And I love it.

Love, Elder Moore

February 27, 2012

Hello my dear mother. I love you o so much. And I miss you a ton. Well to start off I will tell you that well we baptized a family this week. My comp now officially has his first converts. The family that we baptized, the daughters were all members. There are like 4 of them. But the parents never wanted to get married or baptized and had talked to missionaries for like 6 years. But never really had a desire to take the next step. Well one spiritual experience changed everything. The family ended up getting married and baptized on Saturday. It was probably one of the best baptismal services I have had my whole mission. There was probably like 50 people there and 12 investigadores. It was insane but awesome. Then Sunday came and they got confirmed members, then after church we went to their house and ate lunch.

I do have fotos but not with me. You will have to wait till next week and I'll send them to you. We took pictures just not with my camera and that is why we don't have them.

I just want to testify that I know that this is the true church and that we should always be worthy of having the Holy Ghost because the Holy Ghost makes the difference. The Holy Ghost testifies of the truth. We can not convince anybody with our words. That is why it is so important that we always keep our self clean and worthy. I love this gospel and I love this work. I know without doubt that this is the work of the Lord.



So ya my birthday is coming up. Hopefully I get my package on Wednesday or Thursday. Some missionaries from my zone are going to Managua on Wednesday so if it is there I am sure they will bring it back to me. I am thinkin' that my comp is trying to throw me a surprise party but I ain't sure. I am pretty sure tho he ain't being too stealthy about it.



I can't wait to see how much Brooklyn has changed. I am sure I'll go into shock and start convulsing or something. I dunno but in just a short 5 months I'll see her; I'll be seeing everyone actually. Tomorrow I am completing 19 months of being on the mission. Time is flying. Before we know it I'll be back kickin' it with ya all.



Katelin wrote me and I wrote her back she is awesome.

Thank you so much for everything mother. I love you o so very much. Thank you for your example and for your love and for your help. You truly are amazing.

Love, Elder Moore