The Most Awful Words I Will Ever Hear...

Hello family!

Ok, so my address is THE SAME!  I am staying in Green River. I am really relived but only one of the companionships are staying the same in my district so after tomorrow there is going to be a lot of changes. A new district leader (who will probably be my new companion as well) and the only companionship that isn't going to change will be Freebairn and Taylor. I am exited to see who President will be inspired to pair me up with.

Are you sending the sleeping bag? I am fine for now until the sleeping bag. I don't want to lug around a blanket and stuff. Send my boots please!! We have opportunities to work on farms quite a bit out here.

Sept. 26th baptism with Elder Moe, Ally and Elder Berry

So I answered the question about the baptism in the other email but she was great! She had a lot of family there. It was actually super stressful for us though because the ward mission leader (conducting) and the pianist didn't show up until like last minute. And I also put the wrong last name on the baptismal program. How was I supposed to know that she hadn't changed her name yet... It was super embarrassing... But yeah, she was super ready for baptism! She knew her stuff. Sotolongo interviewed her this week. That is why we were on exchanges.

GRANDPA IS GONNA BE THE COOLEST SEMINARY TEACHER EVER. I am super jealous of all the kids in that class. That is going to be sweet. They are going to walk out of that class completely mind blown every day.

No, it is not getting cold yet. It got to like 50s last week but it wasn't bad at all. Add Green River, Wyoming to your weather app.

We had quite a few miracles this week but let me share the biggest and most apparent one we saw. One day we are parked on the curb looking for something to do because an appointment fell through. This young man who is less active pulled up beside us and asked us to come over to his house and talk to him. We had been over to his house once before but he was sleeping on the couch and showed no interest in our visiting him. When we got to his house he began pouring his heart out to us about a challenge he was going through. He said he'd been praying all day and looking for us all over Green River. We were able to assure him that God heard and answered his prayer and could help him through this trial he's going through. I left him my scriptures to read a chapter we had left him. He texted us later in the week and said he had read them and wanted us to come back over. When we came back over to his house later in the week for the appointment he had brought three of his nonmember friends to hear from us. I felt a little like Alma when he talked to the Zoramites. 

6 “And now when Alma heard this, he turned him about, his face immediately towards him, and he beheld with great joy; for he beheld that their afflictions had truly humbled them, and that they were in a preparation to hear the word.”

I wasn't happy that he was going through this hard time but I saw that he had a broken heart and a contrite spirit and truly was prepared to hear the gospel again.

I am running short on time but I love you guys so much. I am forgetting what it was like not to be a missionary and I love it. I feel so bad for Elder Berry. This is something that I have been looking forward to almost my entire life and here I am. I look back just a few months ago and I see someone that I almost don't know anymore. I don't really feel like I have changed personality wise very much, but my whole perspective has changed. I went from worrying about so many little useless things to being able to live, breathe, and best of all, share this amazing gospel all the time. It is an amazing opportunity and I thank my Heavenly Father every day for it. I never want to stop being a missionary. It makes me so sad to know that one day I will have to sit across from President Bell and he is going to say the most awful words I will ever hear.. "You are released." I am not trying to be negative, but the thought gives me determination to fill every minute of my time here with something meaningful, something that can change someone's life. It makes me want to open my mouth, be bold and testify of our Savior Jesus Christ with power and with the spirit. I want to be able to say like the Apostle Paul, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:" I want to be able to say I have done all that I can and my work here is finished. Most of all I want to be able to say that I became the missionary and the man that my Father in Heaven wants me to be. I love this gospel, I love my Savior and I love my God.

Love,

Elder Moe

More Cats for Ava!

Week Five!

The Hooley family brings the Elders into the Farson Mercantile for the "Big Cone" just before their transfer.  Thank you Hooley family!

Dear Family,

    Time is flying by so fast. This is crazy it is the 5th week
already. This is going to be the last week of the transfer. It is
going to be so crazy seeing the new missionaries this next Tuesday
come in. I feel like I was just there on the stand bearing my
testimony in the chapel of the mission home to 200 missionaries. And
now I am one of the 200 and I couldn't be more humbled and honored.

    I don't have to much time to write today because I had to get a
well needed haircut, but I love and miss you guys.  I went into Walmart
in Rock Springs today and it felt like home.

Love you guys,
Elder Moe

"Going to start writing in my journal every day because my memory isn't that great, I don't think."

Serious rock workmanship skills.

"Feasting"

"Tell Judy THANK YOU and show her this epic picture."  Thanks for the laundry bag Judy!

Loving the Mission

Dear Family,

I love you! Thanks for killing my cactus!! This week has been so great. We broke our record of two dinners in one night. Saturday we ate THREE DINNERS. Wow I was wayyyy full! We ate at the Morrels first. They had signed up for that night. Then we taught a lesson and brought one of the youth from the ward along. He is 17, super excited about missionary work and loves to come out with us! (PRESTON: Start going out with the missionaries now it will help you SOOOOO much) After the lesson we took him to the Justices house because they were having a two family dinner. (Like us and the Johnstones) and the grandma there was like "eat" "go get some food" " there is still steak left and we need it all gone" Holy cow right! So we ate some steak and Spanish rice and then she made us eat ice cream. THEN we had a few more lessons and at the end of the night we had an hour left and so we visited a recent convert guy named James (he is super cool from Louisiana and is 65 but looks 40. I'll take a picture with him soon) and he had just made a crazy Cajun roast that was really hot and he insisted that we have some. It was wayyy good and super hot. It made me start hiccuping. He is an amazing cook and he used to cook for the army and his huge family and stuff. But yeah, needless to say, I rolled into the apartment that night stuffed to the brim and my mouth was on fire. It was super great. 

This week we have had some cool miracles.  The girl that I said reminded me of Brooke, we have been teaching her, and her Mom and Dad have been sitting in the lesson and they are super awesome. She is setting such an amazing example for her whole family and they are starting to be more and more involved in the lessons. Another one of our investigators is having a massive change of heart and is turning his life around. It is so amazing to see. The power of the Atonement is universal. It reaches EVERYONE no matter what. We can change and leave our mistakes behind because of Him, all we have to do is have hope. As soon as we have hope, we start to have faith, and as we act on that faith and it grows within us, we can be free forever from the chains of sin through the power of Christ's infinite atonement. One of our investigators concerns was that he didn't want to leave his past behind because he had learned so much from all of his experiences. I shared with him the story of Enos where he says:

Book of Mormon Enos 1:5-6 

5 And there came a voice unto me, saying: Enos, thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou shalt be blessed.

6 And I, Enos, knew that God could not lie; wherefore, my guilt was swept away.

His guilt was swept away, not his knowledge. He found a lot of comfort in that and he really gets it. I am so exited for him to be baptized on the 26th! 

I love you guys so much. Keep writing me. I love it so much. I am so happy and so excited to be here in Green River, Wyoming. I am so grateful to be a tool in the hand of God and I can see Him shaping me into the missionary He wants me to be. 

Love your favorite elder of all time,

Elder Moe

"Duck face"

"I love Blue"

Every Second Counts

Dear Family,

 I love the videos and stuff! Preston, send videos of the new songs you are learning! I am super exited for quarter black!  Wouldn't it be quarter white though? That's insane that sister Peterson is going home...  

That and the experience in Skiatook are what me and my companion are going through. That is gonna be the hardest part of the mission for sure. Going home. Seeing Elder Berry in his last transfer is making it real to me that time here is so limited. It is so short and will be gone before I know it. It really motivates me to make every second count, reach out to everyone around me, testify of Christ and his gospel to everyone.  I want to look back and have no regrets and so I am really working hard on the Christlike attribute of diligence.  

I am finding that planning is critical if I want to make the most of my time.  We have been working on that a lot as a companionship, and the days are going so much better. It has been really cool to see that if we follow "Preach My Gospel," all of our activities are focused on the families and individuals we are teaching.  At the beginning of this transfer, during morning studies, I would study for myself, just searching for anything in the scriptures. I have changed, and my morning studies are so much more meaningful as I study for others; searching for things that I can learn to help others come closer to Christ. I study with the question, "what can I learn that will help________ be happier, find peace and joy?" The great thing is that I learn SO much more as I do this as well. It is a win win situation! 

That is so awesome Elder Bednar is coming! That is gonna be so cool!! Take a lot of notes! Don't focus so hard on trying to right down every quote that you like or everything that he said. Write down what the spirit teaches you. Write down what you feel. The title "Elder" is something I don't completely understand yet, but I think that it has a lot of significance. I am honored to be "Elder Moe." It is the same title that the apostles hold, and we are both called to testify of Jesus Christ.

I will try to be better about sharing more experiences and stuff like that. Sorry, I am still working on this 100$ letter thing.

Love you guys,

Elder Moe

Manila, UT

"The beautiful Wyoming landscape"

We burn through the miles when we come out here to Manila and McKennon.

"This is PopTart.  He loves me."

"Deer family"

"Backing up with Elder Freebairn featuring Vocal Point" :)

Primary in McKennon

Wyoming zone

Elders Rock

We didn't get much of a letter from Elder Moe this week but he gave us a lot of information on the videos below.  We are not sure if Dole sponsored his video but at the very least they should send him a can of mandarin oranges!

You can go to Johnny K's Elders Rock website here and listen to Brinton.

http://www.johnnyk.net/elders-rock-.html  

You will need to select the file for 26AUG15 and 31Aug15 to listen to Brinton's segments.