"The Trio is No More"

Elders Dubbeld, Moe and Archer

Hellooooooo Family!!!

So first of all, the trio is no more. Elder Dubbeld's visa came in so we packed him yesterday and he left at like 3:40 this morning.  Boy am I tired.  I sent him off to Trinidad with a tie for Elder Hagood. I hope he sees him there!

President Johnson, the soon to be Mission President for the Washinton D.C. North Mission, is so awesome! He always has a huge smile on his face and is loving to everyone. He is going to be an amazing Mission President. We went out on what is called “Finding Night.” It is something the Stake does every week.  We went out and talked to a bunch of people and knocked some doors. We

Pretty nice ride for going on splits!

had a great time and he told me a little about his mission. He came with us after to the apartment and planned with us. It is part of his training and he is reporting our names and how it went to Quentin L Cook. Wowzaz.

The Worldwide Missionary Conference was amazing. It was so cool to see the Apostles in person, but it felt more normal than I thought it would. They carry the title Elder and they said that we are their companions. They are humble but powerful men of God that are called to do His work. I really did look for Dallin and thought for sure that he would be there. God taught me a lesson that I need to stay focused and worry about the important things. If He wanted me to see Dallin I would of and I should have accepted that before the conference. 

Brinton ran into Spencer Largent, from his home stake, on the way
to the Worldwide Missionary Conference!  Elder Largent is serving
in Salt Lake City as well.  Two fine representatives of the Savior
and the great Okie state ;)

Mom I think it is so cool that you go out with the missionaries. If I truly understood how much that meant and how much it is appreciated, I would have done it so much more than I did before the mission.

Sorry I don't have much time to tell you about everything that happened this week. I am definitely going to be writing in my journal more; it makes this a lot easier.  I love you all!

Love,

Elder Moe

Elder Largent and Moe

Worldwide Missionary Conference

"HE HAS A CAVITY!"

"Dinner with our ward mission leader - they are super cool! AND, first
experience with a selfie stick."

Hey Family,

So this week has been fun! I feel like I say that every week but it always is. It's hard to keep things straight like what happened this week and stuff. Time is just weird on the mission. I am glad you guys are all doing good. It sounded like across the board everyone was having a greeeat week... Preston you look dehydrated and mal nourished. Tell dad to take you to Fat Guys more often. I have actually been thinking a lot about about Fat Guys for some reason. I am gonna have to go there and get the Fat and Juicy like as soon as I get home. I remember when we were there with the Johnstones last year and we saw that super clutch last second touchdown run and we were all freaking out. 

     

This happened this week and was definitely worthy of a journal entry.

January 14, 2015 Thursday

So Elder Dubbeld got his first cavity today! He has been pounding the candy super hard and he was sitting there eating oatmeal this morning and he just stopped and his eyes got all wide. He said his tooth hurt and it felt like a shock went through his mouth. Elder Archer and I look at each other and were just like... HE HAS A CAVITY!! Elder Dubbeld was just like "What is that, what is that?" We were dying laughing because we had been warning him about eating so much sugar and so much candy. He proceeded to start throwing away everything that he even thought could be sugary and unhealthy. Elder Archer came back from the bathroom into the study room and he was like "WHAT ARE YOU DOING???" He had thrown away like peanut butter and all of the stroopwaffles so we took it out of the trash and put the candy and stuff at the top of the closet.

We made some authentic Danish pancakes made by the real Duchman last Monday. They were really good! We ate them with our landlord. He is awesome and apparently most of my friends and family have talked to him. 

We had this really cool miracle the other day that showed me a reason why this transfer happened.  We were walking by a house and there was a Florida Gators flag. Elder Archer got super exited and wanted to stop by but we were on our way somewhere and couldn't stop. We went back by later and there was this sign on the door that said "children sleeping, no knocking, soliciting, ringing the doorbell" very clear... We knocked anyway just super quiet but that didn't work because four dogs ran up to the door and the window and were barking like crazy. We were about to just take off so we wouldn't get yelled at and then this lady walked up with this huge smile, put the dogs outside and opened the door. They let us right in and laughed about us being scared of the sign (they forgot to take it down). Elder Archer and the young couple just like instantly bonded over Florida and found out they used to live 30 min away from each other. We thought they were members, but then I asked and they said no but they have a bunch of friends who are members and they have prepared them a lot! We have their number and will more than likely be meeting with them sometime soon! I know that it was inspired to send Elder Archer here and that is just one reason that I can see. I know there are many more!

I love you all and I miss you because you are awesome.

Love,

Elder Moe

"Oh Elder Dubbeld...He said, "I'm gonna go on a diet" as he pulls out a
diet A&W"

"We Had An Awesome Baptism!"

Dear family,

A principal of missionary life: "As soon as you get comfortable, the Lord gives you a new challenge"… It feels like I keep getting dumped on my head. It's pretty awesome. I know that there is no growth in a comfort zone and rarely is there comfort in a growth zone. I am grateful for this opportunity the Lord has given me to grow.

We had a last second transfer that took place on Saturday morning before Zoe's baptism. We got a call at ten AM and Elder Gill was gone like 5 hours later. It was pretty crazy. He still has the house keys, a bunch of information we need and the worst one... Elder Dubbeld’s nerf gun. Bum bum bum bumbbbb. Jk about the nerf gun. Yeah, so things are pretty crazy around here. But we had an awesome baptism! I confirmed her during ward conference and the Stake President and the Bishop congratulated her over the stand during their talks. 

So our new companion is Elder Archer and he is cool! He is from Florida and has been out on his mission for one transfer longer than me. We get along really great and Elder Dubbeld likes him too. Elder Dubbeld has opened up lately and is soo funny. I am running super short on time.

Love you!,

Elder Moe

"Personal study - narrated by JSH 1:  "...and for a time was quite unconscious of anything.""

"Personal study - narrated by JSH 1 continued:
"when, instantly I saw, as it were, a conduit open right up into heaven"

Elders Moe, Gill and Dubbeld

"IN N OUT!"

Elders Moe, Dubbeld and Archer

"Green tie swag"

"Dutch food - I don't know how to say it, but they are the BOMB."

New Year's Eve Holland Style

One of the Sisters in Murray sent this picture saying Elder Moe was
teaching her youngest son how to wink for the ladies. Ha!

Hello family!

I have had a few cool experiences this week! 

1. I went on exchanges in the Spanish elders area and it was awesome! We had tamales for lunch and we had a big Honduran dinner. I got to bear my testimony in Spanish at one of the lessons. I really want to learn how to speak. It was awesome!

2. New Year's Eve and New Year's Day were fun but pretty uneventful. On New Year's Eve Elder Dubbeld was pretty bummed because that is a big celebration in Holland. They don't celebrate the Fourth of July of course so that is like the one day they do a ton of fireworks. We set an alarm for 11:55 and had a countdown until twelve. Elder Dubbeld shot off his nerf gun like crazy and then we opened up a bottle of Martinellies apple cider (non alcoholic of course), read some scriptures that were in the chapter 20 verse 16s and went back to bed. It was super hard to get up. Hahaha

3.  So we talked to this guy named Jeremy on Saturday.  He was a messenger from heaven and an answer to my prayers. We were at these apartments and he was outside at these chairs with this other guy smoking. We started talking to him and he started talking to us and we found out pretty quickly that he was a Mormon and he had formerly been a 12 step missionary. He also told us that he had fallen back and knew he shouldn't be smoking, but he said we were a sign for him that he needed to stop. He talked to us a lot about the spirit that we had and talked about when people loose that spirit after their mission. He told us that we could have that spirit when we were forty or thirty. He told us that we didn't have to give that up. He told us that people loose that spirit when they stop using their heart and start using their brain. When they get home, get busy with school and life and stop caring about others, stop looking for the love of God in everyone that they talk to. He told us to NEVER LOOSE THAT. He told us to never cut off that connection between our brain and our heart. He told us that we can really show that love when we ask someone how they are doing. We really look them in the eye and see what they are not saying and see how we can help them. 

This is something that I have really thought, prayed and worried about. Here, I see so many return missionaries that are less active and so many people who really just don't care. Everyone talks about that drop after their mission where they feel far from God, don't study and pray as much as they did or don't feel the spirit with them. I don't think God meant that to be. I don't think that he meant to have us focus this whole two years in coming closer to him just to step back at the end of it all. Don't think I'm being naïve; I know that life won't be even close to the same after my mission. But what I do know is that I am learning to be a cleaner, sharper instrument in God's hands and I don't want to give that up. I am learning to "see not as a man seeth." I am learning to look at people's hearts. I am learning how to truly "feast upon the words of Christ." I am learning to "look to him in every thought" and I am learning to "pray always". I don't want to leave these things in the trash can of my stake president’s office as I walk out the door after he has told me I am released. I want to endure to the end and strive to continue to climb upward. I want to live a life guided and shaped by his hand. I want the distance between us when I stand before my God to be a small adjustment because I have lived a life already close to him. I have a longggg way to get there and I don't want to fall backwards when I return home.

This handyman (by choice) smoking out side these apartments, fighting his battles and on his own path, was a messenger from God for me today. He gave me so much more hope for what's next. To hear him say that 10 or 20 or 40 years from now I can still feel like this closeness with God was an answer to my thoughts and prayers that I have asked so many times. I understood a little more what it means in the scriptures when it says, “my heart leaped with joy".  

Tell Liam that I am super duper proud of him and he looked like a stud in his baptism day pictures!  Tell Preston that he’s super blessed – he has a great group of friends.  I love all the pictures and videos and I love all of you!

Love,

Elder Moe

"I hope you guys ate a lot of queso for me."