"I Hit My Year Mark"

Missionary Leadership Conference

Dear family!

This week has been crazy and very reflective because I hit my year mark.... That seems unreal. We have had a lot of miracles in our area. Our strongest thing has been finding. We have been bold and fearless on the streets and we are meeting some prepared people. We were in these trailers and we walked up on a bunch of kids that were practicing for a Quincinera (probably didn't spell that right). Elder West knew one of them from the Spanish branch and Kaden, this awesome YSA kid that was with us, knew one of them from somewhere else. Kaden was saying how this kid named Jose that was there was fast and that we should race. He finally said he would race us and we did.  Elder West got first, I got second and Jose got third - That wasn't the miracle. After we said bye to them and stuff, we were walking to the car and Jose came up to us and said, “Hey guys, can I ask you a question?” He said, “I have been thinking of becoming a Mormon.” That's like the best question ever! Hahah We taught him there about baptism and promised him that this will be one of the best decisions he would make in his entire life because he would be cleansed from his sins and make promises with God. We invited him to be baptized on the 20th of August and he said he would! We passed him off to the other Evanston Elders and they said that he came to church and is super solid. Moral of the story… Beat people in footraces and they wanna get baptized. Jk, real moral... God is in charge of this work! All we need for a successful mission is diligence, obedience and faith.

Here is some stuff from my journal!

August 3, 2016 Wednesday 8:17 AM

Right now we are at the AP's (Assistants to the President) apartment staying here for MLC (Missionary Leadership Conference). It is huge and soooo nice. It's super cool being back with my last two companions; Elder Soelberg seems super happy and so does Elder Nelson! They are both great assistants and I love them a lot. It's cool just being together working out and joking just like we used to! I just realized that Elder Soelberg reminds me a lot of my dad in the way he looks. He has the same silly smile and the blonde hair like when he was younger. He even has a fake tooth!

August 2, 2016 Tuesday 9:36 PM

"Dogs on a roof"

We had some amazing stuff happen today! We went to visit a family that I had a prompting to stop by and see. We had driven by and saw them outside and decided to turn around. At the door, he told us that he was glad that we came by now because his family is ready. We set up a return appointment and it was sweet! We found another guy that when we taught him said that he had been searching for the right religion. He was wearing pajama pants and he didn't have a shirt on. It was awesome! He accepted the invitation to be baptized!

August 6, 2016 Saturday 8:14

Oh my. I have been out on my mission for a year. I am almost half way. Oh my. I can't believe it. This past year has probably been the most amazing growing experience of my life. I have seen a huge change not just in my behavior, but in my nature. I can't believe I have been out a year. I am here in Wyoming and it just feels like last week that I was an hour and a half up the road in Green River with Elder Berry and Elder Thomas. Everyone says the second year goes by faster and I hope they are all dirty rotten liars. I have known I wanted to serve a mission for my entire life. I have looked forward to this for ALL OF MY LIFE. Here I am a year in, not even comprehending what this next year will bring me. I need to set goals and make plans to have this be the best year of my life yet. I want this to be a year serving with all of my heart, might, mind and strength. I want to give it everything EVERYTHING. I want to quadruple the progress I have made. I will do it.

GOALS

#1 & #2 Read Preach My Gospel and the Book of Mormon all the way through

every quarter.

#3 Have humility as a natural tendency.

Oh yeah, last night I had a nightmare. I thought there was a rat in my bed or something and woke up yelling and freaking out. I asked Elder West to turn on the lights, and of course after shaking my sheets, nothing was in my bed.

One more thing, we had an absolutely amazing MLC! (Missionary Leadership Conference)

Love,

Elder Moe

"Sister Training Leaders!  Look carefully behind them in the window" ;)

"Amazingly Graceful Elder Moe" (if you can't see 

the video, click on the link)

"Forgot How Much I Loved Wyoming!"

Elder West & Elder Moe

Ok, so the response to your questions will be most of my letter!!

Dear Family,

Evanston is amazing! I forgot how much I loved Wyoming! I remember there was this guy in Green River that had the Wyoming flag tattooed on his arm and I thought it was kinda crazy but it makes since now.  (: LOL  (getting tattoos is still dumb) Elder West is awesome! He was born in England but grew up in Perth Australia! It is the most isolated city in the entire world! He said it is about the same size as Salt Lake! He says really funny things like "shops" for grocery store, trolley for shopping cart, zedd for the letter z, bugga for bugs and so on and so forth!

"This is Wyoming district A.  Elder Lolofie is the one making the face! He is from OKC! He is so cool! Next to him is Elder Wilkins. He is brand new from Missouri. He grew up on a farm and reminds me of Dallas Carroll a lot. He did track too! Elder Richardson is next to him. I don't know him too well. He put up his key indicators in math jokes. Sister Lawson of course next to him! You know her. She informed me that Elder Murdock is about to go home! Elder Wagley is next and from from Minnesota. He is brand new as well- Pretty soft spoken and looks like Clark Kent in person. Sister Simpson is from Missisipi or Tenesse. I don't remember but she has a thick accent! Elder Owen is next to her and he is our District leader. He is awesome! Solid missionary we see him a lot because he covers the south side of Evanston. Elder Bothers is brand new as well! He reminds me of jimmy Neutron. He is super smart and cool kid!  The senior couple is awesome I just don't know them super well yet."

The zone is good sized. In the valley, they have consolidated a ton of areas and put three zones together. In Wyoming, we split Lyman and got another area 😊😊❤ ~ Rock Springs, Lyman, Mountain View, Green River, Pinedale and a few other little towns. Sorry I don't have enough time to look them up. 

"I'm pretty tall...  Elder Manning came with me to WY
and is in my greenie area!"

We cover 5 wards. We used to cover the Spanish branch but we just switched it to the other Evanston elders. We cover the YSA here too! I am not sure what our address is yet! I will let you know if there is anything I need next week. Sorry short on time. We live in an apartment where missionaries have lived for 15 years. We do have a washer and dryer and we drive a 2016 Nissan Rouge. Elder West was already here with Elder Baumbac before the transfer!  Sorry, I will do better next week! I know the gospel is true! And Jesus loves you!

Love,  Elder Moe

"This kid is awesome! He is 11 years old and super cool!  I confirmed him on Sunday!"

"This is Colton (Grayson's brother)! He reminds me of Dallin Moe!!" lol

"This dude got a killa shiner. His family are recent converts! The handle went straight into his face and you could see the perfect circle."

"This is a great idea (kid sleeping on the couch)! He was like that and snoring for all of church."

"We weren't ready."

"GOING BACK TO WYOMING!!!"

"When you're stressed and you know it..."

I AM GOING BACK TO WYOMING!!!! Elder Soelberg is gonna be the new assistant with Elder Nelson and I am gonna be ZL (zone leader) in Evanston with Elder West from Australia. HAHAHA!!!! Whooooooo! I am so stoked! It is gonna be awesome and I know Elder West a bit and he is super cool! I might even go on exchanges in Green River too!!!!

Dear Family! 

I love you! I feel like I say that in every letter, but it is so true. This week has been a great one for me. Since we found out that we were both leaving, it has been pretty nostalgic. Don't worry, you can be diligent and nostalgic at the same time! Don't get the wrong idea. I have spent a quarter of my mission here in this stake and I have grown to love it. I feel like people have the wrong idea of YSA (young single adults). I definitely did. I know that it is an inspired program of the church. It's a group of young people that are trying to figure out their lives that can come together and be one big family for each other. For anyone who is trying to decide if they want to go to a YSA Ward or not, do it! It'll be different and may take some time to adjust, sacrament meeting is gonna be silent, but you will grow AND love it. 

"The Dinner Cycle with the High Council & Sisters"

P-Moe, It was good to hear that you had a life changing experience at EFY. I remember when I had a similar experience at Philmont, and I promised my Father in Heaven that I wouldn't let him down and was willing to sacrifice everything to follow his Son - Always remember.

Shout out to the coolest girl I know! Becca, Happy Birthday!! You are da coolest! (Preston pull out the punching gloves from the dress up box, Becca is getting more and more beautiful). Mom, I love you and will make sure to answer all of your questions next week! You are gonna be proud of me when I come home; I feel like a lot of the lessons you have been trying to teach me are finally sinking in.

Dad, it's cool to see you have had a mighty change of heart and want to read the Book of Mormon fast. There is someone in our area named Brother Serrano. He has amazing stories and spent some of his childhood in Mexico. He asked Elder Anderson, a seventy that visited his mission (not Neil L.), what was the most important thing he could do?  After Elder Anderson warned him that if he told him he would have to do it, he said, "read the Book of Mormon every month all the way through for the rest of your mission." Brother Serrano had to wake up earlier than normal every morning to read, but he did it every month.

Love you all,

Elder Moe!!!

More of the Dinner Cycle. "The dinner cycle goes through
each ward per week and then the last week of the transfer
we eat with the High Council. The cut outs are one of the families
kids that are on missions.  They have two out at the same time."

THE BOOK OF MORMON: "We Need to be Reading It Daily"

"Preston Street!  I am on exchanges with
Elder Bermudez!"

Dear Family!

I did have a great week! We have some crazy amazing things happening here. Things are starting to work and I am feeling like I am starting to figure things out! I love what sister Gay said when they came and spoke to our mission. "The biggest thing I learned on my mission is that I still have a lot to learn." How true is that!!

The huge theme for me this week has been THE BOOK OF MORMON. That really should be a life theme but I feel like my testimony of the Book of Mormon has been growing in leaps and bounds! I am very grateful for Brother Lykins who encouraged me to memorize what Joseph Smith said about the Book of Mormon in the introduction: “I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts than by any other book." I know that this is so true. Preach My Gospel says that the Book of Mormon is our most valuable tool for conversion! I love that.

We had quite a few experiences this week with investigators and less actives we are working with that are going along with the Book of Mormon. We are doing all we can to make sure that that is becoming a constant and daily thing for them! Every single less active we meet and talk to, when asked if they have been reading the Book of Mormon and praying daily they tell us no. As the keystone of our religion and the powerful testimony that it bears of the One who should be cornerstone in our lives, we need to be reading it daily!

We were asked to teach a Sunday School class and forgot about it until Ward Council that morning at 8 AM...  We spent about an hour preparing and it was on the story of the Anti-Nephi-Lehis. We discussed what led to their conversion and what things reflected their conversion. They are one of the most converted people we read about in the Book of Mormon because they were willing to sacrifice EVERYTHING because of the mighty change that was brought about in their hearts!

This email was kind of all over the place sorry! I love you guys!

Love,

Elder Moe

"I made a transfer journal finally."

"I thought this was great placement for a sunflower."

"Cafe Rio!! Elder Soelberg found a Serrano pepper in his salad.
Like a fresh uncooked Serrano pepper...  I ate one half and
Elder Manning ate the other.  It was funny!  I finished my
food really fast!"

"WE'RE IN, WE'RE IN!"

More pictures from the 4th 

Dear Family,

I wanna share some cool miracles from the week! So we have been working with this less active RM (returned missionary) named Dave! We have been visiting with him for a few months now on and off. We always have a super powerful lesson, and he commits to coming to church almost every time and then doesn't show. We had someone in the Ward that knows Dave from like 8th grade named Mason! He is super funny and one of those super solid member missionaries. He became friends with Jonathan Wessel when he was still here.

We had been trying to get Mason to come with us when we taught Dave a lesson, but every time something wouldn't work out. One day, when we tried to see Dave with Mason, he told us that he was about to be called as the EQP (Elders Quorum President) and he needed counselors. The name that came to his mind as he prayed was Dave! After he told us that, we tried a few more times to get him there when we met with Dave, but we couldn't make it happen! We talked to him after a few failed attempts, and weeks later, he said that he was about to just go ahead and call someone else, but then the guy he was about to call, up and moved like really last second, so he took that as his answer that Dave was the one.

"Festivals go on here every Friday night.  It was fun and
we talked to a lot of people."

We went by Dave's this last week and he was home, so we stopped to say hi and he was excited to see us! He said he had a dream last night that we came to his house but that he couldn't answer the door in the dream, but anyway, he said he was actually expecting us. We asked if we could text Mason and invite him over once we had sat down and stuff and he said, “yeah, that'd be great!” We texted Mason pretty much like, "WE'RE IN! WE'RE IN! Dave said you could come on over!" Hahah, He came and we shared a thought and Mason extended the call and Dave said yes! It was such a cool experience!

"I love this picture."

After the lesson, Mason told us that he had driven by today, saw the apartments and had a feeling that today was the day! So the next day, Sunday, Dave was at church!!! We asked him about how he felt and he said he felt good. He said, "I feel normal like this is where I am supposed to be!" It was such a cool experience! I can't wait until he gets set apart! 

Sorry it's kinda short today! I love you all! You are amazing! Work hard and put your faith in your Savior Jesus Christ.

Love,

Elder Moe

Elders Moe, Soelberg, John & Manning