Escobar, Week 64: Speaking in Spanish

Dear Family! 

Hello! I hope this week was good and tranquil. 

This week for us was a doozy! We had lots of long days. I did divisions with an Elder for 2 days. It was awesome. 

We found a new neighborhood in our area to work in. The people are super nice and we found a few people to teach. And that's that. Our numbers were low but we worked hard. Our goal in this ward is 36 baptisms this year which would be 3 baptisms every month. I am pretty confident that we can do it. 

This week I was sitting in Gospel Principles and I was thinking, What has changed about me in the mission? Which I am confident that I will only be able to answer that after that mission but one strong cool point that I finally recognized was that: I am in a different country speaking a different language! I grew up my whole life speaking different words, different forms, and in a different culture. Now I have been in Argentina almost a year and a half and I am fluently speaking, understanding, and living in a different language. I dream more frequently in Spanish too which is super weird. When the members speak English ( the very few that know it) I can't speak right because I mix up the words! It was a humbling moment and a small sense of accomplishment that came to me. It has happened before but this past experience was even more strong. 

Anyways, sorry for the very short letter, but nothing much happened! 

We will see what the future brings! 

Love you all

 Love 

Elder Moore

Escobar, Week 63:Lots of pictures

Well hello there family! 

The truth is that I don´t have much to talk about this week.

But there are great things happening in Buenos Aires! A Buenos Aires East Mission is being created. Which is funny because when I heard that I thought. "Isn´t that the ocean?" but no. So that's great news! 

Anyways. It rained a lot today. I love it. Its defnitely like Oregon! cold and rainy. Although I am still soaked from playing soccer this morning. 

Things are tough here in Escobar right now. I literally find myself exhausted every night. And at 6:25am when the alarm goes off. My body does an automatic diagnostic check and seems to tell me. Nope, the body still needs to recharge and recuperate for 3 hours more. I hate that feeling. But, it helps if I just stand up and go into the other room for prayers. I actually like the schedule because it makes me feel more productive. I will definitely try ot keep it after the mission. I am looking for a cheap pull up bar like that one I have at home to use in the door of our pension but I can´t find one. I have to go to a sporting goods store. 

My companion is doing great. Sometimes its difficult but we had interviews with the president and he reassured me that I am doing a great job. 

Everything is going good. The work is moving a long. This past week we taught 22 lessons to less active families, that was up from 18 the week before and 15 the week before that so we are progressing! However we are struggling right now to find new investigators that are ready to be baptized. The field is white, which is the truth. The mission is seeing miracles every week. Our district of 6 Elders baptized 4 and we have 2 planned for this week so 6 baptisms in 4 weeks is a definite blessing. 

But please pray for us to keep finding more! They are out there! Its a huge area. 

I love you all! 

Love, 

Elder Moore

I found a place that sells peanut butter and I helped myself! No, only one is for me the others are for the other missionaries that asked me to bring them one. 

We played soccer today in the rain. It was awesome! 

Baptism of Walter R.

He was the only non member of his family and for some reason never got baptized. When we found them he was ready to be baptized and in two weeks it happened. He was confirmed yesterday. 

Me and Elder G, Hermana K and Hermana H. Escobar 1 (us) and Escobar 2 (the sisters) 

Asado (BBQ) Argentinan style. 

That is Brother C.and his wife. They are awesome members. He is the Ward Mission Leader. 

The next one is of me and Elder K.(from the United States) we are the only two missionaries that have missing teeth and he recently got a flipper. He had permanent teeth put in here and he said he was walking one day and they just fell out, so they gave him a flipper for now because he has to have a bovine graft like I do. What fun! Twins. 

Escobar, Week 62: A great (but hot) week!

Hi family! 

This week was a great week, Super hot but great!

Super sweaty but still great. Any weather is great weather. Thats what I have to keep reminding myself in the street. 

However! We had a baptism yesterday, his name is Walter Ortiz. He is 9 years. He was the only non-member in his family. In his immediate family there are 5 members and his extended family has about 25 and they are all members. But not him. He was the only one not baptized for some reason. So we passed by and in the first few minutes the mom asked us to baptize him. It was definitely a miracle because now we know a  big family that we can work with to find and teach more non-members. It did a lot for my testimony. The Lord is guiding us to people that He needs to touch.

We also have another investigator that is named Axel. He is a great 17 year old young man, but his mom is super overly protective. So that is definitely a problem. We had a day the other day of 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0 It was a tough day. We went to a new neighborhood to see and visit the members and less actives that live there. Nobody recieved us. Not one soul. Only one member was home that gave us water. All the people that talked to us either lied or didn´t even talk to us. I don't if its just being a missionary or the people don´t know how to lie here but its just obvious. Don´t lie to a Representative of Jesus Christ. Its not a good idea. One lady lied, said first that the person wasn´t there, then she said that she moved, and didn´t know who it was, then after we told her the reason why we were looking for this person she responded that this person doesn´t want anything. Then I told her 'Oh, then you know the person then, where is she?' She said, 'uh no I don´t know her', then I asked her, 'Are you this person?' She obviously said no but she lied. Then I said 'Well then we are going to return and return until we talk to her and find out the truth, then I told her have a good day and left'. I prefer that people just tell us the truth so we don´t have to waste time in the future. But, they always do it which bothers me. But I am definitely working on patience and love for everyone, especially during this time of training. 

Elder Balbuena is just an energy ball. Always going and going and going. I am trying to be a good example in every way including with the schedule  my behaviour, and everything. He tells everyone that he is only here temporary because he is going to Mexico, which I hope happens but if it doesn´t (which isn´t uncommon here) He will be very disappointed. But Carry on carry on carry on! We keep going. 

This Friday we have 2 back to back meetings in the office, first, with the zone (interviews) and then right after a meeting with the trainers and their new companions. So I will be in the offices this Friday for about 5 hours. Yay. 

Sounds like things are going great on that side of the world! I am very happy to hear it. Very happy. :) 

I love you all! 

Have a great week. 

Love, 

Elder Moore

ESCOBAR, Week 61: A lot has happened

Hello family! 

Well this week was... I don´t know... a lot. Lots happened. 

As you know I got a new companion fresh from the MTC. Well before I talk about him and introduce him its very interesting how fast the Lord responded to my prayers and I imagine all yours too. In the call I asked you guys to pray for me so that I can have more opportunities to better and to get to know myself. Honestly, in my mind I was thinking that I was going to find some more investigators that reflect a little bit of who I am so I could be studying for them and everything and it could reciprocate onto me. That's honestly what I thought. But its not what the Lord had in mind, so I have to be patient and say to my self that the Lord knew and knows what is best for me and that is what is happening right now. It just reminds me that the Lord wants us to learn and grow. So we have to have hard experiences that he is willing to help us do. The Lord is willing to give us these experiences when we ask. 

 With that said, my new companion is Elder Balbuena. He is from Posadas, Misiones, Argentina. Misiones is the provincia that is like a peninsula into Paraguay and Brasil I think. Anyways, straight from the MTC and he was reassigned here as he waits for his Visa to go to "De Efe Mexico" or something like that I don´t know the mission name. He is doing great! Its a lot harder because he isn´t familiar with how to us Preach my Gospel, or rules, or schedule or the streets or the members so I am doing a lot of the work. Thanks to the Lord that I can keep going every morning and keep getting up. It is a miracle. 

With it also comes a little frustration. I wasn´t trained for this! I didn´t know what to expect or what to do. I read the training program the night before so the next day I know what to do and what to teach during studies. 

It difficult, I imagine its a little part like parenthood. I wasn´t trained for this! I didn´t expect this!

The truth is that I am very grateful for coming on a mission. People say that I will appreciate it afterwards but I have been blessed these past few days to see the progress I have made. Having a new companion who is fresh out of the MTC has taught me a lot about myself its weird how that works out. Who is supposedly training who? I feel like I learn a lot more from him than he is learning from me. This past week we worked hard. Always walking, talking, and just trying to serve. It was one of the best weeks of my mission. Numbers wise, no. But last night I laid down in the night and felt good with myself and my efforts. And thats what counts! 

I hope everybody is doing good this new year! Happy New Year! 2015 is going to be a year full of miracles and success. 

We have 2 baptisms planned for this week and the next their names are Axel and Walter. They were both miracles that the Lord blessed us with and I am excited to see what we can do to help these 2 progress! 

I love you all! 

Love, 

Elder Moore

ESCOBAR, Week 60: Becoming a Trainer!

Alright, It happened. I got what I asked for. 

I asked you guys to pray for me, to let me have more opportunities to learn and grow. Well, that came in the form of a call that I received yesterday at 1.30 in the evening. 

It went something like this. 

Elder Goyeneche, how are you doing? Good, I want to know if Elder Moore is available to talk. (my companion hands me the phone with the biggest grin on his face) Hello? Elder Moore How are you doing? Good, and you Elder? Good, so you know I am Elder soandso (asistent) Oh, hello Elder what can I help you with? Well, Elder Moore, We wanted to call you to give you some news that come from the Lord. There are lots of changes going on in the mission, and we need more and more Elders to step up and to be examples to others we know this is late notice but it came as a revelation. Elder Moore, the Lord has called you to be a trainer in your area. How do you feel about that? Uhh. What? A son! You are going to have a son and train him! How do you feel? Uh, if thats what the Lord wants I will do it. Perfect!  Now, I know that you were not called the week before, so you didn´t go to the training meeting for trainers. So you are going to have to come to the mission home 30 minutes early before meeting your companion and we will give you a quick run down of whats going to happen and how you are going to do it. Uhh okay. Tomorrow at 3 then? Yes. tomorrow at 3! See you then! Congratulatioins Trainer! Click.  

So thats that! Last minute decision or revelation and I am called to train a new missionary. Which, in missionary lingo would be my son. I still can´t believe it. The truth is that I am quesy to my stomach. I am now in the offices with a few other trainers waiting to go ot the mission home. And on top of that that assistants called me and said that there won´t be enough time to train me on the materials so I will just have to read a little sheet of paper and then go off of that. GREAT. I guess I will have to have faith the the Lord qualifies those that He calls. I just hope He doesnt qualify my by trial and error. Yikes, the truth is is that I have no idea what to do! I am already lost. I don´t know if he is going to be a gringo or not, or what is going to happen. I don´t have any native investigators, or nothing. I need your prayers and fasts this week! I don´t know what is going to happen but its for the better! I just hope I can keep calm.

I enjoyed the Google Hangouts Talk. I am very glad that we all got to talk, glad that everything worked out. You all sound great. The New year is about to start and as Lindsey said my only year of 100 percent service to the Lord is about to end. 2015 is already here. I have to work harder!

I just really hope that my new companion likes to play soccer. :) I hope! 

Anyways, if you have any advice on training! Please tell me! I will take what I can get. As senor companion I am also in charge of the cellphone which is a whole lot different than the keys. I didn´t realize how many times peoples call! It has rung about 4 times already. The keys just jingle when I play with them. 

Here is a fun story. (FYI THIS IS KIND OF GROSS-Kelsey)We were playing soccer and I cut my leg a little less than an inch on my shin. I was bleeding, but being so into the game I didn´t notice. It dried up and then during the game I got blood on the ball. :) Which is pretty awesome. I play hard. Then 2 days later the cut had scabbed over and it hurt super bad. It was red. So I assume infection, so I say to myself it looks like I have to clean it even better In the shower I rip off the scab and start cleaning it out. Turns out there was a rock in there. I grab tweezer and take out the rock. Finally its all clean. Then there is a piece of skin folded into the wound, I  decide to cut it. So I grab toe nail clippers and cut off this part of skin that hurt like the dickens. It was incredible, I called our zone leader (who played professional soccer to see what they do when they get cut on their shin.) He told me that they always shave their legs in order to prevent infections. So I decided NOT to shave my leg but rather a circle around the wound so the hair wouldn´t get into it. I put on some neosporen, and the next day it returned to its normal color and healed a ton. So, I performed surgery on myself. Probably not the smartest thing but it turned out great and now I have a healthy leg. :) Elder Moore, Eagle Scout. I learned something. It was awesome. It also does help that I practically have an ambulance of a first aid kit. That thing has everything! 

Anyways, 

I love you all! 

Pray for me. 

Oh no not I, I will survive! (Lyrics)

Love, 

Elder Moore

ESCOBAR Week 59: Day Division

Well, the moment you start reading this card please start praying for me! 

Starting in about one hour we will go one a 2 day division with the zone leaders. And I will be the companion that stays in the area. I am nervous because we have been hitting some rough patches lately in the area so its gotta be good! 

We have some activities planned with the members on Christmas Eve and Christmas. We have permission to be out until 10:30 on Christmas eve. And then Christmas day is a regular day for us. So we probably will be playing soccer after everyone skypes. Woohoo. We got up at 4 this morning to play another Gringos against Latinos. We played last week and we won! 2 matches: 4-5 each. Then they challenged us to a rematch and that was this morning. I am not sure who won. We won the first match, then the second match they cut short when we were ahead and afterwards played a mini game to three points which they won. So yeah, it doesn´t really matter. It was a great game though. I love soccer! I am so glad that we can playa it in this mission. 

Well, 

See you Thursday! 

I love you all! 

Love, 

Elder Moore