POMPEYA, WEEK 26: HELLO FAMILY!

Alright.

This past week was good for us but also dissapointing. We had 4 baptisms planned for yesterday (Sunday) but they fell through. They were either sick or suddenly went out of town. I don't know for sure. But we reset the date for this Sunday and we will see what we are going to do! 

We learned a lot this past week about the little simple things that make the difference. We as missionaries feel responsible for the decisions of our investigators and we have to make sure that we do ALL that we can do in order to help them make the right choices, and that includes diligence and obedience! 

So, my companion and I rededicated ourselves. Set goals and everything to be better this week. To find more, teach better, and be faithful instruments in the hands of the Lord. 

One thing that I realized this past week is that if we are doing what we are supposed to do, the members are affected too. If we are being good examples, the members are going to notice. 2 weeks ago a father of a priest that accompanies us told us that he is very excited that his son accompanies us because he can see a change in his behavior and how he acts and talks about the missionaries. Now that was a great blessing to hear. That even when we don't know it, we are making a difference! Well then, this last week that same father called us at about 9:30 when we were just finishing planning and he told us: "Elders, can you call my son and talk to him? Because he is not being very obedient today." What a surprise! My companion said. "Wow, he sure does have a lot of confidence in us to tell us that!" It's so true. We called the son up. Told him what's what and helped out the family. They are all awesome and help us a lot. The son is really cool and a super good member and priest. So remember! SOMEONE IS WATCHING AND SOMEONE NOTICES. You can affect lives without even knowing it. So affect them for the BETTER! 

Besides that everything is going great. Getting colder but the heat still comes back with a vengeance sometimes. Humidity is killer. Today though I put on my jeans! For the first time since forever. It feels good. But walking in the street with them feels weird. I feel like I blended in a little more. Like I was in hiding. In civvies.

Well today we are going to go play soccer once agian! YEEESSSS. With the members too so it's going to be fun! 

Love, 

Elder Moore

POMPEYA, WEEK 25: HELLO!

Hello family!

Once again I write!

This past week was pretty good. We had good lessons, we found some promising investigators, found some old ones and we help Young Single Adults and the Young Men and Young Women work in their qourumns. We were assigned to them to help with reactivation in qourums and everything. It's going to be fun! Our first activity is mission preparation because we have about 4 young men that are doing mission papers and 3 or 4 young women too. Then the ones in the future, I am excited!

Let's see, what else happened this week... nothing much. One of our investigators who was going to be baptized yesterday just mysteriously disappeared. We haven't seen him this whole week. Also his friends who are members. And when we call nobody answers and nobody answers the door. Probably just a vacation or something but still... wierd. On the other hand we have a whole family to be baptized this week so pray for them! The mom is already a member. They are progressing nicely and the young single adults help out a ton. It will be a great blessing to the ward. Especially since they are splitting our stake! They are rearranging the stakes to make a new one. Stake Chacabuco. It will be great. Also a VERY high baptizing stake. It is interesting how it will work out.

Something strange that happened to our apartment building is that one morning, I went to take a shower after working out and there was no hot water. Nothing came out. Cold water yeah but no hot water. No big deal, cold water it is. I showered, then my companion. Then when we returned to the apartment at night, we went to get a drink of water. There is none. It's not that its all cold or it's weak, its just that nothing came out... For the whole building... I bet people are very happy. Haha. Then when we woke up this morning it was the same. Oh well! If the problems persists we will call our Zone leaders and travel to another missionaries apartment to shower there. No biggy! Trials of Faith. :)

We had a Sunday all about missionary work and reactivation. It was really cool. Very inspired. Awesome stuff is happening! I get a front row seat!

Time is moving along like a coursing river!

We are off to go play soccer! Woohoo!

Love,
Elder Moore

POMPEYA, WEEK 24: ONE DAY MORE

Como esta mi familia?

I hope everything is going great!

To let you all know, there was no change in the area. My companion and I are still together which is awesome! But there is one change. My companion got called as a District Leader so that's pretty cool. We both were very excited when he got called. It's awesome.

Anyways, this past week we have found lots of part member family of less actives. It is really cool I am very excited for the work that we have now.

Every morning we have been listening to General Conference. We finally got to Priesthood session. WOW it was amazing! It was great! My mind was blown.

Uh... I don't know what to say. Everything is good. The Lord is blessing us.

For the first time in this area our numbers and progress was pretty good. The Lord and the President are proud so they let us stay longer. We are definitely looking to improve this transfer! Lots of new things we are going to try.

I have trammites tomorrow. Woohoo. A lot of train riding tomorrow. I can't wait. :/ 

It is definitely getting colder! Rains a wee bit every now and then. I found out that my rain jacket isn't so rain proof! So that was a great experience. I will look for something to rain proof it. A spray can of that oil stuff.

Things are ticking along! Learning and growing everyday! I love this church! Everything the church puts out is FILLED with the Spirit. There is a new video called "Because of Him" that's on the church website. It's amazing. 

Well, my companion and I are going to go get our hair cut and then we are going to go dominate the soccer field. What a great day!

Pray and Pray! Blessings!

I wish you all a good week.

Love, 

Elder Moore

POMPEYA, WEEK 23: THE LAST MELON

The last melon. Which means the last week in this transfer! WHICH MEANS I WON'T WRITE TILL TUESDAY!!!! 

6 weeks went by fast! And it was a great week! 

Monday was a normal day. 

Tuesday we went on divisions in our area I went with a future missionary that is preparing and my companion went with another. We ended the day with some really good lessons taught and good numbers. And that helped us to bump up the rest of the week too because we started on a good note. Definitely a lesson in there. 

Wednesday was great. We had minidivisions. Where I went with my district leader for about 5 hours to his area. We found a new golden investigator and we taught well and he taught me a lot of things. 

Thursday was weekly planning! Woohoo! Definitely not like weekly calendering but it has its similarities. We try to make it fun but effective. It's always fun to see your plans get completed. 

Friday we had a zone conference which was great. And THENNNNN. Afterwards the President AND his wife accompanied us to our area for about 4 hours. It was amazing. They drove us home (which was a blessing) then they drove us to the area, where they taught with us and talked with us. They met our baptisms for this past week. Then my companion went to visit someone with a member. So it was just me, the president, and his wife. So went to visit our next appointment. It was awesome to learn from the president. He is really good and the people immediately respected him (minus a few poeple of course but that's missionary life!) It was cool. And then at the end of the day we just walked back to the church for his car. We just talked and walked. It was a definite reassurance that every missionary needs. The President was like a kid in a candy store when he entered our area. He was so exited. He always tells us how much he would give to be with us on the streets every day. He is right. These two years are the only time I have to be a 100% authorized representative of the Lord. There is no other time like this. I can promise and do things with the assurance of the Lord behind the words I say. It's a really neat experience. 

Saturday was good.

Sunday was good.

Monday was eh. 

Today is P-day but I had immigration papers this morning so that's why I have about no time to do anything today. But all is well. I got next week! 

I love you all! 

Love, 

Elder Moore

POMPEYA, WEEK 22: ANOTHER WEEK!

Wow, this transfer is going by suuuuuuper fast! 

We had divisions this past week, it was pretty fun to work in another area and help out a younger companion a wee bit. Definitely learned a lot! Always be a representative of Jesus Christ at all times! People are watching and you are always planting the seed of the church in someone's heart and mind. It's cool to see the miracles. 

Alright, it was a good week. Our numbers were a little lower this week but that was because they upped the anty (uhhh i don´t remember the spelling) so things are a little challenging but we will get it done! 

Conference was awesome. Probably the most amazing conference I have yet experienced. I don't know why but it was amazing. Over, WAY too fast. I watched the first two sessions in Spanish. Then all of Sunday in English. It was great. The Spanish was easy to understand but I found my mind wandering just a little bit.  But they were still amazing. 

I will now be checking in on all of you to see what you all have learned from Preach My Gospel! It is actually a really good book. When I return from my mission I look forward to applying it as a member missionary. The missionaries need help. They need people to teach. It is the difference between a good area and a dead one, a happy day and a frustrating one. HELP THE MISSIONARIES. I can't say it enough. 

We were going to have two baptisms this past week but it never happened. Their grandma who is a member got sick and they didn't want to leave her alone. We tried to help them but in the end we felt that we should just reset the date for the following week. Pray for them! 

Attitude of gratitude! I am grateful for this experience to be here no matter how hard the days can be at times! It's worth it! 

I am listening right now to "Let Us All Press On" by the Motab Choir that just sang in conference. I LOVE this version of the song. 

That is all I have for now. I am convinced it's never going to be cold here. Only humid. The mosquitoes are a killer here.

I love you all. 

Love, 

Elder Moore

***

SOME PICTURES!

Zone San Lorenzo

"Eggs like Annie" [A family meal of soft-boiled eggs and toast]. 

Just a bunch of stuff we had left over so I cooked it... Wasn't the same but it was something to eat.

Sewing my pants.

Dulce de Leche ice cream flavored. I died. It's that good. 

A little scratch after playing soccer.

POMPEYA, WEEK 21: FROM THE EXCLAMATION MARK
(A family reference to the fact that mom had 3 kids and then one amazing exclamation point!)

Hello Family!

What a great week it is to prepare ourselves for counsel from the Lord through His servants! I am very excited to see what the Lord has in store for all of us and what He needs to say to me specifically. I anxiously await that Gem of Truth that will speak to my soul. You should all look for it too!  I know you will find an answer and that gem with your name on it.

It was a great week. We worked good and now we are ready for our P-day. We  got up and cleaned the apartment and now we are out and about to shop for the things for our apartment. We got the A-OK to buy what we need and they will reimburse it. So now we are going to buy a pot, a pan, some plates, and some utensils to cook and eat! (cereal with a fork is pretty frustrating). The Lord always provides!

We had a baptism this past week which I don't have a picture of because I didn't bring it with me for fear of losing it. But it was great! He is 9 years old and all his family are members but for some reason he didn't get baptized until he was 9. But it was great to complete that family! It was cool to see his Dad baptize him and then confirm him. What a blessing it is to have the front row seat to these ordinances!

We have two baptisms planned for this week too (boy 10 and girl 13). They live with their grandma who is also a member! They are progressing very well with the support of their family and their individual desire to keep the commitments we give them. I am excited for them!

The weather this past week was a little more hot than normal but it was still fine. The nights are cool so it's very beautiful. About every other morning we get up at 5:20 to go play soccer on a field of 5 which means 5 man teams. Its awesome. I also found a some gloves for really cheap that fit like a dream. The game we played last week on the field of 11 was awesome. The score was 7-4. We won. :) I was the goalie. The field was dirt so I didn't dive for the really far shots (that's where the 4 came from) but I definitely attacked when they came in close. I only lost a pint and a half of blood from cuts on my knees. Nah, just kidding. Just a couple scrapes here and there. But it was awesome!

I got the awesome opportunity to eat some porky the pig. The whole pig. I got the nose to eat! I had to try it. So I did. Sooooo, you know how they call a football the old pigskin. Now I LITERALLY know why. It was the covering of a football. The EXACT same texture. It was softer wasn't chewier and it wasn't tastier. It was the exact same. I couldn't eat it. It was just not a good mix of circumstances. It was that it was AWFUL. I just felt like I was eating the end of an american football. For everybody else that is not from the US, they had no idea what I was talking about. But I muscled it down and politely declined more. I had to try it though. Haven't turned down anything so far. 

Thanks for everything!

Love,

Elder Moore

POMPEYA, WEEK 20: YEEHAW!

Howdy family! 

I hope that everything is going good! 

This week has been busy! 

Something that I am really excited about is that in every mission we have Standards of Excellency that the president puts. They are numbers that should ultimately be our goal to reach. I am happy to announce that we broke 3 or 4 of the standards of excellency this week which inst bad for our second week in a new area. I am definitely blessed with the opportunity to work with my companion and the missionary to help open this part of the vineyard. 

Let's see. What happened this past week? 

Hmm. Nothing really out of the ordinary. Every other morning we wake up at 5:30 and play soccer with our district at a nearby chapel. Its a great way to wake up and get going. I love the soccer here. Its fast and its constant I have actually become a diecent arqero which is the Goalie! Its an awesome start to the day. 

Every morning I have a drink which is called Mate Cocido. Its basically an herbal tea thats part of the cultural and is natural too. We arent allowed to drink mate straight but I like the smell of it. Its basically hay drink. Anyway, its pretty chilly in the morning and its great to read the Book of Mormon with a nice warm cup of hot chocolate or mate cocido. 

The ward here is great they love the missionaries and are ready and willing to provide food for us whenever we need something. It's also very interesting as in the ward we can see the missionaries helping the members in their efforts to reach and rescue. Its a great opportunity. 

A cool story but short that happened is we were about to open the church song and everybody started singing without the piano. I was surprised since the church has about 250 memebers in the buidling and nobody could play. So while they were singing during the first verse I silently walked up to the piano, passing the bishop (i was already on the stand becasue the new missionary were going to give their testimonies.) and said "I can play the piano". I sat down just as the second verse started and from half memory half the music in front of me started to continue playing "we thank thee o god for a prophet" I surprised the lady that was directing the music. But it went well. But they were a little off key so they had to change according to the piano. But still it was a blessing to play for them. Then I went back to do the sacramental hymn which was a song that I have never played but before the song, I was reading the music and playing without the piano. Then I played it on the piano. with only minor mistakes. However, I could not play the 3rd song because I never had heard of it and it was too difficult to learn in the 20 minutes before the song. Then I found out that the song doesn't exist in the english hymnbook so its all okay. I said that in my testimony when I started. I said "Hello brothers and sisters, I am Elder Moore and I am part of Soldati4 in Monoblocks. I also have a confession. I have never heard of the third song before in my life so I will not be able to play it." they all got a kick out of that. Nobody knew I could play the piano so it was a surprise to them and my companion too. Blessings! 

Thanks Lindsey for teaching me the basics and beyond. Thanks Grandma for making me read the notes and count and thanks Mom for making me choose an instrument! It is a blessing that I can never repay. But I have a confession mom. You are going to like this. :) . Sometimes, when you came home from errands or something and asked me if I did my piano practice. I said I did, but I think you knew I didn't. I just moved all the piano books to make it look like I did. (it was a childish thing. I was a young kid I am better now)  Haha the consequence for those actions are not being able to play that third song by site reading but the blessings for the practices I DID do are being able to play  the first 2. I will learn the third though! Thanks Mom. :)

All of our investigators now are references with members that we contacted WITH the members themselves. They are all progressing and have dates for baptisms. It is TRUE what the apostles are telling us, MEMBERS ARE KEY. They help the work so much, yeah we can talk to people and maybe perhaps,probably not they are going to listen to us more than 20 seconds. Its frustrating, but when the members are with us BOOM. The door is magically opened. It's awesome. 

Well. Forgive me but it's time to go play some soccer on a bigger field. :) I am excited. I will score or save a goal for you all back home! 

I love you all! Write me! 

Love, 

Elder Moore

POMPEYA, WEEK 19: FAMILIA MIA

It's been a great week!

Our numbers were a little low but that's because we had only members to visit his week to get to know them. And we couldn't meet everyone on Sunday because we had Stake Conference! I have had 2 stake conferences in a row. How fun!

To specify my area a little bit more, we work in a place called Monoblocks. Or something like that. It's goverment-built buildings for the less fortunate. It's a gold mine. Lots of members, lots of families, and lots of people! I kind of like it. But that means I don't work in the Villa. They say our area is the most dangerous area but I don't think so because there is a military outpost thing right next to it. I feel comfortable in the area, but still. That doesn't give me an excuse to do stupid touristy things. I was taught better than that. There is a Space Needle looking thing right across the street or highway or something like that too. It's interesting. The view in the buildings is really pretty. I will have someone take a picture of it and give it to me to show you all.

I had this drink from the juice of a honeydew equivalent, its this blended mix of things. It was absolutely amazing. They call it Liqioa Melon. Or something like that. I can say it but I can't write it. It is really really good. I drank so much. I got the recipe to make it so don't worry!

One night there was a stoppage of all the buses city wide. So we didn't have a bus to take to Pompeya. So we had to walk all the way to the apartment. Took us about an hour. We didn't have enough money to take a taxi and we couldn't call a Remis (a long distance taxi basically) SO we walked. We walked really fast, but we arrived safely and without problems. Definitely a blessing! So have no fear people of my lineage!

Today we are going to go play soccer in Parque Visionaros or something like that. I'ts time to show these Chileans, Argentinians, and Mexicans how to play soccer! Bring it.

I will have more stories the next week I am sure!

I love you all! 

Love, 

Elder Moore

 The other is an awesome family in Palermo. Very friendly and always helped me out. There were the ones that played the Fish eye soup joke on me.

Here is one investigators that told me the night I left that he had decided to get baptized. So his baptism should have happened or it's this coming week! 

Some ¨Man Sized Meatballs¨ that we received from a member. They were pretty good. reminded myself about Swedish meatballs. 

Baptism we had in Palermo. 

POMPEYA, WEEK 18: TRANSFERRRRRS

Alright family. How are you all doing? I loved the emails and everything is looking great back in the states. I am glad that things are working out. me alegro mucho. Makes me very happy. 

So, I write to you from a little cyber store in Pompeya. Woohoo. I got transfered. I have a new companion too, his name is Elder L*. He is from right here in Buenos Aires. He is about an hour from his house! He is a visa waiter right now that is why. When he gets his visa he will go to Venezuela. He has about 7 months and yes, fluent Spanish speaker and doesn't speak English. Here is the twist about our change. We are in Soldati 4, which is a new area we are opening up. So we are the first elders to go to this area. A weird thing is we don't live in the zone, we live about 30 or 40 minutes away. So we have to take the bus every morning and night. For some reason they gave us a pension really far away. They said they will try to change that in the future. I hope! 

I am really excited to open this area. It will be tough but if I got assigned to it then I am assigned to it for a reason. It was weird leaving Palermo. I hope I left it better than I found it. When I sent a text to some people that I was leaving we received phone calls. And 2 of our investigators called us saying they decided to get baptized. That they were going to wait to tell us but they wanted me to know. So that is really cool. I hope it happens. Also a less active called us and told me how he appreciated me visiting and being direct with him...[We were visiting him the other day and I was prompted to ask him about a Word of Wisdom issue]. I bore my testimony about what he has to do. That he actually has to start working at it to get results. He can't just give us excuses. And in the end, it's he who has to change himself. Not us. We can only help him. The Spirit was really strong. It was awesome. Just got to be bold with people and then maybe they will understand!

Anyways. That's about it. The weather is a wee bit cooler now, definitely not a scorcher anymore but still hot. Winter is on its way! 

Have a great week everybody. Pictures next week I hope!

 

Love, 

Elder Moore

PALERMO, WEEK 17: HOLA

Hello family. I hope everything is going marvelously well. Thank you for all your responses and emails. I love them! 

This past week was pretty good. We had a baptism! R* was baptized Saturday and confirmed Sunday. What a blessing! He is a cool kid. 18 years old. Humble and thinking about serving a mission. 

Kyle and his companion, Elder N*

This week has also been a time to think about my progress and my well-being as a missionary and human being. I have come to the realization that I am a perfectionist here. If my day isn't 100% perfect and then some, I feel dissapointed. It is definitely something that I need to work on with the Lord. It isn't fun. At all. But I will not be discouraged for I know in whom I have trusted. (reference anyone?) 

I don't have much to say.. R*'s family now is interested because they attended his baptism and confirmation so that is definitely a plus. We also found another family that recently moved here and they like the idea of blessings in the gospel and the priesthood. Our next investigator that has a date to be baptized is C*. He is about 27 or so, he is so ready, but we just have to teach him all the lessons. He works a lot so we don't have much time with him but he has already attend 5 weeks (2 of which he went to church by himself) and he keeps all the commitments and is eager to get baptized. However we have stake conference this week so we might have the chance to baptize him. 

We (the missionaries in the zone) are singing in conference. We are singing llamados a servir (Called to Serve -- of course!) and did you know there are 4 verses in Spanish rather than the 2 that are in English? Pretty cool huh? 

Kyle sent this goofy picture to Kelsey right before he signed off

I don't have much time because the bus on the way back from the stadium was really really slow. 

I love you all so much! 

Love, 

Elder Moore