ESCOBAR, WEEK 52: ONE YEAR IN ARGENTINA

Hello there once again family! Just want to let you all know that you I love. 

Anyways, this week was quite interesting. 

We worked and worked and worked but nothing really came of it, which is a little sad but we know that we tried. We did a little bit better than the week before but still we had nobody in the church, so we don't have anybody progressing. But that's okay. It's a new week. 

Definitely are having a blast of Oregon weather right now. It has been raining for 3 days here. It's kind of nice but you can't really enjoy it when you are walking out and about trying to find people to teach. Lots of wet socks! 

Anyways, nothing happened outside of the normal this week. We wake up, we exercise, we study, we leave, we preach, we eat lunch, we preach, and preach and preach, and then we go home and plan and sleep. I like the routine. The exercise is key though. Without a good exercise, I am groggy the whole day. So slowly and slowly. Well, I weigh 68 Kilos, which is about 150 pounds (of pure proselyting muscle) and my height is 170 centimeters which I think is 5·7- But I can't really remember. Its weird how although I grew up in the United States learning the measurements and language there that in one year of not being there I have already started to forget basic measurements, words, and formats. It honestly scares me that in one year I talk broken English and that in two years I could be sent back to Mr. Wyndham's English class because I will be creating new words like chodie again. Frightening. 

Speaking about being in Argentina...I believe that this Wednesday will be one year in Argentina. Solid. It's crazy how fast Christmas is coming up and everything. In two months the Holidays will be over. That's so weird!  The time ticks by a little faster with every day. 

Anyways, I love you all! Have a great week! New beginnings means new blessings!

Love, 

Elder Moore

ESCOBAR, WEEK 51: ASADO

Well, we just finished the halfway mark to this transfer. The time sure flies! 

We had an asado (BBQ) last week which was great so pictures are included

This week we had interviews with the President. They went really well. The assistants (one was my District Leader when I came to the mission and the other was my zone leader at the same time) explained some great concepts that my companion and I are going to apply. Things on how to use our planners and agendas better, numbers, goals, etc. It was really great. The interview with the President was pretty much the same, talked about applying the vision that the Lord has for us in the mission and how to measure success. All very good. We received some very interesting news. In February 45 missionaries will finish their missions. In March 39 missionaries leave. And 6 weeks later in May another 20 or so missionaries leave. And in those three transfers we will receive about 25 or so. Depends on the Lord. So that's very interesting. Right now we are at 250, more or less. So we will loose a lot of missionaries in the late summer, spring time. I heard that a lot of areas are going to go "dormant" or close/combine. So it will be interesting to see what happens there. 

Also another announcement we received is that we are going to have an Apostle visit us in November in about 2 weeks. They didn't say who but the Stake President in our ward says that it is going to be D Todd Christofferson. Awesome! I am excited for that. I hope we don't have to travel too far. But it would be worth it. :) 

Anyways, we had another down week. Found a few people but with Stake Conference being in another town, they didn't want to come. Stake Conference was really good. I feel like I have been in a Stake Conference or some type of conference every transfer but that's okay. It's cool to see how different the stakes are. 

It's getting hot already. Breaking records and every missionary doesn't want to admit it but they are all nervous for the summer. If it's already getting this hot and we haven't started the summer season yet, then in one or two months...yikes! I have been putting sunscreen on my delicate skin. Definitely have somewhat of a lobster style looking tan. But that's okay. :) 

Hey, I saw my first turkey here in Argentina. It was young but it made me think of Thanksgiving, and mashed potatoes, and roast beef and peas and all that. I was heading towards a lunch appointment so maybe that's why it came to mind. 

I love you all!  Pray for missionary opportunities! 

Love, 

Elder Moore

"Families are eternal" cap

Kyle's companion

The Asado

Some of the sisters.

Some of the elders, right before Kyle ran to go play soccer.

ESCOBAR, WEEK 50: ROUGH WEEK

Today started out great! We watched the Priesthood Session as a zone. Which was amazing! I look forward to reading it in English. Afterwards the 2 Argentinians put on an asado for us (BBQ) and it turned out great. Meanwhile we were playing soccer with teams of 5 or  6 and we ran and ran and ran and ran. It was great. I love p-days. I took pictures but sadly the computers here don't have a slot for an SD card so I will have to bring my converter next week to send many pictures. So wait for those! 

This week was one of those weeks that made it into the journal. My bicycle popped its tire 3 times. My companion's bike broke at the joint where the front part of the bike that turns and the stable part join together. Luckily he didn't get injured. Every day the member that was going to accompany us didn't show up, or canceled 5 minutes before, or something like that. Right before a meeting with the Stake President and with the sisters and ward missionary leader a  bird decided to leave a huge present on the shoulder of my companion. All our investigators mysteriously dissappeared. None came to church so we decided that we are going to drop them, and we finished a week with 7 lessons. The week before we had 26. The zone leaders called to ask what happened sunday night. That was a little depressing. I am not going to lie, a few times during the week I thought to myself. "What am I doing here?" " Why did we even come to this part of the area?" "Why is this happening to us?" "Are we being punished?" Well, we finished the week, I came here and I opened up my email and read some great blessings that my loved ones received this week. Some great things that I had been praying for. And I thought to myself, "That's why I am here. And also that the week wasn't wasted." Although I look forward to having a much better week I also will have a different outlook on the trials that come my way. 

Well, lots of sun, and lots of biking and walking this week. Thats about all I can say. 

Oh, we were waiting for a member in his garage when a lady comes out of the house, and starts talking super mean about us and the religion. She wasn't outright mad. I looked at my companion to see what he was going to say and he just looked at me and shook his head and put his finger to his mouth to tell me to just not talk. So I said "sorry sister for intruding." Then she just started tell us that we are related, we aren't siblings. So I said maám. She then started to say that us Mormons blah blah blah. I took it in stride, let it run off. Then she looked at me and said and you Americans blah blah blah, which didn't really bug me until she started talking about the Constitution. For some reason that affected me and I let my annoyance show. Not in any way but I put my hands on my hips and put my tongue in the corner of my mouth. That shows that the person is ticked but trying to not let it through. Anyways, my heart was pumping a little bit more and I was just about to say something back that may not have been Christlike. But then she started laughing. Then my companion started laughing. It was a sister that always pulls these jokes on new companions. She apologized for what she said, assured me that it was all a joke and then invited us in and we ate with the family. Remember the guy I told you about that tied his daughters together to teach them? Well, it turns out that the lady that just pulled the prank is his mom! Anyways, very interesting. I learned a lot about myself there. I am glad to say that I endured about 15 minutes of snide remarks about my religion, and country, and who I am, what I do, what I look like, etc. but it just slowly ate at me. Almost said something I am sure would've destroyed any possible opportunity for future missionaries to pass by and talk to her IF she was a real investigator. Anyways. Interesting. 

Until next week! 

Oh...yesterday was the Argentinian Mother's Day. So I love you, Mom! 

Love, 

Elder Moore

ESCOBAR, WEEK 49: 2nd WEEK IN ESCOBAR

Alright! My first week is safe behind me. I love it here! 

It's a very beautiful place and a lot of space too. I like it. The roads are bumpy and muddy and perfect for the mission experience! I am oddly happy. Definitely there are ups and downs (pun not intended) but the journey is great. We've found tons of people to teach but when Sunday came around we couldn't find ANYBODY to go to the church. So that was a bummer. So know we have to start again with the end in mind. 

This week I was witness to some of the best creative parenting that I have EVER seen. We were in the house of a member talking to the father in the backyard. (He is an Ex Professional Boxer and Psychiatrist). Anyways, he has 9 girls at home. 5 live with him. They were all arguing and the wife told him to deal with it. He said, "well I can hit them with the paddle again but that doesn't seem to work so we are going to have to think about it creatively." So he called the girls and put them in a line, side by side. Grabbed a rope and tied the left hand of one, left a space, tide the right hand another, left a space, tied the left hand of the next and then the right hand, then went and did the same thing to the feet. Then he said "basic psychology, you HAVE to talk to each other in a good way in order to work together efficiently. Now, go clean your bedrooms." It was amazing. The all had to walk in a synchronized way in order to clean. It was awesome. The were counting together and everything. It was very interesting and creative and just downright awesome. 

Anyways, the President asked us to answer some questions about our goals for the future and send them to him and so I sent that and that ate up a lot of time. Next week I will send a lot of pictures. 

I love you all! 

PRAY, READ AND ATTEND CHURCH! 

Pray for me!

 

Love ,

Elder Moore

ESCOBAR, WEEK 48: TRANSFERRED

Alright,

As you all have probably already guessed. I got transferred! I am now in an area that is called Escobar. It's apparently the first church in Argentina or in Buenos Aires. It's definitely not the city but it's pretty nice. The most awesome thing about it is that I am on BIKE. Yes, it finally happened. Which is fine but I just know that the first week is going to kill me. Sore body, exhausted, sun beating down and everything. That's what it's like but it's okay! It will help me get in shape and enjoy faster and cheaper transportation. I am just nervous about the sun. I don't want my rare and delicate Oregon tan to get ruined. But I will adopt an Argentine missionary tan. Definitely going to buy some sunscreen if it exists here. Pray for me!

My new companion is, Elder G*. He is from Chubut, Argentina which is in the south. It's interesting that he also has 2 nieces and one on the way just like I did. So that was an immediate connection that we made. Pretty cool. He has one transfer more than me on the mission. 

Well, today we went and played soccer which was pretty awesome but SUPER hot. It was cool to see the zone. I am with Elder G* (MTC companion) again. Which is definitely a blessing. Also with Elder L* who was my companion in Soldati. Which is cool too because he is a great friend. Also, you can tell a lot about a person by the way they play soccer. That's a fact. 

Packing for transfers is always a humbling time. Also frustrating but that's besides the point. I don't know where the stuff comes from! Books, scriptures, ties, shirts, pants, winter gear. I swear it's multiplying in the suit case. I am thinking about cutting down on some things that I haven't used...

Anyways, That's all the time I had! Conference was AMAZING.

Love you all

Pray for me. 

Love, 

Elder Moore

MUNRO, WEEK 47: ANOTHER BAPTISM

Well alright family! 

I don't have much time to do everything because we have a short p-day today because Friday we are going to go to the Temple to prepare ourselves for General Conference! I am very excited! I hope that everybody watches General Conference! I hope I get to listen to it in English. When it's the voice of somebody else, it just doesn't grab my attention. At all. 

Well, this week finished great! S* got baptized and confirmed and gave his testimony in Church. It was amazing. I met him 4 and a half months ago and it's incredible to see the change. It's almost black and white. I am very grateful to see that change. It's humbling and makes me think "What have I done to be a different person for the better in the past 4.5 months?" Below are some pictures of the service! 

Anyways. Yeah, I am learning a lot concerning the ward and how to work and collaborate with other people. It is a great blessing and I get some weird happiness when I am in a meeting with people. I like sorting things out, working plans and stuff. I am becoming an organized person! 

I know that this is a short e-mail but next week will be better!

Love you all! 

Love, 

Elder Moore

MUNRO, WEEK 46: WEDDING BELLS

Well...wow! What a week!

First off, we had a wedding!!! It was awesome. It was an honor to be the witnesses for the wedding. :) S* and A* are both doing great. Any marriage advice for them? My companion and I gave them a drawing of Jesus Christ that my companion did, (I just bought the picture frame). It turned out really good! 

(Don't laugh about the picture of me in the wedding. I am more interested than I look. Haha.)

This weekend on Saturday is going to be the baptism for S* and then on Sunday he gets confirmed. We are very excited and we need your prayers for him. Always the week before baptism is difficult! 

This week we also did some service at a member's house! We got to shovel a whole lot of rock and stuff into bags and everything and haul them out to the front. It was good to get some physical work done! It is a good change to the daily mission grind. 

Our investigator that got baptized last week has experienced one of the hardest weeks of her life and couldn't be confirmed the next week because she was super sick. It's very tricky because she thinks that these bad things are a sign from God. So pray for her! 

As I work with the members and the counselors, I learn a lot. So much that I have started to keep a little book about all the things that I have learned. Just so I don't forget in the future. The President called us the other day because he knows of the challenges in the area and he told me that it is a good thing that I get to experience these things here on the mission, so afterwards I can be even better. So that was pretty cool! Tomorrow is the President's birthday. I was set apart on the President's birthday. Cool! 

Anyways, that is all I have. Next week we have a short P-DAY because we go to the temple that Friday! So I will write furiously. 

Thank you for everything! It's fun to see the nieces grow! What about te nephews? 

I love you all! 

Love, 

Elder Moore

MUNRO, WEEK 45: A BAPTISM

Allllright! How is everybody doing? I hope very well with school, health, kids and things.

This week was good. Lots of walking but lots of appointments! We also were blessed with a baptism which is one of the photos attached. We found M* Thursday a week and a half ago. The end of this week was Stake Conference. And we have a rule that a person has to attend the church 3 times to be baptized. So she attended Sunday the 7th. Then the President told us that if she attended the Stake Conference meetings, she could be baptized this weekend. We told her that and she said yes, let's do it; the sooner the better. So we taught her every day. She read, she prayed, and her testimony grew so fast, that Sunday she was able to be interviewed and then baptized. It was a great experience. She was baptized in two other religions but when she attended the first time Sunday she told us on our way to her home, "that was incredible, it was so complete, so full (of doctrine) and organized." So we explained how God's house (church) is a house of order and authority. And that's how he directed us to have the church. So that was pretty cool. That was just another testimony to me that yeah this is the Church of God. That everything about the church testifies of the truthfulness of it even down to how a Worldwide church is organized and run. It was pretty cool. 

This picture is of me drinking chocolate milk from a bombilla. Which is not a drug or anything so don't worry. What it is is basically a metal straw with a filter at the end. It is for mate (mah Tay) which is an herbal drink that is very common, however, for missionaries we cannot drink mate. However, I bought the bombilla and use it as a metal straw. It's pretty cool. 

This last picture is of peanut butter crunchy. The Argentinian type. It's pretty good. A little on the expensive side but I just cut back on other things. 

This week I added a little bit to my testimony about patience and prayer. There have been times when I pray, I feel like I need the blessings, or the help or the answer NOW or I am going to blow up or something. But what I have come to know that, is the Lord knows exactly what we need and is willing to give us these things. But unlike us, he knows when we really need it. Sometimes we think we are at our wits end, we are spent, and there is nothing left, the Lord makes us wait just a little bit more, just to push ourselves a little more, strive a little bit more and then we receive what we need. Which, like Elder Bednar said (I think) that the blessing we receive is different from what we wanted but better than we expected because the Lord knew what we needed. So yeah, the Lord's time and in His way is what will really help us. 

So keep praying a little bit more sincerely. Be a little bit more patient because the Lord knows what we really need. 

This week we have a wedding! The 19th is the wedding of S* and A* and as you can imagine they are experiencing the trials! So pray for them! The week after that will be the baptism of S* too and he is excited but it's a fight! So pray for him. 

Anyway that's about it. Thanks for the emails! I love you all! 

Love, 

Elder Moore

MUNRO, WEEK 44: A RELIGIOUS MINISTER

Alright! 

Well, first off we have Stake Conference this coming week! Woohoo! That means that if an investigator comes to the Saturday meeting and Sunday meeting they can be baptized the next week! The rule is that they have to have to attend at least 3 times. So this week we have the possibility of baptizing two different women. We have a family Home Evening with them tonight. It's going to be great! 

Today, we also went to the Registro Civil here in Munro. (It's where people get married) and we filled out papers with A* & S* because they asked us to be the 2 witnesses! That's awesome. I recently received my DNI (identification for Argentina) and that means that I can be legally a witness! It was also pretty cool to put "Religious Minister" as my occupation. Interesting!

Today we played soccer and it was awesome. S* gave me an old ball and I have been practicing juggling in the apartment in the morning and i am slowly improving! I will send pictures. :) 

I have found out that I like meetings with the ward...Ward Council and stuff. I like talking bold, helping people do the missionary work, making goals and then completing them! Getting things done! 

Anyways, I don't have much time because I am starving and we have to eat before we go back out. 

It is weird to think how fast the mission has passed! I just keep working! 

I love you all! 

Love, 

Elder Moore

MUNRO, WEEK 43: A WEIRD MISSIONARY

Alright family! Nothing much happened this past week. But I do have some news. 

A* & S* are going to get married the 19th of September and then S* is going to be baptized the 27th. So pray for them that it happens. For some reason the exclamation point and question mark buttons have stopped work only this ª and + appears. Argentine keyboards are so weirdª.

Anyways, this week we worked pretty dang hard to find and have someone in the church. We had 4 set of investigators to go to the church PLUS we had a set baptism this week. Members and us passed by for 4 investigators and neither one of them went to the church. Then, our baptism disappeared. We haven't been able to find her for 5 days... So, that's just great. Haha. 

Good luck to every one for the new school yearª. I hope it goes great. Study strong, work hard, and I will do thesameª. We can only challenge the Lord for blessings when we are obedientª Read and Pray and GO TO CHURCHª and HELP THE MISSIONARIES. 

I am a very fortunate soul. Something cool that happened this past week is two families told me "You are a weird missionary" I said why. They then said that I am not like other gringos. I laugh more and am more animated and stuff. Then they both told my companion to be more happy. :) Haha. That's awesome. I am glad and grateful for the personality that the Lord has blessed me withª. 

Keep praying for me and my companion. We have to find and find and findª. I love you all.  

Love, 

Elder Moore