(Insert clever St. Patrick´s Day title here)

More pictures from March 8th baptism:

This is what the activity on March 8th looked like at 5 p.m.... which was when we said it started...


BuenAS!

First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!!!!!!!!!  Weird that I wasn´t around to help you eat your pie, but I´m sure glad it was a good day. I heard some good things about that ward conference. :) As a present to you, I want you to go look in your wallet. See the $5 I left in there? No? Well.. maybe it was a $20? I don´t remember. Maybe I left it with mom. Go ask her.... Got your cash? Ah bueno. Now go treat yourself to an arctic circle shake and think about the good ole daddy-daughter dates we used to have. Try not to cry. I love you!!!

Sounds like my family is just the most cultured around! My goodness gracious, people! I loved all the photos, though. It freaked me out to see Aunt Becky as a nun. Sometimes I pass real nuns on the street. It´s a little awkward. And NATHAN! You make quiet the handsome tin man. Very tinny. So good job. Hope you are loving every second of it. 

This week was fine. Not the best, but not the worst either.

We have a TON of investigators. Hermana Martinez says she has never had this many in her whole life. And by that I mean her whole mission. However, currently none of them are progressing. Do you know why? Because they have to come to church in order to be considered progressing. It is the saddest thing when nobody comes to church. Especially when they all told us that they were going to come.. and then suddenly they have to work, or their family is in town, or they went to Villa... There is one young man that we have been especially excited about. His name is Enrique and he is 17 and he is AWESOME. Seriously. And he has prayed about baptism, and he has received an answer, but we cannot set a date because he cannot come to church. He´s going to school still, and with that comes 5 hours daily of community service. Plus class and homework. And Saturdays and Sundays he works with his sister, and I think this job helps support his family. It is the worst job ever, because on Sunday he works from 7-1. Do you know when church ends? 1. And so we have some work to do with him in order to find a solution. 

I also experienced my first.. erm... Lesson with contention? We went to visit some family members of Tristan this week, and his aunt did not actually agree with the things we were sharing about how the Holy Ghost works with us. It was very uncomfortable, and there was a time that the Spirit was not actually present in the lesson. But Tristan´s mom bore her testimony, and so did we, and it actually turned into something quite powerful. I don´t think this specific aunt felt it, but her sister-in-law did, and we are going back this week to teach her and her husband. (The husband is the brother of another investigator. EVERYONE here is related somehow). Tristan´s dad was working while we were there, but I can tell that his heart is softening. Ohhhhhhhh this family is gonna make it to the water! 

What else happened this week... OH! Today was transfer day, but don´t you worry your pretty little heads. I´m not going anywhere. But Hermana Cuevas is leaving us! She´s going to be in Mina with Hermana Hilton! Hermana Wood is pretty upset, but she´s a warrior and so I know she´ll be fine. I think Hermana Wood and I will be together for the entirety of our missions! 

I read a scripture in El Libro de Mormón this week that hit me a little harder than it has before. It´s in 2 Nefi 31.... Änd I just realized that I only have a Spanish Book of Mormon. So it´s something like "Änd after you have entered into this straight and narrow path (baptism), I would ask if you have done all? Behold, I say unto you NO." Baptism is just the first step. There is still SO MUCH for us to learn and do and become in order to return to live with our Father again. But when we do the things that the Lord has prepared for us, we can continue onward with ä perfect brightness of hope¨in Christ. How blessed we are!

I have no exciting food stories or anything from this week. What am I saying?! We ate pejilagarto (pardon my spelling) with habanero this weekend. It was delicious. That´s right.. I´m pretty much Mexican by now. 

 

Also, side-note for pappy: You would be proud of the amount of onions I eat now. I think of you every time. They are delicious, but what I´m really thinking is ¨Does this count as a serving of vegetables?¨ Because we don´t actually eat a lot of those here. 

Shout out to BFF Makenda Bickmore for completing another year of life! Love you!

I love you I love you I love you!!

Love, Hermana Moser

That spider was living and chased me down the street after that photo was taken. Scariest moment of my life.

 BBQ-ing... Mexican style. Hermano Valencia didn´t even need tongs. Just turned those babies over with his hand.

FIRST BAPTISM- 8 DE MARZO

¡HOLA!

The most exciting news of this week, obviously, is the baptism of the one and only TRISTAN! He was just precious. He was really nervous before the ordinance, but afterwards he was just a beaming little fellow! His father DID come, and it was a miracle. Wait. Let me back up. 

We also had a "play" that day that started at "5 pm" about the work of salvation. It was really good, and it in reality started at 5:45. Afterwards we took pictures and got our boys all dressed to be baptized and such before the baptismal program started. The opening song was sung... no Dad. Talk on baptism....sin Father. Talk on the Holy Ghost....tampoco no papa. We were starting to get worried! But then, right as Tristan was walking through the door to head to the font, his Dad walked right through those doors! Apparently he had been waiting for a taxi for a thousand years (they live really far away) and it was literally a miracle that the taxi came when it did. SOMEONE was supposed to see this baptism.. and it was him. (It certainly wasn´t me. I couldn´t see a blessed thing because of all the children crowding the front of the room). LA IGLESIA ES VERDADERA! 

 

We also got several references from his family members that now would like to learn more about the church. Unfortunately, they also live 1000 miles away. And since yesterday we got ourselves a new ward mission leader that doesn't have a car... we are up a crick. Hopefully Hermano Miguel will still be willing to accompany us sometimes. :) 

NOW, A PAUSE AS I ANSWER THE QUESTIONS OF MY MOTHER:

The baptism went great! (see above)

Tristan´s Dad did indeed show up! (also see above)

I did not play the piano at the baptism. I do, however, play every week in sacrament meeting. It´s hilarious. It is a real, up-right piano, much like the one we have at home. 

Exactly zero people in the ward can play the piano. 

I have no idea how old Elder Valezuela is. I assume 50s? 60s? 

I have dreams that I can speak Spanish perfectly, but i don{t think that actually is the same thing as dreaming in Spanish. I definitely have a long way to go.. so don´t go thinking that your daughter is currently fluent. I understand just about everything, but the speaking is....maush.

We also had a zone conference this week in las Rosas. Do you know who also came to the zone class? PRESIDENT MORALES! That is who. And he walked right in on our practice lesson. It was terrifying, except for he is SO cool and so it was fine. We learned a lot from him. Clearly. He is awesome. He drove the four of us home because he brought us new, un-grafitied tables and chairs (YAY!) and we couldn´t actually get those on the bus. He is a driver like any other Mexican I have ridden with, and we will leave it at that. :) 

 When we got here, he interviewed us one by one right there in our apartment. Obviously, I got all teary and he asked me what I was thinking about. I told him that I was thinking about the changes that we had, and then told him my side of it. He then told me that while they were pondering who to put with the new Americans, his assistants advised against splitting Hermana Morales and I up. President agreed, but the next day he just had a strong feeling that she was the one that needed to go. So he followed his prompting, and now here we are. What a blessing it is that we can live to be worthy of such revelation and heavenly inspiration! LA IGLESIA ES VERDADERA! 

I got some letters (shout out to my bff Makenda Bickmore... Love ya gurrl) and some dear elders. Jesse: it is fine that you broke my laptop. Don´t even worry about it. Amanda: Thank you for the details on the cat poop sifter. I think my neighbor might need one of those for her fifty cats. Mom: Here are some answers to the questions asked....

It rains all the time in Mexico. Though apparently not in the coming months.

The fashion in Mexico is just like it is in America. Although in the town I am in, it's kind of like a throw-back to the 90s. There´s a lot of hair-bows and scrunchies happening. Also hair-gel, overalls, and a general lack of standard style. You can pretty much wear (or not wear) whatever you want. 

There is no Wal-mart in my city. Only in Villa.

We get Liahona´s, and they are in Spanish and English.

I know nothing of the outside world.

They have peanut butter, but nobody likes it except for me. They drink some kind of juice with every meal.

I don't remember the last time I had homemade bread. :(

I hope I sufficiently answered all the questions. I love you all and I am so grateful for your righteous examples in my life!! 

I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU!

Love, hermana Moser

When the saints go MARCHing in...(get it?)

Hola mi querido familia!

I am so glad that everything is going well for everyone! I love that everyone is exhausted. Last night as I was falling asleep (at 10:30 local standard time) I thought to myself, Ï wonder what is happening currently at my house?¨When I wonder this thing on Sunday nights, I usually answer myself with ¨Brownies. They are definitely having brownies or popcorn because it is approximately 9 pm and that is what we do on Sunday night.¨But turns out last night ya´ll were in bed too!! Great minds think alike, I guess. ;)

This week was exciting! Do you know why? Of course you don´t! And so I will tell you. Last week we were privileged to go to Villa not only once, but TWICE. Yes.. twice. That´s four trips on the bus. Good times.. (Actually, one trip had the movie ¨Here comes the Boom¨ playing right in my face. Talk about temptations..) Anyway, trip numero uno was for a multi-zone conference with Elder Arnulfo Valenzuela, an area authority. It was amazing! He shook all of our hands, and just had this genuine love radiating from him! He was just so happy to be with us. He talked with us about how we can improve the work in Villahermosa. We have a TON of things to work on. I am not joking. So much things. (editors note:  What?!)   Por ejemplo: One major ¨rule¨in the mission field is to hablar con todos. Elder Valenzuela told us that our of every 5 people you talk to, only one will accept your message. Therefore, when you get rejected, get rejected with a smile. It only means that you are that much closer to finding the one. And so we have been trying to be better about talking to everybody! The only problem is I am still really awkward...It´s fine. 

My favorite part, though, was when he pointed us to Matt. 5. This has 3 stories of different miracles that Christ realized, and that he would have missed had he not been focused on those around him and their needs. Christ was the perfect example of everything, including finding and teaching the ONE. Every person we pass on the street has a grand potential as a son or daughter of God, but they don´t know it yet! and the only way they are going to find out is if we open our mouths and tell them! 

He also said that when someone asks for evidence of a living prophet, we should just smile and say Ït is me!¨Because we have been called of God through a living prophet to be here with these people at this time. QUE BENDICIÓN!

And so, I learned quite a lot from this conference. :) Elder Valenzuela spoke in the last general conference, so if you feel so inclined... I HIGHLY recommend reviewing his talk :) 

The second trip was for a consejo de todos los lideres de zona. My companion is the líder capacitadora (she took the place of Hermana Morales) and so we got to go. And by we, I really mean just her. Every time we go to the consejo I get a new companion for the morning. BUT I did get to go to McDonalds, and so that was exciting. I have never had a better hamburger. I also got to see Hermana Hilton! For about .5 seconds in the bus terminal, but it was like being reunited with family! OHHH it was wonderful! And I was reunited with mi mama (aka hermana Morales) in the house in which we slept that night because she is the líder capacitadora in her new area! So both trips to Villahermosa were actually wonderful this time! :) 

The work is still progressing in this heat-infested land. Tristan, our 9 year old soon to be baptized, is ready as ever for Saturday and we are SO excited! Especially since he is going to invite his papa to his baptism and confirmation. And then when he comes.. BAM! New investigator para nosotras. I am so excited! 

Selene, we have discovered, is not actually married. Everyone here uses the work ësposo¨whether they are married or not, and so that is confusing. However, her not-husband is back in town, and came to church with her on Sunday! He said that he felt really good there in the capilla, and that he wants to change some things in his life. So we are going to go have a chat with this little family tomorrow! The only thing I can think of that is better than Selene getting baptized is for her to be sealed eternally to this man and her little daughter! AHHH! THE CHURCH IS TRUE!

Congratulations to Prep for being baptized!! That´s awesome! And Porter, and next Macy... Such an important step! I am so proud of my cousins!! 

Well, keep pressing forward and keep the faith! Thank you SO MUCH for your prayers! I can definitely feel their power helping me here in the land of ants and reptiles.

I love you I love you I love you!!!

Hermana Moser

SURPRISE!

February 24, 2014
Well, my dear family... I have some news. It might come as a shock to you, so if you are not currently sitting please take the time to do so now. Are you ready? No? It´s fine. I´ll wait. ... Okay. This news is called ¨We Had Random Transfers and Now Hermana Morales is No Longer With Me.¨ Yep. You heard right. I have been separated from my mission mama and it is the saddest thing in the whole world.

 

We thought we were safe because we made it through the last cambios, and I still have a few weeks left of training. Also, I have been reaally careful to not pray for anything to change, even though I have been feeling like I am relying more on my companion than the Spirit and that is not actually beneficial. WELL, as it turns out, God heard my un-uttered prayers and just switched everything all around. There we were, waiting for a ponchi like a couple of regular joes, when the President called. 9 o´clock the next morning we were in Villahermosa with our new companions. (Hermana Morales has been called to train another Americana that arrived unexpectedly last week). So I learned some lessons from this experience. 1) God is in charge of His work, and He knows who needs to be in what area for exactly what amount of time. 2) My mission president is really in tune with the Spirit. 3) Heavenly Father is going to give me the challenges that will help me grow when He knows I am ready for them. 

 My new compañera, ¨Hermana Martinez, is nice, though. She´s going to push me in this Spanish thing.. but I guess that´s good. And I haven´t had an emotional breakdown or anything with her yet so... Esta bien. 

Yesterday was ward conference. It was the longest ward conference ever, but I think that´s because I was expecting sacrament meeting to still be one hour and it was two. Is that normal? I feel like ward conference is usually like a normal Sunday... Anyways, the theme was La Obra de Salvación, and it was really good. All of the talks were really powerful and motivating, and they had some recent converts bear their testimonies. I played for the choir (Oh... the choir. Bless their hearts) and for the congregation as well. Guess those piano lessons are being put to good use, eh ma? :)

Speaking of being put to good use... we´re going to have classes in English starting this saturday. At least, that was the plan with hermana Morales. Now she´s gone and so I have to know things and where people live and what´s going on and it´s awesome... and so I haven´t a clue if it will really happen or not. BUT if it does end up happening, it will be a real good finding opportunity and I am excited!

The heat has definitely begun here in Tobasco. People still say it is going to get worse, but at least everyone else is now sweating as much as I am. Makes me feel a little better about things when we´re all glistening and it´s not just me. It also hasn´t rained for like 3 weeks. 

We have a baptism CONFIRMED for the 8th of March. His name is Tristan, and he is the son of a menos activo that has recently returned. He is 9 years of age, and is really intelligent. He is also really excited to get baptized. We told him we would get him a white shirt and tie for his baptism and he got SO excited. hahaha He is precious :) 

There´s been a lot of progression here in the area, but there is still a lack of church attendance due to work. We are also losing a lot of investigators because either their spouse won´t let them listen to us, or their parents won´t give them permission to be baptized. I think that´s probably the worst experience, Mom. When a young person is progressing and is excited about the gospel, and their parents won´t let them get baptized. It´s heartbreaking. 

As for your other questions: We go to Villahermosa ALL THE TIME. I do not like it. It takes way to much time. But with the cambios last week, and the multi-zone conference this week (with the area authority!) I think I will have gone to Villa every week of February. Too much, I say! TOO MUCH. haha. We do our shopping in chain stores in Mexico. Kind of like Ridleys or Price Chopper or something like that. Things are usually dusty, and the toilet paper section is ALWAYS a mess. Like, none of the toilet paper is on the shelves... it´s all on the floor. I don´t know how that happens. It was kind of shocking at first, but now I don´t even remember what the stores of my past life looked like. ALSO I do not get Heathers emails. Feel free to pass those right along :) 

Wellllll.... That´s all, folks. Break a leg with opening night this weekend! How exciting. I am SO PUMPED for the photos!!! How about the next Juanito Bandito in Blackfoot can be summer 2015? Sound good to everybody? Great. Me too. Also that trip to Hawaii. Definitely needs to be 2015. With all grandchildren over 20. Alright. I´m done. 

I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the true church of Christ restored again on the Earth. Only here can you find the authority and power of God unto salvation. I know that when we keep the commandments, we are blessed in ALL things. (Mosiah 2:41). What a glorious responsibility we have to share this gospel with others!!! IT¨S AWESOME.

I love you I love you I love you!!

Hermana Moser

FELIZ DIA DE AMISTAD!

February 18, 2014

HOLA familiares y amigos! 

This week was... Well, to be honest I´m not sure what to call this week. It had moments of hilarious and awkward and humbling and wonderful. The MOST wonderful was when we went to Las Rosas last week for zone conference, and I came home with TWO dearelders, a Browning Christmas card (Shout out to Eric and Jana fam!) and a PACKAGE! Which, to be honest, I was trying really hard not to be excited about because I knew that it was just going to be a sheet. But then I opened it and there were all of these wonderful valentine treasures inside! Somebody loves me :) Also, I love the sheet. And I love that my mom knew I needed pens without me saying anything and so sent me a whole package of them. 

The dearelders were both the funniest things I have ever read. One was from Sister Howell, and it was so wonderful! Seriously, I think we are going to have a lot in common when I get home. She told me not to write her back, which I can´t really do anyways because nobody knows how the mail operates here, but here is her personal shoutout that I received and LOVED her letter.  The other was from Mom and Jesse. Jesse´s sounded like something right out of Junie B. Jones. ¨My teacher said she forgot something and that you know when you forget something and it goes all the way to Mexico? And so I thought I should raise my hand and say that my sister is in Mexico and she could actually get you that thing you forgot, but then my teacher said that we weren´t talking about Mexico anymore.¨  hahaha That kid is the best. So thank you to all who participated in the excitment that was the mail last week. :)

Valentines Day was a whole interesting story in and of itself. There are two stories that I have to share: 

1) We were sitting there, eating lunch like a couple of regular joes, when we heard what sounded like rain. It was not raining outside. We looked back at the young child sleeping in the hammack, and realized that she was indeed wetting her pants. It was hilarious. Seriously probably one of my favorite lunch time stories.

2) There is an old man that works at the Hotel on Obregon that waves and saludes us EVERY time we pass by. I have no idea why he does this, because we don´t know him. He´s always our back-up plan. We call him Hermano Hola. Well, Valentines day we were on our way to an appointment when he called out his salutation. But then he motioned for us to stop, which we did. I was thinking ¨We are about to have one of those really cool missionary experiences, where they say something about how they just have a feeling they need to talk to us¨or something like that. Nope. He stopped us to give me a rose. #awkward. We obviously started a gospel conversation with him, but he kept not answering our questions. He´s very Catholic and did not actually want to talk to us. But now the door is open, and hno. Miguel is on our radar. 

I sure hope that I will not feel the urge to write so many words someday! Because since Hermana Wood moved out, my English connection has all but disappeared. And I have discovered that I am really quiet when it´s hard to figure out how to say what I want to say. This is not good, because in order to progress I know that I have to start talking. It is just so difficult to translate and then speak and then not even have it mean exactly what you want it to mean! Much easier to smile and nod. 

But there is a scripture in the Book of Mormon that we have discovered this week, that really puts things into perspective. Etér 12:13-16. These verses talk about FAITH working MIRACLES. I am realizing just how much my lack of faith and my pride are holding me back. Or rather, Heavenly Father has shown me in a variety of ways that I have a lot of flaws that I need to work on. But I know that with faith all things are possible. I know that if I have faith and open my mouth, Heavenly Father will bless it with words. I think I have been relying too much on Hermana Morales (who is still great) and not enough on the power of the Spirit. So that´s my goal for this week. 

Glad to hear all is well with Bandito! I am SURE it is going to be a hit! Ya just can´t go wrong with a show like that coupled with the cast and crew (including the director) ya´ll got. 

Well.. that´s all, folks. Don´t want to bore you with anymore stories, like waiting 1.5 hours for the bus in the hot hot sun, or chicken feet in the soup. I love you and I´m praying for you and I´m beyond grateful for your love and prayers. I am so blessed to have so many righteous examples in my life.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the true, restored church of Christ. The gospel of Christ is full and complete, and will bless lives more than anything else ever will. Go share it.

I love you I love you I love you!

Hermana Moser