It´s the most stressful p-day of allll....

Monday, Oct. 28, 2014

HOLA!

My poor companion. She has not had a normal p-day in all of her mission. I mean.. she still hasn´t been out for a whole month yet, but still... 

The Presidente, o sea, Presidente Morales, called us at 10:40 last Monday night, and about scared the jelly right out of me. What he was doing up at that late hour I will never know... haha. He told us that we were going to need to move. What happened was that we lived really close to the river, and now entering the rainy season... well, it has raised substantially and he was worried about us. :) sooo that translates to having to move and that translates to a lot of stress because moving is generally stressful. We had to pack everything, and now we live in a little apartment with Hermana Ayala and Hermana Thompson. They are great, and we are going to have a wonderful time. It is just a little hard still because we have SO MANY THINGS: 2 microwaves, 6 beds, 2 parillas, 6 tables, 100000 folletos.... I am stressed out just thinking about having to go home and organize everything. 

Also stressing me out: the, um... how do I put this delicately? Our.. plumbing system has had a bit of a problem. Long story short, the things that should have been "flushed away" are currently sitting on the back patio. We do not know what to do. It is going to be a GREAT night.

My companion is the greatest! She is so sweet. She loves to sing REALLY loud and at all times. It is really entertaining. She is really excited to help, and she knows a lot already. I feel really silly when we have to do the 12 semana program. I seriously do not feel qualified to teach someone how to be a missionary. haha... Oh well. Ni modo. The best is when she gets really excited and starts to contact someone, and then she gets scared halfway through and looks at me like "HELP." hahaha She is precious. 

We had a date set for Itzigari this last saturday, and her interview was scheduled for Thursday. When we called her that morning she said that someone had told her super-Catholic mom that she was hanging out with the Mormons, and that she had gotten really upset. She basically told us that she did not want to get baptized anymore, but she still wanted to listen, read the Book of Mormon, and go to church. Well... that is not actually okay, so we ran over there as fast as our little water-logged shoes could carry us. We went there and we read 3 Nefi 11. We read slowly and analyzed and applied and learned and the spirit was awesome. And then we had her pray about what we had read. Her prayer was so sweet. So simple and so perfect. When we stood up she just said, "I know it´s true. I want to be baptized." BOOM! YES! It was awesome. I just wanted to do a fist pump in the air because the Spirit is REAL and Heavenly Father works miracles!!! It is something I am seeing again and again and again. It does not get old.

And so Itzigari was baptized on Saturday! Unfortunately, she was not confirmed on Sunday because of the time change. We had day-light savings again and she had thought she was too late for church. haha.. Next week. 

OH! That same Thursday, we took a field trip mid-study to see our landlady about moving out. I just took the phone and my planner, because I did not want to carry around my 1000 pound bag. Besides... what more could I need? OH. That´s right... KEYS. And the best part is I didn´t realize I didn´t have the keys until we had walked all the way home. In the rain. So then we had to walk all the way back to the nice land lady and explain to her that I am a bit of an air head... Luckily she had the key. She also was pretty entertained. It was so embarrassing. Did I mention I feel underqualified to train? hahaha... My life is so exciting. 

Well.. I love you I love you I love you! I am SO GLAD that you are all well. Keep safe, especially from this scary ebola thing. Who knows what that is? 

Paz y bendiciones, 

Hermana Moser

PALENQUE

Hola,

I do not have a lot of time to write today because we actually still have a whole lot to do today that we have not done. Why have we not done our normal P-day activities, you ask? Well, because we went to PALENQUE to see the RUINS!!!!!!

It was the best. I am not even joking. Maybe it is because I love history... but I don´t think so. I am pretty sure anybody would love the ruins of Palenque because they are awesome. Especially because we had the coolest tour guide in the world. She was a 27 year old recent convert/ returned missionary that grew up playing hide and seek in the ruins. She owns one of the little stores there, too. Long story short: She knows everything. She knows all the stories and all the secrets AND she also relates everything to the Book of Mormon. 

Por ejemplo: There was this great governor that the Mayan people had named Pacán (or something like that) who had a really huge temple built for himself as a tomb. The cover of his coffin has this weird design on it, but our guide showed us how the top part represented a type of heaven, and the bottom part a type of hell. In the middle was Pacán... in some sort of waiting place in between. There was also a cross on it. She said that the members there believe that this cover shows his understanding of the spirit world, that he knew he was going to be in a place of waiting, and that he also knew of Jesus Christ. They think he was a Nephite or a Lamanite and it was SO COOL. Wow. My words do not make sense. I apologize. But there was also a tower like the tower of King Benjamin. I AM LIVING IN BOOK OF MORMON COUNTRY. My mission is so cool. 

It is for this precise reason that I love testifying of the Book of Mormon. Hermana Solis (my new companion.. who is from Morelos Mexico and is the most adorable thing ever) and I have decided to start contacting with the Book of Mormon, and it has been a wonderful thing. I love talking about it, because these people are literally the descendents of Lehi and that blows my mind. I just want them to understand so badly! "THEY WROTE THIS FOR YOU!"

We have met a lot of wonderful people that way, but there are still some that don´t understand. The other day we went to visit this lady we have been teaching, but only her husband was there. He was "sleeping." So we left a note and went away. We passed by again about 10 minutes later to go to another appointment, and when we came within sight of the house we heard "DAD! THEY´RE COMING AGAIN!!" haha. We literally watched him JUMP back into the hammock and start "sleeping" again. It hurt my feelings, but it was also hilarious. I don´t think we´ll be going back.

Itzigari came to church on Sunday! AND she said her husband has stopped drinking! She loved church. I will tell you why: Church is the best. haha.. Especially this Sunday because it was the primary program! I played the piano, and one of the primary children directed the singing! It was precious. And then in principios del evangelio a recent convert talked about the gathering of Israel, and it was also awesome. She´s knows how to explain things in a way that everyone will understand, and she testifies like she has been a member all her life. She is awesome. And then in relief society we had this amazing lesson on love and charity and being a friend to those in need. It was perfect. They ended the lesson with everybody giving hugs and notes of love to everybody else. I LOVE CHURCH!

The Church is true. It has been restored. It is the church Christ would have us be a part of. The Book of Mormon is SO TRUE. It is awesome. I love it. 

Read your scriptures, say your prayers, spread the gospel.

I love you I love you I love you!

Hermana Moser

Shout out to Aunt Becky, Katie, Julian, and Amber for the dearelders! LOVE YOU GUYS! :)

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

October 15, 2014
Hey fam!

I apologize for the yelling. It´s just, well, we have had ourselves some cambios, and DESPITE the shameless hints we have been putting in our emails to the president about how much we wanted to stay together....Hermana Pasley and I have been separated. It. Is. Devastating. 

But that is not actually the reason that I was yelling like that. No, that would be from the part that came next. Says the lider capacitadora: "Es que.. Hermana Moser va a entrenar." 

I´m sorry... What?

Yep. This girl is about to become a trainer, which is a good joke because suddenly I feel like I got here yesterday and that I am the one that needs a trainer. 

So I am super nervous but it is awesome because I get to hang out here in DEPORTIVA! until tomorrow when we have the special devotional where we meet our new companions. It is really weird to be here again, but I am super excited because we are about to have a noche de hogar en la capilla and I am hoping that Matilde and Nancy and Leudy will be there! 

Wow. All that excitement about cambios has literally pushed from my brain everything else that happened this week. I am serious. I am here trying and I cannot focus. I sincerely apologize for the lameness of this email. 

Yesterday was fast and testimony meeting. It was awesome, because on Saturday they had a recent convert famiy go to the temple to get sealed. They were so precious as the went up to bear their testimonies. One of their kids, who is probably 6, could not see over the stand even with the little stool thing! He was the cutest. I especially liked something that the hermana said. She was talking about how everyone asks here why there are no crosses or images of stuff on our churches. She talked about how we do not have the crosses because we believe in a LIVING Christ. So what would be our symbol that proves our status as Christians? "..The pure love of a living Christ that we can share with those around us." It really struck a cord with me. Charity is literally the thing that sets us apart. We just need to all be a little bit better about it. 

Well.. I know that a lot of awesome things happened this week... I just cannot remember them. Please remember me and my poor little companion in your prayers this week. We are going to need them even more than before. 

I love you I love you I love you

Hermana Moser

Fair Week is NOT FUN in Mexico

HEY FAMILY!

Guess what! The fair is in town! And it is RUINING OUR LIVES. haha.. I am joking. But also kind of not, because everyone is always there and not in their houses where they should be. It has made teaching become a bit of a joke. Either they are not there, or they are about to leave. Or they are there and just completely drunk. The past three days have been a lot of "Are you KIDDING me?!" But don`t you worry about it. We are strong and we have faith.. and after that conference we are UNSTOPPABLE.

Seriously, though. Wasn`t conference the best thing ever? I LOVE CONFERENCE! It is better than any holiday in the mission. The entire time I sat there I just kept thinking, "This is so true. This is SO TRUE!!! IT is not even a little bit not true!" It was the best to just be able to sit there and listen to people that know the doctrine. They know it and they live it and they can cite and defend it. Sometimes I just want Elder Holland to be my mission companion, ya know? 

I especially loved Elder Ballard's talk. STAY IN THE BOAT. It is not hard to live the gospel of Jesus Christ. What is hard is to get over the laziness.. o sea, the natural man...that is so inherent in each one of us. It requires effort to stay in the boat, keep your life jacket on, and hold on with both hands. (2 Nefi 25:23) But as a missionary, you see who the people are that make the effort, and what a true and lasting change it brings to their lives. It is so important to do the small things!!! It is the only way that any of us will ever obtain a real and lasting testimony of the truth. 

There is also a scripture in 2 nefi 26 that I LOVE and that reminds me of conference. It says, "He doesn`t do anything unless that it be for the benefit of the world. Because he loves the world, so that he gave his own life to bring all men unto him.." As we walked around yesterday...  and walked... and walked... (because again.. LITERaLLY no one was home).. we just kept talking about how awesome it was to have the prophet of God speak to us. Everything that was said was 100% true and was ONLY for our benefit. Over and over they said we need to repent, we need to pray, we need to follow the prophet, we need to love. IT IS SO COOL! IT IS SO TRUE!!! AND I CANNOT express my thoughts sufficiently via email. I can`t wait to see you at Christmas so that I can semi-expresarme in person! 

Well. I think that`s probably it. I am serious, nothing really happened this week. 

OH wait! I forgot something I have been wanting to tell Dad: I have eaten catfish. Twice. And you are right.. those things are freaky. The skin does not cut like normal fish skin. It tastes alright.. but it gives me the shudders. 

I love you I love you I love you!

Hermana Moser