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

There can be MIRACLES when you BELIEVE

My dearest family,

WOW. WHAT A WEEK. I know that I probably mention that the mission is an emotional roller coaster like every week, but this was the craziest week I have ever had. Emotionally, physically, and spiritually. 

It all started with these two ridiculously hard baptisms that we had planned for the same Saturday. If they hadn´t been planned according to answers to prayers, I can assure you we would have pushed one of them back. But, like Nephi, we were determined to GO and DO what the Lord hath commanded. It just turns out sometimes the acting part is exhausting. 

We first had Gloria, who had to get married before she could be baptized. The only problem was that the registro civil here in Zapata wanted some paper that was evidence that she was single. So that is lame because she is obviously not with anyone else. She has been with her current boyfriend for a while, and they have 8 month old triplets. HELLO. But, the law is the law and we are all about respecting it and stuff, so we tried to get the paper. The only problem with this paper is that it is super hard to obtain, and it was going to take too long to do all the paperwork. So we all went to Palenque (in another state) to get those two married. Why? Because the registro civil in Chiapas is WAY less annoying than the registros civiles here in Tabasco. So they got married and they are beautiful and perfect and Hermana Pasley and I are coming back in a year to see them all get sealed :) 

Wedding

Baptism

Future eternal family with darling triplets!

 

LUEGO (Then) we had good ole Jorge, who has the faith like unto Enos. (Enos is his favorite. He relates EVERYTHING back to Enos. I love it). As before mentioned, Jorge cannot move his lower body due to a nasty fall and a spinal injury. His preparations were even MORE complicated than the wedding. First we had to find a camilla, then we had to find an ambulance to transport him... Then he had a health scare and had to go to Villahermosa. Luckily, there are elders in Villahermosa that were willing to go give him a blessing. The whole week was just one big stress monster. Hermana Pasley and I just laughed all the time because we literally did not know what else to do.  WHAT are two super American sisters doing planning the baptism of a boy that cannot walk?! haha.. 

 

 

 It was quite the adventure, I tell you what. Long story short, Saturday there were still problems with our plans.. but thanks to some super supportive rama members, everything turned out fine. Jorge se bautizo, and it was the most beautiful moment I have ever experienced in my mission. 

 

Although it was really funny when they got him in the water.. Jorge on his blue camilla with like five priesthood holders surrounding him ready to push it all under... only to find that camillas float! haha... So the actual baptism was a little bit more challenging than we had anticipated. It took them four tries, but they eventually got him under the water. He was confirmed immediately after in the hallway. The point is he is BAPTIZED and miracles happen and it was the COOLEST EVER. 

 

Mom had a lot of questions this week. Ahem:

1,  The thing I miss most about America is the cleanliness. ALSO that the bathrooms are 1) free and 2) have toilet paper AND soap. I know dad complains about all the laws and stuff.. but I am starting to feel real grateful for how regulated the states are. 

2.  No. people are terrible with time. We told everyone the baptism would start at 5 so that it would really start at 6. 

3.  Our new apartment is really simple. Maybe I´ll take some pictures next week. There are lots of lizard like creatures, but it is WAY cooler.. literally.. than either Frontier or Deportiva. Love it. 

4.  Toilet is fine. Washer is weird, and it is at a members house. There are no dryers. 

5.  YES. The churches and the temples feel the same as anywhere else. EXCEPT for the part where there are no benches. Just cushioned chairs. And also there is no carpet. OH! That is another thing I miss about America!!!... carpet. And couches. I just want to lay on a nice, cushy couch once in a while, ya know?

I love you I love you I love you!

Hermana Moser

"He is trying to FIGHT me, sir!"

These first three pictures go with my story about being detained because I was not carrying my visa.  This was our blessed  post-"prison" meal.

Hermana Cabrera, who was good enough to speak up when border agents had not asked to see her papers, thus providing me with a companion during my detainment for 8 hours. She didn't have hers either.

   

President and his family....our rescuers!

Holaa ya´ll!

This week was... interesting. Like an emotional roller coaster the likes of which I have never seen. I laughed.. I cried... I was shocked AND appalled.. I was tired..Well, I am literally always tired, so that one is not really surprising. 

It all started with this lovely couple that we contacted about two weeks ago. Hermana Pasley had gone with Hermana Briseño (our sister training leader) to see them when we had divisions. Apparently, they had taught the entire first lesson and saw little to no acceptance from the lovely investigatores heretofore mentioned. The hermano didn´t want to read the Book of Mormon, but the hermana was willing to try it out. They left a Book of Mormon there for them, and set an appointment for this week.

Well, we went with the intention of helping them understand why the Book of Mormon is so important. However, this man was very very closed. He would not.. Oh dear....no me hizo caso.  How do you say that? haha.. whoops.  [ignored me] The point is, every scripture we had he would either 1) Disregard it completely or 2) interpret in a different form. It was more than a little frustrating. We showed him the video of Elder Hollands testimony. We bore our testimonies with all the strength of a gringa spanish vocabulary. We challenged him to read and to pray. And he said no. He did not even want an answer from God. He is just 100% content with the Bible.

 I felt terrible. I am not joking. The only thing I want here is for people to accept the gospel and all the happiness that it brings us! And when they don´t want it at all it just breaks my heart into a thousand tiny little pieces. I tried to keep it together, but during the closing prayer I just could not stop the tears. WHY can´t they feel the spirit? WHY is this so hard for them to accept? Am I doing something wrong? Am I not good enough? WHY can´t we just be Alma and Amulek already??

The next day I was reading in 1st Nefi where it says... in a rough English translation: "Because the things that some men consider to be of great importance, for the body as well for the soul, others will take for nothing and with trample them under their feet; yea, even the God of Israel do men trample under their feet...they count him for nothing, and don´t hearken to the voice of his counsel." (1 Nefi 19:7) 

I remembered the youtube video we watched in mission prep called "The Atonement and Missionary Work" where Elder Holland is talking about why the mission can be so difficult. It is so difficult because we are representatives of Christ, and it was NEVER easy for Him. If people rejected the very Son of God, who am I to expect that every person will accept what I have to say? It was a very humbling moment for me, and also a very direct and wonderful answer from the Book  of Mormon. I just KNOW that book is true! 

Hermana Pasley and I have actually had a lot of interesting moments like that this week. Moments of "Get away, drunk man... ya bug me." and "Why is this guy singing a hymn that nobody knows?" and "It is just so TRUE!!" Sometimes we just look at each other like, "It is so true. This church is SO TRUE!" Like, not even a little bit not. We are so blessed.  

But seriously.. it was such an interesting week. Someday you´ll have to ask me about Jose Fancisco´s American Idol audition... It was a great time. 

We also have a miracle baptism happening this weekend! I mean... Estamos esperando, verdad? jaja.. It is the young man that had an accident and is paralyzed from the waist down. We still don´t know how he will be baptized.. but when we challenged him he said yes immediately. He did not even have to think about it. It was the best feeling in the whole world to have someone SO prepared and so willing! We love him. We also love Gloria, who will be getting baptized this weekend too, as long as everything works out with her papers and she gets married this week :)

Love the Lord. Love the work. Love all of you.

I love you I love you I love you

Peace an blessin´s. 

Hermana Moser

Hermana Pasley and I

This is Chikis, who reminded me so much of my brother Jesse, on his baptism day.  I wrote about him a couple of weeks ago, waiting at the bottom of the hill in his church clothes, all smiles.

VIVA MÉXICO!!!! *cue mexican laugh*

Mí quierdo familia,

This week was wonderful! We had the baptism of Chikis, who turned 8 on sunday and was SO excited to be baptized he just couldn´t wait until Saturday. So we woke up before the crack of dawn so that he could be baptized and confirmed the same day. He was the most precious little child ever. We went to pick him and his mom up, and he was just standing at the bottom of the hill in his little white shirt and suit with a HUGE grin on his face. And then when he entered the water he just could not stop smiling! HE was the cutest! He reminds me SO Much of Jesse. I am not joking. Just picture a little Mexican Jesse, and there you have Chikis. (His real name is José Miguel, just by the way. All the kids in this familiy have fun nicknames. Poncho is the next on the list to get baptized :)) 

We also went with Gloria this week to check on her papers so that she can get married on Friday, buuuttt she is from Chiapas, and apparently she has to go to there to get her papel de solteria. (something that says she is not already married). This is silly, because she has been with the same guy for a long time, she is only 23, and they have triplets... but rules are rules. The only problem is that the offices won´t open again until wednesday, because today and tomorrow they are celebrating independence day, mexican style, and so all the official places are closed. We still have faith that it will all work out! 

Alright Mom, it´s FINE. I´ll tell you the story! 

Once upon a time we went to Palenque for zone conference. Except for we didn´t actually make it to the zone conference because we got stopped at the border by the immigration police. When they saw that it was full of Americanas, they asked for our visas. Pues, President Morales had forgotten to give me my real visa when I left Villahermosa, and all I had was a copy of the original. The immigration guy was really nice, and was going to let it go with a warning, but his boss-lady was like, "NO! TIENE QUE TENER SUS PAPELES! BAJALA! BAJALA!" So me bajé. But all of the other missionaries got off with me, because HELLO we are missionaries and we are all in this together. (*cue dance routine*). This made the lady even more upset. So she sent me to the prison van with the other foreigners that didn´t have papers. 

Meanwhile, my companion is freaking out, and all of them are fighting with the lady to just let me leave.. They´re calling the presidente.. Er´rything. None of them could come with me because they all had their papers. So lame. But then Hermana Cabrera, who hadn´t been asked for her papers because she looks Mexican, spoke up and said, "Pues, I´m from Peru and I don´t have my papers either.. So I have to go with her." She is a hero and I have NEVER been more relieved in my whole life than when I saw her board the van.

We actually had a great day. We sang hymns to the other inmates, placed a book of mormon and some pamphlets, got a reference... We also played with all the poor little kids that are stuck in there. They have got to be so bored. We were only there for like 8 hours and I thought we were going to die. But in the end President Morales and his family came, got us out, and took us out to eat. It is just one of those stories, ya know? Maybe you had to have been there.. 

So I was reading in a Liahona the other day when I came across a quote by elder Uctdorf that I like a lot. I am not really sure how to make it effective in English.. but I will give it a shot:

"We do not achieve humility by thinking less OF ourselves; we achieve humility when we think less IN ourselves." It made me think of the devotional we watched by Elder Bednar in the CCM called "The Character of Christ." Christ spent his entire life looking outward, and that was what made him the perfect example. We are not made humble by not recognizing our divine potential and the gifts and talents that God has given us-- we are made humble as we use and dedicate 100% of these blessings to the benefit of others. That is what Jesus did; that is what Jesus would do. Changed my perspective on some things, this quote. Gotta love that Elder Uctdorf.

Pues... I love you I love you I love you!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!! YOU DA GREATEST MOM IN THE WHOLE WORLD!

Hermana Moser

 

Also: Shout out to Mom for the PACKAGE!!!! (I am in LOVE with the hot tamalles found therein. And I also like the half-ts you sent better than the ones we got from the missionary mall.. Just saying). And the dearelders from Mom, Jesse, Amanda, and Hermana Howell. Ya´ll are the best :)