Home Again

Upon my arrival, Idaho Falls Regional Airport looked a little crowded:

It may have been 10:30 pm that I arrived back in Idaho, but plenty of family was there to greet me!

Mi Familia

My Twinner, the "other" Hermana Moser, was also there to greet me.



Home Sweet Home.
June 6, 2015

Flying

Buenas tardes, mi queridisima familia,

Once upon a time, a young woman was abandoned by her family on the side of the road. A nice person helped the young woman with her baggage and steered her through some corridors until she came to a room where they welcomed her warmly and placed a black badge over her heart. The young woman was scared and excited all at the same time....Almost enough to sing a song called "scared, but excited," but she was surrounded by people and that probably wouldn´t have been appropriate.

The young woman studied and learned and grew and met 5 other young women who will forever be considered her sisters. They talked and laughed and did not dance because... well because they were missionaries and dancing is frowned upon in mission-dom. Then one day, everything changed. The 6 young ladies were shipped off to various parts of a foreign land, where they were expected to help change lives. What this young girl didn´t understand, however, was just how much her own life was about to change..

As she wandered through the tropical jungle searching for anything that would help her on her quest, she ran into tarantulas, iguanas, monkeys, bats and several other terrifying beasts. Good thing this girl is super mega brave. She was forced to eat chicken hearts and spicy peppers and chocolate chicken and cow stomach, and still she endured. She learned a new language, walked a bajillion miles, and met a thousand people that she came to know and love. All within  short, so short, 19 months.

But the most powerful of all her adventures, was her own personal journey of coming unto her Savior. Through it all, through the rain and the sun and the more sun, she was able to see miracles and tender mercies without number and she knew that God loved her. She came to know and love Jesus Christ. She came to understand the atonement a little bit better. She came to appreciate her home and family  whole lot more. She came to desire the same for every single person that she sees.

Now this chapter of the young woman's story is ending, and it would be a lie to say that she isn´t terrified of the thought of leaving her beloved Mexican family, but she knows that faith is pointed towards the future. She knows that progression is something that only comes with changes. And as one wise mentor said from the beginning:

"He said, Come to the edge

and I said no, I´ll fall..

He said, Come to the edge.

and I said no, I´ll fall..

He said, Come to the edge.

I came. He pushed.

I flew."

I am so grateful for the opportunity I have been given to serve as a missionary of Jesus Christ. It has been a dream come true to be able to help other people recognize His hand in their lives. I will continue to work as hard as humanly possible in the days I have left as a name-tag wearing representative of Christ, but I plan on working hard the rest of my life.

"...Porque nuestros hermanos loslamanitas se hallaban en la obscuridad, sí, aun en el mas tenebroso abismo; mas he aquí, ¡Cuantos de ellos han sido guiados a ver la maravillosa luz de Dios! Y esta es la bendicion que se ha conferido sobre nosotros, que hemos sido hechos instrumentos en las manos de Dios para realizar esta gran obra."

Thanks for your support. Thank you for your love  and prayers and letters. Honestly and truly I could not feel more blessed.

Nos vemos pronto. muuuuy pronto.

I love you I love you I love you.

Hermana Moser

ps. Please don´t forget me. I will be there late saturday night. :) Thanks. 

Another week bites the dust. And so did my companion.

May 25, 2015

BUEEEnas tardes.

Hope you are all good and healthy and behaving yourselves.

Everything is just fine and dandy here in Mexico! Everyone keeps reminding me of how much time I have left... the bishop... the ward members... the invesitgadores... President Morales... But Hermana Knowles and I have decided that we are going to pretend that I am staying for another 6 months. It makes me feel way better about life. I think about going home and I get a liiiiiittle stressed out.

This week has been great! And emotionally challenging... but hey! So is every week in the mission! A highlight of the week was the following:

Here in Mexico you cannot drink out of the faucet. Well.. You can.. but you will get deathly ill and that is not good. So we always have to go buy 20 liter jugs of water from the nearest corner store and carry the thing all the way to our house. We are super strong, so we do it ourselves instead of asking for help. #'Murica. The other day we took a field trip in the middle of weekly planning to go get the water, but nobody had any. We walked pretty much all over town. Then we finally found someone close to home that sold our brand of water, and we bought it. Hermana Knowles, being the tough cookie that she is, hoisted that bad boy over her shoulder and off we went. She was complaining about how it was heavier than normal and joked about how she was going to drop it. I had literally just said, "don´t you dare drop that" when i heard a thundering crash behind me. DOOOWWN SHE GOES! She just pretty much face planted it into the pavement. Well... not really, but she did scratch her knees up real nicely. (Thanks Dr. Dad for the band-aids and antibiotic ointment). Moral of the story: Be grateful you can drink from the tap. It´s a real knee-saver.

I honestly think that I was supposed to extend my mission for the district class that I am in. We have the best district leader in probably the history of the world. His name is Elder Lopez. He only has 3 months in the mission, but his classes are so good! and they inspire Hermana Knowles and I to do things that we have never done in our missions before! And his inspirational stories are hilarious. You´ll have to remind me to tell you the story of him in the Extra. Writing it out just doesn´t do it justice. Know that it made all of us laugh until we cried.

Friday we had interviews with President Morales, where I cried because I still don´t feel like I have progressed to where I wanted to be. I won´t go into details...but President Morales is the best. He made me feel so good about myself and the work that I have done in the last months of my life, and he also made me feel a little bit better about going home. I am excited for the.... other interview next week! To make it even better, he took us out to dairy queen on the way to the bus station.. just Hermana Knowles and I. Pretty sure we are his favorites. :) I could be wrong...but I don´t think so.

Well, I am healthy and happy and working really hard. I am still not the perfect missionary, but I am realizing that I don´t have to be in order to help others. Nor do I have to be a full-time missionary to serve the Lord for my whole life. But I WILL take FULL advantage of these last two weeks that I have. Ugh. There.. I said it. SO WEIRD!!

Love you. Praying for you.

I love you I love you i love you!

Hermana Moser

Cunduacan--week 19

May 18, 2015

Heeeeey!

So.. last week was waaay better than the week before. Still nobody wants to get baptized, but we have been meeting new people left and right that are so awesome! Sometimes I just think to myself about how cool all the people are. Everyone has a story. You see someone on the side of the road, and you think that you basically know what they are going to say, and then you actually talk to them and you realize that they are nothing like the person you thought they were. Everyone has surprised me with the depth of their thoughts and how much they have gone through in their lives. It is the coolest to be able to talk to everyone. I have learned so much through the stories of other people. 

In other news: hermana Knowles and I are pozol champions. Literal champions. We drank so much pozol last week that I am pretty sure we each gained 50 pounds. What is pozol, you ask? It is kind of like a tortilla smoothie. With cacao. I thought it was dirt in a cup the first time I drank it, but it grows on you. They say that it takes away the heat and the thirst.... And since it is one billion degrees outside all the time, the whole world has been giving us pozol. One time we drank like a whole liter before lunch. And then we had to go to lunch. We both thought we were going to die. Here´s to a week with less pozol, eh? 

We are making more of an effort to pray specifically for our investigadores. Sometimes it is hard to remember all of them, but we do our very best and we have been seeing mini miracles. For example: José half accepted a fecha! He still says that it will only be if he feels ready or "when he says"... but we are working for May 30th! We have been praying really hard for him to feel a strong desire to be baptized, and that we will be able to know whatever it is that is holding him back. He has his interview scheduled with our district leader (who is a super missionary....Seriously the best district leader ever) this friday. We are super excited for him, even if he is still not 100% sure. 

Thanks for all the support you have given me, mi familia. I feel incredibly blessed to have been born to my parents, and to have had the childhood that I had. I am grateful for every part of my life, and I want to do everything that I can to show my Heavenly Father just how grateful I really am. Thanks for letting me stay out here a little bit longer. :) And for NOT reminding me how many days I have left. haha

I love you I love you I love you!

Hermana Moser

11 de Mayo.... y sigo misionando

May 11, 2015

HOWDY FAM!

It was so much fun to see you all yesterday! I am sorry that the connection was so bad... That is what we get for being in Mexico where the internet... pues.. doesn´t really work. But at least we got to see each other, right? even if it was super mega blurry.

So today is the day that my misson card says that I should be going home. But I´m not! I am still in Mexico! WHOOOO!!! And I am not sure if I should repent or not, because I am pretty sure today it is 1000 degrees outside. We have been dying all day. And the bathroom has turned into a sauna. But it is okay... I am pretty sure I can deal. I am just so grateful that I have the opportunity to continue in the Lord´s service a short time longer. I do not feel like I have done everything I was sent here to do!

This week was really hard. No one wanted to get baptized, and actually it felt like no one was ever home. I was grouchy about it, which I shouldn´t have been, but 18 months in the mission apparently does not make you perfect. That has been a hard lesson to learn as well. Sometimes you just get so frustrated with human frailties. If I have been a missionary for a year and a half, why am I not super awesome yet?! I should be so happy and so obedient and have all of the attributes of Christ by now, right? But I am learning to be very patient, and to be nicer, and to be a more loving person generally. We are praying that this week will be way better.

I feel like I was going to write something important, but I do not remember what it was..... Probably because I feel like there is nothing much left to write. em... I hope you all have large days, and that you are happy and well and bringing the gospel to ALL THE PEOPLE!!!

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

Hermana Moser

PS CONGRATULATIOONS TANNNER!!!!! (I still love you... even though you never write me and will probably not even read this. Muchas felicidades :)

May the fourth be with you

May 4, 2015

So we had a really good week last week. I mean... it was probably the fastest week of my entire mission.. like I cannot believe I am already here again...but I guess time flies when you are HAVING FUN! WHOO!

We had two baptisms on Saturday! The two little brothers of Liliana! They were the cutest. They had been wanting to get baptized for a really long time, but the parents kept saying that they were too young blah blah blah. So we were going to go in there and planch those parents with scriptures and such, but we didn´t. We had the calmest and most spiritually powerful lesson. I felt 100% guided by the Spirit, which is always the best feeling in the whole world. They told us they would have a family council on the matter and that we could stop by the next day, which was last Monday. Monday we went to talk to them a little bit nervious. They came out, sat down, and the mom said, "You´re here about the baptism, right? Well.. we talked about it, and we decided that yes they can get baptized." WHAT?! YEAS!!!!!! It was so exciting! They were so precious in their excitement, those two little guys. Love them. And what I love more is that BOTH of the parents went to the baptism AND the confirmation! And the mom stayed there for the whole block! (Which was fun because relief society was really...erm...exciting).  We are really super excited about teaching them about the restored gospel so that the entire family can get baptized and then get sealed and then be happy!!!! I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!

Last week was also awesome because it was rainy and cold. and that means our wardrobe about doubles. We also had the consejo and therefore the zone class in cardenas. Gooood times. I don´t know HOW I get so lucky, but an assistant ALWAYS comes to our class. This time I really didn´t think one was going to be there, but then, right before it was my turn to speak, in walks the Elder. Awesome. But it was all good! It was a really good class! We have some really good zone leaders, and I think all of us got good and PUMPED to work super duper hard.

I was thinking today about how today should have been my very last pday, and I was thinking, "Boy, I am really glad that today is not my last pday." And then I started feeling the pressure, because now it´s like a race against time. There are just so many things that I feel like I still have to do, and so very little time to do it in. Hermana Knowles and I are going to work with all of our MIND all of our MIGHT and all of our STRENGTH in these last weeks to make sure that our Heavenly Father is happy with our effort. They say the mission is a marathon, not a sprint.... I´m no runner, but I am pretty sure this last little bit is about to be a sprint. HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!

And I don´t know what ya´ll had planned for Sunday... but I was thinking that we could maybe skype? If you wanted? I was thinking that maybe we could chat at like 4:30 or 5 my time? If that would be possible? Okay. Awesome. See you there.

Remember who you are and what you stand for.

No kissing or swearing. 

Share the gospel.

peace and blessings.

i love you I love you I love you

Hermana Moser

I don´t know about you... but I´m feeling TWENTY TWO!!

April 27, 2015

Wow.. I feel like I haven´t even written you people since I was a least 21 years old! MAN how times does fly, doesn´t it? hahaha.... Kidding. In case you didn´t know, I am now 22 years of age, which is a lot. It is super weird. I still hadn´t really come to terms with being 21. Guess that´s life, eh?

 My people treated me really well on Thursday. My companion made me french toast because she loves me, and also decorated my wall with a "Feliz cumpleaños." It is hilarious because the s keeps falling off. Guess even our wall decorations want to be choco. haha. "Feliz cumpleaño a todo" hahaha Goood times. Then at night, we had a meeting with the bishop and his counselors to resolve a pequeño problema que tenemos... and then it was over and we only had like 15 minutes to get home and so when all the hermanos left... we did too. When the bishop saw us all he said was "Why did you leave the room? Go back to the room." So we went back to the room and just sat there awkwardly until ...

...the door opened and a bunch of members came in singing happy birthday and carrying a cake. hahaha They are the best. We had to do the traditional cake face smashing and cutting really fast, though, because the misioneras had to go! Good thing ward members have cars and are willing to drive us home. :) Other than that it was a pretty normal day. We have found and taught a lot of really awesome people, and it has been hard to decided who we need to focus on.

Feeling 22 and loved.

Traditional birthday cake face plant.

Trying to share some frosting "love" with Hermana Knowles

We have this really super awesome investigador named Jose. He is AWESOME and he is so ready to be baptized he just hasn´t realized it yet. Sometimes he gets frustrated with us for talking about it so much, but what else are we supposed to do, ya know? Last week we went to see him, and he said that he has increased his faith, and that he has repented "a little bit" and that he really has seen a change in himself. So we decided, after much talking, probably too much talking, to say a prayer. The only one that really knows of Jose needs to be baptized is his Heavenly Father. It was a really sweet prayer. And afterwords he just sat there and looked at the ground (we were outside sitting under a tree because it is HOT). We sat there for about 5 minutes, until one of us finally asked what he had felt. And he told us that he couldn´t concentrate because the chickens were making too much noise. Sigh. This week we are going back to see him again. Don´t worry, he will come around someday. 

 Sorry that you were all so confused by the Zapata thing... It WAS pretty confusing for all of us. They (the president and the office elders) were bringing to pass some sweet special conferences that required some heavy duty divisiones. Sometimes the president went out with missionaries, and sometimes Hermana Morales, and the office elders... but there are no hermanas in the offices, so they called the liders capacitadoras to help out I guess. But they gave us NO notice. So I went for 24 hours to my old area to help out. That is all. It was pretty great.

Hey good job Naflin in nationals!! Can´t wait to hear all about it!

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

Hermana Moser