Hello family! 

I just saw the time and then I panicked and LITERALLY all of my thoughts left me. I have not as much time to write as I thought I did. I apologize. 

This week we put up our Christmas tree :) I know Dad says "thou shalt not have Christmas before Thanksgiving" but... Well, I am in Mexico and so those rules don`t apply. They do not have Thanksgiving. It was rainy last week, too, so we were all in blankets and sweatshirts with hot chocolate...A Christmas tree just seemed the perfect thing. And yes, it is the Christmas tree that ya`ll sent me last year. Since my package got here late, we didn`t have the chance to use it last year. I have saved it all of this time... And it was worth it. :) 

This week we also went to help some lovely old people dig up some yucca. I actually thought we were going to just help COOK the yucca, but we participated in the entire process. We dug up the yucca, we watched hermano Rosio wash the yucca, we peeled the yucca, we cut up the yucca, we ground the yucca, and then we fried that yucca right up. It is delicious. And also a lot of work. We ended by singing them a hymn, and they said "I think we`ll try your church this week." WHAT?! Solitos they said that... we did not even ask them. The best part is they fulfilled their committment! We went to get them sunday morning and they were there ready to go! They are precious. We took them to church. They loved sacrement meeting so much they decided to stay for gospel principles. They loved gospel principles too, so they decided to stay the third hour. Afterward, we showed all the investigatores the baptismal font. One hermana said, "I am going to get baptized here... First I have to get married, and then I am going to get baptized." And then our investigador, named Haida, said,, "ME TOO! I am going to get married, and then I am going to be baptized." IT WAS THE BEST! The church is true. I love church. Of course, now we have another wedding to plan... and she did say something about another husband in Chiapas... but it`s fine. We have faith. CHRISTMAS BAPTISMS BABY!!!!

Something else totally random happened this week: We had cambios again, and now we have a new district leader. Do you want to know who it is? Elder Kohl Bingham.. from Blackfoot, Idaho. Super weird. hahaha.. It`ll be a good time. 

Wow. I am sorry this was lame. I will do better next week. This time it is a PROMISE.

I love you I love you I love you!

FELIZ NAVIDAD!

Hermana Moser

My sweet Christmas Tree!  I waited all year for this!

Overlooking Zapata.

Pulling up the yucca.

Washing the yucca.

Peeling the yucca.

Grinding the yucca.

Sister Solis and Me

Soaking Wet!

This is the cemetery I told you about.

I Told Ya So!

November 17, 2014

BueNAS querida familia que adoro... 

Como están? Good? Great. I am so GLAD to hear that. Things are going great for us too! I TOLD you it would be a great week! 

I never remember what I have already told you, so I guess I will just start a the beginning: We met Matilde and Pablo a couple weeks ago because Matilde wanted me to come to her house and translate some Christian Music that she had in English. So... we went. It turned into a gospel conversation and a cita to return. She then introduced us to her husband, Pablo, who is awesome. He is so hilarious. He worked in Arizona when he was younger so he knows a little English... but very little. And when I start talking in English he gets a little overwhelmed. hahaha I wish you could meet him. When we invited them to be baptized he said, "Sure! Why not?" It was Matilde who felt like she needed more preparation. Long story short, Pablo had to work on Sunday, so he couldn`t come... but Matilde came! We did not even see her come in until half-way through sacrament meeting! We were SO HAPPY! She did say something about not enjoying the catter of all of the children.... But I am choosing to overlook that. SHE CAME TO CHURCH! WHOOOO!!!!!!

I have been so proud of the missionary-work type things y'all have been doing! It is so exciting, isn`t it? When people really accept.. when they study and pray and want to learn... it is the best feeling in the world. There is nothing like it. OH there is nothing like being a missionary. 

Speaking of.. Today in comp study we read some really awesome quotes from church presidents. They are found in Preach my Gospel...

"Let the Saints remember that great things depend on their individual exertion, and that they are called to be co-workers with us and the Holy spirit in accomplishing the great work of the last days."  Jose Smith

"There is neither man or woman in this Church who is not on a mission.  That mission will last as long as they live, and it is to do good, to promote righteousness, to teach the principles of truth that they may obtain eternal life."  Brigham Young

“We have a mission in the world: each man, each woman, each child who has grown to understanding or to the years of accountability, ought … to be qualified to preach the truth, to bear testimony of the truth” -George Albert Smith

You should go read the rest of them. they are POWERFUL.

Oh... I am almost out of time, but I feel like you should probably be aware that I have been called as the lider capacitadora. It means "sister training leader" in English. I did not remember that, and it was embarrassing when the president extended the assignment in English and I did not understand him. In my defense, he DOES have an accent. I don't really know what it means, but I am excited and super nervous to find out. Good thing we all know that God is in charge of this work. If I wasn`t 100% sure of that, I would think the president had lost his mind.

Sorry this email was lame and didn't make sense. I´ll try better next week.

I love you I love you I love you! 

Hermana Moser

12 months later... Wait, what?

November 10, 2014
Hellooooo familia mía

Remember that time I didn´t see you for 12 months? Weird. I was thinking about that today. I have had so many experiences and have met so many people and it kind of freaks me out that ya´ll do not know them. Does that make any sense? I mean.. it also freaks me out that I know next to nothing about your lives from the last year. And then at the same time it feels like I have been gone maybe one month. Time is the weirdest. 

This week was hard because the whole world left Zapata. Or maybe just our investigators. And they actually only left Sunday. But that is a huge deal when church attendance is effected! We have not had anyone at church for 3 weeks now, and it has been hard to not be discouraged. We are doing our best because, as PME says, when your... animo .. (como se dice en Ingles? haha whoops) goes down, so does your faith and therefore your effectiveness. But, there ya go. A hard week for the mission, Pero bueno.

Then today I was reading in Alma 8. (This story is significant because my ENTIRE mission I have been looking for how to be a super missionary like Alma or Amulek or Aaron or Ammon..... maybe I should spell my name A-lise? hahaha.. joking). In this chapter Alma was really discouraged because all of the people would rather stay with the wicked traditions of their fathers than hear the truth. Luego, as Alma is dejectedly leaving the city that he worked so hard to help, and angel appears and tells him to rejoice! He says (in vs 15.. I do not have English scriptures right now) "Lavanta la cabeza y regocíjate, pues tienes mucho por que alegrarte; pues ha sido fiel en guardar los mandamientos de Dios.." I felt like he was talking to me. Lift up your head and REJOICE! We have so much to be grateful for! We have seen so many blessings and tender mercies and miracles! It is AWESOME TO BE A MISSIONARY! Afterward, the angel sends Alma right back into that city. It is only then that he finds Amulek and they begin to have success. It was awesome because even missionaries like Alma had hard weeks. Even missionaries like Alma were tempted to feel discouraged. Missionaries like Alma were exactly obedient. Missionaries like Alma had success in the end. Did that make sense? It made sense to me. Ah.. I love the Book of Mormon. 

You asked for a funny story. Aqui esta: 

We had a conference with President Morales this week. Apparently there have been gas leaks in apartments of missionaries somewhere in the world, and he gave us all gas detectors. That´s right, Mom... you bet he started with the gas jokes. "Maybe we shouldn´t plug it in right now. That would be embarrassing for some people." "Just don´t put it in the bathroom, okay?" etcetera. hahaha He is hilarious. I am so glad he is my mission president! 

The conferences was really awesome, though. We talked about how to work more with the members and how to contact and how to edify the church. We are not here to baptize people just so they can go inactive. We are here so that someday the little rama Zapata will be a thriving and wonderful stake of zion. We were all inspired. I love Presidente Morales y su esposa :) 

This week is gonna be awesome.

I love you I love you i love you!

Hermana Moser

It´s the MOST wonderful time of the yeaaarrrr....

I know that I should not be singing Christmas songs... buuut I actually can´t help it. The weather has cooled off and it is November and there are Christmas decorations in the store. If I ever bring you to Tabasco, we are coming in November. It is perfect right now.

I was hoping for some Hallaween photos... pero bueno. Here in Mexico they do not celebrate Halloween. They think it is creepy and weird to dress up and ask for candy. Only the children in the local English clases enjoy that kind of tradition. I saw exactly 1 kid dressed up. And his costume was just face paint. Instead of stuffing their faces full of sugar for no reason, they have what is called El Dia de Muertos. It is kind of like memorial day, only different. They go to the graves of their loved ones, clean up (literally sweeping and moping because their tombs are like mini houses), light a candle, and sit there with them all day. And some all night. #creepy. The whole world makes tamalles and sets them out as an offering for the spirits that are going to come visit. It is an interesting tradition. We went to the cemetary to offer our services and we got a lot of references. They didn´t really want to listen to our message, but they sure liked our hymns :) 

Last... Wednesday? we got caught in a freak rain storm. It came out of nowhere and we were very unprepared. We found ourselves a little overhang to protect ourselves from the flooded, river-like streets and ended up meeting a whole lot of people. The best one was when Hermana Solis wanted a plastic bag to protect her books. I said, "Why don´t we ask this man who is watching the rain from his window?" So we went and asked him, and her literally immediately opened the door and invited us in. He was really excited. It turns out that his primo lives in BARRIO DEPORTIVA and is the counselor in the stake presidency there. YES, I KNOW HIM! Crazy. He has always wanted to go to our church, but he has never had the opportunity. He has to work this Sunday, so unfortunately that means he still has to wait a little bit longer, but he is so prepared it is unreal. We went last night to teach them, and when we extended the baptismal invitation he just said, "Yes. Of course! And I am not just saying that, eh? I am saying that with my whole heart. I want to be baptized. I want to congregate myself with this church." It was incredible. And his wife said the same. We are VERY EXCITED TO TEACH THEM! When he was talking I just kept thinking "Is this real? This doesn´t happen. This only happens in Mormon movies." Nope. Real life. Ah., Zapata is the best. 

What else what else.... Oh. Sewer situation is fixed. I mean.. it happened again a little.. but we fixed it. We are super missionaries. But really.. my gag reflex has never been so tested. 

I love you I love you I love you!

Remember who you are and what you stand for. 

Hermana Moser