Blessings of the Gospel

Hello!!

So this week a new senior couple came here to the mission. They are the Bells, and they are from Utah. It was pretty cool because as I was getting to know him and he mentioned that he served his mission in Paraguay. So dad served probably around 30 years ago, but Elder Bell served about 40 years ago. But it was cool that they served in the and place.

So on Monday night, we went to a less actives house to have a small family home evening. The less actives name is Javier and his wife, who is not a member. We went with brother Fitzgerald and it was pretty funny. Javier has like 7 dogs and they are not really the nicest dogs. But they were barking a ton and we were kind of scared to walk in. But brother Fitzgerald started to belt out "There Lord is my light, so why should I fear??" And with his arm raised to the sky he marched right in with no fear. They didn't even bite him! That was pretty funny.

This Tuesday we had the last leadership council meeting of my mission. It is pretty much the last time I will see a lot of the missionaries in the mission. So that was kind of a sad moment to say goodbye to people like Elder Hirschi, Elder Knight, Elder Fairbourn, Elder Maughan, and all of them. There are many that I didn't mention that should be mentioned, but I really am going to miss them all so that is like 23 missionaries that were in the leadership council. So yeah, bitter moments. I didn't say bye to Elder Jacobsen though because we will see each other a lot more!

My final consejo de lideres, these are all great guys and great missionaries!

About a week ago we left a small goal with two members to pray together every night because they were having some problems in their relationship. They are a husband and wife and one is pretty strong in the gospel while the other is very weak. But we had the chance to pass by and see them and that is where the good news comes in. They are praying together almost every night now and they are much happier than they were in the past. Still not perfect, but a lot better! Believe it or not, the gospel works!

I think that I had mentioned that an old investigator of mine from Ducuali had gotten baptized a little while back. But his name was Ronald. And about two weeks ago I paid him a small visit to find that he was really sick. So we gave him a blessing and he was super happy to see me. That made me feel really good because he totally remembered me. He also apologized for being kind of rude to me back when I taught him. But it was great that he remembered me and was so happy to see me. Yesterday I found out that he just died a few days ago. It is super sad, but people were saying that after he was baptized he was so happy and all. I have no doubt that he will make it to the celestial kingdom because he was a very faithful member after his baptism. I love having a knowledge of the truth!

Elder Moser

Other pics this week...

We went to the zoo today for Pday! It was actually a really great zoo...I was pretty impressed!

You know the jaguar twist right? :)

A good day at the zoo!

The Weeks are Disappearing!

The weeks are just disappearing now! Holy moly!

Last Sunday was pretty awesome because we got to see Jimmy give a talk. He stood up there like a professional and talked about agency. He actually sounded like a member that would maybe have a little bit of time as a member, but he is brand new. He didn't even write out his talk. He knew a few scriptures that he was going to share and the rest came from the heart.

On Tuesday we had a new missionaries meeting and there are a ton of new missionaries in the mission. Of the 180 missionaries in the mission, there were about 80 in attendance. That means that 40 missionaries have come in the last 2 changes. Lots of missionaries means lots of lunch. That is always a stressful subject.

On Thursday night, the young men put on quite the activity. The game at the end was actually directed by Jimmy. It was a combination of a race and jeopardy. The 4 categories of the game were the Old Testament, the New Testament, the Book of Mormon, and Doctrine and Covenants. And Jimmy had all the questions. Let me tell you, they were not easy questions. But it made for a really fun activity. I have seen that the noche de hermanamiento has been getting a lot more fun lately and more people come now too.

To end the week on a high note, Ricardo's dad, Ricardo, and Chamorro's uncle, Julio Cuevas, both got baptized today. When we were just starting, we had a surprise visitor. Remember the drunk man that always asks us when he can get baptized? He showed up just in time for the service to start. He is very reverent generally, but today he decided to be a little noisier. While singing the hymn, (a rather upbeat and happy one) he decided to throw in some hooray's and some baaaa-ba-ba-baaaaaaaaa's. So that was kind of interesting. But the baptism was great! We left the church with two happy new members that night.

At the baptism of Ricardo and Julio.

Ricardo and Julio.

This week, I seemed to be studying quite a bit about people that see signs but quickly forget those precious evidences that they have. The Nephites allowed this to happen among themselves very often. Especially in the 34 year time span between the birth and death of Christ. They began to doubt their faith because of the disbelief of others, instead of doubting their doubts as President Deiter F. Uchtdorf councils us. Let us not fall into the same trap of the adversary. Do not forget the signs and testimonies that the Lord has already blessed you with. They can be an anchor in your life if you allow them to be. I know that this is the true church of Jesus Christ and that he is at the head of this church directing the work! I know that even when we make mistakes we can be clean, and that the priesthood authority to bring about this cleansing is only possessed by worthy members of this church. The priesthood was restored to the prophet Joseph Smith in 1829, and by that authority was he able to receive instruction from Jesus Christ to know how to restore the lost truths and ordinances. I know that the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ and a powerful evidence that this is the truth. It would take a lot of doubts for me to start doubting my faith before doubting the doubts.  I have received too many confirmations of the spirit to deny any of it. I love this Gospel with all of my heart!

Love Elder Moser

A couple more pics this week...

Chef Aaron!

Cooking with Aaron and Karla.

The food was supppperrrr great!

Day 700

WOW!! Can you believe it! I have been gone from home for exactly 700 days on Thursday!! Today is 703. I write the number of days every day in my journal. I started from day one. That is a lot of days. haha!

This week was an interesting one. I actually felt a little lost at some points because I had been gone a good majority of the week last week as I mentioned, and this week Elder Boice was doing what I had been doing last week! So I spent lots of time with a mini-missionary this week! That was fun! He is actually a joven from the barrio whose name is David Chamorro! He is almost going to serve a mission. His call is on its way, but he doesn't have it yet. So yeah, that being said I had to see how the investigators were and all. Elder Boice told me how it all went and stuff, but telling how it went is a little different from actually going and seeing how things went!

Ricardo's dad is actually progressing a lot now! He has a baptismal date for next Friday! And his name is Ricardo as well. We left him some assignments and on the most recent we asked if he had read it and he said, "I actually read it 3 times through to make sure that I got all of the meaning out of it!" He is pretty inteligente because he is a professor! haha But I really enjoy teaching him! And it's even better because Ricardo's hijo is helping us find more people to baptize! Like his sister and his mom! We will see how they are!

We are also teaching Chamorro's uncle. I think I mentioned him before, but his name is Julio Cuevas, which translated means July Caves. Pretty cool name if you ask me! He is awesome and very excited for his baptism also next Friday! It is super cool because David Chamorro has not baptized anyone yet, so he is going to be the one that baptizes his uncle Julio!

So it is kind of sad, I realized in these 3 weeks of super busyness, I have taken hardly any pictures. The saddest part is that I visited old areas where I would have liked to take pictures, but I just wasn't very diligent in remembering so sorry about that.....

I was reading in Helaman this week. It amazes me how diligent Nephi was. Nephi the son of Helaman (the other is awesome too, but I am currently reading about this Nephi.) But he was so righteous in his preaching unto the people that the Lord literally gave him power to have anything done if he desired that it be done! How incredible the trust that the Lord had in Nephi. He specifically said that He knew that Nephi would not ask for anything unjust, so He could trust him with that power and authority!! What impedes us from having that same trust? Think about it and work on it. :) I am going to work on getting more trust from the Lord as well!

Love You All!
Elder Moser

Pics this week...

Who ya gonna call? GHOSTBUSTERS!

Cooking cocoa with the bishop!

I really like this statue haha!

Busy, busy busy!

So I'm really sorry for the late and short, but I have just been super busy lately. I am actually in Puerto Cabezas this weekend. I came out with president for interviews in the zone on Saturday and we are staying the weekend! It is so awesome to be here, but at the same time it is sad to see people that were coming to church that aren't anymore. But it is always wonderful to see the people that are strong in testimony and faithful in their callings.

Earlier this week, on Tuesday and Wednesday, I went with president to Ocotal and Esteli. It was for the same, to be there for the interviews and to do teaching practises with the missionaries. It was awesome in Esteli because I was able to visit the first family I met in Nicaragua. Gabriel, Maria Jose, Brayan and Gabriella! They are so awesome. We remembered some of the funny things that happened and Gabriel shared his testimony of the importance of reading the scriptures, and told me how that has helped him when he has felt sad and frustrated. But their testimony is so strong now. They were converts of a few weeks when I got here in June of 2014. Now they have been to the temple 2 times, planning a 3rd time. They are so awesome.

Anyway, I had my final interview this week as well, and that was pretty awesome.

I continue to see plain evidences in my life. Those who live the gospel are happy. Salvation is not easy, but it is worth it. The path with no resistance won't take you anywhere. Obstacles are not negative, they are the only thing that cause our temporal and spiritual growth. Live the gospel and share it with others!

Elder Moser