Week Twenty-two 2/29/16 Tucuman

Hi Fam,

We had a great week, I’ll start right in.  We had two different splits. One with elders in our district for a day and the other with two members in the elders quorum. So because of the splits I didn’t get a chance to meet with one of our investigators. My comp got to meet with her, but I wanted to be there!  She was progressing really well at the beginning but she isn’t doing too well now, I really, really want to see what I can do to help her. 

LAURA GOT BAPTIZED!!! We invited everyone we could to be there, (really hoping our investigators would come!!), not many came as we had hoped, but there was enough that I think she felt welcomed.  She’s so cute and was just so super excited to be baptized. I remember when we started teaching this shy little girl and now she’s so comfortable with us.  She asked the bishop to baptize her, so we didn’t have too much to do, just set it up and find people to give the talks and stuff like that.  It went really well.  I’ll tell you one thing is people here want to please you.  They will say yes to your face, (yes Elder Moore we will be at the baptism) all along having no intention of going whatsoever.  Is that normal for all missionaries or just in Argentina?  I mean like not one investigator came!  SUPER FRUSTRATING!!! 

We had a broadcast this week which of course is always good!  We went to the stake center with all the other elders to see Elder Bednar.  It was super good!   He’s a stud and actually pretty funny.  You don’t see it much in general conference, but in this more relaxed setting he’s a pretty funny guy. His focus was on the importance of the Spirit in our lessons because we aren’t the teachers - the Spirit is!  He of course taught us how to do this by example, the Spirit was strong, the principles he taught were simple truths and his testimony was powerful.  It was a good shot in the arm!

Again sorry about the lack of pictures, it takes forever to upload a picture with these computers and I only have so much time allotted to write.  We have a great zone!!  Tucuman has two zones and today we all got together, paid 50 pesos each and the zone leaders went and bought a whole bunch of food and drinks, we had a huge bbq. and while the food was cooking we played soccer… like 3 hours straight of soccer!  I played hard, got absolutely fried (sorry Mom) and ate a ton.  I’m beat, but it was an awesome pday! 

My comp and I are really trying to work hard.  I think we can talk more with people in the streets, and it came to me that I need to be the one to move forward on this.  I mentioned our area is pretty big so it takes a good amount of time to travel to and from our appointments.  I think we just need to plan a bit better.  I know I only have two years to dedicate my entire life to the Lord.  On judgment day I do not want to be asked why I didn’t work harder on my mission – not good!  So trust me mom, we are working!

My Spanish is progressing nicely, I can pretty much understand everything.  Well I take that back there are times when I’m a little confused, but everyone says my Spanish is really good for only having 5 months in the mission.  I still take time to study my Spanish and I think I will for a while maybe my whole mission.  I have noticed me focusing on the people and the work a lot more now that I’m not so stressed on figuring out what the heck everyone is saying!  So yeah for personal study and companionship study - if I have a question or an investigator has a question, or if I think need to work on something with the language I will focus on that and try to learn or improve upon it. I love my study time, never thought you’d hear me say that huh? 

We are doing service!  We actually had two different service opportunities this week.  First we helped an elderly sister patch some holes in her roof to stop from water coming in (we actually do that quite a lot here).  We swap the sheet metal out for real roof material, I can easily be a roofer when I get home – I do it that much.  We also cleaned the church, which we also do often, I love a clean building.

I’m super glad everything went great with the shower and Harper is going to church?  Keep up the awesome work!  I love you guys I’ll talk to you soon! Kiss my puppies for me!

Laura

Tucaman Zone

Mail

Week Twenty-one 2/22/16 Tucuman

Hi guys -

So first things first, I didn’t know that Mikah was planning on a mission?!?!  That’s awesome – Germany, Austria, Switzerland - WOW!!  She and I will probably finish around the same time.  Cody’s having another baby? Is that the purpose of the shower? If so that’s awesome!  Ok apparently you’ve been slacking on keeping me up to date on what’s goin on at home! 

I got your package the day of our conference.  I’m not sure if it was opened, but it was wrapped in some plastic wrap stuff.  I know it wasn’t you guys because it had Argentina written all over it, but yes I got everything, the watches, Ensigns, post-its, tie, candy, and Christ dvd.  They are awesome!  Thank you!!  

I’m super happy that the dogs and you guys had a great time at the dog beach! Cannot believe a dog peeing on Theo!!  Poor guy – no you’re not a pansy, you just turned the other cheek, right buddy!  What the heck! 

We didn’t get a chance to teach or talk with the daughter of Bruno because she has a crazy work schedule.  We have an appointment with them today so hopefully she’ll be there.  No I wasn’t able to see the puppies.  We went to their house and of course I asked if I could see them, they were in another room, and they told me no! Apparently the mom is a very protective pitbull…. I thought it wise not to poke the bear lol.  

This week wasn’t as hot, but it had its moments - last week was killer.  One day, last week, I think it was Tuesday we got a call from the zone leaders and they said that we were going on splits, but they were going to be a little different. My comp was with one of the assistance and I was with one of the zone leaders.  Elder Philpot, from Utah I think, was my comp and he’s been out for about 20 months. We worked in part of our area where we don’t have a lot going on so it was mostly looking for new investigators or less actives that haven’t been to church in years.  Most weren’t home, but we were still able to have some success.  I was able to learn quite a bit from him, and tomorrow we have another split but this one is normal, with the other elders in our district.  We re going to have a baptism this Saturday!  She is nine years old, her mom is less active and I don’t think the dad is in the picture.  It’s really the grandma that’s active and wants her granddaughter to be baptized.  We got permission from the mom so we are going to baptize her this Sat.  It was pretty fun teaching a nine year old to be honest.  We drew pictures and had a lot of examples, cookies for the law of tithing, and things like that to keep a nine year old interested lol. 

Oh and I’m pretty sure that I’m going to have a different pres for the last six months of my mission.  I love you guys!  Keep up the great work!  Kiss my puppies for me!  Talk to you soon!  Love you!!

Week Twenty 2/15/16 Tucuman

Hi family,

Ok you’re right I’m slacking on answering your questions lately.  I’ll try to get as many answers in as I can.  Tucumán is a lot like Salta. There really isn’t anything I’ve noticed different other than the elders and the members say, and I'm sorry about this mom I know you aren’t going to like this, Tucumán is known for being more on the dangerous side. They’re a few stories of robberies going around, but I feel our area is pretty safe and my comp says it’s probably the safest area in Tucumán and not to worry.  All is good here!

I got an email from the office and they said the package is here. Cannot believe it!!  We have a meeting with the president Thursdays and the assistants always bring the packages so I’m pretty excited!! If it didn’t come this week I probably wouldn’t have gotten it till March, the next time the APs are out this way.  My comp and I talk in Spanish the whole time, but every once in awhile we do say things in English.  They’re mostly just jokes, because some things are just funnier in English!

I’m so glad that everyone and the puppies are doing great!  The puppies defiantly look happy and that’s what I love to see and hear!!  Mom you asked about pdays, we usually play soccer as a zone, but for some reason not today.  Everything im my area is going great!  We had some trouble finding new investigators this week, but we are going to improve on that.  We spent most of the time with our current investigators.  One of our families’ dog just had puppies on Thursday.  We haven’t had a chance to see them yet because they had to reschedule a few times, but we have an appointment TOMORROW.  I’m super excited to see the puppies.  I’ll be sure to take some pictures for you guys.

The heat this week was nuts!! I don’t think I've experienced heat and humidity like this before, and this even tops Virginia!  We had a lunch appointment with a member and they had air-conditioning, I opened the door to leave and I kid you not, it felt like the human torch punched me in the face!  (You can Google the human torch mom and dad, if you don’t know who he is lol.)  I "jokingly" turned around and walked back in the house, but honestly I didn’t want to leave.  Saturday it rained and it cooled things down a little bit.  That’s crazy about the 80 some degree weather you guys are getting back home!

We are teaching the wife of a recent convert.  She took the lessons the same time as her husband, but she didn’t get baptized with him.  For me she is super hard to teach because no matter how much we emphasize the importance of reading and praying or anything for that matter - she never does it and its frustrating.  Our last lesson with them was Saturday and her husband, Bruno, said that his daughter has been reading the BOM and wrote down a lot of questions.  I made a joke to my comp afterwards and said with the amount of times we have stressed the importance of reading its no wonder someone actually decided to do it, it wasn’t who we intended it for, but at least someone got the message.  I’m pretty excited for this week’s lesson with them, I feel we’re going to see some progress! Not much else happened this week, just the HEAT lol.

I love you guys and ill talk to you soon! Kiss my puppies for me!!!

Week Nineteen 2/8/2016 Tucuman

Hi fam,

I’m so happy to hear that everyone is doing good!  Last week after I read about Luna we went to the store and came back home and it hit me.  I was pretty upset and I didn’t know what to do.  So I did the only thing I could think of to feel better.  I went into a different room in our apartment, I got on my knees and I prayed and prayed for you guys, the puppies and for myself.  After my prayer I didn’t feel different, but I decide to try to take my mind off of things and continue reading the book I started “Our Search for Happiness” by Elder Ballard.  I was reading and he began to talk about Priesthood blessings.  I knew right away, that’s what I needed.  I asked my comp for a blessing of comfort.  It was a simple blessing, but it had a huge impact. I don’t think I've ever felt the hand of God so strong in my life before. Through the power of that blessing and all the prayers offered in my behalf, I was able to have a really good week.  I was happy this week, laughing, and felt comforted and peaceful.  I know you guys were and are worried about me but the feeling was mutual.  I hoped and prayed He would bless you guys and the puppies with the same things He blessed me with.  Are you guys doing ok?  How are the puppies this week?

This week we visited all the new investigators, most of them weren’t home so we are still tying, but we have some that are progressing really well and seem very interested.  One is a family and the mom said she was really sad and when she started meeting with us she started to feel happy.  She is keeping up with all the commitments so I think we are going to see some good things with this family.  

On Sunday we went to church like normal and after sacrament we were just listening to the testimonies, nothing unusual, then two people walked in and sat next to me. It was Daniela and Pred, Daniela is the sister I baptized in Salta right before I was transferred. They came all the way from Salta to visit me!  They said they didn’t get to say goodbye so they wanted to have a good departing.  I could not believe it!  They both got up and bore their testimonies, and I can now see why Satan wanted to stop that baptism because they both have super strong testimonies and I know they are going to be helpful in strengthening the Lord’s kingdom.  It was an awesome experience to see how much they’ve progressed in such a short period of time. 

I tried to upload some pictures but when I plugged my camera in - the computer froze and I can’t do anything now.  I’m sorry about that but I’ll be sure to send some next week.  I love you guys, keep up the great work; kiss my puppies for me I’ll talk to you soon!

P.S. - I just want to make sure of one thing, I don’t know if I made it clear or not and I don’t have enough time to read my letter again so I just want to clarify that I am doing great.  I’m still happy and having fun and trying to work hard.  I'm laughing and having fun with my comp, all is well over here.  Love you guys and just wanted to make sure you guy knew, lol.  (FYI – I know my sweet boy, he wrote this P.S. for me!)   

Week Eighteen 2/1/2016 Tucuman

Dear Family,

Not Luna!  Dang!!!  I’m so sorry!!!  Thank you for telling me, I want and need to know these things!  She was a great dog, friend, and mom not just to her puppies but also to everyone.  I love her and miss her!  I'm really sorry you guys had to go through that. I remember putting Stella down, that was one the hardest things I've experienced and I hate that you had to go through that again.  Please, I don’t want you guys to worry about me I will be fine, I promise you!  I just hope that you guys are doing okay and Chloe and Theo are too. They’ve never been without their mom so I can only imagine how hard it is for them. I know Luna is in a better place and she and Stella are having the best time together.  I know they’re happier than ever before!  I hope that you guys are doing ok and are helping each other out with this!   

To answer all your questions about my new area, I’ll tell you a little bit about my week. My comp is the district leader and he’s a really good guy. He can be a little weird and awkward at times, but that’s what makes him so darn funny. At the beginning of the week he didn’t really talk because we weren’t used to each other, but now we talk a lot and make jokes. He is pretty funny and I think I've laughed more this week than I have my entire time in my first area. Its not that elder Lemus wasn’t a good guy he just didn’t have much of a funny side.  Elder Hogge and I are getting along great! Its gonna be a great a transfer!

Our area is defiantly bigger than my first so that means a lot more walking. There isn’t a whole lot going on as far as work. The elder before wasn’t motivated to work so the area is dead!  But my comp and I want to work and we are going to bring this area back to life.  We’re off to a good start - We found 11 new investigators this week and two new families that seem really interested. I’m really excited to teach families because if I have a testimony of anything its on how this gospel blesses families; I have seen it and lived it first hand. The members in this area seem really awesome and are super supportive and nice. So I think we are going to have a good influence here and have work to do!  This week was a bit slower for me but I think that was just because its a new area and a new comp but now that I’m getting the hang of the area and my comp and I are getting along, the time should pick up again.

Again, I really don’t want you guys to worry about me I want you to focus your attention on helping each other through the loss of Luna.   If there is anything I can do to help, I know I’m kind of limited on what I can do, but if you think of anything please let me know. I love you guys so much, thank you for the support, and give some extra attention and kisses to my puppies for me. Ill talk to you soon

Elder Hogge

Week Seventeen 1/25/2016 Salta

Hey Fam,

So first things first I was transferred and my comp is staying HERE. That was a pretty big shock but the mission is full of surprises! I'm now in Tucuman, it was about a 4-hour bus ride here.  Looking out the window on my way I only saw beautiful green fields and trees. My new comp is Elder Hogge. He is from West Jordan Utah and has about 16 months in the mission. We have only been to together for like an hour now so I don’t know too much about him other than he’s quite.  Its a lot more humid here than Salta and my comp says that today is a cool day. I'm not looking forward to a hot day – its hot here! I really don’t know anything about our area so I will be sure to let you know more about it next week.

We had a baptism this week! The day of the baptism everything was normal.  She asked if I would do the baptizing so I was pretty excited but nervous and I’ve been reciting the baptism prayer over and over so I wouldn’t mess up.  We went to the church about 30 min before the baptism started to help set things up. When we got there members were setting things up and the font was about full. My comp and I went to turn off the water. While I was turning off the water I was unaware that my comp was pushing buttons above me thinking he was turning off the water.  The water shut off and we didn’t think anything else about it.  15 min passed and a member asked why the font was almost empty. The buttons my comp was pushing opened the drain for the font, not we know where the drain is.  It wasn’t too big of a deal, we thought.   We turned the water back on and thought it would just start the baptism 10 min late. But when we turned on the water there was no water, because the church uses tanks for its water and they were completely drained. A member turned on a pump for the tanks but it was super slow. There was no way we could have a baptism that day with the pace the water was going. We had no idea what to do, but I was determined to have this baptism.  Satan was not going to win this battle.  I grabbed my comp and we each took 2 buckets and ran to the closest members house, which was about a block away. We filled up the buckets and we brought them back to the church. We made about 4 or 5 trips before there was enough water in the font. We were pretty tired, but we had the baptism. I did the baptism and my comp did the confirmation in church the next day. It was pretty awesome. It’s a really good feeling to help someone come closer to Christ through baptism. I was super happy after the baptism but also pretty tired lol! Other than the baptism and the transfer not much happened this week, but you know I’ll have lots more info for you guys next week.

Oh and also I sent two letters this week on Friday.  I don’t know how long it takes so we will find out. Thank you for sending the package! I think it takes about a month to send a package but we will find out loll. I love you guys!  Kiss my puppies for me!  Ill talk to you soon!

Daniela January 23, 2016

Week Sixteen 1/18/16 Salta

Hello Hello,

Man it sounds like you guys had another great week with the reception, the proposal and everything!! Its great to know that everything is going “fantastically” back at home!!  It’s crazy that when I get back I'm going to have two new sisters and maybe I’ll be an uncle.  I was talking with my comp about Justin and Cam getting married, he said there’s a strong possibility I might be an uncle when I get back.  2 years for 2 married MORMON couples is a long time without kids lol!  I think it would actually be pretty cool to come back to a niece or nephew.  If so, remember I am the favorite Uncle!  But man I'm just so happy that everything went so great back at home cause I was praying that it would!

This week was pretty good for me too. We have this one investigator Daniela and she is progressing super good! She lived with her boyfriend who is a non-member but after we taught her the law of chastity she moved in with her dad. She had a problem with drinking and after we taught her the word of wisdom she stopped. She has a really strong testimony and she really wants to get baptized. So that’s exactly what we are going to do. She is going to get baptized this Saturday! I know I’ve said that we are going to have a baptism many times, but this time its legit. She hasn’t picked who she wants to baptize her but I think its most likely going to be her boyfriend cause he is now active again and he has the priesthood. (Yeah, I know you are all thinking exactly what I’m thinking… he just said that her boyfriend is a non-member… maybe its a different one?  Typo? Not sure.)  I’m super excited for this Saturday. Its my first baptism!  It’s been an awesome experience to watch her progress and her testimony grow.

Also something that happened that was a little out of the ordinary.  A few of the new elders in my zone and myself had to leave our areas at like 9:30 at night and go to the office. We had to spend the night in the house of the office elders and in the morning, like 5 o’clock in the morning, we had to go to this place and sign some papers to make us legal here in Argentina. It was pretty random and it took forever!  I literally had to sign my name twice and that took about 5 hours.  Not fun, but at least I'm legal now lol!  No much else happened this week.  I did find out that you can send normal letters. You don’t have to do the pouch thing; you can just send a letter to the office, through normal US postal service. The same with those bigger yellowish kind of envelops to - good to know.

Also we have transfers next week and it’s more than likely my comp or I will to be transferred.  IDK if it’s different in other missions but here transfers take the entire pday so we cant do anything and that includes write or buying food. We have permission to buy food on Tuesdays after the transfers but no time to write. So if I don’t write next week know that either my comp or I got transferred and I’ll fill you all in next week.  I hope that everything continues to go great back at home! I love you guys and kiss my puppies for me!!

Week Fifteen 1/11/2016 Salta

Hi guys,

Man that’s crazy and stinks that you had to wait in the airport for soooo long!  I would have been bored out of my mind, literally!  Airports aren’t a very fun place to spent lots of time in, especially at night!  Hey look at it this way it’s a pretty funny story to tell people later lol.  (Our flight was cancelled due to fog in Idaho Falls)

That’s awesome that everything went good for the reception in Idaho and that snow looks awesome!  I laughed when I read that Katie thought snow fell in little balls, yep they’re flakes Katie– snowflakes!  I'm pretty sure that’s one thing I won’t get much of here. It’s pretty warm - it is South America lol!  That’s awesome that Hailey and Kendal made the dance team!!  It’s pretty funny that both Cameron and Justin’s wives are both dancers. Does that mean I need to find a dancer when I get back or what? This is some new rule for the Moore boys?  OK, time for the CA reception, I guess now the work begins for you guys at home.  I’ll be thinking of you!  Mom, I know everything is gonna turn out great!   

This week seemed to go faster than the rest and we had some interesting experiences.  One day, I can’t remember which right now, but there was this huge rainstorm.  It started out calm just before we left our apartment and I thought it would end in like ten minutes, but I was wrong. Remember about that last storm I told you about and how I thought it was big, well this one made the old look like child’s play. It was raining so hard and there was so much water that umbrellas couldn’t touch it. The water was going through the umbrella and the wind was blowing the water every which way so it was impossible to stay dry. The streets flooded so fast and they were like actual rivers.  IT WAS AWESOME!  A little water wasn’t gonna to stop us!  We had an appointment on the farthest part of our area so we had a lot of walking to do and that was ok. I didn’t make it very far before I was completely soaked. And this time the rivers were up to our knees and sometimes a little higher.  The house we needed to get to was up the river, it was literally two steps forward one step back - the water was so strong, but we made it!  Wet and cold for the rest of the night, but not complaining its nothing compared to Rexburg!

We had an appointment with one of our investigators this week. She is having a problem believing the Book of Mormon it true so that was our focus of the lesson. My comp was talking with her trying to figure out why she was having a problem, then I felt impressed to ask what have you actually read in the Book of Mormon. She said she’s been reading, but this time I took Justin’s advise and I was just really direct and straightforward.  It turns out she had only read the intro. I then began to testify and talk to her about actually reading the book, the intro is good, but to help her gain a testimony, she needs to get in there and read the it. I could really feel the Spirit helping me with what to say and this was one of those times where I can’t really remember what I said.  I know that the Spirit was really strong and that she felt it too.  After I finished talking my comp began to talk about the power of the Spirit.  He used me as an example and said not too long ago my comp could barely speak or read Spanish but now through the help of the Spirit he just talked and bore testimony in perfect Spanish, everything he said made sense (did you hear that? Perfect Spanish!). I know that I could not have said what I said without the help of the spirit, there is no way. I just remember talking and saying stuff, not really knowing what I was saying. But that’s because I wasn’t the one talking, I was just the mouth peace. That was a really cool experience and it really strengthened my testimony of the importance of the Spirit in our lessons.  I loved it!

On a lighter and funnier note. After I wrote you guys last week I went and got a haircut. I didn’t have very high expectations going into it but I wish they were a little lower, because it’s not good. I want to be nice but it’s also the truth when say it’s probably the worst haircut I've HAD. But its okay my hair grows fast and people here don’t care too much about hair so its all-good lol!.

I love you guys and I hope everything goes smoothly with the reception. I know you guys can do it.  We are Moores we can do anything!! I love you, kiss my puppies fore me!! P.S. - sorry about the not sending any pics lately I just haven’t taken very many but ill try to take some good ones for you guys this week!

Week Fourteen 1/4/2016 Salta

Hey guys,

Justin is MARRIED!!!!  Man, it sounds like you guys had an awesome week/weekend!!  It’s crazy and awesome to think that he’s married now.  The pictures of the family, Justin and Kendall, and everything are so awesome and everyone looks so good!  Kendall looked beautiful!  Well done my brother!  I have to laugh that you guys were so cold because I’ve been crazy hot! 

That’s so awesome that Pres Nelson was there!! What are the chances of that? Was the building like super packed or did no one really know he was coming? I bet it was awesome either way!  (We visited my cousin’s ward on Sunday in SLC and it just so happened to be the baby blessing of President Nelson’s great grandson.)

My week was pretty good! Yes my comp for the day was from Ecuador but his accent is a lot different from the people here.  I had a little trouble understanding him, but it all worked out. I was worried that since he was so new that he wouldn’t talk a whole lot and I would have to say everything, but I was wrong. He is a super motivated missionary and all he wants to do is talk, like with everyone he sees.  What a relief lol. We actually were pretty successful together. We talked with a lot of people and have 4 new potential investigators. Which is awesome. My real comp and I were pretty successful too this week. We found some new investigators and I think that it’s going really well with them. Well with most of them lol we have four new ones, two are going really good and one is a little tricky because he likes his beer and he has four kids but doesn’t wasn’t to marry his girl friend - nothing the word of wisdom and law of chastity cant fix lol.

On New Year’s Eve we went to a member’s house for dinner, the same family we went to for Christmas and Skyped from, then we went back to our apartment planned, got ready and went to bed. I was just about to fall asleep when WWIII started outside!! There were TONS fireworks and parties, and music and dogs barking. Needless to say I didn’t get much sleep that night but it was fine lol.

This Sunday we were waiting for church to start and we were a little bummed because not a lot of our investigators came.  About 5 or 10 mins  into the Sacrament meeting, we saw one of our investigators walk up with her mom and dad.  Her name is Florencia, she’s 15 years old and is progressing really well. The only thing that was holding her back was her parents because they are both very Catholic.  Oh man when we saw her walking up with her parents we got super excited, like Christmas morning! We sat with them during sacrament meeting and explained everything that was happening – it was great!  After sacrament they had to leave, but I think they liked it. Hopefully we can see some more progress with Florencia and now her parents!!  Such a cool experience!

Not much else happened this week, but we kept busy so I wasn’t thinking too much about the wedding.  I was praying that it would be a great day for Justin and Kendall and it sounds like it was! 

Cannot believe Justin's married!!!!  I love you guys and hope that everything goes good with reception two and three!  Keep up the awesome work!! Kiss my puppies for me! And yes I think that the same Cafe Rio lol that’s pretty awesome!! I’ll talk to you soon!!

Zone Conference

Salta