Elder Moore's Report Details

Elder Moore comes home August 29th! Here are the details for his report.

Week Ninety-Seven: Almirante Brown (LAST WEEK!!)

Hey fam!
So I believe this is the last time you will hear from me before we see each other in the airport!! I know you guys are super excited! I am too! But there are a lot of mixed feelings, as I imagine you guys understand. I have really come to love this work and have developed a relationship with my Savior that I know could not be so strong if I did not make the choice to come and work in his vineyard. I love what you said, Mom, about the tender mercies of the Lord. I have seen so many in my mission, too many to count. The mission is nothing easy, it really requires all you have and all you are, but I've learned that if you put your faith and confidence in the Lord it will make it all so worth it. He can do way more with our lives than we can do with our own. I have put all I am and who I want to become in the hands of the Lord, and that before anything else is the best decision I've ever made, and I believe it's the most important we can make in this life. Life is black and white. There is no gray area, no matter how many people want to believe otherwise. We are with God in everything or we aren't. We're all in or we fold. I have come to love these people, that itself is a blessing and a curse. You try all you can to get people to understand this amazing gospel and when they do, you feel the joy they feel. But when they don't, the feelings are just as strong but in the other direction. I can honestly say that the mission has changed my life. Doing the Lord's work with a broken heart and a contrite spirit can't not change you. I won't write all I feel because I have 20 minutes to fill on Sunday and I want to say something that not everyone has heard. Just know that I know this is the Lord's church and everlasting gospel. And it all has been restored to its original form through a chosen prophet, seer, and revelator, Joseph Smith, and Christ is again at the head of His church guiding us through modern prophets and apostles.
Thank you guys so much for helping me out so much. Not just with the end-of-mission supplies but all throughout my mission. Your prayers and love has made a gigantic impact on my mission. I really couldn't have done it without all of you!! I don't think I can't express how much of an impact you guys have had on my life! I love you all so much!! I will be seeing you soon! Give lots of love to Chloe for me!!!

Week Ninety-Seven: Almirante Brown

Hey fam!
So this week sounds like it was pretty busy!! You guys aren't the only ones that are talking about how much time I have left. All the members and missionaries do the same lol. Well, all but my comp which is pretty nice lol. We are working pretty well together. We have a good amount of people we are teaching so that helps. Everyone has been asking me how I feel about having only two weeks left, I imagine you guys also want to know, and I always say the same thing. I feel the same, I know mathematically speaking I have only a small amount of time but on the inside I feel the same. I am still a missionary and I will work to the end. I don't get how missionaries get trunky?! The more I learn, which is everyday, the more I feel how important this work truly is and the more I come to love it!! I have learned so much in these last 2 years, more than I thought I ever could, and really I don't want it to end, so I have to take advantage of every second i have left!! I really believe I have developed a hunger to learn more about this gospel. I just want to know more and more!
My comp and I on P-days have been downloading talks and stuff given at BYU and they are incredible!! We are learning so much! It's awesome!! This week we were able to have some fun and have some good lessons. On Friday I had to do some baptism interviews for the sisters and they were coming pretty late. We were in the middle of a park, that's where we were going to meet, and we saw two guys playing basketball. We thought we had some time to kill so we played with them. Now I'm not the best basketball player in the world, but we were ballin' it up!! I was like Steph Curry or Chris Paul! It was way fun!!
Last night we were contacting some houses and a lady of about 30 years came out. We introduced ourselves and we quickly learned she had little to no  knowledge of really who God is and had no interest to know either. So we shared our short sincere testimonies and she let us in. (Don't worry, a male was present lol.) We asked her a few questions and quickly introduced the Restoration then she started crying. She had just lost her mom and was angry at God for taking her. We gave her time to express her feelings and then we shared a more sincere testimony of the Plan of Salvation. She agreed to hear us again and we knew that after our visit she felt better and felt something she hadn't felt before.
Also on a little funny note, as my comp and I were walking in the streets we started free style rapping and it was way funny!! We aren't the best rappers but we can spit fire!!
I love you guys!! Have a great week! I'll talk to you soon!! Give lots of love to Chloe for me!!!

Week Ninety-Six: Almirante Brown

Hey fam!
I have some wanted news that I know you guys have been dying to know so I'll start with that... I just got an email (did you get it too?) with my updated flight info. So it's official, I will be coming home the 28th! Well, I leave here the 28th and will be getting home at 10:03 am the 29th. You guys got the last one so I imagine you got this one, but if not tell me and I'll send it to you. This flight route is a lot faster and easier! Just one layover of 3 hours or so. So that's awesome!! And I'll be in Dallas. HAM are there right?! Now you guys don't have to stress anymore and can start all the planning lol.
The beach sounds like it was lit! (My comp told me thats new slang) (I feel like an old person not keeping up with times lol.) Chloe looks so cute with her vest and hat lol!!
Time here is going by fast and things are going great! This week we were able to find 15 new investigators and 12 of them are two families of 6!! Teaching families is awesome! My comp and I are working hard and we are getting a lot done!! We are really seeing the fruits of our labors! We have a great relationship with the members! They have had some not so good missionaries pass through this ward and to have two studs like us helps a lot lol.
This week we had our zone conference and all the missionaries that are finishing their missions this transfer get to share their testimony. So finally it was my turn. It was a very strange feeling. Every transfer for my whole mission I've seen elders and sisters give their testimonies and I always thought, man I'm soo far from that, I wonder what that must feel like, now I know!! I still have a few weeks so I won't start talking about the end yet, it's still go time!! I love this gospel and this work!! So you gotta enjoy it to the end!! There is nothing like missionary work!! Just to be able to teach this gospel and learn more about it, I know my life has been changed!!
I hope you guys have a great week! I love you!! Give lots of love to Chloe for me!!!

Week Ninety-Five: Almirante Brown

Hey fam!
Man it's so awesome to hear that everyone is having a great time on vacation!! Dad, that sucks that your truck got broken into!! How much did they take? Was it a lot or not too much? Buying the vest for Chloe was so funny!! Haha that's a really smart idea! Who thought of that? I don't think I would be able to think of that! Has chloe gotten in the water?
This week for us was pretty good. My comp is a hard worker so that makes things a lot easier! I forgot what it's like to have ping pong in a lesson, or when I talk then my comp talks then I talk and we do that kind of thing. My last comp didn't do too much talking. We were able to find a good amount of new investigators this week, so our teaching pool is getting a little bigger! We did some service for a member this week and it was pretty fun and tiring. We basically had to reorganize a warehouse of food and stuff. We got there and they told us where things needed to go and then gave us their instructions, but as we thought about it my comp and I came up with another way to make things a little faster and easier and we then went to work! It took a bit of time but it was pretty fun! The member took a video of my comp and I and I'm trying to talk with him right now so he can send it to me then I can send it to you guys.
We talked with one of our progressing investigators this week. He needs to get married to get baptized. We had planed to talk with him and try to motivate him to start the papers. We talked with him and he told us that he had already started and will be done about next week. We were like oh... okay awesome! So we are pretty excited about that! His name is Javier, and he is super ready for baptism. He is basically a dry member for now lol.
We have a conference with President tomorrow and I will talk with him to get as much detail about my date as I can!
I think that's about it for my week, Don't worry my comp and I are working pretty hard together and we are getting some stuff done!! I love you guys and hope you have a great week!! I'll talk to you soon! Give lots of love to Chloe for me!!

Week Ninety-Four: Almirante Brown

Hey fam!

There are a lot of questions and things to say and I'm not too sure where to start lol.... So let's start with my comp. 

My comp, Elder Rojas got transferred and I'm now with Elder Baker. And yes, you guessed it, he's a gringo. He is from Wisconsin. (I don't think I've met someone from Wisconsin before.) He has almost 10 months in the mission, so he has experience and speaks well. The 20 minutes I've had with him so far it seems like we are going to get along. I was kind of thinking a gringo would come and kill me lol, and I was right. I'll send you a pic. Oh and he is 6'5'' so he's a bit taller than me. I'm pretty happy for this new comp and change. I feel it's going to help me stay focused until the very end. I don't want to get trunky, there isn't time for that, so I'm glad my comp is ready to work. 

I had my interview with president and I forgot to ask about the homecoming date ooppss.... No I'm just kidding lol. He said he will take care of it. I'm not the only one thats finishing a bit early so he has to do it for others. But as for my mission, I'm the only one finishing one week early. The others are cutting 2 and 3 weeks. I asked president if he knew of anyone else that would travel with me he said from our mission there won't be anyone. But he said that every time he has traveled to the states (and he's done it quite a bit) he has always traveled with an elder. Especially in Georgia. It's almost certain there will be more elders there. I'm not worried about traveling solo, I just worry about the fact it will be pretty boring lol. 

I got my plan today!! Man is that crazy!! I haven't started it yet but i will soon. I've already done it three times lol so I know what it's like. And it's pretty awesome! 

As for a first meal, I have not given it any thought but I imagine after 20 hours of travel we might have to pass by In-N-Out to refill the tanks lol.

To answer the question about the phone and computer. It definitely has to be Apple, no doubt there. But here in Argentina there is zero Apple. No iPhones, iPads and less Macbooks. So I have no idea what is new. I can imagine that in the last two years some new things have come out but I know nothing about it lol. So I don't know if it's possible but I would like to wait till I get back to decide, to do some research and all that good stuff. Actually the first iphone and macbook i saw in almost 2 years was the iPhone and Macbook of my new president lol. But if there isn't time send me a few pics, info, and opinions and I'll do what I can. Lol I think I answered most of the questions, I'll reread the letter but I'll let you know about my week. 

It was pretty good. Yesterday we had the primary program and a lot of people came!! A lot of less actives and family members came, it was awesome!! The primary is actually a lot bigger than I thought! It was a really good program! 

A pretty cool experience we had was when we were looking for a less active's house and we knocked on the door. We saw and heard the neighbors talking about us between themselves. I could tell it was not good things, and they were telling some rumors that aren't true. So we went to talk to them to resolve and clarify their doubts. We started talking to them and they shut us down before I could finish saying my name. We listened to what they had to say and I started to talk very calmly and ask a few questions to get to know them a bit better. Well long story short, they ended up letting us teach them, and they gave us cake and soda. I really feel that it was a miracle. Someone with their heart so closed and hard ended up opening up and gave us cake lol. Goes to show what a good attitude and a Moore smile can do lol. 

Oh also BIG NEWS! The Martinez family got baptized this week! Remember the family that we found in my last area and were super chosen. Well they were baptized!! I talked with my old comp and he said they always talk and want to know how their "gringo" is. I was super happy to know they were baptized and to know that they are still progressing!! 

I hope you guys have a great week and have lots of fun in Leo Carillo!! Take lots of pics! I hope I could answer the most of your questions! I love you guys!! Give lots of love to Chloe for me! 

Oh and just a fun fact, my new comp has a golden too! She's a little old and reminds me of Stella and Luna!

Week Ninety-Three: Almirante Brown

Hey fam!
So I know you guys want to know what the president says about coming home and well... so do I lol. I have the interview Thursday. And I will for sure have some info for you guys! I promise. As of right now, I know of no one else that will be traveling with me. Elder Curtis, one of my comps, also is going to finish early except he'll be two weeks early. So we won't be together. But I honestly have no idea if someone else will finish early too. But you make a good point, there are others missions and some elders that might finish the same time as me. Looks like we are going to have to pray and see what happens. Lol. I'll ask president if anyone will be finishing with me and I'll let you guys know what he says.
This week was pretty good. We were able to have some nice experiences in the week. One that I thought was pretty funny was that we have been teaching a sister, Maria, for some time now. She told us this week that "the father of my baby" (they say that when they aren't married)(dang it!!) doesn't want her talking to us. She gave a few reasons and I just smiled and said, "That's because he doesn't know us and more importantly he doesn't know what we teach." We invited her to invite him to talk with us. (We don't meet in her house, but in the store she has.) She doubted that he would come but said she would do it anyways. We passed by for the next appointment and he was there. We started talking to him and he warmed up to us. He accepted the Book of Mormon, a return appointment, and it seemed like he was pretty interested. So that was a fun experience.
Also we found a new investigator this week that has some potential. She has investigated a lot of different churches trying to find the "right one for her." She let us in without hesitation. We taught her and left her 3 Nephi 11 to read as homework. She read it when we left and said that it was an answer to her prayers and feels that it's true. We were obviously super surprised, and invited her to be baptized and she accepted. But it's hard for her to come to church for a few reasons, so we are working on that but I know she will come. Her name is Raquel by the way.
This is the last week of this transfer!! Man has that gone by so  fast!! I might get a new comp next week or we might stay the same. We really have no idea. So we will see. It's so weird to think that I have so little time left, it's crazy!! But its not over yet, there is still A LOT to do! So let's get it done!!
I love you guys! I hope you all have a great week! Talk to you soon! Give lots of love to Chloe for me!

Week Ninety-Two: Almirante Brown

Hey fam!
Man, it sounds like everyone had a great week! Sailing on a boat is way fun! Chloe is looking way good too! Funny to hear that you saw only the half of the fireworks but you made the best of it!!
This week on the work side was a little hard for us. I think the Lord was testing our diligence and patience. We were able to teach but just not as many as we had hoped or planned. But I know that we are going to have a better week.  Luckily this computer reads my camera so I have some pics for you guys. The last conference we had with President Chaparro was pretty much like every other conference, it didn't really seem like he was going anywhere. But we got to know President Orquera this week. He also is from Argentina and it seems like he is really excited to be working as a mission president. He and his wife are super happy and nice. He is gong to be a good president for sure. During the conference they told us we won't be having interviews today, but in week 6, which is next week. I knew that I needed some info, so during lunch I talked to him quickly and he said there won't be a problem. He just said he needs to confirm it with my stake president, I didn't know that. Does President Nelson know? I am going to talk to him about it more next week during the interview to confirm everything.
I gave a talk yesterday in sacrament meeting about service. I had prepared a few things to say beforehand, like a few quotes and scriptures, but I mostly relied on the Spirit to guide me. I talked a bit longer than I thought I would. I guess the Spirit wanted me to say a few more things lol. But I thought it went alright. Everyone was talking about it. A lot of people were telling me how much they liked it. They even quoted me in ward conference. It all made me realize something. Receiving so many compliments makes me feel a little uncomfortable. I think before the mission I would have welcomed all the compliments with pleasure but I'm not exactly too sure what changed. I just want to do what I'm supposed to do and if I do it well, I know I was getting some help from above. The spiritual lessons, the good feelings, everything.. I know it isn't me but the Holy Ghost. I think I've really come to understand what Ammon said to his brothers when he said he is nothing but it's God that is so great. (That's obviously not exactly what he said I just can't remember exactly how it goes lol.) But I'm super grateful for the little bit of humility that I've been able to learn here on the mission.
Our area compared to others I've had is a little bit better off. It's pretty close to the city so I think that's why. Everything is going great here! Enjoying the time I have left!
I hope you guys have another great week! Give Chloe lots of love for me! I'll talk to you soon!

Week Ninety-One: Almirante Brown

Hey fam!
So this Saturday, President Chaparro finished his mission and now we have our new president, President Orqueda. we have a conference and interviews with him this Wednesday so I will talk to him then about my release date. For now he hasn't made any changes or anything and I still know nothing about him. So we will see what he's like this week.
Today we went to Pumamaca, or the hill or seven colors. We went as a district. It was pretty fun and I took some sweet pics and bought a few souvenirs. I haven't really bought anything during my mission so I figured now is the time.
This week Sofia and Guillermina weren't able to get baptized. Their mom had to go to work and obviously they didn't want to get baptized without their mom. We are talking with her to know when she is going to have a day off. They can get baptized any time it just depends on the mom's work. So I'll let you know how it goes.
My comp does good work and we get along. He's had some bad comps before so I think that also had a big effect on his confidence. But I am seeing a good progress in him. He is talking a lot more now than before. President Chapparo had a conference with us last week and he invited us all to read the Book of Mormon before the next general conference. I saw that as a good opportunity to help my comp, so we read the Book of Mormon every night before we go to bed together. There are some points of doctrine that he doesn't understand so reading out loud helps him learn and I explain a few things to help. I also made a personal goal to get the most out of reading everyday. I'm trying to really ponder everything that it says to get the most out of it and I've noticed a huge difference. Reading to read is one thing but when we really think and ponder the scriptures we can get so much more out of it. "Feast upon the words of Christ." As for now it's the best feast I've had. I too am learning new things. Personal revelation is awesome!! I look forward to reading like never before! I also would like to extend the same invitation to you guys. Can you think of a better preparation for listening to the words of the living prophets than reading the whole Book of Mormon?!
All in all things are going really good here. The only thing we need to improve is finding new investigators. We are finding a few but we need more! I'm so happy to hear that all is going good back at home and that Chloe is helping Katie get better! I hope you all have a great week! Love you and talk to you soon! Give lots of love to Chloe for me!! I'm trying to send some pics but it's not reading my camera. Looks like only a few computers read my camera. But I'll see what I can do.

Week Ninety: Almirante Brown

Hey fam!
So this was a good week for us and it sounds like everyone had some fun too. But maybe Dad didn't have the most fun being home alone but I'm sure Chloe made everything better!!
This week we are gong to have a baptism! It's two sisters, Sofia and Guillermina. Both are primary age. The mom is a less active member but is coming back, the dad is also member but sadly is not coming back. We are going to have to have the baptism in the morning because the mom works in the afternoon. It's a little stressful planning this one because all the leaders work in the morning, but we will see how it goes.
This week was pretty chill for us, not too much happened. Yesterday there was a good amount of people in church. A lot of less active members came that we are teaching so that was nice. Also I'm getting my comp to participate a bit more. I'm letting him lead the planning sessions and letting him make more decisions. I'm starting to notice his confidence go up. We were able to find some new investigators this week. So our teaching pool is slowly growing. Not much happened this week but I can send a few pics this time. These picture are of my zone and of my last apartment. I hope you guys have a great week! Give Chloe lots of love for me! I'll talk to you soon!

Week Eighty-Nine: Almirante Brown

Hey fam! 

Sounds like everyone had a great week and I'm super happy to hear that Dad had a great Father's Day! Everything is going good here. The area is pretty big but I think I'm picking up pretty fast. Things with my comp are good, it's just that in lessons he doesn't talk. When he does talk he says like three sentences and that's about it. So we are working on talking more and talking with confidence. The apartment is really nice, I like it a lot! By far the best shower I've had yet! It's clean, has a good water heater, it has enough water pressure to actually reach my back and not just fall on my head, and it has a shower head and it's not just a stream! So I'm enjoying that lol. The apartment building isn't even a year old and when it opened the mission bought a room right away. So everything is clean and new still. In the ward there are a lot of returned missionaries and they are helping the ward a lot which is really nice. We have about 80 people that assist every week so it's not bad. It looks like the elders before were doing a lot of reactivation because we don't have many investigators. So we are looking for some more. 

We had some interesting experiences this week. President Chaparro's first counselor, President Samudio, lives in our area and we had lunch with him on Friday. For the last few years he has been fighting a tough battle with cancer and just the day before he had chemo therapy and had no energy. So they gave us the food to eat in out apartment, which was no problem. When we walked in the house he was there to greet us but then went back to bed and we talked with his wife while she was finishing the food. He came back out a little later and asked for a blessing of comfort. He said that once he laid down he felt the spirit tell him that he should ask for a blessing. He had received various blessings of health but felt that he needed one of comfort. And then he asked if I would do it. I was of course happy to do it but I was nervous. It is pretty intimidating giving a blessing to someone that has so much experience in the church. So in the short walk from the seat where I was sitting to where I'd be standing behind him, I said a very quick prayer asking for guidance. I asked for his full name and then began. I closed the blessing and looked at his wife who was standing in front of him, then I looked at him. His face was in his hands and he was crying. He thanked me for the blessing and said that I spoke for the Lord and that it was exactly what he needed to hear. I was extremely grateful for the guidance I received to give him that blessing. 

Everything with my district is going good. They are a good workers. Two missionaries are really new and still have some trouble speaking. So I have to talk slow and use easier words. I know what it's like not understanding or being ale to say what you want, so I'm trying to help them. But all in all everything is going good here! I can't complain! I love you guys and hope you have a great week! Give lots of love to Chloe for me!!

Week Eighty-Eight: Almirante Brown

Hey fam!  Man it sounds like an awesome week! Congrats Katie!! It sounds like you guys have some good plans for the summer! Visiting the Tucson temple sounds so awesome! I would love to go to a temple open house!  So I'm pretty sure you guys want to know what happened with the transfers. So President came through, I am a district leader again!!! I am back in Jujuy but in the other zone. My area is in a big city so I'm not in the middle of no where like my last area in Jujuy lol. My area is called Almirante Brown and my comp is Elder Rojas. He is from Peru and has a little over a year in the mission. Our apartment is super nice! I think its the nicest apartment I've had in my mission. I wasn't planning on writing right now so I don't have my camera with me, I'm sorry. But I'll send lots of pics next week.  Also just something I thought was funny is that my district is all sisters again lol. I'm not sure why that is because when I was a district leader the first time my district was all sisters too. I'm pretty excited to be here, I think my comp and I are going to have some fun and do some good. Also I think I just entered my grave. That means my last area. I have two transfers left and I'm pretty I'm going to stay here until the end. And I also had a sad realization while talking with the zone leaders, I am the oldest in the zone. I have the most time in the mission. That's a weird feeling for sure!! I don't know much about my area now except it's a lot bigger than my last area in Salta. From what I've heard there is work to be done here so I'm pretty happy about that. All in all with my new area, comp, district, and apartment I am pretty happy! I'm ready to get to work and do some good! My last comp was quite trunky and it was hard to get him up and going but I don't think I'm going to have that problem here. I'm looking forward to these last two transfers.  For what happened this past week, the Martinez family is doing really good. The dad came to church! We talked with them last night and he said once he started reading the Book of Mormon he has felt a peace in his life and in his family he hasn't felt before. He said he is excited for his baptism and to go to the temple with his family. I don't think I've taught someone that has understood everything so fast and so clearly. It was pretty hard to leave them but I did get to say goodbye. I'm going to be in contact with my comp to follow their progress. We also got flu shots this week. I was pretty nervous because of seeing the hospitals here and hearing stories. But luckily the mission literally has the best medical care that there is in Argentina. So the hospitals and care centers are really nice and everything went nicely too. I took a video so I will try to send it next week!  I think that's it for my week! I hope you guys have a great summer! Make it the best!! Give lots of love to my baby girl for me! I'll talk to you soon! Love you!!

Week Eighty-Seven: Salta

Hey fam! 

Sounds like everyone was able to have a great three day weekend back at home! Things here have been pretty chill. 

The Martinez family is doing really good. We had some divisions this week with other elders, and the elders that were with me or my comp teaching the Martinez family were super impressed. We usually leave them specific parts in the Book of Mormon to help them understand more about what we taught, but this time we told them to read from the beginning. Everyone read at least to chapter 3 and the mom read up to chapter 5. They are progressing super nicely and we can see their testimonies grow. The dad stopped using coca and is doing really well. We just need to get him to church. He said he was going to come yesterday but only his wife and daughter came. We are going to talk to them today so we are going to find out why he couldn't come. 

Yesterday at church we had a pretty nice surprise. One of the less active sisters that we have been teaching for a bit now finally cam to church!! It was super awesome to see her come. And during sacrament meeting the Delgado family came to church. We have been teaching them and helping them since I've been here (the last six months) and finally they came to church!! It was completely unexpected but it was incredible!! My comp and I were pretty content after church yesterday. 

Nothing too special happened this week but we are finding some really good and interested investigators and we are keeping pretty busy. With that kind of busy, there isn't enough time in the day to visit them all. So we are pretty happy about that. 

We had interviews with President this week and I renewed my temple recommend because it is going to expire this month. This was the last interview with President Chaparro. The new president is coming soon. President Chaparro asked what I would like to do with my last 2 transfers. I'm not sure if he was asking, like if I had a personal goal I wanted to reach or if I had a preference as to where or what I would like to do. I just said I really enjoyed my time as a district leader. So we will see what happens in a week lol. 

Everything is going good here. I hope everyone has a great week! Give lots of love to my pretty girl for me!! I'll talk to you guys soon!

Week Eighty-Six: Salta

Hey fam! 

So this was a pretty good week. It was pretty busy and we were running from place to place, but we still had a good amount of time in our area. I'm sure you are wondering what I did yesterday for my birthday so I'll start with that lol. It was a pretty chill day, I started it with opening the wrapped gift. Thank you guys for the sweater and tie! They are so awesome and I got a lot of compliments on them! I didn't tell that many people it was my bday to not make a big deal out of it, but a sister in the ward made me a cake and gave it to me in church so that was pretty nice. My comp and the other companionship we room with sang happy birthday in the apartment lol. But I was trying not to think about being 21 too much. 

The Martinez family is doing really good. They had a problem with the coca... that leaf crap... and he said he needs it to work. This week he went to work and he said his body just started to hurt and he couldn't do anything. We had already taught him the Word of Wisdom and he understood it really well. He said a prayer and asked God for help. He said he took the coca out of his mouth and in 20 minutes his energy came back and he felt really good. In our lesson he said he isn't going to use coca anymore. So that was an awesome experience! Also in our lesson when we were talking about temples and eternal families, they all loved it and said they want to go as a family one day. They always read what we leave them but the hard part is getting the whole family to go to church. They don't want to leave the house alone because they have been robbed in the past. So we are looking for a solution. 

Last thing about my week is that we had a mini MTC here in our ward for all the youth of the stake. We were asked to help a bit, so we sang and we broke off in groups to go contacting in our area. It was actually really fun! Our mission president was supposed to come but he had to cancel last minute so we were called to fill in. We talked to the youth about the importance of using our time wisely and the importance of planning. That wasn't as much fun because we literally had no time to plan what we were going to say (a little ironic) but it turned out nicely!! 

I think that's about it for my week! But that's super crazy about Dylan! Man I hope he gets better soon! Don't let him die! I love you guys! Give lots of love to Chloe for me!! Talk to you soon!

Week Eighty-Five: Salta

Hey fam!

So I am super tired right now lol, we literally just got down from that big hill and I am dead. We took a different route and I don't think it was better, but on the good side there were hardly any spiders. The first time there was way too many but I think they all left for the cold or something, I really have no idea. One elder brought an American flag so we took advantage of that lol. I'll send some pictures. 

This week we did go to that area that is super far away. Everything went good, it's just a lot of time out of our area but we are the closest zone leaders, so it's more efficient for us to go. 

Yesterday the mom of a family we are teaching went to church. I think I told you about them, they were a reference from a member without a good direction. We have been teaching them and they have been reading. They just say it's hard for them to go to church, but the mom went so we are pretty happy about that! I'm sure she will help the rest of her family come to church! They are called the Martinez family by the way. About the less active that came to our house, it's actually a investigator. He is doing really well. We are teaching him and his girlfriend, Vanessa. Actually we always talk to and teach Vanessa more than Pablo because he's pretty hard to find. But they are super converted to the gospel. The only thing that is impeding them from getting baptized is that they aren't married and there are a lot of legal things and background stories that makes that process a little hard. But they recently put a picture of the temple on their fridge to make it a constant reminder of their greatest goal. 

About my b-day, it's like last year. I'm not too excited to be older lol but it's not as bad as going from 19 to 20. 20 to 21 is a little easier lol I don't know if that makes sense. Oh to answer your question, the key indicators are the "numbers" we write down for the lesson and everything. Like how many lesson we taught, or how many went to church on Sunday, stuff like that. There was just a change recently and President wanted us clarify some stuff and explain it better. 

I think that's about it for my week, not too much happened. I love you guys and hope you have a great week! Give lots of love and kisses to Chloe for me!!! 

Week Eighty-Four: Salta

Hey fam!

Man, it was so awesome to talk with you guys yesterday! Man that was some fast 45 minutes lol, but it was awesome! It's so good to know that everything is going so good back at home! And it looks like the wedding was awesome as well! The pictures that I got sent look amazing! Conner and Krista look super happy! I don't know Krista at all but they look good together! 

To answer your question about the conference, we ate something called milanesa napolitana. It's a thin peace of meat or chicken covered in breadcrumbs and fried with a tomato sauce, another type of meat, kind of a slice of bologna, and melted cheese on top, served with rice and french fries. It wasn't the healthiest but it's super common here. It was the same food we had at the two conferences we had Friday. They are organized so that the president, us, the zone leaders, and the sister training leaders all talk and teach stuff. I conducted and talked a little about the key indicators. The topics come from the president according to the needs of the mission and we help teach them. 

The pictures are of our zone and then the leadership meeting we had after. I never talked to the president about being a district leader but we will see lol. I love you guys so much! Have a great week! Talk to you soon! Give lots of love to Chloe for me!

Week Eighty-Three: Salta

Hey family! 

It sounds like everyone is doing good back at home! Everything here is going good! We had the conference with the zone leaders this week. All the zone leaders live super far so they all come Thursday night and sleep in the house of the office elders. Since we live close we never need to go, but in the morning everyone woke up super early to go play soccer. I had never gone because I've only been in this area. So we went Thursday night and played soccer in the morning like at 5. I was super dead for the conference. It was pretty hard to not fall asleep. I think it was the same for everyone because everyone was yawning the whole time lol. But the conference was really good. I made a mistake though, my mission president finishes next transfer, not this one, oops lol. 

About calling on Sunday, 2:30 sounds good. I have all the info and the pictures. (Good idea with the pics) so I don't think there will be any problems! It's crazy that this is our last call of my mission, huh?! Crazy how fast time flies right?! 

This Saturday night we had some appointments fall through and we were thinking of what we could do. We had received a reference earlier in the week but we didn't have a good direction. They just told us it's almost at the end of the block. We were close so we decided to look for it. The first house we stopped at greeted us at the fence. After presenting ourselves, we asked if we could talk with the family inside the house. He said he was basically super Catholic but said he would ask his wife what she thought. He walked back in the house and his wife walked out. I was almost sure she was going to turn us down. But she came to the fence, opened the door, and said to come in. We sat inside and began to talk with them and it was a really good lesson. They paid really good attention and understood everything. They were so sincere when they listened. You could tell they were interested in what we were teaching and not just listening to a lesson. We have another appointment with them today and I'm pretty excited about it! 

But everything here is going good. This week we are going to the area super far away where we got stuck for three days. We don't want to go this week but we have to because the elder that got transferred accidentally took the phone with him to his new area. We got it from his zone leaders and now we have to give it back. We also have our zone conference this Friday so we cannot get stuck there for three days again! That would not be good lol. But I hope you all have a great week! I love you guys! Talk to you soon! Give lots of love to my baby girl for me!!

Week Eighty-Two: Salta

Hey fam!

About transfers, nothing happened to me so I am staying here with my comp. So all is well. I'm really glad to hear that you guys are doing good. I definitely felt your prayers and I was able to focus and have a good week. 

(Just a side note) I just got an email from the offices and they are already planning on buying my airline ticket. I just have to tell them which is my airport. I have three weeks to reply but just to be sure it's Ontario right? I don't want to get sent to Canada or something lol but that's crazy right?! 

About Mother's Day, are we going to use Google Hangouts or Skype? 

For this week everything was pretty chill. I think this was our first week where we didn't have to go to some other area or something like that so it was pretty relaxed and we had more time to work in our area which is always nice. This is President Chaparro's last transfer and then our new president comes. We have our meeting with all the zone leaders this Friday so we will see if we get some more info or if he does something special. 

Nothing too much happened this week so I think this is going to be as shorter letter but I want to thank you guys for all the prayers because I was really able to feel them. It is another testimony builder that our Heavenly Father does love us and listens to our prayers. 

Actually there is a good story I can share lol. We have been teaching the neighbor of an active family recently. Well, really just the mom and her 9-year-old son. We passed by and the mom wasn't there but her oldest daughter was, Palmela. She is about 25 or so and was willing to listen to us. We talked with her and had the mom and son of the active family to accompany us. We quickly learned that she doesn't believe in God and we quickly had to change our teaching method. It was an interesting lesson but we definitely left her thinking. She recently had a baby so I focused a bit on that, how the love a mom or parent has for her son or daughter isn't something that you can describe. It's so hard to describe because it doesn't come from humans, it's a lot more than that, it's divine. We talked a bit on that and she was intrigued to learn more. So I'll let you know more about her progress. 

I love you guys and hope you have a great week! Be strong and give my baby girl lots of love for me! Love you guys! Talk to you soon!

Picture is of an elder that got pretty sick, so we took a picture while he was sleeping lol.

Week Eighty-One: Salta

Hey fam! 

I'm sorry to hear about Theo! Honestly I just thought, at most, he had hip dysplasia. I didn't think it was so serious as bone and lung cancer. It does hurt to hear that he has passed, but I have learned a lot here in the mission and I know that these hard times are a time of growth. Even though they aren't the easiest to pass through, with a firm hope and faith in Christ we can find our comfort and joy. This is a time of progression and strengthening. I love my handsome boy and always will. I don't think there is any dog sweeter and more loving than he is. His tenderness is contagious and you can't help but just want to love him and play with him. Although we miss him like no other, he is happy and absolutely out of pain with his mom and grandma. With those three in Heaven they are having more fun than ever. And that is the joy we can all focus on. Like President Nelson said last conference, we can focus on joy to help us get through all trials. Jesus focused on the joy that everyone can be cleansed from sin while He was in the Garden of Gethsemane. If we focus on our unselfish love for Theo, we will have an overpowering sense of joy that he is happy, healthy, and loving his time with Luna and Stella. He never knew Stella but I am positive that when he got there she knew him perfectly and welcomed him right alongside Luna and they are enjoying themselves as they wait for us. I know you guys are worried about me and are going to be praying a lot for me, I'm not asking you to not do that, but I also want you to keep in your prayers that I can stay focused on the work I am doing here. I am pretty far away and I can't do much physically but I can help spiritually. When Elder Cook came to our mission at the beginning of my mission he gave left us with a promise and a blessing. He said that everyone we love and will love in the future will be blessed by our service. I want to be focused so that you can receive all the blessings possible, especially now. I also want you to know that I am and will be fine. Please don't worry about me, I am okay. I know with limited communication there are a lot of doubts and questions on how I am, so during the week when you are wondering how I am, just know I am doing good and can only improve, I promise. 

As for my week, nothing really special happened. We are teaching the daughter of Fabiana, the recent convert. When we were teaching Fabiana, her daughter, Maira, did not show to much interest and didn't want to stay for the lessons. But a little bit ago we were reteaching the restoration to Fabiana and Maira stayed for the lesson. It was a really good and spiritual lesson and at the end we invited her to be baptized. We got the answer that every missionary wants to hear but very rarely receives, "Yes, I would love to." Since then she has been super excited for her baptism! And she is already participating in the missionary work. She invited one of her friends to listen to us and now she also wants to know more and she accepted a baptism date! 

This is the last week of this transfer and it is possible that I will get transferred. So we will see what happens. 

I love you guys so much and will be praying for you and Chloe. I hope you have a great week! Give lots of loves to my beautiful girl for me!! I'll talk to you soon and I'll see you soon in Skype too! I LOVE YOU! 

-Elder Andrew Moore

PS I didn't take many pics but a member gave us some candy apples

Week Eighty: Salta

Hey fam!

Sounds like everyone was able to enjoy Easter! Easter here was pretty relaxed. It was actually pretty weird because church didn't focus on it either, I'm not too sure why?! 

Yes, the weather here is starting to get pretty cold. I have officially broken out the sweaters and jackets. Luckily the air conditioning unit we have has a heat mode so we don't freeze at night lol. As of right now I'm liking the cooler weather but it's only fall and I know that it gets a lot colder than this. 

I talked with President on Wednesday. He and I talked about school and everything. He said that I need to talk with the new president when he comes. He can't make changes that will affect the new president. I was expecting that answer so we just have to wait till the new president comes in June. 

Also this week we went to another area super far away, farther than last week, but only by an hour. We got there in time and we also left in time. We didn't get stuck there lol. But in the process to get there it was pretty interesting. We knew we had to leave Wednesday in the afternoon but we just didn't know when exactly. We checked the times and realized that the bus we needed leaves at 5. We realized this at 4:35. We quickly ran to "pack," (I say it like that because I just grabbed my tooth brush and left lol) we got in a taxi, and went to the bus station. This was the only bus we could take and it was very possible that we were going to miss it. So in the taxi I said a small prayer that we would make it in time. We got there with 5 minutes to spare but we still had to buy our tickets. We got our tickets and stated looking for our bus. There were a lot so it took some time. We couldn't find our bus until we got to the last one and it had just shut the door. We knocked on the driver's door to ask if this was the bus we needed. He said it was and we literally jumped on as the bus was pulling out. We found our seats and I said a prayer of thanks because I knew that He had a part in that. Just a small but at the same time a miraculous story of the power of prayer. 

Everything is going great here! I love you guys and hope you have another great week! Kiss the puppies for me! I'll talk to you soon!

Week Seventy-Nine: Salta

Hey fam!

Man, it sounds like this week was and is full of big events! This week was pretty interesting for us. We had even less time in our area this week than last week and I'll tell you why. The new district that is a part of our zone is about 3.5 hours away by bus, and you can only get there by bus. We had to go and watch the district leaders' district meeting and their session of weekly planning, and have divisions with them. With some good planing we were able to fit that into a day and a half. Our plan was to leave our area in the later afternoon, get to their apartment before curfew, sleep there, watch the meeting, have division, then watch their planning meeting the next morning and we'd be out of there before lunch. But there was a slight problem. When we got there, the bus drivers in all of Argentina went on strike and refused to work. So we got stuck for a little bit. We ended up having to stay about three days in total because the buses weren't running. We got back only to have a church open house to plan, set up, and work the next day. So that also took more than half the day. Are there church open houses in the states? It's where the missionaries and ward members come together and have a tour of the church. There are banners and everything. It's pretty cool. But I don't know if they do that over there. It was kind of a bummer not having a lot of time in our area, looking at the plans we have this week we aren't going to have too much time either but at least more than last week! 

There is a rumor going around here, that the USA and Russia are now in war. I heard that USA bombed some place in Syria and Russia got mad so now we are at war with them. I haven't read or seen anything legit I've just heard it from the people we talk with. Just want to know if that's true or not lol. 

This Wednesday we have interviews with President. I'm going to talk to him about ending a week early just so that he's aware of everything. 

Mom, I am so happy you were able to enjoy your birthday!! I love you so much and I'm so happy you were able to spend it with the family! Even though the family wasn't too complete I'm sure you were able to feel the love from all of us on your special day! I wrote you a card a few weeks in advance so that it could get to you in time but I guess it hasn't gotten there yet. Who knows with this mailing system?! Lol but be looking for it! 

Sorry I didn't take any pictures this week but I'll try to take some to show you guys! Oh and I forgot to clarify, that picture I sent last week was just our zone with the 2 pairs of senior couples. 

I love you guys! I hope you have a great week! Keep taking pictures and I'll try to do the same! Give the puppies lots of kisses and loves for me!! I'll talk to you soon! 

Week Seventy-Eight: Salta

Hey fam!

So conference was awesome!! I don't know if I really had a favorite talk, there were so many good ones! But I loved the Priesthood Session, I was able to get a lot out of it! We went to the stake center to watch it and all the American missionaries got together and watched it in English in another room. I had some questions and thoughts prepared beforehand and I was able to get a lot of answers. There were answers to questions I didn't even know I had yet lol. Even though I was able to get a lot from it I know there is even more to take out so I'm downloading all the talks and I'm going to listen to them again to study them a little more profoundly. I never met Elder Costa but I did meet Elder Mark Bragg who spoke in the Saturday morning session. It was pretty cool to see him speak in General Conference just a few weeks after we met him! 

This week we had barely any time in our area. We had so many meetings all over the place. On Wednesday, President told us that we will be having our zone conference on Friday morning. We usually know weeks in advance but we got the last minute notice and it was combined with the other zone too. So we had a lot to plan in a very short amount of time. But the good thing was that we could divide up the work with the other zone leaders. In the conference I spoke about the new Easter initiative. I don't know if you have seen the new video, I would imagine that you have but it is super good!! Share it with everyone! 

Oh and I got the package you sent!! I believe it was the most recent one because it said it was mailed in February. Thank you so much!! I put up the pictures on the cork board I have, along with the calendar and its awesome!! The candy and food is awesome too! You guys are the best!! Oh and funny story, I opened the bag of granola and started to eat some. I put it back in the box until the next morning. I started to eat some again when I noticed an ant on my hand, and then another, and some were on the table and the bag of food. I then looked inside the bag and noticed they were coming from there. It didn't really bother me so I just kept eating, blowing the ants off before I ate. Then I remember that a very similar thing happened to Justin. So I followed his example and put it in the freezer to kill them off lol. 

This week even though we had very little time in our area we were able to find some new investigators through some referrals. So we are keeping busy! I like being busy with missionary work lol. 

Everything is going good here and I hope you guys have another great week! Oh and I do remember talking with Sister Holt in the MTC! That's way cool that she actually came to the Alta Loma ward and got to know you guys!! Tell her I say hi too, and you're welcome for the great counsel of getting to know the Moore family! Lol I love you guys! I'll talk to you soon! Kiss my puppies for me!!

Week Seventy-Seven: Salta

Hey fam!

My new comp is pretty chill, we get along well and he is funny. But this week was pretty good. Nothing really too special happened. But today we went and hiked a hill with one of the districts from our zone. It wasn't as big as the other that we hiked a while ago but it was pretty awesome! It was really like walking in the middle of a jungle! And it had just rained so was a little wet and slippery, but that made it ever cooler because it was like being in a rain forest. But the downside was when the sun came out it got super humid! But I got some pretty sweet pics! And then we went to McDonald's after. McDonald's here is like a nice expensive restaurant. I think it may have been the nicest McDonald's I have been to. And it had two floors which was pretty interesting! The food is the same, it's just cheap fast food but the people here love it lol. 

I have been thinking about finishing a week early and I do think it would be for the best. Our new mission president comes the first of June and I will talk to him then. 

The work here is still going well but it has slowed down a bit. When I got here we were finding a lot of new investigators and well, we baptized them lol. So now we need to find some more. Don't get me wrong, we are still teaching a good amount of people but I think we can handle some more! So if you have any references for us in Argentina Salta let us know lol. 

But everything here is going well! I hope you guys have another great week! Enjoy conference and get the most you can out of it! Love you guys! Talk to you soon! Kiss the puppies for me!