¡¡Feliz Día del Padre!!

So the mouse story that Alex refers to is NOT a funny one but one I will share so you know what he was talking about. 

I did not do real well after my surgery on Friday. The anesthesia and I didn't get along and so I was at the hospital for about 7 long hours after the actual surgery. We finally were able to leave and then David had to drive around looking for a pharmacy open at midnight.  We finally made it home and as I groggily stepped out of the car with my crutches I notice something run up the grass on towards the porch. I do not like mice, I don't know why after all I'd already been through I had to experience this but it was a mouse. David was shining his light to see where it went and it went right up the wall onto the porch light above the front door. Not nice. Fortunately David knows me well and is my hero so he squirted that mouse down with the hose and washed it into the grass and knocked it on the head with a rock and saved the day! Not a funny story but a story non the less. I am grateful that day is behind me and that I have such a great family and friends who pitch in and always help me out! David wrote the missionary letter this week otherwise that mouse story might have been forgotten, along with the rest of whatever happened Friday after 1. ;)

Happy Father's Day picture from Alex

  

And here is a sweet poem Alex wrote for his dad for Father's Day. The great things you get when you don't spend money :)

Thanks For Being You

Love: Alex

Thanks for being you

You are the greatest father,

A boy could ever have.

You know how to make me smile,

And how to make me laugh.

You’re always there to protect us,

Even if we don’t understand.

We always know we can count on you,

To be that helping hand.

Sometimes we get annoying,

Sometimes we make you mad.

But I’m grateful for those other times,

The times we make you glad.

You treat my mother with respect,

I can see it in your eyes.

How much you truly love her,

With a love that never dies.

You always put her feelings first,

There never is much strife.

I want to follow your example,

When I finally get a wife.

You always think of others,

And what their needs may be.

You’ve always been a great example,

For our family.

You are a faithful priesthood holder,

I wish that you could see.

The impact that has truly had,

In what I want to be.

Heavenly Father gave me you,

To help me learn and grow.

I could never pay him back enough,

For the greatest gift I know.

You’re the man who helped me grow,

The man I look up to.

I could never have a better dad,

Thanks for being you.

You guys are having some pretty crazy weeks lately! I'm glad to hear
that the surgery went well, for the most part. I'm sorry about the
nausea and pain. :/ that's no fun. I hope that you get better soon,
Mom!

I am so excited for you guys to go to youth camp!! It'll be so much
fun! John Bytheway is awesome, you guys are going to have a blast!

Sounds like work is keeping you busy, Dad. I guess that's good. :) I
hope that everything continues to go well there!

Oh man... The World Cup... Ugh!! Haha I miss it! We went over to try
and visit one of our investigators, but they were busy watching the
World Cup with some people. Right after that we left and went to a
members house and guess what was on? Yup, the World Cup. Haha I really
wish we could watch it, but oh well.

That mouse story is awesome!! I read it to the other missionaries and
they thought it was so sick! Haha

Alright, yeah I still have two companions. The new one is Elder Snell.
His companion went home on the 6th for some knee surgery. Elder Snell
has been here for 9 months about. He is an English missionary. He is
from Idaho. He goes home the same day Elder Laguna does. We should
find out tomorrow if he will stay with us for the rest of the transfer
or if he'll get a new companion. It's been interesting. He works hard,
just sometimes a little too much. We have rubbed off on him a little
bit and he can relax more now. There is a time to be serious and a
time to have fun. He's never had a lot of "fun" companions and Elder
Laguna and I have a lot of fun so he is loosening up. He is awesome
though. We even had a glow in the dark pillow fight on Saturday
night... Haha it was super fun!! We all get along, it's just different
getting used to a new companion again while I am still with my old
one. It's been working pretty well, except we have 2 areas still... So
we have to work that out. It is all one ward, which is good, but 2
area books and so we have to teach twice as many lessons, but only get
to count half of them. It's interesting, but it works. That's the
hardest part is the 2 areas.

We have a few new investigators. We don't have a ton of time to find
now though, which is good and bad. When we have any time we go see
Elder Snells investigators, which is good, but our area isn't growing
much. It's just a weird situation. We will find out tomorrow,
hopefully. If we do stay together we are going to see if we can
combine area books and just make one huge area. That would make
everything easier.

Josh is doing awesome! He is a really good district leader. He knows
what he is doing and he knows how to help us. He really cares about
each companionship and focuses on their needs specifically while
focusing on the district as a whole. He's awesome.

Okay, so my spiritual experience for the week isn't really just one
experience. It is kind of something I have been experiencing all week.
So, as we are trying to bounce back and forth between our
investigators and Elder Snells investigators, it's been kind of crazy,
but we have been teaching a lot. Now, I don't know many of these
people, and several times we have been on splits and either it was
just me and a member teaching an investigator, or just me and elder
Laguna teaching them, and we don't know them. Haha it's been kind of
crazy. But one thing that I have really realized is what a great
blessing it is to love these people. I don't even know them, yet while
we are teaching them I can feel how much I care about them. I can't
even describe it. We had one lady yell at us and tell us her son will
never be baptized in our church, even though he had a date set
already. She told us no and She was tearing Elder Snell apart. I could
feel how much Elder Snell cared for this family and I realized how
much I cared for them too. This was the first time I ever met them.
She just yelled at us and we just sat there and tried to testify and
explain why we are there. By the end of it she agreed to let us come
back to keep teaching her son, but she still didn't want him to be
baptized. So, there was some progress made. It has just been a crazy
week, but I'm grateful that as a missionary I am able to feel how much
God truly loves his children. It's such a wonderful blessing.

Okay, my scripture isn't going to be specifically centered around one
scripture. It is centered around a definition in the bible dictionary.
The word being defined is Charity. Here is what it says: The highest,
noblest, strongest kind of love, not merely affection; the pure love
of Christ. It is never used to denote alms or deeds of benevolence,
although it may be a prompting motive (1 Cor. 8:1; 13:1–4, 8; 13;
14:1; Moro. 7:47). Those are some scriptures that go with it, but I
want to focus on the definition. The highest, noblest, strongest kind
of love... Words cannot express how powerful that is to me. I love all
three of those words. It is the highest. Nothing can top it. Nothing.
It is the noblest. There is nothing better. It is the most selfless,
righteous, perfect love that anyone could ever have or feel for
another. It is the strongest. It cannot be broken. No matter what
happens or what that person does, it cannot be broken. That just hits
me so hard. I literally cannot fathom words that describe how much I
love this definition. I know that Christ feels this way about you. I
KNOW that. I promise that. His love cannot be broken. It is perfect,
unselfish, undying, indescribable. I wish I could do this more
justice, but it honestly cannot explain it. He loves you. He always
has, always will. No matter what you do, he is there. We have the
opportunity to develop this attribute. Isn't that amazing?! We can
feel this way about EVERYONE! It is a commandment, so why not magnify
it? I know I kind of rambled, but I truly cannot explain charity, but
I love it and feel it so strongly.

I love each of you so much! I truly wish that I could show you how
much I love you. I hope that you are all doing well and that you are
staying safe. Have a wonderful week! And Happy Fathers Day to all of
you amazing fathers! Especially to my Dad. You are the greatest
example to me. You have always been my hero. I would not be the man I
am today if I did not have such an amazing example to follow. I love
you! Thank you for everything!

Love,
Elder Moyes