Hola!!
It's always so nice to
hear about everything that is going on back home. :) I've decided that if we
ever want to stop buying pets, I need to stay home more. Haha the last few pets
we've gotten, I wasn't there. :) but that's awesome! I have to admit, it was a
surprise to see the turtle picture. Haha
Of course dad did
great on his talk! He always does. :) I love the notes! Both of those
conference talks are amazing! I've decided I don't like missing all of your
guys' talks. Haha oh well.
Yeah, my back is still
good. He is moving back to Utah because they moved here and nothing was working
out. Everything just felt wrong, so they are moving back. :) and last Pday we
played "scatter ball" which is basically like freeze tag except with
dodgeballs. :) haha it was fun.
Well, we had transfer
calls on Saturday. I am staying with Elder Laguna for another one.
President changed everything else though. 3 leaders are going home so we needed
1 new AP and 2 new ZL's. Well, he took out some so now we need 1 new AP and 5
new ZL's... Yeah, he changes a lot of stuff. I'm not sure if Elder Walker will
be a ZL still. He is going to train again. :) but yeah, he changed a lot,
except down here. So I am staying here for another transfer.
Alright, the spiritual
experience was pretty cool. It happened on Thursday. So we are fairly new
to this area still and we have met with Makayla once before. She has been
taking lessons for a couple of years now and she has been pretty close to
getting baptized. So, we had our second meeting with her on Thursday. We
haven't even taught her anything, but we ask her if she had talked with her
daughters about her being baptized. Guess what she said? She said, "Yeah I
have. I already told them that I was getting baptized on the 31 of this
month." We were so confused, but yes, she set her own date!!!! Haha it was
awesome!! I am so happy for her!! So
this past weekend was kind of crazy. We had to get everything ready. It's all
basically ready. But here are the details, she is getting baptized this
Saturday on the beach!!! And Elder Laguna and I are the witnesses, so
guess what? I get to go in the water!! yup.
It was awesome, She
had her interview yesterday and it went really well. Her daughters have not
been taking the lessons, but they are excited for her. She is the maid for some
members and they have been there with her through all of this. It was awesome.
So yeah, there was the experience for the week.
The scripture this
week is going to be a little strange. It is from Elder Holland’s general
conference talk. It is Matthew 23: 38. "Behold, your house is left unto
you desolate." What does desolate mean? Well, in 3 Nephi 4: 2- 3 it says:
2 "But behold, there were no wild beasts nor game in those lands which had
been deserted by the Nephites, and there was no game for the robbers save it
were in the wilderness."
3 "And the
robbers could not exist save it were in the wilderness, for the want of food;
for the Nephites had left their lands desolate, and had gathered their flocks
and their herds and all their substance, and they were in one body." The
Nephites had completely left their lands desolate. Absolutely nothing.
Literally, nothing except empty buildings. Elder Holland says, "And
therein lies a message for every young man and young woman in this Church. You
may wonder if it is worth it to take a courageous moral stand in high school or
to go on a mission only to have your most cherished beliefs reviled or to
strive against much in society that sometimes ridicules a life of religious
devotion. Yes, it is worth it, because the alternative is to have our “houses”
left unto us “desolate”--desolate individuals, desolate families, desolate
neighborhoods, and desolate nations." If we are disobedient, our houses
might not literally be desolate. Our physical things might not be gone, but our
spirits will be left desolate. There will be nothing there for us to use to
sustain ourselves. Everything spiritual whether it be our faith, our
testimonies, or even our spirits, if we do not continuously strive to grow and
progress, we will shrink and digress. There is no "maintaining" a
testimony or "maintaining" your faith. It is either growing, or
dying. You cannot plant a seed, work on it until it becomes a small flower, and
then just set it aside to stay like that forever. It doesn't work that way. We
have to constantly feed it. We cannot build up our testimonies and then set
them aside and think that it will stay the same. It does not work like that.
You might think that if you continue to try and strengthen your testimony that
it will be harder and harder. You're right. It will get harder and harder
because satan wants to stop it. Doing nothing is a whole lot easier. Not
sharing the gospel and not doing the little things is a lot easier. Why?
Because satan knows that your testimony is dying. He knows that he is winning,
so he doesn't need to try as hard. Yes, there will be challenges. Yes, life
sucks sometimes. Yes, our confidence and our faith might take a small
blow every once in a while. But yes, God is there to help you through that. Yes,
you will be happier. And "Yes, it is worth it, because the alternative is
to have our “houses” left unto us “desolate.” I encourage each of you to
continue doing the little things. They make the biggest difference. Read the
scriptures. Pray. Go to church. Have Family Home Evening. Your spirits need
just as much sustenance, if not more, than your bodies. So keep feeding
them.
I love you all with
all my heart. I hope that you all have had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. I
hope that you each have a great week!
Love,
Elder Moyes
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