Eternity

As August comes to an end I realize yet again all the things I am thankful for. For summer time with my family, for school and seminary for my kids, for a missionary who is a light and an example to us, and for friends and family who I love spending time with.
As I was listening to an interview on Mormon Channel this week that Sister Dew had with Sister Dalton and her husband I was touched by a thought that was shared. Sister Dalton was talking about training with her husband for a marathon. She was telling about a time when they were running together up a long hill. She was slowly dropping behind and she didn't like that so she decided she would just tell him that she was turning around and going back. He came back to her and said, "Don't you know you are not supposed to make a decision on a hill?" I really liked that question he posed and thought a lot about times in my life when I have been in the middle of something (a trial, a prayed about course, etc..) and thought this is not where I want to be it is hard! Maybe there is another way and I should change my course and try a different direction, knowing full well I just need to stay my course. Time for decision making is before we get into the difficult times in our lives. It is true for all of us but especially for our youth. Time for deciding who we will follow and what kind of a person we will be needs to be made before we are faced with a difficult decision. Once we have made that decision we need to make sure that we follow through completely and don't change our course on the hill.
I liked Alex's thought this week, we are made for eternity and so sometimes and end here is difficult to handle. As I make a change in my calling, that thought has given me peace. That even though it might be hard and sad initially that this next step is where I need to be headed.

Hola!!! 

Sounds like it's been a fairly crazy week. :) Well, it definitely must be pretty crazy over there now that both Mom and Dad are in the stake leadership callings. :) haha that's always fun. :) you're going to do great, Mom!! Probably a little more stressful, but it will be a great experience. :) 

Yeah, that's weird that Josh is home.. Haha I'm glad things are going well for him though. :) yeah, I heard that it takes a while to get used to breathing again... Haha so that should be interesting. :) 

My week went pretty well. Nothing super huge happened, but we are staying busy for sure. It's weird being out in the middle of nowhere. The closest missionaries to us are 30 miles away. Haha it's all good though. :) it's kinda fun. The weather here has been good. It rained a lot when we first got here, but it hasn't been lately. It's just super hot all the time... It's summer here and it is super humid... Well, it's summer all year round here, but it gets extremely hot during the actual summer months. Haha our area is pretty small, so yeah, we've been all over our area. It's been good. I pretty much know where everything is now, so that's always nice. :) my comp is good. Things are going well. He goes home in November so I might be his last comp. This is his second to last transfer so we will find out next transfer.  

So, as far as callings go, I technically don't have one. "Technically." Haha however I did teach Gospel Principles and Elders Quorum yesterday. Haha so that was interesting. Found out last minute so I kind of just winged it. :) haha it went well though I think. I suppose that's the good thing about being a missionary, you can wing it and still do something well because of the spirit. Haha but that was my spiritual experience for the week. It was super cool being able to just pick up the topic and teach. Elders Quorum has both Spanish and English in it, so we have to translate and when the Hispanic members would comment, I would translate for the English members and stuff. It was fun. Haha anyways, it was just a cool experience because I was able to teach and people were commenting and agreeing with things, and I hadn't planned any of it. And all of them are a lot older than me and they have families of their own, and I'm nowhere near that point. Haha it was just really cool, the spirit was really strong.  

The scripture this week is going to be Moses 1:4. It kind of goes along with my lesson in Elders Quorum. I taught about the talk given by President Uchtdorf Sunday Morning. "We are made of the stuff of eternity." We do not like endings. Why? Because we do not have an end. It is not in our nature. Things that seem to us like they are "ending" are jus opportunities for us to grow even more. When good things in our lives come to an end, it is because we are finished growing and cannot grow any more in that circumstance. It is kind of like a fish. If you put a fish in a small bowl of water and feed it and take care of it, it will grow, but cannot outgrow the bowl. Eventually, it will stop growing because it cannot get bigger than the bowl. However, if you take that fish and put it in a big tank of water, it will continue to grow  until it is a good size for that tank. It is the same with us. In our current circumstance, we can learn and grow, but eventually we cannot grow anymore, do Heavenly Father puts us in a bigger "tank" and we are then able to continue to grow. It might be sad, we might not want to leave our current tank, but that is what is best. Heavenly Father loves us and has made us so that we will continue to grow. "There are no true endings, only everlasting beginnings." 

I love you all!! Keep up the great work wherever you are and The Lord will take care of you!! Have a wonderful week and I will talk to you in September!! 

Love,

Elder Moyes

 

 

"Let not your heart be troubled"

As the end of summer and the beginning of a new school year is upon us I thought that as usual Alex's scripture was so in tune.
No matter how old my kids get I still get a little nervous for them to start up a new year of school. They are good kids and are smart when they want to be :) but it is once again sending them out into the world where they are vulnerable that makes me worry some. Out where they have to make choices, hard choices, on a daily basis as to how they will live their lives. And while they have made a lot of those choices in their minds already it is still a different ball game when they have to make those choices surrounded by friends or other peers who may or may not be supportive. Taylor read a funny quote to us a while back about someone saying something like, my parents won't let me watch certain things on TV yet they send me to school. It can be so true, some of the things they are exposed to in the halls make my cringe. And yet, we have this true gospel that is a gospel of hope. Even though they are in this world they do not have to be of this world.
In a talk given to the youth in October 2011 by President Boyd K. Packer he spoke about having hope even in the darkest of times.
"With all that is going on in the world, with the lowering of moral standards, you young people are being raised in enemy territory. We know from the scriptures that there was a war in heaven and that Lucifer rebelled and, with his followers, "was cast out into the earth." He is determined to disrupt our Heavenly Father's plan and seeks to control the minds and actins of all. This influence is spiritual, and he "is abroad in the land."
"But despite the opposition, trials, and temptations, you need not fail or fear..... But as a servant of the Lord, I promise that you will be protected and shielded from the attacks of the adversary if you will heed the promptings that come from the Holy Spirit."
What an amazing promise and so full of hope. I am so grateful for directed leaders who teach by the spirit and give us comfort in all things.
So as this week gets under way I will have hope. I will listen as their father gives them a father's blessing and be encouraged by the words of hope our Father in Heaven will share with them. I will continue to pray for them in all they do out there in the world without me right by their side. I will listen and hear the challenges they may have and pray to have the wisdom to help them through. And I will pray that when I am not with them that they will remember who they are and that they are loved. I will pray for my missionary who is not my little boy anymore but who is a man, wise beyond is 19 years, who has learned that God is there for him in all things and who has developed a personal relationship with Him that will carry him through all he will face especially when he is away from home.
"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." John 14:27

Hola!!

 

I'm glad to hear that Emily had a great birthday!! Sorry my present is late... It's on it's way though. :) I explained the lateness in the letter. :P haha I'm not quite sure how I feel about you dating, but I'm sure you'll have fun. :) just not too much fun.. ;) sorry that I couldn't find a rose here to use. :/ I'm glad that it all worked out though. :) I'm very proud of you Em! 

 

Congrats on the tournament wins!! I think it's funny how the other team always realizes how good T is and so they cover him like crazy. Haha keep up the great work T! And of course Dad is basically the best coach out there. :) it sounds like you guys are going to have a good team again, if everyone continues to work hard. :) 

That is so weird that school is starting again... It really makes absolutely no difference for me, so I think that's why it feels weird. :P  but next year it will... Weird..

Things here are going well. Transfers are this Thursday and Hermana Lauricella is going home so the sisters left today. Sister Yoshikawa is in Sebring until Thursday and so she will still be at district meeting on Wednesday. Everything got handed off and things are going well. Hopefully things continue to pick up. We might be getting callings after all. Right now we teach gospel principles but we might be in one or two of the auxiliary presidencies until things get going. So we are very busy.., it's really good though. :) the branch is super awesome! We don't really have dinners no. Haha things are different over here than they are back home. Basically president wants us spending as little time as possible sitting down, so if the members feed us it has to have a purpose. They can't just invite us over for dinner. There has to be an investigator there otherwise they can just pack us a meal and we can take it to go. Members hate it. they want to get to know us and feed us, but they can't really. It's okay though. 

 
So the spiritual experience was on Saturday. There was a huge storm and we couldn't leave the apt. Lightning was literally right outside. So we stayed in and did some stuff. But then the sisters called and Hermana Lauricella wanted a blessing. She is going home and she was here for 10 1/2 months so it was kind of hard. So at the time we were supposed to give the blessing, the storm cleared up and we went to the church. It was pretty cool. She asked me to give the blessing. It has been a while since I have had the opportunity to give a blessing and it was just amazing. I love the Priesthood. :) the spirit was super strong and she cried, and of course I cried. It's always such an amazing experience because you can just feel how much God loves the people you are blessing. That was the spiritual experience for the week. :)

The scripture this week is going to be John 14: 27. I love this scripture... I'm going to actually put the whole thing in the email this time. It says: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." I love this scripture because Christ is telling us that we need not worry. He is there for us and He will not let us down. He will give us peace in times of trial and tribulation. However, He will not give us what the world thinks peace is. He is not going to give us anything that the world reveres as good. He is above the world and so He will give us what we need. The world cannot give us what Christ can give us. And He gives of it freely, as long as we follow him and do our best. He wants us to be happy, so why would He not give us what we need to be truly happy. So be happy!! Christ is right there with you! Read the poem, "Footprints on the Sand." I'm sure most, if not all, of you have read it. Read it again! He loves you and will never leave you! So trust Him. Come unto Him. 

Have an amazing week!! Stay safe and be happy!!! I love you all!! 

Love,

Elder Moyes

New Area, new experiences

Hola!!

 

I'm glad that you guys had a great week! Sounds like everything went well. Sorry to hear about the tournament results, but that's okay. There's always more chances and maybe some other teams needed a chance to win. ;) haha just go kick butt at the Strikers Cup!! 

 

That sounds like it was a super cool combined activity this last week. Those kinds of adventures will definitely give you some great teaching topics and experiences. Haha that's super cool.

 

This week was pretty crazy. On Wednesday we were able to move into our apartment in Wauchula, however there was no electricity until the night. And we didn't get the refrigerator working until Friday. :) it was good though. It's a nice apartment. Some members own it and they haven't rented it out in forever because people just kept ruining it, but they rented it out for us. It is super small, probably the smallest apartment in the mission. We have a kitchen and a bedroom. We study in the kitchen. It's fun. :) haha so far I love it here! The people are amazing! It is super small. There is literally nothing. There is, however, a walmart, which is crazy. Haha that is by far the biggest thing around. It's been fun. :) we ride our bikes around. We also cover Bowling Green and Zolfo Springs which are cities right around us. They are even smaller than Wauchula. Haha there are a lot of Hispanics around and a lot of Rednecks. And I don't find saying that offensive because they keep calling themselves that. Haha I'm probably going to come home saying y'all. :P Right now all of the major branch positions are filled. Some presidencies don't have callings, but we aren't in any of those positions. Right now we are kind of "extended counselors" for the branch president. We basically help him and his counselors reach out a little more. And we teach gospel principles and translate and some other stuff. :P  it's been fun. Oh yeah, it is an English branch, with Spanish translation. It used to be an only Spanish branch, but there were English people who were inactive because the closest English branch is 30 miles away. So they combined it. It's about 50/50 so that is good. :) right now it is me and Elder Jaime and there is a set of sisters as well. Hermana Lauricella has been here since October and Sister Yoshikawa has been here for about a month. They are getting transferred this transfer, well, Hermana Lauricella is going home and Sister Yoshikawa is getting transferred. So we are white washing, but we get to work together for a couple weeks so they can pass stuff off to us. It has actually been really nice not having to start from scratch completely. It's been good. We do not have a branch mission leader though, so we are working with President Parker on that. There are only 2 high priests in the branch. President Parker and his clerk, Brother Cash, because Brother Cash has been a Branch President and Bishop before. The Priesthood definitely needs some help, but so far things are going well. :) also, I am back in the Sarasota zone. Haha so if I am here for Stake Conference I will get to see everybody from Bradenton again! That would be awesome!! So that is basically the update for the area. :)

 

:) I did get my package. Thank you!! I love the plaque. It is on my desk. :) that's a really good quote. 

 

Spiritual experience is probably this new investigator that we found. He is Catholic, but hasn't been baptized and believes some things different than the Catholics do. Well, those differences are the things that make us different than the Catholic Church. So that has been awesome!! He believes in baptizing people who aren't infants because as a baby you don't know what you are doing, nor are you prepared for it. So we told him that's what we do. Haha things like that. It has been really good and we have already taught him several times. Hopefully things keep going well!!

 

The scripture this week is going to be from the talk that you sent me! Haha it is Joshua 14: 11-12. I love these scriptures. Sometimes, life sucks. Let's be honest, it sucks, and things can be almost unbearable. But it is possible to get through every single one of our trials because God is with us. If you read in the scriptures almost everything is very drastic. Moving mountains, parting seas, fire coming down, angels appearing, God and Jesus Christ visiting the people. Why don't we see that as often as we read it? We have these extreme examples in the scriptures to show us what God can do. But why would that be necessary all the time? We know what he can do, but he doesn't need to always do that. If He can do those extreme things, then He can obviously do the little things as well. He understands perfectly what we are going through and He knows what is going to help us learn and grow. So why should we fear when another trial is upon us? Has God not proven to us numerous times that He knows best and He will take care of us? "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for The Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest." (Joshua 1: 9) He is your Father. He will never leave you. So take heart! Bring on the challenges! He will get us through them, and they will benefit us more than they will discourage us. 

 

Have an amazing week! I love you all so much!! Keep working hard and God will provide. 

 

Love,

Elder Moyes 

"Wrestle"

Alex shared a scripture this week in his email, Enos 1:2 "And I will tell you of the wrestle which I had before God, before I received a remission of my sins." 
I pondered on the word wrestle as he did and thought about how we are required to work for each step of progress we make on this earth. It isn't easy. The gospel gives us guidance and direction, but it is still not easy. But would we be really be progressing if it was easy. Would we learn the lessons we need to if all we had to do was blindly obey and if changes were easy. We must commit and recommit each week, each day even, in order to improve. As we "wrestle" with whatever it is we individually are working on or dealing with we have the opportunity to grow and develop a greater understanding of what Enos was talking about and experience what he experienced in Enos 1:4&5 "And my soul hungered; and I kneeled down before my Maker, and I cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul; and all the day long did I cry unto him; yea, and when the night came I did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens. 5 And there came a voice unto me, saying: Enos, thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou shalt be blessed."
When we pray with that kind of faith and conviction the Lord will hear and answer and help. And when we are open to His guidance we will be able to see the change in us, starting with a change in attitude and with that be open to recognizing the blessings in our lives even in dark and difficult times. I'm grateful for my trials, some I created and some out of my control, for allowing me to see the hand of God in my life and in the life of my family. Tender mercies and miracles are evident in each of our lives if we look close and see with open eyes. I am grateful to see Alex recognizing these blessings in his life even when things around him are challenging. He was aware when he left, after many discussions with his dad, church leaders and others who went on missions, that missions weren't always "the best two years" in the sense of easiest two years. Fortunately that guidance has helped him to persevere when he has been working so hard for people who don't always see the benefits of the gospel and dealing with some neck/back pain while in the field. The Stake President happened to be the doctor to treat him, which brought him an extra sense of peace and comfort. While recuperating for a couple of days he had extra time to bond with his new comp that they normally wouldn't have, and learning that Heavenly Father is there for us even when sometimes we feel alone. Things that to some might seem like coincidences but I know are not. We have a loving Heavenly Father who is mindful of each and every one of us and if we pay close attention we can see his hand in our lives. He loves us and wants us to be happy and if we look closely at our lives and count our blessings we can see truly how much.

Buenas!!

So, just a quick update on my neck. I took some meds all week and they stopped Saturday morning. I was feeling better over the weekend, but my neck still hurt, just not even close to as bad. I had full range of motion and could handle the pain, so it was good. I went back to the doctor this morning and... :P he said I am fine now. Doesn't really know what happened, but I'm better. He
said he can't promise that it won’t happen again, so we shall see
how that goes. :) not much of an update, but I am feeling a lot
better, so that's good. :)

That sounds like an AWESOME vacation!! I'm glad that you guys got to go and that you had a great time. :) you got to see a Man U game and a Broncos practice! That's awesome! :) I wish I could have been there, but I'm a little busy at the moment, so I'm glad you guys went. :P I'm also glad that you all stayed safe. :) 

Haha I'm glad that you guys had a good surprise party for Emily. :P haha I'm very glad that you never did that for me, but that's good that she had most of her friends there. I hope that you enjoyed it Em!! (Even if it was a surprise party) ;)

Soccer definitely doesn't take much of a break. :) every time we get back from a trip, it seems to be more than there was before. :) but that's good. I'm glad that things are going well there. I can't wait to hear all the results of tryouts and the tournaments. :) you guys are going to do great!! You always do. :)

Zone conference went pretty well. There wasn't anything super special, but it was good. We went over that Member Missionary Menu that I emailed you guys last week. We are implementing it in our wards and branches now so hopefully the members catch on and start realizing how easy it is. We are going to be following up with them to make sure they do it, so we will see what it reaps. :) 

Honestly, I have not been taking many pictures... I'm really bad, sorry. Haha I have some, but not a lot. I'll try and take some more here. Try. :P haha I do want more pictures, I'm just really bad at taking them.

Well, I have some news. Saturday night the Zone Leaders came over and told me that I am leaving... I'm getting transferred. So, I am in Wauchula now. It is out in the middle of nowhere. There is a Spanish branch here that just opened and they need Priesthood so President had to find two Spanish Elders to put in. So here I am. Haha my new companion is  Elder Jaime. So, yeah. Not exactly sure what to say about it. It was super random. We have three weeks until transfers so we will see what happens then. We are going to go to an apartment in Sebring for a couple days until our apartment is ready, I guess. So I will let you know next week, probably, what my address is.

This week the scripture is going to be Enos 1:2. I love the word "wrestle" in this verse. It shows that it wasn't easy. It wasn't just a rote prayer with no meaning. He sincerely wanted to change. Isn't that why we are here? To change. We want to be different. We want to become better. And that isn't easy. It's not supposed to be. Sometimes we have to "wrestle" in order to change. I challenge each of you to watch the new Mormon message that just came out. It is extremely powerful and one of my all time favorites. Look it up on Mormonchannel.org or lds.org. It is powerful and I hope that each of you know that you are not alone. Even when it is pitch black around us, we are never alone. But nobody is going to "flip on a light switch" to bring us into the light, we have to search it out. God is always there, even when we can't see him. No, especially when we can't see him. (The Hope of God's Light is the new Mormon message)

I hope you all have an amazing week! I love you so much and I will update you some more next week, once we sort of get this all figured out. :) I love you!! 

Love,

Elder Moyes

Because of Him

There was another missionary mom who commented that she needed advice to give her son and he was tired of her always saying he was strong and could do hard things. I had to laugh a little because that is what I always say to Alex :) I've been thinking about that and I want to clarify my answer :) We are not always strong. Sometimes we are very weak and feel very inadequate to handle the tasks ahead of us. Heavenly Father knows that. We can be strong even when weak because of Him, our Savior, our family, the scriptures, good friends, our leaders and countless other ways Heavenly Father has given us to get us through whatever it is we are going through. So even though we don't feel strong we can be strong with help that is in place to be the strength we need when we need it most. Our strength in difficult times comes when we turn over what we cannot control to our Father in Heaven and allow Him to be our strength, then we are strong enough to handle anything. Even at our weakest moments we have strength to accomplish great things with our Heavenly Father's perfect help. 

There was a great quote on our sacrament bulletin today and I thought it was very fitting since that is kind of what I've been thinking about :)

"There is no physical pain, no spiritual wound, no anguish of soul or heartache, no infirmity or weakness you or I ever confront in mortality that the Savior did not experience first. In a moment of weakness we may cry out, "No one knows what it is like. No one understands." But the Son of God perfectly knows and understands, for He has felt and borne our individual burdens. And because of His infinite and eternal sacrifice, He has perfect empathy and can extend to us His arm of mercy. He can reach out, touch, succor, heal and strengthen us to be more than we could ever be and help us to do that which we could never do relying only upon our own power. Indeed, His yoke is easy and His burden is light." Elder David A. Bednar

Alex has had some minor medical issues with his neck but I am amazed at the way he has dealt with this challenge. He said he has seen the blessings even during this difficult time and has been grateful for this set back so that he could see these blessings. I love what these missions can teach our missionaries and each of us as we partake of their spirit.

www.lds.org/youth/video/because-of-him

Hola!!

Girls camp sounds like it was a lot of fun and I am glad that
everybody was safe! :) I am very glad that Emily and Cami are okay.
It's a good thing that they are being watched over. :) I am glad that
you didn't fall, Mom. :) I wasn't sure if you were going to take the
scooter or be on crutches, but I'm glad you stayed safe. :) that
sounds like it is a really good song. Those are some awesome lyrics.
:) also, thank you so much for the talk by Elder Holland. That is an
amazing talk!

Well, this week was a little crazy. We found some new people to teach
and it was a fairly normal week, but the weekend sucked with me being
out of commission and everything... Haha I've decided that this area
hates me. I was able to get the number from the mission office so that
went well. Oh, I forgot to tell you guys that the doctor I went to was
President Pritt. He is our Stake President here so he took good care
of me. He said that it is in the C3 area
of my spine, which is what the chiropractor said a couple months ago
as well, but he had fixed it then. Not exactly sure what has happened
yet, but hopefully it gets better. I am going to go back next Monday
so I'll update you then as well. 

Sorry, but this weeks update is a little short. Not much to update on.
Next week should be longer. We have a Zone Conference on Wednesday and
it should be really good, so I am excited for that. I will let you
know how that goes and I'll let you know what Doctor President Pritt
says next week. :)

Alright, so the spiritual thought and the scripture are going together
again this week.  The scripture is D&C 121: 7. I know that you all
know this one, but I had a really cool experience with it this week.
We were riding our bikes and we saw this guy sitting in a chair
messing with his phone. We stopped and talked to him and it turns out
that he is going through a really tough time. His wife left him due to
her friends not liking him and she is trying to take full custody of
their daughter and he is struggling financially as well as emotionally
through all of this. He was very glad that we stopped by and he felt
like we were an answer to his prayers. So before we left we showed him
the video, Because of Him. I love this video. Every time I watch it
the spirit is so strong... So while he is watching it, the spirit just
hit me stronger than it has in a while and this scripture popped into
my head and I knew how much God loved this man and how He was watching
over this man. It was just an amazing feeling and I am so grateful for
the trials that we go through. When we are in the middle of them, they
suck, but we grow from them. I haven't been able to get out of bed for
the past 2 days, but I have already seen so many blessings from this
trial and I have no doubt that God is watching over me. I know that He
is watching over each of you as well. He loves you and wants you to be
happy. Sometimes we go through hard times, but if we didn't have those
hard times, the good times wouldn't be as good. Sometimes we feel
alone, but we aren't. We are never alone. He never leaves us.
Sometimes we just can't see him next to us because he is behind us
pushing us through to the end.

I love you!! Keep on pushing through your trials and recognize the
blessings in your lives! Take time and say a prayer of gratitude. Do
not ask for anything, just go through everything that you are thankful
for. Look for the blessings, even in the darkest abyss of turmoil. Be
happy. Show your love. And have fun! Have a great week!!

Love,
Elder Moyes

Charity, Study, Courage

I'm a little behind in posting so here is a little catch up....

Buenas!! 7-9-14

It's always so great to hear about your week. I'm sorry that EFY didn't really go as planned. :/ but I am glad that Em and T were able to still have a great time at the property. :) I can't wait to see it with all the new changes! It looks great! (Grandma sent me some pictures)

I would go through and comment on everything, but I don't have as much time today. We just barely got to the church. So here is the deal with transfers: president completely changed everything so now we get an email on Sunday mornings telling us if we are leaving, staying, or training. Also, departing missionaries go to Tampa on Monday, have dinner and leave home on Tuesdays. New missionaries come in on Tuesdays and have training all day Wednesdays. Then transfer meeting is on Thursday. Super weird, but it'll be fun. So we got an email yesterday morning with everybody's info on it. It said that Elder Snell, Elder Laguna and I will all be leaving... So we told the whole ward on Sunday and we started packing and cleaning and everything. Then today we got a couple phone calls. Elder Laguna found out he will be in a full bike area, but that's all that he knows. And I found out that I am staying... Haha random, right? So now I am staying and receiving a new companion. So that will be fun. :) haha I'm just glad I don't have to pack. :P so that is the deal with transfers.

Alright, so Fourth of July was pretty fun. We didn't do much, but our ward had a huge BBQ and fireworks show on Thursday night. They have it every year and this year was the most people ever. Everybody invites anybody they can. Haha it was super awesome. It was exhausting going around and talking to everybody we didn't know, but it was good. :) then on Friday we had another BBQ with the ward mission leader and his entire family. It was good. Haha was still a normal day, we just got fed. :P haha

Alright, so, as usual, the scripture and spiritual experience are going to be combined. The scripture is Moroni 7: 45- 48. Yes, 45 is scripture mastery. Okay, so yesterday was fast and testimony meeting and this one guy got up and talked about while he was at the MTC they had a Q&A with an apostle (I don't remember which one). Anyways, one of the missionaries asked something along the lines of, "after all of the ordinances and everything we have to do, what basically is the key to get into the celestial kingdom?" Pretty good question right? Well, here is the answer: "Oh, that's an easy question. Charity. That is what you will need." I thought that was an interesting answer. Why charity? What is charity? Well, we know it is the pure love of Christ. But what does that mean? It is pure. Unshaken. Unbroken. Undying. What do you think of when you think of charity? Probably something along the lines of service or helping someone in need? Maybe just listening to someone or showing someone that you care. I think those are definitely charitable things, but charity is much deeper than that. It is more than just acting and doing something for someone. It is a part of who you are. You stop focusing on what people need right now and you start focusing on what they need eternally. You have a sincere desire to help them find out who they really are. You see them as they are, children of God. You see their potential and you have a desire to left them to that potential. Charity does not always focus on other people. We need to have charity with ourselves as well. We cannot belittle or degrade ourselves when we make mistakes. Sometimes it is hard. We know what God wants of us and when we mess up, we bring ourselves down. But we need to see ourselves as God sees us. Do you know that you are a child of God? Do you feel it? If not, then find out. Go ask. You will receive an answer. And once you know who you truly are, then go help someone find out who they are. Does your family know who they are? Do your friends know? Do the people around you know that they are each a child of a glorious and all powerful God who loves them? If not, help them find out. Charity is something we all need and we can only obtain it from God. Do as verse 48 says and pray with all the energy of heart. He will give it to you! 

I love you all and I hope you have a wonderful week! Stay safe and be happy!! Read your scriptures and pray! I love you!

Love,

Elder Moyes

7-14-14

Sounds like missionary work over there is really starting to pick up. :) I'm glad that President Hutchison is so on top of that. That's a super cool story about what the mission president did. President Cusick did a similar thing too. Haha that's awesome. 

Well, it's been a long week. I got a new companion and we are the only missionaries in the whole ward, and we are no longer full car, so that makes no sense. Haha we get more work and a bigger area and they put us on bikes. So now we won't get to see most of our area, but that's okay, I suppose. I don't mind biking, it just upsets me that we can't go see anybody down south. Also, they made us move back to Miami Blvd. So here is my new address:

19124 Miami Blvd

Fort Meyers, Florida, 33967

It's the same one I used to live in when I first got to Bonita.

My new comp is Elder Clark. He came out at the same time as me. Yeah, we are just one area now. We teach both Spanish and English still. 

Okay, so along with the scripture this week I am including a quote. The scripture is in the quote. So here it is:

“When I say ‘study,’ I mean something more than reading. It is a good thing sometimes to read a book of scripture within a set period of time to get an overall sense of its message, but for conversion, you should care more about the amount of time you spend in the scriptures than about the amount you read in that time. I see you sometimes reading a few verses, stopping to ponder them, carefully reading the verses again, and as you think about what they mean, praying for understanding, asking questions in your mind, waiting for spiritual impressions, and writing down the impressions and insights that come so you can remember and learn more. Studying in this way, you may not read a lot of chapters or verses in a half hour, but you will be giving place in your heart for the word of God, and He will be speaking to you. Remember Alma’s description of what it feels like: ‘It beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me’ [Alma 32:28]” (“When Thou Art Converted,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2004, 11–12). - Elder D. Todd Christofferson. I really like that quote. It puts studying into perspective and shows us that reading isn't the only thing that we need to do. It is a lot harder for people to study than to just read, but we get so much more out of it when we sit down and truly study the scriptures. We can receive answers to all of our questions because when we study, we not only get what the words are saying, but we open ourselves to feeling the guidance and promptings of the Holy Ghost. That is where we receive our answers.

I love you all!! I hope that you all have a wonderful week!! Stay safe and have fun!!

Love,

Elder Moyes

7-21-14

Buenas!!

I am very glad that you are able to get to girls camp, Mom! But I hope that things start getting better with your leg. Hopefully it heals faster. :) haha just stay safe and don't try to over exert yourself like you usually do when you are hurt. :) just be careful and have fun. :) 

It seems like everybody has been having a pretty busy week with soccer and training and getting ready for girls camp. It's always weird going from one super busy week to one that's not so busy. But it's good. :) I hope you all have a great week. 

I really love all the quotes. :) I will save those. Haha thank you. :) quotes are always amazing. :) and we are on car share now, so we get the car every other week. So that's nice at least. We can actually get down south some of the time, but even still we barely go down there. It kinda sucks to be honest. But it's okay. We are working hard, things are just kind of going slow. And yeah, I have FB back now so I can use it. I don't get on much, but I am allowed to now.

Alright, so as far as the spiritual experience goes, we took one of the recent converts out to help us with some lessons. His name is Frank and he is 17. He is the only member in his family. Well, all of the lessons that we had planned fell through... He was with us for just over 2 hours when we finally just took him back home. We got there and he brought us in and turned the tv off and told his siblings that we were having a lesson. He just basically taught the whole thing. He testified of the Book of Mormon and how much he loves them and how he wants them to be a happy family. It was awesome!! His sister is going to come to church next week. It was pretty cool. He has been a member for about 7 months now, so that was awesome! Hopefully we will be able to continue to teach them.

The scripture this week is going to be Acts 5: 41-42. The background is that Peter and John were preaching in the name of Jesus Christ and this council did not want them to do that, so they threatened them, imprisoned them, and now they have beaten them and warned them to not preach anymore. I love verse 41. Peter and John were REJOICING that they had the opportunity to be beaten on behalf of The Lord. They had the courage to stand up for what they believed in. They were literally beaten, and yet, sometimes we are afraid to declare our beliefs because we might have a friend who thinks a little less of us. Really? Are we not taught that we must fear God and not men? Wouldn't you rather offend some random person here, than offend God? After this life that person will understand anyways! So open your mouth! There are people everywhere who need to hear the gospel. We are not here to maintain this work, we are here to hasten it. This work is the single most important work on the face of this planet. There is absolutely nothing, I repeat nothing, that is more important than this work. I hope that all of you see that. You are right in the middle of all of this and I don't want you to miss out! I love each of you and want you to receive and see the wonderful blessings and miracles that come with being a part of this amazing work!

I hope that you each have a wonderful and safe week!! Keep smiling and have fun!! I love you all!!

Love,

Elder Moyes