"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