Elder Nathan S Moser: Climbing Dinosaurs and Baptizing Converts

May 16, 2016

This past week was so busy that it feels like several weeks have gone by since I wrote last. It also feels like only a few days have gone past. Time flies by when you are busy! Last week we had a day where we had an appointment scheduled for every hour of the day, and every single appointment went through. It was awesome! We also went to the temple. How can you not love the temple? :)

Some quick things:

1. We helped a guy named Juan lay sod, and as soon as he met us, he told us that white guys don't last. So we worked extra hard to prove him wrong. You've never met a white boy from Idaho, Juan.

2. We climbed Dinosaurs.

3. We met a lady who wants to talk to us because she has family in Blackfoot.

4. I met a guy at Zillah Days who graduated from Blackfoot and served in this mission 30 years ago.

5. There's a crazy homeless guy who's restraining order just expired and he's starting to come to church again.

Rosa dropped a bomb on us this week. She told us that she is moving to Pasco, and she moved last week. For those of you who are unaware, that really stinks because we were really close to getting her baptized. Like she only needed to come to church one more time. Oh, well. The missionaries down there are about to get one of the best referrals of all time. Anyway, after she moved, we were driving past her dad's house where she used to live and we saw her car outside. So we squealed a U-turn and knocked the door to see if we could talk to her one more time. A big Mexican guy answered and said that she was busy, but being the fearless missionaries we are, one thing led to another, and soon we (Elder Johnson) were sitting at his kitchen table getting ready to arm wrestle this 50 year old beefed-up Mexican guy. I'm getting ready for my companion to teach this guy a lesson, and not the message of the Restoration. Long story short, he cheated, and then bragged about how he had never lost an arm wrestle in his life, and that only a few days before he had had a vision about how is a modern day prophet-Samson guy that can never be beaten because of God's power in his arm. So that was our experience with Rosa's dad.

Michele was baptized on Sunday! It was a bit of a stressful experience because I have never had a baptism before. The Spanish Branch had a baptism 2 hours before ours, and the original plan was to keep the font full for ours. But long story short, we checked the font 20 minutes before the baptism and there was like a foot of water in there. Apparently the drain leaks.

Good to know.

So Elder Johnson and I turned it on full blast and were running in between the service in the chapel and the font every 5 minutes checking if it was full. By some miracle, the font filled in only 20 minutes and, even though it was a little cold, the service was an awesome experience. Michele has been so prepared and has known that the gospel is what she has needed in her life for a long time. Watching somebody take that step of faith is the most rewarding part of the mission. Standing in the circle during the confirmation was just as rewarding and confirmed to my heart that my Heavenly Father is proud of His missionaries, even when the baptisms take a long time to come.

Overall, it was an awesome week. We found lots of new people to teach, and I have really been working hard on fearing no man. Every morning as a missionary, you've got to get up and tell yourself, "I fear no man". More often than not, you have to be persistent with people. Maybe even a little pushy, even though that isn't the right word. Missionaries can not give up on anybody. We share the worlds most important truths, and when we realize that, it becomes so much easier to be persistent out of love. Example: We taught a lady the restoration while she was walking her dog, and even though it was a little different, we have a return appointment with her tonight. As long as you're not too weird about it, everything will turn out. You've got the Lord on your side :)

Peace and blessin's,

Elder Moser