The Valley is on Fire!

June 20, 2016

Hello.

Usually, weeks are hard for me to remember. For whatever reason, this week is even harder for me to remember. It went by way to quickly. I think it is because I went on back to back exchanges this week, once with Elder Criddle in Zillah, and once with Elder Barbour in Yakima. Speaking of Zillah, they have baptized weekly this entire month and have another baptism this week. They are leaving the rest of us in the dust! The Zillah Elders also have me sing at every baptism they have, so the Zillah ward is getting to know me quite well. As for exchanges with Elder Barbour, I had a blast getting to know their on-date Kevin, trunking out Elder Barbour who goes home in 2 weeks, and painting airport fire hydrants. That was cool, because we got these little security passes and got to watch planes take off from inside the fence. So legit. Also, Elder Barbour and I were singing in the car very loudly on our way to the service, when we realized that some sisters from Selah had been on the other end of the line for like 5 minutes. Awesome. 

Our 9 year old on-date, Tyler, didn't come to church this week, which means that we have to move his date back a Saturday. That was a bummer, because we really wanted to contribute to the zones goal for June. But life will go on. Probably. 

We met an awesome guy named Joe this week. He's a super friendly older Hispanic guy, and he's got that glow about him that people have when you know that they will eventually get baptized. Any missionaries out there that know what I mean? He's very put together and not crazy, which is pretty cool. And the entire time we were talking to him, he was saying things like "I really feel like it's time I figure out why I'm here" and "when I saw you guys, I knew that you had answers for me" and "please baptize me today." That last one wasn't verbally expressed, but missionaries are also mind readers, so yeah. We are so excited to teach him. 

We had some funny moments this week, like when we called the Zillah Elders during a prayer that they were having with an investigators and they accidentally answered. We didn't know that they were praying, so throughout the prayer a faint "HELLLOOOOOO ZILLAAAH. COME IN ZILLAH. DO YOU READ ME." was heard. haha. 

An investigating family of 11 that moved to Mabton recently moved back to Sunnyside. so we will start teaching them soon. Aw yeah. 

Between cherry season and all the work to do, we are being fed--both literally and spiritually. The lower valley is on fire!

Peace and Blessin's!

Elder Moser

Skunks, Squirrels, and 70's

June 13, 2016

Hello.

It's been a pretty strange week. A lot of our investigators have temporarily or permanently left town, so we were kind of starting a few things over again. But we still had some awesome lessons and met some really cool people. We also met a guy that keeps calling us so that we can exercise some demons out of him, so that's a thing, too. 

Last Monday, we had a district p-day at Coby's house. But since there are only 2 sisters in our district, it is church policy that for them to go inside a building with us, there has to be a 3rd female. So Elder Coby and I, being the geniuses that we are, devised a plan. We invited a member of the ward that will be leaving on his mission soon, Allen, to come over and hang out with us, and to bring his non-member girlfriend so that the sisters could go inside. After p-day was over, Elder Dodson and I sat down with Allen and his girlfriend and she started asking us tons of questions. We ended up having a very spiritual lesson, and then washed it down with a home-cooked meal by Brother Johnson. It was awesome. It was especially awesome because back when I was companions with Elder Johnson and Allen was out with us, we always threatened him that we would go to his girlfriends house instead of where we told him we would go. We seriously stressed the poor guy out a few times. It was hilarious. But now he sees that missionary work isn't always so serious. Sometimes it really is fun and games!

We also had some other awesome moments with investigators last week. We gave Ana a church tour, taught our 9 year old on-date the plan of salvation. We also taught David, our 25 year old soon to be on date, the Plan of Salvation. It was a super cool lesson, and It was enhanced by the fact that he kept his commitments to read and pray. You really can feel a difference when they have done their homework. It is just awesome!

We also had another baptism in the district! It has a pretty cool story behind it, too. Elder Criddle, who is now serving in Zillah, used to serve down in Hood River Oregon about a year ago. There was one day last year that he had to stay in Zillah with his companion and proselyte there for a few hours because the pass was snowed in and they could not get home after a meeting. They spent most of the time tracting that day, and it wasn't until Elder Criddle was transferred to Zillah a year later that he realized he had met the person that they were preparing for baptism a year ago when they were tracting. Crazy how things work out sometimes! The guy that they baptized, Alex, is so cool. He has got a burning testimony and even though he's only 17, I can see him being a 70 someday and sharing that story over the pulpit of the conference center. Elder Criddle also has a habit of asking me to play the guitar and sing a hymn at every meeting he is in charge of, so that happened. 

Speaking of Elder Criddle, every time we are around each other, something weird happens. For example, on exchanges:

1.) a skunk sprayed right outside of our bedroom window at 2:00 AM. 

2.) A battalion of squirrels were underneath our car when we went outside the next morning. 

3.) He was called by a Daniel L. Johnson of the 70 and asked to have an interview with him at Zone Conference. 

Speaking of Zone Conference, it was incredible. As mentioned above, Daniel L. Johnson of the 70 was there, and when he spoke, he told us all to put away our notebooks, and that the spirit would help us remember the things that really matter. His entire time there he counselled with us how we can better help people recognize their first identity, a child of God. It was so spiritual, and we all left the building practically floating. Afterwards, we went to a pizza place where someone paid for our pizza, and as we walked out of that building we were floating even higher. Elder Criddle said, "how could this day get any better?" and as we approached our car, we saw a tub of redvines on the hood that had a card on it that read, "Hurrah for Isreal!" We listened to a song called "God is Good" the entire way home. What a day.

So that was our week. At least some of it. It's hard to explain all of the awesome moments that come when on a mission, so I'll just leave it there. 

Have  great week, everyone! Love you!

Elder Moser

100 Degrees and Goals for the Zone

June 6, 2016

Last moments with Elder Johnson.

That time we drove a Mustang to the transfer site.

Sunnyside Clan

We had a pretty good week last week! It all started with a Zone P-day BBQ at a members house in Granger. It was so much fun. We played softball as a zone, had some delicious food, and then the Aylings (the members whose house we were at) started a water fight. They had their entire family there, and it felt like a Moser Reunion! I guess their family isn't exactly known for doing things the traditional way.  So by the end, I was totally soaked and had a bunch of ice in my shirt... Good times! Before they started spraying everyone with water, though, they got the zone leaders and "measured them for coffins" (since one is going home soon). They blindfolded them and laid them down on the grass. They got some tape measures and measured their arms, chest, length, etc. and when they got to their legs, they lifted them up and then dumped ice water down their shorts. Hence the water fight. 

It was a bit of a slower week this week, but we have no doubt that it will pick back up. Between graduation week here in Sunnyside and the beginning of cherry harvest, things have been a little crazy. Erica, our new on date from last week, also will be in the Seattle Hospital for a month while she has her baby. So things will pick back up here in a little bit. Jory Anderson, our ward mission leader was also released in church yesterday, so we are sad about that. We're going to miss all the hard work he put into his calling and the free back adjustments at his office. 

We had a really cool Zone Training Meeting last week. Our mission is super unified in our goals, and as a zone we set a goal for 6 baptisms this month. It's a lot lower than the goal usually is, but we all felt like it was what we should go for. The zone leaders also asked me to play the guitar and sing, so I played "Ill Go Where You Want Me to Go" to end the goal setting session. 

There was some really awesome moments from last week, even though it was a little slower than usual. We got some awesome referrals from HQ and found some new people to teach. We also met up with a less active family that we have been working with, had an awesome lesson with their family, and put their 9 year old son, Tyler, on date for the 25th. His parents are both supporting them in his decision, and their entire family is starting to come back. It's so cool to see. 

The church is true, people. Too many miracles happen for it to not be.

Thank you all for the support! it's starting to get a little hot down here, so pray for us :) Love you!

Trainer Trainee Training in Yakima

From Mission  Mom's blog:

May 27, 2016

Elder Dodson & Elder Moser

Trainer/Trainee Training.

After some good training, we separated.  The APs met with the new missionaries downstairs and we met with the trainers upstairs.

These trainers are hand-picked for their goodness, kindness, and for
their ability to do what is asked.  We are grateful to them for preparing this next generation of new missionaries.

 Doctrine of Christ Training

During a quick lunch break, we sent the morning group off and received the next group of missionaries–those who arrived 6 weeks ago and their companions.  Our afternoon training was on the Doctrine of Christ.

I emptied out the fridge and everyone devoured sandwiches and leftovers!

Sunnyside Shenanigans - Transfers, On Dates, and Mustangs

May 30, 2016

Another awesome week in Sunnyside! This last week was a little bit weirder than the last, so I'll share a few stories.

Last week was my last few days with Elder Johnson, and I am so bummed about that. We saw tons of miracles together and it is super weird seeing him back as just another member of the ward. He didn't want to go back, either. We both wished that we could just stay companions for the rest of our missions because we are like brothers now. The last few days together were pretty weird as well.

We got 2 new investigators, Marissa and Brianna,  on date for June 25th. So that was awesome.

 We were in a lesson with a crazy guy that just wanted to bash with us and long story short, the lesson escalated to the point where the guy was just ripping on Elder Johnson's grandpa, who happens to be the temple president. I was trying to end the lesson gracefully, but the guy would not let me. So Elder Johnson, the future Navy Seal, stood up, grabbed him by the shoulder, and escorted him out of the church. Good times.

Transfers were on Wednesday, and since Elder Johnson was released as a full time missionary on Tuesday, we got to take his dad's Mustang GT to the transfer site to "save miles." Pulling into the transfer site in his dad's mustang was legendary. A few missionaries were pretty confused and thought that maybe we were just super apostate. Good times.

I'm with my new companion! His name is Elder Dodson, and he's from Joyce WA, up by Forks. He's awesome. He is the definition of fearless. He will talk to anyone anywhere. He is also a 2 transfer missionary, meaning that he will get his actual call while he is out here. It's gonna be sweet seeing two of my trainees leave for other  missions and being able to hear from them! 

A lot of changes have been going on this week. Since the sisters were doubled in, I am now the longest serving English missionary in Sunnyside. So I've been scrambling trying to figure everything out. We also moved apartments this week. We now live out in the country in a little cottage that I'm pretty sure used to be for the Migrant workers. It's pretty sweet. We also have a sweet view of Mount Adams and Rainier. It's different being just the two of us. I got used to sharing everything with another companionship in our last apartment, but I'll adjust. I did for 6 months already. Haha. We also live behind some members that feed us a lot of incredible food. They are officially our grandparents. We have had to start running just to stay alive. 

I have some pretty awesome pictures from this last week, but we are using different computers today that can't upload pictures. So I'll have to share next week.

Love you all! Have a great Memorial Day!