I'm Feeling 20!

January 9, 2017-20th birthday

What a week.

I got your package on Saturday, and I was AMPED. It was the best package I have gotten on my mission. I feel like you all knew exactly what I needed -- Right down to the boots. I wasn't sure if I should even ask, but the weather here is pretty bad too. The toothbrush is AWESOME and the sushi is AWESOME and everything is awesome! Thank you! I actually just sent a letter to Brad. I tried to send a package, but Moses Lake has nothing to offer in the unique gifts department. Haha. I hope my siblings aren't too disappointed when I come home and don't have cool coconut monkeys from mexico and stuff.

On Tuesday we had MLC down in Yakima. For the first time in a long time, I got to go an a road trip! It was super fun. We picked up the Zone Leaders in Ephrata, and the STLs in Moses Lake and Ellensburg. Elder Poloncic and I totally felt like parents in our wicked red Swagger Wagon. The meeting itself was really inspiring. Our first full year as a mission has been completed, and we were all pumped to set some goals for the new one! It was also great to see some not so old companions and friends. By the time we got back, it was 9:00... so it definitely wasn't our most productive day. But the rest of the week made up for it!

Our investigators are doing well. We keep trying to set up times to see Singh, but they keep falling through. At one point, we were supposed to see him at the Stake Center; but after 15 minutes of waiting around and calling his phone with no response, we decided to leave and find something more productive. On the way out, we saw none other than Singh drive by on his way to the stake center. But, because Moses Lake got wrecked with snow this week, we couldn't turn around easily and by the time we got there he had left. YSA work is difficult like that, I guess. We also met with some other YSA's this week, and I am starting to recognize the challenge behind it. The YSA here are all really cool, but a lot of our investigators talk to us because Moses Lake has nothing else to do. So it's a bit more of a challenge to find out their interest level. 

It's been a good past couple of days! We found lots of new investigators and have several teaching appointments set up with them for this upcoming week. We felt super tired by the end of it, but that's a good thing! My parents also sent me an awesome birthday package that had some of my favorite things in it, including a sonic toothbrush that cleans your teeth with science. Legit. Anyway, even though I can't remember the details of this week because I forgot my journal because I'm forgetful, it was a great one. Elder Poloncic and I are motivated to find, teach, and baptize!

I'm sorry the emails have been so lame lately. I feel like I constantly don't have time to do the things that I need to do, including writing these. Time is flying by, and I don't really know how that happens. But it does!

Love you all! 

Elder Moser

​Are those pants on that flagpole?

​Ride down to MLC. "Smile, everyone."

​I might have already shared this in one of my past emails, but I just found it again.
Throwback to when we toured Yakima County's Chief Coroners office! Most of the smiles here are fake.
Except for Sister Holmes, she's a psychopath. Haha just kidding.

Mission Leadership Council Pics

January 3, 2017

Tender Mercies and Blizzards

January 2, 2017

This week was great! 

I'm finally starting to learn who everyone is! Most of the people in the YSA are back in town after the holidays, so yesterday at church there was actually more than 4 people. And the YSA is pretty big. It fills up a whole (small) chapel! I'm excited to get to work. They all seem really cool.

On Tuesday, I was on exchanges with Elder Putnam on the "Peninsula," which is the central part of Moses Lake surrounded by water. I also rode a bike for the first time on my mission. I didn't even break myself, even though we were riding in the snow. I loved it! Elder Putnam is a hard worker, and we had a blast cruising around town.

Elder Poloncic and I are seeing great success in our finding. We have been getting a lot of referrals lately for the YSA, and we have appointments scheduled this week with some new investigators. 

So before I got to Moses Lake, the YSA Elders were teaching a Indian guy named Verinder Singh. He was on-date for baptism and was even bringing his friends to church at one point, and then he dropped of the face of the earth without telling anyone where he went. His phone number was out of service, so we lost all contact with him. Yesterday, However, we got a text from our Elders Quorum President saying that Singh got a new number and that he wanted us to have it. We were super excited to finally get in contact with him! This guy is apparently very elect, and we are just pumped. Obviously. He hasn't told us what's happened exactly, but we are scheduled to see him this week!

Another guy that we were working with went to jail this week... So you win some you lose some, I guess. But the Lord always provides :)

Our New Year's eve was pretty uneventful. We had to be in the apartment by 6, and we spent the rest of the night planning. Our New Years day was fun though! 11th ward started at 1:00, and the YSA started at 2:00, so we're in church until about 5:30. That's gonna be weird.

My brain is pretty fried from everything that happened this week. It's been one of those where you've been super busy all week, but you just forget everything that happened. Haha. 

I've been thinking a lot lately about the Book of Mormon. Here's an analogy: What is easier? Navigating a dark cave based on someones explanation of the obstacles that lie in the way? Or just using a flashlight yourself? Too often, we get caught up in trying to solve our investigators problems with our words. We have the words of God in our lives, the "flashlight," but we get caught up in just telling people what they mean instead of just giving them their own source of light. As a missionary, we always should turn people to the source of the answer, not just the answer itself, because the Holy Ghost teaches way better than we ever could. The Holy Ghost is waiting to teach you from the scriptures, so turn to them daily :)

Love you all!

Peace and blessin's,

Elder Moser

​Elder Poloncic wanted a fancy glass for his New Year Martinelli's, but he could only find this vase haha!

Merry Christmas!

​The Moser Clan :)

December 26, 2016

Merry Christmas everyone! I feel like I shouldn't even be writing right now since I saw my family yesterday over Skype. It was the best ever. But I will try my best to clear my egg-nog cluttered mind and remember what we did last week!

This past week has been a little crazy. I don't even really know what's happened. But I am finally learning who everyone is! Basically, we're teaching a bunch of part member families. Last week we met with a 13 year old, Jay, who's mom is a returned less-active and who's father is not a member. His dad doesn't have any interest in the church, but Jay has been investigating for a while. In his lesson last week, we invited another 13 year old non-member named Lawrence. We also tracted into a less-active who's daughter, Rachel, is not a member. We also taught another family who's 13 year old son Ryan is not a member. We also met with another 13 year old girl named Kylee who's mom is not a member. We got in and watched the Light the World video, and we can tell she felt the spirit. We will be seeing her later this week! 

So yeah, we're teaching like a million 13 year olds. It's been incredible, though! We've been working closely with the Young Women's and Young Men's  Presidents, and they have been working with the youth to fellowship them. It is really cool working with part member families because the spirit has already touched the lives of so many of them; they just need a little push in the right direction so that they can feel it more often :)

On Christmas Eve, we had a blast! We made a bunch of cookies and other treats with some of my favorite elders, and then that night, our whole district got together to go caroling to investigators and less-actives in each of the areas. It was a blast. If I could be a professional caroler, I totally would. It didn't matter if we sang to an old couple, a young family, or a YSA; everyone responded very positively. It was so cool feeling our light and their light grow a little bit brighter that night :)

Christmas Day was also pretty sweet! I Finally got to open the package from my family that I've been lugging around for years, and we even got a few presents from members! Packages are the best. One of the part member families that we caroled to the night before also came to church for the first time, so that was pretty awesome. Of course, Skyping the ol' family was definitely the highlight of my day. It was good to see that my family is still goofy as ever :)

Being a missionary is really, really, really cool. I love it, and I love this gospel and how real it is. Christmas is such an amazing time of year to forget yourself and remember others and their needs! If you feel like you could have done more for others this Christmas, then go out and do it. Turn some of those Light the World daily suggestions into New Year's resolutions, and keep the your light bright so that others can burn brighter!

Love you all!

Elder Moser

Put us right to work with a correlation meeting with the Stake Presidency.

Moses Lake Stake Presidency, minus Pres. Tolley.

Freezing rain last week was not nice to Becky.
It also made us super late to our interviews with President Lewis

After caroling with the District! We actually sounded pretty good, if you can believe that.

a

​My tag is gone in this picture because I lost it... But I just got a new one in the mail, so no worries!

​Does this new sweater match my smolder?

Week 1 in Moser Lake!

Dec 19, 2016

Hey everyone! I guess first things first:

My new companion's name is Elder Poloncic (Pronounced Elder Puh-lawn-sick). He's super cool and a hard worker. We get along super well and laugh way too much. Between laughing and shivering, our sides constantly ache. I don't really know how I keep lucking out with such awesome companions!

I am officially in Moses Lake! It's pretty much how everyone has described it. It's a hole in the middle of the desert with a population of around 30,000. And for the past week, it's been hovering around 5 degrees. We've also tracted in the negatives a few times, so I can cross that off my bucket list! The people here are amazing. The church is very strong in this area and there are tons of members. Everyone here is some kind of farmer, and there are no orchards-just a ton of huge factories and chemical plants. I miss the rolling landscape with vineyards and orchards of the Yakima Valley, but I feel right at home here :)

Our area is pretty weird. With all the areas I've served in and with all of the areas that I've seen, I don't think that any area could be boonier than the Moses Lake 11th Ward. Everything is very spread out and extremely rural. We're not really fishers of men, we're more like hunters because it takes a while to even find a house! Even though our areas geography is pretty weird, the work here is amazing. We are working with several part member families. I would mention some here, but I cant keep their names straight; so I'll just wait till a later email. Haha. The 11th ward has also been having a challenge between the young men and the young women to see which group can invite the most non-members to church. Yesterday, a Junior named Shawn came to church with one of the families, and he really enjoyed himself. He told us that he was excited to come on Christmas! The members here are just awesome and love missionaries, so we are excited to start working with Shawn :)

I think I forgot to mention this last week, but we also cover the Moses Lake YSA, which is the largest YSA in the mission. That isn't really saying much because their are only like 4 YSAs, but still. It's actually a ward! It's full of tons of cool members, and apparently we're working with some pretty cool investigators there as well.

Welp, I could probably write more, but whatever. I don't really know what's going on still. Also, it's pretty cold these days, so If my hands fall off before next Monday, you may not get an email. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Elder Moser

Ammon, the Yakima YSA that was coming back to church. He's so funny.

 I'm pretty sure he was singing a song from Saturday's Warriors when this picture was taken.

My boi Maseo.

Playing the Taylor one last time before I leave :(

COLD transfer day.

With my Christmas box I am extremely proud of....and off for Moses Lake!

My ride to Moses Lake was with Sister Yvonne Tolley, who was
a friend to my parents during residency in New York state.

Me and Elder Tietjen! I was so pumped when I found out he was my District Leader! 

#Yakima4evr

Looks like a big city, but it's actually just a chemical plant in our area. Or the north pole.

​Ron Ellis's Brother gave me this jacket in Cottonwood Canyon. What a guy.

BRRRR~!

Elder Poloncic and I trying to stay alive in our van, Becky. Yep, we drive a van.

Leaving the Yakima Valley

Dec. 12, 2016

Well, I guess it has finally begun. The snow is everywhere, and it's cold. I was reading my journal the other day from when I was back in Coulee Dam. To quote myself; "I am PUMPED for the snow!" I'm just gonna let you all know that this year, the feelings are not the same. It really wouldn't be all that bad, but the sudden 8 inches of snow has made it impossible to get to a lot of places in our car. For example, yesterday we were trying to tract and we were driving up a very long, steep, unpaved driveway (Like a lot of the driveways in our area) that switch-backed up this hill. From that experience, however, we learned that Anti-lock brakes don't work when your sliding backwards. #Godsnotdead.

The week was great though! We went with the FHE last monday to the 7th Day Adventist church's "Journey to Bethlehem," a live nativity were you journey with your group to Bethlehem to pay taxes to the Romans. Along the way, you talk to shepherds, lepers, and people in the streets trying to sell you pottery and stuff. The highlight was when we were actually in the tax collectors tent. I was picked out of the group (some YSA, some random strangers) by a Roman Soldier. He pointed at me and shouted, "You there! What's your first name?" 

"Uhh, Elder. Elder Moser."

"You're lying! That's the most ridiculous name I've ever heard!"

"Yep."

After paying our taxes, there was one guy that tried to get away without leaving a coin. The Roman Soldiers wrestled him out of the tent, while the guy was screaming, "It was Elder Moser!" So now there's a new hashtag in the branch, #ElderMoserDidIt. It got some good laughs :) Ammon, the LA that we met for the first time last week also came, and he loved it!

On Tuesday, I was on exchanges with Elder Black, a convert cowboy from Erda, Utah. We had tons of fun together, and he was actually pretty excited about knocking the doors of all the farmers and ranchers in our area. He really clicks with them! We also had a lesson with Tim, who is doing better. He says that he wants to come back to church, but we have yet to see him there. Either way, it was good for his Deacon age son, Tavis, to get an invite to some upcoming scouting events form the member we brought with us.

On Wednesday, we had our Mission's Southern Half Christmas Gathering. We held the party at the Tree's house, which is like a maze inside. So many rooms, and so much party space! We had a great time socializing, seeing old friends, and waiting in line to try out the Tree's futuristic toilet. We also watched "Ephraims Rescue," and our zone performed the "Samuel the Lamanite/Go Tell it on the Mountain" song. It was a blast!

On Thursday, after coming up from the Lower Valley's District Council, we met our stake president, President Hendricks, for some Peach Shakes at Major's. By the time we left, it was snowing pretty hard, and the snow was sticking. Afterwards, we went with Jerald to a lesson with JC. It was Jerald's first time driving in the snow, so we thought we were going to die. Yakima is kind of hilly in some spots, so people were loosing their traction at intersections. Elder Bird and I hopped out to push a few people through stop signs. Party. 

This week wasn't the most productive for missionary work, which is a bummer; but we still saw our people. In the YSA, JC is doing well. He wanted to learn more about Joseph Smith because he feels like he can relate, so we left him to read JSH 1-20. When we came back, he told us that he had read JSH all the way through and he kept reading through all of the JST's. Haha. He wants an answer so bad. He was on-date at one point, but in our last visit with him, he told us that he has made up his mind. When he prayed, he just got this really confused feeling that he didn't understand. He knows that the gospel make him happier, and he sincerely thanked us for improving his life, but he decided that he needs to figure some other things out first. He told us that he will call us when something happens, and I completely believe him. He is so sincere in is search for truth, it's sad that his doubts in himself overcame him. We will stay in contact with him, because we know that he will find what he's looking for eventually.

Here is the part where I tell you all that I am getting transferred! Transfer calls were on Saturday, and I will be leaving on Wednesday to be a Zone Leader with Elder Poloncic in Moses Lake. I'm going to miss Elder Bird. He's one of the most humble and most charitable person I've ever met. I am really excited for the change, but I can't believe that I'm leaving the Yakima Valley. I have been serving in this valley for 9 months, and I have gotten to know everyone so well. They are family to me. I have grown here more than I have ever grown in my entire life, and I feel so lucky to have been a part of these people's lives. I never thought that I would love a place like Yakima, but it is sacred ground to me now. It is so much more to me than just a name on a map. I wish I could describe the way I feel about it, but words won't do the trick. I think I'm going to feel homesick for Yakima. 

I'm glad to leave on a high note. Yesterday, Jerald passed the sacrament for the first time, and he also taught Gospel Principles. What a stud. 

Sorry for all the spelling errors/rambling.

Love you all!

Elder Moser

Jerald and Bishop Englund and wife. We usually had our lessons in their home.

Reading Monday emails.

Checking out the Transfers!

The Summers family. Megan grew up next to my mom in St. Anthony.
They fed me several times and I finally sang for my suppers.