Transferstransferstransfers

(Editorial Note: This email was found still in its draft form and by publishing has now been put in out of sequence. This is an old email that belongs with the LAST transfer planning.)

June 5, 2017

Friends!

Today will officially be the shortest email I have ever written because it is transfer week, and we have been busy all week long with transfer planning, which is pretty boring to read about. However, with this new transfer, I have seen first hand how Heavenly Father works. For the most part, he works with us in step by step increments until we come to the right conclusion. It is incredible to see President Lewis's understanding of that process. He is so patient, so thorough, and overall, very cheerful; even though his job would take 15 years of the average person's life expectancy. So much to do, so many different things to worry about. But God truly does watch over his missionaries and His church worldwide, and He does what needs to be done through His chosen servants. It is cool to see.

All of our investigators are doing well. The only real update is that Evelyn's mom couldn't come to church yesterday, so we will have to wait until next week for her baptisms to be an option. That's ok though. We're feeling blessed!

Love you all!

Peace and blessings,

Elder Moser

Transfer study...

Throwback to the moment when Elder North had a bucket o' fish ​in his lap as we helped a non-member move

This transfer we've had a special assignment for three of our Elders-- vehicle maintenance and repair.

Joining in on "National Donut Day!"

More transfer board studying.

Recording Transfer changes.

Trying to start a new fad: Paper Clip tie tacks.

A little hacky sack while we wait for a meeting to begin.

Transfer planning meeting.

Zone Conf x4

July 31, 2017

I apologize in advance for the potential this email has to be kinda boring. 

It was a week of zone conferences, so most of our week was spent going to each of those. I will spare you the details, because all that Elder Allsop and I did was set up each zone conference and conduct. We had four separate zone conferences, so we were pretty busy all week long. I honestly feel like I don't need to say a whole lot about zone conferences since Sister Lewis was also at each one and probably took one million pictures of everything... But I will say that it was really unique! The majority of the conference was about working with the members in your area, and especially ward leadership. To make it more exciting, President Lewis invited Bishops and Ward Mission Leaders from around the area to attend their local zone conference and to sit in a panel where we could ask them questions about how we can better work with them to do missionary work. Another highlight of the conference was in Moses Lake, when the projector screen snapped shut and exploded all over the floor during the very spiritual musical number at the end. Sometimes, the spirit is so strong that things break!

On Friday night, we drove down from the Wenatchee zone conference and met the Ephrata Zone Leaders, Elders Fullmer and West, at our apartment for exchanges. They are very funny individuals. We laughed a ton. They are both super smart and love science, so I had a ton of fun being with Elder West the next day talking about XKCD, Space X, and other crazy science stuff. At one point, we were hypothesizing how long the human race would survive on cannibalism alone. Haha. He is so fun to talk to, and it brought a lot of energy to our contacting. We tracted into 2 part member families and met a few other people who really have potential! It is also amazing to see how Heavenly Father helps us in our area when we don't have the time to work in it all week!

Last week, we had a lesson with Matt and his friend, Steven. Steven is now on-date for August 26th! Matt is the perfect person to fellowship Steven, even though he isn't a member. What better support to have than a friend who is trying to start living the gospel in the same ways you are? We also had a great lesson with Laurette and Sister Ferris, a recent convert in our ward who is around the same age as Laurette and who was tracted into and brought into the church using family history about a year ago. She is literally perfect for Laurette! She testified of the Book of Mormon in such a sincere way. It was incredible. We have a church tour with her tomorrow, so we are excited to see where that goes!

I love the people here. I love the hot whether. I love pretty much anything about where I have been called to serve (except for the dogs) and I wouldn't rather be doing anything else!

Peace and blessings,

Elder Moser

​Elder Woodward looks like my brother Brad and is
the first missionary to be trained in Coulee Dam since
 I was (almost 2 years ago) so we're practically blood relatives

Elder Nathan Allen Walker​

An Email

July 24, 2017

This past week was crazy. On Monday, Elder King, Elder Allsop, and I went to the mission home to spend most of the evening with the departing missionaries before the left for the airport the next morning. It was especially crazy because that group of elders was the very first group of missionaries called to the Washington Yakima Mission. The next morning, the three of us woke up at 3:00 a.m. to help take all of the above mentioned missionaries to the airport. I have never witnessed a group of missionaries depart from the airport, but it was a crazy feeling. A lot of mixed emotions. But it could also be because we got 2 hours of sleep that night; I get emotional when I'm tired.

Departing group

On Tuesday, we welcomed a fresh batch of new missionaries from the MTC! I was sad to see that Elder Redford (a missionary from Blackfoot who was supposed to report that day) was unable to make it out because of an MTC injury. I hope I get to meet him before I leave! The rest of the group was tired just like we were, but they were so excited to be in their mission. We can't wait to see what they do! Oh, and while one of the orientation meetings was going on, we went out to proselyte and had dinner with the less-active 70 that we mentioned last week, Brother K'ang. He had fresh sushi, seaweed salad, and fried little baby squids. So basically I ate the ocean, including a little baby squid that I thought was going to start swimming around in my mouth. It was a treat.

Back to the airport by 11 am.

New Group Orientation

Wednesday was the most stressful day of my mission. The three of us were in charge of all of the transfer logistics and also the trainer/trainee meeting that happens that morning. We were running back and forth from the meeting to the garage to tagging luggage to back to the meeting... It was sweet. I think I'll wear my track shoes next time and we're gucci.

Elder Allsop is incredible. He's so chill and fun. I lave loved being his companion, and I'm excited that it's still the beginning! We have already seen miracles together. On our first day out together, we tracted into some less-active Filipinos, the Santos family, that moved to the US 10 years ago after being baptized, but then didn't know where to go to church. They have been going to an catholic church for almost 10 years, but were so excited to see us that they said that we could expect them to come back. They are such humble people! We went by yesterday and they shared some home-made Filipino-style barbecue. So great!

This week, Matt invited one of his friends named Steven over to his house to have a lesson with him and his family. It was incredible. Matt has been working with this guy for a long time, and loves showing him all of the scriptural references in the bible that talk about the priesthood (you know, since Matt is a scriptorian and what-not). Steven said that he is excited to find out if this is the truth. He's already lost some friends for meeting with us, but he is committed. We can see him being baptized soon!

We have felt Heavenly Father guide us all week long. There is no way this work would work without Him. There is no better feeling than to be a conduit for the work that God wants done!

Peace and blessings,
Elder Moser

Our gang.

Time Keeps on Slippin'

July 17. 2017

Today is the Monday before transfers, so most of our time this morning was spent in a meeting talking how everything is going to go down. So what I'm saying is: I don't have a whole lot of time :(

Update: President just pulled us into his office for 30 minutes to talk about something and I just got out. So now I have negative amounts of time... Sorry!

I'll give you all some highlights from our week, because it was sweet. Transfer planning cut most of the days in half, but we still found time to do the most important things first- Like going to our buddy Curtis's birthday! We met Matt and Sarah's parents, talked about the wedding, and then had a bubble party outside with Curtis. Their home feels different. When we are with that family, there is a more peaceful feeling in their home compared to when we first started teaching them a while back. Our commitment to them to read the Book of Mormon (sometimes even in the story book) for just 5 minutes a day as a family has seriously transformed them. Matt even offered in Elder's Quorum to help an older lady in our ward after her surgery this upcoming week. He will be a great addition to the ward when he is baptized!

Last week, we found a less-active area seventy in our ward that we have started teaching! His name is Brother K'ang and he was raised and then eventually joined the church in Hawaii. Even though brother K'ang doesn't come to church, he is very spiritual- and not in a fake way. He understands the importance of the scriptures, and he taught us some interesting things about the spirit. He described the process of listening to the spirit in terms of how you would call an animal over to you. What do you do when you want an animal to come? You put your hand out, and you stay quiet; but you also are quiet on the inside. That is what it takes to have the spirit more in our lives. Not just quiet and reverent actions, but a still and quiet mindset. Then, the spirit will come to you without you having to fight for it. We are excited to help Brother K'ang find the right path again, and also are excited for the things he can teach us!

Transfers are real, my friends. Elder King and I have been trying all weekend to solve this puzzle of how everyone is going to get to where they need to go. It's especially hard because 11 missionaries are leaving in the middle of the transfer for school. But the worst part is that Elder King is leaving me. Elder King is headed to Wenatchee for his last 3 weeks and then will be headed home. Scary stuff. He will be missed. These past 4 1/2 months have been some of the greatest of my mission. Obviously, I have learned a TON. My new companion is Elder Allsop from Lindon, UT and is great. I have been on exchanges with Elder Allsop a few times in Omak (which is where he is coming from) and always love spending time with him! I am so excited for this next transfer! 

Hope you all have a great week!

Peace and blessings, 

Elder Moser

Curtis is three now (whoop whoop!)

Long story short: Elder Bown and I found and explored the crawlspace to
 our apartment on exchanges while we waited for Elder King to get back.
If you look closely, you can see fear in his eyes.

Transfer planning includes closing a few areas.

This is what happens when you eat with a Texan.

Transfer planning Day 1.

Transfer planning Day 2.

Transfer planning Day 3.

Elder Allsop has joined us here in Yakima, as a new Assistant to Pres Lewis.
Elder King will be returning home in 3 more weeks and he gets to go
 back out into the mission field these last 3 weeks in Wenatchee