#Hallelujah!

Spring is in the air! I cant believe it's only a few more weeks until transfers, I seriously feel like I just got here. And that I've been here forever. How? Anyway, we saw some amazing miracles this week and had an amazing time being missionaries!

We blitzed Coulee Dam last week with the Omak Zone Leaders, and we had a blast. We met tons of cool people, and it was just one of those days where every door you knock on is answered by a friendly person. We also hit up a referral from Slouch and got a new investigator! Her name is Carrie, and she is her neighbor. We also met a hippie guy from the Oregon coast who let us inside and played the fiddle for us. He also let me play one of his guitars and we talked about music for a little bit. He wasn't interested, but it helped me remember to see people as people. Sometimes we just get caught up in our goals that we have set for the day and we forget that the people we are talking to have stories, talents, and are all children of God. So it was a good refresher :)

Slouch and her grandaughter came to church yesterday! We were so excited, I think we were more nervous than she was. To be honest, I don't think she really got much out of church because it was mostly stake business and a talk about sustaining our leaders, but hey, one step at a time. She is trying so hard to understand things on her own as well. She reads out of the Book of Mormon on a regular basis and gets whatever church material she can. We are excited to see where it takes her :)

The ward is starting to catch the missionary bug! We have had several members come out with us this week and we had some quality lessons. We also set up a lesson with Amy for this Tuesday, and when we called a member to come out with us, he offered to hold a family home evening style lesson with her at his house. He also told us that he was going to call us to ask if he could come out with us on Tuesday instead of Thursday, anyway, so it was just another small miracle. He has a a young family, too, so we are really excited for it. It will be a blast!

This week, Elder Folkman and I decided to pray at home about where to tract instead of just going at it ourselves. We did, and the next day I felt that we should tract a street by the lake in Electric City. It would have been super easy to ignore because Elder Coy told me that he tracted it before he left and that it is full of rich people who aren't interested at all. We tracted it anyway, and he was totally right. Nothing. It was kind of brutal, so we decided to just walk the short distance to the highway and back before getting in our car. As we did so, we noticed a small street that we had not noticed before with a house at the end of it. We decided to knock on it before going home. The man who answered, Bob, is awesome. He told us it wasn't a good time, but he asked us for all of the different cards and reading materials we could give him. We set up an appointment for next week as well, and it's all because Elder Folkman started the conversation by talking about his broken down Datsun 280 Z. The Lord prepares people for us to find. I know it because we see it all of the time. That is why we always knock "one more door!"

An investigator from a part member family that hasn't been progressing for a while, Mike, talked to us the other day. He told us that he wants to take the lessons again, and that he wants to work out with us as well. Haha. He said that even a workout then a lesson would be cool! We can only do that on P-days, though, unless he wants to wake up at 5:00. Probably not.

We also got a giant couch that we don't know what to do with. That's a long story. 

Have a good week everyone! Enjoy the small miracles everywhere!

Elder Moser

Officially Elders in the Omak Zone now.

This is the dog from next door that runs into our apartment every time we open the door!

Crazy P-days and Crazy People

March 14, 2016

The week started out rough. P-day was interesting, because it was my first group p-day since being out. As in there were other missionaries having p-day with us. As in real life people! It took two hours of driving, though, so I don't know if we will be doing that again. It was also rough because I accidentally decommissioned Elder Folkman while playing soccer, and we didn't know that we had to bring normal clothes, and because we spent a bunch of money buying normal clothes. 

Oh man, do we have some stories to tell this week. 

We had a lesson with a man that we met a while ago. We finally got into his house to sit down and talk with him. But in order to do so, we had to walk through a jungle of weed. Like a forest. He had to have had 50+ plants hanging from his ceiling, so it was a pretty weird environment to teach in. I think I need to start making a list of all the weird places I've taught people. 

We also met a former investigator that seemed pretty interested to learn more. But then he started rambling about how he was a catholic, and it was pretty obvious that this guy wanted to throw down on Joseph Smith. So we got out of there as soon as we could. 

Last one: We met a former investigator. We'll call him Mark. On his teaching record, the very first words were "Mark is crazy!" so obviously we had to check him out. His house looked like it had been abandoned for years, but we decided to hit it up anyways, because this man had been taught everything and had to stop because we went to prison for a while. Anyway, Mark came to the door instantly, shirt inside out and all, and then opened up and started talking about how he believes in Joseph Smith and that he's into some pretty crazy stuff with Jesus and that everyone should believe in him. Then he told us to sit down and he brought out his bible. He then read a bunch of scriptures about circumcision and other random topics. Looking around the room, he had a bunch of weird nick-knacks every where, taped to his wall, hanging from his ceiling... Weird. Here's an actual excerpt from the conversation we had with Mark:

Mark: "Hey, you look like my friend who stabbed me in the head."

E. Folkman: "Oh?"

Mark: "Yeah... Haha, cousins. Hey you ever been bit by a vampire yet?"

Us: I don't th-"

Mark: "Oh not yet? I-*incoherent mumbling* and they got me in the neck. Haha. Hey you want some weed? Its legal here."

Us: "No."

Then he started talking about section 129 of the Doctrine and Covenants, about how Thomas S. Monson is the man, and about Brigham Young. We got out of there after that, but that's Mark. Sorry, some stories are just too good not to share. :)

On a much less weird note, we had an awesome lesson with Vermont this week. We brought the Bishop out with us, so it's good that Vermont has some fellowship now. We also invited him to church, but he didn't show up. Most of our ward didn't show up, though, because it was stake conference and daylight savings. So everyone was confused. Great things are going on in this area, so until next week!

Stay Blessed everyone! 

Elder Moser

Answered Prayers and Stolen Vehicles

March 7, 2016

The Email today might be a little short because we are going up to Omak today for p-day. Woop.

There isn't much to say about this week, except that we got some answers to our prayers for our investigators. Yesterday we decided to drop by Karen's house (the one that we thought we scared off with our invitation to be baptized), and she explained to us that she still is interested and thanked us for not giving up on her. She is leaving for California this week and will be gone for a few months, so I will probably not see her again. That makes me said. But some reap, some sew, you know? We also visited Jaime, and for whatever reason, he is in a good mood again! He even invited us to come over with the Bishop on Thursday so he can make us tilapia. We also figured out what happened to Selena. She is having some problems and has to stay in Okanogan for a month. We went over to her house on Saturday night, and her dad was there and explained everything, and that someone had broken into her house and stolen her TV, washer, dryer, and a bunch of other stuff. We are going to help him clean everything up this week, and maybe he will be interested in hearing the gospel. You never know :)

We had our first Zone Training Meeting as the Omak Zone on Saturday. It was fun. The interesting thing about this mission is that 75% of the missionaries are pretty much new. So it is fun starting things from scratch. We are all so excited about what the changes in this mission will bring about!

We had a lesson with a less-active lady in Wilbur last week, and took a member that lives nearby, Brother Kershaw, with us. Here's the kicker: Brother Kershaw, AKA Detective Kershaw, recognized her car as one he had recovered as a stolen vehicle in Spokane. So they got along very well, and we had a very spiritual lesson. It was great. Everything happens for a reason!

Last night we visited a less-active family that I've gotten pretty close with in my 5 months of being here. We ate dinner with last night, and then just talked about how wonderful the gospel is. They don't go to church, but they have some of the strongest testimonies I have ever heard and a thirst for more knowledge of the gospel. Elder Folkman and I have thought a lot about how our learning in the Gospel is something that never stops, and about how wonderful it is that we can progress eternally. It all just makes so much sense. We don't just get to heaven and then sing in a choir of angels shouting "I've been saved!" for eternity, but we continue to learn and grow. It really puts this life into perspective when I think about it. I've also been thinking a lot during my personal studies about why the Book of Mormon explains doctrines so simply, sometimes to the point where it sounds repetitive. This is what I think: Simple doctrines give you room to explore, go deeper, and find out for yourself things that you may have never thought of before. Iv'e always enjoyed listening to talks that break things down and go deeper for me, but something is lost when study of the scriptures is done that way. I think it's the process of coming to know the deeper things for yourself by digging, researching, and studying that you come to have a testimony that is yours. I'll stop rambling now. It made sense in my mind :)

Have a good week everyone! 

Elder Moser

Also, We found a 'Squatch.

Ferry Tales From the Dam Elders

February 29, 2016

Dear everyone,

Our week was incredible. So awesome.  We got lots of work done, and at the end of the month we had enough miles to go on a sweet roadtrip! We found new people to teach, were refilled spiritually, and saw some beautiful land. Not to mention we didn't even need to wear our jackets most of the time! Elder Folkman and I are both outdoor people, so on our trip from Keller to Wilbur we were having a blast. Seriously freaking out because we had no idea our area was this pretty.

The beginning of last week was all pretty average--tracting, street contacting, follow up visits, the like. It wasn't until Wednesday that Elder Folkman and I were tracting in Electric City (just south of Coulee Dam) and we felt like we shouldn't be there. We were sitting in the car wondering what we should do, when we decided to ditch the plan we had made for the day and make the 40 mile round trip to Wilbur. When we made it there, we decided to finish tracting a street that we had been working on last week. We made it about halfway down the street, when we felt that we should go somewhere else. We decided to tract a small subdivision on the edge of town and found some cool people. What made it worth the trip is that we found a lady named Amy who had just moved to Wilbur from Boise. She is a single mom with 4 kids, and we are so excited to teach her. We have an appointment with her family onWednesday, so we are really praying and preparing. Would the Lord have us ditch our plans and go to Wilbur just to find one family? Absolutely. And I'm so glad for that :) 

It was raining like CRAZY yesterday, but cleared up right before we got on the Ferry.

 

​We stopped the car every few minutes because it was just. So. Pretty.
 And if you look closely, you can see the Keller Ferry crossing Lake Roosevelt

Wilbur has really proven to be the Promised Land. Besides the fact that everyone there is nice (including the little old ladies that wave to the missionaries every time we drive by), we have found several new people to teach in only a few days. We had a lesson with Trent, a 22 year old guy from Everette. He's a really open guy. He's talked to missionaries before, but his brother died recently and he's been thinking a lot about life, and especially the life after this one. We taught him about the Plan of Salvation and how we can know these things to be true by reading, pondering, and praying about the book of Mormon. It seemed to ring true for him, so we are definitely excited to see him again.

With all of our excess miles, we also tracted Coulee City. We actually got several door slams  and one rather large gentleman answered his door with 0% clothes on. So we will probably not be heading that way for a while. We need to let our brains heal.

The Drive to Coulee City (south)

Here's the update: Jaime temporally dropped us. He says that the pain that he is in makes it so that he can't focus. We're pretty worried about him, because the pain is taking a toll on him mentally as well. We are going to try to get fellowship for him, not necessarily to teach him, but to just give him the company he needs. Selena dissapeared and Elder Folkman and I are kind of freaking out about that. We knocked on her door last week and she told us through the door that she wouldn't be able to let us in right then and then she thanked us for everything we've helped her with. She hasn't been back to her house since and she wont respond to our texts, so we are really worried about her as well. Karen told us that she will be busy for a while and hasn't called us since our first lesson. These people could really use your prayers, because we are in a fragile situation with all of them. 

Yesterday was the best day of the week. We had about 200 left over miles for the month, so we were finally able to make it back up to Keller to meet with Sequoia. Her dad answered the door, and said respectfully that her grandma did not want her to change her christian beliefs (to which we responded mentally with a face-palm). It's not her decision to stop meeting with us, so we'll just have to hope that she continues to read from the Book of Mormon we gave her. At least we planted a seed.  After meeting with her, we decided to drive all the way back to Wilbur. The route from Keller to Wilbur is SOOO pretty and we even got to take a ferry, so we were pretty amped about that. Our area is the coolest :) In Wilbur we finally had another lesson with Bill. He's an interesting guy. He was rolling cigarettes while we taught him about the Plan of Salvation, but he was paying attention and had some good imput. We will work on that Word of Wisdom stuff later. 

Here's Keller! There's only a few houses on either side of the road.

Last night we also had a lesson with Vermont. It was the best lesson we've had with him yet. He's been reading from the Book of Mormon and the pamphlets we gave him, and he said that it's really answered questions he's had about life. This lesson was different in the fact that he was pretty quite and really listened. He also stayed on topic the entire time. I think that the gospel is really starting to make sense to him.

So that was our week. Great lessons, awesome miracles, and appreciation for this beautiful world that Heavenly Father has put us on Love you all!

Peace and blessin's, 

Elder Moser

Transfers!

Friends and family,

This past week made up for all of the slow weeks we've had to go through recently for a few reasons: 1) I beat my sand pile climb time by 30 seconds, 2) Exchanges with the zone leaders are the BEST, 3) our A/C unit was replaced with a brand new one that looks like it came straight out of a spaceship, and 4) TRANSFEEEEEEEEERRRRSS!!

First of all, I have a testimony that working out in the morning makes one's day 200% better. I wouldn't have thought that it would make that big of a difference, but working out in the morning relieves stress, wakes you up, and helps you think more clearly throughout the day. This past week we have been focusing on climbing a 300 ft. pile of aggregate that was going to be used for the dam back in the 40's. My legs. Fire. 

Exchanges with the Zone Leaders were last week. It was the best. We only had a few hours to do some tracting, but it was fun -- even though it was pouring rain like Washington. Elder Oliver and I were out there like nothing could keep us from spreading the gospel! When we were done tracting in a little place we now call "retirementville," we decided to knock "one more door" because that is where all of the cool stories come from. So we did. The guy wasn't that interested, but we had a conversation for a while. We were late getting home because of that one door, and because of that, Elder Folkman and Woodward (who were also here in Coulee) decided to go out and find someone outside near the apartment that they could talk to. In that short amount of time, they found a 20 year old guy, Eli, that is interested in learning more! He also lives right across from us. We see his house every day when we open up the blinds, but we never thought much about it. Because we knocked one more door, the other Elders found someone that we can teach. God's timing works in interesting ways sometimes :) When we got back, they had climbed in the apartment through the window because the door was locked and I had the key. Good times.

Elder Folkman and I taught a fair amount of lessons this week. We decided to focus on finding people in the farther out towns, especially Wilbur, with good success. We met some awesome people! That area hasn't really been tracted at all, so people are a lot more willing to listen to us. Tracting there is more than just a "Hi! I'm Elder Mo-SLAM." It was also a blistering 50 degrees, so we were soaking it in. We also ran into an investigator that we haven't seen for a while, Bill. He had to go somewhere, so we gave him a quick lesson through his truck window. No time is a bad time to share the gospel! We also met a middle aged guy named Eric, and a young guy named Trent. They are both very open to learning more!

On Saturday we had a church tour with Dean. It went pretty well. When we opened up the font to show him, the spirit was definitely there. He told us that he still wanted to be baptized, and that he would definitely start coming to church. We were stoked! We tried super hard to get everyone else to church that week. Selena's been reading the BOM and said that she would come, Slouch said that she would bring her kids, everyone. Nobody showed up. It was so frustrating. There isn't much more that we can do, so we definitely need to push the members to fellowship them. 

Transfers really changed things this time. The southern districts of the Ephrata Zone have been absorbed into the Wenatchee Zone, and all of the Northern Districts starting with Coulee Dam have been absorbed into a new "Omak Zone." That means that we have 2 new zone leaders, and an entirely new district. I have also now officially been in the zone longer than anyone else. Weird. 

I am excited for this transfer! Thanks for all of your support! Love you all!

Elder Moser

Always look to the light!

The view from Vermont's house is killer!

The Coulee Crud and Pretty Views!

February 15, 2016
Friends and family!

Quick side note: The world is tiny! Elder Folkman's Brother is on a mission in Arizona, and he's companions with Elder Clark from Blackfoot. We were in Acapella choir together one year. Ha.

This week basically consisted of tracting, finding, and trying to get out of bed at 5:30 so that we can go to the church to play basketball. But there was good with the boring:

The highlight of the week was the lesson we had with Karen. Karen is a lady that we met on my first day with Elder Folkman. You might not remember the story, but we were out tracting and when we knocked on the door she came out and started talking to us as if she had been expecting it. Yeah, that lady. Anyway, we asked a member to come with us that has a very good understanding of the scriptures and church history, and for good reason. When she let us into her house Wednesday night, she had places for all of us set up around a table, and at her place she had her Bible, the Book of Mormon, and a notebook with highlighters and pens. She was ready to learn. She basically ran the lesson, and I was totally ok with that. She had SOOO many questions about the Book of Mormon's purpose, the priesthood, prophets, just perfect questions. It was amazing. Every time I wanted to tie in one subject to another, she would start talking about that subject. She had some questions where we didn't even have to answer, because as soon as she asked it, she would start thinking, and then she would just sit back and tell US the "why". The spirit was definitely teaching her, and it was pretty cool seeing it in action. She ended the discussion by saying, "sooo... baptism..." we talked about baptism for a few minutes and then the member we brought said that we had a challenge for her. She took out her pen and started writing "CHALLENGE:" on her notebook. We asked her if she would be baptized when she knew that it was true, and she said, "yeah! So what's the challenge?" She is just the best. I have never met anyone more prepared than her!

One of our investigators, Mike, was at church last Sunday! He's married to a less-active, and we are really going to work hard this week to get him progressing. He works odd hours, so it might be tough. But we had a pretty good lesson with him last week on exchanges, so I know it's possible!

A lot of our other investigators are sick with the "Coulee Crud" (the flu), so it was kind of slow this week. Even Elder Folkman was sick yesterday, so we were in by 3:00. It was awful. It was so boring. I was praying that I would get sick too, because being in a missionary apartment when you want to be out working is the worst hing on the planet. 

Sorry for the semi-boring email. Hopefully we meet some cool people this week so that I have more to talk about next p-day!

Peace and blessin's.

Elder Moser

Here's a view from one area we were tracting in last week.
 It kind of gives you an idea of how in the middle of nowhere we are!

I Hate The Super Bowl.

February 8, 2016

I hate the Super Bowl. 

Seriously. Church here ends at 1:30 and the Super Bowl started at 3:00, so we had an hour and a half window of time to visit our investigators before everyone shut down. We made sure that we visited Vermont, though, because it had been a while and he loves football the most. Yesterday was also the start of our 40 day fast, so we were pretty worn out. Our lesson with Vermont was still great. We finished teaching him about the restoration and why the Book of Mormon is important, but he still doesn't quite get it. So many people around here just accept whatever you tell them, without thinking of the implications it might have on their life. For example: Some of our investigators say the Book of Mormon is the word of God, yet aren't sure if we have a living prophet, if the priesthood is restored, etc. We also challenged Vermont to be baptized, but he told us that he already had as a child. We could have talked for ever about priesthood authority, but we had to save it for another day. No worries. He'll get there. :)

I should mention that the sun has been shining for a week now, something that I have not seen for 3 months. I've missed it so much. It feels like spring up in here!

We had an awesome lesson with Selena last week. Elder Folkman and I have been looking forward to it for a long time. We taught her about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the spirit was strong. She also told us that she wanted to move her date up, but before we could propose the date we had been praying about, the member we brought with us hijacked the lesson and asked her to say a closing prayer. It was our fault, though. We should have told him what the plan was. He is still awesome. He showed up outside of Selena's house with a stack of Book of Mormons with his testimony in each one, telling us to give them out to whoever needs it. (Insert joke about having the best "dam" members in Washington here).

Last Tuesday, Elder Folkman and I roadtripped up to Keller and tracted the entire town/village with time to spare before dinner. It was sweet. Keller is the other reservation town, but it is way cooler than Nespelem. It's a beautiful area, and the people there are so nice. We OYM'd a lot of people, but we weren't getting into any houses. We were on the last house in town, and do you know what we got? Nothin'. So we decided to head back to our car, when a girl comes out and apologizes for not hearing us knock. Her name was Sequoia, and we taught her about the restoration. She was open to it all, and said that she would read and pray about the Book of Mormon. It was a testimony builder to me that sometimes you have to go until you literally cannot go any further, and then the Lord will bless you. He knows where the prepared are, and as long as we are trying our hardest, he will put them in our way. 

I've been thinking a lot about God's timing this week. Probably because it was another off week for us. I have come to realize that Heavenly Father is the ultimate referral giver. Just like members are reluctant to give referrals to missionaries they don't trust, the Lord won't put people in our path if we aren't being the kinds of missionaries He can trust. That was the purpose of our 40 day fast, which is basically a period of 40 days where we give up things that we have been holding on to or things that may be distractions to us in order to become more consecrated, trustworthy missionaries. We started off with an actual fast on Saturday, and that is why my stomach was growling all throughout those lessons. 

Today, Elder Folkman and I are headed over to Slouch's house to attempt lumpia, a type of Filipino/Polynesian egg roll. Dean gave both us and Slouch a package of rice paper and told us how to do it. Dean was originally going to help, but he is going into surgery today for his cancer, so we have to find another male to come with us. We are praying that all will go well and that he will recover quickly. 

Keep praying for our investigators, and make sure to give thanks that football season is over! :)

From the best Coulee Dam Elder in Washington, 

Elder Moser

My Zone, February 2016