Transfers!

August 28, 2017

I honestly don't have a lot of time to right this email, but I here's the update!

Firstly, Elder Allsop broke his nose playing cage soccer on the Saturday morning we were supposed to figure out all of the transfer logistics for this week. So that was crazy. He and another missionary both went up for a header, and BAM. Elder Allsop played it off really well, but when we got into the car, he asked, "Elder, be honest. Does my nose look normal to you?" I looked him in the face, and his nose was completely bent to the side. "Oh. My. Goodness, Elder. Your nose is straight up done for." We then had a great time trying to find a walk-in clinic that was open at 7 am, blah blah blah, and we ended up finding a member doctor that would be willing to break his nose back into place free of charge. It was nasty, but fascinating! I'll have to show you all the video some time. Elder Allsop wasn't numbed up or anything, and he took the pain like a champ. I'll send a picture next week :)

Another week has flown by, mostly because transfer planning took up a majority of the time every day. It always amazes me how calm President Lewis is during our planning sessions. So many factors, so many people to worry about; and yet he remains so thoughtful and collected. It has been an incredible week. As part of the transfer planning process, Elder Allsop and I learned that I will be transferred on Wednesday to finish up my last 6 weeks. I will be doubled into the Eastmont Ward in Wenatchee (my first walking area!) with a new missionary to train. From what I've heard, the Eastmont ward has struggled a little bit in terms of baptisms, but the ward is incredible! Wenatchee is one place in this mission that I have never served in, and I am so excited for my new assignment. Honestly, this area is going to be really hard to leave. After 6 months, I have become such good friends with the Lewis's and office staff, the ward, and all of the people I've taught here. I've said it once before, but I'll say it again: Yakima, the name of a place that meant nothing to me two years ago, has become a sacred place for me. I can not believe that I feel so much love and such a connection with a popdunk city in the middle of Central Washington. I am feeling so much gratitude right now for the experiences Heavenly Father has let me have on my mission, and knowing that this transfer will be my last makes me want to give everything I have to my new area and new companion!

Overall, this week has been a great one to end my time here in Yakima. We have really felt the hand of the Lord assist us in the work, especially when we don't have as much time in our area. I love being a missionary! 

Love you all,

Elder Moser

Prescotts-and incredible family that helps us with our teaching.

Cates Family. I love nerding out about science stuff with them.

Impromptu Nerf gun war with the Parkers with Elder Miles (my replacement)

​​He's a vampire alien, duh.

The Parkers. They are obviously pretty fun.

​Bishop and Sister Englund

Jerald Lofgren (aka LolingLofgren). Elder Bird and I taught and baptized
 him almost a year ago, and now his mission papers are in!! Woo!

The Palmers! I seriously love this family. Matt has officially been
a member for a week!

​Los Hartwigs

Rocking that disheveled look after a long night of transfer bizness.

The Great American Solar Eclipse 2K17 and Matt's Baptism!

August 21, 2107

Hello!

The Solar Eclipse Viewing Apparatus

I hope you all can still read this email after staring at the sun! We had a pretty good view of the solar eclipse here in Yakima. Elder Allsop and I made sure to get some good pictures! Also, it's so cool to see how Heavenly Father can help us with even the littlest things. Last week, we found out the Yakima was all sold out of Solar Eclipse glasses, and we were bummed. We were praying all week that somehow we could get a pair, and then at church on Sunday, a member family offered us an extra pair to share. Then, at our dinner that night, another family gave us their extra pair! I'm glad God loves me enough to even help me out with my nerdy desire to stare at the sun through cheap plastic lenses :)

​​That moment when the whole northwest was doing this

We picked up a bunch of new investigators last week! One of the most solid is a young hispanic mom with attitude named Josie. The back story is this: Elder Andrew Shugart, a missionary that servied here a year ago, has been back in Yakima with his family for Matt & Sarah's baptism. While he was here, he went out with us a few times and even set an appointment up with one of his former investigators, Josie. So we went to teach her, and she is ready to learn again! Things have been crazy in her life and her husband isn't the most supportive, but she really wants to get baptized and is now on-date for September 30th! She is so funny. I hope I get to teach her a few more times before I get transferred... if I get transferred. We are also teaching a mormon.org referral for a lady named Sally, and her great niece, Brittany. We have taught them twice now, and Brittany is showing some real interest in letting God into her life. Sally is also pretty fun to teach, but mostly because it's kinda like a rodeo where the bull-rider is the lesson and she is the bull. She is off-topic at all times and in all things and in all places. But we love her!

Matt Palmer was baptized on Saturday! It's been a long time coming. I have sacrificed more for Matt and his family than probably any other investigator on my mission, and it made watching him go under the water so much more rewarding. His whole family was at the baptism, and there was also a good attendance from the ward. The funniest part of the whole thing was probably when Elder Allsop and I got up to give the little "half time show" while they were in the bathroom getting dressed. We pulled a TV into the room to show a video, said a few words, dimmed the lights, and then pushed play. Aaaaand the video was in Spanish. Haha. So we had to punt for our lives, and ended up sharing a message about the importance of the scriptures and the Book of Mormon. It all worked out! Matt was just beaming through the whole thing. After the ordinance, and he took his seat again and looked back at

me and gave me a little half smile and head nod. I did it back. He has worked a long time for this day to come! On Sunday, I had the privilege of confirming him, and he gave hugs to everyone in the circle after it was over. It was the perfect start to a great Sabbath!

Luckily, I took about a million pictures last week. So I will try to send a few of my favorites! Love you!

Peace and blessings,

Elder Moser

Fires, Exchanges, and a Wedding

August 14, 2017
This one's going to be short because we're leaving for a hike in a little bit... So buckle in.

What. A. Week.

Monday was our half transfer, which meant that we met 13 missionaries at the mission home

who were departing early and then spent the evening with them playing games and having a good time. Our main job is to boost moral because trust me, a large group of missionaries going home can be depressing. That night, we left our front door unlocked so the Moses Lake elders could sneak in while we were gone so we could exchange the next morning. Our exchange the next day started off with some Cage Soccer in downtown Yakima with the Spanish zone, where I rolled my ankle pretty bad. Luckily, it left a gnarly bruise across the side of my foot so no one can say I was faking it! I was with Elder Taele all day on Monday, and it was just a weird feeling. I have been on several exchanges with Elder Taele and he leaves at the end of this transfer. We both decided that one of the things that will make the Celestial Kingdom heaven will be the fact that we will be surrounded

with the people that we love and want to spend time with -- ALL the time. It's going to be great! It will be sad to see some of my missionary friends go home, as it is every transfer, but the brief periods of time we have together are a reminder of what is to come. It's a beautiful plan!

Matt and Sarah got MARRIED! Woohoo! It has been a long time in the making, but after more than a year of knowing that family, it is so exciting to  see them moving forward. Matt will be getting baptized this Saturday, and has passed his interview. He is incredible. Can't wait for all of you to meet him one day.. somehow.

We also exchanges on Thursday with The Dalles in Oregon. That was pretty sweet, except the drive was to smokey to see all the cool mountains. But we had a great time with the Elders nonetheless! 

Lately, Elder Allsop and I have been taking ice-cold showers in the morning to wake us up, and it is one of the best things I have ever done. I've been doing it for about a week now, and I testify that cold showers paired with scripture study are the start of a great day!

We have to go, but I already can't wait to update you all on next week! Great things are happening in this part of the Lord's Vineyard!

Peace and Blessings,

Elder Moser

 

The Dalles Krew (Ft. A Priest from the ward)

The Dirty Dalles.

Matt and Sarah Palmer!

Our Sauna Saturday game is improving

Smoke & Wedding Preparations!

August 10, 2017

So many things to do. Not enough time to do them all. That is why this week has been crazy! Even today will be a little short because of the mid-departing missionaries that go into the mission home tonight. 

Our week started off with MLC on tuesday. Our mission has been focusing a ton on the really heavy stuff when it comes to missionary work -- Planning, working with members, setting goals, etc. -- So for this MLC we focused on increasing our own personal testimonies and then letting that affect our work and the attitudes of the other missionaries around us. Elder Allsop and I gave a training on how we can keep the culture alive of using the Book of Mormon as a prime conversion tool. It was a good spirit filled meeting. It was also really good to talk about because our mission is about to get an influx of a bajillion missionaries, and we want to keep our mission culture alive. 

We had exchanges with Omak and Othello this past week, and they were both crazy. Omak was crazy because they made the 4 1/2 hour drive to us for the first time ever, and Othello was just a crazy mess because our time was so full of "stuff" that we couldn't do it all. A bunch of Mexicans also put together a huge barbeque for Elder Allsop to celebrate his return to his old area, so that put us even further behind schedule. Both were really busy and fun though!

We had some incredible lessons this last week. Laurette has been progressing pretty well! We gave her a church tour with one of our favorite members, Sister Ferris, who is a recent convert of about a year. Missionaries found her when they knocked on her door and introduced her to family history -- Just like Laurette! She did an excellent job of walking her through the newness of it all and was just a great missionary. We're glad we have her to help us teach!

Matt Palmer is on the home stretch! He gets married this Saturday and then baptized on the 19th. It has been a great week with him. We had several lessons with just him last week to prepare him for everything that is about to follow. It has been one of the coolest experiences of my life teaching him. I remember a year ago on exchanges teaching him his 2nd or 3rd lesson on how he can quit smoking, and now, a year later, he has dropped everything that could possibly hold him back from the blessings of the gospel. Yesterday he even bore his testimony in church, and it was so powerful. He was so nervous, but he described his experience of the missionaries knocking on his door for the first time to where he is today. I wish all of you could hear his testimony. He is so converted. He was ready several months ago to get baptized, he just had to wait to get married to Sarah. Even though he was ready then, he has shown that you can never stop progressing. After church 2 weeks ago, he was proud to show us his 3 foot stack of Movies that he's decided to throw out because they aren't a great influence on his family. He also accepted the challenge to memorize Mosiah 2:41 with us and recited it word for word from memory yesterday. I have seriously loved teaching Matt. The gospel changes lives.

Hopefully this email makes sense. We're pretty tired, but it feels good to be exhausted in the service of God!

Peace and blessings, 

Elder Moser

Sushi with the Spanish District -- Before and After.​
Someone secretly paid for ALL of our sushi before we left. May that man inherit eternal life. 

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.