Elder Nathan S Moser

Tuesday, October 10, 2017

Airport!

October 10, 2017

Coming home!

The Welcome Party!
L to R: Grandma and Grandpa Browning, Ryan Browning, Amanda, Brad (Elise via phone), Dad, Jess, Mom, Elder Moser, Jenn Houghton, Josh Browning, Todd Houghton, Susan Houghton, Brent Houghton, Leon Moser, Rachel Houghton, Madison Lamoreaux, Eva, Katherine Wood, Curtis Browning, Sherry Browning, Carter Browning, Steve Browning, Christian Browning, Adie Browning holding Creighton, Becky Bryan, Cannon Browning, Dan Bryan, Tanner Browning, Lexie Moser. Clock Reads 3:25 pm, Idaho Falls Airport

Trading places, Sister Jennifer Houghton was enroute to the MTC immediately following this
meeting. She will be serving in California.

WELCOME HOME, NATHAN!

The Last Email!

Oct 9, 2017

First of all, I don't really know what to say. So I'm just gonna say that.

It's been a fun ride in the Eastmont Ward. I had no idea I would feel such a love for these people after only 6 weeks! They have become some of my best friends, and I can't even begin to describe what they have taught me.

My mission has meant the world to me. When I look back at the beginning of my mission in the desolate little town of Coulee Dam Washington, I was convinced that the time was going to crawl. I was positive a mission would take forever. I also had a few of my own doubts about the gospel and about myself, as most do. Now, I can look someone that I just met straight in the eyes and tell them that there is more to life than what we see. I know from my own experience that God loves us. I know because of its fruits that the gospel really does strengthen the family beyond anything that we could even imagine. Though I have never seen Him, I have felt the savior's hand in my life in the times that I have needed Him the most. Whether It was sleeping in our car overnight in 9 degrees after getting stuck in the middle of nowhere, or getting awkwardly cornered into a person's doorway by a pitbull, or teaching the restored gospel to a family that needed it -- I know that God has a way of helping us not just do what we need to do, but become what he knows we can become. I really don't know what else to say. As an elder once said during my first transfer, "It's hard to describe a Celestial experience in Telestial words."

Tomorrow, I will see my family in person for the first time in two years. Maybe it's taken that long for me to truly understand how important they are to me. I am so excited to see you all!

Love you all, and I'll see you tomorrow!

Elder Moser

One last musical number.

Made it to the finals...

Elder Moser's jacket on the Right.

Early morning...clock reads 3:30 am.

A Novel: Written by Elder Moser

October 2, 2017

Sorry I'm emailing late everybody! We had a little trip to Leavenworth this morning, then the sisters crashed their car... But all is well. Good thing I have tons of pictures to make up for it!

We had an amazing week! Nothing too new on the investigator front, but we are having a blast talking to everyone that lives here in East Wenatchee. I also had the choice opportunity to exchange with Elder Bee and Elder Harman this week, the two missionaries that will be flying home with me in the near future. With those two, I had some of the funniest and most uplifting exchanges of my mission. I know that I've said it before, but I love the brotherly bond that has developed between me and my mission friends, especially with those I have known for two years. The spirit welds hearts together!

General Conference was perfect. I know that you all probably felt the same, but I swear that they were all talking to me. Not to mention, Elder Koch, President Hallstrom, and Neil L. Anderson all spoke at conference; the three General Authorities who visited our mission in June. Yeah, I shook all of their hands. No biggie. I felt like they were almost following up with me when they spoke. Everything else was so good for me to hear as I prepare to return to the worldly world. At times, I felt like they were looking directly into my soul and speaking to me and ONLY me. My appreciation and testimony of the necessity of prophets in this day in age has been amplified to the strongest it's ever been!

One cool story from this week (though I could share several).

A few weeks ago, we met three friends walking on the side of the road, all about middle school aged. When we started talking to them, the oldest in the group became their spokesman. They were all very kind, and said that we could stop by their house someday, even though they are Christian. Since he didn't sound too interested (and since we never got an address) we never went to their home. Flash forward to Saturday, right before the Priesthood Session: We were walking towards someone's house that we had planned to visit, when the wind stopped blowing for just enough time for me to hear the soft strum of a guitar in the distance. My ears perked up, and we immediately went back the way we came to talk to whoever was playing. When we found that it was someone behind a fence far away, we just smiled and waved. We would have felt pretty awkward walking back up the hill (because then he would have known that we were looking for him) so we decided to knock one or two doors where we were before heading to the Stake Center. The second door we knocked was answered by a mother who talked about her son who was very interested in religion. Then, behind us, the group of three kids that we met a while back walked up! It turns out that the younger boy, named Jacob, is 13 and very interested in learning more about the church. They let us in, let us show them what General Conference looks like, and by the time we left, he was begging his mom to take him to church next week! I know that the Holy Ghost can guide us to where we need to be, even though we might not realize it at times. God's timing never ceases to amaze me!

So. Most of you are probably asking right now, "Elder Moser, are you trunky?" The answer: No. It doesn't even feel real to think that I will be seeing my family next week. This is how I would explain it: You know those nights when you look at the night sky and think about just how big the universe is? And then you can almost kind of comprehend it, then your brain hurts, and then you can't imagine it anymore? That's how I feel when I think about going home. I can't even imagine that there is anything but this life, because I wouldn't rather be doing anything else. At the same time, I know that Heavenly Father has prepared me through this mission more than anything else could ever have, and for that, I am incredibly grateful. I have been so blessed to work with so many incredible people, and to have become so close with many amazing member families who have shown, by example, how the gospel blesses lives. But, I have another week to go hard... so I'll save some of that departing talk for next week.

Love you all!

Peace and blessings,

Elder Moser
Our Week in Pictures:

A packing plant burned down.

Then we found a giant watermelon.

I love you, giant watermelon.

The Cascades

Then, the Sisters car got destroyed

We went to Germany real quick

And then our nacho cheese exploded

And then our doorknob literally fell off.

The Strang family! Josh leaves for the MTC the same day I leave the field!
Also, Anthony (front center) is my homeboy.

Sunday, September 24, 2017

Running Out of Creative Titles

September 18, 2017

It seriously feels like yesterday that I was here emailing everyone. Time flies!

It has been a great week for us, especially since we have found some new people to teach! I've said it before, but this area is pretty tough when it comes to finding. All the more reason to be grateful for the tender mercies of the Lord in directing us to those seeking truth!

Our first and most promising new investigator is named Anna. She's 21, lives with her fiance, and has a 1 year old daughter. We found her when we were looking through our area book for former investigators. She was taught a while ago and was progressing, but stopped investigating because she and her boyfriend could not get married at that time... for whatever reason. Now, she feels like she is more on top of things and wants to have the same feelings in her home that she did when missionaries where teaching her. Funny story: We actually tracted into her apartment our first night here in Eastmont when we didn't know where anything was or where we were. We ended up talking to her fiance and he let us inside, said a prayer with us, but told us that he wasn't interested, even though is already a member. We were surprised when we found that Anna lived in that same apartment! We are excited to start working with her.

We also found a man named Allen last week that met with the missionaries seven years ago. He's in his 60's, and is very lively. Just to give you a taste of his character, the other day he answered his phone by singing a rock song to us. He gets confused easily, but we think that when the spirit testifies to him, he will see everything more clearly. Lastly, we have been meeting with an 80 year old lady named Ethel. She is so nice! We might have accidentally swooned our way into her house with our youngness, but she is interested nonetheless. She read all the pamphlets we gave her twice and has a ton of questions about the Book of Mormon, so we will see how it goes!

I know that Heavenly Father helps us on a daily basis. I have felt his hand in this area like never before. Everything just somehow works out. Though we had no investigators to start with, I know that when we do our part the Lord really does the rest. It is the coolest thing watching and being part of an area blossom into something greater. One last example that shows this in action: Every time we walk to church, we pass a house on the right side of the road with some low hanging trees that cover the sidewalk; and every time we've walked by, the thought comes into my mind: "we need to knock on that house." That thought has always crossed my mind, but for a different reason each time, we couldn't do it. The other day, we were walking to someones house, and the route took us right past that house again. Elder Fotheringham this time said, "do you think we should knock some doors around here?" It was like I heard the voice of the spirit audibly this time, and so we went directly to that door I had thought about so many times. The man we met is named Harold, and he has a young family. They went to the LDS church in Omak for years, but they were never baptized. After moving to Wenatchee, missionaries have never been in contact with him until we knocked on his door. He definitely has questions, so we set up a time to meet, bore our testimonies, and left feeling very grateful for how clear the spirit can be. Sometimes, it even has to speak through your companion, but it will let you know what to do if you listen.

That's the update for this week! Love you all!

Peace and blessings,

Elder Moser

I've been the worst at taking pictures lately, so here's a blurry
one of me to let you all know that I'm still alive

Bike Crashes and Yoga

September 11, 2017

Hello friends!

The work in Eastmont continues to move forward! It was a busy week for us. I've decided that being in a walking area is like watching T.V. with no commercials. We are out in the work all day long, without any interruptions. It feels good! Elder Fotheringham and I met what feels like half the town of East Wenatchee last week. I have never done so much tracting/street contacting in my life. Our area also has a TON of apartments, so there are always new people moving in and out, from young families to old couples. We have had a lot of fun getting to meet some of them!

I din't really request this area. When we were transfer planning, President Lewis asked, "Elder Moser, where haven't you served?" I told him Wenatchee, and then that was that. Originally, I was in a ward on the other side of the river that also didn't have a car, but I ended up going to Eastmont in the end! Pretty cool. My legs are holding out. I love it. It will feel good to get back into biking when I get home. I'm starting to weed out some of my hobbies that were just "fads" and some that I actually will stay invested in, and biking is definitely one of them. Guitar is the other. And the gospel is definitely another, of course!

Our area is definitely different from my last in Yakima. For starters, it's on a mountain. Maybe I've mentioned that before. We got bikes last week, and we can get from the top of our area to the bottom in 5 minutes. However, it takes about an hour to get back up to the top since it's a little too steep to ride in places. Speaking of bikes, we were riding our bikes down a hill after a member dinner one night, and my derailleur was freaking out. I was looking down to see if I could fix the issue, and after just a few seconds, WHAM. I slammed into the back of a parked car, sending my bike flying up behind me and planting my face firmly into this dudes trunk. I scraped myself off the back and immediately checked my face in the window to see if I actually hurt myself, but we were good. I didn't even really feel it. And to make things better, no one even saw. Blessin's.

The hunt is still on to find new investigators here. We are doing everything we can! Even though we haven't found anyone yet, we have had some great experiences. Just the other night, we met a man with a young family and dreadlocks named William who is studying to become a yoga teacher. And not the yoga that you are probably thinking about, but the ancient Indian art of becoming "one with truth." He was so friendly, and taught us a lot of things that really made sense to us. It was especially cool to see that even a 3000 year old practice has similar concepts to the gospel. It all comes down to finding peace in the truth and doing good to other people. We shared a freshly picked watermelon out on his porch, and then we headed home for the night. It's experiences like this that make me so grateful to be on a mission. Even though we aren't teaching very much right now, I still witness simple acts of kindness that brighten my day and increase our desires to share the light of Christ with everyone. It feels so good to give! I hope all of you have lots of opportunities this week to feel that for yourselves.

Peace and blessings,

Elder Moser

Zone Conference 9/12/17

Friday, September 8, 2017

Tracting Uphill Both Ways!

September 4, 2017

It's been a crazy couple of days!

The beginning of our week was spent with the departing missionaries on Monday night, and then welcoming 28 new missionaries that arrived on Tuesday. Super exciting! This incoming group was the largest our mission has ever seen. The mission home was packed. Anyway, all of the transfer madness is over. It feels pretty weird knowing that was my last time helping with transfers like that. It's sad, but at the same time, I have never felt more rested in my entire life than in the past couple of days!

I am officially in East Wenatchee with my new companion! His name is Elder Fotheringham, and he's from Spokane. That's right, a Washington native! Getting doubled in was quite the experience. After we were dropped off at our new appartment with our luggage on Wednesday, I remember feeling the most helpless I have ever felt in my life. It wasn't really a bad feeling, but it was comical. There I stood, with a companion brand-new to the mission field, in a town I have never served in or around, in a ward where I literally knew no one. So, we started walking. In addition to some good old tracing, our first few days were spent meeting as many members as possible, and from what we can tell, the ward here is amazing! I have actually loved being doubled into my last area, because it has been so easy to get to know the members. Since we are both brand new faces, it's been really fun to introduce ourselves to anyone and everyone we see! For being here less than a week, I feel like I know the ward so much better than I did a week into any of my old areas. I can't wait to work with them all!

Currently, we do not have any investigators here in the Eastmont ward, but we have been doing everything we can to get the work up and moving. We've done a lot of tracting, and we're also doing our best to find part-member families. We actually found a couple last week that we are going to start working with! We have honestly felt the Lord's hand guiding us in the work these past few days. Even though we don't know anything about the area, our time has been spent well, and we are loving it. I'm so grateful that God never leaves us without help!

Everything is still in it's beginning stages here, so there isn't a whole lot of specifics to report except for the fact that our area is on the side of a mountain and every road is uphill; so try to not be too impressed when I come home with calves jacked out of their mind. ;)

My new companion is pretty interesting. Do you remember Elder Dodson? I don't remember how much I told you about my experience with him, but there are a lot of similarities between him and Elder Fotheringham. Elder Fotheringham is a two transfer missionary, so this is a trial period for him to see if he can handle a full-time mission (that's why he is so close to home). He is a great Elder, he is just socially awkward and has a hard time getting social cues, sarcasm, etc. Luckily, the members understand that he's a little different and just smile and laugh at his quirks. And I'm not worried for this transfer at all, even though I would have been if it was a year ago. I have learned a ton from my experience with Elder Dodson and now I am trying to make the best possible experience for Elder Fotheringham. Also, it was weird sitting in President Lewis's office Tuesday night assigning the trainees to trainers, because my face was up on the board. President said that I can help him though, so we'll see what happens!

Hope you all have a great week!

Peace and blessings,
Elder Moser