Week 2 in Yakima!

July 18, 2016

From a Facebook Post from Michael Stapleton:
"So crazy. Elder Moser from Blackfoot and his companion
Elder Jarvis from Gilbert had dinner with us tonight.
Fun to discover Elder Moser is related to the Brownings
from St. Anthony. Jared Browning Curtis Browning"

Another week in Yakima has flown by!

Honestly, this week was super busy, but mostly with boring things. I mean, it wasn't boring to us, but unless you want to hear about Stake Reports, I'll probably hold off for a while. 

Fun fact: Everyone here knows someone from Blackfoot, and several people here know my family. For example, Brother Griffiths was taught physics in high school by my great uncle Calvin. Another guy, Brother Tew, grew up in Firth and played with my Uncle Marlowe when they were kids. We had dinner the other night with a different family in the ward who was good friends with my Uncle Jared. It's pretty weird, but at the same time, I love it. I feel like I'm establishing relationships with these people, and I haven't even had to do anything for it. Haha. It's all thanks to my family :) 

We went on exchanges last week, and I was with an Elder Hughes from Nevada. He is super cool, but I had to watch my back whenever we were in the apartment because he is really good at lassoing you from 30 feet away and pulling your feet out from under you. Haha. So there's that. 

Last week, Elder Jarvis and I got to go on exchanges with the assistants. I was pretty stoked about that, because I got to exchange with Elder Oliver, who was my first Zone Leader when I was back in Coulee Dam. I have really looked up to him, because sometimes he was the only person that knew how to help me. It was awesome being able to work with him again. We saw awesome miracles all night long and met so many friendly people that we could talk to. Afterwards, we just sat and talked about what missions do to a person. He told me that I've had one of the weirdest missions he's ever heard of, with me starting out in such a hard area for 6 months, being companions with Coby Johnson, and several other factors that really have made my past 9 months interesting. As we talked, the spirit confirmed to me that I have been where I have been and have done what I have done for a reason. I have learned things on my mission that I could not have learned any other way, and I know that God has tailored my mission to transform me. The mission is real, folks. I have especially learned how to not only love people, but express that love in different ways. Even though I never saw myself as a leader before the mission, I have come to realize that we usually have a wrong idea about what a leader is. A leader is a servant. A leader is an example. A leader shows his love to everyone he meets. Even though I'm not that great at these things, I am learning, and It feels good to be moving in the right direction :)

Sorry for the kind of boring letter, but Yakima is amazing. The work here is moving forward, and now that the transfer craziness is gone, Elder Jarvis and I will be working hard to see miracles this next week!

Love you! Stay blessed!

Elder Moser