The Hard Work is Beginning to Payoff

Hola family.....Happy 24th!  The work is going great here in Mantaro.  This last week was really great. On P-Day we all packed lunches and went hiking in this hidden forest.  It was a lot of fun. That night we went and visited Kory. She is a lady we found through our area book...the previous Elders had given up on her for various reasons and so I felt like we should go back and re-contact her. And now...she has baptismal date set for this Saturday! We were thinking that she was not real committed to us teaching her.  She hadn't been able to meet with us for 2 weeks. But Gustavo, a member, came with us to teach her.  She was telling us how she was feeling about getting baptized and the BOM. You could see how happy she was and excited.  She said that she really feels like she needs to get baptized. Gustavo was helping her realize that is the spirit confirming to her that the feelings she's having are from the spirit and they testify of Christ. It was sweet! The spirit was SO strong! Testifying that this is the spirit and is telling us this is her time was something really special to witness. Her demeanor has changed completely whereas before she was sad but now she feels happy, has a little bit of a testimony that is starting to grow and the support from Gustavo has been great. So after a long four months in Mantaro and a ton of work, prayer and fasting, I will finally see a baptism in our area (fingers crossed)! Hallelujah! But that was a great feeling to see the fruits of our efforts are coming suddenly out of nowhere. 

So on Tuesday we had a lot of appointments and one of them was with this guy Martin...who wants to be an atheist. So we showed him Alma 32 and read that with him and emphasized that it says in there to "try God" with faith. It was interesting trying to get guy who says he's an atheist to just use a little bit of faith. It's funny because by doing that, Martin will actually have to use quite a bit of faith!

So Weds was just okay. We played sports at the ward with the members, so that was pretty cool except they showed up an hour late :-)

Thursday I had to go to District Council meeting with all of the other DLs and ZLs. I got to see my friends Elder Campbell and my former companion from Huancavelica, Elder Jimenez! It was great to see them. We ate Popeye's chicken so that was a nice break from Peruvian food. Then we had the council meeting and it was like a panel interview where we could ask questions to the APs, President and Sister Silva. It was a good meeting. President spoke and as expected, he's made some changes to the mission rules. The big change was that going out of our Area...so not the Zone (big) but the Area (small). This change will be hard to get used to. He also has issues with us calling each other by just our last name (leaving out Elder)...this one is familiar to me because I remember my Dad's mission president in Hawaii would get after the missionaries for calling them "guys" or "dudes" or whatever they said back then. Slang and loose talk is the issue here. Also, President Silva said we are no longer restricted from eating with members. Before, we were only allowed to eat with our pension. President said that this added time with members might result in good work being accomplished. So all of this is going to take some getting used to but you have to just accept it and move forward! I know that President Silva is the Lord's servant called to lead us at this time and in this place. 

On Friday we found another family to teach. They are dirt biking fanatics and their kid is like a world champ at it or something. So they accepted us into their home because they say they've been looking for a church to go to as a family! So that was great!

Saturday the parties began here in Peru. It is like 4th of July here this coming week but its not just one day, but the whole week. 

Reflection of the Week:  Talking to lots of people this week has brought us success. Something I refused to accept when I got here was that the area was "dead" or not known for being productive. Every area I've been in has had a similar challenge and so I've said from Day 1 as a goal that I wanted to improve the area in some way or another. A total of 11 new investigators this week! Contacting works! The Villanera family still comes and they were a family we contacted. They want to get baptized. They were a knocked door. I love it out here! Time is flying! Love you all! #doitforjesus

District Council - July 2016

Elder Moss & Elder Gonzales - July 2016

Elder Moss & Elder Jimenez - July 2016

Peruvian Sunset in Huancayo - July 2016

Another one...

The Book of Mormon is Key

What's up guys? How's home and everyone doing? Everything is great here.  We had a slow week of work but the week itself went by fast.  We did have 6 investigators come to church.  The Villanera family is so solid and they come to everything now! Their kid, Christian, is going to seminary also...so that's really cool.  They are really excited about the church.  The one big hang up is that they need to get married.  They want to get married.  I hope one day I get to see or hear that they got baptized. Teaching the Villanera family was definitely the highlight of the week.

I've decided that P-day isn't always the best day....especially if you don't have anything planned to do. On Tuesdays we had interviews with President Silva and also district meeting.  We went to the office and spent 3 hours there.  The ZL's had English exams and practices with the Elders. After that I had my interview with President Silva.  Unfortunately it only lasted about 3 minutes because we had no lights.  First thing he asked me was, "You're a ZL right?"  Ha ha, I told him "no". President is cool and I like him a lot.  I guess he used the spirit of discernment to get to know me in that 120 seconds of my interview! I'm sure I'll have a chance to talk to him more in the future. He's had a crazy schedule. Wednesday we visited David.  He had read the Plan of Salvation and had done a huge study on it with his Bible.  He tried to tell us that we didn't exist before.  But we showed him Ephesians 1:4-5 and then he finally understood that we are all predestined and we have a purpose and that we did live with God.  He also had a lot of questions about the Fall.....we will go back later this week and answer them.  We also played volleyball with the ward on Wednesday and everyone still can't believe how tall I am....LOL! Thursday we had failed appts but we made up for it and found 2 new investigators.  We also saw recent converts, Wilder and Johana. One of the new investigators is a reference from a member who helped us.  His name is Martin and he's 17 years old.  He listened and understood everything.  His only question was, "So who's the living Prophet now?".  He also came to church.  Friday we taught the Diaz family 1 Nephi 13 and it was intense.  They understand that the Bible is not perfect. They also are great and use the references to look up a ton of scriptures so they understand. We saw Izumi who told us he believes now that God is just and idea created by man. He had watched some documentary about God and his existence in mankind.....it was on the Discovery channel.  So now he thinks God is fake.  I honestly think he's trying to justify to himself so he can drink and do what he wants.  We will try to help him understand but we might have to drop him. Saturday Elder Gonzales was sick so I did a lot of reading and studying.  We had a lot of failed appts on Sunday so we did some contacting.  In Peru, Saturday and Sunday, no one is home. They either go to family, go to some festival or drink. So kind of a tough week but we're hanging in there! Some of my most spiritual experiences here have been because of the power and influence of the Book of Mormon...it is the key and it doesn't matter WHEN people decide to get baptized but HOW they are truly converted to the gospel through the Book of Mormon. Good chance I will leave this upcoming change...we will see.

Reflection of the week: I like to share 1 Nephi 19:8-9 with people that don't take an importance of the sacrament, of the Saviors teachings, the atonement.  So many people don't apply these amazing things in their lives.....they ignore what our Savior has done for us. That's like the people who scoffed, disregarded or mocked him when he was on the earth.  What our Savior has done for us is VALUABLE.  If we don't use it and follow him then we are the ones that are disrespecting him.  If we truly have faith in Christ then we truly will follow him.  He knows we aren't prefect, he knows we fail. But he loves us.......what counts is our intentions.  I love you all! #doitforjesus

Love,

Elder Moss

Elder Moss - July 2016

Huancayo Zone - July 2016

Elder Moss & Elder Gonzales (far left)

The Spirit is our Guide

Hey Family.....How are you all doing? Things are good here! Just an average week. Not much but we have been working hard and finding new people to teach.  Monday was sweet...we had a a BBQ and all the Elders (gringos) played basketball for 2 hours....that was a lot of fun!  President Silva and his family came and ate with us.  So that was fun to interact with him.  We also visited the Jara family who are slowly coming back to church. They've been one of the hardest families to rescue. But they truly are sweet!  Tuesday we got a reference from a member.  His name is David and he has a sickness that has kept him in his room for almost a year.  For a year he has gone to medics and they can't find the problem.  Apparently he has a lot of pain. People think that he's loco (crazy).  I see him as a normal guy that thinks too hard or there's something messing with him, like a demon.....HAHA! He is 33 and a civil engineer. Also he's an Adventist.  They believe in Saturday being the Sabbath. We introduced him and his girlfriend to the BOM and they said they would read it.  We also talked to his parents and they are willing to find out more about the Restoration of the Church.  So it ended up being a good reference. We visited John and Mariella. They are doing good and Mariella is still reading. Her baptismal date is August 30th. The Villanera family came to sport night on Wedensday. Thursday we had a lot of failed appts.  But we did see Urbano.  He's 58 years old and is less active. Walking is challenging to him.  We have tried helping him out by giving him some exercises so he can strengthen his legs.  We are working on his faith.  Friday we had planning meeting. We saw the Diaz family and they are so cool.  They have some of the best questions. We taught them about the Great Apostasy.  Then the Jara family has 2 friends that we taught.  One was from HVCA that recognized me. The other one lives in our area. Saturday we taught the Villanera family.  Heli, the dad, read all the Principles of the Gospel book. The mom is also really interested. I think back and I'm so grateful that we knocked on their door.....we were definitely lead by the spirit.

We have been having some real quality lessons lately and the result of that we had 10 investigators who came to church this last Sunday.....Diaz, Villanera, Izumi & his daughters. That has been such a blessing and testimony builder for me.  We also had a video conference on Sunday with the area 70. He was giving us some instructions on the plan of the area.  There's not a lot of seminary attendance and keeping the sabbath day. I spoke in church and talked about the importance of being an example.

Reflection of the week:  As I was watching the video conference from the area 70 I started to realize things I need to be better at.  Not obedience wise, but small things.  I feel like sometimes we are to prideful to change. We need to listen to the spirit and ask God what is missing in our lives.  Pride can block the spirit from whispering to us.  The spirit can indicate to us in a lot of ways.  But I realized he is our guide and he gives us advice.  But we need to be willing to listen. I invite you all to listen to the spirit and try to be a teachable and humble enough person to change what your need to change. Thank you for all of your love and support. #doitforjesus

Love

Elder Moss

We Had 11 Investigators Come To Church!

Happy 4th of July family! Today all 4 zones in Huancayo are going to have a BBQ and some members are going to do some fireworks....so that will be sweet!  This last week was amazing! We found 3 new investigators through contacting.  We didn't have P-day on Monday because of the hike with President Henderson last Friday.  Tuesday we had district meeting and then we were able to visit John and Mariella and she accepted a baptismal date! We taught her all the reasons we should choose to get baptized and the blessings from it.....she accepted it all!  One of my favorite scriptures that puts all the Catholics in shock is Mark 10: 38-39 "But Jesus said unto them, Ye know now what to ask: can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? And they say unto him, We can. And Jesus said unto them, Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized".

We also taught Wilder and his wife and they are excited to read the BOM and find the right church. Wednesday was good we taught Eduardo Parruga, an investigator that's married to a less active.  He is reading the BOM and is understanding.....which is great! Then we also taught the Java's, a less-active family that has had some problems with some members. Apparently the members have accused their daughter and their son (whose a return missionary) of some things and they were offended.  So we shared a lesson about forgiveness. The mom started to cry and you could feel the spirit.  Thursday we taught this old dude, Dante, who has no teeth. He likes to relate everything to Saints and Idols.  We're thinking about teaching him the first 2 commandments.  The funny thing is all the Catholics believe in the Bible but they completely skip the first 2 commandments.  We saw our buddy, Urbano, who calls us liars and hypocrites because we don't visit him enough.  He's a good guy and walking is challenging for him.  We are helping him to practice walking and to use his faith...HAHA! Friday we met President Silva and all his kids! I think he's going to be great! That night we went and purchased the food for the BBQ. We also visited, Kory, who has a baptismal date.

On Sunday we fasted that people would start applying what we teach them into their lives and it worked.  At the beginning of sacrament we had 5 investigators show up....Mariella, Kory, Izumi and his 2 daughters. Then after they opened the doors the Villanera and Diaz family showed up! That's 11 investigators at church! That has to be a miracle because getting people to church, even the members, is honestly so challenging.  They all came and stayed and enjoyed it....it was awesome! FASTING works! 

Reflection of the week:  This week I realized you can work hard and have great numbers but what counts is how those investigators apply what we teach them and how they progress.  Also the BOM is the KEY to EVERYTHING! People become hooked and it's so cool to see! Implementing the BOM of guarantees progression and most of all explaining about the importance of the BOM with the spirit. I love this book and the miracles I have seen! I truly love it out here. Love you all! #doitforjesus

Love,

Elder Moss

Goodbye to President & Sister Henderson
Welcome President & Sister Silva