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

A New Place To Live!

Family how are you all? Things are still great here in Mantaro! We had a pretty good week with a good amount of lessons and 5 new people....I'm so excited about that! Also we got a new room and it's so nice! We ditched our old room and told our Landlord goodbye because he didn't do anything that he said he was going to do.  And we were paying him 450 Soles....so we found a new room.  It's on the 4th floor with a cool view of the city from the balcony.  We have a solar shower and a kitchen. We searched long and hard for this place. We moved in last Saturday.

Last Monday for P-day we just played sports at the church and then that night we found 3 new investigators to teach! Wilder and Johana are a younger couple who own like a mini Home Depot. They are looking for a church where they can feel happiness.  We taught them the Restoration and they were very excited and we are going to visit them tomorrow.  We also have been passing by there place this past week to talk to them.  They have been asking questions on how to raise a family so we are going to bring the Proclamation on the Family to them.  They're are really sweet.  Then we found Nicol, a young mom, who wants to get baptized.  We have set a date for her on July 30th.  We're excited about this. Tuesday we visited Dante.  He's an older guy who wants to know more about the church as also why there are so many different churches?  In Peru you can just throw up a sign on your house, put some chairs up and yell into a microphone and "preach" and perform "miracles" and people will come.  I'm thinking we should try that approach....HAHA!  We also taught the Zenteno family and watched the Joseph Smith movie. They are progressing and it's so exciting! Wednesday was a good day.....we had 4 lessons.We taught Percy. He's 18 and is the grandson of Jorge. He's awesome and has opened up to us a lot.    Thursday we taught Diego and he's doing good.  We finally got in his house LOL! Thursday we received a call from the ZL's telling us we can go to Huaytapallana Friday with President Henderson before he leaves in 2 days. So we went and I was able to see Spencer Campbell.  He's one of my buddies from Brighton.  We were able to talk the whole time. He's in Pampas and got here in February.  So the 4 zones of Huancayo went on the hike. Since we went on the hike we don't have P-day today.  I'm also good on hiking to Huaytapallana....it's always the same! Saturday we moved into our new place.  We decided to celebrate and did a BBQ on our roof with the other Elders....that was fun! Sunday we found John and Mariella FINALLY and did some recent convert visits.  Also the Diaz family is doing great and is getting married July 30th. Villanera family was all excited to come to church and then didn't show up.  So we will have to see what happens with them.

Reflection of the week:  This week I realized after seeing how sad the church is in Peru. I realized how much responsibility the Lord gives us to carry out the salvations of others.  It's sad to see the church in my mission struggle to get someone to say a prayer or do a talk. The Bishop has spoken like 5 times since I have been here.  We need to take our responsibility in the church serious and help others who are weak come unto Christ.  We are so truly blessed. In Jacob 1:19 it explains all of this...."And we did magnify our office unto the Lord, taking responsibility, answering the sins of the people upon our own heads if we did not teach them the word of God with all diligence; wherefore by laboring with our might their blood might not come upon our garments; otherwise their blood would come upon our garments, and we would not be found spotless at the last day."  I love you all! #doitforjesus

Love, 

Elder Moss

Final Hike With President & Sister Henderson - (Elder Moss is right of center)

Better than in "Merica"

Kitchen

Jake's Desk (left)

Rooftop View!

Bedroom

BBQ on the New Patio - Elders Daza, Bruno, Bolanos & Bautista

I'm a Lightning Rod!

Hey Dad ....Happy Fathers Day! Thank you for all that you have done for me.  I love you lots and I'm so grateful for the example you have set for me as a father.  I know that I will use it to teach my kids and to raise my family one day.

Things are good here in Mantaro.  Except that we haven't had water in like 4 days.  Our landlord has yet to fix the water problem and still hasn't finished our room.  We're going to talk to him today to see what's up! We are paying him good money for things that aren't working so well.  We have found another room for the same price. It's a lot nicer, it's on the 4th floor and it has a huge patio that we can go out on that over looks the city. So hopefully we can make that move. The only problem is the lady renting the new place doesn't have a bank account and that's required so she can be paid for our room. That's how it is here...some people don't have basic things like a bank account.

This last week consisted of a lot of failed appointments and looking for a new place.  We were able to contact some people.  We are really looking forward to next week because we have some good people to visit.  Pray that they are there when we show up.  Monday for P-day we played capture the flag in a really cool forest. Huancayo has random forests that are really pretty! Every appointment that we had set for Monday failed us.:( The Zenteno family was out of town. But we were able to catch the dad, Samuel, on Saturday and visit with him. He is awesome.  He was telling us how he is looking to strengthen his family and to be able to raise his children in a good home. So that was perfect.....we gave him the proclamation on the Family! Tuesday was district meeting.  Then we did divisions with Elder Carrasco who's from Chile.  He's one of my favorite kids! He is so funny.....we had a good time teaching.  He really knows the lessons well and how to ask good questions.  I enjoyed doing splits with him a lot. Divisions sometimes kill the week so we weren't able to visit a lot of people.  But Wednesday we visited the Diaz Family.  The office Elders are suppose to be visiting them but haven't had the time for 3 weeks.  So we decided to pick this family up. The Zone Leaders told us it was ok. They have a date to get married July 30th.  We had to help them understand that Jehovah is Jesus Christ.  That is a common problem here and it isn't made any easier by the Jehovah's Witnesses.  One of the highlights of the week was visiting an old man named Urbano.  He is a less-active and we try to visit him weekly.  When Urbano offered the prayer he said, "Lord you know I can't go to church because the Taxi's charge me 4 soles and they rip me off."  My favorite excuse so far....I was trying not to laugh!

So President Henderson spoke in Stake Conf. this past Sunday and he had all of the missionaries stand up and he had me raise my hand and and he said that I'm so tall that my companions love me because I am like a lightning rod! It was really funny! Actually, I am the second tallest Elder in the mission, but the tallest Elder goes home in a month. I will miss President Henderson when he's gone. President Silva will be here on the 29th so that will be great. 

I have been reading in Ether and there is a part where it says that Moroni couldn't write more because the Lord didn't want him to.  I now understand why.......the Lord want's to test us and doesn't want us to have a perfect knowledge or we would not be testing our faith. Then connect that back to Alma 32 which talks about faith.  The teachings in the BOM are unreal.  I love it so much! 

Reflection of the week:  I was thinking back to the lessons when we teach Jose.  I've realized the more and more you ask questions the more likely the spirit will be present.  Having the person share what they are feeling is how you touch their heart with the spirit and get them to recognize that they are feeling the spirit.  Jose is more committed to push himself.  I know that through the spirit we can change.  I love feeling the Spirit!  I love and miss you all.  #doitforjesus

Love,

Elder Moss

Bird egg...we think. That or it just hailed easter eggs.

Elder Carrasco

Huancayo Sunset

Jose's Dog

Teaching Some Great Families!

Hey Family! How are you all? I feel really good about this week..... we had 18 lessons! Mantaro is improving a lot! We are finding investigators and less actives to teach and it's growing. I feel like finally we have gotten to a point where we don't have enough time to fit everything in and that's such an amazing feeling.  

Monday for P-day we took a train and went to Izcuchaca it was so sweet! It really made me miss Huancavelica! Nothing in the mission so far compares to HVCA.  Afterwards we played basketball and volleyball when we returned.  I'm still pretty good at basketball...ha ha! On Monday we also visited the Senteno Family.  Their intentions to know if Joseph Smith was a prophet are real! They're determined to know if the BOM is true and if the church is true. Tonight we are going to show them the Restoration so that will be cool.  For District meeting on Tuesday I gave a lesson on Diligence. We visited the Villanera family that I found 2 months ago.  We were able to teach the mom. They have 3 kids....Christian, Steven and their baby. Christian and Steven love us!  We taught the family lesson 1 and they still seem very interested. Wednesday we had five lessons.  We visited an old investigator named Manuel. I really like him.  He's 23 and has a kid and is excited to start coming back to church.  We also have been visiting Jorge. He's 78 and less-active and is one of my favorite people.  He's always telling us some really crazy stories.....so entertaining. Thursday we met some pretty hardcore in-actives....Miguel and Carmen. They went in-active because a member sold them a bad copy machine that broke. They tried suing them. I was trying not to laugh! They kept telling us how their lives have gotten better since they stopped going to church.  They said money and work are better.  It was sad because I felt that Carmen was very prideful. They kept telling us how they were mad that the ward wasn't helping out kids who needed help and I asked her, "Well then why haven't you done anything to help?" Then she rambled how she doesn't like this member and his family.  So sad that people let worldly things get in front of their own salvation.  Like it says in Matthew 6:33. "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." On a good note, Saturday we went to visit Diego and he finally is going to come to church.  We taught him a lesson and the spirit was so strong.  We also visited the Villanera family again and they are still so interested in making sure their family is happy and they love what the church teaches.  The parents and kids are excited to come to church. They are planning on coming next week. Earlier this week we had a large multi-zone conference with President Henderson. This was his big send off. He will be leaving in a couple of weeks and I don't think I will see him again. I will miss him! President Silva will begin on July 1st. He's from Peru and it will be great to get to know him. 

Reflection of the week:  I decided to really concentrate and listen to the spirit more this last week.  I made sure to ask questions that invited the spirit to be there.  I really tried to listen more carefully to what needed to be taught.  I really think by doing this it made the week and finding people a lot easier.  We decided for some reason to knock on a door and found a less-active who wants her husband to join the church.  So we were able to teach them.  I don't know why we knocked on it, but we did.  The spirit is the KEY to this work! I love you all!  #doitforjesus

Love,

Elder Moss 

Elder Moss, John Cruff and Elder Gonzales

Learning Diligence

Happy 17th Birthday Nick.....miss and love you!  Time is flying here in Mantaro. The work is getting better little by little.  Monday we tried to play capture the flag in a huge forest. We made weapons out of cardboard and it was fun for about 20 minutes.  Then security came over and told us that we had to leave.  Later we had FHE with the Bishop.  You could really feel the spirit in the lesson.  I enjoyed it so much especially since I didn't have to teach. Tuesday I gave a training on diligence and I shared a scripture 1 Nephi 10:19 "For he that diligently seeketh shall find; and the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto them, by the power of the Holy Ghost, as well in these times as in times of old, and as well in times of old as in times to come; wherefore, the course of the Lord is one eternal round." I have a great testimony of diligence after some tough weeks of working hard and little hope.  My mission has taught me that through diligence things can happen.  I can see that Mantaro is slowly showing hope. Elder Gonzales headed to Lima to take care of his visa.  I hung with Elder Daza and Elder Bautista for 3 days.  We went to a hospital...that was so sad.  I felt so bad for the people.  Peru is a tough place. I bought a trompo....coolest thing! It's like a yo-yo but it leaves your hand and spins on the ground and you can throw it and make it fly.  Sergio, my pensions son, it teaching me the tricks.  Thursday Gonzales returned and we got to work. We contacted a guy named, Jesus. He's a mechanic and he was outside taking a smoke break.  I felt like I should approach him.  We did and he was surprised. I told him that Jesus Christ loves him and that he's important to him and his face lit up.  We're going to go back on Monday. I hope he wants to learn the lessons.  Sunday they had elections again so that meant no church and no one was home.  We did splits. Elder Daza and I taught the Anyaipoma Family.  They're a less-active family who have experienced many trials and are ready to come back.  They are awesome and we talk to them in English because they've lived in the states.

I have noticed that small things do count.  I want to leave an area knowing I did my best. And hopefully the Elders that are still there can progress on what I want I have done.  I heard that La Oroya has a lot of success now....it's unreal....they're booming over there apparently. I'm glad to have been apart of that.  President sent me an email telling me how proud he was of me and how good of a missionary I am.  I'm going to miss him lots when he leaves at the end of the month. 

Reflection of the week:  I was thinking a lot about the Plan of Salvation. We taught the Anyaipoma family about this wonderful plan that our Heavenly Father has for us.  The spirit was really strong and it helped them understand what we were teaching.  After explaining to Carol, who's 29,  she asked, "If we are already baptized and we repent then what?" The question is easy but so logical and so powerful. Then what? As we know, through the sacrament, the Lord has given us ways to change and feel better. I testified and the spirit was there and they are excited to come to church this Sunday.  The mission is amazing! It's almost been a year and I want more time! I love you all! #doitforjesus

Love,

Elder Moss

Trombo - Spinning Top