The Cold Here is Insane!

It snowed here in Cerro de Pacso.  This is the first time I've seen snow in a year and a half! It's crazy how cold it is here.  I see my breath in the morning. We have a space heater but it isn't much and so yeah we are basically trying to get warm all the time. My good friend Elder Campbell sent me some warm sweaters to wear up here at 14,000 ft.  I finally am wearing the boots and wool socks my parents sent with me. Believe it or not, Elder Morales and I are running in the mornings...its insane cold and up here at 14K+ feet it burns your lungs and makes you really tired. I'll be fit for a marathon by the time I get home!

I couldn't wait to hear the result on the Utah vs. USC game so I asked my pension to look it up. I was so stoked for the Utes when she told me the score. It will be fun when I come back to see them play!

Things are going really well. We taught some good lessons this last week. A total of about 20+ lessons. A lot of the lessons were with members.  Moving to a different place might be postponed because the room has to be a place that has a separate entrance and we have to sign a one year contract. This place is kinda dirty and stinky. I'm doubting that the mission will allow us to move but we'll see if we can find something.  

One of our investigators, who's progressing well, is named Miguel. He struggles with drinking alcohol...he's not an addict, it's more of a recreational drinking thing. We decided that together we would fast to help him overcome his challenge with drinking and it was a cool experience. He came to church and seemed very happy. We hope that he felt the power of fasting.  Rocio and Ana are some new investigators. Ava is 52 years old and has a daughter who is studying in Utah. Ava loves the church and learning about it.  They have been attending other wards so the previous Elders passed on their reference.  Elder Morales and I saw it as an opportunity to help them understand the importance of attending their own ward. We explained to them why we have boundaries for wards. At first she had a hard time understanding it.  I took the time to explain to Ava the revelation and organization of the church and that the area limits all lead back to God.  The Spirit was there to testify to her and soften her heart. She came to the Yanacancha ward on Sunday and ended up loving it and making some new friends. That was a great testimony of her faith in coming to the right ward. We don't have anything firm yet but I think we could have a couple of baptisms in October. 

I really like Elder Morales. He's been out for 20 months. He's been a great teacher to me of how to boldly contact people. He is totally fearless! Ha ha! I am glad I am with him. 

Our ward is really great.  We have about 90 that attend.  The members are so cool and the have been helping us out a ton this last week.  A lot of them remind me of family members and friends.  I'm looking forward to watching General Conference this weekend.  Maybe they'll finally turn on the heat in the church building so we can be warm! You seriously can't escape the cold here.

Reflection of the week:  Change is hard.  Every time you get transferred you have to start over with getting to know the members.  I was in Mantaro a long time and built that area up with a nice new place to live and a great teaching pool. When I get transferred I'm usually really quiet at first because I'm just checking things out and trying to get used to the new area and people. This is something I need to work on...being a bit more outgoing and friendly to new people when I meet them. The mission has given me a lot of direction with not only spiritual things but also personal and life skills that I otherwise wouldn't come across. Ether 12:27 keeps playing over and over in my head...as missionaries we get a chance to be totally exposed and humbled by things that the Lord wants us to know are weak things that we can work on to become strong. 

Yanacancha Ward Building

Elder Moss & Elder Morales - Cerro de Pasco - September 2016

Pension's Son & Elder Morales

Views of Cerro de Pasco

Loving Cerro de Pasco!

It's cold here in Cerro de Pasco! Seriously the cold is different because heating doesn't exist in Peru so it's impossible to escape the cold!  We are at 14,000 feet.  I keep getting asked if the altitude has effected me.....but I'm good.  P-days now consist of any changes that happen with transfers.  So if you are getting transferred you travel on your p-day.  We also can't do activities with members to bring investigators.  

So Sunday I received a call that I was getting transferred. So I packed all my stuff and Monday we headed to the terminal.  Said goodbyes and then traveled for 5 hours to Cerro de Pasco.  On the way there we passed through La Oroya and it was great to reflect on the teaching experiences I had there.
  
The people here in CDP are really nice..but it seems like they're not as into doing member missionary work like I've been used to in other areas.  My new companion, Elder Morales is hilarious!  He's from Argentina and he has no fear which is good because people when we are contacting, we are able to get into their houses with out any problems. 

Our apartment is not so good.  We will be changing rooms, for the 4th time on my mission, to a better place.  Our new room is nice and small.  But you want small here so you can trap the heat in...haha! Love our pension, she's really sweet. The food is isn't so sweet.  The altitude makes you tired, but I'm used to it now and even the cold I'm adjusting to.  

In the middle of the city they have a huge mine.  In the mine they have a thing called "el tajo", it's a huge hole where the workers will enter the mine.  They work for 14 days and then have a 7 day break.  Down below in the mine they have rooms where the miners rest. The mining company keeps digging and so the hole gets bigger and bit by bit it's eating the city.  People have to move their homes because of this.

Our ward is the Yanacancha ward....it's great!  We have 2 investigators, Victor & Miguel. They have baptismal dates set.  Victor is a 16 year old kid who's really interested in the church.  His family is also showing interest.  Miguel is 25 and his wife left him so he's really sad.  He wants to change his life and get baptized but he has a problem with drinking so we are trying to help him. One of the problems in our areas is the missionaries have been teaching mostly women which is not okay.  It's important for us to find men and families to teach.  So we will be focusing on that.  I'm excited to serve in CDP and we are having a great time!

Reflection of the week:  This week I've been able to reflect on loving everyone.  Things are said about people that can make you form an opinion without really knowing that person. There's a lot of situations like that in the mission where you go in thinking that someone or some place is terrible and you end up loving the person or area.  Rumors and other stuff that goes around can be distracting and also just not true. Sometimes it's hard to love everyone and be like our Savior, Jesus Christ, but it can be a wonderful journey getting there. I love all of you so much! #doitforjesus

Love, 

Elder Moss

Cerra de Pasco mine 

Kory Got Baptized!

Hey family! It's Sunday night and since last Tuesday I've known where I was going to be transferred to but that didn't keep us from working really hard this last week.  I have great news! After 2 years of investigating the church, Kory got baptized!  Wednesday we had a lesson with her and Elder Daza and I were teaching her and out of know where she told us she wanted to move her baptism up to this last Saturday.  She has no doubts and she passed her interview.  I know that this was a blessing from Heavenly Father to be able to see her get baptized before I was transferred from Mantaro.  

I've learned a lot here in Mantaro and it will be one of my favorite areas.  I've truly enjoyed being here and being apart of the missionary work. Elder Gonzales is awesome and I will miss him so much.  He has become one of my best buds and I have truly enjoyed working with him over the last 4 months. I'm leaving behind a ton of people we've been teaching and I pray that they'll come to accept the gospel and be baptized. I feel so blessed to have been in Mantaro and see the real results of diligently contacting and knocking doors. 

So I'm going to Cerro de Pasco!  It's located at the top of the Andean Mountains and there are about 80,000 people there.  It's an active mining center with an open pit mine just like the Bingham Copper mine. It is literally on the top of the Andes at 14,210 ft. They mine zinc, copper, lead and silver. A pretty desolate place with all of the mine tailings and contaminated water, etc. Apparently, My new comp is Elder Morales from Argentina.  My new area is called Yanacancha.  It's very cold here....the average high is 54 degrees and the low average is 29.  I'll be serving in the highest Stake in the world. Honestly, so excited to go there and get to work.   Since the beginning of my mission I've wanted to serve there.  I've heard the food is terrible but oh well I'm use to that.  I'm really excited that I'll be living with 3 other missionaries.....my comp, Elder Matthews and Elder Hernandez. I have my sleeping bag all cleaned and ready to go...there's no indoor heating at all in the homes in Cerro de Pasco.

Reflection of the week:  This week I have been reflecting on the work I have been apart of here in Mantaro.  This has been one of the toughest areas that I have served in.  I know that the Lord works through us in many ways as missionaries.  Whether it be helping members or helping us gain our own testimony.  I know the Lord wanted me here in Mantaro and I'm so happy that I had the opportunity to serve here.  I may not leave my mission with a lot of baptisms but I will leave with a true conversion to this gospel. I love it and it picks me up everyday and makes me truly happy.  I know that God lives and our Savior is Jesus Christ.  I know that Joseph Smith restored our Saviors church.  I love it with all my heart and I continue to change for the better everyday. Wish me luck in Pasco! I love you all !  #doitforjesus.

Love,

Elder Moss

Elder Gonzales, Kory and Elder Moss - Mantaro

Elder Gonzales, Elder Moss, Elder Daza, Elder Gonzalez - Mantaro

Cerra De Pasco - Mining Crater

Spiritually Uplifting Week

Happy Labor Day! How's the family doing?  I hope that everyone is surviving school. I also hope that the Utes started out the year on good note this last week!  Things are good here in Mantaro. In fact it was one of my most spiritual, edifying weeks.

So we had the chance to have a multi-zone p-day and were able see a whole bunch of Elders.  It feels like years since I had the chance to see them.  I was so happy to see Elder Campbell!!  He's in HVCA and having a good time.  We all went to this place called Myopaupa and played soccer.  Even President and Sister Silva came.....that was way cool!

Tuesday we had a really long multi-zone conference with President Silva.....but really awesome.  He talked about closing our hearts......not flirting with the Sister missionaries and members because there have been problems with that here. So that was fun to listen to but not fun for some.  Like it says in 1 Nephi 16:1-3(Read it).  President also talked a lot about obedience and wanting to leave the mission "clean".....saying you did your best.  When I was listening to him the Spirit testified to me that he truly is the President of this mission. It's tough taking on a change and a lot of the missionaries are not too happy. But for me these last months I have been praying and fasting and asking Heavenly Father to humble myself to know that he is our President.  I left the multi-zone conference being touched by the spirit and knowing that President Silva is doing only what the Lord indicates him to do.  He left me shocked, hard to describe, but wanting to truly finish out my last 10 months the best that I can.  I love President Silva.

Our week was normal with investigators.  We have been doing a lot of contacting with Elder Daza and Bautista.  Elder Daza and I went together Thursday and Saturday. Everyone failed us so we knocked on doors all night. Sunday we had 13 investigators come to church! Pray that we can get them to commit to baptism....It's been really hard not having that. The Diaz family is still not ready. Pray for them because they need help to really feel the importance of keeping the commandments. Kory, she has no doubts. She's reading the BOM and is in 2 Nephi 12 and progressing.  She even put her own date of Sept 17th to be baptized.  She said she prayed about it.  She just really needs some more friends.

Mari and Lucero, mom & daughter, have been attending church for 4 months and have fallen in love with the church.  They brought Oscar, the dad with them.  Mari and Oscar aren't married (no surprise there). Oscar is awesome and wants to get baptized. We taught him about repentance and putting the Lord first and keeping his commandments.

The Villanera family is progressing.  Ursula, the wife, is changing a lot and loves the church.

Reflection of the week:  This week was incredible for me.  I've learned a lot in the mission. How to truly repent, humble myself, fast and a lot more.  I've gotten so close to our Heavenly Father in these last couple days.  I feel truly converted to this gospel. So grateful that I have felt so close to the Spirit this last week.  I am so excited for these next 10 months of my mission.  I love you all. Please keep me updated on your lives!  #doitforjesus

Love,

Elder Moss

Huancayo Zone - September 2016

Elder Moss & Elder Campbell - Huancayo, September 2016

Huancayo Skyline - September 2016

Evidently Mountain Dew is a Luxury in Peru

The Diaz Family Got Married!

What's up guys!? How's school going for everyone?  Not gonna lie....I miss it!  Once again it was an average week here in Mantaro.  It's clean up time with the investigators.  We are starting to drop some of them because they're not progressing.  Kory is one of the investigators that we are needing to drop. It's so sad because she had all the answers in the world and every indication that she should be baptized.  Honestly, Satan works really hard on these investigators.  Kory is also really stubborn.  No one can progress if they aren't willing to change.  She's struggling with accepting that what we are teaching her is true. She has doubts because of the things that she reads on the internet.  

P-day Elder Gonzales and I chilled in our room.  We made BBQ wings and might have had a nap or two.  Later that night we went and visited the Paruaga family....they're doing great and changing a lot! Tony and Andre, the sons, don't hang with their buddies that drink anymore.....so that's great.  The whole family is progressing and it's so awesome to see this gospel make changes in their lives.  We do need to get them to come to church.  The conflict is they don't want to miss their family breakfast that they have with everyone on Sundays.  Please pray for them so we can get them to come to church.  Sometimes it's a little sketchy bringing investigators to church.  We are always on the watch to make sure that members don't offend someone or say something unnecessary.

There are 18+ people that live in our apartment complex.  So there's not a lot of hot water for showers. So we decided to buy a tank of gas for our solar shower because we want hot water all the time. We hooked the tank up to the gas powered heater and it didn't work!!! The landlord and his wife came up to our apartment and flipped out and told us that we can shower with cold water because we're young guys!  The funny thing is they were the ones to tell us to buy it...HAHA!  We had to return it.  So every night we started to drain the hot water out of the tank so that no one had it. That way people will start to complain to the landlord.  

The Diaz family got married last Friday in the chapel! It was so great to see them make this commitment.  We need to put a date for baptism but we feel like they don't take being a member of the church really serious.  So we need to make sure.  

We had a really sweet spiritual lesson with Wilder & Yohana.  We talked about the Holy Ghost and marriage.  We explained that they have received answers and that the Holy Ghost is there guiding them.  It was so amazing to feel the spirit as they realized they do have answers.  Elder Gonzales shares his testimony about putting the Lord first and ALL will be okay.  Like it says in Matthew 6:33 "But seek ye first the kindgom of God and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." So we challenged them to pray about getting married and putting God first.  The spirit was there and I know they'll make the right decision.

Reflection of the week:  I know that putting the Lord first here in the mission has made me a happier person.  It has strengthened my testimony and made me realize what's important in our lives. If we put the Lord first ALL of the temporal things in life will be okay and we will be happier and more blessed. I love preaching this gospel and seeing lives changed! Even though it was a tough week and a bunch of people failed us and being kept awake by the concert outside I still love it here! #doitforjesus

Elder Moss, The Diaz Family & Elder Gonzales - Mantaro, Peru - August 2016

Mad Dogs & Serving The Lord

Hola family....How are you all?  This week was just an average one.  Monday we did get permission to leave our area and go downtown to buy some items that we needed.  And we were also able to do some things with our zone.  President Silva has made some changes that we all have to adjust to. He wants us to limit the time we spend with our zones and other missionaries on P-Day.  It's definitely something that we are not use to but I know that we need to be obedient to the rules.

We did get a surprise visit from our ZLs, Elder Turin & Molina,  to check on our room....LOL. Our room is usually clean so we were ready for them. They are some of my favorite ZLs, they're hilarious!

This week was a lot of failed appointments. Peruvians love to dodge us! So we realized early on this week that we'd be doing a lot of contacting and then probably having to make the hard call on dropping a few investigators. Sometimes you feel like you have a great week and you find people and teach people and then boom, the next week you have no one. But we did get to go visit Yampol and his mom...they are super prepared and awesome and we always feel the spirit when we are with them. His mom was able to make it to our appointment this Friday and she came and listened and in the beginning of our discussion she started crying. We found out that her boyfriend/husband (they are not married just like the other 98% of Peruvians) was mad because she was listening to us. She told us though that it is all worth it because she feels something different when she reads and attends church and is with the missionaries. She told us she knows this is something special. We testified to them of the truth and it was great. Yampol is excited to get baptized and have the priesthood. He's 19 and already has a bunch of friends at church. This honestly is probably why I am still here in Mantaro...because we have found some people that I really have connected with and the spirit is always there. We've fasted and prayed for them and they are progressing very well. 

Yampol and Sava made it to church along with the other 8 investigators that came! The area is doing great and growing. This week we will be doing lots of contacting and finding some new people to teach. The Villanera family is doing great and they are starting to see prayers answered! The Diaz family gets married on Friday so we will go to that. David (the guy who has been sick for a year) is realizing this is the true church and he's changing. I love talking to him because we always get into deep talks and I love it. 

The ward is supporting us more. There are lots of things the bishop needs to fix in the ward and we are trying to help him. One thing...everyone here asks the bishop for money so the bishop has to deal with that but yeah that is Huancayo. The people have Xbox and Smart TVs but they need money for important stuff. Kinda crazy but we do the best we can to love them. 

Reflection of the week:  I have been thinking about how its been tough for us trying to adjust to the mission president change. Before it was a little frustrating to me not leaving the area last transfer. But after this week I've seen the reason why (the people) and I've realized that he is a servant of God and what he says and changes is inspired. If we deny that then we are just denying the Lord, so for me it has been a lot of humbling and asking for help to accept the changes. I've gotten over not moving and I do love President Silva and I hope to get to know him better. He's doing his best and we need to be there to support him. 

So lastly, a couple of funny stories about dogs...first, not really funny but I got bit by a dog while I was trying to play with him. He bit me so I hit him back and he yelped! And then, on Sunday at church during sacrament meeting a dog got inside the chapel and started running around and the usher was chasing him trying to catch him! And if that wasn't enough then the power went out and so everyone was yelling over the pulpit...that is Peru! #doitforjesus

Love,

Elder Moss

Mantaro Sunset

The Ward is Changing...

Holy cow.....August is flying.....I can't believe it.  Weeks are feeling like days to me.  That's great but also scares me because I love being a missionary.  We had a good, solid week. President Silva had leadership council this last week with the ZL's.  In the meeting they talk about what's going on in the mission and they receive new council to pass along.  President is implementing a new rule that 4 out of the 6 P-Days, in a transfer period, you have to spend with your companion, 1 day can be with your zone and the other day can be spent with your district.  Another thing that is changing is our names of our areas.  So instead of the Mantaro zone, President wants us to come up with names from the BOM. I have a feeling that all the missionaries will still call there zones what they've been known by because everyone will know what they're talking about.

P-day's are not my favorite....I'd rather be busy.  We did get together and cook food and that's always fun to be with the other missionaries.  That night we did have a great lesson with the Parraga family. They have 4 kids and their oldest son, Tony, is a professional motocross rider.  They have such a nice house.  Seeing a nice house in Peru is jaw dropping.  We taught them lesson 1 and the kids were so interested and we had such a great time teaching them.

Tuesday we went contacting all morning.  We did get 2 new investigators out of it their names are   Tredi and Jonet.  We introduced ourselves and talked for awhile.  They are basketball coaches and they were asking me all about bball.  They are Catholic and have 2 kids. We also taught the Zenteno family the Plan of Salvation and they really understood it and enjoyed it.  Explaining about Adam and Eve is one of my favorite things because it's so surprising to everyone here.  The churches here do a good amount of polluting their minds.

Wednesday we taught a cool family that Sussy (our pension) gave us, the Nunez family. We taught Sara, the mom, Yampol, the 19 year old son, and Cindy, the daughter.  We were able to teach them all of lesson 1.  The way they paid attention and asked questions was the greatest thing to see and experience.  You could definitely feel the spirit and I know they felt it too.  Usually when you teach lesson 1 here it just doesn't sink in real deep. So we came back Friday and taught them again and we put a date for baptism for them for Sept 10th. They're excited and the person who is most excited is Yampol. He and his mom came to church Sunday and they enjoyed it. An RM in our ward who went to Brazil befriended Yampol and hung out with him all Sunday. So Yampol is excited!

Sunday we had 13 investigators come to church. That's just nuts! Wilder and Yohana came to church and they enjoyed it because they're making friends in the ward too. The Villanera and Diaz family came as well. The ward here is changing and classes and things have improved a lot. Attendance has gone up. I feel like this area is booming now with solid activity and we are on the verge of seeing these investigators come into the waters of baptism.

Funny story on Saturday...so we went to get copies of our progress report and I went to pay the old lady who was doing the copies for us. She starts saying, "I hope you guys accept Jesus in your lives" and then she continues, "Joseph Smith is in hell!" and then rambled on about how we are all going to hell and I need to read the bible, etc. Then, she says, "Joseph Smith is in hell with that guy that dances"...I had no idea what she meant so after a couple of attempts to figure her out I said "You mean Michael Jackson?" and she said "YES!" Oh man, I was dying laughing after! But we tried to talk to her and she just kept wanting us to repeat some prayer. You can't make this stuff up!

I heard that Luis (who was baptized when I was in La Oroya) is preparing to serve a mission. He's working on his mission paperwork!

Reflection of The Week:  After we went to church on Sunday I realized what a blessing it has been to see this ward change and make good friends with the members. Seeing 13 investigators in church yesterday was amazing! Seeing the investigators make their own friends in the ward and seeing our ward love them is great. It might be a lot of time for me in this one area but I am enjoying it and every week we are finding new people to teach. I've enjoyed it here and feel somewhat at home! Love you all! Oh yeah, we made BBQ chicken pizza on Sunday with our pension and it tasted like HOOOOME! #doitforjesus