Cabin Fever!

Here is Jake's latest letter. We were able to trade email messages again with him today and he's doing great. He says they have two more days of class at the CCM and then there will be some "Field Orientation" training that he'll attend before he heads out to Huancayo. He doesn't have his travel plans yet. Thank you all for your love and prayers. He's doing great!

¡HOLA FAMILIA Y AMIGOS! Only like 6 days left so that's good news buuuut that means no more hot showers ugh! I love you guys so MUCH and I got my package on saturday and it was so great! I love you all and I feel so blessed to be out here in Peru serving the Lord! I love Peru and  I'm  so excited to get out there and talk to people about Jesus Christ and how our Heavenly Father loves each and everyone one of them! My Spanish has improved lots and I can listen pretty well. I can speak well enough to communicate and get my point across so I have been humbled and excited for that! The Lord has blessed me with my spanish and I am so grateful for that! My reading and writing have improved and my conjugation is doing great and my vocabulary is growing everyday! Now I'm just ready to get a latino comp who doesn't speak a lick of english and forces me to learn because I need that! I can't wait to get out there and get to Huancayo!

Today we missed our temple session because we couldn't catch a bus on the way there...buses are JAM PACKED! I don't even FIT in them it is so funny haha! When I stand up I have to take my neck to a 45 degree angle to fit!  My comp and I talked to some return missionaries about missions and they only spoke Spanish and a tiny bit of English.  They said our spanish is really good for being here for only 5 weeks! I am so excited to preach the gospel in Spanish! I love spanish!  We had a devotional last night from another area 70 and he was awesome! He had so much power and I understood him all without the translator! The main thing I took from him is that we need to learn to love the people here. I already love the people here and I can't wait to teach the people in Huancayo that have been waiting to hear my voice! :)

So a week ago BEDNAR CAME! It was SO COOL to be in the room with an apostle. He is such a funny guy and he isn't all serious in person. There were 800 missionaries in a chapel! It was so crazy you guys! He did an open mic thing and mics were passed around and people asked questions and he asked us questions and we answered! He told us that we shouldn't write down everything and we should write down something when we are prompted by the spirit, and I was. Something I took out of it is that we need to help our investigators endure to the end.... perserverar hasta el fin in español :) We don't just baptize to rack up the numbers. We need to make sure they are staying consistent and that they complete the saving ordinances in the temple. It's so true because I also took out of that that I need to do the same. I need to endure to the end and always be willing to follow the commandments. Everyone needs to and that's why I'm here. To invite others to follow Christ and have a way back to our loving heavenly father! It was so great to listen to him and see how many missionaries there are in Peru! That'll be me in 6 DAYS! SO AMPED!

It's been great at the CCM and I've grown really close with elder hale, rust, parkinson, nielson, and Logan. They're all such awesome people and I love all my district too. But elder hale and I have grown really close and he's been such a great example.  So this week we had pictures with the President and his wife and they go up on a wall.  Last week I got this ugly brown tie from Elder Beecher and it's passed on in this group called the order haha. So I whipped that out and elder hale whipped out the "pescado tie" he traded for this tie with a latino.. .the UGLIEST fish tie I have ever seen haha! So in the picture Hale and I are wearing these ugly ties.  Apparently the president's wife isn't too fond of passing an ugly tie down to each group, so I had to keep that thing hidden! So then this weekend we have a ceremony and pass down the tie haha! It's just something fun to do here because all of us are getting cabin fever and want out... ahhh! We are all so amped! And wow i never want rice again in my life after 2 years.. like it is no good anymore.

Reflection of the week...  Yesterday I was reading in 2 Nephi 3 about how Joseph of Egypt forsees Joseph Smith, Jr. being a prophet. I read that chapter with not very open eyes so I read it again and looked up the footnotes and just sat and pondered about it.  Joseph Smith is a true prophet and the spirit testified that to me as I read it for a second time. It was a peace and a calming peace with happiness and I just sat there and smiled. I love the book of mormon and it has helped me out to find answers and to give answers to others! It is such a great book and it is the doctrine and testimony of christ and we need to be reading it everyday! It brings me so much joy and the little amount of time I do have here in the CCM to read... I read it because it is amazing! I have a testimony that this book is true and that this gospel is true! My heart is happy being here in Peru and I have so much! We truly are apart of the plan of happiness so we need to show it! I love you all so much and I miss you all so much! Only like 98 P-days left ;) so make it count and WRITE ME! I love you ALLLLLL!! AHH NEXT TIME I'LL BE IN THE FIELD! :)

Your favorite, Elder Moss

Jake says Riley Schneiter came to visit him in the CCM! He says this Elder's smile is exactly like Riley's.

We think this is one of only three times they got to the temple in Lima. It was closed for the first couple of weeks and today they missed their session time because the bus was crowded.

Jake and his CCM buddies.