Elder Jake Moss: The Best Week of My Mission So Far

The week flew by! Weeks are starting to become days and I can't believe we are in August. This was a good week. You know that rule that I told you about last week that we couldn't go out of our area? Well last Monday on P-day we got it changed.....so now we can do things within our zone. We are all happy about that! Monday we had a BBQ again on our roof with Elder Bautista and Daza.....that was so much fun! Suzy, our pension, always lends us her little grill. Grills hooked up to gas don't exist here......neither do gas lines. We use charcoal and wood for her grill. After dinner we played ultimate frisbee.

Sad news...Kory didn't get baptized on Saturday. We went and visited her on Monday and she has just decided to give up. We were so excited about her getting baptized and she was too. We don't want to rush her. She thinks that Joseph Smith was a good man and she likes the BOM. But she's always trying to make excuses. She was telling us that the first 2 most important commandments are to love God and your neighbor and that the other ones aren't important. We told her that if we love Jesus Christ we keep all of his commandments. She feels pressured by the commandments. So we will keep working with her to try and help her. She truly is a wonderful person who needs some guidance in her life.

Tuesday we had divisions with the ZL's. I went with Elder Whittaker. It was great to speak English and work with a gringo that has experience. He goes home tomorrow...HAHA! Our mission is slowly losing the superstar Elders.

Wednesday we taught Wilder and Yohana. While we were teaching them about baptism, the Holy Ghost and repentance they got so excited! They were telling us how they want to start a new life and raise a family in a home with the gospel. The really do want to change their lives. They accepted a date to get baptized. I realized how much I love to teach these people and see the happiness that the truth can bring.

Thursday we helped Sussy and her husband paint their garage door....no they don't have a car. Then we watched some of the locals set up for a huge party in front of our house. They create random holidays so they have an excuse to listen to horrible music, dance and drink. So I decided to get on the top of our apartment and preach like Samuel the Lamanite....LOL! Being a missionary doesn't get old. We didn't get to sleep until around 2 because of the noise.

Friday we had a decent day. Spent a lot of time planning.

Saturday we ended up teaching 6 lessons. The last lesson was with the Villanera Family. We taught them about the word of wisdom. We also talked about baptism. They want to get baptized but they need to get married! So they are working on that. The dad is reading everything from Gospel Principles. He loves it all and they love church. As we kneeled down to pray, I felt the spirit strongly. I know that they will get baptized and be an eternal family. What a blessing it has been to teach them.

Reflection of the week: As I was signing the Villanera's BOM's, I realized how much of an instrument I have been for our Heavenly Father. I'm bringing families unto Christ and also seeing such a change in myself as I learn to love these people. I may have not seen a baptism yet in this area but I know I've planted hundreds of seeds. I hope to see the Villlanera family again one day.....they are the greatest! This probably has been the best week of my mission. I love you all! #doitforjesus