Elder Jake Moss: 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.