6 Months!

This week has been crazy and we were running all over the place without much luck, but we got a lot done. Our investigators are progressing for the most part! Rolando is going strong! Nothing has really changed. He is reading about the things we want to talk about in Preach My Gospel before our lessons, so he comes in really prepared and basically just teaches us the lessons and we correct little things and emphasize some areas. He wants to share his testimony in church next Sunday! He is on schedule for his baptism on the 15th of February and wants to speak in the new members fireside that night. I just can't get over how perfect of an investigator he is. He is super humble and so ready to change even if it’s hard :) He wants us to meet him in Utah one time for general conference and then take a trip to Bolivia and then back to Palmyra. He also fasted with us on Sunday for another investigator. It’s wonderful. 

Victor and Rony are doing well. Victor is progressing a lot and we think he will be baptized in February. They came to church yesterday and brought one of their friends along, so now we are teaching him too! We taught Victor alone on Saturday and that was what he really needed. His brother, Rony has some different views on a couple doctrinal subjects, so it confuses him when we say one thing and then Rony says something else. He definitely listens to us way more than his brother! We got invited to a Seventh Day Adventist meeting on Sunday, because their Sabbath day is on Saturday. It was different, but pretty good. Most of the doctrine they were teaching was good, but some was very strange. Then we ate with them and Victor continued to ask questions about our church and wasn't listening to the other people that were there :)

Francisco is progressing. He wants to believe in the Book of Mormon and we fasted with him on Sunday. He thinks the Book is wonderful and he loves everything it says. We think the problem is that he thinks he has to receive a big answer and he isn't recognizing the one that he is being given. But we are working and he is so close!!

I celebrated 6 months as a missionary on Friday! We got Café Rio! And then we celebrated by giving out Books of Mormon :)

We have some funny experiences when we knock on some peoples' doors. One night we knocked and they came and turned the porch light on and then walked away from the door. Then we called her cell phone and we heard it ringing inside, but still no one answered, so we called again and they finally opened the door and asked us to come back today. We also sat knocking on someone's door for about 5 minutes just to find out that the person we were looking for had moved. Also, often we will text an investigator and ask when we can come and then we find out that they are going back to their country for a few months...Fun stuff.

We had an investigator who wasn't progressing all that much, but we were trying and then we found out she has people from other churches coming over to talk as well and that our lessons with her aren't really getting through, especially when she hears anti things from other churches.

Some of these things are funny, but at the same time it’s a little frustrating because what we have is so important and they just don't understand yet. We work so hard, so when we get and investigator like Rolando and Victor we get so excited. I just want so bad to share it with everyone and help them feel the happiness that we have. Because I know it is all true and I know it will change their lives. But like me before my mission they don't want to change and they think they are happy where they are. BUT THERE IS SO MUCH MORE! And I want everyone to have it. Don't you?

Sorry, that's all I have this week, it was two days shorter, but it was good. Keep praying for them please :) Love you!

Love,

 Hermana Moberly

6 Months! Me and Hna Pettit at Cafe Rio.

HUGE Snowflakes

Awkward when it's only the missionaries at 9AM Church

Definitely Not Starving!

Me and My Ticket! :(

Firsts!

What a great week and a half it has been! Like every day, there are good things and bad things, but I’m trying to be more like Nephi and focus mainly on those things!! :)

So I’ll start with Rolando! Not much has changed, we watched the Testaments with him, taught all of the commandments and he committed to live them all, and he stayed at a member’s house 2 hours after we left for another appointment. Basically he is on fire and I can't believe that he still wants to wait until February 15th to get baptized. He is so ready! He even gave us some advice on how to teach with other investigators depending on what worked with him and it’s awesome. We are contemplating on teaching investigator present lessons instead of member presents with him!

It looks like Francisco will not be getting baptized this Saturday, but there’s always the 31st and we are praying really hard for that one to work out.

District and Zone meetings have all been about fishing this transfer and it makes me think of how much my dad would love it all. Last week we were talking about how we need to keep our line in the water as much as possible to have the best chance to catch a lot of fish. That is related to how we need to be at work and talking to everyone when we are outside of our apartment. Then yesterday we talked about our most powerful bait and how we want to use what most effective for the kinds of fish that we want to catch. Our bait as missionaries is the Book of Mormon and the way we use it depends on the person we are taking to. We need to change the way we present it and determine what bait is best for this person and their situation. It’s been really effective so far! This week we are trying to place as many copies as we can and we text the word BITE to our zone leaders every time we place one or give a reading assignment to investigators. Let's go fishing!

We had a mission conference this last weekend and Elder Hallstrom, one of the 7 presidents of the 70 came with his assistant, Elder Perkins. We learned a lot that day, but some of the biggest things I took were awesome. We learned that miracles only come after we have faith. When we believe that they are possible, that is when they happen. God loves to work off of our faith and rarely does he work without it. It’s almost as if faith is the payment for the miracle. Lots of people think that a mission is a change for 18 months or 2 years, but really it should be something that changes you forever. When someone goes home from the mission they should try their hardest to keep the same habits and high standards, rather than trying to become "normal" again. They talked about the difference between belief and knowledge. All we need to do is believe and the knowledge will come when we search for it. I had a lot of beliefs before I came out here, but now I know a lot of facts.

We met a couple new people this week! Rony and Victor are from Guatemala. Rony is a Seventh Day Adventist and is very strong in her beliefs. Victor doesn't have a religion and is very interested to learn more.  They both had to work Sunday morning and didn't get to come to church, but they did get to go to a fireside that we had that night and they liked it. It was all about creating Spiritual goals. They loved it and want to come to church this Sunday.

Food I've eaten this week:

Ceviche: Raw fish marinated in lemon juice served cold. It’s a really good thing that I 

like fish, otherwise that would have been really hard!

Bomberos: basically a fried sandwich

Papusas: the best

And we had 3 dinners on Monday.

Now, to top off the whole email, I will tell you a sad story of a poor hermana missionary who didn't know the right speed limit. Yep, I got my first ever ticket this week for speeding at 42 in a 25! Yay! Let me tell you that the officer was not a very happy man that night. It was Friday on the way home from Correlation. So I pulled over and he got mad at me for still having a California license even though we move around all the time. My companion asked if he was familiar with missionaries and what we do and he says, "are you familiar with speed limits and traffic signs?" Well anyways, that night I ate some ice cream when I got home.

Sorry it’s kind of short, the computers are down, so I have to do it all on my iPad. Have an awesome week and go fishing :) if you get any bites send their names to my facebook so I can teach them!

Love always,

Hermana Moberly

Ps, I have a blog, so check it out! kelly-moberly@blogspot.com

Annandale Zone, January 2015

First Ticket

Be All In

What a week! I hope it has been as good a week for all of you as it has been for me! But I seriously doubt it :) Sorry.  Where to start? First off, I am still in Springfield! I'll be staying in Little River ward for at least 6 more weeks!

We had our zone activity again last week, so you know that means I took 3 hours out of my pday to play sports...so worth it :) Then we had dinner with some of the members in our ward. We talked all about trek and the pioneers and are encouraging one of the girls in the family to go, because it’s amazing.

Updates on Rolando: He's still on fire, but still wants to wait until February to be baptized. We taught the Plan of Salvation, Gospel of Christ and the commandments this week. And when I say we teach him, I really mean that we tell him what we are going to talk about in the next lesson and he studies it before the lesson and teaches us. We go in and ask if he has any questions, and sometimes he will have one or two, but then we ask him questions of the things he should know and he answers perfectly! Unfortunately, he slept through church yesterday. That's what you get for 9:00 AM church :( We had another lesson with him in Chick-fil-a with our peppermint shakes (go get one if you haven't had one)!

Updates on Francisco: HE IS READING STILL! We are so happy and excited! He hasn't recognized his answer yet, but he is reading and praying with his wife and he is almost there. Considering that he straight up told us the only thing he has a problem with in the church is the Book of Mormon and that he wants to be convinced that it’s true, we finally got through and he has read every day this week. It’s another miracle :) We just have to text assignments to them every day and then they read it. It has been fantastic and so rewarding because we can see a difference in him and the way he talks about the Book of Mormon.

Victor- Still hasn't come to church yet, but he has read in the Book of Mormon. He is super funny and really wants to play soccer on Friday nights with the boys at the capilla. He might not be in our ward, but we don't actually know. Every time we have talked to him, we found him at another investigators house. Kind of confusing, because we teach the people that live in the basement and his cousin lives on the main floor. But one day we will finally get him to receive all of the blessings and happiness that this gospel brings!

Miracle people include Marcelino, Blanche and Heather, Cinthia, Juana, Silvia, and Hermana Short, so there is a lot to say. I'll have to summarize some of them.

Marcelino- Me and Hermana Haubner had talked to him once before a couple months earlier. He lives in the basement of another investigator, but they weren't home. I didn't want to go knock on his door, but then I was being prompted that I should, so we did. I was scared because the first time we talked to him, he didn't want anything to do with it. But we knocked and he came outside in the 16 degree weather to talk with us for an hour. We used a lot of inspired questions and he had lots of good questions and we shared a message on the Restoration. Before we could even ask if we could come back to share more, he invited us to come back later because he wanted to learn more. We left him with a BoM and he promised to read it. And this promise was much more meaningful than the usual ones we get. He has a real desire to know more! It was great and I'm so happy I decided to be all in and follow the Spirit!

Blanche and Heather- We have had incredible lessons with them this week. They have doubts about Joseph Smith because part of the Bible says that no man has seen or will see God's face and live, while other parts say that people have talked to God face to face. That was the only rough part, because we are focusing on them gaining a testimony of the Book of Mormon to know that he was really a prophet. So we have stopped by and read chapters in the Book of Mormon with them and they are realizing that it talks about the same things as the bible and that it’s good and not weird or different. They have the desire to read on their own as well. I just love seeing the change that takes place in people as they start to read for understanding in the BoM.

Cinthia- She was taught before by missionaries in Honduras, but didn't listen and usually escaped their lessons, but now she asks us lots of questions! We got onto the topic of infant baptism because her husband wants to baptize their 6 month old child, but she doesn't. She liked Moroni 8 a lot and is really opening up to us. Everything is easier when we find out the needs of the investigators and teach them something they can use at the moment and then they open up to us. :) She hasn't been to church yet either, but she will soon!

Juana- She was a referral from a potential Investigator and hopefully will be golden. She gave us a referral as well as soon as we opened the door and introduced ourselves. She wants to know more as well and we are excited!

Silvia- Guatemalan :) She has had many experiences with people who have claimed to be Mormon, but then they worship Joseph Smith and a cross, so we cleared that up real fast for her! We shared the first Vision and the Spirit was so strong and we helped her understand that we appreciate what he did and we know that he was called of God, but that we do not worship him in any way. It was awesome and we can't wait to go back!

Hermana Short- She is less active and wanting to come back, but she doesn't feel ready. Little by little we are helping her increase her testimony and inviting her to do things to increase her testimony on her own. She has been reading in the BoM, but still hasn't ever prayed to know if it is true or not, but she will do it this week. I never realized how necessary that is. If you haven't done it, ask. If you have done it, do it again and receive that incredible confirmation and never doubt :)

We had an interesting experience this week with someone who is studying with the Jehovah's Witnesses. She has a lot of the same beliefs as them and we were trying so hard to get her to accept a Book of Mormon. We really tried all the different ways we could, but she wouldn't have it. Then we went in her house to talk to another man who was living there and she came in later and we talked some more. It was very gospel related the entire time, she just didn't realize. She was saying a lot of things that were in line with the gospel, but we had to be careful with what we said so that she wouldn't kick us out of the house. At the end we were trying to get out of the house, but she kept talking and talking. I think we have taken a step forward and are going to have to ease into this friendship kind of slowly, but she has a ton of potential and would make a great member :)

That's all I have time for, but I am so grateful for all of your prayers. I know that these miracles are happening partly because you are asking for them for me, so thank you, but please don't stop! I know that seeing these changes in people are a direct result of my companionship's desire to be all in in this work and to do everything we can to achieve our purpose. Always remember that you can share the light you have with everyone and be a missionary every day! I love you and miss you :)

Love,

Hermana Moberly

PS I just got told that I have good pigtails...but my hair is in braids :) hahaha

Chick Fil A with Rolando and Hna Pettit

Little River District

Little River District Having Some Fun...

2K15

Caroling

It is now officially 2015, CRAZY! The time is all going by way too fast! So much has happened in the last 6 months, but I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. This is where I am supposed to be and I don't want to leave.  I hope everything has been going well for all of you...I would probably know more if you sent me letters ;)

Cool news, I have a new cousin! Little Colton is the newest Moberly and he is adorable! Congratulations Kristal and Ryno :)

Just as expected, we worked hard this week and had more miracles! We had the Bishop and his wife come on exchanges with us on Monday night. We went to visit Pia, who is less active, and her boyfriend showed up so we taught a super powerful lesson on the Book of Mormon and Bishop testified and testified about all of the blessings he received from the gospel. Now Brandon is a lot more interested and willing to learn more :) After that we went to see Rolando, the golden one. He is super excited about his baptism and loves hearing the stories about how the members of the Little River ward have had their lives changed. Then afterwards Bishop told us that we were "buenisimas misioneras". When the bishop tells you that, it makes you feel really good :)

At district meeting I had to teach a little Spanish lesson for 5 minutes, so I talked about the words por and para, which both mean for or by or in order to. We have an Elder from Mexico and we asked what some common mistakes are and he just said we mess up a lot and we only get them right 3/4 times. Then he told us to avoid using them, haha. So my lesson helped us be a little better when we can't find any other way to say what we want to. Also in that meeting we talked a little about investigators, so we brought up Jilma, who hasn't been to church in 6 weeks, hasn't been reading the Book of Mormon very much, but knows a lot when we go over and ask her questions. We were getting the feeling that maybe we should drop her, but then we went to her house. We prayed really hard beforehand to know what more we could do or if we should drop her. It was the best lesson we have ever had with her! She is opening up more and more every time. She really is close, and we are certain she has received an answer but hasn't recognized it. We prayed with her then and there and asked how she felt--the answer of course was peaceful and calm. We explained that that was her answer and promised that she would feel it every time she read and prayed while she is in Guatemala. She said if that happens, she will be baptized when she comes back. She left today and will return on February 5 and I hope I will be here for that day.

Hna Pettit, Jilma, and me.

We spent 1 1/2 hours in the car one night in traffic trying to get to our dinner appointment, and when we got there she had to leave, so we got the food and took it to the church to eat with the other hermanas in the ward. It was an interesting experience, but pretty annoying that it took so much time out of proselyting.

New Year's Eve was pretty fun. It was hard to get doors open because of the holiday with everyone being with family. We spent some time with the Maldonados and then with the Toranzos. We aren't allowed to eat with the Elders in our ward, so for our dinner appointment we found out that they were waiting for us to leave, so we ate SUPER fast. I don't think I have ever eaten so fast in my life. And all of the members make fun of me because I eat so slow. But I beat Hermana Pettit! Haha, then we had a fiesta with our zone from 6-10. We watched How to Train Your Dragon 2 (as expected, I cried) and played volleyball and speed until late and it was super fun!

I went to our Return and Report meeting for all of the trainers and trainees, which was very different, because the last time I was there was when I was the trainee :) It was amazing, President called us all to repentance and we learned a lot. We had pizza for lunch and finished off the meeting with a huge game of speed :) Then we got a little training on using family history, which is going to be really good. One of the 12 apostles (I can't remember which) said that some people's hearts will have to be turned to their ancestors before they will be changed. We will start doing that a lot more now!

As far as the news on Francisco, we think he is starting to change a little bit. We don't think that he will be ready to be baptized on January 24 because he still doesn't read the Book of Mormon and doesn't have a testimony about it. We have had a few lessons with him, in one we watched The Testaments, but we don't think it got into his heart or any of the testifying we did afterwards. We taught him a lesson yesterday and decided he needed a lot more than us asking nicely if he will read. We kind of got in his face and it was super intense, but the Spirit was so strong. We were getting upset that he hadn't read, so we were talking loud, like almost yelling. Now we can see something happening, so that was really what he needed. His wife talked to us later and said we need to go even harder for him to understand. So that is our challenge right now. We have to figure out how to teach in a way that will make him want to change and strong enough that he will know how important it is to us and how it will help his family. I don't have the words to explain how that moment felt, but we were feeling pretty good afterwards.

One lesson we learned this week is that lessons in restaurants are not the best. Thank goodness it was with Rolando, but we tried to teach the Plan of Salvation at Chick-fil-a! There were a lot of distractions and it’s hard to talk as you eat, and the Spirit wasn't as strong as it would have been somewhere else, so we aren't going to do that anymore.

It’s been a week full of lessons and miracles, I hope it has been for you as well. I find myself using the Atonement on a daily basis, which is something I really struggled to do before my mission. So start doing that now. There is an incredible difference. The Atonement isn't just for forgiveness, you can receive grace through it. Grace is divine help or strength from Christ and it feels amazing. 2 Nephi 25:23- It is by grace we are saved after all we can do. This also means that daily, as we do what we can, Christ's grace will kick in. I know that it is true and I want all of you to feel it, it’s incredible! Love You!

Love always,

Hermana Moberly

PS- Thanks for letters and email, I'm pretty sure I responded to every one :) I love hearing about everything going on with you and all you are learning as I am out here learning!

Christmas Eve

Nativity

New Years Eve

Go Kings Go!