Alright! Today has gone by super fast on top of everything! It's been a pretty fun day! We went up to Great Falls Park with the sisters in our zone and went on a little hike. It was really pretty and we had a fun time!

The week has been just as amazing as the other weeks of my mission :) Sindi is flying through the Book of Mormon. We committed her to read 3 chapters a day. When we saw her on Monday she was in Mosiah 10 and on Thursday she was in Alma 5....that's way more than three a day for those of you who don't know! She's amazing and we love her. Her little sister Liz gets funnier and funnier every time we see her. I have a note that I have written down all of the funny things she says on. Our most recent favorite is when she asked what year we were born in and then asked if that was when Abe Lincoln was alive. Those lessons are always super fun!

We had interviews with President this last week, and we get 15 minutes with him. I seriously thought I was in there for 2 minutes when he said it was time to end. It’s crazy how fast time can go, and I feel like that is how the rest of my mission will feel. And that is a really scary thought.  That night we ate some delicious alfajores, which are a little Peruvian cookie sandwich things, as a member was telling us stories about her conversion and as we planned her son's baptism coming up really soon. After that we had a sweet lesson with Denis and Ingris and the girls. They are progressing little by little. We can see that they want to learn a lot more, but their foundation of their beliefs is a little shaky, so we have to establish that first. It's going to be a bit of a longer process than we thought, but worth it! They are amazing and I'm so happy they are finally opening up to us.

We had exchanges this week and I went to Sudley with Hermana Craner. We had so many miracles!!! First miracle of the night: one of the girls that got baptized in the ward when I was there had fallen off for a little bit and was struggling a lot. She got out of a hospital that day, so we got to go visit her and help her come back. I was so happy to see her after 6 months and it was great to know that she is getting better. Second miracle, we contacted a referral that they received from headquarters and it's a super prepared family! On top of everything I got to know Hermana Craner and she is amazing! I loved her within 5 minutes of being with her. She is super great and has an amazing story. I loved the entire exchange and I know that we both learned a lot :)

We visited one of our recent converts that is young and he was really struggling. He's 15, in high school, and has been struggling recently with his friends. They were friends that he had before becoming a member and they are horrible influences. He kinda stopped hanging out with them for a bit, but got back in with them a little more recently. He basically told us how he was feeling and how he didn't really want to come to church or activities any more, and I just begged him to rethink it. I asked him a bunch of questions about how different his life has been and he realized how much better his life is with the church and by the end he promised that he was going to come back, starting with seminary, church, mutual and other little things. It was a hard lesson, but it was amazing by the end. I know that the spirit was guiding us in the things we were saying and the questions we were asking. Then he went to mutual that night and we made s'mores :)

We had an "Endure to the End" meeting on Friday for all of the missionaries that are going home in the next 3 transfers and that morning it hit me a little harder how soon it really is and how much I still have left to do. It was perfect because it pumped us up to work as hard as we can and establish a culture for the new missionaries.

Sunday was an amazing day here in Bella Vista. We in total had 12 investigators at church! It was incredible! But I loved looking around and seeing all of the missionaries split up sitting with their multiple investigators that had come. And of course the time that we have all those investigators sacrament meeting went 20 minutes over! It was SO long! But the good thing is most of the investigators didn't know that that wasn't normal and weren't waiting for it to end :) haha

The work keeps moving over here and I just love all that is happening. People are coming unto Christ because us as missionaries and the members are getting better at working together and bringing them into the Bella Vista family so that they can't be lost again. God is in charge of this work and we just do what He wants us too. It always works out perfectly according to His plan, maybe not ours. Love you all! Have a great week :)

Con Amor,

Hermana Moberly

Great Falls Park 

Great Falls Park Panorama

On the Rocks Great Falls Park

The Sisters! Great Falls Park

More of the Sisters!

October Miracles

What a week!! It went by SO fast. It started off great with a lesson with Sindi and her little sister Liz. We read in the picture Book of Mormon with them and it's the cutest because Liz is learning how to read and she likes to guess the words just from the first couple of letters. They are learning a lot and we keep trying to think of ways to help Sindi's parents see that she is ready to be baptized! She already comes to church and mutual every week and reads 3 chapters in the Book of Mormon every day. She is super great! We went to Taco Bamba with Karen that night and talked a lot with her. We all have times in life where we get so many things thrown at us that we think God is saying, "Let’s have this happen and that too and have her figure out how to get through it all". But I think really he is thinking, "I'm going to let this and that happen to her so that she can become more like me and be really happy." Sometimes we don't always see the reasons behind things, but God's plan is perfect and all that happens will only help us in the end.

We had exchanges this week and Hermana Peabody came to me for a day! :) It was so great to be with her again :) I am amazed every time I am with her by how amazing she is and how much better she is becoming. Going through training is hard, and I think especially for those who are white washing. But this Hermana is so incredible and I love her! I think that sometimes I don't show people always how much I love them or how much I appreciate them. She has taught me so much, and even though I am the sister training leader, I always learn from these girls in my stewardship. I'm probably the luckiest missionary in the world to be serving around these amazing people!

On Thursday we had Mission Leadership Counsel, which was amazing as it always is. This time we were talking about how to unify the mission as a whole and what to emphasize as a mission. We decided that it comes down to finding new investigators. When we find new investigators it drives the rest of the process towards baptism. But the best way to get them to baptism is by finding the elect. In order to find those who are prepared we have to be good at finding and we have to have the faith that we will find them. Miracles happen according to the faith that we have. If we don't think we are going to find anyone prepared, we probably won't. But when we are willing to do whatever it takes and follow the spirit we can and will find the right people to teach and eventually baptize, with the main goal being eternal life and eternal families :)

Also, during MLC we were told that a hurricane might be coming and that we should prepare. Sister Huntsman was so cute, she kept saying that she wasn't worried about it, but we could see it in her eyes and just in how much she emphasized that we needed to be prepared. It didn't end up coming, which is good because then we might not have been able to work at all. And with power outages we might have missed some of General Conference.

Friday was a pretty fun day, I'll have to tell you the story at some point when we have some time. Long story short, this one guy REALLY wanted us to come teach him, even though he was 45 minutes late and we had another appointment. But the person we were supposed to see didn't end up being there, so we went back and another guy in the house tried to tell us that we worship the prophet. It amazes me that some people think crazy things and when they realize it isn't right they don't want to hear what we actually believe. It's crazy and pretty sad most of the time. But that was part of that night.

Saturday was Marisabel's baptism between conference sessions :) There were 12 missionaries there and about 5 or 6 returned missionaries that were skyped in. She cried the entire time and the spirit was so strong. We visited her on Sunday night and she told us that she realized she hasn't stopped smiling yet :) she is the best and this coming Sunday she will receive the gift of the Holy Ghost!

I hope that you all enjoyed conference, I did for sure! I don't know if I have a favorite part or talk, but we have to rewatch Saturday again because we were running all over the building setting things up for the baptism and getting it all organized. But I learned a lot and I have a lot of changes that I want to make so I can be better :) love you all! Have a great week! And if you didn't watch conference, please do! ❤️

Con Amor,
Hermana Moberly

The Staches

Mission Leadership...Throwback to the Annandale Zone

Me and Marisabel

Hna McMillin, Marisabel and Me

MARISABEL IS GETTING BAPTIZED!

This has been one of the best weeks of my life! As you can see from the title, Marisabel is finally getting baptized!! She has been an investigator since she was 13, and today is her 16th birthday. So on Saturday morning we were in our weekly correlation meeting and our ward mission leader walks in and puts his phone on speaker, and this is what we here, "Hey guys, I have some good news!" And the longest pause of my life. My first thought was that she was going to have permission to be baptized and I started freaking out a little bit, but I thought more and decided that couldn't be it because her parents would never let her get baptized. And then she says, "I'm getting baptized!" And I lost it! I have never in my life been so happy for another human being. I came so close to tears. I don't know anyone else who deserves this more than Marisabel. She has been more active and involved in the church than most members. I wish I could share with you all that I have been feeling and experiencing the last few days, but there are no words. I don't think I've ever even been that happy and excited for even myself. She is an amazing young woman and she is finally going to experience a complete remission of her sins and the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. She is so
incredible!

The rest of the things that have happened this week have been pretty miraculous as well. I love recognizing the modern miracles in everyday life. It's something that I didn't look for before, but now that I'm searching, I'm finding them everywhere! We found new solid investigators this week, Cindy, Ariel, Mayra, Valentina, Manuel, and Leticia. I think it's funny that when we plan to find new investigators we hardly ever find them, but when we just stop and talk to people between appointments or other things we find people who are sincerely interested.

We had a lot of members come out to work with us during the week and that helped a ton in the progress of our investigators. They get to see the gospel in action instead of just seeing two young girls that probably don't know what they're talking about, or that don't understand what these people are going through. Sometimes it's true that we don't understand what they are going through. That happened this week and I felt totally unqualified to be the person there to help this family. But I stopped and thought a little more about it. I am young. I don't have a lot of life experience. I have no idea what this person is feeling. I have no idea how to help, but I know someone who can. He has experienced it all and more. He knows how they feel. He knows how to help. All I have to do is help the people know who He is and access the help that He can give them. My job is not that hard, but it's hard to see when they don't accept the divine help that we can get through the atonement. The divine help that we can access completely through the ordinances of the gospel. I am so blessed to be this tool in God's hands to help them live happier and prepare to live happy forever.

I love Bella Vista and I never want to leave this place. The people I am meeting have such a special place in my heart and I've learned so much from them, and from working with them. This work is the best thing in my life. I've never experienced so many powerful emotions and I don't know if I ever will again. Reflecting on my mission is great because I can see how many things have changed and become better. It makes me sad thinking about how little time I have left here, but I'm ready to work as hard as I can for whatever remains. I'm so grateful for all of your prayers and support, remember that I pray for you as well. If you haven't had any missionary experiences either recently or ever, please try it! It's the best thing in the world! Love you all! Have a great week. Report back any cool experiences that you have :)

Con Amor,
Hermana Moberly

Me and Hna Tate

Karen, Hna Tate, and Me

Out on Pday for Hna Tate's Birthday

McLean Zone Supers

September 21, 2015

Transfer week. I didn't get transferred :) so I get another 6 weeks in the Bella Vista ward, which is super exciting and happy :) The only sad thing is that the other Hermanas in the ward were taken from us and we got another set of elders, so now we are the only Hermanas in the ward with three sets of elders. With transfers and everything else that has happened it blows my mind that I'm sitting down to email
again. It always surprises me, but then I think about everything that we have done this week and I'm amazed.

Monday was a pretty strange day. We went to Cafe Rio with Eder, which was awesome and delicious. He is amazing and every time I talk to him I forget that he was only just baptized in March, right before I got to this area. He's progressing so fast in his knowledge of the gospel and I love hearing more of his life's story when we see him. He's amazing! After that we had a FHE at a member's house. 3 of our investigators were supposed to come, but none of them showed up. We couldn't leave because it had already started and we just assumed that they were late, so that was pretty disappointing.

Tuesday we had the best Spanish Forum that I have ever been to. Me and my companion got to do a little bit of training on missionary work in general, so we talked mainly about key indicators and being a successful missionary. We also talked about how because our mission is close and all the missionaries are really close together, that we need to be focused on the work and the area, not the friends and missionaries. It went pretty well! The Zone leaders talked about obedience and the other sister training leaders talked about gossip. The difference during this Spanish Forum was that instead of just realizing the things that we were doing wrong or could do better, we were all really inspired to improve and that we could make those changes.

That night we found out all transfer information. We got a list of all the missionaries, where they are going, who their companions will be and everything. It was a great change. We found out that I was staying in Bella Vista another transfer so we celebrated with Marisabel and got some McDonald's French fries :)

Wednesday we learned how to make milanesa, which is absolutely delicious and probably my favorite Hispanic food. Our less active taught us and we got to know her a lot better that night. It was super fun! We also went to look for one of the youth and on accident taught one of the elder's investigators :) haha, oops!

Thursday was great because we had a really good dinner with Hermana Reynolds and then had a great lesson with the Maltez family (Sindi and her mom and sister). Hermana Salazar came with us and now she is Sindi's ride to most activities! And because Sindi's mom knows her it's even better! On our way out I saw the biggest spider that I have ever seen in my life on the stairs. It wasn't moving and I had to pass
it. Hermana Salazar was at the top of the steps telling me to run, so I did. When I looked back, there were two men laughing at me. We told them that there was a spider and as we were walking to the car we heard one of them gasp when they went to look at it, which made me feel a little bit better about myself :)

Friday was supposed to be weekly planning, but because we had transfers the day before our area book app was having issues. In the transfer process we were renamed Bella Vista C instead of B, so we got the wrong area book and all of the info that we needed was gone. That made things pretty difficult because we didn't have addresses,
scheduled appointments, names, numbers, or anything. It was finally fixed on Sunday morning, so now we are good!

Sunday we had a baptism in the ward and it was great because three of our investigators were able to attend and see it :) then we had a lesson with Angel's cousin which went really well. She has been praying about getting baptized and she is so close already. We made a goal this week to see 8 baptisms this transfer, so please pray for the
following names so they can get there soon: Cesar, Xiomara, Teresa, Dennis, Ingris, Marifer, Sindi, Norma, and Brenda. Love you all! Miracles happen through prayer! Have a great week :)

Con Amor,
Hermana Moberly

Transfer Week With Only 3 Left

September 14, 2015

The time gets shorter and shorter and I don't understand how! It feels like I emailed you two days ago, even though so much has happened!

Monday was a great day last week. After emailing home to you all we had a nice little lesson with Sindi and then made our way over to a noche de hogar. Sindi is so adorable! She has been reading through the Book of Mormon really fast and loving it all. It's pretty amazing to see that because at the beginning she was so afraid to read it because
she thought it would go against what the bible says. But now that she knows, she has been spending a lot more time reading the Book of Mormon because it really supports everything in the bible. It's so great. Then Denis came to the noche de hogar, which was really cool.
We made a little title of liberty for those who were there and talked about all of the things that we are fighting for in this life because it's important to us.

Tuesday we had another lesson with Denis, but this time it was just me and Hermana McMillan. It ended up being really helpful because he told us a lot of things that we didn't know before, a lot of doubts that he had. He's going to be awesome because he is super sensitive to the spirit and knows what he needs to do.

Wednesday was probably the hottest day yet. I don't think it was really that hot, but the humidity made it 10 times worse. But it was pretty great because people let us in and gave us a lot of water :) that night we had a lesson with Eder, who is still going strong. He was baptized back in March and he has made so many changes, but he makes it look easy. On the way out I told him to drive safe and he says to me, "I can't make any promises!"

Thursday night I ended up staying in with Hermana Brown. Hermana Tate got better after 8 days and was going crazy in the house, so she went out with my companion while I watch videos on gospel library and Hna Brown slept.

Friday we got to visit with Brenda, our investigator of two years. We had a really cool lesson with her and it was totally guided by the spirit. She just keeps working harder and harder to get things in order so that she can be baptized. After that we went looking for new
investigators and found an amazing woman named Teresa. She is from Honduras and is so prepared. She committed to be baptized in the first lesson and we taught her the Restoration. She is going to be so incredible and I can't wait to tell you more about her next week!

Saturday we had correlation, which was pretty cool because I didn't realize how many progressing investigators we have and how many people we are working with. It was cool to reflect a little bit on what we have been able to accomplish in the time that I have been here.

Going into this week I am a little bit nervous that I will be getting transferred, even though I don't want to leave this ward yet, but I know that I will go where the Lord needs me to help whoever He wants me to help.

Later that day we taught our new investigator, Cesar, and he is now on date to get baptized on November 29, which is pretty far away. As we go on he will realize how much he knows and most likely move the date a little bit closer. But he knows it's true!

Saturday night was probably one of the days that I have stressed most in my life. I stressed for about 4 hours straight and I was exhausted. We were supposed to leave for the temple at 6pm and everything was all organized and perfect. Then we got to our investigator's house and only Denis could come. That meant that there wasn't going to be a
woman in the car, so we had to find someone over 18 to come with us. Also, earlier we had found someone willing to lend us a car seat, but then last minute it didn't work out, so we were running around to get a different one. We finally got one and then didn't use it. It took a while, but we found a woman to come with us, so we drove 20 minutes to her house and then left Arlington around 7:15. We needed to get to the temple at 7:50 in order to watch the movie that we wanted to, but our driver drove us far into DC on accident while trying to figure out his GPS, which he then didn't listen to. So we got to the temple at 8:15 after an hour long drive where I was scared for all of our lives the entire time and was trying to avoid being sick. But we finally got there and had to change all of our plans and teach a last minute lesson. But in the end it worked out very well because the spirit was super strong and Denis opened up even more and he realized the power of the Atonement is greater than he ever thought. We left the temple at 9:10ish (we are supposed to be home at 9:30). But we had to stop for gas and our driver once again refused to listen to the GPS thinking the way he was going was faster. Getting home from the temple takes about 30 minutes, but we got back to Arlington at 10:10ish and then had to drive back home. I spent this whole time with Hermana Tate, because my companion wasn't feeling well and it was better for her to stay home. So that night we got home around 10:35. And that is why I stressed for four hours straight. And I didn't have time to eat dinner that day.

Sunday made it all worth it because it was the best day I have had at church for a long time. Sindi came for the whole time and we had a few other investigators there, so it was pretty cool. The missionaries also sang a musical number, so that was fun too.

So I had a pretty great week and I'm so grateful for all of the things that happen, good or not so good, because they help us become who we need to be. Hopefully you can all remember that this week. No matter what happens, it is a part of God's plan and all losses will be made up. Love you all! Please pray that I don't get transferred! :)

Con Amor,
Hermana Moberly

La Maldición de Bella Vista

September 7, 2015

The curse of Bella Vista is striking again! We have 4 Hermanas in our ward and all of us have been hit by something this week. Remember the six day sickness that we had a couple weeks ago? Hermana Tate got that again. My companion was out for a day, and Hermana Brown is next. I've been feeling on the verge of getting sick again, so hopefully that doesn't happen. The Elders seem to be doing just fine, so that's good! Only two of them have gotten sick in the last 4 weeks. I can't tell you how weird it is two know that this transfer is almost over. I remember when I used to say I have 4 transfers left, but it's just going down way too fast!

Despite the curse in this ward, we are still working as hard as we can. This week we picked up a new investigator! Her name is Xiomara and she is from Peru. She will only be here until January, but her cousin who she's here to visit is a member of the Sudley ward. She's
super awesome. She's been to church before, and she knows a bunch of missionaries and dated a Mormon once until he went on his mission. So basically, we just have to teach her the lessons and she is going to be baptized soon :) so we are so excited for that! She is so excited
for us to come over and teach her more.

On Monday night we had a family home evening at Bishop's house and Sindi got to come with us! She had her 14th birthday on Sunday and we got to celebrate a little bit with her. Things are looking good. She's getting closer to being baptized, she just keeps talking to her mom about it :) At one point during the night, Obispo was talking to her about the high schools and their mascots and he got talking about highlanders and how he didn't understand why that was a mascot and that it was weird....and then he asked the missionaries what their
high school mascots were and we got a good laugh when I mentioned that I was a Royal Highlander :).

We went on a couple mini exchanges this week. Hermana Brown is going home at the end of the transfer, but her companion has been pretty sick and unable to work for a bit, so one night we left our companions to take care of each other and we went out and worked all night and it was so fun! We wanted to make sure that in the last few weeks she doesn't feel left out and like she could have done more with her companion being unable to do anything. The next time we did it, I stayed home with Hermana Tate because I wasn't feeling too good. Good
news, we are all feeling a little bit better today!

MLC this week was amazing as usual. President Huntsman is an amazing man and I learn so much from him. That day we could really see how much he cares about us because he was making sure to tell us he wanted more contact with each set of zone leaders and sister training leaders because he wants to know the missionaries better and what they need. He has so much love for us already and he inspires us all!

On Saturday we attempted another sports activity like the one that we had a couple weeks ago, but it wasn't announced due to stake conference, so it ended up being more like a correlation meeting between missionaries and the ward mission leaders. But it was fun while we were there for 30 minutes!

That night we finally found a less active that we have been looking for for a long time. It was a miracle because she came to church yesterday and we are planning to teach her son Anthony and then baptize him in a few weeks. He has been 8 for a few months now, he
just needs to come to church!

A couple more funny things. One night this week I was out with Hermana Brown and I asked her, "Can you believe tomorrow's already Thursday?" And she says, "No, because tomorrow is Friday." Also, we were on the phone with the elders and before they hung up, Elder Porter said, "Feel better, it's a commandment!"

I hope you all have a great week! Please continue to pray for my investigators! Some are so close to making the first covenant with God, they just need a little bit more help. Pray is so powerful and it can make the difference. Just like the experience that Alma the younger had. The angel appeared to him because of the prayers of the righteous members of the church. Love you!

Con Amor,
Hermana Moberly

September is Coming

August 31, 2015

Time keeps flying, my Spanish keeps getting better, and my English keeps getting worse. I think it would be safe to say that I speak fluent Spanglish. It’s a bit of a struggle, haha. This week has been the fastest of my mission.

Last week we went to the Zoo in DC, so that was pretty cool, but it was really hot! I think I'm finally getting a bit of my tan back though, so that's good :) We ran into a few members when we were there and it was fun to stop and talk to them!

That night we went to dinner with a family in the ward and the whole time they were telling us to not get married until we were at least 28 years old, haha. They are really funny and very strong in their beliefs, now we just need to get them to share the gospel with their friends like that!

Sindi and family are doing well! They came to stake conference yesterday, which was amazing! Sindi continues to grow and see changes in her life, but her mom isn't seeing it as much. It’s so frustrating that that is the only thing keeping her from baptism :(

We met with Angel again for the first time in a while and he's doing alright. He's just seeing a lot of temptations and going through some hard things, which is normal for after baptism. We recently started teaching his cousin, Marifer, who is married to a member in the English ward. It’s strange because she hardly speaks English and he speaks zero Spanish. Not quite sure how it works, but it has for 3 years. We talked to her about eternal marriage and that is one of her goals, so we are going to teach her and get her there as soon as possible :)

Denis and family also are doing really well! We have had a lot of really good and spiritual lessons with them. They have been coming to church and Denis has now been to two baptisms and his wife to one. They are getting really close to being baptized and they already have a lot of friends that are fellowshipping them in the ward, which makes the process go twice as fast!

One reason that this week went so fast is because we went on double exchanges. On Wednesday afternoon I went over to Springlake with Hermana DeBry while Hermana Peabody came here. Then the next day at noon we switched companions and went straight to meet Hermanas Mugleston and Mensinger, and I went there. I didn't get back to Bella Vista until Friday afternoon. It was pretty awesome because somehow I made it through the whole time without a problem! We had some fun experiences and saw some miracles. When I was with Hermana Mugleston we knocked on a door and an Arabic family let us in and gave us three different drinks and didn't exactly understand our English. It was weird because we ended with a prayer and they asked us to face east and wanted us to come back really soon. I felt pretty lost when we were in there because I had no idea how to teach these people. I am so grateful that I get to be in the Spanish program and teach Hispanics. I feel like I know them lot better :) I think I've turned a little bit Hispanic in this short time that I have had with them. I found myself saying certain phrases in Spanish today at our zone activity because I'm not used to people not understanding me.

This Saturday was another busy day (no surprise there) because we moved all of Bella Vista's stuff to a different building. This last week we added another English ward to the McLean Stake, so we got kicked out of the stake center, and starting this week we will be meeting in a different building. It’s pretty fun! The building has two stories and it’s really interesting, but it is pretty small, so hopefully we will all fit! But this change is exciting :)

My testimony just keeps growing more and more every week. I love seeing the things that happen because of the work that we do. Our investigators have been progressing a lot recently and there should be a lot of baptisms in the near future. I think one of my favorite things in the mission is that even when we work hard and may not teach very many lessons I still know that the Lord is proud of me and I am doing what he wants me to do. And I now that is what I want for the rest of my life! So I invite you all to do that as well. Just do your best and let the grace of the Atonement help you. And even then if you don't accomplish what you want, you can be happy because you did what God wanted you to :) Love you all! Have a great week :)

Love,

 Hermana Moberly