Thanksgiving

My first day in the field here, right after I got off the plane, I went to a member home with the Sister Training Leaders. It was the home of the Castaneda's. I saw Hna Castaneda on Sunday at a fireside and she remembered my name and where I am from and everything! It was incredible and it made me so happy :)

Last Monday we went to a Zone Activity and ended up playing volleyball for 3 hours with President and Sister Riggs, which was super fun! Who knew they could play so well?! Haha, that's one of the few things I miss, being able to go out and play sports whenever. But there are better things to do!

It got pretty cold this week. One day when we ran to the gym, we checked and it was 26 degrees...that's kind of cold. But today is 70 and really nice. There is a rumor that it is supposed to snow on Wednesday though, so that is kind of scary!

We got some serious revelation on Tuesday at our district meeting. We were practice teaching about prayer, but I felt like I should start talking about fasting and I used some scriptures. Afterwards Elder Erickson said that it was exactly what he was thinking and that they were going to use that the next time they saw an investigator, which they haven't yet, but hopefully it all works out! It was a pretty neat experience :)

I remember at ward and youth activities we would always have the missionaries be our judges for things. That's what we did this week. It turns out that a piñata represents all of the evil things in the world that we fight every day. And when we overcome them, good things happen and we get candy. Pretty cool, so all of the youth made their own cereal piñatas and we got to pick our favorite, which naturally was the unicorn :) haha Sometimes it’s still strange to me that I am a missionary, even though it’s not weird at the same time. I don't know how to explain it, sorry! haha

I met a man from Puerto Rico this week and I've never heard so much Spanglish in my life! It was so hard for me to be switching from Spanish to English and I got a headache.

Peruvian chocolate is at least 20 times better than the chocolate we have here. The Deza family went to Peru for a few weeks and brought us back purses and chocolate :) They are the sweetest!

Every time people would say goodbye to Hermana Haubner they would cry and I would almost start crying...every time! Sometimes I'm just a baby :)

Wednesday night we had a miracle. So we got a referral from Hna Memmot in our ward, so we called. We set up an appointment to visit them that night. We went over and found Pia, Brandon and Jordan. Pia is a less active member, Brandon is her boyfriend and Jordan is their 4 month old son. She wants to get to the temple and he is super interested in the message. He told us how he wanted to be baptized when he was younger, but his mom didn't let him and that he hadn't thought about it again until now. He said we rekindled that desire in his heart. We asked him to pray before we left and he said, "I met 2 people today. I feel something different when I am with them and I know that after today, things are going to change." It was incredible and we are so excited for him! I'll have to keep you posted on this one.

Thursday morning I got a new companion :) Drumroll please.....Hermana Pettit from Highland, Utah! Same ward as the Cuillard's! How cool is that?! She is super cute and sweet and I love her already! We have already seen some miracles! We knocked on her first door on Friday and found a whole family from Honduras. They invited us in and we spent some time with Iris and we are going to go back on Thursday. We left them with a Book of Mormon and a little girl picked it up to ask what it was to Iris and she just said, "We are going to read that". So far, they are golden and can't wait until Thursday!  Hna Pettit’s Spanish is so much better than mine was when I first got out here, which means she's really good! She already understands almost everything and isn't afraid to jump in and start talking. And if she messes up, whatever, we just help her. I wish I had been more like that!  My Spanish recently has been on spot, which is a great blessing!

We had a Thanksgiving dinner for a ward activity on Friday, so we went early to help. It was supposed to start at 7, but didn't start until 7:45...Mormon standard time plus Hispanic standard time is not a very good combination, obviously, haha.

Saturday we had 2 baptisms! Two little 8 year olds and one investigator. We did a "Restoration Presentation" and used a bunch of candy to explain the apostasy and then the restoration and importance of the Priesthood and it went really well! We were popular with the kids because they all really wanted the candy that we had.  We had invited a bunch of investigators that said they were going to come, but they didn't. Unfortunately it happens a lot. But we had another amazing lesson that day. We went to visit Some of the recent converts and they had all of their family over. I talked to a couple of them and shared some scriptures and invited them to the baptism. One of the ones I was talking to started telling me all about his life and how he got to where he is now. He said at one point that he had never told anyone this story before, but for some reason he felt like he could trust me. So I shared a few more scriptures with them and a couple of them thanked me a few times and said that was what they needed then. It was so cool and the Spirit was so strong. I'm grateful we went against what we had planned and followed the Spirit to find them and help them.

Church was really good yesterday. Dad, I got to help out with your dream calling! During third hour yesterday I played (or at least attempted to) the piano in Primary. It was just kind of hard because we only had one investigator there and it was Byron, who told us that he was going to London, but he is still here...Bishop talked to us about it and says that he wants the Elders to start teaching him. We agree that it is probably for the best, except we have no idea where he is living and he avoided us the whole time at church. He can get away pretty fast.  I received some revelation on Sunday at church for a way that we can start to get more referrals from members, so we will put it into practice this week and see how well it works!

Everything else is going pretty well! We have a busy week ahead of us and it is going to be great! I'm so grateful for all of the things that I have. I'm grateful for a wonderful companion who is ready to get to work. I'm grateful for my weaknesses. I know that through Christ I can continue to make them my strengths now. I am grateful for the people here and all of the lessons they teach me, which is ironic because I'm here to teach them as well. I'm grateful that my family is supporting me in everything that I am doing and I want to thank you all for helping me become who I am. I love you and miss you and I'll be thinking about you this week.

Lots of Love,

Hermana Moberly <3

Welcome to Hna Pettit from Highland, UT

Three Generations, Hna Pettit, Hna Moberly, and Hna Haubner

The Washington DC South Spanish Program...No Smile Hispanic Pic

Washington DC Spanish 2014

My Cali Peeps

My New Purse from Peru

Gratitude

November 16, 2014

The weeks just go by faster and faster. This week as I have been doing personal study I have been re-reading the conference talks. This is the first time I have done it, but I love it! There is a lot of stuff I remember, but I learned a lot more and different things stick out to me now. I love it and I can't believe it took me so long to finally do it.

This month our mission is focusing on gratitude, so in our Zone training we had a cheesy circle and said what we were grateful for. It was kind of cheesy, but also really special. As a missionary, there are a lot of little things you realize you are grateful for, like pass-along cards. But we find that there is gratitude for everything we have, even trials and weaknesses. On a mission, your weaknesses are pointed out to you very quickly, but through Christ and this work, those weaknesses turn into strengths. One of the things I am so grateful for is my weaknesses. I am so grateful that I can make them my strengths now, rather than waiting until I get home. I am going to grow so much faster out here than I would ever be able to at home.

We were supposed to have a surprise party on Tuesday for Hna Haubner, but one of the other Hermanas let it slip, so she had to pretend to be surprised. Whoops! You all know it wasn't me, because I'm really good at keeping secrets ;)The party was fun, we had a really good dinner and Hno Maldonado gave a little speech about Hna Haubner and it was really sweet.

On Wednesday, my companion went to the temple, so I went on exchanges with an English sister and it was so much fun! I taught my first Skype lesson to Sister Ellis's brother's girlfriend. It was also the first missionary lesson that I have taught in English. It went so well and she wants to be baptized and meet with the missionaries in her ward. Also, we went to go pick up some food from one of the members of the Spanish ward, but she wasn't home and we met a man named Roberto who proposed to us. So that was really weird, haha. Sister Ellis now thinks that that happens to us all the time :) It doesn't, don't worry. We also taught a lesson in Spanish, so when I say we taught a lesson, I really mean I did because she didn't know any Spanish and this was one of the members who speaks zero English. On the bright side, I was able to take care of it on my own. Not as good as it could have been, but the Spirit was there and it didn't really matter what I said as long as the Spirit was teaching her. Then we taught another lesson in English and it was incredible. We taught a girl named Lynnise who is getting baptized this Sunday and she is so ready! We talked about the Sacrament and had a little part of the lesson in the chapel and it just went perfectly.

We switched back companions, had dinner and then went back to work :) We taught an Evangelical woman and she was really interested in everything we were saying until we brought up the Book of Mormon. By the end she said she would come to our church when we go to hers. Looks like I get to go to an Evangelical church sometime soon...as a LDS Missionary, haha, it'll be fun!

Things are going well with Jilma. She still hasn't gotten her answer, but she has been reading everyday and is still coming to church. We started talking about the need for baptism with her starting with the Fall and we think she understands it, but doesn't feel it. We just gotta keep praying for her!

Good news with Byron! He moved out of Hna Portillos house! Bad news, he came up to us randomly at church yesterday and said that he is going on Tour in Europe with his band on Tuesday and he won't be back until January, but he will be baptized when he returns. So on the bright side he will be baptized and the divorce will be final when he gets back...but that is almost 2 months that he won't be with any missionaries. So, we aren't really sure how this is going to work out, but it will! Just keep praying for him too!

We made decorations for a birthday party for a service project and I will include the picture. We actually did a lot of service this week! We blew up balloons (which I have had practice with that one year Trevor asked Cory to Prom and we filled her room) and hung streamers and it looked so good. And then we also helped Sister Helmick unpack and clean her new house. She is hilarious and I wish I could explain to you how awesome she is, but I can't!

Last night we had a "New Members Fireside" where all of the recent converts speak. It was really, really good and the new members are so strong and we just love them all. They love the missionaries because we are the ones that bring the message to them.

Sorry the email isn't as long as last week. Also, I love all of your emails and letters, but sometimes I don't have enough time to respond. But I do love and miss you all. I will have a lot more to say next week. By this time in a few days I'm gonna have my little greenie! Wish me luck and pray for me!...I'll need it!

Love, Hermana Moberly

Musical Disaster

Another week has gone by, maybe even faster than before. It blows my mind how time is flying when I look back at what I've done. So crazy. Can you believe it’s been 3 and 1/2 months already?

I have never worked so hard to wash a car before. We had a zone conference this last Friday and had to get our cars inspected, so we vacuumed and washed everything. And then we had to wax the car, so I felt a little bit like the karate kid. It wasn't as fun as you would think it would be, but the car looks nice :) haha

We have a member family, the Maldonados. They are amazing and we love them. We plan to go over to their house to stay for 20ish minutes, but it always ends up lasting for about an hour. They are so great and they feed us EVERY TIME. Hna Maldonado is a cook, so it’s delicious and they give us so much. Families like that are the reason that I am going to get fat out here. We had a Family Night with them and two less active young women in the ward and it went so well. They had fun and one of them came to church on Sunday :)

I finally learned how I am supposed to use Facebook as a missionary, so I'm on more now. I have actually taught quite a few lessons on there and it has worked out really well! You can add me if you want. I try to put all of my posts in Spanish and English, so everyone can understand.

We are trying to visit part member families more and teach those who are not members so that they have a built in support group and we don't have to rely on the members of the ward as much. I think our ward is amazing though, they are almost always willing to come with us to lessons, especially the young women and we love it. I wish I could have done that while I was in the youth program, but we only ever had elders.

I have had some crazy dreams recently! We have been working so hard that I sleep so deeply and dream about people that I met at school and people that I see here during the day. It’s always super funny when I remember what it was.

The days where we don't have very much success getting into doors seem like they last forever and unfortunately we have had a few of those today. We try to hand out as many copies of the Book of Mormon as we can. We tried to give it to one boy who was a Jehovah's Witness, but he backed away as if he was scared of it and it was really strange. Then he closed the door on us, so that wasn't too fun.

We went to visit Yajayra (pronounced juh-high-ruh) and her daughters, so I did the Frozen knock on the door. They responded by singing the song and it worked out really well :) We went a few times this week and got some real Mexican food and taught some real good lessons. The only thing is that Francisco, her husband hasn't been reading the Book of Mormon, and that is essential in the process of coming to know if all of this is true.

We had another investigator, Byron, on date for this last weekend, but he hasn't finished his divorce yet, so it didn't happen. We thought he was trying to avoid us for a little bit because he knew that he wasn't ready. So one night when we went to visit them they weren't home. But then one of their neighbors heard us and peeked her head out. Then she realized we were from the same church. She has just started coming back to the church after a long, long time, so she told us her life's story basically. I think she is a very lonely woman and needed someone to listen to, so that's what we did for her. Anyways, back to Byron, something we learned from President Riggs this week at Zone Conference was that we should be bold, but loving, like a Hispanic Mom. So that's what we did. We asked him very boldly, with a lot of love and with the Spirit to move out until the divorce is finalized and they get married. So we are going back this Wednesday to see what the decision is. Please pray...very, very hard.

We got an oil change earlier this week and we were told it would take 20-30 minutes, but ended up taking 3 hours. So that was good study time, but took a lot out of our schedule. Afterwards we went to visit Jilma (hill-ma). This lesson we had with her was a miracle. The Spirit was so strong. We have been focusing more and more on prayers and receiving answers to the. My Spanish came out of my mouth perfectly and I used words that I didn't even knew I knew. She is right now "on date" to receive an answer about baptism by this coming Saturday, so we are going to need a lot of prayers for her as well. But we basically told her that if she reads the Book of Mormon and prays every day and has faith that she will receive an answer, that it will come. Because it’s true. It works every time, even though we may not always like the answer.

As far as Maria and Francisco, we still haven't been able to contact them. We have tried everything, calling, texting and going to their house every day (and leaving notes) without any luck, so pray for them still (and us so we can be led to find them again). They are so sweet and we want them to have all of the blessings and happiness of the gospel, but we can't do that if we don't see them.

Zone Conference was amazing. We had it on Friday. We didn't watch movies like the other Hermana Moberly got to, but I was fine because it was incredible. I was supposed to give the opening prayer. I planned on saying it in English since President doesn't speak Spanish along with a few others, but when I got up there, it kind of just came out in Spanish and I felt awkward switching to English, so I just went with it, haha. Whoops! We learned so much about the Atonement and how we can be better teachers. We have been focusing more on the doctrine behind what we teach. As members we think more about the blessings that we receive from the things we do, but do we know why we do it? Why do you keep the commandments? Why do you pray? Why do you go to church? All of these questions come down to keeping the commandments because we love Christ. And the answers are found in the scriptures and also in Preach My Gospel. It was a great day and kind of scary because I found out that for sure, starting next Thursday, I will be training a new missionary. How crazy is that?! I finish my training on Wednesday and get to train someone else the very next day. It’s a bit intimidating, but I know it is possible. President wouldn't be impressed to have me do this if he didn't know that the Lord will help me with everything. Funny part of that day, we did a Musical number during the conference. Hna Moleli played her uke, Hna Haubner played her viola and Hna Brown and I sang. But the viola and uke started in 2 different keys and it sounded horrible at first...but then we fixed it and started over and it sounded much better. When we first started I couldn't stop laughing because it really sounded sooooo bad. I was just looking at the other missionaries faces and I wish I had gotten a picture. It was so funny.

Yesterday in sacrament the topic of the meeting was missionary work, so 3 missionaries gave talks and then we all sang El Ejercito de Helaman, which was much better than what happened at Zone Conference. Haha. Looking back on this week I can see all of the blessings that we received as a companionship and the lessons that we learned. It was far from perfect, but the things I am learning I wouldn't trade for anything. I am with the other Hermana Moberly and can say that the decision to serve a mission is the best one I have ever made. I don't even want to know where I would be at without these daily lessons, but I never want to go back to what I was before. Everything that has happened has changed me and helped me become better in a lot of ways. There's still a ton that I need to work on, but I know how to use the Atonement to become better. Don't forget that the Atonement is a way for us to receive forgiveness, but also, it is a way for us to find more strength and comfort to overcome the hard things in life. I love you and miss you all. Pray for me so I can be a good trainer and a good teacher for my investigators. But more importantly, please pray for them. :)

Love,

Hermana Moberly

PS. Quotes from President Riggs, "BYU, BYU, where the girls are girls and the boys are too!" "Be bold like a Hispanic mom." "Everyone is Expendable." "Good morning Sinners!"

I wish I could explain how funny he is...he also took a selfie with Elder Holland at a mission president's conference. But he is an amazing man and we love him so much! He also said, "Make this 18 months a fast from everything but God". I learn a ton from him, and even though he is funny, it’s not all jokes and games. He is truly incredible!

The Leaves Are Changing

Hola familia y amigos :)

Tuesday- Happy Birthday to Kimmy! I even celebrated for her! We had a dinner appointment and then went to mutual, which was a quince for one of the Young Women in the ward. Don't worry, I ate another dinner and then cake and ice cream. Literally everything we do here involves food. It’s not a Hispanic party unless you have food there. So I ended up eating 2 dinners and dessert.

Wednesday- Exchanges :) But I actually knew what was happening this time! Hermana Argueta came here to Little River. Man was that a long day. So we were in an accident a month ago and the car was being fixed at an auto shop, but was finished that day. So we had to go through a long process of getting a ride there, moving all of our stuff to the other car, getting the safety test done, and all that fun stuff which took about 3 hours. And there was a problem with the pressure sensor on one of the tires, so we had to get that fixed again. Then we went to dinner at the Columbier's. When we walked in the house, there were 4 elders already there and the other 2 hermanas were on their way. There were already 12-15 people living there and then they fed all 8 of the missionaries in our ward. It was so funny and crowded and crazy and loud, but it was fun :) Then we went to visit some investigators. Blanch and Heather are doing a lot better in some ways but have new struggles in other ways. Thanks for the prayers, but please don't stop. We are hoping that they will decide to be baptized soon and get the strength that comes through having the gift of the Holy Ghost. That night was pretty interesting because when we switched cars we didn't have the right parking pass, so we had to park pretty far away from the apartment and it gets pretty cold and windy here. And we had to carry all of Hna Argueta's stuff for the night. Fun stuff.

Thursday- We switched back to our normal companionships and got to work! Psyche! We were having more problems with the car, so we had to get that all figured out before we could do any teaching. That night I had Crab. Like really crab, which I had no idea how to eat. I think the only time I have ever had crab was in sushi, so I didn't have to worry about the shell or anything. Now I am a pro :) Haha, the Hermana whose house we were at just laughed at me through the dinner, but it was fun! Also, here they have a soda called Inca Kola from Peru, and its bubble-gum flavored. At first I thought it was disgusting, but now it’s actually pretty good.  Then we went to the church building to set up for the Halloween activity the next night and I learned that I am not good with hot glue guns...ouch.

Friday- We took the car in to get the sensor fixed, and then we were finally done with all of the car stuff. I will never get in another accident ever again. Way too much work and time. The day went well and we did our planning for the week. We went to the biggest house I have ever been in in my life for dinner and movies, since we aren't allowed out on Halloween. We had American food, and we were able to serve ourselves, so it was really good :) Then we watched Despicable Me 2 and Frozen. I had already seen them both, so it was funny watching the reactions of all the older missionaries that were watching for the first time. Despicable Me 2 is so much funnier when you know Spanish. I was laughing so hard! The song "Happy" has been stuck in my head for the last few days though. We got lost on the way home because our GPS is very special. Normally I wouldn't have a problem, but I've only been driving here for a few weeks and we were in a different city, so that was interesting. We just listened to Josh Groban CDs to keep us focused, haha.

Saturday- We went to a lot of houses, but it was a hard day because no one was home. Knocking on doors when no one is there all day isn't as fun as it sounds. But then we got an extra hour of sleep :)

Sunday- We visited a few people before church and helped a lot of them come to church. We got to teach Young Women's about Patriarchal Blessings and it was really cool. There was an investigator there named Kelly and it was throwing me off that people kept saying her name. Haha, they have no idea that it’s my name too. We had dinner after church and it was Mexican. So good! Then we visited Yahaira and her family. They didn't go to church yester4day because one of their daughters was sick. But we taught a strong lesson and their family is great! We just hope the father, Francisco will get his answer and want to be baptized soon :) Please pray for their family and also Maria. We haven't been able to get a hold of her since Friday, and we don't know exactly what is going on with that.

Overall it was a good week. I have learned a lot and continue to learn more every day. Sometimes we go through hard things to make us stronger. The Lord brings us low before he can lift us up higher than we were before. I know that through the Book of Mormon and prayer we can find strength and comfort. A lot of you already know the Book of Mormon is true, but I invite all of you to read every day and pray to ask again or for the first time. The Lord knows what you need and when you need it and he will help you.

Love,

 Hermana Moberly

Halloween 2014