Already April!

Hola!

I hope your spring break has been super awesome, but there are no breaks in missionary work! Not that I'm complaining, because it was nice that everybody's families were at home :) normally that would make the work go better, but it didn't quite happen that way this week.

It's been a pretty slow and boring week over here in Manassas, but we did what we could. And General Conference was amazing once again! I don't think I knew how to listen and watch before. Every word that our prophet and apostles say is so important! One of my favorites was the Story about Sailor. She saw the light and then did everything she could to get there, even though she was hurt, cold, and tired. Sometimes she couldn't see it anymore, but she still knew that it was there. We can use that and compare it to our lives in so many ways. We have seen the light and we must do all we can to get to it, to safety.  Maybe we won't always see it, but we know it's there, so we must keep going.

Haidy is doing well, but with Spring break she was hardly home. The important thing is that she is still reading in the Book of Mormon! When I tell everyone I talk to here that they need to read the Book of Mormon and ask if it is true, I remember how important it is for each one of us to do the same continually. We can fill our lives everyday with some of His love and happiness. We can become more like Him as we read and learn about Him. Why not do that everyday? There is a difference and I have seen it in my own life and in the lives of people here.

Orlando and family are learning more and more. It's been hard to get together with them, but they are also reading in the Book of Mormon and it keeps them going. They all have their soccer games on Sunday's, so most weeks they can't come to church. I know if they would just skip the sports and keep the Sabbath Day holy things would be so much better. I have never had such a strong testimony about keeping the commandments and I don't like to see when people don't see what blessings they can have.

This week we also had a Sister's meeting, so a lot of Sisters and Hermanas got together and we talked about the scripture Ether 12:27. When we come closer unto Christ, He shows us our weaknesses so we will be humble, and then He makes those weaknesses our strengths. So when you are trying to do good things, don't be upset if you find more weaknesses, that's how it works. Just keep going and they will become your greatest strengths. How much closer can you get to Christ than being His representative as a missionary. I am shown more and more weaknesses every day and my hope is that you will see me as a different person when I come home. Almost half way there, isn't it flying by? It sure is for me, hope you aren't missing me too much ;)

Love you all! Have a great week :)

Con Amor,

Hermana Moberly

New Lakers Hoody :)

Hna Schultz and I...twins!

My Compa the Pro Gas Pumper

Hna Moore..She is awesome!

Sister's Activity!

Half a Letter from March 30th

Here is a half letter we got last week....the wifi went down while she was typing:

March 30, 2015

So this Sunday is Easter and General Conference…that came really fast!!!

It’s been an awesome week over here in Manassas and I hope it was for you too!  We had a bunch of members come with us to see our investigators and that always helps :)  On Tuesday we went over to Haidy’s house and watched The Testaments and ordered pizza. She loved the movie! She was crying at the end because the Spirit was so strong.  It was awesome and helped her strengthen her testimony even more about the Book of Mormon.  The only thing we are worried about is that she wants to continue going to the church that she is at now.  But she knows that Joseph was a prophet, that the Book of Mormon is true, and that we have a living prophet, so she will be able to make the adjustment even if it is hard.  The bottom line is that if all of this is true, you can’t only make some changes, you have to do all that is asked.  We can see that when we haven’t seen her in awhile or she hasn’t read the Book of Mormon that she forgets so quickly how she felt and what she knows.  It just reminds me that it is so important that we do things every day to keep the Spirit in our lives so that we don’t fall away as easy as it is.  We have to do the little things or little by little without us even noticing we will forget what we know.

We have had to drop a bunch of investigators this week because they are either hiding from us or just aren’t doing what it takes to come unto Christ.  It’s always sad when we do that because we know how important the message that we have is, how much it changes and helps us, and how happy it makes us.  And sometimes they just don’t understand what they are saying no to.  All we can do is provide the words and the Spirit will confirm if they are really wanting to know. If not, now is not their time! We also had exchanges this week! Hermana Christensen came to me and my trainee went off to Little River…lucky! But it was a fun day. We had some training and then went out and taught.  The lessons went well and I learned better ways to teach :)

Hna Peabody and Me :)

The Hna's and the Avengers

Manassas Sky

Flood the Earth

March 23, 2015

Somehow, even when things are rough in the mission I am always happy. I hope it’s the same for all of you. We are so blessed to be here at this time when so many great things are happening with the gospel. 

This week has been significantly better than last week! We met with Haidy again and she is doing well. She continues to have the desire to follow Christ, but mainly because she has been reading in the Book of Mormon. It makes all the difference for investigators, and now I know how much of a difference that it makes for members. It’s everything. It looks like she will not be getting baptized until August, when she turns 18. It’s unfortunate…but we have to respect the decision of her mother. 

We have found some new investigators. I have talked before about Maria and Wilson, but we recently started talking to their 13 year old daughter who is a lot more interested than they are now. We are thinking that she will be the catalyst in helping them remember their desire to find the correct church and follow God. 

We had an amazing training this week on using the Book of Mormon. Our newest mission goal is to flood the mission with the Book of Mormon. We know how incredible and necessary it is, so we want it in as many hands as possible so they can experience the power that it has. It changes lives and brings happiness and light more than anything else can. We should share it as much as we can. And if you don't know what it can do, open it up and see :)

Technology. It is so scary. The adversary has so much power with it and it is so easy to give in. How many of us spend more time than necessary on the internet? How many find ourselves in dark places where we shouldn't be looking? It is so important that we use the technology and blessings that we have for good, rather than being attacked and overcome by the evil things in this world. As a missionary I am using the technology we have in a way I never have before. Only to share things of light. Where there is light, the darkness cannot exist. I invite you all to fill the world with the light that you have rather than letting the darkness in.

We are teaching a man named Orlando, I'm not sure if I have mentioned his name before, but he is very interested in the gospel. He is super smart and understands what he reads from the Book of Mormon so much better than any other investigator that I have seen. He wants to know so bad that there is a living prophet, but he has been raised with people saying that we don't need a prophet. He brought his wife and three children to church yesterday and they really liked it. They want to come back next week and we are going over to talk to them more tomorrow. 

One of the girls that I taught when I was in Little River is going to get baptized on April 11, so I get to go back for that! I'm real excited for her. Her name is Michelle and she is 9. Hopefully they will be teaching the rest of the family soon!

That's all I have for this week, but the miracles continue to come. I know that when we have faith and give thanks to the Lord, they happen. I see it every day and I can feel a special spirit when I am with God's lost children. They are out there and they are waiting. God put prepared people in the way of his prepared servants who want to share the gospel. Open your mouths and you will find them :)

Love,

Hermana Moberly

Temple Trip With Rolando

March 16, 2015

We have had a bit of a rough week this week. We have been working so hard and doing all that we can to be effective missionaries. But by our numbers of lessons this week, you would never guess it. The frustrating part about it all is that there isn't much that we can change ourselves. We knock on so many doors and either no one answers or they aren't home. We taught a total of 8 lessons this entire week.

Temple with Rolando!

But on the bright side, I went to the temple on Wednesday with Rolando! We went to do baptisms and it was incredible! He wanted me to do his grandmother's name for him and it was so special. He was so happy! Also, I got to the Dezas, so it was a perfect day! We met in Fairfax at 2:00 and we didn't get home until just after 9:00, so it was a long day! 

Our zone training this week was incredible! We talked a lot about obedience and the reasons that we do what we do. Sometimes we are motivated by our external desires. For example we are obedient because we know that the blessings will come, or because we are scared of what will happen if we don't keep the commandments. But the greater and higher level of obedience comes from the internal motivations, o sea, our love! It is more powerful and we can do so much more when we are obedient because we love the Lord. It is the difference between fear and happiness! 

We visited a family this week and it was really dark when we walked into the house. The head of the house asked me where I was from, and when I said I was from California he was really surprised...he thought I was Hispanic! And then his wife said that If I died my hair black and put in dark contacts that I could pass for Hispanic :) I love some of the compliments that I get!

Another day when all of our plans fell through, we went through the phone and called a lot of people. There were a ton of numbers in there that we have no idea who they are. Every time I would call someone else I scared Hermana Peabody. She thought I was crazy! It was so funny! She was so terrified.

I never knew that I could be so happy to see more rain. I've always loved it, but I'm even more happy because it’s too warm for snow!! 

More news, we have new iPads now, so that means that I will not be online for a while, so no facebook or my other blog for a little bit. But now we can use duolingo, which I'm having a lot of fun with :) 

This week I'm going to learn how to make tortillas, Honduran style (aka the best)! 

Haidy scared us pretty bad this week! We talked to her on Tuesday and she told us she was super excited for our lesson on Thursday. We tried to call her Thursday morning and the phone line said, "This phone is not accepting calls at the moment." Then we knocked on her door and thought that maybe she blocked us and was ignoring us, but then we went by on Saturday. Turns out that she was having a really bad week and didn't want to talk to anyone and her phone got disconnected for a few days. But now all is well. We will be moving her baptismal date to the beginning of April because she won't be quite ready until then. But everything else is going well with her! Just keep praying for her :)

I'm sorry this is so short, but nothing really happened this week! But I know that the work will hasten and that it is all true. We see miracles when we exercise our faith and maybe this is just a trial of our faith. One of my favorite quotes from President Riggs is, "It won't always be like this." And it is so true. Thing were going well, but it’s not always like that. Things may not be going well right now, but it won't always be like this! I love the Lord and all that He does for each one of us. He loves us so much, so let’s do what He asks :)

Love,

 Hermana Moberly

DC Temple

The Elect

What a week! First things first, one of our investigators is going to be baptized at the end of this month!!! Thank you all who were praying for Haidy! She is so prepared and she is loving everything that she is learning. It has been an adventure with her! And it all started just because we did some service :) We have taught her all of the Restoration and the Plan of Salvation and it just blows her mind! She is in love with everything and believes the Book of Mormon, that Joseph was a prophet, and that we have a prophet today. And she came to church yesterday and everything is going along just perfectly! We expect trials to come though, so please keep up the praying!

There is another family who have been prepared as well. The elders before had taught them and they hadn't been over in a while. We were going through the area book and found their name, but there wasn't much information. The little 12 year old boy wants to get baptized PRONTO, but he has to come to church first! He remembers everything that the Elders before had taught him, he even told us the Joseph Smith story and the First Vision. It was awesome and we are looking forward to getting that whole family in on the message :)

We had interviews with President this week on Tuesday and that was fun for me. He is an incredible man and we all just love him so much! I have never received so many compliments in my life than that day. The best one I have ever gotten was from President, "I feel as if I can trust you with any task and you can get it done responsibly and the best way that you can." Trust from him means a lot! And then the zone leaders were talking out me with Hermana Peabody. I had no idea that so many people knew me and think that I'm a good missionary! But it meant a lot and I loved it! 

On Wednesday all of the trainees had Expectations meeting, so I got to go back to Little River and work with Hermana Pettit for the day! We did a service project with almost all of the missionaries in Springfield, and we went to a Methodist church and made sandwiches for a few hours for homeless people. I surprised a lot of people from my old zone, but it was really fun. Then, because it was Little River, we had a lunch appointment! So I had a big lunch, and then when we went back to Sudley we had two dinner appointments. So it feels like I'm still in Little River :) Not missing out on the food at all. It was a little bit too easy for me...

Thursday was a snow day, and we most definitely couldn't use the car, so we got to walk all day! We measured it out and we walked over 4 miles in 8 inches of snow....that's not easy to do! But we got lots of work done and we found some new investigators! :) It was probably the worst storm I have ever seen. It just snowed and snowed and I was already sick from the last time we walked in the snow. But the blessings do come from our sacrifices, hard-work, and obedience!

One of the nights we knocked on a random door. They were just about to leave the house, but they invited us in anyways to talk to them for a little bit. We shared a VERY short version of the restoration, but they liked it and invited us to come back this week. So please pray for the Morales Valladerez family :)

This Sunday was a super rewarding day! We had 6 of our less active members that we are visiting at church! And on top of that Haidy was there! It was so fun sitting there and watching one after the other walk into the chapel for Sacrament Meeting. It is SO important that we continue to go every Sunday and if we don't, little by little the light we leave, and almost imperceptibly....just like it is almost imperceptible the growth that comes from doing the simple things like reading the scriptures and praying. 

Overall it was an awesome week and I can't wait to see what miracles we will see this week :)

Love you all!

Love,

Hermana Moberly

The Field is White and Ready to Harvest

Hna Peabody and I Were Prepared for the Cold

The Apostasy and Restoration with Cups

Filling the Pool

Another week is beginning. Mondays come so fast! But we continue to see the work get better and better. We still don't know who many people are and the Elders that were here before didn't leave very much information. They left us a couple last names of members that we were supposed to visit, but there's always so many of them with the same last name, so we go see them all until we find the one we are supposed to talk to. We have found a few new investigators that way, so I won't complain! We are filling the teaching pool.

Hna Peabody and Me

Our district meeting went really well this week. Our district leader is from Argentina, so we now do everything in Spanish and I love it. I just feel kind of bad for the newer missionaries who don't understand that much. But it can only help them by being immersed in the language. Sometimes it’s just strange talking to the other missionaries in Spanish when we know that our English is so much better. But in the meeting we learned more about planning. Before the mission I never planned anything, so I forgot everything that I was supposed to do and I wasted a lot of time. Here in the mission it is the same thing. When we don't plan, we don't get a lot done and we spend time doing things that don't help hasten the work.

We have some super prepared people here in Manassas. We found a 17 year old girl who is so ready and excited about the gospel. When we told her that there was a living prophet, she didn't even question it, she just said, "Why do people not know about this?" So she is learning fast and wants to know the truth and she is going to be awesome. We are going to invite her to baptism this week, so please pray for her!

Fun isn't against the rules...;)

We have the couple that I mentioned last week and they are progressing. We are going to invite them to be baptized this week too! They weren't able to go to church yesterday because of the snow during the week. Their work got pushed to Sunday, but they really want to come. They are feeling the truth and want us to come over more and more. We are super excited about them! So please help us pray for them as well :)

We had a mission conference this week with a general authority and someone from the Missionary Department. We have already had iPads and apparently we were a pilot mission. This week we will get new iPads and become a test mission. Starting this week I will not be on facebook for a while, but we will be back eventually. I feel that the Lord trusts us so much to let us use the technology we have for our mission. It could be so dangerous from the things that are out in the world now. But we have the chance to use it and spread the gospel in so many more ways than just by our mouths. The words that were used were: "changing it into a weapon of righteousness"...I love that. The devil has so much control and power with the internet and we are going to fill the darkness with light. And darkness cannot exist where there is light.

My new Nationals jersey

We finally were able to go to church yesterday and meet more of the members! It was really good because yesterday it decided to rain ice and covered EVERYTHING in black ice. Streets, roads, sidewalks, handrails, bushes and trees, everything. So we weren't allowed to drive, but one of the Hermanas in the ward offered to take us to all of our appointments.

Overall an awesome week and lots of work accomplished, but even more to come. Love and miss you all! Take care this week :)

Love,

Hermana Moberly

7 Months!

What a crazy 2 weeks we have had! Sorry for the lame email last week, things were insane. Most important is that Rolando got baptized and he is so happy! On Monday it snowed a lot during the day, so after 5 we weren't allowed to drive. We were supposed to have a family home evening taught by us and the other Hermanas in the ward, but we couldn't get over there, so they ended up teaching alone. We stayed at the Maldonado's house for a few hours because they had family over, so we just taught them a lesson and watched some mormon messages. I got a call that night which made me so happy! I found out that I was going to train again!! Other exciting news, Hermana Pettit is training as well! So I'm a grandma :) Then we were confused because we knew one of us would have to leave and train....so Tuesday night we found out that I was leaving Little River. I already knew though. I finished all that I needed and I learned what I needed to learn, so it was time to leave. On Thursday we had transfer meeting and I got my new companion, Hermana Peabody from Park City Utah. All these people are from Utah!

Me and Hna Peabody

Now we are in a city called Manassas. Our ward is the Sudley ward. Before there were 3 sets of Elders and 1 set of Hermanas, but we took the place of 1 of them, so there are 2 and 2. We are both new to the area, so we don't really know that much and the first couple days were very interesting. We don't know the members, investigators, or where we are going, so we just talk to everyone that we can and figure out where all of the Spanish speakers live so that we can find them. On Saturday we had a snow day. It started at 9 and didn't stop until 5, so we weren't allowed to use our car. So we walked....and walked and walked. Let me tell you, walking in the snow is not easy. Especially when it’s up to your knees!

What is this foreign substance?

We are already seeing miracles! We have started looking through the area book and visiting some of the people that are in there. There is a family we visited last night and they are SO PREPARED. This man is so sensitive to the Spirit, he was going to get a tattoo but then he felt something inside of him telling him that it wasn't right, so he didn't do it. The family has searched for a long time for the right church and just haven't ever felt anything. So now they will feel the Spirit testify that this is the right church. We are so excited because the lesson went perfectly.

We have given out a lot of copies of the Book of Mormon and Hermana Peabody is so awesome. She isn't scared to talk and she wants to speak better Spanish so bad, but what she says people understand, even if it’s not 100% correct.

Yesterday they cancelled church and we were so excited to finally meet some members and it didn't end up working out. But we met the Bishop because he invited all the missionaries over for a mini Sacrament meeting. It was amazing and I love that the Spirit is the same no matter where you are. Even though we were in his house instead of in a chapel, we felt the same way we would have there. We are learning more and more everyday about what we can do, where we can go, and who we can visit and we just try our best. I know that the Lord is satisfied when we do what we can. I know that he helps us do even more than we could otherwise when we do try harder. We really can accomplish all that He wants us too when we put our trust in Him.

I'm sorry I don't have any more than that to say, but we do a lot of driving and a lot of knocking. Next week there will be more, don't worry! Love you all! Stay away from the snow!

Love,

Hermana Moberly

Me and Hermana Peabody