Long Five Days

July 27, 2015   

It feels long and short at the same time. It has been a super weird couple of days for our companionship! We have done a lot of driving and a lot of STL things that took up quite a bit of time.

Good news first! Angel is getting baptized on Sunday! He told us that he is going to ask for work off, and if he doesn't get it he is going to quit. But he's not worried about that because he is a great worker and his boss won't want to lose him. So we will have a baptism on Sunday! He is so awesome and so ready! He is going to be a great addition to the Bella Vista ward here in the McLean stake along with the family that will be getting baptized with him! We are so excited!!!

Also, we are going to do baptisms for the dead with a recent convert tomorrow, so that will be even more exciting!

I passed my year mark on Thursday and I have posted some pictures of it on my iCloud Photo Album, so if you want to see them send me an email so I can invite you to it :)

We had an awesome lesson with the Maltez family! Hna Maldonado came with us to teach them and it was really powerful. We were able to teach it in a way that Maria understood it all a lot better. Also, we got a lot of members in the ward to help invite them to activities and to church this week, so they will be coming the the noche de hogar tonight at Bishop's house and also they are going to stay for all three hours of church next week! Things are starting to happen because the members are so willing to help us :)

On Friday we had a trio day. Hna Moleli was the only one in her district that wasn't going to the temple, so we adopted her! We drove to Centerville in the morning, then drove to Herndon for a doctor’s appointment, the home for an hour in McLean. Then we met with the other STLs in Burke, then ate lunch with a member in Falls Church and then took Hna Moleli back to Centerville and drove home. It was crazy and there was a lot of traffic. We drove 114 miles and we were in the car for about four hours. Probably one of the longest days I have had on my mission. But it was fun and we got to talk to Hna Moleli about a lot of things. Fun fact, she's from LA :)

Church yesterday was amazing! I feel like I learned a lot more than usual and that everyone was really following the spirit. We had a few talks on keeping the Sabbath day holy, Gospel Principles was all about faith, and Relief Society was about defending the Family Proclamation. It was amazing and I loved that our investigators were there to hear and feel it all.

That's really all that has happened in the last few days. I hope all is well for you! Take care, love you all!

Love,

 Hermana Moberly

Companions July 2015

DC Temple Visitors Center July 2015

Nametage in front of DC Temple July 2015

The Cordoba Family

One Year

July 22, 2015 One Year

Pretty crazy, tomorrow marks one year on my mission. I don't know how that happened! My feelings are so mixed! I have loved every second of my mission up until this point, and I know I will love the next 6 months. I'm scared that the time I have left will go too fast, but I know that it is inspired that I am only a missionary for 18 months. I'm so grateful for all of the changes that I have made and the person that I am becoming. The things that I am learning now would have taken so much longer without this concentrated time as a missionary. I was reflecting back on this all today as we sat in the temple. The gospel is perfect and amazing. We will never know it all, but we will also never stop learning.

I have built so many relationships that are different from any others I have had. I meet people and within minutes I love them. The people that I get to teach with my companion, the members, the other hermanas in the mission are friends that I will have forever. I wish there was a word to describe who they are to me! But I guess it's something that is felt that cannot be described.

We had exchanges last week and I got to spend the day in Spring Lake with Hermana Peabody! She is so amazing! It's only been a transfer and a half since I was her companion and she has improved so much in her Spanish and confidence and everything! I am so amazed! That's one thing I love about being a sister training leader, because I get to see all of their improvement! It's so humbling to see how much they change and get better and knowing that if I work harder I can become better too!

Questions are so important in this world. When there aren't questions, learning is very hard. Something that I have noticed this week is that it's important to have questions as a learner, but also as a teacher. When the teacher asks questions they can know what the student needs and what level their understanding is. When the learner has and asks questions, learning increases. I love that I can be both! In the mornings I am a learner as I study for the day. In the afternoon I am both as I share what I have learned and listen to the Spirit testify through my words. It's an incredible thing to experience :) The Spirit guides the conversations and questions that we have so we can help the way they need it!

Angel passed his baptismal interview, so he is completely ready to be baptized, now we are just waiting on the day when he can actually get baptized! It should be this Sunday because he isn't supposed to be working, but his boss likes to change his mind and make him work anyways, so we will see about that. But the good news is that it will happen as soon as he picks the day!

This work is incredible and I am so grateful to be a part of it. There are so many little things that happen each day that amaze me, but since there are so many I don't know where to start. An hour and a half is not enough time to write what I want to, but it is inspired, so I guess his is all you need to know for now! I love you all! Keep working hard and sharing the gospel! Give the missionaries some work to do...they love to work ;) it is called missionary WORK after all!

Love you!

Con Amor,
Hermana Moberly

DC Temple

DC Temple Again

My compas Quince (15 months)

The Deza Family

Quince

What a week! It has been so long, but so short! I hope all is well with you wherever you are right now :)

It’s been a crazy day today, so I apologize beforehand for the sad email this will be. Also, I forgot my notes at home, so I will likely forget a lot of what I wanted to say.

Let's start with last Monday! We went to the Temple Visitor's Center with Angel. Our family that we love wasn't able to come, but it was just what Angel needed! We talked about temples and family history and he loved it. He is hilarious and made so many funny comments, the Hermanas that were there teaching him were laughing SO hard! He's a funny guy :) We also taught him the Plan of Salvation again and he loved that as well. Then the next day we ate at Chick-fil-a again and he taught us. We gave him and Dany, a member, our nametags and they taught us as Daniela and Angela :) It was hilarious and he is learning so much! If all goes well, he will be getting baptized this Sunday!

That family is doing well. The two girls are still working towards being baptized on August 1, but now their parents are worried if they will be ready or not. So we are hoping and praying that it will all work out! We know the girls are ready and that they will be blessed for all of this, we just need to help their parents see how important this is for all of them!

We went on exchanges and Hna Mugleston came to me here in Bella Vista and we saw some miracles. At the end of the night we went to check on a former investigator, but they moved and there was a new family living in their house, so we taught a quick summary of the Restoration, and it went so well. Jeny loved it all and invited us back on Saturday. So we went back on Saturday, and she totally forgot. On the bright side, she really is interested and dropped what she was doing so that we could come in and talk to her more. It was pretty amazing, we found out that she has met with missionaries before and has even gone to church with her children! She has been prepared, but now she is very strong in a Catholic church. But we are going to keep going over to help her find out from God what she should do! We are going to help her learn how to receive answers to her prayers and be spiritually strengthened so that she can accept the gospel and ultimately have eternal life. How cool is it that I get to help with that? I love it!

The rest of exchanges went really well. I am always so surprised at how much better these hermanas are than I am! I am so humbled by this calling that I have, and I never knew how much I could love so many people. I am so grateful for the friends that I have made in this mission and that we can build each other up so much! I love seeing their progress in just a few weeks and how we can enjoy every moment as we do this work.

We had MLC this week with President and it was very different from the last one. We talked a lot about the things that are most important to him, which are obedience, and happiness. I think obedience is important to every mission president because they know why. When we are obedient the miracles happen. Obedience come from our love towards the Savior. As a missionary, you have to love the savior or you will hate every minute of this year and a half or two years. With that obedience comes happiness. When missionaries aren't happy, the spirit cannot help us as much. A year and a half would be really long if I wasn't happy!

I'm sure that other things have happened this week, but I can't seem to remember them, so I will leave you with this for now and I will make up for it next week! :)

Love,

Hermana Moberly

Hermana Mugleston and Me

Dany and Angel

Giant in a Baby Chair

America!

July 6, 2015

Well, it’s been another busy week over here in McLean! Unfortunately we had to spend some extra time in the apartment because we were both sick, but when we were healthy we worked hard!

Last Monday night we had a family home evening at Bishop's, just like every other Monday, and this one was fun! We talked about Naaman, the leper and how the prophet's servant delivered the message of how he was going to be healed. We talked about how we get direction today by servants of the Lord and it can come from talks in church, seminary teachers, or even the young, poor missionaries! We can get direction for life from all kinds of sources, but we have to be humble enough to listen.

Update on our family, Maria, Sindi, and Liz! They are doing so well! We have now taught them the first three lessons and they are learning it so fast! The two girls, Sindi and Liz are going to be baptized on August 1 if their parents give them permission! They are so cute! They always ask the best questions and they really want to know it all. We met the father, Jose, for the first time this week. It was pretty cool because we felt like one of the members should come with us, but we didn't really know why, because we were just teaching two young girls. But he was there and Dany was able to talk to their dad and we taught him a little bit and he was comfortable and accepting of it all. We should be going to the Temple Visitor Center if it all works out tonight, so I will report more on them next week. Please keep them in your prayers!

On Wednesday night we went out and for an hour and a half, we couldn't make contact with anyone. No one was answering the door, and no one was out, so it was kind of rough. So we were going through all of our back up plans and we visited a less active woman in the ward. It was so amazing and we knew that that was where we needed to be. She said that she had been praying for someone to come and visit her. She struggles with depression and needed some company. So the next day we went over again and made dinner for her and the little boy that she was taking care of. It was awesome and I love seeing the little miracles that come. That's why I try not to get frustrated when good plans fall through, because we may be needed somewhere else.

There is a man we are teaching, Adan, and he is awesome! He finally figured out that the congregation is all Hispanics, except for us, when this whole time he thought it was all in English!! Haha, we told him a few times that it was Spanish, but apparently he wasn't listening completely. Now that he found that out, he has progressed a lot more. We had a really great lesson with him one night and he really opened up, so we were able to teach him what he needed in that moment. I love when that happens! The Spirit is so amazing because it helps others trust us and we can know how to help them, even if they don't say exactly what is wrong. It just gives me a stronger testimony that this is the Lord's work!

On Thursday we went to Chick-fil-a, and guess who we went with?! ROLANDO! He's finally back from Bolivia, so of course we went to Chick-fil-a :) It was so fun to see him again! He is amazing! And now, his nephew is here, so he is having him meet with the missionaries in Little River. He is the best!!

We went on exchanges this week and we saw more miracles. We just changed all of our areas this last transfer because one of the areas was closed. We used to work in Falls Church, but now the other Hermanas work there. We went on exchanges with them and it was pretty fun because that is an area that I am very familiar with and Hermana Tate is not. It was a fun night and we contacted some really cool people. There was a lesson that we had with another less active and we could see a huge difference in her from when we walked into her house and at the end of the lesson. It was really cool!

We met our new mission president, President Huntsman on Friday! I already love him :) He is amazing and pretty funny. He is letting revelation take control of this mission and it’s pretty cool. We have Mission Leadership Council this week, so I will know more about him next week!

One of the testimonies that I have gained as a missionary is that planning makes life so much easier and so much better. I wasted so much time before I was a missionary because I just waited for things to happen, or I waited to be forced to do things. Now, as a missionary, I realize that time is so important and there isn't much of it, so when you plan, that special time isn't wasted like it would otherwise.

I hope your fourth of July was awesome! Mine was! We went to Arlington cemetery and watched to fireworks over the Capital. We weren't allowed to leave our Zone, so we were really lucky to be able to go over there! I will send some pictures, but it was cool to be able to spend the 4th in the nation’s capital :)

I love you and miss you all! I hope all of you are enjoying your summer. Take care :)

Love,

 Hermana Moberly

Bella Vista District

Our Fireworks Group

Fireworks Iwo Jima

Our View Before the Fireworks

What Is Sleep?

Man, this week has been crazy. Much crazier than most weeks, let me tell you why! It started off normal, we were working hard, teaching lots of lessons and seeing lots of miracles. We have laughed a lot, which helps with everything. We found three new investigators in one day, and up until this point they are all pretty solid! We had one of them tell us that if she wasn't giving birth, she would be there for the next lesson :) She is 9 months pregnant, so we will see!

Our district meeting was a little bit sad this week because our district leader went home on Thursday, so we was giving us his final words and advice.

We went to the Temple Visitor's Center with Angel! Finally! We watched Meet the Mormons with him and he LOVED it! And he loved seeing the temple. And we are going to go to chick-fil-a tonight to get his application turned in. He will have Sundays free in a couple of weeks, so as soon as that happens he is going to get baptized :)

We continue to have some crazy storms over here, and it gets kind of sketchy to drive in them. At one point I was driving 35 on the highway, so that just shows how bad it was, because I like to drive fast!

On Thursday we had a transfer meeting, which was awesome! It was really sad because it was the last one for the Riggs family. We get our new President on Tuesday this week and we will meet him this week on Friday. My companion and I will get to know him really well really fast since we are part of the leadership of the mission. I'm really looking forward to the change and all that will come with it, but I am so sad to see President Riggs leave. I have learned so much from him, but I know that I will learn from President Huntsman as well!

Sometimes the assistants don't make all of the calls to let people know when they are getting transferred. This happened when Hermana Peabody first came in. There was a Sister who didn't know she was getting transferred and she freaked out a little bit. SO afterwards we were joking about it happening to her. And that is exactly what happened this last transfer. She wasn't told that she was going to be transferred, but during the meeting it was announced that she was going to a different area. We all felt so bad because she was so excited to stay there for another 6 weeks and then was surprised by that. Poor thing!

Saturday night around 11:30, we made an emergency trip to the hospital for Hermana Christensen. We thought she had appendicitis, so we went to the ER and were there from 11:30 PM to 5:00 AM. It wasn't appendicitis, but they couldn't figure out exactly what was going on, so they gave her pain killers and basically said that if it keeps hurting for a few days to come back. So it’s an unknown thing. Dr Kearle, our mission doctor brought me some McDonald's to eat while I was waiting for Hermana Christensen. She got a CAT scan. Ever since then we have been trying to catch up on sleep. As missionaries, you never really get enough sleep, but after this, it’s going to take a while to catch up. So today instead of playing sports like we usually do, we took a nice long nap!

Those have been our adventures so far, and hopefully we will have more, but no one will be in pain and they can all be related to missionary work! I love this work and I don't want to leave it ever! I've never grown so much so fast and I know it won't ever happen again. As we come closer to Christ he really does show us our weaknesses, but when we know what they are He helps us make them our strengths instead. I love the Atonement and I am so grateful to know what it is and share it with the people here. I love you and miss you all! Have a great week :)

Love,

 Hermana Moberly

The Spanish Hermanas

DC Temple Trip

Cool Storms!

Spanish Program Before Transfers

20!

This week by far has been the fastest one. I don't think I have ever had so many things happen in such a short amount of time! I'll just go ahead and get started.

Last week we had a FHE (Family Home Evening) in Bishop's house, but it was funny because they waited until we got there to start. Our lesson before went a little longer than expected. The FHE was supposed to start at 7:30, but we didn't get there until 8:15. Usually it starts a half hour late, because we are on Mormon/Hispanic standard time. But they waited even more just for us, haha, oops. Bishop taught a really good lesson on how we need to have a really strong foundation before we can start building upwards. He compared it to a tower of cups. If your base isn't firm, the tower will fall when you take away only one, but a tower with a firmer base will last longer. It was a good one!

Tuesday we had Spanish Forum. We had been preparing all week to do our training on planning, but then Elder Hansen didn't announce us to get up and present it, so it didn't happen. He didn't even realize anything was wrong until we went up to him afterwards and asked what happened. He felt so bad, but it was fine. We learned as we prepared, and all the time was used during the meeting the way it needed to be, just kind of funny. Also, we got a mission Spanish program picture, and then individuals with President, since this is his last week in our mission. It was so great because in the pictures we took with him he put his arm around us. It was the closest thing I have gotten to a hug in 11 months, and it was from President Riggs, so it was a great day!

We have facebook again, which I am sure some of you noticed! It’s going to be a little different this time. If you want to contact me, still go through my email, or USPS ;), but not through facebook. We will be using it to keep in contact with the people here in the mission, investigators, less actives, and some members. Feel free to like and comment on the few things that I will post, but don't feel bad if I don't respond :) This is a great tool for what we can do as missionaries, but also a huge distraction if we let it be.

One day this week we were supposed to have two dinners (kind of like in Little River) but neither of them ended up working out, so we ate at Chick-fil-a! We also took Angel there this week to get him a job. If he can work there it will be perfect because he can come to church EVERY Sunday! Right now he is planning on being baptized on July 4th, so please pray for him!

Saturday was amazing for me! I got to go to the temple with the Deza family (my family). We went through with them for the endowment session, and then they were sealed with two of their children. The other 5 don't have the permission to even be baptized because of their mom, but she is currently listening to the missionaries! So all good news! It was a missionary reward day for Hermana Pettit and me. I loved every second. That family is amazing and they have been through so much and I was so happy that they wanted Hermana Pettit and me to be there with them on this special day. They are incredible!

Yesterday was the best birthday ever! The other Hermanas in our ward tried to surprise me, but it didn't really work out that well, so they got there, threw some balloons at me and sent me to my room for a little bit. Then I came out and we had a little party with decorations and fun stuff. Then we studied and went to church and had a good day. That night we had a baptism and then also a fireside for new members and returning members. Basically all of Little River was there and it was wonderful. The meeting was amazing and the spirit was so powerful as testimonies were shared. I loved every minute and got lots of pictures with the Deza family :) I only have some of them, because I am waiting for them to send them to me on facebook, so I will send more next week.

Families can be forever. I have no doubt about it, and I will do everything I can to continue helping others get that and also making sure that I will be with mine forever. The Lord is always on our side, but the devil is always tempting us to mess up. Doing the little things will give us the strength to resist whatever he throws at us. I love you all and hope that your week was as incredible as mine, but that would be pretty hard :)

Love,

 Hermana Moberly

 

Moverlos

Another week is gone, which leaves us with less than two weeks left in the transfer. Crazy how fast it flies. I'm pretty sure I say this every week too, but it blows my mind!

Last week we had our zone activity, so we went and played "beach" volleyball at a sand court in Arlington and had a BBQ. Also, Hermana Christensen brought her soccer ball, and since we aren't allowed to play soccer we just passed with it for a while. It is SO humid here, it’s really gross. But I get to be in the sun more! That means that I'm not as white ;) There's been some pretty nice storms lately too. It’s weird because it’s so hot that you don't want to put a jacket on, but you don't want to get wet at the same time. It’s a difficult decision! Haha

On Tuesday we had a zone training based on what we learned in MLC last week, so there isn't much more to say about that, except that I was asked to give a 5-8 minute talk on repentance. My life has changed a lot, because it was weird for me to be the one doing all of the talking without my companion on my side as well. Before I was just fine talking and talking and talking, but now it’s awkward or me to be there alone. Missions.

Our investigator, Carmen, is doing really well. This last time we met with her we talked more about the Book of Mormon and where it came from. She loved it and has been reading it since we gave it to her. She believes that it’s true and wants to be baptized...now we just have to get her married to the father of her kids! They are planning on moving out of the state in a month and she wanted to know what she can do to stay with the church. She is awesome!!

On Wednesday I went to the Olive Garden for the first time, and it was super good! I loved it. Our recent convert, Eder, took us :)

On Thursday we did exchanges and I got to go to Sudley with Hermana Riddle. It was super fun, but like most exchanges, every appointment fell through, so we did a lot of knocking on doors and meeting new people. I got to see one of the families that I was teaching before and it was so fun.

On Friday night we started teaching about family history, and for one of them we used the little girl's Barbie’s. It made it so much easier to understand that with family history we won't know all that we need to and that we can always go to others to help us find more information. So Kristoff and Flynn Rider helped us out to teach Brenda to start looking for her family by talking to grandparents and other family members that remember more.

The Deza's are getting sealed in the temple this week and they invited Hermana Pettit and I to go with them! We are going to the endowment session and the sealing! I'm so excited! I started crying when they called me and invited me to come :) They are incredible and I can't wait to be there with them on that special day!

Hermana Christensen and I have found out that missions really help you find some more talents. We have set up for many parties and we're actually really good at it...but maybe it comes from all the practice ;) Haha

This work is so amazing and I am so grateful for the chance that I have to be here and learn all of these things. I see so many miracles everyday and I know it is because the Lord trusts our companionship. Thank you for all of your prayers. I love you all!! Have a great Fathers Day :)

Love,

 Hermana Moberly