Monday, November 10, 2014

Saving the Best for Last!

Hola Otra Vez!!

Well, here we go! My last email as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This last year and a half has been the hardest, most challenging, fruitful, beautiful, and memorable time of my whole life. And I know that it was the best decision I have ever made to be a servant for my Savior Jesus Christ. I think that we all think in the moment we have strong testimonies in Him, but when we decide to change and do something that will help us grow, we recognize that our testimony before was so small. I hope that my whole life continues to help my testimony grow and be more solid in Him. As we set goals and are obedient, we will always grow closer to God. He will show us our weaknesses, He will give us trials, and He will carry us through until the very end until we become who He wants us to be. I know that this life really is the time for us to prepare to meet God. I know that this life is not the end of His plan. I know that families are eternal and that as we do the things that help us stay on the path that returns to out heavenly home, we will find greater strength, protection, and guidance. 

Something that has helped me these last 18 months is to completely confide and trust in my Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ. I know that when we put them first, when we use the Atonement to help us change and become clean and more purified, and when we do our part, everything works out perfectly. And maybe that perfection is not what we expected or wanted, but it will be perfect for what we need to be successful and return home. 

I am so grateful for the people I have met and served; for the companions that served alongside me; for the trials and triumphs. I know that I wasn't even close to being a perfect missionary, that none of us can serve the Lord perfectly in the way that He wants us to, but I do know that if we are constantly trying to serve with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength, He will help enable us to become a little closer to the perfection we are expected to reach. 

This last week was really crazy! I had to go to Rosario with Hermana Fairbanks for tramites...I don’t know what that is in english. It's something for the visa and being legal in the country. The elders in the office told me that I am illegal and so I have to go back this Friday so that they can pay the ticket so that I can leave and come home. Haha. And then on Monday I go back to the mission home for interviews and dinner with President. Then on Tuesday I get to go to the Buenos Aires temple!!! I have missed the temple so much!!!! I am really excited (: 

We did have a lot of success this week!! Hugo Alvarado is progressing so much! Our last lesson with him last week, we promised him that if he prayed to know if the Book of Mormon is true, he would receive an answer. He took that challenge and prayed every night to know. He told us that he didn't think he was receiving an answer until Thursday night he told God he was tired and would go to bed, but asked that He would answer his prayer in a dream. He told us that that night he dreamed and all he heard was ''Nefi, Nefi, Nefi'' haha. He was so excited when he told us that that was his answer and he knows it is true! He also accepted to go to church, which before he was really against going! So Sunday he went to church!! We invited him to baptism for the 22nd and his answer was, ''Put me down for 4 PM!'' haha he is really awesome! He has 66 years. 

We also finally saw Carolina, Luciana's friend, again! We taught her the gospel of Jesus Christ and she also accepted a baptismal date for the 16th!!! She couldn't go to church yesterday, so she needs to go next week, and then can be baptized! But we also don't want to rush her, so if she is not ready, we will wait, but it would be so awesome to see her baptized right before I leave! But I know that baptism is a big covenant to make, and I would rather her be truly converted than rush her into it. So I guess I'll tell you the news about all of this when I get home! 

But I really have loved being a missionary for Christ's church. I can't wait now to have a different calling and be able to continue working in His kingdom upon the earth. Thanks for all of your letters and sending your love each week! I have really grown from all of your testimonies. Just remember to be faithful until the end and the reward we will receive is eternal life and complete happiness in the presence of our Heavenly Father. I know that He is our loving father and that Christ is central to His plan. I know that the church was restored through Joseph Smith and that we have the authority upon the earth once again to help us all receive the ordinances of salvation so that we can live in heaven once again. I know that this is the Lord's work and it is hastening. If we all work together, we can bring more of God's children unto Him. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Con amor,
Hermana Moberly


Milking Alfajores
Awesome Tan Lines 


My Temperature Last Week

Monday, November 3, 2014

The Purification Process

Hola (:
I don't have much time today because I have to email my Mission President. He asked me to write a letter to the other missionaries about what has been of the greatest worth to me in my mission. It was really hard to write because I wanted to share everything I have learned, but over these last two weeks I have finally put something together! 
I talked about the purification process. Not just here in the mission, but throughout our lives. In Moroni 7 it talks a lot about how we need faith, hope, and charity to be able to one day stand in front of the Savior and not only recognize who he is, but be similar to Him as well. I have really learned a lot about my Savior on the mission. I feel like I can say I really know Him. I have sacrificed, prayed, desired, and strived to develop attributes that He has so that I could be a better disciple and representative of His. It was definitely not easy, and I know I still have a LONG way to go, but where I am right now, I can say I know who He is and can see a difference in the person I was when I started my mission. I know that each of us needs to strive every day to become more like Him. How sad would it be if when He comes again, we did not recognize Him? I want to be prepared for that day. If we read our scriptures, pray, go to church, love one another and serve one another, remember the covenants we have made with God, and endure through our trials with faith I know that we will become purified like Christ is pure in the process.
This week was a crazy one. The weather finally cooled off and we have had rainstorms the last few days. On Wednesday I was sick in bed all day with a 103.7 degree fever and a stomach infection, but it only lasted one day. I literally slept alllll day and alll night and then on Thursday we could go out and work again. I was just a little weak from it all, but I'm all better now! (:
Well, we are finding a ton of new investigators and inviting them all to baptism. But this week we will see the fruits of our labors (: Sorry this is so short! I love you all and hope you have a great week! Focus on what you need to do, change, or sacrifice to become more pure like our Savior Jesus Christ.

Love you!

Hermana Moberly

Monday, October 27, 2014

It is Impossible to Fail

Hola Familia y Amigos (: 

This week I wanted to start with a quote I found from Elder Ballard. ''It is impossible to fail when you do your best when you are on the Lord's errand.'' I love this! If we always put our heart into our callings and when doing the Lord's will, it is impossible to fail. Maybe we won't have success in our own eyes, but as long as we do our part, we can be confident that the Lord completed His part as well. Success in His eyes is a lot grander than it is in ours. 

Well, we had a really full and busy week. On Monday I went on divisions with Hna. Condori (Hna Rasband's comp in the other half of Paraná) so I got to visit Sebastian and Elin and Evelyn again! (: They are doing really well. Evelyn told us she is thinking a lot about serving the mission! She is the only member in her family, but it will really help them all and she'll make the best decision of her life! (;

In our zone meeting on Wednesday, I had to give my farewell testimony! ): I just talked a lot about the process of a mission. You can't expect to know what to do in the beginning, but as you grow and fall and grow and fall, you notice that the whole time, you just keep growing. It's hard to explain in english haha, but hopefully you get the idea. I just feel that my whole mission has been a progressing process and I recently read a talk that counsels returned missionaries to not discontinue this progression. 

We got another new companion this week!! Her name is Hermana Fairbanks from Washington. She just started the mission and so we are training her. It's a little crazy. We didn't have time before and now we are adding another extra hour of companionship study and a whole hour of language study. But we are figuring things out. She is really great and understands spanish pretty well already. If only I could have understood spanish in the beginning (; 

News on our investigators:
We finally found a friend of Brenda's, Cynthia. We taught her about 2 months ago and finally saw her again! She has been reading the Book of Mormon every night!!!! No one ever does that! We taught her the Restoration and invited her to be baptized! She accepted a date for Nov. 15th so we are trying to work with her so that she is prepared. We are also teaching Juan, Juan, and Juan, and Eva hahaha. Juan padre is the one who accepted a baptismal date a few weeks ago, but now doesn’t want to be baptized. But we are also teaching Juan hijo who is less active and the other Juan hijo who is with Eva. Juan and Eva accepted baptismal dates too, but they have to get married first. But they are really receptive and have strong desires to change! We just contacted a lot and are trying to find new people and invite everyone to be baptized. If they don't show interest, then we know they are not prepared for baptism right now. But so far we have a few with great potential and are going to teach them this week. When we introduce the Book of Mormon we try to make it really interesting and catch their attention. President Zanni taught us this: Ask them if they know the Bible and the prophets like Adam, Noah, Abraham, etc. If they say yes, then we ask them ''Have you ever heard of Captain Moroni?'' They will say no obviously and then we continue, ''No!? He was a captain of a strong army here in the Americas! He led a group of people and fought for their rights and liberties...'' It's really fun and we do it with Alma, Ammon, Nephi, etc. Super fun and the people then are more interested!

For divisions this week I went to La Paz. It's beautiful! It's really green and a tourist city. It reminded me a little of Jamaica. Right on the river. But this whole week has been soooooo hot and humid. I can't even sleep well during the nights. But that's okay, there are people to meet and share the gospel with (:

The whole mission right now is focusing on increasing our faith. Miracles have not ceased, baptisms have not ceased, and it is all according to our faith that the Lord performs miracles and baptisms. I know that we are going to be seeing a lot of success in the entire mission. Just like the quote above says, when we work our hardest, nothing is impossible. I hope you all have a really great week and can focus on doing the Lord's will. Do your best, and you will be blessed (rhyme) (: Love you all!!!!!

Con amor,

Hermana Moberly

17 Months!

Welcome Hermana Fairbanks!


La Paz 

Parana





Parana Sunset


Sunburn
Yummy Pionono

Monday, October 20, 2014

Buen Dia!

Buen dìa!!

This last week flew by! I don't think I have very much to tell you either. This last week we have been focusing a lot on visiting our families of rescue (I don't know how to translate it correctly into english). But we have 5 less active families who we are focusing on. We visited with 3 this week and they all seem to be progressing a lot more! One is a 70 year old man, Cayetano. We are having a Family Home Evening with him tonight in the bishop's house and he hasn't come to church still, but I think he will soon! We also are visiting the familia Farìas. Hermana Farìas was the only one home but said the Lord blesses her family so much, that she knows if she doesn`t come back to church the blessings will stop, and she won`t be able to show her gratitude to the Lord. If we love the Lord, we are obedient to His commandments. She has 2 kids, but one of them is married to a girl who isn't a member of the church, so Wednesday they invited us over to lunch and we will start teaching her! (: Then there is the Ludovico family. Hno Ludovico is from Brasil and last night he told us that when he thinks of his converts from the mission being active in the church, and one being a member of the 70 (Elder Castro), it makes him really sad. He wants us to be patient with his family and that when the spirit tells them they need to come back to church, they will return. So we are going to continue helping these people have spiritual experiences. We cannot force people to accept the gospel or complete commitments, only the spirit can teach them. So we are going to work with the spirit just like we always do with everyone!

On Wednesday we went to Rosario for Leadership Council. It's literally like Christmas getting to hear from Pres Zanni and the assistants! We talked about the sickness in the mission about missionaries thinking this isn't a baptizing mission. It really is sad, I've seen it. Many missionaries have heard from others that we don't baptize here, so they lose their faith and then they can't have success. So as leaders, we are going to teach and ''heal'' the mission from this ''sickness'' and complete the Lord's work. I went on divisions with an Hermana from Utah this week and she is really new. We were talking about what she thinks is possible for our mission, and she said she is tired of hearing people always say, ''We are just planting seeds''. She said she knows it is important to sembrar seeds, but it also says all over Doctrine and Convenios that the field is white and ready to harvest. There are people who are prepared, we just have to get to work and do what the Lord wants from us in his vineyard, I loved that! We just need to have the faith to see. And then get to work.

I was attacked by grillos (crickets and grasshoppers) this week!! On Tuesday night Hna Rasband and her comp slept over because we had to wake up at 2:30 to go to Rosario and we live closer to the terminal. But the last 2 hours of sleeping there was about 4 crickets that wouldn’t stop chirping! Then on divisions, I slept on the top bunk bed and they have SO many crickets and grasshoppers in their apartment. I heard one on the ceiling and then a minute later it fell on my forehead!! I screamed and Hna Egbert ran to turn on the lights and it was on my pillow so we flicked it off and killed it. We killed 8 more that night. I hate grillos. There is one in the cyber right now too. They never go away!!

We didn't have very much money left and for one day we only had eggs and water haha. But don't worry mom, we got money today and have food again haha. We just called members to feed us. 

We had a really great week, just full of traveling and finding new investigators. We have the goal of having 2 baptisms before I go home so we have a lot of work to do. But like I always say, everything is posible con the Lord!! 

I hope you all have a really great week! Trust in the Lord. He only does what is best for us. Even when it doesn't seem right to us, He has an eternal perspective and will never lead us astray! I know that this is Christ's work. As missionaries, we are His representatives, but as members of His church, we still wear His name upon us. That was our baptismal covenant. Do as He would do. Love and serve as He would love and serve. Love you all so much!!<3

Con amor,
Hermana Moberly


sorry no pics this week...the computer won't let me load them! More to come next week (:

Monday, October 13, 2014

Invitation to Salvation

Hola! (:

Are you surprised to hear that this last week was so amazing?? I´ll start from the beginning. I don´t have very much time because it´s a holiday and everything is closed so we are all sharing one computer in the church. But here it goes...

Tuesday: for Pday we played soccer for 3 hours straight and I´m still sore haha. But we went over to Soledad´s house and she was having a really bad day. She had a migraine and her kids were screaming and running around. So we called a member who lived by and him and his wife came over immediately. The hermano had been working in the campo all day and was already asleep, but he answered our call and came anyways. His wife (the relief society pres) took care of the twin babies and the hermano gave Soledad a blessing. The spirit was so strong and Soledad just wept. It was amazing. I think what I loved the most, was seeing the members respond to our call even though they were asleep and tired. It didn’t matter to them. They responded to the call and served. This week I have been studying the New Testament again and reading all about the miracles Jesus performed. He went to the sick and afflicted and the weary. According to their faith they were healed. It can still happen now. I witnessed it this week. As members of Christ´s church, we also need to serve and bless the sick and afflicted and weary. When we were baptized, we took upon ourselves the name of Christ and that means act as He did. When we do so, we are fulfilling our covenants. It was an amazing experience and I will never forget it!

Wednesday: Hna Castañeda came!!!! I already knew her from Sunchales, but she is super sweet and loves to work! I am so happy we get to spend these next few weeks together working hard and serving the people here in Paraná!! Hna Rasband forgot to tell me she didn't pay the light bill, so this night, they shut off our light and we lived with matches and one flashlight and a candle haha.

Thursday: We paid the light bill and now we have no money haha but we will be fine. We will get the money back next week. It´s just funny and we all blame Hna Rasband for forgetting to tell us haha. 

Saturday: I read a talk about a man who in his mission did a 40 day fast so that he could be purified and receive the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. I made a list of things to fast from that keep me from having the spirit with me and teaching with power and authority and luckily I had 40 days left on my mission from this day! So I started that and am really excited to see what happens until the end of my mission and how I can have the spirit with me more completely and constantly!!

These are the big highlights from the week! We are working hard and loving the mission. I know that when we make sacrifices, the lives of those around us can be blessed. We are in this life to become purified and more like our Savior and father. Love you all so much and hope you have a great week!!! 

Con Amor,
Hermana Moberly

Hermana Castaneda and Me


Me and the Argentina Flag
Me in a Carnival Hat


Sunrise from our Apartment
Awesome Catholic Cathedral



Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Sliding Into Home

Holaaaa!! (: 
¿Cómo están? Espero que todo esté bien y que disfrutaran la conferencia general!!
Okay, enough Spanish! Well, here we go! My last transfer as a servant of the Lord in Rosario, Argentina! I received a lot of spiritual guidance this week. Not only did we get to watch General Conference, but on Wednesday, Hermana Zanni (the mission president's wife) came all the way out to Paraná to go out with us!! She is una capa. So great!! Me and Hermana Rasband were praying before bed a few weeks ago trying to think of how to help one of our recent converts, Soledad. She is a single mom with 5 kids and the two babies are twins and have 4 months. She is having a really hard time. One of the babies is deaf and she has depression problems. So after our prayers that night we really felt that Hna Zanni could help her. So we called her and she said she felt like she also needed to come out and help us! I love the spirit! (: So this Wednesday she made President stay in the mission office to take care of the kids and she came out with us (: We had such an amazing day! We were able to visit a lot of hermanas who grew in their faith and received more encouragement to endure through their trials and rely on the Lord. When we were at lunch, Hermana Zanni looked at me and Hermana Rasband and told us that we shouldn't worry about the end of our missions. She said, ''Go to the temple, read your patriarchal blessings, and pray to the Lord to know what your next calling is.'' She reminded us of how nervous we were to leave for the mission, but everything worked out perfectly and now we don't want to leave. She said that it's the same now. We are nervous to go back home, but we shouldn't be! Hermana Rasband and I have just felt that on the mission we have changed and grown so much, that we are afraid to go back home and everything is the same and that we will be tempted to fall back and become the people we were before or that everyone will reject us because we have changed so much haha. But Hna Zanni said,''Everything you have changed to become has already been a part of you. The mission has just allowed you to develop it. You are still you. But you are a better, stronger you. Don't go back and change back to the ''you'' you used to be.'' It was an awesome experience and I will never forget it! SOo here I am. The last transfer and I am so excited to just keep working my hardest until the end. There is still so much to do, so many people to meet and lift up and serve, and so many miracles to witness. 
German is now only smoking 2 cigarettes every day when before it was 15! He is so close! We aren't sure whether he will be baptized this Saturday or the next, but I'll let you know! This transfer me and Hermana Rasband won't be together ): They split our area back again, which is good and bad! It was HUGE but now we both only get to visit half the people. But it will all be okay! We are still the sister training leaders, but they changed it from having 4 to 8. So we get to each train a new one. My companion is Hermana Castañeda from Mexico. I already know her and we get along great! She is really going to help the people here in Paraná! 
I got to go back to Sunchales this week and be with Hermana Nelson again for divisions!! The familia Cauda is having some troubles right now! Felipe is depressed and hasn't been going to church, but I got to see Joana and she was so happy to tell me she is reading her scriptures! It was really great to see them! I told them to stay strong and to endure. Trials will always come, but Heavenly Father only gives us trials so that we can show Him our faith. That no matter what, we are willing to follow Him and trust in His power. I read a talk this week by Elder Holland called “An high priest of good things to come”. READ IT! It is so good! He said, “Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don't come until heaven; but for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come.'” I know that we all have really hard lives. Some harder than others. But the gospel of Jesus Christ is the only thing that we have to keep us safe and afloat in hard times.  He also said, “Even if you can't see the silver lining on your clouds, God can, for He is the very source of the light you seek. He does love you, and He knows your fears. He hears your prayers. He is your Heavenly Father and surely He matches with His own the tears His children shed.” 
I know that we have a loving Heavenly Father. He truly loves us and wants the best for us. He is happy when we are feliz. He cries when we cry. We need to trust in Him and stay on His path to return home to Him. My favorite conference talk was by Elder Ballard. We need to stay in the boat and do the simple things and live the gospel. If we don't we will fall and be in dangerous waters. 
Hope you all have a great week and can endure through the hard times. When life gets too hard to stand, kneel. Fight the battle on your knees and call upon your Heavenly Father to use His power to lift you up. Love you all so much!! Share your favorite part of conference with someone who didn't have the opportunity to watch or listen! Love youuu!!

Con amor,

Hermana Moberly

Me and Hermana Nelson, Reunited in Sunchales

Harmana Zanni, Me, Elin, and German in Parana

Saying goodbye to Aylen

My Parana Companions!

Me, Joana, and Hermana Nelson in Sunchales

Hermana Nelson, me and the Cauda Kids, Sunchales


Luciana and Me, Parana

Elin and Me, Parana


Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Almost October!

Hola Hola (: 

Sorry, bad news...I have zero time today! We all have to share the computer, so this will be superrrr quick!!! BUT we had an amazing stressful beautiful week!! 

I am still with Hermanas Rasband and Briggs and we get along too well...we sometimes can't stop talking at night which means we lose sleep. So we have been really tired, but this week we have goals to sleep on time. But we are having so much fun together!! They are like my fourth and fifth sisters (Cori is my third) (:  We worked so hard this week to try and find new investigators and help Elin get ready for her baptism. But she made it!! We had the baptism on Saturday and she was so happy and excited! Her whole family came, even her stepdad who doesn't listen to us and smokes all the time! Her mom, Monica is inactive but is now coming back to church and she spoke on baptism! It was so awesome!! The spirit was so strong. I love helping people make this covenant. Baptism and confirmation are literally the first steps to getting into the kingdom of God. But with the right authority. The restored priesthood. Elin's friend, Florencia came to the baptism and church as well. She told us afterwards that she also wants to be baptized! And German should get baptized in the next 2 weeks. Their mom is so much happier now. I loved seeing this family's conversion process and seeing them regain or gain their testimonies. 

Hermana Briggs also had a baptism in Galvez, so we had permission to go out there. Hermana Rasband stayed here with a member, and us two went out to her old area to help them get everything prepared. It was another great experience! So two baptisms this weekend!  

I went to do divisions again this week out in Colon, 4.30 hours away! It was so long! But I got to meet a lot of really special people. Divisions really help me see the holiness of our callings to specific areas. When I go away, I can't feel or receive any revelation or inspiration for those people. I can help the hermanas, but it's a different feeling. I can't really explain it, other than I know I am meant to serve in Paraná at this time. 

Sorry this is so lame! We really did have an amazing week full of miracles, like always! I continue to learn and grow every day. I feel so close to my Savior and I know that it only comes through diligent study in the scriptures, prayer and testifying. Love you all so much and hope you have a great week!! <3

Con cariño,

hermana moberly

Monday, September 22, 2014

A Day in the Life on an Hermana

HolAAAAA!! (:

Well, here we are again. And I'm sure you will all be so surprised to hear that this week was amazing!! Never happens, right?? Well, we definitely had a bunch of trials, but we made it through and there was just as much good, if not more, to help us carry on.

Last Monday, we played soccer and basketball as a zone and with some young men in our ward. I made a goal on an elder from Chile and everyone started cheering and screaming ''RUBIA!!!''...ugh! Time to dye the hair again (; haha just kidding.  But we also watched Monster's Inc. 2 Monster's University. It was really great! I just get so bored during movies now because they are so long. But I gave a talk during our zone meeting on the importance of commitments. We will never change or repent if we are not committed to doing something that will help us reach that goal. Faith is action, and action is what leads us to repentance. Our actions can be reading the scriptures, going to church, praying, or being obedient to the commandments. All of these things help us change and become more like our Savior Jesus Christ. But as a missionary, we need to also promise blessings so that these people have a desire or reason to want to change. It's like when we go to school. No one would ever go to school if we were not promised the blessing of learning. But we will also never learn if we do not do our homework or study. If our investigators goal is to have eternal life, we need to promise the blessings that come from being obedient. Or they will never want to change. 

All of our investigators are doing great except for Nestor and Brenda. ): Brenda called us on Sunday morning after promising us she would come to church and said she didn't feel like going. We tried everything, but she just won't act. So we are going to drop her for awhile until she starts showing us desires. Our purpose is to invite and teach, but she has had all the lessons, and won't come to church. So until she is ready, we are going to give her some time. Nestor also texted us saying that he never wanted to come to church again or get baptized, or anything. We asked if we could have a charla (chat) to talk about what happened. And he just said another day. It's so wierd, we are going to try and call him to see what happened. But enough about the sad stuff! 

Our week was really successful!! We taught a ton of lessons! We only had to do one division, and I went to a really small pueblito called Villa Adelina. It's ONLY dirt roads and brick houses. SO sad. I'm happy here in Paraná gracias. We were going to have another division, but one of the sisters had to go home for health problems, and now we have her companion! Her name is Hna Briggs from Holiday Utah. She is so sweet! She told me Kelly looks really familiar, but can't remember. She went to BYU. But we had so much fun as a trio this week! I missed being in a trio! She is my 13th companion...that's a ton!! haha

We are helping Gabriel, a recent convert, do his family history. I can't remember if I told you last week. But before his baptism he had a trouble with smoking. But he stopped, and to help him stay strong we want to help him do family history work and prepare to receive the sacerdocio and go to the temple. Elder Bednar promises us protection from the adversary as we do this great work for our ancestors and those who have died. 

I have been in Argentina for 9 months and it has flown by! But I have never grown or learned so much in such a short amount of time. These people, their culture, their lifestyles, their trials, their faith, they all help me learn more about who I want to be and who I should be. They are all comfortable living their lives the best they know how to. Our job as missionaries or members of the church are to help them just live even better! The gospel of Jesus Christ is restored! We have all His teachings once again on the earth and we never have to wonder what to do! We know it is true and we need to help others know it is true also. That comes only through opening our mouths and sharing our testimonies of the goodness of God, our loving Heavenly Father.

Love you all so much!!! Hope you have a great week and can find opportunities to share the gospel with others! <3

Con amor,

Hermana Mobery







Monday, September 15, 2014

Challenge Accepted!

Hola Hola (:
Well, just so you know, once again, this week was amazing. But that's no different than any other week on the mission. When they say it's the best two years, they aren't lying! Hmm where to start!!?? This week was a little rough because we didn't have that much time from traveling and then I may or may not have gotten lost a few times (; I told Hna Rasband I should stay in Paraná for divisions so that it would force me to learn the area better. Which it definitely did, but we just had some fun detours along the way. I think one time I accidentally walked outside of our area boundaries. 
We went to Rosario on Wednesday for Leadership Council Meeting. My comp told me it's like Christmas because we get to hear straight from President, and she didn't lie. I learned so much and we received so much revelation for our investigators, how to help them, what they need, etc. So basically even better than Christmas!! I think my favorite part was when we talked about the importance of giving commitments to our investigators. Really, a commitment for anyone is a way for them to act and learn on their own, and then apply those things so that they change. If our purpose as missionaries is to call others to repentance and help them come unto Christ, we NEED to give them commitments. We read in the end of Alma 13 (I can’t remember the verses...) about repentance. In order to repent, we need to humble ourselves, have faith and pray. This requires action. But then the blessings are so much greater! God promises to give us His spirit and we will feel His love. Who doesn't want that? But it isn't just for missionaries and investigators. If any of us want to change and repent, we need to be committed to DO something. 
Our investigators are doing so great!! Nestor is still progressing and came to church again. We taught him the plan of salvation and the gospel of Jesus Christ this week. He asked us ''So I can’t be a member of the church until after I am baptized and confirmed then?'' haha exactly! So he is preparing to do just that so he can be a member of Christ's church. (: Brenda didn't come to church again so her date dropped ): We don't really know what to do with her. But we are praying for the strength to be bold and just tell her all of the things she is losing as she doesn't complete the commitments or live the commandments. She is so special and we know that she will get there, because she wants to, it's just helping her complete all the way through. Her mom, Rosa, is so sad that she isn't coming to church. Last week Rosa told us she was reading in 1 Nefi 8 about the tree of life and couldn't help but think of Brenda when Laman and Lemuel wouldn't eat the fruit. She told us she is praying that that won't happen. So we got a lot of praying to do so that Heavenly Father can tell us exactly what it is that is keeping her back. But GERMAN AND ELIN!!!!! We had a lesson with them and we went over the plan of salvation with them also. We talked about the 5 things we need to do in this life to get back to Heavenly Father with our families: faith, repentance, baptism, receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end. When we said it, German immediately said, ''SO when am I getting baptized??'' AHH! That's what every missionary wants to hear from everyone! haha I was so happy and I think he could see that because he was just looking at me wondering when I was going to answer him (: I was just speechless haha- But him and Elin are both going to get baptized on the 27th with Nestor also. We also had an awesome lesson with a member's friend, Carolina. We talked about the Book of Mormon, and when we asked her to read it, she said ''Give me one week before we meet together again and I'll read it all!'' Well, I wasn't going to tell her no! So she is in the process of reading it all and we will have another lesson with her this week! I just am so surprised every day with all the miracles we are seeing. This place is like Echesortu again! A place of miracles<3
I got to do 2 divisions this week and stayed in my area. Like I already said, we got lost a few times, but we had some pretty great lessons! I even got to be with Hermana Sanders again!!!! We had a great time together! She is having a little bump in the road with her comp, but they are having a lot of success in their area! I'm a proud mommy (; Her Spanish is so great too!! I can't believe she already has been out for 6 months! It feels like just yesterday we were together! 
It POURED for a few days here so I was soaking most of the week. But it’s nice and sunny again today! Some elders challenged us to each eat a kilo of ice cream and we couldn't not do it! 1. We are girls and 2. It is ice cream! So we bought a kilo with 4 different flavors each and ate it all in 40 minutes! They couldn't believe we could do it. It wasn't too bad until the last 5 bites and I almost couldn't finish, but we did and we were so happy! 
I think that's about it! We are happy and working hard. I love it here! Couldn't want anything more! Theme for this week: be patient in your afflictions, because one day you will rest from your labors and the blessings and end will be worth all the bumps in the road! Love you all so much!! Have a great week<3

Con MUCHOOOO amor,

Hermanita Moberly

The beginning of the kilo




The end of the kilo :)
Most of the Leadership Council
Reunited with Hermana Sanders




Monday, September 8, 2014

I Love Parana!

September 8, 2014

Hola Hola!!!

Well, I survived this week! It was really stressful and I feel like all my time gets sucked up, but it was a great week!! We were really worried that with everything going on, we wouldn't be able to do that much, but just like every other week, we saw many miracles. 

Mon: We have an investigator named Brenda. Her mom and brother were baptized a few months ago, and we are focusing on her right now. She wants to be baptized, but she has a hard time getting up to come to church. We are trying really hard to help her understand the importance of going to church, but she accepted a baptismal date for the 27th! She has 19 years and is just a normal teenage girl, but we are really good friends with her and she knows why we want her to receive the blessings of the gospel, she just needs to act. But we read Ether 2-3 with her about how Heavenly Father answers our prayers, and sometimes we need to choose and act first, and then we will know what to do. So she decided to accept a baptismal date and then afterwards said she felt like it was the right thing to do (: We then had a FHE with a family in the ward. I tried to make cookies, but the dough wasn't turning out right, and when we pulled it out of the oven, it was bread!!! I don't know how it happened and I don’t think I could ever do it again, but everyone said it was so good, so I just pretended like I made it like that on purpose haha (;

Tues: This day was a little crazy. We taught Gabriel, a recent convert boy (20 years) who is awesome!! He told us he wanted to learn more about the priesthood. SO we found an ensign article and read it with him. He had a smoking problem before he was baptized, and we think he might have slipped and smoked again, but we are trying to help him. He really wants to be the best he can, and it comes with time, so we are just being patient and doing what we can. We had lunch with a less active who is starting to come back. Her name is Luciana and she is about 28 and is so awesome!!! She loves us and is starting to come back, is getting a calling, and comes out with us to visit people. So they all live up by the river, but then we had a lesson alllllll the way in the bottom of the city. So we took a colectivo down and had a lesson with another recent convert (we literally have 11 recent converts to visit and take care of). His name is Mario, and we started teaching his mom, Theresa now. We taught her the restoration and she told us she knows it is the truth. The only problem is that she just recently had surgery on her hip and is stuck in bed for 3 months. So she can’t come to church or anything. But she has the desires and we are just going to visit and teach her until she can come to church. And here comes the crazy part of the day...we had to take another colectivo to another part of the area, but it's part of the new area, and we got on the wrong bus! So for 2 hours, we were stuck and had no idea where we were, so we just had to wait. It went out of our area and it's pretty dangerous in the elders' area, so we didn’t get off the bus. Finally we got off and it was the end of the day. We were so sad and frustrated because we couldn’t do much, but the rest of the week was great!!!

Wed: All of our lessons in the morning fell through, but we felt like we should visit another recent convert who hasn't been coming to church. Her name is Dora. She is about 65 and forgets everything. But her son, Damian is awesome and I think he has some disability but he smiles and laughs all the time, and it just makes us so happy to be around him. That day when we passed by, her mother in law had just passed away, so we talked to her about the plan of salvation and she said it helped her so much. The gospel solves all problems and always gives us so much hope and peace. We also had another lesson with Elin and German. Their mom is inactive but served a mission. Elin has a baptismal date for the 20th and they aren't reading, but they came to church, so we have to help them gain testimonies. 

Thurs: This day we went to Santa Fe and had a special mission conference with Elder Zeballos, from the seventy! He was so awesome and I learned so much!! He taught us about the importance of learning other languages and how we need to learn Spanish the best we can because in the future we can be of service in the church to bring the work even more forward. He then also told us that sin, lack of love, and lack of desires to serve are what keep us away from increasing our faith and completing our goals. This is what our mission needs right now. We have so much capability of doing the Lord's will, but we sometimes lack faith. And President Zanni is helping us a lot with that right now. We were going to have divisions right after that, but the colectivo wasn't going to leave until 1 in the morning so we both stayed in Parana. Hna Rasband and the other sister worked in one half of the area, and me and the other sister worked in the other. We had a lot of fun and were able to teach a few people. We contacted a lot and met a lot of people who accepted to listen more. SO it was an interesting first division, but everything worked out great and it wasn't as hard as I thought. 

Fri: Not much happened today, we finished divisions and taught an inactive lady. Everyone here says they will never come back to church because someone offended them. I just bore her my testimony on the sacrament. Salvation is a personal thing, and when we choose to not go to church because of someone else, we are denying ourselves of receiving the cleansing power of the sacrament and the companionship of the Holy Ghost. She didn’t want to listen, but I know it is true. I never want to miss the blessings that we are promised if we will just sacrifice and go to church, no matter if there are people we don't like, or are hypocrites, or if we even are just too tired. It's not worth it. 

Sat: Today was our talent show and so many people came!!!! We went first and sang the cup song from Pitch Perfect and even though it was in English, everyone loved it and asked us to teach it to them after. Then Hna Rasband also played the piano and now we have people who want us to teach them that too. So we got a lot of referrals and through that, we can find new investigators and teaching opportunities. One referral from another Hermana actually came and we met him. His name is Nestor and he told us he would come to church on Sunday. SO it was a big success! 

Sun: Last, but not least! Sorry this is so long, I have so much to tell you though! Church was awesome! We had 3 investigators at church (Germana, Elin and Nestor)!! Nestor told us that he felt so much peace, and so we asked if later that night we could teach him a lesson. He came back to church and with Luciana, we taught him the restoration. He told us that his whole life he has been going to different churches to find the truth. He said he felt like he had finally found the truth and was so happy! We invited him to be baptized on the 27th and he accepted. He is so awesome. Heavenly Father is the best!! He just puts us in the exact places we need to be to find the people who are searching for Him. We also had lunch with a family today, and they gave us matambre a la pizza or something like that. It's like pizza, but instead of dough, they put the sauce and cheese on a big piece of steak. SO GOOD!!! I ate 4 and then she brought out the dessert....hahaha. But the food here is the best!! 

I love it here and couldn't be happier. I hope you are all doing great! Happy Birthday Emily and Kenz!!!!! (: Love you all and hope you have a great week!!<3<3

Con amorrrrrrrr,
Hermana Moberly

Seeing Hna Nelson and Elders Cruz and Galleguillos from my last district at Mission Conference

Me and Hermana Rasband

My Cookie Bread :)