A fabulous old-fashioned letter through the mail . . . Par Avion Air!
Elder Keaton fact: He is tight with his money! This must have pained him to no end to spend $2.40 to mail a letter! For future reference, anyone receiving a snail mail letter from this boy will know they are special. :)
Monday, April 15, 2013
Dear Wonderful Mom, Dad, Nolan, Landon, and India!
All is well here in beautiful NZ! We are planning to baptize and entire family this weekend! Imagine that, my very first convert baptism is going to be a family. We can't take any credit for this though, the Lord has worked so many miracles for this to be happening. When we first got here the dad told us straight up that he wasn't going to be baptized and that he only went to church for his kids. But since then we have seen the spirit slowly but surely working on him till the point now where he is going to get married to his partner and baptized this Saturday. In order for this to actually happen we are going to need a few more miracles though, which I have faith that the Lord will bless us with. It was a miracle that the partner even agreed to get married and then another miracle for the dad, Manu, to let the kids get baptized while they are still young. {Other miracles also occurred that were more personal for their family.} Now, we need another incredibly mighty miracle for him to quit smoking before Saturday since he has been smoking since he was a little kid and probably smokes 20-30ish a day and he has a very difficult time giving it up. But, the Lord can do all things and surely after all He has done He will continue to help Manu. We also need one more miracle for the Nan to let the three cousins be baptized because she is now saying they are too young. The Nan is a less-active member herself, but she still is not willing to let the three cousins, who are in her custody, get baptized. She doesn't think they are ready, but we know they are definitely more than ready. If the Lord wants this family to get baptized this Saturday then it will happen because we are doing absolutely everything we can to make it happen.
It is amazing how much this Gospel is blessing this family's lives. The difference between where the kids would be in five years and where they now will be is absolutely incredible. This Gospel truly does bless families.
On another note, as of yesterday I have been in the field for a full month now! Pretty cool, huh? Yep, it sure is. And, I have already gotten to fix three flat tires on my bike. And, I can do 75 push ups as opposed to 35. All that change in just one month!
As for a funny story, during the Sunday morning session of Conference a man's chair broke underneath him because it couldn't take the weight of so many big people any more. Although that's the first time I have actually seen a chair break it is not the first broken chair I have seen. I made up a joke too!
Q: "What do you call a celebrity under the sea??" A: "A Star Fish!" Haha I bet nobody saw that one coming. hahaha
I hope you are having a wonderful time back in Texas, especially with that new boat! I'm having a great time here in NZ. I love you so much and am grateful for all of your amazing examples. Also . . . I'm proud of y'all! Y'all are all amazingly fantastic!
I love y'all all the mostest!
Love, the mostest,
Elder Moore
P.S. Letters cost $2.40 to send each! Absolutely ridiculous, I know.
Monday, July 1, 2013
Little food, no money and a great attitude!
Monday, April 15, 2013
Satan definitely will be working overtime this week, as he always does, but if you think about it is he really a match for the Lord who has a body and created all things? I read in 2 Nephi today between chapters 6-9 and at one point the Lord says, "Who will contend with me?" and I thought He might have been meaning something like, "Are you kidding me? Why are you afraid, do you really think there is anyone or anything that I MYSELF created that can take Me on? Let's be realistic here. Have a little faith, do your best, and then when life gets hard just stand behind Me. All will be well." Life is hard. Being a missionary is hard. But we are on the Lord's team and have nothing to fear. As I've already proven, even weed can't do anything to those who stand behind the Lord. I imagine He might have even laughed when that guy ignorantly thought he could actually get servants of the Lord high with "space cakes." And, I'm sure they'll have a fun conversation about that on Judgement Day. Just kidding, he'll probably repent and be baptized by then. Especially after this mission splits {The New Zealand Auckland Mission will be divided into two missions on July 1, 2013} and this mission gets back up to 250 missionaries then many wards are going to have two sets of missionaries covering them. Surely our ward won't have that though because the boundaries are SO tiny, but I could be wrong.
Satan has definitely been working his tricks on our family this past week, but the Lord has come through with much more powerful miracles. I wrote a letter to you this morning as well and I included more details about our set family in it and I wouldn't want to spoil the letter by rewriting that letter in this email. We fasted both Saturday and Sunday as well as last Sunday (and every Sunday since I've been here) for this family and I truly believe that the miracles we have been seeing have come through our fasting and prayers. It's a huge miracle in itself that they are even set for baptism. Another huge miracle is that Manu and his partner, Rema, are getting married on Saturday before the baptism. The next massive miracle we need for Manu is for him to quit smoking in time, and he smokes heaps a day. But the Lord can do all things. Three of the kids are actually cousins who live with their Nan, who has custody of them. The Nan is actually a less active member. Unfortunately, the adversary has come in and the Nan is not currently letting the three girls get baptized. She thinks they are too young and don't want it enough. But they are SO ready! We have a family home evening with all of them at a member's home tonight and are really hoping Heavenly Father will soften the Nan's heart enough that after tonight that she will agree to let the three girls be baptized. The names of all those being baptized are as follows, but the spelling may be wrong: Manu, John, Lyneerah, Janice, Mahia, and Ngahoia. I have faith that they will all be baptized this Saturday, but I also know that we are going to have to work as hard as we can until then.
General Conference was AMAZING! I got so much out of it and stayed awake through the whole thing, as I'm sure dad did too. ;) I got much more out of this conference than I ever have and that is because I went seeking, and then I sat up and took notes through every talk. I loved conference and can't wait to have it again in six months. I could feel a strong feeling of peace as I listened and came to realize that it was the Spirit. It made me just want to stay there listening all day. And I think it is important to note that with the priesthood session being at 7:00 a.m. Sunday morning I had to get up at 5:30 a.m. But I still stayed awake. "And that should show you how important it was." (Said like Cal when he didn't turn off the light in the movie "Everything You Want")
Last Pday after emailing and shopping we went back to our locked up bikes only to find that I had ANOTHER flat tire. I have had a flat tire for every week I have been in the field, I find that to be quite impressive since many missionaries haven't even had enough flat tires to equal the number of months they have been out. Patches here are really cheap at the Chinese shops, which are like the cheap version of a dollar store. You probably didn't think you could get any cheaper than a dollar store, I didn't either, but you can. Unfortunately, the patches aren't very good. Well, they work just fine. They're just a pain to use. You have to glue them onto the tube and I think sometimes they might still fall off with time. So I've discovered what I need! I would love it if you sent me some more of those quick patches from REI in my next package because they work so easily and well. :) But don't rush to get them to me. I don't actually need them, they're just for convenience, it's not like I'm not capable of gluing on patches here.
Mailing is expensive too. You have to take your letter to the post shop, pay for the stamps (a regular stamp and an air mail stamp) and then go put it in the box thing. Each letter cost $2.40 $NZ to send! You're probably all saying, "WOOOW, how do you even afford it Elder Moore??" And the answer is to pay it like you should pay tithing. You mail your letters and then you buy your food. We actually have plenty of money to survive. We each get $130 every two weeks. So we buy a bag of apples, lots of refrigerator meat pies, bread, cheese, peanut butter and jelly and the off brand of Nutella (I know, it's like I'm living the dream over here!) and Raroe! I always have to have my Raroe. I think the water is gross and I'm just so used to drinking Raroe that I think it tastes pretty amazing. I'll send you some one day whenever I can. It's really a lot like Kool-aid or Crystal Light, but it's better because it's from New Zealand. We always buy the small air-filled bags of the cheap brand New Zealand chips. And, we buy eggs which are amazing if cooked in my Sister Pittman Skillet, which has a magical ability to turn a poor man meal into something gourmet. But, unfortunately we didn't realize that we weren't going to get paid today and we are totally broke and we are running out of food and Raroe. So, I don't know what we are going to do this week, but it's going to be fun! Haha We are so dumb for not saving money. I would save money, like I have always done, but we share all our money and my companion doesn't like to save and thought I was dumb before for wanting to save. But from now on I will definitely at least secretly save money for times like this. Oh well.
I love you so much and am excited for this weekend! It's also great to hear about all of my friends on missions and that they are doing so well. Keep enjoying the boat! Haha That's so funny that dad, "Still has it!" {His dad can still ski on one ski and that called for some serious bragging! ;) } It hasn't been too cold here yet. But, according to my wonderful alarm clock it's always below 70 degrees in our flat and usually around 60 or below when we wake up. It doesn't always feel that cold though, maybe I'm just getting used to it. I love you! Have a great week!
Ofa 'atu
Love Elder Moore
Satan definitely will be working overtime this week, as he always does, but if you think about it is he really a match for the Lord who has a body and created all things? I read in 2 Nephi today between chapters 6-9 and at one point the Lord says, "Who will contend with me?" and I thought He might have been meaning something like, "Are you kidding me? Why are you afraid, do you really think there is anyone or anything that I MYSELF created that can take Me on? Let's be realistic here. Have a little faith, do your best, and then when life gets hard just stand behind Me. All will be well." Life is hard. Being a missionary is hard. But we are on the Lord's team and have nothing to fear. As I've already proven, even weed can't do anything to those who stand behind the Lord. I imagine He might have even laughed when that guy ignorantly thought he could actually get servants of the Lord high with "space cakes." And, I'm sure they'll have a fun conversation about that on Judgement Day. Just kidding, he'll probably repent and be baptized by then. Especially after this mission splits {The New Zealand Auckland Mission will be divided into two missions on July 1, 2013} and this mission gets back up to 250 missionaries then many wards are going to have two sets of missionaries covering them. Surely our ward won't have that though because the boundaries are SO tiny, but I could be wrong.
Satan has definitely been working his tricks on our family this past week, but the Lord has come through with much more powerful miracles. I wrote a letter to you this morning as well and I included more details about our set family in it and I wouldn't want to spoil the letter by rewriting that letter in this email. We fasted both Saturday and Sunday as well as last Sunday (and every Sunday since I've been here) for this family and I truly believe that the miracles we have been seeing have come through our fasting and prayers. It's a huge miracle in itself that they are even set for baptism. Another huge miracle is that Manu and his partner, Rema, are getting married on Saturday before the baptism. The next massive miracle we need for Manu is for him to quit smoking in time, and he smokes heaps a day. But the Lord can do all things. Three of the kids are actually cousins who live with their Nan, who has custody of them. The Nan is actually a less active member. Unfortunately, the adversary has come in and the Nan is not currently letting the three girls get baptized. She thinks they are too young and don't want it enough. But they are SO ready! We have a family home evening with all of them at a member's home tonight and are really hoping Heavenly Father will soften the Nan's heart enough that after tonight that she will agree to let the three girls be baptized. The names of all those being baptized are as follows, but the spelling may be wrong: Manu, John, Lyneerah, Janice, Mahia, and Ngahoia. I have faith that they will all be baptized this Saturday, but I also know that we are going to have to work as hard as we can until then.
General Conference was AMAZING! I got so much out of it and stayed awake through the whole thing, as I'm sure dad did too. ;) I got much more out of this conference than I ever have and that is because I went seeking, and then I sat up and took notes through every talk. I loved conference and can't wait to have it again in six months. I could feel a strong feeling of peace as I listened and came to realize that it was the Spirit. It made me just want to stay there listening all day. And I think it is important to note that with the priesthood session being at 7:00 a.m. Sunday morning I had to get up at 5:30 a.m. But I still stayed awake. "And that should show you how important it was." (Said like Cal when he didn't turn off the light in the movie "Everything You Want")
Last Pday after emailing and shopping we went back to our locked up bikes only to find that I had ANOTHER flat tire. I have had a flat tire for every week I have been in the field, I find that to be quite impressive since many missionaries haven't even had enough flat tires to equal the number of months they have been out. Patches here are really cheap at the Chinese shops, which are like the cheap version of a dollar store. You probably didn't think you could get any cheaper than a dollar store, I didn't either, but you can. Unfortunately, the patches aren't very good. Well, they work just fine. They're just a pain to use. You have to glue them onto the tube and I think sometimes they might still fall off with time. So I've discovered what I need! I would love it if you sent me some more of those quick patches from REI in my next package because they work so easily and well. :) But don't rush to get them to me. I don't actually need them, they're just for convenience, it's not like I'm not capable of gluing on patches here.
Mailing is expensive too. You have to take your letter to the post shop, pay for the stamps (a regular stamp and an air mail stamp) and then go put it in the box thing. Each letter cost $2.40 $NZ to send! You're probably all saying, "WOOOW, how do you even afford it Elder Moore??" And the answer is to pay it like you should pay tithing. You mail your letters and then you buy your food. We actually have plenty of money to survive. We each get $130 every two weeks. So we buy a bag of apples, lots of refrigerator meat pies, bread, cheese, peanut butter and jelly and the off brand of Nutella (I know, it's like I'm living the dream over here!) and Raroe! I always have to have my Raroe. I think the water is gross and I'm just so used to drinking Raroe that I think it tastes pretty amazing. I'll send you some one day whenever I can. It's really a lot like Kool-aid or Crystal Light, but it's better because it's from New Zealand. We always buy the small air-filled bags of the cheap brand New Zealand chips. And, we buy eggs which are amazing if cooked in my Sister Pittman Skillet, which has a magical ability to turn a poor man meal into something gourmet. But, unfortunately we didn't realize that we weren't going to get paid today and we are totally broke and we are running out of food and Raroe. So, I don't know what we are going to do this week, but it's going to be fun! Haha We are so dumb for not saving money. I would save money, like I have always done, but we share all our money and my companion doesn't like to save and thought I was dumb before for wanting to save. But from now on I will definitely at least secretly save money for times like this. Oh well.
I love you so much and am excited for this weekend! It's also great to hear about all of my friends on missions and that they are doing so well. Keep enjoying the boat! Haha That's so funny that dad, "Still has it!" {His dad can still ski on one ski and that called for some serious bragging! ;) } It hasn't been too cold here yet. But, according to my wonderful alarm clock it's always below 70 degrees in our flat and usually around 60 or below when we wake up. It doesn't always feel that cold though, maybe I'm just getting used to it. I love you! Have a great week!
Ofa 'atu
Love Elder Moore
Keeping it real AND eating a Texas Hamburger
April 7, 2013
I can't believe y'all got a boat without me!!! Haha That's so awesome and I loved hearing about all the adventures going on back home! I miss all of those crazy projects and adventures. I miss working like that! A member here was redoing his kitchen and was laying tile and I wanted to go help so bad, but my companion didn't really want to. I think you might like to hear our mission vision here in the NZAM. "In the NZAM we talk with everyone! Strive to become Preach My Gospel missionaries! And seek to be obedient with exactness! Why? To save souls weekly!" Saving souls weekly means having four baptisms a month (four weeks in a month). There doesn't have to be one baptism each week, just four within the month for our goal. Our goal since I've gotten here is just to save souls weekly and we have fasted and prayed very much for it, I really want to save souls weekly in my first transfer, that'd be crazy! This would be my companion's first time to save souls weekly as well. And guess what! It's happening! Remember that family I mentioned before? At least I think I mentioned them. Either way, the dad has really been the only thing holding the kids back and we haven't been able to set any of them ourselves up to this point. {set - refers to scheduling baptism dates} BUT we brought our AMAZING ward mission leader with us on Saturday and he set Manu! (the dad) He basically told him, "you're getting baptized on the 20th" and he said, "Okay." It wasn't that bold but it wasn't a soft invitation either. So after Bro. Soo Choon set him, we issued the invitation again to make it was solid and he said yes. He isn't married unfortunately, but Bro. Soo Choon talked to Manu yesterday and we are now planning to have a wedding and baptism on the 20th! {He was living with his girlfriend and needed to marry her. A person doesn't have to be married to get baptized! Just FYI Haha} If everything goes the way we hope then we'll be baptizing Manu and 5 kids on April 20th, it's so exciting! Only one of the kids is officially set because he doesn't actually encourage his kids to get baptized, he lets them choose for themselves, but he almost discourages them from doing it. But, we're sending the big guns (Bro. Soo Choon) to go talk to Manu sometime during the day today and get all of the kids set as well. It's going to be a white April!
We really want this baptism to happen on the 20th because transfers are on the 24th and we really want both of us to be here for this baptism. Transfers are normally on Thursday here but this time they will be on Wednesday. You're probably thinking, "Hmmm, why are they on Wednesday, Elder Moore?" Well, I'll tell you . . . because that's the day Elder Oaks is coming! {Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles} The entire mission will be there for transfers this time, it's going to be crazy. And, it's really going to be rough for all of the missionaries down in Gisborne since that's an 8 hour drive one way for them.
As for General Conference, that's a good question. That's awesome that y'all already got to watch it. Here, we wait until the following weekend and then everyone goes to the chapel to watch a recorded broadcast. And, we only get a one hour break between sessions. And, it's going to be rough on Sunday because the priesthood session is at 7 in the morning, then the first session is at 10 and the last one at 1, but it's going to be awesome! Especially since you said there were a lot of talks about missionary work.
The good thing about serving in this mission and talking with everyone is that if you actually do it like you are supposed to then for the rest of your life you will never be afraid to approach and talk to anyone ever again. The bad thing is that it is hard. I'm definitely not a good missionary yet, but I'm trying. Something that makes things difficult is that I never was good at talking about issues and things that frustrated me when they arose, and even when it did come time to talk about them I just put up a wall instead of communicate everything and try to resolve it. This makes it difficult sometimes for my companion and I to be unified and would be a good skill for Landon to learn. I don't feel like I do anything very good because nobody ever tells me what I do good. Even after a lesson where I felt like I did really good my companion tells me what I should have done and how we weren't unified because of me, etc. This can be discouraging. That's how some missionaries, like my companion, think it has to be. They think criticizing is necessary. But the most amazing missionaries like Sadlier and Hoffman didn't do it that way and they were so much more successful. Sometimes it just gets so frustrating. Being humble can be so hard, so that's a good thing to learn now. The other day I even found myself looking at a picture of Elder Sadlier and saying in frustration, "Why can't I be like you!?" It's frustrating when you know what you want to do and be like but you still can't do it. Really though, what it comes down to is being humble, positive, and willing to compliment and praise others. So that's what I've been working on. After a lesson, I try to tell Elder D. how well he did. I'm tired of being the "greeny" but I also don't want to be the leader. Last week we went on two 24-hour trade off's {change companions for 24 hours} and for the first one I was left to lead our area with a missionary who isn't always exactly obedient. It was exhausting to be the senior companion, but it was also a good learning experience.
Maybe I'll get to train Aunt Jill's friend though {my sister has a friend who was recently called to the same mission} and I'll turn him into a superstar missionary! I'm so excited for him to get to come here to the land of the long white cloud. However, I might not even be in this mission by then. Give him my email address and tell him he can email and ask me questions about NZ or being a missionary here and I'd be happy to answer them.
I'm not really sure what I need right now. I have been eating heaps ever since I got to NZ. In the MTC I always ate all of my food, which was quite a bit, and here in the field I eat heaps every chance I get. My companion thinks I'm crazy because I'm always hungry (he's practically never hungry unless we fast) but I just get hungry so I always go hard when it comes time to eat. And, I haven't gained any weight yet that I can notice. Maybe I'll just grow a couple of inches in height instead. :)
It's gotten cold here too. In our flat all morning it's about 60 degrees or below according to my clock, but outside in the sun it gets warmer than that. Yesterday it was cold though and I got to bust out a big coat for about an hour. You can tell Landon that I have also gotten quite strong. When I was on trade off with Elder Brown the Samoan last week I beat him in a push up contest and I feel like I can do more now than I did last week. I'm pretty much the hulk now I guess.
Oh, last week after emailing we went to Subway for lunch! Can you guess what I had? That's right, a Moroccan Lamb footlong! Only in New Zealand! {In the past he ordered the meatball sub!}
{Responding to my questions:} Letters are always fun to get, but I don't know that I need anything at the moment. I have debated for a while whether or not to try sending my carry on suitcase home or getting rid of it somehow. I really hated having it in the beginning because nobody else brought as much stuff as me, everyone else only had two bags, both smaller than mine, and it was embarrassing. But nobody else brought everything they needed either. It seems that everyone else in the mission just plans on buying what they need here, whereas I shouldn't need to buy any shirts, pants, or suits for two years. Everyone also thinks it is so funny that I brought a skillet, but it's pretty sweet to have it whenever the one in your flat sticks so bad that you wonder if someone didn't coat it in fly paper. I've made some pretty mean eggs and grilled cheese sandwiches in my skillet from Sis. Pittman. Another bit of good news is that last week they changed the weird suit coat policy. Now, we only have to wear our suit coats after 5 p.m. during the four winter months of May-August, and other than that we only have to wear them to meetings. So we pretty much never have to wear our suit jackets now which is awesome. And want to know what's also crazy? Up until less than a year ago missionaries here could go to the beach! They couldn't swim but they could still go on the beach, but unfortunately that rule has been changed. I'm going to go get my first haircut since the MTC right after this, exciting right? And we're going to go to McDonalds for the first time so I can have a burger and chips! It's pretty exciting. I love you guys so much and am grateful for your examples. I always remember it's the hard that makes it great, and we do hard. Remember, have fun and be happy! Heavenly Father didn't mean for life to always be hard, he wants us to have joy along the journey as well.
P.S. I heard a good joke for Nolan. I've been trying to tell my companion jokes but he has a weird sense of humor and seems to only laugh for investigators. But, I laugh at my own jokes instead and he thinks that's funny. :) This is a joke I heard from an investigator. (you also need to know that they call apartments flats here)
"Why did the armadillo cross the road? To go see his Flat-Mate!" Haha I thought that one was pretty funny. I love you guys! Bybsactw and go hard when you do hard!
Love,
Elder Moore
Bybsactw - "Be your best self and change the world" I tell my children this everyday and every time they walk out the door. I also constantly remind them and myself, "It's the hard that makes it great! And we do hard."
One of many flat tires . . .
McDonald's was a success! Who knew they served Texan burgers in New Zealand? My missionary loves his hamburgers!
I love the entire hamburger picture series! I raised him right - he knows to take tons of pictures.
This picture was tagged as "delivering missionary suits" and I have no idea what that means but he certainly is a happy delivery missionary!
I can't believe y'all got a boat without me!!! Haha That's so awesome and I loved hearing about all the adventures going on back home! I miss all of those crazy projects and adventures. I miss working like that! A member here was redoing his kitchen and was laying tile and I wanted to go help so bad, but my companion didn't really want to. I think you might like to hear our mission vision here in the NZAM. "In the NZAM we talk with everyone! Strive to become Preach My Gospel missionaries! And seek to be obedient with exactness! Why? To save souls weekly!" Saving souls weekly means having four baptisms a month (four weeks in a month). There doesn't have to be one baptism each week, just four within the month for our goal. Our goal since I've gotten here is just to save souls weekly and we have fasted and prayed very much for it, I really want to save souls weekly in my first transfer, that'd be crazy! This would be my companion's first time to save souls weekly as well. And guess what! It's happening! Remember that family I mentioned before? At least I think I mentioned them. Either way, the dad has really been the only thing holding the kids back and we haven't been able to set any of them ourselves up to this point. {set - refers to scheduling baptism dates} BUT we brought our AMAZING ward mission leader with us on Saturday and he set Manu! (the dad) He basically told him, "you're getting baptized on the 20th" and he said, "Okay." It wasn't that bold but it wasn't a soft invitation either. So after Bro. Soo Choon set him, we issued the invitation again to make it was solid and he said yes. He isn't married unfortunately, but Bro. Soo Choon talked to Manu yesterday and we are now planning to have a wedding and baptism on the 20th! {He was living with his girlfriend and needed to marry her. A person doesn't have to be married to get baptized! Just FYI Haha} If everything goes the way we hope then we'll be baptizing Manu and 5 kids on April 20th, it's so exciting! Only one of the kids is officially set because he doesn't actually encourage his kids to get baptized, he lets them choose for themselves, but he almost discourages them from doing it. But, we're sending the big guns (Bro. Soo Choon) to go talk to Manu sometime during the day today and get all of the kids set as well. It's going to be a white April!
We really want this baptism to happen on the 20th because transfers are on the 24th and we really want both of us to be here for this baptism. Transfers are normally on Thursday here but this time they will be on Wednesday. You're probably thinking, "Hmmm, why are they on Wednesday, Elder Moore?" Well, I'll tell you . . . because that's the day Elder Oaks is coming! {Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles} The entire mission will be there for transfers this time, it's going to be crazy. And, it's really going to be rough for all of the missionaries down in Gisborne since that's an 8 hour drive one way for them.
As for General Conference, that's a good question. That's awesome that y'all already got to watch it. Here, we wait until the following weekend and then everyone goes to the chapel to watch a recorded broadcast. And, we only get a one hour break between sessions. And, it's going to be rough on Sunday because the priesthood session is at 7 in the morning, then the first session is at 10 and the last one at 1, but it's going to be awesome! Especially since you said there were a lot of talks about missionary work.
The good thing about serving in this mission and talking with everyone is that if you actually do it like you are supposed to then for the rest of your life you will never be afraid to approach and talk to anyone ever again. The bad thing is that it is hard. I'm definitely not a good missionary yet, but I'm trying. Something that makes things difficult is that I never was good at talking about issues and things that frustrated me when they arose, and even when it did come time to talk about them I just put up a wall instead of communicate everything and try to resolve it. This makes it difficult sometimes for my companion and I to be unified and would be a good skill for Landon to learn. I don't feel like I do anything very good because nobody ever tells me what I do good. Even after a lesson where I felt like I did really good my companion tells me what I should have done and how we weren't unified because of me, etc. This can be discouraging. That's how some missionaries, like my companion, think it has to be. They think criticizing is necessary. But the most amazing missionaries like Sadlier and Hoffman didn't do it that way and they were so much more successful. Sometimes it just gets so frustrating. Being humble can be so hard, so that's a good thing to learn now. The other day I even found myself looking at a picture of Elder Sadlier and saying in frustration, "Why can't I be like you!?" It's frustrating when you know what you want to do and be like but you still can't do it. Really though, what it comes down to is being humble, positive, and willing to compliment and praise others. So that's what I've been working on. After a lesson, I try to tell Elder D. how well he did. I'm tired of being the "greeny" but I also don't want to be the leader. Last week we went on two 24-hour trade off's {change companions for 24 hours} and for the first one I was left to lead our area with a missionary who isn't always exactly obedient. It was exhausting to be the senior companion, but it was also a good learning experience.
Maybe I'll get to train Aunt Jill's friend though {my sister has a friend who was recently called to the same mission} and I'll turn him into a superstar missionary! I'm so excited for him to get to come here to the land of the long white cloud. However, I might not even be in this mission by then. Give him my email address and tell him he can email and ask me questions about NZ or being a missionary here and I'd be happy to answer them.
I'm not really sure what I need right now. I have been eating heaps ever since I got to NZ. In the MTC I always ate all of my food, which was quite a bit, and here in the field I eat heaps every chance I get. My companion thinks I'm crazy because I'm always hungry (he's practically never hungry unless we fast) but I just get hungry so I always go hard when it comes time to eat. And, I haven't gained any weight yet that I can notice. Maybe I'll just grow a couple of inches in height instead. :)
It's gotten cold here too. In our flat all morning it's about 60 degrees or below according to my clock, but outside in the sun it gets warmer than that. Yesterday it was cold though and I got to bust out a big coat for about an hour. You can tell Landon that I have also gotten quite strong. When I was on trade off with Elder Brown the Samoan last week I beat him in a push up contest and I feel like I can do more now than I did last week. I'm pretty much the hulk now I guess.
Oh, last week after emailing we went to Subway for lunch! Can you guess what I had? That's right, a Moroccan Lamb footlong! Only in New Zealand! {In the past he ordered the meatball sub!}
{Responding to my questions:} Letters are always fun to get, but I don't know that I need anything at the moment. I have debated for a while whether or not to try sending my carry on suitcase home or getting rid of it somehow. I really hated having it in the beginning because nobody else brought as much stuff as me, everyone else only had two bags, both smaller than mine, and it was embarrassing. But nobody else brought everything they needed either. It seems that everyone else in the mission just plans on buying what they need here, whereas I shouldn't need to buy any shirts, pants, or suits for two years. Everyone also thinks it is so funny that I brought a skillet, but it's pretty sweet to have it whenever the one in your flat sticks so bad that you wonder if someone didn't coat it in fly paper. I've made some pretty mean eggs and grilled cheese sandwiches in my skillet from Sis. Pittman. Another bit of good news is that last week they changed the weird suit coat policy. Now, we only have to wear our suit coats after 5 p.m. during the four winter months of May-August, and other than that we only have to wear them to meetings. So we pretty much never have to wear our suit jackets now which is awesome. And want to know what's also crazy? Up until less than a year ago missionaries here could go to the beach! They couldn't swim but they could still go on the beach, but unfortunately that rule has been changed. I'm going to go get my first haircut since the MTC right after this, exciting right? And we're going to go to McDonalds for the first time so I can have a burger and chips! It's pretty exciting. I love you guys so much and am grateful for your examples. I always remember it's the hard that makes it great, and we do hard. Remember, have fun and be happy! Heavenly Father didn't mean for life to always be hard, he wants us to have joy along the journey as well.
P.S. I heard a good joke for Nolan. I've been trying to tell my companion jokes but he has a weird sense of humor and seems to only laugh for investigators. But, I laugh at my own jokes instead and he thinks that's funny. :) This is a joke I heard from an investigator. (you also need to know that they call apartments flats here)
"Why did the armadillo cross the road? To go see his Flat-Mate!" Haha I thought that one was pretty funny. I love you guys! Bybsactw and go hard when you do hard!
Love,
Elder Moore
Bybsactw - "Be your best self and change the world" I tell my children this everyday and every time they walk out the door. I also constantly remind them and myself, "It's the hard that makes it great! And we do hard."
One of many flat tires . . .
I love the entire hamburger picture series! I raised him right - he knows to take tons of pictures.
Farewell: My missionary's love for his Papa
Summer has arrived and it has all been a haze. Elder Keaton is serving with all his heart and loves his mission. We have exciting news on the horizon for Landon. However, our hearts are still sad and slightly broken. My dear father, Papa to the grandchildren, passed away.
He had a heart attack on May 30 and was hospitalized. Originally, the doctors did not expect him to survive and we gathered the family. We later received good news that he was recovering. The following two weeks were a roller coaster of hopes and fears but through it all we felt loved. We felt loved by one another, our friends, and particularly by my daddy. More than anything we felt loved by our Savior. His plans are always better than mine and I always like them when I stop crying. :)
One incredible blessing came during the two weeks we were given to say our farewells for this life. We contacted Elder Keaton's mission president and discussed options for Elder Keaton to also express his love. A phone call would have been so hard for all of us! The final decision will be a cherished blessing for generations. Elder Keaton emailed his Papa. It is the most beautiful letter and I was able to read it to my daddy at his bedside. My dad recorded a message in return. Elder Keaton cherishes those words of advice and love and they continue to inspire him on the other side of the world.
My sweet missionary was running fever when he received the news that his grandfather had passed away but he told us it only made him want to work harder. He bundled up and faced the cold weather to share his love and testimony of Jesus Christ.
Elder Keaton's letter embodies his vibrant personality and love for his papa. It is also the best representation of my father for all those who did not know him. I was privileged to speak at my father's funeral and also share Elder Keaton's letter through a strength beyond my own. Families are forever and with a family like mine it already feels like heaven.
Dear Papa,
Hey Papa, it's me, your favorite grandson on a mission! Keaton! I got a call from my mission president telling me about your situation and he gave me special permission to come write you a letter. I guess that means you are his favorite out of all my relatives. ;) Anyway, I just wanted to say, "Welcome to the work!" For three days after this life the Savior went and did missionary work in the Spirit World, and I know that work is still being continued there today. So, I wanted to be the first to welcome you into the field where we sow seeds and harvest fruit nonstop through every season. And might I add that the pay is infinite and eternal :) and you don't even have to pay taxes on it! It is the best work there is. It is hard, it is fun, it makes you both happy and sad, it is rewarding . . . I guess to sum it all up the work is love. It is charity. I can't wait for you to continue to be a part of it soon, whether that means recovering and assisting the ward or furthering the work in the Spirit World. Wherever you'll be serving next just remember that I'm here doing the work with you.
I'm striving to be diligent, obedient, and faithful just like you. I'm not a spiritual giant, I'm actually quite weak and make big mistakes often, but despite all of this our Heavenly Father has blessed me with a much greater testimony of the Plan of Salvation. I have come to understand it a little bit more since coming on a mission and teaching it. And, despite it being one of the hardest lessons to teach, it has become my favorite. I know it is true. It blows my mind to think that some people only think we are born, we live, then we die. If only they knew how small those threes steps are. If only they knew what Heavenly Father has planned. But, even if they don't understand it, at least we do! The Lord gives us this knowledge because He trusts us to share it with others. So, like I said before, welcome to Heavenly Father's elite workforce. :) I'm sure you'll find the benefits of working for Him quite "eye opening." :)
You'll also be pleased to hear that we should be having three more baptisms here next week. These baptisms wouldn't be possible if you hadn't joined the Gospel and raised my mom in it so that she could raise me in it. In other words you, without you making that right choice I wouldn't have gotten to come share the gospel with them. So thank you for that. How great shall be your joy in the Father's Kingdom for being the means for so many souls to be saved. :)
You're such a great example and I hope to be able to be like you one day! Have you noticed how much you shaped me? I remember when you first asked me to come on a speaking assignment with you to the Jennings Branch. I didn't want to go! I was terrified! But you made me go and I am so grateful for that. You helped me learn to speak, and now I get to use that talent to bless others for the rest of my life. You told me how good I was at speaking before I even became good at it, you encouraged me! You made me feel special and gave me hope that one day I could become good at speaking. Look at me now! Look how much I have become because of what you did for me. I know I'm not a perfect speaker or teacher, and I'm definitely not full of complete confidence yet, but I can do it now and that is enough. It's more than enough, it's wonderful. :)
I also remember my last times spent with you before I left. I remember you showing me your car one night, before most of the family even knew you had it. You told my dad and I all about the car and I was a little more than star struck as I sat in that beautiful red car. Then you surprised me when you turned to my dad and asked him if he would take me for a ride in it right then. Riding in your car was so much fun, I loved it, and I am grateful for that experience. But what I am more grateful for is the lesson you taught me that night. You taught me kindness and generosity. When you willingly shared what I esteemed to be your favorite worldly possession with me, even if it was just for a few minutes, I felt pretty special. I felt that you cared about me because you acted as though you didn't care about the car. You acted as though you simply wanted to USE the car to bring joy to me. That taught me a valuable lesson that I will remember long after the car is gone.
Then, shortly after that I remember how you ever so proudly sent me off on my mission. :) I now seek to be as charitable as you and share all that I have, and especially share myself, with others. I seek to love people more than things just like you do. I love you Papa. I'm sorry I can't be there to tell you that right now, but I do know that we are both where the Lord would have us be right now. I know this gospel is true. And it doesn't end here, not yet. So let's work together with smiles on our faces until the time comes that our Heavenly Father calls us in and says that the work is finished. If we do this then I know the Savior will fulfill His promises to us and we shall receive the ultimate reward together. I love you so much. Thank you for always remembering me. I haven't forgotten you either.
Papa, guess what . . . I am so proud of you :) always remember that. And also remember this, I love you. :)
With All of My Love, Your Grandson,
Elder Keaton Moore
My dynamic duo chose to work on their separate Eagle Scout projects at the same time. They also insisted on a joint Court of Honor. My dad was a Veteran and we were so honored when he presented each of the boys a US flag that had flown over the US Capital Building . . . of course on the same day. These boys cherish those special flags and largely because of the hero that presented them.
Monday, May 27, 2013
Flash, keen, & crazy in between!
My dear boy is beginning to sound more like himself! He's definitely acting like himself! We particluarly love hearing about the people, their culture, and their sweet as language skills! This particular email is loaded with some of everything.
Elder Keaton has always loved life and enjoys living it to the extreme. He never intends to live extreme in a bad way; he just loves all life has to offer. Sometimes extreme living finds him. I have seriously prayed about sharing this letter. Please be kind and don't judge harshly. :)
There are a few interesting things to know about Keaton and I have discovered that these facts will play a colorful role in his mission! He is color blind to a degree (fortunately not as bad as his older brother) so he makes up for the lack of color in his world with his colorful personality.
The second major fact of grand importance: Elder Keaton has NO sense of smell. The doctor believes a virus settled in his olfactory nerve area and left irreparable damage. It has been a minor issue before and this week we discovered it will be a major influence during the next two years! Fortunately, the Lord loves His servants, miracles are real, and my son has been blessed with both His love and His miracles.
March 31, 2013
Easter was wonderful and the best part was that on Saturday before Easter I received a package from you! I was really excited about all the Texas things, everyone thinks its funny how Texas is the only place with pride like that. I was also very pleased to find the bike tools inside because I searched EVERYWHERE for those this week and was so frustrated thinking that I had somehow managed to lose them. You're probably wondering why I needed my tools, and I'll tell you about that soon. But what I was also excited about receiving on Saturday was my scriptures! I now have my scriptures, patriarchal blessing, and friend's addresses once again and all is well.
That is a pretty flash swing (flash means really nice). I also did get to watch Landon jumping on the horse but I forgot to mention that in my last email, it was sweet as. I don't know if I can use the headphones here to watch Jay's mission call because that might be one of the rules that can be interpreted in different ways, and I've found that my interpretations are generally wrong. So, hopefully one day I'll watch it, but I'll wait for now. So now for that bike story :)
I popped my front tire! I always goof off a little on my bike because its a nice bike and I think it's fun, and I don't do anything really dumb - just stuff like ride with no hands. My companion has never popped a tire and pretty much thinks I'm an egg for popping mine so soon, especially when he already warned me about popping them on curbs. What happened was we were riding pretty quick and I hit a low curb because I couldn't clearly see how high is was, and that instantly deflated my tire. But those patches you sent me with work great so I was able to fix it that night after planning. I couldn't find my bike tools because I didn't have them, but fortunately my tires are really easy and I didn't need them. Then, the next day as we were riding I hit a similar curb and I was being very careful with my front tire, but unfortunately protecting my front tire resulted in popping my back tire. Now I know how to patch tires. :)
Another crazy thing here is drinking and weed, both seem to be very popular. Once we were talking with a guy and he busted out some weed right in front of us, another time we saw tons of it in our investigators garage (turns out he's a dealer) and my companion can smell it at many places we go. It's still illegal here but it doesn't seem to be a very enforced law. But there is also another drug very similar to weed that is legal unfortunately. And nearly everyone in NZ drinks. And drunk people love missionaries which makes for great funny stories. The other day some drunk guy called us over to them. The one I was talking to seemed to really enjoy smelling the Book of Mormon, he said it smelled very new and fresh which he liked. Now, I know what the Book of Mormon smells like. I always knew they smelled true but now I know they also smell new and fresh. :) They wanted us to pray with them, which we did, and then they kindly graced us with the Haka before we left and gave my companion and I each our first Hangi. A hangi is what you have seen in the NZ videos where the Mauri's touch their foreheads and noses together.
This weekend I got to ride in legit rain for the first time too. My backpack is pretty water resistant, which is nice, and the rain isn't too bad with the rain jacket except your legs get soaked from your thighs down. And, we take our shoes off before entering every house so having waterproof slip-on shoes is very nice. We haven't had to wear suit coats since I got here except to meetings, but that changes today. They have weird suit coat rules here. During the summer it's no coats and winter is always coats, but April and October we only have to wear our coats after 5:00 p.m. The work is picking up. We have more investigators now and some of them seem pretty promising. The one I'm most excited about is a family which we have been working with ever since we got here. They have been going to church nearly two months straight. It's a dad, his three kids, and their cousins. So if we could baptize them all I think that would be awesome! I think there are 6 who are baptizing age. The dad, Manu, isn't quite ready but the kids are all keen as. We think if we can just baptize all the kids within the next couple weeks then seeing that will help Manu want to get baptized as well. So, that is what we are hoping for.
India, sorry I didn't email you back directly, emailing just once helps me save time, but I hope I answered all of your questions. Landon, thanks so much for being an example and also for continuing to do all the work even without any of us being able to help you. Oh, and on p-days (preparation days) we clean, email, shop, eat, and then we go to the chapel and play basketball. There are a couple of nice views from some of the streets in our area and before I get transferred hopefully I'll be able to convince my companion to come with me on a p-day to take pictures of them, otherwise don't worry, you'll get to see much better views when you come in two years.
But good news! I've been out for over a month now. :) I'm practically a veteran. ;) I've got a super cool miracle I want to share with you, I thought about not sharing it till later but I want to make sure Landon gets to hear it before he leaves. I don't have much time left so I'll tell the shorter version. A man told us to get off his property, then a couple days later he called to us when we rode past and when we stopped and went to his porch he offered us some chocolate, which we foolishly took. We both knew better than to take it, but I guess we both had a brain fart and took it. Thinking Elder Denkers had eaten his, I ate mine immediately. After giving us the chocolate he was keen for us to leave. Once we were on the street Elder Denkers ate his, we both agreed it tasted funny, then he quickly spit it out. He said it tasted exactly like weed smelled. After thinking about it we realized this man had actually tricked us into eating weed. I remembered the scripture Mark 16:18 "They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them: they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover" and I prayed the Lord would bless me with this since I had actually eaten it. I felt a wave of highness as we walked, it felt almost exactly like the laughing gas at the dentist, and then it went away just as quickly as it had come. So the miracle was that I ate / took a harmful drug, yet it did not affect me. So remember that the Lord does protect his servants and the miracles in the scriptures are real and still occur today. I hope this story comforts you rather than makes you worry. I am grateful for the Savior, for the gospel, and for miracles. I hope you all have a wonderful Easter today. I love you :)
Elder Keaton has always loved life and enjoys living it to the extreme. He never intends to live extreme in a bad way; he just loves all life has to offer. Sometimes extreme living finds him. I have seriously prayed about sharing this letter. Please be kind and don't judge harshly. :)
There are a few interesting things to know about Keaton and I have discovered that these facts will play a colorful role in his mission! He is color blind to a degree (fortunately not as bad as his older brother) so he makes up for the lack of color in his world with his colorful personality.
The second major fact of grand importance: Elder Keaton has NO sense of smell. The doctor believes a virus settled in his olfactory nerve area and left irreparable damage. It has been a minor issue before and this week we discovered it will be a major influence during the next two years! Fortunately, the Lord loves His servants, miracles are real, and my son has been blessed with both His love and His miracles.
March 31, 2013
Easter was wonderful and the best part was that on Saturday before Easter I received a package from you! I was really excited about all the Texas things, everyone thinks its funny how Texas is the only place with pride like that. I was also very pleased to find the bike tools inside because I searched EVERYWHERE for those this week and was so frustrated thinking that I had somehow managed to lose them. You're probably wondering why I needed my tools, and I'll tell you about that soon. But what I was also excited about receiving on Saturday was my scriptures! I now have my scriptures, patriarchal blessing, and friend's addresses once again and all is well.
That is a pretty flash swing (flash means really nice). I also did get to watch Landon jumping on the horse but I forgot to mention that in my last email, it was sweet as. I don't know if I can use the headphones here to watch Jay's mission call because that might be one of the rules that can be interpreted in different ways, and I've found that my interpretations are generally wrong. So, hopefully one day I'll watch it, but I'll wait for now. So now for that bike story :)
I popped my front tire! I always goof off a little on my bike because its a nice bike and I think it's fun, and I don't do anything really dumb - just stuff like ride with no hands. My companion has never popped a tire and pretty much thinks I'm an egg for popping mine so soon, especially when he already warned me about popping them on curbs. What happened was we were riding pretty quick and I hit a low curb because I couldn't clearly see how high is was, and that instantly deflated my tire. But those patches you sent me with work great so I was able to fix it that night after planning. I couldn't find my bike tools because I didn't have them, but fortunately my tires are really easy and I didn't need them. Then, the next day as we were riding I hit a similar curb and I was being very careful with my front tire, but unfortunately protecting my front tire resulted in popping my back tire. Now I know how to patch tires. :)
Another crazy thing here is drinking and weed, both seem to be very popular. Once we were talking with a guy and he busted out some weed right in front of us, another time we saw tons of it in our investigators garage (turns out he's a dealer) and my companion can smell it at many places we go. It's still illegal here but it doesn't seem to be a very enforced law. But there is also another drug very similar to weed that is legal unfortunately. And nearly everyone in NZ drinks. And drunk people love missionaries which makes for great funny stories. The other day some drunk guy called us over to them. The one I was talking to seemed to really enjoy smelling the Book of Mormon, he said it smelled very new and fresh which he liked. Now, I know what the Book of Mormon smells like. I always knew they smelled true but now I know they also smell new and fresh. :) They wanted us to pray with them, which we did, and then they kindly graced us with the Haka before we left and gave my companion and I each our first Hangi. A hangi is what you have seen in the NZ videos where the Mauri's touch their foreheads and noses together.
This weekend I got to ride in legit rain for the first time too. My backpack is pretty water resistant, which is nice, and the rain isn't too bad with the rain jacket except your legs get soaked from your thighs down. And, we take our shoes off before entering every house so having waterproof slip-on shoes is very nice. We haven't had to wear suit coats since I got here except to meetings, but that changes today. They have weird suit coat rules here. During the summer it's no coats and winter is always coats, but April and October we only have to wear our coats after 5:00 p.m. The work is picking up. We have more investigators now and some of them seem pretty promising. The one I'm most excited about is a family which we have been working with ever since we got here. They have been going to church nearly two months straight. It's a dad, his three kids, and their cousins. So if we could baptize them all I think that would be awesome! I think there are 6 who are baptizing age. The dad, Manu, isn't quite ready but the kids are all keen as. We think if we can just baptize all the kids within the next couple weeks then seeing that will help Manu want to get baptized as well. So, that is what we are hoping for.
India, sorry I didn't email you back directly, emailing just once helps me save time, but I hope I answered all of your questions. Landon, thanks so much for being an example and also for continuing to do all the work even without any of us being able to help you. Oh, and on p-days (preparation days) we clean, email, shop, eat, and then we go to the chapel and play basketball. There are a couple of nice views from some of the streets in our area and before I get transferred hopefully I'll be able to convince my companion to come with me on a p-day to take pictures of them, otherwise don't worry, you'll get to see much better views when you come in two years.
But good news! I've been out for over a month now. :) I'm practically a veteran. ;) I've got a super cool miracle I want to share with you, I thought about not sharing it till later but I want to make sure Landon gets to hear it before he leaves. I don't have much time left so I'll tell the shorter version. A man told us to get off his property, then a couple days later he called to us when we rode past and when we stopped and went to his porch he offered us some chocolate, which we foolishly took. We both knew better than to take it, but I guess we both had a brain fart and took it. Thinking Elder Denkers had eaten his, I ate mine immediately. After giving us the chocolate he was keen for us to leave. Once we were on the street Elder Denkers ate his, we both agreed it tasted funny, then he quickly spit it out. He said it tasted exactly like weed smelled. After thinking about it we realized this man had actually tricked us into eating weed. I remembered the scripture Mark 16:18 "They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them: they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover" and I prayed the Lord would bless me with this since I had actually eaten it. I felt a wave of highness as we walked, it felt almost exactly like the laughing gas at the dentist, and then it went away just as quickly as it had come. So the miracle was that I ate / took a harmful drug, yet it did not affect me. So remember that the Lord does protect his servants and the miracles in the scriptures are real and still occur today. I hope this story comforts you rather than makes you worry. I am grateful for the Savior, for the gospel, and for miracles. I hope you all have a wonderful Easter today. I love you :)
Learning the "massive as" slang
Monday, March 25, 2013
Life as a missionary is still hard, but I'm getting better at it. We went on trade off with the zone leader's the other day for a few hours and I was with Elder Read from Tasmania (Australia). He helped me so much. He talked with me, taught me, encouraged me, and answered questions in a way that helped me understand them better. He was also an amazing teacher with investigators, I hope I can be as good of a missionary as he is one day. He helped me understand that it is important to be obedient with exactness and sometimes you have to make decisions to not do some things so that you can be exactly obedient.
My companion still doesn't talk much in the flat, but I've grown to enjoy studying and reading the Ensign during lunch and dinner instead. That story you read in the Ensign by the lady here in New Zealand was actually in my companion's last area and he knows her. Apparently that is her second story to make it into the Ensign now.
Some funny things about life here in NZ is that nobody says "a lot" they say "heaps." So if I ate a lot of food, I'd say, "I hate heaps." So, just to let you know there are heaps of Polynesians here. There are hardly any white people at all actually in our area. It was funny in the car with the zone leaders the other day because we were looking and only saw 2 or 3 white people the whole time. There is one other white man in our ward though, his name is Bro. Christy and he teaches seminary. I LOVE the Polynesians so it's really great! We also don't have meals at member's homes, we have "feeds," so I'd say, "We're having a feed at the Tepa's tonight" or "we're going to a feed" or maybe "we had a massive feed last week." Some of the slang here is so funny. By the way, the water is all safe here. No need for shower sandals and you can drink from the tap. The hot water from the tap is also boiling lava hot. I don't think even dad would wash his hands in our hot water. As for bike riding safely, I haven't even put on my lights because I haven't felt the need to, or had the time. There are sidewalks everywhere here and for the most part we just ride on them, and it's only dark for the last hour before in for the night and there are plenty of street lamps so I haven't bothered mounting my lights yet. I have the lights that came on my bike and for right now they are plenty for this area.
Yesterday, I got to go with one of the zone leaders to do a brief trade off in Papakura and I enjoyed that. While Elder Galt (ZL) went with a missionary to a lesson, I went with Elder Peterson (from the Marshall Islands) to visit some people. Papakura was pretty and Elder Peterson is really fun so I had a good time. I also forgot to tell you that they found my scriptures! As soon as we arrived at the mission office from the MTC the MTC called saying they found my scriptures. I guess somebody had left them in their room and they found them as the rooms were being cleaned. I don't know when I'll get them back but at least I know they have been found and will be returned to me eventually.
I didn't bring bedding and I wasn't given and opportunity to buy it on arrival, and when we went to buy groceries our first day here I forgot my wallet. So, I slept with a sheet and a towel as a pillow the first few days, but last Pday I was able to get a real pillow and blanket. One of the older missionaries here helped me get the right kind of blanket for in this mission. We went to one of the many "Chinese shops" in the area that have cheap things and I got a massive as blanket for 35$ NZ dollars. The idea is you get a king size blanket for cheap and then in the winter you can wrap up in it multiple times to stay warm. I love my massive as blanket, it has a picture of tigers on it. Also there are heaps of cats here in NZ. Every where I go, even in our small backyard, there are cats. Plenty of people still have dogs as pets but I still see way more cats. I don't think I have even seen a stray dog here, but I have seen plenty of stray cats. Oh, and i wanted to tell you about the crazy gas prices here. Next time you go to fill up the car with gas you can at least be grateful that it doesn't cost $8 a gallon. They sell in liters here, but it adds up to a little over $8 per gallon.
They also have fish and chips ships here like in England and meat pies! Pies are so good. You can buy them at the bakery and you can even buy them at the store to microwave and eat later. Of course the bakery ones are the best but the refrigerator ones are still good too. And last week we got to go to the temple! I think I forgot to mention that good news last week. I made it into the mission just in time to go on the mission temple trip that happens every six months. And of course we got to go to that ice cream shop on the way back. It's called Poken's and it's just like a little street side shop. We didn't have much time to stop there so nobody got the incredibly massive cones, but they had pictures displayed of the big ones. I think the biggest someone has gotten was 26 scoops? I know, crazy. I only got three scoops so it wouldn't melt all over me, and it was very good.
We were also told tat in just a few weeks Elder Oaks and Elder Rasband and Bishop "something" are coming to our mission! I'm really excited to hear them come speak to us. I know these emails don't have much sensible structure to them, but I just try to be able to fit as much in as possible. I type whatever I want to say whenever I think of it, i hope you can still make sense of it all.
In his talk yesterday, Brother Tukaki (pronounced too cocky, and one of the members of the bishopric) talk about how to do hard things. He said the way to do things that seem too hard to do is to find a reason to do them. We must have a reason to accomplish hard tasks. And the reason must be better and greater than the hard task at hand. I really liked that and thought you would too. So find a reason, and then do hard things. I put one of mom's wonderful little notes in the back of my White Handbook that says, "It's the hard that makes it great!" I keep it there in mu pocket so I can look at it frequently throughout the day. I still miss stories and jokes and always having best friends around, but I'm getting used to things now and studying more to become a better missionary. I think part of the idea behind not talking about things from back home is because some missionaries think it is distracting or sounds "trunky"? (as in wanting to pack your trunk and go home) I don't think it is a big deal, but hopefully someday I'll have a companion like the ones in Vidor that can talk about everything. It's not like my companion is a quiet guy, he talks plenty with the members and investigators (they all actually think I'm the quiet one because I let him talk). He just says that in the flat he is so tired from talking to everyone that he doesn't want to talk any more. I'll work hard and become the best missionary I can be, then maybe once I've been out for a while and am a good missionary I'll be able to talk more. Unfortunately right now we don't have any really promising investigators, but I think we will soon. Yesterday, we fasted for help so I'm sure things will pick up soon. I love you and hope you have a great week! :)
Love,
Elder Moore (the Moore-Man ;) )
I have one more cool story actually. All we have in our flat for a mirror is a small square one on the outside of the bathroom door, but I found a car visor, you know for blocking sun for the driver, and it has one of those tiny mirrors on it and I set it up in our bathroom. So, we now have a car visor in our bathroom as a mirror, and that is how I fix my hair in the mornings. And the other day as we were riding our bikes we saw a small bowl outside someone's fence with a sign that said, "FREE" over it. We happened to need another bowl, so we took it. And those are the stories of how the Lord provides for the missionaries :)
Loving the upgraded accomodations! haha
Sunday, May 19, 2013
A Mum's Perspective
I am an official missionary's mum! I LOVE IT! New Zealand culture is fabulous!
You may be wondering along with me . . . why am I even creating this blog?
This has been a struggle for me because I'm rather private and want to protect my family from any judgement. I'm so far from perfect and accordingly have yet to produce a perfect child. Strange, I know! However, I think they're rather close to perfect at times because they are good and they try. I have also prayed and honestly believe and have faith that our family is supposed to share these stories and experiences.
With Landon beginning the missionary application process I may need to start referring to them as Elder Keaton and Elder Landon. "Elder Moore" is going to get confusing really soon!
I have wondered WHY share my beloved family's letters?
Perhaps someone out there is curious about LDS missions and missionaries?
Maybe someone is preparing for a mission and this might give them a little perspective?
Reality . . . it's probably just good for me!
Elder Keaton has always been so obedient and doesn't mind following rules but it originally was a real struggle to live the letter of the law. Some of the missionaries in his mission have joked that they even count their steps on Sundays.
Exaggerated but the motto is: "We obey with exactness" and in his mission it is interpreted to be very exact. Elder Keaton is obedient.
I am so amazed with him and his growth! Every mission is different and no one should assume that all missionaries share the same experiences and feelings.
How do I handle the hard parts? For me, I won't judge or complain. The mission president is doing his very best to care for all these amazing missionaries. I can only imagine the challenges and I appreciate his love and care for my son. His companion is doing his best to teach and train. I appreciate his sacrifice at a young age to have the courage to serve. Missions are hard. Missions are also incredible!
My son is serving the Lord and how could I ask for more?
Elder Keaton really isn't himself in these first few emails in the field but keep reading as I post and you will laugh yourself silly! He gets back to normal. His personality comes through and he gets his rhythm going. It took him a few weeks to stop internalizing everything negative that was said and only be accountable to the Lord and be okay with his best.
Something good comes out of everything. Perhaps Elder Keaton has needed this solitude to really build a stronger relationship with the Lord and come to know Him in a way he wouldn't if he had a different initial experience. You'll soon see other ways our Elder Keaton has chosen to handle the situations and it's incredible! He loves the hard and crazy things!
He's doing well and loves his mission, which is all I need.
Sacrifice is . . .
. . . leaving your beloved dog at home with your crazy mum for two years!
Elder Keaton had a very dear friend who stayed with us for five months or so before he left on his mission. (His fabulous friend, Jake, is currently serving a mission in Brazil!) Jake told us we talked more than any family he had ever known and said, "I think it's great that y'all talk so much. I mean, y'all actually sit around and talk instead of watching TV!" Poor Jake! We made his ears hurt. Elder Keaton didn't leave very equipped for quiet.
This picture was taken on Elder Keaton's birthday--the day before he left for his mission. It's very candid and of course we're all talking.
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