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
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