I will be serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for two years in the Medellin, Colombia starting July, 26, 2017. If you want to know what I am doing, then follow my blog.
So we didn't get any emails this week from Elder Moore, however we did get to talk to him this morning briefly.
The reason why we didn't get any emails and why he called is because he was in the hospital. Here is the backstory. Saturday was a normal work day and all went well. His companion wasn't feeling that good that night. They didn't get much sleep that night because he companion wasn't feeling good, however they had a baptism the next day so his companion wanted to be at the baptism and would trudge on and worry about how he felt afterwards. They had the baptism at the pool next to the church, then went home. When they got home his companion E. Harbertson decided it was time they go to the doctor. Before they could leave his companion started to pass out. Elder Moore, said he was really scared, and was really starting to worry about his companion. He said he prayed so much and asked Heavenly Father to watch over them and to bless his companion. Luckily right near their house is a health clinic, so he was able to take his companion to the clinic. Once at the clinic, the doctors there said he needed to get his companion to the hospital as soon as possible. Again the Lord was watching over them, as soon as they stepped out of the clinic, their apartment owner was outside with his car and told them to get in and he would drive them to the hospital. Upon arriving at the hospital there was already a branch member waiting for them to arrive. He said they had to fill out a bunch of paperwork before they would even look at his companion. After they took his companion back to do tests on him, he called his mission President's wife, and she was hoping that they could make it back to Medellin to get to a larger hospital. However, the doctors at the hospital decided that they needed to remove his appendix quickly before it burst. So his companion went into surgery and they removed his appendix. The mission presidents wife caught a flight and arrived later that evening. The branch president was there as well as the zone leaders. Everything went well in surgery, and his companion and him get to spend the next few days in the hospital making sure there are no infections. So looks like he will be sleeping on the couch in the hospital room for a few days. Elder Moore did say that he saw the Lord watching over them continuously. The day was very eventful, it went from an early morning Baptism to an afternoon appendectomy. It was definitely a day that he won't ever forget. We are so thankful for his "Missionary Mom" that came and watched over them and sent us the pictures and gave us updates and let Elder Moore call us. Our missionaries are in great hands. He also said the branch is awesome and most of the members have come and have checked up on them.
Q: How are you and your companion getting along?
A: Great, we both like sports and we have very similar personalities.
Q: Do you like your new area?
A:Yes, the people are very nice and always will listen to us. It is very hot, but it's flat.
Q: Favorite scripture study that you have had?
A: I was reading in Alma about being judged for what we do during this life.
Q: How is the branch?
A: There are not a ton of members, but they are super strong!
Q: Something interesting that happened?
A: They have a lot of huge bugs down here, we caught one that was as big as my hand, it was huge.
WEEKLY RECAP
So the computers here are super slow so I won't be able to send so many audios. So I am in Planeta Rica now which is in the "Coast" area of the mission, and I love this place. The people are so nice here, we can do street contacts all the time and the people listen to us. The other day we contacted this guy on the street and he invited us to go sit down, so we were able to talk to him for a while about the church. It is so easy to find new investigators, the people here are so humble and nice. In the short time I have been here I have found that the people from Choco are some of the most humblest people. We are teaching this one family from Choco, and they are golden. They are very awesome to teach. We have set some baptismal dates with some of our investigators and will be setting more this next week. We usually teach like 3-5 lessons with investigators each night.
So this area is hot, kind of like Arizona hot, but its not bad, our apartment has a bunch of fans, so we sleep convertible at night. What I love about the area is that it is super flat, no mountains to climb! My companion is really cool, and we get along great. He is from Pleasant Grove, Utah. He speaks really good Spanish. This is his first area, and he has been out on the mission 3 months less than I have. The only bad thing is that we have to travel really far for our district and zone meetings, which is also expensive. Our apartment is really nice, it is big for the two of us. We have two bathrooms, and I like to use the one outside. The owner of the place is super awesome and funny. He took us out to eat and we made pizza. He also bought stuff so that we can hang hammocks in our apartment.
The branch is really good. They are super strong. They have like 3 missionaries out on missions right now. The branch president is super cool young guy. We only had 2 investigators at church, but we are going to change that for next week. It is super close for all the members and investigators to go to. It is cool the chapel is like this outdoor area with like palm branches as the roof to shade.
Q: New words that you have learned this week?
A: Mandar rápido paquetes
Q: Favorite food that you ate this week?
A: Turtle, JK just the normal rice and beans and meat
Q: What did you do for you P-Day
A: Transfers
WEEKLY RECAP
This whole week I was pretty positive I was going to be transferred out of here so I started packing up stuff and just getting ready for the next adventure. I kept thinking of where I would go. There is really on three major areas of our mission, South (Pereira), Center (Medellin), and Coast. So I am pretty sure I am probably going to the coast. I definitely have been here a long time, I have watched the building next to our apartment go from 3 floors all the way to 10 floors. I am kind of feeling two different ways, one I would like to stay because we have been super busy teaching some awesome people and have seen a lot of success. However, I would also like to go to a new place and just try some new things. I know everybody here and know the area really well, but either way I am excited to serve.
So a quick funny story, Wednesday was Ash Wednesday down here in Colombia, and everybody, I mean everybody had the black cross of ash on their forehead. Not sure if everybody knows why they are getting ash on their forehead but they all are doing it. Anyways as we were walking, we saw this one girl who did hers with makeup, it looked really good, but you could totally tell she had done it with her makeup. Another story was I was dreaming that I was snowboarding, then I looked down and I had no boots on just bear feet and they were freezing. When I woke up I realized that since the bed is to small for me, my feet hang of the bed and I didn't have any blankets cover them.
We had some really good lunches this week, once we went to this restaurant and had the bandeja paisa, I was stuffed afterwords. Then we had a good lunch with our mission leader, and planned the baptism for this Saturday. Two of our investigators are getting baptized, so it is pretty awesome, I'm excited for them. It has been a busy week since E. Miranda left for the office, we have been in a companionship of 3 with E. Cox. We always try to get members to go on splits with us since we still have two big areas to cover.
So on Saturday we got the phone call (we have weird ring tone for transfers) anyways I hear E. Cox say so E. Moore stays. I was like what? He was just joking, I am leaving and going to the coast to a place called Planeta Rica. My companion is E. Harbertson (gringo). So we left on a bus, and got no sleep. Traveled with E. Lopez to Medellin, we stayed in a hotel by the bus terminal, then caught the bus for our 7 hour trip to the coast. It was a long transfer. I didn't get into the apartment until after 11 pm. It is a really nice apartment with just E. Harbertson and myself.
One thing that I really like about Planeta Rica is that it is super flat. Its hot, but not that bad for this Arizona boy.
Love you all,
Elder Moore
E. Steadman and I last time together as Comps
Watched this building grow basically from the ground up
I've been her a long time to watching this being built
Bus ride to Medellin with E. Lopez
The scene from the bus, Colombia is really green and beautiful
Q: How is your health?
A: I am feeling really good.
Q: New words that you have learned this week?
A: Qué hubo? = Whats up?
Q: Favorite scripture study that you have had?
A: I was reading about Nephi and his bow breaking, and just thinking that even in bad times God is always with us and provides a way for us if we have faith.
Q: Are you happy?
A: Yes, very happy it was a great week!
Q: Favorite food that you ate this week?
A: Bandeja Paisa
Q: What did you do for you P-Day
A: The whole zone went to the river and had a picnic.
WEEKLY RECAP
Monday - We had a bunch of missionaries spend the night in our apartment. That night we were talking and one missionary jokingly called me Shrek, so I got up on the bed where he was at and started wrestling him. While wrestling him we heard a pop sound and then we were on the floor. The beds welding broke! So we all ended up sleeping on mattresses on the floor throughout our apartment.
Tuesday - We took the bed frame down the street to get the frame hinge fixed. This guy took it and welded it really quick and painted it for like $3.50. It is now better then we had it originally. It is supper strong and doesn't wobble anymore. Then we went and followed up on a street contact that we did. We ended up teaching a family of 6 and there are super awesome. They really liked listening to us explain the Gospel of Jesus Christ, they had some questions and really felt the spirit. They asked us when we could come back, and we set a date for another visit and lesson. It was a good night!
Wednesday - We were walking down the street and got contacted by this guy. He invited us to go get Ice Cream, he bought me this huge Snickers ice cream bowl (Blessings). He is a member but has been inactive for a long time but wants to start coming back to church. It was pretty cool talking to him. Then we went to teach Edison, and he asked if he could bring a friend (we told him no we can't do that, just kidding). So we met at the park and taught him and his friend, Daniella, the first lesson again (we had already taught him). He is an awesome guy and really understands the lesson and helped her understand it also. The lesson went super well and both of them really seemed to enjoy the lesson and want to learn more.
Thursday - We had lunch at the Bishop's house and his wife is an awesome cook. She made us Bandeja Paisa, which is Colombian's well known plate of food. It was super good! Then we went and visited Isabel and talked about Prophets. She had a lot of questions about President Nelson, so we will have to find a bunch of information about him to share. Her sister even came out her room and listened to us. Usually she would always go to her room. She told us that she thought we were weird, but after getting to know us that we are pretty cool and funny. I jokingly told her that I thought she was weird because she would always go to her room and didn't want to talk to us. Then we went to look for a reference family that the Family Rivera gave us. We didn't have that great of directions to their house, and as we were walking my companion says forget it lets go home. I was like if God wants us to teach them he will put them in our path. Right after I said that we crossed the street and there they were outside talking. It was awesome! We laughed, and knew that God wanted us to teach them! I have learned that investigators give really good references.
Friday - We were on exchanges and I was with E. Miranda. I like him a lot, he is like Coach Wolcott to me, he teaches by example and he is not a hypocrite. He works really hard and is obedient. It was a super awesome day with some great lessons and we made some awesome street contacts. We meet with a family that is going to be baptized in a couple weeks, they are super funny and we had a great lesson with them.
Saturday - Found out that E. Miranda is getting transferred and going to the office tomorrow. The most spiritual thing that happened this week was the baptism of Isabel. It was very spiritual, I looked over and saw Isabel's sister start to cry, I know she was feeling the spirit. Then this other guy cried in our lesson that night. It was a great day.
Sunday - The Salgado family came to church and we taught them a lesson, they are a golden family. They are so prepared to receive the gospel, it was awesome teaching them. Then we went and taught Jessica, I made real good friends with her father, at first he didn't like the missionaries but know he comes out and talks to us and listens. We went to Antonio's house and visited with them, they have become active and met with the Bishop, it is awesome to see their progress since I've been here. Antonio then gave us a reference and called him over and we taught him, and he committed to come to church next week. We visited like 5 families that night and shared a bunch of messages. Then we had to take E. Miranda to the bus terminal very late at night.
Monday - We went as a whole zone to the river and had a picnic, it was fun! Rode in the back of a truck there and back, it was very interesting.
Well its been awhile since I have updated Elder Moore's Blog, but here we go!
I will be back logging Nov, Dec, and January updates in the next few weeks.
So let me give you a quick update of where I am at and who I am with. I am still in Pereira (20 weeks) and it is still my first area, but I love it here. Everyone says that this is the best area of the mission, and it is the best apartment to live in. From our balcony I can see all over the place in the city. I love hanging out on the balcony and looking at the city. I am on my third companion here, his name is E. Steadman. We live in the apartment with E. Miranda and E. Cox and we get along super well.
My companion and I get along great, he reminds me of Noah Clark, and we are really working hard. So I now eat the food here and enjoy it and don't even mind eating rice. We eat really well, and we can get American food very easily. They have like a Costco here with all the Kirkland brands and stuff.
On Tuesday we taught this family about the "Word of Wisdom" and another family about tithing, it was a good night and they even feed us. They gave us this huge (4 liter) bottle of Coke-cola. While on they way home this man stopped us and started asking all kinds of questions. He said he used to live in New York for like 18 years, then he lived in Panama, but then he got deported to Colombia. Not sure exactly all that happened, he said his mom is from NY, and he was trying to save money to buy a plane ticket, anyways he talked with him some more, then we decided to give him the bottle of soda. We invited him to church and he said he would, so we will see.
On Wednesday we had a meeting with President. We spent a lot of time setting up and getting things ready for the meeting on Tuesday. It was a really good meeting, we discussed how to better start lessons, how to invite the spirit to be there, and how to help make and keep their commitments. Then the President and his wife came and inspected our apartment. We got in trouble for a few things, some of the things were like that before I even got to the apartment and I didn't want to clean it up. We got in trouble for having dirty dishes, but that was mainly one E. dishes, that doesn't like to do dishes. Bathroom had a few issues and President's wife showed us how to clean it better.
Every transfer I feel like I am learning to use my time more effective. This week I felt like we were very efficient with our time. We taught a lot of lessons and family home evenings (FHE) we were super busy the whole week. This means we did a lot of walking up a hill down a hill and then up another hill and down another hill. We had a FHE at Cesar's house, they are an awesome family, he is super funny and she is super nice. They remind me of Pam and Jim from the "Office". We found a few new people to teach, and we lost a couple that we were teaching. That is the life of the mission with its ups and downs. I love talking to people on the street, or in the taxi, I contact everybody. I figure the more people you contact the better your odds you will get to teach them, the better the odds they will feel the spirit and what to be baptized. We also taught Isabel this week and she is still on track to be baptized, so that is super cool.
This week we had a ward talent show, it was pretty good. We the "Los Misioneros" sang a song. At first we were going to sing Hero by Enrique Iglesias, but then we were told not to have any love song, so we changed it. It went pretty good, except we forgot to turn the mic on, but the 3 Americans sang and E. Miranda played the ukulele. It was a fun night, a couple of young men played the guitars and they were really good.
So today for P-day we played soccer with like three different zones. It was fun, they same I'm not a gringo on the soccer field, because of my moves, they say its because I have Spanish blood in me. I did okay today, I only scored like 5 goals, I had a chance to make a lot more, but I missed them either high or left or right. I wasn't on top of my game today.
Love you all,
Elder Moore
This is the building just outside our apartment, they were on the 2nd floor when I got here.
