July 20, 2015

Dear Family and Friends,

Well this is my last email as a full-time missionary.  I will be on a plane flying home next week at this time.  Thank you all for your support and words of encouragement these last 18 months.  It has been the hardest, but the best time of my life.  I have learned so much about myself and about God's plan for us!  It truly has been a blessing.

I've learned so much on my mission.  

1. Every missionary should have a foot tan, and if they don't then they haven't worked hard enough.

2. I will never have a dog because they will wake you up at 5:30 every morning.

3. The first week of the transfer takes like 5 weeks and the last week takes like 30 seconds.

4. Biking in the rain is harder than it looks.

5. I hate the post office.  They will destroy everything you send.

6. Desire squared equals goal plus vision divided by the twelve tribes of Israel!  That's how you set goals.

7. God loves everyone even if you're CRAZY.  Especially if you're crazy...

8. A Mormon talent show is not like a regular talent show!!

9. You should never talk to Hobos that cut their toes off.

10. Everyone has family issues, even if they seem perfect...

11. It's really hard to hide your yawns when you yawn like 50 times in one lesson...

12. Even if you wear the same thing everyday people still love you

13. If you try to listen to good music while shopping all you'll hear is classical and Mexican music.  The struggle is real. 

I know God lives and He has a plan for each one of us.  I know the path we are called to walk is, at times, very difficult, but I also know He has sent Jesus Christ to walk it with us.  We are never alone.  His "arms are stretched out still".  I know Joseph Smith is a prophet of God and was called to restore the church on the earth today.  I know Thomas S. Monson is the prophet today.  I also know the Book of Mormon is true.  If you read it and pray about it you will gain a testimony because God has promised you that.

See you all soon.  Love,

Sister Moon

   

July 13, 2015

Dear Family and Friends,

Last week was a good week!  We have been teaching Martha, Stacey, Brittany, and Ryan, and still no baptismal dates, but they are working towards that.  Martha is basically a dry Mormon so she could get baptized anytime!  She even started paying tithing a few weeks ago!  Stacey, Brittany, and Ryan need to stop smoking so please PRAY FOR THEM!  Their goal is to stop on the 15h of July...so like 2 days!  When they are going to get baptized all depends on that!  :)

We did go on exchanges last week, and you all know how I feel about exchanges...I HATE THEM...  So good news is I don't have to ever go on exchanges again!  Woot Woot!

And best part of last week was our hike!  Sister Manumua and I went on a hike with the Moore's.  It was so fun, and very tiring!  It was only 3.6 miles up and 3.6 miles back, but it seemed like it was longer.  We did make it to the top though so that was exciting!  Needless to say, the next day was ROUGH.

Well, that's about it for today.  Hope everyone has a great week.  Love,

Sister Moon

Pictures:

Hike!

The most stressful part of missionary work is done...sending out departing devotional invites.

Last exchange EVER!

July 6, 2015

Dear Family and Friends,

Last week was great.  Hope everyone's Fourth of July was great!  I know mine was!  We went to the Stake Center and passed out free hot dogs for like 3 hours!  It was exciting!  I'm amazed to see how humble some people are and how prideful some people are.  We gave a few hot dogs to this one guy and he said, "Thank you so much.  God bless you.  I really appreciate it."  And then we went to some other people and offered hot dogs and they said, "Is there anything on them?  Do you guys not have water??  Well then we don't want any...".  How rude!  I am grateful for humble people!

Brother L got an amazing blessing on Friday for his drinking problem.  His wife is our recent convert and they have been going through ups and downs, but after this blessing he seems to be doing really well.  He now has the desire to change.  The blessing gave him a list if things to do so he can get to the temple to be sealed to his wife!  

I am so grateful for eternal families.  I love temples and I can't wait to go all over the world and visit as many temples as I can.  Missionary work consists of sharing the gospel with friends, and finding names of ancestors and performing ordinances for them! For those of you who haven't read the Family Proclamation recently you should totally read it.  It's amazing!  Have a great week.  

Love,

Sister Moon

Abe Lincoln came to our pancake breakfast!

Free Hot Dogs anyone?!

June 29, 2015

Dear Family and Friends,

Last week was AMAZING!  We only taught 8 lessons, but we had one of the most powerful lessons I've ever had on my mission, so it was all worth it!

We taught the Plan of Salvation to Brittany and Ryan.  The Plan of Salvation is my favorite lesson to teach and this is why...  Families can be together forever and this is the plan that allows that to happen!  As we taught, the Spirit was so strong and you could tell everyone in that room was about to start crying.  Brittany said, "I didn't know I could believe everything I believed about science and still have a religion.  This totally makes sense.  I'm definitely getting baptized now!".  We asked when they thought they would be prepared to be baptized.  Ryan said, "Do we have to finish the Book of Mormon before we get baptized?"  "No, you just have to have a testimony of it."  "Oh well I have that...let's do it next week".  Brittany and Ryan are amazing!!  I am so excited for them to get baptized.  We still have a few things to work through, but I'm sure they will be ready soon!

We also had 5 investigators at church yesterday, which is more than I've had in any other ward I've been in, so that was a great miracle!

And one more miracle:  We were walking around this apartment complex and talking with people that we saw.  We were turning to go to a different building when we saw this guy walking on the sidewalk, but he was pretty far away from us.  We didn't want it to be awkward so we decided to just go to the other building.  Then I felt this really strong feeling that we should talk to him.  That is what we call the Spirit!  We pretended to be lost and turned around, looked at our map, and walked towards him to ask if he he knew where  #44 was.  He helped us out, then we started talking about the church.  He told us he was baptized, but hadn't been active in 10 years.  He invited us to come over in 2 weeks to go back over the missionary lessons with him and help get him more active!

Have a great week.  Stay cool!  Love,

Sister Moon

Pictures:

Brother and Sister P.  His brother's name is Boyd!!!!  But not Boyd K.  :/

The N's and Jeri

Am I not turtle-y enough for the turtle club.  Turtle.  Turtle. Turtle.

June 22, 2015

Dear Family and Friends,

Last week was a hot one!  We did a lot of walking and talking with people and it seemed that nothing was coming from it.  We were outside all day Saturday talking with everyone, and no one let is in!  BUT then we experienced a miracle, in God's timing of course. On Sunday (after we walked all day Saturday with no luck) the first door we knocked on, they let us in!  We had a great lesson with them about how God loves each and every one of us.  Debbie told us that she felt we were sent to her at the exact moment she needed us :).  We appreciated that moment so much more because of the tough day we had the day before.  I know the Lord sends us miracles, but in His own timing.  

We weren't able to meet with Stacey last week, so we will have to move her baptismal date.  Please continue praying for her.  She will be ready soon!

Joke of the week: Did you know protons have mass?  I didn't even know they were Catholic...

And quote of the week: "I testify that no one of us is less treasured or cherished of God than another.  I testify that He loves each of us-insecurities, anxieties, self-image, and all.  He doesn't measure our talents or our looks; He doesn't measure our professions or our possessions.  He cheers on every runner, calling out that the race is against sin, not against each other".  - Jeffrey R. Holland

Hope everyone is staying cool.  If you're hot...just go jump in some water because some of us can't do that!  Have a great week.  Love,

Sister Moon

Pictures:

Well my SD card converter isn't working so this is all I've got.  Thanks D!

June 15, 2015

Dear Family and Friends,

I am staying in the AL Ward for my last transfer, and I'm staying with Sister M.  I am very excited to stay in this ward and can't wait to see more miracles!

Last week was alright.  We did have a minor problem, BUT it ended in a miracle!  We were doing some service for this older couple (pulling weeds), when suddenly I jumped up as high as I could in the air.  Why did I jump up you might ask?  Well, you see I stepped on a nail and it went straight through my shoe and into my foot!  As I jumped up the board with the nail was still connected to my shoe.  After some help from the other missionaries we made it safely to the bathroom where I was bandaged up by a sweet old lady and given some delicious cookies.  We called the mission office and told them what happened, and they said I needed to get a tetanus shot because the last shot I got was in 2005.  We started getting ready to go when they called back and said they talked to my mom and she found a record saying I got a tetanus shot in 2014!  Miracle moment!!!!  No doctor for me!!!!

Other than that fun adventure, everything else has been the same.  Brittany and Stacey are still progressing toward baptism.  Keep them in your prayers.  Joe is doing well too.  He started reading the Book of Mormon so that is a step in the right direction!

Hope everyone is staying cool!  Love you all.

Sister Moon

Pictures:

Last transfer's district...which has now been disbanded :(

There's a hole in my foot...

BEST LICENSE PLATE EVER  #TaylorSwift

June 8, 2015

Dear Family and Friends, 

Last week was pretty average.  We contacted a lot of people, and made several appointments for this week.  Hopefully we will find new investigators this week!  We did have 11 lessons last week, and we have several progressing investigators.  

Stacey and Brittany still want to be baptized on June 27th, but are still working through some problems.  Prayers for them would be great.

Joe, our Jewish investigator, came to church and there's no way he didn't feel the Spirit, even though we were in a church and not a synagogue.  Testimony meeting is the best!

Well, since I don't have much else to say I have some interesting quotes for you!  Gotta love California Crazies!

  

Quotes:

"Samoans and Tongans are different!" -Bishop Smith  

"Yeah, but they're from the same tribe of Israel so it doesn't matter!" -Brother Caldwell

"I believe Jesus Christ is my Savior, but I also believe He is a false prophet." -Joe

"My sister got a duck at the Chino Swap Meet." - Roy

"Why do you have some much old furniture?" -Me 

"My mother passed away, but right before she passed she said, 'If you love me you'll take care of my furniture'" - Sister Frank

"You can come back and we can have a beer." -Random guy on the street 

"We don't drink.  Thanks though." -Me 

"I can show ya.  It's really quite fun."  *smiles real big with approximately 2.5 teeth left*

Have a great week, and pray I don't get transferred!  Love,

Sister Moon

Pictures:

People have the weirdest things in their yards....

June 2, 2015

Sister Moon included some information in the email to her parents this week that I wanted to share! 

And guess what day it is?!?!  It's not hump day, but today is my 10 year mark for reading the Book of Mormon everyday...I guess I shouldn't stop now :)  June 1, 2005 was when I started reading everyday thanks to Sister Burger!

She received a challenge from a Primary teacher to read the Book of Mormon for 10 minutes every day for a week!  Now she is celebrating 10 years without missing a day!  I can honestly say the Book of Mormon has changed our entire family!   Because of Lauren's great example, the rest of the family started a regular reading program also!  

All because of an amazing Primary teacher!   

We love you Sister Burger!

June 1, 2015

Dear Family and Friends,

Last week was AMAZING!  We have been praying for miracles and let me tell you something THEY CAME!  We were able to find 4 new investigators last week, and we taught 12 lessons.  

The highlight of our week was Brittney and Ryan.  We found them last week and taught them the Restoration.  Ryan was crying and said he was always emotional when it came to religion, and he didn't know why, but he does now.  He said this religion makes so much sense.  Brittney said she's been doing a lot of research and she agrees with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 100%.  They both came to church yesterday and loved it.  We are teaching them tomorrow!  Keep them in your prayers!  Thanks.

We are also staying in a member's house in an upstairs room, and it gets pretty hot up there.  They don't want us to use the AC at night so we open our windows.  One night we came home and it was so hot in the room that we decided to take the screen out of the window and nightly plan on the roof!  Best Decision Ever!

And last week we had the opportunity to try cactus and eggs.  If anyone offers it to you just say no...it was so weird!  Unfortunately we were with a potential investigator so we couldn't say no.  The good news is that he became an investigator after that!

Well, that's about it for last week.  Hope you are all enjoying your summer!  Happy June!  Love,

Sister Moon

Pictures: 

More from the hike...

Cactus!

May 26, 2015

Dear Family and Friends,

Last week was quite the week.  We had A LOT of ups and downs, but we did find a new investigator!!  Joe is the only investigator we have found in this new area so we are quite excited about that!  He really has a desire to learn about the gospel.  He said he has a Book of Mormon, but he hasn't read it in 15 years, BUT he still has it!!  We committed him to read the Book of Mormon and he accepted that commitment.

I also went on exchanges last week with Sister B.  Exchange miracles are real.  We left a card on someone's door and HE called US.  That is the first time that has ever happened to me!  We went by his house later that day and he showed us around his yard.  He has over 1000 plants!  We have an appointment with him this week so we'll see how that goes!

We hiked Mt. Baldy yesterday and almost made it to the "Ice House Saddle", but we had to turn around when we were .4 miles from the top because our Mission President said we had to be back at 4:30 and it was 3:15.  We decided being obedient was more important that making it to the top. We were blessed when we got down because we DIDN'T get a parking ticket and other people did.  We didn't buy a day pass...oops.  But all is well!!

Well I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day.  Love you guys,

Sister Moon

Pictures:

But we DIDN'T get a ticket...

Tracting...story of my life

Lots of plants...

A tree we found on our hike (More pictures to come next week)