July 20, 2010 - Logansport, Indiana

July 20, 2010


Whew, it was a crazy week this last week. We did a lot of stuff. We got asked to do service at the county fair, because a member threw out her back and couldn't do it herself. So of course, being missionaries we stepped in. It was a good experience. Everyone that we were serving weren't LDS, so we talked it over, and everyone loved how hard we worked and loved how we are giving up 2 years of our lives for something that we know is true. A lot of them were pretty old and weren't interested in what we knew was true but we tried. We had to work in the kitchen serving food for people. As usual, I had to work the fryer station, not the best job in the world. Elder Banner just yelled out orders to people so it was dumb, haha. But I guess I had previous experience from Arby’s, unfortunately, and so I was a beast at the grill. The people were way surprised how well I caught on. We did get to see some of the fair. It was the weirdest fair I've been to or seen. The people were in this arena type thing and all the stands were full of people so you would've thought it was going to be pretty sweet to see what they were doing in the arena. So Elder Banner and I check it out and there are just these people slapping pigs with sticks walking around. It was the most pointless thing I've ever seen. We asked and talked to people around us trying to figure out what it was about and they kinda explained it. But it wasn't worth watching, I could tell you that, unless you wanted a good ole laugh session. Which I did cause I thought it was hilarious. We had these things called elephant ears, which are these scone type things with cinnamon sugar on top with butter, they were delicious of course. Don't worry, I’m still at the same weight as when i left, so I’m not getting fat. We have had some cool storms out here. Just rain, I haven't been caught in a big rain storm yet while we have been tracting, so that is the next goal. We gave another blessing to someone whose sisters were members but he wasn't. His sisters told him that he should get one cause it would help a ton so, he said yes and then we came. He had some way bad back problems and the next day he was supposed to fly out to Brazil for a service project for 2 weeks so he needed it. It was an awesome feeling. Elder Banner gave the blessing, I anointed with the oil. But I was just as involved in the blessing as if I was saying it. The spirit manifests it to all who are in that circle and the person receives those blessings, even if they weren't heard by the person getting the blessing. It was so cool to be a part of though. We have lately had a lot of new investigators which was awesome. We had to stop seeing one that was giving us trouble, but he still wanted us over. We will still see him everyone once in a while but just not as much and because we have done that we have had so many more new investies. We have this sweet one named Ann. Last time we were over she read part of the BOM and she loved it. I asked her if she knew it was true and she was kinda hesitant about it so I asked her to prepare herself to get baptized as she keeps reading in the BOM. I just bore a hard testimony and she said yes so we are going over tomorrow to talk to her about it and I’m praying that it works out. We were looking for less actives this last Sunday to get them to come to church and we didn't have the list with us of the less actives. Luckily I wrote one down in my planner and I said let’s see this one. So we go over there and we were supposed to talk to Sister Pedro. We meet this guy named Mario and find out that Sister Pedro is busy and will be down to talk with us in a couple of minutes. So we talk to Mario about him and all and we found out that he and his wife Sister Pedro are from the Philippines, or however you spell it, but Mario was struggling with English. He speaks Taglog, or whatever language is back out there. And after we talk for awhile Sister Pedro comes down and we get to know them more and more and we find out that Mario isn't a member and that Sister Pedro’s job was way tight and she is the only one that works so she can't make it to church on Sundays because of that. So we talked to Mario about the church and Sis. Pedro interrupts and says " YA we have been waitin’ months for the missionaries to come over and baptize Mario because he wants to be baptized!!!" ME and Elder Banner just look at each other pretty much praying saying thank you we just tell them "We will do that" so since he is struggling in English he wants to practice it with us as we teach him the lessons so it will be a learning experience for the both of us. I’m way excited to meet with him, he is way into it. It was way funny how they said that though I almost busted up laughing right there but I held my own. The missionary work out here is going awesome I love it so much. We have transfers next week and I’m not sure if I’m getting transferred or Elder Banner, or both of us, or not at all so we will find out next p-day. So, I will let you know next week. Logansport is a sweet place to serve in, a lot of cool people. Yesterday we went to Monticello to meet with a investigator and we found out that he is a Catholic priest. That kinda took us off guard but he wanted to know more and he was totally ok with what we told him. He was and has had problems with the Catholic church in some things so he wanted to know our view on things. He promised us that by next week he will have the whole Book of Mormon read and we will talk about it with him. His daughter is way interested in it too. She didn't get to meet with us last night but she wanted too. She is 17 and plays tennis, so maybe I can relate something to the gospel about tennis haha. But he was a way sweet guy he told us that he is looking for the truth and that’s exactly what we have. I'm gonna buy the Conference talks on CDs out here so I can listen to them. They are way sweet to listen to. They help out a lot when talking to people. The Last Airbender sounds awesome. Dad did a little overview so I’ll be way excited to read your letters. I hear about these people reading my letters back home and how excited they are for me and the experiences I’m having. I hope they can take more from my experiences then just being excited for me, because my mission isn't anything about me at all. I want the experiences people read about, my stories, to get something from it. That they can become better, that maybe they can see something they can improve on, cause we all need to improve. So, whoever reads my letters on the blog or whatever, I hope you take something more than just being excited for me.

Elder Moore

To Dad:
Hey dad, thanks for the update. I love hearing from you. Mostly it’s just Mom and hearing all her stories is good and all, but I definitely like the man talk. Ha ha. At least you don't talk about what you ate last night. Please, don't start. Out here it’s crazy about how much people are so into their religion, but they contradict themselves when we talk to them and they just can't see where they contradict themselves. We don't bash hardly ever because I’m definitely not literate in the Bible that much, but Elder Banner is, which is good to learn stuff from him and all. I especially know that you are. I’m sure you know more than a lot of people. We met with a Catholic priest last night who wanted to meet with us, so he invited us over for dinner. We didn't have a bash session, but he was like a free Catholic. He didn't like a lot of stuff about Catholicism but he still likes some stuff and it’s what he grew up in and that’s what’s different. He has never read the BOM so we talked to him about it. Told him stuff that’s different about our church than everyone else's. Of course the loss of power and authority seems to be a struggle with everyone but we taught the restoration and stuff and we gave him a BOM and we asked for a return appointment for Thursday. But he was like no way that’s not enough time I want to read the whole thing. So next week we are going over to talk about what he read and prayed about in the BOM, so it will be interesting even though transfers are next week and I’m not sure if I’m leaving or Elder Banner is leaving, or if we are both staying. We won’t find out until next Tuesday, 1 day before transfers. I’m trying to make sure my studies are more effective during breaks I try to study even though we don't have to. We are just supposed to relax. I still want to cause I feel like I should know more right now. I’m just focused on the BOM and PMG (Preach My Gospel) just making sure I have the lessons down and that my testimony of the BOM just keeps increasing. I love studying now more than ever. It’s weird, I kinda hate it though cause now I’m turning into you. Ha ha, just kidding. But someone who just loves to know more and more which is what the church wants, so I’m glad that you have set that example for me and I was just kidding.

I love you Dad. I love hearing from you too.

Your son always,
Elder Moore