HOWDY!

First of all, I would like to share two poems with y'all! I found them in two talks that I really loved and wrote them down some time ago so I wouldn't forget them...  

here they are :)

It's easy enough to be pleasant 

When life flows by like a song

But the man worthwhile

is the one who'll smile

When everything goes dead wrong.

For the test of the heart is trouble

and it always comes with the years

and the smile that is worth 

all the praises of earth

is the smile that shines

through tears. 

                                       - Ella Wheeler Wilcox

I'd rather be a "could-be"

If I cannot be an "are"

Because a "could-be" is a "maybe"

who is reaching for a star

I'd rather be a "has-been"

Than a "might-have-been", by far;

For a "might-have-been'

has never been

But a "has" 

once was an "are"

                                           - Milton Berle

so, I would just like to say how AWESOME it was to see y'all on christmas! It really made me so happy and it was great. It was pretty weird to have my last phone call, but I'll just have to get over that! :)

Christmas was great and it was honestly about a million times better than last Christmas. Even with the yucky power outages and not being able to talk to Jen (which I'm still upset about) it was full of fun, love, presents, and suprises! It's hard to think that I won't have a christmas while I'm on a mission for a loonngg time, but I do believe that I'll serve a couple missions when I get old.. at least that's a goal of mine!

Every time this part of the year comes around, I remember when I was at home and we would sit down as a family and write goals for the new year. I'm so grateful that this is a tradition that I still do till today! Actually, tomorrow I'll be taking a little time out of my p-day to exactly that! I'm very excited about the prospects of this new year and all of the new experiences and wonderful times that I'll have. 

One thing that I never really realized until I got on the mission was the importance of making goals, and then telling them to others! When we made our yearly goals at home, we toke a little time to think about them and then we would go around the circle and tell everyone what they were.. I never understood completely and get kind of upset sometimes because of that misunderstanding. But now I realize that if these goals truly are things that we want to do, we need someone else to be able to follow up on us! I've learned that if it's just left up to us alone, we have a HUGE chance to never do it for simply forget. 

If life, but especially as a missionary, planning and goals are essential. We do this for each day, week, month, transfer (6 weeks). And I like to take it a little further, but not everyone does. 

It's simple. When we plan and set goals, the results of our work are dramaticly increased. It can be just like this in our personal lives and it is something that I will carry with me from my mission for the rest of my life. 

I hope that all of you reading this will take the time to make some goals for this next year and then acheive them throughout the year! 

Just like us, God has plans and goals for us to. His goal (like unto mine) is for ALL of His children to choose the right and follow in the footsteps of our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ and eventually one day return to His presence and live with Him in the Celestial Kingdom. He wants us to be happy, to get along and to follow the rules that He has given to us. 

Let us all remember this and remember the great blessings that He has given us. I'm sure we can all think of something is this wonderful season that we have to commemorate the birth of His Son Jesus Christ. 

Love you all and hope the best! 

Merry (late) Christmas and Happy (early) New Year!!!!!!! 

- Elder Moore

So, as the title says... I'M TRAINING!!!!!!! His name is Elder Hansen and is about to make 8 months on the mission! He's a great guy and I know that he'll do a spectacular job as the new Financial Secretary. Something I don't know, however, is when I will be done training him! I guess it'll be just whenever Presidente and I agree that he's ready to fly solo! 

As the following weeks go on (or maybe just in our CHRISTMAS CALL!!!!) I'll give you more info and details on him and our progress. 

We had a presentation thing at the Temple this Friday night and there were some narrorators who told the story about Jesus and I got to be the angle and had to say a couple lines in front of everyone! It was cool :) we also had a missionary choir! I have a video of the whole thing! It's pretty cool! 

I can't believe that Christmas is here already! It seems like it was yesterday that I was in my first area calling you from the tiny little bishops office! If everything goes well, then I'll be calling you from Skype like we did for mothers day! 

So, not really and HUGE news... just some little things that I find great and not so great. Katia is working a ton and with our conflicting schedules it's been very hard to teach her, but she is willing to listen so that's all we really need to know. Now that we're in three it'll be a bit easier to make appointmentes. 

We spent our p-day cleaning the whole apt so Hansen has a good first impression :) haha we also played basketball and had to go to the office for a bit around noon because an Elder broke his foot getting off a bus and needed the cruches from the office. 

Well, not only did we clean the apt, but more like completely reorganized it! It is super different now and I like the change. We moved the dresser and the two beds around so now we can both have the wind from the open window during the night! The only semi bad thing is that last night it rained so I woke up at about 4 with rain splashing me in the face haha. also, the sun wakes up at about 5 or 5:30 here and that's not that great either.. but hey! what do you do?! hah 

Love you all so much!

- Elder Moore

Is my calender right? Is it really possible that it's already December!?? I can't believe so much time has passed since I left what seems like last week. Every time I come up on a marker in time.. I always like to take a little while and think about how much time I've been blessed with here and then make goals for the remaining time left. The scary thing is that when I did this a couple days ago for my year and a half mark, I decided that it would be the last time that I do this (by myself of course) during my mission. We have planning for the month, weeks, and days...but this is all with your companion, I, personally, like to sit down by myself whenever I complete one of these "milestones" (6 months, 1 year, 1 1/2 years) and make more personal goals for what I personally want during my mission. The next time I do it... I'll be headed home and making plans so that I can get a jumpstart on my return. Weird to think that the year is almost over... but I sure am excited to see what 2013 has in store for the life of Elder (and then Peter) Moore.  

Well, this past week has been one full of running around just plain hard work. On Thursday we walked a lootttt because we had a lot of places to go and things to pick up for the transfer tomorrow and then the arrival of the new missionaries and the departure of the old missionaries. Also, we made our Christmas card that I told y'all about, so after I write little letters I'll start sending those out... so look for them in a couple weeks or so! :) 

This Sunday our ward was HUGE because our Elders Quorum President blessed his baby and a bunch of his and his wifes family came so there were like 20 more people than usual! It was great and he was really nervous (it's his first child and it's a baby girl) it made me remember my family and the many baby blessings that I've been to and the one that I had the opportunity to be in the circle for :) it ALSO made me think about the baby blessings that I'll get to participate in in the future! I'm so excited for that. On Sunday, our lesson was on Eternal Marriage and familys. It's such a wonderful subject that I love so much. We are so lucky to have this knowledge that we can be together forever and all the blessings that come from living faithfully in the Gospel and getting married in the Temple. 

Well.... looks like I'll be in the office for a while longer.... I had told some of you that I would start training the new secretary to take my spot and leave in January, but because of some complications and some elders who went home, Presidente would have to close an area in the mission if he put someone with me to be trained, so I told him it was okay and I would stick it out for a little bit longer........woohoo. But it's really okay I guess. I'm not here to do what I want to do, but to do what God wants me to do, and I know what He wants me to do because I know that He inspires President. So if President thinks it's better for me to stay another transfer and keep an area open, I trust him... even if it's not exactly what I would like to do or the way I would do things. 

I'll leave you this email with another story! So as you might know we have a 70 in our ward! Elder Granja. He used to be the Bishop of this ward, but in April (I think) he was called to be a 70. He is a really great man and INCREDIBLY smart. He is a doctor and his wife is a Dentist. His family is great too. Well this Sunday we had lunch at his house. It was delicious (i like fish now by the way) and I had the chance to leave the message. I had been thinking all day about a verse in 1 Nephi 10.. I believe it's verse 18 or so... it says that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever... and if we will but repent of our sins and go to Him, He will give us everything beacause He has already prepared a way ever since the beginning of the world. That's not direct.. but it's how I remember it going in English :). Well I absolutly love this verse. It's so true! God has already done EVERYTHING for us. He gave us this earth... our families... friends.. all the beautiful things... and the chance to have it all forever.. and all we have to do is repent and follow the simple rules that He has given us!!!! 

I hope you'll all remember this scripture (and even go read it so you can see how it really goes!) and apply it in your lives. We only have a little time here on the earth, so we need to fill it up with GOOD things instead of the numberless bad things that we have here. I love you all so much and hope that everything is going well in your lives! You should all write me and let me know how you're doing! Have a great week and I'll try to write a big email next week :)

Love,

Elder Moore

Another week gone in my service to the Lord, and with every passing week a little more of me realizes that, one day, this whole adventure that we call a mission ends... 

I can't believe that my buddy Neal is home already! Seems like yesterday we were at Jacob Lake messing around and now he is a returned missionary!! It's so cool, and a little mysterious, how time works! :)

Well, this week was ultimately a sad and challenging one, but still, like every other week, had it's moments of happiness. Unfortunately, we had another two Elders go home this week before their "tithing" to the Lord was paid in full. It was very sad because one of those who went home is my grandson... He is a great guy and a great missionary, but he had some medical problems like a lot of other people do and had to go home. After you take your first couple people to the airport, you know who really wanted to serve a mission and who was just out here to please others at home with the idea of them being on a mission. The good ones are the ones who silently shed a tear and encourage you as their last wish as a missionary to go forth and preach the good word to as many as possible in these sweet, short, wonderful two years that we have. The others laugh, joke, and simply don't seem to mind the fact that they are being taken out of the mission. 

The happiness came when, on Monday evening, I had the chance to have a talk with my GREAT grandson! Elder Jensen. He is a great guy (this is still his first transfer on the mission), and we got to have a nice little conversation while he was in the office. I learned all about him, what he wants to do after the mission (like any of us have a clue anyway...), and how much he loves his family. I've decided here that I really like meeting people for the first time because it gives you the chance to make them like you from the very start and it if you both like each other from the start, you'll have a better relationship in the end! :)

I am reminded of a talk by Jeffery R. Holland (surprise surprise) that he gave about missionaries in a recent address in General Conference basically pleading each and every one of us who is able and worthy to serve a full time mission by this quote... "So I am looking tonight for missionaries who will not voluntarily bind their tongues but will, with the Spirit of the Lord and the power of their priesthood, open their mouths and speak miracles. Such speech, the early brethren taught, would be the means by which faith’s “mightiest works have been, and will be, performed."

He continues on to talk about those who want to serve, but, much to their despair and displeasure, are not able... "We also recognize that there are some who have hoped all their lives to serve missions, but for health reasons or other impediments beyond their control, they cannot do so. We publicly and proudly salute this group. We know of your desires, and we applaud your devotion. You have our love and our admiration. You are “on the team” and you always will be, even as you are honorably excused from full-time service." I too would like to add to this wonderful mans remarks and thank all of you who have served and continue to stay faithful in the one true church of God. Also a shout out to those who have gone out on missions, but have had to be "medically discharged". I love you and thank you so much for your service as I continue in mine. 

Which brings me to the next point for this email...

I want to say this to any and all out there reading... Serving a full time mission IS NOT EASY. It is NOT for the faint of heart and requires more work, emotion, and stamina than you've ever put in to anything else you've ever done in your life. It's not all fun and games. It's hard work, long hours, with very little money. So why do so many young men and women PAY to do it? Because of the conviction we have in our hearts that tells us that it is right. Because of the happiness we feel to be a part of the Church of Jesus Christ and the responsibility we know we have of spreading it to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. Oh yeah, and the enormous blessings that we receive are a pretty big incentive too!!!

I have no regrets about my decision to serve a mission. Not a single one. I honestly believe that it is the single most smartest thing that I've ever done in my life. I've learned marvelous, even priceless, things that I could have ever learned from 2 years at any college and what is even better is that my journey isn't over yet!!! I still have 6 months to do as much as possible and I intend to do just that. 

I love this gospel and hope with all of my heart that the world comes to know of the things that I know and see even half of the miracles that I've seen in my short life. It is my testimony that this is the one and only true church of Jesus Christ and that is it only though the principles and ordinances that we preform with the holy priesthood of God that we will be able to live with our Heavenly Father and families until the end of forever in a state of complete bliss and happiness. Show me someone who says that they don't want that, and I'll show you someone who will have regrets for eternity. 

Love you all. Be safe and continue this good work at home,

- Elder Moore

PS - My regards to the Morris family. It's not easy to lose the ones that we love and are so dear to us, but with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and time, it becomes a little more bearable. The world lost a wonderful daughter of our Heavenly Father, but it would do us all good to remember that it is not forever.  

Well, it's been a while since I've written a long letter... so I thought I'd make up for it now! :) 

This past little while has been pretty rushed and very busy, but I feel that I am nearing the end of my "office missionary" experience! I'll either start training the new Secretary here at the very beginning of December, or the middle of January. Crazy to think that there's only about a month and a half until the year is over and it's 2013! I don't feel like I should be this old! 

Well, once again we had some weird situations that happened here in the mission and a missionary actually ended up getting transferred from out mission to another mission in Brasil because of it! I can't give names or locations, but I can tell you that it was really scary and confusing for a couple days! Good thing we have a great Presidente and a great Area Presidency that helped us out a ton. 

Happy birthday to Tommy (10th) Dad (13th) Elder Venâncio!!!!! (13th and only 2 years younger than tommy :P) Bailey (17th - I can NOT believe that she'll be 3 already!!!!!!!!), and David (20th)!!!!!!!!!!! I love and miss you all so much! Yes, my comps birthday is the same as Dads! So when I celebrate with him, I'll think of you, Dad! :) Love you! But a happy happy birthday to everyone and if you're lucky I'll get you presents next year when I'm home :P. 

Today at church we (my comp and I) had the opportunity to be invited by the primary (a total of about 5 kids) to talk a little bit about missionary work and what they can do now to become future missionaries :). It made me think about my days in the primary and how much I actually learned there. I remember in dallas where i spent most of my primary days and I remember learning things that I've carried with me throughout my entire life (including some pictures and the quad that I still use today). The Church is perfect and I'm so grateful that we have the chance to learn this when we are young. There are many things that we can teach out children when they are young that will not just help them more reverent in church, but much more successful in life itself. Through completing the "Faith in Christ" (I don't know if they still have that) they will learn valuable skills in memorization and learn how to study and work hard. All of which are wonderful things that will greatly benefit them throughout their lives. 

We are working very hard here and I am really feeling, as I start the downward slope of my mission, that my Heavenly Father is pleased with me as His servant. I still have much more to do, but I'm so very proud of this mission and I take great pride in being called to serve here in the Brazil Recife Mission. The best mission in the world. I see missionaries come home and look lost at first, and then always start a story with "well, when I was on my mission....." I am so grateful to have had these experiences that I will share with people about my personal growth for the rest of forever (even though I do fine the "when i was on my mission" part a tad annoying and will be limiting those quotes). I have grown in more ways than I thought possible here and have made a home away from home that I plan on keeping. The people here really are the best, and one of the hardest things for me here on the mission in the hugging rule. It's just part of the culture here for women to great each other with a hug and a kiss on the cheek and men the same (with women.... men don't greet each other in this manner unless they are a little limp in the wrist....). More frequently than not, when making a contact, if it be a women she will usually go in for the hug when leaving and then we have to go through the routine of saying "no I'm a missionary I can't blah blah blah..", but it's really hard with the members because in my ward right now I love all of them so much! The older women look at us like their sons and just love the missionaries so much! It's hard not to hug them after a wonderful lunch and bonding with their family, but it's part of the job I guess! 

Well, to finish up, I love you all so very much. I am doing well. Very well. I am loving life and am just now beginning to realize how big of a blessing it is to serve a mission. You learn things that you never could by just going to college. It's amazing to have these two years to take yourself out of the world, because when you are with family and friends, it's just that much harder to take yourself away from everything and lose yourself..... in the service of the Lord.

With much love, 

Elder Moore 

Que conferência maravilhosa!!!!!


Hello family!!!!!!!!

Everything is going very well here! We've had a couple new problems with
missionaries here in the mission and this time I was more deeply involved
because I knew the situation, but I think (and hope) that it is all
resolved now. Other than that, the time is flying by and I can't believe
that it's October already! It's so awesome that everyone is doing well and
that mom and dad get to be in Hawaii! I got a picture from their hotel room
looking at all the fancy pools and the ocean and I only got a tiny bit
jealous........ hahah :). But I'm doing well and I can honestly say that
I'm the happiest I've ever been in my life right now. Everything seems to
be going wonderful and I am loving the time I have in the service of the
Lord.

This past weekend I hope you all had the opportunity to watch all of the
sessions of General Conference! With each session I watch during my life, I
feel more and more certain that these great men really are servants of God
here to tell us about His will. Everyone spoke very well and I loved all of
the talks, but I did choose a few to write about!

First of all.... I CAN'T BELIEVE THE AGE CHANGED FOR WHEN MISSIONARIES ARE
ALLOWED TO GO ON MISSIONS!!!!!!! I'm sure that this will change many
peoples lives, but I hope that those who are able will start to go at the
new age instead of waiting until they are older. I've heard the mission be
described as "the MTC for life" which it really is. On the mission (if you
keep the rules and try to be your best) you will become who the Lord wants
you to be. I think about my life before the mission and see how childish I
really was. Here, I am trying to let myself be shaped by the hands of the
Grand Master. The hands of He who knows all and knows what is best for us.
If we can have the opportunity at a younger age, it really is a blessing in
the lives of many. I spend many a days as a 17 and 18 year old just wanting
to leave then and not wait until I was 19, and now I am happy that others
will have the chance to do exactly what I wanted.
I hope that the number of Sister missionaries will explode too! I know a
few young women who would always say, "sure, I would go on a mission if I'm
not married by the time I'm 21". But that isn't the case anymore!!! I would
advise anyone who is questioning to go on a mission just to go. Go talk to
the Bishop, start the process, and don't look back! It will be the best
decision you ever choose in your life, and if you doubt it, talk to any RM
and I'm positive that if they "returned with honor" not just on paper, but
really with no regrets and gave everything they could, they will echo my
words.

*The first talk:*
*
*
A talk that really touched me was in the first session on Saturday by on of
our wonderful leaders, Elder Russell M. Nelson. He spoke about preparation
for a mission and how it's not just something you jump into! I believe that
it is for this purpose, as for other purposes of course, that we have the
Seminary program for high school aged students. We need to study the
scriptures and have a testimony BEFORE we venture out on a mission. You
WILL encounter people who only want to dispute a passage in the Bible with
you, or tell you that the Book of Mormon isn't true, or tell you that you
are wasting your time and you should leave this church and go home, and
without a firm testimony....some will be shaken and fall away from the path
that leads to eternal life.

He then explained, very well I might add, a TON of the questions that we
missionaries get asked every single day. Let's face it... people usually
recognize us by the missionaries and they have questions! Usually about the
Book of Mormon, what we believe, and then once they see we are normal
people and not devil worshipers they usually feel comfortable enough with
us to ask us about some absurd rumor they heard. I heard all of the
questions that Elder Nelson answered and realized that those questions and
the ones I've gotten the most on my mission!

Then he said something that I think left all the missionaries in the world
a little pensive. He said something to the point of "Ask the missionaries
because they can help you!" (I watched this session in Portuguese so I'm
not sure exactly what he said....sorry!). These simple words made me think
for a minute... I don't know everything by any means, but from the time
I've spend on the mission, I really do know a lot more than I did before
the mission in all aspects of life! My job right now is to help people with
everything and anything they need, so, yes, I warmly welcome any cry for
help, any words asking for me to help someone who is in need. This is the
job of over 50,000 missionaries all over the world, and I would like to
think that any and every single one of them is able and willing to answer
that cry when it comes.


*The second talk:*
The talk by Elder Neil L. Andersen reminded me a LOT of the talk giving and
quoted endlessly of "The Refiners Fire". To me the talk was very brief and
could have been much longer, but I think that is just because I enjoyed it
so much. He spoke about all the trials that we will encounter in life, but
at the same time made me understand that trails really are a good thing.
The most righteous of the Church get tried the most because Satan wants
them as his own. So, when we see trails in our lives we need to recognize
that we must be doing something right! We are given the blessings of trails
so that we can learn and grow through them. Without trials, we are nothing.
We have no growth. No learning. That is a lesson that we all need to learn
so that instead of complaining and asking God why this is happening to us,
we will thank Him for this chance that we have received to grow and
strengthen ourselves and our testimonies.

This is a great lesson that everyone needs to be taught before we will
really progress in this life.


*Number three:*
The whole Priesthood session. It was absolutely amazing. I got kind of a
more missionary theme this year. It makes me proud to be a missionary and
servant of Jesus Christ when His spokespeople openly thank the missionaries
for all that they do. It really isn't a easy thing to do, but it is the
most worthwhile.

I especially liked President Monson's talk about seeing people as how they
could be and not necessarily how they are right now. This is a great lesson
not just to those who are preparing to serve missions, but to everyone
everywhere. We are all sons and daughters of a Heavenly Father and no
matter what you think, He *does* love us all equally. He doesn't see rich
or poor, smart or dumb, outgoing or shy. He sees us for who we are and what
we can become. He knows we will sin and He loves us so much and wants us
back with Him so bad that He let His only begotten Son die for us.... our
Brother Jesus Christ. The least we can do is love Him who gave us
everything and also be civilized to one another and help someone out any
chance we get... and what a coincidence because that right there is the
only thing that He asks of us. We all have room to become a little more
Christlike and see others as how they could be if they had more
opportunities in live. You could be that opportunity. You could be that
blessing.



*Last but certainly not least:*
The last talk that I want to comment on is by my favorite speaker, Elder
Jeffery R. Holland. He made me think a lot this past weekend..... I never
really thought how the feelings of the 11 apostles would be after the death
of their best friend and master Jesus. He points out the story about Peter
and what could be the reasoning behind the same question spoken 3 times by
the Son of men. I never thought about it in that way before, but it
curiously does make a lot of sense when you think about all that happened
and how Peter had denied even *knowing *the Savior three times a few short
days earlier...

I know that not everything that Jesus told the disciples to do applies to
us, but for me I believe that I need to apply what He said when He told
them to leave what they had and to follow Him doing good to all mankind. We
do this during a mission, but think is also a life lesson. We need to
always love the Lord our God and keep the covenants that we make, but also
respect Him by doing to simple things He asks us to do.

Within the question, "Do/did you love Me", lies much more than just love.
It requires us to follow Him with this love and to honor and cherish His
name and the things that He did. We must strive to be perfect even as He
is. We must love one another as He did. So that in the last day if we hear
those 4 short words, "did you love Me", we will be able to respond in the
affirmative.

Elder Holland said something that is so very true at the end of his talk.
He said that, "...the crowning characteristic of love is loyalty." I had
never thought about it like that before. But i agree with him 100%.




Well, that's that! Those were some of my favorites that really stuck in my
head. My prayer after this conference is that by the next conference we
have a looottttt more missionaries that we did this past April. I challenge
all of you to further study these talks that were given in more detail and
you will learn more than you thought possible. I love all of you and wish
you all the best in the many endeavors and trials we face every day.

Love,

Elder Moore

Favorite General Conference Talks April 2012 Conference

The first, is the talk by one of my favorite speakers (and almost all missionaries favorite speaker) Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. His talk spoke to me and I understood a lot because of the scripture study that Ive have had the priviledge of doing! I actually studied the parabol that he spoke about not too long ago, and he helped me increase in my knowledge and understanding of this marvolous teaching story. The parabol of  The Laborers in the Vineyard. I got to thinking when i was reading this passage and at first, like Elder Holland states, it is natural to think of the Master as injust and honestly, kind of a jerk! But then when you ponder about this story, you can feel the wisdom and power - the justice and mercy in the Masters decision to give all of the Laborers the same wage at the end of the day. 

We need to think about this in our everyday lives. If we do, we will become far more greatful and start to appreciate the things that we have even more. At first when we think about our lives, we might see ourselves as the laborer who got chosen at the very first of the day. The laborers who are most likely the most physicaly fit, and able to do the jobs, as those are the people that would most likely get picked by the foreman who is looking for some workers and not just some kids to stand around all day. They will be looking for men who are probably looking a little on the rough side, but that they know have the strength and ability to work throughout the day in the hot sun and get the job done, and do it well. This we might think, is us, but sometimes, we need to look in the mirror more than once before we can really tell what we look like. 

If we see ourselves as this person, great! There is nothing bad about that, other than the fact that we might be a little more toward the PROUD side and scooting a little farther away from the HUMILITY side... and that is something that we can not afford to do. We should be willing to be the first pick and have the strength to do the hard work throughout the day (or our lives) but we should not see ourselves as the best and be upset if we ARENT the ones who get picked first. 

There are a couple more explanations about the other workers who got chosen to work that day, but i just want to focos on the two extremes. The first to get picked, and the last to get picked. The last to get picked had probably been waiting there all day, tired as heck, and just wanted to go home. But, they stayed to see if there was any possible way to get chosen and maybe make a little money for the day so that they could feed themselves, or maybe the family that is waiting at home. The finally chosen worked the rest of the day probably to their full potential and were tired from not a full days work, but work nonetheless. 

Then came the sweet part of the story that we all need to learn from, the Master came out. The master lined all of the tired and wornout workers up and then to all of their surprise, gave them all the full days amount of pay. Now this is the part of the story that we can take things differently from. If we are more towards that pride side, we might think, "hey! i worked all day, and these other guys just worked a couple hours!!! How the heck is this fair that they get the same amount as me?" Or from the other side of the road, "Woah, this must be some kind of mistake, I only worked a couple hours, but recieved a full days pay, what a blessing." I can imagine some tears rolling down some cheeks as the tired men who only worked a couple hours reveived more than they ever hoped for. They would be able to eat/feed their families. They could go home feeling good and satisfied. Probably even a little confused still as to why they recieved such a blessing in their lives. 

We know that these questions were asked and it was disputed as to why everyone got the same amount of money, the Master had one of the best responces that he could have given........“My friends, I am not being unfair to you. You agreed on the wage for the day, a good wage. You were very happy to get the work, and I am very happy with the way you served. You are paid in full. Take your pay and enjoy the blessing. As for the others, surely I am free to do what I like with my own money.”.............how awesome was his love and compassion on everyone! And better yet, was he not 100% right? It surely WAS his money, his gift, to give to any and all that he saw worthy. What mercy and what a lesson that we have to learn from this glorious man! 

I feel like this talk stuck out directly to me and i applied it directly to myself. Even if i didnt work that much and got to the field a little late, it is always up to the Lord to decide what blessings he will give, and when he will give them, to his children (workers). I know that I am not the best person in the world and that I have definitley done my fair share of wrong things in this world, but im trying to be better. Im trying to get to the field when my Lord and Master chose me and now I am ready and willing to work my hardest until the days end, but I know that our Lord is a merciful one and he will give the same gift to all men who work their hardest for him. It does not matter who we are, where we are, or what the circumstances, we can start now. We can offer ourselves up to the Lord so that we can be his workers. His laborers. We can work our hardest, and I dont think we can EVER do too much. At the close of the day, or of our lives, I suspect that while looking back on our lives, none of us will be expecting the wonderful and great things that lay in store for those who work with all of their might to share this work and build up the Lords kingdom. I want those blessings. I want to be worthy of those blessings. I love this work so much.

It is for this that I am on my mission. So that I can share what I KNOW to be true with as many people as I can. As often as I can. And I do know this work and this Church to be the one and only true church of God. Jesus Christ personally reigns as King and Ruler over this church and it is only through him and revelation that we know what we are supposed to do so that we can be worthy of those great gifts that are waiting to be seized by us. 

I love you all. I love this work. I love the Lord, and I wish you all the best,

Com amor,

Elder Moore

Olá família que eu adoro!!!!!!!

      I haven't gotten any terrible news from anyone, so i assume everything is fine with all of you! I realized that it's been a little while since I've sent another big letter, so prepare yourself because here it comes!!!!!!!

      Let's see... so incredibly much has happened from the last time I wrote, but my head is going crazy and I can't remember when anything happens, so this is in so specific order! A little bit after the transfer, Presidente called Elder Venâncio and I into his office to talk with us. He explained that he would be doing an emergency transfer and that he was going to put an Elder with us for a while... I'm not gonna lie... we didn't enjoy this idea very much! Usually when this happens it's because someone is going home and we immediately got sad and worried. We spent that night conversing about what might have happened and how we could help the Elder, but neither of us knew him very well. We got the Elder the next day and he was normal! He was acting normal as if it was just another area with another companion. I learned a lot that week. About the atonement, about this Elder (even some things that I really didn't want to ever know..), but also a lot about myself. I won't go into any details, but the Elder went home 4 days later. I learned some very valuable lessons that I hope to carry with me throughout my life. I learned how important it is to feel grief and sorrow and sometimes even humility for the things that we do wrong. It is through these feelings that we know the Spirit has left us because of something we, not He, has done wrong. It is through these feelings that we grow. It is when these feelings leave us that we can start to feel the Spirit of the Lord fall upon us again. If we never feel these things, we never had the Spirit in the first place... 

      So after that experience I felt more mature and now I'm even a little more informed on how the church works and how every consequence is for our own good. I'm so grateful for that. I know that I already told dad this, but I think one of the best feelings here on the mission is when you see people you baptize progress and keep firm in the faith. You watch them as their Spirit grows and gets strengthened. It is an absolute blessing to be here and for me to be able to witness and be a part of the things I'm seeing happen in the world. My faith gets strengthened every day that miracles are real and all we need to do is open our eyes if we want to see them. 

      I learned something the other day that I had never really thought about before. We, as members of the Church, all know that we have free agency and that it is the only thing that is really ours. Our Heavenly Father has this earth and everything on it, but we have our free agency. That is something He gave us that no one can take from us without our will, right? So with this law being that Heavenly Father cannot make us do things, but rather has to wait for us to choose the right, the same applies for blessings. WE have to choose the right. We have to know what's right. But also, we have to ask for the blessings that we need. We need to ask so that Heavenly Father knows that we are inviting Him to step in and help us out a little bit. The same principle that applies when we are looking for an answer for if something is true or not. We always have to ask. I use the following example a lot here:

You go into a supermarket to buy 3 things: bread, ice cream, and flour. You look for about 10 minutes but realize that in this huge supermarket you're never going to find it by yourself. You decide that you need help. So you find someone who works at the store and start to talk to them. You say, "I came here for 3 things, where are they?" But this will not help at all. You will be in the same spot that you were when you walked into the store. The worker will need to know what 3 things you are looking for before he can help you. The same applies with the principle of prayer and asking for answers/blessings. We need to ask specifically for the things that we are in need of, or else we run the risk of not allowing our Heavenly Father to give us the blessings that He is so willing and ready to give. There are many ways to branch this parable out into other sections of the gospel, but I'll leave it at that for now. :) 

      So just remember that lesson for this week and know that if we really are in need, and we ask specifically, He will not leave us alone. There is always a way to accomplish the things which He commandeth us. 

      This past P-Day (Saturday for me) was pretty cool! We were walking around trying to think of where would have the coolest stuff for the cheapest price, and we ran into Fernando Leite! He is a buddy of mine from my 2nd area (Torreão)! He started talking to us and asked if we had eaten yet. I didn't want to lie, so I told him we were going to go eat right then. He replyed saying Oh good! That means I can pay for you! I miss you eating at our house, so I'll give you lunch right now! We were right by the mall, so he took us to the food court and bought us lunch! I really miss him and his family a lot. They are such wonderful people with such good standards! We talked a ton that day about missions, life, after the mission, and everything in between. It was really nice to see him again and I'm greatful for the hand of the Lord in my life. It seems as if He always puts people there right when i need them. 

Hello beloved family! 

Well, it's that time of the mission again! Transfer day! Can you believe that I've been in the office for 6 months now? Ever since the beginning of March... Seems like that was forever ago, but at the same time it doesn't seem like too long ago! Well, Elder Berg was finally transfered after training Elder Venâncio to be the new Executive Secretary, so now it's just Elder Venâncio and I as the Secretaries. I have a feeling that Venâncio is gonna be here for a long time....it's probable that he will take me to the airport! Weird. Well now that I've known him for 6 weeks, I love him! He is such a great guy. He speaks english pretty well. He is 26 years old (he'll turn 27 in November). And he is a lawyer! Cool huh? I'm learning so much with him and we are having a great time together. We had the baptism of Anelise saturday night and she got confirmed yesterday. She is amazing and what every missionary is looking for. She is from Rio Grande do Sul (the very south of Brasil) and her accent is waaayyy awesome. I've known quite a few people from the south and their accents are waayyy cooler than those of here in the North East. The roll their r's a ton and it's just cool. She is an English teacher here and I'm going to go to her class this Saturday and help out. It's fun going to english classes, but most of the time I just end up answering all the questions in portuguese. It's pretty much the same thing as the first couple weeks in the MTC. People are speaking a different language that you've never really heard before and you can pick out a word here and there, but you're too focused on the words to actually hear what the person is talking about. That is the experience that I usually have when I go to english classes here and speak english!  

Things are going well here. The audit is over and I am much more relaxed and happy :). I have a couple big projects that I made for myself if I ever get done with all the other things I have to do, so I am always super busy. It's crazy how fast the time goes by when you're way busy. Well one of my really best friends here (Sister Concha) is going home tomorrow! It's so sad when people go home. Also, when I started the mission in Barão de Nazaré, I lived with two other missionaries other than my comp.... well one of the other guys went home last october and the other is going home tomorow, too! My dad (Elder Pires) starts his last transfer today... Everyone I know is going home and it's so crazy! My buddy Neal will be home in October! I know a lot of people who will get home this year and at the beginning of next year. It's so crazy the snowball effect that time has during the mission. Starts off slow, but before you know it you can never get that time back.. 

Everything is good here. We are being blessed immensly in the work. We are having a TON of success and I love the ward to bits. I cut my own hair Saturday night! I tend to do that a lot now. It's kind of fun and I don't think it looks too terrible! I even blended the sides by myself and everything! I hope you're proud :)

I hope you all are seeing the blessings in your lives from being a part of Christ's church here on the earth. It's still amazing to me to think that He left this fragile thing in our hands. He started something 2000+ years ago when He was here. He started the most perfect organization to ever exist on the earth! Unfortunatley and fortunatly, He gave his life for our sins, and then mean people killed a lot of His followers. I'm so glad that I live in this time when we have the Church of Jesus Christ upon the earth again. I wonder sometimes about how hopeless some people must have felt during the Dark Ages searching and looking and waiting....but the truth wasn't here. It was inevitable that they wouldn't find a true church, a perfect church. But lucky for us, we are here in this day and age and have the blessing of knowing of the true Church!!!!! Now what do we have to do with this knowledge? SHARE IT!!!!! I've learned that if we will share it, we will know of it more fully and have a deeper love for it. We will understand it better, and through that, be more proficient teachers. I hope that you will all start (if you haven't aleady) taking EVERY single opportunity to talk to people about the church. You don't have to be pushy about it. I'm POSITIVE that others will volunteraly come up and ask you about this, sometimes, mysterious church that you belong to. I love opportunitys like this because most of the time when this happens, the person has already senced a difference in the church and in you. There is a cool thing about worthiness. There is no 100% for worthiness. You just keep getting worthier and worthier and worthier! The more worthy you are, the brigher you will shine, and the more light you have, the easier it will be for people to see the diference between you and their other co-workers or friends. So study, pray, follow the comandments, expulse those bad thoughts from your minds, and get some more light in your eyes! :) 

Love you all, 

Elder Moore

Yay! I'm happy Sis Dayhuff got the package from a long time ago.

I'll be waiting on the package!

My comp/comps names are Elder Berg and Elder (get ready for it) Venâncio! I got a new comp today (it's the transfer today). Elder Berg is going to train him on how to be the secretary for the mission during this transfer and then it will be me and Venâncio for a while.

Elder Berg is from Santa Caterina, Brasil and is way cool. He lived in the States for 2 years before the mission studying. He has about a year and a half on the mission and will go home in January.

Elder Venâncio is from Santos, São Paulo and is cool too. I don't really know anything about him yet because I've known him for about 2 hours now, but I like him! He is outgoing and funny. He is also like 26 or 27 years old. Cool, huh?

The area is good. We aren't teaching a TON of people, but we have a promising young lady (23 years old). Her name is Anna Claudia and is way cool. She has been to church like 3 times and I like her! We are teaching her aunt too.

I try to eat properly, but i usually eat stuff on the run and it ends up being bad food.. that's why i wanted the vitamins! Yes, it is the ocean you see from my apt picture!

I MISS THE OLYMPICS! I wanna watch..

Pday is usually a sleep day.. and go grocery shopping! But we didn't go grocery shopping last week, so we'll do that today with our new comp!

Love you mom. So very much. I had a really rough week this past week, but I found a talk as a responce to a bunch of questions that I had. I'm so greatful for the tender mercys of the Lord that come through his servants! Thank you for all you've taught me and done for me. I also became a grandpa today... my kid (Elder Dias) is training finally so i just turned into a grandpa! The family line lives on in the Brasil Recife Mission! Whoop!

Love you,
Elder Moore

MOOOMMMMMYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY.

Have I told you lately that I love you? I don't think I have... I LOVE YOU :) So happy you are home and I can talk to you again now!

YOU LIKED HAGGIS?! Eww...

I bought oranges the other day...they were not good. It's funny, the best fruit I've eaten here has either been when i buy it off the street, or pick it off the tree, the supermarkets never really have that great of fruit! Much the opposite of the US..

I'm so happy that you had such a great time!

You didn't find Nessy? :( That's sad...just as long as you know that SHE EXISTS!

We've baptized for 3 weeks in row now! I think the roll might be halted a little bit though because we switched areas.. we got to mark 2 or 3 more baptisms for our other area right before we left, but now it is just the assistants area...and they don't work all that much in the area, so i'm scared for my people! I hope they continue on and get baptized like they know they should! It would have been cool to stay there and baptize 5 or 6 weeks in a row, but I guess there are people in the Recife ward that need our help now! As a matter of fact I know there are because we baptized a girl this past saturday in the Recife ward. She is awesome. Here is an easy name for y'all.. Rebecca! haha she is a great girl (23 years old) and came to live with her aunt a little while ago (her aunt is a member). She had some great experiences and received a power answer to her question about the church and baptism!

It's cool to be in the Brazil Recife mission...in the Recife stake...in the Recife ward... :) not many people get to do that! The ward is great and is a very "old" ward. Meaning that the members have been members for a long time and are very solid and faithful in the faith. It also means that we are gonna have to work extra hard to gain their trust.. but that's okay. I'm giving a talk next week on the Book of Mormon! :)

That is about it!

Thoughts from the Mission.

What an amazing life we have to live...

This really is an amazing life that we live and we are so lucky to have the privledge of being here on the earth! We have a body! That in and of itself is amazing. Our Heavenly Father let us come here to get a body so that we could take that step to becoming like he is! He also gave us the Holy Ghost so that we can know when we are doing right things and wrong things. I love teaching that to people and seeing their reactions! It's almost always different reactions and you really get to learn about people by how they react in certain situations!

This past while has been wonderful. So incredibly wonderful. I've been experiencing the tender mercies of the Lord and He has been helping me grow and mature in my spirituality. I'm so blessed and grateful for the blessings my Father in Heaven gives me. We are forever in His debt. That is one thing that I learned a long time ago, but has been reenforced here on the mission. We can try to repay Him by doing what is right and helping others as much as possible, but every time we do that, He will just keep piling on the blessings. That's why the most successful missionaires are the ones you see always serving, loving, teaching, and helping. Plus through all that service and love, you just become a happy person in general!

I had this opportunity this past Sunday to give a talk in our new ward! It was the second sunday that we had been there and I consider myself lucky because I got to speak alongside a general athority! Elder Granja (a new area seventy) was speaking and the Bishop has asked me the previous week to talk on the subject of....THE BOOK OF MORMON! What a great thing to talk about! Plus it's easy to talk for 15 minutes about the Book of Mormon so I didn't have to worry about finding a bunch of material :). Well I had a very sacred experience that happened because of that talk that I will not share in here, but I'm positive will share with people throughout my life when the Spirit of the Lord prompts me to. Let's just say that it was the most blantant answer from my Heavenly Father that I've ever had. It was just in the nick of time and I will be eternally grateful for it. It was like a steroid for my testimony and I have been so incredibly happy ever since.

This past monday we had the start of a new transfer and... I have a new companion! Elder Berg (my old companion) will be training a new secretary to take his spot here in 5 weeks so I'm in a trio now. His name is Elder Venâncio and is from Santos, São Paulo. He is a great Elder and has 7 months on the mission. He is very funny and we are getting along great. I'm so lucky to have such great luck with companions! Most...actually all of them have turned out to be my best friends. Elder Pires, Elder Dias, Elder Batschi, Elder Berg, and now Elder Venâncio. I'm so blessed once again and I'm so lucky to have had these great companions to go forth and share the good word of Christ.

As you guys know, I've been excited to serve a mission for a while, but i never in a million years would have guessed what lay in store for me. I have a testimony that gets strenghtened every day that missionaries really are called by God and that they go EXACTLY where the Lord needs them and they have the exact Presidente that they need during their service. That is something new that I learned during the mission. Of course you are going to help everyone you share your message with and you'll grow by yourself, but your Mission President is such a huge factor in your mission! He molds you and I am so greatful to have President Lanius and to have been so close to him for these past 5 months or so. I learn more about life and the Gospel every time I'm with him and he is a huge role model in my life. I will try to keep in touch with him forever and I wish you guys could meet him one day. He is a great man with such an amazing spirit and knowledge. I love him and his example.

I'm so greatful for y'all (family) and the friends who write to me and support me. It means so much to hear from people back home who let you know that they are proud of you and help you through the hard times...yup, the hard times, while a mission is one of the best things someone could do in their life, it is incredibly hard and you feel helpless and overwhelmed at times. It's in these moments that you grow. It's through the refiners fire that we become purified and sanctified. I've been through it time and time again and I know that I will continue to pass through it, because I'm not perfect...not even close. I will always learn and always better myself. That is pretty much the message that we get through the scriptures about repentence and enduring to the end, so I take it that if we are better tomorrow then we are today, we are on the right path. But by chance if we regress in life, we still have that knowledge of where we were once and that should be able to give us the drive to continue on until we pass that peak that we were at before. Always aim to be better, always aim for perfection.

So, I just want you all to know how much I love this Church and how greatful I am for my Saviour Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice. For any out there who are wondering why I'm on a mission, it's because I know this Church to be the Church of Jesus Christ that was reesablished by Him in our days so that we can prepare for His coming and help others do the same. That is my purpose right now, to teach others about what I came to know was true as a silly, pensative, a little lost, 16 year old boy. I received an answer at the exact time that I needed to, and I will remember those feelings and that answer forever. I have a love for missionary work and sharing this Gospel with those who don't know of it yet, or those who knew of it once, but lost that vision. I know that we always have two choices. We can choose the right and repent and become better ever day, following Christ...OR we can choose the easy way, the fun way, even the carefree way, and eventually end up regreting entirely the choices that we've made, ye even the choice we made to follow the Devil down to his kingdom.

Christ and our Father in Heaven love us and want us to be happy forever, and the only thing they ask is that we follow the things that they've told us to do. It's not too hard. Sometimes the adversary makes you think it is, but it really isn't.

I love you all and am so happy to be here on the mission. Please pray for those who have lost sight of the path or are searching for it for the first time. Prayers are answered and throught them miricales come to pass.

- Elder Moore

I bought oranges the other day...they were not good. It's funny, the best fruit I've eaten here has either been when i buy it off the street, or pick it off the tree, the supermarkets never really have that great of fruit! Much the opposite of the US..

We've baptized for 3 weeks in row now! I think the roll might be halted a little bit though because we switched areas.. we got to mark 2 or 3 more baptisms for our other area right before we left, but now it is just the assistants area...and they don't work all that much in the area, so i'm scared for my people! I hope they continue on and get baptized like they know they should! It would have been cool to stay there and baptize 5 or 6 weeks in a row, but I guess there are people in the Recife ward that need our help now! As a matter of fact I know there are because we baptized a girl this past saturday in the Recife ward. She is awesome. Here is an easy name for y'all.. Rebecca! haha she is a great girl (23 years old) and came to live with her aunt a little while ago (her aunt is a member). She had some great experiences and received a power answer to her question about the church and baptism!

It's cool to be in the Brazil Recife mission...in the Recife stake...in the Recife ward... :) not many people get to do that! The ward is great and is a very "old" ward. Meaning that the members have been members for a long time and are very solid and faithful in the faith. It also means that we are gonna have to work extra hard to gain their trust.. but that's okay. I'm giving a talk next week on the Book of Mormon! :)

That is about it!

Also, could you let people know (maybe post on the blog if i still have one..) that the address of the office is changing? It will be the following now:

Elder Peter Moore
Rua das Ninfas 30
Boa Vista - Recife - PE
50070-050
Brasil

Thanks so much,

Elder Moore

Life is pretty dang great! Just a little hot.. :)

English class is going...normal haha. It's usually just youth but sometimes we have some adults show up out of the blue. We have 3 baptisms marked for this week and next, and should mark another man for baptism for in a few weeks. This weekend we are going to have the baptism of a mom and her son (the rest of the family are members...we just had to wait for her "husband" to either make it legal or leave...he left...he is a drunk). And next week we will have the baptism of a man who is very very special, but rather quirky :) I like him a lot.

The work is going well, but I'm still just waiting till I can do it all day every day. The location of the office is going to move here in a couple weeks I think. With that, I've proposed to the President that the Secretaries (My comp and I) should switch areas in order to be within 5 minutes (walking) of the new office and it would be much for effective. He loved the idea and said that we will do it. So I will be moving to a different area (President is also going to call a new Secretary in place of my comp at the transfer in a couple of weeks too) with a new comp! Woo hoo! I like changes. I've been in this Stake before, too. So I'll get to see some of the people from one of my old areas (Torreão) again! I've missed them alot, but this ward (Pina) has become like a home to me.

I don't know if I've told you much about the happenings of the mission here (and for that I am sorry) but a few weeks ago Presidente sat the 2 secretaries and 2 assistants down in his office and we had a little council. He said that he wanted to call 2 more assistants to help out give trainings, so we helped him choose the two missionaries for their new duties. So now we have 4 assistants. We all know that the mission need to baptize waaayyy more than we are now, so hopefully with these 2 new assistants, we can give out more trainings faster to help motivate and excite the Elders. That is the purpose anyway!

Did I ever write to y'all about the mission tour with Elder Godoy? It must have been about 3 weeks ago.. I'm not sure if I said anything, so just let me know if I didn't and I will give you a full account on that! It was very very good, and as a result of some things that he said, the mission has been changing a lot of things...for the better :)

The secretaries of the mission (My comp and I) make a little newspaper like thing on Powerpoint every week to send out to all the missionaries so that they can see what's going on the mission and it has how many baptisms we had that week and fun little things like that. It also has a spot in there for whatever I need to say about money and what Sister and President have to say.

Sorry I've been awful at writing this past.....what... 4 months or so? haha but I'll repent and improve :) I like the new assistant that lives with us a lot (Matthews...the one that replaced Hocker) and hope to keep in contact with him after the mission. He is an extremely great guy and everyone just loves him to death! Maybe y'all will get to meet him one day.

Well, ask me more questions! I hope this made you happy though! I think it's been a while since y'all have gotten a big email from me :)

I love this work so much and it's scary to think i've been out for a year and a month now... time is going by incredibly quick and it makes me appreciate all the time that I have. Remember that we don't have much time on the earth after all. So always tell your loved ones how much you love and care for them. Never let anything go unspoken! - No Regrets -

Love y'all!
- Elder Moore

I think you should just discontinue the blog haha. At least for now... I do the same thing every day and don't really have much to say! I'm being a good boy/missionary and working a lot. Pretty stressed out all the time, but I know the Lord is blessing you and me for this service. Plus, it's kind of the least I could do since he kind of gave his son so that I can have happiness forever.

That's way cool that we have a new bishopric!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ABBY!

Love you all,

Elder Moore

ol! 

I got a picture from dad about jared 5th birthday party! How cool. It is weird to have conversations and stuff with him? I will always think about him as a little  kid. Looks like he is definitely a barker and michael is definitely a moore. That is cool though. It will be fun to watch them grow up. 

Well, it isnt really restaurants every day like you are thinking of that we eat at. It is more of like a little diner or something that they have in the states. It isnt really good food at all, and it is about 10 reais. BUT. We found this all you can eat place that is a little further and a LOT more money (after a drink it is about 30 reais) so we went there a couple times and it is delicious! They have a ton of sushi and then all the traditional Brazilian food. it is so good though! we just cant go very often because it is so expensive! 

Yay shoes! I am so happy that i am getting those (You will see why in about 2 weeks)

We have zone conferences every other transfer so about once every 3 months. We actually have the zone conferences this week! But we split it up into two days and there are half of the zones in one and the other half....in the other day! 

 

Well, that is about it for now. Talk to you next week (then in person in 2 weeks)

- Elder Moore

I will NOT be 20 tomorrow. I refuse to give up being a teenager.

We dont get that much tyme to teach because we are in the office a ton. Things are pretty busy and Im having to deal with a bunch of junk right now. Another Elder whent home yesterday. He only had 3 more months to go on the mission and his daddy got really sick so he had to go home early.

The assistants baptized this past saturday. **Side Note** the assistants and the secretarys have the SAME area. Its not split, so we kind of all teach everyone. So when i say the assistants had a baptism, I got to take part (even though it was just a little part) in teaching and helping the young lady progress. She is 24 and her name is Carmilita :). I like her! And she has two brothers that we will continue to help and teach!

Did you know that we teach an english class every friday night? It is pretty cool.



- Elder Moore

Favorite General Conference Talks April 2012 Conference

The first, is the talk by one of my favorite speakers (and almost all missionaries favorite speaker) Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. His talk spoke to me and I understood a lot because of the scripture study that Ive have had the priviledge of doing! I actually studied the parabol that he spoke about not too long ago, and he helped me increase in my knowledge and understanding of this marvolous teaching story. The parabol of  The Laborers in the Vineyard. I got to thinking when i was reading this passage and at first, like Elder Holland states, it is natural to think of the Master as injust and honestly, kind of a jerk! But then when you ponder about this story, you can feel the wisdom and power - the justice and mercy in the Masters decision to give all of the Laborers the same wage at the end of the day. 

We need to think about this in our everyday lives. If we do, we will become far more greatful and start to appreciate the things that we have even more. At first when we think about our lives, we might see ourselves as the laborer who got chosen at the very first of the day. The laborers who are most likely the most physicaly fit, and able to do the jobs, as those are the people that would most likely get picked by the foreman who is looking for some workers and not just some kids to stand around all day. They will be looking for men who are probably looking a little on the rough side, but that they know have the strength and ability to work throughout the day in the hot sun and get the job done, and do it well. This we might think, is us, but sometimes, we need to look in the mirror more than once before we can really tell what we look like. 

If we see ourselves as this person, great! There is nothing bad about that, other than the fact that we might be a little more toward the PROUD side and scooting a little farther away from the HUMILITY side... and that is something that we can not afford to do. We should be willing to be the first pick and have the strength to do the hard work throughout the day (or our lives) but we should not see ourselves as the best and be upset if we ARENT the ones who get picked first. 

There are a couple more explanations about the other workers who got chosen to work that day, but i just want to focos on the two extremes. The first to get picked, and the last to get picked. The last to get picked had probably been waiting there all day, tired as heck, and just wanted to go home. But, they stayed to see if there was any possible way to get chosen and maybe make a little money for the day so that they could feed themselves, or maybe the family that is waiting at home. The finally chosen worked the rest of the day probably to their full potential and were tired from not a full days work, but work nonetheless. 

Then came the sweet part of the story that we all need to learn from, the Master came out. The master lined all of the tired and wornout workers up and then to all of their surprise, gave them all the full days amount of pay. Now this is the part of the story that we can take things differently from. If we are more towards that pride side, we might think, "hey! i worked all day, and these other guys just worked a couple hours!!! How the heck is this fair that they get the same amount as me?" Or from the other side of the road, "Woah, this must be some kind of mistake, I only worked a couple hours, but recieved a full days pay, what a blessing." I can imagine some tears rolling down some cheeks as the tired men who only worked a couple hours reveived more than they ever hoped for. They would be able to eat/feed their families. They could go home feeling good and satisfied. Probably even a little confused still as to why they recieved such a blessing in their lives. 

We know that these questions were asked and it was disputed as to why everyone got the same amount of money, the Master had one of the best responces that he could have given........“My friends, I am not being unfair to you. You agreed on the wage for the day, a good wage. You were very happy to get the work, and I am very happy with the way you served. You are paid in full. Take your pay and enjoy the blessing. As for the others, surely I am free to do what I like with my own money.”.............how awesome was his love and compassion on everyone! And better yet, was he not 100% right? It surely WAS his money, his gift, to give to any and all that he saw worthy. What mercy and what a lesson that we have to learn from this glorious man! 

I feel like this talk stuck out directly to me and i applied it directly to myself. Even if i didnt work that much and got to the field a little late, it is always up to the Lord to decide what blessings he will give, and when he will give them, to his children (workers). I know that I am not the best person in the world and that I have definitley done my fair share of wrong things in this world, but im trying to be better. Im trying to get to the field when my Lord and Master chose me and now I am ready and willing to work my hardest until the days end, but I know that our Lord is a merciful one and he will give the same gift to all men who work their hardest for him. It does not matter who we are, where we are, or what the circumstances, we can start now. We can offer ourselves up to the Lord so that we can be his workers. His laborers. We can work our hardest, and I dont think we can EVER do too much. At the close of the day, or of our lives, I suspect that while looking back on our lives, none of us will be expecting the wonderful and great things that lay in store for those who work with all of their might to share this work and build up the Lords kingdom. I want those blessings. I want to be worthy of those blessings. I love this work so much.

It is for this that I am on my mission. So that I can share what I KNOW to be true with as many people as I can. As often as I can. And I do know this work and this Church to be the one and only true church of God. Jesus Christ personally reigns as King and Ruler over this church and it is only through him and revelation that we know what we are supposed to do so that we can be worthy of those great gifts that are waiting to be seized by us. 

I love you all. I love this work. I love the Lord, and I wish you all the best,

Com amor,

Elder Moore

April 2nd, 2012

What a week!

Well, not too much happened this week, but then the end of the week was spectacular!!!! I love General Conference so much and I am so glad that I got to watch it! Also, Im so glad that I am a member of this church and have the knowledge of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

I loved a ton of talks a lot but I did however have some favorites! I think i will write another email later saying which talks are my favorites and why they are! Yup, i will devote a whole email to that. Sounds good! :)

I want to meet these guys that helped Dad come to know of the Gospel!! Man.. 

Im so jealous that you guys got to go to conference! I kept thinking that whole time "My mommy and daddy are there... :)" and im pretty sure that i said that to some people as well.. :)

As for today, the transfer was today! As you will find out, i will stay in the office for the next 6-9 months... so im not really gonna have any new news about switching areas for a while until presidente switches the areas of the assistants/secretary's! I will however get another companion here in another couple months or so! I think i will say with Elder Berg for this transfer and then he will train a new secretary to take his spot, then me and the other secretary will be together for a good time! 

So what were some of your favorite talks? How was it to be in the room with all of those powerful souls?! Did you just cry your little heart out? 

I havent given up on my goal that i made 6 months ago to be in MOTAB one day! Listening to them these past couple days has just strengthened that desire!

Well, I love you so much!

Com amor,

March 27 2012

Que confusão de uma semana!

Im so jealous that you guys are going to conference! but i think that i will get to watch it in english this time! im so excited!!! Im sure i will get to see all 5 sessions. Im so happy that it is only  a week away!

well a normal day we get to the office at 9, i do a whole bunch on stuff (everything on a computer) and then we leave at about 6:30 or 7. Im actually back in Torreão (the area that i was in before being a secretary) because a missionary had pneumonia and he got out of the hospital after being in there for 9 days last week and im his companion/mother right now :) haha

so we dont really get to work that much at night for now because he is still recuperating from everything. Poor guy. His name is elder moat and he is still in his first transfer here in Recife. He doesnt really speak anything of portuguese and it pretty shy. but that is okay because we are helping him come out of his shell! i like him a lot and it will be cool to see him grow in his relationships with others and develop his talents even more so that he can be of good use to our Heavenly Father during his time here on the mission. 

I have been doing a couple divisions with Elder Batschi so that i can get out and work some and see some of the families that we had been teaching together. This past week i went to visit the family of Robson! They are so wonderful and i have an extremely deep love for them. They get visits from the missionarys almost every day and they are soaking up all of the knowledge we have to give them! But that is a very good thing. OH! Something really cool happened yesterday at church! Robson recieved the arronic priesthood and now is a teacher. Then he got made the 1st counsiler of the teachers quorum!!! Im so happy for him. Also, his whole family was at church and his little sister will be baptized this wednesday night! Im so extremely happy for them all. His mother (Selma) is such a sweetheart, but is one of the most timid people I have ever met! She is now working on getting legaly married with her husband so that they can enter the waters of baptism too. I love them!

I havent gotten any packages yet! But i will wait patiently... kind of. :) I will know the exact moment that it gets here though because im always in the office now!

Love you all so much and have a wonderful week this week!

Com amor,

Elder Moore

19 March 12

Hello! Another week in the office!

So, this past week I feel like Ive learned a TON and the information keeps washing over me like the big waves im close to now! The office is a blast and it is really a great experience to be so close to President all the time! He is a great guy. And a pretty big guy! I will have to send yall a picture one day. He is from Curitiba, Brasil and was a sealer in the temple and part of the Curitiba Temple Presidency before his call as Mission President of the Brasil Recife mission! I dont know what else you want to know about him!

Yes, we have air conditioning in the office! It is really weird to not sweat all day, but one thing office members tend to do...is get fat! That will NOT happen to me! I refuse! 

Awesome that you guys got to meet with Elder Anderson! I still havent seen an apostle in my life, but we will all get the chance in a couple weeks to hear all of them :D im so excited for that!

We DO have some good investigators! And our area is awesome!!! It is RIGHT on the beach so I get to see the ocean almost every day... that may or may not be a good thing. I miss it! Haha :)

It is really weird, because we leave the office at about 6:30 and get home (in our area) about 6:45, and it is already really dark, so we only get to work for a couple hours each day before we go home! As you can imagine, it is a little dificult to mark meetings with our investigators, but the Lord blesses us for our dutys and somehow it still works out! A couple weeks ago a girl named Stella got baptised and she is so cool! She is 15 and a little fireball! Always has something to say and usually it is something good :). We are working a lot with her family and her sister who is 17 wants to get baptized, and we are working on her mom and dads legal mariage (that is a huge thing in Brasil).

Speaking of marriage... THE TAYLORS ARE GETTING MARRIED?! Woah! Didnt see that one coming, but that is cool! Tell them i wish them both the best and that i miss both of them! It is so weird! 

And yeah Derek will be home in a couple weeks too! Then James. Then all the boys from my class, then me! But that is so far away! And i dont really like how fast the time is going... If i come home a transfer early, Ill be coming home in a year a couple weeks... i dont like that... I need more time here! The more time I have on the mission, the more i realize how tiny 2 years really is.. it is ridiculous how fast time flys and how happy you become the more time you spend in the service (right now a little bit of a different service) of your fellow missionaries and all the people around you! It is also really strange that every time you leave an area, it seems like you are leaving home all over again. At first, it was my home in Garanhuns. I loved it there. I changed so much in the time i was there and made a lot of great friends that i hope i will keep in contact with forever! Then it was Torreão, the unlikely home... because when i got there the ward was a mess and it didnt seem like we would have success at all, but with an amazing companion, we got the job done and i felt like i left a bit pre-matuely there (im really sorry for the spelling). We were teaching a WONDERFUL family of about 12 and i only had the opportunity to baptize one amazing young man. I hope and pray every day that that incredible family will come to an understanding of the things that I know to be true and be baptized and take that step in becoming an eternal family! 

Now, I am here. In the ala pina. The ward is great and I had the opportunity to give a talk yesterday! I think that i have become a lot more comfortable with speaking in public since ive been here! I never thought that i would do this, but i forgot to look at the clock during my talk and finally got a card slipped onto the podium that said "seu tempo acabou, muito obrigado!" It also had a little smiley face on it. In translation, "Your time finished, thanks!" I looked at the clock and had been talking for about 15 minutes (seemed like 15 seconds) when i was asked to give a short 5 minute talk. It was kind of funny, but i wasnt done talking! :) A little more about my area right now ----- it is right on the beach and it is wonderful to be here, but it is so HOT. The sun just roasts you, but now im inside more than outside i think because of the office! We share the area with the Assistants and we live with them too. Being in the office, I know EVERYTHING about the mission now. Sometimes, it is awesome. Other times, it is not too awesome knowing that bad things occur in missions. I would like them all to just be perfect! :)

Well, that is about it for this past week or so! If possible, time is going even faster now that im here in the office! There is always something to do or something that needs to be fixed! 

I love you all and hope that everything is well!

Com amor,

Elder Moore

5 March 2012

So, it hasnt been that long since i wrote to you guys, but i feels like forever! Yup, the Temple was GREAT and i love it so much! Hope everything goes well with Dave and he gets to feelin better soon! Yes I want more details about the mission! I want a TON of details from everyone! You should give me an outline of what happened on you missions (what area - what companions - and what leadership responsibilities - and for how long!) :) i know it sounds like a lot of work, but i konw you can all do it!!! :)

 

So this past friday we got a new companion! Elder Jensen. He is 19 and had 5 months on the mission. From Brigham City, Utah and just looks like a Utah boy. So we went out on Saturday and worked (we won the contact contest by the way) (by a lot...) (cause we are AWESOME.) and then we had two more missionarys sleep at our house on sturday and sunday night (one of the Elders hadnt gotten his patriarchal blessing yet so they came here to get it Sunday) so we had a full house for the past couple nights!

 

Everything was good, but then we did something this morning that no one wanted to do. We took Elder Jensen to the mission office this morning so that he could go the airport. And go home..

 

It was one of the saddest things ever and i felt terrible.

 

We didnt know when we picked him up Friday night that this would be happening, but the idea was in the back of our minds for a while..then the phone call came and we knew what was going on.

 

So that was the past couple days, now im a little bummed out, but we just gotta get back in the work and do everything we can for the little time that we have.

 

One happy thing that i thought of yesterday. ITS ALMOST GENERAL CONFERENCE!!! Woo hoo! Im way excited for that but cant believe that its been 6 months since the last one! How weird!

 

Well, I love you all and my assignment for you this week is to go read Chapter 5 of Alma, it is just SO GOOD! I love it alot. I love all of you alot also!

 

Com amor,

Elder Moore

29 Feb, 2012

So, this week was pretty good!

 

Sorry im wrighting so late! Our pday got switched to wednesday this week cause we went to the TEMPLE! It was so great and something ive really been needing. So im wrighting today because we didnt have time yesterday, so this will be pretty fast!

 

Good things that happened this past week...and a half... OH! For this week we made a competition in our District because we are all really good friends! We are having a contact making competition! None of our areas really have a bunch of investigators so we are doing as many contacts this week to try and get more! The two losers will bring cake and or juice to district meeting next week so everyone can have a fun party! Pretty sure we are gonna win though...  :D

 

This week was just good! We had the baptism of Robson this past sunday and he chose me to baptize him so i was defintily happy about that. We are also gettting really close with his mom and dad and 3 younger siblings and I know that they will take the step and follow our Savior and Master and be baptized too! Love that family!

 

Well, sorrry this is so short this week, but I love you all and will wright again on Monday! Until then,

 

Com amor,

Elder Moore