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.