The atonement is most important above anything else

Hola familia y todos los otros!

Oh my gosh the mission has been great this last week... I know I say that a lot, but it seriously is so awesome every week. There has been a whole mess of things happening this week. Silvia y Guadalupe have both agreed to be baptized the 9th of January which is awesome! Other than that... gosh I'm trying to think what else happened this week. It all kind of blurs together, but ah it's so much fun!

We've been pounding food as usual, and yesterday, Smithee and I decided to do some "conditioning" eating so that we can eat more at our meals with the members haha. We went to this mongolian barbecue place where you pick the stuff you want and put it in a bowl, then let them cook it up for you it was delicious! Oh my gosh I thought I was gonna die though with how much I ate... Three HUGE plates of the stuff and then ice cream after that haha. One thing I've come to find out about the mission from the spanish elders especially, is after meals, we usually go take what they call a "food coma" because the food is so heavy and so tasty, that you really do have to lay down and take a little nap afterwards haha.

Oh I tried something the other day at a member's house, and I really liked it! It may sound disgusting, but trust me, you'll love it if you try it. They gave us a cup with pistachio jello cubes, and then poured eggnog over the top of it, and you eat it with a spoon! Oh my gosh it is fuhreaking good haha. It's funny because Smithee is peruvian and most of the members are from Mexico, and people from Mexico speak kind of "dirty" spanish and use kind of corrupted words or funny phrases that none of the other latino countries use, and he says I'm starting to sound like a dirty mexican with my spanish haha. It's okay though, I really don't mind at all... maybe it'll help me fit in a little more haha. Smithee was telling me one of his old companions actually went tanning and dyed his hair black during his mission for kicks and giggles.... maybe I'll try that... no not really, but it sounds pretty funny right?

What else what else what else.... hmmm.... We haven't had time to go knocking doors very much this week minus one blitz that we went on with the english elders, which was pretty cool. You definitely find some...uh... interesting characters when you go out knocking doors haha. This time though, it was pretty cool. We knocked into this kid named Jarod who had graduated and now is living at home and going to Chemeketa community college, and doesnt really know what he's doing with his life. It was cool because he had been going to some different churches, but hadn't found one that answered questions he had... like why are there so many churches? Why did they have prophets in the bible, but not now? yeah... un investigador de oro. Myself and elder Chapman (Elder Cox's companion) ended up teaching him the first lesson in english, and it ROCKED! Like I'm seriously so excited to see how their next appointment goes, because he was way stoked to read the book of mormon and find out for himself if it's true. Ah it was so sweet I don't even know what else to say. Seriously, in all the crappy hours of knocking, it makes it all worth it when you see someone feel the spirit.

There was another guy that same day that we were knocking that elder Chapman and I ran into who i'm pretty sure was a baptist. We saw him and said hey how's it going, and I told him we were out and a bout talking to people and asking them about their beliefs. After I said that, he said, "well that's funny, 'cause I've got some questions for you." As soon as he said that, I thought to myself 'oh boy, this could get ugly'. His first question was, "what do you think is the most important thing in your religion?" I told him that the atonement of Jesus Christ was the most important thing above anything else. After that he asked if we are saved by grace ( this is what made me think that he's most likely a baptist) so I said yes, through grace we are saved... through faith in the atonement of Jesus Christ is how we can have that. When I told him that, he looked pretty confused.. I bore testimony of that to him, and he started to get choked up, and said "that's it. That's what it's all about." We left him with a pass-along card, as well as James 2:20-26... muahaha. I'm hoping he'll really take that passage to heart because faith without works is DEAD! That's the most important thing! Yes, faith is key, but we show that faith, by what we DO! ah I freaking love the gospel.

It's funny, because I've been studying Jehova's whitness basic doctrines, and oh my gosh I'm so glad I'm LDS. Not to bash on them, well, yes to bash on them, their religion sucks! I would never want anything to do with them. But I shouldn't be smashing on them right now haha.

Anyways, Oregon has finally settled back down into it's normal self.... rain, clouds, bleh. haha. It's not too bad though, so no complaints here. I'm loving it right now. I seriously think, though, once I get back, I might want to go to a spanish branch. Ah its just so nice to be among such humble, kind-hearted people. I'm really loving it here in the mission.

I don't have too much else to say, aside from Merry Christmas everybody, This is seriously such an awesome time of year to remember our Savior Jesus Christ (unlike the JW's) and really come to realize what he did for us while he was here on earth. I love you all, and hope everything is going great!

Love,

Elder Moonshine