Saturday, November 20, 2010
Monday, November 15, 2010
Busy and happy!
2010 15 November
Hey mom!
Okay, so here I am on a 15 minute computer trying to burn through everything I need to so that you can have a good idea of what's been going on this last week.
So I guess I'll start with what happened last P-day to get things started. We went and spent the day with the zone leaders down in Tigard, and it was a blast! We spent it talking, laughing, and crashing elder Davis' toy helicopter into things haha. It's remote control, and it is seriously so much fun to try to fly around in their apartment... we had more than a few close calls with it going into people's eyes, into the sink, toilet, out the window, etc. Anyways, it was a pretty good time.
That night, we had the opportunity to go on exchanges with the assistants to the president which was really interesting. I just remember the beginning of the mission where it seemed like the zone leaders and the assistants were really scary and far away from us in every sense, but now that I'm here as a zone leader, I can't help but wonder if maybe the other zone leaders who have been in this position have felt the same way. Now I feel like we're really good friends with the assistants, and I think we might have a closer relation with the elders in our zone than any others... I don't know if there should be "professional distance" between a zone leader and everybody else, but I don't feel like it should be that way. Anyways, I love being where I'm at because we get to spend some good time with the elders in our zone. That exchange with the AP's was interesting though. Their area is pretty tiny and it covers a complex that is known as "the kill zone". A complex of about 800 units... it's ginormous! Anyways, I ended up knocking in there with Elder Hunter for quite a while haha. It's pretty sweet I think Elder Hunter and I had a pretty close connection and we're gonna end up hanging out after the mission.
After that exciting exchange with them, we took advantage of the open time we had this week and knocked like nobody's business, and found some new investigators.... we found nine this week haha. Now, so it doesn't seem like we're worthless missionaries, a new investigator is only counted when you get in the door, teach a lesson, they accept a commitment, and set up a return appointment... "anciently" it was counted as someone in the door who didn't let you in, but accepted a return appointment (basically every Hispanic in the world) Anyways, we're pretty stoked on having some work :-)
Aside from that, we had an exchange where I got to work with my "little brother" in the mission, elder Hawkins haha. It was the last elder that Smithee trained, and it was a pretty good time.... not really too much to report there aside from the fact that we get along pretty well!
Oh! So I was all excited on Wednesday night because I got a call from elders River and Page telling me that Ivelisse Cruz was going to be getting baptized, so I was super stoked! Sunday rolled around and we were prepping to take off for the baptism when we got a call from them again. They said the baptism was cancelled because she was having contractions and had to go to the hospital... Luckily nothing was wrong when they went to visit her an hour later, and she actually asked if they could still do the baptism, but they're going to wait till next week to do it now haha.
Speaking of Sunday, church here in Beaverton is a whole different animal. We have the organization of the ward, but less members than a branch, so in a way it's good, but it also is kind of difficult to figure out how to do things... there are only about 20-30 members that show up on a regular basis from what I hear. I really love the families that come though... they're awesome!
Other than that, the Oregon sneeze has started here... NOOOOOO!!!!! For those of you who don't know who don't know what I'm talking about, the Oregon sneeze is something unique to this area. It begins in about the end of October/November and doesn't really quit until about May/June. What it is, really, is like a really fine mist/rain. It really feels like someone has sneezed on you though and it just feels gross, and it just keeps going throughout the whole day! A constant, sneezy, wet feeling it's just weird. It's okay though with that jacket I bought :-)
One other interesting thing about Sunday was the family that we ate with. Their last name is Jorgenson, and it turns out that his family is from our old neighborhood in Orem! I don't remember his name, but they said that his whole family has lived there for years... I think we might actually have been in their ward at one time or another. Anyways, that's the interesting news from this week.
Okay I'm gonna get off the computer, but I love you all so much and I hope things are going great for you. Have a great week and I'll talk to you later!
Love always,
-Elder Kurt Mooney
Hey mom!
Okay, so here I am on a 15 minute computer trying to burn through everything I need to so that you can have a good idea of what's been going on this last week.
So I guess I'll start with what happened last P-day to get things started. We went and spent the day with the zone leaders down in Tigard, and it was a blast! We spent it talking, laughing, and crashing elder Davis' toy helicopter into things haha. It's remote control, and it is seriously so much fun to try to fly around in their apartment... we had more than a few close calls with it going into people's eyes, into the sink, toilet, out the window, etc. Anyways, it was a pretty good time.
That night, we had the opportunity to go on exchanges with the assistants to the president which was really interesting. I just remember the beginning of the mission where it seemed like the zone leaders and the assistants were really scary and far away from us in every sense, but now that I'm here as a zone leader, I can't help but wonder if maybe the other zone leaders who have been in this position have felt the same way. Now I feel like we're really good friends with the assistants, and I think we might have a closer relation with the elders in our zone than any others... I don't know if there should be "professional distance" between a zone leader and everybody else, but I don't feel like it should be that way. Anyways, I love being where I'm at because we get to spend some good time with the elders in our zone. That exchange with the AP's was interesting though. Their area is pretty tiny and it covers a complex that is known as "the kill zone". A complex of about 800 units... it's ginormous! Anyways, I ended up knocking in there with Elder Hunter for quite a while haha. It's pretty sweet I think Elder Hunter and I had a pretty close connection and we're gonna end up hanging out after the mission.
After that exciting exchange with them, we took advantage of the open time we had this week and knocked like nobody's business, and found some new investigators.... we found nine this week haha. Now, so it doesn't seem like we're worthless missionaries, a new investigator is only counted when you get in the door, teach a lesson, they accept a commitment, and set up a return appointment... "anciently" it was counted as someone in the door who didn't let you in, but accepted a return appointment (basically every Hispanic in the world) Anyways, we're pretty stoked on having some work :-)
Aside from that, we had an exchange where I got to work with my "little brother" in the mission, elder Hawkins haha. It was the last elder that Smithee trained, and it was a pretty good time.... not really too much to report there aside from the fact that we get along pretty well!
Oh! So I was all excited on Wednesday night because I got a call from elders River and Page telling me that Ivelisse Cruz was going to be getting baptized, so I was super stoked! Sunday rolled around and we were prepping to take off for the baptism when we got a call from them again. They said the baptism was cancelled because she was having contractions and had to go to the hospital... Luckily nothing was wrong when they went to visit her an hour later, and she actually asked if they could still do the baptism, but they're going to wait till next week to do it now haha.
Speaking of Sunday, church here in Beaverton is a whole different animal. We have the organization of the ward, but less members than a branch, so in a way it's good, but it also is kind of difficult to figure out how to do things... there are only about 20-30 members that show up on a regular basis from what I hear. I really love the families that come though... they're awesome!
Other than that, the Oregon sneeze has started here... NOOOOOO!!!!! For those of you who don't know who don't know what I'm talking about, the Oregon sneeze is something unique to this area. It begins in about the end of October/November and doesn't really quit until about May/June. What it is, really, is like a really fine mist/rain. It really feels like someone has sneezed on you though and it just feels gross, and it just keeps going throughout the whole day! A constant, sneezy, wet feeling it's just weird. It's okay though with that jacket I bought :-)
One other interesting thing about Sunday was the family that we ate with. Their last name is Jorgenson, and it turns out that his family is from our old neighborhood in Orem! I don't remember his name, but they said that his whole family has lived there for years... I think we might actually have been in their ward at one time or another. Anyways, that's the interesting news from this week.
Okay I'm gonna get off the computer, but I love you all so much and I hope things are going great for you. Have a great week and I'll talk to you later!
Love always,
-Elder Kurt Mooney
Monday, November 8, 2010
Wild week in Beaverton
2010 November 8
Dearest Mommy,
Well, it's been a pretty wild week lemme tell ya! The biggest slap in the face about this area is that there is absolutely no work right now, so we're knocking until we die here (16 1/2 hours in four days)... We knocked more this last Saturday than I had in any week I had in Woodburn for the last three months haha. It's not all bad though. We've found some new investigators in the last couple of days, and some of them show a lot of promise. One is the girlfriend of a less-active guy named Geronimo who is looking to get married and come back to church, so that's pretty sweet. Another one is the son of a lady who is a recent convert who is pretty stoked on the missionaries right now since he met us and actually came to stake conference on Sunday!
Speaking of stake conference, it was sweet! We got to hear from Robert D. Hales and Dieter F. Uchdorf and it was so rad! It's been something really interesting to note that they are putting so much emphasis on obedience to church leaders and heeding their counsels. Aside from paying attention to what the general authorities say, they also highlighted the importance of personal as well as family scripture study along with personal and family prayer. The best way to avoid temptation is to read the scriptures and pray daily, and go to church every Sunday! I would say the reason why is because those three things help us to "put off the natural man". I was reading in my personal study the other day, and I found a scripture that absolutely spoke to me in that way, especially as a missionary. I was reading in Alma 26 where Ammon and his brethren had finished their missions and they were talking about the reasons for their success, and this is what Ammon says in verses 21-22:
21 And now behold, my brethren, what anatural man is there that knoweth these things? I say unto you, there is none that knoweth these things, save it be the penitent.
22 Yea, he that repenteth and exerciseth faith, and bringeth forth good works, and prayeth continually without ceasing—unto such it is given to know the mysteries of God; yea, unto such it shall be given to reveal things which never have been revealed; yea, and it shall be given unto such to bring thousands of souls to repentance, even as it has been given unto us to bring these our brethren to repentance.
When we are involved in the church- really involved, not just attending- we can see the warning signs of when we're doing sub par on the spiritual side of things which helps us to repent and grow our faith through action to correct those errors. From there, we receive personal revelation through that connection that we build with God through prayer. The ultimate goal of all of this, however, is not for personal gratification to just make ourselves these big spiritual giants, but to help those around you. As I heard from President Pister's former mission president in a talk that he gave, "el evangelio no es el evangelio hasta que se comparte con alguien mas" which means "the gospel isn't really the gospel until it is shared with with somebody else". I know that people think that what I'm doing right now is missionary work, but it's only partly true. The reason they're holding these stake and regional conferences more closely together is not only so that we have a closer relationship with the brethren, but also so that we can grow our testimonies to the point where we are brave enough to share the gospel with those around us. Bottom line: SHARE THE GOSPEL!
Okay, enough of my spiritual ranting I'll tell you a little bit about what else went on this week. So Beaverton is a pretty sweet area... I think we're quite a ways East of where Randy and Susan used to live, although we still cover all of it... we even cover the Pearl District, Chinatown, and part of Burnside. It basically goes until the Willamette River :-). From there, our area covers as far west as Murray Boulevard, Other than that, our boundary on the South goes about as far as Tigard and on the North... yeah I have no idea haha but it's a pretty rad area. It's weird just because there is NO rural parts to this area... it's a little bit smaller than the Woodburn area, but it is absolutely packed with houses, apartment complexes, and lots and lots of businesses haha. The good news is that there are a TON of hispanics here, so we're never going to be short of work. The bad news is that it's a group up here instead of a branch, so they're kind of limping along right now.
One of the things that makes it weird is being a zone leader. They want us in both district meetings for our zone as well as having regular exchanges with the district leaders as well as trainers... which happens to be every companionship haha. It's nuts! It seems like yesterday I was the Jr. companion with elder Rangel and POOF! All of a sudden we're here in Beaverton, and there is only one missionary older than us and he goes home in December! What the heck!? Every companionship here in the North is training right now, so that spells out a lot of exchanges with them... it should be fun though... at least we'll get to know all the areas quickly...right? :-) I don't know. It's a whole new animal, but I kind of like it, although Spiderman keeps coming to mind with this calling...you know... "with great power comes great responsibility"... It really does work like that though! Ah well it's fun haha.
So some interesting things about what we did when we got up here this week:
Had a four hour planning session (normally only takes two hours to do it in-depth)
Found out from an investigator that Panguich (yup, like in Utah) means big fish in Spanish
Our bishop wears a bowtie every Sunday...?
Our stake center looks like a converted GINORMOUS evangelical church with two floors
Not all charcoal comes in the little KC Masterpiece briquettes
I think that last one deserves a little bit of a story. So although the last elders in this area left us with basically nothing, they did, however, leave us with some pretty fat steaks in the fridge and a charcoal grill outside on the deck space, so we decided to cook them up for dinner one of the nights that we didn't have one scheduled. [side note: We are now eating dinner with white people, and I don't think I like it... everything is overly prepared, you have to ask people to pass you stuff to put it on your plate, you have to be extremely polite and proper with how you eat, and I have to be the one to start every single dang conversation so that we actually have something to talk about! What the heck!? I don't remember if that's normally how it is, but I sure hope not... maybe hispanic people just talk a lot, but I really love having a good conversation while I'm eating... it keeps it interesting and it keeps me from putting too much food in my pie-hole :-)] Okay, sorry about that huge side note. Anyways, so back to the steaks story. I got these steaks marinating in the fridge all day long and they were getting really juicy and tender, and then the time came we came back to the apartment to cook them up. There was charcoal stashed in a bag in one of the closets, so I pulled it out and went to pour it into the grill, and I saw a bunch of pieces of what looked like burnt wood and I said to myself, "wow, what dorks! Why would they have a fire in a charcoal grill?" Then I proceeded to pour out this Mexican charcoal and wha-bam! I finally realized why haha. I didn't realize that charcoal was really like pieces of...well... charred wood haha. Anyways, it was pretty interesting and it ended up working really well and the steaks were scrumptious :-P.
Aside from that, I can't really think of anything else exciting that's happening right now here... we're just staying super busy trying to find new investigators and keep everything running smoothly in the zone. Oh! Here's the new address if ya wanna send love :-)
Elder Kurt Mooney
Park at Greenway #12
8370 SW Greenway Blvd.
Beaverton, OR 97008
I'm glad to hear that the Coug's finally pulled off a win... poor sorry saps haha they needed it. I hope that everything is going well with you guys back home I love you all so much. Be safe this week and know that I'm praying for you, okay?
Love always,
Elder Kurt Mooney
Dearest Mommy,
Well, it's been a pretty wild week lemme tell ya! The biggest slap in the face about this area is that there is absolutely no work right now, so we're knocking until we die here (16 1/2 hours in four days)... We knocked more this last Saturday than I had in any week I had in Woodburn for the last three months haha. It's not all bad though. We've found some new investigators in the last couple of days, and some of them show a lot of promise. One is the girlfriend of a less-active guy named Geronimo who is looking to get married and come back to church, so that's pretty sweet. Another one is the son of a lady who is a recent convert who is pretty stoked on the missionaries right now since he met us and actually came to stake conference on Sunday!
Speaking of stake conference, it was sweet! We got to hear from Robert D. Hales and Dieter F. Uchdorf and it was so rad! It's been something really interesting to note that they are putting so much emphasis on obedience to church leaders and heeding their counsels. Aside from paying attention to what the general authorities say, they also highlighted the importance of personal as well as family scripture study along with personal and family prayer. The best way to avoid temptation is to read the scriptures and pray daily, and go to church every Sunday! I would say the reason why is because those three things help us to "put off the natural man". I was reading in my personal study the other day, and I found a scripture that absolutely spoke to me in that way, especially as a missionary. I was reading in Alma 26 where Ammon and his brethren had finished their missions and they were talking about the reasons for their success, and this is what Ammon says in verses 21-22:
21 And now behold, my brethren, what anatural man is there that knoweth these things? I say unto you, there is none that knoweth these things, save it be the penitent.
22 Yea, he that repenteth and exerciseth faith, and bringeth forth good works, and prayeth continually without ceasing—unto such it is given to know the mysteries of God; yea, unto such it shall be given to reveal things which never have been revealed; yea, and it shall be given unto such to bring thousands of souls to repentance, even as it has been given unto us to bring these our brethren to repentance.
When we are involved in the church- really involved, not just attending- we can see the warning signs of when we're doing sub par on the spiritual side of things which helps us to repent and grow our faith through action to correct those errors. From there, we receive personal revelation through that connection that we build with God through prayer. The ultimate goal of all of this, however, is not for personal gratification to just make ourselves these big spiritual giants, but to help those around you. As I heard from President Pister's former mission president in a talk that he gave, "el evangelio no es el evangelio hasta que se comparte con alguien mas" which means "the gospel isn't really the gospel until it is shared with with somebody else". I know that people think that what I'm doing right now is missionary work, but it's only partly true. The reason they're holding these stake and regional conferences more closely together is not only so that we have a closer relationship with the brethren, but also so that we can grow our testimonies to the point where we are brave enough to share the gospel with those around us. Bottom line: SHARE THE GOSPEL!
Okay, enough of my spiritual ranting I'll tell you a little bit about what else went on this week. So Beaverton is a pretty sweet area... I think we're quite a ways East of where Randy and Susan used to live, although we still cover all of it... we even cover the Pearl District, Chinatown, and part of Burnside. It basically goes until the Willamette River :-). From there, our area covers as far west as Murray Boulevard, Other than that, our boundary on the South goes about as far as Tigard and on the North... yeah I have no idea haha but it's a pretty rad area. It's weird just because there is NO rural parts to this area... it's a little bit smaller than the Woodburn area, but it is absolutely packed with houses, apartment complexes, and lots and lots of businesses haha. The good news is that there are a TON of hispanics here, so we're never going to be short of work. The bad news is that it's a group up here instead of a branch, so they're kind of limping along right now.
One of the things that makes it weird is being a zone leader. They want us in both district meetings for our zone as well as having regular exchanges with the district leaders as well as trainers... which happens to be every companionship haha. It's nuts! It seems like yesterday I was the Jr. companion with elder Rangel and POOF! All of a sudden we're here in Beaverton, and there is only one missionary older than us and he goes home in December! What the heck!? Every companionship here in the North is training right now, so that spells out a lot of exchanges with them... it should be fun though... at least we'll get to know all the areas quickly...right? :-) I don't know. It's a whole new animal, but I kind of like it, although Spiderman keeps coming to mind with this calling...you know... "with great power comes great responsibility"... It really does work like that though! Ah well it's fun haha.
So some interesting things about what we did when we got up here this week:
Had a four hour planning session (normally only takes two hours to do it in-depth)
Found out from an investigator that Panguich (yup, like in Utah) means big fish in Spanish
Our bishop wears a bowtie every Sunday...?
Our stake center looks like a converted GINORMOUS evangelical church with two floors
Not all charcoal comes in the little KC Masterpiece briquettes
I think that last one deserves a little bit of a story. So although the last elders in this area left us with basically nothing, they did, however, leave us with some pretty fat steaks in the fridge and a charcoal grill outside on the deck space, so we decided to cook them up for dinner one of the nights that we didn't have one scheduled. [side note: We are now eating dinner with white people, and I don't think I like it... everything is overly prepared, you have to ask people to pass you stuff to put it on your plate, you have to be extremely polite and proper with how you eat, and I have to be the one to start every single dang conversation so that we actually have something to talk about! What the heck!? I don't remember if that's normally how it is, but I sure hope not... maybe hispanic people just talk a lot, but I really love having a good conversation while I'm eating... it keeps it interesting and it keeps me from putting too much food in my pie-hole :-)] Okay, sorry about that huge side note. Anyways, so back to the steaks story. I got these steaks marinating in the fridge all day long and they were getting really juicy and tender, and then the time came we came back to the apartment to cook them up. There was charcoal stashed in a bag in one of the closets, so I pulled it out and went to pour it into the grill, and I saw a bunch of pieces of what looked like burnt wood and I said to myself, "wow, what dorks! Why would they have a fire in a charcoal grill?" Then I proceeded to pour out this Mexican charcoal and wha-bam! I finally realized why haha. I didn't realize that charcoal was really like pieces of...well... charred wood haha. Anyways, it was pretty interesting and it ended up working really well and the steaks were scrumptious :-P.
Aside from that, I can't really think of anything else exciting that's happening right now here... we're just staying super busy trying to find new investigators and keep everything running smoothly in the zone. Oh! Here's the new address if ya wanna send love :-)
Elder Kurt Mooney
Park at Greenway #12
8370 SW Greenway Blvd.
Beaverton, OR 97008
I'm glad to hear that the Coug's finally pulled off a win... poor sorry saps haha they needed it. I hope that everything is going well with you guys back home I love you all so much. Be safe this week and know that I'm praying for you, okay?
Love always,
Elder Kurt Mooney
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
White-washed!
2010 November 2
Dearest Mommy,
White-washed! That's right, I said white-washed! Not only that, but we white-washed as zone leaders in Beaverton! What the heck!? I had heard whisperings of this possibly happening, but never thought it'd come to pass. Not only that, but I think this is the first time in the history of the OPM that they've white-washed a zone leader area (minus when they opened it for the first time).... It wouldn't be such a drastic move, but neither elder Van Hook or I have been a zone leader before. Oh yeah, my new companion is elder Van Hook from Ogden, Utah, and he's the man! We served near each other when I was down in Salem at the beginning of my mission. Anyways, now here we are in Beaverton and feeling a little lost haha. What makes it funny is that up to this point in our missions, we've both been serving in the South zone, but all of a sudden POOF! Here we are in Beaverton! I can't lie though, I'm pretty excited about it. The elders we're going to be serving around are way sweet, and Elder Jackson (MTC companion) is in my area again!!! Yay! We'll be able to go on exchanges once in a while which will be good.
Now, to explain a little of the work situation here in Beaverton... When we got to our apartment, we read the list of "to do's" that the previous ZL's had left us, and this is the line that stood out to us: "The only good investigators we were teaching moved back to Mexico. Happy knocking :-)". Dangit. That's all that came to mind when I read it... I promise... haha. Anyways, I was a little discouraged about it, but then last night we talked to the group leader and the bishop of the ward and I'm feeling a little bit more assured. This area has a lot of potential... I feel like the previous elders might have just kinda dropped their packs because one was finishing his mission. Who knows. Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm excited at the opportunity to help this place grow! Yup yup that's the excitement from this side of the world... I would say I'm excited to serve as a zone leader and help out all of the up and coming missionaries, but I'm more just scared to death. Elder Van Hook and I have so much to learn and have no idea what we're doing, so we're going to have to rely solely on The Lord. I think that's definitely a good thing though. It'll help us stay humble and definitely help with the work.
All right, I'm all done writing about all of that for now. I will write you next week and try to respond to letters... I'm not making any promises with how busy it's looking to be, but I'll do my best. I love you all so much and your prayers are much appreciated. Have a great week!
Love always,
-Elder Kurt Mooney
Dearest Mommy,
White-washed! That's right, I said white-washed! Not only that, but we white-washed as zone leaders in Beaverton! What the heck!? I had heard whisperings of this possibly happening, but never thought it'd come to pass. Not only that, but I think this is the first time in the history of the OPM that they've white-washed a zone leader area (minus when they opened it for the first time).... It wouldn't be such a drastic move, but neither elder Van Hook or I have been a zone leader before. Oh yeah, my new companion is elder Van Hook from Ogden, Utah, and he's the man! We served near each other when I was down in Salem at the beginning of my mission. Anyways, now here we are in Beaverton and feeling a little lost haha. What makes it funny is that up to this point in our missions, we've both been serving in the South zone, but all of a sudden POOF! Here we are in Beaverton! I can't lie though, I'm pretty excited about it. The elders we're going to be serving around are way sweet, and Elder Jackson (MTC companion) is in my area again!!! Yay! We'll be able to go on exchanges once in a while which will be good.
Now, to explain a little of the work situation here in Beaverton... When we got to our apartment, we read the list of "to do's" that the previous ZL's had left us, and this is the line that stood out to us: "The only good investigators we were teaching moved back to Mexico. Happy knocking :-)". Dangit. That's all that came to mind when I read it... I promise... haha. Anyways, I was a little discouraged about it, but then last night we talked to the group leader and the bishop of the ward and I'm feeling a little bit more assured. This area has a lot of potential... I feel like the previous elders might have just kinda dropped their packs because one was finishing his mission. Who knows. Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm excited at the opportunity to help this place grow! Yup yup that's the excitement from this side of the world... I would say I'm excited to serve as a zone leader and help out all of the up and coming missionaries, but I'm more just scared to death. Elder Van Hook and I have so much to learn and have no idea what we're doing, so we're going to have to rely solely on The Lord. I think that's definitely a good thing though. It'll help us stay humble and definitely help with the work.
All right, I'm all done writing about all of that for now. I will write you next week and try to respond to letters... I'm not making any promises with how busy it's looking to be, but I'll do my best. I love you all so much and your prayers are much appreciated. Have a great week!
Love always,
-Elder Kurt Mooney
Monday, November 1, 2010
Happy Halloween from Elder Mooney
Elder Mooney with the Warnicks
They were visiting the OPM, looked Kurt up, and took this photo and sent it to us! Thanks, friends!
Transfers
Dearest Mommy,
Well, today is the day. I've spent the morning packing up and visiting a couple members to say goodbye... ah man I hate goodbye's. Especially in this area right now. We had such a successful week and everything seemed to be going so well and then BAM! Now I'm jettisoned off into another part of the mission!
So I'll start with what happened from the beginning of the week last week and work forward as always. We started off with some kick butt visits where we included Juan Velasquez (baptized in September) to help us teach. It was amazing! We're teaching a couple right now whose names are Leonel and Christina, and it went super well! Juan helped us teach them about the plan of salvation, and ultimately we were able to invite them to be baptized which they accepted! Ah man I was super pumped! They'll be getting baptized in the end of November, so there's one trip I'll be able to make back to visit for.
Other than them, we've been meeting a lot with Adan and Rahab. As soon as I found out I was getting the boot on Saturday, we went and talked with them. It turns out they've decided to get married before the end of the year and they both want me to baptize them when they're ready! There are two more trips I can take back :-). Ah I am so stoked about that one... they're gonna make great members of the church when they're locked and loaded.
So aside from that, It's just been kind of a sad weekend packing, making sure no investigators fall through the cracks... I'll write later today to let you know exactly what shakes out. Thank you for the popcorn balls by the way they were scrumptious! I had to cut them up to eat them with the veneers, but it was totally worth it! haha I love you guys I'll talk to you later!
Love,
Elder Mooney
Well, today is the day. I've spent the morning packing up and visiting a couple members to say goodbye... ah man I hate goodbye's. Especially in this area right now. We had such a successful week and everything seemed to be going so well and then BAM! Now I'm jettisoned off into another part of the mission!
So I'll start with what happened from the beginning of the week last week and work forward as always. We started off with some kick butt visits where we included Juan Velasquez (baptized in September) to help us teach. It was amazing! We're teaching a couple right now whose names are Leonel and Christina, and it went super well! Juan helped us teach them about the plan of salvation, and ultimately we were able to invite them to be baptized which they accepted! Ah man I was super pumped! They'll be getting baptized in the end of November, so there's one trip I'll be able to make back to visit for.
Other than them, we've been meeting a lot with Adan and Rahab. As soon as I found out I was getting the boot on Saturday, we went and talked with them. It turns out they've decided to get married before the end of the year and they both want me to baptize them when they're ready! There are two more trips I can take back :-). Ah I am so stoked about that one... they're gonna make great members of the church when they're locked and loaded.
So aside from that, It's just been kind of a sad weekend packing, making sure no investigators fall through the cracks... I'll write later today to let you know exactly what shakes out. Thank you for the popcorn balls by the way they were scrumptious! I had to cut them up to eat them with the veneers, but it was totally worth it! haha I love you guys I'll talk to you later!
Love,
Elder Mooney
Letter from Elder Mooney's Branch President in Woodburn
Dear Brother and Sister Mooney:
Well, it has been a marvelous run, but your son is leaving our little branch tomorrow. It appears he will be transferred to Beaverton. He is sitting in our dining room playing dominoes at this moment, since the president has suggested that their tracting could be mistaken for "trick or treating". He will be with us the remainder of the evening.
I want you to know that he has been more than outstanding for our branch. He is a stellar, hard-working missionary. I was speaking with our executive secretary and he mentioned that Elder Mooney has almost been a third counselor for us in our branch presidency. We have a fairly thin pool of reliable priesthood at this stage and his presence has been invaluable. He has demonstrated a maturity far beyond his age and in his seven months has yet to let me down in any assignment. It will be extremely difficult to replace him. Beaverton is fortunate to have him come and serve in that area.
So, thank you for what you have done in raising such a magnificent Elder. We were blessed by his presence.
Sincerely,
Karl Pister
Well, it has been a marvelous run, but your son is leaving our little branch tomorrow. It appears he will be transferred to Beaverton. He is sitting in our dining room playing dominoes at this moment, since the president has suggested that their tracting could be mistaken for "trick or treating". He will be with us the remainder of the evening.
I want you to know that he has been more than outstanding for our branch. He is a stellar, hard-working missionary. I was speaking with our executive secretary and he mentioned that Elder Mooney has almost been a third counselor for us in our branch presidency. We have a fairly thin pool of reliable priesthood at this stage and his presence has been invaluable. He has demonstrated a maturity far beyond his age and in his seven months has yet to let me down in any assignment. It will be extremely difficult to replace him. Beaverton is fortunate to have him come and serve in that area.
So, thank you for what you have done in raising such a magnificent Elder. We were blessed by his presence.
Sincerely,
Karl Pister
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