The Importance of the Atonement

Well, Christmas happened. I got some cards to play with. I made a Pyramid thing. 

I'm basically a card stacking champion now.

We found a sword, so we took a picture of it.  

And then we saw this sign that was not being followed. 

It has also been so hot that this pond dried up.

But enough about pictures, let's talk news. On Friday, the 18th, some Senior Missionaries moved in here in San Benito. The Clark's moved in during our weekly planning, so we may have gotten a little less planning done, but I had fun!

On Tuesday, we had our Christmas conference. Everyone in the mission met in McAllen for an awesome Christmas meeting. We had a cool slideshow of the whole year, and a couple cool music presentations and a lot of "dying" testimonies (missionaries going home). A lot of them talked about the importance of the Atonement, so it is obviously important. 

Always remember that you need the Atonement. Even if you are doing well, we still need Him. On Sunday, in the third hour of church, we talked about What Lack I Yet? by Larry R. Lawrence. Always be changing, and always be trusting God. 

I also had a cool prayer experience yesterday. If you don't know, as missionaries we set and track goals of "members present", meaning lessons taught with a member present. You can read Alma 10:10-12 for an idea of why a member testimony is important. Yesterday, we needed 3 more to hit our weekly goal of 8. If you do the math, 3 is a lot more than 8/7ths, so it would be difficult for 3 in one day. We had the Perez's commit to work with us for a couple hours (they are boss ) so I said a simple prayer saying we have the members, provide us with the lessons. And by the end of the night, we had hit our goals. Yay! 

So that is the latest of Elder Moss, bye!

A Christmas Miracle!

Good tidings to all!

This week was wonderful. It was Week 6 of the Transfer, so later today I will find out if I will stay in San Benito or go elsewhere. I have already been here for 5.5 months (4 Transfers) so it's basically home to me now. I'll let you know where God sends me next! [We found out yesterday that he's staying in San Benito for another transfer! ps- he's very happy!]

We had a miracle at church yesterday! Our investigators didn't show up so we were sad, but halfway through sacrament meeting the Olvera family, former investigators I taught 4 months ago, randomly showed up. So we had people at church! It was a Christmas miracle!

I had my first real bike day for a long while this last Wednesday. In our mission, car areas are required to take two bike days every week, and in this area we share the car so we have three bike days. However, in this area, we have such great members that they give us rides everywhere. We usually bike to our area to a member's house and then we don't see our bikes until the next day when we take the car to go pick them up. I'ts pretty fun. What it comes down to is that we are working so well with the members that more than 50% of our time is bringing members to visit non-members (investigators). For the rest of that time, we are usually in Bent Tree which is only 2 streets wide, 8 streets long, so we walk. We get a ride to Bent Tree and a ride back. It is the best. 

This is a picture of my companion with a bush. It's a fancy bush though. 

This picture is of some cool clouds we saw.  I included a little trailer that we see all the time in our area. Specifically in Bent Tree (the neighborhood nicknamed Little Mexico) there are six or seven blocks of trailers like the one in the picture. Although, usually people's yards are much messier. 

For now, I will see where the wind takes me! Bye!

Elder Larkin Moss

Half Way Through!!

I had my birthday this week! I'm one year old! On the 3rd, I passed 1 year away from home. It's kind of crazy.

We set up a Christmas tree a week ago! It's lovely. Paired with the Wax warmer I bought a week ago, there is a great Christmas ambiance in our apartment. 

This week we had some great miracles, some fun stories and a lot of work done. One story, my companion got hit by a car while riding his bike! He didn't get hurt, don't worry! His bike got a little hurt though. 

We were actually on an exchange, so I was with Elder Chamberlain elsewhere with the car, so we had to pick up the other guys. In the end, the guys got a return appointment with the lady in the car, so it was worth it!

​Another funny thing: I don't know how well you can see, but in the picture below, is a three legged dog on the roof. No explanation needed.

​This week, we found José Luis Hernandez and he came to church! It is pretty cool how it worked out too. The previous week, while knocking doors looking for people we found Hugo Martinez, who is the brother of Carlos Martinez, a member that is currently reactivating. One day when an appointment fell through, while we had the Lerma's with us, we went to look for Hugo, but found José Luis instead, and he is the brother of Margarita Martinez, wife of Carlos. It's a bit complicated, but really cool. Sister Lerma and José Luis both love plants and gardening stuff so they hit it off pretty well. We also had a really cool miracle lesson with Hugo and José Luis friday night with Carlos. In the end he came to church and loved it. 

I'm sure I could go on for hours about what we did this week, but I don't have that kind of time. So this will have to do. 

Elder Larkin Moss

It Is a Test of Charity

What a great week! 

Thanksgiving was fantastic. Eating four times is always a pleasure. Actually, not really. It's just one of the challenges we face in this mission. In Cambodia they trudge through rivers with their bikes, in Latvia they have nobody to talk to, and in South Texas we eat. It is a test of charity. By the fourth meal, we are seriously only eating out of love for the people. Latinos love when you eat their food. 

The picture below was taken after meal three with the Alvarados. Those are the Alvarado twins, Josúe and Saul. They recently got home form their missions and have become our best friends since then. Saul has been home for 5 weeks and Josúe got home the Saturday before Thanksgiving, even though they left the same day. They help out a lot with the missionary effort here.

Also this week we had a couple zone meetings with a zone exchange, so Elder Cannell was my companion for a day. That was certainly fun.  To finish the exchange we did a zone testimony meeting. Missionary testimony meetings are pretty much the best. Just imagine a bunch of dedicated servants of God sharing their experiences and testimonies. 

I guess I will just invite you all to watch the new Christmas message from the church. christmas.mormon.org

Elder Larkin Moss

We found Santa!

I got a picture with giant Santa. 

This week was three day training, all the leaders had 3 days of meetings in McAllen. That meant that Elder Chamberlain was gone for half of this last week and we were in a Trio with Elder Holt! Working in a Trio is fun but you end up with so much less time trying to cover two areas at once! I had fun though!

On Friday we had a branch dinner (photos below). It was in celebration of Thanksgiving! They're all Hispanic so celebrating Thanksgiving a week early isn't wrong to them...  I didn't complain, because there was food! It was a fun little celebration, the kids had a great time. 

Saturday we had a tender mercy moment. It has actually been getting pretty chilly outside this weekend, so after 4 or so hours of proselyting on Saturday we were getting pretty cold. We saw one family barbecuing so we stopped by to warm up a little and they offered us some food and shelter for a bit. He made us some awesome burgers, and left us satisfied and ready to work! It was fun. 

Don't forget to brush your teeth! Good luck!

Elder Larkin Moss

Trying to entertain ourselves while awaiting food.

I'm feeding Elder Harker a napkin

because he got too hungry

Elder Hulk!

It's been another week! 

This week was one full of hard work and miracles! We focused a lot on our goals this week. Some days we had full plans and it seemed like there wouldn't be a way to do it all, but things would either fall through or get done quickly so we could use the extra time for a couple extra door contacts. One night we even got a majority of our goals in the last 30 minutes of the day. We hit all of our weekly goals a day early so Sunday was a little more relaxed.  

We actually got rides from members almost the entire time we were working on Sunday. Each appointment just brought us to the next until we got dropped off at home. That was nice. 

As for the picture above, the Deleons gave me a gift! They made a piñata version of me, and just for fun they made me into a mini Hulk! Don't make me angry.

Also our branch president changed! They completely surprised us. We had the Stake Presidency in our Sacrament Meeting for no apparent reason (I just thought they came for the primary program or something). All of a sudden they got up and released the presidency and called Bro Alvarado as president; I guess I should say President Alvarado. Now the Branch President and Relief Society president live under the same roof. Weird.

That's the news for now! I kind of feel like I should be taking more pictures, but when you have been in an area for almost 5 months, you've just seen everything there is to see. I'll try to look for some good photos though, don't worry!

Elder Larkin Moss

It's a Boy!

I am officially a father! It's a boy! 

My new companion is Elder Harker. He has now been in the field for 6 days! And guess what? He is from Roseburg, Oregon! Oregonians for life! Just on that note, our new Zone Leader, Elder Browning is from Vancouver Washington. It's a party. Anyways, being a trainer is great! So far it has been easier than I expected, but that is just because I got lucky. Elder Harker went out with the missionaries a lot before the mission, so he knows pretty well what he is doing. We are having a lot of fun so far!

We had a multi-stake (regional) conference yesterday; it was for Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri and probably a couple others. We heard from Lynn G. Robbins, Linda S. Reeves, Lawrence Corbridge, and then Dallin H. Oaks. They all gave fantastic talks. I learned a lot. I liked Elder Robbins' talk the most. He talked about simplifying. We have so much technology and gadgets that lead to so many distractions. Basically, we live in one of the most complicated eras. He advised us to simplify our lives: we may want to have less work to have more time with family, or spend less time on social media, etc. In general, don't let good things get in the way of the best things. FYI the best thing is family.

​Our zone actually changed a whole lot this transfer, every single companionship changed. At least one of every companionship​ changed plus two whitewashed (both companions transferred). That all means that 12 out of 20 missionaries here in Harlingen Zone changed. It will take some time to get used to it but I'm enjoying it so far. 

​That's about it folks, 'til next time!​

Elder Larkin Moss

Getting Old in the Mission

Transfers are coming again! We still don't know who is going where, but we know for sure that I will have a different companion. I have been called as a trainer! I will go to McAllen tomorrow morning to get my newbie, so today is my last day with Elder Hatfield.

I went to a meeting on Friday for all the new Trainers and District leaders, so I got to see a bunch of old friends! It was really weird to step back and realize that we are the ones getting old in the mission. I hope I learned some stuff there, because there will be a brand new missionary expecting me to take the lead.

The other Elders in the district, Elders Chamberlain and Hawkins had a baptismal service on Saturday! Yay Halloween baptisms! Anthony and Aaron are brothers. They have been coming to church for a year now, but Anthony had to wait for some stuff to get cleared up and Aaron has Down's Syndrome. Basically they were waiting for them to get baptized together. Anyways, it was super cool!

I guess I'm just waiting to find out where I will be training my son. (Mission genealogy. I'm a dad!)

Elder Larkin Moss

Matchy Mohawks!

Real Live Fruit Ninja!

This week was a party! I don't even know where to start.

On Monday, after emailing, we went to Bass Pro Shops and I saw a really nice machete for a good price and so I bought it (see above). 

 On Tuesday I chopped a watermelon.

Also on Tuesday, I went on an exchange with Elder Chamberlain. It was a bit weird because we ended up with members almost the whole day. We visited a part member family, then helped a member move, then we had a meal appointment, then we went to the church for an activity, followed by our coordination meeting. I had fun though.  Also, the member that we moved was Sister Daniels, she was one of the members from my last area, and now she lives in my district! Yay! 

On Wednesday, I puked for the first time in the mission. It was awesome. We had 4 meal appointments that day. Embarrassingly, halfway through number 4, I had to run to the bathroom. The members were cool about it though.  I can't wait to eat at least 5 times on Thanksgiving!

On Thursday, we had Mission Tour 2015! Mission Tour is when a General Authority comes and gives a big training to all of the mission! It was split up in two days, one for the south part of the mission and the next day he went up north. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see Elder Thompson because he is up in Corpus Christi, but I did see a lot of other friends! I even met Elder Moss! This is his first Transfer here in the mission. There are two of us! 

That is about all for this week!

Elder Larkin Moss

 Elder Moss and Elder Moss!

A bunch of non-Oregonians excited about rain. 

They don't even know.

Dizzy... But No Rabies!

Hello world! 

I got my first dog bite this week. Nothing big. It doesn't have rabies so its all good.

We came up to the gate to knock a door and we entered when there was only a puppy in sight. After we got inside, however, an aggressive black lab came charging at us from behind the house. He got one good lunge at me before I could get behind the gate so he got my hand. Just a superficial wound; I was actually more worried about the shock that got me after a couple minutes. Just a little while after the bite I got dizzy, my hearing went fuzzy, and Elder said that I went pale. I sat down and it all calmed down. We went to Sister Alvarado's house and she cleaned it up really well for me. Nothing to worry about, I just have to work on getting my courage around dogs back up. 

I went on an exchange with Elder Battleson (Zone Leader) on Saturday here in San Benito. We had a very full work load all day, just getting things done. We brought Jorge Saldivar, the oldest of the Young Men in the branch, with us for a few hours. He even got to meet the dog owner when we went back to double check that the dog has his shots. 'Twas a fun day, as always.

Those are the highlights for you! I guess one more thing, we went to the Branch President's house as a district to help with the branch garden. We went Friday night just a few hours after the dog bite, so I got to use a shovel with 1.5 hands. In the end I guess I've grown an appreciation for having my dominant hand in good shape. 

That's all folks! Bye!

Elder Larkin Moss

We kind of fought the system here. Bikes on a no bike sign.

Sounds Like 'Kill'em' But With a G

Yep.

We did a zone exchange this week and I was with Elder Gilliam (the second i is silent, sounds like 'kill 'em' but with a g). Pako from Los Fresnos came for a visit so he didn't even get to meet my actual companion. It was still good to see him though.  The pic above was taken with Pako's selfie stick. 

On Friday we called one of our members, Sister Alvarado, to see if she was available to come see some people with us but she was busy making posole. We changed our plans and learned how to cook posole! (see below) Posole is a sort of soup that they make around here. It is super delicious. And now I can say I've made it. 

I went on a short exchange with Elder Chamberlain on Saturday and a short one with Elder Morgan on Sunday. Exchanges are always fun, I love getting to work with other people. It's always the best to be with my own comp though.

I don't know how much I've talked about the Deleon family but their party store is still going strong. Their most recent piñata is Shredder from TMNT (above). They have a lot of cool Halloween piñatas being made. They have a Facebook page under Kym's Party Store (or something like that) if you want to see more. 

Not much else this week. Sometimes no news is good news though! 

Elder Larkin Moss