This week was incredible!

First of all, from Tuesday to Thursday, there was a 3-Day Leadership Training in McAllen. My district leader and one other from our district were away for awhile. That meant I went on an exchange with Elder Hallmark! Covering both of our areas was quite hectic, we were busy all day all 3 days. We had lots to do and we had a lot of success.

The best part of the week was yesterday. Near the end of church, a man came in and sat in the back. After it ended we talked to him, and set a date for baptism immediately. He has met with the missionaries before and knows where he wants to be. He came directly from a different church but knew he was in the wrong place. His parents aren't supportive, so he walked. He came to find us and he knows that this is the right church. 

I've learned if you put Heavenly Father and Christ first, everything else will fall into place.

Make time for God. You are important to him, so he should be important to you.

Elder Larkin Moss

Fun times in Portland!

Our recent converts are doing great. Ralph Perez got the Aaronic Priesthood yesterday, so he's really on track to be a great member. Dave Dean is loving life. He had all 4 of us over for dinner on Saturday. He served homemade egg rolls. They were super delicious (and greasy!) His wife is a little crazy but they try to do the right things.

Brother Dement, our ward mission leader is great. He is a wonderful leader and really wants to help out. He and his family love food, so he has us over every week and stuffs us full. We get a lot of food here, everyone is willing to feed us. We sometimes ask to simply come by to talk and they offer food anyways. I'm not one to refuse, so fine by me.

On Friday, the Scouts here had a fundraiser; they held a cake auction. People donated different cakes, plus there was a potluck to go with it. (People definitely love food here) There were well over 30 cakes/baked goods and they all sold for quite a lot. The auctioneer rigged the first cake: he gave us $100 and asked us to bid against another guy all the way up to $100. Since the first cake sold for so much, the rest of the night was at a high standard. The lowest price treat was $40. I was amazed. Most were over 60 and a few were over 100. The final dessert was a homemade toffee. Apparently it is a ward favorite, because the small box of toffee sold for $340! They made over $2500 from the auction. This was apparently the 4th annual cake auction. There were a lot of people there, and most of them participated. It was quite a success.

Overall Portland is great. It is just like home and it will be hard to leave. Hopefully that is not soon. Speaking of which, one of the members here that has just moved in served his mission here. It took him 8 years but Brother Chavez is back.

This week, since I've been back in America for awhile, working in a ward much more like home I've learned a lot about how members see missionary work.

• First of all, when missionaries ask, "Is there anything we can do for you [today/this next week]?" we are super excited when the answer is yes. There's no need to be afraid to ask the missionaries for help. Whether it's washing dishes or mowing the grass, we love to serve. As long as it's not babysitting, we want to be asked to help.
• Also, lunch appointments are great. Breakfast, for that matter, is awesome as well. We shouldn't be doing it everyday, but a Saturday morning breakfast or lunch after church is super fun.
• Thirdly, I'll repeat to you that missionary work can be quite simple. If you don't know what to do to help, start off simply praying for missionary opportunities. Step two, just meet a neighbor, say hi. Step three invite them to dinner, and have the missionaries there as well. That is as much as we need.

Just keep the missionaries in your prayers and you will see more blessings come.

Elder Larkin Moss

Elder Hutchinson under the Portland, TX watertower

A beautiful sunset in Portland, Texas

Right at home in Portland

Portland, Oregon to Portland, Texas

This week has been pretty crazy with the new location. I feel much more at home here though. The ward here is super great, loving, and accepting. I'm so glad to be back in America. The valley is something else.

The first day we went out to work here it rained. It poured. However, it only added to the homely feel. The weather overall is much nicer here, but specifically here in Corpus Christi, it can rain. I hear the summers are quite sunny though.

One of the people we get to work with is the Vann family. It is super weird because Brother Vann reminds me a lot of my Uncle Derek. He has a large collection of Magic cards, lots of video games, and even Munchkin. The only thing he has that Derek doesn't is a ponytail. Also, they have a pet hedgehog. Certainly wouldn't surprise me if Derek got one. Another crazy thing they introduced us to is "Reese's Spread." I bought some today, you can find it right by peanut butter in the store. Get it. It is wonderful. Not Reese's brand peanut butter but the chocolate peanut butter spread.

I got to go to both my first baptismal service and first zone conference in the field. The other elders baptized Ralph Perez this Saturday. He has been attending church for 9 or so months and had many of the ward members at his baptism. He is so involved already that he set up the program himself. Much of his recent convert family was there, including his inlaws, and he is going to be a great addition to the ward.

For zone conference, we had a little pow wow. We actually tied feathers on our heads and circled up. It was a nice discussion about our goals and what we can improve without being a lecture. It works really well.

The work is progressing. It is exciting to open an area knowing that Portland (TX) is growing so much and has so much potential. There is obviously a reason that little old Portland Ward has six missionaries now. 2 pairs in the city and one covering the small towns.

2 Nephi 29

The Book of Mormon is the word of God.

Buenos Días,

Elder Larkin Moss

Elder Hutchinson and me with a member of our new ward in Portland

Surprise!

I'm not in Mercedes anymore! I'm not anywhere close. McAllen Stake had a lot of area changes which eliminated one companionship from that area and we got booted. They sent us North to Corpus Christi. More specifically Portland. (I'm home!) It is just North across the bay from CC. That also means I won't be using Spanish for awhile. Nearly all English.

There's not much of a point relating all the progress we had last week because it all got stolen from us. I went on an Exchange with Elder Pope on Saturday and the two of us found 7 new investigators in one day! Then they booted us.

It was Sunday morning just before church started. We got a call from the APs and they informed us that we were leaving the next day. We pretty much spent the rest of the day saying goodbyes and packing. We did get to see the new areas for the rest of the missionaries and we handed off all of our people. Packing was nuts, we both got to bed late, but we had lots of help in the morning. Some of the other Elders were nice enough to come pick us up and take us to McAllen by 8 am. 

Saying bye was sad, but we have important work here in Portland. We moved in with two other Elders - Swainston and Hallmark. I've been in the field for three weeks and Elder Swainston finishes in three weeks. 

It's been a crazy sudden transfer, but I'm happy to be here.

Saying Goodbye...

Here is Edgar, the awesome Ward Mission Leader.

Here is Efrain, the awesome Ward Missionary.

​We Will Miss You!