Ward Cook-Off!

The Lears showed us a super quick cake recipe. Mix (equal) angel food cake mix and any other cake mix; 3 tbsp cake mix + 2 tbsp water + 1 min in the microwave = 321 Cake. It makes little personal size cakes. They aren't the best, but they are high quality for 1 minute.

We saw our mission president this week! He came to our zone for personal interviews. Everybody came together for a meeting while one person at a time did their interview. We started at 9am. I was last. I was at 5pm. Long day to say the least.

We helped a lady tear out the carpet in her back room. It had flooded and the carpet was ruined. We first started by moving the furniture out of the way. Elder Velez dropped a fire extinguisher and it spewed everywhere. We got really messy that day.

On Saturday, we had a ward cook-off. A few guys brought their smokers and started before 8 am. We went at 9 and Brother Childers served sausage and fajitas for breakfast at 9:30. We then went to play soccer with the youth at 10. We got devoured by mosquitos but had a lot of fun. We went back to the bbq at 11:30 to get some ribs from Brother Childers for lunch. 

At 6 pm the actual party started. We got to judge the competition. The brisket was decided quickly but the chicken took some debating. Overall there was a great turnout with a lot of food and a lot of fun. 

On Sunday the other Elders here celebrated their work as Sister Childers was baptized by her husband. 

'Twas a good week. Talk to y'all later!

Elder Larkin Moss

Judges Table

 Ward Barbecue! 

Sister Childers' baptism!

Wonderful New Apartment!

Yeah 4/20! I'm glad that I'm in a Republican state.

I got to go on an exchange in Rockport again! The people are so old! It was a lot of fun though.

There was a huge rain/thunderstorm early in the week that did a lot of damage and caused minor flooding all around town. A huge tree branch came down in the Brooks family's backyard. We got to help clean it up. Bishop Gore came to help as well. His chainsaw came in handy.

In that same day we moved into a new apartment. I had been with 3 other Elders in a one bedroom, one bathroom apartment for 9 weeks. The new apartment is absolutely wonderful.

When we finished these two big projects, we went to help the Lears move. We did quite a lot of physical labor on Wednesday. I had a lot of fun.

On Thursday we got to see Brother Sibley. He is so awesome. He once took a boat from New York down here to Corpus Christi. It was a 4 month trip. He has a law degree, sells dirt from his property, made a dog motel, rents out U-Hauls, owns a few mules, and to top it off on Saturday he bought a motorcycle and rode it to church yesterday. I could only dream of living a life like his. Also, he has plans to make an RV park on his property.

On Friday we had an Area Exchange in the zone. We all switched areas for a day. Elder Cabezas and I went to the center of Corpus in a huge bike area. I thought it was great. At one point, out of our huge area, we ran into the other set of Elders from Portland. They were going all over and happened to be right in the same place as us.

All in all a lot of normal hours were lost in our area this week but it was a lot of fun.

Elder Larkin Moss

Me and Elder Cabezas with a mule at Bro. Sibley's house

Tree at the Brooks' house

Bishop Gore with a chainsaw

 End result

I'm Humble, He Is Not...

We are moving this week! We move in on Wednesday and get to clean the old apartment on Thursday. 

I got my new companion Elder Cabezas! He was born in Chile, however raised in Utah. It does mean he is completely bilingual. As far as I can tell, we are quite opposite. I'm quiet, he is not, I'm humble, he is not, etc. We don't seem to agree on much. It shouldn't impede the missionary work at all, but I don't see much of a friendship blossoming in the future.

Our investigators are progressing well. Our teaching pool is a bit interesting. We have one full family, one part member couple, and a man who is currently separated. The lone man was the only person that could make it to church this Sunday but we will keep working at it.

We got to see the Lears this week again! Dinner on Thursday canceled so we asked the Lears to fill in and they got us pizza. It's like home away from home. 

Portland is as wonderful as ever and the people are even better.

Elder Larkin Moss

(No photos today because the computer is being a brat.)

The People Here Are Crazy!

Our super great member, Sis. Jackson invited a friend over for dinner with us, so we got a new investigator!

Our other investigators prayed and decided on a date for their marriage and then baptism! It is a bit farther away than I would have liked but at least a date is set!

I went on an exchange with Elder Parisi up in Rockport! Some awesome members took us to a BBQ restaurant for dinner and then gave us a bunch of jerky. It was great! There was another guy with 10 or more cats outside of his house. The people here are crazy! Also people in Rockport are super old! The average age is like 60.

General Conference was great! Elder Ringwood's message was particularly enlightening. 

Truly Good and Without Guile 

This morning we found out that Elder Hutchinson is leaving. I'm getting a new companion! We don't know who or where Elder Hutchinson is going but he will be a District Leader.

Have a good week! Stay happy and healthy!

Elder Larkin Moss

Corpus Christi Zone!

Portland District!

Exchange with Elder Parisi!