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!