July 18th-July 24th, 2016

Well, it has been another week of small miracles and tender mercies from my Heavenly Father. I hit some hurdles this week and feelings of inadequacy but it turned out to be a great week!

I'm trying to make these letters home realistic and share my miracles I encounter in midst of the hard times. Missionary work is hard but the miracles make it worth it.


Last Monday we went to Marina (our investigator)'s house and I had her trim my hair. She had a cosmetology degree in Bolivia and I want to trim my hair every once in awhile so I can grow it out for my whole mission. It's not a noticeable change but it was still nice to get it cut.

Tuesday was an interesting day for me. I really enjoyed district meeting and loved Elder Fumero's (new district leader) discussion about our area books. Every time we teach someone we write it down and write down how the person reacted to the lesson as a reference point for future missionaries. We are working on getting them up to Preach My Gospel standards and I'm excited to work with it more.


After district meeting I kind of hit a wall and kind of had a blah couple of days. It has been a frustrating week and we have very few people who are willing to meet with us. I felt as though planning for the next day just meant filling time, which is obviously not how it is supposed to be.

Saturday is where the miracles came in. First of all, we were invited to eat lunch with a lady from our ward who is from Uruguay but also lived in Utah for 5 years. Her English is perfect and she made ispancakes, eggs, potatoes, and BACON. Or at least as close to bacon as you can get here. ;) As we say around her table and talked about her job and family I caught a glimpse of how different it would be to be in an English speaking mission! So that was a huge tender mercy.

Our plans for Saturday afternoon looked pretty sad and several of our plans fell through right before mediodia ended. We were disappointed and as I said the prayer as we left our apartment.  I prayed that we would find something meaningful to do. We passed by the house of a menos activo who we haven't seen in a long time but like usual, he wasn't home. As we turned to leave, we heard someone say "Hermanas! Ven! Les doy agua!" (Hermanas! I'll give you water!)  As we looked across the street we see a woman from a member family poking her head out the door. We went and she gave us water and the banana bread they had just made. They accidentally burned it but you know you're a missionary when you say to your companion: "well, it was burnt and really could be used some more sugar, but other than that it was good!"

As we sat down to share a scripture and a thought, I was already so grateful for them and for God for working through them. After we shared the scripture I thanked them for allowing us to visit with them for a minute and that they had been the answer to our prayer. Then, one of them looked us in the eyes and he said, "Hermanas, this is just God showing you that He hasn't forgotten about you." That sentence touched my heart and I was filled with gratitude. Maybe this member family who reads their scriptures every day didn't particularly NEED the message we shared with them, but God knew that we needed the message that God gave us through their words and kindness. The Lord never forgets us. Saturday was such a happy day.

This Sunday was the best Sunday I have had during my whole mission. I felt as though every talk in Sacrament meeting was given for ME. It was just what I needed to hear about the things we as members need to do in order for God to put in His part. Our stake president spoke and said something that touched me in particular. As he spoke about his own mission and realized he was worrying too much about his own will instead of the Lord's will he said in a simple prayer, "Señor me da igual, solo quiero servirte". (Lord, it doesn't matter to me, I only want to serve thee." I needed to hear that this week. I needed a reminder of why I'm here on my mission. I'm here to do the Lord's will; I'm here to serve Him. If His will means having some citas fall through and having few peopleto visit, then He knows best.

I love being a missionary. I love this work. I love my tender Heavenly Father. We are children of a merciful Father who knows exactly what each of us go through.

A few days ago Elder Fumero called us and said he had district meeting assignments to give us the following day. He said that I wouldn't be having to lead a workshop for sure. I told him, "ya estoy list para cualquier cosa" (Basically, bring it on) and then he starts yelling in English: what a machineeeee. Hahaa. So sure enough, the next day he called and assigned me a 25 minute assignment about inspired questions. I'm so excited.

My iPad always corrects nephew to Nephi. I'm a Mormon. :)

So Dad asked me if it's ever not 90°F here and the answer is no. It's always hot here. I have a really great picture on my camera that I'll send home next week.

Love, Hermana Moore

My district:

We made PAELLAAAAAA this week for lunch! I'm so excited to come home and make it for you all. :)

Elche is known for its palm trees. 


















Yay MISSIONARIES. 



















































This week I did some adulty things like installing new smoke and CO detectors.

1. I'm getting so tan here and have some sick tan lines.

2. It's so hot. This is after 2 hours of proselyting in the morning.

3. Another paella picture.

July 11th to July 17th 2016--- Transfer Week!

Last Monday we went to Alicante for the greatly awaited Elche vs. Alicante fútbol game! We won except for the key players on our team were actually from Alicante. Hahaha. It was SUPER hot and we played right during mediodia (duh. The HOTTEST part of the day) so that was silly of us. Those of us from Elche bought Spain headbands and face paint. I think that's why we won.

On Tuesday we had the last district meeting and the last meeting with Elder Weenig! 20 minutes before Elder Weenig called us and assigned Hermana DeBoard and I a taller (workshop). We gave one last district meeting and in zone meeting! But we agreed and crammed to prepare it. We ended up not even giving it because we ran out of time in the meeting but it was cool how fast we pulled it together. As a district we had breakfast together during the meeting. We had already made some  killer banana bread and an egg bake and the elders make pancakes and sausages. It was nice to eat all together. :)

Wednesday was the day of transfers and even thought Hermana DeBoard and I are staying here in Elche it was still a crazy day for us. We woke up at 7 so we could go say goodbye to Elder Rivero who is going to be a zone leader. Then we walked to say goodbye to Elder Weenig at the bus station because he's finishing his mission! After mediodia we went back to the bus station with popsicles and waited for Elder Pesce to come in with his trainee Elder Stark. It was nice to meet and talk with them a bit. Elder Stark is from Colorado and he'll be have a fun elder to have in our district.

Wednesday night we had English class and taught our students animals and Old McDonald and it was pretty entertaining. Afterwards, I was talking to Elder Stark and he asks, "uhhh do you sleep with sheets on your bed?" Uh. Yes. Apparently, because they just moved to their new apartment they are missing a lot of things that were part of the old apartment. So they took the bus home with us and we ran upstairs and got them some extra sheets we had. The next day they called us and asked us if we had an extra mattress and a clothes drying rack. Haha. Oh elders. Luckily we do have extra things to give them. We made Elder Pesce promise to make us sopaipillas soon to pay us back.

Hermana DeBoard and I made a goal this week to speak only Spanish from 4:30 to 8 every day and soon we'll add in an all day Spanish day of the week. So that's been helping me a lot. I could talk all day in Spanish about religious things but I need practice on the common conversation.

This week I learned how to play the mission hymn and will be playing it tomorrow for district meeting! Sunday was quite the day. We had ward council meeting and so were at the church 45 minutes before church started. I gave a talk about missionary work in Sacrament meeting. It went okay... When I get nervous, I talk really fast and kind talk in circles. So I'm not surehow much sense I actually made in Spanish but I'm trying my best. Haha :). And then we had the three hours of church. We went home to eat, then went back to the church building for and hour and a half choir practice. And then were there for another 2 hours for a baptism service for the other ward. So it was a pretty exhausting day!

It's been a pretty average week in terms of missionary work. No extraordinary happenings or anything but that's how it is. :) God knows exactly where the people we need to teach are and it's just our job to find them. We've been knocking a lot of doors and passing by a lot of people from the ward member list.


We take the city buses A LOT here--so much in fact that the bus drivers basically know all of our normal stops. One especially crazy day when we were helping the elders out with their piso we took the bus several times and ended up with the same bus driver for at least three of the trips. The bus drivers smile at us when they see us in the streets and motion to us to see if we need their bus or not.Hahaha. So we have friends here.

Have a great week!


Love, Hermana Moore


Team Elche!

Fans are used so much here and we always have them in our bags.













Elx is a Elche I'm Valencian. Valencian is a dialect of Spanish used here in the region I'm in. I don't speak it but some older people do. It's also taught in all the schools and most of the street signs are written in Valencian.

This is the transfer board. This week is the second week of the transfer.

Transfer board in the mission home.

Jamón serrano is super popular here. People buy these big legs and carve off thin slices of ham.

It's like a huggable cactus!

The elders went and got their eyebrows waxed at a member's house and didn't invite us...

July 4th-July 11th, 2016

Hello all! This past week was just wonderful. Things are looking up and God had been so merciful with His two daughters in Elche this week. We got transfer calls on Saturday and Hermana DeBoard and I are staying together for another transfer! So we're excited to work hard and really see a change in Elche.

Last Monday on the 4th we ate out with Juan, a member from Crevillente and then we helped Elder Weenig pick out a killer suit, shoes, belt and tie combo to go home in. He leaves Elche on Wednesday and we'll be super sad to see him go. Rebajas are nation-wide sales in July and January. We spent most of pday in the mall. I bought 4 more t-shirts. One mistake I made when I bought mission clothes was buying too many blouses and shirts that I need to wear something under. IT'S HOT HERE AND I'LL HAVE TWO SUMMERS HERE. Now I have enough tshirts to wear them all week. I also bought a cute little maroon side bag. The one I bought from Target started ripping on the bottom so I'm having a member fix it. I figure if I get a small one I won't be able to carry
around much stuff so my bag will be lighter.

On Tuesday we had a zone meeting and Hermana DeBoard and I gave a great taller (workshop) about teaching how Christ taught while He was on the earth. The missionaries going home this transfer bore their final testimonies and Elder Weenig couldn't stop saying, "Me encanta ser misionero" I love being a missionary. Elder Weenig is such a good, obedient missionary and he's been a really great example for me. I hope I'm always able to say that I love being a missionary.

The main reason this week has been so great is because we've been teaching Marina's daughter Nicol the lessons. Marina is our only investigators and she has three great kids. Nicol is 12 and wants to be baptized so we're teaching her the lessons. We've taught her three lessons and she is such a fast, observant learner. When we teach her she and Marina are both attentive and Johan (5 years old) sits at the table for most of the lesson. I just love how the Gospel is changing that family and how happy they're becoming. Here's a conversation I had with Johan one lesson right after we sat down and were just talking:

Johan: Hermanassssss are we ever going to start??

Me: well what do we have to do to start, Johan?

Johan: Uh, Hermana. Of course we have to pray. 

Me: Who should say it? Can you?

Johan (with a sheepish grin on his face): ahhhhhh. Fineeee.

He then said the sweetest prayer! He thanked God for sending us to their home and gave thanks for his family. And then he asked for us all to be happy. :) it was the cutest. 

We're starting to contact more and we'll see success soon! A common interaction is the following:

Us: Hola! ¿Cómo están?

Grumpy old people on street: ADIOS.

A few days ago it was 9:40 and we had until 10:15 to finish off the day. I suggested we go knock on Sergio's door even though he's been giving us the cold shoulder and not answering his phone or door. We rang he buzzer 5 times and sure enough, he "wasn't there". When we turned around to leave we saw Guillermo, a guy other hermanas used to teach English to. We hadn't seen him in a while because he's working like crazy. So we were able to share a scripture with him. This wouldn't have happened if we had just gone home early!

On Wednesday Elder Weenig and Pesce asked us to help them move all of their stuff over to their new apartment and being the nice hermanas that we are, we said yes. They brought a load of suitcases to their new place and took and hour and a half to unpack them. Meanwhile we were conveniently at their old apartment finishing the much needed deep cleaning that hadn't gotten done! When they came back we kept cleaning for another hour and a half and got a lot done. As I was cleaning out a cabinet where there were a million grocery shopping bags stored I asked Elder Weenig how long some gross rotting potatoes had been hidden beneath the bags and he responds with: "there are potatoes in there?!" So... At least 12 weeks?

A while ago we made cookies for Elder Weenig's birthday and while we were over there cleaning he gave us the container back with all the crumbs still in it! When I gave him grief about it he said Forgive me for my gender! Hahaha. We did find these cool bag water bottles we can clip on our bags in their kitchen drawers and we decided to take them. On our way out Elder Pesce says, "cool water bottles! Do they work well?" "We don't know yet because we just stole them from your kitchen!" I don't think elders use their kitchens much...

Elder Pesce found out he is training this transfer and we'll never hear the end of it. He slips it in everywhere and says, "yeah, Presidente called me and told me that out of all the great elders in the mission, I was chosen to be a trainer" and "I think we need to take this bus BECAUSE I'M TRAINING." In a prayer for the food in Sunday he even prayed that he would travel in safety to Málaga to pick up his trainee BECAUSE HE'S TRAINING. bahahaha. I hope I get to train while he's still in my district so I can do the same thing. We're all excited for him to train and to get to know a new elders fresh out of the MTC. I'm not the newest anymore! Speaking of training, since the training process is two transfers long (12 weeks) I'm halfway done with my training! I hit 2 months on the 10th.

Thanks for all of your emails and love and support. I love you all lots!

Love, Hermana Moore

I actually have pictures this week!

Cutting onions is sad. 

 But taco salads are happy!

 Have I mentioned that's it's hot? We bought some Mr. Freezie pops. 

We got desperate for lunch one day and made mac and cheese and the rice. Packing my suitcase mostly full of food was such a good idea. Thanks Dad!

There's this old investigator named Alejandro that always wants to take us out for chocolate milk. We obliged one day and he gave me this sweet fan. #beattheheat

Having an iPad is so nifty. Here are all of our pins we have of people to visit!

 We wrote Elder Pesce a to-do list for his trip to Málaga to pick up his trainee. To bring us pizzas and things like that. :)

We had an Alicante vs. Elche soccer match and we wonnnn!

Read me!

Hello everyone! This is the coolest spiritual experience I've had on my mission, and probably my life, so far. :) This happened on Friday 8th. 

I thought about Mom and Adeline a lot throughout the day and during my bedtime prayer I prayed and asked God why? for the millionth time. I know the answer. I know it's God's will and His plan and I know He's right. I'm grateful for the accident and for the person I've become from it and the family we've become from it. But I can't help but ask why it had to happen when it did and how it did. Up until I was around 10 or 11 I remember wishing and hoping that it was all just a dream and that I'd wake up and Mom would be there. I remember the day where I let that dream go, when I had to face the reality. I know God has a plan and I really do trust in it.

Anyways, on Friday, a little selfishly I petitioned God to let Mom visit me in a dream or something so I could feel her close. There have been times in my life that I've felt her so close. Like when I got my patriarchal blessing I knew that if I would've opened my eyes I would've seen her sitting right there beside me. Then a thought came into my mind. It was something so clear that I'd never experienced before. It was the tender voice of my Heavenly Father speaking directly to me. He said, "Haven't you been seeing her? She's been right there. She always has been." Then in my mind I saw Mom, dressed in a pristine temple dress. I imagined her right around the corner outside my bedroom and she looked so calm. She looked so comfortable and I immediately understand that she was always there. Then I saw myself earlier that day knocking doors with Hermana DeBoard. I saw it from a bird's eye view and as I saw it from that angle I saw Mom walking beside me. She's right beside me. She's there and she always has been.

It was such a sweet experience and I just wanted to share it with you all. I love you and am grateful we have this saving Gospel in our lives. Families ARE eternal and that day of resurrection will be so sweet! You'd all better be doing what you need to do to inherit the Celestial kingdom!

Love, Hermana Moore

June 27-July 3

Happy Fourth of July all you Americans! (Carolin and Vick, you're practically Americans ;)) I hope you're having a fun day celebrating!

Well I'm starting in on the last week of the transfer! It's been another tough week in terms of numbers of lessons given but once again the Lord has blessed me by teaching me what I need to lear!
Highlights of the week:

Every Tuesday we have a district meeting, which is attended and run by the closest 5 sets of missionaries. It's a two hour long meeting where we teach each other and strengthen our teaching skills. This week Hermana DeBoard and I were asked to teach for 20 minutes about the importance of the planning sessions we have. As a missionary, there are two types of planning. Weekly planning happens every Thursday and lasts 3 hours. We look at each one of our investigators and the people we think we need to visit and then figure out a general lesson plan of what they need to hear. We also set goals for the week in terms of how many lessons we want to teach, how many new investigators we want to find, as well as how we want to improve as missionaries during the following week. The other kind of planning, nightly planning, happens well... Every night from about 10:15-10:45. During this time we plan out the following  hour by hour and fill the day with people we are going to visit, which streets we are going to contact on, and what we are going to teach about. Planning is really important because it gives us a time to connect our plans with those God has. He knows which people are being prepared to accept our message and with planning, He can guide us to them.

After district meeting all 10 of us went out and ordered 5 gigantic pizzas and shared them.


So last Thursday Elder Pesce and Weenig got a call from their landlord and he told them they have to pack up and move out this coming Wednesday. Apparently the owners are getting divorced so the wife needs the apartment to live in. So the elders have been cleaning like crazy and looking at another apartment to rent. On Saturday we got special permission to go to the Elder's apartment to help them clean. Hermana DeBoard and I tackled the kitchen and boy did it need it. The elders are both really neat and clean people but elders have been living in that apartment for the last 5 years and so there was a lot to do. Because missionaries get transferred in and out a lot, a lot of food gets left behind and forgotten about. I cleared out her cupboards and fridge and filled three garbage bags full of expired food and old medicine that has just been sitting there. Then I took apart the inside of the fridge, scrubbed it and defrosted the freezer. It was actually pretty satisfying. While I was cleaning out the fridge I remembered cleaning out the fridge, which for the record is one thousand times nicer and cleaner, at home with Dad. :)

We had a few lessons here and there but it's been a pretty uneventful week. Our only investigator now is Marina and we just started teaching her 12 year old daughter the lessons on Sunday.

On Sunday I got asked to speak for 10 minutes about missionary work during Sacrament meeting (our main church worship meeting) on July 17th. So I'll start thinking about what I want to say. Speaking of getting assigned to speak, Hermana DeBoard and I have to teach/ lead a discussion tomorrow at our Zone meeting (the closest 40 missionaries). Eeeksies!

Hermana DeBoard hit her 9 month mark last week and we got ice cream to celebrate. Since she's at her halfway mark, she's been thinking about goals a lot and what she wants to set as goals to improve on in the time she has left. So that made ME think about my own goals and I thought of a few more good ones. Before my mission I don't feel like I ever really studied the scriptures, besides the Book of Mormon a little. So I set a goal to finish the New and Old Testament and the Pearl of Great Price all before I come home. Ill take them one at a time and I'll read 4 pages each day and I'll get through everything without a problem. I'm going to read them in English and then have my Spanish scriptures alongside. I also have a goal for the Book of Mormon! ** I'm reading it out loud in Spanish to work on pronunciation and read 6 pages every day. Doing this, I'll be able to finish it every 12 weeks (2 transfers). So I'll finish the Book of Mormon 6 times during my mission! I'm excited. :) AHHH the scriptures are so cool and they really do contain the word of God and the fullness of God's Gospel!

**For those of you who aren't members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, The Book of Mormon is a book similar to the Bible that tells of God's dealings with the people of the ancient Americas. 

So here's the biggest thing I learned this week: As hopefully all who know me know, I'm a happy person. But I also get serious when I'm focused on working on something. Since missionary work is always hard work, I've noticed myself this week getting too focused and finding myself get frustrated and getting grumpy with my companion. Hermana DeBoard is great and definitely doesn't deserve my grumpiness so I've been trying my best to have fun with whatever we're doing, even if it is knocking doors in 90 degree weather. It's still a work in progress but it's something I've been working on this last week in particular. I don't have the right to be selfish here. When I accepted the call to Spain, I accepted to work with all heart and mind and not worry about myself. This is the Lord's time and it doesn't matter if I'm tired or hungry--I'm still a servant of the Lord. I need to be humble and work and He will bless me.
I'm sorry I've been super lame with pictures this week it here's a picture of my door. So here's your cultural knowledge for the week. Doors are different in Spain.

Have a wonderful week!

Love, Hermana Moore