November 14th-November 20th, 2017

Happy Monday everyone! 

It has been a wonderful week for a Hermana Torjesen and I! We have been so guided by the Lord and this week especially He has taken our plans for the day and changed them completely. At the end of the day I usually look at my companion and say: “So... why did we even plan today?” It has been awesome. Here are some highlights. 

We had exchanges with my favorite past companions who are serving together in Alicante. That’s right, you guessed it! Hermana Bailey and Hermana Twede! I sure love them.

On Tuesday after district meeting we celebrated Elder Jamison’s birthday with a big pan of banana bread and Domino’s. 

This week we’ve knocked quite a few doors and contacted a lot. One of the coolest experiences from this week was meeting José Miguel. It was Saturday night and we had some time so we walked half an hour to a neighborhood we don’t get a chance to work in a lot. On the way up there we didn’t see a lot of people so every person we did she, we talked to them. A lot of rejections untillll José Miguel! We started talking and he’s just a really down to earth guy. He has a lot of the same ideas as we did. He rambled on for a while and Hermana Torjesen and I looked at each other and then at him and said, “We teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and help them make changes in their lives. Do you want that? Would you come to church tomorrow?” He said yes and he came 15 minutes early to church the next day!! It was AWESOME! He seemed to really like it and we have an appointment set up for tomorrow! God guides us to people who He is preparing! 

In my studies this week I’ve been reading about the teachings of Christ. I love the doctrine of Christ so much. He constantly invites us to mourn with those that mourn, purify our hearts, have clean desires and thoughts, to be a good example and glorify God, as well as so much more. After all that He pleads us to try to be perfect as He and God are perfect. I love the opportunity to progress and be able to see our own progression. 

Today we met up with the other missionaries and walked downtown Málaga. We got some ice cream together and walked by the boats by the ocean. :) It was a good day! 

I love you all! Until next week!

Love, Hermana Moore

The district!

Domino’s

Tortilla de patata and Gaspacho. :) 

Intercambios with Hermana Bailey and Hermana Twede!

Ice cream!  

November 7th-November 13th, 2017 Matches, Swimming, 18 months, OH MY!

Hello all you lovely people,

It’s been another fun week around here as a missionary!

Hermana Torjesen and I have stayed nice and busy as we had two sets of exchanges. We saw so many miracles this week and a lot of them were thanks to the faith and diligence of the sisters visiting. Hermana Torjesen met a family who we are going to start teaching and we are so excited to share the restored gospel with them! We met a LOT of cool people in the streets this week and we are excited to get in contact with them too. 

This weekend we had a ward talent show and we got to participate a lot as the missionaries. I played the piano for a song, played the tambourine with my companion for another and then swam. We did a synchronized swimming activity as the six missionaries here in Málaga and it was the silliest, most fun thing I’ve done in a while! I sure love being a missionary!

Bear with me while I share with you the ‘Parable of the Matches’ which is a real life learning experience from my week. 

We have a tank of butane that heats our water and in our kitchen we have this machine where we light a match, turn the knob and ignite the butane. Well, the flame went out this week and we were left with COLD water. I took a match, turned the knob and... nothing happened. I did the same motion countless times (there were lots more matches in the garbage...) with no results. I varied the motion and tried again and again. Nothing. I looked down in frustration and after lots of cold showers this week, I finally realized that I couldn’t do anything. I could use all the matches in the world but I just couldn’t do it. I was doing something wrong. The only person who could fix it is someone with more knowledge, in this case, a repairman.

Now, that got me reflecting on how we are all in need of a more knowledge-able and skilled repairman. We can drive ourselves crazy all our lives, running in circles and struggling with the same struggles and confronting the same trials. We need to pick up the phone and talk with our Repairman. We need to let Him help us and put our trust in Him. A few weeks an elder heard I was going home soon and asked me to give him my best words of advice. I just told him, “Learn what God wants you to learn”. My life has been a testimony to me that God is going to put us into hard situations in hopes that we will learn what He wants us to learn. This learning process requires us putting our confidence in God and letting Him help us. 

I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ and I’m grateful to have a few more weeks to share it with the people in Spain. This week my dear companion helped me celebrate my 18 month mark out on the mission! I love you all dearly!

Love, Hermana Moore

Exchanges with Hermana McKeown y Hermana Richardson

Our getup for the tambourine accompaniment. :)

The swim team. 

18 months!

October 29th-November 6th, 2017

Onceeee upon a time there was a little sister missionary named Hermana Moore. One day, her Norwegian companion and her decided to go on a BIG adventure. They studied their scriptures, prepared a presentation about the Church’s new Christmas video and were ready to go. 

On Monday morning they got up nice and early and went to church to have a day packed full of learning. Hermana Moore and Hermana Torjesen went to mission council and the Málaga zone meeting. They commented and prayed and sang and listened to Elder and Sister Bennasar. They visited from France and came to share special messages about how in a world where faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is declining, believers of Him are here to declare of His divinity. They spoke and spoke and urged Hermana Moore and Hermana Torjesen to put in the spiritual effort to receive a greater witness of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Now, they didn’t have to hear that twice, that Michiganian and Norwegian are some of the happiest missionaries you can find! They know why they’re in Spain and they know Whose work they are doing. 

On Tuesday morning they walked out the door with their scriptures and a bunch of chocolate chip cookies for their hungry elder friends. And then they were off in a van for a long road trip ride to Sevilla! There, they heard inspiring messages once again. After lunch and more than a few “last goodbyes” for Hermana Moore, they were on the road again. Off to Alicante, a six hour drive! We made a stop, a special stop, to see the Plaza de España. A place where StarWars was filmed but more importantly, a certain Hermana Echols once sat. After that, to stock up on snack food to last them the night.

At midnight they got to Alicante and woke up a few hours later to go to the last zone conference. After a five hour drive, they were back in their apartment. They sure slept well and were ready to work!

On Saturday night all the plans that Hermana Torjesen and Hermana Moore had fell through so they knocked doors and contacted without too much luck. But it turned out okay because they know why they're in Spain and they know Whose work they are doing. 

On Sunday they jumped in the car once again with their elder friends to go on a little trip to Granada for stake conference! It was fun to be back in that cold promise land place.

Hermana Torjesen and Hermana Moore continue working to bring others to this beautiful Gospel and they’ll do so forever. And they lived happily ever after.  

Love, Hermana Moore 

Just a small fire in our pizza oven. 

The trip! Elder Medina, Elder Jamison and us.  

The Plaza de España!! 🇪🇸 

The picture that has come with me every step of my mission. 

The dream. ✅ 

October 22nd-October 28th, 2017

Hola amiguitos!

It’s preparation day again around here since next week will be pretty busy as we go to the three zone conferences in Málaga, Sevilla and Alicante and have the mission council meeting. So that’s why I’m emailing today. Next pday will be November 6th. 

Here’s a quick rundown of the last few days. Hermana Torjesen and I have been running around like CRAZY, but we’ve been having a lot of fun doing it. 

On Tuesday we had district meeting, planned zone conference and had a really good lesson with our investigator Nadia. She has been studying the Bible and the Book of Mormon and is working on finding her answers. I bear testimony of the prophetic promise extended by President Monson that as we read the Book of Mormon every day, “we will be in a position to hear the voice of the Spirit, to resist temptation, to overcome doubt and fear, and to receive heaven’s help in our lives.” I have seen this help from heaven in my life and continue to see it as I put my trust in Christ.

From Wednesday to Friday we had exchanges with Hermana Pickett and Hermana Solórzano and then with Hermana Clark and Hermana Villegas. I had a good time working with those hermanas. We taught some lessons and got to meet a lot of people and talk to them about this gospel. We met a lot of teenagers who are interested in learning more! One of them, a 13 year old named Nuria, was so happy to talk with us and when we gave her a Book of Mormon, she got really quiet and a peace came over her. We testified about Christ and left her Alma 7 to read at home. She thanked us and said she’d read it right when she got home!

This week we also made a lot of banana bread, organized a Halloween activity and made 183 cookies with frosting. Friday night we had a 4 ward Halloween activity and it turned out well! We played carnival games, ate and had a nice time together. 

And today we took a really fun trip tooooo GIBRALTAR! It’s a British (yes, British 🇬🇧) city on the very southern tip of Spain. We explored some cool caves, took pictures with monkeys, walked though impressive tunnel systems from World War 2 and climbed a whole bunch of stairs. I sure am grateful to be here in Spain and be able to do fun things like this as well as serve the Lord!

I’ve got some better Gibraltar pictures on my camera so I’ll send those home next week.

This morning Hermana Torjesen I were walking and we had this conversation:

Hermana Torjesen: Do you see that plane, Hermana?

Me: Yeah.

Her: How far away is that plane?

Me: Well... it looks pretty close!

Her: I would say it’s about 4 weeks away!

It’s true, folks. We’re almost at the one month left mark. But, no worries, the Lord has still got lots of work for me to do here in Spain! I love you all, thanks to those of you who still read about my week!

Love, Hermana Moore

Hermana Clark and Hermana Villegas! 

Our cookies!

Monkeys!

Lunch on the go! Elder Medina, Elder Köhler, Elder Jamison and Elder Gentry, Hermana Torjesen and I. 

October 17th-October 22nd, 2017

It has been QUITE the week around here! It’s been transfer week and with Hermana Gentry heading home (she’s home now!), we had a few days of craziness. On Tuesday we got to help out with the orientation of the new missionaries! I got to go with Herman Andersen and pick up a couple missionaries from the airport and then meet back up with the rest of the trainees at the mission home. We spoke for a while and welcomed them to the mission. It was fun to remember being there with my trainer, Hermana DeBoard. It seems like such a long time ago.

On Wednesday Hermana Gentry finished up her packing and I went to send her off on a train. I spent some time at the station with other missionaries until Hermana Torjesen, my new companion arrived!! That night we had english class and the ward family home evening and finished off with a bit of contacting. I’m excited for this transfer with her! We’re going to see a lot of miracles together.

On Thursday we did weekly planning and then that afternoon we had a few lessons and had a lot of time to contact. On Friday we ended up meeting six people who want to learn more and it was awesome! It was 10:13 and we had two more minutes until we went in. We got the feeling that we needed to go back to a bigger street and contact the first person we ran into. We followed that impression and walked on that street for several minutes until we saw the first person walking towards us. Then we met Paloma! She’s 18, plays the alto saxophone and is interested in learning more! God is so, so good to us. I am grateful for the Holy Ghost and the opportunity we have to follow the will of God by listening to the impressions we receive.

My testimony of prayer and studying to find answers had been strengthened this week. Lately, I have been struggling with a few things and so I got down on my knees and asked God what I needed to do. Then, I started studying in the scriptures and other resources and found my answer, clear as day. God is aware of me and I know that He is aware of you as well.

I love you all! Have a great week!

*****My next pday will be this Saturday (October 28th) since the following week will be full of conferences and mission council. So I’ll email again in just a few days!

Love, Hermana Moore 

The view from the mission home.

 

Hermana Torjesen and I. ️ 

 Málaga at night 

October 10th-October 16th, 2017

Helloooo! This week was week six of the transfer which means that Hermana Gentry said a lot of good byes. This week we had a long, full week packed of tender mercies form the Lord. A lot of our lessons fell through and so when we got to teach a lesson, we were really grateful for it! I couldn’t ask for a better companion to help me through this week. We focused on gratitude this week and by doing so, we truly saw the Lord’s hand more frequently in the work. We were able to begin teaching two investigators again who had fallen away a little bit. We have a renewed sense of hope with both of them.

We used to be teaching Nadia, a young woman who lives with a member family. But then she started working a LOT and stopped being able to meet. But this week when we went to eat with the family, we were able to teach her! Now she changed jobs and can meet more frequently. She has a sincere desire to know if this church is true and she already has a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon! 

We also were able to meet with Estella again. She’s the Colombian woman I talked about a few weeks ago. We taught her a good Restoration lesson and I think we’ll be able to keep teaching her more frequently now.

At the end of my time with Hermana Gentry in Granada, I wrote President Andersen in my letter to him the following:

“Even though I know that God may have different plans for me and I know that you and He both know that I will happily and willingly serve where you need me, but if my wishes could be added in, I really want another transfer here in Granada! I'm sure you get this all the time and I'm sure you've explained this a million times to missionaries writing you the very same thing I am writing you, but I love these people so much and I love my dear companion Hermana Gentry. But God knows best and I will go where the Lord needs me to go.”

I am so grateful for this other transfer to be with Hermana Gentry. God really does give us what we want when it’s possible. :) We have both improved a lot and it has been such a blessing to serve with her again. She’s headed home on Thursday morning but I’ll see her at BYU in January! 

My new companion is..... HERMANA TORJESEN! She’s from Norway and she’s one of the sweetest people to ever live.

I love you all! Have a great week!!

Love, Hermana Moore

 Hermana Gentry. ️ 

Hermana Gentry said a lot of goodbyes this week. :(

With some of the best elders, Elder Medina and Elder Rogers. 

Eating out at 100 Montaditos (100 baby sandwiches).

October 3rd-October 9th, 2017

Hi friends!

Hermana Gentry and I had a week of God directing and redirecting us. A
few of our progressing investigators dropped us for various reasons
and lot of lessons and plans fell through. But that's okay because
that made us stop and ask, "what does God need us to do right now?" He
has led us to people who needed our help or has led us to blessings He
prepared for us.

On Tuesday we had exchanges with Hermana Wood and Hermana Favero and
it was fun to work with those ladies.

Saturday was a contacting day! All of the lessons we had planned fell
through so we contacted basically all morning and night and it was
awesome. We recognized that it was God's will and just embraced it for
the day. We were about to go home for lunch when we smiled at a man
who was fixing his car. He looked at us and gave us a big smile so we
went to talk to him. His name was Daniel and he's a cool Argentinian
guy who wants to learn more! That made the whole day of contacting
worth it.

Sorry this week is super short but that's all I've got for now!

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

Love,
Hermana Moore

Exchanges with Hermana Wood and Hermana Favero

 Paella!

Lunch with President and Hermana Andersen before transfer meeting! I haven't had lasagna since home. :)

Just a normal night in Spain. A procession going right outside our window. 

September 26th-October 2nd, 2017

This week was full of exchanges and finding new people to teach! We
had exchanges with Hermana Pickett and Hermana McKeown and a few days
later with Hermana Stilson and Hermana Clark.

Okay. There's a few cool people I want to tell you all about.

Christian. He's a guy I met with Hermana Pickett on exchanges. We
offered to give him a tour of the church and we met up on Thursday to
do that! The tour went really well and we had a good talk about his
beliefs and the message that we share as missionaries.

A week ago we received a referral of a lady named Estella. I talked
about her last week. She's a woman from Colombia who lets anyone
talking about God into her house. She loved our first visit but when
we went back, she started out by saying that she loved our visit but
she never tends people back again. She was about to say goodbye and
send us on our way when we began to testify to her. After that we sat
there talking with her for twenty more minutes by the end she was
saying, "I don't know what is different about you two, but I feel so
good! You need to come back!" Yesterday we visited her for the third
time, which in her words is completely unheard of for her. She always
talks about the good feeling she gets when we walk in the door and the
absence of something when we leave. I know that that something is the
Spirit. :)

By far one of the most bizarre lessons I've been in. Armando is a guy
the elders contacted a few weeks ago. They passed his number to us and
we set up a time to meet. He shows up 40 minutes late and is wearing a
suit and is walking a little white dog. We walk to a little park since
we don't have a lot of time and when we sit down on a dirty bench in a
dimly lit park with kids running around he says, "uhh don't you know
who I am?" Uhhhh Armando? "No, I'm Armando Robles and I have my own
talk show every Thursday night at 7." Surprised that we don't
recognize him (HA. we don't even watch tv!), he pulls out his phone
and pulls up a news page with his face plastered on it. First he
starts talking about how much he loves Donald Trump and how two weeks
after he was elected he spoke to him on the phone. We were ready to
get out of there... but then the lesson took a turn. He talked about
how impressed he is with how good the youth are and how many good
things the Church does. He tells us that he wants to hear what we're
all about and what are beliefs are that make us good, charitable
people. We taught him about he Book of Mormon and he's eager to start
reading it. He told us several times that there's something missing in
his life that money, fame and success just doesn't seem to fill. I
know that that hole can only be filled with the love of God and
obedience to the commandments. We're excited to keep teaching him! He
offered to let us come on the show but I don't think that'll he
happening... hahaha.

General Conference was awesome! I haven't watched all the sessions yet
but I have received so much revelation for myself, my life and the
missionary work in this area. God has been really good to us this past
week. We've been contacting a lot and God has been leading us to find
people who are ready to listen!

Today we spent Pday downtown buying souvenirs for Hermana Gentry to
take home. I couldn't feel happier to be a missionary. I love my
companion, I love this area, and I love my calling.

I love you all!

Love, Hermana Moore

Exchanges with Hermana McKeown and Hermana Pickett

 Hermana Stilson and Hermana Clark

Málaga streets. :) 

September 19th-September 25th, 2017

Hellooooo! It's been an eventful, awesome week around here in Málaga. Our butane hasn't been working so God has been humbling me and today I appreciated the first hot shower of the week! It's the little things. :) Be grateful!

Here's some highlights from the week!

On Tuesday we had a really well planned zone meeting where we talked about the importance of the Book of Mormon and studying the scriptures and we shared what we all learned from Elder Holland. It was a good, enlightening meeting.

Tuesday afternoon Hermana Torjesen and Hermana Richardson came and I had the best exchange of my entire mission! I was with Hermana Torjesen. She's from Norway and is the sweetest. We taught Felix, a recent convert here and then started passing by people. That morning I had made 10-15 calls to set up a lesson for that time but nothing worked out. We just received a referral of a lady named Estella from other missionaries. We passed by her house and she let us in! She was so, SO excited to meet with us and she insisted on inviting us in and letting us teach her right away. She loved the Restoration lesson and we're excited to go back to teach her more. God put us where we needed to be. :) After that we taught a less active member as well and had a really good night together. We had great conversations about the gospel in our lives and how we can be better missionaries and I felt like we both left the exchange uplifted and edified.

On Wednesday, I got to have an interview with President Andersen! Time with him is always a sacred time to seek help and counsel.

Hermana Gentry and I have both been a little bit sick this week so we've been extra tired, but we've had some good lessons with investigators and good studies.

I don't have too much to tell you all this week. Today for pday a Carla and Felipe, members from the ward from Chile! We had a barbecue and it was a lot of fun!

This week I finally got around to put pictures by my study table. There's a picture below. These pictures represent thousands of memories from the last 16 months of my life. I am grateful for the opportunity to be here in Spain but more important than the place is the message I get to share. This message that the church of Jesus Christ has been restored in its fullness gives people a chance at a new life. It gives people a chance to move on and have their burdens be lifted from their shoulders. God is our loving Heavenly Father and He has a plan for each one of us and everything happens in His perfect time.

I love you all!

Love, Hermana Moore

Intercambios with Hermana Torjesen and Hermana Richardson!

I sure love my companion. ❤️ 

It's not the best quality... but here's the picture of most of my mission and Elder Holland!