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!

September 12th-September 18th, 2017

Oh my GOODNESS. I am so HAPPY. It has been such a good, spiritually filled week and I just feel like I'm on cloud nine! This is a long one but I just can't help it. 

I can't even begin to describe what an incredible blessing it is to be serving here in Málaga at this time. I am so content with everything in my life right now. My companion is one of my best friends. We get along so well (again!). I'm learning to fall in love with this area and the people. Malaga is beautiful and the people are so nice here. This last week I've had some really focused personal studies and I wanted to share with you all a scripture that I especially relate to. It's in the Book of Mormon in 1 Nephi 17:13. It says, "inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall be led towards the promised land; and ye shall know that it is by me that ye are led."

There are two very important promises made to Nephi and his family as long as they keep the commandments of God. 1. They will be led and guided to the promised land. 2. They shall know that it is all thanks to God. 

In verse 14 it says, "ye shall know that I, the Lord, am God; and that I, the Lord, did deliver you."

God loves to bless us and if we are observant, we will always be able to recognize that He is the one blessing us. Right now I am certainly well aware of where all the blessings in my life are coming from. They come from my perfect loving Heavenly Father. 

This week we had people staying with us every single night (for residency and exchanges) of the week except for Saturday and Sunday night! But it was fun getting to know some Hermanas better. We had exchanges with Hermana Bailey and Hermana Twede and it was so fun to be back with my old companions. We saw a lot of miracles and when Hermana Twede and I were together for the afternoon we found three awesome potential investigators and taught the Restoration to a man named Hicham. He's a cool Muslim guy we found looking for an old investigator. 

And all of these blessings before even scratching the surface of hearing Elder Holland speak!! I'm still pretty speechless about all of it. 

Saturday was one of the most spiritually uplifting days of my entire life. In the morning, we went to the other church building in Málaga. All the missionaries in the Spain Málaga mission got together (180 missionaries!) and we all took a group picture together with Elder Holland! Then we all got to shake his hand!

For the next two hours, we got to hear from an apostle of God. He spoke so many inspired words and I can't sum up what he said into just a few words. But here's a few of my favorite parts. With every word he spoke the Spirit testified to me that he is an apostle of the Lord and that Jesus Christ's church truly has been restored on the earth.

He talked a lot about the importance of missionary work and the importance of sacrificing everything. Maybe not all of this applies to you, but it has really impacted me. 

-"I just want you to change the world. I want you to give everything you have."

-"We are engaged in the most important thing in the universe. You are engaged all day every day in the salvation of human souls."

-" The clock is running. Savor it and serve and sacrifice. I expect you to give as close to nothing left as possible. It doesn't matter how much we think before the game or how many plays we think we could've done after the game. It matters what we do when the clock is on."

-"I'm asking you to give everything you have for this period of time and never ever look back with regret."

- "You teach the gospel. You bear witness. Let people see your soul. Be what a missionary is supposed to be. There's nothing that devastates me more than anything is when a missionary goes home and doesn't live the gospel. 

- "If your integrity means anything to you, you cannot ask people to make changes in their lives and then walk home and not do the same."

The statement that impacted me the most was "I want you to live your mission in anticipation of you going home." He then went on to talk about living a worthy mission and getting ready to go home to tell our friends and family, nieces and nephews, and eventually children and grandchildren about all of the wonderful things we learn and do here during this year and a half of our lives. Then, with love overflowing and tears almost falling from his eyes, he slammed his hand on the pulpit and said "THIS is real life. Capital R capital L." Serving a mission isn't a travel trip, it's not a vacation or a study abroad. Rather, I'm here to do the Lord's work, to be His hands and serve my brothers and sisters. But living the gospel of Jesus Christ doesn't stop there. I will continue sharing about the Plan of Salvation until the day I die. This is the life of being a true follower of Jesus Christ. It requires sacrifice and lots of love but the blessings are endless. 

Later that day, all the missionaries in Málaga had the opportunity to go to a meeting with Elder Holland and the entire stake of Granada. There, Elder Holland gave a talk based on a simple idea: "If He can't give us what we want, he'll give us something better. This is a gospel of mercy and compassion." I testify of that with all my heart. God loves us, His children, so very much. When we ask for His help, He will help us, giving us either what we want, or something better. 

After the conference when my heart was already overflowing with happiness, I got to see some of the people I love the most, the members from Granada. (The ward I served in with Hermana Gentry 8 months ago!). I got to hug and cry of joy and hug them some more.

And that leads us to today, Preparation day. We rounded up our office elder friends, the elders and the hermanas and headed on a road trip to Ronda. It's a tourist-y town where we had a nice little adventure together. 

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

Love, Hermana Moore 

 Everyone needs a good ice cream break!  

Exchanges with the friends. :) 

 Rondaaaa!

The group. :) (plus Hermana Gentry who is taking the picture)

Your favorite girl in Spain. 🇪🇸 

Rocio. One of the sweetest women I know. 

September 5th-September 11th, 2017

Hello from Málaga! It's been a good week of adjusting and I already
love it here. Here's a quick rundown of the week!

Last Tuesday was a day of goodbyes. Fernanda, a member made us
breakfast and Tuesday night I taught my last English class in Alicante
and went to the last ward family home evening. Alicante sure has FHE
figured out. We had quite the crowd and I got to say goodbye to a lot
of my favorite people.

Wednesday was transfer day and after saying good bye to Hermana Bailey
and an 8 hour bus ride, I was in Málaga! Hermana Gentry and I hit the
ground running. On Wednesday night we taught a small English class and
the ward FHE too. On Thursday during weekly planning I got to learn
more about the people we're teaching here and where they're at with
the lessons. Thursday night I met a recent convert named Felix and
then later taught Nadia. She is an investigator and we set a baptismal
date with her for the 7th of October! She is young and she is really
excited to continue learning and be baptized! There are a few other
people who want to be baptized but we need to rethink their dates to
be baptized. Teaching Nadia was such a blessing because she is so
eager to know more. She had studied the pamphlets the other Hermanas
had given her and she had specific questions about what she had read.

On Friday we visited with Samia, an Argentinian less active member and
then studied. After lunch we headed over to the church for mission
council! It was fun to see a lot of other missionaries and we had a
really good meeting! We talked a lot about the miracles we are seeing
as a mission and about how to focus our studies on the needs of the
people we teach. It was a spiritually edifying meeting and afterwards,
we had a sleepover at our apartment! Hermana Clark, Stilson, Twede and
Bailey all stayed over for the night and it was a fun night.

Yesterday was my first Sunday in Málaga and it was interesting. It's
always a bit chaotic meeting everyone but still trying to be helpful.
But there are a lot of great people here. I'm excited to work with
them and get to know them bigger. Hermana Gentry and I made savory
crepes for lunch and then got to the church to set up for a youth
activity. Hermana Gentry and her old companion, Hermana Burt planned
an INCREDIBLE youth activity to get them excited about missionary
work. It went really well and we had a good turnout. We did some
activities, a question and answer session with their questions for
preparing to serve a mission and had President and Hermana Andersen
speak.

And now it's p-day. A day of rest before this next busy week! Elder
Holland is going to visit us and I get to listen to him at the mission
meeting in the morning and at the general session for regular members!
I'm pumped!

This week I've gained a stronger testimony about the Book of Mormon.
Every single page testifies of Jesus Christ and our loving Heavenly
Father. I love that book and I know it is the word of God. I know that
we can find the answers we are looking for. :)

I love you all!
Hermana Moore

Hermana Bailey is a rockstar and I'm going to miss being her companion!

The activity!

We were in charge of the photo booth! 

August 29th, 2017- September 4th, 2017 ---Málaga!

Hello friends!

It's been a week full of service, crepes, new investigators and transfer calls!

This week we found three new investigators we are excited to keep
teaching. José is an old future who we called and set up a lesson
with. Matilde is a lady who the elders contacted in the street is
LOVING life lessons. Glinda is another street contact who has been
going through a lot lately. We taught her the Plan of Salvation and
she said that God had sent us as angles to help her. :) oh what a
blessing it is to be a missionary with this life-changing message.

Most of Thursday and Friday we spent helping a family from the other
ward move. Hermana Bailey and I transferred everything over to the new
kitchen and swept and mopped the whole house. We also moved a lot of
things while the elders did the furniture. It felt good to serve but
we were pretty exhausted afterwards!

On Saturday we played fútbol and then Herman Bailey, Elder Larsen,
elder Wilson and I ate at Sandra's house! She made us chicken crepes
and we had a nice time with them. I love Sandra and her family so
much. :)

On Saturday night late I got a call from President Andersen.... and
I'm getting transferred to MÁLAGA!! And I'm going to be companions
with Hermana GENTRY! Again! We didn't get enough time together in
Granada so we're back together again. :) I'm really excited to fall in
love with Málaga, a whole new ward, investigators, and learn
everything the Lord wants me to learn in this next part of my journey.

I can't explain how I feel leaving Alicante. Yesterday, Sunday, I got
to bear my testimony and thank the members of Alicante. I have fallen
in love and Alicante will always have a big piece of my heart. As I
was leaving Murcia, I got a blessing and was told, "this work is about
others, it's not about you." I've seen that phrase take on a whole new
meaning in my time here. God has shown me time and time again that I
am here to do HIS work and that as I turn out to serve others, I am
happier than I am when I just focus on myself. I've met so many people
that have impacted my life and showed me that I am here to be a humble
servant and do the willful the Lord.

I'm excited for a new adventure in Málaga and I am grateful for every
lesson I've learned in Alicante. I love being a missionary and am so
excited to serve God with all my heart for these next two transfers!

Love you all, Hermana Moore

Moving!

With Allison and her family!

 Sandra and Samantha have my heart.

 Hermana Bailey ❤️

The squad.