March 21st-March 27th, 2017

It's been another week in Murcia-land! It's been a pretty busy and

full of adjusting but I've seen a whole lot of miracles. Here's a
rundown of my week.

On Monday and Tuesday we visited people like crazy and got Hermana
Encarnación all ready to go to Sevilla. It's been a blessing to serve
with her and learn with her! We'll see each other around. :)

On Wednesday morning we went to the bus station and I said good bye to
my sweet Hermana Encarnación and picked up Hermana George, my new
companion! We were in the MTC together but I didn't know too much
about her. In the last few days we've been having a last together.
She's from Texas, she's happy and positive and good at talking to
people. I'm excited for this transfer to see miracles with her!

On Friday during zone meeting we watched the new Easter video the
church will release on March 31st! And then we got new contacting
cards to use for Easter time! I'm really excited to talk to people
during the Easter season! Christ lives. :)

Saturday was a WONDERFUL day. We had some really good lessons. One of
those was with Busayo. She's from Nigeria and has two adorable girls.
Her husband usually has to work so we've been just teaching her. Last
time we taught part of the Plan of Salvation and left her the pamphlet
to read. We met with her and she had read it! And she had a lot of
good questions. We explained the wonderful plan God has for us and the
Spirit testified of every word. We were inspired to talk about temples
and Busayo said that a wave of peace washed over her as we talked
about them. She said she could imagine herself there and felt so much
love. Then, although we had not planned to, we invited her to be
baptized so she could experience the peace of the House of the Lord.
She looked at us calmly and said, "That is exactly what I want to do!"
She accepted to prepare to be baptized on April 22nd! We are so
excited and so grateful for the influence of the Holy Spirit.

Saturday had another miracle in store for us. Soon after the lesson
with Busayo, Hermana George stared feeling sick. This led us to go to
the grocery store to buy a few things for her. While we were in line,
a man started speaking to us. He is from Nigeria and was extremely
impressed that we are here, away from our families and friends just to
talk about Christ. He's a pastor of a church here and insisted that we
meet with him to tell him about what we believe. We were super excited
and so on Sunday night we met up with him. Well, things went
differently than planned and he ended up bible bashing us... BUT the
cool thing is that one of his friends who was there had met the elders
just a few weeks earlier. I don't know if Michael will accept the
gospel in this life but I have hope that his friend will see he
difference between his pastor, who stood up and yelled/preached at us
and us who spoke calmly, respectfully and with the Spirit of God. It
was a good experience and it was cool to be able to testify of what we
believe so straightforwardly. Although Michael thought we were lost
and we were wrong, I know with all my heart that what we teach is the
true doctrine of Christ.

I love being a missionary. I love getting to strengthen my testimony
of my Savior Jesus Christ. I am grateful for the Plan God has for me
to live with my family forever. This week has been great. We have
found five new investigators and a lot of other people who are ready
for the gospel in their lives!

Have a happy week! Go on LDS.org and watch General Conference! We get
to hear our prophet Thomas S. Monson and the 12 apostles speak to us!

Love, Hermana Moore

Sorry for the lack of pictures!

Here's one of Hermana George and I!

March 14th-March 20th, 2017

Sorry about not emailing much last week. We went hiking and the. The wifi wasn't working at the church. But here's what happened two weeks ago! 

Well folks. The 7th transfer of my mission is over! Only 6 more! Hermana Encarnación had a wonderful last week together! We saw a lot of miracles and really did our best to adopt God's will for the work as our own. So here's how it all went!

On Tuesday we had district meeting and I got to lead a discussion! I talked about how important it is to have our own spiritual experiences so we can testify with more power. I swear you could've cut the Spirit with a knife it was so strong. :)

On Wednesday morning we went to Cartagena for another dentist appointment for Hermana Encarnación and in the afternoon one of our plans fell through so we visited Busayo. We taught her the Plan of Salvation and she loved it! She just kept on saying "that makes so much sense!" And "why didn't I know this??!". This Gospel is going to change her life. 

On Thursday we saw the biggest miracle of the week. Earlier this week I got sick (again. 4th time this transfer) and so on Thursday I wasn't feeling so great. We did weekly planning and then I slept. We had a few lessons in the afternoon and at night I was pretty exhausted. But we had one more lesson with Mari and Selena (an investigator and her less active daughter). The only problem is that they live 40 minutes away walking. We went to the bus stop but when we got there we felt like we needed to walk. At that point I was wondering why and I was fighting that impression. But we got walking. 30 minutes into our tired walk a guy on a bike passed us. I pulled Hermana Encarnacion aside so he could pass and he looked back and smiled at us. He kept biking but kept looking back. He stopped a few minutes later and got off his bike, waited for us to pass and then got back on. At this point I was tired, sore, and not in the mood to deal with a creepy guy. He passed us again and then a few minutes later he had turned around and was waiting for us. He stayed there waiting and once we caught up to him he asked us who we were and what we did. At this point I was holding my bag tight. When we explained what our purpose is as missionaries his face lit up and he said, "I felt like I needed to talk to you! I'm Muslim but not very active. I'm spiritually lost and I'm looking for the path!" And he was serious; we could see it in his eyes. So we said, "Well, Yassine, you found the right people!" We got his number and set up a time to meet! We kept walking and five minutes later he caught up to us again and asked us if we could teach him right then. We explained that we had another lesson to go to but we gave him a quick run through of the Restoration. Then we tried to give him a pamphlet. But it turns out he speaks Spanish but doesn't read it very well. He only reads Arabic.  It we have a few Arabic pamphlets at home! So we are so excited to teach him. God is a God of miracles!

On Saturday we had an awesomely planned day but most of our appointments fell through. But every time one fell through we found someone new or we ran into someone we needed to see. My testimony was strengthened that God is truly in charge of this work! 

On Sunday morning we got a call... a TRANSFER CALL! Hermana Encarnación is going to Sevilla and my new companion here in Murcia will be Hermana George! I am so excited! She's from my group! So that meant that Sunday was full of good byes. Also, I got recruited as the choir pianist and so I basically am in charge of organizing the ward choir now. I also play the piano every Sunday for Sacrament meeting. There is not a single member who plays so bishop made a deal with President Andersen that he would always send a piano-playing missionary to his ward. When I got here all of the members said, "Oh hi Hemana Moore (amor? Moooree? More? That's a weird name.) Do you play the piano? Good. Welcome to Murcia!" Hahaha. 

And that brings us to today. The last preparation day of the transfer and the last one with Hermana Encarnación. We went with the other missionaries to hike up to a Christ statue! We got up halfway and then we ran into a locked gate... but we still had a nice picnic together.

So it's the end of the transfer. It's been a hard one but a good one. I learned a lot about teaching with the Spirit. I learned that we can have the Spirit with us constantly. I learned a lot from Hermana Encarnación about connecting with the ward members and everyone we meet. I learned how to trust more fully in God. I learned more patience and humility. I learned to be a more diligent and obedient missionary. I learned how to consecrate myself and work with all my energy until the end of the day. I learned how to see good in other people and to overlook their flaws.

I love being a missionary. I know this church is the restored church of Jesus Christ. I know that my Savior lives and loves me. I know that my Heavenly Father knows me. I know that miracles exist and that the gospel of Jesus Christ changes lives.

I love you all so much! 

My sweet Hermana Encarnación!

Hiking!

The district!

March 7th-March 13th, 2017

Woah woah woah. These weeks are flying by! Hermana Encarnación and I
are about to start our sixth week together which means that we'll get
transfer calls next week. Crazzyyyy! I feel like I just got to Murcia!

Early this week I got a notice in the mail that there was a package
waiting at the post office for me and so we went and picked it up and
it was aaaaaaa BIG JAR OF EXTRA CRUNCHY SKIPPY PEAUNT BUTTER! It was
sent from amazon but it didn't say from who. So thanks mystery peanut
butter friend. :) For lunch we had the most delicious peanut butter
and jelly sandwiches. So it was a good start to the week!

On Tuesday we went back to Cartagena to the dentist for Hermana
Encarnación and we'll go back for the last time on Wednesday this
week. I've gotten some good letters written in that waiting room!

On Thursday morning we had a nice district meeting and then we all ate
lunch and cake together for my birthday. Hermana Encarnación knows the
way to my heart; food--especially delicious Dominican Republic food.
:) I don't know if my birthday will ever end.

On Friday I woke up and I had the feeling that I was going to find a
connection with Mom. It was an impression that I really can't describe
but I carried on with my day like normal. While we were eating lunch
with the Guillén family, Leandro (the father) told us about a book he
and his wife and another lady (Fina) from the ward are writing.
They're putting together a book about how the church started in
Murcia. He told us that the area was opened in 1973 and by 1979 the
missionary work really got moving and there were a lot of baptisms.
Mom served in Murcia in 1976 or 1977. Then he pulled out two notebooks
full of pictures of members and missionary and conversion stories! We
looked through them all but most of the pictures were from 1979 or
later. I wasn't really expecting to find a picture of her in there so
I wasn't too disappointed. But it was neat to learn a bit about the
history! Fast forward to Sunday night: there was a ward activity and I
was talking to Fina, the lady who was helping with the book. She said
that she lived in the same street as where the church met so she every
time she walked out of her house missionaries tried to give her pass
along cards and things. She rejected it all every day in 1976 and some
of 1977 until one day a set of elders knocked on her door and she
finally said yes. I showed her a picture of Mom and she said, "you
know, I don't remember your mom but I'm sure she handed me a pass
along card at some point and I just rejected it!" hahaha. So there you
go! The closest I've gotten to someone knowing Mom. :)

On Friday I hit 10 months and we had a really successful ward family
home evening! We put the members in charge of it and it all went so
well. And we only started 30 minutes late! Score!

Saturday was a good missionary day. Well, every day is, but Hermana
Encarnación and I saw a lot of little miracles together. In the
morning our lesson with Eva failed and that was a bummer BUT as we
were walking to our backup plan, we walked through a park and found
Antonio! So we were able to have a lesson with him for the first time
in a week. God is really in charge of this work. We had several other
good lessons that day. One of them was with Jose Francisco. We were in
this little town called El Patiño and we had a bunch of addresses of
people missionaries used to teach. Most of the addresses we had were
vacant apartments and false numbers. I called one last number and Jose
Francisco picks up. He was taught 3 years ago and has studied the Book
of Mormon a ton. He stopped taking the lessons because he started
working a lot. Well, we went and visited him and he said that he's not
sure the Book of Mormon is the word of God but if he finds out then
he'll get baptized tomorrow! So we're excited to see if he's willing
to progress.

Okay, just one more story and then I'll let you get back to your
lives. There's a road in our area that's realllyyy long and deserted
but it just so happens to be where Magdalena and her family live
(investigators). We were walking on this road on the way back from a
lesson and we decided to stop at her house to use the bathroom. When
we walked in, the house was a bit of a disaster. Magdalena has 3
little kids and a boyfriend who is always working. So while Hermana
Encarnación is in the bathroom I say: "Hi Magdalena! What can I do for
3 minutes?" Her: "Oh nothing Hermana! Sit down!" Me: "Oh! I can do the
dishes? Great!" Then I started to wash the biggest mound of dishes
I've ever seen. 35 minutes later I finished the dishes and Hermana
Encarnación had organized and swept the living room. Magdalena told us
that 10 minutes before we got there she had looked around
exasperatedly and said that she needed help. And that, my friends, is
why I love being a missionary. I love serving people and I love being
able to be an answer to someone else's prayer.

Serve someone this week. It'll make you happy and them happy!

Look for the little miracles God puts in your life!

Oh! I almost forgot! Have you heard of Mormon Faces?? It's a famous
instagram page. Well, my lovely Hermana Gentry just so happens to run
that page with her mom and she interviewed the district in Granada for
it. So, go follow the Mormon Faces page and watch for a picture of
your favorite Hermana Moore to come up in the next few weeks!

Hermana Encarnación and I 💕
























Platanos rellenos with our investigator Magdalena from Bolivia. 

Our peanut butter jelly sandwiches. :)





















I think this is the end of my birthday. I think. 🎉


Love, Hermana Moore

February 28th-March 6th, 2017

Hello all you wonderful people! This week has gone by flying and now
I'm 20 years old! It's been a fantastic week as a missionary and we've
been seeing the Lord's hand in the work. I'm writing you his email
from the exciting location of a dentist office in a Cartagena, Spain!
Poor Hermana Encarnación has to get a root canal. Just in case you
were wondering, the dentist offices here smell the same as in the
States.

Let's seee. Highlights from the week. One of my favorite parts of the
week was eating with the Mendez family on Wednesday. Araceli, Nery and
Nery Jr. After we ate, we shared Isaiah 53: 3-7 and had a really
special conversation about the Atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. We
all felt the Spirit testifying of each word we said. I love testifying
of the reality of the Atonement. I know that Christ died AND was
resurrected to save us from our sins. I know that through the power of
the Atonement we can feel of God's love and forgiveness. I have felt
it and I know that every single one of us can feel of it too.

On Thursday I had an interview with President Andersen and it was a
good refocus for me to keep working hard and trust in my calling.

Friday was the once-a-transfer tri-zone conference! So a bunch of
missionaries gathered together! And in that mix of missionaries was my
favorite hermana serving in Elche... HERMANA TWEDE!! We were so
excited to see each other which is funny because we lived with each
other for 3 months straight! She gave me a package for my birthday and
I think we hugged for about 10 minutes straight. I just love her. :)
the conference lasted from 10:30 am until 4 pm without much of a
break. So it was a long Conference but I learned a whole ton. We've
been focusing on relying on the Holy Ghost and it's role in helping
people gain their own testimonies. All the missionaries ate paella
together and then Hermana Encarnación and I stayed at the church for
English class and family home evening.

One of the coolest contacts we had was finding Pablo. We found him in
a park and we talked to him for a while. He was polite but he didn't
want anything. As we were walking away, he asked "wellll.... what
makes your church different from all the others?" And BAM! There we
were sitting next to him teaching him all about the Restoration of the
church of Jesus Christ! And he loved it!! We gave him a Book of Mormon
and he gave us his number to learn more. Missionary work is cool.

Saturday was my birthday! Thank you to everyone who thought about me,
wrote me, prayed for me or sent me candy (the candy I'm eating here in
the dentist office out of spite!)! I really appreciate it! At the
conference on Friday I got 4 packages from home and an elder came out
of the room where all the mail was and came up to me and said,
slightly put out, "Are you Hermana Moore?" Yes... "Well did you know
that you have HALF of packages in there are for YOU?" So thanks
Carolin, James and Miranda! And a big shout out to Hermana Twede for
the presents too! On Saturday morning Hermana Encarnación decorated
with balloons and I opened the packages. Then we got to work and went
CONTACTING! We talked to several people and had good conversations
with them. We found two people who are interested in learning more
about what we believe. Towards the end of the morning we stopped by
the post office to pick up a package from Dad. I figured it would be
candy or something small so I brought my bigger purse so I could pick
up the package, put it in my bag and keep working for another hour
before lunch. Well, Dad didn't sent me candy--he sent me a stuffed
unicorn! So I knocked a couple doors and contacted a few people with a
unicorn in my purse. :) Even though I'm a missionary, I still get to
be a little girl you know. We had a few lessons in the afternoon and
then we went to the church for Fayaz's baptism. Elder Parker and Elder
Holloway were teaching him and we got to see him get baptized! As we
were eating some snacks afterwards Hermana Højholdt and Hermana
Malterre came out of the kitchen with a cake and everyone started
singing! So it was a good birthday. :)

I love you all! Have a wonderful week!

The paper flowers our investigator Antonio made for us.


























Reunited! The one and only Hermana Twede!






















The surprise birthday cake!

Birthday morning! 
















Even though I'm 20, I'm still your little girl, Dad!

Love, Hermana Moore