October 27th

This week we worked and worked again. I really enjoyed it. This week passed by SO fast. It's crazy. We teach like 4 or 5 lessons, then we clap doors for an hour or two and its time to go back home. The Day light savings time makes it interesting too because what 5 o'clock looked like is now what 7:30 looks like. So it really does fly by. Not much else happened this week. 

We didn't have any investigators at church, but a family that hasn't been to church in like 5 years is now coming again and we are teaching them just basic spiritual messages throughout the week. Its really nice. I am learning that it doesn't even matter if they are members or not, Teaching the gospel and ´´converting´´ people brings me so much happiness.

 I am learning that a missionaries job isn't to baptize, but to just share the glad message of the gospel to everyone. Those who are ready to accept it will, and those who wont, wont. We are doing what the lyrics in Ye Elders of Israel say and are separating the wheat from the tares. 

I think of home a lot, but time is really flying by. My Portuguese is getting better. We had a multi-zone conference and i didn't need a translator. New missionaries showed up from the ctm this week and I forgot how bad it was my first week in the field. I'm so glad it only gets better haha. 

I think of you guys all the time. Everyone. like I wake up in the middle of the night and just smile because I had a random memory pop in my head. I love it. 

I love you guys and miss you so much. but I know that this time is flying by.

Love,

Elder Moss

October 20th

I think I miss the fall time more than I thought I would. This week was hot. sometimes I couldn't tell if I was sweating or melting. So After talking to my companion about wanting to work a lot more this transfer, he agreed and he had the same idea. So this week was my best week ever. We have a saying that we tell each other when good things happen ( and bad). we say ´´so bençaos´´

which means only blessings. The first day, we tracted in this area called Vila Pinheria, and started knocking on doors. Immediately we had people agree to let us teach them. in one week, we gained like 7 or 8 new investigators. Of course some of our appointments fell through, but it was such a good week. 

We found this family of 5, three kids and Antonio and Maria. They aren't married, but Antonio will be her second husband. he is the step dad. He is so nice. To them, family means everything. We taught them about families and invited them to church. They only came to sacrament meeting, and it was only Antonio and two kids, Maria was sick at home with the baby. But we are going back to teach them tonight.

A few weeks ago, we taught this 20 year old like 3 times and he wasn't interested. He likes to drink and smoke and party too much. But we originally wanted to talk to his mom. Well this week we saw him in the park with some friends, and he was a little bit tipsy and he called us over, and told us that his mom wanted to talk to us and when she would be home. So we stopped by, and talked to her about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and committed her to be baptized. She wasn't able to make it to church, but We are thinking within the next two weeks or so it will happen.

While tracting, we meet this woman in her mid twenties. She was at her friends house, and she let us have her address to come by later that day. We did, and she was just leaving the house so we didn't get to teach anything, but we made contact so it was good. the next day, we were late for lunch, and she drove past us, stopped and gave us a ride to where we were going, which was a two sided blessing (because we made contact again, and the normal friendly contact, not like missionary contact). So bençaos

So most to all of my powerful spiritual experiences have been in between 8 and 9 during my personal study. I heard a talk in them MTC that was 6 lessons that missionaries need to learn. I have been focused on like two of the 6, and they are ´´miracles are real´´ and ´´missionaries can receive gifts of the spirit´´. I didn't know much about gifts of the spirit, and so I have been studying those, but I have been so humbled by those experiences. I think my favorite experience (I wont go into detail because they are pretty personal) was when I finally realized how close we are to God and Jesus Christ. Sometimes after a bad day we feel lonely or we feel like no one cares, but I finally experienced that Jesus and God are always there. They always answer prayers. They are so close to us we don't even realize it. They love us and they want our happiness. Yeah, sometimes things happen that make us wonder and doubt, but they are ALWAYS there. 

Anyways, I hope we have another fast and hard working week, because THIS was my favorite week yet. Everyday we were tired, dirty, hot and sweaty, riding the bus home, but I just felt so happy and at peace. 

Until next week, Love elder Moss

OH i forgot. I know Christmas is still months away and then my birthday, AND I AM NOT ASKING ANYONE TO SEND ME A PACKAGE because they can be expensive to send, but just know that it takes about 2 months to get here. 

October 13th

this first picture is our zone. It will change a little bit this week after transfers, but not by much. 


I am going to miss fall! But not cutting grass so much haha. Its the opposite here, and so it is only getting hotter. I'd say its like the mid 90s everyday. The weather is weird here, because some days it will be so humid, and I will take two steps out side and immediately be drenched in sweat. Other times I will walk for miles without sweating that much because it is so dry. but none the less, we walk A LOT. 

So this week we didn't do a lot, mainly just cleaning the house and preparing for transfers. It was really funny because my companion has been in this city since may and he wants to leave. Hes just tired of the area. So he started packing his bags all last week in anticipation for transfers. We got transfers last night, and...... We are both staying here for another 6 weeks!! I started laughing so hard when I saw his face after we heard the news. All 6 of the missionaries in our city are going to stay for another 6 weeks. I don't know how I feel about that, but I already talked to my companion and we both agreed that we are going to work really hard this transfer. This transfer was kind of long, but he said the time only goes by faster, and you only get happier as the weeks go on. He said the first transfer is definitely the worse.

Love Elder moss!!

this picture is the city where I serve. This is pirassinunga :) its kind of muggy though. It wasn't a good picture taking opportunity. I had better, but this is the best picture that I got. And the little VW in the picture is everywhere. Everyone has this car. Its crazy. 

October 6th

So this week was not what I expected. We had some good lessons with investigators, but none of them committed to be baptized. Hopefully they will commit in the next week or two. 

        So I was so excited for conference!! I was absolutely pumped. I was prepared to be inspired and blown away by prophetic talks answering my questions. We get to the church on Saturday, a half hour before the first session, and my companion and I are the first people to show up. 5 minutes til the first session, we were still the only people there. I had been told many times that there would be a room set up where I could watch conference either on a computer or something so I could understand the talks (in English) so before the first session started, I asked my companion where that room was. He just laughed and said no one else in the ward speaks English so why would they do that just for you? I was completely heart broken.

        Looking back at it I should have been prepared for that, but so many people told me I could watch it in English that I wasn't prepared for that. So for session after session, I just watched prophets speak, and listened to the translator talk over them in Portuguese. I literally didn't understand any of it. It was one of the most depressing and torturing moments of my life haha. Some times I would understand a phrase, write it down, and then get lost again. At least I got to hear the music in English. But sometimes even that was disappointing because a lot of the songs the motab choir sang were the EXACT same versions on my ipod. Overall, I was let down this conference. Not by the talks (obviously) but by my ability to understand it. 

So earlier this week we got a call saying that investigator (whom had already been committed to be baptized) had just moved into our ward. So... We have a baptism this transfer! hahaha And I got to baptize her! her name is Luanda, and she is 14. I didn't even have to do the prayer over again. The baptism was in between our first two sessions of conference, so that helped my self esteem and moral a little bit. 

The last conference session, on Sunday afternoon was the only session I got to watch in English. I took so many notes. I was so happy haha. I soaked every word that they said it. I really liked how (I think it was) Elder Richard G Scott talked about opposition in all things, and I felt like he was directly talking to me. I started laughing so hard when in the last session, the session I could finally watch in English, One of the talks was in Portuguese. We went back into the room to watch it in Portuguese without a translator, and I understood a lot because instead of just hearing a translators voice, I could read his mouth and tell what he was saying. 

All in all, it was okay. I'm going to download the talks only an sd card off of lds.org and listen to them in English for the next few days during personal study. 

Well, conference came and went, I learned many lessons, and I made goals for the next general conference. 

Love, 

Elder Moss

September 29th

 I will admit, this week was SO much better than last week. Like 110 percent difference.

 I was companions with Elder Querioz (he's from Rio and has a really cool accent) for like 3 days, and loved every second of it. He speaks fluent English so that helped, and he knows how to work. He is awesome. So the first day I was companions with him, we did all of our studies, worked until we had to go home, and Even though I was much more tired, I was so much more happy, and the day just flew by. The second day, same thing. We worked all day, but the very last lesson was amazing. E. Querioz an his companion found this house knocking on doors, and they wanted to hear our message. 

We show up, and taught this mom, daughter (19), and son (7) the first lesson, or the restoration. As we started, the daughter explained that she had been reading the bible a lot lately, and had been going to a lot of different churches. Before the lesson, Elder Querioz asked me what part of the lesson I wanted to teach, and I said the first vision and about Joseph Smith. So he gets to the part where I take over, and I start getting really nervous because of me teaching this new family, in Portuguese, and their salvation depends on it haha. I explain about James 1:5 and Josephs question. Before I recited the first vision, I said ^^think about how you feel when I tell the experience from Joseph Smiths words.^^ and then I recited the first vision. We use a pamphlet that has a picture of the first vision, and they looked at it the whole time.

 When I say the first vision is a spiritual bomb, I mean it. I when I finished, I looked up, and the family was crying. It was the most spiritual missionary experience of my life. In her teary, choking voice, the daughter said ^^I have the same question as Joseph smith^^ We both bore our testimonies of the book of Mormon, and Josephs experience being true. 

When we explained the book of Mormon, she said ^^ I have a question.^^ I was scared. She said she studied the bible so I wasn't sure where her question was going to go. She ended up asking if we have a church in Pirassinunga, and if she could go to it! It was so perfect. Only the daughter came to church, but she really liked it. We had marked Moroni chapter 10 for her to read before Sunday, and when she got to church, she had read all f 1 and 2 Nephi, and Moroni ch. 10. I think she is definitely going to be baptized.

Oh my goodness this week was miracle after miracle. So 2 days after, I was tracting with my actual companion, and we found this 14 year old kid who was just watching tv and playing on the computer (sound familiar?) haha anyways, we taught this kid the restoration, same thing, but he didn't cry. We asked him if he thinks that it would be important to have a modern day prophet and the exact same organized church Jesus organized on the earth today. He said yes, and when asked if he would be baptized into the church of Jesus Christ, by someone holding the authority of god, he said he would like that. 

And last night. Last night we taught a family that was newly converted. all of them, except for a kid my age named John, had been baptized like 6 months ago. They are awesome. I love when we just go to share a message, because they are just an awesome family. they have 8 kids, but only 6 live in the house now. anyways, we had a member couple come with us to talk about temple work and eternal families. It was so spiritual, and it really spoke to the family. John, the kid who hasn't been baptized yet,  has been asked by several different missionaries for the past 6 months if he will be baptized,and he hasn't yet. But last night, when talking about eternal families, he started to cry several times. Near the end, my companion bore his testimony and cried, and john cried too. We talked about going into general conference with a question, and God WILL give you an answer. I'm pretty positive that he is going to go into general conference with baptism on his mind. 

So JC, yes we are teaching a few people who are going to get baptized.

The language is still difficult, but after this week, I have no doubt that I'm an effective missionary. Even when I don't know how to say something, or people are too distracted by my accent, I can feel the Holy Ghost talking for me into the investigators hearts. 

As for conference, I will watch it in English! the building i go to for church is the stake center, and they said there is always a room set up to watch it in English. Elder Querioz said he will watch it with me in English because he likes the voices in English better. 

Anyways, we have another appointment tonight to commit someone ELSE to be baptized. Im not sure, but I think they will say yes. 

We still have a lot of difficulties, but I know the Lord is protecting me. 

Love, Elder moss

September 22nd

This week was definitely the hardest week I have had here. I have been the most homesick on my mission this week.   I also wish I knew the language better, but that's something that I will always wish for.

This week, we had 2 investigators come to church. We were supposed to have like 7, because we met a family of 6 this past week, we taught them one of the lessons, and they all wanted to be baptised. The mom and dad are getting married in December, so they will have to wait, and two of their kids aren't 8 yet. but two daughters are old enough and they really want to, so hopefully we will have a total of 4 baptisms within the next two weeks or so. 

I was re-looking at the recipe for your no-bake cookies, and unfortunately I can't make them because Brazil doesn't have peanut butter. I know it sounds crazy, but it doesn't. They don't have peanut butter, nor do they have maple syrup. 

I have had a lot of spare time on my hands lately, and even though we don't work as much as i would like to, one thing I love about being a missionary is the fact that I have never relied on the spirit this much. I have had so many powerful experiences with the spirit. A few times, I have had such powerful experiences with the spirit that I end up doubting if it happened at all. 

I heard a quote in the CTM that i think of alot. - Doubt always walks with faith, but fear never does- It is true. 

Happy birthday Robert!!!!! My companion's sister got married on his birthday so it was kind of cool to hear that. And on that same day, one missionary had been on his mission for exactly one month, and bought pizza for our house. It was alright-different, and not as good as american pizza. But it was good and nice of him non the less. 

I will try to stay more busy this next week. Keep me in your prayers!

Love, Elder moss

September 15th

 I can only get it  (letter mail) every 6 weeks, or when someone goes to the secretaries office in Piracicaba. Its just easier for them to keep all the mail in one place until someone goes to the area so they can take everyone's mail with them. 

This week has been the hardest week so far. the days have been long and hot, and we have been running out of investigator appointments. this just means that we have to go out and find new ones. we don't get a lot of help with references form the members, so for 3 days this week, we were non stop knocking on doors and doing street contacts for 8 hours straight. I've never felt so tired and exhausted before. I've had to rely a lot on my personal scripture study in the mornings for the spirit to last me the whole day. I came across one scripture in particular that I really like. Alma 36:20-21

 20 And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!

 21 Yea, I say unto you, my son, that there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains. Yea, and again I say unto you, my son, that on the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy.

It really helped me when I needed some pick up words.

 I am learning more and more about the language. Learning Portuguese has probably been the most humbling experience ever. I think i say something correctly, and my roommates can understand me, then i go  talk to members, and they just kind of stare at me strangely wondering if words came out of my mouth. Its kind of funny..

I have had the opportunity to play the guitar a few time in members homes! They like hearing it and finding out more about me. Everyone seems to ask if I'm German or american, and after the always mention, ALWAYS, how white i am. I have to explain that i wasn't this white before my mission, but that i have been in a building in Sao Paulo for the last 6 weeks. 

Thanks for the recipe!! i hope to be able to use it in the next week or so haha. All we eat for breakfast and dinner is bread with nutella, and milk, and maybe some store bought crackers. the members feed us every day for lunch, So i pig out. they make a lot of food for us, and so i end up eating a lot.

Its crazy to think about that 2 transfers are 3 months. Some people spend 4 transfers in one area, and that's 6 months! That's a fourth of their mission!!!

This is really going to fly by (once I know the language)

Not much really has happened, but i will continue to keep you updated!

love, Elder moss

PS I love you all too!!