La Vida Es Una Autopista Pt. 2

Well first off Happy Thanksgiving. We spent Thursday handing out photos of The Book of Mormon and the Temple with Turkey stickers on them. Clove and I had a pretty good time cooking dinner too, instant mashed potatoes and biscuits, thanks mom.

 It was a great week in Santiago. Marvin, Juan Pablo and his family,Maria Magdalena, and Carlos were all dead set to be baptized, but I have decided that life is more of a roller coaster than a highway cuz we got a call at 8 am on Friday and 3 hours later we were all packed up and heading to a new area. 2 emergency transfers in 2 weeks, but our new area is awesome. It was sad to leave Texacuangos. I really am gonna miss all the awesome people and memories from there, but Elder Clove and I have the chance to open a new area down here in Ilopango, its called Las Cañes.

Its probably the coolest area in El Salvador. We know absolutely nothing about where to go, or who lives here, but our ward has been a huge help and we are pumped to get working. When we first got here, we were paired with another missionary, Elder Reyes from Honduras. Cool guy, but a little funny, he bit me once. But he was only with us for a few days and now its back to me and Elder Clove, living large in Ilopango.

Just a scripture I wanted to share this week was 2 Nephi 2:4

This scripture is jammed pack with spiritual nuggets, pepitas de oro, but for me, In the spirit of Thanksgiving- which apparently still goes on without Elder Moulton there to celebrate-I am just so grateful for my Savior. And for the chance I have had to get to know him. I haven't talked to him face to face or seen him in this life but I don't need to. He knows me and its because of him I can hope for eternal life. I have had a lot of time to think this week, what with the changes and everything, and this scripture just kinda reaffirms why I am here. Because I know all this stuff for myself and I want all these crazy awesome people down here to know it too.

Hope everyone is doing well, thanks for the love and support.

¡Salud! 

Elder Moulton

Editor's Note: Elder Moulton wanted you to know that this video is of two little boys that wanted to say hello to everyone in America. They aren't members of the church but Elder Moulton tried to get them to sing, "I Am a Child of God." 

La Vida Es Una Autopista

Lot has happened in the past 7 days, not exactly sure where to start. First off, Elders Zabel and Cordingly, some really good friends of mine, were sent home this week for medical problems, so it was sad to say goodbye. The title is actually a shout out to their collective favorite movie, Cars, hopefully I translated it correctly. Secondly, because of two missionaries having to leave, all the companionships in our area got shaken up. So Tuesday night, we got a call, and on Wednesday morning, Elder Rodriguez headed off to a new area and I got a new companion. Sad to say goodbye to that guy, he is still on his mission but I am going to miss listening to him pretend to know English and teaching him how to throw a football. But like my title says, life goes on. As I quoted in an earlier email, the best blessings come after the hard times. And just looking at the blessings from this week, la vida es una autopista y yo voy a montarlo. 

First big blessing is my new companion, Elder Clove. Dude is a beast! He only has 1.5 months more than me out here but his Spanish is killer and the guy is awesome. In the few lessons and meetings we have had together, the man is a powerhouse. But the greatest blessing of all came Saturday, with Tomas' baptism! He was so happy and hyped and told us this was just the beginning. Right after the actual baptism he just told me two words. Pecados afuera. He is such a stud. His life has changed so much in this past month and it's been amazing to be able to see it first hand. He was so excited this Sunday at church too, and he loves to tell us everything he reads in the Book of Mormon. 

While that was definitely the highlight of the week, Elder Clove and I ended up eating pupusas the size of our face, got confused for angels with tortillas for hands by a very misguided old lady, and met a lady who is going up to the US with a caravan just so she can get deported and ride on an airplane. So yeah, we had a pretty good first week down here. Its always a party in Santiago Texacuangos.

Hope all are well, thanks for the love and support!

Salud!

-- 

Elder Moulton

Frijoles del Alma

Just going to start this weeks email off by bragging a little bit about my area. My area is huge, one of the biggest in the mission, and so we get to spend a lot of time in different cities and pueblitos. And in buses, but our main route is shut down for labor disputes so we have been walking a lot. But anyways, one of our little areas is called Olocuilta and it has a subsection named the Pupusodromo. One street, 30 pupusarias, and the world record for biggest pupusa ever made. Can't make this stuff up, it almost brought tears to my eyes my first time there. Other thing that brought tears to my eyes was accidentally spraying pepper spray in my eyes, that happened this week.

Along the lines of food tho, which there has been a lot of this week, one of my favorite lines to use when explaining who we are, is frijoles del alma. As I mention in almost every email, there are a lot of people struggling here and nearly every day we meet people that are just trying to get beans on the table. Really makes me realize how blessed I am, and I am so grateful for the food and care I have in my life. Including the boiling hot soup we get when its 95 degrees outside and my tie is 10 shades darker from sweat, the cactus with honey, the millions of lemons we get gifted daily, and the time my comp split his pants eating breakfast. But for as much as we eat and enjoy the frijoles del cuerpo here, our main purpose is to share the frijoles del alma. This week we had our ups and downs, a baptism fall through, a family come back to church after years apart, a hike through the jungle at 5am for someone who turned out not to be home, a former missionary who wants the gospel for his young family, Tomas getting ready for his baptism this Saturday, and a whole bunch of miracles. And honestly that's what we are here for, the good and the not so good. Because at the end of the day, when I am cleaning the dog poop off of my shoes and drinking my kolashampan, its all about the frijoles del alma. Some people are going to want to listen and are going to accept our message and some aren't. But that's alright, because all we can do is offer. And that's what we do. I have really come to love these people, even the ones who think I am in the FBI or who have had a little too much to drink so they don't exactly have boundaries. And for that, I want for them to have this message in their lives. 

One more thing I love about this place is praying with people in the streets or in homes. Its kind of a cultural thing but when one of us prays, the person we are with will like back us up and hype it up during the prayer when we say something they like. Really helps with my Spanish confidence and reminds me of my football days when Coach Mendillo would hit us with those amens and affirmations during the team prayers. Hope everyone is doing well, thanks for all the love and support!

Salud!

-- 

Elder Moulton

La Amistad es Todo

Started off the week by saying goodbye to my first companion, Elder Ortega. Sad day but he's going to come visit me in the U.S. someday so it will be alright. My new comp, Elder Rodriguez is a total baller. He's from Panama, we call him the Panimal, and likes pupusas more than anyone I have ever met. His record is 14. So I have high hopes for this transfer. I'm currently still at 8. We will get there. 

Another sad goodbye this week, Rafael Lopez (the shoemaker)decided last week that he wanted to head up to the U.S. with a caravan of people. I'm sure everyone has heard about that. Super sad tho, I saw him the day before he left and he didn't tell us a thing. But hey, asi es la vida, and I know things will work out for him, they always do. But that brings me to my main point, and that's that everyone needs a friend. Sounds like a cheesy plot from a Full House episode I know, but its a lesson I have really got to learn down here in the promised land.

I have a firm testimony of this church, of my Savior. I don't have a doubt in my mind that everyone needs the love and support that is found in the gospel we are preaching. That being said, sometimes people just need a friend. I have talked about Tomas in the past, dude is a stud I love him. He lives alone with 9 cats and a broken down old dog, but when we started meeting with him you could see a change. There's a lot of loneliness and depression in the world and witnessing that is one of the hardest things about being a missionary. But seeing the changes in Tomas; in Norma, who we go and cook with; Marvin, who's Dad is halfway through Mexico right now; in Elsie, who's kids are in university and are building lives apart from her; in Kimberly, the little girl in our branch who had been putting off baptism until the missionaries started visiting her family more; in the few members of our branch who live here in Santiago Texacuangos and feel alone and isolated because we are so far from the rest of the members. And in all the people we get the chance to talk to, everyone needs a friend.

Ultimately I firmly believe lasting happiness and peace comes through Christ, and his message. But sometimes people just need a person they can turn to. And I know its more interesting to read about the sketchy jungles we get lost in, the attacks I get for being American, the time I was leading music in church and nobody was singing so the branch president came up and chewed me out, when an angel came and saved us from a gang, stories from one legged Carlos, the week we had without water, the parties for the new Catholic saint down here, or the time I got swung out of the bus and hit a car. That stuff is great, wouldn't trade it for the world. But sometimes it feels like a different world down here in El Salvador, I mean facing down female pastors in the street or fighting off dogs with sticks or having to brush my teeth with orange juice cuz of our mini drought in the middle of rainstorms, none of that was an issue back home. But I know that no matter where you're at, you can be a friend. And in every part of the world there are people who need that friendship. And hey if Rafael ends up in one of your areas, I know he could definitely use an amigo right now. That being said I am super grateful for the support and love from back home, and around the world, and hope everyone is doing well. Keep my people in your prayers and keep me posted. Salud!

Juan 15:12

--

Elder Moulton

ps Happy Halloween