Yo Juego Para Ganar

Hey everybody! Were gonna keep it short and sweet this week but I hope everyone is doing great. This week was without a doubt one of the strangest of my mission. Spent like 4 of the past 7 days bouncing between health clinic and health centers with another missionary who was a lil under the weather. Some were sketchy but one had hot water and AC so we were livin large. But don't worry he's ok and nobody was really too sick or anything, they taking good care of us down here. 

In the end this week was kind of a bummer because I couldn't go out and be a normal missionary a whole lot but we got a few killa days in there so in the end it all worked out. Got to meet some crazy awesome people, got stuck in the street for a freakishly strong rainstorm, ate some crazy good food (update hospital food here is just as bad as it is back home) and also all of us missionaries here in the Apopa Zona got together and bought custom soccer jerseys. But then we got a little cocky and invited some members here to play with us and we got destroyed. But we looked good so that's what counts. 

Other than that I don't got a whole lot to update this week so I figured I'd throw in a lil scripture that always helps in the tough times, ALMA 26:27 "Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success."

Pero espero que todos tengan un buen dia y semana, y sepan que todo esta chevere aqui en El Salvador.

SALUUUD

Elder Moulton

Hay Lluvia. . . Pero Hay Sol También

Editors Note: Tanner had to help an elder out in his zone today so he wasn't able to answer emails. He wanted us to tell everyone hello and thanks for the support.

Well, welcome back to another update from your favorite missionary in El Salvador (hopefully, but I wouldn't be offended otherwise). This week brought some struggles as my hair continues to recover from the tragic self hair cut incident. But we stay strong, we stay grinding. Some other crazy things that happened this week was when a lady started shouting at us in the market, using the gift of tongues, but accidentally ended up singing something along the lines of the "Scooby Do" theme song. Or when a preacher tried to challenge me in front of the entire bus we were in. Or when a little girl named Dulce, with all the confidence of a 7 year-old and not a bit of hesitation, counted from 1 to 10 in English but left out the less important numbers of 4, 7, and 8. Or when my companion, Elder Herrera, accidentally introduced himself as being from Disney and not from Guatemala (we still aren't too sure as to how that connection happened). Or when we sang an original song in front of all the members of the church here in Apopa for a talent show. Or introducing the greatest group game of all time 'Mafia' to some families in a family activity (Shoutout to Chula Vista 3rd Ward young men). All in all it was a pretty stellar week.

Which brings me to my title, one which has turned into somewhat of a joke between Elder Herrera and I. As I mentioned last week, the rainy season has started which surprisingly didn't mean that the sun went away. So what we have been facing this week is the strange sensation of sunny rain. And as the water hits the cobblestone and steams into the air, we started, as always, to tie the sometimes awful, sometimes refreshing sunshiney rain to a lil real life experience. Because a sunny day is what everyone pictures when things are going right. And rain is what happens when things are a little more difficult, its sad, hard, tiring, etc. But at the end of the day, what we are usually faced with is a little bit of both, or as we see here in Apopa, a little bit of sunny rain. On the brightest, sunniest days, a little bit of rain will fall out of nowhere. And on the darkest, stormiest days, a little bit of sun will always come thru for us in the end. And what we decided in the end is that the rain helps us to appreciate the sun, and the sun helps us to appreciate the rain. A sunny day or a rainy day, neither of those exist. Its always a little bit of a mix. But its better that way. Because a little sadness, or a tough lesson, or a letdown here and there will just help us appreciate the good things down the road. And when things are going good, the lessons are flowing, things are going your way, we shouldn't forget about the rain. Because in the end we don't control the weather but we do control our reactions. So if it looks like rain, like everything is just going down the drain, the sun is still there, or at least the heat in our case. This week we were having a really rough stretch, struggling with some things in our area and just overall getting drenched by the 'rain'. And in the middle of all this, we met Kevin. Kevin is a friend of a friend who sells bread from his motorcycle to make a living. We hadn't really ever taught him but as we were out one night we ran into him on the street, as we left tired, sad, and dejected from a lesson that sadly didn't go so hot. As he pulled up his motorcycle, he shared with us something that helped bring the sun back out in the middle of all our rain. He told us he had been looking, searching to fill a gap in his life and that he wanted to talk with us. Long story short (a story with plenty of rain and sun in and of itself) Kevin came to church with us this Sunday and, as he searches for his answers is preparing to be baptized. If it hadn't been for the 'rain' of that day with all that had gone down, I don't know if we would've been in the right place or time to find the 'sun,' or Kevin in this case. So yeah it rained a little bit these past couple weeks, but it was always sunny rain in the end. And I don't doubt that that's the way God wants it. So have a great week, stay grinding, and thank you all for all the love and support, it makes the rainy days much more sunny.

SALUD

Elder Moulton

Trabajamos como CHUCHOS

The rain is back but you already know, your boys are still grinding down here in paradise. This week was another one for the books. And just to explain the title right off the bat, we all make mistakes. From me deciding it would be a good idea to try and cut my own hair, to our blind friend Jorge saying he wanted to see a baptism firsthand before he decides to get baptized. But the point is even if you mix up the words for tired and married in a lesson, you gotta work like a dog. Which is what my title says in English. Walking through the crooked, crowded, broken streets of Apopa this week in the pouring rain with Elder Herrera we couldn't help but smile at one point. Because yeah its true, theres gonna be rain but hey that just means we don't have the sun beating down on us. And we realized something, either way rain or sun, we are gonna end up wet. Be it sweat or be it rain, at the end of the day we end up soaked so we might as well work like dogs. This week brought its ups and lows and its always sad when someone decides that they don't want to talk to us anymore but we stay working. And yeah 3 people proposed marriage to my companion and I but we didn't let that get in the way either. But to be real, the highlight of the week was when Gringo Messi made a comeback. We were walking through a kind of back alley kinda place and we came by a soccer court. There was like 8 guys playing there so we decided to go make a deal. Its been a while since Elder Gringo Messi Moulton came to play but this week we decided to challenge these 8 dudes. The deal was I had 3 chances to score a goal from the entrance of the court. . .pretty far away. My first try was like 15 feet wide and frankly an embarrassment to my family, my companion, Eastlake High athletics, and just about everyone else I have ever known or loved. But I said a lil prayer and the next two rolled in with a classic missionary blessing finish. Sadly, they didn't follow through and we didn't see them at church this week but hey, gotta keep working like a dog. Keeping it short this week but hope everyone has a great next 7 days. 

SALUD

Elder Moulton

Los Ciegos Dirigiendo Los Ciegos

John 9:39  And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.

Just to give you all a little recap of whats been going down in the greatest country on earth, this week was pretty solid. I used Fortnite as an example to teach a teenager the gospel, met the town witch (actually a real nice lady), got to go back and work near one of my old areas, and best of all... we went to the temple this Saturday! So yeah this week was pretty action packed to be honest. We even found ourselves using hot glue guns to make flowery centerpieces in an effort to help a sister in our ward. Didn't eat anything too crazy but at one point, I found myself in the house of a very nice older couple who like to watch us eat and who figured that I would like a huge block of queso duro (its like a solid cheese brick). Luckily they left the room for a couple minutes and only left their son (who is blind), to supervise. Now I am not going to say that I am happy he is blind, because obviously that is not the case, but I am just very grateful that he couldn't see our faces as we choked down the cheese bricks. But crafts and comida aside, the highlight of the week was definitely the temple. We don't have a lot of chances to go to the temple here on the mission, we stay pretty busy, but when we do, its always something special. And this time included. Just a little side note for anyone reading this who has the opportunity to go to a temple nearby, DO IT! Temples are the best places on earth, and even tho everyone used to ask me why we went to the "Mormon Castle" or "Mormon Disneyland," it's hard to describe just how special it is there.

Now just to wrap this up, I want to explain my title. I haven't gone physically blind (although I do have to use glasses) and I think we are doing ok spiritually in that aspect, but we have a buddy here named Jorge. Jorge is very old (like 78) and spends his days sitting shirtless in the street. But we have known Jorge for a while now and recently we have started teaching him a little bit about the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now here's the thing about Jorge, he cant see anything more than colorful blurs. By all accounts he is basically completely blind. And this week, Elder Herrera and I had the chance to help him walk a ways (through hilly, uneven Salvadorean roads) to his sons house and back. This journey was a very interesting one, I feel like it could easily be novelized and made into a box office hit, but what I wanted to share was a story that Jorge shared with me on our dangerous journey through the streets of Apopa. Jorge makes this trip often, weekly or biweekly, and he always takes precautions to make sure he will be safe. He leaves his house early in the morning to have the light of the sun, sticks to a route where he knows the potholes and cracks in the road, uses his cane with small steady steps, and he always ALWAYS takes a friend to guide him. As Jorge shared this with us, my missionary mind immediately started connecting the dots. As we travel through life, we too are sometimes traveling in darkness, we are traveling blind. But the story Jorge shared with us had a little bit of a plot twist. The last time he had made this trip he made all his preparations, got all ready to go, meet up with his guide, and left good and early in the daytime. But the problem is, the guide he chose was an old friend of his. A friend who also was nearly completely blind. Jorge told us how they wandered the streets, lost and confused, and how unsure and unsafe he felt. He also told us that with us and our "strong youthful vision" to guide him, he felt more secure and was able to find his destination. Now to return to the analogy, as we walk blindly through life, we don't have to do it alone. We can make the necessary preparations, plan carefully, and choose a guide who will help us reach our destination. In this world there are a lot of different guides who promise happiness and success, and if we want we can choose to listen and follow their lead. But we will just end up lost and confused, blind and being guided by the blind. Or we can choose a guide who will, with confidence and care, take us to where we need to be and help us to find what we desire most. This guide isn't going to remove the obstacles from our paths. There will always be potholes, speed bumps, dogs, trees, trash, and tortilla stands that we will have to overcome. But if we choose the right guide, he will help us to get through anything that comes our way. To my friends and family or anyone who is reading this, Jesus Christ is the guide who can see. He is the one who can help us to cross safely from where we are, to where we want to be. Like Jorge, we may be blind, but we can do our part to get back home safely. We just gotta chose the right guide and make the necessary precautions to get there. So there is your Elder Moulton update for the week. Hope everyone has an awesome next 7 days and we will see you back here next week. Same time same place

SALUD

Elder Moulton