Well this letter is about a week and a half late and a little bit out of context now but I figured I owe it to you all to fill you in on what’s been going down recently. Unfortunately, due to the Corona Virus Pandemic and political problems around the world, I am no longer in El Salvador. We had to pack everything up and basically just say goodbye. Due to the strict quarantine laws in El Salvador, we couldn’t leave the house to say goodbye to anyone and so everything just kinda happened really fast. I was closing in on my last months of my mission so I was released this week as a missionary and I am now officially no longer Elder Moulton. So it’s back to Tanner.
I really don’t think there’s words (in English or Spanish) to express just how much these last 20 months meant to me. The lessons the Lord has taught me over the past little while will always always always have their place in my heart. I didn’t understand God or life or pretty much anything before i left on this mission, and the truth is I still have quite a ways to go. But I came to understand one thing.
Now I don’t wanna get too long or sappy on anyone, but I think that this being my last email and all of us being stuck in quarantine with nothing better to do gives me an excuse to rant a little bit. I decided to go on my mission because I felt that God loved me. Most of my life I went through the motions, learning, growing and progressing, but it wasn’t personal. Until one day I felt the call. So I left. I left expecting to get to know another country, another people, another culture, another me. And I would definitely say that all of those things happened. But the best thing I really came to know wasn’t the food or the friends or the experience, it was my Savior.
John 17:3
And this is life eternal , that they might know thee the only true God , and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent .
I came to know joy, watching 84 year old Don Paco entering the waters of baptism or watching Luis Delcid stepping into the church for the first time in years. I got to know sadness, Hermano Candido dying just months after his baptism and familia Martinez struggling to put food on the table every week. I got to know some of the best people in the world, people I am honored to call my best friends. And I came to know El Salvador, a country that may lack in size but makes up for it with love and pupusas. In almost every aspect of my life I came to know more than I ever had before. But putting aside the mountain roads and the rainstorms and the bus rides with chickens and bananas in my face, what I came to know was so much greater. Because I came to know my Savior.
If there is anyone reading this and if you feel in anyway at all like what I am saying is true I just want to share one piece of advice. LOOK. Nothing happens in this life until you go out and do something. And the most important thing in life, at least in my mind, is happiness. By coming to know my savior I came to know happiness. I saw familia Cortez, a family with absolutely nothing who sacrifice everything to put a tin roof over their dirt floors and provide their children with beans. I saw Tomas, a lonely old man with only cats and cigarettes as his company. And I saw the familia Fuentes, a single mother with 4 kids and a whole lot of bills and unemployment. i saw Diego and yamileth, a struggling couple who’s parents both died within 3 weeks and who even with the world against them were married and adopted a pitbull. But what I saw in each and every one of them is something I can never forget. I saw happiness. They didn’t care about what they didn’t have because they had joy. These people had every right in the world to just throw in the towel and mope, be sad, complain. But they didn’t. Why? Because they were happy. They had come to know Christ.
I know and I testify, as my last testimony to you all, that there actually is a living God. He is a God of mercy and love but he is above all a God of happiness. The gospel of Jesus Christ has brought me that happiness. And I can not deny that it has the power to do the same in the lives of each and every one of you. I was honored to represent our Savior for these past few months and I am happy that I will be able to continue getting to know him even more now. I pray that we can all get out of this mess soon and that at least a little good will come out of all of this. God has restored the truth to the world in these days, all you have to do is look. Thank you all so so so much for your emails, support, love, and especially prayers. There were days when the spiritual boost really kicked in, I really needed that. Please continue praying for paradise (aka El Salvador) and stay on the grind!
SALUUUUU
(Ex) Elder Moulton
Ps
Please keep in touch! I will have this email a little while longer but if you wanna stay in touch just shoot me an email or look for me on social media. Gracias por todo amigos, cuídense.
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