Si Dios Juzga Prudente

Dear friends and family,

As always I hope everyone had the best week of their lives. Everything here is peachy. We had a pretty solid week this week, got some serious work done and had a good time too. This week brought the chance to work in some new areas with other missionaries, more chicken feet, a wedding, street sweeping, and ultimately, cleaning the house of an increasingly sick older woman and her husband who surprisingly just wanted pupusas. It was an interesting week. Also had quite a few people guess I was from Mexico and met an ex-spy who lived in Chula Vista, so we are doing good. Funny moments would include when a lady with a box of pills boarded the bus and gave a sermon on the dangers of parasites, when 2 of our missionaries got chased through the street by a pack of dogs, or when a lady told us she wasn't interested in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints because she always felt inclined to a different church-the Mormons. But this week also brought some tough moments. A friend of ours lost his dad, a missionary got sick, the little boy in a family we have been teaching took a hard fall, and a couple friends of ours-recently baptized- ate some bad pupusas and are out for the count for a while. Which brings me to my title.

The Book of Mormon, the keystone of our religion as we say, has a promise. You can find it in the last couple pages of the book. I am not going to quote it because I only have it in Spanish here with me but it invites people to read, ponder, and pray to find out if its true. Its a powerful promise, one I would extend to anyone reading this. But whats interesting about this promise is that there is a phrase towards the beginning. It says to read, "Si Dios juzga prudente" or "If God judges prudent". This called my attention because obviously reading this book is something God wants for all of us to do. And if this is the case, why is there this qualification? Why only if God judges prudent? This week, with all that has been going on (the good and the not so good) I have been thinking a lot about this phrase: If God judges prudent. I don't doubt that God wants us to be happy, or successful, or healthy. But theres gonna be times where we just aren't. And its because he knows our needs better than we do. Just like in the case of the Book of Mormon, there are good times and blessings in store for all of us but God judges prudent the when and the how. I hope that one day God judges prudent for everyone to read and discover the Book of Mormon, just as I hope he judges prudent for all of you to have the blessings you need and want. But in the end of the day there is a lot of this life that is simply in his hands. So if theres something good, something you deserve, but for one reason or another you don't get it, don't sweat it. Because it'll come, when God judges prudent. Or if you are struggling with something that's unfair or confusing, don't sweat it. Its happening because God judged prudent. As they say in the greatest taco shop in the world, patience is the essence of all fine Mexican food (or in this case blessings). Shout out to those who  know. And so theres your spiritual message from Elder Moulton this week, and your invitation. To try out that promise in the Book of Mormon, read it. And if God judges prudent you will know. I hope everyone has a great week. We'll see you next week, same time same place.

SALUD,

Elder Moulton

La Ardilla ya Había Muerto

First things first, for my fluent Spanish speakers out there, don't sweat it nobody died. Besides a couple of cockroaches and a dove on the street in front of our house. And the legs of my companion, who sadly found out that 2 years away from a weight room means 60 squats probably aren't the best idea (poor Elder Mojica walked with a cane for 2 days). But to explain my title, we had, among many highlights, the opportunity to participate in the semi annual worldwide general conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. And for those of you who don't know what it is, we call it the greatest novela of all time down here. It's 5 two hour broadcasts of messages and counsel from prophets and leaders of our church. And for a missionary its like a birthday, Christmas, winning the lottery, and taste of an In-n-Out hamburger all rolled into one. And sadly no, Salvadorean hamburgers just aren't quite there yet. But during this conference, me and three other gringos got the chance to watch it on a computer in English and one of our personal highlights was a talk by Elder Dallin H Oaks who abruptly declared, "the squirrel was dead" to the amusement of 4 English deprived Yankees in Central America. Now I'm not gonna copy his talk here in my email but I highly recommend you read it, and I am going to focus on one point that he made.

This week, we had a couple pretty weird experiences. At one point one lady told us she knew we were there to marry her to an animal and she wanted nothing to do with us for example. But what we had the most of was people telling us it wasn't their time. Telling us "one day" or "soon". And so when I heard the talk by Elder Oaks and later another one by President Russell M Nelson, I felt like that's what I should share with y'all today. That NOW is the time. We don't wait until we fall off the bike to put on a helmet, we don't wait until we trip to tie our shoes. The point that I took out of those talks and our experiences this week is this: If there's something that you know you need to do, do it. If you're waiting for a sign, or the perfect opportunity, or a little more time, its never gonna happen. There are things in my life that I know for sure are true, and one of those is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And this principle applies directly here too. Because I know this gospel is true, because I can't deny that, I can't afford to wait or postpone. I have to act. And that is my invitation to you all. To act. To look at the things in your life that you know you have been putting off. To look and to act. Because progression, happiness, joy, peace, those aren't things that come by sitting still. Those are things that come with action. I hope everyone has an awesome week and stays balling out.

SALUD

Elder Moulton

Voy a Nadar

Well another week in paradise. No babies threw up on us, no dogs attacked us, and I hit a new pupusa eating record, so I would call this week successful. On the real tho, this week was probably one of my favorites. Got the chance to go back and work near one of my old areas, had a meeting with a lot of old missionary buds, but most importantly... Eva and Eduardo were both baptized! Eva and Eduardo are some of my favorite people in El Salvador. We met them a while back but honestly since day 1 their goal has been to be baptized and grow closer to Christ. And this Saturday, they took a big step in that journey. But just to explain my title a little bit, the entire baptismal service went great, really cool, really special. But after Eduardo was baptized, he looked up at me, grinning from ear to ear and said, "Voy a nadar" or "I'm going to swim" and before I could do a thing. . .Boom! He started drifting around a little bit in the baptismal font. But its alright, he only did a lap or two and told me it was because he was happy and had a good feeling in his heart. Great kid. 

This week I got to give a talk in church, and I decided to talk a little bit about miracles. Now I know that's something I have talked about before but it hit home this week, and I found myself asking a lot, where are my miracles? A miracle is something only accomplished by the power of God. So where are your miracles? (There is a scripture in Mormon 8) God isn't going to stop doing work, we just gotta keep doing our part.

Also super pumped because we get the chance to go to the temple tomorrow and we are way excited!!! But hey I hope you all have a great week and stay up.

SALUD, 

Elder Moulton

Banana or Folleto?

     Hope everyone is still doing alright, doing big things, living the dream. Because we sure are. I mean cow stomach soup for lunch is pretty much as good as it gets honestly. But like always just another week in paradise. Elder Mojica and I had a pretty fun week, from English rap playing in the buses to getting lost on a sketchy bridge, to finding someone with the direction (ask the lady who sells potatoes where the chocolate guy is, then ask him where the mountain is, then climb the mountain and they’ll be there), to the highlight of the week when Josue and Luis were both baptized. So yeah it was a good week. Josue and Luis are a pair of brothers we have been teaching for a while, 16 and 19 years old and just total studs. Honestly these dudes work nonstop to support their grandma and sacrifice so much everyday. They wake up at 4am to haul maize in to make tortillas and spend their days making and selling and helping in the house front store that their grandma owns. They overcame a lot to get to this point and we are way excited for whats to come. 

     Which brings me to my title. We have a goal to talk to 20 new people every day. And sometimes its hard to get a random person on the street to listen to 2 missionaries, sweating buckets through their white shirts and ties. So we get creative. For example one day while walking in the street, I happened to have a banana in one hand and a pamphlet of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the other. Now, as I am sure all of you would agree, there really couldn't be better tools to use to invite someone on the street to listen to our message. So we tried it out, and long story short, I offered Fernando food for the body or food for the soul. In the end, Fernando took the pamphlet and my companion took the banana but the point stands.

        To throw a something a lil more serious in this email I just wanted to share a story in the Book of Mormon. Mosiah 24:10-22. More or less its about a group of people that starting praying for help and turning to God only cuz they had a problem. They later continued praying with faith that God would help them. And he did. And to finish the story they prayed again to say thanks. Now the reason I love this story is this- it doesn't matter why or where we start out, what matters is that we keep going. What matters is that we grow. At one point or another we all have a time where we have no other choice but to turn to God for help. And that's ok, he’s always gonna be there looking out. What matters is that we keep going, we keep praying, and when things are good we pray even more, cuz that's when he is helping us the most. So if you find yourself praying out of desperation, keep on keeping on. Just know that when the day comes and the help you need is there, that's the time to get back on your knees and pray again. Hope everyone has an awesome week, and remember when the choice comes between a banana and a message of Jesus Christ, do the right thing and take the pamphlet.

SALUD

Elder Moulton

Elder, Me Amas?

Well, another week in paradise. Apopa has been good to me if I'm going to be honest. Yeah, a baby threw up on me in the bus and my comp and I ate an entire plate of beans and fried bananas in 30 seconds. And Elder Mojica busted his foot through his shoe, but we fixed it with super glue so its all good. But all in all it was a pretty stellar week. Got the chance to travel to a few different areas and work with a few different missionaries, it was neat. We didn't eat anything too crazy but one lady offered us cow udder so we always have that option, or squirrel. But we'll keep you posted. Got told I look like Vanilla Ice, Bruce Lee, and Steve Carrell from various people here and had to explain to a very confused man that no, I am not from Utah about 12 times. But to explain my title, my companion is sadly "allergic" to a surprising number of vegetables. Which means that when we are eating lunch or dinner and I hear the question, "Elder, me amas?" it means I am about to get a big scoop of pipian or whiskil. So yeah don't worry, its not just pupusas and chicken foot. Although we did have chicken foot tamales this week.

On a more spiritual note, Elder Mojica and I have been trying something a little different in our studies. We think of a question, focus on it and then open up the scriptures and read. And I know there are probably more effective ways to study but with every question that I have had, I have found an answer this way. And its actually been amazing to see. But that's not the whole process. We were talking to a lady this week that has been going to church for a long time now, even has a son on a mission, but who has a few obstacles in her path. And we were talking about how to find an answer. This week has been full of questions and answers honestly, and for that reason, what I wanted to share this week is the process. First we have a question, a problem, a struggle. And we gotta take that to the Lord, ask for help. Second we have to be willing to do whatever it is that we get in response. But the third part is probably the most important. As my mom said to me every time I complained back home, get off your knees and go to work. Prayers and questions will only get you so far. What we gotta do is do our part. (Eter chapter 2 and 3 ) God is going to give us what we need to get through any problem. But he's not going to do everything for us. In the mission we get a lot of situations where we just don't know what to do. When a family is struggling just to put food on the table or when married couples ask us for advice its a little daunting. But we trust the process. And it always works.  Hope everyone has a great week!

SALUD, 

Elder Moulton

La Vida Es Una Autopista (pt4?)

Don't know if you could tell by the title but, its that time again. We out here changin everything. Long story short, this Wednesday I packed up my stuff and headed to a new area with a new companion. And things are good. My new area is a city named Apopa, and my comp is a beast. Elder Mojica, he's from here in El Salvador and has less than 3 months left on the mission and hes a stud. Its super hot here tho, and our shower is broken so our house is always wet and somehow even hotter than outside but we are doing good, we have running water, a couple of fans and a hammock, what more could we need? The work is pretty solid here too, the people are awesome and someone even gave us ice cream the other day. Although another house had a dog that kept biting my arm so its like 50/50. But on the real, loving it here in Apopa. It was hard to say goodbye to Cojutepeque, I may have even teared up with a couple families, and Elder Felipe was hilarious, but we already have had some crazy amazing experiences here in Apopa and I'm excited for whats coming down the road. 

Scripture I wanna share this week is one that we shared at a birthday party we accidentally interrupted. Its found in John 16:33-

33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

Basically in life, we all got our issues and sometimes it feels like everything is moving a million miles an hour. And peace is something that's very hard to find. Ive been doing a lotta thinking recently, in Spanglish because I am starting to forget English, and I think peace is something that everyone is looking for. Its the answer to a lot of questions and the solution to a lot of problems. What I like about this scripture is that it explains how we can get that peace, and it explains the purpose of the gospel of Christ. Also it helped us out because we didn't have a birthday present so we figured offering peace would do the trick. Totally worked. So when life is moving fast, or when you are frustrated or with whatever comes this week, just remember there is peace in Christ, and that's a pretty valuable present. Hope everyone had a great week, thanks for all the love.

SALUD

Elder Moulton

Vale la Pena

Hola y Buenos Dias from your missionaries down in Cojutepeque, hope everyone is doing alright. The rainy season is starting so I walked around town with a trash bag strapped to my back to protect the goods. Besides that I was attacked by a chicken, 3 puppies, and a 4 year old girl with a shoe. So that was good. Got told a rant that was either about babies or Catholic views on music by a nice old lady with no teeth but strong opinions. Perfected the pizza and pupusa dinner combination, I lost the keys to the house, (still MIA if you hear anything let us know), and got to see Nancy go to the temple for the first time (which was way cool and she loved it). So while this week wasn't a whole lotta new, it was still pretty exciting. From hanging out the back of a pickup on the freeway to exploring a new little city in our area, there is never a dull moment. And so in this email I figured I would give you all the rundown of what goes on in the life of a missionary.

6:30am: We get up to a semi-annoying ring tone with a huge smile and a shining disposition to start the day.

6:30-8:30: Workout, make/eat breakfast, shower, iron clothes, get ready for the day, clean a little bit, ball out

8:30-12:00: Plan out the day, personal study (Bible, Book of Mormon, etc.), study together -some language study (Portuguese, Kaq Chiqel, English, occasionally Spanish), ball out, study some more.

12:00- Lunch at the comedor by our house (fried chicken, rice, french fries, and 4 tortillas cuz the dude behind the counter is a homie and hooks it up).

12:45-9:00: THE GRIND. Teach lessons, paint houses, wash dogs, invite people to change their lives, meet new people, step in dog poop, take buses, share scriptures, answer questions, teach English, ball out, wash dishes, hike through the jungle, and do God's work down here in the promised land.

8:30-9:00: Pupusas

9:00-10:30: Study more, ball out.

10:30: dormir 

Its a good life honestly and we have a really good time. We live 4 missionaries together in the same house so we keep things interesting and have fun in the work. Its not always easy but as we say down here, "si es facil,  no vale la pena." Hope everyone has a great week, thanks for all the love.

SALUD

Elder Moulton

Es Como "Monton" Pero Con 'L'

To quote my English-learning, pupusa-burning, Quetzal-earning companion, "Hey man, whats up?" Which sadly is about the extent of Elder Felipe's English for now, but we are working. We got plans. Along with the English classes however, this week brought a lot of good times, great people, and big moves. To start out with the best, Nancy was baptized this week! Nancy is just 16 years old but we have been teaching her and her family for a while now (she is William's aunt). Her journey really hasn't been all too easy but long story short, she made this decision and put out an example for all her family to follow. And we are super excited for her down the road. Future missionary for sure. And while that was obviously the highlight of the week, we had quite a few other memorable moments. We learned a little sign language and got to use it in the street with a group of deaf teenagers, ate pupusas at least once every day this week, helped a nice friend of ours with his cows, broke a chair during a lesson, got asked if I was Chinese, hiked some serious mountain jungle paths, and met a guy with a rooster fighting ring who lives directly next to the police headquarters. SO it was a pretty good week honestly. And to explain my title, once again a lot of people had a hard time with the last name. SO what we do now is just explain that my name is like "monton", a Spanish word which means "a lot of," but with an 'L'. And people seem to understand that. 

Now I don't know the origin of the word 'monton,' but to me it sounds a lot like mountain and for that I'm gonna use it to share a lil something spiritual. One of the hardest things about being a missionary is seeing the really difficult things that people have to go through. It's hard to see families struggle, or opportunities fall through, or mistakes made. There's not a single person in the world that doesn't have a 'monton'of problems. And sometimes what we expect is some grand sign or great big task to do in order to move these mountains that life puts in our way. The Bible even says that with just a little tiny bit of faith we can move mountains, and that for sure applies to both spiritual and physical ones. Now I don't want to speak for everyone, but a lot of times we got the faith part down. Or at least we think we do. A lot of times when we have a trial that's huge and looming before us, we say that we have faith to do whatever it takes to move that mountain. And we wait. We wait for God to give us some great task to fulfill. We wait for God to tell us to move the mountain, to sacrifice everything, to change our lives completely. But a lesson I have really come to learn down here is this: Most days its not the faith to move mountains that we need, its the faith to climb them. I'm not saying that God isn't gonna help us to get over our problems, not at all. But the point is that if we truly have something we want to accomplish, or something difficult we want to get over, the first steps are not to go all out and do some huge thing. The first steps are to do the small things; to climb. The hardest kind of faith to have sometimes isn't the faith to make a great sacrifice or do a grand act, its the faith to press forward and do what we know we should be doing. To pray, to read, to listen. So if you got a mountain in front of you this week, don't try and move it right off the bat. Climb it. Do the little things first and you will end up over that challenge in no time.

Hope everyone has a great week, as always thanks for the love and support!

SALUD

Elder Moulton

No Debe Ser Una Persona Sucia

Editors Note: We got to video chat with Tanner today! He looks fantastic and sends his love to all of you. What a blessing to see him and hear his voice. We also got to talk with his companion Elder Felipe and hope to "see" them again next week. 

Another 7 days of jungle hikes, overflowing buses, and chicken. Lots of chicken. But we couldn't be any happier, its been a good time here in Cojutepeque. Got to have a few interchanges and work with some really awesome other missionaries, and even ended up back near Las Canas for a day. But the real grind is going on here in the chorizo capital of El Salvador  with the greatest Guatemalan of all time, Elder Felipe. We had some crazy stuff go down this week, starting with a mystery car-motorcycle off road adventure that I can only describe as a direct guidance from God that led us to a family in the middle of nowhere who all came to church this Sunday. A walk through a military camp at 8:45 at night. 2 guitars, and a brief preview of the future duet of Elder Felipe and Elder Moulton. Horrible burritos at the Mexican restaurant we got here. And to explain my title, a pair of brothers who really wanted us to drink their water. One was shirtless and sweaty but an old friend of mine from a couple months back. The other was sadly pretty sick and it had left its mark on the front of his shirt. Long story short these guys are our buds and way funny but we were really tired and sweaty and they weren't exactly models of personal hygiene at the moment. So Juan goes, "Don't worry man we aren't dirty people drink my water," in broken Spanglish. And so we did. But he also had this nugget of advice that I figured would be good to pass on "Don't be a dirty person."

Little spiritual thought this week is something I had the chance to share at church this week, when the designated speaker couldn't make it. Its one of my favorite scriptures of all time and its been huge in my time here. Its the story of a young guy who needed to build a boat. And he didn't know how to do it. So his brothers started getting on his case. But this guy, in this verse of scripture, gives one of the greatest comebacks ever given:

1 Nefi 17:51

"And now, if the Lord has such great power, and has wrought so many miracles among the children of men, how is it that he cannot instruct me, that I should build a ship."

Now God isn't asking any of us to build a boat. At least I don't think he is. But if we think about it, the point here still stands. Looking back on my life, God has given me a whole bunch of miracles. Just the fact that I made it through the crazy streets  of Chula Vista everyday on the weakest scooter in existence, or that we find our way back to civilization here when the bus routes close down. And if God has the power to do that, I have no doubt that he has got what it takes to help me get over whatever it is I got in front of me. God isn't going to build our boats for us, but with a little bit of faith and some work on our part, he opens the way to get it done. This scripture really helped me awhile back when I was struggling to learn Spanish. And while I can't say I am a perfect Spanish speaker yet, I can for sure say that God is helping me to build this boat. And that promise rings true with whatever problem or difficulty we could face. So next time something hard comes by or when life says you need to build your own boat, remember those words:

"If the Lord has such great power, and has wrought so many miracles in the life of (insert your name here), how is it that he cannot instruct me, that I should (insert action needed to overcome personal struggle or trial here)?

Hope you all have a great week, thanks for all the love, prayers, and support. It makes building this boat of a mission a whole lot easier.

SALUD

Elder Moulton

Me Llaman Gringo

This week I am going to get real. I had a goal when I first got here, to be pure Salvadorean after 6 months. Well I have officially been a missionary for 6 months and everyone still thinks I'm from los Estados Unidos. Every once in a while I get a Canada or Spain. Point is, I can eat as many pupusas as I want, speak as much Spanish as I can, but sadly I am not quite Guanaco yet. That being said, this week was actually pretty crazy. We dug a giant hole (goal was 7 meters) for a crazy old man to have a bathroom in his house, practiced Portuguese and Kak Chiqel in the bus, we fixed some flooding water pipes with wire and prayers, and got to hear from Elder D Todd Christofferson at a conference of 500 missionaries. While this week had its fair share of crazy moments and people, the highlight of it all was for sure this conference. We got to hear directly from an Apostle and even cooler, he speaks perfect Spanish. 500 missionaries strong, all of EL Salvador, and it was just an awesome experience. And he is sticking around here for a while too so we will see if he swings by Cojutepeque. 

And to justify my title a little bit, this week 'besides being called Gringo' I have been called "Milton," "Mootoon," and just about any variation of the word you can think of, quite a few Spanish words that I gratefully don't understand, and to top it all off "Joesph Smith Junior" by a man screaming in the streets. People call us missionaries a lot of different stuff. And now, with 6 whole months under my belt here in the promised land, I am more grateful than ever for the name that I am here representing. A lot of people get confused when they see that both me and Elder Felipe are named Elder. And I don't know why but nobody believes we are twins. So quite a few times daily, we get the chance to explain who we are and who we represent. And even though Moulton is very difficult to pronounce in Spanish, its a pretty cool experience to represent 1. Jesus Christ and 2. the Moulton fam down here in La Provincia de Nuestro Senor Jesu Cristo El Salvador Del Mundo. Which is actually the full name of my country. So yeah, maybe I am not pure Latino yet, hopefully in another 6 months we will be there, but for now I am alright being a representative of the greatest man to ever live, in the country that bears his name. Hope everyone has a great week, thanks for the love!

SALUD

-- 

Elder Moulton

Elder Moulton and Elder Felipe

Cada Rosa Tiene Sus Espinas

Well another week in paradise for yours truly, the Elders of Cojutepeque. And not only because we literally have a little pueblo in our area called Paraiso. We have been on that grind this week, preaching, teaching, herding goats and cows in the streets, sweating stains into our shirts, hiking through jungles, and using silly putty and card houses to teach about the gospel. So its been pretty cool. We had elections down here this week too, which is pretty fun. Nayib Bukele is our new president. He's a G and definitely had my vote. Also my companion unfortunately started the rumor that I am Donald Trump's nephew. From what I can tell only one guy believes it. We didn't eat anything too weird this week, we actually have a Little Caesar's and a Burger King. Normally we stick with chicken, papas fritas, and tortillas. Its a pretty sweet life.

Now to explain the title, being down here in El Salvador, one of the first things you learn is how much the people love Classic Rock. . . that and fireworks. Salvadoranos are a people of 80s music and blowing things up all night long. But along the lines of the music preferences, one of the most popular songs in the street, and one of my most favorite from back home is this one. "Every Rose has its Thorn." I always thought it was pretty cute and the only song I have heard better is the latino remix of "I Will Always Love You," by Whitney Houston. But I swear we don't just go around listening to the music blasting from the buses. Just this week I figured we'd use one song as an example, but you already know we have to get deep with it so we're gonna flip it around and say that every thorn has its rose. Sometimes we end up in some sketchy areas, or meet someone that's really sick, or get stranded because the buses change during elections. But always we find that one awesome family, get to see someone recover with just faith and prayers, or run into crazy people who invite you over to eat macaroni because you were making the 45 minute jungle hike back home with no transportation. Point is, it always works out. All these thorns got roses, we just gotta look a lil harder. So when you drop your pupusa and the dogs eat it before the 5 second rule even comes into play, or when your chancla breaks, or when you have a giant mosquito bite on your forehead, look for the roses. Cuz they are always there. God gave us our fair share of thorns too, but vale la pena, we got some pretty sweet roses. Hope everyone had a great week, thanks for all the love.

SALUD

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Elder Moulton