Libre Soy

Pues, another week (or 2 weeks) in paradise and I gotta say life is going pretty great. We even had a mini Turkey bowl/ pickup football game last Thursday with all the missionaries to celebrate Thanksgiving so it was a cool experience. Things are going really well here in Usulutan, never thought I'd learn to be a wedding planner when I left for the mission but we got some good stuff in the works so we will keep you all posted. Other than that, this week has really just been a spiritual roller coaster. This week, some friends of ours who were going to come to visit the church for the first time had their house get robbed Saturday night, some got sick, and really just everything hit all at once. But when Sunday morning came around, even thought there was a bunch of inconveniences, there they were at church with us. Which has really made me think about the way we take what life gives us. Being a Spanish stuttering, 2 left footed, young, gringo missionary here in a country that has a culture unlike anything I'd ever known before, food I'd never even heard of, and incredible people that have just blown me away, has really showed me just how little control I seem to have over what comes my way. But 3 families here in Usulutan have shown me otherwise. One of my favorite sayings is, "No puede cambiar los circunstancias en cuales se encuentre, pero si se puede cambiar su actitud," And these 3 families have shown me that. 

These families barely have enough to make ends meet and to go to church is a huge sacrifice. Bus fares and time away from the field means food that won't be on the table. But these people, in the faith that they have, CHOOSE to make these sacrifices. Maybe life is throwing some curve balls and maybe it looks impossible to keep going, but 1 Nefi 17:3 (And thus we see that the commandments of God must be fulfilled. And if it so be that the children of men keep the commandments of God he doth nourish them, and ^astrengthenthem, and provide means whereby they can accomplish the thing which he has commanded them; wherefore, he did ^bprovide means for us while we did sojourn in the wilderness). We can always choose to keep going, to do the right thing, to change, to sacrifice. We HAVE to choose that. I am so grateful that God put me here and now in El Salvador because it really let me know just how important it is to CHOOSE the right. Every moment is a choice, and every choice has a right option. We aren't always going to get dealt the hand we want, and sometimes (as I have learned here) we mess up. We make a wrong choice. But there is always going to be another choice to make. Another shot to get back on the path, and that to me shows just how much God loves us.

Hope everything is going well, have a great week

SALUUU

Elder Moulton

Una Semana Locisima

Well paradise is going crazy right now. Im just going to give it to you all straight.

Monday- We get a phone call that says there is a tsunami and we have to get to "high places" so we all get to the park and have to wait for 2 hours.

Tuesday- Big earthquake

Wedesnday- Flash flood hits us as we are walking home

Fhursday- We find and kill a scorpion behind our fridge

Friday- The bus we are in has an accident and is totaled

Saturday- Actually a pretty chilling day 

Sunday- Got to go to church in Ozatlan so we really can't complain

This week was nuts! But I gotta say we came out unscathed and wow. God is real. This world is a pretty crazy place but we have seen some real blessings recently. Really made me think of a scripture I like in Romans chapter 8:5, 38-39

35 Who shall separate us from the ^alove of Christ? shall ^btribulation, or distress, or ^cpersecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to ^aseparate us from the ^blove of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Life is rough but there is NOTHING too big to separate us from the love God has for us. I dont really know who reads these things but let me just say that whoever you are, if you believe in God or not, if youre a member of this church or not, God loves you. And that's what I've really come to find out in my time here in El Salvador.

So have a great week, know that God loves you and...

SALUUUUU

Elder Moulton

Highlights from Elder Moulton

Elder Moulton wasn't able to send an email this week but he asked me to share the following highlights: 

• William got baptized. William is a, "really awesome kid." He is 9 years old. His mom was a member of the church but when Elder Moulton and his companion found them they hadn't been to church for years. William was very excited to get baptized and now all the family is coming to church and William is excited to be an example for his 3 brothers. 

• A worm fell out of his hair. He said that actually they live and work in a jungle so it just got in his hair and then fell out. . . 
• A member of the church gave them a bag of chocolate for dinner. 
• He sat in a bunch of bananas.
• He and his companion killed a big spider. See the video. . .

• He saw some roosters fighting. 

And then he would say 

SALUUUUUD  

Elder Moulton

Si Solo Tuvo Un Disparo

Well another week in paradise and I cant lie, I'm loving life. Maybe its that we played basketball in the blazing hot jungle sun all day today, or the night that a pickup truck full of military buffs gave us a ride through the windy streets of Ozatlan, or the 3 lunches we ate this Saturday. But things are looking up. Belen was confirmed in church this week which was a miracle but what I really wanna share is a fat miracle we gotta see this week. First off want to say shout out to my main man Sam who got baptized this week back home, way to go bud, miss ya and thanks for being an example. But down here the miracle we saw was OZATLAN. Where we meet on Sundays is a nice little church building, but about 45 minutes away in bus, in the jungle is a little pueblo called Ozatlan. I've talked a lil about it before but this week was just wow. We spent very limited time there because of transportation and everything but we spent like 9 hours of the week visiting over there, and this week, in the little house where they hold their meetings, over 40 people showed up! Including Familia Cortez and Familia Guido and Familia Hernandez, 3 of my favorite families of all time. Just total studs and wow. Everyone was grinning ear to ear and crying as we saw person after person, family after family, entering the tiny home to meet together on Sunday. Its hard to explain exactly how it all went down, and how much of a miracle it really was, but where usually 20 people sit each Sunday there were 40 and families who had been struggling and apart from the church rejoined. It was just amazing.

My title is another shout out to those who know, and while it doesn't make much sense in Spanish, as the saying goes, "If you had one shot," what would you do with it? Life goes by fast, the mission goes by fast. But we gotta make it count. Its hard to sum up, just how many miracles I've seen in my (almost) 15 months here but God is real. Make it count. 

SALUUUU

Elder Moulton

Que paso de loco hoy?

Another great week in paradise.  Even though this week was packed full of bus rides and the mission secretaries robbing my  chocolate and a guy trying to hand me a pistol. We really got to see some miracles. To start off this Thursday, Maribel was baptized! Which was an amazing experience. I’ll send pics next week. Saturday Belen was baptized. She is a little girl who just has me repeat very simple words in English over and over again. I got to spend one day visiting people with a member of the church in a little pueblito and got to meet some really cool people. One of the biggest miracles this week was we went to visit someone the missionaries in another area were teaching. When we finished  there weren’t any buses. But the baptismal service of Belen was going to start in an hour. We were about 2 ½ hours away from our area.  After much prayer we started hitch hiking our way back into the city. Three different families stopped their cars to help us and miraculously we made it to the baptism in time. 

I also killed a spider on my companion’s leg. It was a pretty chillin week. We hopped on some incorrect bus routes but always made it back to our house safely. I also tried frying two week old tamales for dinner. Wouldn’t recommend. 

Hope everyone has a great week. Sorry we kept it short this week. I’ll send something good next time. 

SALUUUUD

Elder Moulton

Ya Te Vas?

Well another week in paradise. And let me just say, paradise really shouldn't be this hot. Everyone here was super hyped because they thought we were gonna have this big tropical storm, they cancelled classes in school for a week and everything. But in the end we just had a lot of sun. Pretty cool week tho, really got to enjoy the fact that more people were sticking around the house for the vacations so we got to meet some really cool people.

But more than anything I just want to share a crazy experience that happened this last Monday. There is a little pueblito named Ozatlan about 45 minutes away from us by bus.  About 4 months ago, the missionaries who were assigned there were reassigned and no new missionaries entered. So basically there was a group of members meeting for 4 months without missionaries or very much support. Elder Real and I decided after lunch on Monday that we'd go visit and see what was up. After a miracle catching the last bus at 3:30 and running into some members in the town park we end up climbing a hill, past an Amish community where nobody uses shoes and we found the humble home of Maribel Martinez. And that ended up being one of the most spiritual, amazing experiences of my life. Maribel, even tho she has problems with her knees, goes to church EVERY week even tho she is not a member. She never was baptized because she felt doubts and was unsure. And when the missionaries were taken out of the area she was left mainly in the dark. For 4 months, members of the little group of 30 members in Ozatlan visited and invited Maribel and she faithfully attended church every week, inviting her friends and family to come too. When we entered her tiny, tiny house, we started to talk about her life. As we talked my companion and I felt strongly that God had prepared the way and that everything was falling into place. We invited her to be baptized and she said with a smile on her face, that that had been her only desire for months and that she wanted to follow the example of Christ. Maribel showed me that God looks out. She is going to be baptized this Thursday and I honestly couldn't be more excited for her. This is God's work and to see miracles like this just makes everything worth it. 

But to explain my title, a 2 year old girl stole my companion's ring and when we tried to get it back, she just kept saying, "Pero ya te vas!" and smiling as my companion and I tried every way possible to convince the little Salvadorean thief to give us the ring back. I have learned a lot on the mission but I gotta say I never thought I would be in a hostage situation negotiating with a toddler in Spanish. But that's life, ya gotta love it.

Hope everyone is doing swell

SALUUUU

Elder Moulton

No Se Preocupe, Ya Estoy Mojado

Well I never knew paradise would be so wet but you already know that your boys are out here forging rivers and tripping through the jungle on the grind. Walking through the dirt road turned river last night in the middle of nowhere, where the only houses lost power for the storm, it really hit me just how cool it is to be here right now. 

Not going to lie, this week has been a grind. Gonna keep it short but just wanna share one quick story. One day my comp and I were finishing up a little study session when I just felt the need to visit Santa Elena. Its a little town that's like 45 minutes away from our house in bus. Long story short we head out to our first appointment and have a nice little lesson but still have the feeling to visit Santa Elena. But Elder Real and I are like no its too far we don't have time so we keep going. But the feeling is still there. So we head off to where the buses pass, almost turning around 7 times and with weird stuff passing all around us. We ended up chasing a lady 5 blocks who left a bag behind, meeting an old man who wanted absolutely nothing to do with us, and hitchhiking a ride with a guy who took us almost exactly where we needed to go. What happened was for some reason when we get to the bus route, there just weren't any buses passing. As we waited and cars passed we got more and more anxious. We prayed, flipped coins, did everything imaginable to try and decide what to do when suddenly a red pick up drives by and we decided to ask for a ride.

 In the end, we made it to Santa Elena and had a 5 minute lesson before running back to Usulutan for an appointment but my point is this. Don't doubt when the opportunity presents itself to do something good. Galatians 6 (I don't remember what verse but it says no nos cansamos a hacer lo bueno and the verse after that). Just do good, and even tho life gets in the way sometimes and the rain is coming down hard, God looks out. We got pretty wet this week with the storms and everything but as we said when one lady told us we should call it a day in the midst of lightning that struck the house we were in and deafening thunder, no se preocupe hermana, ya estoy mojado. 

Hope every one has a great week

SALUUUUU

Elder Moulton

No No Esta Bien, Tenemos Linterna

Wow. Not sure where to start this week for you people but I guess well start at the very beginning, a very good place to start. But Apopa is in the past and wow. that was about the hardest thing I have ever had to do. I love that city. And the people there will always have a special place in my heart. But life goes on. Even when the thrill of living is gone. But another week in para para paradise so I really can't complain. 

I am now here in the jungle. Literally jungle. And it is so different. My town is called Usulutan and I am here with my boy Elder Real from Nicaragua. Haven't been able to know the area cuz we have been overflowing with meetings but I like it here. Even tho its hot. Very hot. But we will keep ya posted.

I've been thinking a lot recently about God's Plan. And look, the mera neta as we say here, or la viña por aqui is this: We aren't perfect. And if there is anything I have learned on this wonderful ride its that I am so far from perfect its funny. But I have learned to be ok with that. We all make mistakes we all got problems and that's a good thing. A friend of mine told me when we have a challenge we should smile because we know God cares enough to teach us a lesson. As we taught a family in a little community off a dirt path this week, it really hit me. I got issues, you got them too. We all do. I can't pretend to understand what these beautiful people of El Salvador are going thru but I can show them this: ALMA 7:10-12

10 And behold, he shall be ^aborn of Mary, at ^bJerusalem which is the ^cland of our forefathers, she being a ^dvirgin, a precious and chosen vessel, who shall be overshadowed and ^econceiveby the power of the Holy Ghost, and bring forth a son, yea, even the Son of God.

11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and ^aafflictions and ^btemptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will ^ctake upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.

12 And he will take upon him ^adeath, that he may ^bloose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to ^csuccor his people according to their infirmities.

There is someone who understands. Don't forget that. Hope everyone had a chance to watch general conference this week. If you don't know what that is, shoot me an email and I'll send you a link. 


SALUUUUU
Elder Moulton

La Vida Es Un Autopista (pt 6)

So as you can see from the title here, this week brought changes. Lots and lots of changes.

Lots of tears and lots of special moments but the highlights were the baptisms of Pamela and Sofia and Paula and Alisandro, super special to see and super super excited to see what the future holds for these studs. We will keep ya posted. And even tho during the baptism someone accidentally punched me in the face, it went really well. 

Also, I have to say goodbye to Apopa this week. Which is very very hard. I gave my last talk in church this week and everyone made fun of me for bawling my eyes out. But life goes on. Also said goodbye to Elder Jimenez this Sunday as he left for a new area and that was pretty tough too. All in all this week was full of changes, with many more to come. But if I have learned one thing here, its that change isn't bad. It just brings more opportunities. I'm really really gonna miss Apopa. It has come to be my home and I love these people with all I got, but God's Plan is better than mine. And I know it'll all work out.

Just want to finish up with one thought. God doesn't change. And if God has done miracles in the lives of others, if you´ve seen miracles in your own life, God can make a miracle now. I've gotten to know a lot of people and a lot of struggles here in Apopa and one thing I know for sure is that God is a God of miracles. And its never a bad idea to hope.

Hope everyone has a great week

SALUUUUU

Elder Moulton

Plan de Dios

Another week in paradise but with 0 time so we gonna give you the bullet point editions

• Alan got baptized!!! the kid is a total stud and was so hyped and we are so excited for the guy. He is gonna start sharing the gospel with his family too! 

• A whole buncha crazy stuff happened and we had to cancel all our plans one day and we ended up finding a family of members of the church whose son got hit by a bus, they told us God sent us and it was just a crazy experience. GOD'S PLAN is real and even though we were stressed cuz the plans fell apart He knows where He needs us.

• We were gonna build a house but a General authority of the Church, Elder Arizu, called us and we ended up going and visiting some families with him here in Apopa. What an experience. It was super amazing

In the end, just an all around awesome week, God is really looking out

Have a great week

SALUUUU

ELDER MOULTON

Pollo Frito

Well another week in paradise. Only got hit hard by rain once this week but I think it may have been the strongest rainstorm I have ever seen. Basically swimming in the streets. My scriptures were soaked. I don't have any time this week, like always so I really just wanna finish off with a story.

About 7 months ago, when I first came to Apopa, we met a nice lady named Rosa. She was very loving, and let us into her home to share a message but told us she would never go to `the Mormons`. We passed by a few more times but she wasn't very interested so we kind of stopped. A few months later we were walking by her neighborhood and felt that we should swing by. We did, and through tears she told us more about her story, her life. She told us she felt we were sent by God. But she told us she still didn't want anything to do with our church. So the same thing happened. little by little we stopped passing by and she stopped letting us in. Months later we try again. Long story short, she has come to church with us 2 times now, is preparing to be baptized and has changed her life in many drastic ways.

All I have to say is don't give up. God knows whats up. He knows when. The balance between persistence and patience is hard. But It always works out in the end. I know life is hard sometimes. We can't see the light at the end of the tunnel. Like when you eat vegetables for lunch for 4 straight days and your companion says all he wants to eat is pollo frito and french fries. But it all works out because Sunday night in the pouring rain as we run to the house, we run with smiles because we had a bag full of fried chicken in our hands. It will all work out, even though pain comes, joy does too.

Hope everyone has a killer week

SALUUUU

Elder Moulton

Chino o Chele

Well another week in paraiso. Not gonna lie this week has been CRAZY! Sadly I am going to have to be pretty brief in my emails now because the time we have to write got cut a little shorter. But the highlight of the week, well its hard to pick just one. One of the coolest things was that this week I got to travel back to the first area I had here in El Salvador to work with some missionaries back there. Honestly a miracle because everything kind of fell into place last minute. But a way cool experience to get to work with some other missionaries and in an area where I was 1 year ago! Crazy stuff. 

Also some people came to church this week that we have been teaching for a while and sitting there in church we just started praying for a miracle and BOOM a couple families walk in that we had been praying for. Way cool experience. 

To explain my title, we had a lesson this week where two dudes just started talking between themselves and starting using traditional Salvadorean nicknames. Namely Chino and Chele. Hard to explain exactly how it all went down, but I'm thinking about putting in a request for a name tag that says, Elder Chino." I'll keep you posted.

Just want to finish up with one thought,

Talking this week to some people in the street really changed my life. Out of respect for these people I am not going to share much but I just wanted to say how blessed I have been in my life. There are people in this world facing challenges that I can barely believe and its just humbling to know that my problems really aren't anything in comparison.

Hope everyone is doing well.

SALUUUU

Elder Moulton

Gracias A Dios

Another week in paradise. Really technically 2 weeks cuz I didn't drop an update last week. But it's all good here in Apopa. Kinda crazy that I'm still here. I've been in this area for over 6 months now and I really do feel at home. "Apopence de cora" like we say here.

Things are all good tho, we've really been training hard in soccer because some local teams wanna show us what's up but I think we are gonna be all right. 

Elder Jimenez and I are still showering in rain water although we did get some water like 2 days this past week so that was a little miracle. Other than that and the random remarks about Donald Trump every 5 seconds in the street its been a good time. We had the chance to meet and teach some really awesome people this week and after visiting some of the very humble and sincere people of Apopa my companion and I started talking about the culture here. Something a lot of people say that sometimes is almost funny because of how often they say it is "Gracias a Dios," or "Thanks to God." And they say it about EVERYTHING. Literally. You finish eating? Gracias a Dios. You saw a friend in the street? Gracias a Dios. You pass your class in school? Gracias a Dios. EVERYTHING. The ability for people here to realize just how great Gods help is is incredible. And its something I'm trying to implement too. God looks out. He's there in every moment but sometimes we forget. And we have to remember that every moment and every good thing that happens really is a blessing and a miracle.
So yeah, good times, hope everyone has an amazing week!

SALUUUUUElder Moulton

Editors note: Tanner knows a young man who "free style" raps.  He asked him to freestyle a song for his family using his last name.