Elder, Mañana Va a Ser Un Día. . . .loco

Editors note: We apologize that most of this entry is in Spanish. Tanner had a really special experience this week with Diego and Yami and asked them to write about their testimonies. If you don't speak Spanish, enjoy the pictures! 

Its been 7 more days in paradise, which means another update from Elder Moulton. Pretty solid week this week. Writing this after a hardcore but noncompetitive game of soccer so hopefully I can put my thoughts together. But like I said this week was crazy. In the end, you could suffer through another one of my emails but I had another idea. This week was honestly one of the best of my mission and thats because two of my best friends, Diego and Yami, got married and Yami was baptized. So I figured this week I'd let them share their story. . .

hola mucho gusto mi nombre es yamileth mejia e tenido el honor de conocer a elder moulton un exelente misionero que me a ayudado mucho a asercarme al padre celestial y tube el honor de que el fuese quien me bautizara gracias a todo lo que el a echo por mi me siento contenta por estar en el camino del senor me siento feliz de haber conocido al elder y ensenarme a progresar espero conocerles en un futuro con mi esposo a los padres de moulton tienen un exelente hijo que el padre celestial los bendiga  

buenas tardes mi nombre es diego quisiera compartir mi ntestimonio con ustedes mi vida se ha tornado un poco dificil desde pequeno mis padres me dejaron con mis abuelos ellos me criaron el amor de madre y padre solo tuve el mis abuelos lo llegue amar tanto para mi ellos eran mi vida eran por los que cada dia me levantava me esforzava mucho por ser un buen hijo y ser un ejemplo para mis hermanos gracias a my padre celestial pudre lograr mis estudios pude graduarme en el 2016 en contabilidad ..

desde hace un tiempo me aleje de la iglisia mi vida se torno muy dificil pase muchas pruebas donde yo savia la solucion de ellos pero por mi desovediencia no queria aseptar la realidad paso el tiempo y pase mucho tiempo en las cosas del mundo creia que mis amigos que me insitavan hacer lo malo heran mis amigos cuando lo unico me eso me hacia era destruirme mas llegue al punto de no tener que comer y de pperdir dinero para poder comer mi vida se tornava muy dificil , una noche pensava muchas cosas y en todo lo que pensava se me vino a la mente el dia que me bautise y me puse a pensar cuan feliz era en los dias que estava en el evangelio y doble mis rodillas ore y pregunte al senor que devia de hacer y el me contesto no ese dia pero unos dias despues conoci a dany mi mejor amigo que el es mienbro de la iglesia el insistia en poder ayudarme y lo iso comense air a la iglesia y mi vida cambio en todo sentido dios me bendijo tanto que mis afliciones comensaron a tener solucion encontre un trabajo pude ayudar a mis padres a mis hermanos y seer feliz.

luego paso  algo volvi a tener malos amigos y a caer en las cosas malas era muy desovediente y no queria enter que el senor requeria mucho de my pero mis amigos influian mucho en mis desiciones un dia me canse y desidy dejar a ese tipo de personas y regrese a casa mis padres osea mis abuelos las personas que me dieron su amor y me criaron y dieron todo por my estavan muy enfermos mi madre tenia insuficiencia renal ella era lo mejor que dios me pudo dar ..

hace 2 meses perdi a mi madre y hace 20 dias perdi a mi padre es duro estar solo sin nuestros padres las personas que mas amamos tengo 4 meses de estar de nuevo en el evangelio y el senor me ha dado la fortaleza para poder soportar este inmenso dolor este evangelio nos da la oportunidad de tener a nuestra familias por la heternidad amo este evangelio amo amis padre y hermanos les AMO con todo mi corazon ..

el dia sabado me case ese mismo dia mi esposa se bautizo y estoy muy agradesido con mi padre celestial por bendecirme con mi esposa y con muchas bendiciones mas ..

hermanos y hermanas que son menores de edad sepan escoger sus amistades cuiden a  sus padre y AMEN este evangelio que es la verdad disfruten este evangelio vivan este evangelio ..

AMEN A LOS MISIONEROS ELDER MOULTON Y ELDER MOJICA SON DOS PERSONAS QUE AMO CON TODA MI CORAZON JAMAS HAVIA AMADO A DOS ELDERES TANTO COMO A ELLOS Y FUERON ELLOS QUE CAMBIARON MI VIDA Y LES AGRADESCO MUCHOO SON MI FAMILIA Y ESPERO TENERLES PRONTO DE NUEVO EN MI CASA Y CON MI FAMILIA YA LES MANDE HACER DOS CUARTOS A MI CASA PARA ELLOS HERMANA LE DIJE A SU HIJO QUE NO REGRESARA QUE SE QUEDARA EN EL SALVADOR JAJAJAJAJAJA SON BROMAS HERMANA CIUDE A SU HIJO AMELO QUE EL ES UN GRAN HOBRE GRACIAS ELDER MOULTON ...

La Vida Es Una Autopista (Con Alfrombras) (pt 5)

Another week in the books and another round of transfers. This week I said goodbye to Elder Mojica who headed off to  the hottest part of the country to finish off his last 6 weeks of the mission. Sad times, but in the end I got a great new companion and we gonna stay grindin here in Apopa. My new comps name is Elder Herrera, and he is from Guatemala. Great guy, gonna be a fun time here. And already we have had a bunch of birds ruin our day, one guy who thought we were some kind of robbers in shirts and ties, and a whole lot of awesome experiences. This week was "Semana Santa" and so things got a lil crazy here in El Salvador. One thing I love about here is that almost everyone has a very strong faith in Christ. And that really showed this week. It would be hard to fit in one email everything that goes down during the Holy Week as they call it here, but to remember Jesus Christ and his sacrifice for the world, what they do here is make carpets in the streets out of sand. Sadly I didn't have the chance to take many good pics but the carpets are super detailed and super cool. The people also only cook french toast and tamales for 7 days. So we found ourselves buying a lot of pupusas, and eating lots and lots of tamales (1 day nothing but tamales). But it was honestly an amazing experience to be in the heart of it all. 

And speaking of the Holy Week, and Easter, and all of that, just wanted to share a story that Eva shared in an Easter activity we had at church. Recently, Eva lost her job and has been struggling to make ends meet just doing odd jobs here and there. This Friday, she hit a low point. After another week without work, she told us she found herself coming home without even 5 cents in her wallet. By Saturday all the food in the house was gone and her kids, 2 and 11 years old, were hungry. Eduardo, the 11 year old, asked her if they were going to go to church the next day and Eva had to tell him no. They live very far from the church, a ride in a mototaxi and bus, and didn't have enough money to pay for passage. But Eva decided to pray. And the next day she decided to go to church. Walking. Eva and her 2 young kids walked the miles to get to church early in the morning. Later she told us, she returned home crying and without food. Again she prayed, and this time, not 10 seconds after finishing her prayer, her mom called and told her that a long lost brother had sent money to help the family. Eva told us she would never in her life miss a Sunday at church. Hearing that story, and thinking about my Savior during this Holy Week, I cant help but recognize that my struggles are nothing in comparison with those around me. And that I, just as Eva, those reading this, and everyone else in the world, don't have to suffer alone. We should remember that Jesus Christ suffered for our pains, burdens, and sins. And if he was willing to do all of that for us, what excuse do we have to slack off? What excuse do we have to give up? I know Easter and this special week already passed but I want to send out the invitation as always and invite everyone to remember Christ, and what he did. Especially when things get tough. And then, like Eva, just keep grinding. Cuz its all going to work out in the end. Hope everyone had a killer week.

SALUD

Elder Moulton

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