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

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