Elder Taylor Moulton: Week 45: Romanians to the Rescue, Miracle Mountain Climbing Lessons, and BAE!

Hola Familia!

Ok sorry for what looks to be a less then spiritual subject this week,
but there are some miracles happening here! We were counseled by our
district leader Elder Allen to go through our area book and clean it
out to find some new investigators. Well, because of some downsizing
in the mission and the fact that this area at one point had 6
missionaries, we ended up going through four area books! Because of
that alone we found many miraculous people, Alejandro for example, who
had been taught by the elders a year ago, but lost contact with them,
and who was the first person we called! He's been great in lessons,
and were planning to invite him to the FHE this week! He can speak
English fluently, he's secretly rich(he's got property here and in
Burgos), and a vegan, not that that's bad or anything but bacon really
is a great thing. Another miracle was this family from Bolivia, who
had been taught for a while, but had also fallen through the cracks.
They live in this neighborhood in Lamiako, up on this mountain, which
we climbed with Arturo to get there! But it was worth it! Samuel and
Alicia gladly let us in, and miraculously Miriam, a long-time member
of the Rama was there too! She had just shown up to try inviting them
to church again, so we taught them the restoration, and because of
that lesson and the invitation to attend, the children(3 of them) all
were able to attend, and had a great time in their classes! I'm so
grateful for that counsel that we received, not just because we
cleaned out and organized the 4 books down to 2, buy because of the
many new and potential investigators there that hadn't been touched in
many months/years(dating back to before I was baptized myself..., so
grateful we get the online area book next week!)

Our washer was also fixed this week! This random Romanian man, I think
named Jorge or Raul, I can't remember, called us during weekly
planning, came by 15 minute later, fixed the broken door, and boom now
we can wash our clothes for free! That had been a huge stress on me
before, but thankfully that's taken care of. Now we just need to fix
the electricity in half the piso...

We had some great lessons with our Guatemalan friends Rafeal, Joel and
Frederico. We had the wonderful opportunity too to bring them
food(they're quite poor right now as they're searching for a job),
that a generous member bought for them with our help! They and us were
on the verge of tears when we brought 4 stuffed bags of food to their
door. I love being a missionary!

I also learned a few things this week! I learned to not lose your
footing on a grassy hill in front of the branch(I even took a selfie
after impact haha). I also learned that BAE here is Spain meets
something else: Bacon and Eggs. So you could imagine our confusion
when Arturo, this member we go out with all the time uses that haha!
The culture here is pretty hilarious sometimes!

This week in my personal studies, I've been going through the war
chapters of Alma(46-63). While for some, they might be pretty dull,
for me as a missionary I found a pile of things to learn from the
amazing examples of the people in these chapters! The 2000 stripling
warriors example of following the examples of our mothers(love you
mom!), patience, and a small one about the assurances of the Lord. In
Alma 58:11, it talks about these as being the little things each day
that show the lord's love for you. And they are things that only you
can see! I see them daily when we contact someone who isn't atheist,
when a question I had in my prayers gets answered at a mission
conference/general conference, or even just peace of mind when I know
it'd be really easy to give up! These daily assurances are designed
specifically for us, and are for those who want to serve the Lord, but
are having a hard time continuing because of the opposition and
craziness all around them! I promise you that the Lord’s assurances are
there, and that if you pray for the opportunity to see them, you'll
feel the love of the Lord every single day!

Overall, a sort of normal week, I'm grateful to be serving here in Las
Arenas with a tall companion with a very similar name to mine(Morley,
Moulton), and to have had such a great time here this last 5 weeks!

Love and miss you all!

Elder Taylor Moulton