5th Week Liberia - Guanacaste Province

Family ~

Writing late because wasn't able to write yesterday. Spent the day in San Jose and on a bus!

Funny story this week. We were walking with a member who is going to leave on his mission soon and while we were walking I hear a "buenas" which is a greeting here. I didn't know where it came from so I just yelled it back and I heard it again, so I said it again. Than the member started laughing and told me that it was a parrot who I was talking to the entire time ha ha!

Having more and more disappointments in my area. It makes it hard to keep my head up and keep working but knowing that I am doing the work of the Lord has kept me going strong. Until last night I had no idea what to write to you about. And this amazing moment for me happened on the bus ride home from San Jose.

First when we were at a break stop for the bus ride my companion and I were buying snacks when a man came up and started asking us questions. He wanted to know about our church and about us. We started talking to him and he said he has been searching for God and hasn't been able to find him yet. He said that he felt something different about us and wants to learn and go to church with us. I was so excited because not only did he say that but he came up to us and talked to us. I was so worried about buying my things that I didn't even think to talk to him but I know the Lord has been working on his heart and it was a miracle to be able to have this moment.

Elder Branham from DO Ward in Surprise.

Then on the bus ride, there was this gringo who was in the army. He was playing loud music on the bus off of his speakers and it was the dirtiest music I think I have ever heard. People on the bus kept telling him to shush so he would just turn it on louder. I didn't know what to do in that moment and I wanted the music to stop too. So what I did was just started talking to him so he would have to turn it down or off. Well I started talking to him and he started opening up to me real quick. He was in the army and decided to move to Costa Rica and has been living here for the last 17 years. He has had a very rough life with many people close to him that have passed away and he has had experiences of where he had to kill people over in the middle east for war that has just changed his life. He expressed to me that he has lost God but has always wanted to find Him again. He also said with all his family and friends dieing that he was scared of death and what was going to happen to him. He also said that he doesn't think he will ever be forgiven of what he did in the past with killing people. 

We told him that we have the answers that he is seeking for and can help him come closer to God. We told him that we know that we will return to meet God after this life and that we can be forgiven of our sins through the power of the atonement. I had the answer to all his questions. I have been blessed so much in my life for having this knowledge of the Gospel. I took for granted before that I have this knowledge because I never shared it with anyone. The man told us that he is amazed about how young we are and how much we have figured out in our lives. God has blessed me so much with the Gospel and I will forever be indebted to Him.

My area with the sunset.

I know that the Gospel blesses families. That we can return to God and live with our families forever. That we can be forgiven of our sins through the power of the atonement.

I love you all

Elder Moss

4th Week Liberia - Guanacaste Province

Family ~

This week has been great! We have been able to find new people and serve them! My Spanish is coming along too! I have been blessed here with the ability to play soccer. The Ticos love it when this white Gringo comes up in a white shirt and tie and plays soccer with them. Especially when I usually can show them up. (Not all the time ha ha). But soccer has been a great way for them to get to know me and trust me and open up to me. Plus its always fun to stop working for 10 minutes and play soccer for a little. We have been able to find lots of new people through soccer!  And playing 10 minutes with some Ticos has helped us find people that would like to hear our message! 

I have been out here for a month now and I love it more and more each day. I am slowly starting to call this place my home! We have a lot of work to do for the Lord and I cant wait to be able to become the best instrument in his hands.

One Book has changed my life. This Book is the Book of Mormon.

Today I finished it again and I want to testify of the powerful message this Book has. The Book of Mormon is another Testament of Jesus Christ. Similar to the Bible. The Book of Mormon talks about the people of America. Just like Christ came and taught the people in Jerusalem. Christ came to the Americas and taught them too. 

After being able to read this Book again. I have been able to gain a strong testimony of the truthfulness of it. I know that the Book of Mormon is true. That Joseph Smith translated it. And since I know that this Book is true. I know that Joseph Smith was called of God as a Prophet to restore the Gospel here on the Earth. I know that we have the true Gospel here on the Earth and that we can receive revelation from God. I know these things because I fulfilled the commitment in Moroni 10:3-5 which says if you read the Book of Mormon with real intent and a sincere heart and having Faith in Jesus Christ. If you ask of God of its truthfulness. He will tell you these things through the power of the Holy Ghost.

I challenge each and everyone of you to read the Book of Mormon. And ask for yourself if it is true. This Book has changed my life and I know that it will change yours. 

-Elder Moss

LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!

3rd Week Liberia - Guanacaste Province

Family ~

What a week! No one ever said a mission would be easy!

During summer sales whenever Marcus, Jordan Smith or I would have a hard day where we didn't sale anything and were disappointed. We would stop at a gas station on the way home and get candy. That was our remedy to feel better for the next day. With that being said. I have bought a lot of candy lately. 

My companion and I have been working hard on two people in particular. This one Hermana had a baptism planned this last Saturday. I was so excited for her and couldn't wait for her to enter the waters of baptism. About an hour and a half before the baptism she texted us saying she couldn't go because she was out of town. A little disappointing because it was so close but I still had Faith that she could do it the following day or next week. Anyway Sunday came along and she texted us again saying that she couldn't make it to church and that she doesn't want to be baptized anymore. It was devastating to hear this. My heart broke and I had never felt such a feeling in my life before. It was like not making a sale for a few weeks times 10. She was so close to being baptized. With this experience I took the opportunity to learn from it. I know that Satan tempts us stronger and stronger as we get closer to coming to Christ. I have experienced this in my own life with baptism, going through the temple, and temple marriage. It hurts my heart to see how close we become but get tempted at the last minute. There is a battle going on in today's world. We all have to get up and fight back. As I put my trust in the Lord I know that through true conversion we all can return back to our Heavenly Father. We all picked His plan before, so I need to trust that others will pick His plan again here on Earth. 

With our week feeling as a failure there is only one way to look. And that is up. We must look towards God during all times. No matter the success of the week or failure of the week. One of my favorite things in reading the Book of Mormon about the ancient wars between the Nephities and Lamanites is that the righteous would pray to God asking for strength and after they received that strength they would praise God for the help. 

I cannot stress enough to everyone that we need to put on our Armor of God. There is a war in the world today and the enemy is in our homes, streets, and school. The enemy is everyone and if we don't put on our Armor of God we will fall to temptation. We can put on this Armor of God by reading scriptures daily, praying daily every night by ourselves and with our families, and by going to Church. The Lord will strengthen you if you show Faith in him and act. If we have already been captured by the enemy and fail to temptation there is a way to make it back home to our Heavenly Father. This way is through the Atoning Blood of Christ.

I know that we will all be able to return home to Heavenly Father. I know that Christ lives and that he atoned for our sins. I pour my heart out and cannot stress enough about staying on the straight and narrow path and never falling away. Hold on to the rod and help others stay on!

I love you all

-Elder Moss

Personal Letter to his mother:

I went to San Jose for a day to go to immigration. Ended up being away for a few nights with no change of clothes, food, or bed, or shower. Sucked but it was nice because I realized how much I liked living in my apartment.  I was able to buy peanut butter and bread but the peanut butter is about 6 dollars and I went through a jar in a week so I might have to change that.

Jacob will be home in 5 weeks or so. Its hard but so worth it to be doing this sacrifice. We ALL receive so many blessings that it all makes these two years worth it.

We walk everywhere, there was one day it rained so hard so fast that the water on the curb was up to make ankles. That made it fun! Ha ha my companion was walking in flip flops that day! Once it stopped he dried off at our cooks house and put on regular shoes!

I love you and miss you so much! I am so grateful for everything you have done for me and all the help you did even when I wasn't grateful! Because I sure am now!!!

Liberia and San Roque Missionaries

2nd Week Liberia - Guanacaste Province

Family -

P-Day hike to waterfall.

This week has been great! We had a zone conference with President Wilkinson and it was raining on the way there. Anyway just a side story here in Costa Rica they are pretty crazy drivers. On motorcylces they sometimes have up to 4 people and have little babies on them too! Super crazy. But on the way to the church we were walking in a neighborhood and a car pulled out in front of a motorcycle. Long story short the motorcycle hit the front of the car and crashed. I ran and picked the bike off of the guys leg (It was twisted under it in a weird way). He was wearing a helmet but he had a 10 year old girl on the back who wasn't. After I got the bike off of him he sat there whimpering and I started helping the girl. She scraped up her leg and had some bad mud on it so I cleaned it up and helped her a little bit. By that time lots of people were coming to look and help so me and my companion went to the meeting. Now I know why my mom wouldn't let me buy my bike. (Even though I did). 

Elder Cuevas gave me this soccer shirt, pretty cool.

The work here has been going great. We've have had lots of downs but hopefully this next week will be better and we can have a baptism this next week. Lots of people here accept our message and love it but they never follow through. One of their favorite sayings here is "Pura Vida", which means pure life or do whatever you feel like. It's really a cool outlook on life but sometimes they do exactly whatever they want ha ha!

One night we had family home evening with a family. Right when we were leaving they turned on some music and started dancing together. It was so nice to see how happy they were and see the love in that family. I love how relaxed they are and how much enjoyment they get from listening and dancing to music. Especially since this family is going to be getting sealed in the temple soon I had so much love for them and felt right in. I love how the Gospel blesses families and makes them become closer than before. I love that we have temples on Earth today that we may be able to do things such as being sealed to your spouse and family! The Gospel truly is the greatest blessing ever!!!!!!

It has rained here a lot this past week. Did I think that it rained hard it North Carolina! Boy was I wrong! It can rain so hard here! That is especially difficult because I lost by umbrella in a taxi the first night here! I will need to go buy a bigger one anyway!

It's crazy Jacob gets home in 6 weeks! I wish I was there to say Hi but I have more important stuff to do. It will have to wait for another 2 years! I love you all!

-Elder Moss

Jungle Friends

Elder Ferrin dropped an empty coconut and this
little buddy fell out of it.

1st Week Liberia - Guanacaste Province

Family-

 You all are probably wanting to know about Costa Rica and everything about the culture here. So I will share all of that and a few personal experiences here.

HUNGRY- There hasn't been a day that goes by that I am not hungry. I am in Guanacaste. It's in the Northwest side of Costa Rica. In a town called Liberia. Everyday we get one meal from a cook. (Which is the best) but other than that the rest is up to ourselves and we really don't have that much money in the first place. Everything up here is super expensive.

Liberia in Guanacaste Province, CR

The people here are super nice and welcoming. You really don't understand what you have at home until you have been to a place where you don't get too much. The area I am in is very dry for Costa Rica. It hasn't rained once since I got here. With that being said we don't have air conditioners running because they are really expensive and can't afford it. So I am in a puddle of sweat for practically the entire day. It's nice having cold showers here to cool off. But that is only because we don't have heated water. 

It hasn't really been what I expected of Costa Rica but every area is different. So I will experience a different place every time I switch areas.

The roads here are all dirt roads that are torn apart. Not everyone has a car so there is a lot of walking and biking. And if you do have a car you probably are a taxi or very lucky.

Elder Cuevas and President Wilkinson

Wednesday morning I had a really good breakfast at President Wilkinson's house. It was awesome. Found out who my companion is and he is great! Only been out here for 3 months and is from Chicago. Elder Cuevas is currently the District Leader - luckily knew Spanish before the mission and English too so it is great to communicate with him. He is an awesome Elder and I can't wait to learn from him.

My Spanish is coming along. Lots of the natives say it is really good but I don't know if they are just saying that to make me feel good.

From San Jose it is about a 4 and a half hour bus ride here. Very crazy bus ride for they are crazy drivers here. About 4 hours in I did not feel well at all. I prayed so that I could feel better and about 10 seconds later I threw up. (Didn't help with the hungry part). It is a very good thing Mom sent me two extra towels at the MTC because I threw up in one of them. (The fast drying towel). Had to throw it away. Also a good thing that Mom sent me another pair of flip flops because the other ones I have stay wet and it is very easy to get fungus here on your feet. I think God must have packed the package mom sent when she sent it because it was everything I needed. When I received the package I looked at it and thought to myself " Why did she send that?"

Elder Cuevas and Elder Moss

However with that all being said. I would never want to be in a different place in the World. Even though this week has been tough, I have most definitely been humbled. Seeing the joy that the Costa Rican people have is truly amazing. They can just sit outside and listen to music and be the happiest ever. Also seeing the joy the Gospel brings to families is awesome! Everyone in the World needs the Gospel because the Gospel makes "Bad men good and good men better".

The blessings the Lord has given me are indescribable. I have become grateful for the necessities here. Food, water, shelter, clothing, family. When times get tough like they have been I think about what Jesus had to go through. Words cannot describe how grateful I am of the atonement so that I can become clean again of my sins and be made perfect like Christ.

Elders Lohberg & Parker.  Elders Moss and Cuevas

God loves his children. I know this to be true. Even though at times it may be tough and you might wonder to yourself why doesn't He help me. In the end he actually is. As you work to become like Jesus your weaknesses become strong through the atonement of Christ. A talk given in General Conference said, "A God who makes no demands is the equivalent of having no God". Sometimes when we think that God demands too much of us we can know that He is just being a loving Heavenly Father. Without these demands we can't learn and grow and gain truths about Gospel topics. God blesses us more then we think and once he does bless us we owe him more of ourselves. We are all beggars and need to know that if we humble ourselves to God we can become better people.

My testimony is simple but very strong and growing more and more. I know that Christ lives. I know that through Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Receiving the Gift of the Spirit, and Enduring to the End. We all can return to live with Heavenly Father again. I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the true church that is led by God himself. I have received so much joy  and blessings from having these truths that I can't wait to share it with others and see their lives change through the atonement of Christ. I KNOW these things to be true in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

I love you all at home and hope all is great!

-Elder Moss

6th Week of MTC & arrival in Costa Rica

Mom ~

Have a little time to write you. I am suppose to let you know about the facebook page and also our mision address but you already have them! It's super cool here! Definitely a different culture. It's very humid and I haven't showered since last night since there are 16 Elders staying in the same house with one bathroom! Ha ha but it will be fine! I love you lots mom and I will be able to talk to you more on Monday!

LOVE YOU MORE!!!!!

-Elder Moss

Pick Up

San Jose Temple

Group from Provo MTC

5th Week of the MTC

Family- 

Hey! 4 more days here at the MTC! Your cruise sounds great and I hope you start saving your money for when I get home so I can be your translator for multiple trips throughout the world. (Mom and Dad - does this sound like Corey?)  Sounds like you're having a great time in Europe! I am jealous and you'll have to take me there too!

Elder Ojeda

With the MTC coming to an end I have been able to look back and see how much I have grown here and learned as a missionary. Everything with my attitude on life, knowledge of Gospel, speaking the language of Spanish and much more.

This email I am going to share a few of the quotes I have heard since I have been in the MTC. Hopefully it will all make sense because it will be different quotes but I will try to tie them together.

Since arriving here I thought that it would be nice to get a break from school and away from home to live a life somewhere else. In a talk by Elder Holland he said, "This isn't just a couple years to five to the Lord, or a break from school. THIS IS REAL LIFE". This hit me hard. I am not out here to gain experience in my life. I am here to help and invite others to come unto Christ. By doing so I have the opportunity to gain some great life experiences. I need to be "Engaged in the saving of a human soul" and work hard to be able to help others receive this gift that I have been lucky to have in my life. As a missionary the times become tough. Real tough but I know that what I am doing is way more important than anything else I could be doing at this time.

5 From District going to Costa Rica

St. Luke 9:62 says, "And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."

As I am out here working on building the Kingdom of God on Earth I must not look back and worry about things that would hold me back on my mission.

Another scripture I would like to share is Matthew 10:39. "He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. "

Over time I will be able to become more like Christ and be a great representative of him. Having this opportunity to serve a mission is great. I am so excited to be able to serve Him and spread the Gospel throughout the world. I can't wait to be able to get into the mission field and just learn so much more over the next few years. I may not understand "the gift of the Gospel I have" but I know the joy I have from living it and can't wait to help spread that joy in Costa Rica. I love you all back at home!

My flight plans are around this time I don't have them with me so this is just from memory. Monday morning I fly from SLC to ATL at 9:50 and land there around 2 Georgia time. Then we have a 3 hour layover and fly from ATL to Costa Rica. Will try to call on my layover so be prepared to listen to the greatest voice ever.  (Same old Jeremy)

Love, 

Elder Moss

4th Week of the MTC

Family 

Every week I think about what I should write home and what topic I should focus on. This week I couldn't figure out which one to focus on because I had so many great topics. I feel as if this week focused on Christ's atonement and repentance, then we also had Richard G. Scott come and talk to us about prayer and the importance of prayer and that was an amazing devotional. I still don't know what to talk about and I sadly don't have my journal with me again so it's going to be a struggle to write everything great that happened this week.

As each day at the MTC seems like we are just repeating the same day over and over again I try to make each day special and make the best of each one. As I have grown to love reading the scriptures more and more on my mission I have gained so much more knowledge. This last week we had the entire District share their favorite scriptures on the atonement. Each scripture shared had so much power behind it and it was such a spiritual night. The scripture I shared was Enos. Enos is just one chapter but I absolutely love it. The verses I shared talked about how Enos prayed to his Father. But I want to put emphasis on the part where he said he "cried" unto his Father to ask for a remission of sins in verse 4. This goes hand-in-hand with what Elder Scott said in his devotional. About how our prayers should be important and not just done without thinking. We must put much effort into praying and find a love for praying because you are having a one on one talk with God the Eternal Father. As we talk to our Heavenly Father each day we must not take advantage of this time. It is very precious and worth every minute to pray. I have gained a stronger testimony of prayer and talking to my Father in Heaven every night. I have an appointment with God every night at 10:15 and it is the most important time of the day. I also want to point out in verse 8 where Enos asks how his sins are forgiven. And his response from the Lord was, "thy faith have made thee whole". How powerful is that? To know that you can have such a strong Faith in Christ that your sins have been forgiven. I have talked to some missionaries here who feel as if even though they repented of past sins they feel unworthy and don't know if they are able to represent Christ as they go out and teach his Gospel. Of course I am not a Bishop or Branch President so I don't have the authority to act in God's name for this type of situations. All I can do is be there for them and share scripture insight that I have found. But this scripture has helped me and others to know that our sins are forgiven. That through our Faith in Christ and true repentance we can be forgiven of our sins. Satan will try and hold back every missionary since he knows that this work we are doing will bring others unto Christ. These thoughts are brought back into our heads by Satan and the natural man who is an enemy of God. But through the power of the atonement we can become clean again. I can't even imagine what Christ went through for us.  Especially since I will never be able to wrap my head around how powerful the atonement of Christ actually is. The last verse of Enos is one of my favorites also. It talks about what we will be getting after we die. And I just absolutely love the last part where it says. "then shall I see his face with pleasure, and he will say unto me: Come unto me, ye blessed, there is a place prepared for you in the mansions of my Father". Everytime I read that I think of it being me. Having a place for me prepared in the mansions of my Father. I can't wait until I am able to meet God and Christ after this life and be in there presence. I have a testimony of the power of scriptures. I know that the Book of Mormon is word of God and through prayer we are able to talk to Heavenly Father. 

I hope this email makes sense! I love you all and hope everything is going great where you are! 

 4 And my soul hungered; and I kneeled down before my Maker,and I cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for mineown soul; and all the day long did I cry unto him; yea, and whenthe night came I did still raise my voice high that it reached theheavens.

 5 And there came a voice unto me, saying: Enos, thy sins areforgiven thee, and thou shalt be blessed.

 6 And I, Enos, knew that God could not lie; wherefore, my guiltwas swept away.

 7 And I said: Lord, how is it done?

 8 And he said unto me: Because of thy faith in Christ, whom thouhast never before heard nor seen. And many years pass awaybefore he shall manifest himself in the flesh; wherefore, go to, thyfaith hath made thee wholeather.

27 And I soon go to the place of my rest, which is with myRedeemer; for I know that in him I shall rest. And I rejoice in theday when my mortal shall put on immortality, and shall standbefore him; then shall I see his face with pleasure, and he will sayunto me: Come unto me, ye blessed, there is a place prepared foryou in the mansions of my Father. Amen.

Much Love

-Elder Moss

P.S. I was released as District Leader Sunday. Elder Bullecer and I were called as Zone Leaders. It's a wonderful calling and I absolutely love it!

                            The Zone

3rd Week of the MTC

"I FEAR NO MAN.I FEAR GOD"

I remember awhile back my brother sent an email home about this quote. I remember reading this and loving it because we do things on Earth that will please man but won't please God. Because we have a fear of man. When truly we should fear only God. Because God is the one that we report to at the end of the day. And also the one we will report to at the end of our lives.Fearing God isn't bad. Although we know that God is our loving heavenly Father we need to do things that will please him and not man. Fearing God will bring you closer to God as you strengthen your testimony.

Early morning service project.

Here at the MTC weaknesses are shown very easily. As I try to become more like Christ and develop my Christ like attributes it is relevant that I am nowhere where I should be. However being able to have the help of the atonement in my life I am able to better myself into a more Christlike Missionary. 

An update on the MTC in general and how everything is. I am officially over halfway done. I leave in less than 3 weeks to Costa Rica and couldn't be more excited. This should be my last week as DL as this Sunday will be my forth and DL usually last for 3 weeks. The District is coming along great. We moved classrooms yesterday as our last classroom was on the bottom floor and every time it rained, water would come into the class making it smell like wet soggy carpet and I am pretty sure there is mold growing in the walls. (Most of the Elders feel that their health was decreasing because of the old room). However I couldn't be more excited. Being in a new room that is clean and refurbished makes studying so much easier. I hope that the entire District gets more focused on the work as we are coming down to the last few weeks here and will be leaving out to the field soon.

Five in district going to Costa Rica
(Pic stolen from Elder Adams)

I am going to bear my testimony in the Spanish, that I know, so if its wrong I am sorry ha ha but this is a little of what I picked up in the last few weeks.

Yo sé que el Evangelio de Cristo es en la tierra hoy.

Yo sé que José Smith es un profeta y tradujo El Libro de Mormón. Yo sé que Presidente Thomas S. Monson es un profeta en la tierra hoy. Yo sé que Jesucristo es el Redentor y el Salvador.Que Dios es nuestro Padre Celestial. Yo sé que mediante Jesucristo expiación nosotros puedamos vivir con Dios otra vez. Este testimonio me ayuda a vivir feliz cuando tiempos llegar a ser dificultades. Yo sé que la Iglesia de Jesucristo de Los Santos De Los Últimos Días es la verdadero Iglesia en la mundo hoy. En el nombre de JesuCristo, Amen.

I love you all and miss you! 

-Elder Moss

2nd Week of the MTC

Family -

Elder Moss in class

The week here has had its ups and downs. Lots of studying in the classroom! But the Spanish is coming along. Not as quickly as I'd hoped but it's still doing great! The District is doing awesome! Lots of them are progressing tremendously in Spanish and in Testimony of Christ. I think about them all the time praying for them that I can help each Elder come unto Christ. 

District in the MTC

I forgot my journal and I am trying to remember everything that has happened this week. It's cool here at the MTC because we can do a "street contact" since we are all Spanish speakers they put Spanish speaking people around the campus and we can go try to contact and teach them. Also every night Elders practice teaching to Members in the area that speak Spanish. There are so many miracles and all the days seem like a blur so it's hard to recall all of them. But one of the nights that stood out to me this week would be Tuesday Night.  We had a devotional from Elder Clarke of the seventy. The spirit was so strong, I couldn't stop crying at the end. (I'm not much of a crier at all so I don't know what got into me).  Elder Clarke talked about our purpose as a missionary and it's not to get people to be baptized. It is more than that. We are here so that they will come unto Christ and endure to the end. Baptism is just a step to salvation and we should be focused on getting families to the temple to get sealed for time and all eternity. Later that night we had a District Meeting where we each shared something we liked from that night's devotional. It was the greatest night here so far. Hearing the testimonies from the other Elders was amazing. They all have the biggest love for Christ and want to share His Gospel with others.

Elder Bullecer - MTC Companion

I know that Christ lives. That He suffered for each and everyone of us in Gethsemane. I know that we can make it back to live with God again through the atonement. I Love my Savior and know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints IS the restored gospel on todays earth. That Christ is over the church and Thomas S. Monson is the prophet today. I know with out a doubt that the Book of Mormon was translated by Joseph Smith and it is the word of God. I know this all to be true in the name of Jesus Christ Amen

Love,

-Elder Moss

Sister Hatch

Derrick Simmons teaches at Main Campus

District enjoying DearElder Cinnamon Rolls
Love - Mom & Dad Moss