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

1st Week of the MTC

Family-

Elder Moss

The stay here at the MTC is amazing! I can't express how much it has changed me in just little over a week! The first few days were tough and I had lots to do especially with being assigned District Leader on the second day! But I know the Lord won't put anything in front of me that I can't do! As I've come to know my whole District I have learned to love each and everyone of them for their own strengths and weaknesses. Their testimonies are strong in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and I love that about them. I will try and send pictures if it works! But its amazing here! Missions change your life and I strongly encourage everyone to go including Senior Companions. (Grandma and Grandpa ha ha) but being here has definitely humbled me! The second day here we taught a lesson in Spanish.... in Spanish... I could barely say Hi in Spanish but now I can talk about a topic for more than 30 minutes! The gift of tongues is amazing! There is no other way that missionaries can learn their language than through the Spirit. Sometimes I catch myself thinking and writing in Spanish when I don't mean to. It truly is a miracle! I don't have much time but I wish I did because I have to catch a bus in 15 mins but I just want to share a short message about my love for my Savior

 In Spanish there are two different words for "to know". They are saber and conocer. Saber is used as a "Do you know 2 x 2 = 4?". Conocer is used in the Spanish language as a relationship. So " I know my family loves me" as I've defined these words I want you all to think to yourself. Do you saber or conocer God? Do you know of him or do you have a personal relationship with him? This past week I have been personally trying to Conocer God and grow our relationship through faith, prayer, repentance, scripture study, serving others and much more! I challenge each and everyone of you to get on you knees and pray to Heavenly Father that you will better your relationship with him. That you may be able to be "converted". To be converted your Faith will not waiver and you will always know that God is your Eternal Father and you will live with him again someday.

Sorry I didn't have too much time to write but I love you all!

-Elder Moss

P.S. as District Leader one of my jobs is to hand out the mail. It is probably one of the hardest jobs to do because all of the Elders stand there waiting in anticipation but don't get mail while some others do! If someone you love is out in the mission field write them to tell them how much you love them and know that they are doing great things through the Lord!

Elder Abernathy - night before he left.

Elder Abernathy

First Day of MTC

They let me write for a few minutes today!  It's been well and very tiring today! I am learning lots and tired and overwhelmed! I was fed well and I met my companion who is this Asian guy. Haven't really gotten to know him much. I am sorry for not having much time to spend with you. But they just told me to stop so I am going to share this quote real quick!

“There is no growth in the comfort zone; there is no comfort in the growth zone.”

We all need to get out of our comfort zone to grow and I am definitely out of my comfort zone!

I LOVE YOU MOM

Elder Moss

SLC Temple 8/19

Provo Temple Park - saying goodbyes. 8/20

Call Letter - Arizona