Sunday, January 12, 2014

Weekly Letter 12/16/13

I hope everyone enjoyed the biking story last week. I forgot to bring my camera...again, so hopefully I'll remember next week. I feel that I forget everything these days. The weather has warmed up tremendously this past week, so that has been a huge blessing. I received my first flat tire this past week...I guess I ran over some glass, because man did my tire go flat quick. There was about five holes in my inner tube, so my companion and I had to walk a mile back to the apartment. That was part of the frustrating week we had. The upside is that I learned how to chop wood...lots of wood. One of the sisters in the ward needed some wood chopped, so we spent a good portion of the day. My companion kept telling me how he felt like Joseph Smith while chopping wood...I felt like a lumberjack. It's a pretty great feeling when that wood just splits and shoots out to the sides. I have enjoyed the opportunities for service that my companion and I have had over the past week. 

This past week was also great, because of the many sweets that my companion and I have received. Since my companion is allergic to tree nuts, that means the responsibility is left on me to eat a lot of the goodies. So it all started with a less active member, Nikki. She had a bunch of cupcakes, so she gave us a dozen of those, no big deal. Then after the Christmas devotional, we received a ton of cookies! All sorts of them too! Mint chocolate chip, snickerdoodle, ginger bread, brownie, and many other unique cookies. We visited a less active members home and had some super good fudge, then they gave us a whole bunch of pumpkin bread, and some other stuff. After the ward Christmas party, we received some left over desserts. We stopped by the church after the other ward's party and they gave us a Costco size pumpkin pie and a half of another and some apple pie. Then the bishop of that ward loaded us up with ham, more ham, a little more ham, oh yeah, and the rest of the ham that they had left over! We were then compelled to take a couple bags of rolls, a bag of salad, and carrots, more carrots, and even more carrots! Oh how I love being a missionary! I mean, it's all about service, right? So, to sum everything up, when you serve, you receive more than your stomach can hold. I mean seriously though.... We had dinner with a Samoan family...I started to eat and finished my bowl of curry stuff, and as I went to eat what was on my plate Brother Sopi had his son go get me another bowl of it! So I ate what was on my plate and they kept telling me to eat more! So luckily, the conversation switched topics and we were all distracted from the food that was sitting on the table. I didn't even want to eat breakfast the next morning...I was that full! 

This week has been quite the struggle. My companion and I work hard everyday to do all that we can, and find the little miracles throughout the day that keep me motivated to work even harder. I learned the valuable lesson of gratitude this past week and have tried to apply that even more in my life. What has come of it is more of the realization that I need help from Heavenly Father every minute of the day. I have been blessed with the best family. I have been loved by all of you. I am so thankful for this. My family has truly brought me closer to Jesus Christ. I know that He lives and loves everyone of us. I ran into Brother Morgan this past week. My companion and I try to talk to everyone and caught him before he was about to leave his house. As we talked with him, we found out that he is a member and that his records are probably in Alaska still where his last job was. I look at that and think how important are all of God's children to Him, because He led us to Brother Morgan. I know that God knows each one of us individually. All we have to do is continually come unto Him, through gratitude unto humility, we will recognize His hand in our lives. I leave this testimony in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

I love you all so much and wish everyone a Merry Christmas. 

Love,
Elder Moody


P.S. GO CATS!

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