Dear Loved Ones,
Well this week has been interesting. We have spent a lot of time searching for new investigators because at the moment there aren't any. We have been getting to know the ward members little by little and they have been a great help. We have been trying to build up their trust in us by sharing lessons with them and it is already paying off. The members seem to be happy to have us in their ward. (That´s always a relief).
It´s awesome mom that you have been talking with Joselyn. She kinda acts like our mom here in the Chile and always wants to give us food even though we don´t always have time. There was a stake disco activity with the youth this week and that was entertaining as well. Also, The President of the Elders Quorum has also been really cool to us. He was a missionary here back in the day. He´s from the north of Chile and moved back here to go to school. He now has a wife and three kids... He´s way cool though. He teaches crazy interesting classes and gave us a huge lunch on Sunday. That was nice. The ward is good and we are getting comfortable now.
Good news! Christian, the only investigator we have, told us that he wasn't ready to be baptized about a week and a half ago. Elder Jacobs and I taught him a powerful lesson about 2 Nefi 31 and he accepted a baptismal date for the 29th of August. The spirit was strong and it was way exciting. Hopefully you'll be hearing about that soon enough.
Things here in Chile Santiago Este are great. Thank you for all your love and support!
Love,
Elder Mooney
PS - I saw a really cool video the other day. You should look it up on youtube:
obra de teatro cristiano - bien contra mal crisitano
Friday, August 20, 2010
Monday, August 9, 2010
¡Woo hoo!
Dear family,
Wow, so there is a lot to tell you and a lot of details and information to send so I´m just gonna throw it all together into this one email...
I have a new companion! His name is Elder Jacobs! He has 9 months in the mission and we are already friends because I did divisions with him his first week in the mission and it was a lot of fun. I feel blessed, and happy, and relieved.
This whole last week has been nuts with Elder Wyatt leaving and all. He had to pack up all of his stuff, say goodbye to the ward and a few other families, go sight seeing with the President and his wife, have a final interview with President Laycock, and have the goodbye night next to the temple. I, of course, was present for almost all of it. It was a blast...
It´s way cool mom that you are working on your spanish because we are going to be speaking in spanish all the time after the mission. It also makes it easier because people here that want to write you can do it easily and you can translate for everyone else. As for my spanish, I am speaking farely well. I need to improve on it a lot. Like A LOT! I want to be able to speak like a CHILENO. Someday it may just happen.
I recieved my amazing package the other night when we were at the office for Elder Wyatt´s interview. It was amazing! Thank you so much. I am sharing the candy with everyone, my companions, the chilean security guards, the jovenes, and everyone loves it. The socks from grandma are greatly appreciated! The camel story is inspiring and the camel is a little goofy but I´m diggin it. Dad´s new business cards and flyers are incredibly cool. I like them a lot. I wanna see the office now as well! But really, thank you all for everything.
This week I have a burning desire to get some work done here in JP Alessandri and we hope to find millions of people to teach. We will be relying greatly upon faith, fasting, and praying. Please keep our ward in your prayers.
I am dying to see more pictures from everyone. Please send them! I especially want to see pictures of Kelly´s africa trip as well and Sara´s wedding! That´s crazy that people get married?!
I love you all very much!
Love,
Elder Mooney
PS - Send Gilly my love and support!
A lot to do...
Hello loved ones,
Well this has been an interesting week. I have really come to learn a lot about the kind of missionary I am and recognize the blessings I have here in the mission. My new ward is small but strong. There are only about 60-65 active members, but there is a list of about 600 members in the ward. That makes me happy because it gives me a lot to do.
My companion has inspired me to push myself a little more. I get up just a little bit earlier now and work out a little bit harder. Haha it´s progress. We go down to the gym sometimes, because the apartment complex has equipment and a pool. We´ve been swimming a lot lately.... NOT. I also bought a bunch of stuff to make myself chocolate egg and oatmeal protein shakes. Don´t expect any drastic changes though. I just bought the stuff becuase it tastes good.
At the moment there is no progress here in the sector. There aren´t any investigators either. So in a week I will be getting a new companion and we will be getting down to business. It should be fun!
Just want you all to know that I love and miss you all. Thank you for your letters and support. You are 2 good!
Love,
Elder Mooney
Well this has been an interesting week. I have really come to learn a lot about the kind of missionary I am and recognize the blessings I have here in the mission. My new ward is small but strong. There are only about 60-65 active members, but there is a list of about 600 members in the ward. That makes me happy because it gives me a lot to do.
My companion has inspired me to push myself a little more. I get up just a little bit earlier now and work out a little bit harder. Haha it´s progress. We go down to the gym sometimes, because the apartment complex has equipment and a pool. We´ve been swimming a lot lately.... NOT. I also bought a bunch of stuff to make myself chocolate egg and oatmeal protein shakes. Don´t expect any drastic changes though. I just bought the stuff becuase it tastes good.
At the moment there is no progress here in the sector. There aren´t any investigators either. So in a week I will be getting a new companion and we will be getting down to business. It should be fun!
Just want you all to know that I love and miss you all. Thank you for your letters and support. You are 2 good!
Love,
Elder Mooney
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Changed...
Dear family,
I was changed! Yesterday night at about 10:20 they called me and told me that I would be leaving Turquesa. If I had received that call about two months ago I would have been jumping for joy, but last night it was the complete opposite. It crushed me. I really didn´t want to leave the Turquesa Ward. Over these last four changes there (24 weeks), I have really developed a love for that ward and the members there. We spent so long developing relationships and working with them in the missionary work that it is hard to leave them behind. It is also heart breaking to leave behind all of the people who are now investigating the church.
We finally taught the entire family of Angelina and Bastian. Her husband Andres didn´t want to leave the house, but we made friends with him and dragged him out. We then had a lesson with the Guerrero Family. Andres now supports Angelina and Bastian in their decision and wants us to keep passing by to teach him more. It is so sad to have to leave them behind. Angelina and Bastian should be getting baptized in 2 weeks.
Then we have Ana Maria and Yanara who were a blessing and a miracle. Ana Maria is a little quiet lady who stopped us in the street two Mondays ago and asked us what she needed to do to go to our church. We immediately set an appointment to teach her. She and her 13 year old daughter accepted the invitation to be baptized and are way excited for it.
We also had an amazing experience with our ward mission leader this week as well. When we first started working with him, he didn´t seem to care about us or anything. Over time we began to develop a good relationship and we started having him leave with us to lessons and doing divisions. Then this week he invited us to come eat dinner (chilean "once") with him. He is a convert to the church and the rest of his family aren´t members. We had seen them before, but he never gave us the chance to talk with them. This time he invited us to teach his family. We realized that he trusted us enough to teach them a little bit. We felt good to be able to help him and I am sure Elder Deviagge will try to keep working with them.
There`s also Nicole who is 16 years old and has been going to church and seminary for like a year now, but hasn´t been able to get baptized without her Dad´s permission. Yesterday we went to her house with the 1st Counselor of the ward and taught her dad. He now gives us full permission to pass by the house and teach her any time we want. She should be getting baptized in 2 weeks as well.
The list really goes on and on. Darling, Camilo, Christian, Cristian, and Francisca... The Lord has been pouring out his blessings upon Turquesa. Not to mention that we are also having ward members working with us every day of the week to help us out. Unfortunately my time is up there. It was heart breaking at first, but now I just have to move on. I trust that Elder Deviagge will be doing a good job with the sector next change. He will also be training a brand new missionary over there, so it should be really exciting for the both of them.
Right now I have been called to the JP Alesandri Ward. My companion is Elder Wyatt (a weight lifting health nut that goes home in 2 weeks). And I am the District Leader over here. One thing that makes me really happy about the new change is that we live in a really nice apartment building on the FOURTEENTH floor. We each have our own bathroom and lots of space as well. It´s weird though, in 2 weeks I will be receiving a new companion again. We´ll see how things go around here.
So yeah, that is basically my life. I know that everything happens for a reason and that changes are necessary. The Lord has plans for each and every one of us.
I love you all and hope everything is all good at home! Thank you for everything.
Love,
Elder Mooney
I was changed! Yesterday night at about 10:20 they called me and told me that I would be leaving Turquesa. If I had received that call about two months ago I would have been jumping for joy, but last night it was the complete opposite. It crushed me. I really didn´t want to leave the Turquesa Ward. Over these last four changes there (24 weeks), I have really developed a love for that ward and the members there. We spent so long developing relationships and working with them in the missionary work that it is hard to leave them behind. It is also heart breaking to leave behind all of the people who are now investigating the church.
We finally taught the entire family of Angelina and Bastian. Her husband Andres didn´t want to leave the house, but we made friends with him and dragged him out. We then had a lesson with the Guerrero Family. Andres now supports Angelina and Bastian in their decision and wants us to keep passing by to teach him more. It is so sad to have to leave them behind. Angelina and Bastian should be getting baptized in 2 weeks.
Then we have Ana Maria and Yanara who were a blessing and a miracle. Ana Maria is a little quiet lady who stopped us in the street two Mondays ago and asked us what she needed to do to go to our church. We immediately set an appointment to teach her. She and her 13 year old daughter accepted the invitation to be baptized and are way excited for it.
We also had an amazing experience with our ward mission leader this week as well. When we first started working with him, he didn´t seem to care about us or anything. Over time we began to develop a good relationship and we started having him leave with us to lessons and doing divisions. Then this week he invited us to come eat dinner (chilean "once") with him. He is a convert to the church and the rest of his family aren´t members. We had seen them before, but he never gave us the chance to talk with them. This time he invited us to teach his family. We realized that he trusted us enough to teach them a little bit. We felt good to be able to help him and I am sure Elder Deviagge will try to keep working with them.
There`s also Nicole who is 16 years old and has been going to church and seminary for like a year now, but hasn´t been able to get baptized without her Dad´s permission. Yesterday we went to her house with the 1st Counselor of the ward and taught her dad. He now gives us full permission to pass by the house and teach her any time we want. She should be getting baptized in 2 weeks as well.
The list really goes on and on. Darling, Camilo, Christian, Cristian, and Francisca... The Lord has been pouring out his blessings upon Turquesa. Not to mention that we are also having ward members working with us every day of the week to help us out. Unfortunately my time is up there. It was heart breaking at first, but now I just have to move on. I trust that Elder Deviagge will be doing a good job with the sector next change. He will also be training a brand new missionary over there, so it should be really exciting for the both of them.
Right now I have been called to the JP Alesandri Ward. My companion is Elder Wyatt (a weight lifting health nut that goes home in 2 weeks). And I am the District Leader over here. One thing that makes me really happy about the new change is that we live in a really nice apartment building on the FOURTEENTH floor. We each have our own bathroom and lots of space as well. It´s weird though, in 2 weeks I will be receiving a new companion again. We´ll see how things go around here.
So yeah, that is basically my life. I know that everything happens for a reason and that changes are necessary. The Lord has plans for each and every one of us.
I love you all and hope everything is all good at home! Thank you for everything.
Love,
Elder Mooney
Monday, July 12, 2010
Miracles every day
Dear loved ones,
Chile is doing well. I am doing well. My companion is doing well. It is so weird here in the mission. We have six changes - each change to get as much done as we possibly can. The six weeks always go by way too fast, but at the same time it feels like I have been in the mission for years. I think once I hit that year mark time will go by even faster though :S
Just so you know, Kelly wrote me and seems to be loving life over there in Africa. It sounds like they have a lot of responsibility and a lot of work over there. I am sure she is handling it great.
This week Bryan recieved the Priesthood and next week his sister Darinka is getting baptized. Fun stuff right? We also finally got to teach Angelina and Bastian, the amazing family we found like a month ago. Their church scared them away from us for a time but we finally had another lesson. In the lesson she told us that the spirit has been telling her so strong that it is all true. She tried to avoid it, but she explained everything that the scriptures say. She feels a light filling the darkness. She is happier. Her mind is at peace. And best of all her family has been getting along better ever since we passed by the house. The went on vacation this week but will be getting baptized the first of August. Also, we have a 14 year old girl named Darling who was afraid to go to church with us. We got her involved in Salsa dancing in mutual and she now is completely comfortable. She should be getting baptized soon as well.
I honestly feel like even though we see so much rejection, so much sadness and negativity, the Lord really is blessing us with miracles every day. I feel like it is so hard to recognize the affect the spirit has in every situation, but as I pay more attention, I can see the spirit guiding us and helping us at all times.
Well I love each and every one of you. Melissa, thanks for showing me the conversation with Juan. He was baptized my second change in the mission. He is an awesome kid! Keep up the good work all of you and keep writing me!
Love,
Elder Mooney
Monday, July 5, 2010
"Nothing bad ever came from being obedient"
Dear family,
Things here in Chile are crazy. This Sunday our bishop was released and a new bishopric was called. We can feel some electricity now in the ward. Obispo Juarez is our new bishop and we are already good friends with him so that helps us out alot here in the ward. He was also called to lead the missionary work in the stake recently so we are hoping that he will keep that focus of expansion.
Sadly I didn´t do anything fun for the 4th of July. I decorated the house with the stuff you sent me though. My Argentinian? companion sure loved the USA banner and US flags all over the place... Haha and I think he especially like how I kept singing "And I´m proud to be an American, where at least I know I´m free......" It was kinda a sad holiday though. I guess the Chilean community just doesn´t care about our Independence day.
Our investigators have been a little shaky lately. It seems that we have lost a few. It is really sad to see that happen too, because they still want us to pass by the house and share with them, but if they aren´t willing to go to church or make any changes in their lives we can`t. It´s difficult. We are still teaching Darinka who should be getting baptized in two Sundays now. We are teaching another 14 year old girl named Darling. Her mom and aunt are less active members. Darling was going to go to church with us on Sunday but got scared last minute and didn`t. We are going to help her to feel more comfortable by making sure that she goes to the salsa dance activity this Wednesday for mutual.
Two phrases have really been helping me to stay focused and work hard these past few weeks. "Nothing bad ever came from being obedient" and "SACRIFICE brings forth the blessings of heaven." As we recieve new rules and guidelines here in the mission, sometimes it is difficult to change how we have been doing things since the beginning. The truth is though, as we sacrifice our time and effort and make those changes, the Lord will bless us for our obedience. The concept is so clear! Easier said then done though.
Well I love each and every one of you and hope you are well. Thank you for your love and support. You are the best.
Love,
Elder Matthew Mooney
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
rollin' rollin' rollin'
Dear friends and family,
It`s so good to hear that things are great at home, especially to hear that my little sister had her ApPeNdIx ReMoVeD?! How random! But then she got her license and that makes up for it I guess. It`s crazy to think how things are changing so much at home, but I`m just doing the the same thing everyday. Sharing the Gospel.
First off, I would like to thank my amazing sister Melissa for her package she sent me! Really, it was amazing. Thank you so much Melissa for la bufanda (scarf) that you made. It is absolutely perfect. A couple of weeks ago Elder Laney and I were talking about how in AZ scarfs seem a little fruity, but here in Chile I think they are the best thing in the world. But really I have been using the scarf all day everyday and it goes well with both of my suits. Thank you so much. Oh and it smells really good too. The graham crackers blew up a little bit in the journey and the scarf soaked up the smell. It`s cool.
This week nothing new has really happened. We haven`t found anyone new to really teach. The drunks have been everywhere like usual. One good thing that did happen was that Bryan (recent convert), his grandma, and his sister Darinka all went to church on Sunday. Darinka should be getting baptized in two weeks. Let`s hope for the best. Abraham and Carolina are progressing well, but them and 20 other people didn`t go to church on Sunday because it was freezing in the morning. Ìt`s just getting colder and colder here. It`s below 0 degrees C everyday now. It`s just horrible because the temperature outdoors is almost the same as it is indoors. We can see our breath as we teach all of our lessons.
This week I have been really focusing more on the importance of a pure powerful testimony....
"And this he did that he himself might go forth among his people, or among the people of Nephi, that he might preach the word of God unto them, to stir them up in rememberance of their duty, and that he might pull down, by the word of God, all the pride and craftiness and all the contentions which were among his people, seeing no way that he might reclaim them save it were in bearing down in pure testimony against them." Alma 4:19
With that in mind we were teaching Rodrigo, one of our recent converts, how he can be a missionary right now by sharing his testimony with others. He told us that he had no idea of how to share his testimony? So we taught him and invited him to share his testimony with us, but he would not do it. After a few minutes he explained to us that he did not want to share his testimony because he was not really sure of anything. We shared our testimonies with him and explained that the best way to help your testimony to grow is by sharing it. He understood and agreed to start working on it until our next visit.
Another investigator this week astonished us with how powerful his testimony has become. He says that he knows that the Holy Ghost answers questions in the heart and the mind because he has been receiving answers. He said that the scripture, "by their fruits ye shall know them (Mathew 7)" has had a huge impact on him. It has dawned on him that we do not teach the beliefs of our own church, we do not teach what we want or what our church leaders want, we teach what God wants. His testimony, the testimony of an investigator, has strengthened mine this week. (Now all we have to do his convince him to get married...?)
I love you all so much. I know that this gospel is true. I know that Jesus Christ lives and loves us and that he guides his church today. You are all incredible. Thank you for all your love and support.
Love,
Elder Matthew D. Mooney
It`s so good to hear that things are great at home, especially to hear that my little sister had her ApPeNdIx ReMoVeD?! How random! But then she got her license and that makes up for it I guess. It`s crazy to think how things are changing so much at home, but I`m just doing the the same thing everyday. Sharing the Gospel.
First off, I would like to thank my amazing sister Melissa for her package she sent me! Really, it was amazing. Thank you so much Melissa for la bufanda (scarf) that you made. It is absolutely perfect. A couple of weeks ago Elder Laney and I were talking about how in AZ scarfs seem a little fruity, but here in Chile I think they are the best thing in the world. But really I have been using the scarf all day everyday and it goes well with both of my suits. Thank you so much. Oh and it smells really good too. The graham crackers blew up a little bit in the journey and the scarf soaked up the smell. It`s cool.
This week nothing new has really happened. We haven`t found anyone new to really teach. The drunks have been everywhere like usual. One good thing that did happen was that Bryan (recent convert), his grandma, and his sister Darinka all went to church on Sunday. Darinka should be getting baptized in two weeks. Let`s hope for the best. Abraham and Carolina are progressing well, but them and 20 other people didn`t go to church on Sunday because it was freezing in the morning. Ìt`s just getting colder and colder here. It`s below 0 degrees C everyday now. It`s just horrible because the temperature outdoors is almost the same as it is indoors. We can see our breath as we teach all of our lessons.
This week I have been really focusing more on the importance of a pure powerful testimony....
"And this he did that he himself might go forth among his people, or among the people of Nephi, that he might preach the word of God unto them, to stir them up in rememberance of their duty, and that he might pull down, by the word of God, all the pride and craftiness and all the contentions which were among his people, seeing no way that he might reclaim them save it were in bearing down in pure testimony against them." Alma 4:19
With that in mind we were teaching Rodrigo, one of our recent converts, how he can be a missionary right now by sharing his testimony with others. He told us that he had no idea of how to share his testimony? So we taught him and invited him to share his testimony with us, but he would not do it. After a few minutes he explained to us that he did not want to share his testimony because he was not really sure of anything. We shared our testimonies with him and explained that the best way to help your testimony to grow is by sharing it. He understood and agreed to start working on it until our next visit.
Another investigator this week astonished us with how powerful his testimony has become. He says that he knows that the Holy Ghost answers questions in the heart and the mind because he has been receiving answers. He said that the scripture, "by their fruits ye shall know them (Mathew 7)" has had a huge impact on him. It has dawned on him that we do not teach the beliefs of our own church, we do not teach what we want or what our church leaders want, we teach what God wants. His testimony, the testimony of an investigator, has strengthened mine this week. (Now all we have to do his convince him to get married...?)
I love you all so much. I know that this gospel is true. I know that Jesus Christ lives and loves us and that he guides his church today. You are all incredible. Thank you for all your love and support.
Love,
Elder Matthew D. Mooney
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