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Greetings from the North Pole!!

It's actually low 20's here but the wind is brutal. Last week it got up to the 50's and some random man we knocked into said that winter was over. We decided he was on drugs because it is snowing today again haha. 

Zone training was this last Wednesday and we had a church wide broadcast for missionaries. Really big changes to the schedule and key indicators. P-days are now 8am-6pm instead of 11am-6pm so that means a lot more basketball because boys don't do laundry. 

Cool story this week: Elder Stayner and I were driving home from a dinner appointment and a deer ran in the road. Elder Stayner hit the brakes and knew not to swerve. However the road was complete ice and we ended up drifting at about 15 mph around the deer and did a complete 360. The entire time we stayed in our lane but there weren’t any cars around us anyways and luckily we were going pretty slow in the first place. There was definitely screaming and definitely was 90% me sadly, but Elder Stayner is convinced he meant to do it the whole time and played it off cool.

Big change for me this week. I am doing really well inside and gained 10 pounds finally!! Everything is on the up and up and I am loving this mission shin dig. Obviously it is hard and some days are garbage, but there are pluses to every day and I decided to only focus on those in my journal at night. Ethan is progressing nicely thanks for all the prayers and response letters last week I’m trying to respond to you all :)

Hope you all have a grand week and have lots of missionary moments!!!

Love Elder Moberly

Pondering...

Elder's Stayner and Moberly

Elder's Moberly Stayner and Anderson

Big Lake and long arms. ;)

Another Week in the Books

Hello friends and familia,

This week was really long and hard for me. Ethan is progressing well, which is about the only good news I have this week. The weather got up to 60 on Thursday! Elder Stayner and I were so excited, but we have a blizzard in the forecast on Wednesday so we aren't as excited anymore haha. I don't think I've said much about Elder Stayner. He is from Mesa, AZ so we are both on the same page about Michigan's weather. He's been out 16 months and he is pretty much the same as me interests wise. Definitely not looks wise lol. President Jacobsen told me that he knew we would get along well. The week consisted of a lot of door knocking, mainly because Ethan is still our only progressing investigator so we are trying to find a new one. Not much success at all though. Other than that I don’t have much to report on.

Love you all!

Elder Moberly

Elder Moberly

Elder Stayner

Week 2

                          

Hello to all my friends and family!

            What a crazy crazy week. Elder Stayner and I had a lot of missionary business to complete this week so we were driving all over the lower half of Michigan. It was super awesome to be able to get a good look at the areas we drove through, especially because all the snow melted on Tuesday. Now we have lots of freezing rain, which is super dangerous for driving, but a lot of fun for slipping and falling while we door knock. We had our district meeting and President Jacobsen wanted to do interviews this Friday as well. Then from Friday afternoon till Saturday afternoon, Elder Stayner and I had trade-offs with the Zone Leaders. I'm not sure if you all already know this but the church changed the way trade-offs work. Now both sets of missionaries go to the zone leader's area, instead of one set in their area, and one in ours. Basically, every trade-off is now a sleep over, so they are 100 percent more fun haha. However, because of the things we had to take care of earlier in the week, we didn't pick up any new investigators which was a bummer.

Yesterday, in church, Elder Stayner and I were sitting and waiting for sacrament meeting to start when a young man walks in. The Hastings ward is rather small, so we knew he wasn't a member, and we immediately stood up and introduced ourselves. His name is Ethan and he had been Catholic for a year, but he really disliked how they treated him. He agreed to meeting us at 4:30 that evening to learn more about our church, and he stayed all three hours. At 4:30 we taught him the restoration, and the spirit was super strong. He said he somehow knew that what we were teaching was truth, and we explained the Spirit. I invited him to be baptized and he said he would! What a miracle. We are meeting with him on Tuesday to continue the lessons, and follow up with his reading and praying, and we will try to set a date for his baptism. Other than that, our week was hectic, but not unimportant. I'm so grateful to all of you that sent emails this week I am trying my best to respond. 

            Just a spiritual thought I wanted to share: "What a blessing it became to set aside my self-interests to the greater interests of the work of the Lord", President Hinckley.  I found this quote in chapter 21 of Pres. Hinckley's Teachings of Presidents of the Church. I think that's what the book is titled lol. It's the book we study in Elder's Quorum. Anyways, that quote hit me hard this week, along with his father's statement to: "forget yourself and go to work". I am struggling hard to "forget myself" and all things back home, but I get closer each day and can see the Lord's hand in this work.

Your challenge should you choose to accept it is to set aside some of your self-interests one time this week and do some missionary work. Whether that be sharing the gospel yourself or striving to refer some friends or family to your local missionaries. I can promise you that you will be happier and will be blessed by the Lord for your efforts.

I love and miss all of you and am grateful for all the prayers and support from back home. Please pray for Ethan to continue feeling the spirit. Hope you all have a splendid week! Email me about your experience if you accept my challenge.

 Love Elder Moberly 

PS...Jake would love some real letters that he can read not just during the hour that he has online for PDay...here is his address if you are so inclined:

Elder Jacob Moberly

620 Barfield Dr Apt #10

Hastings, MI 49058

Your Favorite Michiganary

Hello friends and family!

      I send my greetings from the arctic circle. I just wanted to send word home that I got here safely. I am serving in a beautiful town called Hastings, west of Lansing. My companion's name is Elder Stayner and he is super funny, patient, and hard working. I am trying my very best out here, and I enjoy as many moments as I can. Yesterday I got to meet my brother-in-law's cousin, who is living in my ward. What a small world and blessing from my Father in Heaven. I am so grateful for all of the support and emails from home this week. It was about zero degrees Saturday, and we door knocked for 4 hours. Quick story. Me and Elder Stayner were walking with our heads down, because the snow will melt and freeze our eyelashes together if we look up too long, and I just happened to look up and saw a man walking on the other side of the street. I bumped my comp and said let's go talk to him. He mumbled yes and we half walked half slid to the other side. His name was Ronnie and he loved my message. We got his number and we will now be giving him the lessons. I am staying positive only through experiences like this. Let me know if you have any questions and I will try to respond, but that's all I have this week. I will send some pictures as well. Again so grateful for the support that got me back out here.

Love Elder Moberly

 P.S. I am warm personally, but two days ago we were at a house and I looked on the rail, and a bird literally froze to death on it haha. So gross but kinda cool. couldn't get a pic though cuz I forgot my camera.

Church is True!

July 5, 2016

Hey friends and family!!!

So a week down in the MTC! I've honestly never felt so many emotions in my life! The first 3 days were the longest, yet most spiritual days of my life. I have learned so much here, whether about teaching investigators, or feeling the Holy Ghost. My testimony has grown so strong here, especially about prayer. I notice that as I absorb myself into the work, and don't let my mind wander, the Spirit guides me in every class. Like I'll be in class with my district, and a question is asked, and I'll just raise my hand and say something crazy spiritual haha, but I know it is only because the Spirit is strong here.

I got to watch Elder Bednar's Christmas talk in the MTC called Character of Christ. I advise you all to find it if you can, it is now my favorite talk. I learned that as we are all natural men/women, we actually can't do His work, but through God we can. We can only have God with us though if we invite the Spirit in everything we do. I actually have so much I could write home about, but I know that I need to be obedient, especially in email time haha.

So I have been struggling with homesickness pretty bad, and I actually received a blessing here, but every night I make sure to pray. Every single day, without fail, I receive an answer to my prayers, and it is such a testimony builder. I have a companion, and his name is Elder Harvey. He is literally silent haha. At first it was hard, but I've learned to love him and I'm grateful I got him as my companion. My district is AMAZING! There are 8 elders and 4 sisters. Elder Harvey is actually going to Maryland Baltimore which is weird because companions usually go together. 5 of the elders are going to Michigan though, and I've met some other elders in the MTC going to Michigan too! I can't tell you how bad I just want to go into the field. It is weird how slow time is going here, but it is also good because we have more time to learn. I have so much more to learn. We got our first investigators yesterday, and one of them is literally from a gang. His dad died when he was four years old. At first, I really didn't want to teach him, but I kid you not, I've learned to love him so much. It is so much easier to teach people if you love them.

Sorry for the short email, I will have a better one next week! I needed to email my family really bad :) Last thought, We can only bring investigators as far as our own conversion. That is super deep to me because it teaches me that I need to convert myself more before I can teach! Kind of like the thought, if you aren't progressing, you are digressing. Love you all and miss you! I pray for you every night!

Love,

Elder Moberly