May 21st, 2019

So many exchanges

Hello everybody

I went to two different cities this week. We went on exchanges with the zone leaders and then again with some other Elders. I went to Lake Havasu City in Arizona, and then Bullhead City in Arizona. Both neat. Bullhead city had a bunch of mobile homes and I got to teach a biker dude. He gave me good advice. He said "If you ever buy a Harley, don't drive drunk, and don't join a biker gang. Unless they're a Christian biker gang. Then you can join them." That is good advice for everyone. Lake Havasu city was reminiscent of Henderson, but it was mostly houses and everyone has a boat.

Last week Elder Taylor and I saw an abandoned house burn down and so I have attached some photos of us visiting it again a few days later. It was neat! There was another abandoned house behind it that we looked inside of. People sure love to strip all the copper wiring in houses. It was super cool!

We had some people we are teaching come to church for the first time in forever and so that was good. They enjoyed it and they are going to get Baptized. We also saw a returning member bless the Sacrament for the first time in years. It was cool and he did a great job!

My companion put my Captain Moroni mini toy in Jello while I was in Bullhead.

I added some pictures of different Street names in Lake Havasu and Bullhead, and also a manhole cover from Bullhead. The one sign for Kyle Avenue is for my dad. Woot go dad

I also saw a cupboard on someone's front porch that was locked with a spoon.

The Bullhead Elders have letters on their fridge, and because they are super vain, they spelled their names. So then I added three extra words before I went back to Needles.

Honestly I think Needles is the bestest place on Earth because of the amazingness that I get to see here.

Elder Taylor is bad at cooking, he burnt the spatula. Here is a picture of it on fire.

I having a great time teaching the people of Needles and witnessing all of the shenanigans of missionary work and people in the street. It is so much fun but also spiritual at the same time. This is definitely a huge highlight of my mission. I hope this is my last area because of how awesome it is here, and I have a hunch that it will be. I am far from trunky but boy oh boy the mission is closing fast so I have get to work!!!
Love you byeeee!

-Elder Moore

May 14th, 2019

Lovely Day

Hello friends and family

I saw a man walk into McDonalds with a dairy queen cup full of ice cream the other day.

Elder Taylor and were walking around talking to people in the streets when we saw a pillar of smoke in the distance. It was at a location we had just walked from so this peaked our interest (the fire department sirens did to). When we finally got to the location we found out that an abandoned building had caught on fire and crumbled to the ground. There are a lot of abandoned old houses here. This one caught fire. It could have been anything that started it. Drug usage gone wrong, someone covering up a drug den, squatter fire gone wrong... who knows! This place is so cool!

We also went to a lesson with someone who is going to be Baptized in a few weeks and she was a little busy when we showed up so we ended up waiting a few minutes. She lives near one of the many churches in Needles. One particular church has two abandoned cars parked on the sidewalk and we watched a homeless guy start taking some random trinkets from them. Normally this would be bad but this is the third character we have seen do this to these cars. We think it might be a homeless bank or storage or something. This place is so cool!

I have only been to the native American villages a handful of times but it is a lot of fun because when people are outside, they stare you down super hard especially because of the exceeding whiteness of our skin. The people are nice though. We are teaching a guy whose last name is Bullchild, so that is pretty cool. This place is so cool!

We are teaching a lot of people the Gospel here. This place has been prepared. The people are ready to commit themselves to Christ which is amazing. We have been blessed a lot here in the Needles Ward. There is a lot of work to do, but the Lord will provide. Honestly I wish I had more I wanted to share but I think this will do. Just some interesting things that have happened and just know that even in po-dunk Needles, The Lord watches over and prepares His people for the gospel.

Here is a picture of some skulls and antlers.

-Elder Moore

May 7th, 2019

NEEDLES

If you can't tell how excited I am, I attached about 20 photos.

I love this place. So to break down my new area... here is the rundown.
We cover the booming city of Needles california, which I believe has a population of about 2000 or so. I also get to leave the country while I am serving here, because technically the native American villages are their own country. There are two Mojave native American villages in the area. One is in California and the other is in Arizona. They are not that far apart because my area is the border of California and Arizona, divided promptly by the Colorado river. I love this place a lot.

The houses here look like they same straight out of a slasher film. Like abandoned bomes that are barely being held together. People actually live in them! I learned that needles is more safe than 6% of America! That means that 94% of America is more safe than Needles. Yay!

The people here are actually super nice! Unlike the city of Henderson and Las Vegas, they actually acknowledge that they need us here. Also the church to people ratio is crazy. My companion theorizes that most people here own a church somewhere in needles.

There are trains here. Back in the day that was the only use for the town. It was housing for the engineers! They still live here and most of them are old and some of the only active members.

Also Spike, Snoopy's brother from the Peanuts, lives here. Not really. But in the comics he does. He is Needles mascot.

Everyone here knows who we are and they have been very kind to us.

Our map is digital and it only loads a handful of streets. When we go finding people to teach, we are essentially exploring to see where all the Dirt roads lead. It is super fun! I have found so many abandoned houses and wandering hobos!

I have honestly been waiting to serve in anyplace like Needles. I feel like the Lord knows me so well because He knows what kind of people I like and find easy to Love. And He has blessed me to come here.

Now allow me to explain the photos in the order they seem to appear....
The first is a tree being held together with duct tape.
The second one is the way to Mexico. There are no cities nor settlements in this direction until you get to the Mexican border.
The third picture was given to me by some roving Vagabond at Jack-In-The -Box. He walked up to me with a full beard a long long hair smelling like fast food and marijuana and wrote down this card. He said I could have it. It is the alphabet and when he got to the letter J he wrote Jesus and signed his name. My companion and I laughed. Because it was legendary.
The fourth picture is of grass. They farm it in Arizona. It is just plain old grass. This place is called Mojave Valley, which is it's own town across the Colorado river. It is more rural there.
Here are some cow skulls in front of someone's house in Mojave valley.
The next photo is a Needles Sunset.
Here is a street sign in the Arizona village that my comp and I changed on our phones.
My first meal in Needles.
This is the main road in Needles. A one way underpass. It is fun because you have to not go at the same time as someone else or you will crash underneath a train.
An abandoned house that had some spooky artwork in it.
A booming business guide that shows you where the subway is.
Apartment 212 and a half.
A view of needles from outside our apartment.
A dead snake on a fence.
The funniest door ever.
Two scrubs in the desert.

The Gospel is True and an amazing blessing. The Book of Mormon is one of Gods greatest gifts to us and I love it So Much! I am so excited to give out every last copy I have to the people here because I know how much it will help them realize their potential as Children of God. Jesus Christ lives and I have been so blessed to be in His service.
Love you Bye!

-Elder Moore

April 30th, 2019

Cali

Yo

I got transfer calls last night and I am out of Henderson, I am out of Las Vegas, and I am out of Nevada. I am getting transferred to California (and a part of Arizona)
I am getting transferred to Needles California.
Woot!
So my current companion has served there before and basically here is what I have gathered.
Needles= Route 66, wild Donkies, crackheads, everyone is on welfare in Cali and Arizona, the members are amazing, I cover multiple towns and a city, and also it is like 10 degrees hotter there so it could get up to 130 degrees. But... I get a car, so that will be good.
The areas are big enough in this particular zone (the Lake Havasu Zone) that I am isolated from other missionaries the whole time including on p-day. The only time I will see other missionaries is on Fridays or during special meetings where I might have to drive between 30 minutes to and hour to meet with other missionaries. I don't think anyone understands how excited I am to be isolated. Woot!
My new companion is Elder Taylor. I think he is from somewhere in the southeast United States. I've met him before and he is a cool guy so this will be good!
Life is good. The work has been good. The mission is good. I am excited to go out of the Vegas valley. The Gospel is true and is the source of lasting joy.

I cooked steak for dinner last night. It was amazing. Here is a picture.

Also Elder Ferguson and I took a few pictures yesterday while walking through a park.

That is all.

-Elder Moore