Week 9 (November 27, 2016) - A Whole New World

Hello po!

It's been a super productive week. Unlike any I've ever had before. 2 months out today, and it's a whole new world here. I wash my clothes in a bucket, I also use a bucket for my showers, I manually flush the toilet, mosquito think I taste delicious, I eat rice with literally EVERYTHING, I've never been called "Barbie" so much in my whole life, people stare at me with wide eyes, and kids get nervous to talk to the "Americana", I've walked up and down steep muddy hills in the pouring rain to teach people the message of the Restored Gospel while sitting cross legged on dirt floors, I'm constantly sweating, I walk through trees and bushes and dogs and cats to get to homes, I am 7,000+ miles away from anything remotely familiar to me, I get random men touching my hair when I'm not looking, I ride around in side carts to get from place to place, I can only speak a little bit of Tagalog, and when people try to speak English to me, they tell me that they think their nose is going to bleed, I have taught lessons with kittens sitting on my lap (my favorite part of this whole thing), mothers ask me to marry their sons, and I probably have the worlds most loving man as my Mission President. This life isn't so bad. I've felt the hand of the Lord in my life every single day, and I have no doubt in my mind that this is the true church. I love our Savior. God is good and there are miracles EVERYWHERE. Just look for them because they are there. They're everywhere.

I love you all, and I'm grateful for all the emails, I'm sorry that I can't reply to them all... I have like .2 seconds to email, I swear. Ha ha! Love you all so so much. Here are some fun pictures:

-- 

Mahal Kita!

Sister Mosher

Week 8 - "Hope"

"It isn't as bad as you sometimes think it is. It all works out. Don't worry. I say that to myself every morning. It will all work out. If you do your best, it will all work out. Put your trust in God, move forward with faith and confidence in the future. The Lord will not forsake us. He will not forsake us... If we put our trust in Him, if we pray to Him, if we live worthy of His blessings, He will hear our prayers." President Gordon B. Hinckley

Ether 12:4 "Wherefore, whoso beliveth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand ofGod, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God."

Well, I am in the Philippines, taking bucket showers and all. It's definitely a new world here, and it is going to take some time for me, but that's why we have hope. We have been teaching some fun people, and I think my favorite part of this week was when we held a FHE at the sweetest lady's home, Nanay Herrera. A bunch of the youth came, and we played games and laughed and shared a spiritual thought. That was a tender mercy for me... Just hearing everyone having fun and laughing, and seeing sweet Nanay Herrera cover her face with her Book of Mormon when she laughed at something, and although I can't speak the language very well, if at all... I'm learning to have faith and hope in the gift of tongues. The kids laugh at my tagalog, and the sweetest man, Tatay Del Rosario (a recent convert) teaches me new Tagalog words every time we visit. I am serving in Morong, it's a province area- that's another tender mercy for me, and my companion is Sister Estrella (said like Australia, but with an "e"). She is Filipino and super sweet. A good trainer. 

On Saturday, we had a baptism!! I don't know what else to tell you... It's very pretty here- dirty too. And hot. I'm always sticky with sweat, and Elder Brown, if you're reading this, you would be proud to know that no, I haven't worn any makeup since I've been here. Ha ha...

Definitely going to take some adjusting time... Hence, hope and patience. 

 

                                                    First Baptism for KenKen

                                  Still in the MTC: My fav elders :') (also myMTC district)

                                                     Still in the MTC: Temple trip

                                                Us getting off the plane in Hong Kong

                                                            View. :') 

                                                               Washing clothes

Safe and Sound - November 15, 2016

Family! I made it safely to my mission in Quezon City... It was literally a 10 minute drive to the mission home from the Manila MTC. It would have been faster to walk. ;) Ha ha! Anyway, I just want to let you know that I am in the PHILIPPINES and it is BEAUTIFUL! I absolutely love it here already. Hot and humid, too.

Basta, I am here at the mission home, my Mission Pres and his wife, President and Sister Koster are amazing, and I LOVE them with my whole heart. I'm literally just on to tell you that I made it safe and that my Pday will be on Monday. Love you all, and I will send you pictures and tell you more about it next Monday. Love you all!

-- 

Mahal Kita!

 

Sister Mosher

 

 

                                                                    President Koster, Sister Mosher, Sister Koster

 

                                                                                  Sister Mosher, Sister Estrella

                                          New Missionaries in the Quezon City Mission

PHILIPPINES - I made it 11/11/16

I've made it safe and sound to the Manila MTC. The flights were forever long! Like 16 hours plus two other flights. Pero, I'm finally here and it is BEAUTIFUL! I love the humidity and the heat! Everything is just SO PRETTY! There is an abundance of trees everywhere you look, plus so many smiling Filipino faces! It's a super happy place from what I've seen. :)

It's funny because driving in the Philippines is NUTS! We were on this giant bus, and other giant mga busses would swerve in front of us and cause our driver to slam on his breaks, and then he would do the same to others. There seems to be no real driving system... people just drive. Ha ha! Super funny, because I wasn't worried about crashing- these Filippinos seem to know exactly what they're doing. ;)  I wish I could send pictures right now, but I am literally just on to let you all know that I made it to the Philippines safely. 

So now I am in the Manila MTC, and a lot of the missionaries here are from the Philippines, and of course I thought that I was doing pretty well with the language... UNTIL Filippinos started talking to me. I know NOTHING. This is where I learn patience with myself, and to trust in God and in the Gift of Tongues, right? Plus maraming studies.... 

Anyway, I love you all so much! Stay safe, and remember whose ya are. :') God is good.

---

Week 6 "A More Beautiful Hello" - November 9, 2016

The time has come, and we are finally headed out to basically travel the world for the day! We are first stopping in LA, and then Hong Kong, and finally I will be in the Philippines. Literally the place I've been dreaming of since I decided I wanted to serve a mission for The Lord. I can't believe it. 

Every moment here in the MTC has been a blessing and a tender mercy. My companions have changed my life and taught me life lessons, and the Elders in my district have been anchors to us. I don't think I have words enough to explain the amount of love I have for my zone. 

Everyone always says that when you serve a mission, your capacity to love grows more than you could have expected or imagined. I'm already seeing that, so I can't begin to IMAGINE how much love I'll be able to fit into my heart when I finally meet these people... One thing I have had to learn is that next to every daunting goodbye stands a more beautiful hello. 

That's what I'll look forward to when I have to say my goodbyes to people I've grown so fond of.. A more beautiful hello. 

Thank you all for being a part of my life. Thank you for the lessons each of you have taught me, and for the love you've all shown me. I'm beyond grateful, and I feel that God has blessed me more than I deserve with people who make saying goodbye painful. I love you all. 

Now I'm headed to the Philippines, this is just the start.

-- 

Mahal Kita!

Sister Mosher

Week 5 MTC "Getting Close!"

SIX DAYS AND I'LL BE ON MY WAY TO THE PHILIPPINES! I seriously can't wait. As great as the MTC is, I am excited to be out in the mission field, where I can see more nature than just Squaw Peak (don't get me wrong, I LOVE LOVE LOVE looking at Squaw Peak, pero it'll be nice to see some more greenery and people who aren't missionaries!) 

Ha ha, one of the teachers here said that when he was on his way to the Philippines from the MTC, he sat on the plane next to someone he didn't know who was bilingual, and he said that first he spoke to him in english, and then he spoke to him in Chinese, and while this man was talking, the teacher thought to himself, I'm so glad I don't have to learn Chinese. That would be so hard.. And then the man next to him said a familiar word in Tagalog, and he realized then that that man had been speaking the language he had been learning in the MTC. Totally looking forward to that. ;)

Halloween in the MTC was surprisingly a BLAST! We dressed up... Uh when I say dressed up, I mean we had fake mustaches on during class (including the teacher) and of course I wore cat ears! No brainer! 

I don't even know what happened this week... It went by stinkin fast- parang I swear I just had PDay YESTERDAY. OH! Guess who came and spoke on Tuesday?! Only the HAPPIEST man alive: President Russel M. Nelson! It was seriously humbling to just be in the same room as him. He was all smiles the entire time, with his smile that is wider than the sky! It was amazing to get to hear from him and his wife. They're such sweet souls. :)

Oh, funny story.... This week, we were taking our normal temple walk, and Sister Matheny nudges me and points to this nice car, and I go "Oh, cool" ya know, cause I'm not so into cars. And then my ENTIRE zone gasps, and points in one direction, and I look at where they're pointing, and this little body is just running at me with arms stretched open wide. And as I'm looking at this little body (I guess my mind was moving SO slowly) I think to myself "Awe, that's kind of cute." then my mind starts working again and I realize that this little person running at me is EMEREE! My sister just "happened" to be taking a stroll around the temple, with her baby, and she's running at me full speed! So I literally fell to the ground and cried LOL. Basta, I got to see Emeree and my Sister, and her husband this week! The car Sister Matheny was so intrigued by was Dane's car. Dane, my comp thinks you have a cool car. 

So yeah, I'd say it's been a pretty 10/10 week. ;) I'll send pictures of me crying while hugging the breath out of this little girl. 

Ps. Thanks to those of you who take time to read these emails. Love you all!! :)

-- 

Mahal Kita!

Sister Mosher

 

 

                                                   Elder Brown and Elder Maez

                                                           HALLOWEEN spirit

                                                           Literally sat and cried

                                                        More Emeree and Sister

 Sister and I (PS. this was not planned... well hindi ko alam. I had no clue this was gonna happen)

                                                                     Temple trip ')