Hello Family,

How are things over there on that side? Things here are going great, the work is sweet, but I have to say it is bittersweet at times. You become close friends with the people you work with and then it is their time to leave. But I guess the same will be with me. The Neves will be leaving on this Tuesday, which is sad because I have become such close friends with them.  It's ok - the time has come for them to go home and I can't come home until they have left so I guess that is a good thing. I really do love it here.  Love is the key.  Love has no boundaries, no limitations of good will. I think the love of God in our hearts produces happiness, peace, oneness and ultimately eternal life. So essentially, without ,there really is nothing in this life.   If you truly love God, you will do His will and if you do His will you will receive blessings and if you receive blessings then you will be happy.  That is how it goes, truly it is. I think that that is one of the greatest attributes of Jesus Christ, unconditional love. I think it is directly related to charity as well. When we figure out how to love someone else more than ourselves then we will truly be happy. I listen to things that I used to say when I first came on my mission. I would make comments about love but really it was not love.  If you love someone, truly you will do anything to make them happy even if that means that you are not getting what you want. I think the problem with relationships today is that everyone is seeking their own happiness and not others.  If we are always trying to help others, then we will in turn become happy. I love the example of dad.  He is awesome at doing service.   He told me that service to others is one of the most important things in this life.  And I can see it in him. He is always serving others, but most importantly I see him always treating mom like an angel. I am realy blessed to have the family that I have. I was thinking about Thanksgiving (on whatever day it - thank goodness I had a calendar) and I was thinking of things that I was thankful for.  So many things, but it was basically about all the people in my life.  I was thinking of how great my family is how awesome my friends are and I love ones that I have. I really am blessed. Now they don't celebrate Thanksgiving here, unfortunately, but I was still thankful. I am so grateful to be in this mission. Some people might be vexed that they have to serve in such a place but I am happy. God really does love me and he loves my future family. Because, I can tell you, that there is not another place in the world that a young man can learn more for himself and his future family. The men that leave this mission really grow a lot.  The men we can become from this mission is amazing. I can't even begin to tell you the changes that have taken place in my life. And the great thing is, everything is for the better. Not only spiritually have I grown but physically as well. Well I guess physically I have gone down. Not going to lie I am becoming a stud haha. I am pretty stoked to go waterskiing when I get home.

I guess you want to know a little more about the work and about the place. Today I went looking for some speakers for my cd player because mine broke.  Man, what a nightmare.  No one on the planet sells battery powered speakers. I think I asked every place imaginable. We even got to some places that were in the hood of Sierra Leone, ha can you only imagine. A  hood in Sierra Leone, ya it was that bad. It was really sketchy. It is kind of fun to start talking to people because as I ask prices of things they try to rip me off because I am white and they are kind of dumb so they start speaking Krio right in front of me and making jokes about how I am white and they are going to get money out of me. That's about the time that I talk in Krio and I explain to them that I have been here for quite some time and that they are not going to rip me off.  It cracks me up but also frustrates the crap out of me to always have to deal with dishonest people.

I have been trying to narrow down what is the key problem in getting people to accept the gospel here and I am pretty sure that it has come down to pride. People think that they know everything and they will not humble themselves to learn more. Its sad because we know that you cannot be saved in ignorance. And there is a lot of ignorant people out there. I cannot figure out why people cannot see what is right in front of there face. They go on an endless searching game looking for something that they already have found. I love revelation.  It is so powerful when it comes, but don't forget it because it might not come again.

So interesting events to report on. Hmmm I found cereal and powdered milk.  Holy cow!  What a treat that is, even though its plain corn flakes and powdered milk, it is so sweet!  What else -  oh haha - my companion has a problem - he is lactating!!! Man, the jokes are flying!  We actually don't know what's wrong but it does make for good conversation, or good jokes at least.

Transfers are next week.  Honestly, I don't know what's going to happen to me but I think I am going to be tranferred, I have been here for some time, in fact longer than anyone has stayed in this area.   It is the hardest area to physically proselyte in the mission, at least so I am told.  It would be a nice break to come down off of the mountain.  Anyway, all is well.  One favor, maybe if you can, could you send me some speakers so I can listen to music. That would be great. I love all of you so much.   Take care, work hard.  I want to leave you with a good quote, "it is by the Holy Ghost that we can clear the next seemingly insurmountable hurdle. Put your trust in the Lord and He will lift you up.

Love Elder Moss

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Hello family!!

Another week has come and gone. And it was not too bad of a week. Mission is great, I sure do love it but it can give you gray hairs, to say the least. I understand why so many people go home bald.  It's a good thing that my genes give me lots of hair. I am having a good time but I am getting tired. I am trying to continue to work hard all the way until the end. I don't want to be one of the missionaries that rolls over dead for the last 6 months.

So Christmas call is coming up, kind of exciting! So whats the plans there? From what I understand it is pretty expensive here for us to call home. And I am getting old so I am not a bomba (rich man) in mission. The work here is going strong. It is like a roller coaster.  One day will be amazing and the next will be crazy.  Something that I have learned from mission is that you choose to be happy. You can sit and argue with someone till your head falls off or fire starts shooting out your eyes, or you can look them in the eyes and say I love you, I am sorry. I like the second option.   What can someone even say to that. No matter what the argument or how mad you are, you just need to get a big smile on your face and look them in the eyes.  When we can develop humility and faith and love, all the Christ-like attributes, then there is nothing in this world that can stop you from accomplishing what you need to accomplish. Obviously the Lord is omnipotent, and if you are on his side, you are safe. When troubles come our way, we need to ask ourselves what can I learn from this and how can I grow. Recently, I got a quote from my mom and it has been ringing through my mind and I am trying to figure out what I can do. The quote was a cheesy one that she saw on someone's facebook and it simply talks about worth. The thought in my mind is what is my worth.  What am I, Kevin Moss, worth to the world?  What can I bring to the table and how can I increase my worth? Also, we need to know if something or someone is worth it for you, then you dang well need to be worth it for them. I think the best way to gain personal worth and happiness is by developing Christlike attributes. The only person that can stop me from being great, is me. That's the beauty in this life.  You can become all that the Lord has made you to be if only you choose to. But no one can force you or beguile you into being good.  There comes a time in everyone's life where we need to look ourselves in the eyes and say its time to grow up. Its time to stop being a boy and start being a man. For long on my mission I was irritated at the world.  I was mad for the situations I was in but now I ask myself why was I mad?  Look how far I have come.  If I had not been put through the furnace then I would not be coming home strong. The other day, I was sitting down kind of feeling sorry for myself, missing home, wanting to give some people hugs, when I decided just to study a little bit instead of feeling sorry for myself.  As I did, I looked to the hymn book and the hymn I am a child of God opened up. One of my favorites!  The words are so simple, yet so profound and powerful.  It touched my heart. I, Kev, am a child of God! And HE has sent me here. HE has given me sooooo much, parents who are kind and dear, HE leads me, HE guides me, HE walks beside me, and HE will help me find my way.  He will teach me all that I must do to live with Him someday. My needs are great but if I understand His will, all will be ok.  My kind of remix to the song but this is how it hit me. God is doing all these things for me but what am I doing in return? There is a scripture in the D&C  that I love.  If we do all things in our power, then we can stand still and know that God is there.  I love what my dad always told me, if you are going to do something, do your best.  Don't walk away thinking you should have done more. "I will do my best until He comes and when He does my banner will be clear."

Things in Kissy are going great. The branch is doing good.  We had an idea that we need to get everyone that is coming to church regularly, attending primary and coming to activities be baptized. We have come to find that there are so many parents that have children that are 8 yrs old and they are not baptized, kind of like they forgot. So we had parents submit to the branch president their children and he went through it to see what he can do. Unfortunately, he did not finish the whole process for last week but all should be a go for this weekend.  There is really so much to do all the time, and I pray things don't fall apart when me and Elder Neves leave.

I guess that the last thing I want to say is that I love you guys.  I don't think I have told you enough.  If you were not there to back me up, I don't think I could have accomplished all that I have been able to accomplish here.   I have learned so much -  probably things I couldn't have learned anywhere else! I am so grateful for this gospel and the blessings of having a family for this life and throughout the eternities! What a blessing that is to know that we can have a friend, a wife, a brother, a sister, a mother and a father forever. I know as I keep  the commandments, God will always bless me! Whether it be with trials and tribulations or bonbons and relaxation. The blessings from heaven will come. I know as I have learned from my parents and from others, that I will put my trust in the Lord will help build my future family to be stalwart and strong in the gospel.  To be an arm to lean on and a beacon of light for my family.  I know it all starts with one step so now is the time to start. I love you guys loads.  I pray for you daily.  I cannot tell you how much you mean to me.  Keep the faith - never give up and keep on smiling.

Love Elder Moss

Hello family,

 

How are things over there on the other side of the planet? Things here are moving forward and I am still alive so that is great. So I am trying to think what great extravagant experience that I had this week and nothing is coming into my mind. It was kind of a ho-hum week. We did not have too many visits to go on but for me I felt like I was running around all week like a chicken without a head, trying to get all these things fixed in the apartment. Such as the stove.   So here is the problem.  I am on American football time and everyone here is on African time which means they come 1 to 2 hours later.  For instance, I was at the apartment studying all morning. Then we left and got all the way to the top of the hill and then the phone rings.  "Elder Moss, I am coming to pick up the stove so I need you to go to the apartment."   Ugh -  so 40 minute walk back down the hill and we get to the apartment and he is not there.   Luckily, he showed up 2 hours later.  After that, we went back up the hill.  The next day he tells me the stove is fixed so he brings it back.   Of course I wait forever for him to come. He drops it and as he is about to leave I say "let's test it before you go". So we do and yup it is still broken.   I pick it up and put it in his truck and tell him to tell president I don't want to see this stove again in the apartment.   It is going to kill someone one day. Anyway, lucky us, we got a new stove. It took many hours and lots of patience but I think that it was worth it in the long run. I mean not dying in an explosion is always a good thing.

 

It is so fun to have some Americans in the apartment, it is quite the hoot. You can only imagine the conversations. I am like a little boy on Christmas finding out from Elder Saxton all the things that have changed at home. Its pretty funny. I was showing Elder Saxton some pictures and he was telling me about b and how much she has changed. He said pictures won't do me or her justice. I look like a different person and she is huge. I am pretty excited to see the changes around home.

 

So you guys have been wondering why I have not written by hand in some time. Its because I just don't have time any more with preparing instructions and taking care of people and doing interviews. I mean, for instance, the interviews I had to do last month for our district was huge.  We baptized seventy plus people in one month. That's like twenty people a weekend, haha its crazy!  And I have to proof-read all the paper work. Lucky me. I guess you might be confused, I have been the district leader for quite awhile.  I just didn't think it was necessary to tell you.  I read emails and all people here do is talk about callings and boast of themselves and I hate that so, ya, I wasn't going to tell you but that's why you haven't got any handwritten letters in a while.

 

This week someone told me that she wants to name her first born after me, who is not born yet.   That kind of caught me off guard. And she says if it's  a girl then I can choose a name. I don't know what I would name her, but she told me to know by the time she is baptized.

 

So this week was cool I passed goal.  101 baptisms and the number is still going.   If you teach with the spirit, things are so easy. When you do what's right its so easy.

 

So I wish I had my camera with me.  I wanted to show you a picture that I have.  It is of my shoes. I have a 30000 mile warranty on my shoes.  I put a car tire on the bottom. It is pretty awesome!  I can't wait to show you guys. Well, I wish I had more exciting week but I did not. Thank you everyone for supporting me on my mish.  It is awesome to hear people care about me at home.  Sometimes you don't see so much love here for the Americans. But I know this church is true.  No matter how hard life gets we can always turn to the Lord.  Luckily. I  have experienced that a lot.  I did not think you could pray holes in your pants but you can.  I have pants that are a testimony of that.  I love to pray.  It's awesome to receive answers. 

 

I love you guys loads.  Have a great week!

 

Love Kev aka Elder Moss
 the gugura hondu

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Hello family,

 

How are things going over on the other side of the planet? Things on this side are going great. Mission is mission, nothing new here. We had some cool things happen I guess. I had the opportunity to go to an instruction from President Dickson and also the Ghana temple president. It was interesting to see what they had to say about the success that we are having in our mission. Also this week, we had the chance to have zone conference (which was last minute) Sorry, I  needed to add that.  It was good.  As I have been on mission, I have grown in ways that most might not understand. My knowledge of the church has increased and I pray that it continues to grow and flourish in the gospel. Many have prayed for a change in me, as I have myself and I am glad to know that as we put our trust in the Lord, our prayers and answers become a reality. Often times in our life we find ourselves praying, praying for love, for humility and even patience. But the problem is, we pray and we want it now. Love, patience, humility, all the Christ-like attributes, take time to develop. They take acts of faith and sometimes, the torments of hell. I have found often times we pray for answers, and we fast and we wait and finally we get our answers, as long as we never give up. But so often I see in peoples lives that when the going gets rough, they sit down and cry about it. When confusion hits, they forget the very thing that the Lord told them to do.  Then they ask again and are saddened when the answer to their prayer does not come again.  If we pray for something, we have to remember the answer that is given to us, act upon that answer and have faith in the Lord that that is what you are supposed to do.  It really blows my mind when people receive revelation and then they go contrary to the revelation that has been given to them.  You know something -  life is tough, life is tougher when you are stupid. I have learned something about faith.  It is not just saying ok or yes but it is, in reality, saying "thy will be done".   Faith, not speaking words or writing things down. True love is displayed through actions. But more importantly the actions that you do when the situation is rough, when you think no one is watching. That is the person you are. People here and at home often do not understand this concept.  As for me, I am grateful that my dad had taught me to be a man and to do what is right, no matter the consequence. To do things that are Christ-like, even if there is no apparent reward, or even if no one is watching you. The thing is that there is always someone watching you. In our proselyting efforts, we have found some genuine brothers that are seeking for the truth. As we go to them and as we teach them, we see something awesome.   We see their eyes light up as we are able to feed them something that they have never tasted thus far in their life. It is something that is sweeter than anything in this world and they want more. We had the chance to watch conference.   Wow, what a difference it is watching it here. Elder Saxton says he is not going to church again haha (we watch all the sessions at once) but I think that he will get used to the rowdiness. I hope that we can fix that but conference is conference. No matter where you are, if you listen, the words can penetrate your heart. Often life gives us lemons and we can either suck on the bitterness or we can take the lemon and make lemonade. The doctrines of the church are at our disposal, why don't we use them? Make the choice today to be good, to follow Christ. Don't wait until tomorrow, because it might not be there.   I can't remember the prophet that said to just do it, but that is what we need to do.  Just do it!  And I deem it appropriate to add just do it, now!!!

 

Have a great week.  Love you all.

 

Love Elder Moss

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