How are things over there on that side of the planet. I hope that all is well in Zion.  From what I understand things should be going great. Just enjoying the summer and the nice weather. I have been enjoying some rain. I kind of prefer rain just not when I am hiking on the mountain because I don't feel like I am very safe up there in the rain. But it is fun. So to start this week I don't really know what to say. It was kind of a hum drum week. Last Monday we left the café as usual and began the journey up the mount to our appointment and once again a test of my patience, I hate when you plan something and you hike all the way there and you get bounced.  It's ok I guess -  it is exercise. Plus I know it was for a reason because we met this family that is so awesome. I am sure that soon they wil all become members of this church. God always does things for a reason, sometimes we just don't know why things happen until something good happens later, like finding a new good family to teach. The Lord has been blessing us with some investigators. I hope that He continues to trust us and keep giving us people that are prepared to hear this wonderful message that we have to share with the world. This family that we met, I am sure that we will be able to bring the whole family to church through the daughter who is about 22. She has a strong testimony of God and a sharp understanding of the truth. Also, you know if a family likes you when they give you food. And they give us boku boku te (that just means lots and lots). So that is good.   The father is Muslim and the rest of the family are Christian. But he says that after what I explained about the importance of family and how the church can bless his family, he will come and visit us. I know that he will. He is a man with authority. He is a head guy over this project for tb and leprosy. We will see what happens. So you know the term crap runs down hill?  Well that is very literal here. It really does and since the church is at the bottom of the hill that's where it lands. Man thousand of  pounds of dirt and garbage pile up in front of the church. So we had a service project to clean it up and man what a project. I think the Neves are going to send some pictures. I had to show the ole Africans how a white man works.  So hmm I don't know what else to say except things are good yesterday.  We had a good Sunday.  We had over 150 at church and 13 investigators. It looks like my plate is getting full you can just accept all that you have and try to help them all. The gospel is moving forward at a rapid pace I don't want to be the one slowing it down. Next week is transfers so I will keep you posted. Also sorry about the terrible spelling this keyboard sticks like crazy. I guess my thought for everyone is don't let the things of the world crowd your thoughts so that you cannot hear the gentle prompting of the voice of the Lord. Not always is it evil things that pull your thoughts or dull your spiritual eyes but sometimes not listening will make it so you don't hear. I love you guys hope you have another great week.

 

Love Elder Moss

Hey family,

How are things going over there on that side.  So I have been told that my English has been getting worse since I have been here.  I dont think it is but whatever.

So I am pretty excited for Amy and Mike.  I guess B was right -  a girl.  Perfect - I will pick up right where I left off with B.  Ok, she will be slightly younger, but that is cool.  Poor Mike, he is getting dominated.  I  would have to say that domination is probably a Moss gene, haha, just kidding (maybe)

So things are going great here.  Nothing that I would complain about and complaining does not get you anywhere except mad.  Church is great, don't get me wrong and I love it and I love the spirit we can bring to it, but I can tell you that I can't wait to just go and sit down in the back and not have to give a talk or do confirmations and records and teach class and do all of these different things.  It will be nice to just go to church sit with the fam and the girl and learn and feel the spirit.  I guess I am getting plenty of experience.  One of these experiences was with an investigator.  If you know the people here, they just don't hardly smile.  I don't know why but we do know when they are happy.  We got to do 4 confirmations and it was so sweet .  If you could see their faces, it makes all the suffering of life here worth it!  To see the smile and the glow about them when they become a member of the church.

I have been working on this operation  - we call it operation get stacked or get ripped, just depends on what I want to call it that day, today we are trying to get stacked.  I don't know if it is working, but I am trying for it.  With these mountains, I am getting good.  I can pretty much run to the top, which is insane cause it is huge but I love it .  I can feel the burning in my legs, its nice.   The problem is that my compy can't keep up but we will get him there.

I will be on a little bit later because this cafe doesn't have a printer. I love you guys!

Love, Elder Kev

 AND THIS IS THE LITTLE SHORT NOTE WE GOT LATER ON IN THE MORNING:

Hey family,

Once again, things are going great. I am stoked to hear about Amy and Mike, that is cool.  So have you ever had the chance to dedicate a internet café?  Well , I have.  As funny as it sounds, it was pretty cool.  We had the chance to go to one earlier today, that a RM was opening. It is the coolest place!  He has pictures of Christ in there and they play conference and church movies on the tv.  I was excited to hear about that.  Too bad it is far away from where we live!

Hello family,

How are things going this week? Things here are still kickin along. Iwant you to know right now that this is going to be bad because the keyboard is sticking like crazy and is super hard to type on so bear with me. So not a lot to say this week really but it was a good week and we had a baptism that went very well. Well, when we finally got it started, it went well. So the story behind this is kind of funny. As you might have seen, Kissy got a new chapel that is very nice and it has a font which is huge.  I would say that it is big enough to fit enough to have a pool party.  Well, maybe not that big but it is really, really big. There are advantages and disadvantages to having a font this size. One, it looks really cool when it is in use and it helps for a nice spiritual experience. The down fall is that we don't have water to fill it. It takes about 5 plus hours to fill. The national water has been in short supply for sometime now so we are kind of  . So all we had were tanks of reserve water.  So we went to go and use those tanks. It got about a quarter of the way full and we decided t go and teach and then come back.  When we got back, I looked in the font and all of the sudden mud started to pump into the font.  I took off in a sprint because this baptism is an outdoor service (where you sit is pretty cool) and where you have to turn the water off is inside! So I am sprinting to unlock the bathroom and then the font door to turn off the water but by the time we got it off the font looked like a swamp. So I asked one of the people there what happened. They told me the tank was out of water. So I asked "where did you get water". They filled about 1000 gallons of water into a tank from a well. So I run over and turn of the well pump so the whole reserve tank isn't full of mud. So I ask how can we get the mud out of our tank. There is no way to drain the tanks except through the font or  and sinks. I cannot believe when they did all the piping they did not think about this. Anyway, to make a longer story short, we just had to drain it through the font. So it is like 9 and we are trying to call everyone and reschedule the time and place for the baptism. But we got it all worked out and had a very, spiritually uplifting baptism. This work is great!

So before I forget to type it, Happy Birthday Mom and Brandon.  I would have sent a card but there aren't any in Sierra Leone.  Know that I love you and have not forgot about you.  Guess what Mom?  Next year for your birthday, I will be your present!

Something exciting and kind of crazy to add to the list of crazy things that I have eaten is dog tongue.  Yeah, I know, it was as gross as it sounds.  But come on, if it is put on your plate, you have to eat it, right?  I think I shouldn't write these things down.  I don't think anyone will want to kiss me knowing the things that have been in my mouth!

So something really frustrating since I have been on mission is that my beard won't stinkin' stop growing! It really makes me mad. I will have a 5 o'clock shadow and before I leave for proselyting I almost have to shave again!

To say our area is mountainous would be an understatement. When I say it is steep, I mean there are times when I am on all fours climbing up the hill! With all this climbing, I will be at 190 before I know it.  With all the rain though, it makes it really had for people to come to church.

So this week we had interviews with President Roggia.  He told me some good things. He told me he has seen a mighty change in me.  He told me that I have become one of his best missionaries. It was very humbling and he also told me that I needed to help my companion grow like I have.

That's it for this week. I love you guys and Riss.  Boku te te te

Love, Elder Big Kev

Ps sorry mom and dad for lack of handwritten letters. I'm repenting and working
it! I love you guys

One Year Down!

Hey family,

How are things over there on the other side of the world? Things over here are going great! Lots of new things are happening for me with the new culture and language and things like that. Liberia is a lot more like America than Sierra Leone. When it comes to money and the way that people do things, things here in Sierra Leone are much more English (England).

So we had some fun things happen this week, when Elder Lowe or Spencer told you that our area is mountainous, he was not joking! It is the most mountainous in the entire mission. I really enjoy it because it is a awesome work out every day and when you add in the push ups and curls everyday, boy I am getting in shape. I am pretty stoked.

You asked how many of us are in the apartment. There are 6 of us. Elders Rochester (comp) Vogl, Emmanuelson (from Las Vegas). Buckman and Ado are most cool. Some are crazy! Elder Vogle, Emmanelson and Buckman are sweet.

Today things were pretty fun. We went and played some football (soccer). Man, I wish I was better at this game! But you would really laugh at the field that we played on. It had boulders in the middle of it. It was pretty funny. They will play on any surface where there is not a house or a shack. I think I might have met my match - maybe…. His name is Elder Percel and he is Samoan and he is huge. I think I could take him. I am in better shape haha. He has not been on an African diet for 1 year like I have. He will find out soon.

Oh, so before I forget, and only if you have the chance, I really need a new camelback. The sack is getting gross and the bag is not big enough. I know that they are a lot of money but they are nice because they are waterproof and I drink lots of water. If it is in my camelback it means I filtered it, so its safe. Preferably one that is big enough for my scriptures and my notebook. That's about all I need, maybe more bug spray.

So the pants are great. I am sure that is why we have been getting so many contacts this week. They are so nice. So I have been sporting long hair, like pretty long, about as long as I think is allowed. Just shorter than dads when he gets it cut. Between my "contacting pants" (that is what the elders in my apartment call them) and my beautiful locks of hair, the work should start to increase very soon!

So last week after we were done emailing, we started the assent to the top of Mount Everest, aka our area, and when we reached the top, there was a girl struggling to carry cement. You know me, I have the dad gene and I had to help. I was judging by the hefty bag of cement that the little woman did not have far to go. She was going to the tip top, another thousand feet, the last house on the hill. Amazing view but my comp almost died getting to the top and he was carrying only himself! No, he did good. But it is was funny. We hiked up a little tiny, tiny like river cut trail. But we got there asked her and her family to come to church, She came but come to find out she was not a member but her family was inactive. But because of our act of service, they decided to come back. I believe that is the best way to tell people you love them. Service. For a couple of American Elders to hike up to the top of the hill with fifty pounds of cement in a white shirt an tie shows that we love the people. As for me, I love the people, maybe not so much the culture, but the people. I am working on the same with my comp. He just hates everything, kind of sounds familiar, don't it.

Another cool story, we got asked to pray for a guy and we asked him if he knew what a blessing was. He replied that he did not so we explained that through his faith he can be healed by the Lord but he needs to know it is not us missionaries but it is the Lord using us as instruments. It was obvious that this guy was sick with malaria so we went to his room, his tiny room, just big enough for a bed and my companion anointed, and I got to seal and bless. It is so cool to give blessings. To be the mouthpiece of the Lord. I love it so much. Later that night, we were told that the man we gave the blessing to received a miracle. Our investigator told us that it was a miracle! He said "he was one hundred percent better ten minutes later after you left." Man, blessings work here so much because the faith of people is so high.

Mission work is sweet but hard. I am now on my decent and I feel nice I am not going to lie.  Training is hard. All I can think of is to just be an example in everything I do. Its hard though man. I love you guys so much.

Love, Elder Moss

PS  for dad (and Sis Miller), we have not had water for a week now, nothing new for me. I am pretty used to it. TIA

Made it to Freetown!

Hey family,

How are you guys doing this week? So first off, as you know, I am now residing in a new country and experiencing different things. I am learning lots of things and I have only been here for a few short days. Like, I carry a lot of money around here. I have 700,000 dollars in my bag right now. I know I am a rich man. Not! I only have small money. So the trip from Liberia to Sierra Leone man ~ I won't really be too sad if I do not ever do that trip again! Man, Markus is crazy. I don’t think he cares if we all die. We go like 60 mph down a trail through the forest. It is so fun but man you are on the edge of your seat the whole time. It is nuts but every one will go through it. Well most people. So back to when I was in Liberia one of my new favorite scriptures is D&C 123:16-17. It talks about the helm of a ship as sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father we need to stop trying to live up to what we think we can be but we need to live up to what our Heavenly Father created us too be. We are capable of being so much greater than we make ourselves out to be. We can be someone's hero, someone's best friend, someone's light of inspiration, just by the way that we live our lives. Life is great isn’t it?

So this week was eventful. Elder Taylor is having some fits with his comp but I know he will get over it and move on. I will miss the people over in the good old Liberia and it was fun but it is time for me to start a new chapter in my book of missionary service. So I am going to have to say that the worst part of my trip was that all of my books got ruined because we were driving through rivers of water and in the African rain forest. Man I was so mad that all my stuff got ruined but whatever, it is just material things. So the best part of my trip was I ate at a place called Sabs. Oh my freakin' heck!!!! I THOUGHT I DIED and went to Heaven!! It had real cheese and meat and French fries. I almost went into cardiac arrest. I may not like ice cream anymore but man I still love hamburgers. Without a doubt, I think that is one of the first things that I want when I get home. Haha but that is kind of far away. But I am climbing over the hill this week. One Year! I am pretty stoked! So upon my arrival to Sierra Leone, I got the opportunity to teach investigator class and then elders class. Man, it was crazy. I was dirty and I had a beard and I stunk but it's ok that doesn’t affect my spirit any more. So I had a great lesson in elders class. Man I decided to talk about fathers being a patriarch. They don’t know the importance of fathers in this world. They think they have no authority over their children but I let them know that love is the best thing that they can give. I told them (I am not going to lie, I almost got emotional, thanks for that gene dad) I was telling that my parents, my mom and my dad are best friends. There is no one that I love more than my family. I told them that when I get married, there will be no one on this earth that I will love morevthan my wife. She will be my number one and I will love and respect hervand my children will respect her as well because of my example. And I know that this works because that is how my parents are. My dad's best friend is my mom. After the lesson, a guy came to me and said that I'm well ahead of my years. I gave credit to my family.

Things are great. So I have some good pictures on the way for you, I just want you to know. I will send them in just a couple of weeks. Or this week. I hope that all is well there in stg. Don’t enjoy too much without me. So I am looking good 36/34 pants haha saweet! I will have a 6 pack or at least close, when I come home especially since there are plenty hills and no food. I love you guys soo much!

Love Elder Kev

TRANSFERRED!!!

Hey family,

How was your week this week? I hope that all is well with you at home. So this week we do have some changes. For one the district is changing. But I will save that for later. I think I need to do some business first, haha. I know I ask so much of you guys but I need to ask another favor. Because the lack of power and light I have been using my headlight a lot so I really need like a bopat load of aaa batteries. I also need some socks preferably Nike sports socks, they hold up the best, just don't send dress socks they really are terrible and I wear boots everyday. Also I would like a tide to go pen at if all possible. You know we have a standard to up hold with looking good I can't have these spots.

So this week we had some baptisms. Just 3. I felt kind of bad because 3 did not show up because they said that they are sick. Man I just don't understand sometimes. They don't fully comprehend the magnitude of the decision that they are making. But they will. Someday. Other than that it was a pretty good baptism. We are getting really good at doing them. We do them every week almost. I discovered that the Lord has over 50 conversions now with us. I guess that's really awesome, at least I thought so.

So this week we had a good program. It was about the Book of Mormon. I thought it was so good. We sang and Elder Lambson sang a solo. Holy smokes, talk about amazing. He takes your breathe away when he sings, he is so good at it. One day I wish to be good at singing. So I need to really practice if I want to steal the hearts of many with my voice when I return. Haha. Yeah right, that would never happen.

So funny story, I don't know why Africans think that I am weak but I am not. He wanted to wrestle me. So I said no.. only if he and Elder Tims wrestle. Well he did it and to make a long story short, I made both of them tap out. Yes both of them and they wrestled me at the same time. The sad thing is he was a wrestler in high school. I have been working out every day so I can be ripped. It just isn't really working. Oh ya so I found a scale and I weighed 224. I know, I am still fat but I know the six pack will come with time. Just don't worry, I will get it. Especially with the new transfer. I am going to Freetown. I am pretty excited but I have come to realize that I have lots of junk. Man I have been doing food storage for so long now and turns out we have to eat it before I go cause I don't have enough room :( Sad day! But I am going to Elder Rochester. I think it will be good. I will see if I can whip him into my shape,Haha. No, I am looking forward to rolling my one year. I am an old man now!

Well I don't have much else to say. Oh ya, today we had a nice cake that I made it for Elder Taylors b-day. It was good and I had candles because my b-day package came about 2 months after my bday so… he enjoyed. Happy Father's day and birthdays to all. I love you all so much. Have a good week.

Love Elder Kev

Oh ya my branch is Kissy 2 - keep up the good!

Just Call Me a Pack Mule

Dear Family,

The week was really good.  I guess you could say I am pretty ready to leave this area though. I am getting tired of people just giving me the short end of the stick. So many lessons we have in the week. So many times we have the spirit reveal  answers to our awaited prayers. And so quickly we all forget the reason we were asking Heavenly Father for help. How can people pray and ask God for help and then not want to put in a little effort. You can't plant a garden without first preparing the ground.  What don't people understand about the concept that you reap what you sow.  I don't want to complain too much but I just get frustrated with people sometimes.  I feel like, if your not going to do what we ask, then don't waste our time by lying to us.

 

So a little recap on the last week.  You know I had to carry the propane tank back so we were kind of late.  This tank is like 100 lbs, really heavy.  So we had to travel a ways to get back to the apartment.  So in my infinite wisdom, I thought it would be safe to ride a bike.  Not just alone but with Elder Tims and the driver through the crazy traffic.  Holy smokes!  My abb was strained.  I had that tank on my back - stop, start.  Stop, start.  Man, people were impressed.  To be honest, I was impressed too cause I carried this thing for like 30 min on bike.  Then we got to my wheelbarrow lady (well that's what I call her - she sells bread and plantains to me every blessed day) and I got my dinner from her. Then we had to go again farther to our apartment. And this time it is only about 2 miles or less from the junction.  Normally, we take a bike but we had to get a 5 gallon tank of gas for our generator.  Once we got about ¾ mile down the road, we got the gas.  So picture - this a huge tank on my shoulder (about 3 times as big as the bbq one ) and then, cause my comp was feeling sick, I carried the gas too !!  Man, I looked like a mule or an ox or something.  All I know is that when I got home, I was pretty exhausted.   I decided to then read my letters which lifted my spirits.

 

We went out in the week and had some good lessons. I really am happy with this guy, his name is Stanford.  He asks awesome questions and you can really feel the spirit when you are teaching the man.  I am hoping that he will keep going towards the light.  I hope that we can get him and his huge family that would be so awesome.  Another pretty amazing thing that happened this week is while we were looking through the bush for some peeps to teach, we came across this wicked old lady and when I say old I mean really old.   I mean SHE MET HITLER!!! Man I didn't know Liberians could reach such an age. I am pretty sure that my life expectancy is like 40 years old now that I have lived here.  Ha ha, no I am just kidding, but it was cool to hear some stories about that from this old lady. She is muslim but….. we will get her through her children.

 

I told you that it was a bad Idea to draw water for people, well I am going to stick with that opinion. When you help people they totally take advantage of you. But it's ok cause I love to help the people here.  I love them.  So I have a pretty sweet pics that should be coming soon.

 

The rain has been beating the tar out of us these last few weeks.  It is like we go swimming.  I have found myself wearing the sweet tie my beautiful girl gave me cause the rain doesn't ruin it. . . As for power, well we don't have it and for water about the same.  So that means that my headlight is coming in handy. Which also means I am using batteries. Which means I would like some aaa batteries, if you wouldn't mind. The ones the sell here are so crappy. They barely work.

 

So this coming week is transfer news. I would be pretty happy to go. I would love to meet back up with Elder Jenkins. I miss that man. He really is a good friend. And he would make my mission life easier. But in all honesty, it is going fast. I met a American family this week. Man I tell you it was so sweet. They are members. I love American spirit. I forgot what it was like to have a grown up conversation. This week I was thinking a lot about the atonement. I love the atonement. Christ really loves us. I was thinking about how much God loves us. People think that we just suffer and God doesn't care. But something I know is these people are crazy. If they don't think that God is sitting up there wincing in pain because he is watching his children suffer they are wrong. Go loves us so much. He loves us so much he would allow us to suffer to gain for the greater good. I hope all is well at home with the family. Things here are still truckin' along. We have enough water to drink and enough power from our generator to plan but that's about it. Don't worry about me. Just keep doing what's right and never forget to pray and help those around you.

 

Much love from Africa.   Love,  Elder Moss

 

 

When ever you think life is hard!!!  Just remember me :P