Week 19 in Carolina (Pontezuela)

Hello All

Family and Friends!!!!!! 

Where do I start??? I am really enjoying my mission!!!! 

This week we were able to set a baptismal date for the 30th of October!!!! He is super cool his name is W and he is super interested in the Gospel of Jesus Christ!!!!! I have seen changes in him already and we have only been teaching him for 2 weeks!!!!! He is such a great guy. 

But now for the part that I love to do is talk about something that I have learned and it is something that we all can learn and need to learn. That is we are all going to have trials and tribulations in our lives. The Lord has given us these trials to teach us a very important lesson, we all have had these trials in our lives, I want everyone to know that it is normal, But I have come to know that the Lord loves each and everyone of us, he is always by our sides and will never ever leave us alone!!!! One of my favorite poems is Footprints in the Sand. It has a great message, the Lord will always carry us through our hard times. He has helped me and helped all the people I have seen enter the waters of baptism. I want everyone to know I love you and you all mean the world to me!!!! You have helped me through the hardest and the easiest times of my life. I know that the Lord has blessed me with amazing family and friends I love you all and miss you tons!!!!! Before we know it we will be reunited again!!!!!

With Much Love 

Elder Musgo

I love you all 

Only 5 more letters!!!!!!!!!

L-R Grandson, Son, Dad

MTC Group minus Powell who's serving on the island of Dominica

Elders Moss y Guare

Elders Moss y Guare after service project

Week 18 in Ponce 2 (Special Announcement)

Family and Friends

I don't know where to begin!!!

I am so grateful for this wonderful opportunity I had to be here in Ponce 2 I have learned so much about myself and how to be a better Missionary.My new companion is Elder Johnson he is from Jamaica I have been assigned to him as a special assignment from President Boucher, this Elder is having a hard time with Spanish and he can barley understand Gringo English, so I got a call from President Boucher and when he calls it is normally to be called as Zone Leaders but I got lucky he started to talk to me and explain the situation and I told him I would accept the new call and then right before he hung up he told me "Oh Elder Moss we would like to call you as the NEW DISTRICT LEADER over there in Salinas." 

 

 

But for my last week here in Ponce it was really good, Elder Robinson is a great Elder and a hard worker. We were really trying to find  sold investigators so that whoever was still here for the transfer would have people to go and visit. That's just what we did, we went and we found 5 new good looking investigators and they were interested in what we had to say. 

As of right now we only have 1 date here and she is looking good, the sad thing is, is she didn't make it to church. But she has friends in the Church and they are talking to her and trying to help her come to church. But her name is Rosa she is a great person and so willing, she reads what we ask her to and she does everything minus come to church.

Well someone also asked how I am doing so I might share a little about my feelings right about now!!!! I am so scared out of my mind, I was not expecting this call actually none of us were expecting this call. I want you all to know that the Lord calls people in their weaknesses and boy does this prove that statement, I don't feel qualified to be a District Leader but I know that the Lord has something  Special planned for me. I am so grateful for all that you guys do for me!!!!

Oh I also want to let you know how much I have really changed you can tell in the Pictures but I want to put some numbers with those Pictures.

Before my mission sadly I weighed almost 260 pounds 

Right now in my mission I am proud to say I weigh 215 pounds.

 

Moss - down 45 pounds from his beginning weight

I just want you to know that I feel great and I am so happy for this opportunity that I have to be a missionary and to Serve our Father which is in Heaven.

I love you all and miss you so much!!!!!!!!

Con Mucho Amor

Elder Musgo!!!!!!

 

Moss and Robinson - last week as comps

Never too old for Santa

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Week 17 in Ponce 2

Family and Friends

Out finding our lost bothers and sisters

This week was a great week we are really trying to find those people, and we found some of them. This week was really good for our finding!!! We were able to find a family and help them move and then we shared a lesson with them and we are going back this week.

Elder Robinson has grown so much these past 11 weeks and he has really become that Elder that I know he can. I have really learned that I don't really teach him it really is the Spirit and it helps him to grow, I have learned that I was called as a trainer to help not just Elder Robinson but to really help me to grow as a missionary. I have really been able to see that change in myself as well. 

For our baptismal dates we have 

Arturo for the 26th of December and also Rosa for the 26th of December. 

To start off we have Arturo

He is really cool and he is really helping the obra misional (missionary work), he has given the other Elders the address and number to his family and they are awesome and progressing. But he also had us talk to his Wife and his Daughter so he is really cool we are working on getting him to church but he is reading, he can barely read but he is trying. He is willing to listen to us and he accepted a date right away and he seems like he understands his date a little but we are going to go in with Mind the Gap Calendar and get him Baptized.

Our other Fecha is Rosa she is so awesome she has actually been investigating the church for awhile she knew a member from almost 18 years or so and this member gave her a Book of Mormon, it was through work and so she started then but she just never got baptized, so then she also has another friend in the church who she has been friends with FOREVER and they both remember each other and so now they are talking again. With her she has Mind the Gap and she is reading, she wasn't able to go to church with us, she said she had things to do but if we give her a call Sunday morning she would give us a yes or a no, we called her up and she said she was sick but promised us three times that she will be there next Sunday.

Family I want you to know how much I really love you and miss you. You guys mean the world to me. I am so grateful for the many wonderful things that you have done for me. I am so grateful for the wonderful family that I have been called to be apart. Thank you again for EVERYTHING!!!!!!!! 

Con Mucho Amor

Elder Musgo  

PS Brandon and Coleen thank you so much for that package two weeks ago I was so bad at remembering to write thank you last week but I wanted to make sure I said Thank you so much, I loved everything about it, I really enjoyed to be able to eat Taco Salad again, it really made miss being home. I love you guys so much and I want you to know how much I appreciate you, you have helped me change my life and I am so grateful for that.

PSS Corey I don't know if you see this, I imagine that you do but I have a question for you, my companion and I  we were contacting and we found this lady and we started talking to her and she said that the missionaries would always go by her House, she lives in El Paraiso, but she said yes one the Elders was from Colorado, but she didn't remember the name, so we continued to talk and then we gave her a card with our names and number and she saw my name and said that is him that was the name, so really quick do you remember 3 kids names "Edwin, Adileny, and Maillim Borrero???"

 

Soccer field - I miss playing soccer

Eating

Elder Moss

My "hump day" gift from home

Penguin decoration - I love penguins

A street named Colorado!

Week 15 in Ponce

Family and Friends

This week was great!!!! It was not an ordinary week, there was so much planning going into this week for us here in Ponce 2!!!! As you know we had a wonderful wedding on Friday and it was such a great experience and then Saturday we had a great Baptism, and I had the opportunity to baptize them both!!!!!! Then on Sunday we had the wonderful opportunity to confirm M and S members of the church and what made it better was that it was Ward Conference.

So I will go day by day really fast, So on Thursday we had Zone Conference and after that we had the opportunity to have two great Interviews with Elder Fox and he said they [M and S] were so ready to be baptized. So after that we had to set up the whole wedding, it was so nice to be able to help prepare for that. The decorations turned out really good!!!! 

 

After decorating we rushed to an appointment with [a different] M and she is doing good but we are realizing that she can't really improve if she won't come to church, so we explained to her that we won't be visiting as often but we let her know that we will be here to help if she asks and to continue to read the Book of Mormon. 

Friday today was the day right after we finished weekly planning we had to run to the Chapel so that we can get the cake inside and so the person could go get ready so we were in the Chapel waiting and M showed up looking super happy and was ready to get married!!!!! S didn't show up until 4ish and when she got there M was trying not to look at her right away because everyone told him he can't see her untill it was time to start!!!! But anyway it was a great ceremony and I have never been apart of such an amazing experience, I could feel that the Savior was there just smiling over these two as they were holding hands and said I do!!!! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday was even more of a special day!!!! There will always be challenges but that's ok that's what helps us to learn and grow. The day of the baptism almost everyone canceled on us and couldn't make it to the baptism but that's ok we got it planned out the best we could right at the end. lets just say I am so grateful for missionaries that can be ready for anything right on the spot!!! But other than that it was such a spiritual experience, I could really feel the Spirit. It was so cool M's mom showed up to the baptism and she was crying for a lot of it and now we have to send Elders of Ponce 1 to her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday another special day, we really got to feel the spirit, it was so cool to watch them [M and S] walk up to the front to get confirmed [members of the church] they walked up hand in hand and they just looked they were glowing!!!! It was even better because Elder Robinson had the wonderful opportunity to confirm them and boy did he do a great job.

So that is about it for our very busy week!!!! 

I love you guys so much and am so grateful for the amazing opportunity I have to be apart of this great family and group of friends I am so lucky to be apart of a living and working piece of our Heavenly Fathers Plan. 

Con Amor

Elder Musgo

 

Ponce: Week 14

Family and Friends

This week was a good week for Elder Robinson and I we are really trying to find those people that want this message in their lives. 

But this week we have also been really trying to prepare M and S for this weekend. This is such a great week for us over here. 

SO with them:

M is doing great he is really coming along and really wants this in his life!!! He has done everything he can and is ready to be apart of this church, he knows this is true and wants to bless his families lives!!!! He is doing great he is gaining a lot of friends through the church and really trying to understand the Gospel in his life.

S is also doing good but we have a question about her as well that she has been to church about 5 or 6 times through all of this and just these past couple of weeks she hasn't been able to make it, she has been working because M lost his job and now she is the only one working in the family. But thing with this is that she asked her boss if she could come in, in the morning and do some of her duties (she is a nurse on house calls) and then after church go back and finish the rest, but her boss told her no she has to do it all at once and said that she can't come in late, so I don't know what we should do about that. Other than that she is doing great.

They both are planning their wedding right now and it will be this Friday and then their Baptism this Saturday. Oh, with this they asked that I baptize them both and Elder Robinson to do the confirmation!!! I am so excited for this whole weekend.

Also this week we started to work in a new Area called El Paraiso and we have like 5 return appointments and a new investigator. This new investigator now has a baptismal date for the 19th of December!!!! It was really cool because Elder Robinson invited him and he answered yes really fast and so I re-invited him just to make sure he understood the question and he said yes I understand and I am sticking with my answer!!!!! I have never been so happy in my life he is such a great guy his name is E and he is about 71 years old but I know that the Lord prepares the way for everyone.

I love you guys and miss you so much and I am so happy to hear all are ok, minus Kenzie!!!! I love you all and Kenzie I am super sorry with what happened you are in my prayers and I love you so dearly!!!!! 

Con Amor

Elder Musgo

 

 

Week 13 in Ponce 2

Family and Friends

So for this week it wasn't a great week but it wasn't a bad week this transfer we have set new goals and we are really trying to get better at really trying to find those people that want to hear the gospel. 

So this week was really just about finding and really focusing on those that will hear us. I have realized that it is super hard to find those people that WANT to listen to our message but I know that nothing is IMPOSSIBLE with God. I have really come to learn the true meaning of having faith that God will help us with everything - all we have to do is our part. Its really exactly what we teach our investigators, we have to do the same thing as they do, we can't really invite people and expect them to do it or change if we aren't willing to do it also.

But with that our two baptismal dates are:

M and S - they are looking really good, it is a little hard with S as she is the only one bringing in money for the family and so she has been working a lot lately and with her job she works for a family and she does house calls to this Elderly sister and she takes care of her, and she has been called into work early so she can take care of her. But they are doing great, this past weekend we had a lesson with them and it just so happened that we were able to use the Stake President with them it was so cool to see him working with them and trying to help them all that he could. 

This is really all we have right now, but we are finding more people that are really ready to hear us. 

Oh M [different from the M above!] she is difficult - she is reading and praying but the problem is that she really doesn't leave the house she just always has excuses and I really don't know how we can help her with this. We have members calling her and visiting her but she just really doesn't want to do anything outside of the house.

This past weekend we had a Stake Conference it was so good, we had The Temple President here from Santo Domingo and we also had Elder Julio Acosta from the Seventy and the Area Presidency it was so good they talked a lot about Eternal Marriage and the Blessings in the temple!!!!!

After the Conference on Sunday we had M [first M from above] at the Conference and he had the wonderful opportunity to talk to President Flake (Temple President) President Boucher and Elder Acosta!!!!!!! It was so cool I just felt so blessed to be there present for those conversations!!!!!

I love this Gospel so much and grateful for all of you guys!!!!!!

I miss you so much and can't wait to hear from you next week!!!!

Con Amor

Elder Musgo

Moss y Lopez

Moss y Lopez

Walking down the street

Walking down the street

Street Iguana - look at the claws/nails/talons?

Dog

Week 12 in Ponce 2

Family and Friends

This week was a little harder for us but we are doing great we are really working now on trying to find those people that are ready for us. We have come to realize that we have to find the people that have truly been prepared to hear the Gospel. Sadly we had to let a family go or give them their space right now but that's just because it wasn't their time. 

But for our week with the investigators that we have...

M and S!!!!! They are doing great there is only one thing that we are working on with them is coming to church we have talked to them about the importance of church and the importance of the Sacrament but they are still having trouble with not working on Sunday. But other than that they are doing great!!! They are reading they are praying and they are working on their papers to get married so we will be having a marriage and two baptisms for sure this month. I am so excited to be able to help these amazing people to come closer to Christ. 

Next we have M (not the same M as above) she is doing okay she is reading and praying but she doesn't really want to leave the house. We have been thinking about it and we don't think it is her son because she doesn't leave her house to go shopping she has her family do it for her. So we are going to really focus on her and see how we can help her be comfortable to leave the house. This past weekend the other Elders had a baptism and we had the member invite M to it and she said yes and that she would pick her up to go the baptism so we were so ready for her to come and then on Friday around 4 we received a call saying that M can't go because her son left the House and was far away from the home? So we are thinking there is a little bigger problem that we don't know about. 

I was talking to Elder Fox on how we can find those people that are ready to hear our message and he gave us so great advice more like a talk, the talk about becoming a Challenging and Testifying Missionary and I began to read that and I really noticed that all we really have to do is rely on the Spirit and just testify of the things that we know. Just like how Elder Christensen was talking to us about the Holy Ghost it is really here to guide us and it will testify to the people we are taking to.

Con Amor

Elder Musgo

P.S this past Saturday we had Elder Cornish and Elder Christensen come and speak to the mission and man was it awesome!!!!!

P.S.S transfers just happened and I will be staying here in Ponce for at least 6 more weeks with Elder Robinson and Elder Fox and he will be training AGAIN!!!!!

P.S.S.S Remember Elder Boggess yeah he is a Zone Leader!!!!!!! 

 

 

Elder Moss

Elders Moss, Fox, y Hermana Keuhl

Moss y Hermana Keuhl

Ponce Firehouse - miniature

Ponce Firehouse - Normal size

 

 

Week 11 in Ponce 2

Me in my suit

Family and Friends

What a week!!!! I love it here in Ponce!!!! I am learning so much and we are trying to improve as missionaries. 

This week we really focused on how we can get the right members to help us with our investigators. This took a lot of praying and actually fasting. But we found them!!!!!!

It was so cool so first off we have...

M and S  - and they are rocking it they are doing everything now it was so cool first off Elder Fox and Elder Lopez had a Family Home evening thing with some of there investigators and some members and so they called us up and asked us if they could invite them so Elder Robinson and I talked about it and said go for it, they invited them and it helped M so much he really wants to get baptized. After this the next day there was an activity for our ward and the member asked us for their number to invite them and so they both showed up to the activity and really enjoyed it and are making a lot of friends, after this there was actually another activity for the stake and M showed up (S was going to come but there was an emergency at work) so M got talking to the Stake President and made friends with him and just went and enjoyed everyone's company. The next day was Sunday and M and S both showed up at church!!!!!!!! It was awesome they participate in the classes its so cool to see the ward help us. Later that night we had a lesson with them and we went to a members house and he is a Sealer in the Temple in the Dominican Republic temple and it just so happened that we were talking about Marriage, Temples and Priesthood. They really helped us and you could just feel the Spirit so strong in that house. 

Next we have a sister named M and boy did the Spirit really tell us who to use. We were sitting in her house and we were talking and all of a sudden 7 gun shots went off and M started to freak out because she didn't know where her son was, she got a hold of him on the phone and so the member stood up gave her a big hug and sat down with her and so M had her face in her hands and was crying so the member looked at me and said I am going to say a prayer, after the prayer we just sat and listened to the Spirit and I got the Impression to Sing "Abide with me Tis Eventide" and in the Second verse it talks about how, if we walk with the Savior, He will give us peace in our lives. M really liked the song after this we shared with her our testimonies and the member gave her her number and told her to call her whenever she need help with anything. After the lesson we asked M to say the Closing prayer and in her prayer she said "thank you God for giving me my new friend and for protecting my son." That was one of the most powerful lessons I have been in here in my mission, I am so grateful for the Spirit and the way it helped us to have a member in that lesson. 

Lastly we have P and L and family and things aren't looking so good. they aren't reading and they are keeping any of there commitments. We have asked them to come to Church and every week they say Yes but then Sunday comes a long and we give them a call and none of them answer their Phone so we always pass by their house and see what is going and how come they didn't come to church and for 3 weeks in a row they have told us that they are having car problems and they can't make it, but the sad part about all of this is that we see them driving in their car that same day. But we are just showing love for them and really try to find out what we can do to help them. We have had different members invite them even and they just don't show up. 

This is what happened this week I am so grateful for this Gospel and all that it has done for me. I know that the Lord is watching out for me. I can really testify now that Prayer and Fasting really help when trying to get the right answers!!!!

I love you all and I am grateful for all that you guys do for me.

There has been a lot of rain here and it is SOOOOO AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!

Con Amor

Elder Musgo

After the rains

Ponce

Love my girl glasses

Same girl glasses

I'm really tall

Really, really tall!

Or maybe they are short?!?!