Everyone staying in Joaçaba

This week was a good week and it went by fast. Our investigators are starting to make friends at church so that is awesome! Then we got the call from the APs on Friday, and it’s awesome all four of us in the apartment are staying here Joacaba.

This week we had family home evening (FHE) with Alex and Claudia, Edson and Vanusa, Elisa, Loren, and Carlos, so we had 4 investigators there, it was awesome! It’s funny you mentioned playing those games at Hayden’s Farewell, because we also played those games at the different FHE that we had. We played “Oogaa Buga Buga” and “Chinese Writing”, and “Pin the Tail on the Donkey”. It was super funny and awesome, we laughed a lot and they loved it.

You know I am truly glad that I am on the mission, it is the best place I can be at this very moment. And I love Joaçaba! This place and the members and the people are just awesome.

It was a good week, we still have a lot of work to do, but we taught some great lessons, and the spirit was strong and the investigators felt it and understood and knew what we were teaching them is the true gospel of Jesus Christ. This week we also found some great families to teach, so that is always great. We taught Edson and Vanusa about the talk I discussed last week “The profile of a prophet”. We also had lunch at a members house who has a son who is really into the football and the NFL. So he let me know what was going on with some signings and about the upcoming draft. So that was cool to talk with him about.

It’s starting to get a little cold now in the morning and night, so we have started to wear sweaters every now and then.

Here is a great talk that I studied this week from President Eyring entitled “We Are One”. Please read/watch it. It is a great talk!

Remember JESTO and truly enjoying the ride of life, and become who our Heavenly Father knows we can become!

Strive to be a celestial family each day!

Love you all
Elder JT Moore

We made hamburgers today for lunch.

This is a bread things are called Esfinhos, an investigator made them for us, they are super good and have a shredded chicken and veggie stuff 

Look mom I am eating a tomato, haha no it's a fruit called kaki

Our zone shirts we made

We bought another meter long pizza after our district meeting

Picture from the hill we just climbed of the city

A baby lizard that decide to join us for our companion studies

The mission is a roller coaster

Well the mission is a roller coaster that is for sure. You have great weeks, good weeks, and then hard weeks. This week honestly was one of the hard weeks, at least 3-4 appointments fell through, a few baptism dates moved to the right, and we had a few baptismal invites that were rejected. Our biggest problem is making sure these investigators have good friends from church to help them with progress. So this week is family home evening week haha that should help out a lot! Honestly, it isn’t that bad, we are working hard and the people are cool! The members are awesome; we just need to make sure those we have been teaching have friends to help them through the door of baptism. In fact we were just given a list of elders in the ward that want to go out with us and when they are available, so we are going to try to set a lot more appointments for that.

Justin, hey man thank you so much for recordings each week, they are awesome, there are honestly a lot of other missionaries who have brothers and sisters that don’t write or do anything, so thank you so much! I hope you are really working hard in school and in seminary. I promise that the more you pay attention in seminary it will help you in your mission. Also I want you to remember about the movie you talked to me about, the kids with nothing living on a dollar and stuff and how grateful you are. Always be grateful for what you have, you don’t know how well you have it man, the mission was a big eye opener for me about A LOT OF THINGS I took for granted. Also always remember that each week you have to prepare to bless the sacrament, that it is super important, that you should strive to have the spirit with you throughout the week, doing good things and prepare each week for the special and sacred duty. I love you so much man.

Please read this talk, it was a great thing I studied this week in English and en espanol

Also watch this video, it was one of my most favorite talks by Elder Bednard "Bearing our Burdens with Hope"

Happy Birthday Mom i love you sooo much. I hope you have a great day and enjoy it and know that I will be thinking of you. Thank you so much for being a great mom and teaching me sooo many things, I am honestly grateful you, you and dad are amazing parents. I hope I can be as great of a parent as you two. Thank you so much for loving and caring for me. I can honestly feel your guys love so much here in Joaçaba. I am grateful for you guys soo much. Mom, mama, mãe I hope you have uma feliz aniversario, feliz cumpleanos, and happy birthday!

Love you all
Elder JT Moore

Lunch at Zone Conference

Elder Choate and I

A look out our balcony at Joacaba

A little brazilian dessert

For my mom on her B-day

For the best mom a missionary could ever have

Growing because of our weaknesses

Things are going great here in Joacaba, E. Choate is progressing quickly with the language. Working with him I am honestly amazed at how far I have come, I remember when I was in Criciuma and would get frustrated not knowing how to explain something or not saying a lot in a lesson, and now who would've have thought that I am able to carry on small talk when we meet someone and get to know them and then be able to share a message to someone! The gift of tongues is real without a doubt! I definitely have a lot more to learn though, but I am honestly glad with the progress.

Oh so Joao got baptized! We were able to teach him when I was with E. Cardenas and we were able to mark him for baptism. It was awesome to see him get baptized! He is a great young man! We have Elisa who is an amazing young women she is the younger sister of Carlos (who just has the exam left for his mission papers!) And she only has 12 years old but she is super cool! She said she wanted to get baptized but when we gave a date she got a little nervous but we will keep working at it. Also Edson and Vanusa who have gone to church for more than a year are coming close. They are getting all of the paperwork taking care of so they can get married, then they will be ready to be baptized. Also Antonio and Girley are doing great honestly the only thing is them having an answer about the Book of Mormon.

So here is the funny story for the week; We were out making contacts and talking to people about the church. We were alternating every other one so E. Choate would get lots of practice. When I make contacts I like to say,”Have you ever talked to missionaries like us before?” So, Elder Choates goes to talk to this lady and he tries to say Voce ja falou com missionarios como nos alguma ves (Have you already talked to missionaries like us before) but he got a little nervous and rambled it a little and it came out like.. Voce fala ingles. Do you speak English? The lady looked super confused, it was super funny, afterwards we laughed about it for a long time hahaha. s. #LearningaNewLanguageProbs.

I have been studying a lot Alma 22, honestly a great chapter on how to be a better missionary! Also, please go back and read the Priesthood talks by President Monson, Eyring and Utchdorf, they were some great talks.

One thing I have learned out here is that I am very grateful for my weaknesses, I know I am very weak but truly they are what help be become stronger. I know that as I overcome my weaknesses and listen to the Lord, I become what my Father in Heaven wants me to become. I know I have a longgggggggg way to go, but the most important thing isn't how much progress I am making, but that I am moving forward. I know he Lives and Loves me and is helping me! He is our Father at the end of ALL we can do his grace--> his love--> His Son Jesus Christ---> The Atonement can truly cure and change us. I love you all so much the Holy Ghost testifies of these things which I know are true. Have a great week and remember GESTO!

Love you all,
Elder JT Moore

P.S. I Hope all goes well how are both Yayo and Grandpa and their knee surgeries.

At lunch with the Elders from our apartment

A picture of Joacaba

One of my favorite foods

Here we are at the apartment

Breakfast at Zone Conference

The Currant Bush

This week was a little disorganized but it was good! We left Joacaba at 11 pm and got into Floripa at 6:30 am. We were on a really nice bus, with a blanket and pillow, and were able to sleep the whole way there. Elder Cardenas and I picked up our new companions. My companion is Elder Choate from Fullerton, California he was serving in Detroit he has been out almost 6 months, he is super awesome and I enjoy working with him. The biggest difficulty for him is the language, but its only been 6 days, and he will learn it quick. My biggest challenge will be not speaking English and helping him learn. Members here are amazing they bought us chocolates for Easter! It is a great branch to serve in.

So some of the people we are teaching are Elisa, she is the sister of Carlos, and she is progressing awesome, she is only 12 but reads everything we leave and is super dedicated. Also Jose and Luci who we have been teaching will be moving soon to another city in another state. It is a small city so that is really sad but we are going to try to pass the reference, but from what they said I don't think the church is there yet, so it is sad to see them leave. We've had some great lessons with them and it was honestly so rewarding at the end of the lessons when you saw that things started clicking for them and things made sense and the spirit testified that it was true! Antonio and Girley are going good! I honestly feel everything is ready, they just have to get an answer about the Book of Mormon and they are ready. They are super awesome. Also we have Loren, and every missionary that meets her thinks she is already a member because of how much she knows. Whomever is here in November for her birthday will be a lucky person to be able to baptize her. We are also trying to work with Edson and Vanusa, we didn't have a ton of time to visit them with E. Cardenas because they live far away, but we are definitely going to take time to focus on them now.

I honestly am really happy! I loved General Conference! I definitely saw the importance of families being stressed. Dad I agree, Elder Holland’s talk was one of my favorites. Justin you need to watch and read Elder Ballard’s talk in the priesthood session, it is a great one for everyone preparing for a mission. I also really liked Bishop Gérald Caussé talk.Elder Dallin H Oaks was super awesome, and I loved that President Monson talked about the temples which was great, and President Uchtdorf’s talk in priesthood was a really good one too!

Estou muito grato por esta tempo de servir o Senhor eu sei que realemente esta vida estamos aqui para tornar-nos mais como nosso Pai Celestial, sou muito grato pela Graça do Senhor --> Amor do Senhor --> A Expiação de Cristo, O Maior acto de amor de toda humandade, nunca vou conseguir entender todo mas sou muito grato por ele. Por meio Dele nos podemos voltar a presença de nosso Pai Celesital e ter uma Familia para todo Eternedade se fizemos nosso parte amo voce e lembrar like Elder Oaks talk which type of soil is our heart for receiving the seed.

Here is a talk that I have read multiple times, it has really helped me out here on the mission. It is a talk by Elder Hugh B. Brown called “The Currant Bush”

Love you all,
Elder J.T. Moore

E. Cardenas and I on our trip to Floripa

Our new companions

One of favorite things is getting Ice Cream

Elder Choate and I out in Joacaba

Got another package from home with some rice krispies treats

Easter Chocolates

Chocolates that the members made for us, they are awesome

Easter in Joacaba

Lunch at our apartment, delicious

Happy Easter from Joacaba

Happy Easter from Brazil