Letter from Tacoma #67: February 6, 2017

I looked out the window, and what did I see?

​Snow! Snow Everywhere!!

It started last night, raining while we were out working, but the rain gradually became snow as it fell. It had been snowing for a couple of hours when we turned in for the night, and it kept coming throughout the night. And it is still snowing as I write this now.

This morning we couldn't actually get out of the driveway because a tree had fallen over in the night, blocking the driveway right before it reaches the road. However, our landlady had a chainsaw, which she allowed us to use, and we got it all chopped up and moved in a few minutes.

My week went pretty well:

Monday: Usual P-Day, hung out at the church, played some games. We played Dodgeball and I still can't throw a ball very well. But everytime I tried, I just laughed it off and kept going. It was fun.

Tuesday: It was a good day of work. The Silverdale 2nd elders came over for exchanges with the ZL's, so I was out working with Elder Gerber all day. We didn't find any new investigators, but we definitely knocked a lot of doors.

Wednesday: District Meeting, we talked a lot about dilligence in missionary work, and how the Lord blesses us when we are working at our very best all the time. He blesses us for the effort, but even more so when we think things through and work in the most productive ways, too. After the meeting, Elder Gerber and I helped a guy named John chop some wood. He has a ton of trees on his property, so he often cuts them down when someone is in need of firewood. So we helped him saw apart the trunk of a tree, and he had a gas-powered wood splitter which we used to split it into firewood. It was a lot of fun. I've noticed that ever since I've been out doing this work, I enjoy it, but it becomes monotonous and manual labor is a nice break from it.

Thursday: Weekly Planning. As always, Thursdays are usually the most ineffective day of the week. Not a lot happened because we were planning for the first week of the new transfer ahead. Also we made our predictions for transfer calls, and where everybody in the zone is going to go.

Friday: Elders Pisciotta and Simkins went to Missionary Leadership Council down in Tacoma, so again I worked with Elder Gerber all day. And hey, I got my package today!

Funny story: On Thursday, a package was waiting for us on the doorstep when we got back. I was so excited, but then I saw that it was for Elder Simkins. He wasn't even expecting one. Then on Friday, in the afternoon, we had to stop by the apartment, and we found a package waiting for us. I thought for sure that it would be for me, but no. This time it was for Elder Gerber. The anticipation was killing me for the past few days, yet everyone else was getting packages that they weren't even expecting? What the crap!?

But then, later that day, probably only two hours later, we run back to the apartment and find that another package was waiting... and it wasn't for me either.

Just kidding, that one was my package. Mom and Dad sent me a birthday card and a new game that I wanted: Munchkin Legends (Deluxe: which means it came with a board for the game, too). Thanks so much for the birthday present! We played it last night as a companionship and it was so fun!

That night, the Brownsville Ward had a Ward Game Night. They played all sorts of games from Jeopardy, to Scavenger Hunting. At the end of the night, the youth got together and played Quidditch!

​Harrison joined in for it. He's the Keeper on the far right.

​Yeah, us missionaries joined in, too. I played from the sidelines by passing the Snitch across the room with a few other people, keep the Seekers chasing after it. It was a lot of fun, very chaotic though as always. Kind of made me miss the Quidditch that Maeser Prep played.

Saturday: My Birthday. I am officially 20 years old... that's weird. We didn't really do anything for my birthday, just because the whole day was really busy. But to make up for it, today Elder Gerber and I are going out to Trapper's Sushi Bar. It's all you can eat in an hour and it's so good! Maybe I'll have to do a "Foodie post" on it like Kylie does.

On Saturday, Harrison was supposed to be baptized, but he had procrastinated talking to his parents, his sister, and his girlfriend about it. But now he's gotten it all taken care of. He's on date for baptism this Saturday. His girlfriend is catholic and she was supportive of his baptism at first, but she wanted him to go to the catholic church with her first before he makes the final decision. He agreed, but he told us that he already knew that the catholic church wasn't true. (That's always a silent victory whenever an investigator says that).

However, we did get to see a baptism on Saturday still. There were two youth from the Silverdale 1st Ward that were getting baptized, so we got to watch that. It was very nice, and their families invited some non-member relatives to it. The spirit is always so strong during baptisms.

That evening we went to the adult session of Stake Conference. Elder Murray of the Seventy was presiding, and I really liked the message he shared. He talked about how between every stimulus and reaction, there is a space there. In that space is where we make the choice of how we react to something. We shouldn't be lying to ourselves by saying getting angry at something is 'just who we are'. We have control over our agency, and through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can receive help and strength to be able to seize that moment before we react and decide to do as the Lord would do in that moment. We must always be acting and reacting out of love and charity, out of patience and humility.

Sunday: Stake Conference. Elder Murray spake again, and this time he talked about the Hokey-Pokey. A bit strange, but the message was great. At the end of the Hokey-Pokey, it talks about putting your whole self in, or your whole self out. It resembles life when following Christ's example; Many of us merely put 'one hand in' or 'one leg in and shake it all about', but to truly come unto Christ, we need to put our whole self into the action. We need to be fully dedicated to following the Savior, and not 'keep a leg in the world while we're trying to step into heaven'.

It was a very inspiring Stake Conference, probably one of the best I've been to.

That evening was the super bowl, and it was raining, which turned to snowing as it got dark. So basically none of us were really anxious to go out and work that night. So, instead we visited members, who weren't watching the game, thankfully. We probably got more done in those visits than we would have knocking on doors.

That's all from me. I love you all!

Thanks for reading,

-Elder R. Austin Moe

Wa-Tac Missionary