From: Cade Mooney <cade.mooney@myldsmail.net>
Date: Mon, Jul 9, 2012 at 4:16 PM
Subject: ¡Hola!
Family and friends,
I had a HUGE email typed up (I typed it up in Word cuz I was uploading pictures at the same time) and then the lady at the internet café accidentally canceled my session and I lost all of it… I´m SUPER sorry. I am completely out of time. And I have nothing to show for it. Sorry.
But we had a great lesson with a family last Monday, and it sparked an Idea.
We watched the Joseph Smith movie and then they all committed to pray and ask if the Book of Mormon was true and if Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God. The spirit was SO strong!
So my Idea: I want you guys (for my family this is required, but everyone else PLEASE PARTICIPATE!) to have a family home evening this Sunday night (so dad can be there) and watch the Joseph Smith movie. Then I want you each to write me a letter and tell me what the Restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints means to you personally.
Then you can make Banana smoothies and have Rice and beans for dinner and it will be like you´re all here with me! J
I love you all! I hope everything is going well! I miss you like crazy!
God Speed.
Love,
Elder Cade Mooney
*******
Snail mailed letter dated July 10, 2012
I figured I should rewrite the email that I lost yesterday when the lady canceled my internet session. So I'll give it my best shot! :)
This week has been kind of a roller coaster! Tons of spiritual ups, but they came with their fair share of physical downs.
I'll start with the downs so we can end on a high note. ;)
First off, the weather this week has been NUTS! We've had at least on thunderstorm everyday all week. It will be sunny and hot like normal, then within like 5 minutes the sky is black and it's POURING rain. On Wednesday it rained so much that we ended up having to take a 20 minute detour up and around through a neighborhood cuz it rained so much that the main street (Independencia) was full of water and if we walked our normal route we would have been wading. Ha.
But don't worry, when it's not raining, it's still blazing hot. It's been in the 90s lately with 1000% humidity. Definitely roller coaster status.
Also, even with all the rain, the water didn't come all week so because the cisterna (the big hole in the ground downstairs that we get all our water from) was so low, our bomba (water pump) hose couldn't reach the water. So we had to use a bucket for EVERYTHING. After this week, I'm definitely grateful for the cold, yet running water we usually have. lol.
Ha. Funny story: Elder Brezack took a poop one morning and was too lazy to go fetch the water to flush it; so he left it in the toilet ALL day. It smelled SO BAD when we got home that night. It was disgusting/hilarious. Haha.
On the upside: we had a couple really great lessons that sparked some fun thoughts. Last Monday we had a Noche de Hogar with Aris and her boys, Yon-Carlos and Fanco. We watched the Joseph Smith movie with them and discussed the Restoration and the bringing forth of the Book of Mormon with them. It was in that lesson, during the movie, that the FHE with the JS movie/send letters to Cade idea came to me. :)
Then, on Saturday, we went to visit a member family (the Guzmans. I'm pretty sure if my mom wasn't so cool, I'd trade her for Hermana Guzman. Ha.) to share a short message and ask for a reference. When we "share a short message" we always just use the "scripture of the day" which is just what we studied that morning. Si I shared Mosiah 16:9 and talked about how if we focus on Christ (the Light of the World), we'll never lose our way.
It was a simple thought, but it made me start thinking. I remembered that Pete's Dragon movie, where at the end the light on the lighthouse goes out cuz it gets wet. And they're all frantically trying to get it lit again cuz there's a ship coming into the shore, and if they don't get the light re-lit, the boat will crash on the rocks.
Well, in Spanish it uses the word "Extinguished" instead of the word "Darkened." So, the analogy works better in Spanish. Ha. But it was a really cool testimony builder for me; that we have a light in a light house that can "never be [extinguished]" and if we set our course towards Him, He'll guide us through the storms, and the maze of deadly rocks and coral reefs that relentlessly try to claim our souls. In reality, He'll guide us Home.
Another upside: We had 2, not one but TWO, intercambios this week. On Wednesday, Elder Brezack (our District Leader) surprised us and took me on an intercambio, and he had me lead our area. So I did, and he just kinda came along for the ride. He had me teach the majority of our lessons; he did his part, testified of my words, and let me do the rest. It was really cool! I felt capable and competent without my trainer. Ha. I can do this missionary thing!
Then on Friday, we had intercambios with the CCM. It was fun to see those kids from this side of the transition from Trainee to Missionary. Ha. I can't believe I was in their shoes just 6 weeks ago.
We got put with Elder Sams. He's a convert of 2 years from Las Vegas, NV. He was super cool. Ha.
For the intercambio we (Elder Pemberton and I) split up, so we could cover more ground. I took Elder Sams on the hike up to Cafe, taught a progressing investigator family, taught 2 first lessons, and did some contacting (He got to experience just about all there is to experience in the mission field. Ha) Elder Pemberton took Alejandro (a 19 year-old member that just got his mission call to Mexico) and went to the other side of our area to teach Victor (our investigator that's getting baptized next Saturday) and a couple other lessons. Then we met back up and took Elder Sams back to the chapel, and finished our day. :) It was really good to feel confident in leading my area with a greener-than-greeny, and it was also really fun to see how fare I've come since I left the CCM.
Overall it was a great week!
I hope you're all doing well and lovin' the summer time!
I miss you guys a ton!
Love you!
Love,
Elder Mooney
P.S. So you can eat like a Dominican:
Beans: cut up a medium purple onion, 2 cloves of garlic, a crushed bullion cube, and some diced cilantro. Saute it all together in some veggie oil at the bottom of a pot. then add a can of red pinto beans and a cans worth of water. Bring to a boil; let simmer for 10 minutes. Serve over white rice.
Banana Bebiras (smoothies): Fill blender 3/4 way full of ice; add 5 whole bananas, fill to the top of the ice with milk. Add sugar and vanilla to taste. Add some sweetened condensed milk to make it creamy. Blend 'til smooth.
Juice: Pick a fruit (mango is best :) , cut it up, blend together with a little water and sugar. You can add milk, if you want it creamy. Then strain out the chunks/pulp with a mesh strainer. :)
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