Isaiah 55:8-9 -- Monday, October 28, 2013

"8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.
 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."

Well... I think I memorized that scripture back in seminary... lol. Or at least learned it well enough to recite it for my teacher and then forget it a few hours later... ha. But It didn't really click til this week that the Lord truly is in control. His ways are NOT our ways. He is on a higher plane, and His perspective is far greater than ours. In fact, He can see the WHOLE picture. And being the perfect being that He is, He can make all the pieces match up in just the way we need them to in order to learn and progress. He is in charge; we just have to trust him. :)

Now, to fill you in on all the events that led to the conclusion above... ha. 

Last week I wrote you all a letter as a sad, confused, little missionary. My companion and I had recently gotten over our differences, and we'd really become ONE as a companionship. We had some incredible plans for our area and for our zone. Obviously we knew transfers were coming, and there's always a possibility that one of the two of us could be moved, but we felt pretty secure with the work we were doing and the progress we were seeing as a zone... But low and behold, transfer calls came and I was told I was leaving my beautiful, beach front Barahona for an undetermined destination. I was shocked, and heart broken, but spent the night praying that I'd be able to handle any and all new challenges that the transfer might bring. 

Me with my family! Carlos, Karen, Jonathan, Pavel, and Vida
10/21/13

On Monday night I said all my goodbyes, my companion and I had one final adventure together (see pics! ha. HUGE rain storm), and eight short hours later I was on a bus to the capital. I got to see some missionary friends and talk about all the crazy changes that were happening this transfer along the way, and then WHAAMMM. I met my new companion. ha. His name is Ricardo Medrano... but don't be deceived. He's a straight up Gringo from Bountiful Utah. haha. He's been in the field for 6 weeks, and because of some heath issues and some disobedient missionaries, he and I have been white washed into Manoguayabo B. For those of you that don't know what white wash means... Find an RM near you! ha. 

Me with Lisept and Rogelio 10/21/13

The potato casserole Karen made me as a going away present. :)

One last adventure with Elder Mendoza 10/21/13

Transfers are always fun... ha. 10/22/13

Seeing that my companion and his trainer didn't have their full, allotted time together, it's my job to finish training him. And seeing that neither of us have ever worked in this area before... thus far it's been an adventure! :) The members here have been SO helpful in showing us around, and helping us to find some old investigators from missionaries in the past. I've spent the last 6 days working harder than I've ever worked, and praying my little heart out for the Lord's help with all this. My goal this last week was to have a decent investigator pool up and going by Sunday, and to have at least 2 or 3 people come to church... Well, God must've believed me when I told Him I'd give him my all if He'd help us out, cuz He's sure worked miracles this week! We had FIVE investigators in church yesterday, and we've got a full schedule from today til Thursday! 

My new companion, Ricardo Medrano 10/22/13

My new chapel 10/22/13

My new area 10/24/13

Oh, did I mention the members?? ha. Well they're AMAZING! We've had a member go out with us almost every day this week to show us around and to introduce us to their friends. :) Plus, the leadership in our ward is unreal! On the first night here we passed by the Bishop's house to meet him, and he offered me a blessing to welcome me into the ward and to bless me in my work here in Manoguayabo. They are all SO supportive and helpful! The Elders Quorum President spent an hour and a half with us (and the other two elders that serve in our ward) on Wednesday night to help us divide our area, and orient ourselves a little bit on Google maps. :) Then, yesterday morning he met with us again to have us report on our progress, and to assign us some less active families to visit. :) 

I love our Heavenly Father. :) I know He's there and I know He qualifies the weak. It's been SO amazing to see how He's been preparing me for this over the last 18 months. I really feel like Manoguayabo is MY area. Being white washed is hard, but it also offers a clean slate. And training a new missionary means that I can help him become the best missionary he can be as the Lord helps me do the same. I feel like it's all coming together. This is my time! I was asked to give a last minute talk yesterday in Sacrament meeting, and as I testified of the enabling power of the atonement my heart about exploded. Christ IS there. He knows EXACTLY what we're going through, and He knows how to help us through it because He knows the way. He IS the way. I know that if we rely on Him, and trust that His ways are not our ways, but that He always has our best interest in mind, everything will be all right. He loves us, and He wants what's best for us. 

I love and miss you all. More than you can even imagine. I love being a missionary, and though last week I wasn't 100% sure... I KNOW I'm where I'm right where HE wants me to be right now. 

Love, 

Elder Cade Mooney

My beautiful DR 10/25/13

Adiós, mi Querida Barahona... -- Monday, October 21, 2013

Hey guys. 

I realize I just bombarded you with photos... Ha. Now I'll do my best to fill you in on all the fun in the time I still have left online. :)

This week was probably the best week of my mission thus far. I was on cloud nine ALL week long. :) The seasons are changing (obviously it's not as drastic for me as it is for you people, but still), so we haven't been suffering nearly as much from the sun and the heat. :) On top of the temperature change, we had/did all kinds of great stuff this week! :)

Our district (Elder Mendoza, me, Elder Dowdle, and Elder Alvarado) 10/15/2013

Fotos de La Zona: emailed ~ MI querida zona de Barahona. Les extrañaré mucho.
Sigan pa' lante, siempre confiando en el Señor. Se Me Cuidan. -Elder Mooney 10/16/2013

My comp and I with Elder De Leon (I think I sent a picture a few weeks back that I said was of Elder De Leon and I.. ha. But it wasn't. It was of Elder Cardenas and I. So this is the real Elder De Leon.) 10/16/2013

Beautiful Barahona 10/17/2013

I'll start by explaining all the food pictures... ha. This last month we made a deal with the devil. hahaha! Well actually, it was a deal with a nice, old lady that is a member of the neighboring branch. She has a colmador that's right by our house, and she told us that she would be willing to cook us lunch everyday for a month. She promised us lots of variety, and the price was beyond reasonable, so we agreed. haha... Well, true to Dominican form, the word "variety" to her means rice, beans and meat prepared in different ways. For example, one day she would send us rice with beans on the side, the next day was beans mixed in with the rice, the next day was chicken mixed in with the rice, and so on... ha. At least when we cook for ourselves we can switch things up a bit, and we can control how much oil we use to cook the food and stuff. When the Hermana cooked for us, we were subject to her will! Let's just say, my intestines may never be the same... lol. 

Elder Mendoza's Special lunch: Arroz Árabe,
Un Guisado de vegetales, y Pollo Horneado. 10/18/2013

Anyway. Monday was the last day of the deal, and we were all DYING for some real, home cooked foods. So this week we all took turns making "special meals." :) 

Elder Alvarado made Pineapple Burgers (sorry, I didn't get a picture of that one...), Elder Mendoza made an oven baked chicken with stuffing and some Arabic rice, I made chef salad (with ALL the fixins, as dad would say) with an eggplant casserole on the side, and Elder Dowdle made tacos. :) Of course we all helped each other out and took turns washing dishes and all that. ha. It was legit. As far as comida rica goes, this week tops the charts!

my special lunch: chef salad with egg plant casserole.
ha. :) The casserole is a Dominican thing.  10/19/2013

Elder Dowdle's special lunch: Tacos with Dominicanized,
Aunt-Wendy-Style, homemade salsa 10/20/2013

Besides the cool temperatures and good food, guess what else happened this week?! That's right folks, Carlos and Karen were baptized! I can't even tell you how happy I am about it! It was PERFECT!!!!!!! Guys, I know God's up there, and it's clear He loves this family, because I have literally NEVER had a wedding and/or baptism go so smoothly! On Friday we met up with them at the Judicial Building to be the witnesses for the marriage, and then on Saturday we all got together at the chapel for their baptism. :) I think I told you last week that Jonathan (Karen's son from her first marriage), was ordained a priest, so he was able to baptize his mom. Oh man you guys... I can't even tell you what it was like. Carlos and I were standing in the little stairwell of the baptismal font, and as we watched Jonathan recite the baptismal prayer and lower his mom into the water I literally thought I was going to explode. The Spirit was so strong! It filled me to the brim! And even started coming out my eye balls! ha. Yeah.. Big baby. But really. I love our church. I know it's true. Not only because it makes sense in my head, but because of how I feel. The Spirit is undeniable. 

After Carlos and I took our turn gettin' wet, we finished the baptismal service, and finished off the evening at their house for Arroz con Leche. :) Just so you all know, that's Elder Mooney's favorite Dominican dessert. :) The weekend literally couldn't have been more perfect! I LOVE BEING ON THE LORD'S TEAM!!!!!!!!! 

Carlos and Karen: Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints!! 10/19/2013

Celebrating with Arroz con Leche after the Baptism 10/19/2013

Then, last night we got transfer calls. Seeing that everything went so perfectly this weekend, and we had an unbelievably spiritual day yesterday, I kinda felt like something weird was gonna happen with transfers... And... It did. ha. I am leaving my beautiful Zone of Barahona behind, and heading to an unknown area (Pres doesn't tell us where we're going anymore. He just lets us know that we're leaving so we can get packed, and then they tell us details a few hours before we leave). I love this Zone and my investigators here in the pueblo with my whole heart. It's gonna be hard to say goodbye. I don't completely understand why the Lord would take me away from here (especially because my companion has been here for 7.5 months already... We were sure HE would be the one getting transferred)... But I trust that He's in charge and that wherever He sends me, He will qualify me to do whatever He needs me to do. At the moment I'm looking back with tears in my eyes, but looking forward with hope and anxiety for what this new horizon will bring. 

The back of the house 10/21/2013

The final "cherry on top" to the perfect week was a visit to a GIANT mansion we took this morning. :) The husband of one of the most active members in our branch isn't even slightly interested in the church, so my companion and I have been trying to gain his confidence in order to start teaching him... ha. And we found his soft spot. Houses and Architecture. 

He's actually a lawyer, and he has TONS of money because of it, but his dream was always to be an engineer and build houses. So now that he's retired he just does what Grandpa does, but instead of cars, he buys and remodels/builds mansions! haha. SO legit. We told him that if either one of us got transferred, we wanted to see the house he's working on before we left, so he piled us in the back of his truck this morning and took us up the mountain. It was amazing! As you can see from the pictures it's gigantic, and has a view like no other. Sadly, he (Hno David) has his heart set on the things of this world. He's all about leaving behind a legacy, and doesn't worry much about the life that is to come. But, my companion and whoever comes to take my place will keep working with him and I'm sure he'll come around. :)

The spanish patio, and the stairwells down to the pool.

A cool angle of the stairwells and the pool

The front of the mansion

Hno David and I. The man who made it all. 10/21/2013

I don't know if you all understand how much I love being a missionary. I know this is where I belong, and I thank the Lord every single night for this opportunity. I love you all so very much, and also thank the Lord every night for your love and support. 

Don't ever forget who you are. The mansions of this world don't even compare to those that Christ is preparing for us. 

Keep your eye on the prize. 

Love, 

Elder Cade Mooney

P.S. A shout out to Dylan, congrats on the mish man! Love you!

And way to go Drew and Ariel! You guys look great! Ariel, welcome to the Mooney clan! We love you! And I can't wait to meet you! 

Buenas Tardes desde La República Dominicana! -- Monday, October 14, 2013

Hello beautiful family of mine! It sounds like your week was awesome! Congrats to Chazzerazz and Trev Trev on taking the plunge! That decision is the best decision you'll ever make! Now you're both perfectly clean! So don't screw up! lol. Just kidding. 

My week was great as well. :) Have I ever said otherwise? No! Because every week as a missionary is the best week ever! As you can see from the pictures, we spent part of the week in the Capital, and the rest of the week in the streets! 

Mountain dew! I found it in a super market
by the office! 10/9/2013

On Wednesday afternoon we hopped on a giant Caribe Tours bus and made the 3.5 hour trip into the capital. It was a long ride... But we made it to the mission home alive. ha. There are two good things about sleeping over at the mission home: First, it's next door to a big, American-style supermarket. Second, there's a hot water heater. haha. But besides those two things, I usually just end up missing my own bed. 

Thursday we spent the day at the La Paz chapel, where Elder Fassett is currently serving, for a mission counsel meeting. So along with all the other Zone Leaders, I got to see him and the Elder he's currently training! Our mission counsel meeting was awesome! The APs talked to us about  being more bold when we meet people, and using key words like "restoration, prophets, apostles, priesthood authority, etc." to get our investigator's attention. Sometimes we get lumped together with all the other door to door preachers in the streets, and the people can't tell if we're Baptists or Jehovah's Witnesses. ha. So we need to make it clear that we're not like everybody else! Our message is different, and it changes lives! They told us that we're like modern day Samuel the Lamanites and modern day Abinadis. ha. They had us read and analyze Helaman 14:11-13, Helaman 16:1-3, and Mosiah 13:3, and then practice being bold with in a mock contact with our companions. :)

Elder Fassett and I. Do we look different than when we started? ha. 10/10/2013

Our mission counsel. (all 11 sets of ZLs, the APs, and Pres and Hermana) 10/10/2013

Also, President and Hermana Rodriguez both gave us some good insight on how we can be better as leaders, and how to better help our Zones achieve their goals. 

The rest of the week was spent applying what we learned! My companion and I fasted on Saturday evening/Sunday morning for help finding new people to teach... Seeing that Carlos and Karen are getting baptized this weekend, we're running pretty low on progressing investigators. ha. But guess what! God loves us, and answers our prayers! On Saturday night we were contacting... We got to the first house, talked to the guy sitting on his porch, and he said... I don't even want to talk to you guys. So we were bold and asked him what he thought about prophets and apostles, and he said, NO, I don't even want to hear about it. 

Yeah... we were bummed. But we went to the next house anyway... and... Nothing. The next house..? They were Adventists and were too busy to talk to us and said to come back another time. And that's how it was for the next five or six houses... At this point, I was feeling pretty down. I was hungry, and tired, and just wanted to go home... But, we went to the next house anyway. We hiked the metal staircase and as we were about to yell "saludos," a guy came to the door. ha. He looked surprised to see us there, but just smiled and told us to come on in... He told us his name was Jonathan, and that he is currently on medical leave from work, and that's why we caught him at home. His wife is an inactive member of the Church, and he is open to all religions. We talked to him about prophets, apostles and the fact the God is a God of order, not a God of confusion. He accepted a return appointment for this weekend. :) I don't actually know if Jonathan will progress and/or end up in the font. But the experience was a nice little reminder of the fact that my Heavenly Father loves me, and He hears me when I pray. :)

Quick update on Carlos and Karen: Karen went to set an appointment for their wedding, but didn't have her divorce certificate from her first marriage, so she went to get that this morning and then headed to the Junta to set the wedding date. 

Yesterday Jonathan (Karen's son) turned 16, and received the keys of the Aaronic Priesthood that pertain to the office of a Priest. :) Also, President Pindeda (our branch president) announced their baptism for next Saturday at 4 p.m., and then in the evening my companion and I met with the Branch Mission Leader to put together a schedule for the baptism. :) Now all we need to do is fill the font! :) With God at our side, this will all work out! Please pray for us!

Everyday life in Barahona! The men are mending their nets, and the lady is sorting and drying coffee beans.
10/11/2013-10/12/2013 

La Maquina at work! haha. 10/13/2013

10/8/2013

My comp teaching an investigator to sing hymns, street contacting, and weeding a member's patio while talking to Omar about his mission call. ha. My comp is a beast!

I love and miss you all! I hope this week is a good one. :) 

Just so you don't forget, I know this church is true!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love, 

Elder Cade Mooney