Baptisms and Cockroaches

As you can see from the picture...DOMINIC WAS BAPTIZED!!!!!!!  It was AWESOME!!!  He was baptized this last Saturday and then he was confirmed with the Holy Ghost and as a member of the church this last Sunday, so it was a busy weekend. But such a good one!  He is a really chill and cool guy, so when we asked him about stuff he would always typically be pretty chill about things and not say much. But after we confirmed him on Sunday he was like, "Woah. That was powerful stuff man!"  And all 3 of us were like, "That's the power of the Holy Ghost man!!"  It was such a unique experience to even be the one who baptized him myself!  It was unique especially to have our very own Mission President there at the baptism and be able to bear his testimony about Baptism. 

I loved how President Ashcraft talked about the difficulties that come after Baptism. Thay it does mean that Satan will try and tempt us and there is somewhat of a higher standard to be living, but he promised blessings. That just stood out to me as it applies to all our lives. There are hard things that happen in our lives. Hard challenges we need to go through. Maybe difficult things we need to work on, or remind ourselves on. But as we do so, we are blessed, because anything we are doing to get closer to God is a good thing. But it doesn't always mean it's an easy thing. 

There are 3 Chapters on Baptism I love, but I wanted to share one of my favorite scriptures on Baptism. That is 2nd Nephi 31: 13

13 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I know that if ye shall follow the Son, with full purpose of heart, acting no hypocrisy and no deception before God, but with real intent, repenting of your sins, witnessing unto the Father that ye are willing to take upon you the name of Christ, by baptism—yea, by following your Lord and your Savior down into the water, according to his word, behold, then shall ye receive the Holy Ghost; yea, then cometh the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost; and then can ye speak with the tongue of angels, and shout praises unto the Holy One of Israel.

Last Tuesday we had Zone Conference as well and it was really a great eye opener!  I had the unique experience of being able to play the piano for a musical number, but we learned so much about more effective ways to spread the word and how we can continue to be reaching out through Social Media. That's definetly something I need to work a lot on. But here's our zone!  Orlando South Zone represent!! 

Also, as some of you guys may know, the way we call trainers in the mission is 'dads' so this is a family picture of my 'dad, step-dad, and brother'  We tried making it look very serious and cool. My "brother" Elder Freeze went down to São Paulo this last week, so I hope to be joining him south soon enough!  

Speaking of!  I got to officially turn in my VISA paperwork to the Consulate!  Now we wait....and work. But I love the area here and I'm very blessed that I can continue to speak Portuguese. 

These last 2 weeks have been a lot of hard work. A lot of texting, calling, and door knocking all over!  It's been able to provide a lot of unique experiences though!  Some where people are less receptive, and some where people are touched by the message. Whatever it is though, it is the Lord's work. It's His Work that we are doing here. We've been able to find a lot of people and I know it was truly from the hand of the Lord.  

I was commenting to Elder Grier and Bell that we are doing something absolutely ridiculous.  Bringing people closer to Christ?  Asking them to pray about a book?  What?  There is no way I could do the things I'm doing without the Lord helping me through every step.  It doesn't mean it's easy, it's never guaranteed to be easy, but somehow I have enough energy to make it to where I need to.  (Although, a mini nap at Lunch may be required).  

As you may have seen in the title of this blog, we have had a bit of a problem here at the apartment....

We came home on Friday night from a member meal, and we saw a lot of cockroaches on the ground.  We had been seeing a few recently...it was concerning.  We ended up pulling out the fridge and...immediately drove to the store and got RAID because there was A LOT.  So, it's been dying down but...not a fan.....not a fan.  I'll avoid putting pictures of behind the fridge for those of you who are not fans but!  This was our result...

In terms of cool experiences these last two weeks.  Last Monday we got to go to the City Walk in and around Universal Studios!  And along with that, we went to the BIGGEST McDonalds in the World!   And I got personal pan pizza at a McDonalds, and yeah, it was pretty dang good.  This doesn't look like something you'd always get at a McDonalds, but only in Orlando....

A lot of unique experiences teaching this week  One happened as a guy starting telling us everything we did WRONG, and starting insinuating certain things about us.  At that point, all I could do was bear my testimony.  And as I did I could feel the help from God, pushing the spirit through my frame.  I felt like the song, "The Spirit of God like a fire is burning."  He still didn't believe us or was willing to give us another chance, but I felt happy upon my sharing my testimony.  Sometimes it's not always us, but maybe somewhere down the road, or maybe later in the day he'll feel a little touch from the Love of Christ...it's my hope anyway.  

I know this has been a bit of a longer one, because of the two week break, but I hope you are all doing well!  2 days ago marked 2 full months here in Orlando, and I have been learning a lot!  But I still know there is plenty to know, go, and do.  

Elder Moss 

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