Newton Aycliffe, still there!

Baptism:

"We had Angela's baptism, and it went so well. She was so excited and we had a member do both the baptism and the confirmation. She looked so happy and we had a good turn out from the ward members as well. It was really good to see their support. It was the first baptism in Newton Aycliffe this year, and so we were really excited about that."

Investigators:

"We have this investigator who would never let us pray with her. So we left, and she was out smoking a fag, and she said she was praying asking God for a sign of what is true. So she finished her fag, and went inside and her tele was frozen on this picture of a sign with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on it, and it also said Visitors Welcome, and there were people all around it. Then she hurried and changed the channel and then flipped it back, and it was still frozen on it. She said it freaked her out! It was so great though, and we were laughing. Then when we left her after the next appointment, she was like, I am not turning on the tele now, and we just had a good laugh."

Weather:

"I think it is starting to turn into autumn in England. There has been a very cool chill in the wind lately. We have hot days every once in awhile , but lately it has been raining like crazy. We got caught out in it the other day, and the rain was so bad that it was going through my umbrella and we got soaking wet."

Newton Aycliffe

Transfers:
"It was transfer week and I am staying in Newton Aycliffe and Elder Brown is leaving. I have a new companion Elder Heidenberg. He is from Stockholm, Sweden, and he speaks really good English and I was surprised. He has been about for about 5 months and he says my Swedish sucks. We have been working really hard and I am feeling it today, I am really tired and I could just sleep all day, but that wouldn't be any fun. Then as well, we get along really well, and we just joke around. Our motto for the transfer is lets crank it, and things are going all right. We were able to find some new investigators and we scheduled them for baptism. It seemed to be a good appointment but we will see what will come from it. "


Forbidden Corner:
"We went to the Forbidden Corner for p-day. It is like a maze thing and you have to find your way around. It is hard to explain a lot, but I took lots of pictures. So we went through like this castle thing, and there was this really funny song about cats and rats and how that cat is near, and then we kind of scared some little kids as well, I felt kind of bad, but it was funny. We would like scream sometimes because it was kind of scary, and then we would hear these little kids cry, and it was like oh whoops."


Investigators:
"We have been teaching a family, the Coxalls, and we have been having super powerful and spiritual lessons. They have been meeting with the missionaries for like 4 years, and so we decided to go in there and just get to the concerns and make it effective with them as well. We watched Elder Bednar's talk with them the other day, and it was so amazing. They were able to realize how their answer is going to come and how it might not be an instant thing. We then committed them to read Alma 32. Then we went back the next night, and had another powerful lesson. We talked with them about Alma 32, and we're able to explain some of the things they were confused about, and then we talked a little bit about repentance because they were wondering how they could know if their sins were forgiven. Then we talked a lot about prayer in everything. While we were teaching them, he was telling us how while we were talking about prayer, he was thinking alright show me something in this Book that I need to hear. So then he opened the scriptures to Moroni 10:21-23 and he said it was very powerful to him and it was exactly what he needed. It was so amazing and great. I love going over there because all of them ask really good questions and the spirit is always so strong."


Thai Boxing:
"Today for p-day we went and did some Thai Boxing with our ward mission leader. I am so out of shape and such a wuss. I have realized though that I could never be a Thai boxer because I smile too much and I always laugh. I would go to punch the pads, and would just laugh. I don't know why! It was really good though and it felt like it was a pretty good work out, but it made me so exhausted."

So long Doncaster, Hello Newton Aycliffe

Leaving Doncaster:
"The time in Doncaster has been great, but it is now coming to an end. I think the thing I will miss most about Doncaster is definitely the people in the Doncaster ward. There are so many fun and amazing people inside the Doncaster ward. To be honest, I don't really want to go but I guess that is why I need to go."


Newton Aycliffe:
"I will be going to Newton Aycliffe and I will be serving with Elder Brown from the home stake, so that will be really weird serving with someone that is in the stake back in Utah. Well I am really excited about being in Newton Aycliffe and we are seeing so much success, it is so great. I think it is a really great area and it should be seeing more success than it has been in the past. I am so excited to be here and I am excited to see this area start exploding."


The Royal Wedding:
"The Royal Wedding has officially come and gone, and all the newspapers have been covered with photographs from the wedding. Everyone said that it was great and that Kate looked gorgeous and that they really liked her dress. Everyone in England really likes Kate. We couldn't knock, so we helped an investigator paint. Then as well we do this Family Home Evening with a bunch of old ladies. Etta, the house we do it at, had a magazine with pictures from the whole royal wedding in it, and she said that we could look at it, so she was telling me more about it. So many people watched it from like 8 in the morning until like 11 at night, and everyone seemed more excited than they let on. But when looking at the magazine, you should have seen how long her flippin dress was, and you should have seen some of the stupid hats that the girls had on. I was laughing so hard because it looked so funny!"


Skype and the phone call:
"It was talking to you yesterday! Skype was really fun, it was kind of weird seeing the house again, and I cannot believe the jeep! Then as well I can't believe how flippin big Peyton is now, it is so crazy and he doesn't even look like the little boy that was there when I first left. I am glad that you think the first year has gone by quick and I can't believe how fast it goes by. I don't know how people can say the second year goes by quicker because my first year has flown by, and I am amazed at the whole thing."

England Leeds Mission.. all in pictures..

Finally! Brady sent home his memory card and we have been looking at pictures and watching the videos.. In some of the videos, he has a little accent. It's so funny! We are glad to see that Brady is having so much fun and working so hard. We are glad to see Brady is still Brady! Enjoy the last (almost) year in pictures!

birthday celebration in England

Birthday in Doncaster:
"Thank you everyone for the many birthday wishes. Elder Jestice cooked my breakfast this morning, and it was really good and funny. Then I got a phone call from President Lindley wishing me a happy birthday. Brother Broadbent, our ward mission leader, gave me a really nice tie. It is red and white and just pinstripes, it is such a nice tie. Then the Kentworthy's bought me like a Union Jack flag towel, which is really nice and a birthday cake. The birthday cake was really good and me and Elder Jestice are really enjoying it and we have eaten so much of it."

Great Companions:
"We were eating at this family called the Hall's yesterday. Their son who is like 18 was like oh wow, I just realized that you two look like Woody and Buzz, we were just like ok, and then the rest of the family was like no really you do!"
"Elder Jestice and I bought another companion tie. It is pink and from ASDA. It is a really good tie, and so we both wore them to church. This lady in our ward was like wow that is a really good companion tie, usually they are so ugly. A lot of the members were like oh wow same tie, and all this other stuff and we were like oh yeah!!!"

Pday:
"The peak district last week for p-day was really amazing and beautiful. I took some really good pictures! But the peak we were on was called oh you wish... or something like that. The hill is in a movie, but at this moment I can't really remember which movie it is on. Anyways, the hill, I keep on wanting to call it a mountain but it isn't, anyways the hill was really steep, and it didn't really seem like it was going up but then coming down was an adventure, and it was so much fun. Some of the missionaries were trying to show off, and they ended up going down like 5 times. But the view up there is so amazing, and it is so beautiful, and I loved it so much, and it was a nice day which made it even better."
"We went bowling and my bowling was alright, but I am not as good as I use to be. It kind of stinks, but I think that I will be able to get it back. Then we played the little basketball game, and I got the high score. The original high score was like 150 and I was able to get 157, and it was so darn exciting!"

Amazing Moment:
"We had this amazing moment. We were going down to the church to change into p-day clothes. We were going to change at the flat but decided not to. Then we thought about walking to the church, but decided to take the bus instead. So then all of a sudden this guy come up to us and was like are you jehovah witnesses. We were like no, it's p-day don't talk to me (that is what I was thinking)... I have been humbles now because this guy was like oh you are Mormons, I don't know too much about you, will you come to my house and teach me a little bit about your religion. So we are seeing him tomorrow and I am so excited for this teaching appointment."

300 Days Served!

We can't believe Elder Moore has already been gone for 300 days!! He is loving every minute of his mission and is really getting lost in the Lord's work.

Power Lessons:
"We had a zone development meeting and they want us to start working with the members more, so they have this thing called power lessons. We went to try it on our ward mission leader and his family. So, the purpose of us going over there was to receive revelation as a whole for who they can share the gospel with, or leave a copy of the Book of Mormon, and other stuff as well. So we inform them about that, and then we open with a prayer, then we teach them a principle from a lesson for about 5 minutes, to create a place where the Spirit can be, then we ask the head of the household to offer a kneeling prayer, and ask a direct question such as who is there that I can give a copy of the Book of Mormon to. For the Broadbents, we decided that we wanted them to invite a friend to have a discussion in their home. So then anyways, after he closes, pause for like 30 seconds which seemed really long, but is needed for the spirit to work on them, to help them ponder and come up with a name. They came up with this name, and then we role play on how they might go about sharing the gospel. Me and Elder Jestice found it really hard to be able to not be like a missionary and pretend to be the friend. We decided the best thing the members can do is to bear their testimony of things they know to be true."

Great Companionship:

"All the missionaries say that me and Elder Jestice teach really well with each other, and that we have a great unity. We were like not bad since I am a U of U and Yankee fan and he is a BYU and Red Sox fan. We just had a good laugh."

Weather:

"The weather here is getting better. It has been a little warmer and I haven't had to use the under armor or jumpers lately, so that has been nice! But it has started to rain more and that really sucks, but it has been really nice a couple of the days and so that has been a nice reward."

Exchanges:
"I went on exchanges to this Chinese guys house. I tried to be fancy and use chopsticks but I gave up really quickly because I sucked at it, and the other 3 missionaries who were there were really good at chopsticks, and I was just like dang it, that stinks. But anyways, they had this really hot pepper there, and so there were four of them so all of us ate one, luckily mine wasn't too bad, but Elder Pass had one, and he was like about ready to die from it, and it was so funny to watch, and he was like freaking out about it, and I was laughing so hard."

Power of Prayer:
"One thing that I have really learned about on my mission is about prayer. I have really thought about what it means, and why we need to pray. I guess I have learned that a big reason why we ask for help and things that we need help with is because it shows a lot of humility on our part. Our Heavenly Father wants to help us out, but one thing that we have to remember is that He is all knowing, and so things will work out for the best when we listen to him, and when we allow things to be done his way, and don't question the way he answers our prayers. Sometimes it isn't the way we want it to be done, but his way will always be for the best. We also pray because he is our loving Heavenly Father and the only way we can communicate with him is through prayer."

Brady in his new English suit.

Staying in Doncaster

Transfers:
"So this week was transfer week, as you all know, and I am getting the wonderful opportunity to stay in Doncaster, and serve with Elder Jestice. I'm really excited and it should be lots of fun!! We had a district meeting the other day and afterwards Elder Swain, a zone leader, turned to me and was like 'Elder Moore, it is now up to you to get things going in Doncaster, we expect better results, not better key indicators, but results.' It was really good, and I am so excited for this next transfer and the fact that I get to start with a new companion, and run the area, and I am excited about it."
"Elder Jestice, my new companion is from Pleasant Grove, Utah, and we get along really well, and we talk about sports all the time. The only problem with Elder Jestice is that he is a Red Sox, BYU, and Man U fan. We got off to a rough start when I found that out, but we are trying to work through it, and hopefully he will soon be changing his ways. He hates Chelsea because they are good, and he says that they buy all their players, and so it has been funny but he is trying to convert me to Manchester United, and so we will see what will happen and how things will go. Oh yeah, Elder Jestice is also a huge Jazz fan and loves D-Will. I tried to explain to him why Chris Paul is better, but you know how stubborn Jazz fans are.."

With all the Christmas money Brady received, he bought himself some Taz cuff links.