July 15th

Dear Family and Friends, 

  Gotta love great family and good friends. Gave me the boost I needed today to start another week. 

Not too much changes in Charentsavan, the heat cooled off slightly this week and it rained a little more. We had 3 meetings this week, one with a new member, the other two lasted about 40 min total (normall in Arm you have fewer meetings for longer cause people are so hard to plan up with, they literally dont know what theyre doing tomorrow and if anything comes up they dont call to cancel, they just dont come) so it was a slow week again. We did finally get a hold of one of our prominent investigators though that we hadnt seen in 2 weeks. He's been super busy, hadnt been home from work in 3 days, and didnt return our calls cause he didnt have our number haha. its still not great with his schedule though. 

  other news.. elder marco heard from Pres that he was def staying here till the transfers end (remember we only do transfers when new missionaries come, every 12 weeks) so thats at augusts end. It could affect me, but theres no way to know. 

  elder marco and i realized we had both thought of really strange post mission goals- elder marco was listening to "mountains to climb" by pres eyering and decided that he actually wanted to prepare to climb mount everest. that only affects the mission by him trying to eat better and work out harder. my backs been bothering me for about a month (the beds arent great) so i decided that after my mission i was going to try accupuncture. crazy what you think of. 

  interesting note that also has little significance- the sisters that are coming in Aug are the sisters that will go home with me. their transfer cards say theyll be out dec 31, 2014. so that could be my date. but still way too early to know. just know that if its close, you WILL wait for me until celebrating Christmas. 

  lanes- love the stories. on July 11 we were walking a lot and it was hot and i realized it was 7/11 and wanted a free slurpee soo bad. tell Leslie she'll always be Brother Anderson to me. 

Oh and get rid of that stupid note that says it was sent from your iPod :)

 Alex i LOVED challenge discovery. mom hated the climbing bit, but i thought it was amazing. 

Enjoy Shark Week. Record the whole thing and save it till I get home. 

  Gayton ward sounds like a kinda sad place to be. i miss the Bethels in the front, and Brother Bethels testimonies and stories. one time i visted him with the Bleyls and he told us about the summer he played imaginary baseball with himself and his "whamstick" (a broom handle) I think he said he bat 400 that summer and hit like 54 homers. great man. Ill miss the Kikers very much, I always loved the way Brother Kiker spoke and he seemed to have a different approach to many things i loved. 

  as for eating- we never eat with members, one of our members has made some salad and stuff for us this week. but the schedule is usually this- 

breafkast- plain (literally unflavored) oatmeal, lots of sugar, and sometimes a herbal tea packet to flavor it. eggs, boiled/scrambled/fried, yershik (this salami like meat, its all they have) bacon, and sometimes coco puffs

lunch- hot dogs, bread, cheese, ramens

dinner- we make stuff like corn chowder and noodles and stuff, we have beef and plenty of veggies here. or sometimes we just eat more hot dogs. 

 thats about it, if you go to yerevan theres many restaurants that are more normalish. 

anyway i hope everyone has a great week. this week I got closer to my Heavenly Father. We probably walked close to 50 miles this week, with little going on. There were times i actually did want to quit and stop working. there were nights i told God i couldnt do the same thing tomorrow. But then i had great nights sleeps and i did it again the next day. I received strength when i had none. i did my best not to shrink, and the week ended. and now its a new one. im patient, trusting the Lord's timing, looking to improve, and always grateful for what I already have and what im now learning. 

i love you all so much

Elder Moore

that thing i found in my yogurt monday morning. no clue what it is. thought it was mold but it was something solid and rubbery. didnt taste good (just kidding i didnt eat it) just a reminder every now and then not to trust those russian products. the story is that one elder found a steel nail in his oatmeal once

its hard to describe Char. its a very very small urban setting, kinda like a half mile just taken right out of yerevan and plopped else where. every one lives in apartments, everythings russian cement buildings, urban style. 

now picture walking home to your apartment to find 3 cows just chillin there munchin on some grass. totallly random, sooo funny. we met a man the next day that said he owned cows, we had to cut off the convo so we could laugh. i wish id put my cow suit on, but that wouldve been super un missionary haha.

Hey Yall

Dear Fam and Friends, 

  So much to tell, not a ton of time. Firstly, Happy Birthday to Lanes and Murica! We had our meeting with Pres Carlson on the 4th and they did have some watermelon, so we all shared some thoughts about how much we love America. As for Lanes, all the Armenians wish you health and more health and success and a good career and an attractive husband and healthy kids and long life filled with love. along those lines. i do hope it was a good one though, gotta love my baby sister. 

  I also got my two bday packages this week, they were so awesome. everything has been delicious so far, but im definitely saving the Phineas and Ferb mac and cheese for the most special of occasions. im not even sure what would warrant using someting that good in Armenia. I think i might bring them to the mish home with me on my last day and eat both of them at once. The tie was awesome, I love the color, and the singing card was great. Elder Marco gave me a hard time cause the music was technically not allowed, but i danced a few minutes anyway and danced my worries and wiggles away. I grew the pet flamingo sis bleyl sent, that was fun, and elder marco and i love the stress balls. we use them sometimes for stress, other times just to throw them at each other. both pacakges were seriously awesome and im so grateful for great friends at home. 

  i had my 6 month mark this week, we went to erevan as a group to get our residence cards, then had decent restaraunt food. i took a chance on one of the only 2 burger places in Armenia and had a triple with cheese. it was good, but def not American, and my tummy didnt love me later. worth it though. i got a little distracted thinking about how fast the first 1/4th of my mission has already gone, but its also been a good 6 months since ive been home, so i reminded myself there was much more to do, and much more to learn, and got back to work. 

  Sunday was the blessed water day. We wore ties that we didnt care about getting wet, thin socks, crappy shoes, and put our planners and stuff in bags. we had to sprint away from kids a few times pretty hard (they keep yelling "where are you going? its water day!") elder marco got dumped on from an apartment building, and then we both got bucketed, but it really wasnt too bad with some evasive manuevers. we took the offensive for an hour instead of eating, and took some very big balloons up to the 9th floor of a building over looking a busy street. we made some old women very mad at us, but the best was elder marco hurling a big balloon clear across the road to get some teenage punks. they kept yelling at the wrong building for someone to come out and face them, and we laughed. it was a good time. didnt quite feel like a missionary, which isnt a great feeling, but i felt it was some needed relief. 

  this week didnt get much better, we had 3 meetings total. 2 of them are with a new investigaor, Vazgen, whos a great guy. hes very open but has some understanding issues with the doctrine. we want him to read the BoM, bcause it always helps understanding through the message it contains and the Spirit it invites, but he doesnt read very well at all. Were trying to convince him to try, read slowly, etc, and we promised him the spirit would tell him its true, and that reading would get easier, but he wants to just listen to others read. which isnt bad, he udnerstands when they do, but not reading will make staying active so much harder, so were prying he'll try. 

  i met Pres Carlson this week. hes and his wife are super diff from the Carters. a bit more outgoing and jokey/engaging, less quietly powerful. but he's a very humble man, he loves the mish, and he's committed to leading it only through the Lords guidance. our interviews with him went well. We talked about how hard the areas been. It kinda seems like Elder Marco might be headed out of Char early, 7 months is a long time in such a small town. Pres Carlson could tell he was worn out, on his last leg with Char. He could tell it was affecting me. I dont know if that means Elder Marco will leave mid transfer, and ill leave at the transfer, or i could still stay another as a senior comp. im not sure how i feel. Char is very small, and its been hard, theres not many people to talk to on the street that we dont already know, and without meetings the days are super long. im not afraid to stay another transfer, if theres more to learn from here, and id love to stick it out and see success come, but i am concerned that at that point my attitude toward Char would be worse and it would negatively affect the next missionary. the city might need fresh eyes. but the fact is none of that is our decision. Pres got our input, learned what he needed to, and now its up to the Lord. and until we hear anything we're going to continue on in obedience and try our best to be diligent. 

 anyway im out of time, i love you all, have a great week. Look for the tender mercies of the Lord in life. I know thats cliche and sounds hard, but if you just remember that EVERY good thing comes from God, our gratitude and love for God and for others will increase. I love my family very much, im so grateful for everything they do

Love Elder Moore

Moore Pics

we spent like 12 bucks on a watermelon (idk if thats expensive for US but def is for ARM) and then ate the whole thing in two settings

picture of downtown yerevan from a bridge

Some Moore Pics

we found out that cake was actually kinda nasty- had way to much egg, gave me 3am bathroom troubles. anyway i went to take it out and the box was weak so it dropped. sad day

Me, Elder Marco, and Caren before he left to Russia

me and the Carters

tsavd tanem

Dear Family and Friends,

  Allo barev zez tsavd tanem inch ka chka? Basic hello in Armenia, tsavd tanem is a throw in phrase that makes you sound more ghetto as a mish, but if you can master it you sound more Armenian. the translation has nothing to do with how they use it, ill just have to explain in it 18 months. 

   Anyway I was hoping to hear from everyone to have more to do this week during email, i still have very little to report. we have a number of investigators that are good people with great potential, but are always busy with work. When people have work in Armenia, you never complain, but its been about 3 weeks since any of them made any progress. We continue to be frustrated with our members being complacent and sometimes actively making church worse. We did a lot of walking this week with little success. its probably been the worst week ive had so far, but it is over and its time to recomitt to another week. God knows whats going on, including when people are using their agency and just not making the time or effort, but He knows what we're going through, and Char will either get better through many blessings, or turn to be a proving ground for growth, or both. But faith is not binding God to our will, saying if we work hard and have enough faith and pray hard than things will work out, or that we have to start questioning God's will. faith is trust that one day we will understand why things worked out the way they did. 

   Pres Carter left Sat, Wed i had my fina interview with him and we had a zone meeting to say good bye. it went well, he gave my great advice about the rest of my mission, my attitude towards how things work out at home, what to do after my mission, how to become what i need to become now and later. he gave me a great blessing. We havent heard anything from Pres Carlson yet, it could potentially be a little while, we're kinda isolated here in Char, being a part of the Yerevan zone but far  enough from Yerevan to come only a time or two a month. Im anxious to see what direction he'll push/take the mission, but he's the president, he has the right to inspiration from the Lord for us starting immediately, and im committed to follow him wherever he goes and be someone he ca rely on for the first half of his time here. 

  anyway thats all that happened. everyone have a good week of summer, enjoy the pics. love you all

Elder Moore

Late picture of my birfday

yeah, that says Adibas. the best part is the fake ones are even cheaper

barev barev

like i said, this is to pres carter for his last letter. ill miss him so much

I wanted to thank you for sending me to Charentsavan. At first I just thought it was cool that I was in Elder Marco's district and working with him, while living in his old apartment under the same trainer. I liked Elder Maughan for being a good friend with incredible language skills and a lot of experience to learn from. When he left I was happy to serve with a good friend and knew we would have fun. But over the past few weeks I've grown so much more appreciation for why I was sent here. First and most important, I know I was sent here to help these people. To learn such love and patience for members from Armen's example, and to grow to love these specific people. The desire to help them has increased my drive to be completely obedient, to be sacrificial and consecrated, but ultimately to make my mission the life changing process I now realize it has to be if I can always live worthy of the trust of these Armenians, my friends and family at home, my future family, and the Lord. But I've also grown a great appreciation for my companions. I realized I was put with Elder Maughan to learn a lot through deep discussions, drawing on his experience, and shaping the way I want to do missionary work. But I also realized I was put with him to help him through his trials at the end of his mission. I realized I was put with him because I have the potential to be ready to help my trainer before my training even ended, and that the Lord was showing me my potential and hoping I would grow up fast and seize the opportunity. I've come to understand that I wasn't just put with Elder Marco to be with a friend, and since it was a logical solution with Charentsavan. I realized I'm here because Elder Marco and I are both going through hard times in our mission, and the friendship we already had has made it possible for us to rely on each other early and also be very straightforward and honest with each other, to help each other be the best we can be. 

   I want to thank you for all you've done for me in the short time I've been able to serve under you. The advice and comfort and love you've given me have helped me, but it goes beyond that. The mission culture you spent the incredible effort to establish and maintain is a mission culture that I desperately needed to be a part of as a young arrogant stubborn 20 year old kid thinking he knew exactly how his mission was going to play out before it even started. While I will embrace President Carlson with love and willingly adapt to any changes he makes, I will always remember the changes that have happened in my heart as a result of the mission culture you've created, and the incredible missionaries that are a part of it. I will forever be grateful, and I hope that you and Sister Carter have a good experience going home, feeling the immense love and gratitude this mission and the Lord feel for you both. I wish you success in all endeavors after this mission. I love you and Sister Carter very much. 

Another day another 250 dram

Dear Family and Friends, 

  Still not too much happy news, so just more fun stuff this week. I may be a bit scatterbrained, Elder Marco and I just got nailed with double bad news- I heard Alex Rogers is engaged (that can definitely stay out of the blog) but worse we just heard that Elder Marcos friend from high school that he sent his missionaries to, after first being really interested, says he found out its not true. So we're pretty bummed and a little distracted. Everythings really been piling up on us lately but were trying hard to stay patient and endure while learning. I feel like the climax of the patience test for us was yesterday- while expecting 7 or 8, no investigators came to church, and the members were the worst i've remembered in a while about being noisy and irreverent and not contributing anything. our recent convert whos the 1st counselor came late, left after sacrament, and stopped reading his scriptures. our recent convert whos the  2nd counselor is doing a lot better, so naturally he's leaving for Russia to actually get work (theres not much in Arm, a lot go to Russia- its a lot like Mexico and USA) He'll be there for 3 months. So church didnt go well. Then we had no meetings, and to top it off while walking around we had kids following us and trying to speak english. normally thats annoying but they give it up, but these kids followed us for a good 2 miles and actually interupted us while trying to talk to people. I felt like it was the ultimate test of patience.. but i felt that after we failed. we spoke to them strongly in armenian, and then in english, and then tried to outrun/out maze them around until we went to our apartment. it was embarassing how dumb we felt when it was all over and done. theres been plenty ive had to learn, but i think im in Char primarily to learn patience. 

   anyway on to fun stuff. i havent seen or heard about the missionary seminar thing. haha were still waiting to get conference magazines (we have seen it though, whew) as for internet stuff, i doubt well be included in that for a long time seeing as we go to internet cafes to email and thats the only internet around. but well see. i really dont want it to though. weve been on facebook a few times to help members get it sorted out (they like it, but dont use it very well) and it just always feels like a waste of time. not that i wont be happy to get back on and update everything and get reconnected, i just want that to be in 1.5 years when im released. i really have grown my appreciation for how special this time is that ive been given to devote everything. but what i will never get back and do is play Sims haha. that is not a good game in my mind. anyway. 

  i dont really have much to respond about girls camp, but i hope you girls know i do appreciate hearing details from the week even if i dont say much back. hope the summer is a great one. crazy things comin up in Armenia- Pres Carter goes home next week, July 2 is my 6 month mark, and the first sunday in July is Water Day, super stoked for that. 

  funny news from Armenia this week is about their superstitions/quirky things. kinda like finding headsup pennies and throwing salt and stuff. apparently if you have something in your eye/eyelash/brow, and someone notices but you dont, they ask you "which eye?" and you have to guess where it is, after making a wish. i was supperr confused the first time it happened to me cause i hadnt heard, and Armen just kept asking which eye and i wasnt sure if i was misunderstanding or had missed something that had just been said or what. 

second one is apparently if your nose itches it means rains coming. not much else to it, super weird. ha. 

  oh one question is about my camera, i was trying to figure out the panorama function at lake Sevan, and cant figure it out. maybe you could send me some instructions to print for the Nikon Coolpix S4300 panorama. i really do love this camera (sorry i dont send pics home more often) 

  Im gunna send you part of the letter i sent Pres Carter for his last letter from me, about why im here in Char. I wanted you all to read it. i really have grown such a love for my mission, since being here but also the time its been really hard has made that love grow. I mention the mission being the life changing process it needs to be- my vision for my after mission life has honestly shot up. not like MIT and being rich or being a 70 or anything, just what im going to expect from myself. i still want to go to BYU and have tons of fun and have fun at home and be a pretty normal person, but i also have new goals like reading a teachings book from every prophet, and how i want to spend my sundays, and mostly just the person i want to be. its honestly been great to have the Spirit in my life and have that raise my expectations of myself. now i have a year and a half to take the small steps every day that have to be taken to make me that person i need to be in 1 1/2 years, ready to keep growing. 

  i love you all very very much

elder moore