Travel Plans

AUGUST 26, 2011

Sige. Here's what's going down. Out of Salt Lake at 8:15 PM on Sept. 5th to LAX. Then from LAX at 1:55 AM on the 6th to Taipei, Taiwan. Then from Taipei on the 7th at 9:30 AM to Manila, Philippines which will be about a two hour flight. Then I'll get bused to San Pablo. But that's basically it. I get to cross the dateline and everything. Also I'm not going alone, which is nice. Elder Christian is, straight from SLC to Tokyo, which is not cool. I think I'd go crazy. He can do it though.

I'm excited for the stop over in Taiwan, that's gonna be so cool. Geez. So close. I'm almost there.

Oh. Hey. If you want to now, you can send me e-mails as well as dear elders. I found a way around the time restriction thingy. No I didn't hack anything, I just found a better way. Cause I'm a genius. Sige.

Mahal ko kayo!!

Elder Moore

Kamusta!

Alex's MTC District at the Provo Temple

AUGUST 26th, 2011

Kamusta!

Same old grind huh? You're telling me! It's basically the same thing every day here. Not that its bothering me because every day you have something to do at some time idk. Super weird. So yeah. I'm basically the favorite older guy among the new districts. All the guys on my floor love me and I go into the other district's class and talk to the Tongan sisters all the time, in Tongan, or at least what I know from Elder Tamale. Sister Ofa says that after the mission I have to go to Tonga and she'll find me a wife. Idk about that. I would totally love to go to Tonga though.

Anyway, I'm thinking you guys should just make a business out of our backyard. That way, you can hire people to just come and maintain it and get money for letting people rent it out. That would be pretty sweet. Idk. Sounds like its been crazy around there though. I totally forgot Kelli was still there. HI KELLI! Wow. It seems like its been forever since I've seen anyone.

I got to host this Wednesday! That was so much fun. Taking the newbies to their rooms and classrooms. I felt like I did a good job. I didn't try to be too scary. And I've been helping the new district with their language stuff, which in turn is really helpful to me because it helps me remember the principles and stuff and also gives me teaching experience iffin' I wanted to become a teacher someday.
I sent an e-mail to Brock last week and I got a response so don't worry about his address anymore. I think we'll just e-mail for now. I also got a wedding announcement for Zac Reese! Geez. My life is starting to speed by.

As for the suitcases, I feel like it'll be ok. They're just sitting around and they aren't being moved too much if at all. Plus even if I did switch them now, where would I put the other one? I just don't have tons of room. Sorry. It'll probably be expensive to get them to the 'Pines, though. Idk. I'll think some more about it, ask around maybe. Get a general consensus from the teachers or something.

That totally sucks about Kyler! Aw man. If all my stuff was just gone, that would totally ruin my day.
Really glad Parker is dedicated. I think football will be a really good thing for him. Just make sure he knows that this is going to take a lot of effort on his part, not just physically, but mentally and spiritually. I'm not really worried about him though. Is Sarah all ready to go!? I hope she's ready to freeze her butt off because it's going to be so cold up there.

Things for me have been going really well. I've finished the BoM, D&C, and th PoGP and now I'm starting in on the OT. We'll see how far I get. I'm not even done with Genesis yet. Sigh. Oh. I've basically decided I'm getting a motorcycle upon my return as well. Sorry Mom. I want one. Elder Mansfield and Elder Dickey have some so they're gonna help me buy one maybe. Figure out what I'd like or something. But that's a long way off. Other than that we should get our travel plans today. I might hop on later and let you know what that's gonna be if I remember. You know me. I don't remember five minutes ago. Elder Cloward is sitting next to me right now. I can't tell if he's reading this over my shoulder. Hi Elder Cloward! He's legit. Love the kid.

GRAGH! I miss my music really a lot right now. They won't even let you listen to what you brought here. Only in the field. So I'm slowly going crazy. But that's OK. I was a tad crazy before anyway.
Are you guys ready to be down two kids? It's going to be that start of your old life. :p I hope you guys are doing awesome! I love you tons!

Mahal ko kayo!!!

Elder Moore

Ooga Booga!

AUGUST 19th, 2011

Elder Moore and Elder Urban

WHAT! Crazy wedding that I missed! Man. I love Polynesians. They're super nice. There are so many of them here too! Man I hate this keyboard. Ugh. It's....weird.

Sounds like the ward is keeping you guys busy. Good job. Active work is the best. I've really realized that we need to be active in our roles and in the church, that's what enduring to the end is.
Let me know what happens with Parker! I'm not too worried. I know that if he's working hard and really showing effort. They'll keep him. Plus he's related to me so he has that going for him. haha. Kick his but also about getting those merit badges done. He needs to do his project now so I don't have to do anything. :p

Nice to know Sarah is contributing to the DI. I love the DI. I don't know if I ever told you how many awesome things I found at the Logan DI. So yeah. Wow. She's about to go to college. How awesome! She just needs to be careful. Its not called BYU-I do for nothing. But please have her hold off till I get home. And as I realized when I got here, my Patriarchal Blessing is the coolest thing ever. I love it. I need to read it more. So yeah. Get that for her.

Thanks for the ties!!!!! I already traded a couple of em. :p I really liked them! And even the silk ones, no worries. I don't think it's as big of a deal as it's been made out to be. Random story. One of the Elders in the group that just left on Tuesday got ties from his mom like every week. He had so many ties. It was crazy. I don't need that many. But I'm thankful for the ones I have.

Speaking of the group that just left. I was going to tell you about Ooga Booga. Its like a game that you're supposed to play on the district below you when you leave. What you do it have one person sit in a chair across from the person you're going to get. You have them follow every action you do and say Ooga Booga!" every time you do something. Eventually you have them stand up and someone pours water in their chair while they're fixed on you. Then you slam yourself down in the chair, because they have to do everything you do, exactly how you do it, they'll slam themselves down in the water. Its really funny. I think I had a wet butt for an hour. I really liked that group. I had lots of friends in it and the MTC isn't the same without them. But we did get a new batch this Wednesday. There's another Elder Moore, from Logan of all places. He's cool. I like these guys. They actually live on our floor too, so we aren't completely cut off from the rest of our zone because we live on the fourth floor.

Yeah! So I'm having a great time. I'm ready to get outta here and get to the Philippines! I'M NEXT!!!! a;sojvbhasilbvpkasjfvbh So crazy. Thanks for the constant stream of packages and letters and love!

Love you guys!
Elder Moore

Throw the Chair

Alex's Desk at the MTC

AUGUST 12th, 2011

Sorry this is so late in the day. I would've written during laundry time but for some reason the internet was broked. But yay! P-day. It would be better if I hadn't been sick all week. Seriously though. I've gone through TWO bags of cough drops and I just can't seem to recover. I've even been taking Dayquil and NyQuil, but to no avail. I still have a cough today and my voice is still a tad raspy. I almost didn't have a voice at all Tuesday. It's just annoying. But I'm pushing through. I think everyone has gotten some form of this. Hopefully you guys have gotten that little package I sent. I'm gonna send more pictures soon.

Super glad to hear everyone had a good time in Utah. I'll start the list.

Mom: I'M SO JEALOUS YOU MET M. RUSSELL BALLARD!!!! That must have been so cool. URGH! I was listening to conference talks on Tuesday so I'm like, insanely jealous you got to meet one of the Apostles! I was gonna tell you that I was really thinking about Grandma this week. The topic for our church talk is Endure to the End. I don't know if I told you about church talks. They assign a topic and then everyone writes a talk on it, then on Sunday they just call you up. Anyway. I put a story at the beginning of mine about my Grandma. How she was the chorister in our ward and how she served faithfully and with everything she had right until she couldn't. That and singing hymns here remind me of her tons. Music reminds me of her. I don't really know what else to say about it. But, I love you! Thanks for all the packages, the Japanese on my floor eat well. Also I just gave a package of Oreo's to Elder Su'a. He likes your cookies. haha.

Dad: Thanks for the lyrics! I know it was a very strange request, but I really enjoy that song. Its like a constant reminder to never stop trying. Idk. Anyway. I wanted to tell you that I actually have been writing Kyle and he's written back. I've mentioned to him the awesome-sauceness of this place. I think he really does want to go. He really expressed his desire to serve. I'll talk to him more about it. I was gonna telly you that they sell Sobe's here, and with the missionary discount they're like $1.13 so I buy tons with the free money they give us (I know its not free, but still). I got the chance to go through this thing called a free box last night. One of the Japanese Elders took stuff he didn't want and put it in a box for anyone to have. So I took a golf ball and a Japanese phrasebook. So, yeah. I've been learning a bit of Japanese on the side. There's also a Korean Elder on my floor. I don't remember exactly where he's from, but he said it was close to Seoul. I told him that's where my Dad went and he asked if you still spoke Korean. I wasn't sure how to answer. But I love you and the example you set for me by serving.

Parker: Gettin into the rough stuff. The nitty gritty now. Glad to hear you had an awesome time at EFY! As far as football goes. Work hard. Show that you want to play. Put all your effort in and you'll be fine. I doubt they'd cut you. You've got more heart than probably half the other kids there. Just keep goin hard and never quit. Also, I've been told they play lots of Basketball in the Philippines, so Imma ball all up ons when I get back. Also. 100% Ice. I keep mentioning it, but nobody gets it. Sigh.

Meagan! Hi. I love you bunches. You are not adopted (as far as I know). Remember how you felt when you were at temple square. That feeling is just a touch of what you can really feel. I love it! I love you!

Sarah gets her own e-mail because she wrote me a letter. So there.

But, yeah! I love you guys tons! Mom I have yet to open the almonds, but I welcome more. I love almonds myself. Also please ties! They're like a currency here. Idk. Also I want more. Just not silk and skinny and slim would actually be awesome. I can get some nice ties off of those. Also I still need Brock's address? It's on the letters he sent me, I put them in my folder of stuff from school. In the bottom drawer of my desk. So if I could get that that would be awesome!!!

THANK YOU GUYS! I love getting letters from home. You have no idea. Oh. Before I go. Isa pa funny story. Our teacher, Brother Day, is a bit stern sometimes. The first day he taught us I thought he was going to throw a chair. Since that day it was my dream to witness the chair throwing ability of Brother Day. Now, he's a cool guy, but he's a punk. He told me that once I could say, in Perfect Tagalog, "Throw the chair" He'd do it. So I tried for like two weeks to figure this out, which you think would be easy, but there are multiple wrong ways to say throw. Elder Dickey made a little chair out of popsicle sticks and I figured it out. So we went to class and Elder Dickey puts the chair next to Brother Day and I sit at my desk and go. "Brother Day. Ihagis ang upuan!: And he did. Right at my head. I dodged it though. I feel really successful. Bahahaha. Anyway. Fun times. I have another story, but for next time. Remind me about the Ooga Booga thing.

LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!

Elder Moore

Wawasakin Kita!

It's so crazy that you guys are so close! I could literally walk down to
where Parker is at EFY. Mom isn't too far away and Meagan is with her! Wow. Like, I
don't even know. THANK YOU SO MUCH for writing Elder Tamale. It looks like
everyone in our district has asked their families to do stuff because he's
been getting letters and packages like crazy. I don't think he knows what to
do with it all. But he's insanely grateful. He's already written you a
letter back, so I'll help him send it off.

I have to tell you this funny story. So I went with Elder Tamale this week to go see off one of his Tongan friends and so we're chilling in the room with tons of Tongans just running in and out, always with food. Elder Tamale and I start to go around to the other Tongans rooms too and he just takes their stuff! Its so funny. Its not bad or anything because that's just how they are. They're so friendly that they don't mind sharing things. One of them gave me a pair of pants! They're too big for me, but he was like just give them to one of your friends. Like, it's just really funny. They're awesome people.

I really hope Sarah has a good time in Nauvoo and other places. I would love to visit there. That
would be so cool. As far as packages and things go, I can't eat this food as fast as you're sending it!! The Japanese will eat well this week. For sure. Haha. I really like your idea mom. Elder Johnson and Elder Yost are also interested to see what you send. So keep right on going with those!

Dad! Oh my goodness. hindi mabuti iyan. two weeks! I'd be dying to go home too. Don't worry though. I know you're blessed for your commitment. I love you! This is for Parker when he can see it. So I was in the bookstore and they had Vick's Vapor Rub in there. and I was like. What is this? Vick's Vapor Rub? Whats funny about Vick's Vapor rub.........? I got nothin'. But anyway.
EFY is basically awesome. I hope you danced with girls. Glad to hear you're working on the Articles of Faith. I've been more interested in them myself recently. Also I saw that you wrote the little message on one of moms card things. Nice going! Here's some Tagalog for you, if you want to impress some people. Or if you just want to be funny. Go up to someone and say "Wawasakin
Kita!" That means "I will destroy you!" I basically say it all the time. haha.

Meagan! Thanks for picking Tv over me!! Joke lang. So nice to hear from you! I'm glad you're enjoying my phone. Its basically the best phone ever made. You'll figure out so much stuff. About the whole crying during your talk thing. I'm not sure if its just nerves of if you feel the Spirit, but crying is actually one of the best things you can do when you give a talk. It lets everyone know that you care about what you're saying. As for Parker, don't worry about it. I'm sure he'll mellow up soon. He's going to be getting most of his aggression out during football and he'll be too tired to pick on you. Just say "Mahal kita" which means "I love you" and keep praying for strength!

I love hearing from you guys! Its nice just knowing that you guys are safe and that you're enjoying life. Its kinda like what Meagan said. I'm at college for a couple years, just with no Christmas, summer, or spring break. Also this college is much more spiritual. That binder you guys sent was super awesome! I even have a picture of Molly now! Haha. She's such a punk.
Also the extra socks and shirts! OMG THANK YOU! I was so happy to get that package. Everyone really enjoys the 3.5 pound bag of Swedish Fish. Its a floor fav. The older district right above me just got their travel plans this week, as did my Japanese pals. I'm losing friends! AHHH! Its so weird too. I should be getting those plans in a couple weeks. Oh! We've officially reached the halfway point. We'll be switching District Leaders and Zone Leaders on Sunday. Chances are good I might end up being one of the two. So... XP We'll see. Elder Johnson has been pretty sickly the last couple days so hopefully he can improve and feel well. I actually gave him a blessing a couple nights ago. Elder Yost was also feeling sick so Elder Tamale gave him a blessing. In Tongan! It was really cool.

I'm running low on time so I'll just say goodbye for now! I love you guys! I can't wait to hear from you! Thanks for all the packages!!!!

Mahal ko kayo!!

Elder Moore

We Rocked It!

Elder Moore with Elder Bingham in the MTC


HELLO FAMILY!!!!!!!

How are you guys?? I'm fantastic as always, just really enjoying life here at the MTC. Today is P-Day as you are already probably aware, but this one was a bit different. We woke up at about 5:40 in the morning and set out for the temple at 6:30. The temple just opened back up on Monday so this is the first chance we had to go. I have to say. It was really cool. The Provo temple is HUGE! Three floors including a basement. I was just amazed with the sheer size of the place. I was also kind of nervous I'd mess some stuff up because I didn't have any help, but I did OK, which was a huge blessing.

How goes/went Oregon? I hope you guys had a good time. I hope that is you still plan on picking me up that I can make your stay in the Philippines enjoyable. Did you get my pictures?? I'm looking to take and send more really soon.

We got a new district on Wednesday, because the older one just left Monday afternoon. And Josh Waite is in it! I'm not sure if you know him at all. Sarah might. He went by Kale when he lived in Vegas. But that was super legit. Also we had an Elder come in from Samoa. I asked him if he knew Apaau and he said he did, but I'm not quite sure he understood me.
I'd actually like to take a sec and tell you about Elder Tamale. The Tongan Elder. He's 24 and the only member of his family that's a part of the church. His faith is amazing. He's a huge example to me, I don't think I could do what he's doing. My point in telling you this is that his home is far away, and I'm not sure how thrilled his family is about what he's doing. Therefor,he doesn't get many letters. Elder Yost's dad wrote Elder Tamale a letter, just expressing love and support for him, and that letter means so much to Elder Tamale. I would really love it if you guys would send him a letter. Just to encourage him, support him, and help him feel loved. His address is the same as mine, just with Elder Tamale instead of Elder Moore. I know it would mean so much to him to get a letter from someone.

For Mom! I'm so glad you got to use Preach My Gospel! It's so fantastic. Everything you could ever want, you can find in there. I know that if you try to use it for your lessons they'll get super easy. Especially since you don't have to teach in Tagalog. For Dad! I asked about the whole names thing, and we don't get new ones. They'll just use ours, but the way they pronounce some will be different. In Tagalog, when you have two vowels that are the same right next to each other, you pronounce them both. So you'd pronounce our last name Mo-ore. I actually had a cool little story. I was down on the second floor of our residence (I live on the fourth, but the rest of our zone is on the second for some reason) and I heard some Elders talking about how they get different names when they go to Korea, and they were wondering how that happened. So, because of the last letter you sent me, I popped my head in and told them "When my dad was in Korea they did this" and explained it to them. It was really cool.

As for things I need. Food is not one of them. I figure I'm averaging about four packages a week. So I'm getting plenty of snacks. Make sure to send Carol a huge thanks from me. She put a little note in one of the boxes I got and it was really nice of her to do that. I do need more black socks. For some reason I don't have enough. Black Nike socks. Like the ones I have. A pair of mine have a hole in 'em. Sad day. A Camelbak also sounds like a great idea! I can definitely use that when I get to the field. I still haven't gotten more shirts, which I really do need. I'm having to wear the same one like three times in a week. Nasty.

I'm totally starting to miss my music. Like it kills me because I can't even remember half the lyrics to a lot of songs! GRRR!!! CURSE MY HORRIBLE MEMORY!!!

I'm so glad to hear you guys are doing OK. That everything is going well. I pray for you guys every night. Actually basically all the time. Mahal ko ang pamilya ko. (I love my family)

I actually am starting to feel somewhat confident in the language. Elder Johnson and I taught all of lesson 2 Thursday night and we rocked it. It was so cool. Keep sending news from the front! I look forward to hearing from you every week and I look forward to my *cough*siblings*cough cough* writing me.

I love you guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SO MUCH!!!

Elder Moore

Getting letters is BOMB!

Alright. Here we go. I seriously miss good food. Like a ton. You have no idea. But yes. I am getting TONS of packages. Like maybe four a week. Which is awesome! I'm seriously running out of space on my board to put all the cards, and there is no way I can eat that much food! Even sharing it is hard, because everyone is all oh no I don't want any. Pfft. Lame right? I have gotten the opportunity to do some laundry, which is overall not a horrible experience and I will let you know that you did not waste any money on those shirts. They don't wrinkle at all! So nice. All my stuff is still in once piece and nothing a shrunken yet. So I would say that overall its going well. I doubt I'm missing anything from my suitcase, but I try to not open that one stuffed with the pillow, because its annoying to close up. Funny story though. Earlier this week they called me into the travel office for something to do with my visa. They told me I needed my passport when I got there so I went back to my room and looked in every pocket of every suitcase and I couldn't find it. So I go back there and the guys looks at his paper and goes. "Oh, we just need your picture." I was like. Serious? It was kinda funny. This week has gone by so fast. I swear it was Tuesday yesterday. Its all becoming a blur. Days are over before I know what happened. Tuesday was actually super awesome though. I had the coolest experience at the fireside. It was so spiritual. I wrote all about it in my journal, yes I keep a journal, who knew? So when I get back you can read it. Because I will allow it. The letter from Kyler was super cool as well. I was surprised when I opened up that envelope and it was from him. I wrote him one back but I don't really know where to send it so I'm gonna send it with my pictures later today. So far I've kept every letter I've gotten and I've dated all of them so I know in which order they've come. Something to keep them in would be great though. They're beginning to overflow on my desk. For Mom, I was looking around today for a scripture and the one that I found that really stood out to me was 2 Nephi 4:16. It was really cool and even though it's short I feel it speaks volumes. Today had been awesome. P-day is basically the best day ever. We as a district have decided to hold nightly ninja games and P-Day we do a tournament to see who the sensei is for the week. Today was lame though. Nobody played and it just wasn't fun. I did manage to write a story today though, which is something I wanted to do more of, so that's good. I know it sounds weird, but I really enjoy writing, like just putting my imagination on paper. I've gotten letters from lots of people, and I wrote even more letters today. Like I've just been in a writing mood. Tagalog is getting better. I actually understand how to formulate a sentence now so now it's just vocab. We're teaching new investigators tomorrow I believe so hopefully we can put those new words to use. Teaching is fun when you know what you're saying. Like I said, time here just flies, but I want to get out, yet I want to stay at the same time. Like I don't want my time here to be a blur, but I'm so ready to just get over there and teach those people! When we were cleaning this week, we do service every Thursday and we clean the buildings and stuff, the guy that was in charge of the building I was in went to my mission! So he was telling us that they ate dog, but its stringy and tough. He also said that they have tons of snakes there. So not for Mom. But he said that killing a snake gets you some reputation because Filipinos are really scared of snakes. I thought that was funny. As far as exercise goes, don't worry about me. We get gym time nearly every day, otherwise we'd go crazy, and every night I do push ups with Elder Tamale. He's from Tonga and he's ripped. Like just built. So I do the Tongan workout with him. Its pretty legit. Geez my wrist hurts. This desk is awful. Anyway. How's life in Vegas? I imagine its hot, cause its a tad hot here, but it rained a couple days in a row, which was super nice, but that made it humid. Which I suppose I need to get used to. Oh! I also bought a little secondary journal that I have other missionaries and stuff write in. Its a cool way to remember people you met here who ship out before you or after you and the like. The older district just got their travel plans and they leave on Monday I think and then we get new Filipino meat on Wednesday. I think we're gonna scare them senseless. I'm having a great time! Its weird. I feel totally isolated from everywhere. Like I'm not just in Provo, but somewhere else entirely. Make the kids write me! I want to hear from them! Make Uncle Jim have his kids write me. I get letters from him each week, but not from the kids. I want to hear from them. Make Aunt Holly write me. heck. As many people as you can. getting letters is BOMB! Sorry this letter is a tad random. I'm just going train of thought because I want to use up all 30 minutes of my time.

I love you guys!!!!

Elder Moore