"I'm in an area called Crossville. It is about 30 minutes away from Knoxville, and 3 and 1/2 hours away from Nashville. There is only one ward in the area but a lot of good people here in the ward and they feed us well."
"The people here are usually very nice, every once in awhile we get a door slammed in our face. I laughed the first time it happened. It is actually kind of funny in my opinion."
"We don't have many people to teach right now. We try to visit some less active people and part member families and share a message with them. We did pick up 7 potential investigators through tracking so hopefully they'll be willing to hear our message. We are getting more and more potential investigators everyday and that is really good."
Weather:
"We got some snow. They cancelled church because of it. Pretty crazy! There wasn't even an inch and it all melted by 1:00 PM. But I guess for those who live in the backwoods don't get plows out there and it can be pretty icy."
"It is mostly just windy here. All day pretty much everyday. I guess the wind is super common here."
"The humidity just cuts right through you. It makes it so much colder because of all the humidity down here."
Teachings from Elder Oaks:
"Elders Oaks came to talk to us. He talked about missionary work of course. He gave us this story about he takes his grandchildren fishing but never catches anything because he is constantly helping his grandkids and only has his line in the water for about 15 minutes or so. He related it to us by saying that it doesn't matter how long we are away from the apartment, but rather how long we have our lines in the water. We won't 'catch our fish' is our 'lines aren't in the water'. We must be searching for people and not just being out and about. He also talked about being an instrument in the Lord's hands. He used a pen for this example and said that the pen is an instrument, but for the pen to be a good instrument, it must be filled with ink as we must be filled with the knowledge of the gospel. Then he said that for it to work, all parts must be present and working (the spring, clicker, and all other mechanics of a pen) and we must be all working and healthy and following the rules. We cannot have a broken part or we won't be effective instruments. He also talked a lot about the Spirit and how we can better follow it and make better studies. That is that we must always pray before. He said 'The scriptures are inspired writing, so we must be inspired when reading them to better understand.' I loved that. That is so very true! It is very easy to see the difference in studies when you have the Spirit and when you don't. It also isn't necessarily about praying though, but rather praying with real intent. Praying to just pray is pointless. We must truly mean what we say and truly have that desire to have the Spirit to be with us."
Testimony:
"I sure love the Atonement, it truly is one of my favorite topics to study. Christ gave so much, so much that we can't even comprehend what He went through. There is a talk I found by Bruce R McConkie where he goes over the Atonement step by step and describes each part. It is so powerful! Definitely makes one think about the Atonement in a new way."
"I love the gift of the Holy Ghost. Although I do not fully understand, I continue to put an effort to learn more and more about it. There are so much wonderful things about this message and it is so sad that someone could reject it."
Cody is loving Tennessee. He loves the work and being an instrument in the Lord's hand.
He does, however, want to hear from you! So send him a letter!
Elder Frank Cody Moore
Tennessee Nashville Mission
105 Westpark Dr Ste 190
Brentwood, TN 37027
