Elder Moore is out of Crossville, Tennesse and is now serving in Mayfield, Kentucky. Here is how the past month has been going for him!
First Week in Mayfield:
"The area is pretty great and it is a small branch of probably 30-40 active members... If even that. But it seems like a strong branch thus far and the people are pretty great. It still seems a lot like Tennessee except people are UK/Louisville fans instead of UT fans. And also they say "tuck" but it means "take" or "took" so that really through me off at first. The accents are a little different but not too different. I can still understand them for the most part. To get here we have Transfer Meetings in Nashville and meet up there and stuff and then head up. So it was a 2 1/2 hour drive from Crossville to Nashville then from Nashville to Mayfield was probably another 2 1/2 hours. We do a lot more bike riding and walking here and so that has been something. On Wednesday we walked pretty much all day, and it was a down pour. We live about 2-3 miles outside of town, so we drove our car to the CVS Pharmacy and parked it there and then walked until dinner time. It was raining so much that it actually soaked through our rain coats a little bit!"
Food:
"I did try a hamburger and that is crazy for me! I thought it was pretty good. Nothing too crazy for me yet, but there is a family who is fixin' to have us over for squirrel! I hope that I get that chance cuz that is straight up southern food!"
"Blue Bell ice cream is the best ice cream in the country. It is only available in the South though! But it surely is delicious!"
"So this last week I tried probably one of the best desserts in the world. Deep Fried Oreos! They are very delicious, it was incredible how good they were."
"Another crazy thing, KFC has a buffet out here! It is $6 or so and you can get all you can eat and such! Pretty awesome, I had some chicken and potatoes and lots of biscuits and jello and pudding!"
Temple Trip:
"We got to do a Temple Trip on Brady's Birthday, it was great! But we had to wake up at 3:45! We had to leave by 4:30 to get to Jamestown by 5:30 (because we got a ride with the members who were driving the Elders in Jamestown). Then it takes about 3-3 1/2 hours to get to Franklin from Jamestown, so it was a pretty long day. But it was all worth it! Temple trips are so great, I surely do love the chance of going to the Temple. It was so nice and I enjoyed it very much."
The Work:
"We did have a pretty great lesson this week. We mostly talked about coming unto Christ and the Book of Mormon. The Spirit was very strong and I know that she felt it was well. We also talked a little bit about Eternal Families and how through this message she can live with her family forever. It really was a great lesson, we watched a Mormon Messages video about the parable of Justice and Mercy with the creditor and debtor and how the debtor can't pay the creditor in full and then Christ gives the Creditor justice by giving him the payment in full and the debtor gets mercy because now Christ is his "creditor." It was good though and she really enjoyed the message as well! I think that if we could just get her to come to Church she would love it and enjoy it and want to be baptized. Hopefully we will get her to church soon though!"
"I have to give a District Meeting Training this Wednesday on the talk "You Matter to Him" by Dieter F. Uchtdorf and one of the side subjects I was going to bring up was Christlike attributes and the enabling power of the Atonement. Do you get the Ensigns? Because there is a really great article in it called "The Enabling Power of the Atonement" in there and it truly is wonderful. I love reading it and you are so right about it being able to help us in all aspects of our lives. If more people would realize that, they would truly become closer to Christ and be completely converted."
"Since being on my mission I have grown to love the song "There is Sunshine in My Soul." I love it so much because it is just so happy and cheery and when things seem to be going bad I'll just start singing it and it makes things more happy and upbeat, like walking in the rain. Going along with what you said, it really is a lot about attitude; I got this poem about attitude that is very great. I've been trying to memorize so I can recite and keep it in my mind to have a positive attitude about everything no matter what happens."
Weather:
"We didn't get hit with much snow at all, especially compared to Utah. It has mostly just been bitter cold! But it is all well, the snow is much different here than in Utah though. The flakes are a lot smaller and they don't stick very well. It mostly just flurries when it "snows."
Testimony:
"It truly is a wonderful thing to know that the Lord puts these opportunities in our path but He doesn't expect us to do it alone. He provides many ways in which we can gain His help and we can see the blessings from Him."
"The Atonement is quite an amazing blessing and makes the future so promising. The more I learn the more excited I get about the Gospel. Because of the Atonement, we will get the opportunity to live with Heavenly Father for all eternity as long as we remain faithful to the covenants we have made and what not. But it so great to think about."
"I will say, being in the South, my love for the Bible has greatly increased. And therefore my love for the Book of Mormon has greatly increased because the Bible can be so confusing but the Book of Mormon can help you understand more so those things. I couldn't imagine only having one or the other. Both are so great, and our standard works is a huge blessing to be able to have!"
Don't forget to send Elder Moore a letter!
Elder Frank Cody Moore
Tennessee Nashville Mission
105 Westpark Dr Ste 190
Brentwood, TN 37027
