Blackman, Tennessee:
“I have
been made a district leader and am excited about it! I am in Blackman
Tennessee, it is just about 30 minutes outside of Nashville. Pretty crazy
how close it is, I am so used to being so far away! It is a pretty nice
area, and definitely a city area! There isn't much of a country to
Blackman area haha. It is more on the wealthy side, but not super duper
wealthy. The ward is pretty big. It has probably about 100 or so
fully active people. There are a ton of young families here. It is
pretty crazy, I really like it though. I think I will enjoy time
here. Our dinner calender is filled up pretty much everyday. If
somebody cancels dinner or doesn't sign up, we call the Adair family and they
feed us on those nights. They ask us often if we have dinner or if dinner
has cancelled and what not. Pretty awesome! There are some really
awesome families here though. My companion is Elder Harris, he is from
Murray Utah. He is good. I think we'll get along just fine.
He does enjoy sports, which is always a plus. It should be a good
transfer though. The district is, well big. There are 4 sets of
Sister missionaries, us and the Zone Leaders in our district. Pretty
crazy! It is a big district, full of Sister missionaries.”
“Blackman
is great though and we have been focusing on working with the Ward Mission
Leader in fulfilling the wards goals and so been focusing on the Less-Active
people. I have been meeting lots of good people, both members and non
members. I really enjoy it and have been having a good time.”
“And there
sure are a lot of Sister missionaries! In our district there are 8 Sister
missionaries! That alone is a big district, and then for Elders it is
just us and the Zone Leaders. But two of the Sister companionships will
be turning into tripanionships. So we are gonna have 10 sisters, and 14
total people in our district! That is so crazy how huge it is! It
should be fun though.”
Food:
“The
squirrel was good for what it is. It wouldn't be my preference of meat,
but for it being squirrel, it was actually decent. I'll be sending home a
picture of the squirrel and dumpling stew that we had. It was crazy
though! I can finally say that I ate squirrel haha!”
Zone Conference:
“When you follow a GPS in the South you get an off
roading experience! The worst part about it is that it got our car all
dirty and at Zone Conferences they do car checks and they're supposed to be
clean.”
General
Conference:
“There were
some incredible teachings, and some very bold statements. I always love
how the Apostles never shy away from being bold, but so loving. I am
amazed always at the teaching, I just wish I could remember all the awesome
quotes and each individual talk. I surely am excited about getting the
opportunity when they come out in the Ensign to be able to study them more in
depth. Some people surely are crazy though. The teachings about how
the church is always the same and will always be was pretty awesome. I
really thought it was awesome how several of them said that man can change laws
and make immoral acts legal but they will never be allowed in God's kingdom.
Can I get an amen?! But in all reality, the teachings were so
amazing. I am also excited to be able to study out my notes I took.”
Service:
“We also
helped somebody move. It was us and Brother Shields and the couple that
we were moving. And it was just a little townhouse, but they only had a
Tacoma. So we loaded it all up, trying to fit it all in one trip of
course. Well we played a nice game of tetris and filled it up as much as
well possibly could. Well there was a mattress on the right side of the
truck standing up. We are in Brother Shield's car following the Tacoma.
As we are driving the mattress is moving and what not. Well, it folds
over and half of it is now leaning outside of the truck. Well we are just
wondering how much longer it'll be before the mattress falls out when suddenly
it nails a mail box! We bust up laughing and are all amazed when suddenly
it nails a second mail box. It hit the second one hard enough to knock
the mattress out and it was just sitting on the corner of the yard.
Luckily it didn't break the mail box or anything and it was an easy fix!
It was pretty funny though, I won't lie.”
Training
and Facebook Missionary:
“I had
received a call from President Andersen and was told I was training and that
was all that he had said. So we had to wait for the rest of the night to
hear the final details. Those final details revealed that I would in fact
be staying in Blackman and that Elder Harris was leaving to Crossville. I
thought that was funny, he is gonna have to say hi to a lot of people for me
over there! But I am pretty excited to get the opportunity to train.
I think that it could be a lot of fun. So I have also become a Facebook
missionary. I will start online proselyting now, that'll definitely be
interesting! It is so crazy how the online efforts are going. It is
pretty awesome.”
“Training
has been good. Pretty stressful, I won't lie. It is more difficult
than I would have thought. But it seems to be going good, I guess the
only thing I can really do is be obedient and then rely on miracles from the Lord!
He promises to make me equal in all that I do and I have really been trying to
rely on that promise. My greenie is Elder Wilkinson. He is from
Seattle, WA. He is a good missionary. I just hope that I can be a
good trainer to him.”
“Being a
Facebook missionary is definitely interesting. We basically do the same
thing but online. Share posts and updates that will spiritually uplift
people, contact and talk to people that we are teaching, or less active people,
or members.”
“Being a Facebook missionary is
pretty cool though. I am very glad to hear that yall enjoy my posts. I
try to make them good and I sure hope that other people enjoy them as
well! It can be a pretty powerful thing. It sure is neat getting to
share the gospel online. My companion is not yet a FB missionary as one
ya can't be one until after the first 12 weeks, so when training is done.
But everything here and afar is going good with the teaching. We have
been working mostly with Less Active people in this area as well. The
Ward Mission Plan is to work with those who are not coming and we try to do our
best to help with the WMP. But the training as well is going good.
We seem to be doing good work. He definitely is a good missionary, still
has a lot to learn. But he is probably with the wrong missionary to learn
all of it as I still have oh so much to learn as well. I think it is neat
how we can always learn something new from all of our companions, even when
they are brand new they still have something to teach their companions.”
Weather:
“We had Tornado Warnings yesterday,
but nothing happened. The weather is starting to get cold. It isn't
terrible though. TN gets some Tornadoes, but not too many. They get
a lot of warnings though.”
Testimony:
“It so
awesome when people truly accept the gospel and let the pure love of Christ
take over. That is always something amazing. The Gospel can always
have a powerful effect upon people. Just like Brad Wilcox states in the
speech "His Grace is Sufficient" that isn't about being saved by
grace, but being changed by grace. And that is a very powerful thing when
we truly allow gospel to firmly plant into our hearts and change us for the
better. That is something I have always enjoyed, is studying about the
character of Christ and how his love on us can influence our lives. I
sure do love it! Speaking of the character of Christ, Elder Bednar gave a
bomb talk about that!”
“This last
Friday I had the opportunity to be able to give two baptismal interviews, those
are always so legit! I really do enjoy them a lot. Getting the
opportunity to talk and discuss with soon to be new members is so much
fun. And getting the opportunity to hear their humble testimonies is a
huge faith builder. This work is a good work and I am ever so grateful
for it! It is always neat getting the opportunity to be here serving the
Lord.”
As always, Elder Moore would love to hear from you! Send him a letter to:
Elder Frank Cody Moore
Tennessee Nashville Mission
105 Westpark Dr Ste 190
Brentwood, TN 37027
