Hearken: New Mission President

     A few weeks back I made a post on hearkening to the will of the Lord. Due to another event on my mission, I felt a need to make a second post about this very same principle. A couple weeks ago, we got a call from the assistants to the mission president telling us that we were having a surprise meeting in Nashville 2 days later, and all missionaries from the mission were to attend. This very rarely happens, so of course all the missionaries were making speculations on what was going to happen. Some thought China was going to be opened to missionary work and a good chunk of our mission was going to be sent over there, some thought we were going to head to Oklahoma to help clear up the destruction from the tornadoes or make care packages for them of some sort, and some thought we might have our mission split into 2 missions. As we gathered for this meeting, there was such an energy in the room due to the fact that we had over 200 missionaries (CRAZY) gathered together in the chapel awaiting whatever training was to be received.  We were quickly informed that our mission president and his wife, The Mckees, were being released at the end of the month and that we were going to have a new mission president. I was very saddened by the news, but as the meeting went on and the spirit was so strong I received very quickly a confirmation that it was the will of the Lord. I have been thinking about this for the last month or so and have learned a couple things from it. The thing I wanted to focus on is the principle of "with callings come releases." Today is the days that they are being released from their calling. One thing that President McKee was great at teaching us was that the same priesthood keys that called them to serve as the Tennessee Nashville Mission President are the same priesthood keys that called them to be released from that same calling. I am grateful for the example of the McKee's to serve the Lord and to accept His will in ALL things! Their attitude about it is quite extraordinary as well. I am excited to have President and Sister Andersen here with us as our new mission president and am grateful for their example to accept the call to serve. I sure look forward to meeting them at our zone conference this next week!
     I invite you all to take a look at your life and find something that is not in alignment with the Lord and then change it. Experiment and see the blessing that will come forth! It is great to have a knowledge that the Lord knows exactly what we need in our lives and is always making the changes to it that will ultimately help us grow and learn the most. Of this I testify, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Why a Mission?

     As a missionary, many people ask you a very difficult question to answer, "Why did you decide to serve a mission?" Now keep in mind that we serve for 2 years as missionaries, and that covers a good amount of time for someone of my age. When you are like me and have been out for almost 22 months of your mission, the reason you decided to serve a mission is not able to change, but the reason you are still out may have. So, as important of a question as it may seem to be to find out why a missionary decided to serve, the answer you will get may not be as up-to-date as it could be. One of my past missionary companions, Elder Webb, always liked to present this question in contrast, as he felt it would get a more up-to-date answer to virtually the same question, "Why are you still on a mission?"
     Let me share with you how they are different. For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to serve a mission. I was never forced into it, I wasn't bribed, I really had no agenda at all, other than I just really wanted to serve a mission, and be a missionary. I always liked it when the missionaries came over to our house for dinner, because they were so cool to me. I wanted to be just like them. That is a good reason to go on a mission and it got me to go on one, but it isn't the only reason to go, nor is it necessarily the best reason.
     Although my desire to be a missionary has not changed, my list of reasons for still being on my mission have gotten longer. Seeing a family become more united with the knowledge that THEY CAN BE A FAMILY FOR ALL ETERNITY, and being able to carry THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST WITH MINE are just 2 of the many reasons that have been tacked on my list. My most recent reason to stay on my mission was strengthened just last night, when we gathered together in Pulaski, TN at our Family Home Evening (FHE) activity in the park. We had a pretty slim group last night, but as we started to talk about who else could be there that was not, the Spirit under that pavilion changed and excitement filled every person in attendance. These people in Giles County are very desirous to have their own branch (congregation) in Pulaski and you can see it in their countenance as we meet every Monday at 6pm in the park. So right now you could say I am still on a mission, because I AM HERE TO ORGANIZE A BRANCH IN PULASKI!
     Just remember, it doesn't matter why someone decided to serve a mission, what matters is why they are still out. I love being a missionary and love being able to serve my God in His work! There is nowhere else I'd rather be. I write this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Setting Apart

     That same Sunday that I gave my farewell talk at church I was set apart as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Getting set apart basically means that I was given permission to be a minister for the Lord in preaching the Gospel to all the world, well technically just the Nashville Tennessee area. Anyway, this was an awesome experience because my dad and a few of my leaders that I respect so very much were able to be a part of it. My dad was able to give me the blessing which sealed the deal. I guess that is not very common, but I thought was pretty cool. After the actual setting apart, which consisted of the blessing, everyone in the room was asked to give me some advice for how to be the best missionary I could be. Some were silly like not forgetting to email my mom every week, which I may have done once already, but they were all very helpful, that is another story. The room was filled with all sorts of emotions and tears, but overall very happy feelings. I am happy to say that at that moment I was officially a full-time servant of the Lord and that was very exciting for me.

Spencer's Call

     My best friend Spencer received his nice big white envelope on August 8th 2011. He was just as excited to get his call as I was. He had a much bigger group of people come over to his house to watch him open his call. He was lucky, unlike me, and got to open his the same day he got it. The hype was just as big and when he opened the envelope and read the letter and said South Dakota Rapid City Mission the cheers were just as crazy if not more so than when I read mine. He is also going to be speaking English and he went into the MTC on December 28th 2011.

     Being there for this was so awesome because I was able to support my best friend in getting his mission call just like he did for me. I was also going to be leaving for my mission in just a few weeks after that so it reminded me of how much I still need to prepare to be completely ready to go (the funny thing is I was never completely ready to go). I am so grateful to have friends out around the world serving missions and for the examples they are to me which also gives me the added strength to continue mine and work my hardest till the end.

Called to Serve

     So I have decided that for this month I am going try something new. I am going to share some of the experiences that I had while preparing to go on my mission. I am going to start of with getting my call to serve in the Tennessee Nashville Mission.
     As many of you know, young men in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, at the age of 19, generally go on a 2 year full-time mission to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to those who will listen. For as long as I can remember I have wanted to serve my mission. At a very young age, so young I couldn't tell you how young I was, I decided that I wanted to be one of these cool guys that were called "Elders," and what do you know, here I am in the good ol' Bible Belt. Sometimes I as myself, "How did I get here?" Well, about one year ago exactly at BYU, I was approaching the time where I needed to send in my papers, a bunch of forms that you need to complete and send into the Church Headquarters so they can know a little bit about you, in order to get my call to go on a mission. (For further detail about this process read this link.) Well, I got my papers finished and got all the interviews I needed and my papers were sent off.

     Most people get there call letters withing 2-3 weeks of sending their papers in. The few weeks before I got my call letter, my mom made this big map and had everyone and their dog guess where I was going to go. Well, I was one of those many people who got their calls 2 weeks later on a Thursday afternoon and I was so happy, but then it hit me... My parents were on a field-trip to Yosemite with my little brother, Blake, and they would not be home till Friday evening and I promised my mom I would not open it without her. That large white envelope sat on my counter all day and all night and all day the next day and the only thing I could do was read "Elder Blair Vernal Moser III" on the front. There were times where it was just too tempting so I had to just walk over the my best friends, the Smiths, and hang out with them, but still all I could do was think about those few words on the front address and where I could possibly be going.
     My parents finally got home but I still had to wait even longer. The Smiths came over and we used just about every phone and cell phone we had in order to get a hold of all the different family members and what not that were not close enough to come. This is probably just as exciting of an event for us members of the church as is the last minute of the world's greatest super bowl game. I finally got to open it. I pulled out the many papers and other such things in the envelope and found the letter. I guess it is tradition that you have to read the whole thing you can't just skip to the place you are going to serve. I started reading and my hands were shaking, even my voice was shaking, and I don't even know what I read until I said the words "Tennessee Nashville Mission." After that all I can remember is screams from everyone all around me. After about 5 minutes of straight cheers I finally got to continue. I was going to speak English and I would report into the MTC (Missionary Training Center) on August 17th 2011.
     I am going to be honest, at first I was a little bit bummed because I wanted to serve in Australia or in South America and learn a new language, but the more time went on, the more excited I got. I also came to realize that I am serving in Southern America and I have to learn how to speak Southern English so God did give me what I wanted...haha.