Miracle 9/20/2026

 Last week was busyyyyy. So much contacting and teaching. We had at least one member lesson every day, something I haven't done once since my 2nd transfer. Pretty miracle filled week.

On a bus I had one of the most spiritual conversations with a guy sitting next to me. It was fire and then boom, all of a sudden he hits me with "crap this is my stop" and jumped up. Bruhhhh nooo! I was gonna get his number but I just had to give him a name card as he got off. I said a fervent prayer because nobody ever responds from a card, but I could see him reading the card as the bus drove away. Twenty-five tense seconds later, someone sent me a text with their name. Let's goooo!  Absolute miracle. Later, when I was explaining this fire miracle to my comp he said, "oh no. Was it just one text?" And immediately my brain put it together that the text message was actually from the guy my companion was talking to at the front of the bus. I'm just a fool and a loser and I fumbled that guy, fr. 다음에 

President came to our ward and I got to talk to him about fighter jets and Flight Sim for about 10 minutes. Then at the Mission Leadership Conference the next day, he gave me a shoutout when he gave a fighter jet analogy to the whole room! Unfortunatly, it was the worst MCM ever cause the 뼈해장국 restaurant was closed. President came to me and gave me a personal apology because he knows how important that is to me. 

Spiritual Thought: 

"The work of devils and of darkness is never more certain to be defeated than when men and women, not finding it easy or pleasant but still determined to do the Father’s will, look out upon their lives from which it may seem every trace of God has vanished, and asking why they have been so forsaken, still bow their heads and obey."

 - C. S. Lewis

Current Weight: 186.69

신천지 (cult) (x3️⃣?) 9/13/2026

 On the way to district council I saw a 30ish year old women at the front of the bus reading her Bible. This isn't the first time this has happened during my mission and it's always been a golden opportunity, so I went up to the front to talk to her and I asked her what her favorite Bible verse was, and then shared my favorite too. Then I taught her a bit about the Book of Mormon and got her contact. Getting her contact was suspiciously easy though, and I was just thinking, "why is this so easy?" Anyways, after our number exchange, she leaned forward right into my ear and whispered "신천지 " which is the name of a church in Korea that's infamous for chasing people down, cornering them, and even locking a few LDS missionaries into their church one time haha! 

I don't say the word "cult" lightly because, believe me, I've heard it plenty of times, and it gets pretty old, especially because people just use it any time they disagree with somebody and have nooo clue what they're talking about. That being said, this is now the 3rd time I've run in to Sincheongi and all three of them have looked around, leaned in, and then whispered that name in my ear in a sketchy voice with a really weird smile. Not quite what you would do if you're trying to beat the allegations. One guy on the train even said, "이단" to describe themselves, which means cult, so I guess they're chill with the description. I keep blocking her number but her calls keep coming through so I don't know how she's doing that but--crikey. 

On a brighter note, I got to do an exchange with my last comp Elder Galligao. During that exchange I found 3 separate people on one bus ride to a members house and of those 3, 2 are planning to meet us this week. Hopefully they're not just undercover missionaries. 

We did probably 15 hours of teaching appointments last week and 8 member lessons. It was a good week for the teaching. A lot of really weird questions were asked though haha. One of our members used the Book of Mormon to answer a question in an absolutely fire way and I didn't know he had that kind of ball knowledge and now my respect for him is UP!

Last night we had a member appointment at the Stake President's house and he put all of the missionaries at one table while the big adults sat at the big table. I felt like I was at a family reunion as a kid again when we had our little-tikes table. Not to mention they made us Mexican food. I was weak. It was fire. The sisters even brought a friend from America who doesn't speak Korean so we got to yap it up in English the whole time.

I told my comp I missed my dog and BAM. Two border collies in 3 days. I haven't seen a single border collie my whole mission and then I got to play fetch with 2 of them in a three day period. God cares about the little things, fr.

Spiritual Thought: 

I'm plagarizing this thought from a talk I listened to a long time ago but I can't remember who it was. 

Any historian with a brain believes that Jesus Christ was an actual historical figure, and almost everyone agrees that Jesus Christ was a wonderful person. The principles in The Sermon on the Mount are almost undebated among people as good and one of the best teachings of all time. Some people say Jesus was a good guy, just not the Son of God, but that option is not open to them. Jesus didn't leave that option open. He's either who He says He is, or He's an evil man. 

Cult (Again!) 9/6/2026

 Last week was a doozie. I'd tell you all about it but I better not. It was a long week though lol. 

Trying to fit more appointments into our schedule, my comp and I ended p-day an hour early last week so we could travel to the other side of Daejon to meet a guy. We were planning on eating with this guy so I fasted from lunch and dinner to eat a ton, but when we arrived and called him he said he "couldn't meet"  Bruh. Now I had to do finding for 3 hours with my 배꼽시계 (bellybutton clock) going off the whole time. I was kinda pressed about it but then he called back 30 seconds later and said, "Hey! But you can still go visit my family. They're at my house." We figured we might as well, so we made our way to the 18th floor of an apartment building and when we got there the door was already open, letting me peer into a pretty normal apartment. I knocked on the door and a lady came and invited us in excitedly. The second we turned the corner into the room the vibe was... not ideal... you could say. The tiny "house" looked more like a clinic than anything, coffee machines everywhere, a person getting a massage on a table to the left, and everyone was wearing white lab coats. They sat us down right in the middle of all of them, put two mysterious drinks in front of us (we didn't touch them) and another lady walked in from a mysterious door to my right wearing a lab coat, snapping on a latex glove that was lubed to the max. By the grace of God, she said hi and walked right past me to a different room. Well obviously this was no "family," at least not by birth, and to quote Admiral Ackbar, "It's a trap!" 

They yapped at us about why we should join their pyramid scheme for about 30 minutes and I was taking mental notes about what NOT to do when I'm being a missionary cause holy, they didn't let us get a word in that whole time. Ended up telling them about the Book of Mormon and leaving for our "appointment." We survived though, and then I got someone's contact outside the apartment building, when we left, by telling him the story. He thought it was funny. haha.

I feel cursed recently. I'm over a year and a half into my mission but I still avoid talking to women younger than 30 at all costs, but everytime we went on a bus or train last week there was no one but women in sight. I had to force myself to talk to 3 in a row on one bus ride. It was horrifying. Got that contact though! 

Spiritual thought:

My oldest sister Elise bought a house a few years ago and I randomly remembered the story of her getting the house from the previous owner. When he showed the house to the previous interested people, they all kinda scrunched their noses and looked disgusted, but my sister could see through the old paint and carpet and really saw it for what it could become. After much cleaning and renovation, it looks beautiful in there now, and I have slept many a night there as a pit-stop for SLC concerts/ just to hang out with Elise. I like to imagine Jesus looking at us the same way she looked at that house. He focuses on our potential and understands far better than anyone what we are capable of and what we need to do to achieve it. 

Current Poundage: 31.5lbs (moon gravity)

Fat 8/30/2026

 Just a super crazy busy week again. We worked until the last minute planning a training for zone conference and then in the morning the AP's texted us that we won't be giving one this month.

The members are so cracked here and our fridge is overflowing. One member sent me cinnamon toast crunch and another one invited me over to cook me my favorite food. Praise!

We had mission leadership conference and because we weren't busy enough we got assigned the training. It went well though and I got to eat 뻬해장국 with Elder Worlpy and do our (6th?) farewell before he goes home. 

We had some really good lessons this week and we had 4 friends and a new member make it out to church. 

Spiritual Thought:  We talked about the brother of Jared at MLC and I've always loved the verse where God basically just answers his prayer with, "idk, what you want me to do about it?" I've been paying closer attention to how God teaches the people found in the scriptures a lot more and I noticed that He frequently just asks them a question so they can figure it out on their own (obviously with some help).

 An answer given is easily forgotten but an answer earned is remembered for a lifetime. 

Poundage: 187.6

The Dragon Warrior 9/24/26

 Last week while waiting for a bus, I started talking to an old man who was sitting down clutching his cane. After a while talking, he told me he was on his way to do water therapy at the hospital, so I asked him if he was ok/if he was in pain. In response, he shakily stood up, threw his cane about 10 feet, and started doing karate as if he was 50 years younger. I got juked so hard.

I wasn't expecting it, but I got transfered againnn. This time to Daejon. I can already tell you this will be the busiest transfer of my whole mission. This is probably the busiest area anyway, but as you know, I have a curse that keeps me from living in a 4-man apartment, so this area became just a 2 elder area. I'm starting to think the curse is actually real because, if anything, they needed more elders here, not less. There is no apparent reason to make this area a 2 man whatesoever. So the other team of elders got kicked out and my new comp and I took on all of their teaching friends, tallying up to a total of a little more than 100! On top of that, we're the ZL's, so by the time I finish my work every day, I just have to go to bed cause it's 10:30 haha. The new comp is a dawg though. I'm excited to grind this transfer. 

I added in my email to my president today that if there's ever an elder who gets a little too prideful and thinks they're a cracked missionary, that I highly recommend sending said Elder to Nonsan haha. Last Monday, my comp and I tried to give out as many Introduction cards as possible. We gave out two. Why? We only saw 4 people the whole 2 hours. Right now here in Daejon we aren't doing any formal finding time because we're already swamped out of our minds, but every time I step out of the apartment or church, I find a new teaching friend. People just listen to you for as long as you want to talk to them! I'm having culture shock. P.s. - I'm on my way to go shopping right now and just got a guy's number! Haha! It's toooo easy here. P.s.p.s. you can not make this up, I just got another in the meat isle. We're on the train now and my comp is probably about to get another. Three contacts before I could finish writing this email! Sheesh!

We went to Seoul last week for a special meeting with an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, Elder Bednar. I was kinda sad though cause I thought that all of my MTC district in Seoul died in the last two transfers, but lo and behold, Sister Perdro lives. I forgot that her mission got a little longer because she got her leg obliterated in the MTC (역시 Polynesian volleyball). I got to say hi to her... but only from the bus window. We weren't allowed to say hi to Seoul missionaries because that would be evil and disobedient, as can be learned in the holy scriptures:

Alma 17 

And now it came to pass that as Alma was journeying from the land of Gideon southward, away to the land of Manti, behold, to his astonishment, he met with the sons of Mosiah journeying towards the land of Zarahemla.

2 Now these sons of Mosiah were with Alma at the time the angel first appeared unto him; therefore Alma did rejoice exceedingly to see his brethren; therefore, he did blast right past them without saying a word, ignorong them steadfastly as he did continue his journey to Manti because if he said hi unto them that means he's a disobedient loser.

Spiritual Thought:   To get to Seoul we had to take a charter bus leaving from the church in Daejon. It was gonna leave right at 9:30, so if you aren't on by then you're just kinda screwed and can't go to the devotional. We were already at a disadvantage because getting anywhere from Nonsan is a pain, but we snagged a bus and made it to Daejon, thankfully with about 30 minutes of wiggle room. Unfortunately, our bus driver shmooved right on past the terminal he was supposed to stop at and took us all the way to the wrong side of the city. Daejon is huge so any options we had to get back to the church was gonna take 45+ minutes... 15 minutes after the bus leaves. 

I figured our only hope was a taxi so we ran to the taxi pickup at the front of the bus terminal, which usually has 20ish taxis waiting for anybody to come get in but, as luck would have it, none were there. Super unusual, but we knew one would come any second. Five precious minutes went by fast with no taxi. It was getting ridiculous. I made the difficult, conscious decision to avoid using any 쓰고 싶은 expletives and instead, said a prayer. "God, if you want us to be at this meeting, I need a taxi right now." The second I opened my eyes a taxi screamed around the corner!

Unfortunately, the ETA time of the taxi was about 5 minutes past 9:30 so we were still gonna miss the bus, but I felt suprisingly super calm and knew we would catch the bus somehow anyway. My now comp, who was my ZL then, texted me and said the bus got delayed going to the church. We ended up getting there about a minute before the bus left. Clutchhhhhhh! You know we serve a good God. Say your prayers! 

Current Weight: 188.6 

믿지 마라 👹 8/17/26

 I was permitted a short exchange out of my banishment last week and got to go with Elder Shearer to Daejon. Holy shmoly I forgot how many people there are there. We did so much teaching on the street and it was fire, minus the time I was teaching a man on a bench in the subway station and a young guy came up to us and told the old man not to believe anything I said because we're a cult. (Hence the title of the email) Fortunately, the old guy I was speaking with was a dawg and joined me in the ancient art of staring at someone until they realize they're being stupid. We just ignored the guy and I spoke a little louder so basher could hear what I was "brainwashing" my friend with. (I was teaching him that Jesus loves him lol)

We went to subway to snag some lunch and the only guy in there came up to us and asked in perfect English if we were Mormons. Turns out, he is too. From the level of his church lingo he doesn't go too often, but he showed us a bunch of photos he took at the Salt Lake visitors center where he had just gone 2 months earlier. Can't be a coincidence that we ran into him, we talked about a lot of stuff and he went to church last week.

After we got back home for the night the Daejon Elders neighbor ordered us $120 of chicken and had it delivered to our apartment. I thought my timing was disgustingly lucky, but it turns out she had $300 worth of steak sent to their apartment about 3 days before that so... still, I'm not complaining. 

Elder Galligao and I went to 계룡 to try our luck finding there. The train ride over was absolutely beautiful but then there was almost nobody there. One guy stopped us on the road and performed a whole 3 minute vocal performance for us, though.

Spiritual Thought:

I got a little chilly a few days ago and I caught myself wishing the weather was a little warmer haha. Super ironic considering a week ago I was wishing I could be teleported to Antarctica, thinking I'd never have the priveledge of feeling cold ever again. Anyways, that got me thinking about how quickly we can forget our feelings and convictions, no matter how confident we were in them. Surely this is why one of the main messages of the Book of Mormon is "remember, remember." It is all too easy to convince ourselves that the spiritual experinces we once held as sacred, undeniable proof of the gospel were just "foolish imaginations of our hearts." I have sucked at recording a journal my whole life, but fortunately young me was smart enought to at least jot down important spiritual experiences I've had growing up. Remember, remember!

Current Weight: idk I'm at McDonald's right now. They don't have a scale here.

From the Dust 8/10/26

My dad sent me a screenshot of the weather forecast here in Korea and the "feels like" was up at 120°. If anyone wants to sponsor my mountain blast powerade consumption, my email is jesse.moser@missionary.org.

We had a great zone pday today. Until a sister spiked a volleyball on me, that is. I have to switch missions after that. I cooked up in some ping pong and basketball after for some redemption. My social credit score is still negative though.

Nonsan is a completely different area from the one I first came to. Our English class and ping pong night are averaging 5 friends and 2 members coming to each. Before it was just 박영진 who would come. 

President interviews went well and he dropped some much needed wisdom. Also, found out that Elder Bednar is coming to Seoul so the whole mission is going to go to Gangnam (yes, that Gagnam) to do a devotional with him. That should be great. 

Elder Galligao yelled out to a guy our age walking down the street with a basketball. We crossed the street and I asked him if we could play basketball later, got his contact, and then tried to say bye but then he was like, "what? you don't have time right now?" Well... we lowkey didn't have that much time but we still went with him and balled up in our church shoes baby. 

A member sent us the tastiest kimchi I have ever had and I have been CHEFFING it up out here. 

I went on an exchange with Elder Curtis in my district and we went finding. I met a guy who makes solar panels who tried to apply for spacex. We yapped about SpaceX for about 30 minutes and my knowledge snagged us that contact.

Spiritual Thought:

When we go to church or to any other event for the purpose of worship, it is important to remember that it is not the speakers job to worship for us. Especially sacrament meeting. Sure, a good talk is helpful, but it is up to us to seek the spirit and worship God. This church is the only place where the ordinances of salvation are administered. The absence of good talks, cool buildings, or members we get along with should not diminish that. 

                                                                           Jesse Moser 

                                                    - Former Deacons Quorum President -