This will be a quick email as I don't have a lot of time left.
These last 2 weeks have been the busiest and also fastest weeks of my mission. I can't believe January is basically almost done because I feel like Christmas was just last week. These last 3 weeks I've been with my new companion Elder Herrera and he is super awesome. I love the guy and we get along super well. He's from Mexico City and for some reason everyone from there is super hilarious. So we are always cracking jokes and telling cool stories; the only bad thing is that he snores.. Really loud... and it's gotten to the point where I have to wear ear plugs. Hahahaha or if he's really loud I sometimes have to hit him to make him shut up. hahaha But we get along well. He's one of the first companions that I've had in a while that has wanted to work as hard as me. Hahaha So thats what we've doing, working our tails off.
2 weeks ago we weren't having much success finding anyone. We got references. We contacted those references and weren't able to find anyone. :/ It became really discouraging at some points but it also gave us the drive to work harder.
So this week we hit the ground running, every morning, heading out sometimes at 9 teaching, finding, and going to the area of other Elders who are struggling to help them out. We were getting home at 9:20 dirt tired. One of those days my companion and I were out and it just so happened that nothing that we had planned turned out, lessons fell through, references we went to contact werent home, and we just felt like we weren't working. We were just walking around from place to place.
So my companion and I just stopped and gave a prayer to the Lord, just right in the street asking Him where we should go and who we should talk to. We started walking and get not even a half a block when me and my companion both get the impression to talk to these 2 jovens (youth) that were outside their house. We start talking, and their names are Luis (15) and Daniel (17). And after a few minutes we start teaching them about the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ and committed them to be baptized! The Spirit was so strong, they were super cool and asked us all the right questions and they accepted to be baptized! The Lord answered our prayers immediately and we were tools in the Lord's hands! This is what the Gospel is all about, this is what missionary work is all about. Every day I am blessed with the opportunity to teach repentance to the people here in Martinez in hopes that they draw closer to Christ. The Savior lives and this is His work! I love you all so much! The church is true! Adios!
Wednesday, January 27, 2016
Monday, January 18, 2016
New Year, New Beginnings
Oh my goodness what a year! Probably one of the best in my life and it happened to be the fastest year also. Hahaha like I feel it was July just a minute ago. As always in this time of year we take time to reflect and review how we did the following year and set new goals for the next. I took time to do just that this last week and let me just say I have some great goals for this coming year. :) New Years Eve here in Mexico was quite loco. It's basically a Mexican 4th of July, where everyone goes hard core with their fire works. It was nuts and made it impossible to sleep so my companion and I sort of just drank a coke and watched some fireworks and it was a chill way to go into the new year.
"hey elder murphy did you guys baptize this last Sunday?" "why of course we did computer thanks for asking:)"
This Sunday we had a spectacular day in that the Fernando's mom, aunt and grandma all made the decision to be baptized. In the whole time I've been seeing this family I've never seen them so happy. It was like they were glowing! They are all so happy and now inviting all of their friends and family to church and to partake of the same happiness that they have found in their lives!
Thats all all for now sorry this email is going to be short and sweet. But I just want to leave as always my testimony that I know this is the church of God on the earth. Christ lives and invites all to come unto Him. This year make it the goal to draw closer to Him in service, love and humility and you come to know Him, as He is. I love you all so much!
"hey elder murphy did you guys baptize this last Sunday?" "why of course we did computer thanks for asking:)"
This Sunday we had a spectacular day in that the Fernando's mom, aunt and grandma all made the decision to be baptized. In the whole time I've been seeing this family I've never seen them so happy. It was like they were glowing! They are all so happy and now inviting all of their friends and family to church and to partake of the same happiness that they have found in their lives!
Thats all all for now sorry this email is going to be short and sweet. But I just want to leave as always my testimony that I know this is the church of God on the earth. Christ lives and invites all to come unto Him. This year make it the goal to draw closer to Him in service, love and humility and you come to know Him, as He is. I love you all so much!
Merry Christmas
I just wanted to write you all a quick letter of Merry Christmas! I love this time of the year so much and makes my heart so happy and joyful to celebrate the birth of our Savior. Being in His service, doing His work here on the Earth has brought to know and love my Him so much more than I imagined.
I can remember where I was a year ago and man how quickly that year has passed. I was super depressed, disappointed, and frustrated with myself that I was still at home and not out serving others on my mission. I was in physical therapy for my knee and I was just getting started to move around more freely but I still couldn't do very much. I wanted to do something if anything to give and do something good, something even if it was small, that would bless the life of someone in need. I don't remember exactly how the thought came to me but I decided I was going to go buy a taco 12 pack at taco bell and hand out tacos to the homeless people hahah. I went with my brother and some friends and we went out to give back and give to those who would receive little to nothing for Christmas. It was a small act of kindness that to this day I still think about. I can remember the look of surprise and gratefulness on some of their faces to receive just a few tacos.
My invitation to you all is this Christmas look for ways to serve than to receive. Look for those in need and opportunities to be an instrument in the Lord's hands by blessing the lives of others. I love this Gospel so much! I wouldn't be here if it wast true! A Savior was born in Bethlehem and because of His birth all of us can be born again, be made new, be made clean. He is the only way back to our Heavenly Father and the only way to true and everlasting happiness. I love you all so much I wish I could be there to give all of you a big hug! Always remember the true meaning of Christmas because He is the Christmas.
I can remember where I was a year ago and man how quickly that year has passed. I was super depressed, disappointed, and frustrated with myself that I was still at home and not out serving others on my mission. I was in physical therapy for my knee and I was just getting started to move around more freely but I still couldn't do very much. I wanted to do something if anything to give and do something good, something even if it was small, that would bless the life of someone in need. I don't remember exactly how the thought came to me but I decided I was going to go buy a taco 12 pack at taco bell and hand out tacos to the homeless people hahah. I went with my brother and some friends and we went out to give back and give to those who would receive little to nothing for Christmas. It was a small act of kindness that to this day I still think about. I can remember the look of surprise and gratefulness on some of their faces to receive just a few tacos.
My invitation to you all is this Christmas look for ways to serve than to receive. Look for those in need and opportunities to be an instrument in the Lord's hands by blessing the lives of others. I love this Gospel so much! I wouldn't be here if it wast true! A Savior was born in Bethlehem and because of His birth all of us can be born again, be made new, be made clean. He is the only way back to our Heavenly Father and the only way to true and everlasting happiness. I love you all so much I wish I could be there to give all of you a big hug! Always remember the true meaning of Christmas because He is the Christmas.
Thursday, December 17, 2015
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
Hey fam! Thanks for the awesome birthday wishes and love super appreciate it!
Sorry I haven't written for a while, a ton has been going on. On December 1st I went to my first mission council and it was a super awesome experience. Because our zone reached their goal of baptisms in the month of November, President Greer took my companion and I to eat dinner at a super fancy sushi restaurant in Xalapa the night before council. Hahahah. It was super dope and I definitely took advantage of the opportunity. ;) After that Hermana Greer (president's wife) convinced president Greer to take us to Dairy Queen. Hahahah we were stuffed. And as you can probably tell by the picture, President Greer was not to happy paying the bill.
This week we had a super fun Christmas activity in our stake with food entertainment and the whole bit. It was an awesome opportunity to bring investigators and meet non-member friends of members. It came out great and the stake gave little gifts to the missionaries at the end. Our zone made a choir and at the end of the night we sang some Christmas carols and not to brag but it definitely made some people cry.
Also this week I got to go visit my first area in divisions, Tlapacoyan, and go help the Elders over there and to see old faces and friends from the mission. Ahah and finally being able to communicate with them normally. Hahahahahaha it was a super cool day!
Lastly we had a baptism of a stud named Fernando! His sisters/cousins got baptized 2 weeks ago and he decided he wanted to also. His whole family came to the event and all have dates to be baptized within the next coming weeks!! Such a blessing to see whole families be blessed by the gospel. :)
That's all for now ma peeps! More things to come. Have a good week and remember the reason for the season! Love you all and I love this gospel!
This week we had a super fun Christmas activity in our stake with food entertainment and the whole bit. It was an awesome opportunity to bring investigators and meet non-member friends of members. It came out great and the stake gave little gifts to the missionaries at the end. Our zone made a choir and at the end of the night we sang some Christmas carols and not to brag but it definitely made some people cry.
Also this week I got to go visit my first area in divisions, Tlapacoyan, and go help the Elders over there and to see old faces and friends from the mission. Ahah and finally being able to communicate with them normally. Hahahahahaha it was a super cool day!
Lastly we had a baptism of a stud named Fernando! His sisters/cousins got baptized 2 weeks ago and he decided he wanted to also. His whole family came to the event and all have dates to be baptized within the next coming weeks!! Such a blessing to see whole families be blessed by the gospel. :)
That's all for now ma peeps! More things to come. Have a good week and remember the reason for the season! Love you all and I love this gospel!
Sunday, November 29, 2015
Happy Thanksgiving
Hey this is going to be a short message. Transfers came and I'm going back to Martinez de la Torre as a zone leader..... YAY. That really came as a shock to me. I didn't think I was ready to be zone leader yet but I guess my President thinks other wise. Ahhah but I'm going to do my best and be ready and humble to learn a lot.
So I'm finally leaving Poza Rica after 6 long and incredible months in my area. I have met so many people here that I have truly come to love over the last couple of months. I will always have a special place in my heart for the people I have met here. What wonderful blessing the mission truly brings. How wonderful the Lord is for letting me have the chance to meet these people, to love them, to cry with them, and to watch the gospel change their lives. I love being a missionary woooooo! I hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving back in the states. It's truly a wonderful time to draw closer as as a family. Love one another and eat an extra turkey leg for me. ;) Love you guys! More to come next week!
So I'm finally leaving Poza Rica after 6 long and incredible months in my area. I have met so many people here that I have truly come to love over the last couple of months. I will always have a special place in my heart for the people I have met here. What wonderful blessing the mission truly brings. How wonderful the Lord is for letting me have the chance to meet these people, to love them, to cry with them, and to watch the gospel change their lives. I love being a missionary woooooo! I hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving back in the states. It's truly a wonderful time to draw closer as as a family. Love one another and eat an extra turkey leg for me. ;) Love you guys! More to come next week!
Tuesday, November 17, 2015
No Pain No Gain
Hello my fellow Americans! Life is good and chugging along as usual. And well this week was a little more painful and a little bit out of the norm, but it was still full of miracles and good tidings.
First and foremost, I had another ingrown taken out and it was more or less infected.... so that was just GREAT. Best part, in order for more toe to heal and the infection to go way I had to walk with a sandal on one foot most of the week. Long story short there were many heads turned and finger pointing.... so that was that.
But that didn't stop me from giving my all to the Lord. And so my companion and I went out and worked like nothing happened. We went and visited one of our investigators that we hadn't seen in a while. We got to the house and it didn't look like they were there, so we went to check the side of the house to see if we had any luck there because that's usually where they received us. While looking around our investigators giant rottweiler comes out of nowhere and bit me on the finger!!! We quickly ran to the nearest members house and they put alcohol and hydrogen peroxide and the whole deal on it. Luckily it was tied up and could only reach my finger and not my arm or leg because that would have been super chafa.
So yeah this week was a little more painful than the rest. We are teaching this golden investigator named Margarita who is progressing super well. She knew a ton about the gospel before we even met her, even most of the missionary rules. Her boyfriend is a member return-missionary and basically all of her coworkers are faithful members of the church and they help us out a lot. She already knows the church is true but she doesn't know what day she wants to get baptized. But my companion and I are praying and fasting that she'll stay strong for her goal.
This is the last week of the transfer and I'm really nervous about leaving my area next transfer. I really love it here in Poza Rica, everyone is super nice and I've gotten to know every member in my area on a personal basis. But I'll do what the Lord wants me to do always. Whether it be in here in Poza Rica or somewhere else. Well Christmas is in 5 weeks and that's crazy to think about. Haha it's crazy how fast time passes. I love this time of the year when we can celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior. He is truly the reason I do what I do and Christmas is a time filled with so much love, music and gladness and most of families. It's what the Gospel is all about, families. It's where the Gospel of Jesus Christ truly thrives. I love you all and I consider you all my family. Until next time!
First and foremost, I had another ingrown taken out and it was more or less infected.... so that was just GREAT. Best part, in order for more toe to heal and the infection to go way I had to walk with a sandal on one foot most of the week. Long story short there were many heads turned and finger pointing.... so that was that.
But that didn't stop me from giving my all to the Lord. And so my companion and I went out and worked like nothing happened. We went and visited one of our investigators that we hadn't seen in a while. We got to the house and it didn't look like they were there, so we went to check the side of the house to see if we had any luck there because that's usually where they received us. While looking around our investigators giant rottweiler comes out of nowhere and bit me on the finger!!! We quickly ran to the nearest members house and they put alcohol and hydrogen peroxide and the whole deal on it. Luckily it was tied up and could only reach my finger and not my arm or leg because that would have been super chafa.
So yeah this week was a little more painful than the rest. We are teaching this golden investigator named Margarita who is progressing super well. She knew a ton about the gospel before we even met her, even most of the missionary rules. Her boyfriend is a member return-missionary and basically all of her coworkers are faithful members of the church and they help us out a lot. She already knows the church is true but she doesn't know what day she wants to get baptized. But my companion and I are praying and fasting that she'll stay strong for her goal.
This is the last week of the transfer and I'm really nervous about leaving my area next transfer. I really love it here in Poza Rica, everyone is super nice and I've gotten to know every member in my area on a personal basis. But I'll do what the Lord wants me to do always. Whether it be in here in Poza Rica or somewhere else. Well Christmas is in 5 weeks and that's crazy to think about. Haha it's crazy how fast time passes. I love this time of the year when we can celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior. He is truly the reason I do what I do and Christmas is a time filled with so much love, music and gladness and most of families. It's what the Gospel is all about, families. It's where the Gospel of Jesus Christ truly thrives. I love you all and I consider you all my family. Until next time!
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
Miracles of the Work
Hello everyone! It's been a while I'm sorry, last Monday was Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) and there weren't any servers open so I couldn't send many pictures. But get ready because this email is about to be loaded. I have a new companion and I are getting along super well! We have been working extremely hard everyday to the point that we get home just complete exhausted at the end of the day. Giving your all to the Lord is not an easy thing but it renders an incredible amount of blessings. We baptized back to back these last 2 Sundays! Woooooooooaaaaaaaahhhhh!
The first was the mother of Yunuet and Jose who are the 2 kids that got baptized at the end of August. Before Yunuet and Jose got baptized we had to get the permission of their mother, and at first she was reluctant to give her permission. And it was a miracle that she let her kids get baptized. But when she attended her kids baptism in August she felt the Spirit strongly and knew that this was something good. She kept going to church with her kids and reading and praying and slowly her heart began to change and began to desire this for herself. We began teaching her the lessons and when we committed her to be baptized the 1st of November she burst into tears. At first my companion and I were confused and thought we had said something wrong. Until she told us that on the 1st she had vacations and that she had been hoping and praying it would be that day as it was the only day she could. (She normally comes to the church the first 2 hours and then goes to work.) She asked me if I knew and I honestly had no idea. Miracle. She was smiling the whole day of her baptism and invited all of her friends and family to the services so they could feel the same Spirit as she did. I guess she's a better missionary than we are hahahahah! Truly an amazing experience.
This week we had the opportunity to baptize another one of my favorite people I've met on mission, named Gloria. She's the investigator I mentioned earlier that we would teach and eat sushi at her moms sushi restaurant. Hahah. She is super awesome and has an incredible testimony of the church. She came to all 4 sessions of general conference, reads and underlines everything we give her. (Including the Book of Mormon), and is just golden in every definition. However her mom is an ex-member and it was a long and extremely laborious journey to get her mom's permission and took weeks of praying and fasting. Because of our faith the Lord softened the heart of Gloria's mom and let her daughter be baptized. Miracle. The services were absolutely beautiful and there was not a single dry eye in the room, even in the eyes of Gloria's mother.
God is good, all the time. My heart has truly been filled with joy and thanks to the Lord for the opportunity he's given me to help change these peoples lives. My testimony of this Gospel has grown tremendously these last few weeks and I truly know without a doubt that this is His work and His glory. These events were in no way coincidence, but miracles and the Lord has truly blessed me and those around me. I love you all and I love my Savior. The Lord works miracles every day in your lives too. Look for them and you will see how the Lord's blessings are round about. Until next time!
PS random pictures of every day life:
The first was the mother of Yunuet and Jose who are the 2 kids that got baptized at the end of August. Before Yunuet and Jose got baptized we had to get the permission of their mother, and at first she was reluctant to give her permission. And it was a miracle that she let her kids get baptized. But when she attended her kids baptism in August she felt the Spirit strongly and knew that this was something good. She kept going to church with her kids and reading and praying and slowly her heart began to change and began to desire this for herself. We began teaching her the lessons and when we committed her to be baptized the 1st of November she burst into tears. At first my companion and I were confused and thought we had said something wrong. Until she told us that on the 1st she had vacations and that she had been hoping and praying it would be that day as it was the only day she could. (She normally comes to the church the first 2 hours and then goes to work.) She asked me if I knew and I honestly had no idea. Miracle. She was smiling the whole day of her baptism and invited all of her friends and family to the services so they could feel the same Spirit as she did. I guess she's a better missionary than we are hahahahah! Truly an amazing experience.
This week we had the opportunity to baptize another one of my favorite people I've met on mission, named Gloria. She's the investigator I mentioned earlier that we would teach and eat sushi at her moms sushi restaurant. Hahah. She is super awesome and has an incredible testimony of the church. She came to all 4 sessions of general conference, reads and underlines everything we give her. (Including the Book of Mormon), and is just golden in every definition. However her mom is an ex-member and it was a long and extremely laborious journey to get her mom's permission and took weeks of praying and fasting. Because of our faith the Lord softened the heart of Gloria's mom and let her daughter be baptized. Miracle. The services were absolutely beautiful and there was not a single dry eye in the room, even in the eyes of Gloria's mother.
God is good, all the time. My heart has truly been filled with joy and thanks to the Lord for the opportunity he's given me to help change these peoples lives. My testimony of this Gospel has grown tremendously these last few weeks and I truly know without a doubt that this is His work and His glory. These events were in no way coincidence, but miracles and the Lord has truly blessed me and those around me. I love you all and I love my Savior. The Lord works miracles every day in your lives too. Look for them and you will see how the Lord's blessings are round about. Until next time!
PS random pictures of every day life:
Poza Rica Skyline
$200 of Mexican Pesos
Didier!
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