Week 5 MTC

Hola mi familia y mis amigos! (Hello my friends and family)

Wow did this week go by fast!  It doesn't even feel like a week to be honest!  Every day has been a blur because we do the same drill every day - studying and teaching until the day is done. It's been super busy and productive.  I've learned a lot.  A week from yesterday I'll be out in the field and let me tell you that I can not wait! At times I feel like I've been in the MTC for an eternity and other times it feels like its gone by in a flash.

There are 3 of us in my district going to Xalapa: my companion (Elder Noble), Elder Nielsen, and myself.  I've told you all about Elder Noble and how cool he is, but Elder Nielsen is just as special or even more.  I've so much respect for him.  He's from Thousand Oaks, California. He is a convert to the church which is really neat. He's also the hardest working missionary in our district.  I'm serious no one works harder or studies longer than Elder Nielsen.  He is a machine!  He came to the MTC not knowing any Spanish and now he's a proficient speaker and can handle his own super well! So a ton of respect there.  Oh yeah, he's also 26 years old and served for 5 years as a marine!!!! Like what!?!  He is an absolutely amazing person and I'm so excited to be able to work with him in Xalapa.

This week in TRC we taught a mother and her 2 kids which was a neat experience because I've never taught a lesson with kids before.  It was definitely good practice for the field.  Right away the kids (Ethan and Emerson) were completely unfocused and at first it was hard to get our message across. So right away I started structuring our lesson to include by asking them a ton of questions and showing them a bunch of pictures.  It turned out great!  We taught about scriptures and different people in the Book of Mormon.  It was so cute to hear their small but powerful testimonies.  Later that day I saw them at dinner.  I waved at them and immediately they came up and wrapped there arms around my legs and it was definitely a highlight of my week :)

All the natives when they see my name will without fail say, "Ohhh como (like) Eddie Murphy!" or "Hey Robocop!!"  Yeah I can expect to get that for the rest of my mission.  Hahah because I'm sure it'll be the same in Xalapa.

There wasn't that many eventful things that happened this week. Sorry this email is so short. Haha I made sure I didn't hurt myself, so thats good.  I hope all is going well back in the States or wherever you may be.  Every day I feel so blessed to be apart of this amazing work.  I don't what I did in the pre-existence or how I got so lucky.  But everyday I get to serve as missionary of God, in the greatest time in history to be a missionary, when the Lord is hastening his work and it is progressing at a speed that it never has before.  What an honor it truly is.  I love you all so very much and you are all in my prayers.  Next week I'll have more to say and more stories to tell I promise!

Love you!

Week 4 MTC

Hello everyone. I hope all is going well!

1 month down and the blessing to serve 23 more. Heck yes!  Now you may be asking "Michael how have you managed to serve a whole month and not hurt yourself yet?"  Well let me tell you random citizen, that I indeed have.  Hahaha. Yaaaaaaaaa.  But do not fret, all is well.

So last week while exercising during gym time I was in the weight room going hard like I usually do.   And I just felt a little strained in my left shoulder so I took a break and went to shoot some hoops.  No biggie right?  At least not so far.  So I'm just shooting around not going really that hard and I go to catch a random ball in air with my left hand.  And that's when my shoulder decided to stop working. It has dislocated and I'm again where I found myself, many months ago, in pain in the middle of a gym floor.  For those of you don't know, this has happened twice before.  Yay.  In my mind I'm thinking "This can't be happening again.  It can't."

Some people help me up and put me in a wheelchair to the infirmary.  (Speaking of wheelchairs I have a joke about one that I'll tell later on. Lulz.)  So I'm in the infirmary with my shoulder still separated or dislocated or whatever you want to call it when the doctor comes to see me. He basically says, "This really isn't my area of expertise and that you have to go to a hospital.... in Mexico."  At this point I don't know what I'm scared of more: going home or going to a Mexican hospital.

So before we leave I'm trying with all my will and praying with all my might that my shoulder will go back in place, so I don't have some doctor in Mexico do it for me.  I don't know how but slowly my muscles start to contract in my shoulder and slowly the bone starts going in.  I'm very much aware of it because I gain more range of motion every minute.  While this happened every native and their mother, happened to be in the infirmary.  And they're talking to me in Spanish wondering what happened.  Which really helped the situation hahaha.

We leave for the hospital (my companion, myself, and a native chaperone) and at that point I think my shoulder is good, just a little sore.  We get there and it's actually a nice hospital or at least nicer than I thought.  We are seen very quickly and they help me get ready for x rays.  I feel like the lady doing x rays did not know what she was doing, because she shot xrays at me like 100 times in one minute.  I thought I was going to get radiation sickness and lose all my hair hahah.

We finish getting x rays and I'm seen by an extremely young doctor who is the orthopedic expert.  She tells me that since this has happened so many times before that it would probably be best if I get it fixed as to avoid doing further damage to my shoulder.  She recommended that I should go home to get it done.  I couldn't believe what I was hearing.  I thanked the doctor for her evaluation and just waited for the water works.  She gave me this weird sling thing, that is more of a body to keep my shoulder in place.  There was a solid hour that day that I thought I was going home again.

Upon arrival back at the MTC I was greeted by the head doctor and he assured me that I would be fine.  He called 2 experts and they both said that if I refrained from sports or any weight lifting I should be fine.  I was so happy to hear that!  I thanked the Lord for the rest of that day and the next i was so happy!  It was such a relieve. Yep, so basically my whole entire left side of my body is broken with my left knee still healing and my left shoulder going out of place from time to time.  I'm basically a mess, but I just want to assure you guys that I'm al-RIGHT. Bahahhahahha.

Later that day we had TRC which is where we teach volunteers.  My companion and I got the chance to meet Ximena who was just the sweetest soul.  She's 15 and has only been a convert for less than a year.  She already has such a strong testimony.  She shared with us her desire to serve a mission and how much the church has blessed her life.  Such a sweet spirit and I had such a joy teaching her.  It was a great way to end the day. Well that basically it for this week.  Every other day has been pretty normal with continued studying and growth.

I hope everyone is doing well and I thank you for all the prayers you've said for me.  Know that I pray for you all every day too.  God is good and I'm so grateful to be able to serve him.  I can't wait to go to the field and meet the people of Xalapa.  Just 2 more weeks and it will finally happen.

Wheelchair joke: the Mexican word of the day is wheelchair - Juan and I only have one taco but it's ok, wheelchair. (Say it out loud and in your best Mexican accent.)

Week 3 MTC

Hey everyone! Hope everyone had a great spring break and an even better Easter!

Wow! Crazy to think that 6 months ago this week I left for my mission the first time! Looking back I feel it was a long time. Especially when I think about how much has happened.  I learn more and more each day not to dwell in the past in what could have happened but look hopefully to the future for what will :)

This week seemed like it took forever but it was eventful and full of fun none the less! I have became an official residence of Mexico as of last Wednesday!! Woooooo!  I as well as some other missionaries serving in Mexico, took a bus trip to the consulate in Mexico City to retrieve our visas. We almost didn't make it because no one told us we about it until 5 minutes before the bus left! So my companion and I had to chow down our breakfast and book it over there and we made it just fine.

Every time I go outside the walls of the MTC I'm amazed by how awfully yet impressively people drive.  So fast and so close, but I have yet to see an accident.  It's about an hour bus ride to the consulate so I got to see a bunch of the city and it made me want to leave to the field already! These weeks in the MTC don't seem to go by fast enough.

At the consulate a lot of missionaries couldn't understand what the workers were telling them so I helped translate a lot.  And it was good practice for me.  After we got our visas all the missionaries ate at this little taco stand on the side of the street.  I could just tell right from the start that was a bad place to eat because street food here will just tear up your insides . . . but man if those weren't the best tacos I had ever eaten in my life!!!  It was like a circus of spices and flavors in your mouth as well as when it came out. Ha ha ha ha ha ha yeah I definitely paid for it later but totally worth it.

Since we had to go to the consulate on Wednesday we missed our progressing investigator lesson that morning so we had to make it up the next day.  Along with our other investigator we had that day and we were starting TRC.  Which is where we teach actual volunteers instead of teachers playing the role of the investigator.  So it worked out that we would be teaching 3 lessons.  Which is probably nothing compared to the missionaries in the field,  but to us in the MTC it is 3 times more than the usual. Lulz.

Our first lesson was with Miguel, who we had taught earlier that week and flopped really hard with.  It was the worst teaching experience of my life.  I was so grateful he wasn't a real investigator.  So we had to redeem ourselves and this time we did so good! We taught him how to pray and answered all his questions and I could feel Heavenly Father communicating through me. Such an awesome experience.

Later we had a lesson with Daniel.  Our main goal was to earn his trust and be a friend to him.  And we did just that!  So we were 2 for 2! And then later that day we met Gloria.  Gloria is 76 and has been a member for 33 years and has to be the sweetest lady I've ever met!  She shared her conversion story with us, and how much she loves this church and the spirit was just so strong!  She had such a beautiful soul and glowed with the light of Christ and I can't wait to meet more people like her on my mission.

This whole week our entire district was just looking forward to conference and we were not disappointed.  I loved how most of the conference was based on family.  Even though as a missionary starting a family isn't anywhere on my radar yet, I focused on how those messages would help the people I would teach.  My favorite session by far was the Sunday morning session. There was just a triple whammy of speakers back to back that I just loved. Elder Brent Nielsen's talk on the prodigal son was definitely one I could relate to and was so good.  Then my man Elder Holland knocked it out of the park with his talk on the Savior.  Like holy cow!  And Elder Uchtdorf's talk on grace was one of the best I've heard!  I recommend everyone go back and take a look at those three.  I know I will!

Yesterday as I was thinking about what to write you guys I realized I really didn't have a funny story to tell you guys like last week.  I thought oh well that's just how it'll be.  I definitely spoke too soon. Yesterday after we had another successful lesson outside with Miguel, our teacher was giving us feedback on how our lesson went.  While he's talking there's this crazy bird over us just making the craziest noises.  Mind you all the birds in Mexico are cray cray.  And in my mind I'm thinking, "that is crazy. If only I had a shotgun."  Now I don't know if this bird could read my mind or something, but out of nowhere he just takes his revenge on me and poops right on the back of my neck! LOL at my life.  Anyways I learned 2 very important things that day:
1. God really does have a sense of humor
2. Fresh bird poop is extremely warm.

That's all for this week everyone.  I hope all is well and that everyone is doing good and healthy!  I pray for you all the time!

I want to close with my testimony:

I know that we have a loving Father who is aware of us, loves us, and has a plan for all of us.  I know that it's only through the Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ that we are able to return back to Him. His love and atonement is infinite.  I feel it every day. If you haven't seen the church's video,  He is Risen on youtube you need to watch it.  I love my Savior so much and I try to be more like Him everyday.  I love sharing His gospel with those around me and bringing  them closer to Christ.  He lives.  I know He does.  I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and its words truly do have the power to change lives.  I've seen it.  I love you all and God loves you too!

Until next week!

P.S. Don't be afraid to email me :)

(Or you can write a letter to him. Use this post to help.)

Week 2 MTC

Hey Everyone,

Ha ha ha ha. Yes it has been 2 weeks and I haven't broken anything! I did a lot of praying this week to make sure it didn't happen again. :) Proof prayer always works!  This week was a very long and stress filled one but I've grown so much.  I'm really thankful to my Heavenly Father for putting all these tasks in my life to help me learn and grow so much quicker!

There were so many things I wanted to tell you guys last time but wasn't able to because I ran out of time. The language is coming along so great! We share our dorms with native speakers who barely speak any English and it helps.  It's great practice to speak to them and get used to the rhythm and speed of how they talk.

Our district and I are really trying to use Spanish where ever we can to learn the language quicker and it's really helping.  I can honestly say that our Heavenly Father blesses when we are serving him and teaching his children. The gift of tongues has been such an obvious blessing in my life right now as well as for the others in my district. When we teach the spirit really does guide our thoughts and helps us say what we need to say and what the investigator needs to hear. Such a good thing to be apart of.

One of the cool things about the Mexico City MTC is we are surrounded by mountains and so at times it feels like we are at the bottom of a very large cereal bowl.  All up and down these mountains there are these Mexican house structures. (They are kind of structures, not really houses at all.)  And at night the houses light up the side of the mountains. It makes everything look super pretty.  I'll send pictures.

Last week my district as well as other districts got to see the Mexico City temple. It is one of the coolest temples I've ever seen.  We couldn't go in unfortunately because they're remodeling but we went inside the visitor center for a while and learned a ton about the growth of the church in Mexico. Super interesting! One of the sister missionaries there could speak 5 languages. Like whaaattt? (Spanish, French, Russian, Galic, and English.)

Sunday was such a spiritual day.  I love Sundays in the MTC.  We had the opportunity to fast because General Conference is next weekend.  It was great!  We got to watch an MTC devotional called The Character of Christ by David A Bednar.  I saw part of it in Provo and have raved about to everyone in the MTC as well as some of the leadership.  I guess it worked because they showed it.  It's honestly the best talk I've ever heard and I encourage everyone to read it or watch it if you can find it.  It talks about how selfless Christ is and how we better ourselves by being like him. 

Sort of a funny thing that happened this week is my companion and I locked ourselves out of our room. Ha ha. You need a key to get into our dorm and to get into the room we share.  While we we getting ready in the morning the door to our room shut while our keys were inside.  We were in our underwear. SOOOOOOOOO yeaah.  I had to borrow some clothes from our native roommates and walk across the campus in street clothes to reception for another key. Needless to say we were late for breakfast.

As I mentioned earlier a lot goes on outside the walls of the MTC.  Fireworks, cannons, and even some gun shots. But in the MTC I feel completely safe.  It really feels like we are in the world but not of it.  But they really do blow cannons and stuff everyday, because every day they celebrate a Saint. Every day is a party in Mexico. Ha Ha Ha Ha.

I love all of you so much and thanks for all the love!  I pray for you everyday!  God works milagros (miracles) and its through simple people like you and me. :)

Here's some cool pictures of me wielding some lights sabers! No Mom and Dad it wasn't while we were studying. Ha Ha.

Week 1 MTC

My first week in the MTC (Missionary Training Center) was super amazing of course, but also the same as my last first week. Dejavú! But it was very successful none the less. The very first thing I noticed about Mexico on the flight in was the pollution. When we landed I was super scared about how I would get through customs. The people in customs didn't speak a lot of English but with the little Spanish I knew at the time I was able to get through. There were 26 missionaries on the flight with me but another missionary and I were the only ones that had our tags. We represented.

From the airport to the CCM (MTC) I got to see the life of Mexico through the window of a bus. It's just what I imagined it would be. Trash everywhere, rubble structures and crazy drivers. But all people I saw on the way were just so beautiful and radiated with humility and love to me. It made me extremely happy that I actually shed a tear or two and the missionary next to me got super worried and asked if I was ok. I reassured him I was. 

My companion's name is Elder Noble and he is from Mesa, Arizona. He is all that and a bag of chips. We get along super well and he has a million dollar smile which really helps in our lessons. He's our district leader cause he slays with the spirit. He loves singing which is perfect because I also love to sing. So we sing and harmonize with each other wherever we go. We´re working on a companionship duet so we can spiritually blow the minds of the missionaries here. We teach together well and our companionship studies are super powerful. He's having a little bit of a hard time with the language but that's ok because I help out a lot.

The Mexico City MTC is established in an old high school built by the church that was turned into a missionary training center just a couple of years ago. It is a 90 acres campus surrounded by a stone wall 9 ft tall, with an even higher metal fence on top of it.  We are told it is electric, but I don't think it is. I think we´re pretty safe. Inside there are several classroom halls named after LDS prophets that we have our studies in. There are houses that some of the missionaries and workers live in but my district and I were lucky enough to get the dorms. Just kidding, the dorms are not the business. They're basically small study rooms with beds in them, but its all good. My companion and I (the gringos) share the dorm room with 2 companionships of native speakers. It has been both a challenge and a blessing. At first communicating was difficult, but within a day I could understand them perfectly.

A typical day here at the MTC consists of a lot of sitting in a classroom and studying. We wake up early and bathe and prepare for our day. Then we go to our classroom and study for 30 minutes. Then we go to breakfast.  After breakfast we have language and teaching lessons from our teacher hermano (brother) silva. He's awesome. I love that guy. Hahaha.  He's so funny. But he's also super serious and spiritual when he needs to be. We have lessons for 3 hours then we have lunch. Afterwards we prepare our lessons for the mock investigators we teach and we teach them later that afternoon. We then eat dinner and have more language study till we go to bed. We are awake doing things for 18 hours a day, so each day feels like an eternity. Hahaha. But they're starting to go by faster.

Everywhere around campus there are these purple trees that look so beautiful right now. I wish I could send a picture but I can't run.

 Mexico is a little sketch. They shoot off cannons everyday and it's kind of scary. Sirens are going off all the time but we are save here. It's like we are outside of the world.

The gift of tongues is such a real blessing and I'm learning so much. I love it here.

I'm out of time, got to go. Sorry I couldn't write more. I'll tell you guys more next week.

Peace and love,

Elder Murphy

Write Elder Murphy

Want to write Elder Murphy in a quick and painless way?  Check out the free service by DearElder.com.  Write your letters before midnight Sunday (MST) and they will be printed and mailed to Elder Murphy for free using the church pouch system.  Click here for a brief explanation of how the pouch system works. Click here to get started.

You can send him a digital copy of your letter as well if you input his email in the second box. His email is michael.murphy@myldsmail.net .

If you prefer not to use Dear Elder, you can send a letter directly to the pouch address.  Click here to read instructions. The pouch address is:

Elder Michael Murphy
Mexico MTC
P. O. Box 30150
Salt Lake City, UT 84130

Arrived Safely

Elder Murphy arrived in Mexico City and made it safely to the MTC. He will study and train for six weeks before heading to Xallapa in late April. An excerpt from his email:

"They're letting us send you an email to let you know that I made it ok to the MTC! From what I've seen, Mexico City is pretty dope. It's just like downtown Fresno except it looks like that everywhere. Hahahaha! I already love it here! My P-day is Tuesday. Talk to you then! Gotta go. Love you!"

On His Way

Elder Murphy is on his way to the Mexico MTC today. He left Fresno, bright and early to head to Utah with a connecting flight to Mexico City. We will keep the blog updated with new information as it comes.

The whole group minus Sister Stuart.

Goodbye Hugs!

Headed to Mexico

Elder Murphy was given the go ahead to return to his missionary work.

He will be attending the Mexico Missionary Training Center on March 18, 2015.

Pouch Mailing Address:
Mexico MTC
P.O. Box 30150
Salt Lake City, UT 84130-0150

Week 1 MTC

The MTC (Missionary Training Center) is really cool although it took me a while to get used to it. I have to admit in the beginning I was a little home sick and it seemed like every day was an eternity!! This first week has felt like a month that I've been here, but its starting to go by faster. The food has really taken its toll. They serve donuts like every meal .... like what the heck?? And I made the terrible mistake of drinking chocolate milk every meal for the first 3 days.... that was a mistake. I don't do that any more, skim milk only. Hahaha.

My companion's name is Elder Wright. He's a really cool guy from Pennsylvania. He's super smart and extremely sarcastic and he's the funniest elder in our district!! He's 6' 4, so I feel tiny next to him.

 

(All missionaries are assigned a companion of the same gender while in the MTC, and later on in their mission. They work together as a team. Boys are called Elders and girls are called Sisters. A group of companionships make up a district. A group of districts make up a zone. And a group of zones make up a mission. )

Also big news: the second day here I was assigned to be district leader so there's never a dull moment or a lazy one. (That means Michael is responsible for leading the 10 Elders in his district.)

The District

The only thing is Elder Wright's a democrat .... I know right. So while we've been waiting in doctors offices we always talk politics. But we've both agreed to stop cause its not really that important.

(Michael hurt himself the first week in the MTC by twisting his knee awkwardly while retrieving a ball. He aggravated an old injury from a year and half ago when he fell off the roof and dislocated his knee. He has been checked out by a sports medicine doctor and is going to receive an MRI to verify he didn't tear his ACL in the past. The doctor says unless Michael gets surgery he will not be sent home. He has been advised not to do any lateral movement like soccer or basketball on his mission.)

Funny story: I woke up one morning and turned on the light because I thought we had slept through our alarm. (I had accidentally slept through my companions alarm the morning before and his coughing is actually what woke me up. So I accidentally slept in 3 minutes that morning :/ ) I get on my knees and start to pray when I hear my companion say "Elder Murphy it's 4:30 in the morning go back to bed." I felt really dumb. Hahahaha. It's been the district joke for a while.

Hamming it up

Thanks for your letter and thanks for sending it through Dear Elder so I could get it the next day. You should tell everyone to do that while I'm at the MTC because it's much faster. (If you are interested, check out this post. It's free!)

I'm at the west campus MTC. Although they're moving us to main campus in 2 weeks and shutting down west campus for good which is sad because I really like west campus. It's not so prison like and we have our own apartment dwellings. AND the BYU creamery is in our apartment complex. Otter pops are mostly what we eat in our apartment hahaha! I met another parent whose son is in Xalapa and we got to talking. My companion is also going to Xalalpa and I think 4 in another district are also going as well. 

Spanish is coming along great. I'm learning so much at the MTC, I've already learned to pray, bear my testimony and gave 2 lessons in spanish and that's just in week one. Hopefully I'll be pretty good at this in six weeks/ by the time I get out of here. 

I loved conference! (The LDS church holds a world-wide conference two times a year. It is broadcast via satellite and the internet to all of it's members. Church leaders give talks to inspire, warn, uplift, etc. They choose topics through the Spirit. Music is often provided by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, volunteers, and missionaries from the MTC.) I came a week too late to be in the MTC mens choir which made me super sad. I really liked Elder Jörg Klebingat's talk. It was really my favorite because it was bold and to the point which is what I thought I and all the other missionaries needed. I thought the analogy of having an interview with the Savior in one minute and grading ourselves spiritually really made me stop and think what I could be doing better. I also liked both of President Uchtdorf's talks as well. (Talk 1,  Talk  2)

Doctrine & Covenants 11:21 Seek not to declare my word, but first seek to obtain my word, and then shall your tongue be loosed; then, if you desire, you shall have my Spirit and my word, yea, the power of God unto the convincing of men.

Mosiah 2:41 And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it. 

Elder Murphy would love more letters, cinnamon rolls, mike n ikes, twix, and jelly beans. 

Free Service: Dear Elder

Want an easier way to write Elder Murphy? Check out this free service: DearElder.com. All you have to do is input his address, type your message, and it will be printed and delivered to Michael the next day. No stamps. No envelopes. No worrying about your handwriting. Give it a shot today. This is only free while he is at the MTC, so take advantage of it now. Click here to get started.

Elder Murphy can't wait to receive your letters. Let him know he is in your thoughts and prayers often.

Day 1 - Provo MTC

Today Elder Murphy began that start of his two year mission.  He arrived in Utah safely and reported to the MTC to begin his missionary training.  We look forward to receiving his emails and hearing more about his first week. Some photos from this morning:

Mom and Dad will miss him!

Checking in at the MTC

Doesn't he look excited?