2017: It's cold, pictures, and nerf war

Hey family and friends and future grandchildren and great grandchildren that may one day find these emails! 

It got cold this week out of nowhere! Like I’ve gone almost all my mission without putting on a jacket because I’m usually always in the heat but I finally got to experience a little bit this week. It probably wasn’t even that cold but I’m so used to humidity and sweating that I was freezing. And we don’t have hot water in out house, so you know mornings are just a blast!

We are teaching this hilarious old lady named Ramona who is just the sweetest thing you will ever meet. She has a date to get baptized this Saturday and we hope all will go through! She has a problem with the word of wisdom (coffee) that we have been helping her and verifying with her every day. I asked her once "sister have you been drinking any coffee lately?" and she says "oh ya i had some this morning" and I was like "SISTER WHY??" and she starts laughing and says " nah man of course not what are you thinking!" Hahahha such a jokester. I love her to death. :)

In my studies I’ve been reading a lot of cool talks. Moral discipline by D. Todd Christoffersen and Self Mastery by James E. Faust. Such a great read! They talk about doing the right thing even when its hard, having a vision, achieving goals, mastering christlike attributes and lots of cool stuff! I could share a lot of things about them but I’ll just share a quote from a poem called Invictus that they use that really touched me “I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul." In this new year of 2017 I bet everyone made goals and looked at the things they can be better in and I hope one of those goals is becoming more converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our conversion and salvation is something so personal between us and our Savior and it requires that we become very self disciplined in keeping His commandments and covenants and striving to always have His spirit with us. That’s one of my many goals for this year. :)

I love you all! Have a great week! 

PS these are some pictures off my companions camera that are from Christmas, my birthday and meals that we eat. Also today we had a nerf battle. Pretty intense. And yes we stacked chairs up. ;)

Merry Christmas

I LOVE CHRISTMAS! IT'S THE BEST TIME OF THE YEAR! SO MUCH LOVE!

This week was a week of service (double thumbs up) and boy did we serve!

We went with a reference named Berenice. When we got to her house and presented ourselves we saw she needed help moving some stuff in her house. So we went to work! Moving beds and mattresses, and getting dirty and grinding! It was actually nice because no one lets us serve them unless we do it afuerzas (against their will.)  Berenice was pretty overwhelmed with a lot of stuff and the look on her face when we got done was nothing but gratitude. Aw :). Then we saw that she needed her house painted so we painted it the next day too! Gotta love it, service brings sunshine in my soul. Especially in these times!

I also love Christmas because well we as missionaries get to talk to our families:) I love my family! It was such a blessing to see all of you again and talk about how you all are doing. :) Love each an every one of you!

Christmas is also a special time because theres a ton of singing and I LOVE SINGING CHRISTMAS SONGS! We had our ward posada (which is like the ward Christmas party.) I don't have pics of that sorry.  We got to participate in the ward choir and help break piñatas, always a good time! Then on Saturday, after I got done talking to the family in Fresno, our zone went and sang Christmas songs and hymns for 2 hours in a public area! It was really awesome! When we started no one even payed attention to us but then we started jamming with the Christmas spirit and at the end there was a solid showing! We of course contacted them and invited them to hear a message from us and it was a success I would say.

And last and most important of all Christmas is a wonderful time because we remember the momentous event of our Savior Jesus Christ's birth. The king of kings, lord of lords, the literal son of God born in the flesh, and the creator of the earth and heavens was born in a most humble manner: in a manger found in the little town of Bethlehem. Born with the mission of saving all of us from both physical and spiritual death and to show us the way back home to our Heavenly Father. We are almost done with another year and 2017 is upon us and I hope that each of you can make goals this next year to follow the example of Jesus Christ and be a better person than you were the year before. I know I will! I'm going back to live with my Heavenly Father! I've made that decision! and I hope to help other come with me as well:) I love you all and I love this gospel! I know He lives and loves us! 

Cuidense!

Hey

Everyone! It's been a while. I know I'm sorry! So so sorry! I bet you all have been on the edge of your seats with anticipation every Monday. Well the wait is over. #blessed

These last few weeks have been by far the hardest of all my mission in the aspect of adversity but all has come to an end. Finally. But through it all I've learned so much and the Lord has blessed me with so many miracles. I can't even count them! For those of you who didn't know I've been without a companion for the last couple of weeks (almost all the transfer) and have been working with members or in trio with the Zone Leader's (which was cool because a year ago I was in their area and I've been working with them and seeing a bunch of old familiar faces that I love so much!) 

We've been working and baptizing like crazy! The work is progressing very well. :)  Cool experience: so a year ago when I was in the area of Ejidal (the ZL's area) I taught this lady named Raquel.  She was super nice, always accepted us well but didn't progress. Now a year later I see her just passing through the streets of Martinez. And I thought well I'm seeing her everywhere for a reason so must mean I have to go back and teach her again with the ZL's. We go contact her and now she's progressing and CHANGING. Literally illuminating with the light of Christ. She has a goal to get baptized this Sunday and what a blessing it is to see her change, repent and prepare to make covenants with God! 

An update of whats happening in the life; today is the Holy Virgin Day and every day this last week people have been lighting off a bunch of fire works that sound like canons going off. Oh and they seem to think its a brilliant idea to do it at 4 OCLOCK IN THE MORNING. You can imagine my reaction. Also I received letters from a family of converts in Tuxpan and I was so overjoyed to hear they are super strong in the gospel and already have plans to be sealed in the temple in a year!!!!!! When I read that I ran outside and screamed and jumped for joy! Such a blessing! Also I hope to see them soon because I'm getting transferred out and going back to Tuxpan! To a different ward but still very close by! 

These last couple of months I've also been teaching the López and I see that same change in their eyes and in their being as the restored gospel illuminates their life! They got baptized 2 weeks ago and are now preparing to go to the temple this week! What a blessings! (Their names are Alma, Isairy, and Areli; pics below)

Also in November we had a miracle baptism of Victor Hector. hahaha Love that guy. He's a legit cowboy! What a blessing that was after an extremely hard week.

Last but not least Don Isidro!! hahaha He's this little hilarious old man with so much faith! He had a lot of adversity from his family about getting baptized up until the very last minute. Thats when he exclaimed to his family "I'm getting baptized because I know its what God wants me to do." Talk about a spiritual experience! Then to cap it all off after the baptismal ordinance when we're still in the water, he asks me "thats all?" I said yep and then he says to me "but what about the soap?"  I was dying!!!!!!!! hahaha Such a funny dude!

When all is said and done the Lord is so loving towards his children. Inspite of many hardships in recent weeks, the Lord blessed me with a number of miracles and allowed me to baptize even without a companion by my side. It would have been so easy to feel alone and feel like I had been abandoned. But through earnest study of the Atonement and Christlike attributes, I now know how the Lord comforts us in our times of hardship. So many of my prayers have been answered by his Holy Spirit and its filled me to such a degree that I now have no more doubts. There is no doubt in my mind that this is the Church of Jesus Christ upon the face of the earth. The Book of Mormon is a marvelous blessing and book, it is without question 100% inspired for our day and the truest book on the face of the earth! Read it!! My faith grows every time I do. I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior and Redeemer of the world, he is the great Jehovah and Messiah, foreordained to come to this world and perform the ultimate act of love, the atonement, so that salvation may be realized by OBEDIENCE to the laws and ordinances of His gospel. I ask any of you reading this, do you know these things are true just as I? Do you long for for the day to hear the voice of the Lord to say to you : "Come ye blessed, for thy works have been works of righteousness upon the face of the earth?" "Do you exercise faith in the redemption of he who created you?" Have you experienced a change of heart and the joy that comes from the holy spirit of living the gospel?" and if so "can ye feel it now?" I love you all! I love this gospel! Have a fantastic week!

Raquel gave us pancakes with ice cream. So good!!!!

A lot of people for baptized on Sunday, including Isidro.

November

Friends, family, and random strangers that happen to come across this email/ blog!

This week was a doozie! Transfers were this week and I'm staying here in martinez for a little bit longer. Woooh! But there were some changes. We were originally sharing the ward with sister missionaries, but in transfers they both left. Now we have the whole ward to ourselves! Yes baby more work and more blessings! So we've been working hard this week and our area is a lot bigger now. :)

We also changed houses to the sister missionaries old house, which was so much more centric to member and the chapel. (Is that a word? IDK. I don't speak much English these days.) So basically there were transfers but at the same time not.

We started off the week (Elder Villa and I) strong. We have this amazing family of three: Alma (single mom) and her 2 daughters Isairy and Almita. They are progressing amazingly and have baptismal dates on the 20th (fingers crossed).

Last Sunday when we were teaching them we got a phone call from one of the member saying that his daughter needed a blessing and was in the hospital. Well we rushed on over and found a young woman named Gabriella laying down on what seemed like her death bed. She was having hard time breathing and it seemed like she had major heart problems which cause her to convulse and shake very violently and the doctors didn't know what to do or what was wrong with her. We gave her a blessing and said many prayers and left it in the hands of the Lord. Many others in the hospital and recognized us and also asked for blessings on there loved ones (a great teaching opportunity) and we happily did so.

It was a touching experience and I could feel our Heavenly Father's love for them in every blessing.

This week was also super stressful because Maria Elena (our baptism from last month) was kidnapped and missing! It was so intense and yet it brought many people together. Everyone in the family was praying for her return (friends, neighbors and the church) and a miracle happened. She was returned alive last Friday. It was such an intense experience and yet it strengthened my testimony in prayer, that it really does have power! It was truly a miracle!

These last weeks have been so extremely stressful and eventful and I could not have gotten through it without help from my Heavenly Father. I feel that my relationship with Him has grown tremendously that last few months and for that I am eternally grateful to Him. God lives and He loves us.

I testify that this is the Lord's church here on the earth. I know this because the Lord has revealed it unto me countless times through the spirit! And in His church we are blessed to have his priesthood or the power of God given to men. This priesthood blesses countless lives from blessings the sacred ordinances necessary for salvation (Mathew 10:1). That power its real and I gained a testimony of its power yesterday when I saw Gabriela (the girl who was in the hospital) at church and completely healthy and free from the illness that held her bed ridden. Miracle! What a blessing it is that the Lord allows us to be tools in His hands and the means of blessing the lives of others.

I love you all so much and thank you for all of your prayers and support! Have an excellent week and look for the miracles that God works in our lives!

ps. The picture shows some handmade ties an hermana made for me. I needed new ones because all my mine were dirty and old. Here in Martinez there aren't many places to by cool ties, so instead we bought cool fabric and they turned out pretty dope!

Conference, baptism, and scenery

Hey family! Just an update from little Martinez de la Torre.  It's been raining every day and I enjoy itcompared to the eternity of heat that just passed by.

Elder Vega and I have been working super hard to change things around in our area and ward and things are changing for the better thankfully.

We have a bunch of little ranchos in our area. We went to find some referrals we had in some of them and they turned out amazing!  We had 2 families in church this Sunday and they all loved conference! Such a blessing! Especially after such long trial and error.

I loved conference so much! The apostles and prophets explained everything with such simplicity and focused on what really matters: Christ (Acts 4:12 especially), the Book of Mormon, and the plan of Salvation! Three things that will bring peace to anyone's life! I especially enjoyed the talks of Elder Bednar, Elder Cook, and Elder Ballard and invite everyone to ponder, study and apply those talks in their lives.  I know I will! 

At the end of the week we had an amazingly beautiful baptismal service of Maria Elena! She's such a strong kid with an amazing determination to repent and become a better person.  She is a pioneer for her family, who are now desirous of changing their lives also!

I love this work and I love being an instrument in the hands of the Lord in helping others draw towards Him!  I testify that the restored gospel of Jesus Christ is the only way of finding lasting peace in this life and eternal life in the world to come.  What a blessing it is to hear how we can accomplish this from the inspired words and direction of living prophets and apostles!  I am so blessed to be able to share this message everyday and I hope you all can too! Christ lives! He guides and directs the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints; He leads this church and I know and believe it!

Pictures!

One of the ranchos was in the middle of a jungle. Quite unbelievable. 

It felt like it was a scene from a movie.

Indiana Jones

The baptism of Maria Elena!

New companion and Illness

Hey what's up friends and fam! Sorry for not writing a lot lately, but I got a lot to catch y'all up on. So I'm just going to get down to the nitty gritty. 

A couple weeks ago my companion/kid Elder Santillan had to go home for some family things. So sadly we weren't together that long, but they were short and very fullfilling moments we had, and I hope to train again soon! 

So now I'm with my first gringo companion, Elder Hodson, and he's the freshest piece of baked bread you'll ever want to eat in your whole life.  We get along really well and he motivates me to go to the gym every morning at 6. He's from Las Vegas and knows the lead singer of Imagine Dragons, so that's dope.

We've been teaching a bunch of cool people and hopefully we can get this area baptizing in a couple of weeks because it has been a drought here for the last couple of months.

Also health update. Don't get freaked out anyone. But I think I may have zika ... or just an allergic reaction.  Woke up on Sunday with a bunch of red dots all over my body, like I had some sort of rash but that doesn't itch.  Any ways that and a fever kept me in bed for a while, but its really not that bad I should be back in A shape in just a few days.

We also went on a hiking trip and found some pyramids that were on some guy's property. That's Mexico, people have ancient Mayan structures in there backyard. Hahaha.  We took some pictures and it was great! Hope you all enjoy them.

It came to the truths this week that I only have 6 months left, which is extremely mind boggling and sad. I'm on the last home stretch and I have to take advantage of every moment.

I love this work and I love being a missionary for my Lord and Savior.  He is the reason I came here to save lives.  I love Him so much and I love His gospel and I love His church and the leaders He has chosen to guide it.  He lives and reigns forever!

I love you guys, and I as always thank for your prayers and supports!

Here's some pictures!

A guy that was fishing with his bare hands in a little stream

How much my companion and I are lifting every morning

My area is really big and green

My hand from this morning with a zika or allergies who knows; basically what my whole body looks like

The pyramids

Countryside mountain

Waterfall

Mijo

Hey guys just a quick email! My companion's name is Elder Santillán and he's awesome.  I love him so much! He's from Obregon Sonora! And we are hitting the ground hard! This area is the toughest area I've been in but the miracles of training are super cool! We've found so many cool people and families I love it! The Spirit is so strong and I'm learning so much from the Lord.  It's like as I'm teaching my companion, the Lord is also teaching me! 

Any ways, more news next week on whats to come! I know that this is the only true church of God!  I know that Christ lives and guides this church by revelation!  I know that His gospel changes lives! It's changed mine and so many others! This is His work!

Love you all!

Rain and Illness

Hey family,  just a quick email to let you know I'm alright!

This week tropical storm Earl stopped by so it basically rained all week and we got drenched. There was a lot of mud in my area so lots of slipping and sliding, really fun!

But over all it was a cool week. Also the majority of our investigators got sick with the new Zika virus going around and it's even hit some the missionaries. :/ But luckily I still haven't caught it and I'm praying I won't ever!

Transfers came and big news! I'm going to be training a new missionary!! I'm so excited. It will be my first time training and it's something that I've been wanting to do for a long time now!

I'll let you all know who my kid (they what they call new missionaries) is and what he's like with pictures and all that jazz!

Any ways thats all for this week thank you all for your love prayers and support!

Updates!

Hey, so sorry I haven't written much lately but a lot has happened!  Just really quick this last week I got changed to Martinez again!!  Hahahaha looks like my mission has been just Martinez and Poza Rica but I've seen a lot of familiar faces lately! 

Before I left Poza Rica, Elder Morillo and I were able to baptize 2 really cool people. Karla and her sister Alicia!  They are super awesome and I'm going to miss them a lot.  Here in Martinez people are struggling and also in the ward.  A lot of inactive members, so my new companion, Elder Rivera and I are working on that.  The work is hard but always worth it!  Love you all!  Hope you have a great week!

Update

Hey sorry for keeping you guys in the dark for the last 3 weeks. It's been some stressful ones but I've grown sooooo much.  My trust and faith in the Lord has grown so much and my love for this work and the Savior has developed immensely.  My companion Elder Herrera and I have been all over the place in our zone helping other missionaries and training to improve ours.  We've had a couple of people fall through on their baptisms but its helped our trust in the Lord to grow and the desire to find more prepared people increase.

2 weeks ago we found a family of five (Guillermo, Maria, Juan Carlos, Blanca, Teresa) that are progressing super well!  They all seem to have problems with one or some of the commandments but we have been teaching them in almost every lesson the importance of the Atonement and it's amazing to see how their lives and habits are changing!  The Atonement truly does have the power to change people and that change always brings blessings of long term happiness, self discipline, and understanding of the importance of the Savior in ones life.  Something that the General Authorities of the Church of Jesus Christ and we as a mission have been focusing on teaching repentance and baptizing converts.  I love it because it helps us as missionaries be more effective in our teaching and focus on pure doctrine - the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Last night we received transfers and I'm sad to say that I am leaving Martinez for Tuxpan, the most northern part of my mission, tomorrow.  I extremely loved it here in Martinez because the people are so nice and so loving and humble and prepared to be taught.  My "new" companion will be Elder Bravo which is not really new at all because we were companions together just 2 transfers ago in Martinez.   Looks like we have to work our magic together again in Tuxpan. Hahaha really odd but I'm excited to see what happens. :)  Here are some pictures of me at a tiny waterfall near Martinez. Enjoy! And my new/old companion Elder Bravo and I at mission council a few months back.

The Lord's Errand, Not Ours

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!

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!

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.

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!

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!