caitlyn's letter for today

Well this week basically consisted of me getting sick, going to the doctor, then getting sent to quarantine. Good times! I slept atleast 12 horus a night, ate, watched a million church movies and wrote letters until my hand cramped. The time of my life was spent in that little room, without fresh air or human contact. I got out on Sunday, perfect timing for sacrament. I got to talk to my mommy on the phone, which was way cool! The doctor suggested it, because as he worded it, " your mom is a little clingy?" haha I was like yeah, I am the baby, a convert and the first missionary. After he heard that it was a for sure a go on the phone privilege. Hearing her voice was comforting and reminded me of the loved ones I have at home. Being away for three weeks about now, has already reminded me of how much I love my family and appreciate them. It brightens my day to receive letters and packages, because it reminds me of that love and that support. :) I hope that my experience as a missionary will positively affect my family and they will be blessed because of my service. 

We started the past tense in spanish. Yipee! My companions and I are now teaching lesson 2, the plan of salvation. I like this lesson, because it answers a lot of questions we have as people as to what is going to happen when we die. As a convert, this lesson hit me hard because I always wondered that. I wondered if my family would be with me in heaven and they will be! This lesson is good news to the investigators because it provides a positive outlook on death (the scariest thing for most people to think about.) I have a testimony of the plan of salvation and I am working on threading my own conversion and testimony throughout the lesson. It has been a challenge learning how to teach a lesson with 3 companions..we really have to work with the Spirit and listen to the promptings of what to say and when to say it. I feel so passionate about what I am teaching that I want to "hog" all the time and teach. It has been humbling for me to be able to work with my companions and the guidance of the Spirit. Today we had a breakthrough while practicing teaching the second lesson, and the Spirit was strong. We taught the lesson without Preach my Gospel in front of us and just said what was from our heart. I ended up crying while talking about what the lesson means to me. I am so emotional when it comes to Spiritual things! 

Today we got to go to the Temple which is a blessing. We get to go every Monday and it really relaxes me. We are so busy all the time that it is hard to stop and think sometimes. The temple provides that outlet. 

This next week I am going to focus on my Spanish, getting the plan of salvation down and learning our task. We have a new "missionary task" every week in Spanish. This week we need to extend commitments and ask our investigaters about their school and work. Exciting!

Well I love my family and my friends. 

talk to you soon, sister murphy

updates....

hey everyone. This week was crazy busy! I am getting in the groove of things..spanish, studying the scriptures, teaching the lessons...The hardest part has been forcing myself to speak the language. I feel awkward because I have a french accent. lol. We have been learning how to teach with the Holy Ghost. It has been way cool to learn how to let the Spirit lead the lessons. It takes faith to go into an investigater's house with a basic lesson outline and based on the questions we ask them, to adapt the lesson to their needs. Also in Spanish! So I will be depending a lot on the help of the Lord.

Lets see: highlights of this week: probably the Fourth of July celebration. We had a special devotional Saturday night and after we got to watch fireworks outside. :) yeah! Then ummm eating gluten free pizza that is amazing. Going to the Temple today with my companions was awesome. We were there for 3 hours! I like the Provo Temple- we will be going every Monday during p day. Today I got 2 packages! One from Mom and one from Dad. Stellar.

I really like my district. We were seriously meant to be together. Everyone has their quirky personality and we are willing to work hard but also have a few laughs here and there. I learned how to testift, pray, meet an investigater, get to know them, make an appointment and share a brief lesson about the family (in Spanish). Every week we have tasks that we need to have done and we get tested on how well we prepared them. A lot is on me to study- so I am trying to get a routine now. We have Spanish tutoring here too and teacher evalution of the lessons we teach. The MTC is a great place to prepare for a mission. I love everyone and hope to hear from y'all. :)

-Hermana Murphy

today's letter

Hi everyone,
I am having so much fun! The MTC is amazing with all these bright young missionaries. The Spirit is immensely strong here. I love my roomies, Lauren and Pesi. Lauren is from Michigan and Pesi is from Hawaii. Lauren is serving Spanish Speaking Mesa, Arizona and Besi is going to Spanish Speaking Long Beach California. 

The MTC is very busy! We constantly have class (with two very nice teachers), study time, companion study (Preach my Gospel), personal study (scriptures) and language study (spanish). I like the busy schedule because I am used to it since I did college volleyball. 

The food is good too :) I have a special diet because of my food allergies. Wahoo! 

The highlight of my week was seeing Elder Holland speak at the Devotional on Friday. Before the talk, I prayed to Heavenly Father making sure that a mission is where I am suppose to be right now. At the end of his speech, when he said " welcome to the work of angels" the Spirit hit me so hard and I felt reassurance for being here. My testimony has increased already in 6 days! I am excited to see what is next. Spanish is a bit hard for me, because I am using a French accent. haha I will get it though!

My Prep day is on Mondays and that is when I can reply e-mails and letters. I receive mail twice a day (dearelder.com and normal) so write me! :) It is fun getting mail. 

I have to go finish my laundry. All is well. I love it here. So glad I came and excited for the adventures! Love you all. 

-Hermana Murphy

first letter.

my mom got our first letter from caitlyn yesterday. she is doing well. she had only been there a day or so when she wrote it, but here are some of the highlights:: 

* she got her companion & she thinks they will get along great.

* she has special accommodations for her food allergies & gets to go into the kitchen & pick up her own special food for meals (we were kind of worried about this one but feel much better  now)

* she used up 3 times the amount of closet space than the other girls she is rooming with did (this doesn't surprise me bc we packed her suitcases SO full of clothes).

* she is excited to start learning spanish but says that her accent is REALLY bad. haha. 

That's it for now. I think she is able to email tomorrow, so I will have more updates then!