latest & the greatest from hermana murphy...

Hi y'all,

This week was crucial because we are half way done and have half way left! Need to stay focused. :)

I am only speaking spanish now in class and teaching in spanish. I am working hard on my pronunctiation, because I have a french accent. lol. 

Updates: I am the new coordinating sister in my zone, which is basically like the sister zone leader. I am in charge of the girls in my zone (there is 6 of us total) I check up on them and make sure they are doing well. I go to leadership meetings. Its a nice responsibility. I also am talking in relief society the second week-end of august to share my conversion story. There has been some cool ones, from sisters from China, Korea, Mongolia, Italy..yeah I am the United States one! :) That will be awesome, its in front of like 500 sisters. 

I am learning lots about the Gospel, Spanish and how to connect to investigaters. I am so excited for Iowa! I love people and I love helping them. I cant imagine the joy I will feel, teaching about the Gospel I love and watching them change in front of my eyes. We started calling and chatting with real people out in the world! I talked to a nice lady, named Lizzie from Florida. She is 78 and loves God and the bible. It was way awesome sharing my conversion story with her and setting her up to meet with missionaries. I wrote her a letter also. :) I got a little taste of how itll be and Im stoked.\

I love you all and would like to hear from you. :) MTC is great 4 more weeks left for me here then Iowa.
-Hermana Murphy

Caitlyn's letter for July 20th!!!

This week was very productive. we got 2 new roommates that are english speaking! I had to take out half of my clothes from the extra closet i was using. sad day. it's ok though because it is hot here so I don't need my winter clothes at all:) 

My last time teaching a discussion in English was this week, then they all have to be in spanish. I am excited to get immersed in the language. I carry my dictionary and verb book around in my purse so I can speak spanish throughout the day. it's productive. 

I said the closing prayer in sacrament meeting!! it went well. my spanish accent is improving! we got 3 new hermanas in our district. they are very nice and it is good to have more girls around the classrooms. 

My sister liz sent me a lot of desserts and i ate them all!!! did not share! its' hard too because everyone else can eat the treats in the cafeteria all day. I need my special wheat, dairy & gluten free treats:) She can't send those all the time though or i will gain weight. haha. 

I got to play volleyball this week. some experienced girls are here, and we had a fun scrimmage! i was so excited.  

I am so happy that my sister Jillian had baby claire. she is so adorable. I started freaking out when I saw the pics that jill emailed me. the whole laundry room looked at me. haha. what a cute new niece:) made my week better to be able to get to see her. 

My week this week will be so busy. spanish, spanish, spanish!! weeks just fly by here. Soon I will be in Iowa! I feel myself starting to mature and become more responsible. It feels nice. well I love you all and miss you all. Read the Book of Mormon !! hehe. 

love, sister murphy

pictures

here are some mission photos that i got from caitlyn in the mail today....enjoy!!

so silly. she looks so cute with her name tag though!!

her district. her companion is the girl on the left. they get along great!

she is so excited to be there....can't you tell?!

cait sent us this to prove that she has learned how to iron. her companion taught her. i know - 21 is a little old to be learning to iron...haha. 

this guy has become a good friend to her. they will be serving in iowa together too. fun!

them being silly on the 4th of july!!

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