Hello peeps,
Dun Dun Dun...the bed bugs are back and laying eggs. Sick! We moved out once again into the mission home. We are going kind of crazy. :) But other news...
Hector was baptized! The baptismal service was wonderful! Our branch has become so much more supportive of missionary work, it is amazing! Hermano Otanez was able to do a special musical number and Hector liked it so much he asked for him to do it again instead of a closing hymn. That was cute. Hector is excited to grow in the Gospel and learn. He will be receiving the Priesthood Wednesday night, so that he can go and do baptisms for the dead on Saturday with the branch when we all go to Nauvoo (we hope to get permission to go). We are meeting with him tonight and are going to teach him more about the priesthood and temples. He is going to continue to strengthen his testimomy, he loves reading and praying. He will get his home teachers soon. When Sister Jergesen went out with us, we went to the shelter and taught him a lesson. That was a special experience too!
Jose Rubio came to Priesthood again this Sunday. He enjoys coming to church, but his work schedule is an obstacle for him to come to sacrament. We are praying lots for his wife to have a change of heart, because right now she isnt supportive and that makes him nervous. We have faith that all will work out. He is preparing for the 25th of September. He is growing fond of the BOM and likes reading it. He really liked our lesson on Sunday; we went over the 17 points of the true church. The idea of Temples was amazing to him so we are going to watch the church video, "Between Heaven and Earth" about temples. He was able to come to Hector's baptism, so that helped him know what to expect. Lately he has been telling us how happy he feels and we are trying to help him realize those feelings come from the Spirit.
This week, we had a strong lesson with Israel and he really gets it. We went over the Plan of Salvation and he taught us about Adam and Eve and he really understands our purpose in life. We are really excited about his potential. He is preparing for the 18th to be baptized. He couldnt come to church because of his ride, Jennifer couldnt come. She is his guardian because he is on probation (he got in a car wreck without license and insurance), but starting Tuesday he can ride with members of the church to activities. Wahoo!
So Gladis and Eder have decided that they will get married and be baptized together. We are shooting for the 25th of September. I promised them that they will be prepared if we can teach them atleast twice a week. We are going over there tonight for dinner. I am excited about them! I hope that all will work out with her work schedule, her boss promised a change in September.
We finally had Hermana Santana come with us to teach Luis, her brother and his wife. We taught about families and had Hna Santana talk about how the church has blessed her relationship with her husband. We also had a spiritual lesson when Hermana Jergesen came with us as well. She taught them about the Atonement and I translated. It was beautiful! They really understood the Plan of Salvation and want to follow the Gospel..they have trouble living the Sabbath day because of work as well.
Pedro is a little sad right now because of his living conditions and immigration is out. We taught him and adversity and faith and church on Sunday helped him feel better. We are asking the brethren to really fellowship him. He will be receiving the Priesthood on Sunday. We went and ate with a less-active family, The Sanchez. We will be going back in 2 weeks. They are a nice family and have desires to come back, but they arent willing to live the Law of Chastity so we are teaching them more about that.
This Sunday we helped teach Primary and love it! Some of the teachers bail, so we help fill in and teach with the Hermanas in the branch. Debbie and my birthday activity was a hit as well! Lots of fellowshipping went down. Gladis and her family were there, Hector, Jose Rubio, Israel and his family, and Eva. It was fun and we shared a lesson at the end! Wahoo! We even had carne asada and a pinata and I got my head pushed in my birthday cake. :) Guess its tradition. I liked it. Happy that I am 22! Thanks to all of you that sent me cards and presents. hehe.
Well I love you all! Have a great week!
Hermana Murphy
Monday, August 30, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
happy birthday to me!!
Hola! Its my birthday! I am now 22 yrs old. Wahoo! Today we are going to the park to have carne asada and play some sand volleyball with the Spanish branch. It is also Debbie Crespo’s birthday, the cutest 9 yr old in the whole world!
Hector's baptism is Saturday! We are really excited about it. He is progressing very well. His faith is growing every day. We were able to watch Finding Faith in Christ with him and that encouraged him to continue to improve through the Atonement. He had his baptismal interview on Sunday and we are all good to go. We will be seeing him practically every day to review some material and get him excited. He is staying strong with the Word of Wisdom.
We made more progress with Gladis and Eder. We watched the testimonies of members on mormon.org and that helped them to see how the church has affected the lives of people and how the Book of Mormon is true! They hear our testimonies often, so they enjoyed hearing new voices. :) The Elders were able to come by and give them both blessings of health because Gladis found out she has mono. She is feeling better and taking medicine, so she went back to work. After the blessings, which were really special, both said that they felt the Spirit. In Gladis's blessing, she was guided by the Lord to be baptized and in Eder's blessing he was guided to follow the commandments. I have faith that this family is going to keep progressing and will be baptized. The Spirit is touching their lives and they are recognizing it. yeahh! Gladis's baptismal date is going to be moved back because of her work schedule She has talked to her boss and feels like she has done all she can, so we are going to have faith that itll change. Her husband is getting a little upset about the fact that she needs to change her schedule, but we explained that we are the messengers inviting them to live the law of the Sabbath.
Wow! Heavenly Father has been blessing us so much with investigators. Israel is pretty amazing. We had a strong lesson with him about the gospel of Jesus Christ and how the Atonement can change our lives. He is preparing to be baptized on the 18th of September, and is really excited about it. He has had the desire to be baptized for a while and is really happy that God led us to him. He knows the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith was a Prophet. His aunt, Jennifer, is also very prepared and willing to accept the Gospel at this time. We are working with her and helping her see the light at the end of the tunnel.
We had an amazing experience with Jose Rubio last night. We were going over the book of Mormon and a recent convert was there sharing his testimony of how he came to know that it was true. We talked to Jose how he came to know that the Bible was true...over time and studying. We encouraged him to continue to do that with the Book of Mormon. We discussed baptism and the blessings of being a member of the Christ's church. While he was saying the closing prayer, he broke down and cried. He said he felt so happy and today he called to tell us he is really happy. We were like, thats the Spirit!!!!! He received an answer that it is true!!! He is excited to be baptized on the 25th of Septemeber. He just needs to talk it over with his wife because she isnt religious. Her and her kids are living in Mexico right now while he is working in the US.
Jenn the investigator that went away to college gave me a card and said that she is really glad that she could get to know me and learn with me. Her perspective on life has completely changed and we know its not me that did anything but the Spirit! She found an institute near her college and I pray that she will go!!
Our new investigator, Marisa, is really amazing. She really needs to accept the Atonement in her life to get rid of bad emotions that she has bottled up. I know she will and that the love of God will change her life completely. We are excited for her soon to be transformation from a caterpillar to a butterfly!
Goodnews! Our less-active, Hermano Lopez has decided to come back to church! That made me happy. I hope he sticks to it. We stopped by more members and less-actives this week, trying to encourage all of them as well.
This week was a good one. Last Monday I was able to see my family and go to the fair. It was fun! I almost threw up on a really sketchy ride with Hermana Guthrie. I love my family! I got to meet my little brother Bobby for the first time. He sure is handsome and looks exactly like my dad when he was a baby. I am excited to see all of you in December once I am home. I love my mission! I have had great experiences and look forward to what is to come for the last three months here in good old Iowa. Miss you!
Hermana Murphy
Hector's baptism is Saturday! We are really excited about it. He is progressing very well. His faith is growing every day. We were able to watch Finding Faith in Christ with him and that encouraged him to continue to improve through the Atonement. He had his baptismal interview on Sunday and we are all good to go. We will be seeing him practically every day to review some material and get him excited. He is staying strong with the Word of Wisdom.
We made more progress with Gladis and Eder. We watched the testimonies of members on mormon.org and that helped them to see how the church has affected the lives of people and how the Book of Mormon is true! They hear our testimonies often, so they enjoyed hearing new voices. :) The Elders were able to come by and give them both blessings of health because Gladis found out she has mono. She is feeling better and taking medicine, so she went back to work. After the blessings, which were really special, both said that they felt the Spirit. In Gladis's blessing, she was guided by the Lord to be baptized and in Eder's blessing he was guided to follow the commandments. I have faith that this family is going to keep progressing and will be baptized. The Spirit is touching their lives and they are recognizing it. yeahh! Gladis's baptismal date is going to be moved back because of her work schedule She has talked to her boss and feels like she has done all she can, so we are going to have faith that itll change. Her husband is getting a little upset about the fact that she needs to change her schedule, but we explained that we are the messengers inviting them to live the law of the Sabbath.
Wow! Heavenly Father has been blessing us so much with investigators. Israel is pretty amazing. We had a strong lesson with him about the gospel of Jesus Christ and how the Atonement can change our lives. He is preparing to be baptized on the 18th of September, and is really excited about it. He has had the desire to be baptized for a while and is really happy that God led us to him. He knows the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith was a Prophet. His aunt, Jennifer, is also very prepared and willing to accept the Gospel at this time. We are working with her and helping her see the light at the end of the tunnel.
We had an amazing experience with Jose Rubio last night. We were going over the book of Mormon and a recent convert was there sharing his testimony of how he came to know that it was true. We talked to Jose how he came to know that the Bible was true...over time and studying. We encouraged him to continue to do that with the Book of Mormon. We discussed baptism and the blessings of being a member of the Christ's church. While he was saying the closing prayer, he broke down and cried. He said he felt so happy and today he called to tell us he is really happy. We were like, thats the Spirit!!!!! He received an answer that it is true!!! He is excited to be baptized on the 25th of Septemeber. He just needs to talk it over with his wife because she isnt religious. Her and her kids are living in Mexico right now while he is working in the US.
Jenn the investigator that went away to college gave me a card and said that she is really glad that she could get to know me and learn with me. Her perspective on life has completely changed and we know its not me that did anything but the Spirit! She found an institute near her college and I pray that she will go!!
Our new investigator, Marisa, is really amazing. She really needs to accept the Atonement in her life to get rid of bad emotions that she has bottled up. I know she will and that the love of God will change her life completely. We are excited for her soon to be transformation from a caterpillar to a butterfly!
Goodnews! Our less-active, Hermano Lopez has decided to come back to church! That made me happy. I hope he sticks to it. We stopped by more members and less-actives this week, trying to encourage all of them as well.
This week was a good one. Last Monday I was able to see my family and go to the fair. It was fun! I almost threw up on a really sketchy ride with Hermana Guthrie. I love my family! I got to meet my little brother Bobby for the first time. He sure is handsome and looks exactly like my dad when he was a baby. I am excited to see all of you in December once I am home. I love my mission! I have had great experiences and look forward to what is to come for the last three months here in good old Iowa. Miss you!
Hermana Murphy
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Bed bugs are back...so gross!
Hello Family and Friends,
The bugs are back! So we moved again to the mission home. They are coming to spray our apartment again but it scares me. I would rather move or stay forever with the Jergesens. They are really nice about it! This week has been good (except for the bug bites.) We had a strong district meeting with our new district leader, Elder Marshall. He is a funny kid. I was asked to give a talk on the Doctrine of Christ. I shared 2Nephi 31 with the district and some personal experiences. My favorite part of the Gospel is Repentance. It is amazing! This life is about changing and improving and it all is through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. He loves us so much and wants us to come unto him and let Him heal us. God is merciful and just. We have our agency in this life to choose between good and evil. Each commandment has a blessing and a consequence attached depending on how WE choose to act. We will be held accountable for our mistakes on judgment day if we have not repented of them. This is where the mercy comes in. Christ has repented for all of our sins, so we can turn to Him when we mess up and He can purify us again to be worth y of the Holy Ghost. We won’t be held accountable if we have fully repented, which means changing our lives to be more in line with the life of the Savior. It is so beautiful! It is the Plan of Happiness and true happiness comes through repentance. It can be a joyful experience because we realize the love of our Savior and how much He has done for us and our salvation! Speaking of our Savior, Hermano Flores followed the example of Jesus Christ and was baptized! Haha The Elders have been teaching him and his wife and daughter were baptized previously. We taught at their baptism and I felt the Spirit very strongly as I promised them that they will have an Eternal family! It is all possible through Jesus Christ.
For the updates on the investigators...
Hector is doing great and is following the word of wisdom-he prefers Orange soda anyways :) We were able to have a few member presents with him this week. We organized a movie night at the Crespos house with their family as well as Hermano Paisono and Hermano Huerta. It went really well! We watched the Restoration video to help him understand better the importance of it. He said that seeing the video helped him because he is a visual learner. We are going to do more activities with him and continue to get the members involved. Teaching him in a members home, really brings the Spirit and the member's testimonies strengthen him. He is preparing for baptism on the 28th of this month and we feel he will be ready. He has the desire and wants to follow the example of Jesus Christ.
Gladis rocks! We had two dinner appointments with her this week! We also got the opportunity to teach her boyfriend, Eder. We talked a lot about why we need to be baptized and the blessings that come from being a member of Christ's church, mainly the ability to repent and be forgiven through the Atonement. Gladis has talked to him about marriage because they need to go to the court house and be legally married...he is thinking about it. She is pressuring him to make up his mind because she wants to be ready to be baptized on the 28th of August. I think he will come around. We went through all the Articles of Faith and the baptismal questions with Gladis and she only has one doubt. She has been praying to receive a testimony that President Thomas S Monson is the Prophet of the Lord. So we are going to listen to a talk of his and watch a testimony of a member on mormon.org. She knows that Joseph Smith was a prophet, is just unsure about Monson. She will get there!
Jose Rubio is so interesting! He has progressed really well. This last week we taught him at the Crespos for a dinner appointment, and Hermana Crespo's testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon helped Jose alot. He has been having troubles understanding the importance of the book and relating it to himself. This week we are going to go over the questions of the soul as well as watch testimonies of other members. He has been moved the most by hearing others testify of how the church has changed their lives and how they know it to be true. He understands as it explains in 1Nephi 14 that there are only two churches...the church of God and of Satan. We explained the importance of the Spirit and gaining a testimony of the BOM to know if this is the true church. He just now sent us a text thanking us for helping him. He said that he received the answer he needed last night in the BOM to know that the church was true! Wahoooo! That is the best news.We will continue working with him this week. He showed up to the third hour of church and enjoyed Priesthood! That is dedication, coming right after he finished work.
Jenn is going away to college this week. She was able to go visit the temple with the young women in the branch and really enjoyed it. It is too bad that her parents arent supportive but I know she will be baptized in the Lord's timing. I think she will go away to school and really get the opportunity to learn...she already found an institute on campus! She has become one of my best friends, I am really going to miss her but we will keep in touch and I will be at her baptism!
Jorge and his daughters came to church again. We are going to teach him with Pedro this week. Pedro is the best fellowshipper! Pedro now has hometeachers and is preparing to receive the Priesthood!
The Branch here is doing pretty good. We are going to focus more on serving the members and spreading the charity! We taught primary this Sunday. That was so much fun. I love seeing the light of Christ shine out of their little eyes. I never was in primary considering I was baptized 2 yrs ago, so learning the songs and doing the activites was special. Margarita, the President, thanked us because she said the kids get tired of the same people teaching. We offered to help whenever she needs us. Next week, we are going to teach the young women about missionary work. Hermana Ruiz, is always really stressed out trying to do all the things for young women. We offered to help her as much as we can. We are planning to do a service project with the young women; we think they need mentors and we want to help motivate them to live the Gospel with a smile! Some of them are going to help us with appointments this week. We are going to help more with the recent converts and less actives in the branch. Strengthening them would make an impact in the branch, so we are planning on stopping by their housese with cards and cookies. Our ward mission leader, Hermano Otanez is leaving the branch to go to another ward. This is a big deal for our branch considering he and his family have made a huge positive impact. We are hoping that the members will step up and this will be a huge growing experience. Let the little birdies fly. The Lord is really blessing us in the work and we are finding new people to teach. I love it!
I love all of you! My dad, Heidi and little brothers are in town and my president said I could see them. I am excited about it! Yeah for family.
Hermana Murphy
The bugs are back! So we moved again to the mission home. They are coming to spray our apartment again but it scares me. I would rather move or stay forever with the Jergesens. They are really nice about it! This week has been good (except for the bug bites.) We had a strong district meeting with our new district leader, Elder Marshall. He is a funny kid. I was asked to give a talk on the Doctrine of Christ. I shared 2Nephi 31 with the district and some personal experiences. My favorite part of the Gospel is Repentance. It is amazing! This life is about changing and improving and it all is through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. He loves us so much and wants us to come unto him and let Him heal us. God is merciful and just. We have our agency in this life to choose between good and evil. Each commandment has a blessing and a consequence attached depending on how WE choose to act. We will be held accountable for our mistakes on judgment day if we have not repented of them. This is where the mercy comes in. Christ has repented for all of our sins, so we can turn to Him when we mess up and He can purify us again to be worth y of the Holy Ghost. We won’t be held accountable if we have fully repented, which means changing our lives to be more in line with the life of the Savior. It is so beautiful! It is the Plan of Happiness and true happiness comes through repentance. It can be a joyful experience because we realize the love of our Savior and how much He has done for us and our salvation! Speaking of our Savior, Hermano Flores followed the example of Jesus Christ and was baptized! Haha The Elders have been teaching him and his wife and daughter were baptized previously. We taught at their baptism and I felt the Spirit very strongly as I promised them that they will have an Eternal family! It is all possible through Jesus Christ.
For the updates on the investigators...
Hector is doing great and is following the word of wisdom-he prefers Orange soda anyways :) We were able to have a few member presents with him this week. We organized a movie night at the Crespos house with their family as well as Hermano Paisono and Hermano Huerta. It went really well! We watched the Restoration video to help him understand better the importance of it. He said that seeing the video helped him because he is a visual learner. We are going to do more activities with him and continue to get the members involved. Teaching him in a members home, really brings the Spirit and the member's testimonies strengthen him. He is preparing for baptism on the 28th of this month and we feel he will be ready. He has the desire and wants to follow the example of Jesus Christ.
Gladis rocks! We had two dinner appointments with her this week! We also got the opportunity to teach her boyfriend, Eder. We talked a lot about why we need to be baptized and the blessings that come from being a member of Christ's church, mainly the ability to repent and be forgiven through the Atonement. Gladis has talked to him about marriage because they need to go to the court house and be legally married...he is thinking about it. She is pressuring him to make up his mind because she wants to be ready to be baptized on the 28th of August. I think he will come around. We went through all the Articles of Faith and the baptismal questions with Gladis and she only has one doubt. She has been praying to receive a testimony that President Thomas S Monson is the Prophet of the Lord. So we are going to listen to a talk of his and watch a testimony of a member on mormon.org. She knows that Joseph Smith was a prophet, is just unsure about Monson. She will get there!
Jose Rubio is so interesting! He has progressed really well. This last week we taught him at the Crespos for a dinner appointment, and Hermana Crespo's testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon helped Jose alot. He has been having troubles understanding the importance of the book and relating it to himself. This week we are going to go over the questions of the soul as well as watch testimonies of other members. He has been moved the most by hearing others testify of how the church has changed their lives and how they know it to be true. He understands as it explains in 1Nephi 14 that there are only two churches...the church of God and of Satan. We explained the importance of the Spirit and gaining a testimony of the BOM to know if this is the true church. He just now sent us a text thanking us for helping him. He said that he received the answer he needed last night in the BOM to know that the church was true! Wahoooo! That is the best news.We will continue working with him this week. He showed up to the third hour of church and enjoyed Priesthood! That is dedication, coming right after he finished work.
Jenn is going away to college this week. She was able to go visit the temple with the young women in the branch and really enjoyed it. It is too bad that her parents arent supportive but I know she will be baptized in the Lord's timing. I think she will go away to school and really get the opportunity to learn...she already found an institute on campus! She has become one of my best friends, I am really going to miss her but we will keep in touch and I will be at her baptism!
Jorge and his daughters came to church again. We are going to teach him with Pedro this week. Pedro is the best fellowshipper! Pedro now has hometeachers and is preparing to receive the Priesthood!
The Branch here is doing pretty good. We are going to focus more on serving the members and spreading the charity! We taught primary this Sunday. That was so much fun. I love seeing the light of Christ shine out of their little eyes. I never was in primary considering I was baptized 2 yrs ago, so learning the songs and doing the activites was special. Margarita, the President, thanked us because she said the kids get tired of the same people teaching. We offered to help whenever she needs us. Next week, we are going to teach the young women about missionary work. Hermana Ruiz, is always really stressed out trying to do all the things for young women. We offered to help her as much as we can. We are planning to do a service project with the young women; we think they need mentors and we want to help motivate them to live the Gospel with a smile! Some of them are going to help us with appointments this week. We are going to help more with the recent converts and less actives in the branch. Strengthening them would make an impact in the branch, so we are planning on stopping by their housese with cards and cookies. Our ward mission leader, Hermano Otanez is leaving the branch to go to another ward. This is a big deal for our branch considering he and his family have made a huge positive impact. We are hoping that the members will step up and this will be a huge growing experience. Let the little birdies fly. The Lord is really blessing us in the work and we are finding new people to teach. I love it!
I love all of you! My dad, Heidi and little brothers are in town and my president said I could see them. I am excited about it! Yeah for family.
Hermana Murphy
Monday, August 9, 2010
BED BUGS!
hola!
Sleep tight, DO let the bed bugs bite! So the news update here is we had to evacuate our apartment and stay at the mission home..my companion has bites all over her. L I only have a few…We are washing all of our clothes and our apartment is getting sprayed..new mattresses as well. She kept getting more bites throughout the week and we thought it was mosquitos. We were way wrong. It will all be taken care of, she has medicine for her itching… On a positive note, lots of people came to church yesterday! It was so awesome. Gladis (who has been studying for over 3 transfers) finally got a Sunday off. She loved church and felt so welcomed. She brought her son, Osfoldo and it was his second time coming. Hector, Alejondro, Jorge and his daughter came also came. After church, we went to the home of a Hispanic family that recently lost a loved one. We sang hymns and shared a message about Eternal Families and receiving peace through the Atonement. The Spirit was really strong! We will be visiting the family again once things get better.
Hector received a blessing from the Elders for his health, he needs to quit drinking! We have been brainstorming ways to get him to fight off the temptation. We are going to share a General Conference talk with him today about the Atonement and putting our sins behind us and moving on! The grace of Jesus Christ allows us to repent and receive forgiveness. He needs to understand that and that he wont ever be perfect, but he can strive everyday to become better than the day before. Right now he is stuck in the cycle of repentance and needs to cut out the sin completely and not relapse.We are going to give him scriptures written on paper to read when he has a strong temptation. We talked in coordination meeting yesterday about using members' homes to teach him. He lives in a shelter, so we teach him outside and we cant ever mix up the way we teach...so we are bringing a member with us tonight and plan on teaching him in different environements throughout the week to keep his interest as well as bring in the Spirit more strongly. I am excited about it! The members are being really supportive and offering to help. Our goal is to set a date with Hector and help him have confidence that he can get over the hump in the repentance processs to be prepared for his baptismal date. He has the desire to be baptized, but is scared to fall again. Faith!
Alejondro was also at church, but we are taking a break from teaching him this week. We are not sure how serious he is about learning and being baptized. He enjoys coming to church, but we think that he still feels that all churches are good.
Gladis and her son came to church as I explained before! That was a milestone in her life as an investigator. She really enjoyed the classes and participated and asked questions. She knows that she wants to be baptized, just wants to finalize her work schedule to be able to come often...also figure out what she needs to do about her boyfriend that is living with her. Tonight we have planned a Family Home Evening to go over a really awesome talk from General Conference. It explains how living the Gospel of Jesus Christ is how we were made to live; it is natural to us and it is how we will be deeply happy. We are spirit children of Heavenly Father and our Spirit craves the teachings of Jesus Christ. The talk demonstrates an analogy of a fish. When we go fishing we use bate to lure the fish away from their natural habitat into our boiling pot. Once the hook is in the fish's mouth, it has been kidnapped from safety, flopping in a boat. Obviously the fish cannot survive under these circumstances. This can all be connected back to us as the children of God. We need to be immersed in the Gospel of Jesus Christ to survive spiritually (in the water)...if not we are found flopping around, struggling to breath, eventually dying spiritually (in a boiling pot!) The teachings of the Savior and His church bring happiness in Gladis's life. She wants to become closer to God because that is what her Spirit was made for. She just needs to fully commit and live the commandments to be immersed in the waters of baptism and to become a child of Christ. Satan will try to tempt her with bate, but with the gift of the Holy Ghost, she can be protected and have a better gift of discernment. the truth is we all are caught at times by Satan, he lures us in and gets that hook in our mouth...yes, it hurts to pull it out (repentance) but we can fully heal again and have the Spirit strongly in our lives. oh, how great is the Atonement of Jesus Christ!!!
Jenn really wants to be baptized this Saturday and is completely ready. She finally realized that the Gospel was what was making her happy. She used to not believe in God! Unfortunately, her parents do not agree and will not support her if she gets baptized. She has a really tough decision to make, we are praying a lot for her. It has really made me sad because we see how happy Christ makes her and she wants to do God's will. We explained at times we need to do what the Father of our Spirits want us to do, rather than the Father of our flesh.
As far as less-actives, we are still working with Hermano Lopez and every time we are there we are reading from the BOM. Pedro is doing so great. We talked in the meeting on Sunday about getting him hometeachers, and they are coming with us to a lesson this week. He brought his friend Jorge with his daughters to church again. We plan on teaching Jorge sometime this week.
We have some real potential with other investigators...for example Elizabeth fasted so that the situation with her mom would get better! We hope to teach her mom this week. Jose Rubio wasnt able to come to church but we gave him a tour after church...he seemed to feel comfortable and wants to change his work schedule or find a new job to be able to come.
I really enjoyed leadership training this week, and I am grateful for the opportunity to train Hermana Guthrie, she is a great missionary. We are practicing her Spanish so she feels more comfortable. I am going to focus more on serving her..she has different needs than Hermana McGuire had when I trained her so I need to adjust myself to be better for her specifically. We will have leadership council every other month and we meet with all the zone leaders, district leaders and trainers. Lots of things are changing in the missions around the world, as far as training the missionaries. Hermana McGuire and I got to teach a lesson to the group! It was fun; we talked about how to get investigators to church and living the Sabbath Day. I have to update Hermana Guthrie on all the great training we received!
Love you all.
Hermana Murphy
Sleep tight, DO let the bed bugs bite! So the news update here is we had to evacuate our apartment and stay at the mission home..my companion has bites all over her. L I only have a few…We are washing all of our clothes and our apartment is getting sprayed..new mattresses as well. She kept getting more bites throughout the week and we thought it was mosquitos. We were way wrong. It will all be taken care of, she has medicine for her itching… On a positive note, lots of people came to church yesterday! It was so awesome. Gladis (who has been studying for over 3 transfers) finally got a Sunday off. She loved church and felt so welcomed. She brought her son, Osfoldo and it was his second time coming. Hector, Alejondro, Jorge and his daughter came also came. After church, we went to the home of a Hispanic family that recently lost a loved one. We sang hymns and shared a message about Eternal Families and receiving peace through the Atonement. The Spirit was really strong! We will be visiting the family again once things get better.
Hector received a blessing from the Elders for his health, he needs to quit drinking! We have been brainstorming ways to get him to fight off the temptation. We are going to share a General Conference talk with him today about the Atonement and putting our sins behind us and moving on! The grace of Jesus Christ allows us to repent and receive forgiveness. He needs to understand that and that he wont ever be perfect, but he can strive everyday to become better than the day before. Right now he is stuck in the cycle of repentance and needs to cut out the sin completely and not relapse.We are going to give him scriptures written on paper to read when he has a strong temptation. We talked in coordination meeting yesterday about using members' homes to teach him. He lives in a shelter, so we teach him outside and we cant ever mix up the way we teach...so we are bringing a member with us tonight and plan on teaching him in different environements throughout the week to keep his interest as well as bring in the Spirit more strongly. I am excited about it! The members are being really supportive and offering to help. Our goal is to set a date with Hector and help him have confidence that he can get over the hump in the repentance processs to be prepared for his baptismal date. He has the desire to be baptized, but is scared to fall again. Faith!
Alejondro was also at church, but we are taking a break from teaching him this week. We are not sure how serious he is about learning and being baptized. He enjoys coming to church, but we think that he still feels that all churches are good.
Gladis and her son came to church as I explained before! That was a milestone in her life as an investigator. She really enjoyed the classes and participated and asked questions. She knows that she wants to be baptized, just wants to finalize her work schedule to be able to come often...also figure out what she needs to do about her boyfriend that is living with her. Tonight we have planned a Family Home Evening to go over a really awesome talk from General Conference. It explains how living the Gospel of Jesus Christ is how we were made to live; it is natural to us and it is how we will be deeply happy. We are spirit children of Heavenly Father and our Spirit craves the teachings of Jesus Christ. The talk demonstrates an analogy of a fish. When we go fishing we use bate to lure the fish away from their natural habitat into our boiling pot. Once the hook is in the fish's mouth, it has been kidnapped from safety, flopping in a boat. Obviously the fish cannot survive under these circumstances. This can all be connected back to us as the children of God. We need to be immersed in the Gospel of Jesus Christ to survive spiritually (in the water)...if not we are found flopping around, struggling to breath, eventually dying spiritually (in a boiling pot!) The teachings of the Savior and His church bring happiness in Gladis's life. She wants to become closer to God because that is what her Spirit was made for. She just needs to fully commit and live the commandments to be immersed in the waters of baptism and to become a child of Christ. Satan will try to tempt her with bate, but with the gift of the Holy Ghost, she can be protected and have a better gift of discernment. the truth is we all are caught at times by Satan, he lures us in and gets that hook in our mouth...yes, it hurts to pull it out (repentance) but we can fully heal again and have the Spirit strongly in our lives. oh, how great is the Atonement of Jesus Christ!!!
Jenn really wants to be baptized this Saturday and is completely ready. She finally realized that the Gospel was what was making her happy. She used to not believe in God! Unfortunately, her parents do not agree and will not support her if she gets baptized. She has a really tough decision to make, we are praying a lot for her. It has really made me sad because we see how happy Christ makes her and she wants to do God's will. We explained at times we need to do what the Father of our Spirits want us to do, rather than the Father of our flesh.
As far as less-actives, we are still working with Hermano Lopez and every time we are there we are reading from the BOM. Pedro is doing so great. We talked in the meeting on Sunday about getting him hometeachers, and they are coming with us to a lesson this week. He brought his friend Jorge with his daughters to church again. We plan on teaching Jorge sometime this week.
We have some real potential with other investigators...for example Elizabeth fasted so that the situation with her mom would get better! We hope to teach her mom this week. Jose Rubio wasnt able to come to church but we gave him a tour after church...he seemed to feel comfortable and wants to change his work schedule or find a new job to be able to come.
I really enjoyed leadership training this week, and I am grateful for the opportunity to train Hermana Guthrie, she is a great missionary. We are practicing her Spanish so she feels more comfortable. I am going to focus more on serving her..she has different needs than Hermana McGuire had when I trained her so I need to adjust myself to be better for her specifically. We will have leadership council every other month and we meet with all the zone leaders, district leaders and trainers. Lots of things are changing in the missions around the world, as far as training the missionaries. Hermana McGuire and I got to teach a lesson to the group! It was fun; we talked about how to get investigators to church and living the Sabbath Day. I have to update Hermana Guthrie on all the great training we received!
Love you all.
Hermana Murphy
Monday, August 2, 2010
New Hermana!
Why Hello!
First of all, I am so excited about training Hermana Guthrie! Heavenly Father has given be a special opportunity. I just love her so much. She is so determined to work and learn Spanish. She has a strong testimony and is super brave! We have been getting along great and she also has food allergies. Yeah! But really, this transfer is going to be awesome. We have some solid investigators but we will be doing lots of finding and tracting to get the teaching pool up again. I am teaching her Spanish everyday so that she can feel comfortable speaking it, she have already shown that she is confident! We taught Sunday School and she participated. I was happy. We have decided to focus on the Christlike attribute of knowledge so that we can better teach the truths of the Gospel through the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. I have discovered my love for the words of the modern Prophets. I eat up the General Conference talks like candy. Feasting on the word is delicious! I will teach Hermana Guthrie all I know and hopefully lead by example (Christ will help me).
This sure was a good week! Pedro is doing very well. He received the Gift of the Holy Ghost yesterday in Sacrament meeting. Hermano Oretega performed the ordinance (he is going to be the best fellowshipper)! Pedro looked so happy and smiled nonstop after receiving it. It just made my heart melt. He loves his new scriptures, has been reading and listening to the BOM. He even invited his friend, Jorge, to church and he came with him. That was special! Starting to do missionary work. His testimony has grown a lot and I know he is solid. He is still trying to find another job so he can pay more rent and move. In his current living conditions, his friends constantly pressure him to drink…he is great at saying no it would just be better to be in a better environment. I bore my testimony in the branch yesterday and talked about the power of God’s love for His children, and how I have seen huge changes in Pedro through the Atonement. I am very grateful for the opportunity to serve him and help Heavenly Father in His work. To continue to help him, we are going to bring members of the church to our new member lessons and have a smooth transition for him into the branch. By the way, he wears his HLJ (CTR) ring all the time!
Hector came to church yesterday and has the desire to be baptized and to change through the Atonement. We unfortunately found him breaking the Word of Wisdom with his friends…he felt very guilty and discouraged . He tends to be weak when he misses his family in Mexico and feels lonely. We are teaching him today about the love of Heavenly Father and how he is a child of God! We found a nice talk to cheer him up, and we are going to explain the beautiful Plan of Salvation and how it is in our favor as God’s children! Like it says in Moses 1:39, It is God’s glory to bring to pass the eternal life of man! He wants to guide us and help us. We have the Holy Ghost to help us make righteous choices and have happiness, Hector needs to know he deserves that happiness as a child of God. Hermana Guthrie and I are going to give him an envelope full of scriptures that will help him during times of trial…he can read one when he is tempted then put it up on his wall. We really want to pour out Heavenly Father’s love on him and be his friends. We are going to share a lesson with him this week about the Atonement and change. We need to repent of mistakes and part of repentance is changing the bad behavior and improving…but once we have fully repented we need to let those mistakes go, forgive ourselves and forget, and continue to become more like Jesus Christ through His Gospel. There is an amazing talk by Elder Holland called, “The Best is Yet to Be” about how we need to have faith for the future and believe in the Atonement of Jesus Christ…remember Lot’s wife. She turned to salt when she looked back! Hector seems to beat himself up over his mistakes and doesn’t have much self-confidence, but he needs to receive that confidence from the Holy Ghost, by reading the scriptures, praying and going to church. He will get there, he just needs to have faith and keep his energy moving forward. As it states in the talk, it is a larger sin to continue to beat ourselves up over the sins we have repented for because that is not accepting the Atonement in our lives. We are going to do all we can to prepare him for his baptismal date on the 14th.
Alejondro wasn’t able to come to church because of a ride mix up. He will be there next week! We will be teaching him this week about the Articles of Faith. We feel he needs to understand better what exactly we believe as Latter-Day-Saints and what he will need a testimony of to be baptized. We explained to him that a testimony is the beliefs we know to be true through the promptings of the Holy Ghost 1) Knowing that God is our loving Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ is our Savior 2) The Restoration happened-Joseph Smith was a Prophet and the Bible and Book of Mormon are true scripture 3) We have modern revelation today! President Thomas S Monson is called of God to lead us 4) The Priesthood is alive in the church and we have the saving ordinances…Temples! He knows that the church is true, but he isn’t understanding that this is the ONE true church with the priesthood. To help him understand the BOM better we are giving him a children’s book of Mormon with the pictures and simple sentences. He still wants to be baptized, and we are doing our best to have him prepared for the 14th, the Lord will reveal to us when he is completely ready.
Gladis is still progressing. We had a great member present with her this week, Hermana Santana and Amaya were there. They bore strong testimony on how families are stronger when based on the teachings of Jesus Christ. We shared a few General Conference talks about the mission as parents and how we need to guide children on the path back to Heavenly Father and lead by example. We are stressing marriage with her and also getting Sundays off for her job. Her boss said no, so that is a little discouraging; she might have to get a new job. Her son was able to go to church with the Santana family, I am hoping he loved it and will tell his parents. They really need to go to church for their kids. We explained to them that the church is run by modern revelation..including all the classes and programs for their children. We are going to share with Gladis some testimonies of modern prophets. Eder should be coming to our soccer activity tonight, I told him he needs practice.
Jenn Andrews is leaving for college soon…man she is amazing. She went up and bore her testimony during the meeting yesterday and said she doesn’t think she has a testimony but she is thankful for all that she has learned since attending the branch. She said she understands that all good things come from God. That is a huge step! She used to not believe in God. I found a General Conference talk about the process of a testimony and I know it will help her. She has trouble recognizing the Holy Ghost in her life, but I think she has felt the spiritual impressions! That is what urged her to go up and bare her testimony, her goosebumps and pounding heart. I just pray that she realizes that she has the testimony that she feels is lacking, it has come gradually through her prayer, scripture study and church attendance. It wasn’t a huge experience, then boom! Testimony, but a process like the speaker explains in the talk. We will see her today, we are eating dinner with her and she is coming to play soccer. She has become one of my best friends. I know she will be baptized!
We are attempting to get the branch more involved in missionary work; Heavenly Father really blessed us in our trio last transfer! I was able to work with many Hermanas in exchanges so that they could have those experiences helping in missionary work. Sunday in Gospel Principles, we taught about missionary work and explained how God is always preparing those for us to share the Gospel with! We gave them some pass along cards to give to their family and friends. The sealings of the families were beautiful (I hear)! The Crespo and Galvan family bore their testimony about their experiences in the Temple. I am so happy for the Crespo family, because we work with them weekly! We have been teaching them about family unity, because they have had struggles in the past. The Gospel of Jesus Christ blesses families! More families in the branch are preparing to be sealed in the temple! I am so excited for all the families and pleased with the growth in the branch. I am glad we stayed here this past week-end instead of going to Nauvoo because Hermana Guthrie was able to get settled in and we had some good days of finding! The Lord is blessing us with his Spirit and putting people in our path! Love it.
My trainer from the mission, Jenny Madsen, was able to come and visit yesterday! I love her so much! It was neat because she, Kaila Beesley (my grandma in the mission) and Freddy (he served here too) came to tour the Iowa Des Moines mission! Jenny was able to talk to our recent converts in Sioux City and said they are doing great! Amanda and Celia have callings in the church and are strong. Omar is still doing good J Also she got a hold of the Phillips! They moved from Sioux City to South Dakota so we hadn’t heard from them and thought they were inactive but they are active and going to church. That made my day! All my converts are doing great (We know they were converted by the Holy Ghost but I was able to help in the process. J) I am excited to see all of them in December.
Well until next week! Love you all!
Hermana Murphy
First of all, I am so excited about training Hermana Guthrie! Heavenly Father has given be a special opportunity. I just love her so much. She is so determined to work and learn Spanish. She has a strong testimony and is super brave! We have been getting along great and she also has food allergies. Yeah! But really, this transfer is going to be awesome. We have some solid investigators but we will be doing lots of finding and tracting to get the teaching pool up again. I am teaching her Spanish everyday so that she can feel comfortable speaking it, she have already shown that she is confident! We taught Sunday School and she participated. I was happy. We have decided to focus on the Christlike attribute of knowledge so that we can better teach the truths of the Gospel through the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. I have discovered my love for the words of the modern Prophets. I eat up the General Conference talks like candy. Feasting on the word is delicious! I will teach Hermana Guthrie all I know and hopefully lead by example (Christ will help me).
This sure was a good week! Pedro is doing very well. He received the Gift of the Holy Ghost yesterday in Sacrament meeting. Hermano Oretega performed the ordinance (he is going to be the best fellowshipper)! Pedro looked so happy and smiled nonstop after receiving it. It just made my heart melt. He loves his new scriptures, has been reading and listening to the BOM. He even invited his friend, Jorge, to church and he came with him. That was special! Starting to do missionary work. His testimony has grown a lot and I know he is solid. He is still trying to find another job so he can pay more rent and move. In his current living conditions, his friends constantly pressure him to drink…he is great at saying no it would just be better to be in a better environment. I bore my testimony in the branch yesterday and talked about the power of God’s love for His children, and how I have seen huge changes in Pedro through the Atonement. I am very grateful for the opportunity to serve him and help Heavenly Father in His work. To continue to help him, we are going to bring members of the church to our new member lessons and have a smooth transition for him into the branch. By the way, he wears his HLJ (CTR) ring all the time!
Hector came to church yesterday and has the desire to be baptized and to change through the Atonement. We unfortunately found him breaking the Word of Wisdom with his friends…he felt very guilty and discouraged . He tends to be weak when he misses his family in Mexico and feels lonely. We are teaching him today about the love of Heavenly Father and how he is a child of God! We found a nice talk to cheer him up, and we are going to explain the beautiful Plan of Salvation and how it is in our favor as God’s children! Like it says in Moses 1:39, It is God’s glory to bring to pass the eternal life of man! He wants to guide us and help us. We have the Holy Ghost to help us make righteous choices and have happiness, Hector needs to know he deserves that happiness as a child of God. Hermana Guthrie and I are going to give him an envelope full of scriptures that will help him during times of trial…he can read one when he is tempted then put it up on his wall. We really want to pour out Heavenly Father’s love on him and be his friends. We are going to share a lesson with him this week about the Atonement and change. We need to repent of mistakes and part of repentance is changing the bad behavior and improving…but once we have fully repented we need to let those mistakes go, forgive ourselves and forget, and continue to become more like Jesus Christ through His Gospel. There is an amazing talk by Elder Holland called, “The Best is Yet to Be” about how we need to have faith for the future and believe in the Atonement of Jesus Christ…remember Lot’s wife. She turned to salt when she looked back! Hector seems to beat himself up over his mistakes and doesn’t have much self-confidence, but he needs to receive that confidence from the Holy Ghost, by reading the scriptures, praying and going to church. He will get there, he just needs to have faith and keep his energy moving forward. As it states in the talk, it is a larger sin to continue to beat ourselves up over the sins we have repented for because that is not accepting the Atonement in our lives. We are going to do all we can to prepare him for his baptismal date on the 14th.
Alejondro wasn’t able to come to church because of a ride mix up. He will be there next week! We will be teaching him this week about the Articles of Faith. We feel he needs to understand better what exactly we believe as Latter-Day-Saints and what he will need a testimony of to be baptized. We explained to him that a testimony is the beliefs we know to be true through the promptings of the Holy Ghost 1) Knowing that God is our loving Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ is our Savior 2) The Restoration happened-Joseph Smith was a Prophet and the Bible and Book of Mormon are true scripture 3) We have modern revelation today! President Thomas S Monson is called of God to lead us 4) The Priesthood is alive in the church and we have the saving ordinances…Temples! He knows that the church is true, but he isn’t understanding that this is the ONE true church with the priesthood. To help him understand the BOM better we are giving him a children’s book of Mormon with the pictures and simple sentences. He still wants to be baptized, and we are doing our best to have him prepared for the 14th, the Lord will reveal to us when he is completely ready.
Gladis is still progressing. We had a great member present with her this week, Hermana Santana and Amaya were there. They bore strong testimony on how families are stronger when based on the teachings of Jesus Christ. We shared a few General Conference talks about the mission as parents and how we need to guide children on the path back to Heavenly Father and lead by example. We are stressing marriage with her and also getting Sundays off for her job. Her boss said no, so that is a little discouraging; she might have to get a new job. Her son was able to go to church with the Santana family, I am hoping he loved it and will tell his parents. They really need to go to church for their kids. We explained to them that the church is run by modern revelation..including all the classes and programs for their children. We are going to share with Gladis some testimonies of modern prophets. Eder should be coming to our soccer activity tonight, I told him he needs practice.
Jenn Andrews is leaving for college soon…man she is amazing. She went up and bore her testimony during the meeting yesterday and said she doesn’t think she has a testimony but she is thankful for all that she has learned since attending the branch. She said she understands that all good things come from God. That is a huge step! She used to not believe in God. I found a General Conference talk about the process of a testimony and I know it will help her. She has trouble recognizing the Holy Ghost in her life, but I think she has felt the spiritual impressions! That is what urged her to go up and bare her testimony, her goosebumps and pounding heart. I just pray that she realizes that she has the testimony that she feels is lacking, it has come gradually through her prayer, scripture study and church attendance. It wasn’t a huge experience, then boom! Testimony, but a process like the speaker explains in the talk. We will see her today, we are eating dinner with her and she is coming to play soccer. She has become one of my best friends. I know she will be baptized!
We are attempting to get the branch more involved in missionary work; Heavenly Father really blessed us in our trio last transfer! I was able to work with many Hermanas in exchanges so that they could have those experiences helping in missionary work. Sunday in Gospel Principles, we taught about missionary work and explained how God is always preparing those for us to share the Gospel with! We gave them some pass along cards to give to their family and friends. The sealings of the families were beautiful (I hear)! The Crespo and Galvan family bore their testimony about their experiences in the Temple. I am so happy for the Crespo family, because we work with them weekly! We have been teaching them about family unity, because they have had struggles in the past. The Gospel of Jesus Christ blesses families! More families in the branch are preparing to be sealed in the temple! I am so excited for all the families and pleased with the growth in the branch. I am glad we stayed here this past week-end instead of going to Nauvoo because Hermana Guthrie was able to get settled in and we had some good days of finding! The Lord is blessing us with his Spirit and putting people in our path! Love it.
My trainer from the mission, Jenny Madsen, was able to come and visit yesterday! I love her so much! It was neat because she, Kaila Beesley (my grandma in the mission) and Freddy (he served here too) came to tour the Iowa Des Moines mission! Jenny was able to talk to our recent converts in Sioux City and said they are doing great! Amanda and Celia have callings in the church and are strong. Omar is still doing good J Also she got a hold of the Phillips! They moved from Sioux City to South Dakota so we hadn’t heard from them and thought they were inactive but they are active and going to church. That made my day! All my converts are doing great (We know they were converted by the Holy Ghost but I was able to help in the process. J) I am excited to see all of them in December.
Well until next week! Love you all!
Hermana Murphy
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