General Epistle the Seventh

Sept, 16, 2013

Hi, everybody!

Thanks for the birthday wishes! I don't want to be older, but it's inevitable.

Last P-day we went to a park and played board games. I got to play Settlers of Catan, which was great. And my zone is full of fun people.

I'm sort of at a loss as to how to find people to teach. I was counseled by the mission president's wife to think outside the box. I've been trying to do that, but it's easier said than done. If anyone who reads this has any ideas for finding people to teach that could be applied to my situation, that would be great. The situation is that we serve in a relatively small area (3 miles from top to bottom) and there are plenty of members. However, we can't knock on doors in some neighborhoods. I'm new and don't know many of the members, yet I may be taking over the area by next transfer, since Elder Ririe is likely to be transferred.

Please don't take any of that as complaining. It's not. I'm just trying to get ideas.

We met with our one investigator this week. His wife was able to sit in during the full lesson. We taught about the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel. They took it in well enough. The wife asked a question about why women can't have the priesthood. Luckily, we had brought a sister with us who answered it perfectly. She gave the wife enough without going too deep. She also invited her to pray about it. Might I suggest that, if anyone is ever invited to go to a missionary lesson, they be careful not to go too deep into doctrine. Last week we had the misfortune of having a brother come with us to this same husband and wife. When the topic of flesh and blood came up, he went into deeper stuff than he probably ought to have. I know it's tempting to go into deep explanations, but people really don't need that.

However, the husband is still excited about the Gospel and the Book of Mormon. They haven't come to church with us, yet. It seems like a matter of time before he gets baptized. He is already doing missionary work; he has a coworker who is feeling like there is no hope. He asked us for a copy of the Restoration pamphlet in Vietnamese to give to this man.

This week's attribute is Love and Charity. There is a verse from a hymn that I read this morning, which I thought was perfect to memorize.

1. 5. Charity and love are healing;
   These will give the clearest sight;
   When I saw my brother's failing,
   I was not exactly right.
   Now I'll take no further trouble;
   Jesus' love is all my theme;
   Little motes are but a bubble
   When I think upon the beam.

It's so easy to look at others and think "He isn't doing this thing right, or that thing right." I'll admit that I do that way too often. Part of charity is loving people as Christ loves them, which means that we are able to look past their faults and their sins and simply extend love. It's also being able to do that with ourselves.

Something else that's also easy it found in Alma.

44 For behold, it is as easy to give heed to the ^aword of Christ, which will point to you a straight course to eternal bliss, as it was for our fathers to give heed to this compass, which would point unto them a straight course to the promised land.

 45 And now I say, is there not a ^atype in this thing? For just as surely as this director did bring our fathers, by following its course, to the promised land, shall the words of Christ, if we follow their course, carry us beyond this vale of sorrow into a far better land of promise.

 46 O my son, do not let us be ^aslothful because of the ^beasiness of the ^cway; for so was it with our fathers; for so was it prepared for them, that if they would ^dlook they might ^elive; even so it is with us. The way is prepared, and if we will look we may live forever.

Heeding the scriptures is easy, too. Just as the Liahona pointed the course to the promised land, so the scriptures point us toward eternal life. We can read and study them just easily as we can judge another harshly. It's what we choose to do that matters.

I hope we can all forgive our neighbors and be more loving.

God bless, y'all!

Elder Murdock

General Epistle the Sixth

Sept 9, 2013


Hello, y'all!

I will start by saying that this week has gone by slowly. I think it may be because of all the walking. But it's good for us and for members to see us out walking. Also, it may have gone slowly because I'm new to the area and trying to figure out the routine and the way Elder Ririe works.

We have plenty of members to work with. Most of them are some kind of engineer. We drop by randomly and try to encourage them in their missionary work. We don't tract for some reason. One neighborhood is gated, so I understand why we don't do it there. But the other four are not. Perhaps it's because everyone is pretty affluent, and so they're not likely to listen. Still, Katy was almost as rich as this area, and we found plenty of investigators through tracting there.

One awesome thing about Legends is that we are fed every night. I invite y'all to feed the missionaries. It's great to get to know them and you will get blessings. 

We mowed an excommunicated person's lawn this week. She is trying to come back into the Church, which is great. But her lawn was horrible. The backyard was full of tall weeds and fire ants. I got stung for the first time in my life by a bee while I swept her porch. Yes, I have lived in a shell my whole life and never been stung. We finally got it cleared out and looking better, but it still needs work.

As a side note, fire ants suck. A sister missionary was standing near one of their nests and they bit her legs. She ended up scratching in her sleep until her leg bled. 

Since we live with a nonmember in a small room upstairs, we have no desks. This means we study in our beds. I have fallen asleep every morning during study. I also have dozed during planning. Perhaps I should sit on the floor to study....

Last night was a CES devotional. It was pretty good, talking about the youth of the noble birthright. Gabby, the recent convert, came to it and was taking notes furiously. We are working on getting her to do baptisms for the dead soon. She wanted to take family names, but her father denied permission to do work for her grandparents. 

This week I'm studying about knowledge. Last week was patience. Be warned: when you pray for patience, you will experience things that try it. It's like praying for humility. Unless you're serious, don't do it or else you will receive experiences to try and test it.

In Preach My Gospel, it says that "Strengthening their understanding of the doctrine of Christ will do more to increase their trust in you and to build their excitement to do missionary work than anything else you can do."

It's referring to members. Since understanding the doctrine of Christ will help people with their missionary work, let me point out some things about the doctrine of Christ. 2 Nephi 32 talks about the Doctrine a lot. It points out that we need to have faith, repent, be baptized for the remission of sins, and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands. 

Faith--->Repent--->Baptism(covenant)--->Holy Ghost

This is enduring to the end, or, in other words, this is the Doctrine of Christ. Understanding the idea that we have a Savior to save us from spiritual and physical death, through these first principles and ordinances, will help us understand the importance of missionary work, the ultimate goal of which is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man by inviting others to come unto Christ. The course of the Lord is indeed one Eternal round, and this is it: the Doctrine of Christ.

I'll let y'all chew on that for a bit.

Just know that we are part of the great work to accomplish God's purpose. Each soul is precious, and not soul ought to be forgotten. 

May Heavenly Father help you in your efforts to increase in faith and to repent. I type this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Sincerely,

Elder Murdock

General Epistle the Fifth

 Sept 03, 2013

 

Hello everyone!

I got transferred! I'm in Spring, Texas in an area called Legends. The ward is small geographically, but has a large member base. I went to church and they had to open the curtains. We're pretty sure it's going to be split soon. 

Katy was great while it lasted. I don't miss driving so much because drivers here are crazy. We're walking now and my feet hurt, but I know I'll get used to it all. I'll likely have to get a bike sometime soon so we can bike to an appointment is necessary. 

For my first dinner we went to a recent convert's house. He cooked hot dogs and chicken on the grill. His wife, who has been a member for a long time, is pregnant. She has lost the children in the past, so hopefully this one will be born healthy and strong. It was great to be received so warmly. People really do love the missionaries. =)

Labor Day was fun. We went to a stake center near the mission office and played softball. A recent convert was there grilling for us. When it got too hot, we went inside and some people played basketball and volleyball. I walked around and talked with people, since I don't play basketball well and the volleyball court was already filled. There were lots of missionaries there. 

It's so great that, no matter where we go in the world, we can feel at home if we find the saints. I haven't felt very homesick at all, and some of that I attribute to the fact that the wards I've been in have been great. The church is the same everywhere. 

There was a baptism on Saturday for a young woman in this area. Her name is Gabby Cartgena. She had a friend in high school who converted. Then she decided to join, but couldn't until later because of her parents. She has expressed the feeling that joining the church is like going home. I think it's a wonderful reminder that we all need to be welcoming and accepting of people. If there's someone at church or at a church event that you don't know, approach and introduce yourself.

A guy in a car stopped us as we were walking on Sunday. He asked us if we had literature. We gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon and a Restoration pamphlet. It was random, but great. It's amazing how some people will just do that kind of thing.

" There are chances for work all around just now,

Opportunities right in our way.
Do not let them pass by, saying, "Sometime I'll try,"
But go and do something today.
'Tis noble of man to work and to give;
Love's labor has merit alone.
Only he who does something helps others to live.
To God each good work will be known."

~Will L. Thompson.

   I love that hymn, especially lately. 

There are opportunities all around. We just need to open our mouths. I think I already mentioned that the Lord just wants us to try. It doesn't matter right now if they say 'yes'. It just matters that we tried. Please, prayerfully consider those who you could talk to about the gospel. Meet a neighbor you've not met and become their friend. Be involved in the work and with the missionaries in your area. Remember, they are away from home, too, just like me. They want to feel the love of their ward and the people they work with. They want to work.

We have a wonderful opportunity to share this gospel. The doctrine of Christ is that there is a Savior who was the Sacrifice and who is the Mediator for us. The gospel is nothing less than that doctrine. We all are trying to accomplish God's purpose of eternal life and immortality for us all. If that is our goal, then extending an invitation to a friend to come to church should be no problem. We will see them with the Lord's eyes and recognize their eternal potential. 

We are all called. We are all enlisted. This gospel is the truth that everyone seeks, and we have a duty, and ought to have a desire, to share it. If you have no desire, pray for such. We can do it through the grace of Jesus Christ. His Atonement is not just redeeming, but enabling. We can rely on it to have courage and strength enough to fulfill our covenants. That's my testimony in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Elder Murdock

General Epistle the Fourth

Hi,  here are some pictures
it goes thus from left to right:

E. Bartholomew(Just left)

Sister Butterfield

Sister Ogden

Sister Filikitonga

Sister Murphy

Sister Ririe(My new comp's cousin)

Sister Cecil

 Aug 26, 2013

Aloha from Texas!

Life moves forward at a fast pace. It seems like it was just last week that I arrived at the MTC. Now I've been out for two transfers and I'm almost done being trained. It's a good reminder that every hour and every minute counts out here, and not a one should be wasted.

This epistle may be short; we have to go pick up some other missionaries soon.

This last week we felt busy, but there is not much to show for it. We did have some cool experiences, though.

We've been helping a woman become active again. On this last Wednesday, she got her temple recommend renewed. Then, two days later, she came to the temple with us. Also at the temple that evening was a family who was baptized a year ago here in the Katy Mills ward. They were receiving their endowments. The next morning, Saturday, we got to go to the temple again because Elder Bell has a convert from a former area going through for the first time. Afterward we went right to the sealing for the couple from the night before. Needless to say, it was an awesome, spiritual experience that I will remember.

The picture attached is Elder Bell, myself, and Brian. Brian is a friend we made out here who just went to the Provo MTC. He will be serving in Brazil Santa Maria.

Anyway, I hope everything is well. Remember to keep pushing the work forward. It has been hastened, and we're all in this together.

Adios.

Elder Murdock

General Epistle the Third

 

 

 

August 19, 2013

 

Hi all!

 

I can't believe it has almost been two transfers. Just over a week until the next one. We'll see if I move or not. My training is finished at that time, also.  Who knows, I may be training next transfer O_O.

 

The work is going pretty slowly in my area. People aren't progressing as we'd hoped, and our goal of having a baptism by the end of August will not likely happen. Still, there are 11 days left. Who knows.

 

A sister in my area gave a wonderful talk yesterday at church. She spoke about member missionary work and how we can focus on the basics. She teaches primary, and so she used the primary colors as an example of the gospel. If you have red, blue, and yellow, you have the basic things about the gospel. When you mix them, you can get more colors, more understanding, and more truth. It was interesting, and made me think about how often people overcomplicate the gospel. Really, we're all striving for the same thing Heavenly Father wants for us: immortality and Eternal life. I'm serving here to help others receive that. We all, as member of the Lord's church, need to help others receive that.

 

Part of member missionary work is helping reactivate others. People forget what the gospel can do and has done for them. We all need to edify one another and warn our neighbors. This is done as we just do simple things like take a walk around the neighborhood and speak with our neighbors on the street. We could host a dinner party, though that takes more effort. However, no effort is wasted in the work of the Lord. One small gesture can change a person's life. One kind word, one small effort made, can help others come back to Jesus Christ and to His Church. Go out and become friends and seek to build the kingdom.

 

I'm slowly getting over my fear of speaking to others. I have reached out to many people, although most of them have said "no". However, as long as I open my mouth, I fulfill my calling.

 

I hope all is well on the home front of the battle of life. Be strong and of a good courage.

 

Elder Murdock