Monday, April 24, 2017

Week 92

Bonjour mis bon amis! I hope y'all had a great week! (And sorry if I
butchered that French, it's Cajun🙃)
We started this week off with an exchange, I went down to Sulphur with
elder Jones for the day, it was nice. We went to the house of one of
their investigators, and sadly he wasn't there, but his grandma was!
Her and a friend we sitting out on the front porch talking, we asked
them if the gator was home, they said he wasn't, so we started
chatting about religion, as we do. They both used to be catholic, but
now their baptist, and oh how they don't like the Catholic Church!
They sat and bashed on it for a good five minutes straight, we joined
in a little, trying to bring it back to the great apostasy, it was
kinda fun. We eventually brought the conversation back to the gospel,
and were able to testify of the restoration, one of the ladies has
some beef with their new pastor or something, so she's been searching
for a other church, she seems interested. Every time we talk with
people who have had problems in the past with pastors or doctrine, it
makes me more glad to be a part of Christ's true restored church,
where things must make sense!

Elder Kent and I also had the chance to drive clear out to Jennings on
Wednesday for some baptismal interviews for a couple of investigators
out there, it was nice to take a long drive through the country again,
I've missed seeing all the trees and fields and stuff. The interviews
went well, I did two in Jennings, then drove back
and did one more here in Lake Chuck for the Sulphur Elder's
Investigator, Sydney. They were all awesome and ready for baptism,
it's cool to ask people the interview questions, and see how the
spirit has had such an impact on their lives, that they're willing to
make a covenant with Heavenly Father, it's so exciting!

We also had dinner with our bishop this week, elder Kent really likes
to eat at his house because he can answer a lot of his doctrinal
questions, I really like to eat there because of all of his kids who
are fun to talk to and play with, they're all really funny. Also, the
food is really good, can't go wrong with good food. Yup, the food here
is amazing, we just had some good gumbo yesterday at a member's house.
Mmmm, so good. Earlier this week we ate at the Bonnettes, our recent
converts, and sister Bonnette made a great beef stew. They also had us
over for a BBQ not too long ago, really good ribs and potato salad and
deviled eggs, oh, so good. Then there's the jambalaya down here,
etufè, crawfish, po boys...anyway, got a bit distracted there!

The rest of the week went well, we taught a lesson with Christian
again, he'll be getting baptized this Saturday, super pumped about
that. The McCains from Atascocita ward came to our church yesterday,
their nephew lives in our ward, and their baby girl just had a
birthday, it was really good to see them again, that family just puts
a smile on my face! Elder Kent and I are still doing well together,
we're good buds. I've been thinking a lot this week on all the things
the spirit can do for us, and a big one that's stuck out to me is give
us strength and energy to our bodies, I've found hpthat missionaries
need to rely on that a lot! In 2 Nephi 4:29 it talks about not
slackening your strength because of your afflictions, which means, no
matter what your going through, so long as you keep your trust in the
lord, he'll give you strength through any of your trials, and you'll
be make it out just fine. So that's my ponderize scripture this week,
learn it live it love it!

I sure do love y'all, and I love the lord even more than that! I'm so
glad I get to be out here serving him, I'll be seeing most of y'all in
less than 100 days now, pretty crazy!
Love,
Elder Murdock
True to the Faith


Louisiana Dragonfly

Monday, April 17, 2017

Week 91

Hey everybody! I hope things are going great for y'all back home, we had quite the week out here in Louisiana! On our last p-day we went mini golfing with a bunch of wild animals, it was quite thrilling, then on Tuesday we got to drive into Texas again for a zone conference/interviews with president Drake, that went really well, I always really like those, they are always really spiritually energizing. The assistants did a segment on preach my gospel and the promises it gives us as we study, apply and evaluate from it, they even had President Hinkley come in to give a little testimony on it, it was great. 

We were also able to teach James again this week, he's still doing great. Friday we had an exchange with Elder Swallow our zone leader, and it went really well! He was trained by elder ker, so we swapped stories about him for a bit, I cant believe it's already been a year since I was with that guy, last I heard he got married, I'm happy for him! Anyway, back to the exchange, Elder Swallow has a real happy way of teaching, something I sometimes forget about. Elder Swallow told us later that this is the best thing that our investigators will ever hear in their lives, so we should be happy about it! Woohoo! He also talked to us about how missionary work is an extension to the atonement, he explained it in a way i'd never really thought of before, and it makes a lot of sense. 

 Things have been going really good here, we had all of our lessons work out fine on Friday and it was great! Then on Saturday all of them fell through, but it was still great because we were able to still get out and work! Such is mission life. Also, happy Easter everyone! I hope yall had a good one, all the talks in sacrament meeting were on the Atonement, and I was lucky enough to play viola with the primary and youth. I'd just like to say that the Atonement is real, Christ really did perform it all those years ago, and I know that He lives today to help us in anything that we stand in need of. I've felt the truth of that come to me again and again as I've been serving out here, and I hope all of you have been able to feel it in your own lives. 

This week, while visiting our recent converts, ,George, their son, shared with us his favorite scripture, which is 2 Nephi 2:24, and I thought it was so good that I've made it this weeks ponderize scripture, read it live it love!
 
I sure do love yall, and I love the Lord even more than that! I hope yall had a good easter celebrating Him, till next week, 
love
Elder Murdock
True to the Faith


Mini Golf

Monday, April 10, 2017

Week 90

Hey y'all! 
It's been a great week for me out here in Louisiana, we were able to do a lot of good work, we went to the temple to do some baptisms, we found a really cool new investigator, all good stuff. 

 On Saturday we were looking for one of the sister's old investigators who's fallen out of contact. We hadn't felt prompted to go try her in a while because of how hard it was to contact her, but that day we just felt like we needed to try her, so we drove out to the address we have for her in area book, and we didn't find her, she's apparently been moved out for a while now, which explains why we can't get a hold of her, but! The man who owns the home now, James, was so ready to hear the message of the restoration! He's been catholic his whole life, he was raised by his grandma, who was a nun (not sure how that works out) and he's been to catholic priest school, Baptist theology college, and has studied many other religions, and just hasn't felt like any of it's really fully true. He's apparently been praying for some answers, and of course we show up at his door! We went back yesterday and taught a restoration lesson, and he's accepted the Book of Mormon as God's word, and is excited to read it. It's been amazing to me, to see the miracles God has for all of us as we follow the spirit, it just makes me want to keep doing better each day, and keep serving diligently, I guess that's how faith is grown, by relying on the lord, listening and following His spirit, then seeing the miracles that come from it. It's wonderful! 

We also got to go to the temple again on Saturday for a ward mission/recent convert baptismal trip. It was really nice to go there again, there's always revelation to be had at the temple! 

As a companionship, we've been talking together about the atonement, and how and why it's necessary, and we've had some good discussions about mercy and justice and all that. We were studying a lot out of Alma 34, which is one of my favorite chapters in the book, so I'll be taking alma 34:15 as my ponderize scripture for this week. I just know that, because of Christ and His Infinite love that He has for all of us, we can repent, we can change, and we can then be in a position to help others do the same. 

I sure do love yall! but I love the Lord even more than that. Keep studying about HIm, living like Him, and you'll be amazed at the miracles you'll see!

Love, 
Elder Murdock
True to the Faith

Lunch with Kingwood Zone Leaders

Temple Trip

Thursday, April 6, 2017

Conference

HEY EVERYONE!!!!!
I sure hope everyone's week was as good as mine, because I feel like I had a pretty darn good week, personally. The Highlight had to have been conference, nothing like hearing the inspired words of apostles and prophets of the Lord to get you feeling on top of the world. It's hard to pick favorites, but I will say that I really liked Elder Holland's talk, that one really spoke to me. President Monsen's was great, nice and simple, Read the Book of Mormon, it'll do wonders for ya! I really liked how most of the talks were on the simple points of doctrine that we need to live every day. Life can sometimes be complicated because we make them that way.  A big take away I got was to keep moving forward no matter what in life. Keep it simple, take a step back every now and then and see if there's some things that you're doing that aren't necessary, and if there's other things that you can start to do that will bring more balance. Like Elder Ballard said, ask yourself these three questions:
What is my faith in the Savior?
Is the Book of Mormon True?
Was Joseph Smith the Lord's Prophet? 
As you gain a stronger testimony of each of these, your life will be blessed beyond anything you can think of!
This week we were finally able to put Chris on a date for baptism, something we've been trying to do since Elder Crim was here! It's amazing to see how much he's changed over the course of investigating, the other day he was actually talking to a guy he works with about the plan of salvation, when just a few weeks before he was living on the streets. People can change for the better if they follow Christ!
Today elder Kent and I went with a member to a skate park, Elder Kent did some skating back home, I've never really been able to, but I finally learned how to day! We had some fun, and the member, Who's probably in his forties, was having some fun to, I'll see if i can send some videos.
I finished my monthly Book of Mormon read this week, final conclusion: It's still true. I'm starting up again in First Nephi this week for round two, I'm excited. A ponderize scripture I've got is in first Nephi 4:7, read it live it love it!
That's about it for me this week! I hope yall have a wonderful week wherever you are, until next week, 
Love, 
Elder Murdock
True to the faith. 
Louisiana Bayou

Blessings of a mission-being able to skate!