Baytown Water Holes

Well howdy everybody! This week has been good. We ate a huge sandwich, got some good new investigators, caught a crab, and had a fun time doing it all.  I'm not sure if I have any big story this week, so I guess I'll talk more on how the ward is here in Baytown, and how the new district is doing. 

The ward here is great, the members are always wanting to help us out, and there is even a family from Springville here! I can't quite remember their names right now, but the mom and dad both graduated from SHS, and both were in the music program there.  They knew Dr. Tsugaua and Mrs. Crocket. I'll have to get their names for ya'll, maybe somebody would know them.  The ward mission leader, Brother Files, is really nice, he is super energetic about the work, and the Bishop is young and happy to help too.  

Baytown is quite the place, and to be here with a fishing nut is pretty fun. The area I work in is right in between a couple of major roadways, with tons of houses everywhere, along with apartment complexes and stuff. There's always traffic, but biking isn't too bad if you just pay attention.  Like I said, this place is fun with a fishing nut for a comp, because there's tons of little water ways to throw a line in, which he does a lot.  He's got a spool of heavy duty fishing line with a hook on the end at all times in his backpack, and he will always take it out and try to find a worm or something to catch fish with.  Like right now even, he's telling me, "we need to find a way to catch fish out of storm drains Murdock!" He's awesome, he caught a turtle the other day with a pepperoni from a pizza we were all eating as a district.  He even caught a crab in a small water way we had to cross to find a referral, then put the little guy in his shirt pocket and used it to contact a guy who was mowing his lawn, we're going back to him tonight to teach him, it's pretty great!  I sure do love ya'll, and I know the Lord loves you more, so turn to Him in all that you do, and he will help you with anything.  We all have a Heavenly Father, and He's always waiting to hear from you, no matter where you are or what you're doing!

Love, 

Elder Murdock

True to the Faith

Water Hole in Baytown

District in Baytown

Elder Ker 

Huge sandwich.  Elder Murdock said he got through two thirds of it!

Biking in Baytown

Hello everybody! This week has been good! I've enjoyed getting to know
Elder Ker, and we have just been getting out and working hard. The
craziest part is we have to bike clear down to the end of our area
just about everyday, but that's probably a good thing, keeps us
healthy. It's funny that you asked about the ward, because I felt like
I should tell y'all about it this week. The ward is really great, it's
a good mix of old and young people. The bishops name is Bishop Jeeter,
no relation to Derek, and the members are all really nice. The ward
mission leader is Brother Files, and he is a hoot! He is very excited
when he talks, and really excited about missionary work and golf. He
loves golf. 
My favorite thing up to this point is when we have been out all day
and I just know that we worked our best because of how tired we both
are. It's a good feeling because you know that energy was spent serving
others.
The most frustrating thing is having to deal with other people's
agency, like when they make bad choices. But that's just life, so I
guess this is a good time to learn how to deal with it.
Elder Ker is doing good, we have fun together. He carries around a
little bit of line and a hook to try a little fishing wherever we go. He
actually reminds me a lot of Evan Bond. He grew up in a small little
town in Idaho called Ririe. He loves hunting and fishing, he lived on
a farm and has worked on it his whole life, he's a great guy. Well, we are
starting a game of volleyball right now, so I'll talk to y'all next
week, sure do love y'all!
-Elder Murdock

True to the Faith

Elder Murdock and Elder Ker

Somewhere in Baytown Texas

Same Area, New Companion

Hey everybody! Sorry I've taken so long to email! This is still going to be short, but I've got a new companion. His name is Elder Ker. He's from Ririe Idaho, and he's only got three transfers left.  I'm excited to work with him, he seems like a good guy.  I'm sure I'll have more to tell next week, I love y'all! Keep your faith in Christ and you'll never go wrong!

Love, 

Elder Murdock

True to the Faith

Temple Trip

Elder Hansen and Elder Murdock
with the "Stach"

Haircuts and Trying to Teach

Hello wonderful friends and family!

It sure is rainy here today. Right now I'm sitting in a members beauty

salon about to get a much needed hair cut. It's gotten to the point

where President and Sister Drake were giving me funny looks at Zone

Conference this past week, just kidding but it is pretty long, and it ends today! The

work out here in Baytown is still going good, this week was a little

rough, but some parts were hilarious. Like on Tuesday, me and Elder

Allen were on exchanges and we decided to go over to an investigators

house. Well, we found him and his cousin sitting outside on their lawn

smoking a joint.  That was somewhat discouraging, but we still decided

to talk to them. The investigator was pretty quiet, but his cousin had a lot to

say. It turns out his name is, and I might get this kinda wrong, but

it's "Shaun abinab zip bob Aunch didilywoo rasma" we just called him

Shaun. He believes in a lot of crazy stuff and I don't think the weed was helping. 

But I didn't come to Texas to hear people preach false doctrine (even though it

seems like that some days) but I came to teach true doctrine. So, I

looked around as he was speaking falsehoods for something good to do,

and I saw a girl leaning out their door doing the little finger swirl

next to her head  showing how crazy she thought Shaun was, and

she just stood there laughing quietly to herself as Shaun kept going.

Well, I decided that I didn't want to listen to Shaun anymore, so

right in the middle of the barrage of bull  I walked over to the

girl in the door to talk to her about setting up a time we could come

by and teach her. It scared Elder Allen half to death, me just walking

out on the conversation, leaving him with one of the modern day

Gadianton Robbers, but I just told him to come over with me. So, we

talked to her and set up another time to come by for this week to try

and teach her.  She seems pretty interested.

I just told her that we share something happy and true and not crazy,

and she agreed to listen some time, so that was good! I'm not too sure

what's going to happen to our investigator. We are  going to try and see if we can

help at all, but I don't know. Anyway, things are still going good out

here.  The church is so true and so good and so pure. If any of you

don't believe you should really try and find it out for yourself.

Really dig through the scriptures and wrestle with

God. It will be rough, but it will end up being the best thing you

have ever done. 

Well, I love y'all, I hope y'all have a good week, enjoy the cold

because it's starting to get real hot out here already (it's already

hit 80!) the Lord loves y’all! Thanks for all the support!

Love,

Elder Murdock

After

Before

Elders Murdock, Dominquez and Asay
All in the MTC together

A Utah Boy!

Good Week in Baytown, Bonus-Amazing Food Too!

Howdy everybody! Happy Valentines! Sorry I've taken so long to email
today, but here we go!
This week has been great, we got a new investigator, who is actually
the cousin of one of our current investigators. We went over to that
investigators house, with a member, and it turned
out that his cousin is staying over with him and he was there
for the lesson. It turns out that he is the son of a preacher man,
and so at first I was worried that all he would want to do is bash,
but it turns out he's really been wondering about what's true, and
where his dad even got authority from, it was pretty cool. He had a
lot of questions, and we had a lot of answers, so it all went really
well! Our investigator is pretty cool too, his dad was a lot more chill with him,
so he's talking with us more to find out more about what we believe,
but he's taking it all really well too. Texas is still really nice.
Today has been a beautiful day, the clouds were amazing, they went on
for miles! But, it is starting to get hot, but I think that's a good
thing, I'll try not to think of y'all back home in the snow and cold
while I'm biking around in the sunshine! Sure do love y'all
Elder Murdock
True to the Faith

I received the following email a few minutes after the first.  I thought it would be some 
amazing spiritual experience. Nope. It  was about food.  I am grateful to wonderful families 
that are feeding my boy! Thank you.

Also, put this in the weekly blog mom, because it is really important.
This week we went and had dinner with a family in the ward.

 I'm sure that the BBQ you had today was good, but it

couldn't have been anything like the Ribs this amazing cook of a man

 made for us. The only fault I found with them was
that they tended to fall apart when you grabbed the bone to pick it
up. The meat would just slide right off! He started smoking these
magnificent morsels early that morning using pecan wood. He didn't add
anything to them except for garlic salt and apple juice, but they were
still so full of flavor. They made my taste buds sing songs of joy
that they have only sung while eating my moms gumbo, and even then I
pause to wonder if it was even better (sorry mom). I only wish my
stomach had more room to eat them. But, that wasn't even the best
part! He also bakes, and this dinner he baked us a blueberry cheese
cake, all from scratch, and it was equally amazing. It was so moist,
so sweet, and so crumbly all at the same time, it's hard to describe
really. Anyway, I eat really good food out here!

P Day at the Church

Baytown

Ankle is healing!

More Pday

Biking in Baytown.  "Watch out! Here come the Mormons!"

Crazy Week

Hi everyone!
This has been another good week. We finally got to teach a man 
who we found while on splits with the Spanish
missionaries.  He's really nice and easy going.  One day, we went over to see if
he was home, and he wasn't, but right when we were leaving a car
pulled up with who turned out to be his cousin, with his sister driving. His cousin is a
character. He still believes in the Egyptian sun god, ra,
and pretty much thinks that Mother Nature is the ultimate power.  When we told him about our
Heavenly Father he just said,  "yeah, that sounds pretty good, but I think I still need to
give a shout out to good old Mother Nature!". I don't think he's quite
white and ready to harvest yet! But yeah, the investigator is still doing good, and
the rest of his family seems normal enough.
Me and Elder Hansen are getting along really well, except this week I
got sick on Sunday, lost my voice on Tuesday, and twisted my ankle on
Friday playing volleyball, but it's all good! The worst part of it has
been I haven't been able to sing, and I love to sing! But oh well,
missionary life goes on, and I love it! I've really loved biking
around Baytown, it makes talking to people pretty nice, and, as I said
earlier, there are a lot of characters here in Baytown! Like just
yesterday we were biking by a restaurant and a bunch of guys were
yelling at each other, and pretty much disturbing the peace. We didn't
think they wanted to hear a message at the time, so we just kept
going! Oh well, things are great, and I love hearing from you! I love you
guys so much, Happy birthday Mom and Papa Dave!!!!
I hope it will be a good one!
Love,
Elder Murdock
True to the Faith

"Twisted" ankle.  Mom thinks it is more sprained! No complaints from Elder Murdock.
First thing he thought was "what would Lisa Walker do from good old SHS?" So he iced it, elevated it, and wrapped it! Thanks Lisa!

Finding People, Energetic Apostles

Area:Baytown
Companion:Elder Hansen

 Howdy Folks!These past few weeks have been good. Baytown is much more city than Onalaska, and more diverse!  It's also a bike area, so I think I have more of a chance to be super buff by

the end of this!!! We've been finding a whole lot of people, but we've
been having hard times trying to teach them, especially when one of
them has some really crazy ideas and beliefs.  I've been doing a
lot this week, we got to see President Nelson, WHICH WAS AWESOME!!!!!
He is a really kind, and very funny man, also quite energetic, he just
bounced up the steps in the chapel! He also has really warm hands...
But anyway, it was awesome to hear from him, holy cow what a testimony
builder.  I've taken a lot of pictures, so I'll send you these, I hope
you like them all!  Keep up the good work back home, I love the snowman
missionary, you made! Y'all are awesome!
Elder Murdock

True to the Faith

This is the Elder Snowman Elder Murdock mentioned in his letter.  

Elder Murdock got to see Sister Park at the all Houston Mission Conference.
They went to school together, and Sister Park (polka dots) was part of the group that went with  us on a humanitarian trip to India last summer.