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

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

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

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!

Another Week

Hey ho everyone! Elder Murdock the missionary here! This has been a
great week, I hope y'alls has been good too!
The highlight of this week was baptizing Georgette and her two kids,
George and Katelyn. They were being taught by the sisters before hey
left. At the time they were being taught, they were living in the same
complex as the missionaries, and Katelyn was living up with some
family in Shreveport, so she didn't sit in on the lessons with them.
Right around the time the sisters left, they moved further down to a
trailer in the country part of Lake Charles, so Katelyn could 
keep living with them, so Elder Kent and I were able to teach her and
the family the lessons again (never a bad thing).It's been wonderful
to see the Lord's hand in this work, and to see this great family come
into the church, I'm just glad I had the privilege of being here to
help them! At the beginning of the transfer we were having a hard time
getting a hold of them for lessons and things, but we really started
working hard with them when a young sister in the ward stepped in and fellowshiped them 
like crazy.
Stoney is the dad of the group, he's a great guy with a great testimony who's not quite
ready for baptism yet, but we'll get him there! He's also wrestled a
few gators in his day, he's great. All I know is, if it wasn't for the
Lords help, they probably wouldn't have been baptized this week, it's
been great!
Most of the week was taken up with getting them ready for baptism, but
we did have a nice break on Wednesday when we went to the temple as a
zone. It was so nice to go back into Houston, especially to do some
ordinances in the temple. There's a whole lot of spirit you can feel
in there, I tell you what! Really, if any of you feel like you need
revelation, or peace, focus more on attending the temple, or even just
going around and visiting the grounds, it's the Lords house, and His
spirit is there!
In my Book of Mormon reading, I just got to 3 Nephi, in chapter 11,
when Christ comes and visits the people here. In verses 10 and 11, he
shares the first and most important things he can to the people, that
he was Jesus Christ, and that he suffered the will of the Father in
all things. He did that by tanking upon himself all of our sins,
trials, bad times, everything! If that's the first and most important
things Christ could have done, then it's probably the most important
thing we can do too, to obey the will of the father in our lives, to
love others as Christ loves them, and help lift their burdens as well.
So, I'm making 3 Nephi 11:11 my ponderize scripture this week! Read it
live it love it!
I sure do love y'all, but I love the Lord even more than that! He can
help you through anything you need, so just trust Him!
Love,
Elder Murdock

True to the Faith

Another Week in the Boot

Yo yo yo how y'all doing?!? I hope it's been a  great week for y'all,
this ones been rather crazy but it ended on a good note, so here we
go, into he email!
On Tuesday elder Esplin came up into my area for an exchange, we had a
good time working and trying to find people, getting different things
set up, you know, the usual org of things missionaries do. Elder
Esplin is a great guy, we talked a lot about ranching again through
the day.

The rest of the week was good, we got some good work done, got back in
contact with Chris after a few weeks of not hearing much from
him. Nothing too crazy happened this week up until Saturday when we
had the chance to go back to Cleveland Texas for the baptism of one of
elder Kent's old investigators. Cleveland is back in the good
Kingwoood stake and was actually in my very first district in the
mission, so we were both really excited to go back. It was nice to see
some familiar faces, and I even got to play a little viola at the
baptism. The baptism itself was really nice, the man who got baptized
was happy to see elder Kent, same with the rest of his family. After
the baptism, we went out to eat at D and M diner, a BBQ place down the
street from the church that I hadn't been to in over a year, and it
was still good! After that we played some volley ball at the church
with the ward, then drove on out to Beaumont Texas to stay the night
with the elders there, because by the time we'd get back from one side
of the mission to lake chuck, it would have been about 11:30 at night.
The next morning a member in the Lake Charles ward came to pick us up.
His name is Pierre and he is a wonderful member who helps the
missionaries out a lot.  In church I had the privilege of conducting the music
in primary, and elder Kent was kind enough to take a rather goofy
picture of it that I hope y'all enjoy. The rest of the day was spent
doing good hard missionary work, we taught mason and Effie again, put
a family on date for baptism in the next couple of weeks,
and met a really nice lady named Michele and her three little kids. As
we read a few verses out of the Book of Mormon with her, she got
really excited and told us that she'd want to start reading that
night! I love it when that happens.

So, I've got a friend in Australia named Elder Petersen right now, and
in his email today he sent a poem that pretty much sums up missionary
work, and I thought I'd share that with y'all today:

A mission is a strange experience. It's a trial and a test
A mission throws at you the worst, yet teaches you the best
They told me this would be the best period of my life
But I guess they didn't explain it all too clear
I came our looking for a bed of roses
I wasn't expecting all the thorns I've found out here
Since I've been out I've been so happy
I've never been so depressed
I've never felt so forsaken
I've never felt so blessed
I've never been so confused
My mind has never been so clear
I've never felt my Heavenly Father so distant
I've never felt him so near
I've been so discouraged
I've never been so full of hope
I feel like I can go on forever
I think I've come to the end of my rope
I've never had it so easy
I've never had it so tough
Things have never gone so smoothly
Things have never been so rough
I've never traveled through more valleys
I've never ascended so many peaks
I've never met so many neat people
I've never met so many freaks
I've never had so many ups
I've never had so many downs
I've never worn so many smiles
I've never worn so many frowns
I've never been so lonely
I've never had so many friends
Man I hope this is all over soon
Gosh I hope it never ends
(Jack L Brinkerhoff)

In my Book of Mormon reading this week, I got to Alma 29, which is one
of my favorite chapters, so I'm making Alma 29:9 my pinderize
scripture this week, read it live it love it!

I sure do love y'all! But I love the Lord even more, I try to be more
like him every day. Some days are rough, but as I've done my best to
do what he wants me to, ive been able to see more blessings than I
could have ever thought of!
Love,
Elder Murdock
True to the Faith

Elder Kent and Elder Murdock in Cleveland for the day

District

Bike Rides in Louisiana

Hey there everybody! I don't have much time this week, so I'll just
jump right in!
Yesterday we had a good number of people show up to church, Chris
an investigator we haven't been able to see since Elder Crim
left, came to church! It was good to see him again, he's getting his
life more in order, he's doing good. And, another lady who  wants her son to be baptized,
he turns eight in July. We stopped by her and her boyfriends house with Bishop
on Friday to talk about some of the things she'll need to do,
they fed Elder Kent and I crawfish! It was Elder Kent's first time, but
the sad thing is, I'm pretty sure they forgot to purge them, and the
thing with crawfish is, if you don't purge them, they'll purge you, as
we found out later that night...anyway, they sure tasted good though!
The rest of the week was a good one, we tried a few of our new
investigators, who weren't home, but it was ok, their neighbors were,
and they became investigators anyway! Haha, we'll just keep finding
them!
Lately I've been reading through The Book of Mormon, I've made it a
goal to read it at least once a month until I get back home. I've just
got through  Mosiah this week, and I loved reading about Abinadi
again, he's always been one of my favorite prophets, and Mosiah
15:11-17 are some of my favorite verses, so I'll be ponderizing that
whole little section this week, read it live it love it!
I sure do love y'all, but I love the Lord even more than that! Keep
trusting in him, He'll never fail!
Love,
Elder Murdock
True to the Faith