Hello Everyone!
Has it really been a week already? This week has flown by so fast. The days are all just blended together, it´s hard to even remember what I did yesterday! But it´s definitely been a good week! Full of challenges and difficulties, but jam-packed with tender mercies from the Lord.
Last Tuesday night, we had our weekly devotional and it was given by Elder Miguel Reyes of the Seventy. It was a tad difficult to follow along and focus, because he was Speaking Spanish and the translator was having a tough time keeping up. But, the Spirit was there, and I was able to get the general message. He talked about how when he was on his mission, there were two other Elders with the last name of "Reyes". So, sometimes, they´d go on splits and be "Los tres Reyes", or (in English) the three kings. They´d bring the gift of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to those they were teaching. And it´s so true! We have the knowledge of this gift and we have been called to bring the gift of happiness that the Gospel brings to peoples´lives. He also talked about being "of one heart and of one mind" with our companions and walking side by side so that the Lord can walk in between us.
Someone told us that the day after our first P-Day would be a pretty tough day. And, well, it kind of was. Not as bad as I thought it´d be. I´ve already drilled it into my head that there will be tough days on my mission, and Wednesday felt like a breeze. Anytime I´ve felt discouraged, or annoyed, or stressed, or am just having a bad day, I just smile and smile, and since my brain doesn´t know any different, it turns on the happiness! There´s no point in having a bad day and then being discouraged when the Lord is right on our side. If the Lord be with us, who can be against us? We all have our off days. It´s part of life. But we can either allow those bad days to hinder us or strengthen us. We have the ability to choose and act with our Free Agency for a reason. One passage from the scriptures that´s been running through my mind constantly this week has been Romans 8:31. Nothing, absolutely nothing, can separate us, even a little bit, from the love our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have for each and every one of us. No matter what we do, it´s always there and it has been the foundation of my testimony. For we are more than conquerors through Him that loves us.
This week, we´ve finally gotten out of the " welcome meeting" phase and are getting into a nice routine schedule with things, for the most part. Some of you have asked about Esdras, and that is kind of an interesting story. So, I figured that Esdras was already a member. I figured they wouldn´t throw people, who knew hardly any Spanish, in with a real investigator. And that part was true! Some of the other missionaries in my district said his fake teeth fell out as they were teaching him and he had a unibrow marked on his face. But on Friday, we walk into class, and can you guess who was sitting in the teacher´s chair? You got it. It was "Esdras". And you probably guessed that his name isn´t really Esdras. Good guess. It´s Hermano Candía. And he is our new afternoon teacher! Yup. Kinda just threw that out at us out of the blue. But he is super cool! He speaks Spanish SUPER fast, and sometimes, it´s hard to keep up with him, but I can usually catch 80 to 90 percent of what he says. Which would be impossible without the Gift of Tongues! He keeps telling us his purpose is to get us to learn Spanish and speak it proficiently. We always do these "speed" exercises where he says a phrase and we repeat and we all say it faster and faster. It´s amazing how well just repeating something over and over can help! And with the Spirit, it´s even more powerful! I can already speak and understand faster Spanish, and we´ve only had him in class for a couple of days! So. Awesome! I´m finally figuring out a system with studying and practicing the language and it feels great!
Sunday was, well, of course, fantastic! We said goodbye to the second district from our zone, and it turns out that now, we´re the "oldest" district! Weird. Especially only starting out third week. Speaking of which, week 3? Already? Goodness. Anyway. On Sunday we had about three devotionals. And each was amazing! The first was a "class" with the president where we learned more about the plan of salvation and how families can be together for time and all eternity. The second was given by Elder David A. Bednar a couple of years ago. He talked about how we can be Preach My Gospel Missionaries. It´s important to always treasure up the words of the Gospel and then to remember that the Holy Ghost is the real teacher. Not the missionary. By constantly treasuring up the Gospel, the Spirit will be able to bring things to our remembrance that people need to hear in the very moment that they need to hear it. I´ve definitely seen this truth, even in role playing. I´m able to remember scriptures and quotes that I´d completely forgotten about. And, when those things are brought to remembrance, we need to actually open our mouths and speak, having the faith that the words we say will have the Spirit and be carried unto the hearts of the investigators. The final devotional was, of course, the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. If any of you haven´t seen it, I strongly encourage you to watch it! It reaffirms the reason for the season. Think of Christmas as Christ-más. Remember to always have the Spirit of Christmas, or just drop a syllable and always have the Spirit of Christ. He is the Reason for the Season! He is the ultimate gift to all of us! And His love for us is perfect and eternal!
I absolutely love hearing from all of you! It brings me joy and comfort!
I absolutely love all of you and this work.. I definitely love this work. It´s hard, but I couldn´t see myself doing anything else. And have nothing I´d rather be doing. No other way I´d rather serve the Lord. Como el Ejército de Helaman. It´s all worth it and will all work out in the end. Have an amazing week!
Para siempre Dios esté con vos.
Love,
Elder Murphy
Kia Kaha
Great letter, Elder Murphy. It's great to see how much you're being blessed!
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