Welp

Welp today has been a cool day. The sisters had a baptism of someone that a lot of missionaries had taught in the past including myself, but after last transfer it was up to the Sisters to help her progress. Basically I can totally see that apart of the reason for Sisters moving into the area was so that Shyreka would get baptized! It was an awesome baptism and we invited Ann Kirby (one of our coolest investigators) to come and she loved it, shes about 65 and at the end of the baptism she leaned over to me and said "I hope mine will be as great as this!".. Statements like that is why I am here! I love Sister Kirby, she is an amazing lady! She will be getting baptized next weekend! Also we are working with a family of 5.. they are struggling financially right now and had to get rid of their couches and tv and beds and stuff.. But we have a great ward, and our ward mission leader went over this morning and loaned them one of his couches and chair. That is great missionary work right there! This family is awesome, feel free to pray that the Anderson family will be baptized this coming Saturday and that they will have strength to keep the commandments! We are also working with a really cool girl named Lauren. She was supposed to get baptized on the 22nd of August too, but it turns out her mom wants her to "learn more" before she is baptized.. However we will be teaching her and her mom tomorrow night and hopefully a baptismal date can be picked out sooner than later! Elder Richardson and I are not entirely sure where these great blessings are coming from but it truly is amazing how the Lord is working in our area with us! I love the work more than anything ever.. I have been fairly depressed the last week thinking about how one day I will be going home and how I want nothing to do with that day.. trying to figure out how I would even deal with my feelings that last transfer of my mission.. I wanted to ask Elder Cooney how he dealing with it.. Probably the greatest missionary in this generation. He is honestly one of the most Christ-Like people I have literally ever met in this life. He is going home this transfer and I hurt for him. But as I thought more and more about it I realized that my mission really doesn't ever have to end. I can and will be a missionary for the rest of my life and in the life to come. My mission doesn't have to end this time next year, but it will continue. People have often said a super untrue "doctrine" about returning from the mission and claim things such as.. "When you go home you will never be as close to the spirit as you were when you were on your mission." or.. "You will never have that same feeling of the spirit you enjoyed while on your mission.." both statements and any like that are totally and blatantly false and encourage a lax and mediocre returned missionary life. I read a talk that really helped me out and this is what was said:

"Occasionally, a missionary, following his release, will fall victim to this thought: “Well, this isn’t the mission field, so I cannot expect to feel what I was feeling there.”

But, in fact, the opposite is true. When you bring home and apply those principles learned in the mission field, you are prone to feel the Spirit and the Lord’s love MORE than ever before in your life. Your mission experience becomes a launching pad, so to speak, to even greater spiritual heights."

I feel sad for anyone who left their mission in their mission field, country or state..

But yeah anyway, I just love being a missionary! I'm not the greatest and that's alright. I just love the work! And that is the single most important thing. How can you not love serving the Lord each and everyday, it is a natural and important side effect of serving the Lord. That you will love it! I love and miss you all! Give Connor a hug for me! 20$ says he will serve in South Carolina!

-Elder McMurry

Howdy.‏

Well I think I am at that point in my mission where my emails are probably going to be less exciting... We are still working hard though! We have a great family of 5 we are working with but are concerned as to whether or not the parents will really commit to keeping the word of wisdom. Then we have that wonderful lady we met last Friday and she is going to be baptized on the 22nd! So that's way cool.. by the way, it was her birthday and im afraid you guys bought her a quadruple combination... I'll find out for sure on the price and let you know! I'm starting to find myself really disconnected with anything outside of missionary work which is a weird feeling but also a good feeling.. I think the world will be a different place for me when I come back.. but its a good thing that day is so far away! I hope Bec is doing ok! Has she had the baby yet? How are thinking going? If there has been something I have learned the last few weeks is that trials happen for a reason, and the Lord makes use of the trials we give ourselves.. why else would Jesus Christ be the escape for every possible experience and trials we face if it didn't have to do with His love for us or His Atonement? I certainly miss you all. Really all I seem to be able to focus on is being a missionary and also the family.. I'm not the greatest missionary in the world but I do try, pretty hard.. each and everyday. There are missionaries who don't.. and are kinda just along for the ride, but man, this work is so important, I love it even though it can be a really difficult task/experience at times. But I know that every blessing is predicated on obedience and I am trying! I love you all! Please help and love the missionaries in your area.. give them addresses to randomly knock on and whatnot, they will LOVE YOU for it! Anywho... Love you guys! Keep up being cool, and the Lord will bless ya!

-Elder McMurry


To the primary...

(for the two letters i got from them.. i think)

Hey Primary! Thank you so much for your letters! I really appreciate all that you do to support the missionaries! And your letters made me happy. Serving our Savior Jesus Christ is an amazing experience that you can all look forward too! The Lord will bless you and your family as you serve them either in another country like Japan, or Australia, or maybe here in the United States maybe even South Carolina. It will be a great blessing because as you serve the Lord as a missionary you will become more excited and prepared to start your own family and to be able to go the Temple with them. Never forget who you are and do everything you can to prepare to serve as a full-time missionary, whether you will be a Sister missionary or an Elder, you will be great! Jesus loves you, and you can show your love for Him too, by being a missionary today!

Never Gunna Leave..‏

That's my plan at least. I think I've decided I'm going to serve my mission forever. I just love it all. I love the work. I love the people. I love my companions and all the missionaries here. It's just the greatest blessing to serve a mission. I have been really humbled lately and really I have a lot I need to do better. Things are looking great this transfer as far as baptisms! We have A LOT of potential baptisms and I am so excited for all of these wonderful people. We met a really cool lady last night which gave me another strong testimony of planning by the spirit and following through with those plans. She lived on strange out of the way road but Elder Richardson and I knocked it anyway just as we had put it in the plans the night before and it turned out awesome! It's all about member work! Ask the missionaries how you can help them.. cause hey, you're the members you guys have lives and cant think about missionary work all the time, that's why its the missionaries job to take care of the teaching and worrying part of missionary work.. just cast your missionary woes on them and they will love you! But anywho! I love you guys and hope everyone is doing well.. Don't have much else to say.. I hope I get to stick around here for another transfer just to see these awesome baptisms! But.. Now that I want to hang around, who knows If I will? I'll go where the Lord wants me to go though! I miss you all!

-Elder McMurry

sometimes i think the some medicine would be good again cause there are a lot of difficulties in the work and sometimes we just focus to much on things that we don't need too and feel guilty for such trivial things.. i've really seen the simplicity of the gospel and that really.. we just don't need to worry as much as we members of the church do.. even though i still do from time to time.

Well..

I hope you guys are alright.. I know that there are always reasons for our trials. Our zone this week has been doing a "purification" week. where everyday of the week, we focus on an attribute in PMG chapter 6. Today is patience.. other cool things about how we can be happy are Mosiah 4.. an awesome section on being happy! Well mom we are about to go eat! I love you please be happy and do your best to find time to just chill.. Be happy cause I'm happy! Really that's all there is to it... also the lives of other whom have joined the church because of you and dad and how you have raised the 4 of us boys who have all served missions and been instruments in bringing many to the restored gospel! love ya!!! hang in there! see what principles in pmg chapter 6 you can apply in your life each day to become happier and spiritually healthier! a cool thing i learned from it was about hope.. in the gospel language hope is actually "certain", "sure" and "firm".. it is not "uncertain" as we see it today.. Christ had perfect hope, which was certain that things would happen! Its so cool! Just don't cloud your brain with worries.. just be happy! remember what president monson said... i think..
something to the effect of..

"we have the memory of june roses when we need them in the december of our lives"... basically the happiest memories are there to help us through the bitter cold in our life that we sometimes face!

love ya!

Coolness...‏

We'll things are looking up at the start of this transfer so far! We just finished our planning session and actually have some appointments to go to today even though its our p-day, and I'm pretty excited! Elder Richardson and I are planning on 3 baptisms this transfer and I feel that that is an inspired goal. So yeah I'm still here in the office, but they created a new district here in our area.. I can't remember if I mentioned that in my last email or not? I don't feel like the best district leader or very capable for that matter, but I'll do whatever I'm asked and I am pretty excited for our district! Our area has been split with some sister missionaries who our now in our district so that's pretty cool. They will get millions of baptisms.. sisters just do that. I had to give a training at our last Zone Develop Meeting.. it was weird.. I taught the same thing to 5 different groups of missionaries 5 different times.. it was cool how the Zone Leaders set it up, but my training wasn't that awesome. I enjoy working with the zone leaders, they are pretty awesome guys one of which was just baptized 3 years ago and the only member in his family. At this point in my mission I feel like I'm friends with pretty much all the missionaries except the new ones.. although we did have a really cool experience.. Monday before transfers Elder Richardson and I were working frantically to get something done for President McConkie so we headed over to presidents house while the Ap's were training and talking to the new missionaries and Elder Solomon.. love this guy!, Invited us in to talk with the new missionaries and stuff, so that was really cool.. I only remembered sitting there when I was new.. Elder Solomon and Elder Cooney are the assistants and we work with them pretty often.. I just love those guys.. Elder Cooney is going to be a bishop like a week after he goes home.. hes way cool.. but anyway.. we are working hard and I'm way excited for the things that will happen this transfer!

I love you all hope everyone is doing well. We have an appointment to run off too! love yah!

Trials to test, grow and inspire.‏

Man I am truly humbled today.. Funny how that works, seeing as how I was just praying to be humbled.. These past few week have been a great trial for me. I've learned a lot about myself and the Lord and how much He truly loves me.. I saw a sign outside of another church the other day that said "God is in control, but He will not micro manage your life"... I have a firm testimony that that is a false and vain and hurtful doctrine. The Lord micro manages our lives in ways we cannot comprehend or understand.. It has been amazing for me to experience these things this past transfer.. As the Lord actually effected the SMALLEST things in my life which have had a miraculous outcome. Things so micromanaged that even one day while tracting the Lord changed the wind which was a confirmation of a prompting that I was receiving.. Which wind effected something I could see that led me to go forth with the prompting.. and other things so micro managed as mail.. The Lord rules in the very smallest of things. He who created all things, certainly micro manages in all things. That said I do know that the Lord expects of us many things of our self and it is not right for us to be commanded in all things, I still have a testimony that the Lord will micro manage our lives if we let Him. Earlier I said, that it is a hurtful doctrine to say that the Lord "does not micro manage our lives" I say that because it takes the Lord's love and care away from us. I know that God has a role in ALL aspects of my life.. even in the smallest of things..

Matthew 7:11
"If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? "

That being said, I have had many revelations this past transfer.. I have felt the power of the spirit. I know that the Lord loves me and all of His children. I love the scriptures and the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as revealed by the Lord's prophet Joseph Smith. As president McConkie has taught.. No one can truly understand what took place in the Garden of Gethsemane without first knowing what took place in the Sacred Grove in Palmyra, New York, As Joseph Smith was called upon to be the Revealer of Christ in this the Dispensation of the Fullness of Times. I bare that witness in the name of Jesus Christ. As I have been tried of the Lord these past few weeks.. I can say that I do not know that I have been successful in these trails and tribulations, but the Lord has called me to be a District Leader. I am humbled and do not feel altogether worthy of the responsibility and actuality of the calling. But I will go and do as the Lord commanded. Zion's camp was a trying place for the saints where they were tested of the Lord. My current District Leader, Elder Kofford, has help me to recognize that serving the Lord on a mission, is serving the Lord in Zion's Camp. The Lord does not need our help to baptize those who are prepared and not, and yet he calls us in our weaknesses to do this work. He refines and proves us, we are here to show the Lord our faith in Him, and our willingness to serve Him to the end. I love my Savior.. He has revealed to me that my serving a mission and being even a member of His one true Church, is but a small micro management in my Eternal Existence. But I love you all! Hope this wasn't a strange email. I know the Lord gives us trails.. sometimes they last forever, and all that really matters is how we face our trails even if they last till the day we die! Love ya'll keep working hard and being missionaries with the full-time missionaries!

And a hot plate!‏

hey all.. I am really tired.. things are kinda slow lately but hopefully they will pick up this next week. We are working really hard. I wish I had some sweet stories to share.. We had a lot of promptings yesterday that were cool and led us to some awesome people with return appointments! The mission is going to be working on getting 1 baptism every week. Elder Richardson and I hopefully can get 6 in before the end of the month but we will see! I can't believe how quickly time is going by.. it is honestly a bit depressing.. i just don't think i want to ever leave... heh.. I'm glad that everyone is doing well and hope it stays that way of course! Apparently someone who lives in spartanburg, knows who i am? I think the last name was like Woffenburg.. or i could be way off.. it started with a W at least.. who could it be? I think they know our family from the ward in Allen? not sure.. anyway I love y'all and it would be way stinking cool if i could get a letter from some of you guys! anyway happy living!

-elder mcmurry

Mom thanks for all you do! It means a lot to me! Elder Richardson and I have to run to an appointment real quick! We might be back again in the office so anyone in the fam can write me and I might get it today! I love you! Love you mom!! Don't worry about me!

Hi,

Hey peoples, not a whole bunch of things to say. This week has been way fast. We are working hard as always.. I am really excited for some really cool people we are working with and hope to have a baptism next weekend! There is a lot of work to do with her though, to help her actually understand what it all means.. we actually have an appointment with her in an hour, so hopefully that will go well! But anyway, thank you all for your emails and pictures. I love and miss you all! Sorry not much to write about!

-elder mcmurry