Sickness, Healing and Mosquitos

Wait how is already Monday again? I swear time flies out in the mission field. This week felt like it flew by, but looking back sooooo much happened. 

We started the week by giving a blessing to a recent convert. She has been having this crazy pain in her arm and she couldn't even extend it all. We gave her a priesthood blessing, and almost immediately she said the pain went away. She was able to move it and extend it just fine, it truly was a miracle. 

We also bought these chocolate chip granola bars and I was supper excited because we finally had snacks in the car to eat between appointments. I ate 2 and then a few hours later, had hives all over my arms and we were really confused where they came from. The next day they had gone down a lot, and I was trying to figure out what could have caused them and remembered the bars. My companion and I decided to test it to make sure it really was the granola bars, so I ate another. Sure enough the hives came back. So no more snacks for me.... Elder Sperry was really happy because we bought a huge box of them and so he gets the rest. 

Also, while I'm on the subject, I've been having super bad head aches when I get out of the car, and when I stand up from sitting down, it's like a throbbing pain, it goes away after a few seconds, but it sucks major and I don't know why it's happening. So if someone could like google it and get back to me that would be really cool! 

We found to young mother this week who had been praying with her family for months to find a church, and she told us it's all she's been able to think about. She told us how she had made some mistakes in her life, and with the birth of her son, she knew it was time to start over and build a life focused around Christ. Within the first few minutes of speaking to her, she asked us, "So what do i have to do to be baptized?". She immediately accepted the 15th of October as a baptismal date and we set up to church tour for the next day. When she got to the chapel she kinda stopped and looked at us and then said, "I've been in a lot of churches and i've never felt like I feel right now. Is that the Holy Spirit?" We quickly testified that it was and she had the biggest smile on her face. we know that Heavenly Father has been preparing her for this gospel, and we can not wait for her to be baptized. She is so elect and plans on finishing the Book of Mormon within a week! This gospel really does change lives. 

Just a few houses down from hers, we met Pedro and his Girlfriend. Pedro saw us in his neighborhood hood the day before and asked us why we didn't stop at his house. We explained how the day before we had another appointment across town and didn't get to his house, that's why we came back. He was happy that we did and we continued to teach the first lesson to him. He loved it and immediately accepted a baptismal date. We gave him a Book of Mormon and the address to the church and he said he'd come on Sunday. We came back the next day and he said he loved the Book of Mormon, in his words, "es perfecto". He asked us if we could have member stop by his house and show him how to get to church, and he'd follow them so we set that up. But then Sunday came and he didn't show up. The member said he went there, but Pedro had told him he had a flat tire and was gonna fix it then come late. 

After church, we went to his house kinda bummed he didn't show, half expecting that he'd been lying about the flat tire. But when we walked up to his house he was a actually fixing his tire! He proceeded to show us a huge nail that he had pulled out. He invited us in and we taught a lesson. We invited him and his girlfriend to live the Law of Chastity (prohibits sexual relations outside of marriage) and right then he turned to his girlfriend and said casually,"hey wanna get married?" To which she responded, "yeah it's probably about time". Long story short, they are the most golden investigators ever and we love them and they're gonna get married. Missionary work is fun.

I love being to missionary, and I know I am here in the Kansas Wichita mission for a reason. I love the people, I love teaching them how to get closer to Christ, and I love having his name over my heart every single day. The work is hastening and the fields truly are white.

Elder Murphy

Funny story of the week: 

We were teaching a guy on his porch and there were tons of mosquitoes, I had already sprayed bug spray on myself so I thought I'd be good. I go to explain something and right as I inhaled, a mosquito was flying by, and well.... I inhaled it. Right to the back of my throat. It kinda of really hurt and I was coughing like crazy, and no one knew why.  I think the guy felt bad for me and he opened up a bit more so that's good I guess.

Michel - one of our more solid investigators

Kansas!!!!

Elder Sperry and I

Awesome quote for the week, have patience!! Everything will work out I promise!

Week In the Heart Land

Another great week in the heartland! Each day I seem to love my mission more and more. We had a pretty tough week but even though it wasn't as successful as we had hoped, my testimony of missionary work has grown immensely. 

I'm serving in a branch, and we are the 1st and 2nd counselors in the elders quorum, we do the sacrament, have done music, taught primary, taught the youth class, all while trying to manage our investigators at church. I also had to give a talk this week in sacrament so church it's kinda crazy. But the branch is growing so fast, when I first got here, we had 26 people in sacrament meeting. This week we had 73! We are working our tails off and We are gonna turn into a ward. #ProjectKelloggWard 

It seemed like everyday this week we faced some sort of really harsh rejection from someone. We were sworn at, yelled at and had doors slammed in our faces. But each time that would happen, the lord would turn around and bless us with a huge miracle. A couple weeks ago, we received a Media Referral and tried to contact them right away. We met the mans wife, who had no idea her husband requested to learn about our church, he wasn't home but she was really nice anyways. We tried to return everyday for 2 weeks and no one answered the door, so we never got in touch with "Miguel". We eventually gave up and decided it wasn't a good use of our time to head to his house. Fast forward to this week, we went to go find a potential in our area book that was taught 3 years ago but seemed really promising because his mother was a member. When we got there, it turned out that they had moved in April. We had driven quite a while and decided to make the best of it and knock on a few doors before heading to the next appointment. We knock on the next door neighbor and guess who answers.... MIGUEL! Of course we didn't know this because we had never met him, but he immediately invited us in and we taught him an amazing first lesson. At the end we were getting contact information for him and then that's when it clicked that he was the same Miguel that we could never get ahold of. It turns out that he was visiting his parents house that day and we happened to knock on their door when he was there!! Super huge miracle, it wasn't even his house and he said he doesn't visit very often. 

Our week was full of amazing miracles like Miguel, where the Lord put people in our path that he had been preparing to hear the gospel. It took some initial rejection, but when we mustered up the courage and talked to everyone in our path, that's when the lord would bless us. I know that this is the lords work, that he guides us each and everyday to those whom he has prepared. It's the best choice I've ever made to serve a mission and I love helping everyone we meet come closer to Christ. Elder Sperry and I had made it a point to never miss an opportunity to share the Gospel and I even taught someone random person a lesson over the phone after she misdialed a number and called us. She really wanted to grow her relationship with Christ and was very open to having missionaries come teach her.

 I know that Christ is hastening his work on the earth and missionary work is the best way to be apart of that. I really loved the scripture I found this week in personal study that says, "Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life" (John 8:12). Christ is our light and with him anything is possible. Christ is my savior, redeemer, light, example, teacher, guide, and my best friend.  I testify of that and know that if we put our faith in him we can overcome all trials and be strengthened though his love. 

Elder Murphy

Braum's has this special deal where you can get five burgers for less than $5.... I was very happy. (Yes I did eat them all.)

I made this cool wall of pictures from a stack of about 100 Ensign magazines. They are organized by rows.

There was a chicken in this lady's flower pot and we didn't see it until after we knocked and it scared us so bad. It was super funny.

Kansas Sunset

When It Rains It Pours

When it rains.....it pours. And this week was an awesome manifestation of this common phrase that took on an extra special meaning. Not only did it rain literally...A LOT but the lord also rained in blessings, and man did it pour. We were where we needed to be, when we needed to be there, and the lord blessed us with tons of new investigators(27). We made it a special point to ask EVERYONE for referrals this week and it led to so many prepared people for us to teach. 

We went on exchanges for the first time so I took over the area for a day and went out with Elder Chlarson (an English speaking missionary). It was so much fun, Elder Chlarson leaves next Monday, so he had so much experience and wisdom to share with me. It was also super crazy because I had to teach all the lessons by myself IN SPANISH. It was super nerve wracking at first, but by the end of the day I didn't even have any worries and I was teaching and talking with everyone with ease. The next day when my companion came back, I made all of us lunch (don't worry I'll include pictures) and we talked about our experiences with the exchange.

On Thursday it rained.. And rained... And rained some more. We had crazy flooding towards the end of the day and some crazy lightning (video to be included). As a California boy, I definitely felt out of place because It rained more in 24 hours than it has in California in the past like 10 years. At around 8pm, we really needed to go see one of our investigators, so we went to his house in the pouring rain and were soaking wet as soon as we got out of our car. We had to stand in his door way the whole time, but it was one of the most powerful times I've testified before. There was thunder and lightning flashing in the windows, and the house was rattling the whole time. We were driving back to our apartment after and somehow took a wrong turn onto and VERY flooded street. The water was so high, that our car headlights were underwater , I don't know how we didn't kill our car, in fact it was kind of a miracle. We said a huge prayer of gratitude after though! 

Sunday (9/11) was the craziest day ever. We came back from church to eat lunch and study 12 Week when missionaries from another church knocked on our door. We opened it and started talking with the them, and ended up teaching them, and giving them a Book of Mormon. As we were leaving our apartment to go teach, there was a Bus (yes an actual bus) full of these missionaries for the other church. I somehow felt prompted to go talk to the bus driver, and then out of no where he invited us onto the bus to share what we believe to the pastors. Elder Sperry and I were super nervous but also super excited. We got on the bus and powerfully testified of Christ and of the Book of Mormon, and it's an experience that I will never forget. We left with our heads high and took off to find some less active families that we had never met. The first family that we searched for did not answer their door so we walked around the corner to find the other. We were looking for the Gonzalez family and when we got to the trailer number that we thought was theirs, there was a sign that said "Davis Family". We were confused and stopped in front of the driveway to make sure we had the right address. 

All of the sudden the girl who was mowing the lawn walks up to us, introduces herself and says,"wait here I'm gonna got get my mom". She disappeared and came back with her mother a minute later. The mom was super happy to see us even though she attends a Pentecostal church. We started to teach the restoration lesson and then a few more of her daughters came out, then a few of the neighbors. We taught one of the best restoration lessons we had ever given and it was really interactive with all of the people. At the end we invited them all to be baptized on October 8 and they they all accepted. The mother said that she felt that we were the answers to her prayers and that she had been waiting for us for a long time. She then proceeded to invite herself to church and was super excited for her whole family to come. 

All of this came from stopping to check where we were. And apparently we were exactly where God needed us to be. It was an amazing experience that I will never forget. From teaching a bus full of Preachers, to being the answer to a Mother's prayer. I know that Heavenly Father has a plan for all of us and I'm so grateful that I was able to an instrument in his hands. 

Elder Murphy

Our trash bag broke when Elder Sperry was taking it out

The lighting on the way to an investigator

The calm after the storm

Derby Zone

Missionaries have too. Don't worry.

Lunch I cooked for the missionaries. Chicken, corn and potatoes

Kansas - Week 2

¡Hola!

Another week in the KWM and I love this mission more and more. As a companionship Elder Sperry and I have grown so much, and experienced some amazing miracles. I'm convinced that the lord gives us trials to help us grow, and this week was a manifestation of that. 

In the beginning of the week we were working really hard and not seeing much success. We were teaching great lessons, but the people we taught had no desire to change. Multiple times, we would teach and the people would agree with us, but at the end they would say something like, "I know I need to change, but I don't want to, drinking is too much fun." It was super hard, and after hearing it over and over, it started to affect my attitude on the work. I was getting down on myself, and thinking that maybe we weren't explaining it like we supposed to, or that maybe I'm not a very good teacher. The next day I decided to study on how I could be a better missionary and how I can be a better disciple of Christ. I came across a scripture in 1 Nephi 19, that hit me like a ton of bricks. 

And the world, because of their iniquity, shall judge him to be a thing of naught; wherefore they scourge him, and he suffereth it; and they smite him, and he suffereth it. Yea, they spit upon him, and he suffereth it, because of his loving kindness and his long-suffering towards the children of men. (1 Nephi 19:9)

Christ was the best missionary this world has ever know. He was our perfect example, no, he IS our perfect example. Christ was despised, and rejected of men, yet he loved them anyways. His character and his charity will always be our guide In life. If we look to him and exemplify him, then we have no reason to ever feel down or feel inadequate. We can't change how people feel, we can't force them to accept the gospel, but we can love them anyways. And by that, men shall know, that we are his disciples. 

As I came to realize this, my attitude completely turned back around to others. I was focused on myself, and that will never bring progression. We dove back into the work the next few days and immediately saw the hand of the lord in our endeavors. We had incredible church tours with an investigators, we saw amazing progression with families, and we witnessed investigators desire to be baptized grow.  One that In particularly blew us away, was a kid named Erwin. Erwin is best friends with a recent convert and has an amazing understanding of the gospel already. We gave him a Book of Mormon stories book, and I challenged him to read the first chapter(1 page). He said he would, and the next day when we saw him he went FAR beyond our expectations. I asked him if he had read, and he said that he read a "little bit". I asked him how far he got, not expecting much, and he says he only got to page 90. He then went on to explain with perfect understanding what happen in the first 90 pages. WOW! 

I also built a bike this week! I never bought one for my mission, and planned to use one that someone left behind, but there were none. We had a frame of a bike in our apartment and over the course of a few days I started collecting other parts from other Missionary apartments. I got wheels from one apartment, parts for brakes from another and bolts from another. The chain on the bike was super rusted and had a bunch of loops that weren't supposed to be in them. I spent a good hour cleaning the bike and fixing the chain and then at nights in free time I built the rest. Not too bad if you ask me.

There was also an earthquake on Saturday! Kinda funny how I've lived in California my whole life and only had one, and I've been in Kansas for 2 weeks and had another. The earthquake was actually a huge blessing because it woke up 2 of our investigators, and they made it to our Saturday morning sports activity. After we had an amazing church tour and they both committed to be baptized! It was an amazing blessing after a tough couple days of missionary work. And I know that it was because we were following Christ's example and loving everyone we met.

Christ is my motivation. He is everything in my life, and everyday I strive to be like him. I know with out a doubt in my heart that he lives, and that he guides his church today. I am a disciple of Christ, I am a witness that he can bring miracles into our lives and that he loves each and everyone of us individually. He died for me, and he died for you. Christ payed a debt that he did not owe, because we owed a debt we could not pay. I love him and I love his atonement that allows us to be forgiven for our sins. I testify that he is my savior, and I know that through him all things are possible. 

Elder Murphy

A super awesome member took us all out to lunch!

A beautiful Kansas Sunrise. I really miss photography!!

There are tons of water towers in Kansas, this one is nothing special but it is the only picture I have of them.

The bike I built! Notice the excess wheels and parts all around the bike. I still need to attach the brake lines to the frame.

KWM Mission Vision, Motto, and Slogan

Kansas - Week 1 (Greenie Week)

Wow I feel like I have 10000 things to say in my email but I don't want to bombard you all with a bunch of information. Oh well I'm gonna do it anyways. 

My week started at 2:25 on Tuesday morning. After quickly getting dressed and repacking my suitcases, we left the residence hall in the MTC for the last time. We got to the travel office at 3AM, checked in and loaded our stuff on the bus for an hour long bus ride to the SLC airport. We checked into the airport with no problems and pretty much had to load right onto the plane. We had a layover in Dallas and it was only like 15 minutes long so we pretty much walked right into the plane headed to Wichita. I somehow got really lucky and had the MOST leg room on the plane. When we landed we got picked up by the Mission President, his wife and the AP's. It was a crazy afternoon, we took pictures at a famous landmark in Wichita called the "Keeper of the Plains" and then went to the mission office. There, we met some other missionaries and went on splits to teach real people. It was super humid and hot and it was awesome. I went with Elder Sperry, and we rode our bike until we found someone we thought was Hispanic. We started to talk to her and she ended up not knowing any Spanish (bummer). We taught her the first lesson and she loved it she committed right away to go to church and I extended an invitation to be baptized. She accepted and is scheduled to be baptized on the 10th of September. Guys I'm a missionary.... She's considered a golden investigator and the whole zone is talking about her, we can't teach her the rest of the lessons because she isn't a Spanish speaker, so we had to refer her to English speaking missionaries. She was the very first person I taught in Kansas... Still kinda blows my mind. 

That night we slept at the office missionaries apartment because we hadn't gotten out companions yet and we didn't know where we were going to be serving. The next day we woke up and went back to the mission office, and got out companions. I got Elder Sperry! The same missionary I went out with the day before. It was super awesome and we got assigned to the Wichita area!! Everyone else went super far away and everyone I knew from the MTC is scattered around the state, with some not even in the state. 

Elder barker is in Liberal (the home of Wizard of Oz) 

Elder Davies is in Lawrence

Hermana Levitre is in Junction City

Hermana Goss is in Guymon Oklahoma (super funny because she was the most excited to be in Kansas)

Sister Cox (I knew her from EFY) is in Colorado. 

Man I miss them all!!

I'm not gonna say everything that happened this week because that would take forever, but we have 9 progressing investigators, had 2 baptisms on Sunday, taught a ton of lessons, been yelled at, sworn at, called the cops on a guy beating his wife, and had doors slammed in my face. But I've also met some of the most genuine and caring and loving people I've ever met in my life. We do a lot of work in the ghetto areas of Wichita, so most of the people are petty humble. 

It's crazy how time flies when you're so busy working. And let me tell you, we've been working hard. Initially I don't think I realized how hard being a missionary in the field would be. I mean this in the least racist way, but white people suck. They never want to talk to missionaries and when they do it's usually to swear at us or to tell us how wrong we are. Of course we just take it with a smile , say "Have a good day!" And walk away. It even harder because as a Spanish missionary we have such a larger area, and way less members. It's difficult getting referrals and our branch doesn't have many active men. This leads to a lot of ineffective tracking or writing down addresses we pass that have "Mexican looking houses" to return to when we are back in that area. None the less, I love it. There is nothing better than calling others to come  unto Christ. I love working hard and I love that it's a challenge. It gives me the opportunity to grow and be uncomfortable and struggle. Often times the greatest opposition comes when the greatest blessings are in store. 

It reminds me of an experience I had surfing before my mission. We had just gotten to the beach and we were excited to ride the waves all day. We had been looking forward to this for a couple months now and couldn't wait to get in the water. We ran in and began to paddle out. To our amazement we had gotten nowhere, despite putting all our might into it for 45 minutes. We had fought, and battled, and been pushed back over and over by the continuous waves. Saltwater was in our eyes and our mouths and the occasional wave would knock us off, sending us tumbling 10-15 yards in the opposite direction we wanted to go. It was exhausting, and yet we kept pushing forward because we had such a desire to surf. Eventually after over and hour we made it to a point that we could catch a wave back. The sensation we got riding a big one back to shore was indescribable. 

After a rough day of rejection I remembered this experience I had, and thought of the phrase "You have to fight to waves, to ride the waves.". Missionary work a lot of times is the same way. You have to battle, and fight, and paddle your heart out and sometimes you just get no where. Sometimes you even get pushed back from the direction you want to go. But when you finally get that "wave" or that investor, or that family, or that kid that's just a beacon of Gods love, it's all worth it. Every single wave of opposition, or door that gets slammed in our faces, or person that yells at us. It's all worth it. 

I have loved every second since I've gotten here. There is not a single place in the world I'd rather be, and I've come to realize that Heavenly Father truly does know his children. Kansas is where I belong. I'm so thankful for my trainer Elder Sperry and his guidance, he has helped me and taught me how to truly be a missionary. His enthusiasm for the work and his desire to serve motives me to be the best missionary I can be each day. I cannot wait to see all the miracles the lord has in store for us!

Elder Murphy

President and Sister McCuistian (at Keeper of the Plains)

Elder Sperry, my trainer

 Crazy Trump supporter across the street from an investigator. It made me laugh every time.

My church building

Study room

My room, Elder Sperry passed out

My apartment has weights!! If we are close to a gym we can workout there, but there isn't one near our apartment so this will have to suffice for now.

The kitchen, we sign the flag when we leave.

Maria got baptized

Pedro got baptized. HIs parents should be the 17th.

My study table