Californian in Kansas: Kansas

¡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