Californian in Kansas: Vision, A Trip to the ER, A Baptism and More

Last week our mission president gave everyone a challenge to read the whole Book of Mormon before Christmas. We we all given a nice hard cover copy of the a Book of Mormon and we are specifically looking for things that teach us about the redeeming power and the enabling power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. We are reading at the rate of 9 pages a day (the same pace that Jospeh Smith Translated the Book of Mormon) and we will do a mission wide conference call on Christmas Day read the last chapter together. It is gonna be so awesome.

This week we had Zone Conference which was hosted by our mission president. The main focus of the conference was all about how we can have better personal and companionship studies. For those of you who don't know much about missionary life, each day we have an hour of study on our own and then we study for an hour with our assigned companion. The purpose of the study is to help us learn how we can help our investigators strengthen their faith in Christ. It was awesome to see the different ways that we can help others by not focusing on ourselves. But in turn as we do that we get spiritually fed too.

On Tuesday (after the conference) we had to go to the ER! But don't worry Mom and Dad it wasn't me this time, it was just my companion. Elder Sperry has an autoimmune disorder that affects his blood platelets after he gets a virus. It's pretty similar to Hemophilia, so if he starts to bleed, it won't stop. Anyways, at about 4am he was woken up with a terrible headache. Something that they warned him to look out for when he is affected by this post-viral state. (We had a virus last week). Anyways the mission nurse and us were worried that he could have a brain bleed, and if he did have one, it wouldn't stop because his blood platelets were so low. Long story short we had to head to the ER and have a CT Scan, and get his blood tested and he had to have an IV for a certain amount of time to get him nice and hydrated. Everything turned out to be ok but it was super fun nonetheless.

We were also blessed with huge miracles this week. We have been working with a young man named Antonio who is preparing to be baptized this coming Sunday. He is so excited and he is already sharing the gospel with those around him. He even woke up on Saturday thinking it was Sunday and called into work telling them he couldn't go because he had to keep the sabbath day holy. After he realized it was Saturday he quickly called back and said he could go, but it was an awesome demonstration of faith and commitment to the lord. As a result of us teaching him, his mom came to a church tour this week and loved it. We also met his cousin Luis who wanted to grow his relationship with god and found comfort in the Book of Mormon. All 3 came to stake conference this weekend and are preparing to be baptized. The lord provides!!

We also got to be the witnesses for Maya's baptism on Saturday! The whole family family came and we got to do a special missionary lesson to everyone that came about the Restoration of Christ's church. It went super well, and we are now teaching her non-member uncle and cousin!! They felt the spirit super strong and have a desire to learn more!

As a mission we are focusing on increasing our vision. Vision is something that is huge when it comes to progressing and stretching out potential as missionaries and as human beings in general. Vision is something that is essential for us to know where we are going and what the purpose of work is. Proverbs 29:18 says, "Where there is no vision, the people perish". And Doctrine and Covenants 58: 3-4 teaches us, "Ye cannot behold with your natural eyes, for the present time, the design of your God concerning those things which shall come hereafter, and the glory which shall follow after much tribulation. For after much tribulation come the blessings." As missionaries we are constantly aligning our will with God's will. He knows all, he has a perfect plan, and we can't always see with our natural eyes what he has in store for us. That is why having a vision for our investigators and our Areas and ourselves is so key. We have to do everything in accordance to our heavenly fathers will.

I just want to say thank you for all your support, your love, your prayers and your emails. I miss and love you all soooooo much! I love hearing from you so keep emailing me and letting me know how your week was! I want to challenge you all to go out of your way to help someone in need this week. Help someone move something, help an old lady, give some food to a homeless man, I dunno! But look for an opportunity to serve. On my mission I've seen so many blessing from serving others. It's so incredible how healing it can be for our souls. As we turn outwards to others it heals us inwards. I know that sounds like a crazy concept, but it's true, and I testify to you that your days will be brighter, your weeks will be happier, and your soul will be more full. I'd love to hear from each of you how you served someone, and how it made you feel after. You all rock! Thanks for playing such a huge part in my life!

Elder Murphy