So, this week was by far the craziest of my short mission so far. Monday was great, we had a busy P-day, and had some good lessons that night. But then Tuesday, the 30th, was spent all going back and forth to the mission home and to our apartment, because Elder Hopkins was sick. So it wasn't exactly the birthday we had planned out, but it was ok, because it had to be done, and he wasn't feeling very well. So we stayed over night at the mission home Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday night. It was just so odd because I went out on Wednesday with the Zone Leaders who cover downtown Montreal, which was fun and great, but wasn't the same. Then Thursday we spent the day with President at the mission home, until night then we had 2 lessons we went to. But then Friday morning, Elder Hopkins went home. It was super sad to see him go, but he was confident it was what he needed.
So! Friday morning, President and Sister Cannon and I drove over to the Ville Marie elder's apartment, and dropped me off! So now I'm companions with Elder Rasmussen from Highland, Utah whos been out for about 14 months, and Elder Olsen from Boise, Idaho who is fresh! Elder Rasmussen is training him. But we love the trio! It's been super fun, because they're both studs. They really have a desire to work and to love people, so I'm super grateful I got to be put in to work with them. It's the same geographical area as I was serving before, but now it's French, and we work for the French ward here. The ward is about 30 members, compared to the 130 english members. So, it's been pretty difficult trying to get everything figured out, because I changed zones, so trying to get everything figured out has been a little crazy. We're still supposed to be working with investigators we had in La Salle, but also work in Ville Marie. Crazy crazy. But we're chipping away piece by piece.
But yeah, we started on Friday, and have been working hard ever since, even though a lot of it has been organizing and trying to figure out how to work effectively when we don't have enough klicks (kilometers) to drive for the transfer, but we have so many people to visit and teach. But they're all less-active. But it's okay, it's good work.
So, that's about it. I love Elder Rasmussen and Olsen, they're both awesome. I really hope I can send a picture home soon, but this internet cafe isn't too updated either. I'll try to get it figured out next week. It is fun working in French again!
But we've been working quite a bit with less actives, because this ward has about 30 members coming, and about 150 I would guess that are inactive or less active in the ward. So the bishop gave us quite a list to go work on, hah, so that's that. It's good work. One family we went to go visit last night was the Flagothoer family, and they were awesome. We're super excited to go work with them more to help them come back to church. But, there was one problem. They're both from Belgium, and spoke wonderful French, which was pleasant to listen to, and easy to understand! It was so fun. We had a good conversation. UNTIL I asked them a question about French, and Sister Flagothoer corrected me, and said that was a question about French ONLY used in Quebec, so I said Okay, and kept trying to explain, but then Brother Flagotheor stopped me and told me that I had a little bit of a Quebecois accent. Not going to lie, that was sad. I was pretty bummed haha. Not even an american accent, it was Quebecois. So, I'm working on that too.
Also, Elder Rasmussen and I found some Spanish books that we've been looking at, not too seriously, but it's fun. Let the Spanish begin! Maybe not quite yet, but just a little.
But man! Through all these changes and issues, it's been so great to have the help of a loving mission president and also my two new companions. It's helped me just appreciate how it helps just to slow down and be kind to someone, instead of just trying to teach, which was quite helpful actually in this week of teaching. For instance, we didn't teach these 2 less active kids, because we saw their kitchen was messy, so we offered to help. And ohhh boy did we help. I haven't smelled anything that horrible in a long time. But it was good to get it all cleaned out. It was a good lesson though, because no one's really going to care about what message we bring if they're sinking in all their other matters, which we could help in. Good lesson, I'm grateful for it.
But all the way back on Tuesday, I did something that I thunderously enjoyed (I like that adverb!). I exercised and showered super quick, because I decided to make as much time as I possibly could to just read the Book of Mormon. So I read all in the morning, and then through personal study in Mosiah, about Abinadi and his teachings, and it was amazing. It really helped me see a difference between a day maybe when we don't get much study time because of service or emergencies, and other days when I take extra time, have a real desire, and then seek to apply what I learn. It really made my studies that day an amazing lesson for me. It was a good birthday present actually, because it helped me throughout the whole day. Reading the scriptures, and especially the Book of Mormon has really been such a support for me, and I'm so grateful for that. I hope everyone's reading at home! I know mom said you're in 3 Nephi, which is awesome. I'll try to catch up soon.
Love you all! I hope I can just fill next weeks e-mail with more answers to questions and just some spiritual experiences for the week, cause this week was just a little crazy.
Take care,
Elder Murphy
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