September 30, 2013

Yes, sign me up for Team Wes! I'm praying for you my friend, keep it up. 

We had a good week here in Sherbrooke. Lets start with the super positive:   Gabrielle didnt come to church (again... she had some school project) but Jeremie did!! Hes doing really well. When we visited them this week, he said he didnt understand 2Ne2 when they read it together, but then as we finished it and discussed it together, it started to work on him. Hes really starting to see the Spirit in his own life. Awesome! 

Carol is doing really well. She came to church, and even stayed for the ward linger-longer and brought two of her grandchildren hah. Shes slowing down her cigarette intake, which is wonderful. She just seems so much happier now than when we first met her, which is a good sign. She's committing her self to it. 

But, this week Chantal dropped us. We saw her on Thursday, everything was perfect, and she was committed to come again, but then she must have talked to some friends between then and Saturday, because Saturday she told us she's done, and wouldn't explain why. The biggest thing Ive seen here in Quebec is this problem, talking to friends or families who scare our investigators away. So, we're going to try to work on how to help them know how to deal with these situations when they come up. So we're going to give her a couple weeks, and then try her again. Im sure she'll talk to us more next time.

I've been really grateful for the sacrament recently, the power of it. I love the commitments we make through baptism and the sacrament, that we can be renewed in our efforts, and even forgiven for our shortcomings. Its so great!!

Love you all so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ill keep praying for you, keep it up. I think I need to put more exclamation marks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (huh Brandon?)

Love

Elder Murphy, Austin.

Stay strong.

Holy Cow!- September 23, 2013

Haha when did Dallin get so funny?

Im super glad to hear that Uncle Wes is taking positive steps!!!!!! Way to go Wes! To quote Dallin ''He is such a warrior.'' Keep it up Wes! I expect to go on a super crazy hike with you when I come back, even if you beat me there on the way up and down. 

We had a great week. Here:

Update on investigators: Jeremie and Gabrielle are doing super well. Gabrielle didnt come to church because she was working... darn it... but Jeremie came! First time hes come to church in a white shirt with a tie since Ive been here. And he went in and talked to the bishop. Hes doing super well. Its so fulfilling to see others progress in the Gospel like him. 

Carol is doing well, but she missed church yesterday. Her family is really not supportive of her decision, so we're trying to figure out the best way to help her with that.

Chantal is great! We didnt see her all last week, but then this one we visited her and she committed herself to be baptized. She feels like her ways of obtaining drugs are gone (since the gang wont talk to her anymore), so I guess thats good? And shes committed to stop smoking cigarettes as well. Shes super excited! And she came to church for the first time yesterday and LOVED IT. I kept thinking in awe about how different this environment is compared to her life. the members who brought her home said that she just felt LOVE the whole time, and obviously, l'a aimé beaucoup. Shes got a long way to go, but we're looking forward to these changes shes willing to make. 

Basically, this week went well because

-first, Elder Hardy and I decided to work on humility and gratitude this week. That really helped us open our eyes to the many miracles that are happening around us. It also helped us think more about others, feel the spirit, and then use that in our work. Great!

-We knocked a street because we felt like we needed to, and found Vanessa. She is a student at Sherbrooke University, and at first was scared of us hah. But, it really showed us the promise (that we had studied the morning of) that we will be led to those who are being prepared, or they will be led to us, is true. She lost her mother a month ago, and all of her friends have recently decided to abandon her as well. She said she has been praying for these last few weeks now for God to tell her if He's there, and she hasn't yet received an answer. It was humbling to testify that what shes been praying for can be found in our message, that God will show her His love as she shows her love for Him (Jean 14:21).

- We had a dinner with a returning member named Hans Pikarek. He is officially that man that they make all the commercials for - the most interesting man in the world? That man is Hans Pikarek. I want to know before I say anything, if you search his name on Google if he will come up. Hes got quite the story! Even the story that President Ezra Taft Benson played chess with his father so that he could go on a mission, and won. Hah. Crazy.

- Chantal is just doing so great. She is still really struggling with her addictions, and sometimes makes it hard to see her, but we finally got to see her again and par la suite, she came to church this Sunday (see above.)

- We contacted a referral from our Ward Mission Leader, for a friend named Adriana. Shes a wonderful mom of three daughters, searching for a church to help them build a strong foundation, overcome challenges, and stay together. She really seems sincere about learning in order to help her family.

- We then had a lesson with a less active sister named Sister Marin. The Spirit is really working on her, helped enlighten her mind as she read the Book of Mormon, pushing her to go back to church, and keep the commandments. 

- And then we had an awesome fireside from President Patrick in our ward last night. About how to create a family mission plan. Ill try to send a copy home soon!

To wrap up the whole week, it was just a humbling experience to work on humility (funny, huh). As we redoubled our efforts to work by the Spirit, we really got to see others being changed as they let God's love more into their lives. 

  Ive been pretty happy for my mission so far, and this week was a real example for me of the true joy of being in the Lords service. Hah It was just the best. And we're going to keep going.

Love you all!

Elder Austin K Murphy

P.S. Here's Elder Freeze and I on bikes! Sherbrooke has a lot more hills on bikes than it does in our car.

Also, Elder Hardy and I got some nice jackets, because we didnt have any haha and it was getting  alittle chilly. 

 

 

Love to all- September 16, 2013

Hm. Thanks for the emails, and it was great to hear from you all.

Yesterday, I felt like fasting, and came up with some good reasons, but I think I just found out why. I obviously didnt know about the Gates or Uncle Wes, but i sure hope that a little sacrifice can help. I'll be praying for you all!

It is just really making me think about all of the experiences i've had this week. It was a great week, but of course there were some ups and downs. I couldn't really figure out why the downs were coming, because it really didnt seem to be external, but really seemed to be internal. But, Ill try to explain.

Ive had a lot of good moments to think about where my focus is, on working hard and for which reasons. And Ive been working hard, and trying to help my companion do the same and the other missionaries as well, but why? And long story short, Ive decided (again) to make the change to work for them, to help them out. And everything has been going better ever since. Ive been able to feel the Spirit more guiding us, and teach with more clarity and conviction. Even the sacrament was better yesterday, because again, I commit to take upon myself the name of Christ, so I can serve others. That has been one thing that has helped me out.

The other came to my mind on Saturday thinking about all of this. And it reminded me of a wonderful verse in Ether chapter 12 in the Book of Mormon.

4 Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with ^asurety ^bhope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which^chope cometh of ^dfaith, maketh an ^eanchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in^fgood works, being led to ^gglorify God.

I got to think a lot about how faith is the starter to give us hope. And I love the way that its been explained to me, how hope is not just wishing something to be true, but rather its as it is explained above, an anchor which can truly secure us in the storms that come. The hope that we can have is available because Christ died for us, and He lives today. All of His blessings are available for us, if we have faith, and live His Gospel. This hope will help us stay on the right path, being 'sure and steadfast, always abouding in good works', which will only increase our faith and hope as we continue to see God's hand in our lives.

It just makes me wonder because nothing really changed on the outside, or nothing really changed in my world for what was happening to me. But rather, in my mind and heart I was able to find greater peace and comfort. And hope.

I pray that the peace of the Spirit will comfort our loved ones in need. I know I was given these little experiences to help me understand a little bit more, and I pray that we might soon know the best way to help. But God is there. He loves us. And let us reach out to those who are in need of that assurance, as we would assuredly reach for those hands when we're in need.

I love you all!

Weve had a great week getting more members involved in missionary work here, and we're seeing really good results! Just like Alyse going out and teaching with the missionaries - way to go! That would be a good challenge for all of you - mom and dad, to go out with the missionaries! Hope it goes well.

And we're seeing good progress in Gabrielle and her husband Jeremie the less active member. He wants to come back to church all the way now!! Woot! And we had a lot of other great lessons this week, but I dont have any more time. Love!

Love for all!! Thanks for everything.

Elder Austin Murphy

P.S. I had NO IDEA that Cole was going into middle school.............................................. I dont know how I didnt put 2 and 2 together to get GRADE SEVEN. That is so crazy!!

Tell Mrs Wright i say hi! And sorry for being so crazy in her class

All of the missionaries who came in with me to Quebec in my district at the MTC are the District leaders in our zone! So we had a great reunion at our Zone Training Meeting. Here's us at the temple!

And then this is something we found on a door, because people HATE knocking sometimes. There are maybe on 1/4 of the doors a pas de colporteurs sign, which means no door salesman, but this was a new one.

On se réunit de nouveau- September 9, 2013

Hello!! I hope everyone had a great week! Sorry about Dallin getting bit by those Dominican Republic dinosaurs! Sounds crazy. Hah I want to go work with him for a week, but I dont think President Patrick will say yes. But Ill try anyway.

We had a great week here in Sherbrooke! Its been pretty exciting. First of all, we had transfer calls last week, and we're staying together, yay! We basically just a had a week full of miracles.

But Ill just start off with the bad first. I messed up cutting my hair on Preparation Day, because a gaurd thing fell off when I was cutting it, andddddd it made a big hole in the back of my head hah. I ''fixed'' it, but that just means that is pretty short. Im sorryyyyyyy mommmmmmmmmmm. I was pretty mad. But! in two weeks, itll be good!!

Besides that, our week was wonderful! We actually went to Montreal on Wednesday because we had a Zone Training Meeting. Elder Hardy and I gave a training on how to bring people to church, which went well. Elder Christensen, my good friend, is a Zone Leader now in our zone, so it was good to see him again. And! It was decided that we were going to do a split with them, so I got to work with Elder Christensen on Wednesday and thursday!! It was super fun. It was great to work with a friend again and we have both grown a lot since we were together, so it was, as he described it, like the sons of Mosiah meeting up again, just on a smaller scale hah.

Thursday when we were together in Sherbrooke, it was crazy. We contacted some amazing people, one being the aunt of Elder Blackurst, who was an Elder who served here, who left the mission when I came in! It was crazy. We passed by a less active member who wasnt home, and then decided to knock that building, and we met Sylvie. She said that she had a missionary nephew, and said who he was, and it was pretty exciting. She isnt a member, and has never really known too much about the church, but she talked about how much of an example her sisters family is to her. We offered to come another time to share a message about the family and how the Gospel can help, and she started crying. You could really tell she was going through some hard stuff, and wants to get help. So we're hoping to see her sometime this week.

We then went to a lesson with Chantal, which fell through, and decided to pass by a woman we had met a month ago, and she let us in and teach her! It was exciting because we were with a member family who came with us to teach, and they loved that. Its not too often for us that we have members with us on the first lesson.

We had a dinner appointment that night, coorelation, and then we saw Gabrielle and Jeremie! They are doing so great. We taught about obedience, using the talk from President Monson, and the commandments of reading the scriptures, praying often, and keep the Sabbath day holy. Basically, it went very well. She understood everything perfectly, and it was a really good balance between Elder Christensen and I. She even said just for the last little bit, she had been feeling down and didnt really want to see us that night, but decided to, and it really helped her know its still what God wants her to do.

I can keep going with all the miracles, but I cant say all of them! But we had two investigators at church, Jimmy and Gabrielle. It was the first time for Jimmy and he really liked it.

Then last night, we passed by another less active member, and she let us right in to talk to her and her son. We had a great lesson, and her friend Real even came in and he was very interested. They have had difficult lives, and she told us about the difficulties shes had in her marriage, and how its hurt her faith. But, she wants to find that faith and hope again. So we gave both of them the Book of Mormon, and they're committed to read before the next visit.

It was really a week that showed me the power of the Spirit as we help people commit to living the Gospel more fully. So many times throughout the week, we saw how people felt the Spirit as we taught, and want to come closer to Christ, by committing to read, or keep other commandments. It was such a good reminder to know that Jesus Christ is our Savior, and he wants us all to come unto him for peace and eternal life. All He wants us to do is take little steps to feel of His love, and bam, we want more. Who doesn't want to feel that we're loved? Just read a chapter in the Book of Mormon with a prayerful heart, pray, and you'll feel it.

Love you all!

Anything yall want to know? I really should be getting better at this whole writing home thing, but Im starting to not know what to write. Besides, I FEEL SO GOOD. Everyone should come out and work, its the best.

Loves,

Elder Austin Keith Murphy (very funny Dallin.)

I need to think of better titles for my emails!!- September 3, 2013

Dallins companions with Elder Cannon!! Hah thats so sweet. Maybe he's related to President and Sister Cannon! He should ask him.

Camille! Happy birthday to you on Saturday!! Im glad you had a good one. Man, lets see, what I love about Camille...

Camille lives the definition of a true friend. She loves you, wants to talk to you, has a good sense of humor (come on, I had to). But most importantly, as a true friend, she wants to help everyone move in the right direction. She lives her testimony! Camille loves having a great time. And we have many things in common hah. Thanks for being my dear friend for so long! (23s pretty old huh?)

Spending a few days in San Francisco! That sounds super fun.

We had a great week here in Sherbrooke! We had a surprise trainers meeting, so Elder Hardy and I went to Montreal again. It was great! Insert picture - Here's Elder Umana and I. Elder Umana is out in Ottawa, and just excelling as he normally does. Its so good to see such a good friend again. The training was on how we can refocus on how we are supposed to train, and what we can do to work more in unity and with the Spirit. It was great!

Thats been a big focus for me this week, trying to revert everything I do back to following the impressions of the Spirit. And as expected, its yielding great results. Studies are more focused on investigators and their needs, and therefore, its more of a learning experience, instead of only reading. We also were blessed to find a woman named Chantal this week. It was 8:35 and we had finished everything we planned, but we decided to go knock a couple more doors before we went home. And the second door we knocked on was her door. She immediately asked us to teach her (hah so we agreed) and we came back 2 days later and she had already read Alma 32, understood it perfectly, and wants to change her life. The only big problem is that she has some strong addictions to some bad substances. Its really weighing her down, but we're going to work through it.

We gave Gabrielle a date for baptism this week, and she said she's going to work towards it! Happy about that!

Hope you have a wonderful week!! Hope you get some good teachers, children. Bethany - keep up the good work. Cole - youre getting way too tall.

Love!

Elder Austin Murphy

This second photo is from Austin, Quebec!! So I took a few pictures of stuff in the town hah.