Short, sorry!- January 27, 2014

Hello my wonderful family! Oh how I love you!

Btw, I got the news that Jimmy will be getting baptized this Sunday. 

Total attendance at church: 12.

This week was great! We had 15 lessons total, which was great. Sylviane Bujold is still doing awesome, and is planning on inviting some friends to upcoming Family Home Evenings (how awesome is that.) The Levesque family had another family over last week, and are doing awesome. 

We're still focusing on the branch, the members that we have, active or less active. We have a lot of members who we're just working with to develop their testimony. So I think as I've said a million times, Its a bit different, but its what we've been asked, and it's what we feel will help them the most. We're seeing improvements in everyone which is wonderful. 

In Rimouski, there have been some quarrels before, which has really damaged the church here, with divisions and people leaving because they were offended. So its kind of in the history. We see little examples here and then, but we try to avoid that hah. 

The Fourtinas didnt come up yesterday, so Elder Kimzey and I gave talks again. I hope they don't get too sick of us giving all of these talks, but President Fourtina keeps asking us to!

Thanks for your prayers! 

Love you all. The work is great here, we're just trying to help the members the best we can. Thanks for all that you do at home. 

Oh and thanks to the Sine family for the package as well! I finally got to the note after all of those hot chocolates.

Love you all,

Elder Murphy

P.S. Tell Brother and Sister Bollard that I love them and they are amazing. 

P.S.S. This is the city, Saint Louis Du Ha! Ha! Or in English - Saint Louis of the Ha! Ha!

Que ferait Jésus?- January 20, 2014

Dallin's been out for 6 months?? Holy cow! That went by fast.

Dear Mom: I love what you wrote about President Eyring and others teaching about going and rescuing the lost, or the struggling. That has been the focus from President Patrick ever since he's come to Quebec, and its been producing miracles here. It's crazy. We've really worked on the ward list in Sherbrooke, and then the branch list here, and we even found this week 2 members of whom we had lost all contact information! Thank you phonebook and Brother Carier in the Quebec branch for your help. We had an awesome miracle when we went to one of their homes, and the man Jean-Guy let us in after he saw that his girlfriend Christianne was excited to talk to us hah. (We had called a month earlier and he wasn't interested at all). So they accepted another visit this week, and we're really excited about them!!!
  Also, the Levesque famille did just that this week - they invited a member over who hasn't been to church in 20ish years, with her family, and had a wonderful dinner with them. Wow! What a wonderful example of Christlike missionary work. They said it went super well and the family loved it. What a great example of how to reach out to the lost sheep as He did. So keep following the council family!

Dear Bethany: Can't describe how happy it made me to see those pictures of you boxing out. WOW. Way to go Bethany!!!!! You're awesome. Keep it up.

  Dear Dad: You're the best dad! Yeah, that council is exactly what we're being trained and taught here. It's awesome. Carol I heard is doing SUPER WELL, as in out of this world. Gabrielle is doing awesome and Jeremie is still progressing, and working a lot with the bishop. I email them pretty often now, hah they're awesome. Jimmy actually should be getting baptized this week! So we'll see. Mohammed is still
progressing, and Elder Hardy is still loving Sherbrooke. What a boss.

  We had 15 people at church this week! Woot! President Fourtina came
up with Sister Fourtina, and wow was church great. Sylviane is on fire
hah, she is just eating every piece of doctrine that she can, and
loves church, love family home evening that we're starting with her,
and we're starting to get her to talk to other people. She's awesome.
It's honestly that true conversion that we're looking to help people
attain here. We had a number of other members who came and are doing
really well as well.

  Zone Training Meeting this week was great!

  So, I don't have very much more time. But, wow the Gospel is true. I have never known it so surely, thanks to our Heavenly Father revealing truth through the Holy Spirit. Wow. It's a different form of work that we're doing here, focusing on less active members and returning members, and then trying to avoid knocking on doors (Thats been a big change for me ... thats honestly a little hard, but I'm trying to
follow President Patrick's council), but it sure it amazing. The branch is doing well, and we're just going to keep building the base now so that it can be really built upon. President Fourtina keeps announcing that we'll be moving soon from the tiny upstairs logement thing we meet at to a new chapel hah, he says he just doesn't know the date yet. He's so awesome.

If we have a question on how to do something, just do what President Joseph Fielding Smith did: Ask, ''Que ferait Jésus?'' Ensuite, faites ce qu'il ferait.

I love you all! God is real. The Gospel is true, and leads us to Him.

Love
Elder Murphy (Austin, the one in Quebec)

P.S. Grandma!!! Thanks for the package!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!

Wow- January 13, 2013

Hah sorry again, we have 1 good computer here in the chapel, and 1 bad one, so the bad one wasnt my friend last week - it wouldnt let me send the letter. Sorry!

Hahah I love the point system you all have - and all I have to say is of course Tommy is in first. I would put my money on Tommy or Brandon to win hah.

Dad!! How are you? You're awesome. I love what you shared about your Deacon Quorum class, about studying the scriptures. Thats been what we've been doing here in a sense, helping the members learn how to study, in order to help them be independent. Its a little shocking because its not a skill thats very developed here yet, but its coming along. Its really helping been and solidify the core here. 

Bethanyyy!!!!!!! Hey, sounds like you're doing awesome. Keep up the good work sista. Have you thought about going on a mission? I think you'd be a great missionary, and I heard they love sister missionaries in Quebec. Hm.

So, here you go Mommy

1. Our branch is doing great!!!! Its so fun to be working with these members. We only had 10 at church yesterday (counting us) because of the weather (see #2), but the 8 members that were there were awesome. We're seeing  A LOT of progress in two of our friends - Sister Bujold, and her sister Sister Lafortune. They are so awesome, they both joined the church in 2005, but went less active after not a long time, but they've been coming back for a while now, and oh man, they're going strong. We visited Soeur Bujold frequently, and she's just on fire and its all the good signs - she's super eager to learn new things, and review old things, she is increasing her desire everyday to share the Gospel, she loved church yesterday, she says its now 'all starting to click'. Everyone seems to be on the way up, and her and her sister are taking the lead. 

2. The weather haha. It got warmer this week, its been hanging around 0 for a couple days now, but all that means is that we have Elders on Ice here in Rimouski. We had freezing rain for a day, and then everything is deciding to melt just enough to refreeze into perfectly sleek ice for us. The roads are all pretty good by now, but the parking lots are literally ice rinks - I laughed really hard when on Sunday afternoon when Elder Kimzey was eating I looked out the window and I saw a kid ice skating in his drive way with some friends hah. Everyone was joking about that we should do it, and he actually did. 

3. Investigators - we have a couple, maybe 4 of 5. But we don't see them too too often. But we're trying to change that. 

We were informed by President Fourtina that because of the freezing rain, they wouldn't be coming up to church, so I would be conducting and Elder Kimzey would be giving a talk. Boom! Hah then we show up at church, and the other two speakers who were supposed to give their talks didn't show up either hah. So, yesterday we gave the talks at sacrament. 

  But, I am so grateful for the Book of Mormon. Wow, I just can't even explain the power and the Spirit that I've received from reading the Book of Mormon. I decided to up the amount of reading I give to the Book of Mormon every day, and wow what a difference it made in my work. Not only did it give me subjects to speak about yesterday in church with no time to prepare hah, but the Spirit that it brings and the hope - wow. I'm definitely copying President Fourtina how he says wow, but I don't think he'll mind. 

  I am a missionary for the Lord Jesus Christ. What a miracle! I am a witness of His life and of His teachings. I'm a witness of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, of the fulness of the Plan of Salvation and the pertaining ordinances of God for the salvation of all mankind. What a blessing! I feel humbled to realize that fact, and to have it seep deeper and deeper into me. I'm so grateful for this work, and for the Lord. He lives, and He loves us. Our Father in Heaven lives, and He is watching over all of us, waiting to give us blessings, if only we will search, knock and ask. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God, because the Holy Spirit has witnessed it to me today, this week, and many many other times throughout my life. Wow!

  I love you all! Thank you for your examples and your love! Tell everyone hello for me, and give somebody a hand this week. Say something encouraging to another. Say a prayer of gratitude. And then watch out - your testimony will grow!

   Love with all my heart,

Elder Murphy (Austin)

Beautiful week!- January 6, 2014

Uncle Klane and Aunt Llilli!! Yes I got your package, thank you SO much. Itll definitely help me stay warm this winter hah.

   Ok Mom, answers: Yep, Elder Kimzey and I are staying together. Its awesome, I'm really happy to stay with him here.

   We are handing the cold like champs. It was incredibly cold this week. Hah we kept getting excited when the car thermometer kept going lower so we kept taking pictures every time it went lower for a new record ... -20, -25... -30... -33... -38... got down to -40. So sweet! We went to a city called Sayabec and thats where it hit -39C, -40C. Some members said with the wind it was around -48 I think? Woo! Some members told us that there was a rule last year about a limit for no knocking after a certain temp, but I dont think President Patrick has set anything this year. Uh oh! That's okay, we're doing great.

   HAh no I don't have frostbite.

   Not too many people were out when it was that cold, even though we did a little bit of street contacting, because its better than knocking here. But it didn't last too long. Had some good contacts though!

   Church was AWESOME. President Fourtina was there, and actually he came up on Saturday, and we had the privilege to go out and visit a friend Brother Ovila Damour in Sayabec. Holy cow. I think it was the greatest car ride I've ever had. And then Sunday was great, there were 19 people there. Speaking with President Fourtina really helped me figure out the direction to take here, and he's 100% about us helping the members develop testimonies. So it was especially great to see in the branch, there were some great testimonies and comments made during sacrament meeting and 2nd hour about testimones being strengthened and built up.

   It's funny, because President Fourtina is very direct in his council and his 'suggestions', which I think is awesome. Example - right when Sunday school finished, he comes up to me, and says (in french obviously) ''I would like you to teach Priesthood on the Sacrament, show them how to do it, how to say the prayers, how to pass it, and the importance of it, because today I will go to the Relief Society. Will you do that?'' Hah yes President. ''Merci.'' Boom! Probably a bad example for you all, but we're trying our best to keep building up our relationship, and Im glad he has at least confidence in us to ask us to help him out.

   It's definitely a different task we're asked to do here, but oh how it is fulfilling. Example, I feel like before I knocked all day, and almost avoided members because it took away from 'proselyting time'. And here's the exact opposite. We've been asked to concentrate our efforts on being with and helping out the members. So its a little different, but oh how its fun. Its so fulfilling to help these members out, because the branch needs it so badly. We really need some members with a rock solid testimony (of the true doctrine) here, so that's what we're working on.

  One great experience this week was teaching Sylviane Bujolds ( a returning member) daughter , a non member. She actually really loved the 2 lessons we had, and has a lot of potential, but now will be taught by the Quebec city missionaries since she was only up here on break.

  

  So all is good up in Rimouski. I don't even know how to begin to thank the Lord for this chance I have to serve here. I think I've learned more and grown more in these last 6 weeks than any other 6 weeks on my mission. It's a miracle.

  Im just flattened by the examples of those surrounding me, such as President and Sister Fourtina, President Patrick, and the missionaries in the scriptures. I read the first half of Alma this week, and MAN ALIVE I was amazed at the fact that the example of just a few people, a few converts, could change so many lives. I know that this is true. As we strive to be worthy insruments in the Lord's hands, we can truly help others find their potential as a son or daughter of God. What a privilege it is to do that here in Rimouski.

Donc, à la prochaine! Also, new years resolutions - wow that's a powerful tool.

Love to all! Have a wonderful week.

Elder Murphy