WEEK 69- typhoon clean up and Baptism!

Hello Everyone!

Well this week was interesting! We were able to help clean up the typhoon and get back to work teaching people the gospel.

We also had a baptism! it was really a neat one because we had it performed in the river, or ilog in Tagalog. One quick interesting cultural fact is that Tagalog actually means taga-from and ilog-river. So it means- "the people from the river" Anyway, I learned that this week and thought I would share it with you.

The baptism was the brother of Bro. Martin, and it was really cool to see them come and support him.

The spirit was very strong and it was really neat to watch Elder Dala baptize for the first time in his mission. I really feel close to my companion. He is so kind and fun to be with. The thing I love about him is how much he wants to serve the Lord and is teachable, always looking for ways to improve. He has a bright future as a missionary.

The typhoon caused us to have no power for more than a week, but just earlier today we were able to gain power again! I feel like I will appreciate electricity a little more after not having running water or electricity for a week! :) It was a good experience for us.

One thing I am learning is that we should be grateful not only when things are going the way we want or plan but that we should thank the Lord in all things! Even when we are struggling or when we think things are not going the way it should. If we trust the Lord that all flesh is in his hands and that he loves us. We may not see everything that is ahead of us, but we can trust and be grateful for the many blessing that our loving Father gives us everyday.

Many people are wondering how they are going to feed their families as the typhoon washed out almost all of their crops. It is sad to see but it has been really neat to see how the church has responded. The church is very generous and has been giving a lot of free food and drinking water to the people here. It has been fun to see trucks full of food with members wearing yellow helping hands jerseys giving food to the people here. Because we have a lot of work to do teaching, we have not taken much part in that activity, but it has be fun to observe the positive impact it has had on the people here.

I am very grateful for the time I have to serve. I know that serving a mission has been a great privilege that the Lord is giving me. I wouldn't trade it for anything! I encourage all who can to serve a mission and see how it will change not only the lives of those you teach but your life.

I have seen here how small we really are and how insignificant we are to the world, but how much our Father in Heaven loves each and everyone of us. We are precious to Him. I invite each of you to pray in gratitude to Him for all he has blessed you with and I promise you that you will feel His love!

I love you all. I ask you to pray for the people here as they find ways to feed and provide for their families.

Thank you for your support and prayers on my behalf.

Yours truly,

ELDER MURDOCK

Pictures:

Baptism of Marvin!

A bridge that was broken in our area

Storm out my window

Week 68- Typhoon Koppu/Lando

Family & Friends

Well this week we survived a super typhoon! As some of you know last weekend we had a huge storm hit us here in Angeles mission. It was predicted to be a signal 3 which is the second highest but actually became a signal no. 4! It has caused a lot of damage in Gabaldon as we are close to the coast. We do not have power and may not have power for a whole month! Luckily there is a Internet shop with a generator or I wouldn't be able to email ya'll. :)

Man parts of the road have been torn up and a few main bridges have been broken. But the worse damage has been to the crops here as all the rice and vegetable fields have been wiped clean. They were very close to harvest which makes it even more of a loss.

We were able to stay in our apartment and for four days we were not permitted to leave. We had two elders from Dingalan  which is right on the coast stay with us. 

Everyone in Gabaldon is safe and I know that is the most important thing.

This morning we went and helped clean up the mess. We went to the Martins house, our recent convert friends and soon found out that a tree had landed on a part of their house. They live right in front of a river so they had waist high floods in their house. They are safe and we spent this morning clearing and chopping trees and branches that had fallen in the storm.

All of this reminded me of the great truth in Helaman 5:12

And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.

I know that this is true! My companion who is Filipino told me that the reason the trees fell is because they did not have strong roots. The roots were not deep enough, but they were shallow. Such is true with us. If our faith in Jesus Christ is casual, shallow or superficial when trials and spiritual storms and whirlwinds come we will fall, but as we build our foundation in Jesus Christ and his gospel and deepen our roots every day with prayer and scripture study and service, we will be strong and like the trees that withstood the storm we will withstand all kinds of trials of our faith.

We have a baptism coming up this week! It is the Brother of Peter Martin! Even with the storm, the Lord's work goes on!

Mahal kita,,

ELDER MURDOCK

After Clean up at family Martin

The field with the river all used to be rice fields :( 

 Typhoon Lando made a huge impact here in this part of the Phillippines

Week 67

Hello Family and Friends!

Man what a great week! This week was very eventful for us with a transfer, baptism, new companion, and conference!

On Wednesday I learned that I am training again! It was kind of a shock. I miss Elder Aldridge. We were really good friends and I learned so much from him. He really taught me how to be patient and enjoy the journey of mission life. Even though we were together for only a short time I really felt like it was so critical for my learning to be with him. 

So anyway, my new companion is Elder Dala. He is from Cagayan De Oro city Mindanao. He is fresh from the MTC and is very excited about being a missionary. He has really great potential and will be a great missionary, I can already see it in him. His first language is Cebuano which is hard because he is learning Tagalog as a second language too. He is the 6th missionary in his family and his Dad is the bishop in their ward. 

I have really enjoyed getting to know him and look forward to serving with him! :)

So I have to also tell you about the Martins wonderful baptism! 

It was so wonderful. Words cannot really describe the great wonderful feeling that accompanies watching a well prepared and converted family be baptized and confirmed! We were rejoicing and I am sure that many angels were rejoicing with us. The branch was very good at supporting the new family and many came to the baptismal service.

Both Bro and Sister Martin bore beautiful testimonies. Brother Martin shared his incredible story of how he knew the Book of Mormon was true. It was a witness to me that visions and revelation really do happen today. He told us that in a dream  the Savior told him the Book of Mormon was true and that he should read it all. WOW! Then right after I baptized Bro. Martin, their little two year old boy Francis ran up to me and gave me a big leg hug. It made me smile, and in my opinion he was in his own way saying thank you for bring his parents and him to the knowledge of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I love this family so much, and I am so grateful for the great blessing the Lord has given me to teach them! It is hard to describe how I feel.

I learned at transfers that Rogehelyo and Paulino from my last area both received the Aaronic Priesthood and that Rogehelyo is passing the sacrament every week! :) 

The Lord is here in Gabaldon, and he is with each of us. I know that he will help each of us as we do what we can, and trust that he will make up for what we lack.

I loved conference! Man so much to learn.

Here is my ponderize verse for this week. D&C 19:23

Love you all so much

Mahal kita,

Elder Murdock

Martins baptism with me and  Elder Aldridge.

Me and my new companion Elder Dala.

Week 66

Hello Family~

Things are really great! I have felt so many blessings. This week we have had wonderful success with finding and in preparing others for baptism.

We had quite the miracle happen, one day a few weeks ago we were just walking around our focused neighborhood trying to open our mouth and find new people to teach. As we did we were approached by a women who had seen us in the neighborhood. She asked us if we could teach her and straight up told us the days when she was available. This has never happened ever in my mission! It was really weird. So this week we taught this woman and her name is Mileth and she is very prepared. she has a daughter that is 11 and they both have a baptismal goal date for November. It is so awesome to be a part of teaching families! I love it so much.

So one of the lessons her cousin Jane hesitantly decided to listen. As we taught her she felt the spirit and we gave her a lesson one pamphlet and she read the whole thing. Without our instruction and without us teaching about Joseph Smith yet, she read in the pamphlet that she should pray to know if Joseph Smith is true prophet of God. As she did that with simple new found faith she received an answer by the Holy Ghost. Sometimes I feel like our job is almost too easy! Hahaha... It really shows the Lord does not need us 19 year old kids to do his work. He can and does His work. It is fun to witness and be a part of conversion.

So another great news is about Martin family! They are so wonderful and it is so great to see them choose conversion to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They will be baptized this week and I am thrilled to be a part of it and I am so happy for them. The best part is when we taught them about temples. They were so thrilled about going to the temple. 

Every time I teach them and am around them, I just think of their two little children and think of the impact the Gospel is making and will make on their lives and I just feel pure joy for them.

I know that the Gospel is for families. I feel like the harvest I have had on my mission has been so great already. The Lord is blessing us, I feel like His blessings just keep on coming and coming. Sometimes I don't feel worthy of all the many things he has given me. :) I know that blessings come from obedience, but we don't have to be perfect we just have to keep on trying.

I promise I will send pictures next week of the baptism! 

Super excited about Conference and no I have not seen it yet. Erg, I want to see it now hahaha.

Mahal kita

--

ELDER MURDOCK

Week 65

Hello Family friends! 

I would first like to give a shout out to all those that have sent me hand written letters! It was really fun to get them from Uncle Nate and Sarah's family on my mom's side and Uncle Monte and Megan on my Dad's side! Thank you for all your great support and of course my awesome family and the new clothes they sent me. I am going to look like a greenie with my new clothes! Funny enough, because I am still getting taller my parents had to send me new pants! Hahaha. 

Every where I go I still get comments about how tall I am, as most Filipinos are height challenged. It is really funny!  If only I had a peso for every time someone referenced how tall I was, hahaha.

Things went really well this week with Elder Aldridge recovering from his Dengue. Our members are so awesome and working so hard with us. The thing that means the most of all, our investigators are doing so well and making wonderful progress towards conversion!

Things are great! It is so fun to teach these people how to come unto Christ and experience true joy and then watch them actually apply what they are learning in their life.

For example, when Bro Peter told us that they were not going to be able to go to church because the don't have any pamasahe or money for transportation, I then read to him from the Book of Mormon to help him understand the importance of God's commandments. We read Moroni 7:33.

The next morning we were in church, they had not come into the chapel yet and we were a little worried that they wouldn't be able to make it. But as we were singing the opening hymn, "There is sun shine in my soul today" I looked over at the window and saw Bro and Sister Martin and I nearly did a dance! I am so proud that they made the sacrifice to come to church! It filled me with joy!

Seeing people make sacrifices to live the gospel is one of the most fulfilling thing about being a missionary. I have seen many members as well make many sacrifices.

Here in the Philippines most members have to travel far distance to go to general conference and it is very expensive. I know that I took advantage of it at home when I could just turn on the TV and lounge around the house.

Maybe we can skip a soccer game or two or make time in our busy schedule to listen to our living prophets and apostles.

I know that the Lord asks sacrifices from us, but the blessing is always greater than the sacrifice. I have felt that in my mission! I thank the Lord every day that I have the blessing and privilege to be here! At first I thought it was a sacrifice but now I see it is a blessing!

I love you all so much!

Mahal kita!

Elder Murdock

Week 64

Hello Family and Friends,

This week has been different than any week my whole mission, a day or two we had other missionaries at our house because of reports of a tsunami heading toward the other elders area and half of the week was spent at home because my companion Elder Aldridge has dengue fever, it was a struggle to get him even to sacrament meeting. It has been a week of little work and has really made me realize how much I love what I am doing! I love being out with the people and love teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I just love being a missionary and serving the Lord and serving others. The past few days have made me realize that not too far in the future my calling is going to change and I will be going home! That is something that I am trying to push out of my mind. 

Even through this hard experience of my companion being sick we have had so many small tender mercies or small non coincidences that have made things so much easier and smoother. Members buying us groceries and medicine, visiting our investigators for us and being good support. Investigators canceling appointments and going to church, bringing their friends that we could teach.

The great thing about doing the Lord's work is that he cares just as much for the instrument as he does for the work. He is teaching us great lessons of patience and trusting in him. I know that He cares and his hand is in all things!

I ask you all to pray for Elder Aldridge that he will heal quickly from this nasty disease.

I love you all so much,

Elder Murdock

Week 63

Hello Family and friends!

This week was a good one. I love hearing from all of you and enjoy reading all that is going on in your lives! Honestly I often forget about my life before my mission, but it is very refreshing to remember and treasure all the people I love back home in the states.

We are working so hard and have been blessed more than we deserve. It is hard to explain, but I know we are receiving help. My companion Elder Aldridge is really great.  He is so focused and obedient and a great missionary but because of his special circumstances he doesnt' speak any Tagalog.  However challenging, I find it amazing that when he teaches our unity is so great that even though he doesn't understand what I am saying when I teach in Tagalog, it is almost as he knows and continues right where I dropped off. I translate his words and also feel guided in the words I use and sometimes I don't fully comprehend what I am saying. I know that the spirit of the Lord is with us.

One great lesson I learned this week was about sustaining and supporting our leaders.

I will be the first to admit that sometimes I have an attitude. Sometimes I get critical with others and especially myself. One of my leaders in the mission that is my district leader made me frustrated this week about how he was treating my companion and I. It appeared to us like all he cared about was if our statistics in our work were high, we got the impression that he didn't care about us nor the people we were teaching.  During this time we taught a member who had been offended and didn't go to church because of something that a church leader did many years ago. As I sat listening to him I was surprised what came out of my mouth when I said these exact words of course in Tagalog :) : "I have a special assignment for you brother, tonight look in the mirror and say : I am not perfect, I make mistakes, I allow others to do the same."

I thought that was weird but didn't think much of it until that night, I got off the phone with my leader, I made some smart comment to my companion about how his actions were bothering me. After I was finish complaining my companion smiled and said those words once again to me. I am not perfect, I make mistakes, I allow others to do the same." I realized all at once the lesson was really for me. Whenever I feel hurt or angry at others actions, including my leaders I remember this powerful but simple learning experience.

Anyway I love you all so much, I pray for you. I feel your prayers and support and I thank you for your love,

yours always,

ELDER MURDOCK