Week 24 Maligayang Pasko!

Hoy Lahat!

Maligayang Pasko from the Philippines! I hope that you are all having a great Christmas and are loving the season! Our work has been really busy and the Lord definitely has been preparing souls for us during this time. We had another baptism and it as always was a wonderful experience. I am so grateful for the harvest time that I have been able to be a part of. This work is definitely the work of Salvation and is so amazing to see all of the little miracles unfold if we are actively looking for them and acknowledging them. I am certain that there are Angels on the other side helping to prepare the hearts of these people.
So you might wonder what is like here in Ang Pilipinas for "Pasko"  or Christmas. It is really cool to see all the preparations and decorations, lights and Nativity scenes. A lot of the celebration here is centered on Jesus Christ, which is really a refreshing change from how it is back in the states. One fun tradition is Mangaraling ( I bet that is a fun one to say) or caroling. People here love to sing and it is a tradition to carol for money going door to door, it is really cool, some of them are really good! It's in away similar to Trick or Treating, hahaha. 
One thing that I admire so much of the Filipino people is their willingness to give and to share. They are a very giving people and will share all they have with anyone that is in need. Their smiles and their friendly faces have made this Christmas time very special for me! I still haven't gotten to tired of hearing people ask "What is your height?" the familiar question that I hear  at least ten times a day. It is so worth it, all of the trials and hard times, the people and seeing them come unto Christ makes all of the challenges SO worth it! I love the people, I better understand how God feels about his children here!

LOVE you all!
Don't forget to share God's gift to the world- His Son!

Ingat lagi,

ELDER MURDOCK

Picture-Catherine's baptism

WEEK 23- A new perspective

Hoy Lahat!

How are ya'll? My week was good but quite busy! First because we moved apartments! I am so grateful for our new apartment. Our old apartment was really, really old and was gross and hard to walk through let alone cook in.  I said in one of my past letters I am learning how to cook pagkain ng pinoy (Filipino food)
I decided that it is about time that I stop eating out of a can, haha. One of the sisters in Cabiao ward heard that I am trying to learn to cook pinoy food and gave me a small cook book so I guess this week I will try out my cooking skillz.
 Our new apartment is so nice compared to our last one. It has tiled floor but still has a few problems that hopefully we will fix.
The move was quite a miracle because when our landlady heard we found a new apartment, she told us we had 4 days to move! It was crazy fast. When we were signing papers with our new landlady she was very hesitant and it was really stressful. Thank goodness we learned that one member in the ward was one of her best friends. She was able to soften her heart and we were able to move in on times with relatively no problems! It was amazing, I definitely saw the hand of the Lord this week as I trusted in him that it would all work the way it was supposed to.
Christmas is here, but for me it does not feel like Christmas! hahaha. Probably because there is no snow! Hahaha. It is funny to see the difference in culture when it comes to Christmas. The most memorable thing I have seen so far that is pretty different, is that people do Christmas carol here, but they do it for money instead of like a service. Often at night I see a lot of little kids running around with with ice cream, Tupperwares, and sticks as percussion singing jingle bells haha, its kind of cute.
One thing is for sure, I love the people here!! I feel more at home now dito sa pilipinas and love the culture. I know that this is where I am supposed to be and know that my mission will not only bless my life and those I serve, but bless my family as well. It is hard to explain the love I feel for these people but I think that the best way to describe it is as the Love of Jesus Christ.
As I said in my last letter, last week was kind of hard and I was pretty discouraged about things, This week I gained a new perspective. I realized that I wasn't being as obedient as I could have been, my personal and companionship studying was slipping especially my studying of the words of ancient and modern scriptures. I realized that these things are protection from the devil and that as I am obedient I will be happy. In the Scriptures it says: Wickedness never was happiness" Sometimes I have to remind myself the opposite is true also, Obedience ALWAYS is happiness! I know that as I am obedient and apply the atonement when I make a mistake I will be happy. I know that the way we show God we love him is by following his commandments and enduring hard times with a grateful heart.
I love you all and pray for you! Please let me know of any special needs you would like me to pray about,

Mahal Kita,

ELDER MURDOCK

Week 22 The enabling power

Hey everybody!
This week was great! I hope you all had a wonderful thanksgiving! It
was great to hear from all of you that did my thanksgiving challenge.
I know that God wants to bless us more when we are thankful for his
blessings.
People usually don't celebrate thanksgiving here. The day of
thanksgiving I woke a little homesick and felt a little sad that I was
missing all the fun at home. But then I decided to quit feeling sorry
for myself and do something to change how I felt. I realized that
there are some things that I can't control and there are some things
that I can, so I called up a member that is a friend of mine and asked
if he wanted to have a fiesta and explained thanksgiving to him. He
agreed and so Thursday night we had our own Thanksgiving with some of
the members. We bought chicken and I made mashed potatoes and of course
it wouldn't be a meal without rice! hahaha. It was a lot of fun. We
also had cheese ice cream which is a Filipino thing.  It was a great
time.
Anyway with the work. Which is the most enjoyable part of being a
missionary, We baptized my first family this week! It was such a
wonderful experience! I cannot describe fully the joy that I felt that
day. It is indescribable. I have been thinking a lot about my role as a
missionary and have come to the conclusion that any sacrifice to be a
full-time servant of Jesus Christ is worth it. It is all worth it!
Sometimes it is so hard and discouraging for me, sometimes I don't
feel like I even should be here as a missionary, that I am not  good
enough. That I am not worthy to wear the badge. But I then I remember
that it isn't even me at all!! I am just His voice and just like with
Moses the great prophet if I am humble enough to trust in him he can
make me mighty in speaking and will lift me up to the tasks I am here
to do. I don't tell you all this so you will feel sorry for me or
worry about me, I am fine, really. I just wanted to share this with
all of you because I have seen the atonement more in my life as I have
had a few struggles. It has made me closer to him, and through him I
can change and become a better person and shake off my pride. I know
we all can change and overcome our challenges through the enabling
power of our Savior Jesus Christ.Through him we can do anything we are
asked to do by him. He is the gift of Christmas! I am so grateful that
I have the opportunity share that gift with the people here in the
Philippines this Christmas! I am so grateful for all of you, the emails
and the support and the great prayers. I pray for you! I love you all,
Have a great week!

ELDER MURDOCK

Week 21

 Hey everybody!

So I kinda of ran out of time with all of my reports and stuff.. so my parents will just put parts of their letters on my blog. Enjoy and sorry! Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving! Enjoy that apple pie and turkey for me!:)
Here are some pictures of our baptisms this week.

For this week for thanksgiving I have a challenge for all of you, Which I will do as well: The challenge is to write a hundred different things a day which you are grateful for. Its actually really easy I did it this morning and it made me realize how much I take for granted! I am so grateful for all that God has blessed me with.
Here is a pattern that could help you make it easier. I found this in an old Ensign magazine:
write 10 physical abilities you are grateful for
write 10 material possession you are grateful for
write 10 living people you are grateful for
write 10 deceased people you are grateful for.
Write 10 things about nature you are grateful for.
write 10 things about today you are grateful for
write 10 places on earth you are grateful for.
write 10 modern inventions you are grateful for.
write 10 foods you are grateful for
write 10 things about the gospel you are grateful for.

I know that as you do this you will be able to better see all the blessing you receive from a loving Heavenly Father everyday! It is really refreshing I hope you all will join me! :)

Love you all!

ELDER MURDOCK



Hey Dad and Mom,

How was your week? I sure hope that you had as good of a week as I did! Our two baptisms were great! both of them I baptized and it was a wonderful experience. This week on Wednesday we are baptizing the Lapuz family. It will be a wonderful experience and I am excited. My investigators are doing great, we have an average of 10 investigators at church regularly so Sundays are always great days. One of our investigators that is really progressing  is Jose. He is 60 or so and has a strong belief in God and in the Bible. He really wants to know and asks so many questions that sometimes it is hard to teach. Hahaha. He has diabetes and can't read so it is really hard to teach him about the Book of Mormon. We have had quite a few investigators who either don't know how to read or can't because they have bad eyes. It is sometimes a challenge. Another common challenge we have here is marriage. Because there is no divorce here, sometimes people are either hesitant to get married because it is too expensive or separate and then live together. It is quite a problem. We have a sister we are teaching her name is Charo. I have taught her since I got here in August but because of her husband not wanting to get married she is unable to be baptized. We really are hoping he changes his mind. Will you pray that his heart will be softened. Thanks so much. The whole family can join in if they want.
My companion is awesome! He is so great!!! He is the only member in his family. His family at first didn't want him to go on a mission. He is really buff and loves to play basketball and work out. He is really funny and we laugh a lot. I am learning how to cook Filipino food and cook for us as often as we have time.
I love hearing about your experiences, and things that are going on. I love you so much and pray for you daily! Thanks again for the music. I love it and listen to it everyday! I hope you have a great Thanksgiving. I am excited to Skype you in a month.

I love you always and appreciate all you do for me! :)

Your Son,

ELDER MURDOCK

Week 20- All times, All things, All places

Hey everyone!

This week was AWESOME!!!! We are working really hard and have been doing all we can to help reach our mission goal of 1650 souls baptized by the end of the year. We will have two baptisms this week and 5 next! It definitely is harvest time! Everyday I am thanking the Lord for all of the little miracles that happen everyday. I have a firm testimony that this is His work, and that he definitely is involved. We have been fasting and praying for our investigators like crazy and it has made all the difference. Another cool change we are doing is the Follow 200 plan that our mission president has started. It basically is for us to focus our work on two specific areas and make daily visits to our investigators to better track their progression it is really cool to see the difference.
As always, my job as a missionary is to testify of Christ, but this week I had too unusual experiences that both tried and strengthen my faith. The first one was a with a member. This man is a very influential, smart, and rich man. He is also the cousin of my first baptism. We were at his house to teach his nephew. While we were waiting for his nephew, this man started talking badly about the Stake leaders and American senior couples in this area and saying things that he really shouldn't.  I was really uncomfortable but decided to stand up for what was right and respectfully told him to stop. He got really angry and started yelling at us and told us to leave his house. It was really a sad situation. I really felt bad for this man. It makes me sad to see pride and anger ruin such a good man. After this encounter I felt the spirit reassure to me that I did the right thing even though it ended so badly. The other experiences was with a group of humanitarians from the UK. I OYMed (open your mouth) them and they were really friendly. I asked them about there religious beliefs and most of them said that they did not believe in God. I shared my testimony of the reality of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. It was amazing I felt like Abinadi and I felt filled with the Holy Ghost. After I briefly shared my testimony, one of them said that he would pray that night and ask God if he really was there. I am so grateful for the opportunity to be a witness of Jesus Christ.
I know that all of us have that responsibility to be a witness of God at all times, all thing and all places. Let us do that! Let us have courage and do what we know is right even when it is terrifying, Let us not be afraid to stand for truth and righteousness. I know that as we stand for what is right we are never alone, Jesus Christ is standing there right with us. I know that God lives! I know that Jesus is the Christ and that these are the last days in which he will gather Israel! Let us be apart of this great work. The train is leaving if we are on board or not! I know that we can make a difference if we seek treasures in heaven first in life. I know that what I am doing here sa Ang Pinas  is the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I pray for you and love all! Email me for specifics. :)


ELDER MURDOCK

The Lapus Family, my investigators who are getting baptized next week:)

Week 19

Hello!
I have some great news and some not so great news,
The good news is that I LOVE my new companion!!!!! He is so great! His name is Elder Lumogdang he is Filipino. I will tell you all about him in a little bit, also we should have 6 baptisms this month! YAY! :)
The bad news as you probably have noticed that I didn't send an email telling you I am online. It is because my mission President made a new rule that we can't chat. This rule is SO HARD!!! And I don't understand why. BUT- I have decided to be exactly obedient. I am going to obey this rule even though I don't want to. I prayed so hard that I would have the desire to be obedient to this rule and that I would be obedient with a willing heart. I also prayed that I would trust President's decision and inspiration for our mission.  I asked Heavenly Father to give me the strength to do this hard thing, because sometimes talking to you is how I get through the week. I know I will be blessed as I obey. At least I get to send you a email every week right? So the rule is I cannot respond to anyone until the next week.  Anyway, now to get that out of the way. Here is my week:
As I told you I got a new companion! He is awesome, he is from Negros, Philippines. He is really funny and has a great sense of humor. He is really good at basketball.  As I learned early, he really shows his love for the investigators and members and so in turn they love him too! But most of all I love how we can talk and communicate openly. He  is someone I know I can talk to and have fun with as we work hard. We have a lot of progressing investigators and it is amazing to see their progress. Our biggest challenge is teaching them all the material before they get baptized. We had 12 investigators at church yesterday!
 So I wanted to share with you a really great experience that I had yesterday.  We have been teaching this man named Edwin. He is really cool guy. He is the one that had the accident with his eye and because of his accident he has become really humble. He is also a chain smoker. He smokes 40 cigarets a day. I am sure you can imagine what he teeth looks like, hahaha. That was a few days ago. Now he is down to 19 and next week he plans on it being 0! As he was telling me this I was filled with joy and happiness as he told me this! He told me something that really hit me, he said: "Impossible is nothing for the Lord" He has really strong faith and is going to be a great priesthood holder when he gets baptized. I know that the atonement is so real. As we were teaching Edwin we were with one of our members, He told Edwin that he too was a chain smoker before he was baptized. I was shocked! I never would have thought that his man had a smoking problem before. He was a new man and his countenance was so bright. The Atonement changes people. It is the greatest miracle. I continue to have really cool experiences and I am loving my mission. It is hard but it is so amazing!

Take care always, have a good week!!!:)
ELDER MURDOCK

Week 18 Ang Araw ng Patay

Hey Everybody!

As you know this last week was Halloween. I was really excited to experience my first Halloween here. But I learned quickly that they don't celebrate it here. Instead they have a different holiday on November 1st which is called Ang Araw ng Patay or in English The Day for the Dead. It was crazy!
The traditions of the holiday are similar to the Spanish tradition and is a day where they honor their passed on family members. The best way I can explain it is like memorial day on steroids! Everyone travels to the cemetery and stays there all day long. Some people even sleep at the cemetery! Some of the graves of wealthy people are like house and even have air conditioning! The Filipinos are really centered on family, it is really cool how much they respect their ancestors. Really there were SO many people in Cabiao, it was crazy! I never have seen so many people. I swear all of Nueva Ecija was in Cabiao, The traffic was at a stand still for many hours. Motorcycles and trikes were driving on the shoulder space on the side of the road. Anyway, the holiday made it really hard to do our work. Everyone was at the cemetery! It was a bit discouraging, but I realized that it really is out of my control and that God sees our effort and knows our hearts.
I have gained a greater love for the scriptures and love the book of Mormon. I have been trying to get to know the Book of Mormon better as well as familiarize myself with the Doctrine and Covenants.   (which is a gold mine by the way) I encourage all of you to read it! I honestly think that we take what we have as members of the church for granted and not spend enough time being "students of the scriptures" as President Ardern the Philippines Area President says. I try to dive into the word because the scriptures are truly the key to personal revelation. Many times I receive an answer to my prayer through the scriptures or the words of modern prophets. I just want to ask all of you, as members of the Church do we really know the doctrine taught to us in the scriptures? Cause I don't feel like I really do! I am learning more from the scriptures everyday and have been filled with light and joy from their pages. I don't mean to lecture, I just would like to share the joy I have felt from reading them and joy I have felt with sharing them with others.
Missionary work is definitely like a roller coaster. It has its good days and its bad, but it is SO worth it and SO rewarding. I love you guys!  I pray for you and know that God is watching over all of us! Go out and share you light with someone today! God is mindful of our every act and will reward us accordingly.
You have a great week!

ELDER MURDOCK

Me and my companion- hike we went on.

View from my window-So beautiful!