Week 92

Hello Everybody,

Well this week was good. We had transfer announcement and I am staying here in Bulaon :) I am grateful that I have the chance to continue to serve this ward and the people here in Angeles Pampanga area. It is great to be here, and I am growing to love the city folk just as much as I  love the people in the rice fields. The city is much different then the peaceful countryside, so when I first got her in January I had a hard time adjusting because this is the first time that I have been assigned in the city. But now I love it! The members here are so great! So willing to help and are just easy to love. Although here in this area I have seen a lot more rejection I have also seen many miracles. Every set back we have had has taught us something that has given us the strength to become more Christ like.

Here is a quick story I would like to share with you!

At the beginning of the week we taught a less active man who had decided that because of the hard things that he is experiencing in his life he didn't believe in God.

It was a little difficult to understand him because he doesn't speak Tagalog very well but speaks Cebuano, but because my companion also was a native Cebuano speaker we were able to communicate well with him. As we taught him the spirit was strong and by the end of the lesson his countenance started to change and I could tell he was feeling the spirit. I felt love for this man even though I did not know him that well. When we came back to teach him a few days later I was a little disappointed when he said he was busy and didn't want to be taught that afternoon. But I felt like I should try reading out of the Cebuano book of Mormon we brought to give to him. As I struggled with the words as I read, He smiled and asked if he could read. I handed the book over to him and we sat and watched as he read for 15 minutes out of the book of Mormon. As we left he looked at us and said. "I shouldn't have said there wasn't a God, that was evil of me to do, I know that there is a God" That simple statement made me smile. We challenged him to read the Book of Mormon and he agreed, I knew that the Book of Mormon and the Holy spirit are what were instrument in helping him soften his heart.

 I have witnessed time and time again the power of the Book of Mormon is softening the hearts of God's children.

We have an investigator named Michael he is such a great man. Even though his eyes hurt when he reads, He says he reads because when he does he feels something; "it is like my problems are lighter"  he says.

 I too know that if we read the Book of Mormon "we will know all things which we should do".  I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I have read it, I have prayed about it and I have received that witness from the Holy Spirit. That is one of the biggest reasons why I am here on my mission.

Although I am young and honestly incapable to do this work alone, I know that through the holy spirit and the Book of Mormon lives can be touched and changed.

 

mahal ko kayo! :)

--

ELDER MURDOCK

Week 91

Hello Family and Friends!

This week was one that was full of tender mercies and love, very appropriate I believe for this week as we celebrated Easter.

Clear back in January we met Elvie on a jeepney, she was a little bit familiar with the church because she met missionaries while she was working in Hong Kong and her husband was baptized many years ago. She was very excited and was really interested in having us go to her house and teach her the gospel. When we taught her it was very evident that she was prepared by the Lord and very ready for baptism and activity in the church, she even brought her husband to church with her and has made so many friends with church members. She is so smart and her testimony has grown so fast. But then just a few days before she was supposed to be baptized on March 5 she announced that she had to move to Manila for work and that she didn't know if she would be able to be baptized. 

I was shocked, I did not want to believe that that was happening. To make a short story short, we lost contact with her for 3 weeks, and although I didn't know how she was doing, I kept praying for her and hoping that she would come home so that she could be baptized. After trying to call her many times without her reply, last Sunday we got a call in the middle of sacrament meeting and it was Sister Elvie! She told us she was praying what she should do because she wanted badly to be baptized but she didn't even know where the church was in Manila and as she finished her prayer she looked up and there she saw two elders walking down the street! She called after them and asked where the church is and went with them to church. She then told us that because of the holiday she could get work off and be baptized this weekend! Yesterday she was confirmed and on Saturday she was baptized! It was a miracle for me. Heavenly Father really knows our needs and and is mindful of us, He listens to our prayers. He knows the people we teach, He knows their hearts. Elvie is so strong. One thing that I think was significant was that when Elvie called she told me that she had enough money to get to Bulaon but not enough to go back to Manila. I felt guided by the spirit as I felt inspired to tell her that if she came here to be baptized the Lord would provide a way for her to go back to manila. I know that the Lord is with us. He asks though that we sacrifice, but as we sacrifice we are given blessings more than we can imagine!

I believe in miracles, both big and small!

I pray for each of you and know that you are in the Lord's hands!

mahal ko kayo!

Elder Murdock

Week 90

Family and Friends!

I am so grateful for the chance to share my week with you!

So first I'd like to share a story that may make you smile or gag, I don't know...

We went on exchanges with the assistants to the president and while I was in their area they had a huge fiesta going on! Everyone was cooking to prepare for the following day.

As we were walking to a member's home we saw them huddled around the body of an animal. It was a dog. They were preparing it for their fiesta feast! Hahaha.... The dog just happened to be one that was really nice and would follow the missionaries as they worked around that neighborhood, so it was even a bigger shock to them when they found out that the dog they were going to cook was that one. :( hahaha  Yes they eat a lot of weird stuff here!

This week was really good! :) My companion and I are doing great work and seeing great things happen here in Bulaon!

Even in our zone! We have been blessed so much by our Heavenly Father and have been able to achieve our goals, our monthly goals for baptisms and confirmations and even exceed our goal for less active return! I can really feel the Lord with us, he is truly teaching us and serving with us.

So brother Michael one of our investigators I mentioned last week is doing so well! Every time we visit him I just see his countenance brighten. He is making a great change in his life. Yesterday at church he told us that he has lost the appetite to sins that he had struggled with in the past. He said it simply, "I don't want to be that kind of person anymore" That is what I believe real conversion is, the change not only of our actions, but the change of our hearts and our desires and appetites. As I think of Bro. Michael and also myself with all my short comings and sins, my thoughts turn to Jesus Christ 

as we know this coming week is Easter! One thing is true, Filipinos love what they call holy week. They celebrate the last week of the Savior's life in many interesting and diverse ways! (some people even get nailed to crosses)

Although there is a lot of chaos in it all, it is a prime time to share the gospel because so many people already are thinking of Jesus Christ. I love sharing my testimony that we know that Jesus Christ lives because He has shown Himself to a prophet in our day.

I know that Jesus truly paid for our sins and truly is the Son of God and the Redeemer of the world. He experienced all of our pains, all of our sorrows and paid for all of our sins.

Through Jesus Christ, we all can find new life!

One thing that I love about these special people in the Philippines is that except the rare occasion of meeting a Muslim, every person I meet knows that Jesus Christ is the Savior. I am grateful and humbled that I have the chance to carry His name and be His representative to these people.

I love you all,

ELDER MURDOCK

Week 89

Hello Family!

This week was a good week.

We found a new progressing investigator! His name is John Michael but he goes by "Chavie".  When we taught him the first time I did not think he was that interested, but we had a pleasant surprise when we went to teach him again just a day later. The first thing he said to us was: "Elders! I read the blue bible you gave me! please come in".  We then shared the plan of salvation with this man and the spirit filled the room. At the end of the lesson he prayed and he suddenly just stopped and started to cry. After his prayer we asked him what he was feeling, he said. "I will be the one to show my family the right way and be their example"

Bro. Chavie came to church twice now. He has made friends with the recently returned older couple that I mentioned last week. I pray for him everyday that he will continue to progress. 

We have a few set backs this week with investigators who decided not to progress anymore, but we have also had miracles. I believe it is a choice to see and believe in miracles. We can focus on whats going wrong, or we can focus on the eternal and on the bounteous blessing the Lord is giving us!

I love you all, I love these people in a way that is hard to describe. Every setback and disappointment is worth every sweet moment of seeing the light within these people grow.

tandaan ninyo, na mahal tayo ng ating Ama sa Langit, at hindi niya tayo pababayaan. Alam ko na buhay ang Diyos at nagbayad-sala si Hesucristo para sa ating kasalanan.

(According to google translate this says- Our Heavenly Father loves us, remember he will not abandon us. I know that God lives and that Jesus Christ atoned for our sins.)

Go and do miracles!

ELDER MURDOCK

Week 88

Hello ang aking mag-anak at mga kaibigan!

kumusta kayo?

I will not write this letter in tagalog although I am half tempted to. I love love love the people and culture and language here!! I just feel right at home:) 

I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve in this beautiful country!

So the new branch we started in Northville is so great! We have a older couple who is returning from the church after 15 years of inactivity. They are so great and are preparing to enter the temple for their sealing in June! It makes me so happy to see them grow and repent and convert to the gospel.

We had a baptism this week! "Nanay" Jocelyn was baptized and confirmed and it was so wonderful to see the great support that the relief society has had with fellowshipping them. She truly was converted unto the Lord. After her confirmation I talked to her about her experience and she said: 

"Elders you don't have to teach me anymore." I am sure I responded with a little bit of alarm in my voice when I replied "Why sister? we still have much to teach you." She responded something like this, "I want to give you more time so that you can teach all those lost sheep outside the church building." I assured her that we still would find time to teach her frequently, but I was touched at her sincerity of thinking not of her self but of others who have not yet found the Gospel. It made me think of what I must do do improve and become more converted. And reminded me of the truth in Luke 22:23 " When you are converted strengthen your brethren" 

I am grateful for the chance to become more converted to the gospel everyday, and strengthen my own testimony by sharing it everyday. I am learning more and more that everyday the Lord gives us is a gift and an opportunity to serve and bless the lives of those around us. We are the Lord's hands! :)

talaga mahal ko pagiging misyonaro!

tandaan niyo na mahal na mahal ko kayo,

ELDER MURDOCK

Week 87

Hello Family,

I have so much to say but like always I am short on time! :)

We had a really great baptism this week, it was a really spirit filled baptismal service.

We had one of our other investigators attend the baptism and afterwards she told us that she was very excited for her baptism this week. Her name is Elvie and she is the sister I that wrote about that I talked to on a jeepney! We are praying that her less active husband will come to her baptismal service and that he feels the Holy Ghost and that it will be the start of his return back into full activity.

Another sister we are teaching came to church for the first time! She is active in her church and the time for church is the same. She has taken huge leaps of faith and knows that the Book of Mormon is true. The concerns that she has is that she is afraid of leaving her church and is afraid of what others will think of her. But I am confident that she will make the right choice! She told us that she will be baptized but she cannot yet commit to a date. I just have gratitude in my heart, I have seen the spirit soften her heart a little at a time. I ask that you pray for her.

The last cool thing that has happened here in Bulaon is that last week we started a new branch in a area that is remote to the chapel. The area is called Northville and has about 100 members that live there but are less active. We had our first Sacrament meeting there last week in a little one room store house. I was honored to be the first speaker. As I spoke I felt the Holy Ghost so strong regardless of the noise outside the store.

I know that this is how our church was reorganized in our day, little stores and houses were the first meeting places of our members. The spirit filled the room and I remembered the promise written in the New Testament: "When two or three are gathered in my name, there shall I be in the midst of them"  Our little branch of 30 or so, I believe will someday grow into a ward. This is the start of great things!

I love you all my brothers sisters and friends!

I love your emails.

Mahal ko kayo,

ELDER MURDOCK

Week 86- Visit from President Russell M. Nelson

Family and Friends!

Well, as my family was well to remind me today, I only have four months left in the mission field. That is quite an unsettling thought for me, however I am very excited for the future that awaits me as I go home. 

This week I had one of the most amazing and memorable experience on my mission that I will try to relate to you the best I can. It is hard to put in words but something I will never forget.

I was able to look eye to eye, shake hands with and sing for and listen to the words of a living prophet, seer, and revelator. President Russell M. Nelson!

On Tuesday about noon all of us missionaries waited anxiously on the front lawn of the chapel in Tarlac as a van pulled in to the parking lot, as the car parked and the door opened and President and Sister Nelson walked out of the car. Everyone was dead quiet and I just felt the Holy Ghost like a wave rush over me, and I knew in that moment that he was a prophet of God. After we took a picture, he asked if he could shake hands with all of us 220 missionaries, starting at the back row of missionaries, and because I am the tallest missionary in Angeles mission I was the very first to shake his hand! His smile was very warm and you could just feel the spirit while you were with him.

As I sat down in the chapel, I watched as 220+ missionaries came in to the sacrament hall and felt the overwhelming power and strength of our ranks as part of the Lord's army. We have never had the whole mission gather in one place before, mostly for security reasons and so it was a wonderful reunion and edifying to see all of us missionaries together.

I had the chance to be a part of the mission choir of about 16 missionaries. I stood directly in front of President and Sister Nelson (talk about pressure  hahaha) But it was incredible. The spirit was overwhelming during the whole meeting. We sang " If the Savior stood beside me" and then the choir and the congregation sang "We thank thee O God for a prophet" Sometime during the second song I had the thought that I believe came from the spirit: If this is the joy that I feel when in the presence of an apostle, how much greater will my joy and rejoicing be when the Savior will come and reign as King of kings when we will all dwell with Him and every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world!

I know that the Savior lives! I know that this is His church. My testimony was strengthened as I learned from an apostle of the Lord. I also realized that although that Pres. Nelson is a man of God, he is not perfect and also is aging. But he is very humble and is bold in his testimony of Jesus Christ and taught to us about the Abrahamic covenant and temple marriage and families. It made me think about my priorities when I get come. And I suppose as soon as the airplane lands my duty is to find my next "companion" according to the Lord and His divine timing.

The things that President and Sister Nelson talked about most was family and marriage and how important that is and how central that is for God's eternal plan for His children.

It makes me excited for my future as I use these last months in the mission as preparation and a launch pad into my bright future.

I love you all so much. The church is true. It really is. I know that more now than I did a week ago, and my testimony grows stronger every single day.

Remember to "fear not, only believe!"

You are in my prayers

mahal ko kayo,

ELDER MURDOCK 

Pic: I am at the far back right corner. eyes closed just like my mom :)