December 22, 2014

FELIZ NAVIDAD!!!!

 

we had cambios and... i will finish my mission in a trio with hermana M and HERMANA G!!! my childhood friend!  it is literally the best thing ever.  i have never had more fun in my whole life.  the 3 of us just laugh and joke around nonstop.  i am soooooo sad that i will have to leave them in just a short week and a half but i know that they will continue the work strong here in chinchaysuyo!

we are so excited for an investigator named J who will be baptized in january.  last night we had a great lesson with her about following the commandments and she is completely committed to living the gospel.  she is even sharing her testimony with her friends and giving us references!! 

also this week we had a family night with my FAVORITE family in peru.  la familia E.  the mom L has cancer for the 2nd time and she just had an operation to remove part of the tumor.  and she will start chemo again in january.  she is the strongest person i know.  honestly she has changed my life and i will always be grateful for her and her family.  even when things get tough if we have faith and a good attitude anything is possible.  miracles are possible.  they invited my companions and i to spend Christmas eve with them so i will send more pictures next week.  

and this week is CHRISTMAS! what a great time to remember Christ and everything that he did for us.  there are so many things that we can do to show our gratitude in this Christmas season.  giving service is one of the best ways to feel the spirit and to be happy.  i hope you all have a great Christmas.  i am so grateful to be here serving in peru and to get to spend Christmas with these amazing people. 

 

i love you all and will talk to you soon on skype!!! ahhhhh im so excited! 

ps the photo is of me with a peruvian dog.  they are the most hidious things i have ever seen in my life. haha

Peruvian dog

Trio

 

December 15, 2014

time is passing so quickly!!!!!!!! ahhhhhhhhh.  i feel like just yesterday i was writing you about going to the temple and now another week has passed!

 

this week was so amazing.  there are weeks on the mission where we are just going through the motions and there are weeks (like this week) where you really feel like you are making a difference in peoples lives.  where you can feel the spirit in every lesson and you cant help but smile all the time.  those weeks make this all worth it.  we didn't have anyone accept a baptismal date and we didn't really have very many investigators at church but i was just filled with the spirit.  i'll tell you about a few of the experiences we had this week....

yesterday we had lunch with a family that we have never been with before in the ward.  they just moved into our ward and signed up to give us lunch.  so we started talking to them and they told us about some really hard things that they have gone through in their life (he was into drugs, she got pregnant at 18, she grew up in the church and her family are all really active members so when she got pregnant they basically disowned her) and they were basically at the lowest point in their lives.  but they have decided to make things right and are working toward being sealed as a family in the temple.  the spirit was SO STRONG in the lunch.  we testified of the power of repentance and they testified of the power of prayer and tithing. J said that he got baptized 3 years ago because he knew its what D wanted him to do and he didn't really even have a testimony.  He was 19 so the bishop gave him the papers to fill out to go on a mission and he said that the mouse on his computer wasn't working so he used the packet of mission papers as a mouse pad haha.  But D started to go back to church and say her prayers every night and she would hide money to pay tithing and one sunday she got up and got ready for church with their little boy and they went to church.  and J said that something in him just clicked and he said what am i doing here alone.  i should be with my family at church.  so that's when they started doing the things as a family and he stopped drinking and they talked with the bishop and set goals and things like that.  and they pay their tithing every single month! he told us that they have received not only blessings but miracles from paying tithing.  as we were leaving we asked them if they would want to accompany us in a lesson that we were going to teach that night with 2 investigators who don't want to get married and they happily said yes.  so we met up with them later that night and they were so excited to help us and to share their testimonies.  the lesson turned out so great and the spirit was so strong.  my companion and i left and could not stop smiling.  it was probably one of the best days of my entire mission.  

sorry that was a long story and i have so much more i could say but honestly it was so great.  these last few months have really strengthened and confirmed my testimony of the power of repentance.  when we are living in sin we cannot be happy.  but repentance frees us.  i have seen it first hand in so many families here in peru and i know its true!!! there is always hope.  we just have to start and keep moving forward.  

also we had the chance to give service 2 times this week! the first time we went to fix some holes in the walls of a house and then the second time we went to paint the house.  i have made some really good friends in the zone so its always fun to get to spend time with them and joke around and give service all at the same time haha.  

I LOVE YOU!! talk to you next week!

 

December 8, 2014

I don't have much to report this week so this is going to be short but things are moving forward! this week hermana M and i were able to go to the lima temple!! it is so pretty and the spirit is so strong there! it was a long journey in 3 different buses standing the whole time but we made it in about 2 hours.  and it was so worth it! i sent a few pictures and the rest of the pictures i will show you when i get home.  

 

and last night in the stake center we were able to watch the first presidency Christmas devotional and we had 5 investigators come! so we are hoping that they were able to feel the spirit and that they have desires to learn more and to progress towards a baptismal date.  

this morning my companion and i went with the elders up in the cerro to play futbol (well, we cheered them on while they played haha) at 6am which was super fun.  i have made so many friends here and it is going to be so hard to say goodbye.  i have definitely made a family here in peru and memories that i will never forget.  

how are you all doing on your personal study of the book of mormon?? i started over again a few weeks ago and i just finished 1 nefi and everytime i read it i learn so many new things.  it truly is the word of god and i am so thankful for the guidance i receive from reading it every day. 

les amo mucho enserio!  estoy muy muy muy agradecida por cada uno de ustedes y por las cosas que me han enseñado.  me he dado cuenta de cuan bendecida soy a tener una familia tan especial como ustedes.  yo sé que este evangelio es verdadero y que las familias son eternas.  sigan adelante con fe y van a ver milagros en su vida.  nos vemos pronto!!

xoxo hermana murdock 

Lima Temple

 

December 1, 2014

hey! wow i cant believe that today is december 1st.  its begining to look a lot like christmas... (oh wait, not really haha).  its warming up here in lima and i love it.  its so nice to walk outsided and feel the sun!

 

well this week was great! here they dont celebrate thanksgiving.  but luckilly my companion and i got invited to 2 thanksgiving dinners!! the first was on monday with the zone which was SOOOOO good! literally the best thing i have eatin in a long long time.  us gringos and a few of the latinos made it all from scratch! we asked the married missionaries from idaho to help us so it all turned out super good! and then on thurdsay the bishop and his wife, my pensionista and her family, and another family in the ward invited us to celebrate thanksgiving with them.  but turns out that they invited us so that we could make the food for them haha.  im going to miss these people so much! 

 

this thanksgiving made me think a lot about how grateful i am. i have recieved so so so many blessings in my life and it would take forever to write them all.    

 

and on wednesday elder wilson, elder martinez, elder muñoz, elder neranjo, and my companion and i cleaned the church for service which was super boring at first because we had to clean a million dirty chairs but we decided to make it fun and had a water fight.  i ended up stepping on glass which went through my tennis shoe and into my foot and it was bleeding all over the place but we just cleaned it off and no harm done.  it stopped bleeding after awhile and at home i cleaned it really good and now i just have a huge deep hole in my foot haha.  but it doesnt hurt anymore so todo está bien.  

this week hermana M and i get to go to the temple which will be my last time before i finish my mission.  so i will send you pictures next week of the beautiful lima temple! 

and we also found a new investigator this week named A.  she came to church on sunday and had a lot of questions and seems really interested.  keep her in your prayers so that she can overcome a few addictions to progress and accept a baptismal date of december 27th! 

 

I LOVE YOU ALL!! have a great week! 

xoxo hermana murdock 

service with zone

Thanksgiving

service and water fight