SAN GERMAN 2.0 - January 29, 2018

hello! hello from puerto rico! my title is a little bit of a lie, because we are not ONLY in san german, but 3 other wards as well!!!! ill get to that LATER

so. CRAZY WEEK. lemme start from the beginning. 

on wednesday we PEACED OUT and got to the salt lake airport at 6 am. we met up with 3 other missionaries in the salt lake airport, then flew to dallas. in the dallas airport, we had a couple hour layover and met up with ALL THE OTHER MISSIONARIES! it was so fun. out of the sisters, 3 of us are from ogden, 2 from redlands, one from provo, one from arcadia, and one from texas. we got on the plane and NEXT STOP PUERTO RICO!!!! let me tell ya. when we got off the plane and walked down the stairs to see the smarts, i dont think ive ever seen anyone more happy in my whole life than hermana smart. PURE JOY. it was just soooooo happy. i was saying this and president smart says "well you have to remember that hermana smart has only had BOYS around here for the last 4 months" and then i understood why she was so happy. hahaha.

well we drove back to the mission home and had a good dinner (subway, classic) and went to bed. in the morning, we had an "orientation" for us 16 newcomers. president smart introduced us to the "4 elements of faith for the puerto rico san juan mission" which are

1. study and use the book of mormon every day

2. study and use preach my gospel every day

3. a. be obedient

b. be virtuous

c. be trustworthy stewards

4. show charity and love through service and preaching the gospel

so hes basically a GENIUS. hahaha. so those are things that we are really focusing on. we also got our COMPANIONS and guess who it is. GUESS. HERMANA PETERSON. HAHAH. from puerto rico to ogden back to puerto rico! we also got our area - cabo rojo!!!!! when i heard that i thought, wow there will be a lot of work there since there used to be 6 missionaries in this area (its 2 wards). then they told us that we would be LIVING in cabo rojo, pero also covering san  german (sharing with the zone leaders) and mayaguez (sharing with the other elders). so we have FOUR WARDS. and there are only 6 missionaries covering the whole mayaguez stake. hahaha. as our zone leaders said "we're small in numbers, but we're strong." YEAAHH. so we are officially in the furthest area away from the mission home. it took us about 4 hours to drive there. but it was so beautiful!!! also we have cars now, but we only get 600 miles to drive each month which is like nothing, considering how big our area is and that zone conferences will be like across the island and stuff. haha. so they're REALLY emphasizing working with members. like president smart wants to change the whole mission culture about this. he said he would be CRAZY if he got all these missionaries back from the states where they worked with members and didn't try to change it. so basically they want us asking for rides from members, getting them to our lessons, and most importantly getting referrals. so that's what we're gonna be doing, because with an area this large it isn't super effective to knock doors all the time. 

so that was on thursday. on friday, we spent the WHOLE day cleaning the house. they said we couldn't get to work until we finished this extensive checklist of things to clean and it took literally all day. so that was fun. haha.

on saturday, we went to a service project in yauco to help a school in some event. it was super fun! there were like 12 missionaries there (so basically half the missionaries on the island) and some members and we helped set up and pass out stuff and we talked to people and I LOVE BORICUAS!!! haha. after, all the missionaries sat around in a circle and there were like 8 nonmembers there and we all talked about the book of mormon and the church and such and it turns out one of the girls lives in cabo rojo and was super down to hear us! so we're gonna go visit her this week. it was super cool.

yesterday, we went to the 2 cabo rojo wards for church. i will be the first to admit it, they were REALLY EXCITED to see us. hahaha. it was super awesome! and a lot more enjoyable than my first sunday in puerto rico, because i can understand everything now!!! ahha. 

so weve just been sticking around here but this week we're gonna go over to san german (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) and mayaguez. its gonna be awesome!!!

last night we went to contact one of the old investigators of the hermanas (shes named jessica and previously had a baptismal date) and we showed up and she was like "hey! come in! let me get my book of mormon!" and hermana peterson and i were both like :-) niiiice. so we read 2 nephi 31 with her and we extended a baptismal invitation and she accepted! haha. so shes on date for the 17th. shes already been to church like 4 times. and yesterday in church some members came up to us and said "that lady over there is named isabelle and shes not a member but shes been coming to church since october!!" so we went and talked to her and have an appointment with her. woo!

we're trying to work a lot with the members. we have or have had meetings with all the bishops scheduled this week and are really going to be working on gaining member trust so they can give us referrals. so thats what ill be doing this week!!!!

love you all!!!

hermana murphy

1. plane ride with my ex comp for 3 days

2. HAPPY BUS RIDE TO THE MISSION HOME!

3. hermanas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

4. so cute

5. service!

6. PRSJ

7. workin

8-12. more photos

NOTICIAS!!!!!! - Jaunary 22, 2018

AAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! IM GOING BACK TO PUERTO RICO. WHAAAAAT. ITS BEEN A CRAAAAZZZYYYY WEEK. LEMME TELL YA.

so. president jaggi called us on friday afternoon but we didn't have his number saved and we were in a lesson so we let it go to voicemail. then after, we listened to it and he was like "hola hermanas!!! its president jaggi! i have to see both of you tomorrow at 12:30. so be at my office at 12:30 pm please" and we started FREAKING OUT. seriously. the rest of that day was TORTURE. we were like "well we're not disobedient so idk what else it would be.... its GOTTA be about puerto rico." we thought that one of us was going back or both of us or all 3 of us but had no idea how many. we could not SLEEP we were just freaking out for like 24 hours. on saturday morning, i could not FOCUS in my personal study. i decided to read the talk "called to the work" by david a bednar. great talk. definitely written just for me. we walked up to the mission office and president jaggi was like "we're waiting for a few more people" and then sister jaggi and hermana PETERSON walked in. so all THREE of us sisters who came from puerto rico were there. thats when we KNEW. there was SOMETHING GOING ON. president jaggi started by playing part of the talk that i had read that MORNING DURING PERSONAL STUDY, talking about how its not about WHERE you serve, but that you are called to the work. then he just says "we would like to thank you for all your work you've done here, and we recieved a call yesterday that said its time for you three to go back to your mission." AAAHHHHHHHHHH. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. CRAAAAZYYYYYYYYYY. lots of tears. happy tears!!! basically thats all weve been talking about since we heard. and we found out this morning that only EIGHT sisters are going back. and all THREE OF US from this mission are? thats crazy. there has to be a reason. we go back on wednesday. our flight leaves at 7 AM and we're gonna  get there on wednesday night. PUERTO RICO SAN JUAN!!!!!!!!!!!!! im so excited. i cant believe it. its SO SOON. ahhh. ive been telling everyone in puerto rico over facebook and they're all SO EXCITED!!!! im wondering if ill get to go back to san german or what. that would be craaaazzzy. no matter where i am, ill be happy to be serving all those boricuas. LOVE EM!

ok heres some other news

ogden is LIT. we just walk around and talk to people all day every day. the new ward is super small and its gonna grow a TON. everyone is so sad because they're replacing us with elders in their ward and everyone likes hermanas better HAHAH. 

we had jazmine's baptism on saturday!!!!!!! a good last weekend in the utah ogden mission. i had to play the piano and i totally forgot so i didn't practice the songs and i had to play "he sent his son" and that song is SO JAZZY I MESSED UP SO BAD. HAHAHAAH. all the other missionaries that were there were just laughing at me and everyone else was probably just thinking "why is this girl playing the piano? shes terrible" hahaah. its ok. PEACE OUT.  also i went to the baptism literally right after we found out we were going back to puerto rico so i told people in the ward and they were like "aw does this mean youre not going to be in our ward anymore??" and i was like "..... well i already got transferred...... hahhahaah. so i wasnt going to be anyways" hahahah. its ok. they were all very happy for me. and it was a nice baptism. jazmine had to get baptized literally like 15 times it was so awkward. her feet kept flying up hahahah. so finally her dad just stepped on her feet and dunked her. it took like 10 minutes hahahha. but im so happy for them!! the whole family was at the baptism. and hermano landeros was able to baptize her and he confirmed her. so happy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

i said goodbye to the rodriguez family too which was SO SAD but its ok. ill be back for their sealing in the temple in a year. im gonna facetime them during their lesson with hermana bliss tonight and say goodbye again. SAD. theyre the best. i just love them so much. i never knew you could get so close to people on the mish but NOW I UNDERSTAND. we are eternal friends.

im so grateful for the time ive had here in the utah ogden mission!!!!!!!! seriously i cant imagine it any other way. like WHAT IF I HAD NEVER MET THE RODRIGUEZ FAMILY??????? MY LIFE WOULD BE SO SAD!!!!! one person was talking to me and said "im sure you didnt want this, to be taken out of your mission, and no one could have ever seen this coming, but im sure as you look back now you just shudder at the thought of never having been here" and its true! im so glad i have TWO missions now. and im so excited to go back to puerto rico and work SO HARD. im not sure why i was chosen to go back but i know that its all part of God's plan.

LOVE YALL!!!! next time i write ill be in PUERTO RICO!!!!!!

hermana murphy

1. jazmine <3

2. bautismo de jazmine!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so heppy

3. my last lesson in layton! lolololol the selfie stick

4. hermana soto THE BEST

5. arely!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

6. saying goodbye to MY FAMILY :(

7. THE GURLZ

8. haahahhahahah we're all copying victoria hahahahahhahah

9. my BIRTHDAY HOUSE!!!!!!!! 5 29

10. WHEN PRESIDENT TOLD US WE WERE GOING BACK

11. LOOK WHAT WE FOUND!!!!!

12. hermana jaggi!

13. hermana BLISS!! basically my only companion for my time here haha

  

3rd area, 3rd companion - January 15, 2018

Guess what everyone. BIG NEWS! I'm getting transferred! To OGDEN! pretty CRAZY! I'm gonna miss Ellison Park :( but I'm excited! I'm going to a walking area without a car. And crazy news - I'm going ZEBRA. this means were gonna be covering English AND Spanish. So we get to baptize EVERYONE!!! Hahaha. We're going to be covering one Spanish ward and one English ward. They both cover the same area, so we just get to talk to everyone and teach everyone. And even crazier news. Guess who my new companion is. GUESS. HERMANA FAWCETT!!! lemme tell ya. I think God really wants us to be friends or something. Because we were in the same WARD at BUT, the same MISSION, the same REASSIGNED mission, and now we're companions!! LIFE'S CRAZY. I'm super excited though. Everyone who serves in Ogden (especially spanish) LOVES it. And they just split 2 Spanish wards in Ogden into 5 on the 1st of January, so this is a brand new ward. It's gonna be AWESOME!

Hermana Bliss is gonna hold down the fort here in Layton. We are having Jazmine's baptism on Saturday, and I'll get to come back to Layton for it! So excited. It's pretty crazy. Hermana bliss and I are going to have FIVE baptisms together of people that JUST WE taught. None of the people we have baptized have been taught by other missionaries. God works in mysterious ways! We were here together at the right time! 

This week, some of the English elders called us and asked if we could come with them to a lesson with a family from Puerto Rico. It was SWEET! they were sooooooo nice. Yolanda and omar. They just moved here about two months ago because of all the aftermath of the hurricanes. And they LOVED ME. hahaha. The BEST GENTE IN THE WORLD.

This week we put one of our investigators, arely, on Date! She's 15 and took the lessons a couple years back when she lived in Ogden. She doesn't remember everything but once we teach it she is like OOHHH YEAHH and then she explains everything perfectly. She's SO AWESOME. She wants to get baptized but not without her family. But we've been working on that. 

I'm ending my time here GREAT! We have been working HARD this whole time we've been here and we've seen good results. I'm so grateful for the time I've had here in Layton! And I'm excited to go to my new area in Ogden! I never thought I'd say this, but I'm gonna miss hermana bliss. HAHAHAHAH. just kidding she's awesome. I've given her the best 4 months of her life.

Love

Hermana murphy

1. WE LUV VALENTINA AND VICTORIA

2. Jazmine drew someone who DOESN'T keep the word of wisdom vs someone who DOES. We're not sure which one is which but it's ok.

3. So we were knocking one day at this apartment complex and this little girl, payton, starts following us around on her scooter. She was soooo funny. She led us to some Hispanic apartments and just followed us around for like an hour and a half. HAHAHAHAH. 

4. The Puerto Rican family! They are sooooo awesome. 

5. Our district got to do an ESCAPE ROOM today. It was SICK. and it was FREE!!! We had to find all these clues to find out how to communicate with the deax Harry Houdini (with the help of his wife)

6. Ashley <3 A 9 year old girl in our ward

7. Last district fun. We had a birthday party for hermana bliss. RIP THE BEST DISTRICT IN THE WORLD

January 8, 2018

Hello!! this week was a good week. not as CRAAAZY as last week, but still good. haha. i was so EXCITED last week i didnt even write some good stuff. like HAPPY 2018!!!! i cant believe it!!! so cray. some of my 2018 goals include

- no candy (@alyse @austin)

- memorize el cristo viviente en espanol

- finish reading the book of mormon in espanol

- average of 1 baptism a month (so 12)

AND, i finished the 90 day book of mormon challenge!!!! it was CRAAAZYYYY. what a good book! going through and hilighting every reference to Jesus Christ was really awesome and puts into perspective how the book of mormon REALLY is another testament of Jesus Christ. there are TOO MANY good chapters in this book. as i was reading, i marked every chapter that i REALLY liked and i ended up marking like 25. classic. but everyone should read it!! really. one thing im doing NOW is im going to read it OVER AGAIN (but not in 90 days) with the question of "how do i rely on/teach with/recognize the spirit?" because i remember in the MTC we heard a talk by david a bednar and he says whenever you have a question, take a blank copy of the book of mormon and read it with that question in mind. so thats what im doing. 

this week we had ESMERALDA'S BAPTISM. if you wonder why ive never talked about her, its because shes 8 and from a member family. hahaha. but her family was super less active for a long time and hermana bliss and i have been working with them and now Hermana guzman is super active and esmeralda and her brother. its so nice!!!! the dad still hasnt gone to church, but its so awesome to see them there every week. the teenage brother has been able to get the priesthood and pass the sacrament in church. (and i played the piano at the baptism.... so it was really good).

we went to the Rodriguez's house last monday to start teaching them the after baptism lessons and we show up and they go "so we werent sure what to do for family home evening... can you tell us what to do? we just decided to watch the nativity video on gospel library then read the story of the nativity in the scriptures" and we were like :0. "thats the PERFECT fhe!!!!" and they really want their membership numbers so they can pay tithing and go to the family history library and get family search for free HAHAHA. CHILL!!! YOUVE BEEN MEMBERS FOR LIKE A DAY!! hahah. just kidding. theyre awesome. they're doing great!!! and their ward is at 1 now so we get to go for their last 2 hours of church after ours. 

weve been doing a lot of finding this week since our teaching pool has decreased since the baptism HAHAHA. we've been doing a lot of tracting and contacting former investigators. we've found a few good potentials! feliciana, if you remember her, who was progressing, dropped US this week. so fun! but we're doing well, and trying to get creative with our finding. 

the landeros family is doing goooood. im really proud of them because theyve been less active for a while but the parents and Jazmine have come to church pretty consistently for the last couple months! jazmine's still on track to get baptized on the 20th. we know that if the parents get activated again, the whole family will. so we're working. 

well. thats all for this week. the mission is great! love life. with the passing of President Monson, i think everyone has been thinking a lot about him. we share his talk a lot about 'The Power of the Book of Mormon' from april 2017. its a short talk, but its awesome to teach about modern day prophets and the importance of the book of mormon. everyone should go watch it and follow his council! "We live in a time of great trouble and wickedness. What will protect us from the sin and evil so prevalent in the world today? I maintain that a strong testimony of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and of His gospel will help see us through to safety. If you are not reading the Book of Mormon each day, please do so. If you will read it prayerfully and with a sincere desire to know the truth, the Holy Ghost will manifest its truth to you. If it is true—and I solemnly testify that it is—then Joseph Smith was a prophet who saw God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.

Because the Book of Mormon is true, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord’s Church on the earth, and the holy priesthood of God has been restored for the benefit and blessing of His children."

love

hermana murphy

1. exchanges with THE hermana fawcett. she was in my BYU ward and in PUERTO RICO, and in UOM. wooo!!!

2. NEW YEARS DEVOTIONAL WITH THE DISTRICT (minus elder bautista) (note the matching dresses)

3. #prsj

4. the rodriguez's had us over for dinner!!!! they made us VENEZUELAN hamburgers

5. esmeralda's baptism

6. bowling with THE DISTRICT

7. aquarium last p day

8. cold

CRAZY WEEK - January 1, 2018

Hey! Remember how I said Roberto was getting baptized on Saturday? Well that didn't happen. Instead, the WHOLE FAMILY GOT BAPTIZED. ON FRIDAY. THEY JUST COULDN'T WAIT! RODRIGUEZ MANIA. LITERALLY THE BEST WEEK OF MY LIFE. IT'S A CRAZY STORY. LET ME EXPOUND (is that  the right word?)

So. ON Tuesday, we went to the Jaggis house with them to have dinner. Roberto has decent English so he was able to talk to them, and we translated for deya. T was super nice, we ate and after read 1 nefi 8 with them. Sister Jaggi has a "rod" and some white fruit so the girls were able to act it out. At this point, we were just planning for Roberto to get baptized this week. President asks Roberto why he wants to get baptized, and the girls were like "what? I want to be baptized! I'm next!" And Roberto explained that everything he has seen from the church, like the book of Mormon, the lessons we teach, and just going to church fills him unlike the Catholic church. It FEELS good. And deya was like "he's read a lot more than me and sometimes I wonder why I'm not as ready as him and I think I'm just still waiting for my sign" and stuff like that. The thing is. Deya is a GOLDEN investigator. She believes everything, she reads, she wants to listen to us. But. Compared to Roberto she feels so unprepared because he is like PLATINUM. Or whatever is over golden. He's just so firm and determined to do this, I think it's kind of intimidating for her. Anyways. Dinner was great. 

On Wednesday, we had the ULTIMA CHARLA. tithing and Fasting. We brought a couple from the ward that speaks Spanish (Los vargas) and they both served missions. THEY accepted the commandments (because they're amazing) and it was a sick lesson. We were setting up a time for Roberto baptism and he asked if it could be on Friday because they had people coming in town on Saturday and would be busy. So we would have to have the interview on Thursday. And we were obviously talking to deya about it and she seemed unsure. And the Vargas were like "deya! Just get the interview too, just in case you change your mind! Then you'll be all prepared" and she was like hmmmmamksndoskdeo but we knew that she'd be fine doing it. We explained that it would be just a little CHAT about what you've learned and what you believe. We told her to pray about it. Anyways, we left that lesson and both hermana bliss and I were like "we need to fast for deya." We had just taught it and explained all the BLESSINGS that come from fasting. And we just knew we needed a LITTLE EXTRA HELP. We started our fast after dinner ended and asked our district to fast with us too!! So we fasted that deya would recognize the answer to our prayer and feel like she needed to get baptized. So we were fasting as we had the interview the next day. We went over at like 2 and did it and the elders that were doing the interviews were fasting too. POWER. Robertos interview was super fast. Deyas took a little longer but elder Escobar told us that he just kept reassuring her that she IS READY. She's gone to church for like 2 months, has received all the lessons, and she likes everything. She has a testimony of everything we've taught. Sus das just scared to make such a huge change. After their interviews, we filled out their baptismal forms. Everything was gooood. Deya kept saying "if I fill this out am I obligated to get baptized?" "NO! Just in case " :))) lolz so then we left and were talking to the elders about the interviews and they said "why aren't the girls getting baptized?" And we were like I don't KNOW! We were just thinking about how they hadn't received all the lessons and we would have to wait but the thing is, they both WANTED to get baptized and they have both gone to church the last like 2 months. They obviously don't have any problems with the commandments. So. As we were driving away from their house, we called Roberto and were like "if you want, the WHOLE FAMILY could be baptized tomorrow!" And he was like "ok I'll just talk to deya and get back to you immediately." And AN HOUR LATER we were still waiting. PRAYING SO HARD. you can't imagine the STRESS. he texts us in broken ingles (not quite sure why) and says how deya is almost convinced to be baptized. And we say "los 4 se van a bautizar?" And we had to wait a couple minutes and he FINALLY RESPONDED AND said "si los 4!!" AHHHHHHHHHHH. HAPPIEST MOMENT OF MY LIFE. UNTIL THE ACTUAL BAPTISM. SO HAPPY. AAAHHHHHHH. long story short, we went BACK to their house that night and the girls got interviewed and everyone was all ready!!! It was so nice because deya seemed so content the second time we were there. Everyone was just calm and happy. Except us. We were not calm. 

Friday, BAPTISM DAY!!! FOR THE MOST BEAUTIFUL FAMILY IN THE WORLD!!! sooo many people came to support. There were like at least 60 people. The stake president, robertos mom (who is super catholic) Even president and sister Jaggi!! Everything went perfectly. I can't even DESCRIBE all the happy feelings. I am just SO GRATEFUL!!! The girls sang "I'm trying to be like jesus" with some of their friends in the ward and I CRIED. The whole program was in Spanish (even though they got baptized into an English ward). Ah. Just the HAPPIEST DAY. SO MANY MIRACLES. I can't believe than on WEDNESDAY we were just planning robertos baptism. Now the WHOLE FAMILY IS BAPTIZED AND CONFIRMED!! On Sunday, we went to the English ward to watch them get confirmed and we stayed for all 3 hours and it was just so nice. In gospel principles Roberto made a comment on how ever since his baptism on Friday, he just feels stronger and he knows it's the right choice. If was so cute. THEY'RE JUST THE BEST!!!!!! 

I'm so BLEEESSSSSED. I know that there are no coincidences and that the Rodriguez family were some of the people I was sent here for!! I can't IMAGINE my mission without meeting them. So #blessed that God knows us and that he's in charge. 

Here's the start of all the pics from this week. I may possibly send more later. Love you all! 

Hermana Murphy 

1. THE MOST BEAUTIFUL FAMILY!!! Roberto, deyarina, Valentina (12), and victoria (8)

2. BLEEESSSSSSED

3. SELFFIEEEE

4. :')

5. At the FONT! so many people!!!

6. HAPPY

7. Victoria is the cutest HUMAN

8. YEESSS.