Sept 24th - Crazy, crazy week!

Dear Family,

Right down to business! I got a really awesome package this week called the Grease the Monkey package. I think it was the coolest package I received yet. It had some great pants and some sweet stuff. I have still been going to the gym. My companion likes going because it helps to relieve his stress and it helps me a little with mine too, plus it's kind of fun to lift and look good. 

As for my week it has been super crazy! The first thing that happened this week that was big and didn't comply with my regular schedule, was that we had a baptism! We have been working with Jesus for just about two months now and he was ready to be baptized. He is a interesting guy who is pretty much living on the streets right now. His sister let him live in a spare room in her house. He had met with the missionaries before in several different places during his life, starting in Yuma, Arizona, through Mexico, and finally in Visalia. He really had a desire to change and be baptised and so we, through the Spirit, helped him to overcome his problems and do that. We saw so many miracles while we were teaching him that helped him to get there. His brother is a recent convert but he is pretty lame. He was supposed to speak at his baptism but missed it for some lame excuse. 

I got to baptize him and it was super cool because it was my first one, and for sure the first one in Spanish. President Mackey came down for it and he took the missionaries in my district to lunch after so it was super cool. It was also the first time I have been to lunch with him. It was a very monumental day for me and one that I will always remember.

The very next day we had a big party that was a Latin American festival sort of thing. It was super cool. There was a lot of dancing and a mariachi and a lady that was dressed up like a big skeleton, and just a ton of decorations. Well, for our talent, the missionaries translated the Hello missionary remix into Spanish and we all sang it. It was pretty funny and it took a lot of practice. 

Then on Sunday, I spoke in Sacrament because someone who was supposed to talk didn't show up so I had like an hour to prepare it. It was on hope and I thought I did pretty good. I shared a little about Jesus Felix, the man I baptized as an example of hope. 

This week was pretty crazy and pretty fun. There were definitely a lot of firsts. I look forward to what will come next. I love you all and I look forward to helping the people in Visalia come unto Christ.

Love,

Elder Murray

Here are some great pictures, one if them is a picture of me and the shirt I got this month for being an in shape member.

Sept 17th - The Bush Balrog

Dear Family,

This week has been pretty great. For business stuff, I don't have that much this week. I am doing pretty good and it is finally starting to get cooler this week. Also my best friend finally wrote me which is awesome! I am looking forward to receiving the package and I wish the best of luck to Dad. I think this email will be pretty short this week. I am kind of sick of writing about the same stuff pretty much every week, so I am just gonna hit the highlights.

So this week has had some good highlights. We had a Zone Council meeting this week which is something that they just started doing here in Visalia. I don't really know how helpful it was, but we learned about the Spirit, the power of the Atonement and repentance. It was pretty cool. 

We went to ice cream with the Zone Leaders from Selma because one of them was my companion's trainer and they come down to Visalia for doctor's appointments every once in a blue moon. The one that was my companion's trainer was also my last Zone leader and I like him a lot, so it is fun to see him. 

I finished the Saints Volume 1 book this week which is pretty crazy. I kind of just read it like every night right when I came home because it was really good, so I finished in about two weeks. 

We had the chance to go back out to that house I talked about in Exeter and I did some more drywall and then we attacked this huge huge bush tree in the front yard with a truck and a chainsaw and a rake and some sticks. I called it the Bush Balrog because it was just a huge dead bush and at one point we were fighting it with sticks. It kind of looked like somewhere that a creepy witch would live. 

Other than that, this week was pretty normal. We did good missionary work and talked with people. I am still working out most mornings at the gym which is cool. I bought a new watch today because my Wal-Mart Sweetster is getting pretty old so I got another Wal-Mart Sweetster. Send me questions to answer next week! I love you all have a great week.

Love,

Elder Murray

Sept 11th - Facebook Testimony

David's mission uses cell phones to spread the word of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Elder Murray posted this today, and I wanted it to be saved for the future. 


I didn't get a chance to post yesterday, but I can't pass up the opportunity to share my testimony of why I am a Latter-day Saint. I know that Jesus Christ is the head of this church, to me He is everything. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints helps me to understand better my Savior and His life here on the earth. Through tools such as the Book of Mormon, I find greater light and understanding about His infinite atonement and how I can one day return to live with Him through our Heavenly Father's Plan of Salvation. I love the Gospel and know it to be the unequivocal truth. #whylatterdaysaint

Sept 10th - Grease the Monkey

Dearest Family,

Hello! Another week has flown by here in the California Fresno Mission and things seem more and more the same every week. As for business, I am not sure I have anything other than that I will probably buy clippers today so that I can continue to cut hair. I am doing well. It is very good to hear from you all each week and I encourage you to keep living the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

Tuesday was good day. It was transfer hubs that day but we didn't have to go to them so we stayed and we worked. We visited some people and tried to teach some people, and probably did teach some people, but I honestly can't remember.

Wednesday we went to Fresno for my Dermatologist appointment. I learned lots of good things about my skin. The main thing that I learned is that I have crappy genetics, thanks Mom and Dad! Not really. But basically my skin genetically has problems holding water so what that means is I have to create a barrier. So every time I get out of the shower I "Grease the Monkey" or rub a ton of ointment on all of my really bad skin parts and then lotion on the rest of my skin. When all the breakouts clear up I am just supposed to cover my body in a really strong lotion like Cerave. It has actually been working pretty good so far. The man at the end of the appointment gave me 80 dollars, which had to have been out of his pocket, but he said that it was consecrated lotion money so that's what I will use it for.

Thursday was another normal day, and so was Friday pretty much as well, so I will just skip those and tell you that I did missionary work those days and can't remember if I did anything cool. I will probably remember something I did later on and then be like "Oh dang, I could have wrote about that" but oh well. I need to start making a list.

Saturday we went out to this house that a member is flipping in Exeter and did a lot of work for him. It was really cool. I learned how to dry wall, or at least that basics of it, so I picked up another skill to use outside of the mission. 

Another cool thing that I did, that I just remembered, is that I caught two black widows with my companion in our mini backyard that we don't have time to upkeep. It is really disgusting back there so we went back to remove the spider webs by spraying them down with Tilex. It was fun. We named them Mamba and Jimmy and then one fell in there that was already dead. That was some other type of spider so we named him Little Dead Homie.

Sunday was good as well. We had church which was good. I realized that if I ever get put English speaking, or when I go home, it is going to be very strange for me to go to church in English. Sacrament meeting just seems normal in Spanish now. 

I love you all a lot and I hope that everything goes well with you this week. I will be praying for you just as you pray for me and I wish you the best. I recommend that you read the new book the church has released called Saints I have finished the first 20 chapters and I hate putting it down.

Love,

Elder Murray

Sept 3th - Another 6 Weeks

Dear Family,

Another six weeks have come and gone and I cannot believe it! This transfer went by really fast especially since the last one felt like it took ages. I have been doing pretty good. To report I have received some pants and I am wearing them. I like them a lot. They fit just like the other ones, which fit really well, so they are good. The month has gone by which is good, because that means that I have received more money. I will be a lot more diligent with the money this month.

Tuesday was good. I don't really remember what we did that day. I think that we did missionary work and talked to people and not really too much else.

Wednesday was also a good day. Once again, I don't quite remember what we did. I know that we worked out in the morning and we did missionary work in the day. My week honestly didn't get interesting until the weekend.

Thursday we had an MCM so we went to our ward mission leader house and had a meeting. That was all that was different.

Friday was also boring so we will skip it.

Saturday however, was super crazy so here goes. We started out the day by eating breakfast with all the missionaries in the Zone at the Stake President's house.

It was super good and he shared a message with us about the missionary work. Then we went to help move someone so we moved the stuff for them and then ate some lunch with them. After that we went out to try and catch one of the people that we are teaching, but he wasn't home, so we didn't find him. That night we went to a barbeque that a member was having. We invited families to the BBQ and played Loteria. It was very fun and the less active family that we invited ended up coming to church the next day, which was great.

Sunday was good. We fasted for the fires here and we had a little party after to break our fast. It was a good meeting too. That night we met with a family we were teaching.

Today, we went up for a hike in the southern part of Seqouia National Park and it was super cool. There weren't really trees but it was a super cool hike and reminded me of home. Whenever anyone asks me what I miss most about home, I say "Mi Madre" but I miss Mi Padre tambien. We got ice cream on the way back and have had a good day today.

Thanks for the support and help. I love you all and look forward to hearing from you each week. Have a good week and live the gospel!

Love,

Elder Murray

August 27th - The Fruit of Our Labors

Querido Familia,

This week has been really, really great. I have yet to receive the pants, but I stand awaiting their arrival. If you were to buy me more pants, please try and get the same kind but in a different color. I am not a "one outfit fits all" sort of missionary.

Tuesday this week was good. The week was just all around exciting, but Tuesday was a pretty regular day. We visited people and did our best to do the Lord's work.

Wednesday was totally crazy. We had a very special Zone Conference where a member of the Seventy came named Elder Whiting and taught us. It was super spiritual and pumped us all up. He pretty much said that we are in the last days that there are only two promises that have not been fulfilled, which are the Gathering of Israel and the Second coming. He talked about how President Nelson had just deputized the Youth and that the most important thing we can do right now is to gather Israel. He gave us training's on the Holy Spirit and the power of the Book of Mormon as a tool in our work. It was really cool.

Thursday we gave a little lady a blessing for a pain she was having in her back and talked with the missionaries in our Zone about how we could apply Elder Whitings teachings in our work. The rest of the day we visited people and helped out were we could. We ended up having a lot of lessons with members and less actives that day.

Friday we also worked. We had our apartment checked that morning and we passed - we just have to get our manager to get us a new air filter and we have to clean our toilet better... oops. 

Saturday was the reason for the title of the email. We finally had the annual vineyard trip. So we all woke up at 4:30 in the morning and drove all the way up to Madera and picked grapes. It was super fun for like the first two hours then started to get boring. Our hands were caked with dried grape juice and dirt and it was starting to get hot. We finished all 3 of our rows and we had a super great harvest. There was just TONS! of grapes everywhere I will attach some pictures.

Sunday was a good day. The girls all spoke about what they learned from girls camp and how they got closer together as a youth. Then for the third hour we help the Primary out with Singing time which was pretty fun. We sang some good songs with the kids and played a game where they role a dice to see what they will do for the song.

One of the nights we visited the doctor and he told us a lot about different health things like how all the guys that want to get super jacked have problems and then end up having heart attacks or dying at like age 35. So we decided we didn't want to mess ourselves up by trying to lift lots of weight and instead do what he suggested, which is more cardio and more reps. I also talked to him about getting an appointment with the dermatologist which I need to follow up with him about. I don't know what it is but something about the weather here makes me very dry and my whole body has eczema including my head, neck, back, arms, armpits, lower back, knees, calves, and even feet. But yeah I am hating it. I hope this guy can help me out. I love you all so much and thank you for your help and support as I serve in the mission field.

Love,

Elder Dave Murray

August 20 - Very Sweaty

Dearest Family,

This week has been pretty great! 

First off I wanted to say that I have been really pretty bad with my money this month and would like to say sorry, I will do better in the future.  As for the package with drinks, Yes! I received it and I have been using some of the Propel ones for the electrolytes. I am super excited to hear that my pants are on the way, I have been making due with the other ones I have but it will be nice to have a good pair that fits me that isn't super beat up. Part of the reason I have been so bad with money is that everything is starting to not work or get old on me. I need a new watch because water can get into the one I have a ruin it and I probably need some new shoes pretty soon. One black pair has holes in them, the brown pair is super thin and beat up on top, and the other black pair is still pretty good. I will keep searching the Ross for a new pair that isn't more than like $15. I also have been buying things to work out lately which hasn't helped, as well as I lose a pair of socks almost every Preparation day it seems like. But seriously, I am just fine. I really just need to be smarter about eating out and not eating as much during the day and things will be fine with money. The weather has still been pretty much in the 100's hence the title very sweaty and we got seriously cut on miles this month...thanks Modesto...so we have been doing some biking, I can't really complain exercise is my major stress relief. Sorry that was a very long business part of the email, but I will get to the week.

I honestly can't remember a lot of the week this week and what we did on what day, so I think I will just write about what happened.

We had an exchange this week with Elder Pasikala the Hawaiian one in my video and Elder Yancey his companion. I went with Elder Yancey and they decided that it was a good idea for me to work my area so I ended up leading and having to teach at least two lessons entirely alone which was pretty lame...it really helps to have a companion that can speak at least a little bit of Spanish.

We have had some pretty good dinners this week. Last night we had carne asada which is like one of the typical things you get from Mexicans, but it was super good this time and I liked it. We also had some really good lasagna earlier in the week and some homemade hamburgers which I am sure Mom knows are like one of my favorites. We got to talking about this thing called Moronga which is pretty much like blood sausage that my companion ate in Mexico City and hated, so people in the ward like to comment about Moronga now to him.

This week our ward did youth conference which was super cool because we got to help with two parts of it. The first thing we did was help set up an obstacle course at our bishop's house for them which included running through tires, logs, a balance beam, different size hurdles, a army crawl, and a mountain of hay you had to climb at the end. It was fun but scratched up my legs pretty good. They are very sensitive right now from all the dry skin and the hot, hot weather. I had to buy this special shampoo this week for like 8 dollars that my doctor said might help my skin...I hope it does cause it was a rip in the shorts. Anyways, the other part that we did to help with youth conference was we taught a class on social media and how you could use it to share the gospel which was pretty fun for us. We recited our Missionary Purpose for them and ended up making a purpose for the youth to say as well. I bought candy for that which was another reason for the squandering of my money. I figured that was a good reason though.

After teaching the class, we helped a family move part of a house that belonged to one of their relatives and then ended up going to eat tacos at the bishop's house that they had for the youth. Sadly, we missed all the youth because the move had taken us so long but it was worth it to help out a member and make her day.

This week I have done a lot of thinking on gospel topics. I wrote three pages one night about what the Savior means to me and His big role in my decision to serve a mission. I wrote all that before I found out that a Seventy is coming this upcoming week and wanted us to write a 1 page testimony about the Book of Mormon so I did that as well. I cannot even begin to express my gratitude for both of these things and really look forward to sharing my testimony of them with the people that I contact every day. I love my Savior Jesus Christ and I know He loves me. A lot of the time, the mission has been really hard. I have gone almost 9 months now teaching the Gospel and not had a single baptism which, as a missionary, makes you question if you are doing things right, if you are really a good teacher or if you did the right thing by serving a mission. I have grown a lot because of this and have to remind myself that missionary work is not about the number of baptisms that you have or the ordinances that you perform but about the way that you touch people and the little things you do every day that make someone smile or give someone a hope for something better. Despite my unsuccessful numbers, I have touched lots of people as a missionary and planted many seeds that I hope will one day grow and the best part is that I am not done yet!!! I can continue helping those I pass by in the streets every day. I love you so much family and I thank you for all of the support you have offered me in my missionary service!

Love,

Elder Murray