A Pretty Special Weekend- October 15, 2014

On Saturday we had a pretty awesome day, we had 6 baptisms. The other Elders in Bella Vista had 1 (one of them fell, the girl went out of town but we will see when it gets done). So, it was a pretty special weekend for Bella Vista and the ward. Tania, Wandy, Yalinet, Yuderlis, Vives and Mercedita were in all white on Saturday, along with Rosa (the other Elders' baptism) and also Elder Alvarado (the missionary I replaced), Elder Herrera, Elder Torres, Bishop Disla, Hermano Alberto Lugo, and me. We sang a special musical number (Abide with me tis even tide) with the sister missionaries from the ward right next to ours, Sister Douglas came with her violin to do the prelude and the postlude (is that what its called? HAHA), and it was just a really special time. So many people came that we had to do it in the sacrament meeting room, then go over to the baptismal font to baptize them. 

The next day we had the primary program, and we had 4 investigators come. Jose Guzman, one of the guys we have been teaching for a long time came for the 2nd week in a row and he was really excited. Also, a boy named Emmanuel came. He is 17 years old and one day, I KNOW IT, will go on a mission. He is really excited about everything and we gave him a baptismal date for the 22nd of November. Also, Nelly came, without Peralta because he had to work, but she also did well. WHAT A WEEK! We were pretty content. 

Also, on Sunday afternoon we went and visited Elvis and Luz. They have been pretty lame for a while because they always say that they are excited to go to church and NEVER GO!! Well, they arent lame, but they are just a little unmotivated. So we went and decided to share a little message with them. I opened up my bible and turned to Matthew 11:28 to 30. Wow, just talking about it made me realize so much more about the importance of it. What he is inviting us to do isnt to let him help us... because really he doesnt say "Give me your yolk and ill help you with that" but he says "Take MY yolk upon you"! He is inviting us to basically leave our way of doing things because we are trying to go alone and do the stuff by ourselves. Going with him means 2 things: He will be right there to help us AND HIS BURDEN IS LIGHT AND HIS BURDEN IS EASY!!! It will be way better. We just have to do it his way, not our way. I love that scripture. So, I made them a contract  and asked them what they wanted to do in order to take HIS yolk upon him. They told us a few things (read, pray, GET MARRIED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE (elvis is a member but luz isnt, hes legally married with someone else) and go to church), and it was a way that we were able to hopefully help them. 

Everything is going well, and I am happy here. Next week is transfers, we will see what happens!!

Elder Dallin Murphy

 

 

General Conference- October 8, 2014

General Conference was pretty awesome. Since I have another americna elder in my ward with me, I was able to watch with him in the secretary's office and it was a great! We had air conditioning!! (The rest of the chapel doesn't have air conditioning). It was a really good conference. I cannot explain how much it just helped me realize that the leaders of the church KNOW that opposition is coming BIG TIME and it is just really really important to get our own testimonies. We need to know what we are doing. 

My favorite talks (not in order) were: Elder Chistofferson, Elder Anderson, Elder Oaks, Elder Jorg Klebingat, Elder Uchtdorf in both!, Elder Bednar, Elder Holland and the rest! Wow as I think about it I just love it! It was just the main topic. WE HAVE GOT TO KNOW THESE THINGS FOR OURSELVES!! I really know that Satan knows that the end is coming, and he wants to give his last effort to take down as many of the chosen ones as possible. We are here as members of the Church of Jesus Christ as foot soldiers against his army. And the missionaries do the dirtiest work. That is why I love it so much!!

This saturday we have 8 baptisms in the ward, and 6 different people are going to be baptizing. So there will be a lot of white!! I am so thankful that the Lord has allowed me to be here in the time where people are able to complete with this little path and begin a new, more important one. Tania, Wandy, Yalinet, Yudelis, Vives and Mercedity are all planned to get baptized from our side!! It is just such a wonderful work. 

Keep up the work, you are all in my prayers. Read and pray and you will know. 

Thanks for all you do!!

Elder Dallin Murphy

1. Wandy and I at his wedding!

2. Elder Herrera and I with Tania and Wandy

La Buena Vista- October 1, 2014

So yes, this has been a really good week. We were able to work more with the members and invite them to go out with us to a couple lessons, which was a good way of helping the investigators out. Also, we did 2 intercambios with the district leaders in the zone, which was a really cool experience too. I went out with Elder Stegelmeier from my group and with Elder Orrellana. Elder Stegelmeier has a nickname by basically the whole mission, or not a nick name but he is just a "maquina" or machine. We went out and taught a bunch of super awesome lessons here in Bella Vista. With Elder Orrellana I went to his area while his companion came to Bella Vista and we enjoyed La Yaguita del Pastor. 

We had Tania and Wandy get married yesterday!!! I would like to send pictures but I forgot my chord in the house so it is kind of impossible right now. But it was a super cool experience to see, I loved seeing people take these steps to keeping the commandments and showing more and more love to the Lord. They are going to get married, with 2 of Tanias daughters on the 11th. Also, 2 of our awesome investigators (Vives and Mercedita) are with the date for the 11th as well. How fun is that!! I feel like I didnt do much to help, since they were pretty ready when I got there. But they are really excited and I cannot complain. Sometimes it is just a real pleasure to be able to participate in these kind of things. I am so lucky!! As a missionary, youre just a little instrument in the Lord's hands. He does the work, he just tells you what to do. And if we do it, the work will get done AS HE WANTS IT TO GET DONE not the way that we want it to get done. 

In church, Roberto got up and shared his testimony. It was a really great experience. He just said that he is so happy to be taking seriously the things of the Lord now, because the Lord had given him chances before and now he is taking advantage. He said "Then Elder Herrera and........ I call him California but his name is... Murphy came and helped me out to keep things going!" HAHA but it was good. Also Vives (he is 106 years old) got up to share his testimony and just testified that this is where he needs to be. How great is that!!

Oh yeah, turns out that Eddy is a less active member. I knew that it was too good to be true, as an investigator. But we will help him out! He had an accident and said that he doesn't remember a lot of things before that accident, but now he is getting back to the fold. That is why we are here. We aren't here to give something new to these people, this is the Oldest truth that has existed... We are just here to remind people of what they already know, as we know from the Plan of Salvation. 

Well, I am so glad for all that you do and thanks for all your prayers!!

Love,

Elder Dallin Murphy

Milagros Milagros Milagros- September 24, 2014

Wow, it was a really awesome week. We have seen a lot of progress in a lot of our investigators. We have been teaching this family, and the parents are named Victor and Cristina, the best friends of the family of our ward mission leader. (their houses are connected). So when we started sharing with them, Jorge, the ward mission leader, told us that he doubted that it would go well and stuff and he wasnt too sure because Victor is a doubter. And has a lot of prior thoughts about the church, so we would have to help him a lot. BUT THEY CAME TO CHURCH!!! How awesome is that??? (Well, if you all dont really understand, being here in the Dominican Republic it is really hard to get someone OUT OF BED and INTO CHURCH on Sunday mornings.) But they came, stayed all 3 hours and loved it!! They seem pretty excited. Their kids went this morning to a youth activity too, so we are hoping all keeps going well. But about his DOUBTS, theyre basically about Joseph Smith, seeing that people really talk bad about that name. He asked what we believed about him and what sort of powers or authority we believe that he had, and we explained about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the priesthood and prophets and it seems like they are doing well!!

We also had other investigators, which was great. It was just a killer sunday!! The family of Tania and Wandy are now going to get baptizedon October 11th because they couldnt get married before this saturday. BUT they are super excited, they know everything, it is just good stuff. We are just getting work done here!! Working hard in Bella Vista. 

For the 2nd week in a row we had Roberto and Papito in church, which was just great. They love it there, and Roberto is just going really well. They are like best friends, and we share with both of them but sometimes Papito isnt there (papito isnt his real name). But Roberto says that he is reading the Book of Mormon to finish it and love it! He is the man. 

Also we found this guy named Eddy after a week of going by his house and not finding him. He was really excited to see us again (it was our 2nd visit with him), and I wasnt too sure why. He pulled out the pamphlet of the Restoration and explained to us EVERYTHING. PERFECTLY!! It was really awesome. He even answered the questions behind!! So, we asked how he felt about it and he said that he prayed and really believes that is was necessary call these prophets in the Americas and in these Latter Days to help us! I hope that it isnt too good to be true, but it is a real miracle.

Good week, love you all!!

HAPPY BDAY DANE!! I LOVE YOU BECAUSE YOU ARE JUST GROWING SO FAST AND IM YOUR FAVORITE UNCLE AND I JUST CANT WAIT TO HANG OUT WITH YOU ALLLLLL THE TIME!!!

Elder Dallin Murphy

Bella Vista- the Family Area- September 17, 2014

I love this area! While I still miss Hato Mayor and Villa Gonzalez, there is something about this area that makes a missionary just happy. Especially when the majority of your contacts are families and you get to teach more families than not. We have found a few that, while they need some clarifying on a few doubts that they have, but that is why we are here!! People have a LOT of questions about Joseph Smith, so I have been able to strengthen my testimony of his calling as prophet of the restoration, because it just makes so much sense!! Let me tell you why:

A lot of people ask why the other churches dont talk about him, why they dont recognize him as a prophet. I compare the situation to the restoration before him, the restoration of the gospel through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!! He got there and there were all these doubters that had their doctrine and had their doubts (pharisees and saudusees and scribes) and they never accepted him because they couldnt leave their church. They were stuck in the effects of the apostasy!! But those who followed Christ got the blessings and true baptism. Then the church got lost again, because of the hardness of the people (as Christ prophesied in Matthew 21:43). Then the people got into all these different religions. So when the truth came again, the people were and are still so blinded from this confusion that they sometimes cannot see the light!! It is sad, but we know that people can come to know through reading, pondering, and praying! AND THAT IS OUR INVITATION!!

It is really cool, I still think about it all the time. I am A MISSIONARY!! I speak fluent spanish, I am here and I just love the life here. It still hasnt hit me 100% that I am a missionary, which is just insane. Life is great!!

Brandon, as ward mission leader, dont stress. Just be the bridge between the elders and the ward. Dont do the Missionaries' responsibilities, and dont do the ward's responsibility!! You might have to do a little at a time but being a good LIDER MISIONAL is being the sturdy and big bridge between the ward and the missionaries, not being the ward and the missionaries. ERES LO MEJOR Y QUISIERA QUE FUERAS MI LIDER MISIONAL MUCHACHO!!!!

Love you my friends!!

Elder Murphy

1. The view from the bridge that connects Santiago to Bella Vista!!!

Another Transfer without changes! September 10, 2014

So today was transfer day, and I am still here in Bella Vista with Elder Herrera!! We are working really hard here and loving the work in Bella Vista, even though we are different people we work together to make the best of what we have. Yesterday we were able to go out and help some of the new missionaries go and give out Book of Mormons, and I went with Elder Dickson from Logan, UT. It was a lot of fun, and pretty crazy to see how he is brand new and already sees me as an old missionary. Something pretty cool is that today when Elder Torres, who lives in our same house, recieved his new companion that we will train, it was Elder Dickson!! What a good guy. 

Wow, what a week. The Lord is blessing us much more than we deserve, he is just leading us and doing all that he can so that the work progresses in Bella Vista. While we can always improve, I am loving life and little by little I know we will improve. 

There is this less active member named Yudi, who is the wife of the Sunday School President in the ward, and she has a really sad story. She has a lot of doubts about a lot of things, and it can be owed like 80% to her father, who is also a less active member. He talks super bad about the church now, goes to another church, and just does EVERYTHING possible to tear down the testimony of his daughter. He went to the temple, has the priesthood, and just is confused about a lot of stuff. But we have shared with her a few times and really she just needs to learn to defend herself spiritually. We talked about Ephesians 6 and how in life, to defend our testimony, we need to defend ourselves against 2 forces. The people who talk bad, and Satan who reminds us and puts stuff in all places about the church. It was a neat experience, seeing that I had never thought of this before but it just came out. I explained about the armour of God and how there are 5 things that we need to put on to defend and 1 to attack. The sword of THE SPIRIT!! And then we learned together that the way to draw the spirit of truth to a conversation is through Testifying. So then we were able to talk about HOW to testify to these 2 groups of advesaries. 1. We just have to be willing to talk! We cannot just sit back. Now, we dont argue, or bash, but we can defend and testify then leave them to argue with themselves. That one is a lot easier. But the 2nd group, or Satan, is a little bit harder. Satan works hard, and the way that we can testify to him is through our works. We need to ALWAYS pray, always read the scriptures, and ALWAYS GO TO CHURCH EVERY WEEK TO TAKE THE SACRAMENT!! It is the only way to testify to him with the spirit. There are other ways, but those are the 3 most important. If we do it, he cannot deny our testimony. He wont quit, but we cant either!

It is something hard to see. The willingness of some people to TEAR down what people love. What they say confuses us in the head but if we have recieved our answer in our hearts, we will be good. We have to remember that moment!

I love you all. I know that this church is true and that CHRIST LIVES!!

Elder Dallin Murphy

1. Last Pday, we went to a waterfall! This is the river on the way, with Elder Herrera and Elder Stegelmeier (from Tuella, Utah)

2. Elder Hardy! Elder Madsen Murphy´s best bud!

WHAT A WEEK!- September 3, 2014

Hey so I don't have much time this week, but it was a good one. With a family named Tania, Wandy, Yalinet, and Yudelis, we were able to put down a baptismal date for the 27th of September, which was awesome. They have gone to church since January, but the thing is that they have had problems with getting married, mostly with their birth certificates, but now we are on our way. We need to teach the daughters all the lessons in 4 weeks, but they want to and know a lot already, so we are going to do that. 

That is basically the most exciting thing that happened in this week, I don't know much else to say. I feel like the Lord is really testing us a lot. We were able to talk about Job in church, which was a cool class, and it made me realize how great of a man he was. Perfect=complete in the scriptures, which makes us really just need to be obedient and recieve the grace from Christ, through his atonement, so that he can perfect us ever day. And the real test of obedience are the trials, and the temptations. In the house with our family we usually aren't tempted to do anything bad, but when the bad situations come, we have got to be ready. THAT is how he got perfected. Perfected in Christ!!

I feel like the Lord is testing me a lot right now in the mission, especially in diligence and patience. And faith. Like it says in Alma 32, the way to partake of the fruit of the tree of life is through FAITH, DILIGENCE, and PATIENCE. We have just got to maintain it. 

Love you all! 

Elder Dallin Murphy