NEW INVESTIGATOR AND END OF TRANSFER!!!!

HEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

Ok so to start off I don't have a lot of time to email today so sorry if this is a little shorter than the others. But let’s get down to it!!!!

To start off, on Wednesday we had a Missionary broadcast that talked about how we can better implement the gospel of Jesus Christ in our teaching and also some changes to our missionary schedule! The changes aren't too major. All it does is that we now do planning in the morning so we can go to bed an hour earlier if we so choose. I am super hyped about that, you already know your boy is trying to catch as many z's as possible so I can be ready for the next day. The schedule starts taking place as soon as transfers are over and everyone gets back to their areas.  🛌 💤💤

Speaking of transfers, the news is..... I am not going anywhere!!! I am staying right here in Owen Sound. However, my companion Elder Bagley is leaving to go to Brockville so that kinda sucks but he taught me a lot and now I get to be in control of the area. My new companion is Elder Prettyman, I haven't heard too much about him but Elder Bagley tells me he is pretty cool. So hopefully that is true and he is not a total weirdo. I am super excited to gain so much more experience from another missionary and hopefully he gains some things from me as well. 

Oh also the new investigator!!! His name is Simon Bufffalobulltail. I know kind of odd but he is a native that lives out on the reservation and he is 15 years old. He started coming out to church with some of the members and he really likes it! He says the people are super nice and it is just a good place to be so he would like to learn more and join!! So that is super exciting and I can't wait to continue teaching him!

Also on Friday we were helping a member fix a car for him so now I am pretty much a certified mechanic.😂😂😂  jk but it was super fun and I am always grateful to offer some service to any of the members who ask for it. 🚗🚗

That was about it for this week. Being out here is so awesome and I am loving it every day. I can't wait for more experiences to come.

Question of the day: "If you could go anywhere in the world where would it be and why?"

-the young Jesse James

--

Elder Murray

HEEEEEEYYYYY EVERYONE!!!!!!

It’s so good to be able to talk to you again and to tell you some of the things going on over here. So let’s just jump right in it.

On Tuesday night we had planned to go to Meaford which is like a 30 minute drive from Owen Sound. That day they were calling for freezing rain in the evening, so of course when we headed out it started to rain. On our way over a thick fog rolled in so we couldn't see anything past like 10 feet in front of us. So we are driving along at about 40 mph when all the sudden the car just started to fish tail in the back and we were sliding all over the place. There was a point where our car was going sideways down the road into oncoming traffic. Luckily though we had someone looking out for us and we were able to get out of the situation unharmed and no damage to the car either. After that experience we decided it probably wasn't the best idea to go to Meaford. So we turned around and headed back.

On Thursday I was on exchanges. Elder Bertagnoli came from Midland to Owen Sound to spend the day with me. We had lunch at Montana's with a member and they had a special going on where it was all you can eat ribs. You should all know that ribs are my FAVORITE!!!!! I had about 5 racks of ribs in one sitting and I felt sooooo good about myself afterwards. After that we were walking around downtown and we discovered this little alley way called Artists Alley. We could see that there were paintings on the buildings so we decided to go down and have a look at them. WORST DECISION OF MY LIFE!!! I am pretty sure that is where all the homeless and drugee people hangout because that alley was filled with drugs and piles of poop everywhere. And when I say everywhere I mean EVERYWHERE!! I didn't get the chance to look at any of the art because I was too busy looking down and watching were I was stepping. Never going to walk down that way again.

Anyways that was about it for excitement this week. Still just teaching people and doing the Lord's work everyday. I love it out here so much and I can't wait for more experiences to come.

I love you all and I appreciate all the emails and all the support that you send me.

Question of the day: What is the funniest thing you have heard someone say?

--

Elder Murray

coleton.murray@myldsmail.net

HEARTBREAK!!!!

WHAT'S BRACKIN YOUTUBE!!?

Hey everyone hope your week was super good and that you are loving life at the moment and if you are not... get some Arby's or something that always cheers me up. Anyways let’s get right down to the business!!! 

On Monday last week it was a member's 18th birthday and she wanted us to come and celebrate with her. So we met at Subway and got some sandwiches, and your boy got the chicken bacon ranch melt because you already know that is the best thing on the menu. Subway was delicious as always and after that we went BOWLING!!!! I was pretty hyped to get in there and show off my skills but we played some weird 5 pin bowling thing where the point system is all sort of jacked up and the bowling balls are the size of softballs. It took me a little bit to get used to it but as soon as I got it down I was destroying everyone. The last game they decided we would do actual 10 pin bowling because they have never done it before. I won as always because you know that I am the best bowler there is and ever was, finished with a 156 so I am pretty proud of myself. 

Then on Friday after district meeting we went up to Brother Dunning's because the youth were having a snowmobiling activity the next day and he needed some help getting the snowmobiles out of his trailer and ready to go. But this is Brother Dunning and things are never done the conventional way. His snowmobiles are stored away in a 16 wheeler trailer so there are no ramps to get the snowmobiles out, however he does have a tractor and some straps to get it out. Basically what ended up going down is this- we took the back end of the snowmobile and put it on the forks of the tractor and then took a strap and wrapped it around to the front to hold it into place. The only problem was that the snowmobile is front end heavy and there wasn't enough weight in the back. But luckily for him he had two perfectly good missionaries to act as the counter weight. So basically my companion and I are sitting on this sled in the air trying to balance it so the whole thing didn't fall over. It was kinda sketchy but super fun at the same time! But then the heartbreak came when I had to watch Brother Dunning and his family ride around in the snow and I couldn't participate. Just pains me to even talk about it now!!!!! But I am glad I got to help and just be in the presence of some snowmobiles. 

Other than that my week was pretty normal just spreading the gospel and talking with people.  

I love you all so much and always appreciate the emails that you send. I won't have time to reply today because I am super busy but I will definitely be reading all of them. 

Thank you all for the support and have a good rest of your week!!!

-the young Bob the Builder

--

Elder Murray

AIN'T NOBODY GOT TIME FOR BOOKS!!!!!!

HELLO!!!!

This week has been pretty much the same as all the other weeks, just lots of snow and meetings to go to. It has been snowing off and on every day and we are supposed to get another foot tonight so probably another day of shoveling tomorrow! It is crazy though because in the Toronto area there is no snow at all but here it is snowing all the time! But what can I do I wished for snow before Christmas and now look at what mother nature has given me, just an abundance of it!

Like I said nothing too crazy has been going on but we did make some progress with Jim! His biggest hang up right now is that he doesn't want to go to church because of how bad the weather is and just isn't up to it. So on Monday we asked him if he wanted to go on a church tour sometime last week and just see the inside of the building but there won't be any meetings going on. We scheduled it for Thursday and were super excited for it. On Wednesday we missed a call from him and he left a voicemail saying that the weather was too bad and that he doesn't think it is a good idea for him to go so to just not bother coming. He has done this continually over and over again. Every time he says he will go to church he ends up cancelling. So I heard this voicemail and said, "Screw that crap we are just going to act like we never got a voicemail and we are showing up tomorrow anyways!" And that's what we did. The next day we got a member and we all went over to Jim's place. He opened the door and invited us in and we sat down and introduced the member a little bit. And then I l looked at him and asked if he was ready to go on the church tour. He looked so startled and said "Right now!?" and I said "Of course! That's why we are here." He then proceeded to tell us that he left a voicemail saying that he didn't think it was a good idea to go, but I kept telling him that we never got a voicemail and that we were here now and might as well go. He agreed and we all jumped in the truck and headed to the church. It was such a good experience. It was so peaceful and calm and got Jim more interested to come out to church now so we will see if he is comes this upcoming week. Just goes to show that diligence can take you a long way.

Another weird thing that happened was that I went on exchanges to Midland and we visited a less active member. She gave us a book that she wrote and told us to read it later that night. So  after we had finished everything for the day we opened the book and started reading it. And let me tell ya it was THE WEIRDEST CRAP I HAVE EVER READ!!!! The book basically consisted of murder, rape and incest. Everything was explained in the most disgusting of details and made sure that you knew what was going on. So pretty much this lady gave us an Erotic Novel that she wrote and thought we would enjoy reading it. Some people just don't make any sense!!

Super crazy what is going on back at home! Makes me wish I was there to experience something like that and to see how wild people get down there when they go into a panic. I hope everyone is staying safe down there and keeping as warm as possible.

But that is about all I got. I love it out here so much and I am so glad I took the opportunity to serve a mission. Can't wait to hear from you all and about all the amazing things you are doing back home.

Question of the day is: If you could write a book on anything what would it be and why? 📖

Love and miss ya so much!

--

Elder Murray

coleton.murray@myldsmail.net

HOLIDAYS!!!

GOOOOOOOOODDDD MOOOORRRRRRNNNNNINNNNNGG!!!

What's going on everybody!? 

Hope the holiday season was good and that everyone had a good New Year. My New Years was just like any other day except that a member invited us over for an ice cream party and I ate way too much!! I felt so sick that night but I am doing way better now so it is all good. 

Nothing new has happened because most people here leave town for the holidays so we didn't get a lot of appointments this week.

Oh, that reminds me of something that I don't like here. On any holiday every place closes for the day or is only open for a certain amount of time. WHAT'S UP WITH THAT!!!??? Anywhere we tried to go it was just closed for the day, it doesn't make any sense but what can you do. 

Well other than that things have been the same. Thank you to everyone who has been sending me letters I am super grateful for it. I have to get going because I have a lot of things to do today. I will send the video of the snow day to give you a little something extra. I love you all and can't wait to hear from you.

--

Elder Murray

coleton.murray@myldsmail.net