SUPER FAST WEEK!!!

Well HOOOOOWWWWWDDDDYYYY!

Hey! So glad I get to talk to all of you again. I hope everyone is having a good week and that you are finding the joy in life. My week was super good but it went by super quick! Not a whole lot happened so apologies, but this email is probably going to be pretty short. But anyways without further delay let us jump right on into this thing!!

So Monday was a pretty chill day. We didn't really do a whole lot. I think the highlight of the day was when Elder Olson and I went on a bike ride and we saw a freak ton of catfish in one of the ponds. We played basketball that night as well. I played alright I guess, not too amazing but it was okay. 🚴

I don't really know what happened on Tuesday, I can't remember. This week has gone by quickly and I don't really remember what happened. Probably just doing missionary work to be honest with you.😂

On Wednesday I went on exchanges with Elder Herculano for a bit. He and I went to the Ward Council and just talked to all the leaders in the church and about what we should be doing better and how we can help them in their callings.

On Thursday I actually was on exchanges with Elder Payne and it was pretty sweet to be able to be with my MTC companion again and see how he's been doing. That night we had sushi with one of the members. I had not had sushi in a hot minute so I really appreciated it. 🍣 Then we had to travel down to Barrie because we had Zone Conference the next day so we left Thursday around 6:30 to get down to Barrie.

Friday was Zone Conference which was pretty good. We talked a lot about accountability and being responsible and making sure that we're doing the right things. We had a little break out session with just the missionaries serving around in our area and we made a bunch of videos about the Commandments and stuff like that. We also had interviews after Zone Conference and those are alright. It's good to talk to President Shields and Sister Shields. They just wanted to see how we are doing and how they can help us in any way. That night we also had to stay in Barrie because we wouldn't be able to make it back to Sudbury in time.

On Saturday we woke up and we drove to Midland for a quick drop by of a couple of people that are there. We stopped by the Spackman's and had some pancakes with them and then after that we drove back to Sudbury. We got to Sudbury and helped someone move a chair and then we helped get everything ready for the spaghetti dinner. It was a fundraiser for the youth here for their camping trips and materials they need. It was a spaghetti dinner and a cake auction, and I will tell you what, I could not believe how much money people were spending on desserts!! Absolutely crazy to me but it is okay because it was for a good cause.🍝 🎂

Sunday was good as well. We had church in the morning so it was good to be able to see everyone and talk to them and see if there was anything we could do for them. After church we did some studies and then went over to a member’s house and talked to them for a bit. For dinner that night we had some bomb pasta salad and really good desserts that were from the cake auction. After dinner we came back home and did some weekly planning so we could talk more about the people that are here in the area and how we can best help them.

That pretty much wraps up the week. We are going to go fishing today so I am pretty pumped for that.🎣 I hope everyone has a good rest of their week and that it is filled with tons of adventure!!

Love and miss you all!!

Elder Murray

coleton.murray@myldsmail.net

GET ME ON THE CONSTRUCTION CREW!!!!

I'MMMMMM BAAAAAAACCCCCKKK!!!

Hey I hope everybody had a good week and that they were able to do a lot of really awesome things. So glad to be able to talk to you all again, my week went pretty well. I can't really remember a whole lot of what happened this week but I know it was pretty good. So we might as well just jump right on into this thing!!

I don't have a lot of time so I'm just going to try to sum all the stuff into one little bit.

Last week on Monday it was really awesome because we got to go out fishing. It wasn't the best conditions and we didn't catch anything but I really had a good time. It was very relaxing and therapeutic being able to cast out a fishing line again. 🎣 After fishing we went and played basketball with the boys. It's always a good time. I like going over there and being able to play and work on my skills a little bit and just have a good time.

Other things that happen this week… there was a play that was on Friday and Elder Olson and I were asked to speak after the play was done. We were supposed to speak about certain topics so I know part of the week was getting ready for that so that I could get all squared away. The play was really good. It was about Joseph Smith and him receiving the Book of Mormon. So afterwards I spoke on the translation of the Book of Mormon and Elder Olson talked what the Book of Mormon has done for us.

We were invited out to a birthday party this week as well so we went out and did that. We had a good time, they had a bunch of Chinese food there so it was a really good meal. Oh and we played Wolf again and like always it never changes. Every time we play I always get singled out and killed right away. I guess everybody just thinks I'm super suspicious but I don't really see how that could be because I'm a very nice guy. 😂

Sunday was really good, we went and talked to a bunch of people to see how everybody's week was doing and if we could help out in any sort of way.

Yesterday (Monday) it wasn't P day because it was a holiday here so most of the day we spent helping build a shed in somebody's backyard. We built it from the ground up. We had to level the ground so we did a bunch of digging out sod and just leveling it out. Then they had this little kit for the shed and it was like 8x10. So we just had to put all the pieces together. It was good to be able to do some manual labor, I haven't done anything like that in a while but I really enjoyed myself and the people that we helped really appreciated it so it was really nice. 🏠🔨Yesterday we played basketball again and the usual people showed up so that's always a good time.

I can't really think of anything else that happened, I mean as far as missionary work goes we're doing really well here being able to find some really good people and being able to talk to them. Building relationships out here is like nothing else, it's honestly a gift that keeps on giving. So I'm really grateful for the people that we're able to meet with and be able to work with out here.

Well that's all I got for this week. I hope you all have a good rest of your week with lots of fun and laughter involved.

Love and miss you all!!

Elder Murray

coleton.murray@myldsmail.net

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!!

OH MY GOOOOOODDDNEESSSSSS!!! HOW ARE YOU??

I hope everyone had a good week. So glad I get to talk to all of you again and hear about all the amazing things you are doing. My week was pretty good, lots of changes and I got to speak to the fam bam yesterday so that was awesome. But why don't we just jump right on into this thang.

Last week on Monday was pretty sweet. It was Elder Rigby and Elder Cooks last Monday here so we went out and did little bit of shopping to pick up a couple of things. We had lunch with some of the members here. They made some bomb enchiladas so that was really awesome and really appreciated. After that we... I can't remember what we really did but we just went around and did a couple of things. We had dinner with a member that night as well and then we played basketball that evening.🏀 Basketball is always super fun to do. I really enjoy playing basketball with the boys and showing them what is up. 😂

On Tuesday I was with Elder Olson all day because the other guys went down to transfer. I was hanging out with him all day and it was pretty sweet to be able to hang out because he is one of my past companions. We were just doing stuff on the computer, cleaning the house, making sure everything was ready for the two other guys that came up. Around 5:00 when they came we had to go straight to the dinner appointment at a member’s place. Dinner was pretty awesome we had burgers and steaks so freaking delicious food and right after that was done we came back home and got them finished unpacking so that they could get all settled in.

On Wednesday was the day that I was able to first have the opportunity to work with Elder Mathewson here in the area. Elder Mathewson is my new companion. He is from Calgary Alberta but he was born in Utah. He's lived in Alberta for the most part of his life and his family is now living in Minneapolis so pretty much a United States kind of guy which I like. We pretty much just introduced him to the area and the people here and spent the day trying to get him familiar with things. Trying to think if there was anything huge that we did that day... don't think so but we definitely had a good time together. He's a really awesome guy, likes to have fun, likes working hard so we're going to have a really good transfer here together.

Thursday was a pretty good day. We went out and did a lot of talking to people on the streets and knocking on a couple of doors just to see if we could find any new people to teach. We didn’t have any success that day but it was a lot of fun just being able to go out and be in the nice weather. For dinner that night we went and roasted some hot dogs at a member's house so that was pretty freaking great cuz I love fires and roasting hot dogs over fire.🔥 After that we had an appointment with somebody that was really weird, they were just like acting weird and just like saying some pretty weird things but it was a good visit overall. It was definitely a good day and looking over this past week I can't remember any bad moments or anything like that so a good week overall.

Friday was a pretty rockin’ day. We had an appointment with somebody for lunch so we just went down to the college that they were at and we talked to them for a little bit. Then after that we walked around downtown a little while more talking to people on the streets. We passed out a couple of cards and had some conversations with people and then after that we went and did some weekly planning. We had service and dinner that night and we helped carry a bunch of lumber and stone to somebody's backyard because they are trying to build a deck back there. I would also like to point out that your boy carried the most pieces of lumber. I would carry like 10 pieces at a time and they stacked them up on me so it was pretty awesome to flex off my muscles.💪 That night we had a game night with a bunch of people from the church here. That was super fun. We played the game called wolf, I have played it before and I'm sure like anybody that came on the hikes with me will remember it. The object of the game is to kill the wolves before they kill everybody else and I tell you what nothing has changed. When it comes to that game, every time we play I always end up getting singled out, everybody always just kills me right away! I don't understand why that keeps on happening but I guess people just don't trust me very much.😉

On Saturday we had a meeting in the morning with all the missionaries in the Sudbury area so we just did a Skype meeting thing. We talked about how to be better missionary and how to help people in our area. Then after that we helped set some things up for an activity that was going on in the building that day. We went and finished weekly planning and then we went out and knocked on a couple of doors to find people to teach. I don’t think we found anybody that day but that's alright. Then we had dinner with a member that night and he cooked us some bacon carbonara so that was really good, super filling but really good. We did some stuff on the computers that night and that was pretty much it.

On Sunday it was Elder Mathewson and Elder Herculanos first Sunday here so we were introducing them to everybody in the congregation. It was a pretty good Sunday, being able to talk to everybody and talk about their weeks. As well as it being Mother’s Day!❤🎕 I was able to Skype home to my family and that was awesome. Always love seeing them and getting to talk with them and joke around with them a little bit. Pretty nuts that I have like 5 months left until I'll be able to see them all the time! 🙌We had dinner that night at a member’s place and they made us some freaking bomb pasta so that was awesome and yeah that was pretty much all Sunday was just Skypin’ and eatin’, nothing too crazy.

So that's pretty much all I got for this week. I've tried this new thing where I speak into the microphone to write out my email and apparently I have a lot more to say than when I actually write so I am probably going to do this more often. 😀But yeah I hope everybody has a good rest of the week and that you be able to find the joy in living this life.

I love and I miss you all!!!

Elder Murray

coleton.murray@myldsmail.net

I WILL NEVER WASH MY HAND AGAIN!!!!!

HEEEEEEEYYYYOOOO!!!

Hope everyone had a good week this week and that you were able to make something great come out of it. So glad that I get to talk to all of you again. My week was pretty good, had some really cool experiences and was able to go to an awesome meeting! But without any further delay let us jump right on into this thang!

Monday last week was a blast! We got the bikes that we had and took them to a dirt track and ripped around on them. 🚴🚴We took a couple of really cool pictures so I will make sure I remember to send them. After that we had a lesson with one of our investigators, that was good. We talked about the importance of justice and mercy with him. It can be a hard concept to understand sometimes but very important to learn nonetheless. After our lesson we had basketball that night which is a blast as always. I can definitely tell that my skills are improving because I don't suck as bad anymore. 😂  The team that I was on actually won every game that we played, so basically just dominated everyone. 🏀

I also went on exchanges this week with Elder Timmins. He came down to Sudbury and we had a freaking blast together. We had a lot of teaching appointments so that was pretty sweet. He is just a great guy to be around and we definitely learned a lot from each other.

On Saturday we had to travel down to Brampton for a meeting with President Ballard! The meeting was super awesome and he is so freaking hilarious. He talked a lot about the importance of our attitude and the impression that we make on people. Every missionary from the entire mission was there so I got to see a lot of my homies. The only thing that sucked about Saturday is that it is a 4 hour drive down and another 4 hours back. So I drove 8 hours that day which wasn't too fun but I like to drive so it wasn't too bad either. 🚗

On Sunday the other set of missionaries here had a baptism. It was cool to be a part of that and to see him make that big step. We also got transfer news and I will be staying here and getting Elder Matthewson as a new companion. I am excited for this next transfer and the experiences it will bring!

That's all I got for this week, I love and miss you all!!

Elder Murray

coleton.murray@myldsmail.net