I AM GOING BACK!!!?? KIND OF....

HELLLLLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

How is everyone doing!? I hope you are doing well and that you are enjoying life! I am doing pretty well just doing the regular missionary thing.  I have been pretty busy lately with visiting people and doing some service.  Transfer calls came last night and the news was kind of strange. But anyways let’s get right to it!!

Last Monday nothing too special happened, just sports on P day and then went out to a members place in Rodney for dinner. They live out in the boonies so we were hitting golf balls into the field for fun. The only thing was that all of the clubs were for left handed people so I was swinging lefty for a bit and I didn't do too terrible. I guess it is just in the genes that I was born to be amazing at everything I do. 😂 Just kidding, I am pretty awful at a lot of things but I continue to try and better myself everyday so I can be at least somewhat decent.

On Tuesday I went on exchanges to London and that was pretty fun. I was with Elder Thieme who is actually from Idaho. He is actually from Meridian too!! AND he went to the same high school as I did and we actually graduated the same year!! It’s crazy that we are both out here and even crazier that we didn't know each other. I guess that is how life goes sometimes. The day was pretty sweet. We went and visited some people and taught English to a couple of people as well. All in all it was a pretty good day with a lot of things to do.

Wednesday we had District Meeting and that was pretty good. After that we went and dropped by some people’s houses and did some paper work for the area.

Thursday we had some planning to do and then we went back over to the group home to visit our friend and sung the National Anthem with him again.

The rest of the week was pretty normal nothing too crazy or exciting happened. Just the regular missionary thing with visiting people and giving service.

Finally the transfer news... I am getting sent to Midland!! Literally an hour and a half from where I was in Owen Sound. I have been to Midland a lot on exchanges and just visiting the Elders over there so I know the area pretty well. It will be cool to go back and hopefully see the people in Owen Sound but I was kind of hoping for somewhere new and exciting but oh well I will go where I am needed.

That is all I got this week!! Sorry that this email is short but I need to get my things packed and ready to go for tomorrow. Love and miss you all! 

--

Elder Murray

coleton.murray@myldsmail.net

THE WHITE TIGER WOODS!!!

WHAT'S GOOD ALL OF YOU BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE!!!!!

So glad that I get to talk to all of you again and hear about all of the amazing things that you are doing! This week was pretty good, did a lot of service again and worked with the members of the ward. Hope everyone else's week was fantastic and that you did a lot of exciting things. But we might as well jump right on into this past week!

On Monday we went out and went to a driving range so we could practice our swings a little bit. I was on point! I was driving that ball for miles! After that we went to London to play some volleyball which was awesome because I love playing it! Even though it wasn't a sand court I still had fun.  

Tuesday we had the Salvation Army in the morning so we were there for a couple of hours. Then we had some people from the mission come and inspect our apartment to make sure that we weren't trashing the place. They were super nice and they said our apartment wasn't a complete dump but that we could touch up a couple of things. Always room for improvement I guess. Oh speaking of our apartment, the faucet for the shower broke this morning so now we have a set of pliers on there to turn it on. 😂 We are going to have to get that fixed in the near future. Later on Tuesday we went to a park with some members to have a pizza picnic party and that was super awesome! The park was absolutely beautiful and the bathrooms there were the most futuristic thing I have ever seen. I wish I would have taken pictures of it but I didn't want to be rude and weird. 😏  After that we went and taught a lady named Gwen down in Port Stanley and it went super well. Hopefully we can get her to come to church!

On Wednesday we had District meeting in the morning and that was pretty good. There is a new missionary in our district named Elder Bejong and he is from Utah. He is going to be a French speaking missionary out here so he is getting shipped way up north in the next month. Then we went and visited a member who lives in a group home because he has some physical and mental disabilities. But it was THE BEST NIGHT OF MY ENTIRE LIFE!! As we were sitting there we asked him what his favorite hymn was, as he was thinking of it I said mine was The Star Spangled Banner because there is nothing better. He looked at us and said well lets sing it then. So we had him and other people in the group home singing the Star Spangled Banner with us!!! It was so awesome and hilarious at the same time, I was laughing so hard and I didn't even think to get it on video!! Even still it was a good memory to have.

On Thursday we did a lot of planning for the rest of the week and the week coming up. We also dropped by a couple of people throughout the day. We had dinner with our ward mission leader and he took us to a pizza place and we got a large pizza and 2 pounds of wings! It was a lot of food but it was super delicious!! We then had the Bible Study that night, which is still going great and then we dropped by to visit with a couple more people.

Friday we had interviews with the mission president and his wife to see if we are doing okay and to make sure we are staying out of trouble. Then we went and visited some people and talked to some on the streets. Later we went and had some dinner with Bill and played a game of darts. I think you already know what the outcome was. 😉

Saturday we did some more service at the Salvation Army and then went to Tilsonburg to visit some people over there and then had a meeting with the Tilsonburg ward mission leader. Not really an eventful day but really busy nonetheless.

Sunday was good, able to go to church and talk to all those amazing people. After church we went and visited some people to see how they were doing and to help them with anything they needed. We had dinner out at the bishop's farm later that night and we were out there for a while.

That is about it for this week!! Hope everyone has a good rest of the week, and if you are in Idaho take some pictures of the eclipse so I can get the full effect of it!!!

Love and miss you all!!!

BYYYYYYYYEEEE!!!!

--

Elder Murray

LONGEST DAY OF MY LIFE!!!!!

HEYYYYYYYYYOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Hello everyone, so glad I get to talk to all of you again and to hear how your week has been. Everything over here has been going pretty well, nothing too exciting or crazy to talk about, just a few experiences. I apologize in advance if this email is a little short but sometimes even I just don't have much to say...I know crazy isn't it. Anyways let’s just jump right on into it!!!

Tuesday was a pretty good day. We went to London and played some basketball, kill ball, and ping pong. Super awesome time full of fun and laughter. After P day was over we actually had 4 other missionaries come to our area because they were going to be spending the night so we could all get up and leave for Zone Conference in the morning. It was fun to have them around because we were able to get a lot more done in a little amount of time. All six of us staying in one apartment however was a different story. Things were a little crowded and it was super hard when we had to get up at 5 in the morning the next day so that we could all leave by 6:30. Which brings us to THE LONGEST DAY OF MY LIFE!!

On Wednesday I had to get up at 5 and then start driving to Burlington at 6:30. We got to Burlington at 8:20 so about a two hour drive. Then we were in a meeting from 8:30 to 5:00...do you know how long of a meeting that is? I will just tell you THAT IS AN EIGHT AND A HALF HOUR MEETING!!! Don't get me wrong it was a pretty good meeting and I enjoyed seeing other missionaries there. The problem is that after the meeting I have to drive another two hours to get back home! Let’s just say I was not looking forward to it. So we are driving along dealing with regular traffic then we get on to the 403 and everything just comes to a dead stop. Nobody is moving at all and it is just miles of brake lights. I didn't touch the gas pedal for at least an hour that was how long we were stuck in this mess. There was a wreck that happened so it slowed everything down. Finally got passed the wreck and drove a little bit more to find out that they closed down the 403 due to another wreck and they were making people get off at the exit. So what was supposed to be a 2 hour drive ended being A FOUR HOUR DRIVE BACK!!! We literally doubled the time that it was supposed to take to get back home. As soon as we got back to the apartment I crashed because I was so flippin’ tired. I honestly hope that I don't have to go through another day like that.

Thursday we did some service at the Salvation Army and then we went out to do some more trimming and weeding of peoples yards. After that we had some dinner with a couple of members and then had a bible study that night.

Friday was a pretty regular day just went out and taught some lessons and visited people that we haven't seen in a while.

Saturday we did more service at the Salvation Army, it was pretty funny. There is an old Mexican lady named Justina that works there and she came up to me and asked me if I was Spanish. I told her no I don't think so and she said that I look like I am Spanish so she is going to call me by my Spanish name now. So every time I see her now she says "Hey Gonzalez!"  Kind of weird but funny at the same time. I guess I am just too exotic looking.

Sunday was good, went to church and listened to some great speakers.  I was able to socialize with everyone and see how their week went and what they have coming up. After that we went out and visited some more people and played some darts at Bill's place. Once again winning like always, I am just unstoppable! I’m seriously considering going pro at this point so I can have some sort of competition. (hahaha)

I think that is about it for this week. I love and miss you all. Have a good rest of your week!!

--

Elder Murray

coleton.murray@myldsmail.net

A WEEK OF SERVICE AND BURGER KING

GOOOOOOOOOOODDDDDDD MOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRNNNNNNIIIINNNGGGG!!!

So glad I get to talk to y'all again and tell you about my week. Not a whole lot happened this week so I apologize in advance for the weak sauce email your about to read. But without any more delays let us just get right on in it!!

Last week on Monday we went and dropped Elder Shaffer off at the mission home so that he could weigh his bags and get ready to fly out in the morning. After we dropped him off there was a two and a half hour drive back home so that was pretty much the entire day. LONG DAY. 🚙

On Tuesday we went to district meeting which is always fun, than we did some service at the Salvation Army. We had extra time for P day so we went out and took care of some things and went to Bill’s house to have dinner and play darts. As always I destroyed everyone's dreams with my amazing skills.

On Wednesday we went to Tilsonburg and worked the area over there. We were able to teach a couple of people and find some other people while we were there. Other than that we were just walking around or driving. Oh yeah I almost forgot, we got yelled at by some Mena knight guy who said that we were brainwashed and that we don't follow Jesus because Jesus didn't drive cars and we do. I know it doesn't make a whole lot of sense but sometimes you just gotta role with it. 😂

Thursday and Friday were pretty normal. We just did mass amounts of service and had Burger King like 3 times!!! The same member took us there three times. Let’s just say that I am not really in the mood for Burger King anymore. The service was going out to the millionaire's house again and doing more trimming for him. I think in those two days I was trimming for approximately 5 hours. I was completely exhausted but I am glad I was able to offer the help. ♔

Saturday the big thing that happened was we played basketball in the evening with the young men and some other people in the ward. IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!!! I was laughing so hard because most of them aren't really ballers but they try to act like it. So I was just swatting every shot that came my way. It was one of the funniest games I have ever been in.  🏀

Sunday was pretty good, got to go to church and see all of those beautiful people. The rest of the day was spent going out and visiting with people and having a delicious dinner at a member’s place.

Monday was kind of a weird day since it wasn't actually our P day, so trying to find appointments and things to do was a little rough. Nevertheless we got it down and were actually pretty busy.

That is all I got for this week! Hope everyone has a good rest of their week. I love and miss you all!!!

--

Elder Murray

I AM SOOOO OLD!!!!

Hey everyone! *read it with the sound of me with a stuffy nose*

Yep sick again...I got a really nasty head cold this time. Trying to survive and not die out here on the mission but some days it is a struggle. Haha just kidding but I hope this passes soon because I am sick of blowing my nose all the time. But enough about me, how are all of you doing? I hope everything is going well and that you are not sick like me. Not too much to write about this week but let us jump right into it!!

Monday was P Day and we went into London to play some sports with other missionaries. It was a really good time. We played basketball and a little bit of kill ball. Of course as always I just straight up dominated in those two games, well not exactly but I wasn't terrible either so somewhere above average would be a good description. After that we went to a members place and had some steaks! Absolutely delicious so grateful for the celestial family that they are.

Tuesday we went over to the Salvation Army and volunteered over there a bit. Then we went to Tilsonburg because we actually cover that whole area now. We met with some people and introduced ourselves and we will be going over there at least once a week to help with things. We also went to a place called Mill Tales Inn for dinner that night and it was divine! Really good fish there and they make this chocolate cake that is to die for! So glad we went there to experience it.

Wednesday was a pretty ordinary day except for the fact that it was MY BIRTHDAY!!!! It started off with us going to a member’s home at 9 in the morning to help her blow up balloons for her kid’s birthday party that they were having. We blew up pretty close to 50 balloons while we were there. After that we went to a district meeting and talked about how we can do better at finding people to teach. Then we went to another member’s home for lunch. We had turkey burgers with Doritos, it was pretty freaking delicious if I do say so myself. Then Elder Shaffer had a chiropractor appointment in London so we went to that and I sat in the waiting room for a bit, reading the Guinness Book of World Records. It was pretty interesting. There was a guy that held the record for being on fire the longest and also the record for being dragged behind an ATV the farthest while on fire. Some pretty weird records to hold but hey I am in no place to judge. After that we went and helped a member in the ward move some stuff out of his basement. That was pretty fun. We got to see cool stuff that he had down there like paintball guns, photos of his trip to Italy and all of the lawn statues that he makes. After that we went to Bill’s place and he did a special dinner for my birthday. We also played some darts and I won as always because nobody can stop me!!!! Overall it was a pretty good day for a birthday.

On Thursday we went back to the millionaire’s house so we could help him with some things. I ended up trimming his yard for another two hours again so I was pretty exhausted for the rest of the day. Then we just did the regular missionary thang, did some planning and went to drop by some homes. That night we also had a bible study that went pretty well.

Friday and Saturday nothing too exciting happened, just the regular stuff that missionaries do. Meeting with people and giving some service.

Sunday was pretty good. In church some really good talks were given and there were really good lessons as well. After that we went around visiting families because it was Elder Shaffer's last day in the mission. We are taking him to Brampton today and he will be flying out tomorrow morning. I’m sad to see him leave but he is a really awesome guy and deserves to go home to see his family and enjoy his vacation to Hawaii. Freaking guy I am so jealous but I love being out here on the mission and continue experiencing so many things.

That is about it for this week I love and miss you all!!

--

Elder Murray

THE THREE MUSKETEERS!!!!!

HEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!

Hope everyone’s week is going good and that you are surviving life! My week was pretty good and full of excitement since there are three of us now. So let us jump right on into the week!

Monday was really good. We went to London and had a Zone talent show!! It was super fun. A group of us sang a parody of “What Makes You Beautiful” by One Direction except ours was “What Makes You Celestial”. I am not that great of a singer but I had a really good time. There were some great talents that were shown. Somebody did a piano and guitar duet that was absolutely amazing and there was more singing and funny skits. We also had pizza there with some ice cream so as always super good food but I was still suffering from the food poisoning so I didn't have much to eat. Really good day though all around. We went to Woodstock that night so we could get up in the morning and get to transfers. Elder Kohl is actually in Woodstock and he is going home soon so I got to see him one last time before he takes off! It was great to talk to him again and share a couple of laughs.

Tuesday we went to Brampton for transfers and that was super fun. I got to see a bunch of missionaries that I know and have served with. I saw my last companion Elder Roundy there and I asked him if he could give me a haircut. He said sure so we found the nearest janitors closet and he gave me a quick trim. After that I found my new companion Elder Holden. We got a ride with the Woodstock elders and went back to their area and spent the day there. Elder Holden actually came out to the mission the same time that I did so that is super cool. He is from Arizona and has six other siblings. He played tennis and baseball growing up and has been in the church his entire life. He is a super funny guy and I can't wait to serve with him more! Tuesday night we came back to St Thomas and got ready for the week to come.

Wednesday we were showing Elder Holden around the area and introducing him to the people so he can get familiarized with everything and we also worked at the Salvation Army again.

Thursday was a lot of planning and getting more of Elder Holden's stuff situated in the apartment. We also had a Bible study that night and it was pretty interesting the different things that I learned during that.

Friday we went over to that guy with the giant house and yard again and of course as always he wanted me to trim his yard for him. So I spent the next 2 hours trimming his yard and yet again I didn't get all of it done so I will have to go back and finish the rest of it. I swear I am going to be a pro at trimming by the time I leave this area.

Saturday we went to the Salvation Army again and did some service over there. After that we grabbed a bite to eat at a Mexican place called Bella Jack's and it was freaking delicious!! Definitely going to go back in the near future and grab some chimichangas!!

Sunday I gave a talk in church and it actually went pretty well. Everyone was telling me that I am a great speaker and I speak with such power. I spoke on the importance of Daily Scripture study and the blessings received from doing it. After church we just went around and visited some people to see how they are doing and if there was anything we could do to help them.

Other than that I think that is about it for this week. It is crazy to think that I am going to be turning 19 this week on Wednesday!!  🎂  HOLY CRAP I AM GETTING OLD!!! Time is just flying by, it is going to be weird not being surrounded by family but I know that they will be there with me in spirit.

I hope you have a good rest of you week!! I love and miss you all!! 

--

Elder  Murray

TRANSFER NEWS!!!!!

HEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYY!!!!

So glad I get to talk to all of y'alls again and hear how your week has been. Not a whole lot happened this week so I apologize in advanced if the email is a little short. But let us just jump right on into it!

Monday was pretty fun. We went and played sports as a zone and of course as always I just dominated everyone! Just kidding, not this time. We played chair soccer and I suck at soccer soooo bad so I never stood a chance against them. After that we got back to our area and visited a couple of people and started getting Elder Shaffer packed since he is going home in a couple of weeks. He is getting pretty stressed about it so I am trying to keep him calm the best that I can. He is just super excited to get back home and see his family and I can't blame him for that.

Tuesday I was on exchanges with Elder Martinez from Brazil and he is a super cool guy! We spent the day mowing a lawn, volunteering at the Salvation Army and going out and visiting a couple of people. At the end of the night we went over to Bill's to play a couple games of darts. As always I won the games because nobody can beat the dart king!! I shall not be dethroned!! He put up a heck of a fight though I was getting worried that he would actually beat me for a second. It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed the exchange with him.

Wednesday we had district meeting in the morning and we talked about how to prepare ourselves in the morning so we are ready for the day ahead. It was really interesting. Elder Shaffer has done the best district meetings I have ever been a part of. He has a ton of really good insights and ideas. After that we just did the regular missionary thing for the rest of the day.

Thursday we took a trip to London because Elder Shaffer had an appointment with a chiropractor to see if they could try and fix his back. They made some progress with him but we have another appointment this week to go back and try to see how much more they can help him with it.

Friday and Saturday were pretty regular days. Cool thing on Saturday is that we went to a BBQ at a members place and had some really good chicken!! 

On Sunday I was actually sick all day because of something that I ate at the BBQ😂 We actually ended up missing church because I was so sick. I am feeling better today but my stomach is still quite a bit sore. I am sure that I will be able to make it out today okay.

Finally the transfer news is… Both my comp and I will be staying in St Thomas but we will have another guy coming in. There will be three of us for a couple of weeks until Elder Shaffer goes home and then it will just be Elder Holden and I. Should be tons of fun!!!

That's all I got this week hope you all have a great rest of your week, and remember...

ADVENTURE IS OUT THERE!!!

--

Elder Murray

coleton.murray@myldsmail.net