Hello, everyone, and a Happy New Year!

I just want everyone to know that I have the best family in the world, and only a mission would keep me away from them for 18 months. I love them so much, and I'm grateful that we can be together forever if we stay faithful. They also informed me that of the 4 of us Murdoch kids that have served missions, I have the most boring emails ever sent ;)

So this week I have a fun mission story for you :)

Last week Sister Seamons and I went to visit a woman we're teaching. Her brother was in the hospital, so we went to go support her. We got there and found the waiting room filled with people. She introduced all of them... turns out that she has 11 siblings :)

We sang "Away in a Manger" to them, taught them about Jesus Christ and His restored church, then passed a stack of cards around the room and invited them to learn more. It was so much fun! I felt like one of the missionaries from years ago, teaching to a room filled with children of God.

To redeem myself, I will tell a short one. Yesterday a 9-year-old girl we're teaching came to church for the first time. She suddenly got very nervous, and extremely stubborn, right before Primary. She absolutely refused to go anywhere. I was kind of wishing that I could carry her right inside, because I knew that she would love it if she would just try.

Much like the GPS story, the Spirit reminded me, "What do you want her to remember?" I knew that I'd rather have her remember walking inside, not being dragged inside. Long story short, what actually got her inside was a 3 Musketeers from her teacher - good, old-fashioned bribery :) It was a great "parenthood" lesson for me to learn before I actually become a mother. Guess what? She LOVED it! I knew she would...that sounds like a mom, too, doesn't it? :)

I love you all! I pray that you have a wonderful new year and that it's filled with tender mercies, blessings, and lots of happiness!

Sister Murdoch

Hello, everyone!

Remember how I had asked for prayers for the Christmas conference? I have one of the funniest stories to tell you :)

We were carpooling with some other Sisters in the area, and it is about a two hour drive to the place we had the conference. We asked the Sisters if they had put in the address. They replied that yes, they had. Both Sister Seamons and I wanted to check the address, but decided to trust them instead.

We drove the two hours, and I was getting more anxious the closer we arrived to our destination. Sister Seamons had made a couple comments about how we had passed certain places and it didn't seem right, but the Sisters insisted that we follow the GPS. So we trusted them again.

By the time we reached our destination, we would have been just in time to practice before the conference... but the wrong address was in the GPS! It turns out that we went into the Indianapolis mission... two hours away. (For the record, I like the Cincinnati mission better!) We missed all of the musical pieces and arrived at the conference just before lunch, which is definitely one of the best parts ;)

Haha! I had worried all week about the songs. I practiced several times a day and dreamed about them, too. I'll be honest: at first I was really frustrated. I wondered why we had trusted them so much and thought that we should have done things differently.

Then the Spirit asked me, "How do you want these Sisters to remember this experience?" After that thought, it was much easier to laugh. We took pictures and recorded the event so that we'll never forget it.

I learned several important things, and I want to share two of them with you:

1 - It's important in the moment, sometimes even critical, to respond properly. Your reaction makes all of the difference in somebody else's life.

2 - We need to always be checking ourselves on what our destination is. If we have the wrong address, then we need to change it.

I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior when we're on the right path and fighting to stay on or on the wrong path trying to find the right one. I love you all and wish you a Merry Christmas!

Sister Murdoch

Hello, everyone!

Again, my time is drawing to a close. This needs to be short.

Sister Seamons and I have had so many adventures, from ministers trying to convert us, to families with kids running around and screaming. Heavenly Father loves all of His children, and I'm grateful to be here to serve many of them.

I'll be accompanying a few Elders at our Christmas conference on Thursday... prayers on our behalf would be greatly appreciated :) I'm excited and terrified at the same time. Being a missionary at Christmas time makes the calling feel more special and the season more magical.

I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior. He is our friend, support, and advocate. He saves us every day. I love Him, and I know that He loves each of us.

Love you all! Have a wonderful week!

Sister Murdoch

Sister Yokum (MTC Companion), Sister Murdoch, and Sister Seamons (current companion)

Hello, everyone! My time is short, so I just want to share my testimony.

I love our Heavenly Father. He is my best friend and I know that He hears all of our prayers, spoken and unspoken. I love Jesus Christ. Without any doubt, I know that He is the Savior of the world, our King, our friend, and our strength.

Joseph Smith is the prophet who was called to restore the full and complete organization of Christ's church. There is a prophet on the earth, Thomas Monson. I know that by following his words we will be blessed beyond measure.

The Book of Mormon is the word of God. It brings us closer to our Savior, and it brings peace to our souls. In it we find revelation for us and our families today.

These things are true! I love you all, and pray that you remember that I know this labor of love I help with is truly the work of the Lord. You make a difference in someone's life. Share the gift with everyone you can.

christmas.mormon.org

Love you!

Sister Murdoch

Happy first day of December, everyone! It's already off to a fantastic start for us :)

On Saturday, a woman we've been teaching got baptized. Her name is Darlene Arellano. Her daughter joined the church at the age of 18 many years ago when she lived here. She wasn't active for years, but started coming back and referred her mom to us.

Darlene has so much faith, and it's very childlike. She has been such a treasure to us. She loves Heavenly Father and wants to do good and be good. (Yes, to all of my silly family members who love to tease me, I just said do good)  :) We sure love her!

We went to the festival of trees in downtown Fort Wayne with our Sisters from Kendallville and Fort Wayne earlier today. A couple Sisters from our ward drove us there. We had a blast looking at the trees, eating donuts, and then going out to lunch. I love Christmas time!

This was a very difficult week for me personally. I have had more opposition than ever before, but I've also had more grace. I know that Heavenly Father hears our prayers and knows the desires of our hearts. He loves us and He wants us to be happy. He has heard my prayers countless times and I've seen His hand guide me. I love Him, and I'm grateful for His mercy and love.

I pray that you all have an experience this week that will remind you of God's grace. He loves you! I love you all, too. Have a wonderful week!

Sister Murdoch

Check out this video about our Savior, Jesus Christ: "He is the Gift"

www.mormon.org

    "You'd better believe that we gave Santa a card :)" (pass along card)