Monday, March 23, 2015

March 23, 2015 - #Humility

Hello my dear Friends and family!

I don't have much time today, its been a very busy Monday! We went into Chalco to the mission offices to get my Passport and to go change my dollars to pesos, so we took the new sisters that are in our area with us! Hermana Bello is training Hermana Guerrero who is from Texas! She is a hoot and we just laugh so much!! We actually entered the Provo MTC the same date!! Cray cray!!! But it was super fun because we got to go to the markets and buy some stuff! It was great!! They are currently living with us until they can find a house in their area! So we now have 6 hermanas in our Ward!! So crazy!!!

This week was great!! We had an amazing experience the other week, we were humbled that's for sure! So we were visiting with our recent convert Hilda (she is the one that got baptized a couple weeks ago with her husband and son) they literally are amazing! She is like my mom here, my Mexican mom!! Love her so much! We visit them almost every day! It's really amazing the love that we all share! So we were visiting with her and she was telling us about her neighbor Berta, that is extremely sick. She's told us about her before because Hilda is like the best missionary ever and tells all her neighbors about us and invites them to learn more about the Gospel! We've gotten so many references from her! AHHH I LOVE HER!!! 

So Hilda was talking to Berta, and Berta kept saying NO I don't want them to come over I am Catholic (that's what everyone says....until they meet us.... haha).  So this particular night Berta was not doing good health-wise so Hilda ran over and asked if it was okay if we came over and talked to Berta.  She finally agreed, so Hermana Blanco and I went over.  I have never been more humbled in my entire life and I prayed for like an hour that night thanking my Heavenly Father for all the MILLIONS of blessing that I have in my life.  Their front door is a tarp, and you walk in onto their property and their house is a little ways back, it's dirt floors, it's freezing cold, the 4 year old is in bed with a fever and is coughing so hard she is throwing up.  The mom , Berta, is in worse condition.  Basically barely breathing.  We start talking to her and I sit down next to her and put my arm around her and just talk with her trying to console her.  She tells us all the things that have happened in her life... I seriously was tearing up because I couldn't believe the trials this woman has been through.  She said to us "I don't believe there is a God, because if there was, how could He let all this happen to me."  My heart just ached for her, because I just wanted her to have the knowledge that I HAVE!!! And that I HAVE HAD MY WHOLE LIFE!!!  We are so blessed to have this Gospel.  
We called Hermano Pablo and his wife Cristina and they came rushing over to help.  Their son had this same illness before and they knew exactly what to buy and handed over the money and sent Fidel y Hilda to buy it.  No hesitation.  Hermano Pablo is also in charge of "dispensions" (I don't know if that's the Word in English) but it's where the Church provides food and necessities for people in the ward.  Berta's house also doesn't have a kitchen and she cooks all their meals over a fire, which is basically killing her by the second and making her illness SO much worse! So Hermano Pablo organized to bring her gas and a stove to use.  It really was amazing to see them help with no hesitation, and to see the love that God has for this family. 

Oh and i forgot to mention that Berta has 7 kids, and none of them are in school because she doesn't have identification.  Anyways this was such a tender night, and we sat with her and said a prayer, and told her that God IS HERE; and that He LOVES her so much and is showing her that He exists by all these people that are here to care for her!!!  I felt so much love for her and just wanted to help her and her kids.  She makes like 25 pesos a day, which is not even 2 dollars.  Her kids eat like every other day.  It really humbled me and makes me realize the amazing blessings that I have in my life - my incredible family, friends, our house, never going without food, having healthcare, and this amazing Gospel! I really honestly want to know what I did to deserve to be this blessed in my life.  I will never forget this day.

Maria y Clara are both progressing SO WELL!!! Clara is literally amazing and is so excited to be baptized! Maria is really receptive, just hopes that her husband can accept it too!  SO pray for Martin Martínez, that he can open his heart and be willing to make the changes in his life!!

Thank you all for the B-Day wishes! I AM FEELING 22!!! Thanks T Swift for making me excited to turn 22 so I can finally sing this song!! Haha. But for real Thank you all so much!!! 

OH AND WHILE WE WERE AT THE OFFICES TODAY...... THE DHL TRUCK pulled up!!!!! and Yep there was my package!!  So I got it today! Literally a miracle, and blessing from the LORD!!!  I haven't had time to really open it yet and see everything!  BUT thank you so much!  I feel so loved!  Getting mail and packages here literally is like GOLD!!! Haha.

Well, I just want to end this email with my testimony.  I know that this Church is true, with all my heart.  I know that families are eternal.  I know I am beyond blessed to be serving here in San Buenaventura.  I LOVE THIS WARD so much and have so many friends here now.  I know this Gospel changes lives and really is the only way we can be happy here on this earth.  The Lord knows us personally and LOVES us so much and just wants us to be happy!  All we have to do is turn to Him and He will give us the strength that we need to make it through any trial!  The Atonement is SO real!  And is an incredible blessing that we have!  It's a tool that we need to use in our daily lives.  I know and have come to learn that the Atonement is not just for our sins but includes EVERY feeling we ever feel.  Our Savior understands 100% and knows how to comfort us when we are sad, and going through hard times!  TURN TO HIM!!!  HE is always there just waiting! 

I love being a missionary SO much! And have made so many friends here!!  Friends that I will have forever!  I love you all so much and hope you know that I pray for you every day!!!  Stay close to the Lord, and have an amazing week!! 

Until next week my loves!!

Con amor,

Hermana Kitty Murray



March 16, 2015 - Miracles, Miracles, Miracles!

Hello!

We had a fantastic week here in San Buenaventura! 

We took Maria de Rocio to the chapel to give her a tour and when we opened the baptismal font doors she felt the spirit so strong and accepted a date for baptism! End of APRIL!!!!! UNREAL!  We are working with Martin more but he didn't come with us to the church that day! 

We also started working with this lady named Clara Mendez who is unreal to the max! We knocked on her door because we thought a less-active member lived there but turns out they didn't.  We started talking to Clara and she invited us back the next day to learn more about our Church.  We went back the next day and man she's had a rough life!  When she was 5 months pregnant her brother-in-law shot her in the back, but it didn't touch the baby!  They took the baby out and he lived! He is alive today! We invited her to be baptized and she accepted a date for the end of April! We really were just feeling the spirit so much! It was amazing! AND she came to church on Sunday! Literally a miracle!! 

Parker James Murray!!! Or Elder Murray!!! I am so excited for you! NEWWWW YORKKKKK here you come!!!  The mission is seriously amazing! You will love it!!! I can't wait for you to join me out here! 

Sorry I don't have much time today! But know that I pray for you all everyday and love you all so much!  Thank you for your support and your prayers.  I can feel them everyday! This gospel is so amazing and I see it changing peoples lives everyday! We are so blessed to have it! Have a great week!

Con amor,
Hermana Murray

Monday, March 9, 2015

March 9, 2015 - Hi Familia!!

MEOW to my amazing family and friends!!!

We are alive and well here in San Buenaventura! Sounds like you all had a fantastic week! and I hope you enjoyed your weekend in St George Mom and Dad! I am so glad Peaker is doing well with baseball, and I can't believe his call will be here so soon!! The mission is the best! So many miracles everyday!!!

This week we had a ton of appointments fall through, but the Lord blessed us with 2 new families to teach!! We are teaching Martin and his wife Maria Martinez, they are a reference from the Cuevas family! They are so bomb, and so interested! One of their sons died at age 25 and Maria's mom died in December, we taught them the Plan of Salvation and she was just crying saying that in her church they never taught anything about life after this life. It really brought her peace knowing that her son and mom are in a great place right now and that they are being taught this Gospel too! It was bomb, and she said the closing prayer and prayed to God asking Him to tell her if this is something she needed to keep learning and that her heart is open! WE WERE IN SHOCK!!!

OH and guess what we have a menos-activa (less-active) named Andrea Trujillo whose boyfriend is from Canada and guess what he only speaks English! So guess who is getting to teach in English?? HERMANA MURRAY! It is so refreshing, because I can actually say everything that I want! Its so fun, his name is Mark and he is awesome! He owns a marketing business! So we talked about that and I really think he will progress!! It's bomb!!

The other family is a little interesting, it's a grandma and 3 grandchildren. Their mom is in jail right now and she just had another baby....but the baby is with her in jail....not sure how that works...but its Mexico so we just go with it! Haha.  But they seriously are the cutest! The other missionaries before us were teaching them for about 2 weeks and then they got switched and we have gone to her door about 4 times but she hasn't ever been there. But when we visited her this week she was so excited saying "I thought the other missionaries forgot about us!" And she was anxious as to what we were going to teach them that night!!! The boys are SOOOOO cute and so precious!!! 

Something tragic happened this week... We were walking down this street and all of a sudden I felt something weird under my foot and I looked down and ya it was a half-buried cat......I was going to throw up....and cry at the same time! Its leg was half out of the dirt.....and I was standing on it!!!  It was awful.....BUT then sitting next to it was 5 pesos haha! The Lord blessed me with 5 pesos because I had just witnessed something so tragic....cus you all know how much I love cats!!  Oh PS they are everywhere here....but don't worry Mom, I know not to touch them.  The Lord was like here's 5 pesos, I am sorry you had to see that! My comp and I were laughing at that for a while! Haha!

But seriously, San Buenaventura is awesome! I have met so many people that I literally feel like I have known my whole life! I can't imagine not knowing them! I am so grateful for this amazing opportunity that I get to be a missionary everyday!!

Ad YES, I met the missionary whose parents we met on our family vacation in Cabo!!  Hermana Hernandez! She is so cute, I love her!! We always talk about it every time I see her!!!

Well I hope you all have a fantastic week!!! I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH! and can feel your prayers everyday!!


Love,

Hermana Murray


Hermana Murray and Herman Hernadez
 

March 2, 2015 - 1 Month Here in Mexico!!!

Hello Family and Friends!

Wow does time go by fast or what!! I cant believe I have been here for a month! It's so crazy! But it feels like I have been here for forever at the same time! I am absolutely LOVING San Buenaventura! The people I have met I seriously feel like I have known them my WHOLE life!!! It really is incredible! My Spanish is improving everyday! Hermana Blanco has been so patient with me!

THE CUEVAS FAMILY WAS BAPTIZEDDDDD!!!! It was so awesome!! An experience of a lifetime. The baptism itself was a bit disorganized due to some members not really knowing what to do.....they each had to be rebaptized like 2 times haha. But none the less the spirit was SO strong and a lot of people came from the Ward which was awesome! 



Meet The Mormons was just released here in Mexico and we got to watch it as a whole Mission! Which was really cool!!!! 

This week I had to go to Chalco (downtown) to sign my Visa and there was this store that sells American candy and stuff and so we were able to go and buy a bunch of stuff! They didn't have Sour Patch Kids so that was a bummer but they had Twizzlers!!! LOVE IT!!! haha

Hermana Blanco and I are getting along great! We are working really hard and are experiencing miracles everyday! Our Ward is good, but definitely can improve. We are focusing on less-actives right now and really going to try and get them to come back to church! The Lord is always looking out for us and we know we are blessed! 

Sorry I don't have much time today but I seriously LOVE my Mission and am so grateful I was called to serve in the Chalco Mission!!!!! 

I love you all and hope you have an amazing week! LOVE YOU!!!!

- Hermana Kitty Murray






Sunday, March 1, 2015

February 23, 2015 - MIRACLES!!

Hello Family and Friends!!!

We received the biggest miracle this week and it was just amazing!! 

So the Cuevas family is getting baptized this Tuesday! But they have to get married first.....no one here is married!!!!  They went into the city to see about the process for getting married and they were told they would have to wait 15 days before they could get married, meaning we would have to change their baptism date. BOOO!  The 24th is special because it is Fidel's birthday!! So we were super bummed.  We talked with our Bishop and we just didn't seem to think it was going to work for the 24th. The bishop said he would check with some people, he got back to us and said they can get married TUESDAY MORNING!!!! and then be baptized Tuesday NIGHT!!!!!! Seriously UNREAL!!! And it was going to cost half as much as we thought! So everything as of now is good to go for Tuesday! I am so excited for them and just love them so much!!!! I will definitely take a bunch of pictures and send them!!! BUT for real the Lord is so aware of everything in our lives and helps us in so many ways! HE made this miracle happen and we couldn't be more excited!!!

Last week we went to this members house and she legitimately had 17 cats!! HAHAHA - I WAS DYING!!!! 
Fany, a 17 year old young woman in the Ward, comes on splits with us a lot.  She was with us and she is SOOO afraid of cats and was dying!!! I couldn't stop laughing!!! It was the funniest and most awesome thing ever!!! Literally 17 cats!!! haha. But i loved it! Next time I go over there I will take pictures! UNREAL! and they all have names! You all know I was in HEAVEN!!!!!!

I have become an English teacher as well. Everyone here asks me to help them with their English, so during a lot of our visits I help the kids with their English homework! And I am helping my companion learn some English too! English is so complicated!! Haha.

But really this past week was great! We taught a lot of people and saw so many miracles! I am so grateful to be a missionary in this time and be serving here in San Buenaventura! I love it so much and know I am blessed everyday!! Being a missionary is not easy, but it is so worth it when people see the changes that they need to make in their lives! The Lord loves us so much and has given us a way that we can return and live with our Padre Celestial and Jesús Christo again! I love this Gospel so much! And I am so grateful for all the love and support I have! I can feel your prayers everyday! I love you all so much!

Have a great week,

Hermana Murray


Hermana Murray 411

We asked Kiley to answer some specific questions about where she lives, what the food is like, etc, so we could get a better idea of what her life in Mexico is like!

I live in Cerada Arculco San Buenaventura. Our chuch is in Ixtapaluca its about a 15 minute drive

How's the food? Do you do your own cooking, or do you have someone that cooks for you? 
The food is good! We eat with a member everyday at 2 pm, it's different here because their biggest meal is at 2 pm! But we are so blessed with amazing members and they have been feeding us great! The weirdest thing I have eaten so far is pig skin....which I didn't like.  They dry it and eat it kind of like a chip.  They also soak it in water and then eat it as meat for the tortillas which I basically gagged, but just had to eat it! Haha.  Aside from that, really everything else has been great! I haven't really been sick at all!  So thanks Mom for the probiotic, I am sure that's helping a lot!

How about your laundry, do you have to do your own, or do you hire that out to someone?
Our neighbors, the Angeles, they are seriously THE BOMB!!! They are the ones that own a Papeleria, which is like a paper goods store, and they have computers so they let us use their computers for letters. They also have a washer so we do our laundry here, its so nice, we are so blessed! They are the best family ever! Their kids LOVE us and are adorable, I will take a pic with them this week and send it!

How far are you from the Mission office? 
We are about 20 minutes in Taxi from the Mission Office.

Do you have some kind of Preach My Gospel program that you have to learn and then pass off to your companion or DL?
No Preach My Gospel program, just personal study, companionship study, language study, and a program called The First 12 weeks.

Are there any missionaries there that you know from home? 
There is an Elder Zabriski whose family lives in Charole's Ward, and an Elder Parker who is Julie's next door neighbor!  Small world!  Hermana Sánchez, one of the other sisters that serves in San Buenaventura, is from Springville and we have some mutual friends which is cool!

So how was church yesterday?  Did they invite you to bear your testimony in one of your meetings, and if so, how did you do? 
Chuch was great! I haven't had to speak yet or anything so that's been good!

How is the language, are you able to understand ok? 
I am actually doing pretty well with the Spanish! I understand almost everything! Speaking is a little more difficult but it's coming a long!

How does the money work, did they give you a type of debit card that gets loaded with money each month, or do you have to get pesos to pay for things?
Yep exactly, they gave us a debit card that they load each month so we just go take out all the Pesos each month. We have a Walmart pretty close to us so that is nice! We went there last week!

February 16, 2015 - WEEK 2 Complete!

Hello my amazing Family and Friends,

Life here in San Buenaventura is going well! Hermana Blanco and I are getting along well! I am starting to feel more confident in my Spanish so now I am starting to joke around in Spanish.  The first few days I hardly said anything haha, but now my companion can't get me to shut up haha! She is great and has a lot of patience with me. 

We taught the Gomez Fraga family and the Cuevas family this week! The Cuevas family is going to be baptized next Tuesday, February 24th! SO exciting! They are the bomb and are so awesome and so excited about the Gospel! The Gomez Fraga family is progressing each lesson, but they want to know more before they commit to being baptized!

Last night all of the Hermanas in the mission went camping! Haha weird I know! We went to this little campground place that is about an hour and a half away from San Buenaventura and it was really fun! I got to know a lot of girls and just had a blast!

OKAY I am in Mexico and it should not be cold! But seriously it is FREEZING!!! I wear my coat ALL the time and sweaters! I didn't know it was going to be cold! Haha.  And I had a terrible cold last week but am feeling much better this week!

Still no hot water in our apartment, but we go over to the Angeles every morning to shower with their hot water! HOT WATER BOOOOYAHHHH!!!! Haha. It really is the best thing ever!

A day in the life of me goes something like this:

6:30 - Wake up
7:00 - 8:00 - Get ready
8:00 - 9:00 - Personal study
9:00 - 10:00 - Companion study
10:00 - 11:00 - Language study
11:00 - 12:00 - Study "The First 12 Weeks"
12:00 - 1:00 - Visit someone
2:00 - 3:30 - Eat with a member and share a message
4:00 - 9:00 - Visit peees
9:00 - Plan for the next day
10:30 - Go to bed!

I absolutely love being a missionary and LOVE the people I have met here in San Buenaventura! The Gospel is SOO true and we experience miracles everyday! Teaching about the Restoration of the Gospel is such a blessing and telling families that they get to be with their family forever is amazing! I am so grateful for my Savior and the love I feel here! Thank you so much for all your prayers and support I can truly feel them! I love you all so much and pray for you everyday!

Love,

Hermana Murray








February 9, 2015 - VIVA MEXICO!! and HASHTAG Culture Shock!!

Hello Family and Friends!!!

Mexico is so awesome!! I am serving in the San Buenaventura area! The people here are amazing and our ward is so amazing! Members are always SOOOO willing to come out with us to visit investigators or less-actives. My companion is Hermana Blanco and she is from Peru, she has been out about 5 months. She is really great! Its a little difficult because she doesn't speak ANY English! So ya sometimes there is a language barrier but we usually can get around it! Haha.  She is so nice and so sweet.  I am pretty sure I am like a solid foot or more taller than her. But ya we are doing awesome!!! 

Hermana Blanco and I, she is so little, I could probably carry her in one of those baby carrier things all day.

We are both new to the area so we took a couple days to get around and get to know the streets!! Our área is huge! Right now us and another set of sister missionaries are in our ward, but in 2 weeks they are splitting our area and bringing in 2 more sister missionaries! HALLELUJAH! Our area seriously is HUGE! Haha. We walk SOOO much everyday, my feet have about a million blisters on each foot, so thank you Mom for the band-aids and all the first aid stuff! I would be dying without it!! 

The other two sisters we are serving with are Hermana Sánchez she's from Springville and Hermana Boyer and she is from LA California! They are awesome and its nice to have someone to talk to in English, because man do I miss English! Haha.  But I know with time and once my Spanish improves I will be comfortable! 

Mexico is SOOOOO different from Utah.  Our apartment doesn't have hot water, and we had this thing that would heat the water and then we use Tupperware to pour the water on our heads.....but that broke so we are waiting to get a new one haha.  Today our neighbor let us shower at their house! SO I HAD MY FIRST WARM SHOWER!!! and it felt amazing, so all you peeps best think of me when you're taking your hot showers errrryday and know how jealous I am of you!

We have 2 families who are really receptive of the Gospel right now, one family is Fridel and Hilda and their son Omar, they have a baptism date for February 24th!!!! SO AWESOME!!!! The other family, Gomez Fraga, are progressing, but didn't except our invitation to be baptized. We are still working with them! They are really interested in the Gospel though! They really like it!! 

Being a missionary is so awesome and I see blessings everyday!!!! Thank you so much for all the prayers and the support! It means the world to me!! I am so grateful for this Gospel and for the amazing changes it brings to peoples lives!!

Love, 

Hermana Murray



For service, we served at our local Granja! (farm) Haha.  It's the weirdest thing ever but the community loves it. They have SO many animals! ITS CRAZY!


January 31 2015 - Two Days before leaving the MTC for Mexico City!

Hello my amazing family!!

Thank you so much for all of your packages, I am definitely getting a lot of crap from the other missionaries! Haha. They always say "ANOTHER PACKAGE???" Haha. I love it! Now I just gotta fit everything in my suitcases. But thank you guys so much, I feel so loved!

I cannot even believe that I leave for Mexico in like 2 days! Seriously UNREAL!! I feel like I just got here! This week has been so awesome!! The spirit is so strong here! 
So we do this thing called TRC where we practice lessons with an investigator, ours wasn't a member so we were really nervous to start teaching her. Our first lesson with her didn't go great but it wasn't bad either, she just told us all about her life and how her kids all have physical difficulties. She didn't leave us much time to share our whole message with her. But our second lesson with her went SO great!! This lady was born Catholic and would compare EVERYTHING we said to what the Bible says or what the Catholic church teaches, so we were struggling at first, Haha, but once we took a deep breath and just focused we were able to answer her questions. She was very skeptical of the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith, but once we showed her the picture of the First Vision and started talking to her about it everything changed! She just kept saying "bonita, muy bonita" saying how beautiful this picture was. I KNOW she was feeling the spirit and that the Holy Ghost was starting to tug at her heart! It was amazing! And then we had her read Moroni 10:3-5 which talks about praying and finding out for ourselves if this church is true, and she just ate it up! She LOVED that scripture and finally started to understand what we were trying to teach her and that the things we are teaching her are amazing! AND then we asked her if she would offer the closing prayer, (we taught her how to pray the first time we taught her).  When we asked her if she would pray she wasn't feeling it, but after a little convincing she said she would! This lady is like hard core catholic! And so she was kind of skeptical of how we pray, so we just went over the basics, and then she prayed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
Hearing someone pray the correct way for the first time seriously is SO AMAZING! The spirit was so strong it was incredible! That was the last time we taught her, but I really hope that she continues to read the Book of Mormon and that she keeps praying because she is BOMB!!!!! Ahhh!

I have met the most amazing people here! These two sisters Hermanas Organista and Martinez! They seriously are THE BOMB! Like instant best friends! Organista is from SLC and she is going to El Salvadore, and Martinez is from Miami! They are SO funny and we just laugh ALLLLLLL the time! They are in my zone! But I just love them and am sad to leave them but so excited for us to all go out and serve the Lord!! 

I am SO excited to leave for Mexico! It doesn't seem real and I am sure I'm going to be freaking out tomorrow, but I am just so excited!!!!

Thanks for all the love and support! I can feel your prayers!!! LOVE YOU!!!


MTC District






"On Wednesdays we wear PINK!"