July 6, 2015

Hi Dad,

It was so good to be able to talk face to face last night. It really helped me a lot. I wish I could have recorded some of the things you said. I know you guys are all there to help me and I am looking forward to strengthening my testimony with your help. 

Yeah, Hermana Reyes has been so awesome with me. I know it´s been really hard on her at times, but she is so good. Pres. Boswell also has been so good. I asked him last night if I would be able to keep in contact with him and let him know how I am doing, and he said that he will always be my mission president, that made me feel really good. 

I think the hardest part of all this is that I will have to email all the people from my district in the MTC, and that will be hard because it won't be face to face. But I am definitely going to support them while they are all still out. 

Sis. Brown emailed me and said that they all love me and support me and are excited to see me when I get home, that really meant a lot to me. So tell them thanks for me next time you see them please. 

June 15, 2015 Joy of the Gospel

Hey dad,

Thanks for the scriptures (Helaman 5:45-48 & Proverbs 4:26) and the talk (from John Bytheway). It was really good to be able to talk with you and mom and Lynell on Friday. I am so thankful for all of your support in whatever decision I make. I told this to mom as well but thought you would like to read my words as well. I was walking on Sunday, and I had the clearest thought come to my mind. It is okay to go home. I felt peaceful and content, and knew that it didn't matter what other people thought or said about me going home early. I still want to fast, I am going to tomorrow, but I think that was the answer to my prayers. I have been praying constantly about going home or staying here. And like I said, I felt so peaceful when that thought came to my mind. Before when I have thought about going home, my mind is all over the place and I don´t know what to do, but this just felt right. I know that you and mom will support me no matter what, and I thank you for that so much. Pres. Boswell said he won´t force me to stay here, and I know that he will respect the decision I make. I feel good about this dad, like I said, I will still fast about it, but I think I have finally gotten an answer to my prayers. I love you so much.

Kayla

June 15, 2015

Hey mom,

Saturday night we had the adult session of stake conference, and I understood almost everything. Then Sunday morning we had the general session. I'm pretty sure I understood basically everything, just maybe some words here and there. It was really good. Hermana Reyes and I taught a lesson with an investigator Saturday, Vanessa. It was the third lesson Hma. Reyes has had with her. This time, Reyes talked about repentance and I talked about baptism. Hma. Reyes invited her to be baptized, and she said yes. 

Mom, I have been thinking a lot after I talked with you guys, and I am so thankful that you are all so supportive of whatever decision I choose. Yesterday, we were walking back to Hermana Roxana's house, and I had the clearest thought I have ever had. It was along the lines of, it is okay to go home. I felt totally at peace with it, and I wasn't nervous about what people would say or think. I would still like to fast about it being an answer to my prayers, I was thinking of fasting tomorrow, Tuesday. I know that everything will be okay. I just want to be assured that you and dad the rest of the family will understand if I decide to come home. I have been praying about it constantly for a week. I think yesterday I finally got my answer. Thanks for understanding everything mom, I love you so much. Kayla

June 8th - First week in "the field"

Hey mom,

I'm in Surco. I think it's closest to the border of the Lima South mission. Things are going alright. Our pensionista, Roxanna, is pretty cool. She makes really awesome food. Usually I feel like I'm going to puke on the table because there is so much, but then we have to walk somewhere and it settles down. My spanish is getting there, I can understand quite a bit, but they talk so fast it takes me a minute to catch up. It's frustrating because I'm really slow in responding. 

There are tons of people and cars. We walk a lot, to people's apartments or to the church building or Roxanna's. We take a bus or van a lot too, if we are in a hurry. 

Well, I don't really have much to say. Thanks for emailing and the pics. Love and miss you.

Kayla

June 2, 2015

Mom, I have a few minutes to email home really quick. I am in my first area, Los Sauces. My companion is Hermana Reyes, she is from Chile and is so nice. This is her first time training so she is kind of nervous, but she is seriously so good. She knows english, but will talk in spanish unless I don't know a word. 

I had the roughest time last night. Roberts and Moss left at 6:30 and I knew all day that I was going to lose it, and as soon as we hugged and she left, I started bawling. It was so bad. I didn't think it would be that hard, since we only really knew each other for 4 weeks. But I love her so much. 

My teacher Hermana Cèpeda lives in my mission, I don't think she is in this area though. But I am so excited to be able to see her sometimes, and a couple other really awesome teachers. Well, I'm going to go, Hermana Reyes is just waiting for me, she emailed yesterday. My p-days are now on Mondays, so talk to you then! Love all of you!

Kayla

May 27

Hey guys!

So this is my last p-day in the CCM! So crazy. I seriously can't believe how fast the time has gone here. Roberts and I finished our last lección with our ¨investigador¨ Rodrigo. We have one more lección with Maria, and this Friday we have orientation for our fields. Today we went to the temple, the distribution center and the temple store. We bought two big pictures for our teachers and we are each giving them a little something and our testimonies in Spanish. I'm so excited to give them our gifts, they have been the best teachers ever. And Hermana Cépeda lives here so there is a good chance I could be in her ward sometime during my mission.

So last night we got to watch a live devotional from the Provo MTC, and when it said who was going to be speaking (Elder Holland) we all cheered. It was so funny. It was such an awesome talk, blew my mind. I don't know if you can access it from the internet but you should definitely try. He talked about your own converision and a lot about opening your mouth and spreading the gospel. He said that the most powerful tool we have is our tongue, that all Satan wants to do is to stop us from sharing our message. He read the first vision and emphasized the part where Joseph Smith recounts how he was siezed by some power and "had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak" and then "but, exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy..." He challenged us to find as many scriptures that we can where someone opens their mouth and truth is told. It was such an awesome talk, I really hope you can find it.

There are so many more north americans here, and in a month or so it will be full to capacity here. I am definitely glad that I was here when there wasn't that many people. It's easier to know most everybody.

So funny story, and she would probably hate me for telling this story, but it's too good. Adams, Osai, Roberts and I were sitting in our classroom a couple days ago in between things and we were laughing really hard about something and then (name removed to protect identity) accidentally farted, and I was crying from laughing so hard. It was the funniest thing. Two other elders were in the room too and they have had to have heard it. Good times.

So this last Sunday we had music class, which was learning how to lead the music. Roberts and I were on the front row on the edge, it was our district and all the latinos\latinas. It was probably the funniest thing, because they don't know how to lead. So a latina woman was up at the front and her husband was down amongst up. We had to lead along to a song and the guy would be walking around and leading very dramatically and the poor latinas next to me were having a really rough time, the guy would come right up to me and wave his arm around, clapping super loud on the down beat, because there were latinas behind me. And then Roberts was leading every possible way she could, so we are both cracking up, and the whole time.....they are filming us. Yeah, we definitely thought they were just taking pictures, so probably every time the camera is on me, I'm staring straight at it. After that, we had a mini language class. They are really emphasizing the latinos to learn english, and they have this whole book program for them so they can recieve a certificate. So we taught them how to say a scripture in English. We taught them Proverbs 3:5-6. We were divided up into four groups, and then smaller chunks, I was with two elders. We taught them how to say it and then we all came together and each group said their part, it was so fun. And of course they are filming this whole thing too. I think they are showing it to the other foreign MTCs.

Oh, good news, I have a new nickname, really just more added on to it. When I play volleyball, I make a lot of noises, especially when I serve. According to Moss I sound like Scrat from Ice Age. I am now Murrscrat. How flattering.

Well, that's about all I can think of, next time I email you I will be in my first area and with my first Latina compañera! Love you guys, have a great week!

Hermana Kayla Murray

May 20, 2015

Hola padres! Yep, I'm now an Avansado! It's so crazy, only two more weeks in the CCM (MTC)!

You can send pics of anything, the dogs, the yard, you guys doing something, it's just nice to see what's going on at home. I can't believe Josh is 16! So exciting.

Proselyting was so cool! We went about 30 minutes away to Manchi, in my mission. It's the poorest area. We were driving out of this area and past a couple of huge hills and then boom! Brown everywhere, so much dirt. And the houses,...It's just a bunch of deserted looking cement and wood buildings, a ton of them and there is only one paved road. There are dogs everywhere, poop, and garbage. My shoes were so dirty by the time we were done. I was with two latina Hermanas and a 17 year old member. We had three people we had to go and see and then we just contacted everyone we ran into. The people are so nice and everyone except one person talked with us. We went into one guys house and talked with him for a while. I honestly didn't get everything they talked about. Every time we talked with someone I would either introduce us as misioneras or testify sometime during our talk. We gave away so many pamphlets, a ton of cards with the mormon.org website and two libros de mormón. The second to last woman we talked to, we were having a really good conversation, and I was testifying about the Book of Mormon and said something about how we have prophets just like the bible does, and she interrupted and asked something about that. Hermana Sanchez took over and was showing her the pics in the front of the Book of Mormon. While I was talking another woman was walking by and looking at me and then stopped. She asked Hermana Carrera if I was from estado unidos. So we went over and I started talking to her, she said good afternoon, and was so happy to meet a north american. We talked with her a little bit about the Book of Mormon and then gave her one, then she left and kept saying ¨bye bye¨! It was awesome. Since I'm white I will be able to get into a lot more houses and talk with people because most of them have never seen a white person before. I had so many cool experiences, but I can't write them all down.

So I have been reading the Book of Mormon, because I have never read it all the way through before. I am in 3 Nefi. I am learning so many things here! A couple of mi escrituras favorita: 3 Nefi 1:17, Helaman 14 hasta 16, and Helaman 5. There are so many more, but those really stand out right now. The scriptures are so cool!

I miss the last avansados so much! They were awesome. Hermana Barrera, su companera, Hermana Paz, was from Argentina. They pronounce the ll sound as a sha, instead of ya. It's so cool. Anyways, Murray is hard to pronounce for most latinos because the u and a make a different sound. They say, moo-wry. If that makes sense. So Hermana Paz kept asking Barrera how to pronounce it, and so everytime she saw me she would, not yell, but say really loud, Murray! It was so fun and I definitely miss it.

I attached the pictures of a granadia that I bought today at Metros. Enjoy it. And some other fun pics.

Well, I probably forgot a bunch of stuff, but ...... Love you guys!

Hermana Murray

Granadia

Yum!! Tastes better than it looks...

Slurping it down.

Outside the temple.

Pday fun.