Warm, Yet Pleasant

Iowa Wildflowers in the Springtime

Hey, all!

Yeah, the sudden transfer of Elder LeFevre was perplexing to both him and me, but it sounds like he's doing well in the Winter Quarters Singles Ward.  Elder Bywater is wonderful; he's quiet, dry-humored, and hard-working.  He's been out for about 15 months and was transferred from Hastings, Nebraska.  We're trying hard to get service opportunities established among the non-for-profit organizations in the area.  I don't need anything right now, I'm feeling alright, and Iowa spring is warm yet pleasant.  It's wonderful to hear the news from back home and see pics; it sounds like everyone is doing well and everyone looks great.  Naomi has a birthday card coming her (actually, your) way soon; please forward it to her.  We, the Glenwood missionaries, gave talks and bore our testimonies on the importance of missionary work this past Sunday.  I really appreciate Dad's email and I thank him for those words of wisdom.  Unfortunately, our investigator dropped us; he's living in a toxic environment and his enthusiasm for learning more about the Gospel is waning.  All we can do is pray at this point.  Thankfully, we've found some potential investigators and are trying to make contact with some young single adult less-actives.  I texted the Formhals about the Mothers' Day call and I'm still waiting on a response. 

I appreciate your words of wisdom, kindness, and love.  I look forward to this every week.  I love you all and I hope you have a terrific week and I appreciate your continued thoughts and prayers.  I extend mine in return.

Love,

Elder McMurray

Moving On...

Hey, all!

It was great to hear the news from back home.  Quite a bit has happened to me this past week: in an almost totally unexpected turn of events, Elder LeFevre got transferred.  He's in the Winter Quarters YSA Ward in Omaha with Elder Clark, who I've heard is a good missionary so I think that he'll be fine.  We were both shocked when we found out the news, but we had a good parting.  I'm now with Elder Bywater (like I said, I'll send some pics soon); he's a really good guy, originally from Twin Falls, Idaho but his family recently moved to Helena, Montana and he lived there for awhile before coming out.  He's been out for 14 months and was transferred from Hastings, Nebraska in the Grand Island Zone.  As you saw from the pics last week, Elder Van Wagoner and Elder Daines have, "died" or finished their missions.  Elder Chappell is still our Zone Leader (he's got one more transfer) and Elder Linford is the new ZL.  He's only been out for about 7 1/2 months and he's already been a District Leader, Trainer, and Zone Leader in Sioux City.  He seems alright in the little time I met him, and Elder Bywater is our new District Leader.  I think that we'll do well. 

We're teaching our investigator tonight with a member and we hope and pray that it'll go well.  He's still interested and he's already been taught the first lesson, and we're hopeful that he'll make the decision to get baptized. 

We're looking forward for more opportunities to learn, grow, and serve in the area of Glenwood and help others do likewise.  I love you all and I thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers and I send mine in return.

Love,

Elder McMurray

Mother's Day

Hey, Mom!

It was wonderful to see you and hear from you as well; I'm striving to stay focused on the work and our goals are realistic but we're also striving to push ourselves, as Preach My Gospel states.  I already sent Marc the thank-you note and your Mother's Day package is on the way as are some pics & a video. (The video never arrived -- it turned out to be too big a file to send.)

Love,

Elder McMurray

Hey, Dad.

It was great to see you and hear from you as well.  I already heard about Grandma M's new orange Subaru...

Thanks for sharing your story about the rainstorm and the baseball game.  Enjoying the moment can be hard, but it's definitely worth it.  We're hoping for a busy week; we're trying to be realistic, but also push ourselves as, "Preach My Gospel" says.

Elder LeFevre and Elder McMurray, Glenwood, Iowa, May 2014

 (sorry about the bad lighting in the photo of my companion and me; I'll try to get a better one in the future)

Our District "mourning" the "deaths" of Elder Van Wagoner & Elder Daines (our District Leader)

Love,

Elder McMurray