Boyd Ashby Murray

In exploring the contents of the boxes I received from Grandma's estate settlement I found this photo of Granddad. It was taken in Salt Lake City about 1936/7 according to the label.

Elder Lobo & His New Camera

Now the MTC has E-mail!!!

Hey everybody! It feels really good to be able to type something. I write so slow that it really hinders my ability to write a comprehensible letter. Anyway, here's the report (you could call it an epistle, is you so desired): Since the last letter, a lot of good things have happened. I'll outline it: Companion Church Temple Class Portuguese Reading the Book of Mormon Practicing teaching Elder Davis and I are getting along really well. On paper, we're polar opposites -- He's from the opposite side of the country, his life came from a completely different direction. He's a very good teacher, but has a hard time with the Portuguese. On the other hand, I have a hard time teaching well, but I the Portuguese is coming very quickly for me. Our district is really good. In our room, there's Elder Davis, Elder Velasquez (district leader), Elder Wallace, and me. We focus very well and we get a lot done. We wake up at 6:15 to beat people to the showers, we go to sleep right at 10:30, and we work really hard during personal and companion study. One thing we've learned is that the Spirit is very sensitive. I don't know if other people do, but I feel it all the time. Knowing this, I try to do as much as I can to keep it with me, obeying all the rules exactly and then some. I trimmed my sideburns this morning, for example, because they were more than halfway down my ear. I know it doesn't sound like much, but doing everything I can to defeat anything that could prevent me from feeling the Spirit does wonders. We're trying to be on time to everything, we're studying, we're staying on task, and we're trying to plan well. Every little thing helps. It's so important, because we can't learn effectively when the Spirit isn't there and we can't teach effectively if it isn't, either. We went to the Provo Temple today to do endowments. It was a really great experience. Elder Davis and I sat in the celestial room and just prayed for about 20 minutes, and I felt the Spirit so strongly. It was great. I even had a much easier time praying in Portuguese, even for that long. I was kinda worried about Elder Davis because he seemed like he was getting discouraged. He has a girlfriend back in Florida, and she sounds like a real keeper. During one of our companion study sessions I asked him about it, and we had a really good conversation and I know I am very blessed to have him as a companion. We keep each other in check really well and make sure we are each doing the things we should be doing. Class is great. We have Brother Christofferson (son of a presidency of the Q of 70) and Brother Hibbert, who is a first-time teacher. They're both really good. Brother Hibbert and I have a much better teacher-student relationship than I think I've ever had. Our class is just our district, so 10 elders only. When people are working on things or when Elder Davis and I finish working on something early, I ask him about Portuguese things I wonder about, like "Legao!" (which is only Brazilian) or which phrase is more common or about the people. I love learning Portuguese. It's coming so naturally and it seems like I remember a lot more than I ever knew. A couple days ago, I read 1 Nephi 8 through 1 Nephi 11/12 out loud in Portuguese while Elder Davis used the computer Portuguese learning program thingy. It was an incredible experience. I wasn't reading it to practice my Portuguese, entirely, but I wanted to know more about Lehi's dream and the interpretation. By the time I had finished reading it, I was losing my voice. However, I felt the Spirit so strongly. I felt like doing anything for anybody and being as patient and humble as possible. It's just like Galatians 5:22. Check that out. I always thought the Spirit was a burning in the bosom kind of thing, which I've had, but I recognize much more easily now that it's a calm sense of extroverted goodness, with a good share of pensive thought and pondering. We've been practicing teaching the first lesson, which talks about God, the Apostasy, the Restoration, the Book of Mormon, and praying to know truth. Elder Davis and I do pretty well, but I feel like we have a long way to go. It's really hard for me to explain something that is so dear to me, so all-encompassing, and so important. I know the Lord really has prepared me for my mission, and if not my mission, then He prepared me for the MTC. I feel like every day is a rough, humbling day, but it's always good. Most of my journal entries start out with something like, "today was a good, rough day." We work so hard and our brains are always so drained by the end of the day, but it's good. We stay so busy. When I'm not sure how I should go about learning how to teach or how to plan or how to study, I study the scriptures or think of my past experiences that the Lord has given me to use for my benefit. For example, my sales experience at StowAway2 was a tough development. For the first month or so, I dreaded every sales call. However, once I had incorporated the sales/teaching about the product into how I thought about it, it made it so much easier. That's what I have to do now. I already have the product knowledge, but I just need the practice of teaching and explaining it to somebody who knows nothing about it. There are volunteers that come in that we practice giving the lessons to, but that seems so artificial to me. As a missionary, it's important to show compassion, but in a practice session, it's impossible for me to fake compassion -- so in other words, I am terrible at practicing teaching. As for all the advice about being humble, I'm glad I got it. Being here, I have realized that everybody comes from different backgrounds, learns differently -- but more importantly, they have different purposes. From Preach My Gospel, I know that every missionary is meant to preach in a unique way, so I have to focus on improving myself and giving advice as charitably as possible. I know the teachers, leaders, and learning material is much more inspired than I am, and I need to build my foundation as a missionary on those things. D+C 11:21 -- definitely true. 1 Corinthians 13, Moroni 7:47. Charity. Thanks for all the letters! Keep sending them. DearElder is great. I'll send pictures today. Forward this to anybody you see fit. Tell the Bishop I'm really glad he's doing better and that our room is definitely Boomer Clean. Somos missionarios. (no accents or anything in the following section) Entao, Eu sou que A Igreja e verdadeiro. Eu sou que o Livro de Mormon e a palavra de Deus. Eu sou grato por tudo que facem voces. Abracos!!! Elder Lobo

Elder Lobo Writes from the MTC

1/19/08

Ola familia,
Greetings from the MTC! It’s great.
Love,
Elder Lobo

Just kidding. It’s absolutely amazing here. I don’t even know where to start. We only write letters on P-day, so this is the first chance.

I got to the MTC just fine – no tears or homesickness or anything remotely like that. I met my companion Wednesday afternoon, and we have been getting along very well since. He is Elder Davis from northeastern Florida, so he has a very strong Georgia/Southern accent. He’s a great elder – very down-to earth and straight-forward. We work well together and plan well. He’s very, very good at playing the piano by ear, especially hymns. He worked on a pig farm one summer, so he is the type of person that has some great stories.

Anyway, learning Portuguese is AMAZING! I absolutely love it! It’s definitely the most beautiful language, especially Portugal Portuguese. It’s coming to me very well. I remember a lot from class and I enjoy practicing pronunciation with Elder Davis as we walk to this and that.

In my room, also, is Elder Velasquez form LA, CA, and Elder Wallace from Grand Rapids, MI. Both are very humble and focused elders. They’re great to work with.

So far in class we have learned how to introduce ourselves, pray, and testify in Portuguese. Thanks to Spanish, going to Brasil, and the Spirit we are all learning so much. And it’s not just the Gift of tongues, either. The spirit helps us be charitable, long-suffering, perceptive, and through.

Nossa professors sao muito boms e aprendemos muito por isso. Eu estou muito feliz de mirar e escuntar deles. Anyway, right now we’re focusing more on memorizing key phrases to fulfill our purpose, como “Eu sei que Deus e nosso pai celestial e que Ele amanos. We’re learning how to pronounce things the right way, which is critical to learning the rest of the language. Dad, Portugal Portuguese sounds better, I’m sorry. J

Onto more trivial things: I sleep well, the food is decent, the weather isn’t horrible, I like my ties, shoes, and socks, the bookstore is great, yeah. I know this letter isn’t very descriptive but I do much better when I type, plus my brain e muinto cansado.

Anyway, I hope all is well. A igreja e verdadeira, e voces nececitara estudar e vivir bem. Prioritize with the least tolerance for idleness and trust the Lord.

Abrasos,

Elder Lobo

Note on the outside of the envelope: I need a bathrobe. Manda-me um bathrobe, por favor. {I will not mention how hard I pressed him to take a robe, but he kept saying “I am not a robe guy, my towel is fine. Moral: listen to your mother!]

Aunt Elaine asked me to post this... :)

Brandon has apparently made it through his first week
of boot camp!
I'm sure he would appreciate hearing from you:

Recruit Cochran, Brandon L.
1st Bn. Bravo Company Plt. 1022
Marine Corps Recruit Depot
San Diego, CA 92140-1022

Love, Aunt Elaine

Another missionary!

Elder Christian Lobo entered the MTC today! :) He was so excited and ready to jump in to the world of missionary work. Please click on the link to our blog (the Ariana and Jeff one) on the right for more pictures and stories. :)

And feel free to write him while he's on the MTC! I plan on keeping his address updated on here. Here's his current address (UNTIL MARCH 18):

ELDER CHRISTIAN DAMON LOBO
MTC Mailbox #299
POR-LIS 0318
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604-1793

My mom said you can go to DearElder.com and send him letters for free while he's in the MTC. You basically type up a letter, send it on the website, and then they print it and deliver it to him in the MTC. Free. Can't beat that!

Broken Record

So we're shooting to have the family reunion on the 5th of July. Now comes the part about the details. What do you want to get out of the Murray Family Reunion 2008? Post your opinion so that everyone can see it.
Boy I'll tell ya, it sure was awesome meeting up with the cousins that came to Aunt Elaine's house. I'm sure we all want to have a similar experience but with as many family members as we can have present. So please post your opinions here and if you are willing to contribute to the effort please contact myself (elezeta4405@frontiernet.net) and between myself and the other cousins that have agreed to help organize this reunion we'll get it all pounded out.
Thanks,
Michael John Murray

Happy New Year!

I hope you all had a wonderful New Years....it's hard to believe that 2008 is already upon us. I hope it can be a great year for us as a family to enjoy each other and the blessings of the Gospel. We are so blessed to live at this time!

I am trying to facilitate the family reunion organizers in coming up with the best date this summer to have a fiesta here in Utah. Aunt Marg and Uncle Jerry will be in Utah around July 4th for a Sharp reunion....since their family is among the more far away, I personally think that arranging something around that time would be great. Any opinions?

Aunt Jane said last year that we need to make some good memories together, and I very much agree. Let's work together to plan something fun this summer! :-)