April 13 Week 88 - Account too high, Always say your Prayers, Xiong and Jiangs teach Edwin and answer tough questions, Walking and Talking while Car is fixed,

Ok so funny story. So I have been trying really hard to practice saving money on my mission. So I haven't bought a lot. If we go out to eat. I get something really cheap and small. For food from the grocery story, I just buy a lot of different types of vegetables and rice, and try to make Chinese food. So I have saved up quite a bit. Well the church did an audit, and told President to call and ask my about my account because it was "abnormally high." So he told me to just go ahead and spend it, or else they won't give me more money next month. So I am thinking about fast offering a lot of it. Sort of a funny thing to get a call from President for. I hope I can keep up the habit when I get home. I forgot to bring my journal so no day by day play. Here is an interesting lesson learned this week. So last week Elder Dyer and Dalmer were rear ended by an Indian man. So their car was in the shop. Then while it was there they also decided to fix some scratches I put in the front from hitting a bush a couple months ago. I didn't think a little bush could do so much damage. So Elder Dyer took our car and we have had to walk a lot because Elder Carling has no bike. It has been fun. We have talked to a lot of people.

Elder Murray on right at car inspection from Down by Riverside blog

Well one day we go out and I remembered we forgot to say a prayer. We were already out on the street though. I remembered and should've stopped to say one, but for some reason (the evil spirit that teaches a man not to pray 2 NE 32:9) I didn't. Well the rest of the day was completely awful. Appointments all fell through. We got lectured by a misinformed Chinese christian, and then yelled at by a crazy guy. We got home that night sunburned, and really tired. I vowed never to miss a going out prayer again. So the next day we go out, we said a prayer. The day started out about the same. No one wanted to listen. Then all the sudden we found this guy named Mr. Li. He was out smoking in his garage. He was so nice to us, and said we can come back this week! I was so happy. Lesson learned! Ok so update on Edwin Feng. We have brought the Jiangs and Brother Xiong to meet with him the past two lessons. Edwin has asked tough questions. When Xiong was there he asked about LGBT and abortion and Brother Xiong did amazing! He said "well I read in the Ensign" and proceeded to give a perfect answer. Edwin was really impressed. I was too. Brother Xiong is pretty amazing. He should be going to the temple to do baptism for the dead the next two weeks! Then he asked the Jiangs why the church doesn't release an exact transcript of what all the tithing money is used for. The Jiangs just bore their testimony of tithing, and how they saw that all the local leaders were so good and sacrificed so much time with no pay. So they believed that the leaders of the church would not use the money the wrong way. I really am impressed with them! The Jiangs are so solid too. Edwin really liked their answer too! He came to church yesterday. Lawrence Pu got confirmed so that was good for him to see. Alright lets see what else happened this week... that was pretty much it. Most of it was walking around talking to people on the street. It is tiring, but also kind of fun. It is like a new challenge everyday. It is fun trying new ways to approach people or navigate to talking about the gospel. I love it. I am really trying to live up this last couple of months!!! Ok well that is all this week! I love you guys and wish you the best! ILY -Elder Murray

April 6 Week 87- Last Mission Field General Conference, President is looking out for our future...use good grammar, Long Ge and Shuai drop, Edwin, 1000 year old egg and talk to Everyone

Conference was great! I was sad it was my last one. It is really fun watching conference as a missionary! I brought my notes so I could remember what I liked the best. I really liked how Elder Parker told us our spirits can be totally healed with no scars. What a great blessing that we don't have to live forever with scars from past sins, we can be fully healed through the atonement! Lots of encouragement to get married. All the missionaries were a little freaked out with how much there was of it on Saturday. Do you guys notice that too? Also what was with the yelling during the sustaining. Sort of made me angry. Ok I also liked Elder Renlund when he said that in God's eyes we really aren't all that different. Conference always makes me realize I have a lot to work on, and makes me so grateful for the enabling power of the atonement. There is so much I wanted to write you guys about, but I realize I don't have a lot of time so... just ask me when I get home to share more about conference with you! I will add this though. I really liked Elder Eyring's priesthood session talk about being in touch with the spirit as we do the work of the Lord. It reminded me to be more bold as I am calling people to repent! Ok that is all. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Can't wait to hear all your thoughts. Oh and HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Parker and Dad this weekend. I forgot this morning when I was writing letters, so I promise there will be two letters next week for you guys! This week was pretty interesting. We had a lot of meetings. I wanted to share one experience from them. So President Mullen sent out an announcement through the Zone Leaders, telling us to correct our grammar, and be sure to say Elder Carling and I, not me and Elder Carling. At first when they told us the announcement, I rolled my eyes and thought "President is really critical and picky." Then they told us President wanted to make sure we changed it before we got into job and college interviews. He was just trying to look out for us. I learned that I am the one that needs to be less critical. Lesson learned. We met with Edwin Feng this week. He is so solid. He loved conference, and taught the restoration to his wife. Who unfortunately is not interested at this time. He is golden. What a blessing to find him. He is my first investigator to show up to church the first time with a tie!!! He should be baptized this month! Keep him in your prayers! :) Ok really quick summary of the week. Monday we saw Long Ge. He really likes us, but he isn't keeping commitments and isn't really as interested in learning about church as we thought. It's a bummer, we have to limit how much we go over there until he starts getting more interested. Tuesday we saw Lina. She is doing good. She came to conference as well! She is moving to Alhambra this week, so we have to move her records over there. We also saw Lawrence with Brother Jiang. We talked about recognizing the spirit. It was a really good lesson. Wednesday we had a trainer trainee meeting. English class was ok. At night we saw the Xiong's and Sister Xiong sat in, and she really liked the temple magazine that you guys sent. She left halfway through though. Bummer. Thursday we saw Edwin, and then spent a long long time talking to people on the streets. No success yet, but if I have learned anything it's that you just have to keep talking with EVERYONE, because eventually you will find someone who will listen. Friday we had Zone meeting. It was good, but really long. We had English class at night. We had dinner at the Miao's. They gave us 1,000 year old egg. Look it up, or look at Elder Carling's blog for pictures. I was not a fan of it. It is black, and the yolk is like gooey black tar. I asked how it was made, and they didn't know. Saturday and Sunday were conference. We did see Shuai in between sessions, he dropped us. Oh well. On to find new people this week. We don't have a car for the beginning part of the week for repairs. So hopefully we can find some new people as we are biking around! Sunday night we helped Sister Chen with computer stuff again. Then this other Chinese member that just moved here, invited us in. They were really cool. He was baptized in 1971 and is super cool. It was nice to meet them. There house was really nice inside too. Ok well that is the week. Thanks for the package. The music is great. I love those Reeses eggs. I love you guys hope you all are great!! -Elder Murray

Mar 30 Week 86 - Lawrence's Baptism on Saturday, Dong jie mei and unpaid clergy, Quiet but great District, Atonement and Interview with Christ from Adjusting to Missionary Life, Elder Carling does great job teaching on his own, Guide Dog Quotable

Lawrence's baptism was great! Well attended. He was very excited. It was definitely a place where I could feel the spirit. This random guy just walked into our baptism named Omar. He just saw the visitors welcome sign outside. Pretty neat. We got his number and gave him to the English Elders. I have a picture of the baptism to send. I won't forget!!

Ok well let's see I am trying to remember all that happened this week. On Monday we went to see a former investigator named Dong jie mei. I have talked about her before I think. She loves our church and says she believes it is true. However, she is afraid of what her other church friends will think if she joins ours. We taught about the plan of salvation. Then they asked about the bishop. We taught about how they all are unpaid. They were shocked. They are going back to China for a bit. However we are excited for them to come back. Tuesday we had meetings. My district is so quiet. They are all good workers though. They are a tough crowd though. I tried to make a joke about the new rule "no tank tops on p-day." Obviously it didn't apply to anyone in our district, but they didn't laugh. Awkward. My district is really trying hard to put people on date. I know they will see success. They are all so awesome. Glad I didn't get any trouble missionaries to deal with. After meetings we helped Sister Terry move a bed from one house to another. That day we also saw Lina. Her aunt told her that we support homosexual relationships now. I told her, I haven't heard anything about that. We told her to check LDS.org and let her aunt see what it says on there. The Chinese media makes a lot of speculations. So annoying. We also saw Long ge, and committed them to come to church!!! Wednesday we went out in the morning to the parks to find Chinese. There are so many. We talked to a lot of really nice Chinese people this week. They all weren't interested, but they were nice. I am really working on being more graceful with rejection. I feel like at the beginning of the mission it didn't bug me, but somewhere along the way I picked up a habit of getting a little upset and not very polite about it. I trying to be better now, and it is good. I feel better about what I am doing. They might not accept it now, but at least they have an impression that mormons are nice and not pushy, and speak Chinese :). Thursday we had interview with President. Mine was pretty good. This week I have really been impressed by the scripture in Moroni. "If you have not charity you have nothing." All the regrets I have in life are not being charitable towards people. I feel so much better about life when I treat people the nicest I can, and don' t say negative things. I am definitely far from perfect at it. I am trying though, and I believe that the Atonement can help me change! BTW HAPPY EASTER! There is a new Easter clip from the church "Because He Lives" I like last years better "Because of Him" It makes me think about all the good that Christ brings into the world through the Light of Christ and the Atonement, and his Gospel. I have really gotten a greater understanding of who Christ is and what he has done. I have a lot more love for Him, than I did before my mission. At night before I fall asleep I try to focus my thoughts on Christ. Sometimes I imagine what it would be like to have an interview with him. (I always pick a cool place for the interview like the beach or a mountain) then I just think about what I would say, and how he would respond. It is a relaxation strategy from the "Adjusting to Missionary Life Guide" I highly recommend it. Oh also Thursday I had to take a missionary in my district to the doctor. So Elder Carling went with Brother Miao to a lesson we had set up. He did AWESOME!!! They taught lesson 1, word of wisdom, law of chastity, law of tithing, and set a baptismal date for April 18th!!! We found out in interview Elder Carling isn't leaving till the 21st! He might be a little bummed, but I am happy. He is a good missionary! I think he is Tai Zhong's next AP. The investigators names are Stella and Feng. Friday we went to the temple! So good. I feel the spirit every time I sit in the celestial room. I can wait to go with Parker when I get back. What a neat experience. We went to cafe rio after. I really like their rice cinnamon drink. It is really good. We hit gnarly traffic on the way back. Welcome to California! At night we saw Lawrence one last time before his baptism. Saturday the baptism was great. The rest of the day was ok. Our phone had lots of problems though. We had dinner with the Jiangs. They told me my Chinese was good and that they really liked me. They made me feel really good. I still always try to remember a quote dad sent me though. Something like a really successful person doesn't let criticism bother them too much, or compliment make them too happy. I thrive off of other's praise, so I am trying to work on that as well. Sat we saw the Xiongs, and watched the Easter movie with them. They liked it! Sister Xiong is not willing to take the lessons, but we maybe things will change when Christine their daughter gets baptized in June! So that will be cool!!! Sunday was good. We got in a lesson with the less active Deng family. They are really a good family, but they have different priorities right now. It is hard, but PMG says all we can do is love, and serve. Enduring to the end is a personal responsibility. OK that is all. Notable Quotable. Chinese member to kid. "Don't watch too much TV, it will ruin your eyes" Kid to Mom "Just buy me a puppy, and then when it grows up it can be my guide dog when I go blind. " :) -Elder Murray

Mar 23 Week 85 - St. Patrick's Day, Lina, Sister Yu, Long Ge, Great Members like Miaos and Jiangs, First Oyster, Ivy Jiang Sweet 16

I am still thinking about Parker's call to Korea. I was totally not expecting that. What a cool adventure that will be! So last Monday we found out that the Elder that Schoonmaker was training got his visa and he was off to Taiwan the next day. He didn't even get to stay a week. So they are in a trio over there. Our two visa waiters here are doing good. Elder Carling is an awesome companion. He is really helpful! He comes up with lots of good ideas. Elder Carling has been really good at thinking of good things to do or teach, and I have really appreciated it. We spent Monday night walking around a lot. We talked to a lot of people and set up appointments. However, they were all not chinese people. The Sisters should thank us! Tuesday, St. Patrick's Day, I wore my new green tie! I also gave rolo's to my district. It was fun. Thanks again for the package. Elder Carling has loved that PMG. I wonder if Parker's mission will have something like that? We are working with this guy that we saw on Tuesday called Long Ge. He is an older guy that lives at Tracy and Morgan's. He is mildly receptive. However, he says that we need to take it slow with him. Wednesday we did a lot more walking around parks and talking to people. I am so grateful Eastvale has so many parks! Eastvale is a pretty nice place actually. Right now it feels like Utah's Summer, everything is in bloom. All the flowers sort of mask the cow odor. Did I tell you Eastvale used to be Cow pastures until recently? We saw Lina. She is doing good. We also saw a former investigator named Sister Yu. She is surprisingly solid. We just picked her back up. We invited her to baptism and she said yes. She didn't come to church this week, but I think we can get her to come. Sister Xiong on the other hand says she doesn't have time to meet with us right now. She is really good friends with Sister Jiang, and last night Sister Jiang said she doesn't think she is really interested right now. A bummer, but I am sure she will get dunked one day! Brother Xiong is just too awesome. In fact the Stake President asked him to speak in stake conference on May 3rd. I hope I can come watch even if I get transferred. At night we got dropped by Li. Her mom, hates our church. I am really trying hard to be more Christlike when we get dropped. Thursday we did our planning then we walked around and hung up English class signs. The Miao's had us for dinner that night. They made Bao zi for me. I love them so much. They also gave me a can of this really good spicy fish sauce that goes on them. I try not to look at the sauce as I eat it. It had whole dried little fish, it doesn't smell the best either, however it tastes really good. The Miaos talked with Elder Dalmer and Carling a lot about Taiwan, and then they told their conversion story. They pulled out this big scrap book thing with pictures and notes from missionaries. It was really cool. I think it made the two of them more excited to go to Taiwan. At night we saw Lawrence. He is solid. He passed his interview this Sunday so BAPTISM this Saturday!!! Ya! :) Friday we had a member take us out to a seafood buffet. It was ok. I ate an oyster for the first time. It was good. We hit traffic on the way back though. That was a bummer. We got stood up by a new investigator. We walked around a lot more. At night we had English class, and we saw the Xiongs (not including Sister Xiong). We taught the Easter family home evening. Christine liked it, Peter didn't really get it though. Saturday we cleaned the church, then cleaned the road. Then we went to In n Out burger. That was delicious. Then we went out and got stood up a few more times by potentials. At night we went to Ivy Jiang's sweet 16. All the members + their friends showed up. I went to go leave after one hour, but was convinced by another that it was dumb to leave when we had no appointments and everyone was all at the party. So I tried to talk to all the non members, and investigators there. I don't know if it was the best use of time, but I tried. Sunday we had Lawrence's interview. We also went to try to go meet some other former investigators. At night we saw the Jiangs. They are such good members. I am so glad to have met the members here. They are all super awesome! OK that is my week! I love you all so much! Elder Murray

Mar 16 Week 84 - Elder Carling and Elder Dalmer are our visa waiters, Lawrence, Jack and Maggie, Liu, Sister Huang and Brothe Wu, Chicken Feet, Li and twins

What a week!  Ok well, Monday we went to Chino Hills to go to a family home evening with Jack and Maggie.  Well as we talked with the sister missionaries, we found out that their STL's (the ones who gave us Liu)  had gotten back in touch with him, and were baptizing him that Saturday!  I was happy, but also a little sad they didn't contact us.  When we couldn't get in touch, we asked them to help us call/find him.  So I texted them right there, and got his number, and thanked them for finding him.  After calling Liu, he said he had tried to contact us, but couldn't get in touch, so he called the Sisters.  He also said he wasn't sure he was getting baptized this weekend.  So I set up a time to meet on Wednesday.  

Tuesday I finally used my CPK gift cards to eat lunch in downtown, before we went to the mission office to get our visa waiters.  So crazy.  The meetings were good.  I got an awesome companion.   His name is Elder Carling.  He is from Tennessee.  He is really smart (he got into Columbia in NYC), he also plays rugby.  It is fun being with him.  Elder Dyer got Elder Dalmer.  He is a nice guy too, from Oregon.  It is fun being all together in the same apartment.  We don't know when they will get their visas so we'll see how long it lasts. 

Wednesday we had DDM meetings.  Then we did our studies.  Then we went out to talk to people in the park.  He is pretty good at talking to strangers.  I am impressed.  Then we had English class.  Rita, and Wang  and Jody showed up late.  They aren't as interested as I thought.  :(  Then we met with Lawrence and Brother Xiong.  We put him back on date for March 28th and taught tithing.  It was a good lesson.  Brother Xiong rocks.  

Thursday.  Elder Dyer and I had a district leader meeting.  Did I say I was Sister Cozzen's District Leader last time?  Too crazy I was Sister Pope's Zone Leader, and Sister Sterner's and Sister Cozzen's District leader.   I actually saw Sister Sterner again at the District leader meeting.  She is an STL now!!!  Orchard 13th is well represented here!  The meeting was good.  At night we went to visit Sister Huang and Brother Wu.    We also saw Tracy and Morgan, and invited Tracy to baptism again.  Still not ready...

Friday we helped Sister Chen with her computer again, and got some delicious fried rice after.  Then we had yet another meeting, to talk about the church's new Easter campaign.  They showed us the new video.  It was good, but a little too similar to a movie trailer if you ask me.  I do like the Church's bible videos though.  I feel the spirit as we watch them.  After the meeting.  We went back, and hung up a lot of English class signs.  Then we went to dinner at the Yu's.  They made some great, spicy food.  They even had chicken feet.  Great way to introduce the new Elder's to Chinese food!! :)  They were champs and tried them.  Though neither got a second.  We had English class, and a whole ton of people showed up.  So crazy.  After English class we went to see a new investigator named Li.  She is pregnant with twins right now.  Hopefully we work fast and she accepts quickly before she can't leave the house to come to church or get baptized.  She was really nice and receptive!

Saturday we found out that Maggie had received some Anti-Mormon information, and decided not to get baptized.  Elder Dyer covers her area now, so I didn't go.  They tried to talk with her, but it didn't happen. :(  Saturday was a bad day.  We saw Brother Zhu for the first time since he came back from China.  He told us he doesn't like our church.  He said he doesn't understand because part of it is in English.  The members are old.  And he feels like no one wants to be there, they are just forcing themselves.  (I admit Elders quorum can feel that way sometimes.)  He also commented on how restricted we missionaries are, and said in 4 months you will be "free."   I went to go resolve his concerns, but he cut me off.  I said it was fine if he researched the other churches that want him to come, but also asked him to continue learning with us.  He said no.  I was so sad.  I prayed for help to know what to say.  All that came out was "can we say a closing prayer?"  Afterward's I was so angry.  I should have at least told him to pray about it.  Why didn't that come into my mind after I prayed.   At night we went and saw Brother and Sister Xiong.  They surprised us with food.  

Sunday church was great.  Lawrence and his wife came.   Katey Zhang brought 3 young employees to see the church.  They enjoyed it.  Gospel principles got really off though.  They started discussing circumcision.   Ok well at night we saw Lawrence with the Jiangs.  That went well.  Keep him in your prayers this week!!!   

Today we played soccer and tennis.  I like playing tennis, because I am actually pretty good.  Thanks for all they lessons!!!   I think it will be a fun date when I get back.

OK that is all this week!  

ILY

-Elder Murray

Mar 9 Week 83 -Elder Zeng delayed and four visa waiters anticipated so staying Chinese! Yuan Xiao Jie and glutenous rice balls, Jack and Maggie, Lawrence stays, Evelyn and Liu Yue, Tracy, Xiongs coming to visit

After reading your letter I realized how much has happened this week. It has been pretty darn crazy. So Tuesday I got a call from President.  He told me that Elder Zeng isn't coming in this transfer so I would "most likely be staying." I was elated. Elder Dyer said I got "Abraham'ed." I was all ready to make the sacrifice, I had prepped for it, was starting to say good bye to people, and then all of the sudden, I didn't have to do it. :) Ok well the story doesn't end there. Well later in the week the mission found out that we are getting four visa waiters from Taiwan. So now all four Chinese missionaries are training! Elder Dyer and I are both staying in Eastvale and we are just going to split up the work. It is so crazy!!! I am really excited though. I am going to make sure that my and my greenie's Chinese gets super good. So that is the biggest new for this week.

On Monday we went to Chino to see the Chinese investigators the Sisters had there. The mom has pretty good English and wants to go to the English ward. The 8 year old son, however, has trouble with English, but he wants to get baptized with his mom, so we are helping teach him. It is interesting. I haven't really taught a little kid on my mission. We also help teaching the Mom, it is just easier to understand in Chinese. They are named Jack and Maggie, they are getting baptized this Saturday!! Should be fun. Tuesday didn't have meetings, we went and helped Sister Xiong weed. I wish I had taken a picture of the yard. It was all weeds. Sister Xiong had already done one fourth of it all by hand. We came with two other missionaries some tools, and some round up. We got it done pretty quick. Sister Xiong was super grateful. Her heart is getting softened. I think we will get her this next transfer. :) Also they are coming to SLC in the summer and want to say at our house. I said I thought it would be ok. Is it? I would love you all to meet them. We also saw Luo Yan (the really big Chinese guy that rides motorcycles ) and his family. They are nice, and really like missionaries, but said they need time to accept our message.

 Wednesday we had English class taught by the Sisters again since we had to go practice the dragon dance again. Ok so since it is a new transfer I have my new planner with me, not the old one. So I am struggling to remember all that we did. Thursday it was Yuan Xiao Jie. A chinese holiday. We saw Evelyn and Liu Yue. They are good. Liu Yue is still trying to find work.  Evelyn gave us some chocolate filled tang yuan. I tried to look up the translation. It say they are "glutenous rice balls" they taste way better than they sound. We also say Jack and Maggie again that afternoon, Brother Miao came with us. Then we went to the Miao's for dinner. It was really good as always, we got some more tang yuan. Then we saw the Xiongs. They are doing good. Brother Xiong is so solid. He has read gospel principles twice now. He has learned a lot. He was telling us a lot about how he realized that we have to be humble to have faith. He is going to do great things in this little Chinese group. We also saw Tracy. She is still not interested.

 Friday we had ZDM, then we decorated for the Chinese new years party. Then we had English class, we got a new family from it. We invited them to baptism, and they said ok!! There are named Jodi, Wang, and Rita. The date right now is march 28. Oh another cool thing. So Lawrence told us his company was transferring him back to Australia. We were really sad. We got his Australian address, and his email, and were going to give him to the missionaries there, but then Sunday we found out, he is staying!!!! He told them since his wife is pregnant he needs to stay with her! YES!!!! Saturday we went to a nature preserve and cleaned up a really polluted river. Then we tried to meet with people, but not a lot of luck, so we went to the church and got ready for the Chinese new years party. So many people came, and we got some new investigators from it!!! Everything was good. The lion and dragon dance went so smoothly! It was a great time, the Chinese are glad it is over though.

 Sunday was a good day. We had some new people at church that we found at the party the night before. One of them named Michelle is really solid!! She found one of the invitations on the ground, and just called us, and asked if she could come. Pretty cool. After church, we needed more lessons. After lots of calling around we got a lesson with he Yu's and their non-member mother who was in town.  Elder Dyer is a really good missionary. I am excited to still be serving around him this next transfer. Ok that is the week. Ok that is all I love you guys!!!! -Elder Murray

Mar 2 Week 82 - Lina and Sister Wei Baptism - "Be Nice to EVERYONE", I'm 20..Parker is 18; Lawrence, Miao's delicious lunch, Dinner with Chinese Neighbor for Elder Schoonmaker, Christy accepted to BYU, Helping Luo's and Wu's, Seeing Ryan, Selina, Tracy, Morgan, Winter

Ok this week has been pretty crazy.   I hope I can remember everything I want to write.  Elder Dyer writes everything that he needs to put in a letter on a sticky note in his planner.  Pretty good idea.  Cool hearing about all those little sophomore's mission calls.  I still feel like I am 18.  Yesterday as I was filling out Lina's baptismal white, she said she was almost 18 and then I looked at her birthday and saw it was 1997, and I thought, "ok something is wrong here." Then I thought about it and realized "oh ya I am 20 now and Parker is 18."  So weird.  I am anxious to hear about Parker's call too.  

Ok well on Monday we took Brother Miao with us to see Lawrence.  He is super cool.  We taught him the Word of Wisdom, and he committed to live it!!!  He also came to see the baptism with his wife on Saturday!  He is so solid.  He didn't make it to church though.  

Tuesday we had our meetings and afterward everyone wanted to go to BWW.  It is a thing in our mission.  I spent the whole time talking to a pretty new missionary who I could tell was also trying not to watch all the TV's.   That day we also saw an old investigator named Chen, she is from HK.  Then we went to see Lina.  She was super prepared for her baptism, and had gotten anti-ed by a friend, but she defended the church.  Really good.  She was elect.  She is also looking into BYU right now.  Speaking of; Christy from Riverside got accepted to BYU!!!  At night we saw some other old investigators, Ryan and Selina.  They talked a lot and had a lot of questions.

Wednesday, I woke up in the middle of the night with a really upset stomach.  I made lots of trips to the bathroom.  I tried my best to exercise in the morning, but it was interrupted by more trips to the bathroom.  So I showered, didn't eat breakfast, and laid down.  I slept for a while.  I felt really really bad.  The Miao's had invited us to lunch that day.  I almost cancelled, but then I didn't want to hurt their feelings.  So I just took two imodium, and went.  The food was good, but I was so nauseous. When I blessed it, I prayed really hard that it would be healthy for our bodies.  I was able to eat.  They made this dou jiang... it is like Chinese oatmeal, and dan bing.  A tortilla type thing with egg.  Then gave us stuff to make it at home.  It tasted a lot better the next day when I was feeling better.  Well after the lunch we planned out the program for the baptism and helped them download videos for the Chinese New Year party this Saturday.  After there, I tried to go out to work, but no one was letting us in, and I didn't feel so good.  So I went home and slept for 45 minutes before we got a call from Schoonmaker.  He got invited by a member in the English ward where he served to have dinner with their Chinese neighbor.  So he asked us to come pick him up and take him.  He tried to get me to just stay in the car because he said they only asked for 2 missionaries but we all went in.  The dinner was fine, the lady wanted to go to church, but her English is good and she doesn't want to come to Eastvale so she will probably go to the English Elders.  Then we practiced the dargon dance at night with the YM.  I felt pretty good by then.  Weird bug.

Thursday we had a good weekly planning session.  We met with the Wu family.  They are good, but they want to wait to be baptized.  At night we saw brother Xiong.  He is doing really well.  He actually did the baptism for Lina on Saturday!  

Friday we got a call from the Wu's.  Her parents had come to visit, but they got sent back at the airport.  Apparently this is happening a lot recently.  Lots of people are just getting sent away.  They are cracking down on  how many Chinese people are coming in.  If you do or say anything that is in anyway suspicious, or might lead them to believe you are coming here to stay, they will kick you out.  The Wu's just asked us to come and talk with them, because they feel better after talking with us.  So we went and talked.  They told me my Chinese was way better than the people that talked to them over the phone at LAX.   At night we had English class which was good.  Then we saw Winter and Tracy and Morgan.     

Saturday morning was the baptism.  It worked out so well.  It was extremely well attended.  3 missionaries from Irvine came, since Sister Wei moved out there.  We had some good talks, good testimonies, and a nice musical number.  Sister Wei got up and pulled out the the English class card that I had given her in July last year.  And talked about it took of lot of contacts with the church before she decided to join.  To all my brothers: talk with EVERYONE, and be nice to EVERYONE no matter if they reject you at first.  You never know what will happen.  The missionaries from Irvine were cool.  The white one had really good Chinese because he had been with a bunch of native comps.  I was really impressed.   I translated the bishop's welcome without even breaking a sweat, but I don't know if I say things right or have the right accent.  The rest of the day was really uneventful.  Lots of walking around, and talking to people.  We got bao zi and oj for dinner.  We saw Annie and Jonny again.  They are good, but still not interested... so sad.

Sunday was good.  Lina got confirmed.  Sister Xiong came. We had lots of lessons on the priesthood.  There were 3 times that Chinese people talked about stuff that I had translated.  I was glad to know people listen to what I am saying, and can understand.  Sometimes I feel like while I am translating I am just rattling on and on, and no one listens.  Good to sometimes hear that they were listening and that I make sense.  At night Brother Jiang came with us to visit the Luo family and the Wu family.  He was really nice and really good.  This morning we went with the Luo's to help them register their kid for school. 

Next transfer is coming soon.  -Elder Murray