Faith Vs. Fear

My dear heavenly sent family members,

This week has been a huge one for the Toronto mission, President has given us all a new mission vision. We are working not just for baptisms, but to work the whole work of salvation. To invite All others (Active, investigators, less actives, and all else who cross our paths). We are to work together in unity with the ward council members to be able to assist in the goals of the ward as well, to be a support of the whole church. I know that these things are inspired and necessary to hasten this work even further exponentially. I have seen the hand of the Lord in this work lately, he has guided us all to be able to find more and more of the elect as we continue to search all the resources that we can. Our number of people that we are working with are escalating week by week. 

I was touched by a lesson that was in the joined class yesterday. The talk was on "Faith Vs Fear", in this we created a chart of things that come from God and the Devil and in one of the opposing ideas was (from God) Individual worth, guilt, the light of Christ, and weakness. (from the Devil) Worthiness, Shame, culture and thinking that we are weak.

I studied more on the idea that we weakness is not a negative thing, but is in fact a help to us, I found many scriptures that share that when we have weaknesses then are we able to recognize that we need to have the aid of God in our lives which comes out of "Humility"! I loved reading 2 Corinthians 12:9-11, Jacob 4:7, and Ether 12:37 these are great examples that the Lord gives us our strength when we stop depending only on our own strengths and focus on him. This is something that I found fascinating and will be looking to be able to find application in my life in these things. 

We found a young family named Chad and Jessica, they have 2 boys 10 and 4, and they wish to know more about God and the scriptures. We taught the Plan of Salvation and we took it a little deeper than usual (by inspiration of course) it made them feel intrigued to know more. Hoping to meet with them soon because they are so amazing. They accepted a baptismal date and told us that "if you can convince us that this is 100% true we would live it", I responded "we are merely guides to show you the way to seek your own answers from God which makes it a whole lot more meaningful to have in your lives to hear these things from God himself." They liked that answer I think. 

This week after a long week of working and another long council meeting we were driving back and I was finding myself dozing a bit and as I was cruising and about to bump a car in front of me, my foot without any personal effort slammed on the brake just 1/2 a foot or so from the car. I know that angels are manifesting themselves to the defense of the servants of the Lord, I am blessed that we were 100% okay, I thank all of you for your prayers of protection and well being for us, as you can see it is working haha. 

Continue in the faith, continue looking for the Lord in your lives he is in it every step of the way and you may not even realize it. We are placed in different places and times to be able to open our mouths and to love the people around us to share the "hope" of the Atonement in even their lives. All souls are precious to our Heavenly Father and he wishes to have each of them in his arms again no matter how wicked, he desires that they use the Atonement and repent coming into a higher plane of existence in the future even, Exaltation. 

 Oh again how much I love you and I wish to be there with you all sharing these things in person, but there is just to much that we have to accomplish to even think about that now. One day for sure though.

I am constantly praying for your families each and every night.

Remember that the strength of our testimonies and our spirits can be maintained and even enlarged as we 1) Go to church 2) Pray heartfelt prayers multiple times a day 3) Read the scriptures Daily! (especially the Book of Mormon)f you are finding that you are slipping on these things... Stop it and stand steadfast in the Faith. I promise that heaven will guide you in your lives as you do so and that you can be able to receive revelation for your primary needs. 

Sincerely, 

Elder Muirhead 

It takes True Faith

Dear Mom and Dad,
This week I am exhausted, we have been working our tails off. All the missionaries had a specialty training where our Mission President shares new things for us to do. The topic of this meeting was D&C 82:14, Zion needs to be strengthened and the Lord has shown President Clayton the how to accomplish this change. We are to be more and more diligent to our member oriented missionary efforts asking all even at the start of lessons, "While we share this message with you think and ponder if the spirit indicates anyone to you who may be in need of this message". Throughout that meeting the spirit flooded in as we began to envision the road we must trod if we are to get to 1000 baptisms this year..and right now we need a miracle to get on track. Our mission goals will take patience and long suffering, I have been able to gain a testimony over the months that Heavenly Father shapes us into whatever he needs us to become to be able to handle the next task. I have been able to see Elders and Sisters whole characters, nature and souls changed and that is because the Lord is in this work.

Elder Canlas and I have been changing everything we have been doing, reorganized all our files and plans to be able to help bring not only baptisms but the whole work of salvation, temple visits/ recommends and endowments. 

This week during our companionship inventory Elder Canlas made me a card that has my strengths and his thanks for making this his last transfer comfortable and full of miracles, one of the nicest things ever. 

Brigham I can't believe it you are 13 years old, hope you got my card in the mail, and that your birthday was fantastic! Happy Birthday buddy!

So school is starting and JJ your off to high school???? what!?? which school will you be going too? 

We have been able to find a lot of prepared people lately again this week we found another 4 new investigators. They unfortunately weren't able to meet with us this week but we pray for the future. Our Investigator Dustin is doing great, I made him a calendar to keep track of his smoking addiction, and he is doing soo well. He is down to 4 cigarettes a day so proud, he is reading, praying and attending church, he asked us a couple times for blessings and we obliged. He had us over for dinner and he feels that on Sept. 19 he will be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints! Please pray for Dustin he needs all the help he can get. 

London 2nd ward is finally growing on me, these are people who are different than your regular bunch of people but they are wonderful. They are missionary minded, have great kinds and are starting to work together to assist each other as a body of Christ which will bring out many miracles. 

In Sacrament the other day there was a member that spoke and during his talk he was talking about the Atonement and how it is free for us to use but takes true effect when we ourselves go and do the works that the Lord puts in our way. He said " The Atonement is the wildcard for our salvation, but beware to not put in our own efforts. In math when 0 is squared (our efforts) by even infinity (Christ's efforts) is still a great big fat 0." I thought that was awesome to think about. 

This week I talked to a less active man on the phone and we talked for a while and he was expressing that the church to him isn't true, that it is just by the grace of Jesus Christ that we are saved not by anything we do, our efforts mean nothing. I told him that I would agree that Grace saves us completely other wise when we die that would be the end of all human kind, and yet the Lord still asks and requires something of ourselves for Salvation from our sins that only comes by making the efforts to follow in discipleship, not just sit on our butts and wait for the judgement day. Salvation is not a cheap experience and it takes TRUE FAITH which is defined as acting upon the beliefs and standards that a person has. It is not enough to say "I believe", it is not enough to just attend our meetings, it is not enough to take one step through baptism and then stop there. There is to much work for us to do for the power of the Atonement to go and change all man kinds hearts and help the come to Christ themselves. We need to reach out and be an example. If anyone thinks other contrary, "not everyone that saith unto me Lord Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my father". If you are not putting in your efforts your foundation and "house is built upon the sand" and at the last day it will fall.

I am so grateful that our Heavenly Father loves us enough to keep telling us and motivating us to move forward and "endure to the end", that we can enter into the kingdom of heaven.

He gives us Prophets to guide us and to show us the way and that we may know how to be truly happy. 

I love this Gospel it is true and it is the only way to happy, Amen.

Elder Muirhead



Note:
*8.5 months until he's home.

Hey Hey Hey it's Elllllder Muirhead!

Hey Hey Hey it's Elllllder Muirhead!

I have been oh so tired this week, we have been busy with lots and lots of things here and there. We helped plan a birthday party, gave a few blessings, I taught a district meeting, following up each night with my missionaries on how they are assisting in what ever they are going through and lessons all over that.

I am grateful the Lord is giving me energy to move and to type to you today. We were able to go and do many amazing things that I am sure we were guided to go do. 

We are teaching a Part Member Family the Dennis', they are so awesome. We visit often and are teaching the eldest daughters 13 and 9 named Erica and Carla. Their mother Bonnie is a recent convert since march I believe, she is doing so well and wants all the blessings that she can get. Bonnie's husband is in Jamaica at the moment, but when we is able to come to Canada she is going to convert him and get them all to the Temple, so great!

We had an amazing Sunday, we had 3 investigators at church and found 4 more new investigators

 in the evening! We were so blessed. 2 of them was a couple named Annie and John they are Inuit first nations, and we told them about Christ coming to the Americas in the Book of Mormon and Annie said "I've heard that in our culture and so that must be true!" How solid is that! We found a name called Spoogi from Jamaica, he is super cool and says "you have to be able to find time for God in life, you can come on by." And finally Rob is the boyfriend of a former investigator, he has been to prison and we think that he was high when he came to the door. He told us that he was praying to be able to get out of jail and into rehab, he said that he saw 3 stars and one was God and that had something to do with twinkle twinkle little star.... still trying to decipher what the connection is haha. 

The work is going strong and the Lord is pressing this work forward in a big burst at the moment, catch the wave and go invite others to come to Christ, you will be so blessed I swear it.

Love you all so much and glad to hear that you were able to survive a boat accident haha can't wait to hear the story more.

Elder Muirhead

I have recorded my last district meeting and hope that you enjoy it and think about some of the things in it as you listen to it. It is based on having a good attitude, you will hear a couple roleplays on how the differences in attitudes can shape a lesson. 

I was egged!

Dear Mom and Dad,

Well this week has been full of both miracles and opposition. Miracles that we have been able to reach out and find many former investigators that I felt prompted to re-invite them all to learn more, many said no, but some choice souls agreed and are amazing! 

One of my responsibilities as a District Leader is to go on Companion exchanges for 24 hours and help each Elder with their work and assess their areas. I went with Elder Lau to the Chinese work area. I was kind of nervous/excited to see how this would go, do to me not being able to speak Mandarin as you know. I just hit the ground and did what I could and had a super cool experience. One investigator named Xiu met with us and she speaks some English, not very well though. We taught the Restoration and as she had concerns she would tell them to Elder Lau and he would quickly translate for me. I then could use the spirit to lead me to scriptures to answer her concerns. I grew my testimony on the order of the Lord's work that he has it set up that we don't need to speak the language to touch other peoples hearts. 

A zone council meeting that we had this Friday was talking a little bit about asking for referrals and for doing "Round Ups", asking for all that are in the home to join us and hear the message. I was on another exchange with Elder Fjeldsted one of our Zone Leaders. I was so excited to work with him since we came from the MTC together, we went and found 2 new investigators from doing the round up at 2 appointments we had. 

One crazy thing happened just last night, we were walking around our apartment at the final 5 minutes before planning and a car comes blazing past us and threw an egg and it hit me in the arm. That was really gross, and the first time that either one of us had seen that happen, kind of hurt with the car velocity behind that throw haha. So we walked back and I cleaned up and went to planning and prayed that others wouldn't get hurt or anything. 

Egged

I have been working on my next district meeting on Wednesday, the topic is Attitude! How our attitudes can make all the difference in our teaching and everyday life. I have a big testimony of this and felt this was the thing to talk on due to an Elder in my district having a very hard time. 

I got a voice recorder so you can hear how it and future ones go!

Elder Muirhead

Salutations Dear Ones

Salutations dear ones hope all is going well. I was happy to see your letters as I haven't been getting to many the last couple months from others. I love that I can always count on reading letters from my Mom and Dad every week I am so blessed, thank you for your diligent writing to me. 

London has been a really cool place so far, I need to readjust to being in a different sized city than St. Thomas. This week has been full of refining for sure, as included in my new calling comes a lot more responsibilities. My District meeting went very well and from it I think came a lot of success this week from the Missionaries. We discussed setting goals and also planning guidelines in order to assist those we teach. Our sisters in the YSA ROCKED their goals! I was so proud! Also the Mandarin Elders before were having a difficult time finding Chinese speaking people to teach. We went on splits with them so that one Chinese elder was able to go to different areas and divide and conquer. They were able then to find 4 NEW INVESTIGATORS THAT NIGHT!!! WOOHOO!

Elder Canlas mi companaro is from Manila, Philippines. This is his final transfer so I get to "kill him" mwahaha (meaning I'm his last comp), I bug him here and there that he needs to practice his home language so his family would understand him haha. He is a stud! I am so blessed to have this man as my companion, he is very well experienced and is teaching me a lot on how to refine my planning, contacting and teaching, plus he is hilarious! Learning some tagalog from him which is always nice to have in the pocket for philipinos off the streets. 

This week we helped a Less active lady move. When we arrived her friends were there and hard at work. as we approached the door our nostrils were met with the terrible aroma of Cat pee and feces. This sister has 2 chihuahuas and 2 cats of her own then she has 4 foster cats on top of that!  The stench was foul! I kid you not it was the most miserable service I have every done in my life. We had the truck loaded and they asked us to take the cats in our car we agreed and they reeked! we had to hold air fresheners up to our noses the whole 20 minute drive. You know how Moses encountered Satan and saw the depths of Hell, well I am pretty sure we ``smelled`` the depths of Hell.

Mom glad to hear about the experience you had with that lady Christine, and Dad you with David. I am so proud that I have strong bold loving parents who live up to the examples of the Faith. 

Lately I have been studying in how I may become fearless and go and talk with others more easily. I have been studying a presidents meeting by president Uchdorf called ``fear not I am with you``. He shares the transformation of the Apostle Peter from a man of faith who fell due to his fears became a ``Cephas`` or Rock of a man in the faith as we know him to be today. How amazing it was that Peter was able to look into the faces of the Sanhedrin high priests the very men who killed the Lord and overcame their oppositions through his testimony, and the assistance of Heaven then was able to be sent to the aid of Peter and John to allow them to go and finish what was required of them. 

In the article it shares 3 Nephi 5:13 Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life.

We all are Disciples of the Lord and are called to the work. We are able to be The very Hands of God in changing peoples lives for eternity and also their entire heritage. 

Though there are many trials and room for refinements in my life at the moment, I praise the Lord for being my crutch and gently guiding me to my next destination that I may find rest and healing for my soul, which mainly comes as I teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to other people. I testify of these things being applicable to all as they live a life of a disciple, which is one of DISCIPLINE. May the Saviour bless you all in your journeys this week, and I send my love and prayers as well! 

Your son,

Elder Muirhead 

Transferred and District Leader

Dear Family,

OH no!! Broken Baby toe huh? I am so sorry to hear that mom, breaking stuff sucks! I love you.

HOLY CRAP!!! No way Courtnee is amazing I am so proud of them. I have been praying for her to do something for a long while and I am blessed to know that my family is now able to be at peace and receive the joy they deserve.  AHH I am just going crazy with joy! 

Chiropractor has been helpful and it will still need a little time but I am through the rough patch now, thank you for your prayers. 

Further plans will have to be made because I am transferred out of St. Thomas, My turn for crazy news! I am going to London to be a District Leader!!! I am super excited to further magnify my calling out here and I am grateful to see that the Lord has seen me worthy and humble enough to be trusted to lead a district of missionaries. I have been starting this morning on my first district meeting, I am going to be teaching about planning effectively as a missionary, using planning guidelines and planning lessons in detail including the use of members, I am pretty excited to see how it goes. The day has been crazy with pack and cleaning for the switch up, soooo sorry but my camera made its way to my bags....BUT I WILL HAVE THEM THIS NEXT WEEK!! 

We had 2 investigators at church yesterday and we were so excited to go and hit that goal. We are looking forward to St. Thomas gain a few baptisms this transfer. I know that I have been able to keep the work rolling in this area and I am glad to move it to where it is today, the people I have been able to see and teach has been a great experience though of course I will miss them. We have had a lot of member involvement which has been a great asset to the work we have been able to accomplish. 

We have had a lot of less active member lessons and many of them have denounced their testimonies of Joseph smith and the Church and the Book of Mormon. I have been able to work and testify with Elder Bradford hard to these people that they are being silly and not looking to see the full picture of the meaning of the church. It is heart breaking to see so many fall away and then think that with belief alone they will be accepted in the kingdom of God. Not so! 

I testify to you that the kingdom of God is holy and no unclean thing may enter, that is the whole reason for ordinances and commandments to allow us to clean ourselves and then practice being Heavenly. If we as members cannot live up to the standard of the Celestial Kingdom we of course cannot live there that would be blasphemous. I know without a shadow of a doubt that this is the restored church of Christ. That the keys and powers of heaven are again established on the earth at this moment. I know that we are saved by the grace and atonement of the Savior, but in order to be truly saved we must be changed by that grace and obey the other side of the deal that the Lord presents to us being to LIVE THE GOSPEL!! We need to press forward to the next step in each of our lives and aim to achieve it so we may receive more and more light. If we falter now and stop living what we know to be true we are willingly subjecting ourselves to the power of the Devil and he will then have power over us. 

I have been able to learn this transfer that our purpose for our time is the same as it was with Joseph Smith, GO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO EVERYONE! The end is soon and we have much to do. Many of the Saints in today's world are way to complacent with how things are in their lives as it is, the Lord says... Not good enough. (matthew 16:24-27) We need to be more diligent workers in the kingdom of God and we need to go and try to do what our Savior expects of us. I testify of these things in the name of Jesus Christ Amen. 

That is cool to hear that the Carter clan is reunited! I am sure that will be an interesting atmosphere now since everyone has been here and there lately. 

I love you all so much and hope that you are all continuing to be blessed for that is what my prayers go towards.

Fight the good fight 

Elder Muirhead

I went to the Chiropractor!

Hey Guys! 

Well I got into the Chiropractor last week and sounds like It isn't anything skeletal, just a ton of muscle tension. The guy said it will take a few weeks till I'm up and at 'em which is good. I have two more appointments this week so we can get back up and running in the work. The Fed ex guys the first day they came by didn't even leave a note for me then I got a call and told them my buzzer and they missed me because I was in an appointment, sooo I didn't get it yet But I think they will be around today, Yay!

This week has been very hot and a little more difficult. We had the chance to bring another investigator and her member husband to visit Jennifer with us and they clicked so well. They had very similar backgrounds and they invited Jennifer to come to church without us telling them too and offered a ride...SICK! Taught the word of wisdom and she has accepted it and will be hopefully continuing meeting with us. 

Some things that I have been looking to change in my work here is to one have way more effective planning like I did at the beginning of my mission, planning out our lessons very specifically to the needs of the investigator so that the Spirit can testify to the investigator more profoundly. Second is more member work needs to be done, we feel that the people out here are just comfortable with the milk of the gospel and that isn't okay for now because unless they dig into the meat and become more converted new people will not come in. The Lord wont' let his children get lost because of other peoples weaknesses, he provides a way for them to blossom. We are visiting and teaching members whether active or not and teaching them so they may feel the power and purpose that they have in this part of the world. I have high expectations for the people here and hope I may support them in doing the job the Lord requires them to do now.

Cool news, we are going to be working in St. Thomas ward and also help with a branch out in Tilsenburg. The members there are ready to have some added help in bringing people in and are stoked to get started, we will be there one day out of the week to assist. 

I have been continuing to do a more thorough study in PMG and have been blessed with more understanding of the gospel doctrines as I have branched out searching for more and more answers. I love that book it is a great piece of what we do. I challenge all members to read it and it will work its magic with you as well. 

That is so awesome that Emma Holmes is off to England! I didn't know she was going? is there anyone else working on their mission at the moment?

1 Corinthians 13:13 says to abide in Faith, hope and charity. I continually seek to have the faith that I may have a hope of showing charity to my fellow people...even if I want to punch people some days. 

Looking forward to the final week of this transfer kicking butt!

Elder Muirhead