May 10th - It's the GOAT

 Hello family and friends, 

Monday was p-day and I got my laundry and grocery shopping done as usual. I like to shop at Costco and Fred Meyers for food. 

Tuesday I got to do some fun service with the elders in Carnation. I worked on a fence and was stabbed by it. Luckily it wasn't too serious. I also got to hold a baby goat! My dad will be jealous. We pulled some rocks out of a field as well. We did some more service on a trail for four hours with some YSA sister missionaries. An old guy named Glenn from the parks department taught us how to tell between an invasive species of blackberries and native species of blackberries. We tore out the invasive species because they are really bad. They have really thorny branches. 

Friday we drove one of the others elders to urgent care because he got in a bike accident. He was fine but Sister Beardall was worried. She always gives us caramels when we sees the missionaries. Then we had interviews with the mission president. We got fed by some members this week! The Wyman's had us over for Mexican lasagna. We also played frisbee with the youth from three wards and the parents too. It was pretty hot that day and I don't like the heat. The rest of the week was pretty regular. I hope you guys are all doing well. 

Love,

Jacob

May 3 - Lots of Service

 This week was a regular week with not much special going on. We did get to do a lot of service. We helped the elders in another ward by moving an investigator, also known as a friend. We moved sheetrock and did various other jobs in the yard for some other people. And for one lady - we moved 20 yards of mulch! It was crazy because this lady had mulch all over her front and back yard. She ordered too much and we had to make a pile of it at the end. 

We had exchanges with our district leaders. We were still in the same area but it was good to get to know another elder. I got to go to a community farmer's market and bought a crow nut. It was a fried croissant glazed like a donut. We try to do some teaching but it seems like everyone here has crazy schedules so it's hard to make appointments. We end up just stopping by at what we hope will be a good time for them and pray for the best!

I can't really work out here in Duvall because I have to use weights around my apartment and my companion doesn't work out. I'm on the second floor so it's hard to not disturb the neighbors. The weather has been clear and pretty nice lately with just a little rain. Everything is green but then it always it - it's just greener than usual. 

There are some elders in another ward that live on a like airbnb thing on a farm and they have goats there. I saw a horse tracting and of course took a picture for my mom. 

April 19th - Transfer to Duvall

Jacob didn't write again this week because he was just transferred to a new area. The city is called to Duvall. It's more well-off than his last area and while it's less agricultural, it still has some pretty good  land around it. He has a new companion who just transferred from Africa. He caught COVID and has been quarantined this last week but is now better and gets to go out again.

April 12th - First baptism!

Jacob got his first baptism this week! This trio has been teaching this man and his wife and they were super excited to bring a family the gospel of the Lord. 

Jacob hasn't been writing many letters lately because we get to talk on Facebook messenger every Monday. Here are some pictures he sent.

 

April 4th - Easter Sunday

We got to talk to Jacob today on Facebook messenger because it's Easter! It was fun because David was here with his fiancé Elaine and it was also conference weekend. We got some great pictures from him. 

March 15th - Putting on the Green

 We didn't get a letter from Jacob this week but here is a fun pic! Apparently Jacob found this *fine* green sweater at Ross and decided it was a perfect match for his St. Patrick's Day shake!

March 8th - Pictures

Hey everyone!!

This week was actually a pretty long one and it it felt way too long but we get through things and we learn and grow and there will probably be hard weeks in the future that'll I'll have to get through as well.  We were supposed to get a car today and they let us know last night that were gonna have to wait an entire week to get it, which kinda makes me mad cause they got our hopes up and ruined it.

We get a trainee tomorrow which will be weird tryna fit 3 people in our tiny apartment which is also gonna be kinda rough. People were just generally rude to us this week and they would go out of their way to try and annoy or avoid us. On a bright side the weather was great and we got to do a ton of service this week and finished a chicken coop and moved chickens and pheasant. It was fun stuff and I got to use more power tools. Also pressure washers as well. We biked a little bit which was pretty fun but it still took way too long to get to places which isn't ideal right now. I wish I had more cool experiences this week but sadly nothing really happened it was just a grind with little to no reward. Guess I just gotta put my head down and keep working. I love you all and hope you all are staying safe as I am in the field. Congrats to Dave that's another good thing I found out about this week. Also we got to visit a guy who was 92 and has a 3d printer and he made us some stuff on it so that was neat. Even though the world is tuff the members have been super great to us. Don't forget to reach out both both both missionaries and let them know you appreciate them and what they do. It helps a hard week get better. Anyways love you all a lot hope you have an amazing week and I'll talk to you next week.

Love Elder Murray