Mike and Joyce Murray's experiences while serving as Mormon Mission President for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the the Pennsylvania Philadelphia Mission from July 2007 - July 2010.
Last week I read an interesting article in the National Geographic about Charles Darwin (see "Darwin's First Clues, Feb 2009). I can remember being assigned to read his book The Origin of Species in college.
About this book, published in 1859, the National Geographic article states: "Almost inarguably, it's the most significant single scientific book ever published. After 150 years, people still venerate it, people still deplore it, and The Origin of Species continues to exert an extraordinary influence -- though, unfortunately, not many people actually read it."
I smiled as I read this statement because of the parallels one can make with the Book of Mormon. First published in 1830, the Book of Mormon is "almost inarguably, the most significant single [religious] book [with the exception of the Bible] ever published. After 150 years, people still venerate it, people still deplore it, and the Book of Mormon continues to exert an extraordinary influence -- though, unfortunately, not many people actually read it."
The Book of Mormon is a volume of holy scripture comparable to the Bible. It is a sacred record of peoples in ancient America, and was engraved upon sheets of metal. In or about the year A.D. 421, Moroni, the last of the ancient prophet-historians, sealed up the sacred record and hid it up unto the Lord, to be brought forth in the latter days, as predicted by the voice of God through his ancient prophets. In A.D. 1823, this same Moroni, then a resurrected personage, visited the Prophet Joseph Smith (then age 17) and subsequently delivered the engraved plates to him.
Joseph Smith translated the sheets of metal, or plates, by the gift and power of God. Following the publishing of the first edition of the Book of Mormon in 1830, God instructed Joseph to organize a new church based upon a restoration of the original teachings and instructions of Jesus Christ. This is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
I have drawn closer to God and have found great spiritual comfort, insight and personal inspiration by reading and studying the Book of Mormon. It is an abiding source of eternal truths and wisdom for all.
We should not shy away from the controversy! For this reason I love the following quote: "Each of us has to face the matter -- either the Church is true, or it is a fraud. There is no middle ground. It is the Church and kingdom of God, or it is nothing," Gordon B. Hinckley (1910-2008), president of the Church from 1995-2008.
Last spring a friend gave Lawrence Yi two books written by Gordon B. Hinckley (1910-2008), the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Although he was not much of a reader, Lawrence devoured these two books ("Stand For Something" and "Way to Be"). He became interested in the learning more about our religion and decided to visit one of our church buildings -- on a Thursday night. He luckily found a woman to talk to and she answered a few questions and asked for his name and phone number. She called the Mission Office and we assigned two missionaries to contact Lawrence. Lawrence began learning about the church and elected to be baptized on March 23, 2008.
During this time period, I learned that the Broomall 2nd Ward has a group of Korean speaking members who have been meeting together for many years. In September I transferred our one missionary with Korean ancestry, Elder Lee, into this ward, hoping that he might be able to do some missionary work amongst these Koreans. Elder Lee grew up in Los Angeles, but his parents are from Korea and he can eat kimchi like a champ. (But his Korean was a bit rusty!)
Meanwhile, Lawrence's parents liked what they were seeing in their son's life. He was making many positive changes. They encouraged his older sister Lilly, a college graduate with a good job, to attend Lawrence's church. Eventually Lilly started coming and she too was taught by the missionaries. Lilly was baptized on December 17, 2008. The large group photo was taken the evening of her baptism -- look at all the people who came to support her!
Although Lawrence's family lives in the Broomall 2nd Ward boundaries, he and his sister attend the local Young Single Adult ward and have no real contact with the members in the Broomall 2nd Ward. Because of this, I had no realization that the Yi's were Korean!
Lawrence and Lilly's mother, Chang Hee, attended Lilly's baptism -- and she felt a wonderful feeling of peace. Lawrence and Lilly took her to a church service in the Broomall 2nd Ward during the Christmas season. She was greeted by the Korean members and by Elder Lee. Soon she was taking the missionary lessons and make the bold decision to get baptized. Her youngest daughter Rebecca was also being taught by Elder Lee and his companion.
Last Sunday Chang Hee and Rebecca were baptized by Lawrence. Lawrence and Lilly sang a beautiful duet at the baptismal service. A Korean speaking member of the Relief Society Presidency (the Women's organization) warmly greeted her with a hug and a gift.
- What if no one had been at that church building on the Thursday night when Lawrence arrived? - What if Elder Lee had not been transfered into Broomall 2nd Ward? - What if Chang Hee lived in a different town where there were no Korean-speaking Mormons?
Too many what ifs!!!
We are humbled by the hand of the Lord in this work...a hand we most often see in the rear-view mirror after the fact!
Super Bowl XVIII was played on January 22, 1984 at Tampa Stadium in Tampa, Florida to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion following the 1983 regular season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion Los Angeles Raiders (15-4) defeated the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Washington Redskins (16-3), 38–9. I don't remember anything about the game itself.
However I'll never forget a 60 second TV commercial that was shown during the game. It became the most famous TV commercial of all time and won many awards. Apple Computer used the commercial to introduce the Mac computer. I was the director of marketing for the Mac at Apple. Steve Jobs was my boss. And the rest is history.
You can watch the commercial here:
On Tuesday morning of this week I was interviewed by Darren Rovell of CNBC-TV to discuss the significance and impact of the ad. You can watch the interview here:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1009190350
The entire transcript of the interview follows:
Darren: What was the goal of the ad?
Murray: There was certainly the need for something revolutionary. That's what we were looking for to announce and introduce the Mac. And we obviously had the year "1984" and the George Orwell novel to go along with it.
Darren: The commercial was certainly seen as a risk at the time. What was the reaction internally before the spot ran?
Murray: The Apple board very clearly instructed us to never show that commercial and to sell the time (one 60-second spot and one 30-second spot) that we had purchased on the Super Bowl.
Darren: But, as the story goes, only the 30-second spot could be sold. So what happened then?
Murray: The board then instructed Steve (Jobs) to run an old Apple II ad or some other ad, but just don’t show that abominable "1984" commercial. Unfortunately, there was no other ad that would have made sense for Apple to run at that time, so we were “forced” to run the "1984" commercial one time during the Super Bowl.
Darren: So the ad was ready to go. How good was this Macintosh brand you were trying to get people to buy?
Murray: The Mac team knew we were on to something special with this little computer with a mouse and a friendly user interface – something that was radically different. It's hard to go back 25 years and understand how different computers were then. You had to really be quite the computer nerd to enjoy using a computer prior to the Mac. So this was revolutionary device.
Darren: So the ad runs. What was the reaction?
Murray: Well, we had to somehow show people and we wanted this radical commercial simply to get people's attention and to enter the word Macintosh into the lexicon of their vocabulary. We achieved that. In fact we overachieved that. The commercial in its entirety was shown as nightly news on the three major networks, which in those days were NBC, ABC and CBS. We moved from being public relations and advertising to actually news. Suddenly, it became something all of America needed to be paying attention to. We showed up on the cover of Time, Newsweek, BusinessWeek, Fortune, Forbes, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. It lifted the perception of apple as an innovator and it opened the door for thousands and thousands of Macintosh computers to be sold.
Darren: Why did the commercial seem to strike such a chord?
Murray: What that commercial did was it picked up on a particular vibe of a large segment of of American society. Young people, innovators, creative people, people who don’t want to feel like they’re just stuck in the masses. And we felt that way, but I think we also perhaps underestimated what a strong vibe that is.
Darren: How important was the ad itself. What I'm getting at is, did it really help sell computers?
Murray: Well, by positioning the Mac that way, as a product that’s different from everything else and as a product that’s different, yet a fun product, a creative product, it opened the door and allowed the Mac to survive. Going back 25 years there wasn’t much software, the product was small, it didn’t have expansion, all the things that we take for granted in computers today, even though it was an innovative product it was very limited in its capability. But somehow the imagery that ad created and the follow on marketing and the things we did related that to our marketing, allowed many people to believe in the Mac and here, 25 years later, the loyalty around this product is simply unheard of.
Darren: It's hard to look back like this, but could Apple have died as a company without this spot?
Murray: One has to assume that Apple would have seen an early demise. The Apple II, which was the main product at the time, was running out of gas. It was non-compatible with anything else on the market, it was really only appealing to the education market and it was a little but expensive. Without that 1984 commercial, it would have been very difficult for us to have gotten the attention for a product that really was so innovative at the time.
Darren: How important was Steve Jobs in the process?
Murray: There could never have been a Mac without Steve Jobs. There never could have been an Apple without Steve Jobs. Steve had the vision and tenacity and willpower to take this idea and turn it into a product and make the market believe in it.
Last Saturday I got up early to visit some missionaries down in Delaware. It took about 90 minutes to get to their apartment. Following my visit with them, I returned to the Mission Home. To pass the time I listened to a great radio station, WXPN 88.5. I love good music. WXPN is the premier guide for discovering new and significant artists in rock, blues, roots, and folk, and is the non-commercial, member-supported radio service of the University of Pennsylvania.
A beautiful song was playing. I turned on my iPhone and opened up an application called Shazam. This clever application "hears" the song that is being played in the car and, in about 20 seconds, sends a message to my iPhone telling me the name of the song and the artist. The artist of the song I was listening to was Eileen Ivers. I have a couple of her songs in my iTunes library. Then the DJ at WXPN casually mentioned that Eileen Ivers would be playing that night in Media, PA. (We're now living in Media, PA!)
Mission presidents and their wives are encouraged to attend cultural events. So this was a great excuse for a night out. Joyce and I went to the Media Theater for the Performing Arts. Built in 1927 as a movie theater, this is small, wonderful venue to hear a live concert. We didn't know what to expect from Eileen Ivers.
The daughter of Irish immigrants, Eileen Ivers grew up in the culturally diverse neighborhood of the Bronx, New York. Rooted in Irish traditional music since the age of eight, Eileen proceeded to win nine All-Ireland fiddle championships, a tenth on tenor banjo and over 30 championship medals, making her one of the most awarded persons ever to compete in these prestigious competitions.
Well, Joyce and I were in for a treat. This was perhaps the best live concert we have ever attended. The musicians were superb. The music was inspiring. And the joy was contagious. We had a great evening. Hooray for talented people like Eileen Ivers and her band-mates!
Watch the YouTube video below. This is from a different concert, but you'll get a good feel for her music.
Last Saturday an old apartment complex in Philadelphia burned to the ground. Luckily the fire occurred in the afternoon, so everyone got out safely and there were no deaths nor injuries. (see news article below the photos for more info)
Two of our missionaries, Elders Wankier and Thompson, lived in this apartment complex. They were out doing missionary work at the time of the fire. They lost everything -- other than the clothing they were wearing and the items in their backpacks.
Yesterday I took them shopping -- The Men's Wearhouse for new suits, white shirts, ties, shoes, sweaters and socks. And a sports store for exercise shoes, workout gear and a sweatshirt. They are living temporarily with a couple other missionaries who have extra space in their apartment.
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Posted on Sat, Jan. 10, 2009
Multi-alarm blaze in West Oak Lane
A fast-spreading fire in a West Oak Lane apartment complex went to seven alarms early this afternoon without being contained. No injuries were reported.
The blaze, at Broad Street and Grange Avenue, began in a basement of one of the four buildings about 11:30 a.m., according to the Philadelphia Fire Department.
By noon the fire spread to other floors and other buildings. Firefighters and rescue workers evacuated residents to the nearby 35th Police Distinct headquarters.
A warehouse next to the complex later became involved. The cause of the fire was not immediately determined.
One of my Assistants, Elder Braden Hansen, recently completed his two years of missionary service and returned home. He is already enrolled at BYU where he has a football scholarship. He is an offensive lineman. Elder Hansen is a very, very big man with a heart of equal proportion.
Elder Hae Joon Lee just completed his first year of missionary service. His parents were born in Korea and now live in the Los Angeles area. Elder Lee is more fluent in English than he is in his parent's native tongue. But his Korean is improving because he's been assigned to work with a group of Korean-speaking members in the Broomall 2nd Ward in the Valley Forge Stake. These Korean members are using "duck" philosophy regarding their expectation for Elder Lee: "He looks like a duck, he walks like a duck....he IS a duck!" In addition to being Korean, Elder Lee is also a very good sketch artist. Here is a recent sketch of the Prophet Joseph Smith:
Groundhog Day is a 1993 comedy film directed by Harold Ramis, starring Bill Murray (no relation, although we both regret it) and Andie MacDowell. In the film, Murray plays Phil Connors, an egocentric Pittsburgh TV weatherman who is assigned to cover the annual Groundhog Day event (February 2) in Punxsutawney. Connors finds himself repeating the same day over and over again.
Missions are run on a six week cycle. We say good by to our most skilled missionaries and send them home. Then we go to the airport to fetch a new batch of fresh, young inexperienced missionaries. Six weeks later the cycle repeats itself. The faces change, the personalities vary, and the experiences are always unique -- but the pattern is predictable.
We have a 6-week calendar that provides continuity and discipline for our mission. One could make the error of leading a mission by managing the calendar. It is in the spaces between the lines that the magic of missionary work happens. Lives are changed, truth is revealed, testimonies are found, hearts are opened.
In some respects missions serve as microcosms for our larger lives. In this laboratory of gospel goodness we discover a pattern for living that brings us peace of heart and a deep and reverent love for God and his son Jesus Christ. Do not confuse this pattern of living with our six week mission calendar. The pattern referred to here revolves around our thoughts and actions driven by a desire to serve the God and bring others to Christ.
Below are photos of our newest batch of fresh, new missionaries with their trainers. They arrived on Tuesday night. These photos were taken on Wednesday morning as they ate breakfast at the Mission Home. Today (Sunday) they will be attending church for the first time in their assigned ward or branch. No matter who they are or where they are serving, the "first Sunday at church" is always an eye opening experience.
Every year, for over a third of a century, I bake a German Chocolate birthday cake for Joyce. This year is no exception. The cake comes from a box, but the frosting is homemade. I use a recipe from Renae Bleak, Joyce's wonderful mother.
1 cup evaporated milk 1 cup sugar 3 eggs yolks 1/2 cup butter (not margarine!) 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 1/3 cups coconut 1 cup walnuts/pecans (I blend them together)
Combine the first 5 ingredients, cook and stir over medium heat until thickened - about 12 minutes. My experience is that it takes 20 or more minutes - don't be in a hurry. Add coconut and nuts. Beat until thick enough to spread. I let it thicken over a low heat for about 45 minutes and then let it cool down completely before putting on the cake.
I always double the recipe. Spread a very thick slab of frosting on the bottom layer of cake. Then spread another very thick slab of frosting on the top layer.
I received the following letter from one of our fine missionaries:
"Dear President Murray,
We hope you have had a wonderful Christmas season. We sure did. Let me tell you about our Christmas Eve. So on Christmas Eve our district (a total of 4 missionaries) decided to go caroling to the homes of our investigators. While we were waiting for Elders ____ & ____ to pick us up, we saw a destitute member of our ward and we waved him down and started talking to him. We found out he was not going to have a Christmas of any kind, so we told him we would spend some time with him the next day. Once he was gone we got on our cell phone and called lots of members -- trying to someone who might have an extra place for this man at their dinner table. Eventually we found someone who was so generous to let him come to their Christmas dinner.
We then looked up and saw this same man again. We ran up to him and told him that we found some people from the ward who would allow him to come to spend Christmas with them. The look on his face was just priceless. This is a man who barely has anything at all -- and no friends and no family. He just lit up and just beamed. He expressed pure joy and happiness that he was going to have a Christmas!
We enjoyed that experience so much -- it was the best part of Christmas Eve, so far.
So then we went caroling and after a while we were driving by a Catholic church that was getting ready for their Christmas Eve Mass. I've always wanted to attend a Catholic mass. We discussed it as a group and decided to go. We arrived at 6:30PM and the Mass did not start until 7:00PM so we just sat in the back of the church and looked around at the church and its architecture.
Before the service started, the priest came up to us and welcomed us. So then the mass started and when the Catholic priest got up to speak he welcomed everyone and then he said, "I would like to welcome our four special friends in the back in suits. They are missionaries from the Mormons." All the people turned around and started looking at us. For a second or so everything was very quiet in the church. Then the whole congregation began to applaud for about 30 seconds. It was truly neat.
We never thought we could spend Christmas Eve having a standing ovation in a Catholic Church. Christmas truly changes people so that are looking at each other as brothers and friends and fellow Christians.
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Our companion blog, www.sicklethruster.blogspot.com, features the weekly essay from our mission newsletter.
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