Bautismo!

Family!

 

It´s always interesting to hear the crazy things that are going on in your lives.  I thank you for the continuous updates.

 

I found a real treat on my birthday, this last week.  Top Ramen.  Oh Yeah.  You have no idea the excitment that I felt.  The little, teenage girl squeal just didn´t do it justice..  I also bought 5 Liters of ice cream for only $40 pesos(you´ll never find a deal like that, I can promise you).  The only problem is that our freezer is just a little too small to hold the ice cream container.. so what did we do?  We cut off an inch of the top layer of the container of course!  A little ghetto, and we had to eat a lot of ice cream(okay, so I ate it all, just about) but it worked.  My birthday night was topped off with me and my companion eating 35 empanadas.  I dare you to beat 35.

 

Exciting news of the week: We had three baptisms!  It was one of the most amazing and edifying experiences that I have had in the entire mission thus far.  I´m very excited for the future of Eva, Adriana, and Miguel.  I have learned a lot from each one of them.  I´ve watched them make sacrifices ranging from not going fishing to quitting smoking.  They are on off on a new and exciting adventure.  They will find new and scary things at every turn.  The fun part about a baptism is that it really provides a good opportunity to reflect on life...your baptism...your future.(all of the above) We think of the ¨why,¨ quite a bit.

 

The weather has been rather bearable, lately.  It´s raining every week, which is a nice change.  Rain is the only tool we have that can cool things off a bit.  I can´t tell you how many times I´ve said, ¨Ojalá que llueva.¨...if you catch my drift..

 

Conference Weekend.  Need I say more?  Go to Conference with a question in mind.  Invite everyone.  Prepare to be spiritually feed.

 

I love you all,

 

Elder McMurray

 

7:12am EST

Family,

Well, it happened.  I can no longer say that I´m a teenager.  I´m officially old.  My back hurts just thinking about it..  Thank you for all of the birthday wishes!  You guys are awesome.  So I´ve gotten a few notices lately of people that aren´t sure about the mail.  Yes, I´ve gotten everything.  Yes, it´s slow.  Yes, you can still write me. :)

This week was definitely an exciting one.  The excitement started on Wednesday.  We received a call from President Heyman, informing us that Elder Massey was needed in the office.  He will be replacing an elder that is about to finish his time as an Office Elder.  Our time together was entirely too short. (Though he did leave the blender. :) )  So.... after two days of living with the other elders (Zone Leaders), I received my new companion, Elder Jake Snelson.  He makes companion number five for me during my time in Goya, alone.  He is 6´3¨, weighs like 8 pounds more than me, and best of all --- he´s left-handed.  That is left-handed companion number 5 for me.  The left-handers are still winning, 5 to 3.  At the rate I´m going through companions, I legitimately might have every left-hander in the mission as a companion.  He´s been in Argentina for just over 3 months.

Exciting news of the week:  We are set for another baptism this weekend!  We could see as high as three baptisms this Saturday.  We´re extremely excited.  I´ll have to send pictures next week!

This week, we have begun our push for General Conference.  We are inviting everyone.  When you think about it, we are so lucky to have Conference.  We have a living prophet that will speak to us.  We read in the Bible of the prophets.  If God guided his people with a prophet in ancient times, why would he change today?  He love us and wants what´s best for us.  He helps us by giving us prophets.  Mark the calendar: March 31, and April 1.

I love you all,

Elder McMurray

pss Did you know that my Mission has a blog?  I didn´t know that until President Heyman showed us something from the blog.  I´m pretty sure it´s accessible to anyone.

Roscas

Thank you for the BYU b-ball updates.  Keep me posted with March Madness-bound results (fingers crossed).  This week is selection week right?  

So... this week has been a different one, for a few reasons.  I got legitimately sick for the first time in the mission. (Write that one in the Baby Book..)  I was rockin´a 102.5 on Thursday.  (No, that´s not the local FM station...)  Intense diarrhea followed suit.  Headaches, of course.  But, I feel 100% better now!  So no worries.  I credit it to the temperature change on Wednesday night.  I woke up at 2 in the morning with the chills.  But Sister Heyman had me go to get some medication and then to a lab for a few tests.  I didn´t realize for quite some time that this was a parasite test.  Um... alrighty.  One thing you should know about Argentine health facilities is that they are a lot less private then that of their counter parts in the States.  Have you ever carried a stool sample (in a cup) through an entire waiting room before?  Just throw privacy right out that window...

Saddest part of the week (maybe my life):  Amelia, the 80 year old lady, had a tragedy this week.  Her boxer died.  Alfredo (the dog) has been in bad shape for some time.  I´ve never seen somebody soo sad in my entire life.  She had more love for Alfredo than most people have in their entire life.  She told us there is no comfort for what she feels.  I credit it to her fan that blows right in my face (thus causing my tear ducts to act up, of course) but I´ve found myself crying a tiny bit when we´ve met with her on such occasions.  If you can find a scripture that can top Alma 28:12, for this situation, holla´ at me, por favor.

After living in the Province of Corrientes for almost six months, I´ve got just the strongest desire to own at least one horse before I die... They really do wander through the streets like dogs.

So this week we are helping a woman, Adriana, with her quest to quit smoking.  I realized something really cool about desires, this week.  If you truly have desires to achieve something, it´s possible.  Anything is possible.  Just make sure you thank the Person that gave you the chance...if you catch my drift.

You guys are awesome, last thing I´m gonna say,

Elder McMurray