You will be happy to know that I received your letters this week. The mail seems to be going alright, these days. I´ve been getting things that were sent between two and three weeks before I received it. That sure beats a month or two. (The record is still six months-- a letter that was sent in September got to me in March.) Keep the letters coming! Also, so what´s the word on getting me more Lawry´s Salt? Plausible?
This week, as the subject title indicates, was a week of service. I´ll just state it now.. I. Love. Service. What made it even better was that we did some of my favorite things (thank you, ¨Sound of Music.¨) I got to help cut somebody´s yard, and I got to paint.
The first project consisted of the four missionaries that are serving in the branch, the branch president, and two other brothers. Can I get a ¨Machete Fun Time,¨ holla?? Machetes never get old.. they just seem to feed that hungry-man side of you. We cleaned up an aging brother´s yard, as well as that of a sister that recently had surgery on her hand.
The other project was on the Stake level. But that might be a slight mislabel... it was more on the Missionary level. The project had roughly 35 people in attendance; 26 of those being missionaries from Posadas. We painted a school for Special Needs kids. Just hand a bunch of 19-23 year olds a few paint brushes and some paint and the rest is history. It was very fun, and equally satisfying. The administration of the school was slightly emotional after we had finished the masterpiece. I think the were a little surprised at just how eager we were to do it; and with no thought of payment. They said that it had been several years since the school had been painted, and was badly in need of it. They said the last time the school was painted, it was also a service project ...done by the Mormons. King Benjamin got it dead on in Mosiah 2:17. There is nothing better we can do than serving others. Look for something this week you can do for another.
The weather has been amazing lately. We´ve had nearly two weeks of 70s weather. And it´s looking like the weather will continue like that for at least a few more days. We had a crazy little storm this morning that included the power getting cut and high winds. Posadas got a nice little morning bath. They say there is more in store, but currently it´s sunny outside.
One of the things I love most about the Gospel is the power that it brings into one´s life. Even without realizing it, one´s life begins to change for the better. From our point of view (the missionaries), it becomes quite obvious, at times. Often times, those that are investigating the Church don´t notice it, but we do. We are teaching a man named Cristian these days. Since we began teaching him a ways back, I´ve noticed some amazing changes that I never thought would be possible. He´s using less foul language. He offers to say the prayer when we visit. He doesn´t get as mad at his family as he did before. He´s reading in the Book of Mormon, even though he doesn´t like to read that much. We were a little hesitant to talk about the Word of Wisdom, seeing as that is his lifestyle. But he likes the idea and said that he wants to quit. He also said he realizes which friends are the ones that will tempt him to do something wrong. (He even said that he´s trying to stay away from friends like that.) He´s noticing the blessings, now. Not only did he find a really sick job since we first came by, but he also found jobs for his two unemployed brothers. He even told us last night that he´s thinking about buying a suit. He´s such a champ. The Gospel has that kind of power. I know it with all my heart, that it does.
OOXXoxXOxxOO,
Elder McMurray
No comments:
Post a Comment