Earthquakes? Hurricanes? Tornadoes a few months ago? Who would have guess all in the same year! What an exciting time we live in! I am definitely missing all of the North American action.. Surprisingly enough Dad, there hasn´t been any rain since Tuesday, when I last wrote. There has been heat, though. I´m a little anxious about what is to come, seeing as this is equivalent to the end of our Februarys. I already feel like the humidity is the same as what you described Florida as, Mom. I think I could probably cut the humidity in half with a machete.
I few things out of the ordinary have happened this week. For starters, I gave a talk in Church. I have a hard time giving them in English! ...We were ´fortunate´ enough to have upwards of 40 people attend. I lived to tell the tale. I think I spoke for nearly 10 or 12 minutes (in REAL time. ..my heart time...probably in the neighborhood of 2 hours). It was a fairly easy topic, the First Lesson for missionaries. I felt a little more confidence when Hermana Cata gave me a nod of approval during the discourse. Hermana Cata is one of a kind, but at the same time reminds me of other people in my life. She is German; a little rare for these parts, but not totally uncommon. She knows Spanish, German, Portuguese, and a little Gurani. Have you ever heard Spanish with a German accent? It´s kind of amazing. If you ever have the opportunity to hear it, please take advantage. She very kind-hearted; always feeding us and making us bread. But at the same time, I would not be at all surprised if she was a member of a gang. Though she´s in her 70s, she gives off that vibe.
Another new event this week was helping an investigator put in her floor to a new house. Impressive, right? Who knew I had that talent. Unfortunately, this wasn´t your average floor. She´s building a house for her mother, the one that is 105, next door to her´s. The floor that we helped with consisted of a truckload of dirt.(after the dirt is in place, they will put floorboards in on top of it) Shovel in hand, we began to help. Boy, are we out of shape! She, 65 years old, was easily doubling our work...well...doubling more of Elder Escobedo´s work. Though I was sore the next day, I thank you mom for preparing me for this by having me work in our yard at home.
Now for the best (worst) part... I thought I´d save it for last so only the faithful followers would know what happened. I don´t think that I´ve mentioned it before, but Argentina has large quantities of dogs. Yes, I know that every missionary alive has argued that their mission has or had the most dogs. I choose not to argue that mine has most, because I know for a fact that it does. Each household has at least 4 dogs. Usually, they don´t mean any harm. Usually.
You know where this is going...
Every Wednesday we eat at the Branch President´s house. After visiting with his mother-in-law (next door), we walked across her yard to their yard. Naturally, we walked right up against the house. I learned a very valuable life lesson from this: When a house is elevated with blocks, thus providing a gap underneath, NEVER walk close to the house. That little booger shot out from under the house quicker than I had time to blink. If it weren´t for my slightly baggy dress pants, that beast would have taken a chunk out of my leg. His little teeth marks, and slobber were right at the ankle line. Okay, yes it was only an overly large, lap dog. But that ´thing´ had me sweatin´. He(or she) definitely has a mad case of Little Dog Syndrome.
I found an Ensign from July, 2008, in our apartment this week. I read an article by Elder Kenneth Johnson, former member of the Seventy. My favorite part was his quote from the book As a Man Thinketh, by James Allen. It said, ¨Whatever your present environment may be, you will fall, remain, or rise with your thoughts, your vision, your ideal. You will become as small as your controlling desire; as great as your dominant aspiration.¨ Isn´t that deep? I won´t even begin to interpret that for you. Make with it what you will. I also had the chance to finish Mosiah and start the book of Alma this week. There´s so many good parts that I came across, that all I can say to you is please read those chapters again.
Guess what, I love you, I love you, I LOVE YOUUUU,
Elder McMurray
ps for all those ELF fans out there, you´re welcome.
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