6 months = 1 week -- That´s how math works these days.

Exciting news of the week... I got your package with candy this last week!  We are going to make the brownies today.  It´s been fun giving candy to people NOT from the US.  The usual response after a just-inserted-candy-into-the-mouth is wide eyes and the want for more.  If they only knew that it was just a sample of what the US has to offer... :)

Mom, your question about if we teach a lot...  Yes, we do teach a lot.  We get into several houses each day.  I know each of the 5 Lessons pretty well in Spanish. (But definitely improving regularly.)  I feel like I know Lesson 1 very well.  It is, after all, what we share first...makes sense.

When I look back from where I started with Spanish, I realized I´ve come a long way.  I like to think of every day life tasks as a test to see where you are at.  For instance, I can ask for pretty much whatever I want at stores.  If I want someone to help me with something, I can tell them what they need to do to help.  And, if I want to tell some kind of story, I can pretty much tell it now.  I´m in the phase where I am learning  local sayings or phrases.  Spanish used to feel more like a chore to use, but now it´s kind of fun learning new words regularly.

Sad news of the week:  my soccer ball was stolen.  We accidentally kicked it over the wall into the neighbor´s yard.  Normally, we have  our ways of retrieving it...but this time, it was right next to the house, away from the fence.  Our neighbor wasn´t home, so we waited until that night to go a knocking.  When we went over, the ball was gone and our neighbor didn´t have it.  Those dirty Gurises...

 

Other exciting new of the week:  We were confronted by a guy from Brazil.  He asked if we spoke Portuguese...conveniently ¨Voce Falla Portugues?¨ (sorry if I spelled it wrong, Austin.) is something we knew in Portuguese.  Unfortunately, it stopped right there with our Portuguese.  He tried to speak in a Portuguese-Spanish blend.  From that, we got that he is a member (his mom, too) and has been a member since 2000.  He said that there are 20ish missionaries across the river from us.(we have four in our city) He was over here visiting a friend.  It was fun trying to understand him.

In my personal studies, I have been finishing 3 Nephi.  Christ is getting ready to leave the inhabitants of the Americas.  And I´m right there with the Nephites; I don´t want Christ to leave.  His visit was filled with so many wonderful things that I just can´t see it end.  This section has helped me realized how essential, yet simple, the gospel truly is.  We are promised so much if we JUST DO IT.

Con Amor,

Elder McMurray