Winter is getting Spicy.

Family,

This week was a up and down kind of week.  And the weather definitely showed that.  I have no idea what temperatures are like, exactly, but I´d have to go with 80ish and HIGH humidity.  I thought it was ¨winter.¨  Funny thing is, people are saying that this year was colder than years past.  All I´ve got to say to that is that I´m glad I wasn´t here in years past.

Well I guess I can talk a little about Argentina, but more specifically Misiones.  Lately, my animal count has been going up.  We found a strange florescent lizard in the apartment this week.  That goes nicely with the monkey I saw two weeks ago and the anaconda that some kids we know, saw.  Misiones definitely has a flair to it!  Have I told you guys about Chiperos? Well, they are people that sell Chipa (a type of cheesy bread that very popular in the region.)  They are famous for there yellow jackets.  They go EVERYWHERE yelling, ¨Chipa! Chipa, chipa, chipa!¨  They stand at stoplights and attempt to sell.  The get on buses and walk up and down to see if there are any takers. Needless to say, I have to refrain from succumbing to the  deliciousness quite often.  Other Argentina Attraction: I met a great grandma the other day, she´s 52.  The great great grandma is in her 70s!  Crazy! And to be quite honest, that´s not that uncommon.

Remember Ruben from last week?  I fill you in a little more about him.  He´s a man that can do, fix, or paint anything.  He even has business cards that say so.  He´s pretty much certified at a plane technician. He´ll be going to Buenos Aires this week for a training course.  Anyways, the guy accepts everything that we teach him.  The elders found him about a month before I got here.  After talking about temples and later on in the week watching a video about the Great Apostosy, he asked what all he needed to do to get married in the temple.  We told him that first he needs to be baptized. So his response was, ¨What all do I need to do so that I can baptized?¨ Music to a missionary´s ears? :)  Anyways, we´ve been working on his diivorce for months with him now..(he actually started 6 years ago, trying to get it to pass through)  Divorce is very hard to get accepted, here.  That´s why the majority of the people just live together.  Ruben made a smart move by selling a car to the Head Judge in charge.  He´s thinking it should take about a month more.  Please
pray for him.

So... I´m doing something I´ve never done before..  I´m going to sing in the Stake Choir at the end of this month.  Crazy right?  I´ll be singing in a men´s choir (like 10 of us) -- we will be singing, ¨Ye Elder of Israel.¨  Also, I´ll be in the main Choir, as well.  The Mission does weird things to you, I guess...

I´ve decided that Ruth wins the Woman of the Bible award, for the week (other than Mary, of course.).  Her dedication to her mother-in-law is unreal.  Are we that dedicated to doing what is right?

I love you all. A lot.

Elder McMurray