Growing and Learning

Hello to Houston, the Super Bowl City!

In their emails this week, my friends told me about the Super Bowl and it sounds like it was an exciting game. In truth, it was nice to be away from it. I actually forgot yesterday was the Super Bowl,  and I didn't know which teams were in it until I read my emails today. There wasn't anything about the Super Bowl here in Lima, not a single bit of information. I did, however, see the Jackie Chan version of The Karate Kid at a Church member's house. We were eating dinner there and they didn't want to turn it off. I probably shouldn't have, but I watched it as I ate. It`s not even a good movie, but I had a hard time just looking at the wall. 

My friends also told me about the rumor that Sergio Aguero is leaving Manchester City, but William said that once you see Gabriel Jesus play,  you don't really miss Aguero. I doubt this is true. Messi could be playing for us and I would still miss Aguero. He will always have a special place in my heart and he will go down in City history forever for his goal against QPR. It would be sad to see him go (or in my case hear about him going), but I know it will happen eventually. Hopefully he still gets a chance to show his worth the rest of this season. 

As far as my week, it was pretty eventful. Tuesday, my companion had a work visit with one of the elders in our district who`s having problems and wants to go home. My companion went to his area and that Elder's companion came to my area. The missionary I worked with  has three weeks in the mission field, and he's a gringo. So two gringos with less than 12 weeks of experience were in the field together. I was nervous, because I was leading the area for the first time. 

It wasn't perfect, but it wasn't bad, either. I learned some stuff from the experience. I feel bad for the Elder I worked with, because his companion doesn't want to do anything and it`s a rough experience for him. I hope I helped him out and gave him a break from what he`s been going through. It made me grateful for my companion and for the experiences I've had these past 8 or 9 weeks. 

 
We have also had the opportunity to find new people, which has been nice. We have a lot of people that could be baptized, but we need to help them get through the road blocks they have in their lives. Some of those road blocks are pretty big.  I know we won't be able to help them get through their challenges overnight, but the important thing is that we help them get through. 

The time has gone by faster then I thought it would. In just a couple weeks it will be four and a half months since I left home, and then one transfer rotation after that, it will be 6 months. This makes me feel mixed. Everyday I`m closer to going home, to seeing all of you again, which makes me really happy, but then I`m reminded that it`s another day where someone wasn't baptized, or taught, or helped in some way. It makes me want to work harder so that I can help more people receive the blessings of the Gospel. 

  

Thank you for the counsel and quotes. I've learned a lot these past couple of weeks. A lot of it is stuff I should've known before my mission, like how important all the "little things" of the gospel are. Daily prayer, scripture study, going to church. I've learned other stuff too, but those little things are what have really stood out to me. It`s through these little things that our testimonies become immovable. The small things bring about great things. 

As always, I miss you and love you, Dad. When you go up to visit Grandma, make sure to take a lot of pictures and send them to me. I like to look at the pictures of everyone and see all of your faces. I`m sorry I haven`t taken many pictures recently. I have some pictures today of some of the service projects we have had in the past two months. The one where we are outside on a roof is the day I fell and got a slight concussion. There are a lot of robberies in our area, though I have not seen or been robbed, but I`m cautious so I don't take my camera out of the house, so I don't really get to take pictures of anything. 

I hope every thing is going well, Dad.  I know the Lord will help us as we trust in Him. I know that He is there for us if we turn to Him. I miss you, Dad. I wish we could watch a City game right now, but I know we will be able to in the somewhat near future. I love you all and hope you have a great week. 

Love, 

Elder McMurray