Life in the Lima MTC

Hey, Everyone!

So the older missionaries left last night and new missionaries are coming in tomorrow. Even though our Preparation Days (the day we get to do laundry, and write emails, and prepare for the coming week) are normally on Wednesdays, the mission president didn't want the first thing the new missionaries to see be a bunch of older missionaries not going to class or anything like that. So he switched our "P Day" to Tuesday this week. 

I know you guys usually email the night before, and I´m sorry things got changed up.  (see below)

Things here are pretty good. The days are starting to go by really fast. I´m learning stuff in Spanish but applying it is somewhat hard. I got called to be zone leader with my companion. 

Soccer´s going pretty good. I enjoyed playing with a lot of the Latinos, but they´re all gone now since they were on the three week program. I hope the new ones are as good as the ones we just had. Other than that there´s not much else to say. 

I guess one quick thing would be how grateful I am that I got to grow up in Alief. I've just had a couple of experiences here where I've realized that people don't realize the weight of their words when it comes to race. It´s been nothing confrontational and some of the somewhat thoughtless comments have been from leaders, people that I greatly admire and respect and who've taught me a lot.  They're good people, but might not understand the weight of their words. 

I don't mean to judge, I just want to say thank you for raising me in a place and home were I was taught the importance of carefully choosing the words I say. If you see this before noon, I would love for you to respond. I know mom´s at work so I wont be able to hear from her, but I would like to talk to you and find out about what´s going on family wise and world wise. I'm also sending some photos.

Love, Elder McMurray

(There is a part of the story that Elder McMurray didn't know.  His mom wasn't at work; she was in a pre-op waiting room, awaiting surgery to remove a growth that had obstructed her windpipe.  This is from a Facebook post about what happened next:)

Today, a miracle happened. 

Noah, our missionary son, is in the Missionary Training Center in Lima, Peru, engaged in an intensive immersion program to learn Spanish. It's 12 -14 hours a day, six days a week. Wednesday is the day he gets to do laundry, and relax a bit, and send emails home.

Lynda was in the pre-op area, awaiting surgery. She'd been in contact with our other two kids. "I really wish I could hear from Noah before they operate. I just want to know he's OK," she wept.

As she said that, a little voice in my head said, "check your phone." I'd turned it off, partly because my battery was nearly dead, partly because I didn't want to be distracted by it. I checked my phone. The first thing I saw was an email titled "Preparation Day Change." 

There was a scheduling conflict at the MTC: new missionaries were coming in, and for this week only, his "day off" was moved from Wednesday to Tuesday. Noah and his mom were able to exchange messages. He offered his love and some wonderful encouraging words: it was exactly what Lynda needed.

Every once in a while, little things like this happen. It's a whisper, an image you catch in the tiniest corner of your eye, that tells you, "I know, and I love you. Keep going. Everything is going to be fine." In my experience, God moves mountains, but He does it one pebble at a time.
I am grateful for all of those moving pebbles.

And now, some photos: