Feb 15th - Problems with Email

The church is having some kind of email issue so the emails have been kinda spotty  for a lot of missionary parents around the world. I don't know if it's fixed, but we got some letters today! Ben got all of our emails, but his emails never came through. I am so happy the email is working today!! So here is Ben's letter from last week, better late than never!

"Hi Fam,

This week we've been working hard here. The weather is hot, the people are lazy, but the Lord is with us, so I´m sure that things will all work out in the end. We´re teaching a few good families. Now if we can just get them to go to church we´ll really see some miracles here. I've officially made it through to the bottom of my sole in some spots on my shoe. It´s socks to the ground here until I get a chance to buy new shoes, but I walk so much that my feet are basically Hobbit level strength and I really don´t even feel it. It´s kinda cool honestly. My first Zone Leader here had shoes with a hole in the front and in the back, so apparently it worked like air conditioning! We´ve been playing a lot of chess here in what little we have of free-time, so thanks for the chess set Grandma! It´s been doing good work.

As for cool Brazil stories, we saw a group of people in the plaza here doing a demonstration of Capoeira. It´s a Brazilian Martial Art that involves a lot of spinning kicks and almost acrobatic moves, all low to the ground. It´s also a dance form! They have a special instrument that looks like a bow for archery with a big gourd on the end, and it makes a really cool musical sound. It was pretty sweet to see people from up to my size down to short fat guys all doing these sweet moves to a sweet dance beat. I really felt the Brazilian culture.

This week, I was reading in 2 Nephi, Chapter 2, because it answers the questions that a lot of people have about the Church and God´s role in our lives. A lot of people wonder why there are bad things in a world with a loving God, and Lehi describes it perfectly in verse 11. It reads "For I must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my firstborn in he wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad.". We all appreciate the good things in life a lot more when we have an apparent contrast. Cold water is a lot more refreshing when we've just left the hot sun to get a drink. Likewise, colors appear much brighter against a darker or contrary background. If we didn't sometimes face adversity, we wouldn't really appreciate the blessings as much. This also applies to hard work. When you work hard to earn money, you value it a lot more than when you´re a child and your parents buy everything for you. It also preserves our free choice. We can complain about our life, we can complain about our situation, but it won´t move and we´ll just get depressed. It´s much better to focus on the positive aspects, knowing that in the Lord´s hands, everything will work out. I love you guys, keep your heads up! I will succeed!

Elder Murray