September 5th - 1

Hello Family and Friends,

The entire district laughed at the image of Jacob being thrown out of the Target because of toilet paper forts. That was a good one. Also, you still haven´t told me what part of Brazil the Brazilian elder is from. Also, your trailer story is sad, but for some reason, you weren´t to buy that trailer. Nothing happens for coincidence. 

This week was honestly pretty weaksauce. My companion and I both got super sick, so we spent a big part of the time stuck in our house, dying slowly. As for the specific maladies, my companion got a throat infection and an acute gastritis attack, which was revealed when, on his birthday, he threw up two times on the road as we walked. So, I took him home, then that night, I started to feel feverish. That night we both suffered quite a bit. Eventually, we went, the both of us, to the hospital, and it was revealed that I have gotten a nasty sinus infection. I´m taking antibiotics now though, and everything´s getting better now. You guys don´t have to worry about me. I don´t even feel that sick now. I´m just coughing a ton.

This week I read the book of Ether in the Book of Mormon. Ether is an interesting book, because it chronicles the entire story of a group of people, the Jaredites. We get to watch as they grow as a people, as they become strong, then as they become prideful, ignore the prophets, and eventually become so wicked that all but one of them die. From this story, we learn exactly how Satan works. The death of the Jaredite nation wasn´t a fast process. It went slowly, bit by bit. When the people were at their strongest, materially speaking, that was when things went wrong. Then the Lord sent prophets to warn them, but they didn´t listen to the prophets, and in the end, they were all destroyed. We have to be always careful to avoid this same cycle. When we get content, when we think that we are doing well, when we think that we can put aside the things of the Lord because all is going well, this is when we have to be wary. Ay to him that says all is well in Zion. 

In other news, this week I complete one year on the mission. It´s crazy that I´ve been out here so long. I´ve got one year more to serve the Lord with all of my time and all of my energy. And I will spend it well. One more year to succeed!

Elder Murray