January 9th - Hills and Contacts and a Week Without a P-Day

Family and Friends,

After a slightly longer hiatus than usual, I am back! This week we didn't have any PDay because of the proliferation of PDays during the holidays, and let me tell you all, I missed talking to you guys. 8 days working without a break is a pretty long time too. You gain some special powers on the mission though, such as the ability to work for a really long continuous time and not feel the difference. Another power I seem to have gained is lack of taste. In general the food is good here in Brazil, but for that rare occasion when the lunch is real bad, I don't really feel the taste any more. I can eat just about anything. And in a country where they really like liver, animal joints, and extremely fatty food, that's a pretty big blessing of the missionary mantle. I also don't notice when things are too salty or too sugary. Another side benefit. 

This week we have been trying hard to hit our mission´s goal to speak with 300 people on the road per companionship, each week. But every time we planned a couple of hours to talk with people on the road, something stopped us. One day, we talked with a guy for 2.5 hours. He had about 1000 questions, and we ended up explaining every one of the 13 articles of faith in detail to him, we explained the nature of every member of the Godhead, and we talked for a good amount of time about Joseph Smith. I had to cite almost every scripture that I knew from the Bible, and we managed to make the guy really reflect in the end. He didn't come to church on Sunday though. He doesn't know what he´s missing out on. 

Another day that we tried to make contacts on the road, a recent convert called us up asking for urgent help with a move. They were going from one house to another and because of the man's hurt arm, they really needed our help. We did the move with white shirts and ties on, because we didn't have time to change our clothes, but we were able to get the whole move done. 

We´re trying to get some activities started up in our ward here, and free classes is something that everyone loves! My companion has started to teach piano, and we will be finding professors to help me teach English too!

Transfers are coming up next week. I don't know if I'll be moving or if I'll be staying here in Itatiba with it's many, many hills. We'll find out next time!

One more chance to offer all I have!

Elder Murray