April 10 - Variety is the spice of life

Family and Friends,

I thank you all for your exciting chronicles that you send me each week, and I hope this letter finds you all well.

This week brings us to the end of yet another transfer cycle here in the Brazil Campinas mission. As such, Elder Moraes will be leaving, and in fact, he'll be going home. This was his last transfer as a missionary. It was a weird experience, being the last companion to the guy, so I've had to work pretty hard to not get trunky and start thinking too much about home. I survived though, and I'll be getting a new companion tomorrow. In this area, I will have 3 transfers and 3 different companions. That's a bit of a rarity. I'll tell you guys more about my new comp next week. I'm quite happy that I'll be staying here in Jundiaí. It's a pretty great city, and this area is one of my favorites that I´ve passed in.

For Mom's questions,

I forgot to write down the Brazilian sayings. I´ll be sure to write some down this week though.

What is the first book series you will read when you get back home?

I think the first book series that I'll read will be the Stormlight Archives, by Brandon Sanderson. I read the first two when I was at home, and knowing the rate that Sanderson writes, there should be 1 or two more now. They were really good, and also really big. So I'll have plenty to enjoy. And I've remembered them a lot here in Brazil. They were pretty good books.

How is the family of five investigators doing?

The family of 5 is doing well. At the moment, they're still undecided about being baptized because they feel as though they haven't fully received an answer yet. We are going to try a few lessons with members this week to see if we can help them get their answer and be baptized.

Has anything funny happened lately?

We had several random drunk guys shouting about "The Mormons!" this week whenever we walked by. I don´t know if you'd call that a particularly funny thing, but it really happened a lot.

What's the best meal you've had this week?

The best meal I had this week was yesterday, at lunch. Rice, a mixture of calabresa with farofa, salad, and chicken. With Brazilian Coke to drink. And desert was manajar with a plum sauce. It sounds really weird to you guys, but it was good!

Do sing in Portuguese and do you sound good?

Yes, I can sing in Portuguese. No, I still don't sing well, but yes, I still do sing a lot. 

Tell us about a scripture you used to teach this week?

I really like Luke 2:52. It talks about the Savior's learning process as a boy and how he grew. It is also our example of how our learning process should look. We too must grow.

What do the youth do for activities there?

The youth have a camp every year close to carnival to help them avoid all of the evilness of that part of the year. Other than that, it's the standard schedule of dances, seminary, and church.

Thanks again for all the support back home!

One more chance to offer all I have!

Elder Murray