Wow, where did that transfer go? I swear it just started last week and now it´s over next week. Wow. Well, this could be the last email I send from Carrion. Next week I could be in a new sector, here with a new comp, or here with Elder Squire. I wouldn´t mind leaving, but I also want to stay to see Brenda get baptized.

It´s really surprising that we´ve been here so long. I´m finishing 6 months and Elder Squire 7 1/2 here in Carrion. A couple months ago I wrote home about having a conference with Elder Amado of the 70, Chile Area President. We´ve heard that at one point during the week he was here he asked President May how long a missionary is in a sector. President May told him about 3-4 months, to which Elder Amado said it needs to be more. He said on his mission he had the most success in sectors that he was in for 9 months. So it wouldn´t be too surprising to see Elder Squire stay one more transfer. I really hope I can stay with him.

Last week I talked about giving a blessing to a 1 month old who had fallen from the carraige onto concrete. The family lives in a ward of which the Elders are in my zone. They have told us that after several tests, the doctors found nothing wrong with the baby, that she is in great health. What´s more, the husband, inactive, went to church, and the wife, Evangelist, is listening to the Elders. I see a grand miracle waiting for this family.

The other day we were working with Permaneced (Abide;Stay), to find inactive members. We entered one house and talked to a member...in English! We were searching for his mom, but she died like 14 years ago. He is Chilean, but at 20 years moved to the USA and has lived in California for 40 years. He´s visiting here for a couple of weeks. His brother, who does live here, is inactive, and the wife and kids aren´t members. So we´re going to be visiting them to activate him and baptize the rest of the family. It was fun talking to Jaime, the member from California. I was on divisions with Elder Brown, who is from California. The two of them had fun talking about Carlsbad (where I have a friend serving), Newport Beach, San Diego, etc. When the brother came we had to speak Spanish cause he doesn´t speak English, but Jaime sometimes slipped into English without realizing it. It was fun.

Sister Ruz, who´s husband, Francisco, died, has been a little low. She´s still going to church, but last Wednesday after lunch with her she told us that she´s been feeling that the Priesthood of the Church has let her down, not visiting much. Worse, she feels like we, the missionaries, have abandoned her. We felt really bad. Friday, with Elder Brown, we stopped by and sang "Abide With Me Tis Eventide" and said a prayer. She really appreciated it and has been doing better.

The other night we were knocking a little side street. It is right in front of an office of the Carabineros (police), so only the Carabineros live there. One house, number 13, I remembered knocking several months ago. The woman also remembered us, and invited us in. She is married, and has a son of 14 years, with a daughter on the way in May. We didn´t have much time to teach, so we did a prayer and left a pamphlet of the Restoration. When we returned Saturday, the husband was there too. Turns out he´s not really police (Carabinero), just a mechanic for them. Still pretty cool. He studied at Chile´s equivalent of Harvard, and is a really nice guy. They actually had a barbecue on and brought us both a huge steak! It was yummy! Unfortunately, after eating, we had to go so didn´t teach much. We passed again on Sunday, but the husband wasn´t there. We taught the Restoration and Book of Mormon to Teresa and José. It was really great, and they´re going to read the Book of Mormon. But when we talked about baptism they lost interest. José feels good about where he is now spiritually. Teresa told us that years ago she shared with sister missionaries and almost got baptized, but she has a fear of water so it never happened. But she also has some other doubts that she wouldn´t share with us. So we left our number and the invitation to the church. It was almost a cool experience in house number 13. (Note from Maili--Scott was born on Friday, the 13th so he considers 13 his lucky number.) :)

Tomás (Thomas) is doing great. They ended up never going on vacation so we´ve been able to teach more. He is really excited to get baptized this Sunday. His only problem is that he has health problems. His right leg/foot is smaller than the left, but he has special shoes so it doesn´t show. He also has had skizophrenia (I have no idea how to spell that) but has medication for that, and is still okay to be baptized. Because of this problem, he appears to be like 25, acts more like 14, but is actually 40. But he is wonderful and is really excited, not just to get baptized, but to be learning about the gospel. He loves it when we visit and really enjoys the classes in church. He always shares with us something new he learned that he didn´t know before. We´re really excited for him.

Nicolas blessed the sacrament yesterday! I was way overjoyed to see him do it. He´s really progressed in his two months in the church, and I can see him preparing for a mission. That would be way great.

Well, that´s about it for this week. I keep learning more and growing more. I recently have seen the importance of staying active in the church, and how a good visiting or home teacher can play an essential role in this.

Well, until next week!
Hasta Luego!

Elder Murdoch