Wow! We just finished up a very short and very busy week. A lot happened last week, the last one of the transfer. Including a lot of wasted money and time in traveling to the doctor, Elder Limburg; to a clinic to do X-Rays; back to Elder Limburg with the images; to the clinic to drop them off and later to pick up the report; back to Elder Limburg with the report; then to an expert on arms. He had me get another X-Ray then looked at it. The final note is that there is a fracture in my left elbow. Fortunately, it’s not broken or displaced, and the fracture is not too big. He gave me a sling and told me to take Ibuprofen and go back this Thursday. So, it’s not too serious. At times it starts hurting pretty bad, not just the elbow but also the forearm and wrist; but I take an Ibuprofen and that helps with the pain. I hope it gets better real soon. I hate being half crippled. Luckily, I can use my arm for some things but not all. The other day at lunch the sister gave us chicken, and she had to cut mine for me. How embarrassing!! I hate not being able to do everything on my own.

We are now starting a new transfer, the last one for Elder King. Nothing happened with us. Actually, the four of us in the ward all stayed here. Elder King is finishing the mission here. The next transfer will be really interesting to see if I stay here one transfer more or if they send me somewhere else and bring in two other missionaries.

Yesterday was a great 4th of July, even though I almost had forgot about it. Patricio was baptized. He was excited for it; it was something he really wanted to do. He’s really quiet and shy, but afterwards a lot of people welcomed him to the ward and made him feel really welcomed. They even invited him to a Family Home Evening, which I think he went to. It was a great baptismal service with a lot of people there to support him. We had asked an RM, recently off a mission one month, to baptize him. It was great!

Last week I talked about Eliana, friend of Sister Manriquez. She is amazing! A golden investigator. She went to church yesterday--the second time--and actually arrived alone, without Sister Manriquez. In a lesson last week, we taught her the Gospel of Jesus Christ. When we were talking about baptism she asked, "What does one have to do to be baptized? Like, what are the requirements?" It’s something that she really wants to do. Her problem is that feels that she lacks the faith to be able to do it. Since then, we’ve been studying a little more about faith, looking up scriptures, etc. to be able to help her. She definitely will get baptized in July, either the 18th or 25th. She’s really great. Oh, and we discovered that Diego, her son, is 7. He turns 8 in October.

The other two Elders in our ward gave us a great referral the other day. A recent convert in their sector has a friend in ours who went to the church with her. His name is Pedro (Peter), the same as his dad, and the mom is Ivonne. We passed by to visit Pedro Jr., but his mom came to the door. We did just a normal contact, and she rejected us. We walked away then decided to go back and ask for Pedro. That time the dad, Pedro Sr., came to the door and let us in right away. Turns out that when Elder King told her that we offer service, she understood that if she needs help she can go to the church to ask. (They live like one minute away from the church.) She is Baptist, but doesn’t go to church. The dad believes in God and Jesus but isn’t part of any church. Pedro Jr. is 16 and likes what he saw in our church. When we were talking about how the Gospel of Jesus Christ blesses families and listed blessings, they were astonished. They said that right before we showed up they were talking about how they’re not very united as a family and there’s too much contention. They said they hadn’t gathered as a family to pray and converse for a long time before we showed up. The spirit was really strong, and at the end of the lesson the dad said, "God sent you two here. I know it." They accepted everything we taught and committed to read in the Book of Mormon and pray about it and Joseph Smith. They are a great family. I’m sure Pedro Jr. will get baptized, probably Pedro Sr., and possibly Ivonne.

The other day I had another interesting lunch. The same sister who gave us seaweed a few weeks ago decided to be creative again. She brought us out a salad with lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, etc. and something white, hardish, and with mayo that Elder King took to be potatoes. But when we ate, it was more chewable than potatoes should be. We soon learned that it was "Jibia", a part of "Pulpo." Well, Jibia doesn’t have an English translation, but it is the stomach of Pulpo, which is octopus. Which is to say: I ATE OCTOPUS STOMACH!! Needless to say, I did not enjoy it too much. At least I ate all of it anyway. Elder King, when the Sister left the room, put his in a napkin and in his pocket. Later he threw it away. Hahaha!

The other day, when we were teaching Eliana, there was a small tremor. We were in an apartment building on the 3rd floor. I felt a little shaking and looked to the side to see if my comp was moving his leg, but he wasn’t. Then it got a little stronger. It was just a small one, but it lasted a good little while. Startled me a little, and Eliana jumped up and ran out the door. Fortunately, it stopped and everything was okay.


Well, I’m about out of time. The last week was a full one, and I hope to have more of those as this transfer progresses.

Ciao!

Elder Murdoch





Patricio Baptism


Almost Dead (?) Shoe