Man, the time passes way too fast! I just barely got here and now the transfer´s half over! The good news is that it´s been a great time. I love it here and have really been enjoying the time. Yesterday Jeremias got confirmed. He´s really excited, and his mom´s happy too.
His dad, Gustavo, is doing okay too. He´s had some problems. Last week I mentioned that he was having a problem with the Word of Wisdom, not thinking that it´s too bad to drink a tiny bit of wine or beer every once in a while. The other day we passed and he hadn´t been reading in the Book of Mormon, so we read with him. He was on 1 Nephi 9, a short chapter when Nephi´s saying "I´m making two records with the plates, one for this reason, blah blah etc." At the very end he says "Wherefore, the Lord hath commanded me to make these plates for a wise purpose in him, which purpose I know not. But the Lord knoweth all things from the beginning; wherefore, he prepareth a way to accomplish all his works among the children of men; for behold, he hath all power unto the fulfilling of all his words. And thus it is. Amen." We explained that at times we don´t understand all things but the Lord does, and He knows why we have certain commandments. If we trust in him and have the faith to obey, we will receive the blessings and maybe even understand why, but not till "after the trial of our faith." That helped him a lot and he committed to drop 100% beer, wine, cigarettes, etc.

Noelia´s doing great too. This last week we finished teaching all the lessons. Now we just have to wait till the 19th. We were going to do it yesterday, but her mom wants us to wait. So it´ll be the 19th, along with her friend, Kati. We´ve also been talking with Noelia´s brother, Eduardo. He has a lot of problems in his life. Actually the whole family´s had problems. But we´ve already seen a lot of changes for the better. He´s a great teenager; he just needs more love in his life. He also is preparing for the 19th.

With Gustavo, Kati, Noelia and Eduardo, we have 4 sure baptisms this month. But we set the goal of 5, meaning we lack one. We have people that could do it, but they would have to go to church every week starting this next Sunday to meet the requirement of three times in the church. I´ve been kind of worried about it all, but I still have the faith that we can do it because we set the goal with fasting and prayer and it is what we felt. Last night I was praying and poured out my spirit to God, telling him that I know we can do it but not without him; we really need his help to do it. I felt a calming and felt a voice, that one we all know so well, say "Don´t worry. Patience, I´m working on it." I know where it came from and that He will help us reach our goal of 5 baptisms this month.

Well, that´s all for this week. My faith and testimony are really growing, and it´s been great to feel it. When I arrived at the MTC and later here in Chile, I had just a basic testimony. Now, after 16 months, I still have just a basic testimony. But it´s stronger and firmer than when I got here. It´s really been an edifying experience.
Have a great week!

Elder Murdoch