April 7, 2014

hey family!! thanks for all your emails! sounds like you had a great spring break!!

Today we have cambios and i have no idea what is going to happen.  i have a feeling i am going to leave.  I am a little bit ready for a new area but I don't want to leave Hermana E!!! we work so well together and we laugh literally all the time.  the area I have been in for the last 4 months is called Libertadores which is translated as people who fight for liberty.  If I get transferred I am really going to miss this place and these people here.  

This week we had general conference!!! it was so good and I could feel the spirit so strong.  we were able to bring 3 investigators and they all three commented about how good they felt after.  my favorite talk was by Elder Uchtdorf about being grateful.  we have sooooo much to be grateful!  

We had such a good experience last night that I want to tell you about! so the other day we were trying to find the house of a menos activo.  The address was 501.  but that number did not exist.  we were walking up and down the street to try to find  this house but it was not there.  there was 500, 502, 503,504, all the numbers except 501.  and so I was like well lets knock on the door of 502 and ask if they know this person.  So we knocked on the door and a 25 year old guy came out.  We asked him if he knew this person and he said no so then we just told him a little about the church and he said that his neighbor was a member and he had heard a little about the church before.  we made plans to come back on sunday (yesterday).  so last night we went to his house with this member that lives by him.  he came to the door without a shirt on and there was loud music playing in his house and there were a bunch of people inside drinking.  he said that he forgot about our appointment and that we should come back another day because he had been drinking.  then the member said, I know you have been drinking but are you drunk? haha and he said no.  So the member said that if he really wanted to hear our message we could go to the members house really quick and have a short lesson and then he could go back to the party.  so we went to the members house and started to get to know him and we found out that he has a lot of faith in christ because he has a GIANT tatoo of christ on this shoulder and that his girlfriend just found out that she is pregnant.  we were able to have the most spiritual lesson I have ever been in with him about how he can prepare to be the best father he can be for this little baby.  he said that he wants to be the type of dad that he never had but that he doesn't know how.  we told him that he may not have a father here on the earth but he has a heavenly father that loves him and that wants to bless and help him.  all he needs to do is ask.  and then it came time for the closing prayer and we always ask the investigator to say the closing prayer.  when we asked he said no (they always say no at first) but we explained that it is just him talking to god and that he could say whatever he wants. so he decided that he would do it.  it took a lot of convincing but eventually he said yes.  so we all closed our eyes and he started his prayer.  he said god, I'm thankful for my girlfriend and this son that I am going to have.  I don't know why you are trusting me with a son but I already love him and I want to be a good dad.... and then he just started sobbing.  and wasn't able to finish the prayer. he said that this was the first time in his life that he had ever prayed and that he felt like he was actually talking to god.  and that he knows that he can change his life so that he can raise this baby in a happy home.  it was so spiritual and we can't wait to go back and teach him more! 

Last Tuesday was the best day ever!! after we emailed on Monday we didn't have pday because on tuesday we woke up at 4 30 am and took a bus with our zone like 3 hours away to little town called Canta.  it was super high up in the mountains and everything was sooooo green!! we hiked to a waterfall and then had a picnic up on the hill.  it was absoultely breathtaking.  we cant to go macchu picchu but this was second best.  I will try to send some pictures of this day but really the pictures don't do it justice.  

I love you all!!

xoxo hermana murdock