Snail Mail dated 30 November '09 (written BEFORE his transfer to the new area)

Oi Familia!
So guess what! As I was finishing up my first letter, what arrives in the mail? A letter from the fam! Dated November 23! Yay! So more of Elder McGregor's snail mail for you guys!

So first, Dad wanted to know how many lessons on average we teach per week, how many people normally are in our teaching group, how many new investigators we get during the week, how many hours we spend tracting vs teaching, time spent with members, the greatest challenges in teaching, whether we eat out much or not, what I spend excess funds on, and who else sends me letters. So here we go:

We teach anywhere from 12-14 lessons per week, but we always aim to teach 20. We aim for 8 lessons with members, 8 others and 4 lessons with recent converts and less active members.

We have, usually, from 8-10 people in our teaching group. They're also pretty volatile, meaning we invite them to be baptized on the first or second lesson. And we baptize them or move on. So --

We'll add anywhere from 3 - 6 investigators per week. So we move pretty quickly. Some we keep for a long time, like Joaquim, based on what we think their potential is to be baptized. Others we cut quickly. It really depends on the person.

So when you say tracting, I assume you mean knocking doors? If so, we tract 0 hours per week. I haven't knocked one door here in Brasil. We don't have to. We do, however, do street contacts. 10 per companion per day is the mission goal, but we usually complete about 8-10 as a companionship. It might appear that these numbers don't add up, but we keep very busy. It's harder to teach lessons during the day because everyone works, but we always have a mountain of things to do after 6.

We spend probably up to 15 hours or more per week with members, asking for references, teaching lessons, etc.

The greatest challenge for us with adults is the fact that no one is married, which is necessary for baptism. For our younger investigators, it's getting mom and dad to let them be baptized. Not super difficult, but we have to be pretty convincing. Another problem is the difficulty we have getting people to go to church. "Will you go to church tomorrow?" "I will." "Great, we'll show up at 8:30 to go with you." We show up Sunday morning. "Oh, sorry, I can't go today for X reason." And it happens every Sunday. Blah. : )

We do not eat out at all. We have lunch every day with members (except P Day). And we don't usually eat until we get home at 9:00, so we eat quite a bit during lunch. : ) I do eat breakfast and dinner every day, though, don't worry.

We spend our money on food and bus rides.At R$2.50 per passage, it's quite expensive and that's without the other bus tickets for Zone Conference, the occasion what our zone leader leaves his cell phone at our house (which means we traveled 3 hours round trip & spent R$30.00 total). We also pay our water and electric bills, which are substantial. Thankfully, these things are generally reimbursable. (Not normal bus rides, though). But it takes about a week and a half to receive the reimbursement. So I find myself a little short on money at times, but it hasn't been a problem yet.

Grandma & Grandpa Fillerup, Jay & Judy, Melissa, and Amber Dayton write me regularly. I'll get a random letter from an old friend every once in a while, but you guys are the only ones that send weekly letters (which is totally fine. No complaints here. I get way more letters than almost all the other missionaries here).

So there you go. Hope that answers quite a few questions.

So Katie was watching the beginning of Beauty and the Beast when she wrote. I must say, the opening music I love. Sing along:
(here he does some doo doo doo's all up and down by pitch - it's pretty funny)

Too much fun. you wrote: "Katie, tu hermanita adorablita."
Portuguese: Katie, tua icmazinha adoravelzinha. Yay. : ) (I hope I typed that write - hard to decipher...)

Mom, I'm glad you're enjoying Seminary. I hope you know that it really does make a difference. Your efforts, though sometimes it may seem that they go unnoticed, make a difference.

Leese told me about New Moon, which is doing pretty well here in Brasil. I assume it was huge in the States. Let me know how our sparkly vampire friends are doing. Oh, and the werewolves as well. : )

Love you guys!
Elder Trenton McGregor

Snail Mail dated 24 Nov 2009 (written BEFORE his transfer to the new area)

Oi Familia!
So first, the letter I'm responding to is from 1 Nov, which was a little while back. Dad talked about his first haircut in Japan. Haha - I've always wanted a straight razor shave -- I hear it gets the job done much cleanlier (yes cleanlier is what it says!) than a normal razor.

I find sometimes that the missionary pace (which Dad spoke about) is quite a pace indeed. We get home usually about 9-9:15, and after planning, I'll take a quick shower and hit the sack at 9:45. Needless to say, I've still got no trouble sleeping. : )

So the new mission president spoke at Stake Conference? Well, I encourage you guys to do what he has suggested. If he's anything like President Bezerra, he is inspired of God. I will also say that after Conference it is easy to be excited about the Gospel. It is much more difficult to retain those feelings -- think back to what you felt while he spoke, and try to continue with those feelings. When was the last time GB3 had a baptism? Do you guys believe it could be you to bring someone else to the Gospel? If not, believe it. And when you do, do you have the faith to begin the work? If not, have it. Read Ether 12, which, as you know, is on faith. Guys, our family is special. I know this now more than ever. There really are people looking for truth in this life. I think many people believe this, but not in their own lives. The exist. They're all around us. I used to say proudly to my friends that many people didn't know I was a Mormon. I was so normal that they wouldn't know it. I could not have been more wrong in being pleased with myself about this. We have the truth. The least we can do is let others know how much we love the Gospel. We must be proud of our beliefs, and ready to speak about them at any time. Those who are seeking truth, when they see our joy in the Gospel, will want a part of it. Guys, each of you has a wonderful testimony. Share it. Whenever it comes up. Every Fast Sunday. With your friends, associates, neighbors. BE NOT AFRAID! : ) People will not be offended. I think many times I didn't want to invite people to church when I could have -- what will be said at church? It might not be ideal. I've learned that there is no such thing as ideal in the imperfect world we live in. People enjoy church. Do not worry about offending -- people DO have interest. Help them see the real truth -- the greatest truth -- in this life. Let them accept or not -- don't choose for them by not sharing.

Anyway, I'll get off the soapbox now. : ) But these are all things I've learned here. Doing missionary work is truly something that brings joy. For many, it only brings a lot of stress : ) It will not be stressful for you guys if you share with love. It's not a math equation -- it will come naturally to you guys as you share with love. Just talk about the Gospel and the happiness it brings. And you'll find yourself surprised at how easy it will be to invite those who show some interest to Sacrament Meeting, or FHE.

Okay, off the soap box -- REALLY -- now : ) : ) : ) : )
So, as you can see, I've changed pens - it's now 30 November 2009. I got the letter previously mentioned last week after p-day had ended. Blah. But all is well. You guys got it eventually, right?

So Leese, you said you wanted SPORE for Christmas? I got to play that game before the mission and it's a lot of fun. I'd recommend it : ) Katie'll like it, too. And of the three holidays (Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas) I love Christmas the greatest. Only a little bit more and I get to talk to you guys! Very exciting : )

Well, I love you guys! Hope all is well!
Love love love love : )
Elder McGregor

A Transfer! Now serving just outside Rio...

Check out where E McGregor is now!
(pictures from Google Earth)

Green - new area, Caxias
Yellow - second area, Conselheiro Paulino
Purple - first area, Barra Mansa
Red - Rio de Janeiro

and, just to show his areas in relation to the Brazil MTC (CTM)
(the aqua marker, lower left):

Hey hey! Well, as you guys suspected, I was indeed transferred. I am now in the Caxias area, of the Rio de Janeiro zone.

We live here, but I don't know the number of the house. So send letters to the mission office for now, k?
Rua Valença
Bairro Prainha, Duque de Caxias--RJ
Brasil

Elder Nogueira (no gay ruh) is my companion--he's from São Paulo. He's 6 foot 5, so now I really am Elder Magrelo. Good stuff =]
But I'm liking the new area a lot. Sorry, no pictures this week--the LAN house we're in isn't all that great.

I didn't get to say goodbye to any of the members in the last area--both Elder Morris and I were transferred, and the area closed again. We were both surprised. But I suppose that's how it goes, huh? But I'm here working hard in a really stinking hot area. Conselheiro was pretty cool--high altitude. It's stinking hot here. But luckily, to make up for it, we have an air conditioned bedroom!!! :D :D :D :D :D :D Totally fantastic. I'll take a picture of it for next week. Anyway, I love you guys and hope that all is well with you. I'll try to get a pretty good sized snail mail written today, kk?

Love, Elder McGregor

PS--don't know anything about the packages yet, but I'll probably get them both on the 21--we're having the mission conference next Monday. So it's quite possible I won't have time to do emails next week either. But I'll probably get both packages there.

PPS--I'm still not entirely sure how calling on Christmas works. So I'm going to need the house number for next week to talk to you guys. I remember it ends in 4805, and starts with 916, but the rest is escaping me. Looking forward to Christmas!! Love!

A baptism, Zone Conference and Thanksgiving

Oí família! Tudo bem??
Everything's great here--last week was great =] Thanksgiving, Zone Conference, and a baptism!
So this last week we had lunch on thursday with Fransisco (papai de Nolan) and Kalyla (mamãe), (Fransisco and Kalyla are parents of the samba-dancing toddler Nolan) who lived in Australia for over 6 years. So they knew what Thanksgiving was (Thanksgiving is celebrated in Australia? Maybe they had Americans in their ward there or something), and they offered to do a Thanksgiving Lunch for us =] We had chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy (something I miss substantially--they usually eat them dry here), rolls and stuffing =] Elder Morris' fiancé sent him stuffing in his last package (I told you guys he's engaged, right?), and so we had the opportunity to introduce stuffing to Fransisco's family, as they'd never had it before. Very exciting =]

Friday was our Zone Conference. I won't go over what was said, but I will say that Presidente Bezerra is a man inspired of God. Also, this last week we had 91 baptisms in the mission, which, I'm pretty certain, set the new record for baptisms in a week--normally we have about 50-60. So everyone's super pumped to keep baptizing at this rate =] Wish us luck!

And finally, last week Elder Morris and I had a baptism--Emylenne! She's engaged to one of our formerly less active members, Alan. His father, Pedro, performed the baptism, and it was a very special occasion, as all baptisms are.

So this week I have a special request--E. Morris and I are going to have Joaquim interviewed to be baptized. If all goes well, we'll baptize him this Sunday. So if you guy could pray for him to see the importance of this next step in his life, and to help him give up whatever keeps him from entering into this saving ordinance, I would greatly appreciate it.
Love you guys a whole bunch! Glad everything is well with you guys still! Have a wonderful week!
Elder McGregor


The happy birthday song here in Brasil:

Parabéns pra você (congratulations to you)
Essa data querida (this beloved date)
Muitas felicidades (much happiness)
Muitos anos de vida (many years of life)

x2 =]


And - The new scripture cap I've got for my triple combination
(scripture cover)

Joaquim, a Critter, and baking soda

Oí Família!
Tudo bem?

Things are going well here in Brazil =] Haven't gotten the package yet--I'll either get it this transfer, or if it hasn't arrived by then, next time the zone leaders drop by.

I won't need the Ensign--the mission provides them monthly for us. Pretty sweet =] Glad you're not bovvered =] (I ordered a Conference issue for him. Bry and I would have LOVED to have those while serving our missions. The only way to get them was if someone sent it).

I call you guys on Christmas. I'm looking forward to it, too. And I think I call you guys from the mission office, where all the missionaries gather at Christmas time. A missionary mecca, if you will =]

Angela, Eva and Joaquim are doing well. I think Joaquim will be baptized soon-ish, and the others possibly as well.


So photos this week--first is an out of focus centipede, but it was pretty big. It moved too fast to get a comparison, but it was at least as thick as my thumb, and probably twice as long.

"Bixo" (critter)

Next is a photo of our district this transfer, with our Zone Leaders present. (E. Morris, E. Makiama [my trainer, now ZL], E. Fernelius [ZL], E. Vaniski, me, and E. Dooley in the chair. It's E. Dooley's last transfer--he's out of here!

The next two are our baptism this week--François. He's a fantastic kid, and we'll continue to work with his mom and she'll probably be baptized soon. Very exciting =]



But yeah, all is well here! Hope everything's great with you guys!
Love,
Elder McGregor



Then, in a separate e-mail Trent answers my question as to whether or not he wants us to send baking soda so he can make pancakes. He asked us to send pancake mix, but with the outrageous shipping I sent him a recipe and some baking soda ; )

Basicamente, it's really hard to find baking ingredients here. That's why all Brazilian meals consist of beans and rice, noodles and a type of meat, and possibly egs -- that's all they really sell here. There's no such thing as baking in Brazil, unless you buy a pizza. So I'll continue to look for flour and baking soda, but the easier way would just to send me the pancake mix (krusteez powder stuff. Which is why I asked for in the first place?)

But yes, it would be great to send me baking soda. I'm thinking they don't have it here. And it's pretty tough to find brown sugar here too. Wish me luck! =]

We got the email this morning and snail mail this afternoon!

Oi Familia!

Tudo Bem? Tudo bem aqui. Sorry, today I haven't got much time to write -- churrasco! (In other words, really good meat - smoked : )

So that Halloween movie looks pretty entertaining
(I sent him a few screen shots of this JibJab video Kelsey did starring Katie, Jordan, Elise, Kelsey and Trent:
http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/dNJ4GjKW7O7265OM )
I remember being a vampire for Halloween once. Way fun.

We always have our own washing machine - the mission buys them for us. Very nice for us : )

Katie; cool stylus thingy - parabéns for learning how to use it well : )

And yes, Daw, miss the banter a lot. But one of the pluses of having an American companion is if I have something really witty to say, I'll just say it. Quite nice : )

So sorry, that's it this time around.

Love you guys!

Elder McGregor

Photos, baby samba, and ties

Oí família!
So photos this week are of Pedro Lucas' birthday--he's Rulian's (last week's baptism) brother, who's 7th birthday we celebrated. He loves Ben10, a very popular kids show here in Brazil, which also exists in the US.


The video is of Nolan, kicking a futebol, and dancing the samba. Very entertaining as well.


But things are well here in CP. No baptisms this week, but we're working with a young man (13) named François--he went to church for the second time this week and is loving it. We got a white shirt for him, and I gave him one of my older ties. He was so ridiculously happy, haha. But his mother's having a tough time letting him be baptized. We're still trying to convince her--she's not totally against it, but not totally for it.
But that also reminds me--all of those fantastic ties we got for my mission are well loved by the Brazilian people--too well loved. Every Sunday I get at least two or three members asking for a tie. It happens every time.
"Hey Daniel!"
"Hey Elder! What a lovely tie you have there."
"Why thank you."
"Do you have any beautiful ties to give to me as a gift?"
I think I'm going to go buy some ugly ties and wear them only to church on Sunday.

Love you guys. Hope all is well!
Elder McGregor

Remember Baby Nolan of "Where's Jesus?" fame? The video is of him. I don't know why the sound's a little weird; it isn't that way until I upload it. Anyway, I came home from Seminary this morning and Bryon and Elise were all happy because we'd already received our Monday email from Trent. Then Bryon shows me the video, too, and as I'm watching it he says, "When Trent talks... it was so weird because I hear my voice, but it's speaking Portuguese!" ha ha! Bryon and Trent sound so alike that they were frequently mistaken for one another on the phone. Kind of fun!

ps I'm also noticing Trent's vocabulary and sentence structure are changing more and more as he is immersed in Portuguese longer and longer ... : )

Two baptisms, things are great, and a ridiculously huge snail

oí família! Tudo bem?
So this week was pretty great--we had two baptisms! Nataly and Ruliân.
Remember the baptism of Maria Luiza and here family? That all began with Alexandre a little more than a year and a half ago. He is Maria Luiza's son, and Nataly is his wife. We'll begin to work now with her mother, Angela. Maria Eva, as well (Maria Luiza's mother) is a future investigator, but as of right now she doesn't have a great desire to recieve the missionary lessons. Perhaps you guys could include her (along with Joaquim) in your prayers to begin to feel a desire?

Rulian is a young man we've been working with since we arrived here. He's been wanting to be baptized for quite some time, but we had to convince her to allow him. Now will begin working with his brother, Mateus, to be baptized. This will be another challenge, seeing as his father, who they are separated from, decided against allowing him to be baptized. I think, however, if she begins to see a change in Mateus, she will concede with him as well. As of now, he doesn't have much of a desire to do anything. We'll keep working with him, though. Can you guys pray for him as well? That there may be a change in his heart?

Other pictures--a huge snail we found. Enormous. Ridiculous.


So things have been great here. We're still working hard. Hope everything is well at home! Love you guys, stay awesome! Be excellent to each other!
Elder McGregor

Wow! Snail mail 2 days in a row!!! (undated letter)

Oi familia!
Tudo bem?
So first, what's up with Girl Scout "Goodies?" Did they decide to change it up or something? Don't tell me Thin Mints are gone! What on earth will I do? And Leese, whatever you decide to give to Katie for Christmas I'm sure she'll love it. Right Katie? : D

My most favorite lunch I've had (we have lunch, not dinner, with the members) doesn't really exist because all the lunches are the same -- rice and beans, meat, noodles, salad, etc. They're not very diverse, ha. And yes, they do have quail eggs. Which aren't much different than normal eggs. Haven't eaten any bugs yet -- on purpose, at least. And I love The Giving Tree. Wonderful book : )

Katie, your letter was deceptively large due to the Rock On hand. While it's fantastic, I'd prefer writing by Katie : )

(Next Trent offers several interpretations of a funny dream Bryon had and told Trent about in a letter, but I won't include it here... : D )

Well, that's about it this time. Thank you guys for writing every week -- it's really nice. I haven't met any other missionary that gets letters every week from his family. So thanks -- it means a lot.

Love!
Elder Trent McGregor

Snail Mail dated 12 Oct

Oi familia!
Tudo bem? Tudo bem aqui.

So let's see -- Leese, yes, all of the books are from the Redwall series. And I never bought the original, interestingly. Maybe you could borrow it from the library? My favorite of the series is Taggerung. And 'series' is an interesting word because there really is no beginning or end to the connection of the stories. Some characters are in multiple books, others you only come across once. But I enjoyed all of the books related to Redwall. : )

So Katie, by the time you get this letter you'll have been done with Frosh English! Parabens! : ) (when we moved to England it messed up Katie's class credits, so she had to take a quarter of Freshman English for full credit in that class. She's a senior!) How did you enjoy reading Romeo & Juliet again? Just as bad as the first time? Yeah, not a big Shakespeare fan. I mean, he did stuff for English and all, but really in the end I think hes just a big hack. (I think it says 'hack' - he writes fast and I got discern all the letters!) But then, West Side Story wouldn't exist without him, so there's one good thing.

And yeah, funny about magic cookie bars disappearing. I think we're all just so used to knowing that if you dont grab your own fair share of whatever (cookie bars, brownies, cake, Lucky Charms...), it'll be gone soon. So we all just go mad whenever there are "coisas gostoso" (literally "yummy/tasty things").

And yeah, learning 6/4 might be important in the future. Counting (in general) is pretty important, too. Is that why you were so sad when the magic cook bars disappeared -- you weren't counting on it? oof... you might want to stop after that one for a bit. That was pretty bad... : ) And yes, Schroeder is a win indeed. I like him -- he likes Beethoven : )

And Leese, it's way cool that Mrs Gil is your teacher!

So you're going to have to tell me more about this ham radio thing, and compare it to something modern so I can understand how this ancient device works. : ) Is it like ... an internet chat room? Where there are a bunch of people on the same channel and just talk about random stuff? Or what? Please, help my young mind understand the ways of this pre-internet contraption : )

I'm going to agree with you on how great home is. It's fantastic. I think I take after the ways of Grandpa Fillerup, in that after a few days of doing something, I want to go home. Wherever it happens to be. Granite Bay, dorm room at BYU, England, etc. Home rocks. No, it boulders.

So here we sleep on lovely Brazilian mattresses. Some are box springs, but most aren't. So you've got to try and snag a box spring if you can. My pillow is quite lovely, though. Sister Bezzera (mission president's wife) asked if we had enough pillows at the house ( because we're opening the new area). When I said we did, but that they weren't very good, she promptly pulled one out of the trunk of her car. It's one of the best pillows I've ever had, frankly. It's staying with me, com certeza (with certainty/for sure). And yes, I'm using both the mattress cover and pillow cover you guys got for me. They're great.

Mosquitoes, actually, have not been a problem, as of yet. Because it's been winter. But I think these days of luckery are almost over. Brazilian summer, here we come. I only hope to be here in this area for a good part of it -- it's generally much less hot here than everywhere else. Yay!

And that's too funny about the investigator saying, "Have a nice mission!" to you in English. ha ha (Bryon had shared a story from his mission in Japan).

Well, I love you guys. Hope all is well! Love your guts (amo suas tripas).

Elder McGregor

ps I sent a letter to Sister Clement and the Primary a little while back. You know if she got it?

Love!

Bugs, Smoking is Detrimental, and Jonas gets baptised

Âlo Família!
Como é que vocês estão?
So fotos this week--
1. Weird bug. Dunno what it is.2. the next playing card in the "Brazilian Smoking-is-detrimental Playing Card Game Series"--

Sofriment (Suffering). =] I love the pale, deathly face of Dad, the look on Son's face of, "Oh, why?!?!?" and Mom's look of, "Don't you see what's happened to our family? How dare you." Very entertaining.
3. a rather large beetle.
4. our baptism this week -- Jonas.

In the picture (family relations to Jonas in brackets): E. Morris, Me, Jonas (10), Daniel (cousin), Bishop, Karina (Cousin), Janete (Aunt), Selena (Mom). A very happy day for Jonas--he's an excellent kid. He already memorized the first 7 articles of faith =]
5. The last of the trading card game (did I mention they're all first editions? Very rare.)

--Fumaça Tôxica, or Toxic Fumes. If you look carefully, you can see what we eat every day here in Brasil. I'm not sure if she's reacting to the smoke, or if she's thinking, "Arroz e Feijão de novo (again)???"
Yay pictures =]

Hope all is well with you guys--love you all, have a great day!

Elder McGregor

Snail Mail from Elder "Mack-greh-low" dated 10/19

In this letter Trent is answering our letters telling him about Conference, the books we're reading, Obama making the Olympic bid for our country, etc. and asking how Brazilians pronounce his name and if the country is abuzz with excitement from winning the 2016 Olympic bid.

Oí Familia!
Tudo bem? So we just got back from getting haircuts, as you may well already know. I just had the cabelereira (female barber -- her name is Daise and she's a member) buzz it all with a 3. Nice and simple, man.

So that's funny about Obama and the Olympics. Didn't know he gave the pitch. And yeah, in my opinion, it's only a big deal if you make it a big deal. So parabéns to all the Obama-haters for making mountains out of molehills, ha.

It's so funny, everyone who talks about conference talks about Elder Holland's talk. Talk about legendary. Last conference (April), his discourse was fantastic as well -- on Christ's atoning sacrifice for all of us. Elder Holland always has been, and will remain, one of my favorite apostles.

So Leese, I'm glad you're enjoying the Redwall books. Man, I loved those books : ) I also quite enjoyed "Mrs Frisby." I remember seeing the cartoon movie when I was really little at the Cushings house in Vernal. Too funny the things we remember, huh?

So Brazilians and my name -- generally it's something like "Mack-greh-low" or "Mack-Gregory" or "M-C-Gregor" the first time. Pretty funny. The letters "Mc" here are like Dj in the U.S., so I'm quite the cool guy, doncha know : )

So the World Cub and the Olympics are going to be here in Rio. The "Olympíadas" are very exciting for Brasileiros, but the World Cup is far more. Futebol is everything here. Everyone has their "time" ["chee-meh"; team). Mine is Palmeiras from Sao Paulo -- I chose them for their colors. Go check'm out. But here in Rio, almost everyone cheers for Flemengo, which, yes, means 'flamingo' in Portuguese.

Anyway, love you guys. Espero que tudo seja bem! (I hope everything's going well!)
Love,
Elder McGregor

Brasil's World Cup bid logo:


And their Olympic bid logo:
And here are the logos of the two teams he referred to:

Haircuts, "full blown" members, the dangers of smoking, and at least another transfer together

Oí família!
Tudo bem?
So photos this week-- Got a haircut --before, during and after. Just buzzed it straight off. Much much easier. Daise Cabelereira (Female barber) is a member of the church and gives free haircuts to the missionaries. Good stuff.

(The before picture is me wearing the Cota & Cole shirt--I'm advertising

for Bishop Cota here in Brazil, haha)

Next is the advisement against smoking that you can find on all of the cigarette cartons here. Very funny. I cracked up the first time I saw it.


Things have been great here--Luiza's family was confirmed in church yesterday, so now they're full blown members. Very exciting. She and her family were references from Alexandre, their son. We're working with his wife now, Natali, who will most likely, I think, be baptized as well. Very exciting. So yeah, things are going well here.

Transfers were last week, and both I and Elder Morris stayed. So we'll both be here until next transfer, which will happen in the beginning of December. Yay!

Hope all is well at home.

Dad's questions:
- As we prepare for the holiday season, what kind of things would you like for Christmas? I know, it's kind of early but we need to think ahead on these kinds of things, especially when it could take weeks for you to receive a package.
Packages, huh? Let's see... beef jerkey's always nice, haha. One of those pocket book of mormons (the little tiny red ones) in english--it's much easier to find stuff that way. Candy. I miss my mint stuff. Like Leese used to always get me for Christmas--mint whatever. And 3 Musketeers. Huzzah =]

- Is there anyone that we can pray and fast for to aid you and Elder Morris in your work?
I guess I would ask for help with Joaquim--he needs to get a testimony of the gospel in order to change. Right now he's attending, learning, all that, but not really getting a testimony. So that would help =]

- Is there anything that the members need in your area that we could help with (maybe part of your Christmas package)?
Not that I can think of... I'll let you know in the future, tá (ok)?

- Had any Swiss people jump you lately?
No, thank goodness. But I can't let my guard down, y'know? They could be anywhere..... even right behind meçalkjdçlskjf çlkajsd lkajafaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

hahaha : D
Love that boy!

A family baptism, Zone Conference, and baby Nolan

Oi Familia!
Tudo bem? So guess what? Baptisms this week =] Maria Luiza (mom), Claudermir (dad), and Victoria (daughter) were baptized yesterday--references from the son Alexandre, and I'm way excited for them--they are truly a wonderfamily. I think Maria Luiza's mother, Maria Eva, will be baptized soon as well. I'm really grateful for having this experience--not many missionaries get to see a whole family baptized as a fruit of their teaching. I was sitting in the chapel before the baptism wondering to myself what I had said or taught that brought these wonderful people to realize the truth, and of course it wasn't anything I said--it was the spirit, and the truthfulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. How thankful I am to be a missionary, to have the opportunity to share the truth with our brothers and sisters and see the fruits of that truth.

Me, Claudermir, Bishop, Maria Luiza, Victoria, Maria Eva, Elder Morris, Alexandre

We also had our zone conference this week. I'm also incredibly grateful for President and Sister Bezerra--they are such great inspirations. I love hearing them speak--it's almost like having general conference every six weeks.

me with Pres. & Sister Bezerra

the Téresopolis zone

These 2 the pictures are of Nolan, a bebêzinho in our ward (he's at that age where if you talk to him he understands, but doesn't really talk yet). If you ask him, "Cadê Jesus?" (Where's Jesus?), he'll give you the 'I dunno' hands (the picture of me and him). If you then show him a picture of Jesus, Nolan will point to him (the picture of Nolan with his mom, Kalyla). He's so stinkin' cute, haha. The Jesus in the photo is the picture I put on the front of my daily planner, and every time Nolan sees me, he points to my breast pocket because he wants to look at Jesus. Children are amazing, huh?

Cadê Jesus? (Where's Jesus?)

There he is!

So anyway, hope things are well at home. Love you all!

Elder McGregor

Here is a picture of E McGregor with Rosângela, whom he referenced in his first 9/21 letter from the area he and his new companion had been sent to re-open. She had shared this heart-felt story with them:

"We suffered without missionaries. I suffered, my family suffered, and the ward suffered. And I knew immediately that my attitude had been terribly wrong. We spoke with our son, the Bishop, about how we could re-open our area. We decided that we needed to show the mission president that the ward Conselheiro Paulino was ready to have missionaries again. The next Sunday, the leaders of our ward decided we would present investigators to the mission president to show our willingness to work with the missionaries. We came up with six names--six people who needed the lessons of the missionaries because they were very interested in the church. We presented them to President Bezerra, and he told us he would open the area again. And our hearts were filled with joy."

And... Jay and Judy - I'm thinking you'll get a kick out of this!

Me being... interesting? I was whistling, ha.

Snail Mail dated 5 Oct 09

Oi Familia!
So primeiro, Katie's letter from 20 Sept was too funny; "Can I comment on the super cool sloth (comment: it was super cool)." Ah, I really miss our family's humor. There is a serious lack of it here. Apparently word play jokes, as I learned in the CTM, are generally groaners. I'd tell a joke or make a comment that would've had the family laughing and they'd all look at me like I'm this huge nerd. Which just goes to show what kind of humor I like. Which means, in turn, that I'd probably enjoy this "Phineas & Ferb" show Katie talked about. I guess we'll find out in about a year and 8 months.

And how nuts is that? I've been out here for four months. Feels like nothing. Crazy. Oh, BTW, Katie, "Peora do Cao Sentado" means "Rock of the seated dog." So the 'super cool bird-looking rock thing' is actually a super cool dog-looking rock thing. : )

So Dad. Generally on P-Days we relax. Haven't visited any cool sites. Fun fact: You can express smallness by adding "inho" (een-yo) to the end of a word. "Bolinha" is a little ball. And they use it here always. If the ball is little, it's not a "bola," it's a "bolinha." It's like using a different word - you always use it (if the ball is small). You can accomplish the opposite by adding "ao" (ow). "Canetao" is a big pen, or a whiteboard maker (not really, but that's the joke).
So the reason I tell you is because Ronaldinho means "Little Ronaldo." cool, huh? Also, when the letter "H" follows a consonant and is followed by a vowel, it makes the 'y' sound. "R" at the beginning of a word makes the "H" sound. So Ronaldinho is Hoe-nawl-JEEN-yo. "Di" and ti" make "gee" and "chee" respectively. Different, but I'm used to it now. Don't even think about it.

Also, Conseheiro Paulino is a bairro (section) of Nova Friburgo. So I haven't noticed any unusualities yet, but I'll keep you posed about any Swiss people that jump me : )

Also, I took a video of the sloth. I'll try to send it to you guys. It's pretty nifty. : )

So the picture Elise drew was great, too. Ha. So the stuff coming from the chimney - supposed to be smoke? LOL And "houses falling on witches with sparkly red shoes is tradition, you know!" --- ha ha ha... : )

So let's see, I read Jesus the Christ and loved it. All those people that said it's a hard read are liars -ha ha. I thought it was fantastic. And I didn't know half the stuff I learned while reading. James E. Talmage. Smart guy.

So yea, that's about it. Love you guys. Have a great week!

Elder Trenton McGregor

SFT

Tudo bem, upcoming baptisms, & new pictures

Tudo bem? Tudo bem aqui.

Things are good here--we're going to have a baptism this Sunday-- Maria Luiza and her daughter, Victoria will be baptized THIS week, due to some complications of their son traveling this week--he will baptize them. I think it might be possible to baptize dad, Claudermir, as well, but we need to get permission from President--he'll have only gone to church one time by next week. But we're very excited.

I'd say our greatest challenge right now, as I've said before, is that it's incredibly difficult to get people to go to church. And we can't baptize anyone without getting them to go to church. Que chato (how bothersome/annoying), neh?

But things are good here. I sent you guys another letter last week--you may have already gotten it. It's a little better than the last one, because I had something to write about--I responded to the letter I got from you guys. Always much easier.

Sorry, don't have much time this week to write (sorry sorry sorry!) But I love you guys, hope everything is well. I'll write another snail mail today =]

Love,
Elder McGregor

Elder Morris while out tracting

Sapos!

Conselheiro Paulino

Noite Familiar (Family Home Evening)
(E McGregor, E Morris, Valter Rosângela, Kayla, Mateus; Victor, Pedro Lucas, Rulian)

The Bishop!

What are Brazil Nuts called in Brazil? Snail Mail! dated 9/28

The first part is all in Portugese, which I will do my Spanish best to translate. He does finally write in English though, so just skip down to that if you want. I can tell he was writing quickly and I can't tell what some of his letters are ...

Oí Família!
Tudo Bem? Como voces estao? Coisas sao muito bom aqui no Brasil : ) Decidi eu escreveria um ponco de minna carta no Portugues para voces, para que possam desfruitar a idioma como eu desfruto.
Espero que mae va poder entender a maioria das palavras, mas se nao, voces pudem usar o internet para ajudar, neh?
E a comeca do meu terceiro semana aqui no Conselheiro Paulino, e Elder Morries e ue somos acustomado desta área agora. Os membros sao muito bons -- eles querem ajudar o mais que eles podem. E uma bencao quando os membros querem ajudar -- normalmente isto nao acontece. Sou grato por nossos membros. A ala (ward) e um poulo pequeno agora, mas sei com a ajuda dos membros, va crescer bastante. Nao temos uma capela (quando es uso "capela" quero dizer um edifício por si mesmo)-- igreja acontece num edifício encima de uma lojade som )pelos carros) na rua grande (Main Street). Mas, sei que quando a ala vá crescer, uma capela real será construido.

Translation attempt:
How's everything? How are you all doing? Things are great here in Brazil. I decided to write a little of my letter in Portuguese for you. So you can enjoy the lenguage as I do. I hope Mom can understand most of the words, more or less. You can use the internet to help you, yeah?
I've started my third week here in Conselheiro Paulino, and Elder Morris and I are used to the area now. The members are great - they want to help as much as they can. It's a blessing when the members want to help - usually that's not how it goes.
I'm grateful for our members. The ward is quite small now, but I know with the help of the members it will grow a lot. We have a chapel (when I use "chapel" I mean to say the entire building). church happens to be a building on top of a???, not a main street. But I konw when the ward grows, a dedicated chapel will be built.

So there you go. Portuguese. And much better than what I wrote my third week in the CTM, mind you. Although I'm sure there are still plenty of mistakes in there, ha.
So Elise, I finally found out what Brazil Nuts are called : ) They're called Castanha-do-Pará. Pará is the part of the country where they grow. So the world calls them Brazil nuts, Brazil calls them Pará nuts -- I wonder if Pará has another name for them? : )
I got an email from Aunt Linda a while back, so you might already know, but "Linda" in Portuguese means 'Beautiful.' So I wrote her back and addressed it to "Aunt Beautiful." Ha, I'm hoping she got a kick out of it.
So let's see... I'm listening to my iPod right now. Which, btw Mom, thanks for the Conference talks -- I listen to them in the morning while exercising and showering and eating, before Personal Study. I think Elder Makiama (first companion - Brazilian) got a little annoyed after a while, because he couldn't understand. But what's he gonna say -- "Hey Elder, stop listening to the words of the Profet! [yes, that's how he spelled it -- side note here that those who've gone to a foreign language mission already know - his English spelling and grammar will get worse over time : ) ] It's getting on my nerves!" Ha.
Yeah, so I'm kinda outa stuff to write about. Curse being able to write an email to you guys every week... : )
I love you guys. Hope everything is well at home.
Com amor,
Elder Trenton McGregor