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:

Sloth in Bairro Mansa

Here's the sloth in movement, Very cool.

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.