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
Monday, November 16, 2009
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 ... : )
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 ... : )
Monday, November 9, 2009
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
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
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
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
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
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
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!
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!
Monday, November 2, 2009
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"--
Hope all is well with you guys--love you all, have a great day!
Elder McGregor
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.
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.)
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 =]
Yay pictures =]Hope all is well with you guys--love you all, have a great day!
Elder McGregor
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
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:
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:
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