A White Christmas brings cancelled church meetings

In our email to Trent today we asked him to tell us about the baptism (we meant the one that was supposed to be yesterday, but he ended up telling us about the one the previous week); whether elders or members do the actual baptizing; what he wants for his birthday (right around the corner); and about church yesterday.

Hey hey! So boy, it's been a while, huh? Feels like we haven't chatted in forever...

So here's the news: church was cancelled on Sunday (yesterday) because of the, like, inch of snow. Super lame, because our two confirmations and baptism have to be pushed back to next week. But all is well.  (When we spoke on Christmas day he told us it was the first white Christmas in 100 years in Atlanta!)

We went and visited Fatima last night and she's doing really well. I'm quite sure she'll be baptized in the future; it's really just a matter of how long. So yeah, that's exciting too =]

Haha, no need to send the hockey stick, that was a joke. Oh, I could always use some more ties (the second greatest gift you can give a missionary [after socks]) =]

The baptism (last Sunday the 19th) was great, and Elder Sieverts, who was the missionary that originally found them, was the one that baptized them. It was really great--church was cut short because of Christmas week, so the English ward's Sacrament meeting was a little longer, but the other normal meetings were cancelled. So we had the Brazilian Sacrament meeting with the English one. And then we had the baptism afterwards. And it was really great--there were a ton of people there for it because many of the English-speaking members went as well. So yeah. Baptism = huge success =]

Well, that's about it. Love you guys a lot!

Elder McGregor

Yes, we got to Skype with E McGregor on Christmas Day!

It was really fun and E McGregor's married sister, Kelsey, "joined" us via telephone as well.
We also had our own ward's elders here most of the day.  They opened presents, ate, played games with us and called/Skyped their families...   What a lovely Christmas!

Christmas Eve For the Ten Paper Mill Elders

On Christmas Eve we received this email from a member in the Paper Mill Ward.  I love that this thoughtful family sends pictures to us parents.


We just had a wonderful evening. Thank you for sending your son to Georgia.
Kirk Buttle
CBRE

Elder McGregor is top row 2nd from left

Merry Christmas!

Mission Photo and December's Newsletter from President & Sister King

We received this in an email from Sister King today:

Dear parents and families...

Merry Christmas!  We thought we'd send you a couple of fun things from Georgia--our missionary newsletter and a picture taken yesterday at our Mission Christmas Conference.  We had a wonderful time--spiritual training from President King and the Mission Presidency, lots of Christmas music/performances, a great lunch, a fun pass-the-white elephant gift-game involving 160 people, and more.   We also talked a lot about traditions--and how they are like spiritual and emotional cement in the foundation of a happy home, creating fond memories that bond us together.  We heard about some of your traditions and shared some of our family's (ask them about President King's performance!)  Everyone received a gift from Santa and all got home safely to continue to work and serve.  

Christmas Day will be extra-wonderful because, as you saw in our December 19th email to you, the Missionary Department is allowing Skype for those special phone calls on December 25th.  Whether you choose to use Skype or go with the traditional phone call (choose one--not both!), the total time allowed for communication is the same as specified in the white Missionary Handbook--no longer than 30-40 minutes.  We appreciate you helping your missionaries adhere to that guideline, knowing there are blessings that come from being obedient--on both ends...

Again, many thanks for your support--of us...and of your missionaries!  We hope it will be a great new year for all of you!

Love,

President & Sister King

 Georgia Atlanta North Mission 12/21/2010

Elder McGregor is left of center fourth row up - grey suit & green tie (double-click to enlarge)

Two Baptisms!; stress; investigators; and we get to talk on Saturday (Christmas)!

Hey guys! Merry Christmas!

Here's a picture of the baptism yesterday with all the missionaries that taught them over time. They had been taught before their baptism for about 6 months, so lots and lots of missionaries had the opportunity to teach them.

So the baptism was a little stressful for me, because I was the one who set up the meeting (the bishop doesn't speak portuguese, of course). So I was stressing out just a bit leading up to the baptism making sure it all worked out. And work out it did--the baptism was fantastic. It was really great.

This upcoming Sunday we have Isabella who's going to be baptized =] So we're super excited for that as well. It's a little tough at times because she lives REALLY far away, so we have to get rides from members to go teach her. But we're sure she'll be ready for this Sunday.

George da Silva is still working towards baptism, but he's having a tough go. Seems like life keeps getting in the way of him getting baptized, but we're sure that will happen as well.

Fatima is doing well. She wasn't able to come to church this sunday, but she's still happy to have us over and to come to church and all that. Luca's doing really well. We gave him a Book of Mormon in english, and Fatima said he's taking it with him on the bus and reading it on the way to school.

So there's a rundown of our investigators. They're all doing well. It's tough right now (this time of year) because brazilians work SO much. They're rarely home. But we make it work.

So I'm excited that everyone's going to be home for christmas. I really have no idea at this point what time I'll be able to call. So just be ready to get a call and then to call me back ;) The zip codes for Georgia are (678) (404) and (770). It'll be one of those =]

Love you guys so much. I'll be on the computer for another 45 minutes, so write me back! Love you!

-------------------------------

trmcgregor@myldsmail.net

Elder Trenton McGregor

1150 Cole Drive SW

Lilburn Georgia

30047

At Tania and Edilberto's Viana's baptism yesterday.  Elder McGregor is on the far left:

Also, scroll down to the December 6 post to see a picture of 
Elder McGregor teaching Gospel Essentials.

Links to E McGregor's mormon.org profile and more pictures

Trent also sent us a link to the mormon.org page he recently made (and encourages all of us to do the same):

Look me up =] 

http://mormon.org/me/313M-eng/Trenton Oh, and all of you make profiles, too!  And then share them with your friends!

No, but really, make profiles!

Also, here's a link to a giant picture album of Portuguese meetings/parties/baptisms.  You'll notice I'm absent in many of them - usually because I'm running around with my head cut off making sure everything is happening.  

http://www.ctrlds.org/album21

Love you guys!
Elder McGregor

Fun stuff on a mom's facebook this morning

I got this message on facebook this morning from a friend I went to high school with, who is now living in the Atlanta area:


Sandra,

I can't believe that I didn't make the connection, but I have the opportunity to serve with your Son in Georgia. My High Council assignment is to assist the Portuguese-speaking group grow to be a branch. Just recently I was able to translate for the baptismal interviews of Tania and Edilberto Vania, the couple your son taught that were baptized yesterday. We had a party at my home just over a week ago and I've attached some pictures that I think you will really enjoy.

Elders Gneiting, Bodily and McGregor

Elder McGregor gives two thumbs up to being fed by members  ; )

Elder Mundt and Elder McGregor

ps Don't let your son know that I know you... I want to freak him out this week by dropping some little known things. If you want to pass a few on to me, I would be happy to weave them in and really keep him guessing!

A Sunday email from the Mission President. Be sure to read third paragraph...

Dear Families:

By now we are sure you have heard from your missionaries of the use of computers by missionaries to help members learn and use the new mormon.org. We have also invited your missionary to post their personal profile on the website. We invite you to do the same to become part of this church-wide movement. (See January 2011 Ensign center spread.)

You can imagine the concern we have as we open this door. Because of the trust the Lord has in His servants this avenue has been approved and now opened in this mission. However we may need your help to support this initiative. The temptations of the internet are very strong. We ask if you find correspondence coming from your missionary on any other day than Monday (our mission preparation day) that you suggest your missionary correct their behavior. Please also refrain from trying to contact them via the computer at any other time. This will help them stay focused (eye single to the glory of God).

Today was a miraculous and historical day in the mission. Our Portuguese speaking missionaries had the first two Portuguese baptisms on our way to forming a Portuguese speaking branch in the Roswell Stake. 

In the future we are sure there will be other announcements. We will keep you posted. We invite you to help your missionary as we use the internet to further the work in this part of the Lord's vineyard. Through the internet the message is spreading more rapidly and globally. 

We thank you each for your support of the Lord's work. May you individually and collectively be blessed at this Holiday Season. 

Merry Christmas from President and Sister King


We replied to Sister King our thanks for this wonderful email and what great news it is about the baptism.  She responded that they're "so glad Elder McGregor is here to be a part of this.  It was no accident he was sent here, already fluent in Portuguese!"    


What a lovely comment and makes a mother's heart sing  : )

Things are moving right along; transfers; two new greenies; and a baptismal date set

Well sounds like you guys are having lots of fun at home =]

So things are moving right along here. Transfers was pretty crazy. The four visa waiters left, as did Elder Sieverts and Elder Collette (the zone leaders). I've got two new companions, Elder Bodily (from Boise) and Elder Gneiting (pronounced Knighting, from Aberdeen Idaho). They're both going to the Victoria mission (which is for the state of Espirito Santo, just north of Rio).

So we've got exciting news. Tania and Edilberto, who have been investigators for a LONG time (since before I got here), and they both accepted baptism last week. We also went and taught Isabella for the first time (because she lives so far away), and she's going to be baptized Sunday the 26 =] So we're REALLY excited! Fatima's son got sick so she wasn't able to go to church on Sunday, but we went and taught a really good lesson with her before Sunday. So things are still going really well with her =]

During transfers, Elder Nickel (from South Jordan) also came to the area, and Elder Mundt and Elder Vitorio stayed. Elder Blum is training Elder Herzog (from Sandy). So we've got a grand total of 8 elders, which is much better than the 11 we had before. Super great.

Let's see, other stuff that's happened... Since the zone leaders are gone, our miles were cut. With the van we drive, we're only allowed to drive a certain number of miles per month, and we've got only a little over 2/3 what we had before. So boy, we might have a bit of a tough time until the end of December staying under on miles. But we'll make it work.

Hope everything's great at home! Sorry I don't have too much to write... we're going to be pressed for time this p-day. Love you guys so much! I'll be on for another half an hour, so shoot me back an email with any questions!

Love you all!

ET

Please remember 
to send Elder McGregor a Christmas Card!

mormon.org; a great investigator; and dinner out

      Wow, so you guys got my letter! That was fast! (see post below this one) I've associated slow mail with my mission, so I was surprised to hear you guys had recieved it already, haha. But yeah, awesome.

So we had a fun week! We had a special training this friday on the new Mormon.org, and we (as Elders) have been encouraged to fill out a mormon.org profile and to work with the members of our ward to have them make profiles as well!

Sssoooooooooooo I'm here to encourage you all (or else) to make mormon.org profiles! And go look at mormon.org and see how awesome it is. It's super cool. Go watch some of the video profiles. They're super awesome.

Aaaaaand we got transfer calls last night! Crazy! Elder Blum is going to train AGAIN, and he's going to be district leader. Elder Mundt is also staying, as are Elder Vitoria and I (our visa waiter who is Brazilian). So yes, all of our American visa waiters are leaving for other areas. Sad. But I'll enjoy having more space in the apartment. =] And we'll find out the rest of the news on Wednesday during transfers. Woohoo!

So we had an investigator at church on Sunday! Yes! Her name is Fatima, and she's a single mom with two sons (Luca, 10; Rafael, 2). She came to church and thought very highly! She also happens to speak very good English. It was such a blessing and a tender mercy to experience some success as of late. She's very excited to continue learning more about the restored gospel, and we're excited (needless to say) to teach her more =]

So we had a very special p-day today. A member decided to take the entire zone out to Longhorn Steakhouse, and told us all to spend up to $24 dollars on whatever we wanted. Well, there were 32 of us elders, and the bill ended up at an absurd amount (do 24x32 and add... oh, I don't know... $143 for tax and a tip and you'll have "roughly" [read: exactly] what the bill came out to. So no more complaining about feeding the Elders until you take out an entire Zone to a steakhouse for lunch!). (who's complaining?) I got a $22 t-bone steak--the best I've ever had. And for that price, it'd better have been ;) So that was super nice. Although, as you can tell, it's severely delayed my emailing lol.

Well, I think I've told you guys this, but every week I teach the 2nd hour of our Portuguese Group meeting. We've been making our way through the first principles and ordinances of the gospel. Yesterday was repentance, and I felt it went pretty well =]  All those last minute lessons I taught in Brazil for people who didn't show up to church weren't for nothing ;)

Well, I hope everything's going well at home with all of you! Have a super great week!

Love, Elder McGregor

I responded with some questions about Sunday, his comps, etc, as well as questions about some packages we've sent, etc, and this is what I got back:

Yeah, I teach the Gospel Essentials class, but everyone in the Portuguese Group attends it. It's pretty fun =]

You've sent me the beanie, some fudge, my sweatshirt and my sweater, and all that other stuff you just listed--yeah, I got it =] Thanks so much!

I love you guys! And I look forward to talking with you on Christmas!

Love, Elder McGregor

Here are pictures from church on Sunday, Dec 5 (we got these from our friend who is in the stake and assigned to work with the Portuguese Branch)...

Elder McGregor teaching Gospel Essentials in Portuguese

Elders McGregor, DeMille, and Bradley

Translating Sacrament Mtg (snail mail)

This letter is dated Nov 1, but wasn't sent until Nov 30.  Trent was speaking Portuguese in Brazil for 8 months,  home for 7 months, and when this translating was done he'd been in Atlanta for about a month.

Nov 1, 2010
Dear Family,
     Hey!! So Elder Blum has this totally awesome typewriter that I'm going to use today to write letters!  Isn't this totally awesome?  Of course it is.  And of course you agree!  So yeah, things are coming along really well here in Paper Mill.  So I hope everything is going well in Granite Bay!
     So I told you a little while back in an email that I translated Sacrament Meeting into Portuguese and that it was too difficult to explain in such a short time and that I would write you a letter instead.  Well, here it is!
     We have translation equipment in our ward.  There's a little headset you speak into which transmits from the base unit to the wireless headsets that you can wear during Sacrament Mtg. So I was translating a live meeting.  And it was awesome!
     So this is how it went:  The Bishop said welcome to everyone and that was all pretty easy.  Then the ward announcements, which were a little harder because I didn't know what the word for "released" was.  So I kind of had to improvise a bit there.  But it worked out in the end.  Then we sang a song and I had to translate the opening prayer.  As I soon found out from Elder Mundt (who used to translate into Spanish quite frequently), you translate everything except the hymns.  So translate I did.  The hardest thing to translate was the youth speaker.  Yeah, he just put his head down and read off his paper and never slowed down, so I had some trouble with that.  But all went well afterwards.  A married couple were the next adult speakers, and it was much easier.  I gave up trying to translate word for word after a while because it's really difficult to keep up.  So I would translate the first couple of words, get a feel for what they were going to say and then kind of just followed along catching most of the meaning of what they were saying.  And then every once in a while they would bring up stuff like temple covenants or the Urim and Thummim, and I just ignored that and started kind of talking about something else related to their subject.  Because, let's face it, temple covenants = kind of confusing to investigators. So I just continued talking about the Light of Christ (their subject) in Portuguese, and it all worked out really well.  Elder Mundt tells me of times where the speaker decided to give a talk that was just awful for investigators, so he just talked into the microphone and gave the third missionary lesson.  So yeah, translating -- super awesome!  It was actually a really spiritual experience as well, because after a while I just found myself talking into the microphone and realizing that I wasn't even thinking about what I was doing any more.  And I talked to the Brazilian investigators afterwards and they all complimented me on what "a wonderful job" I did.  Elder Mundt had been translating for the last couple of weeks, and he told me he'd been having a pretty rough go -- he was originally a Spanish-speaking elder and President King switched him over to Portuguese.  So yeah, Elder Mundt's the man, but I've been speaking Portuguese a bit longer.  :)
     Well, that's about all I've got to tell you guys at this point -- email me about this letter when you get it!  Talk to you soon!
Love,
Elder McGregor

Another Brazilian Thanksgiving; touchdowns; being a fatty; and a slow week

Note - Our emails to Trent told him about his siblings' terrible drive (weather) back to Provo on Saturday&Sunday and that we missed him on Thanksgiving but are glad he's where he is [I told him I'm "pleased" with him since we avoid using "proud" at our house ; ) ] and asked about his Thanksgiving, of course.


Wow, the drive sounds like it was a party! A miserable party, perhaps, but a party nonetheless ;)

The Brazilian thanksgiving was pretty awesome. We had all the Brazilian staples, but there was also peru (turkey)! And it was really good! So we had a lot of fun there, and it was great to spend a couple of hours with Brazilians all over again. Took me right back to Brazil.

And yeah, we had our Elder's Quorum turkey bowl that we attended. Pretty awesome. I think there were about 12 people there that weren't missionaries or investigators, so it was a good thing all ten of us showed up with 3 investigators. I scored four touchdowns, so the fact that you're "pleased" with me is well placed ;)

Well, things are moving right along here in PMP (Paper Mill Portuguese). I'm sitting here in the apartment clubhouse listening to beautiful Christmas music as I type. And it occurred to me the other day that if I return in January of 2012 as is planned, I'll have missed three Christmases in a row! And three birthdays! Crazy! But I digress. I love Christmas music. We've taken to singing a hymn every once in a while to our Brazilian investigators. It's lots of fun, and they really appreciate it.

Things were pretty slow this week, as all of the Brazilians were frantically cleaning houses of people who were having their families over. So we had a total of (count 'em) SEVEN lessons this week! Wooohooo!! =] But tudo bem. It's all part of the work.

George da Silva is our (PMP's, not me and my comanions') first brazilian baptism. He was going to be baptized yesterday, but he had a last minute family emergency and we had to postpone his baptism one week. So please pray for George that he'll be able to be baptized this week.

Well, this upcoming week is the last full week of this transfer. Transfer calls are this upcoming sunday, and transfers are next wednesday. Needless to say, I feel very comfortable with the fact that I will probably be staying here in this area. Very nice =] Not being transfered is nice every once in a while =]

Well, I hope everything is going well at home! Love you guys so much! Have a great week!

ET

I'm just a huge fatty now!  jk of course, I'm just a little fatty ;)   I weigh right around 190 pounds. Apparently the average weight gain in the Atlanta North mission is about 30 pounds. So I'm up about 20, and I plan to stay right around there =]  I like making fat jokes about myself because I've never even come close to 190 pounds in my life =]

Also, keep scrolling to down below these pictures to 'a funny story' and the corresponding picture from a couple of weeks ago.

5 of 6 missionaries in a sedan. I got the front seat like a pro =]. 

Also, notice the beginnings of a double chin ;)

You can see all six of us in this one =] 

Left to right: Elder Me, E Bradley, E Saldate, E DeMille, E Roberts, E Mundt

My sweet bike. You can see it's got hybrid tires =] 

And the seat is actually really comfortable.

Picture I took this morning. American flag tie was left behind by some Elder 

(don't know who), but you can see I don't really look like a fatty normally. 

Only when I suck my chin into my neck ;)

Bryon says he can see why that elder left the tie :D 

Language Council 

Pres. King and the foreign language missionaries

E McGregor is top row third from right (light tie)

or 6th head from right - depending on how you look at it

Oh, btw, a funny story. The picture that the Buttles sent to you guys (when we went to their house to dinner) is a funny photo. Elder DeMille (the elder immediately to my left) has a pillow stuffed into his shirt. The reason is this--He had previously sent a picture home, and his sister had commented on how it appeared he had gained a little weight. He responded via email to his parents that he had gained 25 pounds in 2 months. The next day, he received a call from Sister King (Mission President's wife) asking him if he was ok. He explained all, and she had the Mission Doctor call him. The conversation went something like this:


-Elder Demille, I hear you've gained a little weight?

-Yes, that's true.

-Well, about how tall are you?

-Maybe 5'11"?

-And what type of build are you?

-Slender.

-OK, and how much do you weigh?

-About 160 pounds.

- ... ... ... Why am I on the phone with you?

We were all in the car at the time and we all could hear the entire conversation, and we were all cracking up. So because he has gained said weight over a relatively short period of time, the mission doctor decided to put him on a diet. Even though 160 lbs is like, 5 pounds over the healthy weight for someone his height and build.

So, the next time we went to the Buttles, we put said pillow into his shirt. Apparently, when his father (who has adrenal failure [when he gets stressed he goes out of commission]) saw the picture, he stressed out and was bedridden for three days. But he's fine now, and we've all had our fair share of laughs.

Love you guys!

ET

Very funny except for that elder's poor father!
Ha ha - I hadn't even noticed the pillow in E DeMille's shirt  : )

Brazilian food on Thanksgiving!; "The Portuguese Group;" first Brazilian baptism

Hello!

Thanks for sending the white hoodie, that's the one I wanted. =] Say hi to K J and KT for me =] it's been a little while since I've seen K&J... and I guess it'll be a little while longer.

So Rick Evans got called to Brasilia? That's totally awesome. That's actually where the majority of the people here in Marietta are from. The large majority are from Goiania, Goais. Brasilia is the federal district which is right in the state of Goais. Goiania is the major city in Goais. So that's super cool. Tell him I said I hope his visa gets here on time!

So Thanksgiving I'm actually going to a Brazilian Member's home to help teach some investigators who have been brought to the Portuguese Group (the official name of the pre-branch). So I'll be eating Brazilian food on Thanksgiving again! woohoo =] I really am super excited though. I really don't get to eat a lot of Brazilian food here and I kinda miss it. We'll probably end up playing in the Turkey Bowl and also doing some service. Exciting =]

So the biggest news for you guys is that George da Silva, one of the many investigators for the 8 Portuguese-speaking Elders is set to be baptized either this Sunday or next Sunday (this Sunday if he's able to go without smoking for a week). And we're super excited -- it'll be the first Brazilian to be baptized since the work in Portuguese began in this area. So needless to say, we're working hard with him to make sure he's ready and still excited.

We have some difficulties (as all missionaries do). Brazilians come to the US to work and make money, so they're really only ever home in the evening and on weekends, and then they really only ever want to socialize because they've been working the whole week. But things move along regardless of that fact--we find enough people to teach (even though there are 8 of us to split up the areas). 

My companionship's major investigators are Sulamita, Luziene, Ademir, and Elaine. The track to conversion is a little more long term here than it was in Brazil, but we're making progress. If you could, please pray for them that they'll have the desire to gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon and to put forth the effort to come to church on Sunday. I'd greatly appreciate it. Please pray specifically that Ademir will be able to find time in his work schedule to come to work on Sunday.

So we've been getting a pretty good amount of non-members at our Portuguese Group Sunday meetings. The members are really great about trying to bring people with them, and although it's difficult sometimes to make it out to where they live to teach their refferals, we make it work. Like, on Thursday for thanksgiving, we're going to go and teach a couple of the investigators.

Well, I'll be here [online] for a little while longer. Love you so much! The church is true!

ET  [Elder Trent]


My response and questions:

Yay!  Brazilian food!  How often do you get to eat it since many of the members don't really live in your area it sounds like ?

Tell us how that works - if the Brazilians are spread out, I'm assuming your proselyting area is extended to include them.  Are you driving at all?  I remember you said there is a van.  Or are you on your bike all the time?    Do you want a GPS for your bike, because we don't know how you could mount it?  Tell us more because we're not sure what is the best thing to send for your situation.

Also, it seems to me that you will most likely be in Paper Mill for the remainder of your mission; do you think that's how it will be as well?

And Trent's reply:

Like, I said, brazilian food doesn't happen very often. We eat dinner with the English elders because yes, the brazilian members live pretty far away from us and require a pretty long drive.

There's a high concentration of Brazilians in a certain area. Elder Mundt, his companions, and I and my companions work there every day. Elder Sieverts and Elder Collette work with the investigators that live further away. So our transportation is all ride-dependent. Meaning we have to get rides all the time. I would ride my bike much more often, but the Visa waiters don't have bikes. I went on splits with Elder Decker on Monday and Tuesday, and so my bike came very much in handy. But we catch many a ride with members.

However, let's just say that in the future I see more vehicles coming our way. I have no idea of how soon that will be, but once we have a branch, there will be Elders called to the Georgia Atlanta North Portuguese Speaking Mission. And we'll receive from the church additional resources for our little branch. So branch=supplies =] So the GPS is for future driving. Not to mention it will be useful right now even though I don't have a car. But the car window mount and the charger would both be much appreciated =]

How long will I be in Paper Mill? Probably quite some time. I don't know if it will be the remainder of my mission, but let's just say that being transferred is something I'm not even remotely worried about at this point =]

Love!

We got this email from a member this evening! How thoughtful was that!?

Your sons were well fed and in great spirits. Thank you for sending them to Georgia.

Kirk Buttle
CBRE

Elder McGregor is top row far left

Equating the 'Branch-in-progress' to math: 'Introduction to Pre-Calculus'; a lot of members live far away; and he's bulkin' up.

Bryon's questions this week:

1.  You said you would like a sweatshirt – do you mean a sweatshirt or a hoodie? Pullover or with a zipper? Do you care? I assume you are a size M or do you want a L?

2.  How many members are in the new Portuguese branch (excluding the 12 missionaries)?

3.  I understand that the Church is augmenting Preach My Gospel with 8 additional lessons to aid in teaching the Gospel of Christ (3 Nephi 11: 31-39) – has this rolled out to your part of the world yet?

And from Trent:
So, just a warning, we're at the library, and we're on 30 minute increments, and my first thirty is running short. and I'll have to get back on after I go through the loop again. So yeah. I'll write whatever I can and finish it in a bit. Sound good?

 So the thing is, it's not actually a branch yet. We're in the process of becoming a branch. I'll explain more when I've got more time. Love you guys!!

._._._._._._._._._._._._

Sweatshirt--you could probably just send me the white zip up hoodie in my room and that'd be great. Or you could buy a new one and surprise me. I'm happy either way =]

So like I said, we haven't actually got a branch yet. what's happening is that we have every week a Sacrament Meeting in Portuguese, and as we have more and more success (baptisms) we'll be able to move forward from there. So if you were to equate us to math, our little meeting is like Introduction to Pre-Calculus. The intro to the preparation of the real thing =]  But we had about 50 people at the meeting yesterday (including the 10 of us).

No news of new PMG (Preach My Gospel) stuff yet. Could be soon though =]

So we had some pretty good success this week--my companionship got an investigator to sacrament meeting, and we'll be able to teach her again soon to talk about what she felt, etc. We've got a pretty good teaching pool of people, and things are moving right along. sorry I'm not being very specific, because I've really been kind of pinched as far as time goes.

But being part of the little Portuguese Sacrament Meeting is awesome. It's a little different than normal I think, because a lot of the members who attend live pretty stinking far away, and we (Elder McGregor and his minutemen - [our nickname for the visa waiters since they could go at any minute]) can't really work with the members all that much as a result. So all those wonderful memories of working with members are pretty much just that--memories. I haven't had a lesson with a member present in the last three weeks because of our unique circumstances. Yep =] But all is well, tudo bem.

._._._._._._._._._._._._

And in another short email:

So guess what? When I was in Brazil I weighed somewhere around 165-170 pounds. Well, here in the GAN mission, I now weigh about 185-190. But don't worry--I'm not a fatty. I'm just getting to a healthy weight. And our apartment complex has a workout room, so every morning we go and work out. And I've been lifting weights recently =]   I'll let you guess what the result is ;)

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And later in the day our questions were answered about last week's photos:

001 - That must be Elder Blum at the chalkboard.  What was he doing?

Yep, that's Elder Blum. He's presenting his information. Read what's written on the board =]

002  Who's the elder in the Perry the Platypus tee?  Love it!

Agent P Elder is Elder Graff. He got his visa and is now in Fortaleza Brazil.

003   Elder DeMille also likes Rubix cubes.   Is that your apartment?  If so, niiiiiice  : )

Elder DeMille is using my rubix cube. He's gotten pretty good at it, but he's yet to beat my record (1m35s) =]

004   Who is Elder Muscle?

Elder Muscle is Elder Saldate. And he's a pretty big guy. He sure likes to work out. He's off to Santa Maria in the South of Brasil when his visa gets here.

005   Elder Roberts is looking very missionary GQ

Yep. =]

006   Who's about to be choked and why?  What's the duster thing?  Were you cleaning?!!!  Cleaning is good!

Yep, we were doing a bit of cleaning. And by we, I mean them. (just kidding =] )   Scaredy elder is Elder Bradley, one of my minutemen (our nickname for the visa waiters since they could go at any minute) :)

007  Wow!  I never saw you in your vest!  Very dapper. 

Well thanks. What can I say? It's a lot of fun to wear. Especially now that it's getting colder.

Well, I love you guys and I'll have some great news for you next week, I'm sure. 
Love love love!

Elder McGregor

Two MORE Elders and a new Portuguese branch!

Wow, so crazy stuff this week.

I've been with Elders DeMille and Bradley and we had our first full week of proselyting. And it was pretty awesome. We had some mediocre days and some awesome days, but by the end of the week we'd found ten new investigators. Some better than others, but we're moving right along. Yesterday (Sunday) was crazy because we found out two things:

--first, that we're getting two new visa waiters. So we're going to have 12 Elders all going to the Paper Mill Ward building. CRAZY. Right now we have 2 apartments very close to each other, 5 elders in each. So now we'll have 6 in each. Which is technically breaking the lease, but the complex has told us they're going to look past it. But seriously, this is all pretty unheard of. I'm probably in one of the most unique areas in the world as it pertains to missionary work.

--second, that we are now going to be forming a portuguese speaking branch in our area!! Up until now, we've been having a portuguese sacrament and testimony meeting on the first sunday of every month, but starting now we're going to be having it every week, and we'll be working on having a branch from here on. So it's all super good news. So thanks for the prayers, because things are really starting to take place here for the Brazilian people.

As I work here more and more, it's become more and more clear that this was all part of God's plan as well--I was called to Rio de Janeiro originally for a reason, and I'm here now to help begin this branch. When I was transferred, I got a call personally from Pres. King who expressed to me that he had recieved specific impressions that that's what I'm here for. And as I continue to work here more and more, I can feel and I know that that's why I'm here--I'm here to help God's work go forward and to help start a branch in this area.

So questions--yeah, I'm basically just doing a lot of tracting. Which is kind of a drag, but it's great. Like I said, we found 10 new people this last week. The difficult part is getting them to want to go to church--always a challenge.

And yeah, my portuguese has basically come right back. It's not really a struggle at all. Most of the people in this area came from Goiais. Don't ask me how that happened. But I haven't met one person from Rio yet =[  Sad day.

Nothing super new about Warren. I heard he should be coming to work this week. So until further notice, stay posted =]

My collar is a 15 1/2 - 16.
I'd love some MoTab. The rule is anything appropriate for sacrament meeting =]

A Y sweatshirt would be awesome, but I'll let you guys surprise me =].
And yeah, here's a couple more things:

-A GPS unit. They're SUPER useful.

-an oil container for a keychain

and that's about all I could think of.

So I love you guys a lot! Hope things are going well! If you get this soon, I'll be on for a little bit longer.

Elder McGregor

and here are some answers to more questions:

from Bryon:

Thanks for the Christmas wish list. I’m intrigued by your request for an electric razor – are you tired of using a blade (or 5 blades to be exact)? Have you used an electric one before? Do you have a preference other than self cleaning?

Yep, I'm getting tired of using a razor =] And no, no other prerequisites. Ooh, but one of those fancy Sonicare toothbrushes would be pretty nice if you guys are feeling super generous! =]

from Sandra:

Fancy Sonicare toothbrushes?  LOL  Do some of the other elders have them or something?

yeah, the other elders have them and they look really nice to have

And more from Bryon:

please send a pic of your sweet bike! 

Don't have any pictures of the bike yet.

Also, how about some photos of your apartment, companions, investigators, etc. 

pictures are uploaded now and should be in the Dropbox folder.

What is it like to have two companions? 
It's awesome having two comps. I really do most of the talking in portuguese. 
It's been interesting--Elder Mundt (the district leader) and I have had our own little transfer within the district. We had to reassign the companionships and the areas they would be working in. It was a pretty special experience, and a great insight into what a Mission President has to do (on a much much much larger scale =] )

Do you do lots of splits with the ward members so you can cover more ground?
We received our monthly newsletter from Sis. King which included pics of your comps (Roberts and Saldate) – fine looking fellows. Where are they from?

Elder Saldate is from Lincoln, CA, which was really cool to discover. (Lincoln is near where we live)  Elder Roberts is from Utah, as are Elder DeMille and Elder Bradley.

 Elder Blum  - first companion

Elder McGregor and ?
He didn't label them, but we like the great Perry the Platypus tee shirt!  

Looks like they're in their sleep clothes here.

Elder DeMille, Brazil visa waiter greenie from Utah; one of Trent's current companions

 The mighty Elder S - that's all I can see on the nametag  : )
In looking at the new GRITS newsletter in the post below I can see that it's
 Elder Saldate (one of the Visa-Waiting greenies).
E. Saldate is from Lincoln, California, not far from where our family lives!

 Elder Roberts, another Visa-waiting greenie from Utah; one of Trent's current companions

 We don't know which elder this is either  : (
Maybe Elder Bradley, aNOTHER Visa-waiting greenie from Utah
Look at the GRITS picture - does it look like E Bradley?

Elders McGregor and Mundt