E McGregor answers several questions we had:
Hello Family!
- So there are going to be three of us this transfer. Elder Waters has been transferred and Elder Campbell, Elder Vergara and I are a companionship. The new apartment is great because it's way bigger for about the same price as the old one, and it's way closer to our area that we work in most frequently. So it saves miles for the van.
- Which we are still driving =]
- We get about 1200 (a 1200 mile allowance) a month, which is better than we used to have. So we can visit more people than we used to be able to in areas further away.
- Jucy didn't get baptized. She got cold feet three days before her baptism (even though she told us she wanted to be baptized. We didn't even bring it up). Super bummer = {
- Thankfully, though, we have been able to find more people lately! We had some creative finding ideas = ] We set up a drawing at the local Brazilian stores where people could put their names and phone #s in a jar for a chance to win a free DVD about the life of Jesus Christ = ] So after about a week we had 10 people that put their names in. So we're in the process of calling all of them =] hee hee. We said it was a change to win ... we just didn't say the chance to win was 100% ; ) And we've been finding new investigators in other ways as well. So we've got many more people to teach than when I arrived here two months ago. We taught Orvando for the first time last night (first time we've been able to get in with him), and it went really well. He's got a BoM and is going to read and pray about it =]
- No positive effects from mormon.org yet. I don't think those will be manifest for some time. Although it would be great if I saw the results while I'm still here = ]
- It's great being back with the members of the Clear Springs Branch. I really missed having such a wonderful group of people to work with. Not that UGA wasn't great, but it's just a little different with Brazilians, you know? = ]
So do y'all remember Karen? She went a little less active after I left back in March. We've been visiting her every once in a while and she came to church yesterday! Woohoo! So that's great. And her husband, Panta, is from Guatemala and he's super interested in learning more about the church. So we're going to go see them Wednesday and commit him to be baptized. And this time around we're going to try and get them some solid fellowshippers in the ward so that they don't go less active right away. But I think that if Panta is there as a support to karen, it'll be easier for them to both stay on track. So that's exciting.
Our little branch has been on fire as far as missionary work goes! Everyone is trying to invite their friends to church and to learn more from the missionaries about the gospel, which is another reason we've had more investigators recently = ]
So, in short, things are going really well. Hopefully we can have at least one baptism before I'm outta here in December, and if all goes well, more than one. Hope this letter finds everyone well at home.
I love you guys and I really appreciate all your prayers. Thanks so much for all your love!
Ate' mais!
Elder McGregor
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Friday, November 11, 2011
New companion and an apartment closer to the Brazilian members; a Feijoada; Halloween bowling; and re-setting Jucy's baptism date
10/24/11
Dear Family!
Wow, it was good to hear from all of you [except Katie... I guess I'll have to send her her own letter : ) ] It's good to hear everything is going well.
Things are going well here in Clear Springs. Some things I can't remember if I told y'all... I have a new companion, Elder Vergara. His family is from Mexico and he was born and raised in Texas. He speaks fluent Spanish and so he was transferred here to learn Portuguese. And I was assigned to teach him - awesome : ) He's learning very quickly to the point where he gave a talk yesterday in Sacrament Meeting (we all did). Just as a point of reference, we're starting week 4 of this transfer (of 6 weeks). So it's me, Elder Vergara, Elder Campbell and Elder Waters (Elder Goodman was transferred English-speaking).
Other news: we moved to a new apartment here @ Delk Road. It's bigger, cheaper and closer to all the Brazilians here (walking distance). Unfortunately Delk is still yielding little success, so we're trying to do much more member missionary work. Which can be tough as well because they all live pretty far away... But it's been going well. Saturday we had a branch activity called a Feijoada, which is a style of cooking where you cook the meat inside the bean mixture - it's delicious. And it was awesome. The Relief Society went all out - it looked like a wedding reception with all the tables decorated and the catering trays with the little tin heater thingies... And then they put numbers under everyone's seats and gave out prizes. It was great. There were two families that came that weren't members, and they both loved it. One family is especially good, and we're going to try and meet with them one of these days (they live kind of far away as well, but we'll make it work).
10/31/11
Today's Halloween! No dressing up even though it's P-Day. We're not allowed out after 6PM unless we have appointments, so it's kind of an all day thing. So we went bowling! Woohoo! I didn't do so hot. I couldn't seem to get any strikes, although I did a pretty fair job getting spares. Highest game: 123. Luckily no one else did very well either, ha.
So kinda sad news: Jucy, our investigator who was scheduled for baptism on Sunday, called us Friday saying, "I don't think I'm going to go to church anymore..." : ( We found out yesterday (Sunday) that it was an over-reaction on her part because she still wants to be baptized; she was just feeling pressured. Even though we didn't even get to teach her the whole week leading up to her baptism. So we're going to get back with her and have her choose the date she wants to be baptized. That way, we feel, she won't feel pressured because it was her decision.
Hope everything's well at home -- I'm still truckin' along out here. There's nothing I'm really in need of at the moment. I know y'all pray for me and I appreciate that.
Love y'all bunches. Look forward to seeing y'all soon-ish. (Christmas -- holy cow!)
Love,
Elder McGregor
Dear Family!
Wow, it was good to hear from all of you [except Katie... I guess I'll have to send her her own letter : ) ] It's good to hear everything is going well.
Things are going well here in Clear Springs. Some things I can't remember if I told y'all... I have a new companion, Elder Vergara. His family is from Mexico and he was born and raised in Texas. He speaks fluent Spanish and so he was transferred here to learn Portuguese. And I was assigned to teach him - awesome : ) He's learning very quickly to the point where he gave a talk yesterday in Sacrament Meeting (we all did). Just as a point of reference, we're starting week 4 of this transfer (of 6 weeks). So it's me, Elder Vergara, Elder Campbell and Elder Waters (Elder Goodman was transferred English-speaking).
Other news: we moved to a new apartment here @ Delk Road. It's bigger, cheaper and closer to all the Brazilians here (walking distance). Unfortunately Delk is still yielding little success, so we're trying to do much more member missionary work. Which can be tough as well because they all live pretty far away... But it's been going well. Saturday we had a branch activity called a Feijoada, which is a style of cooking where you cook the meat inside the bean mixture - it's delicious. And it was awesome. The Relief Society went all out - it looked like a wedding reception with all the tables decorated and the catering trays with the little tin heater thingies... And then they put numbers under everyone's seats and gave out prizes. It was great. There were two families that came that weren't members, and they both loved it. One family is especially good, and we're going to try and meet with them one of these days (they live kind of far away as well, but we'll make it work).
10/31/11
Today's Halloween! No dressing up even though it's P-Day. We're not allowed out after 6PM unless we have appointments, so it's kind of an all day thing. So we went bowling! Woohoo! I didn't do so hot. I couldn't seem to get any strikes, although I did a pretty fair job getting spares. Highest game: 123. Luckily no one else did very well either, ha.
So kinda sad news: Jucy, our investigator who was scheduled for baptism on Sunday, called us Friday saying, "I don't think I'm going to go to church anymore..." : ( We found out yesterday (Sunday) that it was an over-reaction on her part because she still wants to be baptized; she was just feeling pressured. Even though we didn't even get to teach her the whole week leading up to her baptism. So we're going to get back with her and have her choose the date she wants to be baptized. That way, we feel, she won't feel pressured because it was her decision.
Hope everything's well at home -- I'm still truckin' along out here. There's nothing I'm really in need of at the moment. I know y'all pray for me and I appreciate that.
Love y'all bunches. Look forward to seeing y'all soon-ish. (Christmas -- holy cow!)
Love,
Elder McGregor
Monday, October 17, 2011
Hard to find people to teach; a baptism on the 30th!; and translating Stake Conference
We were asking E McGregor why it's so hard to find people to teach now - are the Brazilians staying in Brazil because of our economy or is it because there are four elders in the area, etc.
Last January (2011) there was some sort of change in policy toward immigrants and so TONS of Brazilians left to go back to Brazil. I don't know the exact numbers, but I remember it being about 1/3. Crazy. So it can be kind of tough, especially because the area is super burn over. Pretty much everyone knows who we are, and if they don't they're bound to ask their friends. And there's a lot of Anti here agains Mormons. Maybe the Mormon.org campaign will help with that :)
But things are going relatively well with the work. Jucy's getting baptized the 30th, so that's exciting. Woohoo! All that's left really is for her to quit coffee completely, but that shouldn't be terribly difficult for her since she really wants to be baptized. Which is super exciting.
So now we're trying to find new investigators and we're really looking to the Lord to help us. Just last night we got a return appointment with a guy named Orvando, and he seemed really interested. So that's exciting. We've been asking everyone if they know where Brazilians live, and that's how we found Orvando and some other potentials. Awesome. :)
Then he asks what we think he should do with his bike - sell it or what. It's still like new-ish. And chats about his return date (12/20) and that he won't really be speaker in Sac Mtg since he'll only be home two Sundays - Christmas and then Fast Sunday.
Stake Conference was on Sunday, and Pres. Tedjamulia asked me to translate into Portuguese for the branch. So the whole branch (that attended) sat in the High Council room and we watched the TV and I translated live like that. I tell you, it's tough without a headset, because you can't really hear the speak rvery well over your own voice, ha!. But that was tons of fun :) Bro. Felsted, our branch mission leader (served his mission in Salvador, Brazil) translated as well. So I didn't have to do the whole two hours, which was nice.
o there you go! Love you guys bunches and hope everything is well at home!
Love,
Elder Trenton McGregor
Last January (2011) there was some sort of change in policy toward immigrants and so TONS of Brazilians left to go back to Brazil. I don't know the exact numbers, but I remember it being about 1/3. Crazy. So it can be kind of tough, especially because the area is super burn over. Pretty much everyone knows who we are, and if they don't they're bound to ask their friends. And there's a lot of Anti here agains Mormons. Maybe the Mormon.org campaign will help with that :)
But things are going relatively well with the work. Jucy's getting baptized the 30th, so that's exciting. Woohoo! All that's left really is for her to quit coffee completely, but that shouldn't be terribly difficult for her since she really wants to be baptized. Which is super exciting.
So now we're trying to find new investigators and we're really looking to the Lord to help us. Just last night we got a return appointment with a guy named Orvando, and he seemed really interested. So that's exciting. We've been asking everyone if they know where Brazilians live, and that's how we found Orvando and some other potentials. Awesome. :)
Then he asks what we think he should do with his bike - sell it or what. It's still like new-ish. And chats about his return date (12/20) and that he won't really be speaker in Sac Mtg since he'll only be home two Sundays - Christmas and then Fast Sunday.
Stake Conference was on Sunday, and Pres. Tedjamulia asked me to translate into Portuguese for the branch. So the whole branch (that attended) sat in the High Council room and we watched the TV and I translated live like that. I tell you, it's tough without a headset, because you can't really hear the speak rvery well over your own voice, ha!. But that was tons of fun :) Bro. Felsted, our branch mission leader (served his mission in Salvador, Brazil) translated as well. So I didn't have to do the whole two hours, which was nice.
o there you go! Love you guys bunches and hope everything is well at home!
Love,
Elder Trenton McGregor
Monday, October 10, 2011
"entertaining the masses"
Aaack! Sorry I'm so behind. I know it's not like me, but I think that maybe we get better quality letters when Trent doesn't feel like what he writes is being shared with everyone, so I've told him I'm cutting down what goes on the blog and to please write us without thinking of "entertaining the masses" as he writes. We'll see how it goes... : )
Love to all -
Sandra
Love to all -
Sandra
Finding people to teach; and the Mormon.org campaign comes to Atlanta!
9/26/11
Hey! How's it going? Got the Mo-Tab CDs, which was great. Lots of songs I didn't have before.
Then there is lots of chit chat about ward member temple sealings, what his siblings are up to, learning to play the ukulele (we got one a couple of weeks ago), Winter semester schooling, and a fundraiser auction Bryon went to for work.
Then he goes on about the work in his area:
Things are good in Clear Springs. Our ever-present struggle is finding people to teach. Our typical finding area is super burnt over, so we're going to try going to some areas a little further away to find new investigators.
So Mormon.org campaign is coming to Atlanta! Super exciting! It starts next week. Commercials on TV, internet ads on YouTube, billboards all throughout the greater Atlanta area. Super cool. They've done it in a bunch of other cities before Atlanta and the results are pretty interesting. The number of baptisms went up only marginally, but the quality of said baptisms greatly increased. Also, it's not going to change much for the full-time missionaries, but for the members. If members are mindful to missionary work, they'll have many opportunities to share the Gospel. About 50% of adults have been approached (from previous ad campaigns) by friends, family, neighbors, co-workers, etc. And were asked something along the lines of, "So why is your church doing this?" And get this -- 98% of teenagers were asked that at least once by their friends.
So obviously we (the missionaries) want to prepare the members for this Mormon.org campaign which starts October 3.
Then lots of questions about and for Elise. And then he closes.
There ya go. Love y'all bunches. Hope everything's well.
Love -
Elder McGregor
Hey! How's it going? Got the Mo-Tab CDs, which was great. Lots of songs I didn't have before.
Then there is lots of chit chat about ward member temple sealings, what his siblings are up to, learning to play the ukulele (we got one a couple of weeks ago), Winter semester schooling, and a fundraiser auction Bryon went to for work.
Then he goes on about the work in his area:
Things are good in Clear Springs. Our ever-present struggle is finding people to teach. Our typical finding area is super burnt over, so we're going to try going to some areas a little further away to find new investigators.
So Mormon.org campaign is coming to Atlanta! Super exciting! It starts next week. Commercials on TV, internet ads on YouTube, billboards all throughout the greater Atlanta area. Super cool. They've done it in a bunch of other cities before Atlanta and the results are pretty interesting. The number of baptisms went up only marginally, but the quality of said baptisms greatly increased. Also, it's not going to change much for the full-time missionaries, but for the members. If members are mindful to missionary work, they'll have many opportunities to share the Gospel. About 50% of adults have been approached (from previous ad campaigns) by friends, family, neighbors, co-workers, etc. And were asked something along the lines of, "So why is your church doing this?" And get this -- 98% of teenagers were asked that at least once by their friends.
So obviously we (the missionaries) want to prepare the members for this Mormon.org campaign which starts October 3.
Then lots of questions about and for Elise. And then he closes.
There ya go. Love y'all bunches. Hope everything's well.
Love -
Elder McGregor
Monday, September 19, 2011
Things are going great in the Clear Springs Branch; reactivating; and obedience and progression...
Dear Family!
How’s it going?
Things have been great here in the Clear Springs Branch. My companion is Elder Campbell from West Jordan, UT. He was a Visa waiter that came after I went to UGA, who got his Visa, but had foot problems in Brazil. So they sent him back here to the GANM. Awesome. He was in Brazil for about two months, in the Campinas Mission. He speaks great Portuguese and is extremely humble and hardworking. Awesome. : )
Two other elders here are Elder Goodman and Elder Waters, both of which were originally English speakers but got assignment changes. Elder Goodman has been here since I left in March, and Elder Waters has been here since Elder Mundt left in April. They’re both great as well.
The branch has been doing well since it started back in ... June, I think? Fátima has gone a little less active since she was baptized, so we’re visiting her and Lucca on a semi-frequent basis, and we’re trying to get them back to church soon. Awesome.
We don’t really have anyone prospective for baptism, so I’ll keep you updated on that in the future.
So it was kind of a bummer to leave UGA. Not that I want to complain or anything, ha. It’s just one of those things - we had three baptismal dates, and it would’ve been great to have been there to see Kim and Kevin and Laura be baptized. And we had a few other people that we were planning on giving dates as well. But, “tudo bem,” I’m super happy to be back Portuguese-speaking. And I’m sure that the UGA sisters will do a great job with the investigators we were working with.
Then here he asks questions about family members, etc
Here’s something fun I picked up in my personal study today: 1 Nephi 16:6-7. Nephi and Co have been chillin’ in the Valley of Lemuel during the time where they retrieve the brass plates, and get some wifeys. In verse 8 of the same chapter, Nephi informs that upon getting said plates and wives that they fulfilled all the commandments Heavenly Father had given them. Then in 9&10, God gives Lehi further commandments, and provides the Liahona to guide them in their journey into the wilderness. So ... what? God gives us commandments and revelations and until we are obedient to the fulfillment of what has been given, we cannot progress. We must be obedient to the truths of the truth and light of the Gospel which we’ve already received if we intend to progress and receive more light and truth. Pretty cool!
Well, again, hope everything is well on the homefront! I love you all very much! Be excellent to each other!
Elder Trenton McGregor
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Back in Paper Mill, now the Clear Springs Branch!; picked Portuguese right back up; and an update on UGA investigators
Dear Family;
How's it going? Things are great here.
So I've got some crazy news – I've been transferred back to Paper Mill! Woohoo! It's now the Clear Springs Branch (Portuguese-speaking branch), and I'm here with Elders Goodman, Waters, and Campbell. Pretty exciting. It's great to be back Portuguese-speaking. I was worried for a little that my language would have become rusty, but no difficulties – picked it right back up again. Awesome.
So we were supposed to have a baptism last week with Kim, and we tried to help her feel good about it throughout the week. She passed the interview on Thursday and everything. Friday night (day before her baptism) she let us know she wasn't feeling ready and wanted to postpone her date. So we talked for a long time and ultimately decided to push it back two weeks. And she came to church Sunday. So she's still on track and everything. Awesome.
We also had Stephen at church. He dated a member for two years and decided he wanted to investigate the church. He's taking an institute class, reading from the Book of Mormon, praying, all that good stuff. I'm sure he'll be baptized soon : )
Robb also came to church. Hopefully he'll make the decision soon to be baptized. I still wonder what it is exactly that's been holding him back. He says he hasn't gotten an answer yet, although we know he's felt the Spirit in church, when we're teaching him, etc. I'm pretty sure it'll happen eventually. In the meantime, I'll keep praying for him.
So yeah, back in Paper Mill! Awesome! But of course we're no longer "Paper Mill Portuguese," but the Clear Springs Branch. President Tedjamulia, or Pres. Tedj for short, is branch president and he's awesome. We don't have any perspective baptisms yet, but we're working hard -- there are a couple of people we want to set dates with soon. There have been a good number of people coming to church too -- which is great. It's an important step before baptism (gotta be familiar with the church your joining).
I've been able to visit with a couple of people who have gone less active since I was here last. Karen, Heather, Fatima, & Lucca seem to have struggled a bit since their baptisms. It's been great to see them again, and hopefully we can get them re-activated.
Then he talks about which classes he'd like to take Winter Semester and what level of Portuguese classes to start in, etc. (we have to register for him, so I sent him his options and he's getting back to us on his preferences).
Well, love you all lots! Hope everything is going well! I enjoy hearing all the fun news about home every week -- the ward, Dad's work - all that.
Love!
Elder Trenton McGregor
How's it going? Things are great here.
So I've got some crazy news – I've been transferred back to Paper Mill! Woohoo! It's now the Clear Springs Branch (Portuguese-speaking branch), and I'm here with Elders Goodman, Waters, and Campbell. Pretty exciting. It's great to be back Portuguese-speaking. I was worried for a little that my language would have become rusty, but no difficulties – picked it right back up again. Awesome.
So we were supposed to have a baptism last week with Kim, and we tried to help her feel good about it throughout the week. She passed the interview on Thursday and everything. Friday night (day before her baptism) she let us know she wasn't feeling ready and wanted to postpone her date. So we talked for a long time and ultimately decided to push it back two weeks. And she came to church Sunday. So she's still on track and everything. Awesome.
We also had Stephen at church. He dated a member for two years and decided he wanted to investigate the church. He's taking an institute class, reading from the Book of Mormon, praying, all that good stuff. I'm sure he'll be baptized soon : )
Robb also came to church. Hopefully he'll make the decision soon to be baptized. I still wonder what it is exactly that's been holding him back. He says he hasn't gotten an answer yet, although we know he's felt the Spirit in church, when we're teaching him, etc. I'm pretty sure it'll happen eventually. In the meantime, I'll keep praying for him.
So yeah, back in Paper Mill! Awesome! But of course we're no longer "Paper Mill Portuguese," but the Clear Springs Branch. President Tedjamulia, or Pres. Tedj for short, is branch president and he's awesome. We don't have any perspective baptisms yet, but we're working hard -- there are a couple of people we want to set dates with soon. There have been a good number of people coming to church too -- which is great. It's an important step before baptism (gotta be familiar with the church your joining).
I've been able to visit with a couple of people who have gone less active since I was here last. Karen, Heather, Fatima, & Lucca seem to have struggled a bit since their baptisms. It's been great to see them again, and hopefully we can get them re-activated.
Then he talks about which classes he'd like to take Winter Semester and what level of Portuguese classes to start in, etc. (we have to register for him, so I sent him his options and he's getting back to us on his preferences).
Well, love you all lots! Hope everything is going well! I enjoy hearing all the fun news about home every week -- the ward, Dad's work - all that.
Love!
Elder Trenton McGregor
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
"I wish I had another 10 of him..."
We didn't hear from Elder McGregor this week. I suspect it is because the library was closed for the holiday. But we did hear from his mission president again as a followup regarding his ecclesiastical interview for BYU:
Sept 1
Sister McGregor
On Monday I interviewed Elder McGregor. Today I endorsed and submitted his ecclesiastical endorsement online to BYU.
By the way, Elder McGregor looked great and is doing very well. He is an exemplary missionary. I wish we had another 10 of him here in the mission.
Sincerely,
President Wolfert
What a nice email to receive!
You can see Pres. Wolfert's Aug 29 email to us at the bottom of the post below.
Sept 1
Sister McGregor
On Monday I interviewed Elder McGregor. Today I endorsed and submitted his ecclesiastical endorsement online to BYU.
By the way, Elder McGregor looked great and is doing very well. He is an exemplary missionary. I wish we had another 10 of him here in the mission.
Sincerely,
President Wolfert
What a nice email to receive!
You can see Pres. Wolfert's Aug 29 email to us at the bottom of the post below.
Monday, August 29, 2011
No crazy stuff from the hurricane here; Kim's baptism scheduled for this Saturday; and things are crazy on campus!
So this week we asked Elder McGregor some questions. We also told him we need to get his paperwork done for BYU Winter semester, etc.
Here are our questions for him:
Here are our questions for him:
Any impact where you are from the hurricane?
How was church today?
Do you still do the Thursday soapbox preaching on campus along with the other preachers?
Are things getting 'crazy' on campus with the football season about to start.
Any fun pday activities lately?
When was your last zone conference?
What are you studying in the scriptures lately?
Do you still do the Thursday soapbox preaching on campus along with the other preachers?
Are things getting 'crazy' on campus with the football season about to start.
Any fun pday activities lately?
When was your last zone conference?
What are you studying in the scriptures lately?
And here's his letter to us:
Well it sounds like things are going great back at home! Things are going great here at UGA. We've got a baptism scheduled for this saturday-- Kim! Woohoo!
So let's see. No crazy stuff from the hurricane here. We're good.
This Saturday UGA plays Boise State at the Georgia Dome (where the Falcons play), and I'm pretty sure it's going to be CRAZY this Saturday. We're going to do the baptism in the afternoon so we don't conflict with people's tailgaiting (since the game's at 8pm, they'll likely start around 6pm). But we're excited. Go Dawgs!
Church was good on Sunday. Kim went home for the weekend to visit her family, and all of our other investigators (aside from Robb, of course =]) weren't able to make it. But the lesson in Gospel Principles was on baptism, so that was good for Robb to learn (again...)
We weren't able to do the booth this last Thursday due to technical difficulties (UGA didn't respond to the request in time), but we're good for this week. So that's great--it'll be fun to do the booth again!
Things are definitely crazy on campus, but mostly because UGA has more students on campus than ever before-- over 35,000. And tons of Freshmen-- they accepted more freshman than ever before as well. So, needless to say, there are plenty of people to talk to =]
We've been playing basketball for the last couple p-days. Elder Barrett enjoys it a lot, and I've gotten a lot better since we've been playing pretty much weekly. I remember getting schooled pretty well in Church Ball as a teacher and priest. I guess basketball never really was a sport I pursued much... Oh well.
Last zone conference was just this last week actually! It was great. We talked about teaching (becoming better teachers), the visit from M. Russell Ballard to Atlanta, and what he talked about (missionary work, increasing the results of our work [ie more baptisms]), and what we need to do in order to double (!!) baptisms in our mission (which is what our mission-wide goal is). Awesome =]
I've been reading through the Book of Mormon again. It's awesome. People should read it more ;)
Well, I love you all! Hope everything continues well in life! Love!
Elder McGregor
Hey Madre, Padre,
So I called President Wolfert about sign up for classes for January, and he said that parents have to do it. So. There you go. He also said that BYU is very helpful in this process. So if you're there, I dunno how busy you are right now, but I've got about an hour to answer questions. It's been forever since I've signed up for classes-- I don't really remember how do to it... So yeah. There you go.
Talk to you soon,
Elder McGregor
I emailed Pres. Wolfert this morning that E McGregor would need an ecclesiastical endorsement for his re-admission to BYU Winter Semester. He responded:
"Let me tell you what a great missionary Elder McGregor is. I love him. What a
terrific young man! You can be very pleased with who he is becoming."
and then proceeded to say that he'd be interviewing the missionaries in the Athens zone tomorrow and would take care of his endorsement online. So it sounds like we'll be all ready to get him scheduled for classes. Whew! So nice to hear right back from him.
I emailed Pres. Wolfert this morning that E McGregor would need an ecclesiastical endorsement for his re-admission to BYU Winter Semester. He responded:
"Let me tell you what a great missionary Elder McGregor is. I love him. What a
terrific young man! You can be very pleased with who he is becoming."
and then proceeded to say that he'd be interviewing the missionaries in the Athens zone tomorrow and would take care of his endorsement online. So it sounds like we'll be all ready to get him scheduled for classes. Whew! So nice to hear right back from him.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Things are going well; Kim is doing great; and "pretty much everything in a dog anyone could ask for."
Our wonderful dog Sprüngli passed away Saturday. We miss him so much. We let Trent know about it in our letters to him.
Wow. So that was unexpected.
So I started reading my emails from bottom to top, and I first saw the slideshow mom made of Sprungli. So I was like Oh, that's nice. And I look through the pictures, and get to the bottom and realized Oh, mom made this slideshow for a reason. And I turned to Elder Barrett and said, "So... my dog died."
But like I said-- unexpected. And I'm sure it was the same back at home. Y'all were probably wondering if all that was really happening, huh?
But yeah, then I read dad's email and found myself crying. Which was kind of unexpected as well. And now as I think back, I realized that Sprungli was pretty much everything in a dog anyone could ask for. Maybe if I'm lucky in the future I'll have as good a dog as he was =]
But all is well. We'll see Düngus again! =]
So things, as before, are still going well. People have eased into their schedules a little more this week, so we'll probably be able to find a few more people that are interested and willing to meet (last week was a little tough because it seems like no-one had their schedule set).
Oh, we got Sisters again here at UGA. Sister Coleman is back (she was here in the spring when I was with Elder Williams), along with Sister Teisina (she's Tongan, and lived in Hawaii for most of her life).
Kim is doing great. We originally planned on her baptism being this Friday, but she wants to have her family there, so we're going to have it next Saturday. Awesome.
We had 4 investigators at church on Sunday. Kim, Robb, Kristine and Kevin. Kristine's back at UGA from last spring (she's the one on the Dance Dawgs. She's from Utah, her boyfriend is serving a mission in Italy), and she's planning on coming to church all the time. Which is great.
Kevin is a friend of one of the members in our branch, and he was able to come to sacrament meeting for the first time, and it seems like he really enjoyed it. So that's good!
Yeah, there's really not much more to report. I'll keep y'all updated with our upcoming baptisms =]
Tell Blake I say hi. I'm sure we'll be seeing each other at BYU in the future (I'm pretty sure we've got the same major...)
Love!
Elder McGregor!
Bryon's email to Trenton:
Wow. So that was unexpected.
So I started reading my emails from bottom to top, and I first saw the slideshow mom made of Sprungli. So I was like Oh, that's nice. And I look through the pictures, and get to the bottom and realized Oh, mom made this slideshow for a reason. And I turned to Elder Barrett and said, "So... my dog died."
But like I said-- unexpected. And I'm sure it was the same back at home. Y'all were probably wondering if all that was really happening, huh?
But yeah, then I read dad's email and found myself crying. Which was kind of unexpected as well. And now as I think back, I realized that Sprungli was pretty much everything in a dog anyone could ask for. Maybe if I'm lucky in the future I'll have as good a dog as he was =]
But all is well. We'll see Düngus again! =]
So things, as before, are still going well. People have eased into their schedules a little more this week, so we'll probably be able to find a few more people that are interested and willing to meet (last week was a little tough because it seems like no-one had their schedule set).
Oh, we got Sisters again here at UGA. Sister Coleman is back (she was here in the spring when I was with Elder Williams), along with Sister Teisina (she's Tongan, and lived in Hawaii for most of her life).
Kim is doing great. We originally planned on her baptism being this Friday, but she wants to have her family there, so we're going to have it next Saturday. Awesome.
We had 4 investigators at church on Sunday. Kim, Robb, Kristine and Kevin. Kristine's back at UGA from last spring (she's the one on the Dance Dawgs. She's from Utah, her boyfriend is serving a mission in Italy), and she's planning on coming to church all the time. Which is great.
Kevin is a friend of one of the members in our branch, and he was able to come to sacrament meeting for the first time, and it seems like he really enjoyed it. So that's good!
Yeah, there's really not much more to report. I'll keep y'all updated with our upcoming baptisms =]
Tell Blake I say hi. I'm sure we'll be seeing each other at BYU in the future (I'm pretty sure we've got the same major...)
Love!
Elder McGregor!
Bryon's email to Trenton:
It’s with heavy hearts that we are writing to tell you that Sprüngli passed away this weekend. He started to get sick earlier in the week. We had just returned from our trip to Utah and he was glad to see us. He started vomiting around the middle of last week. Since this happens periodically with him we didn’t think too much about it. Still, he seemed perky and wasn’t acting unusual. Friday we woke up to vomit but this time there wasn’t any food, just loads of bile. He began to quickly deteriorate throughout the day and by evening, he was withdrawn and unresponsive to food or water. We took him to the vet Saturday morning. I had to carry him because he didn’t have the strength to walk. He was so light. Inside the hospital they immediately placed him in emergency care to give him intravenous feeding and to perform an ultrasound. We spoke w/ the doctor in the afternoon and she said the results were serious. Because the ultrasound was inconclusive due to the swelling in his liver and surrounding organs, Dr. Daphne said they would need to begin exploratory surgery immediately and that they wouldn’t know if they could save him. They were unable to provide a prognosis.
We held a family prayer and called Katie, Kelsey and Jordan and asked them to pray for Sprüngli and us and that we would know if we should approve of the surgery or have him put to sleep. After many tears and prayers, we asked if we could see him and make the determination at the hospital. When we saw him, he stood briefly as if he were saying, “you’re here, let’s go home.” But then he laid back down not having the strength. It was then that we were able to accept the promptings we had been feeling that it was time for Sprüngli to return home to God. The doctor and nurses were wonderful and let us spend some time with him in a private patio area. After we said our goodbyes and gave him loves and kisses, the doctor gave him a sedative that put him to sleep and then stopped his heart. We took his body home and buried him in our yard near the field. We wrapped his body in a clean white sheet and after laying him in the grave we had a dedicatory prayer. The Spirit was sweet and our feelings tender. We are truly grateful to a loving Heavenly Father that allowed this loving, good and faithful friend into our home to be part of our lives. He taught us well through his example what it means to love, to forgive, and to be joyful in our service. We are told in the scriptures that all animals are saved, having fulfilled the purpose of their creation. I like to think that Sprüngli did that and more.
It’s been a difficult couple of days. The house feels empty. We see signs of Sprüngli like his bed or a chew toy and we begin to weep. When the doorbell rings, there’s only silence that follows. To hear the jingle of his collar tags when mom pulled them from her purse was heartbreaking. When we sit at the couch, he’s not there to pet or to run your fingers through his lovely fur. When we came home from church today, there was no one there to joyfully greet us.
We miss him dearly but know that he is in the best of hands, those of his creator. We like to think that Alllen was there to greet him. We recognize God’s loving hand in our lives and in Sprüngli’s as well. Before we left for Utah, we felt that I should give him a blessing. I laid my hands on his head and blessed him that he would be at peace while we were away and that he would be kept safe from harm. Morgan watched him while we were away and walked him twice daily. In hindsight, we believe God answered our prayer and kept him safe while we were away and preserved his life until we could be home with him.
I know this must be difficult to read and I’m sorry Dünga won’t be here to greet you when you come home. I wish we could be with you to give you comfort now in your feelings of sorrow and loss. You are in our prayers and we know that God will be there for you in our absence. Mom has posted some pictures of Sprüngli and the family and she sent you the details.
We love you and hope despite this sad news that you will find joy in your service. We are thankful for your loving efforts to share the glad message of the gospel of Christ. Our testimonies are strengthened, even in times of sorrow, by the knowledge that we will be together again someday. We look forward to seeing you soon. Please give our best to your companion and the people you are teaching. Please let us know how you are doing and how your week went.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Investigator progress; 7 1/2 months in Athens; students everywhere!; and working hard
Wow! Looks like y'all had a great time in UT!
(we just got back from a whirlwind trip to Utah - took Katie and her truck to BYU, went to a family reunion and both Bryon and my class reunions, etc etc...)
(we just got back from a whirlwind trip to Utah - took Katie and her truck to BYU, went to a family reunion and both Bryon and my class reunions, etc etc...)
So here are the (investigator) updates:
Kim is doing really well-- she's excited to be baptized next saturday. We've taught her almost everything she needs to know, and we already talked about the interview questions with her. I suppose the only thing that could be better is if she were more consistent with her reading in the Book of Mormon, and I think that's what we'll be working on with her. Our next lesson we'll talk about daily scripture study, and commit her to read the Book of Mormon every day.
We taught Claudia the first time since she returned from vacation on friday-- she informed us that she no longer wanted to be baptized. It turns out her family isnt' being supportive at all, so we read from Matthew where Christ talks about father being against son and mother being against daughter, and how we need to bear our cross to be worthy of him. And then, of course, a few chapters later where he teaches that his yoke is easy and his burden is light. We set a new baptismal date for September 10, because she told us she knows this is true (the Book of Mormon, the restoration, etc.).
Laura is still preparing for her baptism (also Sept 10), though it's been a little tough to meet with her, as she's very busy. However, she's been working on getting work off on Sundays so she can consistently come to church.
We set a date with Kevin for October 1 this last week, and he accepted it as a goal that we can work towards. He doesn't have a testimony, but he does believe that the Restoration COULD be true, which is a great start. We're going to focus strongly on reading and praying, and helping him recognize his answer. It may be difficult for him, as he's very active in the Catholic church (he holds a student leadership position, etc.), but a witness from the Holy Ghost is great motivation for baptism!
And news about transfers: I'm staying at UGA for another month and a half! It'll be 7 1/2 months at the end of this transfer. Crazy. Elder Barret's staying as well, and now that Fall semester's starting up, a pair of Sisters will be joining us.
So I'd almost forgotten how busy it is during the real school year! There are students everywhere! Which is great. The time we spend contacting has good potential to be much more effective. And it looks like there'll be students on campus later in the afternoon than normal, which is great as well.
Overall, we're just working hard, and we're excited to see a couple baptisms this transfer!
Love!
Elder McGregor
Monday, August 8, 2011
A week of dead time; investigators; Elder Ballard; and scooters?
Hey Flambly!!
So things have been going well! Summer semester just finished--finals were thursday and friday of last week. So we've got a week of dead time, and fall semester starts Friday. Woohoo!
We've got three people with dates to be baptized. Kim has been progressing a lot! It's great--she finally was able to come to church for the first time this Sunday, and seemed to enjoy it (although made sure to comment that it was significantly different than a typical protestant service, which she's used to). Her date's for the 27th.
We're trying to get into contact with Claudia who got back from vacation last week, but we haven't heard from her yet. Her date is for the 20th, but we'll probably have to change it since we weren't able to see her at church yesterday.
Laura Flores is doing well as well. It's just really hard to meet with her due to her busy schedule. But we'll make it happen! She's preparing to be baptized on September 10th. Woohoo!
Robb came to church for like, the 22nd time in a row. He's doing well. He just doesn't feel like he's ready to be baptized, and we're trying to help him along. We're playing kickball tonight at FHE, and he should enjoy that quite a bit.
So overall, things are going well. Transfers are the 17th, so I hope to stick around for one more transfer to see these baptisms happen. But you never know, I guess.
We get to hear from Elder Ballard this Saturday! Pretty exciting. You know the church is serious about missionary work in a certain area when they send an apostle. Makes things happen =]
Sounds like things are great at home! Good to hear y'all are feeding the Elders. It's pretty nice, I won't lie. (We've had them here three times in the past month). Hopefully they're encouraging y'all to do some good missionary work as well =] (They are! : ] ) I seem to remember Mom mentioning at one point that they were the Assistants to the President... is that still the case?
President Wolfert and family are doing really well. He's stellar (as if he would have been anything but, haha). Sister Wolfert is just the most tender woman I think I've ever met.
I've often wanted to ride around on scooters as missionaries. It'd be so effective, but I don't think the image is what the church is really going for as well. Not to mention there would almost invariably be many, many accidents. Sad day.
So, wow, Mom, that's pretty cool about the Willie Handcart Company ancestors. Cool story about Ann Rowley!
(I'm a descendant of three families that were in the Willie Handcart Co - the James, Rowleys and Gadds. I shared some of their stories with him. Ann Rowley was one of the people in the movie 17 Miracles - the one who put two hard sea biscuits and some water in a cast iron pot on the coals when they were starving. When they opened it up it was full of food. All three of the families have amazing stories.)
Elder Barrett's doing well as well. We're both pulling to stick around for one more transfer, but again, who knows (God does =])?
Love you all bunches! Be excellent to each other!
Elder McGregor
We asked him why he didn't email last week and he responded:
yeah, the library was closed and we sent a quick email to the president on Tuesday--it was a busy day. Sorry I didn't write :/
Love!"
Monday, August 1, 2011
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
We don't mind the heat; a cankle; E Ballard is coming!; & speaking in Sacrament Mtg.
This week we sent E McGregor a picture of our "new" office (at home), and asked about the heat there, among other things, of course : )
Hey Fam!
Daaang. Look at that office. Quite an upgrade since I was there =]
Yeah, it's pretty hot here in Athens, but we don't mind. Heat doesn't mean much to me anymore...
So last Monday after I emailed y'all we went a played basketball with othe rmissionaries in our Zone. Toward the end of p-day I landed on someone's foot and totally rolled my ankle. I've included a picture of my kankle and bruising =] But no worries-- It's feeling much better.
Sounds like things are going as normal back at home. Huzzah. So what's the latest with G&G McGregor?
So this last week went well. We set a baptismal date for Kim, one of our investigators for late August. So that's pretty exciting =]
The Athens 1st Elders had a baptism on saturday, and we invited 4 or 5 of our investigators to see, but no one was able to go. Too bad. However, the President Wolfert, Sister Wolfert and Tess were there, so that was a really great opportunity to chat and get to know them better =] He's an awesome mission president.
Let's see, here's some fun news: Elder M. Russel Ballard is going to come to Atlanta for a YSA conference in August, and while he's here, he's going to address the Georgia Atlanta North Mission. Awesome!
Xavier, Robb and a new investigator, Nick came to church yesterday, so that was good. Oh, there's a reminder-- Elder Barrett and I spoke during sacrament meeting on Preach My Gospel chapter 5 (The Book of Mormon) and chapter 4 (How can I recognize and understand the Spirit?). Elder Barrett the former, and I the latter. And it went really well, from what I could tell. It's amazing how I have no difficulty speaking at all anymore. I didn't even break a sweat, no butterflies, nothing. Crazy.
Well, sorry... there's not a whole lot more than that. If you have questions I'll be on for a while more =]
Love!
Elder McGregor
PS That picture was 2 days after I rolled my ankle... ha.
Then we asked more about his ankle and if he'd called the mission doctor.
yeah, the cankle was worse the second day, but Elder Barrett has always had bad ankles, so he let me borrow his ankle brace, which I used for the first two days. And yeah, I iced it and all that. And it's gotten better since. The whole Mission Doctor thing is kind of confusing right now with the change in Mission President, so I didn't call in. But things should be good anyway!
Good to hear about everything else.
Love you, mom!
Then I asked him if he was in the doldrums a bit.
No, not in the doldrums =] we're actually doing really well. We've hit standard of excellence
8 weeks in a row, which is pretty hard to do. So yeah, if I seem down, I promise I'm not =]
8 weeks in a row, which is pretty hard to do. So yeah, if I seem down, I promise I'm not =]
Yep, took some advil, and it helped (I think. You know me, I don't ever tell the difference...)
Love you!
Monday, July 18, 2011
Committed to live the Word of Wisdom; new investigators; only five months are left!; and "sorry for the short email..." Plus a picture of the mission's new president and his wife
Hey fam!
So this week was good. We found out Robb's birthday was this last Wednesday (the 13th), so tough luck there. We're going to have a lesson for setting a specific date this week.
Tori committed to live the word of wisdom this last week as well, which is great because she's definitely exercising faith (which appears she didn't know she had).
We had a few new investigators this week. Nick stands out the most in my mind--he's catholic, but he's looking around at different churches, so we gave him a Book of Mormon and invited him to read and pray about it (along with teaching him the first lesson), and it seems that he intends on coming to church this week (he wasn't in athens yesterday). So woohoo!
So things are looking up-- it seems to me that we'll be having at least one baptism this transfer, which is what we're praying for.
At the end of this transfer, I'll have been at UGA for 4 transfers, or roughly 6 months. Crazy. And December is only 5 months away. Seems like I was at 18 months like, a week ago. Now I'm at 19. Crazy.
Sorry for the short email again (I realize I've said that for the past 2 weeks as well... I'll get a nice long one soon. Promise). Love you all!
Elder McGregor
P.S. Brother and Sister Luce. Rings big bells. We would eat breakfast at their home about once a month. Tell her to tell Grandma (if she sees her again) I say hi, and thanks for everything she did for the missionaries =]
Elder Trenton McGregor
Here is a picture and some info on President and Sister Wolfert - recently arrived at the Georgia Atlanta North Mission Home:
Mark Anthony Wolfert, 54, and Carol Ann Beuchert Wolfert, five children, Georgia Atlanta North Mission; Lakeridge 8th Ward, Orem Utah Lakeridge Stake. He serves as a ward missionary and is a former stake president, high councilor, bishop, counselor in a bishopric and missionary in the Germany Frankfurt Mission. Partner and General Counsel, doTERRA International. Born in Milwaukee, Wis., to Ernest Erich and Ruth Ingeborg Adler Wolfert.
Sister Wolfert serves as a counselor in a Young Women presidency and is a former gospel doctrine teacher, activity day leader, counselor in Relief Society, Young Women, and Primary presidencies and a Young Women president. Born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, to Joseph Fredrick and Fern Matilda Baker Beuchert.
Here is a picture and some info on President and Sister Wolfert - recently arrived at the Georgia Atlanta North Mission Home:
Mark Anthony Wolfert, 54, and Carol Ann Beuchert Wolfert, five children, Georgia Atlanta North Mission; Lakeridge 8th Ward, Orem Utah Lakeridge Stake. He serves as a ward missionary and is a former stake president, high councilor, bishop, counselor in a bishopric and missionary in the Germany Frankfurt Mission. Partner and General Counsel, doTERRA International. Born in Milwaukee, Wis., to Ernest Erich and Ruth Ingeborg Adler Wolfert.
Sister Wolfert serves as a counselor in a Young Women presidency and is a former gospel doctrine teacher, activity day leader, counselor in Relief Society, Young Women, and Primary presidencies and a Young Women president. Born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, to Joseph Fredrick and Fern Matilda Baker Beuchert.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Staying at UGA; baptismal dates; 2 investigators got "anti'd;" and Pres & Sis Wolfert have arrived
This week we shared a bunch of pictures with Elder McGregor from our two week trip in Europe; we told him about his bro-in-law Jordan's grueling marathon in Zermatt, Switzerland; about a sister that was in his grandma's house (unbeknownst to Grandma that she'd recently returned from serving in the Atlanta North Mission), saw his picture and said, "That's Elder McGregor!", and proceeded to gush about what an excellent elder he is and what a blessing he was to the Portuguese Group. Very nice.
Wow! That's pretty insane about Jordan's marathon! Props to him! It's kind of fun to tell people about his marathons because they're ALWAYS impressed. As they should be. When I get back, maybe I can bike next to Jordan as he runs for my own personal work-out =]
So we got transfer calls this morning! Woohoo! And I'm staying here at UGA for another transfer! So that's pretty exciting. We have two baptismal dates for this transfer as well, so that's also pretty exciting. Claudia and Laura. Sweet!
So yesterday Robb came to church (again =] He's still preparing to be baptized, which is exciting. We just don't have a date for him yet, but as I'm sure I've said in the past, he feels like his birthday is a good day to do it, and we're still trying to help him along). And Tori came as well. Unfortunately she had to leave right after the third hour finished, but we'll see her on Tuesday this week, and probably again. She's still reading from the Book of Mormon and praying, and looking for an answer as to whether God is real. And we're praying for her, of course.
Unfortunately, quite a few of our progressing investigators dropped us this last week. Karen and Lin (from China) got anti'd over the weekend and dropped us. Well, more specifically, Lin dropped us, and Karen doesn't want to do anything to offend Lin by meeting with us, so she vicariously dropped us as well.
Wow! That's pretty insane about Jordan's marathon! Props to him! It's kind of fun to tell people about his marathons because they're ALWAYS impressed. As they should be. When I get back, maybe I can bike next to Jordan as he runs for my own personal work-out =]
So we got transfer calls this morning! Woohoo! And I'm staying here at UGA for another transfer! So that's pretty exciting. We have two baptismal dates for this transfer as well, so that's also pretty exciting. Claudia and Laura. Sweet!
So yesterday Robb came to church (again =] He's still preparing to be baptized, which is exciting. We just don't have a date for him yet, but as I'm sure I've said in the past, he feels like his birthday is a good day to do it, and we're still trying to help him along). And Tori came as well. Unfortunately she had to leave right after the third hour finished, but we'll see her on Tuesday this week, and probably again. She's still reading from the Book of Mormon and praying, and looking for an answer as to whether God is real. And we're praying for her, of course.
Unfortunately, quite a few of our progressing investigators dropped us this last week. Karen and Lin (from China) got anti'd over the weekend and dropped us. Well, more specifically, Lin dropped us, and Karen doesn't want to do anything to offend Lin by meeting with us, so she vicariously dropped us as well.
So yeah, kinda sad about Karen and Lin. Xavier's having a bit of a tough go as well--his original baptismal date was this last Saturday, but he's been trying really hard to find faults in the Book of Mormon as he reads it. He'll frequently point out similarities to the Bible (in the which I assume he's trying to imply that Joseph Smith may have simply copied Biblical elements as he "wrote" the Book of Mormon. I suppose he's failing to realize that it's just as likely that the stories are similar because they come from the same source...). So we'll continue to resolve his concerns. I guess I wouldn't be surprised if we discover he's not praying as he reads.
But we're going to spend a good amount of time this week looking for new investigators! Because, well, we need to fill our teaching pool! So that's great.
Boy, I wish you knew the name of the Sister who Grandma McGregor was speaking with. I wonder if it was Sister Kemsley (she served here at UGA with us while she was in Georgia)? I don't think I knew any of the other temple square sisters that well... but that doesn't really make sense because I don't think she'd comment much about my time in Paper Mill... Well, see if you can find out for me?
Just got your email, mom. From what President King said (while he was here), the portuguese speaking branch should be starting mid-July. Which is... now-ish! So obviously I have no way of projecting with certainty where I'll be going, but at the end of this transfer (which ends mid-august), fall semester will be starting here at UGA, and I imagine that would be a very natural transition for bringing in a new Elder.
Oh, by the way, President Wolfert, Sister Wolfert and their daughter Tess have officially arrived here in Georgia! Woohoo! We're having a mission-wide transfer meeting this Wednesday where we'll get to meet them all. Very exciting.
Well, we're going to play some basketball today. I daresay I've improved at basketball, although it's still far from my forte. I'll take lacrosse any day of the week =]
Hope everything's well at home!
But we're going to spend a good amount of time this week looking for new investigators! Because, well, we need to fill our teaching pool! So that's great.
Boy, I wish you knew the name of the Sister who Grandma McGregor was speaking with. I wonder if it was Sister Kemsley (she served here at UGA with us while she was in Georgia)? I don't think I knew any of the other temple square sisters that well... but that doesn't really make sense because I don't think she'd comment much about my time in Paper Mill... Well, see if you can find out for me?
Just got your email, mom. From what President King said (while he was here), the portuguese speaking branch should be starting mid-July. Which is... now-ish! So obviously I have no way of projecting with certainty where I'll be going, but at the end of this transfer (which ends mid-august), fall semester will be starting here at UGA, and I imagine that would be a very natural transition for bringing in a new Elder.
Oh, by the way, President Wolfert, Sister Wolfert and their daughter Tess have officially arrived here in Georgia! Woohoo! We're having a mission-wide transfer meeting this Wednesday where we'll get to meet them all. Very exciting.
Well, we're going to play some basketball today. I daresay I've improved at basketball, although it's still far from my forte. I'll take lacrosse any day of the week =]
Hope everything's well at home!
Love you all-- Maw, Daw, Kels, Jord, KT, and E! Yippee!
 |
| The UGA Bulldogs hat Elder McGregor got last week |
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
4th of July outlet shopping and a great new investigator
Hey family!
So wow, sounds like Europe has been a blast for y'all! Woohoo!
So things have been going well here at UGA. This upcoming Monday we've got transfer calls, so I'll let you know if I'm being transferred or anything. But my guess is I'll be staying here at UGA, and I'm thinking Elder Barrett will stick around as well. But we'll see!
So yesterday was the 4th of July, and quite a few missionaries from our zone went to some outlets where they were having some big sales. I got two short-sleeve dress shirts from Van Heusen for $35 that originally were $40 each. And then I got a nice UGA hat for a steal =] And I'm not spending any more =]
Everything's going great here at UGA. We taught a lesson last week to a girl named Laura, who is the friend of a branch member. Her best friend is serving a mission in Spain, and her heart's been super-softened. We set a baptismal date with her for the end of this month, and the first lesson went amazing. So we're super excited for that.
Sorry for the short email, but we've got a lesson to get to! Love you all bunches, hope all is well!
Love,
Elder McGregor
So wow, sounds like Europe has been a blast for y'all! Woohoo!
So things have been going well here at UGA. This upcoming Monday we've got transfer calls, so I'll let you know if I'm being transferred or anything. But my guess is I'll be staying here at UGA, and I'm thinking Elder Barrett will stick around as well. But we'll see!
So yesterday was the 4th of July, and quite a few missionaries from our zone went to some outlets where they were having some big sales. I got two short-sleeve dress shirts from Van Heusen for $35 that originally were $40 each. And then I got a nice UGA hat for a steal =] And I'm not spending any more =]
Everything's going great here at UGA. We taught a lesson last week to a girl named Laura, who is the friend of a branch member. Her best friend is serving a mission in Spain, and her heart's been super-softened. We set a baptismal date with her for the end of this month, and the first lesson went amazing. So we're super excited for that.
Sorry for the short email, but we've got a lesson to get to! Love you all bunches, hope all is well!
Love,
Elder McGregor
Monday, June 27, 2011
The Kings' stuff is all in transit, but they're back in the mission home temporarily...
This email's subject line was:
"You say Goodbye and we say Hello...Hello, Hello!"
Dear Missionaries, Leaders and Parents of the Georgia Atlanta North Mission:
We received word late yesterday that President Wolfert is headed into surgery this morning for his detached retina (3rd time). Therefore they will not be arriving in the mission today. Sister King, Connor and I have been asked to stay on indefinitely. At the minimum it will be two weeks but could go longer than that. We think we will be here long enough to facilitate the next transfer. We are so excited. We hope you are too! There is good to be had even in these situations.
So all of our things are on the way back to our home in Bountiful; the car, the books, our files, the pictures, our clothes, etc. The mission home is bare. We do have a few suitcases between us. Please be patient with us as we make due with what we have here.
We will also ask that you fast and pray this Fast Sunday for President and Sister Wolfert and Tess as they go through this trying time. You can image how it feels to be excited by the training in the MTC only to be told you have to delay. They are heart-broken that they can't come today.
So we will look forward to seeing you all again, soon! May the Lord continue to bless us all.
Love,
President and Sister King
P.S. To the Parents...We received word last week approval has been granted to establish the first Portuguese speaking branch in the Georgia. Officially it will probably be established the middle of July. We may be here to see this historic event!
This week flew by; and baptismal dates
Hello Flambly!
Wow, so this last week flew by. Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot of unique stuff that happened this week. We mostly just taught our progressing investigators, and they're still progressing. Claudia is off to Mexico for a month, and she'll be back in August, and her baptismal date is 20 August. So that's exciting.
Xavier is doing well. Still progressing towards baptism for 9 July. Let's see, we also did a solid amount of contacting--got some new investigators we're going to teach this week as a result. Woohoo!
Well, I hope vacation is going great for all y'all. I'm not sure what I'd do with so much leisure time as a missionary. I'd probably go insane. I don't think I've ever been so busy ever. Except for when I was in Brazil. =]
Well, love you all! Sorry for the short email--I wrote President King a nice email, and President Wolfert one as well.
Love!
Elder McGregor
Trent knew we were in Europe and I think that's partially why his letter is short.
Wow, so this last week flew by. Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot of unique stuff that happened this week. We mostly just taught our progressing investigators, and they're still progressing. Claudia is off to Mexico for a month, and she'll be back in August, and her baptismal date is 20 August. So that's exciting.
Xavier is doing well. Still progressing towards baptism for 9 July. Let's see, we also did a solid amount of contacting--got some new investigators we're going to teach this week as a result. Woohoo!
Well, I hope vacation is going great for all y'all. I'm not sure what I'd do with so much leisure time as a missionary. I'd probably go insane. I don't think I've ever been so busy ever. Except for when I was in Brazil. =]
Well, love you all! Sorry for the short email--I wrote President King a nice email, and President Wolfert one as well.
Love!
Elder McGregor
Trent knew we were in Europe and I think that's partially why his letter is short.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Six investigators at church; farewell to Pres & Sis King; 18 months; hitting balls at the range; Happy Fathers Day!; and the Portuguese group has been approved to be a Branch!
Oto-san!
Ogenki desu ka?
And that's the extent of Japanese for me =]
So good news this week: Xavier has a baptismal date--July 9. Awesome. We've got quite a bit of preparation to do to get him ready, especially considering his condition: he must have an answer before that day. So we're praying as he reads and prays and comes to church that God will bless him with the knowledge of the truth of the restored gospel. Prayers from y'all would be much appreciated as well =]
We also have a baptismal date for Claudia (who I may not have told you about yet). She was being taught by the Spanish Elders, but they decided it would be best for her to go to the UGA branch. However, she's going on vacation for about a month and a half, so her baptismal date is for August 20. Which I could definitely not be around for. But no worries--as long as it happens =]
Let's see. We had six people at church yesterday! Count'em:
-Robb
-Claudia
-Xavier
-Chandler-- a girl we met about 3 weeks ago. She brought along with her:
-Nick
-Josh
So 4 people we're actually teaching, 2 who tagged along with Chandler. Yes. Like Chandler Bing.
So things are going well here at UGA. Our previous branch mission leader moved with his wife down to Mexico, and we got ourselves a new BML who's been home about a year from his mission in Paraguay. He spoke Spanish and Guarani. Crazy =] And he's doing a fantastic job!
Yeah, and we had our goodbye conference for President King. It was a pretty joyful/somber meeting-- the Kings are such a great family, and have had a huge influence on this mission. At the end of conference we sang We'll Bring the World His Truth, and they were in tears by the end. As a result, all of the Sisters started crying, as well as a pretty good number of the Elders. They'll be missed!
Additionally, in the pictures from the meeting, I was looking for old companions and realized that Elder Blum and Elder Williams are the only ones left! All of my previous companions have gotten their Visas to Brazil, and Elder Mundt has already gone home! Crazy. Oh, by the way, I hit my year-and-a-half mark about a week ago, and now in the eyes of other Elders I'm suddenly one of those old missionaries that's about to keel over and die any minute now. Weird. I swear I just got here to Georgia...
So there's a member of our branch who works at the UGA Golf course, and he took us out to the range today and we hit a bunch of golf balls for free. It was awesome--I swear it's been like, 3 or 4 years since I've hit anything, and I was amazed at the fact I still could actually hit the ball. In fact, I bet I could beat my 9-Hole-Par-3 personal record from when I was 12 (which is 42) if I tried really hard ;) But yeah, that was a lot of fun. Daw, we'll have to go out and shuffle around on a Golf course whenever I get back. Belated Father's Day gift.
HAPPY FATHER'S DAY (yesterday)!
And on a non-missionary related note: The Mavericks beat the Heat in the NBA Finals! Man, LeBron must be the laughingstock of the sports world right now...
Well, I love you all! I'll be on for a little while longer, so shoot me an e-mail if y'all feel like it!
Love you!
Elder McGregor
P.S. Have fun traveling! I'm sure y'all will have tons of fun! Those museums will be great. Don't speak too much French!'
and some answers to our questions:
Well, since yesterday was Father's Day (Happy Father's Day!), there was significantly less people in a attendance than normal. So Elder Barrett, our investigators and I probably provided about 1/4 of the people in attendance =] But there's usually 40-ish during the summer, and 60-ish in the fall.
And yeah, I've never had more than 6 at church at UGA. I don't remember my record in Paper Mill, but it was probably about that.
Well, I hear (and it's been my experience as well) that the harder you work, the faster it goes. So maybe I should stop working so I can savor these last 6 months, right? ;) ;)
Also, we found out from our friend that the Portuguese Group that E McGregor worked with in his first area is now approved to be a branch! Here's Trent's response to that:
Yeah. It was a pretty emotional moment for me when I found out about the branch. I love that area so much, and things will move right along as the Lord continues to work through the missionaries and the members in Marietta.
Now all I ask is that they build a temple in Rio de Janeiro! =]
Ogenki desu ka?
And that's the extent of Japanese for me =]
So good news this week: Xavier has a baptismal date--July 9. Awesome. We've got quite a bit of preparation to do to get him ready, especially considering his condition: he must have an answer before that day. So we're praying as he reads and prays and comes to church that God will bless him with the knowledge of the truth of the restored gospel. Prayers from y'all would be much appreciated as well =]
We also have a baptismal date for Claudia (who I may not have told you about yet). She was being taught by the Spanish Elders, but they decided it would be best for her to go to the UGA branch. However, she's going on vacation for about a month and a half, so her baptismal date is for August 20. Which I could definitely not be around for. But no worries--as long as it happens =]
Let's see. We had six people at church yesterday! Count'em:
-Robb
-Claudia
-Xavier
-Chandler-- a girl we met about 3 weeks ago. She brought along with her:
-Nick
-Josh
So 4 people we're actually teaching, 2 who tagged along with Chandler. Yes. Like Chandler Bing.
So things are going well here at UGA. Our previous branch mission leader moved with his wife down to Mexico, and we got ourselves a new BML who's been home about a year from his mission in Paraguay. He spoke Spanish and Guarani. Crazy =] And he's doing a fantastic job!
Yeah, and we had our goodbye conference for President King. It was a pretty joyful/somber meeting-- the Kings are such a great family, and have had a huge influence on this mission. At the end of conference we sang We'll Bring the World His Truth, and they were in tears by the end. As a result, all of the Sisters started crying, as well as a pretty good number of the Elders. They'll be missed!
Additionally, in the pictures from the meeting, I was looking for old companions and realized that Elder Blum and Elder Williams are the only ones left! All of my previous companions have gotten their Visas to Brazil, and Elder Mundt has already gone home! Crazy. Oh, by the way, I hit my year-and-a-half mark about a week ago, and now in the eyes of other Elders I'm suddenly one of those old missionaries that's about to keel over and die any minute now. Weird. I swear I just got here to Georgia...
So there's a member of our branch who works at the UGA Golf course, and he took us out to the range today and we hit a bunch of golf balls for free. It was awesome--I swear it's been like, 3 or 4 years since I've hit anything, and I was amazed at the fact I still could actually hit the ball. In fact, I bet I could beat my 9-Hole-Par-3 personal record from when I was 12 (which is 42) if I tried really hard ;) But yeah, that was a lot of fun. Daw, we'll have to go out and shuffle around on a Golf course whenever I get back. Belated Father's Day gift.
HAPPY FATHER'S DAY (yesterday)!
And on a non-missionary related note: The Mavericks beat the Heat in the NBA Finals! Man, LeBron must be the laughingstock of the sports world right now...
Well, I love you all! I'll be on for a little while longer, so shoot me an e-mail if y'all feel like it!
Love you!
Elder McGregor
P.S. Have fun traveling! I'm sure y'all will have tons of fun! Those museums will be great. Don't speak too much French!'
and some answers to our questions:
Well, since yesterday was Father's Day (Happy Father's Day!), there was significantly less people in a attendance than normal. So Elder Barrett, our investigators and I probably provided about 1/4 of the people in attendance =] But there's usually 40-ish during the summer, and 60-ish in the fall.
And yeah, I've never had more than 6 at church at UGA. I don't remember my record in Paper Mill, but it was probably about that.
Well, I hear (and it's been my experience as well) that the harder you work, the faster it goes. So maybe I should stop working so I can savor these last 6 months, right? ;) ;)
Also, we found out from our friend that the Portuguese Group that E McGregor worked with in his first area is now approved to be a branch! Here's Trent's response to that:
Yeah. It was a pretty emotional moment for me when I found out about the branch. I love that area so much, and things will move right along as the Lord continues to work through the missionaries and the members in Marietta.
Now all I ask is that they build a temple in Rio de Janeiro! =]
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Last Email, Pictures and Newsletter from Pres & Sister King
Dear parents and families of our amazing Georgia Atlanta North missionaries...
Thank you from the bottoms of our hearts for sending your incredible children to serve the Lord at this time and in this place! We feel so blessed to have been able to work with them in this beautiful area of the Lord's vineyard.
It was with mixed emotions that we held our final meetings with the missionaries this past Thursday and Friday...but we enjoyed the time together and thought we'd send these photos of their bright countenances on to you. And please read through this edition (2 pages) of the Southern Star missionary newsletter for more expressions of our deep gratitude. President & Sister Wolfert and their daughter Tess arrive on June 27th, and we are grateful to leave the mission in such loving and capable hands and wish them all the best.
We hope to meet you all at some future time to express our appreciation in person, and we are thankful to know that our ties with your missionaries are deep...and eternal.
With love and gratitude,
President & Sister King & Connor
Thank you from the bottoms of our hearts for sending your incredible children to serve the Lord at this time and in this place! We feel so blessed to have been able to work with them in this beautiful area of the Lord's vineyard.
It was with mixed emotions that we held our final meetings with the missionaries this past Thursday and Friday...but we enjoyed the time together and thought we'd send these photos of their bright countenances on to you. And please read through this edition (2 pages) of the Southern Star missionary newsletter for more expressions of our deep gratitude. President & Sister Wolfert and their daughter Tess arrive on June 27th, and we are grateful to leave the mission in such loving and capable hands and wish them all the best.
We hope to meet you all at some future time to express our appreciation in person, and we are thankful to know that our ties with your missionaries are deep...and eternal.
With love and gratitude,
President & Sister King & Connor
 |
| President King, Elder McGregor, Sister King |
 |
| Athens, Conyers & Lilburn Zones - June 17, 2011 Elder McGregor is 2nd row near center in a grey suit (Double click to enlarge) |
 |
| Marietta, Roswell & Sugar Hill Zones - June 16, 2011 E McGregor is not in these zones, but I thought I'd include this picture anyway. I notice his last companion on the second row 4th from right. |
Monday, June 13, 2011
Jack of all trades; what do y'all believe?; o.O ; Christ's atonement is essential to the plan; and a UGA student's qualitative research paper on Mormon missionaries
Heeeelloooooo Flambly!
Great to hear from everyone!
So wow, that's some news about Grandpa McGregor. I'll definitely pray for him. And Grandma. And everyone connected. (Trenton's grandfather has been diagnosed with cancer of the bile duct)
Congrats to Elise for straight As (again)! Woohoo!
So GB1 sounds like a pretty rockin' ward--lots of strong families. I bet the Elders are well fed =] What's weird will be coming home, seeing them and being able to say to myself, "Been there!" (not to imply that we ever have the luxury of not sharing the gospel, of course). I'm pretty appreciative of the chance I've had to serve a foreign and domestic mission. Interesting how it seems I'm working out to become a "jack-of-all-trades."
So new investigator this week: Xavier! He's pretty awesome. I was on an exchange and Elder Neri (a Spanish Elder) and Elder Barrett contacted him. He seemed to think they were trying to convince him he hadn't been "saved" yet (like our Christian friends from other denominations tend to believe). Of course, that wasn't what they were going for, and he wanted to meet with us and had many, many questions.
So the next day he came to the institute, sat down on a couch and asked me, "So what is it that y'all believe?"
"We believe that throughout time God has called prophets and revealed His gospel. Over time, those prophets were persecuted and killed, and the authority of God's word through his prophets has been corrupted. Man has taken the remainder of that gospel and done the best to preserve our relationship with God that he can. However, the Bible is very incomplete, and frequently unclear as to what we need to do to live with God again. But, because God loves us, he has called a prophet once again on the earth in these last days to authoritatively teach what God's plan is, and Christ's church has been restored once again to the earth." (or something like that. Perhaps without so many big words I'm able to come up with as I type =])
And he looked at me like this:
o.O
And we talked about the Restoration. And by the end of the lesson, he was completely non-combative. We had talked about baptism a bit with him, and he seemed reluctant to admit that authority is necessary to perform ordinances and that baptism being essential to salvation. We set up a return appointment for the next day.
Aaaaaaaand taught him the Plan of Salvation, and how Christ is central to the Plan because of his atonement (which is something he admitted to not having understood before). And he told us straightforwardly again that he didn't necessarily agree with us about baptism and salvation, but that he would definitely read the Book of Mormon and pray to know if it's true, and if Joseph Smith was a prophet. And that if he received an answer, he would be baptized.
I'll tell you one thing--I'll always put my money on the Book of Mormon.
So that was one of the more interesting experiences this week. Everyone else is moving along as well! Remind me to tell you about Mandy next week =]
Love you all bunches!
Elder Fenton McGregor
Here's something interesting -- We put pictures in E McGregor's Dropbox so he can just look at them there without downloading. I noticed in his Dropbox a document he'd written in a conversational-ish tone about missionary work and asked him about it. He said, "It's actually something I wrote for a student here at UGA doing a qualitative research report on Mormons. His final paper is attached. Pretty interesting =]" And it was interesting to me. Below is a link to the paper if you'd like to read it as well.
Great to hear from everyone!
So wow, that's some news about Grandpa McGregor. I'll definitely pray for him. And Grandma. And everyone connected. (Trenton's grandfather has been diagnosed with cancer of the bile duct)
Congrats to Elise for straight As (again)! Woohoo!
So GB1 sounds like a pretty rockin' ward--lots of strong families. I bet the Elders are well fed =] What's weird will be coming home, seeing them and being able to say to myself, "Been there!" (not to imply that we ever have the luxury of not sharing the gospel, of course). I'm pretty appreciative of the chance I've had to serve a foreign and domestic mission. Interesting how it seems I'm working out to become a "jack-of-all-trades."
So new investigator this week: Xavier! He's pretty awesome. I was on an exchange and Elder Neri (a Spanish Elder) and Elder Barrett contacted him. He seemed to think they were trying to convince him he hadn't been "saved" yet (like our Christian friends from other denominations tend to believe). Of course, that wasn't what they were going for, and he wanted to meet with us and had many, many questions.
So the next day he came to the institute, sat down on a couch and asked me, "So what is it that y'all believe?"
"We believe that throughout time God has called prophets and revealed His gospel. Over time, those prophets were persecuted and killed, and the authority of God's word through his prophets has been corrupted. Man has taken the remainder of that gospel and done the best to preserve our relationship with God that he can. However, the Bible is very incomplete, and frequently unclear as to what we need to do to live with God again. But, because God loves us, he has called a prophet once again on the earth in these last days to authoritatively teach what God's plan is, and Christ's church has been restored once again to the earth." (or something like that. Perhaps without so many big words I'm able to come up with as I type =])
And he looked at me like this:
o.O
And we talked about the Restoration. And by the end of the lesson, he was completely non-combative. We had talked about baptism a bit with him, and he seemed reluctant to admit that authority is necessary to perform ordinances and that baptism being essential to salvation. We set up a return appointment for the next day.
Aaaaaaaand taught him the Plan of Salvation, and how Christ is central to the Plan because of his atonement (which is something he admitted to not having understood before). And he told us straightforwardly again that he didn't necessarily agree with us about baptism and salvation, but that he would definitely read the Book of Mormon and pray to know if it's true, and if Joseph Smith was a prophet. And that if he received an answer, he would be baptized.
I'll tell you one thing--I'll always put my money on the Book of Mormon.
So that was one of the more interesting experiences this week. Everyone else is moving along as well! Remind me to tell you about Mandy next week =]
Love you all bunches!
Elder Fenton McGregor
Here's something interesting -- We put pictures in E McGregor's Dropbox so he can just look at them there without downloading. I noticed in his Dropbox a document he'd written in a conversational-ish tone about missionary work and asked him about it. He said, "It's actually something I wrote for a student here at UGA doing a qualitative research report on Mormons. His final paper is attached. Pretty interesting =]" And it was interesting to me. Below is a link to the paper if you'd like to read it as well.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/13449869/Final.docx
Oh, and p.s. - he FINALLY got his package of summer slacks! What a relief with the weather there in the 90s every day.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)