A 3-point shootin', golfin' comp, less students, its much easier training only one greenie at a time, and Pres. King's last transfer

This week Bryon asked E McGregor to tell us about his new greenie -   his name, where’s he from, about his family & what he likes to do when he’s not being a missionary.  We also told him about a wedding over the weekend and one coming up.


Hello all!

New comp: Elder Barrett, from Everett, Washington. However, he grew up in Mesa, Arizona. Pretty cool! His dad's a convert, and his mom was born into the church. He's got one older brother and one younger brother, and it turns out he's the first in his immediate family to serve a mission. Pretty cool. Turns out he's also a killer 3-point shooter (yesterday the library was closed because of memorial day, so we couldn't email. So we played basketball instead), and he was on the golf team at his high school. His best round of golf was a 74. And I'm pretty sure I couldn't break 100 on a good day...

And yeah, things are a little bit slower here in the summer because there's not as many students. However, those that are here do have more time than they did during the spring. So that's nice.

So it sounds like things are just peachy back at home. Was it Shane Shoemaker that got married? Because we both went to GBHS at the same time (although he graduated sooner, obviously). But that's really exciting. And pretty exciting about Justin and Allie as well!

Well, this is President King's last transfer here in the mission (which I'm sure he's mentioned in the mission emails), and it'll be interesting to have a new mission president and see what changes happen as a result.

So training is pretty great! It's a lot easier to train just one person (instead of two at once), and Elder Barrett is off to a great start.

Our investigators are moving right along. We've been working with Robb who's told us he's got a desire to be baptized but isn't sure. So we're trying to help him to get to where he is sure.

Well, sorry again for the shorter email, but everything's going well here! Love you all very much, and It's great to hear from y'all every week!

Lots of love,

Elder McGregor

P.S. Thanks, Mom, for the update on the pants =]


I notice the weather in Athens is in the 90s all week this week.  I hope those summer pants get there soon!

A new greenie, tchau to E Williams : ( and Robb's mystery birthday baptism date

Hello Flambly!

So fun news this week--we got transfer calls this morning, and Elder Williams is being transferred to a new area tomorrow morning. He'll be Senior companion! Woohoo! Aaaaand it turns out I'll be staying here at UGA for at least one more transfer! Awesome!

Which means, of course, that I'll be getting a new companion. Although I don't know anything about him yet, I do know he's fresh out of the MTC, and I'll be training. ....!

Unfortunately, this means today we haven't much time to be able to email and the like. Elder Williams has to pack 6 months of missionary stuff he's accumulated. Fun. But all is going well with our investigators. We played a little bit of badminton with Robb today, and that was a lot of fun. He's definitely going to be baptized. I'm sure I've told you this--he's picked his birthday as his baptismal date. He just won't tell us what day that is. Ugh. =]

But I love you all very much! I'm glad to hear all is going well.

Happy birthday, Daw! Sorry I didn't get you anything... I'll make up for it this Christmas! ...iiii'llll be hoooome for... chriiistmaaas....
(Elder McGregor's release date is sometime just before Christmas)

Love you all!

Elder Fenton McGregor

Out with G.R.I.T.S. and in with the Southern Star

Check out the latest newsletter from the mission home.  Clicking on the newsletter pages will make them larger.  Enjoy -

Investigator update, probable transfer, a fun P-Day, jogging co-eds, and more pictures!

Hello Family!

Soooooo I've added a bunch more pictures to dropbox. I had a frenzy. Awesome, right? Check it out!

Today is Sister Schaeler's last p-day, so we did some stuff she wanted to do. We went to the Botanical Gardens here in Athens, and then to a Wildlife reserve. It was cool. 

So there you go. 


As far as investigators go, Robb is progressing, and is thinking about baptism, but it appears that no amount of our attempts to set a date will work. So he probably won't get baptized this transfer. But he'll get there I'm sure.

We met a girl on campus about a month ago named Tori. She's very comfortably agnostic, but at the same time is very willing to meet with us and hear our message. She's been trying out prayer which she hasn't done since she was a little girl at a Southern Baptist church, and we spent the majority of the lesson talking about faith, prayer, and recognizing answers. It's great because she's totally sincere and doesn't try to disguise any of her feelings or concerns.

Let's see, Friday we did a contact with a lady named Jane at a bus stop, talked about the restoration, and lots about why there are so many churches, and she ended up coming to church the next day. We're going to teach her this Thursday. So that's exciting.

This transfer I forsee leaving UGA. The Elders are typically taken out during the summer due to a lack of work. That, and girl-joggers running up and down the street in sports bras and compression shorts. Partay. So I'll have the news for you next pday!

Because spring semester is over, the UGA bus we normally take is no longer running. So we've taken to riding bikes around campus. That is, until we were going down a hill and E. Williams hit a pothole and flew over his handlebars =] He's totally fine, aside from a scrape on his arm, a ruined white shirt, a bend in his handlebar, and  healthy desire to not ride bikes for a little while. =]

Pants have not arrived yet. Still working on it. But I'll update Sister Coe, who can update you. Thanks a bunch!

With much love,
Elder McGregor!

Elder McGregor  at the Atlanta Temple

Setting up for a Zone photo

The finished product was kind of blurry.
Elders McGregor and Williams are in the center of the back row.

Last month E McGregor and Williams went to Stegeman Stadium and got some pictures

"I'm the Vanna White of GA Basketball. =]"

"And again"

"The UGA athletic compound. Called the Butts-Mehre. 
Pronounced: buttsmear. 
Lovely, UGA, lovely."
Would Mehre-Butts be any better?  (mere butts)  haha

Elder Williams goofing off on the pull-up bar

Elder Williams after "biffing it" on his bike.

It's like Green Eggs and Ham -
Book of Mormon study is great anywhere ...

"There were these silly statues on one of the lawns at the gardens. 
So we did some funny poses with them."

The bear-lders having a fun P-Day
at the Wildlife Reserve today

Little Bear-lder McGregor

"And the UGA missionaries at the Botanical Garden 
(looks more like a forest, I know). "

Pictures : )

Hey y'all! How's it going? 

I added a bunch of photos to dropbox under ElderT Photos. Sadly, I've forgotten my backback today at the library, so they're photos from Elder William's camera. Awesome.

It was great to talk to you, Mom, and Dad. And good to see you, Leese! 40 minutes doesn't seem like anything. But yeah, all is well.

So I called the mission office today and gave them the home phone number to inform you, Mom, with whatever they could. So enjoy Sister Coe's awesome southern accent when you talk to her. She said she left you a nice long message on the answering machine. But from what I understand (and I may have misunderstood), she's not sure the package ever arrived at the mission office? So yeah. It's in your capable hands.

So here are the photos and descriptions:

My newly acquired double chin. I have the great southern food to thank. 

Us teaching about the restoration at "Meet the Mormons" night.

Elders McGregor & Williams (San Diego), Sister Coleman (Orem, UT),
Sister Kemsley (Connecticut, also a Temple Square Sister)

Cool spot on campus. Me pretending to study.

Random Longhorn on campus advertising for a rodeo. Awesome.

E McGregor with a member of the branch's track and field javelin.

The Atlanta Temple. Much better photos can be found online ;)

Replacing a member's flat so she can drive us and the sisters home. Awesome.

Sister Schaeler. Brazilian Visa waiter going to Sao Paulo.

So there you go. The latest and greatest, photo form. Love y'all. I'll be on for a bit longer, FYI!

Elder Fenton McGregor

and a quick response from Elder McGregor to his sister Kelsey, who sent him an email with pictures of her and her hubby in France and Switzerland, where she is doing a summer internship with World Health Organization (WHO).

Dang. My memories of France are soooo distant. But all good things have to come to an end... as your pictures reminded me once more... ;) Just kidding. So glad you enjoyed France. And the Louvre <-- Correct spelling?

How's switzerland? And the WHO? (And as much as I'd like to know about the rock band, I am in fact referring to the World Health Organization ;)

Love!

Elder (Fent) McGregor

Mother's Day

We had so much fun talking with Elder McGregor yesterday.  That 40 minutes of Skyping just flew by!  He looks good and sounds happy.  We got to "meet" his companion as well and think he's great!

Love you T!

Mom

Tornadoes, alarms and dedications - oh my!

If you haven't heard about the tornadoes they had in the South last week, see the post below this one.

Madre, Padre, Family-dre!

How're y'all? Things are going well here. No worries with the tornadoes here in Athens. We kept getting texts from the zone leaders like "If you hear tornado sirens, get in your bathtub and hold a mattress over your head!" or "Tornado watch! Stay awake and alert until 2AM!" So I definitely called the zone leaders and had this conversation:

"Hello?"

"Hey. It's Elder McGregor. Do we really have to stay awake and alert until 2 in the morning?"

"... ... ... Let me find out."

"Thanks."

Five minutes later:

"Elder McGregor?"

"Hey."

"So I talked with the assistants. They said to keep the windows cracked open so you can hear the tornado sirens. And to keep a flashlight by your bed. And shoes. But yeah, you don't have to stay awake."

"Good to know. Thanks, Elder."

"No problem. Have a good night. Oh, and turn up your phone really loud."

"You got it."

So I turned the phone off vibrate, and then I went to bed, and I don't think a tornado could've woken me up. Thankfully, Elder Williams is a light sleeper, so if a tornado had torn the roof off, he would've woken me up (at least, I think he would've...).

Oh, while we're on funny sleeping stories, I set a calendar event on the phone to remind me of Elise's birthday today (HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LEESE! Y'all will get a letter in the mail... eventually. No promises as to when. But it'll be... eventual). Little did I know that the alarm would go off at 12:01 AM this morning. And go off it did. And it woke up Elder Williams, Elder Anderson and Elder Stevens. And then it went off again at 1:01AM. And woke everyone else up again. And Elder Anderson (according to Elder Williams) goes, "WHAT IS THAT? Oh my GOSH!" But they figured out how to turn it off.

Here's the best part:

I have no recollection of this whatever. So as Elder Williams pointed out, the alarm woke everyone except the person it was supposed to advise. Fun fun fun. So needless to say, I'm having no trouble sleeping. Huzzah.

LOL!  His poor comp and flatmates!

Let's see. No package yet. Did it get sent UPS or FedEx? Because if it did, the mission office can't forward that. If it got sent USMail, then they can. Otherwise someone will have to pick it up for me.

Oh, we didn't end up watching the cultural celebration. The branch had a barbecue that night and Robb Player (ping-pong ninja) went with us. But I hear I didn't miss out much--the UGA sister missionaries were a little disappointed with the final product. Which I seem to remember being the case with me and the Sacramento Temple Celebration.

The open house was pretty cool. We had a couple investigators make it out, and they really enjoyed it. Robb Player commented (by text message), "The temple was intricately designed and furnished. The chandeliers were lit up like Christmas trees." He's a really entertaining guy.

But the dedication was pretty awesome. President Monson and Elder Ballard were there, as were a few other General Authorities. They all gave great talks/testimonies. President Monson is a pretty jovial guy, I must say. After a few of the talks during the second dedicatory session, he gets up and proceeds to recognize the women (wives of GAs) present, and then says, "You thought you were off the hook, didn't you? We'll now hear each of their testimonies." And they all got up and bore their testimonies. It was pretty fun.

Quick note: I really think it should be called the Hosanna Chant. Much more accurate as to what it's actually like.
He's referring to the Hosanna shout during the temple dedication.  I agree with him - I remember being very disappointed the first time I got to be involved...

Daw, as far as the ambush of Christians, they were mostly trying to trip me up with being saved by grace and what that really means. It's common here in the South to believe that because we're saved by grace that works are very very unnecessary. For instance:

Baptism (a "work") can't be a requirement to be saved because if it were, we would be depending upon our own works to save us, and not upon Christ's grace.

Yep.

Well, love y'all, hope everything's still well. Have a fantastic week!

Elder Fent McGregor