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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ET

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

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

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

Also, notice the beginnings of a double chin ;)

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

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

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

And the seat is actually really comfortable.

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

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

Only when I suck my chin into my neck ;)

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

Language Council 

Pres. King and the foreign language missionaries

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

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

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


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

-Yes, that's true.

-Well, about how tall are you?

-Maybe 5'11"?

-And what type of build are you?

-Slender.

-OK, and how much do you weigh?

-About 160 pounds.

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

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

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

Love you guys!

ET

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

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

Hello!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ET  [Elder Trent]


My response and questions:

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

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

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

And Trent's reply:

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

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

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

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

Love!

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

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

Kirk Buttle
CBRE

Elder McGregor is top row far left

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

Bryon's questions this week:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And in another short email:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

004   Who is Elder Muscle?

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

005   Elder Roberts is looking very missionary GQ

Yep. =]

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

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

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

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

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

Elder McGregor

Two MORE Elders and a new Portuguese branch!

Wow, so crazy stuff this week.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

-A GPS unit. They're SUPER useful.

-an oil container for a keychain

and that's about all I could think of.

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

Elder McGregor

and here are some answers to more questions:

from Bryon:

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

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

from Sandra:

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

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

And more from Bryon:

please send a pic of your sweet bike! 

Don't have any pictures of the bike yet.

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

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

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

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

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

 Elder Blum  - first companion

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

Looks like they're in their sleep clothes here.

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

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

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

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

Elders McGregor and Mundt

G.R.I.T.S. Good Report In The South newsletter

Here's the latest newsletter from Sister King along with the email she sent encouraging us to make sure our missionary gets a flu shot, has a winter coat, etc.  I'm guessing Trent has NOT had a flu shot (he never has had one, nor have I for that matter...).  We'll see if he'll break his streak.  He DOES, however, have a great overcoat that we got for him just before he left.  Zip out lining and everything.
Very dapper  : )
But I digress!  Here's the aforementioned:

Dear parents and families,

Hope you enjoy this latest issue of the missionary newsletter...and that it finds you well and happy!

Two requests before the holidays arrive:

1-After taking an informal poll at the first two (of four) zone conferences, we found that only about 25% of the missionaries have followed-through in getting a flu shot, as suggested by Missionary Medical.  The shots typically cost $20-$25 and must come from the missionaries' personal funds.  If possible, we'd love you to make that money available to them in their personal accounts...and, if that is a hardship, please speak to your bishop or stake president, as they are equipped to help in certain situations.  We know that these vaccines will help them avoid the worst strains of flu.

2-It's also getting cold here in the mornings and evenings (and, soon, in the daytime, too)!  This morning, it was 32-degrees...and, believe it or not, those temperatures will drop as we get into December and other winter months.  If your missionary did not bring an overcoat, please send one now or help them purchase one here.  I have a few on hand that have been left behind by departing missionaries, but my supply is low.  Please let me know if your missionary needs one of the coats I have here.

Have a wonderful holiday season.  We hope you all received the "red letter" and can meet that timeline for Christmas gifts.  Any concerns, please email me...  

We feel so blessed to be associated with your wonderful missionaries--thank YOU for your sacrifices to have them here!

Sister King

Ten elders in the ward; prayer; service; and translating Sacrament Mtg

Hey!

Wow, so it's been a bit crazy lately! As you know, I'm now officially a Portuguese-speaking elder and am the senior comp of two of the visa waiters. Our ward, Paper Mill, has its own district: Elders Mundt (DL), Bradley, DeMille, Roberts, Saldate (visa waiters) and I. Elder Seiverts, who used to be DL was bumped up to ZL with Elder Collette, and they live in the apartments in Paper Mill with us. Oh, and Elder Blum is still here, and still training. Elder Decker is his companion straight out of the MTC. Yep yep! So we have 10 Elders in our ward. Kind of unheard of. In fact, we're fairly certain that Paper Mill must be the only ward in the world to have so many Elders in a mission that's been around for such a long time. I'll make sure and get a picture of all ten of us and send it to you guys next week, along with a couple other fun pictures.

Gloria, who had fallen off the face of the earth (or so we thought) actually called me yesterday and wants us to continue teaching her--she had been in Florida but had forgotten her phone. Thus we had no way of getting a hold of her. But she's still extremely excited to be baptized.

Jay is doing well--we've been trying really hard to get him to church. He knows everything is true, but for some reason we can't seem to get him to the church building--something always comes up. There's also a member in the Elder's quorum that is doing a great job of fellowshipping him. Oh yeah, his family got wrongfully evicted from their home, so Elder Blum and I pulled all of their stuff back into their apartment and spent the rest of the day re-organizing it for them. Which actually was somewhat of a blessing because it really gave us a good chance to meet his family and show them that we're not crazy =] So we just need to get Jay to church and things will go super well.

Warren is a super special story--thanks for fasting for him. Elder Blum wrote to his family:

We were with a baptist Deacon who we have been teaching for a while now. He said he felt that the book of mormon was true but he needed a witness of it for himself. So feeling pretty bold and moved upon by the spirit i said lets pray right now! He kinda looked at me and said ok. So we kneeled down and i said a prayer then Elder Decker then he did. It was probably the most sincere prayer i have ever heard. The spirit was amazing in the room. After the prayer we sat in silence for a minute and he looked at me as said "i feel like im going to cry. Not because im sad... but because I feel so happy and warm." BINGO!!! GOTCHA! haha it was amazing. He know knows it is true and we are going back to teach his family and hopefully get the font ready. Whats particularly exciting about this baptism will be that he is a deacon in the baptist church. I am hoping and praying that he will bring a part of his congregation with him :D

Amazing, huh?

We're having a bit of a rough go with Heather --because she's not able to go to church, she's losing excitement. We're trying to get her out to church activities as much as possible, but it's tough because she works so much. So yeah, please keep praying for her.

Marcus has to move apartments, and today (November 1) is the last day he has to find a new apartment, so he wasn't able to go to church yesterday. He really wanted to though. I'm confident Elder Blum will be able to continue to do really great work with Marcus. I'll take a picture with Marcus next time he comes to church--you guys will love it =]

So we started our Portuguese work this week--Elder Bradley and Elder DeMille are my companions. We've got a couple new investigators we've found, but nothing terribly exciting yet. So please hold for next week--I'm sure I'll have some very exciting things to talk about next week.

Oh, but this is really fun--yesterday I translated the English Sacrament Meeting into portuguese for the other Elders' Portuguese investigators. Our ward has the translation headphones and microphone, and I translated all the talks into Portuguese! It was such a cool experience. I really don't know how to fit it all into one email, so I'll probably send you guys a letter over the next couple days or something, and I'll tell you all about it.

Christmas package? Let's see-- a sweatshirt, slippers, an electric shaver (self cleaning would be great), some thick black Sunday socks, short-sleeved white shirts (2ish), and that's about all off the top of my head.

Love you guys so much! I'll be on for another 30 minutes or so, so email me back if you have any questions.

Elder McGregor

unfortunately I didn't see his email until the 30 minutes had already passed  : (

So let's see if I can get this straight.  Paper Mill Ward missionaries 
(the whole district of them!):
Elder Mundt - DL, Portuguese-speaking
Elder Bradley - Brazil visa waiter (probably a companion to Elder Mundt?)
Elder DeMille - Brazil visa waiter (probably a companion to Elder Mundt?)
Elder Roberts - Brazil visa waiter / E McGregor's companion, Portuguese-speaking
Elder Saldate - Brazil visa waiter / E McGregor's companion, Portuguese-speaking
Elder McGregor - Portuguese-speaking
Elder Seiverts - was DL; now ZL, Portuguese-speaking
Elder Collette - ZL
Elder Blum - Elder McGregor's former companion, English-speaking, (maybe the other DL now?)
Elder Decker - Elder Blum's new greenie
*
DL = District Leader; 
ZL = Zone Leader; 
greenie = new missionary; 
visa waiter = greenie missionaries headed to Brazil who haven't received their Visas yet