Year One, Letter Thirty Four

hiiiiiii everybody!

scripture: Alma 37 I love how this describes the BoM and how the
prophets who wrote it didn´t even know why god commanded them to do
certain things, but they did it anyway and now we know why. how tight.

anywho hey there. not much to report. but i will get a few things out
of the way first.

i did the testimony gloves activity with the primary here. wow. i have
never had so many parents thanking me and telling me how great i am.
unfortunately, i had to pass the praise. i explained all about the
purpose and that mom sent them and all that jazz...now they still love
me...but they love mom more. so mom, you have a ward in brazil called
Ourinhos that loves you more than the missionary serving here. lol.
but is was way cool. we had a few of the investigators´ children
there, too. and so now the parents are all curious and we got to teach
them, as well. how amazing is that right??

blake - i met an elder rodrigues. he served in porto alegre too. he
arrived in october 2007. so right before you left. he said he never
met you personally, but that he knows your name "pela fama." he said
everyone knew you because of how great of a missionary that you were.
then he said, "So, Ourinhos is in good hands. They don´t need to worry
about anything if they have another Elder Ghormley here." so,
congratulations for your legacy lol. now the shoes i have to fill got
bigger. how lucky i am to be the 3rd elder ghormley. haha

hey dad, how was the cannery with wade? how is he feeling about the
church? and who is Austin Kleese? have they moved into the ward
recently? i don´t know if i ever met him. i might write him a letter
if you can tell me more about him.

and mom...i haven´t played soccer yet. that is where we are going
after this. but i can assure you that i will look like a fool who is
very out of shape, very white, and very uncoordinated when it comes to
kicking a ball. and i totally understand what you are saying about the
lifestyle change. that was what president leal was talking about at
zone conference, too. i understand. it is just annoying and it gets to
you when it is all you here, ya know? but on the bright side...ANA
PAULA AND JULIANO WANNA GET MARRIED. THIS IS MY STORY OF THE WEEK. we
went there...re-taught the restoration, introduced the book of mormon,
and made a direct baptismal invite. they said that they wanted to be
baptized. Juliano said that he has already talked to missionaries
before and knew that the BoM is true. so that goes to show the
importance of the work...other missionaries planted the seed. that is
what we do. we find the ones who are ready, or we plant seeds. that
definitely helped the discouragement factor. anyway. so we said
great...but that if they truly wanted to be baptized they would have
to follow through with other commandments like the law of chastity. so
we explained that they would have to be married. when we asked if they
had a desire they just looked at each other. so i asked eduarda (their
9-year-old daughter) if she wanted to see her parents together as a
family forever. and she said yes. so juliano and ana paula are now
preparing to be married!!!!!! yes, i am super psyched. the only
problem is that juliano works a ton and he travels a ton because he is
a truck-driver. so, he has to be there for us to teach. but they said
they will. next time he is home, they are going to take the necessary
steps. and another bright note....RAFAEL WANTS TO BE BAPTIZED
FINALLY!!!! he wants to be baptized by his brother-in-law this sunday.
but yeah, i understand how important this work is. and i understand
that not everyone can accept it so easily. we just think that it is
easy because we have lived it our whole lives. obviously someone who
has been cathloic or evangelical isn´t going to be like, "hmmmm yeah i
will change everything i believe in, follow some weird word of wisdom
jazz, and live something called the law of chastity, while paying
tithes and fast offerings and having a calling in the church. how
easy!" i understand. it just sucks to watch someone reject it when you
feel like they have a chance.

alright i am running out of time. i gotta run...well...i will see if i
will be able to during soccer. but i am grateful for all your advice.
morgan and stuart...avoid bees. and i am super psyched to know what
the baby is. and i really hope that morgan hasn´t started
redecorating...it has only been a few months morgan!!!

sorry if this was rushed or if i forgot anything. i love you all! tchau!

elder scott ghormley