Year Two, Letter Nine

HEY EVERYONE! what´s up? i am alright over here. my feet are hurting.
but i think that just has something to do with the amount that we
walk. at least that makes a little sense. just one more week ya know?

scripture! Mosiah 4: 26 - 30

family reunion! it looks like you guys really did an amazing job for
the family reunion. i love how that family reunion banner was
perfectly measured and it just looked perfect on that wall. i mean
oviously i wouldn´t expect anything else. it is just so typical of you
guys. :) but i am kinda jealous. i saw that picture with Dad, Mom,
Morgan, Stuart, Blake, Lauren, and Jackson. I was kinda sad to not be
there. haha but what can ya do? but i am glad that it was a success
and that you guys had fun. and i am sad that i am the only member of
the family who hasn´t even said "hi" to jackson.

morgan, your hand infection makes me laugh. a tiny bit. who gets hand
infections for washing their hands too much? you deserve a high five.
that is spectacular that my first nephew is well-behaved. i can give
him a high five, too. but he needs to do more stuff...other than eat,
sleep, and poop. but i loved the pictures. he looked hilarious in a
couple pics. is stuart able to deal with the job, the school, and the
baby all at the same time? that requires talent.

the Marília investigators are spectacular. i love that they are strong
members of the church now :) i am going to write a letter to cassia
and renato and carol and bia.

we had another meeting at 7:30 AM on sunday with pres. mario. he
didn´t change his negative perspective. he basically told us that we
are "too charitable as missionaries" and that "everyone just wants
everything on a silver platter and we aren´t capable of doing that, so
stop trying with certain people." elder fernandes is determined on
getting a new president for our branch. he is going to tell president
tavares about everything.

sérgio was interviewed, but didn´t pass. we are working with him. i
think we will mark again for this weekend. lillian and her family are
very interested and i think we will try and mark their baptism this
weekend. lillian wants to be baptized and she has a testimony of the
church. i don´t know if the branch will help. they haven´t done jack
to help with the other converts and investigators.

alex is great. he wants to get baptized and jonathan was kinda iffy
about baptism but then alex talked with him and asked him if they
could get baptized on the same day and they both are psyched for it
now. we are gunna go to their houses tonight to ask authorization from
their parents. at least i hope so...

i don´t know why we are getting kicked out. i have an idea. but we
haven´t found another house or apartment. we have to find a house for
4 missionaries that is safe, in good condition, and is in centro (the
most expensive area to live) so that we have access to both areas. we
have to find this house for R$ 550, meaning like $280. the closest we
have found? R$700. and President told us to find another one. all the
other ones that we have looked at are above R$ 1,000. yeah. good luck.

elder van orden was elder yuma´s kid. he is kinda cocky, but we get
along alright. he is way young on the mission and tries to act like
the senior comp. he tries to act like he is the example that we need
to follow.

oh man i am jealous! HALLOWEEN! what should i be for halloween? we
thought about just being members of the church. meaning...take the
name tag off and like have a party or something. lol. halloween in
português is Dia das Bruxas. it isn´t an official holiday.

mom, about the christmas package...if there is space, you could send
syrup again. that was tasty. do you think you could send a good
cologne, too? because unlike Rio Grande do Sul, São Paulo and Paraná
are hot as heck. so could i get some cologne so that while i sweat my
eyes out this summer, i can smell good? lol

mom and lauren...thank you for the two trunkiest comments of the
month. haha now i am aware that in two months i will be talking with
you guys again...and that in 10 months i will be going home. thanks
for that last one especially, lauren! :P oh and lauren...keep being
the example. like you said, when people see the truth of the gospel
(espesically in our examples) they can´t forget that. just keep
helping your friends to see the blessings of the gospel through your
example. it is tough there because a lot of people are so numbed to
the gospel because they have been around it their whole lives, but
keep strong.

one last experience to share. last night, we were just walking down in
this park area talking with people and these two guys over by this
soccer court called us over to talk. when we went and explained some
stuff, a group had started to gather of like 6 or 7 guys. then when we
asked if we could share a message with them, they all got quiet (keep
in mind, this is a group of like 25 to 30-year-old guys playing
soccer). we started talking and people kept gethering around. by the
time i had finished teaching about prophets and the church of jesus
christ in primitive times, there was a group of 15 guys around us all
listening. when fernandes talked about the restoration, everyone was
quiet just listening. it was crazy. we now have 15 addresses of people
who asked us to go to their houses. lol crazy.

anyway that was my week. i am doin good and just workin. this is the
last week of the transfer. i hope everything is going good at home.
lauren...hold off on the christmas music...it is still october :) love
you guys and miss you guys a ton! have an awesome week!

tchau!

elder scott ghormley

Year Two, Letter Eight

scripture: Mosiah 7:33


updates on my old investigators from Marília:

Carol was the one I baptized. her parents, Renato and Cassia were
married and baptized! they are way strong.
Soraya was baptized the week after i left and is strong.
Junior and Marcele were baptized a week after I left.
Antônia and Fernanda were baptized.

I am so happy. They are all strong.

hey everyone. i gotta be quick today. we found out that we have been
kicked out of our apartment because...well we don´t know why. the guy
just doesn´t like us i guess. so we have to go and try and find
another house or apartment asap.

alright well it sounds like dad and mom should be the new mascot for
the energizer commercials. you guys just don´t stop. but I bet the
house is going to be AMAZING as always for the family reunion. i guess
i will send my RSVP right now...THANKS FOR THE INVITE!! But I won´t be
able to make it this year. Sounds like it will be really fun, but I
already have a previous commitment. But i am sorry that you guys had
to work a TON. you are pretty amazing examples.

it sounds like you guys are doing great with the new callings. That
lesson about a change of heart must have been great. it really is a
miracle to see how people´s hearts can change because of the gospel of
jesus christ. my favorite example lately is Hélio and Nalva. They have
a son named Diogines (say it like Jorgeness...good luck) and a
soon-to-be daughter-in-law that started hearing the missionaries a few
months ago. At first, Diogines was a rock. He didn´t like the
missionaries and every time he got home and saw them teaching his wife
(even though they asked permission), he just got pissed. But she
insisted and they insisted and he finally went to church and started
listening. Now, they are getting the marriage set up and they will be
married in the next few weeks and baptized. The best part is that now,
Diogines and his "wife," Marcele, are my really good friends and love
us, as well. So, Diogines wanted us to teach his parents. In the first
lesson, I felt the spirit so strong. Diogines bore his testimony and
his parents were so amazed at how he changed and they felt the spirit,
too. When we went back, they had prayed about what we said and Nalva
just said that she knew that what we had told her was true. Now the
crazy part. Hélio is the ex-hitman who lived in Pernambucu (i think
that is spelled right), but moved because people wanted to kill him.
He has smoked since he was 11. He never wanted to hear anything about
Christ or the Gospel. But now, he is listening. He is reading the Book
of Mormon. When we went there to teach him last week on his day off,
he said the closing prayer and started crying in the middle of the
prayer. When he finished, he looked at me and said, "Only you guys can
do this." And I just said, "No, it is the Gospel of Jesus Christ that
can do this. We are just here to let you know that." Now, he and Nalva
are wanting to get married before the end of the year so that they can
be baptized. And he has started trying to stop smoking. he has gone
from 2 or 3 packs a day to 2 or 3 cigarettes a day. yes, the church is
true.

I don´t understand why President Mario (our Branch President) doesn´t
support us. He was also interviewed by President Tavares this last
weekend and it looks like President Tavares was very firm with him.
But after the meetings on Sunday, we have pushed forward some ideas
and goals and he has committed to do everything he can to help us. We
had District Conference this last weekend with President and Sister
Tavares. They talked about what we need to do to be true disciples of
Christ and how the Book of Mormon is the keystone to our religion,
respectively. Great talks. We also had a Leadership Training after
lunch. The 3 branches in Presidente Prudente were supposed to have the
leaderships there. Everest Branch and Aviação Branch had about 15
people each. Planalto Branch (my branch) had Elder Ferandes, Me,
Presidente Mario, and the Branch Mission Leader. 4 people. Yeah, looks
like this branch is real psyched to get to work. But, we worked
together with President Tavares to make some goals. It looks like we
have potential.

Sérgio went to the conference. He liked it. He was interviewed on
saturday for baptism. Elder Loftus interviewed. The branch president
doesn´t have the keys. Sérgio didn´t pass. He has a couple things in
his past that caused some problems. President Tavares interviewed him
on Sunday after church and made some goals and Sérgio will be able to
be interviewed again on Friday or Saturday and baptized this next
weekend. He is still pretty strong. We will continue doing everything
to strengthen and prepare him.

Lillian is doing great. We are now teaching her little sister and her
boyfriend as well. She is bringing other people to church...and
President Mario just said she was a snake (that is what we call the
girls who just listen to the missionaries because they like them). But
when we taught the Law of Chastity, Lillian´s 12-year-old sister said
she wasn´t sure if she would be able to keep it. So sad. She is
12...and she has already done several things that I won´t even say.
But we were VERY, VERY direct with her and explained why she needed to
keep the Law of Chastity and she understood. I think she got a little
scared actually. But it was necessary. Lillian is 14 I think.

Alex and Jonathan are 16. And they are doing well. But we gotta try
and make them (Jonathan) understand and stop being lazy. I dunno. We
will see what potential is still there.

The new missionary is Elder Van Orden. He is cool. He is from St.
George, Utah. He was Elder Yuma´s comp. He plays golf. He is
dedicated. Thus and therefore, we are getting along quite well. I
think he thinks I am a little crazy. But that is just because he is
young on the mission. But he plays golf, so we are good.

My interview with President Tavares was...good. He told me that I
might be getting transferred at the next transfer. I think he is
unsure because he wants to see what i can do with this area with Elder
Fernandes, but at the same time, he said he might want me to get a new
start in another area. The Assistants were here a few weeks ago and it
turns out that they lied a ton about this area. One of them that was
teaching Alex with me said that Alex´s mom grabbed his butt. No, I am
not kidding. I was there the whole time and Alex´s mom didn´t even
like this kid and then in my interview, President was asking if that
was the truth. Oh, I got mad. I explained everything that happened and
it turns out that that was just one of the several lies that this
Assistant was telling. So President was kinda confused but said that
he believed me. I dunno.

I was studying in Preach My Gospel about how we need to learn to
recognize the whispers of the spirit. It was good. Something that
people don´t realize is that when we just look at the negative side of
everything, we can´t feel the spirit. i said that to President Mario.
we have to have the right attitude to feel him guiding us. we have to
seek him and always do our best to follow him. if we lose ourselves in
the world, we can´t follow the Spirit. I think that is why so many
people leave the church. they lose themselves in things that aren´t
really important. ya know?

mom, for the package, i think you know some good, cool things. last
year was spectacular. haha a few ties would be good. ummm i don´t
really know. you guys are the geniuses here. haha. pictures are always
good. what do you think would be a good idea?! toss some of your ideas
out there. i am good on like sunscreen and chapstick and repellent and
powders and stuff. i don´t need those. what would be some good ideas?
and i don´t know if we will have a mission conference again. maybe,
maybe not.

Alright well I think that is all for this week. I love you guys so
much. Thank you for everything you do for me. don´t forget to send
some christmas ideas. :)

tchau!

Elder Scott Ghormley

i forgot

Carol´s cousin, Bia, was also baptized :)

thasall

love you guys.

Year Two, Letter Seven

hey everyone.

scripture: D&C 68: 2 - 6

umm so how are you all doing? it looks like you have been keeping
pretty busy. sorry that i am sending email so late. let me explain. we
received a phone call this morning from the Assistants. we were
informed that there would be an emergency transfer. one more. everyone
can take a deep breath...because i wasn´t involved in this transfer. i
am still in the same area with elder fernandes. but elder loftus and
almeida were split. almeida is going back to foz do iguaçu. so we were
busy getting everything packed up and going to the bus station with
him and such. so that is why this email is so late. now we have
another american getting here tomorrow.

so let´s get started.

FIRST ITEM OF IMPORTANCE! MEANING "VERY IMPORTANT:" P-DAY WAS CHANGED
AGAIN!!!!!! today is the last p-day that i will have on wednesday. As
of now, MONDAY is our P-DAY. it was changed BACK to monday. so! on
Sunday night, or early morning on monday, you need to send emails.
understood? P-DAY IS MONDAY. this monday will be the first, so you can
write on sunday night!

Jonathan was not baptized :( it is pretty difficult. but Alex and
Jonathan are ready. we did the pre-interview for both of them and they
are ready. Alex is stronger. the problem? we need to get permission
from their parents. so we will be working hard on that. but they are
really special. I feel like they are my younger brothers or something.
I feel like I need to help them to take these steps.

Sérgio is ready for baptism and chose this Saturday for his baptism
date. But, unfortunately, we aren´t COMPLETELY sure if he is keeping
the law of chastity with Sandra. it is just kinda an awkward question,
ya know? but we will be teaching them tonight.

Lillian is doing well, too. she is still working on keeping the law of
chastity, but she wants to go to be baptized, too. we are doing
everything we can to help, but it is delaying a little bit because
this last week was way busy.

Fernandes had a bit of a breakdown last night. We had a meeting with
the Branch President here and Fernandes wasn´t expecting such a
resolutely negative attitude from President Mario. Pres Mario
complained about every single investigator. We were explaining about
Alex and Jonathan and he just looked at us and was like, "You really
think any of these kids have a chance of being firm members?" in a
really rude way. Then with Lillian, he just laughed and said, "You
think that this girl is actually interested in the church? You sure
she isn´t just interested in one of you?" And with Sérgio, he just
goes, "There is no way that he is going to keep the Law of Chastity
with Sandra." I was used to it because Mario has never been supportive
of us in the time that I have been here. But Fernandes was SO ticked
and was almost crying from anger after the meeting. President Tavares
said that this area is going to close if we can´t get the attendance
at church to increase. It is at an average of about 50 or 55 people.

We have interviews with President on Saturday. I think he is going to
talk A LOT with me about the area and what i think the potential is. I
am praying to know what to say and what to do. I know this area and
our investigators have potential, but without the support of the
Branch, there is not much i can do for these people. everyone is just
so dispirited and disheartened. I don´t know how to get them excited.

We have a new curriculum for our teaching methods. we are changing the
way we teach and the way we help the people on their way to
conversion. it is a much more simplified method and it has been quite
good in the lessons that i have taught so far. how are the church
callings going? it was kinda weird the first time that i taught Gospel
Essentials. I wasn´t prepared or anything, but we were able to get an
awesome lesson. i guess Heavenly Father was like, "Oh wow...he is
going to make a fool of himself. Holy Ghost...help him, please..." Oh
yeah, I had a great experience this last Sunday. I got to church and
was informed that i was to give a 10 minute talk about missionary
work. zero preparation. how cool, huh? i talked about President
Brigham Young´s quote in chapter 1 of Preach My Gospel. apparently, it
was a very good talk. I didn´t seem to follow all my plans. I ended up
talking about that quote and how the Christ-like attributes are
essencial to do missionary work as members and such. it was a great
talk. and i actually passed on my time limit. how cool, right?

You guys work so much. But i am so glad for the example you guys have
given me. It is because of you guys that i can work hard here. because
you guys taught me. the family reunion seems like it will be...a
BLAST! but the house will be amazing as always.

I hope Wendy is able to cope with the changes that naturally happen in
our lives. I hope she can find comfort in the gospel.

That is awesome that the Cardinals won with Max Hall starting. talk
about tight. I love my weekly sports updates. I feel really involved
in the sport world. lol.

Um other little things...

In whatever package happens to be sent to me, can it have a tie clip
in it? like a cool tie clip that prevents my tie from flying around
and hitting people´s faces (by "people´s faces," i mean my face) when
the spring breezes blow all over the place. but a cool tie clip would
be splendid.

anyway. so DON`T FORGET! P-DAY IS MONDAY NOW. i guess that is all for now...

I LOVE YOU GUYS! Morgan...people might have thought i was weird for
looking at pictures of a naked baby, but thank you for the pictures of
my nephew :) i hope work is going better for you and that you can get
back into the swing of things. :)

that is all for now. until MONDAY! i love you guys and i hope you all
have a splendid week!!!

Year Two, Letter Six

hey everyone!

so this week has been different. Like I said, fernandes was gone for

the conference, so we didn´t get to work in my area too often.

unfortunately, that means some things have changed. for example, i

have NO CLUE whatsoever where José Roberto is. I have called and gone

to his house repeatedly, and the guy isn´t ever there. Ever. I don´t

know what I can do for him. I wonder if his break-up with Rosa (the

member he was dating) has been an element in the things that have been

going on. i am not sure if he wants to be baptized or if he was trying

to do something to show Rosa that he changed or something like that.

the guy just disppeared.

Conference was AMAZING. as always. but i am pretty sure that is the

first time in like 8 years that i didn´t watch the priesthood

session...odd. i really wish i had been there, but apparently watching

the prophet and apostles speak directly to the priesthood holders of

the church isn´t a good enough reason to show up a tiny bit later in

the house. but the talks were amazing. i watched the saturday and

sunday sessions. all 4. it was so bomb. the only things missing??

WAFFLES. BACON AND EGGS. OUR FAMILY ROOM. lol but elder loftus and i

were able to work some magic and watch in english again :) i feel

pretty special. i felt the spirit incredibly strong. i feel like the

bigger topics that i was able to pick up were: the importance of our

PERSONAL testimony of the truth (kinda like what you were telling me

in your email mom); the importance of a testimony of the prophets in

our days; and the importance of fortifying the family from the

darkness of the world. it was a great experience.

Lillian and Jennifer went to the conference. They liked it a lot...and

then the member of the Young Women Presidency started talking about

modesty and morality and they felt really awkward. they aren´t exactly

practicing either. Lillian is much more mature and has a bigger desire

to follow the gospel. When we taught the Word of Wisdom and the Law of

Chastity, she was willing to try her best. The other people we were

teaching (including Jennifer) said that it will be too hard. Their

goal? they are going to try and reduce the sexual relationships to

once every 5 days. yes, that is serious. I can wait while you read it

again...

Sergio also went to conference. He loved it. He doesn´t feel prepared

to be baptized yet, and he won´t be in the city this week. But we are

going to work super hard to help him get there soon. He has potential.

He just has to see it.

Alex and "Light" (Jonathan) are doing good. They are progressing. The

Assistants got to our area yesterday. They are here to...I really

don´t know what they are here for. But they worked with us last night.

I went with Elder Galdino. He was with me in Marília. He is tight. So

we already work very well together. We taught Light about baptism and

he wasn´t sure because he was baptized already in the Catholic church.

But we taught a bomb lesson and he said that he will prepare himself

to be interviewed this saturday. He said that if he does well in the

baptismal interview and if he feels good about it, he will be baptized

on saturday. we´ll see. Alex can´t be baptized yet. We are working

with him. But he is awesome. He is reading the Book of Mormon and

praying sincerely. And he and his family love us. Well...me. Because

the first time I went there was with Miller. Then he left and I went

there with Almeida and Loftus. And they don´t work in this area. Then

i went there with Galdino. So they just see me with a bunch of other

missionaries. So they already think i will stay here forever. But we

are working with these two.

We received new material from the first presidency for missionary

work. it is the new curriculum (spelling?) for missionaries. We have

new focuses. We have several things to change and put into practice

and then we will have to report on the changes in the mission and in

our work. it is pretty good. i will be giving a training tomorrow

about the importance of prayer with our investigators. it should be

cool.

THAT IS SICK THAT THE MORMONS BEAT THE CATHOLIC PRIESTS! I am kinda

psyched about that. Is it wrong if i use that as one more testimony

that the church is true? i bet so. blasphemous. but parabéns para

vocês! and i didn´t know that we lost the ryder cup. people don´t

mention golf down here as you can imagine.

as for my comp? he is odd. and he focuses way too much on numbers. but

i am not gunna let him get to me. if i have learned one thing on the

mish, it is that you just need to work and forget about the annoying

stuff. and now i have learned that "tronky" is, in fact, spelled

"trunky." desculpe aí, mom. blake, you can laugh at that. haha :)

the rain here was nuts. i can´t remember when it started. it went for

a while. all i know is that it stopped on monday. imagine how

difficult it was to dry clothes!

morgan and stuart, i am really happy that stuart was able to get that

job! but what do you mean "rock" handshake? stuart can´t possibly have

one of those :) and i hope you can get back on track with work, too,

moe.

dad...i hope that you are able to handle the schedule changes with

your new calling. I just think of it this way...God called you. He

knows you are capable just like I know you are capable. You are the

right person for the calling. God will bless you. I think it is far

easier to say this when you aren´t involved in the situation. haha

mom...what do you mean you will have to bronze our shoes? lol OH! The

package info. Alright so if it is above 50 dollars, it gets taxed. and

i didn´t want a buzzer like the one to actually cut hair. just the one

that blake got with the various attatchments AFTER his mission. I

don´t want to shave my head. it was more for the little maintenance on

sideburns and at the back and stuff. not to actually shave my head

lol. for Christmas?! dang. that is a crazy thought. um my socks are

holding up very well actually. crazy. shirts? no, i will just keep on

with the ones i am using. I saved 3 short-sleeved shirts until my one

year mark. so i think i am good. my shoes? yikes. they have been

through a lot. but i am going to keep going with these shoes. i don´t

know. what were you thinking of sending? just to give me some ideas.

lol.

alright well i am good. other than my elbow which i just hit on the

desk directly on the funny bone. and holy crap, it ISN`T funny.

whoever gave it that name needs to be swiftly kicked in the rear end.

but i am good. and healthy. and just going. i love you all a ton and

never get sick of letting you know that. i miss you all and hope that

you guys have a splendid week. :)

till next week. tchau!

elder scott ghormley