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